The Blonde in the Red T-Bird

2011-09-06T10:27:00.000-04:00

On the Loss of a Great Man

The NFL, the University of South Florida, and the entire Tampa community lost a great man this weekend with the passing of Lee Roy Selmon. Having been the first draft pick of the first year, he was the original Buc. And being the only player in the NFL Hall of Fame who spent more than one year as a Buc, he is arguably the BEST Buccaneer. Ever.

Two memories of Mr. Selmon stand out in my mind. My family’s business, which I headed in the 90s and early 2000s, was nominated for “Most Family Friendly Business.” We didn’t win, but as they say, it’s an honor to be nominated. Lee Roy Selmon spoke at the event. He began by saying that if anyone was late because of traffic on the Crosstown, please don’t blame him. He referred to the expressway that was named in his honor.

But what impressed me most was the way he spoke of family – his own and families in general. It wasn’t the words he said that were memorable, it was the light in his eyes and the emotion in the timbre of his voice when he spoke of his mother and his brothers, his wife and his children that made me know this man believed in the sanctity of family. I had no doubt his family was first in his life.

One Saturday afternoon, I was in Buccaneer Heaven picking out a new shirt to wear to the next day’s game. It was early in the season, and the store was crowded. We’d won the SuperBowl the year before. We were optimistic. The energy in the store was electric and fun. Suddenly the cheerful noise ceased, little by little, replaced by whispers. “Lee Roy.”

Through the front door came our Hall of Famer, pushing a handcart loaded with cases of his Barbecue sauce. Here was a man who made his own deliveries to each little mom-and-pop location that sold his sauce. Like when Moses approached the Red Sea, the crowd parted to let him through. If this was Buccaneer Heaven, then surely Jesus had just walked into the room.

The crowd of shoppers stood in silent awe as he shook hands with the manager, picked up his paperwork and emptied his cart. A few brave souls said hello to him as he passed back out the front door. He nodded and smiled, and went on about his quiet business. But we all knew we had just been in the presence of greatness.

Football is just a game. Certainly other things in life are far more important. Like Family. This weekend we lost a man who loved both. And we deeply feel that loss.

Who's Yours?

2011-01-10T17:37:00.002-05:00

We were listening to Siriusly Sinatra this weekend when the announcer said Sinatra was the “greatest singer of the Twentieth Century.” Now, I truly love ol’ blue eyes. That’s why I was listening to the station in the first place. But the greatest singer? Of the entire century? Which led me to wonder, if not Frank, then who?

One could make a case for these:

Elvis – remember the term was “greatest singer,” not “greatest voice.” If you don’t think Elvis can sing, I direct you to “Love Me Tender.” Case closed.

Luciano Pavarotti – Lives the person who can listen to “Nessun Dorma” without a shiver running down the spine? Or perhaps tears in the eyes? Absolute beauty.

Ray Charles – Just the other day, I happened upon his version of “Georgia on My Mind.” Memo to everyone else in the singing industry: Don’t record this song. Mr. Charles owns it.

Tony Bennett – This one I’ve had the great joy of seeing in person. “Fly Me to the Moon” was a life-changing experience. His voice was warm brandy. Unbelievable.

Renee Fleming – It’s not just having a great voice. It’s also knowing how to control it, how to wrench every ounce of emotion out of the music. Plus, she’s so elegant!

Barbra Streisand – the lovely lady for whom the term “superstar” was coined. Stunningly beautiful voice. And a great comic actress as well. I recently saw her on Oprah. She sang the theme from “The Way We Were.” Still beautiful.

Ella Fitzgerald – I tried to come up with the quintessential Ella song to talk about, but there are so many. “Someone to Watch over Me,” “The Man I Love,” “’Round Midnight.” They’re all good. It just seems so effortless when she sings it, whether she’s doing a slow and soulful version or a quick jumpin’ scat version of the same song. Pure Ella.

Billie Holiday – And of course, Billie Holiday. I wish the recordings we have of her were better. There are some that sound great, but many of them are showing their age. Still her unmistakable smoky voice is astounding.

Linda Ronstadt – I’m adding this one just for me. This attraction began for me with the Stone Ponys. “Different Drum” was always a favorite. But her later stuff with Nelson Riddle showcases the purity of her voice. And for personal reasons, her version of “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” brings tears to my eyes no matter how many times I hear it.

Now Frank. The Chairman of the Board. Francis Albert Sinatra. It’s not just that he has a great voice, it’s the WAY he sings. He can make you feel like he’s singing right to you. And that at any moment, he’s going to walk off the stage and sweep you off your feet. The mournful sound of “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” makes me cry every time I hear it. The playfulness of “Lady Is a Tramp” makes me fall in love with him. I get too hungry for dinner at eight, Frank. Pick me!

So that’s ten choices. Without meaning to I picked five men and five women. And now I realize I’ve left off Mel Torme. They don’t call him the Velvet Fog for nothin’. How many great singers were there in the Twentieth Century?

Who’s your choice?

*

In the Interest of Truth

2010-12-28T10:12:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I'm not a blonde. And I sold the T-Bird.

Does it really matter?

I've often said that the longest-lasting relationship in my life is that with Rhonda, my hairdresser. I could sit in her chair and say, "Do whatever you want," and know that I would be happy with the result. That's how well we know each other.

But when we moved to North Carolina, Rhonda the Hair Stylist is one of the things I left behind. Now what do I do?

Well, I'm certainly not going to let strangers color my hair. So I'm reverting back to the dark auburn I was born with. We shall see how much gray has arrived. Maybe none. Maybe just enough to be interesting. That's my hope anyway.

Then there's the car. I had the T-Bird for seven years, and I loved it. Love, love, LOVED it. But it started to get a little wonky. There were various problems that took several WEEKS to figure out. So I decided I'd be more comfortable in something new. And there's the fact that while exceedingly beautiful, the T-Bird is not Very Practical.

More than once Jeanette and I had to call for back-up when we were out shopping. And when Steven used to fly in from Maryland to go with me to Disney, I had to tell him he could bring only a gym bag. And that he'd have to hold on his lap. With the top down.

So it was time for a change. I got a really cute SUV crossover that I also love. Even if there are ten thousand others just like it within a one-mile radius. Mine's the one with the pink Georgia Girl sticker on the side window.

But the real question is Do I have to change the title of the Blog?

I think not. In my heart, I will always be blonde, always be driving fast somewhere in the red T-Bird with the top down.

Any questions?

A Florida Girl Deals with Snow

2010-12-10T08:54:00.005-05:00

We’ve lived in North Carolina just over two months. During that time, any number of people have told me, “Oh, we hardly ever have snow. And NEVER before Christmas.” Of course I was disappointed. I lived in Florida for nearly all of my life. Snow is not in my realm of experience.

I’m not one of those people who’ve “never seen snow.” I spent a December in Maine once and a chunk of January in Maryland. But I didn’t live there. I was only visiting. Snow was a wistful novelty.

But now that I’ve moved out of the eternal Vacation land, I wanted SNOW!
I was not disappointed.

We went to the mall to finish up our Christmas shopping. We were headed outside to cross the parking lot to the Big Box Book Store. As we turned to the door, we saw it – little dots of white falling from the sky, pushed nearly sideways by the wind.

I squealed with joy.

Of course, the first thing I did when we got outside was lift my head and open my mouth. Even I know that snow isn’t snow until you catch it on your tongue.

Here’s something I didn’t know: Snow is wet. When it lands on your head, it melts. Then your hair is wet. And cold. Didn’t matter. I kept playing in it anyway. But the cozy interior of the book store was warm and welcoming.

We stayed in there for about twenty minutes, finished our chores, and when we left – IT WAS STILL SNOWING!!! Even the locals were laughing and taking phone pictures of each other.

All your life you hear that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. I want to know who started that rumor. I was led to believe that snowflakes look like this:

They don’t. They look more like this:

Minus the fruity syrup.

Nevertheless, it continued to snow for the rest of the day. As we wended our way home in our sleigh – I mean, car – I discovered another incredible new phenomenon. EVERYTHING looks stunning with a light dusting of snow on it. Like a – forgive me – Winter Wonderland. Our poor Florida patio table didn't know what happened to it.

I had thought the colors of autumn leaves were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Snow may have them beat just for its elegant simplicity.

But in a few months, there will be spring blossoms.....

"I'm Mad As Hell..."

2010-02-10T08:23:00.002-05:00

I have Google alerts set up to bring me information about all of my pseudonyms. You never know when some website will review one of your books. It’s nice to hear about it.

But yesterday, my good friend Google returned to me a link to a website that I found disturbing.

In 2007, I published five e-books under the name Delia Carnell. Three of them were with Loose-Id and two with Cerridwen Press. When I followed the Google link, I came to a website that offered all three of my Loose-Id titles for download. Free.

I don’t know when I’ve ever been so angry.

During the seven years that my mother and I lived together, we routinely swapped books back and forth. I have no problem with that scenario. I wouldn’t expect two people living in the same household to purchase two separate copies of a book. In addition, it’s good for the book industry and writers alike for families to read together, to enjoy books, to talk about what they’ve read.

I have serious objections, however, to some unknown entity putting my work up on a website for the whole world to access. I wrote that book. I struggled with each sentence, each word choice, each plot twist to make it my very best. I did the research, the promotion, the advertising copy. I own the rights to those works.

And just like the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, I want to be paid for my work. I should be paid for my work.

What this website is doing is theft. It is piracy. It is AGAINST THE LAW.

It’s time for the publishing industry to take a stand just like the music industry did against illegal downloads and file-swapping. And I’m sure they will. I don’t expect this particular website to last very long. In addition to my three little works, yesterday they also made available four books by Nicholas Sparks. No doubt he and his publisher have much bigger lawyers than I could ever muster.

Poking around a bit on the website (whose name I will not reveal; they don’t deserve the publicity), I found the place to state my objections to my work being offered on their site. I followed the instructions, filled in the form, stated my case. I received this in response:

“Thank you. Abuse report was submited.”

They don’t even have a flippin ‘ spellchecker?

It doesn’t matter. The fact remains that the illegal download of ANY copyrighted material is wrong. It is theft. Don’t do it. And if you see it, please report it.

Thank you.

The Big Sleep for Mr. Parker

2010-01-20T08:22:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, the world lost the mystery writer Robert B. Parker. He died at age 77 at his desk. I hope he was writing, and I hope he was so engrossed in his story that he didn’t even realize what was happening to him. I can’t think of a better way for a writer to go.

Mr. Parker was probably best known for his Spenser novels. But in saluting his life, we must note that he held a Ph. D. in literature from Boston University. His dissertation was a study of classic mystery writers Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. What better foundation for a craftsman of this particular genre?

I’ve read a fairly large stack of Mr. Parker’s novels, but last night I was moved to hunt down his very first. It’s The Godwulf Manuscript, published in 1973, and it’s the first Spenser novel. Here’s a line from an early scene in the book:

“She was wearing something in purple suede that was too short for a skirt and too long for a belt.”

Ah, they don’t write ‘em like that anymore.

Rest easy, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the many years of entertainment you gave the world. Thanks for your attention to the details of your craft. And thanks for showing the rest of us how it’s done.

Lessons from American Idol

2010-01-13T07:33:00.002-05:00

You know you’ve watched too much American Idol when you can unerringly predict a contestant’s performance based on his or her pre-audition interview. If the young lady cares for her aging grandmother and has a sweet face, she’ll sing like an angel. If she’s dressed as a character from Star Trek and says her friends think she’s better than any previous contestants on Idol, she’ll screech like a stray cat in the alley. Or slightly less in tune than the stray cats.

It shouldn’t surprise me to see such a similarity between American Idol hopefuls and unpublished writers, but there it is. The more a person talks about how great his manuscript is, the more I know it’s going to suck. Please don’t tell me that your mother, sister-in-law, daughter’s English teacher, etc. couldn’t put it down. Don’t tell me how much they loved it. Especially don’t add the phrase, “and they don’t usually like this type of book.”

Your fate is sealed. I know it’s going to be a stinker.

I’m at a point now where I can spend one evening with a classroom of fledgling writers and determine which one’s homework I’m going to look forward to reading and which one I’m going to dread.

Talent does not need a sales pitch. If you’ve made it to the audition room in front of Randy, Simon and Kara, then shut up and sing. Similarly, if you’re invited to submit your manuscript – publisher, class homework, friendly critique group, whatever – shut up and hand it over.

I’ll repeat here some words of wisdom I picked up long ago from an author I knew casually (and whose name I’ve forgotten): “The only person whose opinion you should listen to is someone who is in a position to write you a check.”

It’s great if your grandmother loves your short story. But she’s your grandmother. She’s supposed to love every little thing you do. This is, you’ll remember, the woman who recorded your first deposit in the Big Potty. You want to wrap that up and send it to an editor? Didn’t think so.

So let’s take a lesson from our Idol viewing: Shut up and sing. The public will ultimately decide whether to keep you or vote you off.

I Left My Heart...

2010-01-07T10:09:00.003-05:00

In the Seventies, my mother and I went to the airport to pick up some family member or other who was flying in from somewhere. This was a time, boys and girls, when just anybody could walk right up to the gate and stand around without a boarding pass, a body search, or even a relative to meet. As we walked down the smooth corridor toward the arrival area, we noticed a man sitting on one of the waiting benches alone. He was quite nattily dressed in trousers, blue blazer, and a dapper tweed hat. We glanced at him, he smiled, we kept walking. About ten yards past, Mom and I turned to each other and almost simultaneously said, “That was Tony Bennett!”

Indeed it was.

Last night, I saw him again. This time, at a concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL. His 27th appearance at that venue.

The thing about this particular hall is that, although it comfortably seats over 2000 the atmosphere is intimate. During the hour-and-a-half set of standards and hits, I felt as if I were sitting in a rather elegant nightclub about as close to Mr. Bennett as I had been that night at the airport. His showmanship was a large part of that feeling. No doubt he was absolutely delighted to be there. He loves what he’s doing. It shows in every step, every strong note, every accolade to his four-piece band.

Although he’s well past his 80th birthday, there was no lack of energy, no lack of strength. For me, the highlight of the show was his version of “Fly Me to the Moon” completely free of microphones or any electronic amplification. The ol’ guy can still belt it out to the very last row.

Sure, everyone who goes to San Francisco leaves a little bit of the heart. But nobody does it with so much style as Mr. Bennett.

And how many times are you going to hear a story that begins with, “My best friend, Frank Sinatra...”

Thanks for a great night. Here's to many, many more.

THE HELP Could Use Some Help

2010-01-06T08:37:00.002-05:00

I know I’m behind the curve in reading The Help. It’s been out for almost a year, and I’m only just now getting around to it because I got it for Christmas. I don’t normally read best sellers or Oprah’s picks. But I’d heard a lot about this one, so I approached it eagerly.

If you’re one of the half-dozen people who hasn’t read it yet, here’s a quickie explanation: The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. It is about the ‘colored’ domestic help who work for the white ladies. There are three main characters, two of whom are maids. The third is an unusually enlightened Caucasian young woman who wants to bring ‘their story’ to the world.

If you look around the blog-o-sphere, you will find many complaints about Kathryn Stockett, a white woman, writing in the supposed voice of the African American women. There are some who say the dialect she adopted for the two maid characters is demeaning, if not racist.

I disagree there. The dialect is not remotely as demeaning as Mark Twain’s in Huckleberry Finn and yet we continue to revere that book. Having lived in the South my entire life, I think I’m qualified to say she did a good job with the southern language. She should have. She grew up with it, too.

However, I do have a major complaint with Ms. Stockett’s work. My problem is with timing. It is late 1963. Skeeter is listening to the radio and hears Bob Dylan singing “The Times They Are A-Changing.” Not possible. That song was not recorded until 1964.

Later on, in January of ’64, she hears The Rolling Stones on the radio. Again, not possible. The Stones’ first album was released in April of 1964. In January of that year, The Beatles had not even been on The Ed Sullivan Show yet. We’d barely heard of them, let alone The Stones.

At another point in late ’63, Stuart, Skeeter’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, goes to San Francisco to face his issues with his ex-girlfriend. He finds her wearing a prairie dress and peace sign jewelry. Sorry, Ms. Stockett. Not in 1963. The Summer of Peace and Love was 1967. The Hippies to which you refer a few times were not even a blip on the socially conscious radar screen in ’63.

I could go on, but I’ll rest my case with those examples and assure you there are several more. In her acknowledgements, Ms. Stockett admits she tooks liberty with time and uses the Bob Dylan song as an example. My question is, Why? What point does she make by moving events around? Is the Dylan song central to the plot? No. Does the girlfriend need to be a Hippie? Of course not. These are tiny asides that don’t advance the plot or reveal character in any way. So why bother?

What she does accomplish is destroying her credibility for me. If she’s not right about these little things, what other truths has she bent to fit her story?

On her own website’s Q&A, the author responds to a question about her research of the times by saying she went to the library and read old phone books and newspapers.

Ten minutes with Google would have been a better choice.

But Before There Was Barbie...

2009-03-16T07:59:00.003-04:00

There was Suzette. And I would be remiss if I didn't give her equal credit.

A full year before Barbie changed my life, there was another fashion doll who took center stage in my imaginary world. Suzette and boyfriend Bob were made by the Uneeda company. If I'm not mistaken, they were exclusive to the W. T. Grant department store, of which there was one in my local shopping center. Here they are:

These are not my original two. These are two that I bought at America's Yard Sale, eBay. But these are exactly like the ones I had when I was six or seven. Suzette is an inch shorter than Barbie. And she has a bigger head and bigger feet. But she can wear the clothes. That's one of Barbie's dresses she's wearing in the picture. Shoes are harder to come by these days. But I'm lucky enough to have found two pairs. Bob, on the other hand, has to make do with Ken's hand-me-downs. The pants are too long and the shirts too big. But he doesn't seem to mind, does he?

There were a couple of others in the Fifties. Little Miss Revlon. Tammy. Miss Toni.

Barbie may not have been the first, but she's definitely the reigning queen. It's always about Marketing, isn't it?

Enjoy your day, whoever your playmate might be.

