Lost Links

My old computer was compromised by some hacker(s) and I finally had to smash it to tiny bits.  (And God did that feel good.) Yes, I could have taken it to be cleansed of the viruses and such, but it would have nearly cost  me as much as this nice new computer.  But now I find all of my favorite links list has vanished.  I've lost all my links.  Slowly I'm finding the sites, but it's been a bit of a pain. 

I'm a lot more careful now as to what emails I open.  If I don't know you, your email is deleted.  I don't open links in emails except from a very few friends.  My new security program lets me know if there is a problem with a Web site before it will let me either enter or not enter the site.  I'm going to trust the secruity program and not open those sites.  I've created a new email for agents and editors only.  No one else will have this email address.  All my passwords are no shorter than 15 letters/numbers now.  They are not real words, or phrases.  Just a jumble of letters and numbers.  Shoot, even I had to make a list so I could remember the passwords. 

Isn't it sad when we have to go to such lengths to enjoy the Web?  And we're supposed to feel sorry for this guy who has hacked Government computers and is blasting our "secrets" to our enemies?  And his supporters caused a day or two of problems for Master Card because MC decided not to support him?  Oh, yeah.  That's a way to our hearts.  We need stronger laws and penelties for hackers.  It's time they are actually punished for what they are doing.  Slaps on the wrists is an insult to those of us who have been victimized. 

Fortune Cookie

My hubby and I went out for Chinese yesterday. Yes, we do this nearly every week, so, why am I writing about yesterday's lunch? When the fortune cookies came I picked up one, then for some reason I set it back down and grabbed the other one. No idea why. Anyway, I cracked it open and popped a piece in my mouth while I withdrew the fortune. Hey! There are two, I said.




The first one said, You will be unusually successful in an enteratinment career.

The second one said, Your present plans are going to succeed within the year.



Usually I get fortunes with proverbs or Chinese saying. Not too many "fortunes."



Now, does that mean I'll finally start to see some success from my writing? LOL And what are my present plans? To finish Fire Dance and start and hopefully finish Visions or Knight Midman Dark. Will I do either? Well, I kinda have to finish Fire Dance. I promised Maria at SBP, I would. And both Visions and Midman are driving me nuts to be written. So, maybe, I'll see the second fortune come true. The first one, I can hope.

In Print Soon

The publisher of my Fugue Macabre trilogy, Sapphire Blue Publishing, is going print.  Yes!  Fugue Macabre: Ghost Dance, Fugue Macabre: Bone Dance and Fugue Macabre: Fire Dance will be available in print in the near future.  To say I'm excited is an understatement.

http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/

Good Day

We all have days where we feel less, not as good at something as the next person.  I don't usually talk to my husband about such things.  He wouldn't understand, I say.  But last night I mutttered under my breath to myself.  "I'm never going to be a successful writer.  Everyone is better than me."

Hubby:
Forget about that person at the workshop, writers' group or the author on the NY Times best selling list.  I bet at one time or the other they have told themselves the same thing.  

Forget about what the market says.  Didn't you say that by the time you write something for the market, the market has changed? 

Forget about that editor or agent you dream of working with.  Worry about the next word, the next sentence, and that editor and agent will one day read your work.

Now, clear you mind. Relax.  Write for the sheer love it it.  Write from your heart.  Find the joy you discovered when you first started writing.  Do your best.  If you are happy then you are a success.  In my eyes you already are a success.

Okay, by this time I was in tears.  Okay, so he quoted all the things I've told other writer friends when they were feeling down on themselves.  The point is he's been listening! 

I'm a damned lucky woman.

Judges Needed

EPIC's competitions are gearing up for judging and it's time to sign up if you wish to take part. I tend to support contests I enter with judging. If you have the interest and the time, please consider doing so as well.




Who is eligible to judge?



eBook Awards-

Published Authors (at least contracted with their first book)

Editors

Publishers

Agents



New Voices will additionally take-

Librarians

Teachers



No offense meant to readers and reviewers, but these are peer judged/professional ly judged awards.



