One Day Later ...

... I saw just ONE little butterfly on the way home from church yesterday, flapping across Highway 395. Headed east.

I guess the rest of them got where they were going?

Butterfly Launch Day?

When I was out driving today, I noticed a lot of small objects dive-bombing through the air. Too small for hummingbirds ... too big for mosquitoes ... yes, they were little butterflies, flitting down the road, narrowly missing my windshield.

I remember noticing this phenomenon last spring. It might have lasted about a week. But I swear, they weren't there yesterday!

The butterflies seem to come in little flurries -- or is it flocks? packs? gaggles? -- of about ten or so. At a guess, I'd say I was passing through at least a hundred butterflies per mile.

But where do they all go? If we had this many full-size butterflies veering through traffic, it would get pretty tough to see. It seemed like they might be traveling east. So is Victorville some kind of butterfly commuting hub?

PERFECT TARGET by Stephanie Newton

Don't you love it when something good happens to someone who totally deserves it?

It's good news for readers, too. Because today's the day PERFECT TARGET, Stephanie Newton's first novel, hits the shelves.

I have to admit to a certain amount of pride. And smugness. Yes, Steph is my friend. Yes, I've been reading her work for about five years now, before the rest of the world had a chance to get their mitts on it. A book's path from manuscript to store shelf can be a twisty-turny thing, as Steph will attest. But I knew it was just a matter of time before she'd be in print.

Man, I love being right.

PERFECT TARGET is an inspirational romantic suspense novel about a heroine who's survived years of being tormented by a stalker. Now it's starting again ... and this time, in addition to the menacing cards and gifts, dead bodies are turning up. Her neighbor, a sexy cop, is offering her protection ... but she's not so keen on strong, protective males after years of being cooped up with bodyguards. The story is a terrific blend of suspense and romantic tension, with a believable relationship and great characters to root for.

I highly recommend that you read PERFECT TARGET. Not just to prove I'm right ... but because you'll be missing out if you don't.

25 Random Things About Me

... or, why you may start thinking twice about reading my blog!

1. My favorite drink is milk with about 1/4 coffee added. Really.
2. Ever since I became a mom, happy endings in a movie turn me into a sniffling sap.
3. I can still get embarrassed remembering some stupid thing I said in first grade.
4. I can twitch my nose. Not as well as Elizabeth Montgomery in BEWITCHED, but I've tried.
5. My husband is a songwriter and musician, and I love the music he brings into our home.
6. I've been almost halfway done knitting a sweater for about 3 years.
7. I don't follow sports, but I still love baseball, thanks to all those Dodger games I watched with my mom.
8. I started writing a Dark Shadows script when I was ten.
9. My first (unfinished) book was a romantic vampire novel.
10. I'm half German on my mother's side.
11. I'm part Cherokee on my father's side, which he used to claim explains the red in my hair. Huh?
12. I love to read, but I buy books way too fast to keep up.
13. When I was eight years old, I wanted to marry Johnny Cash. (He was a lot younger then, too.)
14. I've gone parasailing.
15. I just finished using a can of baking powder that was dated May 1996.
16. Fall colors are my favorite.
17. I once pet (petted?) a full-grown, live tiger.
18. When I was a teen, I wanted to be Erma Bombeck when I grew up.
19. It freaks me out when people suck helium out of balloons.
20. I still think Cary Grant was the handsomest man ever invented.
21. Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman, take heart. You're almost as good and you're not dead.
22. I used to think doing my very own laundry would be a thrill.
23. Before my boy was born, I wanted a girl.
24. Before my girl was born, I wanted another boy.
25. When I got the opposite of what I wanted, I was overjoyed both times.

What Are Fantasies Made Of?

This afternoon at Target, I cruised by the category romance lines ... and an overriding theme in the titles hit me upside the head.

Somehow, in this post-feminist world, it looks like we've become obsessed with wealthy heroes. And this trend didn't start with the recession -- it's been around for a while. Maybe it never went away?

