Today is Tempting Tuesdays and were supposed to blog on things we're reading. Currently I'm trying to get a feel for real-life war scenes, since I write romantic action/adventure featuring military heroes. But I ran into an interesting book the other day and passed it up the first few times. But then, having cracked it open, decided I needed to read it. It's called "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier", by Ishmael Beah. It's his story. True and turbulent. Here's a story about an honest boy forced by circumstances into hell. It's real. That's what gets me the most. And more frightening than any horror flick. I haven't finished it yet but found it engaging. I've posted the piece from the front below. And you can check out this link for more: http://www.alongwaygone.com/long_way_gone.html.
New York City, 1998
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“Did you witness some of the fighting?”
“Everyone in the country did.”
“You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”
Many blessings,
~ Lise
How much danger would you face for the perfect romance? Lise Fuller, www.lisefuller.com, www.myspace.com/lisefuller, ROMANTIC TIMES REVIEWERS CHOICE NOMINEE, 2006; Pikes Peak Romance Writers 2006 Author of the Year
~On Danger's Edge, print-03/07, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com, 4 1/2 Stars from Romantic Times
~Intimate Deceptions, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com, RECOMMENDED READS from Coffee Time Romance and Joyfully Reviewed
~Cutting Loose, print-04/07, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Mom's Day
My blog today has nothing to do with writing. It's all about Mother's Day and the brilliance of one teacher. My husband always takes the kids out to do Mom's Day shopping the day before. But this year, my youngest son's grade 1 teacher summed it up perfectly. He told the kids that moms like gifts their kids have made better than gifts they buy. I've received some absolutely gorgeous gifts from my boys over the years, both hand made and purchased, but this one took the cake this year. My son insisted we had to go for a walk down a trail because he needed to collect sticks. So I'm shaking my head and thinking "I wonder if mothers of girls get requests like this?", but away we went, and he diligently collected stickes, measuring them with his arms, making sure they were long enough, or short enough, and that they weren't too dirty or too crooked.
When we got home, he shooed me inside the house with instructions that I was NOT to come out on the back deck. The poor kid was out there for over an hour, running in occasionally to stock up on more tape. Yes, I was a little concerned, but my husband didn't seem too worried, and he had access to the activities outside. Sunday morning, I was taken by the hand outside where I was shown a stick portrait of myself. Now how adorable is this, I ask you?
We then had to find a piece of cardboard big enough to transfer it to, so I could hang it in my office. I particularly like how my legs are long and THIN. If a girl can't have her dreams come true on Mother's Day, when can she?
When we got home, he shooed me inside the house with instructions that I was NOT to come out on the back deck. The poor kid was out there for over an hour, running in occasionally to stock up on more tape. Yes, I was a little concerned, but my husband didn't seem too worried, and he had access to the activities outside. Sunday morning, I was taken by the hand outside where I was shown a stick portrait of myself. Now how adorable is this, I ask you?
We then had to find a piece of cardboard big enough to transfer it to, so I could hang it in my office. I particularly like how my legs are long and THIN. If a girl can't have her dreams come true on Mother's Day, when can she?
Friday, May 11, 2007
How We Met
Fridays at the 2BRead blog are for First Alert, but I thought I'd go back and talk about an old first. Like the first date I had with the fella. We spent the night together.
On a band bus with 43 other people in the college marching band. We'd met early on in our freshman year, at the band picnic. He was dating another girl (who became my roommate the next two years) at the time and we all got into the same game of spades. Then we discovered that we were in the same chemistry class. (And I never thought about all the cheesy puns that could be made about "chemistry" until now. Really.) He still exclaims about all the times I walked barefoot to class in the rain. It made sense to me...feet dry better than shoes, and once my feet were dry, I could put on dry shoes and warm my feet up. So we would talk in chemistry class, and walk together to our next class--same building, different rooms.
As the time came for the annual overnight band trip, to the University of Arkansas this particular year, he started talking about band trips and "what happens on the band trip stays on the band trip" but I just couldn't believe he was flirting, because we're exactly the same height (I look taller these days, because he's gone to the Captain Picard hairstyle) and in my experience, guys just didn't flirt with girls who might be taller. Turned out I was wrong. And so we spent the night together on the bus coming back from Fayetteville.
Our romance was entirely too dull for any romance novel, which means it was much more pleasant to live through. Reading this, I'm sure people are asking "But where's the conflict?" Well, there was a little, but very little, and it came later. If we did fit a romance-novel story, it would be the "good friends who discover something more" sort of story.
So what did you and your honey do on your first date? And what kind of romance novel would it be?
On a band bus with 43 other people in the college marching band. We'd met early on in our freshman year, at the band picnic. He was dating another girl (who became my roommate the next two years) at the time and we all got into the same game of spades. Then we discovered that we were in the same chemistry class. (And I never thought about all the cheesy puns that could be made about "chemistry" until now. Really.) He still exclaims about all the times I walked barefoot to class in the rain. It made sense to me...feet dry better than shoes, and once my feet were dry, I could put on dry shoes and warm my feet up. So we would talk in chemistry class, and walk together to our next class--same building, different rooms.
As the time came for the annual overnight band trip, to the University of Arkansas this particular year, he started talking about band trips and "what happens on the band trip stays on the band trip" but I just couldn't believe he was flirting, because we're exactly the same height (I look taller these days, because he's gone to the Captain Picard hairstyle) and in my experience, guys just didn't flirt with girls who might be taller. Turned out I was wrong. And so we spent the night together on the bus coming back from Fayetteville.
Our romance was entirely too dull for any romance novel, which means it was much more pleasant to live through. Reading this, I'm sure people are asking "But where's the conflict?" Well, there was a little, but very little, and it came later. If we did fit a romance-novel story, it would be the "good friends who discover something more" sort of story.
So what did you and your honey do on your first date? And what kind of romance novel would it be?
