Ahhh....Summer

I switched my blogger photo from my book cover to a recent picture of me. And despite the fact that the original picture is huge--we're talking megabytes, the little cropped headshot of me looks so weird and grainy. I've asked my husband if it can be fixed...he says yes...and then followed this question with the obvious, "Will you fix it?" In all likelihood, I'll be grainy for quite a while...


Today I took the kids to Kemah for one last summer hurrah. Mondays in July offer half-price kids' all-day ride wristbands. So my mother-in-law and I got wristbands too. Let me just say that carnival rides wreak havoc on already existing headaches. So do loudspeakers, screaming preteens, herds of children with seemingly no manners and no notion of where there appendages are ending up. But...we had a good time. It was good practice for DisneyWorld...if we're ever brave enough to make the trip...

Press Releases

I found this Wild Mind blog several weeks ago, and (because she's a little spotty about her posts) finally checked back today. In her latest post, she writes about not really knowing anything about press releases and subsequently reading up. While I was attempting to write a press release for my first book, I was searching for any little bit of information that would spark the media's attention. I wrote several varieties, all touting different aspects of my life or the book. Evidently I wasn't very successful--to my knowledge my book was mentioned only in one paper of rather limited distribution.

My next book is contemporary and set in Texas, so maybe the local angle will help a little (since I was born here and live here still). But just in case it doesn't, I have another plan... In her latest blog, Wild Mind talks about a free 89 tip tutorial for writing press releases, given by Joan Stewart of Publicity Hound. After reading the promo, I signed up....I should be receiving my first tip shortly. I also plan to surf back over and read some of her other articles. I can use all the help I can get...

Contest Promo

From Lauren Barnholdt's Blog

Introducing....

THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest!

The PRIZES:

(1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate
(2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt
(3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People, which lists REALITY CHICK as a Can't-Miss Pick for August
(4) Free tuition to a session of Lauren's YA writing class

THE CONTEST:

STEP ONE: Simply copy and paste this whole message (including the info about the contest) into any blog, message board, email list, myspace bulletin, or anywhere a lot of people will see it!

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt is NOW IN STORES!

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless of
course your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world to
watch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking up
on In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As if
school isn't panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her like
paparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, old
crushes, and learning to live on your own.

Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares?
Ally's got bigger issues -- like how her long-distance bf can watch her
loopy late-night "episode" with a certain housemate...

Freshman year on film.
It's outrageous.
It's juicy.
And like all good reality TV, it's impossible to turn off.

IN STORES NOW!

Check out Lauren on the web at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or on her myspace at www.myspace.com/laurenbarnholdt

STEP TWO -- Email Lauren at lauren (at) laurenbarnholdt.com and let her know you've posted about the contest and the book, and you'll be entered to win the prize pack! The winner will be picked at random on September 1st. The more places you post, the more entries you get. Have fun and good luck!!!

Cake and confusion

Just back from a wedding and the best wedding cake I have had in quite some time. I always get myself excited about the cake and then it's a bit of a letdown. I'm one of those people when asked, "Buttercream or Lite" blurts "BUTTERCREAM!" Anyway, this cake was delicious with a layer of pineapple filling so thin as to be almost undetectable. Maybe I imagined it. Right after the cake was cut (to my sons and I, it seemed to take forever), my little one says to me, "I want you to get me the people piece." Meaning the piece with the little bride and groom. I had to break it to him...he has to get married to get that piece. So, of course, he was satisfied with a plain old sliver.

Finished Incognito and really liked it. It was a light, breezy read with still plenty going on and interesting characters. I hope Suzanne Allain will eventually have another book out. Right now I'm simultaneously reading Cheating at Solitaire by Ally Carter and Kiss Me, Annabel by Eloisa James. I used to read historicals almost exclusively and then slipped into reading contemporary romance and then chick-lit while I was writing my historical. Now I'm writing a contemporary and wonder if I shouldn't really try to multi-task and simultaneously work on a second historical--so I'm reading Regencies to get back in that frame of mind.

