Or at least it seems that way. My sci-fi story Stern Negotiations is flowing nicely, unlike my shifter story Cynful. I haven't had a single argument from the main characters. Rabi and Stern are getting along fabulously and are agreeing with almost everything I want to put them through. I'm not sure why this one is flowing so much better than Cynful but I'm not about to question it. I'm enjoying writing a different sort of character with Rabi. He's little more formal the most of the characters I usually write, and Stern is having a fun time trying to figure him out. She can sense the passion in him and longs to bring it out. Both of them have secrets they're keeping from the other for good reasons, and I've just reached the point where one of their secrets is about to be revealed.
(Those of you worried I won't be heading back to Cynful any time soon, don't be. This happens to me sometimes. Once I shake out whatever is bothering me about Julian and Cyn I'll be back to writing my shifters. Until then, I'll be working on Stern and Rabi.)
I almost forgot to make the banner for the scavenger hunt for Authors After Dark! So that was one of the first things I worked on today, and I think it turned out rather well. We'll have to see what the finished product looks like when it arrives. Also, the final schedule should be posted soon. Once I know exactly where I'll be at what time, I'll post it here and on my website. Remember, Authors After Dark is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 11-14 at the Doubletree Hotel in Center City.
P.S.: My new bed arrived! I've never heard of anyone delivering on a Sunday, but these guys did. Last night was our first night on the new mattress and I have to say so far I like it. My back felt a little bit better today, but considering I could barely walk yesterday I'm not sure if that's saying much. We'll have to see how much of a difference it makes and if it does everything that's been promised. One thing I do know is that it's already better than sleeping on my chaise!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Time Flies By
When you're remodeling, especially when you're sleeping on the sofa.
Okay, that's a lie. It drags on like a week-long visit with a guest from hell. You know the kind of visit I mean, where you want to stab your own eyeballs out with a grapefruit spoon rather than spend one more minute with the person across the table from you?
It's sort of like that, but without the vast quantities of tequila needed to get through it.
Dusty and I had decided when we got back from Florida that we would replace our waterbed with a memory foam bed, with the bed frame that can raise and lower your back and knees. We've heard this would be good for my arthritis and has been something we've been planning on for a while. But we realized we couldn't use our current bed furniture with the new frame and mattress, and since it was one of those all-in-one types with built in end tables we realized we'd have to replace all the bedroom furniture. So we decided that while we were at it we would also replace the carpeting and paint.
What started out as a master bedroom remodel has become the master bedroom, oldest son's room, stairways and hallway remodel, complete with installing a new wall between the master bedroom and the master bath and a brand-new closet system.
Have I mentioned my children are home from school right now? Pass the tequila, please. Thanks.
So things have been hectic around Casa de Bell for the last few weeks. The bed furniture and the carpeting are in. The drywall job will be started next week as will the painting, and yes I know that's kinda backwards, but I trust the guy doing the drywall work and was willing to wait for when he was available. It's going to go from a black and white bedroom to a gray and periwinkle blue one. I'm looking forward to the change, but with all the comings and goings things have been going slow on the writing front. Add in the fact that Julian and Cyn have been arguing with me lately over the direction of their story, I decided to work on something else for a little while. My sci-fi story seems to be flowing a little bit better for me right now, so I am doing a little work on that while I work out what's wrong with Cynful. I'm going to have Dusty read what I've got so far. He might be able to show me where I'm going wrong. I have vague idea, but I can't quite figure out how to fix it and I want to see if he sees the same thing I do.
I'm getting more and more used to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which means the words are starting to flow a little faster than they were before. That, too, was slowing me down. I'm not quite up to the speed I was when I was typing and my hand wasn't throbbing, but I'm slowly getting there. I still have to correct things by hand but not nearly as much as I did when I first started.
I'm looking forward to going to Authors After Dark in August, especially since it's going to be in my hometown. Just don't ask me whether I'm a fan of Pat's or Geno's. There's no way I'm getting in the middle of that war. We Philadelphians can get vicious when it comes to our cheese steaks.
Monday, June 20, 2011
I'm Ba-ack!
Did you know that I'm an insane woman? Because only an insane woman would go straight from a conference to Disney World.
Yeah. That's attractive. Luckily I own lots and of lots of hats.
