Happy Halloween!!!

Just got back from Trick or Treating. You'll think my costume most original this year. I went as Mrs. Matthew McConaughey. When asked about that I gave the person asking a funny look and said, "Ahem, can't you see the really big smile on my face???" My hubby didn't find my response amusing. ;)

I got tagged!

After clarifying that being tagged didn't mean I had won a prize trip to Hawaii, nor that I had won a weekend get-away with Matthew McConaughey (sigh! I was really hoping for that one!), I've learned that my tagging just means I have to think really hard to come up with answers. It's late, so I'm not sure how that thinking is going to work out, but here goes:

1) One book that changed your life: From the Torrid Past by ?? It was a Second Chance At Love book that I snuck & read when I was...way too young to be reading about torrid pasts. Reading that book was when I KNEW that I wanted to write romance novels. I started penning stories thereafter. :)

2) One book that you’ve read more than once: Candace Schuler's Good Girls Do. I love that book. It's hot & fun & Matthew McConaughey could SOOOOO be Tom if it was ever made into a movie. ;)

3) One book you’d want on a deserted island: Book? Hey, if I'm going to be on a deserted island, I want Matthew McConaughey--not a book.

4) One book that made you laugh: Anything by Rhonda Nelson always makes me laugh. She has such a great, witty voice.

5) One book that made you cry: Where the Red Fern Grows. I bawled my eyes out.

6) One book you wish you’d written: Anything by Jennifer Crusie--she's awesome!

7) One book you wish had never been written: I honestly can't think of one.

8) One book you’re currently reading: Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer.

Well, there you have it. My tagged answers. Personally, I think I should have held out for that weekend with Matthew...

American Title 3

Only a few days left to vote in the American Title 3 contest. Please don't forget to cast your votes as 10 finalist's dreams are on the line. Although all the finalists have great entries & seem to be wonderful people, I am partial to Lindsey Brookes entry. Partially because I've read the entire manuscript and know that it totally rocks, but also because Lindsey is one of my best friends. If you'd like to know more about the contest you can visit http://romantictimes.com and click on the American Title icon. Or if you'd just like to help one of my very talented friends by voting for her awesome entry, send an email to webmaster@romantictimes.com with OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE in the subject line.

All the entries are fabulous this year & I'm really hoping Dorchester buys lots of them because I am SOOOO hooked and want to read more. Mostly right now though, I'm glad it's not me having to deal with the stress of knowing that on Monday morning two finalists will be cut from the competition and that I might be one of them. Just the thought brings back nasty memories of days gone by. But in the grand scheme of things, I have to admit...it's worth it all to hold JANE MILLIONAIRE in my hands. Oh yeah, dreams really do come true.

Still recovering...

I've still got to take up the last few shots on my disposable camera so I can post pictures taken from the 3 Day walk. I'm far enough behind it that I now seem to recall good things and think of it as a positive experience. I'm glad I did it, but next time I'll probably choose to walk one that's less than 60 miles. I'm no longer in pain, but my knees are amazingly stiff. Odd since it was my hips that gave me the most problems during the actual walk. Anyway, when I get photos developed, I'll share.

Speaking of sharing photos, I promised one of editors from the New Jersey Put Your Heart In A Book conference. Here goes:
Denise Zaza from Harlequin, Patience Smith from Harlequin, Angela James from Samhain, Lucia Macro from Avon, Rose Hilliard from St. Martin's Press, Selena James from Kensington, & Stacey Boyd from Harlequin.

I just have to share some news. In this year's county fair, my two youngest kids both won awards. :) James got first place & Abby got second. Plus, Abby's cheerleading squad got 2nd place overall on Sunday in their cheerleading competition. :) I'm very proud of their accomplishments. Woo hoo.

And for those of you curious about the weight I might have lost during my 3 day walk. Well, let's just say that I am the only person alive who can walk that many miles in such a short time frame & GAIN weight. Urgh.

Home & Product Side Effects

The 3 day walk...okay, I'm too tired & achy to talk about it yet without whining, so I'm going to just say, hi, I'm home, and we'll talk about it later, 'nough said.

But what I want to share with you is a website that fabo author Colleen Gleason pointed out. It's a skin care product line that has one of the most awesome advertising gimics going. To see what I mean, check out the side effects of using their products. http://www.seemoresideeffects.ca/
I mean, you see all the nasty side effects listed out on television commercials and print ads--isn't it about time there were some good side effects with products?? Of course, I have to warn ya, after I placed my order for Reversa products, I'm thinking they may be sold out. Bring on the side effects baby! I am so in the need for pastry & I know my lawn needs mowed &...oh, just go check out the site & you'll see what I mean. :) Seriously, I think it's a great marketing concept & hats off to their advertising department. I think I'd like to hire them to promote my next book.

Smooches until later when I feel more like myself.

3 Day Breast Cancer Walk~ off tomorrow!

Wow! After all these weeks of training, it's hard to believe that tomorrow night I'll be in Atlanta in preparation for the opening ceremony on Friday morning. I've still not walked 20 miles in a day so it's going to be an interesting weekend. Honestly, I think I can do it, though. I walked 5 miles today & then packed & prepared for being away from home for the weekend.

