Changes

No, this isn't a blog about the election (And how many people did you have calling your house today to vote? We stopped counting at 16). It's about changes and the things we want to change and the changes that are thrust upon us.

Too often we are complacent in our lives and not wanting to risk anything that might upset the status quo. But I believe, and I always have, that most change is good. It helps you grow, it helps you learn, it helps you live. Change can be painful, but in most changes bring positive energy into your life. At least they have in mine.

I've been meditating why lately I've been afraid to take those risks that bring change. Goodness knows, I would enjoy a change in my life right now (and no, I'm not talking about changing husbands or children for that matter). And I guess I've had change--my daughters are off at college, but that really was just a natural extension of events--but I'm looking for some sort of personal change. I have set some wheels in motion, so now I an actively pursueing a change. I'm certainly ready for a change in the writing career.

So, Universe, are you listening? I'm ready for a change.
--Gabi

--Books I'm reading now:
Men in Kilts by Katie MacAlister
The Undead Next Door by Kerilyn Sparks

Red River again

It's that time of year again. To leave the the city and head for the mountains of New Mexico and Red River. Our annual writers' retreat (our non-conference) happens this weekend, and I am looking forward to it. And the ducks. Gotta love the ducks.

Watch this space for a rejuvenated me after I return.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn
The Warrior by Kinley McGregor
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

A Pet Peeve

As many of you know, I speak three languages. One of my biggest pet peeves is when authors or movies or TV shows speak in a language I know and the language is wrong. Case in point: Chicago (the film of the musical). Not until the second viewing did I realize that the one innocent woman on death row (who gets hanged) is supposed to be speaking Hungarian. The accent was atrocious, the intonation abysmal, and the words barely understandable. My mother, who is native born Hungarian, didn't believe me when I told her they speak Hungarian in the movie. I showed her the scene and she didn't understand a word. Keep in mind that my mother still reads books in Hungarian and most of her friends are Hungarian and she speaks Hungarian every day.
If the producers spent that much money making a movie, the least they could have done is hire someone who speaks the language and fix it!

The same thing happened in a book I read recently. The story takes place in Germany (Prussia, which in the story is right next to the Black Forest!). The German was wrong from the start. None of the nouns were capitalized, and the word endings were wrong in spots. But my first real guffaw came when the hero called the heroine "messe," and she said in English something like, "Yes, I am messy. Just look at me." And the hero said, "No, I mean messe. Messe means fair in German. " Well, it does...only it means a fair like a state fair or a convention. It's a noun, not an adjective.

It got better (or worse; opinions may vary). During a love scene, the hero is kissing her and using German words like Liebchen (which is fine, except it wasn't capitalized), and messe (Again, and it wasn't capitalized as nouns are in German), but the worst was when he used the word Leiche (not capitalized). The author must have used a German/English dictionary to find the word body. Leiche is body...only it means dead body or corpse. Good thing I wasn't drinking milk at the time. Would have had fountains from my nose.

I have written a novel with Spanish in it, and I freely admit that I don't speak Spanish, but I had three different native speakers translate and check it for me. It isn't that hard to find native speakers of a language. This author should have found one.

And now, back to work.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart
Never Romance a Rake by Liz Carlyle

Short stories

We have just finished our short story unit at school (you do know I'm a teacher by day, right?), and my students had to write their own short story for class. I gave them prompts, but they also had the option of writing something of their own. For the second year, I joined them in the writing. I have great respect for short story writers. It isn't an easy task. To write a truly great short story requires discipline and talent. A short story has to pack so much into just a few pages. Mine have turned out to be three and five pages respectively. Like my romances, they spring into my head almost fully formed.

The odd thing is that unlike my romances, which I hope have humor and wit and lightness, my short stories turn out rather twisted and dark. Hmmm. I wonder what that says about me.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
The Daughters Grimm by Minda Webber
Where's My Hero Anthology by Lisa Kleypass, Julia Quinn, and Kinley McGregor

The Political Beast

The U.S. is getting close to an election that I believe will be very important. I've tried to stay away from politics on this blog because I believe that my blog was just for getting to know me and my writing and other sundry things, but I'm almost to the point of letting loose here.

Normally I love to argue politics with family and friends, but I get highly passionate and incensed when I do so. Although I may seem upset, I have never felt any less toward anyone who argues against me or disagrees with my views. I may laugh at them to myself afterwards, but I've never lost a friendship over politics. I also prefer to argue in person with people that I'm comfortable with, not put myself out there for the world to see. I do that enough with my books.

But politics is ugly. Always has been, always will be. I don't like ugliness (I'm not talking about appearances here). And now it's become divisive. I can't believe some people think the way they do. Actually I believe they aren't thinking because if they did they wouldn't vote they way they plan to.

So although I hold strong opinions about this upcoming election, I'm keeping them to myself. I won't change anyone's mind who doesn't think like me, and if they already think like me, Why argue? But I do plan to vote.

I just can't believe this election is at all close and considered a legitimate and valid electoral race.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

Empty Nest?

With two kids off to college this years (twins, doncha know, so I lost two at once), you'd think I was suffering from empty nest syndrome. Nope.

Don't get me wrong. I miss them, and I think they don't call or email me often enough, but it's not that I miss them. I just want to hear their news. Their lives have to be more exciting right now than mine. I just go to work and come home. They are off in new parts of the country, learning new things, meeting new people. I want to hear the excitement in their voices. And no, I'm not living my life through them.

But I don't think I'm suffering from empty nest syndrome. I already moved my remaining daughter into one of her sisters' room, painted the walls, took over her room as an office, painted those walls, and I'm loving having my own space for writing. In fact I'm thinking of having my twins share a room when they come home so I can keep the office to myself. I love having my own place to work and write. I have an extra table in their for when I work on hard copy, I have my own computer (not this one) just for writing, and my floor to ceiling bookshelves that still have space to hold more! It's quite lovely.

Nope. No empty nest. I have my own life.
But I do wish they would call more often.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Emergency Doctor's Chosen Wife by Molly Evans

Reading...and painting

No, not that kind of painting. Painting rooms. I spent the weekend repainting one entire room and one wall of my daughter's new room. Since her two sisters are away at college, she moved into her older sister's bigger room, and I moved into her old room. Not exactly. I converted it into my office. And that required paint to change the bright pink walls into a soothing green. My daughter's room now sports an island, the ocean and the bright blue sky. Very creative, if I do say so myself. Latent talent there.

But after two days of painting, I can't move without pain, so no way I'm taking this up as a career switch.

And, yes, I know: you're not supposed to change or get rid of your college bound child's room. They need to come home to it to feel still loved, but we warned the twins, and in our case it wasn't one unused room, but two, so they'll just have to lump it.

I am so heartless.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (makes you love books all the more)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey

Happy Birthday...

Ray Bradbury. I teach a couple of his stories at school and one of his novels. They are spectacularily written, so I thought I'd take this moment and wish him many happy returns.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:

Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey
The Governess wears Scarlet by Sari Robbins

The Olympics...

OK, I've been slow, I admit, but I've got an excuse (that's all it is--an excuse. Doesn't mean I shouldn't have blogged, because I should have, but it's an excuse). First, I had another birthday between the last blog and now, but the biggie is that I'm back at school. Yup, I'm back at the day job, and that's my excuse. And now, well, now there's the OLYMPICS--

All caps. That's right. I'm a fan. A huge fan. I don't follow sports normally. I don't care for basketball, although I've been to a few Lobos games with my husband, who gets season tickets, don't really care for MLB, although if I have to pick my team is the Padres, and I watch the Superbowl for the commercials. But the Olympics were always huge when I was growing up. My father would watch everything he possibly could and would make us watch with him. And I mean everything. I am glued to the TV when kayaking comes on, and yesterday's women's sabre event was thrilling. I wish they would show more of the obscure events. I will watch the entire length of the bike races, the marathon, anything. During the opening ceremonies, I cried. Several times. (I also have to suppress my own feelings of inadequacy--what the heck have I achieved) And I root for the underdog and the stars.

I love the Olympics for everything it's supposed to stand for, for the dreams of the individuals, and, yes, even for the patriotism that it inspires. (Although I have to warn you that the Hungarians receive as loud cheers as the Americans--despite their hideous outfits.)

Probably the biggest part of the Olympics for me though is that it is a sort of memorial to my father. He died nearly twenty years ago, and for me and my family, watching the Olympics is a tribute to him. It's when I do my best remembering of him. And I cry. And it's a good thing.

It looks like I've passed on the love of the Olympics to the next generation as well. The kids are glued to the TV with me. So I'm off to watch the Olympics now.

I hope you can make such memories with your families.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett
By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey
Bedding the Heiress by Cathy Maxwell
Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros

Time is running out...

