The Catch Up

What a weekend! A whirlwind for sure, but so much fun.

Hit the road Friday morning for Chicago for a mini-tour with Denise Swanson and Kelle Z Riley. Friday night we visited a private book club--one Denise and I have been to a couple of time before. We LOVE this group. Amazing ladies, great conversations, and so very welcoming. This year they had a local newspaper photographer come as well, and I'm thrilled that we managed a group picture. Here's the link to the online article if you're interested in taking a looksee: http://palatine.patch.com/articles/steppin-out-book-club-of-palatine-hosts-book-divas

On Saturday, we traveled to Denise's hometown, Coal City--the town that Denise's NYT best-selling Scumble River series is based on. Always a blast. A packed auditorium, lots of laughs, and lots of books to be signed! It was so great to see so many familiar faces--always great to catch up with readers who have become friends.

Me & Shelly

On Sunday, we went to the Bolingbrook Barnes & Noble. Standing room only as almost 90 people came to hear our talk. Again, lots of laughs and fun and catching up with old friends and new ones, too. A big, big thank you to those who came out to spend the afternoon with us--and who went out of their way to tell me how much they enjoy my books. Makes me so happy!

Was also very happy to see my friend Shelly at B&N. Last year when I was in Chicago, she gave me a quick crochet lesson, and even gave me a crochet hook (so sweet!), and I promised to keep practicing and send her something by Christmas, as it was a personal goal to learn how to crochet last year. Well, you know how that goes... It was December, and I still hadn't learned how to crochet more than a couple of chains. So, I marched off to Michaels and picked up some more yarn and more hooks and a how-to book. Over Christmas, I practiced and practiced, with a new goal to make something to surprise Shelly on this trip. Last month, when my friend Judy Clemens stayed here, she taught me how to read patterns (ugh--patterns!), and how to perfect making little hearts. Happily, I made my goal for Shelly's project. I used a very basic stitch (I'm not at the fancy level yet!), but I think it came out pretty well. I'm totally stealing her picture from FB, but here's the scarf I made. Doesn't she look great in it?


Now I'm back home and already busy working -- on books, not scarves, though I've totally been bitten by the crochet bug. Love it. Very peaceful and relaxing (except when you mess up and have to unravel, then peaceful goes out the window and curse words fly).

I hope to get some reading done this week, too. My new Lisa Lutz book is burning a hole in my TBR pile, and now I have Denise's new book, Little Shop of Homicide and Kelle's Dangerous Affairs to read too. Can't wait! What have you been reading lately?