Fun with Friends

I've been wrapping up the last bits of research on the new novel (next week: plotting!!!), but in the midst of all that I've managed to take a day off here and there for some fun. Last week, several author friends and I converged on Debbie Macomber's lovely home for an excellent luncheon (we try to do this twice a year--much eating and gossiping ensues): (from left: Katherine Stone, Susan Anderson, Jayne Ann Krentz, Christina Dodd, Jill Barnett, Debbie Macomber, Stella Cameron, Kristin Hannah, Me, Linda Lael Miller)Then, yesterday, I went into Seattle for lunch with Kristin Hannah, Christina Dodd and Jayne Anne Krentz, to celebrate the release of Christina's latest thriller,Because I'm Watching.What you don't see in this picture is the Cherries Jubilee, which was rapidly devoured.This is what we were celebrating:Now, back to work--this is the hardest part: taking all the research and little snippets of ideas that have occurred to me over the last months, and working them into some kind of entertaining plot. Wish me luck!