Friday Update 1/29

An anxious week of mostly waiting and wondering on a couple of different fronts. One interesting tidbit (to me, anyway) ...

It's no secret that I'm a big Dorothy Parker fan, and this week I read in one of her biographies that she got screenwriter credit on Hitchcock's SABOTEUR, and was given one of those Hitchcock-ian cameos with a line of dialogue. So I rented the DVD from the library, and sure enough, there she was! Hard to describe what an incredible thrill it was for me to see her on film and hear her voice. It was like I was touching the past.

You can see a bit of her in this publicity still from the movie--she's the face in the car.

Good news soon, I hope ...
(Kineinahorah poo-poo)

To be read

The books in my TBR pile fall into five categories:

1. Research (for my w-i-p)

2. Professional obligations

3. Edification (to fill some of the massive holes in my literacy)

4. Insistent daughter (Mom, can you PLEEEEEASE read this so we can talk about it?)

5. Pleasure

There is, of course, never enough time to get to all of it. And yet, every time I visit the public library I come home with another book. It's some kind of temporary madness. I see a novel I want to read and think, Goody--I have time to read this! And then I go home and look at my reading pile and realize I have rocks in my head.

What does your reading pile look like?

Friday Update 1/22

Busy ... busy ... busy ...

• Spoke to my agent about the proposal and everybody is pretty excited, so yay.

• Some excellent health progress with the sick kidlet, which is the best news of all.

• Looks like I may have picked up some freelance writing work. Pay is low and I really have no time for it, but it should be fun. And I need the dough, such as it is.

• Did a video interview with CafeMom that has nothing to do with my writing life. I just agreed to participate in one of their promos because I thought it might be a kick. It was. When it's live, I'll post a link.

• Writer pal Jordan Rosenfeld interviewed me on her blog. It's a quick six questions about revision. If you haven't clicked in, I hope you'll do that now ... Make A Scene.

• I'm excited that the wonderful Kristin Hannah is going to be at Book Revue on Long Island on February 12. I plan to be there. Do you?

• It's official--the title of my forthcoming novel is THE OTHER LIFE. Feels good to know.

Out of time. Have a great weekend!

Are you a swooper or a basher?

Jordan Rosenfeld is doing a terrific series on the way different writers approach the revision process.

Here's my 6-question interview.

Friday Update 1/15

Not the best week here, as one of my darlings has been kind of ill, but a few updates ...

• Sent the new proposal to my agents on Monday, which may have been a little cruel of me since they are both just back from vacation and no doubt buried under mountains of work. But I was too anxious to sit on it.

• Currently reading an old book about the Algonquin Round Table members by James R. Gaines called Wit's End. Interesting stuff.

• I had a lot of fun doing the interview over at The Writer's [Inner] Journey, and responding to all the comments. (Thanks, Meredith!) If you haven't popped over to check it out yet, I'll hope do that now. While you're there, feel free to leave a comment.

• If you haven't been to a bookstore lately, try to put it on your agenda for this weekend. This recession has hit the industry so very hard.

• Speaking of bookstores, the Borders in Syosset has signed copies of both my books in the stacks.

• ATTENTION ASPIRING LONG ISLAND NOVELISTS: Here' s a great opportunity to study with a pro who really brings the material to life. It's a course at Hofstra taught by my friend Saralee Rosenberg. Please check it out: Get That Novel Started: Strategies for writing fiction that sells.

• Soon I'll be participating in an interview on revisions over at Jordan Rosenfeld's MAKE A SCENE blog. I'll let you know when I have a date, but in the meantime you can bookmark it, as Jordan always posts great info for writers. You might also want to check out the book the blog is named for. (Pictured at right: Jordan and me when she came to visit for the first time back in 2004 or so.)

Enjoy your weekend!

New Interview

Fellow writer Meredith Resnick gives great interview on her blog, The Writer's [Inner] Journey, managing to come up with five very intense and creative questions. I'm honored to be her featured author this week.

