Jul 20, 2009 | Blogging, Conference, Promotion |
Wow, DC was extraordinarily fun! I did so many things, y'all. Talked to lots of people. I had a blast! I used to live in DC, so touring wasn't high on my list of things to do. But one of my roommates, the lovely Pamela Hearon, managed to finagle a tour of the Capitol for us. I've been in the Capitol many times, but it's so beautiful I was ready to go back. And I'm glad I did!
The day started in the Rayburn Office Building where we trekked to Pam's Congressman's office and dutifully turned over all our liquids, signed a guest book, met the Congressman, and took a photo with him. Yours truly even managed to give the man a bookmark. 😉 Hey, he asked why we were in town. I do have to say that he was wonderfully gracious considering all the ladies in the photo, with the exception of one, were from Alabama and couldn't ever vote for him if so inclined. Nice man, truly.
After our tour, several of the ladies split off for sightseeing while Pam, Kimberly Lang, and I went to lunch at a place called Bullfeather's just down the street from the House office buildings. (Lunch was on the Marriott, btw. We were asked to stay in another hotel for one night and given quite a nice incentive to do so: a free room, cab fare, and $100 cash.) Later that evening, we all met up again and went to the Occidental to celebrate Kira Sinclair's birthday. A quick walk to the White House, and then we were headed back to our hotels for the night.
That's the end of Day One in DC. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about my presentation at the Chapter Leadership Seminar and my experience at my very first Literacy Autographing!
One more thing: today, I'm also blogging over at Kate Walker's blog. She's giving away a tote of signed books! Come say hi!
Apr 28, 2009 | Blogging |
I had a busy day yesterday — not writing, unfortunately — and by the time I got settled in and ready to write a blog post for today, I had nothing left in the brain. Total blank.
So I asked Hubby for a topic.
“Why don't you write about where you get your ideas?”
Um, I did that already. It's somewhere on this blog, in fact. (Not sure where at the moment.) Even though I can't remember where it is, I hate to be repetitive. *g*
Then he said I should write about the cat.
The cat?
See, one of our cats is a bathroom cat. You go in there, she's with you. So when Hubby goes in for a shower in the morning, she's there, rolling on the floor and meowing. And he, knowing I can hear, tells her silly things. Like “Are you gonna help Mommy write today?” Lots of meowing, lots of silliness. It's hilarious, but you'd have to be here.
His next idea was something about why he could never write a romance novel. How am I supposed to know why he could never write a romance novel?! Next!
Then he got serious. Several more ideas, none of which I can remember, flowed forth. He was trying to help, bless his heart, but I was starting to suffer from idea ADD — I couldn't take another one.
And that's how today's post happened. I had no ideas, Hubby had plenty, and I didn't like any of them. 🙂 Marriage is like that sometimes.
How's your day? (Tuesday is supposed to be a giveaway day, but due to the overwhelming response yesterday – snort – and my lack of preparation today, the giveaway is postponed until my brain returns.) How about something hilarious instead?
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Apr 24, 2009 | Blogging, Celebrations, General |
Okay, so how silly is it to celebrate the one week anniversary of my new site launch? I can't believe it's been a week, in fact. One week ago today, I was sitting here at my computer doing a Yahoo chat with my web designer while she instructed me how to do some basic things (like blog posts). And then the moment came when she told me to click a particular button — and voila, the whole site went live. It was a champagne moment for me. 🙂
See, I built my first website myself, using some freebie tools that Yahoo had. I wanted to know how it worked, and of course it was very rudimentary. I had Front Page, but couldn't figure out how to use it. Dreamweaver was way out of the question. Nope, I used what is commonly called WYSIWYG — what you see is what you get. I could drag elements around the page and hotlink like crazy.
But it was still homemade and still didn't look the way I envisioned my website would look. So I made a promise to myself that when I sold a book, I was hiring a professional to design my site. And I couldn't be happier.
So what are you up to this weekend? I think I'm dragging Hubby to the Farmer's Market. He will protest, but it's better to do it now, in April, because the summer months are so hot I can't get his Yankee butt out of the house. And there might be some shopping. Next weekend is the Heart of Dixie 12th Annual Readers' Luncheon and I want to look fabulous. There will also be writing, because June is approaching and I have a book to finish before the craziness that comes with preparing for RWA Nationals in July begins. There might also be some time outdoors, grilling on the patio, and relaxing with my favorite man.
Wow, think my weekend is full already! How about yours? Any favorite weekend activities when Spring arrives and the warm weather decides to stick around?
Apr 20, 2009 | Uncategorized, Blogging, Contests, Video, Websites |
Hopefully, you found your way here easily enough today. Things have changed a bit, as you can see. 🙂 My website and blog went to the salon rather frumpy and out of date and came back sleek and gorgeous. Oh if only it were that easy to do the same for me! 😉
Reminds me of another rather frumpy person who today, one week after she became a YouTube sensation, is a global star. Not that my website — or I — can claim to be mega-stars.
The web is abuzz, of course, with many many articles about Susan Boyle. About her appearance, our expectations, the hope and triumph, etc. I won't bother adding links because unless you've been in a cave, you've seen this stuff out there. I do like the articles that take us to task as a society, however, for not expecting this kind of pure beauty in such a rather ordinary, even — alas — mockable, appearance.
With that in mind, I offer this song of Susan's that is the only recorded song she's ever done. Made for a charity CD, of which only 1000 copies were made. Click the link, close your eyes, and tell me this isn't the voice of a sultry chanteuse. Gorgeous, gorgeous. I will most definitely be buying this woman's first album when it comes out.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8r9lRJ6yHY]
Sometimes, getting a makeover is about perception. In Susan's case, it was the judges, the audience, and now the world who got the makeover.
And now back to MY makeover. Well, my site makeover. 😉 Leave a comment to win a copy of one of my absolute favorite makeover romances of all time: Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Apr 17, 2009 | Blogging, Websites |
Here I am posting to my new website for the first time. Hope I don't screw it up! Thanks to Frauke Spanuth at Croco Designs for the gorgeous site!
Now, just as soon as I figure out my way around here, etc, I'll be holding those celebratory giveaways I was talking about at the old blog. This has been a while in the making, but I've certainly learned that web design is no simple or quick matter. It takes time to build all this fabulosity — which makes my previous little homemade versions look like the small potatoes they were (because I know next to nothing about web design).
This site will grow over time, of course. There will be more content, more fun stuff as I think of things I want. For now, I have much to learn about this site.
I do hope you'll have a look around. Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below and I'll launch my first giveaway. Everyone who comments will be entered to win a $5 Starbucks card and a book from my stash. I'll announce a winner next week. 🙂
More to come in the next few days….
Apr 6, 2009 | Blogging
Today's post is at Romance Magicians. We're talking about creative breaks. Please come by and say hi!
