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In my little town

Wintergirls comes out in 4 days…

You all know I live in a small town… well, actually I live on a country road outside of a small town. The town is Mexico, NY. We have a great high school, post office, grocery store, a diner, and two stoplights.

And we have a wonderful library and historical society.

The latter two joined forces yesterday and put on a Revolutionary-era tea. Proceeds from the tea and the book sale went to the Historical Society’s efforts to renovate a tin shop in our town that was a stop on the Underground Railway.

About one hundred people came out to hear me talk about CHAINS and enjoy tea and yummy delights.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Just one of the tables!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic The food was all based on food mentioned in CHAINS. Here’s the menu.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Members of the historical society and a bunch of kids and teens dressed in period costume.

A couple of years ago, my neighbors were the first to hear a reading of CHAINS, when I read a chapter in draft at a Christmas celebration. Yesterday, many of the same people heard the opening pages to FORGE. They’ve all been sworn to secrecy!

FORGE probably won’t be out until next fall, but….

Wintergirls comes out in 4 days…

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Magic Window Update & much scurrying about

WINTERGIRLS comes out in 5 days….

So, what does an author do in the days before book tour?

This author has been very busy with interviews. I had a great one yesterday with a reporter from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and have a bunch more lined up for next week. Today I hope to finish the Keynote presentation I’ll be taking on the road with me, and start packing. Am also busy emailing back and forth with the Web God as he puts the finishing touches on the WINTERGIRLS website.

While I’ve been crossing off things on my to-do list, work continues on the Cottage.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Our tree guy chopped down the dead 200-year-old maple and cleared out the smaller trees from the spot where we want to build.

Image and video hosting by TinyPicThe dark spots are rot. We could also see shadows where spiles had been inserted to tap the sap.

BH and a buddy of his have been busy on the magic window. They had to sand out every frame, patch and strengthen weak spots in the wood and start preparing thingies (have no idea what they are called) that will hold the glass. They found a mixture of wire nails and cut nails. The presence of cut nails confirms their suspicions that the window was buit in the late 1800s.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic By Friday, the window was strong enough to be stood up. That’s his buddy on the left, BH and me in the center, and Queen Louise to the right. The glass guy came to take a look at it and will soon give us the estimate for the cost of the glass. Fingers crossed about that. The plan is for the magic window to take up most of the south wall of the cottage.

I’ll end with a couple of links for those of you who can only catch up with this blog on weekends.

Can you come and see me on book tour?

Have you entered the WINTERGIRLS contest yet?

Did you see the WINTERGIRLS book trailer?

How about the short video where I explain why I wrote the book?

WINTERGIRLS comes out in 5 days….

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Radiohead & a new critter in the forest

Eight Days until WINTERGIRLS comes out…

Today is a radio day. I’ve already taped an interview with Dr. Alvin Jones of WCBQ-WHNC-AM in North Carolina. In a little bit, I’ll be chatting with a radio host out in Napa, CA, Jeff Schectman of KVON. BH has taken the Creature With Fangs out on his errands so my interviews are not compromised by 95-snarling pounds of German Shepherd.

This afternoon I’m headed down to Syracuse to tape an interview for the NPR show, “Here and Now.” When I get air dates, I’ll let you know.

In between the interviews, I’m working on my presentation for the book tour. I bring a digital projector with me, and I’ll be showing a Keynote (Apple presentation software, much better than Powerpoint) show in many of the schools and libraries I’ll be visiting.

We’ve had a new person working here in the Forest for a couple of weeks. Her name is Queen Louise and I can’t figure out how I got along without her. Queen Louise is in charge of keeping me organized and helping me juggle. For example, she went in and created the Author Page on Goodreads for me. She coordinated with Theo the Web God to update my website. And she’ll make sure I am ready on time for this afternoon’s trip down to the radio station. With the Queen by my side, I’ll have more time to write. After the tour.

All Hail Queen Louise!!

Can you come and see me when I’m on tour?

Have you entered the WINTERGIRLS contest yet?

Eight Days until WINTERGIRLS comes out…

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