I didn't think I'd ever do a political entry, but when I pulled the Atlanta Journal-Constitution out of its little plastic bag and opened it up this morning, there was a front page article that caught my eye.

Justices to rule on land seizure
The issue: Can governments use eminent domain to aid development?

To be honest, it did more than catch my eye. It got my non-political dander up. So I read the article. And got really ticked off. Like I said, this wasn't about a political issue for me, but a sense of fairness. Right and wrong.

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide when local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will to make way for projects like shopping malls and hotel complexes that produce more tax revenue.

Am I the only person who has a problem with this?

OK. That was meant to be rhetorical, because fact is, I know I'm not. I can't be. I've heard my husband rave about this. But more than that, I know I'm not because of what it says later in this very same article. See, apparently, this came about because of a group of residents of New London, Connecticut who filed a lawsuit after city officials announced plans to bulldoze their homes to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club, and offices. The residents refused to budge, arguing it was an unjustified taking of their property.

. . ."I'm not willing to give up what I have just because someone else can generate more taxes here," said homeowner Matthew Dery, whose family has lived in the New London neighborhood known as Fort Trumbull for more than 100 years.

New London contends development plans serving as public purpose -- such as boosting economic growth -- are valid "public use" projects that outweigh homeowners' property rights.

Outweigh homeowners' property rights? Are they serious? So what the officials of New London are saying is when we mortgage 30 years of our life away for home ownership, we're not actually buying a home. We're merely renting it until a better taker comes along, at which point officials can take the land back, give us "just compensation" and that's it.

First of all, who determines what "just compensaton" is? Or how about "public use"? A highway or other roadway, a national park -- okay, I can see that. But when they're taking land from homeowners and selling it to developers in order to broaden their tax base, I have a problem with that. When it's something that a large corporation profits from, I have a problem with it being called "public use". Because it isn't really "public use," is it? A highway, that's public use. A city park -- public use. But when Joe CEO says, "Sure, you can use it at the low low price of $300 per night," that doesn't represent public use to me.

And I guess that's what this case is all about. It seems public outcry is growing louder and louder about local governments abusing their powers of "eminent domain".

Well, duh.

Did anybody truly believe that when they gave this seemingly open-ended power that somebody wouldn't find a way to abuse it in the name of the almighty dollar?

"Sorry, Harry Homeowner, but Giant Corporation wants your land to build a huge resort. And since they're going to give us lots of money and bring in more tax dollars, we're taking your land back. Here's your measly 'just compensation.' Now get the hell off our land."

Does anybody else think this sounds like a juvenille schoolyard tactic? I'm not your friend anymore because Sam has better toys than you.

I could ramble even longer about the unjustness of "eminent domain," but I won't. I'll just sit here and stew.

Italicized exerpts taken from the Associated Press article by Gina Holland.

Yeah, I ripped the title off from Star Trek, but it's fitting.

Why?

Because, for the first time ever, I ventured out into the world of blogs by people I don't know.

I've read blogs before. My own. My friends'. People I've met through the many writing groups I read. But I've never just hopped out and read the blogs of people I've never met before.

It was quite the adventure.

It was a little scary.

Seems to me that a blog gives a bit of insight into the way somebody's mind works. I don't know about anybody else, but I don't plan my entries out before I post them. I just open the window and start typing whatever comes to mind. That's probably why my own entries seem a little wandering and disjointed at times.

I stumbled on some very interesting blogs during my journey. Some that made my hair stand on end. Some that had some witty and insightful (there's that word again) thoughts. Some people ranted about politics. Some gave a rundown of their days. Some posted poetry, pictures, and other creative things. And some were almost impossible to follow.

And I'm not just talking about the ones done in different languages.

One thing I did learn during my wandering is that I've only just scratched the surface with what can be done with these things.

So I'm off to learn more about them.

Right after I finish my crit.

Looking for a little fun? For a way to while away a little time?

A few days ago, a fellow blogger left a comment for me -- a very nice one. So I decided to return the favor and check out his blog. So glad I did! I rarely sit at my computer and laugh out loud as much as I have reading his writing. So if you're looking for a little entertainment, check out Yankeebob's Blog. He's a huge Yankee fan, to be sure, and he also has some hilarious comments about round bellies, animal crackers and poker, just to name a few.

Hmm. I'm thinking it might be time for me to hit that "Next Blog" button and find out who else might be out there!

My husband's jealous of Rocky.

