Book buyers want a good story to take with them on the airplane. . . . When the reader hears strong echoes of his or her own life and beliefs, he or she is more apt to become invested in the story. I’d argue that it’s impossible to make this connection in a pre-meditated way, gauging the market like a racetrack tout with a hot tip. …

You can’t aim a book like a cruise missile, in other words. People who decide to make a fortune writing like John Grisham or Tom Clancy produce nothing but pale imitations by and large because vocabulary is not the same thing as feeling and plot is light-years from the truth as understood by the mind and by the heart.

When you see a novel with “in the tradition of…” on the cover, you know you are looking at one of these over-calculated and likely boring imitations.

Write what you like, then imbue it with life, and make it unique by binding in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationship, sex and work. Especially work. People love to read about work. God knows why, but they do. – On Writing by Stephen King.

Too bad book marketers don’t understand this. They encourage writers to imitate other writers because they believe the book is easier to sell that way. Naturally, writers take the bait and begin analyzing the market instead of writing what they love.

I’ve met these writers who are trying to cash in on the marker by writing about fairies or chick lit or whatever the hottest trend is. I can’t do that–I have to write what interests me, or it comes out lifeless. So it’s nice to see that one of the richest writers in the world agrees with me.

Kyle and I are contemplating buying a house. In preparation for this possible life-changing and scary event, we are trying out living within the tight budget that we would live under if we had a house. This is both to save money and see if we can do it. It’s making me think about money way too much.

Actually, so far it hasn’t been bad, living under this budget. Turns out if I cut away all the extra things I have on a daily basis, I don’t really miss them (as long as I get to do one or two fun things). It’s trite but true that it makes you appreciate what you have.

And after all, a lot of the fun in life–picnics, hiking, etc.–is free or cheap. In fact, I wrote a list of cheap things that we can do instead of spending money, and it was surprisingly long. I also wrote a list of things that we have but never use, like our tent, craft supplies, and tennis rackets. Why have things if you never use them? We are going to start using them.

Also I have been cooking at home a lot more. I decided to make a game out of using up some of the odder ingredients in my cupboard, those things you buy once for something and then they sit there taking up space until they go bad. It’s kind of fun. I’m making food I would never usually make. So far that includes:

I have others planned. They include:

So this whole budget thing is going all right. I’m distracted by games like the above. And I’ve been reading, drawing, painting, making jewelry, gardening, playing with the kitten, going on a lot of walks with Kyle, watching movies at home, having candle-lit dinners, turning off the TV, and hiding from the heat. Nothing fascinating, but then again, not so bad either.

Wow. Apparently plants ‘recognize’ their siblings, according to this article.

“The ability to recognize and favour kin is common in animals, but this is the first time it has been shown in plants” Susan Dudley, associate professor of biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, said. “When plants share their pots, they get competitive and start growing more roots, which allows them to grab water and mineral nutrients before their neighbours get them. It appears, though, that they only do this when sharing a pot with unrelated plants; when they share a pot with family they don’t increase their root growth. Because differences between groups of strangers and groups of siblings only occurred when they shared a pot, the root interactions may provide a cue for kin recognition.”

How is this possible? They don’t have brains or memories, but apparently they are “capable of complex social behaviors such as altruism towards relatives.”

We know so little about this world we live in.

We got a kitten!!

Update: So, we got the kitten at a pet rescue place. He is two months, supposedly, though the vet says if he is, he is big for that age. He’s a Siamese/Lynx Tail mix. His tail looks a little bit like someone dipped a feather in ink, so we named him Quill.

He and Miles are getting along. Miles hasn’t hissed or growled at the kitten, but his nose it definitely out of joint. He hasn’t slept on the bed since we got Quill, and he has only purred in my lap for two very brief intervals.

That said, he and the kitten seem to like each other. They are grooming each other a little bit and spend hours playing a game where Miles stares at the kitten while the kitten hops around and bats at things for Miles’ benefit. When the kitten comes too close, Miles makes a snippy meow noise. Then, all of a sudden, they will run to a different part of the house and start all over again. It’s all fine except for when it suddenly goes too far and Miles will put his mouth around the kitten’s throat! I don’t like that, even though I really don’t think Miles would bite. Because of this, I have to watch them play this game, which never seems to end. In fact, they are doing it right now.

Erm… It’s laundry day.

