At a pre-Book Fair backyard party under the Miami palms and a light drizzle of rain, I talked to writers. One had published a novel about the last week of Marilyn Monroe’s life. One was working on a history of Los Angeles and water. One, a MacArthur-winning poet, had written about sea monkeys. One had just brought out a book about the Wall Street implosion.

I spoke with an archivist who lives here in Miami. She knew all the head librarians at the great Manhattan collections — the New-York Historical Society, the Manuscripts room at NYPL, the Morgan, all of them.

I know your book! she told me. My book group just read it this past month! They’ll all be there Sunday for your panel.

Very, very nice, under a palm tree, under a light sprinkling of rain, in Miami.