Nearing the halfway

All right! I'm nearing the halfway point of Sprinkles and that is A OK with me. This book is not the normal flowy writing that I do, but that can be a good thing :) As I've said before it is a completely new thing for me as I haven't written a romance in a while and I haven't written a women's fiction ever. So here I am in new territory, but my horoscope today said that I am challenging myself and may not be happy with my work today but I am moving in the right direction.

I call that permission to not write today! But I know better and won't actually take that easy out.

I got 12 pages last night and haven't written today yet, so I need to get going. Have a great night!

Misty

Dean-Apalooza DAY!!!!

Actually, it's not :( But my husband had his graduation ceremony from college last night and that's worth missing Supernatural reruns. Not sure if it would be worth it if it was a new episode. KIDDING!!! I think :)

So progress: 26 pages yesterday. Almost at my goal for the month which was halfway on Sprinkles. I'm at 146 pages right now with my morning prgress so I only have 54 pages to go before April 7. YES!!! I love being on track. And it is flowing this morning which is a blessing.

Talk to you on the flipside!

Misty

Challenged to write

So I've been challenged to blog about three words that I had to look up. I'm going to use them in sentences :) See if you can figure them out from the context.

I have a hard time walking around with this SESSILE barnacle attached to my hip, aka my kid. :)

The EPIGAMIC behavior of men can sometimes get to be cloying and annoying, especially if they're trying to rhyme and whining. LOL.

The FIZGIG was out to get me, but I hid behind the trash can and waited for them to whiz by!

Learn something new every day!

And progress: I have 10 pages so far today of new stuff and I am well on my way to have half done by the first weekend in April. YAY!

Misty

CHAT TONIGHT!!!!!

Woo-Hoo! It's chat night. I'm working hard (or hardly working) on getting together some interesting stuff to talk about in my chat tonight on writing Reignited, what the stories mean to me, and preparing myself for any questions posed :) Ought to be fun.

So come on over to the forum http://www.draumrpublishing.com/forums/chat/flashchat.php and join me for a rollicking time. Hope to see you there.

This message brought to you courtesy of Natalie Damschroder because apparently I was a slacker in not posting the link to the chat. Thanks, Natalie :) LOL.

Misty

Housekeeping

Well first off, may I just say huge congrats to all those who are finalists for the RITA and the GOLDEN HEART through RWA. This is a huge honor for them and a fantastic opportunity. I will be screaming for everyone at Nationals. My friend Maureen McGowan got the call and I couldn't be more thrilled for her. I also heard that another friend Caridad Ferrer is a Double finalist for her book Adios to My Old Life. Which was a fabulous read so I can totally understand. I know there are a bunch more people and I am very excited for them all. I wish every one of you could win.

As far as housekeeping: Very excited I now have over 100 friends on myspace. Thanks to everyone who friended me :) And I am chugging right along in the writing as well as the blogging. Yay me!

One more thing and this I hope you will pay attention to! I have that chat coming up on the 28th of this month. I hope you'll pop over to the forums at Draumr Publishing to hang out with me and keep me from being in the room all by my lonesome :)

Misty

Already Working

So I'm through all the old pages and working on the new ones. I have over 1000 words so far today and am on page 84. Things are chugging right along :) I just finished a great book called the Comic Toolbox which I highly recommend. It has a little bit of everything. Go, run and buy it if you want to write funny fiction.

As for a topic: Craft. This is a big one so I'll only cover a small portion, but the thing is no one can write inside a vacuum as far as I'm concerned. You have to keep learning, or relearning as you go along. I want to write bigger and better books every time I shoot out of the starting gate and to do that I have to continue to learn. So I read craft books (not the kind that tell you how to make doilies) and maybe pick up something new I didn't know before or solidify something I've known all along but haven't been putting into practice. I read books about writing funnier or about constructing better sentences. I refresh on Editing or turning off your internal editor when it's time to just write and not worry about it being the best thing since sliced bread when I write it the first time. I allow myself to absorb all this and write at the same time. One thing I do not do is overanalyze every single thing I read. I may not even believe everything I read. But sometimes it will internalize and hopefully make a better book all the way around.

