Last night I went to a friend’s house; we cooked dinner, played with her 21 month old daughter, planned Thanksgiving dinner, and shared favorite Christmas memories. Our hubbies were in NY for the Grand Opening of the Via Spiga Store in Soho. (If you find yourself in NY, stop in to see their incredible creation.) Our guys lead the team of talented people who created the vision and then brought it to life. All I can say is WOW!! (You can check out the website, too — www.viaspiga.com) Let us know what you think.

Christmas traditions vary from family to family, but our childhood memories were very similar … going to bed with barely anything under the tree, and waking up very early in the morning to see the mound of gifts left by Santa. I loved sitting in the dark and watching the tinsel glisten as it caught whatever light was available. My brother and I would look at all the tags and try to guess what was inside each package, then we would take our stockings into my room and play with all the goodies until Mom & Dad got up. (I have to give my parents credit - they knew just how to keep us occupied, so they could sleep in a bit.) We’d have croissants and cafe au lait before presents were handed out … and one by one, we’d take turns opening them until there was nothing left wrapped. Then it was play time … It was a huge deal for both of our families.     

We talked about how some of those traditions along with our husbands’ memories created our own family favorites. It brought to mind the “building memories” I mentioned in an earlier post. They have a little one, so they’re still building traditions … we, on the other hand, have cemented many of our special moments. Though I’m sure those will change when our son & daughter-in-law have children. One more set of family favorites will be stirred into the mix, building even more memories for the future. Ah - the Holidays, they make me feel all warm & fuzzy inside!

On the way home, I drove on empty streets listening to Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway - track three, (You want to) make a memory brought tears to my eyes. It is such a beautiful song and it tied up the end of the evening perfectly. I was thinking nothing could top this, when I pulled onto my street and looked up to see the moon - it’s huge, brilliant glow lighting my way. It looked like someone had taken a pair of sissors and cut it in half … I was so moved, I called my friend and told her to go outside to look at it. Amazing, isn’t it, how a moment in time touches you?

What are your favorite memories or traditions? Will you build new ones this Holiday Season? Who will you share them with? Happy Holidays, my friends - with love, Christine.

    

I’ve had an awesome week - and it’s not done yet. I was asked to moderate a PRO bootcamp for RWA’s PRO-class. PRO’s in the organization are writers who have finished at least one manuscript and had the guts to send it out to agents and editors. Not yet, published, we have shown our tenacity that we mean business and plan to get published. So, what is a Bootcamp? It is a week-long lecture series conducted by a guest speaker (usually a published author) to help the PRO group learn about the publishing business. Topics vary, but they are always informative and there is an open forum for comments and questions, which the guest speaker replies to.

This week’s Bootcamp: “PREPARING FOR THE CALL: An insider’s Guide to Agents, Editors, Contracts, and the Publishing Process” with Guest Speaker: 2008 RITA Winner - Kristan Higgins. (Kristan won for Best Single Title Contemporary Romance - CATCH OF THE DAY is the book that won - congrats!)

What is a RITA, you wonder? Well, you know what an Oscar is, right? Think of that cute little gold statue in the form of a woman - in what looks like, the thinking pose. It is a prestigious award won each year by a published author in a specific category. BTW - the award ceremony is to die for!! Long gowns, lavish decorations, a spectacular show — mc’d by a famous author. (It’s a dream for many - and for some, it does come true! Kristan is proof of that.)

So - back to the Bootcamp. As Moderator, it is your responsibility to invite the guest speaker to participate. I was lucky enough to meet Kristan at the National Conference in San Francisco in July. She saved the day by agreeing to participate. (I owe her big-time!) You then post the lectures to the loop, manage the incoming questions and comments, and post the replies - oh my, what if I screwed up? I really was worried that I would somehow blow-up the cyber-world of our loop - but so far, so good! We’ve had tremendous participation with excellent questions — and much appreciation for Kristan, who took time out of her busy schedule to do this for us! I, for one, have learned quite a bit about once you get the call - what to expect from your agent and editors as your baby gets ready to hit the shelves. I will be forever grateful to know these things before actually going through the process.

I - like all the PROs who participated - hope for the day when we can put these little gems of wisdom to work. Until then, I’m off to collect more comments and questions — Kristan’s Bootcamp ends tomorrow (Friday) at 6 pm est. This has been such a thrill … Hugs, Christine.

 

I flew into Newark on Friday to attend the NJRW, Put Your Heart in a Book, Conference. This would be my third year, and I was looking forward to a weekend of learning, pitching, and visiting with some of my favorite writer friends. As usual, my organized self, pulled up the web page, typed out the hotel address on an index card - to hand to the taxi driver for ease of communication. The flight was uneventful, the wait for the taxi minimal, and the ride to the hotel fast! I commented on this and the driver said, “Oh, no traffic, M’am.”

As he turned into the parking lot, I looked around. This didn’t look like last year’s hotel - had they changed the location? The driveway that leads to the front door was taped off with yellow caution tape - a sure sign something was wrong, but he dropped me off none-the-less, pointing at the sidewalk. “It should just be up there.” I wheeled my bag toward the door, only to find that blocked off as well. Lots of yellow caution tape! So - I circled around to the back. I’d go through the conference center side. Easy enough - I walk to the lobby, which was quite opulent compared to the yellow tape, and gave my name at the desk.

