Happy 2007!

Happy New Year! 

I promised myself one more blog entry before Christmas, and then I said, okay, before New Year’s, but we all know what happens during the holidays.  But nothing changed the content, so now I’ll catch you up with an update from the “Take Two” tour to the Mid-Atlantic, the trip that was postponed in August to early December.   And then, next week, I may be back on my regular blogging schedule.  Fingers crossed:  when the end of the year dust settles, one dreams of new beginnings.

The first stop in December was to the Mystery Loves Company holiday party.  I drove up to Baltimore with Donna Andrews and Ellen Crosby, and we joined owner Kathy Harig, readers, and authors, including the contributors to the re-released Chesapeake Crimes II.  Maria Lima (author of the once and future (and most excellent)) Matters of the Blood) gets a giggle as Carla Coupe signs her story, “Rearview Murder” in Chesapeake Crimes II. 

The next day was to Creatures-n-Crooks Bookshoppe in Richmond.  Hamilton the cat seemed to enjoy my latest works, and even a couple of archaeologists stopped by to say “howdy.”  (Thanks, Courtney and Fred!)  I’m sure Leila, the store’s owner and genius loci, was startled to hear me yodelling from the back of the store in the SF section:  I’d found the reprint of Poul Anderson’s Operation Chaos, a book I loved as a teenager. 

I was delighted to find that it was just as good as I remembered.  I’ve been looking for literary palette cleansers lately:  A girl can only read so many mysteries and books on espionage before she starts to get a really, really weird slant on the world, so I’ve been going back to old friends in science fiction.  Some hold up over the years (like Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison), and some don’t, but I’m going to try Stephen King next.  I remember being scared out of my wits by Salem’s Lot (my first introduction to him), but I’m going to start with The Stand, which was my all-time favorite.

Speaking of Salem’s Lot and vampires…I’m so psyched about the upcoming vampire anthology co-edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner, Many Bloody Returns.  I can’t believe I’ll have to wait until the fall to see the whole thing, but I’ve had a sneak peek at Toni’s story, “How Stella Got Her Grave Back,” and it’s fantabulous!  If it’s any indication of the rest of the stories that Toni and Charlaine have collected and edited for us, the book’s going to be boffo—and just one more thing to look forward to in the new year!