So I got here to my hometown of San Diego and have been doing two things: eating Mexican food/In n Out (animal style!) and signing stock. When I sign stock, I wonder if anyone will ask me for ID or at least look at my book jacket photo, but no one has yet. What if…

Last night I had the book launch at Ala Moana Barnes & Noble. It was back in the cookbook nook. They’d taken out all the cookbooks and put out a ginormous display of my books. Don’t the colors look awesome on that wood? I mean, if you can see the colors. The flash on the…

Today is Kaiya’s first day of kindergarten. Almost. Yesterday was a parent-only orientation, which I probably didn’t need to attend as I’m an Old Hand at kindergarten by now. Today is the Group A orientation half-day. Kaiya then gets the whole rest of the week off, has another orientation on Monday, and finally begins in…

The community relations manager showed me a HUGE 5 foot by 8 foot banner that was made up for the event. “We’ve never had a sign like this,” she said, clearly delighted, as she and another guy rolled it out for me to see. It was printed on a plastic canvas, like the all-weather banners…

Redbook came out.  For the past week people have been e-mailing me telling me they had seen the review.  But here in Hawaii, it hadn’t hit newsstands yet. Finally yesterday my husband procured one at the Longs across from his work. I have to love a review that references Mad Men, my favorite show, even…

I looked out to see him trying to maneuver a 7.5 foot tall box up the stairs to the townhouse, and a stranger, a middle-aged Chinese gentleman, helping him. “All right! I’ll get it from here,” Cadillac said once he wedged the box through the front door. “Thanks! You’re a great neighbor.”

When I was a kid, I used to wonder which part of me came from which parent, as if I could draw a line down my middle and figure this out. Some things are easy: my hands look just like my mother’s. My nose, says my dad, is a Hartley nose from his mother (not,…

Kaiya was in my belly when I first started writing this book. I had high blood pressure and the doctor had me doing nothing more than sitting up, so during that summer of 2005 I began writing the novel.

A long time ago, back in 2005, I had a different novel with a different agent. It was the first novel I’d written. It’s about a pop star who falls in love with an Army Airborne Ranger. Go Army! Anyway, most everyone said it was well-written, but it did not sell. Why? People had a…

A big thing these days with Elyse is how much Dad embarrasses her. She is 11 and in middle school, so this is to be expected. I admit, Cadillac does love telling a corny joke, and he does love her over-the-top reaction when he tells these jokes. “Make him STOP, Mother!” She throws her head…