Wanna Win a Book? Devil's Food Cake Blog Contest

I'm giving away two copies of Devil's Food Cake to a random blogger who advertises the book on their website. You are welcome to link to the book cover on my website or here on my blog. It doesn't have to be a review--unless you have already read it--and it doesn't have to be long.


Here's the rules:

1--Between now and February 8th post an announcement about the release of Devil's Food Cake, book three in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series.

2--Be sure it includes a link to my website, where they can read the first chapter, AND a link to Deseret Books website in case they want to buy the book ( www.josiskilpack.com   and   http://deseretbook.com/item/5033744/Devil_s_Food_Cake  )

3--Come back here and leave a comment telling me where it's posted.

4--Cross your fingers!

EXTRA ENTRY: If you HAVE read Devil's Food Cake, leave a review on Deseretbook.com, goodreads, library thing, shelfari, or Amazon.com--get an entry for EVERY review posted (just copy and paste the same one if you want) Let me know where you posted them. If you don't want a copy of Devil's Food Cake (since you might already have one), you can choose any of my other titles.

On February 8th I will draw two random names from the list using www.random.org  and will announce the lucky winners. Thanks for playing, you guys, and for spreading the word. MUCH appreciated.

Devil's Food Cake is Here!

Devil's Food Cake: Book three in the Sadie Hoffmiller series.

Delivered: 6 weeks early
In stores, February 10th, 2010 (Possibly sooner)

Isn't she cute? (never mind the words being backward and all that, it's not that way in the actual book

PS--I am working on the opening night party. Details to follow.

Another Question: Why do I hate holidays? Alisha

Why is it that you are a scrooge about the holidays? (asked with a smile) I'm trying to remember a holiday that you didn't comment about looking forward to being over. :) 

 There is a short answer and a long answer to this question:

Short: I'm not a fun person.

Long:

Holidays, for the most part, are a bother for me. I like the family part, I like the days off part, and I like the opportunity to reflect on the focus of that holiday. All that's good and if that was all the holidays were, I would be as Bob Cratchit as the rest of all y'all. However, that seems to comprise about, oh, 5% of any given holiday. The rest of it is crap. 

Crap as in:

Decorations: Cost a lot of money, clutter up my house, take up space to store for the other 11 months of the year, break, don't match each other let alone my regular home decor, and are never quite right. They go out of style, they displace other things I would prefer to look at, and, let's face it, most of them are cheesy. I mean, really, how many black cat candle holders do you need? And would any of us CHOOSE to decorate our living room with fat men and snowflakes full time. No. If we WANTED to decorate our house that way, we would do it year round. So why bother with it for one month? And I don't even mind the basic decorating, like a christmas tree. Christmas trees are awesome. Unless they are real. They they are a nasty mess. But you can't JUST do a Christmas tree. You have to have stockings and froo-froo stuff all over the place. My living room ends up looking like a garage sale, and yet many of the things I put up have some sentimental meaning, so then I feel guilty for making squinty eyes at them all the time.

Money: Some of you don't believe me when I say this, but I am cheap. Yes, I will spend money on things, but I prefer to spend as little as possible on things that matter. Every time I go to pick out a gift for someone else I wonder if this will be important to them, or if it will end up at DI next summer. This holds for any holiday, not just Christmas. I work very hard to get the 'perfect' gift, but in all my years I think I've managed to do that, like, twice. So, I always feel like I'm wasting my money. And then, after the holiday passes, I'm certain that I should have gotten them THIS instead of THAT and if I were just a more in tune I'd have gotten it write the first time. There's also money on food, dishes, postage, all those things that add up quickly and manage to suck the fun out of most holidays for me. I have a budget, and it always gets blown when a holiday comes up, and I have to spend the next month recovering, which is why we have cheap dog food. Sorry Tex.

Pictures: I hate taking pictures. I really do. I love having them, but I hate taking them because in order to take the pictures, you have to step out of the moment. Rather than watch my child blow out candles, I'm taking shots, then going through them to delete the ones that don't work. If there are several people we want recorded, I will inevitably leave someone out. Then there's the added frustration of feeling like I'm making myself the center of attention. Everyone notices the person taking pictures, and either tries to look cute, or tries to avoid them. I would like to just enjoy the moment and not worry about preserving it, or worry about what my hair looks like, or how clean my kitchen is. Every holiday, however, it is requisite that the pictures get taken and since no one else thinks of doing it, I either step out of the moment and feel awkward and do it, or I don't do it and then regret having not captured the moment. It's yet one more source of stress.

Distraction: Probably the biggest reason I dislike all of the above entitles aspects of the holidays is that I do not have the attention span to give these things the time they need, and still get the 'point' of the holiday. Halloween should be a fun time with my kids where we read spooky stories, dress up and eat candy. Instead all the decorations, picture taking, and money take away from that for me to the point where I just want it over with. Same with Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July. They are just too busy and after all the prep and planning are done, I'm burnt out. Again, I still enjoy the family time and I try to let myself remember the point of it all, but more often than not at the end of that day I'm so very glad it's over.

Perfectionism: I like things to be just right, and nothing ever is. For each holiday I tend to build up how I want things to be; the traditions I'd like to start, the closeness I'd like to have, the peace I'd like to feel. But the irony is I'm not very good at being in the moment, I'm usually thinking ahead (or taking pictures) and so I end up regretting how I spent my time, wishing I'd done better. I agree it's dumb and with this amazing insight I have, I should fix it. But I don't know how to do that, so I just keep trying a little at a time.

All that said, I do enjoy the actual holiday itself. I like to give gifts (and getting gifts doesn't suck either), I love seeing the kids light up with all the fun holiday stuff, I like fireworks (kinda), and New Year's kisses. I love the food and playing games. Those things are awesome and I do realize that without all the other crap, I wouldn't get those moments. So, for that reason, I guess it's all worth it, but the annoyances are still there, taunting me every few months. 

Won't I be a fun Grandma?

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It's all about food and hanging out with friends and family. Not much wrangling and decoration expectations. I wish they were all like that.

And, to be just a little more obnoxious, one of my favoritest things about Christmas are the cards. Both giving and receiving them. It makes no sense since they are a lot of work and quite a fair amount of money, but I love em and Lee and I fight about how long I can keep them up on the wall. So far I've got him convinced that taking them down before Valentine's Day is a sin.

