Romance blogs

Fellow romance writer Donna Caubarreaux has created her own blog, called Romance Bloggers, which has a list of links to blogs by, you guessed it, other romance writers. So, if you're looking to find out what other romance writers are writing about, check out her site first.

If you are a romance writer and think Donna's name sounds familiar, that's because she runs the Contest Alert email list and keeps track of romance contests on her website Divas with Tiaras.

Hey, I think I'm caught up

I had several entries almost completed sitting in draft format that I finally got around to publishing. They're all dated a week ago, Sept. 22, because that's when I mostly wrote them.

But, I can't hold on to this feeling of accomplishment for very long, because in minutes I'm off to a Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) concert (lawn seats in Tinley Park with rain in the forcast), plus I still need to recap the Queensryche concert I went to a few weeks ago. Oh, and I have my nephew's "backwards" themed party coming up on Sunday. All are fodder for the blog.

I'm signing off with an iTunes selection for the day in honor of Roger Waters and his Dark Side of the Moon Tour: Eclipse.

'How you coming on that novel you've been working on?'

Since I was poking around YouTube, I had to search for two of my favorite clips from "Family Guy". Maybe I like them because they strike so close to home. Or perhaps it's Stewie's voice. Either way, they crack me up.

Stewie Novel Part 1



Stewie Novel Part 2

The Muppet Matrix

Three students combine two of my favorite fictional universes. Watch this or go to You Tube:

Confessions of a WOW addict

WOW: That's World of Warcraft for the uninitiated. One of those massively multiplayer computer games that teenagers and computer geek recluses like to play. Think virtual-world, Dungeon-and-Dragons-type universe.

Speaking of Dungeons and Dragons, I might as well confess that I played that, too, in high school and college. And I like Star Trek, and I like Star Wars, and I work in the computer industry.

Does that make me a geek?

No, I don't think so.

I think that what will make me a geek is this: a photo of my player in World of Warcraft. Posting this makes me a geek. Merely playing the game is normal. Millions of people do it around the world.

And it does become an addiction. Hours spent on the computer. If I can kill just one more rabid thistle bear, I'll complete the quest and go up a level. Oh, but then I have to take my character to get her armor fixed, and train her in new hunting skills, and feed her pet moonrake giant cat, and, and, and... oohh, a new spell! How does it work? Let's go try it out on another rabid thistle bear, and maybe I'll "discover" a new territory and get some experience, and pick up some more quests and, and, and...

It's like reading a good book that doesn't have an ending. Until eventually your character reaches 60th level and there's not a lot left in the game to keep you entertained, so then you start a new character of a different race in a different part of the virtual world and, and, and...

And that is why they call of World of War"crack".

P.S. And anyone looking for me online, that's Lasair on Thrall. (Lasair, gaelic for flame, also a name used by a character in Prairie Fire.)

Crazy dogs

I did something today that I've tried to avoid. I took both dogs to the vet's office at once. By myself.

It was time for Loki's annual checkup, plus Thor needed a booster of something. I'm sure the vet's office has seen much crazier dogs, but to me, they were in prime form. When you've got a 90-pound, incredibly strong dog pulling you, whining and crying that she wants to leave -- NOW -- and a 70-pound scardy-dog blindly following the other, it gets a little frustrating.

I sighed with relief when we got into the exam room where I could remove their leashes, take off my jacket, put down the keys, sit in a chair, and do my best to communicate through body language that we weren't leaving and they should settle down. It kind of worked. Loki continued to verbalize and pace. Thor, the scardy-dog, did his shadowmeld against the wall, when he wasn't giving himself away being silly with his sister.

Anyway, Loki made it through her exam, four shots and blood sample drawn, with a few reassuring licks/kisses on the face from her little brother and a lot of manhandling/coaxing from me.

Then it was Thor's turn to get up on the exam platform, have his temperature taken and get his shot. The funny thing was, and I'm not sure if it was because he got to watch the vet go through this routine with Loki or if he was just feeling braver with Loki around, but he very easily submitted to his exam, even seeming to not mind when the vet petted him.

"I think this is the most -- forgive the word -- normal I've ever seen Thor act," the vet said.

"No offense," I assured her. "Normal is a good word."

In the end, it turned out that our confident dog ended up being the hyper dork, and the wussy dog ended up acting almost calm and rational.

