Friday Reads

Hello, and happy Friday! I hope your week was calm and productive. Mine has been rather quiet. I’ve been writing, and recovering, and reading. And birdwatching! It seems everyone is back in town after the big ice storm. Most folks have power back, and the tree cleanup is ongoing. We have a massive pile of limbs on the curb, waiting for the county to come by and pick them up. What’s wild is that practically every house has the same huge pile all across the city. I’m still floored by the damage.

Heard the geese coming back this week, though, and the yard is suddenly full again. The cardinals have been joined by chickadees, robins, wrens, titmice, and even some pigeons. No blue jays yet, but they’re sure to show up soon. Mr. Ellison laughs every time I identify a new member of our flock, but hey, this is their land, too. Like the chickadees who are making a new home in the little blue birdhouse, it’s a good nesting time for me. Still dark early, and chilly enough that we need a fire in the morning and evening. Soon, it will be warm enough for golf, the hummingbirds will arrive, and we’ll transition to outdoor living. But for now, I’m enjoying the last bits of winter, snuggling in the quiet and letting the slower pace fill me. I know you folks up north are sick and tired of it all. I admit, that’s a lot of snow. Send some my way, yeah?

The seasonality is heartening, though. We emerge. We find ways to adapt and overcome. I watch the birds and admire their tenacity. A lot can be learned from our friends in nature about the power of resiliance.

The new book is starting to hum along. It’s still in soap bubble stage, where the merest whisper in the wrong direction makes the whole thing fall apart, but it’s beginning to feel like there might be a story there. Novels are fragile things. Talk about the story too soon, and things can go off the rails. This one’s gone off the rails a few times, but I think—think—I have it back on the tracks.

I meant to do this last week, but forgot to blog (see, all that break time, and anesthesia, and I’ve lost my habits), but… It’s cover reveal time for YOU KNOW WHY! I am madly in love with this one. It might be my all-time favorite. It will be out at the end of August, and I absolutely can’t wait for you to meet Brooklyn and Trey Locke, and Eden Barrow, and Detective Theresa Lee, and the Gussins. You can preorder it now!

Other than that, I’ve been enjoying some good books. Baseball is back, and there’s nothing I like more than watching the Dodgers and reading a book. This week I cleared a couple of work reads, which I will talk about closer to their release, and a pleasure read. I love to switch between thrillers and fantasy, and I’m on the fantasy bandwagon this week, with Carissa Broadbent’s THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT. I’ve tried to read this one before and couldn’t get into it, but this time, it worked. I love it!

My fabulous cowriter Catherine Coulter has a new book out this week, THE HEIR OF WHITESTONE. Trademark humor, clever characters, a pulse-pounding story set in the Victorian era…I love that she’s gone back to her roots. CC never ceases to amaze!

And my pal Danielle Girard has a new book out called PINKY SWEAR that is taking the suspense world by storm. So proud of her!

Tayari Jones has a new book out, too, KIN. We had a fantastic time on A WORD ON WORDS when she was touring AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE, so I’m excited to read this one. A brilliant writer.

In between baseball games and the last of the Olympics, we also watched THE BEAST IN ME, which was absolutely stellar. Great writing, really solid acting, and a few excellent twists.

How about you? Anything great happening in your world? Good books to share with us this week?