Susan

I'm a Barbie Girl

2009-03-14T14:33:00.005-04:00

The girl looks pretty good for 50, doesn't she?

I've never been one to put my age out there, but there are no secrets left when I say that I had an original Barbie when I was eight years old. Barbie was my best friend, my playmate, my cool much older sister who already knew all the answers to questions I hadn't even formed yet.

So of course I'm excited to see her reach this milestone. And still be so cool. I don't know where my Barbie is. I remember giving some things to my best friend's little sister when I was in high school. Julie Hartley, if you have my Barbie....I want her back!!

I do still have my original Midge, though. And here she is:

In the early days, when you would purchase a Barbie fashion, you would receive with it a little catalogue showing you all the other wonderful outfits that were available for the girls. I found one of my old booklets in which I'd marked each page with a check or an X so that Santa would know which ones to bring me. This one was always one of my favorites:

It's called "Solo in the Spotlight." Yes, each outfit had a name. Of course it did. Why not? That's a reproduction in the picture, although I do still have my slinky black evening gown from the fifties. It's not quite as fresh as that one, but it still fits.

Certainly there are detractors who say that Barbie is bad for little girls. She represents an idealistic body shape that no woman can ever achieve. She objectifies women. She stereotypes little girls.

That's simply not true.

I adored Barbie - still do - but I also played with trucks and trains and guns - yes, guns! I played baseball, basketball and football with all the boys in the neighborhood. I don't have a body like Barbie's. I don't expect to. I'm very comfortable with the one I have.

Playing with Barbie and Midge was the beginning of my life as a writer. Oh, the stories we would star in! We could travel the world - properly accessorized, of course - without ever leaving the corner of my bedroom. We were spies. We were cowboys. We were doctors and zookeepers. Each day we spun a new tale.

And we never needed Ken. I was not interested. Completely bored with the possibility. What fun would it be to dress him? All he had were trousers and shirts. How mundane.

Thanks to the wonder of the Internet, I can type a few keys and find all the Vintage Barbie fashions for sale. Some at a perfectly reasonable price. I'm slowly amassing the wardrobe I didn't have for my Barbie when I was eight. It's fun.

You've got to give the old girl credit. She looks pretty good for fifty, doesn't she? I wish I would be around to see how she looks at one hundred. Maybe my great-great-granddaughter will have one.

Take good care of your toys. And they will take care of you.

Have a great weekend!

MORE RAVE REVIEWS!!!

2009-03-11T08:49:00.003-04:00

Possibly my favorite of all my ebooks is TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS. That's the one that's set in Tampa. It's sort of my homage to all those great Bogie and Bacall movies that typify Film Noir. The book was released exactly two years ago. So you can imagine my surprise when this review turned up on my Google Alert yesterday:

"This story was exceptionally easy to read, with excellent characters! Rebecca was both sophisticated and easy to like. The author did a fantastic job showing the reader all the layers of Rebecca’s psyche. She was feisty, intelligent, and lovable.

Jake was also intriguing, with a macho exterior and a marshmallow interior. A true man’s man with sensitivity and the ability to love someone without too much angst. I truly enjoyed reading their story."

This review came from Rista Tompkins at The Romance Readers Connection. Thanks very much to Rista for finding this book and for liking it.

This kind of attention is extremely good for a writer. Like I've said many times before, writing is a solitary experience. It's also a long, long time between writing the words and receiving any pay off. All these reviews that show up on the Internet are very valuable to a writer.

Now I suppose I should get busy and finish the current project. Yes, that's a good idea.

Have a great day!
Susan

Sing Us a Song....

2009-03-06T08:22:00.003-05:00

You're the Piano Men.
And sing us a song, they did.

I've been playing the piano since I was seven years old. My mother told the story that after visiting a friend who had a piano, she saw me sitting on the bed, fingering an imaginary keyboard. Very shortly thereafter, a piano showed up at my house.

Mrs. Johnson once told someone that I was the best student she ever had. She never said that to me, of course. To me she said, "Cut your nails!" and "Slow down!"

But I still have to thank Mrs. Johnson for keeping me in love with the piano, even after The Beatles took over the rest of my musical life.

My favorite all time piece of music written for the piano? That would be Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme by Paganini. I loved it even before it was used in the movie "Somewhere in Time." (Which, by the way, is the reason my son's name is Christopher, but that's another story).

But my favorite live performance by a pianist? That would be last night at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Florida. Sir Elton John and Billy Joel. I've seen these two in concert together two other times, about fifteen years ago. I think I love them best when they're doing each other's songs.

The show opened with "Your Song" and closed with "Piano Man." And the energy never flagged in between. From the roots-rocking "Italian Restaurant" to the audience participation "Tiny Dancer," both artists held us captive in their hands for three hours.

And their hands! I've seen a lot of concert pianists play Gershwin, Mozart, Beethoven. They all have large hands with long, slender fingers. These two guys - cowboys, the local paper called them today, and I can't disagree with that - have little chubby hands with short pudgy fingers. How do they reach those octaves? On Billy Joel's "Angry Young Man," his hands moved so fast there was nothing but a blur on the jumbo screen.

It was the ultimate "Jellyrolls" last night. Dueling pianos manned by the two greatest pianists of our generation.

We were all in the mood for a melody. And they had us feeling all right.

What I've Been Reading

2009-02-05T08:23:00.003-05:00

"There is an undeniable pleasure in stepping into an open-top sports car driven by a beautiful woman."
- Dr. Gregory House

Oh, wait a minute. It wasn't House who said that. It was Thomas Lang, protagonist of the novel THE GUNSELLER, written by Hugh Laurie.

So maybe House did say it, after all.

If you've heard rumors that I've been involved in a mammoth House-a-thon, then you know where my head's been of late. Inside the mind of the evil - or is that heartwarming - Dr. House.

One of the various book stores to which I have the rewards/loyalty/preferred customer card had a deal on box sets of DVDs. I'd been confused ever since this season started with that whole Wilson's Dead Girlfriend thing, so I decided the really best way to get it all sorted out was to start from the beginning.

So I did. And in very short order, I watched the first four seasons of House in their entirety, including special features, bloopers and producer's commentary. Of course, then I had withdrawal. And that's when I remembered the book:

This is a really fun read whether you're a House fan or not. I had a tendency to picture the curmudgeonly doctor as I was reading, but you don't have to do that to enjoy it. It's very witty and quite an adventure. The hero - and I use that term loosely, as House would prefer - is one of those reluctant to be in the role but who does the right thing in the end.

Hugh Laurie is an entertaining writer. And quite witty to boot, which I always enjoy. If I have any complaint, it's getting some of the characters confused so that I occasionally had to go backward to remind myself who was which.

But a good read nonetheless. Have you read it? Tell me what you think.

Have a great day!
Susan

Turns out, you CAN go home again!

2009-01-13T09:34:00.004-05:00

I've just returned from a quick trip to the place of my birth, Thomaston, GA. The main purpose of this trip was to teach my cousin Jane how to do eBay. Oh, my! She's sitting on a gold mine filled with Depression Glass, vintage toys, antique school furnishings, and much more.

In fact, I told her husband that they have enough inventory to open their own Antique store. His reply was, "That sounds like something you'd have to go to every day."

Yeah, I get that. Trying my very best not to have to go SOMEWHERE every day. So far, I'm good until about 2012.

So I truly did enjoy my visit with Jane and family. Also my cousin Kay from the other side of my heritage. It was great to see the old places and get caught up on everyone's children. All of that was part of the reason for going. Here's the part that I didn't expect:

I'm afraid those may be too small to see on the Blog, so here's what they say:

Sallie Profitt 1839-1901 James O. Hoyal 1833-1881

Those would be my grandmother's grandparents. Wow.

Jane and I stood there in that damp cemetery with cold wind whipping around us contemplating those two headstones. We don't know what they looked like. We don't know what their personalities were. Did she like to sing? Was he tall? What attracted them to each other? We will never know. But we do know this profound thing. If not for those two meeting, falling in love, marrying....Jane and I would not exist. (Along with a bunch of other people, but they weren't with us that day.)

I knew about Sallie and James O. Their names are in my great-grandfather's Bible. She's the reason I had Sallie on my baby name list when I was pregnant. Until I found out the baby was a Boy.

Now I have been bitten by the Genealogy bug. I want to know the generation before and the generation before that. Luckily for me, there is a wealth of information out on the Super Cyber Highway. It's just a matter of sorting out the true from the mistakes. But I look forward to the adventure.

Who knows? I could find out I'm related to YOU.

Have a great day,
Susan

THE DIAMOND STILL SPARKLES

2008-12-11T09:17:00.004-05:00

Wow, this is amazing. TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS was released in March of 2007. This morning another review showed up in my mailbox. And it's a fine one!

The Romance Studio has given it Five Hearts! Here's a snippet of the review:
"Delia Carnell does an exceptional job telling the tale of these two people and their lives...This is one of those books that was hard to put down as the suspense built to a well done ending."

It's such a treat to hear words like that. And this time, I received praise for a facet that's never been mentioned to me before. Check this: "There are some interesting secondary characters...also make great additions to the story."

That's fun to hear. And it's something I tell my students when I teach the writing class. Even if the characters are only in the story for a short time, they have to have a purpose, and they have to be well defined.

TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS is one of my favorite books (yeah, I know...I say that about whichever one I'm talking about at the moment) because I truly love Jake. He's so tortured. So emotionally bankrupt. So easy to fall in love with. And this was the first book I set in my hometown of Tampa. That was fun. And easy. No research needed! I enjoyed sending Jake and Rebecca to places I go on a regular basis. Rick's on the River. Jackson's Bistro. The Florida Orchestra.

If you'd like to read the entire review at The Romance Studio, click here.

And if you'd like to fall in love with Jake yourself, click here.

Thanks very much to Dee Dailey at The Romance Studio for making this rainy morning a little bit sunnier.

Have a great day!
Susan

Top Ten Lists - The Other Side!

2008-12-05T08:21:00.004-05:00

Usually if there's something to do with a Top Ten list in this Blog, it's because I've made one. Today, it's because I'm ON one.

Not too long ago, I got a fabulous review for TIME TO KEEP, my time travel romance that was out this year. Now Kimber at Fallen Angel reviews has compiled her list of the Top Ten best books of 2008.

Guess who's on it!

Yes, that's right. Kimber has honored us with a spot on her list. I can't tell you what a thrill this is. I've said this here before, and I'll say it again: Writing is a Very Solitary Experience. I sit here in this little space that I've made as visually appealing and inspirational as I can. I have mood music, photos of people who resemble the major characters (Mark Harmon, usually), and a few reference books. I try to capture what I see in my head, the dialogue I hear, the emotions my characters are feeling.

But I never know if I'm getting it right. One of the difficult things about writing is the huge length of time between creation and feedback. Did I get it right? Does it make sense? Will someone else be as crazy about it as I am?

You just don't know, so you keep on putting down the words, day after day, working on nothing but blind faith. Someone will love it. Someone will buy it. Someone will be glad she read it. This time, I have my proof. Someone not only liked it, she liked it TOP TEN BEST of all the books she read this year.

Wow.

Thanks, Kimber, for not just the honor, but for the inspiration, the kick-in-the-pants to go on. And on and on.

If you'd like to see the rest of Kimber's list, click here.

And if you'd like to read TIME TO KEEP yourself, then click here.

Thanks, Faithful Readers. What would I do without you?

Susan

Giving thanks...anyway

2008-11-26T08:13:00.002-05:00

I've told my sister that I absolutely will not stand in a circle, hold hands and say what I'm thankful for prior to carving the turkey tomorrow. It's a tradition. Of course it is. Everybody in America does it. We have to mark the holiday in some way. After all, those Pilgrims did a brave and dangerous thing. We should be glad. And I am glad. It's just that personally, I haven't had a lot to be thankful for this year.

But lest I sound maudlin, I decided to come up with some things for which I am truly grateful despite the tragedy that struck my family in 2008. So take these in the spirit with which they were summoned. And see what you might be able to add.

I'm thankful that I no longer work for a woman I can't repsect.

I'm extremely grateful that I wasn't running a trucking company when fuel hit five dollars a gallon.

I'm very thankful that Cloris Leachman was voted off Dancing with the Stars early on. I couldn't have tuned in to watch Warren if she was still there.

I'm grateful to Mr. Disney for deciding to build in Florida. That goes with the corollary thankful to my dad for deciding to move us to Florida.

I'm thankful that the Bucs finally started doing well so that people are buying my tickets on Stub Hub.

I'm glad I finished reading DUMA KEY before it got dark last night.

I'm thankful for my son's girlfriend who is a great cook and wants to do the dinner tomorrow.

I'm grateful that my mother didn't have to see the Georgia-Florida game this year.

And because writing is not unlike producing music in many, many ways, I'll leave you with one of my favorite Paul Simon lyrics from the song Lincoln Duncan:

"I was playing my guitar, lying underneath the stars, just thanking the Lord for my fingers, for my fingers."

Have a happy thanskgiving.
Susan

DON'T GET IT WRONG!

2008-11-24T11:03:00.003-05:00

My writer friend Mark! and I have been discussing - here and in other places - the obligation writers have to get the details right. If you're writing about Boston, and you've never been there, get somebody from Boston to read your work. Otherwise, you might not know that at five o'clock on a winter afternoon it's already dark.

Yes, that happened to me. I have lived in Florida since I was four. I knew it got colder up there. I didn't know it got dark earlier. Good thing I had a Boston native read it for me before it became a permanent mistake.

As promised, here are some of my favorite mistakes (other than the Sheryl Crow song):

This was a category romance in the late 80s. The hero took the heroine to Disney World in Florida. They rode Space Mountain. They sat side by side. Observe Exhibit A:

Side by side? No can do.

Granted, there was no Google in the 80s. It wasn't nearly as easy to find that kind of picture then as it is now, but still...how hard would it have been to find somebody who'd been to WDW and ASK them? Not very.

Same book, same author: They're in a hotel on Miami Beach. They look out the window. The hero says (and I'm not quoting exactly) "Oh, look! A hurricane's coming!"

Boys and girls, believe me when I tell you, you don't look out the window and see it coming. It doesn't provide a whirling vortex of flotsam and jetsam like the Tasmanian Devil skipping across the surface of the ocean. Very sophisticated meteorological instruments detect the presence of a hurricane long before you can "see" anything. And what you see, really, is a lot of rain and bending palm trees.

Here's another one. Florida author. Should have known better. Hero lives in a secluded cabin in the Everglades (I forget why). Heroine goes there for some reason. They watch a movie on cable.

Now I've never worked for Time Warner or Bright House or any of those cable providing conglomerates. But I will bet you my last dollar that none of them have to date laid cable down Alligator Alley and into the swamp. At least not yet.

They could have watched a movie on DVD. They could have watched a movie on Satellite. On cable? I don't think so.

This one is my personal favorite:
The book is by a well known author and comes from a Big New York publishing house. There are characters in the book from New Orleans. Someone asks the woman how she survived Katrina. (Boy, those hurricanes!) She says, "No problem. We rode it out in the bayou in the basement of a church."

I'll leave you to ponder why that is so wrong. If you can't get it, I'll fill you in tomorrow.

Now I'm off to work on the book that I'm setting in the small town in Georgia where I was born. THAT one, I know.

Susan

Teen Beat Revisited

2008-11-20T08:11:00.004-05:00

You know I love Disney Channel, so I've enjoyed watching Cody Linley on Dancing with the Stars this year. "Dude, I slayed you once. Don't make me slay you twice." Today's his birthday. I saw it in my morning newspaper. He's 19 today.

On the same page, I see that People magazine has chosen their Sexiest Man Alive. It's Hugh Jackman. I saw him on a talk show recently, and I'd have to say if not THE sexiest man alive, he's at least in the running for it. I can't say for sure. There are probably quite a few sexy men alive who I've never met.

But what else I find noteworthy is that listed as runner up for Mr. Jackman's crown is Zac Efron. (Oh, I'm going to seriously get Tween hits on my blog today!) And while I would be the first to agree that Zac is absolutely adorable, Sexiest Man Alive seems a little...I don't know...Mrs. Robinson-esque? Okay, I just looked him up and he's almost exactly one month past twenty-one, so it's not quite as icky, but still...

So I was thinking about the men (or boys) that we considered cuddle-licious when I was a Tween - and that's LONG before the word was coined - and here's who I remember most:

Yes, of course there was ELVIS. But I let my sister have him. Ricky was by far the cuter. And the way he closed his eyes when he sang...oh, my little Tween heart could barely stand it. I learned the word "swoon" at an early age.

And let's not forget the boys on Mickey Mouse Club, including my favorite from the Spin and Marty series, Tim Considine. Wasn't it neat when he later showed up on My Three Sons? Speaking of those other sons, how about Don Grady? Yeah, there was a swoon inducer, all right.

I could go on and on: Fabian, Ed "Kookie" Burns, Frankie Avalon, Tommy Kirk, Kurt Russell, and Mickey Dolenz - when he was Circus Boy, not a Monkee.

Those little Tween girls got nothing on us. We were pinning up pictures of cute boys when we had to buy magazines at the drug store to get them. We didn't have the Internet and 300 cable channels to bring us images of our crushes all day long. Still, we understand. The feeling is the same.

Happy Birthday, Cody.

Location, Location, Location

2008-11-19T09:24:00.002-05:00

When I teach the writing class at USF, I talk about location or setting. It's a very important choice. Not every story works in any place. Gone With the Wind could not be set in New Jersey, for example. In many cases the setting is a character too.

In my class I use the example of Sex and the City. An awesome collection of interesting women and the love they feel for each other, if not their men. But the title is not Sex IN the City; it's Sex AND the City. The City, of course, being New York. And the City is as important as Carrie and Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda. The City is another woman, another friend, another love in their stories.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me, or any of you Faithful Readers, that I adore Stephen King. I've been reading him since around the time Sissy Spacek became acquainted with an unusual high school girl named CARRIE. A great deal of King's stories - though certainly not all of them - are set in Maine. That's where he grew up and lives now. No brainer. But there's something about New England that lends itself to the spookiness of his work. Or maybe I feel that way because of his work. I don't know.

