Well, if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been lately, my subject line should tell you. Doesn’t make sense? Does to me… Is it the odd way my brain works? Don’t answer that.

Well, hippity-hoppity, of course, refers to Easter. That weekend, my folks were visiting. My mom, my daughter and I went together to see Phantom of the Opera, since the touring company was traveling through town. On Easter Sunday, we all went out for a lovely brunch…but I wasn’t feeling too well. By that night, it was apparent I had a crummy cold. So I’ve been down with that since then. A bummer, too, because my mother and I shopped on Friday and I had lovely new shoes I could have been wearing. Making up for it today, since I’m wearing some now. White. Yes, I know it’s not after Labor Day, but I do love white shoes. C’mon, who else is wearing white shoes?

Anyway, the Phantom went away. I think the germs are finally gone. Now, I’m baaaccck.

Happy Friday!

You’ll never guess what I’m going right now…

I’m getting a pedicure! Yep, while I’m typing. No, I haven’t trained my husband to give pedicures while I slave over my latest book. Not yet anyway. Working on that… BUT I found a place that has computers and wireless Internet access about 3 blocks from my house. How cool is that??? So now I can get a little pampering without feeling too guilty about being away from work for too long.

Now, before you say that the point of the pampering is to get away from the work for awhile, yes, I know. But I’ve been busy lately, y’all. Really busy. If it wasn’t for multi-tasking, I’d never get anything accomplished. So this is a great compromise for me.

And BTW, I’m all about time-saving tips that allow you to do what you want without getting too far behind. What are some of the tricks you use to keep up and still have fun?

Happy Good Friday!
Shelley

So, I have a friend who is big into checking her horoscope. I angst over various things in my life. I’m a good worrier! (Genetic trait inherited from my mom…) My friend kept telling me that she made a lot of her decisions based on her horoscope. If it told her to get close to someone new, she did. If it told her to hold off on a financial decision, she took the advice.

In all honesty, I’d never given it too much thought in the past but after it became clear that her life wasn’t totally hosed and it seemed to have a much less painful impact than beating my head against a wall, I thought, what the hell! So I began reading it everyday, just to feel it out. (BTW, the squiggles in the graphic represent the fact I’m Aquarius.) You know what, sometimes it’s more fantastical than anything I’ve ever written. Then other times…wow, eerily accurate. I’m not sure what to think exactly. My jury is out. How about you?

Recently, I started playing this game with some folks on a reader forum. Everyone listed two truths and one lie. Everyone else has to guess which one is the lie. I’ll go first!

1. I have a twin sister

2. My husband proposed to me in a parking lot

3. I didn’t read my first book for pleasure until age 18

Okay, gang, guess away and list your own! I’ll post the answer in a few days. :-)

Avon author Jenna Petersen is getting her buns out from behind the computer and training for the Susan G. Komen Three Day Breast Cancer event in Chicago later this year. Gang, she needs $3500 and, as of this writing, she’s raised $395. She’s a great person (and a great writer), working for a great cause! Help her out by donating a buck or two if you can spare it. I donated!

Click here to donate!

Totally off the subject of writing for the day, I know, but I was standing in line to get a sandwich for lunch earlier today. Several people in front of me all indicated what they wanted in monosyllables like, “white, ham, cheese, no.” That’s it. Grated, it gets the job done… but two folks in particular were terse to the point of being rude. The elderly lady making the sandwiches was completely civil in the face of their lousy attitude. I, however, was appalled.

In total, as I stood in this line, five people all asked for a sandwich. Not one of them said please. Not one. Is it that hard? When she asks, “Cheese?” does it take that much extra jaw power to say, “Yes, PLEASE?”

I guess my mama raised me right (at least somewhat). To every question she asked, I not only made a point to say the magic word (as Mama called it), but I couldn’t NOT say it. It’s so ingrained. The rewards of being polite? From the lunch lady, I got a smile AND a little extra turkey for my sandwich. And maybe some good karma down the road…

Yes, I’ve been remiss. The best laid plan and all that… I mean to blog more. I really do. But life just manages to interfere. However, to make up for it, I’m going to give you some juicy scoop.

Last night, I attended the Dreamin’ in Dallas charity book signing. Lots of fun for a good cause, the Genesis Women’s Shelter. About 40 authors there all signing their latest, including Linda Lael Miller, Sandy Blair, Jessica Trapp, Jane Graves, Lorraine Heath, Karen Kelly, Gena Showalter, and yours truly.

Okay, so after the signing, it was close to 10 pm. What do writers do after two hours of arduous book signing? We drink. A group of us went to a nearby bar/restaurant, including Gena Showalter, Vickie Taylor, Shanna Swendson and literary agents Nephele Tempest, Kristin Nelson and Lucienne Diver. After apple martinis and Godiva raspberry truffle cocktails and lots of laughter, the conversation turned to the rise in popularity of erotic romance. One of the agents said something about receiving a submission with sex toys on every page and a decided fascination with butt plugs. After some giggles, people began to throw questions my way, since I’m one of the few at the table actively writing erotic romance. The next thing I know, we’re discussing clamps for both north and south of the waistline. I’m thinking…only me.

Oh, and if you happen to read on Gena Showalter’s blog that a certain agent is looking for submissions with lots of butt plugs that, when removed, become portals to another world and take the reader on a fantastical journey…remember we were all tired, had a few too many, and well, were doing our best to get into a little bit of trouble.