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Vanished by Margaret Daley
Vanished is my May Love Inspired Suspense book. This is the sequel to So Dark the Night, my March release. I love writing romantic suspense stories, but they are very intense and emotional.
As a detective in Chicago, J.T. Logan had put away a lot of criminals—and had made a lot of enemies. However, the last thing the widowed father and current small-town sheriff expected was crime in his own backyard. Until his young daughter was kidnapped.
FBI agent Madison Spencer found herself working with J.T. again, on a case painfully different from their previous one. She could only watch as she struggled to remain coldly professional while his heart was in anguish. And what of her own heart? Romance should be the furthest thing from their minds. All she could do was hope—and pray—for them all.
This was one of the hardest books I’ve written. There were a lot of clues and red herrings that pointed to various suspects. I felt like I was putting a jigsaw puzzle together—sometimes in the dark. I have a book to give away. I will send the first person who emails me at Mdaley50@aol.com an autographed copy of Vanished.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Unsticking
Since today is open, I wanted to pop in with a general "wondering Wednesday" question that I think affects us all at some point or another:
What do you do when you're stuck in your writing? Or stuck in your thinking about your writing? It could be writer's block, but also, in between books, when you take time off, and it's just hard to start anything new or get back into a regular routine? Or when you keep starting a book, and nothing sounds "right"?
I was watchingNumb3rs on DVD last night, and one of the mathematicians said that when you were overwhelmed or stuck on a problem, it was usually because you're trying to solve too many problems at once, so the best way to solve the bigger problem is to focus on one small part and just solve that. I thought that was really interesting -- so while your book or idea might not be working on several points, maybe the best idea is to just pick one area, one character, one plot point, etc and work the devil out of it.
So that's my contribution to how we might solve "stalls." What other bits of advice and wisdom are out there?
Sam
What do you do when you're stuck in your writing? Or stuck in your thinking about your writing? It could be writer's block, but also, in between books, when you take time off, and it's just hard to start anything new or get back into a regular routine? Or when you keep starting a book, and nothing sounds "right"?
I was watchingNumb3rs on DVD last night, and one of the mathematicians said that when you were overwhelmed or stuck on a problem, it was usually because you're trying to solve too many problems at once, so the best way to solve the bigger problem is to focus on one small part and just solve that. I thought that was really interesting -- so while your book or idea might not be working on several points, maybe the best idea is to just pick one area, one character, one plot point, etc and work the devil out of it.
So that's my contribution to how we might solve "stalls." What other bits of advice and wisdom are out there?
Sam
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Tempting Reading: SUGAR DADDY by Lisa Kleypas
It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I began reading Lisa Kleypas’ Sugar Daddy. You see, she’s one of my favorite romance writers in the historical genre while Sugar Daddy is her first contemporary romance. Not that I have a preference for one time period over the other (after all, I write contemporaries myself). It’s just that historical authors don’t always transition well to such a different period and tone.
I shouldn’t have worried. Sugar Daddy has everything I adore in Lisa’s novels: characters that leap off the page, emotion, warmth, charm, and an addictive story line. She adds something new in this novel: Texas, a place she knows and loves. The sense of place and how it affects the people who live there is a powerful addition to an already great story.
Sugar Daddy is not a romance in the classic definition of the word. It begins when the heroine Liberty Jones is barely a teenager. Her father’s dead and her mother has just moved the two of them to a dismal trailer park in Welcome, Texas. Here Liberty meets Hardy Cates, a troubled young man who becomes her idol. Hardy is smart enough to know that he needs to get out of Welcome or he’ll be sucked into the same downward spiral his father was. So despite his love for her, he leaves Liberty behind.
Liberty is a heroine you root for all the way out of the trailer park, through beauty school and on to her strange new life as assistant to billionaire Churchill Travis. Through it all, Liberty cares for her baby sister Carrington and never forgets Hardy. That is, until she meets Churchill’s eldest son Gage. Then her loyalties are divided to the breaking point.
Liberty’s voice carries the book: she’s smart, funny, spunky and a shrewd observer of her fellow human beings. Comments like “Hair is serious business in Houston” make you howl. Her down-to-earth common sense gets her through many a tricky situation. She’s someone you want to spend a lot of time with and yet you find yourself racing to the end of her story because it’s such a great ride.
So, fear not, Lisa Kleypas is as great in the 21st century as she is in the 19th!
What other great books are folks reading these days? Now that I've finished Sugar Daddy I need another good read.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Seriously. What is the Deal with Mondays?
I know I've posed this question on the blog before: Namely, what's the deal with Mondays? (Or, probably more accurate still, what's my deal with Mondays?) But it's a favorite topic of mine . . . especially on those Monday mornings when I've agreed to blog and I have no idea what to say.
Sort of like today, for example.
I mean, on a typical Monday morning, I think I'm doing good if I can find my way to the coffeemaker without tripping over the cat. As for why that is . . . .
Okay, I figure this could take me awhile. In the meantime, do what I usually do on a Monday morning and read your astrological forecast for the week.
www.astrology.com
I'm a Pisces and mine says that I should do some planning during the early part of the week.
Good advice. I'm planning on not doing much of anything until after the caffeine kicks in. *g*
What about you? What's your forecast for the week? Care to share?
Faye
Sort of like today, for example.
I mean, on a typical Monday morning, I think I'm doing good if I can find my way to the coffeemaker without tripping over the cat. As for why that is . . . .
Okay, I figure this could take me awhile. In the meantime, do what I usually do on a Monday morning and read your astrological forecast for the week.
www.astrology.com
I'm a Pisces and mine says that I should do some planning during the early part of the week.
Good advice. I'm planning on not doing much of anything until after the caffeine kicks in. *g*
What about you? What's your forecast for the week? Care to share?
Faye
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Family Stories, Available Now!
