After leaving Rochelle, Illinois on my trip north, I headed to Madison, Wisconsin, where my agent is located. On the way out to dinner, she drove me through the University of Wisconsin campus. I know it’s cold in the winter, but the campus has some lovely lake views. We ate dinner at a place called Nau-ti-Gal on one of the lakes. We sat outside and listened to the live band that was set up and playing under the trees in the yard. The place was packed, and I had some absolutely delicious stuffed grouper. We talked business for awhile, then just some fun non-business stuff. After leaving there, we went to a Madison landmark, Ella’s Deli and Ice Cream Parlor. This place is amazing — not just the ice cream but also the decor. It’s full of old toys everywhere, even moving back and forth across the ceiling, and a carousel.

The next day, I headed to Green Bay for the WisRWA conference. I’d never been to Green Bay, and pretty much all I equated with it was the Packers and being really friggin’ cold. I made my way to the hotel attached to the Oneida Casino, where I checked in and found this in the lobby:

Let me just say it’s still very weird to see my name listed as a featured speaker, especially with New York Times best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon. Now, I know Sherry, and she’s as down to earth as they come, but it’s still a little squee moment to be listed with her. Here we are together.

I spoke at the conference on Making Your Setting Come Alive, and I was also able to reconnect with writers I’d met at this conference 2-3 years ago when it was last held in Madison.

Here I am with Meagan Hatfield and Ann Voss-Peterson.

And with Lori Devoti.

With fellow guest author Karin Tabke. We were next-door neighbors at the book signing.

With Rachel Berens-VanHeest.

I was also able to have a nice meeting with Harlequin Executive Editor Birgit-Davis Todd. She’s not my editor but does work closely with my editor.

With fellow writers Ann Curtis and Cat Shield (who won the WisRWA Fab Five award for best YA manuscript).

With Publishers Weekly blogger Barbara Vey.

I’ve got one more Wisconsin trip post in me, about my post-conference trip through the lovely Door County and the journey back south. Be sure to check in over the weekend for the final installment. And for those of you in the U.S., Happy 4th of July!

Back in early June, I took a trip north to Wisconsin to visit with my agent and to speak at the Wisconsin RWA chapter’s conference in Green Bay. Over the next couple of days, I’m going to put up photos from my trip.

The first stop was my hometown in Kentucky, where I had a book signing at the local library for my two newest books. Before the signing, however, it was annual Take Mom to the Cemeteries Day. We drive to several cemeteries in two counties to place flowers on the graves of family members. OMG, it was hot! I think I heard the grass screaming for mercy. Prior to heading out on our excursion, I sold a couple of books to my mom’s next-door neighbor, a very sweet lady who is 90 and is constantly on the go. I caught her on her Red Hat Society day, so she was dressed all in red and purple. Make note that this transaction took place around 2 p.m. That will matter later in this story.

After returning from traipsing over two counties, it was freshen up and change time. Then off to the library. This lovely flower arrangement from high school friend Kim and her mom, Tammy, who has a floral shop in town, was waiting for me. Isn’t it pretty?

Kim wasn’t able to make the signing, but Tammy did. I probably hadn’t seen her in 20 years and she looked the same! Kind of like Kim does. I, um, do not look like I did on graduation night.

During the signing, my cousin, Debbie, told me she had stayed up until 1 in the morning to finish my latest Harlequin American, Her Very Own Family. To which I said, “Yes! I’ve done my job.”

After signing books and chatting with friends and family, I took Mom back home. Helen poked her head out her door and said she’d already finished reading Her Very Own Family and really liked it. It was about 7 or 7:30 p.m. at this point. She also said she was getting ready to go back inside and start reading my YA novel, Heartbreak River. Did I mention that Helen is cool?

I drove to a town about an hour away next to the interstate so I could just hop on I-24 in the morning and head farther north.

Illinois is tall. The next day, I got a bit of a late start but I was still able to cover most of the Illinois miles. I even got a totally out-of-the-blue story idea that I was excited to get down before I forgot it. I also saw the oddest thing — a police officer had someone pulled off to the side of the road (wasn’t the interstate at this point; I took a little scenic detour). When I came up alongside them, it was a team of mules pulling a covered wagon with “Jesus Saves” written on the canopy. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he was pulled over. I seriously doubt the mules were speeding.

In the northern part of the state, you start seeing wind farms with lots of enormous windmills like these. They’re oddly mesmerizing. If you’ve ever passed a truck on the interstate hauling just one of the blades for these things, you know how huge they are.

