You’ll find it at the CHICAS site today.

The light show began tonight!!

No, no, not talking about fireworks, although it is close to the Fourth. I actually don’t care for them much. The lights are pretty, but the explosions rattle my bones.

I’m talking about my personal annual display of Fireflies in Raine’s Back Yard. This is the time. They seem to love the hot, humid air, and oh, my, I wish you could all see it (and no, everybody should NOT pile into a van and come over, I will call the riot police, lol!).
But it’s just SO gorgeous. Actually brought tears to my eyes (yes, I’m a wuss).

I decided to go back in the archives to pull up part of my first description of the event.
Really—wish you could see it!!…

I have property. Nearly an acre, & I love it.
And every year the city puts on a 4th of July fireworks display in a lot behind my land. It’s very nice, very impressive. A crowd gathers on the street to watch.
When I got home tonight, the property was pitch. As I got out of the car, I moaned about my missing 100-watt light over my garage. How was I going to find the lock of my door in the damned dark?
And then I saw them. Thousands of them. Maybe TENS of thousands of them. Fireflies!!! (or Lightning Bugs, depending on where you’re from). In the bushes, in the trees, in the air. The entire back yard, otherwise black as night, was ALIVE with them!! It was like thousands of tiny, brilliant little Christmas lights blinking on and off, but the light was pure, not garish. Like this was their time, maybe their only time, and they were going to celebrate it.
Me? I dropped the purse and the tote bag. Perched on the hood of the car. The crappy day was forgotten. The hot day was now a cool, clear night. And I watched the show. There were no explosions, there was no crowd to appreciate it. But I did. I was there. And a silly part of me would like to think this tiny miracle of a show was just for me.
And maybe, just maybe, it was.

I spent part of the evening outside.
Writing.

And you’re probably thinking, “Yeah? So what?”

I think many authors use visualization techniques to aid their writing and subconsciously ‘plan’ for their futures. They might visualize themselves winning an award, or receiving “the call”, or holding the current wip as a completed ms, right in hand.

I used to imagine myself on a comfy padded sofa on my ideal sunporch, just beneath my huge old willow on a perfect summer’s eve, watching the robins skitter across the sun-sliced grass. Smiling, contented, happy to be writing, at ease with the way my career was going merrily along. And maybe after a couple of hours of writing, I’d have a light dinner and spend a little time drawing or painting before watching a good movie or going to bed.

No, I haven’t gotten there yet. And it was more like a hard webbed chair that kept digging into the dirt, and the bugs were having a field day, and I only managed a half hour and a couple of pages before I realized it was getting dark and I had chores to do.

So what. For a minute, I still sat beneath my huge old willow on a perfect summer’s eve, and watched the robins skitter across the sun-sliced grass.
It was good.

What’s your ideal setting, real or imagined, for writing?

Sometimes the lessons in life come at us the hard way. Big boulders that land on your head from some obscure cosmic source.

Sometimes the lessons come as daggers—calculating, sharp, and served cold by someone near and dear to us.

Sometimes they come as darts, delivered with deadly accuracy and borne on the wind of a chance enemy’s whim.

But the lessons in life will come.

And if we can avoid some of the blow by learning from the missteps of others, shouldn’t we try to do so?

Of course!

Now—wasn’t that the best justification you’ve ever heard for reading about other people’s screw-ups??

I’m blogging about it at the CHICAS today!

Very late last night, it suddenly occurred to me…

This is the second anniversary of Raine’s Secret Garden.

Please don’t leave congratulations in the comments, lol—that’s not why I mention it.
I mention it because I’m AMAZED that it’s been that long!
I’m not a particularly chatty person.

And the REALLY scary thing is that, if you asked what I’ve been talking about for two years, I don’t think I could tell ya!

But what the hell…we’ll just say I’m still weeding.

And while I’m at it, CONGRATULATIONS to the wonderful Jorrie Spencer on her Samhain release, The Strength Of The Pack, due out tomorrow!

The winners of the Cover Cafe’s 2006 Cover Contest are posted here.

If you have a few minutes to spare, have a look-see. They range from pretty darn good to one or two that might make you gasp, and separated into contemporary, fantasy, historical, etc.

The above is one of my favorites (artist unknown).
I have a thing for butterflies anyway.

This comes just in time. I’m blogging about covers at the CHICAS.

Since there’s no good news on the NBA finals front (grumble, grumble, sigh...)

I thought I’d post something good here.
Something nice.

I have the release date for my upcoming Samhain book, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH.

Drumroll, please?

Okay, now hold your breath!

Ready???

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

is tentatively set to be released on……………………………………..

FEBRUARY 12, 2008!!!!!

YAAYYYYY!!!!!

Isn’t that great?
Say what?

Oh. Yeah, okay.
Yeah, I guess you’d better not hold that breath ’til then, huh?