Whew! A lot has happened since my last post.

I went away to work on the final draft of TOUGH CUSTOMER (Gotta love Dodge Hanley, warts and all!) While I was away from home all hell broke loose. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area got a foot of snow! A foot! Now, I know you Northerners are scoffing, but that’s more than has ever fallen in North Texas since they’ve been keeping records. It was a big deal. I was getting up-to-the-minute photo text messages from daughter Rachel, calls from friends, calls from my office staff (Can we go home early? If school is canceled, can we stay home?), calls from relatives in other parts of the country asking if we were okay. Meanwhile I was 1000 miles away in South Carolina! I hated missing this phenomenon, but it’s just as well I was gone. My house had no power for 48 hours. Tree branches, as big around as I am, were breaking off, falling on the house, in the street. The snow was pretty, but it was destructive. I returned today; my yard is being cleared; the damage is evident in the entire area.

To happier things — while in SC, Ryan came down for a few days of intensive writing on his second book. He and I have separate rooms in which we write. Some days we don’t even see each other until cocktail hour. Then we talk shop over dinner. But we did take one afternoon off to do a video interview together, which you’ll be able to watch on the website in a week or so. Check back daily. His first book PLAY DEAD comes out May 4th.

Thanks to those of you who have helped keep the reprint of EXCLUSIVE on the USA Today bestseller list for the past three weeks.

Stay warm. Tulips and forsythia can’t be too far off!