I'm in a bit of a writing quandary. I feel any fans I might have had as a result of my first book won't necessarily be interested in my second--they're nothing alike. So I'm torn. My first book was self-published, and right now I can view it as stand-alone, being a completely different entity than a traditionally published book. But I do have some fans, many of whom are asking where book #2 is. I could tell them, but I don't think it's the book they're waiting for. Trouble is, I only have some vague ideas about another historical--nothing really gelling it all together. And I don't want to deal with a lot of revisions and rewrites simply because I dove in blind. So I'm thinking about it....and getting a headache.

Girl's Night Out

Last night I had an honest-to-goodness Girl's Night Out! I'm not sure I've ever actually had one--at least since high school. That sounds pretty pathetic, but my college friends were mostly guys (ditto for my work friends), and I married my high school sweetheart. So...last night was a first and very interesting. It was just four of us, all married and each with two little boys--funny how it worked out like that, but I think moms with boys (plural) need that 'off' time more than moms who don't. Just an opinion...

Anyway, we went for dinner and to catch up and talk. Conversation ran the gamut of extramarital affairs (none of us!), internet dating (ditto), child delivery tramas, our husbands (of course), vacations and future plans.

I was shocked to discover that all three of them were considering having another baby. They all wanted to try for a girl (even though, of course, they would love a boy). I was the only hold-out. I figure I have enough to deal with two rowdy, rambunctious boys, and fate would probably deal me another, leading to deeper, more prevalent forehead wrinkles, and many more premature gray hairs. Oddly enough, all three of them told me that they felt sure, certain, that if I tried again, I'd have a girl.

Based on what?! That just sounded totally ridiculous to me.

Anyway, when I got home, I was telling my husband a bit about the evening (a discussion of elephants, pole-dancing, carbohydrates after 3pm...), and I mentioned how they all wanted to try for a another baby. I told him that sounded like a great idea for a book--four women get together for a GNO, three decide to try for another baby, and the fourth gets pregnant. I thought the friendship dynamic would be great. He says, "I don't like this idea at all." No creative vision, I tell you.

And if I'd gone to the Conference, I would have missed all that...

A Nice Little Change of Pace

Last night I spent some time with my husband. Imagine that! The past few nights I've been on the computer, poring over blogs, writing, or brainstorming my website redesign. So it was a very nice, relaxing break. We watched Proof, a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal (so cute!), and Anthony Hopkins, but one I'd never heard of until I read a little snippet in my husband's Popular Science magazine. It was about mathimaticians and was, I thought, quite good...funny. Gwyneth's character was one of those you have mixed feelings about. She'd taken care of her father but was bitter; she was horrible to her sister, but said sister was intrusive and irritating. She was stand-offish and rude, but still, you were rooting for her. I thought it very interesting, and a nice change.

Lately I've been reading a lot of good, quotable quotes--the pithy, humorous kind that leave you with that, 'so true' feeling. But once I read them, they disappear from my memory almost instantaneously. I won't wear any CafePress gear emblazoned with the sentiments, I don't put little plaques up around my house, I don't keep a journal, so what is there left to do but read them and forget them? But wait...this is a journal...maybe this blog should be the future depository for these witty quotes! Here's a sample...

"She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain." -Louisa May Alcott

"Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, always paddling like the dickens underneath." --Michael Caine

More to come...you've been thusly warned.

CP or not to CP?

Check out this cool feature for an author with a book in print at Amazon.com. The collage is showcasing my own book cover (just personal preference), but just click 'Back to Home', and enter the title or author of your choice. As far as I can tell, it will only work with one-word entries. Found this on Joan Reeves blog.

Now onto the behind the scenes nitty-gritty...

My writing life is no different from the rest of my life. I'm a loner in all respects. I started writing as a new mom and kept completely to myself. Only a few people knew I was writing at all, and none of them were writers or had any connection to the publishing business. Then, four years later, I had a book, but no writing friends, no internet buddies, no one cheering me on as I decided to self-publish it. Then again, maybe no one would have cheered that decision...

I joined RWA about five months after I published my book and started participating on Yahoo loops. A little later I started blogging; I attended my first writing conference, and started feeling like I was part of the club--a little.

