I can’t believe what this woman has done.

Four years ago, author Brenda Novak, whose son has juvenile diabetes, decided to hold an online auction to raise money for diabetes research. Many people, mostly her fellow authors, donated items and nearly $35,000 was raised. Since then, the auction has grown into a huge event that runs all of May. All told, Brenda’s raised $250,000 dollars for diabetes research. This year, her goal is $300,000, with the first $150,000 going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the balance to the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami.

If you stop by the auction, set aside a chunk of time and be prepared to be overwhelmed! From signed books to trips to San Francisco to an African safari to a manuscript evaluation by an agent, there’s something for everyone. My donation this year? Dinner for four (with me, of course!) at one of my favorite Raleigh restaurants. It’s listed under the one-day auctions on the auction page.

Diabetes touches so many of our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Here’s a way you can help while shopping! What could be better than that?

As promised a couple of posts ago, here are some photos from my recent research trip to Topsail Island. I mentioned the wonderful pre-release dinner Glen Pierce hosted for me at Sterling Bryson’s sound-front home. Here I am with my new friends on Sterling’s porch. L to R, Craig and Dawn Brannon, Fred Beasley, John Brock, Brenda Sellers, me, John, Cynthia Harris and Glen Pierce. And here’s dinner, which I’m still dreaming about! This beef was to die for, and the pasta salad was absolutely amazing. Sterling was the chef.  ”Two-Shot Ray” Barwick took these photographs.

The next day, after visiting the turtle hospital, we stopped by Quarter Moon Books, where I’ll have a signing July 3rd, to say hi to owner Lori  Fisher, bookseller Sarah, and the pup who was incredibly sweet but whose name I’ve forgotten — which is very unusual for me. I usually remember the names of dogs more easily than the names of people. She was very good about allowing me to get my dog fix.

My friend Susan let us use her adorable cottage as our home base while I did my research. Every room is just as cozily decorated as this one below. The cottage has a BIG Margaritaville theme at work, thus John and his new best friend!

Here I am near the northernmost tip of the island in North Topsail Beach, in front of the condemned beachhouse that inspired the setting in Before the Storm. This is one of a handful of uninhabitable houses that are in grave danger of being swallowed by the sea.

And finally, after having the island nearly to ourselves all week, it was Saturday and the beach was suddenly full of people. We had a few hours on the pier, watching dads fishing with their sons and the surfers, sunbathers and kiteboarders below, and then it was time to head for home. What a great week!

Soon I’ll have this on my blog and new website so you won’t have to click on youtube to watch it, but I absolutely couldn’t wait that long to share it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZxpvYigMxE

Jean Beasley, the founder and director of The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital in Topsail Beach, gave John and me a private tour of the hospital yesterday. Jean is a dynamo, and the turtles are her passion. I’ve heard about the hospital for years, but this was my first visit and I had to share it with my readers. John took these pictures. He had to take them with natural light–and there’s not much of it in this little building. The turtles’ eyes are too sensitive to light to use a flash.

The turtles come to the hospital from all over the east coast. Many of them are injured by boat propellers, like this one above who is fortunately healing well. Some have lost flippers to sharks. Others have fungal or viral diseases. The goal is, of course, to eventually release the rehabilitated turtles to the wild.

Every one of these tanks has a huge turtle in it. You can see the building is bursting at the seams. In another year or two, the hospital will be able to move to a much larger facility on the mainland. (If you’re moved by the plight of these magnificent creatures, you can contribute to the hospital on its website. Although the hospital staff is made up of volunteers, the vet bills are staggering).

Although I’m working on my second book set on Topsail Island, you won’t read about the turtles in either of them. That’s because of my good friend and fellow author, Mary Alice Monroe. Several years ago, Mary Alice and I participated in an author event here in Topsail. I fell instantly in love with the island and asked her if she minded if I “took” it for one of my books. (This is typical author-speak among author friends.) She said I could have the island, but she got the turtles. Mary Alice is a turtle volunteer in her home state of South Carolina and she writes beautifully about them. They have her heart.  So that is why you won’t read about the turtle hospital in my Topsail books. However, I never said I wouldn’t write about them in my blog!

John and I leave here tomorrow. I’ve gathered loads of info and I’ll write more about that in a day or so. Meanwhile, here’s another turtle, and then Jean and myself in front of the hospital.

