I mentioned in my last post I’d have pictures of my trip. They’re up on my site, on the photos page. I meant to post more about it here but I’ve taken so long, and the pictures and their captions pretty much tell the story.

Whenever I go to a conference, I hope to go to one workshop or hear one keynote speech that makes it worth the cost of the conference fee. This time it was Creativity for Life, a workshop given by creativity coach Eric Maisel. I almost didn’t go, because I was generally sleepy, in need of caffeine, and lured by the social aspects of the bar. But my good friend Kay Stockham convinced me, and I’m so glad she did.

I could blather on about Maisel’s no-nonsense information but I’ll spare you my rendition of it. (He has lots of books on creativity…check them out at Amazon if you’re intrigued.) But one thing he said that stuck with me is that you have to go to bed the right way and get up the right way. Going to bed the right way is turning a story dilemma over in your mind, dropping all the day’s worries and, as he said, going to sleep wondering, instead of worrying. I’ve done this before…tried to ponder part of my current story as I drift off to sleep in hopes of finding the answer in my dreams or when I wake up. But I’d not tried the second part of the advice: Waking up right.

Maisel suggests writing first thing in the morning. Before the rest of life intrudes on your brain and gets the clutter and worrying about the day-to-day stuff started. This way, you’ll be able to remember and jot down the work your brain did while you were sleeping. (Your brain dreams during REM sleep, but in between REM, it thinks. Hopefully about the “problem” you were pondering as you went to sleep.)

So as of last week, I started getting up an hour early, before I have to get the kids up for school, and am waking up the Right way. I slide out of bed to the floor, literally, grab my notebook and pen, and I’ve been working on some character stuff. And you know what? My brain does, in fact, function that early in the morning. I’ve never been a morning person and still AM NOT but I find that if I don’t allow the life clutter (packing lunches, day job, messy house) intrude, I get a lot of work done in about 45 minutes.

And then, one of the other benefits of doing this, according to Maisel, is true. If I have a crummy, unproductive rest of the day, I can remind myself that I worked for a good hour already and have been productive. YAY!

So…here’s to new routines and morning writing. Wish me luck at continuing.

National was wonderful, overwhelming, tiring, energizing, motivating and more. I hope to post pics of the trip soon…as soon as I catch my breath.

The trip home was long but fun, at least for the first two days. My mom and I drove from San Diego to Kansas. The scenery through California, Arizona and New Mexico was beautiful. Texas panhandle, Oklahoma panhandle and most of Kansas was…not as interesting. Part of that’s because I’ve been through those areas many times.

We visited the Grand Canyon, shopped briefly in Old Town in Albuquerque, stopped at umpteen tiny, old gas stations for caffeine refills and got home safely, without a single argument. *g*

More later, including pics, I promise.

So I mentioned in my last post that when I was shopping, I met another shopper who made my day. Not because of anything she did for me, but more because of her attitude. She’s one of those rare people you come across who make you say immediately, “Wow. I LIKE her!” (I’m normally one who holds out judgment, good or bad, until I know more about a person…or a thing…etc. I don’t make quick assessments, for better or worse.)

I first noticed her when I was at the shoe clearance rack, looking at the boat-sized shoes, which, in spite of only being 5′4″, I happen to require. I heard this woman comment to another customer, “It’s embarrassing to admit how big my feet are,” as she zeroed in on, well, MY size. *g* I smiled and nodded my agreement. (However, I do need to point out here that this woman was several inches taller than me, so the size 9.5s would look much more appropriate on her.)

I stood up from grabbing a pair of shoes and thought I got in her way. I said, “I’m sorry, am I in your way?”

She said very matter-of-factly, and with just a hint of self-satisfaction, “No. I’m retired. No one’s in my way. I’m not in any hurry. I can shop all day if I want. I can shop every day if I want. I don’t have a watch, don’t know what time it is, don’t care. Don’t have an alarm clock at home.” Etc.

I laughed and told her I liked her attitude. And thought to myself, I strive to have that same take on life someday.

So I carry on with my shopping and picked up a killer pair of black sparkly heels, the RWA conference in mind. (I should maybe admit here that I wasn’t out shopping for shoes. But I had to walk by the section. And before I knew it, I was…shopping for shoes. Oops.)

I bent over and put one shoe on and held up my jeans for my 6yo son/fashion consultant to see. And I heard a gasp from the retired woman. Before I could turn to her she said, “Those are IT! Would you look at those shoes! Those are SEXY.” (Yes, she said this. My own mother would never say this to me but this very cool 70-something-year-old ally in the shoe department did.) She made a sound of approval that I can’t figure out how to spell, and then continued: “All you have to do is walk into the room, sit down and cross your leg [she demonstrated...without actually sitting down] and you’ll have all the men’s attention!”

I said to her, “SOLD! With that endorsement, how could I NOT buy them?” (What I didn’t mention to her was that I would probably be wearing these shoes to the Harlequin party, which consists of about 400 women and 3 men. *g*)

My husband overheard part of this exchange and as soon as we were out of the woman’s earshot, I told him, she rocks. She’s the kind of person who just makes you smile, someone you actually enjoy randomly running into.

Anyway, this woman totally called to mind a quote I love and now have to share:

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, “DAMN, what a ride!!”

