It's a rare thing for me to blog twice in the same day, but this is a rare thing!
Someone reviewed my book!
I know, I about fell out of my chair, too. I mean, the first one I sort of expected...Wild Rose Press sends all the new books out to almost a dozen online critics, so I figured one of those had to give me some sort of review. And, of course, my mom liked it a bunch. Dad, the English teacher, gave me a B+.
But then a lovely lady, and fellow Rick fan, Susie, gave me a review. This was one I was at once waiting for and surprised by. Obviously, this book has a bit more attraction for Rick Springfield Nation (though if you crush on ANY celebrity, this is a good book for you. My favorite Barista at 'Bucks, Kelly, is a HUGE Keith Urban fan and she's digging the book.) but I was a bit nervous about how it would be received by...my "people." LOL!
Anyway, I'm going to try and get these links working so you can read what other people think of "Dream in Color!"
Cheers!
NOW AVAILABLE!
A HERO'S SPARK: the final book in the Wicked Women series!
Showing posts with label Rick Springfield Milwaukee May 7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Springfield Milwaukee May 7. Show all posts
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The love/hate relationship writers have with each other.
So this week two of my friends sold books to various publishers. Yes, I am completely thrilled for them. I've cheered them through facebook this morning. But I hate, hate, hate that I haven't sold my next book yet. It was my year goal to have a second sale and an agent by this time.
That didn't happen.
Writing is a weird business. It's competative, in that there is a somewhat finite number of books bought and published each year. (What that number is I have no idea...still...) getting your foot in the door is not easy, and keeping it in the door is harder. Yet, to be a good writer, you need to surround yourself with other writers whether it be through a group or online. You need contact with other writers to keep on top of the market, who's buying, who's not, that sort of thing. You need a critique partner, who probably should be a writer. And beta reader, someone who reads your finished book beginning to end, and makes suggestions for you (Different from a critique partner, and doesn't have to be a writer, but it never hurts to have a writer be your beta reader. Mine isn't...but she reads so much it was a no brainer to pick her.)
With all of that, and given the amount of failure (rejection) that's in this business, it's a sort of love/hate relationship we all have with fellow writers.
Oh, we are all friends. We cheer each other. We are excited when someone succeeds, but there's that tiny place in our brains, it's a place not too many of us admits even exists, but it's there. It's the part of our brain that says, "I'm a way better writer than he/she is...why haven't I sold a book?"
The world of romance writing is especially thick with this feeling because, well, it's mostly women writing and any time you get a large group of women working for a similar, but very individual common goal, things get a tiny bit messy. I've been to conference with women who will point out others and say, "See her? I helped get her published. So why can't I get published?"
That sense of "Why not me" fades a little bit once you have a sale. A lot of things fade once you have a sale. But there's still that huge feeling of "How come she got an agent? Why can't I get an advance like that?" Even for authors who have sold a couple of books...the desire to do as well as others is tremendous.
So, yes, of course I've congratulated my two friends. And I truly am happy for them, both of them are dedicated, hard working authors. Both deserve this great moment, without question. But meanwhile, my next book languishes in rejection hell, and my short story is sitting on some one's desk, waiting, and waiting and waiting. I want it to happen to ME...again! :)
That's just a part of nature, I guess. Not the best part, but a part.
Meanwhile....TOMORROW IS THE DAY! twenty four hours from now I'll be rocking out at Potowatami Casino with 499 new friends and Rick Springfield! My toes are painted, my eyebrows are plucked. My hair is colored, and I've done what I can to remove unwanted facial hair. I've bought a new top and cute sandals. Now...if Rick looks up to the second row of the balcony, he'll get a view of me and think...that I'm completely adequate as a concert goer! LOL!
BTW, speaking of published books...do YOU have YOUR copy of Dream in Color?
Have a great Thursday!
That didn't happen.
Writing is a weird business. It's competative, in that there is a somewhat finite number of books bought and published each year. (What that number is I have no idea...still...) getting your foot in the door is not easy, and keeping it in the door is harder. Yet, to be a good writer, you need to surround yourself with other writers whether it be through a group or online. You need contact with other writers to keep on top of the market, who's buying, who's not, that sort of thing. You need a critique partner, who probably should be a writer. And beta reader, someone who reads your finished book beginning to end, and makes suggestions for you (Different from a critique partner, and doesn't have to be a writer, but it never hurts to have a writer be your beta reader. Mine isn't...but she reads so much it was a no brainer to pick her.)
