I've just made $8.82. But it cost me $131.00 to do it!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD AFTERNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

Suddenly I'm Robin Williams and the world is my radio station!

DREAM IN COLOR IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER!

Those of you (elliott) who wish to do it digital, you're going to have to wait until 3-19. The rest of you old school book readers can order your copy TODAY. (It may take 2-4 weeks to actually get, of course, so the digital folks are still ahead of the game.)

Anyway, I went a little tiny bit nuts ordering some copies for my personal...well, you know the scene in "Indecent proposal" where Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson roll around in Robert Redford's money? Yeah...that.

But the good news is I get paid for all purchases, including my own! And, if my math and memory of the contract I signed serves, I've made $8.82 as an author! (Or course, it cost me a touch more, you know with shipping and all that what not.)

Hey, this is my first born. Give me a break! At least my bookshelves won't QUITE look like Dr. Leo Marvin's in "What About Bob." I don't plan on going quite THAT overboard! Yet....

Anyway, folks if you've got a hankerin' to read something that's entertaining, a little spicy, and actually funny, click on my cover above!

In the meantime, I'll be in my little world, happy dancing to a Rick Springfield tune!

What kind of world can you create?

Good morning!

I was at my monthly meeting of the Mad City Romance Writers over this past weekend. Our topic of discussion was world building. My critique partner and I were a little hesitant about going. The idea of world building is sometimes thought of as a strictly sci fi tool. After all, those of us who write in the real world don't need to build a world, right?

WRONG!

Talk about a great meeting! My eyes were opened to the idea of building a world and making it my own, even if it's a world readers already think they know.

For example: Dream in Color. The world I built was simple...for the best part of the story, it's the inside of Ramona's car, driving down I 94 between Benton Harbor, MI and Detroit on a hot summer night. It's a stretch of road I'm very familiar with , since I drove it several times when I lived in Detroit and the rest of my family lived in Wisconsin.

For "Lies in Chance/A Chance to Walk" (My recent crash and burn in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest has made me step back and ponder my direction with this book.) my world is a bit more complex. Rock Harbor, a town just north of Green Bay, is a creation of my own. To my knowledge, there is no such town as Rock Harbor near Door County. But several family vacations to Door County during my high school years inspired the scenes I put to paper. There was something magical about the simplicity of the life in the rural stretches between Green Bay and that odd little wing of Wisconsin that shoots out into Lake Michigan. I drew from my own childhood and created a school and church community within the tiny town. So, I built a world.

Historical writers create worlds based on historical fact, but also based on their own imagination. "Gone with the Wind" is rooted in historical fact, but would it have been quite the magical book had Margaret Mitchell not given us Tara and Twelve Oaks? Would "Wuthering Heights" be the dark book it is without the shadowy halls of the manor house Emily Bronte saw in her head?

Sci fi writers get to create worlds that reach beyond our experience, and that's great. I like reading sci fi because that's truly escapist reading. But I also enjoy reading books that give me a sense of the familiar while stretching my world experience. I may never go to Italy, but I read everything Adriana Trigiani writes and I know exactly what she's talking about when I read her books.

So, as a writer, look at the world you're creating. You may not realize it, but your reader wants to get lost in that world, no matter how simple or normal or real it may be. Thank you, Mad City Romance Writers for opening my eyes!,

Happy writing!

IT'S BACK ON THE SITE! IT'S BACK ON THE SITE!

Hello all!

Well, "Dream in Color" is BACK ON THE WILD ROSE PRESS SITE!

Click on my cover page above and you'll see a blurb and a fun excerpt!

THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY!


Happy dance with me everyone!

Cheers!

Hard work, timing, fearlessness, and a touch of blind luck is the formula.

Good morning!

Last night we had a pot luck dinner at church before the midweek Lenten service. Pot luck dinners are the cornerstone of most church bodies, combining fellowship and chatting with lukewarm casseroles and endless pans of brownies. Last night was no different. Most of the people I talked to were still glowing over the spaghetti dinner our teen group put on last Saturday. But there was one gentleman who stopped me as I was popping a brownie on my Styrofoam plate.

