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I grew up watching Roy Rogers on Saturday afternoons. I loved those silly movies and I wanted a Palomino like nobody's business.



After Roy Rogers was the series El Chaparral, which I always imagined was filmed in West Texas. I remember the main character was John, and his brother the trouble maker was Buck, and his hot headed son was Blue, and his brother in law was Manolito. I always thought Manolito had the best lines! Anyone else remember this show?



When I was a preteen, the modern cowboy movies started coming out. I remember the love story in The Electric Horseman more than anything else. She was a reporter or something, wasn't she? I did have the album.



Then came Urban Cowboy, which was actually pretty depressing, if you think about it, with all the infidelity, but I loved the music and dancing.



Then the brat pack made Young Guns. Dermot Mulroney with a wad of tobacco - yuck. But even dirty, Kiefer was pretty. And I loved the bonds between the men.



My favorite FAVORITE western, though, is Silverado. How do I love that movie??? I watch it every time it's on, even though we own it. Kevin Kline - what a hero. Kevin Costner - what a hoot! Love Danny Glover and Scott Glenn (also in Urban Cowboy, come to think of it) and even Jeff Goldblum was a good villain. And Linda Hunt! Loved her. Again with the bonds, and the shoot-out at the end, like Young Guns. I guess that was a staple.



What are your favorite cowboy movies?

Okay, going to work on VH for awhile ;) I thought I woke up earlier!

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I thought in honor of Bull by the Horns releasing next week, I'd blog about my first cowboy book.



I was in middle school when I wrote it and it was called Ramblin' Man. Back in those days I had a crush on John Schneider and come to think of it, maybe it was about the jeans....

ANYWAY, I cast him as my rodeo cowboy, though I don't remember what kind. Probably a bronc rider. He would go from city to city, each place a different chapter, and meet different girls. There were at LEAST 6 of them, and to think I had that many "cute meets" in me at such a young age is pretty funny. They would have little love stories, but he'd move on, thus the title. EXCEPT that in the last chapter he realized he'd had enough and went back to the girl in the first chapter.

The book was written in PENCIL on notebook paper and I think I tied it together with yarn through the holes. I don't know how long it took me to write, but I remember working on it when I went on vacation with my dad to south Texas. Unfortunately, I threw it away before I moved out of my mom's house. Boy, would I love to read it.

Since then, I haven't written another cowboy story until now, when one of my cps challenged the other two of us to write a story for Wayback Texas. Even the cp that challenged us hasn't written her story, though I have her heroine in my book! Anyway, it's fun and while it has the common theme of the homebody vs. the traveller, it has some cute twists, too.

I finished the galleys on Hot Shot last night. Please PLEASE let that be the last time I have to read it!!!! Not that I don't love it, but I have read it at LEAST 50 times. At LEAST.

I storyboarded my Nano story last night since the boy was working on the computer, but I'm itching to focus on Vamp Hunters.

Mama Kitty stayed outside yesterday, and was mostly good when we brought her in yesterday evening. Poor thing is scared and pregnant and she was so hungry!

I was falling asleep during The Mentalist last night, made it to bed just after nine and slept till after five! YAY!

I found out yesterday that my Wayback Rodeo story, Bull by the Horns, is coming out NEXT WEDNESDAY! Woot! 7 months, finished to published - wow.

I've been talking about Mama Kitty at school. Yesterday I got her, put her in my room all afternoon (yeah, good idea, Mary - at least we were out of the room for an hour to practice for the program). I got her in the car (twice - she escaped the first time!!! I've never had a kitty do THAT before!) and drove home. Thank goodness I was giving another teacher a ride, and Susan kept her calm. After I dropped off Susan, Mama Kitty curled up in the passenger seat for the rest of the way home.

So far so good.

I brought her in the house and she turned into Mrs. Hyde! She attacked Skippy, who was astounded. Everyone loves Skippy, but she was MAD. She's staked out the food and won't let the other kitties near. Oh, and the whole reason I wanted to get her was so she wouldn't get pregnant again, and guess what?

So yeah, now I have 5 kitties and counting. Anyone want a pregnant Mama Kitty? Honestly, she's very sweet, she just doesn't like other kitties.