The point is, I'm now reading DUMA KEY, his most recent novel. And guess what, Faithful Readers - this one is set in MY backyard. It's a little bit odd to read this novel and come across a character wearing a Tampa Devil Rays shirt. Of course, now it would just be Rays since they got the Devil out last year. But still.

I'm about 200 pages into an 800-page novel. So far, I'm delighted. I can't find fault with any detail. And I'm sure I won't. Mr. King is well known for spending at least Spring Training season in a home in roughly the location of his fictional island.

It still feels a little bit odd. His characters are usually more apt to mention a nor'easter than a hurricane. But even at this early stage of reading, I can feel the atmosphere oozing into the story. This location is every bit as important to this particular story as Castle Rock was to ... well, everything set in Castle Rock.

Choose wisely. The story must wear its surroundings as comfortably as an old favorite coat. And always, always do the research. Get it right. There will always be a reader who knows your town, your geograpy, your weather. Don't let them down.

Have a great day, wherever you are.
Susan

An Evening with E. L. Doctorow

2008-11-14T10:23:00.002-05:00

Last night I attended a lecture by E. L. Doctorow at the University of South Florida. Since I had not read his work in quite some time, I picked up WORLD’S FAIR and enjoyed it very much just prior to the evening. So it was with some delight that I looked forward to this lecture.

It’s always interesting to hear a writer speak. They are not usually the sort of person who easily stands before an audience. If they were, they’d be actors instead of writers. So you never know what you’re going to get. Some of them are quite outgoing and interesting. Some should just stay in their rooms and write.

Mr. Doctorow fell somewhere in between those two extremes. He had a very well thought out topic with fabulous examples to illustrate his points, but he read it to us. I so much prefer a presentation by a person who just speaks. But he’s the National Book Award winner, not I. So I’ll excuse him whatever he needs to remain in his comfort zone.

His lecture was about the historical novel. He said that he believed all novels were historical novels in that they all happen in the past. That’s worth pondering. He also made the point that novels are more factual than non-fiction in that a historian is relating history with his or her perceptions influencing it. A novelist is telling the absolute truth of what is in his or her imagination. Another excellent point to consider.

Wrtiers are on their own, he told us. Specialists in nothing. Unlike doctors, lawyers, or any other professional discipline, writers don’t have to take an exam, don’t have to secure a license to practice their craft. We work “lacking any credential except that which we have given ourselves.”

But the license to continue is given to us by the public. A book is not completed until it’s read.

I absolutely love the act of reading, and am equally enamored with writing. It’s a monumental treat to be in the presence of someone who excels at both. However, I would have walked away from this lecture far more satisfied had Mr. Doctorow not felt it necessary to disparage the historical romance novel.

Less than two minutes into his lecture, he adamantly excluded historical romances from his conversation, referring to them as books in which the writers “flaunt their research and costume their characters correctly.” Those, he said, he is not considering.

Why, I wonder, did a man of his esteem find it necessary to belittle a genre that brings so much reading enjoyment to so many? How did it enhance his lecture? What credibility did he hope to gain by making that distinction?

I remain puzzled. But it doesn’t stop me from continuing to experience the delight of writing about people endeavoring to achieve the most precious treasure a person can hope to gain – the essence of love.

If E. L. Doctorow thinks all novels are historical, I would argue that they are all romances. Show me a novel in which love is not a factor.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the show. Books are on sale in the lobby.
Susan

Don't Have a Cow, Man!

2008-11-13T11:42:00.005-05:00

Yes, it's true. This Sunday, I'm going to break with tradition and watch The Simpsons. There's no particular reason why I've not been a big fan prior to now. Maybe it was just my idealistic vision of expecting children to behave and respect their parents.

Ha! No, that's not it. I'm a Child of the Sixties, a Flower Child, a Hippie. We invented bucking authority. And ended a war in the process, I might add....but I digress.

This Sunday I'll be watching The Simpsons because two of my idols are the week's guest stars. That's Merl Reagle and Will Shortz.

I've "known" Will Shortz since way, way, way back when I had a subscription to GAMES magazine and regularly devoured his crossword puzzles there. That was long before I knew the value of the Sunday NY Times crosswords or even Will's weekly stint with word games on NPR.

Merl Reagle, I actually have met.

I noticed him in a local breakfast place right after seeing the movie Word Play. I knew from that film that he lived in Tampa. When I saw him in the restaurant, I recognized him immediately. But more than that, I participated in one of his local Game Shows in which he posed word games and puzzles to an eager audience. I came in second and won a lovely gift basket of snacks for the effort.

So with gleeful anticipation, I'll sit myself down in front of The Simpsons this week. And let the Word Play begin!

Have a great day!
Susan

Better Late Than Never?

2008-11-12T13:41:00.002-05:00

Ah, that's a beautiful cover. I was truly thrilled with my two Irish magic covers when those stories were out in 2006 and 2007. BRIANNA'S MAGIC, the one pictured here, was released for St. Patrick's Day. Not the most recent one, the one before. 2007. A year and three-quarters ago. 20 months. A woman who conceived on the day of this release could be right now planning her child's first birthday party, squeezing it in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So imagine my surprise recently when the book was reviewed by The Romance Studio. To be sure, I am NOT complaining. I'm just continually in awe of the way the online publishing world operates. And I'm definitely not complaining about the review.

Here's a quote from Dee Dailey for the Romance Studio, who gave BRIANNA'S MAGIC five hearts.

"Delia Carnell has woven a superb tale of the real Irish, their heritage, the magic of the land and the sense of family through the ages."

Wow, that's really nice. I'm quite touched by it. You can read the whole review here.

The sad news is that this book is no longer available from the publisher. They took their line in a different direction recently and returned my rights to all three of the books they published. I'm working out a way to make it availble through my website, so if you're interested, post a comment here or email me through susancody.com. Or deliacarnell.com. I'm both of those.

Thanks to Dee Dailey and Romance Studio. I'm thrilled with the review.

Have a lovely day!

The Enchanted Journal

2008-11-10T08:33:00.005-05:00

I've been a bit under the weather the past few days, but my friends dragged me out into the sunshine Saturday to Downtown Disney for the annual Festival of the Masters art show. I love a good art show. I like to look at the shiny glass objects, the huge paintings with bright splashes of color, the sleek wooden pieces. And the photographs particularly appeal to me. Throw in my favorite mouse, and one would wonder why I've never strolled around this one before.

It was everything I hoped it would be - and one thing I didn't expect. I was particularly engrossed with a pair of beaded earrings that caught the sunilght and glistened when my best friend Jeanette called to me from across the aisle. "You have to come see this."

She knows me. She's seen me run my hands over smooth leather binding, bury my nose in the promising scent of fresh paper, fill pages with beautiful words. Jeanette had found a charming young lady who makes journals. She makes everything from the polished leather to the unique paper inside. I was, of course, enthralled.

I touched each one lovingly, feeling the smoothness beneath my fingertips, imagining the words I would put on each page. But one in particular called to me. From the moment I lifted it into my hands, I knew it belonged to me. I turned the pages carefully, thinking that I had finally found a companion, an instrument of my craft, a dreamkeeper.

I'm not ashamed to say that it made me cry.

Of course, I bought it. I had to. It was mine.

Teresa Haun is the artist. She calls her offerings Mind's Eye Journals. I completely agree. You can read all about it at her website Mindseyejournals.com

And if writing is important to you, then you should look at them and discover which one she made for you.

Have a lovely day.

Susan

Like Visiting an Old Friend

2008-11-07T09:41:00.001-05:00

The good thing about a writer’s characters is that they will wait for you if they have to. What with one thing and another – mainly my mother’s illness – it’s been about a year since I wrote daily. In an attempt to return to that, I spent most of yesterday refreshing myself on the approximately 30,000 words in the Bombshell’s story.

It was like no time had passed at all. Indeed, for Olivia and Sam, no time had passed. There they waited for me, as patient as you please, until I returned to give them more words, more deeds, more emotions to feel. How kind of them, yes?

While I wouldn’t recommend this method to anyone aspiring to write for publication regularly, the distance from the story did afford me a clearer perspective than one gets when one is in the middle of writing it. I was able to read it as a reader would read it. Some of it, anyway. There are always turns and phrases that remain vividly etched in the writer’s mind. Those were not new to me. But I was happy to find surprises as I read. Little things I did not remember that pleased me.

It’s encouraging to read one’s own work and be entertained by it. Sometimes we get so bogged down in the plot of it or the resolution of the conflict that we forget to relax and enjoy our own words.

A writer is his or her own first reader. If we can’t please that reader, how can we expect to please any others?

Happy Weekend to All!
Susan

I Suppose It's Time to Come Back

2008-11-06T13:17:00.003-05:00

I've been reluctant to put many words here recently. 2008 has been a year of challenge and heartache. But the best way to deal with those things is to write about them.

My mother was very sick for a long four months. She passed two days after my birthday. It's been about six weeks, and I profoundly miss her. I'm sure the ache will dull somewhat as time goes by, but it hasn't yet. My sister and I are faced with the daunting task of clearing out Mom's things. So many things. What should we do with all of them? We still don't know yet. This will take a while.

To find ourselves a little bit of healing space, my sister and I sailed on a Disney Cruise last week. It's something I've always wanted to do, and it seemed the perfect opportunity to get away, relax, be together in a happier space. And it was all that.

I highly recommend the journey if you've ever wondered whether crusing was for you. Neither of us had ever done it, but we found the Wonder to be completely comfortable, charming, and all of the things you'd expect from Disney.

So now what?

I lost my job. Can't say that I really miss it, but still...it was nice income and something that I enjoyed doing. Too bad. But there is still eBay, and I have a much larger inventory to market. And there is the thing that has always been my salvation - writing.

Any time in my life that things were sad or lonely for me, writing has been my way back to the sunlight. And it will be now too. Today, for the first time in months, I'm putting down words. And the eventual result will be successful. I know this. It's something I'm good at, and I enjoy doing it. So I suppose, Faithful Readers, if there are any of you left, you'll be seeing more Blog posts now.

I'm off to see where I left the Bombshell. Surely she's not still in that old cabin, is she?

More tomorrow...
Susan

2008-09-18T08:22:00.000-04:00

When I was a little girl, my mother’s signature shade of lipstick was Pink Lightning. I thought it was such a dangerous name, exotic. I marveled at her ability to swipe it across her full lips barely glancing in the mirror. I inherited my daddy’s small mouth and narrow lips. It practically takes an artist’s brush to paint my lips without flaw.

And a far steadier hand than I have this morning.

In the hallway beside our family room, we have a collage of photos that Mama made some years ago. In it is a picture of my parents when they were in their early twenties. They are standing in thick grass flanked by flowering bushes. They are facing each other rather than the camera. He holds both of her hands in both of his. He is tall and dapper in his light suit. She is stunning in her dark organza dress. They are smiling.

Such fresh-faced innocents. Untouched yet by the war that loomed in their futures. Unencumbered by the children they would devote their lives to shortly. Free of the fragile mothers they would willingly sacrifice their own privacy to care for with love more than duty.

This morning – the first morning of my life that I do not have my mama’s physical presence – this morning they wake together for the first time in more than two decades. And I know that they will look exactly the way they do in that picture when they dance to the Glen Miller Orchestra today while sweet pink lightning streaks across the heavens in celebration.

What Is A Catbird and Why Do I Want His Seat?

2008-06-21T18:44:00.003-04:00

I was posting a note to a friend recently in which I used the term "catbird seat." She admitted to having to look it up. Well, I know where I first heard the reference, but I didn't know exactly what a catbird was. So of course I did what every writer does these days - as opposed to going to the library years ago - I Googled it.

There is an Australian bowerbird that is also known as a catbird. The male catbird will go to great lengths to build an elaborate structure that he uses to attract his mate who will then sit on the strutcture. The catbird seat has come to mean an enviable position.

I first read "The Catbird Seat" by James Thurber when I was in college. I believe it was freshman English, but that's hard to say. It was The Sixties. All that time kind of runs together for me now. Anyway, I found the story again (thank you,Google) and I just read it. Now I'm struck by how it reminds me of one of my favorite authors, Lawrence Block. I've been reading him some today because I was flipping through some of his books on writing in preparation for this week's class.

Here's a link to some Thurber works that contain the short story.

You can actualy Google the title and find the story copied on someone's blog, but I'm not sure that's in accourdance with copyright laws, so you'll have to do your own Googling if you want that one. I'm not linking to anything that takes a royalty away from a writer.

But if you come across the story, maybe in an old college textbook or something, you should give it a new read. I promise you'll enjoy it. Then we can all wave to you when you're sitting in the catbird seat.

Have a great day. Read a book.

Susan

This Is for My Writing Class

2008-06-19T22:31:00.004-04:00

So tonight was the first class of Writing Popular Novels at USF. I was telling the eager fresh faces that NOW is not too soon to begin your blog. Then I realized, something like a knife to the gut, that I haven't blogged in oh, roughly this year. So I'm blogging for you tonight, Chad. And you Kimberly, Kallie, and Jeannie. And for you too, Linda and Vanessa.

Here's my automatic writing:

She picked up the book and threw it across the room. She'd have preferred to throw it at Brad, but he was in Bolivia, wasn't he? Bolivia! Who even goes to Bolivia? And for what?

There she had been, cruising along in this relationship as if it were THE ONE, expecting nothing less than white lace and promises in the next year or so when BOOM - Brad says he's going to Bolivia!

Emerald mines, he tells her. Deep in the rain forest there are emerald mines. Rich green stones as big as your fist just lying around for the picking. So of course, he had to go pick some, didn't he?

And never mind about the curse.

Oh, he'd been pretty slick the way he'd laughed that off. Just a stupid old myth, he'd told her. That's why she'd gone to the bookstore and bought the book. Ancient Curses of the Bolivian Rain Forest. She eyed it now, its thick dark cover almost luring her from across the room. The gilt-edged pages seemed to glitter in the pool of light from the Tiffany lamp.

She should go over there and pick it up. She should do it. Slowly, she stood up. Why was she afraid? It was just a stupid book. A heavy book, yes. And old, it seemed.

She'd been surprised to find a book that looked like it came from someone's grandmother's attic neatly shelved there in the upscale big box store between the double lattes and the smooth jazz CDs.

Maybe someone had bought it, kept it for a while, then returned it. Or maybe the publisher knew a spooky cover was more marketing tool than design.

Whatever, the book just sat on her hardwood floor, as if it would not be ignored. She walked slowly across the room and picked it up.

Okay, that's it for tonight. Don't forget your homework!

Susan

My Grandmother's Hands

2008-02-23T20:40:00.005-05:00

My grandmother's hands were soft, elegant.

I think of them tonight as I sort through a bag of her sewing notions. Not inclined to crochet or knit as most grandmothers might, Annie Mae was a fan of embroidery. All of the years that I was growing up, we had the most beautiful hand-embroidered pillowcases of anyone. Most were flowers, some were birds. Some were lace-edged.
All were beautiful.

Her precise, neat stitches were as carefully crafted as the love she held for her family. No conditions, no excuses. I always thought of her as fragile, sensitive, almost poetic. I know now how terribly strong she was. Stronger than a woman should have to be. But those were difficult times.

In the old wrinkled plastic bag are the remnants of her many projects. The colors are blues and greens. Pinks and yellows. Browns and reds. Each time she opened a skein, she wound the cotton floss carefully around a piece of cardboard. Seeing the color names or numbers written on the cards in her familiar handwriting is like finding an old friend. I see her writing and I think about some of the times I've seen it. Grocery lists. Recipes.

Some Sunday afternoons I would take her out to eat and to the mall. We would usually stop in the bookstore and pick out a book that we would both read. Kathleen Woodiwiss, as often as not. Inside, she would write the date and my name. She wanted to remember where we went and when. What we did.

This colorful bag of embroidery thread, as colorful as my memories, was bound for listing on eBay. That seems almost disrespectful. Instead, I'm wrapping it carefully in crisp white tissue paper and putting it away. Maybe someday I'll part with it. But not now. Now I want to tuck safely away this tangible link to my grandmother's hands.

"Oh, there's no place like home.....

2007-12-30T11:41:00.000-05:00

...for the holidays..."

I love Christmas, and I always have because I so much enjoy the opening of gifts on Christmas morning. (Not Christmas Eve, as some renegades practice). In years past, we had the family Christmas morning at my sister's house because she was the first to have children. But ever since my mom and I got this house together, we've been having it here.

Now, Faithful Readers know The Boy moved out this past Spring, so for the first time in his life, he was not going to be under my roof on Christmas Eve night/Christmas morning. Under normal circumstances this would not alarm me. He doesn't live that far away. But he's a night owl, difficult to wake up early in the morning, and I was afraid he wouldn't get here in time. Add to that, his cell phone charger is broken, and he doesn't really care.

On Christmas Eve, I urged him to come home to spend the night so that he would be here. Of course, he didn't want to do that. And when I pointed out that I wouldn't be able to contact him to wake him up, he replied, "Just go ahead and open gifts without me. I'll give mine out when I get there."

Under normal circumstances, that would probably be okay. But this Boy is my heartbeat. I never get to see him since he moved out anyway, and to have Christmas morning without him - unthinkable! I admit I cried when he said that, and it was evident in my voice. I didn't intend to put guilt on him - really, I didn't. But in his twenty-four years outside the womb, I've never not had Christmas with him. I didn't want to start now.

Still, he's a grown man, capable of making his own decisions about where to spend the night. I tried to be understanding.

I slept fitfully Christmas Eve night. Maybe he's the reason, maybe not. When I finally got up on Christmas morning, it was just before seven. I showered, got dressed, went into the kitchen to make coffee.

And there on the huge overstuffed sofa in the family room sprawled my Boy and his girlfriend, fast asleep under a big fluffy comforter.

It was all the Christmas gift I needed.

Happy New Year to all

Susan

And Now a New Cover!

2007-12-20T20:02:00.001-05:00

Isn't this beautiful? Of course, I can't really tell you too much about what the various things on the cover mean. I don't want to give away the story. But there is definitely a castle. And a trip to London. And that swirly thing in the middle there? Well, that's kind of like Bill and Ted's phone booth, isn't it?

