Happy New Year!

As we count down the hours to the new year, Hannah, her little brother Sam, and I are here to send you our best wishes for 2012.

WordPress.com recently prepared a 2011 annual report for the Hannah Grace blog, counting the number of readers this year as comparable to that needed to fill all the cars on a New York City subway train three times. This year, Hannah Grace reached around the world, attracting readers in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Spain, France, South Africa, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Asia, and the Cayman Islands.

The most popular posts were “Hannah and My Mother” and “The Road Taken.” December 7 was the most popular day for reading the Hannah Grace blog. If you missed anything, you can still check it out in the archives!

On December 27, my essay “Writing: To Carry On,” was published in Beyond the Margins. While it’s not directly about Hannah or Sam, it speaks to the circumstances surrounding my completion of the book, Hannah Grace, and so I post the link here, as we close out 2011.

See you in 2012~

- TLS

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Reading from Hannah Grace

Last Wednesday, December 7, I was invited to read from Hannah Grace at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., where I presented an excerpt from Chapter 7, titled “Legacy.” Many who could not attend asked if there would be a video recording, and, thanks to one of my friends (who used his iPad), there is. Due to issues of file size and uploading to Youtube, the video is in two parts, so be sure to click on both Part 1 and Part 2 to view the entire reading. As context, when the video begins, I was in the middle of saying something about how memoirists are known as the writers with the most angst. You will indeed see my angst displayed in my feet throughout the reading, unhidden behind a half-podium.

I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to Lesley University – and to the low-residency MFA faculty who were behind the invitation – for the opportunity to share a part of this book. I was moved by the number of people who attended. Many thanks as well to the Sherrill Library staff, who presented me with The Paris Review Interviews: Women Writers at Work, with an introduction by one of my favorite writers, Margaret Atwood.

Lastly, check out “Tracy Strauss: Five Questions,” a brief interview of yours truly on the This Might Be True  (and it is) website. Best wishes from Hannah & Sam for all of your holidays!

- TLS

As always, I welcome reader comments and questions. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the space below!

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