I love to shop

I’ve been buried in revisions and deadlines for what seems forever. Yesterday, after working four hours straight, I hit the wall and took a break. Headed for Pacific Place, an upscale mall in downtown Seattle. There I met Ann Defee, who also blogs here, for lunch and a few hours of chitchat (all right, a little gossip, too!), laughter and shopping. Late January is a great time to shop for clothes, because the sales are amazing. Not only that, the day was perfect—sunny and a balmy 57 degrees.

Hanging out with a writer friend always relaxes me. Writers understand when you’re so burned out from writing, you can’t think of the right word for something. Word exhaustion, a clever writer aptly named it. Non-writing friends think you’re… well, getting old. But writer friends think, she used up all her words writing today.

So when I told Ann, “I haven’t found a new whatchamacallit yet—that thing you put on your bed?” She supplied “bedspread” and we both laughed about it.

Several hours later I came home with a smile on my face, several cool new tops and pants (all on sale!), and a head full of words. Yep, the word exhaustion was gone. So thanks, Ann!

Today I’m refreshed and ready to plunge back into work.

Let's Talk Stories

Harlequin American Romance Authors

I'm not sure this will work, but I thought today was my blog day. Found out it was yesterday---sorry. I'll pop in today anyway. I have a writer friend who asked an interesting question of me---"why aren't publishers buying stories about families any more?"
I thought they were. Hope they are as I love to write family type stories. Now I wonder if they aren't buying as many new authors with family stories. There are a lot of paranormal, other world stories being bought right now. Even in the Harlequin lines I'm wondering if new books being bought don't focus on family as much as on straight hero/heroine romances. No added secondary characters. I read a lot. It seems to me there are families in the books. But I remind myself those were bought a year ago. So what say all of you who have sold recently? Families, no families, and what is the focus?
Roz D. Fox

Simply A Surprise

I received some great news last week. One of my writing friends emailed a congratulations. She saw on a list that Simple Gifts was nominated by Romantic Times Magazine as one of their favorite Harlequin Americans of 2006. Saying this was a surprise was pretty much an understatement. And because I was so surprised, I quickly wrote my friend back and told her that I thought she had made a mistake. Maybe she'd mistakenly pressed SEND to the wrong girl?

Well, Cathy wrote me back with a big : ) and said nope, she had it right...and listed all five Harlequin American Authors who were nominated. I called in my husband and we stared at the list on the screen together: Laura Marie Altom. Pamela Browning. Shelley Galloway. Debra Salonen, Marin Thomas. Yep, there I was, neatly stuck in the middle of such a great group of authors. So amazing!

Don't you love surprises like that? Unexpected ones which take you so off-guard that you can honestly say you're shocked? I don't think they happen too often in life...so each one is very sweet, to say the least.

Well, after I made my two teenagers come look at the screen, too, (Um, good job, Mom) I did the only thing I could do...I called my critique partner, Heather Webber. Luckily, she was home, and luckily, she finally made it real..."Yay!" she called out, then said she felt like crying. So, that's what we did. I stood in my kitchen, talked to Heather, and cried with my writing buddy, because she knew how much Simple Gifts had meant to me, and how much writing for Harlequin means to me. I think I mainly got all teary because it's nice to have girlfriends who can give you an really nice suprise on a Sunday evening, and to have girlfriends who will pick up the phone and be thrilled for you...just because.

So, congratulations to Laura and Pamela and Debra and Marin. And here's to good, very sweet, totally unexpected surprises. I hope everyone gets a sweet surprise one day very soon.

Shelley

Harlequin American Romance Authors

Harlequin American Romance Authors

Hello from sunny Texas! As I walked into my kitchen this morning, I knew something was different. Gone was the constant rain, drizzle, mist, sleet, snow and ice. I suddenly realized that I was not living in Seattle, but indeed, resided in suburban Dallas! What a nice surprise after all the bad weather. My heart goes out to those in the midwest who are still iced in, without power or otherwise stranded in the ice.

