Photos from Chicago party!

On Thursday, Sept. 17, LITTLE BLACK DRESS WINES and HENSON CONSULTING threw us an absolutely AMAZING book launch party at HUB51/SUB51, one of the hottest spots in Chicago. Thanks to Kathleen Henson, Jen Schefft Waterman, Anna Treiber, the folks of LBD Wines and HUB51, and of course Amy Tangerine and Jerry Cherry for making the night so wonderful!

Photos from Atlanta party!

Here are some photos from my book launch party with Amy Tangerine at the fabulous Georgian Terrace hotel in midtown Atlanta. It was an absolutely lovely evening. Thanks so much to Liz Lapidus for organizing, Little Black Dress Wines for providing the wine, Georgian Terrace for providing yummy appetizers and the beautiful venue, and Samantha Phillips for putting a roof over my head!

More book launch parties!

Here are some photos from the LA book launch party for ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS, sponsored by Mediabistro and Little Black Dress Wines!

Amazing Book Launch Parties!

I've had the most incredible book launch parties so far in New York and Boston! Check out the photos here!

Here's me with Chubby Checker, who drove all the way from Philadelphia to help me celebrate. What a great friend!

Here's a fun slideshow from the New York party!

And here's the Boston party, featuring Little Black Dress Wines!

FOX & Friends: Tips for Getting Your Teens and Preteens Reading This Year!

If you caught my appearance on Fox & Friends, here are the tips I mentioned for getting teens and teens interested in reading!

There's a lot of focus on getting young children to read, so that they're at an appropriate literacy level when they begin school, but it's also vital to encourage your preteens and teens to continue reading too. Furthermore, it's important to help them to see reading as something fun as opposed to an obligation or a chore, because cultivating a lifelong love of reading will help them in many areas of life for years to come.

According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 17-year-olds who read for fun almost every day score an average of 14 percent higher on reading tests than those who say they hardly ever read for fun. And if you think that reading is becoming passe in an increasingly tech-oriented society, consider this: 82 percent of American 15-year-olds who tested at the lowest proficiency in reading also tested at the lowest level in math, according to the U.S. Department of Education. It's pretty tough to succeed in the world of technology without a grasp of math.

So now that you know why your teens should be reading, let's talk about how to encourage them to do so!

Many teens and preteens don't realize just how much fun reading can be, and as a parent, you have the ability to show them. You can lead by example; if you sit in front of the TV all night long and never pick up a book, chances are, they won't either. So find some books you love, or even some magazines that interest you, and rediscover your own love of reading. Come on, it's fun!

Make sure your house is stocked with books too. According to a Department of Education study, test scores in math, science, history and civics were roughly 30 points higher for students with 100 or more books at home than for students with 0-10 books, regardless of their parents' education. It's all part of showing pre-teens and teens that reading is a normal and desirable part of everyday life.

Don't force your kids to read or make a huge deal out of complimenting them when they do. Pressuring or bribing them will make reading feel like a chore, and lavishing too much praise when they do read will make them read to please you instead of doing it for themselves.

When you're out with your teen, stop into a bookstore or library once in a while and spend some time browsing individually. You may even want to spend some time chatting about what kinds of books may interest them. There are scores of books that cater to every interest, from sports to music to favorite TV shows to vampires and wizards. They're sure to find something that captures their interest and imagination.

If your teen or preteen is into Miley Cyrus or aspires to be a rock star, for example, my first young adult novel, When You Wish, would be a perfect choice; it's a perfect, easy-reading escape about a teenage pop star who longs for a life of normalcy. It gives some insights into the world of fame and fortune your teen might dream of, but it also teaches some nice lessons about being true to yourself, which is a theme that can't be reinforced enough during the teen years!

You may even want to encourage your teens or preteens to pick up some books geared toward adults, as long as you think the content is appropriate.

