A Slice of Orange

Living With Abandon

I watched as my cats, Battu and Kiki played a game of attack and chase. First, Battu jumped out at an unsuspecting Kiki, who leaped in the air with wide-eyed astonishment. The chase was on. Cats raced across the couch, thundering like a herd of elephants through the entryway into the family room. Although Kiki tried to act afraid, I could see she was having a great time.

Within moments, they were back. This time Battu was the one in the lead. She leaped onto the ledge of the open-arched window leading from the entryway to the living room, touching down lightly before landing on the carpet. Kiki followed, however her jump wasnâ€™t as true. The loud thud told the story. I peered through the opening to see Kiki sitting on the floor shaking her head after colliding with the wall instead of ending up on the window sill. She sat for a few minutes with a bewildered expression before joining in the game again.

How many times have I been going blithely through life, only to be brought up short by a sudden impact? In my writing, the harsh criticism of a reader or editor can be grievous. In other areas, thoughtless remarks can cut deep and bring me up short.
I try to be like Kiki, allowing the hurt for a moment before shaking it off and starting in again. Collisions may be painful, but living, and writing with abandon is worth doing.

It’s Worth It

GETTING READY FOR CONFERENCE

by Kitty Bucholtz

Can you believe how time flies? The RWA National Conference is only three weeks away! Iâ€™m not ready! I havenâ€™t booked a flight â€“ oh wait, Iâ€™m driving up with my friend Lori. I havenâ€™t booked a hotel room â€“ oh wait, Lori already did that. Can you tell I’m used to doing everything myself? So if everything is in place, why do I feel a little stressed about it?

Thinking about it for five seconds, I realize itâ€™s not the conference so much as the fact that Iâ€™ve been doing a lot of traveling in the last several weeks and Iâ€™m tired. And more than anyone at the conference, the one person I really want to see lives in a suburb outside San Francisco â€“ and is only a couple months old! Once I iron out a time to see little Grace, Iâ€™ll probably be much more relaxed about the whole trip. â˜º

Taking that bit of stress out of the picture, my mind suddenly goes into tentative â€œplayâ€ mode. The last few conferences Iâ€™ve attended Iâ€™ve been one of the presenters. I love teaching, but it does make for an exhausting weekend. This time Iâ€™ll be able to go to any class I want, spend as much time as I like talking to anyone I run across, free of the ticking clock telling me where I have to be and when, free of anyone approaching me in the bathroom with something they want me to read. When I think of it that way â€“ WOO-HOOOOO!!! Now Iâ€™m really beginning to look forward to it!

If you havenâ€™t been to a writers conference yet, I highly recommend doing a bit of research and picking one. As writers, we need to continue to be both teachable and willing to teach others, and writers conferences are often a wonderful way to do both. There is always something you can learn, even if it is only to be reminded of something you once knew, and there is always someone who can use your advice about something.

If you donâ€™t know how to pick a writers conference, or how to prepare, or what to expect, check out my class, â€œGetting Ready for Conference.â€ Itâ€™s an online class with lectures and interactive discussions on everything relating to conferences. Only $15 for two weeks, the class starts this Monday, July 14. See you there â€“ or see you at a writers conference! Theyâ€™re worth it!

Kitty Bucholtz writes romantic comedies because, well, she lives one! She wrote her first book in the NBC cafeteria, the second snowed in at a Reno hotel, and the third from a tiny apartment in Sydney. Even though she loves talking about, writing about, and teaching about writing, sheâ€™s pretty sure she knows at least three people who arenâ€™t writers.

It’s summer, I must be reading…

Whatâ€™s the best thing about vacation time? Uninterrupted, guilt-free reading!

About now, Iâ€™m starting to look at that enormous stack of unread books on my nightstand, on my floor…in my office…the living room…and for the first time in ages, theyâ€™re more than a twinkle in my eye. I will read some of these books! Soon!

Iâ€™m going to tell you some of the vacation reading I have lined up, and I hope youâ€™ll tell me some of yours.

Three to Get Deadly, by Janet Evanovich â€“ I read some of the later Stephanie Plum novels, but only recently read books one and two. Which means I now need to read book three.

Nature Girl, by Carl Hiaasenâ€”I love his books!

Beauvallet, by Georgette Heyerâ€”itâ€™s not a vacation unless I read a Georgette Heyer. I havenâ€™t read this one before, so Iâ€™m looking forward to it, even though itâ€™s not the usual Regency style story, going by the cover blurb.

Mulberry Park, by Judy Duarteâ€”bought this a while back, heard good things, havenâ€™t read it yet.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Husseiniâ€”Iâ€™ve had this a while, but need a decent chunk of time to sit down and read it.

Good at Games, by Jill Mansellâ€”looks like a fun romantic comedy.

Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholicâ€”this one will be a re-read, it makes me laugh every time.

