The Garden Many of you worried about the F-ing Wings since they weren’t part of the photos in Nora’s two garden posts this spring. Never fear, they are just fine. I literally stopped as I went up Nora’s drive a couple weeks ago, opened my car window and took this just for you all.
Why was I heading up the drive? Well it was time for the annual trip to Tyson’s Corner for Kat’s birthday shopping trip.
Saks On the first day, there was lots of walking around the mall and talking as we planned various upcoming trips. On day 2, the team at Saks — as always — created a wonderful experience. We even learned how to plant/care for orchids! An assortment of the colorful fun is below.
spring flowers in our suite.
Part of the Saks team with Sarah, Kayla and Kat.
Orchid lessons!
Happy orchid student.
In Death in Depth I posted the final episode of In Death In Depth on Friday. We had a lot of fun creating the series last summer and I have tons of notes on how to make Season 2 even better. Nora answered over 50 questions last year that I combined into themes for each episode. I’m working on the questions we’ll film at The Greenbrier in late July.
Travelogue time But first, there’s a trip to Ireland and a travelogue to produce.
This year is going to be different. Not only will Nora and family travel to Ireland late this coming week, but my husband and I are going on our own adventure which will end with me joining Nora at The Lodge at Ashford Castle for the reader event on July 6.
Yes I’m going this year. So I won’t be manning Travelogue Central at my office desk, waiting for photos and texts in order to set them up and post by a specific time. Instead I’ll be winging it as I travel from London to Windsor to Glasgow (by way of the Lake District), fly to Ireland and visit relatives. After all that I’ll get myself to Ashford.
The updates will happen, promise, I just want to warn you that timing could be different due to location and internet and what’s on my list for the day.
I’ll be writing my own blog over on Substack (free). When the first one is up, I’ll share the link here. You can follow my IG account for photos because I’ll definitely be taking them.
Due to scheduling shifts and availability, we had our Girl Spa Week at one of the houses on the resort. Advantage, we’re all in one place. Disadvantage, distance from the shops, spa itself, etc. Pros and cons aside, we’re there to have fun!
Happy to be back. Photo by Laura
I needed to pack for the week prior to Derby as the car would be loaded. The Amazing Kat hauled all my stuff from here, to her house, then hauled it all up to Nemacolin. My suitcase, the Fabulous Prizes, the Bag ‘0 Games, the bags of clothes purged from my closet through the year. Champagne. It’s a lot.
Good thing as we stuff my G-Wagon—that’s Laura, Jo, Kayla and me in the driver’s seat along with luggage, snacks, wine and all the things girls need for a week away from home.
A nice, clear day for the drive up, and traffic isn’t too bad. We check in at the welcome center, and the delightful Mason comes to meet us, leads us to our home for the week, and hauls the half ton of stuff inside. Sarah got there right before us, so her stuff’s hauled in, too.
Snacks in the pantry, fruit in a bowl, drinks and whatever in the fridge. Open some champagne because the fun begins now. I don’t have much to unpack until Kat and Griffin arrive, but I check out my room. I’m on the lower level this year, have a wood burning fireplace—woo!—and they’ve set up a DVD for me in the living/game area down there for my workouts.
Pat should be there, and when we check, she’s lost somewhere on the property. We send out our search party and guide her in.* Some hang out time, take dinner orders—by text for Nicole and Kat, who are on their way.
Then the gang’s all here, and we eat, drink and make merry. There’s a pool table downstairs, and Griffin’’s fascinated. Pat and I show him how to play. Not really as we suck at it, but he enjoys, a lot.
We might have hauled out the clothes—Sarah brought tubs of her own (from which I bagged a very cool black jean jacket)—my memory fails me on that order of things. But whenever we did it, lots of fun, and lots of new-to-whomever stuff. We are all girls who like clothes. **
Early-ish to bed as travel days are travel days.
I’m up early, and am checking my email in bed when I hear: Hi!
And Griffin’s standing with a big grin at the foot of my bed. Up and at ‘em. He works out with me for little while, then plays with the pool balls. He claims Number Ten cheats. He instructs me to draw the pool table on a big sheet of paper. I draw a rectangle because I also suck at drawing. Together we draw the balls where he designates, number them, then he makes a maze out of it, and we put both our names on the masterpiece.
I go up to make bacon.
Kat’s made Bingo cards. Bingo begins at 8 a.m. Laura’s already up and out for her daily walk and an early treatment. Kayla’s out for a run. Jo and Sarah are at the dining table, and Jo’s hit Bingo. At about five minutes after 8. She takes this very seriously, though I’m told Sarah nixed her wondering if seeing a fly meant she could cross off See An Animal.
Big no.
Jo bags the first prize of the tournament.
Most of us decide it’s a good day to shop, so we do just that. Always fun to shop with girls.
It’s time for the games to begin. Kat’s made our scoreboard. First round of Scrabble. Laura, Pat, Kayla, Sarah. First round of Bowling. Laura takes Scrabble—big time—and Kayla does the same in Bowling.
We order ice cream.
Thursday cools off and brings some rain. The fireplaces come in handy. Griffin again joins my workout for a bit, then hangs out while I finish. He tries to teach me how to play a game on his IPad. I’m better off watching him play. Jo and Kayla are off for nails. I skip this as I just had mine done at Derby. And the afternoon is for painting. Always fun and challenging and fascinating to me to see everyone’s work. We’re all doing different things this time out, and with, imo, really impressive results.
Paint Day is also Pizza Night. Mason delivers! He’s also made sure we’ve had anything and everything we could want.
More Bowling, more Scrabble, and the first rounds of Just Dance. Kayla takes the Dance, Jo plays a seven-word at Scrabble. We play Monikers to much hilarity.
Another cool morning. Good thing I know how to build a fire. Pat has to leave us today. Nicole has to leave briefly—one son’s big lacrosse tournament, and her older son’s college graduation. She’ll be back Saturday night.
