Posts by Anita Diamant
Site meter
My in-house information technology staff (that would be Jim, my husband) just set up a site meter/counter on this blog. And now I find myself checking it compulsively. Sort of the way I used to check my books’ Amazon rankings. And the way I used to play computer Solitaire. I’m not proud of this, and…
Read MoreManuscriptless
Chatting on the phone with Steve, cherished writing partner and Ukelele guru, we covered the usual topics (movies, books, gossip) and then he asked, “Feeling a little rootless?” “Yeah,” I answered, glibly. He knew that I had shipped the copy edited manuscript of my novel back to the publisher about a week ago. Ever since,…
Read MoreLa Tienda Roja
The Red Tent has been out of print in Spanish for a few years now. Today, I received copies of the newly-released edition, published by ViaMagna Ediciones. I don’t read much Spanish, but I dearly love the look and sound of the dedication in this beautiful language: Para mi hija Emilia “Benditos sean vuestros ojos…
Read MoreSpring, almost, sort of, at last
The light is back in New England even if it is chilly, and so the walks with Buddy (Schnauzer) get longer. Along the Charles River, the birds seem glad to be back. That said, March in Boston is a month of yearning for April,daffs and crocuses. I visited my daughter in North Carolina last weekend,…
Read MoreThe photograph
The cover photograph comes from the archive of Herbert and Leni Sonnenfeld. Herbert (1906-1972) was a Berlin-born photojournalist who, with his wife, Leni (1907-2004) chronicled Jewish life in Germany until they fled the Nazis in 1939. The couple tried to immigrate to Palestine, then under British Mandatory rule, but were denied entry. They settled in…
Read MoreBook Cover
This is the cover for my forthcoming novel, DAY AFTER NIGHT, which will be published in September, 2009. Set in 1945, in the summer immediately following the end of World War II in Europe, DAY AFTER NIGHT tells the stories of four young Jewish women — survivors of four different kinds of hell. They make…
Read More2009
Happy New Year. It’s begun with much snow and ice in New England, and as tough as than can be (especially when I’m walking Buddy the Schnauzer first thing in the morning) I’ve been struck by one of the true gifts of living in a climate like this: things change before your very eyes. The…
Read MoreBurying the lede
January approacheth, which means the plague of year-end best-of lists is upon us.Recently, I was asked to name four books to recommend as holiday gifts, and I had a hard time coming up with anything newish. The awful truth is, I read very few books last year. I have lots of excuses — mostly having…
Read Moreempty nest, refeathered
When my daughter, Emilia, was in high school, there was a TV commercial on the air that portrayed a mother who transformed her kid’s room into a fancy-shmancy spa-bathroom within minutes of his departure for college. We used to tease each other about that ad. “That’s what we’re going to do,” I promised. “Don’t you…
Read MoreYes We Can
Barack Obama and I go way back to May 2004, when he was running for the senate. I met him via a profile by William Finnegan in the pages of The New Yorker. Describing Obama in his Chicago neighborhood, Finnegan wrote, Every few minutes, our conversation was interrupted by passersby congratulating Obama on his primary…
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