My Genesis Thank You!

Last night at the ACFW Conference in St. Louis, I won the Contemporary Romance category of the Genesis Contest. I wasn't able to be there, but I wanted to thank everyone involved - so here is my humble attempt at VBlogging.
I never ever expected to win because I had two extremely talented co-finalists - Jessica and Pepper. Thank you to you both for sharing this night with me.

ETA - I have no idea what those knocking noises are!
Have no idea why that horrid picture shows up 1st either.

Just another manic Monday

I'd been saving this one for later in the year when things get hectic, but given that today my day begins at 7 and I won't get home til 10ish, I think it suits.

How's your Monday?

Chia - the Seeds not the Pets

Today is my weekly vegetable post over at Healthy Writers.

I'm totally fascinated by the topic today - health benefits of chia seeds. I'd never even heard of them before last week.

Come check it out.

Chia - the Seeds not the Pets

Music Monday - "For Good"

I unexpectedly had a chance to see WICKED on Broadway this past week and it set me to thinking about a lot of writing-related things.

~ the delightful cleverness of lines that play to our memory of The Wizard of Oz.
~ the brilliance of the story line that completely changes our minds about The Wicked Witch of the West
~ the appeal of the underdog in stories
~ how everything comes together in the end (and the power of the surprise ending).

Something else made me think of writing too - When Glinda and Elpheba sang For Good, I couldn't help but thing how the lines apply to the friends we share in this writing community.

So sing along - and if you have the chance, thank a writer friend today.

Labor Day edition of Music Monday

School Starts Tomorrow

My summer officially ends tomorrow which usually means this blog goes into hibernation, but since I've done such a poor job of keeping up all summer, I'm trying something new.

Welcome to Music Monday!

I've got a very eclectic taste in music so I decided, for fun, to share music videos on Mondays. If you have any you like, please share them too!

Since it's Labor Day, how can I not start out with some working man (or woman) songs.

This is the first one that came to my mind and it seems to make all the top Labor Day lists so in honor of anyone who works - wherever and whatever hours -

Here's Dolly...



So what are your favorite working person songs?

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Like most of the country this week, NYC is baking!!!

Now if I were sitting on the deck of my imaginary beach house, 95 - 100 degrees might not seem so awful, but trapped in the city streets, it's oppressive.

It's also a really good excuse to indulge in my favorite summer activity - lazing away the day reading a good book.

This has been a really great reading summer for me. For some reason, last summer I was having a terribly hard time settling into any book (until The Hunger Games) but this summer is just one great read after another.

I just finished a marathon read of Terri Blackstock's Cape Refuge series which I really really enjoyed. I'm currently reading three books -

One for research - Miracles and Moments of Grace - Inspiring Stories from Military Chaplains - by Nancy B. Kennedy


Against All Odds by Irene Hannon - love her books!

and


Escaping into the Open - The Art of Writing True by Elizabeth Berg


I know I've been a really bad blogger; I think it's because I'd rather talk about reading than writing here.  I'm thinking of taking this blog in a new direction to talk books instead of writing so ...

I'd really like to know -

What are you reading?


Do you have any great books to recommend?

Off to RWA11

Not really "off to" in a physical sense since it's here in NYC this year, but going to Nationals definitely requires an "off to" mindset. It's always a little overwhelming - okay sometimes a lot overwhelming - sharing a conference experience with 2000 other writers, but the energy is amazing and it's so worth it if you can make it.


If there's anyone around out there, what are your conference experiences. What conferences are "Don't Miss" status for you?