"I hear you sold a book!" says he. (He's married to one of my best church friends, but he doesn't pay too much attention to her when she talks, so it's no surprise he's just now getting the news about "Dream in Color.")

"I did," says I.

"Now you'll have to tell me how you did it so I can sell mine," says he.

He moved off to get a cup of bad church coffee. (That's redundant, really. Church coffee is in a class of bad all by itself.) I went to sit down with a lady I know vaguely from choir practice.

On my way to the table, though, I pondered what the gentleman wanted from me. It took me by surprise, though thinking about it, I suppose it shouldn't. How did I sell a book?

At this point, more than a few of my friends will be nodding and asking that question out loud.

How does anyone sell a book these days? It seems like there are endless titles of self help books on how to get published. I think the fastest way to get published is to write a book about how to get published!

With so many authors out there writing the stories in their hearts, and with agents and editors buried under piles of queries (all written in the style recommended by the latest "how to get published" book.), synopsises and partials, it's a wonder anyone gets published. Sure, if your name happens to be Stephen King, Nora Roberts, John Grisham, or Danielle Steele, it's slam dunk easy. But what about the rest of us?

I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you how "Dream in Color" to be, and what I'm doing now with "Lies in Chance."

1) Hard work.

Your mother was right about this. Nothing happens if you don't work at it. In "Dream" and in "Lies" both of my heroines have an amazing talent for writing or playing music. Mostly this is a wish on my part, since I'm one of those musicians who works very, very hard just to be average. But natural talent like that doesn't happen often. Most of us have to work really hard to get what we want. And when it comes to writing, I've worked very hard.

I haven't maybe worked very steadily. There are whole years where I didn't touch my writing. But when I sit down to work, it's to WORK. Writing the story is the easy part, my friends. Polishing it, editing it, marketing it, that's work! And it's work a writer MUST DO!

2) Timing

Writing is a subjective sport, sort of like figure skating. Sometimes you submit to an agent or an editor who, quite frankly, is really not interested in your epic tale of love during the H1N1 epidemic. Sometimes you pitch to an agent who has already sat through thirty pitches about a heroine who has a talent for cooking, and you just happen be the last in a far too long line. But sometimes, sometimes my friends you pitch and idea to an agent or an editor who WANTS your epic novel about love in the time of the H1N1 epidemic, or who was really looking for a culinary heroine.

3) Fearlessness

You got a rejection? Whoop de do! I'm a member of the Mad City Romance Writers. We applaud anyone who gets a rejection. We love rejections! Rejections mean you're working, and remember, rule number one...HARD WORK!

Don't let a rejection scare you. Don't let sixty rejections scare you! I cannot tell you how many times "Lies" has been rejected. So what? Every rejection made it a stronger story. And now, it's entered into the Amazon contest and this time I think I'll do better than the quarterfinals.

Did "Dream" get rejected? You betcha! I think about a dozen times. Once at the very conference where I actually wound up selling it! Did that stop me? No! Rejections, critiques, comments, all serve to make the story better. Suck it up Buttercup! Writing isn't for the faint of heart! You want love and sweetness and puppies? Write a children's book about love and sweetness and puppies...and then don't submit it to anyone because the kid's books world is almost as harsh as the romance world.

4) Blind luck.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I sold "Dream" based on a conversation I had with Rhonda Penders at a chocolate fountain at the WisRWA conference back in 2008. If I hadn't met her, if she hadn't been really looking for authors at that conference, if we hadn't had such a detailed conversation while dipping cookies into cascading chocolate, "Dream" would be just that...a dream.

Or maybe it wasn't blind luck. Maybe it was a melding of rules 1-3. I worked hard. My timing was good, and I was fearless enough to talk to Rhonda.

Still, a little luck doesn't hurt!

