Life

Happy May to everyone. Sorry, I'm a couple days late; I've been hunkered down in my lair, actually writing, and man does it feel good to create something new again. It's fresh and exciting and reminds me why I love to write so much. I've also submitted a couple manuscripts to different places. Feels like I'm back in the publishing game. Hopefully, I'll have some good news--like selling another book--in a couple months (cross your fingers)!

In other corners of my life, my little girl is three months old, and she's getting so big. We've had to move up clothing sizes twice now. I don't think she realizes she's still a baby though. She only wants to sit upright these days, can't stand it when you want to cradle her on her back. Ugg. I'm not ready for her to be quite this independent just yet.

I've returned to my day job. Actually, I returned about six weeks ago, but I'm back in the grove there, and going to visit my daughter everyday on my lunch break.

The hubby is ready for summer. His job's been keeping him busy and he can't wait for a break. Usually, he likes to ride his Harley when the weather warms, but since someone he knows recently died in a motorcycle accident, he's been thinking about trading his wheels in for something else. I try not to input my opinions about that and let him make up his own mind, though on one hand, I've love for him to be as safe as possible and sell the dangerous beast, on the other hand he looks really good all leathered up and straddling his hog.

Time has become a precious commodity in my world. Seems like everything I do makes me feel guilty. If I take the time to play with my baby, I think I should be cleaning the house. If I clean the house, I wonder if the husband needs some hubby-time. If I pay attention to him, I worry I need to work on my stories. If I work on my stories, I feel like I'm ignoring my baby. And around the cycle goes again. My blog time has suffered the most. But I try to slip a quick trip through blogosphere when I can.

Yep, I've become extremely domesticated, but I'm lovin' every second of it. I hope your life is progressing to your satisfaction.

Awards and Announcements

There are a ton of things happening lately, plus I've received a bundle of awards. So, please bear with me while I share all this amazing information with you. I'll start with announcements.

As you can see a little to the north, I already have a book cover for my adult contemporary romance story, The Trouble With Tomboys, which will be published by the glorious Wild Rose Press! WOW. It's surreal to actually see the faces of my characters. My editing process seems to be going at warp speed, so I have a feeling I'll be able to share a release date for this book with you in only a few months...if not sooner!

For my YA Romance, The Stillburrow Crush, I have a WIDGET up (as you can see to the LEFT there), showing the countdown to the release of my first book...right down to the very second. There's another big WOW in my writing journey. Oh, and feel free to share the widget with whomever you like!

The cover of The Stillburrow Crush was shown on The Story Siren's blog. I'll be giving away free goodies there after the new year. Plus, I'll be donating a copy of my book to The Princess Bookie Blog, for their "Around the World 2010 Debut Author Challenge." You might want to check that out.

Then...I've got a blog interview in the works for the end of February, plus I'll be interviewing the amazing romantic suspense author, Nancy J. Parra, at the beginning of February.

	In other people's news, My wonderful critique partner, Claire Ashgrove, had her second book (ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...IS BIG BLUE EYES) released last week from The Wild Rose Press. Big round of applause for her. Then, Heather Snow--from my writing group--recently started her own blog called Heather's Historical Hodgepodge. I'm already an avid fan there. She posts every Tuesday, if you're curious. And the biggie: Tess Hilmo, a blogger buddy of mine, just announced she sold her first book, With A Name Like Love, to Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Did you hear that??? Farrar, Straus & Giroux!!! I'm so in awe.
Now for the awards.
Loyal Friend Award	I received the "Loyal Friend" Award from Robyn, over at Putting Pen to Paper. Thank you so much, Robyn! You're the sweetest!
Who Loves you Award	Then, or maybe it was before that, I received the "Who Loves You" Award from Laura Gerold, over at Laura's Reviews.
Super Comments Award	And both Laura and Robyn bestowed "The Super Comments" Award on me sometime during all that. Thank you, thank you, guys. You're truly TOO good to me.

