Daily Tao ☯ 5.16.17

Greeting, salutations, and warm hellos from the great mountainous west! Lovely flight out this morning (outside of the dope who kept kicking my chair—worry not, I unleashed my inner librarian on him!)  

I got a lot of work done, and it was fun work. First, transcribing some notes, then dumping scenes onto the page without worrying about where they go or being linear with the story. A big part of my natural resistance is the desire to write in a totally literal fashion, from A to B to C to D. When I’m outlining, though, the only way I can make it work is to dump out all the scenes that are in my head, and THEN try to put them into some semblance of order. So far, so good!

Tomorrow we have to stock up on groceries, because… drumroll please… there is going to be a snowstorm. A BIG storm. The latest Winter Storm Watch has us possibly getting 1-2… FEET. Do you have any idea what kinds of happy dancing I’m doing? 

So tomorrow is stocking up, and tomorrow night it starts to snow, and it’s not supposed to let up until Friday. I’m going to snuggle down in what might just be one a monstrous blizzard, take my cough medicine, drink lots of Earl Grey, and, so long as the power stays on, write my tail off. (Just took my last antibiotic but I'm still coughing, dang it!)

Found out today LIE TO ME is a Buzz Book at BEA, which is totally cool. I'm starting to see the book cover pop up across social media, which is at once exciting and terrifying, because it means it no longer belongs to me, and is now yours, to do with as you will. Love it, hate it, recommend it, burn it... the book is officially out of my hands. (But wow, I hope you love it!)

Sweet dreams, and Go Preds!

Daily Tao ☯ 5.12.17

Home again, home again, jiggity jig! And let me tell you, I have a couple of very happy cats who’ve been alternately running around in joyful leaps or purring on my lap. Always nice to be wanted, right?

So New York was a monstrous success all the way around. Catherine and I pulled together a solid story and characters for THE BLOOD CABAL. Next week I will take everything we did and put it into a cohesive narrative so we can get this puppy outlined fully. We have the first 6 chapters already set, and wow, this one is so cool! 

Thursday was full from start to finish. Several hours of plotting with CC, then lunch with my publisher and editor at MIRA, which was a blast. I admit, I rather enjoy sitting in a dark wood paneled New York steakhouse plotting world domination. I had a lobster Cobb salad that was divine, too. We are all getting excited for LIE TO ME, and BEA is right around the corner!

I spent part of the afternoon reading a blurb book, then we met up with Catherine for dinner, which was a hoot. Mexican food in New York is interesting, to say the least. I asked for queso and the waiter was confused. Enough said. But the tacos were yummy!

And then we had second dinner with a dear friend who we haven’t seen in months, and that made the trip for us. A long walk back to the hotel, a little blood orange and lemon basil sorbet for dessert, and a well-earned glass of wine topped off a very pleasant evening. I stayed up half the night reading the book I was blurbing—I will absolutely share links when this one comes out. It’s great. 

The flight home was uneventful, happily, outside of the woman who spilled her double vodka on my bag (she was having a VERY bad day). Warm cuddles with the kitties more than made up for that. Tonight, it’s a quick supper party with friends, and then, my dears, I collapse. My doctor (who was my first call upon landing) kindly called in some antibiotics, so this sick puppy should be feeling better in no time. 

Sweet dreams!