Guess you'll just have to wait until the book is available at The Wild Rose Press. Shouldn't be too much longer.

Wow, this is a Great Review!

2007-12-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

Just back from my annual Christmas trip to Walt Disney World, and guess what was in my mailbox! A Google alert that pointed me to a new review of A LOTUS-COVERED DOOR. Faithful readers know this story is special to me for some personal reasons. Well, here's what Xeranthemum at The Long and Short of It had to say:

"If you enjoy reading a story that leaves your heart in your throat from the suspense as to whether they will or won't, then The Lotus-Covered Door delivers."

Oh, my. That's just too, too wonderful, isn't it? But wait - it gets better:

"This story almost had me in tears. So close, so close to reaching his dream only to lose it?"

You can read the whole review by clicking here

It was a very rewarding story to write. If you like the theme of lost loves regained, then this is for you. Makes a GREAT Christmas gift! And it's only three bucks! Run on over to The Wild Rose Press and buy it right now! My mother will thank you.

Susan

Writers on Strike?

2007-12-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

I don't understand writers going on strike. I do understand writers wanting more money for what they do, or more payoff for residuals of their work as it goes into other forms. But striking? How can a writer strike? A writer has to write.

But all that aside, I also wonder about the television networks planning to throw reality programming at us since they don't have any new episodes of Grey's Anatomy or Heroes. Or whatever people are watching these days. Who do they think they're kidding with this? Are we supposed to believe that Ryan Seacrest makes up his own lines? Somebody WRITES what he says.

"The tribe has spoken." Who came up with that? Somebody wrote it.

My good friend Digby Diehl had a story that he loved to relate. A friend of his wrote a popular soap opera. When the friend got pulled over for speeding, the police officer asked him what he did for a living. He explained that he wrote a soap opera. The cop replied, "I didn't know anybody wrote those!"

Sombody writes your evening news, the Jeopardy! answers, and Dr. Phil's intro.

So why does network television think it can get along without writers? It can't. Don't even try.

Now go read something.

Susan

Where Have I Been?

2007-12-10T20:03:00.001-05:00

Sometimes even I don't know.

Okay, here's what happened: The online publishing money is slim. The eBay money is good but labor intensive. The jerk who owes us money is in prison right now. So, in order to keep up the payments on the T-Bird, I had to get a real job.

It's okay. I've had real jobs before. Some are better than others. This one is particularly good. If I had to go to an office every day, I found a nice one to go to. It's cheerful and pleasant. The work is something I know how to do and I'm good at. The boss is a jewel. A lot like me, minus XXX years. (You can fill that in on your own.)

So, while I'm sad that I can't sit here and google myself...I mean, WRITE all day, I'm still happy that I managed to find such a good opportunity. I did give up the editing job. I didn't give up the teaching. And the eBay will have to sort itself out after the holidays. I still have a ton of stuff to sell for my sister and Jeanette.

And I intend to keep writing. Once we get past Christmas, I'll work on a schedule. The Blonde Bombshell can't stay stuck in Gatsby's cabin indefinitely. And her ex-boyfriend just showed up. That must be addressed.

Meanwhile, the 1962 time-travel story, now titled TIME TO KEEP, is due out from The Wild Rose Press...sometime.

So happy holidays to one and all. It only gets better from here.

Susan

Over the river and through the woods....

2007-11-22T09:28:00.000-05:00

To Grandmother's house we go!

Lucky for me, I live with the reigning grandmother in my family so I didn't have to cross any rivers or go through any woods. Not that there are any woods in this major metropolitan area I call home. There is a river. Anyway...

It's Thanksgiviing, in case you've been living in a cave that just this moment became wired for Internet access. It's the time of year when we stop for a minute to think on those things for which we're thankful. After which we consume massive amounts of poultry and refined carbohydrates. Yum!

A couple of years ago, our circle widened to temporarily include a handful of young people who joined us for dinner. My son, who was then twenty-two, was explaining to them our annual ritual. "We stand in a circle and hold hands, then everyone has to say what they're thankful for."

"On, no," one of the young people said. "We won't do that."

"Oh, yes," my Boy insisted. "You HAVE to."

It's always good for a parent to discover that those little rituals we hold sacred actually stuck when we threw them at the younger generation.

So here are a few things for which I'm thankful. I won't list the obvious. Family, health, loved ones. Everybody has those. No, these are the little things that give me pleasure with some regularity:

A local radio station that plays classical music
More books than I'll ever have time to read
Flowers blooming outside my window
A really fast car and (so far) money to gas it up
My driveway to Walt Disney World - one hour
Fresh oranges almost falling in my lap
Every day, whether I have a chance to write or not, the words never stop filling my mind.

I hope everyone takes a moment to think about the little things today.

Happy Thanksgiving

Susan

What's in a Title?

2007-11-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

A rose by any other name...blah, blah, blah. I know. Shakespeare was never wrong, and if he was, I'd be the last to say so. But TITLES, now that's a different story.

My Time Travel adventure is tentatively titled FROM A CASTLE KEEP. And I like that title. But I don't love it. The hard K sound is very nice. And there's a pretty good rhythm to it. But what does it say about the story? Do we have a clue what's going on there?

THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS is prettty straightforward. BLAME IT ON THE GHOST likewise gives the potential book buyer a clue. But what does FROM A CASTLE KEEP tell you? I'd really like it if I could come up with something that has TIME in the title. Here's my short list of maybes:

Time After Time
From Time to Time
Never Enough Time
So Little Time
No Time Left

I dunno. I'm open to suggestions. Anyone have any? Hey, how about a contest? Leave your title suggestions in the comments section here, and if I choose one of them, I'll give that person a free copy of the book! How's that?

Not much beats a free book!

Have a great day!

Susan

Some things I just can't ignore

2007-11-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

I know, usually I blog about writing - my own and writing in general. But two news items have come to my attention today, and I'm powerless to let them go by unnoticed.

First, David Beckham has been awarded a $41 million dollar contract from Armani to model their underwear.

Wait, let me rephrase that:

FORTY-ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO MODEL UNDERWEAR

I'm sorry, I don't follow professional soccer, and I've never seen "Bend It Like Beckham." I do know that he's a good looking man who married a Spice Girl, moved to LA and got a huge bucketful of money to NOT play soccer. There's a really good chance the Beck looks Very Good in his underwear. Even better in Mr. Armani's underwear. But FORTY-ONE MILLION DOLLARS??? How much does a pair of these underpants cost, do you think? Has to be a lot to justify paying for Beck, right?

They probably won't be available at WalMart. Will they?

I'm just sayin'.

Next - and as Dave Barry would say, I'm NOT making this up - a platoon of Santas in Sydney, Australia (like there's another Sydney, right?) have been ordered - ORDERED -to say Ha, Ha, Ha instead of Ho, Ho, Ho.

Know why?

Go ahead. Guess why.

That's right. So they won't offend any woman who might think Santa is calling her a "ho."

And that's from our Give Me A Flippin' Break Department.

Now go have yourselves a nice day. I dare ya.

Susan

"Time is on my side.."

2007-11-14T08:14:00.000-05:00

As Mick would say, "Yes, it is."

I've just received a contract offer for the time travel story, tentatively titled FROM A CASTLE KEEP.

This started as a contest entry at The Wild Rose Press. The only rules were that your heroine had to be in 2007, and she had to travel back in time to one of four designated time periods. I chose the Vintage period and had Star Prescott whisked back to 1962.

While I didn't win the contest, the editors did love the story enough to want to publish it apart from the contest. I had to make a few changes to it and resubmit. So instead of the English cottage that was the original setting for the contest, I moved Star to a spooky old castle in western England.

So what happens to Star when she takes her holiday in the old castle?

Stay tuned. More on that later.

Have a great day!

Susan

And Here's the Proof!

2007-11-13T07:25:00.000-05:00

That's the official 1993 Fabio calendar. And it's autographed to ME! Notice how he signed it "Love?" I can't help it. I just have that effect on men.

And yes, I did put it on eBay. We'll see whether it gets any attention. But I'm here to report the Donny and Marie dolls I showed you last week got us THIRTY-ONE DOLLARS!

Surely Fabio is worth at least that.

Okay, this is a quick one. My internet service has been spotty for a few days now. I do hope that's resolved soon.

Have a great day!
Susan

"Let me 'splain you that..."

2007-11-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

So,Fabio and George Clooney walk into a restaurant...

No,it's not the beginning of a bad joke. The Cover Model and the King of Cool actually came to blows two days ago when Clooney thought the women with Fabio were taking pictures of him. When actually, they were taking pictures of, you know, Fabio.

The Romance Novel World hasn't been in this much of a tizzy since RWA national conference was held in New Orleans while Kevin Costner was filming JFK. (And speaking of Costner, a rock band???? Come on, dude. You're not twenty-three and living in your mother's basement any more.) Various RomBlogs are posing the question: Who would win in a real fight? The camps are about evenly divided between "Fabio would crush him like a bug" and "Clooney would sneak in a sucker punch or a hairpulling."

To me, it doesn't matter. As one woman said somewhere, when those two start rolling around on the floor, WE are the winners. Yes, ma'am. Pull me up a lawn chair to the edge of the circle and let the games begin!

But I have actually met Fabio. Touched him. Had my picture taken beside him. Received his autograph on his 1993 calendar. Which I am about to post on eBay. (See my recent post about strikes and hot irons). I would upload the picture of me with Fab (as those close to him like to call him) but aside from the fact that I don't have a scanner, it's possibly the worst picture ever taken of me. But really - who's going to look good standing next to Fabio? Maybe Jessica Simpson?

Hmmm....come to think of it....have you ever seen the two of them together???

I'm off to ponder Clooney and Fab in a hairpulling, clothes ripping match.

Have a great day!
Susan

The Lotus Unfolds

2007-11-08T08:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received my first review for A LOTUS-COVERED DOOR. Certainly over the years my books have been reviewed by professionals and amateurs alike, but this is my first short story. You never know what's going to happen when you try something different.

Here's part of what the reviewer had to say:

"A Lotus Covered Door is a sweet story. Susan Cody has done a great job creating a real romance in so few pages. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys short romance."

That's by Dakota Rebel. You can read the entire review here.

So, there you go. At least one person to whom I am not related likes it.

And now I'm off to do some more writing. Rumor has it I do a great job.

Have a great day!
Susan

I Always KNEW I Was Carrie!!

2007-11-07T08:44:00.000-05:00

You Are Most Like Carrie!

You're quirky, flirty, and every guy's perfect first date.
But can the guy in question live up to your romantic ideal?
It's tough for you to find the right match - you're more than a little picky.
Never fear... You've got a great group of friends and a
great closet of clothes, no matter what!

Romantic prediction: You'll fall for someone this year...

Totally different from any guy you've dated.

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

Last year my best friend gave me the COMPLETE Sex and the City for my birthday. It took me a while to get through all six seasons, but having finished it recently, I'm now in withdrawal. I want more!

Thankfully, they're working on a feature-length movie AWS. And of course Chris Noth returns as Mr. Big. Oh, come on. You always knew Carrie would end up with Big when all was said and done, didn't you?

My Sex and the City journey didn't take me exactly where I intended to go. I thought at first I would be watching a smart, funny, sexy story about life in Manhattan for young women. And I got that. But I also got so much more.

If you've never seen the show, or seen only a little bit of it, I'm here to tell you now that this is NOT a show about four women trying to find the loves of their lives. Well, yes it is. But what it's REALLY about is how much these four women love each other.

They have their ups and downs, their petty arguments, their lifestyle differences. But they truly, deeply love each other. As Big says in the second to last episode, "Any man comes in a distant fourth to the other three women."

So think about that next time the show comes on. Watch it with your grilfriend. And remember: I'M CARRIE!!!

Have a great day; I'm going shoe shopping,

Susan

Maybe It Wasn't That Good, After All

2007-11-06T07:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I wrote a longish post about beginning writers putting too much information in the front of their story. Backstory is better served in small bites, I advised, accompanied by the action.

Then at the very end, I hit SOMETHING that caused me to delete the entire thing. And I refuse to rewrite the same thing over again. So I'm guessing it was Meant To Be.

Now on to the fun. Some of you know that my dear friend Jeanette is planning to take off in a motor home at the end of 2008, and has charged me with the awesome responsibility of selling her "stuff." Then my sister got into the act with more "stuff" left over from when she dealt antiques, not to mention her daughters' toys. And that's how I wound up with a lot of old Barbies.

Well, I was in Marketing for a long time, and I understand the principle that has to do with striking and hot irons, so yesterday I put this on eBay:

Oh, come on! You know it's funny!

Fill in your own caption. I'm leaning toward, "I've fallen and I can't get up!" But it also gives new meaning to the phrase, "she's a little bit country; he's a little bit rock and roll."

Yes, I know Donny isn't on "Dancing with the Stars" with her, but it's still funny.

Have a great day!
Susan

When You See A Guy.....

2007-11-02T10:29:00.000-04:00

"...reach for stars in the sky, you can bet that he's doing it for some Doll!"

There's a reason why GUYS AND DOLLS is my favorite Broadway show, and it's not the great music, the clever lyrics, the New York setting, or the romantic plot. It isn't even that it's about a time when men were guys and women were dolls.

No, it's because it's the ONLY classic musical in which I've actually performed. And while I wasn't Adelaide, or even one of the Hot Box girls, I was on stage and my name was in the cast list. I love everything about this show, including the things listed above. So it was a great treat for me last week when my Florida Orchestra performed the music of Frank Loesser.

He wrote a lot of other things, too, but GUYS AND DOLLS is probably his best known and certainly his best loved. To make it even more special, the orchestra was accompanied by four singers, one of whom was Frank Loesser's real life daughter, Emily. Also singing for us were her husband Donald Stephenson, Ron Raines who plays Alan Spaulding on The Guiding Light and can sing the paint off the Mona Lisa, and Debbie Gravitte, a sultry singer with jazz thumping beneath her Broadway fare.

Lucky for all of us, Ms. Gravitte was selling her CD in the lobby, so I've been "Defying Gravity" all week as I listened to it.

But I would be remiss if I didn't mention another great thing about GUYS AND DOLLS. If you take away all the music, you have an absolutely perfect romance novel. Here's New York City's most dangerous gambler falling in love with the Uber religious Mission Girl. And if that isn't conflict enough for you, his ability to seduce her is the heart of a major bet between him and his cronies.

It's almost too good.

So look for the film version if you can. It stars Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. You can't possibly go wrong with those. It will make you wish you had some cheesecake from Lindy's.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

The Jaws of the Plot

2007-11-01T08:19:00.000-04:00

There are two sessions left in the Writing Romances class I'm teaching at USF. (Go Bulls!) We've covered all of the basics I can think of except for tonight's topic - PLOT.

Time and time again, I've heard talented writers say they could pen a bestseller if they just knew WHAT to write. Yeah, that can be a problem. Because if you don't have a plot, then you just have a bunch of characters wandering around aimlessly. Kind of like junior high school.

Anyway, one of the things I plan to discuss is how things must fit together, must grow from the setup, must make sense. It's like that age-old expression tells us: If there's a cannon on the stage in act one, you damn well better fire it before the final curtain.

Conversely, if you intend all along to fire a cannon at the finale, you need to have a cannon onstage at some point. You can't have your hero in the middle of a horrible fight and have him at the last minute declare, "Oh, look! There's a cannon we can use!"

In JAWS the movie -and I presume also the book - we early on see compressed air canisters on the boat and are warned to be careful. They're explosive! So when we get to the end with Chief Brody fighting for his life on a sinking ship, we all see the tank and the rifle and scream at him. "Shoot the tank! Shoot the tank!" He does. And lives to tell it.

So when we talk about plotting, the question becomes - which came first? Was the tank already there, so Benchley thought of using it, or did he come up with that in the end and go back to put the tank on the boat early on?

The answer is, it doesn't matter. As long as the sequence of events makes sense and keeps the characters true to themselves, go for it either way.

The point being, if you need it, put it onstage early. And if you put it onstage, use it.

Just don't go swimming after dark.

Have a great day
Susan

Spooks Come Out for a Swinging Wake

2007-10-31T08:17:00.000-04:00

This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween. Halloween. Halloween. Halloween. Everybody SCREAM!

Well, I don't live in Master Gracie's Mansion and Jack Skellington doesn't dance in my pumpkin patch, but there will certainly be some spooks swinging down my street tonight.

My favorites, ever since living in this house, are the four children across the street. Two are twins and the other two are close in age. They're still young enough to do everything together, and Halloween is no exception. They always dress up in a theme. With three boys and only one girl, they probably have to struggle to come up with compatible costumes.

One year they were all four Power Rangers. We couldn't see their faces, but I'm guessing the girl was the pink one. Another time they were Darth Vader, Chewbacca, a Storm Trooper and Princess Leia. Last year they visited the land of Oz with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.

I can't wait to see what they do tonight. Sooner or later, this Mom is going to run out of ideas that use three boys and one girl. Although, I suppose they haven't mined the Hogwarts field yet. Lots of options there.

If you're feeling the Halloween mood and want a ghostly presence in your life tonight, I suggest you swoop over to Cerridwen Press and nab yourself a copy of BLAME IT ON THE GHOST. You really can't go wrong with a haunted house tonight. And I promise, no one loses any body parts. You know you're always safe with a romance.

Then if you're thinking you wouldn't mind showing a loudmouth skeleton the trap door, click on over to Halloween Hangman. Caution: this game can be addicting.

Well, it's time once again for that annual game I like to call, "Did we eat all the Snickers already, or do we have candy left to pass out tonight?"

Have a frightful day,
Susan

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!

2007-10-26T08:22:00.000-04:00

The weeks just keep going by faster and faster, don't they? Here we are at Friday again, and it's time for our end-of-the-week roundup.

Every writer googles him or herself and I'm no exception. I also enjoy looking at the stats for the blog and the website to see who's coming by and why. One of my favorite things is looking at the phrases people typed into their search bars that returned this place to them. Let's take a look:

"I'm driving in my car" and the variation of that with "elmer fudd" added are once again number one. Seems a lot of people love that song - both the Srpingsteen version and the Robin Williams parody. And apparently they want to see what people are saying about it on the web. And still, they come here.

