Foolishness

I have a serious Diet Cherry Coke addiction. (One I've blogged about before.) Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is a close second as far as writing fuel goes. Since I learned (to my dismay) that both of these are seasonal items, I have been scouring the store shelves, waiting for one or both to reappear. I finally found a twelve-pack of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper on the store shelf a few days ago. ONE. Of course, I bought it. Then next to it, I noticed two twelve-packs of this:



I stared at it longer than anyone should stare at soda, thinking, This could be hideous...but what if it's not?

Since I might never see it on a shelf again (a lesson learned when the Diet Cherry Coke disappeared), and I have no idea when I might be able to replenish my Diet Cherry Coke/Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper stash, I grabbed both.

Utter foolishness. It is NASTY.

Anyone want 23 cans? This has to be an April Fool's Day joke.

Writing Emergency

I was scanning the shelves at Target (again) today, hoping they'd received a new shipment of Diet Cherry Coke. Just as I was about to give up, the Coke Man (in a spiffy red polo with the Coca-Cola logo) showed up to restock. I asked about the Diet Cherry Coke, and he informed me that it is, in fact, a seasonal item and no longer being stocked. Ditto the Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.

I think this constitutes a writing emergency. How is it possible that I've never noticed this before? I wrote all through last winter with a fridge full of Diet Cherry Coke! Were my local stores stocking old soda or something?

I'd lobby Coke for a change, but if ever a company was too big to listen to one squawking author, Coke is it. If anyone has a Diet Cherry Coke source, let me know. I'm finishing up a new proposal, and it calls for Diet Cherry Coke fuel. There's an autographed book in it for you if your suggestion works!

In other emergency news, the Sox had better step it up tonight. Otherwise, my dream of seeing my two favorite teams in the World Series--the Red Sox in the A.L. and the Rockies in the N.L.--is over. (Paging Josh Beckett...tonight would be a great time to pull off a no-hitter!)

Red Sox Nation should quit listening to the pessimists on WEEI 850 and let Manny be Manny and say whatever he wants; a lot of baseball is a mind game, and comments like Manny's are expected. (Come on, does anyone really think Manny's given up? I don't.) What matters is rocking tonight's game at Jacobs Field, not what anyone says or does off the field.

I'm planning to TiVO both Survivor and Ugly Betty so I don't miss a single pitch of tonight's game. Let's go, Sox! I'll be nursing my VERY LAST Diet Cherry Coke while I watch.

Two Interviews, A Website, and Those Yankees

I'll attack the last part first. I saw a news poll on one of Boston's television stations yesterday afternoon that said 71% of Red Sox fans wanted to have the Sox face the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series, rather than face the New York Yankees. After last night's game, they're getting their wish. But I have to wonder why they felt this way. IMO, either team would be tough. I was just hoping the series between the Yankees and the Indians would go the full five games so the advancing team would be tired before arriving in Boston.

Last StubHub check: cheapest tix to the Boston/Cleveland game are running $293 for the nosebleed section of the bleachers. A good seat near the action is running $2718.

On the other hand, the cheapest tix to the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks first playoff game start at $40. Not great seats, but still. What a price differential. I think I could almost get the airfare out west and a game ticket for what it'd cost me to get one ticket to see the Sox. Insane.

However, I have tres coolio news! First, I e-mailed the revisions on my upcoming novella, Last Stand, to my editor this morning. (Did ya hear the woot-woot sounds?! LOVE when I have a project wrapped!)

Second, Joy Siegel of Working Palms Radio Magazine in South Florida has asked to do an interview with me. It will air down there on the following stations:

WLVJ - 1040AM
WFTL - 850AM
WMEN - 640AM
WFLL - 1400AM

As soon as I know the exact dates and times, I'll post 'em here. I'm also doing an interview with the fantastic Cynthia Leitich Smith for her popular Cynsations blog. Again, as soon as I know the exact date the interview goes live, I'll post it here.

Speaking of live, you've gotta check out Lynda Sandoval's new website, which re-launched today. I think it's one of the best I've ever seen. (And if you haven't read Lynda's books yet--either for teens or for adults--you're missing out.)



And a P.S.: Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me to tell me that Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper IS a seasonal release (I'll stock up next year!) and that Diet Cherry Coke is not. I'll go hunting for that Diet Cherry Coke now and hope they don't replace it with Cherry Coke Zero, which is way too sweet for me.

Hi Ho Cherry-O!

Anyone know if Diet Cherry Coke is a seasonal thing? How about Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper?

I try not to drink too much soda as I write, but when I do, these are my top picks. In the last month or so, they've become harder and harder to find...no luck at Stop & Shop, Hannaford, Star Market, or even Target (which I can always count on for replenishing my soda stash.) Is there a cherry-flavoring shortage when the leaves change? Help!

In better news, I heard back from my editor about my novella, Last Stand. (She's speedy! Of course, it hits the shelves in May 2008--in publishing time, that's pretty quick--so she needs to be speedy.) She liked it and had only a few suggestions, all easy to work into the story. I promised to get it back to her by Tuesday or Wednesday.

I may be forced to delve into my limited supply of Black Cherry Propel water as I work.