No, I haven’t fallen into the San Francisco Bay. Just been busy, busy, busy since leaving home last week. Because I’m sure all of you have been waiting anxiously to hear my travel tidbits here’s a rundown.

Last Wednesday — Drove the 3.5 hours to the train station.

Thursday — Rode train to Chicago, boarded second train for California; too tired to work on manuscript, so read Simone Elkeles’ Leaving Paradise (up for a YA RITA this year), watched Penelope on my laptop, and read stuff for the board meeting. Traveled through Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

Friday –  Traveled through Colorado and Utah. One of the prettiest part of the trip, the winding along the Colorado river in western Colorado. As usual, there were tons of rafters, several of whom mooned the train (also common). I think the most beautiful stretch of this day is Ruby Canyon on the Colorado-Utah border.

Friday — Traveled across Utah and into Nevada.

Saturday — Crossed Nevada and California. The Sierra Nevada portion was lovely as always, and I actually like the run across the desolate desert of Nevada because it has a stark, remote beauty of its own. When we went across the salt flats, it’s so flat that you can see forever. Arrived in San Francisco and good friend Theresa Ragan picked me up and took me to the hotel. Thanks, Theresa! Since the rest of the board members had arrived earlier, they’d already eaten dinner so I got some Chinese takeout and fired up my laptop to find I’d received 400 e-mails in two days!

Sunday — RWA Board of Directors meeting, followed by more takeout with everyone.

Monday — Long day to finish board meeting at 9ish last night.

Today — My day off! Had a wonderful guided tour of the city. Took a ferry over to Sausalito, a cute seaside village, where I had lunch with my agent. Then we boarded a shuttle to ride back across the Golden Gate Bridge, which was so cool! It was the first time I’d seen the bridge. It was kind of seeing the Statue of Liberty in person for the first time. Saw Alcatraz and Angel Island (the West’s equivalent to Ellis Island) from the ferry. Visited the Palace of Fine Arts, the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park, Lombard Street (curviest street in the country, maybe world), saw the Presidio as we drove by, and walked through China Town. Personally, I liked the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito the best. I wished I’d had more time to explore the little town, but after eating lunch it was time to meet the shuttle.

Tonight, I had dinner with the Romance Bandits, and a great time was had by all.

Tomorrow, the conference kicks off, and the schedule just gets busier and busier. But it’s great to see friends and soak up the great energizing vibe I always get from writing conferences.  More reports to come.

It seems that no matter how much I plan, how many lists I make, how many times I walk back through the house before I leave, I always forget something I meant to bring on a long trip. And I usually remember it two hours down the interstate. This time, it was the cord that connects my digital camera to my computer. I was going to try to blog from the RWA National Conference, complete with photos, but the photos will have to wait until I get back. I’ll still try to blog with some tidbit each day. We’ll see how well that works.

More excitement today. Not only did I finish the first (rough) draft of Arctic Heart (aka the second YA book), but I got the ARCs (advanced reader copies) of Heartbreak River. Here’s me with a copy, and sporting my newly dyed hair. I think it’s time to dance a jig. All together now…

I’ve been a little under the weather the past couple of days. That combined with trying to finish this rough draft and prepare to leave Wednesday for San Francisco has kept me away from the blog the past few days. But the winner of last week’s book giveaway is…Natalie. Please e-mail me your address so I can get the books out to you before I head west.

Up for grabs this week:

The Burning Point by Mary Jo Putney
Pagan Bride by Tamara Leigh
Too Many Bosses by Jan Freed

Someone sent me this link this morning. Even though I’d heard this before, I still think it’s hilarious.

I’m going to admit something that may be shocking, particularly since I’m a writer.

I don’t like Shakespeare. There I’ve said it. I’ve tried, really I have. I saw a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream once that was okay, but overall I find my mind wandering. In fact, I watched a BBC production of The Tempest this week because it’s referenced in the book I’m writing and I’d never read or seen it, and it literally put me to sleep. When the phone rang, I about fell out of the recliner. The Tempest was still going on the TV. So how could I use this to my advantage? I made one of the characters in my book dislike Shakespeare and call him the “sure cure for insomnia.”

