Podcasts?

I try - honestly I do - to keep up with technology. I'm a whiz at word processing. I'm also fairly efficient at Excel, Adobe and Publisher. I'm a D- techie, and in the general scheme of things, that's not too bad. I know folks who can't even retrieve their e-mails. But now I'm faced with - ta da! - doing a podcast. Yikes! Roz Fox, Tanya Michaels and I have been asked to interview for a podcast to promote out November Christmas anthology, The Perfect Tree - available soon on the E-Harlequin website. Wow! Talk about being immersed in the twenty-first century.

So, when it comes out, please download it. I had a YouTube that was viewed by about fifty of my favorite family and friends. Dean Koontz had something like a bazillion hits. Maybe I should add some fire-breathing dragons on deranged aliens to my Americans. LOL

So with a podcast under my belt, am I going to have to do the Bluetooth thingie??

Have a great week.

Ann

Ann DeFee
One Magic Christmas, The Perfect Tree, Harlequin American Romance Christmas Anthology, November 2007
Goin' Down to Georgia, Harlequin American Romance, March 2008

Poke a fork in me . . . I'm done!!

Whew, it's official. Two months into the school year and I'm pooped!! Why didn't anyone tell me teaching is so much harder than writing? LOL!! I did have some fun news, though, in that I'm now certified to teach English, so as soon as a position opens up, I'm hoping that'll be somewhat less stressful than special ed.


On the homefront, all is great. We're getting ready for a Halloween party. I've told each of the kids they can invite ten friends apiece. Well, Son # 2 hates parties and doesn't want to invite anyone. Son #1 is complaining that he wants to invite fifty friends, and Daughter is complaining she doesn't like her brother's friends, and just wants to invite her own fifty friends. ARGH!!! I'm about to the point that maybe we should spend a nice, quiet Halloween with just family!! (The top pic is of Son #1 & Son #2 with friends at last year's party. They were the Village People. Son #1 was the sailor and Son #2 was the policeman. The bottom pic is of Daughter & friend at last year's party.)











I went yard-saling yesterday and found an AWESOME sofa. Eight-way, hand-tied springs, cream-colored, embroidered cushions. Loads of extra pillows with tassels. I'm soooo excited. (Especially since it's going in our bedroom, theoretically meaning no kids or dogs!) When I asked the price, I was thinking $300 would be a steal. I got it for $75!!! Only problem is, Daughter programmed the woman's number into her phone and lost the number. GRRRRR. I have all the cushions in my car, but was planning to pay Son #1's friend to haul the actual sofa in his truck. (The woman is moving, and not living in the house.) Let's just say if Daughter doesn't somehow find the number, she may be moving, as well--along with her stinky dogs!!!!! LOL!!!


In other icky news, we've had a moth infestion in the pantry, so I'm off to clean and sort dry goods and squash bugs!!


Happy Early Halloween!!! ;-)

The Busy Life (AKA Insanity--to be read tongue in cheek)

I laughed when I read Kara's last line in her blog below. She wrote, "Really, though, I shouldn't complain. My life is a cakewalk compared to that of an author with a 9-5 job and kids who still manages to write three or more books a year. Now, if you really want something done, ask one of them, not me!"

My answer--Don't ask me. I can't handle anymore. I'm insane enough as it is. I'm a woman who does too much but doesn't know how to stop. There probably has to be a course out there I can take which will help me learn the word no. Of course, I have no time to take it.

Seriously. To deal with the stress that has been constant to my Type A personality, I 've started working out, thus reducing the amount of writing time I have. Not sure how sane that is but writing is giving me desk butt. I'm crazy enough to still believe the fantasy that I can still be as slim as I was in college.

There's that Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" that goes "I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind..."

There's something pleasant about the fact that I've learned to admit that, somewhere along the line, my life became a coke and a sandwich short of a picnic. People seem to accept my honesty. I emailed my editor these exact words: "Since I'm officially insane, change the last line of my bio to read: five extremely lazy house cats and one rambunctious kitten that rule the roost."

Her reply, "Sure." She knows me. She didn't blink an eye that I have six cats. Thankfully when you count the basement we have over 4,600 sqare feet in our house. That helps a little, but it's still eight cat boxes. Admittedly insane. However, the fact that the kids now have to clean four cat boxes each to get their weekly allowance (while I do nothing) makes me brilliant and smart. Important little known fact: losing your mind doesn't mean you get stupid.

