Back & So Much To Tell...

Happy Monday Everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA for so long. A ton of things have been going on:

For one thing, I attended my first Romance Writers of America National Conference (RWA Nationals) in Orlando, Florida in July. While there, I got to go to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom (my very first time going to Disney World and my first time going to Nationals since I joined RWA in 2009).

Nationals was an amazing experience. Normally I'm nervous when going to conferences, but for the first time, I wasn't. I'm not sure why. Maybe I had a lot of people praying for me, and sending me positive thoughts. Maybe I went in with the right attitude. Either way, or both, I am not sorry one bit that I went!

Arriving!

We--that is, the whole Averie clan--arrived in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday, July 25th. Everything went smoothly with getting our luggage, and despite a little issue at the rental car place, that even went smoothly.

Then came trying to find the hotel. Our GPS kept sending us in a circle, and we didn't quite understand the directions people gave us. It took circling the same

area FOUR TIMES before we managed to figure out what to do. And then, came finding the hotel itself. We got lost and had to call the hotel twice. So needless to say, either know your way around, have a reliable map or really good GPS. We finally managed to get to the hotel.

Raspberry Sorbet
Lemonade Smoothie
I had with dinner (yum!)

We got to our room without a hitch (and the hotel staff were super-nice). Soon after, we found a place to get dinner and felt much better afterwards. The Disney Boardwalk was just a short walk away, so we decided to go explore it.

Juggler we saw while on the Disney Boardwalk

Disney Boardwalk was all lit up at night. It was so pretty!

I had my nails done before I left for Nationals. On my left thumb

Right thumb with purple/pink
butterfly wings

Left thumb with blue
butterfly wings

was half a blue butterfly, and on my right half a purplish-pink one. The blue one represents my deceased friend, Sarah. Blue was her favorite color and butterflies were special to her. The other one represents my writing. On my business cards I have a purplish-pink butterfly. When I put the two thumbs together it made a whole butterfly. I don't have that on my nails anymore, but it was nice for Nationals...until I fell and broke the purple one! But oh well. I was okay. Mostly just embarrassed, but I can laugh about it, now.

Together the thumbs made a pretty butterfly

I have a ton of other pictures, so I'll have to do a whole series of blog posts because there is so much to tell and show you.

August isn't as busy despite Offspring being back and school and some of the other activities we have going on. They're doing well, and enjoyed going to Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom. They also went to Legoland, which also looked like fun, but Real Life Hero (my husband) said Legoland was even hotter than Disney World. But our Offspring enjoyed it, so I call it a win.

I'm working on Book 5 in the Immortal Dreams series and some other thing that's been playing in my head for a long time now. I hope everyone who is reading Book 4, Perfect Love, is enjoying it. I've already had some readers say that they thought it was my best work so far, which made my day.

I'll do more posts talking about Nationals and my visit to the Magic Kingdom, but for now, let me assure you, I had a fantastic time. :-)

What's been going on with you? What are you reading? Have you had a good summer?

Have A Marvelously Magical Monday!

It's Worth A Fortune

Happy Tuesday Everyone, Does anyone remember the song If I Had A Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies ? I can't remember when or how I was first introduced to this song, but it's a fun song. So, how about if you had a million dollars? What would you do with it? Of course there's the responsible things to do with a million dollars--pay off debts, and such like that. Then there's the question of whether or not you give to charities, and how much. But, suppose you answered all those questions and you still had quite a lot left; what would you do with it? Maybe I'd go to Disney World. I've wanted to go, and I've never been able to. Or, perhaps I'd go to Germany and England, and Belgium (three of the countries my ancestors are from). Travel around seeing family and friends I don't see often. There's all kinds of possibilities. So, what about you? What would you do with a million dollars? Have A Tremendous Tuesday!

Spotlight On Author: Loretta Wheeler

Happy Tuesday Everyone, There's a gem of an author I've had the privilege of coming across...I'm talking about my friend, Loretta Wheeler. She's a sweetheart and very talented author. I enjoyed her YA Paranormal novella, The Pan Man immensely. And, she also writes Romance. So without further ado, come into my parlor and meet Loretta Wheeler: Me: In your YA novelette, The Pan Man , you mention Pan's looking for his long lost soul mate. What made you choose Pan out of all the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses? Loretta: I chose the Greek god Pan, because of the connection with the music. I found later on in the story, (my stories take over and write themselves usually) it applied even more than I realized because of the band's name. I won't mention the name of the band in here, because it's part of the surprise ending. Me: You're mostly known for your Romance stories. How would you describe your writing style? Hot, suspenseful, sensual, sw...

Myths About Writers

Afternoon Folks, I thought we'd do a post to dispel some of the myths people seem to have about writers. I'll put the ones that first come to mind then y'all can chime in. Myth: Writing is a great way to make a lot of money. I'm not sure exactly how this one matriculated. Probably in the wake of some of the big best sellers (i.e. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Stephenie Meyer, JK Rowling, and the like) but most of the time writers put in more money for their writing than they do get out of it. Generally a writer doesn't make a ton of money unless somehow his/her book is a blockbuster hit and blasts through what the author owes in the advance (which is paid back to publishers through royalties). Most writers I've met and talked to are not millionaires. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm saying it's not one of those things that's automatic. Myth: Writing Is Easy Anybody Can Do It. Okay, granted this isn't entirely a myth, but it's not ent...

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