Just a flyby to let everyone know the reviews for The Power of Love are trickling in and–WOW!!! I’ve posted a couple of them on the main page beneath the cover if you’re interested. Remember, all agent and author earnings go to the Hamilton County Battered Women’s Shelter. This is such a great cause and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Kay :wave2:

Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately. Things snowballed and there hasn’t been a lot of time to do much of anything but write and toss some food at the fam every now and again.

Summer’s almost here, officially today–although you can’t tell by the temps outside. The kids are almost out of school for the summer and it’s time to figure out what to get the teachers. Any suggestions? I’d love to hear them. I’d also like to hear about your plans for summer. Are you doing anyting special?

Kay :kitty:

Whoo-hoo! You all know I joined Weight Watchers at the beginning of the year. Well, I weighed in last night and after a month and a half of NO progress, I finally hit my 25 pound mark! :cheer: Almost to my goal! Now to figure out a way of maintaining it. Have any of you maintained your weight loss for a long time? How do you do it? I’d appreciate any advice.

And for those of you working to lose weight right now–YOU CAN DO IT!!! Just keep going. I’ve been tempted to throw in the towel quite a few times (especially when my FIL gifted my fam with a 5 POUND chocolate bar from Hershey.) That was just cruel, don’t you think?!

Kay – off to the treadmill

HIS PERFECT WOMAN is a BOOK BUYERS BEST finalist! Whoo-hoo!

Contests are so subjective. You never know what your score might be when you get them back. I entered the RITA contest this year and have to admit to being disappointed by not finaling (Yeah, I know, it’s too much to hope for two years in a row but wouldn’t that have been cool?!) because I thought I had a decent shot at it. But to show you JUST HOW SUBJECTIVE contest scoring can be, HIS PERFECT WOMAN received a 9 (the highest) and a 1 (the lowest).

Um…a 1? I’ve judged the RITAs ever since becoming published and I’ve gotta tell you. I’ve *never* scored a book a 1. To me, a 1 is a book that shouldn’t be in print in the first place because it’s in such bad shape craft-wise. Grammar, sentence structure… all those things that pull a reader out of the story and make it hard to finish. To me, that’s a 1. Obviously this judge thought differently.

And since I’m trying to stay focused on positive things, I’m particularly partial to the 9. I think I’ll just erase that other number from my mind. Obviously they have no idea what a good book is, right?

So, if you’re a writer entering contests etc, here’s my advice: remember that there are things out of your control. I wish I’d kept my $40 and not bothered entering for a 1, but I also know that with a different judge, I could’ve gotten another 9–or another 1–and THAT is totally out of my control. You have to roll with the punches and keep going, otherwise you’ll never make it. Writers must have thick skins and let me tell you, in the three years since I published mine has grown quite calloused.

It also helps that the book that received a 1 has finaled in one of RWA’s most prestigious chapter contests. Those OCC judges know their stuff, eh?

Grow those thick skins–and celebrate the small stuff! Life is too short not to.

Kay- feeling sentimental today

That’s become my battle-cry whine this week. On Monday the dh was off and to get up and MOVE, we headed outdoors to clean up the landscaping we haven’t touched in, oh… a year. Now the outside looks so much better–and I can’t move! :baby: LOL I didn’t know I had muscles there. Ugh. The worst part was that yesterday I spent the day in my chair working–which meant every time I got up I felt those sore, achy muscles all over again. I think someone needs more exercise.

But outside my office window I now have a gorgeous arbor my dh built about five years ago, two bright pink Knock-out roses, a newly planted Eureka yellow rose and sunflower hummingbird feeder. I need to get another rose (sensing a theme here?) to fill in a bare spot and the view from my window will be gorgeous.

Office remodel progress: None. *double sigh* It’s supposed to rain this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed that it does! (Then the dh won’t have an excuse not to lay the tile! anhit:

Deadline book progress: 2/3 finished on the second draft–which means I still have a third/polishing draft to go. But I’m getting closer!

I promised pictures of the Chicago Spring Fling Conference and I downloaded them but I haven’t had a chance to load them into the blog. It’s so time consuming and right now time is in short supply. I’ll load as soon as I get the second draft done, that way it’ll give me a break from it before I start the third.

Books I’m reading: Catherine Anderson’s Keegan’s Lady, Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Natural Born Charmer and a book on writing–shoot, can’t remember the name of it.

Have a great day!

Kay