I’m back! Did you miss me?

…

You didn’t notice I was gone, did you? No, no – don’t deny it. I can see it in your guilty face. Fine.

(slams door)

…

(comes back through door)

But seriously, let me talk about the last week. I went on vacation – visiting family in South Carolina – and that vacation was poorly situated overtop of the release date for The Oldest Trick. I did manage to put up a post about that while I was away, but there were a few things I missed, so I’m here to catch up. First, though, let me provide you with my Roadtrip Stats!

It turns out they actually do this occasionally (click the picture), but it still seems ridiculous.

I have driven from Boston to Hilton Head, South Carolina about twenty five times or so. The last two times, I’ve actually driven myself (and my family). In case you haven’t had the opportunity to journey that far down I-95, let me give you the statistics for this last trip.

Traffic

Best: North Carolina

Worst: New Jersey (by a mile)

Scenery

Best: Maryland (honorable mention: Connecticut)

Worst: North Carolina (I’m looking at you, “South of the Border” signs)

Drivers

Best: Delaware (I mean, assuming you get over the bridge in one piece)

Worst: Virginia (Holy tailgating, Batman!)

Rest Stops

Best: Connecticut (what few there are)

Worst: Virginia (I have seen things I cannot un-see)

Honorable Mention: New Jersey, for having the most batshit crazy rest stops in the western world. I mean, they’re fairly clean, but I’ve never run into a traffic jam in a rest stop except in New Jersey.

Gas Prices

Best: South Carolina (ran into a guy from Pennsylvania in SC who swore he had gone through a time vortex. $2.10 a gallon?)

Worst: Connecticut (The sign said “REGULAR UNLEADED: Blood of First Born + tax”)

Next time I do the trip, I’ll report my findings. I’m pretty sure Jersey is smarting from its upset from the “Worst Drivers” category and clearly Massachusetts should get in there at some point, too. But Virginia…wow. Just amazing.

Publicity Notes

Guest Posts!

• Michelle Hauck’s blog hosted me, wherein I write about sequels.
• AFE Smith hosted me, too, so I discussed conflict.
• Another shout-out to Bishop O’Connell, who let me talk about Guilty Pleasures on his blog.

Features!

• Liana Brooks put me up on her Impulse Buys of the Week blog, too!

Reviews!

• I’ve got ten reviews on Amazon for THE OLDEST TRICK! Come see what people who got the Advance Reader Copies thought!

A big thank you to Liana, Michelle, AFE, and Bishop for letting me sully their blog-space with my ramblings, and thank you to all the kind reviewers out there, too!

Print Copies?

I keep getting people asking me about print copies. I have been assured that they’re coming, I just don’t know quite when. When I know, I promise I’ll let you know, too! In the meantime, I leave you with this dancing chipmunk:

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?