RT Conference Continued

So the conference is done - at least for me.  They have a few events scheduled for this evening but I've got other plans.  Plus...I'm just worn out and on information over load!  This conference was so much fun.  I came home with tons of books, found several new authors I had to race home to buy (their books, not them), and caught up with some amazing friends.  The best thing though was meeting some new ones.  I always love meeting authors, but as an aspiring author, I love it most when I get to meet someone who is aspiring with me.  There are a lot who I meet at local events, but there is just something different about meeting other authors from other places too.  Here are two friends I hung out with quite a bit.  Both are amazing women and I hope that we don't have to wait forever to see each other again.

I went to Jade Lee's 50th Roast.  Loved hearing about all the stories about her over here career. The cover models were there...I love a man with a sense of humor, which they ALL had.  At one point, someone says that Jade has always said chocolate was better than sex.  After teasing her that she was doing it wrong, someone else brings up some dark chocolate to give here.  The 'chocolate' cover model puts his hand up and yells "That's me." and precedes to feed it too here. The woman almost swooned!

But the funniest part of the night was when Cherry Adair kept looking at me funny at a signing.  I think she thought I was stalking her.  I really wasn't, though I can see where she might have thought so.  RT was raffling off some gift baskets and I was standing where I could hear the man in the kilt calling numbers - which is right behind Cherry.  Plus I was waiting for a friend who was loading up on books.  When my friend found me, I told her that I figured it would be easier if I just stayed in one place until she found me.  Cherry must have heard me because she started laughing and told my friend "Yup, she hasn't moved from this ONE spot. Not a single step."  I did of course get in line for one of Cherry's books and tell her that this time, I was after her.  That woman is hilarious!

Romatic Times 2013

I've spent the last week soaking up all the information I could at the Romantic Times Conference here in Kansas City and I'm brain dead, lol.  It was great to catch up with old friends and see how their careers/lives have progressed, meet so many new friends, and hear about the changes in the industry.  Since most of the events I wanted to go to today are in the evening, I spent the morning organizing everything I picked up at the conference and ordering books!  Lots and lots of books.  Thank god for e-readers!  My Kindle saved me a lot just in shipping.  I also ordered several writing books, like Deb Dixons GMC (I need a refresher) and Vogler's A Writers Journey.  Can't wait for them to get here.

Anyway, I've got to get in the shower to go to Jade Lee's 50th Birthday Bash.  So I'll catch you up on more later.  I've been HORRIBLE about taking pictures this week, but luckily a friend came for the day and insisted we take a picture with Maya Banks, so at least I have THAT to share!

Well, it's been a while.  I'm not even going to try to lie.  Life got in the way of my writing.  I hated every minute of it, but that's what happens when you find 28 inches of water in your boyfriends house 5 days before he deploys and 3 months before you move in.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to redesign a house from the subfloors to the ceiling for someone else without their input?  Ladies, let me tell you one secret - the guy doesn't really care what color the counter tops are.  They are just happy to have it done without them doing the work!

Anyway, I'm back  into writing now and am attending the Romantic Times 2013 convention in my home town.  I've already been to one even and it's stroked the fires under my ass.  I immediately came home and updated my website - and now I'm blogging.  Next is Facebook.  Look for updates as the week goes on.  Going to post new goals soon, and this time I'm sticking to them!

Restart!

Well, it's a new year, and as usual, I'm making goals.  My typical pattern is to promise that this year will be different from last year... well, I'm not making that promise this year.   Instead, I'm just going to forge ahead and forget predictions and apologies!

Goals for this year:

1.  Get "The Jerk List" OUT!
2.  Start the Army book.
3.  Finish the divorce book
4.  Finish the article I'm writing with Aimee

I've also cleared commitments so I can reach all of these goals.  Yes, I'll pat myself on the back for that one. 

I'm really excited about the article.  Just to give you a little background, Aimee and I both started dating again after a long absence from the dating world.  One thing became blatantly obvious to us very quickly...There are a lot of writers that have no idea what it's like to date anymore!!!

It was very disappointing when we'd read a book and could actually tell when an author had been married for years.  Now, this didn't happen all the time, but it happened frequently enough that we decided that we did need to write an article about it, especially since a lot of the readers we want to target are dating.  How can we capture their interests if we are out of touch with their world?  I know we write fiction, but come on...if readers can't related to our fantasy world, why keep reading.

We've started the first draft and it will be out soon in the MRW newsletter.  I can't wait to hear your thoughts.  And as hard as it maybe to hear, as authors, we do need to keep up with the current market and our readers in ALL ASPECTS! 

Curveballs

My friends are telling me they are wondering how I've managed not to have a nervous break down.  I'm just glad I'm not the only one wondering.  All I can say is that the ostrich approach seems to work right now and my friends are my life line.  I've also decided to take one day a week for me, to do whatever I want.  And guess what that will be tomorrow??? 

Writing.

Yup, not dealing with pool removal (or flood).  I'm not dealing with the move.  Or thinking about work.  I'm going to write.  That's it...well, I might attack a few loads of laundry here and there.  Right now, I've got so much material, I need to get it down before I forget it all!

Chaos is my best friend!

What has happened lately?  Alot!

1.  Came home from a business trip to a my shower running thanks to the maintence man who did not close the shower curtain. Result: ruined scale and had to wait until my hot water heater caught up so I could take a shower.

2.  Got a call from my boyfriends neighbor and ran over to his house to find 21 inches of water in his basement while he's out of town.  Result: A lot of ruined crap, tons of hours disposing of ruined crap, and the insurance company can't fit us in until the end of the month because this doesn't qualify as an emergency.

3.  Aired up a tire and got hit by a car...yes, a car tire litterally came in contact with my ass.  Result: luckily, the dumbass driving was only going about 1 mph and I just had a scrapped knee from being sprawled over the sidewalk.

Since bad things come in 3's, I figure I'm done...or at least I hope I'm done. 

So, preperations for the move begin, as well as writing since I very little if, any destractions will exist for the next year.  I still have the move and work, but that is all relative.  I've got two different stories begging to get out of my head a the moment. 

The first is the divorce story, which is proving to be just as funny as The Jerk List. 

The second is going to be about a woman who sends her man off to a war zone - yes, I know, I'm writing about my life again.  However, while I will be incorporating some of the things I'll be going through the next year, most of it will NOT be something I experience.  Instead, it will be about what a woman goes through at home.  It will be a fine line showing this since I write humor and I don't want to make a joke out of it.  But let's face it - women are funny!  There has to be a way to show our soldiers the respect they desearve and to show what a woman really goes through at home in a humorous light - and I've got time to find it!

There are times you love being called a bitch

Writing has kicked in, and no, I'm not working on my thief book.  Instead, the divorce book is talking to me.  Yes, I'm starting a romance off in divorce court.  Call me weird, but it is something I've always wanted to do. 

I took the first chapter to my writers retreat for open critique.  I warned them it was a rough draft, that I really just wanted a clue if the concept was going to work - and I got called a bitch - because not only did they love the idea, but I didn't make a single grammar mistake (I'm still beaming). 

Chapter four made it to the page today.  Not bad since I just started it two weeks ago.  I know there will be some editing, and I'm still searching for zany things my heroine can do to run off her soon to be ex-husband...but they will come to me.  They always do.  However, if you have anything you want to share, I'm open to ideas.