As my two-month stay in Santa Barbara winds down, I’m making the most of my time here, juggling work with play and some politics too. Yesterday morning, I was emailing the art director at Diversion Books about the exciting cover concept they sent me for my August novel, Three Blonde Mice, and by late afternoon I was down in LA for a fundraiser event in support of Hillary Clinton.

The event was at a private house in the canyon with a great view of the city.

About 350 of us gathered on the lawn and waited – seemingly forever – for HRC to arrive. I occupied myself by people watching (yes, there were a few celebrities among the movers and shakers) and checking out the secret service guys who were hiding in the bushes by the tennis court. Finally, Hillary made her way outside and spoke from a small platform.

Despite a lingering cold and occasional cough, she spoke passionately about the challenges facing our country.

No matter which candidate you support, it’s great to be a part of a campaign to elect a president. It just is.

After the event, Michael and I joined our friends for a swell dinner at our favorite burger joint, Umami Burger, where I had my beloved BLTA (bacon, lettuce, turkey and avocado) burger. Yum. Wish we had a Umami in Connecticut.

Back to the business of writing, now that my revisions are done on Three Blonde Mice and the cover design is in progress, Diversion is readying my backlist novels for reissue with new covers. Some will come out next month, with the rest releasing in April. Exciting! Meanwhile, I’ve started to work on a new novel and am trying to come up with the perfect Chapter 1. The beginnings of novels are the hardest for me (well, the middle parts aren’t easy either), as I want to get just the right voice for the main character before moving forward.

More to come!