Yes, I have been a little lax in posting here because I double hurt my thumb ten days ago. During the big blizzard we had a snow party and as I grated the parmesan for my carbonara I kind of grated my knuckle. Bad. No sooner did I stop the bleeding than I sat down with my beloved blind Zuzu on my lap and as I fed her strawberries she mistook my (same) thumb for one and took a nice bite of it. Hard to say which injury has caused me more pain, since they both hurt like heck still.
But I have had some lovely days since the thumb problems, even though our oil tank sprung a leak and we ran out of heat for several very cold days while we waited for a new tank to be installed. On one of those days, I curled up under a pile of blankets on the daybed in my knitting room and let the sun spill across me as I attempted to learn how to send an email blast. Now, I am not a luddite, but I'm not exactly a pro either at figuring out computer stuff. Often my attempts give me a headache. But chimpmail was actually pretty easy and I had only minimal frustration. After almost three hours, I was able to send out an announcement telling people that THE OBITUARY WRITER would be on sale March 4, and also to list my events. I felt quite proud of myself when it actually worked. Sam called almost right away to ask why I had sent it to him five times, which almost gave me that headache because I thought I'd sent everyone five of these! It took me a few hours to figure out that if I had several email addresses for someone, or if someone was in both of my gmail accounts, then they received more than one (sorry!). Mostly it worked as I'd planned.
If you would like to receive these announcements--and I promise they will not be daily or even weekly!--please email me at amhood@gmail.com and I can add you to the list!
My wounded thumb and I (and other people!) went to Ithaca to see Sam in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE at Ithaca Shakespeare Company, a quick overnight with dinner at Maxie's Supper Club and breakfast at Ithaca Bakery before the long trek home. But worth every minute!
Today I am off to NYC for a meeting and a dinner and tomorrow some radio interviews. Another quick trip, but that is fine because I will be on the road a lot soon as THE OBITUARY WRITER hits the stands and I hit the road. Next week finds me in Kansas City for Winter Institute, which is a booksellers event, and then in Albany for the Writers Institute (details of that one are on my website).
I kick off my tour at my beloved Island Books in Middletown, RI on March 4, followed by a lunch event at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT on March 5, and a party at Felicia's Coffee in East Greenwich on the night of March 5 (for tickets to that event please email Robin Kall at robin@readingwithrobin.com). I will be at Stellina's in Watertown, MA on March 6, at AWP in Boston on March 7, and then on to the Tucson Literary Festival March 8-11, followed by Politics and Prose in DC on the 12th. Details to all of these events are on my website, as are all the wonderful ones to follow! I hope to see you at one of them!
