A novelist must make choices...

©Janelle Meraz Hooper

10-01-07-I have a collection of ceramics that I call ponchos. Two of them are above. I've never known what to call them, but some people call them sleeping Mexicans. I just call them ponchos because that's what my mother called the one on her mantle.

Custer and His Naked Ladies- I’m still waiting for notice that it is finished and ready for purchase. Any day now…I’m starting to feel like that woman on the Mervyn commercials a few years ago who, in the middle of the night, kept looking in the window, saying, “Open…open…open!

Choices- When working on a novel, every writer has to make choices. For me, the choice is: am I writing fiction or non-fiction? Does it help my story to load it down with all of the research I’ve gathered—fascinating as it is—or am I just indulging my love of natural history? With Custer and His Naked Ladies, I added just enough research to propel the story. I'm sure that any of you who have an interest in The Permian Sea won’t look in a novel for enlightenment anyway. Still…it is a fascinating topic.

Presidential candidates- When the presidential candidates jumped the gun and started campaigning early, I called them all small potatoes and asserted that what we needed now were Idaho baking potatoes. Later on, I became impatient and labeled them all Tater Tots. I take most of it back. It turns out there are a few bakers in the bunch. I haven’t picked one yet. I’ll wait and see if The Big Daddy of All Bakers joins the campaign. Then, we’ll have a race!

Quote du jour:
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein, Einstein, His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson