Summer Aloha Slowdown...

Friday, May 20, 2011





Aloha to all my web friends!






As you can see from the following photos, I am back in my favorite place in the world: Hawaii.
(This first photo is sunset on the night my girlfriends showed up!)









Although the weather has not been quite as good as I would have liked, it's still a LOT better than the gray and rain in my beloved Washington State.






As most of you know, I was touring with NIGHT ROAD for much of March. I was flying across the country, touching down here and there to meet you, and what a blast I had. Thanks so much to all of you who took time out from your busy lives to meet me. I was thrilled to talk with each and every one of you! (Above is the photo of me and good friends, Megan Chance, Jill Marie Landis and Jill Stadler at my favorite tiki bar in Hawaii--girls just wanna have fun!)




I thought you'd like to see this photo of Megan Chance and me (below). I'm sure I've mentioned her on this blog before, over the years. Megan and I met twenty-three years ago. It was kismet, really. We were both young, unpublished writers at a day long workshop. We met, decided to become critique partners and have worked together ever since. She's my first reader, always, and one of the people with whom I brainstorm ideas. She has a book coming out in June--City of Ash, which just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Woo hoo, Megan! And this was her first trip to see me in Hawaii. What a blast we had...









This is the three of us---me, Jill, and Megan, at a beautiful hotel on our last night in paradise. We had delicious drinks and pupus on a lanai, and watched the sun set into the Bay. Can't say a better aloha than that...













And now, all of my guests are gone and it is just me and my books and my husband and the island...





Right now, as I write this entry, I can hear the trade winds blowing through the coconut palms in my yard. I can also hear birds, and children laughing down on the beach, and the waves rolling in. It's absolutely perfect--the perfect place to rest, rejuvenate...and think of a new idea.



Yes, sports fans, it is that time again. I need a new idea. And why? Because my book for 2012 is an eyebrow hair away from finished. Yay!!! I am awaiting word from my agent and editor, but the great news is that I really love this book. I may have to do some more work on it, but I'm thrilled at the opportunity to roll my sleeves up and edit AGAIN because I really want to make this book even more special. I can't wait for you to read it!!! I can say with confidence that it has the best heroine I've ever written. I know I'm being a little mean, even saying anything, but I wanted you all to be the first to know how happy I am with the book. Soon--hopefully in a month or so--I'll feel comfortable releasing some more information about this novel, which has a MOST unusual setting for me. I really walked into a world I know nothing about for this one...



In a way, I wish I could keep working on it forever. Anything is better than trying to come up with a new idea. That is definitely the hardest part of the whole process for me.



Finally, I want to thank you all for your support of both NIGHT ROAD and WINTER GARDEN. Winter Garden has spent twenty weeks on the NYT bestseller list. Wow. That is absolutely amazing and humbling, and I can't thank you enough. I have also been blown away by your love of and support for Night Road. You guys rock!!!



And now, I guess I'm going to take my book down to the beach. In the past weeks I've read Harlan Coben's Long Gone, Lisa Gardner's Love you More, Discovery of Witches, and the Paris Wife, and Water for Elephants (I know, I know, I was the last person to read it, but I ADORED it). What have you read? What's on your summer TBR pile?



Aloha for now---



Kristin










21 Comments:

Anonymous Kristin C said...

Hi Kristin! I always anxiously await your new books and love every one! You being so excited about your 2012 book will make the wait seem SO much longer!!

I've said it on your facebook page and maybe here on your blog, too, but Night Road is a book that has and will stay with me for a long time to come. It's already transformed the way I think about each day and how blessed we are to have those we love in our lives for as long as we do. Thank you for your beautiful writing and the powerful messages you send with your books.

I just finished Freedom and have Violets of March waiting in the wings.

May 20, 2011 at 6:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So happy u loved Water for Elephants

May 20, 2011 at 7:17 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I love when you "SHARE"....
I am going on vacation in 54 days. Plane ride, lake house with NO television and I need two weeks of books.. Please, Please give me some suggestion..
Trish

May 20, 2011 at 7:18 PM  
Blogger princessapr said...

