here I am in the usa

Oh, how proud my hapless Uncle Frank would be! Or would he? I've been telling his story in lots of places in Michigan at the start of my tour in the USA, and having a great time meeting readers. Hope I haven't grossed anybody out too much, but there's no getting away from the fact that Uncle Frank's story is a bit gory. It's so nice that Blaze of Silver, the last in the de Granville Trilogy, is also going down so well. Thanks to everybody who's e.mailed about it and the other de Granville books. I appreciate that very much. Hope you enjoy How the Hangman Lost His Heart when it appears in the autumn.

Last year, you may remember that I was extremely impressed by American plumbing on my tour, and this year is no exception. In Holland, where I was beautifully looked after by Michelle at Treehouse Books, the bath in the hotel was so big it was in the bedroom and it had jets! What more could anybody want?

I have also discovered the doubtful joys of SatNav. How on earth do they pick the voices? The US SatNav lady in our hire car had Rachel, my brilliant publicist from Walker, and I feeling like naughty children as she constantly told us, in highly disapproving tones, that she was 'recalculating' when we made slip ups. She was only topped by the British voice, who, every time we turned him on, announced, in a voice of weary desperation, something about carrots. We never quite discovered what it was, so he remained rather weary until he was finally handed back to the rental company. We didn't dare try the Australian for fear he might actually leap out of the SatNav screen and box our ears.

Chicago tomorrow, and then on to New York. Who said an author's life wasn't all skittles and beer?

Onwards and upwards,
Katie