With all of that, and given the amount of failure (rejection) that's in this business, it's a sort of love/hate relationship we all have with fellow writers.
Oh, we are all friends. We cheer each other. We are excited when someone succeeds, but there's that tiny place in our brains, it's a place not too many of us admits even exists, but it's there. It's the part of our brain that says, "I'm a way better writer than he/she is...why haven't I sold a book?"
The world of romance writing is especially thick with this feeling because, well, it's mostly women writing and any time you get a large group of women working for a similar, but very individual common goal, things get a tiny bit messy. I've been to conference with women who will point out others and say, "See her? I helped get her published. So why can't I get published?"
That sense of "Why not me" fades a little bit once you have a sale. A lot of things fade once you have a sale. But there's still that huge feeling of "How come she got an agent? Why can't I get an advance like that?" Even for authors who have sold a couple of books...the desire to do as well as others is tremendous.
So, yes, of course I've congratulated my two friends. And I truly am happy for them, both of them are dedicated, hard working authors. Both deserve this great moment, without question. But meanwhile, my next book languishes in rejection hell, and my short story is sitting on some one's desk, waiting, and waiting and waiting. I want it to happen to ME...again! :)
That's just a part of nature, I guess. Not the best part, but a part.
Meanwhile....TOMORROW IS THE DAY! twenty four hours from now I'll be rocking out at Potowatami Casino with 499 new friends and Rick Springfield! My toes are painted, my eyebrows are plucked. My hair is colored, and I've done what I can to remove unwanted facial hair. I've bought a new top and cute sandals. Now...if Rick looks up to the second row of the balcony, he'll get a view of me and think...that I'm completely adequate as a concert goer! LOL!
BTW, speaking of published books...do YOU have YOUR copy of Dream in Color?
Have a great Thursday!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Were John Hughes and Charles Schulz neglectful parents or did they just "Get it?"
Good afternoon!
It's no big secret that I'm a devotee of the work of the late great John Hughes. I can almost recite "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles."
Plus, I adore "Peanuts" cartoons. I grew up reading about Charley Brown and the gang...A Charley Brown Christmas is a must see every Christmas season.
Both John Hughes and Charles Schulz captured the spirit of children, be it the teens or the grade school children. They remain timeless because they gave us back a piece of our lives that we, as adults, forgot. And they ring true with children and with teens.
But where are the adults? Seriously.
There are NO ADULTS in Charles Schulz's cartoons. And in the TV specials, well, we all know the "Wah Wah, Wah Wah" voice that represents adults. And in the bulk of John Hughes' work, parents are either completely absent or such morons you realize that the kids are probably better off without them.
So, were these two men unwitting advocates of parental neglect, or did they just understand how children and teens see adults better than most adults do?
Now that I have two teens living in my house I'm positive that I sound like the "Wah wah,' to my children. There's a definite disconnect between what I say and what they hear. And the reverse is true. Boy child insists he tells me a lot of things, and that asking something more than once is forbidden. Of course, things he tells his father doesn't always make it to me. So yes, Chuck S had it right. Kids not only see adults as faceless, senseless background noise, but also as a single unit. If you say something to one adult, apparently, every other adult will just know it. (I'm good. I'm not that good.)
And it's not a big stretch to get that my teens really do think I'm a complete moron. Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten what it's like to be 16. At least, I don't think so. But time has a funny way of distorting memories. I remember high school as horrible...but I don't remember just how horrible. And any adult who says their remember what it was like to be a teen is, at best, working with a faulty memory. Teens know it. And they mock us for it.
Looking at John Hughes' movies, I get why I loved them as a teen. He spoke teen. He showed the world through the eyes of teens. My parents were horrified. I saw it as truth. Now, as a parent, I have to remind myself that just because it horrifies me now, that doesn't make it anymore true.
John Hughes and Charles Schulz...they were bilingual heroes for the younger set. Now that I'm an adult, I miss them more than ever.
