December 2010 - Michelle Richmond

San Francisco’s Wordslinging Women

Thanks to Mia Lipman for this nice write-up in San Francisco Magazine! In the magazine’s cover story, “A Year in Preview,” Lipman writes that the San Francisco “lit scene gets much of its oomph from wordslinging women, including a trio of established authors with distinctly local voices and new books out in 2011. All three have aged gracefully into midcareer success without the boon of a genre-defying debut or an Oprah pick.”

The authors are Ann Packer (The Dive From Clausen’s Pier), whose story collection Swim Back to Me will be released this year; Carol Edgardian, co-editor of Narrative Magazine and author of the forthcoming novel Stages of Amazement; and yours truly.

“And the kid sister in the mix, Michelle Richmond, who just joined the 40-plus club with an international bestseller under her belt (yes, it’s true, I did just turn 40, but I wasn’t quite ready to see it in print!), will start accepting submissions this month for her new indie press, Fiction Attic. We’ll also see her fourth novel, California Street, land in the fall… “It imagines an outlandish circumstance that’s not really that far-fetched,” Richmond says.

Well, yes, I do have a new book coming out in Fall 2011. Finally! While I’m still keeping hush-hush on the details, I can say that it’s been tremendously fun to write, if a bit daunting (considering the 6 months of research that I ultimately threw out with the bathwater). Like my previous two books, it takes much of its inspiration from location. Although this time, I’ve widened my lens to include a broader California backdrop.

Day 49: The Missing Final Chapter of The Year of Fog

Now available as an ebook: the never-before-published original ending of THE YEAR OF FOG. (ISBN 978-1-4524-9639-9)

Spoiler alert: Do not sample this ebook unless you have already read THE YEAR OF FOG!

A note from Michelle: A few weeks before THE YEAR OF FOG went to press, I found myself agonizing over the ending . Was I saying too much? Too little? Should I tie up all the loose ends, or should I go with a more open-ended approach? After much deliberation, I decided to leave Chapter 82 on the editing room floor. I had never set out to write a traditional mystery or police procedural, but rather a book about relationships, guilt, and memory. My choice to cut Chapter 82 from the final version of the book was an attempt to honor this original intent. My hope was that readers would continue to think about Abby and Emma after the last page was turned, and that they would would form their own conclusions about the future of the novel’s heroine.

Since The Year of Fog was published in 2007, I’ve been fortunate to receive thousands of emails from readers, many of whom keep coming back to the same questions. I hope that Chapter 82 will satisfy their curiosity. For those who have asked if a sequel is in the works, I will say that, although I haven’t yet set pen to paper, I do find that Abby and Emma still haunt me. One day, I may yet return to the characters of The Year of Fog.

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and speaking with dozens of book clubs in the past couple of years. One question is invariably asked at some point in the evening: where did you get the idea for The Year of Fog? In this ebook, you’ll also find a short essay entitled “Girl on the Beach,” which explains how a chance encounter with a young girl on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach nearly a decade ago inspired The Year of Fog.

Best books of 2010, London style

London’s News of the World has just published its list of the best books of the year for 2010. The list includes nine fiction titles, a memoir, and three children’s books.

I’m delighted that THE YEAR OF FOG, published this year by Ebury Press, made the cut. You need a subscription to view the page, but you can see the fiction list below:

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis

The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale

The Kill Zone by Chris Ryan

Worth Dying For by Lee Child

The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld

The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

The Last Letter from Your Lover by JoJo Moyes

The Guardian has also published its year-end list; you can see it here. And the Guardian’s fiction-only list appears here.

Thanks to my my fabulous editor at Ebury Press, Gillian Green, Ed Griffiths, and the whole Ebury team for giving The Year of Fog a second life across the pond!

Missing girl found across the street from Ocean Beach

Every now and then, the real-life story of a missing child ends with the child’s safe recovery. But the story of Brittany Mae Smith really caught my attention, even more than all the others, due to the fact that Smith, reported missing four days ago from Salem, VA, was spotted on Friday at the Safeway by Ocean Beach in San Francisco, accompanied by Jeffrey Scott Easley, the 32-year-old boyfriend of her mother. Until we moved out of the city last year, this was our neighborhood Safeway, within walking distance of our house, where we did most of our grocery shopping. (This particular Safeway also happens to be just steps from the beach where the fictional Emma Balfour disappeared in The Year of Fog.)

A woman who had seen Brittany’s picture, along with the picture of Easley,spotted the pair. In addition to recognizing their faces, she recognized two tattoos on the alleged abductor.

On Friday, San Francisco police called Virginia police after the shopper spotted the fugitive and the girl at the Safeway at 48th Avenue and Fulton Street. They described distinctive tattoos Easley had on his calves to confirm his identity.

Despite her recovery, Brittany’s story is a tragic one. Her mother, 41-year-old Tina Smith, was found murdered on Monday, and Easley is suspected in the woman’s death.It is unclear exactly how long Brittany was with her abductor, but, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Easley and the girl were recorded on video buying a blue tent at a Walmart near the victim’s home, possibly on the day of the slaying, believed to be Dec. 3.”

Police say Easley and Brittany were staying in a homeless encampment near Ocean Beach, possibly in Golden Gate Park. Some reports state that Brittany had told a friend she was afraid that Easley would harm her mother and take her away. The fact that Brittany was found–and found relatively quickly– can be attributed to media attention, the Amber Alert, and a conscientious citizen who acted on her her hunch and called police.

Coincidentally, Brittany’s recovery came on Friday, December 10, the same day that a federal jury found Brian David Mitchell guilty of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 years old at the time, in 2002 and transporting her across state lines with the intent of engaging in sexual activity. Smart’s ordeal lasted a harrowing nine months; much of that time was spent in an encampment in the woods near Smart’s home. According to Ed Smart, Elizabeth, who spent three days testifying in court against Mitchell, now hopes to become a prosecutor.