Gail from Olney said, “Could not put down Rainwater.  I got it yesterday and just finished it.”

Kay Alston  wrote to say, “I purchased Rainwater today and couldn’t put it down…this is your absolute BEST.  A masterpiece.”

Sue said, “Loved your new book, Rainwater.”  Kim agreed and added, “I was so touched by it, I wound up crying.  It was great…Rainwater would make a great movie.”

Trudy wrote in saying, “Couldn’t put it down!  One of the best books you have ever written.”

Melissa wrote to tell me she’d finished Rainwater in one sitting and loved it.

Bridget was so moved she wrote her first fan letter, “This is a first…and it is fan mail!  I just finished RAINWATER and I didn’t want it to end.”

And Karen said, “I’m always pleased with your writing but doubly so this time.”

I know, I’ve been very quiet since Thanksgiving.  I’m behind on finishing up the second round of edits for TOUGH CUSTOMER, but wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has emailed, left comments on Facebook or reviews on Amazon.com.

The response from my female and male readers has been overwhelming and gratifying. So to all of you who took the time to let me know what you think, a heartfelt thank you…and replies are forthcoming.

Last night was one of my favorite nights of the year — the Celebration of Reading event in Dallas, hosted by

With David Baldacci

President George and Barbara Bush.  Don’t be misled by the cane he now uses.  Our 85-year-old former president is as feisty as ever!

This annual event, and others like it, are fund-raisers for community literacy programs, which is a serious mission.  But it’s always a fun evening.  Last night was especially so for me, because my son Ryan flew down from New York specifically to attend.  He’s become acquainted with A.J. Jacobs  (The Year of Living Biblically).  They live in the same neighborhood and are members of the same gym.  A.J., who’s also a writer for Esquire magazine, has given Ryan’s book, PLAY DEAD,  a great quote.

So anyway, Ryan was there and got to meet the former first lady and president.  A.J.’s speech was predictably hilarious.  Also on the program was my colleague David Baldacchi, who contributes huge amounts of time and energy to promoting literacy through his Wish You Well Foundation
I’m among several authors who are participating in this program to get used books into the hands of those who wouldn’t ordinarly have access to them.

Kudos to Barbara Bush, who has worked for years to stress the importance of books and to make every American a reading American.

My apologies! We sent out a newsletter about Michael’s Doritos commercial and inadvertently transposed two letters in his email address.

You can reach Michael here!

And in case you missed the newsletter and are wondering what we’re talking about, you can check out Michael’s Crash the Super Bowl Entry here.

Last weekend I attended the Texas Book Festival.  Saw friends, including former columnist John Anders and his wife

With Texas Atty General, Greg Abbott. We'll add more photos to the gallery and Facebook!

Helen Bryant-Anders, who’s a feature writer for the Austin Statesman.  She had just finished RAINWATER and wanted to talk about that.  But I had to share the stage, so to speak, with Ryan.

She’d also read his galley for PLAY DEAD.  When asked what kind of twisted mother raised a son who wanted to write about a football team of zombies, I blamed it on Michael’s side of the family — Bad Brown Blood.  I also got to chat with another pal, screen writer, Bill Wittliff.  (Legends of the Fall, Perfect Storm, Lonesome Dove.)

Emceeing the festival banquet was my friend Bob Shieffer of CBS news, who introduced me to the audience and gave me a terrific plug.  Seated at my table was Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott.

Following my program on Saturday morning, I signed books in the authors’
tent.  In my line was a woman who’d come all the way from Yorba Linda, CALIFORNIA, just to meet me!!  I was stunned by this level of loyalty.
She’d seen on my website that I was going to be in Austin and made a point to be there.  Thank you, Elaine Mock!  It was such a pleasure to meet you.  You can see a photo of Elaine and me in the previous blog post!

I’m over at Sue Grimshaw’s blog today chatting about Rainwater.  Stop by and comment–you might win a book!

With Elaine, a fan who drove all the way from California to the Texas Book Festival so that I could sign her books!

Truth be told I’m in New York City getting ready to fly home after taping the segment for CBS’s Early Show.  Thank goodness for iPhones!  And blogs you can write early and schedule to post at specific times!

The Texas Book Festival was lovely as always.  I truly enjoyed myself, as I do every year, and want to thank all the fans who came out to hear me speak.

As I left the office Monday afternoon in preparation for my trip to New York, I realized that even though I’d finished the first draft of next year’s book, and printed it out and of course, saved it, I hadn’t even had time to download the files onto my office computer.  And oh my goodness, did someone say Thanksgiving?!

Tomorrow, I’ll be guest-blogging at Fresh Fiction about a “relatively new” publishing phenomenon called book trailers.  ;)

Taping 'The Early Show' with Harry Smith