Recently, I was out to lunch with an agent I'd never before met. Everything was going so well until she asked me if I had any hobbies. For once in my life I was speechless, because if I told the truth I'd have to admit I'm one of the laziest people in America, if not the world.

Does lying around watching Turner Classic Movies count? What about lying around reading books? I fully expect to be reincarnated as a cat, then, I won't need to feel guilty anymore. The most activity I'd then be responsible for is getting to the food bowl and occasionally batting at a catnip toy...

Here's where I usually make a tie-in to the book I want to talk about, but this time around I don't have a single clever thing to say. It's too hot! And, since it's the weekend, my brain has turned sluggish.

So here's the book: TRUE CONFESSIONS. Coming soon as a trade paperback, it first came out a few years ago and I'm still captivated by the wacky goings-on in Gospel, Idaho, where everything that goes wrong in the world is all California's fault...