When is judging?



First round judging for eBooks would start by August 15th and end 5 or 6 weeks later. Final round judging (if you choose to do so) starts in the last two weeks of October and be done before the holidays.





What would I be judging?



EBook Awards gives you the chance to choose divisions (poetry, non-fiction, anthology, children's/YA, genre fiction, romance, erotic romance, and erotica) of judging but not individual categories. If you don't want to handle erotic content or GLBT, we will make every effort to avoid it for you. If you like romance, but will be entering the contemp romance and historical romance categories, just note that. All entries are sent to judges as unsecured PDF.



The New Voices Young Writers Competition covers only middle and high school entrants, and their word limit is very short. The longest entries in that contest will be no more than 2000 words long and covers poetry, essay, and fiction stories for each age level division. Entries are typically sent to judges as DOC or RTF.



We do our absolute best to give you the divisions you ask for in both contests, but we may ask you to judge elsewhere, if necessary.



Are there limits on judging?



We prefer a minimum of 5 books/stories judged over the period for the eBook Awards and 3 pieces for the New Voices Award. Both contests are set to a maximum no more than 25 books/stories/ poems per judge. (Believe it or not, we have people ask for more.) You choose the number you are willing to judge.



Will I own the books I judge?



Our agreement with the entrants is that judges will delete the eBook after judging, but you still get free reads and the chance to discover new-to-you authors.



How do I get in on this great opportunity?



Sign up to judge the contest/s at http://bit.ly/ JudgesApplicatio n

EPIC Awards 2011

Did you release a book in eBook formats between June 1, 2009 and May 30,


2010? Want to know how to enter the longest-standing and most-inclusive

eBook contest around? Have questions about the rules that aren't covered by

the FAQ? Want to see what has changed this year? It's all in one convenient

place!



A Q&A period about entering the EPIC eBook Competition (formerly called

EPPIE) will be held on the eWorkshop group from June 29th through July 10th,

2010. The sessions will be hosted by members of the competition committee.

Everyone is welcome (member and not). Just sign onto the list at this

link

before

the Q&A period starts.



The contest will be open for entries from July 15th-August 15th this year,

so start thinking about what you want to enter, and may we all have a

prosperous year.

Permission to pass this message along granted.

Say what?

My horoscope says: The movie 'City of Angels' posits a whole legion of angels surrounding us at all times, right there by our sides every time a difficult or taxing situation comes up. They (invisibly) hold our hands, (silently) offer us words of comfort and help us make decisions that would be too tough for us to handle alone. Don't be too surprised if you feel the tingly presence of a benevolent guardian today.






I don't believe in horoscopes, but I found this one a bit funny. That benevolent guardian is probably trying to cover my mouth with his/her hand. My moods haven't been light and airy lately. I've been cursing BP for over 40 days and nights, I'm been cursing the muse longer than that. Even my doc says I need to calm down or else. What else what, I'm not sure.



But I've deicided I can't do a thing about the oil spill, so I'm giving it over to those who can and praying a lot. If the muse wants to run away from me, bye bye, I can write without her. The doc can go on with his business, I'll calm down as quickly as I can.



Now if the dang heat would let up, I'd be good to go.

Oil

Well, it happened.  The oil has come ashore.  Our coastline, or environment, fisheries, shrimp beds, oyster beds will take years to recoup.  Hundreds of fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen are out of work and may never go back to that lifestyle again.  It will take more than their lifetime to clean this mess up.  Now, lets look beyond.  The owners of seafood restaurants, the waiters, cooks, hostesses, those who work in the processing houses along the coast...all out of work.  The owners of the vacation camps along the coastline have no tourists this year.  No one wants to come to the shore to smell oil.  The fishing grounds are closed, so the men who have charter fishing boats are out of business. 

And what about all the fish, turtles, birds that are dying?  Porpoises are dying.  What about our lakes?  Are they next?  Oh, and since I mentioned the lake, we spent years getting it clean enough to swim in and healthy enough to bring back the Pelican population.  Now they are dying. 

