The Scales Tipped!

WOW! Maybe I should go away more often. Not only do I get a fabulous writer (Trish Milburn) to sub for me and post beautiful piccies, but TWO of my Bandita Buddies have SOLD in the past two weeks!

The always witty and wonderful Kate Carlisle inked a three book deal with NAL for a cozy mystery series. Hop over to the Bandit Blog today to read her very inspiring "Call" story! I especially love how Kate talks about one phone call changing EVERYTHING, because that is exactly how I felt.

Kate's sale left the Banditas evenly split at 10 sold and 10 AYUs, but not for long. Hyperion made phenomenally hard-working (not to mention extremely nice) Kirsten Scott an offer no writer would refuse for the first two books in her new young adult series! But I will let her tell all the details in a few days. Just keep checking Romance Bandits blog, but remember, you heard it here first!As for me, I made my next baby-step down the road to publication, I signed my very first publishing contract today!

Dream vacations

By Trish Milburn, guest blogger

Here I am again, high-jacking Aunty Cindy's blog while she's out plying the blue waters of the Caribbean. Actually, her trip got me to thinking about vacations. There's probably not a one of us who wouldn't go on vacation at the drop of a hat if money wasn't an option. So that's my question to you today -- if you didn't have to worry about the money, what would be your dream vacation?

For me, it would be a huge, extended driving tour of the United States and Canada -- including the trek along the remote Alcan Highway to Alaska. That's a stretch of the highway in winter below, the section between Fort Nelson, British Colombia and Watson Lake, Yukon.















There is so much I've not seen and other places I've visited but had to rush through because of limited vacation time and funds. I'd love to be able to take the trip at a leisurely pace, taking months to see it all. One of my big goals is to visit all the U.S. national parks, so I'd definitely make visits to all of those along the way. One of the parks I've not visited yet is the Grand Canyon, a place that's awe-inspiring in pictures but which I understand can't be done justice with mere photographs.
















One of the parks I've been to more than once, but always for too little time, is Yellowstone National Park. My sister worked there for a year, and I've visited three times now. I envy my sister's time there, time in which she could explore the first national park established in this country. It's one of my favorite places, and I'd love to have at least a month of staying inside the park at the hotels at Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake so I could explore some new facet of the park every day. That's Grand Prismatic Spring below. It's huge! I'm not sure you can see them in this picture, but there are a few tiny people on that boardwalk to give this picture perspective.














And being a writer, I could do a fun travelogue blog along the way, complete with photos. Now, if one of those Powerball tickets would just pan out.

So, let me hear about your dream vacations! And while you're in a good mood dreaming about vacations to wonderful locales, take a moment to zip over to the Romantic Times site where my manuscript, OUT OF SIGHT, is a finalist in the American Title competition -- a writing competition modeled on American Idol. I'd appreciate your vote very much.

Usurping

Yep, Aunty Cindy is out cruising the bright blue sea while some of us are here slaving away over revisions. Sigh. :)

Let's see, what kind of mischief can I get into while she's gone and I have access to her blog? Hmm, a cabana boy review? 101 Ways to Embarrass Your Friends? A virtual toilet papering of the blog in honor of Halloween?

Okay, I'll be good and just remind everyone that voting in the American Title contest begins tomorrow at www.romantictimes.com and I'd be very happy to receive your vote. My manuscript, Out of Sight, is one I believe readers would enjoy if I'm fortunate enough to have it find its way to bookstore shelves.

I'll be back here on Saturday, Oct. 20, to post something vastly more entertaining. Wow, I better thing of something before then, huh? :)

While I'm Away...

...yes, I'm off again.

ARGH, me hearties! This time I'll be gone for a few days sailing the ocean blue in search of Cap'n Jack and Will Turner.

But never fear, just so none of you will feel lonely my Bandita Buddy and FABULOUS writer, Trish Milburn will be dropping by with a post or two. Trish is a finalist in the Romantic Times American Title IV contest, kind of like American Idol for writers (told ya she was FABULOUS)! I'll let her share all the fun details with you!

YO HO! YO HO!

