So here I am, no Yoga for 12 days.  Okay, so I was at the beach in Cape May, New Jersey with the family.  Sure, I did the daily brisk walk down the Boardwalk and back, but apparently, it wasn't enough.  Not according to my sore muscles since returning to my Mudra Yoga classes.

I'm going into my seventh week, and I'm doing quite well with the poses . . . well, except for last night.  How quickly my body screamed and resisted those poses I'd become so familiar with before vacation.  Seriously, I'm a dedicated exercise person.  Hell, sitting in front of the computer all day does something bad to your body.  It's like your butt becomes the width of the chair.  I'm not letting that happen to me.  No way, Jose.  As a result--you know, vanity and all that jazz, I exercise in the morning for a half hour 5 days a week, and become a Yogette in the evenings for an hour, 4 nights a week.  I tried the 7 days a week exercising, but I just can't seem to make it happen.  Hey, I figure my body is trying to tell me something, so I'm listening.

So back to yoga.  Two of the yoga days are dedicated to kick-ass advanced classes and two are more manageable--okay, more for beginners, but nevertheless, still good with all the stretching.  It's at a slower pace--restorative for all those tough poses I tried to twist my body into during the advanced days.

And speaking of which, the kick-ass instructor, the young whippersnapper that she is, moves fast.  Here I am last night feeling all good about my 'downfaced dog' and when I look up, she's already onto 'upward dog facing'.  Am I ever going to be able to move as quickly as she glides into those poses? 

Well, third day this week, I'm doing my poses and she calls for the 'side plank' pose.  I get my tired body ready to show my instructor I'm good at this, and you know what?  I fell over.  Yep, that's exactly what happened.   LOL  Talk about being embarrassed!

I think the next time I go on vacation, I'm taking a yoga DVD with me.  Now onto to Zumba classes.

Wow!  RWA National conference was amazing. 

I always find this yearly event motivating.  I love it when I see 'first timers'.  They have the same starry-eyed look I had when I attended for the first time.  I have to admit, It's overwhelming to see so many famous authors and those who are well on their way.

I met my new editor from Avalon Books.  She's a terrific person and very easy to talk to.  Avalon has had such a turnover with editors and assistant editors, I felt removed from the group.  But now, I'm happy to say, Lia Brown has pulled me back in.  I think Lia and I are going to be good friends. )))

I partied with my friends, attended publisher parties, spotlights for agents and publishers, and listened to Nora Roberts give an amazing keynote address.  I love Nora.  You'd think someone of her calibre would have her head in the clouds, be snooty-- but she's not one bit.  She's down to earth and friendly to everyone.  I've even gabbed with her while we exercised next to each other.

There was something very magical about this year.  Do you think it's because we were in Mickeyland?

Hey, follow me on Twitter.  I'm listed under ScribBLINGDIVA.

Well, tomorrow, I'm off to Orlando, Florida for the RWA conference.

Packing and finishing last minute details of things to bring, like business cards which sets the stage for much excitement.  Lots of workshops, lots of friends attending, and the thought of making new friends is always a welcomed opportunity.

Publishers and agents will be swarming the conference, all there to find the next best selling author.

I have a full schedule with publisher parties, published authors cocktails parties, and spending time with my friends.

Best-selling, award-winning author Nora Roberts will be the keynote speaker, and best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz will speak at the Awards Luncheon. Sherrilyn Kenyon is the Librarians' Day speaker, and Sabrina Jeffries wraps up the conference by emceeing the 2010 RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony.

I'll be rubbing elbows with other big names such as, Allison Brennan, Carolyn Brown, Terri Spears to name a few.  I'll be attending the Literacy Autographing held on Wednesday night from 5:30 to 7:30PM at the Walt Disney Swan Resort.  It's open to the public, so stop on by and meet your favorite authors.  I'll be the one with the huge smile.

Stay well and happy reading!

School’s out and the kids are chomping at the bit to do something special, like swimming, and amusement parks, picnics, bike rides with friends, and the list goes on and on--except you’ve got writing to do.

Hmm, how do you handle that?  Uh, not very well is what most of us say.

You enjoy having the kids’ home but it seems to interrupt the flow of your schedule and writing becomes secondary.  There are lots of things you can do.  Hiding is just one of them!    Just kidding!  Well, maybe a little.

I remember those days well.  At the time when my kids were youngsters, these ideas wouldn’t have occurred to me with a busy writing life, working and managing a home, but here’s something you might try—besides getting caught by the boss because you’re writing at work.

Get up an hour earlier; take advantage of the longer days, or if you’re working, bring your laptop and write during your lunch hour.  Put the kids to bed earlier.   Tell the kids you’ve been bad and Dad put you in time out.

