A Hurricanes ah comin!

What a week, what a week! First we had an earth quake registering 5.8. A first of this magnatude in the state of Virginia since the 1800s. We have had smaller tremors but most people don't remember them. Who would? And now we have the storm of the century bearing down on us and the entire east coast is in a freazy. I'm guessing a 700 mile wide catagory 2-3 hurricane, who they've so nicely named Irene, could make you nervous. Shoot, I'm nervous. Irene is coming up from the south while another storm front is coming down from the north. Put all of that in a pot and what do you get when two storms collade with one carrying cool air and the other carrying warm. You got it, the perfect storm. The only problem, we are so not prepared for this. And I don't think we ever will be. Which takes me to my next thought. Conspiracy theory. Now don't get me wrong. Mother Nature has been very pissed at the world this year. From earth quakes to heat waves with 120 plus temperatures to brush fires bellowing smoke across multiple states to dust storms to floods. What's a person to do? Now there is the perfect storm heading your way. Batteries-yes. Non parishable food-yes. water-yes. Flash lights-yes. Cars filled with gas-yes. Did I miss anything. Oh yeah, my bottle of wine. Hey, somethings gotta keep me happy when the power goes out. Could Mother Nature be dealing with the secret leaders of the conspiracy theorist to make us spend money. The store shelves are empty. The pumps have dried up. Yes, I think Mother Nature made a deal with someone and we are paying the price. Hopefully she will repay us for kicking up the economy by leaving us alone.

Remembering Leslie (LA Banks)

As I stand in front of my book shelf and stare at the multitude of books catching dust, I pause and run my fingers across a few of the many books I have by LA Banks. From her Rivers of the Soul 1991 were she signed it 'sisters of the soul' to her Vampire Huntress series to her cop books. Each book, just like Leslie has a special place in my heart.
I remember when we first met. It was my very first Romance Slam Jam conferance in Raliegh-Durham NC. I was traveling with Felicia Mason who'd hipped me onto the conferance and was wondering through the hotel meeting and greeting readers and fellow authors.
She walked up to me, introduced herself and asked me about myself. After my tiny bip blurb she grabbed me, hugged me and convinced me that selling one book or 10k was fantastic when we are doing something we love. She told me to keep on writing and to never stop. A multitude of knowledge went into those words.
Leslie is one of the most prolific authors I know, always paving the way for the person walking with her and always paying it forward.
Even though we talked more via email than phone, it was a treat if you could actually get her on the phone, each time was special. From just catching up to seeking info on poisons. I remember calling her in the distant past, fussing, when Damali grew fangs. She laughed and only said, sista, finish the book, to earlier in the year telling her I was gonna be in Philly for the Author's After Dark Con in August, hoping she'd come out. She will be with me in my heart and soul forever.
Leslie Esdaile Bank aka LA Banks aka Leslie Banks will be forever loved, forever remembered, forever missed.

Making Lemonade

I keep chanting to myself that old saying, when life gives you lemons make lemonade. I'm making a large five gallon jug right now. Don't get me wrong. My cup will always be half full but right about now, my cup is so tired I think me could cry. LOL. Now seriously, how often do we run, run, and run some more and when we stop we can't rest because the mind continues to run and filter in all of the things you should be doing instead of resting. Between family drauma and work, I'm threatening to get in my car, head west and don't look back. I'm gonna stop by the local police station and let them know, when I'm reported missing, I am not missing, I know exactly where I'm at. So how is that for planning. If I could multiply myself and hire an assistant that would help. I've got a family reunion coming up and guess who's playing hostess. That's right, ME! No biggie. Its probably the least of my worries. Maybe I won't feed them. Yeah right. On the other hand, if I don't get caught up at work I might have to change my address to my place of employment. I've got a tee shirt that says, 'Contents Under Pressure,' I wonder how long I can wear it before someone makes me take it off. Oh well, I digress. I'm gonna keep on plugging, popping tylenol and hugging my sleep pillow when I can. Hopefully the lemonade won't last too long.

Writings da' Bomb!

Don't you hate it when a good thing has to come to an end. I spent this weekend, Thursday through Sunday at the Chesapeake Romance Writer's Spring Retreat. What a fantastic experience. This isn't my first retreat with them but it certainly has been my most productive. While the attendance was down from the previous years it was still a huge success. Eleven of us, writers converged on Chanco on the James in Spring Grove, Virginia (in the forest) on Thursday afternoon. We lodged in the Watson Lodge, a huge eight bedroom house, three levels with eight bedrooms. Sleeps 20 people. A wonderful set up with no television, no phones and very and I do mean very limited cell and internet reception. Each writer came with different backgrounds, different concepts and different goals. We even had an aspiring ten year old join us this year who turned out to be very determined in getting the job done. She come with goal of writing 20 pages and completed the weekend with a total of 35. Wow. there were goals of perfecting the query letter and pitch with someone who was headed to the Romance Writer's National Conferance in two weeks and she had editor and agent appointments, someone else had the goal of finishing the edits to her latest work, another had the goal of writing something, anything. She'd just gotten back into the writing groove and was looking for some inspiration. I had the goal of getting started on a new story that came to me as I was selling my books at the West Orange street fair in New Jersey, this past Memorial day weekend. I wanted ot make a good dent in it. The dent went out the window. I totalled that baby. I finished the story! It's a novella and it topped out at 110 pages, but wow! Happy dance time. Everyone got what they came for this weekend. The writing atmosphere was so intense and every one met their goals. We topped off with 1,128 pages completed collectively by the 11 people who attended. How's that for butt in chair and hands on key board!