And BP says once we get the break sealed and the oil stops flowing into the Gulf, the episode will be over.  Huh?!  Wake up and sell your damned oil spill, BP.  It's not finished.  What about all the people I just mentioned?  This has ruined people's lives.  What about the environment? 

Let me bring up one more thing.  You do realize hurricane season starts June first, right?  What if there is a hurricane in the Gulf?  Where will all that oil go?  Don't tax your brain, BP.  I'll tell you.  It will be pushed miles inland.  Our back yards will be polluted.  Our homes worthless.

Does any of this matter to you, BP? 

Testing

Perceptions

It’s a matter of perception or opinion when it comes to reviews. Yet authors read them as if they were the gospel of all their readers. A review is written by one person. It is that one person’s opinion or perception of the book.

For Misty Dreams ( www.thewildrosepress.com ) my reviews have run the gambit.

Merrylee at Two Lip Reviews said: ”Misty Dreams is one of the top ten best novels I’ve ever read.” Merrylee gave it 5 out of 5 kisses and awarded it a Reviewer’s Pick Award.

Theresa B. at The Romance Studio gave Misty Dreams four hearts. She didn’t mention why she deducted one heart, so I have no idea what she didn’t like about it. Or maybe, that is just her high for a time-travel romance or…

See the point I’m making?

I remember something a childhood friend told me back when we were too young to be so smart. I’d been moping because I wanted to win a writing contest my school had entered me into. I told Linda (my friend) that I wanted to be the best at something, anything. She glanced up from the book she was reading, smiled and shook her head. “Oh, C. J., there will always be someone better. You just have to be the best you can be and you’ll be a winner.” At the time I thought that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard. (BTW, I won the contest.)

Elizabeth Lowell, author of Death Echo (releasing in June) said in June’s issue of RT magazine: “If you are lucky enough to get published, some people will love your book, some will hate it and most won’t even read it. Get your pleasure from the writing, not from how each and every person feels about the finished book.”

If we follow Ms. Lowell’s advice, we’ll all be winners. 

And, Linda, wherever you are, you were right. 

Charlotte “CJ” Parker

www.cjparker.net

Charlotte Parker

Misty Dreams, a time-travel romance spanning modern day to 1876 Deadwood. Blurb available on my Web site. http://www.cjparker.net/

Book available at: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

C. J. Parker

Fugue Macabre: Ghost Dance a paranormal suspense set in New Orleans.

Trailer and blurb available on my Web site, http://www.cjparker.net/


Fugue Macabre: Bone Dance the second book of the Fugue Macabre trilogy set in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana.

Blurb available on my Web site. http://www.cjparker.net/

Books available at: http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/

Down and Out

I've got to get tough with myself. I have three books (yup, 3) to write this year and it's close to the end of April.




Why am I behind?



Well, I'll tell ya.



Stupid file sharing sites. The jerks are giving away my books. I'm not making any money. I truly do love ebooks, but this pirate thing has brought me down into the pits. I work hard to write my books. I never expected to get rich writing. I didn't even expect to be able to pay all my bills from my royalties. But I'd like to make what I've earned.



It's got to the point that my muse is asking "Why bother?"



And, please, don't ask what sites I'm talking about. I'm not going to give them the free publicity, or the link so it becomes more popular with those who couldn't care less that I'm not getting paid for my work.



Okay. Finished feeling sorry for mysef. Back to work.

Growing Up

Have you ever seen that commercial where older people say things like "when I grow up I want to build homes." or "when I grow up I want to write a novel."? 

At first I just laughed.  "Hey, you old farts, you are grown up," I say.  But wait.  Are they?  Really?  How many of us are "grown up?" 

What is grown up? 

I used to think growing up meant leaving Saturday cartoons behind, or no more sneeking the last of the ice cream out of the freezer before someone else beat you to it.  When I was a kid, I thought grown up meant staying home and crocheting in front of the TV (my mom), sitting in front of the heater with an old afgan thrown over your legs, while everyone else in the house was burning up (my grandmother), but most of all, and the most feared part of growing up was laughter seemed to vanish out of old people's lives (my dad).