Last Monday, I did an errand for my son and realized I was next door to the bookstore where I would soon be holding my book signing for my new release. Even though my book wasn't supposed to be out yet, I thought I would slip in and see where it would be shelved. When I rounded the corner of the romance aisle, I saw three copies of the book already displayed!
At first, I wasn't sure if the books were really there. Over the years, I've done a lot of positive imaging, standing in front of bookshelves and envisioning my book next to some of my favorite authors. A tiny part of me wondered if my active imagination was once again helping me with this writing process.
This time, no imagination was involved. The books were really there!
FAMILY STORIES, for the new Harlequin Everlasting Love imprint, is my first mass market book. I've published others for a more select market -- the libraries and educational markets. Finding the books listed in the library was fun. But seeing the books on a shelf in a bookstore was a much different thrill. Now I can have friends go into a real store and buy the book, rather than selling author copies out of my car trunk. While that's satisfying in its own way, seeing the book on the shelf makes this whole process more valid to me.
I stood in front of that shelf for a few more minutes and then started to leave, planning to come back later with a camera. Then I remembered my sons had convinced me we needed phones with cameras this time. I stopped the nearest stockboy and asked if he would take a picture of me with my book.
He gave me an odd look. I quickly assured him this wasn't just a book that I was buying but one that I had written. I grinned at the look he then gave me. He looked at me and then my book and then snapped a picture of me standing in front of the Romance Series section, holding a copy of Family Stories.
I thought I could include the picture today but the computer-savvy son is off at University and I had to finally quit trying to make it happen. Instead, I'll direct you to the copy of Family Stories listed on the side of our blog. And if you'd like to stop in and pick up your own copy -- at a real bookstore -- well, my next picture is going to be me walking in and not finding any books on the shelves! Because that means somebody bought them!
At first, I wasn't sure if the books were really there. Over the years, I've done a lot of positive imaging, standing in front of bookshelves and envisioning my book next to some of my favorite authors. A tiny part of me wondered if my active imagination was once again helping me with this writing process.
This time, no imagination was involved. The books were really there!
FAMILY STORIES, for the new Harlequin Everlasting Love imprint, is my first mass market book. I've published others for a more select market -- the libraries and educational markets. Finding the books listed in the library was fun. But seeing the books on a shelf in a bookstore was a much different thrill. Now I can have friends go into a real store and buy the book, rather than selling author copies out of my car trunk. While that's satisfying in its own way, seeing the book on the shelf makes this whole process more valid to me.
I stood in front of that shelf for a few more minutes and then started to leave, planning to come back later with a camera. Then I remembered my sons had convinced me we needed phones with cameras this time. I stopped the nearest stockboy and asked if he would take a picture of me with my book.
He gave me an odd look. I quickly assured him this wasn't just a book that I was buying but one that I had written. I grinned at the look he then gave me. He looked at me and then my book and then snapped a picture of me standing in front of the Romance Series section, holding a copy of Family Stories.
I thought I could include the picture today but the computer-savvy son is off at University and I had to finally quit trying to make it happen. Instead, I'll direct you to the copy of Family Stories listed on the side of our blog. And if you'd like to stop in and pick up your own copy -- at a real bookstore -- well, my next picture is going to be me walking in and not finding any books on the shelves! Because that means somebody bought them!
A Non-Alcoholic Toast
Back in November my doctor ordered some routine blood work. It had been a couple of years so I was due. I'm not a big fan of the medical profession, especially now that I'm getting a little older and the warranties on some of my parts seem to be expiring, but I'm usually fine with blood work. Not to boast or anything, but I've got great blood.
Well, pride goeth before the fall, heh? The doc's office called the next day. Two of my liver enzymes were off the charts. (That news didn't do good things for my blood pressure, but that's a whine for a different blog.) So more tests and no more booze. No beer, no wine, no margaritas.
Don't you just hate it when you go to the doctor's feeling fine and then discover something's not quite right?
Anyway, I'm happy--thankful--to report I recently got the good news that the enzymes are now back in the normal range. What caused them to go wacky? Got me. The current theory is I was exposed to a toxin, maybe the ant spray my dear husband applied liberally to the kitchen counter.
My months as a teetotaller--months covering the holidays and many personal triumphs all worthy of toasting--gave me a new perspective on alcohol use, particularly in my own little social corner of the world. It also had me searching for some festive, non-alcoholic, palatable beverages. I don't like soda--too sweet. So what else is there? Water, even sparkling water, is a tad...dull. I found sparkling fruit juices (Izze makes some nice ones) that are pretty good. Non-alcoholic beer isn't so bad, though the non-alcoholic wine my husband brought home didn't get my thumbs up. But maybe it's a matter of finding the right label. I wasn't a fan of sparkling cider until I tried a new brand.
So here are my questions for you in cyberland: 1. Do you have any good non-alcoholic beverages to recommend? (Even though I can now climb off the wagon, I've decided I'd like to add some variety to my liquid options.) And 2. How do you like to celebrate good news? Pop the bubbly, open the chocolates, treat yourself to a day at the spa--or something else?
Well, pride goeth before the fall, heh? The doc's office called the next day. Two of my liver enzymes were off the charts. (That news didn't do good things for my blood pressure, but that's a whine for a different blog.) So more tests and no more booze. No beer, no wine, no margaritas.
Don't you just hate it when you go to the doctor's feeling fine and then discover something's not quite right?
Anyway, I'm happy--thankful--to report I recently got the good news that the enzymes are now back in the normal range. What caused them to go wacky? Got me. The current theory is I was exposed to a toxin, maybe the ant spray my dear husband applied liberally to the kitchen counter.
My months as a teetotaller--months covering the holidays and many personal triumphs all worthy of toasting--gave me a new perspective on alcohol use, particularly in my own little social corner of the world. It also had me searching for some festive, non-alcoholic, palatable beverages. I don't like soda--too sweet. So what else is there? Water, even sparkling water, is a tad...dull. I found sparkling fruit juices (Izze makes some nice ones) that are pretty good. Non-alcoholic beer isn't so bad, though the non-alcoholic wine my husband brought home didn't get my thumbs up. But maybe it's a matter of finding the right label. I wasn't a fan of sparkling cider until I tried a new brand.