I'm really excited at the prospect of walking. So far I've raised $2,385 & the Parallel Heat team has raised over $19,000 total! How awesome is that????? I've still got $115 to go to reach my goal of $2,500, sooooooooo....

If you'd like to donate, Follow This Link to visit my personal webpage at the 2006 Atlanta Breast Cancer 3-Day.

I hope to have pictures next week. I'll be taking them with a disposable camera so I'm not sure what type of quality they'll be, but at least they'll be pictures. :)

American Title 3

The third round of competition for the American Title contest kicks off today. As I've mentioned in previous posts, there are some fabulous sounding entries. I can't wait to read all the first lines. :) I'm a bit biased this year as my pal Lindsey Brookes finaled with her awesome manuscript OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE. I read this manuscript prior to Lindsey submitting it to Dorchester & LOVED it. I laughed & laughed & laughed. Lindsey is the queen of comedy. :) Her entry starts out with a conversation between the heroine Kelsey & her mother. I'll let you read the first line, which is Kelsey's mom giving advice, for yourself today at http://www.romantictimes.com I think the voting information goes up around 11.

I've been lax on blogging, but it's because this is the big week of the breast cancer walk. On Thursday I leave for Atlanta & will be walking 60 miles in 3 days.

NYC photo

Here's a photo of Manhattan (to the left) from my flight home on Sunday. :)

I walked 3+ miles today. Not nearly enough. Work & children's sports & scouts interferred with more though. Tomorrow will be more.

And here's a picture of Matthew McConaughey. :)

I mentioned the article I wrote on breast cancer that's on the front page of the Rutherford Reader. Here's the link. :) www.rutherfordreader.net - page 1 the second part of the article is on page 15. To my knowledge & my dad's knowledge, my grandma has never had her picture in the paper. I LOVE that this brings her into the spotlight a bit because she's the strongest woman I know & one of the truly good people in the world. I love her dearly.

Plus, Yvonne Moon did a reprint of the Fascinating Folks article on me that she wrote back in May. Honestly, she makes me sound like someone fascinating, which is a testament to her writing skills, but all my friends & family know I'm really just me. The best part about the article is that my grandmother's photo is included. You can read that by going to page 6.

All these links will quit working -- actually, they'll link to a new story-- on October 12.

New Jersey Conference

I flew out on last Thursday, took care of some personal things, then went to the New Jersey Put Your Heart In A Book conference. My flight was delayed an hour, but they gave me a breakfast voucher so that worked out good. :) I roomed with my pal Kathleen Long & on Friday my friends Anna Sugden & Terri Garey arrived. It was so great to see friends I don't get to see nearly often enough. On Saturday I volunteered to assist with the editor/agent appointments and got to see Susannah Taylor (who I think is awesome & I first met in Knoxville when Stacey Kane, Susannah, & I went antique shopping together) and Mary Sue Seymore (who I met earlier this year leaving the RT conference when we rode on a shuttle to Orlando together). I also got to meet Judi Fennell who is an American Title 3 finalist. I thought she was really nice & loved her bookmarks. Sally Stotter who is also an American Title 3 finalist was there, but I didn't meet her as I skipped a lot of the conference stuff in preference of writing. My agent wanted me to do some revisions before my latest single title went out, so I chose to work on that instead.

I've got a picture of the editors who participated in the editor panel & will be posting a photo and info on that later this week.

On the breast cancer walk, I'm pleased to say that donations are still trickling in. Hopefully, I'll meet my new goal of $2500 raised. The Parallel Heat team has raised over $18,000.00!!! total now.

I've been walking, but over the weekend I had the bright idea to do the stairs so I wouldn't lose ground. Let's just say that going up 28 flights of stairs & back down isn't the same as walking 5+ miles. Apparently you use a muscle for stairs that merely walking doesn't touch. How is it that I know this??? Because after doing those stairs, which really didn't wind me much, I could barely move the next morning. Barely? Okay, I was groaning and moaning and tears came to my eyes when I got out of bed, but I made it. I'm still sore, but did walk today. Not my usual 5+ that I've been trying to do, but I did walk 2. 2 miles with aching calfs is my limit. I can't believe the walk is 2 weeks away & I did something so stupid--well, I can believe it, but you know what I mean.

Also, on the breast cancer walk, Yvonne Moon made it possible for me to get an article in the paper she writes for. A FRONT PAGE ARTICLE. :) How cool is that???? I'll have to see if I can track down a link to the article.

For those of you who haven't made a donation yet to the 2006 Atlanta Breast Cancer 3-Day and would like to, Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and see my latest updates! I'd really appreciate your donation (which 100% goes to the 3day walk) and I know breast cancer patients past, present, and future would. Thank you for your generosity!

Way behind

Imagine that. Lots of stuff going on with life and writing, which is how I've managed to go a week without posting. I'm working on revisions on that proposal I turned in a week or so ago. It's soooo gonna rock. Tomorrow morning I leave for New Jersey. I'm so excited to get to see my good friends Anna Sugden, Terri Garey, & Kathleen Long. :)

Also, big, big congrats to my pal Lindsey Brookes for finaling in the American Title 3 contest which kicks off on October 16th. There are lots of fabulous entries again this year! Some of the titles have me sooooo hooked. I hope lots of them sell cause I wanna read these stories. :)

Some Matthew McConaughey eye candy to keep you happy until I next post...