Jealous of your Girls' Time. It sounded like you all had a blast. I saw pictures of adult beverages on Jill Barnett's Twitter feed, too.

Congratulations on the success of the last books! I do think they're getting better and better. My friend and I were just discussing Night Road last week as a matter of fact.

I have an ever-increasing TBR pile. I just finished Mary Jo Putney's latest which was really nice to get into a good, old-fashioned historical romance again. I may continue and read Jennifer Ashley or go Lori Foster. I haven't decided. I also finished J.R. Ward's Lover Mine last week and was glad I finally got time to read it!

Just an update that my friend's wedding went well, and Little Miss rocked as Flower Girl. Minor embarrassing moments for me, but everyone at the wedding was highly amused by her. Pictures are on my Facebook page and will be on my blog by the end of the weekend.

Right now, I have to run. We're babysitting my nephew and attempting to be parents to two kids. I'm tired already. :)

May 20, 2011 at 7:24 PM  
Blogger gail said...

Hi Kristin...don't know what the book you have just wrote is about ....but how about the next one with some humor...sometimes when my friends tell me stories of their life happenings ....they are just so funny....so I thought maybe when you write your next book you could put some humor in it...this is from the gal who re-reads your first book every year...the one set in Alaska...I know it is crazy but I love to read it when I need a good laugh...what can I say I loved that book.....happy writting...gail

May 20, 2011 at 7:52 PM  
Blogger Erin said...

So excited to see you back! I got Night Road a while ago and I am in love with it! It was such an amazing book! I can honestly say that every book of yours that I've read I've ADORED.

Right now I've been reading mostly things only from one of the websites I'm on, but when I actually put my laptop down and pick up a real book, I've been reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.

I've got a lot on my TBR list for the summer, for my personal one, the top of my list is Gone With The Wind. I've been awaiting a Summer Reading List for high school. That's really my first priority because Honors English requires you to read two of them. I'm hoping they'll have some interesting things on there.

Happy Summer and can't wait to hear more about your 2012 book!

-Erin

May 20, 2011 at 11:03 PM  
Blogger Catherine West said...

Hi Kristin! Congrats on finishing another book! So how many times do you normally go in and rewrite or edit? Sometimes I love that part, sometimes I hate it! I'm doing my catch up reading this summer and looking forward to reading a few more of your books! You make it look easy.

May 21, 2011 at 10:16 AM  
Anonymous Michelle said...

Hey Kristin and fireflies!

Ok, so, remember that "unnamed project" I spoke of? Well, in the last year, I've lost 29 pounds! So happy, and healthy :)

And my sis... yes, the one who had cancer, and is a mother, is getting married! So happy for her although a tiny bit jealous? I wonder, where's my coast guard guy? Heck, where's ANY guy?

I spent the day today with an old friend I haven't seen for literally years. I tried to sell her on Firefly Lane (of course!) She's interested :) I'll send a pic of us! kind of cute...

Oh, I don't know of a new idea for you...maybe Girl gets raped in lighthouse and then falls in love with her rescuer?! I know that sounds horrible...

But I've read Still Alice by Lisa Genova, Dream a Little Dream by SEP, (aMAZING book), Debbie Macomber, Letting Go by Pamela Morsi...one called Quality of Care by Elizabeth Letts, I tried to read Joanna Trollope but got lost...and Love You More, which turned out kind of a disappointment.

And to be read are The Postmistress, Secrets of Eden, Jane Eyre (yeah, I'm a bit late, I guess), These Things Hidden, The Girl Who fell from The Sky, Think Twice, Arcadia Falls, The Edge of The Sky, Invisible Bridge, Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy, oh boy. I feel like I'm drowning. Although right now I've been taking them two at a time!

So Talk to you guys later! Cheers and Keep Reading:)

May 23, 2011 at 12:41 AM  
Blogger shannon said...