Now still, my writing is private. I don't really discuss my WIP with anyone, and I don't have a critique partner. In truth I have mixed feelings as to whether I'd really work well with one. Sure I'd love to have some feedback on my own writing, but it would need to be from someone who's opinion (and likely, whose writing) I respect. Most comments I've received from the few contests I've entered have left me feeling confused and irritated by others' opinions. Many judges seem to have a short attention span or else they're obsessed over the 'Rules of Romance'. I could never gel with these people. My point is, I'm almost afraid to seek out a critique partner. Even if I pick someone who's great for me, what if I feel overwhelmed in critiquing her work? What if I don't like the genre she's writing in...or moving into? And think of all the time it will take.... Maybe I'm not someone who would do well with a critique partner.

Then again, maybe I'm over-thinking. And maybe I'm terribly high-maintenance.

I've heard so many great things about those wonderful, invaluable critique partners. I've had a fellow RWA member critique an article for me, and her comments really made it so much better. Alas...she has a critique partner. How to stumble onto someone just perfect? Everywhere I go, writers already have their CP's. And even if I could decide that I wanted one, I'm not even sure where they're hiding.

And so...I'm off to write in solitary splendor...

Ask and you shall receive...

I guess it's going to get a little quiet around my blogosphere haunts for a little while, what with everyone going to Atlanta for the RWA Conference. So, maybe I'll use that time to find some worthwhile new blogs. Or maybe I'll just get some work done...

Before I start on my topic of the day, first let me say CONGRATULATIONS to Sophie Jordan, debut author of Once Upon a Wedding Night! Today is the official release date for her book, and let me tell you, it's worth every penny. I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy, and have posted my review on Amazon and B&N.com. Go pick it up!

Well, yesterday I posted on plotting as it relates to a book's overall theme. And today I was going to blog about critique partners, but there have been some exciting new developments for me. I was reading Diana P's blog and saw the picture she posted of herself in front of a post-it covered storyboard. Well I'd intended to whip one of those up once upon a time, but never really committed myself. Now...with the help of some generous commentators on Diana's blog, a follow-up post by Diana herself, and an article on Roxanne St. Claire's site, it all makes such beautiful sense. This way, I won't need to worry about getting caught up in the main storyline and leaving little bits of minor plot lines stringing along. I'll now be able to see visually--in a colorful frenzy of post-it's--where I need to beef things up.

I'm also going to borrow another tip from Ms. St. Claire. She writes that she's not a big pre-plotter (much like myself), so she makes a list of things that must happen in the course of the book. She puts each one on a post-it and carefully places the ones happening early in the book and scatters the rest of them, shifting things around as she writes. Just like the tag-line, query letter, and back-cover blurb, I think this task will help me insure that I have everything lined up to write my story with fewer revisions.

A girl can hope.

Plotting for a Pantser

Well, the run is over--at least my writing run, but my blogging run continues! I didn't get around to my WIP yesterday. Well, I didn't get around to actually writing. I did start thinking that maybe I should start working on a tagline or backcover blurb or summary paragraph. Last year I attended a workshop given by Stephanie Bond, and she'd said that she writes those first. I guess it sort of gives her a feel for the story and then, while she's writing, she can make sure that all her plot lines trend in the direction of the book's themes. Suddenly that seems to make perfect sense to me. When she said it, I thought to myself, 'I could never do that--I don't know where the book is going yet.' At least completely, 100% sure. But so what. I can tweak the tagline a little if I have to, rewrite the blurb. As long as I can keep track of what I'm writing.

That's the problem I'm having now. I really love the overall idea of the book I'm working on right now. I love the characters, the premise. But a few little details are up in the air. Should I give the book a greater, overriding theme, should I hint of said theme all the way through? That brings up an entirely different problem. I've only entered my work in a few contests, but those I have entered have resulted in conflicting feedback: either I'm explaining too much or not explaining enough. Makes me wonder what I should say and what I should leave unsaid. How can you ever know?

Maybe that's where a good critique partner would fill the gap...
I'll blog on that tomorrow.

Great New Blog!

I'd been meaning to go back and check out Allison Winn Scotch's blog after I read about it on Diana P's blog and just kept getting side-tracked. But last night, the computer was free, the boys were in bed, and my husband was making a buying trip to Walmart, so I had a little time to roam online.