Take a ‘me’ day on Saturday while dad watches the kiddies and visit the library with your laptop, or Starbucks, although sometimes the deafening noise level at the coffee shop is louder than home.

Any time you can find a quiet time to write, regardless of whether it’s a half hour or an hour, is a good day.

For me, not writing makes me grumpy, so I take my laptop, even on vacation.  I’m an early riser, so getting in some writing time works well, especially in those wee hours of the morning when everyone is still asleep.  Doing so still affords me time for fun without putting a kink in anyone else’s day.

Regardless of what way you plan to sneak in those few hours of writing time, just remember the kids won’t stay kids forever.  As they get older, you’ll long for those days again, so enjoy their youth now before you miss your window of opportunity.  And remember, sometimes having less time to write means more productivity.

Enjoy the sunshine! 

Research . . . ah, my favorite topic.

When my husband and I first met, we decided to buy a camera. In my world of BB (that’s Before Bob for you non-texting members), that meant going to the store, having the clerk tell you about the varying features of each manufacturer, and going home with a bag full of camera stuff to begin a new hobby.

Well, this one Saturday we set out to buy a camera. Man, I was psyched about developing this new hobby. What I didn’t know about Bob was his penchant for researching everything ad nauseam.

Despite my frustration of going home empty handed, I ultimately found the value of all that research. Let’s face it, some clerks intentionally provide misleading information just to make that sale. So, the morale of this story . . . or blog . . . is for you to do your homework. Know the answers to those questions before you say something that can be disputed by someone in the know.

So, how does this apply to us as writers? Well, if you’ve ever submitted a manuscript, and neglected to do your research, then you know there’s just so much creative licensing you can apply without writing a disclaimer on the title page.

The Internet is the highway to information. It amazes me how many people ask Google the same silly questions I do. More importantly though, it’s the window of opportunity to learn and not be afraid to focus your story on a subject of which you have no knowledge. It’s all right there just waiting for you to ask.

Need a tutorial on researching the most efficient way on the Internet highway? Check out this site: www.internettutorials.net. It’s easier than you think!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering. That camera? It took three months of research before we ultimately purchased the right one. So did I take up the hobby? Umm . . . no . . . but, I did launch another hobby—writing romances.

And, one more tool you should always have on hand, CHOCOLATE—and lots of it. Eating chocolate releases endorphins that help elevate a sluggish mood, it releases stress, and gives you an all over good feeling of well-being.

So, did you have your chocolate today?

A  Funny Thing Happen on Our Way to the Falls

This past September, hubby and I visited Buttermilk Falls in the tiny town of Ludlow, Vermont.  A charming village surrounded by robust color emanating from the trees as they blasted the last hooray before the onset of winter. 

Vermont holds a special place in our hearts—we honeymooned in Pittsfield.  But more importantly, Vermont is a wonderful place to visit, where the air is clean—free of toxins and the water is pure—so pure, you can see all the way to the bottom of the babbling brooks.  The smell of wood burning stoves permeates the air, the cheapest form of heat reminding you of its quaintness, family unity and neighbors who share camaraderie far beyond the norm.

This particular morning, the air was chilly, but we were prepared with warm coats.  On our way out of town, we stopped for breakfast and picked up some homemade jams and syrups.  There’s something very therapeutic about purchasing homemade items when you’re on vacation.  It’s a reminder of a wonderful vacation that extends until you finish your goodies.

We finally pull into the crowded parking area to begin our hike back into the woods to see the Buttermilk Falls.  Hubby has decided to take a picture of me, but the camera is dead because he’s forgotten to charge the batteries last night.  Needless to say, there is no point in lugging the camera around, so I walk back to the car deciding to stash it on the back seat of our car, along with my purse, and cover them both with our coats since it had warmed up a bit.  I locked the car manually and headed toward the falls and my waiting husband.  Having second thoughts about leaving my cell phone behind, I rushed back to the car with the keys and pressed on the remote.  The doors would not unlock.  I called out to Bob for help.

He just sighed and returned to the car, going through the same drill as me, repeatedly clicking on the remote to no avail.  I began to panic, my heart pounding against my rib cage wondering what we we’re going to do.  We were leaving for the airport right after we finished our hike into the falls.  And seriously, visiting Vermont isn’t like living in a Metropolitan area with everything close by.  I’m sure they have AAA, but without a phone, how can I call for help?

As I stood watching my husband continually press the remote hoping to get it to work, my anxiety escalated as I worried about our flight home, and then it suddenly occurred to me our purchased goodies were not on the backseat.  Surprised because we hadn’t walked that far into the woods before I’d turned around to retrieve my phone, I couldn’t believe anyone from Vermont, our special place, could have stolen our treasures from our rental car. 

