It’s only six days until I leave for Dallas and the RWA National Conference. Over the next five days, I have to:

1. Make the first foray into coloring my hair
2. Get a haircut
3. Paint my toenails
4. Pick up the gifts for the speakers at the PRO Retreat
5. Pack
6. Finish and turn in a freelance editing job
7. Update my Web site
8. Read my agenda packet for the RWA board meeting
9. Prepare writing plans for the next few months and talking points for meeting with my agent
10. Make sure my laptop is loaded with all the files I need while away
11. Write — Yesterday, I turned in to my agent a first chapter for a new project requested by an editor. I’m going to continue working on that this week since I know I’m going to be largely away from the computer for two weeks. At least, I won’t be on the computer long enough to write.
12. Get plenty of sleep and exercise
13. Re-watch Harry Potter movies 3 and 4 so that Mary and I can go see HP 5 while I’m visiting her after the conference. Yay!
14. Do my blog post on the Wet Noodle Posse blog tomorrow
15. Get my eyebrows waxed
16. Update and charge my iPod
17. Charge the camera batteries
18. Walk around the house approximately 897 times to make sure I’m not forgetting to pack something
19. Some advance work on the August issue of the Wet Noodle Posse e-zine
20. Go over my script for the PRO Retreat and my lines for the skit I’m in at The Golden Network’s party. I’m a bartender in a spoof of James Bond movies, and I have to wear a fake mustache.
21. Pick up and pack the rental car

That’s really not as bad of a list as it looks. I’d be willing to add “celebrate the sale of my first book” should the need arise.

I’ll be blogging from the road again, bringing you tidbits from my travels and the conference.

I’m blogging about writer workspaces over at Romance Bandits today, complete with pictures of the new posters in my office. Pirates, savvy?

When I was in high school and college, one of my favorite bands was Bon Jovi. Yes, it was the hair band era. The first song I ever heard my hubby play (before we even started dating) was Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.” After I was married, the hubby and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert at a local outdoor venue. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. And while most of the bands I liked back in the mid to late ’80s haven’t aged all that well (either physically or musically), may only show up in venues a tiny fraction of the size of the stadiums they used to fill, and haven’t had a hit since Ronald Reagan was president, Bon Jovi has been creatively and business savvy and changed with the times. And it’s paid off as they now have the No. 1 album in the country, Lost Highway, their first No. 1 album since 1988’s New Jersey. (Hubby says they have the No. 1 album because people our age don’t know how to download the songs, and if it’s not round we don’t know how to play it. LOL! Speak for yourself, says I, the proud owner of an iPod.)

I’m sure there’s someone out there who thinks they’ve sold out, but I disagree. I believe artists of all kinds can stretch themselves creatively in new directions to find new audiences and keep their work interesting both to fans and themselves. The option is staying in a rut and fading into oblivion. That’s not to say that you abandon everything your fans enjoy. Even with their new music, Bon Jovi is still Bon Jovi. It’s the same with a writer’s “voice”. It doesn’t matter if she’s writing historicals, contemporaries or paranormals, her voice is still there for readers to enjoy.

Now, shifting gears, I discovered another new-to-me band. DeVotchKa is an indie band from Denver, and I really like their unique mixture of musical styles — a little rock, a little folk, a little Eastern European, and some mariachi thrown in. This is another band I discovered because one of their songs, “How it Ends”, was used on a fan video for Smallville.

My friend, fabulous author Colleen Gleason, is looking for someone named Meghan who has a birthday soon, a person she signed a book for at a book signing. There was a mix-up, but she wants to get the book out to Birthday Meghan. Check out the details here.

I did hear from the editor yesterday I was waiting to hear from regarding a story idea she’s interested in. We talked for a few minutes about the direction she’d like to see the story go in, and I didn’t make a complete idiot of myself so that’s good news. I’m just waiting on a few more tidbits of information before my fingers start flying over the keyboard, crafting a new YA story.

