Summer Aloha Slowdown...

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 We were both young, unpublished writers at a day long workshop.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