May/June 2002
Hello, everyone,
When SAND CASTLES was scheduled for release in May, I was a bit leary. May? Who thinks about beaches and sand castles in May? Well, duh: this year, just about everyone. Blame it on the greenhouse effect, blame it on El Nino (weren't we just doing that?). Whatever the reason, it looks as if we're going to have a long, hot summer. Up here in New England, we're shattering records right and left--and yet here I sit, still waiting for last winter to come. I guess I'd better give up on the idea and go out and smell my roses.
|
|
The rose on the arch is Veilchenblau (1909, climber, great fragrance, once-blooming) |
I'm excited about SAND CASTLES . It's had truly satisfying reviews, probably because it has characters I particularly loved to explore: a hero who can fix anything (hooray!) and is fiercely protective of family and, ahem, who's not too shabby in bed, either; and a heroine who's an ordinary woman we can all relate to, but who's been catapulted into an extraordinary situation (unless you consider winning eight million dollars in a lottery and then finding out that your husband's a bigamist to be just another day at the mall).
I love the way Wendy Hodene handles it all. Does she whine or brood or rush out to see a lawyer? Nosiree: she hurls Beanie Babies at her no-good excuse of a husband. That's our kind of heroine. You'll like her.
Think Beach
I wish I could say that my author pals (Pat Coughlin, Dee Holmes, Kristine Rolofson and Peggy Nicholson) and I have been gathering together and comparing eBay finds, but no. Most of us are on a June 1 deadline, so our contact has been confined to commiserating e-mails. But once we all put our books to bed and turn human again, are we gonna have some fun.
And finally, the cats. Chewy, the new addition to the household ... well, what can I say without sounding like one of those doting, dotty pet people? He's great. I'll let the pictures tell the story, for those of you who want to go there.
| Chewy, looking baffled that I'd rather write than play with him. |
|
All best wishes,
Antoinette Stockenberg
