Here’s what’s happening so far in 2004. Dancing on the Cellar Door is still selling well after a year in publication… thanks to word of mouth and word of tongue and just plain word.

Now, my best of 2003 lists:

Best books from 2003, not necessarily published in 2003: Flesh and Blood, by Michael Cunningham, Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, The Killers Within, the Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria, by Shnayerson and Plotkin, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Al Franken, A Home at the End of the World, by Michael Cunningham, The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake, foreword by James Alan McPherson, afterword by John Casey, John Keats, The Collected Poems.

Best film of 2003 was Laurel Canyon, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Close runners up were Thirteen, Hollywood Murders, Mystic River, In America, Whale Rider, Searching for Debra Winger, and Big Fish.

for paula

The road to truth takes what it takes

unconditional light is hard to find

on those dark nights

no pavement in sight

just a motor that grinds

a heart that beats

a dream that needs chased

a path we both know

if only light would rise

you are light.