Might pick up a new book by Rhonda Pollero. Cindy Kirk has one out Iâ€™m wanting to read. Iâ€™ll get the latest in this yearâ€™s Harlequin NASCAR series (all linked stories, so far all great) and a few Superromances. Might buy a Jan Karon if I see them in the shopsâ€”the last one I read in the Mitford series was Out to Canaan, canâ€™t remember which one comes next â€“ hopefully itâ€™ll say in the front of the book… On my wishlist: A new Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but I donâ€™t think thereâ€™s one planned.

That ought to keep me busy…but if you think thereâ€™s something I must read, tell me! Or just tell me what you plan to read.
Abby

THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO MMMRUH!

What You Don’t Know

by Geralyn Ruane

â€œHave you ever read anything about Bigfoot not

being able to drive?â€ fromâ€œBigfoot Stole My Wifeâ€ by Ron Carlson

Does Bigfoot exist? How about ghosts? Love at first sight? Angels? Rodents Of Unusual Size? God?

There are tons of people out there who will tell you that Bigfoot is a myth. Others who will say there are no such things as ghosts or angels. Some will claim R.O.U.Sâ€™s donâ€™t exist and still others who will fashion elaborate arguments to disprove the existence of God. And Iâ€™ll never forget that Shakespeare class in college in which scores of students were jumping in to snort that â€œCome on! Thereâ€™s no such thing as love at first sight.â€

But how do all these naysayers know?

Are they truly omniscient? Or are they playing the odds, deciding that an idea is simply too preposterous to credit? But how preposterous is â€œtoo preposterous?â€ A hairy man-beast bushwhacking through the woods of the Pacific Northwest? Heavenly creatures helping out those all across the prairie, from sea to shining sea? A black man running for president?

If you stop thinking you know so much for a sec, isnâ€™t it wonderful how many things in this world are possible?

Maybe ghosts and God and angels and Bigfoot and unicorns and ESP do exist â€“ maybe they donâ€™t. I honestly donâ€™t know. I believe in some of them, not in others. But Iâ€™m not going to turn my beliefs on others and allow my ideas to morph into The Truth, into The Way It Is.

Suppose all those people out there who believe in Bigfoot turned this belief into The Truth â€“ The Bigfoot Is Real Party. Then suppose the Bigfooters decided to disenfranchise, imprison, torture or kill all those people who didnâ€™t believe in Bigfoot, because universal belief in Bigfoot was so very important to them. What a mess. And like Bigfoot would even care.

Itâ€™s the very fact that others are free not to believe in Bigfoot and to live their lives as if Bigfoot does not exist that keeps the beliefs of the Bigfooters safe. The idea that reiki might be good for Sasquatch may be considered silly by some, but allowing for the possibility is what keeps liberty alive.

When she was growing up, Geralyn loved drawing horses and nurtured a huge crush on three members of Duran Duran. But to keep from seeming too painfully clichÃ©, she pretended that she did not like reading the magazine Young Miss. These days she co-hosts the radio show Better Times After 50 on AdviceRadio.com. Her short story â€œJane Austen Meets the New York Giantsâ€ is published in the New York Times Bestselling anthology The Right Words at the Right Time, Volume 2.

So Many Book Events, So Little Time!

Iâ€™ll be at the Romance Writers of America National Conference at the end of this month. Will you?

I also attended Malice Domestic this year, which I have done for the last several years. Itâ€™s for cozy mystery authors and fans, and itâ€™s held near Washington, D.C. Right afterward is the Mystery Lovers Festival in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, just up the river from Pittsburgh, where I grew up. Of course I go there annually, too. Itâ€™s a good excuse to visit family. I was dismayed, though, that Malice conflicted this year with the L.A. Times Festival of Books, which I wound up missing. Theyâ€™re different weekends next year, though, so hopefully Iâ€™ll get to both.

This year the Romantic Times BOOKClub annual conference was also in Pittsburgh, a couple of weeks before Malice. Iâ€™d considered attending, but figured Iâ€™d be better off, time and money-wise, choosing one.

As a mystery writer as well as a romance writer, I find there are a lot of really appealing conferences annually. Next yearâ€™s Left Coast Crime, in February, is in Hawaii. Iâ€™m definitely tempted. This yearâ€™s Bouchercon is yet to come, in Baltimore–near Glen Burnie, where my husband and I have a vacation home. But Iâ€™m unlikely to make it this year because of some other travel plans. I did attend the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago since it coincided with my future daughter-in-lawâ€™s bridal shower in the area–an excellent excuse! Itâ€™s always great when there are additional reasons to choose a particular event. However, I wonâ€™t get to the West Hollywood Book Fair this year since thatâ€™s the weekend my older son is getting married.

Some day, I want to attend ThrillerFest. And to attend the Edgar Week celebrations of the Mystery Writers of America in New York City. And then there are the fun-sounding mini-conferences held by RWA chapters all over the country. And by Sisters in Crime chapters. And–

Well, for this week, at least, Iâ€™ll take a deep breath and be glad to stay home!

Linda O. Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.com
www.KillerHobbies.blogspot.com

Linda O. Johnston is the author of 14 romance novels as well as the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime–and has 2 Silhouette Nocturnes and a Nocturne Bites upcoming!