I’ve always had a weight problem.  When I tell people this, they say, “But you’re so thin!”  Right now, I may be slim, but only because I’ve just lost ten pounds.  It’s been that way all my life – up ten, down ten.  And that’s fine.  For me, the key has been never letting it go too much beyond that.

Still, it’s a struggle.  I’ve tried most diets – have paid a fortune over the years for food, meetings, counseling.  The problem is that these are, well, diets.  Once you call it a diet, you’re thinking deprivation and punishment, both of which are negative.  Clearly negativity hasn’t worked, since my weight (and that of so many of us) continues to yo-yo.  So let’s try something different.  Let’s focus on the positive.  Let’s focus on learning to like – learning to prefer foods that are good for us.

Take a baked potato.  Fattening, huh?  Sure, with all that butter and sour cream.  But when was the last time you actually tasted the potato?  All alone.  Maybe with a drop of salt, but just a drop.  A good potato has taste of its own.  If you’re shaking your head, either the baked potato in front of you isn’t a good quality potato, or you’re wolfing it down too fast to think about its taste.

Try this.  Close your eyes, and your sense of taste is stronger.  When you close your eyes, you shut out distractions and focus solely on your food, which means you eat more slowly and feel more satisfied when you’re done.

What does this have to do with books?  The main voice in Escape!, my work-in-progress, realizes that she doesn’t taste food anymore but is just shoveling it in on the run.  The point of the story is her need to slow down and savor life.  In part, that means tasting food.

This is the first of what I hope will be a serious of blogs to help us all get a grip – and I do include myself here.  I have more years behind me of eating the wrong things than I do ahead of eating the right things, and old habits die hard.  So anything I write here is for my own benefit as well.  Think of me as your weight coach, with a morsel of common sense in each blog.

Today’s morsel:  Ketchup.

My husband and I have been dieting together.  This helps, by the way.  Over dinner at night, we talk about what we eat, and one of those things is sugar.  Natural sugar, as found in apples, is great.  Added sugar, as found in so much else, is not.  Mindful of this, a month ago I bought a bottle of reduced-sugar ketchup.  It was a small bottle.  I didn’t know whether I’d like it or whether we would even try it, and indeed it sat unopened for several weeks.  Finally I dared to dribble a little over steamed broccoli – and, whoa, was I transported!  Yes, transported.  That’s the only word to describe it.  The years disappeared, and I was a kid again!  This was the ketchup I remembered from my childhood!  So when had they added the sugar?  And why?  We can all guess the answer to that one, and it isn’t pretty.

I’ve deliberately posted this before the holiday weekend, because I want us all to think.  You are what you eat, and, I don’t know about you, but this weekend, I want to be the good old-fashioned healthier kind of ketchup.

At while back, it was New Hampshire’s turn. I decided it would be pretty neat to build a town and return there for multiple books, thereby saving myself the work of creation.  Lake Henry was that town.  I imagined four books, one set in each of the four distinct seasons that New Hampshire does have – not sequels, exactly, but four books with four different lead characters, each with lesser roles in the other books.

Since four books is a significant commitment, I had to do it right, which meant visiting the town before I started the writing.  Visiting a fictitious town?  Uh-huh.  I pictured setting my stories in a New Hampshire lake town, and there are plenty of those to visit.  So I went.  It was actually a dual mission.  My husband and I were simultaneously thinking of buying a summer place on a lake, and what better tour guide than a realtor?  I found one, got him plotting a tour of homes and lakes, and booked a room at an inn.

What happened then is truly poetic.  It was a sunny day in early April.  There were still patches of snow in shady spots at the side of the road, but the lake was clear of ice.  That was key.  There I was, standing out on the dock on the very first morning, at the very first house, when I heard the call of a loon rising from the waters just off a tiny island not two hundred feet from where I stood.  The sound was primitive, haunting, and so exquisitely beautiful that I simply fell in love.

We didn’t buy that particular house.  We searched for five more months before we found just the right one, but the prerequisite was the presence of loons.  Loons mean clean water and fresh air.  Each year, they arrive soon after the ice leaves, claim their territory, and find their mates.  They nest in June, hatch their young in early July, and spend the next three months feeding, teaching, and protecting one or (if we’re lucky) two chicks.  By early fall, the parents start socializing in larger groups in advance of heading south for the winter, and by December they’re all gone.  But they do return.  When I hear that first spring call, I fall in love all over again.

