p.s.

And no, I still haven't found an apartment, but I am NOT letting that get me down!

(talk to me the last week in August, when my lease is up and I am in official freak-out mode...)

:)

forthcoming

If you'd like to see the cover of my newest book, THE YEAR MY SISTER GOT LUCKY --- my first ever hardcover -- which will be coming out in December, please check out my MySpace profile: www.myspace.com\aimeefriedman, and click on the "Pictures" link.

I am so excited about this book, in a big way because it is probably my most personal since A NOVEL IDEA (I blogged about the book in this post). In some ways, it's like a longer, juicier (and maybe in parts a little more dramatic) RoCom, so I hope fans of the RoCom series will find their way to it this winter... (and please note that you can pre-order it on Amazon now!)

It's strange to write, or think, about winter now, in the sticky thick of summer. I am about to head off on my first "real" vacation all summer: spending a week on the beach in Montauk with my family (insert long luxurious sigh here...). Other summer activities I have done so far, and thoroughly enjoyed:

* Spending a magical afternoon at The Cloisters (my boyfriend's birthday surprise for me!) and having dinner at the New Leaf Cafe, which is perched high above the Hudson in Fort Tryon Park

*Strolling through HARRY POTTER PLACE behind Scholastic with my friends from work, making wands and taking pictures of the faux Whomping Willow and feeling the summer air crackle with anticipation (I am holding off on reading HARRY until my vacation, so no spoilers PLEEASSE!!!).

* The simple pleasure of a weekend morning spent lying on a soft blanket in Central Park with sunscreen, a giant iced coffee, and the Sunday Times, eavesdropping on conversations from other blankets and watching toddlers run through the grass.

Maybe I'm inspired by the title of my book, but summer in the city can really make a girl feel...lucky.

More soon!

Best,

Aimee

If it's Tuesday, it's humid in Montpelier

I won't say that the summer residency at Vermont College flew by, but I still can't believe that I'm leaving here today. Summer rez is just like winter rez, except that this time, I'm not a newbie. Other factors that contributed to a very pleasant writerly experience:
-staying at Betsy's B&B with fellow Vermonsters Gwenda and Kate, rather than in the dorms. Air conditioning! TV! A kitchenette! Really, it was just like college. Except I think that back in college, I was probably more mature.
-enjoying a great workshop with Sharon Darrow. I rather think that if, god forbid, I didn't have parents, Sharon Darrow and David Gifaldi would do just fine.
-walking into town by the light of day--no seasonal affective disorder here!
-"Special Day," which I mocked mercilessly for its silly title, but enjoyed heartily for its powerhouse roster of YA presenters: David Levithan, MT Anderson, Anita Silvey, Martine Leavitt, and others.
-seeing my books on display at the Barre Book Fair, challenging Kate to Scrabble at the Saturday night party, hosting our fellow second semesters for wine and munchies in our common room, soaking in lectures and feeling like I'm starting to understand the faculty just that much more. Getting assigned to Uma Krishnaswami as an advisee.

Uma is very excited to be working on TRIBE and, after a quick recharge in Williamstown this weekend with Noah, I am super-psyched to dive in. Should be a great--if tiring--semester.

Oh, and if you have a moment, by all means, check out my newly-redesigned website: www.micolostow.com. Made over to coincide with the EMILY paperback (coming this September!). Big props to Little Willow for her fabulous artistic savvy.

I HATE JURY DUTY!

Okay, I know it's my civic duty. And I know every adult has to do it. But no matter how many cheerful videos they show me of happy jurors fulfilling their responsibility and how many reminders I get that I'm only within blocks of delicious food in Chinatown, and great shopping, I still don't like it. To me, it's still a lot of sitting around in uncomfortable chairs without my computer or cellphone, with only the occasional break to wait to see if your name is called.

On the positive side, yesterday I got to observe people from behind my dark sunglasses, seeing how they all behaved in a room full of strangers. Interesting actually. Some people made a conscious effort to talk with their fellow jurors. Others went into the "lunch room" (actually a table and chairs and two vending machines) and sat silently drinking coffee, while most read newspapers and magazines and tried to ignore the others in the room.

