Monday morning updates: Alaska Heart, Tulle Death Do Us Part, and Plotting Chart (and...as an extra bonus, A Work Of Art).




1. ALASKA HEART by Christine DePetrillo



This book is just chock full of my favorite things! A sexy, rugged, outdoorsy hero, who happens to be the Iditarod-winner and have eighteen gorgeous sled-dogs. A breath-taking Alaskan setting. Adorable secondary characters. Laugh-out-loud banter. A suspenseful storyline that takes us on a hair-raising plane trip and chase through the wilderness. The hero was a bit too good-to-be-true, but honestly, I sort of like my heroes like that. He was delicious! (And had some nice scruff going on, too). Finished up with a lovely HEA.

Yum!

Grade: A-/B+


2.  TULLE DEATH DO US PART by Annette Blair



I have been a bit frustrated with this series after the last couple of books. But the latest installment was absolute perfection! Blair has combined a compelling mystery, her trademark quirky writing voice and snappy dialogue, fun vintage clothing details, and totally satisfying romance. Oh! The romance! Not only did Maddie embark on a wonderful love story (finally, long overdue and she deserved it), but some other secondary characters also found their HEAs, too. One paranormal, one firmly on earth. And the fact that Maddie's deceased mother blessed all the happiness (with the sweet scent of chocolate) brought a tear to my eye. This book is WONDERFUL!

Grade: A+

#TEAMWERNER
#WERNERFORTHEWIN
#WERNERISSEXY
#WERNERYUMYUM


3. Plotting Chart (aka Penny's Frightening Experience With A Master Plotter)

For those of you not familiar with writing approaches, let me briefly describe the two types of writers:

1. Plotters

2. Pantsers

Plotters are super organized, plot out their entire book in advance of writing it, and know exactly what is going on. I would hazard a guess that they also are extremely good at recycling, fold their underwear, and pay bills on time.




Pantsers are authors who write by-the-seat-of-our-pants. Which means we do NOT plot the book. We have no idea what's going on. We sit down, and start banging away at the keys, and let our muse take us away! Pantsers probably plan their kids' birthday party an hour before the guests arrive, don't pack for vacation until the morning of the flight, and enjoy cocktails with silly names and umbrellas stuck in them.





Okay. You get the idea. Needless to say, I'm a pantser. Sometimes this works out great. And sometimes, it doesn't. (I once attempted a werewolf story where I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't get out. At 50,000 words. And no amount of hairy werewolf sex could fix that problem. Ugh.)

It was with great trepidation that I finally asked my critique partner Samantha Wayland to help me with my plotting. There are "plotters" and then...there is Sam. Sam has 20,000 colored markers. Sam has 3'x4' poster boards. Sam knows what is happening at the beginning, quarter, mid-point, three quarter, and end of the book. Sam writes outlines that are 20,000 words long. The outline, people! The outline! My books aren't even that long. (*Penny takes short break to inhale oxygen canister*)

As you can plainly see, this appointment with Sam caused me undue stress. However, I personally know many people who have met with her and swore it was the best thing that ever happened to them.

So, I pulled on my big-boy pants and met with Sam. And HER BAG. (See photo above.) Do you see all those markers? DO YOU SEE THEM? She has different colors for the hero, heroine, 2ndary characters, the conflict, the black moment. You name it, she has a marker.

Our conversation started like this:

Sam: Tell me about your hero.

Penny: (eyes markers with great suspicion) Huh?

Sam: Your hero. What's up with him. (She holds marker in her hand, waiting to write something on the massive poster board).

Penny: Um...um...he's...lonely?

Sam: Good! He's lonely. (she starts scribbling on THE BOARD).

Penny: (thinks silently....SHE IS KILLING ME!)

This went on for about an hour. And something funny happened.

It worked.

There. I said it. ARE YOU HAPPY, SAM?

I figured out some cool stuff about my hero, my heroine, my story, how to structure it so it flows right, and a totally killer ending.

And so I would just like to say....



Remember how I told you my husband got me a cool diamond ring in Santa Fe right before I fled the high altitude vacation disaster? Well, I got it! My new pinkie ring...is it fabulous or what? (The one next  to it is a garnet).

So, those are my Monday Morning updates. Hope everyone has a great week! Julia Rachel Barrett is visiting me tonight...at midnight! Like Cinderella! I can't wait to see her!

Ciao!
Penny

I have been thinking about the whole concept of "summer reading"...basically, it's supposed to be mindless stuff you can read on the beach, under an umbrella, while sipping a cold frosty drink.



Then I realized that summer reading is all about the ANTI-ANGST. Nothing too heavy, too disturbing, too conflicted. In fact, it occurred to me that I love summer reading ALL YEAR LONG. Since I love quirky, funny, light-hearted stuff. My regular reading list is pretty much "summer reading"...I know, I'm shallow. I can live with that.


