Need My Wheaties

The new puppy has definitely been challenging. She just returned home from the puppy hospital having had eye surgery today for her cherry eye that turned into a bleeding eye-sore. The brown patch over one eye was cute. The red patch over the right eye less adorable. The neighborhood children stopped coming over to see the new addition to our family…

Boyfriend Ty has started his own surf school and website (and business) formally launched last week. The three weeks of endless rain in Hawaii isn’t helping tourism, or visitors desire to surf, but Ty’s still been busy with almost daily private lessons on the North Shore. His website is cool (www.tygurneysurfschool.com) and has ahem, a couple pictures of me and my kids surfing. I think it’s awesome he’s doing this–he really is an incredible surf instructor–and the only drawback is that I’m finding his business more interesting than mine. But that’s changing as my book is due now in just two weeks…

Speaking of the deadline, I’m still doggedly trying to write despite my kids (and puppy) taking turns staying home sick, which means I’m getting maybe two solid hours of work done a day right now, or six interrupted hours, but it’s something. (This is deja vue, isn’t it?)

Luckily I’m enjoying the writing when I’m writing because I keep having great little discoveries at the keyboard. The hero is into extreme sports–all of them, especially heliskiing. (That’s how he was injured.) Heroine turns out to be an ex-New York socialite. Even though he’s the wounded one, she’s got twice the baggage he does. And that’s not even the juicy stuff, because of course there’s juicy stuff in my Harlequin Presents.

Happily, contract with Warner is pretty much signed, sealed and delivered. They’ve offered me a two book deal and everything I hoped, as the money is solid and the two novels are both stories I really want to write. The first will be out in 2007 followed by the second in 2008, as the books are linked and in the theme of the Mommy Wars. Best of all? The books are set right here in Bellevue (Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill and Medina) Washington so now all my neighbors will think I’m writing about them.

And maybe I am.

Or not.

And finally, I’m still doing promo for this summer’s book, Flirting with Forty, which isn’t even out yet but is starting to get some serious buzz. On the fun side, it’s being shopped around Hollywood and maybe no one will bite, but it’s cool hearing who is getting a copy and which actresses with film production companies are reading it.

Flirting with Forty is also going to be reviewed in some great women’s magazines this summer, and last but not least, I found out this morning that Redbook Magazine is making Flirting with Forty their Hot Summer Read for 2006, excerpting the novel in the June, July and August issue and ending the August excerpt on a cliffhanger so folks will (hopefully) have to go buy the book to find out what happens to our plucky heroine Jackie.

And so that’s what I’m doing this week. And no, it’s not earth shattering but put it all together and I need some some serious Wheaties.

It’s either that or another tablespoon of nonni juice which tastes as disgusting as it smells but Hawaiians swear by it–and who am I to mess with Hawaii? Hawaii has given me some serious mojo.