I can't believe October is almost over.  I've been a bad blogger.  I haven't posted in almost a month.  But I've been working with a web designer to get a webpage up.  It's looking really good so far.  When it's up and running I'll post here.

Happy blogging!

Revisions are finished!  I sent the book to my critique group and then it's going out.  I want to mail it by Thursday.  Which means I can start work on the next book  I can't wait to work on this one.  As my critique group pointed out last weekend it's what I should be focusing on.  Suspense/thrillers just give you a freedom you don't have with writing romances.  Simon Says has no romance at all in it.  I don't have to censor my characters.  I can't wait to finish it and send it out to agents.  Now that Silk Secrets is going out soon I'm going to take my A List of agents I found and start submitting. 

I'm off to plan my week now.  I want to get as much done as possible.  I'm more motivated than ever to get published.  Can't say why here.  But I'm very motivated.

Happy blogging!

I want an agent.  I know I need one for some of the books I'm writing.  So, on Tuesday I started my agent search on-line at Agent Query.  I searched first for agents who are AAR members, were actively seeking new clients and handled romance and suspense/thrillers.  Later, I changed the search to include agents who aren't AAR members.  There are some pretty good ones who aren't members.  I now have a list of 25 agents to target for my mainstream suspense/thrillers.  The next step is getting the letters out the door.  But first I want to finish the revisions on Silk Secrets and get that mailed.  I want to have it mailed by September 30th.  Goal for the agent letters is to have them out by Halloween.

It's been a long time since I sent anything to an agent.  I'll try my top ten picks first and then whittle them down from there.  Agent Idol.  With any luck I'll have at least one ask to see the complete of Simon Says.

Time to get some sleep so I can actually be awake at work tomorrow. 

Happy blogging!

It's about time I got back to work.  Writing I mean.  I go to the other work every day.  Now that the Blaze entry is out the door I want to concentrate on a few other things.  Really focus on the writing and trying to get an agent for the mainstreams.  I won't sell them otherwise.  Of course I had to do the procrastination thing.  Cleaned my office.  I couldn't help it.  It was horrible.  Now it looks much better and I can actually see the floor.  I just have to clean the top of my desk.  But I'll do that later.

I need to blog more too.  And read email more frequently.  Right now I have in total 57604 unread messages.  I'll never read them all. 

I'm off to agent search and then write.

Happy blogging!

My entry, Nice and Naughty, for the Blaze contest has been officially postmarked and mailed!  I'm happy that it's gone.  And now I need to give myself another deadline so I can get started on the next book.

I finally have feeling in my left foot.  Still two toes on my right foot without feeling.  The price I pay for wearing shoes that matched my outfit.  It was nice actually dressing like a girl and being treated like one though.  I might do it again on Friday when Ian and I go see Tranpsorter 2.

Pictures from the Expo:

Me and the Storm Troopers and Darth Vader

Kevin and Darth Vader and Soon to be Darth Vader

The whole gang (except Gary - he took the picture).  The one on the end is Chad.

Gary and friends

Ian and Marina (From ST:TNG).  I didn't understand his need to see her until I saw her.  She looks pretty good.

Yesterday was awesome.  The convention is huge.  Tons of exhibitors.  I love science fiction and have wanted to go for years.  Every year something came up and I couldn't go.  This year I'm glad nothing took me away from the experience.  The convention (It's actually the Canadian National Expo) has celebrity guests of course.  The fans can come and meet their favourite stars, get pictures and autographs.  If they can afford it.  To get into the Expo is $20.00.  Then if you wanted to meet Elijah Wood you had to pay $79.00.  That included an autograph. What a bargain.  And that was the cheapest ticket for the afternoon with Elijah Wood.  Ian tells me this is common practice at these things.  I'm paying to get in.  And then I have to pay again if I want to meet them or hear them speak?  That's like buying a concert ticket that gets you into the stadium.  Then having to pay to actually hear the band perform.  Some of them also charge for autographs.  But if you meet them on the street you can get them to scribble on a piece of paper for free.

Something else I learned - the hard way - what type of shoes to wear.  This being my first Expo I of course wore what matched the outfit (the whole girly thing rearing it's ugly head).  They were comfortable for a while.  But after hours of being on my feet they started to hurt.  A lot.  The toes on my left foot have most of the feeling back.  The toes on the right, still no feeling. 

