Yes, this post is about a little bit of everything.......

And as promised on my last post, I have some great family news to share!  I'm thrilled to announce that my son, Brian, and the wonderful woman who has shared his life these past three years became engaged last Saturday night.  Welcome to the family, Veronique!  I hope you know how much we love you.  And I'm proud to say that my son did this in a most romantic way.  Without going into lengthy details, picture.......a nice dinner at their favorite restaurant on Clearwater Beach, followed by sitting on the beach watching the gorgeous sun set with a bottle of champagne, and the beautiful ring that had belonged to Brian's grandmother.  Making it all a bit more special was the fact that Sunday, August 15, would have been my Mom's eighty-second birthday.  I have no doubt she was smiling down on both of them with love.  There's no date set for the wedding as of right now, but of course I'll keep you posted and of course Veronique said "Yes!"

Moving on to the Florida Mystery Conference that I attended in Sarasota............I thought it was an extremely good conference this year.  Michael Connelly was there, along with Karen Rose, Tim Dorsey, Tim Corcoran, Lisa Unger, Elaine Viets and many others.

I thought the workshops were extremely timely, based on the ever-changing publishing industry these days.  So I found them both informative and beneficial.  I very much enjoyed chatting with all the different authors.  But two of my highlights was the opportunity to have great conversations with both Kathy Carmichael and Karen Rose.  I'd never met Kathy in person before.  She was there with her very personable son and I enjoyed talking with both of them.  I'd met Karen at the RT conference in Columbus this past April, but this time I was able to spend some quality time chatting with her about her work, the changing industry, etc.  I was so impressed with the fact that not only is she a fantastic author of romantic suspense, she's a down-to-earth, extremely nice person.  I have to admit, I'd never read Karen's books before (SO many books and never enough time!) However, I purchased her first one, Don't Tell, and I canNOT put it down!  It's easy to see why she appears on the NY Times bestseller list.  Great characters, great plot and if you enjoy romantic suspense, don't miss Karen's books!

Friday evening was the book signing and I want to thank all of those that attended to chat with us and purchase books.........

In the photo below, Karen Rose was on a panel with David Hagberg, Sharon Potts and Lisa Unger where they spoke about Developing Principal Characters and Villains.

Author, Jim Swain, entertained us during our lunch with a "cheating Vegas" card demonstration. 

In the background is Demetra MacBride.  To Jim's right is Colette Bancroft, book editor at the St. Petersburg Times and to his left is author, Don Bruns.

As always, I came away from this conference with a wealth of new information about the craft of writing, the publishing industry and the realization that writing continues to be my passion.  And once again, I can't emphasize enough.....if you're a beginning or aspiring writer, look for a conference in your area.  There's always something to be learned and gained from attending one.

Well, my past week was a major time suck and not in the writing department.  Unfortunately, I developed a dental problem while away at the conference and more unfortunately, even after five years up in this area, I've stayed with my dentist in Port Richey.  So Ray and I did a lot of traveling......2.5 hours each way on Tuesday and again on Thursday for my follow-up, but I'm happy to say the dental problem is resolved and I'm smiling once again.

In between all the travel this past week, I was very busy sending out more ARCS for reviews on CASTING ABOUT.  The first review has come in and I couldn't be more pleased.  Here's the link so you can go read it at BookPleasures.    Needless to say, I'm extremely happy, so a huge thank you to the reviewer!

Hopefully, next week will find me back at work on book #3.  But on Tuesday, I'll be paying a visit to Barbara and the great gals at Yarn Works in Gainesville.  I've made a boo boo on two of the scarves I've been working on and I need some expert intervention.  So not only do I get to visit with great women, I'll be back on track with those scarves.  My ruffled scarf that I've been working on for myself is just about finished and I'm very pleased with it.  It's worked in short rows and I chose my favorite Bonsai yarn, so I'll share a photo of it here with you soon.

I hope all of you are enjoying the end of your summer and I'll see you here next time................