I just received word that Romance Reviews Today will be publishing a review of Love Under a Dark Sky in early June. I am so excited! I feel like someone gave me a gold star! I will provide the link for everyone when it's actually available to read; in the meantime, I am dreaming wildly.
I'll tell you a secret. It has been my wildest, craziest, "in your dreams" sort of dream that Hallmark would discover my sweet little romances and see how perfect they are for their Hall of Fame movies! Maybe I'll just wish upon that gold star now.
Shellie
Showing posts with label No Penalty for Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No Penalty for Love. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Who Wants to Be in Love in a Movie When Love in an Opera is So Much Faster?
Puccini's La Boheme: Act I - love between Rodolfo and Mimi (really Lucia, we don't know why she's called Mimi) happens, as Mr. Bean would say, in the flashiest of flashes. Why would you want to be in love in a movie when it can happen so much faster in an opera? Maybe it's because operas rarely (do they ever?) have happy endings. Movies can end tragically, but the romantic comedies we're so fond of are engineered to make us feel euphoric, at least momentarily.
I heard a funny thing on the radio the other day. Women respond more, romantically speaking, to action movies than to what we call romances. Apparently the adrenalin works its magic through a good gun battle or car chase. As I see it this "fact" works well for both men and women. And, I'm not a bit surprised, really, when I think about how much I enjoy ice hockey and how the game inspired my first romance novel. Considering further, my second romance novel was actually propelled by gorging myself on Doctor Who battling evil aliens and not on Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan sharing anonymous emails at all.
Maybe we should consider a new hybrid? A fusion, if you will - adventuopera. Or, romaction? Hmmm.
I heard a funny thing on the radio the other day. Women respond more, romantically speaking, to action movies than to what we call romances. Apparently the adrenalin works its magic through a good gun battle or car chase. As I see it this "fact" works well for both men and women. And, I'm not a bit surprised, really, when I think about how much I enjoy ice hockey and how the game inspired my first romance novel. Considering further, my second romance novel was actually propelled by gorging myself on Doctor Who battling evil aliens and not on Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan sharing anonymous emails at all.
Maybe we should consider a new hybrid? A fusion, if you will - adventuopera. Or, romaction? Hmmm.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Take Me Out to the Ballgame - If You Must
Lord Stanley's Cup has been won. Summer has officially begun. Now, take me out to the ballgame.
Though sports were never high up my list - in fact, I used to become quite irritated with people who were sports fans - I have come to appreciate them since I got married. I knew Bruce enjoyed sports and so one of the first things I did when I thought we might be getting serious was to check out a book on the basics of football so I could have at least an understanding of what was going on when we watched. Translating what was in print to what was on the field, though, was just not happening for me. It was several years later when I decided it would be nice if I would watch the Superbowl with him that I sat down for parts of some of the Sunday games and asked him to explain some of the plays. Unlike Bruce's attempt at humor at the first football game we attended together when he told me the players in the odd-numbered jerseys were running backs and they had to run backward in the game (how dumb did he think I was?), he explained as I asked and over the course of the season I learned enough to be able to watch the Superbowl that year and "get it".
One of the first presents I got Bruce after we were married was tickets to a St. Louis Blues game and a Blues jersey. Extravagant for a first-year teacher with student loans to pay, but I really wanted to please him. Though it pains me to admit it now, I was not struck with the game. Our seats were high up and I really couldn't understand what just looked like a bunch of scrambling on the ice. (If you want to know my real first impressions of the game, read Patricia's impressions in No Penalty for Love - yeah, that's me, sitting there wondering what is going on and why everyone is so enthralled.) Because I was so unimpressed, I went a little begrudgingly to my first Missouri State University Ice Bears game. The rest is history on that one - I love hockey now!
But, since the Blackhawks beat the Flyers last night, we've settled into baseball season which is my least favorite sport. Try as I might, I just can't relax for fear that I'm going to get hit with a foul ball! But, I realize the odds are against that happening and Bruce enjoys the leisurely pace of summer's greatest pastime (or so it's called - my own greatest summer pastime is reading a Grisham novel on the deck with a glass of iced tea), so I go. Tonight we're going to watch the Springfield Cardinals play the Tulsa Drillers. In July we're off to St. Louis to see the Big Birds play. The new stadium has been open for something like five years now and Bruce has wanted to see it since it opened. I bought the tickets for his birthday, but couldn't wait that long to give them to him. If you go on the Cardinals' website and look at a view from the seats, you can see what we'll be seeing: a gorgeous skyline with the Arch just past the scoreboard. Pray for no rain!
My point is that romance can be found anywhere. Even at a sporting event. Sometimes learning something new because you know it would please your loved one is a nice thing to do. Sometimes you even discover a new interest yourself (or, in my case a new interest and inspiration to write). What is your loved one interested in that makes you roll your eyes and wish you were dead? Learn something about it just to please him. Comfort in a relationship is great - being at ease with one another is much to be desired! But, a little stretch now and then can put a spring in your step and a song in your heart: Take me out to the ballgame!
Though sports were never high up my list - in fact, I used to become quite irritated with people who were sports fans - I have come to appreciate them since I got married. I knew Bruce enjoyed sports and so one of the first things I did when I thought we might be getting serious was to check out a book on the basics of football so I could have at least an understanding of what was going on when we watched. Translating what was in print to what was on the field, though, was just not happening for me. It was several years later when I decided it would be nice if I would watch the Superbowl with him that I sat down for parts of some of the Sunday games and asked him to explain some of the plays. Unlike Bruce's attempt at humor at the first football game we attended together when he told me the players in the odd-numbered jerseys were running backs and they had to run backward in the game (how dumb did he think I was?), he explained as I asked and over the course of the season I learned enough to be able to watch the Superbowl that year and "get it".