I'm working on a Christmas book - the first of my career. TEXAN FOR THE HOLIDAYS is the second book of my new Brody's Crossing series and will be released in December 2007. It's been a lot of fun writing a Christmas book over the actual holidays, but now the ceramics, candles, photos, lights, greenery and ornaments are going back into storage (eventually, I tell my husband!) and still my characters are in the joy of the season.

Prolonging Christmas through my characters is giving me a chance to relax a bit after the "real" holiday is over. You see, our December was quite hectic. Our daughter (my only child) was married on December 30 in Las Vegas, and as soon as we returned, I hosted a reception at our house for them. The trip to Las Vegas was delayed for almost an entire day due to storms at the airport, so we drove to Austin and flew out of there. There were multiple false fire alarms at the hotel, a missing wedding gown, and much illness in our wedding party. Overall, it's amazing that one of us didn't say, "Have you thought about going downtown to the JP?" But we didn't, and the wedding was beautiful.

A couple of friends (not my writing friends, because they know better) said that I should use all the mishaps in a book. I told them that no one would believe everything that happened to us if it were in a book. Truly, things like this only happen in real life - well, except maybe for Jennifer Crusie books, because she can make me believe almost anything could happen. Have you ever read what happened to the dead body in WELCOME TO TEMPTATION? Anyway, I digress. What I wanted to convey is that I have to make up almost all the silly things that happen in my books. One exception is the incident in TEMPORARILY TEXAN, my July 2007 release when the hero, Troy, tries to teach his Yankee vegetarian houseguest how to country-western dance. Yes, I actually sent a shoe flying across the dance floor when I tried the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Needless to say, I'm a writer, not a dancer!

Thanks for taking time to read the Harlequin American author's blog. If you'd like more information on my upcoming releases, please check my website.

How a cover comes to life

I've always said that covers are like giving birth. You don't know what you're going to get until it comes out. Harlequin American has been doing some fantastic covers lately (I'm still with both Kathleen and Linda--moving to Toronto and finding that hot guy on her cowboy book. I'm single--I can do that, smile).

Above is my cover for my April release, Nine Months' Notice. I received the cover pdf via email about a week ago. At Harlequin American, here's how the cover process works (at least for me). It may vary for the other authors, but I'm betting it's 90 percent the same.First step is completing an on line art fact sheet. These can be done up to a year in advance.

For example, I completed this art fact sheet in either September or October this year. I haven't done one yet for my November American, but I have for my NASCAR book. The art fact sheet asks for all the pertinent details like hair color, height, etc., basically how the characters look. The sheet also asks for the setting of the story, any important landmarks, and three important scenes. We also answer some questions that allow us to describe the mood of the book and how the characters grow and change. If we have an idea for the cover, we can include that in this section.

Then we're done. That's our part. I don't submit pictures or anything like that, letting the art department take it away. From what I understand from a Harlequin workshop I went to, Harlequin holds a meeting with the editors, marketing, and art people. Then they brainstorm what they want. Someone writes the text. Models come in and are posed so that pictures are taken, and then the artist uses a computer to create the art. This is why some covers look so lifelike--because those people really exist out there and they were actually posed into that position so the artist had something to work from. Just like Disney brought in real lions for The Lion King, Harlequin brings in real people.

From there, they take it away, editing, fixing, and tweaking until satisfied. Then, around three to four months before the book debuts, I can request the cover be sent to me and I open it. There in full view on my computer screen is the cover of the book I sweated over and loved writing. I print it out, hold it, and show it off. Hence, the birth of a baby analogy.I've been blessed to have some wonderful covers. (They are at www.micheledunaway.com Click on backlist.) The full cover text of my April cover is at my personal blog, www.micheledunaway.blogspot.com if you want to read what it says on the back cover.

Thanks for taking part in this "birth" with me. My April book is child number 14 for Harlequin American since my first book debuted in October 2000. I still pinch myself every time that I get to do this.

All the best and happy weekend,
Michele

Exploding Eggs

Yesterday I decided I wanted hard boiled eggs for lunch. My system for hard-cooking the eggs is simple: bring a pan of water containing the eggs to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it sit twenty minutes. Viola— the eggs are perfect.

