I took the golf cart downtown to Kona Joe's one morning last week.....packed a little tote bag complete with my cell phone, iPod, notebook, ink pen, eye glasses........and OF course, my muse!

Ordered myself a coffee and muffin and proceeded to settle in on the deck overlooking the Gulf.  It could be because I'm a Pisces, but I receive a lot of inspiration from the water.  I was there to do some work fleshing out my characters for the Christmas novella I'm going to begin writing for Kensington.

And it was an extremely productive two hours.  Except for the sound of gulls soaring overhead or a boat engine in the distance, it was quiet and peaceful.  Listening to the water slap against the building I was able to stare out at the horizon and allow my mind to wander.  And wander it did.

A new creation began to take form.  The story that I'd been thinking about slowly became more solid. Since this is a novella it will only consist of 20,000 to 25,000 words, but it still has to be a complete story with a beginning, a middle and an end.  Therefore, for me at least, it's not any less difficult developing this compared to a full novel. 

I still have to know my characters inside out, backward and forward.  I have to know everything about them......from how they look (in my mind) to what makes them tick. 

My novella will have four main characters......each one being connected to the other.  By the time I left Kona Joe's, I had a pretty good grip on all four.  I need to give it a bit more thought, but I don't think it'll be much longer before I can actually sit down and begin the writing process.

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Update on shopping for those cocktail dresses I'd mentioned............a very successful shopping trip to Gainesville last week had me finding all three of the dresses.  Needless to say, I was very pleased! 

FedEx delivered my page proofs from Kensington last Thursday.  So I spent Saturday going over those.  This was my final read-through, checking for accuracy of data, typesetting and editing.  So another step in the process has been completed.

I finished reading Secret Keepers by Mindy Friddle and when I get a chance I'll tell you about it here.  Her debut novel was The Garden Angel, which I also enjoyed very much.  I'm now reading Kate Morton's second novel, (her debut was The House at Riverton) The Forgotten Garden......all I can say is, I do NOT want to put this book down!  At 548 pages, I want to savor her great writing and wonderful story and yet, I'm anxious to keep reading.  And I have to say this Australian author is quickly becoming my very favorite!

Well, I leave for Washington and the big RWA conference 3 weeks from tomorrow and I'm getting super excited about it.  When I attended two years ago in Dallas, with my girlfriend Alice, I hoped that THIS would be the conference that would make a huge difference in my writing career......and as we now know, it was.  So I return this year in a very different category that I am very grateful for.

That's it from the island for this time. 

I do hope all is well with you and stay tuned for all the news and updates that will be coming..........