I'm having the best time. Yesterday's lunch was at a restaurant called Boulevard, with a view of the Golden Gate and lovely, light, beautifully presented food. How could I have forgotten to mention that there was a third favorite person present, Diane Moggy. Diane is a study in grace, good manners, and beauty. On top of all that, she's smart. The four of us really enjoyed our get-together.
Evening brought Nancy Berland's wonderful party, at the lovely St. Francis Hotel, in their historic St. Francis suite. Elegance and good company--we honor various librarians and booksellers, and of course I always enjoy seeing writer friends there. Nancy and her team do a FABULOUS job--it's hands-down my favorite RWA event.
Good news! I was given an award from Borders Books--"McKettrick's Heart" showed the greatest improvement in sales of the year! I was so excited, and had no clue. Life was too crazy before the conference, or I'd have seen the notice in the RWR, RWA's report to members. Duh!
I'm having breakfast with Jill Marie Landis and Kristen Hannah, two MORE of my favorite people, this morning. After that, Jenni and I are heading for Chinatown. We have the whole day before the party for Single-Title writers tonight--thrown by Harlequin. (It means we write stand-alone books, instead of or as well as Special Editions, Desires, etc.)
I'm loving this! I took a year off from the actual conference, as many of you know, but next year, in Washington, D.C., I'll be back in the swing.
More later. Gotta go and get spiffed up for breakfast!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The City by the Bay
I can see why Tony Bennett would leave his heart in San Francisco. It's a lovely place.
Except for a delayed bag, the travel angels answered my prayers for a hassle-free day. I had a dinner scheduled for last night, with my publicist, Nancy Berland, and her gang. We went to a place called Silks--beyond fabulous. (Fortunately, I had hit Chico's in the mall near the hotel earlier, so I didn't have to show up in my airplane outfit.) I had the sea bass, and ladies and gentlemen, it was delectable. Also helped me stay in my skinny jeans--too much sourdough bread yesterday, though, so I'll be reining it in a little today! At the end of a literally perfect meal, we were served a melted chocolate drink in a tiny cup, with a tiny glass of beer (of all things) for a chaser. DELICIOUS. And we joked from then on about what my Creed and McKettrick boys' version of this would be: melted Hershey bars and Coors!
Today, I'm having lunch with two of my all-time favorite people, KO and Marleah, of Harlequin fame, and I'll be attending Nancy Berland's party for librarians and booksellers tonight. In between, back to the mall! And Chinatown is just a short walk from this beautiful hotel. Gotta go get my cheap souvenirs, collage goodies, and Feng Shui charms. :) (I want all the good luck I can rustle up.)
Right now? I'm heading out to see if I can scare up one of those little bitty coffee pots. :) Fancy as this hotel is, I need CAFFEINE in regular doses!
More later! (On the continuing adventures of a cowgirl in the Big Smoke.)
In the meantime, one word sizes it all up:
YEE-HAW!
Except for a delayed bag, the travel angels answered my prayers for a hassle-free day. I had a dinner scheduled for last night, with my publicist, Nancy Berland, and her gang. We went to a place called Silks--beyond fabulous. (Fortunately, I had hit Chico's in the mall near the hotel earlier, so I didn't have to show up in my airplane outfit.) I had the sea bass, and ladies and gentlemen, it was delectable. Also helped me stay in my skinny jeans--too much sourdough bread yesterday, though, so I'll be reining it in a little today! At the end of a literally perfect meal, we were served a melted chocolate drink in a tiny cup, with a tiny glass of beer (of all things) for a chaser. DELICIOUS. And we joked from then on about what my Creed and McKettrick boys' version of this would be: melted Hershey bars and Coors!
Today, I'm having lunch with two of my all-time favorite people, KO and Marleah, of Harlequin fame, and I'll be attending Nancy Berland's party for librarians and booksellers tonight. In between, back to the mall! And Chinatown is just a short walk from this beautiful hotel. Gotta go get my cheap souvenirs, collage goodies, and Feng Shui charms. :) (I want all the good luck I can rustle up.)
Right now? I'm heading out to see if I can scare up one of those little bitty coffee pots. :) Fancy as this hotel is, I need CAFFEINE in regular doses!
More later! (On the continuing adventures of a cowgirl in the Big Smoke.)
In the meantime, one word sizes it all up:
YEE-HAW!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Oh, What a Day I've Had!
First thing this morning, I get an unnerving phone call--on my unlisted number.
Then I find out someone has been shopping at Walmart and Home Depot--in Florida, no less--using my credit card info.
One of the fire alarms went off this afternoon and terrified my poor little Yorkie.
I leave for San Francisco at 4:30 tomorrow morning.
It's 9:12 pm and I haven't even packed.
Need I say more?
If you're of a praying disposition, send up a word for this beleaguered and very frazzled cowgirl, please. I'd appreciate it.
Then I find out someone has been shopping at Walmart and Home Depot--in Florida, no less--using my credit card info.
One of the fire alarms went off this afternoon and terrified my poor little Yorkie.
I leave for San Francisco at 4:30 tomorrow morning.
It's 9:12 pm and I haven't even packed.
Need I say more?
If you're of a praying disposition, send up a word for this beleaguered and very frazzled cowgirl, please. I'd appreciate it.
Another Trip
Tomorrow morning, early, I will be squired to the airport for a trip to San Francisco. I'm unofficially attending RWA (Romance Writers of America). I say 'unofficially', because I'm not actually registered for the conference. This year, I'm just meeting with certain friends and attending events put on by Harlequin and my publicist, Nancy Berland. It's pure self-indulgence, because I've had the most frenzied summer. I need a 'breather' year, a chance to be an observer.