Check it out.

If you leave a comment or question on Meredith's blog, I promise to respond!

Friday Update 1/8

• Finished my new proposal this week and will send it off to my agents early next week. That's probably stupid timing as they're both getting back from vacation on Monday, but I'm too anxious to sit on it.

• Having cold feet about the working title of my third book, THE OTHER LIFE. And while I think my editor and agents are ready to clobber me by now, I'm gearing up to submit more ideas.

• I read someplace that people like you more if your house leans toward the messy side. By that standard, my home was looking like I was vying for the title of Ms. Popularity. So a bit of cleaning today, which I loathe.

• Finally booked a place for the little one's bat mitzvah, which I put off for way too long. I was hoping the gods of prosperity might see fit to stop grinding my good little family into the ground, but no such luck. So I went ahead and did what I could.

• Real Estate Weekly ran an excellent profile on my brother, Stephen Meister, this week. Incisive, well-written article. Kudos to writer Daniel Greiger.

• Someone I love is 15 today. Happy birthday, darling boy! Time flies ...

• What I'm reading now: E.M. Forster's A ROOM WITH A VIEW. Thought I'd like it more.

Good-bye 2009!

Very happy to kick 2009 to the curb. Good riddance, you bastard. Here's to a better, brighter, healthier and more prosperous 2010!

Happy Holidays ....

Peace, joy and all good things, my friends!

And now, with apologies to Edgar Allan Poe and to those

who have read this before, a poem I wrote several years ago ...

"THE RAVING"
A Mother's Chilling Post-Holiday Tale
By Ellen Meister

Once upon an evening dreary, while I toiled, weak and weary
Over many a desperate dirty dishrag and forgotten chore,
While I leaned down limply lugging toys from off the carpet rugging
Suddenly there came a tugging, tugging at the skirt I wore.
"'Tis some little kid," I muttered, smoothing out the skirt I wore,
"Only this and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
Action dolls not yet dismembered lay across the playroom floor.
Each new toy was still unbroken, yet the child still was pokin'
And the only word there spoken was the whining more, "S'more."
This he whispered then his sister murmured back the word, "S'more."
Only this they did implore.

Then the silly, sad, incessant clangor of the season's presents
Chilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now to still the beating of my heart I stood repeating,
"Darling children, I am pleading, let's return some to the store--
Darling children, I'm entreating, let us give some to the poor."
Still they said, "We want s'more."

"You still want more?" I blurted feeling slightly dizzy, my head reeling,
"Get thee back into the playroom where your playthings line the floor!
Go before I need to yank you! Go before I want to spank you!
Leave my kitchen and I'll thank you not to ask for any more.
Take thy sighs from out my sight and thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the child, "I want more."

And the child, so demanding, still is standing, still is standing
Near a portion of my pantry just beside the kitchen door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming
Sights of toys and trinkets gleaming on the shelves of every store.
Unaffected with respect to his demands for even more,
Quoth I, the mother, "Never more!

Friday Update 12/18

Didn't post last Friday because it was just too crazy here. Emma turned 12 and had a sleepover party. I learned that 6th grade girls have as much to say to each other at 2 am as they do at any other time of day.

In other news ...

• Had Mike's family over for latkes last weekend. Next year I'll try to invite the rest of you. False modesty aside, everyone should experience my latkes at least once.

• Health issues plaguing one of my darlings continue to be a problem. I'm filled with fury and curse God daily. That's no joke. Still, I don't know how to live without focusing on hope, so that's what I do.

• I do manage to work and write, and I think that's going okay. As I've mentioned before, it's a big, high concept idea, so I need to keep it under wraps for now.

• Kudos to Borders for producing a video (in three parts) called Books Make Great Gifts. Click here to check it out.

• Speaking of books as gifts, my Long Island friends can probably still purchase signed copies of mine at the Borders in Syosset and Book Revue in Huntington.

• May 2010 be a better year for all of us ...