As a writer, observing behavior is a top priority. And, sneaky little spy that I am, I took notes. I figure I can use this info--like the guy who came all dressed up in a suit and spent the day loudly complaining about how much money he was losing every minute he was on jury duty. (As thought the rest of us were just waiting to live on that $40 a day). Or the older woman who remarked that she kind of liked jury duty because it was a change in her schedule. Or the two 18 year olds who were comparing notes on which colleges they were going to, and exchanging cell phone digits --if a marriage comes out of this one, they should get the judge in charge of jurors to marry them!)

There's a book in this jury duty thing I'm sure. I've just got to figure out where.

Ah, I'm off again to Law and Order ville in a few minutes. Wonder what kinds of people I'll see in that juror room today.,
N

Happily ever after

Major yay: I just found out Major Crush has finaled in the YA division of the Aspen Gold contest! I'm riding a streak of good luck with my books. Lately a lot of teens have been asking me for tips on how to get published--now! And because it looks like everything is going so great for me, I think they expect lots of encouragement from me. They have come to the wrong place. Yes, I'm a published novelist. Yes, I started early. A little perspective: I finished my first novel when I was 20. I got my first literary agent when I was 22. I finally sold a book when I was 35.

In all honesty, if you want to make a living as a novelist, my first piece of advice to you would be to run. Away. Screaming!!! It is easier to get into medical school than it is to get a novel published, and being an emergency room physician is probably a lot less stressful. (A little dig at my brother.) The best book I've read on the subject is Pat Walsh's 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might. My critique partner Cathy told me I ought not be recommending this book to people because it's depressing. I think it's realistic, and what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Because the brutal truth is that, no matter what your age, once you start writing your novel, you probably won't finish it, and if you do, you probably won't be able to get it published.

Now if you read this and feel discouraged, good. Please go forth, major in architecture, be happy. If you read this and think, "That Jennifer Echols! She thinks she is all that! Who is she to tell me I don't have a chance? I'm going to finish my book and get it published no matter what anybody thinks, so there!" then YOU might actually be able to do it. The key here is that potential fame is not a reason to write, because it's probably not going to happen. Potential fortune is not a reason to write, either. Most writers don't make great money. Even if they're lucky enough to get one huge payment for a book, it doesn't amount to much if you look back at all the years they made diddly-squat from their writing. IMHO absolutely the only reason to write is that you LOVE TO WRITE (not love to have finished writing or love the idea of being a writer; there is a big difference), and if you never got published you would write anyway.

Still with me? Then here's my advice:

READ. Read everything you can. You need to write the book you want to read, so you need to have done a lot of reading to figure out what that is. All the published writers I know are book nerds.

WRITE. If you're not ready to start a novel, keep a journal. Write for your school newspaper. Enter short story contests. Be careful what you do online for obvious reasons of security and privacy, but theoretically I think fanfic would be a great way to flex your muscles. A reader mentioned The Boys Next Door fanfic to me and I am scared to go look because I don't really want to know what Lori and Adam have been doing while I have my back turned. But if stories you read or see on TV interest you and you want to continue them in fanfic, give it a shot. My best friend in high school and I used to stay up late rethinking Lois Duncan novels starring us and the boys we had crushes on, and I credit that experience with getting me started as a novelist. It forces you to think hard about what plots you find satisfying and why.

RESEARCH. Read all the books in your library about how hard it is to get a novel published. Be depressed. Be very depressed. Write anyway.

NETWORK. This key element was missing from the first thirteen years of my novel-writing life. I figured it was my book, I wrote it by myself, and I was going to get it published by myself. Well, two literary agents and eight unpublished novels later, I decided that wasn't working for me. So I joined writers' groups and talked to other people who were having the same problems I was having. Behold! I learned how to find and get the attention of a literary agent who could actually sell my work. Again, as always, you need to be careful joining online groups because you never know who's really on the other end of that modem. But if you're careful and tell your mom where you're going, you may gain a lot of benefit from making friends with other writers.