So, Alisha, aren't you glad you asked? I bet you can't wait to spend a holiday with me now, can you :-)

  

NY Resolutions get a Bad Rap

It seems there is something for everyone on the spectrum of resolutions; some of us take it seriously, some of us don't want anything else to feel guilty about and ignore them completely.

As for me, I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I have written out resolutions in the past; I've broken them and been hard on myself. Sometimes I just think them, and forget them eventually. As we entered 2010 and I wondered whether to do them or not, I had a thought, why NOT set goals?

I mean, yes, there's the chance you won't fulfill it, but isn't working toward something, even if it's only for a little while, and even if you don't fufill it perfectly, isn't the 'journey' toward being better or accomplishing something worth it? Isn't the mere WANTING of something better a good thing?

I think it is.

So, here are some of my resolutions from LAST year, and how I did on them:

1--Lose 10 pounds: I did lose ten pounds, but I didn't keep it off once November rolled around. I'm officially six pounds lighter today than I was this time last year.

How do I feel about that?

AWESOME. I'm six pounds lighter, AND I learned a lot about myself, about food, and about how to feel good. I might not have accomplished my goal, but the journey was worth it and I feel primed to truly accomplish it in 2010. I fit in my jeans, and that's awesome.

2--Run a half marathon: Not only did I not run a half marathon, I didn't get even close. I ran one 5K in 2009. Not long after that I started having trouble with my IT band on my left leg. I eventually got a brace, but it was uncomfortable and being in pain takes a lot of the fun out of running for me thus I didn't train as well as I wanted to and I didn't even attempt another 5K, let alone a longer race.

How do I feel about that?

Okay. I mean, I did run, and I even kept running after my knee started hurting. I had some great mountain runs with my husband, which were times I truly cherished. I got out of my house, pushed myself, and while I didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish I still accomplished something and I'm stronger because of it. I also ran my personal longest distance 6 1/2 miles, which was awesome!

3--Establish a new relationship with a certain family member: I'm not really at peace with where this 'relationship' is, but as the year progressed and certain drama came up, I was able to pull myself out of it better than I ever have before. I came to realize there is no quick fix to this situation, it's one I've dealt with a long time and will continue to deal with a long time in the future.

How do I feel about that?

Optimistic. I have room for improvement on my part, lots of room, but I did make some important 'discoveries' in regard to this this year and I believe I can continue to improve things little by little if I continue to ask the Lord for help, continue to evaluate myself and my actions, and continue to WANT something better than what I have right now. I'm very glad I set this goal and gained the insights I gained.

4--Read more books. I had hoped to read a book a week. For some people, that isn't very many. There was a time when this was a paltry amount of reading for me, but over the last the five years life has become such that reading has gone by the wayside. In 2008 I think I read less than 20 books, which is almost embarassing. I did do better in 2009, and I think I read closer to 35 or 40 books.

How do I feel about that?

Really good. I would like to read at least 50 books a year; it keeps me up to date on the market and also helps me with my own writing. I also think that it's a good 'break' for me, and I give myself very few of those. I'm glad I set this goal because otherwise I wouldn't have pursued reading the way I did.

And now we are 2010--and here are my goals:

1--Lose 5 pounds (this will be easier than it was last time because I did it before and know how to do it again, now that the holidays are over I can get back some of the control I've given up. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain it through he year this time. We'll see.)

2--Run a 10K (this will be tricky, but not impossible. I need to sign up for a race so that I'm forced to train for it or risk losing the money)

3--Love better (I beleive that Love is the key to both forgiveness and acceptance of other people. It's hard for me to give sometimes, but I've learned a thing or two this year about myself and want to be more giving of the love I feel, but sometimes hesitate to share)

4--Read 50 books. (that's not even a book a week. Reading the Whitney finalists alone will get me halfway there. Thank goodness for the online library option where I can hold books from home)

5--Cook dinner. (Making changes to my eating took a lot of fun out of cooking and I've gotten to where I make an actual meal only once or twice a week. I find that pathetic and am determined to do better this year. I've pulled out a couple recipe books and marked recipes that I'm interested in. I've invested in $20 worth of cool spices I had to order online. I'm shooting toward at least one new recipe a week and at least 4 actual meals a week.)

6--Write at least 1 hour a day, 6 days a week. (So far, I'm 100% on this one :-) and have written 4,000 words in the new year. I love timers, so timing helps a lot. I'm worried for how it will work when the kids are back in school and I'm back at work, but if I can keep to it, I'll avoid the stress of deadlines from last year. I will reward myself for every 15 days I write 1 hour; a hair color, pedicure, massage--things like that.)

So, it's your New Year too--how did 09 go and what are you planning for 2010?

The fourth A--Cheri Chesley

Cheri chimed in with another question--number 4;  

What's your absolute, all time favorite dessert? 

Oh man! If not for wanting to fit into my jeans, I would eat a version dessert with every meal. Here's a sample menu of a perfect day:

Breakfast:

Pumpkin Pancakes with homemade cinnamon syrup.

Bacon

Lunch:

Crepes filled with peaches, strawberries and mixed berries, topped with whipping cream.

bacon

Dinner:

Cheesecake

Brownie sundae

Sausage patties

Dessert:

Cookies and milk.

So, asking my favorite dessert is a rough question for me to answer. Never mind that I'm also writing a book series with dessert titles, which means I've been fairly obsessing about desserts for, oh, a year. Add to that the fact that I've been low-carbing for about 8 months (and back in my jeans because of it, thank you very much) and therefore horribly deprived in the dessert department (except for the last week which I refuse to count against myself because there would be no peace on earth if I were denying myself for the holidays) and you've walked into a veritable landmine question by asking my favorite. But, here is my answer, now that I've set the stage.

My all time favorite dessert is Chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. Here's what it is:

Crust layer--graham if you have to, but if you can make an almond cookie crust, all the better. 

Chocolate layer--a 1/2 inch layer of chocolate; not chocolate chips which will harden as they cool, but something that will have enough ingrity to hold the cream cheese mixture above it, but remains gooey when you eat it. Hot fudge works great best, but freeze or refrigerate it before topping with the cream cheese to make sure it doesn't get all mixed in.