So what kind of stuff do you read to make your work better? I'd love some recommendations :)

Misty

Progress in a shorty

Hello party people! As the title says, this is a shorty to say that I did some good work last night - almost 3000 new words and 40 pages edited with my new insight. Today I am so far at about 1000 new words and 15 old pages edited. I'm at page 80 and would love to hit 100 either tomorrow or Tuesday. We shall see.

Hope everyone had a good weekend :)

Misty

Contest!!!

Okay, so here's my contest! I got my books, my lovely, lovely books and after doing my ritual (which involves sleeping with one of my books after smelling it and rubbing the cover), I am ready to have a contest!!! I love contests :) And no you will not get the actual book I slept on. LOL. Unless you want it, but then that would probably be pretty gross. Ha!

Here's the contest: I blog on three different places so I'll be checking all three to see who gets the answer. And because this is coming later and because I promised before, there will be three winners. Apparently I have a thing for the number three :) The question for the contest is this: What song was I named after?

Put it in the comments, search for the answer, give it to me and voila! there you are the brand new owner of a copy of Reignited!!! You probably thought it was going to have something to do with my books, but I couldn't think of a good question with a clear answer on my books :) Have at it. First three with the right answer will get a copy of the book, signed, sealed and delivered at my expense. And if no one answers then I guess I have three extra copies of my books to cherish :)

Misty

Dean-Apalooza DAY!!!!

And how! If you are missing Supernatural, you are seriously missing great writing, fantastic acting, wonderful, heartwrenching stories, and Dean and Sam! Dean was excellent last night, one tear falling from his eye, Through most of the episode he was his normal cocky self and I loved the clear bottomed stiletto heels and the way he holds a dollar :) And Sam was out of this world. His descent into hopelessness made me cry, really cry. The writers for this show are to be highly commended. I didn't think they would do what they did in this episode and it makes me respect them even more that they were willing to go to that place. Dean and Sam played it perfectly. And just watching Dean walk anywhere is pure pleasure :)

Writing wise: Got 7 pages done yesterday. Tromping through the part I had already written and culling what shouldn't be there, changing the parts that no longer fit with my new vision of the book. Good stuff.

I watched The Return of the King extended version yesterday and just love Viggo and Orlando! So my day was full of hunks. LOL.

More writing today. I hope to get to the new stuff before the day is through. That's where I write faster and more fluidly.

Wish me luck!

Misty

On the Covers

I'll start out by saying that I hand wrote 4 pages yesterday and got the rest of the plotting/planning done. Story pages is the focus today. And why does that always seem so scary to write that? It feels like I put it on the blog and then it is set in stone. LOL.

Anyway! Topic is covers on books. There was a recent discussion on a writer's loop I frequent about covers and what to do when you hate yours. Now normally I have heard that with bigger publishing houses, you get almost no input on what you want your cover to look like. They send it to you and that's it. Other publishers let you fill out a form with your ideas and they may or may not even pay attention to what you want. Some covers you don't see until you pop onto the website and there it is. I've heard of covers with red haired heroines when the woman inside the story has blond. Or covers that look anatomically incorrect and impossible. Ones that had nothing to do with the subject of the book.

At Draumr I get a lot of input and I love it. I just got the rough draft of my next Ivy book and I am tickled happy! It's exactly what I wanted with a little change. So I wanted to jump in on the discussion where everyone was saying they get no input, but I also didn't want to sound like I was bragging. I did have one cover at another publisher for a charity book that wasn't quite to my liking, but the thing was it was the standard cover for their short stories. No room to wiggle on that, and it still wasn't bad necessarily.

