My week-long writing getaway is over. And since I am sitting in the Paris airport, jetlagged and bleary but far, far away from temptation, I can now tell you I was in…
New York!

And the reason it was a secret is because I have so many friends in the city, and would have been tempted to spend all of my time with them instead of doing what I was there to do: start the second draft of DIE FOR ME, Book 2.

So why didn’t I just go somewhere I don’t have any friends and thus escape temptation completely? Because I love New York. I don’t just heart it, I love it passionately. New York and Paris are my Twin Cities of Love – my affection divided equally between the two (and for very different reasons). And even if I spent most of my week holed up in the Batcave with my MacBook and didn’t have a lot of time to wander, just being there fed my soul.

SO there’s that. And then there’s the fact that my friend Lisa was in Panama for the week and offered me her amazing apartment (aka my Batcave), which is exceptional for New York because it has a tiny back yard that I couldn’t even see because of all of the snow.

And then there’s the fact that—major score—I finally got to meet my lovely and enthusiastic publicist Elyse, and be introduced to “The Two Christinas” in Harper Children’s marketing group, AND (most importantly) discuss Book 2 with my editors Tara and Melissa.

Of course I used the opportunity to eat bagels, Mexican food, and uni (sea urchin), all of which you can’t get in my ‘hood of the Loire Valley. And my suitcase is now packed with: Poptarts, Neosporin, 2 Elmo videos, Zhu Zhu Pet racetracks (the bribe for the kids), Vitamins, tons of Kiehl’s products, a little shopping I did at Allsaints, a hand-knit hat, hand-knit texting mittens, ski jacket and pants, two of those magnetic key boxes that you stick under your car, and a whole bag of goodies from Rickey’s (fake eyelashes, eyelash curler, etc.). All of these either because you can’t get them where I live in France or because they’re a lot cheaper in the States.

So in my next post I’ll I tell you all about my New York literary adventures, which were less scary and more fun than last time, and didn’t end up with me crying in a drag queen bar.

But I just want to say to Suzanne, Claire, Brett, Etienne & Marlene, Christine, Romain & Karin, Pascale & Sirap, Tom & Reza, Anna & Venesius, Laura and Vivienne—I am sorry for not contacting you. But I know myself, and as soon as the words, “Let’s meet up” had left your lips, I would have been on the subway, coming to see you.

I will be back in June, when Book 2 is a finished manuscript, after my signings in Chicago and Portland. Launch party, anyone?