BTW, on a completely different note: THREE DAYS TO THE RICK SPRINGFIELD CONCERT! (He's actually doing four nights, but I'm only going to the Friday night show...hey, if you all buy more copies of my book, I can make it to more concerts next year! SO THERE...BUY MY BOOK! LOL!)
It's no big secret that I'm a devotee of the work of the late great John Hughes. I can almost recite "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles."
Plus, I adore "Peanuts" cartoons. I grew up reading about Charley Brown and the gang...A Charley Brown Christmas is a must see every Christmas season.
Both John Hughes and Charles Schulz captured the spirit of children, be it the teens or the grade school children. They remain timeless because they gave us back a piece of our lives that we, as adults, forgot. And they ring true with children and with teens.
But where are the adults? Seriously.
There are NO ADULTS in Charles Schulz's cartoons. And in the TV specials, well, we all know the "Wah Wah, Wah Wah" voice that represents adults. And in the bulk of John Hughes' work, parents are either completely absent or such morons you realize that the kids are probably better off without them.
So, were these two men unwitting advocates of parental neglect, or did they just understand how children and teens see adults better than most adults do?
Now that I have two teens living in my house I'm positive that I sound like the "Wah wah,' to my children. There's a definite disconnect between what I say and what they hear. And the reverse is true. Boy child insists he tells me a lot of things, and that asking something more than once is forbidden. Of course, things he tells his father doesn't always make it to me. So yes, Chuck S had it right. Kids not only see adults as faceless, senseless background noise, but also as a single unit. If you say something to one adult, apparently, every other adult will just know it. (I'm good. I'm not that good.)
And it's not a big stretch to get that my teens really do think I'm a complete moron. Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten what it's like to be 16. At least, I don't think so. But time has a funny way of distorting memories. I remember high school as horrible...but I don't remember just how horrible. And any adult who says their remember what it was like to be a teen is, at best, working with a faulty memory. Teens know it. And they mock us for it.
Looking at John Hughes' movies, I get why I loved them as a teen. He spoke teen. He showed the world through the eyes of teens. My parents were horrified. I saw it as truth. Now, as a parent, I have to remind myself that just because it horrifies me now, that doesn't make it anymore true.
John Hughes and Charles Schulz...they were bilingual heroes for the younger set. Now that I'm an adult, I miss them more than ever.
BTW, on a completely different note: THREE DAYS TO THE RICK SPRINGFIELD CONCERT! (He's actually doing four nights, but I'm only going to the Friday night show...hey, if you all buy more copies of my book, I can make it to more concerts next year! SO THERE...BUY MY BOOK! LOL!)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Revenge is a dish best served in literature.
Good morning!
It's Monday of RICK WEEK here. I'm headed to Potowatami Bingo and Casino in Milwaukee on Friday with my friend Dawn to rock out to Rick Springfield. I'm hoping to meet some of my virtual Facebook friends there as well, so all in all, it's going to be a fun time...if I can just get to Friday!
Speaking of Facebook, I got an astounding message over the weekend from my high school nemesis. I won't mention this person's name...or even gender, because it's not really important. In three years of high school, this person took GREAT delight in making my life miserable. This person (Okay, I'm starting to sound like someone giving their vote on Biggest Loser, I know.) shoved me down a flight of stairs, wrecking my favorite Bobbi Brooks jeans in the process. This person dragged me down the hallways by my hair more than once (Probably why I tend to favor short hair now.) This person generally spent three years tormenting me physically.
Yet, through the magic of Facebook, this person and I are now friends.
So the message from this person involved a request for a signed copy of "Dream in Color." I told my dad this. (My father was the most hated teacher at my high school...my nemesis especially hated him.) He suggested all sorts of great, evil inscriptions I could write down. We had great time, thinking about how to finally exact some sort of literary revenge. But, ultimately, we decided it would be best to just write something nice in there and be done with it.
And then I realized that I've already exacted my revenge in the book.
Yep, this person is mentioned, almost by name, as a person who tormented Ramona in grade school and high school. It's a small blip in the whole picture of the plot, and I'd actually forgotten about it until this person requested a copy. It never in a billion years occurred to me that anyone from my high school would read it. Mostly because, well, let's just say the idea of reading a whole book wasn't exactly something that was DONE in my high school. (Hence the torment.)
