Weekend on a Snow-bound Train

That's where I'll be spending MY weekend--with Lizzie McKettrick and the man she's going to marry. Lizzie's in a big hurry to get home to the Triple M for Christmas, but one little thing got in her way. An avalanche. Few things interest me more than a McKettrick up against a big problem. They are innovative folk, those McKettricks.

My lovely editor, Joan Marlow Golan, who will soon be visiting for a couple of days, sent me the most marvelous book as a pre-hostess gift. It's called "Women and Horses", and it's full of lovely illustrations. We DO seem to have a special bond with horses, we women. I know my Buck goes ballistic if he even sees a cowboy hat--he was badly abused--but I used to ride him without a problem. Then my dad saw him act up in the breezeway one day, back in Arizona, and made me promise not to ride Buck again. Now, he's a pet. He's earned the right to retire in style.

We just haven't had enough construction around here. Now, we're starting a staff house. My cousin, Mary Ann, and her husband work for me, as does their daughter, Jenni. Jenni now lives in a small apartment over the barn. Mary Ann and Larry and their two dogs will live across the road--I'm sure they'll be glad to get out of my basement. (It's not really a basement--it has a fireplace and two sets of French doors, as well as a kitchenette, and measures approximately 2900 square feet.) Once the move is made, I plan to convert that area into the mother of all offices. I already have this killer Hooker desk, and my Lifetime Achievement Rita will occupy a place of honor on the mantel. The carpet will be replaced with hardwood, and of course I'll need oodles of book shelves. The Civil War collection alone would fill a box car.

I've mentioned that I'm going to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas this December. Before that, I'll be in New York for some meetings and some power shopping. Now that I have a wireless card, I'll be able to blog from the road, and share the experience with all of you. I'll be touring the Southern states this winter, to promote "Deadly Deceptions", the new Mojo book, and the West in late September, early October, for "The Rustler", the new Stone Creek western. Both will be mass market paperbacks--easier on the budget.

I've ordered a digital recorder, too, as I plan to start an audio blog. Keep an eye on the website.

Now, where did I leave that snow-bound train? Oh, yes. It's midway between Flagstaff and Indian Rock....

Late Again

I'm sure holding up the show on that snowed-in train caught between Flagstaff and Indian Rock, that's for sure. Lizzie McKettrick will have an accounting when I get there, I promise you. :) (A McKettrick Christmas, hardcover, I'll let you know the release date.) Also, the first McKettrick books, High Country Bride, Shotgun Bride and Secondhand Bride will be re-released by Pocket Books in November of 08.

The bug is still holding on a little, but I did manage to slither out of its grasp for a few hours yesterday afternoon, after seeing my doctor for a pre-op visit. I went to the casino, of course, and came out $500 ahead. Yeehaw!

And speaking of casinos! I get to go to Las Vegas in December for the National Finals Rodeo. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am. The best seats in the house have Wranglers on them, if you know what I mean. I'll be playing slots and running with a cowboy crowd--my favorite kind of outfit.

Toward the end of October, my friend and publicist, Nancy Berland, is coming out from Oklahoma to get some video of me with the horses--on April--out at the lake house, etc. We'll have film up on the website soon after that. (Warning: I'm not as skinny as I look in my publicity pictures.)

Free the Cone-heads!

As I write this, Sadie is sitting beside my chair, looking up at me from the center of the plastic cone she's been wearing for the last two weeks. Today is stitch-removal day! In a few minutes, we'll be headed down the hill to the vet's office. We're both looking forward to the restoration of regular beagle-dog status!

I continue to recover from my dental surgery, and the bug that attacked immediately afterward. I spent all of yesterday snoozing, with Bernice and Sadie tucked in on both sides, as they always do if I'm sick. Of course it's instinctive behavior--a pack member is down--but it feels good just the same.

Later today, it's pre-op for my foot surgery. Tomorrow, I'll try to get on more cheerful ground!

The Glamorous Life of the Writer

Oh, the glamor of it all! Yesterday, I had dental surgery. I'm on pain pills, and have this gob of stuff stuck to my lower gums.

There is dog hair all over every garment I own.

Sadie gets her stitches out tomorrow--no more cone-head beagle! In the meantime, she uses the cone to bash into the backs of my legs to get my attention. :)

I'm writing this blog in my pajamas, with my hair sticking out in every direction.

The glamor just never stops.

:)

Reconnecting

Isn't it wonderful when you reconnect with someone from your past? Last month, while doing a signing at the wonderful Barnes and Noble store in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, I noticed a familiar face. Lo and behold, it was my good friend, Cheri--I hadn't seen her in an embarrassing number of years. Her lovely smile was still the same.

Back in the old days, neither Cheri nor I had the proverbial two nickels to rub together. We met at our daughters' dance school in Bremerton, Washington, when they were hardly more than toddlers. We haunted the main library in Bremerton--checked out piles of books and discussed them in depth, and often when one of us returned a book, the other would be waiting to check it out. We devoured Taylor Caldwell, Velda Johnston, Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt, and the wonderful Janice Holt Giles. Beyond books, we were a two-woman support system. I was new in town, and not particularly happily married, and I knew no one--until Cheri.

Somehow, busy with children, divorces and all manner of other things, we lost touch. You can only imagine my delight when I saw her standing there at the book store, smiling at me.

Now, Cheri lives in Spokane. Yesterday, we went to lunch together, and did some catching up. We talked and talked--in, of all places, the bar at Northern Quest Casino. (That's another story. I didn't come home with a jackpot, but I played all afternoon on a hundred bucks. :)) It will take many more lunches before we truly catch up on all those intervening years, but in the meantime, what a joy this is to me!

Cheri, I'm so glad you're back in my life. I missed you.