Edits & Kruise Night

My editor at Awe-Struck sent the file of A Rush Of Light to me last week and asked me to fix some things--pronto. All week long, I've been busy with the edits. My life is on hold in the meantime. I do want the book to be as perfect as it can be. I thought I had caught everything the day before yesterday, so I loaded the "fixed" file into my Rocket and proceeded to read through it once more.

I found a lot of wincing going on. Both the hero and heroine winced on several occasions. How did I miss that? So I cut out some of the wincing. I found some sentences I didn't like. I fixed those, too.

However, my husband wanted to go to the final Kruise Night for the summer. We haven't been to a Kruise Night this summer at all--which didn't bother me in the least, but for some reason hubby enjoys the noise of a zillion motorcycles all revving up at once and the smell of exhaust in the air. The only thing I like about Kruise Night is that the little library in town has a used book sale going on where the old paperbacks are going for twenty-five cents each.

I brought my Rocket and read in the car, finding more things to fix, as hubby drove. Then we arrived and proceeded to wend our way through the street which was packed with men wearing leather and tattoos--many of them had grey hair.

I stopped at the library and bought two books.

We checked out the cars on display, too. I saw several Novas. I used to own a Nova. It was my first car and I loved it, but it did not have air-conditioning and after a while it had lots of rust holes aong with a trunk that filled up with water everytime it rained. Still, it was nice to see restored Novas.

But the motorcycles were really annoying. They are so loud.

We got back in our car and I opened up the Rocket to continue looking for things to fix as hubby drove us home in the quiet air-conditioned comfort of our minivan. Then I went back to the computer for a while. Hopefully, I'll finish the editing tomorrow.

Favorite Picnic Spot in Florida

Every year, we have had at least one picnic lunch at Howard Park in Florida. The last time all of our daughters were with us, both daughter #1 and I knew it would be the last time we would share our meal there together. As it turned out, our hunches were right. Our daughters have since been rather busy making their own way in the world.

Hubby and I still enjoy the place. It is a nice spot. It's shady and there's a breeze blowing in over the lagoon. Usually, there are hungry fish begging for crumbs, but hubby and I did not see them this year. I hope they didn't get wiped out by the red tide.

Here's a photo of me and hubby in front of his parents' place. Notice my new hairdo. It was perfect for Florida. We had a nice time, but I was so glad to come home.

One Mistake

I made one mistake in my life that nobody can seem to ignore or forget. In an effort to save money when the kids were young, I would always cut their hair. However, once when I was cutting daughter #2's hair, she moved. As a result, I nicked her earlobe with the scissors. It wasn't a bad cut--it did not require stitches. It did not bleed much. I felt horrible, though the small cut healed up nicely. Still, nobody has forgotten the incident.

My family does not trust me with a pair of scissors in my hand. Daughter #2, scarred for life, grew up and now cuts her own hair.

Last night, my mother asked me to give her a trim. She was desperate and just too tired to go to a beauty salon now that she's getting old. Nevertheless, when she sat down in the chair and I picked up the scissors, she put her fingers over her earlobes. I trimmed the back of her head first, but I did mention that in order for me to trim the sides evenly, she would have to remove her fingers. She did, but she was rather tense throughout the ordeal.

I finished the job without bloodshed, but I know that doesn't mean my one mistake has been forgotten.

Heroes

I'm back.

Hubby and I have returned from our annual trek to Florida. We have driven south once a year for the past seventeen years. There is a lot of road between New Jersey and Florida--long stretches of flat, straight interstate highways bordered by trees on both sides. It is an extremely boring drive. To relieve the tedium I always bring along plenty of books to read, but when it's my turn to drive I crank up the country music and sing along.

As I was listening to Randy Travis sing about heroes and friends, I started thinking about who my heroes are. Randy Travis admires cowboys. I glanced at the bag of books I had brought along with me and I knew that all those authors are the people I respect most. Publishing is a tough business. After five full-length novels and one novella, I am still on the ground floor of the published authors hierarchy—although sometimes I feel as if I’m in the basement. However, every author starts out that way. The trick is not to give up.

I've met some authors who wrote only one book, had it published, and then never wrote another. Then there are the authors with two or three published books who realized there wasn't much money in the world of publishing and quit.

The books I brought along with me to read on our journey were by authors who keep producing.

I started off with Linda Howard's A Game of Chance. It was a wonderful story! Linda Howard has written an amazing number of terrific books. I am in awe of her talent.

Next came Kathye Quick's Falling for You and Roni Denholtz's Somebody to Love. Kathye and Roni are members of NJRW, as I am, and they've been there as long as I have—which is forever. They did not quit in the face of repeated rejections. Both of their books are sweet romances from Avalon Books. Both of the stories are set in the wintertime. I figured they would help to cool me off in the Florida heat. :^)

One of my friends told me that my writing reminded her of Janet Evanovich. I now know that was a compliment. Until this road trip, I had never read any of Janet Evanovich's books. So, of course, I brought along To The Nines, and loved every minute of it. Ms. Evanovich, a very prolific author, has a wonderful characters in her books and her self-deprecating humor had me laughing out loud.

The last book I read on the trip was Kate Welsh's Their Forever Love, one of Steeple Hill's Inspirational Romances—a Christian romance. It was inspiring.

Yes, my heroes have always been writers. I think it takes a lot more grit to write--and to keep writing--than to ride a horse.

Florida In August

I am in Florida where it is HOT! It is definitely hotter than New Jersey. I watched the weatherman on the local news last night say that the high for the day was 91 degrees.

No way.

The Floridian weatherman was being deceptive. Maybe it was 91 next to the water in the shade of a palm tree where there was a breeze blowing, but it was definitely not 91 on the concrete sidewalk in Tarpon Springs when my hubby was checking out the antique shops in the middle of the afternoon.

The sun here is far brighter than it is in New Jersey. In fact, the sun here is relentless.

To be fair, I have never visited Florida in the winter. I have heard that it is very nice, but for me right now it is brutal.

Hubby loves the water here. It is the same temperature as a bathtub. I prefer the refreshing Atlantic.

However, I did find something in one of the antique stores yesterday--a nice canister set for daughter #1's apartment. I got it at a good price, too.

Old Haunts

I got a haircut after watching that wedding video. My hair now looks nearly the same as it did twenty years ago. Daughter #1 told me that I will not look twenty years younger with the haircut. I told her it doesn't matter because I will feel twenty years younger--or at least a little younger than I am now. Besides, in this heat, it is good to have shorter hair.

We went to visit daughter #2 today. We helped her move out of her dorm and into an apartment last week. (We do an awful lot of moving.) Her apartment is only a few blocks away from the apartment where her father grew up. Hubby was delighted to show us his old haunts. He took plenty of photos, too.
Here's a photo of me and daughter #2 standing in what used to be the diving pool where hubby cooled off. It was sixteen feet deep. However, it has been filled in with dirt. Such is progress.