Friday, December 23, 2005

Merry Christmas!

As family descends today, I want to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Life is precious and time with our families is one of the season's greatest gifts. Love and peace to all of you.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

A New Baby Diva is born....

:: BREAKING NEWS ::

Our resident Diva Briana has finally had her 7th child after the longest labor in history! And Romance Divas kept track (and bets) on it....

Sophia (no middle name at this time)
Born: Monday, December 19, 2005
Time: 5:21 PM
Weight: 8lbs 6oz
Length: 21 inches

Hip Hip Hurray!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Kristen's Blog Has A New Look

I've just completed the re-vamping of Kristen's Website and now I've created a new look for her blog. I hope to have all the kinks worked out by the end of the day.

In the meantime, she's scurrying to clean and set up her once empty rooms to make room for her guests. I'm sure it's going to sparkle like a store's showroom.. she's a decorating freak... trust me. Also, I've begged her to pack up some of those homemade cookies to ship my way. After all, I've just spent most of the weekend doing work for her. Sniff sniff.

Have patience folks as I do tweaks in here...

Onto other news. Our very own Briana is having her baby TODAY! Finally the day has come and we'll know all the baby stats! It's the longest labor in Romance Divas history. I can also say it's our first Diva Baby since we created that place!

The big, bad hacker,
Jax

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

RD all fixed!

Talked to our host and whatever the problem was, they fixed it.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Romance Divas...hmm...

Not sure what's up with the site at the moment but I've emailed Jax and hopefully we'll have an answer soon.

Baking Today

I'm making a cheesecake today for my chapter's Christmas party tomorrow night. Cheesecake is my "thing", it's what I'm known for and what I usually make for get-togethers. What's your "thing"?

And yes, pictures of my braceless teeth are coming soon!

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Today is my 3rd anniversary (hubby took me out to a fabulous dinner last night) and tomorrow my braces come off. Can you believe it? MY BRACES COME OFF!

Join me in a woohoo, will you? WOOHOO!!!

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Some Writers Deserve To Starve

Have you seen this book by Elaura Niles? I just picked it up yesterday and have been skimming through it. It's full of common sense advice, types of writers/critique partners/agents to avoid and suggestions on networking (not that I need those-haha). The author really stresses the importance of getting to know people in the business as a way of getting your foot in the door.

It's an interesting book but it raised some questions for me. Are there writers out there with great ideas, a good grasp of their craft and the gift of storytelling that are never going to make it because they don't ever go to a conference and chat up an editor in the elevator?

Very few of us live in NYC, the home turf of many an agent and editor. We struggle to distinguish ourselves from the rest of our peers in the slush pile, hoping at times for nothing more than a personalized rejection instead of the preprinted form. Is there hope? Or are we disallusioned against the truth of our chances?

The answer? NO. There is hope. I'm living proof. Am I published yet? In poetry and short stories, yes but not in novel length fiction. I do feel like I'm on the verge and I bet a lot of you feel that way too.

What makes me feel that way? In the short time I've been seriously writing toward publication I have garnered numerous requests for partials from agents and editors and recently fulls (the requeseted full of my second book sits at two major NYC houses right now), I've cultivated friendships with some wonderfully people, many of them multi-pubbed authors, some of them agents, some of them major publishing house publicists. The rejections I get aren't form letters for the most part, they're personal notes, hand-signed, with compliments on my writing and interest in other projects.

Do I live in NYC? No. But I've managed to do some networking and I put my heart and soul into learning my craft. I've taken the advice of critique partners and honed my skills. I've read craft books, taken workshops, attended conferences, entered and judged contests. I'm even working on building my repertoire of workshops that I can give. None of these things require residency in Manhattan.

How about you? Are you a writer who deserves to starve or a writer on the verge? What makes you think you're on the verge if that's your answer? How have you gotten there?

Sunday, December 04, 2005

"Charity Case" Comes Out Tomorrow

My second Sun story comes out tomorrow--it's called Charity Case and I think it's cute. But then, I wrote it.

Go buy it!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

A Little Taste Of Sin

Hershey's has a new flavor of kiss out. Cherry cordial. Obviously, the devil is now working in the R & D department of Hershey's because these little nuggets of chocolate cherry goodness are pure evil wrapped in pretty red foil. Delicious. But evil.

Great. My mouth is watering. I may need an exorcisim.