Writing. Life.tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-3640152008-11-27T10:10:04-08:00A Writer's Eye on the WorldTypePadMia's Thanksgiving Thoughtstag:typepad.com,2003:post-591629202008-11-27T10:10:04-08:002008-11-27T10:10:04-08:00It's Thanksgiving day, but my mind keep wandering to the bombings in Mumbai, particularly the image of the small Israeli boy, his pants covered in blood, likely that of his parents. His own rescue is a small miracle. And I couldn't help but be somewhat annoyed when the newscaster changed his voice and facial expression to announce the winner of...clairefontaineIn the Company of Womentag:typepad.com,2003:post-549710862008-09-01T06:12:39-07:002008-09-01T06:12:39-07:00Having a mother who's a writer forces you to think in different ways. My mom and I spent that last two days gallivanting around the Provencal countryside with some girlfriends and, when talking about how much fun we had over coffee this morning, she asked me what I felt was the theme of those days, what the weekend was really...clairefontaineAn Update from Francetag:typepad.com,2003:post-543912542008-08-19T03:55:29-07:002008-08-19T03:55:29-07:00A bit of news from France and some in the states, too. The new PS edition of Come Back was just released and is in stores now, on the endcap/aisle at B&N and on the Buy 1, Get 1 tables up front at Borders; if you happen to be in a bookstore and it's not there, please send me a...clairefontaineDeja Vutag:typepad.com,2003:post-533053282008-07-27T04:06:44-07:002008-07-27T04:06:44-07:00This month has been a time of return, remembrance and renewal for Mia and me. We returned to Gordes, in Provence, a place of great peace and beauty for me. It was where I first felt healed from the trauma that had dominated our lives to that point, and it was where I felt a sense of profound pleasure, of...clairefontaineGreetings from Provence!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-528266962008-07-17T09:12:46-07:002008-07-17T09:12:46-07:00Hello there, it’s Mia this time. This post is coming to you from Avignon, a fortified city in the South of France where my mother and I are working on a new project. France has proven to be both delightful and depressing. Delightful in that, well, it’s France. Depressing in that as my waistline slowly gets bigger thanks to all...clairefontaineA Toast!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-473776582008-03-26T12:19:17-07:002008-03-26T12:19:17-07:00Picture this: An organic vineyard on a Provence hillside, a beautiful family, a successful book and another on the way, a 400 year-old farmhouse to renovate, kind, if quirky, neighbors, your first vintage taking top prize... Kristin and Jean-Marc Espinasse did picture that - and made it a reality. Kristin left Arizona after college with a dream to be a...clairefontaineOopstag:typepad.com,2003:post-460822182008-02-24T15:10:12-08:002008-02-24T15:10:12-08:00Upon reading what I just posted below, I realized two things. One, being creative with colors and type is best left to those who actually know what they're doing. And, two, that I forgot to tell those of you generous enough to donate that you'll need to email me to let me know if you'd like me to list your...clairefontaineA Rather Mad Adventuretag:typepad.com,2003:post-460137042008-02-22T13:16:13-08:002008-02-22T13:16:13-08:00So, Mom, the the daughter said, what's our Next Big Thing? Well, mom replied, let's start with a wish list: we love to travel, we're suckers for adrenaline and novelty, we have loved reaching out and helping others. Tall order, mother. Yeah, so? I'm in a cafe few weeks later and notice the front page of the USA TODAY Travel...clairefontaineMia's NY Times Op Ed on Britney Spearstag:typepad.com,2003:post-457431622008-02-17T22:07:01-08:002008-02-17T22:07:01-08:00My daughter, Mia, just had her first article published last week, in the Op Ed page of the NY Times. While I was, of course, very proud of her for such a big accomplishment, I was just as proud that she took on such an important, if politically incorrect, topic - our refusal to involuntarily commit those who are in...clairefontaineA Lesson from a Little Brown Dogtag:typepad.com,2003:post-454199302008-02-10T15:12:19-08:002008-02-10T15:12:19-08:00It's Christmas Eve on a hilltop in rural north Georgia and I'm standing under the moon listening to carolers in a hay-wagon. It's about 20 degrees, dogs and kids are squealing and running underfoot, the horse is eating the hay off the hay-wagon, the caroler's props and Tupperware drums are constantly being readjusted, the sheet music keeps flapping in and...clairefontaine