• Edited to add:

ANDREW GROSS HAS A NEW BOOK COMING OUT! Click here to read more about it. Andy is not only a really talented suspense writer, but he looks cute in glasses.

Things I Don't Get

Just some random thoughts on small things that perplex me ...

• Sourdough bread - If I'm not in the mood for something as simple and delicious as bread, I'll have something else that tastes good, not bread that tastes bad.

• Adam Sandler - Am I missing the clever? In my world, saying silly things in a baby voice is the opposite of funny. But it must be a generational thing, because perfectly reasonable people I know who are a decade or so younger than me think he's hilarious.

• Juicy Couture - I suppose there are people who will be impressed that you spent $158 on a little girl's hoodie. Don't count me among them.

• Men who wax - I support a man's desire to be as metrosexual as he pleases out there in the big, bad world. But in my bed, where there's only room for one girly type, body hair=masculine and vanity=feminine. I'll take my man hairy and unselfconscious, please.

• Dental bling - I'm still trying to figure this one out. I guess nose-piercing isn't ugly enough?

• "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" - I'm not alone here, right? I have to assume that anyone who's smart enough to put on their own pants doesn't find this song amusing.

• Hummers - The automobile. What did you think I meant?

• Mad Men - I'm as enamored of the golden age of advertising as I am fascinated by the cultural differences between the 1960s and our PC times. So I should love this show. Indeed, I want to love this show. But it's so underwritten I feel like whacking the writers over the head with a rolled up script. Damn it, people, it's your job to decide how the characters feel. Otherwise you just leave the actors standing there looking inscrutable, which is not a substitute for writing.

• White Chocolate - This is not chocolate. This is what's left over when you extract the chocolate from chocolate. It's kind of like selling sugar water and marketing it as clear orange juice.

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:

LOVE IN TRANSLATION By Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga has done it again, delivering a wonderful novel exploring issues of love while examining what it means to be a stranger in strange land. Her latest is the critically-acclaimed LOVE IN TRANSLATION.


Here's the press release summary of the intriguing story:

For anyone who’s ever dreamt of finding love and family in an unexpected place...

After receiving a puzzling phone call and a box full of mysterious family heirlooms, 33-year-old fledgling singer Celeste Duncan is off to Japan to search for a long, lost relative who could hold the key to the identity of the father she never knew. Once there she stumbles head first into a weird, wonderful world where nothing is quite as it seems—a land with an inexplicable fascination with foreigners, karaoke boxes, and unbearably perky TV stars.

With little knowledge of Japanese, Celeste finds a friend in her English-speaking homestay brother, Takuya, and comes to depend on him for all variety of translation, travel and investigatory needs. As they cross the country following a trail after Celeste's relatives, she discovers she's developing "more-than-sisterly" feelings for him, although his mother seems to have other plans for her son. But it is when Celeste learns a Japanese song called “The Wishing Star” that things begin to change for her in ways she never expected, leading her to ask, what is the true meaning of family? And what does it mean to discover your own voice?

Sounds great doesn't it? No wonder bestselling author Michelle Richmond said, “A delightful novel about love, identity, and what it means to be adrift in a strange land. This story of a search has an Alice in Wonderland vibe; when Celeste climbs down the rabbit hole, one can't help but follow along.”

Wendy was good enough to answer my interview questions. Check it out:


Please tell us about the genesis of the idea for Love in Translation.



Love in Translation is my cockeyed valentine to Japan, which is a place I’ve both loved and loathed, a place that has fueled both fascination and frustration. And it is also a place that has had a huge impact on my life and writing. I also wanted to explore what it means to be a gaijin (foreigner) in Japan and the benefits and downsides of that status and what happens when a gaijin sings in Japanese. I also am fascinated by the concept of the homestay, (something I never experienced), and how that would impact someone as an adult who grew up in foster homes and who never experienced a real family.



Is there a story behind the title of this book?



The original title I was using was “Wishing on a Kira-Kira Star.” Kira-kira means “shining” or “twinkling” in Japanese. I knew my editor probably wouldn’t want to stick with this title and she didn’t. And that was fine with me as I wasn’t too attached to it, but I couldn’t think of an alternative. Then she came up with “Love in Translation,” which I really like. Obviously it’s a play on the title of that great movie “Lost in Translation,” but it also evokes several other meanings that I think tie in nicely with the book. I’m very pleased with the way things turned out.



You have such a beautiful cover. Did you have any input it, and are you happy with the finished product?



I had no input on the cover, but I couldn’t be more pleased with it. And it’s so different from the cover of my first book, “Midori by Moonlight,” which had a cartoon character and a glossy finish. “Love in Translation” has a matte cover and an illustration that looks more like a photograph. And I just love the scenery of Tokyo in the backdrop. My hat is off to the designer, Olga Grlic.



What do you think readers might be surprised to know about you?



That when I was growing up my ambition was to be a rock star, not a writer.



What are you reading now?



“Juliet, Naked” by Nick Hornby. Other books on my TBR list are: “The Tricking of Freya” by Christina Sunley, “Americans in Space” by Mary E. Mitchell and “How to Buy a Love of Reading” by Tanya Egan Gibson.



Thanks, Wendy!



To buy LOVE IN TRANSLATION, visit your favorite chain or independent bookstore. To buy online, visit amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com or any cyber retailer. For more information, visit Wendy's website at wendynelsontokunaga.com.

101 Things I'm Thankful For

In random order ...

101. That my kids all like Marx Brothers movies
100. Paragraphs that make me weep
99. Dimmer switches
98. My husband's puns
97. The internet
96. Bookstores
95. My parents
94. The kindness of my CafeMom friends
93. My tan suede boots
92. Jim and Pam
91. Air-conditioning
90. Capitalism
89. Spellcheck
88. Modern medicine
87. Summer nights
86. My astoundingly generous friends
85. Readers
84. The teachers in our school district
83. Spam filters
82. American soldiers
81. Toric lenses
80. Texting
79. My kids' talents
78. Barack Obama
77. Lunch with friends
76. Newborns
75. Brake lights
74. Zoetrope.com
73. Diet Coke
72. Fan mail
71. Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism
70. Bargains
69. The DVR
68. Lactaid
67. People who hold the door open
66. Blurbs
65. Men who smell really good
64. Compliments
63. Big writers with big hearts
62. Thai food
61. Stadium seating
60. Sex
59. Chocolate truffles
58. Librarians
57. Tech support
56. Good reviews
55. J.Jill
54. Voicemail
53. Dorothy Parker
52. My laser printer
51. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
50. Passing the halfway point
49. My GPS
48. Red Wine
47. Heating pads
46. Indoor plumbing
45. Solitude
44. Power naps
43. Art museums
42. Cotton
41. Surprise visits from my muse
40. Talk radio
39. My new biceps
38. When we all just get along
37. Natural light
36. Dogs
35. Unexpected hugs from the kids
34. Excellent report cards
33. Bloggers
32. People who don't take themselves too seriously
31. Competence
30. Taking off my high heels
29. Steak
28. Seeing strangers reading novels
27. Back rubs
26. Maxipedia
25. Funny videos my kids find
24. Good hair days
23. Long hot showers
22. Facebook comments
21. Sliding doors
20. Newsday's cryptoquote
19. Jones Beach
18. The smell of sauteed garlic
17. Planet Fitness
16. Coffeemate
15. Love
14. Champagne
13. Coming home
12. Signed books
11. Rock and roll
10. Presents
9. Quiet
8. Dinner with the whole family
7. Digital everything
6. Polite drivers
5. Literary festivals
4. My long leather jacket
3. When guests arrive
2. When guests leave
1. Blog readers

Tuesday tip for writers

If you're a writer, chances are you write notes about your work-in-progress every time you have a stray thought. Here's a tip for how to corral all those ideas into one handy digital package. Type them straight into an email and save it as a draft. Then you can access it from any computer whenever you want.

