FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
I was out and about for a week recently, and when I got home I had two enormous boxes waiting for me. And what—you might ask—could those boxes contain?
DEEP DISH! The finished, gorgeous, lovely tangerine-colored copies of DEEP DISH, which hits stores Feb. 26. Now, this is my 16th book, but the thrill of holding a book with my name on the jacket—and my story between the covers, really never wears off. The only thing I can compare this sense of elation to was looking at the ultrasound pictures of my babies. And let’s face it, I love my (now grown-up) babies more than life itself—but those ultrasound pix were actually black and white and grainy, and to be honest, I never could tell much from them about my babies-to-be. To me, those sonogram pix looked like lumps of mashed potatoes.
But this coral-colored cutie, DEEP DISH, is, in my humble opinion, an absolutely fruity-luscious creation. The story concerns two rival television chefs based in Atlanta, Regina Foxton, and Tate Moody, and their battle to become a network television star. As research for DEEP DISH, I went down to Savannah last year to watch Paula Deen tape her shows for the Food Network.
I’ll hit the book tour (and junking) trail on Feb. 26, with stops in Atlanta, Raleigh, Kensington, MD., Tampa, Fort Myers, Memphis, Kansas City, Birmingham, Savannah and a bunch of other places in between. If you’re within hollerin’ distance, please stop by to say hey and buy an armload of DEEP DISH. And if you just can’t make it to a signing—well, what are you waiting for? Get to a store, or online, and pre-order your copies of DEEP DISH right this minute! After all, according to that ornery little groundhog up in Pennsylvania, we’ve still got another month or so of winter to deal with, because of the writer’s strike there’s nothing good on television, and most importantly—I still need that beach house I’ve been saving up for. Hope to see you soon!
Mary Kay Andrews
All my best,
Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
Don't know about you, but we're finally just starting to see autumn here in Georgia. The air is crisp, the skies are cloudless and blue. Which brings me to things that are blue. As in BLUE CHRISTMAS. We've just re-released my feel-good Christmas novella. It has some all new material this year, including a couple of essays by yours truly, some new recipes, even Weezie's Christmas playlist, which you can use as a guide to download your own timeless holiday mix. If you read BLUE CHRISTMAS last year, you can buy a bunch for Christmas gifts this year.
As always, I've had a busy fall, and I'll be all over Georgia and South Carolina low country, then back to Atlanta in time for some pre-Thanksgiving signings. You can check my upcoming appearances schedule to see if I'll be at a bookstore near you.
In between getting the house ready for the holidays, I've been in planning sessions with the people who put on our first SAVANNAH BREEZE girlfriend's getaway weekend last year at Tybee. We're doing it again this year—Jan. 19-22, which is the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The gals have knocked themselves out coming up with improvements on last year's weekend, including a fabulous lunch at a privately owned historic Savannah mansion on Saturday, catered by Paula Deen's Lady & Sons restaurant. Just think—you can dine on Paula's food—without waiting in line for hours outside the restaurant! If you're able to stay over on Monday, you can join a guided tour of beautiful historic Beaufort. Check the Breeze website at http://savannahbreezeweekend.com for more details. Y'all come!
Have a warm, wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.
All my best,
Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
I want to thank all of you who sent condolences on the death of my big sister Susie. Your kind words and prayers have truly lightened what has been a dark time for my family and me. The numbness from her sudden loss is starting to wear off, and I feel blessed to have work I love to preoccupy me. If you haven’t yet checked out my blog, The Kudzu Telegraph., I hope you will do that. I’m enjoying writing about whatever nuttiness crosses my mind, and I love the immediacy of hearing your comments.
Now for the fun stuff. DEEP DISH is in production, and goes on sale late Feb. I’ll post the gorgeous jacket here as soon as it’s ready. In the meantime, my late summer/fall schedule of appearances has started to heat up.
I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and new at the AJC-Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend, right here in my backyard in Decatur, Georgia. Last year’s inaugural festival was a smash hit, and this year’s event promises to be even better with some 200 authors scattered around the Decatur square. I’ll be holding my version of an old-fashioned tent meeting in the Decatur Library auditorium on Sat., Sept. 1, at 1:45 p.m., so please come join the fun.
If you’re a bookseller, I’ll see you in September at the Southeastern Independent Bookseller’s Association (SIBA) show being held in Atlanta the last weekend of the month. I’m scheduled to appear at the HarperCollins Saturday morning bookseller’s breakfast.
