If there’s one thing Southern gals know how to do, it’s gab. Silly or serious, all it takes is a glass of iced tea and time. Pull up a chair, kick off your shoes, and make yourself comfy…get ready to dish!
Wreck This Journal
One of my main partners in crime, Katherine Garbera, is amazing at finding exactly the right thing. I’ve been whining about writing (is there any other way?), and she emailed me before conference to say that she’d found me a journal. Now Kathy knows that journals and I don’t always get along. I’ve posted on my difficulties with journal keeping before. I haven’t gotten much better since then. But she was confident that this journal was just the thing to get the ol’ creative juices flowing. So when she had a...
read moreLovely Rita!!
So I’m on the plane from San Francisco to Atlanta when I realize the blonde woman sitting across the aisle and one row back from me is reading a Silhouette Desire. That, and the fact that she also has a laptop handy, prompt me to ask if she’s been at the RWA Conference. She tells me she has, and that she’s also noticed me reading my manuscript on my laptop. Then she puts out her hand, smiles, and says, “I’m Rita Clay Estrada.”Rita, THE Rita, is shaking my hand! OMG!! Luckily, I do not go all fangirl stupid...
read moreRWA National: Day 3 Recap
Workshops again. Up today:Pump Up Your ProductivityCindi Meyers I don’t think any of this information was new to me (I’m always trying to figure out how to better manage my time, with mixed success), but it’s always helpful to listen to how someone else presents it in case they find the right crack in the ol’ cortex. Three major steps:Keep a time log to identify major time killers and wasted spaces, then convert that into productive writing time. Don’t cheat yourself out of sleep!Prioritize your time. If you...
read moreRWA National: Day 2 Recap
Workshops today, and lots of them. Some notes:The Art of VoiceTeresa Elliott Brown, Catherine Kean, and Nancy Robards Thompson, along with industry professionals Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency, and Tessa Woodward, Assistant Editor at Avon Books I kicked off the day by moderating this workshop because they asked me to, and they’re my friends. But I have to say without the slightest hint of favoritism that this was fabulous. By using visual prompts, they were able to illustrate two major points: that voice has to develop...
read moreRWA National: Day 1 Recap
Squeezed in a treat before the conference got into full swing by traveling to the Woman Impressionists exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum. That’s Avon assistant editor Tessa Woodward on the right, with my “Art of Voice” buddies Nancy Robards Thompson, Teresa Elliott Brown, and Catherine Kean.Seeing so many gorgeous paintings in one place, all by women artists, all produced at a time when women’s art and creativity were frowned upon, were the perfect way to set the tone for the conference. Quotations...
read moreRWA Bed Bandit Strikes Again!
When they interview neighbors of the serial criminal, you usually hear things like, “We’re so surprised! She was so quiet!” or “I never expected anything like this.” But when I came down the hall to our room at the Marriott and spotted a neatly made rollaway bed just sitting there, I had flashbacks to Reno.Sure enough, my roommate can now be brought up on multiple charges. Can you identify this woman? (Hint: She’s listed somewhere on the left!!)
read moreThe State of Northern California
I feel so Lewis and Clark! Having spent my summers at Atlantic beaches and the Gulf, the deep blue waters and unpredictable surf of the Pacific are a treat. Our inn in Ft. Bragg is just a couple of blocks from the famous Glass Beach. Years ago, this area was a dump, literally. Folks from the lumber company and the town tossed all kinds of things over the cliff. Decades later, the junk is gone, and the broken glass has been sanded and smoothed by the surf.Ft. Bragg is a working town, home of the award-winning North Coast Brewing Company. Down...
read moreOn the Road Again
Last day in San Francisco. If this bunch of Floridians is going to fly all this way, we’re damn sure going to check out some Pacific coastline. Before we left SF, we treated ourselves to one last gift: the Dale Chihuly special exhibit in the DeYoung Museum. You really have to hand it to someone with the vision to create this:After the feast, we piled in our Rent-a-Jetta and headed north. So we not only got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, we got to drive across it as well!The thing that strikes me most about the California countryside is...
read moreSF Day 3: If It’s 3pm, It Must Be Alcatraz
Nothing like packing in every possible tourist attraction in the city in one day, but Overachievers R Us. First, we navigate the Muni so we can pick up a cable car at Powell and Market. We and five thousand other tourists, apparently. So we hoof it up Powell and manage to squeeze on at Union Square. Here we are, geeking it up: Quick stop for the sea lions at Pier 39 (which is San Francisco’s answer to International Drive), then onto the ferry for Alcatraz. DH was hoping at this point we’d leave him there for some peace and quiet,...
read moreSF Day 2: Home is Where the Weird Is
We luuuuurve our SF home, the gorgeous Inn 1890 on Page Street. Our suite has curved windows, a gas fireplace with intricate carving and tile work, and–hold onto your sore backs–Tempur-Pedic mattresses. We slept like bricks last night. Look how pretty is is from the outside:We’re two blocks from Golden Gate Park and one block away from Haight Street, which we decided to explore today. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. The corner of Haight and Ashbury streets was, of course, the epicenter of the hippie...
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