Thursday Thoughts

I freakin' LOVE the Internet. If I'd had to go to a library to research everything I looked at yesterday, I'd still be there. As it is, I can get diagrams and maps, ethnic names and their meanings, a recipe for damn near anything, along with the name of those nifty little clips that rock climbers use--not to mention the hand signals used in dog training.

Why do I need to know all of these things? Well, when you find yourself writing about things you don't know firsthand or can't make up off the top of your head, you have to do some research. And whether you hate it or love it, Google is an incredible time-saver. Nora Roberts talks about the days when she used a manual typewriter and carbon paper, but I'd be willing to bet that most writers would give up their word processors before they'd give up the wealth of information at their fingertips.

Nah. I don't want to give up either one, particularly since I'm a mediocre typist, or whatever it is you call people who do that these days. There are times when I can't spell a word correctly to save my life--or hit the right keys. I love my spellchecker and my grammar checker--although I find that little green squiggly line much easier to ignore than the red one. I love autocorrect, but only up to a point. My iTouch let me down when I went shopping for urad dal on Tuesday. Not having any idea what "urad" meant, my Touch corrected it to read "Yard dal." Needless to say, the guy at the international grocery had never heard of it and actually recommended the urad dal. Stupid me, I tried for something that seemed more familiar and wound up with Toor dal, which is perfectly good stuff, I'm sure, but not exactly what I was after.

I'm rambling again, and Budley is here with the teriyaki chicken, crab rangoons, and fried rice. At least I know what that is.

I'll be starting another goodie bag giveaway tomorrow. The paranormal bag has already been won, which leaves the bags that are predominately historical and contemporary . Be sure to stop in and post a comment for your chance to win!

Thursday Thoughts

I met with my critique partners Sandy James and Nan Reinhardt yesterday. It was so nice to see them and have the chance to talk and brainstorm in a relaxed atmosphere of Sandy's new house, which is quite lovely! I was having issues with the revisions to Unrivaled, and they helped confirm my reasons for changes I wanted to make to the story.

By the way...here's a first look at the cover!

Sure, we can discuss storylines in emails, but there's nothing quite like a face to face conversation--especially with other writers. I guess it's like any other occupation in that the people who understand your dilemmas best are those who also face them on a daily basis.

And yes, there was originally a hunk pic here. Sorry!

Thursday Thoughts

This trip was a lesson in why I should post blogs to go up the entire time I'm on vacation. Figuring I'd have good web access, I'd done a week's worth, but I was gone a lot longer than that, and I'm not even sure when I'll get home. I was supposed to visit my sisters this weekend, but we had to postpone it until the first weekend in May. I'm okay with that, actually. As a native Louisvillian, I really should be in Kentucky for the Derby. I miss getting the all-day Derby coverage, which was the best part for me--even more so than the race.

And here's the kicker! A lady came up to us while I was posting blogs and asked if Suzie and I were together. Stupid me, I said yes, and she handed me a card about a lesbian something or other. I'm like, "We're not together that way." Turns out she writes lesbian erotica. Suzie gave her one of my cards. You just never know what people will think when they see two women sitting together in McDonald's....