Deborah's Blog

Cowboy Dreams!

2011-07-30T11:16:00.001-07:00

I've had a very tough job this past week, as I worked with the cover artist who is designing the artwork for my re-release of Beneath a Silver Moon, my first Western romance. I managed to get the rights back from Dorchester Publishing, and will be releasing it as a digital book for the first time.

Editing the book was tough enough, because I had to work from the original Word file, the changes my editor Kate Seaver made were all on paper. (Now my editors make changes and correction as digital files and we send them back and forth).

But the cover... that was something else. I was very lucky to see Shane Rice at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention when he was named runner up to the Mr. Romance title. Even better was his "costume" for the posing segment, (I know it sounds hilarious, but if you had a chance to be there, it was awesome!) He was Wyatt Earp. And I knew I'd found my hero.

I was also lucky to have a friend who is a graphic designer and wanted to try creating a cover. She does costume and graphic design for the HBO series, True Blood, and I've worked with her on other projects.

I contacted Shane, gave him some ideas of what I wanted, and his agent set up a photo shoot.
Then I was sent a link to choose some photos. This is where the process paused for a while. Choosing a good image from over a hundred amazing shots was really difficult. I finally narrowed it down to a couple. This is one we didn't end up using but I'm saving it for something else. Maybe a trading card.

And this one, well I bought it for promotion... and it might end up in a book trailer video.

If you are interested in seeing more images of Shane, you can contact his agent JD Dewitt at www.theviewtalent.com

I'm participating in the Long and Short Reviews Anniversary Celebration! You have found the right button!

Romantic Times Convention - April 2011

2011-05-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a few years since I attended this convention, and I really looked forward to all the fun and parties. I was a finalist in the first Romantic Times (RT) "New Voice" contest with Dorchester publishing, and I sold my first book in Orlando on the dance floor at one of the parties. I have very good memories of all the RT's I've attended.

This year I was attending as both a library employee and an author, so I often felt like I was pulled in two directions. My co-worker Jerene came with me along with my good friend and critique partner, Sheryl. Jerene was an RT "virgin" and I knew she was in for a few surprises.

I was so happy that RT was in LA, because it meant a very short trip compared to Florida or Kansas, where I've traveled before.

After flying, arriving, checking in and getting settled, Jerene and I headed for the bar... to wait for Sheryl to arrive. We met some nice ladies, nodded... and one looked at my name a bit closer.
She then introduced herself, and it turns out she's my editor for Promise Me, my latest book release. I'd never met Helen before, we just had a "cyber" relationship. She was so young! (She just edits old), and it was delightful to actually get to talk to her.

RT is all serious writing/publishing during the day and party fun at night. The first evening party was hosted by Ellora's Cave, and we were invited to the exotic world of Bollywood! The decorations were fabulous, and the dancers who entertained us made me feel like I'd stepped into one of my favorite Bollywood features.

Because I was presenting a workshop on creating author events on Thursday, I didn't get to attend any of the writing workshops that day, but Sheryl attended a workshop, "Self-Publishing: The Seven Secrets to E-Book Self-Publishing Success" with Mike Coker, founder of Smashwords. She was so enthusiastic, I asked her to write a blog about it.

I did get to attend the Samhain Steampunk Tea and grabbed some cool steampunk swag, enjoyed refreshments and discovered that Samhain is planning a lot steampunk releases. My e-reader will be, um... steaming HOT!

Thursday night was the Venetian Masquerade Faery Ball,with a Faery Court, a dinner, beautiful costumes and lots of fun.

On Friday, I had to help get things organized for the Steampunk social that Cindy Holby, Suzanne Lazear, Kathryn Smith and I were sponsoring. Since this was so much fun, I'm going to blog about it in a separate post! (There are a lot of great costume photos).

The highlight of Friday was seeing author Dean Koontz. Sheryl and I managed to get two of the very limited tickets they gave out for this program, and the biggest surprise of all, Dean Koontz is funny, no -- Dean Koontz is HILAROUS. His stories of being a "big, whoopee-de-do" author had the crowd in stitches, and needless to say, made those of us in the lower selling ranks feel good. You can be major best-selling author, but that can still mean you don't get dinner on the road. The crowd was a bit restless when it came time to get books signed, but I know what they were feeling -- since he doesn't fly and really doesn't like doing booksignings, this was a rare sighting of an elusive author.

Friday night was the Vampire Ball, featuring Zombie Dancers from Planet 9, the show that Heather Graham and her co-horts create especially for this event. There was a great song at the end that my roomies and I kept repeating, the chorus is: "Bitch, Whore, Tramp, Slut" and as we sat around the room drinking wine, we considered all the times that phrase would just encapsulate all the emotions you are feeling!

Costa Rica -- Baby!

2011-02-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

I just got back from another trip to Costa Rica, and I have to say -- even though I've been there four times, I just never get tired of visiting.

We visited two places this time, both on the Pacific side. We flew into the Liberia airport, spent the night in a small hotel and then picked up our rental car the next morning. Last year we flew into San Jose, and I really prefer this smaller airport. Everything seems easier and more manageable. We keep hoping that the "new" airport here will be finished soon, (we've been coming since 2007, and it's still under construction). This time the cab driver told us there are "Americanos" working on it, so maybe it will go faster.

Our drive to Nosara took us through some beautiful farm country, with lots of cattle ranches. The Costa Rican cowboys were out on their horses -- mending fences, herding their cattle. It was a lovely drive.

When we turned off the road for Nosara, we hit dirt. Really -- dirt road to the town. Our first stop to call the agent who would take us to our house was at the Cafe de Paris. A real French bakery in the middle of Costa Rica. We stopped there every day for bread, rolls and pastries.

Our little house was great, and we enjoyed the location within walking distance to Guiones Beach.

There were lots of surfers out and we found some beautiful shells. Watching the sunset on an ocean beach is always a treat for me!

We did an amazing number of things in our week in Nosara, including a fishing trip (my husband caught a Blue Marlin), ziplining high in the canopy, kayaking and swimming every day. And we had our quiet days too, with long walks on the beach, relaxing in the sun and enjoying our private pool.

If you are headed to Costa Rica, I recommend renting a house. We've found great places on homeaway.com, always had a wonderful time, swam at gorgeous, uncrowded beaches and seen howler monkeys, iguanas, tropical birds, pizotes, porpoises, sea turtles and even had a strange encounter with a gorilla.

Emerald City - Days 1 and 2

2010-10-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

October 1-3 was the Emerald City Romance Writers Conference, which is one of the biggest writing conferences on the West Coast. With 250 attendees and a ton of published authors, it's a great opportunity to attend workshops, meet other writers, chat with published authors and pitch to agents and editors.

My weekend began early though -- as I host an event for authors and regional library staff that I've cheekily titled, "Read-Dating with Romance Authors". Librarians and other staff members have the opportunity to sit down and talk with the "pros" about the various sub-genres, their work and trends in romance. Every fifteen minutes the librarians move to a different table.

There were gift bags, swag (promotional items), great fabric bags and books from Harlequin, magazines from Romantic Times Book Reviews, Romance Sells and giveaways from Romance Writer's of America. The authors attending donated books, snacks and other great stuff.

Barbara Vey of Publisher's Weekly, (Beyond Her Book) visited with us and even wrote about it on her blog the next day.

It was a great event, and I couldn't do it without all the fabulous authors and my special helpers, Mary Buckham and Pat White!

At the conference, Alyssa Day gave a wonderful keynote speech on Friday night. She brought the crowd from laughter to tears. Her analogy to "Cinderella" was priceless.

Cherry Adair awarded the participants in the "Write the Damned Book" challenge. It was wonderful to see so many women lined up. Cherry motivates a lot of writers with the challenge every year.

Then we heard from the editors and agents about what they were looking for, what excites them and where they see the market going.

Market Report: Contemporary romance is back, and pretty much everyone is looking for it.
Paranormal continues to be hot, but those present were looking for something different from vampires and werewolves, such as witches and different types of creatures. None of the editors were looking for Steampunk, but all of the agents were interested in finding out more. (Great news for me!) At least two people mentioned fantasy romance and Meredith Bernstein thinks it's time time for some type of story that involves the degradation of the planet, climate change and ecology.

Agents present:
Meredith Bernstein, looking for mainstream women's fiction, (Eat, Pray, Love), thrillers, suspense, literary fiction, Young Adult and romance with a twist. Came to the conference hoping to meet the next NY Times bestselling author.

Michelle Grajkowski (Three Seas), all of the same types of books that Meredith mentioned.

Emmanuelle Morgen (Judith Ehrlich Literary Agency), high concept women's fiction, paranormal thrillers, historical fiction, urban fantasy, all types of romance, Young Adult, esp. would like to see a contemporary romance set in a small town.

Marcy Posner (Folio Literary Agency), middle grade and young adult fiction, women's fiction, paranormal romance, historical fiction, mystery.
Editors present: Rose Hilliard, St. Martin's Press, all sub-genres of romance, (except Steampunk), women's fiction, Young Adult and humor.

Alex Logan (Grand Central), thrillers and women's fiction, contemporary romance.

Tessa Woodward (Harper Collins), dark paranormals, sexy historicals, fun contemporaries. Definitely not Westerns!

