This is one of the more unique marriage proposals I’ve heard of, but it’s romantic in that it took a lot of thought and planning and will be totally memorable.
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I’m still in holding mold, waiting to hear back from my editor on my chapter outline. I’m hoping I have her response (hopefully a “go ahead”) by the time I get back from a conference this weekend. I’m taking the opportunity to catch up while I’m waiting though — you know, paying bills, cleaning off the piles of stuff on my desk, cleaning, terribly exciting but necessary tasks.
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Anyone catch Heroes last night? What did you think? Do you think the boy who has taken an interest in Claire is a good guy or a bad guy?

Fellow Noodler and Harlequin author Jill Monroe has interview me and another Noodler pal, Esri Rose, about our recent first sales. Check out the post, and show us some love in the comments section.

So, we’ve just completed the first week where there were several series/season premieres of the TV season. Here’s the rundown from my week of viewing:

Prison Break — So it’s totally unrealistic. I don’t care. I’m interested to see how Michael and Mahone end up working together. I hope T-Bag ends up having to clean some of those toilets Billick is currently cleaning. The one part in which I’m disappointed is the writing out of the Sara storyline. Okay, Sara’s still technically in the story, but Sarah Wayne Callies isn’t coming back to the show so Sara’s going to bite it somehow at some point. Right now, they have her being held prisoner and her life threatened if Michael doesn’t break some dude out of the Panamanian prison, Sona, where he finds himself. All we see is the back of Sara, so that’s a big clue it’s not Sarah Wayne Callies and the character isn’t long for this world. Sigh. I really liked the Michael-Sara storyline, and I wonder how its demise will affect viewership. As it is, I’m guessing this is the last season for PB.

K-Ville — This new cop drama is set in post-Katrina New Orleans and showcases how it’s a different world there now. Camera shots show the abandoned homes of the 9th Ward, scathing words about the storm and FEMA spray painted on their sides. Officer Marlin Boulet loves New Orleans and is determined to see it rebuild. He also has lasting effects from the storm, when his partner deserted him. His new partner now, two years after the hurricane, is Trevor Cobb who has a pretty big secret, one that only Boulet knows by the end of the pilot episode. Boulet has some funny lines, and I’m interested to see how this show plays out. Tawny Cypress, who played Simone on Heroes, is also a cast regular. Another little fun aspect of the pilot was the appearance of two regulars from LOST as guest stars — William Mapother (Ethan) and Sam Anderson (Bernard).

Back to You — This new sitcom starring Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton had me laughing out loud a couple of times. I think Kelsey Grammar is hilarious. And with TiVo, it only takes me like 22 minutes to watch an episode.

Gossip Girl — I watched this because it’s based on the popular series of teen novels, and since I’m writing teen fiction I thought it was a good idea. I have to say I liked it, particularly the characters of Serena, Dan and Jenny.

Kid Nation — When I first heard the concept of this show — a bunch of kids are charged with creating a town/society and running it for 40 days without the help of adults — I thought it was silly. After watching the pilot, I actually think it’s pretty cool. It shows that kids are capable of a lot more than adults give them credit for, even if there are bumps along the way. I’m really curious to see how well the town is running at the end.

Survivor: China — I love that they’re doing another season somewhere other than an island in the South Pacific. And I love China, so this will be a cool season. My early favorite is James, the gravedigger from Louisiana. The person who I think is the most annoying so far is Courtney from New York, who seems to be very snobbish regarding many of her Midwestern/Southern fellow contestants. We’ll see if her attitude changes as the show progresses.

Premieres coming up next week: Heroes, Journeyman, Bones, Reaper, Bionic Woman, Smallville and Moonlight.

What’s your take on the new TV season so far? What are you looking forward to?

I got some great news this week. I found out that I’m one of ten finalists in the American Title contest sponsored by Romantic Times Magazine and Dorchester Publishing with my paranormal manuscript, Out of Sight. This is the contest’s fourth year, and it’s a writing competition modeled on American Idol. There are five rounds of online voting, and each time two more contestants are booted by virtue of getting the least amount of votes. The eventual winner’s book will be published by Dorchester. This is exciting because I really love this book, what I’d call a paranormal suspense. Even my husband (aka He Who Does Not Read Fiction) read it and really likes it.

Right now I’m looking forward to “meeting” all the other contestants online and learning more about their stories. I’m sure they’re all wonderful to have made it this far. Goodness knows how many people entered the competition.

Voting on the first round commences Oct. 15, and I would very much appreciate your votes. I’ll post more information about how and when to vote closer to the date.

There really is a day for everything. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. As the linked story says, feel free to don an eyepatch and pirate hat, pull out your best Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation and say, “Arrr” and “Shiver me timbers” all day.

