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What’s on your list? Mine is ever-changing, but here are a few of the latest and greatest. Reminder: books are free from your local library.
- Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. See my earlier post about the cover art on this one. It’s now a bestseller.
- South of Broad by Pat Conroy. I’m also a huge fan of his wife, Cassandra King, who is fun to hang out with at festivals.
- Lisa Tucker’s The Promised World
- Barbara Bretton, Laced with Magic
- The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells, and Sherrie, Carol and I will be at her book launch event next week, 7/14!
- While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky (plus I want the top she’s wearing in her author photo)
- Alice Hoffman, The Story Sisters
- Luanne Rice, The Geometry of Sisters (whoa–are “sister” books the next big thing?)
- Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg
- new untitled books by the members of my writers’ group: Anjali Banerjee, Carol Cassella, Sheila Roberts, Suzanne Selfors, Elsa Watson
- Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
- Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase
- Russell Banks, The Reserve
- Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
- Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann
- Re-read a classic – Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. Prepare to be surprised. It’s shockingly excellent. The prudish attitudes remind me of the…of the former administration.
Sound off! What’s on your list?
I am very inept at doing things on Facebook, but I managed to publish a note on my profile. Since I’m much more comfortable with WordPress, I’m pasting it here.
25 Things About Me 1:17pm
Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. I don’t know how to use all the features on my Nikon D-80 but I’m too impatient to read the manual.
2. Barkis’s dog trainer is an expert in the sport of Schutzhund.
3. Jay is my first husband.
4. I used to be a Mean Girl in high school when I played field hockey. 
5. I write the first draft of every book in longhand.
6. I don’t really know how to do things on Facebook so this note might go in a black hole.
7. I’m supposed to tag people in this note who tagged me, but I’ve no idea how to do that….just figured it out! And now I’m going to do it by going through the alphabet backwards, just because.
8. One year, I didn’t have enough money to justify entering my novel in the RITA contest.
9. When we incorporated, my first act as president of Susan M. Wiggs Inc was to get a corporate account with Seattle Chocolates.
10. I call my parents every day and talk to both of them.
11. Speaking of old people, Jay and I have dinner together almost every single night, but sometimes we eat at 5:30.
12. My childhood dog, Pepper, won a blue ribbon for “most beautiful” in a school dog show. She was a Dalmation.
13. I love to ski but I’m picky about the weather.
14. I can see Mount Rainier from my house.
15. I have an extensive collection of rare antique golf balls in my living room. And 2 sequoias trees in my yard.
16. My girlfriends and I tell each other everything. Seriously, everything. Are you listening, guys? EVERYTHING.
17. I don’t keep any secrets from my husband.
18. My basement creeps me out.
19. I’m glad Bush is gone and hope Obama stays true to liberal ideals.
20. My favorite radio shows are “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” and “This American Life.”
21. I randomly send Seattle Chocolate Truffle bars to faraway friends and business associates.
22. I love burning CDs and sending them in greeting cards to friends.
23. There are two TV stars living in my neighborhood, but I would never say who.
24. It bugs me to use “texted” and “friended” as verbs, as in, “I friended you on Facebook and then texted you about tonight.”
25. It took me 5 minutes and 24 seconds to type this list–I timed it on the computer. And I’m not going back to re-read my answers.
A few random Qs from my publisher… 
What is your favorite flower?
Magenta cyclamen. In the dead of winter, I can always find a few secretly blooming in my garden.
What are you reading now?
Identical Strangers by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein. It’s a memoir by twins who were separated at birth and adopted by strangers, and never found out until they met for the first time as adults.
Who is your favorite Harlequin author?
That is SO not fair, because my favorites change along with my moods. When I have a rotten cold in the middle of winter, it’s tea and toast and Betty Neels. For a feel-good girlfriend book, I love Debbie Macomber, but when I need a sexy cowboy, it’s Linda Lael Miller all the way. If I’m in the mood for an alpha male, Nora Roberts or Linda Howard fills the bill. Jennifer Greene for a good cry. If I have a hankering for military guys, it’s Merline Lovelace and Suzanne Brockmann…see what I mean? I could go on like this all day.
