Old and Gorgeous-it can happen!

It's Thursday, the busy day at our house. I did get a run in, now I'm off to my office. Work, work, work. So- to cheer all of us up who are facing another long day, Pippin is providing comic relief. You can be old and gorgeous. Check out those fangs!

My Cell Phone HELPS ME WRITE!

I'm old enough that a cell phone still seems miraculous to me.  And...I'm guess I'm young enough that I feel good instead of irritated that I can always be reached.  In fact, I am willing to give my cell phone a great deal of credit for the writing I do.

Because I've got it, I can go to my "office" (Starbucks) all day long  and focus on the keyboard not having to worry that my family can't get hold of me.  

Because I've got it I can call people and ask for words that I just can't think of and can't go on without.  (What's that word for...?)

I've made appointments, had interviews, set up schedules...on my cell phone.  

I got the call from my agent saying she had sold my book on my cell phone.  

And today my writing buddy and I did writing sprints together, though we were a hundred miles apart, because of my cell phone.  

My cell phone and my lap top...

Oh, let me tell you how thankful I am for my laptop!   (Another entry)

CRAZYRODENTACTIVITY

I AM THE MAD SQUIRREL OF CORRESPONDENCE!
Yesterday I scuttled, scratched and tapped out 20 e-mails, 8 actual letters, in envelopes, signed, stamped and mailed. Bwahahahahahahah! Today I will be a mere mouse and quietly finish off a few notes that I started yesterday. But I will write. Back to the novel!

To the Breach

It awaits. The 279 e-mails that have been put into your inbox that require some kind of attention. And then requiring filing into folders. For every hour I spend writing notes and e-mails and letters, I spend twenty thinking about it. I compose in my head. I think about how much nicer it would be to write actual letters. I fret over where I will find actual addresses. I worry if I have one more step, that is finding actual addresses, it will be years before I get anything done. It goes on and on.

This morning I had a dentist appointment at 7:30. I am NOT a morning person and definitely NOT a dentist person. I thought perhaps if I went so early it would make things better, not being fully conscious to worry about my teeth, the pain, and the future pain therein.

It was worse. I was cold. I didn't get breakfast. Riding my bike to the dentist woke me up sufficiently to worry and feel pain both. I got bad news.

However, the bad news didn't take long, and I was home by 8. My computer staring at me. I, having faced the worst already, sat down and charged through correspondence. At least a quarter of it. And the day is still young.

Thursday, the day after the reading, a day of eating, and hanging around the airport

Thursday morning I woke and had breakfast with Gingy and Chris and then Gingy and I went to Acequia books, a great used bookstore in Albuquerque run by Gary, a true bibliophile, and Marilyn Stablien a fantastic writer and artist. (Vermin, The Census Taker, a memoir of her travels in India) I bought books, though I had no room in my luggage and the volumes made dognapping Ben a definite impossibility.

Sarah Paine, Graduate Student, writer, assistant extraordinaire, took me to the airport after I had eaten yet another serving of green chile. (Green Chile enchiladas, green chile stew, green chiles on roated chicken sandwich, green chile quesadilla, yes, all in only two days. Why did I gain 2 pounds while I was gone? I didn't even think that was possible.)



At the airport I found that my flight's departure time had been changed from four pm to seven thirty pm. I now had four and a half hours to hang around. Perhaps because of this the airline put a code on my ticket. SSS. When I gave my boarding pass to the guy at security he announced that my airline had chosen me for special inspection. Yahoo.



I stood at the sign with all the s's and waited and waited. I finally yoo-hoo-ed and the security team at the regular line glared at me, snapped to wait. Finally, two young men escorted me to the special machine that would discern if I were carrying explosives in the lining of my bag or not.



Apparently people with heart conditions often get a false positive and have to go through additional interrogation, a process that seems rather ironically dangerous and not a little heartless. The guy told me people do get a little bent out of shape when chosen for special inspection, but he merely crooks a finger and they quiet down real quick when the cops swoop down. I behaved myself.



I ate a quesadilla here. TEN tv sets. Nine were on the Dallas San Antonio basketball game.



Hours and hours, and hours later we were over LA.



in our very small plane.



I finished the Thursday NYT crossword puzzle and then we landed. Hard. It was like the pilot thought the ground was ten feet farther down than it really was. Louis was waiting for me outside of baggage. Ah, home.

