May 2010

I'm leaving early tomorrow--and I mean EARLY--to head to NYC for BookExpo. It's an insane sort of place, and I mean that in the best way. I get to visit with readers, booksellers, fellow writers, publishing peeps, and of course my dear editor and darling agent, and I get to do it all while getting a brief charge of Manhattan hustle and bustle. What's not to love? If you happen to be at BookExpo, I will be signing here:

*On Wednesday, May 26, 10:30-11am @ the ABA booth

*On Thursday, May 27, 10-10:45am @ the Harlequin booth

*On Thursday, May 27, 12:45-1:15 @ the MWA booth

Also, just a reminder that we're running monthly contests on the Contest page--May's prize is a $25 gift card to Audible.com! (Please be sure to use the bar to scroll down while you're adding your information so you can find the "submit" button. Otherwise your info might just wander in the ether!)

As far as bloggery for the next few days, I'm not sure. I want to, you understand, but I still don't know how to write a post and leave it in a queue to be published when I'm not around, and to blog from NY means I have to figure out how to connect my netbook to a new wireless system. Which I'm perfectly eager to do, you understand, but this is me we're talking about and it involves new technology and honestly, the odds aren't good. But I hope to be able to keep in touch while I'm away, and if you don't hear from me in the next day or so, I will still be tweeting and updating on Facebook and will be back to blogging on Friday. See you then!

And this week it has been forcibly brought home to me WHY. The girlchild is lovely as usual, but I have been doodle-sitting. My parents are out of state, and their pup has been hanging out with us. And OH MY GOD. Seriously, I do not know how people with more than one child manage to do it because these are dogs. Children are infinitely more difficult. It isn't that the responsibility doubles with a second dog around. It multiplies in some sort of strange exponential fashion that only theoretical mathematicians would understand. We've had four toys and one bookmark destroyed completely. There have been attempts to eat the sofa, the restaurant-style prep table in my kitchen--the STEEL restaurant prep table, mind you--and endless shedding of fur and immodest mounting. The respite should come when they are quiet, but that's when I have to be most on my guard because it means they are exploring something new. I just this minute caught them trying to pry a nail out of the wooden floor with their teeth.

The worst part is that they teach each other things. Deacon never looked sideways at a table leg until Sophie showed him the tasty delights of wood, and he in turn initiated her into the papery goodness of books. I've managed a tiny fraction of what I had on this week's to-do list, and my house looks like it's been hit by a tornado of fur. So my hat is firmly doffed to those of you who manage to keep track of more than one warm, wiggly body at a time, be they children or pets. You are better folk than I, that's for certain.

Mercifully, my parents are back tomorrow and the dogs will return to wreaking individual havoc. Until then, send wine.

Metaphorically, of course. Day before yesterday I switched on my trusty computer only to have it spit out a seriously foul burning smell. I presume this is not good. I might have searched for a trusty computer repair guru, but I've had the computer for more than five years and it has a few quirks. So I grabbed the most necessary things from my hard drive--a few photos and all of my documents--and powered everything down and unplugged it. Then darling husband and I headed to the electronics superstore to find the computer I had picked out online.I had a list; I planned to be in and out in ten minutes.

Oh, I can hear you laughing now. I found the computer I wanted, but across the aisle was something bigger and fancier and configured in a way that completely eliminated the logistical issues I had with my previous computer. And it was on clearance.

Reader, I bought it. Along with the external hard drive that my husband has been insisting I need for eons now, and software and a new surge protector, etcetera yada yada--you know how it goes. Throwing all of those boxes into the cart makes me want to tear my hair out by the roots. Do you KNOW how many pairs of shoes I could buy with that money? I was so delirious by the time we got to the check out that I had a hard time refraining from asking the clerk if he knew Chuck. (In my defense, he was wearing a nondescript dark suit.)

Anyway, this new beast is something called an all-in-one, which I never even knew existed--my CPU is apparently built-in behind the monitor and I can touch the screen to make things happen. I am expecting a rather steep learning curve here. Actually, I haven't even unpacked it yet. All we've done is hook up the external hard drive to the old computer to try to grab my iTunes library before the thing decides to blow up. Believe  me, if you smelled what this thing is doing, you'd think it's a definite possibility too.

So, I'm blogging from the husband's laptop and crossing my fingers that I can get the new monstrosity up and running soon and ever so slightly lamenting the loss of the trusty old computer--I wrote four books on it and it served me very well. RIP.

The weather here is overcast and gloomy today, but we had a gorgeous weekend, and the lovely weather has me in a summery mood. Here are a few delightful warm-weather things:

*Watermelon Margaritas. I tweeted about this and got several requests for a recipe. I found it in one of Martha Stewart's magazines and it's very simple: bring to a boil 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer for three minutes and remove from heat to let cool. (Sugar should be completely dissolved.) Blend 2 cups or so of watermelon chunks in the blender. Strain. (This is essential. Otherwise you'll have a watermelon/tequila slushy. Which I suppose is not an entirely bad thing, but not quite a margarita, either.) Combine watermelon juice with cooled sugar syrup, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, and 3/4 cup silver tequila. Serves four. Now, personally, I prefer a traditional margarita, but I had no Cointreau or Triple Sec in the house, so watermelon it was. These go quite well with fish tacos.

*White cotton clothes. I seem to have amassed a collection of white cotton without meaning to. I have five skirts, a pair of shorts, two pairs of cargo pants, seven blouses, and four dresses. I'm not entirely sure this is normal unless you're Isak Dinesen, but nothing feels more like summer than some variation on white cotton. I am particularly fond of long, petticoat-style skirts, probably because it makes me feel like I'm camping out on the Serengeti, even if I'm just doing the laundry.

*Pocket Pond. My new favorite iPhone app. Seriously. It is a tiny koi pond that you carry around on your phone. It even has nature sounds. You can make little plinking noises in the pond as if you just skimmed a stone. You can feed the koi and populate your pond with lily pads and dragonflies. (You can also kill the dragonflies and feed them to the fish if you like.) It's incredibly relaxing.

*Summer books. If I weren't tail over teakettle trying to get through my research material right now, I would be assembling a stack of summer books. Top of the list? Summertime by Raffaella Barker, The Love Letter by Cathleen Schine, and My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

*Lighter fragrance. I seldom wear Chanel No.5 in summer. I think it's too much of a good thing. Right now I'm wearing Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria in Mandarine-Basilic or Frederic Malle's En Passant. I also have a bit of L'Occitane's Eau d'Azur left because I think mimosa is lovely in warm weather.

*Herbs. Yesterday I planted basil and cilantro, and I am on the hunt for lavender plants. The rosemary and chives from last year are still going strong, and to me nothing says summer like being able to crush a handful of your own sun-warmed herbs in your fingers.

And you? What are some of your favorite things?