Noble Dead Coffee Talk

Authorfest III

2009-11-13T15:29:11Z

Hi Everyone,

JC and I will be participating in Authorfest III at the Cedar Hills Powell's bookstore on Sunday, November 29th.

An astonishing number of local authors will be signing at this event:

Guests include:

Lilith Saintcrow (Flesh Circus, Orbit
Thomas Harlan (Land of the Dead, Tor)
David Levine (Space Magic, Wheatland Press)
Brent Weeks (Beyond the Shadows, Orbit)
Camille Alexa (Push of the Sky, Hadley Rille Books)
Barb and J. C. Hendee (In Shade and Shadow, Roc)
Devon Monk (Magic in the Shadows, Roc)
Brenda Cooper (Wings of Creation, Tor)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving into the Wreck, Pyr)
Dean Wesley Smith (numerous Star Trek novels)
Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fall of Light, Ace)
Mike Shepherd (Undaunted, Ace)
A. M. Dellamonica (Indigo Springs, Tor)
Timothy Zahn (Odd Girl Out, Tor)
Alma Alexander (Cybermage, Harper Teen)
Louise Marley (the Singers of Nevya series)
Ru Emerson (the Bard's Tale series)
....and Pyr senior editor

On a personal level, I just can't wait to see a whole bunch of these people and I'm really excited. Come on down and see us!

Place: Cedar Hills Powell's in Beaverton, Oregon.
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd

Date: November 29th, 2009
Time: 4:00 to 5:30

Okay . . . so I think I'm in love

2009-11-12T03:15:38Z

Oddly enough, Oregon can feel colder--much colder--than Colorado. I did not expect this.

Last winter JC and I had few rather uncomfortable months. Any of my Oregon or Washington friends can clearly remember the three-week freak snow storm over last year's winter holidays.

We hit the fabulous low of seven degrees outside for nearly a week.

In Oregon.

Seven degrees.

JC and I have a little "heat pump" out back and this thing is awesome. It uses very little power and usually keeps the house quite comfortable, but it's designed for a climate where the normal winter temperature only drops to about 38 to 44 degrees. As many, many people have noticed, weather patterns are drastically changing.

It just could not handle seven degrees, and we were lucky if we could keep the interior temp here up to 59--it was often lower. We were cold.

So, JC and I looked at our budget, and did a little restructuring, and we used a portion of a recent signing advance to have an Enviro Wood Stove inserted into our brick fireplace. We've had it less than a week, and I think I am in love. For the first hour or so, the little stove puts our less heat then our fireplace did . . . but then . . . oh my gosh. After it creates a seal and starts turning the logs to embers, this lovely thing starts pumping out heat from a single good-sized piece of wood that will last for hours. It is amazing.

It is toasty warm in our house right now. Any of you who remember us taking down that oak tree last year know we have at least four year's worth of firewood stacked outside.

Oak needs at least one more year to season, so we're using some other wood now . . . but we should be well set and not freeze our bottoms in the winter now.

Sign of the times . . .

2009-11-11T22:44:55Z

I'm close to joining the land of the living again, and getting back to making more regular posts and chatting with people.

But JC and I just had a strange experience and it's on my mind. Our little town has several grocery stores--bottom of the line being Winco and top of the line being a store called "Roth's."

All the stores put out little advertisements, and this week, Roth's is running a truly good deal on meat. They're doing a special sale of "Mix and Match," where they're putting wrapped trays of different types of meat into a refrigerator case and people can choose five packages of anything for a total of nineteen dollars: steak or roasts or pork chops or chicken thighs or chicken wings or Italian sausages or 2lb packs of bacon. And the trays are generous. JC and don't always cook with meat. We do vegetarian about half the time, but this sounded like a good deal to us--and it was.

But when we arrived at the store, there were people lined up all around the case, and they were taking out packages almost as fast as the employees could prep them and put them in.

Everybody was very polite, but it was clear that a lot of people wanted to stock up on this meat being sold for five good-sized packages for nineteen dollars. We waited our turn and then we waited for the employees to catch up. But I was a little taken back by the size of the "turn out" for this event.

