I just spent a week in the Big Apple.

I love visiting NYC.  I usually go by myself since it’s a business trip for me, meeting with my agent and editors, as well as attending the annual board meeting for Mystery Writers of America, where I serve as national treasurer.

But this year…since I wasn’t leaving from NYC to go on book tour as I had the last two years, I took my husband along.

Oh man, did we have fun 🙂 — in between my meetings and working in my hotel room  finishing up deadlines of course.

What did we do?

We had a couple of great dinners with my brother and sister in law.

We saw a new car unveiled in Times Square.

We attended the Book Of Mormon on Broadway — which was beyond hilarious.

We walked everywhere. No wonder most people in NYC are skinny.

We went to the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We ate so many different varieties of food I don’t remember them all. Uh, yeah…starting that diet this week.

As far as celebrity sightings? Alan Rickman. And Karl Rove stayed at our hotel.

What I didn’t do?

Shop.

Go to the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, or other tourist destinations. One of these times I will put that on the list.

Whenever I travel I always throw it out to my Lorelei James readers where I’m going to be. So I was so happy to get to meet with two separate groups of fans two different times. I didn’t show up on a wickedly cool tour bus with a hot-looking cowboy vampire in tow, but hey, it’s a goal to shoot for, right?

Writing is such a solitary gig that it’s a serious treat to talk to people who aren’t strictly in my head!

Alas, back to deadlines and hiding in my writing cave.

So…ever been to NYC? If yes, what was your favorite part? If no, is it on your wish list of places to visit?

All commenters are eligible for a $10 gift card to the online retailer of choice 🙂

Word Soup is a word game I’m addicted to on my kindle — just throwing that out there.

The last couple days we’ve been having a discussion on my James Gang yahoo loop about words — commonly misspelled words, misused words, word errors in books, how grammar rules have changed and punctuation rules have loosened a bit — depending on the publisher in my case.

Somehow the discussion rolled around to “big” words. You know, those words you don’t immediately comprehend that jump out and you and leave you scratching your head as to the definition. The words that have you reaching for your dictionary.

Not surprisingly, I have an opinion on this subject 🙂

Let me preface this by saying I LOVE words. At last count I have somewhere around 50 dictionaries/thesauruses and yes, I actually use them. I don’t solely rely on the thesaurus with the Microsoft Word program when I need a substitute word for a book I’m working on.

But for me there is a line with my love of words that keeps me from thumbing through the dictionary and finding a word like this one to use in my book:

demulcent dih-MULL-sunt adjective

At first glance, I thought the word would have something to do with light — think translucent. I admit I have no basis at all in Latin so I have nothing to base that assumption on besides my previous experience with words.

So what does the word mean?

: soothing

Example sentence: The lozenges had a demulcent effect, and my sore throat was soon feeling much better.

See now this is where I take issue with using a bigger word than a more common one. The writing advice I’ve always taken to heart is this: Why use a two dollar word when a fifty cent one will do?

That’s not to say we shouldn’t try and expand our vocabularies and learn new words. I should point out the writer of that advice in this case was giving advice to new writers on maintaining clarity of thought — and severely limiting the excessive use of adjectives both common and obscure.

There are times when I enjoy a trip to the dictionary in what I’m reading — but most of the time, I’m like…seriously? Why are you trying to impress me with your intrusive language skills? Impress me with the story. Don’t pull me out of the story and send me to the damn dictionary.

Which is why I rarely read literary fiction. It’s also why I write genre fiction.

So tell me, are you one of those readers who immediately grabs a dictionary — or uses the look up function on an ebook reader — when you run across a word you’ve never seen before? Or do you shrug and keep reading?

Share with me the most obscure word you’ve found that you like or loathe — or your favorite odd ball word and I’ll toss your name in the hat for a $10 gift card from an online retailer!

So…I do a huge chunk of my Christmas shopping online, right? After hearing me whine about my ginormous travel bag when we went to Florida, and seeing how much crap I jam into it, which makes the bag weigh ten thousand pounds, ten thousand pounds I have to lug since I usually travel by myself, my always helpful hubby demanded suggested I purchase a new travel bag.

While I was on the site, I came across a purse I deemed funky and cool. Since I have three daughters, I also thought CHRISTMAS GIFT, and seeing it was on sale, I ordered it. I just happened to get it when youngest daughter was home. I showed it to her, thinking she’d say — that’s perfect and so cute! — but her immediate response? “I hope you’re not planning on giving it to any of us for a Christmas gift. Because it is ugly.”

Sadly,  this sentiment was echoed by all three of my daughters…here’s a picture of the purse.

I honestly don’t know if it’s ugly or not. This is a good sized purse.  And all the colored things you see? Are little outfits. Cute outfits, funky outfits. Click on the image to enlarge.

I can’t return it, and god forbid I’d ever use it now and hear my daughter’s groaning and heckling, so I’m gonna give it away to some lucky commenter! So say YES or NO to a chance to win it. But if you don’t want to win it, and want to leave a comment anyway without a chance of getting this bag foisted on you, tell me how many purses you own.

I’ll mail this out next week to a winner in the US — after Christmas!

Everyone have a great Holiday!

So…I do a huge chunk of my Christmas shopping online, right? After hearing me whine about my ginormous travel bag when we went to Florida, and seeing how much crap I jam into it, which makes the bag weigh ten thousand pounds, ten thousand pounds I have to lug since I usually travel by myself, my always helpful hubby demanded suggested I purchase a new travel bag.

While I was on the site, I came across a purse I deemed funky and cool. Since I have three daughters, I also thought CHRISTMAS GIFT, and seeing it was on sale, I ordered it. I just happened to get it when youngest daughter was home. I showed it to her, thinking she’d say — that’s perfect and so cute! — but her immediate response? “I hope you’re not planning on giving it to any of us for a Christmas gift. Because it is ugly.”

Sadly,  this sentiment was echoed by all three of my daughters…here’s a picture of the purse.

I honestly don’t know if it’s ugly or not. This is a good sized purse.  And all the colored things you see? Are little outfits. Cute outfits, funky outfits. Click on the image to enlarge.

I can’t return it, and god forbid I’d ever use it now and hear my daughter’s groaning and heckling, so I’m gonna give it away to some lucky commenter! So say YES or NO to a chance to win it. But if you don’t want to win it, and want to leave a comment anyway without a chance of getting this bag foisted on you, tell me how many purses you own.

I’ll mail this out next week to a winner in the US — after Christmas!

Everyone have a great Holiday!