My mom can tell you which meal she had to miss when each of us was born. I always thought this was a weird way to make me feel guilty, and not very effective, as I take no credit or blame for the hour of my birth.  That's just my biorhythm, the natural cycle at which my body works.

Sunrise. Not taken by me.

 I have friends who rise early to write or run, cook, clean, read, or some other thing at that unearthly hour. There are very few things I want to do badly enough to get up for before sunrise.
I used to email a writer friend, "good night" and she would email back a moment later, "good morning."  Four a.m. meant different things to us.  Crazy people who get up before the rooster crows can't understand how I can stay up and function just fine, thank you very much, for several hours after midnight.


We all search for people like ourselves in order to validate what we do, why we do it or how we do it. That may be one reason writers are asked "what's your process?"  When do I write? Late at night, of course.  I am most creative then.  I do edits during the day.  My muse is tucked away, softly snoring. (Don't tell her I said she snores, okay?  I need her in a good mood.)  I'm more analytical during the day.

Ah, sunset. More my style...and time of day.

People think I started writing late at night because I had babies when I "came out of the closet" as a writer and set to finish a manuscript.  That's partly true.  My house became peaceful after 10pm, with everyone abed.  I had two hours before my son would wake, but he went back to sleep easily enough, so I came to look on that break as a good time to stretch.  Then I had another two or three hours before I made myself go to bed.  An hour later, at four, my husband woke for work.  Bless his heart, he learned quickly I'm not a morning person.  Nor do I think him incapable of making his own breakfast or putting together a lunch.

Fortunately, my babies woke up cheerful in the morning.  They were just too cute to be grumpy with at 6 a.m.  They were so delighted with the world and with seeing mommy again.  I tried to live up to their expectations and earn that unconditional love.

I guess I'm feeling nostalgic (late hours make me emotional too, which may be why writing is easier for me at night).  My "babies" would be horrified to read stories of themselves as infants.  They'd be horrified to read about themselves here at all.  "Mo-o-om," I can hear them complain, as though they're sitting beside me reading my screen.  They're at that precious age--teenagers.  They've always appreciated that I don't expect them to get up early when they don't have school.  My mom used to vacuum outside my door. On Saturday morning. At seven thirty.

I think she was getting even with me for making her miss dinner so I could enter the world.  Because I was, of course, born late at night.

How 'bout you?  Morning person or night owl?

Megan Kelly
megankellybooks.com

Lasting Impressions

I'm happy we have an extra day in February this year because, so far, it has been one fun, exciting, and busy month!

I'm on tour. A virtual tour around the Internet to celebrate my current release, THE RODEO MAN'S DAUGHTER. In this book, my hero takes a trip—back to his own hometown. It's a trip he'll never forget, as the visit brings him smack up against a number of memories, some good and some terrible.

Today, I'd like to talk about good memories.

I once took a trip—a real-life tour—that made a lasting impression: ten days in Europe with a large group of students. And with a smaller number of teacher-chaperones, all of whom actually survived to return home and teach again. LOL

Our adventure began in Spain, where we stood in hushed awe inside churches in Barcelona, felt our blood pulse to the rhythms of the Flamenco in Seville, and—for those who chose to do so—held our breath during a bullfight in Madrid.

We spent two beautiful, sunny days walking the beach and chasing the surf on Palma de Mallorca.

And before the trip ended, we took a ferry to Morocco, where we rode camels and ate exotic food and spent an afternoon at the Kasbah.

I sound like an ad for a travel agency, don't I? (smile) Sorry. But I can't help it.

In those ten days, we probably saw more breathtaking sites and came smack up against more history than I ever had in my life. The photos we took faded, but the memories have stayed bright.

Have you ever visited a place that's made such a lasting impression?


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

A Sentimental Journey

A strange thing happened to me the other day.  I was hoping to take a short nap while my youngest granddaughter was taking hers, but while I was lying there, I thought of my high school band and vocal music director.  I don't know why his name sneaked into my mind, but instead of napping, I went to the computer and searched his name on Facebook.  I really didn't expect to find anything.  Instead, I discovered he's still in the town in Oklahoma where he settled two schools after he left us back in 1967.  And that town is having a celebration this weekend in honor of him and the community-type band--jazz band--he's put together. To say I was surprised I found him is an understatement.  He was a very special to person to many of us, and from reading the Facebook "Event" comments, we aren't the only ones who think so.