It's not just books that will help your teen develop a love of reading, though. Have other reading materials around the house too. Subscribe to the local newspaper and make a habit out of discussing interesting articles or news stories at the dinner table, in a casual way. Does your teen like sports? Buy him or her a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Do you have a preteen who's really into fashion? Why not subscribe to Seventeen magazine? There are magazines out there to cater to every interest you could think of, from surfing to gaming to cooking to fly-fishing. Find something that caters to your teen's interests, and the $10-20 you spend on a subscription will be well worth it.

What's in it for your teen or preteen? According to Reading is Fundamental, the oldest and largest nonprofit literacy organization in the United States for children and families, some of the fun benefits of reading include your teen being able to become an expert at something, live life a little dangerously (vicariously, of course!), have a few laughs, see the world, solve mysteries, escape boredom and even get some advice and insight into the issues confronting them in their daily lives. Reading can truly broaden their world -- and yours too!

So where should you begin? Get started today by giving your preteen or teen my email address, Kristin@kristinharmel.com. I'm a novelist who has been published in numerous languages around the world, and I receive fan mail from all over the globe every day. I answer every single email that comes my way, and I'd love to chat with your teens and preteens too. If they want to read one of my novels, I'd be happy to talk to them about it and answer any questions they have; it would be a great incentive to encourage them to pick up a book! Or, if they just want to talk with a real author and find out some of my recommendations for books they'd enjoy, I'm happy to do that too.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution....

GOOD DAY ATLANTA WINE PAIRING GUIDE

Hi there,

If you've found your way here from GOOD DAY ATLANTA, thanks for taking the time to stop by! I hope I'll see you tonight (Wednesday, June 18) at the French-American Brasserie for the party for THE ART OF FRENCH KISSING, my fourth novel, thrown by skirt! magazine, 360 Media, Little Black Dress Wines and Korbel. Joining me will be superstar designer Amy Tangerine, who can chat with you about her line of designer apparel too!

As mentioned on the show, here are some tips for pairing wine and French food:

CHARDONNAY (such as Little Black Dress chardonnay): Some chardonnays are aged in oak barrels and take on a bit of an oaky taste, while some, like Little Black Dress chardonnay, are aged in steel barrels. In general, chardonnays pair well with mild cheeses, such as gruyere, brie and mild cheddar, and with chicken and fish dishes, including salmon, shrimp and crab cakes, as long as the dishes aren't too spicy. Chardonnay is a light wine, so a heavier meal, such as beef or a pasta with red sauce, will overwhelm its flavor.

PINOT GRIGIO (such as Little Black Dress Pinot Grigio) is a light, crisp wine that also pairs well with lighter foods and often has a fruitier taste than chardonnay (although don't think that it will be sweet; it's usually not). Like chardonnay, it's a good choice for mild chicken and seafood dishes, and it also pairs well with cheeses including gruyere, asiago and goat cheese.

MERLOT (such as Little Black Dress merlot) is a much stronger wine and pairs well with heavier foods, such as beef and pasta with red sauce. Cheese pairings include: blue cheese, camembert, buffalo mozarella and gouda.

CHAMPAGNE/SPARKLING WINE (such as Korbel): Sparkling wines go well with dessert or on their own as an aperitif (you can add creme de cassis, a blackcurrant liquor, to make a "kir royale," a common French aperitif). Cheese pairings include brie, explorateur (a creamy cheese from France), buffalo mozarella and Saint Andre.

Hello from Los Angeles!

I had THE MOST AMAZING party in Hollywood last night, hosted by Mediabistro. Seriously, it could not have gone better. We had a huge turnout, Piper-Heidsieck and French Kiss gum gave out gift bags, and I got to see a lot of old friends and meet some new ones. Here are some photos. The party was at the beautiful Geisha House on Hollywood Boulevard....

See me talking about WHEN YOU WISH on NBC's Daytime

Thanks so much to Jen Muscato for this fun clip: Click here to see me talking about WHEN YOU WISH, my first novel for teens, on NBC's Daytime, which airs in six major markets in the southeast.

