(R.H. Herron)
A lovely paragraph from Annie, who takes care of her mother who has Alzheimer's:
Last night Mom and I were getting ready for bed. We were standing at the bathroom sink, and Mom was washing my hands. I've discovered that this is much easier than me trying to wash her hands. In the end, we both have clean hands, and I think Mom gets a sense of accomplishment out of it.
From her blog, Maple Corners.
Hoo boy. Sleepy Rachael checking in. I've just spent eight hours, ass in chair, working. God bless Mac Freedom — I'd log myself off the internet for an hour at a time, then when the time was up I'd check to make sure the internet was still there, send emails and tweets, and then I'd hop back on for another locked-out hour.
I got a hell of a lot done today, which is exactly what I needed.
Also, I worked listening to the sound of rain, as suggested by one of my PensFatales, Gigi Pandian. I like noise to cover up the sounds of the house, dogs walking, cats falling off stuff, cars going by, but I can never find exactly the right soundtrack, and personally, music can affect the mood of my writing.
But rain? Thunder? It was awesome. I just worked and worked, until the very last minute, ALMOST four o'clock, my preassigned quittin' time, when my eyes got heavy, and I dragged myself out of my tall chair and into my soft chair and then took a little nap.
It felt great.
Now, yoga tonight with sister Christy. Vacation is officially over tomorrow, so back to work I go, but that is good, too. Getting up at 3:30am? Not really looking forward to that. But I can do it!
I want to tell you EVERYTHING. But there are so many high points of this year's national Romance Writers of America conference, that I'll just enumerate a few of them and let you finish your coffee in peace.
HIGH POINTS:
* Figuring out the true motivation for Book Two with my agent Susanna Einstein after we attended a mind-blowing workshop by Jenny Crusie on turning points. I admit, I entered that workshop with a level of I-Have-An-MFA-itis. Craft… Surely I know craft, right? But I left the workshop with oh-shit-I-have-so-much-to-do-itis. It's going to require another major rewrite, but dude, I love that. I'll eat that with a spoon and then have some more.
* Learning again that I have the greatest agent in the entire world. She is no less than totally awesome, and a kick-ass brain-stormer. I love it when she gives this half-grin and looks up to her left and says, "What if…" And ninety-nine percent of the time she's right, especially when she prefaces it with "This might be totally off the mark. Feel free to throw this right out." Then she's ALWAYS right.
* Having a push-up contest with Sophie Littlefield while singing "I am Woman, Hear me Roar." I can't explain it, but it was one of the best things that happened all weekend. (She won, by the way, but only by three. I got 16, she got 19. And yes, they were "boy" push-ups.) Wine might have had something to do with the contest, but I'll never admit it.
* Hanging out with Bella Andre, whose levels of joy and excitement, I swear to God, are completely infectious. She's also SO willing to share what she knows (and that, my friends, is a lot), and she's so much damn fun that I just love her.
* Seeing the cover of my book up on the screen at the Avon Spotlight:
What, you want to see it better? I know, but all I have is the prototype, and I don't want to wing it at you without checking with my editor. But I will. You have got to see it. I love it so much. (Admission: I squeaked and might have clapped a little when I saw it. May Chen, my editor, didn't even know I was in the room until I did that. Ahem. I am so cool.)
* Singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," off the balcony with Kristan Higgins. (Really. Wow.)
* Spending time in the suite my fabulous pensfatales and more were sharing. That felt like home base, and it felt like just the beginning of something much bigger.
* Having breakfast with Barbara Freethy while at the same time discovering her latest release was in the swag bag given to all conference attendees (along with Kristan's).
* Seeing Sophie Littlefield SIGN HER FIRST BOOK, A Bad Day For Sorry. (Hi, crime fiction, hardcover, St. Martin's. Nice.)
I say first book because not only do I mean debut, but this was also the first time Sophie had seen her book at all. Can you imagine?
We are so proud of her. Isn't she radiant? (That's half of Martha Flynn, by the way. I almost got her in there.)
Best embarrassing moments:
* Realizing that the invite to the HarperCollins cocktail party might actually be invite-only. Asking my editor about this. Misunderstanding her answer. And the subsequent super-cool UNINVITING I did of my agent. Hey, Susanna, new plan, the party is for authors only, can we meet another time? I waited nervously for her return text. Her response, It'll be fine. I was invited. AUGH! Classy me, yeah. But at least I cleaned up all right for the party:
You can't tell by the crappy camera phone picture (sorry, Lala has the real camera in Korea, something about a new nephew), but that dress also sports black fringe. I love that one.
* Kristan Higgins meeting a friend of mine who was wearing NO PANTS. Or a bra. But the no pants part gets me every time. She shook hands and everything. HAHAHAHA. (It is not my best-ever embarrassing story to tell, even though I told it so much at the conference to anyone who would listen that I'm still a little hoarse. If the owner of that story tells it, I'll link to it for DAMN sure.)
