Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 9

VNF is Free, But Not For Long

Hey, Amazon is giving Very Nice Funerals away for free today. I think it’s just for today, though. (Nobody tells me nothin’.)

This is a Good Book Thursday: The Tough Guy Week

This week I read James Herriot and Rex Stout and watched Elementary. Yeah, comfort stuff.

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday: One Day at a Time

Deb Blake let me know that I missed posting on Sunday, for which I thank her and apologize to you. Spring has been difficult here and I’m not connecting on all points these days. Bob is being patient and Krissie is checking in, so I’m fine, I’m just not hitting all my bases. I’m currently rewriting the first half of the current book since Bob and I did some heavy brainstorming already this week and we have brilliant new ideas, so I’m bringing the first half up to date while he pushes ahead into Act Three. In other news, I’m changing the sheets on my bed. Hey, it’s the little things.

What did you work on this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday: Who Knew It Was Thursday?

I read a James Herriot book because I needed to calm down.

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday: Halfway There. Or One-Sixth

We’re about halfway through the first book in the new series (STILL no title) or about one-sixth of the way through the series. Advice: Do not have a heart attack while you’re writing a book. It slows you down.

What did you work on this week?

Wear the Lilac and Carry Your Towel!

I almost forgot: Today is Towel Day (don’t panic) Wear the Lilac Day, in honor of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Terry Pratchett (the Discworld novels), both of them terrific writers tragically gone too soon. I am not panicking. I have my towel and a complete Discworld collection. Still every year when I write this post, my heart clutches a little at what we’ve lost with their deaths. But as Pratchett once wrote, “Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” Their names are still spoken, their books are still cherished, and today is the day to remember them and read.

Go get their books. And a lilac towel. You won’t regret it.

Happiness is Lunch Plus with Friends

I have this friend, Cathy Maxwell. I adore her. I’ve never laughed as hard with anybody as I do with Max. And about once a month she drives in to see me because she’s that kind of friend, and we have lunch and then do something that amuses us both and it’s one of those perfect spaces of time that reminds you that life is really just about connecting with good people. Time before last, we went to an art gallery in town, really a craft gallery, and just oohed and ached. This time we went to a thrift store and she scored an insanely gorgeous teal coat. We oohed and ached over that, too. But the point is not the coat or the art, it’s talking to Cathy, leaning closer over the lunch table, laughing like loons, being appalled by the same things, discussing our dogs (hers is Tess and Tess is wonderful), and just being Cathy and Jenny.

Happiness is knowing that Cathy will be back in June, and that I’ve got lunch with Pat Gaffney this Thursday. (Yes, almost everyone I know is an author. I’ve spent most of the past thirty years either writing alone or going to writers’ conferences. That’s how I meet people. See also Krissie and Bob).

What made you happy this week?

Argh Author: Brenda Magriet’s Suspect Attraction

. Our own Brenda Magriet has a book out now: Suspect Attraction.

A steamy, later-in-life, contemporary romance mystery by Brenda Margriet (released April 8)

A silver-haired charmer with a shameful secret. A broken-hearted matchmaker with a guilty burden. And a bewildering disappearance that could wrench them apart.

Regina Blynde knows Seth Updike is trouble the minute he strides into Blynde Dating Agency. That’s trouble with a capital T—tantalizing, tasty, and tempting.

Resolved never to risk loving someone only to lose them again, Ginnie keeps things strictly professional and matches him with a wealthy widow.

Who promptly goes missing.

Ginnie’s search for the truth makes it impossible to avoid Seth. And when he sets out to woo her, she finds him too hard to resist.

But as the evidence mounts up and mysterious circumstances multiply, Ginnie must face a shocking fact—she’s falling in love with the prime suspect.

Available in print and ebook
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D49KH8J8/
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/suspect...
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/suspe...
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/susp...

This is a Good Book Thursday (hey, it’s still Thursday)

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday: Multitasking

I’m trying to figure out character arc, subplot, and setting while not forgetting the dog (in the story). Multi-tasking, that’s me.

What did you work on this week?