No, not the holidays, although they are just around the corner. It’s Golden Heart time! Time to polish up those manuscripts and enter them in RWA’s most prestigious contest for unpublished manuscripts. And if you’re published, it’s time to enter the RITA and start dreaming of that golden statue adorning your mantel.

Since I have not sold yet (time out for a deep sigh), I’m entering the GH again — in the Young Adult and Novel with Strong Romantic Elements categories. I’ve got four manuscripts entered. I’ve already printed out and prepared two for submission. I’m finishing up revisions and the synopsis on a third this week, then will just have some last-minute revisions on the fourth. I plan to have them all sent off to RWA well in advance of the deadline. I don’t like cutting things close.

What about the rest of you? Are you entering? If so, how many mss and what categories?

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Mal: “Two lefts, two rights, and we’re there. You see anyone, smile.”
Zoe: “I don’t think anyone smiles in hospitals.”
Mal: “Course they do, it’s the Core. Everyone’s rich and happy here, why wouldn’t they smile?”

Firefly

I’ve posted here before that I really like movie trailers. Here are a couple I’ve come across this weekend that look good.

The Painted Veil
(historical setting, set in China, starring Edward Norton — sounds like a good combo to me)

300
(based on the Frank Miller graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartans fought against the massive Persian army; starring Gerard Butler and David Wenham)

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“Help me out here, Spock, I don’t speak loser.” — Spike, Buffy

We all likely had imaginary friends when we were kids. Some kids made up people and gave them names. Me, being the little TV fan I’ve always been, pretended I was on Gilligan’s Island, hanging out with Laura Ingalls Wilder on the prairie, or riding with the Pony Express riders of The Young Riders.

Come on, admit it, you’ve imagined what it would be like to have a particular TV character as your bestest buddy. That’s why I found this article interesting. And look who is first on the second page, the one listing the people the author would like to be friends with — smart lady.

So, which TV characters, past or present would you like to befriend? Which imaginary TV world would you like to live in for a day?

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Wesley and Cordelia impersonating Angel and Buffy:

Wesley: “Kiss me.”
Cordelia: “Bite me.”
Wesley grabs Cordelia and pretends to bite her neck while growling.
Angel: “You can both bite me.”

After I finished up doing some revisions to my newest YA manuscript and sent it off to Mary to read, the rest of my days at the beach last week allowed for lots of relaxing reading time. For some reason, I don’t read that quickly, but I still was able to read two books and part of another. It was fun to kick back and not have a million tasks waiting just in the next room.

First up was the second in Meg Cabot’s young adult Mediator series, Ninth Key. The Mediator series is about a teenage girl who can see and talk to ghosts. Being a mediator means that she helps these ghosts who haven’t moved on to wherever they’re supposed to go. She helps them with unfinished business, often a message for someone they left behind. Only when the mission is complete can the ghost move on. Mix this ability in with the teenage drama of having your mom remarry and move you across country, having three new stepbrothers in your life, trying to date and make friends, and finding out that your principal, a priest at the mission school you attend, is also a mediator, and a good-looking ghost living in your bedroom and you have a fun mix.

Next up was Heat Stroke, the second in Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden paranormal series. The main character, Joanna Baldwin, is a Weather Warden, one who can control, well, the weather. In the world Caine creates, there are three kinds of wardens helping to keep the planet from destroying mankind — weather, fire and earth. It’s a great mythology, and I think Joanne is a likeable character. She’s powerful, loves to drive fast cars (her current one is a Viper), and has a hot love interest in her traveling companion, David, a Djinn (think a really powerful genie).

The book I’m currently reading, which I started while still at the beach, is fellow Noodler Terry McLaughlin’s Learning Curve. Mix one good-looking, liberal, formerly idealistic teacher with one beautiful, not so liberal, still idealistic student teacher, and you’ve got the makings of an interesting dance toward a happily-ever-after.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Kaylee: “These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I — how ’bout that!”
Mal: “Yeah, well, just be careful. We cheated Badger out of good money to buy that frippery, and you’re supposed to make me look respectable.”
Kaylee: “Yessir, Captain Tight Pants.”

Firefly

One of my RWA chaptermates posted this to our loop a while back, and I saved it for a blog post.

20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point

A Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don’t Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want

Fries with That.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It “In.”

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has

Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write “For Sexual Favors.”

7. Finish All Your Sentences with “In Accordance With The Prophecy.”

8. Don’t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They

Answer.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is “To Go.”

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don’t Rhyme.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical

Sounds All Day.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“Calm may work for Locutus of the Borg here, but I’m freaked out and I intend to stay that way.” — Xander, Buffy

I’m constantly amazed when I see the weekly television ratings. I don’t understand how really good shows with interesting stories and characters lag behind some of the garbage out there. While I’m a Survivor fan, some of the reality shows have gotten ridiculously stupid. And they garner better ratings than shows like Friday Night Lights, Supernatural and Veronica Mars. Is it that when people sit down in front of the TV, they actually look for mindless drivel? I understand needing the escapist quality of television, but can’t people enjoy that while watching something that remotely has a plot?

