One of my favorite things is hearing authors talk about their books and their inspiration for them. Whether it be with readings or media interviews, hearing the story behind the book always sheds a new light on an author's work for me. This week I got a real treat when I received a copy of a DVD that Adriana Trigiani has done for her book clubs, which has Adriana talking about not just one book, but all of her books. She also offers readers a tour of Greenwich Village, where she lives and whose Commerce Street formed the backdrop to one of my favorite books of hers, Lucia, Lucia.

Anyone with children may be shaking their heads like me at how Halloween as a holiday has grown since we were kids. We had a costume and a pillowcase for trick or treating and at the house there was a cut pumpkin with a candle. This pumpkin was carved with a knife. Really elaborately decorated homes had cornstalks! Now there are these over-the-top displays with spider webs, large size lawn ornaments, orange lights and store-bought bags for hauling the loot --- and complete pumpkin carving kits.

We're sneaking in one more pre-Halloween newsletter because we just can't resist! Kidsreads.com is a treasure trove of goodies this month. We're ALL about Lemony Snicket, with the release of his last book in his Series of Unfortunate Events --- THE END. We have an excerpt, a review and all the details on the thirteenth and final tale in the strange and spooky saga of the Baudelaire orphans. Our poll is Snicket-based too --- we want to know what you think of the series and of THE END, so don't forget to weigh in.

Remind me when Halloween became such a big holiday. I remember when I was a kid we would dress up and hit the candy trail. Now it's like a national holiday with its own batch of decorations and costumes to beat the band. A friend recently moved to the suburbs and she is in awe of the decorations and what feels like a competition on her block for the most spider webs and other ghoul-like designs! I have a great collection of costumes that I made for my boys over the years and I was oh so happy to loan her the "ear of corn" costume for her 18-month-old son.

Monday I went to a luncheon where Nora Ephron was the featured speaker. As you know, I loved her latest book, I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, finding her writing both witty and dead on. The room was packed for her talk and she was humorous, irreverent and smart in her comments. One of my favorite lines was what her mom told her when she was growing up when she would come home upset about something --- "Everything is copy," meaning that you can use everything that happens to you in life at some time or another. I realized how true this is. Some of my most "tragic-at-the-time" moments have gone on to give me some of my best story material. When I tell my kids about some of my "not fun" high school moments I can make the moments where people made me just insane sound pretty funny. Who knew? Think of this the next time you are somewhere and you are not feeling so great about life.

This week (October 15th-21st) is Teen Read Week and Teenreads.com is proudly one of the sponsors of this event. We want you to join us in getting the word out about Teen Read Week to your friends, teachers and librarians. As part of this week's celebration, you can go here and vote for your favorite book of the year.

Last night as temperatures dipped into the 30s and 40s, I did a frantic race around the deck and patio to gather the houseplants that have been enjoying the sun all summer and bring them in the house. October is a relatively quiet month before the holidays officially begin with, Halloween. Yes, any parent knows that THIS, not Thanksgiving, is the true start to the holidays.

I am wearing socks today, which is a true signal that cold weather is upon us as I fight wearing them until the last possible second. I also raced around the deck and patio last night gathering up all the houseplants that had spent the summer outside sunning themselves. I took that "possible frost" report seriously.