Hi everyone!

One year, my husband and I counted the number of days I was on the road, and it was over 130…which makes it even more remarkable to think that I still love to travel.  In fact, for my fortieth birthday, my husband took me to Iceland (we JUST got back).  It’s gorgeous and dramatic; a country that looks like the love child of Scotland and Alaska with active volcanos and geothermal pools and well, you’re just going to have to go yourselves.  They also speak the most bizarre language – full of sounds we don’t have in English, so I finally gave up trying.  So imagine my surprise when I walked into an Icelandic bookstore to see a big display of my novels (English ones – although I’ve been translated into Norwegian and Danish and Finnish, to name a few, the Icelandic market is still open…)  Talk about feeling like you’ve conquered the whole world…

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:  Book tour was two months long this year, but fruitful.  It’s easy to work your tail off when you see immediately results:  Tenth Circle at #1 on the Wall Street Journal and PW lists; at #2 on the NYT and the UK charts; Vanishing Acts at #1 in the UK.  The best moments on my tour this year?  Well, seeing all of you, of course – the crowds were phenomenal.  I got to “preach” at a church in Grand Rapids, in front of 1200 people…from a carved wooden podium that made me feel positively Billy Grahamesque.  Touring the west coast with Dustin Weaver, my illustrator, was a blast.  One night, we got back to our hotel (the Beverly Wilshire, in LA) late and I turned on the television to see Pretty Woman playing.  You remember it – the Julia Roberts movie?  Well, it was filmed in the VERY hotel I was staying at!  I called Dustin, and the next morning, we rode the elevators up and down until we found the one with a bench in it that’s featured in the movie. 

Some other bests and worsts:

Funniest moment:  Being in Edinburgh, at a book club that “won” me in a contest, comprised of real live “ladies” – as in Lords and Ladies.  I was discussing the research for Vanishing Acts and mentioned crystal meth…when the hostess interrupted me.  “Crystal meth, dear?” she said.  “Is that a soft drink?”

Biggest Wish-I-Could-Die-Now moment:  Holland, MI.  I was doing a Q&A and was asked why I don’t write non-fiction; so I gave an answer about how much responsibility that entails – to the reader, the writer, and the subject of the story.  “You only have to look as far as James Frey to see how critical that is,” I said.  Then I went to do the signing, and the library director cut the long line with a couple.  He said, “I’d like to introduce you to James Frey’s parents.  They live near here.”  Naturally, I wanted to disappear into the floorboards…what was even weirder was when Frey’s mother said that she loved My Sister’s Keeper and that her husband, a professor, was using it in his classroom. Apparently, he teaches ETHICS!

Coolest extracurricular trip:  Tough call – there was Stonehenge, and the Beatles Story Experience museum in Liverpool…

Worst flight:  Anchorage to NH.  The first leg was so delayed that I missed the second, and had to be rerouted into NY.  And they lost my luggage for three days.  It took me 20 hours to get home. 

Best souvenir:  Again, a tough call, but I’m loving my toe ring from Venice Beach.

Biggest accomplishment:  Signing 1500 books in 60 minutes in a warehouse in the UK.

CHARITY ACTS:  As some of you know, this year part of the tour involved playing Jodi Trivia to win Tenth Circle t-shirts.  We’ve got about 30 left over, and I’ve decided that I’m going to give them away...to the first thirty people who make a contribution of $75 or more to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. The nations's largest anti-sexual assault organization, they run a national sexual assault hotline (1-800-656-HOPE) and carry out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims, and assure that rapists will be brought to justice. Pledge your contribution of $75 (or more) to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), and receive a snazzy Tenth Circle T-shirt (XL), which can be signed by me in sharpie marker.

Go to my website to make a donation to RAINN and receive a Tenth Circle T-shirt.

CALLING ALL CHEFS:  I have had a remarkable number of people writing to ask me about the recipe for Sorrow Pie in The Tenth Circle – so many, in fact, that I’ve decide you all ought to come up with one!  This is an open call to you wanna-be chefs – if you come up with a recipe for Sorrow Pie, send it to me at jodi@jodipicoult.com.  I’ll try to make it, and we’ll post the whole cookbook on my next newsletter!