Pumpkin cheesecake layer--at least three inches thick with the perfect amount of cloves and ginger, just a hint of cinnamon (I think cinnamon easily overwhelms too many recipes, blocking the ginger which is the real zing to anything pumpkin, IMHO)

Bake and then chill at least four hours, until the cake is well set. Drizzle with hot fudge before serving. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made low carb too.

So there you have it, my favorite dessert of all time--although I have yet to meet a dessert I don't like.

These questions have been fun, if anyone else has something they'd like me to answer, send it my way.  

Third A--from Me Again

I don't mean, ME as in Josi, but Me Again as in that's her blogger name.  Here's her question:

 How do you feel about LDS fiction stories that not only stray from the probable, but take a summer vacation into the not even possible? 

I think that, regardless of the market (LDS, national, etc) believability is an essential characteristic of plot. That's the whole point of fiction--creating a world that feels 'real' enough that the reader can put aside their own life long enough to immerse themselves in this fictional realm. And yet, there is also a necessary element of the reader suspending their own beliefs enough to follow along. So there are two parties at play, the author and the reader.

Author: It's a tricky line; balancing the necessary elements of plot (characters, conflict and climax) against it 'feeling' real. In real life, people do things with very complex motives, they act out of character, they don't always make sense. In fiction, that doesn't work. Everything must have a reason; characters must have motives, the actions must be 'in' character, they must make sense on some level, and everything they do must lead somewhere. It's at times hard to do, and often takes another person to point out when something needs clarification. Too often, an author is seeing where they want to go and lose sight of the steps that are taking them there, often resulting in contrived or unbelievable scenes. They do the job of getting the character where they need to be, but their 'method of transportation' works against the integrity of the story. This is a shame since there was likely a better way to get from point A to point B; a mode the author would have discovered on their own if they would have questioned themselves about it. One of the best questions an author can ask themselves, and one I put into many manuscripts I edit is "Would he really?" meaning, would the character really do or say this; or are you the author taking advantage of your role as fiction-God and taking too many liberties?

Also, on the author side, it is sometimes impossible to be objective enough about your own work to see the breakdown of believability in our own stories which is why I am such a big proponent of having other 'writers' or editors read your book; someone who will tell you the truth so that your story makes sense. 

I'm a big believer that a writer can write about anything; new worlds, weird people, incredible circumstances--but it has to be written right and it has to feel real.

Reader: Different types of readers have different levels of ability when it comes to suspending belief. For instance, I have a difficult time with Science Fiction and Fantasy because I find so many elements of the genres hard to picture in my mind. My ability to suspend belief is rather low when it comes to new worlds. Whether that's because I lack imagination, or simply practice, I don't know, but it results in the fact that because it's difficult for me to 'believe' those types of stories, I don't enjoy them very much. Now, there are some I absolutely love, but overall I dislike more than I enjoy. Same with a lot of mystery novels, which is ironic since I write them, but many of them just annoy me because I can't clearly see the process of discovery--the detective too often just 'knows' something that leads to the conclusion (I'm guilty of this as well--as a few readers have pointed out but I'm really, really working on it). Some people have a difficult time with LDS fiction because there is a lot of inspiration, feeling the spirit, and intuition that often makes the plot work. Some people are very open to that--likely people that acknowledge those same workings in their lives, but others of us (myself included) struggle with the way this is portrayed at times and that makes it seem contrived in order to make the plot work or to make their character appear spiritual. A reader that struggles with certain genres ought to be very selective in the books they read within that genre which is why The Whitney Awards are so very cool--look for past winners to get a feel for the best out there; these are books that have literally been read by hundreds of people that cast votes that put these books in the positions they are in. A valuable tool, especially for those of us that are selective within genres.

On the reader's side there is also the factor of becoming a more discerning reader. I've gone back and read books I loved fifteen years ago, only to find myself rolling my eyes now. As I've matured and become more well read, I've learned what I like and what I don't like. I've developed a much more critical eye and my taste in reading has become more sophisticated. If a reader finds themselves displeased with several books within a shared reading level or genre, it might be that they have reached a 'reading' level beyond their comfort zone and need to move on to something with a bit more 'meat' to it.

It's always frustrating to me when a book makes it into print without having the unbelievable factors ironed out. I'm not sure why it happens. Are there other parts of the story that were so strong to the editors of the book that they didn't notice? Am I hyper sensitive? Regardless, it's a frustration. I find that in regard to believability and other elements of writing, I give books a 100 page rule (it used to be 50 but I've taken a gracious turn) if by page 100 I'm not dying to finish the book, I don't. There are excellent books out there which means I don't have to waste my time on ones that were almost excellent.

So, dear readers, where do you fall on the believability scale? Are there genres you find harder than others?

The next A--Kimberly

Kimberly asked:  Has blogging affected your writerly life at all, for good or bad?

I would have to say that it has affected my writerly life in both ways, good and bad.

Good: I have made wonderful connections through my blog and through reading other blogs; met people I might not have met other wise and realized I liked people that, again, I might not have liked otherwise. It's also served as a kind of journal for me and I love having my thoughts 'contained' somewhere. I recently had the first three years of my blog put into a book and it's been fun to read over it. In that sense of enjoyment, blogging has also been good because I really like it. I like the unisolation I get from being part of blogworld, and through the other blogs I've found I've received great advice and inspiration as well. 

Bad: I still have not figured out how to implement the 28 hour day. Time, like money, does not grow on trees no matter how much I wish for it. Time spent blogging takes away from other things--often from my actual novel writing. It's not unusual for me to sit down to blog and an hour later realize I'm out of writing time for the day and I never  opened my current work in progress. That can be insanly frustrating. Blogging also makes it very easy to avoid writing if I'm not in the mood. Beyond that there are times I don't want to blog, don't feel I have anything to say, and yet because my blog is partly here for promotion purposes I feel as though it's something I need to do. That sucks the fun out of it entirely.

What about you guys, how has blogging affected you?

The A of Q & A

Most of you that commented on my 'ask a question' post did not, in fact, ask a question which can only mean that I talk so much, specifically about myself, that I've answered anything you might have questioned otherwise.  That is something I must ponder on, no longer being a woman of mystery. Sigh.