Since none of the editors present were especially interested in Steampunk, when I traded my appointment cards, (I had conflicts with programs I was going to present) I only took agent appointments. I really would love to sign with an agent, so I can focus on the writing and promotion and leave the selling to someone else.

I've learned not to put a lot of emotion into this pitching experience. I've had too many requests and too many rejections that say, "just not right for me"... so if I find someone I'd like to work with and they ask for a submission, I'll send the Steampunk partial to them.

And then I'll continue to write, because really -- that's the important thing.

Cowboys in Winthrop Washington

2010-09-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to visit is Winthrop, which is on the other side of the Cascade Mountains from where I live. Not only is it a lovely drive but once you get there, the mountains and scenic areas are breathtaking.

We stayed at the Sun Mountain Lodge, which is located above the Methow Valley. There's lots to do there, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding. I even visited the spa and had a relaxing massage and body scrub. And just lazing around the pool is great in this warm sunshine.

But one of the reasons we love Winthrop so much is because it's a real Western town. They've renovated it to be as origional as possible. The main street is fun, because it's not a ghost town, it's a living town with a real Western theme.

We also discovered a wonderful local museum. My family knows when I travel -- the only thing I love more than visiting a library is visiting a museum. My husband indulged me and this visit was as good as several weeks of reading research books. I took a lot of photos, because when you have such great reference material it often helps to set a scene when writing.

This office has already "shown up" in my
Novella. And I'm sure this cabin will be
a perfect setting for a story.

But of course a vacation can't be all studying and research. Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the sunset.

First Lady Fashions

2010-07-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

In June, I was asked to participate in a panel at the American Library Association Conference.
This is sort of a big deal in the Library world, and I was excited about being on the panel... and having the chance to visit Washington, D.C. again. With my friend and co-worker, Chapple... again. So back to the East coast, and of course --

It was stinkin' hot. Walking down the street and the sweat drips down your back hot. My hair curls all by itself hot. Well, that was one advantage, I never had to break out the curling iron.

Since I'd been in DC last year for the RWA Conference, (where I was named Librarian of the Year, just in case I need to remind you,) I decided to target a few things to see on this trip. Especially since when you're attending a conference, you don't always get to see as much as you'd like. There's that pesky conference thing always interfering with your free time.

So, I decided to visit the American History Museum, (part of the Smithsonian). After dropping my suitcases off at the hotel, I got directions and discovered I wouldn't even need to use my Metro card. The museum was just down the street.

I love museums as much as I love libraries, and if you know me -- that's saying a lot because I have BIG LOVE for libraries. When you give a former American History teacher a museum filled with very cool stuff from the history of these good old United States, I'm one happy camper.

And the very first exhibit I head toward is "Inauguration Gowns of the First Ladies" -- because if there's fashion, I want to be around it! This exhibit was pretty crowded, but if you moved along in the line, you had the chance to see a fashion history of the US.

This dress was worn my Mary Todd Lincoln, and everyone exclaimed over her tiny waist. Hello people -- women were tiny then and the wore CORSETS, rearranging their insides so their outside would be fashionable.

This Victorian beauty wanted her butt to look really big, so she wore a bustle. Of all the fashions throughout the ages, this is the one that really makes me shake my head. Maybe because the Victorians were all button-ed up from head to toe, this was their version of sexy.

This is Mamie Eisenhower's dress, and who knew she was such a hot number, wearing red and all? I love this fifties style, and I have a red dress I wear once in a while for costume events that's very similar to this.

Then there's our newest First Lady, who has changed the way we wear sweater sets and slim skirts. Michele Obama was one hot Mama is this gown dripping crystals.

There was one other dress in the museum that caught my eye. Many of you will recognize as being worn by a woman I consider the first lady of comedy. I actually remember the night Carol Burnett wore this dress as Scarlett O'Hara in what is a classic funny skit from her show.

I'll post about the fabulous machine room, (including STEAM machines - to the delight of my Steampunk lovin' heart) next week. So come on back and see some photos, including a machine actually designed by Tesla.

Driving Mr. de Lint

2010-05-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

One of the best benefits of my job is the opportunity to meet amazing authors. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be the escort, (sounds racy, huh?) for author Charles de Lint and his wife, Mary Ann Harris.

This is the second time they've visited the library system to do programs, so I was really looking forward to this opportunity. When I drive people around, it gives me a chance to talk about writing, the book business, publishing, etc. And in the case of Mary Ann and Charles - the conversation expands to discuss Steampunk, vintage clothes, (Mary Ann has a business buying and selling) and fantasy books.

At the school program, they delighted their audience of middleschoolers when they showed up with guitar, mandolin and harmonica. Charles and Mary Ann are also musicians, and they talk about writing, the characters in Charle's books, and they sing about the things that motivate them. Things like the drive to their camp in Ontario, Canada and all the interesting small towns and people along the way.

Charles also presented a writing workshop, and that's another great benefit to my job. All the amazing authors I get to hear talk about their process. Here are a few hints from Charles de Lint.

Start the story right away in the first chapter. Don't waste time trying to "catch" the reader up and give all the character background at once.
Consider if you are using telling verbs - thought, decided, felt, wondered - instead of showing the action
Don't name the emotion, show it on the page
Voice - it's the language of your characters
Try to find your voice by "becoming" your character, stepping into their shoes like a method actor
Magic has a cause and effect. Every magical element should have a cost, and there should be an "antidote" or dangerous element to the magic. Think kryptonite for Superman
Beware of too much magic, where the story and characters get lost because of the magical elements

I think one of the best ways to become a better writer is to read really good writing. Not so you can "copy" the way the writer works, but so you can see the many different ways a writer can express a story. Every story will be different depending upon the person telling it, but we can learn so much from prolific, amazing authors like Charles.

Why Can't My Characters Behave?

2010-04-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

At my last GSRWA (Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America) meeting our presenter, Ellis Flynn, was talking about Science Fiction, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy. Of course, because I was there we talked about Steampunk.Then, the Steamed blog started this fabulous month of special events to celebrate their one year anniversary! And one of the things we can do to win a $150.00 shopping spree is to create a costume for a character using the cool stuff at Clockwork Couture. Well, you KNOW how I am about clothes, so of course I had to try this. This is what I finally came up with.

My character, Jezebel Fremont, is a privateer for the US Air Corps. and her ship, The Liberty Belle, is charged with intercepting and commandeering weapons and supplies from the Confederate States of America. (That's where she got the cool gun).

She's supposed to be a supporting character in my Steam-punk book, but Jezebel is never happy about being a supporting anything, and I think she's demanding her own book.

At least she has a great uniform. And you should see her "dress-up" clothes. Let's just say, Jezebel cleans up nicely. Just ask Harrison Kellogg.

And one final confession, I bought the hat at the top of the page. I really, really wanted that hat after I seen it Alice in Wonderland. So -- now I have it. Where can I order Johnny Depp?

*Airship Pirate Image from http://homarusrex.deviantart.com/

We'll Always Have Paris!

2010-01-31T14:35:00.000-08:00

When I told my sister I planned to meet a friend in Paris, she sighed and said, "That makes you sounds like an international jet setter..." and to be honest it was fun to say. The fact that the friend is a guy, (younger) and former co-worker makes it even more fun, as I spread the rumor that I'd be having a rendezvous with Mike in Paris. Hey -- I'm a romance author, it's good publicity. (And Mike's a great sport!)

So, on Wednesday morning, armed only with all our maps, Sheryl and I set off to have a rendezvous, (which means meeting in French).

The first challenge is finding the Ledru-Rollin market, as we turn in different directions trying to decide where we need to go. Finally, a sign points us to the market. Then we circle the block, because there were many corners... until a man comes running toward us with arms outstretched. It's Mike and we join him and several of his friends for hot chocolate at the cafe.

One of his friends lives in Paris, so we receive the hug with the kiss on each cheek that's traditional in France. Then we shake hands with the other friend. Over our hot chocolate we talked about the flights we took on Iceland Air, their visit to Iceland and our first impressions of Paris.

We tour the market and Sheryl bargains for an antique lighter for her husband and I purchase a silk fan for a co-worker. Finally, we part, but of course we use that famous line from "Casablanca" -- "we'll always have Paris."

On to Notre Dame.

Of course, you've seen it in photos, but being there, next to the Seine, with the spires reaching up to God and the Saints looking down at us is the experience of a lifetime. We wander through the church, I light a candle in memory of my son Garth. We remain quiet and awestruck by the Gothic beauty of this cathedral. There's a peace to Notre Dame, even in the midst of all the visitors. I marvel at the dedication of the builders who loved God enough to sacrifice so much to demonstrate their faith.

After touring the cathedral, we enjoy the view of the boats, the strolling tourists and the lovely houses on each side of the river. It was a "pinch me again, because I don't believe I'm in Paris" moment.

We travel on to the Sainte Chapelle chapel. I'd been told by friends to make time to visit this "jewel box" of a church, and we aren't disappointed. Our only glitch is a wait in line to tour the Police Station, discovering too late it isn't necessary for us to go through the X-ray. Plus, my friend Sheryl had a nail file in her bag and the Police thought it was mine. Since I don't speak enough French to understand and they spoke no English, they decided that two not even five ft. tall Americans probably couldn't do a lot of damage with a nail file.

St. Chapelle is filled with exquisite painted surfaces and incredible stained glass windows. To say it's breathtaking doesn't do the church justice.

