Archives - Weekly Update

Remember the hour we “lost” last March. We “get it back” next weekend. I am telling you, I could use it back now. Dark mornings and long commutes with early morning and early evening sun glare are taking a toll on me.

That said, I made the most of my time in the New York office this week. I had a great time on Monday afternoon when Nelson DeMille and his son, Alex DeMille, came by to tape one of our “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews. I loved talking to them about their collaboration --- it’s been 40 years since Nelson collaborated with another author --- and how they tackled new characters and the Venezuelan location for their thriller, THE DESERTER, which will be a Bookreporter Bets On pick. You can watch the video here and the podcast here.

The Morristown Festival of Books was terrific! There were great crowds of enthusiastic readers (much larger than last year) at every event. All three of the panels that I moderated were such fun; each author did a wonderful job of sharing her work. Though I had interviewed most of them before, I still learned a lot as we headed in some new directions. You can see photos above.

My only regret was all the other authors I did not get to see, but ah, that is the nature of book festivals. I was able to see Jerry Craft talk about his brilliant middle-grade graphic novel, NEW KID, which is about a young African American boy who is sent to an elite private school where he definitely is in the minority. It mirrors his own experience at Fieldston in New York City. The book has been getting raves and garnering awards, with good reason. It's so well done. Our own Austin Ruh moderated a fantasy author panel with Katherine Arden and S.A. Chakraborty, and he was great!

The houseplants are all inside, repotted and cleaned up. I really like the way they look right now, but am not looking forward to watering in the “indoor months” ahead. I got a funny note from a reader last week in reference to my line about first bringing the plants into the garage so the bugs could crawl out. Donna asked, “Regarding bringing your plants into the garage to acclimate them to warmer temps, what makes you sure that the crawly things DO exit?” Ha, Donna was right. Last night I saw a large bug crawling around one of the pots, and I know it’s not a typical “house bug.” It jumped, a lot. And as I was repotting, I saw some tiny bugs moving around. I feel like this gardening project has some Stephen King overtones to it.

It was 95 degrees on Wednesday; tonight it’s headed down to 39. Welcome to October in the New York tri-state area. I am going to be hustling the houseplants inside tonight. First they will hang in the garage for a few days “to acclimate” and to allow anything crawling in them to crawl out. Then they will find new homes inside, and I will resume my weekly watering routine feeling like Gunga Din. It’s much easier in the hands of Mother Nature, or even with the hose.

There also will be feverish replanting of some of the annuals that I am convinced will winter over. This is something I go through every year. Some work; some do not. But when they do work, seeing those summer remembrances in the house makes me smile.