How many books have you written?
30-ish. I stopped counting after thirty because it was making me feel old.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
Right here, right now. It’s a boring answer, but I’m really lucky to live where I do. There’s a pristine beach about ten yards from my window, a dead-on view of Mount Rainier, sailboats, kayaks and motorboats on the premises, a pool and deck, a big garden twined with pathways, a primeval rain forest 1/2 mile down the road, a cafe in the neighborhood with great lattes and pizza, a vintage movie house within walking distance and all the fishing, birding and beachcombing, sitting and reading and dreaming you could want. Provided I’m doing a good job with my deadlines, every day feels like a vacation.
Before becoming a writer, what did you do?
Wrote and illustrated long, angsty unrhymed poems, skied in the Matterhorn, rode the Orient Express, played center on my field hockey team, spoke French, played the cello, drank pastis in a cafe in Trieste with dangerous people, sneaked into a Rolling Stones concert, flirted with my master’s thesis advisor, taught Euclidean geometry, Calculus and long division, stole my sister’s boyfriend and married him, became a vegetarian, learned to dance the Cotton-Eyed Joe, made the first cut of the Teacher in Space program, taught myself Fair Isle knitting and counted cross stitch, faux finished every wall of the house, campaigned for John Anderson, ignored my mother’s advice, gave birth without anaesthesia, read Georgette Heyer’s complete oeuvre, gave my hair to Locks of Love, rode a bicycle down the volcano Haleakala, sang in a church choir, told my sister sorry about the guy and had a laugh, became an adult literacy volunteer, lived in a tract home in the ”burbs and read romance novels aloud while nursing an infant, because I was trying to teach myself the craft while bonding with the infant. Then I sold my first book, and everything changed…
Do you have a new book coming out?
Always. My latest is Fireside. I’ll have several historical reissues this year, and then Lakeshore Christmas in October.
What is your favorite food?
Pizza with melanzane (eggplant), served in a tiny cafe in Amalfi with a view of the sea and a glass of San Pelligrino, shared with the abovementioned laughing husband.
Do you have any pets?
Barkis the Wonderdog, a young Doberman with floppy ears and a stubby tail and a desperate need to be petted at all times.
What is your favorite romantic movie?
It’s a tie– “Harold and Maude” and “Last of the Mohicans” (the Daniel Day-Lewis version). Runners up: “Terminator” and “Speed.” Really.
This year is Harlequin’s 60th Anniversary. Do you have any special message you’d like to pass on?
Girl, you are lookin’ hot for a sixty-year-old! Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s working well for you.
Your turn! How would you answer? Click “comments” and post there!
- What’s your fave?
Illustration by Sally Mara Sturman, www.sallymarasturman.com
It’s Thanksgiving Day, so I thought it a good time to conclude my little Gratitude Project. I have to say, I am so impressed by you people! It’s been a pleasure every day to turn on the computer and see what people are thankful for. I’ve learned so much and I’ve been so inspired by everything I’ve seen here.
Two things strike me as I go down the list of comments for each day–we are amazingly diverse. And we are remarkably consistent. We love our families, first and foremost. Our pets and our friends rank high. Mothers and husbands seem to be in a class by themselves. We’re thankful when somebody has a good opinion of us. We’re filled with hope, even when times are tough. Some of us even found the bright side of being laid off or surviving lousy economic times. We love books like there’s no tomorrow. We love comforting things to eat and drink. We adore the beauty and drama of nature–sunshine, starlight, a blustery wind, a storm. We’re thankful for our health, and even on days when it’s not so good, we’ve been able to find something to be grateful for anyway.
