Plot Monkeys

We all have our weaknesses, and for me it’s chocolate (the good stuff!), and Starbucks. It all started a few years ago, when Starbucks was just beginning to gain popularity (boy do I ever wish I’d bought stock in the company back then!!!). A friend of mine took me there for a caramel latte, and after one sip I was hooked. However, I’m a real wimp when it comes to the strength of my coffee (or at least I was back then), and I drank my large caramel lattes with only one shot of espresso. So, basically, I was drinking warmed milk with lots of caramel syrup and a splash of espresso. It was super-duper sweet, but hey, that was my drink of choice.

Eventually, that one shot of espresso just wasn’t doing anything for me. I needed more pizzazz and oomph in my drink. I increased to two shots, then three, and am now at four shots of espresso in my drink! Before long, I fear I’ll make the jump to five shots of the caffeine juice! The good news is, I’ve traded in that very fattening large caramel latte for my current drink of choice: an iced venti quad latte with three equals. That’s Starbucks lingo for a large four shot of espresso latte, and that’s exactly how I order my drink – every time. I don’t even have to think about it – it’s an automatic order that rolls off my tongue with too much ease.

I really do love Starbucks. Sometimes, once a day isn’t enough for me, and I have to have it twice. (I’m sure my husband wishes I was talking about something else, LOL!) I know having that much caffeine in a day isn’t good for me, but I swear I’m addicted to the taste, the aroma, the buzz of a quad latte made with such care. However, I soothe my conscience by telling myself this is how I get my daily dose of calcium, because after all there *is* milk in my iced latte! LOL.

There seems to be a Starbucks on every corner, and my car has a way of turning into those drive-throughs with ease. And how sad is it that Carly can attest to this addiction of mine, since I’m usually on the cellphone with her when I place my order at Starbucks!

Yes, I’ve tried kicking the habit, but like a junkie needing that next fix, it’s only a matter of time before I cave and I’m back off the wagon. It’s truly a vicious cycle. And if my addiction isn’t bad enough, now my two teenagers have their favorite Starbucks drinks, too. And now, I’m secretly hoping that one of them will get a job at Starbucks during their college years, because I hear that each employee gets a pound of Starbucks coffee every week! *swoon* Heck, if I didn’t write for a living, *I’d* get a job at Starbucks just to be around all that rich, espresso aroma all day long!

I wonder if anyone has started a SA (Starbucks Anonymous) organization yet, because surely I’m not the only one addicted to the stuff!

So, what is your greatest weakness? The one thing you can’t resist? Come on, you can tell us! *g*

Thanks to a newsletter I sent out over Christmas, many of you know we were getting a new puppy, a King Charles Cavalier my kids named Dylan (after Corey Dillon of the New England Patriots but that’s another story). And even more of you know that I already have a soft coated Wheaten terrier named Buddy. How could you not know? He’s all over my website!

What you don’t know is that we brought Dylan home (oh my gosh, nobody told me how much work a second dog, an untrained puppy was going to be!). Of course we fell in love with her immediately, so when on Thursday night, just short of having her in the house for one week, my hubby said quietly, “My asthma is killing me. I think I’m allergic to the dog”, I burst into tears. My kids burst into tears. I contemplated asking my husband to sleep in Queens, at his supermarket. (KIDDING, folks!) The next day, Dylan went back to her breeder who thankfully lives around the corner so we can visit because he’s keeping her. We survived because she’d only been in the house a short time, I kept reminding myself how much work she actually was, and we had Buddy who really never adapted to having another dog in the house.

Which brings me to the point of this blog. Our pets. Mine’s my lifeline. I walk into the house and I say hello and ask how he is. He greets me with his tail wagging (who cares if he only wants a treat, he greets me with a slobbering kiss which is more than I can say for the kids I drive all over and the husband I adore). And sure sometimes we dress him in stupid hats, make him wear silly baseball shirts when the RedSox won the World Series, and catch him at his most vulnerable moments, cuddling with one of the kids’ stuffed animals.