To date, I have written two Lake Henry books – Lake News and An Accidental Woman.  No, they’re not all about loons, though these magnificent creatures do appear from time to time.  And the other two books?  They remain twinkles in my eye.  Fortunately, there’s no biological clock ticking here (as in baby-type twinkle in my eye).  I have time.

BTW, my work-in-progress doesn’t include loons, but a coyote plays a part in it.  The name of the book is Escape! and it’s about a woman who is so disillusioned with her technologically-crazy life that she ups and runs away.  More on where I am with that in my next blog.

Annie Pope and Teke Maxwell were college roommates; Sam Pope and J.D. Maxwell, longtime friends, practice law together.  They have five teenage kids between them, back-to-back houses that share a lush yard, and a vacation home filled with years of memories.  With Annie a college professor and Teke a stay-at-home mom, they have crafted a tightly-woven and seamless working of lives.

Then comes the unexpected.  In a single, momentary indiscretion, Sam Pope and Teke Maxwell are found in a compromising position by Teke’s 13-year-old son, who races from the house into the path of an oncoming car.  The accident leaves the boy in a coma.

How do the families deal?  Do friends remain friends?  Can husbands and wives trust again?  And what of the daily lives that have been so entwined?

There you have it – the premise of my book More Than Friends.  I’m blogging about this today because More Than Friends hits bookstores tomorrow (March 16) in a gorgeous new trade paperback package that is fabulous to hold and priced to sell.  Written in the ‘90’s, More Than Friends was my very first New York Times Bestseller and, in that, a breakout book for me.

Rereading it just now, I had a ball.  My writing style has changed some, but the emotions are there in full, along with a plot as tightly woven as the Maxwells and the Popes.

So.  If you’re looking for a late winter read that will take your mind off, well, the weather for one thing, I recommend it.  Please let me know if it does the trick.

Once monthly, I attend Stitch Night at Iron Horse, a local yarn store owned by Debbie Smith, and she has just introduced something new to her knitters.  The project is called Stitching for Babies, and it entails making preemie and newborn hats, booties, and blankets for local Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units.  As Debbie puts it, “There is a real need for all those infants to be seen as babies, not just connected to tubes and monitor leads.”

When I broached this idea to my Facebook fans a few days ago, their response was overwhelming.  So I broach it to you now, and I’ll make it simple.  Let’s start with preemie blankets, the size of a nice hand towel, roughly 14” x 18”, just enough to lay over the infant, not to wrap. This is a quick and easy project, even for beginners.  You can knit or crochet or quilt.  Hey, quilters, you’re on your own for patterns, but knitters and crocheters will find a pattern for each below.

Yarn should be machine washable and dryable.  I recommend worsted weight, since it works up quickly but isn’t ultra-heavy.  Pick a color of your choice.  Here’s the Shell Preemie Blanket I just finished.  Clearly, I have the fuchsia heart of Not My Daughter’s Susan Tate.  I used Berroco Vintage, which is 50% acrylic, 40% wool, and 10% nylon, and I added the navy border when my skein of fuchsia ran out.

Send your finished blanket to me at PO Box 812894, Wellesley, MA  02482.  No need to block; Debbie will do that.  Each donated blanket will have the first name of the donor affixed.

Here are the patterns:

Crochet:  Shell Preemie Blanket (approx 14 x 18)

Chain 47 loosely with size H or I crochet hook.

Row 1:  In 5^th chain from hook, work 1 sc + ch 2 + 2 dc.  * Skip 2 ch, work 1 sc + ch 2 + 2 dc in next chain.*  Repeat between *s to last 3 ch.  You should have 13 clusters.  Skip 2 ch, work 1 dc in last ch.  Ch 3.  Turn.

Row 2:  Work 1 sc + ch 2 + 2 dc in each ch 2 loop (13 clusters) until 3 ch loop at end of row.  Work 1 dc in this loop.  Ch 3.  Turn.

Repeat Row 2 until piece measures roughly 17.5”.  At end of row, turn corner with 3 dc + 2 ch + 3 dc in 3 ch loop.  Continue with 1 sc + ch 2 + 2 dc down side to give 17 clusters.  Repeat corner pattern.  Work 13 clusters along bottom and 17 along final side.  If desired, repeat entire border once more.  Cut off yarn, weave in ends.

