Seattle

I returned late last night from Seattle--I had such a great time over there! The big event was dinner with a crew from my wonderful publishers, Harlequin's HQN imprint. We had a lovely time at Daniel's Broiler--I highly recommend the place if you're in the market for a good Seattle restaurant. My choice was the lobster salad. :) Dee--lish--IOUS!

I stayed at the Hotel Max--and that was quite the experience. This is a boutique hotel, I guess you'd call it, and the theme is 80s Rockstars, mostly--if not all--Seattle bands. Every door has a full-length black-and-white of someone from a grunge group, and there are eye charts at the end of each hallway. This produces a weird effect--I compared it to being caught inside Kurt Cobane's head. :)

Lest you think I'm panning this hotel, NOT SO. The service is sensational, and there is a great Sushi restaurant attached, called the Red Fin. Since I believe it's a very good thing to cut loose once in a while and do something different, I'm going on record as saying I had a great time at the Max.

I visited my favorite stores--Coldwater Creek and Chico's--and spent a few hours at the famed Pike Place Market, too. I was, once again, blown away by the variety of flowers on sale there--such colors. Although I love my country life, the one thing I envy about big cities is the availability of fresh flowers. (Guess I could grow some. I need one more thing to feed and water like I need a hole in the head.)

The dogs and cats were very glad to see me last night--lots of cuddling went on around here. This morning, my horses were waiting at the fence, glad to see me, but more interested in being fed.

Situation, normal.

It's good to get away. It's even better to come home again.

To Seattle Today, But First...

There are horses to feed! :)

I've decided not to take my laptop along, but will do my best to blog on the hotel's business center computer--that worked in London.

I have a business dinner tonight, and I'm REALLY looking forward to connecting with three of my Harlequin buddies. Business or no business, they are always a fun bunch.

If all goes well, I'll be prowling the downtown Seattle Coldwater Creek in a few short hours. :) (If you're there, and you see a woman with flecks of hay in her hair, that will be me!)

Yesterday I received a cover for DYLAN, the second book in the trilogy that will start in February 09. (To paraphrase the signs I used to see at Shakey's Pizza, "If #2 has arrived, can #1 be far behind?") Ladies and gentlemen, let me go on official record here as saying that this cover is not only the best one I've ever had, it's the best one I've ever SEEN! I'd just love to show it to you right now--and will see that it is posted on the website ASAP, along with the others. Brace yourself for a major (and delicious) dose of Montana Cowboy, at his finest.

Be well, be happy and be grateful.

I'll be back to this blog by Thursday morning at the very latest.

It's the Small Things...

For instance: I have been sick for days, locked in low gear. I've even complained about it on this blog--like you need THAT--and here's what I discovered. I was dehydrated. I've started drinking a LOT more water, and I already feel better.

As you may have guessed, I am extremely ambitious. I like to do BIG things. The problem with that, of course, (which should have been obvious to me all along, as it probably is to you) is that the whole system of things seems to be geared toward starting small and growing. The entire universe apparently came from an impossibly dense ball of something, no larger than a tennis ball! Oaks rise from acorns; they're seedlings at first, but they slowly send their roots down deep into the good Earth, and take their time spreading out their branches. Books are written a single word at a time. A painting begins with one stroke of a pencil or brush...

You can see where I'm going with this, I'm sure. And just in case you think I'm preaching, I'm not--not to you, anyway. But I've got plenty to say to myself! Instead of looking at the enormous whole of some task or project, I'm trying to see the small steps I can take, today, to head in that direction.

As an artist, I tend to be drawn to big canvases. But it's my ATCs, little 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 cards, that actually get done--and often inspire ideas for a larger piece.

And now--I have horses to feed. They're certainly not small things, but I'm including them here anyway. :) I LOVE going out to the barn in the early morning, love the way they wait for me as I approach, nickering for their special sweet-feed supplement, served in round plastic pans. One, usually Traveler or April, the newest and shyest members of the herd, usually comes up to me for a nuzzle and some ear-scratching.

Life is so very good. And I'm going to pay more attention to the little things, because that's where the real action is.

I'm off to Seattle tomorrow for a meeting, and I will try to blog. If that's not possible for some reason, I'll be back on September 12.

And now--gotta go. The horses are waiting, and none too patiently. :)

Feeding Horses & Other Worthy Enterprises

The sun is just about to rise, and I'm looking forward to heading out to the barn to feed the horses and have a morning chat with them. Horse energy is a very special thing and, of course, different from dog or cat energy.

I took off to have a haircut yesterday (badly needed) and so I have some catching up to do today. I did manage to write ten pages--but I have yet to get Gideon to that wedding! He and I are trying to figure out how to go about it. :)

I've been fighting off a cold or a case of the flu for weeks--yesterday, it almost tackled me. I outran it though, and hope to do so again today. Obviously, the horses have to be fed, whether I feel like doing it or not. And that chapter must be written, if I'm to have the book done before I leave on my "Rustler" tour September 30, which is my goal. It's certainly going to be a challenge--this is my FOURTH full-length book this year, after all--but I'm asking for extra Grace to get it done.

What would I do without Grace?

Perish the thought.

Have a great weekend, ladies and gentlemen. I definitely intend to--though it might involve hot toddies or Nyquil. :)

Linda Strikes Gold!

I went out to feed the horses this morning--turned out, the Canadian Wrangler had already done it, and this two hours before he's supposed to get on an airplane. (That's dedication, ladies and gentlemen.) Anyway, since I was out and about, I decided to poke around in the shop, looking for my massive collection of rubber stamps, etc.

Well, what to my wondering eyes should appear? (I'm doing Christmas ATCs, bear with me). I found a photo album my mother kept for me as I was growing up--a treasure--and it's been missing for YEARS. Just plain missing in action. I caught a flash of something red in the top of a box, and there it was!!!! I'm telling you, this cowgirl all but danced and shouted "Hallelujah!"

Now I can scan all those pictures, report cards, and other things--including a yellowed clipping from a movie magazine. I asked Michael Landon (I ADORED him, and still do) a question, and "he" answered (yeah, right), but I was convinced at the time. I wanted to know--badly enough to write a letter, no less--whether he was 25 or 26. And how often he visited his children. I was heartbroken over his divorce from the first wife (as far as I know), Dodie. I've often wondered what ever happened to her. :) I hope she remarried, and is very happy.

It's hard when heroes disappoint, whether you're 12 or 60. That's why I'll never disappoint you. You can count on my heroes doing the right thing. If that makes them predictable, so be it.

Now, I've got to catch up with Gideon. He's planning to steal a bride (along with her two great-aunts and a housekeeper), five minutes before she says "I do" to the Wrong Man.

This, I've got to see.