One last booksigning…

Tomorrow I’ll be at my last booksigning planned this year. It will be held at the Newport News, VA Barnes and Noble from 2:00-4:00 p.m. I’m a bit nervous because this will be the first signing I’ve ever done by myself. You never know how these events will go, but I’m hoping that a few folks stop by to say hello. I’ll be signing The Warrior’s Touch. It’s going to be sad for me, saying goodbye to seeing the book on the shelves. So far, it’s my favorite cover, hands-down.

Please come by if you’ll be in the area!

Writing the Happy Ending

For me, the ending of a book is the most challenging. Not the last chapter, but the last 100 pages leading up to the end. It’s the part where you have to raise the stakes, continually increasing the tension until the characters face their worst fears…and must overcome them.

Every time I write a book, I can plan the ending all I want, but it never seems to turn out the way I think it will. These last five chapters are so critical and every scene has to be tight. I’ve been paddling my wheels for a bit now, but am now realizing that unless I outline the last part, I’m just floundering around. Tonight I spent a good bit of time just figuring out how I could possibly make these characters’ lives even worse. Make them suffer….

I’m almost there. There’s a logistical part of the book that’s gnawing at me. I have to move my characters across Ireland to the hero’s home tribe, and the whys and wherefores are a pain. I’ll get there eventually, but it’s such a struggle.

Kindergarten Boy still amuses me. He took his first field trip to an apple orchard and excitedly informed me that his class was going to make apple sauce. I had my doubts about that one, having made apple sauce myself in the past. The next day he proudly explained that while he was at recess, his teacher made applesauce out of the apples they picked in the orchard.

Me: Um, honey, I think she probably had the applesauce already made. (Inwardly, I’m thinking it was probably storebought.)
Him: No, Mom! She made it FOR REAL. She went to the cafeteria and cut up the apples and used their pots and it was ready, just in time for when we got back. It was magic! I swear!

Ah well, who am I to burst his bubble?

Comfort Reads

Last week was a pretty stressful time at work, so apologies for my absence in cyberspace! This week is a little better, but I’m feeling a little bittersweet because it’s the last week that The Warrior’s Touch will be on store shelves. There’s such a thrill seeing it on a shelf that’s different from ordering online. I have one last booksigning this coming Saturday from 2:00-4:00 p.m., and then that’s it for me.

I’ve finished up a lot of the books on my To Be Read pile, and aside from drooling over the new JR Ward book which I’ll be picking up at the store this week, I’m settling into old favorite books. Sometimes I’ll read favorite romances, but this week I decided to return to an old mainstream favorite The Clan of the Cave Bear. My copy is pretty dog-eared and worn by now. I think I’ve read it at least 15 times. Another fiction favorite is The Mists of Avalon.

What about you? Aside from romance, what are some of your favorite mainstream comfort reads?

Another Anniversary

So today is my official wedding anniversary. My husband and I have been married for nine happy years. I was thinking back to our wedding day, and how a marriage changes over time. What I love best about being married a long time is the silent communication. Those moments when you’re at a party and you can just make eye contact with your spouse and smile. But really, he knows you’re thinking: I’ve had enough of this. Let’s go home.

I love the feeling of security, knowing that I have a full-time partner to help me parent our kids. I fully trust him to take care of them when I’m not around.

I love being able to finish each other’s sentences, know why he’s laughing at something no one else would understand, and having that special connection.

So here’s to another decade of marriage, and I wish all of you the same happiness that we have!

Winner of the Gift Card

And the winner of the Amazon gift card is….Lily! Congratulations! I’ll send you the gift card this evening.

My apologies for not posting the winner sooner. We had a power outage that affected everything, including our phone. But we’re back in business. Nothing like trying to cook dinner on a gas grill outside. It forces you to be creative.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I enjoyed spending time with friends at the College of William & Mary bookstore for another signing. And then I groaned when I came home to watch Notre Dame lose ANOTHER game. It’s always sad when you see a good football team (my alma mater) go down the drain when they lose some of their best players.

Do you watch college football? If so, who do you root for? If not, what sports do you like to watch?

One year ago today…

….I sold my first book. At 10:00 in the morning on Friday, September 15th, 2006, I received The Call from my editor, saying they wanted to buy Her Irish Warrior.

Happy Anniversary to me!

It’s amazing to look back and marvel at how much has changed.

Since that day, I’ve sold four more books to Harlequin. I’ve seen two of them on the shelves, and it never fails to amaze me. I don’t think it will ever lose the excitement. I’m so grateful to my editor for taking a chance on me and for helping me to learn so much during this first year. I’m also very appreciative to have a supportive agent who has held my hand through the foreign language of contracts.

I’ve met some wonderful friends, my family has been 100% supportive, and I’ve seen my greatest dream become a reality.

So, to celebrate my anniversary, I’d like to do a $10.00 Amazon gift card giveaway. Just tell me: what’s your dream? Did you achieve it? The winner will be announced on Monday, so you have all weekend to share!

