Harry Potter!

To say that I am excited about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a major understatement! My kids are excited about this book, too! We are going to our local Barnes and Noble this evening to celebrate the release of the book and to purchase it at midnight! My children have been to the Harry Potter release parties in the past. One vaguely remembers and the other was an infant so definitely does not remember being there. They have been looking forward to this as much - and possibly even more - as I have. They came to me earlier in the week and said that they didn't have Harry Potter t-shirts for the party and could we please get some. OF COURSE I said yes and we went shopping for them. So tonight we'll all be wearing our new Harry Potter t-shirts and celebrating the release of the new book.

I heard someone talking about the Harry Potter excitement on the radio today. She said with so many disheartening things going on in the world it is so nice to see so many people excited about reading and getting a book. I completely agree with her! Also, I read that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the highest selling book (at Barnes and Noble, at least) since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released nine years ago. To me that is an amazing fact! So, is anyone else excited about this book? If so, are you going to any of the celebrations or buying it at midnight?

Crochet dream catcher

Emily from The Loopy Stitch shared a gorgeous pattern for the above Dream Catcher. It looks complicated but it was actually very easy! Her pattern is perfect and the directions to attach it to the loop are clear and concise. I'm in love with this and will definitely be making more!

Baseball

We went to the baseball game tonight. The Angels played the Red Sox. The Angels won 2 - 1. They scored both of their runs in the ninth inning. The Red Sox scored their run in the third inning. We almost left at the bottom of the eighth but my husband wanted to stay. To say that it was an amazing end to the game would be an understatement. 

Wordless Wednesday: A beautiful book

Teaser Tuesdays: Troublemaker by Linda Howard

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 41 of Troublemaker by Linda Howard:

The house she hadn't wanted was now home. She was comfortable there, even though hands-down she would have preferred a condo in a city. 

Musing Mondays: Favorite 'chunky' book

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: What’s your most favorite “chunky” book? (over 500 pages)

I have more than one 'chunky' book that I adore. However, the one that comes to mind right away is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The hardcover comes in at 652 pages. I have no idea how many pages the paperback is but I assume more than that. Of course, I have Harry Potter on thebrain since the new book/play comes out on Sunday. My kids and I are all excited to get our hands on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

Reading outdoors

Yes, it's another shot from our trip to the beach the other day. However, this particular image made me think about how much I love to read outdoors. I love to read wherever and whenever but there is something so special and extra relaxing to me about reading outdoors. At the beach it's the sound of the ocean crashing ashore. On my back patio it's the hummingbirds I get to listen to in the morning. In the mountains it can be an array of sounds - animals, creek water, the breeze rustling the trees. Of course, mixed in with all of it is often the laughter (and yes, interruptions) of my children. I admit I don't get a lot of reading done when we're in the outdoors together because I want to participate in whatever activity we're doing but I do always have a book (or my e-reader) with me. For example, when we went to the beach the other day I think I managed three pages. Still, I love reading outdoors. How about you? Is there a special, relaxing place that you love to read?

Back to the Beach

I wish my family and I were at the beach right now. It is SO HOT here! Yes, I know it's summer time. It's supposed to be hot but still, the beach is paradise during these sweltering days of summer. Also, we had a really great and relaxing family day at the beach. Those kind of days are my favorite.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at Laguna Beach

Teaser Tuesdays: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Nook page 68 of Susan Mallery's Thrill Me:

"I'm sorry," she told him. "About what happened. About what I said. I know it's too late and that hearing it now doesn't change anything, but I want you to know, I lied."

Musing Mondays: New books

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Finish the sentence: “If _____ and _____ were to get together and write a book…”

I was reading through the list of prompts above and thought I didn't buy any books in the past week because I was at the RWA conference. However, that is not at all true because I went to the Literacy Autographing last Wednesday and bought books there. I bought The Obsession by Nora Roberts and she signed it. I already have the book on my Nook but of course I wanted to meet her and have her sign it so now I have it in hardcover, as well. I'm perfectly all right with this too because it is a great book. Plus, I met Nora Roberts! Yes, I am still giddy about that!

I also bought two books by Jill Shalvis at the Literacy Autographing: Nobody but You and Sweet Little Lies. I haven't read either of these and I'm excited to get into them in the near future. Jill Shalvis was also very nice and signed my books. It was quite the fun experience and definitely my fangirl moment(s) at the conference. 

So happy to be home

The RWA conference was amazing. I learned a lot and am ready to get back to my writing. That being said, I am so thrilled to be home! I'm happy to see my husband! I'm happy to see my kids! I'm also happy about sleeping in my own bed! In fact, I already had a nap earlier this afternoon and it was wonderful! 

Pretty pool at our hotel

THe RWA conference is complete for this year. It was amazing on so many levels. I'm so grateful to have gone to this conference and I will most likely be sharing the things I learned. I will say that I feel so positive about my journey and my path as a writer. I'm excited and ready to get back to work. 

Cool view in San Diego

First Timer

I am so incredibly happy with how the Romance Writers of America annual conference is going so far! There are two more full days of it but it has been such a great experience already. I am hopeful that the remainder of the conference will be as great.