We meet people who strive every day to make the world better in whatever way they can, and we value them. We’re grateful for people who make the grand gestures–like fostering children–to the mundane–driving a friend to an appointment or covering for someone at work.
I loved hearing from the young hip ones telling us about Scrivener and Fuze. And the wise women of all ages reminding us of the things that really matter, everything from hugging a child to Dulce de Leche coffee creamer. I loved the intriguing, even cryptic comments, and the creative acrosstics. I loved the comments that made me smile or even laugh out loud.
What a great group! We are writers, dreamers, lovers of beauty. We are thankful for families, friends, beauty, health, meaning.
The one thing I didn’t get from the postings: stuff. Money. Sure, we’re grateful to have full bellies and a roof over our heads. But if there was a gratitude post about a THING, it was because the thing does what it’s meant to do–a car heater turns on, a hair product works, a pair of shoes feels comfortable, a sweater feels soft.
I’m not seeing anyone here who is grateful for a thing because it enhances her status or makes her seem superior in some way. In the hundreds of gratitude comments on this blog, we never once went there. Yay us!
We are so mentally and emotionally healthy here it’s driving me crazy.
So here is what I’m going to do, and I hope you’ll do something similar. I’ve bought a purse-size, skinny datebook for 2009. I’m not going to use this to record appointments or reminders or deadlines. This particular book is for one thing and one thing only–gratitude. On each date square, I will write down three things I’m grateful for each day of the year, starting now.
Many thanks and many blessings for your participation. And Happy Thanksgiving!
Three things I’m grateful for:
1. The Internet, for enabling foreign publishers to inquire about translation rights to my books. I’m also grateful to my foreign rights agent and publisher for following up on each inquiry. Thanks to these connections, I’m going to be published in a bunch of new foreign countries.
2. My favorite Italian food site, by Deborah Mele, with recipes like Winter Minestrone and links to Italian pottery.
3. Sweet videos like this, a global performance of “Stand by Me.” First seen (I think) on Bill Moyers Journal. Be sure to watch to the end. Four minutes of fun!
What are you grateful for right now?
Three things I’m grateful for:
- a clear, starry November night
breakfast of champions
- John Mccann’s oatmeal with fresh blueberries
- a long walk in the sunshine with a good friend
What are you grateful for today?
A sunny day in November; what's up with that?
Three things I’m grateful for:
it's what's for breakfast
- Awrey’s Corn Toastums for breakfast
- Christmas books! I’ve been devouring them this season. I love reading other writers’ visions of Christmas.
- how cute Jay looks when he inadvertently puts together a great outfit, like today’s argyle sweater and Chuck Taylor hightops
What are you grateful for today?
Three things I’m grateful for:
- The Delete button on my keyboard. It is my favorite way to deal with cranky e-mail notes.
- Jay again. For reasons I would never post on the Internet. He makes me laugh.
- Mount Rainier, greeting me at sunrise on a rare, clear morning in November:
grateful for the morning
What are you thankful for right now?
Three things I’m grateful for:
- friends who put their trust in me
- a literary agent who is a fount of clever, amazing, outside-the-box ideas
- the lovely colors of nature in my garden today:
What are you grateful for today?
Three things I’m grateful for:
Gee Wally!
The New York Times, because along with well-written hard news, it gives me tidbits like this–Wally from “Leave It To Beaver” is going to have a sculpture on exhibit at the Louvre. Who doesn’t like knowing stuff like that?
My friend Lois, because she generally scoops the NYT on stuff like that.
Advance Reading Copies of upcoming books. Known in publishing as ARCs, these are printed out for blurbs and early reviews, and I have been deluged with them! I love them! They make me feel as though I have the inside track on these books. The down side–I have to wait months before telling people to rush out and buy the book. Watch for some finger-licking-good upcoming books from Karna Bodman, Dan Kallas, Karen Young, Hank Phillippe Ryan, Alison Kent, Christine Wenger…I have had an embarrassment of riches lately…
What are you grateful for right now?