While always fun and very educational, RWA is stressful, too. There are those who, though vastly and fortunately outnumbered by friendly and professional people, want to take you down a peg. Make sure you're not enjoying that success a little TOO much. What is it with people like that??? I'll bet you know some.
They're the ones who tell you things (always bummers) For Your Own Good. And they're everywhere, it seems to me. Here's this cowgirl's answer to the knife-under-the-ribbers: Your approval, while always appreciated, is not required.
Critical people are always authorities on everything--have you ever noticed? I wonder what it's like to have that much free time, not to mention that they must have all their OWN ducks in a row, if they feel justified in telling other people how to live.
I'm taking my laptop along on this trip, as I'm behind on a deadline and frankly a trip out of town right now is just about the LAST thing I need, so I'll blog as often as I can, as well as writing TYLER. (Yum. Hunka-hunka burnin' love!)
I also plan to: visit an art supply/rubber stamp/scrapbooking store--eat a LOT of seafood--hoist a glass or two with good friends--and generally appreciate what a lucky woman I truly am. Whoopee--it's FUN to be me. (Also expensive. :))
More tomorrow, probably toward sundown. I'm asking my angels for a hassle-free flight. No delays. No cancellations. Nobody taking up all of their seat and half of mine.
I do not love the transit part of travel, as you might gather from the above sentence. (And if I hadn't just ranted on being critical, I'd tell you what I think of the airlines!) But I love the places I go, and I love coming home even more.
It's all good. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
While always fun and very educational, RWA is stressful, too. There are those who, though vastly and fortunately outnumbered by friendly and professional people, want to take you down a peg. Make sure you're not enjoying that success a little TOO much. What is it with people like that??? I'll bet you know some.
They're the ones who tell you things (always bummers) For Your Own Good. And they're everywhere, it seems to me. Here's this cowgirl's answer to the knife-under-the-ribbers: Your approval, while always appreciated, is not required.
Critical people are always authorities on everything--have you ever noticed? I wonder what it's like to have that much free time, not to mention that they must have all their OWN ducks in a row, if they feel justified in telling other people how to live.
I'm taking my laptop along on this trip, as I'm behind on a deadline and frankly a trip out of town right now is just about the LAST thing I need, so I'll blog as often as I can, as well as writing TYLER. (Yum. Hunka-hunka burnin' love!)
I also plan to: visit an art supply/rubber stamp/scrapbooking store--eat a LOT of seafood--hoist a glass or two with good friends--and generally appreciate what a lucky woman I truly am. Whoopee--it's FUN to be me. (Also expensive. :))
More tomorrow, probably toward sundown. I'm asking my angels for a hassle-free flight. No delays. No cancellations. Nobody taking up all of their seat and half of mine.
I do not love the transit part of travel, as you might gather from the above sentence. (And if I hadn't just ranted on being critical, I'd tell you what I think of the airlines!) But I love the places I go, and I love coming home even more.
It's all good. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
What I Did This Summer
Well, okay, today.
I had the best of intentions, but the fact is, I ended up puttering in my studio all day. I never even got out of my pajamas!
Now, I've taken some good-natured ribbing for calling my little heaven-on-earth a 'studio' instead of a craft room. Here's how I figure it. I do art, and that makes me an artist, and an artist works in a STUDIO, right? (Nobody said it had to be GOOD art, did they? I'm still learning, here!)
Just what do I do in there? Well, I work on ATCs (artist trading cards) and today I experimented with a batch printed on inkjet canvas paper. Cool! Also, I colored some vellum envelopes with alcohol-based ink. BEYOND cool. I prepared the background for a piece I intend to give my 89 year old aunt for Christmas. (She's the nonjudgemental type: no matter how bad it turns out, she'll hang it on her wall, bless her.)
I finally worked up the courage to send in my first card, in hopes of joining other ATC fanatics and trading. It was just like sending in my first manuscript--I was SURE the card would come shooting back along with a note reading: "please do not attempt to join our trading group again.
Your card sucks."
:)
It's always good to be a beginner at something. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone with this one.
The dogs were bored crazy and thought I'd lost my mind. But at least I didn't end up at the casino. :)
I had the best of intentions, but the fact is, I ended up puttering in my studio all day. I never even got out of my pajamas!
Now, I've taken some good-natured ribbing for calling my little heaven-on-earth a 'studio' instead of a craft room. Here's how I figure it. I do art, and that makes me an artist, and an artist works in a STUDIO, right? (Nobody said it had to be GOOD art, did they? I'm still learning, here!)
Just what do I do in there? Well, I work on ATCs (artist trading cards) and today I experimented with a batch printed on inkjet canvas paper. Cool! Also, I colored some vellum envelopes with alcohol-based ink. BEYOND cool. I prepared the background for a piece I intend to give my 89 year old aunt for Christmas. (She's the nonjudgemental type: no matter how bad it turns out, she'll hang it on her wall, bless her.)
I finally worked up the courage to send in my first card, in hopes of joining other ATC fanatics and trading. It was just like sending in my first manuscript--I was SURE the card would come shooting back along with a note reading: "please do not attempt to join our trading group again.
Your card sucks."
:)
It's always good to be a beginner at something. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone with this one.
The dogs were bored crazy and thought I'd lost my mind. But at least I didn't end up at the casino. :)
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