Bookmas Day 4

My mother-in-law is a huge golf fan, so we had to get a picture of Pebble Beach. (The golf course here--I'm not sure what this beach is called.)

I'm afraid I don't get the whole golf thing. Well, I don't mind mini golf--you know, when you try to get the ball into the clown's mouth or between the windmill blades--but "real" golf? Meh. I agree with Mark Twain that: "Golf is a good walk spoiled."

But I suppose I should also confess I went to the University of Notre Dame and am totally uninterested in football. I will occasionally be lured into watching a little of the Super Bowl to see the ads and have some of the snacks--and I'll usually watch a little of the Puppy Bowl--but if the whole thing was cancelled, I wouldn't shed a single tear.

I like competitive swimming, which my husband thinks would be improved if it took a page from mini golf and added obstacles. Actually one outdoor long course meet did have a little of that going. A duck decided to go for a swim, too. He (or she) kept switching lanes. The swimmers were doing backstroke, so they never knew, but the spectators were amused. (Though maybe not the parents of the swimmers in the duck lanes--but the duck never interfered, so all was good.)

Here are my Bookmas clues: 1. One of the names of this company reminds me of a children's game. 2. If we all go digital, we won't need these any more.

By the way, I do like to clamber up on rocks, much to my height-averse husband's consternation. Here's me viewing Pebble Beach:

Bookmas Day 3

I think this was taken at Point Lobos State Reserve. (I definitely should have done something with these photos closer to the time they were taken.) We had great weather the entire trip, but you can see here that this particular day was overcast--I think that's fog hovering at the top of the picture. Consequently, some of the shots look as if they were taken in black and white--but you can clearly see that the camera did do color. (In the old days there was color or black & white film...I guess now there are camera settings?)

I'm not usually so colorful. The windbreaker I dug out of the back of the closet--it seemed the perfect weight for the trip. I think I bought it when the kids were playing soccer, thinking that this way they could find me in the crowd. It was when they still wanted to find me, so they must have been in grade school--which would make this jacket somewhere around 15 years old. The hat is new. It wasn't my first choice, but it was in stock at L.L. Bean (which is where I got the windbreaker years ago--I've got a fair number of L.L. Bean items in my closet) and I needed something for the trip. I've been trying to keep out of the sun, but it's also a rain hat--AND it has a string to keep it on when the weather gets windy, which it did a lot on our hikes along the coast in San Francisco.

The scarf...well, my only other choice was a burnt orange, and that really would have been over the top.

My Bookmas clues: 1. This piece must have given Kim's brain and tongue a work out. 2. Our summer swim coach, looking for a "G" rated film to show the teens on the team, rented a film version of this novel. I guess it was a little slow for the modern--well, ok, this was probably about fifteen years ago...hmm, maybe that windbreaker is older than I think... Anyway, the swimmers, even the girls, thought the movie was endless. (Looking online, it says it runs for 130 minutes...in black and white.) It became a swim team joke.

And speaking of old jackets, my husband owns--and still wears--a jeans jacket he got in college, long before he met me.

Here's proof that my colorful getup makes me easy to find:

Bookmas Day 2

This was from one of our hikes--we did a LOT of hiking. And Mr. M took a lot of pictures, but I promise not to show you them all. I will confess, though, that I now have a serious case of camera envy--as reflected in my list for Santa.

My Bookmas clue: This book is set in one of my favorite cities, but not in my favorite time period.

Bookmas Day 1

Another San Francisco picture. We've got seagulls around here--I'm not quite sure why, since we're not on the coast--but I've never seen one hang out on a car's roof. Maybe the Californian seagulls are more laid back?

Here's my Bookmas clue. (You can find the puzzle here.)

I'm pretty sure I've never read this book, though looking at the copyright date, I certainly could have. I did see the musical of a slightly different name and, no offense to Jessica who's my agent and clearly an excellent judge of literature, but I found it quite creepy.

Back to blogging

Where have I been? Not lying around on a beach like these elephant seals.

After I finished the first draft of Bedding Lord Ned, I went into revision mode. It takes me about a month of intense work to get a manuscript whipped into shape. Then we dashed off to San Francisco to visit third son who moved there this summer--drove alone cross county with his mother trying very hard not to worry--and his fiancee and her family. We visited these seals in the course of our travels. Too bad we don't have sound on the blog...well, maybe it's a good thing. They make rather rude noises.

Once back home, it was time to start the next book. And then copy edits for my May novella, The Duchess of Love, showed up via computer. They were my first experience with e-edits--my old eyes were NOT happy. And then, when I'd barely caught my breath, the novella page proofs were on my doorstep.

Anyway, I'm back now because my agent is doing the twelve days of Bookmas again. You can read all about it here. The first clue goes up tomorrow at noon EST...once I figure out what the clue will be. Any you might get some more SF pictures.

First draft's done!

Yesterday, I finally finished the first draft of the first book in my new Duchess of Love trilogy. Whew! I will bask in a few moments of relief while I run some errands and get ready for Hurricane Irene's possible arrival. Then it's time to dig into the manuscript again to revise and polish. I took the precaution of printing it out in case Irene steals our power. Hmm. Better check the flashlight batteries, too.

Stay safe, everyone in Irene's path!

Poking my head out of my writer's cave

I'm still working away on the first book of my new Duchess of Love trilogy. I just found out that the novella that's a prequel to the series is tentatively scheduled to come out as an e-book in May 2012. I'll share more information about that when I have it.

Meanwhile, I did snatch a few minutes here and there to answer some questions over at The Regency Inkwell. You can find the interview here.

Okay, back to the salt mines!