A mixed bag this time.

A Little Qwerty, June 2025

First things first! If you have not RSVP’d to The Best Advice launch party yet and want to come drink beer, eat mini-pies, and celebrate with me, what are you waiting for?

There are also still some tickets available for the Books & Wine party in Renton. Get a ticket here.

What’s New:

Swag for preorders and ARC readers! Did you preorder The Best Advice or are you an ARC reader? Sign up here to get some swag. (If you are coming to my Kenmore launch party, you’ll be able to pick some up there.)

I have to be honest, publicity and marketing are not my favorite parts of being an author, but I do have a lot of fun making fun swag for readers. For The Best Advice, I made a few stickers with the cover image, and a couple of “in-universe” designs for a restaurant and event from the story.

There is a lot of food in this book. The characters are traveling and a lot of action unfolds over the course of a week—I kept worrying that they would get hungry and I needed to feed them. I pared back the dining scenes a bit in editing, but I did originally intend to include some recipes in the back of the book, including one for some amazing pie baked by Erik, who runs the Blue Plate Diner in Port Poulsen. I developed a recipe and had recipe cards printed. If you’re a baker, this pie is a perfect way to take advantage of summer berry season.

Mmm, pie. I am not a tidy baker but I make things that taste good!

---

What’s Next:

I’m trying something new this year—events! I’ll be selling books and talking to readers at Ballard Seafood Fest on July 16, Lake City Summerfest on August 2, and Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival on September 7. If you’re at any of these, come say hi! Details on my website.

---

What’s Good:

My preferred way to exercise is to cover some distance outdoors, but I know it’s important to focus on building muscle, too. I’ve got a pretty good at-home strength training routine, but I get awfully bored. The secret to sticking with it? Terrible TV I am not allowed to watch any other time.

I’ve been watching Doctor Odyssey, which has got to be the most ridiculous thing on television. It is set on a cruise ship but clearly shot almost entirely on a soundstage, stars Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek), Philippa Soo (who originated the role of Eliza Hamilton), Don Johnson (who is perfectly cast), and Sean Teale (who perfectly charmed me in Rosaline). And each week, an increasingly ridiculous cast of guest stars with various absurd medical ailments—Love Boat, eat your heart out.

That is absolutely a green screen and I absolutely do not care.

All the medical instruments are gold-toned. The clinic is stocked with supplies in aesthetic, amber-toned glass apothecary jars. Everyone dresses in a white and navy capsule wardrobe with pops of red (and sequins for formal events), even when they’re off duty. They had a special shark episode the quickly turned into an orca attack. It’s so, so silly! It’s not good—it’s actually kind of terrible—but I love it! And I only have one episode left. What am I going to do squats, lunges, and shoulder-presses to next? (If you have any suggestions, lay ‘em on me. The sillier and trashier the better.)

---

What’s On my Mind:

This part is sad, skip it if you’re not up for it.

Our sweet, sweet Theo has a malignant growth on his pancreas and, while he still feels okay, he is definitely not quite himself. One of the wisest things anyone has ever told me is that pets don’t understand quantity of life, only quality. Our vet thinks he does not have much good quality time left.

Let me tell you about Theodore.

• He’s all black except for the cutest little white smudge on his chest.

• He starts purring loudly—and hard enough to shake his body—at the slightest eye contact or mention of his name, and we often catch him staring at us like we hung the moon.

• He has been as good as gold through almost 5 years of twice-daily tests and insulin shots for diabetes.

• If you’ve ever had to give a cat a pill, you know that for most cats you have to practically suit up like a baseball catcher first. Not Theo—you just pop the pill in his mouth and he just swallows it and looks at you like, “what?”

• He loves to chew up cardboard. This is his second castle. He’s also ripped up a cardboard yoga studio, ice cream truck, two gingerbread houses, and a treadmill.

  

• Multiple vets and vet techs have been smitten enough with him to threaten jokingly to steal him. Multiple. He purrs so loud at the vet they sometimes have trouble listening to his heart and lungs.

• Even though he has cataracts and we don’t think he can see very well, he has alerted us to trails of teeny tiny ants before the problem got too bad—three times!

• He knows exactly where and when to find the best sun spots in the house and arranges his daily schedule accordingly.

  

• He can often be found sleeping in the same position as our other cat—so often and so similar that I looked it up and found that this is a social thing cats sometimes do.

• He does not like to be under blankets, but loves to stretch his front legs out on anything warm.

• He loves to have cuddles but sometimes we just hold hands.

  

It doesn’t seem possible for a creature to be so sweet. I feel so lucky to have gotten to have him with me for the past nine years. When he goes, he’ll take a chunk of my heart with him, but he’s been such a trooper for so long. The kindest thing we can do is help him rest when he lets us know he’s ready.

It’s a little hard to be excited about releasing a book when I am so sad, but I’m determined to do my best to give Theo and the book the attention they deserve.