Did you catch Ugly Betty yesterday? I did and truly enjoyed it. I’d seen America Ferrera in a few movies previously like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  She played a really good Betty.  The actor they hired to play her boss is one good looking hottie.  I can’t remember seeing him in anything else.  Vanessa Williams plays a great villain as well. I do have a question about the show’s plot.  Will there be a romance between Betty and her new boss? I don’t think so.  He’s too set in his ways. However they will help each other in growing and becoming better people and maybe down the line their relationship would change. If they do that then the dynamics of the show will change. I don’t think they should do that. It’s perfect the way it is.

Well it’s truly flu season.  A few of the people I work with have come down with it. I woke this morning not feeling like me and within an hour I knew why. I’m coming down with a cold.  My plan is to take a cold pill tonight and get to bed early. I want to get rid of it before it blossoms into the flu.  It’s going to be raining and yucky for the next few days.  Perfect time to stay in and get better.

I attended the workshop yesterday with fellow author Ann O’Bannon.  However the subject of the workshop wasn’t what we’d expected. This one was on cover art.  Don’t get me wrong it was very interesting and informative but I though it would be about reviews since the artist is a reviewer for CBC.  So now I know what goes into making a cover and how much of a pain it can be at times.

Do I know what I want for my cover?  I don’t have a true image but some thoughts. Since the murder weapon is unique, nut allergy I want an epipen and nuts on there, but I still want to have a suspenseful cover though.  I’m sure the artist my publisher will assign me will help me out.

I woke up this morning and decided it was time to get back to work. Yep I took some well deserved time off from writing while Tracy and Hannah were in town but now that they are gone I have to get back to it.  This book truly won’t write itself. However there are times I wished it would, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.

One of the writer groups in Ottawa is hosting an event tonight. They will be talking with CBC reviewer.  My publicist suggested I attend.  I’m hoping to go to that as well.

The last week has been insane. Tracy coming to visit along with Hannah Howell and all of us attending a writer’s conference here in Ottawa. So there is no big surprise that I didn’t meet my pages goal for last week. I was 4 pages off, not bad.  This week I haven’t written anything but I’m hoping to change that tonight.  

The conference was great. The speakers were fabulous. Did I have a favourite one? Well I have to say Gayle Wilson’s keynote speaker talk had everyone crying. She’s a fabulous president for RWA, awesome author, all around great lady. Do I need to say more?

We had one editor from Harlequin, Brenda Chin. She left a great impression on all who attended. I bet she’ll be getting a lot of submission from all of us in the next few months.  Patty Steele was the only agent present.  Although I have an agent I went to her talk and was happy that I did. She’s fabulous.  I love her philosophy with her business, her clients come first.

Will our chapter hold another conference? I’m not sure. I’m sure we’ll be discussing it next weekend at our next meeting, but if we can pull something like this off again I think we should definitely consider it.

Today will be a day of adventure. After meeting a friend at Cora’s restaurant (a great little breakfast place), Tracy and I will be off for some country driving. I’m thinking of either bringing her to Merrickville or someone in the province of Quebec for the afternoon.  I should probably be more organized this morning but I’m running on low sleep.

Wherever we go it can’t be too far since we need to be back at my place before supper since we’re having people over for supper.  It wouldn’t look too good if we were late for our own party.

Tracy made it safe and sound to Ottawa today, but in true style that only we can do we both sat in the airport for almost an hour without seeing each other. If it were a big airport like Chicago that would make sense but Ottawa is relatively small.

This is also nothing new for us.  Two years ago I went to a conference with Tracy in Dallas, but stayed with her a few days in advance.  The problem was that we hadn’t seen each other for a few years, as I waited for her to arrive I passed this cute little brunette.  I was a little nervous because I forgot to include Tracy’s information with me when I left home. So here I was in Houston with no contact information for her.  A few minutes later the brunette came back and it wasn’t until we started talking that I realized she was Tracy.

I’m going to head to her place next summer I wonder what will happen then!

Well only 1 day to go (29 hours to be more specific) until Tracy gets here. I can’t wait. I haven’t seen her in well over a year. We have tons to catch up on and to celebrate. We both sold our first books and she and her husband purchased their first house. I’m hoping she remembers to bring pictures of the house.

You know how the saying goes be careful what you ask for, well it’s true.  Some times its small things like, it hasn’t rained in a few days. I’d really like a rainy day. Then you wake up the following morning to a gloomy rainy day and wonder why you wanted a rainy day in the first place.  However there are times you for something and think what the heck was I thinking.  Those are the days you remember the saying and make a promise to yourself (well I do, but I don’t stick it to very long which is why I get into sticky situations more often than not) never to ask for anything ever again. Then a few days go by and you think you’ll never ask for anything big. A few weeks later you change the promise again to not asking for anything you can’t handle. Then a month later you wonder why made the promise in the first place and get right back into trouble because you asked for the impossible yet again.

Has this ever happened to you?

Is it just me or does it seem that violence is on the rise? It would seem that another killing spree took place at a college but this time it was in Pittsburgh, PA.  The media has reported that the Montreal killer played the “Columbine killing” computer game.  I’m not sure how the game works and have absolutely not interest in finding out either.  Actually I find it disturbing that someone has created such a game. It’s simply sick.

The media has been quick to blame heavy metal, violent video games and films as influences to the Montreal killings.  The stars have been quick to defend certain violence in movies.  I’m not sure if censoring movies and videos will do it.  If people want that kind of stuff they’ll simply get it illegally.

My hope is that it simply ends.  I know it’s a hard one to get but one can only hope.

Men In Trees is so far my favorite new TV series. Considering I have very little time to watch TV and the new season is barely started this can change.  However it’s nice to see a place where there are more men than woman. For a single gal like me that’s priceless. Now if only I was American and lived in Alaska. Oh well, I can live vicariously through Anne Heche’s character.

What show have you seen this season that you think is a keeper?

Tragedies happen every day.  It’s hard to believe and think about but they do.  However when a shoot out happen like the one that took place at a CEGEP in Montreal Quebec yesterday you can’t help but feel for the people who died and those who lived through it.  The reports in the media have reported they know who the killer is, to bad no one knew of him before today. Why? This tragedy could have been prevented.

The gunman along with one victim died in the gun fire but he left 19 others injured. Some are in critical and life threatening conditions, while countless others will have emotional scars for the rest of their lives.  The victims in this instance are between the ages of 17-47.

Please keep these victims and their families in your prayers today.