But, a few of you did ask a question--so some mystery must remain? right?

The first question was posed by Don:  If you were a tree, what kind would you be, and why?

Its rather remarkable he asked this question since I've been waiting years to be asked something such as this. And yet, I find it nearly impossible to answer for a variety of reasons. Here is my thought process:

One of my favorite trees, aesthetically, is a Russian olive tree. I love the shape, the color of the leaves, the sound of wind through it's leaves. But it is excessively messy, shedding leaves constantly as well as the little 'olives' it produces. Would I want to be such a burden? Not really. Next, I love Juniper trees, but they aren't really a tree, rather they are a shrubbery, so that doesn't count. Next on the list would be a birch, the ones with the white bark, but that's only because I find them beautiful. If I only wanted to be a birch for beauty, does that make me vain? Putting appearance above all other measures of self? Which then brings me to the list of trees I would NOT want to be: Blue spruce=pretty and strong, but prickly, Locust=large and good for climbing but the female tree creates those horrid pods that are such a nusense, and the male tree produces thorns that fall from the tree as leaves to and therefore makes jumping into a pile of leaves a painful prospect. Chinese Elms are also pretty, with dainty little leaves, but they attract box elder bugs almost as well as Box Elder trees do. Willows, in nearly any variety, are a favorite, but their root systems are shallow and therefore they are not very strong.

And then all this rumination brings me to one simple truth--a tree does not get to choose what kind of tree it will be. It's 'breed' so to speak is determined by it's seed, and then it simply has to make due with it's strengths and weaknesses just as we as humans must do the same. So, in reply to Don's question I suppose I would be whatever kind of tree the Lord chose for me, and then, because I'm contrary, I'd probably whine about it forever. Except trees don't speak, or think, or blog. Hmmmmm.

What about the rest of you? What are you ruminations regarding trees you would like to be?

Just . . . Stuff

So, the other night I pulled a 'best mom in the world' card and abandoned my children. Lee was out of town, but my friend, Sam (short for Samantha, thank you) and I wanted/needed to watch Tess of the D'urbervilles because we hadn't read the book and bookgroup was the next night (yes, I abandoned the kids that night as well.) I'd tried to read the book in high-school, gave up on page, oh, 7 or so, and then I read the Cleff notes. Passed the test.

The movie was quite good; ya know, for being based on a classic tragidy. Still, we enjoyed it. I got home around 11:30 and as I headed for my room there was half a bowl of salad on the floor in front of my door and a note next to it, written in purple sharpie.

Mom,

Please wake me up at 5:30 or earlier.

Love you so so so so so so sooooooooo much.

Love

Little Man

PS You can have the salad.

Is that not the cutest dang thing? Boy I love that kid. And I love those little notes the kids leave. I've realized lately that the days of such notes are coming to a close, so I'm saving them all. I giggled for five straight minutes after that one. Such a cutie.

Additional to my cute kid notes, I am brain dead. Melanie J just posted about having commenters leave questions in order to give her foder for future posts. She's freaking brilliant; I say that because I only copy brilliant people. Which is why I'm copying her.

So, if you have some deep burning question you'd like to ask, let me know. I'll blog about the answers and give you credit for having asked them.

TTFN

Am I a Good Person?

I've now seen The Blindside twice. One of the best movies I have ever seen--so much that I've wondered if it's THAT bad to take a camcorder to the movie theater. I'm not going to sell it, just watch it over and over again.

There's a line in there that got me the first time, it struck me, but it made me cry the second time. In a scene where her motives are being questioned she asks "Am I a good person?" You've just watched a film that shows the amazing things she's done for someone else, and yet in her mind she's boiled it down to the question of motive. Why did she do those things? Were her reasons pure? If she did them for the wrong reasons are the things she did also wrong?


I ask myself this question a lot, and after so many years I still don't have the answers.

Am I a good person for having raised someone elses child, or was I simply looking to be a hero?

Now that the whole hero thing has backfired, would I have done it again knowing what I know now?

Is that only because it didn't go the way I hoped?

Do I only do good things because I want a good result?

Am I still a good parent when I resent the messes, the hours of cleaning, the unappreciation of my efforts?

Am I good person even though I find it so hard to forgive?

Is it fair that I divide my time between my family and the fictional characters in my head?

Yesterday was supposed to be my youngest daughter's baptism. She turned 8 in October, and I was planning to have her baptism in November, a couple of days before my book tour. Turned out that this year the stake baptisms are on the second Saturday of the month, not the first.  Right in the middle of my tour.  We had to put it off until December. I felt horrible and even though I realize it was simply a mistake, this is a BAPTISM, and it got bumped because I had a book tour--two weeks away from my family. It has not sat well with me, but I simply focused on the 12th of December and moved forward. Yesterday it snowed all day. Most of the family members canceled; and for good reason. I don't want them to take unnecessary risks, and the roads were really horrible. But as the day ticked on and the snow got deeper I realized that the chances were good that no one would make it; even those who lived just an hour a way. I saw two options: 1) Have the baptism anyway, but with only us. 2) Reschedule for January and hope more family members could make it.  My husband thought we should do it anyway, but you know what? As we thought and talked about it I kept going back to the part where if we'd done it in November, all those people would have been there. It was my fault it hadn't worked that way. Therefore, I felt responsible for the fact that after building up this event, KB's memories would be of only having her siblings and parents at her 'big' day. Lee and I finally decided to let KB decide.

I sat her down and explained the situation. Did I present it honestly? Without trying to prod her into making one choice over another? I don't know. I tried to focus on the important aspect being the ordinance, not all the extra stuff. Did I make it clear enough? I don't know that either.

She went into her room to think about it, and when she came out her eyes were red and her face was swollen. She's the only girl in her class who hasn't been baptized. She didn't like that she wouldn't be baptized until she's in a whole new primary class--9-10 year olds. She's been eight for two months already. She wanted to wear her new dress to church.

Did I appreciate those things enough? If I'd have just said "This is your day, Kylee, let's do this and forever have very special memories of the people closest to you being there?" would she have chosen another direction?