But on the racks in front of me, I counted two tycoons, two princes, three millionaires, four billionaires and one C.O.O. (I'm not sure what C.O.O. stands for, but I bet he's rich.)

Holy E.R.A., Batman! What's happened to us?

I know we've come a long way, baby. And I'm sure for every one of those rich, powerful men, there's a strong heroine who's going to stand her ground and teach him a thing or two, rather than crumpling in front of his ruthless Italian loafers.

I know Gloria Steinem didn't have all the answers. Somehow we've reached a place where the two-income household has become the rule rather than the exception -- not always by choice, but often by financial necessity. Maybe that's what's got those rich dudes looking so good.

And I know these billionaires have their own set of issues to work out. A lot of 'em are pretty lovable guys. But in a pinch, he's the kind of guy who whips out the plastic and treats our heroine to a decadent shopping spree, a la Pretty Woman. (And how I love the heroine who says no thanks ... except for maybe that one really nice pair of shoes for her fatherless child.)

I KNOW it's all fantasy. But are those fantasies getting a wee bit greedy? Or do I just think small?

After all, I'm the type who tends to pick up the stories about PTA moms and single dads. If you want to talk fantasy, I'd be more likely to go for titles like The Bride Paid Off Her Car. Or, based on a recent plight, The Sexy Mechanic Who Fixed Her Engine For Free. Heck, I'm happy with The Dad Who Loved Movies. And while most of us would probably back away slowly from The Sensitive Accountant Who Made Tea, I might give him a shot. Especially if I was already on the couch with my feet up.

Of course it's all entertainment, and we surely don't need to apologize for our fantasies. But I'm curious. Am I the one who's out of step? Are rich heroes a hot-button for you?

Home Sweet Home

My friend Steph, who strolls her home beaches of Florida for writing inspiration, was wondering how my own High Desert might compare.

Well ... I'm afraid the desert makes for prickly strolling. Plus, it's hot in the summer, and it can be cold and crabby in the winter. In short, the rough beauty of our area might best be enjoyed from behind a climate-controlled car window. But I did find this, taken when we were shooting photos for one of my husband's CDs.

Those are Joshua trees, by the way. They grow in only two parts of the world: the Mojave Desert and Israel.

So, yes, beauty is where you find it. Although if you tried to find a place in this picture to sit down and take it in, you'd probably end up saying OW!!

Puppy Love Vs. Kitty Love

Last night while I sat on the couch, one of my dogs curled up on the floor and rested his head on my foot. It seemed like a nice, warm gesture of affection.

This morning, I spotted an article online: "Do Our Pets Really Love Us?"

Oh, dear. Now I have to wonder whether my animals are sincere?

Fortunately, the article has good news. Experts believe that dogs and cats are capable of true affection, and not just because we feed them. The author points out, for example, that the presence or touch of a loved one has been shown to reduce pets' heart rates, a sign of bonding. It goes on to cite the story of a dog who mourned for an owner who passed away, waiting by his master's grave year after year.

Here at home, on a less dramatic note, I often come out of the bathroom to find one or two dogs waiting for me in the hallway. If that's not love, at least it's a sincere desire for companionship.

But I'm getting more dubious about my cat.

The article suggests that, as signs of affection, a cat may "become slightly depressed when you leave, and greet you enthusiastically upon your return." What? And get up from her nap? She may also "send subtle cat signals of affection to you throughout the day ... staring at you adoringly, then squinting or slowly closing her eyes." Uh ... can't say I remember seeing her do that.

One thing I'll say for Tallulah: She's a lap cat. With a vengeance. The day we brought her home, she followed me around constantly, meowing. At first I thought she was just confused about her new surroundings. But whenever I sat down, she'd promptly settle on my lap. Then she was happy.

Well, it never stopped. When Tallulah wants a lap, she wants it NOW, and in no uncertain terms. She also loves to nap with me ... but she won't lie closer to my face than waist-level. Personal space issues? Fear of intimacy? Frankly, I'm beginning to suspect that for Tallulah, it's less about companionship and more about comfort. With a little bit of body heat thrown in.