And finally, Tricia J. O'Brien at her blog, Tailspinning passed the "Honest Scrap" Award to me at the end of November. For this award, you're supposed to tell five to ten "honest" things about yourself and then pass the award along to five to ten other bloggers for them to do the same.

I think I'm already taking up too much time and space here, so I'll do all the award passing along later (probably after the new year) and share some "honest" things about myself then!

So...Until Thursday. See you guys later!

I SOLD MY SECOND BOOK!!!!

I was going to title this post "Woes to Wows," but I have a feeling my current title will get more attention.

Anyway, as of November 18, 2009, I was offered a contract for my second book!!!

It had been exactly a year and six days since I'd received an offer for my first book. Sadly, I had submitted seven of my finished manuscripts a total of twenty-five times to a variety of ten publishers. Crazy, huh? The first twenty-two of those twenty-five submissions were rejections, of course, though okay, in six of the rejections, an editor was interested enough to ask me to resubmit my story after I made revisions, so we could call those half rejections if you like (sounds better to me, anyway).

Twenty-two fails out of twenty-five tries... and all within twelve months. You can probably imagine my frustration and mounting depression. But I can’t say I learned nothing from the experience… and I’m still learning. A writer can find out a lot about a publisher from a rejection letter, even some things they don’t mention in their submission guidelines. Some places don’t want the secret-baby, billionaire’s mistress kind of theme in their books and other places would actually prefer to receive these category-line plots. Some places want an even mix between hero and heroine’s point of view. Other places want it to be mainly HER story (this is all in the romance publishing world, by the way--I'm not so knowledgeable in other genres). I could go on with examples, but I won’t bore you. My main point is: it’s all a matter of trial and error.

And out of twenty-five tries, I made twenty-two errors (yep, that sounds like me). Just three more to go and I’d be out of submissions...All filled up with rejection. So, when reply twenty-three showed up in my Inbox on the morning of the eighteenth, I wasn’t so optimistic (Imagine that). But I opened the letter anyway… and in the blink of an eye (well, okay, I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing what I was really seeing), all my woes turned into one big, “Wow.”

I just sold my second book.

At first, I was a bit breathless and way too excited, I couldn’t have told you much of anything past, “Wow. It’s a miracle.” But since then, I've calmed down AND received my signed contract, so I’ll spill all the juicy details I know. This book is an ADULT romance as opposed to my first book, which is a young adult romance. It will be published by the same publisher as my first: The Wild Rose Press.

It's currently titled THE TROUBLE WITH TOMBOYS, and I think that will stay the same. In a rating scale of sweet, sensual, spicy, hot, to erotica, it's "hot," which will be really embarrassing for me when it comes out. For people that know me, there will be a lot of gasping going around if they read this story. "Linda Kay! I can't believe you wrote something that... that... naughty." But there's a lot more to it than just bedroom scenes, so don't worry too much.

Since I'm still in the editing stage, there is no release date set yet, but fear not, I will most definitely keep you updated on those details. And if you want to know what it's about, here's my one line blurb : Grady Rawlings can't seem to get over the death of his wife, but tomboy B.J. Gilmore refuses to give up on him until she drags him back to the land of the living. And that's all I have to say about that.

So, here’s my motto for the day: Keep on submitting; it does eventually pay off!

On another funny note, a few hours after my big "Holy Cow, I sold a book" moment, I received rejection number twenty-three. SOMEONE must want to make sure I stay humble, huh?!

Over at Ashley Ladd's Blog

Hey, I'm being interviewed over at Ashley Ladd's Blog--Happily Ever After--today. She was gracious enough to host me and play twenty-one questions to uncover the real Linda Kage... not that there was a lot of mystery about me in the first place! But feel free to stop by and say hi.

This is my first special guest blog interview, so if you can tell I'm nervous, try not to make fun of me. No tomato zinging please!

Anyway, my contest to win two books is still in full swing. If you'd like to enter, just skip back a few days on my blog posts to October 2nd and leave a comment at the end of the interview. I'll draw a random winner on Monday, October 12th.