She chose to wait. I admit that I was relieved. Is that wrong too? Then I started calling people to tell them. Everyone was very nice, but I could hear an undercurrent "You're canceling an eternal ordinance because some people can't come?" I braved through all that using the "I'm doing what KB wants." but did she understand it enough to really know? Was it fair to leave the choice to her?

I don't know. I do know that I was unsettled about it all day, that I'm worried about what people think, and the message I've sent to KB and my other children. Today she should be welcomed to our ward as the newest member. But she won't be. Am I a good person even though ...

When I really think it through I do believe I'm a good person, for the most part. I try to do good things, and try to be fair minded and encouraging to others. And yet even making that declaration makes those things I've been wrong about glaringly apparent as they rise up as arguments against me.

And so I'm curious if we all do that to ourselves. I'd like comments to be left in the format of "Am I a good person even though...."

I'm not asking in hopes to make myself feel better--or am I? I don't know.

Cover for Devil's Food Cake!

Wohoo--see that pic on the side, yeah, well in case you didn't figure it out, that's the new cover. Not what I expected--I thought it would be a light brown, but it's catchy, eh? Release date: March 3, 2010.

The first two chapters are available on my website www.josiskilpack.com as well as info on how to pre-order autographed copies.

Register 4 the 2010 LDStorymakers Writers' Conference

In case you haven't heard, registration is OPEN for the 2010 conference. We're having more breakouts then ever, more agents and editors than ever, and more space than ever. It's at the Provo Marriot again and sure to be thebomb.com (that's not a real website) To register go to www.ldstorymakers.com and follow the links. And, just a little fyi, the agents and editors go fast and they are good ones. Don't delay, sign up today!

Booktour Contest Winners!

As part of the booktour, Julie and I ran two contests--one for those that made online comments to blogs or facebook updates or twitter posts, and the other contest for those people we met during the tour. We got over 100 entries in both contests and drew out our winners:

Online contest for a $15 gift card to Amazon.com goes to:

Lisa Banks Bennett

In-store contest for a $40 gift card to her choice of location goes to:

Susan Farnsworth

I'll be contacting both these ladies individually to let them know but wanted to thank everyone for the great support we received on the tour. It was awesome to meet so many of you in person, and a huge benefit to have the online comments continually cheering us on. Thanks so much and I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Final Day on Tour

This morning Julie and I had lunch with Heather Horrocks, author of How To Stuff a Wild Zucchini. She and her sister had come down to St. George for a book signing and took us to breakfast, which was delicious. Sit down meals definitely beat Taco Bell. It was fun to chat with her and hear the incredible range of things she's written and plans to write. AND Josi forgot her camera. She's really awesome that way. It was very fun though and I'm excited to see where she'll go from here.

Then we picked up Julie's daughter and were ready to head toward Cedar City when I realized I didn't have my credit card. Not a good moment. The last place I'd used it was Outback Steakhouse the night before, so we held our breath and headed that direction, hoping some prep cook was already there. They were. I asked about my card, and they had it but asked for ID to verify I was really Josi. That was awesome and EXACTLY what they should have done. I'm so writing an e-mail to tell them how awesome their manager was.

Then we headed for Cedar City, got there early and hit Wal-mart to replace Julie's brush I'd taken out of her bag and left at Janette's. Hey, wait, did I end up buying it or did Julie pay for it? I better check with her. Then we hit Sally Beauty Supply--they have the best bobby pins ever and the last two times I've gone in they were sold out.

Then we went to Cedar City. It was a Hannah Montana day. Vicki C. and Ali C. had come down from Milford to see New Moon and stopped by the store. Awesome to see them for the first time in years--AND I didn't get a picture. I suck. Not long after they left, Deann, my sister-in-law Crystal's mom came in. She is so much fun; spunky, encouraging and just so dang positive. The only draw back is that she has cuter hair than me. Dangit! But I got over it :-) and was so glad to see her. Right behind Deann was my Aunt Pam who I haven't seen for quite some time. My sister Crystal showed up a little while later, and then my brother Sam and his wife Whitney. It was awesome! In between all the great family reunion I sold a bunch of a books and THEN Lee Modesitt showed up with gifts for Julie; five copies of his books in Swedish! Lee has been a great friend and mentor to Julie for quite some time and it was awesome that he took the time to come and see her.

When the signing was over, Julie, her daughter and my fam got to go to lunch--it was a perfect ending to a great day and a really awesome book tour. After we left Cedar City, we headed for Julie's house in Oak City and managed to cram in yet even more topics of discussion. We reached Oak City around 6:30, unloaded, lost the keys, found the keys, gave final goodbye hugs and I headed for Salt Lake. I met up with my family at the rental car return center, and thier eyes about bugged out of their heads when they saw the miles. I was hiding in my own car at this time, while my husband turned it in. for whatever reason I was certain I was going to get in trouble even though we had unlimited miles. But they were very nice to Lee and we left without being told about some fine print that was going to cost me $500.00.

It was GREAT to hug my kids, kiss my husband and just be home. I love it here!

Vegas to Utah

I was able to leave the trunk to the car open for a couple hours while I was at work (mostly I blogged, I'm such a great boss.) It dried out really well and we were able to reload, then I picked up Julie and we serpentined all over Vegas before finally calling the store--Dora apparently does not like Vegas and she refused to help us. I think she was really mad we didn't get to cheesecake factory last night too.

We got to the store and were able to get a grand tour of the new digs. Deseret Book has launched a pilot program where they combine the DB bookstore with a distribution center, complete with garments and temple clothes. The Vegas store was the second of these remodels we'd seen--the Lake Oswego store had also recently rennovated. It's a nice gig for both stores and customers; giving them a one stop shop. The Vegas store is particularly nice because it has a whole level dedicated to the distribution items and has a lot of room.

We got to chat with some more fun people down there but discovered that the hot temperatures had ruined the chocolate we'd been giving out. We ate several of them and although they tasted great, they looked a little funny so we decided we would give the rest to our kids who wouldn't care that they looked funny. Bummer for the rest of the people coming to our signings though. Sorry.

