Postcard from Paradise

And what I'm celebrating on America's Birthday

Ten days until The Parisian Heist launch all! This is no longer a drill. That means you aren’t even pre-ordering now. This is just ordering time. Thank you to everyone who has already ordered and requested from your library. I can’t wait to Zoom into your book clubs, head to your local bookstores and drink some champagne with you.

I am still giving away a one-year subscription to this substack FREE when you pre-order Parisian Heist from any bookstore. You can enter your details here. Also add if you want me to send personalized name plates for your friends or book clubs. SPREAD THE WORD. We’ve got this.

I finished writing my next book at midnight last night. A dude ranch thriller called The Last Ride that comes out next summer. I’ve been at Paradise Guest Ranch in Wyoming all week and being here added details I couldn’t have invented sitting at my desk in Philly. This is my third time here, second with the family, and it genuinely is paradise on earth.

Here’s what’s different about Paradise: the guests actually talk to each other. Conservatives and liberals, coasters and heartlanders, people who would never share a dinner table back home are sharing one here and mostly agreeing that they’re exhausted by the hate and hungry for some sane middle ground that nobody seems to be representing. It’s been genuinely hopeful in a way I didn’t expect.

This morning I read this from Loose Threads by Lingua Franca founder Rachelle Hruska and I couldn’t have put it better.

Lately, it feels like we’ve forgotten that disagreeing with someone doesn’t mean they should be excluded from the conversation. If we’re serious about building stronger communities and a healthier democracy, we have to keep talking to one another.

Let’s keep talking. It’s the only way.

The kids are in a Fourth of July parade right now and they’re painting their ponies this afternoon. PAINTING PONIES! Is anything cuter?

So on America’s 250th birthday, here’s what I’m celebrating:

1. Freedom of speech

2. Equality

3. Costco

4. Indie bookstores

5. Women’s rights

6. Public schools

7. National parks

8. A free press

9. Diet Coke

10. Immigration

11. Lin Manuel Miranda

12. Dolly Parton

13. NASA

14. Trial by jury

15. The fact that we course correct. Slowly and messily and sometimes it takes way too long. But we do.

Happy Fourth! Tell me what you’re celebrating today.