Just got back from a round trip to Vermont to take my daughter back to college, so I’m just a little late for my post. The first part of the trip was filled with music and college kid banter (there were three in the car), which I mentally recorded in case I ever needed some college slang.
The ride back was just me. I stopped to look at Lake Champlain, admired the mountains and took a minute to think of all the things I’m thankful for.

One of which is being able to take in a scene of a situation and translate it into words.

Pictures that I see become stories that become pictures for someone else to see. How cool is that? And it’s so accessible. Just pick up a book and there you are. No bells or whistles or fighting for the latest gadget. A simple pleasure that opens entire worlds.

I hope you all enjoy good reading for the holidays.

Halloween is over. A lot of romantic heroes came to my door Friday night. Vampires and firemen, super heroes and soldiers, werewolves and cowboys. There was a doctor, a policeman, a native American with a bright feathered headdress he made himself, several karate masters. Some of them were a little short, but hey, who’s measuring. Heroes every one. The best of the alpha males.

Now it’s Monday, the toilet paper has disintegrated, the pumpkins removed from doorsteps, the orange crepe paper pulled from trees.

Tomorrow, flags will wave and whoever didn’t manage to vote early will stand in line at the polling places. And it occurs to me that not one politician came to my door on Friday. (Not even a real one canvassing for his or her candidate.)
Which made me start trying to recall any romances I’ve read where the hero was a politician.

I remember one of Barbara Michaels’ romantic suspense novels was called Smoke and Mirrors and involved a Washington campaign. But I can’t remember if the hero was a politician. Does anyone know?

Jennifer Crusie’s Phineas Tucker was the mayor of Temptation in Welcome to Temptation. Phin doesn’t really fit the politician mold, but Crusie gets some good material from the squabble over family values.

Heroes of historicals may appear in Parliament or champion better working conditions or hospital reform, but their real persona is that of Duke or Knight or just plain Mr.

Can anyone come up with a romance hero who is a politician? To prod your memory cells, I’ll randomly choose one of you to receive a copy of my NEW Brava book, The Man For Me, whose hero is a baseball player, another one of those usually tabooed hero types, a guy who is American as apple pie and just as tasty.

I just got back from the Kiss of Death retreat in Portland, Maine. KOD is the mystery-suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. It’s for those who like a little mystery, action, adventure, or thrills with their love story.
It was a fun and informative weekend and hosted a variety of authors from varied lines of fiction from straight mystery to the serial killer romance with a paranormal twist. I got the best of both worlds, since I write a straight mystery series with a Sudoku champion sleuth and my Gemma Bruce contemporaries always have a little dash of adventure or mystery. I plan to keep pushing that parameter until I arrive at romantic mystery.
Mary Buckham and Dianna Love gave their excellent fiction workshop as well as talks on pacing and world building. Ellora’s Cave Editor, Raelene Gorlinsky and agent Meg Ruley gave us an inside view of the industry. Homicide Lieutenant Danny Agan took us through a crime scene complete with body (I think it was a scarecrow) and Lisa Gardner gave a fascinating keynote speech.
A fun time was had by all. And then there was the lobster. Yum.
Any suspense/mystery lovers out there? What’s your fave?

I just moved from a three story house to an apartment. It’s great. But that’s not the point. The other day I found myself singing show tunes in the shower. This in itself isn’t so weird, except that in the old house I always did villain dialogue in the shower. In fact the major scenes for my latest villain in Sudden Death Sudoku (Sept) were created in the shower or in the car.

So this sudden change has left me a little bereft of bad guy talk. And it also got me to thinking about setting as character. Why would one place inspire villains and another Little Mary Sunshine? Sure a gothic castle creates a mood, so does a rodeo, but what about all those other places where novels exist? And what about when bad things happen to good places?

I like to write about are small towns where the old and the new meet, and mix or lock horns. Lots of stuff in small towns. What about you? What places do you like to read about?

