I had depositions this afternoon that canceled at the last minute and was able to join some friends for painting, wine and shop talk. I never do this. I stay at the office and plug away. I was encouraged by my staff to run away and play (think they were trying to get rid of me so they could party, too?) Anyway, I had a ball and check out my painting:
So, I had a mad dash- more like a sprint- the last four days as I added 15,000 words to one of my manuscripts. I now have to make a decision about what to do next. I have a chapter and a half on the new WIP that I have been ignoring lately as I wrote two short stories and then this craziness of 15,000 words. I didn’t even leave the house the whole of last weekend as I worked like a little beaver on the additions. 
Now, I need to decide if I’m gonna start that new story about a dream lover inspired by www.heligan.com and the lost gardens there or if I’m going back to Surfer Bride. Or perhaps I need to work on edits on the short story I want to submit to www.storysouth.com since their deadline is approaching. Decisions, decisions.
That sums up my weekend. Determined to break the barrier between category romance and single title romance, I spent the weekend upping the word count on one of my manuscripts. Got 10,000 more in. Then the hormonal headche kicked in. OR did it? I did imbibe some red wine which we all know has tannins which can cause headaches. AND oh yeah, what about eye strain from looking at a computer screen for hours on end? That could have been the culprit there as well.
I made it through 9 of the 15 chapters and hope to edit two a night for the next three nights to get the word count up another 10,000. Wish me luck- Hopefully, I won’t collapse in a heap and burst a blood vessel in my eye. OR get carpal tunnel syndrome. The old wrist is aching from overuse already. But I gotta move onwards and upwards.
Went to see Letters to Juliet yesterday after work. I mostly wanted to see it because of the scenery of Italy. Love Italy. It was an ok movie. Not spectacular but a nice escape. The best part of the whole thing was the inimitable Vanessa Redgrave and her real life husband, Franco Nero. Their true love for each other shone through. It was lovely to see the way they look at each other, even after being together for so many years.
Poor Vanessa Redgrave has had such a hard year- first her daughter, Natasha, died and just recently she lost both her brother and sister. It did my heart good to see that she has a man beside her that clearly adores her. I’m sure he’s helping her though all her pain.
The younger male lead, Chris Egan, was a bit reminiscent of Heath Ledger- not in body type but in some of his facial expressions. He is Australian, too. Hope to see him in more.
Amanda Seyfried did a nice job. One thing that annoyed me though, was the director’s insistence in showing her in close up, over and over, with a soulful look on her face. Once was enough, already.
So, overall, I recommend this one. Enjoy for a quick escape.
So, yesterday, Deb Werkman had an on-line pitches here: http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/
I pitched Runaway with the idea that she’d give me some feedback on the pitch. Well, imagine my shock when she said she wanted the full!. She said my voice was shining through. She also said she had some concerns with the story which she would address when she saw the full. So, had a moment of panic because I need to polish it some more. I wanted to amp up some parts of it- make the romance more “romantic” as it were.
The weekend is now mapped out for me- gonna get this puppy ready to send! Good thing the boy went back to college yesterday and the other son is gonna be in his room with his guitars. Spouse is going fishing so it looks like Dell and I have weekend plans now! 
Martha Grimes is my absolute favorite writer and has been since the 1980s. I adore her stories about Richard Jury and Melrose Plant. She’s so witty and clever. The characters are so real and fun. All the books are named for pubs.
I own all of the books she’s ever published. She has others besides the Jury series. They are excellent as well. Search on Amazon and order some. You won’t regret it.
Her latest book is called The Black Cat. I started it last night and so far, it is as good as the rest. This one is autographed. As most of you know, my son is in architecture school in Ft. Lauderdale. There is a cool book store in Delray, Fla (just up the road from him) called Murder on the Beach. Martha made an appearance there last month on her book tour and my son went and listened to her talk and got me the book. What a great son! I sure wish I could have been there.
Anyway, I highly recommend this series. I think The Black Cat is #22.
Woke up this moring with the premise of a story I plan to submit to an anthology about Dream Lovers. Here’s the place that inspired me. Check out the lovely gardens. Can’t you imagine a dream lover here?
Submitted it today. Got email today from editor. She said, “your story is a charmer and is definitely in the anthology, Free Range Fairy Tales.”
She’ll be sending the contract. YEAH!
Is finished and submitted to Whortleberry Press for their newest collection of stories called Free Range Fairy Tales. This should be a really cute set of stories. I know I had a blast writing mine- 
Had a goal to get 500 words done on the new short story last night and got very close to 3000 done. Not really happy with the ending so I have to work on tweaking that. Have the whole thing done (since it must be under 4000 words)- just need to edit and play with the end. I’ll send it to Whortleberry Press, where I’ve been published twice before. This is a romance story again- Rated PG as that’s part of the guidelines for the anthology. This one is an anthology of “Free Range Fairy Tales.” Should be a fun group of stories. Reminiscent of the old “Fractured Fairy Tales” television show. Anyone besides me remember that show?
Ramblings of a Writer 