The good, the bad, and the insane.

It was a week of near disasters and glorious victories. Pits and peaks Mountain tops and sink holes. Typical writers' terrain.

Pit: After driving 4 hours to speak to a writer's group, I noticed the sky was getting ominously dark. Three miles from the venue, the torrents broke loose. With nowhere to park near the appointed building, I was forced to run through the downpour with my dinner plate-sized umbrella (which the wind turned inside out almost immediately) in my dry clean only suit and heels.

The wide expanse of parking lot? Well, to quote a famous title, a river ran through it.

As I traversed the first ankle-deep puddle, I watched helplessly as my box of books perched atop the wheeled suitcase carrying my presentation materials tipped - in slow motion - and descended to the wet earth. My books, my precious slaved-over, paid-for books that could not be returned, scattered far and wide as the deluge did it's best to ruin as many as possible.

At least my tears blended in with the rain and tendrils of hair dripping down my face.

Only 5 people braved the elements to attend.

Peak: Two days later, my hometown Tea Tasting/Book Signing at a lovely Tea Room was a smashing success. sunny skies, gorgeous surroundings, lots of old friends to hug, a delicious lunch, and more than 80 books sold.

Pit: My long anticipated first nationally broadcast interview on NBC was preempted by a dog food commercial. After notifying hundreds of local fans to tune in or tape the Daytime show on our local affiliate, WFLA, Spouse and I watched with bated breath for the entire hour and . . . no Mom Needs Chocolate interview. So deflating.

Frantic calls to my publicist followed, then her queries to the show's producer. What happened?

It turns out the segment containing my spot was sold to an advertiser (money, of course, trumps everything else) locally, so the interview aired all over the rest of the country, just not on our Tampa affiliate. Most embarrassing for me and difficult to explain to the fine folks who came home from work, flipped on the recorded show, and watched the whole hour expecting to see me. I was bummed all day.

Peak: A wonderful hour-long radio interview with WMMK Talk Radio. Yay! Redemption!

Pit: My agent isn't crazy about the title or content of the new book I've been slaving over.

Peak: But he wants it anyway. By the end of the week. Yikes!

So there you have it - a typical week in the life of a writer. The good, the bad, and the insane.