Writing Away on Cedar Key

Merry Christmas From Me to You ~

2011-12-23T23:15:33Z

Before Christmas has come and gone.......I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

I've been busy finishing up book 4, doing some cleaning, wrapping gifts and being late sending some of those gifts out.

Thank you to all of you that support my Cedar Key Series!

Ray and I are planning a quiet weekend, just the two of us with Duncan, Brie, Smokey and the cats. But tomorrow I'll be making my traditional lasagna and pistachio cake for Christmas Eve dinner.

Whatever your plans are and wherever they take you........enjoy your Christmas!

Book Tour

2011-12-05T16:45:08Z

I had a busy week last week when I did a book tour for my newest release, SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY. First stop was Barnes & Noble in Norcross, Georgia. The Forum was decorated so pretty and I even got to get some Christmas shopping done while there.

But the weather left a lot to be desired. The first morning in Norcross there was ice on the car and it was 30 degrees! Ice that had to be scraped! I honestly don't think I've seen that since I lived in the Boston area. After 24 years in Florida, I have to say I don't miss it in the least!

And then it was on to Tuscaloosa, where I had a very successful signing at Serendipity Needleworks. A huge thank you to Ellen, the owner, my readers and friends Dolores and Lois, and the new readers that I met. And OF course, I walked out of there with YARN! I try.....I really DO try to restrain myself. But come on, if you're a knitter, you know what I'm sayin'. It's darn near impossible to leave a yarn shop without a bag of yarn. Photos will follow on Facebook, but I got the prettiest yarn called Christmas Holly and I've already started a scarf for myself.

Friday was a travel day as I had to get from Tuscaloosa to Inman, South Carolina. And on Saturday I had another very successful signing at North Woods Fiber Farm. What a fun place that is!

Owned by Teri, she has eleven acres and over 60 gorgeous alpacas! Also a wonderful yarn shop where the beautiful fiber is carded, cleaned, and spun into skeins of yarn, in addition to many other types of yarn for sale. Yeah, I walked out of there pretty well set with a yarn stash also.

And here I am with Teri, the owner, and her adorable little Jack Russell, Molly.

After the signing and on the recommendations of the ladies there, we found our way to the really cute little town of Landrum, about ten minutes away. Lunch at the Hare and Hound was delicious and the town was all decorated for Christmas. Lots of antique shops to browse and very picturesque.

I love it when I spy a cat sleeping in a shop window. It just gives such a cozy feel to the place.

We sold a lot of books last week and I want to thank Ellen and Teri who hosted my signings and a very special thank you to my old readers who came and also all the new readers that I got to meet. I think you know that next to the actual writing, my favorite time is when I'm "out" there meeting so many wonderful fans and readers!

So today I'll be busy playing catch-up after being gone and tomorrow will find me back to work on book 4 to meet my February 1 deadline.

See you here next time...................

Happy 90th, Mr. Jack

2011-11-19T12:40:40Z

The island celebrated a special milestone last evening when Mr. Jack was honored and surprised with a 90th birthday celebration. The event was held at the Community Center and food was catered by Peter at Island Room. Mr. Jack's significant other, Dr. Mary Ann, hosted the event and Jack thought he was going to her home for dinner with a small gathering of family and friends. He arrived at the Community Center with his grandson and found out other plans had been in the works. And by the smile on his face, not only was he surprised, I think he was mighty happy.

Guests took their turn to wish him well and here he is with Marjorie Hoy and Debbie Dye.

Here he is with Carole Flanders and yours truly, as Mary Ann looks on from the right.

And then it was time for the cake with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday sung by the crowd.

From the smile on his face the entire time, I think Mr. Jack very much enjoyed the tribute that was paid to him by his friends and family. Jack Tyson is a very special person so I'm glad that his special day was so successful.

See you here next time.................

The World We Found ~

2011-11-12T11:00:07Z

I very seldom win anything, so when this book arrived in the mail I was thrilled! For that reason, yes. But also because she is one of my favorite authors!

I'd signed up to win an ARC of this novel, which isn't due out until January and lo and behold, I won a copy from Harper Collins! And I've already finished it.

I can't even remember how I first discovered this author, but the first book I read by her was "The Space Between Us." She's an Indian author, now living in Cleveland, Ohio and writes women's fiction about the Indian culture. I devoured that first book and then went on to read all of her other's, including her memoir, "Darling of the Morning." I'm never disappointed with one of her books, so you can see why I was so excited to receive the ARC for her latest release.

And again, I wasn't disappointed. This story involves four Indian women who went to college together in Bombay. Three remained in India, one came for post grad work to America. She married, had a family and stayed here. The four lost touch over thirty years. But now....the one who moved here has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wants the four of them to reunite here in America.

I thought it might be a sad story (and was hoping it wasn't) but although one is facing death, that wasn't really the story at all. The author took this illness and used it as a vehicle to weave her plot, which I thought was very clever and extremely well done.