You all know I'm a teacher by day and romance writer by night (hey, The Dark Knight has just come out, and no, I haven't seen it yet). Which means that my summer vacation is almost over. I'm already feeling the pain. I have to report back on August 6. That's right, August 6. Mind you, I"m looking forward to having new students, and as usually, sap that I am (see previous post), hope is growing that I will actually reach many kids this year, but it means that I have to divide my time again. I so enjoyed being a writer and only a writer this summer. The thing is, if I didn't know how great the writing thing is, I would have made a very contented and dedicated teacher. I do like it.

So I have two and a half weeks to finish revisions. I'm not going to the RWA national conference this year (for the first time since 1997), and I have to start thinking about my curriculum. Sigh.

--Gabi
Books I'm reading now:
Bedding the Heiress by Cathy Maxwell
Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz

Sap

I admit it. I'm a sap. I just came home from the movie WALL-E, and I have to say I loved it. It's disturbing on many levels--the environment, the proliferation of communication devices and personal entertainment--but so amazingly good. I believe it's the best Pixar movie yet (Yes, better than FINDING NEMO, which I loved--who didn't?--or Toy Story.)But that's not why I'm a sap. I'm a sap, because I cried. Yes, cried. At a robot (ROBOT--really, a robot). And an animated robot at that.

You want to talk hero's journey? Wall-e is a hero. You want romance? Wall-e and Eve. You want adventure? Well, I don't want to give away the movie, so I won't say more. I will say you will fall in love with Wall-e--an animated robot (Yes, a ROBOT!)

I cried.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner
To Light a Candle by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
When Darkness Falls by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Finished

The WIP(work in progress)is finished. One of the best parts of being a writer is typing "the end." Now I'm giving myself a week before starting revisions, but I love revising. The book needs fleshing out and reduction in some areas and reworking in others. I have to make sure the details are right, the logic isn't ignored, and that it reads well.

There's something so satisfying about finishing a novel. I mean the writing aspect. Yes, finishing one that you've read can be satisfactory as well, but the sense of accomplishment after writing is a magical feeling. You've really done something. Whether or not it ever gets published. You've written a book.

So I'm off now to revising. And believe it or not, I've already started a new novel. I have only three pages, but it's a start.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
In Defense of Elitism by William A Henry
The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Things that Go Bump in the Night

No, I'm not talking about ghosts. I'm talking about real night terrors. For the past two nights, I've had nightmares. Two different ones each night for a total of four different nightmares that wake me up from a good sleep. And I remember waking up from one about three days ago as well, but I don't remember the details.

They all have different story lines (if dreams can have story lines) and they aren't hard to interpret. One had to do with driving my twins off to work beside a swollen river (the tragic flooding in the Midwest) and then a tsunami wipes out their place of employment. (Yes, I know river don't have tsunamis, but it's a dream--cut me some slack.) You don't have to be Freud to figure out I'm beginning to have issues with letting them go to college where I won't have control over their every day lives (not that I do now-- I don't know whom my subconscious thinks she's fooling). The other four were as bizarre or more so, but I don't need to go into details about them. They make about as much sense as, well, dreams.

In any case, I'm having nightmares, and believe it or not, I'm actually happy about it. Why? I read a study in which the authors said adults tend to have nightmares once a month if that. I've always had nightmares at least once a week. Except this past year. For whatever reason, I haven't had any. Maybe because I wasn't sleeping too well, but I think because my creativity shut down while I was teaching. Yes, you have to be creative to be a teacher, but not with the creativity I use in being a writer. And now the nightmares are back, and I am flying with the writing. I am having such fun finishing up this WIP.

So I'm taking my nightmares as a good thing.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
My Favorite Thief by Karyn Monk
The Price of Indescrestion by Cathy Maxwell
In Defense of Elitism by William A Henry
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

Ack!!

I didn't mean to have such a break between blogs. I try to get one up a week (OK, every week and a half), but May came and went (like a hurricane) with end of school, husband's birthday, twins' birthday, twins' graduation, mother visit, Father-in-law-visit, ARC re-read, and I fell ill.

But no excuses. It's summertime and I am a writer again. Almost done with the WIP, ready and eager to start revisions, and the next book in the queue (in my head) is stomping to get out as well.

What a difference a few weeks makes. My mind set is completely uncluttered (except for plots) and my creativity has returned. I guess not having essays to correct DOES make a difference.
So I'm off to the writing computer again. I will be better blogging this summer.

Books I'm reading now (and have read these past few weeks)
You've got Male by Elizabeth Bevarly
Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
The Lost Wyndham Duke by Julia Quinn
Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
The Hollow by Nora Roberts
The River Knows by Amanda Quick
Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey
Twisted Creek by Jodi Thomas
(I probably missed a couple)

Back to work/school

My daughters have senioritis, my students think they're in high school already, and I...well, I resent that I'm still playing "catch up" from my week's absence. I have all these creative needs that aren't being met because I have papers to grade.Sigh.

The first week back went well, although by Friday I was wiped out. And because I've been favoring one side over the other, my knee gave out yesterday, so I'm in pain again.
OK, this blog was not meant to be a whine session (although wine seems to help --LOL). I'm looking to see what promotion I want to do with my September release, and still trying to find time to finish up the WIP. But there's only 28 days of school left and then I can be a full time writer again. For a while.

And I'm excited about getting back in the game full time.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
Bewitching by Jill Barnett
And lately I've gotten hooked on The Office (I know that's TV, but hey, this is my blog)
And I'll be buying Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. For whatever reason, his name has appeared in my life daily since last week Saturday. It's a sign. LOL

News from the world of drugs

Just kidding. But I do have to tell you that Percocet takes the edge right off that pain. I can't imagine wanting to feel this way if I wasn't in pain (I don't get the whole recreational drug thing), but it sure is nice to have something that works to make me feel better. Even if I can't write when my head is swimming.

My new book cover is up at my web site. Go take a peek (www.gabianderson.com).

My surgery went well, I'm recuperating at home, and trying to get some reading and writing done. It's still a little hard (see above paragraph) but I have one more week to recover before I have to go back to work.

Meanwhile I've decided that I really want to focus on the writing. I have two books waiting to come out that need to wait their turns until I finish the current WIP. I love feeling the creativity return to my life.

A big congrats to all the GH and RITA finalists this year. (see the RWA website if you are unfamiliar with these two contests.)

--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
Fancy Pants by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander
Once Smitten, Twice Shy by Lori Wilde

Posting

I've been pretty good lately, posting something here about every week, and then, WHAM! something happens and all my good intentions fly out the window and I don't get to posting. So I'm giving you all (what? all three people who read my blog) heads up that I won't be posting regularly for about a month. I have health issues in addition to the work issues, so please check back next month when I plan to be really good again.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Give me a Texan Anthology
I'm looking for some good reads to get me through the next few weeks--any suggestions?

The Romance Community

I have to say that the romance writer community is one of the best places to feel loved (no pun intended). These authors are so giving, so caring, so willing to share of themselves that any author should feel priveleged to write romance. Authors come to give talks and they embrace their fellow authors as if they were long lost friends. Yes, they do come to sell books and promote themselves, but that doesn't diminish the true grace and gentility they display. I have spent many a day with a author whom I have never met before and always felt as if I were sharing stories with a friend.

Today in my local paper, the books section (a page, not really a section) threw in a gratuitious blurb on Romance for Valentine's Day (because, of course, Romance doesn't exist the rest of the year and it's also not the bigest share of the mass market fiction market--sarcasm, if you couldn't tell). The headline reads "Romance! Passion! Lust!" (not so bad really), then the subtitle reads "Who wrote the book of love? For a mere six bucks you can set hearts aflame and get those bodices ripping". How long will it take for the media to understand that "bodice-ripper "is a term most romance authors find offensive, demeaning, and belittling? I give credit to the article for maintaing a neutral tone, but really out of the three romance novel examples the author gives, one is twenty years old, and the second is twelve years old. At least the third one is a recent publication. And no mention of Nora Roberts. Nor a mention that of the top ten bestselling authors on the fiction list printed that week (And I don't know if our paper reprints the NYT or if they have another source, but the list only covers hardcover books), two are known romance authors.

I think I'm just too sensitive because, really, nothing negative is said in the article. I guess I just want more. So much positive exists in the romance community that I want to celebrate it and extoll it to the world instead of relgating it to a mere Valentine's Day burb.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Crimes against Logic by Jamie Whyte
Give me a Texan by Jodi Thomas, Linda L Broday, DeWanna Pace, Phyliss Miranda
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Yup, it's that time of year again--teaching it to my eighth graders)

Winter blahs

For two weeks I've been battling the blues. Oh, not the serious blues, but the I've-got-no-talent-who-am-I- fooling blues.Sometimes, when life takes up so much of your time and you can't pursue your dreams, it's hard to keep the faith. And if doesn't help when you find people are advising things like Confucius's saying "Jump and the net will appear." That's all well and good when you don't have many responsibilitites, but if I were to quit my job and really pursue writing full time, who the heck would pay the tuition bills coming up next year when the girls hit college? I've been published. I know what those initial advances and royalties pay, and my kids can't go to college on those paychecks.

