How on earth do those two things go together, you ask? Well, they don't really, but my weekend involved both! On Saturday, I went up to Franklin, TN, to a Meet & Greet with my Music City Romance Writers chapter. It was held at the main library in Franklin, which is a gorgeous town. We signed books and talked to readers for three hours. It was a lot of fun! We also gave away prizes, and one of the ladies who won a prize from me was the amazing Melinda Doolittle of American Idol fame.

In Season 6, the first season Mr. Harris and I ever watched it (after years of being overseas), we were awed by the talent of two particular women. LaKisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle. Week after week we tuned in and watched these ladies wow us with their voices. Simon never had a bad word to say about Melinda's performances, if that tells you anything. 😉

So, yeah, I had a fangirl moment when I realized that the lady who'd won my bag and books was Melinda. She came in third that year, and she's had an amazing career since. She is also sweet, polite, and very unassuming. I may have shocked her just a little bit with my fangirling, but I was truly excited. She graciously posed for pictures with me, and here's my favorite! Isn't she lovely?

The other thing I have to tell you about today is my adventures with Smashwords. Yes, I finally figured out how to format MADDIE'S MARINE properly, and I uploaded it to Smashwords. It's totally FREE, as always — and you can now download it on your preferred ereader! Simply click here to choose! It will eventually make its way out to all the e-tailer outlets for direct download, but right now you can get any format you wish from Smashwords. It's a very short story, but I still love it and I hope you will enjoy it. Here's the fab cover that my lovely web designer made. Doesn't it just make you want to go somewhere tropical with your own handsome hero?