Plot Monkeys

As you know, I’m in between books right now, which means I’m reading like crazy. I’m actually writing again, but as I’m not deep, deep in a book, I can still read some great books. I just finished two I wanted to tell you all about and then see what everyone else is reading right now. I know I’ve done this recently…but not too recently, I hope!

The first book I read is DEMONS ARE FOREVER by Julie Kenner. Julie is going to be a guest blogger here next month! I’m very excited since this book (which is available in bookstores on July 3) is the third in her super-terrific Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. I’m just sure I’ve talked about this series before, but I can’t say enough about how much I love this series.

Kate Conner is a former demon hunter who was raised by a secret Vatican organization to hunt and destroy demons. Before the birth of her daughter, she and her then-husband retired. Then her husband died, she remarried and has created a wonderful, normal, soccer-mom life in the ‘burbs when a demon shows up and she’s called back into action. With each book, the mysteries surrounding the sudden appearance of demons in San Diablo, California escalate. Kate’s daughter plays a larger role and for every answer, there are ten more questions. You have no idea how much I hated waiting between books! But the wait was sooooo worth it. I can’t wait for the next one!

The second book I got a sneak peek at is Diana Peterfreund’s UNDER THE ROSE (available in bookstores June 26!), which is the sequel to SECRET SOCIETY GIRL. You remember Diana, don’t you? She was one of our first guest bloggers over a year ago when SECRET SOCIETY GIRL, her debut novel, came out in hardcover. It’s now out in paperback! But I got to read the second book, which like the first, follows the adventures of Amy Haskel, an Ivy-League co-ed with tendencies toward conspiracy theories that more often than not, turn out to be true. I inhaled the first book…and frankly, did the same with the second. And there’s this one love scene…shew!

One of the lucky parts of being friends with other writers is that I can finagle ARCs…but as a result, when I love the books, I have to shout it from the rooftops. Neither of these books are romance novels in the classic sense, but both explore romantic relationships in ways I’m certain romance readers will find satisfying. Both have incendiary sexual tension.

But why did I love, love, LOVE these books? Hands down, the heroines. Both are intrepid and smart and have awesome senses of humor that really had me chuckling out loud. Each is flawed in her own way, but not in a way that makes me think them incapable of taking care of themselves…even when they need a little help from their friends.

Ah, the friends. Another reason I love both of these books…they have the best friends. Interesting, mysterious, loyal (or not) the people that surround these heroines are interesting in and of themselves. I love watching the heroines interact with these people…it feels so real, even when the storylines are so outside my world.

The guys aren’t bad neither.

Anyway, in celebration of a double whammy of fabulous reading at a time when I needed it most, I’m giving away two prizes–one copy of SECRET SOCIETY GIRL for someone who will then, next month, go out and buy book two and then a copy each for another lucky winner of both CARPE DEMON and CALIFORNIA DEMON in mass market paperback to someone who will go out and buy DEMONS ARE FOREVER in trade.

It’s honor system, here, of course…but to win, drop a comment (you may comment more than once, of course, but you’re only entered once) along with a note about what you’re currently reading. You have to live in the US…Amazon only ships here and that’s how I’m sending the books.

Happy reading, everyone!

I’m on deadline.
No time to blog.
So for your amusement instead, a photo of poor Buddy being tortured by one of my girls (who shall remain nameless).
She took one of Bailey’s bows and put it in his head, then put short shorts on and called the poor boy Daisy Duke.
Eventually I rescued him …

He’s such a good sport.
As for Bailey, any help on puppies barking during the day while in their crate will be greatly appreciated.
Already tried:
spray bottle, Kong, yelling, not yelling, and citronella spray.

PS: The winner of yesterday’s autographed book from Mary Jo Putney was: CATSLADY, Message # 37. Please drop Leslie a line at author@lesliekelly.com with your snail mail addy and she’ll forward it to Mary Jo so she can get your prize out to you.

We are thrilled to welcome the incomparable MARY JO PUTNEY to the jungle today!

Mary Jo Putney is the multi-published author of more than twenty-nine romances in several genres. The first time I ever heard of her was probably 18 years ago when I saw an article in the Baltimore Sun about a local author who was writing traditional Regency romances. That article led me to attend my first RWA meeting…and I was star-struck to meet Mary Jo herself.

She didn’t stay in traditional Regencies for long. Mary Jo went on to write long historicals full of depth and substance, suspenseful contemporaries, and wildly imaginative paranormals full of charm and magic. A two-time RWA RITA Award winner, she has also made all of the national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, and Publishers Weekly.

On a personal note…Mary Jo is just an incredibly gifted, kind and generous woman whose witty words of advice and wisdom have inspired countless other writers. Including me. And we are all just thrilled to have her here.