So until I can leave work and pursue the dream full time, the dream suffers because my soul is being sucked out of me by the demands of the job. It's a vicious ciricle.

And it's been COLD!

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Crimes Against Logic by Jamie Whyte
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gillman
Seven books and/or novellas for the RITA contest sponsered by RWA (not releasing the titles of those)

Reading, reading, and more reading

I have been indulging all week. I have been reading and enjoying my time reading. School has started up again, and next week I have papers to correct, but in the meantime I've been coming home and reading. I didn't have much of a chance to read over the break because, for whatever reason, my mother doesn't like to see me reading--even though it was MY vacation. So I've been making up for it since we returned home. How lovely to read. Just read.
Oh yes, and WRITE. I've been writing too.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Th Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
World Without End by Ken Follett
The Husband Trap by Tracy Anne Warren

Happy New Year

Resolutions? Not for me. I don't do the whole "this year I will..." thing. Either I do something or I don't. Time of year doesn't matter. Besides, if you think about it, this whole "new"year thing is pretty arbitrary anyway. The new year used to start in March (Thus the discrepancy in George Washington's age you sometimes find). If you teach, you're only in the middle of the year. And it's winter. How can anyone start anything in winter? (Being facetious here--I know there are people out there who like winter...strange people)

But in the spirit of the season and the need to write new numbers on my checks, Happy New Year to you all. May your year be filled with joy, luck, love, and riches. For me, a new book contract will do.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie (a re-read)
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (not because it's an Oprah pick--this is a re-read before I buy the sequel. Of course I had forgotten how much I loved this book.)
The Husband Trap by Tracy Anne Warren

Merry, Merry

Brief post this time. I just want to wish you all a happy whatever. That may read cynical, but I truly mean it. I don't care what you may or may not celebrate, I wish you the happiness you deserve, the prosperity that keeps you well, and the joy that you can find in pursuing your dreams.

Don't forget to write 2008 on your checks soon.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd
(And I've received a couple of gift certificates to book stores that I can hardly wait to use)

Comfort and Joy

Today I am facing grading twenty-two more tests that my charming eighth graders have taken on the wonderful novel Dandelion Wine. Of course, they didn't find it wonderful, despite the life affirming message of the book. They resented having been made to think while reading, or at least think after reading. But enough about the test. It's the grading I'm facing, and frankly I'm trying to put it off.

So I was thinking about taking a nice long bubble bath with book in hand, drink at my side, and snacks. One of my favorite guilty pleasures. Or I could just curl up under a down comforter (45 degrees here today) and read a book. Or perhaps make a cup of cocoa and sit at the table and read a book.

I believe you're getting the sense of where I'm going with this. My favorite way to escape reality is to read. Granted some books are better than others, and since becoming a writer, oh, sixteen years ago, I've become a jaded bibliophile, but when a book works, it works well.

So on that note, take some time for yourself, find your own guilty pleasure and indulge. I'm a firm believer in making yourself feel good.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Tangled up in You by Rachel Gibson
Santa Baby by Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster, and Carly Phillips
The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (yes, again)
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Fear, Worry, Panic and Other Beasts

I'm one of those individuals who obsess on things one really shouldn't. For example, a student from my school was walking home with her little brother as I was driving (No, I was NOT speeding and I was watching the kids who were walking home.). Just as I pulled up even with them, she grabbed her brother and did that pretend shove into the street gag, which I just love so much. I immediately stopped the car (what if he had slipped out of her hands, what if he had tripped?), and being in teacher mode, I opened the window, identified myself as one of the teachers at her school (she isn't one of my students) and told her of my disapproval of her actions. Turns out her mother was watching her children walk home. Mom got in her car, followed me home and proceeded to berate me for stopping to talk to her daughter. I told her that her daughter shouldn't scare drivers with a stunt like the one she pulled. In any case, the woman drove home, I went into my house and obsessed about the incident all day.

This is why I don't break rules. I can't handle the consequences. I don't want to deal with them, they make me uncomfortable, I obsess about them.

This got me thinking about fear and worry, which I do a lot of as well. I don't want to, but it's part of who I am. It's part of why I don't enjoy teaching. Too many students have parents who blame the teacher rather their own child's performance. I don't deal well with confrontation, even when I'm in the right.

So I try to live my life with as little chance of confrontation as possible. That's my real fear. That and worrying about my daughters when they drive. Or when they're out. Or when my husband is a little late. Or even waiting for medical test results, although I'm quite fine.

There's a reason I can write fiction. My brain is always coming up with the worst case scenario and rewriting reality.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypass

Family

Well, it's that time of year again. Family is coming to town. Mind you, I'm excited to see them, but it also means that I won't have a day to myself this week to write or simply do nothing. That's a little harsh. My sister would of course give me the time with encouragement no less. My mother on the other hand doesn't believe that I'm doing anything productive pursuing this writing career of mine and so will call me to fold laundry (!) rather than let me create. This is the woman who said, "When are you going to give up this silly thing of writing?" and "Why don't you write a real book?" and "I never understood you."

Family. You gotta love 'em. OK, you don't, but I love them anyway. At times.
--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Raintree: Sanctuary by Beverly Barton

Obsession

No, not the perfume. Have you ever found yourself consuming everything about a certain subject in a short period of time? Like reading a ton of J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) at once? Or cooking something once a week for a month (when one cooks)? Or having to have a certain candy bar for a while? I'm going through one such phase right now. Only I'm doing it with two things. First, I've discovered the CONNECTIONS series. I've watched several of the original (from 1979), a few of the second series (1994) and a couple of the third (1997). Fascinating stuff and James Burke is rather funny. I'm totally buying into his view that history (of science, of literature, of religion, etc.) isn't linear at all, but that all these connections exist. So every week, I'm going to the library to check out as many of the DVD's as they have and enjoying them. Because to buy the original series alone is $149.99 and my dollar is devalued enough, thank you very much.
My second second obsession can hardly be called that because there are only three items to glom. I needed reading material (I've been physically down this week with little energy to do anything but read) and my husband bought me Dean Koontz's BROTHER ODD. So Now I'm reading the first in the series, ODD THOMAS, and I will most likely get the second one this week as well, when I go to return my latest CONNECTIONS DVD's.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now (if you didn't get them from my post above)
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Direct Proportions

I've noticed a direct correlation to the amount of writing work I get done to the amount of work I assign my students. After you read my discovery, you'll probably roll your eyes (if you could), and wonder why I consider myself even remotely intelligent. It's a real "Duh" moment. Let's just say I knew, but I never really thought about it much before.

So the observation is this: the bigger the assignment I have to correct, the less work I get done on my writing. (I told you--"Duh.") I have twenty-one more essays to correct by Monday, and I don't see myself getting to the chapter I wanted to have finished by Wednesday. Day jobs bleed your creative time, and teaching is worst than most. I also haven't read, haven't cooked, gone shopping, or any other useful thing. OK, let's face it. I'm a slug.

So onto the corrections and the shopping (we do need milk). I'm hoping I can get something productive done this week.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Late Night Talking by Leslie Schnur (finished, and that's all)

Red River

I've just returned from a wonderful non-conference weekend at Red River, NM. For about the past eight years, a groups of writers including myself have gotten together every October to meet, talk, discuss and support each other. We don't have scheduled talks, although one can give one if one wishes, we can bring up any topic we wish, writing related, and we just spend time with other writers. No meals except the ones you plan for yourself, no fees except the lodging, which you arrange yourself, no committees, no key speakers, no signings, no fuss, except those you create yourself.

Ahh, the joys of being a writer.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Rivals for the Crown by Kathleen Givens
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Moon Women by Pamela Duncan

And All is Well...

Today was the second day of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and the morning was cold, but cloud free. Most of the balloons took off, and I saw the totally awesome Darth Vader Balloon, an amazing sight. It was probably also the last time I will enjoy the Balloon Fiesta with all of my daughters. The oldest two are off to college next year, so they won't be home for next year's fiesta. Am I sad? In a way, but all is right with the world (I'm just speaking of my own little world, not the entire global situation--I mean, really. Who could call THAT right?) They are where they should be: growing up, going away, finding their own lives. So I'm good with this being the last Balloon Fiesta with the entire family. Who knows? Maybe the next time we are all together to see it, there will be more of us (No, I'm not pregnant--I'm speaking of husbands and grandchildren--but not for several years yet).

