Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Or as I like to think of it:

Happy Chocolate Day!

Backlist: THE WINTER HEART

Another backlist book has been called forth for digital release, this time the SPRING BRIDES anthology, which includes my novella, THE WINTER HEART, as well as novellas by Judith Stacy and Pam Crooks. It will be available in the usual digital formats, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc. on February 15 2012 and can be pre-ordered now. LINK TO amazon.com

Progress Report on the New Book

The line edits are finished and approved, and the new release, THE SOLDIER'S WIFE, is now in production. (The setting for the book is the Blue Ridge Mountains, in case you're wondering what the picture has to do with anything.) I believe the release date will be August 2012.

PRIME SUSPECT and Me

NBC has axed PRIME SUSPECT. Why? Well, apparently because the writing is superb, the casting, excellent, and the acting absolutely stunning.

Maria Bello's "Jane" is much more sympathetic than Helen Mirren's "Jane." I know this because I watched ALL the episodes of both versions. I gave this new "upstart" NBC version a chance, thinking all the while that it couldn't possibly compare to the British one. (What can I say? I'm a PBS viewer--I'm accustomed to excellence.) Well, it not only "compared," it "surpassed." The humanity Bello brought to the character when the plot dealt with a traumatized child was Emmy-worthy at the very least. And, her relationship with the men in her squad who are determined not to respect her has been riveting.

If all that's not enough, there were the complex relationships with her father, her younger sister, her "significant other" and his little boy -- not to mention the viper of an ex-wife. Every character in this drama is three-dimensional.

THEN, there is the complexity of Maria Bello's "Jane" herself. "Jane" is a strong woman. She is not a woman trying to behave like a man. Believe me, the official poster (see above) -- which makes her look like a bounty-hunter-slash-biker-chick (whose idea was that, anyway?) -- says nothing about the excellent dramatic quality of this show or her fearlessness or her vulnerability, all of which made the viewer, i.e. ME, care about what happened to her and to the men who hate her and who love her.

Sadly, there is nothing I can do about this travesty but vent. And make a suggestion: MOVE IT TO THE USA NETWORK.

NBC, I am axing your Thursday at 10 PM time slot out of my DVR -- and you're not getting it back.

HAPPY 2012

I'm just sitting here--waiting for 2012 to arrive, listening for the neighbors' fireworks. And the shotguns. In recent years, the county seems to have revived its old German custom of shooting the New Year. It was really noisy last year. Maybe all that shooting is what made 2011 run by so fast. I don't know where the time went, do you?

I've remembered too late that I don't have the makings of the customary New Year's Good Luck Meal in the cupboard, and there won't be any real restaurants open on Sunday that will serve it. Can't get ham, black-eyed peas, and collard greens at Mickey D's or Burger King.

Even so, let me wish all of you a very Happy and Healthy 2012, and may all your dreams come true. (I should have one--possibly two--books out in 2012. That would definitely work for me in the "dream come true department." Having a book released never gets old.)

Take care. And if you happen to have a New Year's Good Luck Meal at your house tomorrow, take a couple of extra bites for me.

'Til next time...

Re-Remembering A Christmas Past...

What is this? It's a photo of one of the neighbor's Christmas lights, taken very early in the morning in a foggy rain. The "fog" part makes me "hark back," as the late Johnny Carson used to say, something I would do anyway because it's that time of year. Yes, once again, I'm thinking of our family's Almost Christmas Stranger.

It was damp and foggy the night she showed up--December 23rd, hence the "almost" Christmas Stranger tag. How many years ago now? Half a century? No, more than that, actually. I've posted about her before. This is the link if you'd like to read it (or reread it, as the case may be). My late sister-in-law's recipe for a wonderful Lemon Fruit Cake is also included in that post. She made one every Christmas, and I miss her and them. (Let's just say I am not a baker.)

I'm looking forward to Christmas with the family--or most of the family. My nephew, the world traveler, has made it home from Cairo for the holiday, but I don't think I'll be able to see him, at least not close enough to hug the stuffing out of him as I am wont to do. I've managed to catch a cold, one of the messy kinds with lots of coughing, hacking and sneezing, and the last thing I need to do is give it to him just in time for his long flight back. I may have already given it to two of the Grands. (The boys refused my precautionary "air hugs" in lieu of the real thing.)

