Looking Forward

The countdown is on.  2012 draws nigh and with it, new resolutions and a new start.  However, this New Year’s Eve isn’t just about a shiny new 2012; it’s about bidding adieu to tired, old 2011.

Not that I don’t have a million things to be thankful for in the last 365 days.  I do, and I am.  However, have you ever had one of those years that kicked you square in the a**?   Yes?  Well that was 2011 for me.  There was no major loss or anything tragic (though I’ve had those years too), but this year was like dealing with a cantankerous old man.  Everything was an uphill battle.  There was either lots of cajoling, militant convincing, or arguing to make a point.  Whether it was buying a refrigerator, finding child care, or making dinner plans – nothing was easy.  I’ve decided the planets were out of alignment for my sign or something.  I don’t necessarily follow the zodiacs, but I do know something funky was up with this year.

Rather than bemoan it though, I look forward to new opportunities, changes, and hope for a better year.  My blog partner feels the same, so we’re welcoming the New Year in style.  Maybe we’ll even post some pictures so we can look back and say, “That was the start of a darn good year.”

It’s hello 2012, buh-bye twenty aught eleven!   Don’t let the door hit ya!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL & BEST WISHES FOR AN AWESOME 2012!!!

I've Lost My Voice

As many of you may know from my twitter feed on game days, I’m a huge Clemson Football fan.  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to a game, cheered my Tigers to victory only to wake the next day without a voice.  I’ve croaked for two days on occasion—usually after a particularly troublesome game.  The problem is: within the whirl of excitement while touchdowns are being made and quarterbacks are being sacked, I get lost in the moment.  It’s hard to think of the phone calls I need to make when I get home and the subsequent need to have a voice when it’s the 4^th quarter and we’re down by 3 points. 

I’ve recently found the same theory holds true after enduring emotional turmoil in real life.  Only it’s not my voice that is scratchy this time—it’s my writing.  Writers often talk about their voice meaning the aura of the written words they produce.  I’ve heard people refer to a strong voice, visual voice and even voice bleed, but no one ever talks about a lost voice.  So, in the interest of bloggyness I’m going to lay it out on the table.   

Just as I am prone to get lost in the excitement of a football game, I have spent this week lost in emotion over the passing of my mother.  After 2 years of illness, she finally couldn’t take any more and collapsed on the floor last week—her heart having stopped.  I had convinced myself she was recovering; we were making plans.  She was going to get well and I was going to help her regain her strength.  But, none of that was to be. Since the morning I got the phone call, I’ve been mired in a pit of despair.  There have been many tears and errant thoughts of wanting to ask her a question, or tell her how I feel.  I wrote her obituary for the newspaper.  I huddled close to family while funeral arrangements were made and carried out.  I cleaned up the medical equipment that surrounded her the last 2 years of her life and disposed of piles of medications... 

But now I’m home.  Life goes on.  Bills still arrive in the mailbox.  Supper needs to be cooked each day.  Laundry must be washed.  And, I need to get back to work writing.  The question is how to do that when the only thoughts filling my mind are memories of my mom and worry for my dad?  Mr. Alpha Male told me I had a dam of words built up in my mind and I had to break through it.  So this blog post is my first experiment in the process of breaking down that dam.  I’m talking about this under the assumption that writing begets more writing.  As someone who has the standard output of 2,000 words a day—every day—it’s difficult to see the word counter at the bottom of this post and know that I have struggled for 2 days to write 486 words.  And yet all I can do is keep writing.  After all, time doesn’t heal all wounds.  It’s what you do with that time that heals wounds.  And, the time in my life will be spent writing.

Have you ever lost your voice?  What did you do to get it back?

A Vacation for the Vacation Impaired

As I was cleaning the small wisps of dust bunnies collected in the corner under my desk this morning, I began to think, I’m not normal.  After all, most people vacation at the beach or the mountains.  Even if they only lay on their sofa eating Cheetos while watching Lifetime movies—they relax.  Unwind.  Decompress.  Yet, here I was after months of unceasing hard work; scrubbing the corners of my house only I see.  This alone may not be so unusual, but let me tell you how it all began.

The week of Thanksgiving arrived and I’ve never been so thankful.  My manuscript was sent off.  My Golden Heart entry was in the mail and finally I could enjoy the vacation I had been dreaming of—for months.  I had plans.  I was going to read books, take naps and enjoy spending the holiday with my little monkey and Mr. Alpha Male…

That was when I got the call that my mom had gone back into the hospital—again.  Now, let me pause and explain for those of you who don’t know me very well.  I have an unhealthy obsession involving adhering to traditions at the holidays.  And hospital or no hospital we were going to have a giant Thanksgiving dinner.  If you question my resolve on this issue, I will have to tell you the story of the Christmas ice storm when I cooked a huge ham dinner with no electricity and no running water using a miner’s hat for light and a barbeque grill.  But for now, take my word for it. 