PS: To shake things up a little for Mary Jo’s visit, I developed some “interview” type questions for her…things I have long wanted to know, and things I thought our visitors to the jungle would like to know, too. Mary Jo will be popping in all day, so feel free to ask additional comments, share your feelings about MJP’s books or just shout out hello!

Also…Mary Jo will be giving away an autographed copy of THE MARRIAGE SPELL! A random winner will be drawn from among all commenters today.

Now, please welcome…MARY JO PUTNEY!

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Hi, there, Plot Monkeys!

I’m known most of the various Monkeys for years. For example, Leslie and I are probably the only romance writers in the business whose Main Men are industrial hygienists. (This is a specialist area of health and safety that obviously attracts very high quality people!)

I first became aware of the Plot Monkeys group blog at last year’s RWA conference in Atlanta. One of the pleasures of such conferences is running into people you know—and if you’re a career writer, who has been publishing books regularly for years, you tend to know a lot of other writers.

Anyhow, I was a member of www.wordwenches.com a new blog of historical writers, and fellow Wench Pat Rice and I ran into a gaggle of Monkeys in the conference bookroom on that fateful day. The Plot Monkeys were very generous in sharing their experience and expertise about group blogging, for which we Wenches were very grateful. One of the really lovely things about being a romance writer is how genuinely nice and helpful most of our sisters writers are. And now on to our Q&A!

LK: You got your start in romance fiction by writing “traditional” Regency romances, among them RWA RITA Award winner THE RAKE AND THE REFORMER. And you are one of the few authors who then took some of your original traditional Regencies and lengthened them into long historical romances. Whose idea was that…and was the experiment a success?

MJP: Revising the traditional Regencies was pretty much my idea. My publisher wanted to reissue anything that might make them some more money. I didn’t mind that since I’d make money too, but there are differences in voice and sensuality between traditional Regency and Regency historical. For me, it wasn’t so much the plot—my books have usually had a fair amount of adventure, even the early Regencies. But I didn’t want my historical readers to be disappointed by those early books, so I asked my editor if I could do some rewriting.

She was fine with that, so I was off. A lot of what I did was tightening my leisurely Regency prose, and also narrowing the points of view. In traditional Regency, you can jump all over in pov—even the butler and the cat, which I’ve done. With historical romance, restricting the point of view to two or three characters deepens the emotion. I learned a lot with those rewrites! In some books, I expanded the stories a bit where I thought it would enhance the book. These revised versions sold well and people seemed to like them, so yes, they were a success.

There are two ironies here. One is that when I revised The Rake and the Reformer, I a didn’t lengthen it—the revised version, The Rake, is actually 4K words shorter because of tightening the prose. The other is that I didn’t revise my very first book, The Diabolical Baron, because it felt too inherently Regency to make a good historical. (The only one of my Regencies I felt that way about.) Yet it’s been reissued at least three times, under different covers, most recently this past January along with a novella in a compendium called Dangerous to Know.

The story always sells well, and even though I knew nothing about writing then, there are still people for whom The Diabolical Baron is their favorite of my books. I think the excitement of learning to write makes our early books glow. We learn more about writing over time, our work gets technically better, but maybe we lose something along the way. But that’s a topic for another day.

LK: Your Bride trilogy featured what I think were your most unusual heroines–one didn’t speak, another was a martial arts expert in disguise as a man, the third an English slave in the East Indies who has to be “saved” by the hero in an extremely controversial, humiliating public sex scene. How did your readers react to this departure from the more typical MJP historical heroine you’d done before that point? Did researching this trilogy–with its worldwide settings–differ from your other Regency historicals?

MJP: Romance readers are very polite—if any of them hated my Bride book heroines, they didn’t say so to my face. The most popular of the heroines was probably “mad Meriel” of The Wild Child. She had been so traumatized as a child that she didn’t speak, didn’t interact, and was generally considered crazy. Why should she speak? She was a great heiress and she had everything she wanted on her family estate. Until the hero came along and danger threatened and she had to change or else….

As for the other two heroines—Troth in The China Bride was Scottish and Chinese, raised in a Chinese compound and used as a translator after her parents died. I’ve always been intrigued by mixed-blood characters because it’s such a powerful metaphor for the outsider part in all of us. Plus, in our contemporary world, there are more and more mixed marriages, so it’s a good theme to explore. (The book I’m working on now has a mixed race hero.)

Researching the exotic settings was definite a chore, but for some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by the vast, mysterious spaces of Asia. In the 19th century, East and West were discovering each other, which provides lots of great plot possibilities. The Bride Trilogy is actually my second trilogy with Asian settings, and I’ve been moving steadily east. Silk and Secrets was based on a real rescue mission to Bokhara, Veils of Silk was set in India, The China Bride was China and Britain, and The Bartered Bride was the East Indies and Britain. Not everyone likes the exotic settings—but those who like them really like them!

