Rain and RWA 2011 Envy

It's raining here which is very odd for this time of year so instead of sunny California we have wet, drippy, soggy California. Big bummer. Where did that gorgeous sun from the solstice go? The weather channel said it looked like a winter storm moving through. Not what we want to hear. So I'm moping. Almost everyone I know is in New York City having a great time and I am sitting here listening to ABBA and watching the rain come down.

That's right it's RWA's (Romance Writers of America) National Convention for 2011. Big turnouts this year, big authors, big parties. I heard via twitter that the lines to get in went four blocks down Broadway. Craaazaaay!

So, what's a girl to do? I'll tell you. Go to M is for Mystery in San Mateo tonight to an author signing by the fabulous Sophie Littlefield and the marvelous Juliet Blackwell. Their new books just came out this month. A Bad Day for Scandal by Littlefield and Hexes and Hemlines by Blackwell. Both books are latest releases in a their respective series. A bad Day for Scandal has been called Littlefield's best so far and Blackwell's Hemlines and Hexes is full of rich characters and is an A+ in my opinion.

Worth the trip my friends.

POTTERMORE

Recently, JK Rowling released a new website with her usual flare of mysteriousness and fanfare. It's called Pottermore. It won't be fully functional until October except for a few lucky people that will be able to beta test it starting July 31st. I would highly recommend going to the site and watching the brief video as the graphics are amazing. More and more movies are using this paper cut out graphic technique in their opening credits and during back story. I love it.

Pottermore will essentially be the go to site for audio books and the exclusive site for ebooks. Rowling did not say what format the books would be in so I don't know if they will work on your ereader or if it is strictly for the computer, which is a drawback in my opinion. She's held out a long time, let's hope it's not going to be just about the money. I hope she considered the readers and their needs as well.

I remember when my dear daughter came home from second grade talking about a story they were reading about a little boy who was locked in a cupboard under the stairs with spiders. I thought what kind of stuff are they reading to these kids. Then she kept coming home day after day and all she could talk about was this book so we finally bought it and I read it aloud to her. Little did I know we had started a new tradition. From then on, we were in line on release day. Sometimes in costume. We would have marathon reading sessions, always with me reading aloud still, even when she was old enough to read it to herself.  Now she is almost 20 and has moved on from Harry Potter but I haven't :)

My dear son who will be nine soon is hooked on the books and we read them aloud to him. He hasn't heard the later books as they are a bit scary and more grown up, but as he grows he can grow with Harry.

As I'm writing this, I'm planning to go to the midnight showing of the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - the final movie. It saddens me that it is all coming to an end for me. The excitement of the "next" installment will be over. But I can live the wonder with my son.

With Rowling's books, it's all about the wonder. I thank her for that.

Six Sentence Sunday

I've set up camp in my critique partner's office and we have been hammering out my book. It's been misery. If I wasn't such a pantser when it comes to writing, revisions wouldn't be so bad. But they are. I have friends who love them and I just nod and smile along with them and inside I'm thinking what kind of sick cookie are they?

Another good friend and writing partner, Reina Williams, hooked me up with Six Sentence Sunday. A great way a community of authors share six sentences of their work, published or not, within their blogs. Check it out. It's a great way to find new people to read.

Here goes,  my six sentences from a current work in progress.

Lizbet jumped back and out of the way as the big green bus with its orange accordion middle rushed to a stop, spraying rain water everywhere.  The bus was packed with steaming, smelly people and the only room was on the stairs, she didn’t want to wait for the next bus. She held onto the railing and tried not to swing back and forth into anyone. She could feel her hair start to wave from the humidity in the closed cramped space. Cecile was on the other side of the stairs from her so they couldn’t even talk. This day was turning into one big suck fest.

There you go. Have a great Sunday.

The Mont Saint Michel - My Favorite Things French

One of the best places to visit in France is The Mont Saint Michel. It is on the border of Normandy and Brittany and has been called one of the wonders of the world.

Normandy and Brittany fought over who it belonged to for years since it sat right on the border. It had been a prison, a sanctuary and a fortress. Today it is an abbey and tourist attraction. It’s linked to the mainland by a dike that all but disappears at high tide making the Mount a supreme fortress.

The Druids first worshipped there in the Celtic period. Followed by the Romans who worshipped Mercury. At the end of the 5^th century hermits or Christians reached the forested Mount. The bishop of the time was named Aubert. He said that the Archangel St. Michael appeared to him three times. The Archangel instructed him to build a sanctuary in his name on the Mount. Over the years the Mount faced warring factions in the church, the world and in France. In the end it was Napoléon who restored the Mount to its sanctuary status. The little man had some priorities.