So, I decided to put together a summer reading recommendation list. Some fun, light books I've read recently and not so recently.



1. CASTAWAY DREAMS by Darlene Marshall

Light, sweet, romantic, adorable. And the hero and heroine are castaways on an island. PERFECT SUMMER READ! Historical romance.


2. PENELOPE by Anya Wylde

Over-the-top farce, charming and fun. Loved it! Historical romance.


3. SWEETENED WITH A KISS by Lexxi Callahan

This has some of the sexiest push-and-pull chemistry between a hero and heroine I've ever read. Also throws in an unexpected suspenseful storyline, which is another thing I really like with my summer reading. HOT! I read it TWICE over vacation I liked it so much. Contemporary romance with suspense.


4. THE FORNARINA AFFAIR by Ellis Drake

I read a lot of mysteries over the summer. And this one combined some of my favorite interests...art history, Rome, and a sexy romance. Charming! This is a short, entertaining read that will really appeal to folks in love with all things Italian and art history. Romantic mystery.


5. SPOTTED OVERCOAT by Denise Janikowski-Krewal

Poetry in the summer? Sure! I like mixing it up. Here's a snippet from "Sassy Siren of Kalamazoo"...

Lean sophistication
In her rouged lips
Flim-flam, fur fancier
Dropped waist
Flimsy tail
Beaded swinging lariat
Cooing at the Model-T followers
Slithering out of her
Bent Duesenberg
Floozy doozy

I really enjoyed this debut book of poetry by Denise. Poetry.


6. AIRE by Lena Goldfinch

Lush, lovely, romantic YA fantasy. You can never have too many HEAs in your summer reading list. YA.


7. BURN by Scarlett Parrish

From my Goodreads review:

Wow. This is not your typical erotica writer. Scarlett has major writing chops, excellent character insight, fast-paced, humorous dialogue, intelligent details, and sweat-inducing sex scenes. I am freakin' impressed. And not only did I manage to read M/M in spite of my vanilla-self, I enjoyed it.

Quick read, extremely well-written. M/M erotica.

(As an aside: I have been on a Scarlett Parrish reading bender, since I discovered her incredible writing voice, unexpected prose, and highly original love scenes. I would call her writing a hybrid literary fiction/erotica.)


8. CANADIAN MOUNTIES SERIES by Kate Bridges

I heartily enjoyed the whole series, with lots of historical melodrama and romance. If you have a week on the beach somewhere, you should download the bundle, and read them all in order. Fun! Historical romance.


9. THE AMELIA PEABODY SERIES by Elizabeth Peters

Amber at Buried By Books reminded me how totally awesome this series is! She is doing a Summer Re-Read of the whole series. These books are bloody brilliant. Larger-than-life characters, romance, suspense, Egyptology, mystery. They have it all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.


Coming up later this week: More books that look intriguing, fun, and addictive!

Hope everyone is enjoying the lazy days of summer.

Penelope

Maybe it was the salty sea breeze. Or the view of the ocean. Or the hike on the Cliff Walk. Or the lobster roll.

Whatever it was, it worked like a charm. My trip to the Black Point Inn was relaxing, productive, and inspiring. I wrote a ton, got a good feel for the whole story, hung out with some of my bestest buds, and managed to consume a ridiculous amount of seafood (crab cakes, clam chowder, grilled shrimp, lobster roll, fish chowder, and salmon....and of course wine and cocktails!). I ate so much seafood I think I turned into a mermaid.

Well, my husband is back to work. My daughter is off to sleep-away camp. My son is long-boarding every day with his friends.

Which leaves me with a whole week to write.

Peace and quiet.

Ahhhhhhhh......................

So, hubby suggests "Why don't you head up to the Black Point Inn for a writer's retreat?" (Black Point Inn is a charming hotel in Scarborough, Maine).

And I said, "Huh. That is a crazy fabulous idea. I could relax, go on some hikes, enjoy the ocean, work on my book, and have cocktails with my girlfriends."

I dialed the hotel so fast my phone caught on fire.

Anyhoo, this is probably my Nirvana-On-Earth. The Black Point Inn is absolutely lovely and the perfect setting to write.

And best of all, it's sea level!

Hope everyone has a great week. I am off for peace, quiet, and hopefully a nicely chilled sangria.

All my best,
Penelope

Our last full day in Santa Fe...

I was determined that my kids would get some sort of awesome cultural experience, and appreciate the geography of New Mexico. So, we headed to Bandelier National Monument. It has super cool ancient Pueblo cliff-houses, called cavates, that were carved out of the soft volcanic ash. The kids were able to climb up the ladders and peak inside. We also saw the remains of ancient common houses and other ruins.