On Oct. 12th, from 7-9 pm, I’ll be at Café Au Libris, a fund-raising evening for the public library in Athens, Georgia, along with Terry Kay and Ferrol Sams.
Catch up with me on October 20th for a fund-raising luncheon in Detroit, and on Oct. 21st I’ll be at the Women’s Expo in Kingsport, Tennessee.
And finally, on Oct. 25th, I’ll be doing an event for Evening at Emory, www.cll.emory.edu/eate/classes.cfm?cla=-1749641695&pt=3, also here in Atlanta.
In the meantime, I’d urge you to enjoy these last sweltering days of summer as I do: lounging around with a good book, a big old glass of sweet tea, and a ‘mater sammich.
All my best,
Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
To a writer, the happiest words in the English language are THE END. Although-royalty check is another fabulous phrase. I'm thrilled to announce that I've recently typed THE END of the manuscript of my new book DEEP DISH.
DEEP DISH is the story of a pair of rival Atlanta television chefs-both vying for a spot for their own national network cooking show. The competition heats up when Regina Foxton and Tate Moody find that opposites attract-in the kitchen and elsewhere. Look for DEEP DISH next February, when we'll all be ready for a beachy book.
And speaking of beachy books, SAVANNAH BLUES, the first in my Savannah trilogy, has recently been re-released as a mass market paperback. Look for the bright blue cover with the sunflower peeking out from the edge in good bookstores everywhere. This is the perfect size to tuck in your beachbag-or your flight bag is you're taking off on a summer vacation.
In between working on DEEP DISH, I've been working on my new front porch. You may remember that I "pimped out" the porch on our old house in Raleigh last summer. Now, I've done it again with the new Atlanta house. Check the results in my photo album on MaryKayAndrews.com. I started this year's project with the wicker that's followed us around for the past 15 years. Then, because I hate anything too matchy-matchy, I mixed in a new teak table and market umbrella from the Restoration Hardware outlet store, along with two different sets of wrought iron dining room chairs. I scored a great fifties wrought iron settee, coffee table and armchairs at the monthly Scott's Antique Market here in Atlanta, and had new Sunbrella cushions made to go with the cushions I sewed last summer. I also found a bar made from an old treadle sewing machine base at Scott's, and at my other favorite flea market, Kudzu Antique Market, in Decatur, I bought a huge old iron fan blade cover, which became a funky planter for sedums. The sedum thingy was my friend Susie's brainstorm. And did I mention the glass-top side table I found on Craigslist for twenty bucks? Craigslist is my newest vice. I'm addicted-so watch for a subplot to pop up in the book I'm currently hatching. With some side trips to Big Lots, Target and Ikea, our porch is now summer-ready. Wyatt and I have our breakfast out there most mornings, and Tom and I sip wine there in the evenings and watch the world parade past.
For years I've wanted to go to the Brimfield Antique Market in Brimfield, Mass. Finally, this summer, I'm going with my friend Beth, who let me tag along with her last September for an antiquing trip to London and Paris. We plan to rent a van and spend three glorious days junking our hearts out from July 10-13. Check back on the website, because I'm hoping to be able to blog about my experiences there.
I'll only have a couple of signings this summer-including a talk at the Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend, so check my upcoming appearances calendar on MaryKayAndrews.com. Happy summer, happy junking, happy porch-hopping!
All my best
Mary Kay Andrews
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
Happy 2007! Yes, I know it's already February, but I've been busy getting my head back in a book-more about that later.
The holiday season whizzed by me in record time this year. To recap: moved back to Atlanta in September. Lived in condo for six weeks. Moved into new (old) house in November. Survived disastrous and destructive movers. Two days later blew town to promote BLUE CHRISTMAS. Somewhere in that time I managed to bake, wrap and send 28 homemade pound cakes to my publishing partners around the country, decorate for Christmas, Christmas shop, start decorating new house, attend my brother's wedding in New Orleans, and all that other stuff.
BLUE CHRISTMAS turned out to be a smashing success-thanks to you dear readers, who came to signings and brought arms-full of books for all your family and friends. BLUE even spent seven weeks on the New York Times extended bestseller list-a new record for me.
At the end of January we had our first ever SAVANNAH BREEZE weekend at Tybee Island, Georgia. What a great time! Fifty or so of my new best friends gathered at the beach to laugh, talk, dance, junk and celebrate. At the Friday night margarita meet 'n greet we all donned our hot pink feather SB boas, then shopped a special artist's market, had hair and nails done, and even managed to have the first round of the first Miss Savannah Breeze contest.
