Tampa Book Buzz

i’ll see you back here in august

Well, book buddies, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I’m taking a break from blogging.
The good news is that it’s only for the rest of the month, so I should be back around the first of August or so.

The bad news is that I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The good news is that it’s papillary thyroid cancer (the “good kind” of thyroid cancer), it’s Stage 1 (the earliest stage) and the prognosis is very, very good.

The good news is that I’ll get to read 24/7 while I’m laid up in bed recovering from surgery.
The bad news is … well, I can’t really think of any down side to reading non-stop.

See you all in August!

[Anyone interested in the personal, detailed info is welcome to visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisac2008.]

out of town this weekend

I’m going to the hometown castle this weekend to visit my niece The Princess, who is — according to my mom (Granny Mama-Mama, according to The Princess) — the most beautiful, intelligent and amazing 2 1/2-year old on the face of the earth.

The Princess has double names for everything: my sister is Mama-Mama, my mom is Granny Mama-Mama, bunnies are hop-hops, cats are meow-meows, dogs are woof-woofs…I wonder what my name will be. Lisa-Lisa? Aunt-Aunt? Aunt-Aunt Lisa-Lisa? At least The Princess is too young to make any Cult Jam* jokes.

Have a nice weekend everyone! See you on Monday.

*Once upon a time, back in the mid- to late-80s, there was a R-and-B/pop/rock group called Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam. (I don’t think “the” is officially part of the group’s name, but that’s what we called them in south Georgia.) If I had a dollar for every time I heard “so, where’s the Cult Jam?” in high school, I could quit my Real Job and become a full-time blogger.

a bookstore trip

Finally getting a chance to go to Borders to use the gift card I got for Christmas:

Sweet

Having a cute guy smile at me and hold the door open for me when I walk in the store:

Really Sweet

Catching the tip of my shoe on the welcome mat, stumbling through the door and almost falling flat on my face in front of the cute guy and the rest of the world:

Priceless

be back soon

Light posting over the next few days, as I won’t be home much. (Regular readers know that this is not unusual around here; sadly, the unusual part is that I’m giving advance notice before disappearing for a few days.)

I’ll be watching movies, making painfully awkward attempts at small talk, gushing over filmmakers and watching more movies at the Gasparilla Film Festival.

reading, interrupted

Yowsa, what a week. What a month. What a year. What a life! Sorry to fall off the face of the earth yet again.

If my life were a novel, it would be:

2 parts Judy Blume
2 parts Helen Fielding
1 part Jen Lancaster
1 part David Sedaris
1 part Katherine Ann Porter
mixed with Danielle Steel
dashes of Ian McEwan, Stephen King and Nicholas Sparks

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

…hello 2008

It’s the fifth day of 2008 and I’ve already broken several of my new year’s resolutions. How about you?

Most of my resolutions can be summarized in one word: MORE.

I want to read more books, attend more local book/author events, meet more people. Get better at small talk for when I meet those people. Be healthier, happier, richer, nicer. Write more often. Be a better writer, better friend, better person. Laugh more, play more, enjoy life more, get out of the house more. Read more books — have I mentioned that one yet? It’s pretty high on the list.

THANK YOU all for being bored/crazy/interested enough to visit this blog. I appreciate all your email: the updates (whether your own event or something you saw in the paper and wanted to make sure I knew about), the questions (it’s a terrific ego boost that anyone wants my opinion), the invitations (wish I could say yes to them all), the jokes, the constructive criticism, the corrections, the holiday/birthday/get-well wishes, the suggestions and everything else.

I even appreciate the crazy person who posted an illegible rant — calling me a bitch, no less — on one of my social networking homepages. A lot of my blogger and online writer friends get hate mail, death threats, insulting/crazy emails, stalkers, marriage proposals, etc. (And book deals, speaking invitations, media attention…) I’m not eager to attract any crazies, but I’m relieved to finally have my first online insult out of the way. Hopefully my blogger badge will arrive in the mail soon.

Here’s to a happy, book-filled 2008 for us all!

happy holidays

I hope this holiday season is full of friends, family, food and fun. And great gifts. Can’t forget the gifts!

My holiday haul satisfied all of my personalities…my girlie-girl side got pajamas, lotions and potions, and more lip gloss than one person can use in a lifetime; my film fan side got movie tickets and a stack o’ DVDs; and the book lover in me got a Borders gift card and a huge reference book (about TV shows, for my inner couch potato).

Plus the gift basket from my sister, the culinary school grad. Fa-la-la-la-YUM.

Happy holidays everyone!

happy holidays

Was kidnapped by Santa and am being forced to work in elves’ workshop. Cobbling shoes is hard work. Constant supply of cookies and milk help somewhat.

Hope to escape soon.

is thanksgiving over already? yawn…

We’ve all heard and read the stories about people getting sleepy after eating turkey. It seems that merely buying a turkey puts one to sleep as well. Either that or someone slipped something in my tea, ‘cos I’ve slept about fourteen hours a day since Tuesday. I’d be asleep right now if it wasn’t for pesky things like work, bills, laundry and email.

Friends and family were ignored, calls and emails went unreturned, deadlines were missed, pies from scratch became frozen pies from the grocery stores, and so on. I managed to read one book (Darkness Falls – liked it a lot — review pending) and watched the Law and Order marathon on TV.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too.

happy thanksgiving

I’m taking a few days off to grocery shop, eat, read, visit family, plan/cook my Thanksgiving meal, eat, read, hang out with friends and eat.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

See you next week.