Bandit Bill Does Thanksgiving

Just for fun, I'd like to share (with permission) my book giveaway winner's Thanksgiving memory. The book drawing was completely random, but if the contest had been based on humor, this memory would definitely have been a contender. Here, then, is Tammie's story:

"When I was growing up we had a cat named Bandit Bill who never, ever got on the kitchen counters, except when a turkey was cooking. After throwing him off the counters a 1/2 dozen times, my mother grabbed him, told him he wasn't good for nothing and was kicking his a** out.

Several hours later after all the family arrived and we were all waiting for the dinner, Bandit came back in through the doggy door. He strode up to my 80 year old Grandmother and very proudly dropped a mouse between her legs. I never knew Grandma could move so fast.

He proved he was worth something." ~ Tammie

Isn't that hoot? Loved it! Reading your entries--so many warm, lovely, and funny, Thanksgiving memories--was completely delightful and a high point of my holiday. It made me even more certain of one of the blessings I'm most thankful for: YOU.

And now we're off to spend a few days in Arizona with our children and beautiful grand sons Vin and Drake.
I hope you have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving, and that your newest memories will be warm and happy--bandit cats, or not.

Thank you, Tammie!

Congratulations to my Book Giveaway Winner!

A big congratulations to Tammie for winning the drawing for a signed copy of Critical Care!
Whoo hoo, it's great to have you "scrub in" with the Mercy Hospital team!

Another Book Giveaway!

If you're a subscriber to my newsletter, you probably already know I'm hosting a giveaway drawing for a signed copy of CRITICAL CARE. Details on how to enter are included in this latest newsletter, so sign up if you haven't already! I'll be drawing the winner's name on Monday November 23rd at 2 PM Central and making contact via e-mail, as well as posting the name here on the blog. Good luck!

What You Sea

The photo above is Evelyn, ship nurse on the ms. Zuiderdam, Holland America lines--normally an ER nurse in New York. The day I met her (Deck A, bottom of the ship infirmary), she had a few minutes of down time . . . after treating no fewer than 5 passengers seriously ill enough to be transported (some via helicopter) off the ship. A small percentage of 2,000 passengers overall, but still a challenge--and she loves it. Cruise vacation combined with adrenalin-infused medical drama: must admit, it intrigued me enough that I applied for a position with Holland America a few years back. Then got my first publishing contract and put those plans on hold. Since then we've cruised multiple times and, in fact, I based my 3 wacky chick-lit mysteries (The Darcy Cavanaugh series) on real voyages. Research is so grueling, but someone's got to do it! But now . . . I choose to cruise because it gives me such an amazing sense of getaway. I think you can tell that by the look on my face in the photo below-- hubby sneaked this shot from our stateroom. Room service coffee, fluffy ship bathrobe, morning sun, miles of Caribbean sea . . .
I'm always surprised by folks who think cruising is boring. The fact is, that a cruise ship is a floating city and you can be as busy (or laid back) as you want to be. For instance, here are a few activities listed in our Daily Program for our last At Sea day:

1) 7 AM: Sunrise Stretch (Greenhouse Spa)
2) 7:30: Tai Chi on the Deck
3) Cycling
4) Yoga
5) Walk a Mile Promenade Deck (we did this often--there was also a 5K Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure)
6) Spa seminars (health and beauty)
7) Asian Fusion Cooking class (Wine & Food Magazine)
8) Digital Workshops (with onboard computer expert)
9) Line dancing Class at Northern Lights Club
10) Volleyball serve challenge, Sports Deck
11) *Team Trivia Challenge, Crow's Nest ("Which has more complex DNA: Camel, Chicken, Cat?")*
12) Movie in the Screening Room (complete with popcorn)
13) Whatever Floats Your Boat Sea Trials (make your own boat, sail it in the hot tub)
14) Steel Drum encore, Farewell Variety Show (live stage show, Vista Lounge)
15) 4 separate musical venues in various ship sites, from sing along piano to classical strings . . .

