What with the state of the economy, we're all feeling the pinch this year.  Sadly, charities are holding their collective breaths, fearing that charitable giving this holiday season will be down at a time when the number of needy is up.  A charity needs money, clothes, and toys.  How about free books?

I have a plan, but I need your help to carry it out. 

I knew I was fixated on the election, but that point was driven home this week when I suddenly realized that the publication of While My Sister Sleeps is coming up fast.  For those of you who don't know, this is the title of my next new hardcover.  No reissue of an old book, this is a brand new one that I finished writing in May.  Read a synopsis of While My Sister Sleeps, along with a few author comments, in my Books page.
 
The official publication date is February 17, 2009.  But you, my dear reader, may be able to get an early copy of the book.

It's over.  After living with it for the better part of two years, we're suddenly without.  No more news clips of campaign stops.  No more I-approve-this-message ads.  No more polls trending this way or that, or magic maps with red states turning orange and blue states turning green.  No more emails from one committee or phone calls from another.  No more multi-forwarded notes from friends.  No more spoofs on SNL.

While President-elect Obama hunkers down to pick his team and make the transition of power as smooth as possible in this remarkable democracy of ours, what are we back to doing? 

... like I love sticky buns?  If I had to choose between a honey-glazed donut, an iced cherry Danish, and a piece of rich chocolate cake, I'd ditch all three and go for the sticky bun every time.  There's something about brewing a fresh cup of coffee and sitting down with a warm roll of dough coiled around brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins, and topped with more brown sugar and - ta-da - pecans, that makes the day start right.  I don't do it often, but that makes it all the more special.
 
Weekend before last, I was at a library event and had the pleasure of meeting two dynamic women.  Bear with me, here.  I'm still talking sticky buns. 

Huh?  Magic Carpet?  Well, isn't this a magical, mystical trip we take each time we go online?  Think about it.  With a few clicks, we're anywhere in the world.  Maybe you don't see it that way.  Maybe, if you've been surfing the web since you were a wee tot, you see the online world as your backyard.  I don't.  I surf every day of the week, yet I still see the World Wide Web as something of a miracle.

And the things it allows me to do? 

If you are, then you must be suffering as I am with the darkness of autumn.  Oh yes, the sun has been bright this fall, the foliage gorgeous, and the air warmer than the norm.  But all that happens after eight in the morning.  I'm here in my office at six, with windows to my left and right showing ... nothing at all.  It's like it's the middle of the night. 

So what do I do? 

The Author's Galleys are the pages of my book as they will actually appear in the finished product.  This is the next step in the publication process that I've been outlining for you.  It's actually the last step for me - my final chance to catch any mistakes or make any changes.

What did I catch reading While My Sister Sleeps?  I caught a single "hydrangea" that should have been the plural "hydrangeas" to go with the verb "were."  I caught one spot where "daughter" was supposed to be "son."  I caught a couple of places where the quotation mark was missing at the end of a line of dialogue. 

What do you do for a cold?  What makes it shorter?  Is there anything that will prevent it?

I'm asking for a reason.  When my kids were little, I had colds constantly.  Then they passed the constant-cold phase, I started taking Vitamin C, and I had no more than one cold a year or two.  Now the colds are back.  If this is the price of being a Grammi to very young grandkids, I'll gladly pay it.  But how to deal?

Here's the immediate problem ... 

I hate having my picture taken.  Hate it.  I'd rather go to the gynecologist than face a camera.  Seriously.  Some people look better through a lens; I do not.  I see every little flaw, every little blemish.  Some people tackle the camera head-on; I am pathetically self-conscious.  I like taking pictures, precisely because that means being behind the camera, not in front.

But it has to be done.  Take a look at this website.  The pictures you see here now were taken two years ago.  It's time for a fresh look, one that is consistent with my new book While My Sister Sleeps.
 
The first order of business is finding a photographer. 

Are any of you as tired of politics as I am?  My husband and I watched every second of Friday night's debate, then listened to experts pick it apart.  We read more analysis in the newspaper Saturday morning, and heard more analysis when we turned on the news Saturday night.  But when it came to watching the Sunday morning news shows while I worked out on the elliptical, I drew the line.  I'm analysed out.