Hola from sunny Mexico!!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hola firefly friends---
I know I usually post from the beaches of sunny Hawaii, but just this once I've gone south instead of west. (I am hopelessly directionally challenged, so if that's wrong, please don't tell me). Except for Leen, who is always funny in her observations. :)
Anyway, I'm down on a GORGEOUS island off the coast of Mexico. Not surprisingly, I don't know the precise location, but we're about a two hour drive from Cancun. My entire family (at least almost entire, a few people are sadly unable to attend) is gathering for a reunion. The last time we all got together was a few years ago, in Hawaii. And here we are again. We'll be trading in pina coladas and reaching for margaritas instead... The only thing missing, really, is Jill Marie Landis, who makes every beach party more fun.
So far, we've been kayaking and running and listening to local music and swimming on our fashion fun floats. There are three of us that do this---Debbie is the fun; Mackenzie is the fashion (her suit matches the float), and me. The float. I don't think this is a crack about my weight. :)
As crazy as the last few weeks has been, it's GREAT to be down here. My husband and I were on tour for True Colors (it was great to meet a bunch of you all, by the way--and welcome to anyone new I met!). We came home from the tour and turned right around and left again. I know, I know, we were leaving for sunny Mexico, so it wasn't such a hardship, but still...don't you feel a little sorry for me. All that travel and packing and repacking? Just a little? Okay, okay, I know you don't. You're still thinking about the beach and the margarita...and you're right. It's cool.
The other thing going on, of course, is the books. While I'm down here lazing around, Firefly Lane continues to blaze up the book charts. Last I heard it was number 5 on the New York Times list. As if that isn't amazing enough, True Colors debuted at number 5!!! Needless to say, number 5 is my new favorite number. :) And best of all, if they start to fall, I'm too far away to hear. There's no cell service down here, no real internet (just cafes where you have to sit and type while the beach is calling), so whatever happens, I won't know about it until after the fact. Margarita on!
I'll be home in five days and show you all some great photos. My niece is a great photographer, so maybe she'll loan me a few. I can't post my own here because this is a public computer.
So, hola and adios to all!!
Talk to you again soon,
Kristin
ps: And yes....I am missing LOST!!!!!!!! The price of paradise....
I know I usually post from the beaches of sunny Hawaii, but just this once I've gone south instead of west. (I am hopelessly directionally challenged, so if that's wrong, please don't tell me). Except for Leen, who is always funny in her observations. :)
Anyway, I'm down on a GORGEOUS island off the coast of Mexico. Not surprisingly, I don't know the precise location, but we're about a two hour drive from Cancun. My entire family (at least almost entire, a few people are sadly unable to attend) is gathering for a reunion. The last time we all got together was a few years ago, in Hawaii. And here we are again. We'll be trading in pina coladas and reaching for margaritas instead... The only thing missing, really, is Jill Marie Landis, who makes every beach party more fun.
So far, we've been kayaking and running and listening to local music and swimming on our fashion fun floats. There are three of us that do this---Debbie is the fun; Mackenzie is the fashion (her suit matches the float), and me. The float. I don't think this is a crack about my weight. :)
As crazy as the last few weeks has been, it's GREAT to be down here. My husband and I were on tour for True Colors (it was great to meet a bunch of you all, by the way--and welcome to anyone new I met!). We came home from the tour and turned right around and left again. I know, I know, we were leaving for sunny Mexico, so it wasn't such a hardship, but still...don't you feel a little sorry for me. All that travel and packing and repacking? Just a little? Okay, okay, I know you don't. You're still thinking about the beach and the margarita...and you're right. It's cool.
The other thing going on, of course, is the books. While I'm down here lazing around, Firefly Lane continues to blaze up the book charts. Last I heard it was number 5 on the New York Times list. As if that isn't amazing enough, True Colors debuted at number 5!!! Needless to say, number 5 is my new favorite number. :) And best of all, if they start to fall, I'm too far away to hear. There's no cell service down here, no real internet (just cafes where you have to sit and type while the beach is calling), so whatever happens, I won't know about it until after the fact. Margarita on!
I'll be home in five days and show you all some great photos. My niece is a great photographer, so maybe she'll loan me a few. I can't post my own here because this is a public computer.
So, hola and adios to all!!
Talk to you again soon,
Kristin
ps: And yes....I am missing LOST!!!!!!!! The price of paradise....
