At the end of August I finished writing the first draft of the book. I decided to let it lie fallow for a while, but last week I picked it up again and started the rewriting process. It's difficult to pick apart your own work; it seems too precious. But it's like weeding a garden, I guess. You just have to roll up your sleeves and start doing it.

I have written four stories about my ancestors, Charlotte, Adele, Nelka and Lucretia. Strictly speaking only Charlotte is an ancestor, the other three are collateral antecedents. Any way, all four women lived remarkably interesting lives. They were fortunate in that they were well educated and energetic and full of ideas. All four married men who loved them dearly and perhaps most importantly gave them full rein to be themselves.

If you would like to read any of the stories now, please let me know and I will send them to you. I suggest, of course, you begin with the first, Charlotte's story. The others presume you have read the previous one. Of course, the stories are still works in progress, but I guess that each is about 90% complete. And, I'm looking for suggestions that might improve on what I've written.

River Run #395

River Run #395, Oil on Panel, 12" x 12", 2009

My daughter Louise LeBourgeois is an artist.  Her painting (River Run) suggests the natural forces that impelled the lives of each woman in the book I am writing.  Louise is the great-great-great-great-grandaughter of Charlotte Blow, the first of the four women.