Friday Update 10/2

Today I'm writing to you from my car in front of my local Borders Bookstore. I had intended to work from a nearby coffee shop, but it was unexplainably closed. So I headed to the bookstore, which also has free wi-fi. Alas, I got here before it opened, so I'm in the parking lot mooching wireless service.

Meanwhile, is it really Friday already? This week went by in about 3 seconds.

Partly it's because it was a short school week. Here on Long Island, schools were closed on Monday for the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. We hosted "Break the Fast" at our house, which is my favorite meal of the year ... to serve and to eat. For those who don't know, it's tradition to break the fast with bagels, lox and other smoked fish. Oof! This stuff could make a believer out of anyone.

And it's a great holiday to host, because it's so very easy to impress starving people. Also, there's very little cooking and cleaning involved. What could be better?

This year, I was very happy to have friends as well as family. A special treat!

Other good news this week is that I got a happy message from my agents. I had sent them an email with some thoughts on the new direction I want to go in with The Cousins' Club, my work-in-progress. Also included was a new prologue I felt great about. Turns out my agents loved it all--the idea as well as the prologue. They may even have used the word "brilliant." So yay! After two false starts I'm off and running.

Looks like the store is opening now, so I'm going to grab a cup of Awake tea and work on the novel. Thanks for checking in ... and have a great weekend.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm in Borders now, where I went straight to the magazine rack and found a special edition of Writer's Digest called NOVEL WRITING. It contains several articles by my pal Jordan Rosenfeld, one of which mentions yours truly. There's actually tons of great stuff in this issue and I plan to read it cover-to-cover. You should, too. Either click this link for a digital version or pick up a copy at your local bookstore.

And finally ... my brother, Stephen Meister, was on TV again this week, talking to Neil Cavuto about the real estate bail-out. This time it was on Fox News rather than Fox Business News. Take a look ...