We had two people looking for "Eldon on Murphy Brown." I invoked that character when I was redecorating my office. I believe the actor who played Eldon passed away recently. Moment of silence now for a great sitcom character.

Okay, next up we have "Epcot David Cassidy." Not that unusual. You're a Disney fan. You're going to Epcot. You wanna know when David Cassidy is performing at Eat to the Beat. Sure. Makes sense. Except the person who googled this was in SPAIN! Not really that convenient for a quick jaunt to an aging pop star's thirty-minute show. Oh, well. Buenas Dias, senor or senorita. Thanks for stopping by.

I like this one. "The blonde in The Birds." To that person, if you haven't found it yet, her name is Tippi Hedren and she's the mother of Melanie Griffith.

Finally, we come to the most confusing one. "Smelliest bird." I don't know why someone would google this, but more importantly, I don't know why someone would google this over and over! We've had this before, and now in the past week we've had it twice. Always from the same person. And that person is in Australia. So, to the smelliest bird enthusiast, next time you're here, please leave a comment and tell us why you're looking for the smelliest bird. Enquiring minds, you know.

What I'm Listening to - Nothing. The CD player in the car was broken and the classical station was having its pledge drive.

What I'm Watching - football, of course. Go Dawgs!

What I'm Reading - WONDERFUL TONIGHT, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me by Patti Boyd. It's interesting, but I haven't seen much I didn't already know, and I really wish it were written better. But it led me to google Dhani Harrison, George's son, and here's his picture:

Freakish, isn't it, how much he looks like his father? Almost spooky.

Have a great week!
Susan

A Word about Robb White

2007-10-25T09:45:00.000-04:00

If you go to Amazon and search for a children's book called The Lion's Paw, you will find 61 review entries that go something like this: "When I was a kid in the fifties, I read this book, and I've been looking for it ever since."

I didn't write a review, but add me to that list. I read The Lion's Paw by Robb White when I was in the fifth grade. That was actually the 60s, but who's quibbling over a few years? Seems I'm not alone in remembering the story and wanting to read it again. You can get a hardcover of it for around three hundred dollars. The cheapest I've seen lately is fifty-six dollars for a petty beat up paperback. I'm still hoping I'll find it in someone's yard sale for a quarter some day, but that's not very likely.

The story is about three orphans who sail off on a sloop because the oldest one's uncle is about to sell it. They encounter many adventures along the way. The heart of the story is their courage and determination. The book is set in Florida, which has been my personal backyard since I was four. It's a lovely tale with brilliant detail that makes you feel as if you're right there with the kids sailing the waters with them.

Robb White wrote a few children's books, most of them adventures of this type. Rumor has it his second wife holds the rights to Lion's Paw. I truly wish she would strike a deal with some publisher to reprint the book. A platoon of baby boomers would make it an instant best seller. I'm already regretting that I didn't bid on the copy that went for fifty-six bucks.

When I began forming my thoughts for A Lotus-Covered Door, it didn't take long at all to come up with a name for my hero. He lives on his sailboat, drifts around the world seeking adventure, never shies away from anything that crosses his path. So of course, his name is Robb.

See? Everything happens for a reason.

Have a great day.
Susan

A Little Street in Singapore, Part Two

2007-10-24T08:18:00.001-04:00

So in the 80s, The Peter Moon Band was very big in Hawaii. They're very talented guys with an eclectic portfolio from authentic Hawaiian songs to hard core rock 'n roll. Perhaps their most popular album (certainly my favorite) is Cane Fire. And on Cane Fire is their version of "On a Little Street in Singapore."

Steven gave me a copy of CF a long, long time ago. I've played it roughly a jillion times. All the songs on it are good, even the ones in Hawaiian. I have a couple of favorites on the CD, but every time I'd hear "Singapore," it would conjure images for me. Here's some more of the lyric:

"My sails tonight are filled with perfume of Shalimar
With temple bells that guide me to her shore.
And then I hold you in my arms
And love the way I loved before
On a little street in Singapore."

Well, I am a romance writer after all. It didn't take much for my imagination to fill in the rest of the story. He met her in Singapore. For some reason he left her. Now he's sailing back to her because he loved her so much, he just couldn't stand life without her.

Of course it wouldn't be a good story without some conflict, so what do you suppose he finds when he walks down that little street and knocks on the lotus-covered door?

Guess you'll have to go to The Wild Rose Press and buy it to find out, won't you?

Have a great day, wherever your sails may take you.
Susan

"Where Do You Get Your Ideas?"

2007-10-23T10:23:00.000-04:00

This is probably the most frequently asked question for all writers. The answer is, quite often, "I dunno."

But this time I know exactly where the idea came from for my short story releasing tomorrow at The Wild Rose Press. The story is called "A Lotus-Covered Door." The inspiration came from a song called, "On a Little Street in Singapore." Here are some of the lyrics:

"On a little street in Singapore
We'd meet beside a lotus-covered door.
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace."

Written by Peter DeRose and Billy Hill, the song was first recorded in 1939 by Harry James and his Orchestra with a vocal by some new young singer....what's his name again? Frank Something.

Oh, yeah. That guy. Unfortunately the song was not much of a hit until 1944 when Sinatra released it under his own name. Oh, the power of fame.

It's also been recorded by a host of other artists including Jimmy Dorsey, Mel Torme, Glenn Miller, Manhattan Transfer, and Maxine Gray. But none of those are the version that inspired my story. No. that was The Peter Moon Band.

Who?

Sorry. You'll have to come back tomorrow for the rest of the story....

Have a great day,
Susan

The Ghost and the Lotus

2007-10-22T08:56:00.001-04:00

First of all, we have A Lotus-Covered Door releasing this week at The Wild Rose Press. This is a sweet short story about finding lost love and making changes in your life when you realize the love is worth more than anything. It's my first release at the Rose Garden, and I'm very excited about that. It's a warm and friendly place where writers flourish and readers can pick a colorful bouquet. We'll have more about the Lotus all week.

Next, I received notice of a review for BLAME IT ON THE GHOST at Romance Junkies, one of the most popular review sites on the web. Writers Digest picked it as one of their 101 Best Web Sites. The review isn't live yet, so here's a snippet:

"BLAME IT ON THE GHOST is a heartfelt book that you will want to revisit again and again. This is one book that takes you on a soul-searching journey of two people, who need a little push in the right direction! Delia Carnell creates quite a couple with Amberly and Dylan; you will fall in love with them and will enjoy sharing their adventure as you turn the pages of this fantastic book!"

That's from Janean at Romance Junkies. Soon as the entire review is live, I'll post the link for you, but you can browse the reviews here.

In the meantime, I guess we're ready to start cheering for the Red Sox, yes?

Have a great day!
Susan

My Allegiance to USF - that's no BULL!

2007-10-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

Oh, yeah, sure. It's easy to jump on the football wagon with the Bulls at number two in the national rankings. (And in my mind they're still number two. If I didn't see the end of the game last night, it didn't happen, right?)

Even Regis Philbin was talking about the game yesterday. And Kelly Ripa's husband was planning to attend. He's a USF alumni, you see. I knew that he went to Brandon High School. I didn't know Mark Consuelos was a Bull. But even so, here's why I'm qualified to shout, "Go Bulls!" and Regis is not:

My family moved to Tampa one year before USF was founded.

Congressman Sam Gibbons was instrumental in having the university situated in Tampa. My sister lives on a street named after him.

My mother earned a Master's Degree from USF. She was in the very first group of people to complete a Master's program there.

I have a degree in Elementary Education from USF. I made Dean's List seven times. (The GOOD Dean's list; not the one for skipping class or burning the administration buidling.)

I have enough post-graduate hours to earn a second degree in Accounting.

The Writing class in the Continuing Ed program was a huge part of my selling my first book.

When USF played their very first football game, I was there. In a luxury box!

(Somewhere) I have a green and gold cap I knitted when I was dating a guy on the swim team.

Finally....I'm currently teaching a writing class at USF.

So last nigiht during the game, they showed a little graphic about USF with all the regular stuff - Year founded, number of students, etc. But they really failed with their list of famous graduates. They had Gallagher and one other guy I never heard of.

Where was Suzanne Ashley on that list? Delia Carnell?

At the very least, Mark Consuelos????

Have a great weekend,
Susan

Eating My Way around the World

2007-10-18T12:32:00.000-04:00

I've just returned from trip number 67 to Walt Disney World. This time, the event was the annual Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. There's nothing like a slow stroll around the "world" sampling food at every stop.

Some favorites:
Spinach Lasagna in Italy
Mint Iced Tea in Morocco
Spicy Beef Empanadas in Argentina
and of course, that perennial favorite, Canada's Cheddar Cheese Soup. Just give me the pot and a big spoon.

Another fun feature of the F&W Festival is the nightly concert called "Eat to the Beat." While I was there this trip, the performance was by David Cassidy. Now I'm just as much a pop star groupie as the next girl, but there were women standing in line for this show MORE THAN FOUR HOURS before it began. In the hot Florida sun! Sorry, I don't love anyone from my teenage days that much.

Maybe I would do it for Johnny Depp. Maybe. If he wore the Jack Sparrow clothes. But I really can't think of anyone else.

I had a great room this time with a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk so that I could see Illuminations from the comfort of my own room if I so chose. Here's proof:

Yeah, I don't know why people take pictures of fireworks. I figured as long as I was there...

So now I'm home, ready to get back to work. LOTUS releases next week, and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope all of you are too.

Have a great day!
Susan

A Chilly Seventy-Two Degrees

2007-10-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

Yay! It's finally cool enough to drive with the convertible top down. This morning when I got in the car to meet my friends for breakfast, the thermometer said Seventy-Two. Soon as I cleared the garage door, that top was rollin' back.

Yesterday as I was trying to remove Keely Smith from the CD player, she got stuck. I can't put anything in or out. And nothing plays. So I drove through the cool seventies morning punching buttons on the radio until I landed on Classic Rock.

Oh, yeah. You really got me. You got me so I can't sleep at night.

If ever there was driving with the top down music, it's the Van Halen boys. And when that ended, just as if it were custom mixed for me, we had Aerosmith. Dude look like a lady. Perfect!

Although it has been discussed in some circles, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that I drive trying to emulate the Rock N Roller Coaster. At least not the upside down part. Unless I'm listening to Aerosmith. Which I was.

Problem being, the street I was on had a 45 mile per hour speed limit.

So I cheated a little. It's Fall. Finally.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

I Have A DATE!!!

2007-10-12T10:32:00.000-04:00

No, not some gorgeous hunk bearing Godiva and flowers to take me to an elegant dinner and entertaining show. Yes, I have that from time to time, but today I'm talking about a Release Date.

A LOTUS-COVERED DOOR will be available at The Wild Rose Press on October 24.

I'm really excited about this one. I know I say that about all of them, but it's always true. I'm really excited. This was a fun story to write (you can read some of the adventure in the blog archives), I love the characters, and the setting is so exotic.

I know a lot of female authors make this comparison, but it really is a lot like giving birth. You conceive the idea, you nurture it, holding it close as it grows inside you. Then you shove it out there for the world to admire. Hopefully, everyone will be adoring. Sometimes they are.

You're all invited to the Birthing Party. Just show up at The Wild Rose website bright and early on October 24. My newest offspring will be waiting for you there.

Have a great day!
Susan

The Roses and the RWA

2007-10-08T09:45:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday I did something I haven't done in about ten years. I attended an RWA meeting. Faithful Readers may or may not know that in Suzanne Ashley's lifetime, I was president of TARA (Tampa Area Romance Authors), the local chapter of RWA. But time and life intruded, so I haven't really kept up my membership on the local level.

But Saturday I found myself in the middle of the Central Florida chapter of RWA. What a delightful group of women. I found them to be caring and giving, supportive of one another and eager to help. Just like it always was. And it's always good to be among other writers who love the romantic tale as much as I do.

But why was I there? Oh, that's Rhonda's fault.

Rhonda Penders is one of two founders of The Wild Rose Press, the publisher who will bring you A LOTUS-COVERED DOOR shortly. Also the publisher who holds the time-travel story in their hands as we speak. When Rhonda announced in an author's loop that she would be in the area, I jumped in and volunteered to pick her up at Disney (no hardship for me!) and drive her to the RWA meeting.

I'm really glad I did. Rhonda's story is interesting. She and a friend decided they had the know-how to create an online publishing company. And they do. The Wild Rose Press does things a bit differently than others. They have fourteen lines, so you can shop for exactly the kind of book you care to read. They have very competitive pricing, so you actually save a few bucks. And they genuinely love their authors. At TWRP, the form rejection letter does not exist. Every submission gets a thoughtful, kind, helpful response.

That's a refreshing difference. Check out The Wild Rose Press today. See what's growing in the garden.

Kella's Still Charming

2007-10-05T08:56:00.000-04:00

It's been almost a year since KELLA'S CHARM was released. Imagine my surprise recently when I received not one but TWO reviews for this paranormal book set in ancient Ireland.

"Kella’s Charm is a delightful medieval romp that will leave you reaching for an iced drink and a fan." Karen, Romance Studio

"Delia Carnell has told a fabulous historical romance filled with steamy sex."
Marlene, Fallen Angel Reviews

It's always exciting when someone you don't know reads your work. It can even be a little frightening. In a perfect world, we'd never have anyone but our mothers critique our work. Mothers love everything their children do. Well, almost everything. Our spouses and significant others BETTER say our work is wonderful if they know what's good for them. But complete strangers...that's the good stuff.

KELLA'S CHARM holds a special place in my heart because it's the only historical I've ever written. I had just an idea for one scene in my head, then I wrapped a story around that scene. I like the Alpha Male hero. And of course the woman who is more than he bargained for. Aren't we always?

So thanks to these two review sites for giving Kella some attention. She does deserve it, after all.

Have a great day.
Susan

LIfe Comes Full Circle - Again

2007-10-04T09:17:00.000-04:00

A long time ago, when I first set out to write romances, one of those little kismet things occurred that seem to happen from time to time. Maybe all the time if we're paying attention. I received in the mail a catalogue from USF's Continuing Education department. Listed in the course offerings was a class called "How to Write Romance Novels."

Well, that was well-timed, wasn't it? I signed up immediately. At that time, I knew nothing of RWA, there was no internet, no way of connecting with other aspiring authors. I was groping in the darkness, teaching myself by reading a lot of books. Still not a bad way to learn, but I needed details.

This class was led by Lurlene McDaniel. Maybe you've heard of her. She's sold about a jillion books in the Inspirational Romance and Young Adult categories. She's won Major Awards. And she's a truly charming and giving lady.

Every week, Ms. McDaniel gave us assignments. If you've wanted to write, poured out your soul onto pages and pages of lined notebooks, but always kept that spiral bound treasure chest stuffed under your mattress, having "a professional" read your work can be truly frightening.

I wrote a scene that pitted my hero and heroine against each other in a tension-filled exchange that ended with a kiss. !!! With trembling hands, I offered the pages to Ms. McDaniel, then tried to live through the next week, waiting to see what she would say about it.

I will remember this moment in vivid clarity until the day I die. She waited, of course, until the end of the night to hand back our assignments. As she was passing them out, she said, "I don't usually single out one student, but Susan did such a good job of making her characters come to life..."

I swear, it makes me tear up right now thinking about it twenty-some years later. The older we get, the more clearly we see our past. We have what we refer to as defining moments. That was definitely one of mine.

Faithful Readers, you know the rest. I sold a book to Silhouette, I took some time off to be a single mom, then I sold five more books and a short story to three different publishers. I edited and proofread for three different publishers.

Tonight, I close the circle. Tonight I begin teaching "Writing Romances" at the University of South Florida's Continuing Ed program. I am grateful for the opportunity. Another grand adventure begins for me. And for the students in the class. I promise to give them my very best. Maybe some years from now, one of them will be writing about the defining moment in his or her life that began in this class.

Have a great day
Susan

TGIF, I suppose...

2007-09-28T08:53:00.000-04:00

All of a sudden, my whole blog thing has switched itself from "align left" to "center." Don't ask me why. Okay, you can ask me why, I just can't give you an answer. I don't see a setting for that anywhere in the blog controls. I suspect it has something to do with the Disney Princess quiz because that's when it occurred. I guess we'll just have to live with it for now.

Time once again for that ever popular feature I like to call, "What were people really looking for when they found my blog?"

Bruce Springsteen's "Driving in My Car" is once again the frontrunner in the search engine competition. That's followed closely by the Cream lyric, "Driving in my car, smoking my cigar." I don't know why, but that makes me think of a LaVyrle Spencer hero.

Next we have the not entirely unexpected, "selling old T-Birds." And one I don't quite get - "clues for crosswords to do with birds."

I suppose somewhere in the archives I've mentioned crossword puzzles. I am a big fan of them. And two weeks in a row now I've breakfasted with Merle Reagle. Well, we were in the same restaurant eating breakfast at the same time. That counts, right? You don't suppose, do you, that in his blog Merle is writing, "Two weeks in a row now, I've breakfasted with Delia Carnell?"

No, probably not.

Okay, end of the week roundup:

What I'm Reading - The Valley of Silence. This is the final book in Nora's Circle trilogy. Leave it to her to make a vampire desirable.

What I'm Listening To - High School Musical 2, the soundtrack

What I'm NOT Watching - Dancing with the Stars. Really. Who ARE those people?

Have a great weekend!

Susan

Releasing My Inner Princess

2007-09-27T09:10:00.000-04:00

What Disney Princess Are You?

You are Ariel! The Little Mermaid Princess, daughter of Tritan.You are very adventurous and fun loving. Although you are unique (and kind of the odd one out) it doesn't stop you from being a social butterfly. People are often drawn to your loving, carefree nature.
Take this quiz!

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Hmmm...Ariel wouldn't have been my fist guess. I've always seen myself as more of a Cinderella type. You know, the fancy ball, the to-die-for gown, the shoes...oh, well. I guess I share Ariel's love of baubles. She certainly has some nice trinkets in that treasure trove. And I've always wished I could sing. Okay, I'll go with it.