I always learn something about the Indian culture when I read Umrigar's novels and I love learning new things. She has a way of getting to the core of a character's personality and that's because she's such a superb writer. If you're looking for an excellent women's fiction novel (no romance, no suspense, just an honest to goodness women's fiction novel and all that the genre stands for) I can highly recommend this one when it's released. Put it on your wish list or pre-order.

I'm just so thrilled that I got to read it before it even hits the bookshelves!

See you here next time............

Thank You, Yarnworks!

2011-11-08T22:42:15Z

I had a very successful book signing yesterday at Yarnworks in Gainesville. This is my "home" yarn shop and I love going there any time!

The ladies kept coming and going all afternoon and it was so much fun talking with all of them. Seeing old reader friends and meeting some new ones. When I signed here last year, I was mighty surprised that two fans from Daytona Beach made the almost three hour trek over to Gainesville for my signing. This was when I first met Berkley and Mary Ann and then I got to see them again when I signed at the yarn shop in Daytona earlier this year. And these two women made the trek once again! They were there for my signing yesterday! That's what I call loyal readers!

Here I am with Berkley (on the left) and Mary Ann (on the right) and with Barbara, the owner of Yarnworks.

And just in case you're wondering.....my main character for book 4 is named Berkley. And yes, I got the name from this Berkley! When I signed her book last year, I fell in love with her name and told her I could see myself creating a character with that name.......which is exactly what I've done!

How is it that if you put a group of women together, within a very short time the room will be filled with laughter? It just happens I guess, and that's the beauty of female friendship and connections. There was a lot of laughter at the yarn shop yesterday. Here's Marsha and I giggling about something.....can't remember now even what it was.....but it's easy to see we were having fun!

I even managed to squeeze in a knitting lesson! I brought a pattern with me to make Christmas ornaments, and wanted to learn to make them on two circular needles. So Barbara was my teacher and here we are with Linda, who also works in the shop.

And.....I'm very happy to report that today I actually mastered the technique of knitting with two circular needles. Thanks to Marsha, Barbara (made two desperate phone calls today to the yarn shop) and also YouTube. One small ornament is just about finished!

Knitting lesson over.....then it was time to laugh again.

Oh, it wasn't all play time. I was kept very busy, inbetween the knitting lesson and a lot of talking, signing a stack of books! So a huge thank you to each and every one of you that came by. I loved seeing you again or meeting you for the first time and I deeply appreciate your support. I also want to thank "J" from Cedar Key......Such a surprise to meet you and I enjoyed it so much!

So a fun time was had by all!

See you here next time.....................

The New Place In Town ~

2011-11-04T10:00:45Z

Well, okay........maybe not quite SO new, but new to me! Cedar Key's Fine Foods opened for business in August on Dock Street, right next to the Big Dock.

But I admit......I've been a bit slow about getting down there. So yesterday was the day. I met Chris, the owner, who was delightful. Very friendly and chatty. She runs the pastry shop and coffee cafe with her husband, Mark, but he wasn't there when Ray and I stopped in for lunch.

I had a delicious ham and cheese panini and we enjoyed it on the deck overlooking the Gulf. On a gorgeous day like it was here, it was the perfect setting.

The inside decor is tres chic.......done in a very classy black and white, with very nice wrought iron tables and chairs. Look at the coffee bar.....in addition to regular coffee, they offer expresso and all the fancy coffees so popular today.

Oh! But wait! That's not all! The home made pastries and baked goods definitely cause one to drool and yes, I did go home with a piece of carrot cake to have later. I can officially verify.....the carrot cake is to die for! And if that's not enough.......Chris also makes her own home made chocolate and peanut brittle! I can also vouch for the white and dark sample that I tried!

And then.........shortly after I arrived home, FedEx came with a delivery. My complimentary copies of SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY from Kensington.

So yes.........I'd say it was a very nice day on the island!

See you here next time......................

A Fan Comes to Cedar Key ~

2011-10-28T13:35:12Z

I received an email this past Monday from Molly, my friend at the library. Apparently, a fan of mine from Tennessee had come to spend the week on Cedar Key with her husband. And apparently, the reason they were visiting here was because of my Cedar Key Series.

So Barbara stopped by the library to see if she could track me down. Which she did, via Molly. It's always flattering when a fan shows up here on the island because of my books and because I was able to find some time yesterday, we made plans to meet and go for lunch.

We met at the library and I suggested lunch at the Pickled Pelican, because not only do I enjoy it there, the restaurant is mentioned in SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY.

It was delightful getting to know a fan and we spent a fun couple of hours together. Barbara told me she has even taken up knitting due to my stories.

Some of you may recall that I met two fans a couple of years ago for coffee. That was Mary Bates and her sister, Ruth. And you may also recall that simply because of that meeting, it evolved into doing a Skype video with Mary's book club in Quincy, Washington and then further evolved into me flying to Spokane this past May to meet all the book club ladies and doing an incredible ten days of events in that area.

