2006

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1328e8e3.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="13395810.png" border=0 width="149" height="129" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>back to </B><A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blog and Photos"><U><B>Blog</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FF9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="13800c82dwnjbj.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>ClaireCook.com      </B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>   |     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ClaireCook.com "><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2007"><U>2007</U></A>   |   2006   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2005"><U>2005</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2004"><U>2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2003"><U>2003</U></A></div> <div> 2006</div> <div> December 19, 2006 @ 7:53 AM</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="24d3fe10.jpg" border=0 width="319" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Happy Holidays, Everybody! And wishing you peace and joy in 2007.</div> <bR> <div> December 17, 2006 @ 12:15 PM</div> <div> As I was walking this morning, looking for some interesting branches to add to an arrangement of greens outside my door, I was trying to think of a title for my fifth novel. I always think that if I could just manage to start off with a title, it would make things easier, maybe not quite like having a road map, but at least some sense of the general direction I'm heading in. By the time I got home with these great, curvy branches, I had about 50 bad titles swirling around in my head. I don't even know the name of the tree the branches came from.... </div> <div> December 5, 2006 @ 7:56 AM</div> <div> I can't tell you how many people have emailed to ask if I've scored a Nintendo Wii yet. Well, just in case my son paid those people, I'm afraid that story is going to have to wait until after Christmas....  </div> <div> November 30, 2006 @ 2:21 PM</div> <div> My newsletter is going out right now. If yours doesn't make it through your spam catcher (try adding newsletter@clairecook.com to your address book or safe senders list), here it is:</div> <div> Subject: Beach Blurbs!</div> <bR> <div> Hi Everybody!</div> <bR> <div> Now, where were we? Let's see, when last we left off I was heading to New York to meet everybody at Voice, the fab new Hyperion imprint that will publish my new novel, LIFE'S A BEACH, next June. Well, I had a great time and loved them all so much that I was ready to overlook the nine hour round trip commute and apply for a job, just so I could hang out with them on a daily basis. Then it hit me how much I really like working in my pajamas, which probably wouldn't fly in the Hyperion offices. So I guess I'll just have to write another novel instead. </div> <bR> <div> Things are looking pretty good for the one I've just finished. It's been sent out for quotes, better known as blurbs, from other authors, and some really great ones from some really kind and generous authors have come in already:</div> <bR> <div> "Claire Cook has an original voice, sparkling style and a window into family life that will make you laugh and cry. LIFE'S A BEACH is filled with hilarity, sister love and sister hate, juicy arguments and hard won reconciliations but most of all, heart. I'm giving it to my sister today!" </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> --Adriana Trigiani, author of HOME TO BIG STONE GAP</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> "If I had a sister, I'd want her to be Claire Cook. If I had a summer, I'd want it to be the summer that two sisters stropped their tongues and sparred over everything from fertility to photography to family. And if I could follow up the wry, wacky poignancy of MUST LOVE DOGS with any book, it would be LIFE'S A BEACH. Claire Cook is wicked good."<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> --Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN </div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> "LIFE'S A BEACH is a delicious coming of age novel-about two forty-something sisters who don't quite manage that feat until it's almost too late. I devoured this slice of family life served up in Claire Cook's inimitably warm and witty style. Tender, touching and terribly, terribly, funny!"</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> --Mary Kay Andrews, author of SAVANNAH BREEZE</div> <bR> <bR> <div> "Claire Cook's smart, delightful new book made me laugh on the first page and on every single page all the way through -- even when it also made me cry. True, tender, insightful, and hilarious -- I loved it." </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> --Pamela Redmond Satran, author of SUBURBANISTAS</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> "Claire Cook has given us a heroine you'll cheer for and a book you won't be able to put down. I loved it."</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> --Karen Quinn, author of THE IVY CHRONICLES</div> <bR> <div> So nice, aren't they? And I really am about to start writing my next novel. First I'll have to go through all my procrastination rituals, beginning with buying a new calendar and writing in my daily page quotas -- in ink, no less. Eventually I'll get to the stage where I start organizing my closets alphabetically, and that will scare me enough to start writing again. </div> <bR> <div> Well, that's it for now. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I'm off to find a line to stand in to try to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii. (If my son is reading this, he should know it's only for a friend.)</div> <bR> <div> Talk to you next time!</div> <bR> <div> As always, thank you so much for forwarding this email to anyone and everyone who might be interested. If this free e-mail newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can subscribe (and maybe even win some flip flops or a beach bag) by clicking on this link, or by copying and pasting it into your browser: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm"><U><U>http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm</U></U></A></FONT>. </div> <bR> <div> xxxxx,</div> <div> Claire</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.clairecook.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.clairecook.com/"><U><U>www.clairecook.com</U></U></A>. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> November 25, 2006 @ 8:46 AM</div> <div> The best part of Thanksgiving is the apres turkey walk, I think. It was a little bit rainy for it this year, but still nice. </div> <div> November 20, 2006 @ 2:04 PM</div> <div> The talented novelist Caroline Preston (Gatsby's Girl, Jackie by Josie, Lucy Crocker 2.0) just sent me this from Mad Magazine, along with a note that said, "Dear Claire, Now you really are famous!" Not really, of course, but it is pretty cool.....</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="24ec8e50.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="741" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> November 15, 2006 @ 10:07 AM</div> <div> Things are moving right along with <I>Life's a Beach</I>. The book club rights have sold to Bookspan, for use in Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Book of the Month Club and Rhapsody. Yay! </div> <bR> <div> And the Dutch rights just sold to EMI. They came up with the cover below for their translation of <I>Multiple Choice</I>, which I just love. Can't wait to see what they do with Li<I>fe's A Beach</I>, though it'll be hard to beat the original cover!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="25082d20.jpg" border=0 width="130" height="210" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> November 12, 2006 @ 2:22 PM</div> <div> I've been busy reworking my website -- hope you like it. </div> <div> And I've been spending lots of time thinking about my fifth novel. Scribbling notes and trying to resist the urge to just start writing instead of thinking it all through first. I have a plan that this time I'm going to have a plan, and maybe even some plot, first. We'll see how it goes....