So, by the next day I had traveled to South Carolina with my little monkey in tow, bought the last turkey at the grocery store and started cooking.  I cooked all afternoon in between trips to the hospital and then I cooked all night.  Soon, food started to pile high on the countertops filling the house with the spicy scent of cinnamon and nutmeg.  By the next morning, my parent’s house was bursting with laughter and chatter as Mr. Alpha Male’s parents arrived for lunch.  Even with my family not there, it was beginning to feel more like the holiday I love.  That afternoon we packed coolers with another Thanksgiving to be served picnic style in the hospital.  (Yes, you counted that right—I cooked 2 Thanksgiving dinners from scratch.)  We got some funny looks from the hospital staff, but we managed to save Thanksgiving for my parents and for that I am very thankful.

When I got back home on day 3 of vacation I should have picked up a bag of the previously mentioned Cheetos and flopped on my sofa.  But instead, I decided my kitchen could use a coat of paint.  I grabbed some paint at the store and went to work.  Then, I wrapped the last of the Christmas presents, completed the final touches of my holiday decorations, and took the Monkey to see Santa.   That brings us to today, day 6 of vacation.  It was just after cleaning dust bunnies, while considering the organization of my pantry when I decided to end this vacation for the vacation impaired and go back to writing.  Vacation smacation.  Who needs them? Not me.  Am I the only one out there who’s vacation impaired?  

Two Is Better Than One

We're at the tail end of NaNoWriMo and EMichels is at the five yard line of finishing her manuscript, SO that means two things: 
1)  One more week of pic spam blog posting before we get serious and actually write something. :)

2)  Mimosas will be forthcoming.

First, the pic spam.  The contemporary I'm working on features a few characters in law enforcement.  As I write (and research) their scenes, it has me thinking about all the law enforcement characters I've watched or read about over the years.  There are A LOT.  Once I took a moment to quantify how many crime/police/procedural shows and books I've consumed over the years, it surprised me.  No thanks on the hospital dramas, but obviously I have no issue with crime shows.  What appeals to me most is the crime fighting or case solving duo or team.  Something about the camaraderie and joint goal, along with all the drama and suspense. 

You know I play favorites, so here's a gallery of some faves.  Some are good, some are bad, some are serious, others are funny.  Some are hilarious in the way only the 80s can be.  Enjoy!

Law & Order - old school

Law & Order SVU

Bones

Kay Scarpetta & Pete Marino

SouthLAnd

Rush Hour

Hot Fuzz

Miami Vice

Needs no caption ;o)

My Goodness, My Ireland!

Since EMichels is diligently working on a full for submission and I'm currently knee deep in Nano, the blog posts this month will be predominantly pictorial and purely for fun. 

This week's is gratuitous.  My Nano project is a contemporary and it's taken me away from my paranormal series featuring Celtic themes and some Irish hotties.  Hence, I miss them!  In honor of them (and Irish hotties everywhere), I present Eire's finest:

Actor, Peter O'Toole.  A classic.  And few have baby blues like him.

Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  He made me love to hate Henry the VIII.

Actor, Stuart Townsend.  Ooooozes Vampire Lestat.  Just sayin.

Actor, Colin Farrell.  Love him or hate him, he is the epitome of an Irish rogue.

Michael Fassbender.  Okay, okay so he was born in Germany, but he was RAISED in Killarney!  AND he got to say, "Then we shall fight in the shade."

Rob Kearney, Rugby player.  No cauliflower ear, lots of Forearms & Kneeeeeeeees!

Finally, the entire sport of hurling!  Recently, in a movie with Jason Statham, it was compared to a cross between hockey and murder.  A vicious predecessor to lacrosse.  Only the Irish.  They've been playing it for centuries and the counties take it as seriously as Southerners take their football.

Happy Halloween!

I was going to do a post about the history and etymology of Halloween and Samhain (snore, right?), but because I have sinusitis and I feel like I have a pumpkin for a head, I thought I'd blog about Halloween costumes and pic spam you instead.

First let me say, I LOVE Halloween.  Love, love, love!  The time of year (minus the allergies, thx), the color of the trees, the cooler weather, the candy, the crazy decorations, the mystical feel, the candy.  It all adds up to make Halloween my favorite holiday (unless it's December and then Christmas is my favorite :)).  The best part of October 31st? Costumes!  It probably comes as no surprise that I love to play dress up. Here's a rundown of who I've been over the last few years:

This costume was b.a.  Did the full makeup and everything.