Oh, and I taught the Men in Black dance yesterday. I'm SO SORE.

Look, two of my favorite things!!!

My first cowboy! Now to discover the release date so I can go nuts at VistaPrint.


I'm also blogging at The Wet Noodle Posse about using promo loops, kind of a "do as I say, not as I do..."


I sent 7 queries yesterday. I want to send BD to Superromance but don't remember how to do return postage. I dug out my submissions chart but hadn't updated it in awhile, so I don't know where stuff is....


I judged three and a half contest entries, did my Supernatural revisions and went back and forth on my cover. I also saw Fool's Gold, which would have been better without the physical comedy. I STILL haven't been in my pool.

Today - the grocery store, post office, SARA and BD.

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My last day of school was a week ago and I still feel like I’m going full speed ahead.

Monday and Tuesday I worked on revisions for Wayback. Yesterday I did promo, then errands. Today, more errands. Tomorrow, hopefully, nothing. I’m still not finished with STTA, but I kind of knew yesterday would be a no-writing day because of the promo loop (which makes my shoulders absolutely tense). Still, I have 10 contest entries to read and critique group this weekend. I have 3 DVDs to watch and return. Everything seems to be on a time table. Plus, since I'm trying to save gas, I combine errands, and that stresses me out, trying to remember everything.

I have gotten a lot of the house clean. I threw out so much trash we could barely move the humongous trashcan to the curb. Today I’m cleaning the kitchen, so there should be more trash or stuff for Goodwill. Of course, I come home from taking the boy to a friend's, then going to the grocery and the kitchen counter is loaded with dishes no one bothered to do.....

Remember Fly Lady? She would tell you to throw out 15 things every time you cleaned a room. She would be so proud of me.

Oh, and yesterday I got our back door open. Why is this a big deal? Because we lost the key 6 years ago. We have another back door, but this one is right off the laundry room and being able to exit it is so convenient. It’s gross and dusty and there’s a mummified lizard stuck between the screen and the slats, but it’s open!

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I got an AWESOME review of Hot Shot yesterday from The Romance Studio. My best one yet! I also saw an advance preview of another from Romance Reviews Today, but it's not live yet. I'm really happy with the reviews I've gotten!

I sent my Wayback story in yesterday, then needed to do two more scene revisions, which I sent back this AM. Now I get to go back to STTA. Yesterday I had a very clear scene in my mind that may be an epilogue, I don't know, but it included a baby. I never write babies. I think it's just that I REALLY love these characters, and I can see myself exploring their lives further along.

The same thing happened with my first book, The Simple Life. Those characters became so real to me because I spent so much time with them. When I drive through the town where I based that story, I half expect to see them. The same with my married cop story, Second Chances. During 9-11, I could practically see Zach pacing, helpless, wanting to go DO something. I think I'll have the same reaction when I finally leave Noah and Ellie behind.

Today I'm doing promo on one of the loops for Wayback, then I'm blogging at Samhain. I also need to clean the laundry room and the mudroom, which shouldn't take me nearly as long as the hour and a half it took me to clean the bathrooms yesterday (I threw out two wastebaskets of stuff, can you believe it???)

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I got a contract for my Wayback Rodeo story yesterday! She wants me to redo the ending, but apparently all I had to do was say I'd change it and she sent me a contract! Edits will be around July, so it will probably be out in the fall! WOOT!

I have a terrible cough. I need to get to the dr. today.

First of all, congratulations to all the Golden Heart and Rita finalists!!! Especially Sarah Castleberry who got her first call yesterday and fellow Noodlers Theresa Ragan (DOUBLE finalist!!) and Priscilla Kissinger!!! And Kelly Parra DOUBLE finalled in the Rita! Congratulations!

If you didn’t final and wanted to, BIG HUGS. I’ve been there. Trust me – I gave some HIGH scores, and I don’t see any of the entries I judged as finalists, though the list isn’t complete. It’s all subjective, and one seven can throw you off. So don’t let it get you down long.

Wayback is with an editor (less than 24 hours between query and request!) and I still haven’t started my Supernatural essay. I’m a romance writer writing about an inanimate object and I just can’t find the tone. Plus, the dh and ds have crazy schedules this week.