Sounds kind of odd, doesn't it? A grown man jealous of a laptop. Then again, maybe it doesn't sound so odd. One of my CPs finally received the Quickpad (she's named it "Quickie") she recently purchased, and I see jealousy on the horizon for her husband, too.

Of course, it's not true jealousy. At least, not outwardly. And neither of our husbands will probably ever speak of it with any degree of seriousness. But it exists. I know it.

My husband has already commented that he's surprised he hasn't come to bed and found Rocky on the nightstand, staring at him. My CP's husband laughed out loud when he went to bed and found her already there with Quickie in her lap.

And then there are the comments. I've already heard that I'm attached to Rocky, that I take him everywhere, that I'm saying way to often he's in my lap. Well, duh! Rocky is a tool that is making my life easier. OK, that sounded kind of bad. But you know what I mean.

And he has made my life easier. I've certainly managed to do more writing with him. Yesterday, I took him along to my daughter's Tae Kwon Do class, and during the 45 minute class I wrote six pages on my current WIP! Two days before that, I put my headphones on (blocking all outside distraction) turned on some Danny Vaughn, and banged out just over ten pages. See? Convenience. That's what I needed.

Now, this certainly doesn't mean that I'll ever be as prolific as Nora Roberts, or even Sherrilyn Kenyon, but I'm hoping it means that future stories are written more quickly than my first.

Then again, my first was, as I like to call it, my "learning vehicle". It's the book I learned so much about the craft of writing with. And with that in mind, the time it took to finish it doesn't seem as bad -- especially when you consider the number of times I had to go back and re-write in order to correct novice mistakes.

But I'm wandering off-track, as usual.

Jealousy. I think my husband is partially kidding with his comments. Partially, because he's also proud and happy that he bought me something that I'm getting so much use out of. Something that I've wanted for so long. Something that makes me happy.

And that's what really counts, right?

Oh, and, by the way -- he can't be too jealous. As I type, he's in the other room with Rocky, getting me hooked up to the wireless internet.

I don't know how I managed to forget to mention this in my previous entry, but I've finally decided on a writing pseudonym.

And even with all the debate, phone book reading, and other methods of searching for just the right one, the name I finally decided upon came to be as the result of a post I made to my crit group in joking retribution for something one of my crit partners said.

And voila! I'm no longer nameless!

Now I just need a publisher. :)

Before I get started on today's meanderings, I wanted to take a second to thank everybody who's left comments for me on the blog. They were all a surprise, and a very happy one, at that.

I'm feeling much better today -- it may have something to do with the fact that I actually went to bed at a decent time the past couple of nights rather than staying up til all hours writing. Whatever the reason, I'm glad.

Anyway, Ideas.

This subject came to me as I was reading a Stella Cameron novel. I can't say for sure why it came to me. Why does anything pop into people's heads? Sometimes (quite often, for me) there's no rhyme or reason. It just happens. Maybe in this case, the subject came to me because one of the characters is psychic, and the heroine in one of my works in progress is also psychic. Who knows.

But I'm getting off track (no surprise there).

Some writers may view ideas as a pitfall, while others welcome them with open arms. Why a pitfall? Because if you're like me, you have story ideas popping in all the time, without warning (see earlier paragraph). And they can be burdonesome. I mean, I've got two stories in active progress right now, and one more on the back burner, and yet another in editing. I don't need any more ideas at the moment!

But regardless of what I need, they come to me anyway. And I find myself running to the nearest computer, or the nearest scrap of paper -- grocery receipt, napkin, whatever I can find -- just to get that idea down before it disappears. Because if I don't get it down, it inevitably will disappear.

So now I have a file chock full of ideas. And this is a problem. It's a problem because I want to write them all. I want to write them all, and I want to do it now. Not six months from now, when I've finished what I'm currently working on, but right now. This very moment.

But if I follow my desires, I run the risk of never finishing anything. And that wouldn't be good. How could I submit to publishers and realize my dream of publication, of seeing my work in print on the shelves of my favorite bookstore, if I never finish anything?

That's where willpower comes in. And there's another word I'm looking for, but it's escaping me right now. Dancing just beyond the edge of my consciousness and sticking its tongue out at me, while laughing hysterically as I grope for the word that refuses to come.

There seems to be a lot of things in my life that laugh at my hysterically. My pre-pregnancy jeans fall into that category, as well.

Self- discipline! That's it. Ha! Caught you, you mischievous little bugger.

Willpower and self-discipline. Neither of which could ever be considered my strong suit.