I can sort of understand the lower ratings for Supernatural and Veronica Mars because they’re on the CW, a channel that not everyone gets across the country. And some people might avoid the network because it’s targeted at a younger demographic. Okay, I’m not a teenager anymore, and I love the programming I watch on the CW. But Friday Night Lights is on NBC and it’s about high school football and its importance in West Texas. You’d think this would play well with the heart of America. It’s got interesting characters — good and bad. I just want to give Matt Saracen (on the far right of the picture below) a hug and smack pushy car salesman Mr. Garrity upside the head. And Tyler Kitsch, who plays running back Tim Riggins — after seeing him in The Covenant, he became the model for the secondary hero in the YA I just wrote. That’s him in the back on the left.

So, why do you think some good shows don’t draw the audience they should while mindless drivel garners higher ratings, ensuring those lesser-quality shows survival while putting the better material in danger of cancellation before their stories run their course?

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“So, how was your summer? Mine was fun. Saw some fish, went mad with hunger, hallucinated a whole bunch.” — Angel

I’ve been AWOL from the blog because we’ve been on vacation, and the condo where we stayed didn’t have Internet access. I drove over to the nearest Atlanta Bread Company a few times, but was online just long enough to check e-mail. So, I’m back from Myrtle Beach today and thought I’d share a few pictures to relive the fun (and warm — it’s cold here!) time we had.

My father-in-law has a timeshare in Florida, and this year he traded his week for a week in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hubby and I went on our honeymoon in Myrtle Beach about 13 1/2 years ago (a few months after we got married and right after we graduated from college), so it was fun to go back. After my father-in-law drove down to our house, we hit the road last Saturday and drove to Spartanburg, S.C. We’d planned to stay in Asheville, N.C., but it’s leaf-peeping season along the Blue Ridge Parkway and consequently what few rooms that were available were incredibly high. We arrived in North Myrtle Beach Sunday afternoon. Here are a couple of views from our condo’s balcony.

The week included walks on the beach, searching for seashells, mini golf, sitting in the sun reading for fun, and way too much food. I actually did a little work the first couple of days, editing my latest YA so I could send it to Mary for a read-through. But then it was just kick back and have fun time. Here we are hamming it up outside Tiki Jim’s T-shirt shop at the Barefoot Landing shopping area.

One day we went for a walk on the beach and hubby decided to run out to stand on one of the drain pipes when the waves went out. He didn’t quite plan on soaking his tennis shoes.

Toward the end of the week, we went for a walk on the Cherry Grove Pier. Despite a chilly wind, there were tons of people fishing. And off the end of the pier, we saw some shrimp boats plying the waters to provide fresh catch for the area’s many seafood buffets and markets.

In addition to putting T.M., then a heart and and “s”, S.M. in the sand, I indulged in a little beach promo for the Wet Noodle Posse.

It was a great, relaxing week, but now it’s time to get back to work and deal with the fact that winter is around the corner and I can’t step out the door to walk barefoot on the beach. Ah, well, maybe I’ll become a huge mega bestseller and can buy one of those lovely beach homes I saw.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness and sweaty palms.” — Willow, Buffy

Earlier in the summer, we got the new roof. And for the past couple of weeks, we’ve had workers here giving the outside of the house a facelift. It’s finally done, just in time for winter, and I’m showing off her new look. Here are the before and after shots.

Here she is, her siding looking all unloved.

And here she is after her thorough pressure washing and new siding stain. Oh, and you call tell hubby and I trimmed those bushes in front of the left-hand set of windows. If you remember the shots from when the roof was put on, they were crazy out of control. And let me just say for the record…I hate that holly bush. The leaves are these horrid things that always stick me, and they hurt! Yes, I’m a wuss.

I should have taken a picture of the yard this morning. We had our first frost of the season last night. Brrrrr. You all know how much I enjoy cold weather — NOT!

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“God! I’m so mentally challenged!” — Buffy

Hubby has been working long hours at the day job this week, so he went above and beyond the call of duty when he came home each night and worked on my desktop computer. For the record, I’d like to say he’s AWESOME! He managed through some sort of computer magic I don’t understand to get the desktop up and running again and I didn’t lose any files! Did I mention he’s awesome? But just in case it’s running on borrowed time, I’ve backed up everything critical to my flash drive and now have a list of my e-mail contacts accessible on my laptop. Now if I can figure out a way to save my Internet bookmarks, I’ll be in business.

I’ve been SO busy this week. I was up at 1:30 this morning finishing a freelance article for the magazine I used to work at full-time. But the influx of work will be nice when the paychecks come.

Here’s a funny video to enjoy. If you need a laugh or are a kitty fan, check it out.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Jayne: “Testing, testing. Captain, can you hear me?”
Mal: “I’m standing right here.”
Jayne: “You’re coming through good and loud.”
Mal: “‘Cause I’m standing right here.”

Firefly

Didn’t blog yesterday because 1) I was super busy copyediting a freelance project until around 11 p.m., and 2) my desktop computer decided to have a major meltdown. Hubby is trying to resurrect it, but it may be toast. Grrrr. So instead of starting to read my manuscript, I’m spending today recreating files based on backups I thankfully did to my flash drive in July. I feel like kicking myself for not doing a backup since then. Sigh. Guess who will be doing regular backups for the rest of her computing life.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“It’s a real burn, being right so often.” — Mal, Firefly