I’m getting a late start today. Just flew back from San Francisco and a week of the Romance Writers of America National conference.
Like quite a few people, I went out early.
On Monday a couple of us drove up to Calistoga in wine country for a spa treatment, had high tea at a local inn, then stopped at a winery on our way back to stock up on wine (For medicinal purposes of course). We called this our “prep day” for the conference. What was really amazing though (or maybe not) was that before I had been in the town ten minutes, I already had the germ of an idea in my head for a new story. And by the time we drove back to SF my notebook was filled with pages of character sketches and plot points.
Amazing how a fun day can turn so productive.
But that was just the beginning.
On Tuesday I went to the Kiss of Death’s, the mystery suspense chapter, field trip to the Customs and Border Protection agency, where they showed us all sorts of things all day long, first at the docks, then at the air port. Whoa. Amazing.
Wednesday was Scriptscene’s day long workshop on screenplays.
Then the big whooee began. Three days of workshops, speeches, chocolate, book signings, agent-editor appointments, chocolate, parties, dinner with friends and colleagues, meeting up with some of my fellow Brava authors, chocolate, more workshops, a giant literacy signing where RWA raised $58,000 to aid in literacy.
Oh, did I forget to mention a little sightseeing.
Can you guess? It was an amazing week, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from the other Brava authors who attended.
But for now it’s back to work.and I’m glad to be back.

I just took my daughter to her college orientation last week. The campus was still filled with students who hadn’t left for the summer as well as all the soon-to-be college freshmen. It was an exciting time, lots of energy and enthusiasm and tender moments.

Not just seeing our children off on their adult life. But just walking across the campus and rounding a corner to find a young couple face to face lost in a private dialogue. Or coeds battling with water balloon on the green. Walking hand in hand or arm in arm down the sidewalk. Or just sitting side by side, books open in the study section of the library.

It was just a reminder of how special young love is. Whether it lasts or is just preparation for another different love, there just doesn’t seem to be anything more wonderful, especially for us writer types always on the look out for stories. It made me happy just to see them, inspired me to recapture some of that magic with my fictional couples.

And it made me think of my first love. I fell for his voice. I’ve always been a sucker for low resonant baritones. I think he was tall, maybe dark haired, but his voice. Now there is something I’ll never forget.

How about you? Do you remember your first love?

I never enter contests or drawings or buy raffle tickets except for a good cause. They always seem so . . . so . . . random. But this year I decided to bite the bullet and enter two writing contests. And Wow! I’m happy to say that Who Wants to Be A Sex Goddess was a finalist in the Holt Medallion Awards and is a finalist in the Greater Detroit Booksellers Best Award.
How cool is that?
I was flashed and appreciative and it certainly made facing that blank page a little easier the next day. Which just goes to show you that a jolt of positive reinforcement never hurts. Think I’ll try dishing out a little more of it myself.

I’m always flashed by how many good things the romance writing/reading community gets involved with. Besides writing Romance, which everyone needs and which makes the world a better place, Brenda Novak’s annual auction reminds me of how active we are in other areas. Be it literacy, women’s shelters, American troups, Veteran’s hospitals, it just seems to me that romance reaches out in a lot of ways in addition to our stories.
Sort of sharing the love, compassion, caring, commitment thing at all levels.
Very cool. Very glad to be a part of it.

Arggh! I’m trying to put my house on the market. I know. I couldn’t pick a worse time, but there you have it.

Of course, first I had to de-clutter. What? Give up all those ideas in progress that I keep hardcopy for carrying to dentist’s offices, airports, etc. when I don’t want to carry my lap top?

Okay done. And only a few tears. Amazing how much paper a writer can accumulate. And I’m pretty Green. Recycle everything. Still, there were boxes of papers.

And the books. There’s always the library and fortunately I have a good book exchange that appreciated them.

Then there was the cosmetic work, and the floors to be sanded, and the painting, oh and the new carpet in the basement.

Yowser. Who knew?

For the last three weeks, my office has been sharing space with a skill saw and a generator (very noisy) and various tools and cans and tubes of stuff. When not in use, my computer and printer are covered with a plastic sheet and a tarp. Even checking email has become an elaborate ritual.

But being a writer, do I despair? Well, maybe just a few expletives deleted and then I’m thinking, what a great scene. . . . Hmm . . .what if . . . .

I’m in Kansas City, doing my other profession. Setting a ballet on the Kansas City Ballet. For two weeks I’ve been working in a dance studio and not at my desk. It’s a little jarring to change hats. To go from spending your day working alone with only the people of your imagination demanding your attention, to thirty some odd dancers, rehearsal people, management and directors all with their own needs and their own jobs to do. Amazing the amount of organization it takes just to get a rehearsal schedule to work; to deal with the injuries, the emotions, the sheer energy of young dancers.

It’s exhilarating and exhausting and I’m beginning to worry that the characters in my current manuscript are getting jealous at being ignored. I wonder if they’re going to make me pay when I get back to them in another week. Maybe they’ll have missed me and be eager to please.
And will I miss all the “real” people I’ve been working with?
I will, but I’ll be glad to get back to writing, too.
Any body else have more than one job? Do you love it or does it make you crazy?