Friday 6/25

In the midst of the busiest week of my life--transitioning between school and camp, lining up fall services, prepping for graduation and a bat mitzvah and July 4 weekend away--my first pass galleys landed on my desk for proofing. (They look awesome, btw.)

Meanwhile, the house is a mess, the laundry is piling up, I need to do a food shopping and don't even get me started on my manicure. And have I mentioned I have a sinus headache? So no time for an update today.

Have a great weekend!
xo

A bit of good news ... please read and forward

I sent the following email out to my whole list this week, but apparently it got snagged by a lot of spam filters. Please feel free to copy it into an email and send it to 10 of your friends, per the instructions. Thank you so much!! xo

Since you're receiving this message, you're either on my mailing list or someone wants you to sign up. Either way, I'm offering you the chance to enter a drawing for an Amazon.com gift card. But more on that in a minute. First, the big news is that I now have a pub date for my breakthrough novel, THE OTHER LIFE. Look for it in stores January 20. I know it's a long way off, but I'm excited, especially since it's been getting such great early buzz. You'll see some samples at the bottom of this email. And now for the gift card part. In anticipation of the novel's release, I'm expanding my mailing list and I could sure use your help. To show my appreciation, I'm offering two great chances to win an Amazon.com gift card.* • If you are not on my mailing list: Simply click here to sign up, and you will automatically be entered in a giveaway for a $25 Amazon.com gift card. Once you sign up, you will also be eligible for the giveaway below. • If you are already on my mailing list: Forward this email today to 10 friendsand copy me at author@ellenmeister.com. You will automatically be entered in a giveaway for a $50 Amazon.com gift card! Easy, right? And you really have nothing to lose, as I send out very few emails. Thanks so much for helping me expand my list .... and good luck! Ellen * Offer ends 8/15/2010. If you prefer a gift card from another bookstore, let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate the request.      Early buzz for THE OTHER LIFE ... "Ellen Meister makes a big leap toward the literary in THE OTHER LIFE, a book where "What if" becomes the most powerful question in the world. This is the thinking woman's beach read, a love story to the modern family, written with a deep and lovely understanding of mothers and daughters and the sacrifices they'll make for each other." -Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING "Gripping! A truly fascinating story of love, loss, and a magical place in between." -Beth Harbison, New York Times bestselling author of HOPE IN A JAR "Intriguing, stimulating, original, unpredictable, frightening, utterly engaging--THE OTHER LIFE reminded me why I love to read. Ellen Meister is a writer with a limitless future." -Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author of THE LAST SURGEON "In her riveting breakthrough novel, THE OTHER LIFE, gifted storyteller Ellen Meister doesn't just peek in on a young mother who straddles between love and doubt, she blows it open with a story of one who straddles two parallel universes, each with its own perilous decisions. It is a brave and honest exploration of the precarious limits of motherhood that will make readers wonder if Meister followed them with a probe and felt their racing hearts and hopes. If you have ever second guessed the biggest decisions of your life (and who hasn't), THE OTHER LIFE is a captivating homage to the question, does love conquer all?" -Saralee Rosenberg, author of DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD and FATE AND MS. FORTUNE "THE OTHER LIFE is a provocative and unique tale of the road not taken. Ellen Meister puts a magical, masterful spin on one of my favorite questions: "What if?" What if you took both roads? You won't want to miss this one!" -Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON "I loved this emotional powerhouse of a novel that asks a daring "what if..." and manages to be as charming and funny as it is thoughtful and moving. Brava, Ellen Meister!" -Melissa Senate, author of SEE JANE DATE and THE SECRET OF JOY

Books on the beach

I went to the beach today and took a lovely walk, glancing back and forth between the ocean and the people. As always, I was book nosy, and did my best to see what everyone was reading. Here's my report ...

