I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain's Log, Supplemental Continued from last week about my favorite new diet book, French Women Don’t Get Fat . The author says to eat smaller portions of meat and fish (4-6 ounces per person per meal). For me, this works. I tend not to like large meat portions—I’m usually happy with 2-3 ounces. This is just the way my body is. I feel heavy and sick if I eat too much meat. This wouldn’t work for some other people, but that’s why the South Beach diet or the Atkins diet works for them but not for me. She doesn’t discourage eating pasta, rice, and bread (she writes: “Life without pasta? Perish the thought.”), but she warns about portions and says to savor these dishes slowly so you end up eating less. This has totally worked for me. I have been making vegetarian pasta dishes—interesting dishes, some a little higher in fat, but most very low fat because the recipe calls for a simple sauté in olive oil. I have been eating pasta almost every day, but smaller portions, and I have been ...