</div> <div> November 4, 2006 @ 10:51 AM</div> <div> Such a great time in NYC! I loved everybody at Hyperion, and if you ever get a chance to have lunch at Cafe Nougatine in the Trump Tower -- do it! I'm so honored to be on the VOICE list. The publication date for <I>Life's a Beach</I> is definitely June 5, 2007, and they have so many great ideas for promotion. Can't wait! RIght now I'm updating my website, so back to it....</div> <div> October 24, 2006 @ 1:47 PM</div> <div> I'm just sending out a newsletter now, so if you don't get it today, that means your spamcatcher did! Try adding newsletter@clairecook.com to your safe senders list. If you're not signed up, you can click here or on the e-newsletter link above. I'll be starting random drawings to give away some fun Life's A Beach stuff soon.</div> <bR> <div> Here's today's newsletter:</div> <bR> <div> Subject: Flip Flop Fever!</div> <bR> <div> Hi Everybody!</div> <bR> <div> Thanks so much to all the people who've been reminding me that I'm way overdue for a newsletter….</div> <bR> <div> The most exciting news right now is that the publication date for LIFE'S A BEACH has been moved up from August to June 2007! This feels a lot like being told I can subtract two months from a pregnancy, so I'm thrilled beyond belief that BEACH and I are suddenly and magically almost into our second trimester.</div> <bR> <div> Every stage is exciting, but there's nothing like seeing the cover for the first time. The cover design arrives by FedEx, and when you un-zip the cardboard carrier, it feels like it's your birthday but you don't even have to be another year older. The LIFE'S A BEACH cover is gorgeous - an endless expanse of sand, a glimpse from behind one shoulder of each of two sisters, both sets of legs crossed at the ankles, fabulous flip flops on both sets of feet.</div> <bR> <div> And yes, the best part is that now I have a legitimate excuse to wear flip flops on book tour! You have no idea how happy this makes me. The last time I was on book tour, I wore black and white polka dot high heels. My daughter talked me into buying them. I forgot to break them in gradually and on the first leg of the tour (I now know why they call them legs) in the third state in two days, I looked down between gigs, and my toes were actually bleeding. I couldn't help thinking of that old joke: “What's black and white and red all over?” An aging author in polka dot shoes on book tour?</div> <bR> <div> So, I'm wiggling my toes and kicking up my heels just thinking about those flip flops. I'm also heading to New York soon to meet everybody at VOICE/Hyperion. Can't wait! I'm sure I'll have some news for you when I get back. And I'm also going to start some website giveaways soon. Flip flops anyone? Or maybe beach bags? </div> <bR> <div> Oh, and by the way, though I was totally inundated with dump stories, not too many stories came back about people who have lived in FROGs (Finished Rooms Over the Garage.) I did, however, hear from lots of people who have family members they <I>wish</I> lived in a FROG. </div> <bR> <div> Well, that's it for now. Talk to you next time. To see the gorgeous LIFE'S A BEACH cover and read a little bit about my upcoming novel, go to http://www.clairecook.com/id35.htm" <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>http://www.clairecook.com/id35.htm</U></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> As always, thank you so much for forwarding this email to anyone and everyone who might be interested. If this free e-mail newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can subscribe (and maybe even win some flip flops, which means you'll just have to take a trip somewhere warm to wear them) by clicking on this link, or by copying and pasting it into your browser: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm"><U><U>http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm</U></U></A></FONT>. And if your spam catcher is grabbing my newsletter before you can, make sure you add <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="mailto:newsletter@clairecook.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:newsletter@clairecook.com"><U><U>newsletter@clairecook.com</U></U></A></FONT> to your address book.</div> <bR> <div> xxxxx,</div> <div> Claire</div> <bR> <bR> <div> October 21, 2006 @ 2:49 PM</div> <div> About a dozen people have reminded me this week that I'm way overdue for a newsletter. Lots of news, too, so I promise I'll get one out soon!</div> <bR> <div> October 12, 2006 @ 1:46 PM</div> <div> Okay, proud mom that I am, I've gone from putting my kids' art on the refrigerator to adding them to my blog. These are two of my favorites by my son, Kaden, who's a dual major in art/animation and interactive game design. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="252fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="4" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="254fa540.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="340" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> October 11, 2006 @ 12:53 PM</div> <div> Just back from collecting bittersweet vines, which I'm hoping will disguise the fact that I stopped watering my window boxes and terracotta pots sometime in August, and the mums I just added weren't quite making up for all the dried out stuff. I might even think about cleaning my house next. Eventually this little domestic foray will get old, and I'll start writing my next novel. At least that's the plan. In the meantime, the galley pages of <I>Life's a Beach</I> have arrived. This book is so beautifully designed -- everything from the cover to the interior design is just perfect. It's such a pleasure to just look at the pages. And then I remember, oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be reading this and checking for typos..... But I think I'll go to the gym first.</div> <bR> <div> October 06, 2006 @ 6:52 PM</div> <div> Such great Harvest Moon weather. I just want to stand in my yard and breathe the fall air. And hollow out a pumpkin and fill it with pumpkin stew. Although I think I tried that once back in my domestic days and the pumpkin collapsed in the oven and made a huge mess. So maybe I'll stick to standing in the yard and breathing. </div> <bR> <div> September 28, 2006 @ 6:52 PM</div> <div> Excerpt from an article Carleisha Canty wrote for The Daily Campus at UConn:</div> <div>  </div> <div> "The story behind the popular movie, "Must Love Dogs," was written by author Claire Cook, of Massachusetts, who came to the Student Union theatre Wednesday night.... She walked into the theatre, very excited and enthusiastic about the lecture she was about to give. As she walked down the aisle, she greeted everyone with smiles and joy, stating that she was very happy to be among them. The Student Union Board of Governors lecture coordinator, Brian Carabella, directed her to the green room at the edge of the stage. She said, 'I don't need a green room.' </div> <bR> <div> "Carabella began to introduce Cook, and as he was doing so the audience caught a glimpse of the real Cook. She peeked into the green room and then smiled at the audience. She then proceeded to walk across the stage and dropped one of the many books she was carrying in her hand. It was very relaxing to see her make mistakes and laugh at herself, as she admired the Student Union theatre. As she began her lecture, she walked away from the microphone, only then realizing that she needed it in order for the audience to hear her. Her errors during the opening of the lecture proved she was a very ordinary person, excited about life and about talking to students interested in her work.</div> <bR> <div> "'I've read her books and this was an amazing opportunity to meet her,' said Carolann Chanko, a 1st-semester English major. </div> <bR> <div> "'I'm an aspiring writer and have been tentative about it,' said Lauren Ashley Ellis, a sophomore English major. "But after hearing her speak it's helped me to overcome my fears and jump in to this writing thing head first, without fear of rejection."</div> <bR> <div> <I>Okay, so I sound a bit clutzy -- but nice job, Carleisha! </I></div> <bR> <div> September 28, 2006 @ 12:35 PM</div> <div> I had such a great time speaking at UConn last night! The students in the audience were so smart and enthusiastic and interesting, and asked so many great questions. While I was signing books for them after the event, several of them took the time to tell me how pumped up they were to start writing their own novels. I loved their energy and left ready to start applying for teaching jobs again! A huge thanks to Brian and Megan and everyone else who helped coordinate the event.