I want to thank Ian's friend Kevin for restoring my faith in men.  When we were done for the day we all decided to go to East Side Mario's for a drink.  It was raining, my feet were killing me so I was walking very slow.  Kevin came back and offered me his umbrella because I was getting wet.  It was the sweetest thing a guy has done for me in ages.

I live in a house with three cameras and none of them were working.  Not even the digital.  But Gary had his with him and took lots of pictures.  Tomorrow I'lll post pictures if Gary sends them. 

Happy blogging!

Tomorrow some friends from work and I are going to a SciFi convention at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  So, I've decided to take a new approach to going out.  Usually I run a brush through my hair, throw on whatever's clean, grab my sunglasses and I'm ready.  Friends (Christine) have pointed out that maybe if I want to one day leave Single Town, I might want to actually do some of the girly things most women do.  So now getting ready for this thing has turned into a two day event.  Had to buy something to wear.  I hate shopping, so I had nothing to wear unless I wanted to wear work clothes.  And who wants to wear business attire on the weekend?  Off to the mall and found a great top and pair of jeans.  I needed them anyway so I felt no guilt buying them.  Then of course I had to get a bra to go with the top.  One of those with the clear straps.  I also needed nail polish to match the top. Lucked out there.  I found one that matched perfectly.

Tonight I'm doing my nails.  Having my shower.  Straightening my hair.  Not that it will stay that way.  With the humidity it will start to curl again in no time.  But at least I'm making the effort.  And then tomorrow I will actually be putting on makeup.  The most makeup I wear is lipstick and I rarely do that.  But for the convention I will be going with eyeshadow, lipstick.  The works.  That means having to get up a lot earlier than I'd have to get up if I was just running a brush through my hair and throwing in a ponytail and putting on some lipstick.

Now, I have to get to bed.  Even though tomorrow is Saturday I have to get up at the same time I would if I was going to work.  Being a girl is too much work.  After this I might go back to the no makeup, run a brush through the hair morning.  That only takes twenty minutes and no preparation the night before.

Happy blogging!

Lots of people out there are using pen names for their writing.  I've noticed a number of writers setting up websites for the pseudonyms.  I've wanted to write for Harlequin since I started writing.  And way back when you had to use a pseudonym for them, I had one all picked out.  Then I didn't like it so I picked another one.  I've picked at least three or four over the years.  But then Harlequin changed that policy and I'm free to publish under my own name (when I sell to them).  Do I want to do that?  You bet I do.  It means I won't have to come up with a name I could get sick of but be stuck with for years, decades (hopefully).  What happens if I don't like the name anymore?  At least with my real name I've had it for 34 years so I'm used to it.  It's not what I would have picked for me but it's mine.

There are pros and cons for using a pen name just as there are for using your real name.  So why take a pen name?  More privacy.  You can keep the writing you separate from the you, you.  It could be better from a business perspective depending on how you manage things.  But I want to publish under my real name.  Lots of other authors do it.  I've already registered the website using my real name.  And how will my Grade 13 English teacher know it's me if I publish under a pseudonym.  Or my university English professor who wrote on an essay of mine once that I could not write.

So, how many out there are using or are going to use a pen name and why?  Who is going to use their real name and why?  I'm curious to see what reasons people have one way or the other.

Happy blogging!

I was dreading today.  Time to take the car in for its checkup.  That always ends up costing more than they originally tell me.  They always find soemthing.  But today, they only found a little thing.  Only cost me $100.00 more than I was anticiapting.  Bright side, I finally got served by the hottie that works there.  I always see him in the back but today he was up front when I brought in my car. 

On the way home I had to stop at the grocery store to get cat food. Four cats go through a lot of food.  And I discovered my new favourite potato chip.  Miss Vickie's Honey and Roasted Garlic.  They are so good.  By the time I got home I'd eaten almost the entire bag.  They're taking the place of my previous favourite - Lime and Black Pepper. 

So now, I should probably go have some fruit.  I feel guilty eating so much junk food.  Tomorrow I'll finish the bag of chips.

Happy blogging!