I like saving it as a draft rather than sending to yourself because it's always in that same spot and acts as one continuous document.

Friday Update 11/20

Wish I had better news to report this week. One of my kids continues to have health problems, and it's pretty hard think anything else in the world is of any importance. But we'll get through it.

Here's what's new ...

* My birthday was Wednesday. Went to a swell middle school concert and then had chocolate cake with the fams.

* Hugs and thanks to all who sent love and good wishes. It meant a lot to me.

* I needed to order new water filters for my refrigerator, and decided to call customer service instead of using the form. Here's the conversation ...

ME: I'd like to order new water filters.
GE: Yes, ma'am. They're $45 each.
ME: On my order form they're $35.
GE: The prices have gone up quite a bit since that was printed.
ME: Clearly. But if I mail in my order with this form, will I get the filters for the printed price?
GE: If you mail it in, yes.
ME: Um ... I guess I'll mail it in, then.
GE:
ME:
GE:
ME: I guess this is good-bye.

* Re: Project Runway. I really do think Irina is a great designer, but c'mon. Carol Hannah rocked that runway. Judges had to think her collection was better than Althea's, right? I guess they just wanted a Betty and Veronica moment for the end ...

* Shout-out to my kidlets for the report card nachas.

* Would love to send you free bookplates for the holidays. Click here for more info.

THE SECRET OF JOY By Melissa Senate

In a perfect world I'd be able to read every book I blog about for the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, but both parenting and writing are so time-intensive I don't get to read half the novels I'd like to.

Today, though, I have the absolute pleasure of blogging about a wonderful book I'm right smack in the middle of reading, THE SECRET OF JOY by Melissa Senate. This has everything I love--interesting, complicated relationships, great characters and a plot that sucks you in from the start.



Here's the plot snapshot:

What would you do if you discovered you had a half-sister you never knew existed?

28-year-old New Yorker Rebecca Strand is shocked when her dying father confesses a devastating secret: he had affair when Rebecca was a toddler—and a baby he turned his back on at birth. Now, his wish is that the daughter he abandoned, Joy Joyhawk, read the unsent letters he wrote to her every year on her birthday. Determined to fulfill her father’s wish, Rebecca drives to a small town in Maine—against the advice of her lawyer boyfriend who’s sure Joy will be a “disappointing, trashy opportunist” and demand half her father’s fortune. But when hopeful Rebecca knocks on her half-sister’s door, Joy—a separated mother who conducts weekend singles tours out of her orange mini-bus—wants nothing to do with Rebecca or the letters her father wrote to her. Determined to forge some kind of relationship with Joy, Rebecca sticks around, finding unexpected support from Joy’s best clients—the Divorced Ladies Club of Wiscasset—and a sexy carpenter named Theo . . . .

In addition to being a mega-talented writer, Melissa is very smart and very cool. Check out her answers to my interview questions:


How would you describe the genre of THE SECRET OF JOY, and what pulled you toward it?


I’d say THE SECRET OF JOY is a hybrid of chick lit and women’s fiction. My debut novel, See Jane Date, which was published in 2001, was as chick lit as you get. Eight years and eight books later, I’ve changed—marriage, motherhood, divorce, a major move from city life to Maine life. It’s natural that my writing would evolve along with me. That’s what I love so much about chick lit and women’s fiction. You can be who you are and write the book that’s inside you, in your voice, and there’s a place for you.



Please tell us about the genesis of the idea for THE SECRET OF JOY.


Several years ago, I received a startling email: I think you might be my half sister. Whoa. I was, indeed. I didn’t know how I felt about it and had some burning questions, such as: If you’ve had no contact with your biological father or any member of his family since you were little, is his child from a subsequent marriage your sibling? Really? What do the words father, sister, brother, sibling truly mean? Does DNA a sister make? I didn’t have the answers, so I ended up writing about a woman who discovers she has a half-sister she never knew existed and set her off to find her. Only the very nugget of the idea is based on my own life; I flipped everything else on its head. But the emotional force driving the story is very real.



