Just Two Months to Go

...till the RWA National Conference in San Francisco. I'm starting to feel the tinyest bit of anxiety about all I need to accomplish beforehand, so I'm going to make two lists to get myself organized. Deep breath, here we go.

What I've done so far:

- Bought a very serious, business-like, gray suit to wear for agent and editor appointments.

- Ordered new business cards. Yay! I love them so much that I'm thinking of sending my kids out to the street corner so they can hand 'em out to random people.

- Returned the gray suit and purchased a pink one that I like much better. Or, at least I did, until my 13-year old son said, "No one's going to take you seriously in that suit, Mom." He's usually right about these things, darn it.

- Lined up babysitters for the days I'll be with my hubby in San Fran. Love you, Mom! Thanks B&H!

What I still need to do:

- Write about 100 more pages of my work-in-progress, The Kissable Companion.

- Schedule at least one, fun, romantic night to share with my hubby while we're away. We'll be celebrating our 16th anniversary this July, and guess where we had our honeymoon? Yep, San Francisco!

- Update my website to match my fabulous business cards. (I thought the business cards were a great bargain at $20 for a box of 250, but since I'll probably spend 20 hours redesigning my website with similar colors and graphics I'm starting to question the wisdom of that purchase.)

- Borrow a dress -- no, make that a gown -- to wear to the Awards Ceremony on Saturday night. I have several sisters and sisters-in-law, so if one of you is out there reading this and you have a killer dress you can lend me, please come forward. And I'll probably have to hem it, so I hope that's not a problem.

- Prepare an acceptance speech. No, I'm not feeling especially optimistic, but on the off-chance my name is called I must have a plan that involves something other than crying.

And that's all I can think of now.

On a completely different topic, have you heard the song "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock? It's SO good.

This goes without saying, but I'd love to hear comments from anyone reading my ramblings. What's your favorite song for summer?

Romance Writers Rock

Not like David Cook maybe, but in other very cool ways. The authors I know have a few things in common. They're dreamers. They're fiercely determined. They insist on happy endings. And they're some of the nicest, most generous people in the world.

I'll give you a few examples. (No names because I'm not sure if they want to broadcast their extreme niceness.)

-- A published author spends a good chunk of her weekend critiquing my synopsis and opening scene. Just to help me out.

-- A group of RWA authors sponsors several scholarships to help other writers (including me!) attend the National Conference in San Francisco.

-- The G8tors (that's this year's group of Golden Heart finalists) offer three critiques for Brenda Novak's auction to support juvenile diabetes research: http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/.

There are lots of other ways romance authors are making the world a better place, but these are a few that touched me personally. Communities like this are rare and amazing, and I'm honored to be a part of this one. Rock on!

Blog Housekeeping

I switched from Yahoo 360 to Google blogspot. The bad news: no more avatar (the cartoon version of me who would blink eerily every 15 seconds or so). The good news: it's easier to post comments now!

I would welcome your comments. On any post.

In Defense of "The Bachelor"

I have a confession. Monday nights, after the kids are in bed and lunches for the next day are made, I cozy up on the couch to watch The Bachelor. The gist of the show is that The Bachelor (this season, "Matt") dates 20 or so women - at the same time - in hopes of finding true love.

It's reality TV at its best. And its worst. How can we root for a "hero" who's dating multiple women? How can we cheer for "heroines" who would subject themselves to this humiliating contest? It might seem like the plot is too contrived and the characters too shallow to hook us. And yet we're sucked in.

Why? For me, it's the glimpses of real, raw emotion. These human, imperfect, characters are fascinating to watch. Take the untrusting, semi-aloof Chelsea, for example. While riding in a romantic horse-drawn sleigh with Matt, she admits she can't stand holding hands with a guy in public. She considers it a distasteful public display of affection. What?! There has got to be an interesting backstory there.

Then there's Shayne, the unapologetically spoiled actress. While skiing down the slopes, she takes a tumble and Matt races to her side. Before she's even brushed the powder off her designer snow-pants, she digs some lip gloss out of her pocket and reapplies it. When Matt laughs and asks her what other necessities she's brought, she proudly shows him her blush, a brush, mascara, etc. Is this a sign of utter superficiality, or is she hiding something behind all the makeup?


Somehow, we begin to care about these people. We want them to find love. Or at least I do. I have to banish my husband from the room because his running commentary ("What a tramp" - I'm paraphrasing) spoils the mood. But sometimes, we get to see that rare mix of vulnerability, hope, and attraction that happens at the very beginning of a relationship. That's what keeps me tuning in.


Maybe one of the women will inspire a character in my story or give me an idea for a scene or a plot twist. Maybe the show is just a guilty pleasure. A new season of "The BachelorETTE" starts Monday, and I'll be on the couch.