The Week in Review


The highly respected historian John Hope Franklin passed awaythis week. I can't say this was sad - he was 94 years old and lived longer than most people do - but it is a definite loss. Mr. Franklin was a member of the group of people for whom the election of Barack Obama meant the most - Black people over 90 who were born and raised in the South, whose memories of discrimination and indignity go back the furthest. In addition to an improvement in the quality of life for black people everywhere, Mr. Franklin also saw many technological advances in those 94 years and a ton of history, including U.S. involvement in two World Wars (although even he would have been too young to remember the first one). He will be missed.

I haven't seen the magazine yet, but the RT update for May shows that A New Kind of Bliss only got 3 stars. Bummer. (Yes, I know we writers are only supposed to talk about the good stuff, but I've never been shy about admitting that my work isn't boing to be universally popular.) Three stars doesn't mean the reviewer really hated the book, just that they weren't all that thrilled. Still, I do hope that other readers will share the enthusiasm that my editor and I had (and since she's not my editor anymore, she probably doesn't count!)


Finally, I might not be around that much in the coming weeks. I was invited to participate in a writer's event taking place in July, and I'd like to have my special project wrapped up by then. This means really putting the pedal to the metal, since I have other things to do as well (including finishing a book that's under contract, making sense out of the mush of a proposal I have for a new contract, and polishing a romance proposal to my agent's satisfaction). Mr. Underwood is going to Washington tomorrow and will be gone all week, so my plan is to barricade myself in my office and work, work, work, to the point where I don't even half realize he's gone!


Have a great weekend, and a good week as well, everyone!