But then, we did leave the back doors unlocked.  Disappointed my last day on vacation had been sabotaged by some mean-spirited thief I began to pace back and forth.  The crunching of the gravel beneath my feet began to drive my husband crazy, so I decided to do a bit of investigating by checking each car in the lot to see who had my jams and syrup while hubby fiddled with the remote. 

Fortunately, other than the parked cars, no one else was around to see me snooping.  As I approached car after car, I finally found what I was looking for—the car thief’s car.  I shook my head in bafflement.  What kind of schmuck would steal our stuff and leave it in the backseat of his car.  I called out to Bob who was several cars away and he came rushing over.   Bob leaned up against the window and shielded the light so he could see inside.

“Can you believe someone would be so blatant as to leave the stolen goods right on the back seat,” I shot out.

Bob backed away and gave me an odd look.  “Hon, did you throw the wrapper from the cookie you had earlier on the floor?”

“Yeah,” I said.   “I was waiting to throw it out in a trash can.  Why?”

Bob pulled the remote from his pocket and clicked twice.  All the locks popped simultaneously.  Okay, so now, it suddenly occurs to us that we’ve locked our camera, coats, and my purse in the backseat of someone else’s car—a car the same color, make and model as our rental car. 

Neither one of us could stop laughing at our stupidity.  Especially me, because I’d gotten myself so worked up thinking someone ruined our trip to Vermont.  So we waited, and we waited, and we waited by the car until the car’s owners returned from seeing the Buttermilk Falls—the falls that I most likely was not going to see since our flight would leave later that night.

Ninety minutes later, the owners came walking toward the car.  Since I was the one to make the mistake, brave soul that I am, I approached the driver whose face was formed into a scowl wondering why I’m standing by his car.

“Can I help you,” he said.

“Ah, yeah.  Well . . . you’re not going to believe this, but . . . well, you see, we thought your car was our car, and well, your doors were unlocked, and we thought we forgot to lock our doors, so we put our belongings in the back seat of your car and locked the doors.” 

The three other passengers, one being his wife is now laughing with me, but the driver with the scornful expression on his face isn’t too happy.  He immediately begins to chastise his wife for not locking the doors, but reluctantly gives us our belongings so that we can be on our merry way to the airport. 

As Bob and I walked toward our car with our tails between our legs, we rushed the last bit to get into our car before we busted our guts laughing.  Needless to say, this trip to Vermont will have many years of entertaining memories.  I love Vermont.

 

I did something pretty unusual the other day—I read.  Okay, I heard that gasp. 

 

Let me clarify why this was so unusual.  I love to read.  I’ve been reading since grammar school—it’s what led me to writing—BUT it’s the writing that has stopped me from reading.

 

That probably sounds like a lame excuse, but honestly, every scrap of time I can salvage from my daily life is used for writing.  I’ve always viewed reading as a luxury—a treat.  Something I did just for me—it’s like having a massage.  So what's the problem?  When I read, I don’t write because I have to finish the book. Of course, that’s good for the publisher and ultimately the author, but not so good if I never finish writing my story.

 

One of my writing friends was appalled when I told her my dilemma, so she convinced me to set a goal for reading two books once I finish a rough draft of my current work-in-progress.  As you can imagine, my bookshelves are loaded with a ton of books I’ve purchased from fellow authors, and at the Literary Signing at Nationals, so I was good to go.  I picked out two books, and placed them on my TBR (to be read) shelf, and as soon as I finished the first draft, I was off to read.  And you know what?  A funny thing happened after I finished reading both books. I realized just how important it is for a writer to read.

 

A friend of mine who is a NYT Best Selling, multi-published author had written one of the books I chose.  I’d been meaning toread her work, so this gave me the perfect opportunity.  I’ve been in her company many times,attended her workshops, and have even broken bread with her on a few occasions.   Needless to say,she has a strong fan base, and I’m always hearing others singing her praises.  Well, believe it or not,I was disappointed.  I thought her style of writing was rather basic, her plot was way too predictable, and she was big on the back-story dump. You know, all the things we’ve been taught not to do.  I found myself unable to connect with her characters and quite frankly, almost stopped reading it.  But I forced myself to finish it, you know, friend and all, and I’m glad I did. It reminded me of just how subjective writing is.  What one editor likes,another doesn’t, but it’s obvious this author’s editor loves her writing. 

 

The other book I read had my attention from beginning to end.  I loved it!  The characters seemed real and human, their emotions authentic, and I was taking the ride with them.  I just love those kinds of stories.  So, here’s the thing.  This author was also multi-published and has that NYT best selling title after her name too, but what I learned is I would rather be like the second author and less like the first.

