And what time is that in Egypt?

Big news! I will be on the wonderful Ann Arbor Show on KFJC (out of Los Altos Hills, CA) on Wednesday, April 3rd, bright and early at 7:45 am PST. After the interview, Ann will be giving 4 twenty-minute readings of Dear Isabelle on air.

I will actually be in Cairo, Egypt from March 30th until April 10th, so I will be calling in from my hotel in Zamalek!

If you're not in the San Francisco Bay Area, then check out KFJC over the web:
http://www.kfjc.org/netcast/index.php

Because Every Crime Should Have Cheesecake

Just a super quick but very important update: I will be doing another reading/signing for Dear Isabelle right before the Borders date.

The address: Cheesecake & Crime (Mystery Book Shop & Cheesecake Joint), 10545 S Eastern Avenue, #100, Henderson, NV

The date/time: Friday, May 9 at 5 p.m.

I absolutely adore bookshops devoted to mystery - and homemade cheesecake makes it all the more delicious! Such a clever idea. I can't wait to check it out.

Does the Borders in Vegas have a casino?

I'll be back in the States for a couple weeks in May to visit family and friends who are constantly wondering if I will return with a fake British accent a la Madonna. No worries - I still sound American as ever. My accent definitely doesn't pass for a local here either. Words like "totally" and "awesome" are dead giveaways for Yanks here... which I never really said much before coming to England. It's almost as if I've become more American once I left America.

Or maybe I'm just homesick.


Either way, another signing is on the way!

I will be doing a reading of Dear Isabelle on May 10th at the huge Borders in Las Vegas, Nevada, located on W. Charleston. This will be my first signing ever in Vegas!

After that, I'm renting a car and driving that long 4-hour drive to Bakersfield for a few days to reassure my family that I'm still alive and kicking. Can't wait to see my nephews and nieces and I'm desperately hoping they aren't taller than me yet.

Going back to Cairo

I'm very, VERY excited because I just learned that my husband and I will be returning to Cairo, Egypt in a few weeks. I first traveled to Egypt year and I had such an amazing experience that I couldn't wait to go back. Whenever I visit a new country, I always try to always read a novel that is set there. During my travels to Cairo and Alexandria, I had such a great time reading Naguib Mahfouz. The people of Cairo absolutely adore him and now I can really see why. His writing captures the city of Cairo with such honesty and dignity -- an unusual combination -- that you can't help fall in love with Egypt as you turn the pages. I recommend The Thief and the Dogs - a quick, but very rewarding read, for anyone traveling to Egypt. I also recommend Children of the Alley as well-- a longer read more suitable for long bouts of time such as waiting in Cairo's insanely chaotic airport for your flight.

p.s. I almost forgot! An indispensable guide for getting around Egypt was The Rough Guide to Egypt 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) by Dan Richardson. The author gives quite an honest look at what to love about Egypt and what to really keep your distance from (I'm looking at you, scamming touts, in front of the Egyptian Museum!). This guide really prepares you for the trip and helps you experience far more than what the typical tourist sees. I also used this guide when I took the train into Alexandria-- again very helpful, especially with cafe and restaurant recommendations.

Fantastic.

As January comes to a deceptively sunny close, I can now confidently proclaim that I survived my first trans-continental move. Yes, it took me two weeks to recover from jet lag in a land whose sun sets just after 3:30 in the afternoon. Yes, I still haven't got a clue how to use the dryer feature on my washer/dryer combo that is in my kitchen (precisely where the dishwasher should be!), and yes, I do have trouble sleeping on an air mattress for the 7th week in a row while I wait (not so patiently) for my king-size mattress gets shipped from the States...

But I don't care.

Why?

Because I'm madly in love with British hyperbole.

Take a trip down to your local Tesco or Sainsbury supermarket and no matter what aisle you choose, you will face a smattering of luxury. Or so they tell you on the label. "Luxury mixed-fruit cup". "Luxury cashews." "Luxury biscuits". "Luxury lemon dish soap". And of course, my favorite, "Luxury 2-ply toilet tissue, with the Queen's brand of approval". How lucky I am to be surrounded in luxury when silly me thought I was just buying plain ol' toilet paper.

Even the newspaper ads join in on the opulence with their "luxury 1 bdr flat", "luxury floor plan" and of course, the ever popular "luxury dishwasher."

But it's not just the advertising.

Nearly every Brit I have come across has a distinct penchant for positive over-exaggeration as well. Everything is described as "Fantastic!" and "Brilliant!" and "Fabulous!".

It is very common when a waiter brings a bill to a patron (who may have just ordered something simple like a coffee) the patron will suddenly burst out, "Fantastic!" as the bill changes hand, instead of a simple thank-you. Or something like this:

Waiter: "Sir, here's your glass of water you ordered."
Patron: "Fantastic. Brilliant!"

Or:

Gentleman#1: "What do you think of these white socks?"
Gentleman#2: "Brilliant! Fantastic!"

And some Brits more than others. In fact, just today on the 30 bus near St. John's Square, I overhead a young woman talking on her mobile (not called cell phones here, mind you) carefully asking her friend if she wouldn't mind taking her dogs out for a walk tomorrow. When the friend gave what seemed to be a positive reply, the young woman shrieked every imaginable positive utterance she could think of (as well as repeating her favorites) in a single sentence: "You will? Oh that is fantastic, oh my, it's absolutely brilliant, fabulous, fantastic, absolutely fabulous, I am so happy you said that, marvelous, superb, outstanding, FANTASTIC!"

I admit I may not have captured her answer verbatim. I'm pretty sure I left out another 10 or so synonyms for "great" that she crammed in there.