If you're a writer, how have you felt about your covers? And if you're a reader, how important is the cover? I might pick something up from a shelf because the cover looks funny or good or dark (depending on my mood) but I don't think I'd buy a book solely for the cover if I didn't like the story. Well, unless Jensen Ackles was on the cover, then all bets are off :)

Misty

Blech

I'm sick so this may not be the most coherent of posts. Got more plotting/planning done yesterday. Hoping to get more done today and start writing. Went to Open house last night and it was a blast. Will watch rest of LOTR 2 today and relax with my pad and pen. Still stoked about the story and liking it even more now that I have most of it worked out :) Apparently incapable of writing complete sentence with subject and all. :)

I have nothing really witty or interesting to say today with my head clogged and my eyes scratchy (no, it is not a pretty picture). I'll leave you now so I don't waste your time putting random musings down that will make absolutely no sense tomorrow.

Misty

Laughing and Snorting, Snorting and Laughing

...and crying. I went to the movies last night. Sat in the darkened theater by myself - which I love 'cause no one else is bothering me for some of my popcorn. Waded through 15 minutes of previews, then watched Music and Lyrics. And oh my word! I loved that movie. I will own the movie when it comes out. It had everything - 80s hair and music (can't go wrong with Pop goes my heart LOL) and a has been who needs to be again. I loved Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. I laughed, I giggled, I guffawed. I might have even snorted. Poor other two people in the theater sitting in front of me :) It's been out for a while and it was a Monday so I was hoping for a small audience and got it.

The point of this little gush fest is that I love movies like this! I love romantic movies that have comedy and some seriousness and aren't completely based on a comedy of errors like mistaken identity or just a series of misunderstandings and people stomping out (while tripping over chairs). And this is what I hope I write. This is what I want to write. This is the focus I am going to keep as I scrap all 12 pages I wrote yesterday, sit down with my small notepad, figure out where the story is going and soldier on. I tried pantsing (for a week) and it is not for me. I said I was going to wing it, but 12 pages of absolute scrap material is not a good use of my time. So off to the drawing pad I go and hopefully I'll come back tomorrow with renewed purpose and fantastic pages.

Misty

On the word train

Yesterday's rest is being put to good use. I have five pages under my belt as of right now and the child will be going to school soon, so I'll have some free hours. If I get all my pages down today, I'm treating myself to a night at the movies with Music and Lyrics.

I posted late today so I could get some work done and feel like I actually accomplished something to put on here :) And I have, so I did! More progress coming throughout the day. But I going to stop at or about 15 pages. If I'm in the swing I may go a little farther, but I don't want the burnout of a few days ago where I stalled at 42 pages and haven't written since.

Wish me luck :)

I'm also going to be putting a word counter on here as I tried to before. If it doesn't work, I'll just post progress. Either way, I'm moving!

Misty

Again

Phew! I made it here. I didn't want to break my lovely stride on continuous posts, but I almost did. Almost BAD MISTY! I almost didn't get a biscuit :) Horrors!

All right, so again I have to say no progress, at least not on the word count. I have been giving myself time to really try to understand the premise of Sprinkles and the theme along with what the characters want and how I'm not going to just give it to them. So that is a kind of progress, though not one that I'll be able to measure until I put it down on paper and run with it.

Part of my thing is that I haven't written a true romance, one without a mystery, or one that isn't erotic romance in forever. In fact I've never had one published at all except for my novella in Leading Ladies. I love that story (and so should you! Ashlyn was a hoot to write and humble), but it was about 100 pages or less on my computer. I'm going to need at least 400 pages on this manuscript which is quite a bit more. Quite! And I guess I just worry that I won't have enough to carry the whole story through to the end. I mean, when things are dragging in a mystery, you give a new clue or kill someone else. LOL. In novellas you only have a hundred pages to tell the whole story. Both can survive without copious amounts of the romance. But romance is what drew me writing in the first place and I want to get back to it. Actually, I want to do it along with the mysteries. Have no fear Ivy Fans!!