Saturday morning we trolleyed into downtown Savannah to junk, shop and stroll. That night we partied at the historic old Fresh Air Home right on the beach, and in between dancing to a live band, we crowned Miss Savannah Breeze, Ellen Jenkins, from Newnan, Ga., and her court, first runner-up Melissa Smith of Dacula, Ga., and Kathy Kelly of Daytona Beach. Some brave souls even did their own Tybee pub crawl-hitting Doc's Bar (it's in the book!) among other places. Boy, were those pink feathers flying.
Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed for a celebratory parade around Tybee. Okay, so the parade consisted of two vehicles--Miss Savannah Breeze float was actually a boat towed behind a pickup, and it was followed by a trolley full of feather-flying, hand-waving Savannah Breezers. After a Bloody Mary brunch at the private home of one of the weekend's event planners, everybody took off-to start planning next year's weekend. Check my photo album on my website for pix of the weekend.
The organizers have already announced next year's dates-to fall on the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend, and have begun brainstorming about how to make next year's event even better. For details and reservations, email Linda Odom at lindatots@bellsouth.net.
And now, finally, I've got my head back in my book. I think you'll love my new set of characters in DEEP DISH, Regina Foxton and Tate Moody, rival television chefs in Atlanta who are battling it out for a primetime network cooking show. Look for it next winter.
In the meantime, if you need something good to read, pick up the newly released trade paperback of SAVANNAH BREEZE, or catch up with my first eight books, the mysteries in the Callahan Garrity series, which were published under my real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. Since I'm double secret probation for missing the deadline for DEEP DISH, I'll have only a few signings for the paperback of SAVANNAH BREEZE, so check upcoming appearances so you don't miss me before I get back to the book.
All best in '07-
Mary Kay Andrews
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
I’ve put away my white sandals and started dragging out my black pantsuits—which can only mean that summer is gone and it’s fall book tour season. I’ve got lots of exciting news to report. First off, I want to tell fill you in on the secret project I’ve been hinting about for months now. It’s a new book! My second one this year! BLUE CHRISTMAS will be in all the best stores as of Oct. 31. This is the third in the Savannah trilogy, following SAVANNAH BLUES and SAVANNAH BREEZE. And yes, Weezie and BeBe are back. I’ll be signing books all over the place, so check the upcoming appearances page on MaryKayAndrews.com to be sure you get signed copies for everybody on your holiday gift list. Also, watch the website for the details about my BLUE CHRISTMAS contest, which will have some really nifty prizes.
THIS JUST IN: BRAZEN, SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION TO FOLLOW.
I’m also
pleased to report that SAVANNAH BREEZE has been nominated for a Quill Book
Award for Best Romance of the Year. This is the second year of this
People’s Choice-type award, and the cool thing is that you, dear,
discerning reader, gets to pick who wins. And I, shameless, freeloading
hussy that I am, get a free trip to New York to attend the swanky
celebrity-infested awards soiree on Oct. 10. Here’s how it works. You go
to quillawards.com and carefully
read directions to vote for your favorite books of the year, paying
particular attention to the ROMANCE category, where SAVANNAH BREEZE is
nominated. Notice that I emphasize direction-reading. You have to click on
the book and go to the bottom of each page and click on vote. And what’s
in it for you, you may well ask? Why, a chance to win your OWN
all-expenses paid trip to New York for aforesaid swanky soiree, just by
registering and voting. But act now! Voting closes Sept. 30.
GIRLFRIEND WEEKEND @ TYBEE ISLAND
You asked for it, we’re doing it!
My friend Diane Kaufman, who runs the fabulous Mermaid Cottages rental
agency on Tybee Island is putting together a SAVANNAH BREEZE weekend on
Tybee this winter. Circle the dates of Jan. 19-21, and get your posse
organized for a fun-filled chick weekend with me. Plans are still
underway, but you can expect a Friday night get-together, a Saturday bus
trip into Savannah for serious junking/shopping/eating, a Saturday night
PJ party, and a Sunday farewell brunch. Watch my website or email Diane@MermaidCottages.com for
details. Be there or be square.
Finally, lots of you have written to ask about our house-hunting progress. If all goes well, by the time I send out my next newsletter, the front porch I’ll be writing from will be back in Atlanta. The new house is only a block away from our old house. It’s Craftsman, built in 1926, and has many similarities to the old house. It’s even green. As you can imagine, I’ve already started decorating it in my head. See the photo below: I’ll post more pix once we’ve moved in and I’ve started cluttering it up.
