Blog Posts for Blair Kilpatrick

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

Blair Kilpatrick — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:38:57 -0800

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 ...

NaNo Nostalgia; Or: Back to Nonfiction

Blair Kilpatrick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:37:23 -0800

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, ...

New Orleans, the city that changed my life

Blair Kilpatrick — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:57:16 -0700

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 ...

Louisiana Book Festival coming up on October 17

Blair Kilpatrick — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:31:46 -0700

I'm getting set to present "Accordion Dreams" at my first book festival. How fitting that it's in Louisiana.While the rest of my fellow San Francisco Bay Area authors will be Litquake-ing, I'll be letting the good times roll in Baton Rouge. (Too bad I can't be in both places. I did get invited to participate in one Litquake event, but wouldn't you know it's the same weekend. ...

Bad Manners: Sins of Omission (Or: I'll get back to you...unless I don't)

Blair Kilpatrick — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:23:15 -0700

I'm joining the Red Room Community in blogging this week about bad manners. Lately, I've been struck by a growing category of bad manners.I think of it as a particular kind of "sin of omission." It's the failure to get back to someone--whether it's in response to a social invitation, a job application, a literary query, or a request from a potential client. Sometimes there's an ...

Heroes; Rediscovering Ernest Gaines

Blair Kilpatrick — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:40:31 -0700

I don't much like the notion of heroes. I've always had a tendency to idealize important figures in my life and then struggle with the inevitable reality that they have flaws, like anyone else. I certainly idealized my late accordion mentor, a Louisiana-born Creole musician named Danny Poullard. My growing connection to him, and his eventual death, are a major focus of my memoir Accordion ...

My Obsessions, Passions, Fixations

Blair Kilpatrick — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:27:25 -0700

How can anyone write a short blog entry on obsessions, passions, and fixations? That's an impossible task, at least for me. It also risks making me think like a psychologist (which I am) and getting too technical. How are they different? And how about compulsions? Anyhow, I have to get back to finishing my mystery. It's taking longer than it should, because I keep obsessively checking my ...

Publishing Missteps (or: "Don't Sleep With Someone You'd Never Consider Marrying")

Blair Kilpatrick — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:45:46 -0700

I envy my fellow Red Room authors who have to look back through the mists of time to reflect on their first books. It's always easier to share youthful missteps. Accordion Dreams, my first book, still feels very new, since it came out in January--and I was certainly no youth at the time!My agent and my publisher did right by me. I feel very fortunate to have ended up with them--especially ...

Yikes! I've been Kindled!

Blair Kilpatrick — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:11:36 -0700

I was checking the listing for Accordion Dreams on Amazon a couple of days ago. I was shocked to discover a little notice that it's now available on Kindle.I followed the link and, sure enough, there I was. Kindled.My first reaction was to wonder how this happened. Then I figured it must have been the publisher's decision. It's probably a good thing. Right? I guess so. I don't own ...

Monterey Market and Black Oak Books, two Berkeley landmarks struggling

Blair Kilpatrick — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:19:56 -0700

More bad news this week about the struggles of two Berkeley institutions, Black Oak Books and--the shocker--the Monterey Market, the locally famous produce market around the corner from my house.It wasn't a surprise to read that Black Oak finally closed the store on North Shattuck over the weekend. The new owner seems to have made valiant efforts to keep it going. Every time I've wandered in, ...