To all the sweets I’ve loved before

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Is it wrong that I can remember which desserts I ate on which days while I was at RWA’s National Conference in Anaheim?

No kidding. The days all run together in terms of who I met/spoke to, which workshops I attended and who I hung out with — but the memory of each sweet consumed is as clear as the sparkling, turquoise pool I enjoyed watching from the balcony of my hotel room.

I have a problem, no?

On Tuesday, it was a red velvet cupcake from a stand in Downtown Disney. The cupcakes don’t look like much in my photo, taken in the dark after we piled them all up on the sidewalk. Bad photo aside, mine was to die for, piled high with yummy frosting. Good thing I waited until I got back to my room to eat it, because the shot of pure sugar knocked me out. (At least we went on an adventurous quest — on foot — to find the cupcakes.)

Wednesday after lunch at TGN retreat, I had two small lemon squares and a salted caramel brownie pop — and then got a slice of banana cream cheesecake to go after dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. (I did manage to leave most of it in the fridge overnight, eating just enough to polish off the banana slices so they wouldn’t turn brown and gross.)

Thursday’s luncheon dessert, some kind of flan, was tasteless enough that I took one bite and pushed the plate away … then headed to my room before the afternoon sessions to retrieve my leftover cheesecake. After a lovely dinner with some of my Starcatchers sisters at Carolina’s Italian restaurant, I took home a piece of tiramisu for later. Since it was as big as my head, it served as a sweet treat on both Friday night and Saturday afternoon. (And it was delicious!)

Let’s not forget the chocolate-raspberry dessert from Friday’s lunch. That was like fudge on a plate. Yum!

That’s not to mention countless pieces of chocolate and other goodies I picked up in various conference venues.

I didn’t need the sweets, and had I been home, doing Atkins properly, I wouldn’t have even looked twice at them. But seeing as how I was on vacation and “off plan,” I just could not stop treating myself. And the more junk I ate, the more I craved. Even on the way home Sunday, I got a burrito and fries from Del Taco and then a mint chocolate chip shake from the truck stop DQ at our next bathroom break.

I wish I didn’t have such a love affair with sweets, but I do.

You’ve heard of gateway drugs? Well, for me, sugar is a gateway food … eat it, and I start making all kinds of unhealthy choices (like ignoring the workout clothes I’d packed in favor of a Starbucks ultimate oatmeal cookie for breakfast. Yep. I did that on Saturday. And then I devoured at least four different sweets on sticks at the awards ceremony.).

Conference is a once-a-year experience, and logically I know eating like that for most of a week won’t make me regain all the weight I’ve lost. I also realize that if I don’t get back on track — and soon, I’ll slide back down that slippery slope and end up right back where I started. Not somewhere I want — or need — to be.

So here I am, promising myself to hit the grocery store and stock up on good, healthy fruits and veggies so I’ll be free to buckle down and fulfill the agent/editor requests I snagged.

 

Perfect way to spend a Monday evening

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Pardon me if I still sound a little starstruck. It’s because I am. I had the chance to meet Susan Elizabeth Phillips at a book signing in Phoenix on Monday night — and it was glorious.

She’s on tour for her newest book, “The Great Escape,” and she made a stop in the Valley … at Tempe’s Changing Hands Bookstore, to be exact. When I got there, about five minutes before the event was scheduled to start, it was standing-room-only. Lucky for me, the Boyfriend scrounged up some extra chairs.

I believe Susan started off her talk by telling us her introduction as “fabulous” and “hilarious” was completely untrue. But she’s wrong. I think both adjectives apply. So did the rest of the crowd, if the belly laughs are any indication.

As I listened to her spiel, I got the feeling she’s a pantster, like me. She confirmed it when she signed my book. She also said she’s going to be doing a plotting workshop at Nationals. I know where I’ll be for that hour. (I just hope it’s not at the same time as my editor/agent appointments. That would suck, big-time.)

She’s definitely an inspiration, and I’m glad I had the chance to go. Normally, I’d be working on a Monday night, but this is Week One of my two-week vacation, which culminates with Nationals.

Even the Boyfriend said Susan was quite funny. I figured he’d go hang out at the bar next door, but he stayed and listened to the talk. (He didn’t want to spend money.)

As we walked out of the bookstore, he said, “I could see you doing that.”

Me? Captivate a crowd? I don’t know about that. Not that I wouldn’t love to, of course.

From his mouth to God’s ears. I’d be blessed if I could have a writing career even half as successful as Susan’s.

Prepping for RWA 2012

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Wow. I can’t believe it’s just two weeks until I’ll be in Anaheim for RWA Nationals.

The planning/packing frenzy has begun, but I have to say, I’m much more relaxed going into this year’s conference. I’m all signed up for editor/agent pitch appointments and I volunteered to usher at the Rita/GH awards ceremony — but so much of the pressure is off.

I can just go, socialize and soak up all the information I can. I can’t wait to refill my creative well, which, thanks to a combination of circumstances, has started to run dangerously low.

Why, I’ve only just begun to think about what I’m going to wear on awards night. Last year I’d gone on several shopping expeditions by this time, searching for the perfect dress. This year, since there’s no chance I’ll be up on that stage, it doesn’t matter nearly as much what I wear.

Me with Starcatcher sister Julie Brannagh

Speaking of what I wear, why didn’t anyone warn me that in my purple dress, I bore more than a passing resemblance to Grimace — and a headless Grimace, to boot?

Ahem. I should be nicer to myself, right?

I’ll start by attending plenty of workshops and learning all I can. I didn’t have a chance to attend even half of the sessions that caught my eye last year — but I ordered the conference CD so I could listen to them later. Well, I’m here to tell you, I have yet to crack open those 2011 conference recordings. I’m beginning to think the workshops are mythical creatures, only available in real time.

See you in Anaheim!

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer

The secret to becoming a better writer is …

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There is no secret. This infographic from Copyblogger tickled my fancy the other day, in part because it so eloquently speaks the truth.

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Had I not written so many bad stories, I wouldn’t have the good ones to show for it now. The mistakes I’ve made have taught me how to … well, write better.

Practice really does make perfect. Okay, maybe not perfect, because no matter how many times you edit a story,  there’ll always be one more word to tweak here or a sentence to rewrite there.

But I firmly believe what I write today is better than what I wrote yesterday. I learn something new every day … and the words I commit to paper tomorrow just might be the ones that land me an agent or a publishing contract.

Six Sentence Sunday

by with 2 Comments Dave & MelindaMusingsSix Sentence Sunday

I was totally bummed to find out last Sunday’s Six Sentence Sunday link was broken. I’ll try not to let that happen again.

This week’s submission is again from “Diva in the Dugout.” Soon after Dave meets his daughter for the first time, the three of them head to Mel’s car. He’s under the mistaken impression that Mel drinks too much because someone else spilled beer on her at the first game, so he suggests that she let him drive.

My six:

Mel stared at Dave. First he wanted her baby girl and now her car? Who gave him the right to take over her life?

You did five years ago when you had unprotected sex with the guy.

She ignored her conscience’s dig. “Who says I trust you with my car?”

Spreading more link love

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Thanks to everyone who stopped by yesterday to make Love & Laughter’s first guest blogger feel welcome. With 60-plus page views, I’d call Keri Ford’s  visit a success. (Keri, please don’t tell me you were the visitor 50 of those 60 times.)

I’ve been adding to the list of articles I find intriguing, motivational or all-around hilarious. It’s time to spread the link love, so here are a few of my recent favorites. Enjoy!

— If you’re in need of a little motivation to get BICHOK (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard), try these instant motivation tips from The Writer magazine. They’re drawn from recent research in neurology and psychology, so you know you’re getting some top-notch advice. My favorite part? I was already doing many of these things.

— Jody Hedlund’s posts are always chock-full of great information. Such is the case with her recent missive on why writers should be on Pinterest. I was one of those on the fence about having one more social media site to eat away at writing time … but I finally took the plunge a few months ago. (Find me here, under Arlene Hittle.) I don’t spend a whole lot of time there … yet. But I have a few boards up and running. It’s fun to look at all the pretty photos — and someday, hopefully soon, I’ll be able to add my own novel to my “books I want to read” board. Wait — I should probably file it under “books I’ve read and loved” instead.

— From Chuck Wendig of Terrible Minds: 25 reasons I hate your main character. Gulp. Sure hope my main characters don’t fit any of those molds. I mean, I like them all. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be telling their stories … but I fear some of them may whine a little, or react instead of act, or have muddy motivation. So many sins. Is it even possible to avoid every single one?

— Way back in March, Kristin Lamb wrote a fantastic post on failure. (Let’s not talk about how I failed to read it until now, shall we?) My favorite line: “If we aren’t failing, then we aren’t doing anything interesting.” She also argues that failure makes us stronger. Since I have a huge fear of failure, I’m not sure I like that … but I can still see her point. She’s not the only one who feels that way, either. One of the things Bob Mayer said at his Desert Dreams workshop was something along the lines of “we need to do the thing we fear most” to succeed.

— Ready for a good laugh? Christina Dodd shared a link to this blog post on a terrible used cookbook from the ’70s called “Be Bold with Bananas.” Yes, the pictures are as terrible as you might imagine. I just hope it didn’t come from my mother’s cookbook shelf!

Mother’s Day and the power of laughter

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My four-legged fur children have no clue what day it is and my Mom died nearly a decade ago, so Mother’s Day is just another Sunday for me.

But this year, as I was looking for a card for the Boyfriend’s mother, I saw one that made me think of Mom and laugh.

Front
Inside

I’d like to thank the makers of this card, because they get it. They know that not all mothers need sappy sentiment. My Mom would have assumed I was ill had I given her one of those “wishing you all the happiness in the world” cards.

In my family, laughter truly is the best medicine. We even told stories and laughed during visiting hours before my parents’ funerals.

Whether you laugh until it hurts or laugh to keep from crying, it’s good to throw back your head and have a good chortle every so often.

After all, you have to have a sense of humor to get through this joke we call life, right?