Australia?

2009-11-06T16:13:49Z

Hey, are any of our friends here considering doing Worldcon in Melbourne next September?

Apologies

2009-11-04T15:53:25Z

Hey, I just wanted to jump in here and apologize if anyone asked me a question or made a comment prompting a response in one of my posts below.

JC and I have just been buried under several different issues, and I simply haven't made it back in here.

We're in the throes of re-financing our house (and wow has that process changed in a short two years).

We have an eighteen-year-old kitty who has been on a downhill slide--and in to see the doctor every two or three days. She is now on three types of meds, and JC has learned to give her injections.

We're having trouble with the first draft for OF TRUTH AND BEASTS.

And . . . my editor sent me her revision notes for MEMORIES OF ENVY yesterday afternoon.

So, I'm really sorry if I missed a post below. I'll dive back in here when my head surfaces (smiles).

The Saga of JC's Hat

2009-10-30T15:23:16Z

JC and I had a small tragedy occur a few days ago--or well . . . at least he did.

About twelve years ago, he discovered a style of hat called a "Monte Carlo" that suited him quite well. We lived in Colorado,and he found this hat in a little specialty shop up in Estes Park.

Within a few months of buying it, it sort of became a part of him. He wore it to work. He wore it teaching in the classroom. He wore it at the table in restaurants. After a few years, we knew a number of people who had never seen him without it.

It became his trademark.

The first hat eventually began to get rather shabby, and he decided to replace it, but the only place in the entire state who seemed to carry this exact hat (and he wanted an exact replacement) was the same little shop up in Estes Park. So . . . back we went.

That is the one he's wearing in this photo (but it looks exactly like the first one). This shot was taken in 2005, but he went back to the same shop about three or four years ago to purchase "Hat number three." Again . . . exactly the same hat.

That exact style of hat has become a part of him now.

Okay, so a few days ago, we were driving home from a shopping excursion, and we were on a highway about 8:00 at night. He was driving. It was really dark, and the Chinese food he'd eaten for dinner was not sitting well, and he opened the window for a breath of fresh air and "whoosh!"

Off went his hat.

He was doing 65 miles an hour, and there was no place for him to pull over. It's a one-way highway, so he couldn't turn around. Within seconds, it sank in that he'd just lost his hat.

I asked him, "Do you want to try and find some way to turn around and go back?"

"No, everything looks the same here, and I'm not sure we could find the place where it blew off, and even if we could find someplace to pull over, we'll never find it in the dark."

He seemed okay and resigned to this and we drove home. Then reality sank in.

We are not within driving distance of Estes Park. The next day, we hit every store that carries hats in our area (and there are dozens of hats to choose from), and he turned his nose up at them all. He only wants this exact hat.

Again, it's his trademark, and I think he feels naked without it. Poor boo.

Last night, he got online, and I think he found it. It was expensive to order, but I told him. "Do it."

We have one coming in the mail . . . and I hope it is the same hat.

The Future of the Publishing Industry

2009-10-29T16:05:42Z

JC and I have been married a lot time--almost twenty-five years. For about the last fifteen years, we've agreed that it's too stressful to buy each other gifts for events like anniversaries and Valentine's Day because we are both hard to buy for, and frankly, we have enough "stuff."

We shop a little bit for birthdays, and sometimes we go overboard at Christmas (I ordered him a sword from China a few years back).

This year, I told him that the only thing I want for Christmas is a B&N "Nook." I have decided I want to try an e-reader, and the Nook looks pretty nifty. I have some vision issues and being able to enlarge the font would be awesome.

However, it has not escaped my attention that I make my living writing fiction, and the entire publishing industry appears on the edge of a vast dynamic paradigm shift. I also know that publishers are scrambling to figure out what to "do" about the financial aspects of this change. How to charge for e-books, how to take their proper cut, how distribution will work, how to handle accounting . . . etc.

Do you all remember music stores where we spent an hour or two browsing for CDs? How long ago was that?

Not long.