We finally discover the elusive Bus #69, and hop on. As we ride past the Musee D'Orsay, the bus backs up to make a tight turn, (despite all the pedestrians who don't seem to realize a bus is bigger than they are) and through the gates of the Louvre with only inches to spare. This driver is the best!

Next stop: The Eiffel Tower. My assistant, who is French, told me that we shouldn't waste the extra money to pay for the elevator to the top, but simply climb to the second level. What she didn't tell me was there would be nearly 800 steps up to that second level. Of course, we've been walking for days, hauling luggage and basically getting in shape for this climb.

We reach the first level and stop to take photos. I'm winded and my cheeks are quite rosy. But, I'm determined to get up to the second level, and I remind myself I can do it -- one step at a time.

And I do. The view is worth the effort, as we wander all around, make some new friends from Israel and Spain, spend some money in the gift shop, (after all -- it's the Eiffel Tower) and enjoy the light show from INSIDE the tower.

As dusk descends, we watch the "city of light" begin to glow and even though we've been busy nearly every minute -- we've had a wonderful day. We search for a place to eat and manage to be the nightly entertainment for one restaurant crew -- as we ask if we can have dinner. They laugh and the owner says, "Americans! We don't open until 8pm". It's around 6:30pm and we are starving. We haven't had anything to eat since our hot chocolate with Mike and his buddies. So we settle on a small pâtisserie on a corner. Although no one speaks English, I manage to use my very rough French enough to order. We enjoy the French version of pizza and have them box up two pastries to take back to our room.

The evening ends with wine and dessert in our room. Our feet hurt, we're exhausted but we've had a lovely first full day in Paris.

Paris!

2010-01-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

Guest Blogger - Sheryl

We arrive in Paris via the Eurostar. A very nice journey, the countryside in France is just like a storybook. I would be happy forevermore living in any one of the villages we passed. The sun is out, what could possibly go wrong?

Thankfully, we only had two really bad hours in Paris and they were our first two. We get off the train and are immediately surrounded by Gypsies trying to part the two silly American women from their money. We spend 20 minutes standing in line for a Metro ticket machine that doesn't work, then another 20 at the live person ticket booth. The lovely woman selling us tickets makes sure we get the best deal we can, but with our spotty French, it takes a while.

Then stairs, stairs, stairs! Which wouldn’t be an issue if we weren’t both lugging around about 75 pounds worth of luggage. Se la vi! Our two first words spoken often and profusely in France are “Pardon” and “Merci”

We finally manage to get on a Metro train, but we're kind of freaked out, because everything is in French and we have no idea if we're going in the right direction - so we hop off at the first stop, and Viola! We are right were we need to be.

One thing I must say about the French…they are the nicest, friendliest, most helpful people I have ever met -- with the exception of the first French woman we encounter. Now, you must first envision that everything in Europe is not super-sized, so we are on this teeny tiny escalator with all of our luggage, pretty much blocking it so no one can get by, although it's only about two feet wide. And suddenly this French woman starts loudly complaining about us because she just missed the train. Did I mention a train comes about every 3 minutes? I think that is what the French gentleman yelled back at her. He defended the silly American women and was our lovely hero.
Okay, so we manage to get on the right train, disembark, drag our unwieldy bags up stairs (maybe there was a lift???) and we are standing in the middle of a beautiful Paris intersection. We’re finally in Paris!!!!

But our journey isn’t quite over. We have no idea where we are or how to get to our hotel. Note to self, when carrying luggage, always use a taxi. Seriously, it was at least ½ mile away and the best news was that it's sunny out. Thank goodness. (Note from Deb - Sheryl was seriously freaked out by the neighborhood, but we later realized we had nothing to fear.)

We arrive at our adorable hotel, unpack and now the fun begins. We find what will become our favorite bus #31, (which we ride often to get to the closest Metro station) and head for the Arc de Triomphe which quickly becomes the first and last place we go nearly every day.

Is this place PINK enough or what? Our room was pink, pink, pink. We love it! And it looks down at a small square so we can spy on all the local people below us.

We decide to head to the Eiffel tower to see if we can find the mysterious bus #69 which Rick Steves says is the best bus ride in Paris. We find the Eiffel tower and are breathless. We are really here! However the elusive #69 is nowhere to be found. But there are lots of police, everywhere... and then two cars come speeding by, and that's it.

We think the President of France had some Christmas shopping to do.

We never find the elusive bus #69 but decide we’ve done a lot for our first ½ day and head back to the Champs Elysées.

It's dark now and the place is lit up for the season. So amazing!!! We window shop for a new Mercedes and other high end purchases. Then we see it, the mother ship…Sephora Paris! This store is so big I don’t think we make it much further then the front of the store. I get some nice red lipstain and Deb goes gaga over all the perfumes. When we finally leave, it begins to rain.

We duck into some of the little “malls” in between the big stores. It's a perfect excuse to window shop.

A woman selling the most exquisite shoes you have ever seen “allows” us to enter her shop and take one picture. (Note from Deb: These boots still make me seriously shiver. I just LOVE them. I have boot envy.)

We discover a shop with cool stuff, a funky chair and we make some new friends.

Exhausted, we finally head back to the hotel, grab a bottle of wine at a neighborhood shop and end up eating dinner in an adorable Mediterranean restaurant that has the best hummus I’ve ever tasted.

All in all an amazing first day in Paris.

A Day with Vic, Al and the Wizard

2010-01-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

It's Monday, our last day in London. We missed breakfast. Hard to imagine, because it's so delicious but we must have been really exhausted. We did get our lattes, so at the very least that woke us up.

Today is all about Vic and Al! One of the reasons we chose a hotel in Kensington is because of the proximity to the Victoria and Albert Museum. A quick hop on the bus, and we're finally there. For those of us who love the Victorian era, this is the Mother Ship.

We discover the Medieval Wing has just been reopened, so we head there first. We have to walk through a gallery filled with statues. This guy reminds me of something... or is it someone?

We wander through here for a while, but remember our goal - The Medieval Wing. Right...

There is a beautiful collection of hand-carved altars. One thing I learned from this visit, the Catholic priests had stuff -- and it was beautiful. Paintings, vestments, illuminated Bibles and tapestries.

We encountered the expected sort of thing, like a suit of armor, and unexpected like this amazing chandelier from Chihuly -- a Northwest artist I've admired for years. What a wonderful thing to see his work here in the center of the museum.

Of course there's a fashion collection in the Vic and Al -- and of course, we visited it! Like I said before, this is the "Fashion Tour of London and Paris". I took this photo of Victorian men's clothing, because it's hard to find good examples of what the guys wore. (Maybe these belonged to that statue above).

And we found one of Princess Diana's beautiful gowns. Do you remember when she wore this?

Finally, after four hours of the museum, we just didn't think we could look at another beautiful, incredible thing. And we were hungry. So we set off for Piccadilly Circus. We'd heard you could get a bus map there, and we'd been bemoaning the fact that we couldn't use buses more often because we couldn't figure out where they traveled. So we'd used the tube a lot.

It was very efficient, but not as scenic.

Piccadilly Circus reminded me of Times Square, lots of people converging there and a lot of traffic. Of course when I was in NYC in May, the city had closed down Times Square and it was a pedestrian mall. I actually thought that was brilliant.

We did indeed find a bus map, and we decided to have some lunch at a pub. We tried the "pies" specialties, I had shepherd's pie, with hamburger, carrots, peas and gravy all covered over with mashed potatoes. With my dark beer, (we learned early that the ales were kinda weak, so we went for the darker stuff) we had a feast.

Now comes a lesson. After eating we returned to Piccadilly Circus and looked at the map. I pointed out that the West End Theater District was close by, and we should go and get some theater tickets for tonight. It was a grand idea, and then the mist turned into drizzle and that turned into a pounding rain. We got soaked, despite umbrellas, boots, hats, gloves, etc. And "right next to" is relative when you're looking at a map. We finally found the theater district, and purchased tickets for Wicked.

I've actually seen this musical twice before in New York, but Sheryl had never seen it, and since we'd already had a close encounter with OZ -- and we are from the Emerald City -- it just seemed appropriate.

We hurried back to our hotel, dried off, warmed up and changed our clothes. Then it was back out the door to see the show! We had great seats, (no one in front of us, for short girls, that's a miracle!)

I realized that the scenery, background and costumes are all Steampunk! No wonder I love this show!

After the show we returned to hour hotel, had a lovely nightcap and packed our bags. We have a car coming to pick us up tomorrow at 7:30am, because we are on our way to PARIS!

Bath, Tea with Mr. Darcy and Shutting Down the Tower of London

2009-12-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday and after another lovely breakfast, (did I mention that the hotel makes lattes and mochas for us and we can have them or hot chocolate or wine delivered to our room whenever we like?) It's a great hotel, Twenty Nevern Square. I will stay here again when I come back to London. It's Posh.

Today we're going to Bath, so we head for the train station and buy our tickets. Now we are a bit confused. There are many, many lines for the trains and the big boards don't tell us which track is for our train. I ask at the Information Desk, and they tell us to just go in where all the tracks are and look for the destination on the train. This is not correct information, because when we do that and start searching -- a purser takes pity on us and tells us to go to track 32.

