MIA

Here, there, and everywhere!

My school is holding a reunion and I'm listed as MIA. I took care of that and thought I might show up here as well.

Two things have distracted me. First, our house needed some serious attention. And after three coats of blue in the dining room, four coats of red in the dining room, and the distribution of geegaws and drapery, it's looking sort of cozy. I have one question. How do you stop a husband from hanging drapes too high? He likes them better four inches off the ground. ==:-o Terribly attractive!

Second, a friend suggested a book, Element of Lavishness, the letters between Sylvia Townsend Warner and and William Maxwell. Lavishness doesn't begin to describe this book. I was hoping to save a letter for after writing, for just before bedtime, for waiting in the car. Nope. They beg to be devoured. It's like a look in on a private conversation between two people who see the world in terms of abundance. Every page is a pleasure, and I have no self-control.

So--I left the book at home and I've come to the coffee shop again. No painting, no hanging anything, no moving this table over here and that lamp over there. No Warner and Maxwell.

Just work. I'd better hop to it!

Distracting the Girls

My beloved daughter invited me to join her and her friend at the coffee shop. Ostensibly, it was for me to work while they studied, but we'd have hanging out time. Instead, I've just distracted the daylights out of them.

So I've put on my headphones and I'm blogging. Poor girls. Try to do the responsible thing and the elderly mother shows up and ruins their best-laid plans.

I'm being quiet now, though.

Guess I'd better get to work. I like this hanging out thing--I'm just finding their discipline a bit overwhelming! :-)

Quiet

That's how I feel. I logged in to post yesterday, but the events at Virginia Tech made me think other things were more important than rattling away on a blog.

I still feel that way but I'd just like to send best wishes for peace and comfort into cyberspace.

Bad Weather Coming

We're under a tornado watch, and you'd think the sky would be getting darker. Instead, I think there's more light coming through the windows. It's not green, which I've heard happens before a tornado, or orange, which I've seen before a tornado. I can see the radar and the storm is coming nearer, but you wouldn't really know it on a day as cloudy as this.

This does have to do with writing, you know. The best stories are the ones where the storm shows up just when you least expect it. Inevitably, your characters must deal with flying houses and angry witches :-), and guys rowing through the air. Just when our hero and heroine most want to live their own lives in their own home with a sweet little doggy, the light changes and the world looks different and the winds begin to blow.

I like a storm that drives my characters to the extremes of facing the worst that can happen--and then choosing the hardest road to the best. Isn't that what love should be--a gift that endures, facing the best and the worst life throws us?

That said, I don't like tornados. Hope they stay away.

Coming to the End of Another Book Release Month

Thanks to Amazon and B&N, it's not as painful as it used to be, but we're coming to the end of another book release month. Okay, I still kinda hate it. This story starts the Welcome to Honesty series that I'm loving. It's set in Honesty, a small town in Virginia, where folks are living and loving and giving me stories, bless their hearts! Anyway, Aidan and Beth and Eli are near and dear and beloved to me. I hope readers are enjoying them, too.

Better get back to work on the latest Honesty story, but I thought I'd come out and post the cover for Temporary Father as a goodbye to seeing my book on the shelves.

Monday Already?

What a great weekend--starting on Thursday! Met my uncle and aunts and cousins for lunch in a yummy restaurant and then we went to a museum--that startlingly--had something from one of my other aunts on display. Talk about a shock, seeing her name.

Then--off to the conference. Smoky Mountain Romance Writers put on a wonderful conference. They're clearly hard-working and such a welcoming group!

I had a blast with Brenda Mott and my editor. They're both funny and friendly women, riddled with interesting stories they're willing to tell! I don't remember when I've laughed so much. Saturday night we walked out into the freezing cold (which felt surprisingly refreshing with the threat of southern summer heat showing up eventually) and had dinner at an amazing Mexican/fusion restaurant. Pecan crusted salmon with a cream poblano sauce--that's how you spell heaven! :-)

Back to work now, but I'm refreshed and enthusiastic, can't wait to see those pages spinning by on the screen.

Oh--did I mention the books? I have several new ones to read. Shhh! Don't tell the beloved I may have done a little damage at the book store!

All Over the Place

They're back again. I wonder what happens on Wednesdays that draws all the UPS drivers.

I'm off tomorrow for a writing conference. Looking forward to writerly talk, visiting with my editor, and Brenda Mott, another Superromance Author. I haven't been to a conference in a while and I think I get nourishment hearing others talk about their experiences.

Hey--there go the UPS drivers. All in their brown uniforms of course. Kind of startled me when I looked up! There must have been ten of them.

So now--because I don't want to get behind on deadline, I'm back to my evil twin story. Besides, I'm having a great time writing it!

So this is a potpourri kind of post--a little bit of everything--but I'm in the process of checking email as I type this and an ad just popped up for the new Die Hard movie. The Mac/Galaxy Quest guy and--I think--an F-22 are both in the movie. Can't wait!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend to all who are celebrating both Pesach and Easter!

I love writing

It's one of those days--the ideas are coming so fast I have to jot them in a notebook beside me. The pages are flowing by on the screen. I love all my characters. I love the setting and the Spring that's happening very much like Spring here.

There's never been a better job!

Except maybe making cotton candy. That would be fun. :-) Or maybe being a professional roller coaster rider. No--that would be a lot like writing!