So the point of this whole post was to say that tomorrow begins new word counts. I want to have this written by the end of April. 13-15 pages a day. I can do this. Remind me to come back and read my own post when I'm having a crappy day :)

Misty

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So are you wearing green? Or do I have to pinch you? I am currently wearing green in my pjs. Please don't look at the clock to see what time it is :) LOL.

Progress: HA! What progress? I did exactly 450 words yesterday, about 2 pages. So much for 13-15 a day. But I plan on getting back on track today. I'm tenacious if nothing else and this book is so not going to kick my a$$ :)

Topic: Writing fluidly. I try hard to make my first draft as close to what I want the final to be as possible. I may forget commas or misspell words, but I do try to find the right words. Normally that works for me. But I think this time I might need to just get it out then fix it up. Someone (I think Cherry Adair) said throw it up then clean it up :) Nora Roberts's has said you can't fix a blank page. So I need to fill up those pages, turn off my internal critic who seems to be working overtime lately and get it done!

Oh and: I feel almost smarmy saying this to you, so bear with me. I had said several days ago that I was going to do a contest soon. Unfortunately, I didn't get my order in for my books until today and probably won't get them in house for another 2 weeks. So....if you've been checking back to win a Reignited, I apologize (though I hope you have been enjoying the blog for other reasons too!). I'm hoping to have the books available in 2 weeks so I'll do the contest then and will offer three prizes instead of just one. 'Cause that's the kind of girl I am :) I also have a chat coming up at Draumr Publishing. It's going to be on March 28th at 9pm EST so mark your calendars. I'm sure they will be give aways then too :)

Have a good day!
Misty

Dean-Apalooza DAY!!!!

Okay!!!!! We are back to my favorite day of the week and it's even better because last night was a brand spanking new episode. Man, do I hope they keep these coming for a while and next week looks like it's going to ROCK! Werewolves.... And Dean was fabuloso! I love the way he walks and the control he has over those fantabulous eyebrows. So much conveyed in one crinkling. Yum. The storyline last night was awesome and very surprising, also very well done. Sigh...I love Dean and Sam. They have such great characters :) and butts. LOL. Seriously though, when they do those ground shots were the camera is below and you are watching them walk away to the car and you get the ant's view from the ankles then the calves, then the thighs, then...well you get the drift. One of the best shots ever imagined. Woot! Their acting isn't shabby either. ROFL. Actually they are very very talented. If you aren't watching you should be. Take my word for it! I wouldn't lie to you.

And today is my daughter's birthday! So much stuff to do and so many things to celebrate.

Also I got 42 pages written yesterday. I'm on a roll, but I'm going back to 13 to 15 pages a day total. My hands hurt from yesterday and I'm trying for a more even output than tons one day and crap the next. Wish me luck!

Misty

Some MySpace Fun

I will totally cop to the fact that I am a complete and utter squee girl when it comes to music stuff. I love me some Tori Amos, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Concrete Blonde...The list goes on and on as witnessed by my fairly large CD, tape and album collection. I would hope that if faced with any of these people I would not pull a Beatles fan and faint on sight, but I can make no promises. So long as I didn't just scream in their faces and run away, I would call anything else a bonus.

So onto the title :) Yesterday, I spent some (HA! a lot!) of time rumbling around inside MySpace and stalking...I mean, asking as many of my faves as I could find to be my friend. I was not aware Jack Johnson was in HI (bad fan) but it's funny because I lived there for a while. And The Cure has one of my favorite songs playing on their space. I'm sure most of the groups do not individually check their MySpace pages but it was kind of fun for my husband to come home last night and I said "Tori Amos is my friend." It stopped him in his tracks for a sec :) I also made Weird Al Yankovic my friend and him I at least had met at his parents one year for Christmas. The rest are dreams. Including Jay and Silent Bob. We've been to their store in Red Banks, NJ, but they weren't there.

Anyway, just a little post to say how cool I think MySpace is. And if you pop over to my profile you can see a slideshow of all my books as well as a picture of yours truly. If I look like I'm secretly laughing at something, it's because I am. I couldn't remember if I had zippered my pants and didn't want to check in front of the photographer. My shirt covered it, but still.

