Current Project: Project? What's that?Status: Um.........
I get the late blogger award. Though as I type this it's 9:55 PST, so I think I still get credit for getting it in under the wire. (Feel free to cyber slap me. I know Lisa's been waiting for a good excuse for years...)
Ever have those days...weeks...SUMMERS...where you feel like you're drowning? Yeah. That's me right now. At this moment I am sitting in a hotel room in Kennewick while my mother takes my Gremlins swimming at the indoor pool to wear them out for bed. We've been in the car most of the day, driving back from Montana where we spent the last week visiting my brother, sister-in-law and 3 yr. old nephew. We had a great time, but it's a loooooooong drive, and I'm still heavy in promo for STOLEN HEAT. While my blog tour wrapped up early this week, I'm still hosting my big STOLEN HEAT Release Contest and Freebie Giveaways on my blog through tomorrow. So this was a "working" vacation. I also dragged my mother (and Gremlins) to every bookstore, Wal-Mart, and Fred Meyer in the area so I could sign stock. My mom took pictures (watching me sign stock is a new thing for her). My kids helped put the "Autographed by the Author" stickers on the books. I tried to hurry so I didn't have to talk to any booksellers with my raspy-ass voice no one can understand. "What?! You're the author? Yeah, right."
I'm exhausted, but I did have a few good things happen to me this week. First of all, I got news that STOLEN HEAT is in airports around the country. That was cool news. I'm in airports!!!!!!!! Kendra informed me HEAT finally showed up in Fred Meyer (for some reason Freddies is 2 wks behind release dates - at least for me with both books, but I'm not complaining). And my agent emailed to let me know she LOVED my new proposal idea. That was a huge relief as I wrote that proposal before I went into the hospital, and I couldn't even remember what the heck it was even about! She wanted me to fix a few minor things, mostly descriptions and word choice (and pointed out I've stopped swearing, which cracked me up), and I did all that last night, so we'll probably sent it off to my editor next week. So cross fingers and toes that my editor likes it as much.
This is kind of a rambling post...my brain is fried...but I realized on this trip that road trips are great because you get to see places you don't normally visit. I discovered that Coeur d'Alene, ID is GORGEOUS and a place I could easily live, Spokane isn't nearly what I expected, Montana is breathtaking, and windmills are pretty cool looking (I haven't driven along the Columbia since they put in the miles and miles of windmills...those things are ENORMOUS!) Road trips are also gold mines for research (I even passed some gold mines, believe it or not), and little book ideas were popping through my head with every mile of road we ate up.
I'm ready to go home. And I'm not planning anymore BIG road trips for some time, but now that I've done it with the Gremlins (and can I just say thank the heavens above for portable DVD players and Nintendo DS machines?), I won't be so averse to doing it in the future.
How about you? Any good road trips you can recommend? When was the last time you went somewhere you'd never been before?
5 comments:
As the Saturday Check-In facilitator, I have made an executive decision to delay it this week to Sunday Check-In so people have a chance to read Eli's blog. (And yes, Eli, I do believe you win the late award but I may be wrong.)
I love to travel down new roads, and like you, the passing miles stimulate thinking. The last road trip I took to somewhere I'd never been before -- wow, I can't remember. I did take a trip with my parents years ago when my my kids were three and six. My sister was along, too, with her one year old. We drove from northern California to Pocatello, Idaho, camping along the way and this in the pre Nintendo, pre lap held movie players. I don't recall it being that bad but perhaps I blacked it out.
Sounds as though you've had a great and productive time (although I'm trying to picture you dragging most your family into every store around, surreptitiously signing books so you don't have to talk while the kids sticker half the store.) And you're in airports! Wow! Congrats on your agent's approval for your new book.
As of yesterday, my muse seems to have returned from Aruba, slinking in the back door, a little sunburned, a little hung over, unable to look me in the eye. Sounds as if yours is doing the same. Honestly.
Welcome back to Oregon!
Sounds like you had a great trip,Eli. It wasn't that long ago when the dh and I went to my cousin's daughter's wedding in CA that I had the same type of experience on a road trip. Ideas came to me, scenes came to me. I love going new places and having fresh ideas hit me.
Then my trip to Kalispell MT in July. That was a good trip but my driving partner talked the whole way and it makes it hard to formulate ideas about books when there is the constant chatter. Although some of her stories and info did help me with a book idea.
The end of October I'm headed to Los Gatos CA for a book signing and I'm driving. It's a 10 hour drive so I should have lots of aha moments. Unless my friend Karen goes along and we talk the whole way without me seeing anything that sets off ideas. LOL
I'm meeting Danita in Sisters today for a girl's day. Haven't seen her in months, and she needed to take a day away from her boys to re-energize.
And when she leaves we're headed to Princeton, so I won't make the Sunday check-in. But my status is pretty much the same as last week. I didn't get much writing done on the the WIP, But I've been reading and researching and I've been adding words to the harlequin reject to get it to my editor at TWRP Yellow Rose line.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
LOL, you're so funny. And yeah, you do sound frazzled. Or just REALLY busy. Breathe.
That's so cool that you got to sign stock in so many places and I know the readers will love that! Too cute that your whole brood and mom got to help you. :)
Congrats on making it into AIRPORTS!! LOL And congrats on all the other things like your agent loving your new proposal idea that you've forgotten about. *grin*
I can't really recommend any road trips because I NEVER get to go anywhere. *sigh* But, I did get to go to San Diego this summer for a family vacation and it was AWESOME!! It gave me a great idea for a contemporary romance, but those are apparently not selling right now. So, whatever. *shrugs shoulders*
Oh!! A few years ago I went to a wedding up North and we had to drive through the Gorge to get there. That was BEAUTIFUL! I'd recommend a day 'road trip' through that area. It's called Gorge because it's GORGEOUS!! *snigger*
Well, here's hoping that when you get home you can take a vacation from your vacation! But, I know you're having the time of your life. :)
Coeur d'Alene is gorgeous. I also like Boise, but I'm odd that way :) I LOVE road trips, and it's one of things that I miss most about my early 20s. Broke and bored, I loved cross country trips. One of my favorites was Vancouver Canada all the way to New York and then back to New York. It was a once in lifetime drive that I wouldn't trade for the world. If you ever get a chance to take the Gremlins to Vancouver, take it! There are so many awesome drives in British Columbia. Baniff (sp?) is a particularly amazing drive from all angles. Prior to Hurricane Tavy, DH and I liked nothing better than spontaneous road trips. We are contemplating taking T on her first "real" road trip to Crater Lake in a few weeks. Have any of you natives made the trip? Any recommendations?
Oh and Eli, any Montana books in your future now? :):):):)
Woohooo! Sounds like things are going wonderful! Glad you made it through the week and road trip :) My favorite road trip and the only big one I've taken was in college. One day my ex-dh and I decided to drive down to San Francisco. We stopped in San Jose for a night because I'd wanted to visit the Winchester Mystery House for years, so we went there (amazing) and a Six Flags. Then we spent a couple of nights in San Francisco. I had such a wonderful time. I've wanted to do a road trip many times since then but my struggle is finding someone to go with me, and someone who I could be in a car with for hours and hours and hours :)
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