My Whirlwind Week

Filed Under: Ladies, life, my oldest friends, Neil is awesome, STAY

Last Tuesday, I turned in my copyedits. On Wednesday, I got on a plane and flew to NY. So, you know, it wasn't hectic or anything. :) I got in Wednesday evening, made my way from JFK to Hell's Kitchen and had dinner with Neil. Sadly, no fingers were put in noses, but we did have really good Thai food. On Thursday, I met Wendy for coffee, which was delightful. It is always nice to have a chance to talk shop with other writers, and Wendy is so kind and absolutely hysterical! Then I went to Dutton (Oh! The books! Everywhere!), got to meet a whole bunch of wonderful people, and had lunch … [Read more...]

Thankfully, I will not be doing the translating. :)

Filed Under: STAY

So, STAY is going to be a book in Italy too!!!Seriously!I still can't get over the fact that STAY is getting published in the United States, (over six months since the deal was announced and I'm still pinching myself) so this is just . . . amazing! From Publisher's Weekly - it's under Penguin, if you go to the article (which is a great write up of books up for foreign sale at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, btw):"From Dutton, there's Allie Larkin's novel Stay, about a woman who mends her broken heart with some canine love from a German shepherd; the June 2010 title has sold in Italy."And, … [Read more...]

Manticores are kind of scary.

Filed Under: Bigfoot, music

J and I aren't as cute as Erin and Ted (few people are), and will probably never sing a song for you on camera (unless we're incredibly inebriated, yet still somehow able to operate the camera and post effectively). But, like Erin and Ted, we have a habit of making up new lyrics to old songs. Our recent composition came to fruition a few days ago, while we were sitting on the couch with our laptops being nerdy. To the tune of "You Sexy Thing." J: I believe in manticores. Where you from? You sexy thing. Me: I believe in manticores. But it's kind of hard, since they don't exist. J: … [Read more...]

I spent an hour stuck in a dress. How was your day?

Filed Under: reasons I hate shopping

I've been working out a lot lately, and I lost a few sizes. When I pulled out my fall clothes, none of my nice ones fit anymore. This afternoon, I needed a break from my work, so I hit a discount store to shop for dresses. I tried on a grey belted sheath dress that looked really cute on the hanger, but less so on me. The lining of the dress was unreasonably thick and hot, and the air in the dressing room was unreasonably thick and hot. I was so uncomfortable that I felt like I couldn't get out of that dress fast enough. Then the zipper got stuck. I tried to pull the dress up without … [Read more...]

No Dogs Were Harmed in the Making of This Photo

Filed Under: Argo the wonder dog, STELLA

Well, I've finally got my author photos. It was a month long fiasco that ended with J taking my pictures (and doing a wonderful job). We wanted a few with Argo in the shot. Argo, however, wanted to chew on sticks, run around the park, and herd other dogs. After trying (and failing) for an hour to get him to sit nicely next to me and look at the camera, he flopped over and let out a huge sigh, like we were frustrating him and not the other way around. So I flopped over on him, joking around, and J snapped a picture. This will not be my author photo, since it kind of looks like I'm … [Read more...]

Little Road Trips

Filed Under: Ladies

On Thursday morning, my friend M called me from Chicago. She was in the airport on a stopover, on her way to Buffalo, when she realized the person she was meeting wasn't coming in until later that evening. She was going to be stranded in the Buffalo Airport for several hours. No one should ever been stranded in Buffalo, so I threw some great CDs in the car, and drove out to pick her up. I got to gush over her gorgeous, gorgeous new engagement ring and hear all about how her adorable fiance popped the question (does it get much better than hearing about how a dear friend is going to marry … [Read more...]

I think I might be done with gardening. Sort of. Maybe.

Filed Under: food, garden

Last year, I gardened like crazy. I grew tons of peppers and tomatoes. I roasted and dried and sauced and froze. I spent most of my summer weekends cooking and weeding. I watered every morning and every night. When we went away, I enlisted one of my friends to come water for me. I was a gardening fool. This year, I watched my garden get invaded by weeds while I worked on my rewrites. And it was okay, because I was still getting a reasonable amount of cukes and eggplant, with promises of peppers and tons and tons of tomatoes. But then the tomatoes stayed green for a really long time. … [Read more...]