I have my Hot Stone Experience with the magical Autumn. It’s glorious. Kayla has her massage, and says the same. Her tech—new to her—is also Kayla. So she says it’ll be easy to remember and request her when we go as a family in August.
It’s the Bowling finals. Kayla and Laura are top scores. It’s nip and tuck, strikes, spares. Griffin invents a Strike Dance and gives high fives when the pins go down. He dances a lot as these ladies are hot! The scores are breathlessly close, the tension brutal!
In the end, Kayla nips Laura by two points. It may have been one. ***
It’s down to Kayla and Sarah in Just Dance. These are fierce competitors who routinely dominate the game. Who will get the coveted sticker and the fabulous prize? Once again, it’s neck-and-neck. And once again, Kayla nips Sarah by the thinnest margin.
Then because she’s a very good cousin, she does many dances for and with Griffin.
It remains cool on Saturday, and IIRC, a little drippy with it. Fires burning, and Sarah, Jo and I spend pretty much the entire day reading. I can’t remember the last time I spent the entire day in a book. Kat’s taken Griffin off for an adventure, and when they return, he has a Mother’s Day present for me. He’s made me a bottle of felt flowers, with buttons. It’s adorable. And as any mom or nana knows, there’s nothing like a home-made gift. It’ll go on my work station and make me smile every day.
He’s also decided I should have the gift he picked out for me. It’s nice to be known as it’s a three-wick candle in an oval wood bowl and covered with little crystals.
Kat, the Amazing Kat, made me a pillow for my new living room sofa. It’s gorgeous. She not only handmade it, but she SPUN THE WOOL! It’s so beautiful, so me, and will also make me smile every day!
It’s Laura Grills Night. I do my part by marinating the chicken. Veggies are scrubbed and prepped. It’s a beautiful presentation, along with Sarah’s and my request for burn-‘em-up dogs and toasted buns. It’s all seriously yummy. ****
Nicole returns. Her younger son’s team won their tournament, and her oldest had a happy graduation. And though we’d give her some recovery time, she’s ready for the Scrabble finals. *****
The sun comes back! It’s wonderful to go outside. Kayla, Laura, Sarah and Nicole go to tea in The Secret Room. I’m just too lazy for that. Kat and Griffin have another adventure. Jo and I have a Sloth Day. Everyone’s very happy with their choices. ******
She and Laura have unseated the Scrabble Queens, Kat and Jo. This is unprecedented. It’s the Underdog Story of the decade. Which of these upstarts will emerge victorious? They give each other no quarter as the lead shifts back and forth between them, with Jo carefully keeping score. After a long, hard-fought match, when the last tile is played, Laura claims victory.
She also claims she can bitch about games as much as she wants. *******
Jason FaceTimes to say Happy Mother’s Day. He asks if Kat and I got the flowers he sent. We have not. He checks, we check. Mason searches. Connor, the head butler for the estates, searches. And the flowers are discovered on the porch of an empty house. This mystery is solved when we learn they use that house’s address for the one we’re in.
The flowers are rescued, the lovely roses—thank you, Jason—freshened up. So pretty!
We decide on cards for the Wild Card match, and play Hearts for a prize. I don’t play, but keep score as six players makes it easier. It’s fun to watch these great, good friends get cutthroat over a card game. It’s a fairly close match until—and I saw this one coming—Sarah runs them. She was already at zero!
I will say Jo had bad luck, getting the Queen in the widow on the first hand.
I think winning this one might have taken some of the sting out of losing by a hare’s breath in Just Dance.
Last day, and the sun’s shining again. Walks, runs, workouts, books, treatments. And for me, packing. Kat’s going to haul most of my stuff back again, bless her heart. Still, we eat, drink and make merry. And have our Crowning Ceremony. The scoreboard shows Kayla has dominated. While everyone takes home prizes, she is the undisputed queen of Girl Spa.
When Sarah, our queen and Griffin have retired, the rest of us sit around. I comment how everyone always has their phone, and why is that. Discussion. My phone’s been down on the charger all week. And when I’m espousing the benefits of disconnecting, Nicole’s phone signals. It’s Sarah. And when I say Sarah’s just downstairs, why didn’t she just come up? Nicole says: Sarah saw a mouse!
We went through this on a much more intense basis the last time we stayed in this house. I blogged about it at the time. Nicole rushes into the kitchen for a bowl—with which we would capture the mouse as before—and we all go downstairs.
A hunting-Nicole-will-go.
We hunt. It’s a large area, lots of rooms. Kat using the flashlight on her phone to look under Kayla’s bed. After a thorough search, we find no mouse, and conclude it’s gone into the (locked) utility room, and deduce we disturbed it that day because several of us did laundry.
The 2021 capture — four years ago today. Photo by Laura.
Mason arranges for Heart Traps as don’t want to kill the mouse.
I discover the heat’s suddenly not working in my room. It’s 66 degrees. I build a big fire. And build in up in the morning when I wake up to 64 degrees. Brr! It’s raining, and pretty hard on Departure Day.
Sarah leaves early—hugs!—she had work waiting. The rest of us take more time, and Mason—what a guy—loads everything up. Nicole’s next, more hugs. Sarah texts to let us know the rain’s bad and so’s the traffic.
Nora, Mason and JoAnne. Photo by Laura
Oh well.
My group gears up. Hugs for Kat and Griffin (it’s his last Girl Spa), and we head out.
Yes, the rain’s bad, and so’s the traffic. The first 90 minutes of the drive is anything but pleasant. Finally, on the last leg, the skies clear. Ahhhh. And home again to insanely happy dogs, BW who hauls luggage to various cars.
Many hugs after a really wonderful week. Can’t wait to do it all again.
Nora
Note from Laura: Did you think I wouldn’t stick my nose in on this???