Flying to Albuquerque and the reading at BookWorks, Wednesday, November 14th

The vacuum bag at work. This is my pemmican clothing; A long blazer, pair of pants, tights, pajamas, all squashed into a notebook sized space.


The desert is sooo beautiful. New Mexico is gorgeous.


The BookWorks bookstore patrons. I took this picture noting that if we were in a murder mystery I'd be the victim, someone in the audience not wanting to have it known he/she had been there. Thank God I survived.


Preparing to read, enthroned in the large chair, seemingly puzzling over something at the back of the book.


One of the best things about readings is afterwards, having conversations with people I wouldn't usually get to talk to.


Gingy Scharff, aka Virginia Swift. She not only writes REAL history, but also has penned a fantastic mystery series, The Mustang Sally books, which are set in Laramie, Wyoming.


The bookstore was fantastic, but the owners, Nancy (center) and Mike Rutland were even better. Real book lovers, charming, and very hospitable.

Gingy in her garden. I only wish I had gotten a picture of her dog Ben as well. I would have slipped him into my luggage if I hadn't bought so many books.

Ready for Albuquerque

As my lovely 94 year old neighbor says, "I have been thinking of the hereafter quite a bit today." (I walk into a room and ask myself WHAT am I here after?)
There's a lot of great things about travelling. But truth be told, it's expensive and not just in a dollar amount. It costs me in focus. I told myself that I would make the invitation for the Buffalo Bill meets Turpentine Reading (2pm on December 2 at THE NEXT CHAPTER in Woodland!), I would pack, go over my reading, then spend half the day writing at my office, catch up on e-mail and do a blog entry. Ummm. Got the invite done, I think.

Well, there is something else to think about other than work, and that's eating. And though I am going to New Mexico for a reading, and I do hope it goes well, New Mexico is one of my favorite places to fill up. I can't wait to wrap my tongue around some sopapillas. I want green chile stew and flat enchiladas, I want rellenos, I want chile, chile, chile. The trouble is, I am only going to be in Albuquerque for about 36 hours.

Sigh, I will do the best I can.

Ol' bat ears, the barfalo herself, has a following. She is big in Germany. (Her picture showed up on a German site!) Well, she's big here, too...but we're talking BIG,sis. In any case, I am not one to stand in the way of feline attraction. Here she is again, world. And if anyone wants her, just let me know. She threw up on my feet last night. Other than that, she's a GREAT cat. Really, let me know.

I'm back to the new project. Back to my office where they brew my coffee to order. The only trouble is, sometimes when I walk through those double swinging doors someone is sitting in my seat! I give the person the evil eye, and yet they do not move. I complain at the counter, but apparently other people are ALLOWED to sit wherever they want in Starbucks when I'm not there, AND when I am. Very sad. I did manage to get some work done. Thank you Jill for finding me a place to perch. As for all those people who go to my office only to drink coffee- that's OK, I guess, but how about scooting over?

I wonder if I could call ahead and make a reservation?

Salt and sugar

The old saw-lemons and lemonade. I sure hope I am working toward lemonade...Back to work on the new book, I've been at Starbucks every day this week. I'll be back there today, hiding out from the internet, the pantry, geese, cats, and telephone in order to find that elusive lemonade track.

The good news-that's my lemon tree in the picture above. It is FILLED with lemons for the first time in the 8 years we've been here. Sam is going to make jars of preserved lemons, which I love. Even more than lemonade.

When life hands you lemons, soak them in salt and serve them with pasta.

Off to Starbucks to brine a novel.

links

I've received several queries about why I've stopped blogging. I haven't STOPPED, I'm just vacationing for a bit because I've felt like...well, Pippin demonstrates above. I am feeling a little more myself now. I'm back on track running and biking. All the clothes are washed. I am imbedded in the books that I picked up on tour, and they are wonderful, and I have even managed to be taught by my webmaster extraordinaire, Sally, how to link. Really, me. I can do it. Say I wanted to talk about The Outlander, a book written by Gil Adamson. I could then invite you to...
Check out this interview
And you would be whisked magically to it! WOW!

Let's try it again. If you haven't read Locke 1928 yet, you really should. Find out more about the book and the author at..
Stone, Ink Brush and Paper, Shawna's website

Ta Da!.

Now that I can do this, I will go back and link to all those people on the tour, so scroll back, find out more about authors of the west and authors from that sister nation of ours, Canada.