The vacation pics are going to have to wait because the image thingey on my blog isn’t working right. I know, you’ve been waiting on the edge of your chair. Um, yeah.

So today I went shopping for some clothes for the Romance Writers of America national conference at the end of the month. If you’re not familiar with this strange phenomenon, it’s when about 2200 romance writers converge on a poor, unsuspecting hotel for a few days and network, take workshops, meet with agents and editors and catch up with writing friends we only see once a year. In other words, a very good time, and a strain on any respectable hotel’s bar.

There are several wardrobe challenges for a writer going to conference. The first is that the normal attire for days at conference is business-casual or business. If you know any writers, you understand that our usual work clothes consist of PJ bottoms and a tank in the summer, oversized sweatshirts, heavy sweats and fuzzy slippers in the winter, and on good days, we might dress up and don a pair of faded jeans.

This means, of course, a trip to the mall.

I have a decent business-casual, maybe even a little businessish, wardrobe. A few pairs of pants not made of denim, some nice finely knit sweaters, several jackets and dressier shoes. However, when one’s butt grows, one’s wardrobe doesn’t work as well. I’ve gained 8 pounds since last summer’s conference and the pants are not happy.

Also, there are parties all week. Publisher parties, reader parties, RWA chapter parties…believe it or not, romance writers like to have parties. The Harlequin party is the biggest and best party, in my humble, inexperienced opinion. It includes a DJ and free-flowing drinks, a dance floor that is always full, and tons of very cool authors. (Nora Roberts usually makes an appearance, if you were curious about the coolest. *g*)

The Harlequin party is one place to get decked out in party dresses or gowns. The other place for dressing to the nines (cliche alert…hope no editors are reading) is the Saturday night RITA ceremony, which is the romance industry’s equivalent to the Oscar.

So today, I piled the family in the car and took them with me to SHOP. (I need the hubby with me because he is my objective fashion advisor. He’s pretty good at it too.)

I bought: a dress for the Harlequin party (special note: this year’s dress is Not Black!!! A huge feat for me!), a dress for the RITA ceremony (this is black. And purdy.) Some new shoes…clearance rack find on some “sexy” shoes (next blog column will be about the fantabulous fellow customer who made my shopping trip complete) that will go with the black dress, some dressy capris for the day, a shirt to match (it’s PURPLE. I’m telling you, I’m going wild this year.) and a very unnecessary World Wildlife Fund t-shirt with pandas on it…not for the conference, mind you.

And the best part?

Major. Sale.

Not sure if I have enough that will fit over me arse yet but I’ve got a good start. WOOT!

Anyone else been clothes shopping lately? (I hadn’t. For eons.) What’d you buy? Get any bargains? And if you’re going to the conference in San Francisco, what are you wearing for RITA night and/or the Harlequin party?

Party on party people.

I’ve been back for a week but have been playing catch up in every aspect of life. Our trip to Door County, Wisconsin was wonderful and I’ll post more about it this week. First topic up, though, is vacation reading.

I read two particularly awesome books during our trip. First, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a young adult book but one that’s generated a lot of buzz among adults and teens alike. With good reason.

The first half of the book kept me in suspense and totally intrigued waiting for the heroine to find out the hero is a vampire. You know she is from the back of the book, but the poor heroine takes a while to figure out why her high school crush in her new town is pale, cold to the touch, perfectly beautifully handsome and absent from school a lot. Also why he tells her he’s a danger to her. So she finally finds out, which was very well done and believable. (For a vampire story. Disbelief suspended. :))

The second half picks up in speed and is full of action when the heroine’s life becomes endangered. I won’t post any spoilers here but the character development, humans and vampires alike, is wonderful, including the family ties of both, as well as the usual friend relationships expected in a YA story. The end? Powerful and yet gentle. I’m sure that doesn’t make sense if you haven’t read it, so go read it!

Second AWESOME book I read is Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione. If you’re already tired of me gushing then read no further.

Yes, Larissa is a good friend of mine. We blog together on Writeminded and I can’t wait to hang out with her at the RWA National Conference in a couple weeks. But ignore all that, because even if I didn’t know Larissa I would rave about her book. I was blown away by the wit, the storyline, and especially the world and the characters.

The book is centered around Underworld General Hospital, which treats demons. The hero is the founder and a doctor at the hospital. The heroine is a demon slayer. See room for conflict between the two? There are some very Buffy-ish roots in some of the ideas, yet Larissa’s world is entirely her own. (I’m thinking her head is a scary place. *g*)

There’s a new twist everytime you blink, some wonderful surprises, and I should probably mention the sex. Very hot book, but not once did I think, ugh, are they going at it AGAIN? The relationship between hero and heroine is so realistic and the sex is such an integral part of the story, it was a perfect mix.

If paranormal’s your thing, definitely pick up Pleasure Unbound. My husband, who mostly reads science fiction and fantasy, grabbed it from me the minute I finished it and devoured it in a day. He loved it too.

Now I’m reading Jim Butcher’s first book in the Harry Dresden series. Liking it so far. And yes, I’m in a bit of a paranormal binge, which is uncharacteristic for me.

What about you? What have you read lately that you have to rave about?