No problem. Except, I am in the middle of an intense round for revisions, due next week. With my thoughts on the scene of the morning, I filled the pan, turned on the heat, and promptly forgot about it.

Awhile later, engrossed in my work, I vaguely heard a loud pop. Quickly followed by my husband’s bellow: “Annie!” (He calls me Annie and always has.) Fearing he’d had an accident or broken something, I rushed upstairs. Only to be greeted by nasty fumes and bits of egg everywhere!

As awful as this was, I found it funny. Laughed hysterically as we cleaned the mess from the floor, ceiling, walls, and even the dining room. (I never knew projectiled hardboiled egg chunks could travel that far.)

Unlike me, my husband failed to see the humor. For all I know, he thinks I’m developing Alzheimer’s. I’m not, of course. What really happened was, I got so wrapped up in my work that the real world faded away.

As I thought about this later, I realized that only another writer would understand. A call to a close writer friend confirmed this. She laughed right along with me. Thank God for friends who “get it.”

I did learn my lesson, though. Next time I want hard-boiled eggs, I’m setting the timer.

The weather outside...

The weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful…

Winter has arrived at my house—full blast, and that song has been running through my head for the past couple of days. And it’s not Christmas. It’s just &&&& cold. I live in Central Texas and this Texan is not used to temperatures in the twenties.

From my office, I can see the icicles hanging on the frozen ice laden trees and the grass and shrubs sparkle with a blanket of icy white crystals. The driveway is a film of ice. Every now and then I can hear the sleet tapping on my window. In the distance, I can see the highline poles and the endless stretch of electrical lines. Ice and icicles are accumulating on the lines and I’m praying the extra weight doesn’t cause them to break. The cold aside, it’s really very pretty—a winter ice land.

We have two fireplaces in our house and in all the ten years we’ve been here we’ve probably used them about four times. And that was at the holidays when we had company. With the central heat and our mild winters, we’ve never needed them. With the frigid cold, both fireplaces have been burning for past two days. I really like the fire. It’s cozy and romantic. I love sleeping with the fire going. And it really great to read by. Tonight, with my husband beside me, I’m curling up in front of the fire in the bedroom and reading one of the books I received for the Rita Contest. Can’t get any better than that.

What’s the weather like in your area? It sounds bad all over the US, so I hope you have a warm fire and a good book to read.

Oh, the weather outside…

How does this happen?!

My gosh. It's January 17th. Already!

Seems like just three days ago we were ringing in the new year. And now the first month of it's more than half gone. Where it went, I wish I knew....

They say everyone has the same number of hours in a day, but sometimes those hours become awfully hard to hang onto. It's no wonder, with every one of us involved in working outside the house, working inside the home, raising children, and/or caring for aging parents. Not to mention juggling housework, yardwork, grocery shopping, and laundry. Oh, and don't forget the gazillion other errands on that "To Do" list.

The days get away from us, and even when we do have a free moment here and there, we're too busy to notice!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a Minute Elf to gather up the stray bits of time that have fallen through the cracks? Sort of the way the Tooth Fairy comes and collects our teeth. The Tooth Fairy pays us in cold, hard cash, which isn't such a bad thing, of course. But if "time is money," as the old saying goes, maybe the Minute Elf could reward us with seconds and minutes and—if we're very lucky--hours, to replace whatever moments of our lives had slipped away.

That would be worth more than a few coins under your pillow, don't you think?
All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

Quirky Characters

Recently, I received an e-mail from a reader commenting on the quirky pig herder my hero crosses paths with in the opening scene of Nelson in Command (Jan 07), the second book in my McKade Brothers series--in stores now.

I love goofy characters--probably because I come from a long line of oddball family members--a seventy-year-old aunt who showed up at a family graduation barbecue in a bikini top and shorts, and too many others to mention here.

The reason I use quirky characters in my books is because they're believable. Every one of us knows or has met an "oddball" at one time or another. We come in contact with these kinds of people every day of our lives, so why shouldn’t our characters?

