There was a whole lotta shaking goin’ on in St. Louis recently when a 5.2 quake and aftershocks triggered by the Wabash fault in Illinois made the earth move under our feet.  (Eeek!  We had another quake today as I wrote this!)  I’ve been through a hurricane, microbursts, and tornadoes, but feeling the house rattle is something else entirely. 

Thank goodness my writing life is on solid footing, though plenty of readers have written to say how sorry they are that TOO PRETTY TO DIE is the last of my Debutante Dropout Mysteries.  I’ll miss Andy and Cissy, too; but I’m forward-focused and hard at work on revisions of LOVE, LIES & TEXAS DIPS, second of my DEBS series with Random House.  I’ve been in nose-to-grindstone mode lately, tweaking the manuscript and making it as juicy as possible.  It’s hard to believe that LOVE, LIES won’t be out until June of 2009.  At least I don’t have that long to wait for the debut of THE DEBS on August 26—yippee! 

Adding to the excitement surrounding THE DEBS’ release is the cool news I hinted at in last month’s update. I had to wait for the all-clear to spill, but now I have it.  So here goes (drum roll, please!): the folks at Random House have worked their magic behind the scenes, cooking up an amazing contest to promote THE DEBS in partnership with—get this!—the fabulous Lilly Pulitzer!  The high-end resort-wear designer is hot, hot, hot (the Desperate Housewives wear Lilly’s sundresses a lot, and Lilly-wear has been spotted on Gossip Girl, too!). So you know the prizes are going to rock!  I couldn’t be more thrilled and promise more details soon.  So stay-tuned!

Once revisions are done, I’ll be out and about in June, doing a panel at the St. Louis County Library on June 5 at 7 p.m.  The library’s Third Annual Suspense Night will feature literary luminaries like Ridley Pearson, Megan Abbott, Scott Phillips, Reed Farrell Coleman, and Michael Kahn in addition to yours truly.  (Wow, I know!)  Borders will sell copies of all authors’ titles and Starbucks will be providing drinks and dessert (yum!).  For more details on this stellar evening, click here. 

On June 7, I’ll be presenting a workshop at the Heartland Writers Conference at Southeast Missouri State University.  My friend and best-selling romance author Bobbi Smith will be speaking as well as a host of other fine writers and literary agents.  For the scoop, click here.

Also in June, Ed and I plan to participate in the St. Louis Komen Race for the Cure.  I’m revved and ready, baby, as I’m in much better shape this time around.  Last year at race-time, I was two months post-radiation therapy so I moved a little more slowly than usual.  I’m looking forward to being in a survivor’s pink shirt again and helping to raise money to kick cancer’s a**.  Hope to see lots of familiar faces!  Goooo, Pink!