I hope everyone is doing well. Not much to share. I have tons of work to do and I’m not spending nearly enough time doing it. *g* I’ll get there, once the business side of writing gets taken care of and I can revel in the creative parts.

Both of my kids have dentist appointments in the morning. Fun, eh?

The cover for BAD BOYS AHOY! is “in the works”. I can’t wait to see it. *shaking with excitement* I think Brava has great covers so I’m excited to see mine. I’m especially excited to see my name. I’m sure you all can relate to that.

…finding links to my blog translated into foreign languages. It looks like my darling Alex has multi-cultural appeal.

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For those of you who are interested, the thread for the April WORD is open. When you get a chance, post your goals.

I’ve spent the last day and a half learning what a thumbnail sketch was and then writing three of them. Yuck. I so completely suck at condensing my stories. It’s taken time away from Alex, but I’m (hopefully) done now. We’ll see what my editor says.

Here’s what I’m reading now:

And here’s what’s on the way:

Fun stuff. I’m determined to glom Erin’s backlist.

Honestly, I’ve gotten to the point where I prefer anthologies. I just don’t have the time or patience to read a full-length novel anymore. I don’t know if it’s because the work isn’t holding my interest or if it’s because I’m too writing oriented right now and don’t like to take too long a break. Or maybe it’s because at the present time I prefer to write novellas and I’ve become used to the instant gratification. Who knows? But it takes a great author to make me buy a ST anymore.

Today I spoke with my agent and three out of four of my editors. I worked out details for an upcoming release, commited myself to a new project, and discussed my present wip. It was productive and I feel like I’m moving forward, which is very important to me. I can’t stand to feel like I’m not doing something to move ahead. Alex’s story continues to write itself and the days often end with me thinking that I didn’t get enough written only to realize that I completed quite a bit.

Next up, a historical. Yep, I’m slowly getting into that mood again. *g*

You’ve all been awfully quiet lately. I hope everyone is doing well. What are you working on? Anyone need motivation? Maybe a WORD Challenge in April? Wanna read more from Alex’s story?

I have one: reunited lovers. I just adore stories where the hero and heroine once loved each other, but fate got in the way and separated them. I especially love it when the heroine has gone on with her life and the hero just can’t get over her. *sigh* It can be so romantic when done right.

What’s your favorite romantic premise?

Ok, I admit it. I was incredibly naive when I set out to become an author. I knew I had a decent command of the English language. In fact, I’d been told by several people that I was an excellent writer. Ergo, it should only take me a year or so to write a good book, and another year to sell it. Right?

Wrong. I’m still working on writing and perfecting that book and my two years are up.

It took an author comparing writing a great book to creating a great painting for me to finally get it. Would you expect to pick up a paintbrush, mix a few colors and, after a couple of months, produce something worthy of hanging in an art gallery? No, you wouldn’t. You’d instinctively understand that to be capable of creating a work of art, you’d first need to master techniques: be a genius with color, excel in layering and see everything in terms of light and texture. You’d understand that a painter must get to the point where they know the basics so incredibly well, they also know how and when to break the rules. You’d understand that for a painter to be recognized as talented, there must a unique flavor to his/her work, and an element of brilliance. You’d understand that it might take a painter a lifetime to achieve such a state.

Why was it so easy for me to get this about painting and so hard to get it about writing? I don’t know. It’s probably related to the same wackiness that has people you meet at a party say, “You wrote a book? Yeah, I’m going to do that, too. Next month, maybe.”

So, here I am, investing blood, sweat and tears toward the goal of writing mastery. I get it now. And I’m a lot more patient about how quickly I’ll see results (not endlessly patient, but more patient :wink:).

My son’s godfather is in town visiting and so we’re out having fun with the kids for Jack’s birthday. (Jack has the best godfather. He comes to visit every March and Christmas for celebration fun with his godson.) Today we went to Knott’s Berry Farm. (Sorry for the picture quality. It’s my cell phone camera.)

Shanna’s eating a Baby Bottle Pop.

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