Of course this is Arizona, so triple digit temperatures are the norm. The heat doesn't bother me, though...I much prefer being hot than cold since it's easier to find ways to cool off than warm up. Plus....we have a swimming pool now and it's clean! I say that because the guy our landlord hired to service the pool...didn't. The thing looked like a mold infested pond. The new pool guy.....who, sadly, looks nothing like those hot pool guys you see on TV....spent two days cleaning the pool. I think he even had to triple the chemicals just to kill the mildew. So...with temperatures expected to reach over 100 for the next several days/months my kids can now cool off in the pool. I'm even planning to do a few laps everyday to get back in shape...not that I was ever in shape. Of course, talking about it and doing it, are two different things. Another good thing about the pool is....I don't have to spend the summer trying to find ways to entertain the kids!
And, speaking of hot it's time to gather my summer reading list. There are several author friends who have books out, that I'm looking forward to reading. Here are a few titles on my list so far....
Bobby Faye's Very Very Very Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey (check out the book trailer)
Cover Up--Michele Martinez
Hell's Belles--Jackie Kessler
One Shot--Lee Child (who I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting a couple of weeks ago. And the awesome part....he remembered my name from when we met in 2005!!) *sigh*
Anyway...that's just a few books I have on my shelf to be read....since I can read a book in two days, and I'll be on bed rest for a few weeks I'll have a lot more than these on my shelves....plus, of course, I'll be working on my own manuscript (hopefully).
Next week (May 30-June 3) I'll be in New York for the Backspace conference. I'm really looking forward to meeting all of my online friends face to face. I've been corresponding with most of the members of Backspace since 2003 and they've been the most supportive, encouraging and inspiring group of people I've ever met, not to mention they're very talented writers.
So....with such an awesome start to my summer....how can I go wrong?? =)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Wow, has it really been three months??
My time does fly. I can't believe I haven't updated this blog since January....well, yeah I can.
Life in Az has been going well, I guess. We haven't hit those Hotter'n Hell temperatures yet, much to the disappointment of my youngest who wants to go swimming in our backyard pool. I wouldn't even mind swimming daily for the exercise since I could really use it!
Aside from that I guess you could say we've adjusted. The kids have made friends, the younger one is still playing baseball and having a very good time....except for a couple of weeks ago when he got clocked on the chin by a 70 mph fast ball. But, the kid's a trooper and is still batting around .500
We've had our share of the media blitz this week. Apparently some very disturbed individual at my daughter's high school has been threatening violence, leaving cryptic messages on the boy's bathroom wall and accompanying it with a mutilated carcass (according to the rumor mill) and a couple of burning folliage. The date of the attack, which is supposed to include a bomb and hand guns, is scheduled for tomorrow...April 20th. Again the rumor mill is that the massacre is to be held in the name of the two psychos who shot up Columbine and that historic psycho responsible for the Holocost (not one of these individuals deserve to have their names spoken aloud). Anyway, the police and school officials are taking the threats seriously, especially in lieu of what happened this week in Virginia. Needless to say, a large majority of the student body plan to stay home Friday....my daughter included. I had tried to let my daughter know there was nothing to be scared about, that her school is safe. However, all my convincing went out the window today. The school was on complete lockdown today...no one in that didn't belong there. Cops, placed together in pairs, haunted every few feet of the building and blocked all entrances. After school all of the students were then corralled a block away at the football field and parents were told to pick them up at the church another block away. Needless to say, we were told this when we got to the school. My daughter, a freshman, is also special needs and the most timid child you'll ever meet, and being new had no idea where she was supposed to go. The extra precautions today totally freaked her out, added to the fact that the school was evacuated for half an hour while they checked into a suspicious package in the boys room, which turned out to be someone's science project. Anyway...thankfully we got my daughter a cell phone for Christmas, so her brother and I were able to talk to her while we hunted her down. Then, one of the aides at the school spotted her and was kind enough to walk her to where we were parked.
Leaving the school we couldn't believe the amount of press waiting to see what would happen. Helicopters hovered over the school, news vans for the local affiliates as well as radio stations were set up everywhere, satelite dishes and all. It certainly made me feel, even more, for the people in Virginia and Colorado, Kentucky....everywhere these tragedies happen.
And it's really sad that, when these stories hit the news, more focus is put on the killer than on the victims .
Life in Az has been going well, I guess. We haven't hit those Hotter'n Hell temperatures yet, much to the disappointment of my youngest who wants to go swimming in our backyard pool. I wouldn't even mind swimming daily for the exercise since I could really use it!
Aside from that I guess you could say we've adjusted. The kids have made friends, the younger one is still playing baseball and having a very good time....except for a couple of weeks ago when he got clocked on the chin by a 70 mph fast ball. But, the kid's a trooper and is still batting around .500
We've had our share of the media blitz this week. Apparently some very disturbed individual at my daughter's high school has been threatening violence, leaving cryptic messages on the boy's bathroom wall and accompanying it with a mutilated carcass (according to the rumor mill) and a couple of burning folliage. The date of the attack, which is supposed to include a bomb and hand guns, is scheduled for tomorrow...April 20th. Again the rumor mill is that the massacre is to be held in the name of the two psychos who shot up Columbine and that historic psycho responsible for the Holocost (not one of these individuals deserve to have their names spoken aloud). Anyway, the police and school officials are taking the threats seriously, especially in lieu of what happened this week in Virginia. Needless to say, a large majority of the student body plan to stay home Friday....my daughter included. I had tried to let my daughter know there was nothing to be scared about, that her school is safe. However, all my convincing went out the window today. The school was on complete lockdown today...no one in that didn't belong there. Cops, placed together in pairs, haunted every few feet of the building and blocked all entrances. After school all of the students were then corralled a block away at the football field and parents were told to pick them up at the church another block away. Needless to say, we were told this when we got to the school. My daughter, a freshman, is also special needs and the most timid child you'll ever meet, and being new had no idea where she was supposed to go. The extra precautions today totally freaked her out, added to the fact that the school was evacuated for half an hour while they checked into a suspicious package in the boys room, which turned out to be someone's science project. Anyway...thankfully we got my daughter a cell phone for Christmas, so her brother and I were able to talk to her while we hunted her down. Then, one of the aides at the school spotted her and was kind enough to walk her to where we were parked.
Leaving the school we couldn't believe the amount of press waiting to see what would happen. Helicopters hovered over the school, news vans for the local affiliates as well as radio stations were set up everywhere, satelite dishes and all. It certainly made me feel, even more, for the people in Virginia and Colorado, Kentucky....everywhere these tragedies happen.
And it's really sad that, when these stories hit the news, more focus is put on the killer than on the victims .
Friday, January 12, 2007
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Or is it?
2006 was one of the not so great years of my life….I can’t say it was the worst, because there have been worse….but like I do EVERYTIME something sucky happens, I move on. Only last year, it was harder because I let it get to me….the stress and anxiety and stuff. I told myself, this year would be different….literally. After all I’ll be in a new home, in a new state, minus one child (*sniff sniff*) and hopefully starting a new career path…or at least upgrading my current so called career.
So, anyway, the new year started like it always does, full of hope. Then….deja vu….I get a call from my agent telling me she will be leaving her agency to open up her own. Now, why is this Déjà vu? Well…because in January of 2005, five months after I signed with my first agent, she called to tell me she was leaving her agency to take an editor’s position at Simon & Schuster. You’d think this would be a good thing since she was my agent and loved my work…however…not so….my Romantic Suspense didn’t fit into the Latina line she was to be running. So, I had to spend practically all of 2005 looking for a new agent, and by the end of November, I'd finally found one!! My books went on submission in January 2006….we’ve had some interest….one editor in particular was very enthusiastic and even asked for a meeting at the RWA conference in Atlanta last July, and since then I’ve been somewhat furiously revamping the story for the editor. Then the holidays came around, and all the stress it entails….which included me and the kids having to move the first week of December because our house sold and living in a motel for eight days while they went to school, then spending a week at my cousin’s house (that would be a head count of 12!) so my son would get to see most of the family before he shipped out, then going to San Antonio for a week and leaving my son there, and me and the rest of the kids and my husband driving twelve hundred plus miles to our new home in Arizona. *heavy breath*….sorry…I keep digressing….
So…I get a call from my agent who said she’s leaving the agency to open her own….however, unlike my first agent….THIS agent wants me to come with her! YAY! So, I still have an agent which means I don’t have to stress so much about whether or not I suck as a writer. (call me neurotic)
So….starting February, my work will be pitched again but under the new agency name. No big….we still have that one editor who LOVES me….but wait….my agent now tells me the editor is considering leaving her house for another one. **ARRRGGHHH** What is this curse I have???
Okay….so I’m being dramatic. Turns out (I just learned) that the editor not only left her current house but took a position with a major house, where she’ll be a head editor and can buy her own projects, as opposed to assisting an editor and having to go through them for her buys.
What does this mean for me? Hell if I know. But, I’m hoping it’s good.
Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
And…..Have a Happier New Year!
2006 was one of the not so great years of my life….I can’t say it was the worst, because there have been worse….but like I do EVERYTIME something sucky happens, I move on. Only last year, it was harder because I let it get to me….the stress and anxiety and stuff. I told myself, this year would be different….literally. After all I’ll be in a new home, in a new state, minus one child (*sniff sniff*) and hopefully starting a new career path…or at least upgrading my current so called career.
So, anyway, the new year started like it always does, full of hope. Then….deja vu….I get a call from my agent telling me she will be leaving her agency to open up her own. Now, why is this Déjà vu? Well…because in January of 2005, five months after I signed with my first agent, she called to tell me she was leaving her agency to take an editor’s position at Simon & Schuster. You’d think this would be a good thing since she was my agent and loved my work…however…not so….my Romantic Suspense didn’t fit into the Latina line she was to be running. So, I had to spend practically all of 2005 looking for a new agent, and by the end of November, I'd finally found one!! My books went on submission in January 2006….we’ve had some interest….one editor in particular was very enthusiastic and even asked for a meeting at the RWA conference in Atlanta last July, and since then I’ve been somewhat furiously revamping the story for the editor. Then the holidays came around, and all the stress it entails….which included me and the kids having to move the first week of December because our house sold and living in a motel for eight days while they went to school, then spending a week at my cousin’s house (that would be a head count of 12!) so my son would get to see most of the family before he shipped out, then going to San Antonio for a week and leaving my son there, and me and the rest of the kids and my husband driving twelve hundred plus miles to our new home in Arizona. *heavy breath*….sorry…I keep digressing….
So…I get a call from my agent who said she’s leaving the agency to open her own….however, unlike my first agent….THIS agent wants me to come with her! YAY! So, I still have an agent which means I don’t have to stress so much about whether or not I suck as a writer. (call me neurotic)
So….starting February, my work will be pitched again but under the new agency name. No big….we still have that one editor who LOVES me….but wait….my agent now tells me the editor is considering leaving her house for another one. **ARRRGGHHH** What is this curse I have???
Okay….so I’m being dramatic. Turns out (I just learned) that the editor not only left her current house but took a position with a major house, where she’ll be a head editor and can buy her own projects, as opposed to assisting an editor and having to go through them for her buys.
What does this mean for me? Hell if I know. But, I’m hoping it’s good.
Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
And…..Have a Happier New Year!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Closing a chapter
Figurative speaking of course. I had my last official meeting as president of the Northwest Houston chapter of RWA yesterday. I guess you could say it was bittersweet, though no tears were shed...hmm....should I be insulted? Actually it was very nice, considering I don't do "goodbyes" well. But, even though I said goodbye to all those I consider dear friends, I'll still continue to be a long distance member of the NW Houston chapter, because they are the first physical writing group I'd ever been a part of and have been one of the most supportive and inspiring groups to be around. I've been in online forums since I started writing but interacting with people online isn't as personal as meeting one on one because it's so hard to gauge a person's real personality online. Although, I have to say, of the hundreds of people I've met online and had the opportunity to meet in person, have pretty much been like their online persona.
Okay, I'm babbling, but it's how I procrastinate. Now that I don't have my presidential duties to worry about anymore I have a couple extra hours or so a day to write. Okay, that count per day is on average how much time I spent doing chapter business...some days I didn't do anything. haha Anyway....I'm supposed to be finishing up a novella (I'm halfway through) but the neurotic side of me refuses to let go of my muse until she hears if I made the sale. But, I'm really not too worried about finishing the story because technically it's done, I just have to put it down on paper...so to speak...I'm just worried I won't have the sale...even though I have a great story...really....I do....Buy Me.
Okay, I'm babbling, but it's how I procrastinate. Now that I don't have my presidential duties to worry about anymore I have a couple extra hours or so a day to write. Okay, that count per day is on average how much time I spent doing chapter business...some days I didn't do anything. haha Anyway....I'm supposed to be finishing up a novella (I'm halfway through) but the neurotic side of me refuses to let go of my muse until she hears if I made the sale. But, I'm really not too worried about finishing the story because technically it's done, I just have to put it down on paper...so to speak...I'm just worried I won't have the sale...even though I have a great story...really....I do....Buy Me.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
When it rains it pours
You know, writers and most everyone in the publishing industry will tell you the end of year holidays are the toughest time to submit because agents and editors are trying to clear their desks and will reject just about everything without really reading. However, my dear friend Christie Craig has just proved this wrong. Here it is, the week of Thanksgiving and she just got a call that not one but FOUR of her completed novels have just sold!
Now this really comes as no surprise to me. I've read Christie's work and we used to critique together. Still do on occasion. From the first sentence I knew the books would sell. She has a tremendous talent and a wonderful sense of humor. (personally, I think she's the secret love child of Nora Roberts and Jenny Cruisie)
So, congratulations Christie! I can't wait to see these on the shelf and say "I know her!"
Now this really comes as no surprise to me. I've read Christie's work and we used to critique together. Still do on occasion. From the first sentence I knew the books would sell. She has a tremendous talent and a wonderful sense of humor. (personally, I think she's the secret love child of Nora Roberts and Jenny Cruisie)
So, congratulations Christie! I can't wait to see these on the shelf and say "I know her!"
Monday, November 20, 2006
Is Ugly the new Black?
Whatever that means. Never got the New Black metaphor.
Anyway....I was watching Entertainment Tonight last week and one of the correspondents did a feature on how people are treated based on their looks. Now of course the woman Maria somebody is drop-dead gorgeous, so she had them fix her up to look "ugly"....or unattractive as I prefer....ugly is just so...ugly.
So, anyway, she put on a "face" and fat suit, wore a wild-haired wig and frumpy clothing. Uh.....HELLO?....of course you're going to be treated like last week's meatloaf....you're not showing any respect for yourself!! Did this woman or her producers really believe that over-weight women will not go out of their way to look more attractive??? I really took offense to this piece (can't ya tell?) I mean, I've gone my whole life feeling unattractive (no matter how hard I tried to "look'' attractive)....hell my theme song growing up was Janice Ian's Seventeen. So to see this woman, or other celebrities like Tyra Banks or Carmen Electra (yeah I know, probably spelled that wrong...don't care) dress themselves down to prove that beautiful people get all the breaks! Yeah....we get it!
Just a few weeks ago I got a ticket for speeding (don't EVEN get me started!) and the SOB gave me FOUR violations and I know it's because I wasn't attractive enough....he and his cop buddy proved it by continuing to flirt and talk with the young woman they'd stopped ten minutes before me...and were still talking to after I left.
Okay...I'm calm.
Anyway...another thing that pisses me off is the TV show Ugly Betty. And it's not the show that pisses me off because I refuse to watch it. It's the title!
The super models can dress down and scream all they want about how unattractive people get screwed....but deep down they're just as bad as the rest of society.
Yo, ladies, don't do us any favors!
Okay....rant over.
Anyway....I was watching Entertainment Tonight last week and one of the correspondents did a feature on how people are treated based on their looks. Now of course the woman Maria somebody is drop-dead gorgeous, so she had them fix her up to look "ugly"....or unattractive as I prefer....ugly is just so...ugly.
So, anyway, she put on a "face" and fat suit, wore a wild-haired wig and frumpy clothing. Uh.....HELLO?....of course you're going to be treated like last week's meatloaf....you're not showing any respect for yourself!! Did this woman or her producers really believe that over-weight women will not go out of their way to look more attractive??? I really took offense to this piece (can't ya tell?) I mean, I've gone my whole life feeling unattractive (no matter how hard I tried to "look'' attractive)....hell my theme song growing up was Janice Ian's Seventeen. So to see this woman, or other celebrities like Tyra Banks or Carmen Electra (yeah I know, probably spelled that wrong...don't care) dress themselves down to prove that beautiful people get all the breaks! Yeah....we get it!
Just a few weeks ago I got a ticket for speeding (don't EVEN get me started!) and the SOB gave me FOUR violations and I know it's because I wasn't attractive enough....he and his cop buddy proved it by continuing to flirt and talk with the young woman they'd stopped ten minutes before me...and were still talking to after I left.
Okay...I'm calm.
Anyway...another thing that pisses me off is the TV show Ugly Betty. And it's not the show that pisses me off because I refuse to watch it. It's the title!
The super models can dress down and scream all they want about how unattractive people get screwed....but deep down they're just as bad as the rest of society.
Yo, ladies, don't do us any favors!
Okay....rant over.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Hey....I have a blogger account. Who knew??
I actually opened this a long time ago, but then changed computers and lost my cookies and didn't remember I had this blog. Thanks to Jenny Crusie's recent blog and my need to comment, I found my blog. Thanks Jenny....I think. Hmmm.....I'm not real good about blogging....I have one at my MySpace page....if you're bored...or curious, you can go there. You can also learn more about me...if you're bored or curious....at my website.Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to stop by as well.
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