All my best,
Mary Kay Andrews
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
The front porch I’m writing from is still right here in Raleigh. We’re still house-hunting in Atlanta, and hope to have news on that front soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d catch you up on the SAVANNAH BREEZE book tour, and how I spent the spring and summer, which I somehow can’t believe has whizzed right on past. If you didn’t have a chance to catch up with me on tour, you’ll have one last chance to buy multiple copies of SAVANNAH BREEZE during the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival, Memorial Day weekend in Decatur, Ga. After that, I go under house arrest to finish next year’s book by the October deadline. My spot is at 12:30, Sat. Sept. 2. Check the AJC Decatur Book Festival website for more details.
About that porch...On one of my rare weekends home in June, I decided it needed some pizzazz in order to attract a buyer who would appreciate it as much as we have. I hit an estate sale across the street and came home with a rickety wicker fern stand for $10, and a two buck metal plant stand. Then it was on to the sidewalk sale at the fabric store. By standing in line for 30 minutes before the sale started, and staking out the remnants of my choice, I scored big—enough Sunbrella fabric and pillow forms for the project I had in mind—and for about $30. I scooted over to Target for an outdoor area rug and some doodads. Back at home, my husband stabilized the fern stand, and I spray painted it and the plant stand, and fitted them out with caladiums and pots of ivy. On Sunday, I sewed. Not well, but well enough to make all the pillows. See the results in my photo album.
The BREEZE tour took me all over the map--literally. So here are some random memorable tour moments: Giving my first power point presentation at the Savannah Antique & Garden Expo. Of course, I shopped before and afterwards, bringing home a great French crystal chandelier. Getting a sneak preview of my daughter and son-in-law’s new house in Phoenix after signing at The Poisoned Pen books in Scottsdale. Giving a talk and signing for Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, while wearing sunglasses due to a raging case of pink eye. Meeting the coolest librarians ever at the Texas Library Association in Houston. Meeting old and new fans at Dog Ear Books in Madison, Ga., which just happens to be the setting for HISSY FIT, and which also just happens to be located in a fabulous antique mall. Being part of a panel at the North Carolina Festival of the Book at Duke University. Me! At Duke! Pigging out on desserts at The Book Exchange in Marietta, Ga. Meeting fans Stacy and Nora at Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach, FL, and then going junking with them. A standing room only crowd at Page and Palette Books in Fairhope, Ala. and a wine-soaked dinner afterwards with some Sweet Potato Queens. Another hilarious, wine-soaked dinner with old friends after signing at Davis-Kidd Books in Memphis. Junking and signing the entire length of Florida, from Miami to Jacksonville. A family reunion with my son-in-law’s mom, grandmother and aunt during signing at That Bookstore in Blytheville, in Blytheville, Ark. At the dinner afterwards we all toasted with Blue Breeze Cocktails.
But by far the nicest moment was my signing at Haslam’s Books in my hometown of St. Petersburg, Fl. My Dad sat at the signing table with me, and together we greeted old friends and family members, and he got the chance to brag to all comers that SAVANNAH BREEZE had made the New York Times extended bestseller list. He was so excited about that. Every week he’d call to see if the book had climbed. And thanks to all of you, it made it all the way to #18. After the signing, we had a family cook-out at the same beach house where we’d had the sunset send-off for my mom after her funeral.
Exactly a month after that, we had another funeral. Dad had been fighting health problems since my Mom died two years ago, and when he fell and broke his hip—his good hip—it was just too much. Three days later, with my sister Susie and I holding his hands, he slipped away quietly. John Patrick Hogan was one of God’s sweet ones. He was Irish Catholic to the core, and fiercely proud of all five of his kids. God knows how many of my books he handed out to all the doctors and nurses who’ve treated him over the years! He grew up on the Southside of Chicago, and met my mom at a dance at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg. My mom was 18, he was 22. He asked her to dance, and when she got back to the table where her sister was sitting, she announced she’d just met the man she was going to marry. Six months later, they formed the partnership that would last 52 years. My dad loved to laugh, and being Irish, he cried just as readily as he laughed. I’ve been doing a lot of both lately. And I’ve tried to remember to be thankful—for all of it. And for all of you.
All my best,
Mary Kay Andrews
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Here's the thing. We really do have a front porch on our house here in Raleigh. We had a wonderful porch on the old house in Atlanta too. On lazy summer days I could take naps on the big old glider, lulling myself to sleep with the creaking of the rusty springs. I could sit up there and spy on the world, and nobody knew I was looking. When our daughter got her first haircut, it was on that front porch. Okay, my mother gave her bangs, which Katie never forgot or forgave, but that’s another story.
