I’ve also posted this blog entry on the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies blog, so I apologize for the repetition…

I turned in the manuscript for DRAMA! Show, Don’t Tell, this past Wednesday. (I hope to get the cover up on my site soon.) For an idea of what the week leading up to that deadline was like for me, please check out Jennifer Echols’s brilliant post on the “Nine signs you’re about to finish writing a new novel” (by using the above link to the Ro Com blog and scrolling past my entry). It perfectly mirrors the days leading up to sending my own baby off to my editor … minus the parts where Jenn refers to her husband.

There was also one other major difference with my life leading up to the deadline, which has a lot to do with the book I was turning in. You see, DRAMA! is set in and around Malibu, CA.

First, let me make it clear that I live in Burbank. The fires aren’t near my home. I have not been in jeopardy. I am perfectly fine. At various points over the past six days, however, I was able to see huge plumes of smoke to the North, East, and West of me, off in the distance. For much of the week, the world outside had a yellow tint to it. Today, not only was the sky gray, but the very air around me was gray as well. I shudder to think what is currently in my lungs.

My sister was in a more precarious situation in San Diego. Her home is relatively insulated by several neighborhoods, but the mandatory evacuations did come within a few miles of her place. When the electricity went out the other day, she decided that it was time to take a short, out-of-town vacation. She’s fine. The house is fine. But still, kind of scary.

I am, in no way, trying to compare my situation with those who have been displaced, lost their homes, their possessions, their pets, and in a few cases, their loved ones. But I do want to share how I have experienced this tragedy from a truly unusual perspective.

My characters live, work, and play in the part of Malibu that was directly threatened by the fires. In the scramble to get my book done, I would take breaks to find out if the places I was writing about were still there.
-Pepperdine University? Evacuated, but safe.
-Eric’s fictional house (the only house in the entire series that I have placed in a specific location)? Fine. But a house on the same block is gone.
-The shopping center that now plays an integral part in Bryan’s life? Varying reports note that anywhere from three to five stores are destroyed.

My heart goes out to the real people who suffered genuine tragedy, but I find myself surprisingly moved on a personal level, as if I was living the fire through the eyes of my fictional characters. It’s not like I can compare this to the actual losses people have experienced, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel more touched by this particular fire than the many others in Southern California (well, except maybe the one in my sister’s neck of the woods).

Malibu is about an hour away from my house. I’m often there scouting locations for scenes, hanging out to get a feel for the place, and setting up camp at the local coffeehouse that I like so much I set a scene there in Book 2. (No. It’s not the coffeehouse that Britney Spears frequents, although I have been there too). For the past two years, Malibu has played a significant role in my life and has been almost a second home in my imagination.

The Malibu fire is now 100 percent contained. It may not have been as devastating as the other fires in Southern California, but it has taken a definite toll on the community. As I begin work on Book 4, I have to decide how (or if) I need to address the fire in the series. Once things calm down out there, I’ll take a trip to survey the damage and determine how it affects my characters and their world. In the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to share my experience here, as an example of yet another way writers’ lives tend to be different from people with “normal” jobs.

It’s a relatively rare phenomenon in the publishing world, but by a strange alignment of the stars and publishing schedules, I have two books coming out within the same month … within the same two weeks, actually. First, there was Everyone’s a Critic, the second book in my DRAMA! series, which came out on October 2nd. And now I’m celebrating the release of the latest episode guide I’ve written for another TV show that I love: Bones: The Official Companion Seasons 1 & 2.

Why, yes, I was very busy last spring. Why do you ask?

This episode guide is chock full of episode synopses, real science facts, and behind the scenes info on every episode of the popular Fox series based on the life and works of Kathy Reichs and starring Emily Deschanel & David Boreanaz. And it’s presented in beautiful—and often gory—Technicolor!

I’d love to write more about how crazy it is to have two books come out so close to one another, but I’m on deadline for DRAMA! book 3 and prepping to start work on Bones: The Official Companion Season 3. So, I really need to get back to work.

My favorite new show of the fall season is … Gossip Girl! It is a true guilty pleasure, that I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever about watching. Now, let’s hope it just stays on for the rest of the season. [E.T.A. Gossip Girl was just picked up for the full order of 22 episodes!]