This year I was smart. I stayed off the roller coasters, but nothing could get me off Test Track. I'm not nearly as broken as I thought it would be, but I'm still hurting a bit. It was great seeing Dusty's family again, and the children had a blast.
We're back home now, and the only other travel plans I have are for the Authors After Dark conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August. That one seems to be a little bit more like the RT con, but like the Foster con, it will be my first time there so I'll have to see.
By the way, Dusty and I noticed something this morning. Our children are home from school until late August.
That was the way Dusty reacted when he remembered. I'm not going to show you the picture of how I reacted. Some things might just break the inter-webs.
Edit: Sorry for any typos. I'm still using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and it's interesting AutoCorrect. I thought I caught them all, until Dusty started to read it and pointed some out. Let me know if there are more and I'll fix them. I've read it through four times and haven't seen any, but sometimes you can't see the trees for the forest.
Yeah, I'm that kind of crazy.
Let's start with the Lori Foster Reader Author Get-Together. My first night there I was a day early because this was my first time at Lori Foster and I had no idea what to expect. When I made my travel arrangements, I thought it was like the RT convention where I had to be there early enough to register. What I didn't know was that the Lori Foster con has you register late afternoon, early evening on Friday, so I wound up spending a little more time in my room than I planned. I totally should have gone to the lobby to see if anyone else was as early as I was but I chose not to, mostly because I was still hurting from the flight, getting my rental car, getting my scooter in the rental car, figuring out how to turn off the emergency brake in the rental car, and feeling like an idiot.
(I mean, who doesn't know how to turn off the emergency brake?)
The good news is I was nice and relaxed by the time I actually went to the con. I had a wonderful time chatting with Leah Christiansen and her husband; Kathy Andrico (the photography lady for the con, who took a lovely picture of me at the book signing); and Bridget Locke, aspiring writer and all-around nice person. We even wound up hitting the bar for drinks until midnight, something I never do. The whole vibe of the con is completely relaxed, more like a family reunion than anything else. I had a great time, and I will definitely do it again.
A couple of pictures from the con:
This is Drea Becraft, who could only stay for a brief time before heading off to a wedding. It was great seeing her even if she couldn't stay for long.
These are all the authors who were still available for the group photo by the end of the con. I'm off in the left-hand corner peeking around the chair. Getting to where the photo was being taken was tricky in my scooter and I almost didn't make it. When it came time to do the pictures for the individual publishers, I made sure I was out of the scooter and front row. I'll update later once I have those pictures.
I get home from the Lori Foster con, pleasantly tired, and walked straight into chaos. You see, this is the part where I prove to you that I'm an insane woman. My husband was finishing packing for us to leave the next morning to go to Disney World. so it was time to do laundry, make sure all the toiletries were packed, make sure all of my batteries and chargers for my scooter were ready to go (I need to take three to make it all work), etc. Honestly, Dusty did most of the work, but I did just enough to feel really tired by the end of the night.
So was off to Disney World and our timeshare was gorgeous. We bought into Bay Lake Towers, and I have to say I'm glad that we did. We loved our stay in the Contemporary last year, but it just isn't something we can afford to do all the time. However, we go to Disney World every other year to visit Dusty's family, so buying into the timeshare made sense for us.
One of the things I forgot about Florida was what it does to my hair. I have naturally wavy hair, and when I'm at home it looks like this:
Not too bad, but a little on the frizzy side. In Florida, it looks like this:
A couple of pictures from the con:
This is Drea Becraft, who could only stay for a brief time before heading off to a wedding. It was great seeing her even if she couldn't stay for long.
This is me at the book signing, with my cover flats and the two posters I decided to bring. I wasn't certain if people would like them, but from the reaction I got to them I may have more done. Are there any particular covers of mine you'd like to get in poster size?
These are all the authors who were still available for the group photo by the end of the con. I'm off in the left-hand corner peeking around the chair. Getting to where the photo was being taken was tricky in my scooter and I almost didn't make it. When it came time to do the pictures for the individual publishers, I made sure I was out of the scooter and front row. I'll update later once I have those pictures.
I get home from the Lori Foster con, pleasantly tired, and walked straight into chaos. You see, this is the part where I prove to you that I'm an insane woman. My husband was finishing packing for us to leave the next morning to go to Disney World. so it was time to do laundry, make sure all the toiletries were packed, make sure all of my batteries and chargers for my scooter were ready to go (I need to take three to make it all work), etc. Honestly, Dusty did most of the work, but I did just enough to feel really tired by the end of the night.
