Blair Kilpatrick's Blog

• It's Not About the Store, It's About the Bookseller: Black Oak in Berkeley

  November 6, 2009

  • I’ve always loved independent bookstores, and Black Oak Books in Berkeley was a prime example.  It had that perfect combination of classy and musty.  New and used books.  An academic flavor.  Author photos on the wall.  Readings.  Coffee shops near by.   Walking distance from my house. Black Oak was the first bookstore I discovered when we moved to Berkeley in 1997.  I was ...
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• NaNo Nostalgia; Or: Back to Nonfiction

  November 4, 2009

  • I felt a little sad on Sunday, the first day of November.  Nostalgic, because it was also the opening day of National Novel Writing Month.    Last November, for the first time, I joined hundreds of thousands of aspiring novelists in that crazy, exhilarating NaNoWriMo  marathon.  I thought of it as an experiment—and as a way to stay busy while I awaited the publication of my first book, ...
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• New Orleans, the city that changed my life

  October 23, 2009

  • A timely blog topic in Red Room this week, to write about our favorite cities.I started out in Cleveland, a city that inspires jokes.  After that, things got better.   I spent a good part of my life in Chicago, a wonderful and underrated place.  I've come to love New York; my husband was born there and our older son has lived in the Village since he left for college ten years ago.  I live ...
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