18 Comments:
To the Queen Firefly:
Great job on the bestseller lists. One of my favourite numbers is 1, so I think you still got some work to do, though. With "True Colors", you've just gotta beat John Grisham, so that should be easy peasy. :)
As for me being funny... I'm on strike right now. Got a book to read, so I can't concentrate on humouring you. You can borrow the book after I'm done, though - it's one of the New York Times best sellers. I believe it's on #5. Or if that ain't true, I'm prolly wrong in thinking my friend the author is geographically challenged too. I'd tell her to get lost, but she prolly got lost already and she misses Lost too.
Man, I'm talking gibberish! Gimme back my book and I'll just shut up.
Thumbs up!!!
Leen
Ooooh, so jealous. So very jealous! At school it's a balmy 33 today. And there's still a huge pile of snow in my yard. I'll trade you my fun filled, exciting, absolutely scintillating anatomy text for a mexican vacation. What? No takers? C'mon people, anatomy! Doesn't get any better than that.
Congrats on the best seller list! Very awesome and very deserved.
Enjoy some sun for me!
Sounds wonderful !!!!! Enjoy your vacation. I am trying to book a Mexico vacation for Sam and I soon. It's long overdue!
I am VERY VERY VERY VERY (did I say VERY?) sad to report that our Board of Directors meeting is here in our Dallas office next Thursday. That means neither my boss, nor me, will be in Seattle. That means I won't be at Kristin's appearance that night.
Waaaahhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!
Firefly pouting,
Lisa
I am so excited for you Kristin!
I hope the time away is exactly what you need!!
Still bumming that you couldn't make it to Mpls/St Paul area. Would have LOVED to have met you, and had you sign my book!
You're the best.
LOVED THE BOOK!!!
Seriously, it was so good.
Enjoy the rest of your time away.
Sincerely,
Kari Simonson
Kristin! I think True Colors ruined every other book for me! I just read "While My Sister Sleeps". Phenomenal,
and phenomenally sad. For some reason, I just kept comparing it to True Colors, which came out WAY on top!! And I love Barbara Delinsky. What is wrong with me.
Well I have to say that you got me hooked on Susan Elizabeth Phillips; I read Nobody's Baby but Mine and This Heart of Mine and now I'm reading What I Did For Love, not to be confused with The Things We Do For Love, the second book I read by you. I just need something funny you know.
Sooo... have a margarita (or two) for me, and I'll "see" you soon.
Kristin, just finished Firefly Lane and it's my new favorite book! True Colors is next, so keep them coming...please!
Have fun in Mexico!
Kristin --- True Colors just arrived in my mailbox today, so I'm thrilled to have another one of your fabulous books in my collection. :D Thanks for writing such terrific stories and for creating characters who are so compelling. I loved Firefly Lane - reminded me of my friends when I was a teenager.
At any rate, enjoy sunny Mexico, play on the beaches, unwind and have fun, but send some of that warmth up to Maine for us. We'll be shoveling more snow in the next 24 hours - oh, what fun! (LOL)
Congrats with the bestseller list - you really deserve it!!
Debbie in Maine
Ooooh, Michelle, I have What I Did For Love to be read. I think it delivers this week. I hate being so behind, but it got delayed in shipping. I've been a long-time fan of SEP though. Let me know what you think! I've heard great things about it. Meanwhile, I'm catching up on Glitter Baby.
I had one hell of a headache for most of the day today. I'm not one who usually goes and finds something in the medicine cabinet really fast, but in this case I broke down and took something anyways. Which is the one and only reason why I'm still sitting here, cuz otherwise I'd been in bed by now.
Now why did I bring this up? Well... I'm trying to figure out what caused it. And there's two options. One: I stayed up really late last night cuz I wanted to read up to page 300 in "True Colors", so that I could finish it today. So lack of sleep could be the cause of my poor condition today. In other words: I should blame Kristin for writing such a book you don't wanna put down, so that if ends up messing with your health. ;)
Of course, there is another option too. Back when I was 14 years old, my grandma died and I couldn't cry but I felt like I was in some kinda physical pain, which was way worse than crying. Now I think this is comparable to what I felt after reading "True Colors". Contrary to "Fireflies", which made me sob majorly (of course, you have to take into account that I was going through some pretty rough times at the time too), "True Colors" just made me slightly teary-eyed and that was it.