Or, as my husband put it, "If you keeled over and died, she'd come over and lie on you until your body cooled."

Now, THAT's love ... kitty style.

STEPHEN KING VS. STEPHENIE MEYER: CELEBRITY SMACKDOWN?

I read a blog entry today that's gotten a lot of fur flying. Seems that Stephen King, a bestselling horror writer since the 1970s, doesn't think too highly of Stephenie Meyer, author of the TWILIGHT series.

Let the fur-flying begin.

To take the remark within its context, you can check out The Who's News Blog by Lorrie Lynch. But basically, the interviewer asked if King thought his success had paved the way for writers like Meyer and HARRY POTTER author J.K. Rowling. In his answer, King managed to volunteer his opinion of the two authors: "The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good."

The blog entry is drawing hundreds of posts taking sides, pro-King vs. pro-Meyer. (Please, let's don't start that here!) King goes on to assess the talents of such writers as Erle Stanley Gardner and James Patterson ("terrible"), Jodi Picoult ("terrific") and fellow horror writer Dean Koontz -- "who can write like hell. And then sometimes he's just awful. It varies."

My point here isn't to take sides in the battle, though I will agree that J.K. Rowling is excellent. I also believe King is a fine writer himself. (I haven't read Stephenie Meyer yet, so I'm safely in the neutral camp there.) I do find it ironic for King to evaluate other writers in such black-and-white terms, when he's so often been dismissed by critics himself over the years.

But what I think King may have meant to say, and didn't quite get around to saying, is that there's a difference between good writing and good storytelling. To quote him in Lorrie Lynch's blog once more: "People are attracted by the stories, by the pace."

Bingo.

If a book tells a story that speaks to the readers, it's doing its job. The subtleties of language and style can add a lot of richness – but without a story, all those efforts would be hollow. King knows this. It's what's kept him on the bestseller lists for over thirty years.

Could he have been less blunt in his opinions on other authors? Well, I say yes. But fortunately, there's a world full of books out there, for all of us to read and enjoy and make up our own minds about. More power to Stephenie Meyer for getting more teens to pick up some of those books … and I think King would agree with that, too.

I JUST ATE PITTSBURGH

I'm 5'3" and weigh about 122 pounds (depending on what kind of week it's been). Not exactly a Skinny Minnie, but not too hefty either. At least for "a woman my age."

So why does my new driver's license photo make me look like The Linebacker That Ate Pittsburgh?

Probably because I was hunching on two crutches at the time. A few days before the picture was taken, I messed up my knee when I tripped over my dog in the middle of the kitchen floor.

So really, I guess I'm more like The Linebacker Who Fell Over Her Dog.

But at least Pittsburgh can rest easy.

Invitation to a Book-Buying Binge!

C'mon. You know you wanna....

If you've found your way to this tiny blog, chances are you love books. But based on constant rumblings over the last several years, books are in trouble. Fewer people are buying books, publishers are announcing cutbacks and layoffs -- and in the current economy, I know I've cut back on my own book-buying this year.

But if we want books to stay around, now's not the time to forget them. Check out this holiday message from Roy Blount Jr., President of the Author's Guild:

Buy Books From Your Local Bookstore, Now

December 11, 2008. I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards.

We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."

Enjoy the holidays.

Roy Blount Jr.
President Authors Guild

I'd like to thank a favorite author of mine, Curtiss Ann Matlock, for drawing my attention to this in her own blog, Pressing On.

So get out your holiday shopping list, check it twice, and see what you'd like to pick up from your local bookstore. (You know you wanna....)

Merry Christmas!

LED ASTRAY

We have a new dog. Not that we planned on it.

Like many family additions, this one came as a surprise. He was a "rescue" dog, and as it turned out, he needed to be rescued twice.

We saw him wandering the neighborhood one Sunday afternoon a few months ago: a black lab mix, full-sized, very curious and energetic. He paid a brief visit to our front yard that evening while my husband and I were sitting outside having coffee. He looked at us from underneath one lopped-over ear, let us pet him without showing any sign of aggression, then stretched out on the grass at our feet, his back legs behind him in a frog-like position. I guessed him to be about a year old.