The young girl shook her head - so I mentioned that I was rooming with someone and gave her name. Nope, neither name listed. Then her eyes opened wider and she said, “Are you with the Romance Writer’s Conference?” “Yes,” I answered. All was not lost. She reached beneath the counter and handed me a pre-typed slip of paper - just as two girls came over to the desk. Typed on the paper - the directions to the correct hotel. I was at the wrong one! I could tell from their faces, they were, too.

“Well, I’ll need to call a cab,” I said. And one of the two girls said, “You’re family, you can ride with us.” We introduced ourselves and headed for their car. The one driving (I’ll call her Kat) typed the address into her cute little GPS … Can not identify!  The other girl (I’ll call her Gem) said, “I’ll read, you drive.”

Forty minutes later as we’re turning around for the fifth time, Gem now driving, the not-so-cute-little GPS, now exasperated with our attempts to find the conference center cross streets - sounds off, “No. No. NO!” Have I gotten in the car with non-romance writers? Was this a joke? Many scenerios began popping into my head. As a writer, I make things up, so it didn’t surprise me that stories started playing in my brain. When I began reciting one outloud - the girls jumped in with their own versions. Between the three of us, with many fits of laughter, we created a wicked funny comedy, a nail-biting suspense, and a hmm-could-it-be? paranormal, and for Kat, a freaky YA.

We finally made it to the right hotel and conference center, exchanged cards, and promised to look for each other over the weekend. It isn’t that huge a conference, I was sure we’d bump into each other a few times over the next few days. Strangely enough, I never saw them again. Hmm? Spooky.      

A friend and I were talking the other day about the importance of ‘building memories’ - the things that stay with us in our hearts long after the actual moment has faded. As autumn blusters in, with the holidays literally just around the corner, one of my favorites comes to mind. Our son was 14 and we were living in Northern California, so my husband and I decided we would rent a cabin in Yosemite for New Year’s. We were hoping for snow on the ground and a huge fireplace to warm ourselves in front of.    

At the time, I was the General Manager of a large department store and I found these cute jewel encrusted champagne flutes for ninety-eight cents each. Oh, yeah, a bargain - but one seized with the ‘building memories’ in mind. Wouldn’t it be fun to pop open a bottle of champagne, enjoy it and then throw the glasses into the fire. Crash - Happy New Year. We’d feel like the Greeks, who smash plates after dinner. And remember, after all, they were only ninety-eight cents a piece.

So - we have this plan. And we’re going to enjoy it. And Michael’s into it, too. Until New Year’s Eve - after we’ve sipped on our chilled bubbly, and none of us have the heart to break these cute little glasses. (I’m laughing now, because it was too funny. We just couldn’t do it.) We washed the glasses and brought them home with us — and we still talk about that night.

To date - those three “cheap” glasses have moved all over the world with us … they now reside in our Florida home, where we pull them out to celebrate another New year … How’s that for building memories?   

Last Sunday, I was invited to watch the last stage (stage 7) of the Tour of Missouri from the Columbia tent - they sponsor George Hincapie’s team. I’m a huge fan, so this was a treat. As it turned out, not only did we meet up with the Columbia people, we all ended up in the VIP tent right at the start/finish line. As we entered the tent, we were handed goodie bags filled with all kinds of wonderful things, including a “Tour” wine glass … for the free wine in the tent!

We found a small round table close to the line and stood to watch the five laps of the race … of course, cheering and ringing our cow bells for the Columbia cycling team. Mark Cavendish (team Columbia) sprinted for the finish and was just edged out, but he managed to keep the green sprinter’s jersey with his overall time! Yeah, Mark! And Bernie Eisel (team Columbia) was awarded the red ‘most agressive rider’ jersey. So two of our guys ended up in jerseys. Woohoo.

After seven stages, here is how the win unfolded. Christian Vande Velde from team Garmin-Chipolte won the yellow jersey, with our guy, Micheal (Mic) Rogers in second, and Svein Tuft from team Symmetrics rounding out third. It was an exciting day, and I was so grateful to Columbia for inviting me to share it this way … (Thanks Barry!) but to my surprise, we weren’t done yet.

As we were heading back to our cars, we got invited to the team dinner. Well, I imagined a large room, lots of round tables that seat ten, and the “team” sitting at the front of the room on a stage, so that we would be with them, but not really. Not so - we walk into the restaurant and into the room. Tiny with intimate tables for four … in walks George Hincapie and he sits one table away. Then the rest of the guys wonder in and sprinkle themselves around the room. I spoke with the team Director and the mechanic throughout dinner, and then with each of the team members as I got their autographs. It was a relaxed atmospere, very comfortable though I still feel I dreamt the whole thing. A friend took pictures so I could remember this day forever, and prove to my husband, who was out of the country that I did indeed have dinner with the team!

What an experience! Who knew that the day would turn out this way? I’m still floating, can you tell? Have you experienced something spectacular? If so, I’d love for you to share … Things like this don’t happen every day.

Hugs - Christine   

We held our breaths as we watched Ike climb over Cuba, the Keys, and head for the Gulf. To all of my friends in Texas and the neighboring areas, my heart goes out to you. Whether you hunkered down or evacuated, what’s left in his wake is horrific. Looking at the news and seeing more and more of the devastation, makes me realize just how tenuous we truly are. 

It breaks my heart to see the suffering and the loss - there are really no words to comfort in such a disaster. I just want you to know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families. May your strength keep you moving forward as  the rebuilding begins and may you find peace in the arms of your loved ones.  Hugs - Christine