In which...I'm fetal

OMG, y'all. Seriously. I am one tired girl and I'm only halfway through my travels this month! But it's all been so much fun already. I shall just have to up my intake of tea and soldier on.

HUGE thanks to everybody who made the Turn the Page event this weekend such a tremendous success. It is always a kick to watch Nora Roberts sign for her fans--she is just so gracious, and her stamina is truly inspiring. Is it Cheez-its or her morning workout? Anyway, if you missed the event, Turn the Page still has signed copies, so give them a shout.

It was great to meet the lovely Leslie Kelly/Parrish who writes FAR scarier books than I can read (she's terribly brave and was loads of fun to sit with) and Meg Cabot--who I tried not to fangirl gush all over, but she's seriously a hoot and a half, just as adorable in person as you'd expect.

Now, if you get a chance to pootle through Boonsboro, you really ought to treat yourself to a stay at the Inn Boonsboro. It's a boutique hotel owned by Nora and run by innkeeper Suzanne, and it is supremely relaxing. You have to love a place that won't put a phone in your room, but does provide two large flatscreen TVs with DVD players in the suite! They have a library of books and DVDs to enjoy, a kitchen you are welcome to pilfer for snacks and drinks, a chessboard and board games in the lounge, and a scrummy breakfast as well as wine and cheese each evening. Each room is named for a pair of literary lovers, and I highly recommend the Westley and Buttercup!

We drove up this time--y'all know how I feel about car rides, right? It was around 200 miles, and I tried to keep the complaining to a minimum. I was cranky starting off and moaning about being hungry and the fact that the rent car smelled foul, so my dear husband stopped off to buy a rage muffin and an orange. A rage muffin is any snack cake that can blunt the edge of my sulkiness, and the orange was to freshen the air in the car. (I told him any citrus fruit would do. You just stick a key or other suitably sharp object into the stem end of the fruit and wiggle. Instant air freshener, Elizabethan-style.) Aside from the monsoonal storm we drove through, the trip was great--although I am DONE with anything car-related for at least a year...

In other news, I will be appearing on Anjuelle Floyd's internet radio show again this Wednesday (woot!) and having a Writerspace chat about The Dark Enquiry Wednesday evening. Stay tuned for links! And this Friday is my date with Murder by the Book in Houston--can't wait to see my peeps! I so hope you can join us, but if you can't, do call ahead and request a book signed just for you.

Phew! I think that's it for now, chickens. Hope all of you are having a splendid July!

(Oh, and since some of y'all have been asking, I have managed to stay on top of what's going on with the Tour de France this year. It started off in pleasantly dull fashion--good for the riders but not particularly exciting for viewers. Then it became a carnival of carnage and I have been watching with one eye while I cower behind a cushion. There have been some BRUTAL crashes, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a safe two weeks left of racing!)