sentence

They’re so darn cute together, these two. Neal Allen, father of four, newspaper reporter turned corporate executive turned spiritual coach turned author of two spiritual guidebooks, stands a full head of hair taller than his dread-headed wife, who calls him her “current husband.” He calls her his “remarkable and beautiful partner” and himself “Mr. Anne Lamott.”

And no wonder. Author Anne Lamott has published 21 books, with worldwide sales in the millions. “Bird by Bird,” her 1994 writing handbook, which has sold more than 1 million copies and continues to sell approximately 40,000 copies each year, became a meme before there were memes. Thirty-two years later, the titular phrase has made appearances everywhere from “Ted Lasso” (Coach Beard: “I hate losing.” Coach Lasso: “Bird by bird, Coach.”) to a Gloria Steinem interview in Cosmopolitan (“Every writer, truth-seeker, parent, and activist I know is in love with one or more books by Anne Lamott”).

Ask a famous writer how they do what they do, and “Bird by Bird” will likely get honorable mention. Harlan Coben, whose 35 novels have sold roughly 90 million copies, calls “Bird by Bird” his “favorite writing manual.” “I use it like a coach’s halftime speech to get me fired up to write.”

In a 2007 interview, “Eat Pray Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert called herself Lamott’s “literary offspring.” Paula McLain, who wrote the 2011 blockbuster “The Paris Wife,” told me: “I return to ‘Bird by Bird’ again and again because Anne Lamott tells the truth about how hard this work is — and then somehow makes you laugh about it.”

I reached out to best-selling memoirist and novelist Dani Shapiro to ask if she had her own experience with the book. “A writer is always a beginner,” she said. “And there is no better companion than ‘Bird by Bird.’”

Lamott and Allen partnered to write “Good Writing.”

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

Lamott, 71, and Allen, 69, met in 2016 on the 50-plus dating site OurTime.com. Nine months later, they bought a woodsy Marin County home with room for Lamott’s son and grandson. Sam, when he was 1 year old, was the subject of his mom’s first bestseller, the 1993 memoir “Operating Instructions.” His son Jax was the subject, at age 1, of his grandmother’s 2012 memoir, “Some Assembly Required.”

“We were watching U.S. Open tennis one night and Neal said, ‘Can I ask you something?’” Lamott told me via email. “I barely looked away from the TV, and he asked me to marry him. I said, ‘Yes, if we can get a cat.’”

After a decade of marriage, Lamott and Allen have undertaken a professional collaboration whose outcome, like their union, is greater than the sum of its parts. “Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences” is as sharply specific as “Bird by Bird” is wanderingly wonderful: as winning a companion piece as two winning companions could create. The table of contents is itself a mini-manual of writerly tips: “Use Strong Verbs.” “Sound Natural.” “Keep it Active.” “Stick with Said.” “Don’t Show Off.”

Lamott and Allen.

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

I spoke to the late-life lovebirds about their process of marital manuscript-making: the good, the not so good and the blackmailing.

Meredith Maran: How did writing “Bird by Bird” compare to co-authoring “Good Writing”?

Anne Lamott: “Bird by Bird” was literally everything I knew about writing, everything I had been teaching my students for years. It was definitely my book. “Good Writing” was definitely Neal’s book. I just foisted my attention on him and threatened to undermine the marriage if he did not let me contribute.

MM: Neal, what on earth convinced you that you could add something to one of the world’s most popular writing books —written by your wife, no less?

Neal Allen: Oh, I’m not adding anything to “Bird by Bird,” which is a complete classic. It’s everything you need to know about becoming a writer. “Good Writing” is about what comes next: a second draft. And while it’s not fair to call “Bird by Bird” a craft book — it’s much more — it’s fine to define “Good Writing” that way.

“Helping each other with our work is one of the richest aspects of our life as a married couple,” Lamott said.

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

MM: In producing this joint project, how did you two negotiate the differences between your writing styles and personalities?

