Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Great event in Portland!

I'm off to bed, but just had to tell you about the great book signing event I had at Murder By The Book in Portland last Sunday! The owners do a really great job putting together an author event. Lots of wonderful people attended, including three old friends from Eugene, Oregon. What a surprise to see them there! Small world.

I spent the night with a friend at her beautiful home in Vancouver, Washington. Talk about southern hospitality! Kathi spread out the red carpet and wined and dined me in great style. And does this woman have a fabulous collection of jokes! I don't know how anyone can remember so many and tell them so well. Amazing!

I've re-scheduled the Seattle book signing events I was supposed to do in Seattle for next Wednesday and Thursday, April 28th and 29th. I'm still coughing a bit from a nasty bout of bronchitis, but I'm feeling better with every day.

I hope to see any of you who live in the Seattle area. Please check the Events Page on my website for more information.

Goodnight!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Ready to start my book tour!

Bob and I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area about an hour ago and were greeted by bright sunshine and clear skies! Since we've had days of rain in Oregon, it was a great welcome.

Tomorrow I start my book tour for SCANDAL ON RINCON HILL. Two book signings tomorrow -- the first one starts at noon, a lunch/talk/get together at Towne Center Bookstore in Pleasanton. Yes, a lunch, isn't that something? I'm really looking forward to it! Then tomorrow evening at 7:00, I'll be at Books Inc. in San Francisco, for a San Francisco Mystery Panel. Sounds like fun!

At one o'clock on Friday, I'll be visiting Book Passage in Corte Madera. Since I spent my senior year of high school at a Marin County school, I'm hoping for a good turn out. Then at 2:00 on Saturday, I'll be signing books and answering questions at a really fantastic bookstore -- especially if you're into whodunits, thrillers, or just great mysteries -- M is for Mystery in San Mateo. It's always great fun to visit Ed and his wonderful bookstore! He knows how to treat readers right, and writers, too!

Since I attended three schools in the SF Bay Area, and college at nearby San Jose State University, I'd love to see as many of my old school friends as possible! Come on, guys, show up and support me! It will be so fantastic to see you all! And I promise it will be fun.

Tune in to my Blog Page again tomorrow to find out how Thursday's book signings went. If nothing else, looks as if it's going to be a sunny, glorious day!!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Hooked by the Internet!

It seems to me that I'm spending way too much time online these days. Granted, when a new book is released it's almost carved in stone that you have to check your book's ranking on Amazon (which changes every hour), and the publicity work every writer is forced to do online never seems to stop. Nonetheless, I think checking email, Facebook and Twitter gradually, or not so gradually, grows to be more than a habit; it becomes an addiction!

I've tried promising myself that I'll only check my email two or three times a day, that's it, no more three times a day max! I'm sure I don't have to tell you how well that worked. My inbox is like an irresistible magnet, taking physical control of my fingers and forcing me, always against my will, of course, to click on that harmless-looking link. Come on now I ask you, how can anyone resist that kind of power?

One day last week I kept track of how much time I spent reading email, tracking Facebook and Twitter postings, and taking a "quick" peek at Amazon and Barnes and Noble book rankings. It came to a staggering two hours!! Two hours that could have been spent far more productively working on my new book. But I can't seem to change -- I admit that it's controlling me. Two hours a day times seven days a week is 14 hours a week, 56 hours a month! My name is Shirley and I'm an addict!!

If anyone out there in cyberspace has a cure for this illness -- tricks that work, meditations, hot line phone numbers, anything! -- I beg you, please share them with me!