One of the first presents I got Bruce after we were married was tickets to a St. Louis Blues game and a Blues jersey. Extravagant for a first-year teacher with student loans to pay, but I really wanted to please him. Though it pains me to admit it now, I was not struck with the game. Our seats were high up and I really couldn't understand what just looked like a bunch of scrambling on the ice. (If you want to know my real first impressions of the game, read Patricia's impressions in No Penalty for Love - yeah, that's me, sitting there wondering what is going on and why everyone is so enthralled.) Because I was so unimpressed, I went a little begrudgingly to my first Missouri State University Ice Bears game. The rest is history on that one - I love hockey now!
But, since the Blackhawks beat the Flyers last night, we've settled into baseball season which is my least favorite sport. Try as I might, I just can't relax for fear that I'm going to get hit with a foul ball! But, I realize the odds are against that happening and Bruce enjoys the leisurely pace of summer's greatest pastime (or so it's called - my own greatest summer pastime is reading a Grisham novel on the deck with a glass of iced tea), so I go. Tonight we're going to watch the Springfield Cardinals play the Tulsa Drillers. In July we're off to St. Louis to see the Big Birds play. The new stadium has been open for something like five years now and Bruce has wanted to see it since it opened. I bought the tickets for his birthday, but couldn't wait that long to give them to him. If you go on the Cardinals' website and look at a view from the seats, you can see what we'll be seeing: a gorgeous skyline with the Arch just past the scoreboard. Pray for no rain!
My point is that romance can be found anywhere. Even at a sporting event. Sometimes learning something new because you know it would please your loved one is a nice thing to do. Sometimes you even discover a new interest yourself (or, in my case a new interest and inspiration to write). What is your loved one interested in that makes you roll your eyes and wish you were dead? Learn something about it just to please him. Comfort in a relationship is great - being at ease with one another is much to be desired! But, a little stretch now and then can put a spring in your step and a song in your heart: Take me out to the ballgame!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Lovin' Me a Love Song
Okay, I'm a nerd from way back. Let's just get that said right up front. I know it. I'm not ashamed of it (anymore). And we true nerds can never be de-nerdified. So, if you look in my car you're going to see the following compact discs:
1. Trock On - a compilation of songs by bands named for Dr. Who things and about Dr. Who things;
2. Chameleon Circuit - a super-terrific Dr. Who album, highly sing-able and very funny (to those in the know);
3. Aaron Jeffrey - the c.d. replacement of my mid-90's cassette tape with one of the most awesome songs showing the harmony of God's word imaginable ("He Is" - it's the last track); and
4. Any or all of the following: something by Barry Manilow, something by Rod Stewart, a compilation of Love Songs by various artists from various eras, and Kenny Loggins.
The cooler c.d.s in my car belong to my husband.
Being the oldest child in my family, I didn't have the benefit of learning to be cool by having an older sibling. Kelly, my best friend and neighbor when we were little girls, had two teenaged brothers. My family listened to Tanya Tucker and Willie Nelson, so I listened to Tanya Tucker and Willie Nelson. Kelly listened to The Guess Who, watched Solid Gold, and followed a local band called Fool's Face. In elementary school!
Aunt Joyce and Uncle Larry bought me my first "cool" record album (to me, they were just absolutely IT as far as cool - Larry had a fu-manchu [okay, I've never tried to spell that word before and I'm sure that's wrong] mustache and Joyce was always so pretty - they had college aged foreign exchange students living in their home, sponsored the youth group at church - they were just cool). It was my tenth birthday party and they bought me Debbie Boone's You Light Up My Life album. Okay, it wasn't The Guess Who, but still, it played on Top 40 radio stations and was NOT going to be heard at the KTTS Listener Appreciation shows I attended with my parents.
So, I got my first cool record album and what did I do? I turned it into nerdy. I followed it with an obsession with The Osmonds (remind me to blog sometime about seeing them in concert at the State Fair - I wore purple jeans because it was Donny's favorite color) and Barry Manilow. The only 8-track I ever called my own was Donny Osmond's Disco Train. I have a pretty complete collection of Manilow albums and a hefty number of Osmonds plus a few from later years including Dan Fogelberg and two Randy Travis representing a brief lapse into the country scene. They're mixed in among Bruce's ELO and Deep Purple. I've just always been a sucker for love songs!
The best of the best for a nerd like me include:
1. Weekend in New England (Manilow)
2. The Old Songs (Manilow)
3. Merry Christmas, Darling (The Carpenters)
4. Hard to Say (Fogelberg)
5. When October Goes (Manilow)
6. She Should'a Been Mine (Manilow)
7. Not What You See and I Miss You (Manilow)
Now, just to solidify your picture of me as a nerd, know that I also like soundtracks to musicals. My favorites are The Sound of Music (because Christopher Plummer was one of my first crushes - what little girl doesn't want to grow up to be a nun in order to find her Captain Von Trapp?), Fiddler On the Roof (do you know the song Do You Love Me?? Awesome!), and, of course, Phantom of the Opera (favorite lyric: "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Say one word and I will follow you. . . Anywhere you go let me go, too. Love me, that's all I ask of you." - Oh, can you just feel that orchestration swelling in your chest?! This is one I sing off-key at the top of my lungs while driving, so if you ever see me at a stop light looking as if I'm having a heart attack, just know it's the Phantom.)