So here are my questions for you in cyberland: 1. Do you have any good non-alcoholic beverages to recommend? (Even though I can now climb off the wagon, I've decided I'd like to add some variety to my liquid options.) And 2. How do you like to celebrate good news? Pop the bubbly, open the chocolates, treat yourself to a day at the spa--or something else?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Another Tuesday Temptation
Since it's Tempting Tuesday, I'm going to be totally self-serving and tempt you with my new book, Damsel Under Stress, which hits stores today. This is the third book in my Enchanted, Inc. series, which includes Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos. This series follows the adventures of Katie Chandler, a small-town girl from Texas who moved to New York with hopes of being more extraordinary than she stood a chance of being back home.
In the first book, she'd been in the city a year and still felt like a hick, since she hadn't yet managed to learn the New Yorker trick of pretending not to see weird things. It didn't help that she kept seeing some really weird things, like people getting on the subway wearing fairy wings. She later found out that she was actually seeing things most others didn't because magic didn't work on her, not even the magic used to hide magical things. That odd talent landed her a job at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. (basically, the Microsoft of magic, only not evil).
In this third book, the stakes are higher than ever before. There's a rogue wizard on the loose trying to market dark spells, and now he's managed to get enough financial backing to buy ads and open a real store. Katie and her wizard boyfriend Owen have to figure out what's going on and where that money is coming from. And speaking of that boyfriend ... just when she didn't need any help in the romance department, Katie suddenly has a real, live fairy godmother. Supposedly the fairy godmother is there to help, but it seems like every attempt at dating and romance ends in disaster. No wonder Katie is a Damsel Under Stress.
As you can probably tell from the description, these are serious, dramatic literary works (and in case you're immune to sarcasm, they're really not. They're meant to be funny). I certainly have fun writing them, and it seems like readers are having fun reading them. I originally pitched the series as "Bridget Jones meets Harry Potter, as it's a blend of chick lit and fantasy. Just for fun, here's a list of reasons why people might want to check out my books for themselves:
1) I write faster than JK Rowling, so you won't have to wait as long for the sequel (the next book is coming in January 2008 and is already written).
2) You can read each book in a few hours, especially if you're willing to sacrifice nonessentials such as sleep, homework, housework or food (or so my readers tell me).
3) My books are funnier than anything Oprah recommends.
4) Talking gargoyles! Talking gargoyles who drive!
5) You think your boss is an ogre? Read these books and you'll meet a truly evil boss -- and I'm not talking about the one who's green and has fangs.
I'll be doing a mini book tour throughout Texas, so if you're in one of these locations, the more, the merrier!
May 3, 7 p.m., Borders at Preston and Royal in Dallas
May 5, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble in Tyler
May 9, 7 p.m., Hastings in Round Rock
May 12, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble on University in Fort Worth
May 16, 7:30 p.m., Borders at the Quarries in San Antonio
For more details on all of these or on the books, visit my web site.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Maniac Monday--so true
I figured if anyone can blog about Maniac Monday it is me. This year I have felt more than Mondays were that way. With school ending in a month, things are heating up at my day job as a teacher. But on top of that I have a book to write in two months! At this moment I’m asking myself: why did I do this to myself? Good question. Why do we push ourselves to do more and more in the same amount of time?
For me I’ve come to the conclusion I’m a workaholic. (Also, I’m a caramelaholic. For my birthday the other day, I had a hot caramel sundae instead of cake. Much more satisfying. But I digress. Back to the subject.) There is so much I want to do in life and only so many hours in a day. Wouldn’t it be nice it a day was say thirty hours long or I only needed a few hours of sleep a night to be refreshed? So when my publisher offered me a continuity, I couldn’t turn it down. Instead of writing the usual three books in a year, suddenly I was writing four.
It has been a challenge. One of the things I’ve had to give up is reading for pleasure. For a writer and lover of books, that is a sacrifice. I’m counting the days to summer. I hope I’ll be able to read for pleasure again, at least some. And when I go on vacation, I’m taking a stack of books and hanging out at the beach with them. I can’t wait. Nothing’s better than reading with the waves sounding in the background and the warm rays of the sun beating down. What do you have to give up when life gets crazy?
Margaret Daley
SO DARK THE NIGHT, Love Inspired Suspense, March 2007
ONCE UPON A FAMILY, Love Inspired, April 2007
VANISHED, Love Inspired Suspense, May 2007
For me I’ve come to the conclusion I’m a workaholic. (Also, I’m a caramelaholic. For my birthday the other day, I had a hot caramel sundae instead of cake. Much more satisfying. But I digress. Back to the subject.) There is so much I want to do in life and only so many hours in a day. Wouldn’t it be nice it a day was say thirty hours long or I only needed a few hours of sleep a night to be refreshed? So when my publisher offered me a continuity, I couldn’t turn it down. Instead of writing the usual three books in a year, suddenly I was writing four.
It has been a challenge. One of the things I’ve had to give up is reading for pleasure. For a writer and lover of books, that is a sacrifice. I’m counting the days to summer. I hope I’ll be able to read for pleasure again, at least some. And when I go on vacation, I’m taking a stack of books and hanging out at the beach with them. I can’t wait. Nothing’s better than reading with the waves sounding in the background and the warm rays of the sun beating down. What do you have to give up when life gets crazy?
Margaret Daley
SO DARK THE NIGHT, Love Inspired Suspense, March 2007
ONCE UPON A FAMILY, Love Inspired, April 2007
VANISHED, Love Inspired Suspense, May 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
More flowers
Since there's no one signed up for today and Gail's post inspired me, I'll jump in to share more flowers--these are the flowers my agent sent me for making the USA Today bestseller list.