I left home very early; the age of sixteen.  I had big dreams of a big world, and I knew if I stayed where I was, I'd never see any of it.  I'd never live my dreams.  And I told my mom on the day I left, I'd never grow up. 

Have I?

Well, if grown up is those things listed above, no.  I still love cartoons.  I still sneak the last of the ice cream out of the freezer before my hubby can.  I like to crochet, but only because it frees my mind and lets it wander over story ideas, plots, and characters.  But unlike my grandmother I hate the heat.  HATE it.  Rarely turn on the heat.  And I laugh.  I mean I don't run around laughing like a brainless idiot, but I'm a pretty happy soul.  I've even noticed since my hubby retired he laughs a lot more, too. 

What's the meaning of this post? 

Think about it.  When we're kids we have imaginary friends.  As writers we've just taken that a step further.  We still have imaginary friends, but we create their worlds, their problems, kill some off, kiss off others, and love them all.  We play make-believe on a daily basis. 

I think I was right when I told my mom I'd never grow up.  My body may be grown, but in my mind I'm still that little girl who loved to make up stories to entertain my friends.  I still love to take down the huge dictionary from its pedestal and find words I've never heard of then try to figure out a way to use it.  In place of the paper dolls I played with as a kid, I now have a character board with photos of famous and some not so famous people to serve as the face and body of the people wandering around in my head and on the computer screen.  

And  I'm happy with me.   

Time to poop or get off the pot

I guess I've spent enough time in that comfortable corner I've placed myself in.  One of my publishers has decided not to place their books into Ingrams and Baker and Taylor, so brick and mortar book stores can order them.   I understand their reasoning, but I want to be able to walk into my local B&N or Books A Million or... and find my books on the shelf.  I'll still write for the publishers I'm working with now, but I want more.  I guess it's time to place butt in chair and try to write a book good enough for the likes of Deidre Knight (my dream agent).  It's time to grow.

As much as I love my ebooks and trade paper books, I'd like to walk into my local RWA chapter meeting and be able to show them my latest and have it be a mass market paperback.  I've noticed the different reactions between trade and Mass.  People seem to be more excited for those authors who have "made it" with the mass paperback.  While trade seems to be more of, "You're getting there."

I want to "Make It." 

The Shape of the World

Sounds like a huge topic, huh? Only for some. I'd like someone to explain to me why some people deem it okay to steal money from me and other authors. They think nothing of downloading my books off of filesharing sites for free. The publisher receives no payment, so I, the author, do not get paid for my work.

I've been asked/told:
1. "How hard can it be to toss some words on a screen and send it on to a publisher?"
2. "It only takes you a few weeks to write these things."
3. "You make plenty off of readers. It's no big deal if a few people get a free copy here and there."

1. You think it so easy, you do it. If it were easy a lot more people would be published.
2. A good book can take anywhere from four months to a year to write. And many authors work more than 40 hours a week and stay up late into the night getting a chapter right. Then get up at dawn the next day to get some words written before they go off to the day job.
3. The only writers who get rich are the big name authors. Those of us who are just starting out, or are what is known as mid-listers, have to keep the day job just to pay the bills. And it is a big deal. How would you feel if you worked for four to twelve months and someone took your paychecks? Hmm?

Whew!!

Yes. I'm tried. But oh what fun I had getting there. EPICon went well. I met a lot of great people and made a few new friends. I lost a few pounds from running from one spot to another. Woohoo!!

As soon as I can I'll post photos from the conference. Sad to admit, I didn't get one photograph taken, so any shots I post will be from others who did.

Now I'm going to play the name dropper game. ;)

Holly Jacobs is everything you've heard and more. She's so much fun to be around. The trick is to find space to be around her. She'd come to a public place and find a nice quiet place to relax, and moments later she'd be surrounded by her fans. I snuck her away for a dinner at a local out of the way restaurant where they had a zydeco band. Hey, she said she wanted a taste of Louisiana. LOL I wish you could have seen her face when the music started. It made my night. Oh, yeah, and the food was good, too.

