If you hang out with me on my Facebook reader page, then you know that yesterday I was in New York filming a promotional video with the delightful authorKatie Fforde, who writes romantic comedies and lives in–gasp–the Cotswolds of England.  In my next life I plan to live in the Cotswolds, too.  I’ve already put in my order.

The video was for German television channel ZDF, and Katie and I are the two authors whose novels have been chosen for Sunday night movies for that station.  Five of mine are now a reality, and two of Katie’s.  Ironically, Katie who lives in the UK is having her novels filmed in upstate NY.  I, who live in the US and have a summer cottage in NY, am having my novels filmed in New Zealand.  Katie and I assume this is because ZDF wants us to have the pleasures of visiting faraway places when we are invited to visit the sets.

I visited New Zealand this past winter and blogged extensively about the trip.  Katie is in the states now watching her movie being made, and so the sharp minds at ZDF saw a great promo opportunity.  Katie and I would meet in Manhattan and discuss our books on camera for the ZDF website.  What fun.  Once it’s posted, I’ll let you know. (more…)

I’ll confess profanity rarely bothers me. Maybe my tolerance comes from my father, who was an army staff sergeant during World War II and didn’t always remember to temper his speech later after I made my appearance. Or maybe I’m less bothered because on the radical streets of Berkeley, California, where my husband did his graduate education, profanity was a form of proletariat poetry. In neither case were these expletives heavily laden with anger. Profanity was just another form of expression.

Now, when profanity annoys me, annoyance is usually on one of two levels. First, that my favorite entertainers are substituting that hackles-raising “F” word for pauses or phrases they can’t seem to recall. That word-of-all-words has become an aging comedian’s, “you know,” or “uh huh,” or “am I right?” and as such I’m bored by the lack of vocabulary and creativity.  I cringe even more when profanity is a symptom of rage, and everyone in earshot is infected.

While I tolerate four letter words better than some of my readers, who are vocal about their dislike, I much prefer five letter words. Some of life’s very best can be summed up in five letters. Shade, books, music, happy, smile, lucky, faith, puppy, lover, quilt, buddy, kitty, youth, birth, and start as well as begin. (more…)

Having taken a Mexican appetizers class with my lovely daughter-in-law, I was not surprised to discover a tortilla press and keeper among my birthday presents this month.  Both of us had been fascinated by the process of making sopes, small freshly made tortillas with the edges turned up, then filled.  Now I had my own tortilla press and a bag of masa to make them.  It was time to try this at home.

Last night the same daughter-in-law and I went to work, but not without some trepidation on my part.  Very few recipes call for using corn tortillas as “wraps.”  The grocery store version is usually tough, and even when heated correctly, not terribly tasty.  I’d had fresh tortillas in Guatemala, but didn’t remember using them for anything except bread at dinner.  Still, I was determined to try.  So I set out bowls of slaw, lettuce, chopped cilantro, heirloom tomatoes, green pepper, cheese and black beans I’d simmered with onion, garlic and adobo seasoning from Penzey’s–my new favorite store.  I added salsa, hot sauce and fresh lime, then made Mexican rice from Allrecipes.com, just in case that was the only edible thing on the table, and hoped for the best.

Then we made the tortillas.

How could I have doubted?  The tortillas were like nothing I’d ever had before.  Fragrant, earthy, pliable and thin enough to easily wrap around any variety of fillings.  We followed the advice of Gwyneth Paltrow from an article in Vogue about her new cookbook,  sipping wine as we worked, and keeping the cooking simple and enjoyable.  Making the tortillas was such fun, and eating them?  That much better.  The entire evening was memorable.  We have a new favorite meal at our house, and my daughter-in-law’s putting a tortilla press on her Christmas list.

Almost everything is better when it’s made from scratch.  Vegetables fresh from the garden as opposed to the supermarket freezer?  Better.  Bread fresh from the oven?  Better.  Homemade ice cream from farmer’s market peaches and thick natural cream?  Can’t get better.

Books are the same.  Beginnings, fresh starts, are always key.  Nothing rewarmed or packaged.  Start from scratch.  Yes, you can use ideas that have been done before–because haven’t they all?–but your job is to go back to the very essence.  What exactly intrigues you?  What element set your wheels spinning?  Start at the core.  To make a memorable taco or burrito?  Begin with the tried and true corn tortilla, then make it yours with your own innovations, attention to detail.  Joy.

Joy is important to cooking.  Mine ebbed after years of serving meals to children with little desire to try anything new.   Now that their appetites are more interesting, and they’re not at my dinner table very often, I can cook what pleases me and my appreciative husband and friends.   The joy–can’t you tell?–is back.

Writing is the same.  If you don’t feel a surge of interest, if you aren’t curious where an idea is going to take you, the idea isn’t right for you.  It may be a perfectly great idea, but someone else needs it.  Set it free and find the one that makes your heart beat a little faster, the one that sets your mind whirling.  The one that brings you joy.