Now I'm going to get busy with the presents-wrapping. I'm going to put the Christmas music on and go to town with the colorful paper and the ribbon. Might even drink some russian tea in the process (very good for colds, don't you know). Oh, and I'm probably going to "mind write" on the new book while I'm at it. Busy hands, in my case, will almost always lead to story plotting. It's just part of my creative process--or it's a survival technique. Like "Maynard G. Krebs" (who?), I never want to think about "Work!"

All of you take care. Merry Christmas and have a wonderful Holiday Season.

'Til next time...

Getting Christmas-y

The DH and Grand #3 decorated the Christmas tree one afternoon last week. I think they did a spectacular job. You can't tell it on this picture, but they outdid themselves with the "icicles." (Long, narrow, dangle-y silver strands.) I was beta reading with Grand #1 on a Big Important Grade Thesis Paper and didn't really look up when the DH asked, "How much of this do you want us to use?" In retrospect, "All of it" might not have been the best response.

In any event, they had a good time, and I love the generously icicle-ed tree. I need lots of color and shine, and I got it.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Learning Something New...

Until a few days ago, I had no idea what "murmuration" was. I don't think I'd ever heard/seen the word before. If you don't know either or if do know and you'd like to see an amazing video example, click HERE.

On Not Being Tolstoy...

The last of my "Cinda Richards" backlist is finally up on amazon.com--which is actually my first published romance novel. I've been thinking a lot about what an experience that was all those years ago, finally seeing something I'd written in print.

No, that's not quite right. I'd had other things in print prior to this--literary short stories published in "little magazines," an anthology, chapbooks, etc., sometimes to good reviews. Sometimes, even the rejection slips were glowing.

Oh, yes. I was known to hang out with the literary crowd. I won short story contests, gave readings here and there, went to teas as an honored guest in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Norfolk. I remember one such tea where the tea service was taller than most of the people attending. It was nice. And not the least bit lucrative.

Now if you know anything about the romance genre at all, you know that it is the consummate redheaded stepchild of publishing. The literati don't read romances, or if they do, they don't admit it. EVER. And what's more, they don't want you to waste your time reading "those books" either. It just won't do.

So I'm safe in saying that many of my literary acquaintances were surprised to learn that I'd written an about-to-be-published romance novel. Some were genuinely congratulatory (I think). Some assumed it was a vanity press project and were astounded to learn that a large New York publishing house had paid me to write it. And some wanted to kindly--and not so kindly--"save" me from whatever mental aberration was responsible for this particular craziness.

It was a bit of a...burden.

Here is my most favorite "helpful" remark: "Well, it's nice you got paid, but you know, Cheryl, it's hardly the Great American Novel."

Now here's the thing. I worked on it as if it was. I didn't "write down." I didn't condescend. I didn't wear a paper bag over my head. I didn't use a pen name for any reason other than the publisher required it. Instead, I learned the perimeters of the genre and I did the very best job I knew how to do.

Which brings us to the other thing. The title. Can you imagine the response in this rarified literary environment to a romance novel titled THIS SIDE OF PARADISE? And no it wasn't my idea. It was just one of those many things TPTB decide and the writer has to live with. I like to think, though, that F. Scott just might have cut me a little slack. We do, after all, have the same birthday.

Till next time...

Veterans Day 11-11-11

This is a photograph of my mother, my aunt, and my two cousins, once removed. It was taken during the early days of World War II.

The young man (my cousin) was home on leave. He was in the navy, and I believe it was his last chance to see everyone before he "shipped out."

This was "before my time," but I'm still struck by the emotions I sense whenever I look at the photograph. Part of it has to do with the way my mother and her sister and cousin are standing, as if they are trying to shield him from things to come, and part of it has to do with my mother's sad face.

He returned from the War safely. His brother, who was also there that day but not in this photograph, did not. People in the family have told me that his mother believed he was incapable of taking the life of another human being, no matter the circumstances, and that he knew, in the way soldiers sometimes do, that he would not return.

This is my own personal connection to Veterans Day and Memorial Day. And it's a big part of the reason why I always, always vote.

I wanted to share it with you...