WHAT is that, you ask?  Well........it was a puddle of water on my hot tub cover that froze a few weeks ago.  Yup!  It's been mighty cold here in north central Florida.  And I hate it!  I'm longing for some 70 degree temps with more sunshine than the rain we've had.  I know, I know......shouldn't complain when I see what the rest of the country has been experiencing.  But come on, this IS Florida!

You may have noticed that I've been rather scarce around here lately.  I mean, gosh, January has come and gone!  Well, I was super busy working on my revisions for book #2 and finishing up my Christmas novella.  And I'm happy to say........book #2 was mailed out to my editor last week and I'm in the process of doing a final edit on the novella.  Soon I'll be able to breathe a bit easier.

MORE EXCITING BOOK NEWS:  I was recently notified by my editor that SPINNING FORWARD is going into a second printing!  And yes, I'm excited!  So many good things are occurring with my novel and it's all because of YOU, my readers and fans!  Thank you so much for reading my book, loving my book and then promoting it to your friends and family.  It truly means everything to me!  I really appreciate all of the emails and phone calls that I've received from so many of you.

I think we've pretty much decided on a title for book #2, but I want to wait and get the final okay from my publisher before I release it.  I love it and you can be sure that I'll share it here first with you!  So stay tuned.

Let's see, what else has been going on.........I finished up another very pretty knitted scarf.  I'll get some photos soon and let you see them here.  In addition to knitting, I've also been reading and just finished Elin Hilderbrand's novel, A Summer Affair.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Great women's fiction and she has quickly become one of my favorite authors.  This was the second book by her that I've read and I'll be getting more. 

I was at a writers conference last week on the east coast and also did a book signing there.  I very much enjoyed meeting new people and to those of you that bought my book......thank you and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Since it's February, that means I'm running a new contest.  So head on over to my author website and get yourself registered to win a really nice Valentine's prize that I've chosen.  My home page over there has also been updated with new info and a new photo, all done by my dynamo publicist, Jeanne.

FAMILY NEWS:  Shawn is doing fairly well and will be seen next Monday by a thoracic oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.  I'm hoping for some very positive info.  My daughter, Susan, is on the home stretch with her RN program (she graduates this December) She's doing her clinical training now, every Saturday and Sunday.......in addition to working as an LPN in the ER during the week.  NOT an easy schedule.  She's on spring break from college early March and truly needs a break!  So it looks like she might be coming down here for that week to visit.  Cedar Key is certainly the best place to chill out and relax.

Well, folks, I think that's it for this time.  I do apologize for not being around more often but my writing was calling. (NOT to mention I'm on deadline)  I'm hoping to now be able to visit here at least once a week.

So see you here next time.....................

I was notified last night about some very great news and wanted to share it here with you.  My book was chosen as one of the 2010 selections for the Agnes Jayne Memorial Book Fund at the Dickinson County Library in Iron Mountain, Michigan.

I had no idea it was even being considered, so what a wonderful surprise this was.  You can go and read about it at the link I'm giving you here.  And I must say.....I'm in some mighty good company with Nora Roberts and Barbara Delinsky!  Out of all the books they could have chosen, I'm so honored to think that they chose MINE!

Here we are only a few weeks into the new year and it's been non-stop busy for me.  I have finished all the revisions on book #2 and I'm very pleased with it.  I hope my readers will love this one as much as I do.  And now.....I'm busy meeting my deadline for the Christmas novella. 

Speaking of Christmas.....it seems it came and went in a blur for me.  But we did have a very nice one.  Shawn spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with us and we also had our good friends, Edie and Joe, for dinner on Christmas day.

Duncan was like a little kid this year....he could smell the treats for him and Brie under the tree and took it upon himself to be the guard, making sure those pesky cats didn't get near the canine stuff.

Without the presents under the tree, Duncan wasn't interested.....but as soon as I put the gifts there, he set up his sentry post and had to be coaxed away.

For the most part, I think the cats understood and kept their distance.

Waiting for Santa.......(actually, they were both captivated by a cat in the tree!)