Ideas are everywhere, but start from scratch.  Distill each appealing one to its essence.  A corn tortilla is nothing more than masa and water.  Yet it’s the beginning of something truly magnificent.  Follow that humble example, and you’ll never go wrong.

I remember the days before Facebook.  Yes, I’m that old.  I remember when I pondered questions of great importance and wished I had someone to turn to for answers.  No email, no Facebook, no Twitter.

Wish no more. 

Recently I received an email from an unhappy reader.   She had a discount coupon for Fortunate Harbor, but she couldn’t find it at her local booksellers.   Surprised, I decided to post about this on my Facebook page and see if anyone else had experienced a problem, because my own trip to Books-A-Million had turned up an interesting conundrum.  While they had one copy of both Happiness Key and Fortunate Harbor, the books were shelved differently, one in romance and one in fiction/literature.

Odd and interesting.  A reader would have to be well-informed, highly motivated, and willing to stand in line for help to find both books.  (more…)

Today I’m blogging at Fresh Fiction about friendship and friendship novels.   Why did I decide to write the Happiness Key series?  Can the theme of friendship carry a trilogy?  Come visit the Fresh Fiction website and find out. 

Oh, and while you’re there?  I’m also running a contest on their website.  One lucky reader will win a deluxe gift basket of white citrus products from Bath and Body Works, as well as autographed copies of Fortunate Harbor and Happiness Key.  Plus there’s a book each for the second and third runner-ups.   No questions to answer, just sign up.  Lots of other author contests there, as well, so enjoy.  I’d love to see one of my blog followers win this lovely gift.

Almost every author website has a Frequently Asked Questions page.  Since I just discovered that the drop-down menu on my home page isn’t producing a link to mine, I can even say once that’s fixed, you might actually stumble upon my FAQ now and then under Bio.  If you do, you’ll find the correct order of the Shenandoah Album novels, the reason I’m not working on number six right now, the truth about my backlist, and the name of my valued assistant, Marna, who has since moved to Europe and sadly left me behind.  You won’t see the name of my new assistant, but Beth is an old friend and a quick study.  After just two sessions I know I’m lucky to have her.

Nobody seems to have an Infrequently Asked Questions page, those too esoteric, rude or boring to ever appear in print.  So in the interest of righting that wrong, let me begin one in this blog.  Since these are by definition rarely asked questions, the answers will probably never appear anywhere again.  This is your only chance. If trivia appeals to you? Please pay attention. (more…)

The subject of this blog?  Oddly enough, not the reviews for Fortunate Harbor.  Yes, the book’s out now, and yes there have been lots of reviews, the vast majority, I’m happy to say, good ones like this from Publishers Weekly: “A juicy, sprawling beach read with a suspenseful twist. . .”  Or this from Randall Radic at Basil and Spice online who called the book: “ . . . a how-to manual for guys about women.  How they think.  How they feel.  And why they act the way they do.” 

But an author defending unflattering reviews is a lot like a chef demanding a retraction from the restaurant critic who pointed out there was too much salt in the gumbo.  Fact is, opinions are opinions.  And these days, not only does everybody have them, everybody and anybody can put them online with the click of a computer mouse.   Since I’m a big fan of reviews–taken with a grain of that aforementioned salt–I say bravo.  But let’s be clear about what a review really is. (more…)

Just a reminder that today is the last day the $1.50 coupon for Fortunate Harbor will be honored.  Just remember to ask your bookseller first so you won’t be disappointed at the register.  Individual stores differ on what they will and won’t accept.  Once again, here’s the coupon link for printing.

Thanks to all of you who’ve written to tell me you’ve bought Fortunate Harbor and Happiness Key and enjoyed them both.  I appreciate all of you who’ve taken the time to blog about it, too.   

Publisher’s Weekly called Fortunate Harbor:  ”A juicy, sprawling beach read with a suspenseful twist. . .”  I hope you like it just as much as they did..

Fireworks over Asheville, North Carolina last night, courtesy of photographer Galen McGee of Peak Definition and Two Rings Studio.  How absolutely glorious.

I’ll confess, much about promoting a book is simply exhausting.  Saying “no,” for instance, when I’m asked to speak–the exhausting part comes from deciding what I can manage each year and what’s just one thing too many.  Book signings can be exhausting, too.  Not the kind that should be, when a hundred readers are standing in front of you–most often when the books are free, of course–and they’re exhilarating.  The truly exhausting book signing is the one scheduled after lunch at a downtown mall when everyone is at work and those who aren’t are shopping in the suburbs.  Trying to look happy and busy when there’s nothing to do?  Exhausting.

What’s not exhausting?  For me, social media.  I love Facebook–as some of you have discovered.  I connect my chatty Facebook page to Twitter so I can do both simultaneously.  I love writing this blog.  And now, thanks to my buddy Pat Sloan, the quilt and fabric designer extraordinaire, I’m about to love talk radio.   Some of you know Pat as my co-designer for the Season of Grace Christmas stocking quilt, still available on both our sites.  Her quilts and fabrics are gorgeous.  Check them out. (more…)