After-party at Luma (in Winter Park)

Thanks to everyone who came out to the fabulous after-party (after the Orlando book launch/trunk show) at Luma on Park in Winter Park... my absolute favorite place to have a glass of wine! Craig and Tim were kind enough to let us use the Cellar for our private after-party, and we had a blast. Thanks again!!!

Parties in Atlanta and Orlando!

Hello there,

Amy Tangerine and I -- along with Piper-Heidsieck and French Kiss gum -- just returned from two fabulous parties in Orlando and Atlanta! Atlanta's party was at Bill Hallman Boutique in the Virginia Highlands area, and I got to see my wonderful friends Cole, Carly and Susan Pearson, Kate Atwood, Ashley Hesseltine, Samantha Phillips (a friend from high school) and our mutual friend Kim, and my friend Matt's sister-in-law Susan (and her friend Dagmar), who were wonderful! I also got to meet lots of wonderful new people! After the party, we hit Thrive lounge in downtown and then Mood lounge in Buckhead, where we ran into James Blunt! How cool is that?

Orlando's tour stop kicked off wonderfully with this amazing article by the lovely Jean Patteson in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel. Click here to read it.

Then, on Thursday night, we had an awesome, awesome launch party with more than 100 guests at Shou'ture, the amazing boutique owned by my wonderful friends Willow and Melixa! It truly couldn't have gone better. I got to see so, so many friends and family! I could list them all here, but it would take up the entire page!!! I've included photos of many of them below, though. Thanks to ALL OF YOU -- old friends and those I met for the first time last night -- for making the night so special and wonderful for Amy and me. I hope you had as much fun as we did!!! After the party, we continued down the block to Luma on Park, where we ate and drank for hours in the private Cellar. What a night!

Party at Shou'ture in Winter Park (Orlando area)

Party at Bill Hallman Boutique in Atlanta

See you soon!

Thank you Boston and New York!

Hi there,

I'm just back from an incredible week of touring. Last Saturday, Feb. 23, Queen Bee boutique in Boston (along with the kind folks at Piper-Heidsieck champagne and French Kiss gum) threw an incredible launch party for Amy Tangerine and me! And two days later, on Feb. 25, Mediabistro.com hosted an amazing party for us at Touch Lounge in midtown Manhattan, complete with gift bags from Piper-Heidsieck champagne and French Kiss gum. See below for pictures! Then on Wednesday, I taped a segment for the CW morning show in NYC, and on Friday, I taped a segment for the NBC show Daytime. What a week!!!! Thanks to everyone who helped organize the parties (especially Mara Piazza, Michelle Rowell, Katarina Maloney, Nicole Kuritsky and Elizabeth Daniel) and everyone who came out to help Amy and I celebrate (especially Lisa Wilkes, my sister Karen, her boyfriend Barry, Kristen Milan (who was there in spirit!), my aunt Donna, uncle Steve, honorary aunt Alayne, cousins Merri, Derek, Anne and Fred, and all my wonderful friends and family). I honestly couldn't be happier.

Mediabistro New York party at Touch Lounge

Boston party at Queen Bee boutique

See me on Good Morning America!

So as I mentioned in my last blog entry, I flew up to New York the first week of February to talk about my fourth novel, THE ART OF FRENCH KISSING, on Good Morning America! Here's the link to the segment online. I hope you like it!! Thanks for checking it out. :-)

A big few days!

Hi there!

