Friday Update 12/4

• Most important update this week is that my kid who had been ill is stabilized and feeling 100% better. Hooray for appetite!

• Met with my agents on Monday to pitch a new idea I have for a novel. It's something I'm very excited about and was hoping they would catch the fever. Good news--they did! They loved it for all the right reasons and had some insightful comments that really help me focus. So I put The Cousins' Club on the backburner for now to work on this new one. I won't be talking about the idea until (unless?) it's sold, because it's very high concept. I'm not usually paranoid about getting ripped off, but this feels like a very marketable idea. In fact, I feel a little rushed--like if I don't do it soon, someone else will beat me to it. So ... I'm off and running.

• My pal Michael Palmer, bestselling author of medical thrillers, just got a fabulous early review from Booklist on his forthcoming novel, THE LAST SURGEON (St. Martin's Press/Feb. 2010). I was thrilled to see this because I read an early copy of the book and loved it. You can read the review here.

• Another kid home today with a sore throat. Feel better, schmoo-schmoo!

• What I'm reading right now: THE BLUE ZONE by Andrew Gross. It's not new but it's a wow. Utterly gripping. I love the way this guy writes.

• My brother, Stephen Meister, continues to feel the love on Fox: