TASTEBOOK PIECE ON EMILY DICKINSON & BAKING

I managed to miss this when it was posted, but how lovely is the illustration that goes with it? It's by Ariella Elovic. My piece on Emily Dickinson and baking here at Tastebook.

POST-EDITING RELIEF, CAKE & TATTOOS

It is done. The send button has been pressed. The second round of edits on my Emily Dickinson novel are finito, in the bag, out of my hair. Now I just have to wait and see what my Penguin editors made of them. I do believe that the novel is now cleaner and that it makes more sense too. It's a good feeling.

Emily Dickinson's Gingerbread

Emily consumes my days and has done for well over a year. If I am not baking her cakes, I am reading another biography, or getting a tattoo inspired by her. When I started this whole thing, I was afraid. It felt audacious. Now, the nearer it gets to being a real thing - a book - the more right it feels. No matter what happens, I have connected with Emily in a profound way and that's what makes me happiest of all. I can't wait to go back to Amherst in August and breathe her air again. For now, it is sighs of relief that I met another deadline. Phew!

It's also back to promoting The Closet of Savage Mementos (not that I ever stopped!) and thinking and talking about short stories at the Dublin Writers Festival.

My Emily inspired tattoo - got it done yesterday in anticipation of pressing the send button today