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Here in the San Francisco area, it was supposed to be 85 degrees on the 4th. There was wild cheering. But it didn't happen. The fog rolled in, thick and cold. You know what? The show went on. You could see red fireworks burst through the curtain of fog. Everyone is inclined to believe Mark Twain's description of San Francisco on this 4th of July.
I hope you guys had the works -- heat, hot dogs and hoots at the celebrations.
IT'S THE MAIN MONTH OF THE YEAR, and the main day is shortly to come -- WHIPLASH, the 14th FBI thriller is out the 15th, just in time for you to fit it into your carry-on for the beach, OR, tuck it under your pillow and pull it out at night when you're alone, only using the single light over your shoulder and there are shadows thick in the room...
We're leaving Sunday for New York, London, and Paris, home the end of the month -- goofing off, playing, shows, and, natch, shopping. I'll take lots of photos and put them on my web site and post them on Facebook. So, here's what I want you to do: Consider this a warm up for your really serious efforts when WHIPLASH comes out in June.
So, last Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., (March 9th) I finished giving the galley corrections on the phone to my editor for WHIPLASH (14th FBI, out June 16th) and then typed in the final words to THE VALCOURT HEIRESS, a medieval historical romance out this fall. And I sat there and thought, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?
Happy Post Superbowl (but how can there be happiness after the Superbowl?) where Sundays will now be greeted with the lament, "But why get up, there's no football," and only accepting, perhaps in May, that Sundays as we know and love them won't appear again until the fall. THE FALL! (One never counts pre-season.) Post Superbowl is one big sigh.
This year is, quite simply, great. No more struggling with trying to remember to write two thousand and five or two thousand and eight or two thousand and nine, now it's easy -- you write 2 and think immediately TWENTY -- then you think of the Mayans and there's 2012 right in front of your face and then you subtract 2 and there you have it, all perfect -- twenty ten -- piece of cake. Also you'll find that twenty ten is very easy to type on the keyboard.
My house is decorated to its eyebrows, Santas, poinsettias, elves, garlands, wreaths, trees (including a blue one with peacocks on it), stockings, wrapped presents in every single room, including bathrooms, mudrooms, the garage. Such fun. Christmas is my favorite time of year.
Do you know that I decided to Christmas-ize my office NOW. I've just put up the gold tree with a huge Santa, elaborate in green gown and bling, and his brother, elaborate in red gown and bling, standing beside it. Because there's so much Christmas stuff, it will take a while to find the peacock ornaments and the tree skirt. Stockings are hung at the fireplace and, you'll not believe this, but let me confess that I've already wrapped about one hundred presents. I add everyday to the stacks in my office, so it already looks magical. I'll tell you, the gradual placement of Christmas stuff is lots more fun than blamming it all out in one week, not so overwhelming.
Did you see Bret Favre with his eyes closed when Baltimore kicked that final field goal? The Vikings are all yelling and Bret is shaking Tavaris Jackson's arm, yelling, "Did we win? Did we win?" And his eyes fly open and he's grinning from ear to ear and jumping up and down and yelling his head off. Even though the Viking defense fell apart in the 4th quarter, Favre played brilliantly. 6-0. Who would have predicted that? None of the talking heads, that's for sure. It was a wonderful exciting game. As for the Giants, better that stone is left unturned. As for the 49ers, it isn't even possible to find a stone.
Last night I'm sure you all witnessed the Steelers beat the Titans in O.T. in a hard and brutal game. Unfortunately Troy Palomalu got injured and will be out for three to six weeks, a huge loss for the Steelers.
I can't help myself, I gotta start off with football fan talk: We're going to have another year of Brett Favre drama -- it'll keep the talking sports heads happy. I only hope his shoulder is completely well, if so, we'll watch him shine. What do you guys think about Michael Vick being signed by the Eagles? What do you think of Buffalo giving the key to the city to T.O.?
Da-DAH! Thanks to all of you, KNOCKOUT came in #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List! I hope all of you who've read it, really really liked it loads. For three full days, I blissed out on the ceiling smelling all the incredible flowers everyone sent. AND, TailSpin paperback came in at #2, not quite on the very point of the top, but pretty close. On Monday, the 20th, I'm throwing a big party for Putnam and Berkley, with lots of champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, triple chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and maybe a single bottle of spring water just for show.