Everyone at work was a character from Oz.  I still have my ruby slippers!

Did this in a pinch & every kid knew exactly who I was.

Wingardium Leviosa!

And who I'd like to dress up as in the future:

They don't get more dramatic than Lucretia.  <3 her!

I'll run around saying "Fiddle dee dee" and "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Boopittidoo!



Does anyone else detect the underlying theme here? Because I just noticed.  Maybe our Halloween character choices tell us something about ourselves.  What about you?  Who have you been for All Hallow's?  WHAT have you been?  Share, share!

The Big Black Moment

Any excuse for gratuitous Sam & Dean displays, but seriously, the topic today is "The Big Black Moment." 

Why?  Because in few months, Elizabeth and I (along with Darcy Drake) get to teach this little gem of a lesson in a workshop.  Given the topic, the three of us stared at each other in bewilderment.  (That is to say we typed big bug-eyed symbols via text and email O_O).

The Big Black Moment (or BBM for short) is something we all know and feel when we read or see it, but none of us defined it exactly the same.   I began to poll the other writers I know.  Most people described it as that moment in a romance novel when "all is lost."  There seems to be no hope that the hero and heroine will ever find love and happiness together.  Some also tossed in the idea that it's the moment when "it seems like the bad guys are going to win."  Others added in that it's the time when external and internal conflict collide to snowball into one huge, freezing mass of emotional, downhill bull- well, you get the idea.

We all write in different genres.  We write in different styles, with different voices.  Our BBMs are not going to be identical. However, as we began to talk it out, explore our own moments with more attention to detail, we found that a lot of the core truths are the same.

I hate to be a tease, but we're not going to get into those truths right now.  That's for another blog post when we've really done our homework and can dazzle you with our knowledge and skill(z).  Right now we want to know:  What Big Black Moments really grabbed you and wrung your heart dry?  What Black Moments did you love, even if they weren't that dark?  It doesn't necessarily have to be romance either...

For me, some of the most memorable are:

Romancing the Stone: It wasn't too dark (in keeping w/ the movie's tone), but when he went after that crocodile, I just knew that couldn't be the end!  Even as a child, I felt despair! However, I also felt that HEA around the corner.  Showing up with the croc boots was an excellent end too. :)

One of my all time faves:  The Shawshank Redemption.  Stephen King is a genius and I particularly love his non-horror books, but the movie is what really got me.  I felt real despair for Andy Dupree when those cell bars slammed closed on a blatantly innocent man.  I knew he'd be in that prison forever if the warden didn't have him killed.  I had NO idea what Andy was up to!  It caught me completely by surprise and after the lowest of low moments, I was elated.  I get chills even thinking about that movie now!  Then, another BBM right around the corner with Red.  Would Morgan Freeman's character get busy living or get busy dying?  I was an emotional mess all over again.  Then, the final scene on the beach?  I felt like I could run a marathon after watching it.  Now THAT is how you do a Big Black Moment.

What are some of your faves?

Writers' Conferences - A Primer

TOP TEN THINGS LEARNED OR CONFIRMED AT MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS

(Basic tips to be applied to all future conferences)

10.  Bring snacks. You never know when a hotel will have done away with ALL vending machines and you're going to be hungry at inconvienent times.

9.  Bring your own normal sized coffee pot and good coffee for your room.  Trust us, you'll need the caffeine and the little typical two cup pots in the rooms won't cut it.

8.  Bring cash for taxis and hotel bar.  Darlene, bartender extraordinaire might make the world's best Cosmos, but she doesn't run a tab and she doesn't take American Express.

7.  Bring comfy shoes.  Not for the use of walking around the conference (we prefer heels, bandaids, and numbing spray because that's how the M Shelf rolls), but for when you can't sleep at 4am, you're hungry, and you have to walk 5 blocks to the all night diner.  Again, because the hotel has no vending machines. :)

6.  Talk to everyone, and we mean EVERYONE.  You meet interesting people and there is something to learn from every writer at every stage in their career.  Mingling is a must!

5.  Bring eye drops.  You'll either have "I only got 4 hours of sleep" eyes or you'll need the drops after crying your eyes out at the Keynote Luncheon.

4.  Bring Physician's Formula yellow highlighter stick for dark, under eye circles.  Again, because you'll never get a full 8 hours of sleep and the dark circles will make their presence known.  Don't look a hot mess, slap on some yellow!