But he puts up with it all and he gives, gives, gives in return. If I’m tired, he lays in bed with me. The dog, not the husband (unless we want to watch the same TV shows, LOL, then hubby joins me). If I cry, he senses something’s wrong and cuddles next to me. On the weekends, he naps beside me. He’s in our holiday card, he’s in the dedication of some of my books (OK Dylan’s in Cross My Heart too, but who knew she wouldn’t be around this summer and besides I still consider her MINE). Buddy is just plain in our hearts.

Do you have a pet? A doggie you adore? I hope so because mine brings a smile to my face each and every day!

A few weeks ago, I finished a rewrite on a book that wasn’t, well, easy. Not that rewrites ever are. I won’t go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that the book is fabulous now and I’m very happy that I sacrificed my life, my health and my sanity in order to do what had to be done. I promised myself I’d take a month off of writing on a schedule and so far, I’ve had no trouble keeping to my promise. Yes, I still work everyday (few working writers really know what the concept of “time off” means) but I noticed something this past Saturday that proved my time off is paying off.

I danced.

First, it was on Saturday night when one of my all-time favorite movies came on–That Thing You Do starring Tom Hanks. (If you haven’t seen it–rent it! It’s a feel good movie. And the music rocks.) No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I can’t help bopping around to the music. It’s hip, it’s snappy. Then on Sunday, while my husband was futzing in the yard and my daughter was playing with her toys in the Jacuzzi and my mother-in-law was channel surfing, I was in the kitchen cooking. I turned on my radio, which I normally do. However, I normally listen to talk radio or National Public Radio, but neither were interesting, so I hit my favorite 80s-90s station. And while I was cooking, I found I was dancing.

Around the kitchen. Unabashed. Not giving a flying fig if my husband looked at me as if I’d been dipping into the cooking sherry. (I wasn’t.) Right this very minute, I can’t even remember the song. But something struck me and I danced.

I used to dance all the time. I studied dance in elementary school. I danced on the high school dance team. I performed with a singing/dancing group in high school and college and the four years I was in college, my sorority always won the talent contest during Greek week. (Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a videotape of the ADPi version of Le Jazz Hot from Victor/Victoria starring…me. Yes, I could hit that note back then. Amazing.) My wedding is still talked about fifteen years after the fact by people who can’t believe how we all danced all night.

At some point in my life, I stopped dancing. I can’t really tell you when it was, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it coincided with the two most life-changing events in my life–both of which happened within a month of each other. I sold my book a month before I found out I was pregnant. And frankly, seems to me, I forgot how to dance.

Now don’t get me wrong, I dance with my daughter pretty regularly. The music will get into my soul every once in a while and frankly, whenever Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” comes on, I can still do at least fourteen counts of the combination my high school dance team did back in 1982. But it’s not the same. It’s not invading my life. It’s not creeping up on me when I least expect it.

I want to be like Ellen. You know, Ellen Degeneres? I love her. I will go to EPCOT and go through the Land of Energy for the four thousandth time because then I get to see Ellen playing Jeopardy! against Jamie Lee Curtis and exploring the dinosaurs with Bill Nye the Science Guy. But I particularly love her talk show, which I don’t get to see as much as I’d like because I’m working. However, I do like to tune in at the beginning just to see her dance if that’s all I the time I can spare.

I’m going to start trying to dance like her every day. I think it’ll be good for me. I’m sure I’m not as hip or rhythmic as I used to be, but who cares? It’s the music and the movement that matter. And the feeling. The inability to keep still when the music hits–but mostly, the ability to forget all the responsibilities and obligations and contracts, etc, even if just for a two minute song.

Oh, dear. I feel a little George Michael coming on. Anybody else want to join me while he sings about how you gotta have Faith?

Of friends and monkeys…

Hi and welcome to our jungle!

I can’t believe I got singled out to be the first blogger here on our fun new site. That’s what I get for leaving my house for an hour right in the midst of a Plotmonkeys email frenzy.

Anyway, it seemed appropriate, given how this whole thing came about, for the first conversation to be about friendship. Yeah, yeah, gag me. Who wants to get slammed with a saccharine-sweet ode to playing nicey-nice first thing on a Monday morning?

