So that’s soooo exciting! I’m hoping some of my British readers will, if they’re out and about, be so kind as to send me any reports/pictures of TR or TtT out in the wild. You can email them to iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com, or tweet me at NicolePeeler.

In other news, Seattle Shenanigans are still going strong, but now with added Dr. Ruth. I last left you on Sunday, after I went and hung out at Casa Henry with Mark and Caroline. That Monday, Ruth was getting in late in the evening. So, partially because I’m ridiculously domestic and partially because I knew I’d need a day of rest and quiet before everything went manic with my friend’s wedding, I had a lovely day of puttering around various local markets, delis, and gourmet shops. I wanted to have dinner waiting for Ruth, but don’t get me wrong. . .I’ll use any excuse to poke around food markets, and Seattle is an amazing foodie culture. Here are pictures of my booty (my gourmet booty, that is):

I bought donut peaches, as well as ingredients for pasta with italian chicken sausage and vodka red sauce from in and around Pike’s Place market. Then I hit up Macrina Bakery for some of their out-of-this-world granola, a loaf of sinfully delicious olive ciabatta, and a green salad.

Dinner turned out beautifully:

But even better was having dinner with Rootie!

And yes, I’m wearing a lady bug pinafore. What?

Ruth was obviously tired after her incredibly long flight to Seattle, so all we did that evening was eat dinner, drink wine, and catch up, with an early night.

The next morning, bright and early, I got up to run. This time in Seattle, I wasn’t called a “filthy fucking cocksucker,” as our local crazy homeless man was in absentia. Instead, as I was running back up 1st Ave, I saw a homeless guy with a sign that said, “I like money, fat chicks, and pot.” He did a Snoopy dance of happiness when he saw me coming, lunging through a crowd of people at the stop light to show me his sign.

I guess he thought I had some pot stashed in my sports bra.

For breakfast we had our granola with yogurt and donut peaches, then we had an elevenses of a little quiche:

Hey, if I run without eating two breakfasts, at whom will the crazies wave their signs? Hm? And speaking of crazies, we spent the rest of that Tuesday with Kat Richardson and Mark Henry, eating basically everything that wasn’t tied down.

Mark and Kat met us at our rented apartment in Belltown, and we walked down the street to where (quite handily), the Marination Mobile was parked for the day.

Those of you who have travelled with me know that there are few things I love more in life than street meat. I love food from carts, trucks, vans, satchels, or off the top of wide-brimmed hats like they do in Istanbul. So I was thrilled at the prospect of a Korean/Hawaiian taco truck, and we were not disappointed. Here’s my “STREET MEAT!” face of anticipation:

It deserved the face, and even more, as it was delicious. I had the spam slider, the Kalbi taco, and the spicy pork taco. Ruth had the same, but she went for the Aloha slider, with kalua shredded pork.

The food was phenomenal, and I was stuffed, swearing I wasn’t going to eat again. Till I did, just a few hours later. But first, we did some sightseeing around Fremont, which has all sorts of odd things. Here’s the Fremont Troll:

We also visited the statues of Waiting for the Interurban, where I practiced for our signing’s promised genital cupping and Ruthie imitated the human-faced dog:

After that, it was shenanigans ahoy. Here’s Mark, Kat and me posing as Happy Families:

And here’s a handy dandy Homer and Bart Simpson impression:

Culminating our trip to Fremont was a visit to Molly Moon’s for ice cream. What was that about not eating again?

After ice cream, we went with Kat to her boat, so she could change before her signing. That day, she launched Labyrinth, the fifth book in her Harper Blaine series. It looks awesome, and I love the first books in the series. I can’t wait to get to this one!

Anyway, we took Kat to her boat to change, and had some fun playing Pirate and Saucy Wench on the docks:

Before we went to Kat’s signing at University Bookstore, however, we managed to fit in some MORE food and drink. This time margaritas and Tex-Mex, with Richelle Mead and Psynde joining us at the restaurant. Ruth and I do love a happy hour cocktail:

After we’d had some liquid fortification, and Mark and I had sweat off about a pound each as we got the bitch seats sitting in the sun, we went to Kat’s signing. There, we saw these funky, colorful lookin’ books. Who wrote this shiz? Really?