And I got an awesome amount of writing done today.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush
A Kiss in Winter by Susan Crandall
Heart's Delight by Ruth Ryan Langan

Brain Games

One of the things I love to do when I have time is solve puzzles. I love them all--logic, crossword, acrostic, sudoku, jigsaw--almost everything except word search. Those I find stupid. So when one of my students (Hi, Connor) gave me a puzzle to do the first or second week of school, I was thrilled. I hadn't seen it before, so I was determined to solve it. No, I didn't google it (because that's what my husband did and found it at once), but I looked at it, and when I had a few moments here and there, I tried to solve it. So about five or six weeks later, I was lying in bed, about to fall asleep when suddenly I went, "Ah ha." I didn't even have the puzzle in front of me, but the answer clicked into place. Sure enough, the next morning when I went to check the puzzle to see if my answer made sense, I had solved it. What amazed me was how the subconscious mind will continue to work on a problem even when you don't think it's working. This happens a lot in plotting. In fact, I just solved a plot problem the other day using the same method.

So I thought I'd share the puzzle with you.

Determine the next number in this sequence:
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
1113213211
31131211131221
13211311123113112211
???

Keep reading,
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:

Must Love Dragons by Stephanie Rowe
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Love Me, Love Me Hot by Stephanie Rowe

Movies, Part Deux

On the other hand, there is something to be said for watching truly bad movies. You can have a lot of fun watching hideously bad films. Look at Rocky Horror Picture Show. Horrible movie. So bad audiences started to make up movements and actions to correspond with the film, and now it's a classic (No offense to the actors--Susan Sarandon is an amazing actor, I've always liked Barry Bostwick, and I believe Tim Curry is one of the greatest underrated actors of all time. I'll watch anything with him in it--even his voice.) My daughters and I have watched a few movies that fall in this category; Deep Rising is the title that comes foremost to mind. We laughed at and mocked the screenplay until it has become one of our best family memories. (Coincidentally it stars yet another of my favorite actors, Treat Williams) Camp can be a good thing.

So here's how to watch a bad movie:
Never watch it alone. Have a group to "suffer" with you.
Have plenty of snacks.
Talking is definitely allowed.
Try to predict lines (this is fun).
Try to predict deaths (again, fun although some might call this morbid).
Try to predict the plot (Usually easy to do).
Repeat truly bad lines and act out scenes.
Rewrite as the movie plays out.
Laugh at inappropriate moments.
Scream and moan (I did this at the dialogue of Titanic. I know it's one of the most successful films ever, but I just didn't like it).
Critique as you go.
And if you get bored, turn it off. Life is too short to waste your time on a bad movie if it ceases to be fun.

And just for fun: Did you know Plan Nine from Outer Space has been rated the worst movie ever made? Bela Lugosi died during the making of it, so they have a body double playing the vampire for half of the film, his cape hiding his face in every scene. It's directed by Ed Wood, subject of a movie starring Johnny Depp. Actually Ed Wood is a pretty good movie.

Books I'm reading now:
A Family Practice by Gayle Kasper
A Lady's Pleasure by Renee Bernard
Date Me Baby, One More Time by Stephanie Rowe (who was so kind to me at the RWA National Conference in Dallas this summer. And I'm liking her book too.)

Movies

My husband and I have been members of Netflicks for a couple of years now. Our goal in joining was to show our children classic movies that are part of cultural literacy--in a way to expand their education into an area where school won't go. I know, I know; movies are hardly high culture, nor do they often provide true education, but, like literature, they do deal with universal themes and ideas. I truly believe the study of literature isn't for the examination of good writing but for the examination of the universal ideas. The arts help society deal with the changes and new ideas that bombard society, especially today with the advancements in technology and science. How can we expect people to accept stem cell research if they don't understand it? How can we as a society come to an ethical decision about cloning if we've never thought about it?Literature and stories (and the other art forms as well) can help society deal with all kinds of new ideas. OK, lofty thoughts, but you get what I'm driving at.

So back to movies. I believe that there are movies, the classics, that we should be showing children, although I firmly believe they shouldn't be taught at school--not for content reasons, but because we have to teach enough mandatory garbage there's hardly enough time for the core subjects. This generation should be exposed to movies like Casablanca, All About Eve, The Women, It Happened One Night, Duck Soup, The Heiress, etc. Some are heavier than others. I believe everyone should see Citizen Kane once, even if it does put some viewers to sleep. Let's not ignore silent films. People should know story tellers like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, etc. I know a lot of these names are the actors, not the writers, but they are the ones remembered.

So why this topic? Last night I watched Sunset Boulevard. I had never seen it before (yes, there are gaps in my education). It's creepy in a non horror movie way, the story is fascinating, and the humor in it is often disturbing. What a great film. I'm glad I watched it, and I'm glad my daughter saw it with me. And the theme is so interesting. It's all about selling out and compromising yourself for your dreams. Where are your limits? What would you do to be successful? And how much delusion can one person take in one's life? All interesting thoughts.

Go read a book, but watch a movie too.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen
A Family Practice by Gayle Kasper
Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (Yup. My daughter and I finished Prisoner of Azkaban, and now we're reading Goblet out loud.)

Time and the Use Thereof

One of the worst things about wanting to write and having a day job is, of course, the day job itself and the time it takes out of one's day. But the truth is that if one wants something badly enough, one will make the time for it. It's an ugly truth because no one wants to hear that we are responsible for the things we do or do not accomplish. We want things to fall magically in our laps with little effort and have a big pay off for our little effort. I read an interesting article in today's Albuquerque Journal--an interview of the guy who stars in Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel. His theory is that somehow the American Puritan ethic-- hard work, discipline, duty, thrift, etc--has been replaced with the phrase "Work smart, not work hard." My students subscribe to this belief. They believe that they deserve good grades just because they show up. But I've seen the joy and satisfaction they have in themselves when they have worked hard and they earn that "A".

Anything worth having is worth working for. It would be nice if writing were easier, but then anybody could do it. And if I don't produce as much as I should, I have no one but myself to blame. Establish priorities, make goals, and work. It's simple, yet not simple.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Dead Shot by Annie Solomon
Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews

Confidence...

It's funny how shaky a thing like confidence is. I know grammar. I mean I really know grammar, yet doing some line edits, I am always questioning myself. The slightest remark can send my confidence spiraling. I know I shouldn't give others such power over me, but the thing is they don't know. My favorite motto is "Fake it, til you make it." When I tell people that I'm shy and have little confidence, they snort and tell me they don't believe it. That's because I ACT like I have so much confidence. It really doesn't hurt to act confident, and the surprising thing is that often the confidence will follow.
So I'm at this point where I'm questioning my abilities, which is dumb because I really do know what I am doing, but the confidence is slipping away.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Last Night at the Halfmoon by Kate Austin
McKettrick's Luck by Linda Lael Miller

It's ALIVE...

The thing about characters is that they take on a life of their own. My secondary characters start becoming more and more powerful and pretty soon I am enjoying writing their stories almost more than my hero and heroine's. I have in fact kicked a character off the island--literally; it was my pirate book--because she was taking over the novel. Right now I have created five characters who are so much fun to write, I look forward to my time in front of the screen. But more than that, they talk to me. I see them. I hear their accents, I listen to their speeches, I feel their emotions. With my hero and heroine I sometimes struggle through their story because I have to make it so much richer and deeper, since the story is theirs, but I can just do my secondary characters (if you know what I mean).

Which goes to show just how shallow and superficial I am.
--Gabi

Books I am reading now:
There Goes the Bride by Lori Wilde
The Marriage Bargain by Dianne Perkins
Almost Dead by Lisa Jackson

Platitudes

I hate platitudes. Don't get me wrong. I love quotes from famous authors or individuals. I enjoy learning from their wisdom. Quotes can help elevate my mood or inspire me. But don't give me platitudes. Like: Every day is a new beginning. Or: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Platitudes are empty, useless, trite phrases that make my skin crawl. You'll find them on plaques at craft shows. I hate cutsie things.

So why the rant? Lately it seems I've been surrounded by platitudes. I won't live my life by them, so stop throwing them at me. Give me credit for a brain and creativity. I come up with my own rules.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Beware a Scots Revenge by Sabrina Jeffries
There Goes the Bride by Lori Wilde
And still Harry Pottering along.

Brainstorming...

...an appropriate title for this blog, since not only did I brainstorm this evening, it is now also storming. Yes, it's monsoon season in New Mexico, and we have the most gorgeous thunderstorms in the summer.

But back to brainstorming. I've forgotten how much fun it was just to sit with a friend and throw ideas out to each other. I've done it before with my husband. I was having trouble with the plot of my third novel, so I asked him to brainstorm with me. We picked up the ping pong paddles and just hit the ball back and forth while we spoke. Here is a truth: often if you do something physical (even if it is puny like hitting a ping pong ball back and forth) it can free your creativity. Within a few minutes, I had cleared up the plotting problem and was able to finish the novel very soon after (No, not that day but within a couple of weeks.).

I sometimes let my students build with building blocks without telling them the purpose of the building. For the most part they laugh and think it is a childish exercise. After all, they haven't played with blocks since they were babies. But after letting them build for about fifteen minutes, I then ask them to write for fifteen minutes. They are always surprised at how easily the writing comes after playing with blocks.

