Amazon has this cool new thing for published writers called Author Central where you can click on Book Scan Highlights and discover not only how many copies of your books sold through Amazon the previous week but where they sold. (A shout out to you Salt Lake City for buying all those copies of CHERISHED over the holidays, and Waco, Texas – thank you!) Courage & Craft had a nice little revival early in December (another thank you to any of you who bought a copy!) Of course on some days Book Scan Highlights are less cool, more like depressing. Some days you just clutch your head over the sales numbers and wonder how to crank up interest in your book again. So you blog about your book. Yes, the Marketing Whore has returned. 

If you have a friend who has recently lost a pet and you’d like the perfect book for them – buy a copy of CHERISHED. And if you haven’t lost a pet but just love good writing, buy a copy. The essays are by Anne Lamott, Carolyn See, Thomas McGuane, Jacqueline Winspear, Mark Doty, Jane Smiley – and many more – the very best writers I could find and talk into writing essays or letting me reprint already published essays. And some of the essays are very funny inspite of the subject – All are filled with love and will move your heart.