In the end, there is really no magic to getting published. Approach it as you would a job, or a career. Work hard, be persistent, and get educated about how to get published. Join a writers' group. Talk to other writers. Enter a contest. And, of course, submit, submit, submit!

You might even want to invest in one of those "How to get published" books. (I love the "Writer's Market" for fiction, and Debra Dixon's "Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. Also, Stephen King's "On Writing" is my writing BIBLE!)

Keep working!

Writing a new chapter while keeping the old one.

Good morning!

Skating history was made last night in Vancouver when a North American Team (Canadian, to be specific) took gold in Ice Dancing, breaking the Russian/Soviet 30 plus year grip on the medal. Now, a Russian pair did hold on to get the bronze, keeping alive the streak of medals in the event. (The US pair took silver, BTW.)

The announcers said over and over how it was a "new chapter" in Ice Dancing, with the success of these upstart North American pairs in an event long held by Eastern Europe. Whether you're a fan of ice dancing (I am) or you don't think it's a sport (I don't, I just happen to love the beauty of it) or even if you're just a fan of the Olympics (I am, OF COURSE!) you know that last night's competition and results were significant.

This Olympics has been all about writing a new chapter for the US. I don't have to think too far back to remember a Winter Olympics where the US were barely a blip on the radar in events like Skiing, bobsled, and men's figure skating. We pinned all of our national hopes on the young, unlikely legs of some teen aged girl as she jumped and twirled on her skates. This time around, we've already struck multiple gold on the slopes, we hold a gold in men's figure skating, and don't look now, but our hockey team just toppled mighty Canada. (Not exactly a miracle like 1980 Lake Placid, but impressive all the same.) Oh, and we got a medal in Nordic combined! How unlikely is that?

The same is true when you sit down to work on a story or on a novel. (See, I brought it back to writing!) You've got notes, you've got an outline. (Well, if you're really good you have an outline. If you're like me, you have some notes and a few sketchy paragraphs.) You know where you want a story to go, probably, but getting there seems really unlikely. Sort of like the US getting a medal in Nordic Combined.

Sometimes getting to where you want to be with a story means writing a whole new chapter. It means cutting, deleting, erasing, or throwing away the old chapters that don't work. Don't be afraid to say, "As much as I like this chapter, and I'm comfortable with it, it's not working in my story. It needs to go and I need to write a new chapter."

By the same token, take a close look at what is working in your story. What do you really like? Don't throw it all out, keep that foundation that started the whole thing. For example, if you read a very early version of what is now "Lies in Chance" you wouldn't even recognize it. At some point, several years ago, I looked at the manuscript and said, "None of this is working. It has to go." But I kept three very key things that I loved. 1) I kept the friendship between Bryan and Drew. 2) I kept Shara's back story. 3) I kept the barn fire scene.

Yep, I threw out roughly six hundred pages of work (Because it was a two book masterpiece at one point, yikes) and kept two elements and one scene. And now it's a book I'm proud of, and excited to see move forward in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel awards this year.

With "Dream in Color" I didn't throw out much...I had to add quite a lot because that was way too short for mainstream publication. Oddly enough, even though I thought the book was done...there were all sorts of new chapters to be built on the old ones.

So take a look at your work in progress. What's working, what's not? Don't be afraid to throw out parts and hold on to parts. Do not fear writing that new chapter!

Embracing the voices in your head

Hello all!

Checking the Wild Rose Press site, it looks like we are a week away from having "Dream in Color" back on the site as a "coming soon" book! And after that, we are a month away from the actual release! Whoo hoo!

I have to tell the story of how this book came to be. See, it's no secret, to anyone who knows me, that I've had more than my share of celebrity crushes over the years. It started with Randy Mantooth, Tv's Johnny Gage, when I was about six and Emergency was a hit. I was positive Johnny would marry me someday and we'd be an unstoppable paramedic team. Never mind the 22 year age difference.

