Let’s talk tube.

Someone sent me a blog yesterday that was sprinkled with TV references, and I came to the realization that I don’t watch nearly enough television.

I know, I know. Americans watch too much TV. We’re melting our brains. Our children are turning into couch potatoes before our eyes, etc. But the thing is, there are households out there where TV just isn’t a big deal. My house happens to be one of them. And while there are definitely some good things about that, I can’t help feeling (occasionally) that I’m missing out.

So I set out to do something simple (or so I thought). Find a list of the top TV shows out there and pick one to start watching. I discovered this is tough to do. TV has become so varied and fragmented, and there is simply so much out there. It isn’t like 25 years ago when Thursday nights rolled around and half the people in America were glued to THE COSBY SHOW.

After scouring the Internet (okay, I only spent thirty minutes, but still), I realized a definitive list of “top” TV shows is hard to come by, probably because there are so many definitions of “top” and everyone wants a list that suits their own agenda. But here are some shows that I came across again and again:

TRUE BLOOD

NCIS

BIG BANG THEORY

CRIMINAL MINDS

30 ROCK

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

BONES

HELL’S KITCHEN

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT

Is your favorite show on this list? Currently, the only show I watch on a regular basis is TOP CHEF, which always makes me hungry. I’m looking for a new show to fall in love with. Tell me about your favorite and why you like it so much.

Just for fun, I also poked around and found a list of top TV shows of all time. I’m a little skeptical because the list I found included CHEERS, MOONLIGHTING, and THE WEST WING (yep, agree with those) but also FELICITY (!?!). So who knows where these lists come from.

Anyway, tell me your favorite TV show, past and present, and be eligible to win a $15 GIFT CARD TO STARBUCKS, along with a signed copy of my new release UNSPEAKABLE.

Did you notice the double exclamation marks? Can you tell how excited I am?

There is nothing like a book release. I get that flutter in my stomach the night before. I toss and turn all night. Then on the morning of pub date I jump out of bed and immediately want to go to the book store.

The release of this new book, UNSPEAKABLE, is particularly special to me because I’ve had this story in my head for such a long time. Well, not the story exactly, but the people. Every time I’ve met a female cop or interviewed an FBI agent or read a book about the FBI Academy, I’ve been thinking about this heroine. And now here she is, alive on the page.

Her name is Elaina McCord, and she’s the rookie agent who gets in way over her head when she goes to a popular Texas beach resort to help local police solve a string of brutal murders. Elaina is sharp, stubborn, resilient, and also a fish out of water in the Texas border region. Lucky for her (and because this is a romantic suspense story) true crime writer Troy Stockton shows up to help her navigate the local politics… but of course his help comes with some strings attached.

It was so much funresearching this book! I got to interview FBI agents all over the country and hear some amazing war stories. I had a chance to tour the Academy at Quantico. I got to fire a Glock for the first time. I got to walk around Hogan’s Alley, where agents-in-training practice takedowns. I got to fire a Glock. 

Did I mention the Glock? That was my favorite part.                                                                             

And then I got to sit down at my computer and let the story flow and weave in all the details I’d gathered and … I can’t explain it. I just felt like it came together. So when the cardboard box arrived on my doorstep filled with books, you can imagine how excited I was. I hope readers enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Let me share a review, and then get to the fun part. THE GIVEAWAY!!

“A tight suspense with the sexiest of heroes and a protagonist seriously worth rooting for!” 4 1/2 STARS! –RT Book Reviews

Oh, and Fresh Fiction put a smile on my face, too:

“Laura Griffin’s Tracers series is spellbinding and full of twists and turns. A page-turner until the last page, it’s a fabulous read.”

I hope you will like the book, too! To celebrate the release this week I’m giving away a signed copy of UNTRACEABLE, along with a $25 GIFTCARD TO BORDERS. Just leave a comment for a chance to win! And drop by my Web site at www.lauragriffin.com if you’d like to read an excerpt.

If you are a mother, this has probably happened to you.

You’re standing in your closet holding a spatula and a pair of pink Speedo goggles and you’re looking for something, but for the life of you, you have no idea what it is.

No? You haven’t had this experience?

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I have an attention deficit disorder. Or maybe I’m simply juggling about sixteen too many balls in the air. Or maybe I’m having a string of senior moments a few decades early. For whatever reason, about once a week I find myself in the middle of something and I’m reminded of the book I used to read to my kids, If You Give a Moose a Muffin.Or a pig a pancake. Or a (fill in cute animal and high-carb bakery item) as I go about my life. For those of you not familiar with this story (which really is wonderful, by the way, even if I don’t enjoy the obvious parallels between myself and the pig, moose, et al.) it involves some animal that starts out doing something simple and gets distracted with a dozen other tasks along the way.

This is my life lately.  I have a book on my desk awaiting line edits, a novella on my desk awaiting copy edits, and a manuscript-in-progress on my computer that is woefully lacking in heft.

And what am I doing this afternoon? I am labeling socks. Forty-eight socks, to be exact. Each with the first and last name of a child who is leaving home for the first time this weekend (sniff) to go to summer camp.

