Pacific NW

So, it took using a different computer to realize there's nothing wrong with my blog. It's my computer that's all jacked up--imagine that. I'm hoping that I will be able to read your comments finally!
Tom and I had a great week in the Pacific NW. Our first day was spent checking out downtown Seattle, which looks totally Star Wars-ish when approaching it from the south. I got a parking ticket my first day ($40) because I couldn't figure out the parking machine. I thought I had paid for two hours and five minutes but it turned out to be two minutes and five seconds. Dang!
Day two we drove up to the Olympic Peninsula. Talk about breath-taking vistas! I've never seen such American beauty. Crescent Lake is unreal--so beautiful! We arrived in Forks, home of Bella and the vampires and spent two nights there. We took the Twilight tour and saw where all the characters live. Early one morning I went to the high school and walked the track. We saw an elk! We went to the sporting goods store where Bella works and the restaurant she frequents with her dad. We also went to La Push where Jacob lives. LOVED IT. The beaches are stunning. We saw pelicans!
We took the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island and visited the Naval Air Station there. Tom loved that. We also visited the naval base at Bremerton and visited the picturesque town of Port Orchard, home of the prolific author Debbie Macomber. I could live in that town. Tom thought it would be the perfect place for someone in the Witness Protection Program to live.
We returned to the Seattle area and spent another day sightseeing and went up in the Space Needle. Saw where Christian Grey calls home--Fifty Shades, baby! We spent a day checking out the town where Twin Peaks was set, even having cherry pie and a damned fine cup of coffee in the Twin Peaks Diner (and I don't even like cherry pie!). We then headed to the town where Northern Exposure was set--so awesome. It was perfect until I got another ticket: for speeding this time at the exorbitant cost of $411.
Our last day we drove up Mount Rainier. It took forever to get there but it was worth the drive. Tom got out and made snowballs which was so weird considering it was in the 70s, temp-wise. The drive coming down the mountain was FRIGHTENING and I had a mini melt-down which Tom had to calm. But we survived and all in all, had a fantastic time!
So, I shall close here...watch this space for the unveiling of my book cover for The Gypsy Thief!

Forks, Here I Come!

OK...so Tom and I are off to Forks, Washington, bright and early tomorrow morning. I've been embarrassing the poor child all over town telling people we're going to Twilight country to hunt for vampires and werewolves. He prefers that I say we're going to Seattle (which we are). It sounds more fun to say it my way! I even dyed my hair jet black and am wearing pale make-up so I can blend in with the vampires!!!!I look total goth but no worries, folks...it's just a stage I'm going through like my 'Il Divo' stage a few years ago and my 'I Want to be an Olympic Ice Skater' stage a few years before that and my 'I Want to be a Flight Attendant' stage and my 'I Want to be a Nurse' stage (I was eight at the time). Other stages of my life have included--but are not limited to:
I Want to be a Russian Linguist (too hard)
I Want to Move to Maine (still seems like a nice concept)
I Want to be a Spanish Teacher (I still want this one)
I Want to be an English as Foreign Language Teacher (I still want this one, too)
I Want to be a Stock Car Racer (I was 12 at the time - too scary anyway)
I Want to be a Celebrated Chef (That's so last year)
I Want to be a Broadway Star ( Can't sing opera but, boy, if I could...sigh...)
I Want to be the One Who Solves the Jimmy Hoffa Case (It's only a matter of time)
I Want to be George Clooney's Second Ex-Wife (Cuz Hollywood marriages just don't last)
I Want to be the One Who Cures Tom Cruise of His Mental Illness So I Can Have My Tom Back (Because, deep in my heart, I still care...he just needs some of Brooke Shields' left-over meds)

I'm sure there are other things I've wanted to be over the years (I wanted to be a police officer for five minutes after I got out of the Marines but then I remembered why I was happy to be a civilian again and I got over that fast) but for now, all I want is to be a writer...so that's what I shall do...

Laters, baby!

The Gypsy Thief: Coming in Sept. 2012

It's been more than a month since I rambled! But I have something to ramble about today!
The first volume of my young adult trilogy will be published in September. The trilogy has been named "The Talisman Trilogy" and the first book is called "The Gypsy Thief." Here is a short teaser:

The day high school senior Laura Calder picks up a golden disk from the ground she unwittingly begins a fateful journey that catapults her into a web of deceit and revenge pitting two European royal families against one another. Though she falls for a handsome British prince, it is her love for a mysterious Portuguese gypsy that threatens all she holds dear—and with an evil duke hell-bent on carrying out a vendetta set in motion more than 300 years ago, Laura must make a heart-breaking sacrifice to save the people she loves even as she tries to decipher the golden disk’s mysterious messages.

I'm probably going to start my own website and I guess I will have to learn how to use my Twitter account now! Ha! When the time comes I will let you all know how to purchase your copy of "The Gypsy Thief." It will be available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Booksamillion.com and other online retailers. It will be both electronic (on your Kindle or Nook) or you can purchase an actual paperback copy. It's pretty long so I hope you'll feel like you're getting your money's worth (ha!). I think it will be more than 400 pages long when it's all said and done.

The other two volumes are complete but they have not been copy edited yet. They will be released six months apart. I hope I can get all of my friends and family and acquaintances, former co-workers, enemies, lovers and haters, pets, police officers, kings, queens and former classmates to purchase a book when it is released in September. I will be relying on word-of-mouth to get my baby noticed. I have big plans for "The Gypsy Thief." I want to see it on the big screen starring Austin Butler (Andrew), Diego Boneta (Miguel), AnnaSophia Robb (Laura), Christopher Egan (Tristan) and the delightfully delicious Colin Firth (The Duke of Easton). So help a sister out, please! Details to come!