Archives - Weekly Update

After a weekend with beautiful weather, terrific reading and lots of relaxing, this week I have been completely immersed in books and authors at BookExpo America (BEA).

On Tuesday night, Greg and I kicked off the festivities with Nelson DeMille’s fabulous launch party for RADIANT ANGEL. The book is fast-paced and scarily plausible; I so hope he was not prescient. The toasts were flying, and Nelson’s usual wit and humor contributed to making this a really fun evening. When he throws a party, there are industry folks there, as well as his circle of friends, which seems to expand exponentially at each party. Each time we gather (I think this is the sixth party that I have attended), we have a reunion with those who love Nelson, which is a long list! (More on the book in a moment.)

It’s an absolutely gorgeous day here! The sky is blue, it’s gloriously sunny, trees are lush and green, the pool is sparkling blue (though 70 degrees) and the flowers are brilliant. What a great way to kick off the unofficial start of summer. This is energizing weather, and we all are ready for a weekend of RELAXING.

Last weekend, my mom came up with a great idea for celebrating Mother’s Day. On Saturday afternoon, we went to Peony's Envy in Bernardsville, NJ, to visit their farm that has a display garden that stretches over eight acres. I learned that there are four major types of peonies --- woodland, tree, herbaceous and intersectional --- and the blooms in these gardens begin in late April and end in early June. The flowers in bloom last week were the tree peonies; you can see one of the glorious blossoms above. Just stellar! We came back to the house and met up with Tom’s mom and had a lovely dinner. Then Sunday, the official Mother's Day, I relaxed and read/knitted while Tom and the boys opened the pool, which was crystal clear in a day or so. Cold, but clear. Also, I got some planting done, though there is a lot more of that on the horizon.

When we left off last week, I was hustling my way over to the Random House Open House. The first speaker, Tom Brokaw, was greeted with a standing ovation as he walked into the room, which he genuinely appreciated, though it also seemed to surprise him. Of course, I cannot recall a time when I was at a book event when there was an ovation at the start of a presentation. From there, he gave a very personal and highly engaging talk about his diagnosis of and treatment for multiple myeloma, which is the topic of A LUCKY LIFE INTERRUPTED, which will be in stores on Tuesday. If any of you caught his "Dateline" special last night, you will know why his speech had us all riveted. You can see a clip from "Dateline" that aired on the "Today Show" here, as well as a piece in Parade here. I have seen a lot of authors over the last 18 years, but this is one of the talks that I will treasure most.

Today I am spending the day at Random House Open House, which is one of my favorite events, thus I am furiously typing this newsletter before I head to that. Their lineup is stellar: guests will include Tom Brokaw (still my favorite newsman), Jodi Picoult (she’s written a second book with her daughter, Samantha van Leer, who also will be a guest) and Emily Giffin. I love these events and look forward to seeing many of our readers there. We’ll have a report on the event next week!