Dibs and AI

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This LOLcat made me smile! I haven't said "dibs" in a long time, but I remember when it used to be a word used almost daily when I was younger. What about you?

My three kidlets are thrilled Scotty won last night on American Idol. I don't know how many times they voted, but I know it was more than once until I made them go to bed on Tuesday night. Wednesday is a sleep-in late day so they got to stay up a little longer to watch the show and get their votes cast. They've never listened to country music before, but my oldest has all of Scott's songs on her iTouch.

Did you watch AI? Who did you want to win?

Princess Leia Kitty

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The things our furbabies put up with. I must admit we have put a Yoda hat/hood on ours. Rose wore it as part of a Halloween costume when she was two. Now she was a seriously cute Yoda!

Spirit is feeling a little better. She's found herself a place away from everyone, but within eyesight of me to rest. Smart kitty since Yoda just jumped off the bed and on top of Smalls when she walked by the bed. Guess he's practicing his Ninja moves.

Today is the last day of the classes I teach at church. I enjoy them, but am ready for the break until fall.

Still can't beat this sinus thing. The late night at the vet hospital has not helped. I'll give the new medicine a couple more days to kick in then I'm calling for something else. I wan to feel better!

This morning I'll be preparing for the last class and then tonight I'm reading through the page proofs of Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. What are you up to?

Sick Spirit

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I got home for the 24 hour emergency vet hospital at 2 am. One of my cats, 14 yo Spirit was not feeling well last night. Of course, I don't realize this until way too late when I should be going to bed. But I was concerned enough to call. And they were concerned that she could have a blockage so off we went.

Fortunately, it's only a UTI. Huge sigh of relief. They told me she was in great shape for her age. They gave her an injection of antibiotic and gave me pills to give her at home. She's resting now. I'll be taking a nap later!

How's your day going?

Falling asleep with a good book...

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The last book I fell asleep with was my own. I was writing it. Oops. How about you?

Hope you have a good Monday!

Sleeping in late...

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This LOLcat describes what's going on in the house right now perfectly. Only Yoda and I are awake. We were out late because of an evening swim meet. A very casual, chilly meet. I get cold just thinking about it, but fortunately the rain stayed away until we were walking out to the car.

We usually go to early Mass, but not this morning. I knew the kids needed to sleep in. Me, too!

Not much on the agenda today. I'm thankful about that.

I did start reading the AAs for my November release, Firefighter Under the Mistletoe. A few lines are jumping out to me. I marked them and will go to my original copy and see if I wrote them or if the CE made some changes. I don't think a lot about "voice" as I write, but it's funny how obvious it is when something clearly doesn't sound right or like me!

Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

Ahhhh...

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So sweet! One of my fave things about waking up from a nap is to see who joined me while I was sleeping. I usually have a few furbabies lying next to or on me.

I have new medication. Fingers crossed it works. I'm so far behind on stuff and hate feeling this way! I'm still trying to take it easy as much as I can.

We do have a little fun on the agenda today. A friend of Finn's who is also in one of my Wednesday classes turns 11 today so we're taking him out to lunch! Do you have any plans?

Random Thursday

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You know you're a crazy cat lady when seeing the above pic makes you want to put clear containers around the house to see exactly how your cats do it!

I'm heading off to the doctor's today. Hoping to get something else that will get this sinus infection out of here once and for all. I've had a headache now for a couple of days. So not fun! I was going to have Yoda blog for me yesterday, but it was just too much!

Not much to say, except one of my blog readers and very good friend, Dru, alerted me to this post on Daily Cheap Reads. The kindle version of my RITA finalist book, Christmas Magic on the Mountain, is on sale for $1.24. The paperback version at Amazon is only $2.46. The large print version is even less, $1.30. Okay, sales pitch over!

On the writing front, I'm giving my hero a conflict redo. Heard back from my editor and she likes the new direction. Huge sigh of relief since the book is due a month from today!

Other than that, I head back to the doctor this morning. Anything going on with you?

Also don't forget to comment if you want to enter the contest to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I don't think I've posted info about it under the contest tab yet, but there's a post below about it.

Tiny cats

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My kitties think they are tiny kittens. Only Smalls, however, is on the smaller size. The rest are bigger. Yoda still think he's a teeny weenie little thing. His favorite spots are small Amazon boxes and even smaller baskets. It's cute, but sure looks uncomfortable. He doesn't seem to mind though.

I'm trying to get words written before blogging or blog hopping. I've had to up my daily word count, too. Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays are going to be my hardest days for writing and getting online so I'm posting this even though I'm not near where I should be. I really need to be disciplined right now. The book is due in a little over a month. And my stupid sinus infection seems to be coming back. Bloody noses have returned and headaches, too. Argh! Hate this!

Last night watching The Event was bittersweet. Only one more episode to go (on NBC at least.) The episode brought together two pairs of characters which was cool. It felt more like a build up to next week's show than a standalone show though. A few juicy tidbits were learned, but I wonder if we'll get a satisfying ending to the series if it isn't picked up by someone.

I keep getting this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that it'll be just like when ABC canceled Invasion. I even wrote letters about that one! After that, it was a long time before I got attached to a new series. I think it'll be a long time before it happens again.

Did your fave shows get renewed or canceled?

Kid Free

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For once, I don't have any kids with me. Just cats and a dog. That means uninterrupted writing time.

Because of the kidlets, I didn't get as much done yesterday as I hoped to do. Fingers crossed today will be different. I already wrote 1205 words as part of a #1hr1k on twitter. Just a couple hundred more and I'll be ahead for the day!

What are you up to?

Shredding paper

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I don't make my kitties shred my scrap paper though sometimes they have fun with it. I leave all my no longer in use pages on the floor. No one is allowed to touch them until the book is complete in case I need to find something. Messy, but it works. Needless to say, this LOLcat definitely fits where I am now. Knee deep in rewrites of the first three chapters and trying to get the rest of the first draft written.

I'm finally feeling human again, too. Not 100%, but better than I've felt in almost a month. Yay! But I'm not going to overdo it. Really. I mean it this time!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend. I am. Yesterday I watched my youngest play soccer. Today I saw 4 current students in the first Wednesday class I teach and a former one make their First Holy Communion down in Portland. Now it's "me" time. I'm going to spend the rest of the day writing (and possibly sneak in a nap!)

Talk to you on Monday!

A long night...

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So this blog is late going up this morning. I have to admit it would have been late even if Blogger hadn't been down. I spent last night at the ER with my son Finn. He fell at soccer and put his right arm out to break his fall. He ended up hurting his wrist. Fortunately it's only a sprain. The ER doc turned out to be his former Little League coach. Needless to say, it was a late night and I got zero writing done. I feel like the LOL kitty above.

Because of that, and the fact a nap is looking like a must-have before lunchtime, I'm going to leave you with this link. It'll take you to a blog of pictures containing writers and their kitties! Enjoy!

Fire Alarm

Yesterday while hubby cooked lunch, Chaos started acting very strange. Her curled tail uncurled. She walked around the downstairs as if lost. I told hubby that she was afraid the smoke detector was going to go off. He laughed, saying I was crazy.

Last night the same thing happened when he was fixing dinner. Chaos looked so nervous. And then the smoke detector went off. The dog freaked as she usually does when that happened. She was on my lap, cowering and trembling so much we wrapped her in a blanket. It was heartbreaking to see her so scared. I tried to get her to go upstairs, but she wouldn't budge. It took over an hour for her to settle down. Poor baby!

I started thinking about her actions prior to the alarm going off. I wonder if she smelled something ahead of time or knows when daddy turns on the fan on the stove the chances of the loud noise sounding goes up. Maybe it was simply the noise from the fan. She doesn't like the vacuum cleaner, either. She obviously knew something was up.

It'll be interesting to see how she acts today during meal time prep!

Still dragging a bit here. I hope to get back to more online stuff soon, but right now trying to rest as much as I can when I have free time.

Hope you have a great Thursday. I keep hoping the rain will go away, but it returned again! I want sunshine! What's the weather like where you are?

Nap Attack!

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This was me yesterday! I would sit down to write only to start nodding off. I had at least two, maybe three naps, in between some errands and writing. The naps helped me stay awake long enough to watch The Voice. Some good battles last night! I'm looking forward to next week's episode. Since I've been watching that show, I've stopped watching Glee. I just don't have that much time to spend in from of the television.

So the more I look at the LOLcat above, I can't help but wonder if pirate kitty grew weary of being dressed in pirate garb and decided sleep was a better alternative. What do you think?

Have a nice Wednesday!

New Contest!

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I'm still not feeling all that great and realized I haven't put up a prize for this month's contest. I haven't even posted it on the contest page!

I'm going to do the old stand-by. A $10 gift card only this time you can choose whether you want Amazon or Barnes & Noble, who now do eCards.

All comments posted in May (the time stamp will be what shows up on MY computer) will be entered. Multiple entries allowed so comment away. Check back at the beginning of June to see if you won. The winner's name will be posted on the blog! Good luck!

Hope you have a great day!

Off we go!

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The little kitty in the pic above reminds me of Yoda when he was younger! So sweet!

I spent yesterday exactly the way I wanted—resting and writing. I wrote over 4000 words, a chapter's worth of pages! A very nice Mother's Day present to myself. Mackenna took care of Rose for me (and also kept Chaos away) so I didn't have a care in the world. The kidlets made me cards (and ones from the cats and dog) and hubby got me a card, too. A very quiet, low-key holiday.

Too bad the week couldn't be that way, but that's not how things work around here! I did cancel the kids' piano lesson. They have testing and trying to find a time to fit it in was too hard. At least I have one less place to be.

A couple of people asked to see pics from the First Communion, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Yesterday was all about me! It was so cute to see Rose all dressed up in white, only to come home after celebrating, change into her soccer uniform and cleats and get covered in mud during the game. From one extreme to the other!

Today begins the new soccer season 2011-2012 for Finn. Only a week off because he's switched to a team that's closer to where we live. We really liked his old club, but it was in Oregon and just too far a drive. It wasn't an easy decision since the development at the old club is really good, but I'm at the point in my life where I'm all about making things convenient. I took him to kickarounds at clubs to see what he thought about the various teams. I was worried he would just want to go back to the old club, and I really didn't want to have to keep doing that commute a couple times a week. But fortunately he really liked one of them and wanted to play there instead. Yay!

This weekend he swam his first long course meet of the year. The pool is 50 meters. It always looks so much bigger when I see it after the short course season. He aged up due to his recent birthday. That means he must qualify at 11 year old times this season. He managed to beat an A time in the 400 meter by 4.5 seconds on Friday night. We were all very happy about that. He skipped Saturday's races due to the First Communion, but was back at the pool yesterday. He just missed his A time on the 50 Fly by a couple tenths and beat all the B times for his other two races! A very good meet for him. Hubby kept sending me texts to let me know what was going on!

Tonight after the soccer practice, I'll be watching The Event! (I still need to catch up on last week's episode. I was too busy writing.) It's a show I really like (the only one I watch regularly), but fear will be canceled. A friend just became a Nielsen family and I told them to please watch it. Turns out they already do!

Anything on your Must See TV list tonight?

Happy Mother's Day!

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I want to wish all you moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!

Hubby asked what I wanted. I told him a day where I didn't have to do anything but write! He said okay! We went to the early Mass at a different parish first thing this morning. Now he's taking Finn to the swim meet. Mackenna is going to watch Rose. And I'm free to write! The cats are already staking their places next to me!

Hope everyone, whether a mom or not, has a nice Sunday! I'm really looking forward to mine!

First Communion!

Today, my youngest makes her First Communion. Needless to say, lots of excitement in the McClone household. There's no time to blog right now!

Hope you have a great Saturday!

TGIF

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Lately I feel like the evil side of my furbabies has been out more than the good side. At least with two of them. I hope that changes!

I'm so happy it's Friday! This weekend my youngest makes her First Communion. She looks so sweet in her white dress and veil. Best yet, only three things remain on my To Do list for it: buy her white tights, put together the favors for her celebration afterward and pick up the cake! Not bad considering how busy and badly I've been feeling this week. But the medicine is finally are helping. Boy, it took a while!

Anything big happening this weekend with you?

A Quickie

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It's been a crazy week. Still trying to recover from the sinus infection and catch up on stuff, especially with an upcoming First Communion for Rose this weekend. I'd rather just sleep and write, though!

Sorry I haven't posted a new contest. Still trying to figure out the prize and get all the past winners theirs. At this point I may just go with the old standard, a gift card, unless someone has some other ideas. What are your favorite prizes to win? Any ideas for the contest here?

Thanks!

May the Fourth be with You!

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In honor of Star Wars day, I thought I'd give you a couple of links and some pics. This is an unofficial day. Some fans celebrate on May 25th. My thought is something this epic can be celebrated twice!


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The first link is from Lonely Planet. The title of the article is What Star Wars can teach you about travel. Click here to read.


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Today, Lucusfilm announced details about the is about the saga's release on Blu-ray. This article on DVDTOWN has all the info.

Hope you have a Happy Star Wars Day!

It's off!

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I emailed my proposal last night. Considering I started over with it right before Easter, I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief. Writing the synopsis is always painful, but with this one not so much thanks to my Story Mastery template and Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. Both the chapters and the synopsis came in shorter than I usually send, but with the rewrite and a sinus infection I'm satisfied with it. Of course, I have to wait to see what my editor says. I might be singing a different tune then!

I was working so hard last night I missed The Event! Oh, well. I'll catch it on line sometime today. I have lots of little things to do that will be perfect to keep my hands busy while I watch the show.

Speaking of shows, did you catch The Voice on NBC last week? I was curious after the endless slew of ads so tuned in. It had already started, but I enjoyed what I saw. It's not a carbon copy of American Idol, so if you like that kind of reality show you might want to check out The Voice tonight.

Okay, time to hang with the kidlets! Have a great day!

Contest Winner!

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Sorry for the delay in posting a contest winner. I forgot it was May 1 yesterday morning then after I got home last night from my son's final soccer game for the season and the team pizza party, I needed to write!

The random generator I use to pick the winner sometimes surprises me. I don't know why or what that says about me since it's supposed to be random. But with over 90 comments for the month of April, it selected #1.

The winner of the $10 Amazon gift certificate is Sarita who commented on the first of April on my post titled, "Ouch!" Sarita, please send me your email via the Contact link on the menu bar above.

As soon as I get this proposal off, I'll figure out the May contest. But all May comments will count towards it!

Thanks for commenting and keeping me company here. It means alot! xoxox

Same as the last!

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This LOLcat cracks me up!

Today will be just like yesterday with the addition of Mass and an end of soccer season pizza party and even more writing. Just need to subtract one game.

Better get writing! The proposal still isn't where I want it to be, and I'm still sick.

Have a great day!

UPDATE: I just realized it's May 1st. I totally forgot about the contest. I'll draw a winner and post the name tonight. Can't do it right now. So sorry I didn't do it this morning!

Hats

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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?

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!

Another birthday!

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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?

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!

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!

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!

Happy Easter!

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Easter Sunday!

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?

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!

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!

Starting over

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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 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!

Spring Cleaning

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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?

Bless Me Father...

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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

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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!

Stylish Blogger Award

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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!

Photobucket Problem

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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!

A Sneak Preview

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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!


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Hope all is well were you are!

Monday, argh!

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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?

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

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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?

Random Spring Break Friday

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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!

Two Movies and Three Kidlets

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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)

Writing Wednesday

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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!

Spring Break Day 2

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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!

Spring Break!

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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?

Anniversary!

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?

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!