My Nightmare

I've been struggling lately with writing and motivation. The rush of Surrey has faded and now I'm sitting on my ass in my familiar ol' rut.

Last night's dream (nightmare) may have just given me the kick that I need:

I'm at Surrey again. Only this time, I have no money, torn jeans, and a ratty T-shirt that hasn't seen a good day in over 3 years. I'm sitting in the back of the room and Vicki Pettersson is giving her workshop.

I see Beth, Julie, Donna, and Jenny sitting in the front row, but there are no seats left. Hoping not to be noticed, I sit quietly, asking no questions.

Suddenly I realize that I have no story. Nothing to show for the year that has passed since Surrey 2008. Where did the time go? I procrastinated the entire year away, trying to come up with THE story. The familiar feeling of failure slaps me in the face. My stomach drops and I slip out of the room, heading for the elevators. After a 2 hour wait, the doors finally open and I race to my hotel room only to find that my key won't work. I knock at the door and some woman I've never seen before answers. Her name tag indicates that she is a presenter. An author.

Not wanting to wait for the elevators again, I take the stairs down 19 floors, tripping over my shoelaces on the way down and cracking my knee several times.

The front desk personnel are on a break. The lobby is empty. I go outside to smoke and see Jack Whyte. He ignores me. I go back inside and into the lounge. I manage to find some Canadian dollars, but I can't figure out how much to give for a beer.

Thank God my son woke me up at 3:40am! I laid there watching him sleep and thinking: Am I really cut out to be a writer or is this just another dream?

Well, I've decided that whether I'm good enough or not, I'm going to write a story from start to finish and prove to myself that at least I'm not a quitter. The story may suck, but at least I can say that I did it.

Christmas Questions

I got this from Jen Hendren:

Insert your own answers and pass it on to whomever you feel would respond – including the person who sent it to you

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? While I enjoy ripping open presents and watching other people do it, I SUCK at wrapping.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I would rather SMELL a real tree, but the guilt is too much. This year is the last that we will be getting a real tree. Pre-lighted fake tree coming soon...

3. When do you put up the tree? We just put ours up yesterday. Between Destructo and the Chocolate Lab, I'll be surprised if it lasts.

4. When do you take the tree down? I'm into taking it down on New Year's Eve. But it may be knocked over before that - see Question #3.

5. What do you do with your tree after you take it down? Trash man takes it away.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? That's a hard one. I always enjoyed the presents that I received - can't really think of any that I didn't like, but I would have loved to have gotten a remote control car.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband, my grandmother, my father.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Destructo. He's a blast to buy for!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No. See Question #3.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Every year I BUY Christmas cards. Guess how many unopened boxes of Christmas cards I have? (15)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? It was probably a secret santa gift. Every year my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, grandmother, sister (and her brood), all get together and do this fun little game where we compete for crazy gifts.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Hands down, Christmas Vacation. That movie never gets old.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? HAHAHAHA! I'm going to buy some stuff today, but probably not until the weekend. Which is very much the norm. We suck.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I'm sure I've recycled secret santa stuff.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies maybe. I don't know.

16. Lights on the tree? The more the better.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Of course. I DO have a 2 year old. (g)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I prefer an angel, only because the one that my sister and I share came from my Grandmother. This year, I'm stuck with a star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I'm all for opening ONE on Christmas Eve. I never get to, though.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The stores. Ugh. On-line shopping ROCKS.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don't have a favorite of either. I like my grandmothers ornaments but we can't put them up this year (again, see #3).

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I'm partial to Turkey, but my family always has ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I want Destructo to experience the magic of Christmas and to pass some of it along to me! I'm just not feeling it this year.

Bookwormed!

Beth tagged me on this:

I'm supposed to open the closest book to page 56 and write down the 5th sentence and then the next 2 to 5 sentences. Then I have to convince 5 other people to do the same. Unfortunately, the only 5 people I would tag on this have already been listed by everyone else.

I'm pretty embarrassed by the book that I have next to me. It's not hard to see why."Life with my sister Madonna" by Christopher Ciccone is by far one of the weirdest, badly written books I've ever read. But, here goes:

When one of my college buddies invites me to spend part of the summer at her parents' home in Darien, Connecticut, I call Madonna and ask her if I can visit her in Manhatten.

She says yes. Moreover, she will take us out to dinner when we get there.

So, my friend and I arrive at the airport, rent a car, and drive out to Fifty-third Avenue in Queens, right by the World's Fair grounds, and end up at the synagogue, a big, wide-open space, still with religious carvings on the walls, but with clothes and instruments thrown all over the place. The whole thing seems a bit sacriligious to me.

I feel the need to justify why on earth I have this book. I was a huge Madonna freak in the summer of 1990. Well, it continued well into 1993, but then it ended. Thank God.

My roommate at Indiana State University, my sophomore year of college lived in Evansville, Indiana. During the filming of "A League of Their Own", her cousin was Tom Hanks' driver and her aunt drove for Madonna. This roommate - who was an awful, self-centered BITCH, asked me if I wanted to go down for the weekend and be an extra in the movie. (She wasn't such a Bitch for this.)

I, of course, was very excited. I had had for some time, this dream that I would be the first (and only) person to write Madonna's AUTHORIZED biography. On the 2 hour drive from Terre Haute to my Dad's house in Belleville, IL every other weekend, I would zone out and imagine my life as her biographer and confidant. I was such a moron. (g)

Anyhoo, we get to the roommate's mother's house and she promptly tells me that she has to go meet her ex-boyfriend, but will be back shortly. Her mother and I stare at each other like deer in headlights for about 3 minutes, then Mom disappears upstairs to her room.

6 hours later, the Bitch still wasn't back. No phone call, nothing. I fell asleep, comforted by my pending foray into the world of Madonna. At 6am the next morning, the Bitch calls and says that she doesn't feel like being an extra and we should head back to school. Joy.

Now - she did do two things that saved me from kicking her in the shins:

1) She took me to lunch in the car that Madonna rode around in. It was a Lincoln Town car and my ass occupied the same space as Madonna's for about 6 minutes. It's an odd thing to be thrilled about, but I was an idiot.

2) On the way back to school, she drove me past the house that Madonna was renting in McCutchinsville. The house sat down a hill, surrounded by a horse fence. We got out of the car, and while I was completely imagining myself jumping the fence and storming the house to tell Madonna that her Biographer had arrived, a security guard drove from the house to the street to tell us that "She said you have to leave".

I looked back at the house and saw a woman in the window. Guess who it was? Yep. The Material Girl herself.

Well, this had me flying for about a week. All was forgiven with the roommate.

Until she made out with a guy I had been seeing for about a month. In MY dorm bed.

Bitch.

SiWC 2008

This past weekend, I attended (for the first time) Surrey International Writers Conference in British Columbia.

It was without a doubt one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Excellent workshops, wonderful presenters, friendly agents (Rachel Vater from Folio was awesome!), and I finally got to meet some of the CompuServe Books and Writers Forum members.

Vicki Pettersson’s class was just incredible. Some of my notes include:

• The work doesn’t stop
• Writing should be intertwined in the fabric of your life
• Putting words on the page changes you
• Pressures are excuses – they have nothing to do with writing

She really inspired me. My goal post-conference is to write at least 1,000 words a day on SOMETHING. Even if it’s just in my working journal (another good idea from Vicki).

Meeting Jack Whyte was an experience I’ll never forget. What a character. He is an extremely down-to-earth, genuinely nice man that never came across as the world-famous author that he is. And his singing voice? Well, let’s just say that I’ve never heard a song involving "MUD" sound quite as good as Jack’s version.

I also enjoyed chatting with Diana Gabaldon (brilliant and a very, very nice lady), Jay Clarke (of Michael Slade fame), and C.C. Humphrey’s (whose poem from “The Blooding of Jack Absolute” was more lyrical than something about oral sex ought to be).

Some of the women I met this weekend will no doubt be friends for life. I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance to hang out with them. Without them, I would have been lost.

Donna, Beth and I took a wonderful walk to the Green Timbers Park in Surrey. It was like moving into a different world - lush, green, almost glowing with the fading sunlight. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have more time to spend there.

(This picture was taken from my phone – which SUCKS at best.)

I also hope that we can get a Writers retreat going (thanks to Beth!) this summer.

I will beg, borrow, or steal to be able to go to Surrey again next year.

No question.

Word Cloud

Got this from Jo.

Wordle is a tool that takes your words (blog, novels, etc.) and turns them into a "Word Cloud". It's the coolest thing ever!

Here's what my Justice WIP looks like. It actually puts the story into a new perspective for me. I'm amazed at the results.

Double-click for a larger image (doing so will direct you to their website).



My other WIP (pretty much abandoned) doesn't have as much popping out, which explains a lot. (g)

Another Meme - From Jenny C.

Got this from Jenny's blog.

1. What's in your pocket right now? Cell phone, flash drive, lighter

2. Have you ever gone skinny-dipping? Fortunately, only when I was younger and much skinnier!

3. Did you have a baby blanket? I did have one – I’m not sure where it is now.

4. Have you ever tried to cut your own hair? No – that would be very, very bad.

5. How did that turn out? N/A

6. Have you ever sleepwalked? I don't think so.

7.Have you ever had a birthday party at a restaurant? I’m sure I have – don’t remember where, though.

8. Have you ever eaten a dog biscuit? No - so not appealing.

9. If you were in a car sinking in a lake, what would you do first? Open a window before the car is submerged to flood the interior.

10. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? Yes.

11. Have you ever fallen asleep in school? Only in Navy school.

12. How many foreign countries have you visited? 7 - Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Israel, Greece, Canada

13. Have you ever broken a bone? Yes – my left arm.

14. Have you ever accidentally taken something from a hotel? Not "accidentally".

15. If you could invite any movie star to your home for dinner, who would it be? Edward Norton, off the top of my head - he's the sh!t.

16. If you could attend an Olympic Event, what would it be? It’s been so long since I’ve watched the Olympics – I don’t really remember all the events.

17. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Well, I "own" about 15. I only wear 4 – two pairs of tennis shoes, one pair of black, one pair of brown.

18. If you won a $5,000 shopping spree to any store, which store would you pick? Home Depot or Best Buy.

19. Have you ever been rushed to the emergency room? Yes. Car Accident when I was 6.

20. Have you ever had surgery? Only a C-Section.

21. When was the last time you had a sit-down dinner with your immediate family that didn't consist of a television? Last night – my Dad is in town and he spent the night with the 3 of us (me, husband, and Destructo).

We need more interesting questions...

Another Meme

From Deniz's Blog,

TECHNOLOGY

What is the wallpaper on your computer?
A Windows Vista scene

How many televisions do you have in your house?
Three

BIOLOGY

Are you right handed or left handed?
Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Does a baby count?

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A bookcase - well, actually three.

Have you ever been knocked out?
Yes. 3 times

BULLSHITOLOGY

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Bill Gates - I need the money that man has.

What color do you think looks best on you?
Brown, black. Maybe. I don't know.

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item?
Bugs (on motorcycles and in the back of pickups), and I'm sure other things that I can't think of right now.

DAREOLOGY

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
Only if I get to pick the person.

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
Um, no.

Would you never blog again for $50,000?
Yes.

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
Sure.

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for a million dollars?
Hmm. I guess not.

DUMBOLOGY

What is in your left pocket?
2GB Flash Drive

Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
Not even a little bit.

Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
Both

Do you sit or stand in the shower?
Stand.

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
I don't like them. But my sister bought me one pair.

LASTOLOGY

Last person who texted you?
A co-worker

Last person who called you?
My sister. Oh wait. I called her. Never mind. I guess it would have been the chick from New Horizons that calls 5 times a day.

Last person you hugged?
My baby.

FAVORITOLOGY

Number?
9, because it's so cool that you can multiply any number by 9, add the digits together, and still get 9. I suck at Math and this freaks me out.

