An ode to jeans...

I've succumbed to blatant commercialism. Yesterday, I bought a pair of jeans for $100. But it (they) feels so good! Ha. : )

You have to understand that for a period of time in my early teens all I cared about, clothing-wise, was the brand name on the tag. Guess, Coca-cola (remember those shirts?), Espirit, B.U.M. Equipment, etc. Then I grew up a little into my later teens and into the grunge era, where nobody cared about the brand, just about how much flannel one human being could possibly wear at any given time.

Once I was out of college, my casual wear drifted toward the inexpensive Old Navy-type stuff, where fit might not have been great but the style was cute and you couldn't beat the price. Only in recent years have I become more concerned about what I look like in those clothes. The old metabolism isn't quite what it used to be, and wearing big sloppy stuff no longer looks cute and carefree, but sort of blah and making me looking bigger than I actually am, something I don't need help with. Jeans that are in fashion no longer fit my shape correctly and the person who brought about the invention of low-rise should either be blessed or condemned to one of the lower circles of hell.

Everyone looked pretty much the same in those high-waisted jeans. It's impossible not to have some kind of pooch in front when it's behind this wall of unforgiving denim. But with low-rise, suddenly those with flat bellies were showing them off and the rest of us...well, me, at least, I was hiding behind "mid-rise" jeans that weren't altogether fashionable or flattering.

Then I saw this show (Oprah had the "What Not to Wear" girls on one night) about how little things like the length of the zipper, the size and placement of the pockets on the back, the cut of the legs, all go toward making you look good or bad in jeans. If you don't look good in your jeans, it may not be because you're hideously malformed. It may simply be that you have the wrong cut of jeans.

So, I promptly went out and found a pair of jeans that I loved from Ann Taylor Loft. Low rise (over which I wear a longer shirt so the front pooch does not show), small pockets that were low on the butt, and legs that were tight through the thigh but loose around the calves and ankles. (I do not look good in the "skinny" jeans, plus whenever I try them on, I get horrible post-traumatic flashbacks to highschool and the early nineties when we used to roll up the bottoms of our skinny jeans to make them even tighter at the ankle...ugh!) And this beautiful find was only $28 on the sales rack! Woohoo! I should have bought multiple pairs...but I didn't.

Now, a year later, the ATL jeans are still holding up well, but they're my only pair. For Christmas, from my husband, I get a cool new pair of jeans but they're the "new" looking kind. Very dark denim. This is fine for when you're dressing up a little but these are not casual jeans.

Yesterday, with my sister in town, we headed to Michigan Avenue for a shopping trip. I HATE shopping. But I discovered a Lucky Brand jeans store in one of the malls. Lucky is a brand name you've probably heard tossed around, like True Religion and Seven. I cannot afford True Religion and Seven, which often go at $200 or so for ONE pair of jeans. But these were less expensive and they are AWESOME.

Already faded and soft (how do they do that?), they are perfect right off the shelf. Short zipper, low rise in the front but higher in the back (so as to avoid the oh-so-attractive "butt crack" look), tight yet stretchy through the thigh and loose around the calves and ankles. And little pockets placed low on the back side, so it looks like I might actually have a butt rather than legs connected straight to my rib cage.

And yes, they were ridiculously expensive, so much so that I'm almost afraid to wear them. But I have decided that at the ripe old age of 31, there are some things worth splurging on. A good hair cut and good jeans are definitely two of them!

Check this out...

Woo hoo, I'm already listed in the Echelon Press author directory (just click on the link and scroll down until you see the "Author Directory" link in the left-hand nav bar)....how cool is that?!?

Thanks to Becky D. for pointing that out! : )

My brain is a hamster on a wheel…on crack. The hamster, I mean, not the wheel.

I wrote this entry the other night, but my computer ate it. So, take two…(take two what, Stacey? Ha! *snort* I crack myself up. I’m clearly very tired here and operating on about half a brain…)

Now that I’ve found a home for BITTER PILL—yea!—I’m being a good author and looking ahead to the next Rennie story. One of my big mistakes with THE SILVER SPOON was waiting until it was released to worry about finishing the second book. And now with RuneStone closing, I’m kind of stuck because I’ve got to find a new publisher for THE SILVER SPOON before I can get the sequel out there. That means readers will have waited more than two years between each book. Auuughhh! Not good. Not going to happen again. I’m soooo learning from that mistake.

So, for Rennie, I have a draft of the next one, but it’s very rough. I’m worried that it might share too much in common thematically with BP. But it’s not pulled together enough for me to give the whole thing over to my trusted and patient first readers to see what they think. And my dilemma is that I don’t want to spend time fixing this one if it’s too similar because that’s time I should be spending writing a new one instead. So, I’ve asked a couple of my first readers to read the first two chapters and see what they think. And so far, so good. My thanks to Becky D., Stacy G., and Susan for their help.

All of this has started me thinking about my writing plans for 2007. I’m still hoping to get THE SILVER SPOON re-released in 2007, followed shortly by the new sequel to that book. And because I hate how big the gap is between first and second book in that series, I need to start writing the third (and final?) book, in hopes of getting it out there in 2008.

So that means for writing projects in 2007, I’ll be:

-finishing edits on the second Zara book (I’m working on those now, and I’m nearly done. Hope to be finished by the middle of January at the latest—yea!).

-editing/revising the second Rennie book.

-writing the third Zara book.

-working on something new!

I’m tired just thinking about all of it, but I love it. : ) I can’t wait to see what 2007 brings!

Is there any sweeter phrase than...BOOK CONTRACT?

I don't think so. : )

Bitter Pill, the first book in the Rennie Harlow series, is going to be published by Echelon Press in 2008! I got the news last weekend, but bronchitis (again, second time in 2006) got the better of me this week. (I haven't been to work since Monday).

I'm so excited! Echelon is exactly where I wanted Bitter Pill to go, and I can't believe it worked out. : ) Another friend and Chicago mystery author, Luisa Buehler, is published with them and was instrumental in helping me make contact. Isabo Kelly also has a holiday short story with them--definitely a good time of year to check that out! And I've heard such great things about Echelon. Make sure you check out their site, particularly the publisher's blog. This sounds kind of hokey, but I just get such a good vibe from them.

Bitter Pill is a book that's close to my heart for a lot of reasons. The first draft of it was probably the easiest of all the books I've written. It just seemed to pour out. During the day, I was working on edits for The Silver Spoon, and I just needed something to help counterbalance the frustration of revisions--I hate revising, though I must admit that it is a very necessary evil. (And I've realized, note to self, that this is how I work best: revising one project and writing something new.)

So I started working on my AlphaSmart at night. I'd get into bed, turn on HGTV in the background, wait til my husband fell asleep and then begin typing away. At one point, I was holding up a booklight with my knees so I could see the AlphaSmart's screen when it was in my lap.

The second draft was more difficult, and it took me a couple of years and many, many conversations with Becky D. and Stacy G. to get it right. Thanks, guys! And thank you to my sister, Susan, who along with Becky D. and Stacy G., told me they like this one even better than The Silver Spoon and encouraged me to keep going with my revisions I hope all of you who enjoyed reading about Zara and Caelan will give this one a try, too.

It's also an important book to me because of the greyhound connection. Rennie, the main character, has adoped a former racing dog, and as most of you know, that's a cause close to my heart. I'm looking forward to spreading the word about what loving, intelligent and sweet animals these are through Rennie's dog, Fritzy.

So, over the next year, look for updates, cover art, excerpts and all that good stuff! : )

"What's a dickfer?"

*Snort* Am watching Spies Like Us on HBO and had forgotten some of the funny lines. Watching the edited for television version too many times, I guess.

I'm trying to do better about updating the blog more often. I had an easier week at work last week (under 40 hours for the first time...ever!), which helped.

--Bought new music today. For anyone who was wondering about the cool song in the background in the Ultraviolet movie trailer, it's "24" by Jem. I also bought "In Your Eyes" by Rogue Wave, and "It Ends Tonight" by The All-American Rejects.

--I've been debating about first person versus third person. It seems that most authors are either one or the other. Sometimes they change, but it's rare for them to alternate (or so it seems...got examples of authors who've done this? Please let me know!!! I'm trying to figure out how other people do this). The Silver Spoon, its sequel, Bitter Pill and its sequel are all in first person, and that worked out pretty well. First person is what I prefer to read, if given my druthers. Doesn't mean that I won't read something in third person, but that first person voice will catch my attention much faster. But now, I've had several ideas where the story would require more than one voice. And in fact, one of the voices might be male. I've never written from the male perspective...at all. EVER! And the idea of writing in first person from a male perspective quite frankly blows my mind. If I understood how men thought...well, my life in college probably would have been a lot easier.

Is it strange to have two first person narratives? I don't know. What about combining a first and third person narrative? (female in first person and male in third)? I could always go with the traditional third person for both, but I have a harder time writing that way. Either way, I don't know if I can write a believable male internal dialogue (see above about knowing how men think). Would be interesting to try. Hmmm....just something to think about.

This week, I bought MaryJanice Davidson's new book, Sleeping with the Fishes and in the acknowledgements (I always read those for good inside info!), she talks about rewriting the book into third person after realizing that if she left in first person, "Fred" the main character, would have sounded like "Betsy with fins." Betsy is the heroine in her vampire series, which is written in first person. So, apparently, I am not the only one who struggles with this issue. : )

P.S. For those reading on LiveJournal, I suspect my transfer to the new Blogger might cause my old entries to pop up again. Sorry about that!

