New Experiences

Today DH and I are attending a wedding reception - but not just any wedding reception. This will be a new experience for us. You see, this will be the first lesbian wedding reception we've ever been to.

I was at a loss about what sort of gift bag and card to buy, since it's not an actual legal wedding in this state, but I went ahead and got a traditional bag with wedding themes and a regular wedding card. Frankly, I think all this couple wants to do is be like any other couple, with one obvious exception. The weird thing is, the last time I went to a party hosted by "the bride," it was a housewarming for her and her then hubby. DH tells me we'll probably be the only straight couple there (she works with DH). And I'm okay with that - I think. You see, I'm a pretty liberal person with this sort of thing, but events such as this definitely push me to the limits of my comfort zone. I know I SHOULD be comfortable attending the party, but since it's a new thing for me, I hope I don't say the wrong thing. Maybe I'll just stick with the tried and true, "Mazel Tov!" What about you? Have you taken a stroll outside your comfort zone lately?

On Supporting Other Authors

Today is the release day for my friend Katie's very first book, City of Secrets, and I'm soooo excited for her. Not only is Katie as sweet as she can be, but she's one of those people who is so supportive of every other author in our RWA chapter. So, first thing this morning, I bought her book. I hope everyone reading this does too, because not only am I sure it's going to be a great read (I've read the prologue so far and I'm already hooked!), but she deserves to see her name on the Wild Rose Press' best seller list.

Yesterday my RWA chapter hosted our annual Bookseller/Librarian Tea and we had nearly 20 local booksellers and librarians in attendance. It was great, and opened a dialogue that will yield speaking engagements, book signing and who knows what else. It's one of those things none of us could have done alone, but by each lending a hand, we'll all benefit.

OK - I'll step off my soap box - for now!

My friend Katie Reus, author of sexy romantic suspense from http://www.katiereus.blogspot.com/ has given me an award! The Blogging with Purpose Award! Katie is an awesome blogger herself and I can't wait to read her upcoming release - her very first - because I know it'll be wonderful! So now I get to hand off the award to 5 bloggers who have not received the award yet for their contribution to Blogdom. There are so many good blogs out there, it's hard to choose just 5!

The rules are:
1. Nominate 5 blogs which haven't had this award before
2. Each of the blogs must have a purpose
3. The nominated blogs must make a link back to this page
4. The logo from the award must be put on their blog and it must link back to this blog.

Here goes:

1. http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com/ All sorts of great info for writers - just love it!

2. http://www.jenniferonwriting.blogspot.com/ Lots of good stuff about many aspects of the industry.

3. http://www.jennabayley-burke.blogspot.com/ Jenna Bayley-Burke's blog with all sorts of tips and heads ups. Jenna is so sweet to share all things related to helping other authors learn and grow - love her!

4. http://www.barbarasamuel.com/blog/ Author Barbara Samuel's great blog all about the mental process of creating, her travels, etc.

5. http://kelleynyrae.blogspot.com/ Author Kelley Nyrae's blog features reviews, news and all sorts of interesting tidbits. Kelley's a doll, too.

Book Club Fun

I had a really fun evening this week. A local book club chose The Kitten Club as their May reading selection and invited me to join their meeting, held at a really cool wine bar called, The Vineyard. The ladies were all very nice, very bright and had lots of thought provoking questions for me. They also picked my brain for my thoughts on the book's characters and themes. After a few minutes of neighborhood news (they all live in a swanky development in the south of Orlando), they all jumped in, discussing the reader questions I'd given them a few weeks earlier and giving their opinions on the characters' motivations and development. The very coolest thing was listening to people talk about my characters like they were as real to them as they are to me. That's one of the best parts of being a writer to me, creating a world that readers willingly step into.
What about you? What's your favorite thing about writing fiction? As a reader, do you always immerse yourself in the world of a book, or is that something that only happens once in a while?

Reality Bytes

I'm truly, totally ashamed of myself. I've never been much of a TV watcher, save a few favorites at a time - currently Ugly Betty and Damages. But with the entire season lost due to the writers' strike, reality TV has filled the void left by all the shows that fell by the wayside.
Now, I've always been one to make fun of such bits of fluff as Survivor, Dancing With the Stars, Big Brother, etc. Only lately, with nothing else to watch when I wanted to veg out, I was forced to take a taste of the reality show apple and Lord - the fruit poisoned me!
Yes - I've done it - I started watching three - yes, THREE different reality shows, one more asinine than the next. How did it happen? I have no idea. One day I was laughing about the premise that an aging rock star could really find his mate from a bevy of beautiful girls. The next moment, I was glued to Rock of Love!
I scoffed at a Beverly Hills matchmaker who makes her living finding the right woman for an assortment of California millionaires. Suddenly, I was searching the TV listings for Millionaire Matchmaker.
But my favorite is a bit less fluff (well - you could say a bit more). I love Discovery Health's National Body Challenge - thirty minute shows about some poor overweight person (or this season, set of twins) who lucks into having a personal trainer, two doctors and a healthy cooking expert working on their behest! How cool is that. Then you get to see the before and after and everything in between.
Okay - I know - I have the reality bug and I need a vaccine against any more of it! What about you? Did the reality bug byte you?

A Writer's Personality

As you could imagine, I know many, many writers. Some are shy, some are very outgoing. The solitary nature of the work often has one of two different effects. Either the person is shy and quiet, OR they are so full of things to say when they emerge from the cave that they're quite outgoing, chatty even. I seem to know a few extremes at either end of the spectrum.

One writer friend would rather have a root canal than speak in public or do a book signing. Another talks so much, you want to muzzle her or carry your own pair of ear plugs when she's around! Funny how the same profession can breed such opposite types. I'm somewhere in the middle - toward the outgoing end, but not a hundred percent comfortable speaking in public, although I've forced myself to do it more and more so I get over that.

What about you? Are you the silent type or the person everyone wants to gag, or somewhere in the middle?

Auditory Overload

I am a silent worker. I can't create with music in the background, television noise or conversation. Concentration is a tenuous lifeline I hang onto when I work, hence the reason I do most of my writing during the day while the kids are at school and the house is quiet. Yet I find an unlikely source of distraction mingles with the rhythmic ticking of the cuckoo clock. One of my cats has a snoring problem. Both felines gravitate to my office during the day for their all-day naps. My Russian Blue is a silent sleeper, thankfully. He climbs onto a swivel chair and somehow turns the seat toward the wall, creating his little private space. But the other cat, my baby, snores the paint off the walls as she sleeps. What ever happened to the notion of cat naps? I used to think all cats were light sleepers, prone to wake at any little noise. But this cat sleeps like the dead. All hell could break loose around her and she'd keep on snoozing. I'm seriously considering ear plugs.
What about you? Do you play classical music while you work, or watch the TV out of the corner of your eye? Or must you crawl into the proverbial cave, surrounded by silence to entice the muse out?