After Vegas we hit the road, yet again and headed over the state line to our signing in St. George. We crossed yet another time zone but it was still warm, which was nice. We met up with a freind of mine, Nida Lloyd at the Hope Chest Thrift store where I found a few awesome shirts! $18 for six of em--yeah baby! Then Julie and I headed to Deseret Book. They had also just added a distribution center to their store--so we were in 3 of the 6 stores they are trying this in, which is kinda cool. Paul, the manager there, is awesome, and Alexis came up from Mesquite to see us--it's always fun to meet cyber people in person. We got to chat with people and sell some books and a cute little 7 year old came in that made me miss my KB more than ever.

After the signing we headed for Julie's parent's house, where we are staying tonight. We had a great dinner and Julie got to see her daughter who lives in St. George too. We are now blogging and uploading and getting ready for bed. I am SO excited to be home, but am also glad Cedar City is our final signing. I have some friends coming and so it's a great way to end the tour.

I'm not sure when I'll find time to blog the wrap up for the tour--I'm missing my family like crazy and suspect that this weekend will be a lot of catching up with them. So, in case it takes a few days for me to get to it I'd like to thank everyone who set up a signing, came to a store, told someone about a signing, read the blog, twitter, facebook updates and wished us well. Honestly, the tour exceeded our expectations. Even with the hiccups we encountered it was a really great trip. When we finish with Cedar City tomorrow we will have hit 23 stores, driven about 4,000 miles, met hundreds of people and signed hundreds of books. We've seen places we've never seen before, had conversations we'd never had, and made friends with people we'd have never met. Thanks for the great support, it really is priceless.

Topics discussed today & yesterday: Porn, jobs, Parumph, hitting deer, J. Golden Kimball, bracing cacti and chocolate cinnamon bears.

Arizona-check!

When we arrived at Janette's house on Monday night, this room was clean. This is what it looked like after a few hours. We certainly made ourselves right at home, didn't we?

We left for Thatcher, thinking we--again--had lots of time. Wrong! The GPS routed us through Tucson, which added another 30+ miles to our trip. We are FOR SURE going to talk to the locals next time rather than rely solely on Dora to get us back and forth. We were half an hour late. Argh. We just felt horrible. BUT, the perk is that we had people waiting for us! Had we been on time they would have trickled in, but since we were late we got to feel like rockstars coming into a crowd. The Thatcher store was awesome--I have been so impressed with the independant bookstores we have come across in small areas. Thatcher was no exception. We sold quite a few books, signed stacks of books people brought in and had an all together great time at their store. AND they gave me chocolate covered cinnemon bears!

The store owners let us get a photo with their daughter Megan, who was such a sweetheart and kept coming back for hugs. Another 'rock star' moment for us. I swear we took a photo with the employees but I don't have it on my camera--I must have a black hole on there. Maybe they can send me a copy of the one they took.

After the signing, we headed for Phil and Alice Prey's house, where we were staying. They are our good friend Alison Palmer's parents and not only offered their home for us to stay in, but also got a book group together at their house. We had a fun meeting and fabulous refreshments, it was an impressive turn out and the Prey's were wonderful hosts, you'd have thought they were our own parents for how sweetly they treated us. I now know at least two reasons Alison is such a sweetheart herself; she had good teachers. We got to see some pictures of Alison when she was younger--big hair and all :-)  She's a doll and it was a great night, even if thier dog was scared to death of us.

We hit the road at 7:15--taking the RIGHT route this time and made it to Mimi's Cafe in time to have lunch with friends Marjean, Marsha and Connie. We haven't seen Marsha or Connie for awhile and it was fun to visit with them and have a great meal. After lunch/brunch/breakfast we went to the Deseret Book where Amy the imposter (also known as Kim) and the Craigs (manager and assistant manager are both named Craig) greeted us with big smiles and lots of compliments. Very fun store. We got to visit with a particular woman who was buying Christmas Presents for her nieces and chatted with us for awhile. Should she read this I hope she knows  how touched we were by her story and we wish her the best. Lisa P. came to this store as well--she had bought a copy of English Trifle for me a few months ago and I sent it off without signing it. We'd gotten it resolved back then, but I felt like an idiot anyway. She came all the way in to meet me and assure me it was not a big deal. Very fun. Marjean was there with us again, orchestrating all the details, which was wonderful, and we had a great time visiting with the emloyees and customers. Very fun store.

After that signing we hit the road for Nevada. Long drive. We can definitely feel the 3,800 miles catching up with us and the drive from Arizona to Nevada is just plain boring--unless you're driving with Julie Wright. Then it is fun. She makes everything fun. We got to Vegas in time to hit the Disney Outlet. All my razing aside, I have no particular dislike of Disney and I got my last two 'kid gifts' there which will be much enjoyed. We then headed for our final presentation of the trip, a book group in seven hills. Stefanie was the hostess, and the book group was awesome. We had some rather intensive discussions on  merits of books and authors. I was impressed with the depth of their questions and we had a really good time with these women. It's been really fun to have the sit-down meetings with these groups. We realize they aren't easy to put together, but have enjoyed each one of them so much.

After the bookgroup we realized--to abject horror--that a water bottle had leaked in the trunk--and our boxes of books had done thier best to absorb the water. Julie took the worst of it and we're both sick over the dozens of books that were ruined. Once again she amazes me with her 'scope' of dealing with tough things. But we had to skip Cheesecake Factory in favor of trying to save the rest of our stuff. Who knew a water bottle could be so disastrous. It kinda took the wind out of our sails and we got to the hotel very tired and more than a little bit frustrated. I dreamed all night that Julie and I got into a horrible fight, where she left the hotel and I had to find her in Vegas. Not fun at all.

This morning I got up to find Julie safe and sound at the hotel, reading a magazine through a slit of light coming through the bathroom door--she didn't want to wake me up. I got ready in a dash and came into work where I have a few things to deal with but, more importantly, have internet. We haven't had any since we left Janette's, which is why we're so behind on blogging. And because I changed our hotel last night to one closer to my office, we didn't get free internet like we'd have had if we'd stayed with the hotel Julie's husband had set up for us.  I bungled that one completely and feel like a heel (it doesn't help that I'm the one that put the water bottle in the trunk in the first place, but it's Julie's  books that got ruined). Currently I have unloaded the car and am letting the desert sun dry up the water in the trunk--I'm sure my employees are very impressed with having the sidewalk full of my luggage and such.