Well I went back to Allison's blog and read...and read...and read. There was no shortage of useful, insightful, thoughtful information on everything from agents, query letters, promotion, and on and on. And her writing style is so genuine and friendly, reading it feels like you're chatting with a friend....a friend in the know in the publishing business. I'm adding her blog to my short list: the list of blogs I let myself visit everyday. Gotta squeeze the writing in sometime....

Not only that, but after I surfed away from her blog, I visited Allison's author website and was very impressed. I'm very much looking forward to reading her debut release The Department of Lost and Found in May 2007.

I encourage you to go check her out!

Media Phenomenon

It's recently struck me how much of a phenomenon that Rachel Ray has become. I started watching her Food Network television show, 30 Minute Meals when my oldest son was about a year old. It was sort of a segue from nap to dinner or playtime, and I like to think we both enjoyed it. Plus, I liked her idea of shortcuts. So many chefs out there are interested in adding special, hard-to-find, expensive ingredidents, and using all manner of gadgets I do not have in my kitchen in creating these fancy concoctions that just aren't fit for me and my family. But I digress...

Anyway, I think at the time she had a couple of cookbooks out there based on her TV show (or else the show was based on the cookbooks...) But now, she's absolutely everywhere! She has oodles of cookbooks, she still hosts 30 Minute Meals but does $40 A Day too, she does a radio show, has a magazine: Rachel Ray's Everyday, a cookbook for kids, and I think she'd being syndicated for a Houston morning show. Wow! All this has happened only in the last few years. She's turned into a superstar, seemingly overnight.

I don't know how she finds the time to come up with enough recipes to power all of these formats. I suppose now she has a test kitchen like Martha Stewart with all sorts of people cooking up easy meals. The more the merrier! Maybe this will start a cooking revolution! No more garnishes...no more napkins folded into swans! No more setting the table! We'll all serve ourselves from the stove and only pull out utensils we'll actually use. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

RWA National Conference

After I blogged yesterday on being excited to hear on Agent Kristen's blog that editors were chatting about historical fiction and chick-lit, I read an article by Bob Mayer on Romancing the Blog that chastised me (well, not me personally) for being interested. The general gist was, who cares what's hot--write what you feel passionate about. In a perfect world of publishing, that would be fine, but this is a fierce, ever-changing, discouraging business. It's nice to get little good news every once in a while.

Right about now I'm feeling a little envious and a little relieved. I'm not going to the RWA Conference in Atlanta next week. I started writing my first romance in 2000, and I haven't been to one yet. I'm thinking maybe next year, when the conference is in Dallas--only a few hours from my Houston hometown, but I'm not too committed yet. I'd really like to get a good feel for what people really think about the conference.

Is it a big party? A place to network? A steller learning experience? An over-priced, but necessary, business trip? I don't have a good feeling about it at all. If polled on why RWA members attend, I wonder how the breakdown would fallout....

Any opinions?

On writing: Still going, day six...I'm a regular Energizer bunny...for now.

Five Days, Counting Today

I really do need to stop surfing, or blog-bouncing, as the case may be, and get on to my WIP. I'm kind of on a roll here and more than a little bit excited about it. I have worked on my manuscript everyday since Sunday, so if I count today...and why not be optimistic...let's! Then, I've got five days in a row under my belt. And I'm really going to try hard to keep the momentum going. But first, some comments (because I'm also doing my darnedest to blog everyday)...

Fellow RWA chapter member, Sandra K. Moore will be chatting this evening at 8:00CST at Novel Talk. She writes for Silhouette Bombshell, and her second book is on my TBR stack, newly signed. Come meet this quirky chick!

Next...I'm getting the best insights into the bookseller perspective (at least one side of it). Recent blogs include a summary of how her store chooses selections over and above the buyer's choices, and a summary of what not to do if you want to get a local bookseller's attention.

And some good news over at Kristin Nelson's blog. In speaking with editors, Agent Kristin reveals that historicals may be making a comeback, and that chick-lit is still a viable genre (with the right voice and an original story).

Now I'm off to write!