The drive to Bandelier from Santa Fe is gorgeous, although my heights-fearing husband wasn't too thrilled as the bus drove on the edge of the canyon. Hee hee! (I think I saw his eyes roll back in his head a couple of times). Otherwise, this was the perfect outing for our family.

Except for one, small, wee little problem.

I couldn't breathe.

I could no longer ignore the fact that I was not acclimating to the new altitude, but instead my breathing was getting worse. I managed to climb up to the first set of cavates, but after that I had to head back to the bottom of the trail. I was wheezing and couldn't catch my breath.

My husband was extremely worried, but I kept insisting I would be okay. It was a tough climb.

The rest of our day was fabulous. We had a really fun dinner out with the kids, my husband got me a gorgeous diamond ring! (woo hoo!), and everything would have been peachy-keen if only I could breathe.

It was close to midnight, we all had our pajamas on and were getting ready for bed. My husband was on the iPad researching "high altitude sickness" and "pulmonary edema" and lots of other fun things. Our hotel had canisters of oxygen sitting on the mini-bar (I'm not kidding), so I was sucking that stuff down like it was going out of style.

Hubs jumps up from the bed and announces, "We're leaving."

(I'm in my PJs with a toothbrush hanging out my mouth). "Wah?"

"Now. We are leaving Santa Fe now."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Why?"

"There are only two ways to fix this problem. Oxygen and descent. We have to descend to a lower elevation. Your breathing is getting worse. This is not okay."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"No. Now."

The kids shrugged and started chucking their clothes into their bags.

I felt like I was a climber in the Himalayas, forced to turn back before I had an unfortunate run-in with Yeti.

We packed in five minutes, checked out of the hotel (which was very understanding--I got the feeling this was a common problem with tourists), and took off for Albuquerque, which is about 2000 feet lower in elevation. I didn't believe my husband when he told me that would help. But by God, it did. Within one hour of driving, we arrived in Albuquerque, and I was already breathing much better.

Amazing.

The next day we went to the ER, then headed to the airport to return to Boston. SEA LEVEL OR BUST, BABY!

So, that's my sad and sorry story about summer vacation. At least we got 1/2 week in Santa Fe before my lungs crapped out. And...we did have some fun. And...I did get a diamond ring (yay!).


Needless to say, I don't think I'll be doing this anytime soon...


Breathing is fun,
Penelope

Day #2 of Vacation:

My hubby is an obsessive fly-fisherman. On our first day of vacation he got up at the crack of dawn and went fishing with a guide. The kids and I were exhausted after our hellacious misadventure in the airport, so we all slept in.

Finally, I forced the kids to wake up so we could start exploring Santa Fe! I adore this sweet, charming town. It has everything a girl could ever want...gorgeous vistas, shopping, amazing museums, art galleries.

Wait. Wait. I know what you're thinking.

That doesn't really sound like a "kiddy-friendly"vacation spot.

OK, fair enough. But I made sure there would be a pool at our hotel for the kids. And...we were going white-water rafting. And, visiting pueblos. And stuff like that.

Wrench in Best Laid Plans...

1. There was a huge drought going on, and major fire-hazard at all parks, so no rafting, and many trails closed.

2. The pool was lovely, but smallish and surrounded by 70 year olds. (My kids kept saying "Um, has anyone noticed EVERYONE AT OUR HOTEL IS AN OLD PERSON?")

3. Our last major vacation was to a crazy incredible hotel in HAWAII. We had something like 14 pools at the resort...one of them had a lagoon with kayaks in it. Needless to say, anything after that place was going to come up short. Ugh.

4. I'm an idiot.


Celebrity Death Match Between Hawaii....


and Santa Fe.....


Hawaii wins by a landslide! (Did I already say I'm an idiot?)

Anyhoo, I am still perky and optimistic! The kids will love this, I keep telling myself. We go out for breakfast and everything on the menu has chilies on it. The eggs have chilies. The pancakes have blue corn in them. My 15-year old son tries something new, God bless him! My daughter insists on plain eggs and bacon, which the restaurant kindly accommodates.

And then, this conversation...

Daughter: Where's the beach?

Me: Silence.

Daughter: I want to build a sand castle.

Son: We're in the middle of the desert, dumb-ass!

Me: Don't call your sister a dumb-ass. (To my daughter: Honey, we're in the middle of a desert).

Daughter: What do you mean? We always go to the beach for our summer vacation! Where's the beach?

Son: (snickers) Well, there is sand.

Me: Honey, why don't you Google Santa Fe and look at a map. We are not on the coast. But there are a lot of fun things to do here...

Daughter: (Googles the map) I miss Hawaii! Why didn't we go to Hawaii! That was my favorite place!

Son: Hawaii was awesome.

Me: (wondering if I could get a Bloody Mary instead of a coffee for breakfast)...We are trying something different. Seeing a new part of the country. You will love it!

