Back in business, show business, that is ...

Billy did not disappoint. This is the first Oscar show I've watched in its entirety in ... years. I usually start the show, but walk out when it becomes too political, too self-important, too ... cynical. Yeah, usually within the first ten minutes.

Isn't Jessica Chastain beautiful in her Alexander McQueen gown? We loved her in The Help. If you've been reading this blog awhile, you know that my oldest daughter is a budding fashion designer. She'll be off to college next year to sketch and sew late into the night, so until then, we watch red carpet-type shows whenever possible. Jessica's dress was one of her favorites, and I have to agree. But there's another reason I appreciate Jessica ... and I'll get to that in a bit.

As for the show, Billy set the perfect tone: entertainment. Loved how the crowd didn't take themselves as seriously as they have in past years, like maybe it wasn't all about them. Fewer parade waves!!!

Emma Stone was da bomb as a presenter, da bomb! Is it just me or do those presenter skits usually fizzle like a warm Perrier? Emma nailed it though because she stayed in character the whole time. Hilarious. And not to leave out her stoney-faced sidekick ... Ben Stiller was the perfect straight man to Emma's giddy first-time presenter.

Other shout outs: Cirque de Soleil, Melissa she'll-always-be-sookie-to-me McCarthy making a play for Billy, and Christopher Plummer gets the most romantic acceptance speech nod for saying that his wife, Elaine, should get the Noble Peace Prize for "coming to my rescue every day of my life." Sigh...

I was so sad that Viola Davis did not win the Best Actress award for The Help, but happy that Octavia Spencer nabbed it for her portrayal of Minnie. What really brought tears to my eyes, though, was Jessica Chastain's reaction to Octavia's win. Jessica was up for the same award, but when Octavia's name was called, Jessica's expression was of pure joy. No mistaking it. And it was refreshing ...

Up next, I must see The Artist. My dad told me it was great and he should know ~ he wrote the book on silent movies (Really; I'm not kidding; he wrote, Navarro's Silent Film Guide.) So asap, I'm going to the movies.

Popcorn, anyone?

There's no business, like show business, like ...

The young 'uns don't know who he is (SAD!), but he's the reason (the only reason) I'm planning to watch the Oscars tomorrow. You in?

See you tomorrow ... when the mocking begins (of everything and everyone except Billy, that is =)

Sittin' on the dock of the bay ...

I missed my old website background, so my web designer, Kelli, restored it! She left some of the other color changes, but something about those rustic pilings in the background just feeds my nautical soul.

Did you even notice it was gone?

Another change to the site is that I closed the beach shop. Sigh. Sad, but true. But that's okay. T'was fun while it lasted ~ and I have some stock to unload on eBay ~ but this year's all about intentional living. With a job in broadcasting, a busy novel editing business, volunteer work with the Christian Authors Network, AND some writing of my own to do, the shop had become a drain. So, it's gone. Fini!

Have you ever done that? Just packed it all in and called it a day? Now that I've done it, it feels good. Now I'll have some time for ... the beach! :-)

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

Such a character ...

So the other day my husband and I are talking about my day job and he says, "They do know, don't they?"

I just laughed.

See, my husband has this notion that I somehow get my characters from people I know. Pish-posh. Everyone knows I like to make up stories, scenarios ... people.

Then again, I have regaled him a time or two lately with stories from the office, funny bits of dialogue, and offbeat observances. And the other day I met a famous person at work (I'd tell you who, but then I'd have to kill you ...), and his agent asked me if I was writing a story about the peeps in my company.

Without so much as a second breath, I told her, "It's ALL fodder."

At my boss' widening eyes, I quickly added, "But only heroes here."

Haha ... good save (right?)

Ah, well. The truth is, I do tend to write what I know, which is why hubby is a bit, uh, sensitive =).

Speaking of fodder, the photo in this post is a real snapshot of a conversation (if you can call it that) between my son and me via iPhone. Now I ask you ... with characters like this in my life, why would I need to look any further than my own four walls?

Very pinteresting ...

Those who know me know that I don't like not being in the know. Ya know? So when my daughter goaded encouraged me to sign up for Pinterest, I bit. Only thing is ... I don't really get it. Not yet. All I know is it's some kind of online pinboard, and if that's the case, I'll probably be pinning up beachy things once I'm given my golden entrance ticket.