There were others over the decades, Erik Estrada, Mark Harmon (As a blond in 240-Robert) John Bennett Perry (Also from 240 Robert). As a child and a young teen I liked my heroes...heroic. In fact, my second book, "Lies in Chance" actually started out with the two main male characters being paramedics. (They are now parochial school teachers, because, well, you write what you know, right?)

As I got older, my celebrity crushes got more, musical. Mike Reno from Loverboy, Lou Gramm from Foreigner, Steve Perry from Journey, Barry Manilow...(I know, I know...) And, of course, Rick Springfield. (That one's lasted me a good long time!)

It's not often a person like me living in Wisconsin, gets to meet her childhood crushes, but back in 2000 and 2001 I had that opportunity to meet both Randy Mantooth and Rick Springfield. In 2000 The TV show Emergency was being put into the Smithsonian and the powers the be thought it would be cool to move much of the show's trappings, and some of the cast across the country for meet and greets. That worked really well in California, but by the time the show started moving eastward, most of the cast dropped out for one reason or another. Not Randy, though. He made a lot of appearances by himself. And I got to meet him in Chicago on a very hot, sunny day. He could not have been more gracious to the throngs of Midwestern folk who lined up to meet him. I rank that day as one of the best in my life...and I looked great in the photo with him!

In the spring of 2001 I got to meet Rick Springfield at the Potowatami Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. He does a 4-5 day stint in Milwaukee each year and he was, that year, signing his newest album Shock Denial/Anger/Acceptance after the concert. Again, he was awesome, even if Bucky, his handler, was less than amused by the line up of middle aged women. Again, great night, and, while I look less fabulous in the photo, I still treasure it.

Those two events sparked "Dream in Color." I met so many people, women mostly, in those lines and online in groups and chat rooms, all who shared my same crush. In my real life I've been mocked a little for my crushes. But online....well, that was like being in a room with everyone who agrees exactly with you about your favorite thing. the thing was, the stories those women told me about their own lives were...I guess some would say sad. There were stories of lonely, single women, women in terrible relationships, women with terrible jobs. But there was one shining light in all of that. Their crushes on an aging celebrity who had been their crushes forever.

I never thought any of the women I met in those lines were sad, or pathetic. I have always thought that everyone has that one little piece of them that clings to a happy memory, or a happy moment. For me, it was Saturday night at 8 PM when the klaxons of Station 51 sounded, and then later, when "Don't Talk to Strangers" blared out of my stereo speakers. There was a little piece of me that said, "Someday, he's going to stand on my doorstep and fall in love with me."

Of course, I'm married to a man I adore and I have two children...who are teens and therefore not all that adorable, still I love them. I have a job and a church and friends. So when I sat down to write "Dream in Color" I was all set to write Ramona's story as my story...someone who had a crush but was living another dream, a simpler dream.

But a funny thing happens with writers. We writers don't write so much as we take dictation. Any writer who says they don't have voices in their head is simply lying or not listening hard enough. Characters have a way of making their desires known. In "Lies in Chance" I wanted Shara to be a damsel in distress. After trying to write her big distress scene several times I listened and I heard her scream, "I'M NOT SOME STUPID DAMSEL IN DISTRESS." So I put a pitchfork in her hand and let her fight. It's what she wanted.

And the same with "Dream." That book is so different from my original plan, I barely recognize it. I think my editor would laugh at my early drafts. I know some agents did. I can tell from their rejection letters. To make that book work I had to sit down and LISTEN to Ramona.

So "Dream in Color" in spite of what those who know me would like to believe, is not my story. It's Ramona's story. It's the story for all those women I met in line and the women I met online. It's a salute to loyal fans. It's a love letter to those aging celebrities who understand and reach out to those fans with sincerity and generosity.

As the day draws closer, I am more excited, more nervous, and more pleased that this book is coming out. I hope, if nothing else, that the book entertains the reader and inspires other writers to listen to the voices in their heads.

Those are good voices. They know what they want!

In the home stretch...and scared to death!

Hello all!

Sorry it's been awhile. Like most of you, I've been glued to the TV watching Olympic Coverage. Seriously, if it weren't for the fact that I need to actually pay the cable bill, I wouldn't leave the house for these blissful 17 days of fun and national pride.

And I love watching skaters hit the wall. Is that wrong?

So "Dream in Color" comes out in a little more than a month and I'm starting to get a touch nervous and sick to my stomach. Have I done enough in the marketing department? Answer: Ummmmm, no. Well, not really. I'm sort of breaking tradition and NOT getting book marks printed. (Book marks, the ubiquitous calling card of the new author.) I'm just going to keep copies of the book at the ready so a book signing can break out at any time, any place. LOL!

And speaking of book signings, I'm hoping to have one of my very first at the WisRWA conference in Brookfield, WI, in May. Each year WisRWA (Wisconsin Romance Writers) holds a book signing and sale for their members. Profits go to the Literacy programs in whatever city the conference is in. (Sorry, dangled that preposition!) So I've got that on the docket at the moment.

As for book signings that will actually make me some money, well, I'm in a wait and see sort of pattern. I can't quite believe any of this is happening until I'm actually holding my book in my hands, which may be a couple weeks yet. (The book still has to come back up on the Wild Rose Press site!)

When I started writing I thought I'd write a story, and someone, didn't know who, would publish it and the world would read it. Turns out there's a whole bunch more that needs to be done, and I'm the one who's gotta do it! The great thing is, once the book is out, I've got all the time in the world to set up whatever I need to do. Where am I going? And what, the book is going to vanish in a cloud in six months? No. Wild Rose holds on to titles for at least two years, if I'm reading everything right. So I've got two years to be brilliant! LOL!

But marketing your own book is really important, because who loves your book more than you do? Who knows it better? So, even though I would much rather sit home and watch more Olympic coverage, I do have to plan out where I'm going to have a launch party, where I'm doing the first signing, if the conference will be it. I have to go on Bob and Brian at 1029 The Hog and talk up the book until people are sick of me. (BTW, the radio is way fun!)

So, now the work begins...and it scares me to death!

Falling down is less obvious when you're sitting at a computer

Good eveing all!

Just got home from my 13 year old daughter's cheer leading competition. Like all subjective sports, such as figure skating, gymnastics, and sewing (Oh please, if you saw me sew my 4-H projects in grade school you'd think of it as a physical sport, too.), cheer leading has its vast share of falling down and heartbreaks. (Who knew I missed a stitch on my gathered skirt? Well, the judge did....) So my duaghter's team, a small group of girls who have never been to competition before, except for my daughter, did quite well. Except for one thing: My daughter's flier (that's the girl they throw in the air) slipped out of my daughter's hands and fell. It didn't ruin the routine, the girls recovered quickly, but they placed sixth in a division of seven and there were a lot of tears in the back seat of our car on the way home because my daughter blames herself for dropping her flier.

Why do I share this? Because it's really just one little thing in the pantheon of our real lives, isn't it? A girl slips out of another girl's hands and they slip from possibly winning their division to placing sixth. The obivous thing is to blame it on the fall, but there are so many things that go into judging something subjective like cheerleading...or writing.

Aha!

Writing is a subjective sport...I mean, business. Maybe you hit an editor at the right time with the right query letter. Or maybe you have the world's worst luck and every time you send in a query you get it to the desk of an editor or an agent at a very bad time. There's no obvious fall, nothing to point to and say, "That's why my book didn't get published."

Like any subjective business, it's easy to give up and say, "well, the judges are against me, the agents are against me, the editors are against me." But if that were the case, how many great stories from the realm of Olympic sports would we miss out on? how many gymnasts almost gave upbecause they fell down, but then didn't? How many figure skaters? How many other judged sports would be without their stars if their stars gave up after falling down?