LK: Speaking of controversy…let’s talk about your contemporaries. The first, THE BURNING POINT, raised a lot of sparks, yet it addressed a very basic issue about whether people truly can learn from their behavior and change who they are. What was the final verdict on this book, after all the smoke cleared, from your loyal readers? Do you regret making the choice to delve into that subject (abuse)?

MJP: Ah, The Burning Point! Yes, I got flamed on the internet for that one, but no, I’m not sorry I wrote it. So many domestic abuse stories are black and white, while life is full of grays. I wanted to write a book where the abuser was basically a good guy who’d had a hard life and did some bad things, but who had the capacity to change. Because of the specific circumstances of his life, plus his commitment to change, he did manage to grow beyond the mistakes he made. Rebuilding trust with a partner who has been wronged is perhaps even harder than changing oneself. But romance is an essentially optimistic genre, so my characters succeed. Just as some people do in real life.

The Burning Point is in some ways a primer on domestic violence, and how it can creep up. It isn’t like people appear with a big red A for Abuser on their foreheads. Change in a relationship can be insidious. Not every day is a bad day, so situations can get really bad, like the frog in a pot of water that is gradually heated up. You just don’t notice until things have really deteriorated.

Was it worth writing a book that was so edgy? Well, after it came out I got an e-mail from a woman that basically said, “I read your book, realized it wasn’t all my fault, and I left him.” If that story helped just one woman escape an abusive relationship, it was worth the flames. And a lot of readers loved the contemporaries, though all are edgy.

LK: You’ve also dipped your pen into fantasy/paranormals. Do you find writing those to be more like writing your historicals, or your contemporaries? Or is it something altogether different?

MJP: While I think my contemporaries are good books, writing them made me I realize that at heart, I was much more of a historical writer. The historical paranormals were quite a different matter. I’m a life long reader of science fiction and fantasy, and I found that braiding fantasy elements together with history and romance was a perfect fit. When I was writing the Bride books, I really felt in danger of burning out on historical romance—I mean, The China Bride starts with the hero dead and The Bartered Bride started with the heroine dead. How desperate is that?!!! (Trust me, they’re romances with happy endings. Really.) (Note from LK: Yes, they are. Though I was a little worried at the start of The Bartered Bride…I mean, the hero was in prison for killing the heroine!)

That fear of burning out and writing books that might be sub par is what drove me to try new kinds of stories. I particularly loved the fantasy books, but after four of them, I’m changing publishers and going back to straight historical romance, since that’s what the editors wanted. And I’m fine with that—after wandering in different pastures for a while, I feel like I’m coming home.

LK: Your paranormal novel THE MARRIAGE SPELL, which the Library Journal named one of the top five historical romances of 2006 and was an All About Romance “Desert Island Keeper” is now available in paperback. How did you come up with the idea to develop a Regency England in which magic and sorcery are acknowledged (though disparaged) abilities?

MJP: I’d been having fantasy romance ideas for years, starting with the unicorn and maiden idea that evolved into Stolen Magic. I had another idea which could be connected and was set in the Scottish Rising of 1745, so that made Georgian settings logical. The period is wilder and woollier than the Regency, so that worked well. My third book in the Guardian series, A Distant Magic, will be out in mid-July. All three of these books had strong history behind them, and the series was moved to Del Rey, Ballantine’s sff imprint. When it was time to do a new proposal for Ballantine, I still wanted paranormal, but different from the Guardians.

So I decided return to the Regency, always my favorite period, and instead of having magic be secret, I made it an accepted part of the world. My best stroke was to have the upper classes consider magic to be really, really tacky. This whole alternative Regency world, where aristocratic little boys are sent to a school to have magic beaten out of them if they show too much interest, stemmed from that premise.

My hero, Jack Langdon, was such a little boy. But when he is mortally wounded in a hunting accident, the only one who might save him is a wizard’s daughter who is a powerful healer—and who has always fancied Jack from a distance. After that, Things Happen.

The book was great fun. I didn’t know it was a Desert Island Keeper, so thanks for letting me know!. The book is also an RWA RITA finalist, which proves that there is room in the market for a marriage of convenience historical. With magic. If you want to see a mini-teaser of The Marriage Spell, you can go to my site, www.maryjoputney.com The teaser is on the home page and will open automatically.

LK: Your next entry into your Guardian series comes out next month. What is A DISTANT MAGIC about?

MJP: The heroine, Jean Macrae, was a secondary character in my first two Guardian novels. In Marseilles for a wedding, she is kidnapped by Nikolai Gregorio, a piratical sea captain with a serious vendetta against her family and a passionate hatred of slavery. They manage to come to terms with each other and their erratic magical gifts, and together they swear to fight slavery any way they can. Then Adia, a West African sorceress and former slave, appears to enlist them as protectors of the fledgling abolition movement. It’s a combination of romance, history, and fantasy—and was really complicated to write!

