Weekend Wonderings: March 7, 2020

Things have been strange in Nashville lately. A really awfully tornado swept through parts of the city early Tuesday morning, then moved on to wreak devastation in other parts of the state. The physical damage is horrifying but the loss of life is beyond tragic. If you are a praying person, please for my city. If you are not a praying person...it's still okay to pray. I believe that God hears and answers prayers whispered through doubt. My good, good friend J.T. Ellison wrote a great blog post about how you can help if you are so inclined.

No sooner had the winds died down than the first cases of coronovirus started being confirmed here. Schools announced that they would be closed for a couple of days so they can be deep cleaned. No one is panicking...but you also can't find hand sanitizer anywhere.

These are strange times.

What I've Been Up To

Apart from the usual life and family business, the biggest thing occupying my time is the upcoming release of my next novel, CODE NAME: HÉLÈNE. It releases in twenty-one days. As usual at this point in a book release, I am both excited and terrified! This novel and this character mean so much to me. I want you to read the book and love the book and share it with your friends. It is based on the real-life story of WWII hero, Nancy Wake, and I want to do my part to help make her a household name.

Click here to listen to a sample of the audiobook.

Click here to add CODE NAME: HÉLÈNE to your Goodreads shelf.

What I'm Reading

I am continuing my joyful, leisurely read-through of Louise Penny. I am almost done with A FATAL GRACE, the second book in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I've been taking my time, soaking up the beauty of her words and the world she's built. Highly recommended!

I am not shy about my love for Deanna Raybourn's new Victorian mystery series starring the intrepid Veronica Speedwell. Book five, A MURDEROUS RELATION, releases on Tuesday. These books never fail to delight.

Last summer I decided that I would start reading out loud to my children again. Two of them are high schoolers and two of them are middle schoolers so it is easy to think that they don't want me to read to them any more. Okay, so the high schoolers, maybe not so much. But my middle schoolers still want to curl up on the couch and hear a good story. And if I happen to turn off the TV while the teenagers are sitting there? Even better. Much to my surprise, they haven't wandered off once. They just stretch out and pretend to nap. We've worked our way through THE HORSE AND HIS BOY (a lifetime favorite of mine--there are parts I can't get through without choking up), JOHNNY TREMAIN (we all liked it more than we thought we would), THE BORROWERS (no one was particularly in love with this one), LITTLE BRITCHES (this one was a huge surprise--the cadence made it difficult to read out loud at times but I was crying so hard by the last paragraph that I couldn't get the words out in more than a choked whisper--and then we just sat there and sobbed together for a while), and I just started THE SCORPIO RACES (so far it's excellent).

The entire exercise has reminded me that reading out loud is a habit and if you do it often enough, everyone begins to anticipate those quiet hours spent together on the couch. I don't know about you, but 2020 is getting weirder by the moment and I need more of these gentle moments.

What I'm Eating

This simple and utterly delicious arugula salad. I've had it at least three times a week since just after Christmas. I usually add half an avocado and some English cucumber. It's the perfect lunch. I've also been making this easy weeknight soup a lot. Sprinkle with shaved parmesan and serve with crusty bread and it's the perfect meal for a busy evening. Also, my children beg me to make these Italian Beef Sandwiches.

What are your go-to meals these days? I'm always on the lookout.

What I'm Watching

My older boys devoured THE OFFICE and PARKS AND REC and are working their way through LOST right now. More often than not I settle in and watch with them. They have no idea what's going on and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to feel that way. There's a documentary series on Netflix called ROTTEN that I have been watching with my husband and it has forever changed the way we look at our food and where it comes from.

What I'm Listening To

Not much. My audiobook consumption slowed way down once the weather turned cold. I usually listen to them while I walk around my neighborhood or during road trips. But I anticipate getting back in the groove once things warm up a bit. Also, I'll be spending a lot of time in the car during book tour this spring. I'll be visiting twelve cities in April and I so hope to see you!

What I'm Loving Right Now

Red lipstick. The main character in CODE NAME HÉLÈNE was famous for wearing red lipstick into battle. And it wasn't until I wrote this book that I learned to wear it to the grocery store without feeling like a clown. It might sound silly, but that was life changing. It's amazing how different you can feel about yourself when wearing your favorite shade of armor. My current favorite is Power Red by Elizabeth Arden (more on that later).

The Barre Blend workout program. It's part barre, part yoga, part pilates, and part ballet. The best part, however, is that I can stream it right to my living room so I don't feel like an idiot. Because I have zero dance training. No grace. No rhythm. That doesn't matter though, because these thirty minute workouts are helping tremendously with my strength, flexibility, and balance.

Drunk Elephant skincare products. I got a gift set for Christmas and fell in love. All of their products are vegan and free of dyes, silicones, fragrances, and other junk that messes with your skin. I love every single product I've tried and I plan on collecting as many as I can. I was delighted to hear that they will be releasing a new line of hair products next month.

Apothic cabernet. This is current favorite red wine and is lovely to sip beside the fire after a long day.

Favorite Instagrams This Week

Also, you can follow me on Instagram here.

What I'm Working On

My next novel! We just announced the details this week:

Author of the NYT bestseller I WAS ANASTASIA and the forthcoming CODE NAME: HELENE Ariel Lawhon's THE FROZEN RIVER, a historical mystery set in Maine in 1785 and pitched as inspired by the real life and diary of Martha Ballard, in which a renowned midwife solves a shocking murder that unhinges her small community, to Margo Shickmanter at Doubleday, in an exclusive submission, by Elisabeth Weed at The Book Group (NA). Rights: Jenny Meyer at Meyer Literary.

 

I hope you have a happy rest of the weekend! We're off to a wedding tonight but after that we plan to stay home and away from crowds for a bit. Mwah! (That would be an air kiss, from a distance, because the damned plague of doom--i.e. the coronovirus--has made handshakes and hugs off limits.