After finishing breakfast, we meander around Santa Fe. We pass by the Loretto Chapel, which I adore. Peek into some shops. Look at the Central Square.

By the time we get home, we are all hot and sweaty and the kids are irked, and I am thinking about flinging their little bodies off the balcony.

I believe I may have used the expression "SUCK IT UP!" at one point while they were complaining.

Also, we just happened to be passing a construction worker as I said this, and he laughed and said "Kids. Gotta love 'em."

We get back to the hotel, and I suggest the kids go for a swim. We look at the pool (which was very sweet) and notice that the median age of swimmers appears to be 87. The kids take a pass.

It occurs to me that I may have made a critical error in judgment when I booked this vacation.

I'm screwed.


Next Up: Day #3: Hummingbirds for the Win! High Altitude Sickness for the Loss!

I'm back! Actually, I'm back early from Santa Fe. Our trip did not go according to plan (haaaaaaa!!!! surprise surprise). Here is a quick run-down of our aborted vacation week.

Travel Day #1: Wake up at 5 am to get to Boston airport. Should arrive in Santa Fe by noon-ish so we have time to hang out and enjoy our first day of vacation. Get to Denver, CO and sprint through the airport to make our connection. Notice that our flight to Santa Fe is nowhere on the departures board. Get a bit nervous. Arrive at the GREAT LAKES AIRLINES ticket counter and discover that the flight does not exist. No, it wasn't "cancelled" it was just removed from existence. Panting, sweating from exertion, my family stood at the counter and said "Um, maybe you should have told us that BEFORE TODAY." Ticket dude: Looks at us blankly and offers NOT ONE WORD OF APOLOGY OR HELP. Hubby gets angry. Smoke starts pouring out of his ears and he looks like he is about to lean across the counter and teach ticket dude a lesson.



I calmly push hubby back and say "We paid for a ticket from your airline which no longer exists. What now?" He says "We have a flight tomorrow." Not only does counter dude not apologize for our inconvenience, he actually gets rude to us as we try to figure out alternative travel plans. Did I mention this horrible airline was...

GREAT LAKES AIRLINE...horrible, rude, awful service, incredible inconvenience. Highly NOT recommended. HIGHLY!

We realize that there is another flight to Santa Fe from United, which was RIGHT NEXT TO OUR OLD GATE--that leaves in 15 minutes. Which involves another sprint back through the airport to our old location. (You can stop laughing now). We get there and find out (surprise surprise) they do not have four available seats. But they do have another flight to Santa Fe that leaves eight hours later. An incredibly kind, wonderful and understanding customer service person from UNITED got us meal vouchers, boarding passes with seats together, and was super friendly and awesome.

So, we hung out for EIGHT hours in the Denver, CO airport, finally made a connection, drove to our hotel and arrived close to midnight.

But the story is not over yet.

Exhausted, rumpled, and irked that we lost one day of vacation, I drag myself up to the check-in counter at the hotel. I had booked a 2-bedroom suite months and months in advance.

Me: Hi! I booked a 2-BR suite.

Hotel Lady: Oh, we did renovations and that suite does not exist anymore.

Me: Haaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! (hysterical laughter) That's a good one. Here is my confirmation email I just received THIS WEEK confirming my 2-BR suite (hand hotel lady a copy of my email).

Hotel Lady: (sadly shakes her head) I'm so sorry my manager did not contact you and let you know that suite no longer exists. We did renovations and it's gone.

Me: (babbling incoherently, voice cracking, eyes tearing up)....But, but, you JUST SENT ME THAT EMAIL! THIS WEEK!

[An aside: What the hell is up with the whole NO LONGER EXISTS thing? NO LONGER EXISTS? The plane? The hotel room? Is there a rip in the time-space continuum?]




Hubby: Pushes me aside and says "Let me deal with this." (It's important to note that when hubby is freaking out, I am calm, and vice versa.)

Hotel Lady: Since we no longer have a 2-BR suite, you can have these 2 rooms right next door to each other. They are NOT adjoining rooms, but they're right next door.

Now. Let me just say this. Let's suppose that my kids were 3 and 5 years old. The hotel didn't know how old they were. Would that be okay? To put my kids in a SEPARATE ROOM, NOT ADJOINING, BY THEMSELVES, IN A HOTEL? The answer is no, it would not. However, my kids are 10 and 15, so at that point I really had no choice but to agree to these new accommodations.

Hubby convinces me to calm down and that everything will be okay. We go up to our hotel room and discover that the two rooms actually ARE ADJOINING. Why hotel lady did not realize this, I have no idea. I was very relieved.

After hiding the mini-bar candies from my daughter, I passed out and slept like a log.

Up next...TRAVEL DAY #2: THOSE DAMNED KIDS


Happy to be home,
Penny