Misty

Ready to write

Here I am! Ready to write and have a good production day. I've scrapped the entire 100 pages I wrote and am starting over again. I might save 5 pages but that's iffy. The whole tone of the previous writing was wrong. I've just refreshed myself on the book HOW TO WRITE FUNNY with Jennifer Crusie and am raring to go. I have given myself the time to let the story rumble around in my head and I feel good about that. But why do I feel like I just jinxed myself? LOL.

I think writing funny or humor can be harder sometimes than other genres. Humor is subjective. Almost anyone would cry at a scene where a woman is losing her lover to a slow painful death and weep with her when she cries over his still, wasted form lying in the hospital bed set up in their living room because she wanted to have him die at home as was his last wish. Tears would pool over the woman who was so emotionally torn over the prospect of losing her child in a custody battle with a man determined to ruin her. But not everybody would laugh over a woman trying to get her pantyhose to please stay at her waist instead of hovering around her crotch and making the crotch fall to the knees. I need to create a community where you feel for her and laugh with her. I know I've done it before and hope I can do it again. I love that how-to book and want to keep the collective experience it talks about in mind while I write.

Here's to new beginnings (again!).

Misty

It's beautiful out today

I'm a little later than usual on this today. Normally I blog first thing in the morning, but it just didn't happen today. At least I'm here now! But I don't really have anything to say. Meh.

I haven't been working hard, but I have been working. Trying to start Sprinkles over from the top and give it my own twist. I think it is going to be a fabulous book. Check back in about a week and I'll probably be cursing it, but that's just the way it goes sometimes :)

Did errands this morning in preparation for my daughter's birthday. And she got this new Webkinz thing. OY! Can we say totally addicting? It's on the internet. You adopt the pet stuffed animal you buy at the store and then it gets to play on the computer. You get a room to furnish, games to play and you can have a job to earn money. So far our unicorn has a trampoline and is very happy and healthy. You'll notice I said our :) It's mine too!!!

On that note, I will go and do some more thinking about the story. Nat commented on yesterday's blog about each book being a different experience. Megan and Vicki said they still didn't know what they were doing. LOL. So I'm not alone and I need to go be Magellan!

Wish me luck!

Magellan Misty

Back to Writing

So I'm back down to earth after my weekend. Yesterday we did pony camp and as fun as that is for my daughter, eh not so much for me. I think I'm a little big for ponies :)

I think I have the hook I want for my new Sprinkles story and it is going to involve pretty much starting all over. Not a huge problem, but I was 100 pages in and that's a lot to cut. But I'd rather do it now than start all over again after it's done at 400+ pages. I actually did this very same thing with HAB. That story started out as a YA with a mood ring. Moved on, changed, morphed, got better, ended up being one of my favorite books I've written. So I'm well aware this can work out in the end, but GOD! the getting there sucks.

I feel like every book I write is done differently. Some I map, some I plot, some I sit down and just write it. And none of them are consistent. I've done notecards with each scene, posterboard and sticky notes, written 100 pages then sat down and thought out the rest. I've had books where I had to go long hand for 50 pages before I could get back to the computer. Sigh. But once I find the way to do it for this particular book, I usually fly. So here's to finding the right way to write :)

Misty

Paying Homage to Omar

I was going to wait for the pictures before posting this, but I just can't :) So...went to dinner last night at a wonderful place called Casablanca in Warrington, PA. You can go to casablancaone.com to see it. The one with the belly dancers. The one with the male belly dancer I wasn't expecting :) And OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had the most excellent time! The woman, Shelley, was wonderful. My daughter actually got up and danced and gave her a tip. Brave girl :) But the guy....the guy named Omar....was righteous. He was fluid and lovely and so much fun. He danced with my aunt and her friend Kelly, my friend Tiff and my cousin Sherri and it was so awesome. And then my daughter gave him a tip too. Think I might be warping her? LOL. It was fabulous and I will totally be going there again. Who knew I could sit through a nine course meal over three hours and still walk? I could have sworn I would need wheel barrow service to the car.

