Larry's Letters

Sent: October 31, 2001

A joyous Halloween. In this neighborhood the trick-or-treaters usually commute in groups driving by a parent. This year there's been no such announcement, so maybe not.

The weather's turned chilly for California. I'm resisting heating my pool, to save power. My sauna works fine. The pool cover is stuck half open because a cable snapped.

I'm still in the middle of three novels, but they're all shaping up in their various ways:

Jerry and I took a 4-1/2 day driving tour to Chaco Canyon to research BURNING TOWER. Wow, that's wonderful country! Too much desert, but also Meteor Crater, the Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, the abandoned city at Chaco Canyon. All magical places--at least by the time we get through with them.

My leg stood up to everything I could throw at it, including a climb so nearly vertical that Jerry dithered before going on. Jerry's strength held up too, and he's five years older than I am. At night we wrote. We have notes to the end of the book.

BURNING TOWER and RINGWORLD'S CHILD are both under contract and both have deadlines. I don't recall what they are offhand. CREATION MYTH (with Brenda Cooper) has no contract and no deadline, although it's what I'm working on at this moment, while Jerry takes a crack at TOWER.

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