So many folks in my world just shake their heads and say with all confidence, "That will NEVER happen to books. People will never give up on a real hard copy and the experience of holding a book. I am certain that e-Books will never take hold the way gadgets like the iPod have taken over music."

I disagree. I do not think this happen in the immediate future . . . but I think it will happen, and I wonder how this will affect both writers and publishers. And in all honestly . . . I wonder how it will affect the future of reading.

Doing Readings at Conventions: To Volunteer or Not to Volunteer?

2009-10-28T19:47:31Z

I've been contemplating the value of doing readings at SF/Fantasy conventions. My general feeling is that there are so many fun things going on that most attendees put "readings" at the bottom of the list unless Ursula K Le Guin or JK Rowling are in the hotel.

Whenever the con programing committee asks me and JC, "Are you willing to do a reading?" we always say "yes."

But the experience turns out pretty much the same.

This past year at Orycon, we walked into the reading room at our appointed time to find a writer I did not know finishing up a short story. He left. There were two people in the audience. One was a lady knitting a scarf, and the other was a large bearded man wearing a Red Dwarf T-shirt.

JC and I took our seats at the front and waited. No one else came, so I asked the lady if she'd come to hear us.

She answered, "No. The two of us didn't have anything better to do, so we've been sitting in here for the past few hours just waiting to see who comes in to read."

I blinked, "Really?"

About five minutes later, JC and I briefly explained the premise of our series and then we cheerfully read for 30 minutes to Knitting Lady and Red Dwarf Dude.

(By the way, we missed attending a cool presentation on medieval armor to do this reading).

For us, this has been the typical turn-out for readings at conventions. We're not big names, but when our last royalty statements arrived, I sat down with a calculator just to see how many books we've sold since Dhampir was released in January of 2003.

Are you ready for this? We've sold just over a half million Noble Dead books since 2003. That isn't the number for books printed. That is the number we're credited for "books sold." Wow.

So, clearly, we do have a following. But no one shows at our convention readings. I've seen short story writers loudly announcing their readings in the hallways, waving their arms wildly, and promising cookies to anyone willing to come listen.

It's tragic.

What about the rest of you folks . . . writers or readers? Should we volunteer to do readings at conventions?

Hendee Update

2009-10-28T14:17:28Z

Hi Gang,

Sorry I've been so quiet. Between that yucky flu JC and I both caught and then my subsequent travels to Houston, we're behind in our schedule for drafting Of Truth and Beasts.

I rarely talk about process, but this novel has been rough for us both. It's the third and final book in the Wynn/Chane trilogy, and the last section really needs to have a lot impact.

JC and I tend to follow a similar pattern regarding the creation of a book.

1) We talk at length and take a lot of notes together about the plot. He cannot think in a linear fashion. JC is brilliant, but he only sees "pieces" of a story and not a connecting plotline.
2) I start writing up our ideas into a chapter-by-chapter/scene-by-scene outline. I normally get about six or seven chapters outlined, and I turn it over to him. At this point, he can see how our ideas are connecting and flowing into a story, and he starts revising and expanding the outline. Then we talk more, take more notes . . . and I go back to the outline, normally getting us through about chapter sixteen. He jumps in and revises my outline draft, and then we do a few more sessions, and we push through with our plan for final conflict and end of the book. I get this into outline form and once again turn it over to him.
3) As he's doing his work on the final outline, I start drafting the novel. I'm our "power drafter," and I can actually draft faster than he can revise.
4) We work for months and months, with me drafting and him coming behind me to revise.
5) Once I'm done with the first draft, I go back to chapter one and start coming behind him (you get the picture).

However . . . with Of Truth and Beasts, we were only able to outline up through chapter sixteen--which ends the section just before we need to start building to the explosive conflicts--and although we both know exactly how the book will end, we just couldn't decide on several important issues and get the pieces into place. This became frustrating, and then it became stressful.

We did something we've never done before . . . we started drafting with an incomplete outline. I wrote through chapter sixteen, and JC is coming behind me, and he's currently in chapter fifteen. By now, we both have a good feel for the story, and ideas for how we want to stage the final conflict, but he's going to finish revising chapter sixteen, and then we need to complete our outline before I can start drafting again.