* I call Pat on her phone, Kayla was sitting next to me. Pat’s dealing with a lovely illustrated map from the hotel that doesn’t quite list all the roads from the welcome center to the house. I try to send her a google link to direct her. She tells me she’s going to park and let us find her. Now, I’d sipped some champagne so Kayla offers to drive. Pat’s five minutes away from the house, but it felt like years after all the circles she made. She has champagne.
**We do the clothing exchange on the first night.
***It was one point in the semi-final, two in the final. And someone’s Nana was calling it for me since I had a couple strikes in the final frame. The shock in Nana’s voice that I might win was apparent until the final score showed up and Kayla won.
****In 2021, I missed cooking for big groups since we were all still living separate lives. The gang said it was one of their favorite meals of the trip and loved the idea of doing it again. Made me so happy to grill veg, chicken and hot dogs — something for everyone. And Nicole made it back in time for dinner!
*****Not quite, we wait until the next evening.
******Actually, Nora and JoAnne go with Kat and Griffin to the first arts & crafts and make candles. THEN they head back to the house and hang on the deck in the lovely Mother’s Day sunshine.
Nora’s candle and a closeup of Griffin’s button flowers. Photo by Laura
*******You bet I will!And a PS: give Nicole a follow on Instagram. She’s so very entertaining.
September 6, 2025: this is a post from March 2024 that somehow was deleted. Since I like the record to show Nora’s thoughts, I’m re-posting now.
Some readers will complain that this blog isn’t upbeat and happy. I’m sorry, but I feel strongly there are things I must address. I promise I’ll be posting happy blogs down the road. Gardening season’s almost here. Kayla’s college graduation (!) is around the corner, Girl Spa’s coming.
There will be cheerful posts and lots of pictures!
Anyway, for the not upbeat and happy.
Recently Laura began posting random posts on the Robb FB page as we’d reached a point too close to newer books, and don’t want to spoil them
Apparently this gave a number of readers an excuse to demand—and it came real close to demands (sometimes over the line)—why Eve and Roarke couldn’t have a baby.
Oh God!
Let me say here, we don’t mind readers responding with courteous: Nora said no because. Or something along those lines. There’s just no need to pile on as the poster might be new to FB, might not read the blog where I’ve certainly explained my thought process on this.
However, this escalated into a particular poster telling me to “open my mind” to the idea as Roarke told Eve he wanted children in a previous book. Listen, sister, check your entitlement at the door. What absolute arrogance, telling me to open my mind to kids. Hello, these are FICTIONAL CHARACTERS, ones I created in a series I control. Plus wanting’s not having. I write what I write, and I have good reasons—explained far too often. Don’t like it, don’t read it. And don’t think you can tell me what to do, what to think, what to write.
Yes, Gentle Reader, I said that. I am not here to be a slave to certain reader’s wants, needs, whims. Again, I write what I write, and these are MY characters, in my books. Not yours. They are yours to enjoy or not, but they belong to me, they come from me.
Another was upset that I didn’t give Eve a good blood family member. This reader had read the blog, even cited my reasons for not doing so. She didn’t agree, and was adamant in her opinion of what I should do.
You don’t have to agree, but I’m not writing for your particular point of view. Again, I’ve explained my reasons for this. I won’t do so again. My characters, my books, my decision. If you want something else, read something else.
And yes, I said that, too. Blast away, it changes nothing. I am not obliged to meet an individual’s demands.
No, Peabody and McNab will not marry and have progeny any time soon. Morris will not find a new love of his life any time soon. Eve and Roarke will not get a puppy. They will not have a child, and she will not discover a kindly grandmother or delightful cousin.
Don’t like it? Sorry, not sorry.
I do understand, and have no issues, with a new reader or a new to the blog or FB asking these questions. You don’t know until you ask. I strongly object, and refuse to tolerate readers who tell me what I should do, need to do, must do, and get pissy with it. Or fucking accuse me of breaking my word.
So there’s that.
Then, on the Nora page, there has been a wave—a tidal wave—of people who just don’t read the post, then ask: What book is this, when is it out, what series is this, is this an old book, is this a new book, etc. When those answers are IN THE POST. Or very easily Googled. People skim, don’t actually read the information, then Laura has to answer their questions multiple times in the same thread. Because many don’t bother to read her previous answers in those comments.
When Laura, who has more patience in her pinky finger than I own in my entire body, finally writes a Cranky Publicist post, outlining this, asking people to read the information, or do a quick Google, some commenters suggest she retire, find another line of work. They call her rude, say she’s not suited for customer service.
I will not put up with that crap for one quick minute.
There would be no social media for me, or for my readers, without Laura. She answers repetitive, and yes, lazy questions, over and over, with courtesy and patience. But she’s not entitled to finally hit a wall, and say, Please, people, pay attention, or take a few minutes of your own time? Suddenly she’s rude, not cut out for the job, she should pass it on to someone else.
Here’s what I say to that. Bite me.
I write the books. Laura handles the social media—in addition to other things. It’s a lot, for both of us. And both of us love our work and try to do a damn good job of it.
You don’t like what we do and how we do it? Go somewhere else. Seriously, go away.
Someone posted they were tired of social media admins admonishing readers. Boo fucking hoo. No one would `admonish’ you if you didn’t deserve it. God knows, Laura tolerates much more than I would in her position.
Now, let me add. Most of you who read this are appreciative, are courteous, are respective and actually have a sense of humor. We’re both grateful for you. Seriously grateful for you. We value you. We want to keep all this going for you.
So thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the books and the posts.
To the others, let me repeat: Bite me.
Do not tell me what to write and how to write it. Do not, I swear to God, have the stunning nerve to tell Laura she’s not good at her work, and should move on. This woman is not just my personal publicist and social media goddess, she’s my friend. She’s my goddamn family.
Seriously, who are you? What makes you so incredibly special that you dare to say such nasty and rude things to her, to me? And if you believe you’re entitled to do so, go away.
Please, for the rest of you, just enjoy what we both try to provide, for you. For all of you.