I managed to sit and talk with Debra Dixon of Goal, Motivation & Conflict fame for an hour or so. No, I didn't pitch to her. (She's with Belle Books) I've been too tied up with EPICon plans to really get anything written this last year. I did talk to her about an idea that's been floating around in my head for a while. But mostly it was just two girls enjoying a chat. If you get a chance to meet Debra, do. She's a sweetie. I'm still trying to figure out how I got lucky enough to get that time with her.

Deidre Knight was there to give us all a workshop on promotion. I'm still heartbroken over the fact that I was running from one thing to another and missed the workshop. But at least I did get to meet Deidre and have a few words with her. If you're ever in the same room with her, leave your nerves at the door, and go talk with her. Turns out she's fairly human and quite easy to talk to.

Louisiana's own Deborah Leblanc gave us two workshops. Marketing and Promotion & When Everyone Says You Can't. Who says you can't be entertained and taught at the same time? Wrong! This self-professed Cajun Woman kept us laughing while making us think on our own. What could we accomplish if we just stop listening to others tell us we CAN'T?

C. T. Adams had to cancel. She came down with the nasties and didn't want to give it to those of us at the conference. We were disappointed, but understood. Maybe next year in Va, C.T.?

Now, I'm going to sleep for a day or two and then try to get caught up. I have a few books waiting to escape. But, I promise, I'll be here more often with words of no wisdom.

I've missed you, my friends. I really have.

Thanks, I needed that.

Misty Dreams by Charlotte Parker



Written by Merrylee
Tuesday, 05 January 2010
Title: Misty DreamsAuthor: Charlotte ParkerPublisher: The Wild Rose Press Genre: Time TravelPublication date: November 20, 2009ISBN: N/APages: 304Series: N/AReviewer: Merrylee
Heat Level:


Rating:

Growing up under her father’s strict and abusive hand, Elita La Rue toed the line at home, rarely making waves with the unpredictable Mathew La Rue, who still blamed her for her mother‘s death in childbirth nearly twenty-one years ago. Enduring whatever came her way and keeping out of Mathew’s sights whenever she could, she faithfully played her role every day at Duke’s Wild West, Mathew’s theme town. But at night, she read her great-great grandmother’s journal until it had become so familiar to her that she could almost recite it, word for word. On it’s pages, she read about gunfighters Wild Bill Hickok and Seth Lucan, fantasizing about them until the night a handsome man dressed as an 1876 gunfighter rode out of a strange mist that had mysteriously appeared on the main street of Duke’s Wild West. She had no idea that the mysterious man, who claimed to be the real Seth Lucan and seemed genuinely astonished by modern innovations, would change her life forever.

Seth Lucan was fed up with living a life tainted by the reputation of Milo Lucan, his outlaw-gunfighter brother. At one time he’d idolized his big brother, happy to draw against him when Milo practiced his fast draw. But that time was long gone. Now, everywhere he went, people thought he was just as low down dirty as Milo, to the point that he’d built up his own reputation as a fast draw. Sometimes it seemed like he couldn’t turn around without some gun-happy yahoo calling him out. Seth was tired of the killing and knew there had to be more for him out there than running from an unwanted reputation. And so he’d come to Deadwood in the summer of 1876, hoping to make enough money panning for gold to start over somewhere back east, where the name Lucan wasn’t so well-known. Instead, he rode out of town in a hail bullets, only to ride into a strange futuristic world filled with half-naked women and contraptions so advanced no one in his time has even dreamed about them.

Now he’s playing at being Seth Lucan with a gun full of blanks, while fighting his attraction to Elita, who insists that she’s going with him when he goes back to 1876 Deadwood, a place that’s fit for neither woman nor dog. Elita, however, is convinced that she is the Elie who appears in her great-great-grandmother’s journal, the one destined to save both Seth and Wild Bill from the fates that lie ahead of them. When the mist again appears, emanating from the old blacksmith’s shop that once stood in old Deadwood, will their love be enough to see them through the consequences of going back in time? Or will real bullets and fate step in to prevent them from re-writing history?

