Image via Wikipedia Now 75K words into Castaway Dreams and I've barely started with the pirates! This could be my longest book to date!
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Image via Wikipedia Got a lovely phone call from a lady looking for a speaker for her organization. They'd be meeting in St. Augustine some time over the next couple months. I'm always up for a trip to St. Augustine to do a little research, and by the time this is scheduled it should be ideal weather for putting the top down on the convertible and calling it "work". I love my job!
Image via Wikipedia Today's the anniversary of the British burning Washington during the War of 1812. Could have been worse. And you have to admit, they did have a legitimate beef since we trashed York up in Canada. But Dolley Madison got to be a heroine, saving Gilbert Stuart's painting of George Washington. So here's a salute to you, Dolley, fashion leader, social lioness, and rescuer of national artifacts!
My webmaster is giving my home page a makeover. We talked about changes, but I still like the basic design, and I'm a great believer of not fixin' what ain't broke. We did talk about easing out some of the copy, having books open in separate windows and.... ....adding a teaser of info on my next release. Stay tuned for details!
Walkies! I was out with the demon dachshund this morning and had one of those amazing walks where the synapses in my brain started firing off plot points for my next novel. I carry a notepad and pen with me (and a baggie, of course) but what I really wanted to do was race home with a dog flying behind me like a wiener-dog shaped kite. Fortunately for her, she was not interested in dawdling today, so after we took care of business I got home in good shape to sit at the keyboard and make notes in the file titled "Hot Pirate". A good writing day off to a great start.
Image by gruntzooki via Flickr How I Spent My Summer Vacation Worldcon 2009, Anticipation in Montreal, Canada was a blast. I saw lots of old friends and made some new ones, ate and drank my way through fabulous restaurants, and had a splendid time. The con started for me with a glitch in my scheduled programming. Turned out I wasn't on the planned "Anatomy for Writers" program item, and as I learned that weekend there were lots of other writers/panelists in the same boat. The confusion over the program, however, did not detract from my enjoying myself. I did have two wonderful panels, "Ebooks from draft to finished product" and "Researching your world". Both were well attended and featured lively panelists from a variety of backgrounds. I took notes for myself, and enjoyed the give-and-take between the audience and the panelists. I was also glad I wasn't on more panels, because I was working on my Voice of Ghod script on Friday and Sunday. ...
Image via Wikipedia "Fifteen hundred dollars worth of coffee coming in duty free meant a tidy profit, whether it was Delerue-Sanders behind the smuggling or someone else. A simple plan, but one that worked all too well given the poor state of the Revenue Marine. The revenue cutters couldn't begin to cover all of the coast, not when the ships were spread thin with surveying, rescue operations, and winter cruising between Charleston and Key West. Underfunded, understaffed, looked down on by the regular navy, despised by the merchants who paid the tariffs, the Revenue Marine was no one's darling. Well, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, he'd loved his revenue cutters that brought money into the Treasury, but look what happened to him, Washburn thought. Irritate the wrong people and there you are, worm food." Smuggler's Bride , Darlene Marshall Today is the birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard , a branch of the service with a fascinating history. When I was researching...