LK: You’ve written in so many different forms–short historicals, long historicals, contemporaries, novellas, non-fiction articles, paranormals. Where does your true writing heart lie?

MJP: My true writing heart lies in romance first, historicals second. I love writing about wounded people who become whole and find lasting love. I adore happy endings. All the rest is just icing on the cake.

LK: Any advice for other writers out there struggling to make it in this crazy business?

MJP: To survive, you have to love telling stories more than you hate the craziness. And the single most important trait for building a lasting career is persistence. Tenacity doesn’t guarantee success, but quitting guarantees failure.

Not that I think writing is the best and only path! There is much to be said for having a real life, and maybe even a living income. But if the writing compulsion is strong (and it is a compulsion), hang in there! I have a friend who hadn’t sold a book in something like five years, ever since her publisher stopped doing the kind of book she wrote. She kept writing, tried new things, sold a few short pieces—and she has just gotten a two book offer from a major publisher. Persistence counts.

I didn’t actually come here to promote someone else’s books, but since the subject has come up—the best writing about the writer’s life that I’ve ever come across is the Comely Curmudgeon columns that my friend Laura Resnick wrote for the Novelists, Inc. newsletter for several years. Laura is smart, funny, and occasionally crazed, and her collected columns are being published at the end of June in a collection entitled Rejection, Romance, and Royalties. If you want to know about the writer’s life, or if you want a good laugh, look for the book. (For excerpts, go to http://lauraresnick.com/ and click on the RRR cover.)

Thanks for having me here, guys! And if you readers have any questions—ask away!

Mary Jo Putney

Congratulations to Kim Wilson, comment #2 who has won this week’s prize! Please send me an email: julie @ julieleto . com (no spaces) with your snail mail address so I can get the books and chocolate to you!

Now, for Father’s Day…last year, each of the Plotmonkeys posted pictures of their dads in our tribute to the men who have been such a great influence in our lives. This year, I’m inviting everyone to post a memory of something you shared with your father…something special, something ordinary…something that brings a smile to your face when you think of your father.

I have so many I could share…but just yesterday, I was in Borders looking through the movie section when I found a collection of Errol Flynn movies. Memories flooded back. I remember sitting on the couch with my dad and watching Errol Flynn shine up the screen as Captain Blood so vividly. We watched him as Robin Hood. As The Sea Hawk. In Elizabeth and Essex. Great films, all. But the best part was sharing time with my father. I have three brothers and none of them shared the same film tastes as me and my dad. In fact, I don’t remember my brothers ever watching much television. That was my domain. And my dad. And no doubt, these movies greatly influenced my love for the action genre. There’s a little Errol in most of my heroes, I think. (And my heroines, LOL!)

This weekend, he’s in Yellowstone with my mother and my nephew, so I know he won’t see this…but thanks for the memories, dad! Love you!

In keeping with the Plotmonkeys Saturday series for writers, here is the next installment in my WHY, WHO, WHAT, HOW regarding looking for a literary agent. This one is about chosing the right agent for YOU. There is so much more to say on this subject, but here is the basic rundown.

Part ONE is here.

Part TWO is here.

Enjoy!
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Okay, that title doesn’t really work grammatically, but we’ve got a theme going here, so we’ll go with it.

First, I want you to go read this blog by editor and author, Jason Pinter. Read it all. Even the comments. It’s okay. I’ll wait. (Don’t forget to hit the Back key and return here, okay?)

Hard to hear, isn’t it?

Because looking for an agent is hard. I think it’s even harder than finding an editor. But category novels not withstanding, if you’re selling single title, having an agent is imperative. (And it doesn’t hurt with category, either–I know, I’m going to do a separate post on this one soon, I promise!)

Now, I know authors who have sold single title without an agent, at least initially, and who went on to very successful careers. However, they are an exception and the ones who did well in almost all cases at least had a literary attorney look over their contracts.

However, some didn’t and are sorry now. Contracts are not meant to be in an author’s favor–ever. No matter how nice your editor is, no matter how much you think he or she is your best friend–they don’t write contracts. The Legal Department does. And it is NOT in an editor’s job description to tell you what to accept or negotiate. I once sat at a luncheon with a literary agent who was a former editor and she told me point blank that any author who negotiated her own contract–even those who were attorneys–were not getting the best possible deals.

But let’s say you’re looking for an agent. WHO is the right agent for you?

A lot of people will tell you the right agent is the one who will represent you. In a manner of speaking, that’s realistic. But it also implies that the writer is the one who goes begging to the agent, manuscript in hand, on bended knee. This should NOT be the case, even if it is.

Let’s get one thing straight. The agent works for you.

I think one of the luckiest things that happened to me in my career was that I didn’t start looking for an agent until my confidence was strong. It wasn’t my first book where I got my agent, but my tenth, having represented myself on one through nine.