Apparently if you do this all the time, you just know these things. We're Americans - we don't understand public transportation.

The train is comfortable and not too crowded, so we settle in to watch London slip by and then we begin to see farms, lots of sheep and the wonderful types of small towns you see on BBC specials. Yes, it really does look like that. Really.

We have to change trains and there isn't a warm place to wait, so we're grateful we wore our wool coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Finally we arrive in Bath -- and we are in Austenland.

This is the Bath Abbey, not to be confused with the Bath Cathedral.

Bath is very crowded as there is a Christmas Fair in the streets around the cathedral and it's so picturesque there, I think people just visit to enjoy the ambience. We can certainly understand.

We see a familiar landmark from home and this begins our quest to "Find Starbucks" as we travel. Kinda like "Find Waldo" but there's coffee involved. And you KNOW how people from Seattle are about coffee.

The buildings are all made of this lovely white stone.

We find the "Circus" which is where all the parties and balls were held during the Regency period. We can imagine the Bennett sisters walking these very streets. Except they're imaginary characters in a book. But we are willing to suspend disbelief.

Sheryl is really the Jane Austen fan, although I will say I enjoyed "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" very much. One of her best books, I think.

We both want to see the Fashion Museum and I'm delighted to say we are not disappointed. Again, for me -- this is the fashion tour of Europe.

These dresses could have been worn by Jane and her sisters.

And the Victorian gowns are lovely.

But this is my favorite. When I'm invited to the Academy Awards -- I'll wear this dress. (Johnny Depp will be my date - Hey, it's my fantasy).

There are gloves, hats and purses too. I love accessories!

After the museum and we head to the Jane Austen Centre for tea. Sheryl is now thrilled beyond belief because there's a portrait of her favorite hero on the wall. "Hello Mr. Darcy".

We enjoy a lovely tea party, buy some things in the gift shop and head back to the train. We have to take the 4pm train, because we have tickets to see the "Ceremony of the Keys" at the Tower of London tonight. Since it took so long for us to get here today, we don't want to take any chances we'll get back to London too late.

We're back in plenty of time to get to the Tower and we walk along the Thames.

This is not the "London Bridge" because we are informed that's in Arizona. This is the "Tower Bridge" and I know, it looks like that other one, but it's not. Take my word for it.

Sheryl tells me this is where the Queen shops. That would finally explain why she needs a purse, because really people... what does she carry in it? Apparently her credit card so she can buy stuff here.

It reminds me of a casino in Las Vegas.

We stop by the gate and ask about the "Ceremony of the Keys" and the guard actually makes fun of me, in a kind of good-natured way. Then he hugs me, which I think is not very official kind of behavior, but maybe he's the friendly, greeting guard. And where do we wait for the guide to the ceremony?

In the "Tower of London Starbucks" of course!

We don't really know what to expect, but to attend the "Ceremony of the Keys" you have to get tickets in the mail. We are very impressed. This ceremony has been held continuously for 700 years. It was even held during WWII when the area was bombed, (one night it was late but it happened). That folks is HISTORY!

I thought the guards would have antique weapons, but they have machine guns. Very serious looking machine guns. And they are all spit and polish, "who goes there?" official.

We are not allowed to take photos or even talk during the ceremony. But it was so fabulous, we don't care. After it's all over we have our photo taken with the Yeoman Warden (Beefeater) who led the tour.

Tomorrow we visit the Vic and Al (Victoria and Albert Museum) and go to the theater again. It will our last day in London, and we're sad. Except not too sad, because on Tuesday we're going to Paris!

Scrooge, Panto and Ruby Slippers.... OH MY!

2009-12-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

We have a bit of time to explore the "West End Theater District" after we enjoy our tea.

It's crazy busy there as the shopping crowd mixes with the folks waiting for the matinee performances.

We enjoy all the activity for a while, then we duck into this Bookshop. I love that they call it a "shop" and not a "store". It just seems more friendly.

Then it's time to head back to the theater for A Christmas Carol -- the musical not the Jim Carey movie.

We discover this is going to be a "panto" which is a special kind of play they offer during the holiday season. It's a musical, and usually features famous Television (Telly) stars. It's always a comedy and there will be men playing women's roles, women playing men's roles and a LOT of audience interaction.

I'd read about them, but the young woman who works at the theater, (you can see her peeking around the corner of this picture) tells us, "Americans don't understand Panto". But, I'm a library type and im my research I've read about these so I'm delighted to discover we are now going to see one.

We sit down early, so this makes the theater look empty but nearly every seat is filled, mostly with families and children. Sheryl and I are very in touch with our "inner child".

So, what is a "Panto" or Pantomine? Not just actors being mimes. It means the audience participates. The actors ask questions and we yell back the answers, we sing along and in the middle of the show... we all dance. It's during "Christmas past" when Scrooge worked for Fezziwig and they had a Christmas Ball. The entire audience stands up, we grab our neighbors hand and dance. I wish they had "Pantos" in Seattle! It's so much fun.

When we get out of the show it's dark and Sheryl wants to see "Harrods" one of the biggest and most exclusive department stores in the world. It isn't far so we head in that direction on the Metro.

Everyone in the city of London is at Harrods. The crowds so immense, we can barely get in the door. We quickly scan the first floor and find the stairs. It's much less crowded on the other floors.

There aren't any Christmas decorations, but they're celebrating the 60th Anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz" with a special fashion emphasis.

Dorothy is bit more stylish...

Glinda is high fashion.

Even the Wicked Witch and the Scarecrow have had a make-over.

And Toto Too!

We wander through the "women's clothing" section looking at designers like Halston, Chanel and Dolce and Gabbana. Note to self: if they don't put the prices on the clothes, I can't afford them.

Of course we need to look at the shoes, for me -- it's all about the shoes. And what do we discover? Ruby Slippers! The prettiest ruby slippers in the world.

Warning - if you have low tolerance for those who swoon over shoes just skip this part. Because as part of the store's focus on The Wizard of Oz -- they had designers from all over the world create their version of Ruby Slippers. And here they are!

And these are my favorites, although apparently they were so top heavy -- they couldn't stay standing. Betsey Johnson is one of my favorite designers.

We hear singing and discover in the middle of the store they have an opera performance.

Then we find the memorial to Princess Di and Dodie. (His father is the owner of Harrods).

We've seen enough stuff and we're getting hungry. We haven't eaten since breakfast and decide it's too busy to eat in this area, so we find a bus and head back to "Earl's Court" which is the neighborhood our hotel is in.

After some delicious Indian Food we have a nightcap at our hotel, gloat over our treasures from Portabello Road and fall into bed after another exhausting but fun day in London.

Coming next: Bath, Tea with Mr. Darcy and Shutting Down the Tower of London.

To Market, To Market

2009-12-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you anxiously waiting to hear what other calamities befell Sheryl and I on our first day in London -- we did eventually find our way about. We wandered for what seemed like hours, kept asking people where the "Underground" was, and were directed all around one area.

Then Sheryl decided we should duck into a Borders store that was in the midst of of a giant clearance sale. Apparently all the Borders bookstores in London will be closed soon.

She had a brilliant plan. We'd find a local map or guidebook and figure out where we were, and how to escape. It took a while. The crowded store had NO employees. Or they just decided to have their staff Christmas party early. Whatever.

After searching we finally located a map book, flipped through it and found our last destination, and figured out the direction we'd need to travel to find the subway stop we'd been searching so frantically for in the neighborhood. NOTE: I am a planner, but cannot navigate my way to places I've been before much less a major city I've never visited. Sheryl reads maps.

This is the thing - that area was in the midst of major construction and that's why the "Picadilly Line" had a detour. The "Underground" was indeed nearby, behind massive walls blocking folks from the construction area. It was NOT our fault that we got lost. We found the entrance, located the correct train, a were greatly relieved to finally tumble into bed after an exhausting and very long day.

The next day, we discover our hotel, Twenty Nevern Square, offers a breakfast... with complimentary lattes and mochas. We feast upon fresh fruit, croissants (with or without chocolate), yogurt, cheese, meats and various lovely things. We don't miss bacon and eggs at all, because this is a high energy breakfast for two high energy babes. And lovely parakeets singing in the back ground.

Since I'd realized we would be in London on the weekend, I researched "Flea Markets" and discovered that Portabello Road is actually one of the biggest in the world. Our goal for Saturday morning was to find the market, and shop -- shop--shop. So we hopped a bus and headed through the lovely Kensington area.

Finally we arrived at Portabello Road... and walked through the shops area on the way to the market.

We were intrigued by this display of sewing machines.

And we cooed and fussed over all these dollhouse miniatures.

The shop windows were enticing, with special things piled on tables outside the stores.

My husband refers to any store that looks like this as "Mermaid Fairies" and knows I will be in the door instantly.

But if he was here this would be a place he'd stop.

There are friendly Bobbies walking around.

In addition to Antiques, Collectibles, Crafts and Food... they have plants and flowers. Sheryl said I acted like I'd never seen an Evergreen tree before, but these are English Evergreen Trees!

Sheryl has an uncanny way of finding things I will love and she found this fabulous store called Punkyfish. I bought a great top there, something like this... and you can see how just being in London for one day has changed me!

I even discovered a woman making jewelry and she has a Steampunk piece I can't resist.

But all the shopping must come to an end and we head back to our hotel.