And these, of course, were all the non-port days. In port, we enjoyed a range of activities from kayaking to snorkeling, to an aerial tram ride through the Costa Rican Rainforest. To see some of those photos, see my FaceBook album, Cruisin'.

Yes, we are cruise fanatics. We enjoy the fact that dollar-for-dollar this vacation provides the best value--world class accomdations, gourmet food, top notch entertainment, amazing adventures . . . requiring travelers to only unpack once. But most of all, we love the opportunity to meet people, both onboard and in various ports--folks of all ages (very elderly to honeymooners, to babes in arms), from diverse cultures, different flags. The ship, in effect, offers a microcosm of humanity. Smiles, laughs, graciousness are universal. We come back with that sense of connection, and that is good. We see scenery that knocks our socks off . . . and speaks to God's glory:
And now we're home, regaining our land legs. I'm smiling to think of nurse Evelyn rockin' and rollin' on the high seas (or maybe even back in her ER in New York) reading Critical Care. I hope she enjoys it. She'll climb aboard another gangway sooner than I will, but meanwhile I'll be back at work, refreshed and relaxed--perhaps using bits of sounds, sights, smells, dialogue I "collected" in my new work. Evelyn said she's met several authors at sea, "It seems like writers like to cruise." I'm not surprised.

* Oh, yes. The answer to that Trivia Question about DNA: It's the chicken. *

And one other shipboard activity I forgot to mention--Towel Folding:

Packing, Ports, Panama . . . Plots

This Yours Truly in the new "Coolibar" sunhat. Wide-brimmed. SPF 50. Chin strap for winds . . . whether they come when standing at a highly polished ship rail far out at sea, or while kayaking a peaceful lagoon at Half Moon Cay. Protects my head from sunburn. (Flashback to very unattractive peeling stripes where my hair parts--too many times to count). And prevents my freckles from completely coalescing--in the past, my only way of "tanning." I'm too health conscious to do that now; tans come in spray booths, bottles and lotions these days, thank heaven. And besides, we're not going on this cruise to get a tan; we're going in order to enjoy the blessings of a change of scenery, the company of good friends, and to simply get away.

Which will happen, absolutely . . . for my husband. For 11 days he'll be away from volunteer obligations, lawn and pool duty, the burden of having a house up for sale, and cleaning up after his cooking-crazed wife. He'll take a less enjoyable break from TV football (unless it's changed, at sea programming only offers soccer), and practicing his guitar.

But do writers every really take a break from writing? Hmmm. . . Not unless we leave our brains at home! I mean, sure, physically we do. We can walk away from the office, the laptop, can set paper and pencils aside. We can close the "How To" writing books. And I'll be doing that, welcoming a break after writing three books in the Mercy Hospital Series. It will be a celebration of having accomplished what I set out to do. But my writer's brain won't be cajoled by blue water, palm trees, or the steel drums of a reggae band. It will be working. Whispering bits of dialogue, prodding--plotting a new book. Ask any writer. The process continues most waking hours and, for some, even during sleep. Everything we see, hear, touch, smell, and experience begs--like a small child tugging the hem of his parent's coat-- to be translated into words. It's hard to ignore.

We sit in an airport and study people, wonder what motivates them, what worries them, where they find comfort, joy. We hear short snippets of conversation (okay, we eavesdrop!) and mentally fill in the blanks, create scenes . . . take it forward on the wheels of "what if?"

The beauty of it, of course, is that this process is a secret thing. No one has to know. A writer can look like anyone else in the crowd, while scenes are playing out in their heads.

Even on a lagoon in Half Moon Cay.
At the Panama Canal.
In the jungles of Costa Rica.
Behind sunglasses.
Under a nifty new Coolibar sunhat.

Which of course, does not answer the real question: How does a man manage to travel with only 3 pair of shoes?