Now I wondered for a while if that meant I didn't like the book as much as "Fireflies". But then I'd have to say "no" to that. Though "Fireflies" will always have a very special place in my heart, mostly due to the subject of the book and the period of my life I was reading it in, I am once again in awe about how recognizable this new story seemed. I'm pretty sure my friends who will read this book will compare me to Winona, even though I'm pretty sure there is a part of Aurora in me too and maybe even a little bit of Vivi Ann.
Without spoiling too much for those who haven't read the book yet, I'd like to say that for a person living in a country where she's one of the few people that has a clue what cowboys and rodeo's and country music is all about, a book in that kinda setting could never be anything else than a winner. And there's so many themes that ring a bell with me too: jealousy, a dad who has a difficulty to express his emotions, ... - it must really be a universal theme if a Belgian recognizes an all-American scene as part of her own life too.
In the mean time, I've tried to start a new book, but it just won't work for now. I can't let the Grey family go just yet. So I figure tonight, instead of going to sleep with a book under the sheets, I'll just close my eyes and think of the sequel of this story.
Oh yeah... and of course I'll have to think of some way to get even with Kristin, after causing me such a headache. Maybe I'll keep on rereading the book until I find some kinda flaw in it or something... ;)
Love,
Leen
Leen, I'd have to say I cried the most when I read If You Believe though each book always has one scene that affects me. I will also add the detail that it's not always a sad scene. I cry at a perfectly happy scene in Angel Falls and in Magic Hour. Every time, no matter how many times I read the books, that one scene will get to me. It's so weird that I'll cry at happy things, too.
I found True Colors really was a book that stayed with me. It also made me think. The characters were so complex and well-rounded that I found I'd have a favorite sister and 4 chapters later want to slap her. I love a book that makes me flip flop like that and also really keep me wondering what's going to happen.
Huh. My secret password is "login". How not very secure.
Dear Leen---
I'm cracking up again. I don't think I need to borrow your book. If I'm reading your post correctly it's one I know pretty well. In fact, I've read it so often I know it by heart. so if you lose it, let me know and I'll finish the scene for you. :)
Hope you love it==
aloha,
K
Dear Sheila---
I don't know. Cheney in the snow or a secluded Mexican island with friends and family and apitcher of margaritas...hmmm... it's a close call. And throwing in anatomy...you're really making it an unfair choice. :)
aloha,
K
Dear Lisa---
Waaaaaaaa.....that's me whining that you won't be the queen of the Redmond signing....
No matter how good it is, it will be less fun without you...
Here's to me coming to texas sometime soon...
You will totally be missed.
aloha,
k
Dear kari---
I'm so, so glad you enjoyed the book. As I've said before, it was a lot of fun to write--and not all books are. So, thanks!!
aloha,
k
Dear Michelle---
Thanks for the wonderful comments about True Colors. I, too, have long been a Barbara Delinsky fan, and I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed her book. I have to admit that I haven't read her in a few years, but More than Friends was once a favorite.
And I'll pass your nice remarks on to Susan Phillips, who is truly one of the best, brightest, funniest and most caring women I know. Her personality shines through every word, don't you think?
aloha,
k
Dear LaDonna and The Redhead who reads---
Welcome both of you! I'm glad to hear from both of you, and I'm glad to hear how much you enjoyed the book.
Let me know if True Colors measures up for you...
aloha,
k
Dear Leen---
Jeez, I don't know whether to apologize for your headache or say I'm happy that you didn't cry uncontrollably or to be pleased that such a quintessentially small town America story resonated with you. All of the above, I guess. Actually, after the deep sadness of Firefly Lane, I was really conscious of writing something that was a definitely happier ending. I'm a big believer that an author shouldn't write the same book every time. That being said, I try to deliver the same experience--a powerful, poignant, moving story of people who care about each other. Would you say True Colors was successful in that regard? And I will say this: the book for 2010 is another big tearjerker. so maybe you should think of this year as gearing up for next year. :)
Like you, I see myself in all the Grey sisters, perhaps most of all, though, I identify with Winona. That's one of the cool things about being the writer/creater: I get to be a part of every character.
Glad you finally got the book and glad you enjoyed it!
aloha,
k
Dear April---
Just a comment on the whole crying thing. It always surprises me when people tell me that my books are tearjerkers. Honestly, I don't intent to make people cry, or even think about it. I think ultimately, it's just that my characters feel so real to people that their troubles resonate with readers, and I'm really touched and humbled by how deeply readers are touched by my work.
So, thanks!
aloha,
K
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