2007
November 17, 2007
Today my friend Diana
Cosby had her first booksigning for her debut novel, HIS CAPTIVE. I
missed her talk because I'm a Hokie widow and soccer mom this weekend
and therefore have two rambunctious children in tow, but I did make
it to her booksigning. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I can't
believe we both started writing at the same time (I won't tell you how
long ago, but suffice it to say it was before I had children and my
oldest is now 8. You do the math.)
I'm so proud
of her. Diana has worked so hard to get to this point and she was just
glowing. This autorgraphed book is going on my keeper shelf in a place
of honor. You go, girl!
October 15, 2007
We just survived our
first family trip to Disney World. Boy, was that exhausting!--but oh
so worth it. The kids loved it, I enjoyed
seeing the whole experience through their eyes, and my husband was happy
he got to do at least a few grown-up rides, even though he had to do
it solo. You couldn't pay me enough to go on the Tower of Terror. Uh
uh, no way. I knew my kids (6 and 8) had energy but they were real troopers
the whole time. We were at the parks from 9am until 10pm every day,
no breaks. And when we'd get back to the hotel, they still had enough
zip left to go swimming in the pool. Still makes me tired just thinking
about it.
But now that all
the packing and planning is over, the first of many loads of laundry
is in the wash, and the kids are back in school, I can get back to that
writing career I've been trying to get off the ground--if I can shake
this Disney-Princess-on-the-brain fog I'm still in.
August 6, 2007
I'm an official blogger
now . . .
The Otherworld Diner
is now open for business (http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/).
There's 12 or so of us paranormal writers who also like to think we're
a bit funny posting there. I posted my first contribution to the blog
today titled "Can Paranormal Be Funny?" It actually wasn't
nearly as painful as I thought it might be (at least until the commenters
start posting). Hopefully it'll develop a huge following. At any rate,
I only have to be brilliant and interesting once every two weeks.
July 28, 2007
Finally, my name in
print (sort of)
I went to my critique
partner Donna Dalton's booksigning today to buy her first book, Irish
Destiny (even though I've read it) and show my support. Imagine my surprise
to read the dedication on the first page to her three critique partners:
Mary Ann Clark, Liz Lincoln and yours truly. Yep, my name printed in
black and white (and spelled correctly!) I was touched and amazed. She
never told me she was going to to that. So sweet. If I don't finish
my own book (10 pages to go) it may end up being the only place I see
my name in print.
July 15, 2007
I just made it through
my first (and probably last) mermaid party. Imagine 12 little Ariels
in sequin fishtales 'swimming' around in a cardboard undersea world,
screaming
at that high decibel level little girls can reach on a major sugar high.
I don't know how the Party Fairy does it--I'm just glad she does. She
provides the place, the backdrops, the costumes, the food, the goodie
bags, . . . everything. All I had to do was show up with the birthday
girl, write the check, and lug all the gifts home. I didn't even have
to clean my house. It was worth every penny.
June 19, 2007
Same website, different
domain name.
I finally got rid
of that annoying hyphen in my domain name. (To tell you the truth, it's
been bothering me since I registered it.) And now that I've jumped on
the bandwagon and joined a group blog, I figured it was time to remedy
the situation before I started posting in case anyone loves what I have
to say so much they just have to come to my website to find out more
about me. Or hates what I have to say so much they feel the need to
track me down personally and beat me with wet noodles.
June 13, 2007
Well now I've gone
and done it. I've joined a group blog.
Yes, the blogging virgin is now a charter member of one. Scary thought.
It all started with someone posting on one of my writer's loops asking
if there were any other humorous paranormal romance authors out there.
My hand shot up so fast, I think I pulled it out of joint. So did about
2 dozen other people's. Now we've banded together to form a group blog
promoting lite paranormal romance. It's called "The Otherworld
Diner: Where the Specials are Supernatural With a Side of Humor"
(I came up with the tag line *G*).