Misty Dreams by Charlotte “C. J.” Parker thoroughly drew me in mentally and emotionally. I laughed, I cried, I breathed this action-packed book in as if it were vitally necessary to my survival. Despite a few spots where the writing didn’t flow quite as smoothly as it did throughout most of the book, this is one of the ten best novels I‘ve ever read. Although it’s 304 pages long, I read it in one sitting. The roof could have fallen in on me, and I wouldn’t have noticed. I was that engrossed in this truly wonderful story.

Ms. Parker’s respect for the era is very apparent in her writing. I’ve read the history of Deadwood and have visited the modern-day town, which remains very much like it was in the 1880’s. I’ve seen the pictures of it when it was still the shanty town Ms. Parker describes in Misty Dreams. I’ve been in the Old No. 10 Saloon and seen the chair Wild Bill was sitting in when he was shot and killed while playing cards, and I can tell you that Ms. Parker’s imagery, her description of the people and attitudes of the time are superbly drawn. I could almost smell the horse manure mixed with the pungent scents or sweat, gun smoke and leather. I could hear the hooves of the horses and oxen, the jangling sound of wagon harnesses and the hurdy-gurdy music emanating from the saloons. Though arguably self-serving, Elita’s sheer doggedness to go with Seth back to 1876 to save Wild Bill was impressive and admirable. Despite her father’s abuse, this young woman is no shrinking violet. She’s tough, strong-willed and able to kick ass when the chips are down. Seth is the antithesis of the wild west gunfighter who’d rather shoot a man in the back as face him down. He’s honest, kind-hearted, still idealistic despite his careworn outlook and determined to protect Elita at all cost, including his own life. The sexual tension between these two builds like a smoking volcano preparing to erupt. When they finally come together, it’s appropriate and sweet while being fiery enough to torch the sheets.

With my love of American history and particular fascination with Wild Bill “Jim“ Hickok, the experience of reading Misty Dreams was very special to me. I must say that I didn’t see the surprising twist coming at the book’s end, involving Homer, Mathew’s hired hand. I sincerely hope that this is just the first of several more time travels to come from Charlotte Parker’s fertile imagination that will bear Homer’s special touch. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It's one for keeper shelves everywhere.

Giving Credit and Thanks

I was sitting back last night thinking of what I'd forgotten to do. There was plenty. LOLBut the thought came to mind as I was trying to list and put away the recent goodys for the bags at EPICon that I really need to give a shout out to those who have done so much and given so freely.

First, I was to thank Rhonda Penders and R. J. Morris (The Wild Rose Press) for furnishing the bags to hold all the goodies. I'm thrilled with their choice of bags. You're going to love them.

Samhain Publishing, Sabrina Jefferies, Kellyann Zuzulo, Jane Toombs, Ann Siracusa, Ann Morris, Kelly L. Stone, J. L. Wilson, Nan D. Arnold, P. L. Parker, Lynn Rynolds, Donna Marie Rogers (Lisa James, Janet Lacoco, Holly Jacobs, Ilena Holder, Melanie Atkins, Christinane France, Erica Spindler, C. S. Graham, C. S. Harris, Viola Russell, and Eran McCarth have been very generious with their gifts for the bags.

Let me think; Nick, my co-chair, Anna D'Arclon, Publisher Liaison, Dawn, my Promo Liaison, Brenna and Carol for putting up with my panic attacks, and Dan Reitz for putting up with me nagging him. And I must mention Jolie du Pre who is handling the decor for the conference.

Now, I've got to go to the printers and talk out what he needs for me to get what I want. Poor guy. Guess I should thank him for putting up with me too.

