This is Petey, our rabbit. He belongs to Rene. On really hot days, she freezes giant 2-liter bottles of ice for him, and puts them in his cage. He just sits here, like this, with his paws up on the bottle, cooling himself off and looking at me through the kitchen window. … I’m sure he wishes he had A/C. …
Hi, all! I’m blogging over at popculturedivas today! Come visit me and stop by for a chat … Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. …
I’m chatting about food in fiction today. Remember Jenny Crusie’s Krispy Kreme scene in “Bet Me”? (Debi, didn’t you mention that one?!?!) Or do you know of Edward X’s messy sandwiches in Lawrence Sanders’ detective series? Or what about some of those interesting meals they eat in the Medieval romances (like the oranges and almonds and “sugar sticks” that Melanthe ate for lunch in “For My Lady’s Heart”), or in the historical Regencies?
Come share the most memorable food you remember in fiction! … The link is here.
So now I’m in the next stage of writing a book — the one that comes after … well … writing the book. That part only took me three years [insert eye-roll here]. So I guess I’m hoping the next phase goes a bit more smoothly. But I hear war stories. I’m not counting on it.
Instead of counting on anything, or just sitting around and wishing, Superman and I trekked to Barnes and Noble, and I bought this gargantuan book with a bunch of agents’ names. Then I bought some of those cute little Post-It flag thingies to start marking agents that seem like a good match for me. I was pleased that many of the names were already familiar (because of reading all the writer blogs, and because of hearing people talk on Twitter). But I’m really at ground zero, here. So if anyone has any advice or tips, feel free to pass them along …
I also bought Writer’s Digest magazine, because I heard (again, on Twitter! How did we survive without Twitter again?) that last month’s Digest was the “Get an Agent” issue. And I heard it featured a cover story on “24 Agents Looking for New Writers.” Hmmm. That’s me.
So here we go … Onward. … Advice welcome. … Especially from writers who target Harlequin — are there certain agents who like to work with Harlequin? Any recommendations?
"Someday ..." - Photo by L. Sanchez, 2009
We’re in full “football mode” already. Nate watches his older brother’s varsity scrimmage, and you can just see the wheels churning … What will I play when I go here? Will I run like that? Will I be that big? …
Do you remember watching the “big kids” like that?
I always feel melancholy on the anniversary of 9/11. In addition to feeling so bad for all the families who are going on eight years without their loved ones, it makes me remember how alone we can feel.
On 9/11/01, I had just started staying home with my children as a stay-at-home mom, and I walked them to the elementary school, then walked the baby home in the stroller, and when I got home I had the strangest urge to turn on the television. And when I saw what was happening, I felt strangely, oddly, alone. Because I didn’t know. The nation was in chaos and scared, and I had no idea. And I was alone. And no one said anything to me as I was walking the baby home! And I just left my children at school.
It was very scary to feel so clueless, and not to have another adult there to talk to. I felt so terrible for all those people, and their families, and so unsure about what was happening, and I just wanted to talk to someone about it. And I thought, wow, people must have been listening to this on their car radios and thinking gee, that poor woman walking with the stroller over there, she has no idea. And I would have continued to have no idea if I hadn’t had that odd urge to turn on the television when I got home. It was a strange realization of how isolated you can be as a SAHM. Needless to say, I always turned on the morning news after that.
I blogged about our nation’s collective memories of 9/11 over at Health Bistro today. I’d love to hear your comments (over there). Where were you when you realized what was happening? Did you have someone to talk to? Do your memories help you on these remembrance days? Please visit the post here and let me know. I’d really love to hear your story.
