I'm fresh back from my tour, and am pretty much an even mix of exhausted, exhilarated and also exhausted. We stayed at my parents on the days I didn't have events, and I fell in love with New England all over again.

Looking back, the week seems like a watercolor painting left in the rain. Lots of orange and yellows from the trees around New Hampshire and Maine that were so vibrant they almost pulsed; muddy grays and blues for the late night drives and early morning wakeups; the honey blond of my parents golden retriever sleeping by the baby's crib' and the creamy beige of many, many cups of coffee.

A few things stand out.

First, I have a really amazing mom. I knew this already, but I know it even more now. She drove me all over New Hampshire and Maine, getting up at the crack of dawn, and not getting to sleep till late. Do you have those moments when you wish time would just stop, or even just stretch out so you have time to catch your breath? I feel like that with the baby a lot, and last week I felt that way with my mom. We rushed from one event to the other, collapsing into bed at night and groaning out of bed in the morning. There was definitely lots of time to talk, but no time to explore the places we went, or to treat ourselves to room service, or to watch dumb hotel TV together. I realize now we didn't take one picture together. But we'll remember it, even without the pictures. Because it was amazing to be able to have my mom with me, even if we were less like the Gilmore Girls and more like The Amazing Race.

Second, my husband and dad are pretty amazing, too. While my mom and I were MapQuesting our away across New England, my dad and husband were at my parents' house on baby duty. The details of what happened will stay forever between the three of them (and the dog), but I know it involved a trip to Home Depot, walks in the woods, watching sports, and figuring out various ways to make the baby laugh. It also involved a lot of late nights, dirty diapers, and very early mornings.

Third, teenagers are amazing. Seriously. My favorite part of being a writer, apart from the physical act of writing, is talking to readers. Even if they haven't read my books. Luckily for me at most of the school visits the students had read at least portions of SKIN or SIGHT, and they had some really great questions and really interesting insights. As tired as I would be when I got to a school, I was absolutely invigorated by the time I left, every single time.

Third and a half, teenagers are totally terrifying! Before they warm up to you and start asking questions, they just....stare. Very unsettling.

Fourth, at my parents house, I sat on a rock with their dog, Ellie, and listened to the wind. I wore my dad's giant snowboots, even though there was no snow, and the giant down jacket I wore when I was pregnant. Ellie listened to all my secrets, and I think she'll keep them all.

Fifth, the Red Sox won. The first time it happened was one of the happiest days of my life. I cried, and had shivers all over my body. This time, I was sort of too exhausted to care. Which should tell you something about how exhausted I was.

Sixth, my parents looked like rock stars when they were first married. Here's a picture of them disembarking from a cruise in Greece. You can't see me, but I'm there too, in my mom's belly. And the camera my dad's holding is the one that both my brother and I learned to shoot on.
I love, love, love this picture.



And seventh, I love that my dad took so many pictures of us as kids, because it means I get to stumble upon ridiculous treasures like this:






Love,
AMV