Just goes to show you: Don't be afraid to play.

Anyway, I brainstormed the rest of my wip (work-in-progress, remember?) with a critique partner, so now I know where the rest of the novel is going. She helped me find the major plot point I needed to get to the end. And I have several ideas for the other two books in the series. Did I tell you my wip is the first in a three book series?

--Gabi, enjoying the thunder, lightning, and rain

Books I'm reading now:
The Spy Wore Silk by Andrea Pickens
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Taming Him (anthology) from Ellora's Cave

Forces at Work...

Really weird things happen when I write. I tend not to plot; I just have an idea and I sit and write what the characters show me in my head. This means, of course, when I'm done with the first draft, I often have to go back and fix the beginning so it works with the rest of the novel. But strange things happen in the course of writing. I get these ideas that just fit and make a beautiful layer in the text. I don't know how I do it. I call this Magic.

So I was writing this morning and the Magic struck. I had to take a brief break to post here (and to take passport forms to the Post Office and get the dog chipped), but the Magic is waiting for me at my keyboard. I love the Magic. And it seems to be striking often in my WIP (work-in-progress, doncha know).
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Mommy for a Minute by Judy Christenberry
The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
The Italian Prince's Pregnant Bride by Sandra Marton (Gotta love the title)
And yes, I have finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time. And I so love JK Rowling for her Dateline interview last night where she answered some of the questions I had.

It's Just A Number...

Age that is. It's just a number. So on Saturday I did something I haven't done since High School. I pulled an all nighter. By 7:00AM, I had finished HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, so I went to bed. I couldn't fall asleep for another half an hour, then I woke up at 10:30 AM. I admit taking another nap in the afternoon, but I went to bed at 11:00 that evening and woke up just fine--OK, a little later--on Sunday morning. My point is I was having fun and I didn't want it to stop. One would think that someone of MY AGE would know better, but I realized I had nothing else planned, I wasn't hurting anyone, so why not stay up all night and have fun? Age has nothing to do with it. Now if only my knees would have that same philosophy.... --Gabi Books I'm reading now: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (finished and now I'm reading it for the second time--first time through fast for the plot, second time through to cherish the writing) Harry Potter and the Prisoner and Azkaban (still reading it aloud to the youngest child) All Night Long by Jayne Anne Krentz And I'm writing...

Harry Potter, Harry Potter

It's Friday. You know what that means. Tonight I start to read the last book. I'm so excited. Saw the last film. It was OK, but it just didn't have the richness of the book. Of course few movies do, and the film was good, but you just can't compare the two.
To all those spoil sports out there who "leaked" the DEATHLY HALLOWS" ahead of time, you are pathetic. It won't spoil anything for the rest of us who love the fun, and the attempt to spoil the fun, the anticipation, is just, well, pathetic. I pity you for not being able to enjoy as the rest of us do. You're not being an individual, someone who doesn't follow the "rules", you're just being obnoxious.

So, I'll be reading for the next day. Leave me alone.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading now (Just because Harry Potter 7 is coming out tonight doesn't mean that I'm not reading other things up until the release):
Finished Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (It is definitely a GUY'S book)
The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell by Samantha James
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
And starting tonight; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I'm ba-ack

The conference is over and I've returned to a house that is messy/dirty, and a work area that is cluttered. Usually I can overlook the clutter, but I'm feeling trapped by all the stuff. Just before I left, I saw an Oprah program on decluttering one's life and I tossed out several pieces of clothing that I really don't know why I still had. So now onto the writing space.

The RWA conference did do one thing for me. I've returned inspired to write. But it's not the usually uplifting sort of inspiration. It's an angry, pissed off sort of feeling. As if I want to prove all the nay-sayers wrong. So I'm isolating myself this week (as much as one can isolate oneself when one has a family) and writing. Because in the end, it's about the work, and if one piece doesn't work, you have to have another ready to go in its place.

--Gabi

Books I'm reading:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (I didn't take this on the trip with me)
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, and Anne Stuart
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and you KNOW what's happening on Friday at midnight)

And I'm off again...

This time to Dallas. The Romance Writers of America's National Conference is next week. Don't get me wrong. I love my family, but five days of being just a writer is fabulous. Even if I have to dress up more than I usually do. Editors and agents to impress, you know.
--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (this is such a GUY book)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (see my previous posts)
and I'm writing a lot!

The Road Traveled

Notice I didn't write "less traveled." I just returned from a two week trip which put between 4K and 5K miles on my car. College tours. For the twins. And I learned a few things. Like road trips are overrated. I would rather arrive at a place and explore it for a week. Have a chance to unpack for a while, settle into the hotel room (as much as one can settle into a hotel room), and look at the details of a place. We saw lots of new places and interesting things, but we rushed past Civil War battle sites and an important Revolutionary War battle site because we didn't have the time to stop and look. Now I know the goal of this trip was to visit nine different campuses, so we had to keep to a schedule, but part of me regrets not having time in each place we stopped at. I didn't get to see the bats in Austin, spend an evening listening to music in the French Quarter, visit Margaret Mitchell's house in Atlanta, tour the cute village of Chapel Hill, spend more time at the Smithsonian (although the Museum of American History is closed right now), go antiquing in the Shenandoah Valley, or hear country music in Nashville. But I did get to see alligators on a swamp tour, eat some jambalaya, oysters, and dirty rice, and see my favorite painting in the whole world, Frederich Church's El Rio de Luz at the National Gallery. I even got to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives.

Of course, if the girls get into the colleges they want, I'll have the chance to visit those spots again.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading read (or have read recently):
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn (which I left on the road for someone to discover)
Cover of Night by Linda Howard (with which I did the same)
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (I didn't know they could make paperbacks that size)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (still reading it to the youngest kid)
The Trouble with Valentine's Day by Rachel Gibson
Tongue in Chic by Christina Dodd
Master of Dragons by Angela Knight
Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day

A Thank You

The May 14 issue of Time Magazine held a pleasant surprise. It is the annual 100 most influential people in the world issue. As I'm flipping through the pages, there, listed under arts and entertainment (right under a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio), was Nora Roberts. The brief blurb praised her for her writing (yes, really : "She can make romance seem fresh and hopeful every time"), recognized her as the beloved author she is, and didn't put down the genre at all. When I saw the piece, my first thought was "My God, we've made it." OK, perhaps a bit overblown, but somehow it seems that a huge step toward romance not being considered the embarassing step-daughter of literature was taken by this inclusion. So I salute Nora for all the work she has done for the rest of us (although I would hazard the guess that she wasn't thinking of us but just writing the stories inside herself--the rest was just an unintentional call to greatness) and for all the terrific stories she has given us over the years. I know she will probably never read this, but I wanted to acknowledge her.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
The Trouble with Valentine's Day byRachel Gibson
Born in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban (slow going this time with the kiddo)
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
And I gotta go to the store because I'm finally on vacation for the summer

Hope and its many springs...

I'm feeling good about the writing right now, although I'm up to my neck in Huckleberry Finn tests and Tom Sawyer exams. It's a funny thing about hope. He/she/it (the monster) carries you from the highest peaks of euphoria to the depths of despair, and the journey can happen in the course of a few minutes.

So, yes, I have a few manuscripts out there, a few agent queries floating around right now, and for whatever reason I'm hopeful about them. I'm sure tomorrow I'll go back to thinking my work is dreck (OK, never that, just that it's not good ENOUGH) and wait for the rejections to continue to roll on through, but today, the sun is shining and I have hope.
Did you know that the Greeks didn't consider Pandora releasing Hope from the box a good thing? It was one of the evils of the world.

--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (Can you believe I missed this one and have never read it? And I've only seen parts of the movie and I love Hitchcock.)
The Mask of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig (another fun romp following the Pink Carnation--and you know what, there wasn't a lot of sex in it, if at all--how about that in a world where erotica seems to be the only way to break into romance these days?)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark twain (But it ends this week--then my seventh graders are starting something new--A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Great Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe (Guess what my eighth graders are doing?)

A writer friend whom I see every year at a non-conference for writers in Red River, NM, just published a new book about New Mexico at the beginning of the last century. This is the real Wild West, folks. I've interviewed her and the results are here.