Now, I don't want you to think that as I grew I didn't expand my tastes. I did. Widely. In fact, now I would consider my favorite artist to be Michael Franks. He's a jazz vocalist who writes the most luxurious and sultry lyrics I've ever heard. Really, really romantic. Look him up. I love jazz music and I find even the instrumentals to be deeply moving, satisfying. But, the poetry, the lyric - ah. Therein is romance.
Sing it or say it, be it Shakespeare or Sinatra. There's a world of knee-knocking, head-spinning, heart-palpitating, palm-sweating, breathlessness in the right turn of phrase. I wonder what's on the radio right about now?
Shellie
1. Trock On - a compilation of songs by bands named for Dr. Who things and about Dr. Who things;
2. Chameleon Circuit - a super-terrific Dr. Who album, highly sing-able and very funny (to those in the know);
3. Aaron Jeffrey - the c.d. replacement of my mid-90's cassette tape with one of the most awesome songs showing the harmony of God's word imaginable ("He Is" - it's the last track); and
4. Any or all of the following: something by Barry Manilow, something by Rod Stewart, a compilation of Love Songs by various artists from various eras, and Kenny Loggins.
The cooler c.d.s in my car belong to my husband.
Being the oldest child in my family, I didn't have the benefit of learning to be cool by having an older sibling. Kelly, my best friend and neighbor when we were little girls, had two teenaged brothers. My family listened to Tanya Tucker and Willie Nelson, so I listened to Tanya Tucker and Willie Nelson. Kelly listened to The Guess Who, watched Solid Gold, and followed a local band called Fool's Face. In elementary school!
Aunt Joyce and Uncle Larry bought me my first "cool" record album (to me, they were just absolutely IT as far as cool - Larry had a fu-manchu [okay, I've never tried to spell that word before and I'm sure that's wrong] mustache and Joyce was always so pretty - they had college aged foreign exchange students living in their home, sponsored the youth group at church - they were just cool). It was my tenth birthday party and they bought me Debbie Boone's You Light Up My Life album. Okay, it wasn't The Guess Who, but still, it played on Top 40 radio stations and was NOT going to be heard at the KTTS Listener Appreciation shows I attended with my parents.
So, I got my first cool record album and what did I do? I turned it into nerdy. I followed it with an obsession with The Osmonds (remind me to blog sometime about seeing them in concert at the State Fair - I wore purple jeans because it was Donny's favorite color) and Barry Manilow. The only 8-track I ever called my own was Donny Osmond's Disco Train. I have a pretty complete collection of Manilow albums and a hefty number of Osmonds plus a few from later years including Dan Fogelberg and two Randy Travis representing a brief lapse into the country scene. They're mixed in among Bruce's ELO and Deep Purple. I've just always been a sucker for love songs!
The best of the best for a nerd like me include:
1. Weekend in New England (Manilow)
2. The Old Songs (Manilow)
3. Merry Christmas, Darling (The Carpenters)
4. Hard to Say (Fogelberg)
5. When October Goes (Manilow)
6. She Should'a Been Mine (Manilow)
7. Not What You See and I Miss You (Manilow)
Now, just to solidify your picture of me as a nerd, know that I also like soundtracks to musicals. My favorites are The Sound of Music (because Christopher Plummer was one of my first crushes - what little girl doesn't want to grow up to be a nun in order to find her Captain Von Trapp?), Fiddler On the Roof (do you know the song Do You Love Me?? Awesome!), and, of course, Phantom of the Opera (favorite lyric: "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Say one word and I will follow you. . . Anywhere you go let me go, too. Love me, that's all I ask of you." - Oh, can you just feel that orchestration swelling in your chest?! This is one I sing off-key at the top of my lungs while driving, so if you ever see me at a stop light looking as if I'm having a heart attack, just know it's the Phantom.)
Now, I don't want you to think that as I grew I didn't expand my tastes. I did. Widely. In fact, now I would consider my favorite artist to be Michael Franks. He's a jazz vocalist who writes the most luxurious and sultry lyrics I've ever heard. Really, really romantic. Look him up. I love jazz music and I find even the instrumentals to be deeply moving, satisfying. But, the poetry, the lyric - ah. Therein is romance.
Sing it or say it, be it Shakespeare or Sinatra. There's a world of knee-knocking, head-spinning, heart-palpitating, palm-sweating, breathlessness in the right turn of phrase. I wonder what's on the radio right about now?
Shellie
Friday, April 23, 2010
When Life Comes Together Like. . . Like. . . Like a Music Video!
Don't you love it when life just comes together? This year I volunteered to be part of a technology cohort for Library Media Specialists in our district and I got information recently on a website to create short videos. Well, I've had the most FUN making all these little 30-second videos for school (check out my book trailers for some of the 2010-2011 Gateway Nominees I've been reading at http://ghsgatewayreaders.blogspot.com/ ) I thought I should try my hand at it with some personal things. The obvious choice to start with: my launch party. Were you there last November? Here are the highlights. Enjoy!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
How Do You Spell Relief?
Do you remember the old Rolaids commercials? "How do you spell relief? R-o-l-a-i-d-s."
I'm facing my 42nd birthday this Tuesday. No biggie. Mostly right now I'm jazzed about the beautiful spring we're having wondering how you spell the name of that gorgeous flowering shrub that's just started blooming all over town. Rhodedendron? Maybe. Anyway, they are brilliant and all over the place! In fact, all the flowering trees and shrubs have put on the most wonderful show this spring. After a long, cold winter, that's how I spell relief: s-p-r-i-n-g. Whew.
