Blog A Go-Go

In which we're supposed to be answering reader questions but we're not

Because I am nominated! I found out yesterday that I have been nominated for the Dilys Award--an award given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the author whose book they have most enjoyed selling the previous year. I was nominated last year for Silent in the Grave and did not win. I wonder if I'm on my way to being the Susan Lucci of the Dilys Award? Anyway, I need to think positively because just between you and me, I know I'm supposed to say it's an honor just to be nominated and not care about the outcome, but I seriously LOVE the trophy. My study would be so much cooler with a silver skull with CHARMS, I'm just saying. Big, huge, tremendous thanks to the Independent Mystery Booksellers--I AM honored and I'm so very glad you have enjoyed selling Silent in the Sanctuary! (The rest of y'all can check out the award itself and the other nominees here.)

And since this is a short one, I will answer reader Ali's question about skincare. (Yes, it is a total girl question, but I figure the boy readers of the Blog A Go-Go are still looking at the cool silver Dilys skull. Ha!) I wash with Cetaphil and use Lancome oil-free makeup with sunscreen in it. I noticed a huge improvement in my skin after I stopped eating white flour and white sugar. (Contrary to what we were all told as teenagers, chocolate and greasy food doesn't affect it at all, but if I fall off the whole-grain wagon hard, it will show up on my face.) I use a Boots night-time eye cream from Target, and once in awhile a retinol cream. I noticed another huge improvement when I started taking supplements too. I take evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil, and fish oil although fear of liability compels me to mention that no one else should do so without chatting up their doctor or pharmacist first. I see my dermie once a year for the retinol prescription and for the full-body mole patrol. And thanks for the lovely compliment, Ali!

In which we take a wee break

Today we're taking a little break from answering reader questions--although I am thoroughly enjoying it!--to take care of some business. This is information that went out in the newsletter, so if you got yours, this is just a reminder. If you didn't, well hold onto your knickers.

First, I have book signing dates!
February 21, I am signing with Nora Roberts at Turn the Page in Boonsboro, Maryland. Check the store's site for details. 
March 7, I'll be at the Barnes and Noble in New Town in Williamsburg, 2-4pm.
March 14, I will be at The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond at 2pm.
If you're in the area, DO come and say hey and get a book signed!

Second, we have a contest, and it's a GOOD one--to celebrate the release of Silent on the Moor on March 1, I am GIVING AWAY A KINDLE! To enter, simply pre-order your copy from your favorite online retailer or purchase it new before March 9. Save your receipt or your order confirmation because the number on it will be the number you enter when I open the contest. That's it! Details will be posted on the Blog A Go-Go closer to the time, so keep checking!

In which you might need something to play with

So I give you Wordle. It's a fabulous little site where you can plug in a list of words or the URL to a site or blog and it will generate a graphic. Be warned, it's addictive!

And today is a very special day in our house. My baby turns fourteen. I don't know where the time has gone, because I'm pretty sure she was a toddler YESTERDAY, but she is so grown-up now it takes my breath away. She is kind and funny and smart as a whip, and I am so proud to be her mom. SHE is the best thing I've ever done. Happy birthday, sweetie!

In which it is Halloween

I love Halloween. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up in Texas, I never had a proper Halloween, weather-wise. A child should not be shoehorned into a costume and a prosthetic nose to trick-or-treat. (That would be the year my father fashioned a witch's nose for me complete with a hairy wart. I won third prize in our city's mall costume contest. No trophy--boo!)

Halloween should be crisp but not cold, with a sharpness to the air that makes you glad you're wearing petticoats or body armor or a vampire cape. The leaves should be turning and there ought to be a very full moon, perhaps a little lopsided and tinged with orange, if it can manage it. There should be strange shadows on the lawn, and a few spooky noises from the basement. There ought to be a fire, even if only in a chiminea or a candle on the table. It's the night that the Celts believed those who have passed over come back to peer through the thinning veil and visit loved ones left behind. A cake left on the doorstep is a good gift for the fairies, and don't forget a little salt over the thresholds so whatever is creeping abroad in the night doesn't find its way in...

In which we celebrate a blogiversary!

Today marks one year since the Blog A Go-Go went daily! I had blogged before that, but only on an as-I-feel-like-it basis. When I had surgery last year I amused myself by blogging under the influence of narcotics and it was FREEING. I decided to see how long I could keep it going, and to my astonishment, we've made it a year. The blog has grown exponentially in a year; I have loads more readers, and I'm thankful for each and every one of you. I appreciate the fact that you share your day with me, that you let me amuse you a little, that you offer encouragement and kind words when you feel so moved. I love knowing that some of you start your day with me, whether I know it or not, and I am happy you are there. So celebrate with me today that our paths have crossed in the blogosphere!

As for the future of the blog, I will continue to write every day for as long as I'm able. I do foresee a time when my 3D life will interfere with my virtual one, but for now I'm here. Every day. And I'm glad you are too. Thank you!

In which YouTube is a timesuck

I rarely go on YouTube because I fear the consequences--books unwritten, chores undone, a life unlived. But every once in awhile it is time well wasted. I remembered this commercial from years ago and I don't know WHY they have it, but they do. I love this guy. Joe Boxer Guy

On a completely unrelated note, the Today Show will be broadcasting today pretty much from my back yard. I plan on sleeping through, but if Matt Lauer and Al Roker want to swing by with hot tea and muffins for breakfast, that would be lovely. Earl Grey, one raw sugar, no milk, please.

In which I feast

Our local Kiwanis chapter hosts a bash called Shrimp Feast once a year. It is an all-you-can-eat extravaganza with peel-and-eat shrimp, beer, and hush puppies. (There were other sides too, but when your hands are dripping with shrimp juice and Old Bay, you really only care about the hush puppies and the beer.) It was hellaciously hot, and since I toasted myself nicely last week at the NASCAR race, I decided to be much kinder to my skin this weekend and wore a hat. (Pretend you don't notice I've feasted my lipstick off.) We feasted courtesy of Chiropractor who was one of the cooks and who graciously shared tickets with us. He is good people, our Chiropractor, but don't tell him I said so. He gives a superb adjustment, is a generally nice guy, and has a gorgeous wife who may very well be one of the coolest people I've ever met. (I'm cursing myself for not getting a picture of the belt she was wearing at the feast. Chocolate brown and turquoise--very chic.)

In which it is my husband's birthday

And all I can say is "Thank God." I turned forty in June, and now it's his turn and NONE TOO SOON. For the last two and a half months he's been highly amused by the fact that he is "in his thirties" with a wife "in her forties". He keeps calling me his cougar and making growling noises and today puts a stop to THAT.

The amazing thing is that we've been together half our lives. This past May was the twentieth anniversary of our first date and August was the twentieth anniversary of our engagement. (He is a FAST worker.) I knew him as a boy and I know him as a man, and he's managed to astonish me time and time again. I don't talk about him much on the blog because my blog isn't anonymous and he didn't choose to do something that would put him in the public eye. (Well, he nearly did. He has a SAG-eligible screen credit for appearing in "Selena" in a scene opposite Jennifer Lopez, but that's another story.)

What I will tell you is that he inspires me on a daily basis to be better than I am. I've watched him turn himself into the kind of man he wanted to be solely by his own strong will, and it was like a force of nature. He is generous to a fault, he makes me laugh harder than anybody I've ever known, and he takes care of me. He is SOLID, dependable as the ground I walk on. And after twenty years together, he still thinks he got lucky when he got me. I think it's the other way around, but I won't argue with him.

And since he reads the Blog-A-Go-Go faithfully, let me just say, "Happy birthday, honey!"

