Lucky Number Thirteen

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Well here I am in the lovely city of Portland, Oregon, getting ready to leave for San Francisco. I had wonderful events in Seattle and Beaverton--thanks to all of you who showed up. It was really great to meet you.

And an even bigger THANKS to those of you who were kind enough to buy Firefly Lane. I found out moments ago that it hit the New York Times list at number thirteen. Valentine's Day and the New York Times list. How cool is that?

Also, on this tour, I'm reconnecting with a lot of old friends. I wonder if it's the Firefly Lane influence? Maybe. The more I talk/write/think about this novel, the more my memories rise to the surface--and all of those memories are about the people who were once such a big part of my life. Anyway, so when I was in Portland, I got to have dinner with my best friend from college, whom I hadn't seen in years. Amazingly, it was as if we'd never been apart. We immediately picked back up where we left off and started gabbing. It was an absolute riot. We're already making plans to get together again.

In San Francisco, I'm also meeting a friend I haven't seen in years. And I can't wait. So, here's my Valentine's Day/Firefly Lane gift to you: pick up the phone today. Call someone you used to know and just say hey. Reconnect with a friend from the past. It rocks!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, and I'll check back in soon.

Aloha,

Kristin

ps: since I'm on the road, I'm missing American Idol--anything good???

6 Comments:

Blogger Susan said...

Hi Kristin...

It was wonderful to say hello last night at your Powell's booksigning for FIREFLY LANE. I've heard you speak several times at National Conference and always admired your work. Congratulations! on making the NYT List! How exciting.

Good luck with the rest of your tour.

Best,

Su

February 14, 2008 at 9:11 PM  
Blogger The (Mis)Adventures of a Single City Chick said...

Wow, Kristin! HUGE congratulations for hitting #13 on the NY Times list! Not that I'm at all surprised, mind you. :-) What a fabulous Valentine's Day gift!

Christina

February 15, 2008 at 10:41 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

hello kristin,
congratulations for the great success of ur new novel.wish i'd know where to get it from:(, i live in Egypt and i only read one novel for u, Angel Falls, and since then i've been searching for ur books eveywhere in Egypt but can't find them:(.ohhh, dear kristin i really wish to read for u agan and i don't know how.till now, "angel falls" is the closest novel to my heart and i guess it'll always be unless i read another book of urs that's better;)and i'm sure there r many:).
i've read in one of ur blogs that u like mostly to hear from the readers ur novels made them cry, well, u don't know how much i cried in Angel Falls while reading it and how much i cried while recounting it to my friends and family.it really touched me to the core and i'm sure i'd never forget it or forget the feelings it brought me whether, laughing, smiling or even crying:).
thank u alottttt for all ur books kristin:) and happy valentine's day. i wonder how u celebrated it;)!!!

February 16, 2008 at 12:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kristin;
CONGRATULATIONS!! What a wonderful (and well deserved) Valentine's surprise.
~Kim

February 16, 2008 at 1:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Kristin, on making the NYT list! That's awesome!

I enjoyed chatting with you at the Seattle signing and look forward to seeing you this summer at the national conference.

Have a fabulous time on the rest of your book tour!

-Kelli Estes
P.S. I mentioned you in my blog if you want to check it out!

February 17, 2008 at 12:30 AM  
Blogger Linda said...

Hey Kristin,

I tried to send this already one time, but I got some sort of error. If 2 of the same posts show up for your approval, please delete the 2nd one if you will. Here is the review that I made for Firefly on eBay. I don't know if you are interested or not, but I thought I would share it with you just in case..

This book was such a powerful example of how a friendship can withstand the test of time (30 years), betrayal, family, and love for each other. Tully and Kate forge a friendship in their teen years, and this friendship withstands everything that life throws at them. There are references to the music of the 70s into the early 80's, which was by far some of the best music out there.

Google Kristin Hannah to get to the author's web page and blog to read her thoughts on this book. I found the author through another of her books, Magic Hour, and since listening to that book I have became a diehard fan!

It has survival for both of them. Talulah Rose Hart has a drug addict for a mom, who spends the whole book building up Tully's hopes that they can develop a relationship only to leave her again. Tully learns the hard way to protect her feelings, hide her emotions from everyone just to protect her heart from being broken..She is driven to succeed, sometimes obsessively so. She rises from the impoverished childhood to become incredibly wealthy, and while all of the people around her treat her with respect, when she is alone with her thoughts, she longs for someone to share it all with. She thinks that Kate wants the same career path that she does, and while Kate does want to succeed.. it isn't in a professional career.

Kate wants to be a successful homemaker, keeping the home fires burning so that her family feels safe and secure. Kate is what some would call the lighthouse in a horrific storm at sea. She has the typical challenges and downright defiance from her daughter, seemingly from birth until her later teen years.

The ending was so powerful! If you decide to read this book from the reviews that are on eBay or Amazon, etc.. then make sure you get a box of tissues or 2..you will certainly need them during the last part of this book. This book made me laugh, cry, have empathy for both characters, get mad as Hades at one of the women, and remember my childhood friends with whom I have lost touch. I plan to reach out to my childhood best friend and call her soon. IMHO, when a book can evoke this kind of emotion in me, then it is most definitely a keeper and worth every cent that I paid for it.

I hope that you will go buy this book in whatever format fits your lifestyle. I listen to audiobooks because it feels like it did when I was young and someone would read a story to me. That evokes a special feeling for me..

Enjoy this book! It is most definitely WORTH your time!
Linda

February 20, 2008 at 10:51 AM  

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