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I am pregnant with book. Over-due with book. This summer’s book was due months ago, but sometimes, that’s how I roll. So I ran away to write. Not to Tybee, my normal runaway destination, but farther south. All the way to Anna Maria Island, Florida. Anna Maria, you may remember, was the setting for LADIES’ NIGHT. I was so charmed by this low-key island paradise, I decided to come back to work on SAVE THE DATE. Mr. MKA and I arrived in early January. I graciously allowed him to stay here for a few days, and then escorted him to the airport. Three whole weeks of writing! Three weeks of solitude. And it’s been amazing. Even if the weather hasn’t been.

Here’s what I saw on one of my first beach walks.

If I could paint, this is what I would paint. But I can’t, so I guess I’m stuck with writing. Good thing I love it. Back to the weather. I was hoping for warm, sunny weather, because I love to take long walks to clear my head after hours of writing. What I mostly got was chilly, over-cast, and chilly mixed with rainy. But since I was able to dodge the bullet with Atlanta’s snowpocalypse, I really can’t whine too much.

Being a real estate voyeur, I love to look at cute, vintage cottages when I’m out for my daily strolls. I adored this old-timey screen door insert, and the picket fence.

SAVE THE DATE is set in Savannah, with a protagonist named Cara Mia Kryzik, a wedding florist whose own outlook on love and marriage is decidedly cynical. The book takes place in May, so I had to retreat into the world of the book and sunny, springtime Savannah, instead of chilly Anna Maria, while I was writing. One day while I was out strolling, I spotted this barnacle crusted tandem bike, complete with matching fishing pole, in front of a local business. There must be a story here, right?

Another morning, when I went out to walk, this little guy strolled up the driveway of my rented cottage to greet me. White egrets are all over the island.

Most days, weather permitted, I set out for a stretch of beach a couple blocks away, to sip wine and watch the sunset. Maybe because I grew up right across Tampa Bay, in St. Pete, but I have to say Gulf sunsets are my favorite. And I love seeing them through the feathery Austalian pines that dot the coast here. Reminds me of my childhood on Pass-A-Grille beach. I’m headed home Saturday morning, with a huge chunk of the book completed. I hope all the Atlanta roads have thawed by then. And I hope whereever you are, you’ll be as warmed as I am by one last Anna Maria sunset. Ahhhh.

As a thoroughly modern American woman, I am also thoroughly in favor of reinvention whenever necessary. If you read my recent piece on The Huffington Post, maybe you saw that I’ve recently shed over 55 pounds by seeing a nutritionist, eating healthy and taking up walking.

So the folks at HarperCollins and I thought it only fitting that we do a little freshening up of my older titles. After all, SAVANNAH BLUES, my first novel published as Mary Kay Andrews, came out ten years ago. I think the story of Weezie Foley and her best friend BeBe Loudermilk is pretty timeless, but who doesn’t enjoy a little tweaking with their look?

So . . . behold! A fresh, glorious new look for six of my favorite books. It’s the editorial equivalent of Botox, don’t you think?

To celebrate my backlist make-over, we’re asking that you share the news with your friends. Chances are you’ve got a friend who never read HISSY FIT. Or maybe your college roomie was travelling abroad when DEEP DISH came out. I’d love it if you’d help me spread the word. Share the link for this blogpost, share my Facebook post about this newly revamped look (and suggest your friends like me on Facebook), or re-tweet my tweet on this same topic. This is a modern-day version of “I told two friends, and so on…”

Three winners will be chosen at random to win a complete set of the six re-packaged paperbacks. To enter, click here and fill out the form. It’s a snap. Cool, huh?

Good luck! And thanks in advance for helping me spread the word.

–MKA

The long Memorial Day weekend kicks off the month of June. And you know what that means! It’s National Drive Safe Month, National Fresh Fruits and Veggies Month, National Tennis Month, National Iced Tea Month, and yes, the long-awaited National Potty Training Awareness Month. Wonder if there’s a greeting card for that? But most importantly, June is Audiobooks Month!

My long love affair with audiobooks started when our two children were young and we were facing a long car trip from Atlanta to St. Pete, Florida for a week at the beach. My husband had, to my secret relief, already banned listening to even another minute of the kids’ favorite Raffi tunes, including the still maligned “Apples and Bananas.”
In my search for another diversion, I discovered the shelf of audibooks at our public library—back then they were cassette tapes. I selected a classic I’d never actually read myself, Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island, reasoning that since we were headed to the beach, the tale of a boy being shanghaied into service on a pirate ship would appeal to all of us—especially our then six-year-old son Andrew. By happy accident, it turned out that the version I checked out was the unabridged BBC production, with a marvelous narrator who kept us all enthralled for the entire 16-hour round trip down Interstate 75.
Based on that success, on the next car trip we listened to another unabridged classic, Jack London’s Call of the Wild. After that, nearly every visit to St. Pete or Savannah, our two most frequent destinations, was done to the accompaniment of an audiobook. After the classics, we branched out to mysteries and thrillers. I still have fond memories of all of us laughing at the antics of the inept crooks in Donald Westlake’s Bank Shot. And Andrew, all these years later, still does a keen imitation of a kidnapped child portrayed in one of Dick Francis’s mysteries. We listened to a lot of Dick Francis, back in the day, mostly because his stories were reliably free of alarming amounts of gratuitious sex—although not violence—our blood-thirsty son was never fazed by the frequent beatings endured by Francis’s hapless protagonists.
These days, the kids are no longer trapped in our back seat. So I pick and choose audios based on our own interests. Thrillers, if my husband is along, and all kinds of books if I’m travelling solo. I used to rely mostly on the audios sent me by my generous publishers, or on the narrow range of bestsellers carried at Cracker Barrel. But recently I discovered Audible.com, and now my choices are all over the map. I love to download books to my iPhone and listen on my earbuds, either in the car on long trips, or just on my daily two-mile walks. Non-fiction? I loved listening to Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken. Thriller? Robert Crais’s Taken made me quicken my pace on long walks around my neighborhood. Regency Romance? I adore Eloisa James and Lisa Kleypas’s novels.

I always enjoy hearing from fans that they enjoy the audiobooks of my novels. This summer, they’re in for a real treat. We have a new narrator, Kathleen McInerney, who I think brings wonderful energy and imagination to my new novel Spring Fever.
Knowing I’ll be clocking a lot of miles while on book tour for SPRING FEVER this summer, I’ve already downloaded my next few reads. As a longtime Carole King fan, I can’t wait to listen to her narrating her own memoir, A Natural Woman. And my pal Lisa Scottoline has a brand new thriller out too—Come Home, that I know will make the miles pass like a blur. And if my husband happens to join me on one of those trips, I’ll even share Michael Palmer’s Oath of Office, if he’ll let me stop at the outlet mall!

How about you? Do you have a favorite audiobook, or narrator, or audiobook experience? Leave me a comment by midnight, Friday, June 8th, and to celebrate this glorious occasion we’ll pick some random winners to receive an assortment of great audiobooks by some of my favorite authors.

Hey y’al!. Because I know you love your mamas (and grandmas, and sisters and aunts and grandmas, and daughters and sisters-in-law and mothers-in-law) and your best buddies…well, you get the picture, I’ve got a little Mother’s Day prezzie for you.

Spring, and the official start to estate and yard sale season is here. Here in Atlanta, you can usually find a halfway decent estate or yard sale almost every weekend year-round. But no doubt about it, spring is when the most sales start to pop up. Last weekend, I scored an embarrassment of riches at three different estate sales. My favorite find, hands down, was this fabulous vintage ice cream sign.

For three dollars! At The Breeze Inn, our vacation home on Tybee Island, I have several old soft drink signs.

But I reaaalllly wanted an old ice cream sign. Can’t wait til we head down there in a couple weeks to hang my new treasure. Last weekend was also Scott’s Antique Market weekend, so I was a busy bee, buzzing around there and all those estate sales. Here’s a great antique painting from a New England estate I scored there. Don’t you just love the pink sails?

I also found a great old iron crib at Scott’s. It was painted safety yellow, so I took it home and painted it a soft, neutral gray. These cribs aren’t safe to use for babies, but I think it would look great used as a daybed, piled with gorgeous pillows. My other favorite Scott’s find was a fun metal sign saying NO DIVING! LIFEGUARDS NOT ON DUTY.This is headed for my booth at Seaside Sisters on Tybee.  I love it, but not as much as I love the worn old “No Swimming, Fishing or Crabbing” sign I found in an antique shop on the Jersey Shore the day my grandbaby Molly was born three years ago. It has pride of place at The Breeze Inn. At a moving sale last weekend, I bought a shabby little brown dresser, intending to paint it. And while I was at Scott’s, I met a dealer selling a new kind of paint I’d been reading about, CeCe Caldwell’s. It’s a lot like the Annie Sloan chalk paint that’s been the rage for the past year or so, but this paint is made in South Carolina, instead of England, so it’s less expensive. I bought a can of a color called Destin Gulf Green, and gave it a test run on my homely little dresser. After distressing and waxing it, and lining the drawers with some fun gift wrap, it’s ready for a new home.

Those aqua matte pottery vases on top were a score from the Winona Park neighborhood yard sale on Saturday. The kitschy shell art lamp came from the same house. As did a stack of six vintage Homer Laughlin diner plates. Love the horse design.

Speaking of horses, I scored this pair of horse paint-by-numbers at a scary sale in another in-town neighborhood. Pencilled on the back was the original 15 cent pricetag. I paid lots more than that, but I do love PBNs.

On Friday, when I should have been working on the new book, I hit an estate sale in a warehouse and found this fabulous folk art windmill, which was obviously the work of somebody’s granddad.

At that same sale, was this funky popsicle stick lamp. Probably a summer camp or vacation bible school project.

But undoubtedly, the big kahuna score of the weekend was the vintage Wedgewood 1950s gas stove I found on Craigslist. What will I do with it? Stay tuned. It is in excellent condition, and the owner swears it was working in her last home. I have had a soft spot in my heart (Mr. MKA would say it’s my head that’s soft) for vintage stoves since I inherited my late Aunt Julia’s 1950s gas Roper stove. We designed our kitchen in our former house around that stove, and it worked great. I had a repair-man examine the Roper before we hooked it up, and he explained that there is very little that can go wrong with stoves of that era. I didn’t take a photo of my new old stove, but here’s a picture of the exact same stove. The antique appliance store in Clayton, Georgia has a similar, restored stove listed at $9,200! Mine needs some polishing on the chrome, but otherwise I think this is my stove.

Love! And now that I’ve had my junk fix, it looks like I have no choice but to get busy on the NEW TFB. For those of you who are new here, that means The Friggin’ Book. Which is how I actually make a living. But my publisher is pretty funny. They won’t actually pay me unless I write the damn thing. Sigh.

Although I’ve been visiting Tybee Island for over thirty years, and we’ve owned a vacation home there for four years, I’m really not an expert on this funky, junky little barrier island off the coast of Savannah. But I do get emails all the time from folks looking for travel tips. So. Here goes my Tybee travelogue, all based on my own personal opinions and experiences.

First: try to plan your trip around the weather. We love Tybee year-round, but if you’re not used to extreme heat, humidity and yes, bugs, skip the summertime. But if you’re from the South, you’re used to the reality, so plan ahead. Just remember to take some sun-block and some insect repellent. Spring and fall are our favorite times on the island. The temperatures are usually mild. And if you love the beach in the winter, try Tybee then. Temps generally hover in the 50s and 60s, and the island is quiet and uncrowded. We love festivals and parades on Tybee, from The Beach Bum Parade, which happens the last weekend before the official start of tourist season on Memorial Day weekend, to the Fourth of July festivities to Pirate Fest in early October, to Mardi Gras, followed by Tybee’s version of St. Patrick’s Day.

Accomodations? To be honest, I’ve never stayed in the motels on the island. Until we bought our place, we always rented houses, and nearly always from our friend Diane at Mermaid Cottages, who now manages our own cottage, The Breeze Inn. Unless you’re staying only overnight, a cottage is just a way better deal, especially if you’re travelling with family. You can usually find a two bedroom cottage for under $200 a night–way better than crowding four people into a cramped motel room, plus with a house you get a fully stocked kitchen, a living room, and a place for meals. You save money even if you only fix cereal in the mornings and pack lunches to take to the beach. And most of the cottages have their own washer-dryer. Many also have screened porches and or decks, and fenced yards. Lots of the Mermaid Cottages accept pets too! (Although pets are NOT allowed on the beach.) If you rent a cottage, you’ll pay an extra cleaning fee, plus a refundable security deposit, but these cottages are spotlessly clean, with lovely, high quality sheets and towels. I know this, because I’ve personally stayed in more than a dozen different Mermaid Cottages over the years. Plus you get the amazing service of Diane and her staff to help you have a fabulous time on the island. If a condo or a larger beach house suitable for big groups is more your speed, give Tybee Island Vacation Rentals a call. There are at least three small inns on the island, and the newest one is the elegant Beachview Bed and Breakfast. I toured the guest rooms recently and this place looks divine!

Dining. Believe me when I say Tybee is extremely casual. There is no place on the island (including most churches) you can’t go in shorts and flip-flops. Our favorite restaurant, hands-down, is Sundae Cafe. This unprepossessing spot is located in a strip shopping center between a Chu’s convenience store and a liquor store, but don’t let appearances fool you. Day times you get an excellent lunch at great prices–which is why you’ll always find local cops and firemen and fishermen filling every table, plus the bar. Go early so you can get the specials which can run out fast with items like the crispy-scored flounder or the fried-oyster po-boy. Evenings are dressier, which means maybe you put on a collared shirt, or switch the bathing suit cover-up for a tee and some capris. Families with children are welcome at Sundae, which is good, because we always take our kids and grand-kids. Weekends and holidays, and all summer, you’ll want to call ahead for a reservation. But here’s a tip: you can always check the menu on-line and order your dinner to-go, which is what we do if Mr. MKA gets back late from a fishing trip, or the little ones are just too cranky to take out in public. Also? Portions are HUGE! I nearly always save half my dinner to have for lunch the next day.

Sundae Cafe’s desserts are awesome, but if you want something a little lighter, in warm weather months, take a stroll down Tybrisa Avenue to Jimmy’s Seaside Sweets for some delicious of their delicious custom-made gelato. My favorite is the chocolate Marsh Mud, or the Almond Joy–mmm, mmm, good. Their fun old-fashioned candy counter is also popular with kids.

Some of our other favorite dining options include Tybee Island Social Club, or Social as the locals call it. Very laid-back, with their version of a taco which is actually sort of a pita, with fillings ranging from barbecue duck to shrimp to fish. Prices are dirt cheap, and the house-made cocktails are fun and inventive. There’s a front porch open to the breezes, and often live entertainment. Right across the street is another fun option, Sting-Rays, with open-air seating, seafood and more live entertainment. At least once during your trip to Tybee you’ll want to watch a sunset over the Back River. That’s when you plan a trip to A.J’s. Sit on the deck, sip a cocktail, order some seafood and bust a chill, as our son, Boomerang Boy would say.

If you’re dining a little late, or you want to experience dinner looking out at the ocean, try Fanny’s On The Beach. Fare is what you’d expect, pizzas, sandwiches, some seafood entrees, but they have two rooftop decks for that all-important view. Can get noisy during the season.

Every visitor to Tybee should experience The Breakfast Club at least once. This local institution looks like a greasy spoon, but don’t be deceived by appearances. Owner/chef Jodee offers fabulous fare, always fresh, house-made sausages and sauces, and local specialties like shrimp and grits are on the menu. I love the Solidarity omelet. Portions are large, and prices are fair, but not cheap. Now, if only they’d switch their fountain drinks from Pepsi to Coke, I’d be a happy camper. Expect to run into a line of hungry folks unless you go before 8am, especially in the summer. If the line is too long, or you’ve got little ones in tow, maybe cross the street to Sunrise, which has a steam-table breakfast buffet, or you can order off the menu. Service is quick, prices are cheap, and unless you hit it Sunday morning right after mass gets out at St. Michael’s up the street, you probably won’t have to wait for your eggs and grits.

Dining in? Or picnicking? The IGA/Tybee Market right on Butler Avenue has a full line of groceries and sells wine and beer. The in-house bakery and deli is amazingly good. I’m talking homemade biscuits and cinnamon rolls in the morning, and excellent Southern fried chicken in the deli, not to mention hefty, made to order sandwiches for very reasonable prices. For a great day at the beach, call ahead and order sandwiches, side salads and/or fried chicken to pack in your cooler for a picnic. The Tybee Market’s homemade pimento cheese is the authentic, Southern real deal. Seafood there is usually fresh in season, and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, produce here can be sketchy. We like to stop at Davis Produce Stand on the way out to the beach for fresh fruits and vegetables and boiled peanuts.Note: Davis is not actually on Tybee. If you cross the Lazaretto Creek Bridge, you’ve gone too far! Or for a “big grocery shop” we stop at Publix on Wilmington Island. But if we’re cooking for a crowd, and Mr. MKA comes back from his boat empty-handed, we head down to Bowie’s Seafood, the bright blue former filling station located on “the bend” where U.S. 80 meets Butler Avenue. You’ll find very fresh local-caught shrimp, crab, fish and oysters, depending on the season. They’ll even pack you a cooler with ice and seafood to take home. Be aware though, their hours can be a little “quirky.” Which means they sometimes operate on what we like to call “Tybee Time.” Same goes for Davis Produce!

Sight-seeing. If you need a little more excitement than the waves lapping on the beach, here are some ideas courtesy of the island tourism office. . For one thing, park the car and walk or bike! Our guests at The Breeze Inn rent bikes from Tim’s Bikes and Beach Gear. (Also baby equipment, including cribs and bike-trailers) He’ll deliver right to your door, and pick up your bike again when you’re ready to head home. Tybee is perfectly flat and perfectly easy to bike–the whole island is only about 2.6 miles long. A fun stop is the Tybee Island History Center on the North end of the beach. Walk up the 178 steps of the old Tybee lighthouse and get a grand view of the ocean and the surrounding marsh. A little farther back up Highway 80 you’ll see old Fort Pulaski. A modest entry fee gets you into the old fort, which is a great spot for self-guided hikes. Since this is a barrier island, there are lots of watery activities to try, including kayaking or canoeing, charter fishing and dolphin and eco-tours.

Night-life. If you read my novel, Savannah Breeze, you know about Doc’s Bar, which is a Tybee landmark. Located on Tybrisa, Doc’s is a great spot to kick back at night with a drink, or to dance to some live beach music with the locals. It’s even cool if you’re on a chick trip, since nobody cares if you’re dancing with your besties! You might even catch local singer-songwriters performing several nights a week. You could also do karaoke at Bennie’s, or go over to Huc-a-Poo’s for pizza and some corn-hole. If you’re drinking, plan to walk back to your cottage–or take the Crab Cab. If it’s a night of dressed-up glamour you’re after, you’d best head into Savannah. For a special night have dinner at Ye Olde Pink House, or Vic’s, and go to the rooftop bar at The Bohemian on River Street, a glam spot for appetizers and stunning views of the Savannah skyline and the Savannah River.

Shopping. Of course, I’m biased, but most folks would agree with me that the best shopping on the island is at Seaside Sisters on Highway 80. Owner Susan Kelleher brings a unique mix of coastal, cottagey charm to this combination gift/home goods/art/antiques shop. Here’s where you’ll find just the right touch of Tybee to take home, whether it’s jewelry, cute bathing suit cover-ups, scented candles, funny greeting cards, or yes–vintage treasures like the ones I stock in my booth there. This is also the best spot to pick up a fun beach read–especially since Susan always stocks all the latest MKA novels, as well as Paula Deen cookbooks and food gifts. Did you know Paula has a house on Tybee? You can rent it through Mermaid Cottages. Otherwise, there are plenty of shops all over the island to buy typical tacky touristy stuff. I do like the nice bathing suits, beach gear, shoes, and sunglasses offered at The Surf Shop, and it’s fun to shop the eccentric offerings at Fish Art, which is right before Seaside Sisters on Highway 80.

So…that’s my little Tybee travelogue. Relax, kick off your flips and stay a while. And tell ’em MKA sent you!