First off, I’ll admit I’m totally scatterbrained right now, and this post will be…umm…pretty random.

I’m home after spending 24 of the last 30 days on the road. The No Mercy book tour went great, and I am happy I got to connect with so many readers, booksellers, friends, etc. I have a new appreciation for those people who have to travel for their jobs all the time, not just once in a while. A different airport, a different hotel room every night, dining alone, having the dedication to actually use the gym in the hotel, instead of just passing by it like I did.

Now I’m struggling to catch up. By my estimation I’m…24 days behind. Oh sure, I tried to work, and actually got some writing done. But I’m a creature of habit. I like my writing area. I like being alone in silence. I like being in my house, sprawled in my comfy chair with my feet up. I’m productive when I can shut off my main computer and head upstairs to my crappy laptop without distractions of the internet. I don’t have a crackberry; I travel with a netbook to check my email. (Don’t ask me how much online shopping I did late at night when I couldn’t sleep due to lumpy or hard mattresses, but I have a couple of pairs of nifty new cowgirl boots.) So what was the first thing I did upon my return? Tackle my piles of laundry? Organize the mountain of mail on the dining room table? Shine my new boots? Nope.

I hunkered down in the recliner with a bowl of popcorn and watched the first episode of LOST. Then daughter #3 and I watched The Vampire Diaries. Followed by a family viewing of new episodes of Burn Notice and White Collar. I’m holding back on watching Supernatural because I have to have something to look forward to. I also read magazines I missed, including the issue of Entertainment Weekly that lists the Oscar nominations. I think I’m the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen Avatar. I’m trying to squeeze that in this weekend.

I’ll admit my taste in movies is a bit lowbrow. I’d rather laugh than cry. I’m more interested in watching stuff get blown up than getting my guts torn out by a movie that shows the hopelessness of the human condition. For me, movies aren’t art, but entertainment. Yes, they can be art, but that isn’t the main appeal for me. Hunky half-naked guys ranks right up there too. Funny, hunky half-naked guys in cowboys hats? Even better 🙂

So, let’s share our favorite movie lines on this cold Wednesday morning! (Told ya this post would be random) Here’s a couple that popped into my head:

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball — Dodgeball

Fetch is so not happening, Gretchen — Mean Girls

The life of a repo man is always intense — Repo Man

There’s a tiger in the bathroom (the exact language has been slightly modified <g>) — The Hangover

And for your willingness to play along today, a random commenter will win a signed copy of the highly entertaining Lorelei James Rough Riders book – Long Hard Ride.

Ready, Set, Go!

My best friend from high school, who I hadn’t seen for 20+ years, popped in for my book signing in Sioux Falls last Saturday. I knew she was coming, as a mutual friend who had no idea we knew each other (yes, South Dakota IS a small state) set it up in a round about way.

I looked at her, this woman who knew so much of my history, and I of hers, a girl/woman who was so important in my life for so many years…well…when we really saw each other, we both sort of burst into tears. Once we composed ourselves, we talked a mile a minute, like we used to.  Laughed like we used to. And although we have different lives that have taken us in surprising paths (however, she reminded me that I wrote two solid pages in her senior yearbook, so she always knew I was “wordy”) we’ve grown up, gotten older, sprouted a few gray hairs and the start of wrinkles, when I was with her, it didn’t feel like 20 years had passed. Nothing had changed, even when everything had changed.

I’ve been mulling this over in the past few days, how thankful I am for another chance to rekindle that friendship. I’ve made friends over the years. I count people I’ve met online among some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Sure, I’ve lost track of people in my life, some intentionally, some not, some I rarely go beyond the fleeting “I wonder what ever happened to?” thought. Especially since I’ve never bothered to go to a high school reunion even though I still live in my hometown. And since my grandparents and members of my husband’s family have died, we’ve somehow severed even more connections, to people and places. Sad, but some times there is no choice.

Thanks to Facebook people are re-establishing those ties. I’m a late-comer to Facebook, I just joined in the last month. I dragged my feet for a long time, even after everyone and their dog told me how necessary it is for promotion. That part? I get. But I have little desire to connect with people from my past. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I don’t care, but because I *do* care. Because I am one of those people who feels the need to respond to every person single who contacts me. Right away. God forbid anyone ever thought I’d gotten snooty over the years. I swore that I’d curtail my online hours in 2010. I’d focus on spending more time with flesh and blood friends and family I’ve neglected.

Yeah, I hear you asking how that’s going. Not like I’d hoped.

