This Writer's Life is a blog about writing in the swirling free-fall of the publishing industry. I'll cover everything that comes across my radar in the world of writing and publishing--from inside chatter from my conversations with publishers and editors, to commentary from my favorite book lovers on Twitter. I'll...

I met Michael Jackson in 1984. We were both guests of Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg at Amblin, Spielberg's production company on the Universal film lot. Whoopi Goldberg was preparing to play Celie, the protagonist in the film version of The Color Purple, a book written by my mother, and...

Sarah Palin became mayor of her town, governor of her state, and has now secured the Vice Presidential nomination for the Republican Party of her country. She accomplished this using the basic doctrine of feminism: female empowerment.

Many feminists are now trying to distance themselves from the result of...

Here's a note that came in on my blog from "Anonymous" today, and my response.

Anonymous: I disagree with your assessment of this election. I think you are really diminishing how much of a threat Hillary is to the male power structure in America. I have never seen the media...

I've been trying not to write about The Speech, but since a billion trillion people have asked for my take, I decided to offer it up:

I read the speech transcript because I couldn't bear to watch pundits with as much courage as Obama has in one thumbnail rip it...

There is a lot of discussion about "feminist in-fighting" of late, spurred by the election. Jessica Valenti of Feministing.com is doing a piece on the subject for The Nation. Here is my response to her query:

1. The fact is there have always been many "feminisms," but one dominant,...

As a bi-racial, Ivy-League educated, thirty-something feminist who campaigned for Bill Clinton, the election has me squarely on the fence. I love Barack's vision and know intimately the mosaic of ideas and experiences that helped shape it. I also feel a profound loyalty to Hillary who, after much sacrifice, has...

When I got the email from my publicist asking for a blog post about mother daughter relationships, I immediately got a headache. Haven't I said enough, written enough, suffered enough? My partner laughed. You asked for it, he said. Now get writing. I dragged myself to the computer, head bowed....