And Christmas Eve, they were both pretty excited about the toys and goodies that Santa brought for them...........

And Christmas day we had a wonderful dinner of roast lamb, cheese potatoes, carrots and green bean casserole.........

A lot of you have emailed or called me to see how Shawn is doing.  Actually, he's "doing" fairly well but we've been in limbo as far as making any progress.  The news from Shands wasn't that great but even more important is that I feel we haven't even begun to scratch the surface as far as treatment.  We're now in the process of getting a second opinion at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.  Please keep sending all those prayers and positive energy our way because we deeply appreciate it.

To all of my new readers, thank you so much for the wonderful emails that you've sent telling me how much you loved SPINNING FORWARD.  There's no better music to an author's ears and I love hearing from you.

I hope that so far the new year has been good to you.  I'll be busy working away to finish up my Christmas novella but I'll see you here next time..................

Please welcome author, Susan Crandall, to Island Writer.  She joins us this evening as part of the Cyber Tour sponsored by the RWA Women's Fiction online group.

BACK ROADS was Susan's first solo work, her first published work and her first award winning novel, having won a prestigious RITA award for Best First Book and two National Reader's Choice Awards.

Susan says she was born with an incredible love for books and eventually this evolved into the penning of her own stories. 

Susan grew up in a small Indiana town, married a guy from that town, and then moved to Chicago for a while. She is pleased to say that she has been back in her hometown for many years and plans to stay. She and her husband have two grown children.

Susan's latest release is titled, Sleep No More, and we'll begin by having Susan tell us a bit about the story.

SLEEP NO MORE is the story of Abby Whitman, who was a sleepwalker as a child, setting a fire that destroyed the ancestral home and scarred her younger sister for life. Abby's sleepwalking passed with puberty, but the guilt did not. She lives alone, structuring her life to insure that if her sleepwalking reoccurs no one else will be in harm's way.

Now Abby's mother has recently died, her sister is being her usual manipulative self, and her father is showing signs of Alzheimer's. And her sleepwalking has returned.

One night Abby awakens behind the wheel of her van at a fatal accident. Sleepwalking, or more specifically, sleep-driving, is the only explanation she can come up with for her presence at the scene. But it soon becomes clear that there was a third party involved, and that person begins making threats for Abby not to tell what she saw. But Abby has no recollection of the accident. She seeks the help of a family acquaintance and psychiatrist, Jason Coble to try to figure out what happened at the accident and why someone is threatening her.

Abby's journey toward truth and self-forgiveness uncovers long buried secrets in both her family and her town. Secrets someone will go to any lengths to protect.

When did you first begin writing?

      I didn't actually begin writing until I was in my thirties. My younger sister sort of dragged me into it. She came to me one day with a stack of paper and admitted she'd been writing in secret and wanted me to look over her work. Being the older sister and an avid reader, naturally I had an opinion. We worked on some stories together, then she stopped writing, but I was totally hooked. I could no more stop writing than I could stop reading.

What's your favorite and least favorite thing about writing?

       I absolutely love the beginning stages of writing a book. I love the brainstorming, the research, the exploring of possibilities, the laying awake at night pondering "what ifs." It's the stage when everything is possible and you aren't yet hampered with the reality of making all of the parts work.

My least favorite? This may sound contradictory, but it's the blank page, the blinking cursor waiting like a teacher with a tapping foot. It's that stage between all of the daydreaming and actually having something concrete to work with. It's the place where you have to begin to make the real choices that will chart the course of your character's journey. Once I have something started, it's fun to work with it, expand, delve more deeply into my characters.

Can you offer any advice to other writers still hoping to become published?

1) Read widely, and read like a writer. When an author has elicited a particular emotion from you as a reader, take the work apart and figure out how he/she achieved it. Study the story construction, the pacing.

2) Continually hone your craft. Learn from workshops, classes, and just chatting with other writers.