Sorry, no time for splashing around in the lagoon for me today. I'm working on THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS. Rumor has it the conflict is weak. Okay, let me see what other kind of trouble I can stir up for them.

Have a great day.
Susan

Shakespeare's Already Written Everything!

2007-09-26T09:09:00.001-04:00

There are times when a writer struggles and suffers with what to write, spends hours thinking about it, finally comes up with something absolutely brilliant, sets out to work on the concept, then discovers that someone else has already written it.

Happens all the time. It's happened to me. It will happen to you. The sad fact is, Shakespeare has already written every plot possible. And brilliantly, I might add if four hundred years' worth of critique can be believed. I think it probably can.

The key is to put your own unique spin on it. If we're writing romances - which I am - then we know the plot. Two people will meet, fall in love, have some huge obstacle to overcome and ultimately overcome it. (Because if it doesn't have a HEA, it isn't romance!)

Last night as I was watching NCIS (because Mark Harmon was MEANT to be mine! I don't know what bizarre set of circumstances kept our paths from crossing) I found myself itching to write the story I was watching. Super secret operative gets close to woman to learn facts about her arms-dealing father but - oops! - falls in love with her in the process. Yeah, I want to write that. I'm sure it's been written dozens of times. Heck, I kind of wrote it myself in BITTERSWEET BETRAYAL when Tannis is coerced into spying on Zachary which he doesn't find out until he's already fallen in love with her.

So there aren't any new stories, are there? This came to mind for me because there has been a lot of publicity the last few days about the fiftieth anniversary of WEST SIDE STORY. "When you're a jet, you're a jet all the way..." What's not to love about this Bernstein/Sondheim collaboration?

But even fifty years ago, this story wasn't new. It's ROMEO AND JULIET set to music and moved to Manhattan. Clever idea. It works very well.

So, it's all about what each writer brings to the plot, isn't it? Yeah, Shakespeare wrote everything. But he didn't write any of it through the perspective of MY mind. So back to work for me.

Have a great day.
Susan

The Critics Are Raving!!

2007-09-24T08:23:00.001-04:00

Well, two of them are anyway.

We have received great reviews for BLAME IT ON THE GHOST from both Ecata Romance and The Romance Studio. Here are some of the highlights:

"...it has passion, and characters that strike sparks off each other...an entertaining and very good read." Sheryl, Ecata Romance

"Character and emotion are at the very heart of romance and Carnell seems to have mastered these elements."

"The setting, on the Florida coast, was deftly painted and used to generate an atmosphere that enhanced the plot."

"The pacing of the story was good, with enough action to keep me turning the pages." Kara Lynn Russell, The Romance Studio

Reviews are fun to receive and entertaining to read. But they're always in a writer's past. What matters most is the book not written, the one in progress, or even the one still inside the writer's mind. So this writer pauses just a moment to bask in the warmth of knowing that two people TO WHOM I AM NOT RELATED like what I've written.

Now back to work!

Have a great day.
Susan

Mickey Says "Hi!"

2007-09-20T07:03:00.000-04:00

I have about thirty minutes before I have to go hop on the bus for Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom. Having a great time, despite the Tropical Depression sitting just off the coast. Actually, that made it much more tolerable. No heat. And I've always enjoyed a good rain. It's just light enough to not be miserable, but heavy enough to keep the sun out of the way. Perfect!

I was amazed at how quickly they've updated the High School Musical toys. The Gabriella doll now comes with her own digital camera.

Ba da BING!

Have a MAGICAL day,
Susan

Birthday Disney Trip Part Two, The Sequel

2007-09-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

Well, it's true. The Hard Rock Hotel does indeed treat you like a rock star. They are especially good at giving you free drinks on your birthday. Good thing I didn't have to drive anywhere.

But first thing Saturday morning, before I even had my stuff ready to move over to Disney's Boardwalk for the official birthday experience, I received a frantic phone call from my sister. Her husband was in the hospital. He may have had a heart attack.

So of course, I dashed back to Tampa. Not that I'm a cardiologist or anything like that, but I did manage to cook a couple of nice meals for the family and babysit the only genuine baby we have these days, my grandnephew, Will.

Everything ultimately turned out all right. He didn't have a heart attack. He did have pneumonia. They did a ton of tests on him, and all is well.

Naturally, I immediately called Disney to see how quickly I could try to recoup my birthday experience. I'm leaving tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. I'll be back Friday.

I hope to get some real writing done between now and then.

Have a great day!
Susan

Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Da Doo!

2007-09-14T08:54:00.000-04:00

You say it's your birthday?
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Da Doo!
It's my birthday too, yeah!

Okay, couldn't resist opening with The Beatles, even though it isn't really my birthday until tomorrow. The month-long birthday celebration has already begun.

Last week, Jeanette and John took me to a cool new retro-deco restaurant that was fabulous. We had an awesome time, ate too much, drank too much, but looked fabulous while we were doing it.

Yesterday, my sister came over with presents. She gave me a lovely blouse and a Monterey Jazz Festival CD. But the best thing was this little round gadget you use to open CDs.

An idea whose time has come. You know how when you buy a new CD, you of course want to listen to it immediately, and by that I mean in your car on the way home? But that stupid plastic they wrap it in is more difficult to open than Al Capone's vault with Geraldo doing commentary. Come on, you've been there with me. Slashing at the plastic with your car key because you don't have sewing scissors or a Swiss Army Knife with you.

Now our troubles are over. This little round gadget, about an inch and a half in diameter, opens the package with a minimum of fuss. It's really just a tiny razor blade with the pointy end resting on the CD edge, but why didn't we think of this? Such a simple idea. I'm going to keep this one in my car.

So now I'm off to Orlando for more of the birthday celebration. Today I'm going to the Hard Rock Hotel, where they treat me like the rock star I was meant to be. Then tomorrow it's off to the Magic Kingdom for a few more days. If I don't win the night in Cinderella's castle this time, there is no justice in the universe!

Good news is, I'm taking the new laptop with me this time, so I may or may not post stuff after I get there.

Have a great day!
Susan

One Less Tenor

2007-09-12T08:50:00.000-04:00

I've never been a HUGE opera fan, but I am a fan of classical music and of men with big powerful voices. Therefore, it was with much sadness that I received the news of the passing last week of Luciano Pavarotti.

It's no secret to Faithful Readers that I listen to my local classical music station all day long. The host of the daily show on WUSF was so touched by the passing, that he played something by Pavarotti at least once an hour all day long. His first piece was Pavarotti's Alfredo from La Traviata. I know. Many of you just experienced glazing over of your eyes. Fog in the brain. You don't have a clue what that is. But I bet you do. If you heard it, you would say, "Oh, yeah. THAT piece."

It was achingly beautiful, made more poignant by the host's complete silence at the end of it for a good twenty seconds. Even a dedicated curmudgeon could have felt the emotion in that silence. I had tears brimming over my lashes.

Later in the day, I happened to be in my car when they played a piece from Pagliacci. You know this one too. You just don't know you know it. Because I was alone in my car, I was able to turn the volume up really, really loud - which is how you should listen to opera. Chills ran up and down my arms as the music swelled and flowed over and around me.

Sadly, the world lost a powerful talent. Thankfully, we have the technology that will allow us to hear him sing for the rest of time.

The blonde salutes Luciano Pavarotti today.

Susan

Who is Merv Griffin?

2007-09-10T09:01:00.000-04:00

That's the correct question to the Jeopardy! clue, "He created Wheel of Fortune." Yes, he also created Jeopardy! and a host of other game shows, some pretty successful, but none so legendary as Wheel and Jep, as we call them at my house.

I've heard it said that writers don't do crosswords and other word games because they don't play games with words. I disagree. I've been doing crosswords since I was old enough to fit the letter into the box. Not only have I seen Wordplay, I have the DVD.

I also enjoy admiring Vanna's clothing and shoes. And Pat Sajak is still cute. Too bad that talk show thing didn't work out for him. The puzzles are fun, not really too hard. I can usually get them pretty quickly. I don't understand why people buy vowels. It seems obvious to me where they go. If you know what it is, why waste the money buying them?

Alex Trebek, on the other hand, should just shut up and read the clues. Does he think he's funny? He's not. I much preferred Art Fleming as the Jeopardy! host, but that really says something about how old I am.

I actually know someone who was on Jeopardy! He's the smartest person I've ever known, valedictorian of my high school class. He didn't win, although he knew the correct question for every clue. He says he underestimated the value of buzzer technique. I can believe that. Sometimes you see the contestants about to beat the living daylights out of those buzzers as they attempt to ring in before their opponents.

My mom and I have an extra little trick we do when we watch Jep. As soon as the Final Jeopardy category is revealed, we state our question. Like, if the final catgegory is "American Movies," we'll shout out "What is Gone with the Wind?" You would not believe how many times we are correct.

Oh, sure. Anybody can get it with the clue. The Real Players do it from just the category.

We have Merv Griffin to thank for this nightly entertainment. Of all the credits one can list after his name - big band singer, Broadway actor, talk show host - creator of Wheel and Jeopardy! is the one that earns him his own place in Americana.

The Blonde salutes Merv Griffin today. American icon. May he rest in peace.

Have a great day.
Susan

The Meat Loaf Bandits

2007-09-06T08:18:00.000-04:00

The Boy and The Girlfriend have been gone about four months now. My mother and I have been to the grocery story maybe twice in that time. Quite a change from before when we went more than once a week.

It isn't that "The Kids" demanded food. It's that we're southern women. If there is someone here, we must feed them. It's our culture, despite what Whoopi thinks southern culture is. Those of us who really ARE southern know that it's food. Particularly fried.

The Kids have night jobs, so they were rarely home when we ate our supper, but we always knew whether they'd enjoyed what we fixed by how much of it was left the next morning. Usually none of it.

Also, any time we brought something home from a restaurant in a white box, it was gone the next day as well. They truly enjoyed our leftovers. I was beginning to wonder whether they had a styrofoam box business going on the side by the way they devoured those carry-out containers.

Maybe it was divine providence that we just happened to have a fresh meat loaf in the kitchen when The Boy called about picking up last week's football tickets. I didn't want to go to the game (and neither did anyone in the eBay community), so I offered them to him. And just happened to mention that if he came by to get them, "There's meat loaf."

Around midnight he called to tell me he was coming by to get the tickets after work. That would be around one AM. "You said there's meat loaf?"

It was the same hopeful little voice I used to hear when he was five. "We can go to McDonald's?" Maybe it was because I was half-asleep, but I thought for a moment I was having a flashback.

I struggled to stay awake for thirty seconds' worth of his smile I might get if I saw him. Motherhood is a subject for another day. Depsite my best efforts, I fell asleep. Around three-thirty, I woke up. All was quiet. But there was the lingering scent of meat loaf wafting toward me from the direction of the kitchen.

They had been here!

I went to the kitchen. It was spotless. No dirty dishes in the sink. No ketchup spills on the island. No half-empty Coke cans on the counter. Had they been here?
I opened the refrigerator and peered inside. No meatloaf dish. They had definitely been here.

I found the empty meat loaf pan in the dishwasher, and a thank you note scrawled on the dry erase message board on the fridge.

They came, they ate, they left. And we never heard a sound. Good thing they weren't after the jewelery.

Have a great day.
Susan

The Great Crash of '07

2007-09-04T08:24:00.000-04:00

My computer died.

You don't know what a great tragedy this is until it happens to you. First of all, I'm a writer. ALL my stuff is on my computer. Everything. The books I sold, the books I didn't sell, the books I might finish some day, the book I'm in the middle of writing right now. All of that was on the dead computer.

Then, I've just started selling things on eBay. My computer died Saturday afternoon, shortly before the first of 23 items started to close. What a disaster. No access to watching them sell, no way to find out if the customers paid, no connection to PayPal to get their addresses for shipping. Disaster, I tell you! Devastation!

So I called my Prince. Yes, he is a chemist, as Faithful Readers know. But he also spent six years as a Computer Geek, crawling around on the floors of big government buildings in Washington, D.C., plugging their cables back into the wall for them.

Of course, as any Prince worth his epaulets, he came charging in on his white steed, volt meters and USB cables trailing behind him like flags at a Medieval Jousting Tournament.

Alas, the diagnosis was not good. The old faithful black box was well and truly dead. So it's off to CompUSA for us where I picked up this cute little sporty model from which I write to you now. This is an Acer 9410,a laptop. How cool is that? I can now go to Starbucks and pretend to be writing while I tinker with the backgrounds on MySpace! Just like all the Cool Kids!

Of course the data transfer was frightening and not quite perfect, but enough to get me going today. So it's back to work I go, eagerly anticipating my manicure appointment tomorrow because my nails are far too long for this keyboard. Which you would see if I weren't constantly correcting things.

After all the excitement died down and my life returned to what approaches normal for me, I'm happy and excited about the new computer. And even though I didn't need reminding, I have yet another example of why My Prince is My Prince.

Thank you, Steven. I love you.

Susan

Indian Rocks Beach, Florida

2007-08-31T08:37:00.001-04:00

My family moved to Tampa from a small town in Georgia when I was four. That summer - and several summers after that - we spent a week at Indian Rocks Beach on Florida's Gulf Coast. I can remember as a small child wondering where the Indians were. Ditto the rocks. I still don't know the origin of that name. Google wasn't much help.

Back in the day, this was a relatively sleepy community where families would rent rustic cottages on the beach. Not quite as nice as Jimmy Stewart's place in "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation," but something along that line. All of those cabins are gone now, of course, replaced by high-rise condos and multi-million dollar McMansions.

Two things I remember about that first summer: We played Crazy Eights a lot.
The old man (although in retrospect, he was probably around forty) who ran the place let me flip the switch that turned on the neon sign every night. Oh, come on! I was four! It didn't take much to amuse me.

Still doesn't take much to amuse me, come to think of it.

Anyway, many years later, after my father passed away, we were struggling to find something fun to do because there was precious little to smile about in our lives for a while. My sister's family and my family, which included two children each by then, along with my mother and some family friends, headed over to Indian Rocks Beach for two weeks. Most of the quaint little cottages were gone, but we did manage to find a two-story house complete with tin roof and wide wooden deck.

We didn't recapture the magic of those first few years in Florida, but we did have a good time being together with our friends, our memories and our laughter.

And that's the house where Dylan and Amberly spend their haunted summer together in BLAME IT ON THE GHOST. In their own way, they're also seeking a measure of peace and healing.

Here you go again. Another answer to that constant question, "Where do you get your ideas?"

It's been a good week for me. I got a great cover. My latest book released. I laughed with people I love. I hope it was good for you too.

What I'm Reading - DANCE OF THE GODS, Nora Roberts
What I'm Listening to - Frank Sinatra Classics
What I'm Watching - Sex and the City, the Complete Series

Have a wonderful weekend!
Susan

Get Haunted!!

2007-08-30T11:39:00.000-04:00

The GHOST arrives today at Cerridwen Press!

Release day is always exciting, no matter how many times it happens. Today is especially fun for me because I truly love this story. Anyone ever notice how often Stephen King's protagonist is a writer? Why do you suppose that is? Well, gee. Maybe it's because if the protagonist were a brain surgeon or something, there would be a lot more research involved. I don't know.

BLAME IT ON THE GHOST has not one, but TWO writers, slogging their way to a happily ever after. Writing books while they try to get there. Understanding and respecting each other's worlds they've created in their heads and tried to get onto paper. It's not easy. Especially for these two. Between them they have more baggage than carousel number five at LaGuardia.

But get there they will, or my name isn't Delia Carnell!

Okay, my name really isn't Delia Carnell, but that's what it says on the book cover. So go get this one today. Get haunted. Fall in love. Find your happily ever after. Maybe you need a push, just like they did. It's okay. You can always Blame it on the Ghost.

Have a great day!
Delia (Susan)

Who Ya Gonna Call?

2007-08-29T09:02:00.000-04:00

It's almost time to start Ghostbusting! BLAME IT ON THE GHOST releases tomorrow over at Cerridwen Press. There's always a little hum of excitement buzzing through my veins just before release day. It's almost - ALMOST - like being pregnant and anticipating the birth of your child. The book is, of course, much easier to deal with, and I didn't gain fifty pounds for it.

People love to ask writers, "Where do you get your ideas?" As if we have any control over them. But this one does have a bit of an answer to it. I love Stephen King. I've read nearly every word he's written. In fact I've read THE STAND three times. I can't think of any other book I've read more than twice. Well, maybe GREEN EGGS AND HAM, but that's different.

So this book is in a way an homage to one of my favorite writers. Dylan Hart is a horror fiction writer who has come to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida to housesit for his old college professor for the summer. He's been very successful, every book a bestseller. But what fears - real or imagined - have him blocked right now?

Amberly Ross is a romance author. She's got her own share of bestsellers in her catalogue. She was mentored by the same college professor as Dylan. Although they've never met, they've certainly heard plenty about each other. Now she has also come to spend the summer in the beach house. Putting a really bad marriage behind her, she's managed to keep her faith in romance and happily ever after. It's what she writes about all day long every day.

But why are they BOTH there to housesit? Ah, that's where the ghost comes in.

Or is it?

Sorry, you'll just have to find out for yourself when BLAME IT ON THE GHOST releases tomorrow at Cerridwen Press.

Have a great day!

Delia (for Susan)

A Lotus-Covered Cover

2007-08-28T11:06:00.000-04:00

What an exciting week! The Ghost is releasing on Thursday at Cerridwen. In the meantime, I just received the cover for my short story at The Wild Rose Press. Take a look:

There are a few things to be happy about with this one. First of all, there's no tacky "Walmart bra" like with DIAMONDS. There's no nearly-naked heroine like with GHOST. It's a beautiful, tasteful depiction of the door (which is important in the story) and a gorgeous lotus blossom. The lotus is important also, but I'll let you read it before we talk too much about it. Don't want to ruin everything for you.

But the really important thing about this cover - for me anyway - is the author's name. This one isn't by the now-comatose Suzanne Ashley or the terminally ill Delia Carnell. This one has MY name on it.