So was off to Disney World and our timeshare was gorgeous. We bought into Bay Lake Towers, and I have to say I'm glad that we did. We loved our stay in the Contemporary last year, but it just isn't something we can afford to do all the time. However, we go to Disney World every other year to visit Dusty's family, so buying into the timeshare made sense for us.
One of the things I forgot about Florida was what it does to my hair. I have naturally wavy hair, and when I'm at home it looks like this:
Not too bad, but a little on the frizzy side. In Florida, it looks like this:
Yeah. That's attractive. Luckily I own lots and of lots of hats.
This year I was smart. I stayed off the roller coasters, but nothing could get me off Test Track. I'm not nearly as broken as I thought it would be, but I'm still hurting a bit. It was great seeing Dusty's family again, and the children had a blast.
We're back home now, and the only other travel plans I have are for the Authors After Dark conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August. That one seems to be a little bit more like the RT con, but like the Foster con, it will be my first time there so I'll have to see.
By the way, Dusty and I noticed something this morning. Our children are home from school until late August.
That was the way Dusty reacted when he remembered. I'm not going to show you the picture of how I reacted. Some things might just break the inter-webs.
Edit: Sorry for any typos. I'm still using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and it's interesting AutoCorrect. I thought I caught them all, until Dusty started to read it and pointed some out. Let me know if there are more and I'll fix them. I've read it through four times and haven't seen any, but sometimes you can't see the trees for the forest.
Oh look! New picture(s)!
The Carina Press authors! That white cowboy hat of Leah Braemel's was hard to miss. Have I mentioned she's a terrible stalker?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Heading to Lori Foster's
Here's the schedule from Lori's Website:
(EDIT: PULLED THIS FULLER SCHEDULE FROM THE GET-TOGETHER FACEBOOK PAGE):
FRIDAY June 3rd
4:00 - 6:00pm
Registration West Chester Ballroom III
6:00 – 10:00pm
LIQUID SILVER sponsored Photo Light Booth open to all attendees! Hallway outside ballroom.
Get your fun souvenir photos with author or reader friends, compliments of Liquid Silver.
(Also available 1:00 to 4:00 on Saturday.)
6:00 – 6:45pm
Introduction of Special Guests in main ballroom
Editors, Agents, Publishers, Industry Professionals, etc...
* Intro Sue Grimshaw last
7:00 pm
Pizza Party in West Chester III
includes a variety of pizzas, chips & pretzels, vegetable tray & soft drinks.
7:00 – 8:00pm
Agent & Editor Appointments
Suite 121: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Jennifer Schober, Agent.
Suite 120: Harlequin Publishing, pitch appointments - Margo Lipschultz, Editor.
Madison Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Nalini Akoleker, Agent.
Monroe Boardroom: Samhain, pitch appointments - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director.
Glendale Boardroom: Knight Agency pitch appointments - Elaine Spencer, Agent.
Fairfield Boardroom: Sourcebooks, pitch appointments - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor.
Hamilton Boardroom: Linda Keller: Making a Digital Diff in the World of Brick & Mortars
Springfield Boardroom: Ravenous Romance, pitch appointments - Lori Perkins, Editorial Director
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large
8:30pm - 12:00am
Games & More in West Chester Ballroom
Hosted by Barb Hicks, Jules Bennett, Janice Maynard, and LuAnn McLane
SATURDAY, June 4th
8:00 – 11:00 am
Continental Breakfast in ballroom
9:00 – 10:00 am
Workshops
Madison Boardroom: Keri Stevens presents “Quick Read Codes: The Readers' Treasure Trail”
Monroe Boardroom: An Intimate Chat with Nalini Singh
Glendale Boardroom: COS for authors - Presentation and appointment signups
Hamilton Boardroom: Secret Cravings Publishing - Presentation and sign up for pitches
Fairfield Boardroom: An Intimate Chat with Mary Burton
Springfield Boardroom: Ellora’s Cave – Presentation and sign up for pitches
Liberty Boardroom: What's your favorite promotion? Interactive presentation with Jenn Stark.
Sharonville: Turquoise Morning Press - Kim Jacobs, Editor.