I find it pretty humbling for fans to come to Cedar Key because of my series and I don't think there's any higher compliment.

And Barbara informed me (this was their first visit to the island) that they'll be back again next year, so I think it was a fun visit for her and I'm happy I got to meet another fan in person.

See you here next time..............

Release Day!

2011-10-25T10:00:51Z

Yes! Today is release day for SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY! And yes, I'm pretty excited!

My editor contacted me last Thursday to report that they were going back to press for Sunrise and doing a second printing before the pub date! That notched up my excitement level quite a bit!

I do hope if you read my book that you'll enjoy it and please do send me an email when you get a chance.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you.....because it's YOU, my wonderful readers, that help to make this news possible!

Happy reading!

Autumn Has Arrived ~

2011-10-20T14:48:56Z

Yes, after such a hot summer across the country, autumn has finally arrived! Pumpkins are making an appearance, along with vibrant leaves, scarecrows and much cooler mornings here on the island.

I've been scarce here at Island Writer as this is always a busy time of year for me with my new release due out the end of October. And it was a bit busier than usual this year because Ray and I took a road trip to the Georgia mountains, along with Duncan, Brie and Smokey.

We rented a cabin overlooking a creek in Blairsville, Georgia and had a great week! We used that as our base and took day trips to the surrounding towns of Dahlonaga, Helen, Ellijay, Murphy, NC, and Blue Ridge. Here's a photo on one of our drives over the mountain..............

The entire area was gorgeous...............left Cedar Key and it was 90 degrees, got to the mountains eight hours later and it was in the 70's. A few mornings it went down to low 40's there, but it was a welcome change!

But now........autumn has also come to Cedar Key. It was 52 degrees here this morning and will be in the 40's the next few mornings. Ah, but wait.........back up to 80 on Tuesday! The beauty of living in the south. I recall autumns in New England.....the one downside was that winter was coming and along with it came the snow and ice, which I never liked.

I've been very busy with marketing and promoting for SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY, due to hit book stores this Tuesday. Where on earth did the year go? And I've also been quite busy working away on book 4...........I'm pleased that I now have half of the novel finished and I'm very happy with how my story is unfolding.

I have some pretty exciting news to share, in case you're not aware. The Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce has signed an agreement to give an exclusive endorsement to my Cedar Key Series. This will be the only place on the island to purchase autographed copies, so if you're visiting here be sure to stop by the Welcome Center on Second Street. And.........If you're here over Thanksgiving weekend, I'll be doing a signing there on Sat. Nov. 26, from 1:00 till 3:00 for SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY, in addition to the first two books. Would love to see you there!

Another huge thank you to all of you that have sent expressions of sympathy for Shawn. I treasure each and every email and card. I'm overwhelmed with the response and please know that your caring has made a difficult time a bit easier.

Enjoy these cool, crisp, days. Autumn is such a vibrant time, so be sure to soak up a lot of the good energy floating around!

See you here next time................

Little Things That Make Me Smile.....

2011-09-24T20:36:12Z

There's a lot to be said for all those cliches that we've heard through the years.....like: The best things in life are free. Little things make me smile. One day at a time. They may be cliches, but they are also very truthful. Lately I've been trying to focus on those little things that do bring a smile to my face. So thought I'd share a few of them here with you:

This extra large bone was bought for Smokey.....but look who decided it was hers. Yes, Brie may be small.....but she has a way of getting what she wants and she always makes me smile.

Not only was I smiling, but I think Smokey is smiling also.......she seemed very proud to wear the cancer awareness scarf that I ordered for her in Shawn's memory. The white ribbon represents lung cancer.

This butterfly makes me smile and there's a little story behind it......I'd purchased it a couple of years ago at the City Park and it was done by a local Cedar Key artist. It hangs on my covered lanai, where I can glance at it each morning while having my coffee. About a week or so after Shawn passed away, I got a phone call one evening.....from the artist that made this butterfly! I really don't know him personally, but he remembered me and he remembered how when I spied his beautiful butterfly, I had said, "That has my name on it." He called to offer his heartfelt condolences on my loss. Not only did his phone call touch my soul.....it made me smile.

My wonderful and new-found cousin in England, Julia, and her two children Sarah and Stephen sent me these gorgeous flowers when Shawn passed away. They most definitely made me smile. And the story about how Julia and I found each other after sixty years is in my soon to be released novel, Sunrise On Cedar Key.

Ah....and who couldn't smile at this recent sunset on Cedar Key?

Something that made me smile today was another wonderful review for SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY.......I've given you the link here, so you can read it.

So yes, I've recently had a terrible loss in my life..........but I'm also very blessed. And those little things? I've come to find them all the more precious!

See you here next time..............