Mr. Rotter came to our high school at the beginning of my freshman year.  It was a small school of less than 200 students, but we had a larger band then than there is now.  And Mr. Rotter made us one of the best in the state.  Part of that had to do with the fact that he wasn't a whole lot older than we were.  As a band director he worked us hard.  He expected the best from us, and we gave it to him.  We won a I rating (the best) at a state-wide marching contest in the fall of his second year, his last at CHS.  He could play a mean saxophone, but he loved the trombone best.  Many of us still remember enjoying his rendition of Little Egypt on the piano...if we were lucky enough to talk him into doing it.

I won't be able to go to the celebration this weekend.  Life sometimes gets in the way of the things we'd really like to do.  But I'll be thinking of him and the students and adults who've been lucky enough to know him.  He's one of a kind.
 

Small Towns--a Whole 'Nother World

Having lived in a small town during my teen years and after, I’ll be the first to admit that there are pros and cons to small town life. But I’ll also admit that I love writing books set there. Why? Maybe because it’s fiction, and I can show all the pros and skip the cons. You know, all the coziness of a small town without the gossip and everyone knowing everyone else’s business. Oops! I shouldn’t be telling tales, should I?

I was born in the big city and spent my early childhood there. Not BIG big city. Presently, our population is half a million, but that includes those surrounding bedroom communities. You know, some of those small towns. When I was twelve, we moved from the city to a small town where my mother was born and filled with relatives. Every time I mentioned someone from school, my mom would ask who “they belonged to”. More than likely, she knew something about the family, if not that we were somehow related, even in shirttail fashion. I became comfortable with it after a time and learned to adjust to a new style of life—a life full of cousins and knowing everyone and having lots of fun. Even better, I spent six years in the same school, more than I’d ever spent in one school before. It was heaven. Being a bit ornery, when my daughters attended school there later, I loved playing the “cousins” game with them, just as my mother had with me.

But after returning to that small town following my divorce and twenty-four years on a farm, I started to see a side to the town I’d never realized and wish I’d never known. Even my daughters noticed things had changed. So we’re back in the big city again, we being myself and my daughters, and I love having fast food within a few blocks, instead of a twenty mile drive away. I still miss the wide-open spaces of life on the farm and running in to friends in the small town grocery store. I’m saddened that the small town where I finished my youth became a refuge of city dwellers who eventually brought with them all the problems they should have left behind. I miss the small town it once was, so I fashion my fictional small towns on the good things I remember most. The funny characters who’ve lived there all their lives and make the town come alive, the friends who wave as you drive down the one or two blocks of “downtown” make small town living...comfy and warm and accepting.

Some of my best memories are of living in that small town, and I try to share some of those—although a bit fictionalized—with readers.

Happy 25th--Congrats Jackie!

Okay, I'm posting this below Jackie's post because she's being far too modest. Jacqueline Diamond has been writing for the line since 1984. (Did you catch that?) That's 24 years. And her January 2009 release is her 65th for Harlequin. Wow.

I got the great privilege to be there in New York when she received a milestone pin from Harlequin, and I hope to be there to see the one for 65 books. Harlequin packed me with Jackie and Kara Lennox in the American Royalty series...which was my very third book! I couldn't have asked for better authors to be with in a continuity series...they helped to launch this newbie. I will forever be grateful.

So lots of comments please for the post above, for a stalwart of the line and one who been there with it every step of the way. Jackie, you are young at heart and fresh as ever.

So congrats Jackie! You are awesome! Cyber champagne on me.

Happy 25th Harlequin American--Author Memories

Hi, I'm Michele Dunaway, and this month and next I'll be turning over my blog space to introduce you to some current and former HAR authors and share some of their memories. I was excited to do this, because these people are my heroes. I was reading their books while dreaming of some day seeing my own. So let me get going and introduce....