WAIT. Well, not necessarily. There's no reason you can't get published as a teenager. Some publishers may even see your youth as a marketing tool, because teens might want to read books by other teens. There are (as far as I know) positive examples of this like Christopher Paolini with Eragon and negative examples like Kaavya Viswanathan with How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life (I haven't read either book but you can Google them to catch up on the respective brouhahas). I would never tell you not to pursue publication as a teenager, because what do I know? I just want you to approach with caution and be realistic. Don't put all your eggs in this rickety basket. What's your hurry? Work hard on your reading and writing, and major in something really interesting in college that can support you if your writing career doesn't. Having your soul stripped bare and kicked around the streets of NYC like a soccer ball is a lot easier to take when you're 35 than when you're 20, I promise. I've been there.

The 2 Biggest States in the U.S.

Howdy, y'all! Like many of the authors here, I got to go to Dallas for the RWA National Conf. It was so much fun. There were so many highlights, I don't know where to begin. Agent and editor meetings, drinks with old friends, blogging live from the official press room, parties and receptions galore ... It was wonderful to see my CPs (Aryn, Jenny and Nadine, who I met for the first time 3 years ago in the Big-D, and Kristin, who I met in Reno 2 years ago).

My DH surprised me (wearing a suit, no less!) for the Golden Heart and RITA awards ceremony. It was a blast being a part of all the hoopla associated with being a nominee.

And one day after getting home, I was off to Alaska for a fishing adventure. Just got home yesterday and though I'm extremely tired, it's so good to finally be home with my boys and my sweet mom who came from Colorado to watch them while I was out catching enormous and fiesty fish. (It took so long for someone to get a camera and dang, this guy was slippery!)

Off to the Berkshires

I have no idea what the Berkshires are, but I have heard of them. I know my daughter, Sarah, is there, interning at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and it's somewhere in Massachusetts. We fly out tonight on the Red Eye and get into NYC at 8:00 am, driving straightaway to the Berkshires. We're seeing 3 plays in 2 nights, and my daughter designed the set for one of the workshop productions. They've been working those poor interns 14 hours a day, painting and building sets. But that's Sarah's forte. Her high school drama department voted her Best Techie every year she was there. This has been her first chance to hang out with real NYC theater folk and students, which has been something of an eye-opener for a Tucson girl.

Anyway, I'll have a report in a week, and maybe some photos too. We are spending a couple extra days in Manhattan, which is already booked solid. If we just don't bother to sleep, we'll be fine!

CG

Back from Dallas!

I'm back from the RWA National Convention in Dallas! Here's a view of downtown from the conference hotel. Actually this is the view from my friend's room. My room had a view of the freeway and the prison.

This pic shows about a third of the room full of 450 authors and lots of readers at the literacy booksigning. I can't tell you how many people stopped by my little corner to say they LOVE the entire Simon Pulse Ro-Com series! I always gave them my card and suggested they visit the blog. If you're reading us for the first time, please de-lurk and say hi!

Here I am with Catherine Chant, my critique partner--which means we read each other's books before we turn them in. Catherine writes YA paranormal. She hasn't been published yet, but I know she will be soon. Remember her name, yo.

Here's my other critique partner, Vicki D the Girl Emcee. We're so excited that her first book is coming out in a few weeks!!! But you shouldn't read it until you turn 18. *disapproving glare with one eyebrow raised*

Here's my fabulous literary agent, Caren Johnson. We hung out quite a bit with Sangeeta the Simon Pulse Ro-Com Queen. I didn't get a pic of Sangeeta but I did have a long talk with her and managed to spill raspberry vinaigrette on her.

And here's the large slab of granite I like to call the National Readers' Choice Award. When I got home to Birmingham I had a note in my cosmetic bag saying airport security had searched it. I think this was because the National Readers' Choice Award was inside the bag, and security was not expecting a cosmetic bag to weigh 70 pounds.

See you next year in San Francisco!

