Booksigning at Turn the Page

Friday morning I experienced my very first book signing. It was amazing. The first big thrill was actually seeing my books in a bookstore. I’ll admit I was shamelessly sending brain waves to customers: Pick up my book, Go buy my book.

Then when the signing began, I was delighted to be seated next to Diane Gaston, who also writes as Diane Perkins. Both of us write for Harlequin Historicals, so we nicknamed our table the Harlequin table. I had such a wonderful time talking with the customers and readers. Since our table was right beside the door, many folks were stuck in line for several minutes, and we chatted about our favorite authors. I gave out Harlequin sparkly pens and magnets, and had a great time signing books. It was a successful signing, overall, and I sold my entire box of books. I don’t think it gets much better than that!

Last, here’s a picture of Diane, Nora, and myself after the signing was over. Nora is a very gracious author, and really takes the time to speak with each of her readers. I really liked her.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Tomorrow I’ll share a little about the WRW retreat, which was fabulous. And don’t forget, today is the last day to enter the April contest for the Mother’s Day Pampering Basket! Just e-mail me the name of the hero from Her Irish Warrior, and the heroes from Natalie Anderson’s All Night with the Boss and Donna Alward’s Hired by the Cowboy Good luck!

So if you could meet one author in person, who would it be? For me, I’d LOVE to meet LaVyrle Spencer and worship at her feet say hello.

Weekend Fun and a Sneak Peek!

The weather in Maryland is cold and rainy today, but it doesn’t dampen my excitement. Today I’m doing my very first booksigning. It almost feels like attending your first dance in high school. I’m not nervous, per se, but more on the giddy side. I’ve been busy with last-minute details on what to bring, and this morning I was making a gift basket for the retreat raffle. I am a sucker for raffles. They are so much fun. In my basket I put an autographed copy of Her Irish Warrior, Starbucks coffee, Pepperidge Farm cookies, Ferraro Rocher chocolate candy, bubble bath, and some little odds and ends (pens, magnets, etc.). Hopefully the winner will enjoy it.

I got a sneak peak of my next book cover yesterday. Though it isn’t finalized, I love it. I feel blessed by the cover gods! You can see a sneak peak here. What do you think?

Packing Lists

I’m getting ready to attend the Washington Romance Writers upcoming retreat this weekend at Harper’s Ferry, MD. On Friday, I’ll be signing my first book at Turn the Page Bookstore and Cafe in Boonsboro, Maryland from 11:30-2:00 p.m. (please come so I won’t be lonely! :cheer:)

So last night I started my packing list. It makes me neurotic trying to remember what I’m supposed to bring. After one trip when I forgot to pack my son’s underwear, I’ve learned my lesson. Poor boy. And no, I didn’t make him go commando. I was planning to swing by Wal-Mart, but my mother (whom we were visiting) does laundry every day, so he managed. Still, I felt so awful.

I’m definitely bringing my camera, so I hope to share pictures, industry gossip, and fun stuff with you next week.

What about you? When you go away on a trip, do you make a packing list, or do you just figure it out by throwing it in a suitcase?

Clawing My Way to the End

I’m within 30 pages of finishing my latest book. Possibly fewer than that, since 30 pages is just an estimate. When you’re this close to the ending, you can taste it. It’s just within reach….and somehow, for me, that’s the toughest part of writing. Each page is torture to pull out. I think it was Red Smith who said, “Writing is easy. Just open up a vein and bleed.” For me, the ending involves a great deal of blood donation. The Red Cross would love me.

But I think what it comes down to, is that you can’t fully plan a novel. Even when I “know” what’s going to happen in the end, often when I get there, the ending I had planned no longer fits. The characters don’t belong in that box. And no matter how hard I try to shove them in and make it work, sometimes another angle is the answer.

So, rather than drive myself up the wall, I’ve printed out the full manuscript and am going to look back at the beginning again. Perhaps reading through it all will help me find my sense of direction. GPS for books, anyone? I’m still on track for finishing the book, so hopefully this minor detour will help me find the focus.