This morning I listened to a presentation by Jaci Burton and Jill Shalvis on keeping a Series Bible. It was fantastic! I have a lot of work to do when I go home. I have written several books of my series now. I took a break from it though because I became overwhelmed trying to go through previous books to find details on characters that I had forgotten. When I go home I will go through my books one by one and create my Series Bible because I'm sold on the fact that it will become an invaluable writing tool.

Tomorrow morning I am going to listen to a Chat with Nora Roberts. I am so excited about this, too! I met her at the Literace Autographing charity yesterday and she was so kind. I met Jill Shalvis also and she was super nice, too. Hey, I had to have my fan girl moments. After all, writers start off as fans first.

Wordless Wednesday: Readers for Life Literacy Autographing

Teaser Tuesday: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Nook page 49 of Susan Mallery's Thrill Me:

Ten years ago he would have sworn that he would never forgive her for what she'd said. For how she'd rejected him. For lying. Now he searched for residual anger or resentment and there wasn't any.

Setting - Boston

I miss Boston. I lived there for a little over four years with my best friend. We were younger and single, college age. I love my life now and my husband and my kids mean the world to me. Still, sometimes I feel really nostalgic for Boston. So, in order to help me with this latest bout of walking down memory lane I have set my latest book in Boston.

When I first started writing the book the city I had it set in was vague. Then it hit me that Boston would be a great setting for the journey my characters were taking. So I started adding in what I think of as the flavor of Boston. I decided that it is Autumn in my story and that aded automatic dimension in my opinion. I could - and did - describe the colors and the sound the leaves make under boots as they crunch. I wrote about stepping outside when a scarf and mittens are in order but a huge coat is not. You can get by with a thick sweater over a t-shirt. Now I'm about to write a scene that will include the fireplace and the snap of real wood as it heats and warmth fills the room.

I know, I know, it's summer time. Believe me, I'm thrilled that it is summer (and that I don;t have to shovel snow in February anymore) but in my story my characters are enjoying all that Boston offers in mid to late Autumn - therefore, so am I.

"Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing

RWA Itinerary

I am going to the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference this coming week. I am really excited about it because this is my first time going. They offer a 'First Timers'' orientation which my friend and I are definitely going to attend. However, as I was looking through all the workshops they will be offering I began to feel slightly overwhelmed about it. I had this vision of myself standing in the middle of the hotel feeling lost and out of sorts. I'm sure that won;t be the case but still - I decided to make myself an itinerary.

There are over one hundred workshops to choose from, Keynote speakers, an awards ceremony and other events along with all of the networking opportunities. I want to make the best of this conference and get the most out of it that I can. With this in mind I sat down the other night and started reading about every workshop that is going to be available. I made choices for each time slot. For the majority of them I was able to choose easily. However, there are a few time slots where I am interested in more than one class. In fact, there is one where I like the sound of four of the classes! Obviously I can only go to one but I love that there is so much to choose from. I feel better having it narrowed down and things written down.

I'm really looking forward to the conference and will share more about it when I can.

Choice

I remember being told when I was a kid to 'make good choices'. Of course I had to learn about good choices by making some bad ones - that's part of life and part of growing up. It seems to me that there are a lot of people making really bad choices in our world right now, though. Every day it seems that there is another heartbreak that could have been avoided if someone had made the opposite choice. I believe in the good in people and tell my kids to look for it while still counseling them to be cautious with their safety. I have to focus on the positive for my own sanity but I admit to a desire to yell at some people to 'make goo choices'! Okay, stepping off of my soapbox now. 

Summer humor

We had a barbeque with friends and our family tonight. The food was excellent and the company even better. However, the only picture anyone managed to take was this one - the of the hot dogs before they were grilled. I don't know why exactly but I think this is so funny.

Wordless Wednesday: Pretty flowers from my walk

Teaser Tuesday: Kiss Me by Susan Mallery

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 95 of Susan Mallery's Kiss Me:

The simple statement caught her unaware. With a few words, he expressed a vulnerability that made her heart squeeze, even as her hormones hummed a Dixie Chicks song about cowboys and being taken away. 

Happy 4th of July

Have a happy and safe day and night. 

Spears of sunlight

I love how this photo turned out. This was taken down close to the beach this evening. There's no filter and nothing changed here. I love how dominant the ray looks. 

Gentle reminder

This is a good reminder for me today. Every day that I work toward achieving my goal is one day closer toward getting there. Every word written is one word closer.

Hello July

Where did June go? Better yet, where id the first half of 2016 go to so quickly? My goodness time is whizzing by! I have to say that I love July, though. For some reason, more than any other month, July says summer to me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that as a kid we usually took family vacations in July. Those vacations were almost always road trips to see family. While seeing family we would celebrate summer birthdays along with the Fourth of July. We'd have barbeques, beach days, camping trips and so much fun as a family ad with extended family. 

This July will be very similar to that of my childhood. We will be camping (hopefully) with our kids, cooking over the BBQ, going to the beach, the pool and even a small family road trip. I can't wait to share all of this with my husband and our children.