The porch was our stage for every happy holiday event. On the Fourth of July, we strung up red white and blue bunting, and ate fried chicken. At Easter, we sat and waited for the antique car parade to pass by. One memorable Christmas, I strung racing blue lights across the front and around the crumbling old columns, and hung a huge aluminum wreath with a blown-up picture of Elvis in the middle for my Blue Christmas theme. More about that later. And Halloween? Lawsy-mercy did we have some fun Halloweens. Our town had a "Holiday Spirit Contest" and every year my sister-in-law Jeanne and I went all out trying to come up with a new decorating theme.
The porch was where the first day of school pictures were taken. It was where we sat and listened to Braves games on the radio. It was where a heart-broken Andy kissed his first girlfriend goodbye when we moved away before his junior year of high school.
When we moved to Raleigh three years ago, there was one key requirement for our new home. Old...with a porch. On nice days, I sit out there and read the newspaper and sip my Diet Coke. Evenings, my husband and I enjoy the occasional adult beverage and wind down. Wyatt, my office assistant, likes to hang over the porch railing and bark at passing dogs, just to let them know he’s on duty. I was sitting on that porch on a sweltering August morning two years ago when my editor, Carolyn Marino, called with the amazing news that HISSY FIT was officially a New York Times bestseller. When I called home to tell my parents, my father cried, he was so proud and happy. He’s Irish, you know. A month later, my mother passed away. When I sit out on the porch now, I think about the excitement in her voice when I told her about HISSY FIT.
Porches are on my mind quite a bit right now. We’re moving, you see. Back to Atlanta. My husband’s job has changed, and his new one will be taking us back to the Big Peach. Back to endless traffic jams on I-285, SEC football, and the occasional cold beer at Manuel’s Tavern. I’ve been cleaning closets here in Raleigh, and using the Internet and that old reliable, the kudzu telegraph, to hunt for houses in our old neighborhood. The hell with Thomas Wolfe, I say. You can too go home again. And I’m not asking for much. I just want something.....old...with a porch.
I'll keep you posted on what happens.
And just as all this excitement is hitting in my personal life, SAVANNAH BREEZE hits stores today, April 11th. If you’re in the Raleigh area, please join me at Quail Ridge Books tonight at 7 pm for the official launch party.
SAVANNAH BREEZE is the long-awaited sequel to SAVANNAH BLUES. This time around, the spotlight is on the much-married BeBe Loudermilk, best friend of Weezie Foley. Dumped by her mortician fiance’, and forced to attend Savannah’s society party of the year with a make-do date, BeBe is swept off her feet by a younger man, the oh-so-charming Ryan Edward Millbanks III, an investment banker from a prominent Charleston family who drives a Jaguar and lives on a gleaming yacht called The Blue Moon. Once the dust settles from this ill-fated affair, BeBe discovers that her dreamboat has disappeared, but not before swindling her out of everything—including all her rental properties, her own home, and her grandparent’s life savings. All she has left is The Breeze Inn, a crumbling mom and pop motel at Tybee Island, which Reddy has bought with her money. Penniless and homeless, BeBe sets out to move in and transform the place for a quick buck. But Breeze Inn caretaker Harry Sorrentino, a cranky charter boat captain, refuses to be dislodged from the manager’s quarters, and seems to delight in thwarting BeBe’s make-over plans. When Harry discovers he can’t resist the dynamic duo of BeBe and junk queen Weezie Foley, he reluctantly joins forces with them. And when BeBe gets a lead that conman Reddy has resurfaced in Florida, she hatches a sting operation that you’ll have to read to believe.
I’m running a SAVANNAH BREEZE Contest to celebrate its arrival on the shelves of bookstores and (hopefully) homes around the country. Since I know that everyone loves a little pampering, the Grand Prize is a $200 Gift Certificate to the spa of your choice -- and a personally inscribed copy of SAVANNAH BREEZE.
Three runners-up will receive a sweet and breezy basket filled with indulgences inspired by Savannah including a "Summer in Savannah" tin of famous and irresistibly good Byrds cookies that are straight from Savannah as well as a "Savannah-scented" candle by Archipelago. In recognition of the power of friendship between Bebe and Weezie, winners will receive a signed copy of SAVANNAH BREEZE for themselves and an extra signed copy to give to a friend. You can read all the details of the contest on my website, www.MaryKayAndrews.com.