We didn't let him in that night. We already had a dog. But I looked for him the next morning, ready to put some food out. I didn't see him – but my husband did when he drove our son to middle school. The dog was in the school parking lot, dodging cars and looking very panicky. So, my husband wrestled him into the car (no easy task) and brought him home.

We kept him in the back yard and waited for Animal Control to pick him up. When the officer arrived, the dog accepted the lead with no problem and went off with another stranger, apparently as happy to be loaded into a city truck as he had been to explore our grassy back yard.

That's when it really started. I kept seeing the dog's face, that lopped-over ear, the trusting way he'd laid at our feet and just as cheerfully let himself be hoisted into a strange truck to take him God knows where.

Yep. We called back and asked Animal Control if they'd mind returning the dog. He might even, we cajoled ourselves, make a nice companion for our dog Taz in her old age. Animal Control said they would return him, but only if we promised to try to find the owner.

When the dog came back and we let him inside, we quickly began to suspect why his owner might not want to be found. He hadn't been neutered, and although Taz was spayed years ago, that made no-never-mind to our newcomer. He kept trying to put the moves on her, even though all she did was freeze and growl. He was pretty amorous with human legs, too. After one day of this, my husband turned to me and said, in a wild-eyed burst of homophobia, "We have to get this dog fixed before we know if this is ever going to work."

We took the dog in to be neutered. Then, since we'd invested in him to the point of surgery, we took a family vote and chose a name: Bela, as in Bela Lugosi. (I never said our family was normal.)

Being neutered didn't cure Bela's libido right away. He had other annoying habits, too. He loved to chew things and could lay waste to a ninety-nine-cent squeaky ball from Target in less than half an hour. He had a voracious appetite for socks, even when they were still on the wearer's feet. And no small object within reach was safe. But annoying as he was, Bela had a good heart and clearly wanted to be loved. He'd close his eyes in bliss when we pet him, groaning the kind of doggy sigh that explains why people have continued to let hairy mammals live in their homes, century after century.

We did try to find his owner. We put up flyers around our neighborhood, my son's school and at the grocery store. We ran a "Found" ad in the Daily Press. We heard nothing, adding weight to our suspicion that Bela had been abandoned or dumped.

That's what bothers me. Obviously, he'd been someone's pet. He was affectionate, not afraid of people, and appeared to recognize the command "sit" (though he obeyed it very selectively). Why would anyone turn their once-beloved, if rather annoying, pet loose? Did they really believe he'd be happy fending for himself, dodging traffic and living off jack rabbits?

We soon discovered another risk to unvaccinated dogs when they're turned loose to run on their own: Parvo virus.

A few days after he'd been fixed, Bela started throwing up. His voracious appetite disappeared. We took him back to the vet, where he was diagnosed with this very expensive disease, which could cost upwards of $1600 to treat. Even then, he might not make it. This, for a dog we hadn't even laid eyes on a little over a week ago.

A young dog, whose life was now in our hands.

Oh, and did I mention I was let go from my job the day after we took Bela into our house?

And that we had two children with big sad eyes watching us as we debated Bela's fate?

We explained our position to the people behind the counter at the vet's office. First, they recommended their credit plan. Then, their savvy bookkeeper told us about a few organizations that sometimes contribute to the care of sick animals ... especially if they're strays.

We might have bitten the credit bullet – or we might not. But those organizations, and my husband's diligent time on the phone, turned out to be Bela's literal lifeline. Five days later, he was back home, ignorantly blissful of the bullet he'd dodged. And just as romantically interested in Taz as ever.

Two months later, I'm relieved to say Bela's hormones have quieted down, though socks and precious mementos are still at a high risk. That lopped-over ear – one of the things that tempted us to keep him – stands straight up now. But he still sticks his legs out beside him when he lies down, and has a way of twisting his body in all directions, so he looks like the victim of a car wreck.

