Off To Atlanta

I'm leaving for Atlanta in the morning, first for RWA board meeting, and then for the RWA Conference. I'm probably not going to get internet access in my room since I'll probably never be in my room, so I don't plan to check in here until I get back. If you're in Atlanta and you see me, please say hi!

The Miracle of Ultrasound

I saw a picture of my new grandbaby today, and I'm in awe. The technology may have existed when I was pregnant with my oldest, but doctors certainly didn't do ultrasounds as a matter of course. I had one when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, but only at the very end of my pregnancy when they were trying to decide whether to do a C-section or not. So seeing a picture of my grandchild (who, according to the midwife is vigorously active) in these early weeks is mind-boggling. Even more mind-boggling is the fact that I could actually see her (or him.) Usually when I look at ultrasound pictures, I make a lot of mmm-hmmmming noises and pretend that I can see arms and legs and other body parts. But today, I saw a head and I saw a leg. Either ultrasounds are getting better, or I just had more incentive to find the body parts in the gray cloud! The midwife says everything looks good, for which I'm profoundly grateful, and my daughter can now stop worrying that maybe there's something wrong with her that only seems like a pregnancy, and really begin to absorb the fact that there's a baby on the way.

Pre-Conference Jitters

Currently Reading: THE DEAD CAT BOUNCE by Sarah Graves Okay, I'm going to admit that I'm a little nervous about going to Atlanta for the RWA conference. Not because I wish I had a nicer wardrobe, or because I'll be meeting with my editors for the first time after a very tough and sadly unproductive year. Not because, in spite of my best intentions, I didn't lose the weight I promised myself I'd lose when I left Reno last year. No, I'm nervous because of the humidity. I live in Utah, second dryest state in the Union (according to something I read somewhere) which means that almost everywhere in this country is more humid than what I'm used to. Humidity is a foreign concept to me, and it's not something I deal with well. My hair frizzes and curls, my makeup runs, and I sweat. I wish I could say that I perspire delicately, but that would be a lie. Lucky me, I inherited my father's sweat glands. That means that ladylike, delicate perspiration simply isn't in my vocabulary. I've tried telling myself that I "glisten," but I'm still not convinced. My only hope, when I go to conferences around the country, is that the hotel staff has turned the thermostat down so low that the rest of you are donning sweaters to keep yourselves comfortable. If you're all shivering, you can count that I'm feeling delightfully content. I'll probably be okay as long as I don't leave the conference hotel, but what about evenings and dinners out? Crowded rooms? Publisher parties????? What about walking through the Atlanta heat to get from one place to another???? Sweating and running makeup aren't the only problems. For those of us who live in places where water is an import and the air is delightfully thin, thanks to high altitudes, all that moist, heavy, oxygen-filled air is almost painful to breathe! Frankly, I don't know how the rest of you do it on a regular basis. It sounds like I'm complaining, doesn't it? I don't mean to be. Like I said, almost every place in the country is more humid than I'm used to, so it's not like I've never dealth with humidity before. Once, years ago, I went to Lake Placid, NY for a legal conference. While those of us from Utah were hiking to the lodge struggling to breathe and complaining about the humidity, a group of southerners came up behind us, complaining about how dry the air was. I still giggle when I think about one woman saying, "I swear, my skin is just flaking away!" A few years later, I went to New Orleans for the same conference, and learned what humidity really was. Even Orlando, heavy as the air was, couldn't match the humidity in New Orleans. The point is, that even though I can dredge up uncomfortable memories from each of those experiences, what I choose to remember most of the time are the good things. I remember meeting great new friends over margaritas at the Mexican restaurant in Dallas, nipping away from the conference in Orlando to visit Disneyworld with my daughters and hitting Splash Mountain when there was no line because a tiny little rainstorm scared everybody indoors. I remember wandering around Bourbon Street in New Orleans, being sketched by a street artist, watching my daughter (then about 11) being fascinated by the break dancers performing on the street, and savoring the history in that beautiful city. I remember the scenery on the way to Lake Placid, being awed by the Olympic ski jumps, and making my first visit to Quebec. I think about standing in the middle of Times Square in New York, walking beside the ocean in San Diego. I think about dinners and drinks with friends, about chance meetings on elevators and catching up with people I only see once a year. There's so much good, it far outweighs the bad. So I'll deal with my humidity phobia today, and then do my best to forget about it so I can build new memories that will make me smile any time I think about Atlanta.

Celebration!!!!!

Mood: Exuberant Pages Written Today: Revised 71 Currently Reading: THE DEAD CAT BOUNCE by Sarah Graves

The proposal is done! The proposal is done! I just sent it off to my editor, who should get a prize for being the most patient woman in the history of the world. It may not seem like much, but I've gotta tell you, this was a major accomplishment. After long, dark, scary months during which I was afraid I would never write another book, I'm finally working again. I can't even begin to tell you how good this feels.

Haagen Dazs for everyone!!!

Atlanta, Here We Come!

It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again. The Romance Writers of America annual conference is just a little more than a week away. Well, okay, almost two weeks, but since I'm on the Board of Directors and we have board meeting before the conference, I'm already on the final count-down. And there's so much still to do! I'm still struggling to get this proposal off my desk and onto my editor's. I've gone round and round and round with the story until I'm cross-eyed, but I think I finally have it. A few tweaks on the synopsis tomorrow, and it's out of here! It has to be. A few weeks ago, I tore my office apart, intending to reorganize everything and make it a lovely, peaceful, inviting place to work. That was before Vanessa came home with the news that she wanted to get married in three weeks. Guess whose office is still not lovely, peaceful, inviting place to work. There's the Board Meeting agenda to read and motions to research, laundry to do and outfits to plan (so I can completely ignore the plan and wear what I feel like wearing once I get there). Yeah, it's silly, but I still make the list. If I don't, I forget things like my hairbrush and nightgown. I'm not buying any new clothes this year. The wedding wiped me out, and besides, I've decided it really doesn't matter. There are too many other things in life to obsess about, and nobody really pays attention, anyway. I'm not even going to talk about the kitchen sink (presently clogged) or the pile of dishes that need to be washed once I can run water in the kitchen again. That's a subject that's just way too depressing. On another note entirely, does anyone have problems with pop-ups on your computer when you come to this site? Even with my pop-up blocker, they pound me while I'm writing blog entries, so if you're all having problems, I'll switch to another site. It's driving me so crazy, I might anyway -- but don't worry. I'll be sure to leave a trail of bread crumbs if I do

Here's To The Red, White & Blue

Mood: Goal for Tomorrow: Finish Proposal of WHAT WOMEN WANT Pages Written Today: Still Working! Currently Reading: STRANGER IN TOWN by Brenda Novak I spent the morning helping my newly married daughter with a few things, and it occurred to me, as we were driving around town, that I need to make a few changes around my house. I have a son-in-law in the military now, but you'd never know it to look at my yard. Unlike most of the other families with military ties in my neighborhood, I have no little American flags taped to my fence posts, no bunting hanging from my front porch. My entire house is sadly lacking in the red, white and blue. If I have any hope of considering myself a supportive mother-in-law, steps must be taken!!! I can't race out and buy flags today, so I'll have to do my best to make up for it here. So today's bog is dedicated to the men and women in uniform who give so much to keep the world safe. I'm grateful for their patriotism and their courage. This is also dedicated to the families who love and support our troops, who stay behind when their loved ones are deployed and keep the home fires burning.