Ladies & Gents:
Hello from Jekyll Island, Georgia! I am still on vacation, but since I am not running around Walt Disney World, you get a newsletter this week. It was a wonderful and tiring trip (please see: the kids in the photo above — that was taken on our last full day there), and reminded me of how lucky I am to have such a big, messy family who doesn't want to kill each other (all the time). I keep looking around to wonder where my family pack is, but they're all home now. Sigh. I'm going to be writing about running on vacation, which will include some tidbits from the trip. So stay tuned for that.
Now, three business items!
1. A giveaway! You can win a galley (aka preview) copy of my book through Goodreads. Click here. We're giving away three copies. The contest is open from today through February 14. Good luck!
2. The pre-order contest is ongoing, so don't forget to email in your receipts if you buy the book in advance!
3. My final Philadelphia Inquirer running column ran on Saturday. Writing it for three plus years was an honor, joy and challenge. It was a tough decision to make, but I think the right one. Something's coming around the bend in March, so my voice won't be gone for long.
I'm on vacation for the rest of this week, though I don't exactly know when I'll get home. I don't even know what my next stop will be — though it's beautiful here on this island (which looks a bit like if limited development was allowed in Ft. DeSoto, Fl. or Sandy Hook, N.J.) so I may stay here for a little while. It's the first time on this trip where I've taken a deep breath and felt relaxed. It also occurred to me while I was sitting outside looking at the beach that, a year ago, I was locked into a hotel room in Cape May writing Running: A Love Story. The last 12 months have been exhausting, so I may stay here to chill. I can decide every morning what I want to do and where I want to be. That's why road trips can be the best (except when the wind is so bad near the Georgia/Florida border that it snaps apart part of the plastic around your Jeep's window. Truck rest stops have everything, and duct tape is a miracle).
Recent Bylines
"The real cost of unused software will shock you" for CIO.com
"How to measure the success of enterprise mobile apps" for CIO.com
"Hybrid shoes appeal to runners and hikers" for The Philadelphia Inquirer
"4 wishes for the Philly running community" for The Philadelphia Inquirer
What I'm Reading
On the drive down, I listened to A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and the Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead, which I recommend. I'm now listening to Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson. I had hoped to finish Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things before I left, but that time became a rush to leave before the storm, and then I was zonking out every night of our trip rather than reading before bed. So: I finally finished it last night. I'm now reading A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders.
What I'm Watching
Hotel TV, including some nonsense, the movie Waitress and Grease Live, which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. I played Miss Lynch in the 1998 Haddonfield Memorial High School production (she's the principal in the movie and in last night's TV version). Can they do Bye Bye Birdie next?
Until next time,
Jen A. Miller
jenamiller.com
twitter.com/byjenamiller
instagram.com/jenamillerrunner
Leave a Reply