Saturday, April 30, 2011

Hats

Funny Pictures - Cute Kittens
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I wonder if this LOLcat wanted to crash the royal wedding yesterday. Her hat is cuter than some of the ones I saw. I had no idea they made so many different types of hats. Did you see any at the wedding that you really liked?

Typical Saturday. Writing. Two soccer games in two different states. More writing.

What's your day going to be like?

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Royal Wedding

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I love royal weddings! It's especially fun to see a commoner marry a royal! I daydreamed about being a princess when I was little, how about you?

I love reading royal romances. They are my favorite type of romance novels. I've written three of them. If The Ring Fits... came out back in 2000, Expecting Royal Twins! which also features a royal wedding scene was out in February and Not-So-Perfect Princess will be out in July. Here's a blog article from Heroes and Heartbreakers that talks about royal romances.

I've had grand plans to wake up early and watch the royal weddings every since the wedding date was announced. But I've been sick this week. I finally went to the doctor's yesterday. I've got another sinus infection. Needless to say, getting up to watch a wedding didn't happen. But I've got the TV on now and am catching up.

I loved Kate Middleton's dress and veil. So elegant! Prince William looked very handsome in his uniform. The two kisses on the balcony were sweet. I hope the royal couple does live happily ever after!

Now it's time to go back to bed! Hope you enjoyed the wedding and have a great day!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Another birthday!

funny pictures of cats with captions
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Today is my son eleventh birthday! He's so excited. He told me last night I didn't have to wrap his presents if I wasn't feeling up to it. (I'm fighting allergies or maybe a cold.) I told him if worse came to worse his dad would wrap them. I'm just so relieved I did the birthday shopping last week instead of waiting until this week!

This is the kidlet who is so easy to buy for. He loves Legos, DS games, action figures and weapons (Nerf guns, water guns, swords). He's also a big Star Wars fan like his mom which makes shopping for him even more fun for me.

He didn't want a party. Instead, he wants to go to Seattle. Seeing the Star Wars Exhibit was tops on his list until we realized we'd already seen it here in Portland. It was a couple of years ago, but when I asked him what he remembered he could describe most of the exhibition in detail so we're going to skip that. We're going to go to the top of the Space Needle. Not sure when we'll squeeze a trip up north for the day, but it's now on the To Do list!

A birthday celebration today, the royal wedding tomorrow! I want to watch, how about you?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Book Trailer

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I wish I could spend the day tucked in bed and asleep like this. That kitty sure looks nice and cozy!

This morning I found a link to a book trailer in my inbox. That isn't that unusual. But this wasn't for one for just any book trailer, but one of my books Memo: The Billionaire's Proposal. The book came out back in September '09, but is still available both in paperback and ebook if you missed it when it was out originally.

A little while ago, Long and Short Reviews posted a review of the book. After that, the lovely ladies at Goddess Fish Productions made the book trailer below for me.

Okay, I'm totally biased because it's my book so I won't gush about the book trialer or them, but if you're looking for promo help and/or a virtual book tour, check out Goddess Fish. They are wonderful!



I can't believe how much fun it is to watch! I'd love to know what you think about the book trailer!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Countdown to the Royal Wedding

I'm a big fan of royal weddings. I still remember getting up in the wee hours of the morning at my aunt and uncle's house in Reno, Nevada to watch Lady Diana Spencer marry Prince Charles. I plan to be watching on Friday. What about you?

I saw this on Facebook. It's a take-off on the JK Wedding clip that I posted on the Wedding Planners blog a few years ago, but with a royal twist. Enjoy!



Have a great Tuesday!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Egg Hunt


Holidays with my family are always loud and crazy gatherings with lots of yummy food and great music (if my 16 yo nephew has access to instruments.) Yesterday was no different (and my nephew had both Rose's electric guitar and Finn's electronic drum kit!)

When it comes to Easter, there's one thing that never changes. We always have an egg hunt, but that's not it. It's that my sister will either forget to bring candy-filled eggs and need to stop on the way up to buy more or she won't be able to find the eggs from last year and have to buy more. The latter happened this year. Of course, after she bought the new eggs she found the old ones.

What this means is that our stash of plastic eggs doubles yearly. We had approximately 400 eggs this year. For six kids ages 8 to 16. We had so many eggs we had to do two egg hunts. Even then, we could have done three or four.

It was the never ending egg hiding. We couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. And we blamed my sister (lovingly, of course) for always having to buy more eggs each year!