I like that a lot.

Maybe I'm just a little to braggy about it, but it's MY NAME!!!

Now I need to go write something else to go with it. Have a great day!

Susan/Suzanne/Delia

I'm Still a Barbie Girl

2007-08-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

I was a tiny tot when Mattel launched the tall cool blonde with the pony tail. Like most little girls my age - and every age after - I was enthralled. Every Christmas and birthday for the next several years were devoted to outfitting and equipping Barbie.

I had all the classic outfits - Silken Flame, Solo in the Spotlight, Garden Party. If you're my age, you know what I mean. But I had something else that no other Barbie girl had. My mother's good friend, Lura Mae Bradbury, a fantastic seamstress, made outfits for my Barbie. She was the kind of crafter who could take an old handkerchief and turn it into a wedding gown. So my Barbie had an array of one of a kind fashions from a black velvet cape with red satin lining to a blue corduroy coat to a fancy nylon negligee with lace trim. I was the envy of all the little girls because of my very special wardrobe.

When I was a senior in high school, my best friend Sue Hartley had a little sister in kindergarten. In my memory, I gave all of my Barbie stuff to her. Had I instead kept all that, especially the boxes it came in, I could now be living in a villa in the South of France.

Okay, it's not quite THAT valuable, but still...

So imagine my surprise recently when I was talking with my sister about Barbie and she said, "I have all your Barbie stuff."

What!?

One afternoon last week, I went into her playroom, moved the boxes of old photographs, the My Little Pony stable, the Strawberry Shortcake trolley and two large baby dolls to find a box full of Barbie and friends. With clothing. Including my original Midge doll. What a find!

I guess the only thing I gave to Julie Hartley was the Barbie doll. All the clothes are here. The Silken Flame. The Solo in the Spotlight. The In the Mood for Music, which I had forgotten about!! And wonder of wonders,ALL of the clothing especially designed and made by Mrs. Bradbury were in there too.

I'm still a very lucky girl. Here are my friends in their Bradbury originals:

Almost too good to be true, isn't it? I guess I'd given all the Barbie stuff to my niece. I had no memory of it. Amazing, isn't it?

Now I'm off to make up some more stories for my dolls. The ones I move around on paper.

Have a great day.
Susan

No Autographs, Please!

2007-08-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

Ah, fame. It can be such a burden. The paparazzi hanging around my front door all the time. The complete lack of privacy for even the most mundane things. My picture in the newspaper. It's never ending.

Okay, snap out of it! Yes, my picture was in the paper this morning. But I was changing the kitty litter when I remembered to go pick it up. That's the glorious life of the romance novelist. Kitty litter one minute, sequins and glitter the next. Or something like that.

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE runs a weekly feature in its Friday entertainment section called, "Five Minutes With..." Today it's five minutes with me. Imagine that!

The interview part was fun. The books editor, Kevin Walker, has been an acquaintance for many years. He used to do a little Friday morning trivia thing, generally about books, music or movies. If you know me, you know I'm obsessive with trivia-type contests. It's so bad that my friends refuse to play SCENE IT with me. Even if it's ALL of them against just me by myself.

So I began emailing with Kevin a long time ago with comments about his trivia questions and always trying to win the coveted Bobo the Dog T-shirt. He's such a personable guy, and so interested in pop culture, that it was more like having a drink with a buddy than being grilled by a journalist. Of course, that's what they WANT you to think.

But I really do enjoy talking with Kevin, and I'm very pleased with the feature in today's paper. The photograph - now THAT was the scary part. But it's not too bad. I wish my hair looked better. I wish I was ten years younger. I wish I weighed twenty pounds less.

I also wish I had the winning lottery numbers, but that's not going to happen either.

Now here's the really intriguing part. I've lived in this city since I was five years old. Virtually EVERYONE I know reads this newspaper. Let's see how many of them call me or email me after reading this today. I especially hope ALL my ex-boyfriends see it.

Okay, that's it. My fifteen minutes are up.

Have a great day!
Susan

Why I Get My Nails Done

2007-08-22T08:10:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about this. It's something I've been doing every two weeks for more than a decade. That's almost longer than I was married. What's the reason? Here are a few:

* I love Michelle. She's been painting my nails since shortly before her twenty-first birthday. She's now in her thirties with two adorable children ten and eight years old. She's about the same age as my nieces, who I also love, but I wouldn't let them touch my fingers with electrical equipment! I've been with Michelle through a miscarriage, two pregnancies, the loss of her father, several homes and two salons. She's one of my favorite people AND she loves the Beatles!

* It's one of the cheaper things you can do from a beauty standpoint. Do you know how much it costs to cut and color hair these days? Facials and massages are quite pricey too. You can get your nails done for about the price of a movie with soda and popcorn.

* I like the names of the colors. Who can turn down "I'm Not Really A Waitress" ??? Or "Vampire State Building." When I choose my color each time, I first look at the bottle, but I won't pick it unless I also like the title. How do I get the job of thinking up the names? Wouldn't that be great!

* I like the sound they make when they click on the keyboard. I'm easy to amuse.

* My ex-husband wouldn't "let" me get my nails done. Easy to see why he's an ex, right?

I could probably come up with a few more reasons, but I don't want to be late for my appointment!

Have a great day.
Susan

"Love is now the stardust..."

2007-08-20T08:46:00.000-04:00

Great old song recorded by a lot of people, but probably most notably, Nat King Cole. If you've never heard it, you should find it and listen to it.

But it's Stardust the movie I've come to talk about today.

First of all, Michelle Pfeiffer must have one heck of an agent! Having not seen much of her in a while, I suddenly find her running away with two movies in a row for me. First it was the Barbe-doll type stage mother in HAIRSPRAY, now it's a four hundred year-old witch in STARDUST. She's very good, by the way. The girl does a fine cackle.

Second, what is it with all the macho male movie stars wanting to dress in women's clothing lately? Is this the same Robert DeNiro who brilliantly portrayed Jake La Motta, Al Capone and a young (and frightening) Vito Coreleone? Wearing dance-hall girl clothing and flirting with him/herself in front of a mirror? That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

But that statement shortchanges the rest of the film, which is full of laughter, romance, adventure, magic, falling stars and a kidnapped princess. I had read about the book by Neil Gamain a couple of months ago, and in fact it's sitting on my Amazon wish list right now. But I'm out of the pop culture loop these days, so I didn't know anything about the movie until a few days ago. I'm really glad I made the connection.

It's the kind of film that makes me glad I'm a writer. I always enjoy a story that inspires me to go home and work harder.

So I'm off to work now. I hope you'll go see this movie. And I hope you'll listen to Nat King Cole. A different kind of magic there.

Have a magical day.
Susan

We're All in This Together

2007-08-17T08:33:00.000-04:00

Disney does it again. Yes, I am eagerly awaiting tonight's premiere of High School Musical 2. Me and about 20 Million other eight year old girls. What? I'm NOT an eight year old girl? Are you sure? Have you seen my Barbie collection?

Okay, maybe I am an adult whose children aren't even that young, but I can still be a kid in my heart, and I will be tonight when I watch the new movie. There are a lot of things to love about High School Musical. No, the music isn't the best I've ever heard, but it is light and cheerful, and I do find myself humming it long after it's left the radio or tv.

How about the message? In a world where children are filled with neuroses and angst, how about a movie that says, Do your own thing? The Skaters, The Athletes, The Brainiacs, The Drama Club all get together in this one, and they all respect each other's feelings and desires. Well, all except for Sharpay, the Cruellea D'HighSchool. But what's a Disney movie without a villain?

Then there are all the nods to movies of the past. There's a little bit of Romeo and Juliet - teens dating outside their own little circle. There's a piece of Grease - they meet on vacation then find themselves in the same school. And doesn't Alyson Reed as Darbus remind you of Eve Arden's Principal McGee? A little bit? Finally, we have big ol' Busby Berkley type dance numbers.

Yes, I'm looking forward to it, and I don't apologize. I do, after all, own the DVD of the first one. Not just the DVD of the movie. I have the Dance-Along version. Yes, it's true. Late at night, in the privacy of my own bedroom where absolutely no one can see me, I do the Wildcat Breakdown. Go Wildcats! Getcha head in the game!

Have a musical day!
Susan

Elvis Is Still Dead

2007-08-16T08:46:00.000-04:00

When we were little girls, my sister and I spent our Sunday afternoons lying on the floor in front of the radio. This wasn't some small transistor type thing, or even one the size of my Bose that sits here on my desk, smaller than a breadbox. No, this radio was a piece of furniture. Huge. Something like this:

Every Sunday they had a call-in competition.People would vote for their favorite artist, then the station would play records by the winner all the rest of the afternoon. The winner was always Elvis. Pat Boone made it a decent race some of the time, but the King was always, well, The King.

I was a little too young for Elvis. But my sister....I think she still loves him. When she got married in 1969, she chose August 16. By coincidence, it happened to be the wedding anniversary of both sets of our grandparents. That's not why she chose it, although it makes a touching story. No, her date was mostly dictated by the United States Air Force.

Fast forward to 1977. We were preparing for my wedding which would take place in early September. I remember being at my mother's house with my sister when we heard about Elvis. "But it's my anniversary!" she lamented. Well, she can drink a toast to The King when her husband takes her out for dinner.

Or, she could hold with the philosophy of another friend of mine who wears a button which reads, "Elvis isn't dead till I say he's dead!"

Long Live The King.
Susan

It Was Fifty Years Ago...

2007-08-15T09:52:00.000-04:00

If 1967 was the summer of love, then 1957 must have been the summer of birth. Two things happened fifty years ago this summer that are particularly noteworthy.

In 1957 ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac was released. It is a rambling semi-autobiographical novel about two guys who hit the road. But it's really about much more than that. Many people call it the birth of the Beat generation, the anthem of Baby Boomers all across America who questioned everything their parents fought and died for in a cruel and ugly war.

Also in July, 1957, a little known skiffle group called The Quarrymen played a one-hour engagement at an English Garden Party. Little noteworthy about that, except for the fact that a fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney took his guitar along to meet these Quarrymen, led by a sixteen-year-old fellow named John Lennon. I doubt that lightning bolts shot down from the heavens. There was no cracking in the earth's crust. Just two blokes who'd heard of each other and sat down to play few tunes together.

The rest, as they say, is history.

If Jack Kerouac wrote the script for the lives of the Beat generation, Lennon and McCartney composed the soundtrack. What peculair alignment of the stars during that fifty-year-old summer allowed this creative energy to flower? How did this come to pass?

Odd coincidence, perhaps. But I can't help wondering this: What is happening right now that will be noteworthy fifty years from today?

Something to think about.

Have a great day.
Susan

It's About Time!

2007-08-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I finished the Time Travel book, THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE. I don't know why this took so long. It's only 20,000 words. Really short by fiction standards. One-third of a small category romance. But it seemed to go on forever.

For one thing, I made a major change to it halfway through which required me to go all the way back to the beginning and make adjustments. I didn't mind that so much because the changes really make the story a lot better. I just wish I would have thought of it the first time through. But I'm a Seat-of-the-Pants writer. I don't know when I start out what's going to happen. Some people like to have everything very carefully plotted before they begin. To me, that takes a lot of the fun out of it. I like to find out as we go along, just as if I were reading it. And as Stephen King says, I am the first reader of this particular book. Plotting it first takes away the joy of finding out for me.

I will admit to shedding a tear during the last scene. At least I know I connected on an emotional level with ONE reader. Even if it is me.

What I found fascinating about this one was all the ways TIME played a role in the story. First she was out of her normal Time Zone. She couldn't talk to her NY office when she first got up in England. They weren't there yet. She suffered from jet lag the first day and slept a long TIME when she got settled in.

Then, after she went through the portal to a different TIME, a lot of things happened that depended on TIME. Towards the end, they're racing to a destination to find someone in TIME to fix something, and she's watching the hands on the clock moving forward in TIME.

When I was in high school, I fancied myself a folk singer. We all did. It was the Sixties. I remember a TIME sitting on my bed, playing my guitar, singing TIME by the Pozo Seco Singers. "Time, oh, time. Where did you go? Time, oh, good, good, time, where did you go?"

My grandfather happened down the hall as I was singing, poked his head in my bedroom door and said, "Yeah. Where did time go?"

He would have been about seventy-five at the TIME. He lived into his eighties.

Well, I'd like to go on and on about this book and about TIME but that's it for today. I'm running out of blog TIME. See you tomorrow. If you've got the time.

Susan

Oh, THAT'S why...

2007-08-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

"We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style...but as we move along,you'd do well to remember that we are also talking about magic." Stephen King, On Writing

"All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust!" Peter Pan

I always knew my fascination with all things Disney was related to my passion for writing. Every great Disney animated film is a little romance novel. Well, maybe not 101 Dalmatians. But think about it...Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty. They all have that age-old plot: Prince meets Princess, Prince falls in love with Princess, Prince loses Princess but finds her shoe, Prince and Princess live happily ever after. The only thing that changes, boys and girls, is the shoe. It may be a poisoned apple, a dying rose, a sleeping spell, but one thing is certain. These romantic couples always meet their conflict head on, overcome it and find their happy ending.

Usually with an Oscar-winning soundtrack in the background.

A few nights ago, I ran across a documentary titled, UB IWERKS, The Hand Behind the Mouse. I've been to the Magic Kingdom enough times to recognize a Main Street window name when I see one. I knew Ub to be one of the "nine old men," the original Disney animators. But this "old man" holds the place of highest esteem in the Disney Archives. Ub created Mickey.

"I just hope we never lose sight of one thing. It all started with a mouse." Walt Disney.

Although Walt and Ub had been together since their Kansas City days, they did split for a while over "creative differences." About ten years later, Walt was able to lure Ub back, and the pair went on to create some truly wonderful animation for decades after. (Ub also worked with Hitchcock on "The Birds," which I find fascinating. That's kind of like a Disney film on steroids.)

Even Ub eventually realized Walt's contributions to the marketing side of the empire could direct the success of the project. "It's not what you create that matters," Ub said later in life. "It's what you do with it."

Old Uncle Walt sure knew what to do with things, didn't he? And he never lost the magic.

Have a magical day,
Susan

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

2007-08-10T08:53:00.000-04:00

Not two days ago I was whining about the cover for BLAME IT ON THE GHOST being MIA, when I look into my Yahoo mailbox and -- Voila!-- I find this:

Not bad. Not bad at all. While it isn't exactly what I asked for - there's no sign of the beach house or the ghost - they did go with an important plot point that I described. The heroine washes her really long hair at the makeshift shower on the deck.

I'm very happy with their portrayal of Dylan. It's all right that we can't see his face. The view we do get is Very Nice. I'm happy with his hair, which is supposed to be slightly shaggy. And that overall blue tone lends an eeriness to it that suggests the ghost. Also, if you remember the cover for Diamonds, you can see that they repeated the font and style for the title. That will make them look quite nice side by side.

And now on to the usual Friday stuff:

What I'm Listening to - Chris Botti, When I Fall in Love

What I'm Reading - STRIPPED by Julie Leto

What I'm Watching - ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!??? Pre-season starts tonight at 7:30!! YAY!!

Have a wonderful day!
Susan
also known in some circles as DELIA

You Can't Always Get What You Want

2007-08-09T08:43:00.000-04:00

"I went down to the Chelsea drugstore..."

Turns out my time-traveling couple need to go to London. I've been to London. It was 1992. This book is set in 1962. I suppose some things have changed in thirty years. And some haven't. While I was there, I was driving around with my childhood friend who lives there now, and HIS friend who was born and raised in Liverpool. We turned a corner, and Alan (his friend) said, "There's the Chelsea drugstore."

Sure, I'm a big Stones fan. What woman my age isn't? So I look out the car window, and I see this:

Not quite what I expected.

So thinking about Star and Colin, and where they might be headed in 1962
London, I googled "Chelsea drugstore." Wow, there are a lot of hits for that phrase, most of them, of course, to do with the Stones' song.

But I found several schools of thought about what the Chelsea drugstore really was BEFORE Mickey D took it over. There is the not unexpected belief that it was a pharmacy. There are several references to it being a pub or a nightclub.

But the most interesting one claims it was the record shop Alex visited in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Hmmm....that same site alleges that Mick Jagger was slated to play the role in the movie immortalized by Malcolm MacDowell. Interesting.

Well, now I'm bursting with trivia about the Chelsea drugstore, The Rolling Stones and Stanley Kubrick movies. But alas, none the wiser as to where my couple will wind up when they get to London. Ah, well. I suppose that's why they call it fiction.

If you try sometimes, you just might find... (altogether now)...you get what you NEED!

Have a great day,
Susan

Here Comes the Ghost

2007-08-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

Usually so much happens between signing the contract for a book and actually seeing the book available to the public that you have a tendency to almost forget about it in the interim. In a way this is kind of neat because it gives me the chance to get excited about it all over again.

I've written quite a few stories since last I looked at BLAME IT ON THE GHOST. I'll be just as excited as anyone to see the finished product when it arrives in a couple of weeks. First of all, I'm eager to see the cover. As much as I love TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS, I was greatly disappointed with the cover. The two people didn't look anything like the picture I had in my mind of Jake and Rebecca. And that bra she's wearing! That's a Wal-Mart bra if I ever saw one. Rebecca buys her lingerie in a more upscale environment.

When the art sheets came around for GHOST,I was ever so much more specific about how things should look on the cover. Even sent them a few pictures of things so they would know EXACTLY what I meant.

The action takes place in an old house on Indian Rocks Beach. The house is very important. It's almost a character itself, so I really want it to be just right. I sent along this picture for the art department to use as inspiration:

This isn't exactly the house we want, but it's really close. We'll find out soon enough, won't we? Everyone I ask is rather vague about when I'll receive a cover, but we know for sure it will be prior to August 30. They won't put the book live on the site without one. Let's hope we love it!

Have a wonderful day!
Susan

Just One More Thing...

2007-08-03T09:09:00.000-04:00

I know I said I was done with Harry Potter posts, but then I found this cute little Sorting Hat kind of thing, and I couldn't resist.

Find out your Harry Potter personality at LiquidGeneration!