With the Winter Olympics upon us this coming week, I'd like you to take a moment and watch some figure skating. Those athletes train for YEARS to get to this point. Those families sacrifice their homes, their time, their money to get their child to this point. And in a blink, in one moment, they can fall down and slip from a golden dream to a forgotten footnote, or worse yet, to a Saturday night Live comedy sketch as one unfortunate French girl did several years ago.

Falling down in a sport that is judged is accepted as part of the sport. You fall, you get up. This time you place sixth. Next year you place higher. It's part of the sport.

It should be part of you writing as well. This week you got rejected. Maybe next week your rejection letter will be nicer, maybe give you some pointers. Maybe next month you sell a book!

But you will never, ever know until you get up, dust off, and get back at it!

On that note, I should say that I'm so proud of our cheer girls tonight because maybe they placed sixth, but they broke through a barrier of massive proportions just being at that competition...and they get to bring home a trophy, the first of its kind at that school. It's not a first place trophy, just like that first sale probably won't be a New York times best seller, but it's a testament to their hard work, and to the start of something great.

Now, get to writing!

Lies, Damned Lies, and Lies in Chance...

Howdy my friends!

Okay, I realize it's been a bit since I posted last, but I have a really, really good reason: I'VE BEEN WRITING!

(I'll wait now while you clean off your computer screens after spewing coffee at it in what I can only imagine was a beautiful spit take.)

Yep, it's true. I got off my fanny, or got on it, your pick, and got my entry ready for the 2010 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Awards. Yes, I entered my novel lovingly known as "The Stupid Novel." However, I managed to come up with a title all on my own that does not completely suck.

Ready?

LIES IN CHANCE

I know, who knew I could string together three words that sounded like an actual book title. Certainly not me! LOL!

Okay, but Sarah, that doesn't sound like a romance novel....

(Gasp!)

I know. Here's the thing: I've never thought of TSN (The Stupid Novel) as a romance. There is a romance at the core of it, yes. And true, broken hearts abound and people get all sweaty with each other. BUT, and it's a big old BUT, there were just too many voices in my head as I wrote it for it to be a romance. Too many side characters shouting, "HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?"

(Excuse me while I take a moment and hum my favorite Moving Pictures Song...."

I'm back. So anyway, I spent the better part of these last couple weeks amping up the volume on those noisy characters in my head and bing bam boom, I have what one would consider a Commercial Fiction novel.

You know, something my friend Elliott might even find interesting, should he bump into it at Target. Of course, Elliott is one of the few who's had the pleasure (?) of slogging through many early versions of TSN (remember when I tried to kill Molly? And the group had a collective fit?) so I'll give him a pass in Target. :)

The benefit for this is that hopefully, hopefully the judges won't be CONFUSED (a word used in a rejection letter recently) by who the main characters are. In a romance that's very important. In a commercial fiction, still important, but it's okay if other characters get a bit of the nooky...I mean limelight.

So what I hope to accomplish with TSN 4.0 is to get at least as far as 3.0 made it, the quarterfinals, and I'm hoping to actually get into the semis. I figure that will look good on a query letter! (Ask for it by name LIES IN CHANCE!)

Meanwhile, I got a huge boost from my Mad City Romance Writers meeting this past Saturday as I was struggling through some sticky plot points in "7/8ths Time." Apparently, even though I really hoped to write a normal romance type book with this one, you know, the heroine wins the man and is the central figure, my main character is my HERO, and this is his journey.

No worries. I love writing men, especially this guy, Quinn. I'm more than a little in love with him. I find it helps to fall in love with your hero when you're writing him. So now I get to make this be all about him, that means he gets more chapters, and that means I get more nooky...I mean writing time with Quinn.

I am, however, finding myself growing jealous of my heroine...

Yep, I need help!

On one last note, a sadder one, Rick Springfield's beloved pup, Gomer, past away earlier this week. For those of you who are fans, you know how important Gomer was to Rick. For more information and a slide show on the sweet boy, go on over to Rick's website www.rickspringfield.com

Happy writing all!