I was thrilled! Well, of course I was thrilled to make the list, but I was just as thrilled to get the flowers. No one ever sends me flowers, and these just made the whole experience seem more special and more real.
I was looking at them yesterday, admiring them, wishing I had someone to share them with. (I live in a family of men. They just don't get the flowers thing. Food? Yes. A bouquet of cookies? My seventeen year old would have been all over those. But flowers? What are they good for?) And I was thinking how fleeting cut flowers are. By next week they'll be gone.
So here they are, captured on...well, not film--in pixels, maybe?
I'm taking them as a reminder to take time to celebrate every accomplishment--from making a list to making the finals in a contest to finishing a manuscript or even a scene or a bit of dialogue. Take time to pull yourself out of the rat race once in a while, look around, smell the flowers, and just enjoy all you've accomplished.
And on that note, a big congratulations to all the PASIC members who just found out they made the finals of the National Readers' Choice Awards. Way to go, ladies!!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Stopping to smell the flowers
For some reason, I thought I'd signed up to blog here on Tuesday of this week. Tuesday was my 31st wedding anniversary. It was also the day of the combined community- junior college choir concert, and I joined the community choir this spring. The community choir has six to eight members (depending on the weather and whether our tenor who works for the highway department has to be out on the highway to deal with flooding or tornados). The college choir has around 15 members. So every one of us had to be there, both for dress rehearsal on Monday and the concert on Tuesday.
Tuesday, I also had to drive the 60 miles into Amarillo to put money in the bank for our son at college. (There are banks in our little town--two of them--but none of them are also in Waco.) Baby has to pay his rent, you know. And then I had to drive home again in time for warm-up. I didn't even think about computers or the Internet, much less blogging, until Wednesday. Fortunately, I hadn't signed up, so I was safe. (whew!)
And I'm trying to revise a book I just finished writing. For some reason, just after I've finished something, my life is much less organized than it is when I'm driving for the finish line, heading frantically for the point where I can write: The End. Now that it's done, I have to go back and look at the beginning again and figure out if the beginning matches the end, and if it gets lost anywhere in the middle and--well, lots of stuff.
But when I walked home from picking up the last couple of days' worth of mail at the post office this afternoon (it's only 3 blocks away--if you don't count the swing around the park and baseball fields), I noticed the iris blooming in my front yard. I inspected each one of them and picked off the faded wads of old blossom. I pulled up the nasty thistly dandelion thing that isn't a dandelion, but tries to fool you into thinking it is. (Should have pulled up a lot more of them, but the ground's a little hard.) I stopped to smell the flowers. And I wanted to share them with you. I hope flowers are blooming where you are. Go take a whiff, okay?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Cherry Garcia vs. Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl
I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about how subjective taste is. What makes one person love something that another person has a hard time swallowing, let alone enjoying? The other night my husband and I sat down to watch a movie. After fifteen minutes he left the room to watch a hockey game on another television. I continued to watch the movie. It wasn’t the best movie I’d ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst, either. I found the character studies fascinating, even if the plot left a bit to be desired. And I enjoyed the movie enough to want to sit through it until the end to see how the conflicts were resolved.
Sometimes that happens to me with a book. I’ll continue reading one I don’t particularly love because I either a) find enough enjoyable about it that I want to finish it, b) am hoping it gets better, or c) am hoping that even though I figured out whodunit by chapter three, the author will prove me wrong and give me a totally different ending I didn’t see coming (and man, when that happens, I love it!)
But there are other times when I pick up a book and toss it aside after a chapter or two. Often it’s a book that has gotten rave reviews. Sometimes it’s even a book by an author I’ve read and enjoyed previously. When this happens, one of two reactions occur. I either a) wonder if there’s something wrong with me that I don’t get what everyone else sees in the book, or b) scratch my head, wondering why everyone else can’t see the flaws in plot and character that jump off the page at me.
Then there are times where I fall in love with a book and recommend it to friends, only to have them question my taste. Or worse yet, my sanity.
For many people peanut butter is the perfect food. For me it sets off my gag reflexes. I’m more a Cherry Garcia kind of girl. Taste. It’s one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe. Why do you suppose that is?
Sometimes that happens to me with a book. I’ll continue reading one I don’t particularly love because I either a) find enough enjoyable about it that I want to finish it, b) am hoping it gets better, or c) am hoping that even though I figured out whodunit by chapter three, the author will prove me wrong and give me a totally different ending I didn’t see coming (and man, when that happens, I love it!)
But there are other times when I pick up a book and toss it aside after a chapter or two. Often it’s a book that has gotten rave reviews. Sometimes it’s even a book by an author I’ve read and enjoyed previously. When this happens, one of two reactions occur. I either a) wonder if there’s something wrong with me that I don’t get what everyone else sees in the book, or b) scratch my head, wondering why everyone else can’t see the flaws in plot and character that jump off the page at me.
Then there are times where I fall in love with a book and recommend it to friends, only to have them question my taste. Or worse yet, my sanity.
For many people peanut butter is the perfect food. For me it sets off my gag reflexes. I’m more a Cherry Garcia kind of girl. Taste. It’s one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe. Why do you suppose that is?
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
What I'm Reading
I'm reading FIREFLY SUMMER by Maeve Binchy, and really enjoying it.
It's set in a little Irish town, where a wealthy American businessman "comes home" to return to his Irish roots. He buys the property once owned by a powerful family that turned his family out when his father was just a boy. Patrick O'Neill wants to put things right, and make the little town of Mountfern more than what it is. But his plans could eventually put the local pub, owned by the Ryan family, out of business….
It's a lovely story because there aren't any heroes or villains per se – just flawed people with good intentions (unless you count the crooked local car dealer). It's leisurely, sprawling, slice-of-life stuff, where you get to know more and more people in the town as the story goes on. This is the first Binchy book I've read, but it won't be the last.
