People

AN STYLE='font-size: 100%; color: #990000; font-weight: bold; '>Pretty Mama Delivers
The ink is barely dry on the birth certificate of Gwyneth Paltrow's baby, Apple Martin, and some new Hollywood tots with unusual monikers have arrived to deflect the playground taunts. On Nov. 28, after a month of bed rest, JULIA ROBERTS gave birth to a girl and a boy, Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter, by C-section. Roberts, 37, seen here in a glamour shot taken early in her pregnancy for January's W magazine, had the twins with husband DANNY MODER, a cinematographer (at the hospital window, left). Weighing a little more than 5 lbs. each, Hazel and Finn, as his parents plan to call him, are "doing great" according to Roberts' rep. The babies hit their mark, arriving just days before two other creations Roberts had a hand in, Ocean's Twelve and Closer.

Auld Or New?
This year every-body's back-up New Year's Eve date has some network competition. After 33 years of freezing his buns off in Times Square, ABC stalwart DICK CLARK will face a challenge from the next generation's overgrown teenager, CARSON DALY. Daly, who used to ring in the New Year for MTV, will host a new broadcast for NBC, home to his late-night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly. Apparently Daly prefers working on New Year's Eve. Last year, "I was in St. Bart's," he says. "I was watching Puffy dance on a table on TV, and I wanted to be there." Funny, that reminds us why we stay home.

Hemingways Inside the Beltway
We know what California Democrat BARBARA BOXER will do during the Senate's next filibuster — write her novel, an untitled yarn of politics and romance due next fall from Chronicle Books. Boxer joins a bipartisan band of politicians getting paid for telling tales.

LYNNE CHENEY Known for her kids' books, the Veep's wife also wrote a frontier novel, Sisters, in 1981. But — search the bunker — it's out of print.

NEWT GINGRICH The ex-Speaker's second novel in a series, Grant Comes East, fictionalizes the Civil War. Unlike the man, the books have bipartisan appeal.

JIMMY CARTER With his Revolutionary War book, The Hornet's Nest, Carter became the only President so far to try fiction — and admit it openly.

Q & A with Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali talked to TIME by e-mail about his new book, written with his daughter Hana

Why did you write Soul of a Butterfly?

Most people know the basic facts of my life. Few know the lessons I took from my experiences and the stories, poems and spiritual teachings that helped guide my life. I asked my daughter Hana to write them down. I hope they will inspire others.

What is it like to live with Parkinson's?

Now the things that once were so effortless — my strong voice and the quickness of my movements — are more difficult. But I get up every day and try to live life to the fullest because each day is a gift from God. There are people counting on me, and I don't want to let them down.

What is your routine now?

I travel a lot. I enjoy meeting my fans. No matter where I am, prayer, study and reflection are a large part of my life. I am the same person I always was. I just do everything a little slower and a lot quieter. But one thing that hasn't changed is that I am still pretty. When you look back at the boxer you were, do you smile or grimace?

I'm always a little surprised at how bold I was. Sometimes I feel a little sad because I can see how some things I said could upset some people. But I did not deliberately try to hurt anyone. The hype was part of my job, like skipping rope.

What's it going to take to restore integrity to the heavyweight division?

Boxing has long been in need of tighter regulations. Also, it wouldn't hurt if I could make a comeback.