**Update: I forgot to mention that I will be at a booksigning today in Williamsburg. It’s from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the William and Mary College Bookstore. Hope to see some of you there!**

Kindergarten Lunch Trauma

Well, my son’s first week passed by, and he was loving every minute of kindergarten. Ah, the honeymoon phase. This week, he’s starting to realize that there is WORK involved in school, and the mental energy it takes is just making his five-year-old brain implode. While he’s still enjoying himself, I can see a few things are starting to wear upon him. For instance, lunch.

You wouldn’t think that eating lunch would be such a big deal, but this is the first time in his little life that he’s had to eat in 30 minutes or less. For two days this week, he only managed to finish his apple and then had to return to class. My boy is one of those souls who will take an hour and a half to eat a meal. I’m sure his digestion must be wonderful, but he likes to eat slowly. Today, he confessed, “Mom, I need you to teach me how to eat my lunch.” And he was completely serious.

We discussed the reasons why it’s better to start with a sandwich, interspersed with chips, than to start with the apple that takes longer to eat. He listened and nodded thoughtfully, as though these were words of Great Wisdom. I’m not sure if it’ll make much of a difference, but he’ll be a happier boy if he’s eating more than an apple at lunch.

It’s a bigger adjustment than I realized. Even though he’s been in a preschool program at his daycare, it’s not quite the same. And what scares me is that, one day I’ll blink and he’ll be in high school. I’m trying to savor the time while he still gives his mommy hugs and colors pictures for me. I know it’ll end all too soon.

Sports and Such

I enrolled my daughter in a local gymnastics club, in a class called Tumble Bunnies. Let me tell you, she thinks she is HOT STUFF in her leotard. In the past, she’s done some minor activities, but never at a real gym. Now, she informs me that she’s going to “real gymnastics.” There is nothing funnier than watching a bunch of three-year-olds purse their lips, lift their hands high above their heads, and do a forward roll down a mat. The Olympic stars have nothing on these kids. When she’s finished with her class, each child gets a lollipop and a hand stamp. No one is prouder than my girl when she skips down and flashes that stamp at me like a diamond ring.

Gymnastics was the only sport in which I ever had formal lessons. And at my best, I was mildly average. I never competed at the club circuit–only in my high school. But I think a small part of me always wanted to be an elite athlete. And the sport was so much fun. Endless variety, and if you were having a bad day on one event, there was always another skill that would probably go well. Some of my favorite high school memories involved going to meets with my team. I competed on vault, balance beam, and floor. Bars were never my strong suit, not because of arm strength, but because of lack of stomach strength. Who knew that it took great abs to do well on bars?

Anyway, the best moment I ever had was at Districts. I stuck my balance beam routine and scored a whopping 7.95, taking sixth place in the district. Hey, that was a high score for me! My worst score was when my coach convinced me to do an uneven bar routine once, in order to get an all-around score. Yes, I scored a 3.5. Can you tell why I never competed bars? It was pretty sad.

Now they’ve changed the scoring entirely. It’s all Greek to me, since now the high score isn’t a ten. I have no idea what’s a perfect score anymore.

Did you ever do gymnastics as a kid? If not, what sports did you play?

Winner and a sentimental photo

The winner of Friday’s book giveaway was comment #10! Minna, e-mail me your mailing address, and I’ll send you the autographed copy of Secrets Rising! Congratulations!

Now for the photo I promised. Here’s my boy, all packed up and ready to go to his first day of kindergarten. He is loving school, and it’s such fun to see what he remembers from day to day. I asked him yesterday what his favorite thing about school was. His answer? Lunch. Do you remember your first day of kindergarten? I don’t remember a thing!

Friday Giveaway!

Okay, so the post about my son’s first day will have to wait a bit. (The pictures are still on the digital camera).

Today, I’m teaming up with author Suzanne McMinn and we’re both giving away signed books! I’m offering a signed copy of Suzanne’s July release Secrets Rising. Suzanne writes fabulous romantic suspense, and this one starts with the heroine digging up a skull in her rose garden. Cool stuff! Just post a comment below for a chance to win. Her new book in the Haven series, A Hero’s Redemption is available now through eHarlequin, and it’ll be in stores this October.

AND…she’s giving away a signed copy of Her Irish Warrior on her blog. Just click on the link above to go visit her and post a comment. Enjoy!

Here’s a picture of Suzanne on the left, my good friend Kacey in the middle, and myself from last year’s RWA conference. One thing you might not know is that Suzanne was one of the reasons I sold to Harlequin. She very kindly pointed out in a draft of an early book that I had forgotten to include the characters’ internal thoughts and motivations. I had completely left out the emotional journey of the love story. The proverbial light bulb didn’t just go on–it exploded in my head. I realized that I had it all backwards–the emotional conflict is the heart of a romance, and it needed my full focus. I wrote a second book where the plot was based almost entirely on two characters going through their own personal nightmares, went through substantial revisions, and sold it as Her Irish Warrior.

Hope everyone has a great Friday! If you could do anything this weekend, what would you do?