There's only TWO days left until I get to see my baby for the first time (where he/she's looking like an actual baby and not just a little blip on the screen). So, come back to tomorrow and see if you can help me figure out early if I'm cooking up a little girl... or boy.

Birthday Greetings

Today, I'm no longer a twenty-something chick. Nope. I'm moving up to the big thirties. I've always heard people freak out when they turn thirty. But I don't feel a decade older. Maybe I'm just too busy with upcoming babies and books to worry about age. Oh, well. Happy Birthday to me!

On to more important matters... Don't forget I have a two-book giveaway contest going. If you'd like to win the print copies of Seduction's Stakes by Claire Ashgrove and Mr. Charming by Nancy J. Parra, hop over to my October 2nd post where I interviewed Ashgrove's hero, the ornery Riley Jennings, and leave a comment (make sure to give your name or email address with your comment so I can contact the winner once they're drawn on October 12th--Thanks).

And for the most important issue of all (to me anyway!), my baby's gender mystery will be resolved in... count them... FOUR DAYS!!! I can't wait. That news will be my most exciting birthday present of all.

Until Tuesday when I have more news to announce.

New Contest

I have lots and lots to tell today!!

First of all:
In celebration of receiving a release date for my book, The Stillburrow Crush (which is coming out FEBRUARY 26, 2010, by the way!), I wanted to have another contest and give away another Amazon Gift Certificate. So, head over to my contest page, http://www.lindakage.com/contest.html, to enter your name in the prize drawing. It lasts until June 30th, so you have plenty of time.

Second:
I went to a writer's retreat this weekend with my Midwest Romance Writer pals (hopefully, we'll have pictures on the website soon). And, wow. So much fun. I learned lots, and not just about writing. I also got to know my fellow chapter members better, and not just what their style of writing is. It really is amazing to bond with people that have a like-minded interest; the support and connection is overwhelming and really inspiring.

Third:
New Moon finally has a movie trailer out. http://www.twilightthemovie.com/ YES! I can't wait until November 2oth. Jacob looks really buff in the video, don't you think? Yum.

Rain, Rain, Go away

We had a nasty thunderstorm roll past our house Friday morning. With probably close to 90 mph winds, it took out our electricity and satellite dish. The electricity was out till Saturday afternoon. The dish... still out.

There was no damage to our property (yay! I'm glad I now know what my new house can withstand), but as you can see from this picture on KOAM TV's website, some people had damage.

My poor sister was sitting in her car at the end of the drive with her children waiting for the school bus to arrive when it hit her place. She tells a very exciting account of the tale. My husband was also in an automobile when the winds came. He said that's the most afraid he's been in a storm before. But when you see the high school gymnasium's roof fly past you, I can see where you're coming from there!

I hope everyone had an okay Mothers' Day. Both my mom and mother-in-law seemed content with theirs.

Suddenly Bothered

I received my galley this week for my manuscript, and, of course, I was dazzled. But, hey, this is the first time I've seen one of my stories in the formatted version of how it's going to look once it's released. The copyright page really got to me. Seeing my very own ISBN number, though... wow. It was really something.

But, anyway, when my editor sent it to me, she instructed me to read through the story again, looking only for grammatical and formatting errors. The editing/revising phase was over. Except... as I started to scan through it, I "suddenly" became uber-aware of how many times I used the word "suddenly."

There's must've been a week back when I was writing the story that "suddenly" was my favorite word to type, because I found it used about five times within ten pages, and I wanted to delete every one of them. Except... the editing/revising phase is over and they can't be deleted. I'm not sure why I didn't catch them the other fifty times I went over the story. But now, they're stuck there forever and I bet they're really going to bother me every time I read my book.

In a couple other places, I found a few phrases where I thought, "Man, I wish I would've written this instead of that." Overall, I know the story is fine. But I still have my nit-picking hat on and there are things that could've been better. I just hope this is a normal reaction for authors, the worrying about minor details. I suppose it's like sending your kid off to school their first day of Kindergarten, finally releasing your baby to the world. You can only pray the other kids don't notice the scuff on their shoes or the dirt behind their ears.

