Q: Summer’s almost
done! How did you spend your summer vacation? Or did you even take one?
-from Susan
A: No vacation this year. I have been spending my otherwise
vacation funds on professional events: MIXED UP WITH MURDER book tours in
February; Malice Domestic (Bethesda, MD) in April; and the upcoming Bouchercon
(New Orleans). I will visit a quiet little corner of Burgundy in the dead cold
of pre-Christmas to do seasonal research for my second French village mystery,
and then Left Coast Crime happens in Hawaii (Oahu) in March and Malice again in
Bethesda right before the first French village mystery, LOVE AND DEATH IN
BURGUNDY, is released. Please don’t tell me that I can write off all this on my
taxes. As my tax guy tells me gently every year, deductions aren’t my problem,
revenue to take them against is the issue.
I’ve been working all summer: With my St. Martin’s editors
on polishing the first in the new series; with my second publisher on preparing
all of the Dani novels for release in sparkling new print and e-book editions; on
the first draft of the second St. Martin’s book; and on my Sisters in Crime and
other volunteer involvements.
The Dani series - the first, originally published by Avalon, then Amazon's Thomas & Mercer, is coming very soon.
But I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, a place so
vacation-themed that it’s packed with visitors from around the world pretty
much all year. You can’t stop for a cappuccino in North Beach without hearing
at least six languages being spoken, and parking to look at seductive San
Francisco from the viewing area at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge is
virtually impossible between the huge tour buses and the hundreds of hopeful
cars lined up waiting for parking, never mind a thousand happy bike riders
navigating from SF to Sausalito. So I – with friends and family - visit the museums,
eat at the latest trendy restaurants, walk Crissy Field to look at boats and
sailboarders, and otherwise give thanks I happen to live in a place where ‘staycations’
are as good as the getaways I’m missing. Could be worse.
Congrats on the new series--and on the hard work you've put into it! A busy year indeed. Look forward to seeing you at B'con--and then again at Malice next year!
ReplyDeleteSorry, Art, my response earlier didn't post. I enjoyed being at your Malice table when you won the award last year and intend to follow you around every time you're nominated!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! And you brought me great luck at Malice. We should definitely hang out at Bouchercon!
ReplyDelete