Frankly, this feels weird to both of us, and I do not think we'll try this method again.

The Days of Houston

2009-10-20T15:12:02Z

I meant to get a little report on my weekend up yesterday, and the day just rushed past me. I was doing laundry and other “catch-up” stuff after a four-day weekend away.

But I had a lot of fun with Jac and Paul.

I really enjoy Houston. I know it’s a big, sprawling city, but the kids know where to find charming little restaurants in places with gorgeous palm trees and bursting flowers. The weather was lovely (70 degrees) the whole time I was there.

Their house is darling too—in a nice little neighborhood with a lot of red brick and old growth trees. They have six cats: Warhol, Marlowe, Nualla, Miss Fizzy, Butters, and Serena.

Butters and Serena are both young (Serena still qualifies as a kitten), and they are hilarious. One morning, I was awakened at five thirty to open my eyes and see Serena swinging gleefully from the top of the bedroom drapes by one paw and Butters was in my suitcase cheerfully flinging my bras and underwear across the room.

They clearly enjoyed having a houseguest.

All the cats have really different personalities, and so Jac and Paul have to accommodate for them all. Marlowe is the “bad boy” of the house, but he’s gorgeous.

Here is a shot of Marlowe lounging on the coffee table. He’s a big guy.

So . . . on Friday, Jac and I went clothes shopping and out to lunch. That was so much fun. Paul is a good cook and made some lovely meals over the weekend. My favorite was a creamy risotto dish with peas and grilled chicken.

On Saturday, they took me downtown for some sight-seeing, and we visited a slightly industrial area where the kids showed me “the Heads.”

These cannot be described, but someone does huge busts of the heads of famous people (we’re still not sure why), and the heads are just sitting in this enormous lot.

Here is Theodore Roosevelt:

Now, I’m not sure whose head this is, but I wanted to give you a gauge of the sheer size of these things, so I’m sitting on one with a little open door.

Pretty huge, huh?

On Saturday night we went to dinner and out to see a play. Jac picked the most yummy Italian restaurant. I wish I could go back already.

The play was Our Town, and it was a wonderful production. We had a great time.

On Sunday, I was sad to leave the kids, but I was also missing JC. It’s really rough to have families living so far apart, but I do think email and cell phones make this easier than it used to be for people.

The Book Report

2009-10-19T14:12:14Z

I'm back from Houston!

I had a wonderful time with my daughter and son-in-law, and I'll write up a better report of our weekend later today--once I get a few photos off my camera.

But since JC and I live in a small town far from any major bookstores, one extra fun thing my daughter did for me was run me around to some of the big book chains so I could see how my (and other folks) new books are being handled.

First, Ken, if you're reading this, the hard cover for Canticle is being handled beautifully everywhere in Houston. It was face out at eye level in the "New SF" section everywhere we went. I think Tor might have paid for table space for Lamentation, so it was often very difficult to find "which" table in the store it might be on. But SF/Fantasy readers cannot miss Canticle.

Jim, Mermaid's Madness is also being well displayed. I found it face out by your name on the shelf, and the B&N stores also have a mm section for new releases, and I found it face out there as well. One store had it in the center aisle racks below a new Nora Roberts novel.

Kat, all the B&N stores still have Vanished face out in the New SF/Fantasy section.

Most of the stores have Laura Anne Gilman's brand new hard cover fantasy Flesh and Fire face out in the SF/Fantasy New Release section--and that cover really stands out. At one B&N, it had fallen victim to the "table display" issue, and it took me a while to find it.

My new trade paper, Hunting Memories, was pretty difficult to find everywhere. My publisher very kindly paid for table space, but that means the book could be anywhere in the store--as long as it's on a table. So, it could not be found by my name or in the SF/Fantasy new release section, and most of the time, we had to have an employee--or two--look it up on the computer and then start guessing and searching as to where it might be found in the store. At one B&N, a manager and two assistant managers searched the store after seeing that four copies were still available and that the book should be on a table in the "New Fiction" section. They searched the store from top to bottom (even going out into the warehouse) and never did find it. They finally apologized and said they had no idea where the book had been displayed.

Off to Houston

2009-10-15T14:02:02Z

Long week at House Hendee. We've both been really sick, but I'm almost back to 100% and JC is about four or five days behind me.

We had plane tickets to go see our daughter and son-in-law in Houston today, but he's just too sick to go. I arranged a taxi to the airport this morning.

I'm sad to leave JC home--but he just has to rest and get better. I'm really excited to spend some time with our daughter, and we have some fun events planned.

I'm leaving my computer at home. See you all next week!

Stargate Universe

2009-10-11T21:02:11Z

Anybody else watching Stargate Universe?

So far, I like it.

It's grittier in tone and setting than either of than SGI or Atlantis . . . almost slightly ala Battlestar Galactica.

But it has heart and humor. I'm not pinning any hopes yet, but there is potential.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Internet

2009-10-10T13:53:50Z

Back when I was teaching college English, I sometimes would throw out questions just to try and make my students "think."

When I was teaching in Idaho, this was more problematic because although many of my students were extremely bright kids (I taught at a university), they had been raised to think entirely inside the box.

One set of questions I liked to pose each semester was, "What do you see as the greatest benefits of the Internet? What do see as the greatest concerns?"

Of course, my brain was running toward all kinds of wonderful benefits

But I also dwelled upon concerns, such the growing decrease in human interaction, childhood obesity from children remaining planted in front of computers, and the growing gap between the rich and the poor (linked to access to technology) and wealthy countries versus poverty stricken countries, and how too many people were being left out of the "conversation."

However, my intrepid college students almost always gave the exact same answer when it came to concerns. It rarely varied.

"Internet pornography."

I would look at them. "Really? That's what you view as the greatest concern regarding the explosion of the Internet? Can you think of anything else?"

They did not waver. They genuinely viewed Internet pornography as the greatest and only concern regarding the Internet.

For myself, I had been on the Internet in some form or another every day for years, and I had never seen Internet pornography, so it didn't concern me. To me . . . It just seems that you don't find it unless you are actively looking.

Well, recently, I was trying to locate the title of a Bare Naked Ladies album, and I foolishly typed "Bare Naked Ladies" into my search engine. A confusing chain of links popped up, and I clicked on the first one.

Goodness! Did I ever close that window in a hurry. I'm not easily shocked, and I was a bit shocked. I guess you can locate that stuff when you're not looking for it.

Direct TV

2009-10-09T03:07:09Z

Eighteen months ago, JC and I decided to give our first venture into satellite TV a try. We signed up with Direct TV at the modest price of $34.99 a month for the basic channels--most of which we don't watch.

A month later, I received our first bill . . . for $60.99.

I tried to call--using the only customer service number provided--and I could not reach a human being. They have an extensive voicemail menu, but all roads lead to ordering movies or upgrading equipment.

Finally, I tried email, and I did get a response. The $34.99 package is a discount for one year, but the customer has to go online and type in a "coupon" number in order to gain this price and it may take several months for the coupon to take effect. In the meantime, the customer must pay the full amount on the bill.

I was more than surprised. Then I learned that we had to fulfill an 18 month contract or face a stiff early cancellation fee . . . and the $34.99 price was only good for one year. Then I was stunned.

So, JC and I were stuck with this rather shady company for 18 months. Over the course of this time, we've had billing problems and equipment failure, and there is no way to get a customer service agent on the phone.

We have been counting the days until our contract was up.

The contract ended on October 2nd. I emailed to let them know we were planning to cancel and asking "how" to go about this since it was impossible to get anyone on the phone.

They sent me a PIN number and said if we entered the PIN, we could reach an operator. Can you even believe this? You need a PIN number in order to speak to a person to cancel service.

JC called on September 30th to let them know that the contract was up October 2nd and that we wished to cancel our service upon the contract termination date. Hurrah.

Apparently, they canceled our service on September 30th (the day he called), and we just received a bill for $240 for an "early cancellation" fee. I called them immediately, and to make a long story short, we are stuck with this bill.

The money doesn't bother me. The business ethics here are criminal. I would counsel anyone from signing up with Direct TV.

Publication Day

2009-10-06T14:26:18Z

Hi Everyone,

Wow, today is the release date for HUNTING MEMORIES. It hits the shelves today.

For me . . . this has been a long time coming, and a part of me is really excited and the other part is trying to sip tea and blow my nose.

I've come down with the plague. I haven't been this sick in a long time. I'm sure I shall be much perkier later in the week, but right now, I can barely focus on the computer screen.

I have a few lj friends with new novels out today as well--such as Jim Hines jimhines and I'll try to get some cover photos up in the next few days.

If anyone sees a combination of HUNTING MEMORIES and the mm edition of BLOOD MEMORIES in one of those fancy "risers" in B&N, can you let me know?

A contest!

2009-10-04T14:53:54Z

Hi gang,

OCD, Vampires, and Rants, oh my! is running a contest to give away copies of BLOOD MEMORIES and HUNTING MEMORIES.

Check it out:

http://community.livejournal.com/genrereviews/185275.html

The Deed is Done

2009-10-03T21:33:08Z

Okay . . . JC and I just signed the contracts for three more Noble Dead novels.

The Saga continues.

Jen, if you're out there . . . just look what you started (smiles).

Monsters and Critics

2009-09-30T15:47:19Z

Oh . . . .

Monsters and Critics just reviewed HUNTING MEMORIES. I would hug and kiss this reviewer if it would not be construed as unprofessional.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/science_fiction_fantasy/reviews/article_1503870.php/Book-Review-Hunting-Memories

New Addictions

2009-09-29T15:35:05Z

I was watching CNN this morning, and the newscasters were chatting about an upcoming program that will air on the topic of "new addictions."

I was surprised to hear that they were discussing Internet addictions such as Twitter and Facebook and how some people cannot stop checking their blackberries constantly--even during other social activities--to see if something new has popped up on Twitter or Facebook.

They showed an image of a man at a casual lunch with friends, checking and re-checking Twitter on his blackberry.

While this is troubling behavior . . . do you think it qualifies as an addiction?

Website update

2009-09-27T22:43:41Z

Okay, JC took out the image of Seattle on my website and put in a new image.

Jac, Heather, and Anna will know what it means--because they've read the new book . . . but to everyone else, it will be a bit of a mystery (smiles).

www.barbhendee.com

Book sightings--another writerly post

2009-09-27T22:04:51Z

Oh, Patrick Swenson just emailed me from Foolscap. One of the book dealers had copies of HUNTING MEMORIES and the mm paperback for BLOOD MEMORIES out for sale!

These don't officially come out until October 6th, but it seems they are beginning to surface. Whoo hoo! I'm really excited about the actual release a week from Tuesday.

Also, as I type this, JC is working on my website. He's going to replace the image of Seattle with another image to reflect what happens in book two (smiles). I can't say anything more than that, but it's been fun to watch him work. I'm so glad he knows how to design websites.

A Somewhat "Writerly" Post

2009-09-26T15:13:42Z

Two conversations have sort of collided in my mind to spur this post.

First, someone in my professional life asked me why I wasn't using this blog to talk about my books more, advising me that other writers normally make every post about either their writing process or their current book or their upcoming book or practicing some kind of marketing or give-aways or posting the most recent review.

"You don't do that. Why?" my professional advisor said.

Why? I don't know. I think I spend sooooooo much time writing fiction that the last I want to do at the end of the day is talk about it.

And you all know I sometimes do talk about "where" we are in the process--such as working on copy-edits. Oh, and I do post new covers because those are fun.

Second . . . I had a friend (who is a good writer) get really upset over some bad professional and fan reviews of her new book. The Amazon reviews were pretty par for the course. Most of us will get four or five glowing reviews and then somebody chiming in with a one star review who hated it--and then this process repeats. This is normal.

But I felt bad for her because she was upset. Then she said she was also upset because her publisher wasn't sending her on a signing tour of any kind--due to a lack of marketing funds.

All you writers out there can relate--because we all deal with both the issues above.

I rarely--if ever--express my feelings on these issues, but for some reason I feel like throwing out my two cents this morning.