The blog space is up but we're not ready to start doing posts just yet.
With so many of us, it looks like I'll only have to post once every
two weeks. I think I can be brilliant twice a month. Right, you say
. . . I can't even update my own website twice a month. *sigh* At least
with others breathing down my neck, I'll be forced to be punctual or
they'll kick me off.
April 30, 2007
I'm back and recovering
from the Harpers Ferry Writer's Retreat. Man, what an awesome time I
had! We stayed in a beautiful historic hotel on a hilltop overlooking
the river. I think I even got a visit from the hotel's resident ghost
on my first night. Guess he was giving a personal welcome to this paranormal-writing
first timer. *G* Everyone (including the ghost) was so nice. I don't
think there's any other writer's gathering where you can drink coffee
in the lobby in your PJs in the morning and then close down the bar
singing karaoke (sans the karaoke machine) with 2
top editors and 3 NYT bestselling
authors.
What a blast! I'm definitely going back again next year.
April 5, 2007
I survived giving
my very first writer's workshop
(on paranormal romance, of course). Yes, I am a public speaking virgin
no longer. They even paid me to do it -- can you believe that? I'm surprised
I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. I didn't stutter, I didn't
fidget or faint half-way through, I didn't throw up on the people in
the first row (I'm certain they appreciated that), and think I even
managed to answer audience questions
with a reasonable amount of intelligence. I do believe they thought
I knew what I was talking about. *G* I got the feedback on the workshop
today with comments such as: "excellent," "entertaining,"
"awesome," and "very informative." Some of them
even said they wished I'd been given more than an hour because the workshop
was so much fun and they wanted to hear more. Gee, who'd a thunk it.
*G*
March 29, 2007
One of my critique
partners just sold her second novel to Wild Rose Press. Boy, that girl
is on a roll! Glad somebody is.
I'm trying to finish
DRAGON but keep missing my self-imposed deadlines. It seems like I keep
taking one step forward and two steps back with it. The new goal is
to finish it before I go to Harper's Ferry in April. Can she do it?
Lord only knows.
February 18, 2007
Well, I finally broke
down and did it. I bought a new laptop. I just couldn't stand it any
more. Having it hooked up to an external monitor kinda defeats the purpose
of a laptop being portable, ya know? Plus, now the power cord won't
stay plugged into the back so I'm running on battery power almost 100%.
So now I have my brand spanking new Gateway laptop with Vista. Yeah
for me! The only draw back is it has really cool versions of Spider
Solitaire and Freecell on it. Must not play games until writing goal
is met for the day. Must not play games . . .
February 10, 2007
So after dropping
my daughter off at a birthday party, I was in a car accident today.
(Learned the hard way that just because someone has their blinker on
to turn, doesn't mean they will). Thank God no one was hurt. I'm okay,
I've got a sore shoulder where I was slammed into the door. My 5 year
old son who was in the van with me thought it was way cool. Of course,
there was a big crash, cars spinning, an ambulance (not needed), police
and tow trucks involved, so of course he would. Didn't faze him a bit.
The vehicles didn't fair so well. Both had to be towed away. So now
I'm driving our extra truck that we've been meaning to sell (glad right
now we haven't) but the inspection is expired. Guess what I'll be doing
on Monday? Praying it will pass inspection so I have something to drive
while the van is in the shop -- if it can be repaired. Boy, first my
laptop, then my cell phone (which refuses to take a charge), and now
my van. I'm beginning to wonder if mechanical and electrical devices
are out to get me. I'm terrified to use the microwave to pop popcorn
now--I might blow the whole house up. All I'm sure of is that I'm living
proof that God looks out for children and fools -- both were in the
van on today.
January 9, 2007
Happy New Year!
Well, this year is
starting off with a bang -- at least for one of my critique partners.
She just sold her first novel to Wild Rose Press. I'm so thrilled for
her. They're a small press but on their way to being PAN approved. I'm
snoopy dancing all around the house for her.