Kat did a fantastic job at her reading. She’s very funny and charismatic, especially on stage, and I really enjoyed the excerpt. I grabbed Rootie’s cam and did some audience reaction shots. Ruth is riveted, Psynde is shocked, and Mark is . . . maybe asleep.

“Somebody poke that man, right there, with a stick!” Commanded Kat, with obvious glee!

Isn’t she perty? The day was awesome, and culminated in some drinks at some bar that wouldn’t accept Ruth’s UK Driver’s License as ID. Which is LAME! But whatever, we were exhausted, anyway. And we had a big day planned for tomorrow, what with the signing by Mark and me, alongside our Edinburgh reunion. It was raucous and ridiculous, and I’ll blog that next. But for now, the Touristing with the Laydeez commences in 3. . . 2 . . . 1.

Ciao for now!

The wiener of all this good stuff:

Is Elie N! Yay for Elie! I’m very happy she won, as she’s been a huge supporter of Jane from the beginning. So, thanks for playing to ALL of you, and huge congrats to Elie.

That said, Elie, you won’t be getting your prize for a few weeks . . . it’s probably in the same box as the Contest Can. But I’ll send it as soon as I’ve unearthed it, I promise. Just email me your address to iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com.

And I’ll blog soon with some more moving updates, as well as my upcoming trip to Seattle. If you’re in that area, don’t forget Mark Henry and I will be doing a signing. There’s more info under  Upcoming Appearances, at the top of the page.

• Movers came and packed up my house. I am now living with a card table, one chair, my pilates ball, and a blow up mattress.
• While I was running, someone broke into the Hippie Spaceship, smashing my rear passenger’s window.
• I received my publication money for Tracking the Tempest. Of which, I still haven’t actually SAT DOWN AND LOOKED AT A COPY because I’ve been so flat out crazy busy.
• I received, signed, and sent back my contracts for books #4, 5, & 6.
• I received, edited, and sent back my final pass manuscript for book #3, Tempest’s Legacy.
• Had about a million lunches/dinners/farewell gatherings. I HATE MOVING AND I HATE SAYING GOODBYE. So I don’t! I say, “See y’all later,” because I will.

There was some other shit, but that’s the big stuff. I’ve managed not to have a nervous breakdown, although when I waddled up to find my window broken I nearly succumbed. But the good thing about always living on my own and traveling around on my own so much is that it has made me pretty resilient. . . mostly because if I do curl up in a ball, there’s no one there to poke me with a stick until I get back up.

(For those of you who know how commitment phobic I am, that’s actually the only reason I think I might one day settle down . . . so there’s someone around to poke me with a stick if I collapse. It’s on the same imagery-continuum as Bridget Jones’s “Eaten by Alsatians.” And, yes, my friends get mad at me when I say things like this.)

All in all and despite the car drama, I’m very well and very much looking forward to getting to my new apartment. That said, I’ll basically have enough time to unpack and maybe have a meal before I’m off to Seattle to do some book stuff (including a book signing with Mark Henry that y’all should come to) and attend my friends’ wedding.

But then I’ll go back to PA, and my new life! I’ll be really busy with orientation at my new college, as well as prepping my new courses. I’m going to have to do a lot of Computer Things for them, which makes me a bit nervous. But I think it’ll actually be straightforward once I sit down to figure it out. That said, I know there will be Much Swearing and probably a few Threatening Fist Shakes. Definitely some Moments of Panic.

So that’s me for the next few weeks: move, Seattle, prep for teaching. I’ll also be fitting in some Jane time. I’ve put Eye of the Tempest on hold, for a bit, mostly because I had abso-fucking-lutely NO idea what the middle bit was going to contain. I have the beginning  fifty pages (which I think is the strongest opener I’ve ever written. Although that doesn’t say much, as my openings have always sucked and gotten cut, entirely). I also know what a couple of scenes in the middle will be, and I know my AWESOME ending. But, yeah, that was it.

Luckily, I sent forth a plea to my AMAZING Ideas Factory, Christie Ko, who is beautiful and wonderful and BRILLIANT. She gave me some great ideas that have been percolating away in the dreaded brain pan . . . and I think everything is coming together. So I’ll work on my outline on the road, and then git to writin’ again soon.

