Several days after my last post, a house fire victimized my friend Maggie Shayne. She lost both of her dogs and most of her belongings. Smoke and soot took care of what the fire didn't destroy. You can read all about it (and see photos) on The Storybroads blog. Maggie came into town yesterday to begin replacing her things, so several of us met up with her at a local mall after our chapter meeting.
We sat near the windows, and as Maggie shared her experiences, we watched huge wet flakes of snow escape the darkening sky, and remembered that old adage, "If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb."
But, I wondered to myself, which animal is a peaceful snowfall? There was no wind, no bluster; just wooly white flakes drifting around. Looked lamb-like to me.
There was a line to get into the restaurant when we left, but I didn't feel guilty about keeping our booth long after we'd finished eating.
Several of my writing buds are talking about getting together twice a month or so and doing "crafts"...most of us crochet, although we have one prolific knitter in our ranks. That would be fun. My concern is that my writing time is already limited, I would hate to lose another couple of hours.
I'm moving right along on the first draft of my gothicky romantic suspense. My agent really likes it, altho' she is concerned it opens too slowly. I don't know if I agree; I think it still opens too category-paced for a single title. This book began life as a category line romantic suspense, which means the pacing is much quicker. The opening finalled in at least one contest.
Lots of things happening in March. My day job is moving into new corporate headquarters next week -- much closer to home! RWA's Golden Heart and Rita Award finalist calls go out at the end of the month, and my local chapter is having a two-day mini-conference. I hope to be suffering my usual "3/4-itis" on my current WIP by the time April rolls around.
Good luck to everyone who entered the Golden Heart or the Rita. Maybe I'll see you in San Francisco.