Girls' night out

Writing is a lonely business. So I can hardly wait to fly to Dallas this week for the Romance Writers of America national convention. Once a year it’s such a relief to spend four days with several thousand people who type just as fast and get a glazed look in public just as often as I do!

I’m looking forward to meeting Sangeeta, who’s in charge of the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. I’ll spend quality time with my literary agent and my critique partners, one of whom I’ve never met in person even though we’ve been partners for three years! I’m giddy about the National Readers’ Choice Awards ceremony because MAJOR CRUSH is a double-finalist. It’s a huge thrill to be nominated alongside Rachel Hawthorne, Mari Mancusi, and Gena Showalter!

Another highlight of the conference is always the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing, a book signing open to the public with hundreds of authors. Publishers donate new books, you buy them at the cover price and have the authors sign them, and the proceeds go to literacy charities. The complete list of authors is posted here, but at a quick glance I see YA authors Niki Burnham, Rachel, Mari, Gena, and Lynda Sandoval, plus best sellers in the adult romance world like Connie Brockway, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Nora Roberts. It’s on Wednesday, July 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Dallas Hyatt Regency. I hope you’ll come out to see us, and bring your mom!

Endings are Difficult

One of the things I struggle with as a writer is the ending of my book. I tend to favor...shall we say... abrupt endings? None of my editors have shared my love of abruption. So, most often, when I revise, I work extra hard on the ending. In order to see where I can improve my endings, I've been studying some other endings of books. Some I love, and some I hate and some that left me...meh. My conclusion? Endings are hard because they matter so much.

Unlike real life, where an ending tends to lead to another beginning (leave high school, enter college/job), a book ending is a final farewell to the characters. Sure, you can imagine what happens next (isn't that half the fun?), but you're never going to know for sure. That's one reason I like it when I find a good series. I know that I'll get to be with the characters for a while. But even series end.

We just ordered two (!) copies of Harry Potter for our household this week. This excess came from a discussion about who would get to read the book first. I read the fastest, but I have a ton of work to do this summer and reading has been low on the list (for Harry, though, I'll probably ditch work for a day). My husband and No. 1 son don't want to wrestle with me (No. 2 son will wait for the movie, thankyouverymuch).

So. Two copies. As much as we love books (our house is full of book shelves -- there is at least one bookshelf in every room, and five in the living room...and please, don't talk to me about artful arrangements -- we cram everything from the Feynman Lectures to the Animorphs series in those shelves), we've never intentionally bought two copies of a book before.

We're avoiding spoiler sites. We're counting down the days (we got the special deal to get the copy delivered on release day -- both copies!) We're holding our breaths, hoping that J.K. pulled it off and we'll be babbling with awe and amazement to each other (after we've all finished the book, of course -- probably three days tops).

I want to go on record, before I've even begun to read the last Harry Potter: no matter whether I love the ending or would have written it differently -- J.K. has given me and my family a delightful, thoughtful series and we won't regret the ride, even if the ending is a little bumpy. Because endings are difficult for us all.

Got Harry?

Kelly

the write address

I am looking for a new apartment. My own place, for the first time ever. It's both terrifying and exhilarating. For the past three years, I've lived in a cozy three-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side with two terrific roomies. Before that, I lived with one of my current roomies in a one-bedroom (we made it work) on the East Side, and before THAT there was my parents' place and college. So me -- alone, with no one to kill bugs or help me with the can opener or chat with me when I walk in the door ( and also with no one to jump in the shower before me, no one to blast the TV when I want to sleep, no one to weigh in on my decorating choices...) -- is going to feel VERY new.

In New York City, looking for an apartment is like a full-time job. Prices are insane. There's always a catch. You want it all -- good light, safety, space, maybe a park within reach -- but the universe, or perhaps the real estate gods, merely laugh. It's a constant uphill battle to find the right place. And for a writer, I think, it's even more difficult.

Even though I've developed a taste for writing in Starbucks and libraries over the years, I still like to write at home when I can. So whenever I see an apartment for the first time, I invariably think "Can I write here?" Is there room for my desk, is the light good enough, will the traffic below inspire me or annoy me? Of course there is no way to tell until you have really moved in. But I'm rather obsessive about these qualities in an apartment. What I would truly love is a space that would allow me my own bedroom, living room, and separate writing office. I dream about this the way some people dream about winning the Lottery (and in New York,unfortunately, the two are pretty much linked).