To Revise Or Not To Revise

...That is one of the issues I posted about today on the Bandit Blog. I've been listening to Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block on books on tape and wanted to share some of his opinions on revisions.
Hop on over and take a look, especially in the comments as readers and writers share best and worst writing advice. And of course, you're always welcome to leave a comment here!

Going Ape On Gibraltar

We'd been in Spain and Portugal for ten days. We had prepared ourselves for the cold wet weather, it was February after all. But we had not expected the lack of heat and hot water in several of the pensiones where we'd stayed. The morning we rolled up to the border crossing to enter Gibraltar, I was cold, hungry and homesick.

When the guard in the crossing booth asked for our passports in his precise English accent, I almost jumped out of the car and kissed him. Then we drove a few hundred yards down the road and on my right I saw a Safeway grocery store and knew I was in Heaven!

After we hung out in the quaint downtown for awhile, we got on the tram to take us to the lofty heights of The Rock. The views were truly spectacular and we were awed by the formations inside the limestone caves. Since it was a beautiful clear day, we opted to walk part of the way back down and found ourselves at the only other tram stop on the mountainside. This spot was also the favorite hang-out for a large group of the famous Gibraltar apes, which are rather large tailless monkeys. And the males have quite impressive teeth.

While waiting for the tram to arrive we watched some of the moms with their babies and a few larger youngsters playing along the stone wall designed to keep us humans on the path. I took a couple more pictures of the harbor, and the apes. In spite of signs in several languages warning NOT to feed or tease the apes, some people waiting with us started offering them cookies. Meanwhile, DH took the camera and directed me to stand over near the wall so he could get some shots of me with the apes in the background. Only they didn't STAY in the background.

As I stood smiling and oblivious, a half-grown "teen" ape made a big leap toward my shoulder. I saw him just as he made contact. I screamed, jumped and pushed him away. I think he may have yelped too as he bounced onto the pavement, then leaped back over the wall. The DH was doubled over laughing, and yes, he got one picture but it was blurry because both the ape and I were moving QUICKLY! VERY QUICKLY! DH still claims that the fastest he's ever seen me move.

Fortunately, the tram arrived a couple of minutes later. Once we were safely back within the confines of Safeway and I'd consumed a Cadbury chocolate bar, I was able to laugh about my misadventure with a young, and maybe amorous (or at least hungry) ape.

8 Random Things

I was tagged by my Bandita Buddy, sexy, sassy Blaze author Tawny Weber.

Here are the rules:
Players offer eight random habits/facts about themselves.
If you’re tagged, write your own blog about your eight things and post these rules.
At the end of your blog post, choose someone to tag (supposed to be eight but however many you can do is fine, no tag police will come get you) (Whew! I was worried about the tag police!) - and list their names.

1. My name (Loucinda) was a compromise between my parents. My mother wanted to name me Cynthia and my father wanted to name me Lucille.

2. I named my son after a character in Mary Stewart's novel The Moonspinners.

3. I was diagnosed with tuberculosis when I was two years old. Luckily the disease went inactive when I was four and has never recurred. However, I still test positive on TB skin tests and therefore, I’m not allowed to donate blood.

4. I'm Irish on both sides of my family tree. My mother's family supposedly came from Cork (or maybe they just sailed from Cork, hard to say) in the 1830s. My father's family most likely came from Antrim or Donegal, probably during the potato famine.

5. I developed my affinity for dark chocolate while I was in college and worked in a candy store.

6. My mother claimed I was left-handed from the day I was born. In fact, I can successfully do two things right-handed: cut with scissors (I didn't see a pair of left-handed scissors until I was 11) and, knit (my mother taught me "her way.")

7. I once had a secretary named Eric.

8. I dreamed the title of my soon-to-be-published (That felt GREAT to type!) novel Death in the Fens, and I also dreamed the ending of my GH finalist manuscript Jewels of the Madonna.

I'm tagging my Bandita Buddies Kate, Caren and Jo-Mama. Also tag to my BFF Whit and my pal Piowapuff. If you don't want to list your 8 things on your blog/MySpace you are welcome to post them here in the comments.