Speaking of YA, I stumbled upon this video from one of my favorite teen movies, 10 Things I Hate About You. Somehow cruising on YouTube brought me to a different video with this song by LeAnn Rimes, a catchy tune I’d not heard before but is evidently several years old since it’s on the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. The video from 10 Things showed up in the sidebar of related videos. There was also one for Buffy and Angel, along with many other videos dedicated to other couples, all set to this same song. It seems to fit because the lyrics match the stories of the girl falling for the bad boy.

Have you ever noticed that when you really want the phone to ring it doesn’t, and when you don’t want it to it does? Oh, the irony. I’m waiting to hear from an editor who wants to talk to me about a story, and there’s always the possibility that my agent could call with good news. Maybe I should leave the house tomorrow to tempt fate into me getting a call.

As a funny aside, as I was getting ready to type the title of this post, my phone actually did ring. Of course, it being as late as it is, I pretty much knew it was the hubby, who is out of town on business and just getting back to his room after a business function and late dinner with two of his co-workers.

Maybe I’ll get a good phone call tomorrow. Only time will tell.

Connie Talbot was another of the favorites to win Britain’s Got Talent, though she lost out to Phil Potts, who I blogged about yesterday. Still, I think she’s absolutely adorable and very talented — and only 6 years old!

My good friend Beth sent me this video. It shows that even your average person can achieve his/her dream. This guy went on to win Britain’s Got Talent. Plus, I love this piece of music, “Nessun Dorma” from the Puccini opera Turandot.

http://www.flixxy.com/voice-talent-opera-singer.htm

Here’s his final performance after winning.

http://www.flixxy.com/britain-talent-winner.htm

They’re both worth viewing for inspiration.

My sister and I are dorks. Do you remember that famous game of family road trips — the license plate game where you try to see how many different states’ license plates you see on the road? Well, we’re playing it right now. At stake — a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card and bragging rights.

She works for a hotel chain next to a convention center, so that’s a bit of an unfair advantage if you ask me. So what do I do in response? I cruise through hotel parking lots, checking out the license plates. And when I came out of the mall yesterday, I got several more since the mall is a really big one next door to a really big hotel that attracts people from all over the country. I even saw Alaska!

As of two nights ago, she only needed 12 more states, most of which are on my side of the country. I needed 21, mostly on her side of the country. But I hit the jackpot at the mall yesterday — I added 8 more states, leaving me 13 left. We’re neck and neck. I might have gotten more, but I thought the mall security might begin to wonder why that Sentra kept going up and down rows of cars slowly. Didn’t want them thinking I was selecting one to break into!

Oh, and I think I should get bonus points for seeing Ontario since I live nowhere near the Canadian border.

I am a huge movie fan. My dear hubby — not so much. Thus, when I get the chance, I go see a movie solo. While I enjoy going to the movie with him or with friends, I actually don’t mind going solo. I usually use it as a treat for something like a birthday, a big accomplishment (like finishing a book), or when it’s a movie that simply has to be seen on the big screen. As we approach the RWA National Conference, I’ve been busy completing board duties, things for my various writing groups, getting revisions and new ideas into my agent so she can send them to the requesting editor, and, this week, trying on my conference clothes and finding out that, alas, I had to buy more pants that would actually zip up. Thus, while at the mall today, I decided to venture down to the north end and see Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Superhero fan that I am, I’d been looking forward to this movie since I saw the teaser trailer several months ago. It was a fun, summer flick, just what the doctor ordered. I like Ioan Gruffudd (Mr. Fantastic), wish I looked like Jessica Alba (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), think Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch) is a hoot, and it’s fun to see Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing) plan a role that’s not so intense. So if you’re in the mood for fun summer action flick, check it out. And based on a short scene at the end, looks like plans are for a third Fantastic 4 sometime in the future.

Oh, and they ran a trailer before the movie The Golden Compass, due out in December, and it looks really good. I’m going to have to read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, the first of which is The Golden Compass, before the release of the first movie.

So what about you? Do you like going to movies solo? Why or why not?