The antics of quirky characters provide a bit of humorous relief that lends the story a light-hearted feel, even when there are more serious issues at stake. Putting the hero or heroine in situations where they're out of their element and forced to interact with individuals they would normally never encounter helps demonstrate their true character. Achieving the balance between deep emotional concerns and cheerfulness isn't always easy, but something I strive for in my writing.

If you love zany, weird, funny, ridiculous…tell us about a quirky character from a book you've read recently.

Happy Reading!
Marin
Check out Marin's Quirky "Rooster Contest" http://www.marinthomas.com

Where authors gather

Once upon a time – when I sold my first book, some 25 years ago – it wasn’t easy to connect with other authors. Since I live in Orange County, California, I had the good fortune to belong to a terrific critique group and occasionally encountered other writers at library events or through my then-job as a news reporter.

Mostly, though, I worked in isolation.

Then, in 1984, I discovered Romance Writers of America, which had been founded just a few years earlier. It was so small and informal that, when a vacancy arose on the national board of directors, my local chapter was able to get me appointed to the board for a one-year term.

Since then, RWA has grown to major international stature and, among its many activities, sponsors an annual conference (often referred to as Nationals) that’s absolutely staggering. Most agents and editors who work in the romance and/or women’s fiction field participate. So do roughly two thousand writers, both published and aspiring. There are heaps of seminars on every aspect of the business and craft of writing, plus book signings and other events. This year, the conference will be held in Dallas on July 11-14. (For more information, check out www.rwanational.org.)

My local Orange County chapter is one of the largest in the country. Every month we have outstanding guest speakers, who’ve included Jackie Collins, Dean Koontz, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Mary Balogh, Tami Hoag, Kristin Hannah, Diana Gabaldon, Debbie Macomber and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This past Saturday, we had the good fortune to hear noted TV producer and novelist Stephen J. Cannell, who gave us insights into his writing methods and successful career. You can get more information about the group at www.occrwa.com.

The encouragement and information that authors exchange is invaluable. Rather than competing, we support each other. It’s truly amazing how helpful people are, and how much better communication we’ve established with editors and agents, who appreciate the level of professionalism that RWA fosters. With the advent of online resources, including websites, email loops and blogs like this one, RWA members can reach out even further.

If you’re a writer like me, aren’t we lucky to have these resources? And if you’re a reader, you benefit from the ferment of creativity and enthusiasm that writers generate when they can mingle with their colleagues.

So if you wondered what we were referring to in this blog when we mention RWA or Nationals, now you’re an insider, too!

Oops! I forgot my Saturday blog

Since Christmas I've been so slammed with deadlines I've spaced a ton of things, including my Saturday blog. So here are the ruminations of a chick who has done nothing for the past couple of weeks but sit in front of a computer terminal. This is a typical day - I get up before the sun comes up, slam my hair into a Bam-Bam ponytail, put on some sweats, grab the dog and head to our huge park for a rousing three mile hike - then I'm back to the keyboard.

And we've had the worst winter ever. At the risk of sounding like I work for the weather channel I'll tell you we've had wind storms, snowstorms, and ice storms - round and round, one after the other. And believe me, the folks in the Pacific Northwest are not good winter drivers.
Scary! So, I suppose, all in all, this is a good time to have 2 revisions and an anthology due. That doesn't, however, keep me from fantasizing about going to Nordstroms, or Target, or even the grocery store. Can you believe someone actually wants to peruse the produce aisle!!??

Thanks goodness my hubby's a good sport - he does the cooking and errands - and get this, the man actually vacuums. He's a keeper!

So back to work. Talk to you next Saturday.

Ann DeFee

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow . . .

Brrrrr!!!! Here in Tulsa, we're getting hammered with day three of an ice storm. Silly me, I called Hubby home early on Friday to load up on snow food in the attempt to keep three housebound teens happy.

Being a writer, I tend to have a rich fantasy life, so here I am picturing Hubby and I snagging some romantic anti-kid time, stealing kisses on lonely cookie aisles. We'd get home, laugh our way inside while carting our goodies through tumbling snow. We'd then maybe make cocoa, share quality time talking and snuggling in front of a roaring fire. Once the kids got home, we'd bake cookies and gather 'round the fire again to make s'mores and play board games. Ahhh . . . Don't you just love snow?? HA!!