Do you have a favorite character in THE SECRET OF JOY? If so, why?


I love Joy Jayhawk, the main character’s half sister. I share some of her trials and tribulations, and I understood her reserve and emotional journey in a way that made me feel so close to her.


What do you love most about THE SECRET OF JOY?


What I ended up loving most are Joy’s clients on “the love bus.” She conducts weekend singles tours of Maine out of her orange mini-bus. The Divorced Women’s Club of Wiscasset endeared themselves to be. I’d like to know them in real life.

Do you pay attention to book reviews? If so, has there been any particular review that made your heart do a little dance?


I pay too much attention, like every writer! There was one Booklist magazine review that did make me do the Snoopy dance. “Senate’s latest has her trademark quick pacing and sympathetic, lovable characters, proving once again she’s one of Red Dress Ink’s brightest talents.” Love that.



What are you reading now?


I’m reading Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg. I’ve become enamored of her lately. I’m just so amazed at how she manages to write so honestly and elegantly at the same time. She will call someone a shit in the loveliest way.



Ha! Perfect. Thanks, Melissa!

Please look for THE SECRET OF JOY the next time you visit your local chain or independent bookstore. To buy online, visit amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com or any cyber bookseller. For more information, visit Melissa's website at melissasenate.com.

LOVE UNDER COVER by Jessica Brody

Before I even tell you about LOVE UNDER COVER by Jessica Brody, the mega-talented author of THE FIDELITY FILES, please take a minute to watch this smart, sexy trailer ...



Is it any wonder this book is under development as a TV series?

Here's the quick plot summary:
In her job, she’s an expert on men…

In her own relationship, she doesn’t have a clue.

Boyfriend behaving badly? Suspect your husband of straying? Jennifer Hunter can supply the ultimate test. She runs a company which specializes in conducting fidelity inspections for those who suspect their loved ones are capable of infidelity.

An expert on men, Jennifer can usually tell if they're single, married or lying... Unfortunately, her new boyfriend, Jamie, is one of the few men that she's never been able to 'read.'

Has she finally found the perfect man or is he too good to be true?

This book is getting sizzling buzz. Here are just a few examples:

"With a complicated, sympathetic protagonist, worthy stakes and a clever twist on the standard chick lit narrative, Brody will pull readers in from the first page." – Publisher’s Weekly

"Those who enjoyed Brody's debut will be eager to catch up with Jennifer, but newcomers will be intrigued, too...an honest, witty portrayal of modern love."- Booklist

“With her usual smart, deft, and witty prose, Brody delves deep into the psychology of a woman who tests the fidelity of strangers for a living but struggles with commitment in her own life." - Joanne Rendell, author of Crossing Washington Square and The Professors’ Wives’ Club

Jessica was good enough to answer my GCC interview questions, so here goes ...


Please tell us about the genesis of the great idea for LOVE UNDER COVER.

As soon as I finished writing my first novel, The Fidelity Files¸ I knew that Jennifer’s journey wasn’t over yet. Although she had seemed to find her happy ending there was so much more fun stuff I had in mind for another book. Setting Jennifer up with an entire agency of fidelity inspectors was definitely the first and foremost on my mind for the next installment.

Plus, I really wanted to explore what a fidelity inspector would be like in a committed relationship. After everything she’s seen—all the cheating, dishonesty, and betrayal—would she really be capable of settling down herself? So that’s what I set out to focus on in this book.


Do you have a favorite character in LOVE UNDER COVER? If so, why?

I love Jennifer’s three friends. They’re all fun to write in their own unique ways. Zoë has a terrible road rage problem and she has a habit of talking on the phone while driving so those conversations with Jen and Zoë on the phone are always really entertaining for me. I get to channel my inner turrets patient. Sophie is totally neurotic. I love going over the top with her.