If you're part of Pinterest, feel free to fill me/us in! And have a beachy evening, wherever you are ...

On friends and good times ...

Missing friends today. I've been so busy with work and home life, that I've not had a whole lotta extra time for friends. Drat!

One friend and I did get together briefly a couple of weeks ago. I was on my way home from work and she was driving the volleyball carpool into my hometown. We caught up over sliders and nachos and I learned that she too just took a second job. (We both have college-aged kids, oy vey!)

Another friend moved to grey-poupon Montecito and I miss her terribly! She's the one who introduced me to the restaurant in the photo ... must. call. her. this. weekend!

And there are a couple of longtime pals, close ones, who happen to be in the book biz too. These gals and I used to lunch it regularly (separately, as they don't know each other). Must do again soon! But when???

Ah, well. I found the photo on my phone and it spurred this blog post. Funny how one little photo can warm the heart with thoughts of friends and good times. Gonna try, hard, to let them all know that I care. It's the thought that counts. Right?

Here's to our beachy friends ~ wherever they may be ...

Seeing more clearly

I'm thinking about views tonight. The view from my home office is of palm trees and sky. From my other office, I can see the mountains. This photo shows the idyllic view from one of my favorite hotels.

Sometimes I'm so burdened by worries within that I forget to turn outward ... and view the stuff happening around me ~ the good and the challenging.

Like I mentioned in the post about my word for the year (intentional), that's not living. Living is consciously looking for the sparkle in the rough, it's being aware of God's presence in the midst of trials, it's finding joy in every day. Every. Day.

I'm trying. And you know what? Living intentionally is working. Life's not perfect, and it won't be until we're sitting in the sand on Heaven's beach. But in the here and now, I like what I'm beginning to see.

How about you? From where you're standing, how's it looking out there?

I think I've found my calling ...

What a way to make a living ...

If you've read my recent newsletter, you know that I decided to take a job outside of my little hovel of an office. Yes, I've gone corporate. The company I work for owns oodles of radio stations and keeps me hopping.

But that's not what I'm writing about today.

What I'm writing about is the need for writers to get out of the "hovel of an office" and experience, well, life. That doesn't mean you have to get a 9-5 job, but here's the thing: it's tough to keep up the social skills when you spend most of your days talking to/arguing with/cooing over ... fictional humans.

Not only that, the publishing business is cruel. After spending months and months talking to said characters, usually in a bathrobe or maybe sweats, you're encouraged ... no, wait ... you're EXPECTED to put on nice clothes and actually talk to people. You have to do more than talk to them ~ you have to convince them to buy your book!

For some writers, that might be a breeze, but for many I know, including yours truly, it's a form of torture. Novelists are by nature curious people, but many are also shy. They like to be unassuming. They like their quiet walks to stir up the creativity when their characters won't think and act as they want them to, and they like their privacy.

And like me, they become woefully out of practice socially after spending many months alone with their characters.

I've been working outside my home office for nearly two months now (I still edit quite a bit too ... but that's a blog for another time), and one thing I can tell you: I'm learning to socialize again, to have extended conversations with real human beings, and to play nice with others in a big, corporate sandbox.

Something tells me, there's a story here somewhere ...

Meet my friend, Gina Conroy

The Five Stages of Writing Grief
by Gina Conroy

Receiving a writing rejection can feel as if a part of your dream has died. After one such rejection last summer, I realized I was going through the stages of writing grief.

When I was first told by my mentor that I should scrap my 50,000 word WIP and start over, I was in SHOCK and DENIAL. I was being asked to delete six months of my writing life! I was paralyzed for an entire weekend. I couldn't think, let alone apply any of the great teaching my mentor gave me to my current WIP which was technically dead to me at the moment.

After the excitement and the adrenaline of the weekend wore off I went through a mixture of ANGER and BARGAINING and DEPRESSION. I don't remember the anger stage being strong, but depression was incapacitating at times! I couldn't write or even read. What was the point! My story was dead, and I wasn't about to try and read someone else's story while I was grieving.

Then came the bargaining. Maybe, just maybe I could salvage the WIP. So I tried writing my historical romance in first person. I only got 113 words written before depression set in again, and I realized it was useless. If I turned my WIP into women's fiction as my mentor suggested, it would be a totally different story with a different feel and plot. Which was okay, but something I didn't have the energy to do. After all, I was still grieving.

