Shewrites. And she writes. And she writes...

Yesterday's coffee with Kamy Wicoff of shewrites.com was rather exciting. Kamy brought her boyfriend Pierre, a musician with The Dimes (click on their website -- music will play, and you'll hear their great sound). The others who joined us were writer/storyteller Devorah Zaslow and world renowned science writer, Virginia Morell, who had the February 2008 cover story for National Geographic and just signed a high six-figure book deal based on her research. Of course, Jennifer Margulis was there, too, who is an accomplished writer in her own right, having, among other things, held the cover story for November 2009's Smithsonian magazine, an article which was recently chosen for The 2009 Best Science Writing anthology.

You might say I was in exceptional company.

That's what made it fun, inspiring and special - but so was all the frank talk about writing and commitment and networking and choosing agents. Obviously, I'm nowhere near the stages any of these women are (by the way, Kamy's written a book, too, called I Do But I Don't, a book about marriage and divorce), but as Jennifer went around the table and introduced everybody, ending finally with me and my small accomplishments and novel-in-progress, I somehow still felt like I was part of the big picture.

There's a kind of big picture kindness and respect that comes from good writers. They're the ones who respect the process, the stages, the hard work, and the successes of any writer at any level. I definitely felt that respect and kindness yesterday as talk around the table shifted to different experiences and issues from each of us. Admittedly, I was the one playing the newbie card, but it was okay because they'd all been there.

But that's the point of shewrites.com, and that's the feeling I got from these other writers: at some point We've all been there. We've been at some spot, and possess information or advice or ideas that are valuable to share. And that's the purpose of a community of writers.

Kamy said she'd wished she could've recorded the meeting for her website, as it hit on the topics shewrites.com pursues. And, afterward, Devorah suggested we (sans Kamy) get together once a month or so to talk about writing.

Perhaps Devorah's comments were directed more at Virginia and Jennifer, but I didn't necessarily get that vibe. I got that writers-supporting-writers vibe instead.

It sounds like Virginia is absolutely swamped with her book deal, kind of like she wants to sneak away to a cave and pound the book out, uninterrupted, so I'm not sure what will come of Devorah's suggestion. However,I still came away inspired to work hard -- and you'd better believe I'll be sure to write again if I ever have the pleasure of actually being part of something so cool.

WE'RE ON MICK TIME

We're moving into the new house on Mick time -- that means sleeping in 'til 10, two trips to Noble Coffee, and buying a BB gun at a garage sale before shuffling a few boxes into the garage.

Good thing we have until June 15, but I'm guessing that'll come fast enough...

"Junkie" is the first post I ever wrote for the Writing Mamas blog. I see lots of ways I should've revised it, but I just felt like posting it today anyway as-is. Dane's eight now...

Junkie

Dane, my five-year-old, is sitting on the couch watching Prehistoric Planet, his favorite DVD about dinosaurs.

Leiopleurodon—an ancient whale-like sea creature whose jagged-tooth jaws have been likened to a giant car-crusher—has eaten a dolphin thing. (I don't know it's name, but I'm sure Dane does.)

The kid’s cozy under his afghan, but his hands are cold. He woke up too early so I sit and watch the video with him. I hold a homemade hot latte in my hands. It feels so good I think Dane will like holding it too.

He holds it and looks so comforted I tell him he can have a sip. He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head at me.

“Go ahead,” I coax with a nod.

He brings the cup to his lips, tips his head back a little and drinks a sip in. He slowly brings it back down to his lap, looks over at me, and smiles the smile of a conspirator. I return a knowing smile.

“Good stuff, huh?” I say.

I feel like a junkie who’s just scored a kid his first hit.

Since he’s able to recall every arcane detail about the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, I’m tempted to tell him that these are Blue Bottle beans, voted by some to be the finest coffee beans roasted in San Francisco and home brewed on our Rancilio espresso machine. But that can wait.

Instead, I let him hold my warm cup on this cold early morning as Leiopleurodon makes his way further into the deep.

THREE DAYS IN THE CITY

Shelby and Maureen came down from Bellingham last Friday. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to get away much to join them -- with Mick's job search, possible interviews, and general end-of-dental-school obligations -- but I ended up with my pals after work on Friday through Sunday afternoon.

We stayed downtown at SF's Galleria, a sweet swank hotel.

Took a streetcar to North Point/Little Italy for dinner. (I think Maureen's going for the cheesy photo look here. I'm not, but I probably still managed to achieve it.)

(above) Mick took the chicks to the airport and stopped off for some Blue Bottle coffee with Shelby.

More of Blue Bottle's finest.

Wine tasting at Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma. (Shelby with what she'll claim is just a prop.)

Someone missed her mommy.

MICK IS FAMOUS!

Click the link below and read halfway down the article to behold our very own amazing coffee geek.

Check out his complete review of our espresso machine here.

Coffee with Grandad

The rest of us were at school -- Mick at dental school, Dane at kindergarten, Anjie at pre-school (teaching) -- so Aubrey and Mike went for some "coffee" together.

There, they worked on drawing a family baseball game (the big craze around our home) and took a self-portrait.