A number of readers have asked why there are so few photographs in my books. I’ll explain. But first, let me throw some napalm on the grill and say this: If it were up to me, there would be no photographs at all. I did get my way with a couple of my books, notably Lethal . . .
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I took these photographs on Christmas Day, 2011, aboard a ferry approaching Whidbey Island, in Puget Sound, during a strange and, as it happened, deadly windstorm. The photos have not been modified in any way, though some detail has been lost due to compression for posting on this site.
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Tom Hanks I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Hanks, and I’m not just sucking up. Two of my favorite Hanks films are “Sleepless in Seattle,” which, I hasten to note, I saw long before I moved to Seattle, and “You’ve Got Mail.” I also loved “Cast Away,” for the sheer bravado Hanks demonstrated in taking on a . . .
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So it’s Christmas again, and as always I find myself slightly depressed by the emphasis everywhere on Christmas commerce. The other day, however, while slicing a tomato with a particularly effective knife, I found myself musing about products that I’ve been given, or bought, or otherwise encountered over the years that have won my admiration. . . .
Read MoreMay I just say that e-books are a wonder. Roughly half the sales of my newest book, In the Garden of Beasts, arose from the e-book edition. Half. I do worry about how e-book sales are affecting the many lovely independent bookstores that continue to sell the paper variety and to dispense smart recommendations on what to . . .
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The “Up Late Reading” variety show organized by the Seattle-7 writers, which took place Saturday night, Oct. 15, proved to be a raging success, and came off without serious glitches. No one fell off the stage; no one’s garments malfunctioned. Garth “Racing in the Rain” Stein and I were co-emcees. We had a fine old . . .
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The “Up Late Reading” variety show organized by the Seattle-7 writers, which took place Saturday night, Oct. 15, proved to be a raging success, and came off without serious glitches. No one fell off the stage; no one’s garments malfunctioned. Garth “Racing in the Rain” Stein and I were co-emcees. We had a fine old . . .
Read MoreMy good friend, and very competitive fellow tennis player, Rabbi Jim Mirel, passed on to me a copy of the August/September issue of Hadassah Magazine, the magazine for Jewish women, in which In the Garden of Beasts is ranked the Number 1 nonfiction book in a list of “Ten Jewish Best Sellers.” Which is lovely news. Thank you Hadassah! Meanwhile, . . .
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Any writer who’s interested in tuning his/her skills might want to sign up for a one-of-a-kind writer’s boot camp sponsored by the Seattle 7, a group of writers—many more than seven, actually—that funds various philanthropic pursuits. Called “Write Here, Write Now,” the conference starts promptly at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, with welcoming remarks . . .
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