Please come see me on one of my tour stops and buy multiple copies of SAVANNAH BREEZE. Porches don't come cheap, you know. Check www.MaryKayAndrews.com for the tour schedule, which at last count had me doing at least 39 events. Hmmm...by the end I will need a spa day…or two. And time on the porch swing.
All my best,
Kathy aka Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Happy New Year! 2006 will be the year we all get thinner, richer, cuter, happier—right?
But in the meantime, fall 2005 flew by so fast I had to consult my calendar to figure out where it went. Oh yes, now I remember. In September I worked on my secret writing project. October meant writing and an appearance at the Southern Book Festival in Nashville, and November took me to the Miami Book Festival.
In between times, I bopped on down to Savannah where I watched FoodTV personality Paula Deen’s show being taped, as research for my upcoming novel about rival television chefs. Paula, I can report, is as funny and warm in person as she is on TV. And her hunky sons Jamie and Bobby are just as yummy as those desserts she’s always whipping up.
After finishing my super-secret book project, we flew out to Phoenix to have Thanksgiving with the newlyweds, Katie and Mark. Katie’s first-ever turkey, soaked in brine overnight and then lovingly roasted in a broth-basted cheesecloth blanket, was perfection. The weather was so warm we had dinner on the patio, and the guys even managed to fit in a couple rounds of golf while we were there.
In December, I went to New York to visit with the folks at HarperCollins and discuss all the exciting plans for SAVANNAH BREEZE, which will be out in April. I also had glamorous new author photos shot for upcoming books. The photographer, Deborah Feingold, is a wizard who’s done Rolling Stone covers and snapped everybody from Yoko Ono to David Letterman. Talk about smoke and mirrors—wait til you see the new me. It’s like plastic surgery—with no bruising—altho probably about the same price. Keep watching the website for updates on my tour schedule, and plan to buy bazillions of copies of SAVANNAH BREEZE so that I can further my evil scheme for total global domination—and purchase a beach house.
Fortunately, you won’t have to wait ‘til April to catch up with me in person. I’ll be at the Smyrna, Ga. Library’s Murder Goes South event Jan. 20-21. Details available at www.friendsofsmyrnalibrary.org. On Jan. 29th, I’ll be in my hometown, St. Petersburg, for the St. Pete Beach Library’s Mystery Tea at the historic Don CeSar Hotel. Then it’s back home to Raleigh for an appearance at the newly remodeled Cameron Village Library on Feb. 19th.
If you need a winter getaway—and who doesn’t?—meet me at the Inn on Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina Feb. 24-26 for Southern Living Magazine’s fifth annual Writers’ Winter Weekend. For details visit www.southernliving.com and click on events. This is not a writer’s workshop, just a great weekend for people who love books and writers to meet and mingle with myself and fellow authors Bobbie Ann Mason and Steve Berry. Did I mention the Biltmore House has a spa? And a winery?
And plan now to greet spring in Savannah, the first weekend in April for the Savannah Garden & Antiques Exposition, sponsored by the Historic Savannah Foundation. The expo combines a garden and antique show and sale with all kinds of activities, including historic home tours and a ticketed luncheon on Saturday where I’ll talk about my own personal Adventures in Antiquing. Visit the website at www.savannahgardenexpo.com for information and to buy advance tickets.
In the meantime, stay warm!
Best wishes,
Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
Is summer really almost over? Seems like it flew right by. Of course, consider that I’ve been pretty busy this season. With the paperback publication of HISSY FIT in spring, I spent two weeks touring from Raleigh to Atlanta to Dallas, L.A., Seattle and then back home, just in time for the May graduation of our son Andrew, from Cardinal Gibbons High School here in Raleigh. In July, Katie, our princess bride, married Mark Abel, her prince charming, in Atlanta. And just last week, we got Andy settled in college. Did I mention that during all of this I was doing the copyedits on SAVANNAH BREEZE, and working on my secret project?
The tour, and the accompanying Chick-trip with friends Chrys and Kathleeen, from L.A. to San Francisco, were great. I met tons of new readers and old friends, and Chrys and Kathleen and I had a ball driving the Pacific Coast Highway and getting lost in wine country. I’m posting pix for your enjoyment.
Andy’s graduation brought the first big influx of family to our new home in Raleigh. We were all so proud of our fella! Permit this proud mom to mention that he had a great baseball season, leading the team in hitting, and being named to All-Conference and All-State teams.