During my travels in the last few weeks, I’ve realized I’m not ready to own a crackberry, I have no self-discipline and I’d never get any work done if I had access to email/the internet all day long. However, I’m now part of the twitter community. Facebook is addicting. I can see how cool it is to have people ask and care about what you’ve been up to since the last time they saw you — be it 20 years ago or 20 hours ago.

I’ve also stuck a toe in the tweet world. I had fan pages set up for Lorelei James and Lori Armstrong (which still is too bizarre to comprehend). I’ve accepted every friend request, because again, I don’t want to be impolite. But nothing beats meeting face to face. My BFF and I exchanged phone numbers and email and we’ll stay in touch online, but I cannot wait to sit down with her, over a beer, and pick up where we left off.

What’s the best reconnection you’ve had with a person from your past either via Facebook or by chance?

**Slight self-promotion** I”m going to be signing books  in Tucson, AZ tonight at Clues Unlimited (and I’ll be seeing my good buddy J. Carson Black!) at 7:00 and Thursday night in Phoenix, AZ at the Poisoned Pen at 7:00. If you’re in the vicinity, come on out, I’d love to meet you!

I followed Roxanne’s lead and picked a song title for my first blog post. Hopefully that won’t get me kicked out of the cool girls club here at MSW.

I’m on book tour in NY right now–my very first book tour, so this meet and greet and stock signing stuff is not old hat to me. I’m in that “this is so cool!” stage I hope I never take for granted.  Although this is my fifth published book in the mystery genre, it is the first book in my new mystery series, and No Mercy is (finally) out. I won’t pimp it with a buy! buy! buy! link, because frankly, I’ve been doing nothing but promo the last  few days and my brain is chicken-fried, extra crispy. The problem is, I can’t put my feet up and flip on the TV in the hotel room and veg out. No, it’s not because I can’t figure out how to use the remote, but because I have to work.

I have a book due Feb. 15th. This isn’t a woe-is-me- post, I love my job. Evidently I love my writing job a little too much because I overscheduled myself in the first half of 2010.  So instead of wandering the streets of NY in a daze and shopping until blisters form on my booted feet, I’m peeking out my window every so often, wondering why they leave the lights on ALL night in ALL the office buildings as far as I can see.  And to think I yell at my family for leaving the lights on in the bathroom. I’m feeling a little more confident in my effort not to contribute to global warming.

Anyway, I won’t go into the jackhammers and the ambulances and the sirens happening right outside my window even in the wee hours, instead I’ll share some fun/crazy/cool things that have happened to me so far in the big city:

1) I got to hang out with my brother without a billion other family members jockeying for his attention

2) I attended the Professional Bull Riders Tour stop in Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon (umm…did I mention I’m sort of a rural geek?) and saw JB Mauney ride the bull Code Blue that’d never been ridden before (really, I’m a total geek, I’m even friends with individual bulls on Myspace) and the AP wire service guy took pictures of our funky boots

3) My good friend Cat came up from Conn. We drank beer, laughed, hung out and I realized there is no substitute for the live connection of real friends

4) Cuban food – oh man, I fear this entire blog post could be about food 🙂

5) Meeting my NAL editor and talking about the next Lorelei James project

6) Food delivery right to my hotel room — and not room service! I live in no man’s delivery land, so it is actually more interesting and exciting to me that I can call up an Indian Cuisine place two blocks over and have them bring me an order of Tandoori chicken, than it would be if I ate it in a restaurant

7) Having a car and driver and my publicist pick me up in front of the hotel today — and not having my clothes be terribly wrinkled after riding in a car from NYC to New Caanan CT (umm…did I mention I hate to iron? And I ironed my shirt this morning so I am SO glad it wasn’t wasted effort!)

8 – The event at the New Caanan library where people I didn’t know actually showed up to hear me blather on

9) My friend Karen showing up at the New Caanan library to hear me blather on when she’s heard it a billion times

10) The bacon crusted steak I had for lunch (hey, I warned you this could be an all food post)

Tomorrow I meet my agent and my Simon and Schuster editor for lunch, then the publicist is taking me around for stock signings, and I finish the night with an event at a Barnes & Noble on the Ave. of the Americas.

More than a little thrilling for a South Dakota girl who most days feels like a little ol’ housewife who just happens to pen tales of murder and wild sex.

So in celebration of my first post here at MSW and my release week coinciding, share your biggest thrill of the week–big or small, any thrill that matters to YOU–in the comments today and I will randomly pick a winner for a signed hardback copy of No Mercy!

L~

PS-I will be popping in today and commenting as time allows!