Cry your eyes out

Sit back and enjoy this touching, beachy video.

still wingin' it

I do not miss all the smoochin' that former Bachelors relied on for ratings. There's nothing worse than a guy who tells a girl he's totally into her, makes out with her, then does the same thing with another girl the very next day (or next hour). Rinse, repeat.

That said, this season's a tad boring. If I wrote this kind of dialog into a novel, I'd never write again. Most overused line: "How are you?" blah, blah, blah. Maybe the other bachelors were boring too, but I was too busy being grossed out by all that tongue bathing to notice.

On the flip side, my daughters can watch with me without having to fast forward a hundred times. (I do, however, still remind them that when it comes to finding your man, "This is not how it's done." Yeah, and they love me for my reminders...)

Seriously, Jake seems like a genuinely nice guy, even with that smile that at times resembles the Joker's. He's kind-hearted and that's a good thing in a prospective husband. And I'm glad he had at least one semi-deep moment when Tenley asked him what he expected from a wife. He said "that she's always got my back" and "Respect." (On a side note, I called out to my husband, "Hey, do I always have your back?" Hubby: "Yeah, yeah, back." Me: "And do I respect you?" Hubby: "Hm? Yeah, respect. Yeah."

But my favorite moment came after Tenley asked Jake about pilots and cheating. He said, "Cheating's a choice. The woman I marry will be the last woman I look at."

Okay, now that was good.

Here birdy, birdy

A friend emailed this picture over. Apparently this little guy arrived on his deck looking sickly then took refuge on the rocks below. Due to storm run off oils that stick to their feathers, pelicans here on the west coast have been getting hypothermia. Our friend was able to catch the birdy and hold onto him until Pelican Rescue arrived. Good job!

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

Me and Jon Lovitz, er, Stephen King

Anyone remember this SNL skit? If you do, you're old, like me. Haha. Anyway, Jon Lovitz plays Stephen King, furiously tapping away on a smith-corola or similar. In those days, Stephen King had so many books out he had to release some of them under a pseudonym.

I'm going from memory here (because I can't find the actual clip online), but as I recall, the interviewer asks Mr. King about his prolificness (yes, it's a word~I looked it up :) and suddenly, inexplicably, the typing stops. Panic overtakes Mr. King and he begins to bemoan his writer's block, uttering phrases like, It's over! I'll never be able to write again! My career is gone!

After a comedic pause, a thought drops into his mind, he blithely says, "nevermind", and then he's back to furiously tapping those keys.

This is so my life.

California wavin'

It's tough to tell by this pic taken with my cell, but those are some pretty nice-sized waves cresting in the distance. After a week of rain (and more rain) we had a sunny break over the weekend. Tuesday, though, the spigot'll be turned back on (and I'll get to keep wearin' cute boots :)

In other news, The Bachelor's on tonight and silly as it seems, can't wait to switch off the computer and watch something brainless, and thankfully, pretty tame. Hey, we all have our vices ... ;-)

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

Storm watch

The first part of the video shows waves at the famed Rincon, but it's the Mussel Shoals clip that will give you a better idea of the ocean surges that have been happening up and down the coast. More thunder and rain expected today!

Wet Wednesday!

Rain continues to fall and wreak havoc out here on the coast (although you wouldn't know by the flip-flop shod feet I spotted in downtown Ventura yesterday during a clearing). Anyway, here's some video of what the weather's doing to the pier. Good times. (If you're a surfer, anyway :)

Roadtrippin'

My youngest missed out on church winter camp this past weekend because she'd already committed to an all-star soccer tourney. At the time, we didn't realize they'd choose a holiday weekend to host the tourney (grrr). To cheer her up, I decided rather last minute to take the girls on a ROADTRIP after the last game on Sunday morning.

Didn't check the weather report beforehand, though. Big storm rolled in to Cambria (the small town that serves as part of the inspiration for my Otter Bay Novels) on Sunday and stayed til, oh, right about the time we had to check out. Lol... My older daughter loves the rain, so she was happy. Wet, but happy.

So anyhoo, we ate, we shopped, we got stuck in a 'gulley washer' and sat in my car, waiting it out. Our tour of Hearst Castle got cancelled, but we found other fun things to research for my books, like the 1920-something cabin that the heroine in my 2011 release finds in the woods. My youngest spotted it while I tried to keep us from driving off a cliff. Anyway, we drove into the driveway to poke around, and hoped the neighbors wouldn't call the cops, haha.