How Wii see Mii

Good afternoon!

I just spend a lovely afternoon WRITING! (OMG!) Yes, Bossman was taking a nap (seriously, he told me that's what he was going to do) and New Girl is off today and the customers who are unable to purchase anything on the website without four phone calls stayed away. And I wrote like the wind!

Ahhhhh.....

I am stuck, however. I'm entering a contest I entered last year, with the same book I entered last year. (Mostly because I didn't get off my rear and write a new book.) Anyway, I've made some serious changes to said book, enough that I'm fairly certain that a panel of only moderately interested judges probably won't remember it. However, I need a title.

I'm terrible at titles.

The only reason "Dream in Color" is such a good title is because I played that fairly obscure Rick Springfield song over and over and over and OVER whilst writing the book.

While I have a soundtrack for this book, I don't have that one certain song.

So, my friends, I need help. I'm looking for something that involves any or all of the following words:

Web, lies, tangle, secrets, memories, heart, broken, hold, walk, music, horses, teach

(I'm sure, Elliott, you recognize the book by these few words. Can we just publish it under the working title, "THE STUPID NOVEL?" PLEASE?)

Oh, and I don't want a title that's been done, or sounds like it's been done, which is why I have issues. Any help is appreciated.

On to the bigger issue. WE got a WII for Christmas. (Ya know, now that everyone else has one, the price is down and we got a truckload of gift cards for Best Buy.) And we got WII FIT PLUS.

Have you done this?

As writers, we all know the problems of our calling. Sitting and sitting and sitting. Oh, and eating small chocolate candies (I'll take a page from "Biggest Loser" and NOT call them M & M's.) all day long.

Let me tell you, the WII IS AWESOME! I have a 180 bowling average and, according to Wii Fit, my Mii is 36! (Obese, yes, but 36!)

It's sort of a boost to know that at least someone out there doesn't think of me as fat, hairy, and ancient!

And, knowing that the Wii sees Mii as 36, I've gotten a whole new attitude about things. Do I want to do an extra mile on the treadmill? Why sure! After all, I'm only 36...I've got the energy!

Want to apply for a better job, say one that doesn't involve answering phones and questions for the computer illiterates who think they know it all? (Seriously...most of the phone calls I get start with, "Ah wants one of them Dora dolls, but the Internet is broken cause there's no place for me to put in my cash money." I cannot lie about this.) Yep, I'm 36! I want something better before I get too old!

Do I want to drink ice water at night rather than tequila because it's better for my skin?

Oh, wait, let's not get crazy here!

But honestly, I've given up Gold's (Mostly because I can't afford it now that hubby is living the life of the unemployed) and I'm working out at home. And the Wii, with my fabulous young Mii, is really a boost in the right direction!

Behind the 8 ball and other cliches that describe my current marketing approach.

Good morning!


I was feeling all on top of things with the book, and then real life hit me!

With the new date for Dream in Color, it occured to me Saturday, during a WisRWA meeting, that I haven't done much in the way of actual Marketing for the book. Sure, I get on Bob and Brian every couple of weeks to plug the book and sure, I have two blogs and a very active life on Facebook. Oh, and I have promises from my favorite Starbucks, the Gelato place downtown, and another author friend of mine to hold book signings for me once Drean is out. But I haven't done all that other stuff other authors have done, and suddenly, with 8 weeks to go, I'm starting to feel the pressure BIG TIME!

First off, I haven't had book marks printed. Book marks are THE marketing tool for writers...I always thought they were silly, but the writers at the meeting all looked at me as if to say, "YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN YOUR BOOKMARKS YET?"

Well, looking back it seemed silly to, given the number of times my release date has been changed, ahem.

But a website. I've been told I need one. I never understood why until this very moment and now I'm in a panic. My unpublished friends all have web sites and I always felt it was sort of silly to have a website. After all, I have two blogs and a very active life on Facebook. Why one EARTH would anyone want to find another place dedicated to ME?