</div> <div> September 22, 2006 @ 7:28 AM</div> <div> <I>Life's a Beach</I> is really starting to feel like a book! My fabulous new publisher (Hyperion/Voice) even passed out bound manuscripts (a kind of pre-book made with the typed pages and a photo of the cover) at NEBA (the New England Booksellers Association trade show) last weekend, along with books by other Hyperion authors, including Mitch Albom and Andy Borowitz. Here's a photo -- if you squint, you can just see the flip flops on the cover!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="255fa4d0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="333" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>   </div> <div> September 14, 2006 @ 9:10 AM</div> <div> Must be book-writing season! In the last few weeks I've received DOZENS of requests from aspiring writers. Interestingly, several were from people who wanted to co-write movie scripts with me!</div> <div> I'm a novelist, not a screenplay writer. Gary David Goldberg gets full credit for the <I>Must Love Dogs</I> movie, which he based on my second novel.</div> <bR> <div> I'd suggest taking a screenplay writing workshop, or getting your hands on some books about screenplay writing. There are lots of websites out there - here's one I just found for you to get you started:  <U>http://www.writersstore.com/</U>. </div> <bR> <div> Movies are all about structure, and the format is very formulaic and specific. Once you figure out how to write it, there's even a software program called Final Draft that will help you format it. Focus on finishing and polishing a script first - you can worry about pitching it down the road.</div> <bR> <div> If you're thinking about writing a book rather than a screenplay, you might want to check out the Advice for Aspiring Writers page on this website.</div> <bR> <div> Good luck, everybody!</div> <bR> <div> August 29, 2006 @ 10:55 AM </div> <div> Motoko Rich's article, "Hyperion Starts Imprint to Help Women Whittle the Book Choices" is in today's New York Times. It talks about Voice, the new imprint I've signed on with for my fourth novel, <I>Life's a Beach</I> and even mentions <I>Beach</I> and me! Click on this link to read it: </div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/books/29voic.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/books/"><U>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/books/29voic.html</U></A></div> <bR> <div> August 24, 2006 @ 8:24 AM</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="25690400.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="320" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Here's a photo from the We Can event at the Chatham Bars Inn. It was a fabulous day and $75,000 was raised for a wonderful cause, so if you're on the Cape next year, don't miss it. (<A HREF="http://www.wecancenter.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.wecancenter.org"><U>www.wecancenter.org</U></A>) Left to right, Alice Hoffman, me, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Julie Harris, Jennifer Weiner and Joan Anderson. </div> <bR> <div> August 22, 2006 @ 10:09 AM</div> <div> I had such a great time last week at a benefit at the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod. We Can, which helps Cape women in transition, honored actress Julie Harris with a lifetime achievement award. Alice Hoffman, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Jennifer Weiner and I talked about our books made into movies. A really fun and fascinating day, and I met so many wonderful women. The We Can event organizers promised to send me some of the photos -- I'll post them as soon as they arrive.</div> <div> August 13, 2006 @ 12:12 PM</div> <div> The good new is that the weather is amazing. The not so good new is the neighbors' one white turkey and five gourmet chickens have eaten their way through the neighborhood and into our garden. It's very strange to look out your door and see a turkey and five chickens chomping away on your designer daylilies. I wasn't particularly upset when I saw this. I mostly just wondered how they knew that daylilies are edible, and also whether I should offer to stuff the daylilies with salmon mousse for them, since that's the only way I've ever eaten a daylily. The turkey is clearly the ringleader, the leader of the pack, the brains of the outfit, which is kind of scary if you've spent any time around turkeys.</div> <div> So, just in case it happens to you, this is how you get them out of your garden: You bring out a box of cereal. When you shake it, they will follow you anywhere, even back to their own daylily-less yard. </div> <div> Now that they know we have cereal, however, we have to be careful leaving our screen door open while we carry the groceries in from the car to the kitchen, because the turkey will walk right through the open door and into the house, the five chicken posse following right behind. </div> <div>  </div> <div> August 9, 2006 @ 8:20 AM</div> <div> I've spent the last week catching up on the mountain of fabulous email triggered by my last newsletter. Thanks so much for all your kind words about the new title, <I>Life's a Beach</I>. And for all the great invitations for my next book tour. Though, of course, there are always those one or two people who have to tell me how much they like the old title better, or my last book better, or they wish I'd go back to teaching aerobics again because I'm okay at this novel-writing thing but I was a <I>really</I> good choreographer. Even though it's been about a century since I closed that particular chapter. And then there are the one or two people who have to say how relieved they are that I have a new title, since they hated the old title, which, by the way, is the same title they told me they loved about three emails ago. I guess change is just hard for some people.</div> <div> I did get one really interesting email from someone who wanted to know if I was the same Claire Cook who performed with her for the New England Patriots in 1990. You know, I really think I'd remember something like that, even sixteen years later. And I wonder what kind of performance it was that I'm blocking. Hmm.</div> <bR> <div> August 3, 2006 @ 3:07 PM</div> <div> Here's my latest newsletter, just in case it didn't make it through your spam blocker. (Seems like AOL and Earthlink are the toughest, but you can try adding newsletter@clairecook.com to your address book or safe senders list. If you're not signed up yet, but would like to be, click here. </div> <div> Subject: Life's a Beach!</div> <bR> <div> Hi Everybody!</div> <bR> <div> Well, the big news is that my upcoming fourth novel has a new title: <I>Life's a Beach</I>! Much as I liked the original title, <I>Take It or Leave It</I> (and dozens of the other 243,899 titles brainstormed in between) this really fits the novel so much better. It will be such a fun, beachy title to have when I hit the road for book tour beginning in August 2007 and ending, well, whenever.</div> <bR> <div> Don't worry, the father of this quirky family still won't be able to stay away from Take It or Leave It, the part of the dump where you drop off the stuff you don't need and pick up more stuff (which, of course, you don't really need either)<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" > .  </FONT> Thanks so much to the many readers who sent me their own dump and landfill stories, which are now up on my website. (Go to <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://clairecook.com/id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://clairecook.com/id35.htm"><U><U>http://clairecook.com/id35.htm</U></U></A></FONT> to read them.)