Later we ended up at Nitwit Ridge (see pic). Built years ago by an eccentric gent, the rain soaked "Poor Man's Hearst Castle" still stands at the base of a hill in Cambria. It's made out of all kinds of local 'finds' such as beer cans, car parts and on the pretty flip side, mounds of abalone shells pried off local rocks. A sign advertised tours at 1pm, but I doubted it. "Looks like it's about to come down," I told the girls.

We ended up in SLO (San Luis Obispo) for yummy Mexican fare at Tio Alberto's, then headed home. As I sit here, the rain's whipping through my back yard and I'm determined not to get caught up watching it through my window. LOTS to write today, and even though the weather tried to derail my research, it failed 'cuz I'm raring to go,

Have a beachy day, my friends (rain or shine!) ~ wherever you are :)

spread the Word :-)

Book sale for Haiti

Happy Friday my beach-lovin' friends! It's a beautiful day here on the west coast, perfect for a lead in to a weekend of...soccer. Ha ha, you thought I was going to say beachcombing or surfing or something equally beachy. Reality is, our youngest is a soccer tiger and she's in the first of two tourneys this month. So that's where I'll be (probably with a laptop since I've got a ton of writing to do.)

Before I sign off for a few days, wanted to let you know of another way you can help Haitian children. Through this weekend, ALL proceeds from the sales of my first two books, Chocolate Beach and Truffles by the Sea at Julie's Beach Shop will be sent to Compassion International ~ Haiti. A great time to stock up on gifts for other beach-lovin' friends, while also giving to children who desperately need our compassion and generosity.

Have a blessed and beachy weekend, my friends ~ wherever you are!

Having compassion

Writing with a heavy heart today as more pictures and information about the earthquake in Haiti pour in. Although I do not have definite information on the status of our sponsored child, Nicole, and her family, I have learned that they live far north of the quake's epicenter. Grateful news to receive! Compassion International serves more than 65,000 children in Haiti and about a third live quite close to hardest hit areas. Compassion needs help, so please consider giving generously.

For Shore!

Hope this whets your appetite for A Shore Thing! Thanks to B&H Fiction for putting together this fast-moving and fun trailer for my summer release. You guys rock!

clueless

Happy New Year! On a couple of deadlines right now (edits for one book, and writing another one) so the blogging's been sparse. Sorry! My heart's been racing and I feel more overwhelmed than usual, yet I know I'm in a good place because my mind's caught up with the story I'm working on. In other words, I'm thinking/plotting all the time. Good for the novel, but not so good for life.

Here are a few lame-head things I've done in the past couple of days while my mind's been occupado:

* Drove to grocery store instead of bank.
* Made it to the bank, and withdrew cash to buy groceries, etc. Went to grocery store (again) and paid with debit card, totally forgetting I'd just picked up cash (doh).
* Ordered myself a kid's meal at Subway ... didn't have a clue until the cashier asked, "Is this for a girl or a boy?" (And yes, I'm lovin' the cute pink beach bag that came with the meal.)
* Let the chai tea boil over while I was working on a scene ~ SUCH a mess.

Ah, well. When the book I'm working on finally makes it to shelves in 2011, my weirdness will be a distant memory (right???) Anyway, I'm switching gears this evening and looking over the final edits for A Shore Thing which releases this July. That's a pic up there at the top. It's already on Amazon and other places, and I'm excited because it's my first foray into writing a second point of view: the male protag's. Woo-hoo!

shopping daze

So I've managed to do something I didn't do before Christmas: go to the three different malls two days in a row. Quite a feat for a non-shopper like myself (with a bad back too). But it's been kind of fun, actually, because most of the money spent was not mine, ha. The kids received all kinds of giftcards & cash and I've had fun watching them spend away.

And I did some observing too. One of my girls, the one who has plans for a career in fashion design, spent every cent...and borrowed some from me! (We did 'split' a coat, though). The other, my soccer girl, bought mostly 'needs' and has a bunch of moolah leftover (guess who I'll be borrowing from? Lol)

Here's the pic of the purple coat my eldest daughter and I bought together from Forever 21. She fell in love with it but it was over her budget. Of course, I crowed about how good it would look on me which caused her to bat her eyes and suggest that I split the cost with her. Sigh...wonder which one of us gets to wear it on New Year's Eve...? :-)

college daze

Happy Monday! After all the church and family festivities, I ended up on the couch for nearly 2 days with a bad back. Hasn't happened in years, but this one was a doozy. Anyway, I watched several movies, read a lot, and ate even more than I did during the Christmas parties. Oh, how I wish I'd asked for a Wii Fit, haha!