I also had a chuckle and had to take a picture at the rest area where I stopped at one point. It was called Willow Creek Rest Area. The original title for Her Very Own Family was The Willow Creek Cafe.

I stopped for the night in Rochelle, Illinois. I even got there early enough to go for a walk in the lovely, shaded neighborhood next to the hotel. Although I did get chilly. Remember the hot trek through all the cemeteries the day before? It had been about 90 degrees then. When I went for my walk to get out the driving kicks in Rochelle? 60 degrees.

Curious when I got back to my hotel, I logged on to Weather.com to check the temps in Wisconsin. When I saw they were going to be in the 40s at night and I’d only brought summer clothes, I e-mailed my agent and said, “I’m going to freeze to death!” Okay, obviously I didn’t since I’m typing this, but there were some shivering moments ahead. Come back for those moments and the rest of the story.

Ever feel like you’ve gone nine rounds with your to-do list? That feels like what I’ve done the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure who is winning.

Anyway, I took part in a group book signing with five of my RWA chaptermates at Sherlock’s Books in Lebanon, Tennessee yesterday. Here are a few snapshots.

Marie-Nicole Ryan, left, and Ramona Richards

Sandra Thomas Wales and Shannon Dauphin

Jody Wallace and me

It’s my day to blog over at the Harlequin American Romance authors blog, and I’m talking about writers and novels in which the setting is so real you feel like you’re there. Come over and share your favorites.

I’m taking part in a group book signing at Sherlock’s Books in Lebanon, Tennessee. Swing by if you’re in the area. We’d love to see friendly faces.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, today is my day to blog on the Nobody Writes It Better blog. This is the new group blog started by several 2007 Golden Heart finalists. We’re the ‘007s, so you’ll notice a bit of a shout-out to Bond. I’m blogging about how TV viewing and offerings have changed since the days when I came home from school to watch Gilligan’s Island reruns.

My second monthly YA News and Reviews column is up today at Romance Novel TV. I’d love to see some friends faces swing by and comment.

The weather here has been stormy the past few days. Yesterday, a trained spotter reported a funnel cloud in the suburb where I live. I didn’t have to make any mad dashes for the bathtub in the interior bathroom, but it sure got windy and dark here for awhile. And the radar was lit up with red when I clicked on the local news coverage. There’s been more rumbling, rain and lightning today and tonight, and spotters once again reported funnel clouds — though this time they were north of us. At least so far.

In writing news…let me just say for the record that changing a manuscript from third person to first person is quite tedious. I can only do two or three pages at a time before I have to get up and do something else for a few minutes; as luck would have it, I always have something else that needs doing.. Six chapters left to go of this, and then thankfully I can work on writing up a synopsis for a new YA idea.

Last year, hubby and I had three tomato plants that produced a ton of Roma tomatoes. We were constantly eating them. Good thing we love tomatoes, particularly fresh ones. Well, this year we expanded to add cucumbers. Hubby took a shovel and carved out a small plot in the sunniest part of our back yard. Though the plants are bigger now, here are a couple of photos I took before I took my trip to Wisconsin.

Anyone out there have a garden this summer? If so, how’s it doing? What is your favorite thing to eat fresh from the garden.

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On a different note, I’m hosting author Jeanne Adams over at the Wet Noodle Posse blog today. She’s talking about how her dad helped foster her love of books and reading.

I’ve been busy with various deadlines and out of town to speak at a conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin, thus the blogging has taken a back burner. Poor neglected blog. But I have all kinds of good posts lined up for this week — including photos from my Wisconsin trip and a peek at what’s in my back yard these days. And there just might be a post about how I’m addicted to a certain game on Facebook.

Today is my regular day to blog with over at the Romance Bandits blog, and I’m interviewing writing pal Colette Gale about her steamy take on the classics.

Also, I’m happy to announce that I’m part of a new group blog, with another set of Golden Heart finalists, those from 2007. The Nobody Writes It Better blog goes live today with our opening post by Gail Fuller. I’ll be blogging there on Friday.

The New Moon (sequel to Twilight) trailer just came out, and it looks awesome. Can’t wait until November.

The great car search last week yielded results. My poor wrecked car was a Nissan and had been very good to me, so I really wanted another Nissan. And I got this cute little 2007 Nissan Versa hatchback. I already took her on a road trip to Kentucky for the Memorial Day weekend, and she’s so fun to drive. And she’s supposed to get 36 mpg. Bonus!

Okay, deadline looming. Must go write books to pay for the cute car.