 

Now that I’ve begun my revisions to my own contemporary, I am thankful for having read those two books.  Why you ask?  Because it reminded me the opinions of editors, agents, and contest judges, are just that—their opinion.  But what it really did was remind me that reading is an important part of a being a writer. 

 

So here’s my new goal.  Instead of waiting to finish the first draft, I’ll sneak away with a book after writing the first ten  chapters instead.  Reading is good for your soul, a reminder we all need to hear.

 

 

It's been a while since I've stopped by to give you an update on what's been happening.

Last month, we visited our family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and had a wonderful time despite the snow.  Needless to say, I didn't have any time for writing, and found myself feeling a tad guilty. 

I guess that sounds silly to you non-writers, but I'm trying to finish Cupid's Target so I can send it out to publishers.  The other thing is,  I consider my writing a career, my job, and I know at a corporate job, being away that long would mean the work has piled up.  Not writing doesn't mean the work has piled up, it means a delay in maintaining my goal of getting this baby out. 

I've set it for no later than the end of April and by golly, I'm going to get it out there.  I've had a request for a full so delaying only means waiting another year to have it published.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on epub books vs holding a real book in your hands vs Kindle or Sony.

One of the greatest things happened while I was away.  I received an email from Cassie Pirelli in Leeds, England.  Cassie Pirelli is the name of my character in Cupid's Web, so needless to say, I was very excited.  Cassie told me people who goggle her always wind up finding my book. Not a bad thing at all.   We corresponded back and forth a few times, and I sent her an autographed name plate so she can paste it inside the book she's ordering.

CT is coming along nicely.  I've had to change a few things this week--chapters I thought worked, but didn't.  As of today, I'm really loving what I've changed, and hope you will too.

Until next time, may your days be filled with sunshine and laughter!

Hugs,
Carolyn

Over this past weekend, I coordinated and participated with 29 other authors at a book signing in Glendale, AZ during the Chocolate Affaire.

One might think coordinating an event this size with authors is an easy task, but let me tell you, its not a walk in the park.

 My work began in August of 2009 in preparation for this event which took place February 5-7th, 2010.  Meetings with officials at the City of Glendale, interviews with the press, meetings with my writing chapter, and a million emails later, I had 29 authors signing, free workshops for everyone during Saturday and Sunday, and chocolate galore.

After all was said and done--we had an awesome time meeting our fans and making new ones, eating chocolate covered strawberries, and chocolate potato chips, and everything else you can think of dipping into chocolate.  With over 10,000 people visiting, it was a huge success, and isn't that what it's all about?

Next week, we're leaving sunny Arizona and heading to the east coast into the huge snow storms to visit family.  I'm not sure it will be restful, but I do know it will be worth it!

Until next time, wherever you go, whatever you're doing, make the most of it!

.

So, here I am all excited about my new Wii with all the wonderful DVDs available to help me become fitter.

Every day since Christmas, hubby and I have a 5:00 PM date to bowl.  I was kicking his butt when we'd first started, but now that he's warmed up, well . . .

I've tried the aerobics, the skiing, yoga, and boxing.  I aced those stunts pretty darn good--or so I thought, that is until I met Jillian.  Well, not really, but she's kicking my butt.  I'm using muscles I didn't know I had.  Now, workouts are not new to me; I'm out there every morning.  I jog, walk, bike, kettlebell, and now, I have Jillian. 

And speaking of kicking butt--Jillian Michaels the personal trainer on The Biggest Loser, well, she's doing a number on me.  Excited to receive my gift, and anxious to get started, I inserted the DVD and selected the circuit junction.  I thought this would be the right thing to do--you know, to get all those muscles working, but not overdo it.

This particular circuit consisted of jogging, and lots of floor exercising that requires the balance board.  Well, I did those push-ups, just like the men do, the crunches, the stepping exercise with the board, and lots of others that are too painful to remember.  I was having difficulty draping my body over the board without having the corner dig into my sides like a knife, but I struggled through it anyway.


When I was all done, I was tickled pink.  "Yeah," I said panting, "I can do this."  I punched my fist in the air just like the athletes do when they win, until the final results flashed across the screen. This is the screen that tells you how many rotations you've completed, percent rate, and usually a encouraging note from the instructor.   Not this time.  The screen displayed two numbers and the rest were all zeros.  "What?" I exclaimed, "how can that be?"

Well, Jillian, in her infinite ability to make you feel like a piece of crap, spared me no pity.  After she finished ranting about me being lazy, she told me in no uncertain terms she wasn't going to put up with it.  Has she been talking to my mother?

 Oh well, better luck next time.

Carolyn