At first I thought I wanted to be Hermione. I mean, I was the one who always had my hand up. "Pick me, pick me, pick me!" But Hermione ends up with Ron. It's Ginny Weasley who gets Harry. And she goes through her entire tenure at Hogwarts snogging virtually everyone. So I'm pretty happy with this.

So, go ahead. Click the link then come back and tell us who the Sorting Hat picked for you. We'll wait.

Meanwhile, the typical Friday stuff:

What I'm reading - ON WRITING by Stephen King. Yeah, there's a guy who knows a thing or two about the craft. I read this a long time ago, but when I came across it during the office remodel, I started it again. Great book. I highly recommend it to writers and readers alike.

What I'm listening to - GENIUS LOVES COMPANY by Ray Charles and Friends

Coming next week - our 100th Post! Maybe we'll do a look back. A retrospective, if you will, of the Blonde's thoughts.

Or maybe not.

Have a great day!
Susan

Back to the Future

2007-08-02T08:54:00.000-04:00

I should have finished this time travel story at least a week ago, maybe two. The thing is, I thought of something that makes it a LOT better. I hate to rewrite more than just about anything else. But here I am back on page one, filling in all the little holes to make this thing flow smoothly now that I've had this brilliant idea that makes it so so SO much better.

I've never paid a lot of attention to time travel. "Back to the Future" and "Peggy Sue Got Married" are both great films. And my Boy is named Christopher because of "Somewhere in Time." But that's about it for me. I didn't even watch the two BttF sequels. And that movie with Meg Ryan and the guy from ... whenever he was from ... was perfectly awful.

But here I am mired in this thing, and discovering how really, really difficult it is. You have to think of EVERYTHING. And once you establish a rule, you have to stick with it. Like, if she's injured when she's in the past, will she still have the injury when she goes back to her own time? I think she would.

But the thing that everyone absolutely MUST abide by is this: YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE FUTURE. So, if she did something when she went back that altered her present, then she has to go back and fix it!

And that's where the fun begins.

Have a great day.

Susan

I'm an eBay-bee

2007-08-01T08:43:00.001-04:00

I will admit: All things computer frighten me. I don't know why. I've always managed to figure out everything I needed to figure out. I've kept myself surrounded with people who know a great deal about them, however, so that's been some comfort.

I used to write in long-hand in spiral notebooks. There's an esthetic pleasure to watching the words flow out of a pen like some long, meandering river or the ribbons of a maypole. But I'm a Baby Boomer. We're edge-riders, risk-takers, world-changers. At least we used to be. Now we spend more time worried about our annuities and shaking our heads over the music, but that's another story.

It bothers me that I spend $138.03 per month on a storage unit that's full of stuff I don't know what to do with. Plus, my best friends have plans to sell their dental practice and their home and live a long adventuresome time in a motor home. So Jeanette and I decided we had to solve this eBay mystery. There's gold in them thar boxes!

I have always considered myself a cut above your average dummy. So off we go! Jeanette used to be a semi-grand poobah in the person-to-person cosmetics business, so our test balloon, we decided, would be the Silver Anniversary doll of Miss Mary Kay herself. Surely it would be a collector's dream for MK consultants and doll people alike.

After much study. Okay, after a few minutes of study, I managed to get the thing up there. Yes, you can now go to eBay and see the Mary Kay doll (tastefully photographed against my freshly painted office walls in a complementary color). Bid on her if you like. I'd be thrilled to at least make back my one dollar investment.

If this works out, I'm going to start throwing handfuls of The Boy's sports cards up there. He was a big Niners fan in the Joe Montana days. Maybe we'll stumble upon a rarity.

At the very least, I have the best written sales copy of anyone out there.

Have a wonderful day.
Susan

Release Your Inner Simpson

2007-07-31T09:44:00.001-04:00

This is mine. Yeah, I know. She looks better than I do in real life. But she doesn't get to drive the T-Bird, now does she?

I will admit that I was never a fan of "The Simpsons." When it first started, I had a young child who was struggling in school. I didn't think "Underachiever and proud of it," was an anthem we needed in our home.

But don't have a cow, man!

It was a while before I actually watched the show. When I did, Bart was caught stealing a video game from the local discount store. He was so full of remorse and so frightened by the consequences, that it really was a good message for any kids watching.

Then, too, there's Hank Azaria. I loved him as Nat the Dogwalker on "Mad About You," and he was superb in "The Birdcage." I think he does roughly four thousand different characters on "The Simpsons."

I also love Julie Kavner from her tenure as Rhoda's little sister. I vividly remember an episode in which Rhoda was lamenting that sex and love are not the same thing. Brenda (the character) put her hands over her ears and said, "No! Don't tell me that!" I was at a similar place in my life at the time.

Then there's Yeardley Smith. First off, you gotta love her name. I first noticed her on a short-lived sitcom called "Herman's Head." And she's wonderful as Greg's secretary Marlene on "Dharma and Greg."

So despite my initial reluctance, I have to admit the show is good. The characters are rich and exciting. They certainly outlasted Tracy Ullman.

To create your own Simpsons avatar, visit the movie website.

And don't have a cow.

Susan

TGI - WHAT?

2007-07-27T09:10:00.000-04:00

How did it get to be Friday again so soon? I swear the older I get, the faster time flies. If time even exists at all, what with this Garden Gate Time Portal story I'm writing now. I'm fascinated with how many references to time have come up since I started this. She has Jet Lag. It's afternoon in England when the staff in her New York office are just coming in for the morning. When she sleeps off her Jet Lag, she isn't sure what time it is when she wakes.

Time keeps popping up everywhere. And that's a good thing. Drive that theme home. Yesterday, after spending way too much...well...TIME researching the legal drinking age, I had Star reaching into her wallet to show her ID to the barmaid when...Holy Excellent Adventure, Batman!...she can't do that! She can't show a barmaid in 1962 an ID that shows her birth as 1977!!!

At least I managed to fit it neatly into the plot. Our hero's not stupid. It was just a matter of TIME before he figured out something was really "different" about this girl from America.

Oh, great. Now I have that song from Disney Channel's High School Musical 2 in my head. "What Time Is It?" I think I need to dig out Mick and the Boys because, as we all know, "Time Is on My Side."

What I'm listening to: British Invasion - 36 All Time Greatest Hits
What I'm Reading: KISS ME DEADLY by Susan Kearney

Have a great day!
Susan

A Room with a View

2007-07-25T10:52:00.000-04:00

I've been in the office for about two weeks now. My production output seems to me to be higher. I don't know whether that has to do with the surroundings or how much I love the time travel story I'm writing now. Maybe a little of both.

When I was younger and lived in apartments, I was always struck by how quiet it was if I should happen to be home on a week day. Nothing happened until the school buses started arriving mid afternoon. Not so quiet here in the suburbs.

From my vantage point, I can see three full driveways and a couple of partials. At least once a day, a vehicle pulls into one of these for the sole purpose of turning around. I find this odd because my street is a circle. If you just keep going you'll get there anyway.

Much of the traffic passes on foot. There are a handful of young mothers pushing strollers, a half dozen men who jog, but the biggest demographic is the middle-aged woman walking. Some of them go in pairs, some solo. The solo ones usually have music plugged into their ears. I also know which dog walkers pick up and which leave it in my yard. Duly noted.

By far the most interesting group is the working teams. We have yard crews, pool guys, plumbers, cable guys, telephone installers, and dry cleaners. The people next door are having their kitchen remodeled. I wonder whether they know their guy doesn't arrive until at least eleven o'clock. I hope they aren't paying him by the day.

What occurs to me is how easy it would be for a crook to blend into the crowd of strangers passing by and steal someone blind. Maybe I've read too many Bernie the Burglar books (No! There can never be too many! Just in case LB is reading this.) but it seems to me all you would have to do is put on a pair of coveralls, get yourself a nondescript panel truck, and back up into someone's driveway. The only obstacle is getting inside, and we all know Bernie would consider that the easy part of the job.

Well, just in case some criminal mind has already thought of this, my neighbors need not fear. I'm on the job, day in and day out - as long as the blinds don't get stuck in the closed position again.

Have a great day!
Susan

Unstuck in Time

2007-07-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

That describes Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE. Vonnegut was a great writer, and we'll miss him profoundly. I don't by any means seek to compare my work to literature of his level. But I'm seriously unstuck in time right now.

I thought this little time-travel ditty would be something I knocked out in a couple of days. Turns out, there are an awful lot of things to consider when you move someone back and forth through time. First off, what's the transition like? It can't be easy, or people would be doing it right and left all day long. Wouldn't they?

So I made it kind of physically harrowing, getting worse each time she makes the leap. Now that I have her "over there" again, I'm thinking of leaving her there for a good while. It's just too stressful to go back and forth.

Then there are the changes. If one little teeny tiny thing is different, you have to consider how that impacts other things going forward. (Or backward for that matter). The Butterfly Effect comes into serious play here. You can't have actions without reactions. And consequences.

And if you did go back in time, would you tell the people you see there that you're from the future? If you did, would they believe you? How would you prove it?

So many things to think about. Meanwhile...time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking...into the future. (Steve Miller Band, "Fly Like an Eagle")

Have a great day!
Susan

One More Post about Harry

2007-07-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

And then we'll get on with life Post-Harry. How will we cope with nothing to look forward to? I guess we'll have to start over with Book One and go through it again.

There won't be any specific spoilers here, so if you haven't read yet, don't worry. I'm only going to speak in general terms, but there might be a thing or two you don't want to know yet. Nothing major - like who does or doesn't die.

First of all, the party at the bookstore Friday night: I was not the oldest person there by far. I was one of the few who didn't have a child with me, however. The highlight for me occurred at around 11:30. After much announcement of "Go to your lines now" and "Keep the center aisle clear," someone emerged from the stock room with a huge rolling cart piled high with boxes of The Book. The cheer that accompanied that short trip from back to front of the store reminded me of the reception when the football team returned from the Super Bowl victorious.

It was very late when I got home from that, so I only read three chapters before going to sleep. I read most of Saturday and finally finished it Sunday morning. Reading the book was difficult. I wanted to savor it, knowing there would never be another trip to Hogwarts with Harry and friends. But I also wanted to Get To The End! I very much enjoyed the journey. There were a couple of times when I wanted to say, "Get on with it!" But I understand the Dickens philosophy: Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait.

The ending is extremely satisfying. Everything that I wanted to see happen, happened. Except for that Harry/Hermione thing, but we all knew that wasn't going to be there. All of my questions were answered, and I'm happy with the solutions Ms. Rowling gave me.

Now on to Ms. Rowling herself: She is absolutely brilliant. Every single detail plays a part. Nothing is wasted. She is expert at misdirection - although by Book Seven, I had begun to expect it. Still she fooled me a couple of times.

Two things hit me on Saturday with stunning force. One - I was reading a book that millions of people were reading at the exact same time as me. MILLIONS. That's a pretty amazing realization. Here's the other - the richest person in England is a Writer. A Writer. Think of it. A writer beats out the person who owns all those garish crown jewels and whatnot that have been passed down for a couple of thousand years.

All of this uproar generating billions of dollars, stimulating millions of minds, creating unprecedented media hype - all of this happened because of a writer.

I stand in awe.

Have a great day!
Susan

It's Harry Potter Day!

2007-07-20T09:19:00.001-04:00

All right, let's talk about Snape.

First off, it's Alan Rickman. ALAN RICKMAN. The man who single-handedly saved the Robin Hood movie with his brilliant portrayal of The Sheriff of Nottingham. He was great in that. Perhaps a precursor to his position as the creepy potions professor.

But that's just the actor. It's the character who takes center stage today. Sure, I read Book Six. I know what happens in the end. But remember this - Dumbledore trusted him. And we still don't know why, although it's been hinted at over and over. I think Book Seven will reveal that to us. And all of you Snape Haters will have to say "I'm sorry." To me, to Snape and possibly to Alan Rickman.

Except I don't think Snape will survive Book Seven. I think he pretty much has to die to satisfy the literary requirements of an epic tale. And what better way for Snape to prove himself than to die saving Harry? In the very last seconds of Snape's life, Harry will finally realize that Snape has been on his side all along. Then he has to live the rest of his life tortured about that.

It's okay. Hermione will console him.

I know. Even J. K. herself has said there won't be a Harry/Hermione hook up, but until I turn the last page of the last book, I can still hope for it, can't I?

Well, the witching hour draws near. I have my copy reserved. I will be standing in line. I won't be back here until I'm finished reading it. May you all enjoy it. And have a wonderful weekend.

Susan

Places to Go, People to See

2007-07-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Oh, such a dilemma. The Time-Travel story is going really well. I've got a to-do list of household chores a mile long. I really need to go to the grocery store. There's always some new toy to tweak my MySpace page with. But I really, really, REALLY want to go see the new Harry Potter movie.

I feel this is of utmost importance before I pick up my copy of DEATHLY HALLOWS tomorrow midnight. I looked at Book Five and started re-reading the end, but that whole Ministry of Magic scene confuses me. I can't remember certain characters. I don't get why some people think Neville might be the Chosen One instead of Harry.

It seems that watching that play out on the big screen would make a lot more sense to me. It's important that I see that before I start to read Book Seven. In fact, I would bet it's mandatory.

Truth is, I would probably feel a lot more settled in my mind if I went ahead and made the decision to blow off part of my day and go see the movie. Think how much eaiser my writing will be today if I don't have this problem weighing on my mind.

Okay, rationalization complete. I'm going.

Have a great day!
Susan

Whose Diamonds Are These, Anyway?

2007-07-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

It's always a thrill to find another review for a book. And this one is for TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS, which we've already established is my favorite to date - with apologies to Kella and Brianna. First I'll share the money quote:

"Delia Carnell knows how to write a gut-wrenching story of hard choices for two people falling in love."

Oh, yeah. That's a nice one. There's only one problem. Everywhere else in the review - like in the site's index and on the headline of the review page - they show the author of TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS as Claire Cook.

Who?

Yeah, I never heard of her either. I mean, I'm sure she's a nice lady and a fine writer. But she didn't write TOUGHER THAN DIAMONDS. I did.

It's kind of like if you pick up the New York Times Book Review and see a great article about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Stephen King.

Okay, it's not exactly like that. But it feels like that in my mind.

At least they have a nice link to the Cerridwen page where you can buy the book. And my name is correct there.

So do me a favor. Go to this review site. Click on the contact link and email them. Tell them you read that book; you loved it. But you're pretty sure it was by that bestselling author, Delia Carnell.

Go ahead. Make my day.

Here's the link to the rest of the review.

Thanks! Have a great day!
Susan

Through the Garden Gate

2007-07-17T12:05:00.000-04:00

The Wild Rose Press has a writing contest going on that really intrigues me. They've posted a picture of a charming cottage and challenged writers to come up with a story about a woman in 2007 who goes to this cottage to vacation. It's in Bury, Lancashire, England. Once the woman steps through the garden gate, she's whisked back in time to....

Well, that's the intriguing part. There are several time periods to choose from, including the standards for historical romance. But they've also added the irresistible (for me anyway) period they call "Vintage." That's 1955 to 1965. Pretty cool, huh?

I've never written a time travel, never wanted to. But this one won't leave me alone. If a woman met a man in that time period, he would probably still be alive in 2007. They might even know each other. The possibilities excite me.

And what if she does something back then to change her own future? Is that allowed? Don't you always have to be very careful when you're traveling through time? The Butterfly Effect could make everything crazy!

It will be really interesting to see how different authors took one picture and a barely sketched concept and did many different things with it. Meanwhile, I'm back to work on mine. This is really fun! See you anywhen!

Susan

Here We Are at Our New Address

2007-07-16T08:54:00.000-04:00

Good morning. How many of you found your way to the new URL for the blonde today? I see Steven did, of course. And Mark!. Look, there's Skippy too. That's great. I feel like the Romper Room lady looking through her magic mirror.

Speaking of magic, I've returned from trip number 63 to the Magic place nearby. This time the occasion was the THIRTEENTH anniversary of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's MGM Studios. If you ever get the chance to attend one of these special events, do it. We almost had the park entirely to ourselves Friday night.

The park closed at 10:00 Friday night with the final Fantasmic show at 10:30. My Prince and I arrived around eight o'clock. With most of the park attendees waiting in line for the first Fantasmic show, we headed to Star Tours. Nothing like a hyper-light speed flight with a droid to get you ready for a night of excitement. No line at all. Perfect. We were seated front row center.

After returning to earth, we headed for one of my favorite spots in the Studios, Writers Stop. Staring at the display carousel of paperback novels - many of them romances - I created a new goal for myself: to have my book for sale in Writers Stop. That combines two of my favorite things - Disney and my own books!

We sat for a while on New York Street drinking coffee. I'd never noticed before, but you can actually hear the sounds of the subway trains when you're sitting on the sidewalk bench. No detail overlooked. That's my Disney!

Then we headed for the Tower. I will admit to being Terrorized before we even got inside. I've done this ride dozens of times, but I'm always scared. It's like the Carly Simon song (and the ketchup commercial!) AN-TIC-I-PATION. They know exactly how to scare me. If you've done this, you know that the elevator drops in a random pattern. This was the first time I've been all the way to the top THREE times in one ride. It was, well, terrifying. My Prince has permanent marks in his right arm from my fingers gripping him while I screamed like a little girl.

When we got off, we skidded into Fantasmic just in time for the second show. It was, as always, wonderful. Mickey once again saves the day. Some imagination, huh?

Well, we couldn't leave the special Tower of Terror party without one more ride on the broken elevator. By now the crowd was thinned to the special event people only. The wait time outside the Hollywood Hotel said "13" minutes. See? No detail overlooked. Of course, we had to ride again.

This time I wasn't nearly as scared. There was absolutely no wait, and our car was filled with veterans. The ride was thrilling. Even when we were all the way at the bottom, when usually you start to unbuckle your seatbelt, we were whisked back up to the top for one more spectacular drop.

It was great fun, and I'm glad we were invited to attend. Now, it's back to the real world and facing an altogether different kind of terror - the blank page!!!

Have a wonderful day! Good writing to all.
Susan