Smattering of catching up

Oh it’s fun to be on deadline, tra-la, tra-la…which means there’s been a serious accumulation of potentially good links:

Giller Prize nominee Lisa Moore talks to the Globe & Mail about how she got a novel out of random musings.

Joan Didion and friends speak of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and their enduring if never-placid marriage in this Boston Globe profile and also in this one in the Washington Post.

The Post also interviewed Denise Nicholas, who traded a life of acting and reasonable security to spend five years on a novel — only to go nearly broke but actually get it published to great acclaim.

Senator Barbara Boxer is writing a novel — but of course, she’s not exactly going at it alone.

Scott Turow’s novel ORDINARY HEROES digresses from his usual legal thriller fare, and Janet Maslin’s not really sure what to make of it.

I’m not really sure why they asked his opinion of what America might think of Camilla when she visits soon, but Bill Bryson gave his thoughts anyway.

Another day, another article about the so-called joys of paying to be published.

Margaret Atwood acting? As Penelope, Odysseus’s long-suffering wife? It makes sense as it’s tied into the launch of Canongate’s new MYTHS series (and Atwood’s contribution is a hoot.)

And finally, the digested read in book format! John Crace explains why he loves compressing books into snarky little soundbites (and why readers like me love him for it.)