I Do, Times a Few

I think my family's caught wedding fever... and graduation-itis. I got my last single sibling married off this weekend only to learn my oldest nephew is getting married now too. This August. WOW. I remember when he was born. I was only nine. Instead of telling me my oldest sister was going to have a baby, a handful of my siblings informed me she was buying a dog, and I couldn't play with the new puppy until it was older. Not sure why they didn't just tell me the truth. I'm pretty sure I knew where babies came from by that point.

Anyway, I remember when the "puppy" was born, and we all hopped in the car for a four-hour road trip to go meet him. It was worth it. He was adorable. As he got older and learned to talk, he'd say "macaroni" instead of "cheese" whenever there was a camera/video camera around. So, there's this video of him, running around in a diaper, repeatedly yelling "macaroni!" And now that streaking, macaroni-yelling puppy is getting married.

I feel so old.

Ah, but he's not the only one. My niece, who's even younger than him, has been wearing an engagement ring these past few months. No big announcements have been made, but I'm sure a date will be set one of these days. And I'll feel even older. The only embarrassing thing I can remember about her is that she had a very sensitive stomach in her younger years. You could look at this poor girl wrong, and she's vomit all over you. Taking her out to eat was always a dangerous endeavor. I swear that corner booth in Braums will never be the same again. It's a good thing her stomach has toughened up though. Her fiance is quite the hunter and likes to take her along. Imagine how awful it would be to dress out a deer with such a weak constitution.

If you think that's a lot of weddings for one family, listen to how many of my nieces and nephews are graduating this year. I have one niece and two nephews receiving their diplomas from high school in May. And then another niece and nephew will graduate from eighth grade. That's five family members in one year. I'm going to have to take out a loan in order to get all of them graduation cards.

Not that I'm complaining. I love my huge family... even if they do like to remind me how old I'm getting. They just make events like weddings and graduations and holidays fun and fulfilling with their loud, boisterous chaos.

Making History

It's April already!! Did anyone pull a joke yesterday? I didn't. But then, I'm not much for pranks . I always feel bad about them afterward.

It feels like the world's playing one big prank on me, though. I keep waiting for someone to say "gotcha" because recently, there's been about five things that have happened that seem unreal. Some good, some not-so-good, and some, just... there. Only about one of these changes will probably make history books, but they're all big differences in my life.

First of all, it snowed this past weekend. We haven't had snow here most of the winter and finally Spring comes and we get our big "winter" storm for the year. Weird. A nearby high school had their prom on Saturday, and they could've been the only class to claim they went sledding after the dance. This kind of weather just doesn't happen here this time of the year.

Second of all, there's the whole economy thing where the government pressured that big wig automobile CEO to resign. That's never happened in the history of the United States. So, that's a record-maker there.

Then, I also saw on the news that the biggest town near me isn't going to have its Fourth of July Fireworks show this July due to lack of budget. And this is usually a spectacular show. I mean, you have to be, like, a mile away to properly see all the fireworks. So that's a bummer for me.

And last, but not least, I've completed the "editing" phase of my book, The Stillburrow Crush. It's now headed into "production" and soon, it'll get a release date set up. That's my exciting news by the way. Before we know it, my first book will be out in online stores, ready to sell to the public. It's as scary as it is exciting.

That's what's happening in my corner of the world. Anything life-altering or history-making happening to you?

36 Odd Things

Have you ever gotten those fun emails where you're supposed to fill out weird, personal information about yourself and send it on to friends and family. Well, obviously I have since that's what I'm doing here. Cut, and paste, and forward, deleting my answers and putting in your own, if you want to join the game. Otherwise, merely read on to learn a couple facts about me you probably never cared to know:)!


1. Do you like blue cheese? Sure. Especially as salad dressing.


2. Have you ever smoked? Nope.


3. Do you own a gun? If that what's-mine-is-yours-and-what's-yours-is-mine thing is true in a marriage, then heck yes... otherwise, no. No guns for me.