I think we all have that one person that humiliated us during those tender high school years. If you can't bring up your bully's name, then, I'm sorry to say, you were probably the bully. (My guess is, if you're a writer and you're reading this, you were never a bully.)
Writers draw from their own experiences. "Write what you know" is often pounded into our brains. Yet, if that were what writers did, there would be no fantasy books, there would be no dark romances involving vampires, and there would be very few murder mysteries. And the world would be a sad place, indeed. But, no matter how much fiction is in our fiction, there's always a large grain of truth in the stories we tell.
In my case, in "Dream in Color," I hearken back to my bully. Briefly, but it's there. And now my bully wants a copy of the book.
Wonder if my bully will get it?
Hmmmmm.....
Meanwhile, the countdown to Rick continues and I'm looking forward to that!
Have a great Monday all!
It's Monday of RICK WEEK here. I'm headed to Potowatami Bingo and Casino in Milwaukee on Friday with my friend Dawn to rock out to Rick Springfield. I'm hoping to meet some of my virtual Facebook friends there as well, so all in all, it's going to be a fun time...if I can just get to Friday!
Speaking of Facebook, I got an astounding message over the weekend from my high school nemesis. I won't mention this person's name...or even gender, because it's not really important. In three years of high school, this person took GREAT delight in making my life miserable. This person (Okay, I'm starting to sound like someone giving their vote on Biggest Loser, I know.) shoved me down a flight of stairs, wrecking my favorite Bobbi Brooks jeans in the process. This person dragged me down the hallways by my hair more than once (Probably why I tend to favor short hair now.) This person generally spent three years tormenting me physically.
Yet, through the magic of Facebook, this person and I are now friends.
So the message from this person involved a request for a signed copy of "Dream in Color." I told my dad this. (My father was the most hated teacher at my high school...my nemesis especially hated him.) He suggested all sorts of great, evil inscriptions I could write down. We had great time, thinking about how to finally exact some sort of literary revenge. But, ultimately, we decided it would be best to just write something nice in there and be done with it.
And then I realized that I've already exacted my revenge in the book.
Yep, this person is mentioned, almost by name, as a person who tormented Ramona in grade school and high school. It's a small blip in the whole picture of the plot, and I'd actually forgotten about it until this person requested a copy. It never in a billion years occurred to me that anyone from my high school would read it. Mostly because, well, let's just say the idea of reading a whole book wasn't exactly something that was DONE in my high school. (Hence the torment.)
I think we all have that one person that humiliated us during those tender high school years. If you can't bring up your bully's name, then, I'm sorry to say, you were probably the bully. (My guess is, if you're a writer and you're reading this, you were never a bully.)
Writers draw from their own experiences. "Write what you know" is often pounded into our brains. Yet, if that were what writers did, there would be no fantasy books, there would be no dark romances involving vampires, and there would be very few murder mysteries. And the world would be a sad place, indeed. But, no matter how much fiction is in our fiction, there's always a large grain of truth in the stories we tell.
In my case, in "Dream in Color," I hearken back to my bully. Briefly, but it's there. And now my bully wants a copy of the book.
Wonder if my bully will get it?
Hmmmmm.....
Meanwhile, the countdown to Rick continues and I'm looking forward to that!
Have a great Monday all!
Monday, April 19, 2010
I'm tired of being a grown up! I'm selling everything, including the kids, buying a van, and following Rick Springfield around the country!
Maybe my heroine had it right! Maybe I should just drop everything and follow that one, silly, impossible dream.
This little rant all started last Thursday when I was very optimistic about our financial status in the new couple years. We finally have a little bit of a savings account, which is no small feat given the fact that our bills outnumber our checks 3 to 1. But, with at least one college tuition on the horizon (two years away...gulp!) and nothing in the bank, I figured it was time.
So, we have a little bit of a savings. And things are going well at both our jobs. Bossman is sort of behaving himself and things are peaceful.
And then the fridge didn't seem that cold on Thursday night. I mentioned it to the Husband, who pooh poohed me. (He generally does when it comes to things like appliances, being the fix-it guy you know.)