And the ideas come without warning. It might be a story posted at The Smoking Gun, or an item in the news, or a line from a song, or something I've seen or overheard while shopping. They come from everywhere. And nowhere. I might be in the shower -- lathering, rinsing and repeating -- when something just pops into my head.

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for each and every story idea I get. Without them, I couldn't write. But why do they all have to come at once, and when I'm not ready for them?

Sounds like I'm whining, doesn't it? Maybe I am. I'd like to think I'm not. If I go by what I tell my children, I wouldn't be able to hear myself.

I suppose that in the end, I should throw a positive light on the story ideas. They're not just ideas for a new novel. They're motivation for me to finish what I'm working on now.

It's been an embarrassingly lazy day for me so far. But I haven't been feeling 100%, so I'll excuse myself.

Yesterday was fairly productive, though, so I've got that going for me. Had lunch with one of my CPs, took my daughter to her Tae Kwon Do class and her second soccer game of the season, took a boatload of pictures at the game and I'm trying to upload them to my Webshots site right now, got 7-1/2 pages for BIAW (so far I've written 20 pages toward my goal of 35) . . . I'm sure I did more, but I can't seem to remember. Brain's foggy.

I don't really have anything witty or insightful to say today. I just want to take a nap.

My husband bought me my Christmas present early this year. Have I mentioned this? He bought me a laptop computer, which I've been wanting (and nagging him for) a long time. I named it Rocky. My husband finds this hilarious, although he's warned me against saying I'm sitting with Rocky in my lap too often. People might get the wrong idea.

Maybe I'll feel more inspired later.

(Oops! I just reviewed my past journal entries and saw that I have already mentioned the laptop. I apologize for repeating myself!)

We all have them.

After reading the blog of one of my critique partners, I got to thinking about expectations. In Teresa's blog, she talks about setting and achieving goals, and I commented on her blog that I admire her for being able to do this. She has her expectations, and she is, according to her plan, realizing them.

It made me wonder what my expectations are for myself.

I've had a self-confidence problem for as long as I can remember, and I think this results in me setting my expectations for what I will accomplish a little too low. My justification is if I expect nothing, when I achieve nothing, I won't be disappointed.

Sad, isn't it.

Logically, I know that if I expect to achieve nothing, I'm setting myself up for failure. If I submit a manuscript for publication with the expectation that it will be rejected, chances are it probably will. I've already made the decision to fail.

The question is, how do I learn to expect more of myself? How do I learn to set my expectations higher? Aspire to loftier goals?

My first step on that road would probably be to find my hidden self-confidence. I know it's in there somewhere. I had it once, a long time ago. Circumstances in my past obliterated it, but I have to believe it wasn't destroyed.

In short, step one would be to simply believe in myself.

I could reword that, and make it my first goal. Believe in myself. I have a great support system. Family and friends who believe in me. And truth be told, I can't honestly say I don't believe in myself. It's just my self-belief doesn't exist to the degree that it should.

So that'll be my job for the day. Figure out how to believe in myself.

Achievable?

I hope so.

I can't believe I actually missed days of blogging! But that's what happens when there's a family standing behind you, clamoring for your attention.

OK. So maybe they weren't clamoring. Maybe, for the most part, they were even ignoring me. But that didn't mean I didn't have a lot to do. Boring stuff. Household stuff. Laundry. Cleaning. Ho-hum.

No hiking this past weekend. Not only had Tropical Storm Ivan flooded the mountains, but we had oodles of kid stuff over the weekend. Definitely a "Mom" weekend for me. I did have some good stuff happen, though.

First, my husband's business trip was postponed. That's great for two reasons. He'll actually be here during the kids' Fall Break (originally, he was to be in Vegas that week), and now I don't need a babysitter to attention the Georgia Romance Writers Moonlight & Magnolias Conference. WOO HOO!

Second good thing? My badgering worked. I finally broke my husband down, and he ordered a laptop computer for me, calling it an early Christmas present. I can deal with that, especially since last year, my present was late. It all evens out. I'm sitting on pins and needles as I type because my new toy is scheduled to arrive today. And I won't be certain until I hold it in my hot little hands, but I think I'll call it "Rocky". Don't ask why.

Last good thing -- started the Book in a Week yesterday. My goal is 35 pages. I actually got six written last night, and had a character pop up out of nowhere. And what a character she is. I'm not giving details here . . . suffice it to say her cameo appearance was a blast to write, and I think she may have to pop in periodically.

I have an itch.

Get your mind out of the gutter! That's not what I mean.