Parties can be fun. Typical conversation starter: So what do you do? Being a writer is like being a doctor or a lawyer--people go "Wow." No one wants to be a teacher. In fact, people hear that I'm a teacher and say, "Wow, you must be crazy to teach high school." If they are a teacher themselves, they shake their head and tell me they couldn't work with anything but elementary kids. And when you find another high school teacher, then the fun really starts. Trust me.

So back to doing too much--somewhere out there someone has my nice, quiet, calm, sane life. The day I gave up trying to find that person and take it back was a pretty freeing moment. As much as I meet myself coming and going, I'm enjoying every minute. I'll see my 15th and 16th book published in December and that's worth all the mayhem that it takes.

So, I'll leave you with the chorus to the Warren Brothers' song "Change" from their album Well Deserved Obsurity. The Warren Brothers are Barely Famous and their show on CMT by that name was positively a riot.

"One of these days
my luck is gonna change
they'll think I'm brillant instead of insane
eveything will be different
but I'll be the same
one of these days my luck is gonna change..."

So if you really want something done, go find that person who's bored out of their mind living my sane life. They could probably use a shake up. As for me, the roller coaster goes on and I'm ready for the ride to continue.

Michele



Ps--on the very serious note--hopefully I haven't insulted anyone with my post. My adoptive mother has a history of mental illness, so I know exactly how hard dealing with it can be. Let me reassure you, it's something I take very seriously.

If you want something done ...

... ask a busy person to do it.

I love that saying, because it's so true. When I overschedule myself, I have to use my time wisely or I'll miss deadlines or appointments. But during a week when nothing much is going on, I move like a snail on Dramamine. I figure there's always plenty of time, no need to hurry, and so I don't.

When my schedule is packed and my To-Do list won't fit on one sheet of paper, I'm in efficiency mode. If I can multi-task, I do it. And usually, if someone asks me to do something, I say yes because I can always squeeze in one more thing. But if my week stretches ahead of me gloriously empty, I'm reluctant to take on a task because I don't want to spoil the slothfulness of it all.

Peeking at my schedule for the next six weeks is a little bit terrifying. Seems everything I volunteered to do over the past year is coming to roost in October and November--booksignings, contest judging, critiques, family gatherings, travel, tree planting, workshops, pet vaccinations, Halloween and Thanksgiving and ... oh, yes, I have both a book and a proposal due.

So someone explain to me why I volunteered to host a neighborhood wine-tasting party in two weeks? Because I'm busy and I want to be busier? Because I'm just not stressed enough?

Really, though, I shouldn't complain. My life is a cakewalk compared to that of an author with a 9-5 job and kids who still manages to write three or more books a year. Now, if you really want something done, ask one of them, not me!

Fun in a Small Town

First up, thanks to all the wonderful American Romance authors for inviting me to join them on this blog. They’re a great bunch of ladies and I’m so happy to be one of them.

My first Harlequin American Romance, Marriage On Her Mind, goes on sale this week. (You can see the cover at the right side of this blog)It’s the first of what I hope will be a series of books set in Crested Butte, Colorado. (The second book, The Right Mr. Wrong, comes out in February.)

While I’ve often written about made-up places, Crested Butte is a real, live Colorado town, one I visit often and have come to love dearly. It’s an old mining town turned ski mecca, with a penchant for quirky festivals that often involve costume parties. It seemed the perfect place to set a series of fun romances. While all the people in the book are products of my own imagination, I used many real businesses, along with many of the fun festivals from the town.

Of course, there’s a danger in setting a book in a real place. Since I don’t live there and am not a native, there’s a chance I got something wrong in sprite of all my research. Even though none of my characters are based on real people, someone might think they are. And while I meant the book to portray the town and its people in the most positive manner, someone might take offense.

Last week the county paper did a nice article about the book, and the bookstore on the town’s main street tells me they’ve ordered a bunch and will do a special display. Now I sit nervously on my hands and wait for the reaction from the town. I hope they appreciate how I’ve portrayed their home. I hope my love for the place comes through.

