Happy feasting!

I realized that my trip to Miami was the tenth one I've taken this calendar year (that is, trips requiring a flight, not including the local conferences I've done). Ten! That's way too many. I'll be scaling way back next year. I've decided not to go anywhere unless I can take Max and the baby along (and someone to help watch them), so I'm not feeling awfully mobile. It's sort of bad timing to be in a nesting phase, since I have two books coming out next year (austenland - May, book of a thousand days - fall). But the traveling was very hard on my family, and I just can't do it anymore.

I'm so excited about book of a thousand days! I don't know what it is about that story that makes me so happy. I'm just beyond eager to share it with people, and yet at the same time I've been extremely hush-hush about it. So far, only three friends/family members have read it. It's diary format and the main character, Dashti, does sketches along with her diary entries. Just yesterday I started getting scans of some of the sketches the artist is doing and they're so lovely. They're very simple, ink with a thin brush, just what I hoped they'd be. I've seen other work by the cover artist as well and he's so great. I think it's going to be a gorgeous book.

For all you friends outside the US, be sure to engorge yourselves on high calorie side dishes tomorrow, in honor of Thanksgiving. Ah, a holiday all about food! And, um, family and being grateful, too...