Cleaning Up Beijing

After every big party some people stay to help cleanup while others go home. Did you watch the Olympics in Beijing? With the help of Tivo, I managed to catch quite a number of events including the opening and closing ceremonies. Wow!

Of course now the world turns their eyes on London as the next home for the summer Olympics. I don't know how the Brits will pull it off. It's a good thing they've got 4 years to get ready. Then again, the winter olympics will be in my own home town in just a couple years. Just. Two. Years! I feel like a hostess who just found out that her two dozen dinner guests are all arriving a day early!

Of course you can't really compare the summer and winter olympics. The Beijing games had twice as many athletes, four times as many tickets and over a $40 billion budget. The Vancouver Olympics will operate with a $2 billion budget. Beijing's Olympic green area is many times bigger than Vancouver's Stanley Park, but Vancouver will be the largest metro area ever to hold the Winter Games.

Even though my city is gorgeous in its own right, I still can't help but feel like my two dozen early-arriving dinner guests are expecting filet mignon and lobster thermador while I've got Kraft Dinner simmering on the back burner.

To relate all this to writing (and you knew I would)... with the release of Devil May Ride just a few months away, I'm beginning to feel a tiny bit queasy. I love all the complimentary emails I've received from fans but I know they'll be comparing book one with book two and, of course, I want them to love 'em both.