Driving with the Top Down

Hello everyone!

My summer has started off great-- quality time spent with family and friends, and lots of sunshine. Perfect convertible weather. So far, I've driven to Inlet, Old Forge, and Lake George, all with the top down, at times playing poker with the weather gods. Can I make it to the next stop before that black cloud dumps on me? Yes, I've encountered a sudden shower, but no real damage ever happened. I love to drive with the top down. It's amazing the things you see with an unobstructed view. Course, the trade off, you're exposed to the world. Sorta like writing a romance novel.
Last week I traveled to Dallas, to the annual convention of Romance Writers of America. Imagine 2000 romance writers, mostly female, in one hotel. Then imagine a fire alarm at 2AM. Not a pretty sight for those firemen. We may put our heroine's in sexy lingerie, but as a group, we sleep in bazaar clothing. That's just one of dozens of stories I could tell you, but I'm saving the best ones for future books. HA! Names will remain anonymous, as usual ;)
One of the best parts of the conference, besides an endless supply of chocolate desserts and free books, is making new friends. Judy, Kathy, Melissa, Vicky, Kat, Melanie, Mary and Maddie, thanks to you, this trip was amazing. I hated to leave, and wish we didn't live hundreds of miles away. I hope our paths cross again.
The most nerve wracking, scariest part of the conference, was pitching my books to editors. I am the world's worst pitcher, meaning I can't sum up my 400 page manuscript in two to five sentences, but I'm great at asking for help. And it paid off. Blaze editor Brenda Chin requested the first three chapter of my new manuscript, Run to Me (former Wanted Republican). Yahooooooo!
Wild Rose editor Diana Carlile, requested Never My Love, which is the best news since my present publisher, Triskelion, is having financial problems.
Never My Love will not be coming out in August 2007.
God, that was hard to type. Yes, I'm disappointed, but not discouraged. I'm told by New York Times Best selling author, Maggie Shayne (storybroads.com), that these things happen in the publishing business, and if I want to be part of it, I have to move forward, not look back... just keep writing. And that's what I've been doing since receiving the unfortunate news. Maggie, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your encouragement and support.
So family and friends, I'm spending the rest of my summer vacation working on several news books, with the goal of publishing them someday. Until I have happier publishing news, I'll keep hoping for more sunshine than rain, and driving with the top down, despite a few black clouds.