ETA: All of you on the Texas Gulf Coast, particularly the Houston/Galveston area, be safe. Our thoughts are with y'all.

In which I am in Kasey Kahne's pit

Thanks to the lovely PR goddess at my publisher's I was able to finagle pit and garage passes to the NASCAR race in Richmond this weekend for my father's birthday. It was hotter than the hammered-down hinges of hell, but absolutely worth it to see him so excited. We ate scary racetrack food, wandered through the pits, and sweated down about three pants sizes each. We also did a LOT of people-watching. NASCAR fans--and I'm talking the hardcore kind--fascinate me. If Armageddon had come while we were at the Richmond Raceway, these folks would have been just fine because they come PREPARED. I saw hundreds of couples carrying two cooler bags apiece, assorted totes and daypacks--they practically needed dog teams and a Sherpa guide to get to the grandstands, but once there, they didn't have to MOVE. They were fully equipped for every emergency. I felt a little impoverished at only having the pockets on my cargo pants to sustain me. (And yes, I am FULLY aware of how daft it is to venture out to a NASCAR race in 95 degree weather in pants, but you can't get garage credentials in shorts. They have rules against that sort of thing...) Anyway, here are a couple of shots of me hanging out in Kasey Kahne's pit and right near Victory Road. (Sorry, but Kasey was nowhere in sight, if you're wondering!) No idea who the dude in the first picture is...

 

In which I am IN LOVE

In case you missed the caps up there, I AM IN LOVE. With what? MY NEW KINDLE!!! (I'm sorry, but that demanded multiple exclamation points.) It is about four hundred times better than I expected it to be, and I had very high expectations, let me tell you. I broke down and ordered one when I read that the much-anticipated second generation is not due to hit Amazon until sometime in 2009 at the earliest. There was just no way I was waiting that long--and besides, we brokered a deal in my house that I would get the first one and if another version pops up later, I'll get that one and pass mine along. (We made a similar arrangement regarding ipods and I still haven't upgraded from my original 80G although I deeply covet everyone else's cover flow feature...)

Anyway, back to my adored Kindle. I tracked it on UPS and waited until 3:00 pm yesterday for it to arrive--desperately childish, I know. But I wrote first, so I would have plenty of time free to play with my new toy. And play I did! Before I even received the Kindle I ordered several books from the Kindle store so it would be loaded when it arrived--yes, that's right. It came with MY NAME on it and linked to my Amazon account, so as soon as I turned it on, every book I ordered for it popped up on the menu. SQUEEEEEEEEEEE! I simply adore it--from the nifty screensavers (look, it's Oscar Wilde!) to the changeable font size. I was a TEENSY bit worried about finding enough books of the sort that I like to make it worthwhile, but there is a healthy set of Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters on offer, along with Raffaella Barker and loads of new history books. (I even found Jeremy Paxman's On Royalty, which I've been dying to dive into.)

The best part of this is that I loaded it with a wide variety of goodies--literary fiction, mystery, BritFic, history, self-improvement, and travel. I never know precisely what I'm going to be in the mood for when I travel, and this will enable me to hit the road with books for every whim, and short of a pack mule, it is the best option. Less smelly too. And, I hesitate to point this out because I realise it's laughable, but the books are much cheaper. Yes, I know the Kindle itself is costly, BUT it will eventually pay for itself. (I figured that out using the same clever female math that justified purchasing Jimmy Choos that were six times the price of any other shoes I'd tried on because they were 50% off and therefore a tremendous bargain.) Brand-new hardcovers that might be edging toward $30 in the bookstore are $9.99 for Kindle. Eighteen of those, and I've paid for the Kindle. HA!

Oops! Lost track of the date--as I ALWAYS do when there is a Monday holiday--and just realized that TODAY is the day I'm guest blogging over at Magical Musings, a writerly blog kept by four talented women from all over the globe! The topic is travel for historical research, so drop by and join in the chatter if you have a chance!