NOLA's conference is wonderful!

My family thinks I'm a bit crazy. (Who's family doesn't think they're a bit crazy?) Friday, I boarded a plane in Johnstown, stopped in Altoona, flew to Washington, DC, then on to Dallas where I caught a plane for Shreveport, Louisianna...for one day at a conference.

Only a writer, someone who works at home, in her pajamas, with a cat as a best friend and confidante, can understand why someone would spend 12 hours in the air and in airports for a mere thirty-six hours with other writers!

Our lives really aren't boas and bon bons. Boas are itchy and my butt would be huge if I ate candy every day. But more than that the chance to actually interact with other create people makes anybody who writes absolutely giddy.

Plus, industry professionals attend conferences. I spoke with Melissa Jeglinski, a former editor at Silhouette who is now an agent at the Knight Agency, Beth Miller also an agent from Writer's House, Laura Bradford from Bradford Literary Agency and Jessica Sebor from Bantam Dell.

Now, Jessica Sebor is looking for a project like one of my current projects, but all the agents I chatted with don't necessarily represent what I write. Still...The thing about conferences is you can bet your last dime that everybody you meet loves books. I can bring up just about any title or author and find myself in a stimulating conversation.

What a glorious opportunity!

So I'm back at my desk today, about to dive into the project that might just fit in Jessica's list. I'm happy, rejuvinated, filled with glorious, wonderful energy. In spite of the five feet of snow that's still in my front yard!

I also chatted with Sara Reyes of the web site Fresh Fiction! I'd heard of the site but, busy girl that I am, I hadn't had the chance to check it out until this morning. Imagine my delight when I skipped over and found a picture of myself with Peaches! What a great site!

But the real bottom line for the success of this conference was the wonderful people! I never felt alone. I immediately felt I was among friends. I talked about books and kids and writing so much that I've sort of lost my voice this morning.

The workshop I gave was well received. I very much appreciated all the thank yous!

So thank you NOLA Stars! In my book, you truly are all stars!

susan

Happy Hair Dye Day!

Every month (or six weeks) Hair Dye Day is a holiday at our house. Not only do I actually leave the house for several hours, but I take a book to read. We usually order out or I bring home dinner. And we play some Wii golf.

As I was humming to myself this morning -- enjoying Hair Dye Day -- I thought about the weird things that fold into our lives and become odd little traditions. Like getting pizza on Friday nights. Or going to the movies on Tuesday afternoons. (This week we'll go on Thursday afternoon since Hair Dye Day interrupts our regularly scheduled movie.)

My son plays darts once a week. I drive him and then have a glorious half hour all to myself in the car. That's a blessing that only people with kids truly understand.

Lots of the members of my family gather at my mother's house every Sunday afternoon. It's mostly grandkids, cousins, who spend two or three hours every week, catching up, keeping in touch.

The little traditions or rituals we have actually make up the framework of our lives, the things we look forward to, the nice things we do for ourselves, the ways we can turn an otherwise ordinary day (Hair Dye Day!) into a holiday.

I'm giving a workshop this weekend at the NOLA conference. My topic is conflicts. I base my theories of conflict on incorrect core beliefs. But thinking about the odd traditions and rituals all around me, I'm beginning to see that those can tell you as much about a character!

So Happy Hair Dye Day. I hope you have a few fun, comforting, or just-for-ease traditions of your own!

susan

Every Sunday...

Every Sunday I sit down at my computer and think about what's happened in my past week...mining my memory for something interesting to blog about.

This was a weird week. In addition to having six books to read (and judge) for the Rita, a niece and a friend both asked me to critique their work. I've started the second book in a series for Harlequin. I did some revisions on next year's Christmas story. And, of course, as always I'm working on the single title I started last fall.

While others are whining about the several feet of snow under which we are currently buried, I've hardly noticed it. Oh, I know it's there. I don't like to drive in snow; so when I step outside, car keys in hand, if there's snow I pretty much turn around and go back inside.