I was lucky enough to spend the night in the Mont. A truly amazing event. Being able to roam around the abbey and streets with the setting sun and no one around is both unsettling and breath taking. I vividly remember taking a bath and watching the light flow in through the stained glass windows surrounded by stone walls and thinking I had traveled back in time. I would highly recommend an overnight stay if you can swing it.

More in the days to follow ~ My other favorite things about France.

Good Coffee Good TImes

This morning as I'm having a cup of excellent coffee I'm taking some time to reflect on the past week and all the milestones that my family has passed.

First and most imoportant my dear daughter graduated from high school after having struggled with a chronic illness. She missed a lot of her high school special moments and had to take an extra year to do it but she did it. With Honors! We were so proud.

Then we celebrated my dear son's 9th birthday (a little early). I can't believe he's getting to be so big! Massive water gun fight and a Pikachu pinata were the highlights of the day.

The same day as the birthday party was my ten year anniversary. Amazing to see we've already made ten years. The time flew by.

I've also started a new book and I managed to get in 8,000 words this week with everything else going on. Yeah!

So much happening and so much to be thankful for. Life is good. Writing is great and thanks for letting me share my news with you all. Next Blog on the Mont St. Michel.

Wall Street Journal Tries to Kill YA Writers?

Has Last weekend's Wall Street Journal harmed the Young Adult (YA) market? It sure had everyone talking about it. Stirring a new hash tag on twitter (a conversation tag) named #YAsaves! that was trending in the top ten tweets in the nation after the article. It made it to number two in the SF Bay area.

The article specifically pin pointed author Judy Blume, among others,  and she tweeted #YAsaves! to the WSJ. YA author Holly Black organized many to join her in sending their tweets directly to the WSJ.

In order to stimulate an imagination don't we need to scare it, shock and challenge it? If it's force fed the mundane it will be a mundane imagination. Some of the content by some authors should be kept for older teens. A thirteen year old might not be ready for it, then again they might. How much do you really know about your child? Many kids tweeted in that YA stories had saved their lives. Coming of age stories, coming out stories, fantasy to escape bad school or home life. We need our books to escape into and teens are no different.

The article was harsh. Really throwing a negative spin on YA authors. It made it sound like the future of the genre was bleak and heading for danger Wil Robinson. I completely disagree. I think we have broken through barriers and are finally giving teens something that they can sink their teeth into. A real story not a watered down one. I remember the YA I grew up with. I read it in fourth and fifth grade and thought it was silly then. I moved on to adult books because there was nothing else.

I think that the young adults and adults that are reading YA books will continue to read them regardless of what WSJ has said. No one reads the WSJ anyways, right?? :)

Four Women and Their Computers

Friday I had over some friends of mine for a mini writers retreat. I thought it would be a great way to kick start the summer with a day full of intense writing. I got a veggie plate, bagels, coffee, biscotti and we had chinese for lunch. Fun.

Well, what I learned is not as much writing happens as a person plans for at these things. We set a timer for forty-five minutes at a time but still managed to talk in between. We started later than expected. Our breaks lasted a wee bit longer. By the end of the day I think our accumulative word count hovered around 2000. Not terrible but not what I was hoping for. What I didn't expect was how much I needed to talk about all things writing with my friends, share my work and hear about theirs. It was wonderful. Word counts be damned.

I'm going to plan another one soon, but this time plan out time for sharing work, doing excercises to get us to do some break through writing and of course time to work on our current projects. I love writing with other people. How about you? Shout outs to Karysa Faire, Reina Williams and Marik Berghs!

Vampires & French Royalty

So I'm plotting out a new book and it's set in France. I spent a year there and am drawing up from the fuzzy, foggy depths of my memory for details to use in the story. One thing I didn't learn while I was there was the order of French royalty. I googled it and am pretty certain that after the King comes the Duc which could either be a relative or a clergy. But there is no definitive spelling on his wife. I am assuming it is a Duchess. I'm putting this out to the world hoping someone has a better grasp on it than I do. Maybe you have google magick at your fingertips that I don't posses :)

One of the minor characters in the story is a vampire who is a Duc long dead. He has a mate who would then be a Duchess. But I want to spell it correctly. This story may end up being a YA as the heroine is just 17. There are gargoyles, vampires and all sorts of dark trouble in it. I'm just in the planning stages so far, which is a new process of writing for me. I'm ususally what they call a pantser, I write by the seat of my pants. I sit at the keyboard and just write, but this time I am actually making a plan of attack. I hope the story will be stronger for it.

Well, that's all for now. Any help you can give i.e. the Duchess issue would be much appreciated.