Writing on Memoir in The Millions. Being Reviewed in Bookslut for Dr. Radway. Going to San Francisco.

Summer eases away. Yesterday I let it. Some rain, some sun. Some breeze, some stillness. Reading, and then writing, and then writing again. Making a list of all the books that I must read. Buying several.

By Thursday evening of this week, I'll be in one of my favorite American cities—San Francisco—to conduct three very different (from each other) Handling the Truth workshops at Book Passages, Books Inc., and the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa (located in Santa Rosa, conducted on behalf of the Redwood Writers Workshop).

(For more on the nearly twenty events scheduled for the next few months, please look for the events on the left-column of this blog.)

I'll also be holding the gloriously designed Going Over galleys in my hand for the first time, hugging dear Tamra Tuller, meeting that incredibly vivacious publicist Lara Starr in person (oh, yeah!), sitting down with the wonderful Ginee Seo, Stephanie Wong, and Amber Morley of Chronicle, and sharing a meal with local librarians and booksellers. Finally, I'll have a chance to spend some real time with Wendy Robards, whom many of you know as Caribousmom. Wendy's Small Damages quilt sits before me as I write these words. It is here as inspiration.

The days will be jam-packed. I'm looking forward to every second.

In the meantime, today, I share this essay, written for The Millions, about memoirists who glance up from the page and recognize their readers—and those who do not. I feel privileged to be given room on that amazing book site.

Also, finally, beautifully, I share this Bookslut column, by Colleen Mondor, who took the time to read and to write about Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent. All of you know how much this book means to me. It makes me so happy, therefore, that Colleen embraced it.What's more, she embraced it in a column called "Living in a Springsteen Song" (could you get any closer to my heart?) and likens it to "Copper," one of her favorite TV shows.

To more sun. To more breeze. To endless Springsteen.