Perhaps this is the real source of my anxiety. Probably, this is why I’ve been a bit muddled lately as I turn my house upside-down looking for fitted twin sheets, flashlight batteries, and drawstring laundry bags. It’s their first non-family journey away from home, and I’m a bit mixed about it. I know it will be a character-building experience. (I did six years of camp, so I can definitely attest to this). I also KNOW that I sorely need the work time without distractions so that I can make some progress on my writing. But still, I’m finding it harder than usual to get myself and my family organized.

Can anyone relate to this? Please tell me I’m not the only one out there with the attention span of a moose.

Because I’m feeling snacky after writing this, one lucky commenter will win a $10 gift card to Starbucks (buy yourself a muffin!) and a signed copy of my latest release UNSPEAKABLE, which hits bookstores on Tuesday. Woo-hoo! I’ll be blogging about the book next week! In the meantime, leave a comment and be eligible to win.                   

As we head off for Memorial Day holidays, it’s a good time to say thank you to our men and women in uniform, past and present, for the sacrifices they have made for our country. I know that I for one take my freedom for granted every single day, and we all owe our armed forces a huge debt of gratitude. Too bad most of us only think about this a few times a year.

I have never been in a war. I’ve never even been in a war zone. The closest I have been was touring Ground Zero about a year after 9/11, and if anyone doubts whether those attacks constituted an act of war against our country, I would say talk to someone who was there that day and I bet you will change your mind.

I experience war the way many Americans do–through the filter of the media. I read about it in newspapers, online, see it on TV, and occasionally pick up a book about it. It is through the words of writers–some professional and some not–that I feel a sense of loss, sacrifice, awe, horror, and gratitude over the experiences of people who represent my country overseas.

Today I want to share with you a few books, all about different wars, that really struck a chord with me. In short, they made me cry. They also made me laugh and wonder and feel grateful for those who have served our country.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien – This poignant collection of stories about Vietnam gives a very personal and humanizing glimpse into the lives of a handful of soldiers by examining the things they carried with them through the jungle: “They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated Bibles, each other.” (from the back cover copy)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier — This is a love story, first and foremost, but it really drove home for me how bloody the Civil War was and made me realize how close we came to not being a United States.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson — A terrifying and extremely moving account, set in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, of one of the bloodiest days ever for America’s Navy SEALs. What got me about this book was the gray areas. It made me think about how difficult it is to draw a hard line between right and wrong, especially on the modern battlefield. I read the whole book as told through the eyes of this Navy SEAL who watched his friends die, and even in hindsight, I have no idea how I would have responded if faced with the same impossible choices. This book made me think, and I believe that’s the hallmark of an effective war story.

Can you recommend any books about war or soldiers? Or maybe you saw a movie that really hit home? Please share your thoughts!

And a safe and happy Memorial Weekend to everyone!

Books are an addiction for me. They accumulate on my nightstand. On my coffee table. In my car. At almost any given moment there’s one tucked in my purse. And it’s a rare grocery run when I don’t at least pause beside that alluring section right next to the magazines.

Everyone in my family knows I’m an addict, which is why for years they’ve been trying to buy me a Kindle.

“Thanks,” I say (very sincerely… this is no cheap gift we’re talking about!) “But I’m really attached to my paperbacks.”

I am, too. For me, it’s about relaxation. I read books to relax, to unwind, to escape into a great story. Gazing at a computer screen and holding something digital in my hands feels like work to me. I’m in front of a computer all day. The last thing I want to do at night is curl up in an armchair with one.

Does anyone relate to this? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only book lover left who isn’t dying to make the leap to the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad, the Kobo. Which of course isn’t true. I mean, these gizmos are pricey. They range from around $200 for the Sony Reader Pocket Edition to the (gasp!) $829 iPad Wi-Fi 3G with all the bells and whistles. Now there’s something you don’t want to misplace. And it’s not possible yet to do what I do when I shop for sunglasses, which is go the cheapo route so that if you lose them (which I always do) nobody cares.

So, today I’m taking a poll. Show of hands, please, who here uses a digital reading device of some sort? And more importantly, do you like it? I’m genuinely curious. Maybe I’ve been too quick to judge.

Does it work for you at the beach? By the pool? What about in the bath tub? I read an article in the (paper version) New York Timesnot too long ago in which Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bragged about zipping his Kindle into a one-gallon Ziploc bag so he could use it in the bath tub.

He must be joking, I thought. Founder of one of the most progressive companies in the world and that’s the best he’s got? A plastic baggie?

There may come a day when I take these words back (I’m pretty sure of it, actually, but I’m dreading it all the same), but no digital book for me, thanks. I much prefer the paper kind.

So what about you? Like I said, takin’ a poll here. It’s only three questions, and anyone who responds will be eligible to win a free (paper) version of any of my books.

1) Do you own any sort of electronic reader?

2) If not, how come?

3) If you have one (or have ever used one) what do you think?

That’s it! Good luck with the giveaway and happy reading to you, however you like to do it.