Lucy is Remembering Old Friends #amwriting @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm supposed to be working on Key West food critic mystery number 14, as yet unnamed. But I have been distracted by a number of things, including the upcoming launch of The Ingredients of Happiness (July 4.) Last week I was sorting through a pile of old photographs (another form of procrastination) and came across this one of our friend, Dr. Howard Blue, with our daughter, many years ago. 

Howard was a psychiatrist and a tennis player, extremely smart and with a huge sense of humor. For a stretch of years, he went on vacation with our family. He fit right in and the kids loved him. Then we moved a little further away, and I became involved with writing, and we lost touch. It was a big shock a couple of years ago to hear that he had had a sudden heart attack and died in his office. How I wish I had reconnected with him!

 The Happiness book is dedicated to my old friend, which makes me me feel a little better, though it's not the same thing at all as having him over to dinner. I also gave Howard a quirky role in the book. Here’s a little snippet from Happiness, where Cooper Hunziker is showing her sister her new office. (The office is at Yale, which does in fact have decorative gargoyles on many of the buildings.)

My phone chimed and Trudy’s FaceTime picture popped up on the screen. “I know you’re busy with Daniel and all, I wanted to check in and see how it’s going.”

“You’re just in time to get a tour of my office,” I told her, ignoring the not-so-subtle hint about my love life. I walked the phone around the room, explaining what still needed to be done. “Oh, here’s the best part,” I said, hurrying to the window. “My next-door neighbor.” I held the screen up so she could see the gargoyle.

She yelped with delight. “I love him! He’s perfect! What are you going to call him?”

“Howard, I think,” I said, surprising both of us.

“After Dr. Blue,” she said.

I nodded. Howard Blue was the psychiatrist who’d been particularly kind to my mother over her last three years. Under his care, she’d managed to achieve an improved level of calm and balance that made life easier for both of us.

“I love that,” she said. “And here’s another idea. What if you posted a picture of the gargoyle on your Instagram and asked for suggestions for his name? It could go viral. He’s that cute. You don’t have to tell them you’ve already settled on Howard.”

“You’re brilliant,” I said. “When Meeka the publicist fires me, I’m hiring you.” I heard the shrieks of her children squabbling in the background and she signed off to referee. I snapped the photo out of my window, adjusted the lighting, and posted: My new neighbor. How would he introduce himself? #rockthehappinesschallenge #gargoyle #gargoyles #namethegargoyle #theneighborhood #gargoylewisdom #rockyourhappinessjourney. 

The comments began to ding my phone instantly. “Claude!” “Peter!” “Handsome Dan!” “Pierre!” “Orlando!” “He’s adorable!” “Is he single?”

LUCY: Do you have old friends who were an important part of your life whom you haven't seen in a while? Tell us about them!

You can pre-order The Ingredients of Happiness

Or reviewers can request it on Netgalley

Or, ask your local librarian to order!

Finally, I wanted to mention that our friend Elizabeth Varadan was featured in Top Retirements last week in an interview about retirement in Portugal--go have a look!