Also, I'm really jazzed about young adults. As I'm sure I've mentioned in the blog before (because I'm mentioning it every time I turn around and see someone standing there lately and because I'm signing off on so many emails these days with "Go Falcons!") I'm going back to high school next year. So, I've started reading the 2010-2011 Gateway Nominees and I'm having a blast! Also, I've begun writing a new novel (at last!) and have a writer at the New York Times to thank for the inspiration.
Reading so much YA (not to mention reading a not so nice blog review of No Penalty in which I was the writer of something like "boring and oh, so chaste dating descriptions") kind of got me thinking that I might like to try my hand at the YA myself. After all, in writing No Penalty I had a lot of fun creating Able and was particularly proud of that character. So, why not write more like him? Turns out it was, if it turns out to be nothing else, a great jolt to the creativity, because I've been finding myself thinking about my characters and my story more than any other project I've started and subsequently quit on in recent months. Yippee!
Between reading Gateway Nominees, joining YALSA, ordering The Big Pink Bible of Teen Services, and thinking and thinking and thinking about the high school scene where I'll be next year I'm feeling vibrant and alive again. Say what you will, but teenagers, while sometimes surly and sometimes downright rude, are full of life and it's refreshing to be around that. So, yeah, Go Falcons!
I'm facing my 42nd birthday this Tuesday. No biggie. Mostly right now I'm jazzed about the beautiful spring we're having wondering how you spell the name of that gorgeous flowering shrub that's just started blooming all over town. Rhodedendron? Maybe. Anyway, they are brilliant and all over the place! In fact, all the flowering trees and shrubs have put on the most wonderful show this spring. After a long, cold winter, that's how I spell relief: s-p-r-i-n-g. Whew.
Also, I'm really jazzed about young adults. As I'm sure I've mentioned in the blog before (because I'm mentioning it every time I turn around and see someone standing there lately and because I'm signing off on so many emails these days with "Go Falcons!") I'm going back to high school next year. So, I've started reading the 2010-2011 Gateway Nominees and I'm having a blast! Also, I've begun writing a new novel (at last!) and have a writer at the New York Times to thank for the inspiration.
Reading so much YA (not to mention reading a not so nice blog review of No Penalty in which I was the writer of something like "boring and oh, so chaste dating descriptions") kind of got me thinking that I might like to try my hand at the YA myself. After all, in writing No Penalty I had a lot of fun creating Able and was particularly proud of that character. So, why not write more like him? Turns out it was, if it turns out to be nothing else, a great jolt to the creativity, because I've been finding myself thinking about my characters and my story more than any other project I've started and subsequently quit on in recent months. Yippee!
Between reading Gateway Nominees, joining YALSA, ordering The Big Pink Bible of Teen Services, and thinking and thinking and thinking about the high school scene where I'll be next year I'm feeling vibrant and alive again. Say what you will, but teenagers, while sometimes surly and sometimes downright rude, are full of life and it's refreshing to be around that. So, yeah, Go Falcons!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Waiting for Rejuvination
There's an old song with the line, "They say it's spring that's made me daft as a daisy". I'm feeling pretty daft these days. Daft and so tired! I don't know if I'm so inflexible that the time change is still throwing me or if it's that over Spring Break I slept in until 8:30 and now am getting up at 6:00 again. At any rate, I'm pretty much a zombie. I'm waiting for rejuvination.
Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. The season reminds us of the wonderful reality of resurrection, of new life. I'm grateful for that reality.
It's funny how my mind has been so busy lately and yet I am having such a hard time writing. I want to so much I can taste it, but I sit down and. . . nothing. Or at least too little to really work with. I feel like McGee on NCIS when he wouldn't own up to his (dare I say it?) writer's block. I remember I had this problem before. It was after I knew Stained Glass Theatre was going to do my play Welcome to Joe's. There was this huge gap of two years between the time they accepted the script and the time they produced it. I was so anxious about seeing Joe's happen that I wasn't very productive on anything else. Then, as soon as Joe's closed I dashed of Related Spaces in nothing flat! After Related Spaces played, I wrote No Penalty. After No Penalty was published I finished the one that's setting at Avalon now. In those times of waiting, I find that's all I seem to be able to do. I guess it's that wish for life to be in tidy packages. One project completed before another is begun. It doesn't work that way. I've got to pull my head out of the fog and get busy!
Spring is supposed to be the most romantic season. I'm looking forward to some of my favorite springy things to rejuvinate the romantic in me. Maybe you could try these, too!
1. Eat breakfast outside. Bruce and I eat on the porch when it's light enough and warm enough because we can watch walkers and dog walkers go by. We always laugh that people are saying, "Look! They're eating on the porch! Weird."
2. Fill the birdbath and watch for visitors of the feathered variety.
3. Do what my editor Chelsea did: wear yellow to celebrate spring!
4. Sip a glass of iced tea with lemon and mint.
5. Read some Nikki Giovanni poetry. It's fun.
6. If you live near a college campus, walk on over and stroll around. Take in the sights and sounds: frisbee on the lawn, touch football in the stadium, bicycles on the brick bike paths, music drifting out of open dorm windows, bulletin boards announcing auditions for summer theatre productions, the fountains.
7. Paint your toenails - but not if you're a man, please!
8. Pick out one bird's song and listen for it every day near the same time. We have one around here that I call "Our Little Singer". I can never find him, but his song is quite distinct. I think I figured out what kind he was last year, but have forgotten since. He sings, "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada."
9. Get your bird books off the shelf and figure out what kinds of birds are visiting and singing all around you.
10. Breathe deeply (if your allergies allow it) - take in the scents of lilac and fresh green growing things!
Cheers to you and cheers to spring!
Shellie
Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. The season reminds us of the wonderful reality of resurrection, of new life. I'm grateful for that reality.
