Why I Love Marie Watley-Browne

Not just because she's funny and beautiful and sophisticated and smart and talented and the mother of one of my favorite foodies on the planet: Marie is also an artist in the kitchen.

Imagine opening a box from Brooklyn on Halloween afternoon and finding dozens of fabulous, home-made ghouls and goblins looking up at you.

Do I have fab friends or what?

Thank you, Marie! Love from BB in central NJ

My Writerspace Chat on Wednesday 11/12 - 9 PM ET!

I'll be doing a chat on Writerspace on Wednesday 11/12 at 9 PM ET and hope (pray) you'll stop by and say hello. There is nothing sadder than watching an author chat to herself for an hour. Think of it your charitable donation for November.

Besides, we'll have fun.

(Yes, we'll be talking about CASTING SPELLS but that doesn't mean that's all we'll be talking about.)

I'll remind you again when it gets a little closer but please mark your calendar!

BTW, if you think you're going crazy, you're not. I posted this with a different date earlier this morning but there's been a fortuitous change of plans. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Writerspace Halloween Mash tonight!

Drop by Writerspace tonight for the annual Halloween Mash chat fest. I'll be there around 8:30 EDT -- hope to see you!

Interview with Dallas Book Diva Cheryl Nason

Tomorrow morning is the phone interview with Cheryl Nason, The Dallas Book Diva, and I'm getting very excited about it. I have no idea what she'll ask and, even scarier, I have no idea what I'll say. Things tend to fly out of my mouth before my brain engages and that can be either great fun or terrifying!

The only bad thing is that it's a morning interview and as we all know I'm a night person. I hope I sound coherent, if not intelligent.

You'll be able to hear for yourself in a few days. Cheryl will post a review of CASTING SPELLS and a MP3 of the interview on her site. I'll let you know when it's up.

Hold a good thought for me around 10 a.m. EDT!

Great Article in The Writer

If you find it hard to keep track of all the bits and pieces surrounding your work-in-progress, check out the December issue of The Writer and the article "How To Avoid The Paper Chase."

I've been doing this for a lot of years and I've pretty much read (and tried) every tip ever created for taming the work-in-progress beast. I've tried spiral notebooks, index cards, computer software programs, long streams of butcher paper pinned to the living room walls, chalkboards, bulletin boards, collages, etc., etc.

Katharine Davis's article is simple, just seven tips, but they seemed to jump right out and grab me by the throat. Two in particular are exactly what I need: 1) use character lists and 2) keep a running synopsis. Especially the running synopsis idea.

I'm going to give it a try starting today.

Harlequin American Romance 25th Anniversary Celebration

You probably already know that I got my start at Harlequin American Romance and happily wrote for them for almost fifteen years. What you might not know is that Harlequin American is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year and there's a celebration going on at HAR Authors.

Drop by today, if you can, and read my take on those early wonderful days when category romance novels ruled the world!

<==Harlequin American Romance #3

I Don't Believe It Either

The day was going so well too. That's what made the whole thing so completely ridiculous.

Well, that and the fact that grown women don't usually end up with an entire chocolate egg cream inside their laser printer.

Is it the full moon yet? It has to be close. I've been feeling disconnected, like my head is about to separate itself from my shoulder and float off into space.

The good thing is that the writing has been clicking. And it better because the book is due yesterday. A metaphorical yesterday to be sure but trust me when I say I'd better finish sooner rather than later. And I need to blog. And there are emails to answer and promo materials to send out. You know the drill. Life just keeps on coming at you whether or not you're ready for it.

Which was why late yesterday afternoon I decided I deserved a break from work. A little Sopranos on tv. A little knitting. And an ice cold chocolate egg cream. I added the chocolate syrup. I stirred in the milk. I agitated the seltzer and admired the nice white foam. Then I made my fatal mistake. I carried it into the family room, placed it on the ledge of the end table where I had the printer and--

The truth? I don't even know what the hell happened. I've tried to reconstruct the disaster but I can't get beyond seeing myself placing the glass down on the table. The scene jumps from there to floods of egg cream pouring from the printer and flooding over the table and pooling in great sticky ponds of chocolate on the carpet.

I had myself a swell time cleaning up. Did you ever carry a printer upside down, dripping egg cream, to the kitchen sink? Did you ever put your printer in your dish drainer? Did you ever try to pour chocolate egg cream out of your toner cartridge?

Did you ever feel like grabbing your knitting, your laptop, and your American Express card and running away from home?

Welcome to my world.