</div> <bR> <div> I think I frightened a few booksellers and librarians by joking about doing the first all-dump author tour. One of my favorite booksellers even offered to rent a dump truck for the occasion! Thank you so much for your unconditional support, but unless you really have your heart set on a landfill signing, I'll be perfectly happy hanging out with you in your lovely air-conditioned bookstore. </div> <bR> <div> So, what is <I>Life's a Beach</I> about? It's about two sisters who fight like cats and dogs, but call each other at least twice a day. The heroine finds herself back home living in the family FROG (finished room over the garage) in the fictional town of Marshbury. She's spent a few too many years in sales, and is hoping for a more fulfilling life as a seaglass artist. Her sister is struggling with a landmark birthday, her father is a bit of a dump picker, and a movie comes to town. There's also a very hot glassblower, and sparks fly with the gaffer on the movie set, too. </div> <bR> <div> In other news, I'll be joining Alice Hoffman, Jacquelyn Mitchard and Jennifer Weiner (as well as mistress of ceremonies Joan Anderson) on August 15 to discuss our novels turned into Hollywood movies (and to watch legendary actress Julie Harris receive a lifetime achievement award) at We Can's annual fundraiser, A Day of Women's Words, Whimsy and Wisdom, at the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod.  </div> <bR> <div> Well, that's it for now. Talk to you next time and enjoy these dog days of summer. Oh, I know, how about sending me your FROG (finished room over the garage) stories, and I can put some of those on my website, too! Thanks!</div> <bR> <div> As always, thank you so much for forwarding this email to anyone and everyone who might be interested. If this free e-mail newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can subscribe by clicking on this link, or by copying and pasting it into your browser: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm"><U><U>http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm</U></U></A></FONT>. And if your spam catcher is grabbing my newsletter before you can, make sure you add <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="mailto:newsletter@clairecook.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:newsletter@clairecook.com"><U><U>newsletter@clairecook.com</U></U></A></FONT> to your address book.</div> <bR> <div> xxxxx,</div> <div> Claire</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="257faa70.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="167" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> August 1, 2006 @ 10:09 AM</div> <div> Do you ever have those times when all day long you suddenly hear from people you haven't heard from in years? And not all of them even want a favor. You know, there's an old quote I wish I could track down about a true friend being someone who's still your friend even when things are going well. </div> <div> July 30, 2006 @ 1:17 PM</div> <div> <A HREF="javascript:window.close()" TARGET="_top" TITLE="javascript:window.close()"><U><IMG SRC="25926840.jpg" border=0 width="294" height="132" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> My new novel, <I>Life's a Beach</I>, will be published by Hyperion in August 2007. I can't wait! By the way, this isn't the cover, but a sign I happened to buy a few years ago. I must have known...</div> <bR> <div> July 26, 2006 @ 8:42 AM</div> <div> Well, my new novel is getting there. Revisions are almost finished and I'm feeling really good about them. The title has changed about 250,765 times, so I'll let you know when we have one that's definite. I'm also finally figuring out what this novel is actually about. I'm always the last to know! I guess it's because I'm in the thick of things with the characters, writing, not on the outside looking in, thinking about what I'm writing about. If that makes sense. Anyway, I think this novel is about two sisters who fight like cats and dogs but call each other at least twice a day. More to come....</div> <div> July 10, 2006 @ 5:55 PM</div> <div> I finally checked my website email, which I've been ignoring while I finish this set of revisions. Lots of the email this time around seemed to be from aspiring writers asking me how to write a query letter.</div> <bR> <div> There are so many good books out there with sample query letters. Definitely at least get your hands on Writers' Market. Beyond that, there is no right or wrong way to write one, and I think it depends on what feels right to you. My own personal style is based on something one of the characters in Multiple Choice says -- "Karma is a boomerang." I'd find out who represents the authors whose work I genuinely admire and that somehow feels connected to my own. I'd google that agent for her contact info, and I'd begin my letter by mentioning the author and what I like about her writing. And I'd finish with a genuinely humble wish that the agent would take time out of her busy schedule to read my work, and thank her for even considering it.</div> <bR> <div> Hope that helps!</div> <bR> <div> June 23, 2006 @ 11:15 AM</div> <div> I'm taking a little bit of a break between revisions on my new novel. I owe phone calls and email to everybody, although if I do that, then it's really not much of a break, is it? Hmm, maybe I'll just curl up with a good book instead. Hope everyone's having a good summer so far.</div> <div> May 31, 2006 @ 2:53 PM</div> <div> A huge thanks to Candy Hammond for including me in this great piece in the Cape Cod Times:</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/dilemma29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/dil"><U>http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/dilemma29.htm</U></A></div> <div> May 21, 2006 @ 5:55 PM</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="25a90a10.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="161" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> So nice of Carol Tassel to send this photo from the Brandeis luncheon. I'm the one who's clearly too tall for the photo. </div> <bR> <div> May 18, 2006 @ 7:50 AM</div> <div> Well, I left the house just long enough to speak at a Brandeis National Women's Committee fundraiser. What a great group of women -- so smart and funny. The only negative words I heard were about why the people who were having the fish got fancy pastry bag squirted mashed potatoes, with lots of pretty ripples, and those who ordered chicken got the same potatoes but merely molded with an ice cream scooper. For a few minutes there, it was a real dilemma. Now I just have to find a place to use that in my new novel ...</div> <div>  </div> <div> May 16, 2006 @ 5:48 PM</div> <div> I'm making good progress on my revisions. I love characters and dialog, so it's always the plot, or lack thereof, that needs work. Revisions are like a giant puzzle, because just about every sentence you change impacts the whole book. It feels good though to be moving forward though. And I hear the sun will FINALLY be out tomorrow. </div> <bR> <div> May 13, 2006 @ 9:55 AM</div> <div> I should be working on my revisions, but all this rain just makes me want to take a nap. I'm getting lots of nice email from people who read my guest column, "Must Love Moms" in the May issue of Working Mother magazine, thanking me for encouraging them to go after their dreams. Most of them even said how much they like my books, which means I'm the one who's grateful to them for encouraging me to hang in there with my fourth novel -- now, if I can only stay awake!</div> <bR> <div> May 11, 2006 @ 6:26 PM</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Just finished a piece on creative writing tips for teachers for One Planet Education Network. You can read it by clicking on this link:</FONT><I> </I><A HREF="http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/teacher_writing_tips.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/teache"><U><I>http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/teacher_writing_tips.asp</I></U></A></div> <div> If you don't know the site, you have to check it out. I admit I got stuck playing interactive classical music games (ages 4 and up) for about an hour last time I visited: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/music_games.