Love the pics in Hawaii...that is a place I really must visit!! I have read Night road and loved it so much I convinced my book club to read it!! We will be meeting next Thursday evening to discuss, drink wine and share appetizers!!! I have Winter Garden on my TBR list for my summer vacay...and also Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank and Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand...I am such an addict I just keep buying books before I can even find time to squeeze thm in...like they are going to go away if I don't buy them NOW!!! I am currently reading The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Aice Monroe...Can't wait to start Winter Graden though...and so look forward to next years new release!!! Love , love love your books!! Oh btw...got my 23 yr old hooked too:) She's reading NIght Road right now !! Have a great summer!! Can't wait to hear more about the new book!!

May 23, 2011 at 4:34 PM  
Anonymous donna said...

Hi Kristen - Just wanted you to know I just finished Night Road and thought it was great. I, too, recently read Water for Elephants and loved it. Unfortunately, the movie was panned so will wait for it to come to rental. I read an excellent mystery - The Burying Place by Brian Freeman - it was really, really good and I was happy to discover a new author. I am just starting another one by him as well. Please don't forget about your blog friends - some of us don't go on Facebook - just not interested!
Donna from CT

May 26, 2011 at 4:00 PM  
Blogger Patricia T. said...

So great to see some familiar names. April, the photos of Little Miss are beautiful.

Glad you're having such a wonderful time in Hawaii, while the rest of us are dodging horrible storms and tornados. We had hail the size of golf and tennis balls the other night when the sirens went off. Had significant damage to our roof (will get a new roof) and to a number of windows. Tornardo on the radar, but no touch down. We're going from the 60s last week to the high 80s now. Tomorrow it will be warm and sunny.

So happy you are doing final edits on your 2012 book -- if you feel that much passion about it, then it really must be good! Like it when you step into a world you don't know. Somewhere, (FB?)I thought you said it would be released by the end of the year. Now I can't find it. I hope it involves travel and carries to a place we've not seen before.

Love to listen to you squirm as you search for that seed of an idea for your next book.

Have given Night Road to some friends -- that book hit a little too close to home for me! I loved your though line and the mirroring in the book as history repeated itself. Loved Lexie. And, you do write children well -- there is always psychological edge.

Warmly,
Patricia

May 28, 2011 at 11:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Kristin,
I'm new to your books, read Firefly Lane and Night Road and just loved them both. Currently reading True Colors and have Winter Garden waiting on my nook. Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your work, love the family dynamic in True Colors and can't wait to get my hands on a few more.

June 12, 2011 at 5:40 PM  
Anonymous Cathy Smith said...

Hi Kristin, I met you and your husband in the HNL airport in April. You gave us a few reading suggestions and I can not thank you enough! I picked up True Colors upon our return, loved it. Next I found Firefly Lane where the story could be the story of my dear friend now in her last days of suffering with the very same cancer. Then 3 days ago I bought The Winter Garden. I can not believe how very much that book touched me! My very dear friend married into a family from Russia. She has never heard their story but is now in determined to understand her in-laws while the are still able to tell it. They are on borrowed time now!I am certain for the first time in her 45 year marriage she may come to understand her family that have never talked!

Thank you again for the hours of pleasure and tremendous gift!

Hope to see you on the slopes skiing next winter. Cathy Smith, Newport, WA

June 24, 2011 at 3:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I loved NightRoad the BEST book i have read in a long time.Please write a sequel to this book> i have so many questions that havent been answered yet !!!!!!

July 4, 2011 at 3:51 PM  
Blogger Tracie Lynne Hall said...

