I have no details as of yet, but it looks like I’ll be participating in a booksigning at a Borders in Austin on Saturday, September 8.

As I type I’m mentally mapping the bookstore in my mind, readying myself to give directions to the bathroom. This, I hear, is the main activity debut authors such as myself may expect to engage in at their first booksigning.

Still, I’m excited, and nervous, and on tenterhooks. Will the store stock Recipe for Love in time? Will anyone come?

But this is dull. What have I been doing since I last updated this site, you silently (oh, so silently!) scream?

I’ve been reading a quite wonderful book - Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me - and taking notes on every single scene, recording:

• Point of view,
• Main action points, and
• Page count.

It’s an interesting exercise. It’s slowing down what’s normally a very fast read and forcing me to think about what she’s doing in each scene, how the characters are changing, where the hints are getting dropped and theme developed. Once I’m done I’ll chart how her POV shifts add up and map the whole thing to Michael Hauge’s six stage plot structure. I’m sure the next time I do the exercise I’ll think of other things to chart and think through, but for a first go this is enough. I can tell it’s going to help my writing and it satisfies a bone-deep need I have to tear things apart and understand them from the bones out.

But man, toward the end of this particular story, it’s haaarrd to slow down enough to record each scene. I love this book and want to gobble it up!