Lucky Chica review in Publishers Weekly

Son married off, check. New book almost finished, check. Gassed up the PT Cruiser for only $2.32, check. Nice review of Lucky Chica in PW - oh yeah, baby!! It's also my wedding anniversary tonight, so I'm off to listen to Gary mix a most excellent martini.

Here's what PW said about LUCKY CHICA:

Lucky Chica Berta Platas. St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-34174-9

Platas’s second wish fulfillment fantasy chica-lit novel (after Cinderella Lopez) follows the craziness that ensues as Cuban-American Rosie Caballero’s humdrum world undergoes an extreme makeover after she wins $600 million in the lottery. Rosie shares her megabucks with her grandmother and her lovable cousin Cheeto, and begins plotting how to best spend her riches, gradually transforming her dumpy self into a smart, curvy J-Lo celebrity sort, pursued by the tabloids—much like heartthrob actor Brad Merritt, who, in a magical twist of fate, becomes her boyfriend. But Rosie’s newfound status also attracts envious schemers, ex-boyfriends and the glaring media spotlight. Platas depicts Rosie and crew’s gilded ascension with a giddiness that’s pure escapist fun. (Jan.)

A happy, happy wedding day

Perfect weather, many friends and family, lovely bride and handsome groom = a great time for all! Kudos to Alicea and her mom! The year's worth of work and organization showed in every little detail. Here's the fuzzy bride and groom - shot from across a crowded hall and with all guest hairdos and elbows cropped out. I didn't have time to buy the lottery tickets, so no news of a big winner amongst the guests. I'll do it at Thanksgiving, instead.

Little errands before the Big Day

As part of my last minute "to-do's" before tomorrow's wedding, I'm buying a stack of scratch-off lottery tickets to hand out. It's so much fun at family gatherings to have a pocket full of these, and whenever the mood strikes me I give someone a ticket. Last Christmas my brother in law Tim won $15, and there are always lots of free tickets and $1 prizes. It would be great to one day have someone hit a big prize. Fun!

I'm thinking of doing the same thing at book signings for LUCKY CHICA next year. One lucky reader could win big!  Or little. Whatever, it's still fun. As my character Rosie Caballero says, it's a dollar's worth of hope.  

Off to do dry cleaning, hair cuts, gas fill up (gas is back down to almost reasonable rates - yay!) and other little errands before the big day.

Back to the old blog

I gave up blogging this summer because it seemed as if there's so much blog noise that a blog has pretty much turned into a personal journal. Wait, didn't they start off that way?

The election is just days away and I've been saved from boredom from election news, non-news, and spiteful posturing, by my son Tony's upcoming wedding. Sunday (in two days!) he and Alicea will be wed in a castle on a brisk North Georgia mountain, with fall leaves providing color. Actually, both Alicea's and Tony's family will probably provide more color than all the mountain hardwoods. It will definitely be a meeting of the characters. I can't wait!

Also in "can't wait" mode is expectations for LUCKY CHICA, my upcoming romantic comedy, coming January 9th from St. Martins. More on that later.