I think the show has been brilliantly translated from the book series. It may not always be perfect—I mean, really? A stretch limo can follow a girl throughout New York City without her noticing?—But it comes pretty close to perfectly trashy. I especially love how they play with the format in the extended recaps and other little tricks to give the show the effect of gossip itself. Put it together with Dirty Sexy Money and you’ve got a night of high quality decadence.

And Kristen Bell, I don’t know why I ever doubted. You make a perfect Gossip Girl. Can’t wait to see you on Heroes.

I do find it funny that the main criticism of Gossip Girl is that we spend too much time with the parents. Usually on teen dramas, people are always complaining about the kids’ parents never being around. Now we finally have some folks and nobody wants them. Go figure.

Speaking of the parents … I feel an overwhelming urge to have some words with The CW’s casting department. Now, I’ve always loved the teen dramas on The CW, especially back when it was The WB (and, to a lesser degree, UPN). But watching these shows has never made me feel old … until now. Both Gossip Girl and Reaper feature moms I used to watch on other shows when I was younger. Coincidentally, they were younger too. Around my age, it seemed. Now, suddenly, they’re old enough to have teenage—or in Reaper’s case, 21 year old—children?! What’s with that? Okay, sure, mathematically speaking, I could have teenage children myself. But I’ve always hated math. I don’t need a fictional TV show forcing me to deal with that kind of reality.

Oh, and here’s the reason why you have to give a new show a chance. I liked Chuck when it premiered. I enjoyed the second episode. But I absolutely fell in love with it on tonight’s episode. AND it’s now got the best opening credit sequence on TV!

And finally, my TV Moment of the Week comes from Gossip Girl. Last week’s episode opened with the school choir singing Fergie’s hit song, “Glamorous.” This was perfect on so many levels that I can’t even see them all from where I’m sitting. The choice of song, the way it was adapted for a choral performance, the venue in which the song was performed, and how it reflected on the show itself … Pure Genius. I remember back when I was in my high school choir (oh, like this is surprising news) and my friends convinced the choir director that we should sing “Wind Beneath My Wings.” We thought that was such a major coup at the time. I now hang my head in shame when I realize we could have been singing “Toy Soldiers” by Martika.

Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers

Sigh.

Those magical folks over at TheCharmedOnes.com have posted a review of my latest Charmed book, Leo Rising. They’ve always been quite kind toward my books over there, but this one is particularly nice. And on top of that, they went and did a new interview with me. You can check it out here.

But, let me back up to the review for a moment. When you get to the end, you’ll notice the reviewer points out a bit of a boo-boo with the book. It seems that pages 130 & 131 have taken it upon themselves to switch places. I kind of understand how they feel. I don’t always like the natural order of things myself, but it does make it a little harder to read the book. Thankfully, it’s only those two pages, so now when you finish up page 129 and turn the page, you should look on the right to page 131 to continue. Then when you get done with 131, drift on over to the left and read page 130. THEN you can turn the page and continue the book on page 132.

I really don’t know how something like this happens. Those pages were perfectly fine when I saw the layout of the book. Could be the work of gremlins, I suppose. Guess some people haven’t learned that you never ever feed them after midnight! Either way, I’d like to apologize on behalf everyone involved in the project. Hopefully, the little flip-flop shouldn’t take too much out of your enjoyment of the book.

Personally, I always liked those Choose Your Own Adventure books, so maybe we can call this a retro shout-out and have some fun with it.

Today the curtain rises on the second act of DRAMA!, with the release of Everyone’s a Critic.

Bryan and his friends are in for the audition of their lives when a famous producer-director-actor-writer-songwriter-choreographer comes to town with an offer they truly can’t resist.

I know some writers like to take the day off to celebrate a release date. Would that I could, but if I do that, then we might not be able to celebrate the release of DRAMA! Show, Don’t Tell, in a timely manner.

Yep. I’m hard at work on DRAMA! Book #3 … and I’ve just left Bryan in the midst of a rather large decision to put up this little celebratory post. I can’t wait to see what he decides to do.

In the meantime, I have taken some time to post on my alterna-blog for the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. To see my thoughts on The GOOD Girls of Hollywood, click here (and scroll to September 27th if necessary).

Okay, now back to work.