RWA week....

For those involved in romance writing,the Romance Writers of America National Conference week is notorious, glorious, exhausting, exhilarating, informative, fun and just plain overwhelming!

Two thousand plus (about 98% women) gather to talk about the business of writing, learn new techniques and tricks, hone their skills, talk to friends, meet fans, eat crazy things at all hours, go to parties, see the city and snatch a few hours sleep now and then. The majority are authors, but agents, editors, publishers, marketers and more also make up the total.

Though the main functions are Thursday morning to Saturday night, there are special functions on Wednesday, and often Tuesday and people can start coming in on Monday to get the lay of the land before everything starts up.

If you are in NYC this week there is a Book Signing on Wednesday for Literacy. Here are the details:  An impressive list of authors donate their time--and big thanks to the volunteers and publishers who make it all work! The money donated goes to literacy causes, and the total donation will probably be over a million dollars in the next three years.

Brava!

And if you're interested in learning more about RWA, go to the website. There are probably local chapters wherever you are in North America, and also twenty or so online and special interest chapters you can join.

And if you're in NYC this week, do look me up at the hotel! Like many, I'll probably be circling around the lobby area...

Enjoy!

Friday Photos- at the beach

Am in Cape May with friends--it's a lovely town in south (south south) Jersey. Last stop before Delaware! It used to be a vacation home for the NY wealthy, and is filled with gorgeous Victorian houses (now B&Bs mainly), quaint shops, and people from all over. Highly recommend it! We had one bad day--but even that had a beautiful moment like below....

Friday Photos - Hibiscus on a hill

We did a family cruise a few years ago--well, three quarters of the family as my nephew was born as we passed under the Verazzano Bridge! :) 

I loved being on the boat, actually, and would go back again. But Bermuda was also a great place to visit! The building roofs were white, the buildings were colorful, the sky was blue, and the flowers were incredibly vivid!

So here's to a great memory--which is all wrapped up with another great one welcoming Keir! :) I'll always remember the dates for both. 

Friday Photos - Statue of Liberty

This is an unretouched photo--the sky was actually that pink that evening! We'd taken a boat tour of the harbor (this was when the waterfalls were staged around downtown) and we passed by the statue as the sky was glowing in this color. It didn't last too long, but oh, how beautiful it was!

Friday Photos -

This is a version of a view I see often when I'm in Perth--my sister and her family live on the right, and the town of Perth is off to the left. So we walk across the bridge quite often! But I'd never really gone on the North Inch (the grassy area to the left) before. But this time, there were rugby practices, bike rides, rambles and more. It's a beautiful, welcoming area in the spring, and it was nice to enjoy an area I hadn't seen before! 

Friday Photos - Irn Bru dress

I have worked on two books in the past year that referenced Irn Bru, a gingery, orangey, spicy soda that is supposedly the national soda of Scotland. I've had it a few times, and each time I don't see the appeal--but then I give it another try! 

In any case, I spotted this in the window of a shop (which I cannot recall the name of at the moment, but it's next to the Jannetta's Ice Cream. We'd gone on the afternoon of the second beautiful spring day only to find they were actually out of ice cream! 

But not to worry, we came back another day. :)

Friday Photos - Orchids

I've tried to grow orchids and failed on numerous occasions (though my last one lasted for five months and did a re-bloom. I was so pleased!). But these are the trickier ones that you've got to care for more carefully.

I saw these in Las Vegas on a vacation a few years ago, and loved the vividness of the pinks and whites and hints of reds  against the green ferny background!

Struck by lightening?

Another error that isn't caught by spell check is lightning vs lightening.

I think it's mostly because our minds tend to automatically fill in the meaning. Still, it's worth doing a search before you send your manuscript off!

If something is getting brighter whether in color or mood or attitude, it is lightening (to be grammatically specific, it's the present participle of  "to lighten"). If there's a flash in the night, a storm, or a strike of brilliance, it's lightning (usually a noun).

Sometimes the distinctions can seem subtle, but the savvy reader will spot the errors!

Friday Photos - daffodils in Perth

I was visiting Perth in April, and there were lovely fields of Daffodils along the Inch (along the river Tay). I wanted to have my nephews sit in the midst of the flowers, but rugby field was far too tempting (though I did bribe them for some action photos another day!).

After three trips at Christmas time, it was truly glorious to see Perth in sun and warmth and flowers. Gorgeous! 

TV Catch-up - La Femme Nikita

Starring Peta Wilson, Roy Dupuis, Eugene Robert Glazer, Alberta Watson

They are dangerous, deadly, deceptive and devastating!

I was a huge fan of La Femme Nikita when it was on TV originally (1997-2001). I loved the Nikita and Michael dynamic as well as the twisty plotting and edgy stories. So about six months ago I got all the DVDs and started watching them. They were my kitchen watching, so it was a bit sporadic at times, depending on how I felt about cooking! :)

So I've just finished the series (including cancelled scenes and commentaries when available), and though I can see the flaws a little more clearly when watching episodes back to back rather than years apart, I also respect the chances they took in story-telling, character development. Though Nikita was often manipulated, deceived and vulnerable physically and emotionally, she also turned into a real kick-ass, confident, calculating and powerful woman. 

The tech, after fifteen years, was far ahead of its time because it rarely seemed quaint (except for in the early years when they used disks and thumb drives to get into computers!). 

There were still some head-scratchers (if I was in a terrorist cell and met a blonde named Nikita, I'd be tempted to shoot first and ask questions later! She and Michael rarely used other names--except for Josephine, which is so delicious when Roy Dupuis says it!). And the twists and turns went improbable at times, and the good guys and bad guys were sometimes hard to distinguish. But they also lost characters, took chances and got injured. There were repercussions to what happened.

There were other far-fetched options - slight spoilers ahead! -- (Michael with wife and kid, frequent betrayals between Michael and Nikita, the reprogramming elements, and escapes and returns and so forth) but also delicious twists (Nikita's escapes and returns, Birkoff and Walter, Mr Jones and such). The first two and a half seasons were the best I think, though there are standouts in each season.

I am amazed by the ruthlessness in the overall actions of Section One and Operations but that Nikita kept trying to see and save the individual in the greater scheme was incredibly integral to each episode. And sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she failed, and sometimes it came back to bite her. 

And they subscribed to the less is more with dialogue (except Operations when giving background as the actor commented!), with Michael saying the very least. Yet even at other moments, the emotion and strength that was conveyed by Michael and Nikita with a look, a touch, an avoidance and a tilt of the head was quite palpable.

In any case, if you like cool, classy, violent stories with a romantic edge, sophisticated, sometimes crazy clothes, electronic/pop music that fits the mood and fantastic actors who really inhabit the roles, be sure to check the series out and let me know what you think!