It's hard to take yourself seriously when you have kids. For example, I spend a lot of time on the floor with kids and babies crawling all over me. Here I am with 9-month-old Colby in the kitchen. (Photo taken by the lovely Jane Lee.)

Hello lovely readers! The Bungalow is out in less than a month (4 weeks and a day!), and because I'm so excited, I'm giving away one **signed** copy to someone here this week. Leave a comment below to enter. And, if you tweet the link

I'm so thrilled to announce that The Violets of March was chosen as a Best Book of 2011 by the prestigious Library Journal! I share the award with the fantastic authors Jennifer Weiner, Elin Hilderbrand, Claire Cook, Erica Bauermeister, Jennifer Close, Mary Kay Andrews, and

The Bungalow will be released in a little more than a month (can you hear my heart racing with excitement and anticipation all the way over here in Seattle?!), and the early reviews are starting to pour in. Each day I race to my computer