Saturday, January 30, 2010

This Just Illustrates My Point!

I just illustrated my point on how ridiculous I am at this (Kacie isn't here today - darn it!). I thought I'd lost my original I Can't Believe How Long It's Been post, so after searching for over thirty minutes I just rewrote the whole thing. Now there are two. I think this proves I am absolutely pathetic. When Kacie gets here on Monday, she'll have to show me how to delete the post on my Mac. In the meantime, sorry to be so repetitive and redundant. Now you see just how electronically impaired I really am. Embarrassing!

I Can't Believe How Long It's Been!

First of all, it was a shock to my system to see how much time has gone by since I've written. You, though, have been leaving such wonderful comments on my blog that guess what??? I may be writing more about Cammie and Justin thanks to YOU! I've submitted two more proposals for the forensic series, so keep your fingers crossed and those good thought coming! Since I've last written I've traveled all over the country (so much fun!) and been on ever more ghost hunts (scary!. The best part is I've met lots and lots of future authors in high schools and middle schools everywhere. Really, the amount of talent I've seen is breathtaking. I've also been writing my newest book, Dragonfly Eyes, which has been an amazing experience. My life has just been CRAZY! So once I realized I couldn't get everything done (I received almost 2,000 emails during my last week-long trip) I decided to take control of the situation, which means I finally hired an assistant to help me get my schedule/life in order. Her name is Kacie Wheeler and she absolutely ROCKS! So, under her watchful eye, I should get a handle on everything and do much better in keeping up with my blog/emails/speaking schedule/writing. Kacie absolutely laughed at my archaic and chaotic method of keeping track of things - Post It notes that seemed to flutter on their own throughout my office and dates/thoughts scrawled on yellow tablets. She's begun the long, tedious conversion of my paper calendar over to the electronic calendar on my Mac. Wow - with Kacie's help, I finally think there is hope. I should be able to handle things now!

On another note, since it's been so long, let's catch up. In the very few moments of free time I've had I managed to see New Moon (LOVED it!) and Avatar (fantastic - my new favorite) as well as The Lovely Bones, which I felt kinda missed the mark. (Too many special effects, not enough character development.) For the holidays my son and sons'-in-law surprised me with new kitchen granite counter tops that they installed, which was a blast to watch! My boys are so good to me! That was an enormous project which got even bigger: DJ (my son-in-law who is an electrician) thought that as long as they were doing the counter-tops we should put in new lighting, which was an amazing amount of work for him. (The new lights look fantastic!) Then Matt, my other wonderful son-in-law, said as long as he and my son Dan and DJ were doing the new kitchen counter-top, sink and faucet, they should go ahead and tear out the bathroom and install a new faucet and sink and counter-top. Dan had to go back to school in Greeley while DJ had to return to Ft. Collins, which meant Matt got stuck chipping away at my bathroom. Poor guy! So we've had a rotating roster of my kids (and grand-kids) here and a bunch of huge projects going round the clock since Christmas. In the meantime, I've had to travel, and the day I got back from Florida my husband left for China. He got home Thursday and we realized we had been apart over three weeks! Crazy!

I hope this find every one of you happy, well, and ready to write your own stories. Since I'm knee-deep in Dragonfly Eyes I'd like to remind anyone with a paranormal story to please share it with me - it might make its way into my book! Thanks again for your patience and here's to all of our futures. I believe 2010 will be the best one yet!

XO's from Colorado!

I Can't Believe How long It's Been!

Wow - things have been going CRAZY over at my house, and I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote to any of you! First, the good news: it looks like there MAY be more books coming your way in this series! I have spoken with my agent and written two proposals, so cross your fingers and think good thoughts. Cammie and Justin might just be back! Second, I have been traveling pretty much everywhere throughout the country, attending more ghost hunts, taken care of my grand-babies, writing every day, and have pretty pushed myself near the breaking point busy-wise. So! Knowing that this insane schedule just won't do, I hired myself an assistant who has vowed to help me shatter this blockade of emails (2000 arrived in the last week while I was gone. She's instructed me to convert all my information onto my Mac (seems obvious, but I've been relying on post-its that I always lose) and generally get things on track. Her name is Kacie Wheeler and she is amazing. So you should be hearing much more from me in the future. I've vowed to get my life pulled together, and Kacie is just the person to help me dig through this mound of work. She will be my game-changer!

On a separate note, I ADORED New Moon and I went crazy for Avatar, so I did manage to squeeze in some fun things besides work. My new book Dragonfly Eyes is really coming along as well. Remember, please post any of your real life ghost stories so I can incorporate them into my book. And last but not least, thanks to all of your for your encouraging and kind comments. My editors have looked at what you've written, and it all counts. So THANK YOU!

XO's from Colorado!