From the Kitchen Counter…

View from the front porch:

 (Decided to post this photo instead of the big, fat, juicy Rattlesnake that slithered within 3’ of me on the front porch this morning while I was out watering my flower pots!  Still skittish!)

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (but wide awake now!)

Okay, I was wrong!!  I stand certifiably corrected and owe anyone with a Y chromosome a complete apology. So without further a dui…I’m sorry, I humbly offer my sincerest apologies for under estimating the male gender.

In a recent blog, I’d written about the special bonds between girlfriends – more specifically – the way in which women communicate with one another.  I’d said something to the effect that Read the rest of this entry »

View from the front porch:

 Mood Reading:  ZZZZ’s (must have been pooped!)

OKAY! I admit it, I lost my Mojo for 2 weeks there.  I think I left it in the same place where I usually misplace my glasses and keys.  I tried to find it on several occasions but was interrupted by a hectic trip to Oregon with the hubby (chasing pole vaulters around at the Prefontaine Classic track meet) and then upon return home, just plain couldn’t remember where I put it. Read the rest of this entry »

View from my kitchen counter:

Mood Reading: ZZZ’S (End of a great holiday weekend with old friends!)

Just getting home from a terrific holiday weekend with an old friend I haven’t seen in a while.  Even though it rained (and even snowed), we hardly noticed the weather. The rigors of our verbal calisthenics kept us plenty warm.  It’s always a lovely thing to rekindle a special friendship that has withstood the time and miles apart – like rediscovering a favorite treasure you stashed away for safekeeping in the depths of your garage – a bit dusty perhaps, but when you brush it off and hold it up to the light, still in tact, exactly as you remember, and a delightful, tangible reminder of why you’ve saved it all these years in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »

View from Broadway:

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (amazing what a good night’s sleep will do – got up and took a 3 mile walk this morning!)

So… on my adventure in the big apple, I managed to make it through the airport and to my hotel unscathed, meet with my literary agent the following day for a 2-hour lunch, and negotiate the subway system (and the surly ticket agent thereof) with minimal collateral damage…so far, so good. Read the rest of this entry »

View from Staten Island Ferry:

Mood Reading:  ZZZZ’s : (Unlike the night before when I stayed up and got sucked in again to a new season of *Bachelorette , last night I stayed up just long enough to see Catherine and Mark saved on *DWTS and went to bed happy!  In case you’re wondering, I do have standards — I refuse to watch **The Real Housewives of anything.)

* Trash TV – an irresistible indulgence up there with chocolate and good Port.

After lunch with my literary agent near the corner of Madison Avenue and 26^th Street, I wandered around New York City’s Flat-Iron district before taking the subway back “Uptown”, closer to my hotel in Manhattan.  I just don’t understand the layout of NYC in the first place.  To me, it seems illogical. Read the rest of this entry »

View from Madison Square Park:

Mood Reading:  ZZZZ’s (worked all day in the yard yesterday and slept like a rock!)

Before I get to the second day of my visit to New York City and the meeting with my literary agent – I will apologize once again for not getting this out sooner. This week the weather has been just too gorgeous and the dirt was calling to me.  It seemed every time I sat down at the kitchen counter to write something I’d think, “oh — just one more petunia to plant” or “maybe I’ll just get that one little patch weeded.”  Finally, I realized nothing was going to get written until my weeding was done and the flowers were in (call me OCD, but it’s a thing I have about getting the pots planted before mid-May…as if anyone other than the deer and me notices anyway!) Read the rest of this entry »

View from my hotel in New York City: 

Mood Reading: ZZZZ’s (First night back in my own bed and slept pretty darned good!)

Though I meant to blog during my trip to New York City (for meetings with my literary agent and editor) I was somewhat surprised to find that New York has no more hours in the day than we do out in Nevada.  With all the monuments, tourist sites, art, culture, television and print media, national commerce and international trade that is epi-centered in the big apple, ya think someone would have made some allowances when the idea for different continental time zones was hatched… at least an extra couple of hours or three in the average New York day would be nice!  So, what’s a westerner to do?  Faced with this unanticipated time restriction, I had to make a critical choice: Read the rest of this entry »

View from Reno Tahoe International Airport:

(6:00 AM this morning – AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!)

Mood Reading: ZZ’s (4 am alarm came awfully early)

So I hustled myself out of bed this morning at an ungodly hour – went through an abbreviated morning routine (no leisurely French pressed coffee for me, no-sir-eee), and hopped back into the car in which I seemed to have spent the better part of this weekend, for the 45 minute ride to the airport (special thank-you to my hubby who obliged driving duty!)  I’m writing this from the plane heading to New York City for meetings with my agent, my editor, and as many extra curricular activities as I can cram in.  (Perhaps even an encore performance at Bergdorf-Goodman!) Read the rest of this entry »

I know I’ve been uncharacteristically quiet this week and indeed, this post will be a quick one as well.  Lots going on – on the calendar and in my noggin!

My editor sent me a batch of new chapters at the beginning of the week and we had a long phone discussion about them.  I hung up totally energized and inspired by her suggestions and couldn’t wait to get to work.  (I love it when she throws me crumb and I can just run with it – hopefully not straight into a block wall!) Read the rest of this entry »