And if you think any of this is easy? Think again.
Once again, thank you, all of you, who understand and .appreciate. It’s helps us get through these weird times.
In what’s become a new winter tradition, Nora, JoAnne (her business manager) and I spent last week at Nemacolin. This is not to be confused with Girls Spa Week which happens in May with a larger group and The Stupid Scoreboard. This was a week to relax and brainstorm for the year ahead.
Last year, we extended the stay by one night because of a miserable storm that blew through the western part of Maryland. THIS year, we had three days of sunny, nearly 70 degree weather. Which is alarming and confusing. I mean, I did get out for lovely walks, but early March and late spring weather in the Laurel Highland of PA? I infinitely prefer cooler temps during my March walks.
On the positive side of the chart, for the first time since 2019 — due to the factors from Covid to bad leg joints — I hiked all over the property. Nora and JoAnne kept their workouts indoors with lovely views.
The view from the suite.
We stayed in the newly refurbished — or “reimagined” — Grand Lodge. It’s right next door to The Chateau (the usual accommodation) which is going through it’s own transformation right now. Girl Spa Week wll also be in The Grand Lodge, but Nora hopes to stay in her regular accommodations at The Chateau for her visits in June and November.
Meditation Chapel in the setting sun.
Our days fell into relaxing patterns. We all got in a workout first thing — Nora ran JoAnne through the paces from cardio to strength to yoga. I opted for walks, some Peloton rides and weights over at the gym.
Morning walk under glorious skies.
Nora put in a couple hours work on the May 2025 release every day. By the end of the week she was pleased with the progress of her latest draft. I dealt with social media and emails. JoAnne was fully on break and enjoyed her mornings.
Sunset over the Laurel Highlands.
The afternoons were for treatments or reading or starting the puzzle of the week. Friends, I’ve learned something about myself: puzzles are not my vacation jam. I don’t have the same feeling of trepidation as I do for games, but my ability to spend hours at a time on a puzzle is pretty low.
Fortunately, I’m an excellent pitch hitter so I was able to step in when Nora and JoAnne needed a break. BTW, this puzzle did not reach the levels of agony that the cupcakes from 2022 did, but converting an oil painting to a puzzle made for some interesting spots of light and texture.
Finished puzzle.
Speaking of oils, light and texture, in January, Nora tried her hand at oil painting and she suggested we give it a try during our annual afternoon paint class (wine included).
Nora’s January creation.
Clare Hardy — one of our favorite people and artists — came to the suite to teach us how to recreate a painting of tulips Nora discovered online.
I love watercolors so my first strokes were watercolor-y, flattening the paint onto the canvas. Nora and Jo got fully into the spirit of loading paint on their brushes and leaving color and texture in their wake. Then Claire broke out the palette knife and I got on board the texture train. Nora tried her hand at the palette knife as well, enjoying the process thoroughly.
Two hours later we had finished products that reflected each artist. By my count we’ve painted together at least 10 times and this was the one that made JoAnne the happiest. We left the paintings with Claire to dry and will pick them up in May.
Nora’s painting
JoAnne’s painting
Laura’s painting
Artistes.
On Thursday afternoon, Nora and I sat down for a Facebook live. This link should take you to our conversation: Nora & Laura Live
Morning fog bisecting the hills.
And then, it was time to go home. We’ll be back in 60 days with the bigger group. Gives me enough time to get ready to face The Stupid Scoreboard.
Last March I headed to the spa with Nora and JoAnne, ready for a quiet week of work, painting, puzzles and reading. Always reading.
People ask me regularly if I read Nora’s books while she’s writing them.
Laura is on the left.
No.
Nora writes alone, finishes alone, then sends the manuscript to her editor and agent. I knew this process going in 18 years ago. You don’t meddle with success.
However, over the years, on more than one occasion the publicity team asked me what I thought about quotes from an upcoming book — one I hadn’t read. So I did request to be part of the second tier of readers after the first editing pass.
Readers, I had Inheritance on my Kindle as we drove to the spa.
The week was March-y in that Laurel Highlands way — blustery, calm, sunny, overcast, freezing precip and then sudden dry over the course of a day. We came and went from the suite. I hit the gym, Nora and Jo did their ensuite workouts. We painted flowers in the art studio, did some puzzles. A good, relaxing week.
Then came that fateful day — Saturday, March 11.
A blustery, freezing precip kind of day, one that lent itself to just snuggling in. I’d sampled Inheritance a bit over the week, but this was a dedicated-to-reading kind of afternoon.
There I was, sipping a glass of Veuve, propped up by pillows on the couch, reading away. Time went by at a pleasant clip.
I really liked Sonya and Cleo, the music, the dogs, Trey and Owen, the town…I began to read faster. Then faster. I was gripped with a sense of urgency and when I glanced down at Time Remaining in Book — 20 minutes…14 minutes…6 minutes…the dread set in.
No! Wait! Really????
Yes my hair looked that good.
Yes, my hair looked that good after lying about on a couch.
I finished it.
Then my friends, I slapped my kindle shut with great emphasis and looked directly at the creator and said, “What the fuck????”
With a dazed look, Nora pulled herself up from the depths of her John Sandford novel, shook her head and said, “What?”
“Inheritance ends like that???” I demanded my voice pitching higher with each word.
“Well that was the right place to stop. Leslie liked it.” Then she kind of smiled, pleased with my reaction.
(This meant I had to text WTF to Nora’s editor next. And she, too, was pleased I liked the book.)
Now, dear readers, please keep in mind I’m pretty able to move on after finishing a book or a movie, but this was in the moment.
As a side note, have you ever read the science on reaction? According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, author of A Stroke of Insight, “When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.”
A random aside I know, but it explains why I can move along — entertainment wise.
So I stomped around a bit, then remembered four decades of absolute trust in Nora to deliver a wonderful second book, and calmed down. All was good. (I did plan pick up some knitting to deal with the book hangover.)
