And no, that wasn’t a volcano or a plane crash or a really loud rock concert.

That was me, shouting, when I heard twenty minutes ago that Jumper, my first novel published sixteen years ago, will be on the New York Time Best Seller list (Mass Market) on March 9th at position Nineteen.

Thanks to Beth who bought it, Ralph who sold it, Ralph and Vince for getting it sold to the movies, Stacy and Jay and Doug Liman and all the cast and crew for making the movie, and, most of all, ALL YOU GUYS WHO BOUGHT IT IN THE LAST WEEK!!!!

(uh..ahem.) Really.

A few weeks ago we took a deep breath and jumped off a cliff–which is to say, we ordered the cabinets for our new kitchen.

Forget the things you see on TLC and HGTV and all those other channels that cater to the home-remodeling-obsessed. Remodeling any part of your house is complex. And remodeling the kitchen is a particularly chaotic form of complex. Everything depends on everything else, see. So, for example, when we wanted to order the cabinets we couldn’t just order the cabinets. We had to pull up part of the vinyl flooring to find out what was underneath it (plywood on top of hardwood. Why would anyone put plywood on top of hardwood? For the same reason the former owners of our house covered all the panel-doors with veneer: to surgically remove all charm. That’s our theory, anyway). Once we knew what was under the vinyl, we had to choose the appliances, since their dimensions directly affect the layout of the cabinets.  Choose but not order, lest they show up weeks before everything else. Read More »

Very funny but not kind (but not vicious either) review of Jumper (the movie) from New Zealand.

Idea Man: But in Rome he discovers that he isn’t the only Jumper in the world. And he further discovers that there are people whose mission in life is to kill Jumpers. They are called Paladins.

Money Man: Weren’t Paladins medieval knights?

Idea Man: Yes.

Money Man: Why do Paladins want to kill Jumpers?

Idea Man: That is not explained.

Money Man: How do people become Paladins?

Idea Man: That is not explained.

Money Man: Do Paladins look like medieval knights?

Idea Man: No they look like Americans. The principal Paladin is a black man with white hair. He has hi-tech devices for hunting Jumpers with, but when he catches one he stabs it to death with a low-tech hunting knife.

Money Man: Why does he do that?

Read the whole thing here.