Thanksgiving.

I love this time of year. All the kids come to see their parents who live here in the desert. They bring grandkids. It changes the look and feel of this development. All of a sudden we have strollers and tricycles, and whole families out on bicycles. It's great to walk the dog and just soak it all up.

My kids are on the way. Thirty minutes to go, but who's counting? The house smells so good. Turkey, gravy, two kinds of pie, cornbread...have to confess I did sample the cornbread. But I didn't even take a sip of wine. A couple of days ago the local newsman was at the market and interviewed a woman, who looked to be about eighty and who was buying a turkey. He asked her what made a successful turkey dinner. She said the trick is to think of it in fifteen minute segments. Every fifteen minutes you have a sip of wine and baste the bird. I'm good for about one glass of wine, then I'm buzzed. I'd probably drop the bird on the floor and have to go by the three second rule, plate it, slice it, and serve it and not tell a soul.

Anyway, just wanted to take a moment before I have to make gravy and wish everyone an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving, whether you're celebrating or not, it's a great time to reflect on what makes you happy and what makes you give thanks.

Same Old Same Old...

Not much going on in the past few weeks. The writing/publishing world is getting crazier by the moment. Nobody knows what's happening, or which road to take these days. I'm just quietly typing away and minding my own business, and trying to stay away from blogs that are negative, who needs that toxic stuff in their life anyway?

There's a new romance e-publisher in the mix, www.carinapress.com is their site. They're under the umbrella of Harlequin Enterprises yet say they are a seperate company and don't follow the rules and regulations of Harlequin/Silhouette. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I went up to L.A. for the weekend to attend my chapter meeting but after spending Saturday shopping with my daughter, my poor old knee was swollen and sore. I'd vacuumed the house, then used the steamer vac on the dining room and living room on Friday, then driven the two and a half hours on Saturday morning. Then topped all of that off with shopping. Yikes! Anyway, Sunday morning I was limping. I decided to ice the knee down, take a few slugs of extra strong coffee and drive home. Fortunately after some medication, ice bags, and significant time spent on the couch followed by a good night's sleep, it feels okay today. Whew! I managed to dodge that bullet, no doctor visit in sight.

Last week I finished judging six contest entries set in the Regency period. They were all good, one was outstanding. It made me look at my own writing again (not that I write Regency romance) but to try to get a feel for how a judge might read my submission. Couldn't do it though. It's so hard to judge your own work, if not impossible. This week I'm preparing my Golden Heart entry and thinking it doesn't stand a chance in hell. Oh well, I paid my money so might as well continue on. : )

I decided to purchase a couple of books printed by Samhain Publishing to see what the editing was like. Read Maya Banks, Into the Mist. What a neat story. The writing was excellent, the pacing was great, and I was invested from the first pages and even though the love scenes were pretty steamy (and I normally don't read those) I thought they were necessary for the main character to show her developmental arc. Also, the hero was a shapeshifter who shifts into mist, and he was delightful.

In my opinion: it was a really good read, and I'd highly recommend it.