by Mary | Mar 21, 2011 | Current events, What I'm working on now.
The schedule for the Doc tour is almost complete (click EVENTS for details). Once it starts, I’ll be on the road more or less continuously for about six weeks, coming home every five days or so, to wash my clothes and repack. There was a time when I considered...
by Mary | Mar 15, 2011 | Just for fun!
My husband has just heard from a Japanese colleague, Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita 藤田 浩之 理学博士（物理学） Dr. Fujita’s family sustained injuries and property damage but they’re alive and safe now. He has asked friends and colleagues to post this message on our websites....
by Mary | Mar 15, 2011 | Word Rants
If you check the bottom of these pages, you’ll see that my website was designed by Etsuko Dunham, who is from Miyako, Japan. After some nerve-wracking days and sleepless nights, she has heard from her sister. Their family is safe and their house is okay,...
by Mary | Mar 6, 2011 | THE SPARROW
There’s a throw-away joke in The Sparrow when Jimmy Quinn tells Sofia Mendes, “I’m not wasting your time telling you funny stories. You have to know about stuff like this, or your program is going to claim it’s found intelligent life on Mars....
by Mary | Feb 27, 2011 | DREAMERS OF THE DAY
Because Dreamers of the Day is set in Cairo in 1921, several readers have asked what I think about current events across the Middle East. My observations are no more informed or significant than those of any other random American watching CNN or listening to NPR, but...
by Mary | Feb 23, 2011 | The Sparrow movie
Nothing new to report on The Sparrow, and this article by Mark Harris explains why, in a general sort of way. The Day the Movies Died The Sparrow is a classic “passion project,” and the climate for that kind of thing is withering right now, so don’t...
by Mary | Feb 18, 2011 | DOC
And it’s grand, but first let me tell you about my initial encounter with Kirkus Reviews. In the spring of 1996, when The Sparrow was getting close to publication, I got an email from Brian McLendon, who was the publicist for the book. “Mary,” it...
by Mary | Jan 31, 2011 | THE SPARROW
This morning, a librarian contacted me about a fund raising campaign to build a new library in Jefferson, Oregon. They are collecting recipes for a cookbook called Authors and Appetites. I knew immediately which recipe I would submit. Frances Gugeler (GOO-gler) was...
by Mary | Jan 26, 2011 | What I'm working on now.
Anyone willing to share memories of taking piano lessons as a kid? I’m writing a scene for two sisters, ages 15 and 10. They are both beginners. The older one won’t have the patience for practice, but the younger one will take to it and make progress more...
by Mary | Jan 22, 2011 | What I'm working on now.
Recently, a reader wrote, “I envy you taking piano lessons… Alas! At 68, it is too late!” Nonsense. At 60, I am as cognitively challenged as most geezers. I can’t multitask. I need a nap in the afternoon. I don’t have senior moments; I...