It's funny how my mind has been so busy lately and yet I am having such a hard time writing. I want to so much I can taste it, but I sit down and. . . nothing. Or at least too little to really work with. I feel like McGee on NCIS when he wouldn't own up to his (dare I say it?) writer's block. I remember I had this problem before. It was after I knew Stained Glass Theatre was going to do my play Welcome to Joe's. There was this huge gap of two years between the time they accepted the script and the time they produced it. I was so anxious about seeing Joe's happen that I wasn't very productive on anything else. Then, as soon as Joe's closed I dashed of Related Spaces in nothing flat! After Related Spaces played, I wrote No Penalty. After No Penalty was published I finished the one that's setting at Avalon now. In those times of waiting, I find that's all I seem to be able to do. I guess it's that wish for life to be in tidy packages. One project completed before another is begun. It doesn't work that way. I've got to pull my head out of the fog and get busy!
Spring is supposed to be the most romantic season. I'm looking forward to some of my favorite springy things to rejuvinate the romantic in me. Maybe you could try these, too!
1. Eat breakfast outside. Bruce and I eat on the porch when it's light enough and warm enough because we can watch walkers and dog walkers go by. We always laugh that people are saying, "Look! They're eating on the porch! Weird."
2. Fill the birdbath and watch for visitors of the feathered variety.
3. Do what my editor Chelsea did: wear yellow to celebrate spring!
4. Sip a glass of iced tea with lemon and mint.
5. Read some Nikki Giovanni poetry. It's fun.
6. If you live near a college campus, walk on over and stroll around. Take in the sights and sounds: frisbee on the lawn, touch football in the stadium, bicycles on the brick bike paths, music drifting out of open dorm windows, bulletin boards announcing auditions for summer theatre productions, the fountains.
7. Paint your toenails - but not if you're a man, please!
8. Pick out one bird's song and listen for it every day near the same time. We have one around here that I call "Our Little Singer". I can never find him, but his song is quite distinct. I think I figured out what kind he was last year, but have forgotten since. He sings, "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada."
9. Get your bird books off the shelf and figure out what kinds of birds are visiting and singing all around you.
10. Breathe deeply (if your allergies allow it) - take in the scents of lilac and fresh green growing things!
Cheers to you and cheers to spring!
Shellie
Friday, January 29, 2010
What to Do?
Oh, it's agony! Starting something, setting it aside. Starting something else, thinking better of the first, setting it aside and going back. Deciding it's not so great after all and bogging down to do nothing. What's to do? Watch Dr. Who, I guess. In the name of inspiration, of course.
The other day I had a brilliant idea for a new book, so I set aside the one I'd written a chapter on and never gotten back to. The new idea produced a whopping one paragraph. It's a week later now. Ugh! I think my muse has been captured by an evil alien empire and is being held captive in an icy world somewhere. Doctor! Help!
Seriously, though, it's part of the process. Not a pretty part, but a part nonetheless. I try not to get too upset by it because it always works out fine in the end. I think that, just like with life, the hard parts, the parts when you feel like you're in a holding pattern, those are the parts that produce character. In this case, I just hope that character is a best-selling romantic heroine - or something like that. Sometimes I wish I was smart enough to write sci-fi or at least a good mystery. My brain just doesn't work that way, though, even though I enjoy reading them.
I heard from one of the new editors at Avalon today and my newest (complete) manuscript is "still very much on the radar" with them; however, with the turnover in personnel and high volume of submissions they are running behind. So, fingers crossed - still. In the meantime, I do have another book signing scheduled. This one is at Barnes & Noble on February 6th from 11-1. I'm looking forward to it. It's to feature other local authors; I thought it was so nice to be invited! This time the bookstore is providing the books for sale, so it won't be a consignment sort of thing like it was at Borders. Makes me feel professional.
January slipped by without any suggestions from me for romantic things to do. Anyone out there have any winter romance ideas? February, of course, boasts Valentine's Day - a natural for romance. But what do you do that helps you find beauty and lead the romantic life this cold, cold season? Let me hear from you!
Stay warm!
Shellie
The other day I had a brilliant idea for a new book, so I set aside the one I'd written a chapter on and never gotten back to. The new idea produced a whopping one paragraph. It's a week later now. Ugh! I think my muse has been captured by an evil alien empire and is being held captive in an icy world somewhere. Doctor! Help!
Seriously, though, it's part of the process. Not a pretty part, but a part nonetheless. I try not to get too upset by it because it always works out fine in the end. I think that, just like with life, the hard parts, the parts when you feel like you're in a holding pattern, those are the parts that produce character. In this case, I just hope that character is a best-selling romantic heroine - or something like that. Sometimes I wish I was smart enough to write sci-fi or at least a good mystery. My brain just doesn't work that way, though, even though I enjoy reading them.
I heard from one of the new editors at Avalon today and my newest (complete) manuscript is "still very much on the radar" with them; however, with the turnover in personnel and high volume of submissions they are running behind. So, fingers crossed - still. In the meantime, I do have another book signing scheduled. This one is at Barnes & Noble on February 6th from 11-1. I'm looking forward to it. It's to feature other local authors; I thought it was so nice to be invited! This time the bookstore is providing the books for sale, so it won't be a consignment sort of thing like it was at Borders. Makes me feel professional.
January slipped by without any suggestions from me for romantic things to do. Anyone out there have any winter romance ideas? February, of course, boasts Valentine's Day - a natural for romance. But what do you do that helps you find beauty and lead the romantic life this cold, cold season? Let me hear from you!
Stay warm!