My New/OId Name

I'd always planned to write under a pseudonym but now it appears that the name I will be using is the name I was given at birth, Loucinda McGary. I haven't used this name in quite a few years, decades actually, and I can already see that it will take time to get used to it. In fact, I cruised by the Bandit blog a few days ago and I had to do a double take before I recognized that strange name under my picture!

I've never used my "real" first name except on legal documents, but I always intended to use in when I was published. To me, "Cindy" conjures up images of the too-perky cheerleader, or a precocious five-year-old with an over-sized lollypop. "Loucinda" is someone you take seriously.

As for my last name, six little letters that nobody seems to get right. That's how I felt all the years I was growing up and got called McGray, McGrary, McGarrity... I think in the four years of high school, the school got my first and last names spelled correctly exactly once. Luckily that one time was on my diploma! I have no illusions that things have changed. I'm sure most people will continue to get my name wrong, but I DON'T CARE! As long as they buy and read the book!

Death in the Fens by Loucinda McGary

Make a note! You read about it here FIRST and will continue to read about it for the next year or more, so prepare yourself.

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Four years ago, I left my stressful, albeit well-paying, job to live my life the way I wanted. All right, more or less the way I want, since I don’t have even close to unlimited funds. But I haven’t regretted my decision for even a nano-second! Money really can’t buy happiness and my job was literally killing me. I was a minimally functioning human being I scarcely recognized.

For the first four months all I could manage to do was eat, sleep and crochet. And the latter was limited to simple patterns I already knew and didn’t have to think about. Following new directions were beyond my capabilities at that point. Happily, after a couple more months, some relaxing trips and lots of journaling later, I was well on my way to “recovery”. Whatever that is!

I also started writing with the SERIOUS intent of publication. I finished my first romantic suspense manuscript on April 1, 2005. This is the manuscript that went on to final in the Golden Heart.

Writing fiction was something I'd wanted to do most of my life. I made several fitful attempts at it over the years, but found that working full time pretty much sapped all my creativity. Now, after almost three years and three completed manuscripts I'm one GIANT step closer to realizing my dream!

D*MN IT FEELS GOOD!

How I Met My Editor

If you would like to read "the rest of the story" about how I got THE CALL, please hop on over to the Romance Bandits Blog: http://romancebandits.blogspot.com/

Yes, I met my editor (2 of my favorite words in the English language right now! Second only to publishing contract!) because of the Golden Heart contest. A contest I was bullied into entering by my friend Willie!

No, my editor did NOT buy my Golden Heart finalist manuscript.

Yes, my CP Jo had to "kick my arse" to get me to submit to my editor again.

And remember all those stories you've heard about coincidental meetings in bars, lobbies, and even elevators? Truth is stranger than fiction!

SOLD!!!!

This morning I received THE CALL that all us hopeful AYUs long to get.

Sourcebooks wants to publish my novel Death In The Fens in the Fall of 2008!

I have been screaming, hyperventilating and generally jumping around like a lunatic ALL DAY! I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my head spun completely around and I spewed pea soup (even though I NEVER touch the stuff)!

Basically I have been busting my butt to achieve this goal for almost FOUR YEARS, but being published has been my dream for most of my life! I was beginning to fear that I would never feel the joy of going into a bookstore and seeing MY BOOK on the shelf. BUT NOW I WILL!!!

I AM AYU (As Yet Unpublished) NO LONGER!!!

I AM NOW ATBP (About To Be Published)!!!

My 15 Minutes of Celebrity

The iconoclastic artist Andy Warhol was once quoted as saying, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."

Well, I got my fifteen minutes, if not exactly fame then a taste of what it is like to be a celebrity. It happened in Thailand, an amazing and beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the world.

DH and I were doing a 'self tour' of the Summer Palace which is a short boat ride up the river from Bangkok. The palace is actually about a dozen different buildings on extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds. I was walking by myself across a pretty little stone bridge over an ornamental pond, when I heard a huge group of school children approaching. There must have been a couple hundred of them, around ten years old and wearing crisp blue and white uniforms. Undoubtedly they were on a field trip.