And what a wonderful wedding! Unlike her ditzy mom, Katie is the supreme high commander of organization. She planned every detail, her dad and I wrote the checks, and everybody had a great time. The ceremony was in our old church in Decatur, Georgia, and the reception was held at Callanwolde, which was formerly the home of some Coca-Cola millionaires. About 300 of our closest friends ate, drank and danced the night away. I’ll post pix of the wedding, too. Now Katie the married lady, and Mark are settled in Phoenix, where Katie is continuing with college and Mark is settling into his career as a mechanical engineer. I have no idea what it is he does, but I’m sure he is fabulous at it.
Andy is also settling into the college routine in Charlotte. He called today to assure me that he’d even eaten a salad this week. No sooner had we dropped him off than I hauled his old mattress off to the dump and got busy de-funkifying his room. If any of you have teenage boys at home, you understand what this involves. Now the room is crisp and clean, and he’ll probably hate it because it’s crisp and clean. Oh, well.
Now about the books. The high command at HarperCollins decided to change the name of the sequel to SAVANNAH BLUES. The new, and I’ll admit it, improved title, is SAVANNAH BREEZE. It should be out in April. Please nag your booksellers to order many cases so that I can fatten my beach house fund. Did I mention that I’m already furnishing my “virtual beach house” as a friend calls it? A dresser here, a bed there, all squirreled away, driving my husband insane because he hates clutter.
I’ve got a busy schedule of appearances this fall, including stops at The Southern Book Festival in Nashville, in early October, and The Miami Book Fair in November. Please stop in, say hello, and buy some books!
Hugs,
Mary Kay
FROM
MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
I know it must be spring because my son Andy is playing baseball again -- his last high school season -- the azaleas and dogwoods are blooming, and I’ve got cute new spring shoes and purse -- in my new signature color of pink. We’re busy making plans for the paperback tour for Hissy Fit, which will be out in May, in time for Mother’s Day, graduation, and all those beach trips you’ve been planning. So check my upcoming calendar and come join me at a book signing.
I’ve finally finished the sequel to Savannah Blues, which we’re calling Breeze Inn. Look for it next winter. I’m starting a new project, but won’t say anything about it until it’s completed.
Had a fabulous time recently in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Library Book Festival, where I got to spend time with my new best author friends John Searles, author of Boy Still Missing, and Steven Sorrentino, who wrote Luncheonette. Check the photo album for a shot of us on the boat taxi. We stayed at the neatest old hotel on Las Olas, called the Riverside. Right down the street on Las Olas, I found a wonderfully funky consignment shop called Bohemian Style, where I picked up a tiny chandelier for my downstairs powder room. Supposedly from a 1925 house in Miami’s South Beach. Doesn’t everybody need a chandelier in their bathroom?
In May, I’ll be in L.A. for two signings, and then on to San Francisco. My friend Chrys is going to fly out and join me in L.A. and we’ll drive up the coast to San Francisco. All you California antique fiends, please e-mail me suggestions and directions for great junk-spots and restaurants along the coastal highway route.
I’ve been on a reading jag lately. Here’s what I’ve loved: Bloodlines, (mystery with a noir California setting) by Jan Burke. Most Wanted by Michele Martinez, (legal thriller with Latina federal prosecutor). The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, by Theresa Ryan (memoir). I listened to the audio of Entombed, (legal thriller) by Linda Fairstein, and Last Car To The Elysian Fields (hard-boiled mystery) by James Lee Burke.
As for the plans for the wedding of the princess bride: No, I haven’t found a dress yet. But I’ll keep you posted. Happy Spring!
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You love discussing books with your
reading group . . . imagine the excitement of being able to discuss
the book with its author! This month Mary Kay Andrews is participating in Invite the Author! Sign up by May 19 for a chance to invite Mary Kay to your next book group meeting! HarperCollins Publishers encourages reading groups to Invite the Author to their next book discussion. Authors participate via telephone with a select number of book groups chosen in random drawings. |
FROM MARY KAY’S FRONT PORCH. . .
Dear Friends:
As I write this, I’m locked down in my office, sipping hot tea, writing like a crazy woman, and longing for some warm weather and sunshine. As a native Floridian, I’ve never quite gotten the hang of winter.
The last time I wrote, I promised to finish the new book by my deadline. I lied.
December went whizzing past, and now it’s late January, and despite the fact that I really am writing like a crazy person, I’m still not done. Close, but not done. I’ve been back down to Tybee Island and my cozy little hideout at Garner’s Cottage, but still, I’m not done. Good things take time, didn’t you know that?