In the meantime, there’s still people sending me adorable pics of Jane in the Wild. Here’s Angie’s pic of both books being guarded over by Tofu, the Vegetarian Zombie:

Is it a zombie meerkat, or am I seeing things?

As if to combat the last post’s iPad pics, Kristy sent in Kindle pics of Jane. She looks stunning even in black and white, if I do say so myself:

I think the most dramatic story about purchasing Tracking (besides the broken-car-cord-thingie) comes from Suzanne, who actually left the dentist’s office, after having something painful done to her teeth, and walked across the parking lot to the bookstore to buy Tracking. That’s real commitment, people! Here she is, nursing her sore tooth as she holds Jane, and with it a less-sore picture of Suzanne with TR. Glad you’re feeling better, Suzanne, and I hope the book didn’t make it hurt any worse!

Finally, we have pictures from Raelena and Katia, of Jane lounging about like the strumpet she is. But she’s our strumpet, and we like her that way!

Thanks to everyone who has sent in pics, sent in kind words about the book, and sent me message about my move. I appreciate it so much . . . you guys make everything worth it!

See y’all in Pennsylvania! ROAD TRIP!

I have been trawling furniture stores looking for dining sets, and of course I’m obsessed with two from Needless Markup. I could sell a kidney and maybe buy the chairs! Who needs two kidneys?

Before I sell any of my organs for hoity-toity furniture, however, I will be in Denver, for RomConvention 2010. I’m super excited to bond with my fellow leaguers Mario Acevedo, Jeanne Stein, and Carolyn Crane. I’m also ridiculously excited to meet Nalini Singh, because I’m a huge nerdy fan of hers.

For those of you attending RomCon, here’s my schedule:

Friday

2:00 PM 2:50 PM Q&A Author Chat – UF/RE Authors Steamboat

3:00 PM 3:50 PM Memory Lane Convention Center E

Saturday

9:00 AM 9:50 AM Speed Date an Author Steamboat

10:00 AM 10:50 AM Monsters & More Semi-Charades Breckenridge

12:00 PM 2:00 PM Book Fair

3:30 PM 4:20 PM Betwixt and Between–Paranormal Authors Tea Breckenridge

Sunday

9:00 AM 9:50 AM Author Avenue Convention Center

Denver signing with Nalini Singh, Carolyn Crane, Jeanne Stein and me. Details are here, and there’s a Facebook invite, here.

In other news, Tracking the Tempest has been out for over a week now. I think she’s doing pretty well, and it also seems like a lot more people have picked up Tempest Rising because they’ve heard of or seen Tracking. Which Nikki likey. And I trace this success to my readers. I know you guys talk about the books, lend them to friends, review them, et cetera.

So I heart you guys! And I love when you send me your photos of Jane.

Here’s Aimee’s Corgi, Wilson, with Jane. That’s an adorable dog! I love how his paws frame the books perfectly. He’s like a fluffy book stand!

In a dramatic turn of events, Amber Y. suffered a broken alternator something or other (not much of a car person!) on the way to buy Tracking. Here’s Jane with the evidence:

Becky sent a picture of her cat with Jane, and Heather C. sent one of Jane with her pup, Harley:

Dawn sent pics of Tracking from North Dakota. Here are two with the capital building, or, as Dawn called it, “The Penis on the Prairie” framed in the background. I’m still giggling.

Qwill took a picture of Tracking with two of her own sows:

Jessica S. and Zita sent in pics of their books, as did Jessica W. Hers was autographed!

Melissa already has Jane housed in her very crowded bookcase (very nice!) and Lauren B. made it look like Jane is swimming on her sheets.

Finally, here’s Jane on an iPad. She’s so fancy!

Very cool! Thanks, you guys, for all the pictures and all the support. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know you enjoyed the books.

Viva la Jane!

I still can’t believe I have one book out on shelves; the idea of having two just makes me giggle. And I couldn’t have done any of this without all the amazing fans who’ve made writing Jane so satisfying.

So I’m holding a contest. This time, it’s all organized around Things Jane Likes. Here’s a picture of the prize pack:

As I said, it contains Things Jane Likes, which can be broken down (in no particular order) into: Swimming, home, food, sex, and reading.