Okay, so here's what really happened . . .

Hubby and I hit the store only to find thousands (literally!!!) of other folks had already had the same idea. It was insane!! People grabbing and snatching and fighting to the death over the last bags of Double Stuff Oreos!! Every check-out line wound down the aisles, so I planted Hubby at the end of one, while I dodged shopping carts and slow folks on their cell phones, chatting about how this was going to be an amazing storm.

There was no romance to be found--especially not when it came time to lug $400 bucks worth of junk food and Gatorade (the ONLY thing my kids drink) into the house. Driving sleet hammered me like mini, stabbing ice swords while I'm hefting eighteen plastic sacks at a time to try and finish fast. Meanwhile, Hubby's dorking around with rock salt, gently sprinkling with a little metal scooper while I growl my way past.

Once inside, my mother calls. She and Dad are at their house in the Bahamas. She was calling to tell me their new washer and dryer set was being delivered by boat in about in hour. Isn't that exciting??? GRRR!!! LOL!!! She then had to tell me how pretty the weather's been--they're wearing shorts--and that she got a hug from their hunky neighbor--he's insanely hot!! Even Daughter agrees!!! Okay, so here she's getting hugs from hunky neighbors, and I can't even get my Hubby to help with groceries, let alone give me sugar!! Double GRRR!!!

While I was on the phone, Hubby did put away a lot, so that was sweet, but immediately after, he dashed off to Son #1's new X-Box 360. I didn't see him again till bedtime!!

Backing up a little time-wise, I snatched the kids early from school, and what does Son #1 say the second he gets in the car? Not, "Boy, Mom, I can't wait to bake cookies with you!" But, "Geez, this weekend's going to blow. Can I have a friend sleep over?" Thank goodness the power hasn't gone out, or things would've really gotten ugly! But wait, before I get too excited, we're supposed to get two more inches of ice around noon, and Daughter's cheer coach just announced they have practice at two!!

If your weekend has gone roughly the same as mine, I have a fun new book out this month called, HER MILITARY MAN. Promise--Constance and Garret's journey to Happily Ever After is waaaay more fun than ours here in the nutty Altom household!! LOL!!!

P.S. Hubby finally beat his video game guy, meaning I finally got a few kisses!!!

The Book's Soundtrack (or the musical part of the writing process)

Okay, I needed an excuse to put Kenny Chesney in a blog. He's my favorite country artist and he just won a People's Choice Award for fan-voted favorite male singer, so I guess he's also a lot of people's favorites. (For more, go to www.kennychesney.com) Congrats to Kenny on this achievement.

I dedicated a book to Kenny (and have the autographed thank-you photo to prove it) and have just about every one of his albums. Most of them have been the soundtrack behind my books.

When I'm writing, many times I have music playing. I set the CD or windows media player to repeat, so oftentimes the CD is played at least three times without my even noticing that I've listened to it over and over. I've written books to greatest hits albums of my favorite 80s bands (yes, I'm a child of the 80s--high school 83 and college 87). I've put in new artists I find and let the CD play. Brain research shows that listening to music can help get a person in her "right brain" which is the creative side. (The left is the logical part--when I edit the room is silent, which is the way I read a book.) Many author besides me have music playing.

Right now I'm also hard at work on Picture Perfect (working title), my November 2007 American. I wrote that to Trent Tomlinson's Country is My Rock, Montogomery Gentry's Greatest Hits, and REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits.

So do you write to music? Or are you one who has to have silence?

Michele

Benefits of Marrying a Writer

My husband is also a fulltime, stay-at-home writer. A lot of people ask, "So, how's that working for you?" My answer is, there are a lot more advantages than drawbacks. Here's my top ten list of advantages:

10) "I'm going down for coffee. Want me to get you a refill?"

9) No one in this house ever says, "Why don't you go out and get a real job?"

8) I never have to pick up the dry cleaning--because there isn't any. Our work wardrobes consist of sweats, jeans, T-shirts and occasionally, pajamas.