My son had his t-ball game last night, and there were two moments that we thought were hilarious. He hit the ball nicely into the outfield and ran to first base. The assistant coach told him to go ahead and run to second. When my son got there, he glanced back, grinned, and started running to third. All the coaches were telling him to go back to second, but my boy kept on trucking, all the way to home plate (which isn’t that hard considering that most five-year-olds find it impossible to actually catch and field the ball). We all laughed and then he went back to second base after his “home run.” Then when the next hitter came up, instead of running to third base, my son got distracted by the other team’s coach yelling for the kids to go after the ball. Ever helpful, my boy abandoned his base and ran to go get the ball.

When I was in middle school and high school gym class, I was always in the outfield, mostly picking clover and ignoring the game. Funny how life pays you back for stuff like that. Did you ever have to play softball or baseball growing up? Were you an athlete or a clover-picker, like me?

Not So Happy Feet

I may be, quite possibly, among the last people on the planet to watch the kids’ penguin movie “Happy Feet.” My children have seen it during daycare, and I thought, hey, easy b-day present for the munchkin. I watched it today, and let me tell you, it was NOT what I expected. So, if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to, you may want to avert your eyes from this blog.

It’s not very often that I go off on a movie, but when they mess up the love story (e.g. as in Star Wars Episode II–I’m still not over that wooden dialogue), it really chaps my hide. I love kids’ movies, particularly feel-good movies (”Cars” comes to mind as a great kids’ movie). “Happy Feet” started out with a great deal of potential. Poor misfit penguin is trying to make his place in the world. And then comes Gloria, the lovely penguin with a beautiful voice who remains true to their friendship up until the middle of the movie.

**Spoiler Alert**

And then? Mr. Happy Feet, aka Mumble, DUMPS her in the middle of the movie. Presumably to protect her, and this happens in romance novels, too, so I was okay with it. Because later he would be the hero and she would understand that he only broke up with her to keep her safe. And though she would be majorly annoyed with him, they would manage to overcome it all and live happily ever after.

Instead, he comes back to find his girlfriend penguin MARRIED to another penguin with the personality of a sink. AND she has 7 children! I kept waiting for the Dream Sequence to end, only to find out that no, that really was part of the ending. You’ve got to be kidding me. So what they’re really saying is that, weird penguins with foot-tapping tendencies are left by their girlfriends and are doomed to be alone for the rest of their little lives. HOW is that a feel-good message, I ask you?? Forget the environmental plot. The love story in this movie just didn’t work for me. Man. The misfit penguin is SUPPOSED to get the hot penguin chick because he has grown as a character and she accepts him as he is. She’s supposed to love him anyway, not marry someone else.

So was it just me, or was anyone else disappointed by the movie?

Little Munchkin’s Birthday

Tomorrow my daughter turns 3. It’s so hard to believe, and I was thinking the other day about how your children become such a part of your life, it’s almost impossible to remember what it was like before they were around. To the left is a picture of her almost a year ago. It’s funny how she had almost no hair.

Now, she has much more hair and a barrel full of personality. I asked her if she was excited about her birthday and she said, “I shake my booty!” and started wiggling her fanny (as pictured).

Tonight I was multi-tasking: waiting for the cupcakes to bake (she wanted princess ones, and I compromised with pink frosting and sprinkles), making treat bags for her class, and getting dinner ready. She came up and asked, “Mommy, can I help?” I set her to work putting bubbles, candy, and plastic swirly straws in the treat bags. I was pleasantly surprised that she managed to stuff all the treat bags on her own. She was thrilled to be helping, and it gave me a break. Often, I forget what the kids can do to help out. Works for me! She’s just going to have a classroom party at her daycare and then cake with the family at home. I’d rather avoid parties until she’s old enough to actually appreciate what’s going on.

When I look back on my birthday parties, the one that stands out the most is when I was eight years old. My mother let me invite 17 friends, and all we went roller skating. And man, did I ever think I was cool, skating to “Karma Chameleon.” Do you remember “Couples Only” and “Backwards Skate?” Then there was the Limbo.

What was your most memorable birthday party? What did you do?

VA Tech Tragedy

Yesterday I was saddened to hear the news of what happened at the campus of Virginia Tech. We live several hours east of the campus, but many of our local students attend. It’s one of the top three state schools, along with UVA and William and Mary. Even though I don’t have any friends or family there, I do have former students there. As a teacher, my heart goes out to the parents. I truly hope that none of “our kids” were hurt.

