My Favorite Season

Autumn is my favorite season of the year. Why do I love autumn so much, you ask? There are a lot of reasons, and I'll share a few with you.

The colors. All the reds and golds and oranges of the leaves turning colors are simply breathtaking. I live in North Texas where only a few variety of trees actually change color in autumn. I'm surrounded by mountain cedars which stay green all year long. But those trees that do turn color...there is nothing more beautiful.

The cooler weather. Our summers are hot and humid. Most of us breathe in relief when the weather starts to turn cooler. Finally, we can walk outside without feeling as if we're hit in the face with a wet washcloth!

Football. Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter know how much I love football. I wait all spring and summer to be able to watch football again in the fall. And no, those tight pants the players wear have nothing to do with why I love the sport. Okay, maybe a little. :-)

The holidays. Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. (I know Christmas is technically a winter holiday, but don't burst my bubble.) Those holidays mean fun for the kids and togetherness for family, lots of good food and laughter. Who doesn't love watching a child open a present on Christmas morning and seeing his or her eyes light up with happiness?

Christmas is the holiday where all of us are children again. And that's the most special reason of all to love autumn.

Lynn

Blogging on...Blogging

I love the idea of writing a blog—mostly because I’m vain enough to believe, to think, that you and the rest of world not only needs to hear what I have to say but wants to hear it, that what I’m going to write is so clever or interesting that a light bulb will illuminate above your head, you’ll see the world in a different way and recognize my brilliance.

Then I start to write the blog and discover I’m not nearly as clever or interesting on paper (or the screen) as I sound in my own head.

As I fiction writer, I’m a good judge of my own writing, what’s working and what’s not. I might not always correct the problem but that’s usually from laziness or deadlines. Or the overwhelming realization that if I fix that one problem, I have to re-write the whole book so I make a decision to live with it.

When writing a blog, it's more real, more personal. And the words don’t sound like me. They don’t have the inflection or the pauses. I can’t jump into a character’s voice or describe actions. And sometimes, I just sound mean. Words that I speak out loud sound much more harsh when written. And in the end, I scrap the whole thing and write something less interesting, less controversial, less clever.

There are a lot of blogs out there but none that I return to time and again. The last blog I read consistently was of porn star and that was years ago before the term “blog” even came into being. She posted a weekly update on what she was doing and how many movies she’d done that week. The insights into her life were intriguing and it gave me a sense of “knowing” her. (And yes, out of curiosity, I watched one of her movies and realized, it’s still just porn).

I wanted my blog to be like that…to share with people my daily adventures, but you know, I don’t have that many adventures. I enjoy my life and have fun but can’t really imagine that most readers care that I’m knitting an Entrelac shawl. I certainly can’t compete with the adventures of a porn star (and wouldn’t really want to).

So, here’s the point where I normally start deleting. It’s not clever enough, or it feels like it’s a bit depressing. But I’m not going to. I'm going to post it as it. Well, I'll have to do some editing because that's just who I am. Now to wonder if I took out all the really good stuff...

A Match Made In Heaven

“Oh…oh, yes…yes... ”

Heat rippled through her veins and settled in the pit of her stomach. This is what she had waited for. The intense moment sent shivers up her spine. Nothing at that very moment would ever surpass the thrill she felt. This is where she wanted to be…this is what she had needed for so long.

Hmmm….what do you think is going on? Maybe someone is about to have the big “O”? NOT! Well, if you love talking books, maybe so. Because that’s what I’m talking about—the thrill of discussing erotic books and knowing that your listener understands exactly what you’re talking about. No questions from either readers or other authors that don’t quite understand the concept of ‘Romantica’, Ellora’s Cave’s coined term for erotic romance.

Relationships…reader to author, reader to reader, author to author, and I was fortunate enough to experience this thrill last month and on all accounts. Hence the ‘match made in heaven’ theory. I’m talking about the Ellora’s Cave Romanticon in Ohio and the entire experience was close to the big “O”. No shit! If you don’t believe me then I would start saving right now and plan to attend the 2010 conference. I know I’ll never miss one.

All in all, the Romanticon was THE best conference I’ve ever attended. I’ve been to other writing conferences and yes, they’ve always been fun and informative, but I came away from Ohio with a renewed enthusiasm for the reading world that I’m so attached to. I think most attendees, readers and authors included, came to “feel out” the atmosphere, this being EC’s first stab at something like this. The company did a phenomenal job.

The venue was tight since the conference was only a three day event, yet if magically flowed from morning to night. I personally have never spent so much time just talking books and meeting fellow authors and readers who were specifically in Ohio for the same reason as me. They love EC, TLC, and CP books. Period. For the first time I felt that all the authors and wonderful readers were on the same level. It didn’t matter if you were standing in the hallway, out front having a cigarette, attending a seminar, eating breakfast or sitting in the bar. We were all there for one reason and an air of intimacy prevailed, something I’ve never experienced outside this conference. I’m not quite sure what fostered this familiarity between everyone—whether is was some unobtrusive thing the employees of Ellora’s Cave did or if the stars were aligned perfectly, but new relationships abounded and I’m sure everyone left with a sense of complete contentment.

So, kudos to everyone who was on Ohio. Thank you to the publishing company and thank you to the readers and authors who cradled my books and lovingly spoke about them. Whether you’re the author who wrote a book or the reader who relives moments within them, we all know those pages, those storylines, those characters are like family. Isn’t it great?

See you in Ohio!

Hell in a hand basket

After reading Arianna's blog last week, I couldn't stop laughing.
I had taken my 16 year old shopping for jeans. It seems that Ari is right.
There are no jeans to fit the 'normal' sized women. My daughter is no slim jim.
I'm proud to say she takes after me, round and voluptuous. LOL

What has this world come to that women have to diet and exercise to fit some
golden mold? And what is considered the 'golden' perfect size? Who ever heard of
a size 0?

