Thanks so much for everyone who made it last night at Vroman’s!!!! You guys are the best!! And everyone is so cute!! I think my fans are the most stylish ever. Big kisses to everyone who came, including Kady, Adrienne and Heather from the Blue Bloods message boards! And big shout-out to Siddeeqah too!! I loved all your questions!!

I’m getting a lot of emails from people saying the book hasn’t hit your local bookstore yet—it should be in stores now. And the Target books should have a sticker that directs you to the special website. And anyone who can’t buy the book at Target can read the story in three months, when it will be available to everyone. Right now it’s a Target exclusive! Think of it like an Anya Hindmarch purse and a Sigerson Morrison shoe.

And Canadian readers—I hear your frustration. I’m sorry the books haven’t hit your stores yet, but Hyperion’s Canadian account rep SWEARS on a stack of Blue Bloods books that you guys are supposed to get it October 28th also, not December 1st. The information on your bookstore’s computer is old (and wrong). Keep trying. I’m really really sorry about that. If anyone in Canada has found/bought the book at your store, can you email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and tell me where you found it? So I can let all everyone else know?

And now for a real scary story. So, yesterday, I was at the Sherman Oaks mall with my kid, our nanny, my sister and her kid. The kids and nanny were playing a few feet in front of us in the little playspace. Sis and I were gossiping, as usual. When suddenly, ALL THESE PEOPLE BEGAN RUNNING AND PANICKING. And our nanny picked up both kids and yelled, “SOMEONE HAS A GUN!” And we all five RAN into the nearest store with a DOOR that could be locked. I can’t even tell you how scary it was not knowing WHERE to go. Like, WHERE was safe??? We were right by the Bloomingdale’s which looked really “open”. So I chose this jewelry store because I saw they had a door that could be easily locked. We ran in with a couple other moms&kids, told the owner, who locked the door behind us and we all ran to the back room.

Anyway, it turned out that there was a high-speed chase that ended with the gunman running into the Macy’s and the police running after him. (We saw a car with two doors open surrounded by ten police cars in the parking lot.) The got him pretty quickly, and I don’t think anyone was hurt, thankfully. It was just so weird. Completely surreal. Just to see all the people RUNNING—and then the mall completely emptied—and Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s shut their doors with their super-secure aluminum doors. (Hmm: maybe should have run into Bloomingdale’s after all.) I can’t believe this is the second time I have experienced this. When I worked in Wall Street, more than a decade ago, and someone had robbed a bank and the police SHOT HIM DOWN right in the sidewalk in front of our building. During lunch hour. I don’t remember ever running that fast in my life. This was even worse, since the kids were with us. The funny thing was: this time I was really calm because I didn’t want the kids to panic.

What’s just as scary as a gunman, though, is seeing police with THEIR guns drawn out. I remember being just as scared of being shot accidentally as being shot deliberately.

Well, we’re all good. And the kids didn’t even understand what was going on. Mattie told her dad: Someone had gum! But it’s going to be a while until we return to that particular mall.

Be safe everyone! And let me know what you think of the book!

xoxo
Mel