This is the biggest reason I think I should live in a warmer climate! I become a virtual hermit in the winter. Plus, people look at me weird for wearing sunglasses. But I love sunglasses! And have you ever seen the glare that comes off snow? It's blinding.

I miss my capris. I miss wearing cute sandals. I would like to play real golf instead of Wii golf.

Hey, wait! I'm whining about the snow! See I'm normal after all.

Have a great week!

susan

Valentines Day

I've always fought the battle of the bulge. I either spent my entire life dieting or chubby. Some years chubby was preferrable! Anyway, the first year my husband and I were married, he arranged for a dozen red roses to be delivered to wish me Happy Valentine's Day. When he came home, I was sobbing on the couch.

Horrified, and probably thinking someone had died, he said, "What's wrong?"

I said, "You think I'm fat!"

Knowing that was a crime punishable by death in Susan Meier World, he gasped. "I don't think you're fat!"

I said, "If you really didn't think I was fat you would have bought me candy for Valentine's Day."

Thus began the tradition of me getting candy every year for Valentine's Day.

Until this year. January 4 I began a low cholesterol diet. I have been doing remarkably well. So well, in fact, that I knew the very thought of having chocolates in the house would kill me.

So rather than chocolates and a steak dinner, I got Happy Valentine's Day oatmeal and a really cute necklace with a cat pendant.

One would think a romance novelist would have a more spectacular Valentine's Day than that, but it actually gets worse.

My husband's wedding ring suddenly no longer fits him. He doesn't look like he's gained weight, but his fingers are now really ... well, fat. LOL So a few weeks ago I found a gorgeous (subdued and very manly) diamond ring on sale at a jewelry store in the mall. So I bought it for him. When he opened it, his face fell.

I didn't have to be a mind reader to know he hated it. Choking back tears, because I thought buying him a new wedding ring was incredibly romantic (certainly better than Valentine's Day oatmeal) I said, "Don't you like it?"

He said, "Truthfully...no."

I said, "But it's a wedding ring. Yours no longer fits. I thought...I thought..." I thought about telling him he must think I'm fat to get the conversational guilt trip back to him, but in the end I said, "I thought you wanted a new ring."

He said, "No. I want my old ring. The one we bought when we couldn't afford rings. The one that matches yours. The one I married you with."

I stopped stuttering.

"Why don't we get that one sized so I can wear it again?"

And with one simple thought my husband changed the course of our Valentine's Day.

People wonder where romance writers get the ideas for our books. Worse, lots of critics claim real men don't act (or speak) like our heros sometimes do. Well, guess again. In my travels around the country and on the internet I've discovered that romance writers are married to some of the most romantic men around.

My husband certainly is a romantic. Not of the icky, sticky, mushy kind. But the grab your heart and squeeze it kind. What woman wouldn't be touched hearing that the man she loves doesn't want the fancy ring she bought him, but the plain silver band that reminds him of the day they got married?

He's a peach. And I'm keeping him.

susan

Because it was there...

This morning I wrote the first several pages of a book I probably won't even consider writing until April. Why would I do such a thing when I have deadlines and taxes and lots of online work to do like write an ezine and post blogs...and teach online classes and write online classes...sheesh, I forgot how much I actually do!...LOL

Anyway, I took precious time to do that because "It was there." The whole scene in living color, complete with heart-stopping emotion.

That's the thing about writing that lots of people don't get and few writers can really explain. Yes, on a good day I can write as many as forty pages. But everything has to be aligned. The story has to be popping. The characters have to be alive and vibrant. I have to understand what they are feeling and why. I have to know that the steps I having them take on the page really do fit the story...and also really will interest readers.

So most days I don't get forty pages. Most days I don't get twenty pages. Realistically on good days I get ten. Bad days I get two! LOL

When I hear someone give an exact timeline for writing a book, I admire them. I can't say exactly how long it will take me to write a book. I can come close, but not exact. Not even in terms of weeks because I don't know how quickly I'll get a good grasp of the characters and situations. I certainly don't rely on a muse, but I do rely (heavily) on the juxtaposition of character and story. That sweet moment when you know that what your characters want to do on the page is exactly what should be happening!