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/music_"><U><U>http://www.oneplaneteducation.com/music_games.asp</U></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> May 7, 2006 @ 11:46 AM</div> <div> I was out buying paint yesterday (All-A-Blaze, to be exact), and I started thinking that maybe instead of finishing this novel, I could find a job naming paints. Blue Bliss. Tuscan Teal. Zen Dream. See, I'm totally talented. And it would be so much less pressure than a whole novel. I could also name nailpolishes on the side, if I needed more stimulation. Martini Madness. Hard Core. Call Me. Okay, maybe I'll stick to <I>Take It or Leave It</I>. </div> <div> Anyway, for anyone who lives in my neck of the woods, while I was at the paint store I ran into Mat Brown of Building 19 and former SHS high school math teacher fame. He's working on the Scituate Nickname Project, "an attempt to bestow immortality upon Scituate's more interesting nicknames." He's got some good ones -- Jigger, Crooked Neck, Itchie, Grunt, Hacker, Monkey, Punky, Squabby. Kind of makes you want to visit, doesn't it? </div> <div> If you have any Scituate nicknames for him, you can send them to <A HREF="mailto:mat@matbrown.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:mat@matbrown.net"><U>mat@matbrown.net</U></A>.  </div> <bR> <div> April 29, 2006 @ 11:01 AM</div> <div> Isn't this cool? It's a virtual neon sign maker. I'm not sure what the point is, but I like it anyway.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="25b2c900.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> April 26, 2006 @ 2:39 PM</div> <div> Well, I finally finished answering all the email that came in after I sent out my last newsletter. I think I scared a few booksellers with talk of my dump book tour! Oh, well, in case you missed it, here's the newsletter. (Click here to sign up to get the next one. And if you're signed up but they're not getting to you, try looking in your, gasp, spam file. Then right click on it and add newsletter@clairecook.com to your safe senders list.)</div> <div> From:  "Claire Cook's Fabulous News!" <newsletter@clairecook.com> </div> <div> Subject:  Take It Or Leave It! </div> <div> Date:  Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:15:48 PM  [View Source]    </div> <div>  </div> <div> Hi Everybody!</div> <div> I can’t believe how many invitations I have for my next novel already! If this keeps up, I’ll be on book tour for at least a couple years, which might actually be a nice way to balance things after spending way too much time at the computer in my pajamas. </div> <div> I’m excited about all the possibilities, and I particularly love being a part of events that are fundraisers. If it’s a good cause and the timing works out (August through the fall of 2007) and there’s a clear showcase for my new book, let me know, and maybe we can make it work. </div> <div> Last time I promised to give you some details about the new novel, Take It or Leave It. I’m just going to tell you a little bit, because I hate it when you’ve heard so much about a book that it feels as if you’ve already read it by the time it comes out. So, okay, the title is about that place you get to in life when, in terms of relationships, some things are negotiable, but others are pretty much take it or leave it. Also, the heroine’s father is a bit of a dump picker, and "Take It or Leave It” is the part of the local landfill where you drop off the stuff you no longer need and pick out some new stuff, which, of course, you don’t really need either.</div> <div> You might be relieved to hear that the novel isn’t really about dumps. Or landfills. Or transfer stations. Must Love Dogs wasn’t really about dogs, either, but one of the gifts of that book was that I spent a lot of time doing events where booksellers teamed up with animal shelters, and I probably signed almost as many books to readers’ dogs as to the readers themselves. </div> <div> I think the same thing will happen with Take It Or Leave It. I mean, if fifty is the new thirty, pink is the new green, and tangerine is the new neutral, well, dump just might be the new dog. </div> <div> There are signs already. When I started writing the book, I knew there was a real Take It or Leave It in the town where I live. I’ve since heard there’s also a Take It or Leave It on Nantucket that goes by the nickname, TILI, (which I just might have to borrow for a nickname for my novel). Then a Cape Cod friend told me about the legendary Truro Dump Dance, which I’d somehow managed to miss in my dancier days. But I did remember vacationing one summer in the Adirondacks, and everybody actually drove to the local dump at night and lined up their cars to watch the bears graze in the garbage under the glow of the headlights.</div> <div> Okay, so here’s my idea. If local politicians campaign at the dump/landfill/transfer station, and Girl Scouts even sell cookies there, why couldn’t I be the first author to do a dump tour? It might be a little bit smelly in August, and I’d probably have to yell in coastal areas to be heard over the seagulls, but I think it has tremendous potential. So, once again, kind readers, I really need you. Any and all info about your local dump scene will be greatly appreciated.  </div> <div> Silly idea? Hey, take it or leave it.</div> <div> xxxxx,</div> <div> Claire</div> <div> Claire Cook is the bestselling author of Multiple Choice (optioned by Working Title), Must Love Dogs (the movie adaptation starring Diane Lane and John Cusack is now on DVD), and Ready to Fall. Her fourth novel, Take It or Leave It, will be published by Hyperion in 2007. To find out more, and to read her blog, visit her website at www.clairecook.com. </div> <bR> <div> April 19, 2006 @ 12:02 PM</div> <div> Wow, so much great email about my April 11th post. Sometimes I forget there are so many nice people reading this blog. Thanks for sticking up for me, and calling the woman everything from "horrible" to "a bitch" and beyond. Several people said they bet she wasn't much of a writer at all, and that her book couldn't be better than mine. I thought that was really funny, since I never thought for a second that she'd written even the first word of her own book. Books are a whole bunch easier to talk about than they are to write, as I'm sure anyone who's ever tried will attest. Anyway, thanks for the sweetness and sympathy. I'm totally over it and have even left my house on several occasions with barely a twitch. Oh, one final twist. The other day I looked in my wallet for my license and it wasn't there! Turned out the woman had wrapped the return receipt around my credit card but not my license, and I was in too big a hurry to get out of there to notice. So I had to go back to the store and get my license. Fortunately, she wasn't there. Possibly checking up on her book at her lawyer's....</div> <div> April 11, 2006 @ 3:34 PM</div> <div> Okay, so I am never leaving my house again. Yesterday, after working out at the gym, I stopped at a nearby store to return something I never should have bought in the first place. I handed the woman at the return counter my credit card and license, and she looked over her reading glasses at me. "How's your book?" she asked.</div> <div> I smiled sweetly. "Thanks for asking," I said, looking over my shoulder at the line of women behind me and raising my voice a tiny bit. "I just finished my fourth novel."</div> <div> "Well, I've got your next book for you," she said.</div> <div> I've heard this at least five billion times at this point. For some reason people think that having an idea for a novel, or having a personal experience that might make a good book, is the same thing as having a book. And I don't think they realize that ideas for books are a dime a dozen -- but, I mean, try writing one.</div> <div> "Thanks," I said. "But maybe that's the book <I>you</I> should write."</div> <div> "Don't worry," she said. "I'm writing it. But it's not getting out until I die. It has to stay in my lawyer's hands until then."</div> <div> There's a turning point in every conversation like this, an exact moment you realize that the other person might unfortunately be off her meds. "Oh," I said.</div> <div> She finally scanned my credit card, and scowled at my driver's license. "Are you still married?" she asked.</div> <div> Something told me this was not the time to make a joke about running off with an actor, or even an extra, from the <I>Must Love Dogs</I> movie. "Yup," I said. </div> <div> "There's a lot of different people who've told me they're resentful about you," she said. </div> <div> I looked her right in the eyes. "What a mean thing to say to me," I said. </div> <div> "Well, I didn't say it," she said.