I had quite an exciting week last week! I flew up to New York on Thursday evening to tape a segment for Good Morning America Now on Friday morning. How cool to be in their awesome Times Square studio, talking about my book in front of b-roll of Paris and a beautiful little table filled with a copy of THE ART OF FRENCH KISSING, two bottles of Piper champagne, lots of French Kiss gum, and tons of fun makeup and lotions from Tarte, Bella and Hourglass. I felt so glamorous! And also this weekend, the fabulous Deb Smouse posted this interview on AllThingsGirl, a great web site that I love perusing! Check it out! I'll post the Good Morning America clip as soon as I have it! Thanks again to Katarina Maloney, Jack Levy and Lee Alexander!

xo

Could P.S. I Love You's Gerard Butler be any more charming?

UNTRACEABLE

My good friend (and manager!) Andy Cohen has his first MAJOR film coming out today; he has produced several movies in the past, but Untraceable, starring Diane Lane, is his first truly major release. I'm headed to the movies tonight to see it, and I encourage you to do the same! I'm trying to get everyone out to support a truly great and deserving guy! And the movie looks fantastic!




Andy and me

I'm SO jealous.

Okay, so if you know me at all (or have scanned through my web site), you know what a big fan I am of Amy Tangerine -- both as a person (she is one of the most amazingly sweet people I know) and as a designer (she is phenomenally talented). But now I might just have to kill her. Okay, not really. But I might just die of jealousy. Since 1990 (way before Sex and the City ever appeared on the air), I've had an inexplicable and raging crush on Chris Noth, who was Det. Mike Logan on Law & Order (now he reprises that role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and who, of course, went on to star as Mr. Big in Sex and the City. Well . . . last weekend at a pre-Golden Globes gifting suite called The Boom Boom Room (put on by the fabulous Jayneoni), Amy got to meet him!!!!!!! Let me pause for a moment while we all drool over Chris Noth...



Okay. I am wiping the drool from my keyboard now. Amy, I have just one reply to this. You have Mr. Big? Well, I have Aidan.



Does that mean that together, we sort of equal one Carrie Bradshaw?

Okay, so technically I don't have Aidan . . .er, John Corbett. Bo Derek has him. And she's a lot sexier than I am. No one has (or wants) a movie poster of me running down a beach in my bathing suit. But I digress.

I guess the point of this whole rambling diary entry is that Amy Tangerine is just about the coolest person on earth, and now I have yet one more reason to think she's amazing. And Amy, if you ever meet Chris Noth again . . . well, you know my number. I wouldn't mind being Mrs. Big.

I love this video!

Check out this great video of my friend Amy Tan(gerine), the amazing designer who I do launch parties with each year! This is a great bio of her . . . and you can even see her adorable dogs Buster and Bamboo (Buster does tricks!).

See me talk to "Harry Potter!"

Hi there! I was fortunate enough to fly to London last month to preview Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and interview the cast and director. I'll have a fun clip up next week of me talking to them about the much-anticipated final book of the series. But for now, check out this clip of me interviewing Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter"), Rupert Grint ("Ron Weasley") and director David Yates about the film!

Flight of the Conchords

I think this is my new favorite show; it's absolutely hilarious. Have you seen Flight of the Conchords on HBO yet? Check out this clip below. And oh yes, I'm just a little bit in love with Bret, he of the stripy sweaters:

The Art of French Kissing!

Hi all!

Here's the beautiful cover for my next women's fiction novel, The Art of French Kissing, due out in February 2008!

Great friends!

Okay, so yes, I am a horrible blogger, as you can all see. At the lovely Amy Tangerine's urging, I am updating my blog once again!

My birthday was last week, and I must say, I have the nicest friends in the world. From Kendra, who organized a birthday dinner for 15 of us, to Gillian, who sent me on a fun cupcake hunt to Cupcake Crazy (from all the way in California!), my friends made my birthday absolutely perfect! And of course my wonderful mom took me to our annual "birthday dinner in France" . . . well, France at Epcot center, anyhow!

Somehow, I didn't get any photos of me and Kendra together on my birthday, so here's one from a few weeks earlier (Kendra is in black and white, beside me):


And here are a couple of pics from my birthday night. Thanks everyone!!! I really do have the nicest friends in the world!