I have no topic today but my horoscope said I would feel like I was running and not going anywhere, but to keep running anyway because I will gain experience and insight from it. Okay. I can apply that to the crap going through my head right now considering I am about to change the direction of Sprinkles yet again. I am almost at 100 pages and to give lie to my statement yesterday that the flow was picking up, it crashed. The story doesn't feel right. It isn't flowing right. It isn't the story I see in my head. So it's back to the drawing board (big pad of paper) I go. I think I may bring one of the more minor characters to the front, still write in third, still have multiple POVs, but this time the emphasis will be different. I think I like it. But stay tuned to see if I wig out again :) It's always a possibility!

Misty

Going Belly Dancing

No, not me sillies! I wouldn't belly dance if you paid me though I do appreciate watching people like Shakira do it. Snapping hips, immobile torsos. So much control. But tonight is my aunt's birthday party and apparently dinner will be at a place outside Philly where the entertainment will be belly dancers. Alrighty then. I'm taking my daughter. We'll see how that goes since she thought SHE would be belly dancing and was very disappointed that that wasn't the way it worked. HA!

Progress: I got 27 pages done yesterday. The flow is picking up which is nice but I have to keep reminding myself that this story does not need to be done in 30 days or less. I wrote 8 books last year (as I think I've mentioned) and HAB came out in about 28 days. Which is great but tiring. I promised myself that this year would move a little slower, but I'm finding that I need to slow it more. LOL. I actually said I would write four this year and that means I shouldn't be anywhere near a new ms until April 1st. You'll witness how that's going for me :)

Topic: Scenes. So the point of a scene is to show (not tell) characters interacting in a way that moves your story forward. I write pretty linear stories in general and I find in first person that moves well because you have one time line and one person to interact with others to get the story moving. In third person and with other viewpoint characters, this can get murky. You don't want to repeat all the information you just had from another person's head. You don't want to recap what they were feeling at that point in time. It needs to move forward and keep going. The best advice I ever heard was making sure your POV character is the one with the most at stake in the scene. Run with that :)

Misty

YEAH! Good progress and a free day!

16 pages!!!! Over 3000 words yesterday and feeling good. And today my daughter is gone all day so I have plenty of time to write all by myself :) Come back tomorrow to see if I did anything big!

Normally this is Dean-Apalooza Day. But last night Supernatural was a rerun and my daughter and I had a pretend vacation with a blue blanket for the ocean and beach towels stretched out on our brown carpet of sand :) I love her imagination.

This is going to be a shorty because I don't want to procrastinate too long :)

Misty

Got My Author Copies!

I just love getting the mail and having boxes pop up. Yesterday's box had a special surprise! I got my author copies of Reignited and they are fabulous! The cover is great, the insides smell so wonderful :) and the back has a wonderful page listing my books! This is the first time I have ever had a coming soon listing and it is so exciting!!!!! Something Old, Something Dead is coming soon! I'm going to have a contest a week from now to win one of them. I hope you'll stop back in to try to win :)

Aside: I used way too many !!! in the above paragraph.

Topic: POV. Ah, there are so many camps on this. Some are POV purist, some headhop without a care in the world. Some only like first person, some won't read first and only read third. I myself read both and like both if done well. I'm not a big fan of head hopping. I personally like one person's POV per chunk or scene. I can go with a change in mid scene if it's not jarring and is obvious that the author has switched. And there needs to be a reason. But that's a topic for another day :) As for today, I'm trying to get back into the swing of third person still. I hope I won't struggle through it the whole way. I forced one of my friends to look at the first handful of pages and she said it wasn't stiff or formal. So I have hope I may not be doing it wrong :) LOL.

Have a great day!
Misty

CAKE!!!!

