Of Releases (all types!)...

Books are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of books - even without taking them from the shelves they seem to speak to you, to bid you welcome. ~William Ewart Gladstone

I'm so excited! My friend, Allie's latest book was released today. "One Night In Memphis" promises to be a great read (I've read through some of it in it's pre-edited condition, and can't WAIT to get the whole enchilada!).

Check out her blog here (cuz, she's having a cool contest, too).

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Okay... a personal pet peeve when visiting author websites: no contact information. Lately, I've been notifying folks when we do their reviews (the ones my reviewers do without a request -- print books or eBooks they buy on their own), and more than once I've gone to a website and been unable to find contact information, or else it's so hidden or the navigation is so convoluted, that I waste time (my most precious commodity).

So, folks, if you have a site -- make your contact information easy to find. Please.

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I'm beginning to get the shakes -- I have NOTHING else submitted anywhere right now. That's bad. "Kitchen Matches" comes out next month and then... nada. **gulp**

That's really scary.

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We released another butterfly yesterday. DD named this one "Fire". His birth and release were without mishap for a change. It's odd, though, how blasé we've become about the whole thing.

"Hey, hon? Here's a butterfly." Hands flapping critter to daughter. "Would you put it outside?"

DD trots it outside, puts it on a flower and comes back in to continue whatever she was doing.

I've lost count, but I think we have about 15 more to go. I expect the monarch eggs to show up next week, however. Then the hunt will be on, because you really need to find them as eggs -- they commit hari kari when you find them as babies. Seriously. Or maybe it's bungee jumping. If you startle a little monarch pillar, they leap off of their leaf! It's a defense mechanism, but can make finding the little ones tough. And they are highly parasitized, so bringing them in when they are larger can lead to heartbreak when you hatch a wasp instead of a butterfly...

Ah... the joy and heartbreak of Pillar Place 2008.

EDITED TO ADD: I just checked the pillar boxes, and we hatched THREE more this morning! The must have hatched fairly early, too, since two of them were already ready to fly. That leaves five more chrysalis' in the parsley box, and eight more in the dill box -- cool. We're almost done!

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