Karen Toller Whittenburg

Wrote for HAR from 1987-2004
30 books (give or take a couple)
First HAR title: Summer Charade
Latest HAR title: The Matchmaker's Plan
Favorites: A Matched Set; Perfect Pair; Nanny Angel; Baby By Midnight; The Braddock series

Bio:

Karen has lived on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but prefers to reside in the Green Country of Northeastern Oklahoma, where she grew up. She enjoys the changing seasons in Tulsa, where she lives with her photographer husband and their floppy-eared schnauzer, A.J.
An avid reader from an early age, she wrote stories as a child and began seriously pursuing a career in publishing in 1981. A writing class convinced her that writing a novel wasn't as easy as it looked, but she finished her first manuscript in a few months and began work on another...and then another. Her first book was published by Dell in 1984, and after writing eight novels under the pseudonym of Karen Whittenburg, she became a Harlequin American Romance author and began publishing as Karen Toller Whittenburg in 1987. Karen credits her love of daydreaming as the catalyst for her life as a writer. She is currently at work on her next novel.

Karen's thoughts:

I have great memories of writing for HAR. It's been a great ride -- working with wonderful editors (Debbie Mattuecci, Tahti Carter, Bonnie Crisalli, Huntley Fitzpatrick, Melissa Jeglinski...just to name a few!) and writing books that centered on the themes of family, small-town values, and (of course) romance. From the beginning of the line -- when the books were more realistic -- through the fanciful times when angels, ghosts, and unexplained mysteries were allowed, I've always felt that Harlequin American was the place my voice belonged. HAR wasn't my first publisher, but the line offered me the opportunity to grow as a writer and develop my career. I will always be grateful for that opportunity.

Happy Grandparents' Day

Looking at my calendar reminded me it's Grandparents' Day here in the US. So here's a virtual hug to all those who've achieved this milestone. A little credit goes to your kids, sure, but I read somewhere that being a grandparent is your reward for not killing your children, LOL, so don't forget to give yourself a pat on the back, too!
I made a reminder to have my kids call their grandmas, and then I thought of my own grandma, the only grandparent I knew. She'd probably want to be remembered as a sweet, church-going, God-fearing lady, full of the heavenly spirit. And, yeah, when I remember Grandma, I think "spirited," but maybe not in the way she'd prefer. :) Grandma was...well, feisty. When the tavern across the street got too loud at night, she'd open her windows and play hymns on her organ. (And no, you can't use that; that's a tidbit for one of MY books!) When solicitors came to her door, she'd give them what-for and send them on their way. Thinking of Grandma makes me smile and hope I inherited some of her genes. She lived into her early 90's and enjoyed good health for the majority of that time.
Grandma also gave me my first Harlequin to read. That story is on the bio page in my books, as well as on my website. So I owe her big-time for starting me down this path. Love you, Grandma.
The hero's mother in my July release, The Fake Fiancee, goes to pretty drastic measures in her quest to become a grandmother. Her antics made me smile, and I could barely wait to see what popped up on my screen when she was in a scene. I'd say she made a scene in more than one sense.
I hope you enjoy this special day. If you're lucky enough to have a grandparent, get in touch today. If you're lucky enough to be a grandparent, congratulate yourself on your restraint when your kids were teens!
And don't forget to share your memories of those wonderful people in your lives. I've shared one of mine here, so it's your turn. Do you have a favorite memory about a grandparent?
Megan Kelly
megankellybooks.com

The Red, White, and Blue Game

First of all, I'd like to thank all our readers for their responses to my Father's Day blog (posted on June 17). I'm glad my memory of my dad helped trigger so many pictures from your past, too.

~~~

Here we are at another special day, the Fourth of July, a holiday that I'm sure is setting off many memories of its own--remembrances of cookouts with hotdogs and hamburgers; parades and fireworks; and flags flying high and snapping in the breeze, proudly flaunting their stars and stripes in red, white, and blue.

What comes to mind when you see those three colors?

You think for a minute about your choices; meanwhile, I'll tell you mine.


Red ~ fresh, juicy, ripe strawberries--especially since I'm being more careful about eating well and have discovered how much I love them.

White ~ diamonds! How could I leave them off the list--you know they're a girl's best friend! (grin)

Blue ~ a newborn baby's eyes, so innocent and clear.


Those are three favorite items that come to me when I think about red, white, and blue.

Now, how about you?


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com