Except then it hit me: “Do you realize what this will mean in terms of reader response at the end of November???” Delivered in a much higher pitch.
Again, my hair looked this good on a lazy Saturday in March. Then it reverted to the regular red mess.
Again my hair looked this good on a lazy Saturday in March. <g>
I needed to stomp it off again. Then settle in — crankily — for the 8.5 months until release day. Remember: I may read things early, but I still have the exact amount of time to wait as you do.
And you all delivered the reactions well. WTF???
But I’m not writing this post to dwell on our shock. That should pass.
Here’s what’s on my mind: in the heat of the moment, everyone seems to have forgotten that since 2016 Nora’s trilogies are published a year apart. We’ll get part 2 (which is titled The Mirror, no descriptions yet) in November 2024.
And the finale in November 2025.
We have to tuck our inner Veruca Salts away and be patient. And once you’ve gone through the 90 seconds of emotional reaction, you’ll see that we’re lucky readers overall.
If you read Nora and JD, there are four new books coming your way in 2024. If you only read Nora, there’s a summer read (the twisty, fascinating Mind Games in May) and The Mirror. Two books in a year is generous, to say the least.
In a couple weeks, I’ll share the link to Inheritance’s playlist. (Please note, Nora does NOT listen to music when she writes — the songs were all part of the story.)
The year will pass. And how we choose to fill that year is up to each individual. I’m opting to dance around, read other authors, watch a few movies and be grateful for what’s up ahead.
It’s been a little quiet here since the travelogue finished. I mean, how can you match Nora relaxing with family in Cozumel?
So I’ll start from the end of the trip.
Nora arrived home and immediately dove into prep for the first family barbequue since 2019. She had a few days of her at-home routine before the annual trip to Greenbrier followed by the family spa trip – which she keeps private. (She can’t share everything.)
In the meantime, I visited my surgeon and decided to go for a right knee replacement the last week of August (to match my new hip from January 2022). That meant three trips in quick order to clear the deck for recovering in September.
In short, we each had much to occupy our time outside of work.
Nora finished the In Death she worked on while in Cozumel. Title and more info to come. Now she’s begun the first draft of the second book in The Lost Bride Trilogy. We’ll have to wait a lot longer for that update.
I dealt with the pre-op checklist those moments I was home.
Then suddenly it was time to depart for the girls + Griffin trip to Greenbrier. We had a fairly easy trip down. I caravaned with Nora, Kayla and JoAnne since I had to leave a day early for family events up in NY and NJ. Traffic flowed pretty well, except for a five mile slow down. We all kept a sedate pace, then suddenly cars ahead of us slammed on the brakes.
I braked so as not to hit Nora then looked in the rearview mirror and the semi behind me was still coming. I swerved onto the shoulder, pausing for a nanosecond to not clip Nora, and somehow we all survived. (The car behind the semi also swerved to the shoulder). The margin for error was small since there was a hill down from the shoulder.
Talk about adrenaline! Nora said later she thought I’d be rear-ended. I saw it more as pancaked. Fortunately, it was the most adrenaline-fueled portion of the trip.
First sunset was a beauty. Photo by Laura.
The first order of business was to toast our arrival, then continue with the tradition of a huge hydrangia bloom in the used bottle for the outdoor decor.
One of the nicest things about our stays Greenbrier is that everyone spends the day as they please: Nora and JoAnne worked out each morning before Nora worked a bit more on that In Death. Sarah and I compared notes about books then went back to reading. Kat and Griffin headed to the pool or adventures in the arcade with Kayla.
A little moonshine. Photo by Laura
We all met up again for dinner out on the patio followed by puzzle time and the occasional game of hearts. (Yes, I played Hearts.)
The finished puzzle. Photo by JoAnne.
Overall, a relaxing week with one day of media work along with the annual Facebook Live — which you can watch here: https://fb.watch/mrj_tZ94qu/
Yes, I like to take photos of this exterior in the evening. Photo by Laura
As mentioned in the video — and in Nora’s letter about the Lost Bride Trilogy — we usually have a full complement of spirits on this trip. Most are happy and entertained to have the rooms full. But we decided before arriving this year to keep one door in the suite closed as the spirit in that room was rather unfriendly in 2022.
But that spirit may have been a little annoyed by the exclusion.
It happened the second evening as we headed up to bed. Now, full disclaimer, there may have been some champagne consumed but we have this on record.
My room is at the top of the stairs, then there’s a hallway and a left turn to another hallway. Nora and JoAnne slept in rooms off that second hall. Oh, and the locked door is down the hall too.
JoAnne and I were talking when we heard Nora say, “Why is there a table in the middle of the hallway? And why is there one spent match on it?”
This is exactly how she found it, blocking off the way into her room and beyond to JoAnne’s on the left and the locked door on the right. (Jo took this photo as evidence.) Much discussion ensued, until finally I moved it to the wall and walked JoAnne to her room.
The next morning we asked the concierge and housekeeping, who all reported no staff had been in the suite on Saturday evening. Kayla didn’t see it when she went to bed earlier than the rest of us — her room faces that hall and she’d have noticed. We also learned that room service no longer uses that type of table. The mystery remained unsolved. Especially the spent match part of it all.
But after that, it was quiet.
Not a mystery is how much we continue to love the glass blowing classes at Greenbrier. We spent a very satisfying Monday afternoon creating with Mike the new owner of the studio.
Kayla adding color.
Nora concentrating on the color as well.
Shaping her bowl.
Red hot bowl
The very interesting sculpture made from glass pieces we gave Nora as a thank you.
The variety of finished work.
And since it’s a time to explore creative stuff, I chose to paint some watercolors in the afternoons.
My interpretation of the Hydrangea in a bottle in my very pink room
Just before we headed home, it was time to celebrate Kayla’s 21st birthday a few days early.
The gang with the cake.