Well, those of you who know me probably know I’m not very sweet. So I promise, I won’t turn this into a Hallmark commercial and make your teeth hurt. But I do have a few things I think are worth saying.

First, to be clear, I’m not talking about our best friends from 8th grade who can still make us crack up over shared memories, even if we haven’t talked in a year. Or our college roommates, or our siblings (I have 5 and adore them all.) And I definitely am not talking about our spouses. Mine genuinely is my best friend in the world.

I’m talking about writer friends…who are also something more.

Let’s face it, writing is a pretty solitary profession. We work alone, we don’t want distractions. There are days when I don’t even want to have to look at somebody much less have to actually smile at them. “Have a nice day!” says the mailman? Well, bite me, I’m not having a nice day because you rang the doorbell right when I’d finally begun to plot my way out of this quagmire. Grrrrr…

Even when we’re out and about in the world, a lot of times we’re not 100% present because we’re never able to “turn-off” that writer living inside us. We eavesdrop on conversations and spin stories about the people having them. We overanalyze movies and drive our sig others crazy by always predicting the plot twist. We frown at the chatty grocery store clerk because her incessant talking is interfering with the important conversation our characters are having in our heads.

In essence, we exist in the worlds we create every bit as much as we live in the real one.

Few people understand…unless they live the very same madness. So is it any wonder many of us count our most important friendships to be with other writers?

But even among our writer friends, there are different levels of friendship. I bet everyone has a bunch of what I’ll call MySpace friends. You’ve heard of MySpace haven’t you? Teens ask other teens if they can be their “friend” so they can get a sneak peek into a closed profile. And parents just pray the next anonymous “friend” isn’t really a twisted, perverted old man pretending to be a 16 year old boy. (By the way, for the parents who are brave, a good way to keep an eye on your MySpace kid is to create your own profile, make sure your kid knows Big Mama is watching, and then watch!)

Back to the point. MySpace friends…we all have them. They’re the familiar initials or first names next to a post on a message board. The ones who can make us laugh on an open loop or blogsite. The ones we feel we know, even if we’ve never met them in person or heard their voice (and probably never will.) Good for a smile. They’re safe, non-judging. A solid foundation. Not someone you’re going to pour your heart out to and maybe not even someone you email with directly, but someone you feel you might very well like a lot if you didn’t live a thousand miles apart. And if you knew them by some name other than RomRdrinCA.

The friendships stack up from there. There are friends on closed author loops–you know them a little better. With the screen of privacy and loop discretion, the gloves sometimes come off and blunt hilarity can commence. You care about each other, you kvetch and joke and share stupid videos and mourn when someone experiences a loss. You email and ask about each other’s kids and pick up and call once in a while when you sense someone is having a tough time.

Then come the conference friends you do meet face to face once or twice a year. I have quite a few of these (and most of them, like the Temptresses, overlap with my closed loop friends.) They’re people who mean a lot to me even though I don’t see them often. Every time I do, it’s like that friend from high school, we pick right up where we left off the last time.

There are chapter friends you see or talk to every month. Critique group friends you see or talk to every week. Writing partners you see or talk to every day.

And then there are friends like the Plotmonkeys.

You do live a thousand miles apart. You did first only become aware of each other as a name on a message board. You perhaps shared some funny exchanges on a closed loop and then via email. You did only meet in person once a year at a conference.

And yet…something was different.

If you go to the FAQ section of this website, you’ll see how we all met. But those little descriptions don’t really touch on how the four of us just seemed to meld effortlessly together.

We complement each other–balance each other–not just in our writing, but in our lives. We’re an incredibly good karmic “fit.”

One of us is the emotional one–thoughtful, caring, sensitive. Incredibly generous. For someone so talented and so successful, she can be easily hurt and unfortunately she has been targeted in the past because of her success. We rally around her, we encourage her, we support her and, when necessary, we try to protect her from the petty jealousies thrown in her direction. After all, attack one monkey and you’re attacking us all…

Another is the sensible one. Despite being wonderfully creative and imaginative in her writing, she can always cut through the nonsense and get right to the core of an issue, and, usually, come up with a solution. She’s a problem solver. She never gives up. She’s a voice of calm and reason but she never backs down from what she believes is right. I think of her as the mother of the group (even though she’s the youngest…)

Then there’s the fighter. She’s fierce, she’s tough, she can dish it out and she can take it. She’s got opinions–usually very good ones–and she’s not afraid to share them. But really, we’ve come to understand, she’s a roasted marshmallow. Hard and crusty on the outside–when necessary–but so soft and sweet in the middle. You’ll never have a more loyal friend. If I ever fly into battle, she’s my wingman and I’m hers.