I made up some oregano pesto since my plant is going crazy. It was delicious! I thought the oregano would have too strong a flavor for pesto, but it works wonderfully. Here’s the recipe:

1 c fresh oregano
20 pistachio nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts would all work too)
3 garlic cloves
pinch of salt
3 tbs Parmesan cheese
1 tbs romano cheese (I used swiss, actually)
2 tbs butter
olive oil

Grind salt, oregano, and nuts together in a food processor. Add olive oil until it forms a paste. Add everything else. Put on pasta. Enjoy!

The New York Observer has an interesting article on writing a book titled, somewhat melodramatically, My Book Deal Ruined My Life. It is actually more of the realities of writing a book.

For example, how it can drag on and on and on:

“I want this woman out of my life so much it’s ridiculous,” said Michael Anderson, 55, who has been researching and writing a book about the playwright Lorraine Hansberry for HarperCollins since 1998. “It has been, in essence, 10 years, and sometimes it seems like, ‘My God, why isn’t this thing done yet?’ But at times I think, ‘My God, it’s only been 10 years.’ I never understood why biographies took so much time; now I’m in awe that any of them get finished.”

Or how it messes with your head:

Now I look around and wonder—it’s hard to remember who I was all those years,” Mr. Englander added. “I don’t care about anything when I’m in the work; nothing else matters at all …. People I lost touch with, I’m trying to get back to. I’ll write them, ‘Thank you for your letter in 1999. Here’s what’s been going on.’ You work your way through to get familiar with normal life.”

And of course, the money:

That money, of course, isn’t just for rent and ham sandwiches and Oreos. It’s also for the sky-high freelance taxes (about 37 percent of any untaxed income will be commandeered by Uncle Sam), agent’s fees, fax and copy tabs at the library, travel for research trips and any other number of things. Think about it: $100,000 is actually more like $65,000 after taxes—not bad. But then there’s the 15 percent agent’s cut (another $15,000), leaving you about $50,000. For a year, that’s a livable salary. But once other book expenses are taken into account—like permissions, travel, copies and the like—you’re looking at a modest pile rather than a mountain. There’s really not much left to enjoy—especially if your work stretches on for years.

Yup. Writing is not for the faint of heart. The only people who really do it are the people who really really want to. And, you know, celebrities.

Yesterday I watched Oprah interview Cormac McCarthy. I haven’t read his books; I started All the Pretty Horses and got bored of it pretty quickly. However, since everyone is going on about how dark The Road is, I was expecting McCarthy to be a grizzled old man straight out of some Hawthorne novel. Instead, he was a sweet, soft-spoken older man who doesn’t seem to care about fame or glory all that much. That baffled Oprah, who apparently has only met writers who want to be on best seller lists. “Boy, you are a different kind of author,” she said at some point.

What I liked the most about the interview was how McCarthy seemed aware that she expected him to act as a role model or moral leader, and wouldn’t take the bait. When she asked him if he was passionate about writing–Oprah seems to think everyone should follow their passions in life–he said, “Passionate is a pretty fancy word for it.” That made me laugh and laugh.

The whole Oprah book club issue is complicated. I am probably more turned off by the elitist crap that comes out every time she picks a book than by anything she does–although I’ll admit that The Secret is pretty nauseating. But people act like she always picks bad books, something I think past picks like Faulkner, Tolstoy, and Toni Morrison would disagree with.

In the end, her book club is our culture’s manifestation of a very old issue–the division between high and low art. And while that is a question that may never be answered, generally speaking, I approve of Oprah’s book club. I like when people promote reading, and very few people do it as successfully as Oprah does.

And anyway, I really like her next pick–Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which is an excellent book.

Is it mean I find Sarah Silverman’s joke about Paris Hilton going to jail hilarious? Am I mean? Because I don’t want to be mean. So if that’s mean, just pretend I didn’t laugh.

On Saturday I went wine tasting (again) in Healdsburg with some friends. It was gorgeous weather, 75 degrees, a gentle breeze, and pretty gorgeous overall. We went to: Armida Winery; Hop Kiln Winery, which also has delicious dipping sauces you can taste; Wilson Winery, where we bought quite a few bottles–guess we like that place; Bella Vineyards, one of the prettiest wineries I’ve been to for awhile; and Everett Ridge Winery. Afterwards we had thai food in Healdsburg. It was a great day.

Naturally, I took some pictures.

Eddie, Kyle, me, Marcia, and Dan