7) There's always someone around to brainstorm with or critique my work.

6) It's cost-efficient. We only have one color printer between us, for example. We can share reference books, an Internet connection and a P.O. box. We ride together to our writers' meetings. (Separate offices are a must, however.)

5) If I run out of paper, he probably has some. If he runs out of envelopes, I probably have some. If we both run out of stamps, we can walk to the post office together.

4) We always have someone to share a room with at writers' conferences. (This can also be a drawback; I sometimes miss the "slumber party" atmosphere of the old days.)

3) I have someone to share the good news with, someone who will celebrate with me unconditionally.

2) I have someone's shoulder to cry on when I get a rejection--someone who really understands!

1) Which brings me to the number-one benefit of having a writer spouse--mutual encouragement. Writing can be a lonely business, but when I have doubts, when I'm down or when I'm taking a big risk with my writing, my husband is always there to cheer me on, and I like to think I do the same for him.

Bonus Benefit: When I want to hang out all night with a group of hunky firefighters, he doesn't blink because it's "just research"!

Surprise Blogger--Kathleen Scheibling

Happy New Year to all American Romance authors and readers! Is it too late to say that? I hope not because I feel like celebrating, and I’ll tell you why.

We started off 2007 with some great news. Our Great American Romance Contest closed on the last day of the year and we’ve received hundreds of entries! I’m absolutely delighted with the response – and hoping I find some gold in the pile. Now I’ve got a lot of reading to do. Winners will be notified in February, and then we’ll announce the winners on eHarlequin.com in early March.

I’m excited about our line-up of books in 2007. We have two new authors appearing this calendar year, as well a few authors who are new to this series. And we’re still looking for new authors – who knows what the coming year will bring?

How many of you are coming to Dallas for Nationals? I think this year we’ll host a meet and greet for our authors. Last year in Atlanta I realized that many of you writing for the line haven’t met before, or have only met online. So we’re going to have ourselves a party. That’s something to look forward to this summer.

Linda – thanks for posting your cover for ONCE A COWBOY. Aren’t our covers looking fantastic? I love the work our art team is doing. This cover is a bit different for us, but we couldn’t resist once we saw this shot of a hunky cowboy. This model is actually a firefighter in real life! Can you imagine how many girls he has chasing after him? We all want to meet him and are begging Tony (our art editor) to let us come to a shoot. We have promised to behave ourselves. Although that doesn’t mean I can’t start a little trashcan fire on the set and yell, “is there a firefighter in the house?!” just to see him in action.

OK, I better to get to that pile of contest entries. It looks as if 2007 will be a busy one – what else is new?

Cheers to all of you out there for all the work you do. Thanks for making 2006 a successful year for American Romance. Here’s to an even better one.

Kathleen

A NEW YEAR. A NEW BOOK.

A NEW YEAR. A NEW BOOK

It’s a new year and I have a new American coming out in February, Once A Cowboy. I’m excited because I love this book. I’m hoping everyone else will, too. And it has a fabulous cover—a sexy cowboy. You can’t get any better than that. I’ll try to post the cover so you can see it. Hope it works.

Is it just me or have the American covers been great lately? I’m liking them all. What do you think? Have you noticed a difference in the covers? Now here’s the big question. Does a cover influence you when you buy a book?

When I’m in a bookstore, a good cover will attract my attention. However, for me it’s that back blurb that’s the selling point. Of course, an author’s name does that, too. What’s the selling point for you?

Happy new year to everyone. Here’s hoping for mega sales for American in 2007.

Be sure to check in tomorrow. There’s a rumor going around that a Harlequin editor might stop by.

Don't you love the 21st century?

Our holidays started on a dark note - literally. On Dec. 14 we had a terrible windstorm in the Pacific Northwest that plunged almost two million people into darkness. Think about it - no twinkly lights, no carols, no Starbucks! (No Starbucks!!!), and no juice to run a laptop. Our regression to the 19th century lasted five very long days. And I think it would have been much longer if the guys in the neighborhood hadn't fired up their chain saws and cut down the offending tree.

