Baby steps

Sniffle. My baby girl took her first steps yesterday. She’s at that stage where she can stand alone and balance herself, and when she sees me, she gets excited and tries to run to hug me. When she forgets herself, she’ll take little baby steps before crashing into my arms. Other times, she’ll simply lunge at me and not walk at all.

Okay, back to important stuff, like American Idol. My husband thinks I’m a lunatic wanting to watch these people. But they are such talented singers. I’m completely absorbed in the contest. Problem is, I like so many of them, I want them all to win. I can’t vote anymore because I’d just be voting for all of them. Well, mostly all.

4 days left until the Golden Heart notifications go out. Man, am I nervous. I keep telling myself, no, you didn’t make it. It’s a complete crap shoot. If you get judges who were in a bad mood, forget it. It’s odd that one of the greatest competitions in RWA is one where you get one number from each judge, and it’s totally subjective. I will say this, though. Judging the GH is great experience. I’m always amazed at which entries rise to the top. Others have the “meh” factor. They’re well written, but I could care less if the heroine went and drowned herself.

What’s funny is that I remember some of their titles (the meh ones), and a few of them were finalists in local chapter contests. Some of them won best of the best. And all I could think was, THAT won the best one? You’re kidding, right? Some of them weren’t well-written. Some of them, I couldn’t even tell who the heroine and hero were. Now I’m not one of those psycho judges where the h/h have to meet on page 3, kiss on page 25, etc. etc. But still, if I can’t tell whose story this is, I’m not going to read past page 3 (in real life). Typically, I pick up a new author and read the first page. If she hooks me, I’ll buy it. If not, back to the shelf. Sadly, the cost of books nowadays makes it harder to impulse-buy.

Then, too, there are some authors who promote themselves by putting their name/book cover on things like keychains, pencils, or pens. Two creative ones were chapstick and jar openers. But I’ll be honest–none of that has ever prompted me to buy a book by these authors. I enjoyed the free stuff, but half the time I didn’t remember the name of the person. I do think promotional items like that can be a waste of money. Book giveaways are far better. If you hook me on your writing style with one book, I’ll buy another. I’m very loyal to my favorite authors. My favorite historical authors are: Julia Quinn, Jude Deveraux, LaVyrle Spencer (not writing anymore–SOB!), Johanna Lindsey, and Judith McNaught. I loved Judith Ivory’s book BEAST, but some of her others didn’t quite hook me. Same with Lisa Kleypas. I loved STRANGER IN MY ARMS, but a few others didn’t do it.

Who are your favorite historical authors?