Today is a fast blog. I have two weeks to revise my 500 page first draft.

That’s right First Draft. This thing still has notes like, “Think about XX scene here.” I don’t know how the heck this book got away from me. As I type now, I’m printing it for a quick read through, hoping that it’s better than I think it is.

Every book I write, I swear I’m going to get better, faster, more efficient, and yet, here I am again…

Anyway, to take my mind off MY book, let’s talk about what books you’re reading.

For me, I just finished reading an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of THE BEAST WITHIN (out September 2010), an Anthology with ERIN McCARTHY, BIANCA D’ARC http://biancadarc.com/ and myself. I didn’t read my story because I’m sick of my writing, but this was my first peek at Erin and Bianca’s stories. I really enjoyed them!

Now your turn—what are you reading? And why did you pick that book? Play along, leave a comment, and one person will win an ARC of THE BEAST WITHIN!

Joran van der Sloot, the long time suspect in the disappearance (and probable murder)of Natalee Holloway was arrested for the brutal murder of another young woman, Stephany Flores. I saw this on a breaking news feed on my email and I was sickened. Another young woman murdered. I have always believed that Holloway’s disappearance could have been solved. Between the van der Sloot family connections, and the fact that Aruba didn’t want to concede that a visitor to their country was harmed or murdered, and possibly have a negative influence on the tourism that is a big part of their income, the whole investigation sank into quicksand.

I have also always believed that the “high school graduation trip” was a very bad idea. Young women with poor supervision and questionable life skills in a foreign country “celebrating.” That makes me shudder in fear. Having said that, let me be absolutely clear, Holloway in no way deserved what happened to her, nor did her family and friends deserve all these years of hell not knowing what happened to her.

And we all know these kinds of things happen to women in their own country.

It’s an unfortunate truth that young women are targets of predators. They are for two reasons; they are lovely and they are naïve. Not stupid, but naïve from lack of life experience that helps us development judgment. Add in some alcohol and whatever self preservation instincts a young woman has developed are completely shut down. Predators know this, and they use it to their advantage.

Now put all that in a foreign country, where the young woman isn’t familiar with the customs and manners, and that makes forming the necessary judgments to stay safe even harder. Foreign, fresh faced, young, idealistic girls wearing romance-tinted glasses and in a party mood—it’s a predator’s dream hunting ground. Then when she does get into trouble, how does she get help? Does she call 911? Scream fire?

That’s just my opinion as a parent. Two of my sons went to Mexico when they were in college and rolled their eyes at my “opinions.” They came home safe. I still didn’t like it. Now my two older sons have developed enough life skills that I would worry much less (although a mother’s job of worrying is never done!).

But for sure, no young woman’s highly suspicious disappearance deserves to be so callously disregarded, so horrible mismanaged as Holloway’s seemed to be in Aruba. It’s my “civilian” opinion that van der Sloot had something to do with Holloway’s disappearance five years ago, and I have never seen even a second of regret or remorse in that man.

I am heartened to see that the murder of Flores is being treated with the dignity, respect and concern. I am relieved to see that Justice may have finally caught up to a killer. Perhaps the family and friends of Natalee Holloway will learn what happened to her, or maybe they will just sleep better at night knowing Justice finally arrived.

So what do you all think about this? Because I love interesting discussions over coffee, I’m going to give away a $15.00 Starbucks gift card to one commenter!

I’m really deep into writing my book (due July 5th) and my brain is crammed with characters and magic and dragons and tears and evildoers and wondering how the heck I’m going to pull off this book.

After I finish each book, I swear on the lives of my children that I will plot the next book better. And I’ll stay on that plot, not veer off into trouble. The next book will be easier!

I don’t know, I guess my kids have nine lives or something because no matter how hard I try, it doesn’t happen. I always write myself into a corner. It’s usually a dark corner in some unknown alley that smells like urine and rotting meat. There are three snarling, foaming Rottweilers running toward me and no way for me to escape. Someone is shooting at me, and I think I hear the rattle or hiss of a venomous snake.

On top of that, I can hear the sound of my deadline barreling down on me.

All because I can’t stay on the plot line. I deviate with manic glee, laughing and nodding, “Oh yes, this is better! Much more exciting! Fun! Yes, go, go, go!!!!” I run headlong into that dangerous, horrible, terrifying corner.

And there I am sniveling, gnashing my teeth and wondering why the blazes I didn’t stay on my original plotline.

And then the voice start, “The whole book is boring anyway. The pacing if off, there’s no sexual tension, the characters are as interesting as an old sponge…dump the whole book!”

I know this happens with every book. And I try to remind myself of these things:

1) Finish the book. I can fix it once I finish it. But I can’t fix it while I’m trapped in this stinking corner. Must finish the book!

2) Once I finish and do a read through, I won’t hate it as much. And I’ll see ways to fix it. I’ll even have a little smidge of hope.

3) My editor is really good at what she does. She’ll send me revisions. I will read them and howl like a wounded puppy. Then I’ll pull myself together and act like a professional, doing the revisions.

4) The book will be saved. I’ll be free of the corner…

Until the next book.