There are choirs singing holiday carols along the way.

And apparently... George Orwell slept here.

So we return to our hotel, drop off all our treasures and head for the "West End Theatre District" to pick our tickets and see "A Christmas Carol"

We discover that this weekend is the busiest shopping weekend of the year. It's like "Black Friday" in the states.

We pick up our tickets and even have time for tea.

Coming tomorrow -- Scrooge, Panto and Ruby Slippers -- OH MY!

Holiday Travelin'

2009-12-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's nearly the night before Christmas and at this time for the past few years, I've been on a beach in a tropical place. Such as Hawaii. Or Costa Rica. I think the perfect cure for the holiday blues is travel.

But this year, my travels took me in another direction with more temperate weather but lots of things to do and see.

I was invited by my friend and critique partner, Sheryl, to go to London and Paris with her. She'd cashed in her travel miles and with some great research, we booked two flights on Iceland Air to London, with a side trip on the Eurostar to Paris. I found several great hotels and we made plans.

Warning: If you ever decide to invite me take a vacation with you, I will plan the bejeesus out of it. I got a dozen books from the library, (I work for the library, remember, so it's a curse) and five sets of French language tapes. (I couldn't be sure which one would give me the conversational travel French I needed to learn in a month). I read, made notes and reviewed those notes. Sheryl combed through websites and interviewed co-workers who had traveled to England and France. We spent hours developing our plans.

On December 3, we boarded our jet and set out on our adventure, which will forever known as: "Deb and Sheryl's Excellent European Adventure".

If I could fly Icelandair to any point on the globe, I would. The seats were comfortable, (eventually I had an entire row to myself with 5 pillows and 2 blankets.) The crew gave us cookies and they were all so friendly and lovely. The only complaint I really could have is that in Iceland they made us stand in the security line for quite a while, but since the really nice Irish guy told us all about Paris while we stood there -- I won't complain. They told us the reason for the extra security is because "America is too lax". I assure you, the people of Iceland are safe from terrorists. I had my passport stamped three times while I was there. You can see that the crowds of tourists require that tight security.

Finally, we arrived in London, a bit time disoriented, a bit scroungy looking, (hey - flying all night is not attractive no matter how much you'd like to pretend) and we managed to figure out customs, purchase our transportation passes and get to Earl's Court. Some friendly workers gave us directions and we found our hotel.

It was so cute. And look at the neighborhood. My friend Gudrun had called her sister in England to tell her we were going to be staying in Kensington. She told her "that's posh".

We felt like we'd stepped back into the Regency or Victorian period. There was a view of the park from our window and pretty live birds in the lounge. The bathroom was teeny-tiny, but Sheryl and I are not giant people, so it worked for us.

We took off to see London as soon as we could, and we did have a plan. If we made all the right connections and worked quickly, we might visit the Geffrye House, which was on both of our lists. We made it to the right stop, but fate was not with us. The attendant at the information booth said to "cross the street" and she was wrong. We headed in the wrong direction and it was a mistake we didn't have time to correct. So we climbed off the bus and started back towards the train station. We decided to ride the "Piccadilly Line" a little further up -- but again, we were cursed. It's Friday night, in London and every person in the city is in the train station. We were forced up the escalator and out on to the street.

We were LOST. But since we hadn't really had anything to eat since the day before, it seemed a good idea to get a meal. And we found an interesting pub right there on the street. We had decided that we needed to eat in a pub as part of the English experience, so in we go.

There is only one other woman in the place. Men stare at us. I feel like I probably have a t-shirt on that says, "American Tourist" or something. Or is that we are two women in a pub, which maybe isn't done. We don't know but we're hungry.

We decide to try the local ale and fish and chips, so I go to the bar to order dinner for us. A man asks me how I am tonight, I answer "fine". He asks where I'm from and when I answer "Seattle in the US" he says, "Seahawks" and laughs. Do even the English know our shame?

Another man slides up and joins the conversation. He shows me a card in his wallet. I know he's speaking some sort of English, but I don't really understand what he's saying. Then he asks if I'm alone. I quickly point to Sheryl's back and say, "No -- my friend is traveling with me".

The barmaid comes in the back door, notices me and takes my order. She frowns at the man who has now shifted his attention to Sheryl, (who has no idea what is happening since she's had her back to the bar and was visiting with the couple from Poland). Within minutes the barmaid has yelled at one of the bartenders to pay attention, stomped over the man showing Sheryl the same card and quickly throws him out of the place. I hear her say under her breath.

"I won't have any of these blokes harrassing the nice American women."

It's our first day in England and we've flown through time, managed to get lost and got a guy thrown out of a bar.

Actually -- it isn't even a complete day yet.

Stay tuned for more....

I Need a Hero

2009-08-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

When you're writing a book, you have an image of your characters in your head, but when you finally sell -- YEAH -- you will eventually be asked to send your publisher a form that provides descriptions and suggestions for the cover art.

The first time I had to fill this form out, it asked for photos. And my immediate thought was, "Those people are imaginary, there aren't any photos". Then it occured to me that probably what they were asking for was an image that served as my inspiration. Now it's confession time, for Beneath a Silver Moon - my inspiration for Jefferson was Brendan Fraser. After all, Rick O'Connell was really a cowboy, you knew that because he was 1. American 2. Loved his guns
3. He was a hero with a wonderful sense of humor

So, when it was time to think about my hero for Promise Me I searched through my "fantasy guy" collection, and thought I had pretty much come up with the ideal. I'd be so prepared when that book sold.

Then I attended the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City and gave a speech about my first year as a published author, (to around 600 folks, but no one has ever accused me of being shy). After the luncheon, a nice man came up to tell me how much he loved what I had to say, and how inspired he was by my words. Oh, did I mention he was a DROP DEAD GORGEOUS guy who is one of the most popular romance cover models as well as a gifted artist.

Yes, Cherif Fortin was talking to ME. We chatted, and then he told me that he had artwork he thought would be perfect for my next book. We talked via Email after the conference, and he sent me an image. I've kept this for several years, always hoping when Westerns finally made a come-back, I would be able to use it for my cover.

I finally did sell Promise Me to The Wild Rose Press, and hoped I could convince them to use Cherif's art, because it so beautifully captured my hero and heroine. Unfortunately, they only use their own artists, and I am honestly thrilled with the art work created by Nicola Martinez
but I still have a soft spot for Cherif's work. What to do?

Then it occurred to me that I needed a Book Trailer, and since there was no image of my hero on the cover of my book, I might be able to use the painting from Cherif. So, I contacted him, and he actually had worked on that piece and it was even more beautiful.

So, watch this fall for the Promise Me booktrailer, (and the saga of how I create it, because this will be a DIY project, along with a little help from my friends).

In the meantime, here's just a small teaser, the image Cherif Fortin has graciously allowed me to use.

Nora and Me!

2009-08-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

If it's Saturday - we must be nearing the end of the RWA conference and tonight will be the Golden Heart and RITA awards. But before that, I have been invited to Nora's party.

Yes, NORA ROBERTS, the biggest author in the universe. More books, more sales, more of everything.

I'm not worthy....

So I put on my "Vegas Dress" and head up to Nora's suite. She has a great view, and a grand piano in her living room.

She's gracious, wearing a lovely dress, enough "bling" to make your eyes bug out of your head and she's barefoot. Gotta love a gal who likes to be comfortable.

Everyone who is anyone in the RWA world seems to be here and I get a photo with J.R. Ward. She's really tall and really thin.

I also meet up with my former Dorchester editor, Kate Seaver and we talk about old times and Costa Rica. She wants to go there, and since I've recently visited, so I offer some travel advice.

Then it's downstairs to the awards - the fun and excitement of seeing the Golden Heart winners (often in tears) and the RITA winners take the biggest romance writing honor of the year.

Then there is food, book chat and more chat. I say good-bye to Jesse, and we promise to stay in touch. It's not a late night, because tomorrow I take the subway to Union Station and head out to visit my Uncle and his wife in Richmond.

It's been a wonderful conference, busy, exciting, fun and I think I've learned a lot about the current state of romance. It's been a great honor to be chosen by RWA to be Librarian of the Year, and I will carry my title with pride!

Steampunk and More Workshopping at RWA

2009-08-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, (again at 8am) I present a workshop with Susan Gibberman and John Charles about selling your book and promoting it to libraries. This was really fun, because I learned as much about how other library systems work as the audience did. Because I work for one of the busiest, and best funded libraries in the US, I don't realize how many other libraries struggle with reduced staffing, minimal programming budgets and limited book $.

John is also the Romance Reviewer for Booklist magazine, so I was delighted to meet him and hear his take on the genre.

At the end of the 2 hour program, (whew - we did find things to talk for all that time) a small group of folks come up to ask us questions. A woman patiently waits, and I keep glancing at her name tag and thinking, I recognize that name....I wonder why?

When she introduces herself and hands me her newest book cover I realize she is Gail Dayton, and I morph into total fan-girl mode. I just finished reading her book, New Blood (a Steampunk Romance) and LOVED it. I'm so thrilled to meet her! And for those of you who don't know what Steampunk is - let me define it. It's a sub genre that is written in the Victorian age, that has elements of fantasy and the technology is based on steam. If you've seen the movies The Wild, Wild West or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you've seen Steampunk.

