Back, Finally

It's been so long since I've written here that I had to reintroduce myself to my blog. I don't know where April, May, and June went. But I will try a short recap.
I moved Spoken Interludes to the fabulous Chutney Masala on the Hudson River. The food is divine, and I never even thought I cared for Indian food, but it's now my favorite place. Audience favorite Arthur Phillips

read, along with Pam Lewis, and Greg Ames. David Denby talked about his new book, Snark. All wonderful fun.
Then I went to Newburyport for the book festival there, and got to see and catch up with Elinor Lipman, who I adore, and David Ebershoff, who I did a book festival with earlier this year. And I got to see my dear Dubus cousins, which was just wonderful. I missed André's talk, but Dan got to hear him. The boys and I were on a great playground outside during it, but got visit time after. And then to the beach with Peggy. It was a gorgeous day, like summer, and I had no idea it was so close, so that was heaven.


Signing at Newburyport.



Then in mid-May, I went back to the Vo-tech school in lower New Jersey to do my one day outreach writing program workshop I do there twice a year. The kids there are darling and sweet and motivated, and I loved being with them. Here are some of the seniors.





Then we did one more Spoken Interludes because the April show was so fun at Chutney, and I don't have to drive far - my LA years are showing!
Lee Woodruff read and Ben Cheever who is so charming and funny, and I love hearing him read, and Doug Rushkoff, and Joanna Hershon, who I'd be trying to get there forever, so that was a wonderful way to end the season.


Then I did a book festival in Paramus, their first one. The day threatened rain, but it held out, miraculously, since that is all we've had lately. It feels like home.
Anyway, this has been just a hello, I'm still around, blog, but now that I'm back, I'll be here again more soon.
xo

Spoken Interludes Next

I'm in bed getting better from having a tummy bug :( watching the wind move the pine trees in the back yard, and waiting for soup that Dan is bringing home, the hero. Wednesday was a wonderful, albeit nonstop day. It started with the graduation reading of the students of Spoken Interludes Next, our outreach writing program that is at Mt Pleasant Blythedale UFSD, at Blythedale Children's Hospital, the only New York State public school located within a hospital. What an amazing hour that was. I am including a letter that I received from Ellen Bergman, the superintendent of the school about the morning.

Dear DeLauné,
Your description of the Spoken Interludes Next writing project at the Special Act Coalition superintendent's meeting last year sparked my interest. The opportunity to have published authors teaching my students was very exciting. However, I had no inkling of the profound impact the program would have on the very special seventh and eighth grade students at Mt. Pleasant Blythedale School.

Today we celebrated the achievements of the Spoken Interludes’ writing students and their teachers, Marek Fuchs and Susan Ades Stone. I’m sure you recognized the pride expressed in the voices and on the faces of the students. As patients at Blythedale Children’s Hospital, these adolescents have little control over their physical conditions. They have few opportunities to celebrate their individual creativity, and bask in the admiration of their peers.
• S. who has Cerebral Palsy is reluctant to speak in public. Yet with great pride he read his narrative describing his feelings about attending a recent concert featuring his favorite musicians.
• L. who has Osteogenesis Imperfecta has strong feeling of nostalgia for her native country, the Dominican Republic. Spoken interludes allowed her to give voice to those feelings and to share them with her peers.
• D. has Hemophilia and resisted coming to school, preferring to stay in his hospital bed playing video games. Reluctantly, he attended one Spoken Interludes class and then another and now school attendance is no longer an issue.
• J. has Guillan Barre and fatigues easily. He was angry about his illness and the resulting lengthy hospital stay. Spoken Interludes gave him the opportunity to imagine a world of strength and adventure, and regain some hope for his own future.