And John is the flamboyant gay boy from West Hollywood who is always quick with his sarcasm and wit. Sometimes I don’t know where his remarks come from. I must be channelling my inner gay man because I’ll write something that he says and think, “That’s really funny. Where the hell did that come from?”

Is there a story behind the title?

For this book it was definitely the novel that came first and the title that came WAY later. We had the hardest time titling this book. We all thought THE FIDELITY FILES was such a cool title for the first book and we wanted something that lived up to that. At first it was, “The Untitled Fidelity Files Sequel” (not so catchy) then I tried to start calling it, “High Infidelity” which I thought was kind of fun, but my publisher nixed it almost before it left my mouth. And then it was just “The Hawthorne Agency” for a while which is the name of the fidelity inspection agency that my main character runs but that was thrown out very fast. And then I got on a kick of playing with “undercover” “under the covers” which lead us to LOVE UNDER COVER. And I’m extremely happy with it.

What do you think readers might be surprised to know about you?

I’m a total techno junkie. I love technology and gadgets. Ipods, digital cameras, computers, Tivos, Sling Boxes…those are my weaknesses. My toys. I would die without my blackberry and my Kindle. Unlike most women, I hate shopping for clothes and shoes. To me it feels like a huge waste of time. In a perfect world, I would just wear my sweat pants and Ugg knock-offs all day, every day (okay, maybe I already do that), but set me loose in a Fry’s Electronics or a Best Buy and you probably won’t see me for a week.


Do you pay attention to book reviews? If so, has there been any particular review that made your heart do a little dance?

LOVE UNDER COVER has gotten some wonderful reviews and I’m so grateful. But I think my favorite line was from Booklist who called the book an, “honest, witty portrayal of modern love.” That really melted me. If there are two things I try to be in my writing it’s funny and real. So this was a huge compliment. Thanks Booklist!

Thanks so much, Jessica.

To buy LOVE UNDER COVER, visit your local chain or independent bookstore. To buy online, visit amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com or any cyber bookseller. For more information, visit Jessica's website at jessicabrody.com.

What is a bookplate?

Shoutout to Max for filming and editing!

Friday Update 11/13

Happy Friday the 13th. Let's hope it's a lucky day for all.

• Last weekend was the DimeStories reading at Barbes in Brooklyn. It was a packed house and the readers were funny, poignant, gripping. A truly talented group! Don't worry if you missed it, because there will be an open mic the first Sunday of every month, starting December 6. Mark your calendar.

• On Tuesday night Mike and I celebrated a big wedding anniversary at a secret romantic location. And that's all I'm going to stay on that. :)

• For the first time in months I have not been working on The Cousins' Club. I've changed the focus so many times by this point that I've lost my way. It's pretty depressing, to tell you the truth. I do still believe there's a wonderful book in there, but I might just have to put it on the shelf for now while I work on something else. (And I do have another exciting idea percolating, so stay tuned.)

• Have you been following the whole price war thing started over at Walmart? They were selling hardcover bestsellers at below market prices and then Amazon and others joined in and it became a death match. Now it looks like the effects have trickled down to backlist books like mine. Barnes & Noble recently reduced the price of The Smart One from $13.25 to $11.92. And Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA is only $10.04. Then Amazon followed suit, reducing The Smart One to match B&N's price. The trade paperback of Applewood is still $13.25 at Amazon, though if you don't mind a copy with a remainder mark you pick one up for just $5.29. Good time to pick up books for the holidays. (cough cough)

• On Wednesday I'll be spending my birthday at my daughter's chorus concert. Can't really think of a better way to spend the evening.

• Congrats to my talented friend Myfanwy Collins on her Pushcart nomination! Well done and highly deserved!!

• Love and thanks to all who sent prayers and good wishes on the health of my darling kid, who is doing much, much better.

Enjoy your weekend ...