I met Julie Kenner last month in Reno. We sat together at a dinner and had a great time. Now her new book, CARPE DEMON: ADVENTURES OF A DEMON-HUNTING SOCCER MOM is out, and I thought I'd tell you a little about it - but not before sharing Julie's answers to the all important questions:

Q: What song would you love to find out was written about you?
A: I’m about the least musically-oriented person on the planet, but I’m going to go with George Strait’s “The Chair,” simply because I think it’s an incredibly romantic song.
Q: If you were going to be the inspiration for a song, what would its title be?
A: Considering how much I have a tendency to angst, I think I have to pick one that’s already been done: “Don’t Worry. Be Happy” (or Monty Python’s “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life”)

A combination of mommy lit and fantasy, the book has been receiving praise since even before its release when Booksense honored it by selecting CARPE DEMON as one of its Top Ten Summer Paperback Picks for 2005.

Here's a little about the book, and you can find out more at Julie's web site: www.juliekenner.com. Enjoy!

Lots of women put their careers aside once the kids come along. Kate Connor, for instance, hasn't hunted a demon in ages...

That must be why she missed the one wandering through the pet food aisle of the San Diablo Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, he managed to catch her attention an hour later-when he crashed into the Connor house, intent on killing her.

Now Kate has to clean up the mess in her kitchen, dispose of a dead demon, and pull together a dinner party that will get her husband elected to County Attorney-all without arousing her family's suspicion. Worse yet, it seems the dead demon didn't come alone. He was accompanied by a High Demon named Goramesh who, for some unknown reason, intends to kill off the entire population of San Diablo.

It's time for Kate Connor to go back to work.

OFF THE RECORD is being excerpted in Complete Woman magazine in September, and I just got my hands on a copy. When I flipped open to page 80 I just started laughing. They illustrated the story, so on the left hand page is an 8x10 version of what they thought Janey looked like. And I swear, hand on my heart, I thought she looked like me. It's true her hair is a little flippier than mine, and, as my daughter pointed out, a little longer. And so what if she has quite perky cleavage beneath her white button down shirt. There's something about that illustrated girl that I think looks like me. Wishful hoping? Projection? Delirium? Don't know. Will wait to hear my friends' verdicts to see if I'm completely delusional.

In any case, it was fun to see a bunch of illustrated figures that are supposed to be Jane and Teddy. The illustrator even put a Chicago Cubs shirt on the DJ at Sam's bar, which I thought was a great touch, and quite astute.

Check it out if you're around a magazine section, it's the issue with Angelina Jolie on the cover.

We just got back from a week on Martha's Vineyard, a week that started off seeming like the longest vacation in history (five kids, five adults in cloudy, misty weather) and, on the ferry ride back, ended up seeming way too short. After a shaky start with the weather, it cleared up and we all had just the best time ever. Along the way I started racking up some good ideas and not so good ideas for next year. I thought I'd share them:

Good Idea: Grocery shopping before we were on-island to save time and have a well-stocked fridge.
Not So Good Idea: Three women and three hours running around from store to store - to the farm stand, to BJs, to Stop & Shop, to the liquor store for some special Puerto Rican brandy my friend insisted would make the most killer margaritas ever. We were ready to kill her.

Good Idea: Buying all the kids fun sunglasses (girls with rhinestones and flowers in funny shapes, boys had Spiderman) to wear on the beach and around town.
Not So Good Idea: Buying the kids fun sunglasses that they'd lose, misplace and just generally leave in unlikely spots so we had to hear, "Mom, where's my sunglasses?" whined about a million times.

Good Idea: Going for a run around the island after a day at the beach to breath some fresh air and get some exercise.
Not So Good Idea: Downing four Corona's before going for a run around the island, and realizing if you go any further you're either going to throw up or collapse right there in front of a sweet family vacationing with their six children.

Good Idea: Performing a B & E (breaking and entering) on a gorgeous house under construction, just to see what it looks like inside.
Not So Good Idea: Three women performing a B & E in flip flops, where, at any moment, we anticipated a band saw cutting us off at the ankles or a nail-filled plank of wood spearing our pedicurd feet - at which point we'd have to call an ambulance and find out if the sign out front proclaiming "No Tresspassing - All Violators Will Be Prosecuted to the Full Extent of the Law" actually applied to us.

Good Idea: An Appletini (or four) at a cute Vineyard bar.
Not So Good Idea: $14 a pop for an Appletini (or four) at a cute Vineyard bar.

Good Idea: Getting some work done while sitting on a deck overlooking the ocean, just to catch up on some things while away.
Not So Good Idea: Three laptops, five cell phones, and one Blackberry that kept vibrating. "I put vacation on my calendar and it's reminding me that I'm supposed to be relaxing," my friend explained.