Michael Kimball made me cry (again) and channeling voices

Michael Kimball made me cry back in April when he visited Planting Words as a part of his blog tour for Dear Everybody.

I read his second book, How Much of Us There Was, in a single sitting at the weekend. It seemed criminal to gulp it all down in one go but I couldn't help myself.

"A husband wakes up to find that his wife has had a seizure during the night. An ambulance is called and she is rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at a nearby hospital, where she lies in a coma. By day he sits anxiously beside her. He tries to think of ways to wake her up."

Like Dear Everybody, this book is a distillation of what it is to be human. The voice of the grandfather is utterly convincing, and sometimes the grief was almost too much for me to hold. As it says on the cover, 'Be warned: this book has the power to made even the most hard-hearted of readers shed a tear...' What a beautiful book. Thank you Michael.

There are extras at the back of the book, and in one of the interviews I was interested in Michael's experience of writing:

I have an old friend who asked, after hearing me read from The Way the Family Got Away, if I were channeling voices. I had never thought of that before then, but I do at times feel possessed by my characters - not in a crazy way, but maybe in the way that an actor does when they are in character. I heard their voices in my head and I live with them for a while, but writing them down does quiet them.

This is my experience too. I love that last part - they are glad that their stories have been told, and they can rest more easily.

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In other news, I am 4 days into my new regime and my egogoolaholism is under control. No reading of blogs, no checking of ranks, and I'm feeling pretty chipper. One day at a time.

There's a fine interview with Clare Grant of Three Beautiful Things over at 100 Readers - and another one will be popping up on Thursday. If you're enjoying the interviews it'd be great if you could help me spread the word by blogrolling me for the duration of the project, or giving it a little mention on your blog. Ta!

Finally Rosie is a dream to drive and I'm still deeply in love. She has Blue&Me so when someone sends me a text message when I'm driving Rosie reads it out for me over the radio. My friend made her swear yesterday. Rosie didn't mind - she can take a joke. Happy Tuesday.