Hi Kristin!
Yikes! I'm a little late to this party considering your post was May! Yes, I remember mention of dear friend Meagan, thanks for introducing her. Now if I pass her on the street, I won't. Not that she'd be on any of my streets. OK, enough with "silly". Are you back in WA now? And has it's one day of sunshine passed yet--oh no, I think I was told that's in September. My friend in Lynnwood told me they all watch for people with umbrellas there--those are the Californians.
It sounds like I'm going to love the 2012 release! Can't wait! So? Did you find a seed for 2013? Maybe it's already a sprout? If not, what about including a character who is a compulsive liar--always aiming for approval, who discovers the lies aren't only unnecessary, but ruining her credability and cheating the listeners from learning who she really is? Or not. :-)
Reading? I'm currently working on a book of Emmerson essays, finally. Not completely what I expected, but certainly thought provoking and enlightening. Hubby and I just finished listening to "Blood of Flowers" a 2007 first novel by Anita Amirrezvani, read by Shohreh Aghdashlod. A killer combination! It's about a young girl in 17th century Iran whose anticipating a life like her parents as they collect for her dowery, but, as the year of the commet portends, she finds her dreams derailed and struggles to come to grips with the results. The art of rug making is intertwined as are some Iranian folk tales (resulting in a a wee bit of confusion at times--although in print it may not be), I don't think I've said enough to express how good it is, but don't want to give it all away.
Take care!
Tracie

July 14, 2011 at 12:08 AM  
Blogger Pat T. said...

I just finished Summer Island. It was a wonderful story. There are so many people affected by unfinished business from the past. It's such a shame we don't have the courage these characters did to deal with the past and be "real" people. Also recently read Night Garden which was also very good.

I have to also say that Hawaii is also my favorite place on earth; Maui is my favorite island. I have been there 4 times and lived on Oahu for a year back in the 60s. Every time I go back, my soul gets replenished.

Keep up the good work. You are becoming my favorite author. I have Angel Falls and Magic Hour on my shelf to read next. Trying to get through some of the older books before the new ones.

July 15, 2011 at 2:17 PM  
Blogger EmilyLynn said...

I love your books! I read Firefly Lane a while ago, and just finished Winter Garden. I can't wait to read some more. You are such a great writer, and a big inspiration to me. I have always wanted to write a book, but that dream always disappears until I read one of your books and get re-inspired :)

Emily from MI

July 19, 2011 at 11:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kristin,

I just finished reading Winter Garden and I was blown away. I can't wait to read your other books!

When I was reading about the difficult choices that Vera had to make, I thought of an article in USA Today I read recently in which Jill Biden was talking about the famine in Africa. She mentioned one woman with two children who was so weak from walking that she had to choose only one to try to save. She was so weak that they would both die if she didn't pick just one to carry. I can't imagine having to make that choice. That comment came back to me when Vera sent Anya on the train and stayed with Leo. I don't know if that is of interest to you but I thought I would mention it since you said you were looking for new ideas. I agree with you that many women throughout the ages have been strong and dealt with hardships in life and difficult choices.

Keep writing and your fans will keep reading your books.
Carol
[email protected]

September 3, 2011 at 9:16 AM  
Anonymous Lynn said...

I am sad that this blog seems to have fallen by the wayside.

:-(

I did read Distant Shores on vacation this summer and I had read Between Sisters first, so I had no idea the characters intersected a bit. Very cool.

September 10, 2011 at 4:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am in love with your books. My relationships with my friends are of the upmost importance to me. I move so much 6 times in 9 years. These are huge corporate type moves. I am constantly making new friends. I call myself the new frontier woman. In order for my husband to make a decent living, I must move and forge a life for myself and my children. It's odd to fill out a school form and have no one to put as an emergency contact. I've noticed my best friends are always women who move as often as I. We end up doing holidays and birthdays together. One of my closest friends recently moved. It really tears at my heart. She and I did everything together with our children. I guess I would love to read about a book delving into a relationship about women who NEED their friends. What about a story concerning a woman who is married to a man with Aspergers? Her friendships would be extremely important because her life would be lonely. At any-rate I adore your books. You are my favorite author. Thank you for bringing richness to my life

Jackie

December 22, 2011 at 11:01 PM  
Anonymous Trish W. said...

Hi! just got through reading "Home Front" and i just wanted to tell you how much i enjoyed reading it. I've never posted a comment on someones website before. So that tells you how great a book i thought it was. Sincerly Trish W.

May 10, 2012 at 6:23 PM  

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