Swimming: You get a postcard of the Old Sow, direct from Eastport.

Home: A pirate-themed T-shirt in Large from Eastport.

Food: A cookbook from my favorite celebrity chef, Ina Garten

Sex: Saucy post-it notes, From Him and From Her

Reading: A 25$ gift card to Barnes and Noble

There’s also a little map of Boston, so you can follow Jane’s adventures in Tracking the Tempest.

All very fun, and all very Jane.

You can enter the contest in the following ways:

(x1 entry) Comment on this post to be entered automatically

(x5 entries each for each copy) Show me proof you’ve bought Tempest OR Tracking (email to iheartselkiesATgmailDOTcom a photo or screenshot of a receipt or a picture of the book at home–let me know whether or not I can post it on the blog if it’s a picture of the book at home)

(x3 entries each) Provide in comments links to reviews of Tracking the Tempest OR Tempest Rising you’ve done on your blog, Amazon, Goodreads, etc.

(x2 entries each) Follow me on Twitter or Facebook (if you already follow me, just let me know)

(x1 entry each medium) for pimping this post (Facebook, Twitter, blog post, etc)

I will choose a winner at random on Monday, July 26th at 12:00 AM Eastern time. Contest is international, cuz I love my non-American fans just as much.

To my established fans (all 13 of you : thank you SO MUCH for your support and kind words. You guys make this writing gig worth it!

And to people new to my site: Thanks for coming by and I hope you like it here. Jane’s got lots of adventures to come, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY JANE AND COMPANY! *pops the bubbly*

I know there’s been loads of congrats and interviews posted and stuff like that, which I totally appreciate and adore, but my technical, Orbit-declared release date is July 1st, so that’s what I’m going with, people!

And no, it’s not so I get basically a three day release party. It’s really not! I promise. Okay, I wouldn’t believe me, either.

There is SO MUCH going on to celebrate my release I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start with the biggies:

Kat Richardson, one of my favorite people and writers, made me cry talking about Jane. Kat’s a writer I always use as an example of why I love writing UF. Our books are SO different, yet we can appreciate each other’s writing and we publish under the same genre. I love that! You can see a blurb for TR from Kat on Tracking, and if you haven’t read her books, do so immediately. Her series is awesome–one of the smartest, most well-developed UF series out there.

Today, I’m also over at Bitten By Books, chatting with folks and giving a way a new Kindle. Come by to chat and see how to enter, here!

Carolyn Crane, one of the sweetest Leaguers out there, is giving away a copy of Tracking. I’ll be with Carolyn at both RomCon and our Denver signing. She’s a GREAT addition to the UF community: generous, fabulous, and hilarious!

I’ve also got an interview and a giveaway for Tempest Rising up at Literary Escapism.

Tomorrow, on the official launch, I’ll also be revealing the prizes for two big contest I’ll be doing: one at the League of Reluctant Adults, and one here on my site. So come back tomorrow, y’all!

Right now I’ve gotta go do some stuff to get ready for my signing with Jaye Wells here in Shreveport. If you’re in the area, come on down! We’ll be chatting, snarking, and maybe kicking the crap out of each other. Check my appearances page for more details.

My stay in Greensburg has been awesome. The residency was fantastic, and I really, really like my new colleagues as well as the students in the MFA. I think this program will be really challenging and beneficial for me, both as an author and as a teacher. It’s going to be a sharp learning curve that first semester, but then I think it’ll be a great job.

As for finding an apartment, in the end and despite all my protestations about wanting to live in Pittsburgh, I went with an apartment near the school. I drove the commute a few times, and it’s one of those routes that could take 30 minutes OR it could take two and a half hours. Plus I couldn’t find an apartment I really liked that wasn’t ridiculously expensive. But I found something in Greensburg that is absolutely gorgeous and HUGE (I’m going to have to buy some more furniture). It’s an old building, right down town, with tons of character and gorgeous original features. I’ll be living in the Penthouse, which is French for “pray the ancient elevator doesn’t break down.”

But now I’m going home and my thoughts are firmly on launching Tracking the Tempest. Sightings have been thick and fast: Borders definitely has it on shelves, and I think that Amazon has shipped. So those of you who pre-ordered should be getting it right on time.