I feel like a little kid again, hoping for a snow day. : ) I have to work tomorrow, no matter what, but it would be a treat not to have to fight through all the snow and the traffic to get there. Brought my computer home just in case.

Stuff going on:
-Greg and I went to the gym on Tuesday, and my right arm is so sore that I can't let it relax by my side because whatever muscle that is HURTS.

-Still working on revising the draft of book II and backed myself into a logic problem. Seems like an obvious thing that I should have caught when I was writing, but it's okay. I'll find a way around it--especially because I've called in the calvary (thanks to Becky and Stacy G. for agreeing to let me ramble both aloud and in email!) for help. : ) The good news is that I think it will rather significantly change the first few chapters, which dragged a bit anyway, in my opinion.

-Here's something weird...a couple of entries ago, I mentioned a good YA book that I'd read called Glass Houses. I called my sister to tell her I'd found a good book, as we sometimes like the same books. But she insists that I never told her the title, and I don't remember one way or another. Anyway, my brother was visiting home last weekend and Susan called to tell me that she sent a book home with him for me. She starts to describe it, telling me how great it was. And, of course, it turns out to be the same book. She found it, too, the exact same way I found it. By checking to see if Holly Black had anything new out yet. And it's a short jump from Holly Black to Rachel Caine, the author of Glass Houses. Weird minds think alike, I guess. : )

Okay, I'm too tired to be doing this. All my sentences sound stunted and stupid...time to stop!

Good night. : ) If you have to drive tomorrow (as I may), take your time and be careful.

Thanks

Okay, so I'm a little late with the Thanksgiving post, but here it is nonetheless.

According to my new dermatologist (my former dermatologist left her practice to start a new one, and I'll be following her as soon as her new office is open), the cream stuff worked on my nose. The weird pre-cancerous spot on my nose is gone, she says. Yea!!! Actually, I found out that the cream they gave me to put on my nose is considered topical chemotherapy. I'm really glad I did not know that at the time.

So, I'm extremely grateful that it was caught in time and that the treatment seems to have worked. I will still have to be careful and monitor my skin for ever, but I was doing that already.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Hope you find that you have much to be thankful for this year.

: )

Twice in one week!

I'd forgotten how therapeutic writing my blog entries could be. ; ) Need to do this more often! Actually this week at work has so far been a little easier--thanks to the vast majority of people already being out of the office. Which means I'm not quite as exhausted when I get home at night and have some brain power left for this.

Random stuff:
-Really, really hated this week's Battlestar Galactica. The concept was interesting--that the colonies could have been in some way responsible for triggering the Cylon attack. But the major guest star, playing a POW, was Dixon from Alias. The actor's name, I think, is Carl Lumbly? He's a fine actor, but I can't look at him without seeing Dixon, and it was extremely distracting. I kept expecting him to break into that bad, fake Jamican accent--stupid, stupid bank managers always falling for that. : ) It just kept reminding me that it was a story, you know. I couldn't lose myself in that universe this time. *sigh*

-High heels are stupid. And they're pretty much an easy way to guarantee that women are helpless at any given time when wearing them. When walking in the parking lot tonight in a new pair of heels, I found myself a little uncomfortable with the dark corners of the lot, all shadows potentially hiding someone or something. And here's me, just like the ditzy heroine in a horror movie, wearing completely impractical and uncomfortable heels, virtually guaranteeing that I'll be monster lunch.

-I'm working on revising the sequel to The Silver Spoon, and I'm stuck on an issue in chapter two. AAARRRGGGHH! The beginning is always the hardest because that's where I flounder the most. But still, it's irritating to hit such a spot so close to beginning my edit. Oh, well, I'll keep working at it. It makes sense plot-wise and everything, but the tension needs to be ramped up in order to cut out some pages. Dragging stuff out kills the tension and the momentum and in reading it through again, I realized that it takes too long to get to the real action (in other words, for those who've read it, to get to the cellar at the abandoned school in the ghost town--I'm such a tease!)

Hey, it's me again...

Thanks to everyone who commented, either here or on the livejournal version of my blog, about my writing dilemma. It really helped. I've not abandoned that project but definitely set it aside for the time being. I have plenty to do with the sequel to The Silver Spoon in terms of giving it a final edit and getting it ready for publication--soon, I hope.

I think part of my problem is I've been down a little lately. It's been hard knowing that The Silver Spoon is out of print (or will be shortly), and I'm getting ready to head into the new year without a new book available or even the first one in print again. I worked so hard to get to that point, and it feels like I'm just sliding slowly backward. I know that's not the case, but it's frustrating because I just want to make SOME progress somewhere, you know? It feels hard to justify the time and angst I put into this without some result. And I know that's dumb because the work itself is the result. So maybe it's not the results but the feeling of going backward. I don't want to write just to get something published--I want to write because I love the story and somehow I feel like I'm losing that. Or maybe it's just that the way I measure success has changed. Now instead of just writing a story that I love, I want it to be a story I love that is also publishable. I mean, I'm still writing the story I love, but that is no longer the single qualification for it. Is that wrong? I don't know.

Uck, my head is such a mess right now. : ) Some of it, I think, is because I have so little time these days. So I feel all this pressure that I have to accomplish something significant everyday because otherwise I'm not going to make any progress anytime soon. That's a stupid idea, obviously, because it's just a little bit everyday that makes a difference. See what I mean, messy head here, all the time!

Anyway, done with the whining.

Fun Stuff:
-Read a great YA novel called Glass Houses by Rachel Caine. I have a couple of YA ideas, and this is a great example of what I hope to do.

-Love that Carrie Underwood song, "Before He Cheats." I'm so not a country fan, at all. (Even though this one is listed as pop, it is definitely country, in my opinion). But the lyrics are awesome, and it's great example of how specificity really adds to the quality of the writing. With writing stories, we're always told to be more specific because it helps paint a better word picture. It's the difference between "an old car" and "a 1982 powder blue Chevy impala with rust patches on the passenger side door and a sticky patch on the dashboard where a Virgin Mary statue once reigned supreme."

Here, to the best of my ability to figure them out, are the lyrics to "Before He Cheats":

Verse One:
Right now, he's probably slow dancing with a bleached blond tramp and she's probably getting frisky. Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey. Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...and he don't know...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Verse Two:
Right now, she's probably up singing some white-trash version of Shania karaoke. Right now, she's probably saying, "I'm drunk," and he's a-thinking that he's gonna get lucky. Right now, he's probably dabbing on three-dollars worth of that bathroom Polo. Oh, and he don't know that...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might have saved a little trouble for the next girl...cause the next time that he cheats, oh, you know it won't be on me...no, not on me. Cause...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats. Oh, maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Love it!!! And to think I might have missed it because I don't (or didn't) like country. Dude. : )

Yeah, I should already be in bed, but I got caught up in buying some new music with my birthday iTunes gift cards.

Lately things have been really stressful between work and everything else I'm trying to do/keep up with. Haven't felt very creative and I feel scattered all over the place. It's like there's this little voice in my head telling me that whatever book project I'm working on, I should be working on something else because clearly "this," whatever "this" happens to be at that exact second, isn't going to be good enough for anything. I know this is just another form of self-doubt. Most writers (heck, most people) experience this in one way or another. But right now, it is just KILLING me. I love writing. It's my escape, my favorite thing to do even when it's difficult. And it feels like the peace I normally find in doing so is slowly being eaten away by my own stupid worries and fears.

I want to write the stories that speak to me. And yet, I know that to try to be a success as an author, you probably have to be a little more directed. Like not genre-hopping as I'm wont to do. Or, sub-genre hopping, as the case may be. Some kinds of stories may not be popular right now, but if you're desperate to write said story, go for it. But if you do that, you take the chance that what you've written, what you've spent XX months working on, will just hang out in a file on your desk for years or whatever. But I'm so sick of worrying about that, you know? When I started doing this, I thought about things like that, but I didn't let it bother me. Now it seems to haunt me all the time.

I have a project that I started last year or the year before (not a Zara or Rennie story) and I've been working on it pretty regularly for the last year or so...and I'm so bloody sick of it. I just don't want to do it anymore. It's in a way over-crowded subgenre, so selling isn't a likelihood and I'm not enjoying it, so what's the point, right?

I can't stand the idea of all that time being a total waste. Plus, I always promised myself I would finish what I start because that's how self-doubt wins when you're a writer. "Well, this sucks so much I shouldn't even finish it. But the next one will be awesome. Huh, this one sucks too? Well, the next one..." And so on. All books suck in the middle of the writing of them. Or, to put it another way, books ALWAYS sound a lot better and exciting before you actually go about trying to put them on paper.

I've finally got a working synopsis, so I've got a pretty good idea of how it all comes together. But I don't feel like the spark that holds these things together is there. But perhaps I'm just too close to it. My goal was to have three chapters of the revised draft finished as well so I could send it to various sources who've volunteered to read for me. But I'm struggling with that too. I feel like I'm just retreading everything that's already been done by other writers and better than me too. This is not my home "genre" so maybe I just feel self-conscious because of that.

So what do you think? Keep plugging away and get the three chapters done, perhaps by setting an enforceable due date? Or just be merciful and shoot this thing in the head (metaphorically, of course)?

Bad blogger!

Yes, I know, I suck. I just can't keep up with everything. *sigh* But I sincerely hope that's going to be getting better soon. After all, what's the point of having this space here if I never write anything to fill it?

I do have book news. I received an offer for The Silver Spoon, which is great! I'm not at liberty to discuss the details since the deal is not yet done and we may yet encounter obstacles, but I'm happy to be moving in the right direction. There is also interest in the second book on their part, too, so I'm hopeful that will work out as well. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know anything definite.

