As I approach another birthday after the publication of Word for Word, friends are asking me what my next book will be, and I really don't know what to say.

 

I now have an inkling about how long writers write thanks to a Lit Hub editor, who examined publishing histories of eighty authors. Unsurprisingly, poets published earliest and memoirists latest. Lengths of careers averaged thirty-four years; women usually first published around age 31 and stopped around age 64. 

 

I was surprised to learn that I have been writing longer than many. I started publishing a little later than others but I have laster longer, coming out with the memoir at the age of 78.

 

Do I want to spend my precious days writing more books or reading wonderful books of others? Yes, I have more ideas for books to write, but I'm not ready to say if I will write them or not.

 

With Warm Regards,
Laurie 
 

News About Word for Word
Librarians in Connecticut, Illinois, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, and California have recently acquired it.

 

Publisher's Weekly's BookLife named it an Editor's Pick for "outstanding quality" and praised it for its memorable first line: "This is a memoir about living a writing life--wanting to be a writer, becoming a writer, and being a writer--as acts of self-expression, self-assertion, and womanly survival."

 

Latest Reviews
"Unexpected, essential surprises touched me deeply...Freedom flitted off these pages," says Kidron Tirey, a Texas journalist.

 

"An inherently fascinating memoir, deftly crafted, impressively informative, thoughtful, thought-provoking, truly memorable," says the Midwest Book Review

 

A Note to Readers
Now that Word for Word has left my hands and is on its own, your stars and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads help keep it aloft. Thanks!