Saturday, July 19, 2008

Good So Far


Today has started out very well indeed. The Bound Brits Anthology is finally available at Amazon US. I was so pleased I ordered copies to be sent to both my great aunt and my mother. I'm not telling them. I prefer to leave it a surprise. My aunt will be thrilled...my mom, your guess is as good as mine.

Also, in even bigger news, my goddess of an editor accepted my new book, Drake's Rules, for Cerridwen Press. How awesome is that! I haven't written the blurb yet but I'll post it once I do. This is just the sweetest book. It made me sigh repeatedly as I was writing it. It also made me chuckle because there's a scene-stealing six-year-old who says exactly what she's thinking.

Last night, I was chatting with Anny Cook and her Frog Friends on the Ellora's Cave yahoo group and the excerpts I posted seemed well-received. Want to see the sweet one? I'll take that as a yes. Keep in mind this is unedited.

“Daddy, the bread’s gone. Can we get ice cream now?” Christy bounced on her toes in front of them.
“Megan?” Drake deferred to her since it was meant to be a thank you for her kindness.
“Fine by me.” She hopped off the bench. “Lead the way. And for future reference, I consider ice cream to be a staple, consumable any time, day or night.”
“What’s that mean?” Christy chose to hold Megan’s hand instead of Drake’s.
“That means,” Drake responded as he clasped Megan’s other hand, “That we’re going to keep an eye on her so she isn’t a bad influence on you.”
“Daddy,” Christy sighed. “Talk kid English.”
“It means that I don’t always eat the way I should, honey.” Megan caught his amused expression and looked relieved that she hadn’t offended him. “I eat sweets instead of real food sometimes even though I know I shouldn’t.”
“Ooh, that’s bad.” Christy’s eyes were huge. “Daddy says we have to eat all sorts of stuff so we don’t get sick.”
“Your daddy is right,” Megan assured her.
At the small ice cream parlor, they sat at one of the tables outside while Christy devoured her cone. Drake was having trouble not staring at Megan’s tongue as she licked the chocolate sprinkles from her ice cream until Christy stopped eating, mid-cone.
“Daddy said about Mommy and Jimmy,” she stated to Megan.
“Yes,” Megan confirmed.
“He gets sad when he says about them. Uncle Adam says it’s ‘kay ‘cause they can’t be with us ever now and Daddy misses them. Uncle Adam says they had to go be angels ‘cause they’re very special. He says that Mommy and Jimmy are in my heart forever and if I get scared or lonesome I can talk to them there and they’ll help me,” she paused to ponder Megan. “Did Mommy make you find me? I was talking to her in my heart and then you came.”
“I don’t know,” Megan answered truthfully.
“But Uncle Adam said she’d take care of me from where angels are.”
Drake had to swallow several times before he could speak. “Christy, there’s no way to know if Mommy sent Megan or not. Angels help without letting us know. But even Uncle Adam will tell you that sometimes things just happen the way they do without involving angels. Do you believe Mommy sent Megan to keep you company?”
She chewed on her lip before nodding. “Yeah. I think Mommy sent her to make you happy too, like when I was little.”
Drake ignored the ice cream smeared on her cheeks and hugged Christy tightly. “Maybe she did,” he whispered, his voice unsteady as he watched Megan’s reaction over her head. “I love you, Christy.”
“I love you, Daddy. Always and forever.”
“Yep, always and forever.”

I told you it was sweet!

Hm, what else? Oh I know. A few weeks back you may remember I was feeling nostalgic and wrote a letter. The end result of that was an email today from a friend I used to hang out with at the music festivals I went to in high school. Last time I heard from him was at least 15 years ago so now I'm sitting here smiling.

Soon I'm off to a picnic for Neeley's sister's birthday. And, believe it or not, I'm taking a guest. I haven't warned them I'm bringing him so they're not going to have the inquisition planned out. I'm sure it'll occur anyway. I must admit I feel slightly guilty, springing my friends on him our first outing but not too much since he didn't hesitate one bit when I invited him. Hm, a courageous man, how about that!

Tour de France Update -
Winner Stage 14, July 19 - Freire, Spain
Overall Leader - Cadel Evans, Australia

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Finally!Have you got your author copies yet.

Yeah - liked Drakes Rules - I am looking forward to reading that

Cadel Evans is still first - just heard it on the radio

Phoenix said...

You must have come the last hour... WHEN I LEFT! Grrr. Sorry I missed you sweetie.

Molly Daniels said...

It's about time!!! And good for you, sending copies to your family!

Love the Drake excerpts!

Anika Hamilton said...

Congrats to you for Drake's Rules. Oh and the Amazon thing.

Unknown said...

Congrats on both book good news. Your chats sound like fun.

Regina Carlysle said...

It was FUN seeing you at the chat last night and yesyesyes...I loved the sweet excerpt. Congrats on release and contract. Things are good,huh? Sooo happy. Have fun today. Hope the inevitable inquisition goes off good. LOL