I mentioned in an earlier entry that one of my CPs has finaled in every contest she's entered. She's also had manuscripts requested by editors as a result. Another of my CPs entered one contest this year. She didn't final, but she got some valuable feedback.

I wanna enter a contest.

But I have a problem. I have one finished manuscript. It's not straight romance. Technically, it's not women's fiction.

So what category would I enter it in?

My guess would be either Single Title or Mainstream with strong romantic elements.

Not all the contests have those categories. So I'll have to do some searching. Either that, or finish the manuscript I'm working on right now.

Since I'm going to be submitting Irresistible Harmony, I guess I'll have to wait until I finish my next one.

Guess I'll keep itching.

It's just an all around yucky day. Tropical Storm Ivan is churning in Alabama and we're feeling the effects here in Georgia. It's been windy, rainy, and just generally blah . And since I really had nothing to do -- I couldn't do laundry and have the power go out mid-load, now, could I? -- I decided to play around over at Bravenet.com

I started doing a web page layout. That in itself is hilarious, considering I don't even have a name yet. But it got my creative juices flowing, and I didn't have the fear of losing a bunch of a story with the loss of electricity.

No, I'm not revealing the web address. The pages I'm working on are for my eyes only. But I will say that writing my bio was fun. I never realized how fun it could be to write about yourself in the third person. That's not to say it's a good bio, but it is a fun one.

So now, I guess I should do something productive. Maybe I actually will read the phone book. Find a name.

My neighbor saw the blog entry I posted last night, printed it out, then looked at me, eyes wide. "THREE PAGES?" she screeched.

Hmm. Was she trying to tell me I was a bit long-winded?

So, no whining today. I'll try to find a whine-free topic. I was going to use inspiration as this entry's topic, but it started to gush a little too much, and almost made me sound like a brainless bimbo whose only purpose in life is to ogle hot men.

Don't I wish.

So, inspiration is out. How about publishers that aren't the majors?

I admit, I'm not particularly knowledgeable on this topic. Then again, my purpose here is not to educate, but to express my thoughts.

As I mentioned last night, I'm preparing to finally submit my first manuscript for publishing. Now, since I'm still unagented, the number of publishers I'm able to submit to is greatly reduced. Generally speaking, it pretty much knocks out most of the large house publishers.

There are a few houses that will look at my book, but another possible brick wall for me is my story straddles two genres. At it's heart, Irresistible Harmony is a romance. However, certain elements of the story prevent it from being a classic romance. It's more Single Title. Mainstream with strong romantic elements. Women's Fiction with strong romantic elements.

It's the story of a young woman who rediscovers her latent inner strength and self-esteem to conquer adversity, both real and imagined, and finds love along the way.

Hm. I just came up with that this moment. Too generic? I do have a more descriptive blurb of my story, but for my purposes here, this one will do.

Anyway, back to my topic. Small/medium and epress publishing. Without an agent, it may be my best route to publishing credit for my first novel.

I'm not bemoaning the fact.

Ellora's Cave, an ePublisher who's also the only one at present recognized by the RWA, has just announced the future launch of a new imprint. Cerridwen Press. As soon as I saw that news, I knew in my heart that would be the first publisher I'd submit my story to.

I don't know yet if they'll be a print publisher -- that information has not yet been released. However, I do know that in addition to ePublishing, Ellora's Cave is moving into print, so there's possibility. There's not much known about Cerridwen yet -- only that they'll be handling everything Ellora's Cave doesn't.

An author on one of the writing groups I belong to also suggested Medallion Press as another possibility for me. Medallion has also just recently been recognized by the RWA.

Small/medium press and ePublishers have got a bad rap in the past. They weren't releasing quality books. But things have changed since then. Quite a bit. And I've since read some wonderful books published by companies I'd never heard of five years ago.

That bodes well for an unpublished author like me. We have more choices. More opportunities.

I'm just hoping that one of them pans out for me.

scritch . . . scritch . . . screech . . . scritch . . . scritch . . . screech

Sorry about the noise. Fingernails on a chalkboard, I know. But I had to drag my trusty ol' soapbox in here. I'm gonna need it for this entry.

climbing atop my soapbox and clearing my throat

Ahem.

Sometimes, life ain't fair. In fact, it often sucks.

I'm a writer. One who's aspiring to be published. One who's preparing her first submission, and scared witless.

But that's beside the point. Or maybe not.

