Tiny French Museums, the Inside of My Suitcase, and Peach Cocktails

I'm Auctioning Off Some Art for a Good Cause.

Over the last year or two, I've been making art for my own sanity, and auctioning it off to support causes that work to make the world a more sane place. Usually these are charities like the American Refugee Committee. This fall, I'm doing the same thing, but the funds this time are going to Swing Left's Immediate Impact Fund, where it will be distributed to solid candidates in swing districts. If this is the sort of thing you support, I hope you'll consider bidding on a painting or sharing this with your friends. (I've heard reports of that link not working on mobile, so if that happens to you, try from your desktop or try this link instead.)

How To Live Out of a Small Suitcase Forever
 

I'm about to go on book tour for the better part of two months. Every year I post a picture of my compact suitcase, and every year some of you ask me to explain what's in that suitcase--in other words, how I manage to live out of a tiny suitcase for three weeks, when I have to get up in front of an audience and look halfway presentable every night.

I never do answer those questions, because I feel weird talking about clothes. I deeply, seriously, do not care about clothes. Clothes shouldn't matter, right? It's what's inside that counts.

But...you know...we do all wear clothes. It's a basic necessity. 

So. You asked. I'll tell you how I do it. Your mileage may vary.

Head over to my blog to read the whole thing.

Chickens Love Peach Juleps. So do I.

This is my chicken Bess, mere seconds before she snatched a peach out of my cocktail and ran off with it.

If peaches are still in season where you are, I absolutely insist that you eat them every day, in everything, because a good ripe peach is just a juicy handful of joy, and we all need more of that.

You can drink your peaches, too! Here's my favorite peach cocktail.

Peach Mint Julep

2 oz bourbon

1 peach, quartered

1 big sprig of mint

1 tsp sugar or simple syrup

Optional: Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur or a slice of fresh ginger

In a cocktail shaker, combine a quarter to a half of the peach, most of the mint (save a few leaves for garnish), sugar, and the ginger liqueur or ginger slice. Gently crush them with a muddler or wooden spoon.

At this point, you have a decision to make.  I like to pour all of this into a mason jar, top it with crushed ice, fill it up with bourbon, and just drink the whole mess. I consider it a waste to toss out a booze-soaked, crushed-up peach. Isn’t that a fruit serving?

But you might not like a bunch of mashed produce at the bottom of your drink, in which case you ought to add the bourbon, shake well with ice, and strain it into a glass over crushed ice at this point. Garnish with more mint.

Independent Bookstores Did This Amazing Thing.
 

Every month, independent booksellers around the country vote on their favorite new books. The top ten go on the IndieNext list.  This is a huge deal for an author, because it means that (a) the most picky readers imaginable are recommending the book, and (b) the book's probably going to get some special display space for the month.

To my astonishment, every single Kopp novel has made the IndieNext list. This is amazing and unexpected. When I think back to that day in January 2012 when I first stumbled across a newspaper clipping about Constance Kopp...I never could've imagined this.

Thank you, booksellers! These books exist because of you.

I Went To This Amazing Tiny Museum in France.

I went to France this summer to (spoiler alert) do a little research for Book 6. My contact at the tourism bureau, Maud Cauchois, arranged for me to visit a tiny private museum owned by architect Franck Besch. He collects anything to do with Americans in France during WWI and has turned his office into a by-appointment museum. Here's his museum in case you ever happen to be in the tiny village of Marac. 

He was so excited to have an American writer visit that he called a  reporter to cover this momentous event, and we got a write-up in the local paper. I found many objects in his museum that are likely to turn up in my book, including this canteen. Soldiers scratched all kinds of art onto their canteens--hey, this was before Instagram--and I was particularly touched by this one, inscribed with the names of every place this young man had been, on what I hope was a journey he remembered and took pride in for the rest of his life.

But if his canteen didn't make it home, did he?  We might never know--although Franck has been remarkably diligent about trying to find out more about the people behind all these artifacts. I was just honored to get to see it all.

Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington: I'm Coming to Visit! 

I would love to meet you in person--and I will have a present for you. It's just a small token of my affection, but it's something I'll only be giving to people on this list. So come up and introduce yourself, and tell me that you  subscribe to this newsletter!

Milwaukee, WI: Aug 22 Boswell Book Company
Madison, WI: Aug 23 Working Draft Beer Company
Spring Green, WI: Aug 24 Arcadia Books
Mackinac Island, MI: Aug 26-28 The Grand Garden Show
St. Petersburg, FL: Sept 6-9 Bouchercon 
Tampa, FL: Sept. 10 Oxford Exchange
(Florida! More events coming soon! Check my website)
Ridgewood NJ: Sept 17 Ridgewood Public Library
Portland, OR: Sept 19 Powells' Books
Spokane, WA: Sept. 27 Spokane Is Reading
Florence, OR: Sept. 28 Florence Festival of Books

More tour dates can always be found on my website. Please confirm details with the venue before you head out.

August is Your Last Chance to Win a T-shirt

Last chance! You can win a personalized t-shirt, coffee mug, or coaster set.  If you pre-order the fourth Kopp novel, Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, I will send you a signed bookplate and enter you in a contest to win some of this very cool merch.  Read all about it here.

What Are You Reading?

Would you like to read a novel about two sisters living in a moldering castle in England under difficult circumstances, in which one is a writer?  Do you miss reading books that make you feel the way you felt when you read, say, The Secret Garden?

Then you will love Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. She wrote several other novels, which I'm chasing down now, and was a successful playwright, and she wrote 101 Dalmations. Interesting woman, great novel.

What are you reading? Find me on Goodreads or Litsy and let me know.