I sent out 3 agent queries yesterday before work and got a rejection by the time I got home. Sigh.

I want to talk about movies today. I’ve seen a LOT of movies lately. None have been particularly cheery.
Before he went to NYC, the boy made us watch No Country for Old Men.

Javier Bardem gave me nightmares – I dreamed I was talking to him and he was explaining why he was the way he was. I think that bothered me the most about that movie – why WAS he like that? My son has read the book twice and he said it doesn’t really offer any insight. Hm. I’ve heard people complain that the movie had no ending, but it does. Just not the kind of ending moviegoers are used to. At Easter, my sister-in-law’s family was talking about how they LOVED the movie. My son has seen it at least five times. THIS I don’t get. Though it’s thought provoking, it’s not something I want to see again and again.

Then this weekend I saw Atonement.



The timeline was hard to follow, because they would show a scene in one POV, then show it again in a different POV. While I was watching it, I didn’t enjoy it, though I loved the visuals – the costumes, the scenery. BEAUTIFULLY shot. But after I was done watching it and knew what happened, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I might see it again, but I would never own it.

Then we saw The Mist.

I love Stephen King. Really I do. And this movie was very tense. You could clearly see his 50s movies influences.
BUT.
BOY was it gross. And really distressing. This is the second movie I’ve seen this year (Gone Baby Gone was the other) where the lead had to make some rough choices. Do not take this as any kind of recommendation, but if you see it, let me know what you thought.

Is it any wonder I bought Enchanted after seeing those 3???



Have you seen any good movies lately? Have you heard ANYTHING about Nim’s Island, Gerry’s new movie with Jodie Foster? I thought it was coming out next week but I haven’t seen previews.

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The good thing about today is that we have computer lab for an hour this afternoon. The bad thing about today...I don't know what we're doing between the bell and lunch!

I had some crazy dreams last night - one that the boy was little and all he wanted was Superman markers and milk. Yes, he did used to have Superman markers. Another dream was about the Supernatural boys, where Sam could go into a trance to see the past.

I finished Wayback yesterday - FINALLY. I've also written the synopsis and revised the first 35 pages. I'll write the query today.

Huh....whose picture to use? Well, since I'll be working on my Supernatural essay next....

Okay - funny. I went to go look for this picture, and my blog came up on the second page of Google Images for Supernatural Impala!!!

Happy Easter!

Please, please, please let me finish this DANGED book today!

What I’ll Miss About Spring Break

1) naps
2) sitting in my sun room on the couch and writing with the windows open
3) watching the sun come up through my living room window
4) being caught up on DVDs
5) no schedule
6) watching for the mailman
7) watching my yard turn greener every day

Goals for this week:

1) Wayback synopsis
2) revise and submit Wayback
3) work on Supernatural essay
4) agent queries
5) work on driving lessons with the boy
6) cooking again – we ate out 4 nights last week!
7) keep up house (okay, can I say it wasn’t just the boy messing it up? The dh was off Friday and good LORD!)

What I’m Looking Forward To Between Now and Summer

1) Hot Shot releases next week!
2) BSG returns next week!
3) Starving Artist Show next week
4) Teaching the boy to drive
5) Finishing Something to Talk About
6) Hearing from SRS on DLB
7) Hearing from Samhain on Vanished
8) Hearing from WRP on Texas Forever
9) Bones returning April 14th
10) Juno on DVD April 15th
11) My birthday
12) Moonlight returns (not sure of date)
13) Supernatural and Grey’s Anatomy and LOST return April 24th
14) Fiesta
15) 27 Dresses and Golden Compass on DVD the 29th
16) TAKS being over
17) Iron Man
18) Nora Roberts’s THE HOLLOW coming out the same day as PS I LOVE YOU
19) Mother’s Day
20) Indiana Jones!!!!
21) Memorial Day holiday – I can’t remember the last time we had that as a holiday…it’s usually the last week of school anyway.
22) The last day of school!!!!

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First of all, I’m on AMAZON!!!!! My friend Patti emailed to tell me!!!! Wow. Just…wow.


Secondly, I’m blogging about collaging at
Wet Noodle Posse. Come say hey.