I also bought my costume for RT. I went for the non-saucy tavern wench. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this important decision. (yeah, Beck, you're right. I'm not brave enough to be "saucy," particularly when that word translates pretty much to more exposed bosom. *grin*)

In non-book related news, I have to tell you that I love the new show, Ugly Betty. It is so funny and sweet and dear God, I relate to her. It's horrible being the only awkward, un-put-together person in a group of beautiful people. Think I'm kidding? Ask those who remember me in my freshman year in high school. A frightening amount of metal braces, bangs that added a least three inches to my height and caused the depletion of the ozone layer on a daily basis thanks to the amount of hairspray needed, HUGE Sally Jesse Raphael red glasses....*shudder* It's just too awful to contemplate.

Anyway, "Betty" is awesome. If you haven't already, check it out. : ) It's easy enough to do so with it being right ahead of Grey's Anatomy on Thursdays!

Hope to be back here with more news soon!

"Be bold, wear gold."

I had an awesome birthday weekend. First of all, my birthday was on a weekend. It doesn't get any better than that. Second, it was a three day weekend--rather I made it one, but same difference. Third, a brand new, TWO HOUR Battlestar Galactica was on Friday night that I saved for Saturday. And finally, my husband got me some awesome gifts that he picked out ON HIS OWN. He got us tickets to see "Annie Warbucks," a sequel to "Annie," at the Woodstock Opera House. Woodstock is where they filmed parts of one of my very favorite movies, Groundhog Day. Then he got me a gift certificate to Ann Taylor Loft, where I shop for my work clothes and book event clothes. He also picked up The Little Mermaid on DVD, which is one of my favorite Disney movies, memorized from when my sister was little, and two books that I would have bought myself! And I didn't even hint to him about any of it. Good job, Greg!!!

We saw the show on Saturday night, and it was a lot of fun. The kids playing the orphans were so freaking adorable. Sunday night, so as to avoid the construction into Indiana, we headed to Valpo, my home away from home. My sister had a college visit day there on Monday, and Greg and I decided to tag along. Just being there has the most peculiar effect on me. I'm happy, but also homesick because I don't belong there anymore and no one I know lives on campus anymore. Though, at one point, when I was crossing campus, I heard someone call a name ending in the "e" sound, and my head jerked around automatically looking for someone to be calling me. Um, hello? It's been almost ten years since I graduated. It was fun to show Susan the dorms and the cafeteria and stuff. I hope that she was able to see it as a potential school for her rather than just my school, but we'll see.

I got to visit with one of my professors and just feel like I was at home again, which was nice. Valpo was the first place in my life where I ever felt like I belonged. And life was good there. I told Greg that even though things weren't always easy there, sometimes I still miss being there and living that life so much it makes my chest ache. (Not that it would be the same without the people because that's what made it so good--What do you say, my fellow alums? Want to chuck it all and move back into the dorm? I'm sure no one will notice the husbands/wives, kids and the dogs and real furniture...). Other times, I'm insanely grateful for my non-communal bathroom and whole house versus square cement block room. : )

For other Valpo grads, you should know that brown and gold is in in a big way now. I remember when you couldn't even find a sweatshirt in those colors in the bookstore. Now they have the slogan all over the ARC, "Be bold, wear gold."

I bought a brown and gold sweatshirt. : ) Call me a sucker for a good marketing campaign.

More towel moments in our future...

Check out this little tidbit I picked up from Eonline....

McDreamy, McSteamy and McVet all on the same show?!? I don't think my heart can take it. : )

Tell me...

Am I the only one who hit the pause button when Mark walked on the screen in that very poor excuse for a towel? Wow. Soooo happy to see him again. "Maybe fate will come down on the side of the dirty mistresses this time." Yea for dirty mistresses--in this particular case, at least. I like Mark, weird flat ears not withstanding--yes, I have inherited my family's ability to find one annoying or strange characteristic about a television personality and fixate on it enough to drive everyone crazy. Ask my dad about a certain newscaster who always puffed out his cheeks like a bullfrog before speaking. You didn't notice until he, my dad, pointed it out, and then that's all I could see. Have I mentioned that we're odd?

More later...

: )

Poor Tivo

Tonight's line up:

-Grey's Anatomy Special (probably just a clips show from last season, but I'm still not going to miss it!) Maybe they'll show the "you don't get to call me a whore" speech, which was just freaking awesome.

-The Office. Pam, Jim, *sigh* That kiss....Jim is so dreamy. : )

-My Name is Earl. Nothing beats Jason Lee in that mustache, but throw in karma on top of it, and I love it.

-CSI: Las Vegas. Sara and Grissom in a hotel room?!? Are they really going to go through with this? Am I squicked out or intrigued. I have to tune in to find out!

-Grey's Anatomy, the regular show. Seriously. Who can miss this? I was always a Mer/Der person until he and Meredith had sex in the last episode last season. I like Addison and she deserves better than this. Meredith should grab McVet and run, but I know she won't. *sigh* Wait, um, I meant, grab him and take him away with her, not just grab and run, like squeeze and leave. Hee. : ) There are so many double entendres right there and I really didn't even mean them!

So, yeah, I guess I'll be leaving the house again sometime next week after I've caught up on all of this! : ) So excited for new tv! And in the best birthday present ever (well, day before my birthday present), Battlestar Galactica returns with all new, presumably kickass episodes on October 6! I would say that Fridays are awesome again, but that's never NOT been true. So, they're just...awesome-er. Um, yeah.

Dirty Minds

Forgot to mention, Greg had two doctors last weekend, both of which were very nice and did a good job. : )

But me being me, I couldn't help but notice that one was named Dr. Beaver and the other was Dr. Johnson. No lie. Do you think they ever get together for private consultations?

*snicker*

"At night, the sporks pick on me."--Taco Bell Sauce Packet

So, once again, I'm late with updating my blog. But this time, I promise, I have a good reason. If your husband losing a body part is a good reason. I think it is.

Last week at this time, I was in Baraboo, Wisconsin, waiting for my husband to be released from the hospital after his emergency appendectomy. But let me back up a bit.

Last Friday, Greg had decided to head up to Wisconsin with all his buddies for a fantasy football draft, and I was relishing the idea of weekend of watching chick-flicks and reading books! Jane Austen, you're on my list. In fact, you ARE my list. : )

But then on Saturday morning, Greg called from Wisconsin and said that he wasn't feeling well, so much so that he was contemplating going to the emergency room. I told him to go, immediately. Just by the fact that my doctor-resistant husband even mentioned going to the hospital voluntarily, I knew something was wrong.

I got a call a couple of hours later from my brother-in-law, who, thankfully, was at the same draft along with several other good friends who were key in convincing Greg to go to the hospital. Brian said, "Greg has to have his appendix out. He's going into surgery at 1:30."

My response? "You're sh*tting me." Not very polite, and not something I normally would have said to him, but surprise apparently knocked my filter loose. My mother-in-law just had her appendix removed last month in an emergency surgery. Something in the air?!?

So, I called around frantically and got our pet-sitter lined up to come over and let out the dogs and got my brother lined up to handle the potty breaks that the pet-sitter wouldn't be available for, packed up the car, got cash and gas and headed up three hours to the hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

The surgery was already done before I got there, and he came through it fine, thankfully. His appendix had not perforated, so they were able to remove it laproscopically. I spent the night in the hospital on Saturday night, which was...interesting. The staff at the hospital was awesome. They rolled in a bed for me and everything. But after listening to the guy down the hall upchuck violently for about the fifth time, I had to get up and close the door. I told my husband, "I hate hospitals, they're full of sick people." Which, as you know, for me as a borderline germophobe is very difficult. : ) I took a very long, hot shower with lots of soap when I got home. If I could have rolled myself around in the anti-bacterial, handwash Purell stuff, I would have done that too!

Greg is doing fine now. His incisions are healing up and everything. I asked him, freak that I am, if he got to see his appendix, like in a jar or something, once they took it out. He said no. I told him that I would have told them that I wanted to see it afterward and could they please save it? I mean, seriously, how many times in your life do you get to see something as mysterious as one of your own internal organs? Not often, right? I wouldn't want to keep it or anything, but just to see it. His response? "You're weird." And I said, "Yeah, but I was born this way, you voluntarily married into the weirdness that is me. " : ) He didn't seem to find that too funny.

So he's at home this week recovering and is doing much better. Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes, sudoku puzzles, cards and phone calls. And a HUGE thank you to Brian, my brother-in-law, and our friend, Troy, for getting Greg to go to the hospital. Appendicitis--another instance in life where machismo can kill you, if you're not careful.

OTHER STUFF
-Book stuff is going on. Will let you know as soon as I have something to report! : )

-I'm looking into getting a costume for RT in the spring, and now is the time to do it as Target has some cute costumes for grown ups. I'm thinking either the Tavern Wench or the Saucy Tavern Wench. This one also makes me laugh. If I had lots of money, I would be this. Arwen was always my favorite character from LOTR. Of course, in the "be true to who you really are," there's always this option. "So she sleeps above the covers. Four feet above the covers. She barks, she drools, she claws--" "It's not the girl, Peter. It's the building." : )

The latest and greatest...or something like that.

