Oh little girl.  You were the baby among the original three cats, and somehow, in a blink, you became an old kitty.  It took you a long time to warm up to me--to anyone.  You were made for the outdoors, for alleyways and forests--but I kept you inside.  Your spirit couldn't be contained.  You would gaze through the window at the rising sun.  You would stare at the moon.  You had an inner life.  You had angry eyes and a twitching tail.  

Thank you to the "Hubbard's Point" Women's Club for hosting such a wonderful evening of warmth, books, and beach love. My lifelong love for this magical place grew even stronger tonight.  I loved being able to celebrate THE BEAUTIFUL LOST with so many avid readers.  

I'm happy to announce the video trailer for The Beautiful Lost is now live.  (Directed and produced by Trevor Clark Thalin--who also directed the award-winning film Baby, based on the novel of the same title by Joe Monninger.)

While writing THE BEAUTIFUL LOST I listened to lots of music.  So did Maia and Billy, on their road trip to find her mom.  Here's the playlist.

The ocean gives me life and inspires all my books including THE BEAUTIFUL LOST. Thank you Scholastic for featuring my World Oceans Day essay on the Scholastic blog!  You can read it here.

Imagine how pleased I was when I discovered Luanne Rice, author of Secret Language of Sisters, has a book releasing in June of this year. But I never imagined she would actually send me an Advanced Readers Copy!! SO Y’ALL . . . I GOT MY FIRST ARC!  This book is called The Beautiful Lost, and we’re partnering with Ms. Rice in a few weeks to give ONE OF YOU the chance to read it.

Linden Frederick is the most literary of artists.  His paintings tell stories by inviting the viewer into a very focused and specific moment in time, engaging our imaginations.  He often paints night scenes: dusk to dawn, changing light .  He depicts houses, windows dark except one, making us wonder what is going on inside, drawing us into the family story.

I write a lot about sisters.  I am the oldest of three, and when we were young, we were so close we never wanted to be apart.  We shared a bedroom--three beds, three desks, three bookcases, and us.  

I’m so pleased to announce that Goodreads is hosting a giveaway for THE BEAUTIFUL LOST! Go here to enter to win a bound galley: http://bit.ly/2pZt6Fc  @ireadya

Recently I walked down Lyme Street in the early evening.  Spring is just beginning, and the first peepers had started to call from the Lieutenant River.  The sky was spellbinding a shade of blue so dark and clear it made me look up for a long time, until the moon rose.  Some of Old Lyme's graceful houses and galleries had their lights on, glowing warmly from within.  

There is a feeling of holding on, of getting through, of balancing on a precipice.  When you're lied to by someone in power, it's the same as being gaslighted in an abusive relationship.  You're being told one thing, but you know it's wrong, you know it's false.  To mix movie metaphors, it's also the Wizard of Oz telling us "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."  But we have to pay attention.  

The paperback of THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF SISTERS comes out on Tuesday, January 31. Jeryl Brunner interviewed me for Forbes, and I talk about the book, writing, and sisters.  Here is the link.  Jeryl is always so supportive and I love her stories on theater, the arts, books, and so many other topics.  I first met her when she included me in her book MY CITY, MY NEW YORK. 

The winter solstice feels pure and eternal.  The beach is so quiet, not another soul around.  No voices, just the sound of the waves, the wind in the reeds.  There are buffleheads and mergansers in the pond and off the point, and a lone osprey circles the bay.  Is he a juvenile as one birder friend of mine suggests?  Was she left behind when the others left on their migration months earlier?  

I spent Friday at Boston's Logan Airport celebrating Deconstructing Stigma, a project developed by McLean Hospital.  It's an amazing exhibit, intended to start a conversation about mental illness and the stigma that often surrounds it.  The walkway between Terminals B and C is lined with photos of people affected, including me--I've dealt with depression since I was a teenager.  Although the images are larger-than-life, the stories told are human-sized: intimate and personal.  

Every year, on the first of December, Christmas trees arrive in New York City.  The same families come year-after-year and set up their stands on the same street corners.  There is one on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea that inspired me to write SILVER BELLS.  

Fall begins today.  I am happy.  My sister Maureen is sad.  She feels melancholy when summer officially ends.  I welcome the shorter days and cozier nights.  She misses carefree sails, every evening after work, with her husband Olivier, out of Noank and back.  I like apples.  

It is peaceful.  The summer people have gone home.  Kids have started school.  I miss them, even though I love the quiet.