1. I recently went to New York and posed in front of Tiffany's.
2. I did it for Audrey Hepburn and Truman Capote. Jewelry has never held much allure for me.
3. I did it because sometimes a character in a novel can really change your life--especially if you read it at a pivotal time.
4. I read Breakfast at Tiffany's and Gone With the Wind when I was thirteen, Pride and Prejudice and Madame Bovary when I was eighteen, Les Miserables and The Autobiography of a Soul when I was thirty. All of them spoke to me and continue to speak to me in different ways.
5. As a writer, I want to entertain, inspire, and yes, I dream of creating a character who is capable of reaching into your world and changing your life.
6. Did I really say that? Who do I think I am?
7. A writer, a dreamer, a petty goddess (and occasional tyrant) in a very small universe of my own creation.
8. It seems I've exhausted all the interesting revelations about me at 7, but wait...Look at the photo: I also love the New York Times. Does that count?
Thanks so much to Ellen Meister, who tagged me for this meme. Sorry it took me so long to respond, but summer is a season to slow down, to sleep late and eat fresh tomatoes and make up stories in my head.
If anyone else would like to carry the meme forward and reveal eight startling or mundane secrets about themself, leave a comment...I'm looking for new material for upcoming novels. (Kidding, kidding....)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
8 Things About Me
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49 comments:
I love that photo of you - there's something of the 'woman taking on the world' about it - or of someone in the middle of the world and loving every minute - taking it all in and taking it all on!
I'm always so happy to see a post here, and this one has such a grand photo of you. A woman of the world, that's what I see-- one foot in her own universe, the other in every universe at once.
i really like this photo, too!
chiefbiscuit: Sometimes I feel guilty about how much I'm enjoying my adventure. Thanks for SEEING that.
robin: Your words are always so knowing and wonderful. As always, I'm grateful for them.
ruby: Thank you! It WAS a particularly good day in a life.
How lovely to see your smiling face! Read your sweet words! Hello dear Patry . . . glad to know that you are happily dancing in your world of words and nature :)
I'm all for the idea of creating a "character who is capable of reaching into your world and changing your life". These are the ones I hope to create and the ones I love to read! Loved the smiling photo of you...hope you are continuing to have a brilliant summer.
Love,
D.
"As a writer, I want to entertain, inspire, and yes, I dream of creating a character who is capable of reaching into your world and changing your life.
6. Did I really say that? Who do I think I am?"
I think you're a writer who has already entertained, inspired and created a character capable of changing lives. Your book is being translated into seven languages. Wow! Congratulations.
that struck me as a very 60s photo. Could it be that i just saw and giggled my way through "Hairspray"?
Wish I was there!:D
Patry, I adore you.
I'm also more inspired at the outside of Tiffany's window than what's on the other side of it and for the same reasons. I love that picture of you! And as for how your writing has affected me -- mission accomplished for fact number 5. :)
A very cool blog entry! Thanks for sharing.
(You really do look like you're having the time of your life!!)
kate: Do you have any idea how much I've missed you? Sending a ton of love your way...
Delia: I have absolutely no doubt that you will. That piece you wrote about your dad is still with me.
amishlaw: Do I have your permission to frame that comment and hang it in my office for days when I doubt myself? Thank you, friend.
lorna: If you stitched a poodle on my skirt, I'd be THERE...maybe I need to see Hairspray?
r: Next time?
susan: I hope you know the adoration is mutual. New York will always remind me of our wonderful girl's night out, and how you brought me to my very first literary cocktail party.
lisa: In my case, it's a good thing I prefer the view from outside, because they probably wouldn't let me inside anyway...As I said to Amishlaw, your comment means more than I can say.
ric: The older I get the more I realize the importance of having the time of my life every day. Thanks for visiting!
My question is where is your coffee and danish? Audrey had coffee and a danish:-)
I've always enjoyed Capote's writing, and "Breakfast" is one of my all-time favorites. It's the type of novella that I've always wanted to be able to write.
And as far as memorable characters, I think you created two really good ones with the two main ladies in your novel!
a woman of the world...beautiful in body and spirit! wish we were there catching a broadway play or 2 and putzing around the village and tribeca at midnight! i love the "city that never sleeps."
we saw 2 humpback whales and a minke whale saturday on a cruise in the san juan islands. wish you and ted had been with us. but then you can do the same thing in your big pond, too! :-)
Lovely picture -- you look so happy!
I'm always so thrilled to see people openly enjoying their lives, in public and everything. You know how sometimes there will be a day when the weather is so excellent that everyone you see is smiling, couples are holding hands and laughing while they walk, and just everyone seems to be having fun even just running errands? That's my favorite kind of day.
I also like seeing it on people one at a time, each having his or her own excellent day -- a woman in a red hat in the rain, a man who has just fallen in love this week -- especially when the "day" is more than one day, really just a good, long, excellent time, like when a writer who's worked hard her whole life finally emerges as not a waitress anymore, but really a writer, no doubt about it, no turning back, no need.
Cheers!
What a wonderful photo, Patry - you look positively radiant.
Though I must confess - I've seen the movie, but I have yet to read "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Nor
"The Autobiography of a Soul." I really should remedy that - there are so many books that I ought to have read, but haven't yet - if only I could remember that when the newer books cry out to me in the store, and look for the ones I've missed instead. Thanks for the reminder!