Wow - it sounds like I live in wild west, doesn't it?

Fortunately, there were a few commercial places that had power. Unfortunately, they were innundated with folks who wanted to get warm or to plug in their laptops. I personally went to the laundromat - how about that? It's amazing how much we rely on our computers, our e-mail, our high speed cable, our automatic coffee pots - yada, yada, yada.

But the lesson of small and large blessings came home to roost in a big way. A good friend's house was cut in half by a gigantic tree. The amazing thing was that two minutes later she would have been feeding her baby right where that tree fell.

Life is a series of miracles!

So, it's the new year and we're back to the 21st century. Did I mention I LOVE ELECTRICITY! Let's just see how it lasts since we've been pummeled with strong Pacific storms. I can't wait for spring.

Hope you have a great new year.

Ann DeFee

There are signs everywhere

I believe in signs. On the way home from the post office yesterday, I saw a rainbow. Now I realize that rainbows are simply prisms formed when light is refracted by water. But I choose to see the rainbow as a sign that all is well, and that good things are coming my way.

Why this particular rainbow brought tears to my eyes is anyone’s guess. At the moment my life is good. My family is healthy and I anticipate a productive and fabulous year. But tear up I did. I thought about the things I am grateful for besides my family. Good friends. A growing a loyal readership. A muse that chugs along like a fine workhorse and hasn’t failed me yet. The support and encouragement of my editors and agent.

And okay, chocolate and that I love to bake. (Getting those fat calories from homemade goodies is so much tastier than from the bought kind :-)). Great wine. Good movies, Grey’s Anatomy, Project Runway, Democracy Now!, books and magazines.. I could go on and on, but I’m starting to bore myself.

The thing is, that sign, that rainbow, boosted my spirits (after I wiped away the tears) and reminded me that life is beautiful—a wonderful thing.

There are signs all around us if we bother to see them. I don’t know about you, but I plan to keep my eyes open.

What signs have you seen lately? I’d love to know.

"Unresolved"

I don't know about you, but I've had it with making New Year's resolutions on December 31 only to find myself breaking them by January 2--and then having to deal with the guilt for twelve months afterward.

This year, it's going to be different. This year, I'm making the kind of promises to myself that we all should be happy to break.

~~~

For 2007, I hereby resolve to:

6. Learn to appreciate dust bunnies and lint. Their texture adds character to a room.

5. Keep building those piles of papers and books all over the place. This makes it so easy to find things at a glance.

4. Forget about reading for pleasure and focus only on business material. (Uhh... naturally, that includes e-mail.)

3. Utilize that treadmill--it's the perfect portable clothes rack. (Note: see #2)

2. Gain weight. This could lead to buying a whole new wardrobe! (Note: see #1)

1. Eat as much chocolate as desired, every single day.

~~~

This is even more fun than I anticipated, and I'm happy to report I've already broken a couple of these promises without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt!

So...jump right in and join me.

What resolutions will you be happy to break?

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

Off To A Good Start

Well, last month brought innumerable hours of wrestling meets, a fast and furious race to meet my deadline for August Nights, my October release, and five days behind a cash register at a Hallmark store.
We also managed to celebrate Christmas with friends and family. But anyone who knows me would tell you that I was mainly focused on one thing...the health of my miniature dachshund, Suzy. She needed surgery two weeks ago, and I'm happy to report that she's now back to her regular self. Just yesterday she was vigilantly patrolling the back yard, yapping at anything that moved. My kids and I watched her and smiled--for the first time not wishing she would stop barking.
Isn't it funny how a pet can become the focal point of a family? Suzy sleeps on my son's bed, keeps me company during the day, and is both a constant source of amusement and aggravation for my husband and daughter. Things just weren't the same when she was as sick as, well, a dog.
So, here at my house, we'll begin 07 with a very large vet bill, Christmas decorations to put away, a proposal to write, and yet another round of wrestling meets. Thank goodness I'll have a little brown dog to help me get through it. And because of that, 07 looks to be a very good year. Hope everyone else's year is off to a good start, too.
Shelley