Season?
Spring.

Color?
Favorite? Probably green. Least favorite? Definitely pink.

CURRENTOLOGY

Missing someone?
Yep. Several someone's.

Mood?
Bored and tired.

Listening to?
Co-workers.

Worrying about?
Everything and anything.

Wearing?
Jeans and black T-shirt.

RANDOMOLOGY

First place you went this morning?
Bathroom.

What can you not wait to do?
Write a complete story; GO TO SURREY!

Do you smile often?
No, probably not.

Are you a friendly person?
I suppose so.

The Big Read

I swiped this from Jen Hendren's blog...

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. How do you do?

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE. (I don't see an underline option in Blogger - these are CAPITALIZED)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 THE LORD OF THE RINGS - J.R.R. Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 HARRY POTTER SERIES - JK Rowling

5 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (Close enough, anyway)

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 THE HOBBIT - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41 ANIMAL FARM - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 OF MICE AND MEN - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte's Web - EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 WATERSHIP DOWN - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Book Contest!!

Fellow forumite and one awesome lady, Carol Spradling, has a book coming out! You can win the digital version of Cost of Freedom from Jen Hendren's blog here.

The print version will be released in November.

Cost of Freedom

Release Date: Digital May 30, Print Nov. 28
ISBN #: 1-60154-241-0
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Congratulations, Carol!!

Plagiarism and Stalking

Thanks to Jo, I've been immersed in controversy today...

It all started with Dear Author, and their post about an author who is gunning for an Amazon reviewer who gave her book 3 stars. This falls over the Edge Of Crazy in a big way.

Then, through a series of convoluted jumps (one thing always leads to another with me), I ended up on Smart Bitches reading about the very satisfying conclusion to the Cassie Edwards plagiarism debacle. Everything was going well until a weird-ass troll (using surprisingly good spelling and grammar!) decided to attack everyone, and in particular, NORA ROBERTS. Ms. Roberts is a frequent commenter on SB and was part of the discussion on the CE news.

The troll complimented Ms. Roberts by calling her a Bitch (on the Smart Bitches site - just too freakin' funny!), and basically made an ass out of his/her self. He/she then backpedaled faster than hell after the revelation that plagiarism is actually STEALING SOMEONE ELSE'S WORDS AND USING THEM AS YOUR OWN, and threw out a half-assed apology ("Ass" is now the Word Of The Day) to Ms. Roberts.

Now, I've never read a book by Cassie Edwards and until this whole issue came up, I had no plans to. They always seemed like Crap Romance to me.

But because of all the hollering, I don't think I'll be able to resist buying one the next time I visit my neighborhood B & N.

Weird, considering that I refuse to look at car wrecks like most people do.

Things I'm Doing

I've been very lazy about updating my blog because NO ONE reads it! I'm basically writing to myself and The Yellow Gator.

Just so I know for the future what I've been up to lately, I'll post:

1. I've read Maureen Johnson's blog (YA author) and that took two weeks. Extremely funny, clever person.

2. Reading MJ's blog pointed me to John Green (another YA author), whose book "Looking for Alaska" was very entertaining and emotional. I've just finished reading his entire blog archive and this took me to...

3. Brotherhood 2.0 - John Green and his brother, Hank Green agreed to just video blog to each other for the entire year of 2007. Funny, clever and educational (hehe).

4. I've decided to scrap my WIP about Carly - for now. I have hit a brick wall and I just can't make her very likeable.

5. I'm reading "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott. Most excellent so far.

6. I'm also reading "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. The CompuServe forum (see link below) is doing a book club thingie and this is the first book. I haven't posted my thoughts there so far because I am having trouble getting into the book.

7. Destructo is learning new words daily. He now says, "I love you" (could be "Where are you", but I'm being optimistic), "Don't know", "Cookie", "Ice Cream", and lots of other things that we haven't identified quite yet. He'll be two in May, which means he's growing up way too fast.

Meme

Got this from Jenny C.'s blog...

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?

Two of them, actually - With my husband and my sweet baby boy.

