Long Time, No See

Hey, everybody! Once again, sorry for being such a stranger. But I have good reasons, I swear.

For starters, I've been waaay too busy reading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Oh my God, so good! If you haven't read these books yet, get on that immediately. Not since Harry Potter have I read a series of books that I literally could not put down. Fair warning: Steer clear if you're squeamish. It can be pretty violent. Also, don't start reading them if you have something more important to do, like sleep.

Let's see...what else have I been up to? Oh yeah. I went to Barbados! Hey, a girl can only take so much snow and rain and bitter cold before she has to pack her bags and head with some friends to an island paradise for a few days.

Looks like a postcard, right? 

Yours truly in paradise. At this point, I was seriously considering
ditching my life in NY to move here and sell oil paintings by the beach.
Now, if only I knew how to paint...

Flying fish, macaroni pie, rice and peas, and salad at the Oistin's fish fry.
Yum yum yum.

There were a few stray cats who basically lived at the resort where we stayed.
One of them had three little kittens. Look how cute!

Here I am at the little marketplace at Oistin's. The bowl I'm holding is partially
made from the gills of a fish that is native to Barbados. 

This dancer was part of the entertainment at the resort. He is
representing the spirit of life. 

Some delicious banana dessert I had at Pisces Restaurant.

The rest of the time, I spent on the beach, on a catamaran cruise, snorkeling with sea turtles, kayaking, and just generally having a great time with my friends. So yeah, Barbados was amazing. (Okay, so I'm leaving out the part when I almost lost my laptop at the airport, and my friend got stranded in Barbados since she was flying standby, and I left my coat--and house keys--in the hotel room, and we almost missed our flight... But those are just details, details...)

Anyway, as soon as I got back, it was back to the cold, and back to work. (Hey, these trips don't pay for themselves....) 

I'm still spreading the word about the Your Life books. On May 14 they'll be the subject of a mother/daughter book group at the Montclair Public Library. (Thanks to Tonya Johnson, who recommended me to the head librarian there.) And I've been invited to participate in BooksNJ2011--a book festival sponsored by the Paramus Public Library, celebrating books and the readers who love them. It sounds like I may even be on another panel of some kind. I'll give you more details when I have them.  

Also, if you haven't heard about the blogger Princess Bookie's Contest Craze, get over to princessbookie.com right away. She'll be giving away a bunch of books (my own included) to some lucky winners. But the contest ends on April 10, so hurry up! 

Finally, a bit of sad news has lead to some good news: My editor on the Your Life books, Stephanie Elliott, has left Random House. Even though she left because she got a great opportunity, I was sad that she wouldn't be around anymore and we wouldn't be working together. But she invited me to be part of a brainstorming group there to generate ideas for new books and series. Exciting! Not only do I get to do something creative and fun, but I get to work with my friend again. Can't wait. And who knows? It could lead to even more writing opportunities. If there's anything I've learned through this process, it's that you should take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way because you never know what door it might open next. 

Oh, and Samaya, who I met at the Columbia University Bookstore, has actually kept in touch with me. (Hi, Samaya!) 

Well, that pretty much catches us up. I'm off to go work on what really pays the bills around here: proofreading. I've got two books on my desk, and now that I finished The Hunger Games, I can actually concentrate on them! Until next time...