Contrary to appearances I haven’t forgotten all the writers  who have stopped by over the years, or the simply curious folks who slipped in for various reasons. I’m not  as active on social media as I’d like to be, but if I am, I’m typically posting art that has fascinated and moved me.  The painting on the left is from the brilliant Alla Transk, Russian-born, now living in the US and centering on women touched by nature and the seasons. Her work is glorious and mystical and seems just right for this time of year.

I’ve been busy wrapping up the season and mulching trees, taking in stories, hiking some, but not too high since the trails are slippery now that the rains are around. The nighttime temperatures are getting down into the thirties this week, the air smells like woodsmoke, twinkling Christmas displays are appearing like grounded constellations, and I’ve got snow envy for the regions covered in white.  Meanwhile, I’ve tossed out pumpkins, changed the sofa pillows to holiday colors, stocked up on beeswax candles, affixed a wreath to my door, and am searching out fresh garland to festoon the doorway and twine in a string of lights.  All manner of  luminescence to brighten the long December nights is such a lovely, ancient tradition, isn’t it?

And I’ve been working on a series of, um, challenging editing projects. It’s been a year for stories that have required an uncommon level of analysis and I’m managing to squeeze in my own projects samong them.  As I wrap up this mind-blowing  year on a sweet note since there’s lots of decorating, cooking and baking ahead, writers I’ve worked with have fabulous outcomes coming soon.  I’ll tell you more when I’m able except to mention how enormously proud I am of them and to work with them.

However, since I’ve mentioned before how writers are scavengers, I’ll be sending some recommendations your way. First, a short story, “Lara’s Theme” published in the November 17, 2025  issue of  The New Yorker and written by Madhuri Vijay, who grew up in Bangalore and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. “Lara’s Theme” centers on an exceptional, striving Indian family, their secrets and desires,  an alto saxophone, and a deaf former saxophone great who is teaching the father in the story how to play. Vijay is the winner of a Pushcart Prize and India’s JCB prize for her first novel  The Far Field and has written other short stories.  “Lara’s Theme” is told from the younger brother, Kushal’s viewpoint, with an unerring ear and authenticity for the difficult teen and leaving-home years when parents’ expectations are especially weighty. Might I suggest you notice her word pairs such as monklike devotion and impeccable mind?

Here’s her interview with Deborah Triesman the fiction editor of The New Yorker. You can also listen to the author read it here on the podcast The New Yorker: The Writer’s Voice New Fiction–from The New Yorker.

And just for fun, here’s a saxophone rendition of “Lara’s Theme” which you might recognize from the film Dr. Zhivago.  

Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart