That old feeling

I fully admit that book buying has been a less than exciting proposition for me in the last couple of years. I go to bookstores, I buy books, I'm intrigued, but I'm rarely excited.

This month, I have a few reads I've absolutely been *DYING* to get! I went into a bookstore tonight and lo and behold, one of the books was there. I realized how I'd missed that excitement. For me, the thrill of the chase is only the beginning. I remember a time when I'd come home from a bookstore trip and reverently open the first page of a book, pouring over the quotes and dedication before devouring the book. The book would be completed that evening and in most cases I'd be very satisfied.

I've MISSED this! I don't know where that feeling went but it came back full force this evening. The best part is that I have two more books to stalk this weekend :)

Am I the only one so geeky about book buying?

*melt* moment

I was on the phone this afternoon with a friend of mine when I turned around to give my husband a smile and found that he was *gasp* reading this blog! He's been absorbed by it for the last hour.

I cannot describe the melty feeling that took place at that.

Mark, if you're reading this...hi there ;)

Hmm..maybe I SHOULDN'T post about how a handsome sranger flirted outrageously with me the other night...

I was tagged!

Angie tagged me and this is a nice distraction...though I have a lot of work awaiting my gentle hand.

Total number of books I own: No clue. A couple thousand all told I'd imagine. I have two half height bookshelves in my living room and 4 tall ones downstairs in the rec room. The ones upstairs are full and the ones downstairs aren't but we have some books we haven't yet unpacked.

Last book I bought: Books at RT, among them Joanna King and T.L. Sinclaire's Imajinn books. Unfortunately, they never made it home with me :(

Last book(s) I read: The Shaugnessy Accord by Alison Kent and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Five books that mean a lot to me:
Lady of Fire by Anita Mills
This was the first romance novel I ever read and it started me on the romance genre. A sweeping Medieval, this one sits on my comfort read shelf.

Lord of Vengeance by Tina St. John
Tina and I had been friends on the AOL romance boards back in 1995-1997 and she asked me to read and critique her manuscript. This was my first attempt at critical reading beyond reviewing and started me on a true love of editing. This is just a fabulous book!

Tommyknockers by Stephen King
I've never READ this book, but the last conversation my dad and I had was over this book and it has a special place on my bookshelf. He was reading this book when he passed away later that day.

Like Angie, I'm also including an author here. Bertrice Small's more explicit romances whetted my appetite for erotic romance and romantica.

And, don't laugh, but the Harry Potter series. It reawakened my interest in fantasy, and by extension, science fiction.

Tag 5 people to do this:
I'll tag
Jaci
Jaycee
Mandy
Meg
and Delilah

I had intended to do a breezy post, but life interfered

It has been a banner week for my family and this is one of those times that I absolutely HATE being so far away from home.

On Thurs., my mom tripped over a toy at a place of business and took a terrible fall. She was rushed to the hospital where, thankfully, they only found a bad concussion. There was some fear that she may have had some facial fractures.

Then yesterday, we had another spot of bad news...

My grandmother (well...step-grandmother) hasn't been doing well for years, but things seem to have come to a head in the last couple of days. Beside the senile dementia that was the reason we truly lost the essence of her some years ago, her cancer may have reoccurred. For the last few weeks, my grandmother hasn't been able to keep food down and her symptoms are very consistent with a stomach blockage/reoccurrence of her stomach cancer.

Could you send some thoughts or prayers out there for her peace...just that if this IS the end that it be as peaceful as possible. The thought of her being confused and in pain and terror just breaks my heart.

I think we've all accepted that the heart of her has been gone for a few years, so I was mildly shocked that this is hitting me so hard. Here I am at 5:30 in the morning awake and thinking about her.

Even though I've asked for prayers, I'm not QUITE sure what I'm asking for...except for her peace. Obviously, there won't be heroic measures taken...that would be mildly cruel for a 93 yr old woman who is in fear all the time and doesn't understand, but even an IV could be traumatic for her...

Here's a pic. My grandmother (Margaret) is the one on the left. The lady on the right is the aunt who raised me.

Comfort reads

Do we all have them? I have an entire shelf of comfort reads, all historical romances from the early 1990s. Prouldy on the shelf is the first romance I ever read and the other five books in that series. I pull these down in times when nothing else appeals to me and visit with the stories that made me a lover of romance novels.

Since working in the industry, I've been looking at this shelf with a bit of trepidation. What if the books don't appeal to me because I've outgrown these old friends?

A friend recently reread her all time favorite romance and was sorely disappointed. That is just a little saddening to me. I think I'd rather let mine sit in their position of honor for a little longer.

What makes someone eligible to celebrate Mothers' Day?

I didn't want to contaminate such a positive post with this one, so please excuse my multiple entries.

So...what makes someone worthy of celebrating Mothers' Day?

I called my mom this morning and my stepfather said 'Happy Not A Mother Day'. This bothered me on a few levels.

First, he knows how deeply I long to be a mother and how much pain and heartache this has caused Mark and I. Did I mention that we're beginning to research International adoption? Since Mark's reversal surgery only has a 5-10% likelihood of being effective and he isn't really open to donor sperm, it seems like our best option.

Second, I have been a stepmother for almost four YEARS. Granted, my stepkids are a world away, but that doesn't mean that I feel their joys and sadnesses any less intensely or that my heart is any less involved.

I started thinking about what makes someone eligible to celebrate this special day. My maternal line is very Italian and very matriarchal.

I was raised by my great grandmother's two sisters and their husbands...I saw my mom only once or twice a week until I moved in with her when I was 13. Only one of these special ladies is still alive...My Aunt 'Chick' is still chugging along though she is in her mid-nineties.

Even though 500 miles are between us, I try to let her know how truly honored I am to have been raised by her. She had a LOT of quirks but in a family where Mom wasn't a huge force in my life, this woman well into her sixties and her sister, husband and brother in law fed me, clothed me, soothed my nightmares and nursed me to health for THRITEEN years. That amazes me!

She never had natural children but I think of her as a co-mom with her sister, my aunt Emma and my biological mom.

Does the fact that she never bore children make her any less of a mom? I don't think so! She was the first person I called today.

The second was my Aunt Nila, my Mom's younger sister. She and I got very close in the last 6 years or so. Though she's never been married and doesn't have children, she's a positive mothering force in my life even today. We seem to get closer as I get older and especially now that we're both in the publishing field.

Should she be honored today as well? Absolutely!

Mothers come in all shapes and sizes...their relationship and biological motherhood should have no bearing on how they celebrate the day!

The little things...

As I type out this post, the smell of roses is premeating my house and it is so romantic and heartwarming. I can't help but smile!

A dear friend asked me in IM if I had gotten her birthday present a few days ago. I must have typed cluelessly because I could almost feel her sit up and take notice. I looked through all the mail and email...nothing was there.

She explained that she had sent me flowers...but we quickly determined that they had never ARRIVED! Nobody in my family ever gives flowers, so this was an especially sweet and heartfelt gesture and just knowing that someone had was enough to start tears welling in my eyes. The thought was truly what counted.

Yesterday, I spent much of the day out of the house, assisting my husband on a job site. We agreed that when he works weekend hours, I'll accompany him if at all possible. Between RT and me getting so sick, we've spent minutes together if that. We had a great time together, despite one of his idiot coworkers making snide comments. I hate people who pretend to know it all in front of clients. Mark's too much a gentleman to put this guy in his place.

Anyway, we returned home to find this brilliant boquet of flowers propped against our garage door. My friend's beautiful and thoughtful gift had finally arrived, though apparently the florist didn't even ring our doorbell. Our roommate was home and doing laundry steps away from the door for much of the morning and afternoon.

I aggarged these in a beautiful purple vase and placed them in a place of honor. Mark had gotten me one deep pink rose when I returned from RT and this is sitting amongst the beautiful yellow roses, a blend of friendship and love.

Thanks for making my weekend even brighter, Angie!

Been tagged....If I Could be...

Mel was kind enough to tag me and I'm passing the love onward to
Shan
Angie
and Ari

Pick five, and finish them. Tag three others!

If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an innkeeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a backup dancer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be a midget stripper...If I could be a proctologist...If I could be a TV-Chat Show host...If I could be an actor...If I could be a judge...If I could be a Jedi...If I could be a mob boss...If I could be a backup singer...If I could be a CEO...If I could be a movie reviewer....


If I could be a librarian
I'd be the first on the reserve list for all the great books!

If I could be an actor
I'd be able to have a great creative release and kiss men without my husband getting annoyed ;)

If I could be a gardener
I'd never buy grocery store herbs again!

If I could be a writer
I'd read for pleasure even less than I do now!

If I could be a midget stripper
And if I could be a writer too? Watch out book world ;)

The tales of cluelessness

I've had a couple of requests for this from friends who were either there or WISH they had been there (TRUST me, you don't!).

Without further ado, here is the clueless story.

At the end of the book fair atRT, the line was gargantuan. I hopped into line with an Ec author in front of me and a lady who owns a promo company behind me. A reviewer was a couple of people up from us and we all chatted on and off as we waited.

About twenty minutes into the line, a gentleman comes up and zeroes in on the EC author. He asks if he can stand with us. We all shrug and he hops into line with us. His badge reads that he is an agent so I wondered if he might do some industry chat. Not only was the thought crushed in short order, but the tale got very bizarre very fast.

He introduced himself as an agent and we all nodded politely. We were all from different facets of the industry...reviewers, authors, promo company owner, editor...should have been interesting.

Only if you like cluelessness.

First thing he asks is what is that Ellora thing. Erm...he WAS at the same convention I was...right? The one with the Weds. night EC sponsored party? Okay...maybe he hadn't made it in until later. Agents are busy people. So, we explain that Ellora's Cave is an E and print publisher that specializes in erotic romance.

Oh, this got him started. One of his two clients writes erotic romance. Actually, after checking her wesbite, it seems that she writes paranormal romantic suspense, but who's checking! The other, by the way, is published through a vanity press.

He knew all and we knew nothing, His agency's editors could run circles around those from 'that Ellora place' and he had book distribution set up that would leave EC in the dust.

Mmhmm...okkkkay!

Let's not even get into what an agent does here...the audacity just astounded me.

He then began ruminating on audio books and how erotic romances would sell much better if they were exclusively in audio and every scene was acted out. Okkkay.

He then went on to ask what that thing was on all the convention bags. We all looked as clueless as he was apparently, because he specified HQN. We told him that stood for the new single title impring from Harlequin and he looked terminally confused.

And oh, how many times did we hear that he didn't want to stand in the line, he was too imortant, he was a busy man, etc. I would have pointed him to the clueless agents line but there didn't seem to be one :P

For almost two HOURS we were regaled by his 'expert knowledge' of erotic romance, of all facets of the industry, yadda yadda. Needless to say, his opinions/ ides were either totally ignorant or just plain totally wrong, though he actually had a passable idea once or twice.

Things like EC NEEDED him to get in good financial shape, erotic romance is doing badly etc etc etc etc etc. Don't preach to me oh agent who needs to visit the clue factory STAT!

My ears were bleeding!

I'll see if the other folks in line can drop by and give you their impressions!

Be concerned with agencies where their only clients are staff members!

RT tidbits

I'm back from RT and had a few thoughts that I'll drop in here. So many people have recapped the wonderfulness that was RT, so I'll mention some tidbits.

Take lots of vitamins before the conference and avoid hugging anyone who looks or sounds sick. I returned home with strep throat and a nasty cold because I was so gosh darn sociable.

Never mention the words frogs and bondage. You will NEVER live it doen wven if it WAS someone else's idea.

4 hours sleep at minimum is suggested. 6 hours is even better! 8? forget about it!

Be at panels at least 15 minutes before they begin or you will likely be standing on the fringes or outside the room.

Comfortable shoes are a must. NOBODY is looking at your feet!

If you say you are someone in the industry, please have a clue, no matter how small! If you show yourself to be devoid of clue, you will not be taken seriously and will, in fact, be ridiculed by those around you.

The conference doesn't revolve around you...be proactive and don't complain if others don't anticipate what you need.

Don't criticize your publisher and then not expect word to get around. In fact, don't do ANYTHING that you wouldn't want 1000 strangers to gossip about.

Cover models are people too, not just objects. Ask before touching.

Bring LOTS of money and make plans to ship books or merchandise home.


And always have fun .