Q. My guest today is Velda Brotherton, and we're glad she could join us. Welcome, Velda. You have a new book coming out. Fly With The Mourning Dove. Could you tell us something about it?
A. Thank you for having me. My book tells the story of the life of a young girl who, at the age of6, accompanies her parents to a homestead in the high desert of New Mexico in 1920. Usingjournal entries by her mother and actual stories related by Edna, I've recreated her growing up years among some of the first Anglo settlers in New Mexico. Edna's father's bout withTuberculosis hangs over the family like the shadow of death, and several times separates herfrom her parents. She is sent to live first in a boarding house situated along the road from Taos Junction to Santa Fe, then to a convent where she feels caged, and finally to her grandparents inNorth Dakota. At the age of nine she returns home to stay, and so begins her love of the highdesert that will endure for a lifetime. She still owns a ranch there as well as one in Colorado.
Q. You're not from New Mexico. How did you get interested in writing this book?
A. My Dad was a storyteller, and as I grew up, he told about how my grandpa's brother was aMontana cowboy who came home from WW I to homestead in New Mexico. The stories were so gripping I never forgot them, and many years later when I went to Albuquerque to a writer'sconference, I contacted my mother's cousin, who was raised on that homestead, and went to visither. I stayed with her a week while she drove me all over her beloved high desert and showed me things I would never have seen as a tourist. She also told me stories that added to those my Dadhad told. My husband and I returned year after year to visit this tiny dynamo of a woman, untilwe too became enthralled with her land and the life she'd led. It was a book waiting to be written.
Q. So tell about some of her adventures.
A. Oh, Edna was quite an unusual girl for her time and so was her mother Cassie. While her husband, Edna's father, was away at war, Cassie went to nursing school. Her father had refused to let her do so when she lived at home, and she was determined no man would ever tell her howto live her life again. And though she and her husband Finas were close, she was the dominant partner in the marriage. After they moved to the homestead, which she was against from the outset, she continued to practice her nursing through the years. Edna must have inherited some ofher mother's stubbornness, for when her parents sent her to live in a convent while her fatherwent to Fort Bayard to be treated for TB, she caused quite a ruckus among the nuns. Then later on, when she was grown, she attended a party where she refused to dance with Tony Lujan, avery high ranked Tewa Indian who was married to the notorious Mable Dodge. She also was mixed up in some political wrangling, which was common in New Mexico at that time. Her mother and father had some very strong opinions of Long John Dunn, a famous and controversial figure among Anglo settlers in New Mexico.
Q. Sounds like a wonderful book. What made you decide to write her story as creative nonfiction, rather than historical fiction?
A. The more stories Edna related, and by now she was writing them down and sending them to me, the more I realized that the only way I could tell her story and be true to how she had lived, was to write it as nonfiction. But I didn't want to record a bunch of dry facts, so I began to study the art of creative nonfiction. I found the best information online posted by Lee Gutkind, who is considered the godfather of creative nonfiction. It turned out I had already written a creative nonfiction book, I just didn't realize it. My first book, Wandering In The Shadows of Time, which was published in 1994, fit the rules of this genre perfectly. When I wrote it, all I knew was that I had to tell the story of the people I interviewed in a special way, by inserting myself into the stories and taking the reader along with me as I did so.
Q. Is that book still available?
A. Yes, at Amazon.com or it can be ordered from any bookstore.
Q. Okay, that's great. Now back to Edna's story. Wouldn't you have been able to expand more on her story if you'd written it as historical fiction?
A. Yes, but then it wouldn't really have been her story. She talked to me about writing her storyfor a couple of years before I began to get serious about it, and I knew how she felt about it being told like it really happened. Funny, once when she was reading one of my historical fiction romances, she read them all but skipped the "sexy parts ”, she told me she hoped that when I decided to write her story it wouldn't be a romance because there was too much fiction and not enough truth in the books. And she's right. No matter how hard we try, historical fiction, from necessity, stretches a lot of the truth all out of proportion.
Q. So, even when you wrote dialogue and internalization, you were telling the truth?
A. I must have been, because when I sent her the last draft of the book, she sent it back with apost-it stuck to the title page. It said, very succinctly, "I'm satisfied." You have to know Edna to realize what a compliment this was. At that point all she cared about was the book being published before she died, and would I make sure her children and grandchildren all got a copy?
Q. How old is she?
A. She's a very young 92, coming up on a birthday in July. She took her last horseback ride over the sagebrush flats at the age of 85 and only stopped hiking in the desert in her late 80s. She stopped driving at 90, but is still ready to go anytime visitors will take her. Often she wants to go down to Tusas, the ranch in New Mexico where she spent so much of her life. We're always happy to take her and spend some tranquil time living in her past. She would live there, except it's so remote and there's no electricity or running water, so her family won't permit it. After having written the book, I feel as if I grew up with her, and I never read the ending without crying, though I've read it over and over. Not because it's sad, but because her life has been sobeautiful, so complete and so satisfying. Would that mine can be the same.
Q. How do we get a copy of Fly With The Mourning Dove?
A. It's available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or you can order it from PublishAmerica or any bookstore in the country. If you want to read an excerpt from the book, check out my website.
Q. Thank you so much for joining me. Would you share your websites and any other presence onthe web?
A. Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it.http://www.authorsden.com/veldabrothertonveldabrotherton.blogspot.com
www.historylady.gather.com

--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (what fun)
Mr. Darcy takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Yup, still teaching it)
The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn (Yup, still teaching this one, too--and you try to say Huck Finn to a group of eighth graders and not worry about mixing intial letters--Ack!)

Life, what a concept...

Since last I wrote, I won one writing contest, and have finaled in another. So I guess it's not the writing that's keeping me from being published again. It's the production. My advice to would be writers--don't get a day job. Ahh, but it's a vicious cycle, because one does need money to live, so one works but then one can't devote the time one would want to the craft.

Never mind. The writing is coming along. Only it's in the form of a professional development dossier so that I can earn more money as a teacher next year. So far, forty pages of the driest jargon one could read. And worse, the powers that be force me to use incorrect style. The dossier is neither formal nor informal. It all grates on this language arts and literature teacher/ novelist.

Selling my soul for my daughters' college education,
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
six books I'm judging for the RITA, which shall remain unnamed because I do not wish to sully the reputation of this great contest
FairyDust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine (reading it aloud for my youngest daughter)
The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter by Mary Ellen Dennis, a galley I'm reading to give a quote for
The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Yup, I'm teaching it again)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Hey, I've got a seventh grade class this year too)

Times Flies...

although I can't say I've been having fun. I've had parents who won't believe their children aren't working (must be my fault), health issues, and stress like crazy. On the bright side, I see smoother days ahead (although every time I've said that something else has happened). I'm writing sporadically, which is killing me, and I have no good stories to share about my life right now either. So this is a much belated post and I really don't have anything to say.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
The Texan's Reward by Jodi Thomas (one of my favorite people in the world)
Parallel Heat by Dierdre Knight
Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (yes, we've finished book one; now it's on to book two)
The Vampire who Loved Me by Teresa Medieros

An interesting experience...

I've been mentioned in a blog. Not about writing mind you, but about teaching. The interesting aspect of the mention is that the author (and yes, she is a romance author) has me saying things that she took totally out of context. I don't know whether to be angry or to just shake my head in pity. She claims I said my eighth grade students are "too stupid" to learn assonance, when what I said was most eighth graders don't know what assonance is (Now be honest, do you?). If I thought my eighth graders were "too stupid" to learn it, why would I bother teaching it? (By the way, there is a difference between knowing the definition of assonance and recognizing assonance-- I teach the latter) This woman has never been in my classroom, never talked to any of my students, nor did she ask me to elaborate.


We were talking about testing and NCLB, which I find a wonderful idea, but totally flawed in its execution. It's like communism--a fabulous idea, but it doesn't work on human beings. In New Mexico at my school, the testing takes four days of lost teaching time, which is longer than any other academic test out there, including the LCATs, the MCATs or any of the boards. We are expecting students to care about a test that in no way affects them (not gradewise, not placementwise) and then basing how we view our schools based on the results of these tests. In addition, the test makes no allowances for students. If education is truly individual why does every student take the same test? I don't worry about my students' performance on these tests because they're the top of the school, but I am the parent of a special needs child who is not and most likely never will be at grade level for her academics and yet she is required to take the test for her age, not her abilities. Her greatest goal is to succeed, and yet the test makes it impossible for her to do so. She comes home depressed and convinced she is stupid.

But back to this author...She is extremely bright, and truly gifted in the academic sense. She doesn't understand (perhaps understand is the wrong word; believe might be better) that most people don't think (I mean literally the act of thinking, not a belief system) the way she does. So she twisted my words and has labeled me one of those bad teachers who just babysits her students and doesn't want to be held accountable for what I do in the classroom.
Hmmm. I wonder what my students would think after they stopped laughing.
--Gabi

What I'm reading now:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Hey, it takes time when you're reading it aloud)
I need to find a new book to start.

One week down, thirty-five to go

I have just completed my first full week of teaching, and I must say I'm exhausted. The kids are interesting, as usual, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better. So far, pretty smooth.
I have a new policy this year. My weekends are for writing, which means I will resent doing the shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc, that usually takes my time on the weekends, but I'm looking forward to devoting two days a week to the craft I love.
And so with no further ado, I'm off to my fantasy world and the stories that I need to finish. They are calling to me.
--Gabi
Books I am reading now;
Edith Hamilton's Mythology (Do I really have to tell you why I am reading this?)
Sari Robbins's More Than a Scandal
The ARC of Linda Francis Lee's The Devil in the Junior League
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (which I am reading aloud to my youngest who is loving it.)