Yeah for June!

Whew! I am glad the month of May is over and done. What a stressful month. From bathroom explosions and plumming issues to hubby having a car accident and totaling his car. We all just thank God he was not injured. He misses his car, his baby. Material as it is, he'll get another one soon. I've been hitting the street fair and craft show circuit and loving every minute of it. A few weeks ago I was in Chesterfield Virginia at the Chesterfield Public Library Author and Craft show and then Langley Air Force Base for their spring bazaar. At both I sold some books and got some new friends and readers. What more can an author ask for. Memorial Day weekend I spent time in New Jersey at the West Orange street fair. Had a blast. Sales were good and met a man passing by who stopped to chat and talk about my books. I've dubbed him Italianlicious. Because he was just that. He has inspired a story out of my alter ego Alexis Ke. Got started on it today. Already ten pages down in a couple of hours. I love it when stories come to me like that. She's gonna have fun. I also found out today that 'The Shadow Box', another Alexis story will be released in November at Red Sage. Well, I guess, if I put all of the stress, good and bad in one hat, maybe May wasn't so bad after all.

Reservations for Two

Happy Mother's Day to everyone and what a fantabulous day I had. It started off with me sleeping in until 12 noon. If the phone hadn't rang I probably would have slept longer. My husband asked me several times this past week what I wanted for a present. I think I surprised us both by saying nothing really came to mind. Go figure. Is this what happens as we get more wiser. Nothing comes to mind. Geez, I could have at least asked for a gift card of something, but really, I didn't want anything. I got a new printer this week and its a beauty. It scans, faxes, prints single and double sided, you can send it a picture from your camera and it will print it out from afar and you can even send emails to it.
I think it does everything except write the books. Darn. Leon (that's my hubby) he set it up and had it going in no time at all. I think that is present enough. I got calls from both sons,one in ATL and the other in Charleston and grandson from NY today. So there you have it. I have a husband, two sons and a grandson who love me. Today that was present enough.
Hubby and I did go out to dinner. It was fantabulous.We ventured over to Virginia Beach to the Sonoma Wine Bar and Bistro and had a wonderful dinner. The atomosphere in the restaurant was a mix between eclectic and romantic with the muted colors and ambiance. We started off with appetizers and a flight of wine. For those of you not familiar with flights, its a sampling of 3-4 different wines. Our flight had three different wines in it. All were great and it was called the Bodacious Blend.
Leon chose the trout stuffed with crab and I had a fantastic breast of duck. It rested upon a bed of couscous and brocholini and had the most delectable bing cherry sauce I've ever had. Even though we were stuffed we had to finish the meal with deserts to go. The Turtle Parfait... OMG, I don't know if I can put words to it. With each bite all I could do was moan and shake my head. Um, um, um. What a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day
I'm certainly hoping eveyone had as grand a day as I did. You can't ask for much more, now can we.

Life as I know it

Had a wonderful time at the Romance Slam Jam conferance in Baltimore this past week. Met new friends, reconnected with old. Ate some great crab cakes. Even heard one person say, "there is too much crab in the crab cake." Who knew? Can there really be too much crab. I think not. While I didn't win the EMMA award for Best Suspense or Book of the Year, I must say it is an honor to be nominated. Congrats to all of the winners this year. There are so many wonderful books out there. Will we ever have the time to read them all. Again, I think not. Even after Slam, I found myself at home in the Christopher Newport Universary Library on Monday doing one last read through of my manuscript I pitched to Grand Central and an agent at Slam. Both asked for the full. That's great. Of course it sends the hebbie-gebbies from my toes to my head. But off it will go. Fingers crossed that it will pique the interest and get me a contract. Now on to more homely thoughts. Just when its time to go back to work my bathroom, my one and only bathroom in the house goes alien on me and explodes. I knew the funny noise coming from the toilet was way too strange. Especially since no one was in the bathroom messing with it. It proved it by backing up and causing all kinds of problems. Now I have to wait for a plummer to grace my addie with his/her presence. Totally too much fun. I know my fellow co-workers aren't going to believe it. I'm not sure if I would either. Oh well, what's a girl to do. Sit and wait, sit and wait. Is't that what we do. Sit and wait. After all, it is what it is.