Good Morning!

Hi Everyone:  Well, at least the rain has stopped here in CA.  We actually saw the sun yesterday for more than a few minutes.  Better yet, I had a good day on the book.  I dunno about this book.  All books give me fits at some point during the writing of them, but this one seems to fight me every day.  I keep telling myself that soon things will smooth out and I'll make stunning progress.  Yeah, right.  My working title for this book is SUSPICION BECOMES HER (the publisher will, no doubt, change it), but I'm thinking of calling it WHINING BECOMES HER, because that seems to be all I do lately.
Funny thing about writing.  When it's going well I go around smiling and happy and up beat.  Not going well, I'm truly a whining, crabby, griping, cloud of gloom infesting Howard's world.  He's nearly always positive and looking at the bright side of things and then there's his wife -- Mrs. Crabby ole lady, raining on everyone's parade.  At least I was smiling yesterday.  Hmm.  Rec'd the signed contracts and the check for the three backlist titles sold to Kensington yesterday, too.  Maybe that's why I was smiling.  Ta, Shirlee

On writing

Anybody who thinks that 'writing is easy' has never written a book and believe me, I speak from experience.  Not only my own but that of other writers.  Writing is a lonely job.  I don't know other writers' routines, but I know that, while I'm not a prima donna (really!), I have to have long stretches of well, boring time.  I cannot be dashing here and there, entertaining friends, even meeting friends for lunch without slowing my output.  A 2:00 PM dental appointment (actually any appointment) can throw me off.  Being aware that I'm going to have to leave the computer is always at the back of my mind and plays havoc with my muse (the bitch) and yet...  There are times that I can field 50 phone calls, wash and fold clothes, put the dogs in and out, sit with Howard for coffee and have 15 people show up at the front door and have an amazing day on the book.  It's baffling, even to me.  I guess it's a case of when you're hot, you're hot and when you're not, you're not.
Writers with young children, writers who have full time jobs are my heros.  There are writers with growing families who are attending conferences, blogging (and we know how great I am at that), taking on other projects and yet they continually meet deadlines and write some really great books.  My hat is off to all of them -- and they deserve a big round of applause.   Oh, and added sales :-)

Whatever

Hi All:  All this past week, in between working on the work, I've been switching mini schnauzers from one crate to the other.  Chanel, at 8 months, is in full bown season and poor Boomer is all hot and bothered.  Figure we have another couple of days before the 'acceptance' phase is over.  Can't arrive soon enough.  I feel so sorry for Boomer -- he's ready, able and willing but Chanel puppies are not on my horizon -- ever.  Spay scheduled for April 29th.  Had hoped to have puppies next year (a big maybe) but Chanel is soooo small, only about 5 pounds, that having puppies is not an option.  Funny thing, I looked and looked for a parti-female that would grow out large enough to breed and while Chanel's parents are 14 and 16 pounds, she's a tiny, so not gonna happen (Howard is thrilled).
The book progresses...slowly.  Sure hope the second half picks up.
Turned around from writing this to discover that it's snowing -- great big, fat, fluffy flakes.  Glad I'm inside with a woodstove.  Not a fan of snow.  I think it's only pretty to look at for about the length of time it takes to drink one or two cups of coffee.  Poor Howard -- he's down feeding the ponies.  Bet he's gonna come home a happy camper...not.  Ta, Shirlee  PS.  Howard just came in -- with a big bouquet of flowers for me!  Now is he a great husband or what?

Life in General

Hi All:  Trying to remember to blog.  Ain't easy between, Twitter, Facebook, writing and actually having a life.  I know gazillions love Facebook, but I'm with Betty White and think, generally, that it's a big waste of time.
Howard and I spent most of the pervious week working on the page proofs of RAPTURE BECOMES HER.  It's an interesting process.  We both sit in the living room (near the wood stove this time of year), TV trays in front of us, holding our portion of the page proof and read slowly, searching for errors...for hours.  Very quiet in our house -- even the schnauzers know we're concentrating and tend to sleep, Boomer and Chanel at my feet (I have a heating pad on the floor 'cause my feet freeze) and Mamzelle on the couch.  I get a head start because I'm a faster reader, and I tend to catch the technical errors (or what I think are technical errors), but he catches the real errors, the dropped words, wrong words.  He didn't write the book, so he doesn't do as I do and mentally put in words that aren't there :-).
We barely got the page proofs sent off and some bound galleys arrived.  Love to get them, but it's knot-in- the-pit-of-your-stomach-time because it means they've been mailed off to reviewers.... Gulp!
Still struggling with the current book.  I keep telling myself that while the first half has been a bitch, the second half will be a sweetheart.  Let's hope!  Ta, Shirlee