The Answers

You asked! You really asked!

And so, I answer:

Becky asks: What is your favorite Christmas tradition and what tradition do you wish you had started long ago when your kids were small?

I just love the whole Bavarian Christmas eve. My mom had a cassette tape (now mine), with almost more scratches than music (just horrible quality) that absolutely captures the essence of Christmas for me. She told me that it was actually recorded in the snow outside a Bavarian church on Christmas Eve. It begins with cannons, and I swear I can hear (even amid all the scratches) the muffling effect of the snow. There's a clavier and a boys' choir, and to me it is absolute magic! If only I could find a new recording of this music, but I'm not even sure what it's called because the tape just contains Mom's handwriting: "X-mas cannons, Bavarian X-mas."

Goofball asks: On which song do you feet start to dance without stopping? On which music can nobody drag you off the dance floor?

Oh, I love this question! But I can't choose just one answer! Mika gets me bee-boppin', and Stray Cats, and some of the Shins' music. Oh, and I love Gomez's How We Operate. And KT Tunstall's Hold On and Suddenly I See. And the Dixie Chicks. And Mark Knofler & EmmyLou Harris' collaborative music. And hell, even Bach has gotten me to my feet!

And now you have me going through each of my gazillion iTunes songs, just when I have meetings to go to! (No, not interviews -- though I have an all day interview tomorrow! Cross your fingers for me; I want this one!)

Now ask me which music gets me pensive and holding back tears...

Dixie asks: If you would be allowed the gift of one luxury item, regardless of price, what would you choose?

Do love and health and time count as luxury items? They seem to me to be the ULTIMATE luxury items! I choose them! (OK, fine -- and a little red Audi TT sports car...)

Emily asks: What do you love most about living in the Northwest?

Brace yourself! I'd have to say the weather! And not because it's so great because I really don't care for incessant drizzle. But it's the weather that ultimately makes the Pacific Northwest so green and beautiful. You need only drive 20 minutes from the city (or take a walk in the forest behind our house) to be surrounded by beauty. And if you haven't experienced August in Seattle, you ain't lived!

Jen asks: What do you enjoy most about writing? Would you write full time if you could, or is that too solitary an occupation for you?

I can't NOT write. It's just part of me and always has been. My favorite writing is INSPIRED writing -- when words just flow out of me, faster than I can type them (which isn't saying much because I am a slow, two-finger typist!), and somehow they just seem to settle perfectly, with very little effort from me. It's very rare that I can write like that, but when it happens I'm grateful and in awe.

I would absolutely write full-time if I could support the family and send three kids to college on it!

You know, it's weird -- when I was young, I hated being alone, and the word "solitary" panicked me. Now I welcome it.

Anonymous asks: If you were offered a job in Germany, with a salary to allow you and Tom to live comfortably *and* pay for all college tuitions, would you take it even though it would mean living apart from your family?

Yes, assuming I loved the work. The kids would just have to come visit me! (Why? Are you offering me a job?!)

Another (I assume) Anonymous asks: If you had to choose one meal, that you had to eat at every mealtime for the rest of your life, calories no object in this hypothetical, what would you choose?

Mashed potatoes and a great salad, made by my sister-in-law, Suzie!

Another (yeah!) Anonymous asks: What advice would you give to moms of young children, coming from the wisdom of one who has brought 4 to over 18?

Oh, there's so much to say here, but the essence would be: Love them always, even when you find it difficult. Trust them as your "default setting." Let them know that, unless they prove otherwise, you trust them explicitly and that it's up to them to keep (or change) that trust. Keep the rules simple and impactful -- especially when they're teens.

(Oh wait -- YOUNG kids? Oh man, sorry, missed that! Love them, hold them, play with them, let them know how you feel about the world and encourage them to express themselves, and hold on to every single second because your -- and my -- mother-in-law was right; their childhood really does go by in the blink of an eye!)

Thanks for playing. You guys rock!