Over Thanksgiving I’m visiting the town and will be signing at the bookstore, so I guess I’ll find out then what they really think!

IN SEARCH OF A TITLE

Hi all,
I’m in search of a title and I could use your help. I have to come up with a list of titles for my next American and, okay, I’ll admit I’m stuck. The working title is Down In Texas.

Are you good with titles? I hope this will be fun and it will really help me. I’ll give you a short synopsis and see what you can come up with. I’ll draw a winner from those who post. The winner will receive a Texas beaded bookmark. You can see these on my Web site lindawarren.net. If your title is chosen, I’ll give you a free copy of the book when it is released. So do you feel like playing name that book:

Here goes: The hero, Reed, is CEO of a family owned Texas chain of department stores. Cari, the heroine, is a vice president in the company. She’s worked her way up the corporate ladder from a saleslady. Somewhere along the way she’s fallen in love with the handsome CEO. But Reed has a motto: he never dates the women working for him. It’s bad for the company.

Cari is torn between her heart and her job. At the risk of losing it all, she has to tell him how she feels. Just as she screws up her courage, Reed announces his engagement. Cari is devastated and knows she can no longer work for the company.

After a scheduled trip to an El Paso store, she plans to turn in her resignation. Then the unthinkable happens; the plane crashes in desolate west Texas. They are the only two survivors.

Now their lives are not about numbers, big business or broken hearts. It’s about survival. As they wait for a rescue team, they talk, shared and learn personal things about the other. When help doesn’t arrive, they start the long trek to civilization. Along the way they lean on each other and find courage, hope and love.

But is it real? Or is it something fabricated from their dire situation? Will it stand the test of the real world…

What do you think? Anything come to mind?
Have a great Monday.
Linda

Home from the Women’s Fiction Festival

I am just back from 18 days in Italy! What a wonderful time we had (my husband went with me). I could go on for hours about the food, the people, the poetry of the language, and all the fabulous art and buildings. Instead, I’m going to focus on the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, which I attended. I also gave a workshop there and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

First, a little about Matera. This unusual town of 65,000 is divided into old and new sections. The conference and our hotel was in the old section, where about 3,000 people currently live. This part of town has been populated for 7,000 years (that’s no typo— seven thousand), making it the longest ongoing town in the world. The first dwellers built their homes in the rock that rims the city. They lived in these caves (called Sassi, or homes of stone) along with their animals as if they were in the middle ages until 1950, when the Italian government was shamed into moving many of the people into homes with running water and electricity. (Thanks to a book about the subject, Christ Stopped in Eboli by Carlo Levi, which I intend to read in the near future.)

Many of the Sassi have been modernized. In fact, our 28-room hotel was once a group of Sassi houses and businesses. Our room was part of a church built in 800 and de-sanctified in 1950. It looked like a roomy cave, with light, heat and air conditioning, comfortable furnishings, and even a few windows. A fun, novel place to stay! (For a few photos of the hotel, visit http://www.travelitalia.com/it/hotels/Matera/1439/ )
The conference was small, about 50 attendees (mostly female) from the US, England, Italy, Germany, France and Sweden. Translators were available, too, and these amazing ladies were able to instantly translate English into Italian—no easy feat. Liz Jennings, the organizer of the festival, promised to make us speakers feel loved and welcomed. She lived up to that promise and then some. The night before the conference we met in an upscale boutique in Matera for a lovely cocktail party. Food and wine abounded, and we met other writers in town for the conference. After that, we enjoyed Happy Hour in one of the old squares, sitting outside to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and wine, while we listened to two very attractive actors read poetry in Italian. Made my little heart go pitty pat. ☺

Friday evening, Liz organized a tour of the town (during a full moon!), complete with a visit to Musma, a unique sculpture museum. We wandered into a huge cave consisting of room after room on various levels into the earth, where modern sculpture is artfully displayed. The juxtaposition of ancient and modern is truly marvelous.

And the food… There is nothing better than slow food. By that I mean pasta made and prepared on site, using fresh ingredients. Long, leisurely lunches and dinners. Oh!!