I scooted out of the way, and stood with my back against the low stone railing of the bridge to let the big noisy group pass. As the first dozen kids walked by me, they all stared (I was probably one of the first if not THE first American they'd ever seen live and in person). Then, one bold youngster shouted out, "Hello!" To which I answered, "Hello!" This brought a gale of nervous giggles, followed by a raucous chorus of hellos.

After a few dozen more kids, all chirping out "hello" like myna birds, scurried past me, one little boy got brave and stuck out his hand while exclaiming, "hello." I obligingly shook his hand and said hello back. Well, that opened the flood gates! Next thing I knew, about a hundred enthusiastic kids were crowded around me, all shouting hello and grabbing for my hands.

YIKES! It was more than a bit scary! All those eager little bodies pressing around me could have easily sent me over the railing and into the pond. Dozens of them might have fallen with me! Fortunately that didn't happen. I kept smiling, shouting hello, and grabbing as many outstretched hands as I could, while the teachers herded the kids the rest of the way across the bridge. They also smiled and bobbed their heads in thanks to me.

The whole incident lasted maybe ten minutes, but it felt like a lot longer at the time. When I got back to the DH, I collapsed onto the shady bench beside him and said, "Now I know how Michael Jackson feels."

And I can just imagine the discussions in the school yard days later. While one kid brags about his adventure, another kid whines, "No fair! We didn't get to shake hands with an American tourist at the Summer Palace!"

Lucius Vorenus, Titus Pullo and YOU!

If you want to read all about my obsession with the HBO series Rome, its two main characters, and how they all relate to my writing, you'll need to hop on over to the Bandit Blog: http://romancebandits.blogspot.com/
You can read and comment there!

Meanwhile, I'm off to watch the DVD of Season 2!

Techno-Blind!

Ain't technology grand? Except, of course, when it STOPS FUNCTIONING!

Well, that's what happened to ME in the past few days. My monitor suddenly decided to go belly-up! BOOM! No warning WHATSOEVER!

Admittedly, my system is over 5 years old and therefore from the Pleistocene era. However, that does not mean I have the time, energy, and most especially the cashola to replace it! But going without my email and blog fix is SERIOUSLY NOT ACCEPTABLE! Not to mention not being able to WRITE! ACK!!!

So here I am, back for a few days at least with a "borrowed" monitor and some MAJOR decisions to make...

Needed: A BIG Book of Answers

The past few weeks I've been developing ideas for my next writing project, and I find myself teetering on that uncomfortable fence of uncertainty unable to make up my mind. Should this book have a contemporary or an historical setting?

My last three stories have all been contemporaries, though all have some historical aspects in varying degrees. And no, editors and agents have not exactly been beating down my door to publish them.

I keep reading and hearing how "historicals are making a comeback!" And I've had several friends make their first sales in the historical sub-genre. But I've also had some make first sales with contemporary settings too. I read in both sub-genres and with my love of history, the research wouldn't be a burden...

What do to? What to do?!?!

If only there were a big book of answers somewhere! "If you do this then thus and so will happen. But if you do thus and so, then this will happen."

IF ONLY.....

Another AYU bites the dust!

Seeing a "First Sale" is always good news. If it can happen for somebody else, it can happen for ME! When that "First Sale" happens to a writing buddy, that's even better!

I'm tickled PINK to say there's been a LOT of that happening lately. When we started our group blog Romance Bandits back in March, we had 4 published and 15 AYUs (As Yet Unpublished) in our ranks. Since June, we've had 3 more move over to the published side (Christie, Trish , and Jeanne). Well, this week we had NUMBER 4! SUPER CONGRATS to Beth!

The count now stands at 8 and 11. LOVE how that scale is slowly tipping! And if you want to read Beth's (and Christie, Trish and Jeanne's) "Call Story" just hop on over to the Bandit blog.

My First Gator

Okay, this did not happen on our first trip to Florida. We'd already been there several times. First we did the Disney World/Epcot experience, then we did Speed Week. Heck, we'd even ventured down to the Keys a few weeks after a hurricane devasted the surrounding area. But this was the first time we ever ventured into the Everglades.

It was a wild and blustery winter day in south Florida (but still a LOT warmer than here in winter!) when we pulled into the ranger's station intent on taking one of those swamp buggy tours into the Everglades. Unfortunately, the weather made it unsafe for swamp buggies or anything else out in the 'Glades, the ranger politely explained. Road closed. End of line. But seeing how crest-fallen we were, she directed us to a nearby spot where we would probably see some alligators in the wild.

We followed her directions and within minutes found ourselves driving slowly along an elevated gravel road with water on both sides. The vegetation was lush and there were birds galore. Suddenly, DH threw the car into reverse and backed up about 100 yards, then inched forward a bit, saying, "I think I see a gator!"

He rolled down the window and pointed. I couldn't see anything, so he shut off the car and we both got out and walked to the back bumper. The DH pointed again and I squinted a little more, until I noticed the partially submerged black log he indicated actually had AN EYEBALL! Oh WOW! An honest to goodness gator! I'd seen them in the zoo, of course, but never in the wild so this was exciting.

We stood for several minutes just looking, and the gator just stayed there too, never moving. Then DH got the bright idea to "feed" it to see if it would move. He opened the trunk and pulled out a fat-free muffin left over from breakfast (they hadn't been very tasty, but we didn't throw them out in case we were desperate for a snack), and lobbed it in the gator's direction.

ACK!!! In about one-tenth of a nanosecond, the thing whipped around and these massive jaws went SNAP! As my eyes bugged out and my throat made this funny little EEP sound, my brain shouted, "That thing is FAST! And it's A LOT BIGGER than it looked!" Well over six feet! But mostly I'm thinking, "RUN YOU IDIOT! DON'T JUST STAND HERE!"

Apparently DH read my thoughts, or he was thinking the same thing. But he managed to tell me, "Do not run! Slowly get in the car." Yeah, right! We both shuffled carefully and quietly around and got into the car. Gravel flew as we high-tailed it outta there!

We've been back to Florida many times, and have been into the Everglades more than once. AWESOME PLACE! We've even been on a couple of swamp buggy tours. But we have NEVER again been stupid enough to try and feed the gators!

All Is Forgiven

One of my CPs and one of my beta readers have decided the heroine of my current WIP is selfish and pushy. HUH?!?! My cute-as-a-button little heroine?

So I went back and looked at the passage they were both citing and yes, she did sound that way. But only because this was written in the hero's POV, and he really does not like her at that point in the story. Obviously if this comes across so strongly, I've done my job properly.

I brought this up to one of them and then mentioned that also at this point, my hero isn't exactly Mr. Wonderful either. He has run away from his problems, ignored his family for fifteen years and is only back now because his sister has "guilted" him into being there. My friend admitted that this was true, but she went on to say, "He's a hunk with a cute tush, so I can forgive his other shortcomings." Allllll righty then!

That got me to thinking (always a dangerous proposition!)...

Is this true of most romance readers? Since most readers are women, and most of us (myself included) LUVRE the hero, does that mean we accept his imperfections more readily? Think of some of the heroes in the romance novels that are so popular: Macho cops and special forces guys, arrogant historical aristocrats, uber-alpha vampires and shapeshifters.

In real life, I'd probably bitch-slap all of 'em in about ten seconds, but in fiction... Love and a hot bod really does conquer all!

Bakers Dozen Meme

It's been awhile since I've indulged in a meme, so here's one sent to me recently (modified for this blog) from my friend Piowapuff.

What are you most afraid of?
The IRS.

What is the most recent movie that you have seen on bootleg?
Okay, I don't usually view bootlegs, but not long ago one of the neighbors offered my DH 3 DVDs he was about to throw out. Turns out they were bootleg copies. We watched that awful Billy Bob Thornton/John Heder movie, I think it was called "School for Scoundrels" and I KNOW why the neighbor was throwing it out. BLECK! AWFUL!

Ever been skinny dipping?
No... oh wait, once. In a hot tub... SHHHHHH!

Been in a car accident?
I'm a native Californian and I'm over the age of three, OF COURSE I have! Fortunately they have all been of the minor fender-bender variety.

Favorite ice cream?
Baskin Robbins' Fudge Brownie, but since that flavor is not always available then, Rocky Road.

Ever been on a ship?
YES! Several times, and best of all, I'm going on one again in October!

What color is your bedroom carpet?
Kind of a cinnamony brownish... It came with the house and so far I've had no extra $ to replace it.

How many times did you fail your driver's test?
I failed the written test the first time I took it (Hey, I was 15 1/2 and those clay tablets were heavy!) But I passed the driving test on my very first try with a 97%!

Favorite TV shows?
I used to love "Lost" but the second season was so disappointing that I've pretty much lost interest. Other than that, I don't watch TV except for an occasional PBS program. I LOVE "Globe Trekker" but it never seems to be on at the same day/time around here.

Last person you went to dinner with?
My critique partner Cathy D.

Park or Zoo?
To do what?!?! I like San Diego Zoo, coz then I get to go to San Diego! And I like Kapiolani Park, coz then I get to go to Honolulu!

How many tattoos do you have?
Zero, and I plan to keep it that way. I had a SpongeBob Squarepants temporary tatoo once that I had to use nail polish remover to get off. UGH!

What do you want to do before you die?
Have one of my books on the NYTimes best seller list.

Have you been to countries outside the U.S.?
Only a couple dozen, including Canada and Mexico (multiple times), most of Western Europe, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, Thailand, China and Australia. I plan to increase the number in October when I cruise to the Caribbean! For now here's a cool map of the countries (including the good old USA) I've visited:


create your own visited country map

Okay, now it's YOUR TURN! Give me some of your answers in the comments!

Love/Hate Relationships

I know what I'm about to describe is applicable ONLY to my local big chain bookstore and my local library branch. I know that somewhere out there are "romance friendly" big chain bookstores and libraries. But I'm afraid my experience is NOT unique. So, while I LOVE reading and buying books, romance books in particular, I have developed some love/hate relationships about those activities.

I LOVE my local big chain bookstore.

• All those tables and shelves heaped with shiny new books!
• The smell (yes, new books have their own unique scent, like a new car) of all that lovely, unsullied paper.
• And they send me COUPONS to my email almost every week, so I can get $ OFF any book I chose. I admit it, I'm addicted to coupons.
• I love seeing the new books by people I "know" whether in person from my local RWA chapter or met at conferences or online. I get a real thrill out of seeing these books and thinking that SOMEDAY my book will be here.
  

I HATE my local big chain bookstore.

• They put the "Romance" section waaay in the back corner next to the bathrooms.
• Very few "Romance" novels (unless you are BIG NAME BEST SELLER like la Nora, SEP or Jenny C.) get put up front in the "New Arrivals" section where everyone can see them.
• In fact, very few books in the "Romance" section get turned face out. Most are lined up spines out and makes for a lot of squinting on my (and other customers) part.
• They do have one end cap for category, but they don't replenish it and they do NOT put up the new releases in a timely manner. Most of the category books are relegated to the bottom two shelves of the "Romance" section, thus resulting in both back aches and eye strain trying to locate books by many of my buddies who write category romances.
• Seeing all those books makes me feel like everyone in the world has published a book, EXCEPT ME.

I LOVE my local library branch.

• Shelves upon shelves of books you can read FOR FREE! Old books, new books, books, Books, BOOKS! An endless supply! What's NOT to love about that?!?!
• There's just something about all those library books with their celophane wrappings, and the serenely wise librarians that sparks some of my fondest childhood memories.
  
• All those tall shelves with all those books, I can stand (or sit on the floor) in the stacks and browse, or sit in the not-too-uncomfortable chairs and read. It is pretty quiet, most of the time, and I LOVE quiet.

I HATE my local library branch.
Talk about not getting any RESPECT!

• Unless you are a BIG NAME BESTSELLER who has been around for DECADES (la Nora, Judith McNaught and maybe 2 others), your books are NOT shelved in the "Fiction" section.
• As far as I can tell, they purchase NO hardcover romances except for the above.
• They stick ALL their paperback romances in an "uncategorized" aisle and don't even bother to alphabetize beyond the first letter of the author's last name. And they won't even shelve category titles! Those donated to the library (and I've donated a few) go directly into the semi-annual Library Book Sale bin.
• Thanx to all of the above, I figure I will NEVER see my book in this particular library branch.