March 13

This is a very busy weekend for us. The Tucson Festival of Books is a big deal. A very big deal. Last year they estimated there were 200,000 people at the festival over both days. That’s a lot of people, we don’t care where you’re from. Tonight is our kick-off dinner and we love that dinner. So many fun book-y people to talk to. This is one of those weekends we go home exhausted from. It’s hard work being on for so many hours at a time. You can expect a great follow up blog next week for sure. Also, Amylynn’s seventh book, Miss Sinclair’s Secret, is going to the editor this week. It’s so exciting to be done with it and sending it off. Also, writing the words “seventh book” is crazy. Who would have ever thought? Ava would, but Amylynn’s amazed by that.  Even as busy as we’ve been, we found funny stuff.

1. Stowaway. Don’t you remember, way back in the day, when you’d sit around the living room with your family and watch The Love Boat? There were frequently stowaways on the ship and the Sisters had many fantasies about stowing away aboard a cruise liner and sailing off to exotic spots. We’d get a job on board as a cruise director just like Julie McCoy. It was gonna be awesome. That brings us to the story from New York this week. A woman was flying out of LaGuardia airport  when her luggage created a huge hassle. The Transportation Security Administration practically shut the place down when something happened setting off the “un-known contents alarm.” Turns out her Chihuahua snuck into her suitcase and stowed away on the trip to LA. The woman had absolutely no idea the dog was there. So we’re marking that as a “No” on our checklist for the Great Panda Smuggling Heist.

2. This shit is real. Seriously. Did you know there are black chickens. They’re gorgeous. And look how skinny they look. Black feathers are very slimming. These gorgeous birds even lay black eggs. We’re not kidding. We thought it was an internet hoax, but no. It’s true. Look them up. They’re called Ayan Cemani and they’re from Indonesia. Everything is black. EVERYTHING. Even their meat. If your keeping a tally at home, add these chickens to the Quill Sisters Must Have score sheets. The thing is getting ridiculous at this point.

3. Thin Mints are like a box of chocolates. Tom Hanks and his kid were in San Francisco this week. They were heading to a type writer store (???? Do those things still exist?) when they encountered a gang of Girl Scouts selling cookies. Tom bought 4 boxes and then stayed around to help them sell more. He was willing to have his picture taken with any passersby who also bought cookies. Tom Hanks is such a nice guy. Still, this story posed unanswered questions. Why kind of cookies does Tom like? Also, and more importantly, what the hell is he typing?

4. A real tragedy. Amylynn and Ava have had a long standing dispute about red licorice. Amylynn’s position is that Red Vines are the one true licorice and every other copycat version is so horrible as not to be borne. Ava thinks that’s hogwash and insists that Twizzlers is the only licorice worth putting in your mouth. If you’re undecided you could have done some field investigating this past week if you happened to live in Pennsylvania. A semi truck carrying a load of Twizzlers crashed on the highway around 11:30 PM Wednesday, littering the highway with thousands of boxes. Amylynn wouldn’t have even rolled over in bed for such an event. Now if it had been Swedish Fish…

5. Now we have to go back to Texas. Are you familiar with the SXSW festival? It’s a giant music festival held every year in Austin. This year a company called Mophie is partnering with the St. Bernard Rescue Organization to rescue people at the festival. Rescue you if you have a dying phone battery, that is. All you have to do is text a photo of your dying battery to them and a dog with a charger may show up to save the day. HOLY COW! We totally need that. That should be everywhere. Amylynn’s phone is ALWAYS dying and the Sisters LOVE St Bernards. This is the most glorious thing the Sisters could imagine.