So far, W&S has been spotted at Barnes and Nobles in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Sugarhouse, Utah; Layton, Utah; and on Amazon… Hey, wait! Karin, that’s cheating!

My Virginia Beach entrant, Carmen, even provided photographic proof!

It’s also been spotted at Borders in SLC; Roseville, MI; and Waldenbooks in Roseville, MI.

Don’t forget to visit the contest page and enter your sighting of W&S!

Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 7, you can send your W&S sighting information to WivesandSisters@aol.com. Please remember to include the name of the store, city, state or province, and your name! All entries will be put in for the grand prize drawing. Spot the book more than once? You can ENTER each time you spot the book at a DIFFERENT location (come on, I can’t make it too easy).

Prizes include:

A signed book from New York Times Bestselling Author Tess Gerritsen

A signed book from Bestselling Author MJ Rose

Signed copies of Thrilled to Death, Batteries Required, and Wicked Women Whodunnit by Jennifer Apodaca

Signed copy of The Prey by Bestselling Author Allison Brennan

Signed copy of The Hard Stuff by Karin Tabke

Signed copy of Grave Intent by Deborah LeBlanc, and a Grave Intent mug

A signed copy of Red is for Remembrance by Laurie Stolarz, along with a sachet of lavender

A signed copy of Contents Under Pressure by Lara Zeises
$25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble

Two signed books from author Cindy Cruciger.

A signed copy of Dark Side of the Moon by author J. Carson Black

Oh, and of course, a signed copy of Wives and Sisters AND a signed copy of my very first book, SisterWife. What a deal! And the list just keeps growing. So go out there and spot ‘em!

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, I recently took a vacation with four close friends to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We stayed at the RIU Palace, which lives up to its name, at least in looks. Our first night there, however, was less than spectacular. Seems they overbooked by about sixty people, and since our plane arrived later than others, we were in that group of sixty. They managed to scrounge us up a room, which was located in California. Or so it seemed. It was pretty obvious they did not use this room much, for it was stocked with absolutely nothing. We had to hike back to the front desk and ask them to send us some towels, ice, a rollaway bed, and a machete to kill the rooster that started crowing at 2:00 a.m. and did not stop until 7:00 a.m. At that point, he apparently took a coffee break, I finally drifted off to sleep, and then he returned from his break and started back up at 7:20 a.m. We never did get the ice. The maid bringing it is probably lost.

It appears the reason they do not use these rooms a lot is the proximity to what they refer to as “the farm.” The farm is the home of the damned rooster, many dogs and cats, and God knows what else.

The next morning, we threatened death and destruction upon the RIU if they did not move us. They complied, apparently afraid that we were all going to spontaneously combust if the situation was not remedied, and the rest of the time went fairly smoothly. The food was good, the hotel truly is lovely, and the weather was divine.

Anytime we could, we feasted on chicken, and told ourselves we were eating our nemesis, the damned crowing rooster. We kept calling him a chicken, much to my friend Tracee’s chagrin. She assured us it was not a chicken, but instead was a damned cock.

We met some great folks from Nebraska (Here’s a shout out to Tom and Lori and friends!) and partied with them a bit, especially when we went to Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar’s place. Rumors were rampant Hagar was there and was going to play a set that night. The cabbie we talked to said the rumors were ALWAYS rampant. Well, this time, they proved true. We missed him by about 30 minutes, as we were busy at El Squid Roe, posing for pictures with Luigi the Clown and fending off cute college boys who were either terribly drunk or terribly desperate. Or both.

Our new friends, who caught his act, said he appeared to be sampling quite a bit of the Tequila. Who can blame him? It is, after all, Cabo.