BEST PART:
* Reaffirming to myself again that romance is the bomb. Romance is where it's at. Romance sells more than science fiction and mystery combined. Nora Roberts sells more than Stephen King and John Grisham. And as Sarah Wendell said when asked why feminists should read romance:
It’s a 50-plus-year-old industry comprised
mostly of women writers operating their own businesses and producing a
genre about women’s self-actualization, pursuit of autonomy, and
acquisition of sexual agency for an audience made mostly of women, who
buy over $1.4 billion dollars worth of books a year. No, no, nothing
feminist or even subversive about that.
I flipping love that. I keep intending to memorize in order to be able to lay it on the next person who mentions any bosom, heaving or otherwise.
And I have a strong theory that this might have been the very best conference I will ever attend. I am completely willing and happy to be proved wrong, but this year, I got to wear the ribbon that proclaimed to all that I had sold, the ribbon that made people grin at me in the elevator. I was allowed to freely wander the book signings where, next year, I'll be behind the tables, signing my little hand off. This year, I have all of the joy and none of the angst.
I savored every single teeny-tiny moment of it. Especially the weensy little pigs-in-blankets at the HarperCollins party. I was networking, yes. But I was also dunking wieners in mustard, and that made me very happy.
(Good grief, I was wondering why I felt so tired when it's only 9:30pm. I just realized it's because I've been awake since 1am Pacific Time, with only a couple hours of sleep! To bed! Yay! And tomorrow is nephew-getting day! Like Christmas only with a baby and no tree!)
When I write a post over at PensFatales, I write it, save it, and push out the publish date until it's my day — we're on a strict schedule! I wouldn't want to screw that up!
But that means when I click sleepily through my Google Reader feeds, suddenly I'm looking at a picture of myself without seeing it coming.
Kinda feels like yesterday when I opened the window for Pandora, then clicked away to do something else while it loaded and then ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR when it started blasting. Took me that long to forget what I was doing.
But I'm not forgetting what I'm doing today, nope! Packing up to go to DC for RWA*. And the funny/weird thing is that Lala is going to Korea today, and we've got to be at SFO at about the same time, which is nice, because we can BART over there together. (Why is she going? To help my sister-in-law back to the US with our new nephew who was born over there! SO EXCITED to meet him!)
Before I close the computer and pack it in my suitcase (don't worry, I'm a carry-on only gal), I just want to give a big thanks to Dad, who got my birthday so right! I received a box from him in the mail, and you never know with my Dad. He could be a founding member of There, I Fixed It. But inside was the softest, nicest, most beautifully prepared llama fiber I've ever seen. I can't wait to spin it up. Nicely done, Dad. Thank you!
Okay! I'm off! Follow me on twitter (yarnagogo) to keep up with my week! xox
* Lala packs differently than I do. I think she may have trouble with the airport screeners.
Hey, Bay Area Knitters:
I need a flavor, as Lala would say. I need help with a project that must remain Unnamed on the blog. It might or might not involve yarn (okay, you got me, it does) and it might or might not be something that we can get done together in an afternoon (I think we can, with your help).
I can say this much: What we'll be doing will make someone else feel better when we're done. It's important and lovely, and I'd be so grateful if you were part of it.
So wanna come over to my house and have a knitting party? Bring your knitting for when we're done with the Super Secret Project, but bring a crochet hook — don't be scared! Just a simple chain stitch is all that's required. We'll teach you.
Sunday, August 9th, Chez Hehu (email or drop a comment for the address and relevant details).
Please come? xox
Isn't that true of many things? But in this case, it's the start of my vacation. HOORAY!
And already good things have happened today. I wound 1675 yards of Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm Silk/Merino into three big hanks, and I've cast on for Cold Mountain:
Isn't that sheen delicious?
Now, you know how I feel about lace (fiddy! Droppy! Non-intuitive, not like cables or colorwork!), but this looks like just the kind of lace I like: regular, predictable, lovely. I'm hoping it will be a good travel project as I get ready to head to DC for the Romance Writers of America national convention. Have I perhaps mentioned HOW EXCITED I am to get to go to this?
Last year, I went on a lark. I hardly knew what RWA was or how huge and impressive it is, and I didn't belong to a local chapter. I'd never been to a meeting. Then I went, and my mind was blown. I learned SO much, and I met women that I wanted to be someday. I didn't have an agent then, and I certainly didn't have a contract. I felt like a sponge, absorbing up knowledge and excitement and hope. (I still feel like that, actually.)
This year, I'm having lunch with my editor. My agent and I are going to the Avon cocktail party and then out to dinner. And I'm going to be spending time with an incredible group of women writers whom I know now through my local chapter, women I'm proud to call my friends.
What a difference a year makes.
I leave Tuesday for DC. (And my DC-area darlings, every day is BOOKED. I want to see my girls, to see YOU, but this isn't the trip for it. Next time? xoxo)
And today: I get to go watch the Girl's Rock Camp showcase, and then we're going to a party way out in the back of beyond with friends I went to college with a million years ago. And I made the BEST potato salad, based on this recipe: Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad. (I used less oil, but followed the recipe for the most part.) Highly recommended. Lala and I both just ate it for breakfast and it was wonderful.