In Three Tides, a "writer's writer" lets readers peek over her shoulder as she talks about writing, revealing the process that allows her to stumble, crawl and run. Through memoir chronicling a particular period of writing, she moves to documenting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, mediated through the oral histories of some of its survivors. The receding echoes of their voices guide her as she composes a drama, "Like Snow Melting in Water: Song for a Lost Village." Based on a true story, the play chronicles the life and death of an rice-growing village bordering the Sea of Japan.