AL: We didn’t need to negotiate. Neal somehow manages to be both elegant and welcoming, whereas I think I am more like the class den mother, with a plate of cupcakes, exhorting people not to give up, trying to convince them that they can only share their truth in their own voice, that their voice is plenty good, and that when they get stuck, as we all do, I know some tricks that will help them get back to work.

NA: I once asked AI to describe the difference between my writing and Annie’s. AI answered that I explain things to readers; Annie helps readers reach catharsis. I think that’s absolutely right.

MM: How did you come up with the book’s fab format, whereby each of you writes your own introduction, and then each chapter starts with Neal’s thoughts about one of the 36 rules and ends with Annie’s?

NA: Annie first asked if she could annotate what I had written. That scared the bejesus out of me. When she started writing her own essays in her own voice, I was quite relieved. One of the format’s surprising strengths is that Annie always gets the last word. I explain the rule; then she helps the reader find their way and resolve their issues with the rule. There’s a downside: I don’t get to respond when she tells the reader to ignore me.

“I’m not adding anything to ‘Bird by Bird,’” Allen said. “It’s everything you need to know about becoming a writer. ‘Good Writing’ is about what comes next: a second draft.”

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

MM: In your intro, Anne, you recall Neal telling you he was working on a writing book. “Well. Hmmmph,” you replied. “I had written a book on writing once …” How did professional jealousy, competitiveness, possessiveness, or, on the brighter side, tenderness, collaborative spirit and generosity play out as you wrote a writing book together?

AL: We have no competitiveness or jealousy when it comes to each other’s writing. We just want the other person to write the most beautiful work they can. We are each other’s first reader, and editor, and while of course I feel attacked if Neal suggests even the tiniest change to my deathless prose, I have come to understand that his suggested cuts and additions save me from myself. Helping each other with our work is one of the richest aspects of our life as a married couple.

NA: There’s no way around “Bird by Bird,” and I just have to deal with that. My worry was whether Annie really wanted to be associated with my little book. I’m envious of Annie’s brilliance, of course, but we speak the same writing language and we love it equally.

MM: What are each of you proudest of, “Good Writing”-wise?

AL: We just recorded the audio version, and I was surprised by how much practical help the book offers. Also, I love the tone, which is so conversational and sometimes, I hope, pretty funny.

NA: I had the opposite reaction to recording the audio version. I saw all the opportunities for readers to mock me. In the 18 months between writing a final draft and the book showing up in stores, we’ve both flipped from believing it reflects well on us to thinking it’s a disaster. Luckily, both of us haven’t ever thought it sucks at the same time.

MM: That is fortunate. Also, Neal, I’m not sure you answered my question.

NA: What am I proudest of? That the book exists. I carried around these rules for improving sentences for years. I think a lot of writers do a book because they notice it’s not out there, and why isn’t it? And then they shrug, ‘Well, I guess it’s up to me.’ That’s how I came into all three of my books.

AL: May I just add that I’m proud to introduce my seriously charming and breathtakingly wise husband to a wider audience.

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been handed a 15-month suspended sentence by a Greek court following an incident on the island of Mykonos in August 2020.

England international Maguire was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and 10 days in prison in 2020, after initially being found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult.

The following day Maguire’s legal team lodged an appeal against the verdict. In accordance with Greek law, the appeal nullified his conviction and meant there would be a full retrial.

The retrial was postponed on four occasions between 2023 and 2025, before it restarted in Syros on Wednesday.

It concluded that Maguire was guilty of non-serious assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery.

In accordance with the reduced severity of the defender’s crimes, Maguire’s sentence was reduced to 15 months.

Sources have told BBC Sport that Maguire denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Maguire has rejected a number of opportunities to settle the case out of court, as he is determined to clear his name legally.

The 32-year-old is in the Manchester United squad for Wednesday’s Premier League game at Newcastle United (20:15 GMT), despite having to come off during the win against Crystal Palace on Sunday with illness.

RAPPER Sean “Diddy” Combs will be getting out of the slam faster than expected amid his battle to appeal his four-year sentence.