My big launch party is over at Bitten by Books, where I’m doing a contest to win a Kindle. RSVP here for the event to earn extra chances to win, and stay tuned to BbB for more info on the actual event. They’ve also posted their review, here.

I’ve also got an interview mit contest up at Tynga’s Reviews.

Melissa, from My World in Books and Pages, reviews Tracking, here, and I’ll have an interview and contest up at her site on July 1st, so stay tuned!

Finally, here’s a review of Tracking that absolutely made my day. It’s spoiler free, and she really gets what I’m doing. Thanks, lady!

Don’t forget about the upcoming signings talked about on my appearances page, and I’ll have some very fun contests to announce on my site and over at the League when I get home. So see ya round, and go forth to buy Tracking over the weekend! YAY!

First of all, I wanted to let you know that Tracking the Tempest has already been spotted in the wild, in a Borders in North Carolina! So at least one person has read it out there.

In the meantime, for those waiting, I’ve done an interview with Tynga’s Reviews, replete with a giveaway for a copy of Tempest Rising. And don’t forget you can always email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com for signed bookplates for either or both books.

I’m writing this from O’Hare, again. I’m flying out to Pittsburgh to look for a place to live as well as take part in my first MFA residency at Seton Hill. It feels as if we just left O’Hare as we just returned from Maine, and what an amazing trip! I went with my mom, Rella; my former English teacher, Mrs. Bunch; and a very good friend, Loren. I liked to think of it as an intergenerational girls gone wild trip. Here are the ladies, all lined up!

Our first port of call was Eastport, which you may remember from the books. It’s right on the Old Sow, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

We stayed at a lovely little Bed and Breakfast, called Chadbourne House. The owners were lovely, the house was lovely, and the breakfasts were to die for:

It was super fun being in Eastport, not least because the Old Sow is a huge presence–at least in the town, itself.

Both of the above pictures were taken at a fantastic restaurant, right on the water in Eastport, that sports its own Old Sow pub. We at there the first night, and the first of many, many lobsters was consumed:

Although this lobster, in St. Andrew, nearly ate us . . .

While in Eastport, we wandered around, taking pictures. The town itself is very small, but gorgeous:

And I found the perfect representative of the sort of building that might house Iris’s shop:

And here’s a picture of the Sow! Unfortunately, you can’t see diddly. The Sow is only visible for moments, when the tide is just right. And even then, you’re probably only seeing her piglets. But underneath that apparently placid water, she’s raging away, waiting to tear up any passing boats.

As stated earlier, we were also wicked international on this trip. One day, we drove up to St. Andrew, a Canadian vacation spot. It was absolutely adorable:

After which we visited two of my favorite friends in the whole world: The Honorable Dr. Reverend Andrew O’Neill and his gorgeous wife, Jenny. They made us dinner and made us welcome, and I can’t tell you how much I love these two. They’re some of the most intelligent, generous, open-minded, and hilarious people I know.

They also have a baby who is such a nugget even I had to give a wee coo. Here he is practicing his bounce:

From St. Andrew, we brought him a stuffed toy of a beaver or, as I introduced it, “Baby’s First Beaver.”

We all had an inappropriate giggle, and then had a gorgeous dinner.

We were only in Eastport for two days, then we went to Bar Harbor, which I’ll blog separately.

But I would highly, highly recommend a trip to Eastport if you’re in Maine. The people are awesome–we may have gotten a little drunk with the locals one night–and the scenery is just to die for. I always have insane fantasies of summer homes. Pretty much every time I visit somewhere I’m like, “OMG I’m gonna buy a summer home here.” It’s usually completely inappropriate (if gorgeous) places like Istanbul or Barcelona. But I’m serious about the summer home in Maine thing. The temperature and the weather were just so beautiful after growing up in the torturous heat of the Midwestern summer, on top of everything else that made the place lovely.

So who knows, Maine might get another writer, one of these days. At least for the summers.

All rightie, I gotta go find something to gnaw on during my flight to Pittsburgh. Wish me luck finding a place to live! In a city again, finally! SO EXCITING!