I left a day early to start the my next trip (up to NY/NJ) which included throwing a baby shower for my son and DIL who are due in October. Here’s the amazing cake we found for our little girl.
Nora and family had an action-packed week at the spa which included the annual paint night. I love seeing how everyone interprets the subject.
And that’s pretty much the update from here.
What’s next? I’ll do the In Death teasers forPayback in Deatha little earlier than usual before my surgery, so look for them — in bulk — this weekend. Then I’ll open the discussion thread on September 5.
Mark your calendars! Nora’s travelogues start promptly tomorrow (Monday, July 3) morning. Stay tuned for the adventure.
Since it’s prime summer reading time in the Northern Hemipshere and snuggle-up by-the-fire reading time in the Southern, I thought I’d share what I’ve read recently.
First up, as to be expected, are Nora’s next three books. To be very honest, I read Payback in Death a while ago — so long that I’ll have to do a reread in order to share teasers in late August. I remember enjoying it — as I do every visit to Eve’s world. Payback is out September 5.
Inheritance — the first book in the Lost Bride Trilogy — is the final book of 2023 and I promise to share all my feelings about it when I open the discussion thread on release day. It’s one of those books that you caution yourself to read slowly, then hurtle to the ending. In a good way. Inheritance is out on November 21.
I’m not sure it’s always fabulous to be so far out on the schedule. Random in Death is the first release for 2024 and boy, is it a good entry. I’ll do a reread when it’s time for teasers but I’ll say this: a good case, some fun character updates. Random in Death is out January 23, 2024 from St. Martin’s Press.
I freely admit to asking for books from people I know when I’ve exhausted Nora’s. Several years ago I discovered (on my own) The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall about a woman who runs a business posing as a bridesmaid while making sure a wedding runs smoothly. (The text conversations from different weddings are hilarious.) Then she runs into the greatest Bridezilla of them all. Imagine my happiness when I realized Marissa of Team Nora works on Katy’s books! The Wedding Season was a lot of fun last year so I was very happy to grab and early copy of The Last Word. Two people with a tangled past working together in the present? Yes, please and thank you.
I’ve been a huge fan of Erica Bauermeister since reading The School of Essential Ingredients in 2009. Nora’s editor knows this well and sent me a very early copy of No Two Persons in 2022, even though it came out in May of this year. It’s a fascinating book about, well, a book and how it affects a variety of people from the author to readers in their reading lives as well as real lives. I’m not going to adequately explain the premise here because it’s sprawling, yet intimate. Isn’t that what reading is for all of us? NTP is available now.
Ages ago, the universe put Sarah Morgan in my path and I’ve been grateful for 12 years. If you don’t know by now, Sarah’s Christmas books regularly hit the London Times best seller lists. Her lovely summer books now make that list as well. The Island Villa is the story of a wedding on the island of Corfu that changes the relationships between a mother, her daughters and their personal stories of the past. I loved it. But then again, I love Sarah too.
I’ve met a lot of wonderful people through the years whether it’s connected to Nora, reading, conversations about So You Think You Can Dance — I like to talk and meet new people. I met Shauna years ago, then we had that SYTYCD conversation and things settled into place. She’s edited some of my favorite books over the years, including the newest one from Elissa Sussman Once More with Feeling (yes, Nora wrote a book with that title back in the early 80s, but titles are not copywritten). Broadway? Chapters in the past and the present? Antagonistic love story (aka enemies to lovers)? Yes please. Read it in one evening when it came out. Then had a lovely conversation about the book with my daughter.
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer was an unexpected delight (I found by myself, even though it’s a SMP release). It’s the story of a death doula who may have intimate knowledge of the process of dying, but needs to learn more about the process of living and loving. I read a sample and was immediately drawn in. It’s out now.
My new philosophical question: is it REALLY summer without a delightful book by Katherine Center? I’ll have to say no. Hello Stranger tells the story of an artist dealing with a “temporary” condition called face blindness. As Sadie deals with the condition while trying to still create her art, she learns that blindess can apply to many areas of one’s life. I read it in March (my pals Erica and Marissa have me covered on Katherine’s releases) and loved it. And look for Happiness for Beginners (another Katherine Center favorite of mine) on Netflix in late July.
Nalini’s US readers will get Resonance Surge earlier than expected on July 18. All I’ll say about Resonance Surge (other than I loved it, of course) is that your bear addiction is fully satisfied. IYKYK.
Ever since I read The Switch, I’ve been a Beth O’Leary fan. The Wake-Up Call — a September 26 release — is another entry that will stay on my shelf. I didn’t think I had a subject style, but this is another book with enemies who are coworkers falling in love. It’s also filled with a fun set of secondary characters who propel the story along (plus it’s an early Christmas gift).
A bit of a Christmas caper is The Takedown. I loved the holiday background to a story of Sydney Swift, a woman who’s kept distant from people and relationships to avoid being hurt. When her sister is about to marry into a Boston crime family, that distance dissolves. I’m not always drawn to books about spies, but this one was a lot of fun. Out October 3 from Berkley.
When my friend Erica described Raiders of the Lost Heart, how could I resist? And I learned a bit more about myself as I started another enemies-to-lovers story. (Reading is the key to the soul, and tropes, apparently.) Seriously though, from the cover to the archeology expedition in Mexico to solving the mystery, this was a lot of fun. And hey, a minor hint to where Nora will be on vacation! Raiders of the Lost Heart is out December 5 from Berkley.
Finally, we have Finlay Donovan is Killing it. It was actually released in 2021, but Leslie, Nora’s editor, thought I’d enjoy getting to know Finlay, a very stressed single mom trying to meet her writing deadline. Then, of course, things happen. I raced through it, laughed a lot and really enjoyed how Elle Cosimano built her world. And a ready made backlist? Yes, please and thank you. (This is the first book in the series — #4 will be out early 2024.)
And there you have it. What are you reading these days?
