I’m a non-Googler and, except for the last 24 hours, a person who doesn’t check Amazon or BN.com. I wasn’t always a non-Googler and it’s not for everybody. But it works for me, in part because of my theory “Good news will out.” As will bad news and, as I wrote on my website a year ago (http://www.lauralippman.com/april06.html) it’s always instructive to find out who wants to be the first to tell you something unkind or unflattering.
I’ve known since last week that the Washington Post would review my book. (The Post publishes a little list of its forthcoming reviews.) I honestly didn’t know what to expect. So this morning I went to work, writing 1,300 words while sitting about ten feet from a newsstand filled with Washington Posts and then, with just 20 minutes until I had to be at the gym, checking e-mail. There, amid the spam, three subject headers and addresses jumped out at me — one from a former co-worker, one from a novelist friend and one from a relative. The subject lines made clear that the news was cheery, which was nice. But what was nicer still was knowing that three people, with busy hectic lives, took time this morning to tell me that I had gotten a nice review. Later, another nice e-mail arrived, one from someone who knew for a fact that I was dreading the review, for I had written her Friday night, as sleet pounded on Baltimore, that I was “worried. Deeply worried. Broodingly worried.”
Part of that is a coping mechanism. I have to prepare for the worst so it won’t bother me. And, really, when one is talking about book reviews, how bad can it be? Oh, I know from first-hand experience that reviews can be crushing, but I mean in the larger scheme of things — say, going into the fifth year in the war in Iraq — it’s not a big deal.
What matters today is that some of my friends reminded me that I’m very lucky to have them.
Congratulations Laura, you did good..again! Yeah I would seriously read your grocery lists.
Terrific interview on NPR yesterday.
I really enjoyed your personal comments at the library last week.Just think how namy folks stayed home because of the nasty weather.I find my own Baltimore memories creeping into my thoughts while I am reading. I am taking the longest time to finish this story, because I linger in the past.This one is your best yet.
I think Doris Ann — known to her friends as St. DAN — should take a bow. Clearly, the good things happening to WTDK are a direct consequence of the fact that this fun-loving librarian is one of its co-dedicatees.
“At the peak of her powers”–don’t listen to him; you’re just getting started.
Ab
Your mother? A clue, a clue!
Just a joke about the pen name!
I did speak to my mother today and she was SO relieved that the final copy of the book is missing an inaccuracy that was in the galleys.
Just some of the praise: “If it is the plot that hooks us, the novel is most impressive for its characterizations, its rich details and the quality of the writing”
Congratulations, Laura!
And how about this?
“If you only know her from her Tess Monaghan series, or if you don’t know her work at all, read “What the Dead Know.” It’s an all but flawless performance by a writer at the peak of her powers.” Wow!
And check this out:
“It contains echoes of other recent novels — Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island,” with its narrator who may or may not be reliable; Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones,” with its story of a girl’s murder; and Martha Grimes’s “The Old Wine Shades,” with its murder that may never have happened — but surpasses them all in its ambition and depth.”
Now I really can’t wait to read WTDK! I’m going to finish up Children of God Go Bowling (what a laugh outloud hoot it is, even better than Olson’s first) tonight so I’ll be ready to begin your book when I get home from your signing tomorrow!
I picked up the book because I’ll be at the VA Festival of the Book later this week and I want to have read it before then. The bookseller said, “Amazing book! You’ll love it.” Her eyes lit up when she spoke–I believe her. I’ve been a fan of your writing for years. Cheers!
I suppose I should mention here that “Patrick Anderson” is, in fact, a pen name used by my mother.
Kelly,
I plan to read NINETEEN MINUTES. I think Picoult is great. I loved THE TENTH CIRCLE.
I really liked it; it was just that while I was reading it, there was a definite sense of deja vu.
Congratulations, Laura. And to mention other good reviews, you received one in the latest Library Journal.
WHAT THE DEAD KNOW deserves every iota of praise it receives.
congratulations!
I am going to be late to work today because I decided to finish the book before I left the house. Work can wait, the mystery cannot. It was worth it. The ending? Nice twist and it blew away all of my theories. I just might have to re-read this one to note all the clues you dropped along the way. Great book, great story.