Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
With today being a time to give thanks, I thought it’d be fun to reflect on some of the things I’m thankful for in my writing life this year.
- My Golden Heart final. Having “Beauty and the Ballplayer” final in the GH did more than open new doors. It introduced me to a group of supportive sisters. (Hi, Starcatchers! Even when you don’t hear from me all that much, I treasure the time we spend chatting, whether it’s on our loop or Twitter.)
- The chance to go to RWA Nationals in NYC. I learned a lot at the sessions I was able to attend, bought the CD so I can listen to the ones I had to miss and was inspired by more than one keynote speaker. My credit card didn’t fare nearly so well, but that’s another story.
- Chatting with some of the authors whose books I’ve been reading, and loving, for years. That was a great experience, if a little surreal. Even greater? Realizing that they pull their pantyhose on one leg at a time, too. Wait — does anyone ever wear pantyhose anymore?
- A great RWA chapter. The ladies of NARWA are cheerleaders, sounding boards and, above all, friends.
- Finding not one, but two CPs. The relationships are still new, so we’re feeling our way — but I’m hoping they’ll lead to more success for all of us.
- Time to write. Whether I’m writing alone or with chaptermates and other friends, I cherish time with my trusty iBook. (I am, however, ready and willing to upgrade to a new MacBook Pro as soon as I win the lottery … or sign a book deal that advances me enough cash to augment my paltry “buy a MacBook” savings account.)
- Starbucks. You knew I couldn’t leave the Bux off my “what I’m thankful for” list. I spend so much time there that all the baristas know me by name. I should probably count that as more curse than blessing, no?
Yes, my writing life has truly been blessed in 2011. Here’s hoping 2012 will be just as great.
What do you do when one trusted friend tells you to scrap the first chapter of one of the stories you plan on entering in the 2012 GH?
If it’s a chapter you love, chock-full of hilarious lines and
you’re not ready to hear the fateful directive to “chop it,” you seek a second opinion.
And when the Starcatcher sister offering said second opinion concurs, saying that she, too, thinks the beginning makes both hero and heroine look less-than-heroic …
Well, you bite the bullet and cut your beloved first chapter, which began life as a prologue to begin with. (I should have known that no one would be fooled by my slapping it with a “Chapter 1” header.)
It wasn’t easy to cut a chapter that starts out like this: “When Melinda’s now-ex-fiancé admonished her to grow up, she doubted playing tonsil hockey with a man old enough to be her father was what he’d had in mind.”
Okay, maybe a wee bit of “ick factor” lurks in that beginning. (Thanks, Anna, for putting your finger on that one. It may be why I didn’t final in the Rubies’ first line contest this time.)
Finally, I was willing to admit to myself that the pages didn’t paint either of them in the best light — even though they you see right away that Mel was overexaggerating Dave’s age.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t as painful as I expected. I plan to work in some of the funnier bits as part of the backstory — and when this novel makes it to publication, don’t be surprised to see Dave and Melinda’s “how it all began” pop up on the blog as an online extra.
I will survive my MS’s massive surgery — without too much bleeding, I hope.
I’m glad to have friends who’ll tell me the cold, hard truth — even when I’m not quite ready to hear it.
Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a Mac girl — always have been. So it’s no surprise that I, along with the rest of the world, was saddened by Steve Jobs’ death.
The man truly was an innovator, and we wouldn’t be who we are without his creations. I’m typing this blog post on my iPhone right now.
Since I’m an almost-40-year-old dinosaur, my first experience with computers was in a nine-week eighth-grade computer class. They were old gray Radio Shack computers with green screens and big floppy disks. About the only thing I remember was typing in lines of code to run a Frogger-type game.
I didn’t think computers were for me. Same thing happened in college when I took my first journalism class. We had IBM computers with blue screens and c: prompts. I hated using those things.
Then I visited the college newspaper office and had my first experience with a Mac. It was one of those classic one-piece Macs … And it was love at first sight. It was the first time I could see a computer becoming part of my life.
Did it ever! I became an editor at the paper, so I had a key to the office and could often be found there late at night, writing papers and jamming to Depeche Mode.
By the time my campus opened a snazzy new Mac lab, I was doing all my papers on the computer instead of the Brother typewriter my Mom got me for Christmas while I was in high school.
Sadly, I left the Macs behind when I graduated. My office used a Sun system until a few months before I left, when they switched to iMacs.
When I bought my first computer for my place, in 1995, there was no question it’d be a Mac. I replaced it with an iMac in 2000 and a laptop several years later.
I’ve completed all of my MSs and many great research papers on Macs. Thanks, Steve, for helping me become the writer I am.
When opportunity knocks, you listen. So when an encounter through the day job led to a chance to be profiled on a Phoenix PR firm’s website, I seized the opportunity.
I was in contact with Alison Bailin, a senior account executive at HMA Public Relations, about a new Subway restaurant opening in Flagstaff. As we exchanged e-mails, we discovered a mutual interest in romance writing. (She’s read every Jackie Collins novel published and would love to take Collins’ place on the bestseller list.)
HMA Public Relations’ blog features Media Monday, posts about members of the media (that’s me!) doing cool, non-media things. Here’s mine.
You can find a link to past Media Monday posts here.
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