Anyway, we're heading for the Vegas signing in about an hour and then we'll drive into St. George. We get to stay with Julie's parents tonight--great people--and we get to see Julie's daughter, which will be a lot of fun as well. Another full day, that's for sure, but hopefully a good one.

Arizona Sunshine

It was so nice to have a kick back morning and get some laundry done on Tuesday. The weather is perfect in Mesa this time of year and Janette Rallison was a wonderful hostess. We left for the signing at the Glendale Deseret Book and quickly realized that Glendale-Chandler-Mesa are isn't like Sandy-Sugarhouse-Murray in Salt Lake. They are all their own cities rather than suburbs of each other and driving from one to the other is like driving to Provo from Salt Lake. And so we were late--again. Argh. I really hate being late and yet you wouldn't guess it by how good I'm getting at it.

Anyway--great store, fun signing. Marjean is a resident of the Mesa area who volunteered to help us with our signings here. She made up mailing list sign ups, directed people to our table, and was a kind of director for the signing. It was fun to meet her and the employees and we had a good time at Glendale. Then we went to lunch with Peggy and Cindy, the manager and assistant manager of the Seagull bookstore in Mesa. What fun women, and what a wonderful meal! They took us to the Landmark restaurant in Mesa which is in a building that was the first meetinghouse in Mesa. It was a beautiful building and the food was phenomenal.

After the meal they announced that Julie had received a delivery to their store that morning. Ooooooooo. It turned out to be this awesome cookie boquet sent by Julie's sister in law, Pearl. It was awesome! I've heard about those but never seen one. Wow. It was such a thoughtful (and delicious) gift. Julie shared with all of us at the signing, I beleive I was the first one to finish my cookie despite the big meal we'd just had. Go me.

The Mesa signing was great. Wendy and Mary--online friends--came out to see us, as well as Kim C.'s aunt who about cleaned Julie out of books. It was really, really fun to see these people in real life--thanks for the great support. Peggy at that store was just wonderful--what a bundle of fun energy. And I found christmas gifts for my visiting teaching sisters that are darling but I can't tell you what they are because they sometimes read this and I don't want to give it away. and because I bought the same thing for my sister Crystal (who will get hers in Cedar City on Saturday) and Melanie J (who will get hers as soon as I get to a post office to mail it). Now they are going to get all excited and think it's amazing, so I totally set myself up.

Anyway, once we finished that signing we hurried to a  book group in Mesa and got there just in time. Janette joined us for a presentation where we talked about our experiences in writing and how we got here. It went really well and the women there were just wonderful, warm, and very engaged. Sandra, the woman who put it all together, insisted we take some of the leftover refreshments. Twisted our arm terribly. We said we were taking them home to Janette's kids but instead we're eating cream-puffs and grapes for breakfast. It was delicious.

All in all it was a really great day, full of wonderful people who really went out of their way to take great care of us. Today we're bumming around Janette's house for a little while before we head for Thatcher where we have a signing and presentation.

Topics discussed: We didn't drive much, and when one was driving the other was talking to her husband on the cell phone where we talked about school, laundry, church talks, and when we will be home.

Welcome to Arizona

 

Sunday was awesome. We slept in, the hotel had yummy waffles as part of their continental breakfast and we were just a few miles away from Newport beach. The weather could not have been more beautiful AND we found a parking space.

While walking the beach we found a man blowing bubbles—huge bubbles like we’d never seen before. We stopped and watched, then moved on, and then passed him again. This time, however, he was telling someone how he sold the homemade wands for $5. We were all over it. While he went to the car to get the wands, Julie stepped up to take his place. She’s amazing and had it figured out within minutes.

After Newport we headed for Huntington Beach, where the beautiful and amazing Melanie J. had offered us a place to stay. First of all, the area of Huntington Beach is incredible. It seems impossible, but it felt like a small town. Everything is within walking distance; the beach is only a couple blocks from her house. It was instantly welcoming and comfortable. Anyone who knows Melanie online knows she is funny and smart and sassy all at once; she’s even better in person. She’s got darling kids, and a wonderful husband, Kenny, who actually made Julie and I christmas ornaments to commemorate our trip (photo to follow). That night we went to Kenny’s parent’s house for dinner. Wow. The food was the bomb, but his parents also have a boat dock behind their house. We got the ‘backyard’ tour of the houses along the harbor. I’d never seen anything like it. We got to meet several members of Kenny’s family as well as Melanie’s brother, his girlfriend and some neighbors. You would think meeting that many strangers would be overwhelming, but it honestly felt like we’d known them for years. They were so kind, so comfortable and did I mention the food was awesome?

On the way home Kenny dropped us three girls off at the beach so we could walk along it in the dark. It was so surreal to be in such a place with such women. We returned home and, of course, talked for hours before finally going to bed. It could not have been a more perfect Sunday for us. We really needed the break and couldn’t have choreographed a better one. Monday morning we (Julie, Melanie, Melanie’s son, and I) went to breakfast at a restaurant at the pier before Julie and I headed to our first signing at Fountain Valley’s store, The Bookport. We met Glen and Sue the owners and were able to see Melanie one last time (but I totally forgot to take pictures, we didn't get one with the three of us which makes me want to cry)

After Fountain Valley we spent 2 more hours in LA traffic to get to our final California stop, The Book Castle in Newhall. Wow. They had a HUGE poster on the front door talking about signing and had mailed out postcards to their customers. We sold a bunch of books and laughed for two full hours. The employees were awesome, the store owner, Heather, was awesome, the store itself was cute and the customers were so nice, so personable. It was a perfect way to end our time in California.

We had realized over the weekend that when we routed our trip, we had made a mistake. I don’t know why, but amid our original mapquesting, mapquest had sent us on the 40 into Arizona. This required us to up to the forty, then over, then back down to the 10 which was a straight shot into Phoenix. We’d mentioned this to a couple people and they were surprised, pointing out that going our way added four hours to the drive. The problem was we’d gotten our hotel rooms at a great price which did not allow cancellation and we were supposed to stay in Lake Havesu that night. We talked, debated, called for help, and eventually chose to ditch out on the hotel room in favor of saving four hours. It’s not an easy choice to make when everything is so budgeted and specific, but we’d have spent two tanks of gas and priceless time sticking to our schedule and felt it would be silly to do so. Instead, we left Newhall at 4:00 and drove straight through to Mesa—calling our friend Janette Rallison (who we were planning to stay with on Tuesday night) to see if we could stay Monday as well. We arrived around 1:00 in the morning, and went straight to bed. Slept like a couple rocks.