The New Grease

My sister and her girls came to visit a couple of weeks ago and they brought the CD to High School Musical with them. Very catchy, very fun--my boys loved it and were singing right along and doing their own dance moves (particularly to the basketball-themed, Get Your Head in the Game). Anyway, I was told that this Disney made-for-TV movie was the 'New Grease' and veeery popular with the pre-teen set. My niece just turned eleven.

Well, Monday night, I was watching TV with my husband, and as he was perusing the guide, we saw that the movie was playing. So we watched. It was totally fun. A little silly, a little unbelievable in parts. But I was so willing to suspend my disbelief for those kooky kids. It brought back great memories of high school, and we even DVR'd it so my boys could maybe learn some of the dance moves. I love a musical and wish that movie style/genre would come back into popularity. Mike Myers is certainly doing his part with Austin Powers and Shrek, but I'd really like to see more.

Highly recommended!

Another bittersweet contest

Before I get to my personal contest woes...I'd like to mention that today is the Official Release Date for Diana Peterfreund's debut, Secret Society Girl. As I mentioned in a recent blog, she's been counting down the days, offering prizes to those who comment on her blog--I won a 'Rose and Grave' pin, and I can't wait to read the book to discover it's significance. Found out today that I'm also now the proud owner of some Pomegranate Martini lipgloss--that's just about as alcoholic as I get... So pop over, let her enthusiasm rub off on you, and then run out and get yourself a copy of the book everyone is raving about!

Now on to my personal news, which is not nearly so exciting as it could have been. Yesterday I received a letter from Affaire de Coeur (a review publication in print for 25 years). It said that my debut Unladylike Pursuits had been selected as a finalist for Best Regency in their 2006 Reader/Writer Poll, having been chosen by readers and fans. Wow, right? My self-published book was listed right along side of novels written by Julia Quinn, Anne Gracie, Lynn Kerstan, and Edith Layton! I was stunned, surprised, excited, enthused, until I realized that it the letter indicated that the contest included books published between Jan and Dec. 2005.

My book was published in Dec. 2004.

How, you might ask, could this have happened? I won't go into details--it's a long story, but suffice it to say it was accidentally lumped in. So now I had a dilemmna on my hands. Should I contact Affaire de Coeur? Had they realized the special circumstances surrounding their review of my book and decided to include it anyway? Should I just wait and see?

I knew what I had to do, and I did it yesterday afternoon. I wrote to the publisher at Affaire de Coeur and explained the situation and then wrote, 'so it would seem that I need to be disqualified', hoping that I really wouldn't. She promptly wrote back thanking me for my explanation, accepting my recusal, and graciously telling me I could indicate in all author/publisher press that I was indeed a finalist.

My first contest final...slipped from my grasp. So very bittersweet...
I doubt I'll even be posted as a finalist on their website or in their magazine, which loses me the promotional opportunities. So if you're a fan of the underdog, please tell all your friends about my sad, sad story.

The Day After

Well, I think there was some good discussion over at Romancing the Blog yesterday, but it looks like the stigma is here to stay until a few more authors take the 'road less traveled' and do it with style. (I'm just going to assume that I did...) And I say, why not? Particularly to the more successful authors. If an author has already made a name for herself, she has the fan base. If she's uninterested in the editing or cover design tasks, she could hire someone to take care of those aspects and still retain the rights to her books. Presumably she's already a pro at marketing and promotion... She could write on her own schedule without editor conflicts, bad covers, and any of the other quagmire that published authors often complain of. But there is security in NY...

As I finished up commenting on the comments of others yesterday, I noticed the previous RTB post about a newly discovered blog Teach Me Tonight where romance novels are discussed by professors and students studying the genre. Very interesting...although I'm not used to such heavy reading.

Romancing the Blog

My article showed up today! Thanks to Bookseller Chick for letting me know! Please stop over and comment...

http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/

Darcy Mysteries and Pug Hill

Well, I finished North by Northanger, and it was quite wonderful. I'm excited to read the first two Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries in the series and happy to have discovered Carrie Bebris.

Another library pick I just finished reading is Pug Hill by Alison Pace. In all honesty, I checked this one out just for the cover: a view of the New York City skyline in the background and a view of Pug Hill, Central Park in the foreground, completely covered with pug dogs.

