Okay, I guess I have one more contribution to fire lit. Hip Mama has posted my essay, Smoke Inhalation. Happily, things are much better today. It may even rain.

Southern California is on fire. The skies are tinged a strange orange-gray; the air is heavy and flecked; ash is caked in the cracks of the sidewalk outside our house. The fire, thankfully, is not near us, but the smoke continues to saturate our neighborhood. I send my thoughts out to everyone affected by this raging. And I send this story out, too, my own small contribution to the literature of fire.

CaliforniaAuthors.com, a great site dedicated to California literature, just posted my essay about the process of writing The Book of Dead Birds.

The whole story feels almost mythical to me now, but while I was living it, the process was so full of frustration and stops and starts (plenty of blissful moments, too). I need to remember that as I thrash around with my new novel; I find myself wanting it to be perfect straight off the bat. I need to remind myself that it is the thrashing about, the not-knowing, the period of discovery, that is often the most fruitful and fun. I wonder what stories I'll have to share once this novel is done (if that ever happens...)

A blushingly lovely review of my book is in the October issue of January Magazine.

If you'd like a sneak peek of the paperback cover, mosey on over here.

Peace,

gayle

Hey, guess what? I'm Bad Girl of the Month over at the fabulous Bad Girls Press website. Bad girls unite!