2) What was your dream growing up?
I wanted to be a writer...

3) What talent do you wish you had?
Flying would be cool. If that weren't an option, then piano playing.

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
Jager Bomb

5) Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli.

6) What was the last book you read?
1st in the KEY trilogy by Nora Roberts

7) What zodiac sign are you?
Aries

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.

Ears double pierced - no tattoos.

9) Worst Habit?
Smoking

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
Depends on who "me" is. If "me" is Matthew McConnaghey, then HELL YES!

11) What is your favorite sport?

College Basketball - GO HEELS!

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Depends on what day of the week it is...

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Again, if ME=Matthew McConnaghey, then - wait, can I put this on a public blog??

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
I can't really decide how to answer this. I've been blessed with healthy friends and family and any bad things that have truly happened to ME, have been of my own doing.

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
I was born at 6 months and weighed 2 pounds. UGLY pictures, let me tell you!

16) Do you have any pets?
Two cats and three fish

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
Matthew, my husband wouldn't be too happy about that!

18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm...careful!)

I have no idea how to answer this.

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Depends on the person beneath the clown suit, I suppose.

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
Only ONE thing? I can't narrow it down that much.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Depends on the crime.

22) What color eyes do you have?
Hazel.

23) Ever been arrested?
Um, NO. Next question.

24) Bottle or can soda?
Bottle.

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Unfortunately, my husband would snatch it from me to do something "responsible". So, we'll never know!

What happened to 26?
Pfff.

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
Bookstores...unless there's alcohol involved.

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
I WANT TO BELIEVE!

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Read. Read. Read. Write.

30) Do you swear a lot?
More than I should - Navy habit, I guess.

31) Biggest pet peeve?
Drive-thru employees

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
WHAT?

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
Sure I do. Wait, I don't understand the question.

35) Do you believe in God?
Yes

10 Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't

Ok, this is my first - getting tagged? Being a Tagee? Dunno. Saw this on Claire's blog, and thought I'd give it a try.

1. Got kicked off Madonna's rented property when in Evansville, IN for the shooting of A League of Their Own by HER. (g)

2. Seen over 40 golf courses around the country before they had grass and landscaping - a whole new perspective (Dad builds them).

3. Got completely lost near Arbot Street in Moscow while trying to ditch KGB agents. Unsuccessfully.

4. Spent 3 weeks in Russia as a Student Ambassador. Met with various government officials in Smolensk, Minsk and Moscow.

5. Had a beer in EVERY bar in Marseilles, France after passing up a trip to the Vatican on Christmas Eve to hear the Pope give mass (not catholic - still regret this decision!)

6. Snuck to to the very top of the Bank of America Tower in Jacksonville, Florida while it was still being built to complete an assignment for a Photography class.

7. Caught a football from Lamar Parrish of the Washington Redskins. He was part of a publicity thing put together because I was the first girl on the Royal Palm Beach Flag Football team in Palm Beach, FL.

8. Dated a cop and a flight instructor at the same time - shot a Glock 9mm AND flew a plane by myself in the same day (isn't college great?)

9. Stood on the sea wall on Folly Beach, SC (Charleston) as hurricane Hugo was coming ashore. I was an idiot in love with the ocean. We were moving away that day.

10. Got tied to the main condenser pipe on the USS Platte and sprayed with seawater from a fire hose on the Adriatic Sea in January. (My co-workers REALLY liked me!)

And there you have it.

The Spymaster's Lady

Jo Bourne from CompuServe's Books and Writers forum has a new book out! Jo is one of the Section Leaders for the Writers Exercises folder and is one of the best writers I've ever read. She is also extremely helpful and I've learned a lot by her posts and her blog (see below).

Jennifer Hendren is running a contest on her blog with a signed copy of the book as a prize: http://jenniferhendren.blogspot.com/2008/01/random-thoughts.html

I can't recommend this book enough. It is by far the best romance book I think I've ever read - great story, setting, and Annique's (Anneka originally) POV is simply brilliant!

Congratulations to Jo!