There were several agents and editors in attendance, and it was easy to sit down and chat. Plus lots of wonderful authors from America. Barbara Samuel, who I thoroughly enjoyed, Cindy Gerard with her fabulous energy, Kayle Perrin, Rosemary Laurey (aka Madeleine Oh) and Rachelle Chase. Liz Fielding (a Harlequin author from England) was there, too. Also editors Raelene Gorlinsky, Hilary Sares, and Karen Stoecker—fun ladies, indeed. The two agents from the U.S., Katharine Sands from the Jane Freymann Agency, and Christine Whitthohn from Book Cents Agency, both stayed at my hotel. I enjoyed our morning walk to the conference center. So we trudged up tons and tons of stairs that left us panting and somewhat warm from all that exertion. The exercise kept me from gaining a single pound, despite enjoying plenty of pasta, gelato and wine.
I gave a talk on creating realistic characters. It seemed to be well-received. A real thrill for me was when an Italian woman who runs a blog brought Another Life, which she had ordered from Amazon, for me to autograph. Another was that my name was mentioned in the local paper—in bold! If only I could fully comprehend Italian… ☺ For all I know, they said I was no mountain goat. Which would’ve come in handy for scaling all those stairs…

I didn’t stay for the Saturday cocktail party (we wanted to spend time in Rome before coming home), but it was hosted in an old olive oil factory/cave. For more info on the festival, visit www.womensfictionfestival.com .

Well, I’ve rattled on enough for one time. It’s good to be back, and I don’t intend to miss any more blogging days if I can help it.

Until next time,
Ann

www.annroth.net
Mitch Takes A Wife, August 2007
All I Want for Christmas, November 2007

Huge Pileup on Superhighway!

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It's allowed us access to virtually unlimited information. It's given us an easy way to maintain contact with family and current friends. And it's provided plenty of stress-free opportunities to make new friends.

On the other hand (no pun intended), it's caused thousands--if not millions--of cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, eyestrain, and back problems, along with a whole host of other physical ailments.

And for some, it's become a time sink, a procrastination tool, and/or The World's Largest Pile of Paperwork.

There are six-hundred-fifty-plus messages in one of my e-mail accounts and four-hundred-plus in the other. And those are only the totals from the inboxes! It doesn't take into account anything archived in the outboxes, saved in the draft folders, pending review in the junk mail and bulk mail folders, or (gasp!) stored in sub-, sub-sub-, and sub-sub-sub-folders!

The good news is, all those messages are there because, instead of reading them, I'm busy doing the things I'm supposed to be doing.

The bad news is, even though all those messages that will need to be taken care of...someday... are "invisible" since they're packed tidily into my computer, they're starting to feel just as towering and intimidating as any humongous piles of "real" paperwork.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's dealing with traffic jams on the Information Superhighway!


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

A Perfect Meeting

My father passed away years ago. Since I don’t live anywhere near where I grew up, and life is what it is, I rarely come across anyone who knew him.
One thing special about my dad was his ability to keep friends. He was a dedicated letter writer, and he often kept in touch that way. He often corresponded with friends that he’d had for twenty or thirty or forty years. One of those people was Bill Cosby. They’d met in California back in the sixties, and both loved cars. For that, and I guess because they just hit it off, he and my dad kept in touch.
Anyway, when I read in the paper that Mr. Cosby was scheduled to perform at the Belterra Casino in nearby Indiana last Saturday night, my husband and I decided to go. When we got there, I gave a security guard a hastily written note on the back of a business card, and asked if she could pass it on to Mr. Cosby. Well, I got handed over to person after person. I carefully told them that Mr. Cosby had known my dad, and if he had a moment, I’d like to say hello after the show.
Maybe because I’m a writer, I had envisioned all kinds of things happening. Maybe we’d get moved from our balcony seats to the fancy VIP ones when Mr. Cosby got my note. Maybe he’d mention my dad during his show. Maybe the security guard would signal us over and tell me that Mr. Cosby was ready to visit with us, soon. Of course, none of that happened.
Mr. Cosby’s show was wonderful. Tom and I laughed and clapped, and all in all, it was a nice evening out. But I was kind of disappointed. I’d wanted to speak to him in person, not because he was famous, but because he knew my dad. So, I stopped by the security booth on our way out. The lady found her boss, who assured me that Mr. Cosby had, indeed, received my card before the show. End of story.
Okay. I’ll admit it, I was sad. Even though I knew it had been a long shot, I’d still imagined things differently. Well, my husband likes to gamble. We’d planned to have some dinner, and go to the casino for a little bit. After all, our usual Saturday night highlights are waiting for our kids to come home by their curfews. But I didn’t want to stay.
So, there we were, standing in the middle of the lobby of Belterra, with my husband very sweetly trying to convince me that we still had a fun night out and it was time to move on. And then, just like in the movies-out came the security lady from the crowd!
In short, Mr. Cosby had someone read him my note after the show and he said he wanted to see me. That put everyone in a tailspin. This lady was given the job of tracking us down. In a matter of minutes, we were escorted back into the theater, through a back door, and right to Mr. Cosby, who had quite a few people there, getting pictures taken with him.
Finally it was my turn. I introduced myself. Reminded him who my dad was. And then I got the best present of all. He gave me a hug and said, “Shelley your father was a good friend.”
Our talk might have lasted five minutes. I introduced him to my husband. We thanked him for seeing us. He shared a quick story about my dad. And then it was time to leave. Yep, Tom and I got some dinner and I played the slots for a little while. And I was happy once again. I’m glad my dad had taken the time to keep a friendship over several decades. I’m grateful that a friend of my father’s took the time to say hello to a daughter.
And I hope I remember this often and remember to write a note or two to people I haven’t seen in a while. Keeping in touch makes all the difference in the world.