Found this at Natalie's blog amd it's fun :)

You Are a Marble Cake

Eclectic, inventive, and peaceful. You are never willing to accept what's "normal." You live to push the envelope. You find it hard to make up your mind. You prefer to have everything you want, right away!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Feeling Fine

Snow Day! So we're home in our pajamas today and having a snow day! I plan on getting work done around having the munchkin home. I got my 13 pages done for yesterday and am feeling good about my progress. I'm trying for slower and steadier this time because it's a different kind of book.

No topic today because I want to get things moving :)

Misty

Here we go!

All right! Here I am, I'm ready to work, I have my stuff set up for ease of writing. I've got my plan, I have my document set up on my laptop the way I want it. Now all I have to do is write.

What's that? Why am I on the blog then? Well, for one, I want to kind of keep myself honest by reporting in here daily. For two, I'm procrastinating, just a little. Didn't think I'd admit that did you? But it can be a little unsettling starting a new project again. Especially since this one is completely like nothing I've done before. I normally write in first person, this will be in third. Because I normally write in first I only have one POV character. In this I'll have four or five. I normally write knee slapping funny stuff and this will be funny but not so slap sticky at times.

So I'm changing quite a bit and am hesitant to start. But I will today!! And I'm starting with a little over 7000 words to my credit. I'm gonna be jumping that number starting today. Honest :)

Misty

Memories

So here's the thing. Normally this is a happy, peppy blog and that's normally who I am. But today is the anniversary (it seems morbid to use that word but I can't think of another) of my grandfather's death 3 years ago. He was like a father to me and this is a hard day. So I wrote a little something. If you don't want to read it, I completely understand. If you do, I hope you take away the love and caring in it instead of the sadness.

Misty
**********************

Tish sits with her husband of 57 and a half years. Holding his hand loosely in hers, she absorbs the feel of his calloused flesh against her own smooth but aging skin. They’d held hands thousands, millions, of times in the past, his firm, broad hand nearly swallowing her tiny one, always protective, always comforting. And now it was hers to do the comforting. They’d made it through laughter and tears, joys and sorrows, forever holding hands and she wouldn’t have it be any different now.

“You are a wonderful husband,” she whispers, her throat choked with unshed tears. “You are a wonderful Daddy, a wonderful man. I will love you forever. We’ve shared so many wonderful years, but it’s time for you to rest now, my darling.”

She places a kiss on their joined hands. Memories flood her mind: resting her head on his lap while he rubbed her back and they watched the sunset from whatever part of the world they were living in at the time; two short kisses whenever they said good morning or goodbye; gazing into his beautiful brown eyes as they said “I do” at the justice of the peace so many years ago; “Isle of view” inscribed in any concrete that was ever set for them and written in every card exchanged – their own little inside memory for the words I love you. She places another kiss on his forehead and a lone tear drops onto his beloved face. He doesn’t move except to squeeze her hand. ‘I love you, too’ he seems to say, ‘Isle of view, forever.’

Two breaths later, Tish gently extracts her hand from the clasp of the man she loves more than life itself and places that strong, warm hand on the pale blue sheet that covers him. She bows her head and places two quick kisses on his still lips. Her two daughters enter the room and she quietly says, “He’s gone.”

Fun Times, fun times - with Lani Diane Rich, too!

I am always so jazzed when I get to go to my local RWA chapter meeting. We have the BEST chapter in the entire world!!! So supportive, fun and informative. And we have a blast which is great. I just love the energy in the room with all those writers in one place. And I'll be going to our annual retreat where we have four fun-filled days of writing, kibitzing and general mayhem. Woo-Hoo!

