AND MISCELLANEOUS OTHER TOPICS:
As you all know, I have two daughters. One almost 18, one almost 14. The oldest is a reader and she’s written stories before. Nothing she does creatively would surprise me. The youngest has never been a real reader. Reading for her is like pulling teeth. On the other hand, she’s diligent, does her homework without prodding or checking, and gets great grades. Still I was disappointed that she didn’t love reading like I did. But she’s her own person. The last two years, she’s been given a creative writing assignment at school and each time, she dives in with true passion. I LIKE THIS. Last year she wrote an intricate story and it was good. This year, something wonderful happened. She told me about her story … and I thought it was a bit unbelievable, but I didn’t say anything. I reserved judgment until I read it and it was fantastic. Then she asked me to edit her story and help her come up with reasons to explain the things that I’d had issues with but didnt mention. She picked up on those issues herself. So we went back and forth in IM – actually BRAINSTORMING like we plotmonkeys do with each other! I was so excited, felt so connected to her, and so proud of her story, I had to share. I don’t think she understands why I was so happy. But I am. 
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Thank you all who visited Romance University for my discussion on The State of Contemporary Romance Today. It was a wonderful day … and you can still click on the link and read what I and agent Laura Bradford had to say. The hard truth is that contemporary romance is a tough sell these days … so if you’re a contemporary romance reader and lover, you can show your support for the genre by buying the authors who are still writing it. That’s the only way to let editors and book buyers know that there’s still an audience for it. Okay off my soap box! 
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And yesterday I did something that struck me as very funny – I read that you can text 247365 with the word groundhog in the subject and on Ground Hog Day, get an alert about whether or not the Ground Hog (whose name, if you don’t know is Punxsutawney Phil – not to be confused with Staten Island Chuck in NY) sees his shadow. This matters because if he does, we are in for six more weeks of winter! 
Shoot me now. So I texted figuring I’d know what I’m in for on Feb. 2. I received a return txt asking me to confirm. It actually read like this: Welcome to the visitPA.com First to Know on Groundhog Day. You are so in the know it is like being in the burrow. 
This gave my a good laugh for the day. Not to mention it gives you a choice to receive more info on PA where Phil lives – brilliant marketing ploy too! Phil has his own website and it really made me laugh.
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HOT STUFF with it’s fancy new cover is still in stores now!
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Last but definitely not least, our thoughts and prayers are going out to people in Haiti. If you want to donate, there are easy ways and I’m sure every little bit helps: According to the State Dept. you can donate $10 by texting “HAITI” to “90999.” The $10 donation will go automatically to the Red Cross “to help with relief efforts” and will be charged directly to your cell phone bill.
Happy Thursday!
Carly Phillips would like to take 100% credit for all her stories but the truth is, Carly’s strength is writing family, emotion, funky elderly people and animals. She couldn’t plot her way out of a paper bag, which is why she smartly found her plotmonkey pals early on in her writing career. Thanks to their support, Carly is now a NYT Bestselling author of 23 plus novels. Because writing doesn’t keep her busy enough, Carly is also a wife, a mother of one preteen and one teenage daughter, the primary care giver of her soft coated Wheaten terrier and an expert carpool mom.
ANOTHER WILD WEDDING NIGHT
Hard to Hold
Love Me If You Dare
Wild For Him
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Hey Carly, that’s amazing. I can just imagine how proud you are of both your daughters. The younest, what type of story did she write? I find it fascinating because young people have such an imagination that they can come up with this truly amazing stories. I envy you the experience of reading it.
I am definitely a supporter of contemporaries and buy every chance I get. That won’t stop any time soon!
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She’s writing a story that reminds me of Danielle Steele’s The Promise, where there’s 2 people in love, a car accident, girl wakes up and he’s gone. And she’s with her therapist figuring things out. And it’s interesting to watch her learn to plot backwards, figuring out motivation after the story. Sorta like me.
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It ’s always nice when a kid shows an interest or aptitude in the creative arts, esp when one of the parents is so good at it.