September Blog Winner

Congratulations to Danny, September's HAR Blog winner! To claim your prizes, please contact the following authors (Jacqueline Diamond, Laura Marie Altom, Kara Lennox and Linda Warren) Their websites are listed along the sidebar of the blog. Include your name and snail-mail address.

Authors giving away a book for October include, Marin Thomas, Shelley Galloway and Cindi Myers. Keep those discussions going--there's a new winner every month!

Gotta love the month of October--A shift toward cooler weather, a burst of vivid color before the bleakness of winter sets in and the beginning of a continuous rotation of front-door decorations--Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Valentines Day

And October is doubly special for me this year because the first book in my all-new miniseries for the American Line *Hearts of Appalachia* hits the store shelves. For The Children takes place in fictitious Heather's Hollow in eastern Kentucky.

To help kick off this series, I've got a brand-new video trailer on my webpage-- I invite you to click on www.marinthomas.com where you'll be transported into the Appalachian Mountains, complete with pictures and music.

As I researched this series, I stumbled across some interesting Appalachian recipes. Here's one I actually tried and it wasn't half bad!

Sawmill Gravy
Ham, sausage or bacon grease, 3 tbsp flour, milk, salt and pepper and water. Add flour to grease in hot pan to brown. Thin the mixture with a little water and add milk. Salt and pepper. Stir until thick. Add crumbled fried sausage for a real treat. Serve over homemade biscuits.

Anyone out there with an Appalachian recipe they're willing to share?

Happy Reading!

Marin
For The Children *Hearts of Appalachia* (Oct 07)
www.marinthomas.com

Memorable snapshots

Old photographs. New photographs.

They take on special meaning at a family reunion. The reunion itself takes on extra significance when it celebrates your mother’s 90th birthday.

Last month, my husband and I flew from California to my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, to celebrate the 90th birthday of my mother, internationally renowned ceramic sculptor Sylvia Hyman. (Try Googling here – you’ll be amazed what you find!). We also honored her 22nd wedding anniversary to my stepfather, Arthur Gunzberg, and held a family reunion.

The event coincided with an exhibit of my mother’s recent work – fool-the-eye ceramic sculptures – at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. Also, we viewed a wonderful half-hour documentary about my mother, Sylvia Hyman: Eternal Wonder, directed and produced by Nashville filmmaker Curt Hahn.

There’s far more in my memory than I could possibly write here, about touching bases with beloved relatives, meeting other cousins for the first time, and spending time with my mother and stepfather, whose mental sharpness outpaces most 20-year-olds.

Thank goodness for photographs, and not just the new ones, either. There were old photos in albums, shared by relatives, who asked my mother to identify that mystery person in the back row or where the shot was taken.