And you know what’s crazy? As much as I hate, HATE this process, the truth is that I love it more than I hate it. The highs of those moments when a character reveals something that’s so key the whole books suddenly comes together in my head, or I figure out a solution, or I hit that right note in dialogue, or the subtext reveals the character to the reader…those moments are the highs that suddenly wipe out all the agony. Those feelings, the priceless, precious feelings of success are what drag me back to the computer day after day, fighting to get the story right.

So maybe I don’t want a perfectly plotted story that’s easy. Maybe what I really enjoy is the battle of discovery.

But right now, I’d sure like a way out of this freaking corner!

I don’t have a question today. A good blog should always end with a question, but right now, I’m too distracted trying to evade the four inch teeth of those Rottweilers and hoping I can save my book!

It’s interesting that I am a romance writer because I evidently suck at romance. I think I’m pretty good at marriage, given that I married when I was 20 and been happy ever since. But romance? The hearts and flowers stuff that seems to make so many women happy truly eludes me. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it.

DATE NIGHT:

Romantics: A special night set aside for married people to spend quality time together without talking about children or whatever.

Me: That’s just stupid. I thought the whole freaking point of dating was to find the right partner, marry and never have to go through that crap again. My husband and I go out all the time, dinners, movies, sea world—whatever we feel like doing. But we don’t call it Date Night. (However, the movie DATE NIGHT was hilarious. Just saying…)

RENEWING WEDDING VOWS

Romantics: Umm, just a guess on my part, but either they think it proves they still love each other or they want an excuse for a party.

Me: What? The vows didn’t take the first time? They had an expatriation date? Stupid! If we want a party, have a party! Just don’t make people sit and watch a wedding rerun. No one wants to see the video of the first one, why in the heck would they want to be forced to sit through a live re-enactment that has zero real meaning? I know! Let’s have a Mystery Dinner instead! And the first person who says “Date Night” (and doesn’t mean the movie) or “Renewing Wedding Vows” can play the dead person! And we’ll all try to figure out who killed them and congratulate them for a job well done.

See? I’m not a romantic. One of the AWWW moments in my marriage? My washer broke. Now I like to do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays. The wash broke on Monday. We went out Tuesday and bought one. Wednesday, my husband picked it up on the way home from work and after dinner, he installed it for me. After he was finished, I decided to bring him some iced tea. I got the drink and went out in the garage where he was doing something to the old washer, and this was the conversation:

“Thanks for getting the washer and hooking it up for me. I know you did it tonight so I can do laundry tomorrow.”

He stopped whatever he was doing, looked up and said in totally matter of fact voice, “Of course I did. I’m your husband and I take care of you.”

I remember standing there in the door between the house and the garage and feeling my throat tightened. I didn’t ask him to hook the washer up after a long day of work, I would waited until the weekend. But he PAID ATTENTION to my routine and knew exactly how I liked to do things to keep the house running smoothly with three kids. And he went out of his way to make sure I wasn’t inconvenienced if he could do something about it. That is real love to me. I don’t need flowers, date night or renewal ceremonies. I just need a man to cares enough to pay attention.

But then, maybe that’s what real romance is: Not the cliché or big gestures, but the actions that come straight from the heart.

Maybe it’s not so surprising that I writer romance after all…

So tell me, what is romance, or romantic, to you?

Many years ago, I was telling a neighbor my plans to fly to Texas to join my husband after he finished some business. It would be a three hour flight.

My neighbor said, “You’re flying ALONE. For three hours? What will you do?”

“Read!” I was so excited that I would get three uninterrupted hours of pure reading! I had three small kids at the time and a busy life. So reading was a precious commodity.

My neighbor didn’t get it.

Non-bookaholics never do.

My youngest son (the one who I could barely get to read in middle and high school) realized when he started college that he needed to improve his Language Arts skills.

“Read,” I told him. “Find what you like, and read.”

Much to my surprise he took my advice and began reading. He found he loves nonfiction about war, police, history and biographies. His reading and language skills improved quickly and dramatically. (He’s an A/B student) He started buying books and now has an impressive collection of hardbacks. He asks for them on his birthdays and Christmas. On his last birthday I ran into his girlfriend and her mother—all of us were shopping for books for his birthday.

He’s become a true bookaholic and I couldn’t be more proud!

Non-bookaholics don’t get it.

I have a confession, I am a weird bookaholic in that I don’t keep a lot of my fictions books (I do keep research books). I’m a bookaholic who shares. My sister, another son, and a few friends and I exchange books. So how do I know I’m a bookaholic?

I have a few “symptoms” of a true bookaholic:

1) Have you called in sick to finish a book (or seriously considered it)?

2) Do you look forward to things like going on an airplane or waiting in a doctor’s office just so you can read?

3) Can you pass a bookstore without going in?

4) Can you leave a bookstore without buying something?

5) Do you compulsively look at Amazon, or other review sites, AFTER you read the book to see who agrees with you and who doesn’t? (Hmm, that might just be me!)

6) Can you meet your friends for lunch and not talk about books?

7) Do you know your favorite authors release dates better than your kids’ birthdates?

8 ) When you say, “Just one more chapter and I’ll start dinner,” does your family rolls their eyes and order pizza?

Are you a bookaholic? What are some of your symptoms? Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered in a contest to win a $15.00 Barnes and Noble gift card! Winner to be announced this weekend.