I’ve stayed up late reading before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever stayed up until 4:40 a.m. reading. But that’s exactly what I did this morning, and then got back up at 8 a.m. to finish reading the latest in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, Eclipse. I just couldn’t put it down. That’s a mark of a fabulous author and a fabulous story. Things I admire about Meyer’s series:

* The characters — They are real (even when they’re not). Seriously, there are vampires and werewolves, but in many ways they are so very human with very human emotions — love, fear, hatred, pain. I CARE what happens to them. I believe that if I drove into Forks, Washington (which, incidentally, is real), I’d happen upon Bella Swan, Edward Cullen and Jacob Black. And I love how complex she’s made the characters. Every one of them has good qualities and not so good qualities, just like real people.

* The setting — As I mentioned above, Forks, Washington is a real place, a small town on the rainy Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Forks even has a Twilight Points of Interest self-guided tour and Stephenie Meyer Day now in appreciation for how much attention the books have brought their town. Meyer does such a good job of describing the setting that when I went through the photos on the Forks Web site, everything looked exactly how I imagined it.

* The love story — Yes, Edward, Bella and Jacob are teenagers, but Meyer does an excellent job of creating a love story that you believe with all your heart and soul is going to last forever. Soul mates in the truest sense of the word.

* Satisfaction and anticipation — Each book leaves the reader both satisfied with the story contained within it and eagerly anticipating the next installment. I know come next fall, I’ll be very eagerly awaiting the arrival of Breaking Dawn.

Have you read the Twilight series? What attracts you to it? If you’ve read Eclipse, what did you think? And are you an Edward or Jacob girl?

I’m blogging over at the Romance Bandits blog today. Come by and say, “Howdy!”

Okay, so I’m not really “done” with my chapter outline. I haven’t sent it off to my editor yet. But I did finish outlining all 24 chapters of my YA novel, and I spent today going back through that outline making changes. And just now, I e-mailed it off to my agent for a read-through and comments. Yep, that’s why I haven’t been blogging the past couple of days — I wanted to get the outline done in plenty of time to get agent feedback before my Sept. 21 deadline.
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Funny TiVo tale — if you have room on your system, TiVo records things called TiVo Suggestions, programs it thinks you’ll like. You have to teach it over time what you like and don’t like. Well, using the thumbs-down feature, I’ve definitely taught it that I don’t want anymore of the episodes of Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown. Bleh! I hate those kinds of shows. I can’t figure out why it thought I’d like them. But the system has made some smart choices too, recording Angel and Charmed. I’ve seen all the Angel episodes though, and I play to watch Charmed from the beginning on DVD because I hate to watch stuff out of order.
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The weather is finally really nice again. A couple of weeks ago, we were sweltering in 100-plus-degree heat, and our yard was brown. Now it’s green again, and our highs are in the 80s and lows in the 50s or 60s. Much more pleasant, and I’ve been taking advantage by going walking again, iPod loaded with Pottercasts in hand.
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On the reading front, I just finished reading The Golden Compass and really enjoyed it. I almost immediately requested the next in the series, The Subtle Knife, from the library. I can’t wait for the movie version of The Golden Compass in December. Now I’m reading Eclipse, the third in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. I’ve been SO looking forward to this. Meyer has done on a smaller scale something similar to J.K. Rowling. She’s got young/teen girls eagerly awaiting the release of books — books that have some large page counts. Eclipse is 629 pages, 91 of which I read last night after going to bed.

I’m really enjoying my new TiVo. It’s so easy to use, and I don’t have to even think about when something is on once it’s programmed to record. I can keep on writing if the writing’s flowing, sleep, even be in a different state and the TiVo does its thing. The first thing I recorded and watched was Reign of Fire. Mary’s guy Gerard Butler and Janice’s guy Matthew McConaughey were in it as was Christian Bale. Not a very believable plot, but it was entertaining. Two other movies I’ve recorded and watched are The Sweetest Thing and Three Kings. Sitting there waiting to be watched are The Aviator, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Time Machine, Ladder 49, and Along Came Polly. I’ve programmed Season Passes for Prison Break, Survivor: China, and Smallville, and the pilot episodes of Gossip Girl, Kid Nation, and Back to You to see if they’re any good.

How many of you have TiVo? Do you remember the first thing you ever recorded? What do you have on Season Passes?

Writing update: I really got to cooking on my chapter outline today. I did 4 chapters and roughed out the remaining six. Over the next couple of days I’ll flesh out those roughed ones, then let it sit and percolate for a couple of days while I work on other stuff. I also revised one more chapter of the other book.

Even though it’s still more than 7 weeks away, Halloween is in the air. There were large pumpkins and pumpkins with painted faces for sale at Wal-Mart yesterday, not to mention the long aisles of costumes and candy. Even my nephew is ready for the holiday since he has his new Jeff Gordon costume.

Do you enjoy Halloween? Do you still dress up? If so, what will you be dressed as this year?

Writing update: I outlined three more chapters of my YA and revised one chapter of the other manuscript yesterday. Plan to do more of the same today, as well as work on other odds and ends.