February 10th, 2010

Lynn Coady solves your problems

Apologies, but I think I’ll only be able to manage mini-posts this week–things are a little hectic in my world right now.

But at least I have fun stuff to link you to! I have been enjoying novelist Lynn Coady‘s “Group Therapy” column in the Globe for a while now–I’m sorry I never read it when the columnist was Claudia Dey–I’m sure she was great, too!

I find it really interesting that us fiction writers (often) build our work around all this insight we allegedly have about how human beings are, but speaking only for myself, I’d be absolutely terrified by, and incompetent at, this gig. It’s actual real problems that people send in to the site, occasionally serious ones. But Coady seems to be able to parlay her insight into fiction people into insight into real people, and actually be helpful.

The problems are sometimes a bit sad, but generally they don’t pick blues-song type disasters. Then readers write in with their advice and Coady counters with her own. She’s funny, very very funny, but she’s also pretty insightful and not-mean even when the problems are inane or have obvious solutions.

So maybe you want to tune into her Valentine’s Day live chat today at 1pm EST (and if you know what EST means, I wish you would tell me–is that Toronto?) You can write in with your romantic problems (not that you would have romantic problems) ahead of time or during the chat, or be like me and just read it after to marvel at the wisdom.

RR