So I started revisiting an old idea, close to my heart that I'd been afraid to write. First, I reread the 7 pages, the only pages I'd written. My heart was stirred. I felt new life coming back into my soul. So I read it again, and edited just a few lines and added a few more. Could I do this?

Then I sent it out to some trustworthy friends for confirmation that I should be working on this story. And they concurred. I should run with this one. Now, over a year later, I'm almost finished with the first draft, and I’m glad I allowed new life to flow into this story.

Where are you in your writing? Are you grieving?
Sometimes if we identify the loss, it makes it easier to move on!
Gina Conroy is president and founder of Writer...Interrupted where she mentors busy writers. Knowing how difficult it is to raise a family as well as a career, she chronicles her triumphs and trials on Defying Gravity, hoping to encourage those on a similar path. She is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, and her first novella, Buried Deception, in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection, releases from Barbour Publishing in January 2012. Gina loves to connect with readers on Facebook and Twitter
In Buried Deception in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection Mount Vernon archaeology intern and widow Samantha Steele wants to provide for her children without assistance from anyone. Security guard and ex-cop Nick Porter is haunted by his past and keeps his heart guarded. But when they discover an artifact at Mount Vernon is a fake, Nick and Samantha need to work together, set aside their stubbornness, and rely on each other or the results could be deadly. Will Samantha relinquish her control to a man she hardly knows? Can Nick learn to trust again? And will they both allow God to excavate their hearts so they can find new love?

Word to the wise ...

Lately, friends have been talking about the "word" God has given them for the year. Not sure if this is a fad, trendy, or something wise Christians have been requesting for years. Nevertheless, I decided to ask God for a word of my own, and he let me know that he'd already given me one.

Intentional.

The word that had been rolling around in my head even before I asked the question, was intentional. Actually, there was a phrase, too: intentional living.

I haven't exactly begun to define it, but I've already found myself doing and thinking things intentionally. Not just going through the motions, or "getting through it" but living the life God gave me consciously. Ha ... seriously, sometimes when I have to think too hard I find myself glazing over and watching the minutes tick by so I can call it a night. But that's not living!

Don't get me wrong, though. I don't think that intentional living means adding more to my schedule. That's overbooked as it is, thank-you-very-much. I think it's more of a "stop and smell the roses" kind of thing. (Or in my case, "stop and smell the sea air.") Or when life gets tough, and it does at times, I've already begun to "stop and praise the Lord" through it.

So here's to 2012 and living intentionally--and finding out more about what that means. What about you? Any thoughts on what you're going to do differently in this new year?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope you all have a beautiful new year's weekend! If you're not on my occasional newsletter list, then you missed my latest one. Here's a copy for a brief update on Carobini doings :)

And here's to a joyful and productive 2012, my beachy friends ~ wherever you are!

Happy Day after Christmas

Hubby secretly snapped this photo of College Boy Matt and me as we walked the bluffs in Carpinteria. Beautiful day after Christmas here, so we had to get out and explore. Was impromptu, really ... and I'm so glad Dan suggested we stop.

Have a beachy week, my friends ... wherever you are!

Parade of Lights

Last night we wandered down to the park to watch Ventura's Parade of Lights. It was like going back in time for us because before we moved to the beach area, we would drive to this same park and watch the parade from there. After moving to the beach, though, we made some close friends who invited us to watch from their dock every year. Sadly, they moved earlier this year.

Wasn't sure if we'd bother with the parade, but I'm so glad we did. Rather than drive over to the crowded harbor where the event originates, four of us moseyed on over to the park and watched from a bluff. SO fun. The night was cool, and we experienced moments of rain, but no wind! Yes! Loved how one of the boats had a Happy Birthday Jesus sign on it, and how others lit stars high atop their masts.

After the parade, fireworks were shot into the sky over the water. Ahhh...does it get any better? All this was free community fun, so yes, I guess that makes it even bettah :)

As they say in the movie, The Holiday, Happy Christmas, friends!

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

The whole brood is home for the holy-days! College boy arrived today, and the girls will finish classes tomorrow. Dan and I continue to work. Isn't that the way? Ha.

No matter. I've got a list of chores a mile long and I'm not afraid to assign them. Lol

Seriously, though, there are some things that I love to do at this time of year that have slipped through the cracks, so to speak. We're busy, for cryin' out loud, but it's time to slow down. To sit by the fire and enjoy the white lights of our tree, to walk the neighborhood after dark and watch the houses light up, to wander into the local garden store that transforms every year into a Christmas wonderland. We also have plans to visit some dear friends. These are the things I want to do this weekend.

