Art Lessons for Writers, Bookish Quilts, and More

Art Lessons for Writers

Artists make little sketches like this to work out the direction they want their drawing or painting to go. You might make four little thumbnails, trying out different horizon levels, or moving the focal point from the right to the left. You figure out where the values (darks and lights) appear.

What I've found, though, is that a thumbnail sketch does something even more profound for me. 

It also helps me to ruminate over a subject before committing to it. It's a way of making a first pass through my idea, and getting better acquainted with it. It's a way of connecting my subject to my eye, and my eye to my hand.

If you make any kind of art, you know that connection has to be rebuilt every time you pick up your instrument.

So how do writers make a thumbnail sketch? I've got some ideas about that. Read on....

Meet the Thread Tales Book Club

A few months ago, I got an email from a woman in Vancouver, WA, near where I live in Portland. She told me that her book club gets together four times a year to choose books to read, and then they make FABRIC ART based on those books.

Would I like to get together before my event at Powell's to see the quilts? she asked.

Of COURSE I would! To my delight, they invited me to dinner, showed me their incredible work, and then came along to my event to show them to the audience.

I cannot tell you how much joy this brought to me, the people at the bookstore, and my publisher. The world is a strange and confusing place right now, but somewhere in the world are women reading books and making quilts, and that makes me think we'll be OK.

Credits: 
The pigeon reading the paper quilt: Wilma Scott. The buggy scene: Sandi Q. Miller.  "The Drama Queen" (Fleurette): Virginia O'Donnell.  The three sisters: Val Pellens. The pigeon block barn scene: Abbie Dick. "Black and White and Read All Over": Arlene Hett.
 

Good Art is Your CPR

(This is Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal. Go visit it for some CPR.)

Thanks to Austin Kleon for sharing this quote from David Foster Wallace, which could apply to all art:

“Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness.”

To that end, I was very happy to discover The New Yorker Recommends, a perpetually updated page of recommended books, music, podcasts, movies, and shows. I've already added The Victorian and the Romantic to my reading list.

A Worthy Cause

Last Saturday, I gave a talk about my books at a charity luncheon. I do a lot of these: country club, nice groups of well-heeled, older women gathered together to be entertained by authors and support a worthy cause. Often it’s a scholarship program. Good stuff. But this time, something different happened.

A woman had set up a table to demonstrate the work she did for Days for Girls International, which distributes washable fabric menstrual supplies to women and girls who would otherwise go without, forcing them to miss work and school.

Normally, the country club ladies are not talking about periods. Or Africa.

A member of this group walked up to me—a beautifully dressed, perfectly coiffed woman of substance and means, and said, “Yes, we get together once a month to make these. We call them our pussy pad parties.”

So there you have it. There’s a girl in Africa who sits on a piece of cardboard for a week every month and misses school. But there are also 1000 groups of women around the world, sewing these kits together, to make sure that stops.

Then they (this group hosting the luncheon) announced their scholarship awards for the year, all single mothers trying to go back to school.

And I thought: This is how we move forward. It’s just one woman at a time. One person at a time. One pussy pad at a time!

I'm Still on the Road! Come see me.

I would love to meet you in person--and I will have a present for you. It's just a small token of my affection, but it's something I'll only be giving to people on this list. So come up and introduce yourself, and tell me that you  subscribe to this newsletter!

Scottsdale, AZ: Oct 8 Poisoned Pen
Healdsburg, CA: Oct 10 Copperfield's Books
Palo Alto, CA: Oct 11 Books Inc
Mission Viejo, CA Oct 13 Books Are Better Shared
Atlanta, GA: Oct 18 Cherokee Garden Library
Houston, TX: Oct 20 Murder by the Book
Wellesley, MA: Nov 7 Authors on Stage 
Portland, OR: Nov 10 Portland Book Festival

More tour dates can always be found on my website. Please confirm details with the venue before you head out.

Enter to Win all Four Kopp Novels

Hey, there's another contest running! Head over to Book Club Cookbook quick if you'd like to enter.

Another Reminder: If You're In Australia, New Zealand, or the UK...

We're almost done gathering names for this, but just in case...

If you're in Australia, New Zealand, or the UK, and you are a passionate reader who likes to review books online, post about books on social media, and generally kick up a fuss about books you love (and, uh, particularly the Kopp Sisters books), We only have a few slots open, so please head over there now!

Also... we're going to be able to do more giveaways and good things for those of you in UK/AUS/NZ in this newsletter, so stick around!

What Are You Reading?

If you don't know Sara Gran's novels...well, buckle up. Her  detective, Claire DeWitt, is a hot mess. You'll spend most of your time worrying about whether SHE will survive, much less catch the bad guy.

She finds her clues in dreams and in strange old books. She pops pills. She's haunted by the one mystery she might never solve.

The newest installment is The Infinite Blacktop, but I recommend reading them in order. (this is #3).

What are you reading? Find me on Goodreads or Litsy and let me know.