The Krazy Kindle Klub

I just returned home from a spur-of-the moment visit to California to visit my children. And because I needed an "Ashland fix--" our newest grand daughter, 6 months old. According to hubby, I was "moping around" and he therefore insisted that I go--short of twisting my arm. Which would be impossible to do with me packing so fast: clothes, shoes, gifts for baby, chocolates for bookstore staff, make-up, hair dryer . . . and BOOKS of course.

5 hour flight, gotta read. I had a paperback to finish--a medical suspense by awesome author, Hannah Alexander. But there were only a few chapters left, and I knew I'd need more. So I brought my Amazon Kindle reader and (while sitting in airport) downloaded several more books in a matter of seconds. Seriously, this process (this concept) still gives me chills. Thousands of books available at my fingertips (okay, and then on my credit card) at any moment in time.

Get me a bib, I'm drooling.

And I'm not the only one.

On the plane, the woman across from me was reading The Shack on her 2nd generation Kindle.
Then the woman directly behind me craned her head enough to ask me, "Is that a Kindle?" And proceeded to tell me she loved hers. (Lovvvvvves) Indeed, her husband joked that she was never without her Kindle--that she was like that weird, dark character "Gollum" in Lord of the Rings. Which she proved by pretending to stroke her Kindle cover, whispering "My precious-sssss."

Soon it was a 3-way Kindle lovefest, all of us reporting what we liked best (convenience, accessibility, having a tidy featherweight portable library), what we liked least (only one thing: you gotta turn it off when an airplane takes off/lands); and completely pooh poohing the myth that a real bibliophile must have the scent of paper in order for the reading experience to be satisfactory. No way. "Get a grip--keep a page in your pocket if you need to!" We were passionate, we were waving our hands, we were . . . joined by a flight attendant.

Too rowdy? Blocking the aisle? Making an Air Marshal nervous?
No.
She was a Kindle owner wannabe.
And we were eager to share. My precioussssss . . .

This scenario has happened to me many times. And I'm guessing--with Amazon dropping the price 40 dollars pre-holidays (and making Kindle books available world-wide), one that will repeat more and more often. There was a time when e-books were thought to be a fad like Pet Rocks, hula hoops, Furbies, or The Clapper light switch thingy. But that time is past.

My books--old comic mysteries, new Mercy Hospital series--are now available on Kindle.
As are newspapers and magazines.

My very busy (very savvy) literary agent now requests manuscripts as e-mailed documents and then transfers them to her Kindle--zip, zap. And she's ready to read dozens of books from potential clients, without lugging 4 pound stacks of printed paper everywhere she goes!

I just uploaded my critique partner's manuscript to read. Simple, convenient--"turn" the pages with a touch of a fingertip. Not backlit, no eye fatigue. "Bookmarks" your page with the touch of a button. Includes an instantly accessible dictionary to check unfamiliar words.
Each book download is a few dollars cheaper than print books, no shipping--and first chapters may be "sampled" for free. For those who haven't had the chance to play with a Kindle reader, here's a video clip.

Am I selling Kindles? No. But I probably have inadvertently done so by my enthusiasm.

Do I still love "real" books? Absolutely! Can't autograph a Kindle book, or admire it on my bookshelf. Or stroll down a hushed library aisle enjoying their quiet camaraderie . . . the very feel of them.

I haven't abandoned paper books at all. In fact, guess what gift I brought to baby Ashland?






That's right. A book. Noah's Ark--with puffy fabric pages. Because right now she'd eat paper pages. Fabric to paper, to . . . Kindle? Maybe. It's highly likely that her schoolbooks will be in electronic format.

But don't worry, Grandma will keep plenty of those "vintage" ones around.

How about you? Tried an e-reader yet?

What do you think? Willing to join the Krazy Kindle Klub?

** Hot off the press (and to prove a point): Barnes & Noble now has its own e-reader, the NOOK reader for pre-order. **

Stalked by a Nameless Hero

My brain is being held hostage by (as yet) an untold story. I don't know how it begins or ends, but the hero is wearing rumpled camouflage and is trying to talk me into a skydiving scene. He's a doctor, and a strange dichotomy: a man committed to saving lives, who can't feel truly alive unless he's risking his own. Not an easy man to be around, trust me; the first to volunteer for a medical mission to Afghanistan, a man who'll finish his ER shift stateside despite a fractured leg-- and, trust me, someone who'll have no empathy if you call in sick with a sore throat. Nor will he open to discovering the emotional wounds behind his own apparent death wish.

I can imagine the inevitable clash if he must suddenly share workspace with an idealistic ER nurse . . . turned hospital chaplain because of an injury that put her on extended disability. Especially if she gets close enough to see the wounded man behind his bravado.

For writers this is often the way books start, hints of characters, glimpses of action, snippets of dialogue. These things simply come to us--often in the shower. Seriously. Where is that crayon soap when you need it?

So why an "action hero" character? Good question. Maybe because I understand--on a small scale, certainly-- the pull between a cautious, logical, pre-planned, "safe" approach to life and the intriguing draw of the out-of-the-ordinary adventure. Or because, admittedly, I've had times in my life when due to circumstances, I threw ordinary caution to the wind. And now, in hindsight, I can ask . . . "What on earth were you thinking?!" Like when I:

1) took my small children to watch their father strap himself into a hang glider and jump from a high Sierra cliff. Then chased him for miles when an updraft carried him frighteningly out of sight and far away from target.

2) climbed into the bucket seat of an ultralight aircraft--no more than a lawnmower with wings--legs dangling, to skim over northern California vineyards . . . and chase coyotes. Always holding my breath when the tiny engine sputtered, gasped.

3) drove to a sky diving site to take photographs . . . and ended up jumping from a plane at 13,000 feet.

4) Swam in the Caribbean with stingrays . . . the week before the Crocodile Hunter was fatally speared through the chest by one.

5) Rode a young thoroughbred who'd been laid up for months (his energy building like a volcano), and was bucked off to suffer fractured ribs, back, punctured lung, a broken neck and a spinal cord injury.

I do not consider myself particularly adventurous. But, in hindsight and with distance, it's clear to me that in almost every instance there was an emotional component that spurred my taking an uncharacteristic risk. That is what I find intriguing about this new hero who has been tugging at my subconcious. Why is he so willing to take risks? What motivates him? Is he truly fearless . . . or does he fear something far more devastating than physical injury and even death?
And . . . what would it take for him to change?

Couple of questions for you:

1) Have you taken an uncharacteristic risk that makes you now wonder, "What was I thinking?"
2) Anyone have a suggestion for good name for this hero who is stomping around in my mind?

My last 3 heroes were Logan, Scott, and Nick.

This new name should ideally work well with the heroine's name: Riley. So I should avoid R's, or "ee" sounding endings--too "matchy matchy". (This coming from an author who is a "Candy" married to an "Andy"!)

Perhaps one syllable, or three? A shortened version of a longer name?
I'd love to hear your ideas!

Meanwhile I'll let these characters, this story, percolate while hubby and finish making excursion plans for our upcoming vacation. A cruise through the Southern Caribbean to the Panama Canal. I'm proud of myself for crossing out the "Stingray Adventure" this go round. A glass bottom boat (even if Pirahnas are an issue) sounds relatively tame. Kayaks though the Grand Cayman lagoon, sure--vegetation is non-threatening. Chagres River Panama rainforest hike with sloths, igunanas, monkeys, toucans . . . cool. And then there's that last one:

"Rain Forest Canopy Adventure": double-cable ziplines streching 197 feet above the rainforest. The rainforest canopy at eye-level, thrilling slides from platform to platform, "adrenaline afficionados will love this tour."

Oh, blast it.

My un-named hero, is whispering "Go for it."

Forget the shower soap. Get me a roll of duct tape--this character is going to be a challenge.