TGIF, I suppose...

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

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!

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!!

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!"

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

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!

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