Glory Days was still keeping me busy with signings and sales when Kisses to Go came out in March. This meant I had two books to promote! Wow! I felt strong and powerful and healthy, ready to go anywhere, do anything. So I traveled all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania with my two books and my two best writing friends, Caridad Pineiro and Lois Winston. We had a blast. In the summer, I found my way to two street fairs, one in Red Bank, NJ and the other in Westfield. There I met and spoke with a great bunch of folks, but the lady who sniffed and laughed as she passed by our NJRW stall…you know who you are, well, you probably aren’t reading this, but you’d better believe I couldn’t have been with a nicer group of really talented, smart ladies who write wonderful stories. (There always seems to be one person who just doesn’t get romance writers. Pity.)
My daughters came home from college in May. That was a thrill for me. I really missed them when they were gone a whole 45 miles away. Sure, we saw them every other weekend or so, but, having them move back in made it seem more permanent. I didn’t worry nearly as much when they were out and about around home. I am such a worrier…I know it isn’t good for one’s health or mental state, but I come from a long line of worriers and who am I to deny my genes?
But the real highlight of my rather short—so far—career was addressing students at my alma mater, Montclair State University, fall semester. Dr. Rob Gilbert, an expert on motivational speaking, asked me to come give a talk to his classes. At first, I had no idea what a bunch of cynical 20-year-olds might want to hear. So I told them about my life, about how I worked to get published, about selling my first book and being diagnosed with cancer ten days later, and how I wrote and rewrote (5 times) Glory Days after major surgery and radiation treatment. I kept it as light as possible, joked around when I could, talked about how different it was at Montclair from when I was there, and found out there are some really sensitive, caring kids up there, still. My thanks to Dr. Rob for the opportunity. I'll be there in the spring, too.
During all this, I managed to finish Dancin’ in the Dark, the sequel to Glory Days. It’s Carly’s story. If the girls cooperate before they go back to college, I'll put up the first chapter. In the meantime, I'm shopping it around, along with a terrific ghost story where the hero invents a way to become invisible, yet can’t believe a psychic’s talent when he meets up with one. A story with a dragon protagonist and a woman of more than 30 years and more than 140 lbs. is also in the works. I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen in this one, not yet, but I'm workin’ on it.
Thank you for coming to my site. Thank all of you who have read Glory Days and Kisses to Go. More stories are on the way. I promise.
