News from Heidi

Rachel, the young protagonist of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, is considered a prime contender to become a Links Debutante. I was a Links Debutante--and very proud to receive the academic scholarship awarded to the student with the highest GPA--at the debutante ball. The Links Incorporated, a wonderful women's service organization, puts on a beautiful "coming out" ball each year for young women of color--dance lessons, etiquette training, and teas included in advance. And I loved that my mom made me a new dress! (Photo to come.)

I had forgotten until I was watching This Is It on the plane--but Michael Jackson gets a mention in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. He was so huge during that time--he's the only pop mention in the whole book.  It was bittersweet to watch the movie -- it's so sad he died so young.

I love Bill & Lynne of Misty Valley Books. I'm doing my first event as a published novelist in Chester, VT, at their invitation. This is a first-rate event! Look at the writers' swag! My face on a wine bottle! It's just too cool!

Here is an interview I did earlier this week with the award-winning poet, Honoree Fannone Jeffers. If you don't know her work, you are missing out on something powerful, moving and beautiful. (Pick up The Gospel of Barbecue and you will know what I mean.)  And if you ever get a chance to hear her read, I suggest you take it. She's amazing LIVE. That's why it was so fun to talk to her LIVE this week on her very first podcast for Phillis Remastered about The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. You'll hear all sorts of fun facts in this hour-long interview,a lot of laughter, and just some everyday kind of talk--I've known Honoree for 13 years.  What do you think? (You can also subscribe to this bi-monthly podcast on itunes for FREE!

It was a great pleasure to provide a piece for the very popular Book Notes feature for the blog, Largehearted Boy. There's a lovely write-up for the book and a short piece by me about some particular songs on my playlist including the song "Flight" exists only in the pages of my book. Here's a little bit of what Larghearted Boy has to say about The Girl Who From the Sky. The link to the complete piece can be found below.

"In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.

Heidi Durrow accomplishes several things with her debut novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky. The story of a young biracial girl's life after a great tragedy is told through the eyes of several narrators, whose stories converge like a gamma knife. An exceptional coming-of-age story, the novel is also a well-wrought mystery. Durrow skillfully builds suspense about the true nature of the tragedy while also illuminating the nature of her characters, especially the young girl Rachel.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky won the 2008 Bellwether Prize, which advocates "serious literary fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships." As the novel's protagonist searches for her own identity as a biracial woman growing up in America, Durrow is not afraid to tackle big issues concerning race and women. For that reason, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky may be the most important book of the year."

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky: Book Notes

I lost something very dear to me today: my almost 35-year-old Pooh Bear who went everywhere with me. My mom made him for me for Christmas 1975 or 1976. He's almost threadbare and frequent patchings still can't stop the stuffing from spilling out of him. Look, in all honesty, no one but me thought of him as cute. And I know it's terribly silly to mourn the loss of a thing. But well, there it is. I miss my bear. He was supposed to come on the book tour. Ah well.

My first professional job as a writer was at Hallmark Cards as a greeting card writer. I worked at the headquarters in Kansas City for the summer between sophomore and junior year--and I had a great time. Creativity and making sure your creativity was fueled at all times was paramount. Reading, going to the movies, seeing plays--all of this was encouraged and as I recall, paid for by the company. Heaven. The work was fun too. You'd pick an assignment and work to deadline. An assignment would have these kinds of specifications: Easter, from son to dad, humorous. My job was to come up with as many variations on this as I could. And then each week, the editors would get together to decide what got accepted. I think the acceptance rate was something like 7 or 8 percent. I was thrilled the day I got two sentiments (that's what the card message is called) accepted for that Easter assignment. It used to be that the sentiments (if they sold well) would be recycled every two or three seasons--and the art work would be changed. I haven't checked in a while, but I remember just a few years ago seeing at least one of my sentiments at a Hallmark store. It really was the coolest job!

My first radio review! And it comes from my hometown radio station, KBOO. This is a snippet of what Larry Bowlden for the Old Mole Variety Hour had to say: "Reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s, The Bluest Eye . . . what Durrow manages to do is show how individual people can make a huge difference in the lives of children—can quite literally save them simply by compassion and really paying attention." You can hear the complete review here:

Today is the birthday of the incredible and incomparable singer Etta James who makes an appearance in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. I won't say anymore so as not to spoil the scene for you when you read it. But I do want to say: Happy Birthday, Etta James! In the words of one of the characters: "I love me some Etta James!"

I went to Yale Law School after journalism school because, well, I got in. I enjoyed many of the classes immensely--I was learning about the law, but I was also reading new things and learning alternative ways to address issues and problems and ideas.

I also made some dear friends: Kim (now a well-regarded legal scholar), Brooke (a solo practitioner and consultant extraordinaire), and Mr. Reynolds (now a partner at the best firm in NYC where we once worked together as interns and then young associates). And then there's me: now a published writer!

Funny enough--there are two other Yale Law folks with books out right now: Gretchin Rubin (a 3rd year when I was a 1st year) just published The Happiness Project (non-fiction) and it's hit the NYT Bestseller List already. Go Gretchin.

And writer Adam Haslett (a 1st year when I was a 3rd year, I think) has his second book, Union Atlantic, coming out next week. I was incredibly delighted to see my name alongside his on the Publisher's Weekly's "Top 10 Promising Debuts", and the Boston Herald's "Top 10 Books of 2010." Go Adam!

Add to all of this that I served as a research assistant to best-selling writer Stephen Carter (Emperor of Ocean Park) while I was there --well, it gets me wondering: what's the Yale Law School mystique that it attracts so many writers?

Photo: My Yale Law School Graduation: me, my mom, Harold Koh.