No we find ourselves at Tuesday of week two. We have a signing at the Glendale Deseret Book from 12:30 to 2:00, then a signing at the Mesa Seagull 4:30-6:00 and a book group tonight. Before all that, we’ve got laundry in desperate need of being done and could really use a shower.

Topics discussed over the last two days: Battlestar Galactica, childbirth, metabolism, pressure canning, terrorists, civil unions, engineers, narcotics, book contracts, barnacles, and eating low-carb.

And This is L.A.

Today was busy, busy, busy. After staying with the Gunther's in Redland, and enjoying a fabulous breakfast courtesy of Jay Gunther, we headed for our first store in Temecula. I'd never been to any of the Ensign stores and it was fun to see what a great job they have done. We arrived to find a gal waiting for me to sign a book for her mom, who was unable to make it. Very sweet. I hope she got lots of daughter points for that one.

After Temecula, we raced on yet more California feeways to the Riverside store. Helen and Judi were both wonderful and we were glad we were with Victoria Gunther since she has a lot of friends :-) Julie had a family of fans bring in every one of her titles--which was awesome.

We then went to the Upland store, where I ran into an old acquaintance from high-school--very strange, but in a good way--and Lael Littke showed up. She is just awesome, and it was fun to chat with her and catch up on things. I swore we took pictures with her but they aren't on my camera. Maybe I used someone elses?

By the time the signing was over, we were exhausted. We parted ways with Victoria and had our second sit down meal of the trip at Applebee's. It was super yummy and since we hadn't had time for lunch, very much appreciated. Then we gave Dora the address to our hotel and headed for 'home' at least tonight's version of home.

We ... are...so...tired. 40 hours of driving is starting to catch up with us. We've driven over 2,500 miles in 6 days, which just seems completely unreal. The rental car is going to kick themselves on the whole 'unlimited miles' thing.

Tomorrow we are going to be heathens and skip church in favor of sleep--the Sabbath is the day of rest, right? Then we get to hang with Melanie J. who is graciously allowing us to stay with her tomorrow night. We are really looking forward to it.

Not sure if we will report on tomorrow, but I might. Who knows? Monday we'll be in Fountain Valley and Newhall before heading toward Arizona. We found out today that Mesa is only about 6 hours from L.A., however, mapquest had shown us going through Lake Havasu, which is longer. Nice. Since our hotel rooms are non-refundable, we have no choice but to take the longer route. sigh. Next time we will talk to locals before we plan everything out.

Anyway, it's been a great week, we're half way through the tour and still not making squinty eyes at one another, that's rather remarkable.

Topics discussed today: Bipolar, Hugh Grant, chick flicks, snorty laughs, kids, back surgery, and reorganizing stake boundaries.

Traffic Gods

I have come to realize that one of two things is an absolute fact:

A) The traffic gods hate us.
B) The traffic gods hate California.

Either way, we are not getting much help from them, which made today a little rough.

We left Sacramento around 8:45. I decided that since I was very tense yesturday, I would be chill today and not become a traffic nazi. We had 2 1/2 hours to make an hour and a half drive, and ended up half an hour late to our Oakland signing which was only an hour long. The final 10 miles took nearly an hour. Argh!! John and Marilyn were wonderful to us, and so understanding. They have a very cute store and we got to chat with some customers and get to know them and sign a bunch of books. Certainly not a wasted trip on our part, but we hate letting them down. AND because we had to get to Bakersfield by 4:00 we couldn't stay longer, which was equally aggravating.

I realized last week that the drive from Oakland to Bakersfield was going to be an issue. We had only given ourselves 4 hours to make the drive--which, according to our preliminary mapquest was plenty of time. When we did the detailed maps, however, we realized the drive was 4 1/2 hours. So we flew out of the Oakland signing, grabbed some almonds and cookies from our snack pack and headed south on the 5. We did pretty good until the low fuel light went on, which meant we had to stop for gas--and the pump didn't give us a receipt (we need all our reciepts in order to get reimbursed) so I had to stand in line behind 10 truckers only to find that not a single employee could figure out how to print a receipt. I asked for a hand written one and they said they couldn't do that because they couldn't verify the amount. It was now 3:45 and we had 20 miles to get to Bakersfield. I had no choice but to leave in a huff. It cost us a precious 10 minutes, which made us 20 minutes late. But...awaiting us at Beehive Books in Bakersfield was this:

I know! And just in case you missed the details, Vicki (the store owner) had made a lemon tart, English trifle, and a chocolate trifle. Not to mention 'rabbit food' and sandwiches. It was as good as it looked and Julie and I both snarfed--cookies and nuts are not a good substitute for a meal, but Vicki took good care of us. (I don't know why I look like I just swallowed a bug in this picture, I didn't) We got to meet a writer/reader and hear about her story, which is fabulous, we got to visit with Vicki and enjoy her cute store. She really is an amazing woman, with so much enthusiasm and energy. It's so satisfying how no matter where we go, we find ourselves among freinds. Both Seagull and Beehive Books were so gracious today, despite our tardiness.

After the Bakersfield signing, we headed for LA where we are staying tonight with fellow author Victoria Gunther. She has written a book called Girl in a Whirl and will be traveling with us to the Ensign Book stores tomorrow. She was wonderful to offer us a place to stay tonight, so after three more hours of driving we arrived at her house and are now settling in for the night.

We drove for ten hours today and we are very, very tired. We determined that it was a blessing we didn't have evening signings this week. I don't know how we would have done it. Next week we have a little more wiggle room and so I'm glad the presentations are then, not now.

Julie is already asleep, the Gunther house is getting quiet and I need to get to bed as well. Tommorrow we will be at three of the Ensign Book stores in the greater LA area. Go to my website for details www.josiskilpack.com

Topics discussed today: foster care, grain silos, pedicures, girl scout cookies, temple work and farting.