Kristin Bair O’Keeffe recommends...

"I'm an American. My husband is from Ireland. We adopted our daughter from Vietnam. We live in Shanghai, China. During the past four years, I've traveled to India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, France, Ireland, Italy, China, and, of course, the United States. Every time I land in a new country, a new city, I get this crazy buzz...this itch...this urge to see, see, see...watch, watch, watch...listen, listen, listen...and then write, write, write. When I'm a stranger, an explorer, images and sounds and people stick with me—the starved hound in Mumbai chomping dusty leaves from a half-dead potted plant, the wedding procession through the rainy streets of Milan, the slight suction of the elephant's trunk against my mouth when it kisses me. I tote these around in my head until at some point I hunker down at my desk where they become characters or moments in a story."
—Kristin Bair O'Keeffe, author of Thirsty (Swallow Press, 2009)