There's an old adage that if you save someone's life, you're responsible for him forever. I always thought that was meant as an ethical bond. Now, I suspect it's an emotional one. When I get frustrated with Bela, I remember that someone else gave up on him once. I don't want it to happen again.

Guest blogging!

To celebrate the release of MEG'S CONFESSION, I'm guest blogging today at the TBR Blog:

2 B Read

Feel free to stop by and say hi!

All's right with the world

Or it will be ... if I can get this cover art to post!




Ah ... success. You're looking at the cover for MEG'S CONFESSION, my February 2007 release for Avalon Books.

This is one of those moments a writer really looks forward to. So much of our time is spent working alone ... or not working, and feeling guilty about it ... or waiting for that response from an editor ... then waiting for that book to come out ...

This is one of those moments that makes it real! So, whaddaya think?

"THE NOTEBOOK" ... and The Rules

Well, THE NOTEBOOK won in my recent quandary over what to read next.

When a book or a movie is very successful, sometimes you've heard so much about it that it's hard for it to live up to all the hubbub. I'm happy to say that THE NOTEBOOK lived up to the hubbub. So for the past couple of days, I've been trying to put my finger on just how Nicholas Sparks did it.

One thing he didn't do was follow conventional structure. The book opens with a framing story, which certainly isn't unheard of, but then the framing story takes center stage for the last third or so of the book. And the "flashback" story doesn't start at the beginning of the relationship, but begins just before the couple is about to reunite for the first time since their summer romance ended 14 years before. And the flashback begins with about thirty pages of backstory to summarize the summer romance and how they ended up where they are today....

It sounds like it wouldn't work. Nicholas Sparks breaks The Rules we writers are told to follow, six ways from Sunday. So what makes it work? Well, the story has some deep emotional themes that pack a heck of a punch by the end, but it takes a while to build up to that point. What keeps us reading?

Maybe it's the writer's conviction. The book sounds convincing, sincere, real. Maybe it's the writer's style -- one of the review quotes on my copy calls it "lyrical," and I think that's a really good word for it. Sometimes you're wowed by the beauty of the language ... but more often, you're not thinking about the writing, you're just drawn in by its deceptive simplicity.

Oh, heck. A literary critic I'm not. The point is, it works. End of story.

My TBR pile

What I'm reading:
- ?
What's on the CD player:
- GILDED PALACE OF SIN by the Flying Burrito Brothers
What I'm watching tonight with the kids:
- HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE

You know what that is, don't you? The To-Be-Read pile ... that towering stack of books that just about every reader seizes faster than she/he can read them. (If you can buy one book at a time, and not buy another until you finish it ... you scare me.)

A friend of mine shared her TBR pile on a recent blog, so I thought I'd follow suit. These are the books currently tottering on my little office floor, vying for my attention:

THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSIE by Kasey Michaels
THE WEDDING RING by Emily Richards
AN OFFER HE CAN'T REFUSE by Christie Ridgeway
HIT REPLY by Rocki St. Clair
TELL ME LIES by Jennifer Crusie
CHARLIE ALL NIGHT by Jennifer Crusie
CRAZY IN LOVE by Luanne Rice
RECIPES FOR EASY LIVING by Curtiss Ann Matlock
SUZANNE'S DIARY FOR NICHOLAS by James Patterson
FULL HOUSE by Janet Evanovich
MANHUNT by Janet Evanovich
LAKESIDE COTTAGE by Susan Wiggs
FAR HARBOR by JoAnn Ross
HE LOVES LUCY by Susan Donovan

Oh dear. It's worse than I thought. I shouldn't be allowed to leave the house 'til I catch up, let alone set foot anywhere near Barnes & Noble.

I find a lot of times I like a shift in tone from the last book I read. The last book was a comedic women's fiction, so I'm thinking one of the more serious ones might be good. Right now, THE NOTEBOOK is arm-wrestling with THE WEDDING ALBUM....

THE ETHICS OF READING, PT. 2

What I'm reading:
- O'REILLY'S BRIDE by Trish Wylie
What's on the CD player:
- UNWRITTEN by Natasha Bedingfield
What I watched last night with the family:
- MAD LOVE with Peter Lorre and Colin Clive

The "What I'm reading," above, will tell you how I resolved the quandary in my last post ... I decided to stick with one book at a time. Yep, I'm a monogamous reader at heart. I'm so involved in Trish's story I've had no desire to wander elsewhere. Good to know about myself.

But it got me thinking about my other unwritten rules for reading, and I wonder how many people out there share them. Or not.

Do you:

- Read the last page to see how it ends?
Heresy!! The only way I'd peek at the ending of a book would be if I absolutely hated it and just wanted to see how the writer got him/herself out of the mess. Or if it was a book I didn't intend to read for at least 10 years. I hate spoilers!

- Skip slow-moving scenes or descriptions?
(clutching my throat and falling to the floor) Ack! Never! I might miss something! Plus, how can you say you've read the book if you haven't read the whole book?
I've heard of people skipping lovemaking scenes, but I can't imagine why, unless you didn't know you were reading That Kind of a Book. (I write "sweet," but I read "steamy" as well.)

- Dog-ear pages?
This I have been known to do, if it's a paperback and I want to refer back to the scene for Writerly Purposes. At that point, my reading book also doubles as a "text" book, and different rules apply.
Otherwise, I love all those nice promotional bookmarks.
Dog-ear a hardcover? Never.

Do you have any of your own reading "rules," or secret naughty reading habits? And do I sound totally obsessive-compulsive by now?

CONTEMPLATING INFIDELITY

I'm contemplating infidelity.

See, the other day I took a look at my to-be-read pile. So many choices, such variety. And I thought … maybe I could read two of 'em at once?

My mother frowned on this when I was growing up, and that ethic has stuck with me: Read one book at a time. Now that I have two children, I understand what she was trying to prevent. My kids might easily start half a dozen books without finishing them if I let them.

But still. Isn't it better to stick with one novel at a time, to get the full flavor and flow? And isn't it bad manners to cheat?!

Or might it be okay to start, say, Nicholas Sparks' THE NOTEBOOK, which I keep meaning to read but somehow have never gotten to, at the same time I'm reading O'REILLY'S BRIDE by Trish Wylie, which I've already started? Different tones for different moods?

(You'll note that I'm not one of those "read-a-book-in-one-sitting" kinds of readers. For one thing, some of my "sittings" are as short as 15 minutes … I'm a mom, remember?)

So … good idea, or bad idea? Tell the truth. Do YOU read more than one book at a time?

American Title III voting begins!

A quick update on the American Title competition: Voting is under way now through Oct. 29th for the Best First Line. If you're interested in following the contest, here's a link for you:

American Title III

This is the first "round" of judging, so to speak. Subsequent judging will be on categories such as Best Hero and Heroine, Best Story Summary, Best Dialogue Scene and Best Romantic Scene.

Now, I won't try to influence your voting (subliminal message cathypegauROCKS) ... drop by and check it out for yourself!

"HAUNTED" EXCERPT

Now you can see what I'm bragging about.

My critique partner, Cathy Pegau -- after a bit of nagging on my part! -- has posted an excerpt of HAUNTED, her American Title 3 finalist book:

Excerpt from HAUNTED, by Cathy Pegau

Check it out. It's worth it!

WHEN IT'S GOOD TO SEE DEAD PEOPLE

I can't help it. I gotta brag. My CP, Cathy Pegau, is a finalist in the American Title 3 contest, and her interview is up on the Title Wave blog today:

titlewave.blogspot.com

I've read her book, HAUNTED, and it's wonderful. Our heroine sees one dead person in particular -- her best friend Min, who died 6 months earlier in a car crash that may NOT have been an accident. Min can't rest until she knows what happened to her, and her girlfriend Georgie has to help.

It's paranormal chick lit, very funny and heartfelt. I hope to grab it off a retail shelf in the future!