I was off for a five day weekend that started last Thursday.  It was nice to sleep in.  I’m a bit of a night owl.  I do much better when I go to bed around midnight and get up at eight or nine.  For the most part, I even got about eight hours every night but one.  So that was the good part.

On the other hand, I spent hours and hours of each of the five days working on polishing up A Real Husband.  I was trying to make sure it was the best it could be before I sent it in.  I had two requests for it.  One was for a very respected mid-sized publisher who requested the full after reviewing the first three chapters.  The other was for one of the major New York pubs.  The full was requested at the conference I attended recently.

The good news is, after 5 days of editing, I sent it off to both publishers on Tuesday.  The bad news?  After 5 days of editing, I’m wondering if I ever want to see that #$*&! book again.  LOL 

You may remember that back in the summer, I spent a couple of weeks editing and revising the same manuscript for a different publisher.  After revising and cutting about 50 pages for this publisher, I got the first round of edits back and was disappointed to discover they wanted to change the genre from historical romance to mainstream historical.  After all that work, I decided to end the contract.  I write historical romance, not mainstream.  Any future books would not be mainstream, so it just didn’t make any sense to change this one so drastically. 

But wouldn’t you know it?  The two publishers requesting to see A Real Husband both wanted the longer version.  Now I could have just sent them the old version.  I still had it saved, but I knew I’d made several improvements when I edited last summer.  I dropped tons of unnecessary dialog tags, eliminated some repetative wording, and basically improved the flow.  So of course, I wanted it to be the best it could be.  Right?  That’s why I spent 5 days in the the proverbial “writer’s cave.”  

Anyway, A Real Husband is now on its way to Florida and New York.  I doubt that I’ll hear back from either of those until after the first of the year.  Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

In the meantime, while waiting for the edits on How Faerie Dust Is Made I’ll be working on trying to finish the western.  And next month is NaNo month.  My CP and I are planning to try and finish that paranormal we started this time last year.  I can’t wait to work on that one again.  I’ve been itching to do some work on a paranormal.  Now if I can only get that western finished by the end of October.  LOL 

Nita   

I posted early this year (February, I think) about how 2007 had started out to be a year of “firsts” for me.  I’m 40 years old.  LOL  You’d think that list would be rather short.  But it gets longer and longer.

I had my first professional massage and professional pedicure this year.  I tasted sushi for the first time.  I went on my first cruise which took me to the Caribbean for the first time.  On the cruise I had escargot for the first time.  I also gambled in a casino for the first time.  Oh… Oh!  And I had my first Kiss on the Lips.    It’s a frozen mixed drink made with mango juice and peach schnapps.  Yum!  I also went snorkeling for the first time. 

I’m sure there were some other firsts on that cruise, but you get the idea.  LOL 

There’s now been another first.  I attended a political rally yesterday.  Don’t laugh.  Yes, I’ve always been very patriotic.  Yes, I’m concerned with politics.  I try to stay informed.  And I vote every time we have an election.  I believe it’s my responsibility to my children and future grandchildren.  It’s my duty.  And I believe that to ignore that duty is disrespectful to all those men and women who fought to give us the right to vote in the first place. 

But a political rally?  Me?  I’m not an activist.  And I’m definitely not what most people would think of as a fanatic.  However, my husband has been, shall we say ”very enthusiastic” about Ron Paul.  He likens Dr. Paul to a modern day George Washington.  Admittedly, Paul’s platform certainly does sound a lot like what our founding father’s might have said during their campaigns and speeches.  LOL

Anyway, I attended the rally which turned out to be Ron Paul’s largest attendance yet.  And it was one of, if not THE biggest rally so far this election season for ANY of the presidential candidates, democrat and republican alike.  There were almost 1500 people in attendance at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium.  That’s a capacity crowd and ushers actually turned people away!  Obviously, I’m not the only one who likes this guy’s message.   Compare that to the 30 or so people who showed up as some of the other candidate’s events.

I’m not going to say much more about politics here.  Although, if you haven’t heard of Dr. Paul, I would highly suggest you check him out.  If for no other reason than to tell your candidate of choice that they need to listen to some of the things he’s advocating.  LOL  That’s the thing about Ron Paul.  He has supporters from every party.  He’s running as a republican, but his fellow republicans are NOT happy with him for breaking ranks.   

How about this picture?

That’s my hubby with one of the more “colorful” supporters.  LOL  I thought it was kinda cool that the guy wanted to show his desire for our country to return to its original principles.   

So… Now I can say I’ve been to a political rally.  The year’s not over yet.  I wonder what other firsts are in store?  I’m definitely hoping that there are some “seconds” in 2008.  LOL  A cruise being tops on that list. 

What about you?  Any firsts?  Ever been to a political rally?  Are you an activist?  Fess up!

Nita

This past weekend, I went to the 25th Annual Moonlight & Magnolias Conference hosted by the Georgia Romance Writers.

It was sooooooo much fun!  I guess you really have to be a romance reader and writer to really appreciate the atmosphere at an event like that.  No one there sneers or laughs when you tell them you write romance. And when you talk “shop” their eyes don’t glaze over.  LOL 

I convinced an online friend to attend.  She’d never been to a conference before.  When it was over, she posted at the online group “Guess what. I’m not a freak!”    It really is awesome to be around so many other people who share your passion. 

I had an appointment with a well-known editor at a very large publishing house.  I was trying not to hyperventilate.  LOL  But it turned out great.    She asked me to submit my manuscript and said she “loved my title” and thought the book “sounds great.”  And for anyone reading this who’s not aware of the process, getting an editor to look at your manuscript is half the battle.  So needless to say, I’m very pleased with the request.

I took a few pictures I wanted to share.

This is (from left to right) Mary Alice, Heather, and me.  Mary Alice Pritchard is one my very best friends and she’s a great writer.  Heather is the one I convinced to attend the conference.  LOL  I’m so glad she did.  It was great to finally meet her in person and I know she had a good time.  We were waiting outside for the book fair and autographing to begin.  I got books signed by Kinley MacGregor (aka Sherrilyn Kenyon) and Linda Howard.

Linda Howard was the keynote speaker at the luncheon.  She’s a hoot.  And everyone very much enjoyed hearing her stories.  Here’s a great picture of Linda I took at the book fair:

I also bought a copy of A Knight’s Vengeance and had it autographed by a new friend, Catherine Kean. She writes for Medallion Press, but she’s also a Wild Rose Press author. Here’s a pic:

Didn’t she look pretty all dressed up for the award ceremony?  A Knight’s Vengeance was nominated for the Best Historical Maggie Award.  Sabrina Jeffries won, but I can only hope to one day compete with somebody like Sabrina Jeffries for an award.  LOL

I also met Sara Freeze, another Wild Rose author.  I don’t have a photo yet.  I had a friend take one, but it’s on her camera.  LOL  I post it here when I get it from her.

It was really a great conference with some wonderful workshops.  I’m planning to attend next year, too!

Nita