The hip-hop mogul, locked up on prostitution-related charges, will now walk free a month and a half earlier than his previous release date of June 4, 2028.

He will now be released on April 25, 2028 according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records obtained by Page Six.

The 56-year-old music legend, currently serving a 50-month sentence at Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey, earned the early release after being accepted into a drug-abuse rehabilitation program in November.

A rep for Diddy said at the time: “Mr. Combs is an active participant in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) and has taken his rehabilitation process seriously from the start.

“He is fully engaged in his work, focused on growth, and committed to positive change.”

brutal MOMENT

I looked Diddy in the eye as Cassie gave evidence… his reaction left me cold

DIDDY CLAIMS

Justin Bieber finally breaks silence on rumors he was abused by P Diddy

This isn’t the first shake-up in Diddy‘s prison saga.

His sentence initially pegged at May 8, 2028, was bumped to June 4, 2028, last November after he allegedly broke prison rules—reportedly sipping homemade alcohol and taking part in a forbidden three-way phone call.

TMZ revealed the DIY booze involved sugar, Fanta, and apples left to ferment for two weeks.

Diddy’s team, however, defended the call, claiming it was protected under attorney-client privilege.

His spokesperson told Page Six: “Mr. Combs is in his first week at FCI Fort Dix and is focused on adjusting, working on himself, and doing better each day.

“As with any high-profile individual in a new environment, there will be many rumors and exaggerated stories throughout his time there—most of them untrue.

“We ask that people give him the benefit of the doubt, the privacy to focus on his personal growth with grace and purpose.”

Photos recently published by TMZ offered the first glimpse of Diddy behind bars.

The Bad Boy Records founder, now sporting a gray pullover, sweatpants, and a scruffy gray goatee, appeared to grin at a fellow inmate while strolling a prison corridor.

Reflecting on his fall from grace, Diddy poured out his heart in a four-page apology letter before the sentencing.

He admitted: “I literally lost my mind. I’m sorry for that and always will be… I lost my way. My downfall was rooted in my selfishness.

“I have been humbled and broken to my core… The old me died in jail and a new version of me was born. Prison will change you or kill you – I choose to live.”

Diddy celebrated his 56th birthday behind bars with a pizza dinner and has already taken a prison job doing laundry duty, according to sources.

Meanwhile, legal wrangling continues.

Diddy filed an appeal in December, seeking either immediate release or a reduced sentence, arguing prosecutors failed to prove their case and claiming his original sentence violated his constitutional rights.

Prosecutors pushed back in February.

Locked up since his September 2024 arrest, Diddy was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges, narrowly avoiding a far longer stay behind bars.

Even the White House reportedly got involved, with Diddy’s team seeking a potential pardon from Donald Trump, who acknowledged the request, saying:

“A lot of people have asked me for pardons. I call him Puff Daddy; he has asked me for a pardon.”

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday appealed his life sentence over his insurrection conviction from his failed bid to impose martial law.

The appeal was filed by his lawyers five days after a court sentenced Yoon to life in prison for leading an insurrection when he briefly imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

“We think we have a responsibility to clearly point out the problems with this decision for not only court records but for future historical records,” the lawyers said in a notice to the press.

“We will not be silent about the special counsel’s overzealous indictment and the contradictory decision of the court of first instance premised on it, as well as its political background,” they added.

The Seoul Central District Court delivered the ruling last Thursday, saying Yoon aimed to cripple the National Assembly by sending troops to the compound after declaring martial law, meeting the definition of an insurrection as stipulated by the Constitution.

It also said the former president planned the crime personally and in a leading role, incurring an enormous social cost, but hardly expressed an apology.

Seven other defendants received their first verdicts alongside Yoon, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, former National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Bong-sik.

The former defense minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Cho was given 12 years and the former Seoul police chief 10 years for their roles in the martial law bid.

Yoon was earlier sentenced to five years in prison in a separate trial on charges that include his alleged obstruction of investigators’ attempt to detain him last year.

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