Celebrity endorsements

Twice within twenty-four hours I've pondered the topic of celebrity endorsements with restaurant owners. It's not something I usually do, so the conversations stand out in my mind.

Last night I ate dinner with Wook at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Abashiri. It's a little place in a strip mall in Bloomingdale with a nice atmosphere and excellent sushi. I admit, I've only appreciated sushi-style food for a few years, and I'm by no means a connoisseur, but this food is mouth-watering, and not limited to your average California rolls. (Yum, baked lobster rolls...)

Dave and I knew from the get-go that we really liked this place, and fretted when they didn't seem to have much business. (Of course, we want just enough traffic to keep it thriving, but we don't want to wait to be seated.) We've taken friends there (people much more experienced with sushi-style food), and they all claim this is some of the best they've eaten. Plus it passed the test of any good ethnic restaurant -- people of that ethnicity actually eat there.

OK, so I've established that we've got a nice little restaurant.

Anyway, last night it became apparent that word was getting out about this place. It started with the poster announcing the sale of Boyz II Men tickets for a concert tonight in the northern suburbs. Boyz II Men? What's the connection, we wondered. It turns out, a customer was going to bring in the band to eat before or after the show. OK. Not a huge band, but we could see how the restaurant owners might get excited. Then we noticed the couple posters of PGA players with the accompanying signed, dedicated autographs. Apparently, a few players ate there during the PGA Championship last month at Medinah. Understandable, since Medinah is just a few miles down the road. And then the owner, very polite but very excited, said a customer was going to bring in another celebrity to eat next month, even more well-known. Who knows, it might be a lot of talk on the customer's part, but I'll be looking for more signed photographs in the coming weeks.

Today I was at another favorite restaurant, Camille's in Rosemont. Camille's is a gourmet sandwich shop with a great atmosphere for a restaurant that doesn't offer table service. The food options are healthy and delicious (Quesadilla wrap, Thanksgiving Everyday soup, Lobster bisque...)

Out of the blue, while talking with the owner, he started telling me that he needed to get a photo of the Rockettes next time they were in the restaurant. He said that the last time they were in town, many of them ate at the restaurant regularly, but nobody would believe him without a photo. That led to conversation about other celebrities that apparently make Camille's a regular stop when they come through the nearby Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont Theater or Allstate Arena. His complaint, though, was that celebrities seem to charge about $75 for a signed, personalize photo. But he didn't want a slick publicity photo, he wanted them actually eating in the restaurant.

I've wondered how some restaurants got their vast collections of signed, celebrity photos. I guess, now I know.

OK, so I've given away two of my favorite restaurants. You're promised to secrecy. I don't want word getting out. I love these places, but I'd hate to wait for a table.

A shot in the arm at Windy City

Autumn is here. Time to get cracking on the writing again. Time to get back to my writers group meetings.

I hadn't been to a Windy City RWA meeting since about April. I was just too busy (probably taking acting and painting classes...) and not feeling the need.

So I resolved to get my rear over there last Wednesday night. I was interested in the topic -- promoting yourself before and after selling your novel. It would be good for me, even if I could guess at what might be applicable to me at this stage of my career: get your name out there, have a web site, volunteer, be active and visible, network. And the advice for post-sale would be good to know in advance.

The topic was good, informative, with lots of tidbits to tuck away for future reference, but I can't say that it was the shot in the arm that I needed. Nope. The shot in the arm came after to meeting. The shot in the arm was the people.

First, it was Chris Foutris giving me a hearty hello and it's great to see you again.

Then it was talking with Teresa McCarthy, who was doing a signing of her books. We've talked maybe once or twice over the years, nothing that I thought should be particularly memorable. But, she remembered my name, she remembered that I was writing paranormal, and she was excited for me.

Then it was reconnecting with the other members, Cathie Linz, Dyanne Davis, Melody Thomas, Denise Swanson, Elysa Hendricks and everyone else. It was the sincere enthusiasm, the comeraderie...

I've been a member of Windy City for so long. More than a decade, I hate to confess. Sometimes I go to these meetings, do my time and leave. But those times when I really connect with other writers, ahh... that's energizing. That's why I need to keep coming back.

I'm looking forward to next month's meeting. Luisa Buehler talking about "Listen to the Bones: Cemetery Tales." A good topic for October.

The sun will come out tomorrow

That's what the weather forecast says. We're on a fourth day of straight ran. Lots of rain. Plus cool weather.

