I’ve spent the last three weeks with my husband and kids in this cute house on Cape Cod, but tomorrow I head home to California. My head is already swimming with a to-do list.

On the work end: Post a GoodReads giveaway. Come up with a galley giveaway. Write some essays to promote What Came First. Get review copies in the mail. Plan my book launch party. And, oh yeah — I just sold another book , which is wonderful, wonderful news . . . but now I have to find time to write it.

On the family end, there’s too much to even think about. Soccer and orthodonture feature prominently.

Every time I take an extended vacation, I think: Why can’t real life be like this? Why does everything always have to be so complicated? I pretty much always work on vacation, but with all the extra time to sit and think, it doesn’t even feel like work.

Ah, well. I am lucky to have such a full life. And besides, next summer I’ll be back.