While it took me by surprise (and, admittedly, great annoyance) in the beginning, the more time I spend in London the more I realize that this city really does live up to its rep. You might even go so far as to say that London is, indeed, fantastic.

Look out, James, here I come...

The Nocturnal Novelist is moving to London!

My wonderful husband David was just accepted into London Business School for their Masters program, which begins early January 2008. I wanted to write about this earlier, but I had to wait until I told my family first! And now I am just days away from the biggest move of my life... and I'm very excited. Although at the end of the day, I can't help but find it funny that I'm moving to the city of the main antagonist in Dear Isabelle. James had better watch out! Moving from California to England in just one month is quite an intimidating order, but so far everything is running surprisingly smooth. Of course, we definitely have our share of stress - endless boxes to pack and bottomless closets to be sifted through... as well as our VISAs and Entry Clearances to get in order. Today was spent trying our best to figure out what exactly would be shipped and which items to pack in our suitcases (a difficult matter indeed given the 2-piece luggage, 50 lb limit each rule)... suddenly photo albums become extremely valuable as they are the only evidence of our past! The very worst part of all of this, I must admit, was giving up our two adorable cats since we are not able to take them along... but I do believe that I found them a wonderful new home.

I am so anxious about getting settled in our new city-- mostly because I'm anxious to start my new novel! Our plane will leave the US on Christmas Eve... and arrive in London on Christmas Day! I am already imagining all the restaurants closed that day and having to pursue a wild search for food.... (can you tell that I have a penchant for worry?) But as my husband keeps telling me, "Everything will be just fine."

Lots more to come....

What, no hint?

The secret is almost out. I have a big announcement coming soon...
I can't say anything yet, but it is super BIG and pretty exciting (and a little scary!)

Under the red sun of Bakersfield

Yesterday's book signing in my hometown of Bakersfield was quite an experience! I had so much fun at Russo's Books that I really look forward to doing another signing there again. Between family & friends & friendly new faces, the hours went by far too fast. Even though I was scheduled at Russo's between 1 and 3pm, I ended up staying until 4pm because I was having so much fun visiting.

The highlight of the day was definitely seeing my lovely sister-in-law Monique Rogers (of A.R.R.C. Technology) and my 9 year-old nephew and baby niece, Riley & Samantha. I hadn't seen them in over a year-- so endless hugs were definitely in order! Little Samantha grabbed the pens with such ease that I think she was definitely ready to take over the signing for me. Unfortunately my brother Alex couldn't make it to the signing since he was out ocean-fishing. I guess Dear Isabelle can't compete with Marlin and Dorado!

Even though I was born and raised in Bakersfield, during my weekend visit I saw something there that I had never before seen in my entire life.

A red sun.

It hung low in the sky and shone dimly through a hazy, browish-gray sky. There was no blue sky, no white clouds. Just a sand-colored sky under a dim, red sun that reminded me more of a harvest moon than anything else. I knew something was definitely strange when I learned that the temperature was only 89 degrees, when Bakersfield's Augusts normally hover around a scorching 112 degrees.

The cause for such an eerie sky was the Zaca Fire, which was a wildfire that had been burning near Santa Barbara since early July. Although Santa Barbara is a couple hours away from Bakersfield, the fire had fiercely consumed over 90,000 acres--- all while inching closer and closer to Bakersfield. The news reported that the fire is not expected to be put out until the first or second week of September!

I couldn't believe it. Billows of smoke were literally pouring into Kern County. The air was thick and we felt our throats burn a bit at first until we adjusted. Perhaps the strangest sight of all was the endless flurry of white and gray ashes that fell from the sky-- just as steadily as a snowfall. In fact, every single car in Bakersfield was covered in a peculiar layer of gray ash and pedestrians walked around with the tiny ash flurries falling in their hair and eyes.

By sunset, the strange smoke-filled sky had created such a surreal effect that the horizon looked completely flipped upside-down, with a thin line of blue closer to the earth, that gradually grew upwards into warm, intense shades of yellow, orange and red and then finally browns and grays.
All in all, it was definitely a dramatic weekend for a mystery book signing!

Upcoming Signing

This Sunday, August 19th, I will be returning to my hometown of Bakersfield, California for a book signing for Dear Isabelle. I'm very excited to see family and old friends again, especially when I realize I haven't been back in over a year! Bakersfield is one of those booming towns that is constantly growing. Every time I go back, I'm always surprised at how much it's grown since I had moved away back in 1997 when I was 17. But some things, like family and friends, always stay the same and for that I am very grateful!


* Book Signing: August 19th, 1-3 p.m. at Russo's Marketplace Books, 9000 Ming Avenue, #I-4 Bakersfield.

"No, Ms. Swan, the microphone is not a PA system, don't worry."

On Saturday afternoon, I gave my first reading of Dear Isabelle at the San Francisco Public Library bookstore.

It's a very difficult thing to decide which part of the book to choose for a reading. Do I choose the beginning, the middle? Certainly not the end! And how many pages should I even read? My dear friends Ann & Laurie gave me the advice that I should pretend the book is a movie and then imagine which part would make for an interesting movie trailer! "Think about the parts of your book that has the least dialogue and the most action." It was very helpful advice and so I ended up choosing the scene surrounding the church fire (end of chapter 11 and beginning of chapter 12). It worked beautifully! There was plenty of dramatic build-up and enough spooky images to keep the audience from falling asleep!

Once my reading was over however, I got terribly nervous all over again. Thankfully, the delightful staff at the SF library bookstore were so kind that I was able to make it through the Q&A session. Questions are always interesting for an author because you never quite know what to expect, but they are tremendously easier than just babbling on all by yourself about the book!

Many thanks to the SF library bookstore staff and especially to Rand for giving me the opportunity to share Dear Isabelle.