With Wendy and Megan


With Jamie and Ben

Thanks for having me speak at UF!

Hi UF students!

Thanks so much for having me speak to your journalism class today! As promised, here is some more information about writing query letters and conducting inteviews.

Click here for some tip sheets.

Thanks again! Go Gators!!!!

The Gainesville Sun

More fun press! Check out this article by the lovely Alice Wallace in the Gainesville Sun! See you in Gainesville!

I'm in the Boston Globe!

Thanks to the lovely Liza Weisstuch for this fun article in the Boston Globe last week! :-)

Friday, March 23, 2007

Kristin Harmel and Amy Tangerine
The novelist and fashion designer bond over tapas and tops on Newbury Street
By Liza Weisstuch, Globe Correspondent

Kristin Harmel travels with an entourage. On book tours, she has close friends and their friends in tow. During a recent stop in Boston to promote her latest novel, "The Blonde Theory," she and the entourage stayed four to a room at the Park Plaza. With not a lot of bathrooms among the eight of them, they got off to a late start.

Most of the posse had never been to Boston, so they moseyed down the Freedom Trail. Harmel and her friend Amy Tan, a fashion designer who goes by Amy Tangerine, headed to Tapeo, a stylishly rustic Spanish eatery on Newbury Street. Their ultimate destination was the nearby boutique Queen Bee, which stocks Tangerine's flirty, feminine tops and was the site of a launch party for Harmel's book.

Harmel was bundled in a long camel wool coat, a vintage score from her mom's closet, and Tangerine sported a cropped bomber jacket. It was one of those almost-warm winter days, but warm is relative to Harmel, who is based in Orlando, and Tangerine, who lives in LA. Despite the continent between them, they've developed a creative collaborative marketing enterprise. Harmel, 27, a natural blonde, writes books she calls "women's fiction." (The term "chick lit" never comes up.) Tangerine, 28, designs T-shirts to go with them. It's a great excuse to road trip together, said Harmel, explaining that this is their "second annual" tour. They did it last year for Harmel's debut novel, "How to Sleep With a Movie Star." (Harmel, who covers her fair share of A-listers as a regular contributor to People magazine, swears it's not a thinly disguised autobiography.) Harmel was wearing one of the new tops: a soft gray T with "Boys like blondes" embroidered above a girl's profile.

They opened their menus, but diversions were fast and furious. The Manhattan launch party at the W Hotel was two nights before, and they buzzed with chitchat and gossip. Conversation bounced from Tangerine's two Jack Russell terriers to the doings of their common acquaintances. They've only known each other two years, but they resemble the longtime friends in "The Blonde Theory," which centers on a Manhattan attorney whose boyfriend leaves her after she makes partner. Urged by her tight-knit circle of companions, she tests out a hypothesis: Can behaving like a ditzy blond make her more attractive bait for men?

Conspicuously absent from Harmel and Tangerine's conversation was mention of a man in Harmel's life. She considers herself "foolishly optimistic" about guys. The bad dates she's been on? She's written them off as "research."

The food arrived -- olives, a creamy sausage cazuela, and potatoes with a garlicky mayo -- and they casually picked. It was a change of pace from the last few days.

"I'm trying to keep seven other people with completely different personalities happy," Harmel said.

"Especially if you have picky eaters," Tangerine said with a shrug, going for the potatoes. "He's the anything."

"When is Cap'n meeting us?" asked Harmel. "He's the nicest guy in the world," Harmel said of Tangerine's boyfriend, who lives on a boat in Marina del Rey, Calif. "It gives me hope that there are nice guys out there."

Soon, Harmel decided it was time to leave. Her entourage was going to be particularly big that night and she wanted to get to Queen Bee early. She used to live in Peabody and had family throughout the state coming. Plus her sister, a student at Harvard's Kennedy School, was bringing a small crew.