Thank you for giving all of the students at MPB experiences they will treasure long after their bodies heal. Your teachers have nourished their souls and taught them life affirming skills.
I hope that you will consider the students at Mt. Pleasant Blythedale UFSD as you plan for future Spoken Interludes programs.
Sincerely,
Ellen Bergman
Superintendent of Schools
EB/aa

It was truly amazing to see these children read their stories. I was hoping to take the program to them twice a year, but after being with them, I want them to have it at least three times a year to reach as many as those children as we can. I told Ellen that we'd be there this summer, and then thought, "With what money?!" But where there is a will, there is a way; I have never doubted that. And yesterday, I got a surprise donation for 500. and that will cover a third of the cost of the program there, so I feel sure we will be able to be there after all. What courage those children have. One more time, I felt like I was getting the gift by being with them. And the writers who taught the program, Marek and Susan, were amazing. I feel blessed that they are part of this program.
Then I drove to Norwalk Community College to be part of a panel on Youth Activism. One of the other panelists, David Burstein, was so inspiring. He started a nonprofit last year called 18 in 08 and registered over 25,000 voters between the ages of 18 and 25 before the elections. Don't miss his website. He's only 22 and is doing great things. I could have listened to him for hours.
Then I went to Abbott House back here in Westchester to sit in on a Spoken Interludes Next class that we are doing there, and to meet with Colleen Michelle Jones from the Rivertowns Enterprise, who is doing an article about the program. Colleen is a doll, and a lovely writer, and her support of the program means so much to me. The class I sat in on was on Setting - the program is an 8 week program that takes the students through the process of writing a short story and each class focuses on a different element of the story. I listened while Marek - who is also teaching that group - did a wonderful job of working with the boys, but had to bite my tongue not to jump in. I wanted to work with them so badly. I miss teaching in the program so much, and am thrilled that is starting without me, but look forward to being able to when both of my sons are in school, but at least I can be connected this way. I did have a chance to work with them a bit, and felt such a connection with them. One of the boys is a natural writer, his work was so gorgeous and engrossing, and another wants to be a therapist. I gave them all hugs at the end, and can't wait to hear them read at their graduation. I should have pictures soon, and will put them up here. I love working with those kids, and am so glad I am able to vicariously until I really can.
xo

Monday, Monday

It's a wonderful blustery Monday, and there is some blue sky peeking through the clouds, and I think the winter weather might finally be ending. Please God. Frankly, I'd like to drive a stake through the heart of this past winter. It was ferocious and lasted forever. For this entire past month, my two sons and I have had some form of cold or virus or cough, and it was hard not to feel that it was the winter's way of saying, "I may have to end, but I won't let you forget who's boss." Okay, Uncle! You win. Now, please go away!! Sorry for the rant. You can tell that I am out of denial about my feelings about the cold. Anyway. I did have another Spoken Interludes last Thursday night - didn't take pictures :( - and I loved every writer who was there. So many people said to me, as they were leaving, that it was the best show they'd been to. The shows are like my children, I don't have a favorite, but I can say that it was like one of those glorious afternoons when the boys and I are having a great time playing, and everything is perfect and pure fun. That's how the evening was. Marek Fuchs, Joshua Henkin, David Ebershoff, and John Burnham Schwartz all read. And can we just take a moment to acknowledge that group?? We all could have listened to each of them the entire evening. It was an embarrassment of riches in terms of their talent, and generosity of spirit, and showmanship. I feel so blessed that I get to show up and be with the audience members that I adore, and either meet, or see again, writers that I love and respect, and hear their work and their thoughts on their work. When I was doing the shows in LA every month, one thing that made me really happy was that it was one of the few places in that town that when someone was introduced to someone there, they didn't ask what they did for a living, they asked how they found out about Spoken Interludes. It was a like an underground literary club, and I loved that, everyone coming together on the basis of loving the written word and the desire to hear stories. I felt that so strongly the other night. If you haven't read the newest books by Marek, Joshua, David, or John, run don't walk to your nearest bookstore. They are all divine. And at the show, a very interesting theme emerged from the readings, as one always seems to, of people being trapped or encapsulated in a community or institution, and it was great getting to hear the different ways that was developed.
I did a panel at the Irvington Library yesterday for the Rivertowns Arts Council. It was on Creativity and Motherhood led by Carrie Barron, and it was wonderful to hear the other artist talk about juggling these things, and connect with the audience on it. My sister-in-law, Judy Siegel, came which meant so much to me. Her husband, Jon, just became mayor of Irvington, a more fair man I have never met, so we will all be in very capable hands once he gets sworn in next week. And speaking of creativity, off to work on my novel. Happy Monday!
xo

