Phoenix, Part 1

The weekend I had 10 days ago was so fun, full, and ... epic, that it's taken me this long to put it into words. And I'm going to have to break it into a couple blog posts,and include lots of photos!

First of all, it was hotter than the sun in Phoenix, since I'd timed my trip well between rainstorms. The natives kept laughing at my shock. But I braved the heat in order to see a bunch of friends, spend the weekend with mom, and make my trip to "the mothership," as I call The Poisoned Pen bookstore.

Saturday we had a quiet morning (inside, in the air conditioning!), and then it was off to the bookstore for the mega–Poisoned Pen event. Six of us were there, all with books published by Poisoned Pen Press in the last two months. We drew a pretty good crowd, including a lot of the PPP staff. Here's our editor, Barbara Peters, talking with Janie Chodosh, the debut author for PPP's new YA line, the Poisoned Pencil.

After the more formal part of the program, there was a lot of standing around chatting (OK, there was some before the program also). More photos were taken, including of me with a college friend Adele, and with long-time family friends, Ed and Shirley Moore (below).

And of course we had to get a photo of the whole Team Kate crew—and thanks to everyone for wearing their shirts and showing their support! (That's me, Bill, mom, Mary, and Barb.)

But this was the more fun moment, as we all pointed out Bill, aka Pressdog, on our shirts:

Finally, it was time for the annual photo with my editor, Barbara. Another year, another book!

After all the fun at the bookstore, including pizza and a rousing pep/thanks-talk from Barbara and Rob (the publisher), it was time for dinner, gifts, and an incredible birthday cake. Yes, it was my birthday, as well as Lorrie's birthday, and between us, we can't eat gluten or dairy. That said, it was just about the best chocolate cake I've ever had. Even better? It was shaped like a wheel/tire. How cool is that?!

I got a really special gift for Kate that evening, but since the next day was the big birthday event, I'm going to save the news and photos. for the next post ... stay tuned!