1. Did you read about Mary Pearson’s good news? I’m still smiling. I’m a major admirer of Mary’s work and excited that she’s getting the attention she has long deserved.

2. I did something very frightening today. I never thought one click of a mouse could be so hard. Be impressed.

3. Next week my daytime calendar is blessedly blank. I am so looking forward to doing some cranking and sweating and crying over WIP.

4. Lately I have been feeling tremendously grateful to my readers. Seriously, I have the best fans. Thank you, thank you.

5. I went to hear Chris Bohjalian read last night. Picked up copies of The Double Bind and Before You Know Kindness (which is just a great title, isn’t it?). I asked him my usual burning question about how you separate “being a writer” from “writing.” He gave the dreaded “turn off the Internet” answer. I felt better when he implied he had fought his way back from the point of extreme addiction—he was giving himself permission to check his email every time he wrote 50 words. Now he goes like five hours. (He also said that he heard Joyce Carol Oates say she had to get a typewriter when her productivity was flagging due to Internet use and I’m thinking that “flagging productivity” for JCO probably means she was only writing four books in a year instead of ten.)

Have a great weekend!