Do other writers feel this way? Do you think where you live affects the way you write? Am I just being overly neurotic?

I will keep you posted if--and when--I find the (nearly) perfect place!

Until then, happy summer...

All things crappie

In a little intro to How NOT to Spend Your Senior Year, Cameron talks about what is and isn't true in her book. In that spirit, I thought I'd clue you in on a few things that are and aren't true in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR.

I grew up on a beautiful lake in Alabama, but there is no Crappie Festival on Lake Martin. There is, however, an Interstate Mullet Toss at the Flora-Bama Lounge down at the beach. People try to throw a mullet across the Alabama/Florida state line. I have never been to the Interstate Mullet Toss myself. My first job after college was as a copyeditor for the Montgomery newspaper. My boss was a very low-key person, so I was surprised when she came in looking sort of bedraggled one day. In fact, she looked like someone who had spent the weekend in the sun, throwing fish across the state line. I've been waiting to put the Interstate Mullet Toss in a book ever since.

The town where I grew up also had a huge cotton mill with an outlet store where you could get all sorts of designs put on T-shirts. Hunting and fishing are important activities in this town, so the store had lots of deer designs and fish designs. They offered a picture of a fish that said "Bass!" and a picture of a fish that said "Catfish!" and a picture of a fish that said "Crappie!" Well, that's just funny. I gave my best friend a crappie T-shirt for her birthday, and after we graduated from high school she wore it around Boston University.

The bryozoa is 100% real and I have accidentally touched it more times than I can count. *shudder* (The link goes to a Wikipedia article that I'm considering updating because it's incomplete. It does not contain the terms slimy or ugh.)

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

Let's hear it for Alice Cooper. This time of year all I can think about is that song! The whole tempo and temperament around our house changes completely once finals and regents come to an end, and there's nothing for weeks except those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. (Yeah, I know, I'm quoting another old song, but I just can't help it--I'm married to a musician, song quoting is just something we do around here). If the kids are happy, mom's happy.

And I am happy. Mostly because I have plenty of work to keep me busy. I don't know if anyone else gets really cranky if they don't write something every day, but I know I do. I need that release of losing myself in a world of my own making for at least a few hours every day.

Anyhow, I gotta go now. I have a camp trunk to pack, as Ian leaves for his 7 1/2 weeks of camp next Tuesday. As for Amanda, for the first time in six years, she spending the summer here. She's going to experience the feeling of hot town, summer in the city. back of my neck getting dirty and gritty. (Uh oh! There I go again!) But somehow I think she's going to love it. There really isn't any place as fun as New York City in the summer. Come to think of it, I can't think of any place as fun as New York City during any time of the year. (Relax, I'm not going to break into a chorus of New York, New York on the blog!)

Anyway, no matter where you're spending your summer, or what you do, I hope it will be memorable. And let's hope that as the temperatures rise, cooler heads prevail, and we get some peace on this planet soon.

xxoo

Nancy

Still a Kid at Heart

Greetings!

My family just got back from a road trip to S. California. We had the most amazing time at Disneyland and Sea World. I loved watching my 3 boys' reactions to the various animals, characters, and shows, and screaming with them on roller coasters.

But the thing that amazed me the most was the way I felt when the Disney characters paraded down Main Street. It was like I was a little girl again, vying for Snow White's attention, laughing at Goofy's antics, hoping that Mickey himself would be in the last float. At Sea World, when I got to pet the bat rays and dolphins and hold starfish, I was transported back to when I was a kid, wondering what the sea animals would feel like and what they'd do when I held them.

Which experiences from your past spark memories that you like to share with loved ones?