As they beelined down Newbury, Harmel noticed Tangerine's wilderness-chic boots. "If I ever decide to enter a life of crime -- breaking and entering -- I'm starting with your closet," she said matter-of-factly.

They stopped into a few shops to browse the dresses, tops, and accessories, then dropped into Borders. Tangerine declared she was "in heaven" amid the shelves of stationery. Harmel wandered through the paperbacks, cooing about favorite novels as if each were an old friend. A table of Red Sox tomes caught her eye.

"Boston teams stay in your blood. I had a hard time when the Red Sox played the Cardinals [in the 2004 World Series]," she said, thumbing through a book. She worked for the Cardinals while in high school in St. Petersburg, Fla., then the team's home during spring training. "I thought I was safe rooting for the Red Sox as my American League team and the Cardinals as my National League team."

Who needs blonde theories when you have baseball?

My book on sale in Montreal

Look what my sister saw while on vacation in Monteal last week!

Go Gators!!!

How exciting is it that the basketball team of my alma mater is going to the NCAA Final Four AGAIN??? After winning the NCAA basketball championship last year, the Gators basketball team is looking for a repeat win. Yay!!! Go Gators!!!!



Speaking of the University of Florida, I'm very excited to be speaking to an Introduction to Journalism class at UF on Monday(4/2)! How flattering to be asked to come back for a chat! I love talking to student groups and am so excited to speak to some fellow Gators about writing!

Fun!!!!

Hi there!

I'm finally back from my book tour, and wow, did we have a great time!!!! It's been quite the whirlwind; we've been everywhere from Atlanta (March 1) to Orlando (March 2) to New York (March 6) to Boston (March 8) to Scottsdale (March 15) to Los Angeles (March 17). We have one more stop to go in Chicago (April 5), but I'm at home for a two-week breather before I go.

As usual, Amy Tangerine was the perfect traveling partner! I LOVE having these launch parties with her. And of course the tee she created for The Blonde Theory was incredible!!!

One of the best things about the trip was all the friends I got to spend time with. Megan, Amber, Kendra, Lisa and Kristen all flew into NYC for the party there, and Hayden, Karen and Donna took the bus in. Christine and Jessica joined us in Boston! I also got to see lots of friends in NY -- Marc (who hung out with us every night!), Michael (who jammed with Sister Hazel!), Elly, Emily, Rebecca, Jenny, Lindsay, etc. -- and in Boston -- Kara, Kara's mom, Jess, Liza, Alaine, and my great family (including Donna, Steve, Merri, Derek, Anne and Fred)!

The sleeping accomodations were a little tight! Check out Kendra, Lisa and I sharing a bed!



Here's the group of us at lunch in Boston at the Union Oyster House!



Here we are at the great Boston party at Queen Bee!



And here I am with my great friends Amy, Gillian, Jeeves and Aviva at the Los Angeles event!

Hey, I'm in the newspaper!

How cool is this? This article just appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, the very first paper I ever wrote for, back in 1995. A huge thank you to Colette Bancroft, photographer Scott Keeler and my very first editor, Jon East! How cool!!!

Parties in Atlanta and Orlando!

Hi! Just got back from two incredible launch parties with Amy Tangerine in Atlanta and Orlando!

The Atlanta party was great! Bill Hallman has an amazing store in the Virginia Highlands, and he was kind enough to take us on at the last minute. Despite the horrible weather (pouring rain and a tornado watch!), we still had a great turnout and a wonderful time! Plus, we got to celebrate my friends Carly and Cole's 14th birthdays! Yay!

We left Atlanta on Friday morning after four hours of sleep and wound up getting stuck in traffic on the way back to Orlando! Despite a six-hour drive turning into a nine-hour drive, we still managed to shower, change and get to Shou'ture on time! It was an AMAZING party! It seemed to go by in a flash!

Thanks so much to all my friends who came out to the parties!!!!! Tomorrow morning, I leave for New York, where Amy and I will have a launch party on Thursday at the W Times Square!!

