Real Writers Don’t Vacuum (they just collect dust).

My cousin, Jenny (aka “Jenna”), tagged me today.

Rules: Once you are tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 25 people to tag, including the person that tagged you. (No pressure. Do this only if it’s fun for you.)

25. I don’t think I know 25 people to tag.

24. I love to sit on stormy days and listen to the wind and rain against the house.

23. I often wonder why the people around me feel they know more about me than I do about myself.

22. My favorite scent in the whole world is warm barn and contented horse. If I could get it in a candle, I’d burn it all the time.

21. A psychic once told me my guardian angels get frustrated with me because I don’t listen.

20. I’m trying to learn to listen to my guardian angels.

19. I believe in ghosts, but have never seen one.

18. I love the power of a newly-sharpened pencil.

17. My favorite color is green.

16. My favorite sound is the boom-hiss of the ocean meeting the shore.

15. If I didn’t write to get the voices out of my head, I’d go insane.

14. If I could go anywhere in the world, I’d go to the Ireland and Scotland.

13. I love the ocean but hate the beach.

12.  Autumn is my favorite time of  year.

11. I think adversity is best handled with humor.  Black humor is better than no humor.

10. I’ve finally decided to accept my path in this life; even if it means I won’t ever have an office or a desk of my own and have to rely on my husband to survive.

9.  I often dream about moving to a house with secret rooms and extra spaces.

8. I honestly believe ’50’s women were content with being housewives because there was an established happy hour in place. Highballs, anyone?

7. The historical figure I’d most like to meet is Jesus Christ.

6. The historical person I’d most like to have a drink with is Mark Twain.

5. The historical figure I’d most like to take to a concert is Henry David Thoreau.

4.  If I could go back to any one time of history, I think I’d like to visit the Regency period of England for a few days.

3. I’d love to learn to sail.

2. If I won a million dollars, I’d give most of it away; we are already blessed in so many ways.

1. If I died tomorrow, I’d want people to remember me for my smile, my desire to laugh and my sense of humor.

Yesterday I wondered what the monks who calligraphied those beautiful illuminated Bibles said about Gutenberg:

“Those mass-produced Bibles will never catch on. Would you want one of those in your church?”

“There aren’t any pictures.”

“It doesn’t smell like vellum and parchment. I like that smell.”

“I don’t know. If you don’t get ink all over your fingers, it’s not the same.”

“But there’s no idividuality. Every one of those books is exactly alike.”

And so on.

I’m seeing more and more articles and information about ebooks out there, and I have a feeling that we’re on the verge of something exciting. Get ready to roll, folks.  For every one of those folks who say, “I like books made out of paper! I like the texture/smell/taste (whatever) of the paper and ink,” there are five others who are happy to go green and save a tree by buying an electronic book. Incidentally, they also “reduce their carbon footprint” by not driving to the store to buy a book shipped by truck in a cardboard box filled with styrofoam peanuts, but by instantly downloading a book from the publisher.

I’m just wondering how long it will be before the Sony e- reader or the Kindle stop costing so much and become just one more gadget you can grab for $30 on your way past the register at Target.

I wonder what Gutenberg would think…?

It’s one of those moments you never forget.

I’d just finished writing the blurb for Dog-Gone But Not Forgotten, and I got my first review!

My toddler ran over, coughed, looked surprised– and threw up on my laptop.

I hope it’s not an omen.

I figured I’d post my toddler’s words here. I can save them and make quick notes for Nuts Over You, about two adults trapped in a blizzard with a two-year-old (that’s not theirs.) It’s supposed to be a romance, but it sounds more like a horror novel.

Anyhow, here’s the adorable “conversation” I just overheard> My Pickle is playing with his Little People School Bus…loads the plastic dinosaur on the bus, drives away from the tractor “parked” on the table.

Bye, bye, Twactah!
Bye, bye Didodaur! Hab a nit day! Brrrrrrm…brrrrrmmmmm…

Okay, maybe it’s not that funny, but…I’m dying.

Note to self: Two-year-olds are capable of imaginary play. It may not be realistic or accurate, but it’s bound to be interesting…

This is what members of my family have asked me, when I told them I sold Kissing Trick to The Wild Rose Press, and now that I’ve sold Doggone to Blade Publishing.

Here’s my response: When are you going to ask a real question?

What is a “real” book?  Anyone know? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

Do you know what my kids and their friends say?  “Hey Mom! This means you’re a REAL published author!” For them, an ebook is still–a book.  It’s got a story, it’s got words and a cover. (Or it will, anyway.) It may be a virtual cover, but it’s still a cover.

A real cover.

What my siblings (baby-boomers ! The lot of them!) don’t understand (except for my brother, who owns not one, but TWO Kindles) is that ebooks are books.  The kids, who are used to reading on the computer, on PSPs and DS’s and PDA’s and other electronic devices, don’t have the same prejudice that my sisters have.  I guess it’s up to me to educate them.

But first I have to work on my mom.  When she found out my books are romances, she said, “I don’t want to know about those.”

When am I going to get a real family?

What a great way to start the new year!   I’ve got another contract, this one for my novella, Doggone  But Not Forgotten.

One woman.
One man.
One dog.

And one dead, but not-quite-yet-departed, matchmaking grandmother. . .

Journalist Carrie Moore left Rhode Island twenty years ago, determined never to return. When she inherits all Nana’s worldly possessions, her plan is simple. Sell them off and get back to Texas before she bumps into anyone she knows. Especially Jack, the boy who took her virginity the night of the senior prom and then took her best friend home, instead. But then she discovers Nana had one more possession that no one—not even her lawyer—knew about: a year-old Irish Wolfhound that is as large as pony and runs like one, too.  But when the beast runs into Jack—repeatedly—she starts to wonder. Especially when she starts to hear her Nana’s voice in the dog’s yips and yowls.  Is Ellie channeling Nana? And is Nana trying to right a 20-year-wrong with the man who broke her girlish heart?

When Animal Control Coordinator, Captain Jack Radigan, learns that the giant dog terrorizing his jurisdiction belongs to the lost love of his life, he’s more than on the case, he’s ready to live the “to protect and to serve” slogan painted on the door of his kennelized pick-up. Carrie needs protection from and for her out-of-control pet.  And it is his job to serve.  First, he’ll put his animal control techniques to work, and teach her how to tame the furry beast.  And then, he’ll teach her that this cop isn’t a bad dog, serving up the love he’s been keeping hot since high school.

It will be published by  Blade Publishing, a fairly new e-pub with some great ideas:

[Blade] was approached with an opportunity that [it] could not turn down. Cover model and actor Michael Elan has founded a non-profit organization called It’s Meow or Never, a rescue and sanctuary for animals. Blade will be supporting Michael’s organization through a series we have named, “PAWS For Thought.” Michael is thrilled with the project and will be gracing our debut covers.”

Doggone will be available sometime in 2009. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, check out Blade for some other great titles (particularly those of my critique partner and friend, Debora Dennis). And don’t be a pussy–check out It’s Meow or Never! (Oh, Lord. That was a real dog of a pun…[bwah-ha-haha..)