• 3 Nelson DeMilles ... not surprising, since this is Long Island and he's our most famous author. One was a library copy


• 2 James Pattersons ... ALEX CROSS and what looked like a large-type edition of ALONG CAME A SPIDER


• THE HELP, hardcover


• Two girls were sitting side-by-side reading separate copies of the new Stephanie Meyer book


• A Charlaine Harris paperback


• A man after my own heart was reading Richard Russo's EMPIRE FALLS in trade paperback (my favorite book, fyi)


• Jodi Picoult's VANISHING ACTS


• Emily Giffin (pink cover)


• Matthew Pearl's THE DANTE CLUB


• Only saw two e-readers, which looked like Kindles. It was one couple and they each had their own. No idea what they were reading. Saw NO iPads.


Of course, most of the books were paperback and I couldn't see the covers, so the report's pretty skewed. Note, too, that there were at least as many magazines and newspapers as there were books. And oh, I did see one copy of THE OTHER LIFE by Ellen Meister. My husband was reading it ... in manuscript form.


Have a happy Father's Day ...

Friday Update 6/18

Woosh! What a fast week.

Most of the time I was busy with the kids, carpooling, scheduling, bat mitzvah details, etc. I think I may have written a total of two pages the whole week. Ah, well. I plan to write like a fiend all summer.

• Yesterday I went to a big marketing event for CafeMom, an utterly splendid social networking site for mothers. (If you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Click here. It's free.) I got to meet the very impressive people who run the show there, and that was a real treat. Also a treat? Getting to meet Lisa Belkin of The New York Times, who I read online and in the newspaper. Here's a link to her bright and insightful MOTHERLODE blog.

Here's a pic. The two women on the left are the oter moms who were invited to event. Not sure if they want their names listed, so I'll keep that to myself for now. They were very impressive women and it was an honor to hang out with them. The woman next to me is Laura Fortner, CafeMom EVP.

In case you don't recognize him, the guy in the middle (below) is actor/director Andrew Shue, one of the founders of the site. And yes, he looks even better than he did in his Melrose Place days.

 

• I'm gearing up for another big push for my mailing list, so if you signed up, keep an eye on your inbox early next week. If you didn't sign up, now's a good time, as I'm doing another gift card drawing and I'd love for you to win. Click here.

• I gotta love NPR. Driving around this week I heard a wonderful story called Alternate Ithaca Tom. Like my forthcoming book, THE OTHER LIFE, it draws on the multiple world theory of quantum physics without getting geeky about it. It's by Tom Weiser and it's hugely entertaining. Click here to listen. It's really worth a few minutes of your time.

That's about all I have time for. Thanks for checking in. Have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous Father's Day ...
xo

THE OTHER LIFE early buzz

I recently announced that I have a pub date for THE OTHER LIFE (January 20), but I realize that I never posted the wonderful early blurbs I've received, so here goes ...

"Ellen Meister makes a big leap toward the literary in THE OTHER LIFE, a book where "What if" becomes the most powerful question in the world. This is the thinking woman's beach read, a love story to the modern family, written with a deep and lovely understanding of mothers and daughters and the sacrifices they'll make for each other."

-Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING

"Gripping! A truly fascinating story of love, loss, and a magical place in between."

-Beth Harbison, New York Times bestselling author of HOPE IN A JAR

"Intriguing, stimulating, original, unpredictable, frightening, utterly engaging--THE OTHER LIFE reminded me why I love to read. Ellen Meister is a writer with a limitless future."

-Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author of THE LAST SURGEON

"In her riveting breakthrough novel, THE OTHER LIFE, gifted storyteller Ellen Meister doesn't just peek in on a young mother who straddles between love and doubt, she blows it open with a story of one who straddles two parallel universes, each with its own perilous decisions. It is a brave and honest exploration of the precarious limits of motherhood that will make readers wonder if Meister followed them with a probe and felt their racing hearts and hopes. If you have ever second guessed the biggest decisions of your life (and who hasn't), THE OTHER LIFE is a captivating homage to the question, does love conquer all?"