Here are some photos from the Orlando party! (Thanks to Kendra's dad for several of them!)

Dinner with Wendy and Kendra

Thanks for the great dinner, girls! Wish you could come to NY, Wendy!

Busy, busy, busy

Hi there!

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. The past few days have been insane! I had to turn in the first draft of my third book for Warner, so I was working like a crazy person on that all weekend. Plus, Amy Tangerine and I are gearing up for our BLONDE THEORY launch parties, which begin tomorrow!!!! Eek! Our first tour stop is Bill Hallman boutique, an awesome store in the Virginia Highlands district of Atlanta. If you're in the area, come by and say hello . . . We'll be there from 7-10 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, March 1). The following day (Friday, March 2), we'll be at Shou'ture, one of my favorite places in the Orlando area. It's owned by my friends Willow and Melixa, two of the coolest girls I know! It should be a great time!

I had the chance yesterday to go back to my old high school, Northeast High (in St. Petersburg, Fla.) for a photo shoot for the St. Petersburg Times, the first newspaper I ever worked for, way back when I was 16. It was so much fun! I got to see a few of my old teachers, and it was definitely a blast from the past to wander through my old campus . . . although everything looked so different! Yikes, I felt old!

I hope everyone is having a great week. Hope to see you on the road! Don't forget to check out my launch party schedule . . . I'd love to say hello!

xo,
Kristin

Some photos from Paris!

Hot Chocolate in Cafe Martini

I am currently sitting in a Cafe Martini near the Place des Vosges with Lauren, each of us working on our respective novels. I feel like Hemingway -- with a laptop! After a cafe creme for me and a cup of green tea for her, we are now sipping the best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life. In fact, perhaps sipping is the wrong word. It's so thick that we're using spoons! It's like a very rich pudding, steamed to perfection and topped with a bit of frothed milk.




Have I mentioned how much I've grown to love every corner, every alleyway, every nook and cranny of this city?

Last night, after a lovely dinner with Lauren and Nicolas at Pizza Cesar, I took the metro up to Pigalle to see my friend Jean Michel again. He owns a wonderful restaurant/bar called The Cockney Tavern near the base of Montmartre, at the top of the ninth arrondissement. It was so wonderful to see him; he is one of the things I miss the most when I am gone from Paris. How incredible that five years after first meeting, we are closer than ever. I could talk with him for hours -- and in fact, I do, loving every second of it. I'm so happy for him.



When I met him five years ago, he was the manager of a restaurant near Notre Dame. Now, five years later, he has turned the Cockney Tavern into something very successful, has completely revamped the bar upstairs (to the point that Elle magazine in France named it one of the top bars in Paris) and has opened a restaurant in Beijing, China. I think he works harder than anyone I know. It's so good to see him so happy. It will be so sad to leave tomorrow and know that I won't see him again for a while. Strangely, being with him, even after all this time, feels like coming home.

I'm so sad to think that tonight is my last night in Paris. For some reason, it feels unusually hard to leave this time. I feel like my heart is here. I get so much writing done here; it's like everything around me is an inspiration, and I need only look outside the window at the balconies, the landscape of rooftops and the sliver of blue sky between the old buildings to feel something swell within me. Walking around the city -- with all it architecture, its history, its culture, its beauty -- inspires me a hundred times more.



Paris, je t'aime!

Hello again from Paris!

It is Sunday early afternoon, and I've just returned to Lauren's apartment after attending mass at Notre Dame. What an incredible experience!! Of course the cathedral itself is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but it was an amazing feeling to sit through an entire Catholic mass and receive communion in a place so filled with history. Thanks to my French classes, I was able to follow most of what the priest was saying, which was nice! As the mass ended, the two massive doors at the back of the church were opened, and light came pouring inside; it was beautiful. As I walked out into the sunshine, the bells of Notre Dame began to ring. It was all so perfect that it almost didn't feel real.

