Bumble and Buzz

Wow, busy day yesterday. I wrote about 4,000 words. Unfortunately, not a single one was for my book. No, I’m in high gear promotion-wise. I’m working on a bunch of content for my website, because content is king. (Question: is it totally bad form to re-appropriate a few archived blog entries for website fodder? I think it’s cool, brings the stuff out of storage, right? Agree or Disagree?) I also put together an enormous package of info and dumped it all on my publicist to see what she could make of it. Ordered some promo schtuff (I’m keeping well away from the gizmos, no matter how tempting they may look) and, most importantly, listened to my radio ad a few half dozen times.

I also made plans. I have a very very busy schedule ahead of me for the next few weeks. I’m shocked that we’re already halfway through May! This weekend of course, is BEA. For those of you not in the know:

Diana will be signing ARC copies of Secret Society Girl at the Bantam Dell Booth at BEA from noon-1 p.m. on Sunday, May 21st.

Okay. Then I’m going on a bunch of trips, including my college reunion (all hail the conquering novelist! Hey, let me be a little smug; my 5 year high school reunion I had lost my job, was broke and living with my parents. This is an improvment) and a research and gabfest whirwind rendezvous in Manhattan with a hot hot hot debut author. It’ll be July before I settle down again. Oh, except for not, because that’s when my book is coming out, and also, hello RWA. If I go. Still up in air. And somewhere in there, I have to write SSG2.

So I’m totally busy, y’all. I haven’t even done any reading in the past week. I’ve got this ARC copy of Gena Showalter‘s Enslave Me Sweetly that’s totally calling to me. It’s not fair. And I’m definitely reading it this week, lest she pyre-gun me into oblivion when I show up at her booth on Saturday (she’s signing at BEA too).

Okay, another little poll: what should Diana wear to her first booksigning?
a) skirt
b) pants

I’m thinking pants, but you have no idea how hard it’s been for me to actually find pants. Not even “pants that fit,” which is a whole other rant. Pants, full stop. I was in a department store last week, and in the entire store, they had the following non-underwear, pajama, or workout wear items for women to wear on the lower half of their bodies:

1) jeans (got ’em)
2) suit bottoms (which are part of a whole suit ensemble)
3) one pair of stone colored khaki pants that were too long, plus had an annoying built on belt that tied in a big bow on the side, plus could not be hemmed to fit because of the embroidery on leg.
4) wrinkled cargo clamdiggers, in every size, color, and material. If they were wrinkled, cargo, and calf-length, they had them.
5) peasant skirts

Now, I know you think I’m exaggerating, but I assure you that I am not. In fact, as I began to suspect this phenomenon, I made it a point to search the entire store to see if there was anything else. Anything at all. And there wasn’t. This fact was confirmed by independent observation this weekend, when I remarked upon this strange occurrence to a friend at a party. She said she’d had a hell of a time shopping as well. We’d both, independently, ended up at Anne Taylor Loft, and bought skirts on sale. Which is great, but I don’t wanna wear this particular skirt to my signing.

I’m thinking of wearing the outfit I wore to my lunch with my editor last June, which is great, and would be perfect, but if there’s ever a time that I deserve a pretty new outfit, it’s my first booksigning, don’t you think?

Maybe I’ll get new shoes instead.