At one point during the egg hunt, my sister looked into a boot lying on the floor in the foyer. Someone (she blamed her husband) had dumped twenty eggs inside. She made him rehide them.

At the end of the second hunt, there were still a few well hidden eggs missing. I think it took the kids twice as long to find that handful as it did to gather the hundreds of others. As we split up the eggs so we can use them next year, my sister promised not to lose these or buy more!

Guess we'll see what happens next year!

Have a great Monday!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!


I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter Sunday!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Saturday Happening

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If this little kitty had green eyes, he'd be the perfect Boots. That's the name of the cat in my July release Not-So-Perfect Princess.

Busy day ahead with soccer, writing, shopping and preparing for Easter. Hubby continues to do an excellent job with the downstairs. Unfortunately, we're running out of time to do much with the upstairs. But we'll see what we can do after all the eggs are stuffed with candy for the big hunt!

Anything happening in your corner of the world today?

Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday

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Here's my kitty fix for the day! So cute.

Holy Week continues with Good Friday. It's a day of fasting, prayer and reflection. I do love Christmas, but this is my favorite time of the year. Easter is my favorite holiday hands down.

Not to go all Catholic and religious on you, but I saw this video on my Facebook Newsfeed Sunday and want to pass it on. It's about Palm Sunday, when the Passion is read during Mass. I like to think of that day as more of a celebration with Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem so I saved this for today.



Thank you, Jesus!

I hope you have a good Friday!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Holy Thursday

I can't believe it's Holy Thursday. The year is going by much too quickly. Yikes. But I really enjoyed the lesson I did with the three sessions I lead on Wednesdays at my church. I presented the Origin of the Eucharist. Perfect given today!

My day will be hectic. I have to do some shopping. No if ands or buts about it. Groceries and Easter stuff. This is my only non-kidlet time the rest of the week. Sunday's menu is complete, just need to buy the items. And eggs. And dye. The list goes on. Ack!

I will also be writing. I figured out a few more things out about my story. And yes, there is a story there. One that I can sustain for 50K words. One that actually has a hero and a heroine with opposing goals. Yay!

So a couple lessons learned (okay, relearned) that I don't want to forget again:

1) Percolation time required.

I submitted four ideas to my editor. One was more formed then the others. I'd even written a prologue that wouldn't go away so I could get back to my manuscript that was due. That book idea then percolating in my head while I finished up Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. But it wasn't the idea I choose to write first. Jumping into a new idea with out mulling on it for a bit is very hard for me. I know this. It's happened before. I'd forgotten.

2) Planning should be completed before starting.

I'm a plotter, not a panster. That means I need to plan things out. That doesn't mean I do a lot of pre-writing. Character interviews and such don't help me at all, but over the years I've found a couple of things that do work with my thought/writing process.

I realized I'd filled out Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet before starting on the first chapter, but I never did any of the Michael Hauge StoryMastery templates. Big mistake. One I rectified the past two days.

I first learned about Story Mastery in January 2010 at a workshop put on by my RWA chapter, The Rose City Romance Writers. Michael Hauge and Bob Mayer were the guest speakers. I made up templates to use based on that talk. This was my second workshop with Michael Hauge. I took a screenwriting course from him way back when in the Bay Area. I learned how to plot using the techniques he taught.

3) You can't rush it.

This one kind of goes along with #1. I had all the forms filled out with Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. I'd been thinking about the story for months. But it still took me several different attempts (and different scenes) to figure out the best way to open the story with. In that case, I was burned out. I needed a break to fill the well and get some sleep. That's one reason I want to build in some down time between projects this year.

When I go back over the lessons learned, I realize they don't apply just to my writing but to many of the other activities I'm involved in.

Note to self: Remember them!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Starting over

funny pictures - The world's most Epic game of ROCK PAPER SCISSORS came to an abrupt stand still when both players figured out they could only play PAPER PAPER er... PAPER?!
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I can really relate to this LOLcat right now! I haven't been playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, but I have been working on my new proposal. Working hard, actually.

I thought I had finally nailed the first chapter. Yes, it took awhile, but it sometimes does. I was happily moving forward with the next two chapters, writing scenes and polishing old ones. I went back and reread my first chapter.

My first thought was boring. I tweeted that. My second was something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what.

These weren't the usual "this really sucks" that many writers experience as part of their process. This was something deeper that put a screeching halt to my forward progress. When that happens, it usually means I took a wrong turn somewhere earlier in the story. But here I was in the first three chapters! Yikes!

I hadn't shown any of the writing to anybody just the story idea. I decided I needed a second opinion. Someone else to tell me yes, something is wrong or no, keep going.

Yesterday, Rose and I had lunch with my good friend and Love Inspired Suspense author, Terri Reed. She handed me a print out of my chapter. Verdict—writing was great, but something wasn't right with the first chapter. She had trouble putting a finger on it, but had a few ideas. Turns out it's not a little wrong, either. It's a full rewrite needed wrong. Sigh...

This is when a piece of dark chocolate really comes in handy. Except it's Lent so I had to survive without!

I spent the afternoon and evening trying to figure out a way to fix everything that was wrong. Once I had a fix and how the book should open, I emailed my editor. I explained what was going on with the proposal. This is where the time difference between where I live and London comes in handy. When I woke this morning, I had a reply from her. She was understanding as she always is and gave me some extra time to work on it. She also offered to help so I sent off another email with where I am right now.

After so many sold manuscripts (not to mention a RITA® finalist this year), you'd think I'd be able to get it right the first time. Nope. I wrote a bunch of openings for my upcoming November release Firefighter Under the Mistletoe before finding the one that was right.

With this new manuscript, I'm happy I knew something was off with this one, too. Now I can fix it before submitting the proposal. I wasn't as lucky with Expecting Royal Twins! Progress! Yay! Of course, it only took me how many years and completed manuscripts to get here? LOL!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Tuesday Links

I've got a lot going on this morning (think, writing) so instead of blogging today I thought I'd give you a couple of links to check out.

This one is from the Toronto Sun. It's an article (a love story!) about two Peregrine Falcons named Kendal and Quest, who are building a nest across from Harlequin Books. They are expecting baby falcons to arrive any day. A very sweet read! And an exciting time for birdwatchers!

The second link isn't so sweet, but it's worth a read if you want to draw your own conclusions about Greg Mortenson and his book Three Cups of Tea. In case you haven't been reading the news, Sixty Minutes did an expose about Mortenson and his bestselling non-fiction book being inaccurate on Sunday. There have also been questions raised about his charity Central Asia Institute (CAI).

If you go here to Byliner, you can download Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit for free until April 20th. After that date, Krakauer will donate his proceeds from sales to charity. In the report, Krakauer, who donated a significant amount of money to CAI, presents the evidence he's found against Mortenson.

If you want to get Mortenson's take on all this, Outside Magazine published this interview with him yesterday.

Have a good day!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Spring Cleaning

Funny Pictures - Cute Kittens
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I'm kinda wishing it was still Sunday. I never got around to blogging, but that's only one of a couple things that didn't get done.

While I worked on the new proposal, hubby and kidlets whipped half of the downstairs into shape. I should have taken before and after pics. It was that striking. With all the deadlines and stuff going on around here since last March, the house hasn't been a priority. The bare minimum has been done. Mainly that's all I could manage.

The family started at the front door and worked from there. The foyer had become the catchall for things as we walked into the door: everything from sports gear to bags of stuff needing to be donated.

My office, to the right of the foyer, was so messy you had to step around books (lots and lots of foreign translations) and craft stuff some left over from last spring when I helped out with a girls' group. The ones who used the room the most were Rocket, the cat, to sun himself and Chaos, the dog, to see if we were home or watch the kidlets play out front. Now it's clean, dusted, awesome! I'm so psyched to have it back! Okay, the reality is much of the stuff in there has now been packed up and moved to the garage, but with people coming over for Easter I have no complaints.

Next was the hallway. The little decorator table had been full of stuff. All of it's now gone, including the table. Flat surfaces are a magnet for me so the less places I have to lay stuff the less clutter I'll have.

And finally the dining room. We only use it for holidays or if we have people over. I hate to admit it but all my Christmas linens were piled on a chair in there yesterday. I'd washed and folded them, but couldn't find the plastic bin where they went. But hubby took care of all of that and a lot more. When I went downstairs, I noticed the two leaves had been put into the table! All set for Sunday's Easter meal!!!

That's the front half of our downstairs. The guest bathroom is part of that, but that's one room we've managed to keep clean. You just can't let bathrooms go especially when you have a 10 year old boy using them! The kitchen, eating area and great room are what's left. But those aren't as messy since we actually use those rooms not store stuff in them!

I'm now not so panicked about the house. A little more work each day will have the downstairs sparkling come Easter Sunday! The kids will be in charge of the playroom upstairs. My goal now is to finish the first three chapters this week (before Holy Thursday Mass, if possible) and then work on the synopsis next Monday. That would give me Tuesday to proof everything. Fingers crossed!

How is your week shaping up?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Bless Me Father...

funny pictures - can has forgibness?
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A while ago on the blog I said my daily life could be summed up by LOLcats. Today is no different.

I spent the morning preparing 2nd graders at our church for their First Communion. Hubby and Rose were there as participants. Okay, not Confession, but that's what I prepared the kids for in the Fall.

After the retreat, I headed south to Keizer, Oregon to watch my son play soccer. He spent the night at my parents' since I wasn't sure if I could get him down there in time for warm-ups. (It's an hour and fifteen minute drive.)

I got home too late to see Rose's soccer game this afternoon. Poor Mackenna. She had a dog show, but no one could go with her so she stayed home. But she didn't complain too much. One of her good friends invited her over then they went to see Soul Surfer, which she highly recommends.

It's so good to be home. Twelve hours out and about will do that to a person. Of course, now it's time to write. I can't afford a day off right now! Better get started before I fall asleep.

Hope you had a fun Saturday!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday

funny pictures - I will do it!  I will take the ring into Mordor!
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I'm not heading to Mordor, but I feel like I'm on a quest. It hit me around five o'clock this morning that next week is Holy Week. I'm hosting Easter this year, and except for some decluttering on Sunday, I've done nothing to get ready. My proposal is due two days after Easter, too.

Better get busy...

Have a wonderful Friday!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award

funny pictures - This too shall pass.
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I received the Stylish Blogger Award from my friend Dru.

The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

I don't think anyone has ever called anything I've been associated with stylish before. Thanks so much, Dru!

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

1 - I love cats. Big surprise, huh? But I'm proud to be a Crazy Cat Lady and visit icanhascheezburger.com every morning.

2 - I hate being the center of attention. I much prefer to hang back and observe.

3 - Though I love all the books I write, the stories set in Hood Hamlet hold a special place in my heart.

4 - To go with #3, I really want to climb Mount Hood even though I'm scared of heights. Just need to heal some more from last year's accident and get back in shape!

5 - I want a puppy. A Norwegian Elkhound puppy. Trying to convince hubby this is a good idea and I haven't totally lost my mind.

6 - If I could live anywhere, I'd moved to Bend, Oregon. Mount Bachelor for skiing and Smith Rock for climbing, need I say more?

7 - I have the greatest family a writer could ever ask for. I'm so blessed and extremely lucky to have them!

3. Pass the award on.

Everyone I would award this too has already won it!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Photobucket Problem

funny pictures - Alright Life....what's next?  Bring it on!!!
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I can so relate with the pic above! Have you ever felt like that?

The blog is a mess right now due to images I use being hosted on Photobucket. They keep saying it'll be fixed, but so far nothing. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Thanks for the comments yesterday. I slept in late and got an hour nap in the afternoon. Still had a bit of running around to do, but I feel better this morning! It's my busy day today, but the rest of the week isn't so bad!

Hope you enjoy your Wednesday! We had sun yesterday. I'm hoping it's back today!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Sneak Preview

funny pictures - I'm awesome at dis.  I deserve a raiz.
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If all works according to plan, I will be sleeping the morning away like the LOLcat above. I'm even scheduling this to post so I don't have to wake up and do it myself!

The chest pains I'd had in February are back. Not my heart, lungs. I've heard once you get pleurisy it's easy to get it again. I really don't want that to happen so I need to get off my feet and rest. Needless to say, sleep is at the top of my To Do list. At least until I have to take the kidlets to piano!

Before I close my eyes, I have to share another LOLcat pic with you. When I saw it on icanhascheezburger.com, I knew I couldn't wait to post it. Consider it a visual sneak preview to my upcoming November release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe!

Funny Pictures - Missoula Firefighters Save Kitten
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Hope all is well were you are!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday, argh!

funny pictures - Faster dan a race goggie.
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This LOLcat reminds me so much of my big boy cat, Rocket! If he was Supercat, I'd ask him to help me.

Spring break is over. No more sleeping in each morning. I set my alarm for 5:30 am so I could get a little writing in before the kidlets woke up. The alarm went off, but I could not wake up. The same thing happened each time it want off after that. Once I finally was forced up by necessity aka Chaos, I realized the reason I couldn't get up. I've caught a cold.

ARGH!

I cannot believe it. It's April. Cold season shouldn't be over with, right? Maybe it's just allergies. Fingers crossed! It's going to be a busy week around here!

Better get to it! Is your week going to be busy?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Too Cute!

I saw this on Facebook and had to share! A cat and a dolphin. So sweet! Enjoy!



Hope you have a great Sunday!

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Saturday

funny pictures - That's what friends are for.
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This LOLcat made me smile.

Not much to say on this Saturday. We had a quiet evening last night and watched Avatar. I'd never gotten around to seeing it before. It was so fun to watch son's face as things unfolded on screen. I'm guessing he'll ask for the DVD for his birthday later this month!

There's also not a lot going on around here. Only one soccer game. I should be able to put a dent into my word count today! After the soccer game today, my son join his sisters at my parents' house. That means a kidlet free house for us. Maybe hubby and I can finally be able to celebrate last Saturday's anniversary.

What are your weekend plans?

Friday, April 08, 2011

Random Spring Break Friday

Funny Pictures - Cute Kittens
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If you're a category romance reader or even if you just stumbled across my blog looking for info on Crossfit, Ben Barnes smoking or Norwegian Elkhound puppies, please read this great article about Harlequin Romance. The writer gets what the line is all about. She also uses one of my book covers and recommends the title so she's my new BFF!

I'm making progress with my new story. I've been tinkering with the opening scene. I started in the hero's POV, but after seeing Source Code started over in the heroine's POV. I think I've finally nailed it with my third attempt. I need the foundation to be solid before moving forward. Without the right opening scene I flounder. The same thing happened with my last manuscript. I must have written that opening five different ways before coming across the one I used.

This is my RITA publicity shot. Hubby and the kidlets picked it from the ones my friend Jennifer Short from Camas Photography took it on Monday. I hate having photographs taken (and hadn't done it since the Reno RWA conference in 2005.) But Jennifer made it painless and fun. I was finished in just a few minutes. I told her I wanted to look like me. As I type those words, it sounds weird, but she knew what I meant.

I want to tell you about the shirt I'm wearing in the pic if only because hubby still can't believe it. I bought it at the dog show on Sunday. I'd looked at stores, but couldn't find anything. Jennifer, my photographer friend, was with me at the dog show (her daughter is friends with my oldest and also shows dogs) so she helped pick out what color and style would work best. Don't tell hubby, but I actually bought two shirts!

Off to see what the kidlets want to do on this final day of Spring Break! Hope you have a great Friday!

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Two Movies and Three Kidlets

funny pictures - Demonstrashun of Concept Kittens:
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I never made it back to blog yesterday. Once the kidlets woke up, I finished some writing then we were off to have a little spring break fun. We went out to lunch and to the movies.

I suggested we see Hop. The previews looked cute, but the kidlets said no. After a little debate, we decided to split up. The girls would see Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. Finn and I would see Source Code. The movies were showing at a multiplex. The theaters were right next to each other and starting ten minutes apart. It worked out really well.

I'd wanted to see Source Code since reading this writing craft blog about it. Larry Brooks calls his post Story Architecture: A Clinic With Popcorn.

He's so right! Source Code is not only an entertaining movie (with Jake Gyllenhaal who inspired Expecting Royal Twins! Prince Niko), but an excellent lesson in craft for writers. I was good about checking my watch, the the plot points are right where they should be, until we were 2/3 to 3/4 through the movie. Then I got totally sucked in the story and just wanted to watch! Larry Brooks suggests seeing it twice. I will once it's out on DVD!

I hope there's a commentary! I can't tell you how much I've learned about storytelling listing to the audio feature while a movie played. Listening why they deleted a scene or changed it can teach you so much about scene selection, as well as showing, not telling. I always keep a notepad handy so I can jot down what's said.

In case you're interested in seeing either of those movies, here's the McClones' ratings:

Source Code: Highly Recommend (mom), See it, very cool (10 yo son)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Okay (13 yo daughter), Really good and funny (8 yo daughter)

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Writing Wednesday

Funny Pictures - Cute Kittens
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The kidlets are still sleeping so I'm making the most of this morning and writing! I'm loving the new story! I'll be back to blog later! Hope you're having a nice morning!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Spring Break Day 2

Funny Pictures - Cute Kittens
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So far Spring Break has been great. I'm not sure the kidlets would agree completely since I put them to work cleaning their rooms yesterday. But they managed some fun in the afternoon. I also had fun.

I've started a new book and like my eHarlequin on-line read Snow-Kissed Reunion involves the Hood Hamlet Snowboarding Camp and Academy.

Yesterday I spoke with Mike Hanley at Windell's Academy about my story. I learned so much speaking with him. I couldn't scribble notes fast enough. A also found out what I'm thinking for the storyline will work! The words are bursting to get out.

Check out the Windell's Academy website if you get the chance via the link above. Fun pics and videos. Talk about a cool place! The kidlets already can't wait to attend Windell's Camp someday. Every time we drive past it, one of them says something about going to camp.

I can only imagine what Rose will think of the Academy...a high school where skiing is part of the curriculum! Granted she's only eight, but ski instructors have been talking to us about her since she first stepped into skis a couple weeks after her fourth birthday. Lots of natural talent. Reminds me of Finn and his swimming.

Well, I'd better get writing while I have the chance. Have a great day!

Monday, April 04, 2011

Spring Break!

funny pictures - Mmmm!                                    SPRING has a wonderful flavor!
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Today begins our spring break! I asked that no alarms be set this morning, but hubby didn't hear me so it went off at the usual time. A bummer since Chaos was still sound asleep. She had a busy weekend at the AKC dog show down in Albany, Oregon. She and Mackenna won both days in the Novice Intermediate Jr. Handler class. That means Mackenna moves up to Open Intermediate! She's so excited.

I told the kids I wouldn't be writing as much this week so we could have some much needed fun. I had a few things in mind. That was before hubby got sick. Now I'm scrambling with a change of plans/activities for us to do. First up, we may force him to see the doctor. Emphasis on force. Sigh...

Of course, it doesn't feel like spring around here. Temperatures are in the low forties with lots of rain. Finn played two soccer games this weekend. It hailed during one of them. The sun did peek out a little this weekend, and it was so nice.

What do you have going on this week?

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Anniversary!

funny pictures - Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first.

I love this! I like eating my salad last so eating dessert first sounds like a good idea, don't you think?

Sixteen years ago today, hubby and I got married. Time sure had flown by! We don't have any plans. It seems celebrating just isn't in the cards for me right now. He came home from NY sick so I'm not even expecting a card. I'll be happy if he remembers! I do know we won't be together today until later.

This morning I'm heading south to an AKC dog show in Albany, Oregon, where my oldest will compete with Chaos in Jr. Handling. We'll be back down there tomorrow, too.

There's a lot of down time so I'll be working on the new book, trying to figure out characters a bit more and filling in the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet which I use to plot and write the synopsis.

Fortunately we're carpooling with another mom, daughter and dog trio so that will be fun. Adult conversation! I sometimes forget what it's like to talk to someone over the age of thirteen unless they are covered in fur and meow.

Hubby gets soccer detail this weekend! The games don't last long so he can sit in the car and sleep. This will be much easier on him than an almost two hour drive each way to the dog show and then however long we sit around for her turn in the ring.

What do you have going on today?

Friday, April 01, 2011

A Review and Contests!

Yesterday, one of my backlist titles, Memo: The Billionaire's Proposal, was reviewed by the Long and Short Reviews aka LASR. You can find the review here.

I'm so excited to get a review on this book. Even though it was out in 2009, it's still available both in paperback and ebook. I fell hard for my hero, Drake Llewelyn. So hard hubby says the heroine of this book, Chaney Sullivan, is the one who's closest to me of all my female characters. I don't see that at all, but that was his observation!

It's the beginning of a new month which means a new contest! This giveaway starts today and runs through the end of the month. When you comment on the blog, you'll get an entry to win a $10 Amazon GC. The more you comment, the more entries you'll receive. One winner will be chosen randomly from all the comments and announced here on May 1. Be sure to check back!

There's another a contest with a great prize that I wanted you to be aware of at LASR:

Every day in the month of April, we will have guest blogs on both our guest sites. Every commenter on the blogs will entered into a drawing for grand prize of a WiFi Nook, a WiFi Kindle, or $150 gift certificate to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble!

You can find out how to enter LASR's Spring is Bustin' Out All Over Blogfest here. Good Luck!

Hope you have a great Friday! Mine's looking pretty good so far. A box from Godiva Chocolatier was just delivered. I can't wait to open it and see what's inside!