Had I not gotten the agent I wanted, I probably would have scrapped the book and waited until another idea hit me. Because I firmly believe that a good, marketable book will find an agent. (Good and marketable are not interchangeable. You can certainly have one without the other–and the market constantly changes.)

When I made the decision to get an agent, I called one of my most knowlegable writing friends, Stephanie Bond. Stephanie had once given me advice that I took to heart. She said, “Get an agent who is tougher than you are.”

Well, that poses a problem. See, I’m pretty damned tough. I decided to amend her advice. I wanted an agent who was just as tough as me, but calmer and classier. Someone who could put things into perspective for me, but who could go in gangbusters to fight for me so I didn’t have to. (I found her, too. I’m so lucky!)

And how did I find her? I’d spent a lot of time doing what I told you to do in my first agent post–being connected.

I went to conferences, I read industry scoop, I made friends with lots and lots of published authors. I met agents. Many agents. I volunteered to be a program chair for my local chapter so I could meet published authors and agents outside of my normal scope. I listened to agents talk about other agents, which was very helpful because my agent “flies under the radar.” She doesn’t troll for new clients, but relies on word of mouth. And I found her that way because I was connected.

By the time the single title bug bit me, I had a pretty narrow list of who I thought would work, personality wise, as an agent for me. (And even then, I wasn’t 100% right…one agent and I would have clashed horribly, but luckily, we did so on a minor scale before she actually read my submission and she was out.) One other agent was a “pie in the sky” submission, but I have to say that her rejection was one of the most informative and encouraging rejections ever. I’m glad now that things didn’t work out. I would have likely been shuttled to a lower agent in the agency, which would NOT have worked for me at all.

That pretty much left me with one agent on my list (I told you it was a short list!) that I really liked. Luckily, after reading my work, she agreed to represent me, and we’ve been together ever since. I’d never “met” her before I submitted to her, but I made a point to meet her immediately afterward and take about twenty-five seconds to talk to her in a hallway. She bowled me over with her knowledge. I was hooked. I nearly cried when she called to offer representation because I knew we would be a perfect fit.

I’m a people person. I need to connect to people in order to work well with them. Not everyone is this way, but I am, so there you go.

My point is this–that whole “connected” thing remains important when you are looking into which agents to submit to. The idea of checking a book out of the library and mass submitting to a bunch of strangers gives me the willies. I did all my research on the front end and I contend you’ll save a lot of money and time and aggravation if you do that as well.

A few suggestions:

Go to conferences where agents are speaking. LISTEN. Do not go to pitch your book, necessarily. Try and figure out what sort of thing float this agent’s boat. Do this for a while until you have a list.

Make friends with published authors. Most published authors have had multiple agents and even if they won’t name names, you can learn a great deal from LISTENING about their agent experiences. If they do name names, listen even harder…though with a grain of salt. Sour grapes grow wild in publishing.

Realize that an agent who is good for one writer might not be good for another–but no agent who is just plain bad is NOT good for you. Ever.

Look at the client list. If you’ve never heard of any of their clients…what does that say?

When you are dead serious (have a book to market) subscribe to Publisher’s Marketplace. This is the parent of Publisher’s Lunch. PM allows you to search deals by agent names and see who is doing what deals. Not all deals are reported, but this is a worthwhile investment.

Check out the web and see if the agent has a blog or a website, but realize that many very good agents prefer to fly under the radar. They don’t need to advertise and therefore, they don’t. Doesn’t mean they aren’t fabulous.

Learn about the Association of Author’s Representatives (AAR) and memorize their standards.

Never pay an agent ONE PENNY until after they’ve sold something for you. Not even for postage and copying. This should be paid out of the proceeds from a sale. It is their overhead. You have overhead. Are you charging your agent for your print cartridges and your IP subscription? I didn’t think so.

Know up front if you want an agent who asks you to revise or if you want an agent who simply wants to sell your book. My agent only asks me to revise when I ask her to look for stuff. She’s good at it, too. But she doesn’t make me revise things ten times before we send it out. That’s absurd. But some authors don’t have fabulous critique partners like I do and need an agent to help them whip a manuscript into shape. However, this should be one round of revisions, not twelve.

A good agent does not need to be in New York, but they should travel there frequently if that is their main marketplace (and if it isn’t their main marketplace, why are you submitting to them?)

I could go on and on about advice on who is a good agent and who is not (generally speaking.)

But the bottom line is that you have no business shopping for an agent until you understand how things work. If you do not learn the ropes before hand, you risk all sort of problems that could delay the start of your professional career or waylay it altogether.

The bottom line is be educated. The time to ask your friends about an agent is before you submit, not after you have a request from them.

This is a business. Act like a business person. Network. Investigate. Have a plan.