I left off with Brighton and the news that Rootie had to have an appendectomy. Poor bunny! I have to say though, if she was going to have to have emergency surgery, she was very organized and British about it. She waited till she’d gone home to visit her father, who was also in hospital, to become ill. So she ended up having the surgery at the same hospital her dad was in. The poor man had no idea she’d had the operation until she wheeled her own drip into his room at the hospital.

Here are some horrifying action shots from Walking Wounded Ruthie:

Poor Ruth! Poor wee belleh!

While Rootie was away having bits removed, I went to Orbit UK to meet with my editor and publicist, who were absolutely lovely. It was fantastic! I’ve been telling y’all over and over how important a UK publication was to me and I was thrilled at how seriously they’re taking the books. I wrote TR in Edinburgh, I lived in the UK for six years, I still have so many dear friends across the pond–so having the book published in Britain is a huge deal for me. And they let me steal lots of books. Mmmm. Books.

That night I met up with a friend from West Aurora High School I hadn’t seen for AGES. Funnily enough, he was in Brighton at the same time that I was, and I ended up seeing his band play, and then I ran into him on Brighton Pier.

So Erik was kind enough to keep me company while Ruth healed. First we met for drinks, then we walked down the street from Ruth’s flat, in Islington, to have dinner at a super posh restaurant called Frederick’s. The place is gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the staff could not have been friendlier. Especially to an American who had not thought she’d be going to a fancy restaurant and was wearing her gym shoes. Such a faux pas!

Anyway, the establishment was almost as handsome as Erik:

And the food was amazing. We did have starters, but I literally shoved my chicken-liver mousse into my face so fast I nearly nipped off the waitress’s fingers. I might have been a little hungry, at that point.

But here are our other courses:

The brownies nearly broke me, they were so beautiful. Just mushy in the center, so it was almost like brownie dough surrounded by delicious brownie crust. Erik and I both had a bit of a moan, which everyone politely ignored.

I also had a different type of moan when Orbit US sent me my Legacy copyedits. To London. On my vacation. Thanks guys, you’re the best! Seriously, though, the book looks great and it’s very fun to see it go through it’s stages of maturation. It’s nearly grown, now! Here’s a piccy of Legacy!

So from getting the MS, on, I really buckled down to get it finished. Which meant cutting in to fun time, but since Ruth was laid up with her organ-removal, anyway, it worked out. And Percy Pigs helped, too…

But in between doing copyedits and traveling around a bit, on my own, Rootie and I still managed to fit in some bonding time. The day after she returned from her surgery, we headed down to the road to a local Islington market. Here she is, having a rest on a bench, and looking gorgeous for anyone, let alone for someone who just had an organ removed:

Most unsurprisingly, we also managed to fit in some more food. Here are some delicious cakes from a local Italian deli:

And we even squeezed in a date night! Pretty ladies, if a bit blurry . . .

We went to this incredible, awesome, you-must-go-now-if-you-are-in-London cocktail bar, the name of which I CANNOT remember to save my life. But Ruth will know, and when she tells me, I’ll update this bad boy. Anyway, here’s a pic from the inside. It’s tiny, and the cocktails are to die for. Really.

After cocktails, we went for Thai food, then saw Sex & The City 2. The food was good, but the movie made me want to return my vagina for a refund. And then use the money to buy hats. I keep trying to think of a redeeming feature of the film, but find it difficult. Miranda was great, as usual, but …….. ummmmm … I have been inspired to buy some kohl eyeliner. There! That’s a positive! Yay!

We also did some general tourism. Here’s me taking part in the ubiquitous London Eye shot . . .

And we also did my absolute, favorite thing to do in London. Borough Market! YAY! I adore it. And Rootie finally indulged me in the one thing I’ve always wanted to do, and no one would ever accompany me . . . I went to Roast! It’s a fabulous eatery that overlooks the Market, and was one of the champions of Noveau British cuisine. Which is fancy for “posh chips and stuff.” They have all local, organic produce, and are famous for their meats. Here’s a pic in the restaurant, and one of the view of the market:

And here’s our food! To start, I had a goat curd and tomato salad. It was amazing. Much moaning! And maybe a grunt. But I had to accede that Ruth’s Fancy, Fancy Scotch Egg definitely won. It was sublime. Seriously. Like Wordsworth would have chucked over Tintern Abbey and written a poem called Roast’s Fancy, Fancy Scotch Egg, had he only known.

