Miami, Author-mania, and Other Things I've Been Up To

The last couple weeks have gone by so fast!

First there was a fantastic party in celebration of Gigi Lavigne Grazer's excellently titled new book, Queen Takes King, where I met the gorgeous author (you should see the arms on this woman) as well as some industry folks I'd give my left bicuspid to work with on a project. Anne Dexter Jones, otherwise known as the matriarch of the Ronson clan, was also there, and showed me some jewelry she designed. I have this to say about Anne: She is one cool lady. And warm. And beautiful. I want to be just like her when I'm older. I also have this to say about that night. I drank too much on an empty stomach, so if you happened to have been there and heard anything I had to say that night, please forget it. Really.

Then last week I met up for drinks (ssss) at Buddakan with one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster. Yes, she of Bright Lights, Big Ass, Such a Pretty Fat, and her latest, Pretty in Plaid. Jen invited some her other friends--Stacey Ballis (Inapropriate Men), Elizabeth Flock (Emma and Me) Karyn Bosnak (Save Karyn), and Sarah Grace McCandless, (Grosse Point Girl)--and so now I have a lot of their books piled up on my bedside table. (Yay!) That night reminded me of one of my favorite aspects of being a novelist: You get to meet other novelists.

The following morning I woke up at 5 a.m. and took a plane to Miami for my book party at the Sagamore Hotel. It was so much fun-- my good friends who live down there, including author Karen Quinn (Wife in the Fast Lane) came--and I even had time for a little pre-party run on the beach. I'll post some pictures from that event when I receive them from the photog.

And one more thing. This past weekend I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Max. It was a beautiful love story in the same spirit of The Time Traveler's Wife, one of my all-time favorite books. The movie left me sobbing, and made me want to stop time. Life is so short--I see that now, watching my children grow--and death comes too fast. I wish I could just hold on to Max and my kids and never ever let go. But that's not the nature of life, is it?