-Saralee Rosenberg, author of DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD and FATE AND MS. FORTUNE

"THE OTHER LIFE is a provocative and unique tale of the road not taken. Ellen Meister puts a magical, masterful spin on one of my favorite questions: "What if?" What if you took both roads? You won't want to miss this one!"

-Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON

"I loved this emotional powerhouse of a novel that asks a daring "what if..." and manages to be as charming and funny as it is thoughtful and moving. Brava, Ellen Meister!"

-Melissa Senate, author of SEE JANE DATE and THE SECRET OF JOY

Friday Update 6/11

Oh, this week! This month! I am crazed and chaotic. Here are a few quick highlights ...

• Though the trajectory leading to this point has been clear since the day Max, my eldest, started Kindergarten, I was nevertheless gobsmacked Tuesday night when I realized the next day would be his last as a high schooler.

I won't say anything as trite as Where do the years go?, but for any of you who want a glimpse of what these milestones mean to the parents of a kid with special needs, read this essay by Erma Bombeck. It's one simple page that still brings me to my knees.

• Just about everything gobsmacked me when I turned the calendar from May to June, as I realized there were thousands of details in my life that needed immediate attention. So yes, I got the camp health forms signed, notarized and delivered, I'm almost done with Emma's bat mitzvah list and made an appt. to choose invitations, very nearly got the bus and finals schedule under control for Ethan, planned a celebration for Max's graduation and am still making and fielding about a thousand phone calls a day to get his transition services in line for the fall.

• One of the details that needed attending was my own damned fault. The caterer doing my daughter's bat mitzvah informed me that I had sent in the contract unsigned. Urlgh. Instead of letting him mail it back, I drove over there to sign it, just so that I could be sweet and charming and prove that I'm not a total ditz. No problem, only when I got home I realized I was wearing my cardigan inside-out.

• And oh, have I mentioned that I've been sick? Actually, today is the first day I have no pain in the my throat, so I'm hoping I'm close to a full recovery.

• And my writing career isn't on hold during all this. My literary agent called the other day to say the film agent wants a 2-page summary of THE OTHER LIFE. So in the midst of all this insanity I dashed it off, despite that I have no idea how to pitch for movies or TV. Fortunately, my agent held my hand through it and I think it came out pretty good.

• I don't know how much I'm allowed to divulge, but I'm involved with something for CafeMom that I'm pretty excited about. Suffice to say I'm being interviewed Thursday by a prominent journalist I really respect and admire. I'll provide details next week if I can.

• Weird news story of the week that distracted me from the oil spill: Doctors in France are training dogs to detect prostate cancer. I think that's way cool ... only I can't help wondering how they get them to put on those rubber gloves.

Have a great weekend!!

Friday Update 6/4

Quick quick--so much do to ...

• Big news is that I got a pub date for THE OTHER LIFE. Mark your calendar--it's scheduled for release on January 20.

• Been pretty sick this week, which is a drag since June is pure chaos. A million things to do every second of the day, which isn't easy when you feel like your chest is an aircraft carrier and your sinuses are the Long Island Expressway on a Friday in August.

• Sending love to Alan and Susan and all the other wonderful friends I missed seeing on Sunday. Next year!

• Last week I mentioned that I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of Susan Henderson's UP FROM THE BLUE. I wasn't going to read it just yet because I'm so damned busy, but I couldn't stay away. And oh my god. My friends, this book brought me to my knees. PLEASE  be sure you put this on your shopping list for September. In fact, don't wait. Pre-order it right now. You are going to LOVE this book. It's being compared to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and it really is that good. Here are links to make it easy: amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com, powells.com, indiebound.

• Love this tribute to Dennis Hopper by EW's Owen Gleiberman.

• In addition to all the hectic end-of-school-year stuff, I've been working on an anthology submission and a book review for Long Island Woman, not to mention a novel. Also trying to fit in a big event for CafeMom, but I'm hitting scheduling roadblocks. Ugh. I need an assistant.

• A whole week with no gym and no running makes me feel like I'm turning into a lump of blubber. I hate this.

• Will I really make it through June?

Have a great weekend ...