5 Islands in 7 Days

Okay, the islands were all fairly close together, but I had only been to one of them before. These isles run along the Georgia/Northern Florida coast, and they come in all phases of development and charm. My younger brother got married on Jekyll Island at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, the former yacht playground of J.P. Morgan and the Rockefellers. The outdoor wedding got rained out but still turned out lovely, and the wedding party had its own mansion for the weekend. Jekyll is very kickback and under strict anti-development rules, so it's a nice place for a quiet vacation with almost deserted beaches.

Following two nights there, it was on to Hilton Head Island off the coast of Georgia. We used to go to Hilton Head when I was a kid, and it has changed from a sleepy backwater to a fully developed city with championship golf courses. No more crabbing for dinner off a rickety dock, but on to a first-class restaurant. There's a spooky old pre-civil war cemetery on Hilton Head, which I used in my book, THE WITCHING WELL, but even it's been cleaned up and gardened. Spoilsports! Savannah is close by for an added plus.

San Simon Island is also civilized but less snooty than Hilton Head. Seems to attract a younger, more beachy crowd, and has numerous bed-and-breakfasts instead of swank resorts. We really liked it there, and we saw a lot of vacation rentals. We also like Amelia Island, Florida, where we stayed in an aged motel right on the beach. Amelia Island is very charming and old-school, with ancient beach bungalows built to resemble lighthouses (see pic) and rickety outdoor bars with live music.

Last but not least, Anastasia Island. This is off the coast of Florida and houses most of the beaches for San Augustin, longest inhabited city (by Europeans) in the USA. Great history there and beautiful beaches. Don't miss the Gator Farm and the old Spanish quarter. It was a joy to have all the family together for my brother's wedding, especially all the female cousins. And their boyfriends! Yikes! Who's gonna foot the next one?

CG

No parking on the dance floor

Last weekend my husband and I attended our high school class reunion. The party was held at a lodge overlooking the lake where The Boys Next Door is set, in sight of the bridge that figures prominently in the book. I took this as a good omen that the book will do well when it's released a week from tomorrow (it's already in stock at the online bookstores).

I channeled my inner Lori, the heroine of the book, by being a dork and dancing the night away to 80's music though I can't dance. If you're not going to do the robot to "Freakazoid" at your high school reunion, when are you going to do it?

I also caught up with my classmates. Like Adam in the book, so many of them were smart and talented even though the school said they weren't. It was wonderful to find out how successful they've been, outshining any prediction of the standardized tests. The older I get, the more I realize there are lots of definitions of "success" and lots of ways to be happy.

Required reading

So, I guess I must have blinked or something back in March, because all of a sudden, my first semester of grad school is over. This is astonishing. Astonishing, I tell you!

Despite a few small hiccups during the transitional period (ie: I needed to search deep inside of myself to find motivation to change out of my pajamas in the morning), I can honestly say that I love my new lifestyle. As much as editing used to be wonderful gratification, these days I am truly relishing the opportunity to save my creative energies for my own work. Pretty selfish, huh? But what can you do?

Another semi-unexpected byproduct of the Vermont program is how much I'm reading again! This past semester, I read about 50 books for my coursework, which means I finally got around to folks like Carolyn Mackler, Sarah Dessen, Blake Nelson, and others that I'd managed to avoid until now. Of the bajillion titles that I've "discovered" since January, here's my top five:


1. Rachel Cohn, "Gingerbread"
2. Julia Bell, "Massive"
3. Gene Luen Yang, "American Born Chinese"
4. Natasha Friend, "Perfect"
5. Marilyn Sachs, "The Fat Girl"

My caveat, of course, is that 5/50ths of a reading list is really just the tip of the iceberg. There is a staggering amount of fabulous work out there. Now that I've got a month off from school, I'm diving into the extracurricular stacks. First will be "Tips on Having a Gay (Ex)Boyfriend, by Vermont College's own Carrie Jones, followed closely by Niki's "Goddess Games," which looks, as Nicole Ritchie would say, "a-MAH-zing."

What's on your summer reading list?

Techno-savvy. Really!