I just watched Breakfast at Tiffany's on TV the other night. Your post got me to thinking about books that I read when I was young and how I was influenced by them. What comes to mind are Aesop's Fables and various fairy tales. The Ant and the Grasshopper etc. Also Pinocchio...and the movie version AI....
and eat fresh tomatoes
Yes! With peanut butter on toast? ;-) I'm glad you seem to be having such a good summer, Patry.
Have missed you. Our tastes are so different, yet you have my admiration for your writing always.
Woman with white streak pulls up the front of her sun dress to fill it with corn.
Last summer I posed in front of the fisherman statue in Gloucester. I still think about Mark Walburg in the middle of the ocean after the Perfect Storm.
I realized this year that I go to FloydFest (our town's four day roots music festival where upwards of 12,000 attend) for the stories (and photos to illuminate them).
Seeing you makes me happy!
What a great photo of you! And I completely understand the desire to honor Audrey and Truman (see, on first name basis with the two of them).
And your facts are anything BUT mundane. I completely agree with your desire to create a character who will change a reader. Why dream small? :)
Matt: How could I have forgotten the coffee and Danish? Thanks for your KIND words.
Sky: Oh, we WOULD have fun in NY, wouldn't we?
Ted and I would have loved to be on that cruise. I don't think I've ever seen a Minke whale...
sara: Thanks for creating such a wonderful portrait of joy and leaving it here for me to return to whenever I need it. (I love your woman in the red hat in the rain, and the man who has just fallen in love. In my mind, they pass each other and share a secret smile.)
tinker: I love the novella, but this may be one of the rare cases where the movie was even better. I attribute that to Audrey.
fred: I loved those fables and fairy tales as a child, too--the grimmer the better. Maybe it makes the triumph of innocence even sweeter?
mb: Hmmm...peanut butter and tomatoes are two of my favorite foods. But together? Really? Is it good?
zhoen: My tastes are wildly eclectic...in fact, it's near impossible to name all the books that have influenced me. In fact, I tried to go back and add a bunch more, but blogger doesn't seem to allow me to edit any more. I get one shot and I'm done.
colleen: Each of your eight things is a poem or a word painting. I especially love the first, but the part about Floydfest makes me sad. I can't believe I missed it again!
mardourgrrl: We wouldn't be writers if we could hold our dreams in little boxes, would we?
There's a little something on my blog, here:
http://tinkerart.typepad.com/tinker_art/2007/08/ive-spent-the-l.html#more
whenever you feel like taking a little break at the summer office.
:)
I love the different departments at Tiffany's - the gold floor, the silver floor. Also the very burly security guards at the front.
You look like the cat who swallowed the canary - yum!
Wonderful picture. I don't know New York well enough to know whether the reflected building with the three statues is a church or a temple of commerce. When I was between trains in New York I sometimes wandered the streets around Penn Station--there was always something surprising to find.
I've seen this meme making the rounds and it's always great learning a few tidbits of our fellow bloggers! Peace, JP
Vibrant.
Hi Patry, there's a small award for you here:
http://tinkerart.typepad.com/tinker_art/2007/08/ive-spent-the-l.html#more
Taradharma: I didn't know about those floors...next time I will actually go inside!
steve: I don't know what that reflected building is either. Maybe that means I need to go back?
Deborah: Yes it is!
changeling: One word can say so much. I need to remember that...
tinker: You are too kind.
And returning to let you know that I just tagged you for a blogger reflection award. :)
Beautiful photo.
You are/were where I one day hope to visit. I will strike the same pose and perhaps blog it too. The book and the film have stayed with me. Moon River is my all time favourite song.
This post made me smile today. Thank you x
Moon River...I love the story of Audrey Hepburn challenging a movie exec who insisted that song be cut from the film. Over my dead body, she said, and that was that. What would we do without stunning strong women to keep our world spinning! I'm so glad I can view your photos again, Patry. This one rocks! I love (and miss!) NY!
You look happy and comfortable with all the New York taxi's reflected in the window.
Wow, how wonderfulto be standing in front of Tiffany.
Congratulations on your first novel. How long did you take you to write it and to get it published? I have finished my first novel but so far I've had no luck with it.
Best wishes
Annie
mardou: Thanks for coming back--and esp. for the award. I must go check it out...
Caroline: And I, of course, hope to be where YOU are one day. And soon! I think that film, and of course, the MARVELOUS song, connects so many people.
k: I hadn't heard that story before, but now I love Audrey even more. Maybe someday we can meet at Tiffany's for a danish and coffee?
mary: I love those taxis!
Annie: It took about three months to produce a first draft, followed by a couple of years of revision--some alone, and some with the help of my agent. Once we submitted it to publishers, it sold in three weeks. Good luck with your novel. It is an ADVENTURE!
great photo, you look so ready to takeon the world! :)
Thanks, Gulnaz! Always wonderful to see old friends here...
Patry, I love this photo of you!
Hope your trip was a good one.
And I hope you're having a
wonderful summer.
All the best from Canada :)
holly: Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Patry. I closed down my Liminality Blog and returned to Writer's Blog. Thanks for the visit. I've tagged you for a thinking blog award you can visit the post for the details.
What no Birthday post? I loved yr. last Gather article, thought I might find it here. BTW stop by and pick up yr. award.
Easywriter: Great to hear you're blogging again!
r: No birthday post this year, but I look forward to yours. xox
A fabulous photo of you, Patry. You look happy, as though you're doing exactly what you want.
Nice Article.
Thanks to author.
Wonderful blog.
Please write anything else!
blogs in here looking forward to often visit your blog
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