My point is, I have three critique partners. All three are excellent writers. I wouldn't have partnered with them if they weren't. And I assume they feel the same way about my abilities. They're forward and outspoken enough (I hope) to tell me I've written crap if I've actually written crap.

They also don't overload me with praise. They don't tell me I'm going to be the next Margaret Mitchell. Or Nora Robers. Or Sherrilyn Kenyon (although I keep telling them I want to be Sherrilyn when I grow up). They don't needlessly pump me up and set me up to fail.

I like that about them.

One of these writers has entered five or six contests sponsored by RWA chapters, and has finaled in each and every one.

So why aren't any of them published?

I know why I'm not published. I haven't had the guts to submit yet.

But each of my critique partners has submitted and received a rejection letter.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Quit whining. It's the nature of the beast. Or at least, the nature of the business. Rejection letters are expected, and if you can't handle the rejection, you shouldn't be trying to be published. If you can't take the heat and all that.

I'll buy that. Matter of fact, I already have. I understand it. And I admire those who have put themselves out there, put their heart's work -- their babies -- out there, only to be shot down. It takes a lot of guts, and often results in a large blow to the ego.

So I guess the correct question isn't why aren't they published. The correct question is why aren't they published when they're so much better than some who are?

Yup. I finally got to my point. Took the scenic route to get here, but I'm here.

Anyway. . .

Yes, I know taste is subjective. I might love Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series while somebody else might prefer to rip the pages from the binding and clean their toilet with it. That's fine. Everybody has their own opinions -- that's what makes things interesting.

But I'm not talking about taste.

There's one author in particular that I'm thinking about. I won't name this person, but it's somebody who's had more than three books published. I'm not saying I don't like this author's writing style. I'm not saying this author's work doesn't suit my taste.

Because taste and style are subjective. (Am I repeating myself?)

But in writing, there are fundamental things. Pick up the highly-lauded Self Editing for Fiction Writers, and within its pages you'll find a list of things authors need to watch for when editing their own manuscript: repeated words and the like. Pick up a copy of Deb Dixon's Goal Motivation Conflict and you'll learn that every character needs to have a reason for doing whatever it is they do.

Those are just a couple of the things that are fundamental to fiction writing. The components of a good story.

I read an excerpt of this author's work the other day, and I was shocked. In one short scene I saw a character react inexplicably -- thinking one thing yet doing another. This character had no motivation for their action.

And I saw things my CPs would never have allowed me to get away with. I saw things my CPs have even called me on, given me a virtual knock upside the head for while screaming, "What were you thinking?"

So back to my question. Why is this person not just published, but multi-published, while we're not?

I suppose this author happened to submit to the right editors and the right publishing houses and the right times.

Or it could even be that my perception is skewed. That what I think is wonderful writing is actually dreck, and the author I speak of has got it going on.

But I don't think so.

That said, I don't begrudge this author their success. In fact, I'm quite happy for them. But I'm still wondering.

And back to my original statement.

Sometimes, life ain't fair. In fact, it often sucks.

Climbing down from my soapbox, taking my bubbles, and going home.

Why is it that when you're a stay-at-home parent who also writes with the hopes of someday being published, you always manage to find things that must be done before you may sit down and try to write?

At least, that's what happens to me.

Today, it was sleep. I slept the morning away. Then I had to run errands. Now I'm sitting in my desk chair, reading my backed-up Publishers Lunch e-mails and thinking, "I should write. I really should."

That thought is closely followed by, "I should crit. I really should."

And let's not forget the ever-present, "I should research publishers and agents. I really should."

There's always something that must be done. I would wish for more hours in the day -- or more days in the week -- but the effort would be futile. Not because that wish could never come true (although it couldn't), but because if it ever did come true, it still wouldn't be enough time.

It would never be enough time.

I suppose this is why so many authors say you should have a schedule. A set time, or amount of time, that you guarantee yourself to sit down and write.

Maybe I could try that:

7:30am Take son to school
8:15am Arrive home and do dishes
8:30am Vacuum living room and make beds
9:00am Separate and start laundry
9:30am Plant my butt at the computer and write

The big question, though, is would I actually follow the schedule?

So I went through that whole big excuse thing about the fact that blogging is not a way for me to avoid writing, and after I submitted that post, I discovered something exciting.

That's actually true!

Once I got into the swing of inputting my post, my fingers flew over the keyboard. But after the post was saved, my fingers were far from finished. I wanted to write! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to write just then -- I had to go pick my son up from school. But it was an awesome revelation.

