I carry in my datebook a piece of paper that my mother copied out for me, from the 1840 Census. Hardy Callaway Culver of Hancock County, Georgia, had 42 slaves, 31 "employed in agriculture." Culver was my great-great-great grandfather. I carry this piece of paper with me every day because I don't want to forget. I don't know what to do with the information, but I don't want to forget it.
Reporting is pretty vital to me. It keeps me connected to the world. A 40-hour-per-week day job may be less feasible as time goes on.
I had ancestors who were slave-holders, which is a difficult piece of family history to say the least. In a recent New York Times article on the subject of modern attitudes toward our slave-holding past, the writer noted that we all want to be from "innocent origins." I _know_ I'm not. Then again, I suspect most of us are not.
I adore the work of Stephen Sondheim. I like musicales in general. They make surprisingly great running tapes.
My family is really, really Southern - I had two uncle Bubbas, and grandparents that we called Big Mama and Big Daddy.
As for music, my tastes are eclectic. Elvis Costello is my all-time favorite. I listen to a lot of jazz, primarily the great female vocalists, and I am very fond of the late cabaret singer Nancy Lamott.
I begin each book with a challenge to myself.
In fact, I think every book I've written has been inspired by a real event.
I like to see writers reach bigger and bigger audiences, and stand-alones have allowed some of them to do just that.
I'm a morning person, which is a hideous thing to be. No one likes morning people, not even other morning people.
I'm for anything that lets writers stretch, in or out of their series.
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