We were out of town this weekend for my cousin's wedding in Michigan--which was beautiful as it was held at an outdoor herb garden/farm--so I'm running a little behind this week. : )

NEVER GIVE A HYPOCHONDRIAC THE WORST CASE SCENARIO
So the side of my nose has had a little red spot on it for several years now. The first dermatologist, when I asked, told me it was the beginning of rosacea (spelling?) which is a condition that occurs in many fair-skinned people. It never got any worse, so I decided to ignore it as it could mostly be covered by make up. But then my regular doctor noticed it this year and was concerned, so she sent me to a different dermatologist who immediately recognized it as either cancerous or pre-cancerous. Fun, right?

So now I've got this special cream to apply to fix it. Only the side effects listed on the pharmacy insert promptly freaked me out. Especially because within fifteen minutes of reading them, I felt sure that I was experiencing every single one of them in this vague, undefined, "Am I nauseous? If I am, that means I'm experiencing one of these horrible side effects and oh, yeah, now I'm definitely feeling sick to my stomach" kind of way. "Hair loss? My ponytail does feel a little skinnier than normal. I don't know..."

FREE T-SHIRT
I've been going to the gym three or four times a week now for a few weeks. Hoping it makes a difference with what one writer in RWA calls "desk butt." : ) But with the three day weekend and being out of town, I fell off my regular schedule and did not feel like going in yesterday. But then when I got home from work yesterday, feeling very unmotivated to change my clothes and drag myself into the gym, I found we had a voicemail from the gym telling me that I'd earned a free t-shirt with all my earlier dedication.

We used to say in college that people will do just about anything for a free t-shirt. Credit card companies would come to campus and offer free t-shirts for those who signed up.

And you know what, it works. It got me to leave my house yesterday to work out because I wanted to get my free t-shirt. : )

PANIC BUTTON
We were waiting in the Chinese restaurant for our take out order to be ready, and as some of you already know, I'm a born fidgeter. I can't sit still. So, I was fiddling with my husband's keys, and I noticed that the little red button on the back of the key fob is actually labled "Panic." For whatever reason, it made me imagine pushing the button whenever I panicked about anything in life. Worried about your the low balance in your checking account--just press the "Panic" button! A little freaked out about getting everything done at work--that's what the "Panic" button is for. I haven't quite figured out yet what happens in either of those situations when you press the "panic" button, but I feel it should involve a small mysterious man in a dark suit appearing suddenly. : )

Haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, but the three day weekend threw me off a little bit. Will write more tomorrow! : )

What to say...

I relied upon my brain this week instead of jotting down my normal list of topics, and yes, I know I should know better than that.

But here's what I can recall of the list:
Mastering the art of the treadmill
Luke Skywalker's cousin
CSI on the storm door
Sometimes the world sucks
Books

MASTERING THE ART OF THE TREADMILL
I would like you to know that I've gone another week without falling off the treadmill and/or dropping my iPod on the treadmill. In fact, I have conquered the need to cling desperately to the grab-bars and can now walk freely on the treadmill as though I were simply on a moving sidewalk...a really fast moving sidewalk. This is better because now my arms aren't tired from holding on so hard. : ) I also broke down and bought more workout clothes. Unfortunately, the cute little yoga pants I bought are way too comfy and far more suited for laying on the couch than working out.

LUKE SKYWALKER'S COUSIN
It finally occurred to me, after who knows how many viewings of Star Wars, that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had no children of their own, or at least that we're told of. (Feel free to tell me otherwise, fellow Star Wars geeks). But it makes me wonder, why not? I mean, was Luke such a whiney brat that they didn't want to have to deal with another kid around? Were they afraid good old D.V. would coming looking for a custody visit? I'm thinking this is yet another sign of how things changed from the start of the series to the end. In the beginning, I think I always assumed that Luke was placed with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, an older couple who could have no children of their own. And yet, according to the new movies, they were very young and presumably fertile people who could have had their own kid(s).

Yes, these are the kinds of things that scamper about in my brain when I should be thinking of other things. (Also, I know that technically any child of Owen and Beru's would not really have been Luke's cousin as Owen is something more like his step uncle or something. Owen's father married Anakin's mother, which would make Anakin and Owen stepbrothers, in theory. So Owen's kids would really have been no relation to Luke, except by marriage...or something.) I don't know why, but I feel like Owen and Beru had kind of a cool story (well, except for the end of it, of course) that we don't know much about. I want to know why Owen agreed to take in the child of his stepmother's kid whom he didn't seem to particularly care for when they met initially.

CSI ON THE STORM DOOR
We have a storm door leading into our house that is basically one big sheet of glass in a metal frame. The other night I was fascinated to discover that you could see all the finger and palm prints on the door from our comings and goings. I then proceeded to entertain myself by distinguishing between full on palm prints, side of the hand prints and just plain old fingerprints. Yeah, I think maybe I need to cut back on my CSI intake.

SOMETIMES THE WORLD SUCKS
This is for you, Stacy G.! You're better off without them. : ) And rest assured, what goes around comes around, it always does. For those who don't know, Stacy just had a bad week job-wise (and she gave me permission to commiserate with her here). She worked really hard for some people, and they didn't appreciate it at all. In fact, they did pretty much the opposite of appreciating it. So everyone, please send positive and reassuring thoughts in her direction, m'kay? I always hate reminders that the world isn't fair (a sucky lesson that I'm forced to keep learning) and that bad things happen to people who don't deserve it.

BOOKS
Just finished a very funny one called Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. I have absolutely no book news of my own which is a little frustrating. I have two unrelated books out and about, and yet, I have nothing to report! Ugh. Wait...actually, that's not true. I did send out the marketing plan for Bitter Pill (thanks for the edit, Stacy G.), and I'm now waiting to hear back. I'm hoping that the three weeks it took me to find time to write it all down hasn't caused the publisher to forget about me. Eeek! Hopefully, there will be something official to report soon.

*Insert cool entry title here*

So, in order to be able to remember what the heck I wanted to write about here, I've started keeping a list in my planner. That means, generally speaking, you're going to get short little blurbs of nonsensical stuff here instead of a complete entry...Oh, well. What's funny is that the list looks completely ridiculous and would make no sense to anyone else, and yet apparently out of some fear that my life is so fabulously interesting that people wouldn't be able to resist snooping, I cover the list with an inconspicuous post-it note. Like, "Oh, no, there's nothing written on this planner page, just a post it note. Just keeping flipping pages to get to the good stuff."

Here's what my list says for this week:
Parking garage
Big windows
Treadmill incident
Like Monk--pen washing

PARKING GARAGE
At my new day job, there's a parking garage, which is typically a nice thing. Except for the birds that tend to make a home there. Flying and flapping overhead, which isn't very far overhead unfortunately because of the low ceilings. *shudder* Anyway, there's a dead bird there that obviously got hit by a car or died and then got run over a car. It's basically just feathers and a bright yellow beak now, but for some reason, I'm both completely freaked out by it and drawn to it at the same time. Gross, huh? Like I'll be walking into work, not thinking and I'll step on a leaf or something and think, "Oh, sh*t, I just stepped on that stupid dead bird." But I didn't. At least not yet. And then when I remember to look for it, I'm obssessed with finding in it on the floor, not just so I won't step on it but also because I'm curious about exactly how long maintenance will just leave it there.

BIG WINDOWS
On a related note, I now have big windows in my cubicle that overlook the forest preserve behind the company. Very nice! Plus, I can actually verify the weather before stepping outside. However, I am informed that this pleasing view does have its downside--apparently when the weather gets cooler, birds smack into the windows all the time. Great. Something to look forward to. I did, however, try to explain this to my new boss but it came out like this, "I have a big bird phobia." It probably sounded like this, "I have a Big Bird phobia." As in the Sesame Street character. *sigh*

TREADMILL INCIDENT
We joined the neighborhood gym a few weeks ago and I finally worked up the nerve to go in. I usually hate gyms. They're always full of people who don't actually need to be there, the really skinny people and the intimidating musclebound weightlifters. I want to go to Average Joe's Gym, where you can look like a total spaz on the equipment and no one cares or even really notices. The gym near my house, fortunately, is full of normal people of all shapes and sizes, and while there are body builders there, they aren't the intimidating, grunting, dropping weights on the floor sort. (In fact, there are rules against both grunting and dropping weights--yea for the gym near my house!)

But none of this kept people from staring at me when, on my second trip to the gym this week (I went three times!!!), my iPod fell out of its little holder at my waist, hit the treamill and flew off backwards. Um, yeah. In my panic, I kind of forgot I was on a moving sidewalk, essentially, and tried to bend over to pick it up and nearly flew off myself. In my clutziness, however, I managed to hit the stop button on the treadmill quite accidentally and therefore saved myself major embarrasment. I did, however, experience minor embarrassment when the edge of my shoe treads rubbed against the still moving belt and made a really loud noise. And I felt compelled to break the unspoken gym rule and say something aloud to everyone. It's true, no one talks to anyone else and no one looks at anyone else either. This is a problem for me as a natural people-watcher. Pretty soon, I'm not only going to be the weird treadmill girl, I'm also going to be known as the girl who stares. Ugh.

But I'm finding that I like going on the treadmill. I turn on the iPod and tune everything else out. It's peaceful, makes my brain go blank for awhile. Love that! : ) So, I'm going to try to go three times a week or so.

