Spring is here…thank God. What a dramatic change! It is wonderful to look outside and finally see flowers (why didn't anyone tell me they croak so quickly, though?) and hear the birds chirping—sure it took a ton of rain, which knocked our gutter clear off the back of our house, but it was worth it for a day like today. FEAR OF DRIVING just hit the stores; it is always a thrill to see the books in-store for the first time. I signed a few over at R.J. Julia in Madison , CT , at Just Books in Old Greenwich, CT, and at Borders in Meriden , CT if you are nearby and after a signed copy. I was happy to receive positive critiques and feedback of the book, and I am anxious to begin my public appearances and hear about other people's experiences with driving phobias (my own sparked the initial idea nugget for the book's plot). Apparently, this is a very popular thing. I certainly have enormous respect for anyone who has even attempted to overcome it. I was blown away, during writing, with the parallels between driving and life in general—so many hazards to watch out for, so many signs, so many ways to turn.

In October, my first young adult novel, ONE TRICK PONY, comes out in hardcover. Dubbed a “ Chocolat for teens,” it is a rich, intimate tale of four exceptional teens about to get a little help finding their way—is it the coffee making them so bold…or is it something more than that? Something magical? It's something us ladies will be stealing from the YA shelf, for sure. Look out for a YA website linked to daniellabrodsky.com soon, with lots more info on my teen title.

I recently joined Romance Writers of America and my local chapter CORW is fantastic. I highly recommend the group to any aspiring and working writers out there.

On other news, a mass market paperback edition of the anthology, NEVER ON A SUNDAE, in which my novella, THE WAITRESS, appears, will be in-store this summer. It has a hot new cover, too. I've been thrilled about all the attention that waitresses are getting as story heroines via the movie “Waitress,” which has just come out featuring the actress I will always hold dear as Felicity. Here are some of my thoughts on the richness of possibility with a waitress as a heroine: a waitress sees all kinds of things; she's the very person to recognize the wonder of the ordinary types of occurrences because she is always witness to these. When I waited tables, I was always impressed by the rather lovely timing involved when you get the thing right: picking up on the personality of the diner, how long they would like to linger over appetizers, when to ask what else they would like; I took pride in getting rather good at that, in being able to read people. The thing about Kate Lieve, the lonely waitress-heroine of my story, is that she admits she's waiting tables to meet men. Dining at a restaurant in Murray Hill the other day, I saw it was very obvious that a lot of the girls, swaggering around fiddling with their pens and order pads, were in pursuit of the same kind of thing. When I wrote Kate, I thought about how refreshing it would be if someone was honest about their loneliness and their pursuit of dissolving it, and that's how THE WAITRESS was conceived.

News!

Make sure to check the events page. There are great events coming up in CT and NYC. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. Is it me, or does that warm weather feel light years away already? I did a lot of fun things—some beach time, barbecues, a couple of nights at a bed and breakfast in Maine. And most exciting…I got engaged. It was a great surprise and very romantic—he asked right in Central Park! So, now we are knee deep in wedding plans, which is by turns very fun and very frustrating. Trying on wedding dresses is one of the most fantastic ways to waste an afternoon. You zip yourself in one and you feel like the most glamorous girl in the world. Truly.

My next novel, Princess of Park Avenue, comes out in a month and I can't wait. Please let me know your thoughts! I'd love to hear from you!

I've been working on a couple of upcoming novels: VELVET ROPE DIARIES currently, and I recently handed in the first draft of my winter 2006 book, FEAR OF DRIVING, which is the story of Ruby Reynolds, who leaves the city for the country, learns to drive, and in the process gains the emotional freedom to leave behind her baggage for a bright future.