Wouldn't you think a man would want a woman he could hold onto and not one that a good
stupping in bed would leave battered and bruised?
I think we should start a campaign called 'For the Love of a Woman with Curves'.
So many times you hear about these young girls doing stupid things to their bodies
just to fit in. Self esteem is important at their young age. I'm not saying let's promote
laziness and obesity but good healthy living.
Not everybody's a size 0. I'm not and never plan to be.
On that note, I'm leaving ya'll with a recipe that's fun and tasty.
Don't count the calories on this one :)

Pumpkin Dip

8 ounces of cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar
15 ounce can of pumpkin pie filling
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

Mix together well, chill and serve with ginger snap cookies or graham crackers.
UHM, UHM tasty.

Oh and thanks to my friends, this isn't bad with a little Jeramiah Weed on the side to wash it down.

Mission Impossible

Yesterday I embarked on a mission as hazardous, frustrating, and fruitless as any crusade in my life.

Yes, I went shopping for jeans. This is on par with going bathing suit shopping, except I KNOW a bathing suit won’t hide any sins, I expect more from a pair of jeans.

First, let me prepare you for the reason for my angst. . .

I am tall—around 5’9” tall, and a good majority of that is in my legs. I’m also rather large around the middle. I’m shaped kind of like an apple on two asparagus stalks. Finding a pair of jeans that are long enough involves digging through rack after rack of jeans. If I’m lucky enough to find a pair that won’t look like Capri pants, I then need to find a size that will fit around my rather rotund tummy.

I don’t know how many size 0, 2, or 4 women are out there buying jeans, but apparently, they must be legion, because those were all the sizes that were in stock at the stores I was visiting. Maybe the size 12 and 14 women had already swooped down and picked up the jeans in my size, I don’t know. All I know is, I could find one, maybe two pairs of jeans in my size after searching through mountains of denim. When I did miraculously find a pair in my size, the waist was so low, I had the mother of all muffin tops hanging out.

It’s enough to make a girl switch to mom jeans! (Because, God forbid, I actually diet and exercise.)

I wonder if this experience will translate to my next story? Perhaps my next heroine won’t be svelte and will have trouble finding clothes that fit. Maybe, just maybe, this experience will make me a better writer.

It sure didn’t help me get a new pair of pants!

Subject, subject, what's the subject...

So it's my turn to blog again and I have no single topic. There are lots of things I want to blog about this weekend but my mind just won't settle on one. It's not like I didn't have warning, my fellow scribe Lynn LaFleur has kindly set up a reminder on our yahoo group calendar for the more absent minded of us. Thank you Lynn! Speaking of that reminder... have I mentioned my love hate relationship with it? If I have my blog all planned out, then I am glad to see it and pat myself on the back every time it appears. Other times (and far more often) it appears when I am least expecting it and nags me like a disappointed mother right up to the last minute when I am still trying to think of a subject. Like this weekend.
So I am just going to tell you all about the things I wanted to mention. Some I feel very strongly about, some were just of personal significance.

My WIP. I have written 1000 plus words on it every day for a week when it's been months of no progress. Yay me! I just need to keep it going when I go back to work on Tuesday because work seems to suck all the creativity out of me and encourage procrastination.

RomantiCon. I wish I was there! Ellora's Cave held their first convention this weekend in Ohio and I can't wait to see the pictures and hear all about it!

X-Factor. If you are in the UK (or on Twitter) then you will know what I am going to say. SHAME on that judge for using that guy's sexuality to take away from a phenomenal performance. It doesn't matter if that's what you meant to do. At the time, that's what you did. If you want to look at it yourself go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IOyPX-P57Q

Stephen Gately. 33 is too young to die, you will be missed. He was brave enough to come out as gay having been a member of one of the most popular boy bands in the UK. His band supported him by giving him a male partner in their music video despite risking their popularity. He was one of the first UK couples to have a civil partnership. It's testament to his character that in all the reports on the news today, not even the British press has anything bad to say about him. Hats off to you Mr Gately, may you rest in peace. My heart goes out to his husband, family and friends.

President Obama addressing the HRC. There are a LOT of strong opinions on this one and despite my own mixed feelings I still believe it was very a important speech.

The March For Equality. Suffice to say that if I were on the right side of the Atlantic I would be there to support the LGBT community. They are fighting for many of the things that I take for granted and it is time for a change.

So there you have it. The reasons I was unable to settle on a subject today. These are all issues that have had an effect me this weekend to varying degrees.
What about you?

ROMANTICON!

Okay, I don't know about you, but I'm psyched! This coming weekend is Ellora's Cave's first every convention, the Romanticon! And I'm going to get to not only meet some of you wonderful readers, I'm going to get to see several of my fellow Scribes!!!

Okay, I know, enough with the exclamation points, Diana. Just calm down. They're only people, you know. Just people who happen to read and write some of the most fantastic erotic romance on the planet!!!

Oops. Did it again. I'll try to be better, honest. But when I think about getting to talk to fellow authors about using Second Life to promote their books, or when I realize I'm on a panel with Tawny Taylor AND Joey Hill???!!! And then there's our very own Lynn LaFleur who's in on the discussion of the Editor/Author marriage to start off the conference, and Ruby Storm talking about writing in historical genre to finish us off!!!! Sorry, the exclamation points just have to come out again.

I'm gonna get to see so many of you! If you're going, leave a note here and let's see if we can't all get together (at the bar drinking Cosmos if Ruby has her way).

Yipee! Just a few more days!

Diana