Where Have All My Red Dots Gone?

Those of you who drop by here frequently might have occasionally glanced at the sidebar and noticed the ClustrMap which shows the whereabouts of people who drop in here. Or if not the people themselves, at least where their IP address is coming from.

I love seeing those little red dots turn up. Between ClustrMaps and Neoworx I can get a feel for the global scope of my readers and casual visitors. And it's always a thrill to see new dots or discover the flag of a new country.

Neoworx's flags turn up right when the visitor appears. ClustrMaps redraws its maps every time there is a 10% increase in the number of visitors, so there is delayed gratification as the numbers build. Below is last year's map. We've started over on the sidebar.

My 88th country was Albania. Someone from Tirana (waving to Tirana!) turned up last week. And I was eagerly awaiting my red dot on Albania.

But -- alas! -- ClustrMaps did their yearly archive of my map yesterday. And now I have just a few dots again. No dot in Albania. So I hope whoever it was in Albania comes back. And I hope lots more people from lots more countries visit. It's always a thrill.

I know Kate Walker's flag list is well over 100 now -- creeping up toward 150 when last I looked. I have 12 more to go to reach 100. Hmm.

Could we have a concerted effort here, do you think? Write to your friends in Burkina Faso and Chad and Bolivia and Norfolk Island and tell them to drop by. Not to mention all the places that already have flags but whose dots have been archived!

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Tomorrow is the day I'm giving away a signed copy of The Mephisto Club by the brilliant talented personable Tess Gerritsen, who is -- it goes without saying -- a terrific writer who scares me to death in her books.

Maybe if you're into the less terrifying stuff, you won't want to read Tess. But if you have friends who love that 'edge of your seat' 'what's going to happen next' and 'oh God, it's worse than I thought' then they really need to drop by and comment to get in the drawing.

Or better yet, just tell them to go out and buy Tess's books!

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Post script: 89! I just got my 89th flag -- from Colombia!

Ask and you shall receive, I guess. Anyway, welcome, Columbia, whoever you are. So glad you stopped by.

And to add to the international flavor of the day, the postman just brought books -- The Santorini Bride in its Polish edition and a trade-sized paperback of The Boss's Wife For A Week in Dutch (I think. Well, it's almost German but not quite. But I can't see a place of publication. Must go examine it more closely).

In the meantime, who will be country #90?

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I worked my tail off.

I'm still trying to read through all the handouts I got in my government documents and law libraries research course at Samford University's Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research.

They asked for comments on the evaluation, and my main comment was: Give us the handouts a week early. Then maybe we'll have time to read them before the class is over.

It was a terrific week. It gave me lots of ideas for future research and exploration. And it even provided me with a few clues to follow up on research I'd already begun and had thought I'd probably exhausted. Turns out there is a lot more there.

And, of course, I determined that Natalie dropped out of law school. Always a plus. Now I just have to figure out why she would have thought it was a good idea to go there in the first place.

And I need to think about more of the back story. Maybe do some writing. Scratch a bit -- like Twyla Tharp in The Creative Habit. And I'm reading a book by Sol Stein called On Writing, which I've had for years and which I've only dipped into a few times. It looks like a good book.

I've got photos to download -- including a lovely one of Tess Gerritsen from her visit here two weeks ago. And I have a signed copy of her book, The Mephisto Club, to give away, which I will be doing on Friday. Make a comment and get in the drawing for Tess's book.

If you can give me a good reason why Nat dropped out of law school, you get two spots in the drawing.

I noticed that Anne Gracie is blogging on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs today about being a serial killer. She's pretty much a softie, so I think you can take that with a grain of salt. But there's a great tribute there to her dad on his birthday as well, and that's absolutely heartfelt. Check it out.

On the move!

I don't know where I ever found time to write books. It seems like I'm never home.

Saturday I'm leaving to attend Samford University's Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research for the third year in a row. I'm taking a course in Government Documents and Law Libraries.

Lest you think this is all very dusty and boring, let me tell you what it really is -- it's about people. It's about stories.

I was thinking the other day about the "theme" of my blog, because while it's largely about writing and writing-related stuff (yes, Hugh-in-a-towel is writing related. How could you think otherwise?), it's also about other things that interest me -- like genealogy and local history, about travel and books and films, about dogs and grandchildren.

And I got to thinking what they all had in common -- and basically, it's story.

Genealogy and local history are means of learning about peoples' stories, who they were, what they did, why they did it. All the things plot-challenged people like me love to learn about.