But tomorrow it's supposed to be 74 and mostly sunny. Summer hasn't officially ended yet!

The upside of all the rain is that everything is so gorgeously green outside. Downside? Lots of grass to mow.

Since I'm grumbling about the weather, it seems like an appropriate spot to mention that I got a rejection letter on Prairie Fire. "Although I found your story interesting, after careful consideration, I have decided to pass on this project."

This is where I remind myself that rejections are part of the business. Just one person's business decision. There are many, many agents and editors out there still to query. I've just got to keep sending it out. Make that manuscript work for me.

And keep working on the next project.

Is it 74 and mostly sunny out yet?

Perceiving God's personality

I was reading a good, old-fashioned, hard-copy version of a newspaper at lunch the other day, and saw an interesting article about how Americans view god. I had to look up the story online, and that led me to several newspaper sites that took different angles on the story, all equally as fascinating to me.

The Times of London took this slant: America is revealed as one nation under four faces of God. (Click on the article link for an interesting graphic that goes with the story.) To excerpt from the article:

It found that Americans hold four different images of God - Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical or Distant - and these views are far more powerful indicators about their political, social and moral attitudes than any of the traditional categories such as Protestant, Catholic or Evangelical. ...

The American survey, conducted by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion in Texas, broke new ground in asking respondents how they viewed God's personality.

Researchers found that Americans hold four distinct views, and these "Four Gods" are remarkably accurate diviners of how an American thinks about everything from politics, abortion, taxation and marriage. "You learn more about people's moral and political behaviour if you know their image of God than almost any other measure," said Christopher Bader, one of the researchers. ...

"This is a very powerful tool to understand core differences in the United States," said Paul Froese, a professor at Baylor. "If I know your image of God, I can tell all kind of things about you. It's a central part of your world view."

The San Jose Mercury News, with an Associated Press story, took this angle: Poll surveys Americans' faith: Nearly 90 Percent Have Religious Ties; Others Believe in Higher Power. To excerpt:

Researchers found that 10.8 percent of Americans have no ties to a congregation, denomination or faith group. Previous surveys had put that figure at 14 percent, overlooking about 10 million people involved in some form of organized religion, the Baylor report said.

Other surveys also have overlooked millions of evangelicals, because respondents who belonged to non-denominational groups or megachurches would often report that they had no denomination and were wrongly counted as unaffiliated, the study's authors say.

Baylor researchers found that one-third of Americans are evangelical Protestant, just under one-quarter are mainline Protestant, one-fifth are Roman Catholic and 5 percent are black Protestant. Jews comprise 2.5 percent of the population, while 5 percent of Americans belong to other faiths.

The rest, who are not involved in religious groups, are not fully secular, researchers said. More than 60 percent of the unaffiliated say they believe in God or a higher power, and nearly one-third say they pray at least occasionally. Eleven percent believe Jesus is the son of God.

The Christian Science Monitor ran this Washington Post article: Religious Americans defy labels: Evangelical? Mainline? Many Americans, a new study shows, define their beliefs in less traditional ways. (Click on the article link for an interesting graphic that goes with the story.) To excerpt:

The finding reflects the new challenges involved in trying to categorize religiosity in America, where people increasingly blend religions, church-shop, and worship in independent communities. Classic labels such as mainline, evangelical, and unaffiliated no longer have the same meaning. ...

Scholars are starting to ask different questions they find more predictive: Does your pastor talk about religion? Have you had a born-again experience? If you are Catholic, are you traditional, or cultural?

Scholars have been saying for some time that the relevance of denomination is slipping. But the Baylor survey, which asks about subjects including how people perceive God's nature and what people pray about, adds to a hot debate about what that means. It reveals the complex ways Americans describe their religiosity, and the minefield for today's scholars in trying to measure it. Is someone religious if they go to church? If they believe in God? What if they do one but not the other?

Religion has been such a big issue in the past few elections in this country. I suspect that many Americans, not just me, have been trying to reconcile how their views of god and religion fit in with the view of god and religion presented by the current president and others in power. This study seems to provide a vocabulary to explore those differences.

The fiction writer in me also likes the framework it sets for creating believeable characters with believable world views.

Kitty by The Presidents of the USA

Today's iPod selection: Kitty by The Presidents of the USA.

Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty touch it!

