Merry Christmas, best beloveds

Can’t wait for this!

Dogma wishes one and all a happy holiday. She has already destroyed her first squeaky toy. It lasted 20 minutes.

Can’t wait to be part of this!

Christmas 1961 when I was 13. That’s me on the horse, my father and LA friends who came up to Ojai for Xmas, along with relatives and courtesy uncles and an overrun of cousins and extra dogs. We talked about politics and books and Hollywood, which was the family business. I loved it.

Still timely. Getting timelier by the day.

Here we come a-wassailing. The Welsh have much better wassailing traditions than we do.

I got to catch up with Kimberly McBroom at WDBJ-7 last week and talk about my new novel about the Hollywood blacklist and why we ought to be paying attention to what went on then. www.wdbj7.com/2025/11/25/h...

I had great time talking with Rob and Jen. s3qx53.podbean.com

Backyard wildlife report. We’ve had possums, and the groundhogs and skunks are regulars, but this is the first raccoon I’ve seen in the yard and I fear the days of goldfish pond may be numbered.

Happy to be among the bunch of authors having a book sale (and holiday shopping opportunity) this Saturday, November 15, 11:30-1:30 at the Salem Museum. Portraits by the brilliant Patrick Harrington, who will have his own books there.

The traditional “unboxing” video!

We have moved the papyrus indoors for the winter. Because the cats insist on chewing on it, which makes them throw up, but they don't care, the papyrus lives in the bathroom, thus adding that air of swamp chic that we all strive for. 

I really love shepherd.com’s book lists. Here’s my new one on censorship. https://shepherd.com/best-books/government-censorship-and-the-hollywood-blacklist

I was heartened by the huge turnout in Roanoke yesterday. Lots of kids, dogs, silly costumes, and determination that we have had enough.

I had a great conversation with Rob Fredette on his podcast Hodgepod: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry, author of The Orchard: “Inspired by true events, rich with historical detail, a profound, unsettling, and captivating look at Hollywood and the Red Scare. In this harsh reality, this era crumbling under the weight of hatred and authoritarianism, as timely as memorable.”

I have tremendous admiration for Peter Coyote as a writer, an actor, and a social conscience, so I am extremely grateful for this review of "Are You Now or have You Ever Been?"

The WGA has seen this before. If you don’t know what the Hollywood blacklist was, please look it up.

Thrilled by this review from Elizabeth Poliner. …Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? reveals the heartbreak behind a legendary film star’s desire to be buried in her backyard…with the sweep of history—especially the McCarthy era’s “Red Scare”—and remarkable sense of place…wonderful, unique read.

This promo video I made for the new book seems horrendously prophetic.

The new blacklist. The last time we were asked to turn in people who didn’t agree with the government line, teachers lost their jobs and freelance writers and such lost their careers. I just wrote a damn novel about it. It’s hideously familiar.

From Midwest Book Review! www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/aug_25.h...

Are You Now…? takes us into and through the Hollywood blacklist, several love stories, a posthumous set of illegal instructions, bonds of family and friendship. Most of all it’s about Liza Jane, a heroine changing from decade to decade, always five strides ahead of her time. —Liz Rosenberg

Thanks to Elizabeth Dulemba for letting my adult novel visit her kidlit blog! hollinskidlit.substack.com/p/amanda-coc...

Now available for pre-order! At all the usual sources but bookshop.org will benefit a local bookstore.

My father was a man ahead of his time. He rigged an on-off switch to a cable long enough to reach from the TV’s sound outlet to his recliner. He used it whenever a commercial came on. We called it the blab-off. Here he is attempting to skin his friends at poker.

I love the way water hyacinths just pop up out of nowhere and the next time you look at them they’re gone again.

Oooh, ARCs are here! Out in December!

Skunk youngsters at Hollins at the end of our faculty house walkway. Others may not be as charmed as I am but they’re awfully cute, at a respectful distance.

Bart's Books is an Ojai institution, beloved of valley insomniacs. When I was a teenager the sign was just a handwritten card with instructions to take what you wanted from the outside shelves and throw a nickel over the fence.

Cactus graffiti at Mission San Miguel Arcangel.

Matilija poppies in Ojai. They were everywhere.

Spend an idyllic week on a gorgeous campus with a bunch of other writers. I’m teaching Sense of Time and Place: Fiction and the Craft of World Building.

Today’s Hands Off protest in Roanoke.

Doing a very happy dance because there are daffodils and I just signed a contract with the wonderful Northampton House Press for a novel about the Hollywood blacklist: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? My parents were screenwriters so this one is close to my heart. @noho-house-press.bsky.social

Are you looking for a writers’ workshop in an idyllic setting? Hollins University’s Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop offers an intensive week of workshops and craft talks on a beautiful campus. Mine is Sense of Place and Time: Fiction and the Craft of World-Building. www.hollins.edu/tmww

He inspired the ire of fellow Republicans when he was in office by being a reasonable human being, and promptly got kicked out. As a longstanding Democrat, I miss Republicans like him.

Dogma’s stomach is upset by too much people food, and she is very sad to be cut off from bites at the table. Sick of being stared at by professional-grade very sad dog eyes, we have come to this — grandma’s sugar bowl full of dog kibble for table snacks.

Want a week-long writers’ workshop in an idyllic setting? Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, June 8-12, Hollins University in Virginia. I’m teaching “Sense of Place and Time: Fiction and the Craft of World-Building” but there’s more, including nonfiction and poetry. www.hollins.edu/academics/co...

The editorial assistant is looking up synonyms for nuisance.

The Welsh have Christmas traditions far superior to ours.

The tree is up and decorated. Also wired to the wall. Mostly in defense against cats, although one year someone fell into it.

Lenore is a brilliant editor. In a gorgeous setting. Hard to go wrong.

Happy anniversary to my favorite copy editor comment of all time. "You use 'long eighteenth century' a lot in this book, but each century is exactly as long as another."

Welcome in the wintertime.

Thanksgiving visitors. Canine nephew Cooper wasn’t too sure about the iron coyote that had his toy and human niece Cassie had to retrieve it for him. Then he had to be carried upstairs to bed because stairs are new.

Clean-out-the-refrigerator fried rice, also known as a Mama Mouse special for my mother, who would combine the damnedest things.

Blocked my first idiot (or more likely bot) here who I made the mistake of following back and promptly got a phishing message. Sigh.