Valya | February 22, 2010
This weekend I saw a dear friend of mine who had just finished reading my manuscript (Update: The Silence of Trees is with my agent, who is shopping it around to the next round of publishers), and she shared with me an observation that no one has ever brought to my attention: TSOT has a lot of [...]
Valya | February 15, 2010
The first six writers to be inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will be announced Saturday, May 1, during a special benefit presentation and concert at the magnificent Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, Illinois. This special evening of words and music, hosted by the Chicago Writers Association, will feature appearances by acclaimed local [...]
Valya | February 9, 2010
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."~Anais Nin Mark and I met a few friends on Saturday evening to celebrate a.) our friend Pat’s 40th, b.) our friend Meg’s new job, and c.) my birthday. We had [...]
Valya | February 3, 2010
Back in Fall of 2007, I was living in Germany with my family. While we had been having adventures and traveling internationally, I had grown out of touch with my writing and the larger creative world. I looked around and found a door to that creative world online: I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. From that contest, I met [...]
Valya | February 3, 2010
Today is the kids’ 100th day of school, and so they were asked to take a photograph with a collection of 100 things. For those of you who know my kids, it should be no surprise the objects that each chose for their photo: And then because I realized that I never post pics of my [...]
Valya | February 1, 2010
This was one of those hectic filled weekends, with family parties and morning meetings. The kids had fun, but now we’re in the throes of Monday and I have to catch up. The electrician and the carpenters are here to work on the kitchen and hang up the lighting fixtures in the living and dining rooms. [...]