Travel brings me into the sphere of other people, teaches me about their lives, their culture, their stories. Books and films, of course, do exactly the same thing.

Dogs -- well, dogs are stories in and of themselves. And grandchildren are both the continuation of my own story as well as stories unto themselves.

All of it is grist for the mill. I never know what's going to spark off an idea. It will be interesting to see if Christo and Natalie get any new bits this week while I'm gone.

Speaking of ideas and bits, last night I had the pleasure of meeting fantastic medical thriller writer, Tess Gerritsen, for the first time. Her books are fantastic (and give me the creeps), and it was great fun to listen to her talk about how she gets her ideas for stories.

Not the same stories I get, that's for sure. But the gut level instinct that says, Yes, I have to write about this -- that's the same. I was comforted, too, when she said she didn't plan her books but just wrote and discovered what happened.

I have a signed copy of her Mephisto Club that I'll be giving away next week when I get back. If you want to be thrilled and scared by a very fine writer, drop in and comment sometime this week. I'll put your name in the hat.

Celebrating a First Book!

Several years ago I ran into a writer on the eharlequin site called Anna of Cumberland. She was bright and sparkling and witty and had a wonderful voice.

When I first 'met' her, Anne Louise Lucia (aka Anna of Cumberland) was writing a book. And then she'd written a book. And then she was trying to sell the book. And then she sold it!

It was called McAllister's Wife. Is there a better title than that? Surely not.

Still her publisher changed it. I'm not sure when the title got changed (I'm sure Anna had nothing to do with it because, of course, she wouldn't tamper with a great name like McAllister), but now it's called Run Among Thorns, by Anna Louise Lucia.

And it just came out onto the shelves on June 1st!

I have my copy on order -- due to arrive tomorrow according to the tracking records -- and I'm dying to read it because I love simply reading Anna's blog. And I am soooo looking forward to a whole book by her.

I'm counting her continuing to have her wonderful voice, but now she'll be providing me with story and suspense and excellent characters (McAllister, of course, among them).

Sight unseen I'm recommending it. But I'm not the only one.

Kate Walker loved her book. Romantic Times gave it a 4 1/2 review. Harriet Klausner thought the suspense and characters and writing were all terrific.

I have no doubt that all this praise is well-deserved. And it couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Besides being a terrific writer, Anna is a terrific person.

She and her husband took my husband and me around Millom (of Cumberland) looking for dead relatives a couple of years back. I'd casually mentioned an interest in going there, and Anna, who went there frequently in her day job, offered to show us around. She did her homework, scoured the graveyard, looked up people in the register, and marched us all over downtown Millom in search of places my ancestors had once lived.

It was fitting to discover that one of them grew up in a place on Lapstone Road that is now called Greetings and is a bookshop! I hope they stock dear Anna's book and sell piles and piles of copies.

My copy of Run Among Thorns is going with me to Birmingham this coming week t0 be my solace when things get tough in government docs and law libraries. It will make a change!

Regency Romp

I love regency novels. Of course Jane Austen is a favorite -- particularly Persuasion and, of course, Pride and Prejudice, though I've never felt the same warmth for Emma.

I'm also extremely fond of Georgette Heyer and have a collection of the new Arrow editions of her books (which are not in my bag of 'finding new homes for'). Sorry about that.

But today's book is a delightful regency romp by talented, clever, witty NYT-Bestselling author, Stephanie Laurens, called Four In Hand.

And no, she's not referring to horses.

The title refers to the four stunningly attractive, perfectly delightful Twinning sisters -- including the irresistible Caroline -- whose guardianship it befalls Max Rotherbridge, the Duke of Twyford, to inherit.

Max, a regency rake of the first order, is not given to "guarding" women's virtue. He would very much like to bed, not wed, the delectable Caroline. But even a rake like Max knows that isn't in the cards.

On the contrary, it's his duty to protect her from men such as himself. It's his duty to protect all the Twinning sisters from unprincipled men and bad alliances. Max has his work cut out for him.

I found Four in Hand to be absolutely delightful. If you like regency romps, I'll bet you like this one.

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Lovely HM&B medical author Margaret McDonogh has just sent me a picture of a frog she stumbled across.

She says that, given the look on his face, he could be my Missing In Action Frog #8.

Margaret has a good eye for resemblances. It is my frog indeed. Though why he also reminds me of Jack Nicholson, I'm hard pressed to say.

Oh, and IF I get my book done by May 1, I get to go to visit youngest grandchild who is now crawling like a Marine from room to room. Such a talented girl.