I'm discovering I really like gently-paced, small town stories like this one. Curtiss Ann Matlock's novels set in Valentine,
Monday, April 23, 2007
There Was a Time...
…when people didn’t have air conditioning and they used fans or slept on fire escapes or out in the open air.
…when we didn’t have cell phones, and there wasn’t a need to call someone as soon as we left the house and got into the car. All of a sudden, everything’s an emergency. What did people do before cell phones made instant contact a way of life?
…when there was no such thing as speed dialing. You had to put your finger in the little holes on the phone or on the little buttons and, oh my God, actually dial the number.
…when we didn’t have call waiting, and you weren’t rudely put on hold so that the person you were talking to could find out who was calling, and sometimes never get back to you. Man, talk about feeling insignificant. It used to be called a busy signal which meant the intruding party had to hang up and call back.
…when we didn’t have computers, and writers wrote on, gasp, typewriters, or, even bigger gasp, by longhand.
…when we didn’t have e-mail and people sat down and wrote letters or made phone calls.
…when you had to go to the library and take out books on the subject you were researching instead of hitting the search button.
…when you had to look at a map to get to where you were going instead of depending on Map Quest (which, by the way, isn’t always right).
…when you had to walk around the block for exercise and actually got somewhere, instead of hopping on the treadmill and going nowhere.
…when you had to heat up your leftovers on the stovetop or in the oven and they came out hot, instead of nuking them in the microwave and having them turn cold two seconds after coming out.
…when you had to get up and change the channels, forcing you to get some exercise, instead of sitting there in couch potato mode working that remote with death-defying speed while your butt gets wider with each passing year.
Now, I’m not suggesting that I could do without any of the above modern marvels. I’m a slave to the treadmill, and I rationalize that all the exercise I’m getting makes it okay for me to change channels from the couch. Air conditioning is a must, especially here in South Florida and when you’re waking up every hour with night sweats. The microwave is my best friend when I heat up frozen dinners. I got a cell phone to lower my phone bills (you gotta love those roll-over minutes). E-mail is a big part of my day job and comes in handy when I don’t want to speak with the co-workers I can’t stand. I frequent the library much less often these days since anything and everything I could possibly want to know, and even some things I never wanted to know, can be found on the Internet. Despite my disappointment in Map Quest which, instead of the directions pointing me west, sent me so far east that I literally hit the ocean, I’ll probably use it again. And my computer, well, I wouldn’t be posting this blog here now without it, would I? But I refuse, absolutely refuse, to get call waiting. I’ve got my limits.
I’m all for making life easier through technology, but I think we sacrifice something for all this speed, like peace of mind, serenity and a slower pace of life. Along with the technology comes increased stress levels and tons of frustration, like when the computer eats up all your files, e-mail is down, cell calls are dropped even though Cingular promises fewer dropped calls (yeah, right), a lightning strike here in the lightning capital of the world shorts out your air conditioner, you hit the up arrow on the treadmill instead of the down arrow and find yourself traveling at the speed of light, the TV, VCR and/or DVD remote stops working despite the addition of new batteries, and all that microwaved food you’re eating makes you wonder if your insides are glowing.
With these technologies come words with new meanings. Download, for example. I do it, but I hate it, always fearing I’ll do it wrong. Hard drive. It used to mean driving over potholes. Now, I don’t know exactly what this is, but I’ve had several of them. Worms. Sounds like something I would bring my dog to the vet for, but yuk, they’re in my computer. Browser. Isn’t this someone who just looks without buying? Server. Isn’t this the person who brings my food in a restaurant? RAM. Isn’t that the culprit who got the ewe pregnant? Byte. Something you used to take out of a doughnut. Now, with different spelling to dress it up, who knows?
Recently, I stopped watching the nightly news for one week, and lo and behold, my stress levels went down. I felt calmer, more peaceful. I don’t shut myself out of the world. I’m well aware of all that’s going on locally, nationally and internationally, but there’s a difference between being informed and being pummeled with it night after night. That’s how I feel about all this technology overload. I could live without some of these things, but could I “do” without them? Probably not.
What about you? Is there anything that you could do without that you feel would make your life simpler and better? (No, I’m not talking about your significant others. We’ll save that subject for another day.)
…when we didn’t have cell phones, and there wasn’t a need to call someone as soon as we left the house and got into the car. All of a sudden, everything’s an emergency. What did people do before cell phones made instant contact a way of life?
…when there was no such thing as speed dialing. You had to put your finger in the little holes on the phone or on the little buttons and, oh my God, actually dial the number.
…when we didn’t have call waiting, and you weren’t rudely put on hold so that the person you were talking to could find out who was calling, and sometimes never get back to you. Man, talk about feeling insignificant. It used to be called a busy signal which meant the intruding party had to hang up and call back.
…when we didn’t have computers, and writers wrote on, gasp, typewriters, or, even bigger gasp, by longhand.
…when we didn’t have e-mail and people sat down and wrote letters or made phone calls.
…when you had to go to the library and take out books on the subject you were researching instead of hitting the search button.
…when you had to look at a map to get to where you were going instead of depending on Map Quest (which, by the way, isn’t always right).
…when you had to walk around the block for exercise and actually got somewhere, instead of hopping on the treadmill and going nowhere.
…when you had to heat up your leftovers on the stovetop or in the oven and they came out hot, instead of nuking them in the microwave and having them turn cold two seconds after coming out.
…when you had to get up and change the channels, forcing you to get some exercise, instead of sitting there in couch potato mode working that remote with death-defying speed while your butt gets wider with each passing year.