Which brings up an interesting note: There are many editors and agents asking for this at the conference. I just finished reading a fall book coming out by Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan, and it is Steampunk, so maybe that's the reason. Anyway, I've been working on a YA book in this genre, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.

I'm now preparing for the Awards Luncheon, because this is the day I officially receive my Librarian of the Year award. The moment I've been waiting for, the fun, the excitement, the butterflies in my belly because I will be accepting this in front of 2500 people.

I get special seating at the front of the ballroom, and chat with my fellow honorees. Finally, the President of RWA begins to announce our names, and then it's my turn to go up on stage, and be on 5 giant screens!

After thanking RWA and my local chapter, Greater Seattle RWA, I tried to offer something in the way of words of wisdom, but short - very short, so this is what I said:

Words are important, stories are powerful and books can change lives. Please keep writing, because if you stop, we won't have anything to put on the shelves.

Maybe not brilliant, but certainly short. Then we listened to a wonderful speech by Eloisa James. She's funny, endearing and had great writing stories to share. I stayed behind to get a book signed and for a photo op.

Then it's Party Night! Friday evening is when the publishers have their parties and I'm off with my sweet little friend, Elizabeth, to the St. Martin's party. We walk up the street, and then I remember - I didn't bring the invitation with me and don't exactly remember the name of the restaurant. I assure Elizabeth I'll remember the name when I see it, and I do, sorta. I see a wine bar, we run across the street and thank goodness Cherry Adair is sitting in the window so I know it's the right place.

There is a crush of people, but I am delighted to discover there is a bartender in D.C. who can make a pomegranate martini -- and order one. Actually, several, and before long Diana Love and several others are drinking them too. (I advise them, because this drink gives you antioxidants and booze in one shot).

Then we grab a cab with Diana and head downtown to the Harlequin party. Now, I confess, I wasn't actually invited to this party, but I was assured by Dennis Graham, (Heather Graham's husband) that we'd be welcome. He was right!

This event rocks - with an open bar, food and a DJ. The dance floor is crowded, but we manage to hook up with Jesse Petersen (Jenna Petersen) and her agent, Miriam, and we rock and roll for a while.

Then I realize it's really late and I'm not as young as I used to be. Jenna and I grab a cab and head back to the hotel. Even though on the West Coast it's only 10pm, I'm exhausted and fall into bed.

Good NEWS - I won't have to present a program at 8am tomorrow morning.

The RWA Conference - In the Beginning

2009-07-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday, Bright and Early Again!

I'm not really a "jet lag" kinda person. I can adapt pretty well, so I'm up at 6:15am and ready for the keynote with Janet Evanovich. My first thought on entering the ballroom is: "This is one huge, honkin' conference"! I learn there are 2000 attendees.

Janet is fun, (of course) joking about her broken foot, (she fell off the stage in Toronto) and confessing to be the author of 12 romance novels before she created Stephanie Plum. I'm amazed that her writing life is so organized and recognize she has truly created a publishing empire. I love hearing about rich, talented and successful women. What great role models they are for us aspiring to build our own writing careers.

Chapple had reminded me that the National Zoo was just up the street and said the magic word.

Pandas. I'd forgotten about them, and so headed out to meet her and see those cute, cuddly bears. But first, there are otters. I confess, these are my favorite animals.. (next to my cats). They just look like they have nothing more on their mind than having fun.

But, I'm here to see the Panda bears, and force myself to move on.

And how cute is this creature? My son Garth had a stuffed panda bear named "Foo-Foo" and I just can't believe that this live animal is as cute.

We end up at the family zoo and realize we have to walk back through the entire zoo to leave. It's getting HOT, very HOT.

Chapple starts to pack up for her trip home, and I head out to attend some workshops.

The day ends with a cocktail party at the hotel for the Chick-Lit RWA chapter, and I finally meet Paige Wheeler from the Folio Literary Agency. She works with my "Darlin' Jeff" who co-owns the agency. Paige will be coming out to Seattle for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference at the end of the month, so we chat about fun things to do with kids. Her baby is just 15 months old, so I have some suggestions for great places to visit.

So far, lots of fun, lots of information about romance publishing and great people!

Deb's Excellent Adventures in DC

2009-07-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

A Travel Day (July 14, 2009)

As Librarian of the Year 2009 for Romance Authors of America, I will be flying to Washington DC for their annual conference. Not only will I be accepting my award, but I'll be speaking twice at this conference. I've heard it's an exhausting series of day, so I'm prepared for sleep deprivation and sensory overload.

My first experience is being forced to pay $20 for the airlines to bring my luggage along with me. I'm irritated by this, but accept that this is a "wardrobe heavy" event and so pay the extortion.

After the tedious trial of flying, (I'm old enough to remember when flying on a airplane was FUN!) I arrive in DC. I assumed my "car" would be waiting, but no one with a placard with my name on it is standing in the baggage area. I call the car service, and discover I have to go out to the curb. This actually spoils it a bit for me, because I was dreaming of all the other passengers looking at me and trying to figure who I was.

It was a beautiful day in D.C. and I enjoyed seeing the buildings as we drove to the hotel. Lucky for me my partner in crime, um -- co-worker, Chapple, arrived early. She had assured the hotel staff that we did indeed want to remain at the hotel and thank goodness. Our program would be the very first of the conference at 8am on Wednesday, and I didn't really like the idea of trying to get up to the hotel from downtown during rush hour.

Chapple created the perfect ambiance for "Romance Librarian of the Year"! There was even champagne chilling in the ice bucket.

My RWA Chapter, (Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America) sent me roses. I'm starting to enjoy all this attention, and it's only just begun...

Chapple and I head across the street for dinner and I appreciate traveling with a foodie. She's spent the afternoon scoping out the neighborhood, checking out the food reviews and figuring out a schedule. You just gotta love an organized Reference Librarian!

Wednesday, Bright and Early

Program # 1: Romance in the Stacks: How to Plan, Organize and Enjoy Author Events

The guys are setting up the LCD projector when we arrive. I'm a bit grumpy, (Chapple has gone in search of coffee). I actually dragged my LCD projector 3000 miles, because I wasn't sure if they would have one. I have to agree though, it's better to be safe than sorry. This is Librarian Day, so our program is targeted to library staff who want to create author events and programs. Despite the fact that Chapple and I have never done this before, I believe we ROCK! We manage to get all our information into the one hour program. It's 9:00 am and we are finished for the day!

We head for the Metro and ride an escalator that appears to descend into the bowels of hell. The subway in DC goes very, very deep underground. We only have a "sorta" idea of where we want to go, and discover that many people in D.C. have suggestions for how to get to the restaurant we want to eat lunch at. On the way we stop at a jewelry store to admire the window display. We can't resist and go inside, then enjoy a fun time trying on crazy expensive jewelry that we wish we could buy.

Actually, Chapple could have purchased this pearl set. She decided to think about it.

It was beautiful!

After a lot of walking around and feeling foolish, (regrettably - Chapple is as direction-challenged as I am) we finally found the restaurant. Perhaps someone should have mentioned it was in a HOTEL! We did not despair, (although the service was not top-notch) the food was excellent.

This is the best-looking food I've ever seen. And it was "Free-Range" chicken.

My sandwich was amazing too. A very good choice for lunch.

After lunch, we head for the National Museum of the American Indian. This was the #1 tourist thing I wanted to do while in D.C.

Chapple had her own reasons for visiting this museum. Her mother-in-law, (Marionne Langemack) donated to the construction.

We asked at the main desk where the "Donor Wall" might be, and received some very complicated instructions. Chapple managed to find the list on a kiosk, then we tried to find the wall. It just didn't make sense.

So we visited the top floor exhibits, moved to the second floor and realized that the open wall in the middle of the museum did indeed hold the names of major donors. We found Marionne's name. How cool was that?

I have to admit, the organization of this museum challenged me. We were very disappointed that the only Pacific NW tribe represented was the Yakima's. With the rich tradition of art, storytelling, dance and culture, I wished there was more about the tribes of my home area, like the Tlinget, Haida, etc.

Chapple wanted to visit the Newsmuseum, but I'd had enough and headed back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. (I always check the hotel when I'm traveling to see if they have a pool).

I visited the HUGE author signing, and couldn't believe the number of people lined up to have books signed. I decided to just visit my friends instead of standing in line. I have limited room for books to take home, so I'll be pretty discerning. After all, I work for the library system, and we have a LOT of books.

We ended our first day with a Metro ride to Dupont Circle. Since we purchased an all day Metro pass, it seemed wise to take advantage of the convenience! We chose the restaurant that was busy and looked fun. Neopolitan pizza, and again -- great food, fun ambiance and a great ending to the day.

Writer's Digest Conference

2009-06-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

When I found out there was a writing conference the day before BEA, it didn't take me long to decide I'd take advantage of the opportunity by going to NYC a day early. The library was sending me to BEA anyway, so I made my reservation on my favorite flight (Jet Blue - the Red Eye). I love arriving in New York at dawn - because then it seems like I have an extra day. I can't ever seem to get enough of The Big Apple.

I arrived at the writer's conference just in time to hear Lisa Scottoline give the keynote address. She's visited our library before, and while I confess we are not the "Drink you under the table Librarians" she was talking about, I know what she means. She's a great speaker and if you get a chance to hear her -- take advantage of the opportunity.