Well, first let me say that I truly enjoyed this book and, especially at the end, the laugh-out-loud moments. (Live for those...) But after everything I've heard, everything I've read about writing, I actually can't believe that this book got published. So, so, so much of it is inner reflection, inner thoughts, inner turmoil. Personally, I don't mind that at all, even find it very interesting and often very humorous. But, I feel like I'm most definitely in the minority. Most people want action and dialogue till the very end. You can have a paragraph of personal thought, and it's simply too much for people. Perhaps the people who don't themselves have many personal thoughts. Hmmm....

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable book with a uplifting, even inspiring ending. I wish there had been some romance, but that's just me. So...you might give it a try. It's a quietly funny book.

Lazy Saturday

Well, so far my plan has totally and completely backfired. I have not yet had my fifteen minutes of writing and it may not happen today. I have a couple of good snatches of time with two little boys, and when I miss them, writing is often elusive. This afternoon (when I thought I'd have use of the computer to write...my husband monopolized the computer for hours), and now, as I'm blogging, I could maybe squeeze in the fifteen, but I'm not in my 'zone'. Besides, the boys (any of them, including my husband) could walk in at any time and demand assistance with something, assuring me that I'm the only person in the house able to complete such a task. You know, the toughies, like finding a battery, feeding the dog, getting juice, you name it. And I really don't like to write late at night. I get caught up and don't come to bed until really late and then I'm exhausted when my six-year-old pounces on me at 7:30 (like clockwork) the next morning. I'm gonna try, but it may not be until tomorrow that my writing gets any attention. And so it begins... (by 'it' I mean the procrastination)

On the up side...I'm getting a lot of reading done...

For something fun , check out these Chickollages--chick-lit themed poetry created out of chopped up magazine articles. I think they're really clever, and the creator/artist is crafting her ideas into a new business, selling t-shirts and gift items through CafePress. Very cool.

I'm baaack!

Whew! I've started working on my manuscript again, and it feels really good. I put it off for about two weeks with visitors, the holiday, and just general not-readiness, and it was kinda hard to get back into the groove. My little one, who's four, doesn't really get the concept of 'By Yourself Time' yet. He has a choice of a nap or the BY time, and I can tell it's going to take some getting used to. I get regular interruptions: requests for coloring help, computer assistance, punishment for his brother, you name it. But a little at a time. If I can just get myself to work on my writing everyday, maybe I'll make a dent before too long. Usually I skip the weekends, but I shouldn't. Then I get a little out of the mindset and have to get back in come Monday. I think I'll try just fifteen or thirty minutes and see how I do.

Plus...I want to get some reading in this weekend too. Currently reading Incognito (from a previous post) and on my TBR pile is Dead Reckoning (the recent release of a fellow RWA chapter member Sandra K. Moore), Cheating at Solitaire (by an author I just discovered, Ally Carter), and Dress Rehearsal by Jennifer O'Connell. The last two were bargain books at great prices! I'm interested to read both because both authors are represented by Kristen Nelson, an agent I respect very much. I'd like to see what caught her eye and the sort of writing she fell in love with.

Who knew?

Right about now I’m wishing I had some legitimate writers’ training other than the single creative writing course I took my first year of college—my only year at Ohio State. Quite literally, I remember absolutely nothing about that class except one seemingly innocent assignment. We were supposed to pick a subject (assuming I remember this correctly) and play up all the sensory details of a little moment in time or a memorable vignette. I wasn’t living on campus, and on my way back home, I’d sometimes stop at McDonalds to pick up lunch. No one knows why (least of all me), but for some reason, I settled on the idea of writing my paper on the simple enjoyment of a McDonald’s cheeseburger. The very idea sounds foreign to me now—it’s been forever since I’ve had a Mickey D’s burger. But, whatever happened to be going through my co-ed mind…I wrote the paper. And I was rather proud of it too. Even more so when my professor decided to read it aloud for the class—she only read two or three. Imagine my surprise when I started seeing the smiles…then the snickers. Evidently my classmates thought there was something slightly (or overtly) pornographic about my ode to the cheeseburger. I have to admit—I never got it, but I showed the paper to my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and he agreed that indeed it was. I still have the paper. But I really don’t think it should be posted here—otherwise I might be slotted as a writer of erotica…

So you see…absolutely nothing came out of my creative writing endeavors—unless something is left up in my subconscious. So I’m really eating up all the tips I get on blogs, in conferences, and even in craft manuals. But I think I need to stop. I need to get on with my writing and just see how I do. My summer excuses are beginning to look quite lame…

All I Can Say is...WOW!