And write well. That’s essential to finding a good agent.

Summer is nearly upon us…well, here in Florida, it is definitely here. Soaring temperatures and blue, blue skies. In celebration, I’m offering this limited edition Summer Variety Box from SEE’S CHOCOLATES, packed with their Key Lime Truffle, Apple Pie Truffle®, Apricot Delight, Cashew Brittle and many other summer candy favorites!

Also…I’ve been cleaning my office this week and I have a box of books that I’m going to send to the winner. It’s an assortment of titles I’ve bought this year that either I didn’t get a chance to read or that I read and loved, but need to make room for more! There’s romantic suspense, category, paranormal, chick lit and straight romance. Might even find a historical or two. I’m not sure as I’m still filling the box. So that goes to the winner as well!

You know what to do! Leave a comment in the comment trail and come back Sunday to see who has won!

Also…don’t forget to come back on Monday to meet and greet the incomparable Mary Jo Putney! We’re so excited to welcome this amazing, gracious and beautiful author to our website for the day. Let’s make sure and give her a full Plotmonkeys experience

I’m a firm believer in putting out as much good karma as possible, and that includes making someone’s day in nice and unexpected ways. I truly enjoy giving more than I like to receive, because of how good it makes me feel inside. So, today, after I tell you a story that recently happened, I hope you’ll go out today and make someone’s day, too!

The other day I was out running errands and stopped to put gas in my car. As I was waiting at the gas pump and getting price gouged with every gallon pouring into my tank (Oy! ), I caught sight of an older man rummaging through the trash cans situated between the gas pumps. He didn’t look homeless, but he didn’t look like he had a whole lot, either. He was pulling out all the aluminum and plastic items that were recyclable, that other people had thrown away at some point, and dropping them into his own large garbage bag. He was clearly going to take these items down to the recycle center for money.

As he shuffled over to my side of the gas station, our gazes met and I gave him a smile. He nodded and gave me a small smile in return, then went about his business in yet another trash can, picking out all the recyclable aluminum and plastic he could find.

Now, I have to say that on a daily basis I see people sitting on the side of the road or standing in strategic places like stoplights or grocery stores, and holding a sign proclaiming that they are homeless and are in desperate need of money and will accept anything you have to offer. I’ve also had people come up to me directly at gas stations or fast food places begging for money.

Do I believe that those people have fallen on hard times? Yes, I do. But I hate every one of those bold and in-your-face approaches, and let me tell you why. In the past, I’ve given many proclaimed homeless people cash because I honestly feel that I’m very fortunate to have money myself. I am not rich by any means (If I wanted to be rich, I wouldn’t have become a writer, LOL! ), but I know that I can go without a week of Starbucks in order to help someone less fortunate. However, after being burned several times after handing over MY hard earned money, I’ve learned to be far more cautious and selective in who I give cash to.

How have I been burned? Well, there were several times that women have come up to me at gas stations begging for money to put gas in their car, then after watching them conning other people out of cash they get into a car with another person who is driving, and off they go – without purchasing any gas at all. So, I figure I just helped someone with their drug habit. I’ve also been approached at fast food joints for money so the person can buy something to eat. After giving out cash many times, only to have the person walk away without getting something to eat, I now have a different tactic that has saved me a ton of money. Now, when I’m at a fast food joint and someone who claims to be homeless asks me for money for something to eat, I offer to buy them whatever they would like off of the menu. Every single time that I’ve done this, the person has refused, wanting only the MONEY, which tells me their “homeless” ploy is nothing more than a con. I’m more than willing to feed any homeless person – I’ll buy them a meal or groceries at the store. But I am so done handing out cash, only to have the person put it in their pocket and walk away, or move on to another victim. Also, about a year ago I was watching one of those Prime Time shows at night and they were doing a segment on those “homeless” people standing on street corners with their signs asking for money, and after investigating them they discovered that these people, on the average, were taking in over $60K a year in hand-outs – TAX FREE. And they weren’t even homeless!!!! They were just lazy and didn’t want to work a day job! :evil:

So, that was really the clincher for me on the whole “helping the homeless” thing. As I said, I’ve learned to be cautious and very selective in who I give my money to. And most of the time when I do give someone who looks like they need money some cash, they aren’t expecting it AT ALL. And that’s where a lot of the “feeling good” feeling comes in for me. Doing something nice and unexpected for someone can make me feel fantastic for an entire day.

So, back to the older man rummaging through the trash cans. As I continued to watch him, I knew that he was doing whatever he could to make extra money. Probably for food. Possibly to pay his rent or buy his medication because he has crappy health insurance. He probably needed a dozen things, and to him, whatever those tin cans and bottles could give him in terms of money was most likely a small fortune to him. And even though our gazes met and he had the perfect opportunity to ask me for money, he never did.