As much as I hoped to return to what we’d have called “regular” posting prior to 2020, there’s an issue that’s now an official part of the rotation: protecting what we read and how we obtain books.
Late last week, Nora learned from PEN America that a number of her books were banned from school libraries in Martin County, Florida. This includes The Bride Quartet! (?!?!)
Earlier in the week, EveryLibrary announced that Nora and The Nora Roberts Family Foundation made a generous donation to the organization to support the launch of Fight For the First, its new advocacy and organizing site with a mission of protecting the First Amendment in libraries across the country.
To quote the press release:
Ms. Roberts, the best-selling author of nearly 250 novels, has long been a champion of intellectual freedom and the importance of libraries as community resources. The Nora Roberts Family Foundation is committed to supporting initiatives that promote literacy, education, and the arts. Ms. Roberts’ donations to the EveryLibrary Institute will help the organization continue its work ensuring that all people have free and open access to information and ideas, and that libraries are able to provide a safe and welcoming space for all. The Foundation’s donation to EveryLibrary reflects its commitment to defending the right to free speech and access to libraries.
EveryLibrary’s mission is to defend and advance library values, including access to information and intellectual freedom.
Today, EveryLibrary launched a new campaign called the #NoraRobertsChallenge which asks readers and authors to join the fight with Nora by making a tax-deductible donation to fight against book bans and challenging friends to do the same.
Again, as the daughter of a librarian and a person who basically spent all my free time in libraries as I grew up, I ask you all to consider the libraries – school and public — in your area. When they are threatened, speak up. It’s the only way to combat the bullies who want to decide what’s best for all.
What’s best for all is the ability to roam the shelves in a library and perhaps luck into a new author who offers thought-provoking ideas. That’s freedom.
(or should I write HELLLLLLLOOOOOOOO – like a shout into a canyon???)
I know it’s been quiet here on Fall into The Story. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes reasons for that – from changing to a new platform to waging a battle against bot registrants to playing with/discarding all manner of new looks to the blog.
I figured since we’re all friends here, I’d invite you into the chaos while I attend to the final details.
A quick update: after Nora’s January post about visiting Nemacolin with family, she’s been deep in work. As usual, she finished the first In Death for 2024 in January. Now she’s deep in the weeds of the 2024 standalone (this year’s standalone, Identity, is out in a month. And the excerpt is here.)
Outside of work ,family events have taken up all her non-writing attention, meaning weekends have not lent themselves to updates. She did complete this year’s whole house purge AND Bruce went on his winter trip for the first time since 2020. (Nora reveled in a Home Alone that featured no mechanical breakdowns in the house.)
Nora, JoAnne and I returned to Nemacolin for a mini-girls spa week in early March. Kayla was able to join us for part of the time – it was her Junior year (!?!!) spring break. We had treatments, a paint night and did a puzzle – though nothing like the 2023 puzzle of cupcakes from hell. Thank goodness. And NO GAMES!!
Laura, Nora, Kayla & JoAnne in a floral mood.
A much simpler puzzle.
Nora mentioned to me late last week that she was going to get her hands in the dirt and start The Garden. She’ll share more about that in an upcoming post.
In the meantime, we’re gearing up to attend The Kentucky Derby next week. Two weeks later I’ll be certain to share The Spa-Girls-Face-The-Stupid-Scoreboard™ posts. Then before you know it, it will be time for the 2023 Travelogue! Where’s Nora going this year? Well, I’m not sharing that right now, but I can say that she hasn’t been to this part of the world for over 30 years.
Basically, I have a publishing schedule in mind to carry us through the rest of the year.
We’re also transitioning Nora’s News to a different platform with the help of The Newsletter Ninja. If you are a subscriber already, you will receive an update email about the changeover. Since there are so many names on the list, it’s a slow roll out so be patient! If you haven’t received anything by mid May, let me know at LMReeth@gmail.com so I can forward to Tammy and Stacey. And if you’d like to subscribe go to the Nora Roberts or JD Robb websites, scroll to the bottom and subscribe in the box there.
My plan is to increase the newsletters to monthly. Nora will write the pre-publication ones, while I’ll fill in with other things of interest like audio excerpts or contest. Things that keep you in the loop.
In other housekeeping news, if you’d subscribed to receive emails any time there’s a new FITS post, unfortunately that list disappeared when I brought the blog over from InMotion to WordPress. Please re-subscribe so you get all the posts as they appear.
I’ve been waging war on bots in the user list here for a while. I know I’ve inadvertently erased real accounts in my effort to be rid of invaders. If you have a profile here, could you add your name to the profile? That way I know to keep you on the list.
What else? I’ve been taking photos on walks again. And I’ve been reading a lot this winter.
Art in the early morning.
Which brings me to the final point in this restart post:
Besides Nora’s personal updates, discussion threads, cover reveals and excerpts, what else would you like to see here?
Photos of Nora’s garden just because?
What are you reading or quarterly book recommendation posts?
Share what you want to see post-wise in the comments.
Nora outlined her pre-holiday preparations last week, so I’m certain she’s deep in cookie dough this weekend. Since we have pretty diametically opposed approaches to the holidays, I thought it would be fun to share a diary of my run up to Christmas.
(BTW, You definitely know this is a Laura post since I have the World Cup final on in front of me — like in the featured photo. For those of you who have followed from the first opening tap, hasn’t the beautiful game made this month even more magical?)
November 29 – December 1 Nora and I headed to Tyson’s Corner to meet Kat and Sarah for a couple days of girl time before getting back into the holiday marathon. And back to work.
We arrived at the hotel before noon. Checked in, grabbed some lunch, then meandered through some stores. Nora grabbed new holiday pillows and some other decor (since we all know she finished gift shopping before the 4th of July). Kat was further behind in her holiday prep — an ally! — and she was happy to score some gifts in Crate & Barrel and Sur La Table.