And here are our mains. I went for the light, delicate luncheon option . . . roast pork. The crackling was so hard I nearly broke a tooth, but it was worth it. The meat was fall apart tender and everything was delish. Rootie went with a chicory and chicken salad, which had a really quite perfect dressing. All in all it was a huge success. Thanks for going to Roast with me, Rootie!

After Roast, we crossed the market to get iced lattes at Ruth’s favorite coffee stand, Monmouth Coffee.

The coffee WAS brilliant, but it was so strong that I nearly had palpitations, and I’m a coffee drinker. It also had other, less bloggable effects. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that another name for the iced latte might as well be Colon Blow Latte. Good heavens!

And that was all she wrote, folks! The next day I flew back to Chicago, where I did laundry, repacked, and then left for Maine with my mom, my friend Loren, and my former English teacher, Mrs. Bunch. I already miss Ruth!

That was before we nearly shat ourselves, btw. And tucked over my arm, in that great shopping bag, is the Most Amazing Dress Ever. I’m too excited to talk about it now . . . but there will be pictures from Seattle, later in the summer. It’s fancy, for a wedding, and involves anchors and a red petticoat. HEAVEN.

So in a day or two I’ll blog for you our Maine adventures, starting in Eastport then going on to Bar Harbor. But here’s one last Drs. Ruth and Peeler’s Moment of Zen. Enjoy!

Yay, us!

But first, can I just show you something? It’s something that made me so happy I almost wet myself. Almost. Al-most. It’s me . . . as a zombie. A zombie! A ZOMBIE! (kay, I might be a little slaphappy at this moment, thanks)

Here it is! AWESOME!

I think people might be this happy when their children are born. Maybe. I’m a ZOMBIE! And a COMIC ZOMBIE! I’ve linked the pic to the awesome team that zombied me up: my friend Wendell and his brother, the brainz behind Three Quarter Comics. I would be happy to eviscerate either of them with my sharp little canines, I love them so much for making me a ZOMBIE.

I actually squealed, then did a (zombie) Snoopy dance, then shouted, then giggled for four minutes, straight. Which is a really long time to giggle maniacally in front of friends without explaining yourself, believe me.

And speaking of friends, I’ve enlisted the help of my mates Ruth, Erik, and Linda to vlog another reading of Tracking the Tempest. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing my awful, awful voice and, quite frankly, it’s not the same vlogging without being able to bounce on my enormous ball.

So here are two videos, both of which are from a relatively central section of the book. There ARE some spoilers in this section, as this wasn’t the scene I’d originally intended to vlog. But it’s too perfect for three people, and I had three willing victims . . . er . . . volunteers!

Watch out for these highlights:

- Me sniggering at my own jokes! Obnoxious!

- Linda enjoying her garlic bread. It was delicious!

- Confusion over the term “ejaculation.”

- My reaching for my wine during filming. You can hear the “plonk” as I set it back down.

- My directorial debut, in which you’re reminded why I shouldn’t talk in public. Oh, that accent! Ouch!

So here’s the final reading from Tracking the Tempest, part one:

And here’s part two:

I hope you guys enjoyed the reading! And thanks so much to Rootie, Linda, and Erik for doing it for me. Linda and Ruth I know from Edinburgh, and Erik I went to high school together. Thanks soooo much for humoring me, guys. You’re the best!

In real life news, I return to Chicago tomorrow. I’ll blog my final adventures in Britain in a few days, although pictures were thin on the ground with Ruth being out of commission with her appendectomy. Yes, for those of you not following me on Facebook or Twitter, Ruth had to have an emergency appendectomy after she left Brighton. So it was all a bit crazy, but still super fun and amazing.

In other exciting news, when I get back from England, I turn around and leave for . . . Maine! I’m visiting Eastport and the Old Sow, and will blog with tons of pics from Jane’s world. So stay tuned!

Finally, please give Ruth, Linda, and Erik a round of applause. They were convinced no one would be interested, but I thought they did an absolutely stellar job of reading from Tracking. And I, for one, appreciate it greatly. Bravo, ladies and gentleman.