I’m bad with dates. I admit it. Not sure why, but there’s a reason I have a calendar that reminds me in several ways of various appointments, and even then I’ve been known to miss one because I didn’t check my calendar first thing when I got up. It’s a sickness, I swear.

I have this really BAD tendency to schedule things on the same day without making the connection. If it’s two different worlds (for example, my son’s school schedule and my public appearance schedule), they don’t correlate in my mind. At some point, however, the worlds inevitably cross and I am SO screwed when I realize I’m double-booked.

For the most part this problem has been eradicated by slavish use of an online calendar. But with my life so busy these days, even THAT doesn’t prevent all trouble. Like when my parents stayed longer after Thanksgiving than I’d expected, so I ended up with the following events scheduled on ONE day: their departure (someone had to drive them to the airport), my husband’s dental surgery (someone had to drive HIM to the dentist and back, on account of the drugs), and my own one-year appointment at Duke (which had been set up weeks in advance). Hubby hadn’t bothered to consult with me when he set up his surgery and my parents kind of had no choice, so I was screwed. Fortunately, the appointments were at different times, so somehow I managed to do all three. I ate in the car (twice), and had to really book it to Duke, though. Didn’t get any writing done that day, either. Duh.

So how are you with appointments? Are you better making some than others? What’s the worst appointment mess-up you ever had? Do you ever double-book? And what do you think of the new Dread Pirate Roberts action figure I got for Christmas–isn’t he dreamy??

48 Comments »

Reader expectations can surprise you. I was reminded of this after the release of Wed Him Before You Bed Him. The book ended my School for Heiresses series, about a school run by a widow who had an anonymous male benefactor known only as Cousin Michael (not her real cousin). Their correspondence appeared in epigrams throughout the series, and the last book was to be their story. Along the way, I planted red herring characters, so readers would have fun guessing who Cousin Michael was. One of those, Oliver Sharpe, the Marquess of Stoneville, became extremely popular. And the more e-mails I got about him, the more nervous I became.

Because, you see, I really didn’t want to disappoint readers. But I also had never intended Stoneville to be Cousin Michael. I’d carefully plotted out who Cousin Michael was from the beginning and wasn’t about to change horses midstream. By the time the book came out, my website poll asking who people wanted Cousin Michael to be had Stoneville as a clear frontrunner (by a two to one margin!), and I was a nervous wreck. Of course, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it by then.

Some readers did end up disappointed. Others were upset about who it was only until they discovered they liked who it ended up being.

Fortunately for Oliver’s many supporters, my new series (the Hellions of Halstead Hall) features him and his entire family. In fact, the first book is coming out today–The Truth About Lord Stoneville! So I think readers will be pleased. But the whole experience taught me a valuable lesson—authors can never anticipate exactly what readers will want and they shouldn’t try. It will only make them insane. Why? Because readers don’t all agree. And books written by committee are crap. Trust me on this. You can only write the books in your own head–the ones that please you, the ones you were meant to write–and pray that readers enjoy them, too.

As a reader, I don’t like being at the mercy of the author’s whim. But as an author, I know that’s the only way the system will work. If everybody wrote what I told them to, I would miss out not only on the unique world perspective of the authors I love but also on the original moments and surprising twists they so often deliver . . . the very qualities that keep me turning the pages.

So how do you react when an author defies your expectations? Do you like it? Does it annoy you? Does it keep you from reading them ever again, or do you chalk it up as an aberration and give them another chance? Do you wish authors paid more attention to reader expectations? And if so, what divining rod would you use?

67 Comments »

I’m not good with plants. Okay, that’s an understatement. When plants see me coming, they hide under a rock until I’m gone. The only reason there are lovely jonquils in my garden (I THINK they’re jonquils–hard to know since I know next to nothing about plants) is because the lady who lived in this house before me planted them, and apparently they grow on their own every year (yay!). Every year I walk out and marvel that the jonquils are blooming again (yay!). And that they don’t depend on me for their survival (now you know the real reason I don’t have pets).

Just to emphasize how bad I am with plants–here are some languishing in my house right now:

This jade plant has hung on for three years. It hasn’t gotten any bigger or healthier looking than this.

I made the mistake of cutting back this Dieffenbachia and splitting it into two pots. One half died, and the other looks like this. Sometimes I scare myself.

I’m usually pretty good with pothos, but I forgot this one outside during a freeze. It hasn’t done well ever since.

And yet ….

This is one of my Christmas cactuses. I have seven of them, all thriving. Why? I don’t know. I’m not sure why I’m good with Christmas cactuses, but I am. They all get bigger and more beautiful every year, and when they bloom in winter … they are spectacular! I do try to repot them and fertilize them, but mostly they’re neglected. And they love me. I also have some devil’s ivy, crassula gollum, and a dragon tree that do very well, but my Christmas cactuses are my pride and joy. This year I added two new colors. I can’t wait to see them next winter!

They give me hope that my thumb is brown on only one side. Or maybe only one thumb is brown. I don’t know. Since I’ve killed several other species of plants before them (let’s see–a begonia, two ferns, two ribbon plants, a cilantro plant, some chives, a kalanchoe, a ficus … the list goes on and on and on), I’m not sure this proves much, but boy, can I grow Christmas cactuses!!!

So how are you with the plants? Brown thumb? Green thumb? Mixed bag? Is there one you just seem to be able to do well? And does it make me a bad person that I can’t garden worth a darn?

50 Comments »

I confess I’ve only seen a celebrity in the flesh once, and I’m not completely certain it was her, but I would swear I saw Peri Gilpin (who played Roz on Frasier) in the airport in New Orleans years ago. I considered asking her if it was her and telling her I was a fan of the show and her work, but I was too chicken. Plus, I couldn’t remember her real name–just her character name.

