November Giveaway Winner

Another full weekend ahead. The two youngest kidlets swim in the morning at a meet while our oldest swims in the afternoon. That means hubby and I will be two ships that pass in the night. Actually two cars who will pass on I-5!

Making progress on the proposal, but it's slow. I was deterred slightly by a rescue that happened on Mount Hood. The climbing forum I belong to was and has been discussing it.

The climber posted his situation on his Facebook page. Turns out he belongs to the climbing forum, too. Thankfully he's safe and made good choices while stuck up there. Kudos to the friend who told him to stay then drove from Bend to Timberline to be there when he got down and to the rescuers from PMR who got him down safely. The climber wrote a very detailed post about what happened and his decision making progress. Very interesting!

This month's winner of a $10 gift card to either Amazon or bn.com is Quilt Lady. She commented on my post "Happy Thanksgiving." Quilt Lady, please use the Contact button on the menu bar above to send me your email address and which gift card you want. You have seven days to contact me or I'll choose another winner. Thanks!

What do you have planned for this weekend?

RIP Nick Hall

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Poor LOLkitty! I'll have plenty of time to tickle my furbabies today! Revisions on my newest Hood Hamlet book are off. I emailed them to my editor last night. Yay!

Of course, I have another book to write. The proposal is due in July so I don't really get much of a break, but I won't have to work quite as intensely as I did on this one. At least I hope not.

With the trying to get the revisions finished, I never had a chance to mention what happened on Mount Rainier last week. If you've read any books in my Hood Hamlet series, you know mountain rescuers are near and dear to my heart. Well, tragedy struck on Mount Rainier this past Thursday.

Photo: National Park Service

Mount Rainier climbing ranger Nick Hall was killed during a rescue of four climbers, two who had fallen into a crevasse. This Seattle Times article has some details about what happened. They are still waiting for the weather to clear so they can recover his body.

Every mountain rescuer I've talked to since I started writing the Mount Hood books in 2007 has told me the same thing. Rescuer safety is the priority. And though it's rare something like this happens. It does. What mountain rescuers do to help climbers in need is risky. Dangerous. Brave. And Nick Hall paid the ultimate price while trying to help those four climbers.

He was a member of the climbing forum I belong to, but the only post I saw from him was four photographs in response to a request for pics. Another forum member who had been helped by Ranger Nick on Rainier when she was having some health issues during a climb and needed oxygen posted pics and wrote about him. He sounded like a really good guy who was a former Marine and loved the outdoors. He wasn't married and had no kids. Sounds a lot like the guys (Jake, Sean, Bill, Tim, Cullen, etc) I write about in my Hood Hamlet books. Very sad.

RIP Nick Hall. Thank you for your service, for all you did on Mount Rainier to save climbers and keep them safe and everything off the mountain, too. My condolences to his family and all who knew him.

The Life of Riley

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I'm sure my cats feel the same as the LOLcat above. They watch hubby and I work (both of us work from home) while they lounge around and probably laugh to themselves. I suppose I don't blame them. The most energy they exert is chasing a toy (or each other) or trying to capture the laser light or staring down the dog. The rest of the time they sleep, get petted and are fed. A pretty rough life!

We're slowly getting back into the swing of things now that Spring Break is over. The kids were at school yesterday. They have school at home with me the next two days. Except for Mackenna. Her class is headed up to the state capital for a tour. I'm curious to see what she thinks of Olympia compared to Washington DC.

I'm hoping to finish up my proposal. I am having to rewrite the third chapter completely. The overall plot has also changed thanks to my volcano expert. I want to finish this part so I can get on with the rest of the story.

It's been awhile since I mentioned the Climbing Cutie, who helps me with my Hood Hamlet books and got me climbing, but he's really been making a name for himself in the climbing world. Here's info on his latest FA (First Ascent) in Alaska. WTG, Cutie!

Hope you have a nice Tuesday!

Interview

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Only two more days of my virtual book tour. Today I'm being interviewed at Lisa Hazelton's Reviews and Interviews. I'll be checking in all day so please stop by here.

I didn't sleep well at all. I'm feeling pretty down right now.

Yesterday evening a climber was killed at Beacon Rock which is located in the Columbia Gorge. It happened while rappelling. The climber's name hasn't been released yet, but the wrong name got out last night which led to some heavy hearts and grief. The Internet allows info to spread quickly. That information just needs to be correct. Regardless the name, a local climber lost his life yesterday and that's still makes for a really sad day.

RIP Joe Puryear

Back in this blog post from 2009, I mentioned two alpinists whose blogs I read. One of these climbers Joe Puryear was killed last week in the Himalayas.

Joe was a very close friend of Mark Westman, who came to my rescue when I was writing Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. If you've been a long-time reader of my blog, you might remember me meeting Mark at the Portland Ice Festival in 2007 where I asked him if he'd mind answering a few questions for a book. A few questions turned into a lot, and I will be forever grateful to Mark for sharing his views and insights with me. He is interviewed in the following NBC clip about Joe:



Joe's family and friends are trying to raise money to bring him home. If you're interested in donating to the effort or just want to read more about the expedition he was on, go here. There's a touching entry titled Final Post written by Joe's wife, Michelle, I suggest you read.

I didn't know Joe, but I wish I had. I'd thank him for sharing his adventures and giving us a peek into what being one of America's top climbers is all about. His blog, trip reports and photography really inspired me, both as a climber and romance writer. I still dream about Alpine climbing, and you know I'm always on the lookout for potential hero occupations/models.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who knew and loved Joe.

Image

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I love this! It reminds me of the picture I posted here with the kitty looking in the mirror and seeing a lion! I can just see my fat cat Rocket imagining himself leaping across the Serengeti in pursuit of a gazelle.

Before I hurt my hand and could climb, the image I had in my mind was of Steph Davis, Zoe Hart, Lynn Hill or Beth Rodden. For those who know who they are and have seen me climb, please stop laughing now. Image, pipe dream. Pretty much the same thing in this case! If you don't know who those four are, them, click on the links. They are amazing women who climb!

Right now, the image I have of myself is being a prolific best selling author who can write a chapter before breakfast and finish revisions before bedtime. So far it hasn't helped me, but I'm not giving up hope. Or my cough medicine!

Do you ever get an image of yourself like the LOLcat above? Care to share it?

The Call of the Wild

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One of the biggest bummers about the injury to my hand is what it'll mean for my summer. I spent the first half of 08 doing Crossfit and gym climbing as much as I could to get in good enough shape to improve my rock climbing skills and give alpine climbing a try only to have to deal with carpal tunnel syndrome like symptoms for the second half of the year.

Once I'd gotten those hand issues under control earlier this year, I was trying to get back into a workout routine of Crossfit and gym climbing to start preparing again. I was so looking forward to getting into climbing more seriously. And then the fall skiing.

Now it looks as if I'll be sidelined all summer, possibly longer, from even gym climbing, and I fear my alpine rock dreams will remain just that...dreams. I really wished I'd discovered climbing when I was twenty-two, not twenty years later. Sigh...

At least I can live vicariously through other climbers' adventures. These are things I could never ever attempt (see the above LOLcat pic for my current MO, not to mention my fear of heights) but as I said I like to dream! And these guys rock. Literally. They are alpinists extraordinaire. These are talented, professional climbers who are out in the middle of nowhere, sometimes on mountains that have never been climbed before or even named. It's scary and totally awe-inspiring.

Two I have enjoyed reading are Colin Haley's Skagit Alpinism and Joe Puryear's blog. They don't post regularly, but when they do it's worth a read and you get to see some amazing photographs.

In April, I found Micah Dash's blog through a link the Climbing Cutie posted on a climbing forum and was looking forward to reading more when he returned from his latest climb in China. Unfortunately the trip he was preparing for ended with an avalanche. Two team members, Jonny Copp and Wade Johnson, have been recovered. The search is still on for Micah. Prayers for them, their families and friends.

Is there anything or anyone you follow on-line so you can live vicariously? If you do, please post a link so I can check it out!

Climbing

I went climbing today. The first time in weeks, probably over a month now. My hands didn't do as well as I'd hoped they would. I only had one climb where they didn't tingle at some point. So that was a little disappointing. I took it easy, too. Really easy. Sigh... But no pain so that's a good thing. And nothing hurts now except my legs (that's from being out of shape!) So I'm going to give my hands a rest for a few days and try again on Thursday.

More revisions on tap for tonight! I'm almost through the entire book, and then I get to input all the changes. I'm glad to hear from those authors who posted comments that I'm not the only one who finds strange sentences when they go back through a story!

Hope you had a good Sunday. I'll post the winners of the November contest tomorrow so there's still time to enter. Just post a comment!

The Crevasse

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you might remember my book that hits the shelves tomorrow started as an idea I had while following a climbing accident on Mount Hood in December 2006. The story behind Rescued by the Magic of Christmas is here on my website. I recently found a link to a special report by the Rocky Mountain News titled The Crevasse. The five part series is about two men, Jim Davidson and Mike Price, who fell into a crevasse on Mount Rainier in Washington state back in 1992. The report is so much more than a retelling of an accident that claimed a life. It's also a story of friendship, of the bond between two friends who were also climbing partners. It made me think not only of my characters, but of the men and women I tie-in with when I climb. It's worth a read whether you climb or not. Have a nice Monday!

Happy Friday!

I don't know why I'm so happy it's Friday, but I woke up smiling and relieved the week was almost over with. We have a typically busy schedule this weekend: 2 soccer games, a birthday party for one of the kidlets to attend, first swim team practice of the season. Maybe it's because I'm finally going to get to go climbing. I haven't climbed in what feels like forever. Okay, it's only been a few weeks, but I've missed it so much. I want to get on the wall. I want to see how my hands do. I want to catch up with my climbing partner!

On the writing front, I've been re-reading my page proofs for my June 2009 release. All they need is to be typed in and emailed. I've been writing new pages on the current story I'm writing. And I've been critiquing my critique partners current work in progress that's due in a couple of weeks! I'm also trying to get my website updated with my new release that's coming out in a month. I'm so bad with promotion usually, but I'm really behind with this book and need to kick it up a step! Especially since I thought it was a December release, not a November one.

What plans do you have for the weekend? I'll be doing all of the above!

Ozone Guide Release and Climber Benefit Recap

Last night at the Lucky Lab was so much fun! A big turnout to support climber Kevin Rauch (pictured with a climber from the climbing forum I belong to) and his family.

The kidlets and I came straight from Crossfit Kids. They were starving so they grabbed seats while I ordered. I bumped into a climbing friend while in line who offered to run to his car for his camera when he heard I didn't have mine with me. He also let me take the camera home last night to download everything so a big thanks to Bill or I'd have no pics for this post!

One of the first things I wanted to buy was the guidebook! They had a room set up for the silent auction and guidebook sales. One of the guys (and an author of the book) was someone I'd met at the climbing gym. He's also on the climbing forum I belong to. The silent auction had some really great items. I started bidding on a guided climb and a few other things caught my eye, but as the evening wore on I knew the kidlets would never make it to the time the table closed so didn't bid anymore.

The Climbing Cutie showed up with a friend of his. The kidlets were so happy to see him. Me, too. It had been a while. Of course, the Cutie proved himself total romance hero material when he sat next to the kids, watched and entertained them the entire evening so I could walk around, take pics and talk to people. This was great since I'd missed the Ice Fest on Saturday. At one point, Rose was on his lap and the other two were hanging all over him. Thank you so much, Cutie!

I also showed him the dedication for my upcoming November release, Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. He's there! Since that's the book that got me into climbing and how I met all these people doing research, it was the perfect time to bring out a copy. A PMR member was also there and got to see his name, too. I'm sending them all books, but my cold got in the way last week.

I saw a lot of familiar faces from the rock gym as well as the local PDX crew who posts on the climbing forum. But there were a couple of surprises last night.

My daughter ran up to me and asked if a guy in line was Zach, the climbing guide we use when we go to Smith Rock. Turns out it was! He came over to visit for a while and it was great to see him. He's also the one who sold me most of my climbing gear when I first decided to climb. I remember being at Red Point in Terrebonne, Oregon. The Climbing Cutie had given me a list of gear and Zach had a question so I had the two talk on my cell phone. Last night I introducee them, well, over the table, noise and kidlets!

I also got to meet two new climbers from the forum. One was from Colorado and I've wanted to meet him. He and the Climbing Cutie have a somewhat adversarial relationship on-line so it was great fun to introduce the two in person.

Another climber had driven down from the Seattle area. She and I had pm-ed about climbing together so it was great to put a face to a name. She does not like having her picture taken (I thought of a couple of you!) but was a good sport and let me take a picture of her from behind for the forum.

I also met one of the event organizers, Jon Bell, who commented on this blog a couple of days ago. Turns out he's a writer, too.

All of Kevin Rauch's friends should be proud of themselves and take a bow. An event like this takes so much work, but I know I had a blast and so did everyone I spoke with. Thanks for helping your friend out and bringing the PDX climbing community together for such a great event. The Ozone Guidebook is really cool, too! I'm so happy I got a copy!

Ozone Guide Release and Climber Benefit

On Wednesday, October 1st, from 6:30 to 9:00 pm at the Lucky Labrador Beer Hall in NW Portland, there will be a fundraiser for climber Kevin Rauch, who was diagnosed with ALS, and his family. A hot-off-the-presses guide book to a local climbing area called Ozone, where Kevin set many of the routes, will be sold. This benefit is being arranged by Kevin's friends and it's pretty impressive how they've not only written a guidebook, but put together a silent auction full of great stuff that anyone, not just climbers, would want.

You can find out more info, including directions, at this blog they put together for the event. Here's a link to a newspaper article on the event, too.

If you're from the Portland area, I hope you'll stop by the Lucky Lab in NW PDX on Wednesday. It's a great cause and the guide book looks fantastic. See you there!

Portland Ice Fest 2008

The Climbing Cutie is at it again. He's putting on the third annual PDX Ice Fest this Saturday night at the Portland Rock Gym. Hubby and I already have sitting lined up for the kidlets and will be there. This year's cause for the money they raise...the Washington Climbers Coalition.

If you're from around here, go. If last year's was anything to go by, this year will be a blast. Climbing competitions to watch, a slide show by Wayne Wallace and free beer!

What more could you want on a Saturday night!

Mailbag!

The past week has been a good one for mail. Last week I received the Harlequin Romance cover flats for my November release, Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. Today I received a box of six copies of the Mills & Boon Romance version of the book. The only difference between the two is the M&B cover is pink.

I just love when new books arrive. You can hold in your hand something that represents all the sweat and hard work from months ago. Last summer actually! The feeling never gets old, no matter if it's your first book or, in this case, my fourteenth.

Each book is special, but this is the first story I had to write. I was on pins and needles waiting to hear if my editor approved the idea because I didn't know what I'd do if she said no. Luckily, she didn't. I wrote the then titled Christmas on the Mountain, made a bunch of new climbing friends (including the climbing cutie), discovered climbing myself and fell in love with the sport!

I'll try to get all the info for the book to my webmistress this next week, including an excerpt! Things have been busy around here and I've got a new book to write, too!

Update: The UPS guy just dropped off a box containing my Harlequin Romance copies!!!!! Perfect timing!

Frantic Friday

I was so busy yesterday between climbing, birthday party for my nephew down in Albany Oregon and soccer practice for two different kidlets, blogging didn't even enter my mind! Glad that's over with.

Of course today, I have to finish getting ready for the trip we're leaving on in a few hours. We're going to a kids' rope up. That is a weekend of rock climbing for kids. Four families, none of whom we've met except over the Internet. We'll be camping, climbing, swimming and just having a fun time. I can't wait. My brother in law is visiting us from New York and we have our normal pet sitter who'll be around, too, so the fur babies should be fine and I won't have to worry about them at all. Just the way I like it.

Remember how I posted about the age of the Chinese gymnasts a few days ago? Check out this link. It's the blog of the guy, a US computer expert/hacker, who found the documents about their true ages. It makes for an interesting read, not just about the gymnast but how caching works on the Internet. He links to a Chinese blogger and though the text is unreadable to me, the pictures and the things he highlights are very understandable. I'm interested to hear what the IOC has to say. Supposedly a statement will be made today.

I'll be back on Sunday, but not sure what time. If it's not too late, I'll announce the winner then otherwise it'll be Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

Guest Blogging

I'm blogging at the Wedding Planners today. You can read my post about wedding movies here.

I spent yesterday at Amy's and had a great time. So did the kidlets. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years so we had a lot of catching up to do about life, family and, of course, writing. Her pool is awesome, too!

Last night, my movie watching continued. I watched the special features from The Other Boleyn Girl which were very interesting. I loved hearing how Phillipa Gregory discovered the relatively unknown Mary Boleyn and listening to the history of the Tudar period.

Once I'd had my fill of historical trivia, I put on The Jane Austen Book Club. Hubby and I liked it. Of course, how could I not enjoy a movie that had one character comparing Austen to Star Wars Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back. I have the book and will probably read that one next. I'd like to see how the characters from the movie compared to the novel. I have a Jane Austen thread in my blinddatebrides.com book, too.

Now a pet peeve about the movies I've been watching. In two of the last three movies there were rock climbing scenes on an indoor rock wall. One in Fever Pitch and one in The Jane Austen Book Club. In both, the climbers fell. But the scenarios were so far removed from the reality of climbing I don't know if it was shoddy research or a convenience factor. Either way, it made me roll my eyes and wonder what the director and writing were thinking. Why? Both scenes were so wrong it wasn't funny.

In Fever Pitch, the belayer was just holding onto the rope. That is, she wasn't wearing a harness or have a belay device. In the Jane Austen Book Club, no one was even holding onto the other end of the rope. In case you've never climbed a rock wall at a rock gym, this is not how you do it.

Granted this could happen at some random playground wall or even a crag itself if the climbers were 1) totally inexperienced and 2) stupid, but not at the kind of gyms portrayed in the two movies.

No gym would ever allow these scenarios to happen because someone could easily injure themselves or die. There are rules that must be followed. I've climbed at three different rock walls and at all three you have to pass a belay test before you're allowed to belay anyone, so the scenario out of Fever Pitch is totally ridiculous.

I'm not quite sure what they were thinking with Jane Austen Book Club because anyone who'd climb without a belayer (unless they were self-belaying which may happen in gyms, but I've never witnessed it) is a total idiot. Granted that character was rash and extreme, but this definitely crosses the TSTL line. (To Stupid To Live.)

Okay, rant over.

Have you noticed mistakes in books or movies that just really get you mad? What were they?

Mountain Athlete

The Climbing Cutie attended a seminar at Mountain Athlete last weekend in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was about how to train to improve your climbing. He said it was great and I can't wait to hear more about it. This picture of him ended up on the home page of the place's website!

I'm still a newbie, sucky climber, but I've learned one thing as I've used Crossfit to get in shape. Too much Crossfit actually hurts the climbing. At least my climbing. A body needs time to recover. The key is finding the right balance between climbing days and workout days. And that's where I need help so I'm thrilled Cutie went to this seminar. My hands might still hurt, but they aren't all tingly and numb anymore so it's time to start climbing again. I spent all winter and spring gym climbing a couple of times a week to get ready for this summer only to have to stop completely in June. It's a bummer and I know I'll have a lot of ground to make up.

I can't wait to sit down with the Climbing Cutie and talk to him about what he learned. I need a solid workout routine that will help me get stronger and improve my climbing. And I'm hoping what he learned is scalable based on fitness level ala Crossfit!

Speaking of Crossfit, I had a session with Nichole yesterday.

Warmup: 400 m run
Skills: Back Squats 45#
WOD: 3 rounds (21, 15, 9) Deadlifts 65#, Push ups (on rounds 2 and 3 I did ring rows instead of push ups)

I was dying. It was hot and I was hurting. But I did it! My max deadlift is 95#, but Nichole said it will be higher based on the reps I've been doing lately. I can't see what it is!

I'm also losing weight. Finally. Nothing like getting off deadline, stop eating donuts and chocolate and get the butt off the chair. What's really helped though is I stopped eating anything with gluten and sugar. That's pretty much put me onto a Zone diet without too much effort and planning. Already people are noticing, so that's good. And the pants that were too tight are starting to feel looser. I am allowing myself one dessert a week. On Sunday, I had a ice cream sundae with Butterfinger sprinkles at Great Wolf Lodge. Oh-so yummy!

I'm going to start taking the kids on hikes. Chaos needs to get out more and though the kids are having a fun time at Crossfit kids a couple of times a week, they need more fresh air than just playing in the yard and riding their bikes.

What physical activities will you be doing this summer?

Oops!

Back in January we donated a dinner that we'd put on for eight people. We set the date in February if I remember correctly. Well, it's tomorrow night. Bad, bad planning on my party, but I really hadn't planned on having a book due when I set the date.

It's a Texas BBQ theme. As of ten o'clock this morning, I'd done nothing to get ready except send email reminders to the guests. I called hubby from Crossfit and told him to call three of the couples since I hadn't gotten a reply to my reminder. I spent the rest of the day trying to get ready for the party. It's been hell. I'm still not done.

Of course, my editor wanted ideas for the cover which I emailed tonight. There are more pages to write though I set a very minimal goal for myself on Thursday and Friday so should have no trouble reaching that. In case you're wondering I've yet to write a word, but since I didn't blog yesterday wanted to at least do something tonight. And I really can crank out three pages pretty fast since I've had a scene in my head most of the day.

I did Crossfit today. That's the one thing I've been making time for especially since my climbing partner has been two busy to climb. I'm still feeling sore from the Thrusters I did on Tuesday. Ouch!

Warm-up: 750 m row
Skills: Sumo deadlift high press (SDHP)
Workout: 2 Rounds of Run, 10 SDHP (10 lbs barbell) and 10 air squats.
Cool down: Roll my way-too-tight legs and hips

Hope all is going well in your corner of the world. I'm feeling very isolated and alone right now. I really hate deadline time.

Crossfit - Thrusters

Since I exceeded my page count yesterday, I'm posting this as my reward. Between getting home from Mount Hood, unpacking, wash and stuff, I just didn't get around to blogging! I focused on writing instead. Hubby started his month long Crossfit Bootcamp last night so I used the extra free time after I got the kids to bed to write more pages! I am now ahead of my amended page goals. Of course, I'm still way behind my original ones.

This morning I had yet another session with Nichole:

Warmup: Stretches, 800 m run with squats and good mornings as we went, roller
Skills: Practiced Front Squats and Push presses and Thursters with PVC pipe and 35 lb bar.
Workout: 2 rounds (15, 12, didn't do 9) of Thrusters with 35 lb bar and Ring Rows
Cooldown: Roller

Once I'm done with my writing today, I'll go read the comments from the past few posts and I'll catch up on my blog reading! It was nice to take a break from everything. Hubby's travel schedule has been hard on all of us. We really needed to get away from the house and things for a few days and just be a family. And of course, we got to see Chaos in the snow for the first time. She wasn't not quite sure what to make of it though!

Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend!

Ice, ice baby

The alarm went off this morning so I could get to Crossfit, but once hubby heard the reports of black ice on the road he asked if I had to go. Since I was going to be the only one at the garage gym this morning, I decided to go back to sleep and wait until later in the day. Most school districts in the area are running two hours late, too. I was also supposed to go climbing, but hubby wants me to wait until traffic dies down. Guess I'll take advantage of the extra time and write!

The December 2006 tragedy on Mount Hood led me to write my last manuscript. I heard on the radio this morning that two climbers are missing up there. They were supposed to return on Monday afternoon, but didn't. Their car remains in the Timberline parking lot. Portland Mountain Rescue members got the page last night, but the weather up there has the search on hold.

Sunday was gorgeous on the mountain. As we were driving home from Chuck E. Cheese, Hubby and I stared at Mount Hood, surrounded by clear blue sky, talking about how we should have been up there skiing. Today, snow is blowing sidewards and it's 10 degrees. Bad, bad conditions. It just shows how quickly things can change up there.

Someone posted on the climbing forum that the climbers were going to be ascending the Leuthold Couloir and descending the south side. When I first started writing my Mount Hood story, I was thinking of using the Leuthold Couloir route, but I later decided, after talking to PMR members, to not go with an avalanche scenario and have an accident occur on the Reid Headwall instead.

I have no idea what happened to these two missing climbers. There hasn't been much information released yet, but lets just say what I've heard so far is eerily close to the opening scene in Rescued by the Magic of Christmas. I just hope these climbers are okay and make it safely down the mountain. Please say a prayer for them. Thanks!

Update: If you want to know more, check out this article from The Oregonian.

Update 2: The climbers have been found and are safe! See Oregonian link above for full story.