Of course, the new photos – emailed to each other, posted on websites, pasted into scrapbooks – save these latest memories for us and our kids. Someday, perhaps, my grandchildren (if I’m lucky enough to have any) will be asking me to identify who’s who.

Let’s just hope I remember!

Weddings, Funerals, and Birthdays

Today is my youngest daughter's birthday. She's already opened all her presents and I don't think we're going to be doing much to celebrate--maybe a trip to Chuck E. Cheese or something for dinner. Her party for her friends will be in a few weeks once things calm down--which really never happens in our life.

Last night my oldest daughter and I went to a wedding and reception for Lucy Kate McMenamy while the youngest went on a Girl Scout roller skating outing. I used to babsit Lucy and her older brother every day after school and over summer break for five years. I started when Lucy was in first grade and left when she was in fifth or sixth. By then she didn't really need a babysitter; I was more the adult to be in the house. Lucy then babysit my two daughters. So I wouldn't have missed the wedding for the world, but my oldest (who is 12) wanted to skip it until her dad called (I'm divorced, btw) and told her that her great-grandmother had died. The funeral is on Monday (tomorrow) and everyone but my children are headed down to Mississippi. We're in St. Louis; the rest in Alabama.

So I went home and picked Alison up between the wedding and the reception as there was about an hour and a half free time. We arrived at the Grand Hall in the Hyatt Union Station and all had a blast. I remember that when I left I really needed this. It's great to watch two young people you know are going to make it get married. It's great to see old friends who knew you long ago--I typed those first books (that will never see the light of day) on their computer during those long summer days. Now they are in awe and thrilled--20 books! Wow!

As for my young charges, John is doing his residency and specializing in radiology. He's in Dallas.
Lucy works for the Hyatt hotel chain as a banquet manager and her husband is an executive sous chef. They met at work when they were both in Kansas City--now they are on the east coast. He's eight years older. Sounds a bit like some of the books I've done but probably without the conflict. All was beautiful--the church, the flowers, the 55-pound wedding cake that the Hyatt chef in Austin carried up in boxes (unfrosted) on the plane. She then used the St. Louis kitchen to put it together.

Working for the Hyatt and having the reception at the Hyatt meant that everyone pulled out all the stops. In two days Michael and Lucy are off to Hawaii for 10 days.

As for me, this morning, life was back to normal as my two daughters got into a fight before church.

However, while I was there last night, parts of my next story wrote themselves in my head. The muse clicked and put the ideas where they were supposed to be. What about my hotel manager Hank being asked to be teacher Jolie's date? He owes her one, and she needs to dig up a guy for a family wedding. I like it.

As for the pastry chef idea, I just did that in The Marriage Recipe, out in April 2008.

Michele Dunaway
Hart's Victory (Harlequin NASCAR) Dec. 2007
The Christmas Date (Harlequin American) Dec. 2007

What do you know? It's the 26th Again!

Sorry, sorry! I was supposed to fill in for Ann Roth on the 26th, but like Barbara, the flu has swept through the school where I work, as well. After two days of throne-hugging, I'm headed back today, but am wondering how long I'll last.

Before being hit with this affliction, one of my students head-butted me, and landed me in physical therapy for two weeks! This will for sure be a September I can't wait to be rid of.

Daughter and I are supposed to be off to Stillwater and Norman this weekend for cheer, but seeing how she's sick, too, I'm thinking we may just sleep.

Meanwhile, Hubby's been wined at dined at the Phoenix Westin all week. Is that fair????? NOOOO!!! LOL!! He comes home tonight, to the dreaded House of Germs!!

Off to do my scary hair, but wanted to apologize for missing Ann's big day!

Dancing with the Stars

I'll admit it - I'm hooked on Dancing with the Stars. Can you believe how good the professionals look in their skimpy little outfits!?!? How much do those women weigh, anyway? And how about the high heels. I couldn't walk in them, much less dance. And then there's the matter of those sexy Russian guys. What can I say other than woo-woo-woo.

How about the amateurs. You have to give those folks an A+ for chutzpah. On this season's show there's a competitor who is either stuffed or Botoxed. That one's a little hard to take. A couple of seasons back there was guy who looked like he was dancing in clown shoes. Now seriously, if you were completely devoid of rhythm and tone deaf, would you dance on a nationwide television show? Not me, baby. And how about parading around in front of millions of people with your midriff showing. Personally, I'd rather eat snails.