Shellie
Monday, January 18, 2010
Pens and Petitions
Pens: Barnes & Noble has invited me to be a part of a book signing featuring local authors in their S. Glenstone store here in Springfield on Saturday, February 6th from 11:00-1:00. Looking forward to it! Come out to see me - I promise a free bookmark and some chocolate. Mmmm chocolate.
Petitions: In the meantime, please contact me if you are a registered Missouri voter. I'd love to have you sign a petition to get proposed legislation on the November ballot which would regulate large puppy mills. More info at http://www.missourifordogs.com/ .
Petitions: In the meantime, please contact me if you are a registered Missouri voter. I'd love to have you sign a petition to get proposed legislation on the November ballot which would regulate large puppy mills. More info at http://www.missourifordogs.com/ .
Monday, January 4, 2010
I've Been Reviewed
This is the first review I've seen of No Penalty for Love . Check it out. (For those of you as inept as I am with technology, you click on the title for this entry and it will take you to the blog where you'll read the review.)
Sunday, December 20, 2009
It's a Wonderful Life
This week was a mix of fun and frustration. The kids are so ready to be out of school that teaching was like tangling with a tiger. Especially with the younger students. I was ever so glad to see Friday come! With just two more work days before Christmas Break I think I can make it. That was the frustration.
The fun took several forms. . .
On Thursday I was the guest speaker at Parkview High School's Viking Readers Club. I think that was probably the most fun I'd had with the book since I heard it was going to be published. I was pretty nervous about it, but had a great time once I got there. They were so polite and laughed and asked tons of questions. It was great. I was so honored to be asked and so pleased with how it went. Thanks to Gail Eubanks and the Viking Readers!
I also got to have some fun Christmas shopping for Natalie! What a blast to pick out toys and little Christmas-shaped treats for her stocking. I told her that she has two presents under the tree, but I won't tell her which ones because I'm sure she'd peek while we're at work.
Tonight Bruce and I had our annual weekend before Christmas fireside supper. I made Polenta Lasagna (individual portions in some of my milk glass Fire King dishes) and we had pretty Italian cut green beans and some very yummy 3-cheese Artisan bread (they sell something called a "petite loaf" at Dillons and it was just right for a special occasion). I hadn't decided what kind of dessert to make and that was fine because my mother turned up with some oh, so good peanut butter cake for us and we saved it for tonight. Had some Peppermint Patty coffee and watched It's a Wonderful Life. The only thing different this year was having Natalie there, but I just put a little sprinkling of cheese on her food for a festive touch and put a matching placemat down by us so she could have her Christmas supper, too.
Speaking of Natalie, she's the reason I'm blogging at 3:30 in the morning. One of those rare, but insistent need-to-go-out-in-the-middle-of-the-night nights. That was an hour and a half ago, but I just couldn't get back to sleep. Emailed a couple of friends, payed a couple of bills and am heading back in to sit by the fire and read a Dave Barry book.
If this week proves to be anything like last, you might not hear from me again until the new year, so have a blessed Christmas. Remember Jesus!
Shellie
The fun took several forms. . .
On Thursday I was the guest speaker at Parkview High School's Viking Readers Club. I think that was probably the most fun I'd had with the book since I heard it was going to be published. I was pretty nervous about it, but had a great time once I got there. They were so polite and laughed and asked tons of questions. It was great. I was so honored to be asked and so pleased with how it went. Thanks to Gail Eubanks and the Viking Readers!
I also got to have some fun Christmas shopping for Natalie! What a blast to pick out toys and little Christmas-shaped treats for her stocking. I told her that she has two presents under the tree, but I won't tell her which ones because I'm sure she'd peek while we're at work.
Tonight Bruce and I had our annual weekend before Christmas fireside supper. I made Polenta Lasagna (individual portions in some of my milk glass Fire King dishes) and we had pretty Italian cut green beans and some very yummy 3-cheese Artisan bread (they sell something called a "petite loaf" at Dillons and it was just right for a special occasion). I hadn't decided what kind of dessert to make and that was fine because my mother turned up with some oh, so good peanut butter cake for us and we saved it for tonight. Had some Peppermint Patty coffee and watched It's a Wonderful Life. The only thing different this year was having Natalie there, but I just put a little sprinkling of cheese on her food for a festive touch and put a matching placemat down by us so she could have her Christmas supper, too.
Speaking of Natalie, she's the reason I'm blogging at 3:30 in the morning. One of those rare, but insistent need-to-go-out-in-the-middle-of-the-night nights. That was an hour and a half ago, but I just couldn't get back to sleep. Emailed a couple of friends, payed a couple of bills and am heading back in to sit by the fire and read a Dave Barry book.
If this week proves to be anything like last, you might not hear from me again until the new year, so have a blessed Christmas. Remember Jesus!
Shellie
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Festivities
I had my second book signing yesterday. This time at Mediacom Ice Park during a MSU Ice Bears v. KU Jayhawks game. We won - oh, yeah! What a gratifying experience, though, to be able to talk about No Penalty for Love with team members and staff and fans. I hope everyone who bought a copy enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was a challenge for me to get the technical aspects of the game on the page and let the thrill of it come through in the writing. I never would have been able to pull off some of the scenes if not for the Ice Bears. So, thanks again, Guys!
I'm feeling partied out this weekend - festivities abound. Though, I did manage a Saturday morning at home yesterday to make some Christmas candies and cookies. I found a recipe (another good one) in Grandma's recipe box - 4 Chips Good Fudge, it was called. Rich! Oh, my! Made that and also some Maple Nut Brittle which didn't "brittle" so became a new and oh, so wonderful Christmas delight - Maple Nut Clusters. Also some plain, but simply wonderful sugar cookies - not the frosted kind - icky - but just a touch of colored sugars to give them a little sparkle. I wore my Snoopy Christmas apron and played Christmas music on the radio in the kitchen, sang to Natalie (she's the only one I sing to besides God because neither of them are critical of my tunes), and had a jolly good time.