My FATHER, on the other hand, introduced himself to Muhummad Ali in an airport, so he could argue with him about things Ali had said in the media. I wasn’t there, but my younger brother was, and he wanted to kill my dad. He just wanted Ali’s autograph. Both my brothers have met way more celebrities than I have. I guess I’m never in the right place at the right time. Plus, writers spend most of their time cooped up in their office–hard to meet celebrities that way.

Okay, so tell the truth–have you ever seen a celebrity in the flesh? What did you do? Was it a good experience? Bad? Did you get an autograph? Can I have it? (okay, just kidding)

P.S. my new librarian action figure, complete with library and book cart, was a gift from Lynn Eyermann. Thank you, Lynn!! I love it!

73 Comments »

I admit it–I am a fan of action films. Not all of them. Not the Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme ones, for example. But if I’m flipping channels and I come across Speed, you can be sure I’ll watch at least a little of it. Explosions! Car chases! Good guys winning! What’s not to like?

My favorites tend to fall into four categories:

a) Police/crime action–Die Hard, the aforementioned Speed (Keanu Reeves, yum!), First Blood (the original Rambo film), the Lethal Weapon movies

b) Scifi (action with a space alien twist)–The Matrix (more Keanu Reeves, yum!), Independence Day, Aliens (or is that horror?), the Terminator movies, Jurassic Park (all three of them)

c) Comic–the Charlie Angels movies, Men in Black (both 1 and 2), Beverly Hills Cop, True Lies (which I watched for about the fifteenth time the other night)

d) Comic BOOK–Spiderman, Batman Forever, X-Men, Superman

The best ones usually have a romance of some kind, but it’s not the center of the story.

Oddly enough, Hubby HATES action films, mostly because he’s so literal. He can’t suspend his disbelief. He can only do that while watching comedies (because they’re already supposed to strain credulity for the purpose of humor). For him, only comedies and documentaries are interesting, with the occasional drama or indie film thrown in.

So I watch all my action films alone while he rolls his eyes. It used to be that women didn’t watch many action films, but I’m finding more and more women who like these movies. Could it be that we are ALL fascinated by explosions, car chases, and mayhem? Or is it just the hunky guys that we women watch them for? I don’t know the answers, but I’m willing to pursue the line of inquiry.

So tell me–do you enjoy action films? And if you do like them, what is it about them that you like? Do you prefer any particular kind? If they don’t have any romance, do you lose interest? Which are your favorites and which ones did you think sucked bigtime (hello, sequels to Matrix and Speed)?

48 Comments »

Okay, maybe not everything, but a lot. And since her birthday is coming up in a month, I thought I’d share. For example, I learned:

1. Rich men need wives, too.
2. Nothing complicates a plot better than a wayward sister.
3. Love should never be too easy.
4. Nothing is funnier than a man of low degree who thinks too much of himself
5. Even funnier is a woman of high degree who thinks too much of herself
6. Weddings make satisfying endings to books.
7. Sometimes the bonds of family chafe, which is where the hero comes in.
8. Sometimes friends don’t know what’s best for you.
9. Sometimes family does.
10. Talking trash about a woman in her hearing is a guaranteed way to delay your HEA for … oh, at least 300 pages.
11. Colin Firth, Matthew MacFadyen, and Jeremy Northam are HOT! Oh, wait, I didn’t exactly learn that from Jane, but it’s true.

So what have YOU learned from Jane Austen? For that matter, what have you learned from reading romance? The names of those who comment will be put into a drawing for an autographed copy of Snowy Night with a Stranger. And whoever’s comment I deem the best will win an autographed copy of the galley for my upcoming book, The Truth about Lord Stoneville.

77 Comments »

Supposedly I’m not alone. Studies show that people tend to marry someone like their father/mother, and it’s just as often the same sex parent as not. In my case, I married my mother. It kind of makes sense, since I’m practically a clone of my dad in personality.

I should have realized I was marrying my mother when, right before the wedding, my mom expressed concern about my husband-to-be being too “negative” and my first reaction was to think, “that’s not only the pot calling the kettle black, but calling it metal and round as well.” I pointed out that my sunny personality might brighten his negativity, and she said, “it doesn’t work that way.”

Maybe not, but I’ve been happily married for 25 years now to Mr. Curmudgeon, just as my dad has been married for 50 years to Mrs. Curmudgeon, and both Dad and I are still sunny optimists.

When we’re all four together as couples, it’s pretty funny (yes, that’s a recent pic of me and my parents–hubby was home with only son). Mom and my dh are in the corner comparing notes about how we drive them crazy, while Dad and I are laughing at how uptight they can be.  Dad and I are both ADD extroverts; Mom and DH are both … not, thank God. They keep us focused and remind us of the important things. Mom and DH tolerate people for their jobs or for us, so they’re the ones begging us to leave when Dad and I are lingering at a party.

Of course, there are differences. Mom doesn’t like clutter; DH lives in a perpetual whirlwind of clutter. Dad has more of temper than I do; I get my feelings hurt more easily than he does. But there are more similarities than differences. And DH’s cynicism and my overly optimistic outlook balance each other out, so I don’t mind that he’s like Mom. He “gets” me … and I “get” him.

What about you? If you’re married or dating, did you choose someone like one of your parents? If you did, did it work out or was it disastrous? I gather it can go either way–sometimes you repeat a bad pattern; other times you find your soulmate as a result. If you aren’t married or dating, do you think you’d choose someone like one of your parents, and if so, which one?

30 Comments »