Another Great Retreat

Yes, we What Women Write ladies know how to....















Write, edit, revise
Drink wine
Eat chocolate covered pomegranate seeds and salad and venison lasagna
Edit, write, read
Keep warm and dry, cheese it up for a photo, critique
Laugh, cry
And wrap up a scene without leaving Travis in the ball pit...

Wrapping up

Is anyone still out there?

I've been MIA for a bit, wrapping up my latest manuscript. Working on a new title, the query letter and fine-tuning my agent list. The good news? I've got a great list of go-to agents, more than a few who have read my work in the past and who I believe will like my new tome. Exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.

So, if you're still out there--thanks for sticking with me! I plan on posting more regularly.

What have you been up to?

What Would Satan Do?

Looking for something outrageously funny to read? I was lucky enough to read this at Lesser North Texas Writers' critique group and here it is! Check out Anthony Miller's What Would Satan Do?

Agent Interview at What Women Write

Pamela interviews agent Kristin Nelson over at What Women Write. Check out all the inside scoop!

Part I here

Part II here

A Long Short Story at What Women Write

Want to hear how one of my critique partners found her agent?! Julie tells it all here.

Erika Robuck on What Women Write

Erika Robuck is guest posting over at What Women Write. She's a new online friend and author of the upcoming Hemingway's Girl. Go say hello if you have a chance!

Good Intentions

As I mentioned in my recent What Women Write blog post, I vowed to take a picture of Austin everyday of his senior year. This last school year I snapped roughly 180 photos, one each morning (aside from the few times I overslept and Austin took his own picture). I also intended to write a short snippet about each picture and perhaps blog about it during the year. I wasn't always as diligent about the snippets. But college commitment and graduation now memories, I plan to share some of the photos and thoughts here while we anticipate the soon-approaching college drop-off.














August 24, 2010
6:55am I see the blue shirt first. The reminder that Austin is, indeed, a senior. With senior privileges and a senior attitude. He rushes to leave, skipping breakfast, excited about meeting his girlfriend for coffee. I help him wrap his arm from a particularly nasty turf burn and he’s forgotten where he’d set down his keys. I poise the camera to my eye and say, “Wait!” He does, but his look is more, “Come on!” than, “Oh, cool you’re doing this amazing project.” I plead, “You can’t start with that face on your first day!” He concedes by tossing me a grin.

At 7:20pm
After a long day of classes, a few free periods, and football practice, Austin comes through the door with a smile on his face. I will miss that smile next year, along with a collage of other facial expressions and poses. At the end of the first day, I realize it’s dangerous to be thinking about the end of the year. Must cherish every day! Isn’t that why I am doing this? He tells me a few details about the day: teachers, classmates, a book he’s overlooked for a short story class. We’re off to a great year.

Dual Timelines

Blogging about dual timelines over at What Women Write. Check out the family history...

Sarah Stonich's Shelter

Have you seen my review of Sarah Stonich's Shelter? Stop by What Women Write for a chance to win a copy.

Check out the book trailer here...

Super, super moon

Saturday night my husband and I packed up the trunk with 2 collapsible chairs, his camera and tripod, my notebook and two missions. His was to capture the super moon as a digital image, mine was to capture it on paper. I shined a flashlight on his nimble fingers as they changed the settings and twisted caps, then I sat down in a chair and tried to set to paper the ideas running rampant in my head.

My eyes blurred at the brightness yet I could think of nothing eloquent, nothing unusual to write. This moon, which I’m sure I’ve never seen, shows up only every eighteen years. Eighteen years ago I was cleaning closets, setting up a crib and bumpers, moaning about my aching back.

I’ve surely seen plenty of full moons, slivered moons, even harvest moons. But I don’t remember a moon as bright as the sun. There is plenty more I don’t remember of the last eighteen years.

On a walk yesterday, we passed a family: two parents, a toddler boy and two puppies. Not miniature schnauzers like our Mollie and Madison, but Westie puppies, also tiny, also brother and sister. Not too long after the last super moon appeared, my family of five was likely taking a similar walk. Perhaps an older couple stopped to say hello, to say with their eyes what they dare not say aloud: hold on tight to this little hand, look for the unusual in every day, don't dare wish away this time.

The next super moon will be here in a blink of an eye.

Countdown to Kate Morton - is over

Today's the day!

I have long been a fan of the brilliant Kate Morton. Not only have I read each of her novels more than once, but I've dissected and studied them to learn more about the craft of writing.

On What Women Write, I have the glorious honor of sharing Kate Morton's words with our loyal readers...and hopefully many new ones.

Here again is my review of her latest, The Distant Hours, shown here on my bookshelf of favorites!

The perfect ending?

Have you ever become engrossed in a novel, only to be disappointed in the end? A writer must deliver!

Lookout for Monday

Head over to What Women Write on Monday, February 7 when Joanna Penn, author of the thriller, Pentecost, stops by on her blog tour.