LIKE MONK--PEN WASHING
As I've mentioned before, if I'm not careful, I can lean a little into the land of hypochondria and obsessive compulsive disorder. This week, I had to shake hands with a person who had this totally phlegmy cough and it completely grossed me out. But I had no choice but to shake hands and then watch as the person continued to cough phlegmily into their hands. *full body shudder* I made sure not to touch my face or anything until I could wash my hands. Unfortunately, though, before I could wash my hands, I was forced to use my favorite pen to write something down. So, after I scoured my hands, I was confronted with the issue of my pen. What to do? The phlegmy germs that were once on my hands were now on my pen. Hmm. Logic (and OCD) suggests getting rid of this perfectly good pen as it is clearly tainted and no longer good for anything. However, it is a favorite pen and those are hard to come by. So, what did I do? I whipped out the travel size bottle of hand sanitizer from my bag and squirted a blob of it on a napkin and then, after carefully wrapping the pen in the napkin without touching the pen itself, I cleaned it off with the hand sanitizer-soaked napkin. Yeah. I know. Craaaaazy. The worst part is that, later, a perfectly normal, non-sick person asked to borrow my pen and I allowed it. And then thought about sanitizing the pen again...just in case. It's a slippery slope, folks!

: ) More later...Hope to have some "official book news soon." Bitter Pill is out and about with a publisher and I've been asked for a marketing plan, which I've written and Stacy G. is reviewing for me. So hopefully, I'll get that sent out soon!

More B.S.

I read an interview with Bryan Singer (creator of House, Superman Returns, etc.) in which someone asked him what part of the movie making business he was best at. He said casting even though he hated it. When the interviewer asked why, he said that the only thing harder than rejecting people all day long is being rejected yourself.

Initially, I kind of thought that was crap. I mean, as a writer, I'm quite familiar with rejection. And being rejected sucks. Never have I thought that it was hard on the people doing the rejecting.

But then on Friday, I went to an ad agency for my day job. They had several models come in to meet us so we could try to find the look we wanted. But you know, it was hard to meet all of them and know that even with their exceptional beauty (talk about a bad self-esteem day, these women were gorgeous!) not all of them would be hired. And it was hard not to want to hire someone because I liked her.

So, okay, now I know what he's talking about. You can like someone, and that has nothing to do with why you have to reject them. It really isn't personal. It just feels like it on the rejecting side.

Hmmm. Learning new things. Who'd've thought it? : )

Hey, it's me!

MORNINGS MAKE ME STUPID.
Seriously, getting up early is damaging my brain cells or something. Tonight, after running in to Borders to pick up a book (okay, two--I'm so going to have to skip lunch or try to get a freebie for a few days to make that up), I found myself stopping in front of the doors to wait for them to automatically open--you know, like at the grocery store and Target? Only Borders doors don't do that. So, I'm the moron standing in front of doors that require an actual push to move them. I'd have been waiting a long time had my brain not finally kicked in.

READER EMAILS
I got the nicest email yesterday from someone who read my book. It really brightened my evening yesterday and my whole day today. It means so much to get emails like those because sometimes it feels like we're writing in a vacuum ("But it's a little dark inside this here Hoover." Ha, see, I'm getting slaphappy because I should already be sleeping!), entertaining nobody but ourselves. So, next time you finish a book that you really liked and the author lists a web address or email, contact him or her. If only to say "I liked it and keep up the good work." You don't know how crappy a day that person is having and what difference a few little words can make! : )

More later...

: )

"Giraffes are the new duck."

The title of this entry comes from something my friend Deb said yesterday at a baby shower, and it totally cracked me up. So I thought I'd share. It was relating to the sudden dominance of giraffes on baby clothing and accessories over the previously unchallenged reign of the duck. Hee. : )

It's hard for me to write during the week with working, at least until I get back into the swing of things. So you're probably going to get a long rambly entry a couple of times a week. : )

THE WEEKEND OF EMERGENCIES
It was a hectic weekend here at the Klemstein residence. Late Friday night, we had to take Joe into the emergency vet office because he'd broken one of his toenails (a fairly common event, thanks to his thyroid condition) but this time he didn't want to put any weight on his foot. So we brought him in to be checked out and got done at about 1:00 a.m. or so. That's after getting up at six a.m. that morning. Saturday I was gone at a baby shower and came home to get a message that my mother-in-law had been taken to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy--but she's doing okay now! Later last night, after grabbing a quick bite to eat, my husband had an allergic reaction to something, and his eyelid puffed up! So I made a quick run to the store to stock up on Benadryl.

EARLY MORNINGS
So, as I said before, I like being up early in the morning, just not getting up. It's neat to be in my writing room with the sun just coming in, landing on the carpet in pale squares. But the other cool part, which I'd never thought about, is that I'm getting to work early enough that I don't have to worry about being late. That's a huge stress reliever. I don't have to worry about hitting the lights just right or getting stuck behind someone slow. And on Friday...I made it to work in 32 minutes. Awesome.

VALPO
My sister is looking at colleges. She is the age now I was when I was starting my freshman year in college (they changed the cutoff dates for starting school in the thirteen years between us). It just make me feels nostalgic and sort of homesick. I'm going to go with her to visit Valpo, and I'm going to try not to be pushy about it. : ) But I just loved it so much. I remember my first visit to Valpo very clearly. It was in the fall. I burned my tongue on hot chocolate I got at the Chapel. I was wearing one of those multi-colored rugby shirts that were popular back then, and as it was one of my favorites, it featured prominently in pictures of the next couple of years. My jeans were Levis, of course, because that's what they were wearing on 90210. I wore a long wool trench coat and leather boots that, after much loving use, would disintegrate a year or so later and one of the sole nails would actually puncture my foot while I was wearing them. That would require Julie, the one with a much steadier hand and stronger stomach, to use tweezers and a needle to remove the fabric of my sock that the nail punched into my heel. Yeah, okay, that's probably a little gross, but looking back on it, it strikes me as one of the many memories that make us--my college friends and I--family, you know?

This weekend, I was at a baby shower for a college friend and a baptism for the son of a couple of college friends, and at both events, I got to hang out with more college friends. They're all part of my family, and any place, any school that can do that is a good one in my book.

SPEAKING OF BOOKS
How cool is this? On my first day at my new job, they took me out to lunch, and a few of us started talking about books. The next day, I came in and found one of the mentioned books--one that I'd said I'd like to read--on my desk. One of the women I will be working with brought it in for me. How nice is that? : ) I was just so excited and touched by the gesture.

It's called The Jane Austen Book Club and I'm really enjoying it so far. I also just bought Sloppy Firsts, which is one of those books that was allegedly copied in that whole plagiarism thing with the Harvard grad. I was curious! : )

More later!!!

Jumble of thoughts

Started work today. Got up with the sun...literally. I've discovered that it's kind of cool to be up that early. Everything is so quiet, and there's little (besides my bed) to distract me. However, getting up that early really sucks. : ) If that makes any sense.

I've forgotten how tiring it is to be new. How uncertain you can feel about your role and the bounds of your responsibility and authority. But the people are nice and the job will be challenging so that's good.


BATHROOM TALK (You have been warned. No complaining! : ) )

Weird thing, in the bathroom at work, they have a bottle of spray air freshener in every stall on the back of the toilet. And three more on the countertop by the sinks. So, obviously, this is an important issue for them. But me being me, I'm wondering about protocol. Is that something you do for yourself or when you deem it necessary, regardless of the source? Is it gross that I'm talking about this? These are the thoughts that are wandering through my head. Like, say you're in there and it's just standard protocol to spray every time regardless. Companies develop weird traditions like that. At my last company, you'd get a tray to carry your food to the table in the cafeteria, but you never ate on the tray. You always returned it to the tray holder before even eating. Which was stupid because it meant you had to juggle all your dirty dishes to the conveyor belt instead of just using the tray. But those were the rules. And everybody followed them. I just don't want to break the bathroom air freshener rules because I don't know them, you know? Aaaaah, the peer pressure! : )

NON-BATHROOM TALK
We went to see Miami Vice this weekend and hit the movie trifecta.
-someone snoring behind us,
-a couple talking so loudly I wanted to tell them that if I'd wanted to hear their commentary I would have waited for the DVD to come out and then gone over to their house,
-and a woman with a larger than average hairdo (or perhaps it was her head...I'm not being nasty, I just couldn't see the screen as well around her) in front of us.

Plus, I really didn't like the movie either. Oh, well, better luck next time.

I'm off to microwave dinner, watch The Closer and Saved, or as much as I can stay awake for, and finish my laundry! : )

Update

So, I've been a little lax on posting lately. : ) Sorry. Things have been a little hectic here. As of Monday, I'll be starting a new temporary position, sort of an in-between to a full-time job and fully freelance. Which will definitely help with the cash flow situation. : )

I will do my best to be a little more prompt about updating here. I keep thinking of things that I want to write about but without writing them down, they always slip away before I can get over here.

On the good news side of things, Linnea Sinclair won a RITA for her book, Gabriel's Ghost, last night at the RWA conference. This is a HUGE award in romance writing, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person or a more deserving writer!!! She called me last night to tell me--so cool! I can't wait to hear from her what it was like to hear her name called in front of all those people. This is the conference with Nora Roberts and all the other giants in the romance industry. : )

Random things

-Not to sound too vague, but the good book news is still in the works. I don't have anything definite to announce, but I hope to in the next few weeks.

-I'm loving the new summer shows Psych and Saved. That Wyatt Cole on Saved is a cutie.

-Gobbled up the latest Meg Cabot YA How to Be Popular. My favorite is still Avalon, but this one is good too.

Have to go now. For the first time since I was living at my parents' house, I actually have a bed time. No choice. I've got to be at work at 8:00 a.m. Dude. *sigh*

Blogger error and Madison

I tried to post an entry to let you guys know I'd be in Madison this week, but Blogger kept giving me an error message. Oh, well. So, I'm back now. And I'd forgotten how much fun I have in Madison, especially at the Writers Institute.