4. What flavor of Kool-Aid is your favorite? Fruit Punch


5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Well, yeah. You mean, some people don't?


6. What do you think of hotdogs? I don't typically sit and philosophise about hotdogs, so honestly I don't think much of them. But I'll eat them when there's nothing else around, or if I'm too lazy to cook something extravagant.


7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story.


8. ****I don't know what happened to 8***** Sorry, I was hungry.


9. Can you do push ups? Can I? Yes. Do I? No.


10. Favorite piece of jewelry? Wedding ring.


11. Favorite hobby? Reading. (shocker, huh?)


12. Do you have A.D.D.? Sometimes, I wonder. But it's never been proven by a medical professional. Plus, I can sit and read an entire day away, which cinches my answer to a definite no right there.


13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? Physically: Overly-long, gangly body Personality: Too shy. Bluck.


14. Middle name? Kay (hence the pen name, Kage).


15. Three wishes? (1). To have good health again (I do miss all that hair I lost). (2). Money (enough that I can quit my day job and sit around, reading and writing all day. Sigh). (3). Happy, satisfied loved ones.


16. What three drinks do you regularly drink? Water, Fruit Punch, Lipton's Citrus Green Tea


17. Current worry. Is the economy going to make me lose my day job?


18. Current dislike right now? Spiders.


19. Favorite place to be? Ah, home! (Especially if all the spiders there would go away)


20. How did you bring in the New Year? Stayed home. Invited friends over. Nice.


21. Where would you like to go? Since I rarely go anywhere, I'm curious about all sorts of places: Yellowstone National Park, Las Vegas, Florida, Cancun, Paris, Germany, Ireland, London, Washington DC, New York City, Arizona, Egypt, Jerusalem, Alaska...have I named enough places yet?


22. Name three people who will complete this. I think I'll just skip this one.


23. Do you own slippers? What a coincidence. My husband just bought me a pair. Isn't he a sweetheart?


24. What shirt are you wearing now? Oh, no. I'm supposed to be wearing clothes? (Kidding. It's a long-sleeved orange thing)


25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I'll let you know when I try it.


26. Do you whistle? Not typically.


27. Favorite color? Purple


28. Would you be a pirate? The one eye, peg leg, and parrot dung on my shoulder really isn't my style. Neither is pillaging and stealing from other people. I'm not much of a sailor either. Not very good at bossing other people around, so I'd have a sucky ship crew. Over all, I'm going to have to go with a no on this answer.


29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Sorry, I'm not a shower singer. But I do like to sing along with the radio while driving. Right now, "Hey There, Delilah," and Gnarles Barkley's "Crazy" are among my favorite singalongs.


30. Favorite Girl's Names? Anna and Lydia


31. What's in your pocket right now? Pocket?


32. Last thing or person that made you laugh? Gena Showalter's Book, The Vampire Bride.


33. Worst injury you've ever had? Not that I remember it, but my mother told me I was less than a year old when I was just learning to walk. I found a couple of hard, concrete stairs and fell against them, splitting my forehead open. There's still a scar there today.


34. Do you like where you live? Since I'm the one who created the floor-plan for its design, I better go with yes here. So, yeah. But honestly... I do. I love it.


35. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three, and wow, two actually work!


36. Who is your loudest friend? I'm going to have to go with Denney on this one.

Feathered Husbands

I’ve married a feathered man—and I’m not talking about feathered as in trivial or unimportant, I mean the actual plumage kind of feathers.

Or so he’s convinced.

Some of you might take part in a nightly mirror-inspection ritual… you know, where you stare at your face in the bathroom mirror, tilting it this way and that, looking for new pimples or growths, discolorations, or wrinkles. I actually do this to myself in the in the morning before taking my shower. My husband’s more into scrutinizing himself at night, right before he crawls into bed.

