Category Archives: Mom World

It’s May…and almost Mother’s Day!

May 4, 2011 · 109 comments

Can’t believe it’s early May and the RWA conference in New York is just 7 weeks away!  The annual conference is usually late July and I’m excited that I’ll soon be meeting up with so many of my author friends, but a little overwhelmed by all I have to do first! She’s Gone Country continues to earn kudos which is very gratifying as I loved this story!  I learned this past week that She’s Gone Country is a finalist for the National Readers’ Choice Awards sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America in the Mainstream category! That’s the third big regional contest She’s Gone Country has placed in, and this time it’s all thanks to the readers for voting for it, … Continue reading It’s May…and almost Mother’s Day! →

Birthday Boy!

April 26, 2011 · 112 comments

My littlest boy is two today!  I’ve cleared my schedule so that Ty and I can spend the day doing fun toddler things with Mac before celebrating with a family dinner with his brothers tonight.  And then tomorrow I start writing again!!  But first, today will either be a zoo today or a Pacific Science Center day or something else fun day. And because I love to celebrate birthdays, I have a present for one of you to celebrate Mac’s 2nd birthday.  Do you remember a favorite birthday?  When I was seven I got a white toy poodle that I named Muffin and a vase of red carnations from my godparents, along with a red shawl.  I felt grown up … Continue reading Birthday Boy! →

With So Much Love

April 20, 2011 · 70 comments

I’ll keep this short as there’s no easy way to do this, but we lost Ty’s mom, Patricia Gurney, yesterday morning. We were driving from LAX and 45 minutes from the house when we got word from Ty’s brother, Mike. I know a number of you met Pat at one or more of my Southern California book events. Pat was one of my biggest supporters and attended every book event she could, whether it was in San Diego, Laguna, or Westwood. She was such an amazing woman–tough, loving, a real spitfire. She was always reading, a gifted quilter, and she treated my boys as if they were her own grandchildren. I can’t type too much right now or I’ll fall … Continue reading With So Much Love →

Mac and Max

April 18, 2011 · 23 comments

Getting ready to head to airport and it amazes me how much an almost two year old needs for a trip!  Or maybe, it’s all the stuff I need to entertain a two year old on an airplane!  Either way, it seems like we have a lot between cars and toys and snacks and diapers and a change of clothes.  But I love my almost two year old so much.  Next week is his 2nd birthday and I can’t believe he’s growing up so fast!! Mac gets to go to all his brothers’ sporting events, including Ty’s lacrosse games.  Mac likes Ty’s lacrosse games because they are on a field and there are always dogs, including his favorite, 5 month … Continue reading Mac and Max →

Home from Rome

April 12, 2011 · 92 comments

It was an amazing ten days in Italy and a rather hard jolt back to reality when I woke up yesterday morning at 3:00 am and couldn’t go back to sleep due to jet lag.  There was so much to do but Mac wanted Mommy to himself, away from the phone and computer and stacks of mail.  I ended up spending the day with the little guy but today I did confine myself to my office to tackle the massive piles of mail and bills and requests covering my desk.  I was supposed to start my new book for Harlequin today, as well as kick off a diet to help me shed some of the weight I’ve gained the past … Continue reading Home from Rome →

Taking Off

March 30, 2011 · 42 comments

Heading to airport in a few minutes and am leaving computers behind.  Will try to check email now and then from an internet cafe but as this trip is all about enjoying Italy and my guys I’m not really worried about business at all.  This will be a real vacation–no work, no writing, no blogging (unless by miracle I’ve found an internet cafe near hotel that’s got great hours and no lines…) but I do have a really fun contest over on my author page at Facebook.  The important thing about this contest (besides the prize) is that it helps me. I want to know what you look for in a Jane Porter novel in five words, or five phrases. … Continue reading Taking Off →

Little Bear Love

March 25, 2011 · 101 comments

I’m leaving my littlest guy behind for 11 days soon while I take my big boys to Sicily and then the Amalfi Coast. We were supposed to be heading to Egypt with my mom and sister but the unrest and political changes in Egypt made me rethink our decision to cruise the Nile and visit the Valley of the Kings and Queens now. We booked the Egypt trip two years ago but Sicily should be fascinating and I’ve never been there even though I’ve set two Harlequins there–The Sicilian’s Defiant Mistress and my upcoming North American August release, A Dark Sicilian Secret. But the little guy… oh, he’s hard to leave, and I’m leaving him this weekend for a day … Continue reading Little Bear Love →

Friday Already?

March 18, 2011 · 118 comments

I’ve been writing so much, and working such long hours, that time kind of blurs together and I’m amazed that its already March 18th…that we’re at another weekend…and soon the start of another week. I’ve been working hard on revising my women’s fiction proposal which has meant shifting books/stories around and starting the series in a different place, with a different sister, and a different conflict.  (Which essentially boiled down to putting book 2 first, and moving book 1 to middle, etc).   I really like what I’m writing but its definitely got an edge to it.  The people that have read it like it, which is good, yes?  Now I just need to get another 25 pages or so … Continue reading Friday Already? →

New Orleans

March 7, 2011 · 80 comments

This is a shorty blog as I’m writing fast and furious today and I’ve three boys sick with the flu.  🙁 But before we were hit with the flu last week, and before Surfer Ty returned to Hawaii, we had our own little Mardi Gras party on Wednesday night. We wore green, gold and purple beads and I decorated with feathered masks and even made  a decadent red velvet cake for dessert (two cubes of butter and 8 oz cream cheese for the frosting! Not lowfat but incredibly delicious). And then yesterday morning I made beignets for son Ty, who is taking French in school and loved the beignets we had at Cafe Du Monde and has been asking me … Continue reading New Orleans →

Those Folks at Citibank

February 20, 2011 · 38 comments

While Mac napped this morning I sat down and paid my bills. I’m late paying this month due to me focusing so intently on my book. I didn’t even realize I hadn’t paid bills until the morning we were to fly to Hawaii and I was still frantically writing. Beneath my manuscript was a stack of papers, and in all those papers were unopened bills. I brought them with me to Hawaii and I got online with B of A and paid. I then went over my various credit card statements since I had time, noting with some shock that my boys have been making a lot of purchases at iTunes. I sent both older sons texts that said no … Continue reading Those Folks at Citibank →