Our hotel that night (for we had to leave the very popular RIU, much to our chagrin. They would NOT put us up for the last night, even to make up for the damned cock.) was a sty from hell. Our rooms there were in Nevada, and they expected three of us to sleep in one king-sized bed. It took two hours of wrangling and about 42 miles of trekking to get a room with a rollaway bed, and the fumes from the bathroom were so bad it would have been dangerous to light a match there. This place just changed its name to the Tesoro, which here in America is a gas station. It WAS much like staying in a gas station. There was a nice view of the marina from our balcony, but it would have been better to have slept on the hammock there, then in the room. The desk clerk was rude and uncaring, and seemed to think we were there for spring break, and would be too drunk to realize they expected three grown women to sleep in one bed.

This is NOT one of my fantasies. Sorry to disappoint.

All in all, despite the hotel disappointments, a great trip.

On March 7, 2006, Wives and Sisters, will be released in paperback. In honor of the release, I wanted to run a contest, but I just wasn’t sure what to do. So I settled on a half-assed “WIVES AND SISTERS Sighting” contest, and decided to make it better by gathering up a really cool roster of gifts.

All you have to do is—beginning March 7—tell me when and where you spot copies of WIVES AND SISTERS in paperback.

The official entry form will be available on Tuesday, but until then, feast your eyes on the gift prizes so far….

A signed book from New York Times Bestselling Author Tess Gerritsen

A signed book from Bestselling Author MJ Rose

Signed copies of Thrilled to Death, Batteries Required, and Wicked Women Whodunnit by Jennifer Apodaca

Signed copy of The Prey by Bestselling Author Allison Brennan

Signed copy of The Hard Stuff by Karin Tabke

Signed copy of Grave Intent by Deborah LeBlanc, and a Grave Intent mug

A signed copy of Red is for Remembrance by Laurie Stolarz, along with a sachet of lavender

A signed copy of Contents Under Pressure by Lara Zeises
$25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble

Two signed books from author Cindy Cruciger.

Oh, and of course, a signed copy of Wives and Sisters AND a signed copy of my very first book, SisterWife. What a deal!

So stay tuned for more details on how to enter.

I hope those Mormons don’t get any ideas, because I have sure been bringing some great authors to this blog and Trapping ‘em. But we have another guest today. Welcome Michelle Richmond!

Michelle’s new book, Dream of a Blue Room, is getting MAJOR kudos from big-wig reviewers like Kirkus, USA Today, Booklist and more, and after reading an excerpt, it went on the Collins TBR list. Michelle’s writing is evocative and warm and compelling, and yet just a little bit edgy.

At any rate, as I always do these days, I asked Michelle a few questions.

If you had to be “Trapped” somewhere, where would it be?

An oceanside house with huge windows, an endless supply of fresh roasted coffee, an enormous and eclectic library, and a home movie theatre with a popcorn maker. This house would be located in San Francisco–or no, it’s a bit too cold here if I’m going to be trapped forever–the house would be in Northern California, yes, but slightly south of San Francisco.

If you could pick your “Trapped” companions, what three people would you want with you, and why?

Well, the first two are easy. My husband Kevin, because he’s witty and kind and very, very fun and reliable. My 14-month-old son Oscar, because he’s this wild little man who keeps me laughing and who will do anything to get to a ball or a piece of cake. And, hmmm, a third? Well, the practical choice would be my sister Misty. But I’d also be interested in having some fabulous musician–maybe Billy Bragg (his voice calms me) or Nick Cave.

If you could only pick five books to be “Trapped” with, what would they be?

The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy
The Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges
The Chronicles of Narnia (for my son Oscar)
The Collected Essays of E.B. White
Some exhaustive compendium of Chekhov’s stories

What ONE famous person would you absolutely NOT want to be “Trapped” with?

George W. Bush

You can bring three things from your “former” life to “Trapped.” What would those three things be?

My computer. My vast collection of MAC lipsticks. And, for my son Oscar, I’d have to bring his favorite ball, which has pictures of red robots on it and bounces very high.

Where is one place you absolutely would NOT want to be “Trapped.”

Beijing (okay, my novel is set there, but the air quality is disastrous! and there’s way too much noise!)

Thanks to Michelle for visiting Trapped, and Michelle, do NOT open the door to those nice boys in white shirts, or you might NEVER get out of here.