And that’s when I knew I was going to make his day and put some good karma out into the universe. After finishing pumping my gas, I pulled out a twenty dollar bill from my wallet and approached the man. He glanced up at me, and again I smiled and reached out to give him the cash and said, “this is for you”. I could tell he was stunned and surprised, and he didn’t ask why I was giving him the money. He just took it (because he obviously needed it), said “thank you,” and the look in his eyes was filled with the kind of sincere gratitude that told me how much that money meant to him. I told him to have a good day, then left the gas station, but that feeling of doing something good and unexpected for someone stayed with me for the rest of the day.

Doing something nice for someone isn’t all about money. It’s just about being kind and courteous and selfless - - to someone you don’t even know. It’s about letting someone in a car merge in front of you during rush hour traffic, instead of cutting them off in your rush to get home. It’s about complimenting someone on something they least expect. It’s about letting someone in the grocery store with only 5 items go ahead of you in the check-out line and your full basket of food. It’s about leaving a really nice tip for a waitress who looks like she could use the extra cash. It’s about opening the door for a handicapped person, or helping someone who looks lost and needs directions instead of just walking past them.

So, you get the point. Go out today, spread some kindness and good karma, and do something nice to make someone’s day. You’ll be glad you did! And if you have your own “good karma” story, please share it with us.

No, this isn’t about Oceans Thirteen or Pirates of the Caribbean or even Shrek 3, only the last of which I saw (which was a sweet story but no where near as funny or as clever as the first). I’m holding out for Harry. This is about the diversion from summer reading that my daughter and I have discovered–watching movies. Lots and lots of movies.

Yesterday, we went to Blockbuster to snag a few flicks for the week. Two weeks ago, she picked up three films from the Land Before Time series, which can be fairly cute, except for that dinosaur who talks sort of like Yoda but with a high-pitched voice. The fourth movie was Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Now, you all are probably thinking how I would enjoy this, being such a huge Star Wars fan and all. Well, meh. I have no real love for the so-called “first three movies,” which choronologically are the last three and no where near as engaging as the first–and in my opinion, ONLY Star Wars movies. Maybe because I know how the story ends. I don’t know. Knowing the ending never bothered me before. I watched because it was Star Wars and it was there, but I was so critical. Honestly, she didn’t like it all that much, either.

And I love the actors. Natalie Portman. Love her. Liam Neeson. Awesome. The guy who plays the young Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor. Hot. So hot, I couldn’t really see why Padme went for screwed up Anakin when she could have hot Obi-Wan…but I guess that’s so not the point. Even as I myself had a massive crush on Luke Skywalker, I always knew she should end up with Han, even before Luke was revealed to be her brother.

But I digress…this blog is not a Star Wars blog!

Back to yesterday. Yesterday, my daughter picked up another four movies. One: Clone Wars, the cartoon. Done by the same guy who did Dexter. Weird animation. Decent story, I guess. I wasn’t that into it. Then…brace yourselves, those of you who are of my generation: Pippi Longstocking! The musical version we all saw as kids. Well, at least I did. My daughter’s teacher read Pippi with them at the end of the school year, which once again revived my own memories of that film. I’d never read the book.

A few weeks ago, I asked about old books that we read in our childhood that have stood the test of time. Now I’m asking about movies. I mentioned the cartoon version of Riki-Tiki-Tavi (which by the way, has not yet arrived). Now she’s watching Pippi. And the Pagemaster. Remember the Pagemaster? Little Macauly Culkin? Okay, that wasn’t from my childhood. Probably college? Still, it was a cute film.

She’s seen all the Disney movies. She’s recently watched Sound of Music (first movie I ever saw in a theatre by the way, with my grandmother). I’m thinking about finding a copy of Never-Ending Story and that movie where David Bowie is the bad guy. Of course, she’s seen Wizard of Oz and amazingly, didn’t find the flying monkeys very creepy. What other movies do you remember from childhood that you’d share with your kids (children, nieces, nephews, neighbors) if you could? And don’t mention Old Yeller or Black Beauty because if the animal dies at the end, I will have to put my ultra-sensitive child in therapy.

So what say you? What children’s movies, when shown on American Movie Classics or ABC Family make you stop and watch and if they’re around, call the kids? Which are the ones you have bought on DVD or wish they’d put out?

By the way, she’s also suddenly interested in the board game, Clue, that she received for her birthday in January. You can bet I’ll be renting the movie version next week…anything to see Tim Curry, even as a butler.
And who didn’t want to be Miss Scarlet and wear that awesome dress???

I met Gena Showalter … well I can’t remember the first time. I can only remember thinking, boy is she pretty. And young. I hated her for that but only for a little while because really, Gena is a sweet, talented author that no one can hate.

