May 2026: When The Stone Loves the World was published in 2021, I was in the throes of thinking about my childhood and my family, so I wrote several essays (with added photos) that are listed in the Chatter archive. They were fun to do, and I planned to do more, but then I turned to the writing of a new novel and tuned out everything else. I’ve just submitted a draft of that novel to my agent, and will post updates about it here, whenever I have something to say. Now that I have time to think about other things, I might also post new essays here, from time to time. Who knows?
About Chatter
Brian,
I’m reading your book and utterly enjoying it. As a voracious reader and, ahem, a woman of a certain age, I’m quite the book snob at this point in my life. I am beyond impressed by either your own encyclopedic knowledge or (and just as impressed) by your encyclopedic research for this book. In one of my earlier lives, I wrote children’s books (fiction and non) and the research necessary blew my mind. I can only imagine what it took for this book. In any case, it’s lovely to be able to leave a note for you and I would love to know what you’re reading – and some of your favorite books.
Hi Carol,
Thank you for getting in touch! Like the characters in my novel, I simply like learning things; in a way, I don’t do research in order to write, rather my writing gives me an excuse to do research. As for my current reading–I tend to read several books simultaneously–so at the moment: Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End; Olivia Manning’s The Balkan Trilogy; Sandra Newman’s The Men (in an ARC); James Kasting’s How to Find a Habitable Planet (a re-read); Churchill’s Their Finest Hour; I. F. Stone’s The War Years, 1939-1945; and Kip Thorne’s Black Holes & Time Warps. Favorite books among recent reading: Jean Rhys’s four pre-war novels (Quartet, After Leaving Mr. MacKenzie, Voyage in the Dark, and Good Morning, Midnight)–in a way, these are all one novel–and Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise. In any case, I’m very pleased that you’ve been enjoying my novel.