I arrived late on Wednesday, only missing the hotel parking garage once and having to circle back with a minor bit of angst, which is pretty good for me! The hotel--the Madison Concourse--was lovely, right next to the Capitol, which is such a beautiful building. It would have been neat to get a closer look, but I ran out of time.

After getting checked in on Wednesday, I decided to find State Street and get some ice cream. That's always my big challenge to myself whenever I go anywhere alone. My temptation is to hide in my hotel room, but I always make myself go out and eat or walk. I found a Ben and Jerry's only a couple blocks up from my hotel, so that was easy enough. I love UW-Madison and State Street, it's just like being in college again. There are always people out and about, even after dark, and you can be out there eating an ice cream cone by yourself and not have to worry. Plus, the very casual and laid back way the students dress reminds me so much of my college days, back when grunge was very hot. ; )

After the ice cream, I went back to my hotel and prepped for my session the next day and went to bed.

The shuttle to the Union on campus left the hotel at 7:30 a.m. Ugh. But I made it! I got there plenty early, dropped my books off in the bookstore and settled in with a muffin. As always there were about two hundred people attending and everyone was so nice and friendly. I love that! A few people remembered me from last year and came over to say hello. It's amazing to me how many people share this love for writing. And they have so many fascinating ideas to write about.

The keynote speaker was David Maraniss, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning author. Pretty cool, right? And he was an excellent speaker too. After he was finished speaking, we, the instructors, introduced ourselves. That always makes me nervous. It just takes me a few minutes to warm up to speaking in front of a bunch of people and by that time, the introductions are already done!

My session, Elevating Conflict, was in the first group. Talk about a tough act to follow! But I think it went pretty well. It was soooo hot, though, upstairs in the Union. Plus, when I'm talking and moving around, I tend to get even warmer.

After my session, I went out to lunch at Einstein's (where else!) with a gentleman who'd attended my session. (I don't post names here unless someone is a public figure--an author--or has given me permission). We had a fascinating conversation about the non-fiction books he's planning on writing.

After lunch, I attended a couple more sessions, including a round table where we all just got together and talked about various writing issues. J.A. Konrath was there, and he is always so much fun! And a little crazy.

Afterward, J.A., another writer and I went out for dinner and drinks. Linnea would be so proud of me--I had a Cosmo instead of a Fuzzy Navel. Though the bar where we ate didn't serve martinis evidently, so I had my Cosmo in a tumbler, which just cracked me up. My husband and I, often too lazy to drag out the fancy wine glasses for just the two of us, have had wine with dinner in tumblers. So sad!

Anyway, I'll write more about the rest of the conference as soon as I have a chance. Hopefully, tomorrow or so. I'm heading out to Peoria this afternoon to attend my dad's twenty-fifth ordination celebration. : )

Just a reminder...

I'll be out of town at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writers' Institute for the next couple of days. I'm so excited!

I'll try to post from the road if time and wireless access allow.

: ) Stacey

Just a reminder...

I'll be out of town at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writers' Institute for the next couple of days. I'm so excited!

I'll try to post from the road if time and wireless access allows.

: ) Stacey

Just a reminder...

I'll be out of town at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writers' Institute for the next couple of days. I'm so excited!

I'll try to post from the road if time and wireless access allows.

: ) Stacey

Just a reminder...

I'll be out of town at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writers' Institute for the next couple of days. I'm so excited!

I'll try to post from the road if time and wireless access allows.

: ) Stacey

Cool stuff...

Don't know if I mentioned this earlier but thanks to dear friend and awesome sci-fi romance writer, Linnea Sinclair, I've been invited to attend and participate in Archon 31, which also happens to be hosting the North American Science Fiction Convention (9th NASFIC) since Worldcon is in Japan next year. So, yeah, I got the list of other attendees today, and I'm a little terrified. There are some BIG sci-fi names going to be at this convention. Frederik Pohl. Jacqueline Lichtenberg. Barbara Hambly! Can anybody say, "EEEK!" I've only been to one sci-fi convention before (WindyCon, a long time ago) and found myself amazed and more than a little intimidated as I was majorly out-geeked, something that has not often occurred in my lifetime (except around my friend and MOATT, Ed). : ) So, I think this one is going to be even more nerve-wracking than RT. Much as I'm loath to admit it, I didn't read much pure sci-fi stuff when I was younger. Ever, actually. I watched Star Wars and Star Trek and read bunches of novels set in those universes. Most of my other reading leaned toward the paranormal. Ghosts, witches, earth-based stuff. However, I'm hoping it will be okay because Linnea will be there and she watches out for me, keeping my feet firmly on the ground instead of halfway down my throat. And Laurell K. Hamilton will be there, too. Yea for familiar faces, people I know!!! It's weird, too, because I'm used to RT where I might not know people, but I know names or book titles or even characters. Not this time...

I am, however, pleased to note that this convention breathes life into one of my favorite fantasies. The one where I get to attend as an author (possibly a speaker, the fantasy varies) and I get to meet my very favorite television/movie sci-fi stars, writers, and producers. Such as the following, in no particular order:
George Lucas (Star Wars)
Wil Wheaton (Stand by Me, TNG, and WilWheaton.net)
Patrick Stewart (Two for one! "Captain Picard" on TNG and Dr. Charles Xavier in X-Men)
Jonathan Frakes (Another two for one! He was a producer for Roswell and played "Commander Riker" on TNG)
Jason Behr ("Max" on Roswell)
*Brandon Routh ("Superman" in Superman Returns)
Richard Dean Anderson ("O'Neill" on SG-1)
Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns, and House)
Ron Moore (Roswell and Battlestar Galactica)
Katee Sackhoff ("Starbuck" on BSG)
Leonard Nimoy ("Spock" on OS)--I would add William Shatner on here, but Wil Wheaton has successfully scared me away from him forever. : ) But I might still have to try, just for my dad.

The "attending as an author" part is a vital part of the fantasy because that way, when I turn into a gibbering idiot around said favorite person, they will know that I'm not a complete idiot all the time. Just around them. However, the "gibbering idiot" thing has worked out pretty well for me in the past; LKH and her husband have remembered me for years, thanks to my completely awestruck and foolish behavior the first time I met them! : )

Next year's Media Guest of Honor is not someone on my list but is a cool sci-fi person nonetheless. Mira Furlan, who some of you will know probably from Babylon 5 as Ambassador Delenn. But I know her as "the crazy French lady" Rosseau (spelling?) from Lost. Very cool!!!

But if I keep attending, maybe one day I'll get to meet all or some of the people on my favorites list (which is apparently very male-dominated). : )

*Funny side story. My obssession with Superman Returns continues. This weekend, while playing Apples to Apples (an awesome game if you haven't tried it) with Ed (MOATT) and Deb, the card with "Superman" came up during play. The way the game works--well, one version of it--is that you flip over a card with a noun on it, such as Superman, and then the players in the game are required to choose from the adjective cards in their hands to come up with the one they think best describes the noun. Now, the trick is knowing the judge. Each player gets a turn as a judge, and it's up to the judge which adjective describes the noun the best. The adjective cards are then placed face down in front of the judge and mixed up so that the judge can't play favorites among the players. The first card I turned over to describe Superman was "luscious." I laughed my ass off...and totally picked that card as the winner. But the really funny part is that I thought Ed had chosen that one because he and I have always joked around about stuff like that. But no! Instead, I find out it's my long-suffering husband who knows me all too well. God love that man!

The other two cards for Superman were "delicious" (Ed's choice--yep, he knows me too!) and "phony" (Deb's choice, which I thought was really clever because Superman is not who he pretends to be all the time).

Also, while we're on the subject, I tivo'd HBO's First Look: Superman Returns, a little fifteen minute segment about the movie and saved it permanently...at least until the DVD comes out yet. Yes, I am that sad.

Book stuff

Things are happening. I can't really say what yet, but it's good news. : ) Stay tuned!

Dear Bryan Singer: I forgive you!

Bryan Singer is the guy who produced and/or directed the first two X-Men movies, the second of which I LOVED. But then when he signed on to do the new Superman movie (a project very close to his heart, evidently), the studio dropped him from the third X-Men movie. And, consequently, I think it sucked. For a while I blamed Bryan Singer for abandoning a series that HE made me care about.

But then I saw Superman Returns. It is the BEST MOVIE OF THE SUMMER!!!!! And you know with how many movies I see, I do not grant this title lightly. It is sooooo good. I was a huge fan of the movies in the 80s. Well, really only the second one where Superman gives up his powers to be with Lois Lane. Yeah, big shocker why I like that one out of all them. : ) So I was fully prepared to be "eh" about this one. I mean, who else could be Superman but Christopher Reeve?

This new guy, Brandon Routh, brought this totally different element to it. Some of it was the story and the writing, but some of it, I think, was also the acting. Superman is an alien. Can't even tell you how old I was before that finally clicked through. But he was raised among humans. In this movie, you really see the human part. The part that struggles with being the only alien, with being different, and the conflict he feels. I cried...twice! The emotions were just so strong.

I even liked Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. It was weird, though, to see the characters being played by actors near my age, probably younger. Kevin Spacey was a pretty good bad guy, as bad as Lex Luthor ever really is. He's always kind of funny and smart. He was totally the science geek who got beat up in high school by good looking jock-type guys like Superman. : )

So I saw the movie last night with Greg and then today, when I finished up with my work for the day, I hightailed it over to the theater again for a second showing. Only $5 during the day! : )

It is that good! Seriously. I'm buying it on DVD too, as soon as it comes out.

