A Note

Hi Friends,

I just want to let you know that I'll be taking weekends off, so check back in on Monday for a new and exciting post! :)

Also, it's Day Light Savings, so don't forget to turn your clocks back.

Eating and Writing and Writer's Butt

I hear a lot of writers like to eat while they write. I actually don’t have that problem and it’s not because I’m a heroine of self-control. It’s because I have a pretty, let’s say, defined germ phobia. I wash my hands a lot, never touch a bathroom knob if I can help it, even in my own house, and work hard at not touching (my own) facial orifices. I am the inventor of sneezing into your elbow. Call me a weirdo, but check it out—with the outbreak of H1N1/swine flu, the government is spending loads of money telling everyone to do the same thing. So there, to all those people who smirked and whispered behind my back.

Back to writing and eating. Even though I don’t eat and write, I still worry about writer’s butt. Gravity is not your friend, my friend. So, to combat this I try to ride my stationary bike while I imbibe in such pleasures as Dancing with the Stars, Bones and Survivor. But, I’m still sitting, so is this going to work? Anything is better than nothing, but I think one day I should invest in an elliptical machine, so I can give my butt a break and exercise while standing. Maybe with that first royalty cheque?

Author Shout Out - Mandy Hubbard

I’d like to shout out to Mandy Hubbard who recently just got her second two book publishing deal. She’s on fire! I also want to thank her for writing a successful YA chick-lit time travel book—hopefully it will help pave the way for me and other YA time travel writers like me.

I don’t know Mandy personally, but I am a friend of Denise Jaden, who does know her, so it’s like, only two degrees of separation. We’re practically cousins.

So, here’s to you, Mandy Hubbard!

(Some things)Non-Writers Think About Writers

In case you missed it, this past weekend was SIWC, aka Surrey International Writers Conference, and if you weren’t there, then I guess you missed it! Needless to say, I’m still coming down from the high. But today I want to talk about what other, non-writer people think. Say for instance, my husband, (although he is a songwriter, but that is an entirely different animal).

Hubby tells our friends, “My wife is at a writers’ conference. I don’t know what they do there. Read, I guess, and write. It’s a pretty quiet conference.”

It’s funny, but probably not an uncommon notion by those who don’t write for pleasure. And yet, at least 800 people showed up. Who are these people? And you can’t tell they are writers by looking, either. They are men and women, young, and old and everything in between.

Like members of a secret society, we are the kind who quietly hammer out words in seclusion and solitude and most people don’t even know we have this other life outside our day job and family obligations. This is especially true for unpublished writers. Sometimes I feel like a little mouse, timidly admitting, that yes, I do still write a bit, on the side.

And that’s why I loved the conference. We all knew the reason we gathered together. We love to write, and we love to talk about writing. And it’s okay to go on and on about it. Nobody minds.

A First Time for Everything

Maybe this is the time I should rant about my adorable but annoying kitten, Spiff. He's so enamored with the cursor, and can't stop himself from attacking and trampling my monitor and keyboard.

This is also the time I must confess to being a newbie blogger. So newbie that not only is this my first post, it will likely never be read by anyone but me. And Spiff.