How do I get to that point? Sometimes it's by writing a thing or two that doesn't work! LOL Some days I get twenty pages but ten of them won't show up in the book. What they do "show" is what does't work, or maybe some background I needed to know but which I will condense into a sentence or paragraph of transition...After she spent an hour in the tub thinking about things ...

Or...After breakfast...

Or ... She took her horse Rainbow on a tour of their new home, and by the time she returned to the Silver Saddle Ranch she was better able to deal with Brock.

Lots of things happened on those little "thinking it through" jaunts. I saw them. Then I cut and pasted them into a "maybe we'll use this later" document and reduced the episode to only what was relevant for the readers.

A lot goes into the books you know and love. Lots of thought, lots of effort, lots of experimenting and lots of time!

That's why it's so great to wake up (as I did today) not just with a full-blown scene in my head but also to a lovely email from a fan who loved my November Christmas story!

Thank you, Christine!

susan

Wow...Where the Heck Did January Go?

I'm sitting here looking at my calendar in shock because January is gone. I know why I missed it. I was writing a book that took all my concentration.

I can admit now that the book was one of the most difficult I've ever written. Not because it was a bad idea or I'm a bad writer, but because it was a great idea and I'm an author who wanted to do it justice.

I love it when a book falls together easily. Who doesn't? LOL But the challenge of having such a great idea, with two spectacular characters, is even more appealing. I can see readers picking up this book and not being able to put it down. There's nothing ordinary about it.

Which was why it tortured me...and I tortured back! A book like this is the highlight of my year...maybe even my career.

Or maybe it's a turning point? That would be interesting!

But whatever happened with that book, it was a joyful experience. I think the book is coming out next January. I will keep you posted on the release date.

Now, I'm off to Walmart. I've barely shopped in the past four weeks. Our cupboards are bare and we were down to eating Honey Nut Cheerios and macaroni...and hot dogs! As long as I stayed away from the hot dogs, I also stuck to my diet. I'm into it over three weeks now ... very close to four...and just about ten pounds down.

Let's hope my cholesterol is also plummeting!

susan
MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE, July 2010
MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD, August 2010
A COUNTRY TWIN CHRISTMAS, November 2010

Still Low Fat After All These Days...

Most people wouldn't be celebrating after only 17 days on a successful no fat program. But after five years of steadily increasing weight and absolutely no will power (or want power) to finally be sticking to a program is liberating. Fun. I feel like bragging. But I won't because I know that as soon as I brag I will fall off the wagon! LOL

I'm not a weak person. Typically, I'm very disciplined. You should see my work schedule. I work nearly every day. I give myself Sundays off, but some Sundays I can't think for all the ideas bouncing around in my head and it's self-preservation to actually write those days. Better than rest.

I teach an online class nearly every month. I try to get them posted in the Coming Attractions pages for the susanmeier.com website, so that writers who want the benefit of my experience can sign up for the classes, but I'm not always diligent about that.

I also go to at least three live conferences a year. Most of them I teach a class.

I read blogs, guest blog, do the job of membership chair for PASIC.

Right now, I'm researching beach houses for summer vacation with 3 of my sisters and a niece (and their husbands and kids!).

So why couldn't I be disciplined about eating? It was crazy!

But I finally think I figured out the magic. As I told my sister on Cake for Jake Day (his 5th birthday), the decision becomes simple when your cholesterol is high. (Thanks to God-awful eating habits for five years!) On the one hand you continue eating cake and potentially have a heart attack. (Yes, I know it's a tad dramatic but some days I need a true kick in the pants) On the other hand, you don't eat cake and you get your cholesterol down and you don't have a heart attack.

I guess you can see from that that drama motivates me. LOL

But I also have a lovely, smaller-size suit hanging outside my closet door. I want to wear that to the NOLA conference the first week in March...and it just about fits. So I've got lots of motivation like wind at my back!

I've also gotten some great recipes for things like chicken. Once I get permissions from the writers who gave them to me, I'll be posting them in the Homecooking Blog just a few clicks away on susanmeier.com.

So stay tuned!


susan