Knit:  Checkerboard Preemie Blanket (approx 14 x 18)

Cast on 59 sts with #7 or #8 needles (gauge is not crucial).  Knit the first two rows.

Row 1: K2,*K5, P5* repeat across to the last 7 sts, K7.

Row 2: K2, *P5, K5* repeat across to the last 7 sts, P5, K2

Repeat row 1 and 2 one more time

Repeat row 1 one time for a total of 5 row pattern then reverse pattern.

Row 3: K2, *P5, K5* repeat across to the last 7 sts, P5, K2

Row 4: K2,*K5, P5* repeat across to the last 7 sts, K7.

Repeat row 3 and 4 one more time

Repeat row 3 one time for a total of 5 row pattern then reverse pattern again.

Repeat this pattern sequence 10 times, then repeat Row1/2 squence once more. Knit 2 rows, bind off.  Weave in ends.

But I’m back — back writing, actually, because I spent the imaginative pre-dawn hours of December and January plotting my next book.  It’s an idea that came to me last June, on the very day I sent Not My Daughter off to my publisher.  Lots of other plot possibilities came and went during the summer, which is typically my time for new ideas, but this one wouldn’t let go.

You guys helped cement it. Those of you who visit me on Facebook will remember how, in late September, I posed a question: If you were to escape, just disappear one day, where would you go?

The question unleashed a torrent of replies in a matter of hours.  Apparently, it wasn’t just me, wanting to ditch my worries for a time.  Clearly, I had touched a chord.  I would almost believe that escaping certain parts of our lives is every woman’s greatest fantasy.

And so Escape! was born.  I’ve just written the opening scene in which my protagonist is preparing to walk away from a life she suddenly realizes is very, very wrong.  Three things happen to push her over the edge – two relating to work, one to her marriage.

What one thing would do it for you?

“Calling to mind an ’08 news story about 17 girls thought to have made a pregnancy “pact,” this novel features three Maine teens who blithely orchestrate getting pregnant together. Refusing to name the fathers or to consider abortion or adoption, they are at once perplexing and heartbreaking – especially to their own mothers, who become primary characters. As the town erupts in outrage, the girls’ moms grapple with anger, sorrow and the nagging question: Where did I fail my daughter? It’s a topical tale that resonates with timeless emotion.”

Nice, huh?  And filling the whole lower third of the page, including a view of the cover? Thank you, PEOPLE Magazine.  A writer can’t ask for more.

But we do.  Every writer wants to be reviewed.  Why?  Three reasons. First, publicity.  Readers see the title, see your name, see that someone thinks your book is important enough to review – or good enough to review, which leads me to the second reason.  Sales.  One way to get new readers is to give them a short sketch of your story, along with words of recommendation from a reputable source, which leads to the third reason.  Ego.  Every writer wants to see praise of his work.

Here, truly though, is a case of being careful what you wish for.  What if you get reviews, and they’re bad?  That can be demoralizing.  I know.  I’ve been there.  Forget trying to write for the rest of the day after you’ve read a bad review of your work.  The worst reviews are the ones that just don’t make sense – and make no mistake about it.  There are plenty of grudging reviewers out there who are forced to read your book when they want to be reading something else and resent the subject matter, the setting, even your success.

Publishing one book a year, I don’t get as many reviews as I’d like.  Reviewers are more likely to flock to a first-time writer who may be on the cusp of stardom, or a veteran author who has just published his first book in four years.

The irony, of course, is that some of the best-reviewed books never do hit any bestseller lists.  How bittersweet must that be?

By and large, I try to keep my review hopes in check.  But Not My Daughter has now gotten four quotable reviews (click here to read the other three) from four solid sources.  That’s cause for celebration, don’t you think?

But wait.  What I really want now is reader reviews on this site.  Want to be one of the first to post one?

But I’m not in a book group, some readers cry, which is why I’m doing a live chat on Tuesday, January 12, 9-9:30 pm (EST) right here on this blog page.

But still, you say,  you want to talk with me on the phone like those other book groups?  Okay.  Form a book group of your own.  Even for one night, one meeting.  How to do it?  It’s really easy.