New York State of Mind

So, I'm in Utica to speak at Utica College tomorrow as part of their visiting writers series, and figured I'd write before I fall asleep. I'm away from the boys again, though just for the night, and only a 3 and a half hour drive away, but still. Some very fun people from the college - pictures will be up when I get home and have my camera cable to download - took me out to a very yummy dinner, and when I got back to the hotel, I called to say goodnight, and I told my oldest son that I missed him. He said, I don't miss you. I said, that's okay. Then he said, I just want to hug you. I told him that I always want to hug him. The two year old got on the phone, and told me of a big accomplishment he had, then put down the phone to dance in celebration of it. Very sweet. I miss them. And want to hug them
This past Friday night, I drove to Central Valley, NY, about 40 minutes away from me, not too far over the Tappan Zee bridge, to have dinner with The BookWalkers, a book club that had read both of my books. I loved these women.
They were so warm and open and fun. I felt like I had known them forever. We all talked nonstop. A bunch of them even live on the same street, and I could feel how connected they are to each other. They have created an amazing community for themselves with this group, and they also raise money for charities and do walks and runs. They all brought books to donate to the Pediatrics Clinic in Yonkers that I am doing the bookdrive for - they are goddesses. I got there about 7:30 and didn't leave until after 11 and couldn't believe it was that late. It was one of those great evenings where I felt so lucky and happy to be a woman who gets to be able to walk into a room of women that I don't know, but within the space of half an hour, am able to share and connect and get so much from them. They gave me the best gift. They let me be part of their magic circle. I drove home feeling so bouyed up by it. And now I'm up here inUtica - two hours north on the 87 to Albany, then west on the 90 for an hour and half. It is such a beautiful drive; it is all farms, and Victorian houses, and light straight out of an Edward Hopper - getting to be with people here, and hear their stories, and be part of this. And I got to have all that wonderful driving/writing time. Virginia Woolf used to walk her novels; I love to drive them. So it was great having 3 plus hours of silent, novel-thinking/processing/flow time. And I get more tomorrow on the drive home. Heaven!
xo

My sister Elizabeth showed me how to use my camera!!!

So, my wonderful sister, Elizabeth, showed me how to download the pictures off my new camera, and find them on my computer, so I can put them up here. Hooray!! Here are a few that I've wanted to put up:

This was at BookMania in Stuart, Florida before our panel. From Left to right is: Lily Koppel, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, me, Garth Stein and Diane Hammond. They were great fun.

If you have a layover in the Atlanta airport - eat here!! I love Paschal's. They have amazing grits and biscuits, and my flight got me there just in time to have some before they stopped serving them at 11. Yum!






Here's the building at SUNY Albany where I spoke in February as part of the Sexuality Week on Campus. Afterwards, I had dinner with Dan's first cousin, and that was nice having a chance to have a real visit that wasn't in the midst of a large family gathering.


This is the King's Cake that the boys and I made a couple of Saturday's ago on that beautiful, spring-like day we had when it was in the 60's. We were playing in the sandbox, and went in for lunch, and somehow the idea of making a cake came up, and even though King's day and Mardi Gras were past, King's cake is always yummy, and it was great fun making our own. The boys especially loved watching it rise twice, and then painting it with the colored sugar once it was baked. My 5 year old took that picture.


I ran into Michael Gates Gill at the Tucson Festival of Books last Sunday. Mike read at Spoken Interludes last fall, and I really adore him. It was great getting to see him again. And here I am with Bonnie Marson, my fellow panelist. She was good fun.
And last, but definitely not least, here with my sister Pamela, in front of the cacti. She was such a dear to fly in from Albuquerque to meet me there. Made all the difference in the world to me.