Writing with the fishies

I started this post DAYS ago, but mi familia has needed me extra lately, it seems. Preteen girl had a "Country Report" due today (A shout out to Rel of Relz Reviews who lives in Australia, my daughter's assigned country :). Another daughter has a wacky schedule, so I've been taxiing her a lot. And I've also been getting ready to head up to the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer's Conference tomorrow, a beautiful spot among the redwoods!

Excited about the conference, not only because I'll have the chance to hang with crazy writer-people like myself, but I also need a break from the chaos (read: worries, messy house, etc.). Seriously, I've begun to feel like those confused, crowded and manic fishies in the picture.

And although Mt. Hermon is on a mountaintop in Northern California, it's only a short drive to Santa Cruz beaches ... woot! Have a beachy weekend, my friends ~ wherever you are :) I'll post "celebrity sightings" as I can.

Closer to 'Shore' ...

What a delightful and heartwarming read! A Shore Thing is a beautiful book about family, friendship, love, commitment, keeping promises, faith, and hope. ~Tweezlereads.blogspot.com

Received the galley of A Shore Thing at 7:55 am. Woot ~ love the way B&H designed the pages. So far, pre-release reviews have been favorable (double woot :) Love the one above. Here's another nice one, recently posted by Carrie Padgett on her blog Chocolate, No Nuts.

By the way, this is a pic of my wily shelter pup, Charlie, the inspiration for the cover of A Shore Thing. And oh, yeah, I'm in the pic too ...

Have a beachy day, my friends ~ wherever you are :)

Sea Things

So yesterday I finished the draft of my 2011 release. Still not sure what we're titling it :) Then I ran across this picture that my daughter took last summer at the Denver Aquarium. See the open anemones there on the top left? The heroine in the book I just wrote develops an affection for the creatures. For research, I used a 20 page college term paper that I wrote on the anemone way back when :) Knew that paper would come in handy some day! Lol

Thumbs up

Had an icky morning and needed a laugh. And a trip to the beach. This cartoon provided both. Ha!

On another note, saw that Sweet Waters is down to 10.19 on Amazon today. Sweet price, if you're interested (cheaper for Kindle). A Shore Thing priced the same for now. Huzzah

Have a beachy Wednesday, my friends ~ wherever you are :-)

A bit of Italy in California ...

After the first day of beach soccer, we stopped by my brother and wifey's house in Venice. They live near the canals, which were created in the early 1900s to be reminiscent of Venice, Italy. My brother proposed on one of the bridges ~ oh so romantique! Until a few years ago, I'd never been there. And I grew up near LA so that's just weird. But now I've been to the canals twice, and love 'em. You can stroll along and say hello to people chillin' on their back decks. Very pricey area but also kind of understated and quiet.

Of course, just a few blocks away is Venice Beach. Which is anything but understated. For instance, a clown on stilts crossed a busy street in front of us, but I was in too much awe to snap a picture ... Lol

More on the Venice Canals.

Beach Soccer

Never been to a beach soccer event before, but pre-teen girl's team played in one today at Santa Monica beach. Sand spraying, players falling, soccer balls bouncing in weird directions ... super fun to watch (but brutal to play!) Had to put ice on pre-teen girl's bruised foot after two fast paced games.

Between games, some of the girls and my brother, Dan, from Venice took a couple of trips on the pier roller coaster. Great end to a stressful week!

Happy Sunday tomorrow ~ don't forget to move your clocks forward! More pics on Monday :-)

American Idol, the results

I chose this YouTube clip because it's all audio. Sweet kid, unique voice, not same ol'. So sorry Alex did not make it into the Top 12 (for the record, my teen daughter has promised never to watch AI again! :)

Hope he gets a record deal soon. We got this one wrong, America. Also sad to see Katelyn and Lilly go (what?!).

Happy Friday, my friends. Have a beachy weekend ~ wherever you are!

American Idol, the Guys

I've gotta say, the guys sang better last night than I'd predicted. My faves: Aaron, Tim, Casey and (this one's for you, Ang) Alex. I know Big Mike got the kudos of the night ~ Kara sobbed ~ but it didn't move me that much. Fickle, fickle, I know, but I'm on the receiving end of such fickleness sometimes myself. One reviewer will say that a book I wrote touched them deeply, while another will say they didn't get the story at all. Go figure.

Honestly, I've no idea who'll be out tonight. I'd have to guess maybe Andrew and Todrick. Andrew got slammed by the judges and Todrick is seen more as a musical theater performer/dancer. Tough night for anyone to leave considering the remaining contestants will be in the Top 12.

I'll probably watch from Twitterland. Maybe I'll see you there? :-)

American Idol, the Girls

Favorites from American Idol last night: Didi, Crystal, and Siobhan. Liked Katelyn and Lacey too. Btw, does anyone else think Ryan has a crush on Katelyn? Seems obvious to me, but I'm writing a romance right now so maybe I'm over thinking the way he looks at her just a beat longer than the others... Lol

Who do you think'll go? Hmm ... if I had to guess I'd say Katie and Paige.

Okay, I couldn't help putting up this pic of Danny Gokey doing the white man's overbite. Such a cutey patooty he is. Last year I wrote an article about Danny comin' to Ventura. If you missed it, you can find it at this link.

Off to work (and more coffee!). Have a beachy day, my friends, and don't forget: the guys sing tonight!

The busy season

Look closely and you'll see the ocean shimmering beneath that ominous cloud. Pre-teen girl had a couple of soccer scrimmages in Malibu over the weekend and she played early to beat the rain. That's the view from the soccer field at Malibu High. Nice, huh?

Life's been crazy-crazy busy lately, more so than I like. We all have our seasons of that, and this seems to be mine. I could've skipped the soccer match and stayed behind to work, but something about driving along PCH on a drizzly day drew me. Teen daughter and I watched my girlie play soccer while huddled beneath a wool blanket, then we left just as the first few drops fell. We stopped for coffee in the Trancas area, then enjoyed the ride along the coast (thanks, hubby :)

Today, it's back to work! How about you? Did you get the chance to enjoy the weekend, even if only for a little while? Maybe a little Oscar party or something? Lol Hope so!

Have a beachy day, my friends ~ wherever you are!

Tsunami watch

Had a little excitement in Ventura over the weekend. That's me on the left with my friend, Angel, watching her boat dock float away. The earthquake across the world in Chile sent water surging through the Ventura harbor, wreaking havoc on more than a dozen boat docks attached to homes. Such a bummer, but no lives hurt or lost, so that's the good news. By the way, to the news helicopter pilot buzzing the beach area early Sunday morning, may you soon be awakened by the sharp call of an air horn in your ears...