Some of you have written with condolences on my Mom’s death, and I want to thank you for your kind thoughts. She’s up there, somewhere, whispering in my ear: finish the damn book, already! She’s also giving me diet tips, but that’s another story. Since you all seem to like the scrapbook photos, I’m going to post more of those on the website, including our family beach photo that we sent out with Christmas cards, a photo of the princess bride, Katie, and her intended, Mark, and maybe a couple little surprises.
Some of you have been asking about my junking journeys. Well! I got the most incredible forties lamp at the Raleigh State Fairgrounds antique market last weekend. She’s a ceramic ballerina, with bright coral skin, and the original coolie hat coral silk shade with chenille trim. I think she looks sorta like a sunburned Lana Turner. She’s perched atop a stack of vintage suitcases in my office, right beside my retro rattan armchair, whose cushions I just had slipcovered in an old, tattered Florida souvenir map tablecloth. Talk about inspiration! I love sitting in that armchair, with my scented candle burning away, sipping tea and jotting plot ideas for the new book. I’m going to try to post a picture of that corner of the office, too.
Katie, the BTB (bride to be) has all the wedding plans firmly in hand. She’s a fiend for organization. Alas, her mother is not. We’re in negotiations about my mother-of-the-bride rig. I’ve made her promise not to make me wear some purple pastel horror that makes me look like Flora the frump. She’s made me promise I won’t buy yet another black pantsuit. Sigh. I think we’re going to have to stretch my comfort zone.
The paperback of Hissy Fit will be out in May. Go ahead and buy half a dozen to loan to those friends who you know never return the books they borrow. In fact, you might as well get Little Bitty Lies and Savannah Blues in paperback to loan out too.
And did you know? Avon has just re-released all the Callahan Garrity mysteries in spiffy new paperback covers. It’s almost like getting a new outfit.
All my best,
Mary Kay Andrews
A Note from Mary Kay Andrews...
Dear Friends: I wanted to share some news with you, both happy and sad. First the bad stuff. On Sept. 27, my wonderful, zany, one-of-a-kind mom, Helen Sue Hogan, passed away quite suddenly, at the age of 71. I wish all of you could have met her. She taught me how to junk, how to cook, and most importantly, how to have fun. And she was the inspiration for the character of Edna Garrity in my Callahan Garrity novels. She had an unquenchable zest for life, and without her, the world is a little quieter a little grayer, a little smaller.
But thanks to all of you, she had the joy of seeing me make the New York Times bestseller list with the publication of HISSY FIT. Believe me, everybody who saw her, heard about that accomplishment. On the Saturday after her funeral, the five of us kids, my dad and the whole crazy crew of friends and family had a sunset toast to her on the beach in my hometown of
It seems like I've traveled every corner of the country on tour for HISSY FIT, and I've loved meeting all you readers. Along the way I did a little junking. I picked up three pairs of fabulous vintage forties barkcloth drapes at an auction in
And now for the happy stuff! Our daughter Katie is engaged! We adore her fiancée, Mark, and I'm already deep in wedding plans. So all of y'all go right out and buy some books, so we can afford to give our princess bride the wedding of her dreams. Have a great fall. Buy a copy of HISSY FIT for a friend or two, and hug your mama for me.
All my best,
Mary Kay
 My wonderful, zany, one-of-a-kind mom, Helen Sue Hogan. |
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Summer Greetings from Mary Kay Andrews
Dear Friends:
While everybody else is vacationing this summer, I'll be working towards making my October deadline for Mary Kay Andrews's newest novel.
So one request: please . . . take me to the beach. Take the brand spanking new trade paperback of LITTLE BITTY LIES. The sunny yellow cover will remind you of lemonade, and I like to think the world of Mary Bliss McGowan is just as sweet/tart as the homemade stuff.
Or take SAVANNAH BLUES, please. Summer is the very best time for junking, and Weezie Foley, the protagonist of Savannah Blues, is the very best junking guide. Speaking of Savannah, keep your eyes peeled for me there this summer. After many pleas from readers, I've decided to write a sequel to Savannah Blues. This time the story is set at the beach, on Tybee Island. Look for it next year.
And in the meantime, mark your calendars for August 17th, because that's when HarperCollins releases Hissy Fit Mary Kay's third novel. I promise you'll love Madison, Georgia, interior designer Keeley Murdock, and cheer for this bride-done-wrong.
All my best,
Mary Kay Andrews
