Good Lord, forgive me for abandoning you. I have started two entries in the last week, only to discard them. Just like I have started a zillion books in the last few months and not finished them.

I am, shall we say, distracted. I am not sure how to approach the upcoming book launch. Just another day? The greatest day of my life? A reason to go back on the little pink pills?

Meanwhile, life plows forward in all sorts of ways, including - a birthday and a brand-spanking-new job in a swank office tower in downtown Seattle. Words cannot express my relief at escaping the clutches of that gentle giant, ye olde mighty Geeksofte. Oh the joy at not having to drive to sterile Redmond every day, but to jump on the bus with the smelly, hallucinating masses! The ecstasy of having a job where I write and think about BOOKS - beautiful, wondrous, hardcover, mass market, trade paperback BOOKS and not PROGRAMMER DOCUMENTATION! Hallelejuah!

My birthday was a brief affair, filled with too much tequila in a short amount of time, lots of boys, (Girls, listen, I know a lot of single guys if you want one! I can't vouch for their 1)sanity 2)emotional availabilty or 3)sexual prowess but they are cute and ready to roll so please e-mail me if you want one!) and a delicious German chocolate cake. The next day I was thoroughly hungover and miserable but isn't life too short not to be hung over and miserable?

It has been a bit of a shock having to get to work at a "normal" hour after years of rolling in to the mothership in the 11 to noon timeframe.It's hard, specifically, to get up and "write" before getting in to work, and even though I might not be actively "writing" right now (although that next novel is in the works I SWEAR), but I still reserve the morning for writing-related activities such as preparing my Academy Awards speech, etc.

Oh wait, that's acting. Did I ever tell you about the time I dreamed I won an award for Best Supporting Actress but was super stressed because I was at the Oscars in only a bathrobe, only then I decided to go onstage anyway beause Elijah Wood was also there in his robe and just as I was about to give my speech my teeth started falling out?

Yeah. Anyway.

Can I just say, on a parting note, that 1)THERE ARE STILL BOOKS AVAILABLE IN THAT DAMN CONTEST BECAUSE REALLY NO ONE EXCEPT A FEW DIEHARDS READ THIS BLOG ANYMORE BECAUSE IT IS SO NOT JUICY SO DAMN IT, JUST SEE THE PREVIOUS TWO POSTS AND THEN POST A LINK AND WIN A BOOK! AND 2)I so dearly appreciate comments like the one dear Jennifer posted yesterday, and also the e-mail I received from Anthony the day before telling me how they love my book.

I tell you, their is nothing more a writer craves than to hear how an individual person loved/related to/got off on your writing. The world can be damned. Personal praise is the best thing ever.

From the front lines of hysteria,
xo,
BB