I love my contemporaries. I always pick up/dl the ones from my fave authors and look for new ones too.
But I have to finish this danged Cornwall book before I can do anything. :*&#!:
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My oldest son showed a love of reading at a young age where my youngest son was like your daughter. I thought for sure he would never enjoy the love of reading until the Harry Potter series came out. Now he reads constantly and he has a five shelf bookcase full of books he has read. Every week he goes to B&N and buys at least 2 books(but doesn’t help with bills) which he reads in 2 days.
I always shared my love of reading with my sons as my mother shared hers with me. Now I am passing along that love to my brothers grandkids.
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My oldest niece went through a period where she didn’t want to read anything(2nd grade teacher’s fault). Luckily, Harry Potter came out and she now would read a book a day if her college classes didn’t get in the way. We now swap books and suggest new authors to each other.
I buy contemporary romances every month. I got started reading contemporaries when I first got into romance novels, so I will always support them.
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As for your youngest not liking to read…she and my son are similiar, and my thoughts are this…They will enjoy reading once they find the books with all the “swear words” in them…
You know why I say this, right?
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I’m thinking. I know I should. you can email me the reminder! Senility’s setting in with this dang deadline!
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That’s awesome about your daughter…did your daughter ever get into college? Do you know?
I am a huge fan of contemporary romances….I think by the time I get around to reading, that’s about all I can imagine.
I am fortunate, all of my boys love books. My middle boy especially (he told me he’d rather have books for gifts, than toys….).
You can also check out other organizations (I am not affiliated with any of them!)…and Mercy Corps gives a high percentage to the people they are trying to help (ie. low overhead)….I believe it is 89%. They do have a Haiti fund. It is just so, so sad. Makes me feel small in the world.
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Katie, Thanks for asking! I completely forgot to post. I’m sorry! She was deferred from her early decision (which may be for the best, we’ll see) and now wants to go to Quinnipiac in Hamden, CT which is only an hour from home.
Thanks for posting alternative donation ideas. I really could only think of that one that I was sure the money would go where it’s supposed to. Alternatives are good especially ones that give more of a percentage of the whole donation.
I feel very small too. Like when the Tsunami hit. I didn’t know the island was SO big that the Dominican REpublic would feel virtually nothing while Haiti could be destroyed. So sad and scary.
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Carly…hopefully, it will all work out. It really always does…and she’ll be only an hour away.
The whole Haiti earthquake has just been bothering me. My poor husband has been getting emails from me all morning about donating . He and the other partner are thinking of doing a ‘fundraising’ competition on his floor (they’ll match ANY donations on their floor). Yey!
For some reason, this has just touched me in ways that you don’t know.
You can also text something to the Red Cross and it will be placed on your cell bill. Any little bit helps. I was going to post on my FB page, if all of my friends donated $10 (that’s two Starbuck’s), then there’d be $1000 (I have 100 friends).
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I was just doing my ‘flip throughs’ of the morning shows and here’s a link of how to donate to legit organizations.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/haiti-earthquake-relief-effort-avoid-scams/story?id=9555419
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Being a mother too, I can relate to how proud you are. Her story sounds great
Okay, I just saw the morning paper about the earthquake. Apparently it happened on Tuesday. I haven’t seen anything on the news about it.
The devastation looks unbelievable…
Cher
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Carly, you must be very proud of your daughter. It is so sad with the economy so bad that the first programs to go in the schools are arts, music, etc. Those programs are so important in the education of our children. Yes, the basics are very important but the music & art helps open up worlds for some children that help them learn the basics.
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Carly, I was in Barnes and Noble this evening because I a couple of gift cards burning a hole in my wallet. Anyway, I saw this “Knit Knack Kit” for 7 bucks. I thought about your blog the other day and decided I’d buy it for myself. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Oh, I also saw the cutest birthday pop-up card with you guessed it–Monkeys!
I thought of you guys naturally.
Cher