July 14, 2008

I’m coming back to the world, slowly. This has been the hardest month of my life, but with so much support from real life friends and family to online friends from the writing community that I’m still relatively sane. Thank you again, all of you who’ve reached out. Odd things have happened, things that I never would have guessed that got me through. Mostly, I was searching for ways to disappear, to escape.

I ended up watching DVDs of Criminal Minds over and over again. (I told you – odd). For some reason, I could let go of everything while watching. I read, lots, but mostly fan fiction. Yeah, go figure. I had to go to the dentist last Wednesday, and I inexplicably fell apart there (embarrassing as hell) and went into a nose dive that lasted until yesterday. My friend Debbi finally yanked me from the house and we went to the movies. Saw WANTED, which was a huge disappointment to me. But getting out was good. As was the popcorn.

So today I’m going to write again. As you can imagine I’m very disassociated from the book, and I have to reacquaint myself with the characters and the world I’m writing about. Go me. And weirdly, my heroine’s name is Vivianne, a name that was questioned by friends and editor as being a bit old-fashioned and weird. Now that the Jolie-Pitt’s have named their new daughter Vivianne, I’m thinking it won’t be so weird any more. (Another weird moment – headline: Jolie gives birth to twins. Um, no. Not this Jolie at least. I prefer: Jolie voted best breasts in Hollywood. Ha!

I know there’s still more adjusting and grieving ahead, but I don’t feel as though I’m drowning today. It’s a good thing. One step forward. :)

June 30, 2008

So many people have posted, emailed, called to share their messages of sympathy. I’ve not managed to answer many. I’m still perplexed by how the world continues turning and life goes on as usual when something so vital is missing. I’m assured things will shift and change and that the acute pain will lessen. Just know the messages have been received and each one has helped. I’ve been moved and awed by the generosity and kindness of my friends and acquaintances. My deepest thanks.

June 14, 2008

June 5, 2008

Damn. Southern Utah. June 5th. Giant snow fall that toppled trees and wiped out my herb garden. Tomatoes are toast. Tree limbs cracked and fallen. Luckily, no damage to the house or the car. But damn.

Also – new anthology is now available. It’s called DESTINATION: MARRIAGE and it’s with Jill Marie Landis and Jackie Braun. My story takes place at Hush!

May 27, 2008

I’m really sad about Sydney Pollack. His movies, whether he directed or acted in them, were meaningful to me. I can’t remember the show at the moment, but he did a discourse on story structure that truly expanded my view of what makes a story great. It’s hard to realize there won’t be any more contributions from this gifted man.

May 18, 2008

May 11, 2008

May 9, 2008

Hubby picked the winners, and here they are:

Laurie
Crystal
Lis
Glenice
Minna

Please send me your snail mail addresses and I’ll send you each a copy of COMING SOON. Thanks for playing!

April 29, 2008

Isn’t he just ridiculously hot? Wow. Anyway…

Fun stuff!

Click HERE to come see the pet special guest stars, now appearing in Have Mercy.

Click HERE to read an excerpt from (you guessed it) Have Mercy.

Click HERE to buy the book!

Click HERE to get a sneak peek at the Reader Letter.

And now that you’ve read (and clicked) all the way HERE, enter a comment to win a copy of COMING SOON! Yep, 5 will be given, chosen at random by my handsome husband. Check back on Friday, May 9th to see if you’ve won!

April 25, 2008

I’m not only back, but finally over jet lag and such, just not over the back pain caused by horrible airplane seats. I had the best time – talked and talked with my amazing nieces, nephew-in-law, amazing sister and played with adorable Great Nephew. (I explained to him many times that I’m his Great Aunt – emphasis on the Great. I’m quite sure he understood, despite his only oral confirmation – the informative “Hudda” followed by flinging his rubber toy into the air).

We had a non-traditional Passover. All vegetarian, deliciously so, and a lot of very thoughtful discussions, including one on romance novels as subversive, feminist material. It was awesome.

I tried a GPS in my rental car, which got me lost on the first turn. I was in Manhattan, trying to get from La Guardia to the NJ Turnpike when I found myself heading to Staten Island at 10pm. I freaked mostly because I’ve only driven in Manhattan itself or to Long Island. By some miracle I made it onto the Turnpike, then realized at almost 1am that I’d somehow missed my exit entirely and gone almost 100 miles out of the way. (Pittsburgh. Sigh.) So I got a motel room and retraced my steps in the morning. The whole experience proved to be amusing to my family.

I now need to jump back into work despite the fact that I’m obsessing over my vegetable garden. Which I can’t even start until the end of May. I did, however, order my tomatoes and red peppers, but they won’t arrive until the end of May, either. And how in the world am I supposed to narrow down my flower garden choices? I have to plant in containers, and I can’t buy several hundred of those, so I must choose. It’s very difficult.

Reading: Catch of the Day by Kristen Higgens (wonderful!)
On Deck: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach