The Pi-Cult

» The Official Newsletter for Fans of Jodi Picoult

WINTER NEWSLETTER

Hi everyone,

Happy Holidays! I know it’s been a while since I last wrote – but that’s because I’ve been so busy, well, WRITING! Let me take a moment to catch you up…

WHAT JODI DID OVER SUMMER VACATION

Although I did manage to steal away to the Galapagos with my family for a week (check out the photos on the website!) my big trip of the summer was to South Africa, where I toured for the third time – leaving my current book there at number one on their bestseller list. The best part was that I got to bring along one of my sons, Jake, and we had a terrific time…except for the part where I got severe laryngitis! I’m sure all the South Africans who saw me on TV think I normally sound like Marge Simpson…

WHAT’S NEW

Everyone’s asking about CHANGE OF HEART, my new novel. A million copies are being printed, which makes me feel like Stephen King instead of li’l ol’ me! It will arrive in bookstores on March 4, 2008 – and I promise it will shake you up, and make you think about some really tough issues that I find particularly relevant in the light of our upcoming election! It’s the story of an uneducated, itinerant drifter named Shay Bourne, who’s on Death Row and who decides he needs to donate his heart post-execution to the sister of his victim, a little girl who must have a transplant. Needless to say, her mother is caught between a rock and a hard place: do you grant your enemy’s dying wish, if it saves the life of your child? Meanwhile, the media gets hold of the story and swarms the prison, so the warden calls a priest in to talk sense to Shay about what salvation really is...and the priest arrives just when Shay begins performing miracles on Death Row. The priest can think of one other very important guy who, 2000 years ago, had a death sentence on his head and was performing miracles, and begins to wonder if Shay Bourne is a monster…or a Messiah. Why do we believe what we believe? And do we save ourselves…or do we need someone or something else to help us do it? The book dissects both organized religion and the death penalty, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.

True, there’s no Jodi novel out for Christmas, but if you’ve got a comic book buff on your hands, you can get a copy of the bound hardcover of my five Wonder Woman comics. It’s called WONDER WOMAN: LOVE AND MURDER, and I dare you to try to find the illustrated character who looks like me! (I wrote it into the script, and had the artist draw her that way!)

BOOK CLUBS TAKE NOTE

The paperback version of NINETEEN MINUTES will be released on February 5!

WHAT’S COMING

I just finished (whew!) the 2009 novel, tentatively titled HANDLE WITH CARE. It’s about a woman whose daughter is born with severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a brittle bone syndrome that often means hundreds of breaks in the course of a lifetime, as well as multiple other health issues. Like all moms with disabled kids, she loves her daughter dearly. And like many moms with disabled kids, her daughter’s condition has put a huge financial strain on the family. A series of circumstances leads her to sue for wrongful birth – basically, a lawsuit where you blame the OB/GYN for not telling you in advance that your child was going to be so severely disabled, because if you’d known…you would have terminated the pregnancy. Several states have banned wrongful birth suits…but in the states where they’re allowed, often parents sue and wind up with enough money to give their child all the advantages of a full and happy life, to be taken care of long after the parents are gone. The catch? You have to stand up in a courtroom and say you wish your child had never been born. And in the particular case of this mom and this child, there’s an even bigger catch: the OB she’s suing is her best friend.

Also: look for an article I’ve written for Good Housekeeping’s January issue!

WHAT’S COMING AFTER THAT?

I’ll be spending the winter doing research on autism, for a 2010 book about a teenage boy with Asperger’s who winds up accused of murder, and has to go through a legal system that doesn’t work very well for people who don’t communicate in a certain way.

MOVIE NEWS

MY SISTER’S KEEPER starts shooting this Spring, with Cameron Diaz playing Sara and Dakota and Elle Fanning playing Kate and Anna. Nick Cassavetes will direct.

THE TENTH CIRCLE starts filming for Lifetime in January, starring Kelly Preston and Ron Eldard. It’s being directed by Peter Markle, who was Emmy-nominated for “Flight 93”.

JUST FOR FUN:

I can’t tell you how many requests I’ve had, in the wake of THE TENTH CIRCLE, for Laura’s recipe for Sorrow Pie. Although it was something I made up in my head for the novel, the fabulously industrious fan Maureen Sullivan-Bahr actually created this recipe, and with her permission, I’m reprinting it!

Sorrow Pie

Ingredients:

Preparation of Sorrow Pie begins with backing into your cupboard to gather ingredients together.

• Two and a half to three pounds whole chicken
• Garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• Basil
• Carrot coins or whole baby carrots
• Pearl onions
• 4 white potatoes
• Leeks, more white than green
• 1 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)

Place chicken in pot w/enough to cover, add several pieces of garlic and 2 bay leaves. Cook chicken for 60 – 70 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Remove -- when cool bone chicken discarding skin and bones, garlic and bay leaves. Cut chicken into bite size pieces

Now add veggies to pot with the tears of your sorrow.

Add chicken broth or boullion if more flavor is needed.

• Carrot coins or whole baby carrots
• Pearl onions
• 4 white potatoes cut into bite size pieces
• Leeks, more white than green, cleaned and cut
• Basil to taste
• A burst of cinnamon mixed with common pepper

Cook veggies until tender to your desired taste but not too much as carrots will dissolve in broth.

Thicken the broth by pureeing some of the veggies and adding the cup of whipping cream.

Put into a casserole dish or pie plate.

Biscuit topping ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• Two and a half tsp baking powder
• one quarter tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• One quarter cup shortening
• 2 tbs butter, chilled
• 1 tbs vinegar plus enough milk to make three-quarters cup, add two beaten eggs

Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl. Cut shortening and butter into the sifted ingredients with your left hand until mixture resembles course meal. With your eyes closed pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir making a soft dough. Roll or pat out on a floured board. Cut into circles or lay complete over chicken mixture in casserole dish/pie dish.

Bake 425 for approx 15 minutes or until dough is browned but not burned.

FINALLY

I wish all of you the happiest, healthiest holiday season…and thank you for being the kinds of readers other authors are jealous of!

Best,
Jodi

Keep reading!
Jodi

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