December ’20 News

Wishing You a Safe and Very Happy Holiday!

I’m sure your holiday season will bear only a small resemblance to what it’s normally like for you, but, still, I hope it’s a good one, bringing plenty of joy.

This December will definitely be very different for my family. We generally celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with the kids at our winter home in Uruguay, but since the borders are closed due to COVID, we’ll be in the northeast over the holidays for the first time in a bunch of years.

I’ll so miss Uruguay, but I’m also looking forward to a few wonderful things I haven’t been able to experience in recent years. As in:

–I’ll have a Christmas tree in my living room!! They’re not that common in Uruguay, so we never set one up there. Picked mine up yesterday and I can’t stop smelling it.

–I’ll delight in the feel of sleeping in flannel pajamas instead of going to bed in little cotton shorts!

–I’ll be able to star gaze on frosty nights when the sky is totally clear and it’s so nippy that, as my little cousin used to say, “your two noses stick together.” And I’ll get to view Orion right side up rather than upside down, which is how you see him in our part of South America.

–I’ll make chocolate fondue on Christmas night with these charming little fondue pots I bought years ago and just noticed in the back of a cupboard.

Maybe you’ll start a few new traditions this year—or, like me, rediscover some old ones. For instance, Joan P., a wonderful fan on Facebook, told me that since she can’t have her usual Christmas Eve party this year, the whole neighborhood is having a Luminaire Walk outside. I love that.

Most of all, I hope you stay safe during this terrible time in our lives. Like you, I’m so relieved to know that things will be better in 2021.

2021 Is Coming and So Is THE FIANCÉE

My next psychological thriller, THE FIANCÉE, will be released in June, and this one, I think, is a real winner. It’s the chilling, twisty story of a young woman who threatens to upend the picture-perfect lives of the family she’s about to become part of. Trust me, she’s as devious as she looks on the cover!

And it’s not too early to pre-order. Simply click any link below.

What I’m Reading/Watching:

The Searcher
By Tana French

I’m a huge Tana French fan, which makes me part of a very large group. Her latest thriller is a gripping story about a former Chicago detective who stumbles upon bad stuff in the Irish countryside he’s moved to since retiring and divorcing. I promise you’ll be hooked from the very first pages, especially by the line, “For the last week and a half, someone has been watching Cal.”

The Flight Attendant
HBO

This series is based on the Chris Bohjalian novel by the same title. Both start out with a huge jolt as Cassie, a flight attendant with a growing drinking problem, wakes up in a hotel bed overseas and discovers that the man she had a fling with the night before is dead, with his throat slashed. Wow, right? The novel is one of my favorite thrillers from the last decade—it’s beautifully written, wryly funny in parts and hugely suspenseful—but I didn’t love the series. It has a weird sitcom vibe, and though the gorgeous star (Kaley Cuoco) says she’s happy with her breast implants, did we have to be exposed to them during half the series? I like my thrillers to make me sweat with fear and this one didn’t. That said, some women I know loved it, so consider giving it a try. Or, if you haven’t already, treat yourself to the fabulous novel and experience a real thriller.

What I’m Cooking

We’re all longing for comfort food right now, aren’t we? And since I know it’s not smart to eat pasta with cherry tomatoes that have been roasted first with olive oil and bread crumbs every night, or Jamie Oliver’s awesome roasted potatoes, I fell in love with this lovely white bean and roasted tomato stew from the New York Times, which doesn’t go crazy with carbs. Readers awarded it five stars!

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020926-roasted-tomato-and-white-bean-stew

Until next month,