Just a quickie post. I’ll elaborate later. I’m staying in a friend’s fabulous little cottage on Topsail, where Before the Storm is set, doing some final research for After the Storm. I just have a few days and wish I had much longer. I’ve met so many wonderful people down here over the last year and a half as I research these books, and I wish I had the chance to see all of them while I’m here, but that’s not to be.

Last night, I was treated to an amazing get-together– a “pre-release” dinner party–at the home of Sterling Bryson hosted by Glen Pierce, who along with Sheree’ Alderman, founded this excellent Topsail Island website. There must have been sixteen people there and I had so many brains to pick, I was in seventh heaven! Dinner was scrumptious and the setting overlooking the sound, amazing. I was truly touched and honored by Glen and Sterling’s kindness and generosity.

Today, I’ve driven here and there getting some details straight for my story. We’re on our way to Quarter Moon Books (this is John’s first trip to Topsail Island and I’m determined to show him everything!) to say “hi” to owner Lori. I’ll be doing a signing there July 3rd. Then we’re going to the turtle hospital. Founder Jean Beasley sat next to me at dinner last night and I can’t wait to meet in person all the turtles she told me about. Then I’ll be meeting with a police sergeant in Surf City to find out exactly what would happen in my story from the police perspective. And finally, we’ll be having dinner tonight with with Ken and Angie Bogan. Ken was the fire marshal in Surf City and I never could have written Before the Storm without his help.

Well, that wasn’t such a short post after all! I’ll try to add some pictures later. It’s a gorgeous sunny day and time for us to get rolling.   

I’m working with Circle of Seven Productions on a book trailer for Before the Storm. Have you ever seen a book trailer? I thought I’d keep you abreast of the process, which I’m finding intriguing. I can’t wait to see how it turns out

First, of course, I gave the C of S people an idea of what the story was about. The initial plan was to have images with a text overlay, but as the scriptwriter and I emailed our ideas back and forth, I realized that this particular trailer should have a narrator — and not just a faceless narrator. I want Andy, my fifteen-year-old special needs hero, to tell this summary of the story. The scriptwriter and I came up with a very short script that would capture not only the flavor of the story but a bit of Andy’s unique voice as well.

Next came the auditions! These arrived via my computer while I was at the beach, so I listened to them in my car (you may recall we had some Internet issues at the beach. . . ). Fifteen terrific young actors read for Andy’s voiceover and it was very hard winnowing them down. I finally selected a teenager who sounds very much like I imagine Andy to sound, and I’m confident he’ll do a great job.

That’s where we’re at. Tomorrow, the actor will do several different readings of the script, so I can pick the one that feels right. Then the producer will put together an edit of the video with images, music and voiceover, and I’ll let her know what’s working for me and what’s not, and we’ll move forward from there. It will be short–about a minute. When it’s completed, you’ll be able to see it on my website as well as on numerous sites on the Internet. And taking distribution one step further, it will be shown on buses in five major cities as well!

I hope someday soon I’ll have time to write again. . .

What a gorgeous setting! I’m down here at Holden Beach with the scribblers (Mary Kay Andrews, Margaret Maron, Sarah Shaber and Brenda Witchger) and we’re getting tons done. That’s mostly because Mary Kay is a very firm task master. Every morning we set our goals for the day and check in with our progress in the evening. Since no one wants to face Mary Kay’s wrath, we make sure to finish what we set out to do. I’m plotting my next book, and wow, is it a challenge. It’s a little different from my other books in one unique way, but if you love my books, don’t worry. The themes and emotions will still be there. It’s really a HUGE challenge though, to think through this story and when it’s my turn to brainstorm, I can see the smoke coming out of my fellow writers’ ears as they try to wrap their minds around a very complex story.

The next challenge here is the limited Internet access. There are tiny little niches in the house where access is available, and it changes literally by the minute. Which means we’re all walking around the house holding our computers, as I am here, as we try to find the “sweet spot” that will allow us to get online. I am actually typing this from my car in the carport beneath the house.  