3.  Write down your pitch appointments & other key times on a post-it and slide the post-it into your conference badge.  It's easy to reach and always with you.  Plus, it's easy to add other appointments when it's so handy, which leads us to number...

2.  Hang out near the appointment area and support your friends who are spazzing out before their pitch.  Unless there's a workshop to attend, if you lurk (in a good way) near the appointment staging area, you might luck out and get a bonus appointment (or two).  It's amazing how many people don't show up for their appointment and the coordinator will need to fill it on the fly!

And...

1.  TAKE YOUR BUSINESS CARDS EVERYWHERE, even into the ladies room.  Especially into the ladies room.  A lot of networking goes on in the ladies room and y'all know it.  The cards aren't so much for  agents and editors as they are for your fellow writers.  You want to network, schedule workshops for your chapter, follow their blog, have them follow yours, be tweeter tweeps - they'll need your card!

And that's it for M&M posts and tips.  Makes me sad actually.

We can't wait to go back next year!  October 4th - 7th, 2012. 

Mark your calendars!

Overcooked Meat and Streaming Mascara

It was the best of times during the worst of times. 

When I registered for Moonlight and Magnolias Romance Writer’s Conference I had no idea what to expect.  I had no idea it would be a magical weekend of writer bliss.  I also had no idea I would have to leave my mom in life threatening condition in the hospital to attend.  And, I certainly had no idea how much I would need my friends, the distraction of the conference or the hope of getting a literary agent at such a time.  On top of this, add to the list of things I didn’t know: my thoughts on what the luncheon would entail on Saturday…

The afternoon I sat down at the white linen covered table for Eloisa James’ keynote luncheon with the rest of the #CRWbadgirlz I was anticipating generic words of writer encouragement served with overcooked meat.  I should have known better than to expect anything ordinary and mundane from the lips of writer goddess, Eloisa James.  There was dry beef but that’s not what I want to tell you about today.  What transpired over lunch was a total sob fest with me in the front of the room and guys with cameras milling about filming a documentary.  My deepest, most sincere hope is that they did not catch my streaming mascara, puffy eyes or blotchy skin on film as I am not a cute crier.  But, I digress.

Have you ever felt as if you are the only person in the room and a speech is being given to only you?

I’m not sure how Eloisa James knew what was unfolding in my life or exactly what I needed to hear that day and yet she did.  She told of a time in her life when she had nothing but a computer with a broken E key and no money for a replacement—I can relate.  She told of a strained relationship with her mother.  And then she told of a time when she longed to say, “I paid off my student loans, Mom.”  “I’m a best seller now, Mom.” Only by the time those things were true, it was too late and her mother was gone.  And this is when the tears started gushing.

I suppose I should back up and mention that I spent the previous day pitching to literary agents all day.  It was an amazing day of success that I will never forget.  I’d worked toward that moment for years and I felt like my dreams were finally within reach.  I even got asked for my full manuscript—which I was not expecting—only to return to my hotel room with my great news, call my parents, and discover I had been given medical power of attorney in the same day.  I knew my mom was not likely to survive the heart surgery she needed so desperately, but this seemed to drive that point home.  Extreme highs to extreme lows. 

After years of writing and working and writing some more it felt as if it might finally be happening, this dream of publication.  And there was a good chance my mother, like Eloisa James’, would not be there to see it. 

But then Eloisa went on to explain how that pushed her writing to a higher level.  She advised us to use the fear and raw emotions of our lives and channel them into our character’s plights.  So, as I sit here today in the ICU waiting room, I am attempting to channel my fear for my mom into what Lillian must have felt when her father fell ill in Thief of Hearts.  The endless waiting to learn if this will be the minute when that beige phone across the room will ring with news for me, not knowing if it will be bad news is the fear Eloisa James was talking about.  And if my heroine survived six years of this torment, I think I can make it for another hour.

So, thank you Eloisa James for making me gushy and ugly in public but most of all for reminding me to use the bad in my life to create good fiction. 

If you were at Moonlight and Magnolias this year, were you inspired by the keynote speech?  I would love to read your comments.

Moonlight & Magnolias - Part1

We are back from our first ever Moonlight & Magnolias Conference and ...
 I ... had ... the time of my liiiiiiiiiife!  *chair dances*  And I owe it all to youuuuu!

What we learned, discovered, and realized is too much to contain in one post.  Therefore, we will break it down into three posts.

I'm taking post #1: The pic spam portion of the weekend.  I'll stick to the main points that have pictures.  Otherwise I'll end up with the longest rambling blog post ever. I really could go on and on and on about this fantabulous weekend ... but I'll practice some self control. 