At Niki's suggestion, I have added a link on the right to an RSS feed of the blog. Or, if you're a LiveJournal user, you can subscribe to the blog at sprocoms--it's just like adding us as a friend. I'm sorry about the weird name. Sprocoms! I wanted it to be Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies, duh, but LiveJournal said that was too long. So I shortened it to SPRoComs and it came out sprocoms, which sounds like a Japanese seaweed snack. Mmmmm, I love sprocoms and Diet Pepsi.

Attention, please!

You know how some things demand your undivided attention? And how, often, more than one of those things happen at the same time, which means your attention is, well, DIVIDED? That's what the last couple weeks have been like at Casa Niki.

First--my newest book, Goddess Games, hit the shelves (happy, happy, joy, joy!) If you click on the title, you can read an excerpt. As you might guess, I'm thrilled to see it in stores!

Second--and even more exciting--I got a new puppy!! She's a poodle, and her name is Tipper. She's still pretty small (you can check out how she compares to a large Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee) and has two speeds: running and exhausted.

Needless to say, she needs a TON of attention, or she eats the houseplants or has accidents (she's only two months old, so we're still working on housetraining!)

So, of course, with all this going on (requiring pretty much all my attention), I headed off to NYC and BookExpo. BookExpo is this monster event for booksellers, publishers, librarians, authors, and pretty much anyone whose job has something to do with books. I spent a couple days working in the Romance Writers of America booth, where I got to see author Geralyn Dawson (left) being interviewed by Eloisa James for Romance Novel TV.



Then I hopped into the hot seat for an interview with Romance Novel TV, which will be posted to their site in the near future. (In the meantime, check out the great interviews with other authors, including Nora Roberts and Janet Evanovich.)

BookExpo is also the place to get autographed copies of the latest books. There's a main autographing area consisting of thirty-two tables, each of which is occupied by a different author every hour (and sometimes every half-hour!) signing copies of their newest release. I signed a TON of copies of Goddess Games at table thirty-one. While I was signing, guess who was next to me at table thirty?



If you can't read the nametag...it's Ridley Pearson! Not only does he write fabulous suspense novels, but he also co-writes the Peter Pan prequels with Dave Barry (they're phenomenal books--I highly recommend 'em to everyone!)

Needless to say, BookExpo had me going in two speeds, running and exhausted! When I came home to Tipper (who was delightfully happy to see me!), I made certain to give her my undivided attention. Now off to walk the dog....

a hidden gem, a summer party

Up until this weekend, I'd never been to Governor's Island. It's a hidden gem, a small stretch of green, lovely land, located in the middle of New York Harbor, between Brooklyn, Ellis, and Liberty Islands. Up until 1996, it was used as a military base, so it's full of old forts and beautiful, sprawling homes in which the officers lived with their families.

My boyfriend's friend told us about an annual summer bash held on the island -- a Great Gatsby-themed swing dance/picnic, so naturally we were on board. We caught the ferry down at the tip of Manhattan (Whitehall/South Ferry) and rode it a mere seven or so minutes (perfect for me, because I'm not a fan of long boat rides!), enjoying the wind on our faces and admiring the view of Lady Liberty. Once on the island, we weaved through stately homes, tree-lined roads, and grassy stretches along the river to reach the picnic grounds, all the while feeling that we'd fallen into some sort of other world, a dream-place. The island is basically deserted (my boyfriend and I went exploring in one of the beautiful houses, and it was absolutely empty -- not even a stray piece of furniture), which makes it feel even more surreal...but enchanting. The feeling of we're-not-really-in-2007-New-York-anymore got stronger when we reached the bandstand and saw people dressed to the hilt in flapper garb doing the Charleston while guys in straw boat hats strolled alongside ladies with parasols. We hadn't dressed up in costume, but we still felt quite fabulous in our summer clothes as we lunched on cheese, crackers, lox, olives, and watermelon on our blanket.


We learned that Governor's Island is open to the public (for free) on Saturdays and Sundays this summer. Now that I'm taking some MUCH-needed time-off from writing (at least until the fall), I'm planning on doing some more picnicking out there -- forget overcrowded, overrated Central Park! If you're in the NYC area, please come out and explore this little secret nook of splendor on the harbor.