It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a more personal blog, so today is your lucky day! I’m writing this from a writer’s group I connected with through Meetup. I’m in a few of them. It’s nice to interact with other writers and it’s also a great motivator to get out there and put in a few hours of writing time. This is the first time I’ve been able to participate in this particular group because it usually meets during the week and I have that pesky day job. (That pesky day job that pays most of my bills and provides me with health insurance and a generous 401K so I’m not complaining. That much…)

I’m not feeling so hot. I was fine at about 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon and by 2:45, my throat was sore and I was coughing. By the time I went to bed that night, I felt like I swallowed a shard of glass. I tossed and turned for hours and decided to call out sick on Wednesday. I slept almost the entire day. Although I still wasn’t feeling great on Thursday, I didn’t feel comfortable taking more days off from work since I have several vacation days in the near future. I’m still not at optimum health but it didn’t stop me from running outside all weekend. I just couldn’t resist this fabulous weather. I am loaded up on drugs and hope to get this cold out of my system soon! In fact, I am heading off to Seattle on Thursday and will be really upset if I’m still alternating between coughing up a lung and blowing snot out of my nose. (TMI?) Especially since flying already wreaks havoc on my sinuses.

over-medicated much?

Why I am traveling to Seattle you ask? My publisher, the fabulous Booktrope, is based out of Seattle and they are hosting a table at the Association of Writers & Writer’s Programs 2014 Conference & Bookfair. They asked if any of their authors were interested in participating—many of them also reside in Washington State. Although New York City is a long way from Seattle, I decided to attend the conference so that I could meet my publisher and some fellow Booktrope authors, as well as reunite with some close friends who live there. I’m also scheduled to do a book signing on Saturday morning and so I had 30 books shipped to my friend Megan’s apartment in downtown Seattle (10 copies of Blogger Girl, 10 copies of A State of Jane and 10 copies of Just Friends with Benefits). In hindsight, I probably should have shipped far fewer books since my signing is only from 11:00-12:00 on Saturday and, seriously, how will I possibly sell 30 books in one hour unless I change my name to Nora Roberts, Emily Giffin or Jennifer Weiner? I hope to sell one to be frank…

I have been a writing machine this past month and my fourth novel is already 58,000 words. My novels are typically 75,000-85,000 words so I’m really making progress. I am so excited about this book and so I fly out of work almost every evening and head to various coffee shops in the city to put in some writing time. If I have any chance of publishing it in 2014, I can’t really afford to go straight home from work and watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and so, unless I have social plans after work, I can usually be found at either Argo Tea in Union Square, or The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Murray Hill. They know me now at the latter and before I open my mouth to order, the guy at the register (who I learned is named Brian) says, “Chai Latte?” Sometimes I feel bad when I switch things up and order a Vanilla Latte instead, but I’ve got to keep them on their toes. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Argo Tea

Before I sign off, I wanted to thank everyone who purchased my Real Chick Lit for Real Chicks collection. When the boxed set went on sale for .99, I broke the Amazon top 100 bestseller list for the first time ever!  Pretty exciting stuff.

Ok, signing off now to continue working on my novel.

Cheers!