And there’s the wise-ass. Umm…that’d be me. Smart comments and raunchy jokes come flying out of my mouth at the speed of light but my monkey pals can always see through them and know when I’m trying to cover up my own insecurities or make light of something that truly hurt me. And they feel free to tell me to shut up and get serious if the situation demands it.

See what I mean? We just…fit.

So here’s to the MySpace friends and the loopy ones. To the conference charmers and the chapter buds. To the critiquing saviours and the plotting pals.

And to the monkeys . I hope each of you has a few of them in your life.

Why don’t you pull up a chair and talk about yours…

How did you meet?
What happens on your plotting weekends?
Where have you been on your weekends?
Who brings the food?
Who brings the drinks?
Who gets time outs and why?
What odd things do you have in common?
Who are the TV addicts? Who relies on TiVo?

How did you meet?

Carly: I met Janelle Denison when she judged an unpublished RWA contest entry of mine and then when I sold to Temptation, I met Julie and Les on the Temptation Authors Loop. I was scared of Julie. Thought she didn’t like me because she’d answer private e-mails with one word or one sentence replies. I always knew Les had a great sense of humor and Janelle and I clicked immediately, too.

Julie: I met Janelle first, too, when our editor thought a story idea I’d submitted might be too close to one Janelle had sold and encouraged me to call her so we could discuss it. Ended up our story ideas were nothing alike, but we became friends and she subscribed me to the Temptation Authors Loop. This was my first foray into e-mail, so that explains my terse replies to Carly! Over time, we became friends and after Leslie sold, again, my editor encouraged me to contact her since we lived relatively close to each other (two hours away). We ended up hanging out at a regional conference and became fast friends.

Leslie: Actually, the very first time I heard of/from Carly was after I’d posted something on an AOL message board about selling to Temptation. She had also recently sold to the line and immediately reached out to me in welcome. She, in fact, was the one who got me onto the Temptation Authors e-mail loop. And we right away became fast e-friends, including spending waaaaay too much time im’ing each other on AOL when we were supposed to be working.

Julie mentioned the regional writer’s conference. I’d actually learned from my new editor that one of her other “newish” authors was going to be there, so I was on the lookout for Julie. Loved sitting in the audience and hearing her forthright, pull-no-punches workshop, and we hit it off immediately.

Janelle I met through the Temptation Authors Loop and because she and Carly were already fast friends, when we all hooked up for the first time “face-to-face” at the Chicago RWA convention, all four of us just fell into this wonderful friendship. And that eventually became a working partnership.

Janelle: Okay, so now you all know how everyone met me . All stories are true, and I feel so lucky to have found such wonderful, loyal friends!

What happens on your plotting weekends?

Carly: Trouble

Julie: Yeah, well, there is the trouble. There’s also a great deal of eating, drinking and oh, yeah, plotting. Seriously, we each carve out about two hours of work time per person per book, and we generally each plot two books during our weekend. The rest of the time it’s room service, maybe a spa visit or just hanging out sipping mango margaritas and dishing about life and career. We’ve been known to download television shows, check out websites, sleep in. It’s good times.

Carly: Except that certain people who shall remain nameless snore.

Leslie: Oh, yes, lots of drinking and eating. I usually bring a bunch of elastic waist sweats and comfortable jammies because there are some days when we don’t even bother getting dressed. We lounge around wherever we want, turn on a tape recorder and just start talking about whoever’s project is “on the block.” Anything goes, no idea is too big or too small, and no one gets to be the boss of anyone else (though Julie tries. And, okay, sometimes I do, too.).