</div> <div> Well, obviously she did, though it was quite possible she actually thought she <I>was</I> a lot of different people. Now, I knew what this crazy, angry woman, who was staring at my home address, no less, was really saying was that <I>she</I> was resentful. Because I was still married? Because I didn't want to write her book? Hard to say.</div> <div> I heard rustling behind me. Possibly the other customers were rethinking their choice of return line, though they might also have been leaning closer so they didn't miss anything. I looked around, hoping for a manager, or even a shift change.</div> <div> "Who told you all that divorce stuff then?" she asked. </div> <div> "I made it up?" I tried. "I'm a novelist. We make things up for a living."</div> <div> She shook her head, as if to tell me it wasn't enough of an answer to get my license and credit card back. </div> <div> "I have tons of friends and family who've been divorced," I added. I caught myself before I made up something about it being my second or third marriage, or said that I fought a lot with my husband. "The narrators of two of my other novels were married. And Debra Winger once said something about the possibility of divorce existing in every day of every marriage. Or something like that," I finished. </div> <div> I took a deep breath and reached out my hand for the pen she finally offered. I was willing to sign anything at this point, maybe even divorce papers, just to get out of that store. I didn't even want my money back anymore.</div> <div> "My story's much better," she said. "You better hope you live longer than I do so you can read it. And I've never read any of your books. And I won't see the movie until it's on DVD. Didn't you used to be a gym teacher?"</div> <div> I signed my name to the slip and handed it back to her. "It's already on DVD," I said for some strange reason.</div> <div> "I mean at the library," she said. "For free. Do you know if it's there yet?"</div> <div> I shrugged and held out my hand. She carefully wrapped the return slip into a noose around my license and credit card, and finally handed them over to me.</div> <div> "Thanks," I said.</div> <div> "Have a nice day," she said.</div> <bR> <div> April 10, 2006 @ 11:07 AM</div> <div> So, how strange is this?  I was flipping through the paper, and saw that there was an open house at the house where my family and I had lived some sixteen years ago. Our kids were born there. They got their first and only stitches while we lived in that house -- our daughter jumping on a bed and just missing her eye when she fell against the old iron headboard, and our son tipping over as a toddler and gashing his forehead on the raised brick hearth of the fireplace. Stitches aside, we have so many great memories of our time there, plus we put in a lot of sweat equity and did some pretty major renovations. Anyway, I showed the listing to my husband, and we both agreed we were dying to see how the house had change since we'd moved on.</div> <bR> <div> Though the tile counters had turned to granite, and the living and dining areas had been reversed, and there were some new beadboard built-ins that I would have killed for, it was fun to see the little bits of us that were still left in the house after sixteen years. A border of chipped green paint peeked around the edges of the new  sisal carpeting that had helped turn the old playroom into a media room. The oak floor we'd had installed on a diagonal in the master bedroom, when we'd tripled its size with an addition that had left us broke for a long time, still looked new.</div> <bR> <div> "They did a great job," my husband said to the realtor as we finished our stroll down memory lane.</div> <bR> <div> "Yeah," the realtor said. He paused. "You know," he continued in a lower voice. "That writer used to live here...."</div> <bR> <div> My heart stopped. For some reason I thought of Tom Sawyer watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That writer!!! Ohmigod, I was that writer. </div> <bR> <div> I hope I get the credit for those beadboard built-ins.</div> <bR> <div> April 2, 2006 @ 3:44 PM<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#993366" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Here's a link to an article from the Cape Cod Times. It's a nice reminder about how important it is to support your local independent bookstore, wherever you live:</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/biz/anovel2.htm " TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/biz"><U>http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/biz/anovel2.htm  </U></A></div> <bR> <div> April 1, 2006 @ 1:15 PM  </div> <div> Well, the weather's certainly no joke today -- it's still gorgeous here. And I'm <I>still</I> catching up on my email. Lots and lots of high school students doing their author projects on me this year. Very sweet, but tons of work answering them all. The most frequently asked question" "How long does it take you to write one of your novels?"</div> <bR> <div> The answer is, of course, "Which time?" I think most people think you just write a draft, send it off to somebody, and then -- presto! -- there's a book on the shelf. The reality is that it should really be called rewriting instead of writing. I completed three drafts of my new novel, <I>Take It Or Leave It</I>, before it went out to editors. And now I'll jump back in again as soon as my revisions arrive and write another full draft. Then it'll go back to my editor, and then it will come back to me again for another rewrite. And after that it'll go to the copyeditor, and then I'll make those changes. And then come the corrections on the galleys. And, eventually, several years after I first started the book, I'll be lucky enough to finally see it on the bookstore shelf.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> March 30, 2006 @ 9:12 AM</div> <div> Such a thrill to wake up and hear that Jill Carroll had been released! And then I went outside and all the crocuses in the garden had opened. Coincidence? I think not. Okay, probably, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>     <IMG SRC="25cc8960.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <IMG SRC="25dc8960.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    </div> <bR> <div> March 29, 2006 @ 7:03 AM</div> <div> I had a great time at Brewster Ladies Library last night. It might have been even more fun if they hadn't made me stand there and hold up the sign the whole time.... </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="25fc80b0.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="267" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    </div> <div> Just kidding. Thanks so much to everyone for coming out to see me! </div> <bR> <div> March 26, 2006 @ 1:27 PM</div> <div> I'm still trying to answer all the email I've received since my last e-newsletter. So many nice people out there:</div> <div> <I>"Dear Claire, Please keep me on your e-mail list. I love all your books, and I cried all through the Must Love Dogs movie."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>"My book group just read Multiple Choice, and I want you to know that all twelve of us loved it, and agreed we think Hugh Grant should play David Callahan in the movie. Will you tell him or can we?"</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>"I just wanted to say hello and tell you how much I enjoy your emails and books...You always make me laugh, but I do not want you to spend time replying, as I know the overwhelming sense you must be feeling, just book a  talk and signing and I will see you there." </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>"Hi Claire, </I></div> <div> <I>   I feel as if I know you after reading your e-mail (and previous ones)!  You certainly give readers an insight to an author's busy life - so exciting and so many things going on at once."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>"Thank you for the email and so lovely of you to remember your readers. I wish you great success and am looking forwrd to the next book. I read constantly and your new stories are delightful! Enjoy everything you will be accomplishing and know how fortunate to have such talent believing in you! Will look forward to the next email!"