Speaking of festivities, here are some romantic suggestions for December in case you need a little Christmas right this very minute:
1. Find a movie house showing one of the classics and go - It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, or Miracle on 34th Street (which Bruce took me to see at the Gillioz last night). Barring that, dvr one and make a point of watching it.
2. Gotta watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Other specials to revive your childlike enthusiasm for the season are Rudolph the Red Nosed Reineer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and, if you can find it (which I haven't) Mr. Kreuger's Christmas - apparently I remember a 1/2 hour long made-for-TV special from the '70's with amazing clarity. It stared James Stewart.
3. Burn a pine scented candle, light the fire and watch the tree blink lazily.
4. Make a fireside supper - that's what I plan to do next Saturday night before the actual holiday week is upon us. One of the great things about vegetarian cooking at Christmas is that there is an abundance of red and green food to choose from. Makes for festive and lively plating!
5. Sing - even if it's just to your dog.
6. Get quiet and remember Jesus - if that doesn't make you happy and grateful, you're a lost cause.
7. DON'T make any resolutions or bemoan the year past - just make sure you remind yourself that every moment of every day is a new beginning and nothing stays the same - good or bad - and plan to make the changes you want to see sooner rather than later.
8. Make a Christmas treat for the birds - airpopped popcorn tossed out by the handfuls, or something more adventurous like backyard tree decorations made with peanut butter and bedecked with seeds.
9. Read a great Christmas book: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; anything Christmassy by Debbie Macomber.
10. Count your blessings - as Bing sings - it's better than counting sheep by far.
Blessings to you and yours this holiday season -
Shellie
I'm feeling partied out this weekend - festivities abound. Though, I did manage a Saturday morning at home yesterday to make some Christmas candies and cookies. I found a recipe (another good one) in Grandma's recipe box - 4 Chips Good Fudge, it was called. Rich! Oh, my! Made that and also some Maple Nut Brittle which didn't "brittle" so became a new and oh, so wonderful Christmas delight - Maple Nut Clusters. Also some plain, but simply wonderful sugar cookies - not the frosted kind - icky - but just a touch of colored sugars to give them a little sparkle. I wore my Snoopy Christmas apron and played Christmas music on the radio in the kitchen, sang to Natalie (she's the only one I sing to besides God because neither of them are critical of my tunes), and had a jolly good time.
Speaking of festivities, here are some romantic suggestions for December in case you need a little Christmas right this very minute:
1. Find a movie house showing one of the classics and go - It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, or Miracle on 34th Street (which Bruce took me to see at the Gillioz last night). Barring that, dvr one and make a point of watching it.
2. Gotta watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Other specials to revive your childlike enthusiasm for the season are Rudolph the Red Nosed Reineer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and, if you can find it (which I haven't) Mr. Kreuger's Christmas - apparently I remember a 1/2 hour long made-for-TV special from the '70's with amazing clarity. It stared James Stewart.
3. Burn a pine scented candle, light the fire and watch the tree blink lazily.
4. Make a fireside supper - that's what I plan to do next Saturday night before the actual holiday week is upon us. One of the great things about vegetarian cooking at Christmas is that there is an abundance of red and green food to choose from. Makes for festive and lively plating!
5. Sing - even if it's just to your dog.
6. Get quiet and remember Jesus - if that doesn't make you happy and grateful, you're a lost cause.
7. DON'T make any resolutions or bemoan the year past - just make sure you remind yourself that every moment of every day is a new beginning and nothing stays the same - good or bad - and plan to make the changes you want to see sooner rather than later.
8. Make a Christmas treat for the birds - airpopped popcorn tossed out by the handfuls, or something more adventurous like backyard tree decorations made with peanut butter and bedecked with seeds.
9. Read a great Christmas book: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; anything Christmassy by Debbie Macomber.
10. Count your blessings - as Bing sings - it's better than counting sheep by far.
Blessings to you and yours this holiday season -
Shellie
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sarah, Can You Read Me?
Sarah Palin: I left a copy of my book, No Penalty for Love, for you when you had your signing at Borders in Springfield, Missouri on December 2. The organizers told me you'd receive your gifts. Since you're a hockey fan I thought you might enjoy it for a bit of a lighthearted read on a long Going Rogue bus ride. Thanks for the autograph and the handshake - come again!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
What's My Line?
Today is my book signing at Borders. After much kerfuffle! However, all this book promotion has provided for my education in some things I'd never imagined I'd need to know. Things like business licenses, tax certificates, self-employment taxes (oh, my! 15 3/10 % of the NET!) and the invaluable advise of a tax preparer. Thank you, Jean! This is not the fun part of having a book published. I think what I'm worried about most is what to write in the books I sign. If it's someone I have a relationship with, then that's fine - it's personal. But, I need a signature line of my own for people I don't know or don't know well and I'm drawing a blank. I guess there's the ever-popular Red Green sign-off: "Keep your stick on the ice." I am looking forward to this afternoon, though - 1:00-3:00. And then tonight . . . more hockey!
Last night's game against Lindenwood U was intense. The Ice Bears prevailed in overtime, though, and it was pretty! Tonight's game is the last home game until mid-December. Bummer! When they're back on home ice, though, I've been honored with an invitation to do a book signing at the December 12th game against KU. The people involved with the games and the team there at the Ice Park have been so terrific to promote No Penalty for Love during the games these two weekends. I nearly laugh every time they announce it. I'm really a shy person, so this kind of thing, while very welcome - and I am so grateful for their interest and kind attention - is hard for me. I'm just a fan cheering the home team. Go Bears!