Bryan Singer, you have been redeemed in my eyes! : ) Also, thank you for House.

So go see it!

Friday. Wow.

So far, I'm really sucking with the whole blogging on a regular basis thing. I think it's because I'm busy during the day and then when I'm done, the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer again. So maybe I'll need to try writing entries in the morning.

Anyway, all is well at the Klemstein household this week. I gobbled up Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp (Becky, I got Greg to buy it for me as payment for sitting at his open house!) and Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre. Hee. Here's a funny story that reminds me of. When I was a kid, I always read far more than I spoke to people, so my vocabulary often outpaced by pronunciation. Macabre is another of those words (like lingerie and facade) that I butchered mercilessly. Think "ma-ka-bree." Yeah. I still have trouble with the word "grotesque." I keep wanting to say "gro-steek" instead, which is wrong in all kinds of ways!

Not much on the book front. I've been working and reworking the mystery project, based on some feedback I got, and honestly, I'm so sick of it right now, I could almost ditch it completely without any regrets. Almost. It's that damn almost that keeps driving me back to the keyboard. I love two of the characters in the story. And I can't let go of them even though I can't seem to wrestle the rest of the story in place. So...blame them if I'm crabby! : )

Hope you have a great weekend!

Mondays don't suck anymore!

Fought off a migraine on Saturday night. I was watching the last twenty minutes of Runaway Jury and starting seeing spots. *shudder* I don't think there's anything worse. My stomach tightens up with dread just from anticipating the pain.

My former boss taught me a trick for heading off most of the pain, chugging lots of caffeine as soon as you see the spots. I did it this time, and again, it worked. Of course, I've been off caffeine for like two or three years so two big glasses of Pepsi is a LOT of caffeine for me. I also took some of that Excedrin Migraine, which also has caffeine. So, the spots went away pretty quickly and the pain was less than it would have been, but man, I got NO sleep that night. : )

Head was still hurting on Sunday, but it was manageable.

Saturday was AuthorFest and that was a lot of fun, as usual. Saw some authors I know from years past (J.A. Konrath, Luisa Buehler, and Denise Fleischer--also the organizer) and met some new ones (Elysa Hendricks, among others!)

I also got some good news on Saturday. An author I asked to read Bitter Pill has recommended it to her publisher! So now I've just got to wait to hear back from the publisher. I'm excited and hoping for good news. : ) I'll keep you posted...

Still here!

It's taking me awhile to get the hang of this working from home. I'm slowly finding a schedule that works for me, but I haven't quite figured out where blogging fits in, obviously! If I do it as a break from working, I'm afraid I'll get too distracted. When I'm done working for the day, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer. So, that's one more thing to be figured out.

Things I have learned this week:

-My grand plans of exercising every day now that I set my own schedule have gone out the window. Yeah, that's another part of the schedule to work out.

-I still work better in terms of my writing if I get up in the morning and do that first. I have been really enjoying the ability to keep going when I'm on a roll instead of having to stop when I need to leave for work.

-The chair at my desk upstairs (my freelance area) is really freaking uncomfortable.

-If/when I have kids, Keanu Reeves would be a great labor coach. I'm using Speed as an example in the class I'm going to be teaching at Writers Institute in July, and in watching the movie again, I loved how calm he was when the bus was running out of gas or jumping over the 50 ft. gap in the freeway or partially blowing up. What's a baby compared to that!?! So, Keanu, be on the look out for my email reserving your services for a future date, okay? : )

That's enough for now. I've been on the computer here for HOURS and my eyes are starting to bug out. Or maybe that's from thinking about Keanu. Not sure. : )

Tomorrow--sorry for the short notice--please join me and a whole bunch of other fantastic authors at the second annual AuthorFest at the Schaumburg Library at 10:00 a.m. Come listen to panels, buy books and ask questions! Would love to see you there. : )

RT Photos, Take Two

I still can't get this to work. Ed, help please?!? : )

Weirdness

Status: Still working at 9:47 p.m. (though I did take an hour break to watch The Closer...love that Brenda. "Thank yewwww.")

Song on the iPod: "The Call" by The Backstreet Boys (yes, I should be ashamed, but it's so catchy!)

So I'm getting used to this whole working at home thing. I know, I know, it's been a couple weeks already. But last week I was in Wisconsin on vacation and the week before that my sister was here with me, keeping me entertained and on my toes.

To be honest, I was worried that I'd be tempted by television and books and the millions of things I could be doing instead of working or tracking down work. But what's weird is I've probably watched less television and spent fewer hours on the internet that I would have if I'd been at work. Don't get me wrong, I spend time procrastinating. But so far it's in the form working on backstory for the mystery project (Yes, the damn thing is still stuck, but I think I've figured out at least one of the major problems in it) or assembling four bookcases and putting together our little library here. So, at least it's productive, if not exactly in the right way.

Today I finished the handouts for my Writers Institute conference in July. Stacy G. is, I hope, going to proof them for me. I tend to leave out little words, like "an" and "the," and I don't always catch them right away when I'm the one writing instead of editing. And as the deadline is upon me, I've asked her to take a look at them.

I also figured out that the "party shuffle" feature on iTunes is pretty helpful for providing background music while working. Next I plan to see if I can figure out how to get the pictures off my digital camera. Yeah, I know it's been almost a year that I've had the thing. : )

Have to run...more work to do yet tonight. : ) I may, however, try to load my belated RT pictures on here first. We'll see if it works...

Greetings from the Northwoods

I am such cliche today. I actually left the cabin where my family is staying to come into town and visit the local internet cafe. MUST HAVE INTERNET ACCESS!

Anyway, we're all having a great time, hanging out, watching movies, sleeping in and killing off the millions of mosquitos that seem to see us an open buffet.

More later!!! : )

Guest blogger!

In my effort to keep filling this space with new and fascinating content, I've asked someone from the exotic and young Generation Y to write an entry for me. : ) See below...


Hey everyone its me again!!!
Depending on if you are an avid reader of my sister's blog you may remember my blog from last year. In case you are not (which I can't imagine), I appologize for my spelling, grammar, and basically anything else English related... I'm the math one in the family. So I'm staying up at Stacey's for a week. I'm about halfway through right now and it has been pretty great. Now that my sister is starting her own business she is busier but is at home more and it's fun (for me... who knows it could be annoying to be stuck with me all day... NAW!). We have a lot of inside jokes now which include dancing in the car and making up our own motions to songs (don't ask). This Sunday we are going up to vacation with my parents, my brother, and Greg. It should be sweet. I'm excited for the fishing although I don't quite think that is what Stacey is looking forward to.... you'll have to ask her lol.
On a personal note... for all of you that know me that is... I'm looking forward to my senior year. YEAH 07 BABY! I'm going to be legal in about four months. (my sister is dancing around the living room while cleaning FYI... does insanity run in the family?) Before yall ask NO I don't know what I will be doing for the rest of my life or where I'm going to study for it. I made yearbook editor for my senior year. I have my own office and computer and everything. Yeah it's cool. Yes well I really don't know what else to tell you all that could possibly be interesting to you and as my sister just pointed out... I am not writing a novel for you to read (unlike someone in my family... it's good go buy it!!!!) love ya bratface! So I will let you all go with this inspiring message...
I don't know that just sounded really good.... I'm 17 I'm not inspiring I'm a pain in the butt!!!
Bye Bye!!!!!!!!

It's aliiiiive!

Sorry, I know it's been forever. The last week, though, has been one for the record books. : ) Last Wednesday was my last day at my day job. The same job I've held for the last seven (almost) years. So it's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. No matter what else was happening at work, I loved so many of the people I worked with. I was fortunate enough to work with some awesome writers, designers and just all around good people.

Now I'm trying to get used to working at home. The hardest thing so far has been the scheduling thing. Balancing my fiction writing with my freelance efforts. But I'm sure it will get better as I get used to it. Plus, my sister is visiting this week, so I'm trying not to work the whole time as that wouldn't be much fun for either of us!

I've got my laptop all connected to the internet, my music successfully transferred from my work pc to home, and I'm working hard on fixing my plot problems in the mystery manuscript. I'm trying to remember that this is like starting a new job. It will take me some time to learn the new ways that work the best and then I'll better be able to balance everything.

Fun book stuff...
I just discovered a great trilogy of sci-fi books. They're intended for young adults, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Specials by Scott Westerfeld

RT Wrap up

Have to finish this up as I've got so much else to write about as well...like tomorrow being my last day at the official day job!!!

But first, back to RT. On Friday, Linnea and her husband took me out to dinner--saving me from a totally gross room service cheese pizza. The food was amazing at the restaurant. Billy's Tap and Grill, I think it was called. It had been in Daytona Beach in this same location for over eighty years. I had chicken a la orange and the best green beans I've ever had. After dinner we headed back to, where else?, the hotel bar to hang out. By this time, I was getting pretty tired from late nights and early mornings, so I decided to turn in but not before checking out the costumes at the Faery Ball. Wow. So many beautiful wings and some of them were even motorized to move back forth!

Saturday is the big book fair day. Isabo Kelly wasn't my book fair neighbor this year, but we still found some time to hang out and chat. I brought fifteen books to sell and sold eleven! Pretty darn good for a book that's been out for a year and a half, I say. A few people were even asking about the second book as they'd bought the first one the year before. Highlight of the day was seeing the woman who won my gift basket wearing the shirt with my book cover on it. I have her name written down somewhere, but heaven help me if I can find it! I also took a picture of us together, but of course, until I can get the pictures to work, we won't be seeing it!