Damn it! This is New Orleans

We're not supposed to have temps down into the teens!! If we have to put up with these kinds of temps, then we should have the fun of some snow. But do we? Hell no. It's raining right now, but the temps so far are still in the high 40s. The rain should be over in about three hours and then it will drop down into the teens for tonight. So all we'll get is black ice. Fun.

EPICon 2010

On March 4-7, 2010, New Orleans will once again celebrate her recovery from Hurricane Katrina when she hosts the Electronic Publishing Internet Connection's annual writers’ convention. The four-day convention, EPICon, will include a networking mixer, a riverboat cruise, an awards banquet as well as workshops and seminars.

Keynotes speakers include award-winning romance author, Holly Jacobs, award-winning author and motivational speaker, Debra Dixon, literary agent, Deidre Knight, New York Times Bestselling author, C.T. Adams and Louisiana's own bestselling author, Deborah Leblanc, among others. As well there will be representatives from many of the top print and electronic publishing houses, including Mundania Press, Awe Struck, Phaze, Hardshell Word Factory, Red Rose Publishing, Leap Books, Belle Books, Loose Id, Oak Tree Press, L. L. Publications (Logical Lust) and more.

We are also offering very low cost ad space in our Conference Binder. Simply go to our Web site, www.epic-conference.com and click on Conference Binder for info.

Knowing EPIC is a non-profit organization, some of those already registered and those unable to attend have asked if they can contribute in some way. Absolutely and with great thanks! We are looking for sponsors to help defray the cost of events during the conference; The Thursday Night Mixer ($600), Saturday Night Riverboat Cruise and dinner ($2,000). Even something as small as the cost of name badges ($215) would be immensely appreciated . Full contribution for name badges would result in your name and/or logo on the badges. Now, we are not asking anyone to donate the full cost of the Riverboat Cruise or even the Mixer, but even $100 donations are very much welcome. We are also looking for items for the goody bags, and/or books (autographed or not) for a raffle basket. All proceeds from the raffle will go to the New Orleans Library system to help refill their shelves from Katrina loss. And all donations are tax deductible.

We hope you can join us for a Spring weekend in New Orleans and Lezzez le bon temp rouler! Let the good times roll.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Run Away Escape

I woke up this moring wishing I were somewhere else. Where? Who cares. LOL Okay, I had in mind a log cabin in the mountains. Maybe being snowed in. Have a good generator just in case the power goes out. A big fireplace. It can be a gas fireplace. Never liked cleaning out all that ash anyway. Enough food to last me. It can be canned chicken noodle soup and jerky, I don't care. (Wait! Brain flash, what a great way to diet.) And, last but not least, my computer. Yes, this would be a run away to work escape. No. Hubby would not be there. That's one of the reasons I want to escape. No hubby asking, When are you going to get off your butt and do something? No TV. No emails. Just me and my computer (no Internet), my cell phone for emergencies, and if a cell won't work in the mountains, then I'll accept a land line. I'll just resist going onto the Internet. I'd like a full month, please.

I truely believe if I could have one month all to myself I could get my first draft completed, plus a good start on plotting out the second story that is driving me nuts to get on the screen. Think about it. One month. Alone. Nothing to distract me. Stopping only to eat, no, make that stopping only to heat that soup or grab a stick or two of that jerky. I can work while I eat. Oh, yeah, and to sleep every once in a while.

Oh, you think a whole month by yourself would be lonely, creepy.... Okay, how about this. Some of the national parks has a program where writers can rent cabins very cheaply to do exactly what I'm describing. If you don't want to be by yourself , how about you and a friend or friends rent a couple/few cabins. You can still be alone when you want/need to be, but have the evenings/early mornings/mid afternoons to talk/brainstorm with your friend(s). Now come on. Doesn't this sound great?

Gads, dreams are wonderful.

Spring in New Oreans

Have you ever experienced spring in New Orleans. While most of the country is still suffering cold, damp weather, New Orleans is in bloom, the weather is warm.

Come see how we've come back since Katrina and gather with other writers.

http://www.epic-conference.com/

EPICon 2010, the writers' conference for the twentyfirst century.