Where to begin?

DOLLY has been out for a month

Have you ever gone a few months without talking to an old friend and find that it’s hard to pick up the phone? If you’d talked a few days before, you could pick up where you left off - how’d the bangs turn out? But now it’s been too long and you don’t even know where to start. I find in these situations it’s best to speed through the catch up, just the highlights, and get back to the here and now. Which brings me to the fact that I haven’t sent a newsletter since Dolly All the Time came out a month ago. *facepalm*

After over sharing my tour schedule and offering small bribes to get you to preorder, the thing took off like a rocket ship. Dolly had the honor of being the Good Morning America Book Club pick for June (four days left, let’s milk it!), and I got to be on TV with the nicest people in the world. I got on a plane every day for two weeks to see and hug and thank a lot of readers. Dolly hit the New York Times Bestseller list four weeks in a row, and I (appropriately) drank my weight in champagne. This week readers gave me a T-shirt that I refuse to take off. Visual proof that this happened, and then we’ll move on:

Sometimes good things come at you so fast and so hard that even screaming thank you at the top of your lungs seems inadequate. Truly, thank you to everyone who has read and spread the word about Dolly and Stewart. Thank you for embracing Gus and Christopher and for appreciating them like I do. Thank you to everyone who came to see me on tour - your time and effort and enthusiasm is now in my veins.

This story started with a spark, a romantic trip to Newport, and an unexpected bout of compassion for the families who no longer live in the mansions along that waterfront. It got me thinking about families and legacies and the myriad things we all strive to sustain - our kids, our parents, each other. Dolly and Stewart are both caretakers, and caretakers know a particular mix of joy and exhaustion. That’s what this book is about, and my hat goes off to all of you.

Touring is slowing down (not really, keep reading), and I’m going to get back into soft pants and try to land the plane on my next book. Thoughts and prayers and peanut M&Ms welcome.

Speaking of landing the plane! I’m headed to Europe! For the very first time, I get to go on book tour in England and France. I leave July 4 and will be in London, Birmingham, and Paris. Please forward this email to anyone you know who is lucky enough to live there. I am already bursting with the adventure of it all!

UK and France tour events

Thanks for the quick catch up! I’ll be back here as more news unfolds and certainly with updates from my trip overseas. Maybe some dashing Duke (viscount?) will invite Tom and me back to his country estate for a weekend party and there will be a murder that looks like vicar did it but it’s really about an inheritance and a beef from a old feud.

A girl can dream.

Lots of love and a ton of thanks,

Annabel

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