div orgToday I’m announcing the release of my newest book, The Divorce Organizer and Planner, second edition. In my former life I was a divorce attorney and this book is the culmination of everything I used to tell my clients. The book helps you organize the many documents you need to give to your attorney, offers checklists for getting through the divorce, and provides advice about how to win a custody case, make a good impression on the judge, and stay sane.  The tips in the book allow you to save on legal fees because you are able to present your attorney with carefully organized documents and evidence, reducing the work your attorney will have to do in your case. It also helps you think clearly at a time when clarity is something you desperately need. The book comes with a CD containing forms and checklists. It’s an invaluable resource if you are in a divorce or considering filing.

Today I’m announcing the release of my newest book, The Divorce Organizer and Planner, second edition. In my former life I was a divorce attorney and this book is the culmination of everything I used to tell my clients. The book helps you organize the many documents you need to give to your attorney, offers … Read more

moms-day-collageCongratulations to Rachel, whose entry at Parenting Without Borders was chosen as the winner of the great prize pack in this fun giveaway I joined in with other bloggers. Thanks to all who entered and helped make this giveaway a big success!

Congratulations to Rachel, whose entry at Parenting Without Borders was chosen as the winner of the great prize pack in this fun giveaway I joined in with other bloggers. Thanks to all who entered and helped make this giveaway a big success!

I’m giving away a copy of Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller’s Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between the Pages by Michael Popek, published by Perigee. This is a really fun book. A used bookseller collected recipes he found stuck in the pages of used books in his shop.  For each recipe, he includes a photo of the actual handwritten recipe that he found, the book it was found in, as well as a typeset version of the recipe for easy use. Some of the recipes include photos of the results. It’s a fun and quirky collection and one I enjoyed, kind of like poking through someone’s personal recipe collection.

The book was sent to me for review by the publisher without any expectations or requirements.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. You must enter by midnight ET on Thursday October 4, 2012. I’ll randomly and blindly select the winner by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of comments here). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering; not responsible for email transmission problems or postal delivery problems or failures. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct mailing address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 10/4/12. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. I reserve the right to announce the name of the winner on the blog.

I’m giving away a copy of Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller’s Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between the Pages by Michael Popek, published by Perigee. This is a really fun book. A used bookseller collected recipes he found stuck in the pages of used books in his shop.  For each recipe, he includes a … Read more

I picked up the first book in this series by Beth McMullen last year (Original Sin) and had been waiting for the second book, Spy Mom: The Adventures of Sally Sin (you can now buy them together as a two-book set as well). It was out in time to take on vacation, which was just perfect. These books are a fun combo of mom lit and spy lit. Sally Sin is a Bay Area semi-sarcastic stay-at-home mom with a toddler (who becomes a preschooler in the second book) and a husband. She also has a past as spy. Which she has never quite mentioned to her husband. She left her past behind her to have a normal life, but things from her past keep sneaking into her present, requiring her to find people or things so that the world can be saved. The book is liberally sprinkled with flashbacks to her spy days when the real action happened, and these sections are fast and fun. The past is always intertwined in her present somehow, so the flashbacks help you understand the story.

Sally never takes her herself very seriously and is very open about her flaws as a spy (there’s one character who constantly kidnapped her, over and over, when she was in the field, and there’s some sexual tension there as well). She’s also slightly flippant about the agency she worked for her and former boss. What she’s not flippant about is how much she loves her son, even if one day he hates cheese sticks and the next day treats her like a lunatic for thinking he hates cheese sticks.

What I love about these books is that Sally really is a regular mom, with stained mom jeans, sippy cups, healthy snacks, a dirty house, Legos, and worries about her child’s safety – and a sense of humor about her entire situation. The books take those very realistic mom worries and mix them with international intrigue. Sally, like many moms, has to try to balance her home life and her professional life, but her situations are just slightly more dangerous than those most moms face. Her thoughts and her routine feel so supremely real that you almost think you could lead a double life as well as she does.

On top of the intrigue, the books are also slowly exploring Sally’s childhood. Her parents were killed or left her when she was very young and she is only beginning to remember who they were, what happened, and how it might be connected to her life as a spy and to international issues. I’m looking forward to seeing this thread unravel even more in future books.

If you’ve read and liked any of the Ayelet Waldman’s Mommy Track Mysteries, this book will feel like a perfect fit to you. McMullen has a created a really wonderful blend of international intrigue and mommy tribulations that is funny and compelling at the same time. I’m now going to be impatiently waiting for the third book in the series!

I picked up the first book in this series by Beth McMullen last year (Original Sin) and had been waiting for the second book, Spy Mom: The Adventures of Sally Sin (you can now buy them together as a two-book set as well). It was out in time to take on vacation, which was just … Read more

Welcome to my holiday home. Since I’m trying to do everything as Martha would, I am especially proud of my decorations this year. Here are photos of my living room tree and mantel (complete with Martha Stewart tree skirt and stockings that came from KMart several years ago). I’m also popping in a photo of my office tree. Since I’m a writer, it’s a book tree. Enjoy!

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Welcome to my holiday home. Since I’m trying to do everything as Martha would, I am especially proud of my decorations this year. Here are photos of my living room tree and mantel (complete with Martha Stewart tree skirt and stockings that came from KMart several years ago). I’m also popping in a photo of … Read more

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