Now, I’m not suggesting that I could do without any of the above modern marvels. I’m a slave to the treadmill, and I rationalize that all the exercise I’m getting makes it okay for me to change channels from the couch. Air conditioning is a must, especially here in South Florida and when you’re waking up every hour with night sweats. The microwave is my best friend when I heat up frozen dinners. I got a cell phone to lower my phone bills (you gotta love those roll-over minutes). E-mail is a big part of my day job and comes in handy when I don’t want to speak with the co-workers I can’t stand. I frequent the library much less often these days since anything and everything I could possibly want to know, and even some things I never wanted to know, can be found on the Internet. Despite my disappointment in Map Quest which, instead of the directions pointing me west, sent me so far east that I literally hit the ocean, I’ll probably use it again. And my computer, well, I wouldn’t be posting this blog here now without it, would I? But I refuse, absolutely refuse, to get call waiting. I’ve got my limits.
I’m all for making life easier through technology, but I think we sacrifice something for all this speed, like peace of mind, serenity and a slower pace of life. Along with the technology comes increased stress levels and tons of frustration, like when the computer eats up all your files, e-mail is down, cell calls are dropped even though Cingular promises fewer dropped calls (yeah, right), a lightning strike here in the lightning capital of the world shorts out your air conditioner, you hit the up arrow on the treadmill instead of the down arrow and find yourself traveling at the speed of light, the TV, VCR and/or DVD remote stops working despite the addition of new batteries, and all that microwaved food you’re eating makes you wonder if your insides are glowing.
With these technologies come words with new meanings. Download, for example. I do it, but I hate it, always fearing I’ll do it wrong. Hard drive. It used to mean driving over potholes. Now, I don’t know exactly what this is, but I’ve had several of them. Worms. Sounds like something I would bring my dog to the vet for, but yuk, they’re in my computer. Browser. Isn’t this someone who just looks without buying? Server. Isn’t this the person who brings my food in a restaurant? RAM. Isn’t that the culprit who got the ewe pregnant? Byte. Something you used to take out of a doughnut. Now, with different spelling to dress it up, who knows?
Recently, I stopped watching the nightly news for one week, and lo and behold, my stress levels went down. I felt calmer, more peaceful. I don’t shut myself out of the world. I’m well aware of all that’s going on locally, nationally and internationally, but there’s a difference between being informed and being pummeled with it night after night. That’s how I feel about all this technology overload. I could live without some of these things, but could I “do” without them? Probably not.
What about you? Is there anything that you could do without that you feel would make your life simpler and better? (No, I’m not talking about your significant others. We’ll save that subject for another day.)
Saturday, April 21, 2007
First Alert, um, Saturday
Well, since yesterday's post didn't post til this morning anyway and the weekend free for all seems rather free, I'll post the alerts I technically should've posted in the last post (got that? I'm not sure I do.)
Next Sunday, April 29th, I will be signing copies of both The Model Man and Five O'Clock Shadow at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair on the UCLA campus in booth 355 near Royce Hall, for anyone planning to attend, there will be - assuming I can figure out how to create them, fast - free bookmarks too. And candy. Because everyone likes candy and I don't have to make that.
Also, I was very pleased that my erotic romance novella, Rodeo Man in The Cowboy (Aphrodisia) finaled in the Passionate Plume.
Okay, NOW I think I've done what I was actually supposed to do.
Genie
FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW - AVAILABLE NOW
Next Sunday, April 29th, I will be signing copies of both The Model Man and Five O'Clock Shadow at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair on the UCLA campus in booth 355 near Royce Hall, for anyone planning to attend, there will be - assuming I can figure out how to create them, fast - free bookmarks too. And candy. Because everyone likes candy and I don't have to make that.
Also, I was very pleased that my erotic romance novella, Rodeo Man in The Cowboy (Aphrodisia) finaled in the Passionate Plume.
Okay, NOW I think I've done what I was actually supposed to do.
Genie
FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW - AVAILABLE NOW
The Body of your Work
I know that many writers say that their characters came alive in the course of writing them, that the characters even directed the story, took the plot or theme in a new direction.
But how many of you - writers and readers - feel that the story itself can become a living being - the plot of course is the spine of the work, the characters are the mind and heart, the theme its soul. And once the body of your work starts living and breathing on its own, it's important to feed and clothe it - with your best possible prose. It's important to introduce this new creature to the world - readers other than yourself.
Sometimes when we're stuck on a scene, or an entire book, it helps to let this creature breathe on its own. The old saw of stepping away from your work, taking a walk, doing something physical, often does work to renew your ability to write. I like to think of it as pumping some air into the lungs of this book/being - until it's ready to just take off running on its own. Or as is certainly sometimes the case with me, to take off crawling slowly in circles around kitchen floor and knocking into the cat bowls.
At any rate, I think books do come alive for readers, and that it's not too far a stretch to say the stories are living, constantly mutating, growing "bodies of work" as writers shape them, too.
Genie
FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW - Zebra - AVAILABLE NOW
But how many of you - writers and readers - feel that the story itself can become a living being - the plot of course is the spine of the work, the characters are the mind and heart, the theme its soul. And once the body of your work starts living and breathing on its own, it's important to feed and clothe it - with your best possible prose. It's important to introduce this new creature to the world - readers other than yourself.
Sometimes when we're stuck on a scene, or an entire book, it helps to let this creature breathe on its own. The old saw of stepping away from your work, taking a walk, doing something physical, often does work to renew your ability to write. I like to think of it as pumping some air into the lungs of this book/being - until it's ready to just take off running on its own. Or as is certainly sometimes the case with me, to take off crawling slowly in circles around kitchen floor and knocking into the cat bowls.
At any rate, I think books do come alive for readers, and that it's not too far a stretch to say the stories are living, constantly mutating, growing "bodies of work" as writers shape them, too.
Genie
FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW - Zebra - AVAILABLE NOW
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Wow, what a month
After a miserable October (with $2,000 in insurance co-pays ) where I hit an 8-pt deer and had smoke damage to my house, April has roared in with a bang--in a good way.I don't think I've ever had a month quite like this. First, Nine Months' Notice hit #9 on the Borders Group/Waldenbooks series best seller list for the week ending April 14. The book is also selling out Wal-Marts everywhere in my area--took 3 days for the store closest to me. I'm pinching myself, because this month seems surreal for I also made my 20th sale to Harlequin.
Twenty. I still can't believe that either. In September 1999, I sold my first book as a result of an editor appointment at RWA national. Before the next convention, I'd sold book 2.
Speaking of sales, my 15th, 19th and 20th sale were Harlequin Special Releases: Stories Set in the World of NASCAR. This is a new venture for me, and one I'm thrilled about. It also represents a chance to step out of just writing for one line, which was one of my goals. To meet this goal and selling 20 could not have been done without everyone believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself.
So, since I'm long winded, let me get to the point (ah, you say, finally!):
In October 2000, I sat in a Waldenbooks signing my first book. It was a dream moment, and I looked around and felt this profound joy. But I knew that it was that type of joy that is fleeting. But I had it, for that one moment. A glimmer. The next month my then-husband lost his job, my mother had health issues, I learned I was going to have to give up my dream job, my dream house, etc. to move to Texas. Life went downhill fast. In 2001, I got divorced, survived a car accident that required a surgery in March 2002, and was hit again by a different driver in Dec. 2002. My dad also died. My teaching job was subject to budget cuts so I changed jobs over the next few years. I moved. I dealt with some personal issues involving my mother's illness. I continued to write, for that is what I do.
Seven years later, the world is not what I pictured it would be. But it's great. I love my current teaching job and I will be teaching all journalism classes next year. My writing career seems to be on an upswing. I'm in a new house that I love. I'm still single, but that's because a certain race car driver hasn't figured out that I'm his dream woman or even that I exist (had to throw that in).
But life is good. I've weathered tough times. I know there will be more. But blessings exist, for God has always been gracious and has always provided, both financially and emotionally. I'm surrounded by supportive people who love me. Thus, I'm grateful that this is simply, my life, complete with all its hills and valleys. I have discovered something beyond joy, beyond happiness that is fleeting, something that only comes through perseverance. I have discovered contentment.
Michele
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Two books out this month
This is a big month for me. It Happened One Wedding, the second in my To Wed Or Not To Wed series is out this month. Also my women’s fiction debut, Another Life. Talk about exciting! So far it’s doing well. Some of the reviews are posted here:
http://romance-author-buzz.blogspot.com/search/label/Ann%20Roth
There was more excitement at the end of March. I spent four fabulous days in New York city for the PASIC writers’ conference. The Harlequin American offices are in Toronto, but the Silhouette offices are in the old Woolworth building on Broadway, just a few blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood. I’ve been there before, but went back for a tour and lunch with Mary Theresa Hussey, who is a great editor (not mine—I work with the amazing Kathleen Scheibling, who’s in Toronto) and a wonderful person. Best of all, she gave me my pick of books to bring home. Needless to say, my to be read pile is now humongous!
I visited the Kensington offices, too. They are far away from Silhouette, but just as impressive. John Scognamiglio , my editor, has a spotless office that puts mine to shame.
Publishing houses always astonish me. They are constantly acquiring manuscripts, editing, designing covers, doing PR and marketing, and a number of other things. Well-oiled machines, for sure.
New York itself amazes me with its fantastic museums and shows. While I was there, I saw three shows. Avenue Q, which is an irreverent, funny musical with a message to enjoy today because tomorrow things may change. The Pirate Queen is brand new and pure romance. I don’t know for how long it’ll be around, but I certainly enjoyed it. The Year of Magical Thinking is a serious play with only one actor—the amazing Vanessa Redgrave. Joan Didion wrote both the book and the screenplay and I truly enjoyed her beautiful writing.
During the day I enjoyed conference stuff—panels, talks and discussions—and loved all of it. I reconnected with friends I only see at conferences and forged a deeper friendship with my roommate, Ann Defee.
All in all, a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t trade a second of it. And yet… it’s great to be home again, sitting at the computer and creating stories.
Ann Roth
Another Life, April, 2007
It Happened One Wedding, April, 2007
www.annroth.net
http://romance-author-buzz.blogspot.com/search/label/Ann%20Roth
There was more excitement at the end of March. I spent four fabulous days in New York city for the PASIC writers’ conference. The Harlequin American offices are in Toronto, but the Silhouette offices are in the old Woolworth building on Broadway, just a few blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood. I’ve been there before, but went back for a tour and lunch with Mary Theresa Hussey, who is a great editor (not mine—I work with the amazing Kathleen Scheibling, who’s in Toronto) and a wonderful person. Best of all, she gave me my pick of books to bring home. Needless to say, my to be read pile is now humongous!
I visited the Kensington offices, too. They are far away from Silhouette, but just as impressive. John Scognamiglio , my editor, has a spotless office that puts mine to shame.
Publishing houses always astonish me. They are constantly acquiring manuscripts, editing, designing covers, doing PR and marketing, and a number of other things. Well-oiled machines, for sure.
New York itself amazes me with its fantastic museums and shows. While I was there, I saw three shows. Avenue Q, which is an irreverent, funny musical with a message to enjoy today because tomorrow things may change. The Pirate Queen is brand new and pure romance. I don’t know for how long it’ll be around, but I certainly enjoyed it. The Year of Magical Thinking is a serious play with only one actor—the amazing Vanessa Redgrave. Joan Didion wrote both the book and the screenplay and I truly enjoyed her beautiful writing.
During the day I enjoyed conference stuff—panels, talks and discussions—and loved all of it. I reconnected with friends I only see at conferences and forged a deeper friendship with my roommate, Ann Defee.
All in all, a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t trade a second of it. And yet… it’s great to be home again, sitting at the computer and creating stories.
Ann Roth
Another Life, April, 2007
It Happened One Wedding, April, 2007
www.annroth.net
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