3) Learn to trust your writing instincts. We writers are filled with self-doubt, constantly questioning the quality of our work. If you're a writer, there is something special inside you that lead you to it. Don't follow every suggestion made by everyone who has glanced at your work. Carefully evaluate criticism. It's a valuable tool, but it must be weighed.

4) And lastly, put on your armor and send your work out there into the world. No one is going to come knocking on your door and say, "I heard you're writing a book. I'd like to publish it." Yes, you'll probably receive rejections. That's all part of the process.

Can you tell us what you're working on now?

        Now that SLEEP NO MORE is safely launched, I'm focusing on two novels. One is a mainstream women's fiction. The other is a slow-boil psychological suspense. I'm having a great time with both of them!

Thank you so much, Susan, for stopping by Island Writer for the Cyber Tour.  I'm wishing you much success with Sleep No More and all of your future novels.

And readers............you can visit Susan for more information at her website at this link.

Please leave your comments and/or questions here at Island Writer and say hello to Susan.

I'll see you back here very soon with some better-late-than-never Christmas photos.............

Here we are on day 3 of 2010 and a new decade and we were able to welcome it in with a blue moon.  I was able to capture it from my back yard and I couldn't help but feel it had a certain symbolism for me.

The moon was so intensely bright it lit up my entire yard.  I'm hoping this coming year will also bring that kind of brightness. 

The holidays are always a busy time so I'm rather glad they're over and it's back to my routine.  My priority right now is my looming deadline for book #2 and my Christmas novella.  I've actually been working away on the revisions for book 2 and this coming week I'll be totally focused on that.

I have lots of tidbit things to share with you along with photos.  Just haven't had a chance to get here and share those things on my blog.

So do come back soon to visit and catch up.  Hope your holidays were wonderful and I wish all of you a healthy, happy and great 2010!  I also want to thank my treasured blog friends Naomi, Heather and Dave for stopping by and leaving a comment.  I miss visiting all of you at your blogs but I certainly love hearing from you here.  Unfortunately, many others no longer stop by to say hello.

See you here next time.....................

. . . It was the best of times--It was the worst of times

 I find the first few lines of Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, appropriate to describe the past decade.

Ten years ago tonight I was in Paris, standing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, sipping French champagne, ooooing and aaaahing over the fireworks and welcoming in a new Millennium.  A lot has happened in these past ten years...........both good and not so good:

• My parents are now both gone 
• I began to pay attention and realize that writing truly was my passion
• I discovered how very difficult it was to get published
• Our country experienced the horrific events of 911 which would leave all of us with a loss of innocence
• Ray retired and we relocated to Cedar Key
• My oldest grandchild graduated high school as Valedictorian and secured a four year scholarship to Worcester Poly Tech
  
• I turned the big 6-0 . . . In my favorite city in the world, Paris
• I was offered a two-book contract with a traditional New York publisher
• We experienced a serious health problem and surgery with Ray
• My daughter, an LPN, began college working toward her RN degree
  
• My oldest son was diagnosed with lung cancer
• My novel was released with more very good book news following
• My youngest son met a wonderful girl from Paris
  
• My oldest son relocated to Cedar Key

And during these years, a million other things happened..............

The ups, the downs.  And tonight, as I reflect back I have to say, call me Pollyanna, but I still strongly feel all of the good outweighed the not so good.  Because to think otherwise would be to deny myself all that my journey has given me.  And what a journey it's been!  I've savored it, I cried over it, I rejoiced in it and most of all...........I treasure all of it.

I've made so many new friends, many of which was due to my blog and now my book signings and events.  I've met a lot of you in person and so many of you I feel like I've known forever.  I've traveled to new places, had new experiences, tried new things, learned an incredible amount of information from politics to technology to human nature. I even developed my own personal motto. 

And so as this decade now comes to an end, I want to leave you with my wish for you:  In 2010..........May you laugh more, love deeper, be kinder and most of all, be aware of all the good that surrounds you. 

Because it IS that good that you'll readily recall when this decade comes to a close.  Tonight I focus on the good and my motto:

"Believe in yourself ~ And make great things happen!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  HAPPY 2010, my friends!