So things have been shaking a bit. Just a little bit. My book got nominated for a prize but I CAN’T SAY WHICH RIGHT NOW. The local boutiques that are stocking my book are selling out. OK, ONE of them sold out, which means they sold five copies since December but hey! Not bad if I do say so myself!

It’s the beauty of lowered expectations, people. I don’t even look at my frickin’ sales rank on Amazon.com anymore. I no longer expect to make my living as a novelist or for this book to shoot to the top of bestseller lists (if only I’d put it there when I worked for Amazon and my job was to post the New York Times Bestseller list on the site every week. Oh I would have been fired and there would have been a scandal, but since when did scandal hurt authors, I ask?)

I still hope, of course. But these days I’m thrilled if a store tells me they’ve sold out of their five copies. Or if the Bellevue Barnes and Noble is featuring it on their Fiction table or if I have a reading coming up, which I do! Oh how I miss mingling with the people! In fact, if you want me to talk or read at your birthday party, bat-mitzvah, wedding, book group, or heck, even if you just want me to come read you a bedtime story, I’ll do it!

Seriously now. One of my “career goals” (and I have a bunch of those now that I realize that novelist is not really a “career”) is to do more public speaking (and get paid for it). What shall I speak about you ask? Good question! Dating? Breakups? Writing? How to Have Fun While Ignoring the Reams of Paperwork That Pile Up On Your Desk?

Meanwhile, I’ll be reading at a fundraiser at Centerpoint Institute on March 24 and participating in a career panel about writing March 29. If you live in Seattle and are going through a transition of some sort – especially a career transition - Centerpoint is a great place to take a class. I went there back in the fall for there class called LifeWork Renewal, which, despite the hokey name, was very enlightening.

It enabled me to realize I hated my f*cking job, that it was OK to hate my f*cking job, and OK to be depressed about hating my f*cking job and that I needed to kick it to the curb promptly (which I did, thus curing my depression).

There will be more details about these events soon on my Appearances page.

OK, enough from the likes of me this morning. Did you know summer is coming up and that BreakupBabe makes a grreeaat beach read?!