The Night I Met Salman Rushdie

A GIVEAWAY, the author prom and my latest mood board.

On Monday night I was lucky enough to attend the Authors Guild Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City, thanks to my lovely new author friend Brisa Carleton. In writing circles we often joke that this gala is the “author prom,” since it’s a black tie optional event and most writers are typically sitting in front of a computer in leggings. What to wear is always a drama, and with the weather particularly cold and rainy that night, I couldn’t put on one of my cutesy, short cocktail dresses. Instead I went full spring with a floor length sundress, gold flats and lots of jewelry to dress it up.

The night was planned to honor the works of author greats like Sandra Cisneros and Salman Rushdie. The latter took the stage humble and grateful, and he was met with a spellbound audience as he declared that he “still had some fight” left in him. The audience jumped up with applause, and I couldn’t feel more inspired about the notion that you can enact positive change in the world by writing fictional stories. Later, I was chatting with Meg Walker, a publicist pal of mine, when Salman Rushdie walked by us. Meg and I are big fans of the author, and she stopped him to gush about his writings. I said something to support her, but I was also so starstruck that one of my literary heroes was standing there that I fell silent.

Until I got the courage to say, “Salman, would you mind if we take a picture with you?” He graciously agreed with a gentle smile, and I just keep staring at the photo. Isn’t it so neat when you meet someone whose novels you’ve adored for decades? It struck me as a very powerful moment. I also took a blurry photo since I sort of spazzed out as I was taking it.

Speaking of Inspiring Photographs

I’ve been thinking about all of the images that I kept nearby when I was writing Our Last Vineyard Summer. When I pulled them all together, it was such a stirring collage that I decided to share. This may not look like much more than a delicious glimpse of New England summer, but I’m always taken with how glamorous a place can look on the outside when there’s so much drama simmering on the inside.

The photograph with the golden retriever hangs over my couch in my living room. I snuck in a pic of me walking to my favorite beach, Aquinnah.

Stunning summer photographs always have a back story to me, even those of classic Martha’s Vineyard beach houses, and I love imagining the complications and triumphs of the families living inside. Walking around historic Edgartown one summer led me to a house that inspired the entire book as well as the Whiting sisters and their iconic feminist mother Virgie. The thought of these women sitting on the home’s back porch and trying to figure out what happened to their family gave me chills as I wrote it.

I’ve been saying that Our Last Vineyard Summer is the novel I was born to write, and I really believe it’s true. It’s almost like my two main characters are warring parts of me: The nurturing, loving person who wants to be a mother is Betsy, and the ambitious woman who wanted to get ahead in her career is Virgie. I find it kind of fascinating when I look at the book that way. Many of us have that tug of war playing out in our lives everyday.

GIVEAWAY: Win Signed Copies of My Books!

Tertulia has been kind enough to offer my Dear Fiction readers a 25 percent discount on all preorders of my latest book on their site. Discount code is: vineyard. If any of you have been considering or meaning to get a copy of Our Last Vineyard Summer, and I really want you to read it, this is the time to do it.

Now here’s the exciting part! I’m offering a giveaway to win *signed copies* of my first three novels Summer Darlings, On Gin Lane and All the Summers in Between if you preorder a copy of my fourth novel Our Last Vineyard Summer.

To enter, upload the receipt of your generous preorder to this Google form and enter your email so I can contact you if your name is drawn. One lucky winner will be notified by email on May 1, 2025. Woot! Then I’ll drop your signed books in the mail. Contest is open to all readers, no matter where you are in the world. Very excited for this! Enter here, here and here. Only entries with an uploaded photo of a receipt will be counted in the giveaway.

Have a great weekend, everyone!