Really, it’s like your favorite memories of a childhood slumber party, only instead of talking about “real” boys and girls and who’s “going” with who, you’re talking about imaginary ones and helping each other build those stories.

Janelle: Our plotting weekends are filled with fun and food and gossip, and okay, some work, too. When the tape recorder is on, we’re plotting, but eventually end up off topic somehow, which can end up being really funny later when we’re listening to the tape and someone says something off the wall that has nothing to do with what we’re plotting.

Of course, we do take breaks occasionally. We had a blast In Las Vegas, where we all were celebrating our “40th” birthdays for the year. We went to Commander’s Palace for a martini lunch, and saw Elton John In concert. That was the year that the Plotmonkeys did Las Vegas, and you know what they say . . . what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

Where have you been on your weekends?

Carly: We try to alternate coasts because of Janelle being on the West coast, I’m Northeast, Julie and Les are Southeast.

Julie: Since Les and I are both in Florida (for the time
being, sniff) we’ve been here twice. We’re trying to get to Savannah or some other sexy Southern town. So far, Vegas was my favorite.

Leslie: Well, other than screwed up room reservations and rats finishing off the room service food and thousands of teenagers, Disney was kinda fun, wasn’t it?

Janelle: Disney is always fun, but the rats were super-sized! Wherever we end up, we must have room service, since some days we don’t even make it out of our pajamas!

Carly: Disney was fun. A repeat trip since we did it a few years ago and actually it works so well. Extra junk food since Les and Julie live so close they can bring more chocolate! Chocolate is needed since we’re working so hard.

Julie: Geez, people! It’s the happiest place on earth! And I don’t think it was rats that ate the room service. It was raccoons. Rats don’t stick around and have a meal, they steal and scurry. I’m a huge Disney freak (and a Florida native, hence my expertise in rodents), so I love it at Disney. I’d go back in a heartbeat. But man, there was something about Vegas. I didn’t like plotting in New York. Too much pressure to do other “business” oriented things.

Leslie: Uh…Julie? Remember that big rat that ran across the sidewalk right in front of me?  And I somehow can’t see those stumpy-legged raccoons climbing up those cement steps. We barely made it ourselves with all the food, luggage and coolers…lol!  But it was still lots of fun and I’m a Disney freak, too. What are a few rats when you’re visiting the land of the Mouse?

Who brings the food?

Carly: Everyone but me. I like to go out.

Julie: Well, like I said, since Les & I are both in Florida, we loaded up for both of those trips. When Janelle flies in, I take her to this favorite Italian bakery of mine and we go a little nuts. Janelle did the shopping for Vegas, not that we needed much since the room service at the Bellagio is tres manifique!

Leslie: Let’s clarify…we’re talking JUNK food here. For the most part, that’s all we eat–last time I brought my new chocolate fondue pot. Of course, Carly does eat healthy cereal for breakfast usually…and for midnight snack. But chocolate suits the rest of us fine just about any time.

Janelle: The fondue pot was divine. So were the mango margaritas. No matter what, we always bring the essentials — chocolate for me, Julie, and Leslie, and Raisin Bran for Carly. That way, we’re all happy!

Carly: Actually, Janelle brings things cross-country that are sooo good. But cereal is my comfort food. I’ve been known to spend as much on a bowl of room service Special K or Raisin Bran and skim milk than for a filet mignon - and I take so much ribbing from the other monkeys

Who brings the drinks?

Carly: Again everyone but me. I drink diet coke and let the rest of them make fools of themselves

Julie: Don’t let Carly fool you–I have a picture of her drinking a martini. Okay, sipping. But she had it in her hand. But it’s true, the other three of us are more lush-like. We like trying new concoctions. Leslie is famous for her pina colada, and I believe it was Janelle who brought buttery nipples into our lives. I’m the mango margarita girl.

Leslie: Carly’s not the only one who needs a Diet Coke fix. I can’t go an hour without one. And we don’t start on anything stronger until evening when all our brain cells are pretty well tapped out from working all day.

Janelle: Don’t forget about Carly’s hot tea. Remember our late night run to the store for tea bags? And another late night run to the hotel restaurant for a hot tea? And I think we’ve made a late night run for milk for her cereal, too! Sheesh, that Carly is soooo high maintenance!