Rediscovering the joy of reading

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Everyone says writers need to read anything and everything they can get their hands on.

I’m sure they’re right. When I was younger, my nose was always buried in a book. Reading was my favorite free-time activity.

Nowadays, with a full-time job and a Boyfriend, I have a lot less free time. The time I do have tends to be devoted to things like cooking, eating or playing online. Most of my reading is confined to blogs. A few of them deal with writing, but since I’m still trying to lose about 50 pounds, the majority are healthy living blogs.

As a result, I know about 500 workout tips and 1,002 different ways to make oatmeal — good for my diet/health, but it doesn’t do much for my creativity.

The precious little time I have left after working and taking care of the business of life, I tend to want to spend writing my own books, not reading someone else’s. Sure, I tweet my #FridayReads when I think about it — but if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice I often  tweet the same book several weeks straight.

But with so many of my Starcatcher sisters’ stories hitting the market, there are a lot of great new reads I don’t want to miss. I’d start naming some of them, but I’m afraid I’d miss too many. We’re a talented group.

With e-readers putting books at my fingertips 24/7, there’s no excuse not to read them. I already own a Nook, and I finally broke down and put the Kindle app on my phone, too. Now I can download some of the free books tweeted by some of the authors I follow.

Since downloading the Kindle app, I’ve devoured GH winner Laurie Kellogg’s “A Little Bit of Deja Vu” and am more than halfway through Juli Alexander’s “My Life as the Ugly Stepsister.”

I’ve been sneaking a few pages while standing in line at the grocery store and bank, or while I’m in the bathroom at work. (Shh … don’t tell.)

Now that I’m reading books as often as blogs, I look forward to crossing a lot more titles off my TBR list. You can follow my reads — and my progress on the 2012 reading challenge — on Goodreads. (I originally set a goal of 26 books for the year, but now that I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading, I hope to read a lot more than that.)

Desert Dreamin’

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My first Desert Dreams Conference won’t be my last.

It’s over now, and I just settled into my favorite spot at the Starbucks in Camp Verde (near the outlet, naturally). The plan is to sneak in a little writing time before I crash.

Am I nuts? Why not skip the attempt to work and crash right away? How much will I really get done?

Of course I’m nuts. Aren’t all writers a little off-kilter? The thing is, even though I’m physically exhausted, my mind is racing. I have thoughts I need to get down before I forget every last one of them. Plus, I have a synopsis I need to rewrite — and fast — so I can ship requested material.

Every day of the conference was jam-packed with learning, laughter and inspiration.

Here are a few of the gems I walked away with from the weekend:

— Never talk badly about yourself. There are enough other people willing to do that for you. (Bob Mayer, Friday afternoon workshop)

— All writers wrestle with self-doubt. To reach your goals, you have to slay the doubt demons. (Allison Brennan, Saturday keynote speech)

— The way you structure your writing space can help your subconscious mind — and your muse — realize it’s time to work. (Tawny Weber, Saturday workshop)

— Not every sex scene needs to be mind-blowingly perfect. In real life, first times are often awkward. (Elizabeth Hoyt, Saturday workshop)

— In both dialogue and description, word choices set the mood and will vary depending on the character doing the speaking/observing. (Laurie Schnebly Campbell, Saturday workshop)

— Don’t give away all the details about a character’s backstory at once. Curiosity about why a character is doing what he’s doing pulls the reader into the story. (Martha Alderson, Sunday workshop)

The view from the tables in front of the conference center.

There was so much fantastic information to be gleaned from the presentations that I’ll never remember it all. The conference center hotel was great, with a gorgeous courtyard and two pools. (Next time, I’ll remember to pack a bathing suit.) Late April is the perfect time to be in Phoenix, because it’s not yet hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

The conference couldn’t have come at a better time, either. My Golden Heart score sheets came back on Friday and one of my two entries earned not one but two 3s. Ouch.

Luckily, I had plenty of positive support from my chaptermates who were also at the conference. Even better, I was too busy to dwell on those sucky scores. Until now, that is. Maybe I’ll get lucky and crash before I start to think too much about ’em.

Desert Dreams only happens every two years, but it’s definitely worth the short drive from Flagstaff. I’m already making plans to save up for the next one … or I will be as soon as I come back from RWA Nationals in Anaheim this summer.

You tell me: Fifty Shades of Grey

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Twitter is abuzz. Bloggers are raving. Last night I read a story on a mainstream wire service talking it up. (I’m debating whether I can get away with running it on our books page without causing an uproar.)

What has everyone so hot and bothered? “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

I enjoy a good, steamy story as much as the next gal. And the article did an excellent job of making the book sound intriguing.

However, I’ve also heard/read that it got its start as “Twilight” fan fiction. Since I couldn’t get through any of the “Twilight” books, that makes me leery.

Hold onto your rotten tomatoes, please, and save your breath. You’ll never change my mind about Bella and company.

But I will take your advice, writer friends, about “Fifty Shades of Grey.” What say you? Should I spend valuable free time reading it or give it (and its sequels) a miss?