Highs and Lows and Everything In-Between

Book release, tour photos, memorial, what to read and watch, and a fangirl moment today!

Mar 29, 2025

Wow! Life, right? What a dizzying journey of highs and lows 2025 has been as we near the end of the first quarter. How is it even possible that time moves so fast, that so much happens? My book releases. With family and friends gathered, I remember my father who passed in January. Packed events, small events, time on the road with dear friends, moments when I’m sandbagged by grief, lifted with gratitude. Hellos, good-byes. Love. Celebration. Loss. I hardly know where to begin, so I’ll just get to it.

Fangirl Moment

I am still reeling after meeting Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara P. Bush today at the beautiful Oxford Exchange. Readers, authors, and bookstagrammers packed the house, while we waited to get our copies of their new children’s book I LOVED YOU FIRST. It was such a joy to meet these two extraordinary women, Jenna who does so much for authors and Barbara with her important work founding Global Health Corps. They were even kind enough to ask me all about my own book after Laura introduced us.

Release Highlights

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10 hit the shelves on February 24th, with a big pre-release event at one of my all-time fave bookstores, the wonderful Tombolo Books in St. Pete. Then I hit the road, traveling all over the country for the next two weeks. A true joy to visit stellar libraries and bookstores, and have amazing conversations with stars like the great Abby Endler in Houston (follow her on IG at @crimebythebook), Olivia Fierro (Olivia’s Bookclub) in Scottsdale, Roxanne Wilder (ABC TV Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend) in Tampa, and NYT bestselling pal Gregg Hurwitz (read NEMESIS) in LA.

Thanks to everyone who turned out to make these events so special. Here are some highlights from the first few weeks — all because of you.

USA Today, Publisher Weekly, Apple, B&N Instant Bestseller
Indigo Author of The Month
LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick
LoanStars Top 10 Pick
Goodreads Biggest Mysteries & Thrillers of 2025
Readworthy by BookBub Best Thrillers of March 2025
Crime By The Box Book Club Pick for March

“As entertainment blurs with reality, this tense thriller asks how far someone might go to protect the ones they love.”
—The Washington Post

“The queen of thrillers you can also discuss with your book club.”
—BookPage

Buy Now

Review

If you’ve already read, please leave a review HERE and HERE. It means so much. Thank you!

Book Tour Photos

Look at all these beautiful faces of friends, librarians, booksellers, and readers. What a joy to see everyone! I am overcome with gratitude.

What I’m Working On

As ever, you know I’m a busy bee. I’m about to head into copy editing on my next book. This is my last chance to make big changes, and hopefully where I’ll catch any mistakes. I already know there are two things I need a sentence or two to resolve, things I left dangling and realized later (Hi, 3 AM!) that I couldn’t just let them be. I’ll try to do this all in one continuous read, just to give myself the same experience you’ll hopefully have of reading it in a couple of sittings.

I am always excited for this draft, because I know it’s mostly where it needs to be and now I have a chance to make it even better. I am so excited about this book and I can’t wait to share it with you all in March of 2026! Can’t wait that long? Stay tuned for my next email coming in about a week with an exciting offer!

Reading and Watching

Simply put, Chris Bohjalian is one of our best and brightest storytellers. His books are always different, always beautiful, intelligent, and thrilling. THE JACKAL’S MISTRESS, inspired by a true story, is about a real-life Civil War friendship. It’s moving and deep and a must-read.

Sara Blaedel is Denmark’s undisputed queen of crime fiction. And I have never read a book featuring her smart, layered protagonist Louise Rick that I didn’t love. In A MOTHER’S LOVE, Rick must solve a murder, find a missing child, and figure out a way to work with her ex who abruptly ended their engagement last year. Full of Bladel’s signature twists and turns, and gripping from page one.

I just got my early copy of THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA by the amazing and brilliant #1 NYTs bestseller Lisa Scottoline! I can’t wait to dive into this gothic thriller. Lisa is one of those writers who is always growing, always getting better. And this one, about a troubled young widow who inherits a Tuscan estate shrouded in mystery (what could go wrong?), looks absolutely chilling. Can’t wait to dive in and see what this rare talent has in store for us.

We watched ADOLESCENCE on Netflix (created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham) and it was layered and smart, interestingly shot, and brilliantly acted. The hyper-realism was a bit intense for me at times, not in a bad way, and I thought there were so many other layers that could have been explored. But definitely engrossing.

I’m DEVASTATED that I missed you on the road!

Aw, it’s okay. Life is busy and I can only go so many places each year. But there are more exciting events coming up. Come out and see me?

Notes From the Margin

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