I've been told that I can get a website built for as little as $350...to quote my favorite heroine, Scarlet O'Hara, "It may as well be three million." I have a hard time justifying the cost given that unemployment for hubby is going to barely cover FOOD. (He needs a job...please hire him! LOL!)

So, I'm thinking I like my friend Elliott's idea of taking donations through paypal. Elliott, care to let me in on how you did that? LOL!

My friends, don't think of this as a plea for cash. Think of it as a donation to the arts! LOL!

Okay, okay, I'm off to get some bookmarks printed...

Now we join our program already in progress.

Good morning!

Just got word from The Wild Rose Press (www.thewildrosepress.com) that they've made more changes to the site. The end result is I cannot find Dream in Color anywhere on the site. Apparently they are now only going to list books that are coming soon within six weeks. Since I'm 8 weeks out, my book is no where on the site at the moment.

That's the bad news!

The good news is that sales I make myself through book signings or buying them myself will count toward my royalties. What that means is I'm going to get paid for buying my own book! Whoo hoo!

So, my friends, if you're looking for "Dream in Color" on Wild Rose, you won't be able to find it at the moment. But patience. It will be back...soon!

Looking for an open window...possibly from which to push Bossman!

Good morning all.

I know it's been some days since I've checked in, but there's a good reason. On Saturday night my husband announced, quite casually, that he'd lost his job on Friday.

How does one "lose" a job? Can't he just retrace his steps and find it?

Turns out, that, in spite of more than a decade of faithful service, and in spite of the facts that his body shop's numbers were the highest in the company and his customer service rating was highest in the company, he simply wasn't moving quickly enough on some initiative. Of course, this was an intiative for which he'd had only partial training and which, of course, there was no time table.

How does one move too slowly on something that has no timetable?

If you smell a rat, you're not alone. We believe that his 20 something assistant will ultimately get his job. It's not her fault, this is pure coporate b---s---. Still, it's worth a phone call to our local employment lawyer, doncha think?

But none of that matters. What matters is that we have, in one swift move, lost our household income, and our health and dental insurance.

There was no warning, there was no thought that this was a possibility. When they hired the assistant, I had that niggling worry that this would be the case, but hubby insisted that the company was finally giving him the help he needed.

Yeah, we should have smelled a rat then...this is a company that's more interested in the bottom line for its owners than in treating their employees with any sort of human decency.

So now, Wednesday, I am facing some cold hard facts.

1) Unemployment will pay a mere 40% of what hubby was making.

2) Cobra is very expensive, but we have kids...we can't go without insurance.

3) Evil Bossman now has me tightly in his power...and he knows it.

I am struggling to trust that God is going to open a window now that this door is closed. Hubby and I had no large designs on a life of wealth. We wanted a simple life with friends and family, make sure our children are educated and given opportunities to move forward on their own two feet, and maybe, maybe be able to retire some time after we turn 80. We were paying our bills, and this was the year we were going to start really putting away a bit of money here and there.

Slam the door on that.

Meanwhile, Evil Bossman, who on Monday was very supportive and sympathetic, decided on Tuesday that since I have no choice but to stay where I am for next while, he would be extra ass hole ish toward me, and then shout at me about how my pissy attitude wasn't acceptable in the workplace. (Seriously. I've put in a days' worth of overtime this week, for which I will not be paid, but the first thing he says to me yesterday is "Your coffee pot is dirty." Ya think? Well, that does happen when there's COFFEE IN IT!)

So God, if you're listening up there, please help hubby find a job soon and please give me the strength not to push Bossman out that window You promise!

Meanwhile, I'm marking time until "Dream" comes out on 3-19. Something good has to come out of all this, right?

NEW RELEASE DATE!

Hey all! Just hit the Wild Rose Press site and found out that "Dream in Color" has a NEW RELEASE DATE!


MARCH 19-2010!

That's 10 weeks away!


I'm getting a big case of the giddies now!

WHOO HOOO!