Well, this morning, very early, I caught him touching every single bottle, can, plastic storage container and piece of fruit in the fridge. I didn't ask him what he was doing. I knew.
"Hmmm, doesn't seem to be as cold as it should be."
Ya think?
So now I'm faced with the ugly thought that we're going to have to spend what little we have socked away on a new stinkin' fridge! When this one isn't even that old! GRRRRRRR!
Meanwhile, I read about these women (and I'm speaking from a place of jealousy here) who get to just get up and go all over the place and follow their favorite singer or go on a cruise with Rick Springfield. Or go on Oprah because they are THE BIGGEST RICK FANS EVER!
And I had to go and get married and have kids. Darn it all!
Oh I know I know, the husband is wonderful, the kids are wonderful, they are my legacy blah, blah, BLAH! Try enjoying that legacy when it's slamming the door in your face because you told it it had to fill the tank with gas after a weekend of driving EVERYONE around the city. Try loving that legacy when it tells you it HATES YOU because you're making it eat a piece of fruit. (Mostly because the fridge is probably broken and I spent a TON OF MONEY on fresh fruit and it's not going to rot...it's just not going to!)
So maybe my heroine, Ramona, has the right idea. Maybe I should just sell EVERYTHING and hit the road. I can start by seeing him on May 7 in Milwaukee. And maybe I just won't come home! Maybe I'll just forget about the other appliances in my house that are waiting to mutiny, and the cost of health insurance, and whether or not the Girl's itchy toe is leprosy. (Don't get me started on that one just yet.)
At least then when I get in the car and the gas tank is empty I'll know it's because I was having fun.
This little rant all started last Thursday when I was very optimistic about our financial status in the new couple years. We finally have a little bit of a savings account, which is no small feat given the fact that our bills outnumber our checks 3 to 1. But, with at least one college tuition on the horizon (two years away...gulp!) and nothing in the bank, I figured it was time.
So, we have a little bit of a savings. And things are going well at both our jobs. Bossman is sort of behaving himself and things are peaceful.
And then the fridge didn't seem that cold on Thursday night. I mentioned it to the Husband, who pooh poohed me. (He generally does when it comes to things like appliances, being the fix-it guy you know.)
Well, this morning, very early, I caught him touching every single bottle, can, plastic storage container and piece of fruit in the fridge. I didn't ask him what he was doing. I knew.
"Hmmm, doesn't seem to be as cold as it should be."
Ya think?
So now I'm faced with the ugly thought that we're going to have to spend what little we have socked away on a new stinkin' fridge! When this one isn't even that old! GRRRRRRR!
Meanwhile, I read about these women (and I'm speaking from a place of jealousy here) who get to just get up and go all over the place and follow their favorite singer or go on a cruise with Rick Springfield. Or go on Oprah because they are THE BIGGEST RICK FANS EVER!
And I had to go and get married and have kids. Darn it all!
Oh I know I know, the husband is wonderful, the kids are wonderful, they are my legacy blah, blah, BLAH! Try enjoying that legacy when it's slamming the door in your face because you told it it had to fill the tank with gas after a weekend of driving EVERYONE around the city. Try loving that legacy when it tells you it HATES YOU because you're making it eat a piece of fruit. (Mostly because the fridge is probably broken and I spent a TON OF MONEY on fresh fruit and it's not going to rot...it's just not going to!)
So maybe my heroine, Ramona, has the right idea. Maybe I should just sell EVERYTHING and hit the road. I can start by seeing him on May 7 in Milwaukee. And maybe I just won't come home! Maybe I'll just forget about the other appliances in my house that are waiting to mutiny, and the cost of health insurance, and whether or not the Girl's itchy toe is leprosy. (Don't get me started on that one just yet.)
At least then when I get in the car and the gas tank is empty I'll know it's because I was having fun.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Out with the old, in with the...old?
Good Saturday morning!
I like a good deal. Doesn't everyone? I don't think I've bought a new pair of shoes in two years mostly because I can get almost new on eBay for far less. Better quality...lower price. I get many of my books used. (Oh, but you should definitely buy "Dream in Color" NEW!) I can point to exactly one piece of furniture that I purchased from a store, new.