Day 1
We arrived JUST in time to shake off the drive down and go to the Chocolate Bar for the happy hour with Eloisa James and Karen White.  Both ladies are so gracious and willing to share tales and information.  The vibe of the whole place was very supportive and excited.  Plus: Writers, champagne, and chocolate. What's not to love?!

                            Eloisa James, Elizabeth Michels, Heather McGovern, & Karen White


Day 2
The Industry Panel began at 9am, ran as a Q&A session.  Very efficient and informative. The big takeaways were:
1) Historicals are hot/still hot/hot again.  Basically any era WWII and before, except for Civil War.  Apparently Gone with the Wind covered it and that's all until further notice.
2)  They all want Regency YA or Victorian YA.  Historical YA was mentioned a lot.  Who knew?!
3)  Contemporary is in demand too. 
4)  Paranormal is tightening up, so if you're submitting it needs to be new, fresh, and exceptional.

Taking notes on the Industry

We had lunch with the lovely Maria Geraci and Jax Cassidy at 246 in Decatur.  Brief aside, the restaurants in Decatur are the business.  Seriously.  Everywhere we ate was amazing.  And there's this pasta maker ... but, that's for another post.

Ladies who lunch



Friday was almost entirely pitching and, being my first attempts, I was most anxious about this part of the conference.  I thought it went very well though.  It's not the agents and editors that make us nervous; we do that to ourselves! Big takeaway: Deep breath and relax.  It's more conversation than sales pitch. Afterwards we had a celebratory toast with Conelius the Traffic Cone (he goes to every retreat/conference - it's a thing). 

That night we went to dinner at Two Urban Licks in Midtown with Carole and two new friends, Sharon & Sherry.  If you haven't been to this restaurant, go!  YUMMERS.  All I'm going to say is Gouda Grits.  Gouda. Grits. I don't even like grits, but ... wow! 

Day 3
We got over our nerves enough to remember outfit pics for this day!

There were a few more pitches that morning and then the Keynote Luncheon with Eloisa James as Keynote Speaker.  Elizabeth is going to do her post mainly about the luncheon, so I'll leave that for her.  I'll just say I'm not a big public crier, but was I weeping!  Once we all reapplied eye makeup, we went to a great workshop by Anna DeStefano & Michelle Grajkowski on "Turning Your Proposal Into I Do!" Also another first for me, someone was escorted from the workshop!  Still don't know what was going on there, but the curiosity is killing me!

That night was the Maggie Awards Dinner.  After polishing, buffing, shellacking, curling, and only one incident of, "OMG I'm hideous!" we were ready. 

Looking faboo and fiesty for the Maggies!

We were slick enough to grab a table near the front for the dinner and ended up with "The Best Table Ever."  You know those moments when you have the right mix of personalities and everyone is excited and wants to have a laugh?  It was one of those moments.  We met new friends in Trish Milburn, Tanya Michaels, and Michelle Grajkowski.  I was educated on what a Badger is NOT (Oops!), they had to hear the tale of Conelius, and we all shared a love of pretty dresses, shoes, and unique dance moves.  AND I got second place for the Maggie in my category!  Yay! *Snoopy dance*



Finally, the shoegasm! OMG THE SHOES!!!  There were squee worthy shoes everywhere, all weekend!  Special mention goes to Hillary Raymer, Carole St. Laurent, Sydney Carroll, and Elizabeth Michels for wearing some stand outs.  Work the heels, ladies!  Work the heels!

It was an epic weekend! Thank you so much GRW and everyone who made it happen.

 Only 364 more days 'til we do it again!!!

Moonlight & Magnolias... and Mimosas

The countdown is on.  In less than 72 hours, six VERY giddy writers will set foot in Decatur, Georgia for their first ever Moonlight & Magnolias Conference.  Let's review the To Do list:

Pitch rehearsed within an inch of insanity, check.
Tickets for chocolates and mimosas with Eloisa James & Karen White, check.
Appointments with agents and/or editors for pitching manuscripts, check.
Pitch rehearsed again to push over the edge of sanity, check.
Reservations for dinner afterwards to celebrate completion of first pitching sessions, check.
Workshops picked out, check.
Dress and killer shoes for Maggie Awards dinner, check.
Fabulous outfits and shoes for entire weekend, check check.
Foot numbing spray, Altoids, band-aids, and Tylenol, check.
Reality of it all setting in ... not s'much.  I guess that will happen somewhere between Easley, SC and sipping mimosas with Eloisa. 

Be on the look out for updates!

Slainte! (that's cheers in Irish)
Heather McGovern