I'm better today and working on my 2011 release again. Good stuff, this one! I'm hoping to whip through 1000s of words while my kids sleep in during their continued break.

Speaking of kids, my son Matt received his first college acceptance letter on Christmas Eve Eve...from Biola University! In case you missed it, I wrote about my happy discovery in the university library a couple months back when Matt and I visited the campus. Anyway, such a terrific Christmas present...my baby accepted to college. *sniff* *sniff* *SNIFF!* (That last sniff came after I saw the tuition schedule. Lol! Praying for a surge in book sales :-)

This pic of Matt at the end of "No Shave November" cracks me up. My girls call that his Noah cap, as in Noah from the movie The Notebook.

Off to write that bestseller ;) Have a beachy day my friends ~ wherever you are!

Just popping in to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

After last night's Christmas Eve service, we feasted on tamales with family. This morning we hung out with close friends and carbo-loaded (thanks, Angel :), then headed to the beach (see pic!). Next friends and family will arrive and I'll pull a couple of lasagnas out of the oven so that eating can commence yet again.

Have a blessed rest of the holiday, and tell me about yours too!

I love a parade

Happy Christmas week, my friends! Got up and out early to beat the shopping rush. I'm a rather anti-chick when it comes to shopping...I don't really enjoy it all. But today the lines were short because it was early-burly, woot! Had to make a couple of trips out to my car to stash all my treasures...

Speaking of good times, here's a picture from the Parade of Lights, an annual event in the Ventura Harbor. I took this pic with my phone from a friend's deck on Saturday night. See the boat and fireworks in the background? Such F-U-N!

That kiss

Okay, I swiped this clip from Kristin Billerbeck's blog. Now that I've got that off my chest, I ask you, what will we do without Glee for the next, oh, four months or so?

It's youth group night and in addition to my word count for the day, I'll be getting ready for this week's English Muffin Pizza Making Christmas Party. But for the past few months, after all the Wednesday night frivolity at my house, I've looked forward to settling in with my weekly dose of Glee. Now it's over until spring. Over! It's just not right, I tell you!

Btw, I've studied that kiss over and over again. Look at Schu's wrinkled brow (is she offended? does she love me back?) and Emma's shock followed by utter relief and joy. This is the stuff romance novels are made of and studying the facial expressions of good actors is a great place to start. (And gets you in less trouble than stalking lovers at the mall...)

p.s. I know that Schu's technically still married. That's the stuff of another post...

talk soup

Started off the weekend with a busy signing for Sweet Waters over at the Ventura Barnes & Noble. Remembered to bring signage, candy, bookmarks, magnets...but not a camera. Argh. Didn't even think of having someone snap one with my phone. So here's one from the International Christian Retailers Show last summer in Denver (that's Patti Hill in the background, on the left).

I get nervous before book signings. Will anyone show? And ... what if people show? LOL Truthfully, I love to gab and always end up in interesting conversations, even though they're often in snippets. For instance, on Saturday, I talked with new readers and old friends about:

screenwriting
kinesiology
obsessive-compulsive disorder
the old neighborhood
Jane Austen
detoxing
differences in fantasy vs. sci fi
faith

Yeah, pretty much the same stuff that goes through my head in a NY minute! Ah ha ha!

So, it's the last week before my kids are out of school for 2-3 more (depending on the kiddo). I MUST write A LOT this week, so here I go...

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

Friday mus-ings

This is Gage, my muse...and yes, I have a male muse. Gage appears in my next book, A Shore Thing, and he doesn't just appear and speak, he also thinks right there on the page. In other words, I wrote his POV (point of view). Sooo fun to be a woman writing what a man thinks. Oh, the possibilities!!! Lol

But I've moved on to the next book and my next muse couple. I found the purrr-fect pictures to represent them both (she's famous, he's not), and I'm having a ball putting words and thoughts and conflicting emotions into their heads. Feels quite diabolical at times, mwaa-ha-ha!

If only I could control my own life this well. A novel idea indeed ;)