My new novel, SWIMMING FOR SUNLIGHT, published by Atria, is in stores today! I'm so excited to share this book with you! These characters mean the world to me and I hope you enjoy spending time with them. If you're in the Bay Area, come say hi! I have a bunch of events scheduled for the coming week. I'll also be in Los Angeles on June 5th at Chevalier's Books (in conversation with Julie Buxbaum!!!). You can learn more abou SWIMMING FOR SUNLIGHT here. "Larkin enthralls with a revealing view of one woman’s life as she moves on after a painful divorce. . . . Emotional … [Read more...]
Wordless Wednesday – Shadow
Wagging Our Tails
Thank you so very much for all of your compassion and kind words. It helps so much. And it's wonderful to feel like dog people are a tribe. We all love our pups with abandon, even though we know they won't be here forever. Having that understanding and support from all of you is amazing. Argo was feeling particularly perky this afternoon, so we took some family photos. The way dogs live in the moment is such a blessing. We had fun today, and I desperately needed it. I'll share more photos soon, but I liked the way this one fit with one of my favorite quotes. … [Read more...]
Stella the Wonder Dog
There was a time, years ago, when a wild beast came to live with us over Thanksgiving weekend. She ripped plants from their pots, barked at the cat, peed on the floor (but never outside), and drove Argo into a nervous tizzy. We changed her name to Stella and worked desperately to find a way to understand her. Eventually she got better. It was a rocky start, but after the first year, Argo and Stella melded into a funny little team. Argo taught Stella how to be a dog. She watched and copied. They ran around the yard playing a strange game of tag only they know the rules to. When they … [Read more...]
My Trusty Dog Argo
I've been mostly absent from the internet for the past few weeks. It's hard to dive back in without an explanation, and oh, this is so hard for me to explain. Argo was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few weeks ago. We rushed him out to a specialist in Buffalo and spent days getting opinions and second opinions. J, Stella and I crowded into Argo's inpatient kennel for visiting hours, holding his paw, rubbing his belly, feeding him every favorite food we could procure on our binge trips to Wegmans. In the end, there's nothing we can do to fix him. We didn't think we'd be able to take him … [Read more...]
Lest you think I made it up. . .
Every single time she leaves the kitchen now. . . Oddly enough, the turnaround happens after she walks past the scary spot, but in the act of planning her turnaround, she doesn't even notice she's already crossed the imaginary line. Here's the backstory. … [Read more...]
Bass Ackwards: A Stella Story
Stella has conquered a long list of fears and is generally a happy pup now, but she's still terrified of a spot on the kitchen floor. She's been afraid of the scary spot since she came to live with us. There's not much to distinguish the scary spot from any other span of floorspace. At certain times of day there may be a sun patch there. It's near the stove and she hates the stove, but she finds this spot terrifying even when no one is cooking anything. Leaving the kitchen via the scary spot (which is the only way to leave the kitchen) turns Stella into a Bambi on ice impersonator. Her … [Read more...]
River Road Books & Mostly Shepherds!
Okay, so I guess I shouldn't promise to post something "tomorrow" ever again, because my version of tomorrow takes half a week, apparently. But oh, my goodness, I loved doing the STAY event at River Road Books in Fair Haven, NJ. I'm still smiling about it! Such a great group of people and wonderful dogs!River Road Books is a beautiful book store run by a great group of book loving ladies! They're such a vital and vibrant part of the community, offering a summer reading program for kids, writing workshops, and other events. It's nice to see an indie bookstore that is thriving!I read from … [Read more...]
Writing Binge
At certain points in my writing process, the best way to work is to completely dive in. So when J left this weekend to go camping with the Larkin men, I used the opportunity to throw myself a one-woman writing retreat. I loaded up on supplies: Easy meals so I wouldn't have to spend time cooking, and super yummy snacks to bribe myself with if my attention started to wane. Then I took the plunge. Aside from coming up for air to play with the dogs several times a day, I lived in my manuscript all weekend long. And it was blissful. What were you up to this past weekend? … [Read more...]
My dog pack
So, yesterday, I let the dogs out while I was exercising. I finished up and was about to go take a shower. I closed the door to the yard, and made sure I closed the bedroom door, because Argo, when left to his own devices in the bedroom will strip the blankets off the bed (I don't know why). I double checked to make sure Stella wasn't in the bedroom, because I've accidentally closed her in there before, and she gets upset about it.I was just about to turn the water on in the shower when I heard the hollow heaving sound of Argo starting to puke. I raced to the door and opened it, only to … [Read more...]