Shakespeare isn’t the only “classic” I don’t like. Remember those required reading lists from high school? While I tended to like the more modern writers like John Steinbeck and Willa Cather, earlier ones made me want to poke my eyeballs out. I had to read The Great Gatsby twice — once in high school, once in college. Hated it both times. And being a lover of nature, I thought I’d read Walden by Henry David Thoreau. When I was quite a ways into the book and he hadn’t even managed to get to the dumb pond yet, I gave up. Same with James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans. LOVED the movie. The book? Zzzzzzzz. Didn’t finish it either.

Maybe I just don’t appreciate what others are seeing, or maybe I just like a more modern voice, perhaps a more popular culture voice. After all, I like Jane Austen, but at the time she was writing she wasn’t considered a high-brow or classic writer. Only years later was she deemed so. She was the Nora Roberts of her day.

What writers of today do you think will show up on those high school reading lists in the future? My guess is that writers such as J.K. Rowling and Stephen King will be there.

And what classic writers/books are snoozers for you?

Yep, I’m late again posting last week’s book winner, which was…Monica McCabe!

Up for grabs this week:

Prince Charming in Dress Blues by Maureen Child
Her Galahad by Melissa James
Mistress by Amanda Quick

I’m also blogging over at Romance Bandits today about what I’d do if I were suddenly and fabulously wealthy. Come by and join the fun!

I got my 15 pages for today written a bit earlier today than I have the past few days, so I’ve spent a chunk of the evening printing out workshop handouts for the RWA conference, cleaning off my desk, cleaning out files, and making daily schedules listing everything that I have to get done between now and when I leave for California. Wow, those are some scary lists! Someone send over the clone-me machine, please.

I’m a pretty organized and hard-working person, but the days leading up to the national conference are like this every year. I have to remember to make sure I get enough rest in amongst all the busyness so I’m not totally wiped before I even get to the conference or, worse yet, I let my immune system defenses down and get sick. Last year, I managed to not get sick until a few days after the conference. In fact, I was sick as a dog 10 days after the conference when I got the call that I’d sold my first book. You know, I’d rather just not get sick at all, thanks.

My Entertainment Weekly came today, and I was thrilled to see Twilight featured on the cover. There’s a nice article/interview with Twilight book author Stephenie Meyer, and another article about the movie due out Dec. 12. You can read both on the EW Web site via the links above. I can’t wait for Breaking Dawn, the final book due out in a mere three weeks, then the movie.

Any other Twilighters out there? Are you rooting for Bella to end up with Edward or Jacob?

The story of this little girl evidently being kidnapped was posted on one of my writing loops today. It checks out as true on Snopes.com, which has good information as to which of those rumors you get in your e-mail inbox are true or just urban legends. Poor kid. Though the passage of time since her disappearance makes the odds of her safe recovery slimmer than one would hope, I still hope she’s somehow found safe and returned to her family.

Yesterday was an awesome day. I was in the kitchen doing dishes when I heard the UPS truck pull into the driveway and the driver honk her horn as she does when she has a delivery for me. On my way to the front door, I kept thinking, “What in the world? We haven’t ordered anything.” But when I saw the distinctive four diamonds on the side of the box, Harlequin’s logo, I knew what the box contained.

The author copies of my first book!

When I got the box inside and opened it, I nearly cried at the sight of actual books with my name on the cover. To hold one in my hand after all the years of trying to get published, of rejection letter after rejection letter, of doubting that I had what it took to make my dream come true — well, it was overwhelming. I’m tearing up now just reliving it in my head.

I had to wait until hubby got home from a business trip to take my picture, but here I am with some of the copies of A Firefighter in the Family. Oh, and pardon the bad hair. I’m waiting to get a decent haircut until right before I head to San Francisco.