NEED SUMMER READING MATERIAL?  I get asked all the time for book recommendations, so I’m elated to have one that will knock your socks off.  JoAnn Mapson, an amazing writer who manages to capture funny, honest, and heartbreaking all on one page, has just come out with her latest – I’ve read it, and it’s brilliant.  It’s called the OWL AND MOON CAFÉ and I can’t think of a better way to spend your summer vacation than curled up on a patio or beach lost with the Moon women in her novel! 

PENULTIMATE ORDER OF BUSINESS:  Atria Books will be re-releasing two paperbacks – Perfect Match this summer – and Salem Falls this winter – because two characters from those books (Jordan McAfee and Patrick DuCharme) figure prominently in next March’s NINTEEN MINUTES.  So if you haven’t read those books yet – or if you want to refamiliarize yourself with those characters…take me to the beach this summer!  For those waiting for The Tenth Circle in paperback, expect it to arrive in October…

AND FINALLY:  Are you going to be in South Africa this September?  Because I am!  Below are a list of tour dates/locations:

Saturday 23 September - Johannesburg 
Event: Fairlady Magazine Book Brunch 
Time: 9am to 12pm 
Venue: Rosebank Park Hyatt Hotel, Johannesburg 
RSVP: 011 322 0849 or e-mail khawkins@fairlady.com
For more information visit www.fairlady.com 

Monday 25 September - Johannesburg 
Event: The Write Company Cocktail Evening 
Time: 5.30 for 6pm 
Venue: Crawford College, Benmore Gardens 
RSVP: 011 666 4766. 
For more information visit www.itsallwrite.net 

Tuesday 26 September - Johannesburg 
Event: Breakfast 
Time: 8.30am 
Venue: TBC 
RSVP: 011 462 2302 

Tuesday 26 September - Johannesburg 
Event: WriterSpeak Literary Dinner 
Time: 7 for 7.30pm 
Venue: Pasha's in Pretoria 
RSVP: 011 462 2302 

Wednesday 27 September - Durban 
Event: Exclusive Books Literary Lunch 
Time: 12 for 12.30pm 
Venue: The Hilton Hotel 
RSVP: 031 265 0454 

Wednesday 27 September - Pietermaritzburg 
Book Signing: Bookworld Cascades 
Time: 5 to 5.30pm 
Venue: Bookworld, Cascades Shopping Centre, 
Pietermaritzburg 
No rsvp required. 

Wednesday 27 September - Pietermaritzburg 
Event: Exclusive Books Cocktail Evening 
Time: 5.30 for 6pm 
Venue: Exclusive Books Midlands Mall, 
Pietermaritzburg 
RSVP: 033 342 2074 

Thursday 28 September - Port Elizabeth 
Event: Fogarty's Bookshop & Childline Literary Lunch 
Time: 12 for 12.30pm 
Venue: Tsitsikama Conference Centre 
at the Boardwalk, Port Elizabeth 
RSVP: 041 453 0441 

Friday 29 September - Cape Town 
Event: Exclusive Books Coffee Morning 
Time: 8 for 8.30pm 
Venue: Exclusive Books V&A Waterfront, 
Fredo's Coffee Shop 
RSVP: 021 419 0905 

Friday 29 September - Cape Town 
Event: Literary Lunch 
Time: 12 for 12.30pm 
Venue: TBC 
RSVP: richran@iafrica.com 

Friday 29 September - Cape Town 
Event: Exclusive Books Afternoon Tea 
Venue: Constantia Village 
RSVP: 021 794 7800 

Saturday 30 September - Cape Town 
Event: Fairlady Magazine Book Brunch 
Time: 9am to 12pm 
Venue: The Table Bay Hotel 
RSVP: 011 322 0849 or e-mail khawkins@fairlady.com
For more information visit www.fairlady.com 

Sunday 1 October - Cape Town 
Event: Cape Times Literary Lunch 
RSVP: See the Cape Times on Friday's for details.