Once that's in your head, just try to get rid of it.

Kitty on iTunes (will launch your iTunes software and look up the song in the music store)

Things that go beep in the night

I've mentioned my neurotic dog Thor before. The little guy has so many insecurities that he so bravely tries to overcome, sometimes it's hard not to laugh (or strangle him).

Take Saturday night for example -- or really, Sunday morning. Extremely early Sunday morning.

12:30 a.m.: Lights out. Dogs are safely tucked into their beds alongside our bed. (Yes, they do really sleep on their own dog beds.)

4 a.m.: Stir to the feeling of someone lightly jumping onto the bed. The dog is light on its feet -- it must be Thor. He curls up near our feet. Is it storming out? Thor is usually afraid of thunder storms. (Brilliant choice, naming our scardy-dog after a thunder god -- gives him a lot to aspire to.) Don't hear anything. Decide to humor Thor. Let him stay.

4:10 a.m.: Thor is laying on my feet. I wake up even more. Still no evidence of a thunder storm. Is someone breaking into the house? No. He and Loki would definitely bark at that. Loki seems undisturbed. Try to fall back asleep.

4:20 a.m.: Thor has his whole body pressed against mine. Really starting to wonder what's happening. Still try to sleep, though.

4:30 a.m.: One of us thinks we hear a quiet beep from downstairs. Is that a smoke detector? Thor sits on Dave's chest. Thor's panting shakes the whole bed. We laugh. I get up and take the dogs outside. I walk through the house looking for sources of this seemingly random beeping. Basement? Laundry room? Any of the half-dozen or so smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors in the house? No luck.

4:45 a.m.: Go back to bed. Dogs both settle back into their own beds. Fall asleep.

4:50 a.m.: Thor jumps back onto the bed. He will not listen to commands to get off. Lays by feet.

5 a.m.: Hear beep from downstairs. Thor sits on Dave's chest again. Dave extricates himself and convinces Thor to lay down. We try to ignore the shaking of the bed as Thor pants. I tell Dave that this is the price he pays for being bigger and stronger -- Thor turns to him as the ultimate protector.

5:10 a.m.: Hear another beep from downstairs. Thor sits on Dave's chest again.

5:30 a.m.: Dave gets aggravated. Goes through house disconnecting all smoke detectors and carbon-monoxide detectors (except for those in the bedroom). Each lets off a little dying beep as its source of power is disconnected. I pray nothing catches fire. Dave prays for a few hours of sleep.

6 a.m.: We still haven't fallen asleep. Thor will not get off the bed and is panting heavily. He wants to lay on Dave. Dave, in frustration, grabs an extra comforter and lays on the floor. Mumbles something about getting kicked out of bed by a neurotic dog. Thor stays on the bed but starts to settle down. Is that light coming in through the blinds?

7 a.m.: Dave crawls back into the bed. Thor goes to his bed. At last -- some rest.

But that's not all.

The next afternoon, each and every detector in the house gets a new battery. Each beeps as it comes back to life. Both dogs cower like we're beating them. Yes, it hurts our ears, too. Yes, we know you have more sensitive ears. We're sorry. We don't want any of us to catch fire. Here, have a bone to forget your anxiety.

12:30 a.m.: Lights out. Go to sleep.

3:30 a.m.: Stir to the feel of Thor jumping on the bed. He lays near my feet. The random beeping again? I see a flash of lightning through the window. No, it's a thunder storm. I groan and throw a pillow over my head.

3:45 a.m.: Thor gets off my legs and sits on Dave. We grumble, laugh, grumble, try to convince Thor to get off the bed. He's gone deaf and will have none of it.

4:30 a.m.: I wake to the sound of Dave telling Thor that the storm has passed and to get off the bed. Thor easily complies. We all go back to sleep.

Ugh. I'll bet you know what Dave and I are praying for tonight -- no thunder storms and no beeping smoke detectors! But the way the last few nights have gone, one of our neighbors will instead decide to set off 2 a.m. fireworks. As I'm sure you can guess, Thor loves fireworks, too.

The store that shall not be named

Dave and I spent Saturday at Woodfield Mall purchasing some well-needed new fall clothes. We went into a lot of stores, but we managed to avoid the one that I'm determined to avoid. You know what I'm talking about: that chain that took over Marshall Field's and stripped it of its name.

