Last Saturday night, we hosted a party on The Friendship, a reconstruction of a171-foot three-masted 1797 Salem East Indiaman which is moored at Derby Wharf, in Salem. The most amazing magic trick of the evening was that there was no rain. We felt extremely lucky because the four previous days were what Eva (the original lace reader) would have called “nice weather for ducks.” The party was for family, friends, and all those who had championed the book in some way. Some of the local witches actually brought pieces of lace they are learning to read. They spent a good portion of the evening gazing through the lace into people’s faces and predicting their futures (this in spite of the fact that I told them that lace reading is something I made up). A group of re-enactors in full 18th century sailor costumes roamed the decks singing sea shanties and spilling grog (mostly Miller Lite). All in all, about a hundred friends and family celebrated a clear and starlit sky, the beautiful evening sea breezes, and the dream that had brought us all together.

Tomorrow is July 29th, the day The Lace Reader goes on sale. I feel a bit like Wendy Darling on her last night in the nursery. My national book tour also begins tomorrow and, according to my recent schedule, it will last until mid-November so for the foreseeable future, I’ll be writing to you from somewhere on the road.

The press is building, loud enough now for even me to hear a bit of the buzz.

If you haven’t seen the book trailer, click here.

There are at least three books coming out about Salem this year.

The Lace Reader is not about witches, though it is difficult to write anything about contemporary Salem and not include something about the witches who didn’t exist at all back in the days of the witch trials but thrive here in great numbers now.

I was recently asked to comment on this for USA Today. Click here to read it.

They asked me why writers would choose to create stories about Salem now. At first I wasn’t sure. Unlike the other writers, I live in Salem, so for me it was a natural setting. But it was more than that. In one respect, The Lace Reader  is a cautionary tale. We live now in fearful times. And just as in the Salem of the 1600′s, we have to be careful not to let our fears make us recklessly assign blame and create enemies.

But there is another more optimistic side to the story, and that is the quote they chose to use from my interview for the USA Today story.

I talked about the Harry Potter series, and how those books give children, who are relatively powerless, a feeling that they can change the world. I think this ability to connect with our inner strengths is a very important part of my story as well. Magic and everyday miracles are a very hopeful part of our collective consciousness and thus appear frequently in the stories we tell.

I can’t speak for the other authors, but, ultimately, my book about Salem is optimistic. More than anything else, The Lace Reader is about healing our deepest wounds, recovering our strength, and moving on. I can’t think of anything more hopeful than that.

I do a fabulous loon call.

The loons actually answer me. There are two loons on our tiny lake, nesting right in the wooded area at the shoreline in front of our house where the old tree fell ten years ago and was never removed.

Last summer, a good friend (who has studied loons more closely than I) informed me that my loon call was actually a loon distress signal. This caused me a great deal of consternation. The last thing I would ever want would be to distress the loons. My intention was simply to be friendly. So, for the most part, I have stopped doing my loon call, or at least I don’t do it as often or unless there is something real to distress them about (like the bald eagle who shows up on occasion, or maybe a flock of geese).

But, on the Fourth of July, I give myself permission to sound as many loon calls as I can, because, on the Fourth of July, a loon call means something entirely different on our tiny lake.

Though there are much better fireworks displays than our little show, no one would ever think of going to them. Sure their pyrotechnics are flamboyant, and their shows last more than ten minutes. But we have something much better on our tiny lake, we have Harry and Bill and the old raft. And as many fireworks as they can buy in Hampton Beach with the money they’ve been able to collect door to door.

And we have a special set of sound effects.

At approximately 9 PM, the lake begins to sound like a barnyard. Or a jungle. Or in our case, like the frogs and loons that inhabit the lake. Everyone sits on their little beaches. Protected by the anonymity of darkness, they not only imitate, but seem to become their favorite animals. We have whales, macaws, several roosters, cows, and what I can only descibe as an asthmatic hyena. We signal our approval after each launch of fireworks with calls that have gotten better over the years and that I can only assume have been practiced during the long New England winters. Every once in a while, someone yells “Good one Harry,” or “Way to go Bill,” but, for the most part we just cackle, crow, or moo.

Later in the summer when we see each other at the Lake Association meeting, we will try to match the voices to the sounds. As Mike stands up to register a complaint about impending milfoil, my husband will turn to me and mouth the question “Bantam rooster?” I am pretty certain that the eighty-year-old woman who lives two doors down and serves formal tea to her husband on the screened porch every afternoon is the macaw, but I’d never ask.

Last year, as I stood up to complain about the speed limit of motor boats on our lake, I am pretty sure I heard Harry turn to Bill and whisper, “Cue the loon.”

I am now working on my impression of a Norwegian harbor seal.

This week, I was able to combine the two. I flew to California for the annual American Library Association national meeting which was held at Disneyland. No, that’s not really true, it was at the Anaheim Convention Center, which is Disneyland-adjacent. Meaning, that after a thrilling day of books (my happiest place on earth), I was able to gaze out my hotel window and watch the nightly fireworks over in the land of Mickey Mouse.

What could be better, you ask? Only that The Lace Reader recently received a Starred Review in Library Journal, so the buzz at the show was quite favorable. Click here to read it.

While I was only there for one day, I did manage to get a lot done:
- a book signing at the Harper Collins booth
- a “Live” stage reading from The Lace Reader
- a podcast interview for I Love Librarians with Virginia Stanley (Click here to listen.) (Note: this interview is only 10 minutes long even though it says 1 hour. Not sure what happened there.)
- Spoke at the Friends of Libraries / America’s Library Trustees & Advocates Gala Author Tea & Signing with authors Ron Carlson, Christopher Reich, Joseph Michelli, and Rich Wartzman. All terrific writers and inspiring speakers.

So now it’s back to New England, as the clock ticks on The Lace Reader release date (July 29th all across the country).

And this weekend, we head up to our vacation home in NH (another place that vies for my “happiest place on earth” title) and another set of fireworks (a unique experience and undoubtedly my next blog entry). Let’s see, a screened porch, a lake, friends and family, fireworks and a book I just borrowed from my local library. What could be better?

Happy 4th of July everyone!