It has been another whirlwind week for me, who is more accustomed to this level of activity:
On Feb. 15, I appeared with my dear friend Suzanne Kingsbury at RJ Julia, a lovely independent bookstore in Madison, CT. Suzanne and I had such a blast, and I met so many lovely people, including Lurrae who asked to be set up with my father and only because I stay out of my father’s personal life as a rule did I not follow up.
On Tuesday, I took the train down to D.C. and chatted with the wildly generous Matthew Klam at Politics and Prose. Matt and I met through BookEnds but didn’t really know each other, so it was super mensch-y of him to come out for my launch. I was blown away by how many people were there, family and old friends, including loads of Dartmouth people who took me out for pizza and margaritas and we all got nostalgic and misty-eyed remembering our days on the Green. Everyone was so wonderful and generous, I felt like a princess.
Back home on Wednesday, I appeared at Greenwich Library with Samantha Greene Woodruff, author of THE LOBOTOMIST’S WIFE, which is burning up the charts over on Amazon (18,000+ reviews as of this writing!). Fun fact: Samantha and I have known each other since the 90s when we were in a very hardcore book club together. As Samantha put it, it was literary analysis first, wine second. She also pointed out that we probably met in 1998, the year MLIY takes place. (Was it our last innocent year? Hmmm…) I love how she honored the 90s with her super cool grunge-inspired plaid dress. Thank you, Samantha!
I absolutely loved this interview with Chris Holmes over at Burned By Books. While you’re at it, subscribe and listen to all of his interviews. They are universally excellent.
I had my first Instagram Live with Sanjana Senthil aka @kathai.official, who asked delightful questions, including “What would Isabel’s favorite Taylor Swift album be?” (We both agreed Folklore.) Sanjana was an early fan of the book, discovering it on Netgalley because of the gorgeous cover (the cover! it has done a lot of work for this book I swear). Sanjana is so clever and delightful and we had a great time.
Here is an interview I did over at The Chicago Review of Books.
I’m on the road again this week. I’ll be in conversation with the divine Joanna Rakoff at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA on Tuesday 2/28 at 7PM. Then home again to chat with Terri Trespicio at Athena Books in Old Greenwich on 3/1 at 7PM.
I haven’t managed to read much of anything these past few weeks but I did reread Matt Klam’s Who is Rich? which is so sexy and zany and a great example of how to build stakes and not be afraid to put your characters in difficult situations. I finally started Big Swiss yesterday, and it’s gutsy and funny and unlike anything I’ve read before.
One fun thing has been going to local bookstores and asking to sign books. They always say yes, which I find totally thrilling. My son Oliver is always surprised no one asks me for I.D. and because he is a complete rascal, he jokes about asking if he can sign copies of The Catcher in the Rye (don’t worry—he doesn’t actually do it!).
And finally, thanks to everyone who is reading and buying and telling people about MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR!
I just downloaded an ebook sample of My Last Innocent Year and I cannot tell you how much I was blown away not only by the craft, but by the mastery with which you opened with such a riveting scene, and allowed such an intense question to exist without trying to answer it all at once. I'm already learning from your writing 😊 Thank you for investing time to master the craft of writing and for cultivating the courage to share your art in the world. It's such a gift! ✨🌟💖🙏🕊️