Saturday was the first day the big opening of the renamed former Marshall Field's stores. The Tribune says the opening seemed to go well for the giant New York brand. Yet, I've talked to a lot of people who are still bitter about losing a Chicago icon like Marshall Field's. Does that mean that the stores under the new name won't do well? Probably not.

A lot of people will shop there out of curiosity, and probably enjoy it, too.

Me? I'm not feeling so curious. I've shopped there in other cities. They don't offer anything that other major department stores can't offer, and there are plenty of others to choose from.

So, I'll continue my boycott, knowing that I'm probably not hurting the retailing giant, just making myself feel better. Who knows, come the next decade, you might even find me browsing there. In the mean time, you're more likely to find me at Walmart.

P.S. Anyone know of any other stores in the Chicago area that carry Joseph Schmidt chocolates? Field's Marketplace was always my local supplier. Perhaps I'll order them direct.

BBQ pictures

I mentioned a few days ago that we had an end-of-summer barbecue last weekend. My sister sent me some photos that she took.

Here are Dave and Hilly playing the beanbag-toss game, cornhole. One of the kids managed to get a beanbag over the fence, and Dave had to help her resuce it from the neighbor's yard.

Loki and Thor chill out at the party. Loki just sucks up all the adoration, while Thor goes into nervous-nelly mode.

A few random shots of party mingling.

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica

Today's iPod selection: Nothing Else Matters by Metallica.

This one has been in my head for several days. I confess that I even looked up the karaoke version on iTunes. Somewhat difficult to sing, though, and I fear that a woman singing any Metallica would be a sacrilege.

As someone else pointed out online about this song, it's pretty much Metallica's only straight-up love song, and they never once use the word love.

Distracted by my day job

Busy, busy, busy at work with a project that's consumed way too many of my waking hours away from the office. Blogging has suffered, but not nearly as much as my writing and various other personal interests. Where does the time go?

Since I last wrote, I've bought a new washer and dryer (oh, the excitement!), won a few bucks playing Texas Holdem' with friends (patience and slow play really do pay off), watched a few movies (one predictable and one painful), read a friend's completed screenplay (Wow! Can't wait to see it produced!), barbecued with friends (couldn't ask for better weather), and played a vigorous round of Spoons while listening to Cheap Trick perform.

To go into greater detail on a few things:

• Our dryer up and died one day. After debating if it was fixable, and realizing that it was probably vintage to the house, we decided to treat ourselves to the luxury of a new Whirpool Duet front-loading washer and dryer. Have you ever seen adults gathered around a washing machine in fascination as it performs its mundane task?
  

• Went out with a girlfriend to watch The Illusionist, and was disappointed that I pretty much saw all the plot twists. Mid-way through I kept thinking: God, I hope it ends this way. But, God, I'll also be disappointed if it does, because it's predictable.
  

• Joined Netflix and rented the original version of The Wicker Man. If you ask me why, it's because it sounded interesting from a novel research perspective: set in the Western Isles of Scotland, involves pagan worship and fire sacrifice. What we discovered is that it contains everything that is painful about 1970s movies. The music and dancing are scarred on my psyche.
  
  I was intrigued, though, as to how they would update this movie for today. Then I read the reviews of the remake that come out last weekend and that intrigue quickly died. The Variety review made me laughed: "Yet another needless 're-imagining' of a '70s cult fave that, truth to tell, is better remembered than actually viewed, Neil LaBute's folly follows the basic plot outline of the 1974 Brit horror opus of the same title."
  

• Had incredible weather this Labor Day weekend. Saturday we had a barbecue at our house -- about 30 people total -- and I couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Sunny and in the 70s. Perfect. That weather continued on Sunday, when we went to Ravinia Festival to see Cheap Trick. We sat in the lawn, perfectly comfortable, drank wine and played cards by candlelight.
  
  We started out trying to play Gin, but realized we needed a much more simple game. So, out came the spoons, and we taught our friends the simple, but surprisingly competitive game. The first few rounds, we could tell they were thinking "That's it? That's all there is to the game?" but as more rounds went by, they got into the spirit. By the end, in true Spoons form, blood had been drawn.
  

With that basic review out of the way, what's coming up in the next several weeks? A few concerts (Queensryche and Roger Waters), a few birthdays (family and friends) and a few anniversaries (including mine). Need to come up with a new class to take. JC said she'd take one with me. We'll work on it.