10:00 – whenever
Used Book Trade Opens
See Barb Hicks for information and tickets
10:00 – 11:00 am
Speed Chats with Agents & Editors, and Workshops
Madison Boardroom: Harlequin - Margo Lipschultz, Editor
Monroe Boardroom: Sourcebooks - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor
Glendale Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency - Agents Jennifer Schober & Nalini Akolekar
Hamilton Boardroom: Samhain - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director
Fairfield Boardroom: Knight Agency - Elaine Spencer, Agent
Springfield Boardroom: Leanna Renee Hieber - The Joys & Struggles of Being Different
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large
Sharonville: Linnea Sinclair - How Authors Design Heroes…and Why
11:00 – 12:00 pm
Speed Chats with Authors
Madison Boardroom: Nalini Singh & D.Renee Bagby
Monroe Boardroom: Dianne Castell & LuAnn McLane
Glendale Boardroom: Mary Burton & Ann Christopher
Hamilton Boardroom: Kate Douglas & Shiloh Walker
Fairfield Boardroom: Toni Blake & Jules Bennett
Springfield Boardroom: Leanna Renee Hieber & Virna DePaul
Liberty Boardroom: Linnea Sinclair & Cheryl Dragon
Sharonville Boardroom: Patricia Sargeant & C.H. Admirand
12:00 pm
Lunch Buffet
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Raffle drawing in ballroom
1:00 – 5:00 pm
LIQUID SILVER sponsored Photo Light Booth open to all attendees!
Get your fun souvenir photos with author or reader friends, compliments of Liquid Silver.
2:00 - 4:00 pm OPEN TO PUBLIC
Barnes and Noble BOOK SIGNING: in the hotel, outside the ballroom
eBooks will be for sale through individual authors in the same location.
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Agent & Editor Appointments & Workshops
Suite 121: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Jennifer Schober, Agent.
Suite 120: Harlequin Publishing, pitch appointments - Margo Lipschultz, Editor.
Madison Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Nalini Akoleker, Agent.
Monroe Boardroom: Samhain Pub., pitch appointments - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director.
Glendale Boardroom: Knight Agency, pitch appointments - Elaine Spencer, agent.
Fairfield Boardroom: Sourcebooks Pub. pitch appointments - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor.
Hamilton Boardroom: Liquid Silver Publishing, pitch appointments - Moni Draper, Editor.
Springfield Boardroom: COS for readers: Finding book entertainment online. Giveaways!
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large
Sharonville: Chrissy Brashear, Lindsey Faber, Samhain publishing – eBooks
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Workshops
Hamilton Boardroom: Liquid Silver, continued
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Raffle drawing in ballroom
4:00 – 5:30 pm
Group photos: authors, publishers, reader groups etc... please meet in atrium.
** We need people to be on hand at 4pm promptly right outside the ballroom! **
Special guests will be first – editors, publishers, agents, industry professionals, etc...
Authors will be next. (Authors please be there at 5:00!)
Other groups – just let Kathy know if you want a group photo!
5:30 pm
Dinner Buffet sponsored by SAMHAIN Publishing
6:30 pm
Final Raffle drawing in ballroom, during dessert
If you won’t be there, be sure to give your ticket to someone to collect if you win!
8:00-11:00 pm
“Sock Hop Party”
Sponsored by AuthorIsland.com
** Agent/Editor/Publisher Appointments: time and location will be given to each individual who has an appointment. Limited availability - first come, first served. MUST BE REGISTERED TO REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT.
I'll take as many pictures as I can and post them here when I get back.
Workshops/presentations/appointments with St. Martins, HQN, Liquid Silver, Carina Press, Samhain Books, Bonaparte Press, Circle of Seven, Wild Rose Press, Author Island and other various workshops will be presented throughout the day.
Workshops/presentations/appointments with St. Martins, HQN, Liquid Silver, Carina Press, Samhain Books, Bonaparte Press, Circle of Seven, Wild Rose Press, Author Island and other various workshops will be presented throughout the day.
After they Get Together I'll be heading to Disney World with my family, so I went ahead and updated my website. The buy links for the print edition of Bear Necessities have been updated, as has the printable print book list on my About Me page. I know it's over a week early, but I won't be here when the book comes out and I wanted to make sure that the website was up to date before I left.
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