The house we’re in is right smack on the beach. It’s an old home that belongs to one of the scribbler’s relatives, and it’s absolutely perfect for us. Although there’s something to be said for the beautiful new sparkling clean beach houses that line the beach road, we would all rather be in a house like this, where you can feel the vibrations of hundreds of people, family and renters, who’ve lived inside its walls. It has that excellent (to me, anyway) scent of salt and must, and when I first walked in and saw the beach grass and ocean through the windows, I felt as if I’d come home. (My affinity for the beach is very odd. I never do sun, I don’t swim, I have the very worst type of hair for humid, windy weather, and with RA, I can barely hobble through the sand along the water’s edge, but I’d rather be at an east coast beach than anywhere else on earth. Except maybe Paris. )

So, in my little stroll on the bach each day, I’ve seen dolphins swimming close to shore. It’s hard to take pictures of dolphins, I’ve discovered, so I settled for this pelican shot. The pelicans are everywhere!

I’d better get back to work before Mary Kay finds my and beats me with a stalk of beach grass.  Bye for now.

It’s 2:30 am and I’m still at it.

I finished After the Storm several days ago. Wow, did it feel good to type The End (on page 501). Now I await my editor’s thoughts, after which I’ll start revising. But I thought I’d share a bit of what else I’m working on. First, some of the Scribblers (Margaret Maron, Bren Witchger, Sarah Shaber, Mary Kay Andrews, and possibly Katy Munger and Alex Sokoloff) and I are preparing for another brainstorming/writing retreat this week. This time we’re going to the beach.  Bren’s incredibly generous cousin is allowing us to take over his beach house for a week. People are coming and going at different times, but I’ll be there Wednesday-Tuesday and I’m so excited because I have a doozy of an idea for my next book and am dying to start working on the story. Since restaurants are few and far between where we’re going, everyone’s bringing a meal, so I made Guinness Stew today. I don’t eat beef all that often (and don’t drink at all), but this is one of my favorite meals. Author friend Emilie Richards gave me the recipe. I altered it slightly, and thought I’d share it with you.

Guinness Beef Stew

• 2 pounds lean stewing beef
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1/3 cup flour seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne
• 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup tomato puree mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups Guinness stout beer
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 2 cups small red potatoes, halved
• thyme (either a sprig or dried) to taste

_____

• Trim meat off fat, cut into 2 inch cubes and toss them with 1 T of the oil. Then toss with the seasoned four till coated.
• Heat remaining oil in a wide frying pan over high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, garlic, and tomato puree. cover and cook gently for 5 minutes
• Transfer contents to a casserole or large pot and pour some of the Guinness into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and scrape the meat juices in the pan. Pour onto meat with the remaining Guinness. Add the carrots and thyme.
• Cover with the lid and simmer very gently for 1 hour-2 hours, until the meet is tender. Then add the potatoes and simmer another hour.
• Scatter with chopped parsley.
• I like to serve it over noodles, but it’s great all on its own, especially with this fabulous simple Irish Soda Bread. Yum! 

So what else am I doing. Scrambling to get things done before this retreat, that’s what. First, I’m redoing my website which is a huge undertaking. I’ll update you as the unveiling gets closer. Second, I’m working with Circle of Seven Productions on a book trailer–a short video that will hopefully make people want to readBefore the Storm. Third, I’m hiring a company to help me with promotion, since I can no longer keep up with creating media contacts, etc. All of these endeavors require tons of time and energy on my part, but they’re also fun because they let me use a different side of my brain.  Fourth, I’m also going to do some promo through Authorbuzz.com. They’ll get Before the Storm in front of readers, booksellers, librarians and bookclubs. And of course I have to put together all of the information on my end, and then they pretty it up before it goes live. My publisher is doing a special printing of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes for the Target Book club pick in June, and that’s required writing an interview among other things. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled with all the activity, but  there’s no doubt that it takes away from writing time. That’s why I’m looking forward to this week at the beach. We’ll have limited Internet access there, which is a good thing, but I’ll try to keep in touch. 

Meanwhile, if your weather is still as cool, and rainy as ours, how about some stew?

It’s such fun living with a professional photographer! It was time to take my new book jacket pictures to be used on the Target Book Club edition of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and also on my new website (coming soon!). We started with very demure poses that I hated–so not me–although John liked them. What can I say? He’s looking through the eyes of love, while I was looking through eyes that have already had cataract surgery, and those eyes just couldn’t believe that the old battleaxe in the pictures was me. That’s why you’re never going to see them. I like to think I’ve moved beyond such vanity, but I guess I haven’t. Or maybe I have, since I’m willing to share the above picture with you. The photos I’ll use on my new website fall somewhere between this one and the battleaxe.  Meanwhile, feel free to use this photo as a screen saver to wake you up in the morning.