I wanted to hear Donald Maass talk about his newest book, The Fire in Fiction, so that was my next stop. Donald started out with a question - "What are authors who always deliver a satisfying read doing? What makes a novel great?"

No small questions here, because I'm thinking if you can put the answer to that in a book, I'm gonna buy it! Donald defines it as something he calls, "micro-tension", a technique that line by line, moment by moment creates suspense. He also asserts that the writer's passion - for the story and their own writing - can be a practical tool to use everyday. The emotion of the story MUST be conveyed in the first 5 pages of the story and he suggests you use specific details about the way the protagonist feels about the world to show this emotion.

He then went on to ask some questions about the characters in the story.

1. What is the best thing this world has done for the protagonist?

2. What is the worst thing this world has done? (It will probably be the dark moment of the story)

The stress between these two is the source of conflict -- and the writer should be sure to make every scene move the story along by having some type of conflict. It doesn't have to be huge and it doesn't have to be violent, but there should be challenges to the protagonist on every page of the manuscript.

Find the moment when the protagonist KNOWS things have changed, and enhance that moment by creating both at outer change and an inner change.

I have the other Donald Maas books on my writing shelf, and this book is joining them. I highly recommend it for writers at any point in their career. If you live in the Seattle area, (like I do) you can attend a "Fire in the Fiction" weekend workshop in November 2009.

Romance Extravaganza!

2009-05-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I've been doing this for over eight years now, sometimes I plan an event, and the result still surprises me. Several of our KCLS librarians hosted a panel of romance authors last year and they wanted to expand upon the idea.

When given the chance to expand, I don't mess around, so I asked my RWA Chapter, (Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America) if they would like to co-sponsor an event with the library system. They said, "Yes" and I moved on to step two.

If you scroll down a few blog entries you'll see my photo with Jayne Ann Krentz. I attended a writing workshop at University Books a few months ago, and asked if she'd part of an event I was planning. Jayne told me to contact her publicist, and we were off!

On Saturday, May 2 we launched, The Romance Extravaganza!

We started the day with a meeting featuring Jacquie Rogers and Wendy Kunkle-Munk talking about Pre-Published Promotion: Get a Jump-Start on Your Career, and their new website,

1st Turning Point. They offered some great ideas for establishing yourself before you get a book deal. It was standing room only in the meeting room.

Our keynote speaker at 11:30am was Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle). It's hard enough to become a NY Times best-selling author, but doing it under 3 names is really a major achievement! She spoke on the importance of the romance genre and provided some compelling reasons why the genre is still so popular.

A book signing with all the participating authors followed, and there was cake for everyone as they waited in line to meet their favorite author.

The afternoon continued with a panel of historical authors, Amanda Quick, Gerri Russell and Deborah Schneider, (not blatant self-promotion, I was filling in for Elizabeth Boyle who was sick). It was moderated by RWA Librarian of the Year 2006 - Michele Drovdahl.

After another short round of book signing, the paranormal panel took their seats. With sometimes tough questions from Lois VanDress, one of our librarians, Stella Cameron, Alexis Morgan, Cherry Adair and Yasmine Galenorn explained the ever-growing appeal of books with vampires, mystic warriors, ghosts, werewolves and just plain spooky stuff!

The day ended with an invitation to tea at Cherry Adair's house!

I had hoped we would have a good turnout, but I never anticipated there would be an audience of over 145 people, (mostly women, but a few men too!) It was an extraordinary event, even for us and I'm already planning for 2010!

I LOVE My Job

2009-04-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

I recently received an early morning phone call from Diane Pershing, the President of Romance Writer's of America. I mean, early - before I've even finished my coffee early, which means I'm not always alert. When she identified herself, my mind went really blank. (Before finishing coffee blank) and other than telling me I really had to register for the conference before they'd confirm my hotel room, (I'm speaking there), I couldn't imagine what this was about.

Imagine my surprise when she told me I'm the official, Romance Writer's of America LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR.

I was eloquent, (coffee?) and said, "No Way!"

She responded, "Way!" Which will forever endear her to me, because she understands, sometimes the words just aren't there to express how you're feeling.

I confessed I'm not a Librarian. But she assured me that since I work for the library system, and I promote romance authors and books, I was indeed qualified to accept the award.

So, on July 14th I'll be flying off to the other Washington, (DC) for the Romance Writer's of America conference. I was already planning to attend, as my co-worker, Chapple, and I are presenting a program about creating romance author events in libraires... on LIBRARIAN'S DAY. We're also going to be part of a panel on libraries for the general conference. Now I have an even busier schedule, because I'll be accepting my award at the Awards Luncheon on Friday, July 17th.

This is a get a manicure, wax the brows and buy new shoes kinda event, so I'm really looking forward to it. There is preshopping, shopping and then post-shopping analysis involved. This is a conference of Romance Writers and Authors. We are talking serious shoe envy, gotta look good kinda stuff. I'm already running through various wardrobe options, considering that outside it will be around 100 degrees with 200% humidity. Inside I suspect you'll need a hat and coat to survive the air conditioning. It makes getting dressed a real challenge.

It's a good thing I'm going to BEA in NYC in May. There is just no better place in the Universe to find great clothes than the fashion district. And after my last trip I learned my lesson, no carry on baggage for me, thank you very much. I booked with a carrier who never charges for baggage and I plan to take a suitcase large enough for all my purchases.

So, I have two trips to the East coast planned for this spring/summer. I'll get to see my family, shop, and get an awesome award. All because I have this really fabu job.

Plus, this week I'm going to meet an Editor from MAD magazine when he presents a program. He sent several cartons of magazines for his programs, and so of course -- I had to review the material.

That's part of my job too.

What me worry?

Nancy Pearl

2009-03-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

One of the great benefits of my job is that I get to meet interesting people. This week I had the chance to hear celebrity librarian (and action figure model) Nancy Pearl speak - twice.

Our annual foundation fundraiser was Saturday night. I love Literary Lions, because as the offical "author wrangler" I get to have dinner with some wonderful authors, like Greg Bear, Garth Stein, Julia Quinn, Deb Caletti, and Susan Wiggs. And since it's a gala, that means I get to wear an evening gown too. This year, I was especially excited because my friend, Uber-Agent Jeff Kleinman was there for the evening. Good friends, good talk about books and raising money for the library - this is a fabulous event.

Nancy Pearl was our emcee for the evening, and Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, was the featured author. (If you haven't read it yet, you are in for a wonderful treat). He spoke eloquently about the way booksellers and librarians can help to build an author's career by handselling books, or doing what we call, "reader's advisory".

On Wednesday we had a staff training with Nancy Pearl about "reader's advisory" and she broke down the way we choose books into what was a very sensible format. She suggested that readers choose books based on: 1. Story 2. Character 3. Setting and 4. Language. If you make a list of 5-10 of your favorite books, it's very likely that one of these elements will "jump out" at you. You might discover a combination of elements, but generally one will stand out as a part of the reason you chose and loved that book.

For me, character and story are primary elements of all my favorite books. Give me an interesting, quirky character in a plot filled with action and adventure and I'm happy. It's not surprising that I write books like that too. Setting also plays a big part in my books, (especially the wilderness of Montana) and Nancy made a link to world-building that makes sense. I write historical romance and paranormal romance, and both types of books involve creating a setting that is believable.

Nancy made the idea of talking about books with friends, (and strangers) sound fun. There was chatter in the lunch room and we compared books, made suggestions to others and practiced our "reader's advisory" skills. Now when strangers ask me what they should read next, (inevitable when I tell people I work in a library) I know how to turn it back to them and discover the kinds of books they love, link it to some interesting possiblities and always keep it about them -- NOT me.

Jayne Ann Krentz

2009-01-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Because I work for one of the busiest library systems in the country, I attend a lot of author events. It's part of my job to set them up, sometimes I host them and I always learn something from every author I hear speak about their book, writing experiences and career.

I'm actually shocked when we have a popular author at one of our libraires and the crowd is "thin" -- because I think one of the best ways you can learn about writing is to attend free writing workshops and author events offered at libraries and book stores. In the Seattle area, on any given night you can find award-winning authors from any genre. I'm lucky to live in one of the "magnet cities" for book tours. Even better, we have a LOT of authors living in the Pacific Northwest.

One of my favorites is Jayne Ann Krentz, who also writes historical romance as Amanda Quick and futuristic romance as Jayne Castle. I remember the very first Amanda Quick book I picked up, Mistress. When I discovered her smart heroines and funny, engaging style, I devoured her books. Later on, as I developed my own writing, she was my model. I didn't know until I met her many years later that she was a librarian. I should have known. Librarians are the iconic masters, (or maybe I should say Mistresses) of my universe.

While many people are familiar with Jayne's writing, they probably don't know how much effort she's put into helping to make the connection between the romance genre and library staff. She speaks at library conventions like PLA (Public Library Association), has been part of panels for our library system to talk about the importance of genre fiction and makes time to present book events at libraries. As the book market shrinks along with discretionary dollars, she understands that readers will need to turn to libraries as an important resource and that programs and events at libraries will help authors find new audiences.

From the perspective of both my "day job" and my writing career -- I'm grateful that bestselling authors value their relationship with libraires. Take a page from Jayne's book, and be nice to your friendly neighborhood librarian. You never know what she's reading, they're sneaky that way. And a lot of them love to read romance.

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-11-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

After six long years of writing, submitting and more writing, (not to mention even more submitting), I sold my second book.

As I reflect on what took me so long, I keep coming up with different answers. Were the sales of my first book too low? I have no idea what my print run was, because my publisher didn't share those numbers. Possibly. Was it an awful book? Maybe, although I received very good reviews and lots of great feedback from my readers. Was the timing all wrong?

I think that's a big part of it. My first book was published as part of a national contest, and although I didn't win first place, all the books from the three finalists were published. It was wonderful to finally see my book on the shelves at bookstores. I loved signing at events and attending conferences as a "published author".

But then I wrote my next Western historical romance, and received no interest from my publisher, and even though I came close to selling in several instances, I finally gave up and put the book away. I wrote other things, contemporary romance, a historical romance with paranormal elements.

I kept submitting.

Last summer, I decided to submit the Western to a new publisher I'd been hearing a lot about, The Wild Rose Press. I received a request for a partial almost immediately. Then I was given a bit of encouragement. The editor told me there were problems, but she felt I could fix them.

Would I be willing to revise the partial?

I know there are writers out there who would refuse to do this, but I'm not one of them. I want to become a better writer, it's my first objective. So of course I revised the partial.

Then she requested the entire manuscript. And she asked me if I would be willing to revise that, with her suggestions?

Of course and then I got the response I'd been waiting for since 2003. "I want to buy your book."

That's the best possible ending! Stay tuned because this is just the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

Reflecting on 27 Things

2007-05-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Now that we've completed the final lesson for the 27 Things Project, we were asked to reflect upon the experience. There are a few things I feel compelled to comment about.

Sometimes the lessons sounded so easy, but when I arrived at the website to fulfill the commands of the 27 Things -- it wasn't quite as easy as it sounded. I found that I had to repeat several exercises several times in order to understand what was being asked of me. I think there was an assumption that it would be "intuitive" -- and sometimes it was. But for a beginner, there were challenges.
Password Overload - Is it my google or my flickr, should I have used the same one for everything? Nearly every site wanted me to register, create an identity and unique password. Eventually, I was in the midst of an identity crisis. (But recovered by going to MySpace, where I found who I really was!)
There was lots of fun stuff, and some cool stuff and then there was the way cool stuff. I plan to review the lessons now that I have more time, and will learn more about many of the things we were introduced to.
I manage to impress folks with my profound knowledge of the internet. They think I'm so cool and tech-savvy. I chat with my friends and family via MySpace, send photo montages of my trips to friends, use tags on de.lic.ous and brag about all the books I'm reading by stacking them LibraryThing. I have a blog. Best of all, I have my very own SouthPark character.
Would I do it again? Yes-sir-ee. (maybe we can develop a website with that word, something reassures people when they have to make a decision, yes.sir.ee.com, when you feel confused!)

It was fun to learn new things, and now my goal in life is to learn more new things. But it will require that I forget a few old things, so as of today, I am wiping the theme song from "Beverly Hillbillies" from my memory.

Dean Koontz Was Cursed!

2007-05-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've thought for a long time that one of the best uses we could make of the web would be to connect our readers to authors. I found a series of podcasts by one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz.

http://www.podcast.net/show/86121

He talks about his books and writing. The best program so far is his talk about his early career and how nearly every publisher he signed with went out of business. He calls it the "Koontz Curse". It's always great for new writers to learn about all the hurdles the NY Bestselling authors went through in their career.

A great way to promote our author events would be to put the podcast address on our webpage along with the information about the program. Even better would be a blog too that let the author interact with our patrons for a few days before an event.

YouTube

2007-05-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

More Google

2007-05-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

I visited Google Labs and immediately found the Notebook. This could really be helpful to me in my writing life. I have tons of notebooks (real ones) around my house that hold notes, webpage references, character sketches, etc. for my fiction writing. I could actually have on-line notebooks that store all the information, which would not only be easier to store (and free up shelf space at my house) but would be easy to access.
In theory -- but I'm not sure I've figured out exactly how the program works. I've tried to cut and paste into my notebook, and I can't make it happen. As with all of the things we've done so far, I can get just so far, and then probably because this stuff isn't intuitive to me, I struggle.
But, I don't give up.
I could also see that putting program notes for the library into a file might be helpful, but since I already do that in Word, I'm again not sure how much time it would save me. Also I rarely work on any different computers. But, if I did travel around and work from different sites -- this would be very useful.

I also really like the on-line word processing. Again, for my writing this would allow me to post things and then have my critique partner read them, make comments and never have to sit down in the cafe again to talk about the stories.
This could also be a "downside" of cyberspace. It's fun to sit down in a cafe and talk about books, writing and stories.

Google - My Way

2007-05-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is my custom search engine, and when I finished I found that I did get to several websites I was very interested in knowing about. I love google, use it every day and in many different ways. I'm excited to discover there are even more things to do.

South Park Rocks!

2007-05-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

I hate to confess how long it took me to figure this out, and this was the FUN exercise. I just couldn't get it to load. And now when I look at this image... I scare myself.

2007-05-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's A Library Thing

2007-04-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

I chose the 5 books I'm currently reading for my Library Thing list. Now, I'm going to try to put it in this blog.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/sibelles

I thought this would be easier, and struggled with it over and over again. I expected to see the book covers here. I don't think I really understood what would happen.

MySpace

2007-03-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

I confess, I set up my very own MySpace account a few weeks ago, because Charlie Williams, (The Noiseguy) had one, and my life is all about keeping up with the Noiseguy! At first I didn't know how I'd use it, but after reading some other KCLS Learning 2.0 employee blogs, I found a link that would change my life.

onetruemedia.com has become my favorite site, and I will be upgrading to the "premium" service. I'm a photo-bug anyway, (like my namesake, Debbie Reynolds, I can assure my children that they had a lovely childhood, because I have the pictures to prove it!) So, the concept of having my photos arranged with music is too cool!

I have created 2 music videos and loaded them at: http://www.myspace.com/sassysibelle for your viewing pleasure.

The Public Programming Office

2007-03-14T13:31:00.001-07:00

The Public Programming Office, originally uploaded by sibellestone.

This display showed items from their Public Programming Office.

Inside the Library

2007-03-14T13:28:00.001-07:00

Inside the Library, originally uploaded by sibellestone.

This is the interior of the NY Public Library. The woodwork is amazing, and I even managed to see some of the "off limits" areas thanks to some very nice staff people.

One of my favorite things to do when on vacation is to go to the library and I usually ask for a library card. I have a small collection from the places I've visited.

New York Public Library

2007-03-14T13:26:00.001-07:00

New York Public Library, originally uploaded by sibellestone.

I went to New York on a business trip in late October, and after arriving this was the first place I wanted to visit: The New York Public Library. (That's me in the green blouse standing in the center of the photo).

Feeding Frenzy

2007-03-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

I discovered RSS Feeds, and now I must force myself to stop FEEDING! There are so many things I need to know, daily, minute-by-minute. And they are all there on the web for my continued education. Manolo shoes, romance novels, fashionistas, books, books and more books.
I like having the easy update feature, but MUST stop now. I was disappointed to discover one of my favorite sites doesn't have an RSS feature, but maybe they will get one. If you want to check out the website, this is it: http://www.gypsyville.com/
I did add the PI newspaper, a library site, some news and information sites.
Then I added some fun ones too!

Car Crazy

2007-03-06T13:44:00.001-08:00

Car Crazy, originally uploaded by sibellestone.

Another accomplishment! This could be addictive, but I wonder who has time to look at all this stuff on the web? I can hardly even keep up with my Email, and all these new things are going to eat up all my free time.
But it is fun!

Blogging with Photos

2007-03-06T13:26:00.001-08:00

parade005, originally uploaded by sibellestone.

This is the photo I managed to download to Flickr, and then upload to my blog. I don't even want to confess how much time this took.
Probably too long, but I decided that in order to get through this series of lessons, I wanted to do something that looked challenging.
WOW! My instincts were correct, this was a big challenge for me.
But now I have my friends "Dewey and Sketch" on my blog, and I have the various accounts set up to insert photos into my blog.
Success is sweet!

Flickr

2007-03-06T13:20:00.001-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Whine, Whine, Whine...

2007-02-28T15:01:00.000-08:00

I made this blog and nobody came to visit. There are no messages. No notes. Not even a snarky remarky. I feel all alone and neglected.
What's the point of putting your inner thoughts, secrets and yearnings out to cyberspace if no one pays attention?
I need attention, and will remain feeling unfulfilled in my journey to conquer all the intricate on-line communities until someone notices me.
Maybe I'll go fix the MySpace page and connect it to my blog.
Go to www.myspace.com/sassysibelle
And I don't live in Australia, but MySpace thinks I do. If they believe that, is it true?
Also Tom is not my friend.

Animae or Manga?

2007-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

I've just finished talking with the folks at sakura-con about working with them to bring in one of the speakers (Animae or Manga) featured at their upcoming con to our libraries. So how does this relate to creating a blog? I'm thinking about how to use a blog to promote programming in our libraries. Often I discover our staff members don't know about programs. But if staff don't have time to look at flyers or the kcls.org website, will they use a blog?

If it is created, does it mean someone will read it?