How lucky we are

I had the privilege this past Saturday of welcoming home a group of WW2 veterans who had visited the memorial in DC. We were there especially to greet a gentleman from our church, Sam, who served. It was amazing to see the hundreds of people who crowded in our small airport. Everyone had flags, there were honor guards and we sang patriotic songs to pass the time until the flight of honor arrived.

The faces of the men, all in their 80's and 90's as we cheered them home were glorious. All of the ones I talked to said the trip was more than they ever could have imagined. It made me very proud to be an American.

I am currently reading Meljean Brooks book, Iron Duke. The world she has created is phenomenal. In her story, the people of England have just come out from under oppression from a group called The Horde who infected them with nanos that they controlled with radio frequencies. All they had to do was send out a signal and those infected were at their mercy. They had no choice.

So what does this have to do with WW2 and the veterans of all the wars? They fought and fight today so we have a choice. We live in the greatest country in the world. We have the opportunity to choose how are country is run. Its a gift a lot of people in the world don't have and it came at a very dear price.

To sum it up. Tomorrow is election day. Go vote!

God Bless the USA

Catch Up Time

Wow, I can't believe its already the end of October. It seems as if this year has flown by, even though there were times when it dragged. Waiting is always the hardest part.

I spent the majority of this year waiting. Waiting to hear from editors on the multitude of proposals I sent out this year. Its been my goal for the past two years to break into another publishing house since my old publisher seemed to be dying a slow and certain death. Earlier this year I had agreed to a two book contract with Dorchester as it gave me the opportunity to continue my Wind series. Then in August they announced that they were going all Digital. I asked to be released from my contract and went back to my original plan, break into another publishing house.

And I'm thrilled to say I did. I sold a brand new western series to Berkley publishing. Its called Angels End, after a small town in Colorado that exists only in my imagination. The first book, Godsend, will be out in early 2012. I'm very excited to be writing for Berkley and I"m still in that pinch myself stage.

I'm also happy to say that my entire Wind series will soon be available in digital format for those of you with e-readers. And the series will be released again in Trade size books in case you missed them when they first came out. I will be sure to update everyone when the time comes.

So now crawling into a deadline cave to write Godsend. Happy reading to everyone!

Total Fan girl

One of the best things that can happen to a writer is having fans come up to you and tell you how much they love your work and that it touched their heart. Especially when they get breathless and flustered because they soo wanted to meet you in person and tell you themselves. It always inspires me.

However this weekend I got to be the total fan girl when Diana Gabaldon came to my home town for our annual Bookmarks festival. The great thing about Diana is she's very approachable. When I first started writing, (after being inspired my her first three books in the Outlander series) I emailed her for advice on getting published. And she emailed me back (something I always do with my fans) She was very encouraging and congratulated me when I told her I got a contract. When I discovered she was coming to town I emailed her again. I got to meet her at a talk she gave and she remember me. Woot! And notice how she's holding up my bookmark.

So I had a total fan girl, you inspired me, I love your books moment. And got an autographed bookplate to boot.