And, I do have to say, that it’s always fun to plot after Julie has had a few drinks and the alcohol starts giving her a buzz. Man, talk about wild, off the wall ideas, LOL! There’s lots of laughing when that happens!

Julie: Hey…I resemble that remark.

Who gets time outs and why?

Carly: Julie because she can’t behave. One time we sent her to the bathroom.

Julie: Yeah, that would be me. I can’t help it. I’m a very passionate person.

Carly: She means stubborn. But in a helpful way. We couldn’t/wouldn’t be the plotmonkeys without her!

Leslie: Yep. Julie. She’s so funny. Our fierce fighter.

Janelle: I’m sure we’ve all deserved a time out at one point or another. But it’s just so much fun to give Julie the distinction of being the time-out girl!

Julie: Good point. Next time, I’m using my teacher voice and sending someone else to time-out! Probably when I’m tipsy. Beware!

What odd things do you have in common?

Carly: We all have daughters only …

Julie: Isn’t that weird? Nary a boy among us. And it’s funny, but our husbands sort of match in a criss-cross way. Karen and I are both married to alpha guys who don’t know much or care much about our creative process, who would rather watch a ball game or play golf. Janelle and Leslie’s husbands are more into the creative process and actually understand what we’re doing on this weekend. So we each have a pal when it comes to
understanding the male of the species.

Leslie: We were all born in the same year. And while Janelle had a few romances published under another name, she did sell her first Janelle Denison book to the same editor that all the rest of us sold our first books to. Something else that’s kind of interesting about us–we really do complement each other’s strengths and compensate for the weaknesses. Julie and I can spin wild plots (and sometimes have to be reined in by Janelle & Carly when we go too far.) While Janelle and Carly can wring every last drop of emotion out of a story (while Julie and I silently mimic playing a dirge on the violin when they go too far).

Carly: And we have the audio tapes to prove it!

Janelle: What Leslie said is so true. We do complement each other so well. I couldn’t plot my way out of a paper bag, and I’m so grateful that Leslie and Julie can come up with such great plots. While we all started in series romance, writing for the same editor at Harlequin, we’ve all grown in our writing and branched out into single titles, where we’re each carving out our own niche in the genre. We are each other’s biggest supporters. We share in each other’s successes, and we help each other through tough times. We have the kind of friendship that is rare and priceless in this business.

Julie: I think a shout-out to Brenda Chin belongs right here. If not for her, we never would have met. Or possibly not precisely the way we did. Thanks, B!

Who are the TV addicts? Who relies on TiVo?

Carly: We all know I’m the TV addict. I watch everything under the sun starting on Monday with Prison Break and 24 and going straight through till Sunday night with Grey’s Anatomy.

Julie: Carly has left out her General Hospital addiction, which I share. But she watches real time and I watch on TiVo, so sometimes I have to run to the television and turn it on when she says something good is happening. Of course, there have been many times that she’s called me, and I’m weeping on the other end of the line and only she knows why! Leslie has tried to get me hooked on Lost and honestly, I would be if she could sit with me every Wednesday night and tell me what’s happening. I love when we’re out of town together and she does that. It’s fun!

Carly: Lost rocks. Les and I downloaded an episode on my laptop and watched during a plotting weekend while Julie and Janelle napped!

Leslie: And yes, I’m addicted to a few specific shows, including Lost, as well as Grey’s Anatomy, 24, Boston Legal and CSI. It says a lot about how much I love Lost that I watched that episode with Carly since I’d already seen it…and since naps are among my favorite things.

Janelle: Hey, my naptime is sacred. I have my favorite shows (Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Legal, and my guilty pleasure, America’s Next Top Model), but I’m definitely not a TV addict. I’m not devastated if I miss an episode. However, being an Internet addict is a different story, LOL! I can spend (i.e. waste) hours surfing the Internet!

Do you have any more questions for Carly, Julie, Leslie or Janelle? Send an email to faq@plotmonkeys.com and we’ll work them in…eventually!

Psst! Check back on Monday for the premier Monkey blog!