So, I guess he was checking his face last night to make sure he was still the same guy he was that morning when he found an unusual discovery, which he promptly brought to me. So, he approached me where I’m sitting at the computer, typing away in my little fiction world, and held up his hand to show me what he had trapped between his thumb and index finger.

It looked like a splinter to me.

Fat lot I knew.

“It’s a feather,” he claimed, sounding amazed by the idea.

I blinked, clearly clueless. “A feather?”

He nodded, looking very sure of himself. “I pulled it out of my chin.”

It was exceptionally hard for me not to drop to the floor and roll around with a belly laugh here. But come on. A thirty-two year old, usually sane man is utterly certain he’s grown a feather out the side of his chin? I don’t think so. I blinked a couple more times like there was really something caught in my eye as he proceeded to prove his point, showing me the hollow unified base and numerous little strands sprouting out the top.

“That’s a split end,” I explained. The hairs on his goatee were growing split ends.

But my words of wisdom were obviously the wrong answer. I gained a dirty scowl for my response. “It’s not a split end,” he muttered. “It’s a feather.”

Oh, for the love of God, I wanted to throw up my hands and cry. When did my husband lose his mind? He seemed perfectly fine five minutes before.

But, hey, I decided to roll with it. “Sure,” I agreed dryly. “You’re growing feathers and molting.”

Now he looked at me as if I was the insane party. “I’m not molting,” he said. “I pulled it out.”

Oh, gee, sorry. My mistake.

I just nodded and smiled, though. But what else was there for me to do at this point? Check him into the nearest insane asylum? Deciding I’d be utterly bored if I actually shipped him off, I patted his shoulder and kissed his feathered cheek.

“Yes, dear,” I said. “You must be right. It's a feather.”

Hey, he might be a fruit loop, but he’s my entertaining fruit loop.

So, there was my evening last night. I discovered I was actually married to a weirdo. And here I thought the stories I made up were unusual. But fact can definitely be stranger than fiction.

Yep, I thought I’d tell you that story since my casino adventure wasn’t worth writing home about. We lost our hats… not literally. But we certainly didn’t come home with anything extra. At one point, I put a twenty-dollar bill into a slot machine and instantly won sixty bucks. But then I was so excited about such an easy score, I kept playing and ended up losing the entire eighty. Whoops. Guess gambling isn’t quite the life for me.

It was actually an okay experience, though. I thought the place smelled like a movie theatre. My husband (yeah, the weird guy) said it smelled like a bowling alley. I figured it must be a mixture of the type of carpet and the hoards of people that put off that distinct aroma. It was nice and warm inside the huge place, though, and there were cushioned swiveling seats in front of every single machine and at every black jack table. The mixed drinks were a bit pricy and too watered down, but the circular bar in the center of the room was beautiful with these colored lights shooting up toward the ceiling that changed their hue every few minutes . Amazing.

It was loud, sounded like an over-done video arcade, but I must say the valet parking was well worth the entire trip. Mmmm! Simply divine. My husband kept worrying the valet drivers would pull a Ferris Bueller on our car and take it for a little joy ride while we were inside. But the other couple riding with us convinced him no one was going to be too concerned about absconding with our bland ol’ Honda when there was a shiny, new Hummer waiting in line right behind us. And I did like the uniformed gentleman opening my car door for me and saying, “Have a nice evening.” I might have to go back just to feel like royalty again and drive through the complimentary valet line!!

My Valentine

I watched vh1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s on TV this week, and I heard a line I loved. "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls came in number 39 and someone on the show made the comment that this was a good couples song. They said, "Couples who came together with Goo, stuck together." I was like, "Oh, yeah! Rock on," because of course that was me and my man's song back in 1998 when we met and, yep, we're still together, and, yep, that's still our song. Good memories. Good memories.

Being that this is Valentine's Day, I say it's an excellent time to recall how I met my one true love. So, we digress way back to November of 1998, my freshman year of college. I came home for Thanksgiving break and made plans to meet my school friend Susan (hi Susan!) and go do... something. She made some comments beforehand about me meeting this guy friend of hers, but I didn't think too much of it at the time. I was more excited about getting to see Susan again.

