When we left off last week I was headed to Texas. I had forgotten my own advice about not flying at night during the summer because of the travel delays that are precipitated by thunderstorms and found myself stuck for hours going both ways. There is only one way to beat this --- a good book to escape with. I had this week's Beach Bag title with me --- THE MANNY --- and I found myself happily ignoring those ominous announcements that go something like "In 39 minutes we will move into position and will be number 22 for takeoff!" Instead I read --- and laughed --- a lot.

I love summer. I love that school got out this week. I love that the alarm clocks all can be set an hour later when my biological clock usually is timed to go off anyway. I love that I have more time to spend with my boys than usual. I love that they cannot use homework as an excuse for not cleaning their rooms.

I am writing this newsletter before I fly to Dallas for a very quick trip to give a speech at a Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter event. I am looking forward to the flight as I have a few books and manuscripts that I am anxious to read, as well as a lineup queued on my iPod and this deep purple wrap I want to get some knitting done on. I have been running so much recently that I am looking forward to a few hours of uninterrupted time on the plane. When I get really busy I fantasize about flying to Australia and back, just for a chunk of time to call my own with no emails that I feel an urgent need to respond to, ringing phones, meetings or questions. Never mind the frequent flyer miles...I would treasure the time alone!

Last weekend's Book Expo America (BEA) trade show was a booklover's dream as I wandered the aisles perusing titles, listened to authors and editors, and made endless notes on books we want to share with you in the upcoming months. Our staffers and I split up so we could cover more ground, and we convened this week to compare notes and start planning what we think will be a very exciting fall.