Judy Blume talks Tumblr, possible new book

NEW YORK (AP) — Judy Blume has many projects on her mind.

She recently helped open a bookstore in Key West, Florida, where she lives much of the year. She’s starting to promote the paperback edition of her novel “In the Unlikely Event,” set in her native New Jersey in the early 1950s. She has just launched a Tumblr account (judyblumeofficial.tumblr.com), on top of her popular Twitter feed and Facebook page. And, she hasn’t ruled out a new book, despite indicating last year that “In the Unlikely Event” would be her last.

Her thoughts on this are clearly a work in progress.

“I said the same thing after ‘Summer Sisters,’” she explained Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, referring to her novel published in 1998. “But this time I do mean it, I am done. I think. I think.

“I’m done with long novels. This book (‘Unlikely Event’) took five years and I am 78, so it’s a good one to go out on. But I’m not saying I won’t do something smaller, shorter, that doesn’t take so long. I have a little idea, but I’m not ready to say anything.”

Tumblr doesn’t have the author presence of Twitter or Facebook, but a wide range of writers have accounts, from John Green to Roxane Gay. Blume, beloved to millions for such groundbreaking works as “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Blubber,” began her Tumblr life in cheerful style:

“Hi, I’m Judy Blume and this is my first “Tumble.” I’m getting excited about the paperback edition of In the Unlikely Event coming May 3rd. I’ll tell you stories about writing the book — of what’s real and what isn’t — and I’ll share more about the ’50s than you ever wanted to know, including a playlist! So tune in for images and music, all coming here soon.”

Blume’s path to Tumblr, admittedly, has been a slow one. Her husband, George Cooper, started an account for her a few years ago, but she never got around to using it. With some encouragement from her paperback publisher, Vintage, she’s giving it a real try, although she’s unsure how long she’ll stick with it.

“I certainly plan on staying with it all summer, and maybe longer,” she said. “When I started tweeting I didn’t know if I would like it. I didn’t know much about it, but it just got to be fun. I’ve got friends I never met and I imagine it will be something like that with Tumblr. I hope so. It’s a way to have a relationship with your readers that used to come only when they wrote you.”