THE POMEGRANATE: Beginnings and Endings

This has been an uncommon week, full of beginnings  and endings, some  personal, some familial, and some public. The loss of Colin Powell is the public loss, and a great loss for all America. 

The true high point of this week is THE POMEGRANATE. I'm sure some of you are tired of me talking about the damn book, and I have to admit, I am, too. (Just kidding. I love talking  about this book.) But this week, I have to talk about it because it went live on Amazon, and IngramSpark...the distributor for bookstores and libraries. The paperback has already started to sell, which is encouraging. The ebook went up a bit later because of a tiny glitch in the cover, but it's fixed now and it's out there in all its glory. 

I was asked about launching a book, whether it was like giving birth, and  I had to say no. It's more like sending your kid to kindergarten. You worry about the kid, you worry about the other kids liking your kid, you worry about exposure, you worry about everything! After three novels, I can tell you with absolute certainty that authors don't sleep during launch week. We don't. Other  authors have told me the same thing. This is scary stuff. You are totally putting your heart and soul out there for others to examine up close and personal. Nerve-wracking is a mild word for the experience. 

As if that was not enough, we also launched my new website this week: 

I am incredibly indebted to my friend Jen Tocker for hocking me into insensibility to get the website done. She had the patience of a saint while I hemmed, hawed, dragged feet, and whined a lot. Now that it's done, I love it. Sean Murphy, my favorite photog, made me look almost human. AND I got to use my photo of my beach for the cover. You can write to me there and I will answer. I'm good at that. Any distraction from writing is a good distraction. 

Coming soon to the website will be a news page. It won't take the place of this steamroller, but I will be writing a bit about the process and progress of new books, as well as posting assorted stuff of interest. And yes, novel #4 is about 3/4 done. (Ask me about smut sometime.)

Bridesmaid Cynthia,
not yet a bride

Tomorrow morning I am flying home to say goodbye to my Tante. The ending I knew would happen but didn't want to believe ever could, came late Saturday night, when my Tante left the building. I'm sure she's over at Aunt Ruthie's drinking martinis with her big sister...alongside her beloved Lenny, my Dad, Uncle Marc, Ziggy, and Grandpa Moishe...while Grandma Sarah pulls disapproving faces...and my Mom laughs. My dad's baby sister, she was the most feisty 97-year young person you could imagine. She had a laugh that invited others in. She was so beautiful. She had great pins and loved to dance. She taught me how to cook. My Tante was my touchstone. She was the safe haven when this teenager was rebelling against her mother. And my kids totally adored her.  

As soon as I had the proof copies of The Pomegranate in hand, I printed some pictures of the grandkiddos, tucked them into the book, and shipped it off priority mail. She got  it on Friday. Not the greatest picture of my beautiful Tante, but one I will treasure for obvious reasons. She was so excited to hold the book in her hands....especially since it was the second book in the family this week. (The first one is PENIS POLITICS, by Karen Hinton, her daughter-in-law, but more about that closer to her publication date.) I am so thankful she got to see it and the latest pictures of the kiddos. 

Going home to the beach on the south shore of Long Island (two very distinct words, thank you very much) always makes everything all better. It does. It's the essence of going home for me, and I don't get there often enough, especially since the pandemic. I will fly home home, cousins from my Mom's side (who still live in the same town as Tante did,) will pick me up at Kennedy. 

I won't be running to Elmont like I usually do to see the folks. Instead, we're going to the beach because the beach really does make everything all better.

We'll all go over to Beth David for the graveside service on Wednesday. Tante will join Uncle Lenny, my folks, my grandparents, my other aunt and uncle and lots of cousins in the family plot. And I will put little rocks on all the headstones. Tradition.

The Wifely Person's  Tip o'the Week

Yeah, I know; you can't go home again,

but every so often, it's good to stand in the sand.