Even though they aren’t my flesh and blood children, I truly do care what happens to my former students. It’s fascinating to watch them grow up from sixth graders into adults (and slightly startling when you run into them at the drive through or in the working world). And there’s nothing more heart wrenching to learn when you’ve lost one of them.

I’ve taught in the neighborhood of a thousand children in my teaching career. Certain faces stand out more than others, but always, you think about them even when they’ve gone onto another grade level.

While I hope that no one I know was hurt, I know that there are 33 parents out there whose lives were irrevocably changed by this event. My thoughts are with them.

Rainy days and good books

This weekend we finished up spreading the mulch over our gardens and the rain has settled in. There’s something about rain that makes you want to curl up with a good book and a nice mug of tea. Or Starbucks coffee, even. The past few days, I’ve enjoyed several new authors. I just finished Beau Crusoe by Carla Kelly. It’s like Robinson Crusoe goes to Regency England, and the story is so much fun. If you enjoy Regency historicals, definitely pick this one up!

I’ve also started reading Stephanie Tyler’s Coming Undone. Stephanie is a friend of mine (one of my virtual imaginary friends whose blog I visit and whom I’ve never actually met). Anyway, this is her first book, and I’m gobbling it up. The hero is a Navy SEAL, and honestly, what a fabulous guy. Can’t wait to see how this turns out.

I’m up to page 317 on my own book. I realized that the latest scene I wrote was in the wrong point of view. Even though I knew what was supposed to happen, it just didn’t have the emotional zing that it needed. So I rewrote the same scene last night from the hero’s point of view and bingo! It worked. Funny how such a little thing can make such a profound impact.

My copy edits arrived for The Warrior’s Touch, and that has also been dividing my time. Nonetheless, this story is one of my favorites. If any of you have read Her Irish Warrior yet, this one is Connor MacEgan’s story. Can’t wait to see the cover on that book. I imagine it will be ready in May, at the earliest. We’ll see!

So did you read any good books this weekend?

Friday the 13th

Amazingly, I did make it to page 314 last night. Goal today is page 318.

So, it’s Friday the 13th and my poor beleaguered students are having a test today. (cue the evil laughter) I’ve never really been a superstitious person. Oh, sure I collected 4-leaf clovers like any bored child in the outfield of a softball game during gym class. But truly, I’ll walk under ladders, pet black cats, etc. None of that bothers me. The only superstition I used to have was when I submitted a book manuscript to a publisher. I would talk to the book, tell it to win an editor’s heart over, and blow it a kiss before I sealed it up. Wacky, I know. But hey, it worked!

With a little bit of online research, I found that there really wasn’t a superstition about Friday the 13th until the 1900s. Before that, the number 13 was considered unlucky (sources say because Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper). Fridays were considered days of ill-fortune because of Good Friday. But no one really put them together until recently.

Just for fun, the fear of Friday the 13th is called: paraskavedekatriaphobia. I know. You really needed to know that today, didn’t you?

So what superstitions do you have? Or do you ignore them?

Internal Monologue

So, I’m on page 310. 50 or so odd pages to go, maybe less, depending on the story. And the closer I get to that ending, the more neurotic I become. This is a bit of what happened last night.

Me: (opening the file, staring at the screen). You really ought to just start writing, you know. After all, you know what happens next.
Me #2: But what if I don’t get it right? What if it all collides into this big horrible mess and no one in their right mind will want to read it unless they’re under the influence?
Me: Just start typing. You can do this.
Me #2: Maybe if I get 3 pages, I can watch American Idol. Okay, then (starts writing).
Me: Um, Michelle, you shouldn’t be checking the Internet right now. Focus! Write!
Me #2: Oh, yeah. Bad Michelle! Stop reading blogs. Get OFF the Internet. Let’s see, 1.7 pages written…
Me: You are so pitiful. How can you call yourself an author?
Me #2: Well, if I get this book ending wrong, I WON’T be able to call myself an author any more.
Me: Do I need to bust out the whoopin’ stick? Quit being neurotic and just WRITE the story.
Me #2: All right, all right…

The end total of pages last night was 4. Not great, but I did get to watch American Idol. Can’t say I was all that surprised that Hayley (sp.?) got voted off. She has a nice voice, but there’s not as much power as the other folks. I still like Blake. He’s one of my favorites.

Tonight’s goal: Reach page 314. And hopefully try not to spaz about it…