Respite

The talk was all of writing, of writing habits, of reading, favorite books and writers, of journalism and its standards, the value of workshops and retreats, of submissions to journals and how to find out where to submit. Someone raised the question of whether or not a writer could make up facts in something labeled and marketed as “nonfiction.” (Fact-checking got heavy votes.) Each of us named a novel we’d “hated,” as well as one we loved. Did the time fly, or did it stand still? I felt outside of it, released for a while from my usual treadmill of summer (nonstop work).

“Ladies who lunch” are those who don’t have to work for a living, and I’m not one of those. Once in a while, though, life gives me a chance to play the role for an hour or two. Three fiction writers, one journalist/nonfiction writer and me, the bookseller, happy to be included. Marilyn Zimmerman has a story coming out in the next NORTH ATLANTIC REVIEW, where one of Trudy Carpenter's stories was published last year. Julie Irwin Zimmerman, the youngest luncher and a Cincinnati journalist, is the author of THE SPIRITUALITY OF INFERTILITY, due out in early 2009. Dorene O'Brien, author of VOICES OF THE LOST AND FOUND (Wayne State University Press) and visitor to Northport every summer, was guest of honor.

Thanks, Trudy, for hosting this lunch, and thanks to both Trudy and George Carpenter for sponsoring a welcome bookseller getaway.