Off to Atlanta...

...with high hopes and big dreams. (In case you didn't know, Romance writerss of America is holding their annual conference there this week.) The worst thing about being a writer is that you can imagine all sorts of scenarios that will never happen, but you hope they will. Like meeting that editor who expresses interest in your book. Like meeting the perfect agent. Like receiving acclaim for books past and books future.
I don't know why I put myself through it. Except I won't let the dream die.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman(fabulous, simple fabulous)

It's 3 AM...

and I'm awake, waiting for the husband to return from London. An international flight, a missed connection...need I say more? Ray Bradbury called this time the hour of monsters. It's when you're awake at three a.m. that your dreams are all nightmares, your troubles are insurmountable, your self-esteem is non-existent. Something about the middle of the night magnifies every thought into an overwhelming issue you will never survive. In the morning you laugh at yourself because nothing you thought about at three a.m. is nearly as bad as you believed then.
But now it's three a.m., and the monsters attack. What if I'll never sell another book? What if my students are horrible this year? What if I'm ruining my kids' lives? What if my kids are lying to me? What if the house never stops leaking and collapses? What if ...
And now he garage door has opened and my husband has arrived home from the airport and one monster has been vanquished.
--Gabi
What I'm reading now:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azir Nafisi
On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Dearth of Good Romance Movies

I just read an article about Hollywood making fewer and fewer romance movies. Nobody is writing original screenplay, and the romance stories they do film don't make a lot a money...except for a few like Sleepless in Seattle or Titanic (which people call a romance so I won't argue that definition here) or While You Were Sleeping. The article goes on to quote Nicholas Sparks, that lone voice in the romance field (heavy sarcasm), and his reason for the dearth of romance in films is because the stories are too hard to write and too few people do it well. I will agree with him here, but let me go on to post my own theories. The reason romances don't do well for the most part at the box office is because they don't film good stories. Why don't they turn to those authors who know how to pen great romances? Why hasn't Susan Elizabeth Phillips's Ain't She Sweet been turned into a movie? Why haven't Jenny Crusie's works hit the silver screen? Why isn't Linda Howard's Mr. Perfect a film? Hollywood overlooks a major source for stories by overlooking the genre. You can't tell me that a romance wouldn't be successful if they would just pick the right property. And Romance (the genre) has loads of ideas to pick from.
And is it a coincidence that "dearth" and "Darth" only differ by one letter? Hmmmmm...
--Gabi
Books I'm reading now:
Threshold by Sara Douglass
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Size Twelve is not Fat by Meg Cabot

Some interesting writer links...

Did you ever want to know the inner workings of a publishing professional's devious brain? Did you ever want to know what they really think about so many of us writers? Combine the answers to these two questions and you've found my newest obsessions--Evil Editor and Miss Snark. (Perhaps obsession is a harsh word, since I am looking for a new agent and a receptive editor for my work and you never know who might be "listening" in.) Evil Editor is an actual NY editor who doesn't pull punches and often has me laughing til I snort with his inner thoughts about queries. Miss Snark is an actual NY agent who does the same. I love reading these blogs and have honestly learned a lot from both of them (and had my daily doses of schadenfreude--look it up). You can find these two at the following links:
Evil Editor
Miss Snark

Another great site I'm hooked on is Kristin Nelson's blog, Pub Rants. An agent in Denver, Miss Nelson offers much information about the biz, although I don't get my daily dose of schadenfreude from her. (Again, look it up.)
Pub Rants

These sites have links to other interesting sites too. So if you want a chuckle or two and some great information about publishing, visit these sites. I know I do.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Bump in the Night--Anthology
Quirky Kids--a text I have to read for a class I'm taking--way to ruin a summer by having required texts to read.
The Explosive Child--see note above

But I'm Writing !!!

Eruption looming...

Well, that sounds rather personal. How should I explain myself(because I'm not talking about pimples, boils, diarrhea, or volcanoes)? Have you ever felt there is so much more inside you than anyone knows (I'm also not talking about wierd psychopathic homicidal tendencies)? The edge between normal and look-at-me-world-here-I-am. That's where I've been living my life for the past three years. Not so deep within me is the song (metaphorically speaking) waiting to explode. I'm trying to be patient, trying to keep my feet on the ground, doing the day job, etc., but all the while thinking IT has to happen soon. I keep waiting for the next step in my writing career, the one that will elevate me to the next level.

I'm ready.

On second thought this idea reads rather scary, but don't worry, I'm fine. (My mother recognized this force in me, but never understood it either.)
--Gabi

Books I'm reading:
Hidden Secrets by Cait London (No offense, Cait, but aren't secrets supposed to be hidden, 'cause if they're not, they're no longer secrets? P.S. The title is no reflection on the quality of the book. They had to name it something, right?)
Parallel Attraction by Deidre Knight- what fun!
Ransom by Julie Garwood-a book I thoroughly enjoyed. I miss these kinds of books. What happened to these kinds of romance that don't feature vampires, werewolves, too much sex and have a plot instead of "exploring your feelings."

Mood Shifts

Have you ever had a day where just the sunshine alone can make you happy? The kind of day you want to bottle and save for when things seem to go wrong? The kind of day when the sky is so blue it's almost painful? A rare day. Today was such a day. Just lovely. The kind of day you can only appreciate because you have bad days to compare it to. I keep telling my children this. That one can't be happy if one is never sad because then happiness means nothing. It becomes the everyday, the mundane, the boring. We need to have good AND bad, happy AND sad, and all those other opposites.

Don't ask me why I've waxed philosophical, except that it's just that kind of day. Hope yours was good, too.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading:
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov (got to keep teaching those eighth graders something)
Codename: Blondie, by Christina Skye (with whom I had a lovely conversation when she was in town for her book signing. Thanks for listening, Christina. I truly enjoyed talking to you.)
Green Mansions, by WH Hudson (for a book club, but it's just too dense for me.)

Two months? No way has two months passed.

So now it really has been a while since I've written. What can I say? The school year is winding down (19 days and counting), summer and the end of allergy season are just around the corner, and I'll have the days free to write (when I'm not taking the last required class I need for special certification to teached gifted students in this area).

I recently watched the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice again, as well as the newest version starring Kiera Knightley (a girl entirely too pretty). I must confess I like both versions. The five plus hour long A&E version is richer and does star Colin Firth, but the new one is livlier and the actors are more the correct age. And you have to love Dame Judy as Lady Catherine DeBurgh.

I also recently viewed Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which I didn't like all too much the first time I saw it, and now twenty years later, I still don't think it a great movie. But my husband was actually in the senior class in San Diego that Cameron Crowe joined when he did research for his book. No, don't bother to look for a character based on my husband, although he can tell you who the real life people are the movie characters portray.

We have a movie night every weekend with our children to expose them to great films. We've seen Schindler's List, His Girl Friday, Mask of Zorro (hey, I didn't say they were all serious movies--I like fun movies), Stand by Me, and Field of Dreams (which is not a baseball film, I don't care what anyone says) among others. I love movies. Always have, and I suspect we have quite a few more to view before we even start to become bored.

So if you're reading this, what movies would you recommend as must-sees?
--Gabi

OK, so it;s been a while...

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but it sure feels as if I have. Life gets busy spots and suddenly more time passes than one is aware of. We're nearing the end of February and I have little to report. I'm reading Huckleberry Finn again with my students and finding it as amusing and powerful as ever. Haven't seen any movies lately--except I watched Sense and Sensibility on DVD not too long ago--because I'm completely caught up in the Olympics. My father was a huge fan of the Olympics, and now every time they're on, I feel so close to him and his memory. I can remember watching with him when I was just a girl, and in 1972 we visited the Munich Stadium before the Summer Games of that year (so vivid in my memory because of that trip and the sad events of those particular Olympics). I love the Olympics, but I really miss the way they used to cover all the athletes, instead of just the US. OK, they always had a US slant, but we heard so much about other athletes as well.
Stay happy
--Gabi

Books I'm currently reading:
Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Sex, Lies, and on-line Dating by Rachel Gibson
Some Enchanted Evening by Christina Dodd (which I've already read, but had to re-read for my romance book club)
Widows of Wichita County by Jodi Thomas (Ditto--see above)
Midnight Magic by Shari Anton

A day in the life...