I've been having an amazing time here. I think I forget, from visit to visit, just how deeply I love this city and how much I feel at home here. I went for a long walk last night along the Seine after the sun had set, and it sounds silly, but I was in constant awe of everything. The things that Parisians probably often take for granted seem so beautiful to me -- the way that the old buildings are illuminated, the way that light is reflected in the Seine in sparkling perfection, the way that the Eiffel Tower glows above the rooftops in the distance, the way that all the colors of the rainbow pour in a muted glow through the stained glass of Notre Dame. I'm sure I sound corny, but it's just because I can't find words adequate to describe how much I love this city. To me, it is truly the most beautiful place in the world.

I am making a lot of progress with my novel and am about to leave Lauren's apartment for a while to write in a cafe near the Place d'Italie. Have a good day! A bientot!

Bonjour from Paris!

Hello from Paris (!!), where I am researching my fourth novel, THE ART OF FRENCH KISSING (which will be set here, in my favorite city in the world, and which will come out in February 2008). I'm so excited to be here!!!!! I am staying with Lauren, one of my best friends, and since we're six hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, it's now nearly 8 p.m. here, and we are on our way out to dinner.

Today couldn't have been more perfect. I wrote in the morning, went out and bought some baby presents for the lovely newborn Mia Grace (born yesterday!! Congrats Steve and Emma!), and strolled across the Pont Neuf (a bridge over the Seine river). Seeing the Eiffel Tower rising above the Seine always leaves me breathless. There is truly no place I'd rather be! Then, I wrote some more and met Lauren at her apartment for some beaujolais, brie cheese, sauccisson, cornichons, baguette, and rillettes, a French meat paste that I am, for some reason, wholeheartedly obsessed with.



Now we're off to a restaurant in the Latin Quarter for cassoulet, one of my favorite French dishes (a perfect-for-winter stew), then out for a night on the town (starting with pitchers of sangria at Bar Dix)!



More tomorrow . . .

Au revoir!

Front row for Billy Joel

Okay, at the prompting of Amy Tan(gerine), I am going to attempt to start writing on here regularly. Amy juggles a million different things with ease, while I always seem to be a step behind. Maybe she will give me lessons if I ask nicely. :-)

Okay, what better to blog about than my Saturday night experience at the Billy Joel concert? My friend Kendra invited me to go along with her, and we were just thrilled with our seats in section 121 -- we figured we'd be only 30 rows or so from the stage, which was exciting! But lo and behold, as soon as we walked in the doors of the Amway Arena in Orlando, we were greeted by a guy from Joel's road crew who asked if it was just the two of us. We said yes, and he held up two tickets.

"Would you like to sit in the front row?" he asked with a grin.

Ever the skeptic, I replied, "Well, yeah. But what's the catch?"

"No catch," he said, handing us two tickets for Row A. "Just say thank you."

Completely stunned, we made our way down to the floor of the arena, where indeed we had seats 5 and 6, right in the center of the front row!!! Unreal!!!! We were no more than eight feet away from Joel's piano, and I will tell you, I was blown away by watching his fingers move across the keys. I've always liked his music, but I think this experience turned me into a fan!

Check out this amazing photo my friend Kendra took. We were really this close!!



I have to admit, though, that the highlight of the concert was when Joel's guitar player, Tommy Byrne, switched to this GATORS GUITAR!!!! How cool is this?? I thought my arms were going to fall off from all the chomping!



What a great night! Thanks Kendra!!!

THE BLONDE THEORY -- now in stores!!

I'm so excited to announce the launch of my second novel, THE BLONDE THEORY, in stores now! Yay!

Welcome back, Dusty!

I just wanted to say "welcome home" to my friend Dusty, who just returned from a lengthy tour in Iraq and the Persian Gulf as a British Royal Marine Commando! I'm soooooo glad he's home safely. He's my hero!