</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>"Hi Claire! To think I knew you way back when! I showed my 9 year old daughter your picture in the year book (she saw the preview of "Must Love Dogs" in the theater and I told her that you and I went to high school together). She was VERY impressed...love when I can impress my kids (ha!). Anyway, just wanted to send a quick note to say "Hi" and good luck with your new book. Also, please send me $1,000,000,000,000....(just kidding)."</I></div> <bR> <div> And I also have received dozens and dozens of emails asking what kind of dog played Mother Teresa in the <I>Must Love Dogs</I> movie. It seems kind of strange that people keep asking <I>me</I>, but maybe I'm just easier to contact than Warner Bros. </div> <bR> <div> Anyway, in the book, Mother Teresa is a St. Bernard puppy. This is her book jacket personna. As much as I loved the book cover, I always pictured her a lot bigger: </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <IMG SRC="2617d910.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="145" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <bR> <div> In the movie, she's played by twin Newfoundland puppies named Mollie and Maeve. They were around six months old when the movie was filmed, and they're now lucky enough to live with Gary David Goldberg and the rest of his pack. Those are my kids petting Mollie (at least I think it's Mollie) on the set. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="18aaf830.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="131" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="18bafe90.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="18caf830.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="131" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="18dafe90.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> March 17, 2006 @ 10:40 PM</div> <bR> <div> Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everybody!<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#006633" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="26651810.jpg" border=0 width="81" height="129" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">Did you see these AP photos -- 'BOOK LOOK' HITS FASHION WORLD? All I can say is it's about time, and I can't wait to wear something like this on my next book tour!</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Andre+Tan+&fr=&c=news_photos " TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news"><U>http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Andre+Tan+&fr=&c=news_photos </U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> March 14, 2006 @ 10:31 AM</div> <bR> <div> Here's my most recent newsletter. If you've signed up but you're not receiving it, try adding newsletter@clairecook.com to your address book or safe senders list. If you're not signed up, click here.</div> <div>  </div> <div> From: Claire Cook's Fabulous News</div> <div> Subject: Back Again!</div> <bR> <div> Hi Everybody!</div> <bR> <div> Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written …</div> <bR> <div> I think I went into official overload status somewhere around last August. There were over 250,000 hits on my little author website, www.clairecook.com, in the month of July alone. And it seemed like about every third person who visited was kind enough to send me an email. </div> <bR> <div> It was overwhelming in the best possible way to hear from so many wonderful </div> <div> people. Telling me they’d seen the Must Love Dogs movie on their plane ride from Paris/Bulgaria/Iowa City. Reminding me we’d sat next to each other in third grade and that I’d wanted to be a writer/teacher/dog even back then. Inviting me to speak/give advice/loan money. Letting me know they’d read Must Love Dogs because of the movie, and then gone from there directly to Multiple Choice/Ready to Fall/some other book that I didn’t actually write.</div> <bR> <div> Once the movie excitement settled down, I headed off to Denmark to speak at a national literary conference and then back for the Pennsylvania and </div> <div> Massachusetts Conferences for Women. Then I tried to answer all that email, </div> <div> really I did. But after a string of ten hour days with barely a dent made, it </div> <div> hit me: I could catch up on my email, or I could finish writing my next novel.</div> <bR> <div> I hope you’ll agree that I made the right choice. My fourth novel, TAKE IT OR </div> <div> LEAVE IT, is finished! Yay! Okay, finished is a slight exaggeration. It’s more accurate to say it has a home, and I’m about to dig into my revisions, and by </div> <div> the time it’s published in 2007, it will definitely be finished. I decided to follow my brilliant editor, Pamela Dorman, to Hyperion, where she’s just started her own imprint, which will feature fiction and nonfiction targeting women 35 and up. As much as I’ll miss everyone at Viking and NAL and all their terrific </div> <div> support, I’m thrilled and honored to have this new opportunity. (And NAL has my backlist, so I’ll still get to hang out with them sometimes…)</div> <bR> <div> What is TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT about, you might ask? Well, I’ll have to tell you </div> <div> next month (yes, this newsletter is officially monthly again), because right now I’m still obsessing about all that unanswered email. How about from here on in, I’ll read every email, and answer as many as I can. Maybe I’ll answer some of </div> <div> them in my blog (http://www.clairecook.com/id2.htm), protecting your names and identities, of course. Wow, I like that. It could be great multitasking, since it’ll also give me something to write about in my blog.</div> <bR> <div> Okay, I feel better already. Oh, one more thing. I’m trying to organize all the events requests I’ve received, so I can pass them along to my publicist for my next book tour. It’s over a year away, so we’ve got plenty of time, but I just </div> <div> want to make sure I don’t leave you out. Even if you’ve already been in touch, would you mind sending a quick email to events@clairecook.com? Thanks so much.  </div> <bR> <div> And once again, many thanks to friends, family, readers, booksellers and the </div> <div> media for your continued support, and please forward this email to everyone you know!</div> <bR> <div> If this free e-mail newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can subscribe by clicking on this link, or by copying and pasting it into your browser: </div> <div> http://www.clairecook.com/id25.htm</div> <bR> <div> xxxxx,</div> <div> Claire</div> <bR> <div> March 13, 2006 @ 7:32 PM</div> <bR> <div> Now here's an interesting email from a reader:</div> <bR> <div> <I>"Dear Claire...I just finished "Must Love Dogs" a day after buying it, since I hated putting it down for a second... I have the dilema of being invited to spend a week or two in the mountains above Barcelona with a Spanish friend of mine who owns a B&B there. An historic building dating back to 1795, refurbished by his family and now a landmark. Some dilema, huh?  There are too many strings attached I'm afraid, so who knows? I wonder what Sarah would do..."</I></div> <bR> <div> Let's see, Sarah from <I>Must Love Dogs</I> would say she couldn't go, but would ultimately end up going. March from my third novel <I>Multiple Choice</I> would say she was going, but would eventually decide it wouldn't exactly be the best move for her marriage. Beth from my first novel <I>Ready to Fall</I> would just email the guy and pretend she was in the mountains above Barcelona with him. And the heroine from my new novel? She would already have dated this guy!</div> <bR> <div> March 1, 2006 @ 2:42 PM</div> <bR> <div> Just passing this along, and have already boxed up some of my own books.</div> <bR> <div> Seeking Book Donations >>> The New Orleans Public Library >>> (New Orleans LA) </div> <div> The New Orleans Public Library is asking for any and all hardcove and paperback books for people of all ages in an effort to restock the shelves after Katrina. The staff will assess which titles will be designated for its collections. The rest will be distributed to destitute families or sold for library fundraising. </div> <bR> <div> Please send your books to:</div> <div> Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations </div> <div> New Orleans Public Library </div> <div> 219 Loyola Avenue</div> <div> New Orleans, LA 70112 </div> <bR> <div> P.S. If you tell the post office that they are for the library in New Orleans, they will give you the library rate which is slightly less than the book rate. </div> <bR> <div> February 26, 2006 @ 1:08 PM</div> <div> Okay, so I'm not positive, but I think this is pretty funny. I was catching up on my website email, and I came across the following. The subject line was "Must Love Dogs." </div> <div> <I>"I was impressed by the quotes used in the movie. Can you tell me the origin of the quotes that Cameron Diaz reads to the man in the nursing home as well as the quote that she uses during the wedding scene?"