Three things from winter…
Waikiki! Wool things! World’s best (winter) skirt!
What I’m writing…
A few days ago I was reading the New York Times Travel Dispatch on Hawaii and saw a piece on Waikiki, a place I’m especially fond of (actually, I adore all the islands). When I clicked the link, to my surprise it was an article I wrote! (NYT link behind a paywall, so used this one instead!) “Why I’m Still in Love with Waikiki” originally ran in December, 2023 and here it was again!
You know, the last thing you think about when you start out as a writer is longevity. But here I am, almost forty years after Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine was published, and things I wrote long ago are re-surfacing.
In fact, in June I was invited to discuss Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine with the fabulous Charles Coe in Boston. What fun it was to revisit that book.
A friend wrote me recently that he’d read my essay “Memory House” in a Yankee magazine essay in his dentist’s office. You know you’ve made it when your writing is in dentist office waiting rooms 🤣
And a few months ago, someone actually sent me two of my short stories that appeared in Seventeen magazine in 1990.
I still get emails about my Modern Love piece, “Now I Need a Place to Hide Away,” that ran in the New York Times in 2006. It’s even included in Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion.
As a little girl in West Warwick, Rhode Island, with stars in her eyes, I never imagined I would some day write something that resonated so deeply with so many people. All I wanted was to be like Jo March in Little Women and write a book that made readers cry—like I did when (spoiler alert!) Beth dies.
What I’m Knitting…
I am a rule follower, a recipe follower, a pattern follower. Yet…
Here I am improvising on my Crowberry Sweater from Modern Daily Knitting. The pattern calls for the hem to be longer in the back, and the sweater itself to be cropped.
But I like long sweaters and even hems. After consulting with my knitter friend Trudy, I took a deep breath and improvised.
YouTube told me to use one of my favorite sweaters as a guide for length…
Looks like about three more inches before the next (hardest) part.
Interestingly, one thing I don’t follow rules for is my writing. I do put myself through a series of questions before I start writing that help me. As E.L. Doctorow said, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” But otherwise, with every new book I try to do something different. Even if I write about the same themes—which I do--I want to explore them in new ways.
That’s how I came to write Jude Banks, Super Hero and Clementine, two middle grade novels about grief and loss. If you haven’t read them yet, I hope you do. Or share them with a kid you know who needs comfort.
Shhh… I have put my toes in another genre, coming to bookstores in June 2026. But more on that soon…
What I’m thinking about…
My skirt!
A few weeks ago I was walking through the Flatiron district here in Manhattan and a sign caught my eye. Zara was having a WINTER SALE.
Readers here know that one of my favorite, too often worn dresses is from Zara.
So that sign caught my eye. And oh, my heart be still, everything was under $50. I have been trying to find a straight, kind of plain wool skirt to wear over leggings during a NYC winter, kind of like a buffer against the elements. And…I did!
This fine wool skirt in burgandy is perfect for layering when it’s, like, oh, 19 degrees. Here I am walking through SoHo and at Balthazar, all layered up.
Layers: J Jill leggings, J Crew socks, Merry People Bobbi boots, Frank & Eileen oversized Shirley shirt, Quince cashmere fishermen sweater in Heather Gray, Orolay jacket in Peet Moss, orange hat knit by me.
And also…
Not just Waikiki! But Hawaii!
I fell in love with Hawaii when I went there for the first time in 1977. After exploring Oahu from Waikiki to the North Shore, my friends and I hopped a small plane to Maui, which was still undeveloped. When we landed, as far as we could see were cranes and the beginnings of new resorts. But that was still to come. For me, my strongest memory of that day was seeing a double rainbow as we drove the jaw dropping Hana Road.
I’ve returned many times, to teach on Maui and in Waikiki; to the Big Island to watch Kilauea volcano erupting from Volcanoes National Park; and years later with my daughter to watch dolphins play from our chaise lounges poolside in Kona; to write an article about a multi-sport resort (don’t ask) on Molokai; to celebrate Michael’s big birthday on the western coast of Kauai; and even more.
Every time I go to this magical place, I say: Why don’t I live here?
Of course, I also say that about Ireland. And Scotland. And Italy. And Spain. And…It seems like I fall in love everywhere I go!
When I was a teenager in the 60s and 70s, my bible was Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs. About Sagittarius—my sign—she says: “Sagittarians wear out their sheets and their shoes with equal passion.” As a thirteen year old, the sheets part baffled me. But even then, I wanted to wear out my shoes exploring this big, beautiful world of ours.
PS…
As much as I love wearing out my shoes, I also love being home in Greenwich Village with my fabulous husband
and my two cats, and my kiddos just a subway ride and short train ride away. Walking home from our local happy place, Cecchi’s, for cocktails and killer onion rings, I saw this bus in front of Abingdon Square—where we got married!—and it was like that bus sign was lit up just for us, the happiest West Villagers.
Thanks for reading! I hope your travels are fun, and that you find your way happily back home.
I just read your Modern Love Piece.
OH MY GOD
So much to love here, Ann!
I felt powerful after writing a difficult scene last week and I used that power to work on a shawl that’s languished in my WIP’s. I’m binding off today and I feel like a champ!