Here's what I think.

These things are important regarding process:

1) Writing a truly good novel with addictive characters--meaning characters to which readers will become addicted.
2) Turning the book in on time--or within a few weeks of "on time."

In my opinion, those are the only two things are that important regarding process.

These things are important in the "pre-publication" phase:

1) Doing an outstanding revision from your editor's notes.
2) Getting a good cover for the book--if you have any voice in this at all.
3) Having sold the book to a large publisher who has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the novel into the large bookstore chains (this is actually the crux of becoming successful as you cannot sell a book people never see).

This is important after publication:

1) The sales figures.

I've seen books with glowing reviews from Kirkus, just lay there and do nothing. I've seen books that were trashed or reviewed nowhere sell 200,000 copies. I've seen writers whose publishers paid to send them to every book expo in the country . . . and the book still tanked. I've seen books with no marketing at all sell 200,000 copies.

In my opinion (and this is just my opinion) the only things that matter are that your book has an addictive storyline and a good cover and your publisher managed to get copies in every bookstore in America. All the glowing professional reviews (or negative reviews) and signing tours don't make any difference to readers.

And in the end, the only thing that matters regarding your career is when you look at the royalty statement seven months later to see how many copies sold.

That's all that matters.

Roots

2009-09-26T02:42:19Z

JC and I discovered something rather momentous tonight . . . we have a Pizza Hut right here in our little town that accepts online orders and will bring a pizza to our house. He is allergic to dairy, so we're pretty careful ordering pizza, but I got online and ordered us a pan style supreme with no cheese--and a very nice guy delivered it 35 minutes later.

For two people who lived around all the luxuries of Denver for ten years and then moved to a small town in Oregon, this was a fun miracle. But isn't that cool? Miracles keep us happy and interesting.

We're finally feeling like we're "home," but that should come as no surprise to us. It always takes us about two years in a new place to really feel "home." Sad but true.

We got married in 1985 and lived in a place called Everett, Washington for the first three years of our marriage. I'd lived my whole life in that area. We had a nice circle of friends, but we were basically going nowhere, and his father invited us to try Moscow, Idaho and the university there. We went.

We lived in Moscow from 1988 to June of 1996. The first six months were some of the hardest of my life. I never knew how difficult "change" would be for me--even good change--and I didn't realize that was the problem at the time. I only knew I felt jarred and unhappy. JC felt the same way. Moscow is an awesome place. The weather is interesting and there are huge maple trees everywhere. It is a little liberal paradise in a conservative state, and as we plowed through and made a life there, we began to feel at home. We made friendships that are still strong, and I LOVED attending the university.

In June of 1996, it was time to move on, and we made the jump to Colorado. I was more prepared for how hard this would hit me. We moved from a sweet town where no one was in a hurry and everyone stops at crosswalks to a place with a vast interstate filled with thousands of racing cars doing 80 miles an hour and drivers who are pissed off anyone doing under 78.

Again, the change was rough, and we felt like strangers in a strange land. I got a job teaching at an inner city state college and I rode a bus 40 minutes from an outlying town into the heart of Denver every day. We bought a condo, and our sweet daughter started high school. It honestly wasn't as shocking to my system as the move to Moscow, but it was difficult.

However, between Denver and Boulder . . . that whole area offers almost any amenity you could wish for. I got very used to shopping at Whole Foods and popping into Cost Plus World Market every time I needed something for the household and eating at interesting and upscale restaurants.

In November of 2007, we moved to our little Oregon town over the weekend of the fall time change and spent a winter in darkness. Shopping and restaurants are shall we say . . . . limited. Once again, we were strangers in a strange land. But the weather is interesting and the trees are green and people here stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks . . . and almost two years later, this place is finally feeling like home.

And tonight, we ordered a pizza online. I am smiling.

A Big Day

2009-09-23T16:08:48Z

Wow, today is JC's 50th birthday.

That just seems surreal. He was 25 when I married him.

I like him a lot better now (smiles).

I bought him a few fun little presents and we're going to meet friends for dinner in Portland.