I’ve discovered this new late night past time. I google myself. But googling oneself isn’t healthy. I mean, I used to be a Catholic school teacher–I’m sure googling onself has got to be a sin. But if googling oneself is bad (checking for media mentions, booksigning listings, and the odd missed review) googling one’s self in a blog search is even worse. I did this by accident, trying to track down a blog a blogger had asked me to read, and I discovered that well, I’m in a couple bloggers blogs. What I learned in this late night internet search is that real people (other than my mom) have bought The Frog Prince and read it and wrote about it. … Continue reading Blogging & Googling →

I love my philosophical posts, the ones where I’m all thoughtful and analytical. The truth is, most of the time I’m trying to talk myself into being calm and philosophical. I’m trying to make myself believe or accept reality. Like deadlines. Those are a reality and what those mean are–I have to write. You see, I like doing things when I don’t have to do them. I like writing when I’m not supposed to write. Travel before I have to leave for the airport. Book signings oh, about 6 months out. I don’t know if its laziness (I’m sure it is) or just rebelliousness (well, plenty of that, too) but I don’t like having to step up to the plate … Continue reading Talking Smack →

Being on a booktour has taught me that I’m a writer, not an author. I’ve learned these past few weeks that I don’t actually like talking about my book, but rather the writing process or books in general. I’m crazy about books, fascinated by creativity, curious about motivation and conflict and the drive to put human experience down on paper (or in music or art). I love talking to readers in bookstores and finding out who they read, which genre they enjoy best, which authors they follow. I love talking to fellow writers, published and unpublished, love encouraging the writing process and exhorting them to stick in there, keep writing and learning, and focusing on craft. Too many writers put … Continue reading The Writer vs The Author →

Someone asked me recently if I enjoy book tours. I was between trips and feeling rather rested and said, ‘Sure.’ Okay, it’s a few days later and I’m facing another night in another hotel and I’d like to find that person and give her a different answer. Booktours aren’t fun. At least, they’re not fun as in warm, fuzzy, feel good fun. They’re fun in the way moving is fun. You know, pack everything up into little boxes, squeezing small items into odd spaces, wrapping the fragile items hoping nothing will break. But packing is rewarding because something’s happening. You’re moving. You’re heading to someplace new. Hopefully better. Hopefully. In some ways I really like being on the road. I … Continue reading Book Tours →

It’s all about buzz. A book’s success depends on buzz…and momentum. I think we readers know this, and writers have to know it, but how do you get ‘buzz’ for a book? Where does the buzz come from? Sure, you can place ads, post on a multitude of loops and groups, get yourself a fancy website, but none of that guarantees buzz, or sales, which is everything. I’ve spent a lot of time in bookstores lately and I’m always browsing through the New in Fiction, or New and Notable tables. I tend to pick up books that look interesting, or ones that ring a bell. There are times when I wonder if anyone in Dayton, Ohio or Wilmington, North Carolina … Continue reading Book Basics →

Aloha! Hawaii is hot, hot, hot and beautiful. I’ve been coming to Hawaii for a year now and yep, if you haven’t guessed it by now, my next book for Warner, titled FLIRTING WITH FORTY is set in Hawaii and Seattle. I love Hawaii for all the obvious reasons—the intense tropical colors, the sound of waves crashing and warm wind rustling palms fronds, the dazzling sun and cool water–and then the not so obvious….I’m learning to surf! But I’m not learning on my own, my boys are taking lessons with me and I’ve discovered surfing is a great metaphor for life: Never turn your back on the ocean; paddle through the channel, and waves come in sets. Essentially–be smart about … Continue reading Hula Girl Holidays →

The California booktour is behind me and I’m back in Bellevue for one night, just long enough to do some laundry, answer email, pay a few bills, and repack before kids and I head to Hawaii in the morning. I’ll be signing books at two different Borders this weekend as well as writing and getting some play time with my boys. Things I’ve learned about a booktour so far? You need some serious numbers to make a book signing work and serious numbers come from reader groups, book clubs, friends of friends and more. The best events are ones where I get to meet with readers or writers before or after signings. I love having a chance to sit, put … Continue reading Laundry & Luggage →

I’d forgotten the California landscape. I tell people I love the rolling hills but I’d forgotten how, I’d forgotten exactly why but driving from the Bay Area to the Central Valley, cutting through Pacheco Pass and taking the 152 past Los Banos, I remembered it all–the shades of gold, the bright blue sky overhead, the barns and fences and fields. I used to teach in Hollister and this was the way I went home when I went home and I drove fast, confidently, loving every minute of being back where I spent my first thirty-something years. My Visalia event at Borders was everything ‘going home’ should be–great media coverage (3 newspaper articles and a spot on a morning tv news … Continue reading California Girl →

Wow. Wow. That’s really all I can say about last night’s launch party. I don’t know what I was expecting (the worst, maybe?) and I don’t quite know what I thought it would be (poorly attended and boring?) but last night’s launch was absolutely wonderful. It seemed like everyone was there–over a hundred people between 5 and 8 pm–and everyone from my high school friends, to former students, girlfriends from my SF days, friends of my mother’s, my brother Rob and his wife Andrea’s very cool crowd, writers, some media faces and then even the San Francisco mayor! Okay, Mayor Newsom probably wasn’t planning on joining my party but wandered into La Barca and everyone in San Francisco knows Newsom … Continue reading The Party →