What's on your list?

View of the Hudson

Teen Daughter's college apps are in, so now we wait. I say "we" because college-planning-and-decision-making has become a family affair. We sent College Boy off to LA a couple of years ago, and here we go again. Only this time, instead of a two-hour drive away, our eldest daughter wants to live in or near NY. Sigh. All but two of the schools she's considering are far, far away.

I don't know how I'll stand it.

But I do know this: she's not getting rid of us that easily. We've got skype and frequent flier miles--and we're not afraid to use 'em.

It's that most wonderful time of year ...

You’re standing on a rocky overlook, sea spray landing on your cheeks, sunlight kissing your nose—and the hint of danger in the air. That’s the feeling of standing “this” close to a 5,000 pound elephant seal basking in the sun along California’s central coast. Thankfully, viewing areas, wooden fences, and friendly docents make it easy to stay safe. Ah, but what a view!

I’m a sucker for these animals in the wild. If you get a chance to visit California’s central coast during birthing season—December through March—do! (If you have to wait until spring, however, no worries. May is peak time to see female seals and their “pups” birthed earlier in the year.)

With its dazzling seascapes, rolling hills, and gorgeous wildlife, I’ve been fascinated with this picturesque stretch of California for years—so much so that I set several novels here. In fact, the coastal area from Cambria to San Simeon is the setting (with a bit of poetic license from me) for the Otter Bay Novels.

Oh, and this is fun—when you reach San Simeon from the south, look up the long and winding hill to your right and you'll see the historic Hearst Castle overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The castle has a prominent place in my recent release, Fade to Blue. From there, drive another five miles or so north, and you’ll come upon the Piedras Blancas Rookery. There you’ll find thousands of barking elephant seals swimming, fighting with each other, or simply lying around on soft sand—not unlike your typical, beach-loving family!

I hope the Otter Bay Novels inspire you to take your own trip along California's coast someday. If you do, tell me about your adventure, won’t you? I’d love to hear from you!

Low Tide

Beautiful weekend on the coast! Summer is often foggy here, so late fall/early winter is the best. The tide was so low on Thursday that I could walk out (almost) to the end of the jetty. Sooo fun--at least I thought so. Doggy didn't seem to care for it, ha.

Ah, well, I'm back to work. Have a beachy week, my friends ~ wherever you are.

Happy Black Friday! (Does that look as weird as it sounds?) Hmm. Anyhoo, wanted to let you know that ALL of my beach reads are discounted in my beach shop and include FREE shipping in the USA. I'd be happy to sign any or all for gift giving. Just let me know.

You can reach Julie's Beach Shop on the button bar above, or go directly to the beach read category here.

Happy shopping (and wrapping) :)

Mind Over Madi

UPDATED: 11/23/11 Congrats to Lauri! You're the winner of Mind Over Madi. Woo-hoo! Thanks, everyone, for playing!

Fellow ACFW member, Lynda Lee Schab, and I met online several years ago after she read one of my books and dropped me a note. (Thankfully, it wasn't a scathing review or anything, ha ha.) I'm SO excited to announce that Lynda has a book of her own now, Mind Over Madi, published by OakTara.

Here's the blurb:
All men cheat. At least, that's what Madi's mother has always told her. Madi McCall admits her husband lacks a little in the romance department, but all in all, he's been a good husband, a good father. Now, though, she suspects Rich is having an affair with Fawn Witchburn, the mother of one of his fourth-grade students. To say Fawn shows off her "assets" more than should be legally allowed in public is an understatement, and Madi's insecurities kick into high gear. When, in a heated moment, she asks Rich to leave and he complies, Madi is forced to deal with her issues. Issues of love and trust she's tried so hard to avoid. Issues that trail all the way back to her childhood and make her act like a total moron.

Julie here. I've got an extra copy and would love for one of my readers to have it for the holidays. Just comment on this post with your email address AND tell me what time your family has Thanksgiving dinner. (I won't be showing up or anything ... just checking to see who's paying attention :) I'll let you know the winner's name on Wednesday at noon, PST.

Now, go forth and comment! (p.s. Just learned that IE sometimes prevents people from commenting. Until I figure out why, try Mozilla. Works great :)