Now, Nora and I have tons in common, but we take divergent paths on sports. She’s a lifelong baseball fan, otherwise sports are white noise in the background. I watch just about everything. As a side note, Sarah is a Washington Commanders fan by birth and a Buffalo Bills fan by marriage (she’s having a fun season) while Kat doesn’t hear white noise when it comes to sports, she hears Mozart on a different frequency altogether.
I’d tracked the US/England World Cup game on my phone while we shopped, so when we got back to the suite, I put it on the TV and sat in a chair so I could face the game. Nora, Sarah, Kat positioned themselves facing each other. I kept the game on mute, though I did emote when necessary. And when the game ended in a tie, not a loss, I did a little happy dance to their complete amusement.
We spend the next day at Saks in Chevy Chase with Azita — Nora’s long time shopper — and the rest of the amazing, enthusiastic team at the store. We shopped a bit, I had a fun session with a Guerlain makeup artist, then we ate lunch serenaded by the lovely Stephanie of Singers & Strings/Next Entertainment on her electric violin. She played for nearly 3 hours — popular music, holiday music — and never missed a note.
The amazing Stephanie
After lunch we made Christmas decorations with the very sweet ladies of Coffee & Calligraphy out of Annapolis. We’d fill empty glass containers with bits and pieces of holiday decor, then the the C & C team would write our names on the front, and a tree, star or wreath on the back. They had enough supplies for us to make ornaments for spouses and kids. Kat, as you see in the photo below, sat down and created her own designs for the back of hers.
Nora and Kat in deep concentration.
Some of the finished products
Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and gifts. Now, for all the snark, I was curious about all the Christmas gift purchases in Italy. Nora found a beautiful red saddle bag for Sarah in Florence (sorry, didn’t snap a photo) and these beautiful earrings she and Kayla deemed “Laura.”
A lovely and thoughtful gift. And so appreciated — in spite of all my comments about early purchases.
It was a wonderful start to December.
December 3 – 4 To clarify, I think about gifts throughout the year — I just don’t ACT on them. This first weekend in December is all about crafts with my neighbors. Before we started I finally ordered the calendars I make from my photos through the year. Takes care of a number of people on my list. Score one for me!
Calendars.
Onto crafts. You’ve all heard the story about Nora being an Earth Mother/Queen of Crafts before she discovered her true creative outlet in writing (for which we are thankful). Prior to winter 1979, she sewed Jason and Dan’s clothes, she did needlecrafts, macrame, pottery, to name a few. Once she wrote that first – never published – book she gave all her craft supplies away.
Me? I’m always game to try a new craft. And fortunately have many like minds in my neighborhood. This year a group of us learned needle felting (I call it stab and gab) and stained glass. Candlemaking and blacksmithing are two we want to try next year. On my own, I have any number of yarn crafts on the needle or hook. Finishing them is a different ball of wool.
My main craft partner in crime is my friend Tara — who I’ll call The Craftinator. Or maybe The Maven of Making. Or maybe just Tara.
Months ago she sent me a link for some Christmas hoop crafts and asked me to file under future Mayhem (our preferred terminology for making things).
Now, I think it’s important to mention that, like Nora, The Craftinator is a woman who starts a project and doesn’t stop until it’s done. (See Nora and writing books one at a time.)
Me? I’m Doug the Dog in UP — show me something shiny, I’ll yelp, “Squirrel!”, drop what I’m doing and focus on the new. Tara will finish a project and I’ll store mine for a later date. (That later date is probably never-ish from the state of my craft closet.)
I sense a theme in my friendships, btw: people who follow through.
Anyway.
This particular December 3, a group gathers in Tara’s craft room — because, of course she has an organized craft space. Five neighbors with glue guns, decorations, battery operated LED lights, Cava and snacks. We started at noon with no real plan other than finishing. While my friends created woodland or bright party scenes, I really just wanted the Zen of wrapping the hoop with jute.
Once done with that, I decided to add a web of lights, then some pearls and felt balls. Mainly, I wanted a wreath for a Reeth (get it?). But I ran out of felt balls to fill it out. Please note, because we are adult women the discussion of needing green balls went downhill. Fast.
The afternoon was a fun one. And here’s what I brought home:
My husband took a long look when I brought it home. “Is that a hexagram?” he asked.
“I think you mean Pentagram,” I replied. “Maybe.”
“Hmmmmm,” was the reply. “What did everyone else make?”
“Well, here’s Tara’s.” I showed him my phone.
He stared at the photo. “And how long did Tara have to do this?”
“The same as me.”
“Huh.”
And for the record, here’s what the entire group made:
Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan to re work mine. For Christmas 2023.
On Sunday, most of the same group attended a session on building succulent Christmas. Despite my frustration at getting some of the stems to fit into the mossy base, THIS is a project on display. Batting .500 (so Nora gets the reference).
December 8 – 12 We had an early Christmas with our kids because that worked for everyone’s schedule this year. Having an early celebration made for a very relaxing weekend (and easy travel from Connecticut and LA). Part of the fun was our neighborhood holiday gathering, held outdoors under cafe lights with fire pits and heat lamps.
My family.
December 16 I returned to my church’s choir in November, just in time to rehearse Christmas music . On this Friday night, we sang at the Sicilian Tenor’s concert at our church, kind of a dress rehearsal for Christmas Eve and Frederick’s Candlelight Tour of Historic Houses of Worship on December 26. (If you live in the area, it’s a wonderful evening of song and food.)
Setting up for concert
December 18 The World Cup final is in the books (what an absolutely beautiful, brutal and amazing match) and I’ve moved over to NFL games for this Sunday afternoon. Nora’s probably still working on cookies.
For those of you lighting the first candles on the menorah tonight, Happy Hanukkah! May your candles burn bright this season.
For those those of you still working toward the Christmas marathon finish line, I’m with you (I need to send cards, calendars and wrap gifts – no biggie).
This is my last personal post of the year, but keep an eye out for a kind of questionnaire post as Nora and I work toward some changes here on Fall Into The Story.
