Sen. Boxer Tries Her Hand at Fiction

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Infighting and power, alliances and revenge -- it's just another day in the Capitol. California Sen. Barbara Boxer has mined her workplace for a suspense novel in which the main character is an activist senator who does battle with right-wing ideologues.

That may sound familiar to anyone who knows the liberal Democrat's record. But Boxer said the as-yet-unnamed novel, her first, is purely a work of fiction, though the characters and scenes are drawn from her 12 years in the Senate.

"A lot of what is in the book clearly comes from my world," Boxer said. "The clash of the political and the personal, it became very interesting to me, and the role of the media in all of this. And so I took all of those things and I wrote a story."

The novel is set for publication on Election Day 2005 by Chronicle Books in San Francisco. It tells the story of Ellen, a social activist who runs and wins a Senate seat after her husband, the original candidate, is killed. The third main character is an ambitious, right-wing journalist........

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-senator-novel,0,5008802.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Liberty Belle]

1. Brilliant!

The truth, thinly disguised as fiction. I hope it's a best seller.

[Inland]

2. And she can ask O'Riley, Lynn Cheney for help writing the dirty parts

[Ducks In A Row]

3. I'll buy a copy

[burrowowl]

4. Election day 2005?

But I love Boxer anyway!

[ScrewyRabbit]

5. No offense, and she IS my senator, but...

where does she find the time to write a novel?

I do a fair amount of writing for a living, and I'm reasonably fast, but it's work. But that's what I do for a living, I'm not a senator on top of that. I would think being a senator should take up a lot of time as well.

Maybe I'm a little tired tonight, but for some reason this bugs me.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Maybe she's REALLY smart!

... and more prolific than the average bear. :D

Seriously, maybe she gets a bit of help from a ghost writer or an assistant to whom she dictates?

[Occulus]

7. Not I, said the fly...

It's possible to boil writing ideas while driving or falling off to sleep. It just depends on what comes to you, and when.

If she's writing one book, well, fine. Let her try- she certainly has the right to do so, as do all of us.

However, if she has a contract for three fiction novels with a publisher with a promise of an additional two if the first three sell, well... there's a problem if that's the case (which I personally highly doubt). If that were the case, she should become a full-time novelist.

If she does well, it would certainly pay better, and we all know all politicians are masters of the carefully-crafted lie... well, the good ones anyway....

*sigh* I can't trust much of anyone anymore.

[Pachamama]

8. Where do I find the time to be a Mommy of two, manage the household,

cook meals, shop, manage our investments & even post on the DU?

I find the time...like at Midnite as I have my infant asleep in my arms...that's how...the point being, we all find the time & get help where we need it..

Barbara Boxer is also my Senator and my neighbor here in Kentfield...when shes here in town, she lives nearby and shops at the local grocery store Mollie Stones and pulls up in her Prius Hybrid...see, she even finds time to buy her own groceries. My 4 year old recognizes her and says "there's MY Senator - I'm going to a Senator too" :)

Boxer rocks...I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to read the book...now I can also hear my daughter say "And I'm going to be a published writer too" :hi: