It's a heck of a bug. We're amusing each other by commiserating via e-mail: "So, what stage are YOU on?"

I haven't put real people in my books, but I HAVE put in real places and cats-and I put in "tributes" to people-especially my grandparents. Ex: Miska's putting pepper on lemons in "Between Worlds" was for my Grandpa Mead, who liked salt on grapefruit. (The rest of us like sugar.)