So, the night of our reunion came. We, plus another friend of ours, piled into my 1990 Nissan Sentra and headed toward a honky tonk bar not too far away called Twisters. There, this guy friend of Susan's had already arrived and was playing pool with a group of his buddies. Susan introduced us, we all played pool for a couple of rounds, and then he asked me to dance.

I couldn't tell you what that first song was. It was probably some country tune. But after that, Garth Brooks "To Make You Feel My Love" came on and I oohed and awed over it because I'd just seen the movie Hope Floats with my sister. So, he asked me to dance again. After that, he hurried to Susan and told he he'd like to go out with me sometime. Susan relayed the information to me, and instead of giving her an answer back, I walked over to him and felt obliged to tease him for being unable to ask me out himself. He blushed, I told him Id' be delighted to go out with him, and the rest is history. We went on our first date.

The next afternoon, before I had to drive back to college, we caught a movie at the local theatre, watching Will Smith in Enemy of the State, and then we went to Sonic Drive-In for a fountain drink. Since that day, Sonic has become "our special place". We usually go there every Valentine's Day to celebrate... Except this year.

Being that 1999 was our first Valentine together as a couple, making this officially our ten year anniversary, we're pulling out all the stops. It's off to Down Stream Casino for us. I'm excited because I've never been to a casino before and am ready to get some good research in to hopefully be able to write about it in a book someday. He's just ready to get out of the house for a while and socialize with the other two couples going with us. All around, I think it'll be an experience.

Who knows what we'll do in 2019, but I'm certain we'll do it together. Because we've been stuck together by Goo and our romance is one of those "for the long haul" doozies.

This Post is dedicated to my Valentine. Thank you so much for ten wonderful years. I love you!

Wedding in the Family

It's official. My brother bought a ring and, today, I got to see it on his lady love's finger. I'm so happy for him. He'll be giving me a new sister-in-law in April. Wow. I haven't seen him this content in, well, probably forever. This true-life romance is a great source of inspiration for my writing, so... I'm off to write now! Toodles.

I'm Moved

I've discovered the worst part about about building a new house. It's packing and moving and unpacking. Bluck. Maybe we sub-contracted it out enough we got off easy on the actual "constructing" portion, but good-golly-Miss-Molly... that certainly didn't happen in the moving segment of Operation Build-House. After one great, wonderful, can't-thank-him-enough friend helped my husband carry all the big stuff--like my fifty million and one bookshelves--the rest of the moving was up to me and the hubby alone. I'm still sore and bruised and bone-tired and... did I mention sore?

What's worse, there was a misunderstanding between us and the family wanting to move into the house we were leaving. We thought we told them it'd take us two weeks to clear out. Well... they heard one and called their water and electric company to turn off their utilities a week earlier than my husband and I were ready. So, we ended up having five days to pack and leave instead of two weeks. That sucked. Being rushed, experiencing freezing winds, and working through utter exhaustion do not mix well, let me tell you.

But now we're settled, er, rather settling, and I never realized I had so much junk. We still have a garage full of boxes to unpack and the inside already feels cluttered. What I'd like to know is where did all this crap come from? It certainly can't ALL be ours. I'm sad to say it probably is, but yikes... I don't want it anymore. How dost I rid myself of all this garbage that can't rightly be called garbage?

Good news is... I have a new house!!! And it--along with all that clutter--is mine! It's a little breathtaking. That's the best part of building a new house. Afterward, it's all yours.

Anyway, I have good news in the "book" department as well. Okay, it's great news. My contract for The Stillburrow Crush is signed and complete. It WILL be published someday by The Wild Rose Press. I'm still in that "I'll believe it when I see it" phase, so I'm waiting till there's actual proof to show you all before it's true celebration time.

