Published Books
"Games Christians Play was published at just the right time. It was 1967, several years after the Eric Berne book, Games People Play, and I wanted to focus on the community of evangelical Christians I had grown up with, their outlook and foibles. I had written an article for Eternity Magazine, and Harper & Row wanted it expanded into a book. Before Games Christians Play was released, it had pre-sold 50,000 copies, been excerpted in all the denominational magazines, and was especially popular with the group it satirized. The book stayed in print for ten years.
"One of our editors who had moved to Lippincott encouraged us to do a sequel, and my friend Patti and I took on racial prejudice within the same group. Perhaps The Little White Book on Race hit too close to home. It was never as popular and even my own parents were leery of it."
 The first three books in the series, beautifully published by Chelsea Green. |
 The British edition of Permanent Londoners, published by Robson. Permanent Italians published by Walker Books. |
"The Permanent series began when Tom and I discovered Pere LaChaise Cemetery on a trip to Paris in 1986. I was writing travel stories for newspapers, so I made notes and Tom took photos. The story was so popular that we began to fantasize going back to Paris and doing a book. Eventually we found a small publisher in Vermont, Chelsea Green, who was interested, and went back to Paris the next spring; the book came out that fall.
"The book did well enough for us to continue with New York, California, London, and Italy. Everything about writing these books was pleasurable, from the poignant sculptures and inscriptions, to the amazing people we wrote about both famous and obscure. We loved visiting cemeteries and churches to do the research all day long, then relax with a leisurely dinner in a foreign country. None of the subsequent books came together as perfectly as Paris, but they had their moments."
"The book did well enough for us to continue with New York, California, London, and Italy. Everything about writing these books was pleasurable, from the poignant sculptures and inscriptions, to the amazing people we wrote about both famous and obscure. We loved visiting cemeteries and churches to do the research all day long, then relax with a leisurely dinner in a foreign country. None of the subsequent books came together as perfectly as Paris, but they had their moments."
"The Nursery, a mystery published by St. Martin's in 1996, grew out of work that I did for my MFA at Vermont College. The story involved an adopted baby stolen from his crib, his heartbroken parents, and a brash young reporter without too many social graces. Together she and the bereaved mother attempt to reclaim the missing child and stumble on something larger." (Out of print).
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"In the mid-1990s I needed a challenge--something I was terrified of doing--and decided that public speaking rather than bungee-jumping would be it. I'd always been interested in people's attachment to their 'stuff' and began giving workshops at libraries and schools on organizing and decluttering. Scaling Down came about when my friend, Marj Decker, a professional organizer, complained that there were no books for people who wanted to move from their home of many years into a condo or retirement community. It was published by Rodale in 2005. The Clutter Cure gave me a chance to write about our psychological attachment to things and how to break through to the joy of having less and enjoying it more. It was brought out by McGraw-Hill in 2007.
"Both books are still available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com etc."
"Both books are still available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com etc."
A NOVEL DEATH is featured on the Home page.