A UK Release

This came as a complete surprise. Stay for Christmas is being released in the UK in December 2007. I'll post the cover as soon as I can snag it off the Harlequin UK website.

Right now, I'm transitioning from my old desktop to a new laptop. Can't wait for the speed! The computer I'm using now is low on RAM and slow, slow, slow. Plus I'm worried about a hard drive crash. It's seen almost four years of hard use, plus it's time for something I can pack along on trips.

That need became clear this past month when I hopped a ride to L.A. with my husband. He had a business meeting, so I flew along and visited family. Great trip! I (almost) didn't mind the four-hour layover in Chicago Midway. While waiting (and waiting and waiting) I read Wild Rose by Ruth Axtell Morren. I love her stuff!

What I did mind was toting an eight-year-old Toshiba laptop through the airport. You know the first cell phones? The ones that looked like briefcases and weighed twenty pounds? By the time I got home, the Toshiba had put a dent in my shoulder.

It's good to be back!

What a Deadline Does . . .

I had to go to the DMV today. Anyone who lives in Northern VA knows that this is no small endeavor. It takes a minimum of an hour and today was no exception. Knowing I'd be awhile, I brought the AlphaSmart. As the clock ticked, I outlined the last four chapters of the next LIH. I was at the DMV for 93 minutes. At least 70 of them were productive writing time.

Next time I'm having trouble focusing on the story, I just might go back and sit there. I got a lot done . . . plus I took care of the problem with the registration. Two birds with one stone, as the saying goes : )

Mayhem & Miracles

It was that kind of day . . .

1. 8:30 a.m. I almost got run over by a fire truck. It came up fast. I didn't see it until it was in my mirror, honking like crazy and going much faster than fire trucks usually go. The street goes to an elementary school. I prayed for whoever needed the fire truck.

2. 8:45 a.m. I was stopped at a red light and just starting to pull forward when a bicyclist plowed into my car. I saw him fall in the rear view mirror. Thank God, he wasn't hurt. Scared the daylights out of me.

3. 10:42 a.m. My husband called me at work. We've been praying for a man with throat cancer. The docs told him he'd have to choose between being talking and eating normally. He chose talking. Surgery was today. No sign of the cancer. Praise God!

4. 2:43 p.m. My son needs a dentist in Cairo. One email message and I have a lead. What are the odds of that?

Tonight I'm headed to the Olive Garden for dinner with my Thursday night Bible study. I can't wait to hear what the Lord is doing in all our lives. He's awesome indeed!

There are times . . .

when life just runs away from me. It's been that kind of month. With both kids gone, I expected to have more time to write. I probably do, but it doesn't feel that way! I put in extra hours on the day job this month, that's part of it. There's also the fact my husband's painting the house a room at a time. It's just been one of those months.

Even so, I'm making progress on the second LIH. I also had a wonderful day with Washington Romance Writers, serving on a panel about historicals with Diane Gaston, Mary Blayney, Sally McKenzie and Tracy Anne Warren. Historicals are alive and well, though I've got to say . . . I was the only western writer in the room! I suspect it would have been different if we'd been in Texas!

Copy edits come next week for THE BOUNTY HUNTER'S BRIDE. I can't wait to see them! The cover's next...