Thirdly, the dh and I went out to dinner last night, at a pretty nice restaurant ($50 for the two of us, including dessert.) At the next table were four generations of women. The one in my generation texted on her phone the whole time there was no food in front of her. She didn’t even talk to her daughter, who, when the older two ladies went to the restroom, played her handheld video game since Mom wasn’t talking to her.

When I went to the restroom (after about 4 glasses of tea – they have the BEST tea) I saw a young family with a preteen and 3 kids under the age of 4, and they set up a portable DVD player for the kids to watch. Um. Huh. Too much technology? I mean, we’re guilty of watching programs during dinner, but we do actually talk to one another. This was just kinda sad.

I should finish Wayback today. At least I’d better – the dh is off tomorrow!

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I'm Number THREE today!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Of course, I have no idea what that means, but I'll take it!

I got my postcards yesterday from Vista Print and they are gorgeous! And they got here in only a week. BUT...I had my addresses in an AppleWorks file and when the dh updated our OS to Leopard, well, AppleWorks doesn't. My physical address book is sadly out of date, so I only have about 30 postcards addressed.

VistaPrint sent me a "free offer." Man, are they good at getting people to buy. I got business cards and magnets for just shipping of $7. Then they showed me address labels. With my book cover. Only $4 - good deal, right? SO I got all that for less than $11.

I have my newsletter done, but when I save to PDF, I lose my links. Does anyone know how to fix that? I have a LOT of links.

According to Blockbuster.com, PS I LOVE YOU comes out on DVD May 6. 27 Dresses, which was released in theaters AFTER PS I LOVE YOU, comes out the week before in DVD. No FAIR!

Okay, I need a fake boy band name. It's driving me nuts. Any ideas?

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

I'm adding words to my Wayback story, but not sure how much story I'm adding. I'm seeing some major flaws.

One is my hero's attraction to my heroine, beyond the physical. I'm not sure what he sees in her.

The other is, I know that there's a way to connect their conflicts but I'm just not seeing it. She's essentially a George Bailey character, who's given up her dreams to stay in Wayback to care for her grandmother. My heroine has abandonment issues and he's a rodeo cowboy, so there's that. But it's making his backstory superfluous. Without giving too much away, he's kind of a former child star who fell on hard times and left that life behind. I know there's got to be a way to tie their conflicts together, but I can't think.

Trish and I were up till midnight watching TV ;) She's still sleeping, then we're going to the Guenther House for breakfast. No telling what we'll do after that ;)

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Okay, first, Hillary. Cindi cancelled her dr appt to come get the boy right after our faculty meeting (which the VP did fast because a LOT of our teachers were going to see Hillary.) So Cindi got to see post-deadline, mid-BIAW house...bad, bad, bad. They raced off to pick up her mom then to St. Mary's, where there were already several HUNDRED people waiting to see Hillary. So despite the RSVPs they all sent in, they couldn't get into the gym. They stood outside (thank goodness for Texas weather) for THREE HOURS. The organizers put speakers outside so they could hear everything, then Hillary came out for about 5 minutes and addressed them, then left. The boy was Very Disappointed, but Cindi and Lucinda had fun. They said it was a lot of good energy.

Now, the rodeo. Linda and I met at Jim's, ate dinner, then she drove (God bless her.) We found a parking place for $8, which I happily paid so I didn't have to drive, and walked forEVER to get to the arena. For some reason, they fenced off our parking lot from the main entrance, so we had to walk all the way around back. The good thing was, once we entered, all we had to do was go upstairs and we found our seat. We got to our seats just about the time the second bareback bronc was going, and that was the first event. I imagine we looked kind of silly scribbling notes, but that's okay. There weren't many people in our section till later - apparently they were there for the band, Staind. We didn't stay for that, which is good because I still got home at 10! But it was fun cheering for the cowboys and seeing all the people who work on a rodeo behind the scenes. And I have a new cowboy boyfriend, Ryan Mapston. He's a saddle bronc rider, and when they showed him getting ready on the Jumbotron...mmm.







Lost was less confusing last night, but verrrrry interesting. And next week looks AWESOME.

Supernatural was good. How heartbreaking to see Sammy turning into John. I mean, at least John had the boys to soften him some - not that they did much. And again, next week looks AWESOME!

Okay, off to BIAW...falling behind!