We went to see The Lion King in the theater today, and I must say, it was wonderful! It was my in-laws' treat (they'd already seen it), and what a treat it was! I'd seen the pictures of Julie Taymor's costume design and heard the comments about how you don't even notice the people for the costumes, and I have to admit, if you trick your eyes a little and really focus on the animals' faces, it really is true. The costumes really portray the elegance of movement of the animals.

I won't deny that some of the costume details befuddled me (particularly the choices made for the lions and lionesses), and there was this part where leotarded couples were suspended from the ceiling doing a ballet number where I probably would have gone another way, but hey...I'm not complaining.


If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. It is a totally exciting and wonderful experience. And my kids (boys, 4 and 6) both really liked the characters, many of whom were funny, as well as the music.


The coffee table book is also totally cool...if you can't make the show.

Still on hiatus...

My guests won't leave till Tuesday, so I'm still doodling around. However, I did manage to see Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest today--from the second row back. I thought I was going to get nauseous during the previews, but it all worked out okay, and I really enjoyed the movie. A couple of twenty-somethings a few seats down were giggling at everything Johnny Depp had to say, so I'm guessing they had a little bit of a crush on him, and I have to admit, he stole the show. Also saw some cool-looking previews. I'm really looking forward to A Night in the Museum with Ben Stiller (whom I love!) Oddly, I can't find a link to the official movie site yet, but it is supposed to come out at Christmas (this year, I think).


In other exciting news, I just discovered that there's to be a sequel to the delightful book The Little Lady Agency that I blogged on a while back. It's to be called Little Lady, Big Apple and will be released in the UK in July (that's the UK cover). I will eagerly anticipate its release here.


Also, I've finally picked up one of Carrie Bebris' series about the husband and wife sleuthing team of Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy--from Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice fame. I'm reading North by Northanger and really loving it. Ms. Bebris' writing is enchanting!

I'm also working in bits and pieces on my website design, trying to meld the Regency side of my writing with the contemporary romantic comedy side. We'll see how it goes...

Fun Stuff to Check Out

Diana Peterfreund, whose debut novel Secret Society Girl will be released in twelve days, is holding daily ‘contests’ on her blog. All you have to do is comment on her daily blog to be entered to win the drawing held the following day. Sounds great, right? Well, the catch is that she doesn’t actually tell you what the prizes are. You could be lucky enough to get an ARC, or…not so lucky. I’m taking my chances. I read her blog pretty regularly—even added her to the link list on my blog.


Also, Jessica Trapp (a member of my RWA chapter) has launched a new feature/contest on her website. It is a Read-a-Thon that encourages positive reviews (and couldn't we all use more of those). To be entered to win the drawing, a reader must sign-up, read 10 full-length romance novels, log the books on Jessica’s site, and post a positive comment. The prize is a $250 gift card to the winner’s bookstore of choice and a matching contribution to their chosen school or library. Each additional five books can win you another entry into the drawing, and each of Jessica’s books count as five books each!

Talk about some great promotional ideas!

Doodling around

I’m really hoping that Romancing the Blog is continuing with their ‘Open Blog Night’ because I just sent them a blog entry/article that I hope they will publish. It’s about…what else…self-publishing!

Other than that I haven’t been doing any writing for the last few days. I have company in town, and every time I have a few minutes of time to relax, I’ve been doing other things. Today I actually did some ‘surfing’ though and found so many cute blogs, crafts, and ideas!

Look at these miniature gardens—I think they’re absolutely adorable and would love to have one of my own.

I also stumbled across this Danish site, and now I wished I hadn’t. I like so many things and have no way to buy them. Maybe I just need to plan a little trip to Denmark...