Perhaps the upcoming holidays will spark some inspiration for writing. I've been suffering through too many false starts ever since I submitted my last manuscript. I need a new interest. It seems all of my manuscripts, novel and play, grow out of a passion for something. Usually it's something new I've become intersted in. Welcome to Joe's came out of spending so much time at Mudhouse (it's one of my favorite places to be). Related Spaces from a fascination with historic architecture. No Penalty for Love, obviously, hockey. My newest out of my infatuation with Dr. Who and branching off into reading sci-fi (although it is NOT a sci-fi book). I think I need a new fad.
If you're in the Springfield area, be sure to swing by Borders this afternoon and pay me a visit. I promise by then I'll have something pithy to write in your book! In the meantime, keep your stick on the ice!
Last night's game against Lindenwood U was intense. The Ice Bears prevailed in overtime, though, and it was pretty! Tonight's game is the last home game until mid-December. Bummer! When they're back on home ice, though, I've been honored with an invitation to do a book signing at the December 12th game against KU. The people involved with the games and the team there at the Ice Park have been so terrific to promote No Penalty for Love during the games these two weekends. I nearly laugh every time they announce it. I'm really a shy person, so this kind of thing, while very welcome - and I am so grateful for their interest and kind attention - is hard for me. I'm just a fan cheering the home team. Go Bears!
Perhaps the upcoming holidays will spark some inspiration for writing. I've been suffering through too many false starts ever since I submitted my last manuscript. I need a new interest. It seems all of my manuscripts, novel and play, grow out of a passion for something. Usually it's something new I've become intersted in. Welcome to Joe's came out of spending so much time at Mudhouse (it's one of my favorite places to be). Related Spaces from a fascination with historic architecture. No Penalty for Love, obviously, hockey. My newest out of my infatuation with Dr. Who and branching off into reading sci-fi (although it is NOT a sci-fi book). I think I need a new fad.
If you're in the Springfield area, be sure to swing by Borders this afternoon and pay me a visit. I promise by then I'll have something pithy to write in your book! In the meantime, keep your stick on the ice!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
What a Launch!
Last night's launch party was perfect. It was everything I'd planned and more. Of course, when you start planning an event a year in advance, you have a better chance of it working out nicely.
We had the Club Room at Mediacom Ice Park. A gorgeous (and very delicious) cake that looked just like the cover of No Penalty for Love baked and decorated by Julie's Chewies. Flower arrangements to match the colors from the cover including a hockey stick decorated with flowers for the head table (thank you, Mom!). Most importantly, though, we had around 80 guests - friends from church, work, old friends, new friends, and lots of family.
The Missouri State Ice Bears won their game against Northern Illinois and about 50 of the 59 people who requested tickets for our event got to see their very first ice hockey game. I think we made a few new fans! The front row, mainly people from our church, began pounding on the glass by the second period! Others took ice skating vouchers and spent some time in the west rink under the disco ball.
There was only one surprise for me the whole evening and, though I'm a shy person and normally would have hated something like this, it turned out very well. The General Manager of the Ice Bears is Stan Melton. His wife, Cindy, was a substitute teacher in my high school classroom a few years ago and she noticed my Ice Bears memorabilia on the wall. She also did some long-term subbing across the hall from me, so we had lots of opportunities to talk hockey. Since then we've spoken at games. Last night she had me paged during the second period to come to the tunnel at center ice. I watched the second period from next to the penalty box and between the second and third periods went out to center ice (in slick shoes and praying not to fall) and was interviewed about No Penalty for Love. The announcer also mentioned my book and where it can be purchased three or four different times throughout the game. So, unexpected publicity!
At any rate, when you write your book I highly recommend doing a thematic launch party if you can. It was an experience I will always treasure. Thanks to Kelly for grabbing up my camera and taking so many great pictures for me (pictures to come soon); to my mother for the decorations; to Bruce for keeping me grounded and for being so protective of me so that there was nothing put a damper on the excitement; to Shawn for sneaking off to give them the initial announcement about my book and to Cindy for making me go out on the ice; to the Ice Bears for a well-played game and showing our guests how fun hockey is; to Trey and Megan and the others on staff at Mediacom Ice Park for the accommodations and all the attention; to the ladies at Julie's Chewies for working so hard to get the colors just right and for baking such a sinfully good cake, and to each of my guests for helping me celebrate!
Go Bears!
Shellie
Friday, October 9, 2009
On the Shelves
Suddenly things are moving fast. My official publication date is two weeks away. My launch party is November 7. I have a book signing scheduled at Borders on November 14. On Sunday the News-Leader will be running an article by Juliana Goodwin about local authors and she included me in the piece. Tonight I just made a trip to Barnes & Noble where I saw twenty or so copies of No Penalty for Love on the shelf for sale. My mind is officially blown. How many people get to actually realize a dream? I'm so blessed. As if this great autumn weather wasn't wonderful enough on its own - I get this, too.
Right now, though, it's Friday night. I have a loving, supportive husband in the other room and a little black dog begging for my attention. I'm going to just go love on them for a while, because of all the dreams I've had and all those I've been blessed enough to have realized - these are the most precious. Home and family.
Right now, though, it's Friday night. I have a loving, supportive husband in the other room and a little black dog begging for my attention. I'm going to just go love on them for a while, because of all the dreams I've had and all those I've been blessed enough to have realized - these are the most precious. Home and family.
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