But, you can bet your bottom dollar that next week I'll be glued to the TV.

Ann

Ann DeFee
The Perfect Tree - Harlequin American Romance Christmas Anthology - November 2007
Georgia On His Mind - Harlequin American Romance - August 2007
Summer After Summer - Harlequin Everlasting Love - September 2007
Goin' Down to Georgia - Harlequin American Romance - March 2008

Television Premiere Week

Several of my favorite shows have their season premieres this week and I’m really looking forward to them. The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters. My current top favorite, Men in Trees, doesn’t start until October 12, so I’m doing my best to be patient I also enjoyed October Road last spring and I hope it’ll be back, although I’ve heard that if it is, we might not see it until sometime in 2008.

Both Men in Trees and October Road are a lot like Harlequin American Romances, don’t you think? Everyday people overcoming difficulties with the help of their family and friends, and finding love and happiness in the communities they call home. I used to love Gilmore Girls for the same reason.

I find these shows to be wonderfully entertaining, but as a writer I also learn a lot from watching them. Once I’m hooked on a show, I’m intrigued to see how the writers develop the characters and their story arcs. In a way, a season of the show is like book and each episode is a chapter. This is also the focus of my new blog, The Writer Side of Life, and I hope you’ll drop by and visit me there, too!

I’d love to know what everyone plans to watch this week. What’s your favorite show? Any other fans of The Office who can’t wait to find out how Jim and Pam’s date went? ;)

Lee

Our Little Lassie Dog

Some time ago I read about a study done involving dogs. A hundred people - a random mixture of dog lovers, dog haters and everything in between - listened to a recording of five different dog barks ranging from happy/playful to angry/aggressive. Each and every person in the study correctly identified the different dog barks. No exceptions. Even the dog haters were able to tell the difference in the dog barks. The scientists concluded that the relationship between dogs and humans goes back tens of thousands of years and that the two species are completely inter-dependant.

I thought the study was interesting when I heard it but not until a few weeks ago did I realize how accurate the results are. I was home alone working in my office when I heard my daughter's little 8 pound Papillon, Tsuki, barking. At first, I didn't pay any attention. Like a lot of little dogs, he barks all the time. But after a minute or two, I realized there was something different about this barking. It seemed more urgent, more panicked. I decided to go outside and investigate.

Good thing I did. My son's dog, Crush, a 'gi-normous' Dane/shepherd/Labrador/dalmatian mix, and Tsuki's best friend, lay trapped beneath a hundred pound wooden cabinet that had fallen on him. His collar was caught on a piece of ornamental iron, and he was choking. It took me about a minute to pry my thumb beneath his collar and free him. I'm not sure how much longer he would have lasted. A panting Crush stumbled away to rest against the door. Tsuki went immediately over to sniff his friend and whine sympathetically. I was quite impressed with Tsuki and called my daughter to tell her about her pint-sized Lassie.

If I hadn't discerned a difference in Tsuki's barking, I might not have gone outside in time to save Crush. Whatever the reason humans can perfectly differentiate between a dog's various barks, I'm just glad we can. If we couldn't, I might not have rescued Crush in time.

Cathy McDavid - one of those dog lovers :-)
www.cathymcdavid.com

Where's the Muse?

Okay, I'll start off by first saying mine's not missing. The truth is, for the past week I've sent her on vacation.

Since I turned in my revisions on Sept. 10, I haven't written a thing on my current work-in-progress. I had a conference call with my editor on Sept. 17 and I'm ready to work and I plan to start this weekend. I did shoot my editor a few ideas for what I'd like to do after this current book (and that next NASCAR book I have to write in between).

Different people write differently and we've had this discussion on our author loop before. I'm a writer who writes in spurts. I wrote 100 pages in one weekend once. There are weeks when I won't even look at what I'm writing, much less work on it. I'm not one of those people who sets a daily goal and gets in the chair daily. I'm one of those who needs large blocks of time to truly immerse myself in the story and focus only on it--so much that the rest of the world disappears. That means I do hours at a time. I also get most of it out, and then tweak it later in thirds.

