Friday, April 29, 2011

Another speaking engagement and mini-vans are cool!

My daughter, Kelly, is driving Lisa and me in her silver mini-van to Los Angeles to the LA TIMES Festival of Books where Lisa is speaking on a panel.  Kelly gets a lot of grief for that vehicle by those who do not understand the mini-van's cosmic power.  I decided to incorporate a scene into one of my books that depicted the mini-van in a positive light. 
It was one of those planned southern California residential areas that blew in during the late 70's as if by the Santa Ana winds, rife with cul-de-sacs, stucco-siding, community pools and 2.5 children.  He told himself he didn't want any of it.  He was looking for something more.  Even when he first saw her standing beside the silver mini-van with its vanity plate that read: LVNTHEDRM he still didn't get it.  She pulled out the remote and touched the button with a lacquered nail and with a soft whirrr the side door slid back seamlessly.  He could smell stale apple juice and the remnants of a Happy Meal and saw two carseats with cup holders and a safety rating that was off the charts.  He looked at her through dazed eyes as she stood with her arms crossed, leaned against the van and dashed his burgeoning vision in one fell swoop by stating coolly, "It's the Lexus we put on Craig's List.  The mini-van's not for sale."



Okay, it needs some work, but you get the drift.  Anyway, we're on our way as soon as Kelly undrapes herself from her car and gets behind the wheel.  Lisa's panel is at one p.m. tomorrow and its title is: Mystery, A Question of Character.  Come by and see her if you're in the area.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

To e or not to e, that is the question.

I am one of those people who resisted e-readers.  Kindles, Nooks, i-Pads, whatever. . .I was in the camp of those who love to hold a real book, to smell it, to be in a library and be part of that whole book experience.  I kind of thought e-readers were encroaching on my world.  I got a Nook for Christmas last year and it took me till April to take it out of its box.

Okay.  So, I can also eat my words faster than Ms. Pacman can gobble up a string of white dots.  I opened up the Nook and started downloading books almost immediately.  I went out and bought myself a Kindle to compare and downloaded some books on it, too.  I thought about getting an i-Pad but they were out of my price range.  (Besides, my daughter has an i-Pad and it's in color so her nearly four-year-old daughter, Sydney, loves the interactive books with color and sound and song, so I get what it's about.  I wanted to rip it from Sydney's hands and try it out, but she was resistant.  I do think old age and treachery can win out over youth and inexperience though, so I'm saving the "Hand it over or it's early bedtime" for another time.)

Anyway, I've compared the Kindle and the Nook.  They're really just personal preference, as far as I can tell.  I'm leaning toward the Kindle at the moment, but I struggle with the fact that it's not a touch screen.  It warned me it wasn't, but I'm apparently a slow learner; the Nook has an extra tiny screen at the bottom that is a touch screen and shows the covers in color, a feature the Kindle doesn't have.  But my Kindle's sleeker and lighter than the Nook which is what I'm going for at the moment.  I'm still struggling with the touch screen thing, though.  I suppose it's because my phone and my ATM both have touch screens and it just seems like it oughtta work that way.  Not that I can work my phone any better, or that the ATM gives me what I want for other reasons.

I just downloaded Lisa Jackson's WILD AND WICKED because it was $2.99 and a bargain!  It's a medieval romance and one of hers that I haven't read yet.  Can't wait.  I might really be getting into this e-book thing.

Friday, April 22, 2011

So, I am at the beach. . .

My sister and I decided to go to the beach for an intense writing session.  So far, we have spent a lot of time watching TV, eating meals that are chock full of far more calories than we need, cruising around on the Internet checking out other blogs, wondering if now's the time to start that exercise regimen, deciding against it, taking a walk on the beach instead, cracking each other up over typos we can't seem to stop making (ever noticed how the "k" and the "d" keys are for the same finger, different hands.  Played havoc with my kick-off party. . .) and generally using up valuable writing time hanging out together.  That said, I'm making headway on my latest thriller and so is Lisa.  How, you may ask.  Not sure. . .something about a time/space continuum thing, maybe.  BUT. . .we are working.  Please note we took a break to take this picture for publicity purposes only, not because we were enjoying surprisingly nice April weather on the Oregon coast.

Question: Beach Makeup?  Answer: Sunglasses.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Is Jane Kelly Alive and Kicking?

Thank you Jane Kelly fans out there! I love Jane, too!
And Dwayne, and The Binkster!

I plan to continue their adventures as soon as humanly possible. But right now I am having a blast writing romantic suspense/thrillers with my sister and on my own.

WICKED GAME written with Lisa Jackson (my sister) started the story of The Colony. It's being re-released in May 2011 in anticipation of its sequel - WICKED LIES which will be out May 31, 2011.

My New Year's resolution was to be better at updating my fans and well...it took me till April, but hey, I'm doin' it.

My next thriller HUSH debuts in July 2011 and I'll reveal some of its secrets next time.

NB