A holiday from work and I was looking forward to spending the day writing. It would have been better ("Mom, can you take me to the mall?" "No.") if the children hadn't spent the morning ("Just for half an hour. I need jeans" "No.") begging me for food ("Really, Mom. I haven't been anywhere this entire weekend. Can you take me to the mall?" "No."), favors, and entertainment. ("What if I did a favor or a job for you in exchange?" "No.") My husband's car was leaking oil so HE came home for lunch ("What if Dad drops me off at the mall and you just pick me up?" "No.") and then daughter number two came home from camping this weekend. ("I need to be picked up now." "Right"--sigh. "Hey, can you drop me off at the mall while you go pick her up?" "No.") Then I actually cooked dinner, because I don't when I'm working all day. ("Mom, I really need jeans." "We were just at Western Wearhouse last weekend. Couldn't you have bought jeans then?" "These weren't holey then. Besides, I can't shop there." "Yes, but you were at the mall." "I didn't know I needed them then." "No.") So I'm signing off right now, grabbing a cookie and writing in bed--I do have to work tomorrow. ("Can you take me tomorrow?" "No.")
--Gabi

Procrastination, thy name is...I

I'm giving a talk tomorrow night at a local Hastings Bookstore, and while I have a title ("Who needs Grammar? That's what an Editor is for" and other Ways to Sabotage Your Career), I have no idea what I'm speaking about. Oh I'll have something by the time I show up, notes, ideas, etc., but the talk would go much smoother if I were better prepared. But it's late, and I had laundry to fold, and I have to work tomorrow. I'll be fine once I get started, but I don't know why I'm putting myself through this. I actually like to give talks, but I usually am better prepared.

Having said that, I am also leading a local romance readers' group on Tuesday. I've read the book, but I haven't prepared anything for it either. I might be forming bad habits here.

Recent reads: Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie, Falling Awake by Jayne Ann Krentz, and currently I'm reading I'm No Angel by Patti Berg.

--Gabi

It's a new year after all..

On the eve of 2006, I have to tell you that I make no new year's resolutions. Oh, I have hopes and dreams for the upcoming year, but January 1 is just an arbitrary date--one that I am the first to admit gives us a great excuse to party--and has no real meaning in the long term. It's just a convenient way to track time. I make resolutions when the mood strikes me: March, Tuesdays, three A.M. (I have sleeping issues). I believe resolutions are a good thing, I just don't make them now.

But for the new year, I wish all of you peace, health, and above all joy. For myself, well, I'd settle for a new book contract. Got a great manuscript ready to go.

So from me to you:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
--Gabi

Words of wisdom

I haven't blogged in two weeks, so I wanted to put something particularily pithy on the page today. Some brilliant topic to dazzle you readers. Something to take your breath away and impress you with my intelligence. So what did I come up with? Nothing. A big fat zero. And let's face it, nothing is not impressive. Oh sure, one can write about nothing and fill a page, but it's still nothing. I've just finished making a present for writing friends--a box filled with 365 inspirational writing quotes--filled with brilliance...from others. Some of these quotes are fabulous: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." --Jack London. Or "Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure." --Natalie Goldberg. So I thought I'd spread my own words of wisdom. Ah well. I still have nothing.

Books I'm reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Too much going on this time of year to read much more than a comfort read. ALthough I am having fun teaching a mini-class on Latin to my students. They think they're learning a language. I know they're learning grammar.)

Enjoy the season, and sieze the joy in every day. Life is just too short to do otherwise.
--Gabi

A little on luck...

I have none. Not good luck, not bad luck. I've always known that I can't depend on serendipity to get me where I want to be. Take writing, for example. I know I need to write the best stories I can, because luck will take me nowhere. I've met editors who like me, who like my work, who push for me at their publishing houses, and then they leave the company before I sell a book to them. Some might consider this bad luck, but then one would have to consider the first part good luck as well. I just believe theses two unrelated events cancel each other out, leaving me with no luck. I don't play games that require luck to win--Risk, for example, or gambling of any sort-- because if I can't depend on skill, I know I won't win. My daughter, on the other hand, wins everything. If there's a raffle or drawing she's entered, she wins. Ah, well. Maybe I'll have her pick out lottery numbers. (Sorry, don't play the lottery either.)

Books I'm reading now: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (have seen the movie, loved it, and just wanted to remember how much I love the books); When Chritmas Comes, by Debbie Macomber. Gosh, is that really all? I just don't have the time right now.

--Gabi

I've been good...

I received my flu shot today. I've never had one before, but since I'm exposed to all kinds of germ carriers (read: students), getting the shot might make sense this year. And getting it was really easy, considering they offered it at my place of work, so I didn't even have to make much of an effort. I'll keep you posted how I fare this winter.

I'm finishing up the final revision on my WIP, and trying to re-read Harry Potter nd the Goblet of Fire before the movie comes out. The previews look great, and I love the books, so I'm looking forward to this weekend. Of course, having the seventh book in my hands would generate a great deal more excitment.

Temptaion's warrior is getting great reviews all over. Check them out and see:

http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/reviews/andersongabriella11105.html

http://www.loveromances.com/temptationswarrior_janalee.html

http://thebestreviews.com/review31176

http://www.onceuponaromance.net/Temptation'sWarriorReview.html

One is also coming out in Booklist
and one should be posted on the 20th at Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/

All is well, the weather has turned cold, and I've got to start worrying about cooking that turkey. I still have to buy it and all the accouterments. Maybe I haven't been so good after all...
--Gabi

A Brand New Wind...

No, I'm not suffering from flatulence. I came back from the Red River non-conference (if you want more info about this, you must e-mail me) so full of writing energy that I can hardly find the time to eat (and you'd think I'd lose weight from this, but no, my body decides that it must store all fat in case of the Big One, just to be safe). So I've got all this writing energy (an entirely different beast than the energy to, say, make beds or do laundry) and I've been revising away at THE STONE KEY, and having a great time doing it. Patting myself on the back here-- TEMPTATION'S WARRIOR is out, getting great reviews, and for a change I'm not having so much angst about the writing. It's a good place to be.

Meanwhile I'm reading Charmed and Dangerous by Lori Wilde, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (For my classes, but it's so good it's worth mentioning) and I just finished Some Enchanted Evening, by Christina Dodd. And of, course, I'm working on THE STONE KEY , an unpublished manuscript by Gabriella Anderson.

Keep those dreams big.
--Gabi

Red River

I'm off to a much needed writers' retreat this weekend in Red River, NM. The area is so beautiful, the air so clean, and the company so inspiring. To be a writer for an entire weekend, and not worry about the other jobs--mom, wife, teacher, etc.--should rejunvenate the spirit. Don't get me wrong. I love being a wife/mom, and even enjoy being a teacher, but, sometimes, just being one thing is so refreshing. No multitasking this weekend.

And, in exciting news, I have seen the book, it is lovely. Temptation's Warrior, the final edition, has arrived in all its hardcover glory. Do pick it up if you can and if not, tell you local library to order it for you. Here are the details:
TEMPTATION'S WARRIOR by Gabriella Anderson
ISBN 1-59434-418-4
Ask for it at your local bookstore.

Now I'm off to the mountains.
--Gabi

Reviews, reviews

I received my first reveiws for TEMPTATION'S WARRIOR. They like it, they really like it. (OK, is that line getting as old for you as it is for me?)

Check them out at http://www.loveromances.com/temptationswarrior_janalee.html

and http://bookcrossing.com/journal/3282624/HARRIET/book_-Temptations-Warrior-Gabriella-Anderson


--Gabi

It's 6:30 in the morning...

...and I'm getting ready for school (that's work, you know), and I'm grumpy. Who wouldn't be? It's an ungodly hour, and I don't even drink coffee (not for any particular reason except that to drink it I need it with half cream and about four sugars until it tastes like hot coffee ice cream, but at that point I'm thinking calories, so it's just not worth it.) The sun isn't even in the sky yet (not that we've had sun for the past-gulp-five days). This is definitely not my favorite time of year. I don't like getting cold. The days are shorter, and it's still too warm to wear my calf length stadium jacket--which is definitely overkill here in New Mexico, but I already mentioned I hate getting cold. And on top of all that I don't do mornings well (You read that post, right?). My afternoon classes definitely fare better than my morning classes.
So as I peek outside and see...nothing...I realize it's time to shut off the machine (this one) and continue putting on the make up, make sure the family is awake, and maybe rethink the whole coffee thing. Oh, yes, I don't do tea either, and it's just too early for booze.
--Gabi

1000 places to see before you die...

In the book of the same title, Patricia Schultz lists the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Now, it's easy for me to see this particular event because I live here, but that doesn't diminish the joy one feels as the hundreds (yes, literally hundreds, maybe even a thousand today) of hot air balloons take to the air and fill the morning sky with color and shapes and whimsey. You can't help but smile. My sister has never been and has said that she lived in a place with a balloon fiesta and it was nice. She doesn't get it. This is huge. You've never seen so many hot air balloons in one place. We took 120 pictures this morning (Thank God for digital cameras). Sometime in your life you should make the effort and see this amazing event.

So now I can cross off one more of the 1000 things I have to see before I die.

Hey, if I've been ten times, is my total of places to see now 990?
--Gabi