I finally saw Twilight. Two of my nieces and my sister took pity on me and helped me escape from moving to steal away for a few hours of Robert Pattinson. Loved it. The book was better, but geesh, who could've expected any movie made to top that novel? It depicted the book accurately enough for my peace of mind, so I can't complain. This "Twilight" lover is satisfied... until movie two is made.

Thanks a bundle Katie, Kayla, and Sandra for taking me to see the movie I'd been so anxious to experience. I owe you guys big time.

Short Check In

I'm swamped with packing. My computer will be boxed up today, so you probably won't hear from me for a week or two. I haven't learned anything about my contract for selling a book, ergo no new updates there.

Have a great Thanksgiving and don't forget Twilight: The Movie comes out tonight!!

Take Care.

My Inspirations

I was scanning the web page of unpublished author Marie-Claude Bourque and felt captivated by the inspiration section on her bio page. Using different movies titles, musician names, author pseudonyms, and television shows to give us an insight into her world, she explained her culture and background very artistically. It's similar to what we do when we create our MySpace page, but I liked how she headed it "Inspirations" and mixed everything up like she did. So I had to do my own and here it is:

To Kill a Mockingbird Sandra Brown Harry Potter Gail Giles Catherine Anderson Moulin Rouge Garth Brook’s The Dance Anne Stuart Kurt Grotheer Romancing the Stone Adam Sandler Shawshank Redemption Dirty Dancing Akon Cheers Marlon Brando Twilight Walt Dinsey’s Cinderella Julia Quinn Doris Crumpacker Black Eyed Peas Beach Boys The Fugitive Nora Roberts Kristin Hannah Funkytown A Walk to Remember The Little Mermaid James Dean Eminem RWA Richard Marx Lisa Kleypas Blue Oyster Cult Jim Carey Scream Linda Howard Willow Blue Collar Comedy Tour Christina’s World South Park Eurythmics Shrek J. R. Ward Friends Journey Sarah Palin Gone with the Wind Suzanne BrockmannTwo and a Half Men Nirvana Meg Ryan

Graves' Update

Okay, so I went to a thyroid specialist yesterday. After looking at my test results, the endocrinologist immediately doubled all my medication and set me up with an appointment to get my thyroid destroyed next Tuesday. I'll have to sleep in a different bed than my husband, use a different bathroom, and not snuggle for five days after the radiation treatment. But the good news is... six months after that's done, I'm allowed to get pregnant. Yay! Yes, there will be increased risks, but at least there's good possibilities I'll be able to add to the family. I feel lots better after talking to this doctor. She addressed all my concerns directly.

On the house-building front, we have insulation on our walls and sheet rock is being hung today. Double Yay! There should be sidewalks in another two to three weeks and my new kitchen cabinets have been ordered and are being built.

So, good news there and there. Lets hope all these publishers and contests judges I've sent material will know to follow the pattern. I'm positive I'll hear from someone by at least November 11th, except... I'll be a year older by then. But hmm. Let's not go there.

Graves' Disease

I went to my doctor yesterday to get the results of my tests and found out I have Graves' Disease, which is simply an overactive thyroid, making my heart rate skyrocket and my metabolism go through the roof. It's easily treated, so it's not really that big a deal, but I kinda like saying, "I have Graves' Disease." Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Graves' Disease. Yes, very dooming. The biggest problem might be trying to have children... okay, child. I really only want one. But I want that one. If this is going to prevent me from having my one, I'm going to be super upset.

• WomensHealth.gov on Graves' Disease
• MayoClinic.com on Graves' Disease
• Wikipedia's Definitions of Graves' Disease
• National Graves' Disease Foundation

Raring to Go

Feels like I'm on the right track to being a published author these days with three submissions sent out, five contests entered, and continual feedback from my critique group. Now, I just have to relax in my seat and see if the train I chose will take me where I want to go. Just hope I don't have an ulcer by the time my ride ends. I need to learn how to relax and stop stressing so much.

I'm looking forward to meeting with my critique group face to face this Thursday and then attending my monthly MRW meeting afterward. I'm sure I'll be back Friday with reviews on how both of those events went.