Boston—It’s Mother’s Day weekend and I take a 7:30 am flight from Miami to Boston, grateful to have two days to spend with my daughter, Randy, and six year old grandson. Randy’s first book will be published next spring and we have a lot of booktalk to catch up on. It rains - it pours! —all weekend.
On Saturday afternoon I take my grandson to see “Lost in Space.” After half an hour I want to leave, thinking this is not an appropriate movie for a six year old. It’s scary. But E. will have none of it. “If you’re scared,” he says, “close your eyes and I’ll tell you when to open them.” He protects his popcorn, worried that I’ll eat more than my share.
That night he accepts my invitation to have a sleepover at my hotel. He tells me this isn’t a real slumber party because we have no flashlights and we don’t stay up all night whispering. I love having him to myself for a few hours. In the morning Randy joins us for Mother’s Day breakfast at the hotel.
Then we go shopping. I need a silver necklace for TV appearances. Randy needs a purse. E. is bored. So we hit bookstores instead. This is great fun! First we look for Summer Sisters. If they have a number of copies I introduce myself - ask if they’d like me to sign them. Everyone is pleased and friendly. These are the people who grew up reading my books. I do PR for Randy, letting them know about her upcoming book. She’s only a bit embarrassed.
I think a lot about my mother. May 10 would have been her 94th birthday. She died ten years ago.
Back to business: 5 AM wakeup call for quick interview on early morning TV news. The host says she read Smart Women, my last adult novel. So when she asks about the Vineyard, I say I wrote most of my new novel there. But I refer to it as Smart Women, not Summer Sisters!
Breakfast alone in the hotel diningroom. It’s luxurious to have time for a real meal without having to talk to anyone. I gorge myself.
Phone interview with Bergen Record, local North Jersey paper - about upcoming booksigning - which feels like years away. Between now and then I have to finish Boston and do Toronto.
6PM Book Signing at Rizzoli in downtown Boston. It’s raining harder than ever for the third day in a row. The wind is howling. But about 25 loyal fans who grew up on my books are waiting. I hadn’t expected anyone to come out on a night like this. My best friend’s daughter, Anne Weaver, who once managed this store, is also there. The book is dedicated to her mother, Mary. Later, Anne joins Vicki, our author-escort, and me for dinner.
10PM Live radio. The David Brudnoy Show. Am so tired by then I’m sure I won’t be able to manage a coherent sentence but David is a wonderful host and I love being on his show. Come away so up I have trouble falling asleep.