</I></div> <bR> <div> It scared me for a minute -- I thought, was Cameron Diaz really in the Must Love Dogs movie and, if so, how did I miss her?</div> <bR> <div> And then there's this one:</div> <bR> <div> <I>"Can you PLEASE tell me the name of the poem in MUST LOVE DOGS by E. E. Cummings. The father quoted a poem and I fell in love with it."</I></div> <bR> <div> I always mix up e.e.cummings and William Butler Yeats, too. Anyway, the poem is "Brown Penny" and it's by one of those guys.</div> <bR> <div> Just for the record, there are no nursing homes, weddings, or poems in any of my novels, at least up until now. I'm pretty sure Cameron Diaz isn't in a single one either, but it's all starting to blur, so I'm not one hundred percent certain about that.</div> <bR> <div> February 23, 2006 @ 5:40 PM</div> <div> Loved, loved this essay by Ann Hornaday -- "That Wonderful Woman! Oh, How I Loathe Her.</div> <div> The Tricky Emotion Between Idolizing And Despising." Idolspize is my new favorite word.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/21/AR2006022101862.html?referrer=email&referrer=email" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con"><U><U>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/21/AR2006022101862.html?referrer=email&referrer=email</U></U></A></div> <bR> <div> February 13, 2006 @ 7:28 AM</div> <div> What a wild snowy day yesterday was! Even the dog wasn't too sure about that walk. But it was gorgeous, as long as you kept the wind at your back. And now, today, it's so calm, and I'm curled up finishing Nick Hornby's "Long Way Down." </div> <div> I'm also trying to catch up on a mountain of email. So many wonderful readers have taken the time to write. I'll share a couple:</div> <bR> <div> I just finished your book, Multiple Choice. I thought it was funny and delightful. I really enjoyed reading it. I have a 12 year old daughter (and three young boys) and reading your book gave me comfort and a sense of not being alone in the mothering job. All of the things I worry about and think come through in what March says to herself. I currently live in Italy with my family and speak very little Italian. So reading your book was like eavesdropping in on life in America with my girlfriends. Thanks for the pick me up and inspiration for the mother/daughter relationship. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> And here's a happy storyl: (.... added so you'll go crazy trying to figure our who it is, but won't be able to tell!)</div> <div> I know you are busy writing, but I think you'd get a kick out of this~~<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#993380" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> ... I have had a couple of online romances, some of which have been long distance. I vowed not to do it again, but had managed to somehow keep in touch with a man, ..., (who "looked" like a dream I had in high school of what my soulmate would look like) on and off for over 3 years online. Problem was, he lived in Colorado, now in Virginia. His headline ... was even "I know you're out there somewhere..." from one of my favorite songs from my favorite group, the Moody Blues. We told each other about our dating foibles, but neither one was willing to take the leap of faith for a LDR, both having traveled that road before. BUT...<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#993380" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> ..he is a voracious reader, happened to pick up "Must Love Dogs",read it, and called me immediately because he said it reminded him of me! Needless to say he really didn't believe I knew you until I sent him pictures of the [Scituate premiere] opening, and soon after he was on a plane--because he felt it had to be meant for us to finally meet (since we were both available at the same time too.) He has flown up here almost every weekend since, and fortunately has a job where he can easily relocate. .. whenever my dog ... comes over for a pat, ... says "Must Love Dogs"!!! Isn't that cool???!!!<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#993380" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> February 08, 2006 @ 4:09 PM</div> <div> I've finished doing the last little bit of tweaking before my new novel goes out to editors. And now I'm just reading everything I can get my hands on, which feels great after spending so much time glued to the computer writing my own book. Just finished a collection of essays called, "The Friend Who Got Away," which I thought was great, though slightly depressing when you read them all in a row. And now I'm about to finally dive into Zadie Smith's "On Beauty." It's so odd to wake up and not have my daily writing quota in front of me.</div> <div> January 14, 2006 @ 10:01 AM</div> <div> I've been finding all sorts of photos I never got around to sharing, mostly because I was too busy working on my new novel. Below, you'll see one of my very favorite covers, the Dutch translation of Multiple Choice. At least, I think it's the Dutch translation. Anybody out there know for sure??</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="24faf1b0.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="283" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is a dogbirdhouse I made for a local charity auction. I could probably have written two more chapters of the new novel in the time it took me to hot glue all those dog bones on, so please don't ask me to make one for you!</div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="2682ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></I></div> <bR> <div> When you're completely immersed in writing a novel, the rest of the world slips away, and you start to occasionally question your sanity. One day last fall, I thought I was completely losing it when I looked out my window and saw two wild turkeys in my yard. Did I think it was the universe telling me it was time for a drink? Did I wonder if my new book might be a, no, don't even say it. Nah, I just thought it was pretty cool to have some new neighbors.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="269fabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> I also never got around to posting photos from my trip to Denmark and Bogfest 2005. I loved Copenhagen, and Aarhus even more, I think. Nice to get a little peek at Iceland on the way over and Amersterdam on the way back, too. </div> <div> Below is the beautiful old theater in a tivoli (fairgrounds) in Aarhus, where I spoke  to a crowd of warm and wonderful Danish women.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="26a2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> I think Must Love Dogs looks great hanging out with these Danish books.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="26bfabc0.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="188" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is Olde Town in Aurhus, truly worth the trip if you find yourself in Denmark.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="26c2ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Below, ICM's amazing Tina Wexler risked life and limb while heading into NYC on the Brooklyn/Queens expressway to get this photo of a Must Love Dogs billboard. Fortunately, she wasn't driving, so she was able to take it through the back window of the car. I can't believe I'm just putting it up now. Thanks, Tina!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="26dfaa60.jpg" border=0 width="250" height="166" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> January 14, 2006 @ 10:01 AM</div> <div> Okay, I'm back! A completed draft of my new novel is off to my literary agent and I'm straightening up both my real home and my web home. And catching up on months of email. Happy New Year! Back soon.  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>