Saturday night I hung out with Bonnie Vanak and we attended the Dorchester party, which was kind of an odd combination of rock and roll, bikers and skimpy clothing. I also got to spend a little more time with Isabo and a new friend, Laura Randle and her husband. After the party, a few of us met up with Linnea and headed over the to Mai Tai Bar. Unfortunately, it was much too crowded and loud so we ended up at Adobe Gila's. I had Sex on the Beach--the drink, of course--frozen, and it was delicious! I think it might be my new favorite drink but for my discomfort of asking for it.

Turned in at about 12:45 on Saturday night/Sunday morning and I was so tired I didn't pack a single thing. So Sunday morning was a little rushed. I had to get everything back into my huge suitcase, pack up a box of books to ship back to myself and get myself all organized and prepared for the trip on the plane home. Linnea offered--very generously, I might add--to go out of her way to drop me at the airport in Orlando. Which was a big relief. I so did not want to try to find the shuttle from the Daytona Beach airport to the Orlando Airport. I made it to the airport in plenty of time and settled in with a book and a package of coconut patties. Coconut Patties are the best food ever. I wish I'd bought a box of them to ship home. : )

All in all, a very good RT. Such a great time!!!

RT, Part Two

Sorry about that. Life suddenly intervened, tearing me away from this blog for a bit. I just finished my last full week of work at my day job and between making plans for the freelance business, packing up at work and recovering from RT...I didn't have time for much else!

I did, however, get another positive nibble on a query this week. Yea! So, I'll be keeping you posted on that as news develops.

I STILL cannot get my photos to load here properly, so unfortunately, photographic evidence of my adventures (me with a chocolate martini in one particular shot--wearing the necklace and earrings you made for me, Beck! I mean, I'm wearing them, not the martini) will have to wait until Ed, Master of All Things Technological, returns this week. Hmm, I think I'm going to make that his official title. His business cards would have his name followed by his title, MOATT for short. : )

But I can give you updates on the rest this way and then the pictures will show up eventually. Thursday morning I attended a terrific panel with Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson and Laurell K. Hamilton speaking. It was all about using humor in vampires books. I could have sat there and listened to them speak all day! They were hilarious. I made sure to stop by and say hi to Jon Green (LKH is his wife) afterward. They have both been so nice to me and really supportive over the years. Lovely people. : )

Then Linnea and I met up and took off for the mall and lunch away from the convention. Access to shopping while at RT is essential because it's guaranteed that you'll forget something. Heck, you're changing clothes three times a day. It's impossible to calculate all the stuff you'll need. After lunch at the Olive Garden--love those breadsticks--we returned to the hotel and I went and did my shift at Club RT. Club RT is basically a big room where all author gift baskets are displayed. Authors sign up for shifts and people who want to meet them come by and say hello. My gift basket, Hot Night of Alien Love, was well-received, I think. And I got to draw the name of the winner. I saw her later in line at another event and she was carrying around the shoulder bag I'd used to hold all the gift items together and then on Saturday, she wore the shirt with my book cover on it. How awesome is that?!? I have a picture of the two of us together and will post it as soon as I can.

Thursday night was the Vampires of the Carribean Ball. I wore my Morticia dress and actually had someone stop me and ask to take a picture of it. : ) I also got to meet Linnea's husband who was so nice! And very, very funny. One of those people who can say things with such a deadpan look that it's twice as funny as it would have been otherwise.

Friday was the only difficult day, programming-wise. They ran the paranormal romance sessions simultaneously with the sci-fi romance sessions, which is tricky because the audience for both of those overlap quite a bit. I attended the sci-fi sessions. Linnea was running the panel, and Kristin Nelson (Linnea's agent), Anne Groell (Linnea's editor), Rowena Cherry and Susan Kearney were all speaking. I'm glad I chose to attend these sessions as I left with a great deal of reassurance and validation that I was on the right track.

Okay, have to run now as I'm late for a wedding reception! I'll wrap up with details about the book fair and final parties when I return. Hopefully, I'll be able to do photos then too!

I'm back! The RT report

Sorry for the delay in posting. I forgot that it takes me a couple of days to recover from RT!

Where to begin? I don't even know. I guess first I have to say that writing is the best job in the whole world. : ) I love the opportunity that RT provides to get together with people who experience the same joys and struggles...at least as it pertains to writing.

I arrived on Tuesday and thanks to Denise Swanson, who generously offered to give me (and Susan McBride) a ride in her rental car, I was able to get to Daytona Beach much earlier than if I'd tried to fly in directly. We flew to Orlando first and then drove to Daytona Beach. It was raining and sooo humid. My hair immediately turned into a giant frizzball. Oh, well. My suitcase was also about ten pounds too heavy, and I could barely lug it around with me. Thank goodness for suitcases with wheels!

Got to the hotel and met up with Linnea Sinclair in front of the registration desk, quite by chance, actually. My room was fabulous (look for a picture of the view from it--I hope to have it posted by tomorrow) with a huge sliding glass door overlooking the beach and ocean. I loved it. I was very tempted to leave the door open so I could hear the ocean crashing onto the shore, but there was no screen and there were a lot of pigeons and cranes flying around. With my bird phobia, I just KNEW that one of them would fly into the room if I left the door open. In fact, that very thing happened later in the week to Anne Groell/Kate Brallier. Anne/Kate is Linnea's editor at Bantam as well as an author (hence the double names). A pigeon apparently flew into her room in the middle of the night. When I asked Linnea how Anne/Kate got rid of it, Linnea said she threw a book at it and it flew away. My luck? I would have killed it accidentally with the book and then I would have had to deal with a dead bird and being a bird murderer. *shudder* Better for me to just keep the door shut, I think.

Now the problem with RT is the days begin to blur together. I think Tuesday night where Linnea, Bonnie Vanak (another of my very favorite people) and I went out with our drinks and sat on the terrace that overlooks the beach. We'd gone to the welcome luau earlier but found it very crowded and overly warm. So, sitting outside with cold drinks and just chatting was so much fun.

Wednesday morning I went to a session about perfecting an in-person pitch to an agent or editor. I suck at this. I've done a couple of times, but I get too nervous and stumble over my words. I'm much better when I can send a query letter or an email. Which makes sense if you think about it. But that's one of the best things about RT is meeting agents and editors in a non-intimidating setting. Well, RT is sort of intimidating, but it's hard to feel nervous around someone who has just been out on the dance floor doing the Time Warp...again. : )

Wednesday afternoon (I think) I skipped a panel and took a nap--so boring, I know--and then went for a walk on the beach. Wednesday night was the Ellora's Cave "What's Your Fantasy?" Party. Cover models and aspiring models are included in this event. I have photos, but they're not cooperating. So, I'll probably have to try this from home.

Hmmm. Okay, the rest of this post has been called on account of faulty technology (or possibly user ignorance!) I'll post more tonight/tomorrow as soon as I can get the photos working.

A quick post...

I'm sitting here at the bar in the Hilton with the ocean right in front of me. So blue in all the sunshine here! Linnea let me use her laptop for a few minutes. : )

I walked on the beach yesterday for 45 minutes, just loving the sand and the water under my toes. I've seen soooo many people and still have a couple more I want to find.

The Ellora's Cave party was last night and...yeah, wow. Linnea took some pictures which I'm hoping she'll send me to post here.

More details later! Having a great time. : )

RT...it is upon us.

So, my huge suitcase is packed. I decided that it would be better to fit everything into one suitcase instead of trying to manage three smaller ones. I've just got to add my make-up, toothbrush, etc. in tomorrow morning. At FIVE A.M.! You know me. You know I don't get up when there's a five on the left side of my clock. But tomorrow, I will be. Flight leaves at 9:30 a.m. and with the checking of the bag ("I'm finished with the checking of the bags conversation!"--Name that movie!), I want to make sure that I've got enough time. I haven't flown by myself in years, and I find myself utterly terrified by this for some reason. I just flew last month with my brother. It's not like they changed anything recently. But going by myself seems so much more intimidating somehow. Like going to a foreign country by yourself.

Plus, I hate flying. I hate the sound when they close the door. I hate sitting next to strangers who phlegm-cough all over without covering their mouths or sometimes touch my leg inappropriately while they're sleeping (this is what happened off and on during our EIGHT hour flight to Maui). I hate that cold sick feeling you get when you're the last one standing at the baggage carousel and your suitcase still hasn't appeared.

And *insert pathetic whimper here* because of my luggage situation--no strong husband or brother coming along to help me haul half the contents of my house--I could only bring three books for the flight. Only three!!! Do you realize what this means? I could be totally screwed if one or more of them turns out to be not what I'm looking to read at that particular moment or if the hook provided in the first couple of pages doesn't pan out. I'm not worried about this on the return trip, of course, because I'll be stocking up at RT. But on the way there...I could be stuck who knows how many thousands of feet in the air without any decent reading material to distract me enough so that I can pretend I'm on a bus instead of thousands of feet in the air!

Oh. I feel faint.

Plus, my version of "excited nervous" is feeling like I have a bad combination of heartburn and nausea.

But tomorrow at this time, I'll be safely on the ground again (Please, God!), checked into my lovely hotel room (oceanfront room, did I mention that twelve times already?) and drinking with my friends. And it will all be okay.

At least, that's what I'll be reciting to myself until then. ; )

I'll try to post updates this week from RT, but I don't know what kind of internet access I'll have. But expect a full report in a week!