Nov. 7

Okay- so I'm late in posting. My excuse is that it is absolutely lovely weather today. The sun is out. The sky is blue. The air is dry enough that there is no haze. Even better than sunshine and blue skies -- you don't need a coat or sweater! I've been wearing both for nearly a month now. So we have what they call Indian Summer today. Those brilliantly blue sky, warm air days after the first frost. Perfect for walking, running and playing football. Here's wishing a long and happy Indian summer for all!

Nov. 6

I mentioned on Facebook that I'm between projects and asked what people do with their down time. Someone said, writer's never have downtime because we're always writing in our heads. Which is so true. The trouble I'm having is that I have six completed books and two partials right now. Which means I have eight option books (a second for each book complete) rattling around in my head. Can't write the options until I sell the first book. I'm currently working in three genres and three areas of the romance genre. It's all too much.
The problem is that I am not patient. I want to write and sell and write some more- and when I don't sell I keep writing, revising. The market doesn't work that way- especially with a ten percent unemployment rate and book stores closing left and right. I need to stop and wait and be patient. Perseverance is good-but over kill is not. Like the people who audition for American Idol-and when they are turned down-burst into a different song- and then another song and another until someone gets the hook and throws them out. :) Patience is better than desperation. Don't you think? :)

Nov. 5

I'm a klutz. My father used to say I was graceful as an ox. Eight years ago I took my daughter to RWA National conference in Colorado. She was born in Denver and hadn't been back since so I wanted her to see the city and state that I love. On our first stop, we toured The Buffalo Bill museum and enjoyed the vast view at the top of the mountain. I had been there before and wanted her to see the view from both sides, so I took her down a small footpath to see the mountainside view. Climbing up on what looked like a small rock, I encouraged her to come up and get a better view. She eyed the rock and shook her head. "No way!" "Come on, it's not that high," I said. "Forget it!" she said. So I rolled my eyes at her fear and walked down to the short end and hopped off the rock. It should have been a small hop...it turned into what felt like 15 minutes of falling down the side of the mountain. I swear. I had enough time to figure out how best to land...you know, knees tucked, shoulder first... Once I hit bottom-we were both so shocked we stared at each other. Then laughed and laughed...then checked out the damage-my right thumb swelled up, my left knee was torn open, my shoulder battered and my elbow messed up. Embarrassed, I did not go into the museum and ask for help...nope. I drove down the mountain-past a first aid station-to the Walmart. My daughter went in and purchased first aid stuff-bandages, aspirin, wound cleaner and a splint...The cashier said-"this is all just in case, right? No one's hurt?" My daughter smiled. "Yeah," she said "just in case." Paid the money and came out. We patched me up in the parking lot. I joked that it was the ghost of Buffalo Bill that pushed me. It's been a family joke ever since. (I went back to the hotel and went to conference all banged up, waited until I got home to see the doctor. Yep, my thumb was broken in three places and my elbow was chipped- I should have had stitches...but seriously didn't want to admit I was so stupid as to jump off a rock. I told everyone who asked at conference that I had done it rock climbing....;)
What brings this little story to mind today is last nights' episode of Ghost Hunters. They were investigating...you guessed it...The Buffalo Bill museum. Where their were reports of mists and footsteps and...a lady being pushed down the stairs... Maybe I wasn't such a klutz after all. Maybe it was a ghost that pushed me. :) Cheers!

Nov. 4

Happy Birthday to my good friend and soon-to-be-published author, Joelle. Many blessings and happy returns!

Today is enrollment day for semester two of the MA program. So, I went and followed all the steps but the computer would not let me add my courses... (figures, right? lol) So I logged out. Logged back in- still not allowed to add. Sigh. So I called the registrar who kindly checked and said that there were no holds, I should be able to enroll and sent me to the help desk. The help desk said I was the second person with this problem, but no one there knew how to fix it. The person in charge would be in soon and call me back. So I waited an hour and tried a different browser and voila! I am registered. Logged out. Logged in with original browser and guess what? No add boxes and no proof that I was enrolled. Don't you love computer systems? So, I logged out and went to the other browser-logged in and there I was enrolled. I printed out the page. We'll see what happens next. Patience is key and a very good sense of humor!

Hope your day is great~

Nov. 3

I have found that writers are a unique combination of optimist and fatalist. You have to be an optimist to think that you could even write a book. Even more of an optimist to sit down and finish a book - think about it, you are creating something out of thin air. Then you have to be optimistic enough to let others read it- to revise- to query and to publish. Even then you have to be optimistic that readers will want to buy it and read it to do any kind of marketing and promotion-sending out to be judged in contests, etc.
But at the same time we are fatalists- the only part about being an author that is in our control is the actual writing and revising. With bad economies, publishers not buying, readers not buying, and rejection letters mounting, writer's tend to "know in their hearts" this probably won't fly but I'll keep trying. Case in point, a friend finalled in a contest for the first time. While we were all congratulating her, she looked at the other finalists and said-"They have all won other contests, I haven't. I don't really have a chance to win..." lol. Not true. She has as much a chance as any of the others, but she is already resigned to the possibility of not winning.
Fatalism is a learned reaction to protect us from the things we can't control- such as whether someone "loves" the book enough to take it on. It's not a bad thing- as long as we don't allow it to overtake out optimism and keep us from attempting our dreams.

Nov 2

My calendar says today is the Day of the Dead. It is also my late Grandma Ruth's birthday so I am thinking of ancestors. All the family that lived before us, and how they live inside us now. I like to wonder on their lives, think about their hopes and dreams. It is an interesting time to wander through the cemetery and look at the inscriptions. To see the rich and the poor, the well loved and the lost. It creates stories in my heart and in my head. What binds us all is life and death- love and anger and struggle. Stories of real people fuel the stories in my head and I wonder if there isn't a part of my ancestors that live on in my characters.

Nov 1

I'm going to admit how much of a geek I really am... I wanted to know what kind of trick-or-treaters we have. It always feels like a lot and we go through 10 to 13 bags of candy-of course, I give away more than one piece. So this year I conducted an experiment. I made up 80 gift bags of candy. 20 for tiny girls, 20 for tiny boys, 20 for older girls and 20 for older boys. At the end of the night I had a clear picture of how many kids came to my door. Curious? :) I'll share.
I had 14 bags left over...so we had 66 kids stop by in three hours. The most were young boys-(19 in total), followed by older girls, (18). Then we had young girls (16) and finally older boys (13).
It was cold last night and our impression was that we didn't get as many tiny kids as usual. My daughter thought perhaps the cold mixed with the threat of flu this year kept many toddlers and preschoolers home. My favorite of the preschool costumes was a little guy dressed like a teddy bear. The older girls were dressed in 80's gear, fairies, etc. Oh, three were "cougars"- not the animal but middle-aged women who used giant purses for their treat bags. lol. The boys were action figures, skeletons and super heroes...the coolest being a giant pumpkin-headed grim reaper who scare two other boys his same age. Funny. I do enjoy trick-or-treats. Cheers!