Which brings me to what's going in my house today. The Girl has been asking for a LOFT bunk for three years. For someone afraid of heights, this is unusual, but still...
So, state tax refund in hand, I scoured my usual haunts for a good loft bunk bed. Hubby and I are no strangers to this task. We've purchased more than one bunk bed. When the kids were very small they shared a bedroom, and bunks were the name of the game.
But the Girl wanted no ordinary loft. Oh know. The one she wanted, the one she pointed out at a local NEW furniture SUPERSTORE was a loft/desk/dresser/closet/trundle.
Sticker price? $1300.
Yeah, that's not happening.
So I spent another day scouring my usual websites and found a few styles that would work. Then New Girl suggested I check craigslist.
"I'm not looking for a prostitute or any stolen items," I say. (I have almost no experience with craigslist, and all I know is what I hear on Bob and Brian.)
"Just try it."
So I looked and wouldn't you know it? There it was...the exact model she wanted. For less than half the price. And it was only ten miles from our front door.
So, phone calls were placed, a van was rented and bam, we are now in the midst of moving out the old furniture and replacing it with...old furniture.
Her bed, though it's been in my family for three generations, is little more than a simple twin bed. That's going to Goodwill. The desk, another cast off from my grandmother, will reside at my mother's house until such a time as my brother's kids realize they need a desk. (If you met these two kids, you'd think that day may never happen! LOL!)
The worst part of the process, I'm finding, is that Girl Child has to move her posters of Edward Cullen to make room for the new furniture configuration.
If that's the worst of her troubles, she leads a charmed life!
Hey, one last note: My Rick Springfield tickets are in my hot little hands! If you're going to his concert in Milwaukee on Friday, May 7, look for me, I'd love to meet a fellow fan!
And, if you're interested in getting an autographed copy of "Dream" I'm not above bringing a couple with me! ($12, and NO SHIPPING!)
Have a great weekend all!
I like a good deal. Doesn't everyone? I don't think I've bought a new pair of shoes in two years mostly because I can get almost new on eBay for far less. Better quality...lower price. I get many of my books used. (Oh, but you should definitely buy "Dream in Color" NEW!) I can point to exactly one piece of furniture that I purchased from a store, new.
Which brings me to what's going in my house today. The Girl has been asking for a LOFT bunk for three years. For someone afraid of heights, this is unusual, but still...
So, state tax refund in hand, I scoured my usual haunts for a good loft bunk bed. Hubby and I are no strangers to this task. We've purchased more than one bunk bed. When the kids were very small they shared a bedroom, and bunks were the name of the game.
But the Girl wanted no ordinary loft. Oh know. The one she wanted, the one she pointed out at a local NEW furniture SUPERSTORE was a loft/desk/dresser/closet/trundle.
Sticker price? $1300.
Yeah, that's not happening.
So I spent another day scouring my usual websites and found a few styles that would work. Then New Girl suggested I check craigslist.
"I'm not looking for a prostitute or any stolen items," I say. (I have almost no experience with craigslist, and all I know is what I hear on Bob and Brian.)
"Just try it."
So I looked and wouldn't you know it? There it was...the exact model she wanted. For less than half the price. And it was only ten miles from our front door.
So, phone calls were placed, a van was rented and bam, we are now in the midst of moving out the old furniture and replacing it with...old furniture.
Her bed, though it's been in my family for three generations, is little more than a simple twin bed. That's going to Goodwill. The desk, another cast off from my grandmother, will reside at my mother's house until such a time as my brother's kids realize they need a desk. (If you met these two kids, you'd think that day may never happen! LOL!)
The worst part of the process, I'm finding, is that Girl Child has to move her posters of Edward Cullen to make room for the new furniture configuration.
If that's the worst of her troubles, she leads a charmed life!
Hey, one last note: My Rick Springfield tickets are in my hot little hands! If you're going to his concert in Milwaukee on Friday, May 7, look for me, I'd love to meet a fellow fan!
And, if you're interested in getting an autographed copy of "Dream" I'm not above bringing a couple with me! ($12, and NO SHIPPING!)
Have a great weekend all!
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