then Florinda said (about GOING OVER)

You know how I'm always talking about Florinda?

(Florinda, Florinda, Florinda)

Well, there she is, all the way across the United States, at the Chronicle Books booth, talking to Lara Starr, Chronicle publicist, about whom I'm also often caught bragging.

The two of them, together. And me here. 

And yet, even though 3,000 miles separate us, Florinda always makes me feel like I'm right there in the room with her. She makes me laugh. She tells me stories. She reads many books. She makes room.

Florinda was a key component in the Going Over blog tour, with her fabulous Q and A. That was (believe me) already going far beyond the call of duty, but yesterday, at the end of an uber long but good day, I received another gift from Florinda: this review of the Berlin book that she'd taken the time not just to read but to ponder.

They are glorious words. I send you straight to her. Some 3,000 miles away from me, which is also the stretch of her smile.

Thank you, Florinda!