She’s prolific and writes too many books a year (another reason I could hate her but don’t!). Gena has one other thing that I envy: a best friend who is a fellow writer who lives so close they can hang out together, write together, get Starbucks together, and torture each other together. What do I mean? You’ll soon see.

Gena’s June book, Catch a Mate, is on bookshelves now (along with my quote on the cover!) … But right now it’s time I let Gena tell the story – her way, so please give a warm Plotmonkey welcome to New York Times Bestselling Author GENA SHOWALTER!

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GIFTS WERE MADE TO BE TAKEN NOT GIVEN!

Or, perhaps a better title for this entry is: the day I stole my best friend’s gnome. You see, when I discovered that my best friend and fellow author Jill Monroe feared garden gnomes, I bought her one as a Get Well gift. I’m sweet like that. I wrapped it and everything.
Bow – $1.99.
Pink ribbon – $4.50.
Cute kitty cat card – $2.99.
The moment she opened the package — – priceless!

She totally hated it, but she played it off pretty well. With a smile that would have made any mother proud, she thanked me for my thoughtfulness – as well she should have. I did indeed put a lot of thought into it. And yes, I giggled like a school girl every time I thought about it.

A few days later, I had to pick some papers up from her house. She wasn’t going to be there, so she left them on the porch. And what did she use to keep those papers from blowing away? The gnome. I stood there for a long while, just staring down at his frighteningly happy face. Should I? Shouldn’t I? I knew Jill had given the gnome a place of honor on her porch only five minutes before leaving the house, just so I’d see that she liked her “thoughtful” gift.

So in the end, yes, I stole the gnome. I blindfolded it, held a lighter to its head and snapped picture. Yes, I even emailed her the picture and demanded 1800 yen for his safe return. She declined to pay. What’s more, she waited until I was gone and snuck inside my house. She then stole the singing lobster she’d given me for hitting New York Times. I loved that lobster.

Now, Gnomey experiences torture on a daily basis – I am cruel, what can I say — and Lobby is on the run, trying to find Gnomey and save him from my evil clutches. Will Lobby succeed? Only time will tell.

It’s safe to say that when Jill and I get together, amazing/fun/freaky things happen. We even plotted my newest release, Catch A Mate, during a road trip. We were laughing, having a good time and discussing our not-so-fond memories of old boyfriends. One of us (and if asked directly, we’d each probably blame the other) said, “Men are pigs!” and the other replied, “Let’s be the slaughterhouse!”

Here’s a little about the book,
CATCH A MATE:

How to catch the love of your life…with his pants down!

Jillian Greene is always getting caught in the act—it’s her job! Working at Catch A Mate, Jillian is paid by suspicious wives to smile, flirt and prove that no man can be trusted around the opposite sex. But she never gets physical—until a heart-stoppingly gorgeous male walks in…

Marcus Brody has just been hired to test female fidelity. But the last thing he needs is a partner—especially the infuriating, irresistible Jillian who’s got him desperate to break all the rules. . .

Yes, the heroine is named Jillian and her best friend is named Georgia.
Coincidence? I’ll let you decide!

Well, it’s 3pm Sunday and I have to leave to go out with my family for the rest of the day in less than an hour. I’ve been writing like mad since I got up and just remembered tomorrow’s blog, so I thought I’d give you a quick rundown of the weekend.

Yesterday we spent the entire day on a mini bus with my younger brother & sister-in-law, and 20 of their closest friends, all getting boozy and loud as we toured several Virginia wineries. What fun! We started as strangers but by the end of the day were having a raucous sing-along that even the driver was going along with. Too too funny. I loved going to the tastings, and discovered a few fabulous vintages. Bought some wine, ate some cheese, didn’t have to drive. Just a great day.

Tonight we’re going down to Wolf Trap park in Virginia. We’re taking the kids to see Jesus Christ Superstar there. One of my favorite shows, and I just love bringing a picnic and watching from the lawn area. This’ll be their first time and I know they’ll enjoy it. It won’t be exactly the way it was in the old days when Bruce and I were dating…when we’d snuggle and be all gooshy and romantic on the blanket. The kids would kill us if we did. But we’re looking forward to it anyway.

Like I said above, I’ve been writing like mad up until now. Almost finished this *%&@*% book…actually, I shouldn’t curse it. It’s going to be pretty good. Who knew I’d like writing a thr….. Ahem. Never mind. You’ll have to buy it next January to get the rest of that sentence!

Hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did. I will be popping in on Monday between frantic spurts of typing. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now, which is always a huge rush for me as I finish a book. And knowing there’s a new house waiting at the end of this tunnel, too, makes it doubly exciting!!

PS: Be sure to watch for some super special guest bloggers!! Tomorrow, Tuesday June 12, we have fun and funny, up-and-coming author GENA SHOWALTER and next Monday, June 18, one of my very favorite authors and a superstar of the historical genre, MARY JO PUTNEY. Don’t miss them!