Sometimes I think my two editors’ brains are connected even though they don’t work for the same publishing company, don’t even live in the same country. I’ve been working on revisions to my second Harlequin American (The Willow Creek Cafe) and finished them this morning so I could send them to Mary for a read-through to make sure it all still makes sense after cutting some material and adding some new scenes. Only a few hours later, my YA editor e-mailed with revisions to my second YA book (Arctic Heart). So those are due back in a week, but before that I have to do revisions to my Supernatural essay for BenBella Books. Hmm, I think perhaps I should change my middle name to Revisions.

So, I’m thinking about learning how to do podcasts so I can start putting some on my site. Has anyone reading this ever created a podcast? I don’t know the ins and outs of how to create the proper types of files and how to put them on my site. Must investigate. And if you were to listen to short (like five-minute) podcasts on an author’s site, what would you want her to talk about? I’m thinking about doing a variety of things, but nothing is firm in my mind yet.

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend. Ours was nice except that our little five-month-old nephew was in the hospital with bad bronchitis. He got to go home today, though he’s still a sick little boy. Hopefully, he’ll continue to get better over the next few days. It’s so hard seeing a baby in the hospital, especially when you can’t explain to him why all this is going on.

On the good news front, I got a release date for my second Harlequin American, The Willow Creek Cafe. It’ll be out in May 2009. I’ll be working on revisions to it after I finish my outline for my next YA novel, which is what is on the docket this week.

Okay, time for last week’s book winner — Cindy Procter-King! Cindy, contact me through the Contact page on this site with your mailing info, and I’ll get your books out to you.

Up for grabs this week:

The Hidden Years by Susan Kearney
The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Wife by Kate Walker
Angel in My Arms by Colleen Faulkner

No, Revision Island isn’t one of the plethora of new reality shows. It’s where I’m living these days. I got through three more chapters of the revisions to The Willow Creek Cafe today. They were fatter chapters, so I got one less chapter done than yesterday. Only five chapters left, then I can send the book off to my editor.

I talked to my Razorbill editor today about the revision letter on Heartbreak River. It’s a very lengthy, detailed letter, but I like the detail. As I told her, it’s similar to when I was still working full time as a journalist. It was always easier to write articles when I had an abundance of information rather than too little. And I don’t have to guess what she wants. It’s all right there in front of me. I think if I take the revisions one chapter at a time, perhaps only a chapter to a chapter and a half per day, these revisions won’t be too overwhelming. Still, I’m going to have to set a pretty good pace because they’re due March 15, and I’m going to be out of town for 12 days during the time between now and then. Let’s just say that some of these revisions will be done in cabins, hotel rooms and a friend’s house.

Here’s a funny picture from one of my favorite “lift my mood” sites.

moar funny pictures

The winner of last week’s book giveaway is Natalie! Natalie, send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I’ll get the books out to you.

Okay, on to Week 2 of the 31 Weeks of Free Books. If you comment on any of this week’s blog posts, you’ll be in the running to win the following three books:

Rules of Engagement by Kathryn Caskie
The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney
Lost Colling by Evelyn Vaughn
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Well, I’m getting down to the wire on my second Harlequin American, currently titled The Willow Creek Cafe. It’s due Friday, and I’m working on the second round of revisions. Mary said she cried at least a couple of times when she read it. But that’s a good thing.

After that book is turned in, I’ll be diving into revisions on my first YA novel, Heartbreak River. I’ve been reading through the 21-page revision letter from my editor, trying to soak all the information in and not freak out. That book is due back March 15, so I’ll be remaining busy for the foreseeable future.

Okay, so I’m not really finished with The Willow Creek Cafe, my second book for Harlequin American, but I did just write the end of the first draft. I now have 15 days to whip this book into shape. It’s currently too short, but I already have ideas for some new or expanded scenes that will lengthen it while strengthening the overall story. But, yea, I’m finished with the first draft. I can go to bed early and read. After all, I’ve got almost 800 pages of The Sweet Far Thing to finish reading. I’ve been so tired the past couple of nights, I’ve only gotten a few pages read before I drifted off to Snoozeville.

In movie news…the other day my TiVo recorded a movie called Romancing the Bride staring Laura Prepon from That 70s Show (which I think is totally hysterical) and a hottie named Matt Cedeno who is evidently a soap opera star (wouldn’t know, don’t watch them). So, imagine me kicked back in my recliner watching this cute little romantic comedy after a day of writing when all of a sudden in the middle of the movie it is cut off and the next hour of what should be the movie is an infomercial for Proactiv! Now picture Trish not happy. Grrr. Luckily, I was able to get the movie from Netflix and watch the rest to see what happened.