So as I posted today--getting ready for a Saturday marathon, I wanted to remind you that there's no one way to write. It's whatever works best for you--and your relationship with your personal muse. I like to give mine time off so she's not so crabby when we do those 12 hour shifts.

So how do you write?

Michele

TWO Days Late...

Shhh! I'm slipping this post in while no one's looking!

(Look, Roxann, I'm DOUBLY late! LOL)

Wish I had a good excuse, but the truth is, I slept through my blog day. Or most of it, anyway. I work for a school, and the entire district seems to have gotten hit by an early bug. Mine's been beating me up for almost a month now, and let me tell you, it's got me worn out.

After a very restless weekend, I overslept on Monday morning, ran like a crazy woman to get ready for the day job (but arrived on time--whew!), then came home afterward and simply crashed. Yikes.

It was my anniversary, too!

My husband and I went out for a long, relaxing, romantic dinner, complete with roses and a box of chocolates and a sinfully delicious dessert.

Unfortunately, that happened in my dreams...because I fell asleep!

So I missed posting my blog for the day. But I'm here now.

Just don't tell anybody I'm late, okay?


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

A Day Late...

Technology is great...as long as it's working correctly.

Sometime on Monday, I lost my internet. Email was working, but surfing the net was impossible. By that night, everything was gone. Now and then, both would work for a minute or two, then vanish again. To my relief, it finally came back in the wee hours of the morning. I could start catching up. That lasted 30 minutes, leaving me no way to post here yesterday. It's been up and down so much since Monday, I can't remember when it did and didn't work, but the majority falls into the didn't.

I don't consider myself an Internet Junkie, but I do like to keep up with news, both national and local on the www. What books are out this month? It's just a click away. When does the new Fall Season start for the TV shows I watch? Another click. Weather? The temp is available 24/7. When the 'net is working, that is.

I use it even more for research. What kind of research? You name it, I'll research it. I'm currently working on a story with a rodeo background, so I need to know where rodeos will be held in the part of the country where the story is set. Do I need to name a fictional town? I'll want to make sure it isn't a real one in the state where I've set it, so I have a special website where I can check that out. Am I writing about an area of the country I'm not familiar with? Photos are abundant on the web. Careers, names, how long it takes to travel from one place to another, climate, population... The list is endless, and I could lose myself in research for weeks. Imagine what it would be if I wrote Historicals!

Today it appears that the Internet is once again at my fingertips. I'm not holding my breath though. But I am glad I was able to stop in here and say hello, even if I am a day late. Now, back to some research...

Picking the Wrong Line

Normally I never do errands on Saturdays because the stores are crowded but I'd put off a few things that couldn't be put off any longer so yesterday I ventured out and wouldn’t you know it--I picked the WRONG line at every store!

Let's see…at Target, the woman in front of me needed a price check on a car seat which she assured the salesclerk was 20% off. Five minutes later the lady is told her car seat wasn't on sale but a different one was and would she like to run back and get that one? Well of course she did! Grrr...

Next up the gas station. All the pumps were full so I stopped behind a car and after the guy fills his tank he goes into the Quick Stop--not for a pack of smokes or a drink, but two grocery bags full of junk! Grrr…

Next on my list is the post office and guess what? The couple in front of me was sending a legal-size envelope half way around the world and took ten minutes to fill out forms for that! Grrr…

After crossing the post office off my list I went to Petsmart for dog food and doggie treats. I lug the twenty-pound bag to the counter and the young girl in front of me is chatting with the clerk about where they each bought their dresses for next week's homecoming dance! (Just between you and me, neither of their dresses sounded all that exciting) Grrr…

After dog food came Sam's--that's always an experience. By the time I loaded my cart down with water bottles, Gatorade, toilet paper, paper towels, bleach and detergents I could barely push the blasted thing. I resigned myself to waiting in a long line, but was encouraged by the fact that the woman in front of me has only a few clothing items. When it gets to that lady's turn she whips out one of those Nextel phones and squawks to her friend to get her cart up there ASAP. The friend magically appears five seconds later, her cart loaded down with stuff! Grrr…

After Sam's I had planned a grocery store run but was just too, too Grrr…so I headed home and decided everyone could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for supper!

Marin

*Hearts of Appalachia*
For The Children Oct 2007
www.marinthomas.com