The Christy Report

Greetings from drizzly Atlanta. I left Texas on the first beautiful day we'd had in about six weeks and arrived in Droughtville Atlanta enjoying its first drizzle. I'm having a gray summer (no, I don't mean my hair).

Moments before I arrived at my airport gate yesterday, my daughter phoned to tell me she arrived in D. C. safe and sound. Later Gary told me he called his brother's fam to check on her, and she was off skateboarding with one of her cousins. Actually, he called me from far out of Dallas, where he was off antiquing. Good for him, I say. Put the women on planes and go play. (When I talked with him late last night, he was just emerging from seeing a guy movie.)

So...last night I got out the black dress, the black velvet heels, the cubic zirconia earrings, and the sequined jacket and headed to the Christy Awards with my friend Kelly Stern. Highlights of the night included shaking the hand of Phyllis Tickle (Publishers Weekly's fab religion editor) who received a lifetime award, hearing a knock-it-out-of-the-park keynote by Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God, Real Sex), meeting up with friends Patrick and Mary DeMuth (Christy finalist), and dining with friend and class act from Kregel, (who published our intimacy book), Dennis Hillman.

This morning I've met with my publisher and then my agent, with whom I tossed around ideas for what I want to do next. But first things first. Tomorrow we launch three books.