First, pick a book.  Make it one of mine that you, as the organizer, really want to discuss.  Naturally, I recommend Not My Daughter, because there’s so much food for thought – like, what makes a good mother, when is a child responsible for her own actions, or how to stop history from repeating itself.  But you could also talk about family silence and secrets, as in While My Sister Sleeps, or the price of denying the truth, as in The Secret Between Us.

Second, get members.  Call friends who like to read – put a note on a bulletin board at the library, at work, at church – and tell them your choice.  Ask if they have a friend or two who might also be interested in a talk with the author.  Now, some readers are intimidated by authors, though, truly, I am not an intimidating person.  Assure them that they don’t have to say a word to me, that all they have do to be part of the group is to listen.  Ideally, you’ll have ten or more members present at the meeting.

At this point, you need to pick a date.  Find something that works for most of your members.  You can’t please everyone, but you can try.

Third, go to the Reading Groups page at my website and send me a note.  My assistant, Lucy, will get back to you to let you know whether your date works.  If it doesn’t, we work together to pick another date.

Next, you choose a place.  Groups I’ve talked with have met in homes, schools, and libraries.  The only requirement is a speakerphone.  Heck, I’ve even talked with groups via cell phone speaker – which, in theory, means that you could be meeting inside a mini-van, though, truly, I can think of more comfortable spots.

That’s it.  Four steps – pick a book, get members, pick a date, choose a place.  My assistant, Lucy, will guide you through the rest.  She’ll send you a link to a list of questions that you and your group can start thinking about; she’ll even suggest that you come up with a few questions of your own before the meeting.  My favorite meetings are loose and easy, a back-and-forth chat.  We talk about me and writing and the book in question, and it’s really like I’m there in your living room (or mini-van!) with you.  Lucy will be in touch with you closer to the date to make sure we’re good to go.

And there you have it.   If you enjoy the evening – more important, I think, if you enjoy the company of your fellow readers – you may choose to meet again.  Or not.  But you’ll have fun for this one night.  As will I!

My new book, Not My Daughter, is now on sale!  I hope you enjoy it.  As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you’d like a personalized bookplate for your copy, give me the info and it’ll be on its way.

If you’d like to take part in a live online chat to discuss Not My Daughter (or any other BD subject), be right here at this BLOG page one week from tonight, Tuesday, January 12, from 9:00-9:30 PM (EST).

And finally, if you haven’t put your name in for the sweepstakes, please do so now.  With $1000 in book gift cards up for grabs, it’ll be worth your while.

That’s it.  ‘Til Thursday.

And here’s the online chat part. I recently attempted a live chat through my Facebook page, but it was unwieldy having to constantly refresh the page to see new remarks.  Simultaneously, my brilliant web designer Steve successfully experimented with a live chat through the blog page of another of his cients.  I attended that chat, thought it was terrific, and signed on.

So mark your calendars for January 12, 9-9:30 PM (ET), and set a bookmark for the blog page on my site, which is where the chat will take place.  That’ll give you a week to read Not My Daughter, which goes on sale January 5.

I talk with reading groups all the time, but this option opens things up to include those of you aren’t in a reading group.  Absolutely everyone is welcome.  Let’s give it a try!

BTW, the focus may be on Not My Daughter, but you can ask me … anything.  January 12, 9-9:30 PM (ET).  I’ll give a direct link when we get close to the date.  Details will also be on Facebook and Twitter.  Join me, please?

I certainly am not.  I can find a number of personal faults that a good New Year’s resolution would help.  How many years have I resolved to be more patient with others, to read more, to hand-write thank-you notes, to reach out to friends?  And then there’s the diet one.  That one’s really old.  I’ve made it not only for past New Years, but for birthdays, holidays, even first of the months.

Here’s the problem with resolutions.  Every year I make ‘em.  Every year I break ‘em.  So, what’s the point?

The point is to stop what we’re doing, if only for a minute or two, and take a look at ourselves – physically, intellectually, and emotionally.  It’s all about awareness and, yes, maybe trying.  The person who can’t find anything to improve upon has to be the most arrogant person on earth.

So go ahead and make those resolutions.  Yes, try to keep them, but if you don’t, not to worry.  There’s always next year.  Life is a work in progress.

Happy New Year, you all!