But yesterday I also got to see one of my favorite authors - Lani Diane Rich!!! If you don't have her books - RUN TO THE STORE NOW!!! Time Off for Good Behavior is one of my faves and The Fortune Quilt is the newest. All the books in between are great too. And even though I know her, I still feel squee when I see her. Her books are amazing, so funny and true. She has a great way with words, and she's just a hoot as a person. She was signing at Nora Robert's husband's book store, Turn The Page, in Maryland with Nora and I drove down to get a bite to eat with her and some of the women from Jennifer Crusie's Cherry Group. We were loud and boisterous, much laughter ensued :)

And then I came home and wrote out the rest of my outline for Sprinkles. I made myself cry a little even with the outline and I am so excited to get this book started. Later today I am going to find one of those word counter things and start racking up the little liquid line that moves with progress. YES!

Misty

Overloaded but fun

I am so proud of myself! I have now posted every day for thirty-one days!!!! Yay, me!

Today's post is going to be short 'cause I got a lot of stuff to do :) Meetings, lunch with friends an hour away and writing. I'm starting up on writing Sprinkles again today. Took some time off but am raring to go at this point. Kid is going to Grandma's and hubby is at work. Part of me wants to stay home for the day and enjoy the quiet, but I have commitments. Though they don't feel like commitments since they will all be fun as all get out.

Anyway, I just didn't want to break my cool streak here of posting daily, so here I was and here I'm gone :)

Misty

Super Duper Release Day!

If you've been following along at all, you know that today is traditionally Dean-Apalooza Day!!!!! And may I say he was muy macho in Supernatural last night. When he looks into the camera and says his name and mocks doing a date video....swoon :)

But today is also the day of my newest release. So Dean will have to take me into the backseat...um...Dean will have to take a backseat (LOL) while I gush a little over my newest book. :) Here's the blurb. I hope you'll like it, it was a blast to write and fun to think about what you'd do if the one who got away came back for your veiwing pleasure!
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Have you ever wondered what you’d do if you were given a second chance with the one who got away? Join three women as they discover how to thrive and love when an old flame is REIGNITED.

Tunnel Of Love

Heather Winston knows she made the right decision two years ago when she left town for an important job promotion. But she’s never stopped thinking about Kevin, who’d let her walk out of his life without a single word. When she unexpectedly sees him at her family reunion, she’s thrown for a loop, and yet still very attracted. Why does he have to look so damn good? And how far can she take a little payback without losing her heart again?

First and Last Kiss

Rebecca Thompson’s whole life has taken a turn for the worse. She’s lost her job, put her dreams on hold indefinitely, and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for the emotional train wreck barreling down on her. Enter a sexy stranger with the killer smile that entices her into a one-night stand that turns out to be a whole lot more than she ever bargained for.

Eyeing Candy

Candy, er, Candace Derringer is back in her small hometown for her high school reunion and she’s determined to snag the man she’s crushed on for years. Unfortunately, he is a total dud and completely self-absorbed. It seems her whole trip (not to mention all her fun) will be a complete loss. Until a nerd turned sexy bed and breakfast owner shows her a new meaning for the phrase “room service.”

Three courageous women, three gorgeous men, three fun stories about getting another chance at love and grabbing it with both hands. Come along with Heather, Rebecca and Candace as they experience the rides of their lives.

You can get it at www.draumrpublishing.com and I believe from B&N and Amazon.com. Enjoy!

Misty

Thinly Veiled

Hello, party people! I got up way too early this morning so I will type this and then I am so going to veg on the couch.

My topic: Stuff in books. LOL. Seriously. I was reading one of my friend Nat's (see her blog and website in side bar) books, Indulgence, which you should run out and get immediately if you do not have it :) Anyway, she has a character in one of the stories Meghan Harp who closely resembles a friend of ours who shall remain nameless but I bet you could find her on the side bar too. And it was just that much funnier to read about her licking Vin Deisel's head. Yum, Vin!

And I do some of my own stuff. In HAB I make a vague reference to Fatty Chicken and use it as an endearment - there is one person in the world who understands that. I also use girly whirlies - 5 people for that one. I think it's fun to read and be aware of it, but I know I have enjoyed many books that have stuff like that without ever knowing what it is.

What do you put in your writing or speech every day that no one gets but you and a few of your close personal cohorts?

Misty