So now, when I don't feel like writing a dadgumm thing, all I need to do is blog and I'll be "in the mood".

I'm over the moon with this one. [g]

Two of my CPs popped by my blog, and now they're giving me a hard time about the phone book. Guess I need to actually pull it out now. Phooey.

Oh, and I mentioned that you may get to see some of the things I do when I'm not writing or chasing kids . . . here's a link to my Webshots site. I LOVE taking pictures, especially when my family goes on hikes.

I'm not avoiding writing. Not at all. Matter of fact, when I blog, I'm writing. So even if I'm not working on one of my WIPs, I'm writing. Right?

Sounded good.

How can I concentrated on my writing when I've got this wonderful new toy to play with?

Honestly, my critique group had recently discussed blogging, and my opinion was that although I thought it was a useful tool for published authors and soon-to-be pulished authors, I didn't see the need to do it for myself right now.

And I didn't.

But for some reason, this morning I got a wild bug up my . . . well, let's just say I had an itch. And I wanted to try it. Part of me justified it by saying that if I started it now, I'd be more familiar with the nuances and such.

How could I have known it would be so freeing?

Now I can ramble to my heart's content.

Now on to the writing stuff. After I finish this entry I'm going to do my crits. Really. I swear. I have three in the hopper waiting to be finished.

Somewhere along the line, I need to come up with a pen name. Not that I don't like my legal name -- I do. But it's not very melodic. Or authorly. I'll keep my first name. Lynn. But I need a last name to go with it. Something melodic and authorly.

Maybe I'll read the phone book.

It's not as if I don't have things to do. I could be doing laundry. Or cleaning the house. Or continuing my agent and publisher research. Or writing. Or answering e-mail. Or critting.

Speaking of critting, that's how my husband thinks all this got started. I have three critique partners, and he saw me constantly reading their work, making marks on their pages. He was unaware (as far as I know) that I, in turn, was sending my own work to these people.

I was afraid to tell him the truth.

It's not that I didn't think he'd be supportive. I know he would. That's just the way he's wired.

I was afraid he'd want to read what I've written. I still am.

But I did finally bite the bullet and tell him the truth. He hasn't asked to read anything, and I'm glad for that. I think I'd have a hard time dealing with him reading one of my books then looking up at me and asking, "Is this what you want?"

And the question wouldn't be referring to whether I want to write or not, but whether I want the things that happen in the story to happen to me.

Do I want romance? Yes.

Would I enjoy being swept off my feet? Absolutely.

Do I want my man to be just like the heroes in my stories? Not necessarily.

I write mostly Alpha males. I am working on one Beta, but he'll probably morph into an Alpha before I'm done. I'll just call him my token Gamma.

At any rate, in all honesty, I think a true blue, honest-to-goodness Alpha male would drive me absolutely bonkers.

In the synopsis for Irresistible Harmony, I mention that my heroine spends half her time wanting to comfort the hero, and the other half wanting to kick him in the shins.

That's putting things mildly, but that's me.

And my feelings aside, I don't think an Alpha would put up with me. I'm a little too mouthy. I'm not one to cow down and be submissive. Not all the time, anyway. And my ethnic background is such that when people find out, they shoot my husband a pitying look that says I'm so sorry you have to put up with such a volatile temper.

Let's just say I make life interesting. It's part of my charm. That's my excuse, anyway.

OK, so maybe the title is a little grand, but I thought it sounded good. And it's appropriate. You see, this is my initial foray into the world of blogging.

Why am I blogging? Do I think I have anything particularly interesting to say?

Honestly? No. Not particularly. Not yet, anyway. But I will.

So why are you still reading?

I'm a writer. A romance/women's fiction writer. That's what I do in what little spare time I have. I have one novel completely written, almost completely edited. Right now I'm researching publishers and agents -- trying to decide which is the better direction for me to go. At this moment, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

An agent would have access to more publishers, but I'm told many agents prefer a client who's already been published. With my particular novel, it might be easier to sell directly to a publisher, but the number of choices is reduced because I'm unagented.

What to do? I'm still deciding.

In the meantime, I've got four other novels in the beginning stages. One I'm currently actively working on (will be participating in another BIAW with it next week), eighty-five pages into it. #2 I'm further into writing, but I've stalled. I'm not sure why. I think I may participate in another BIAW with it to see if it might give me a jump start.

The other two are floundering in the water, not quite going down for the third time. I've put them aside for now.

Anyway, if nothing else, my blog will serve to give my poor CPs' ears a break from my ranting.