Eye to Eye with a Bear

I wasn't going to write in my blog today, but this is so funny, I just have to write it down.

My brother Brian, a lawyer who lives in Alaska, spends a fair amount of time driving his daughter to and from soccer practice. Yes, kids play soccer in Alaska, too, but mostly indoors.
Recently he was sitting in the car going through some papers while waiting for her to come out; he was annoyed that he could hear her shuffling her feet through the gravel but she seemed to be taking her time getting to the car. When he looked up, however, it was not his daughter Brenna, but a black bear shuffling around in the parking lot.
Brian quickly picked up his cell phone to call his daughter, but just as he did so, she came out the door, chatting on her cell phone and paying no attention to what was in the parking lot.
Brian rolled his window down a crack and called to Brenna to go back inside. Of course the bear heard his voice, too, and looked up. For a moment the three of them were frozen in time staring from one to the other: the father, the daughter, and the bear. The bear gave in first and ambled off into the woods.

Coming Soon!

I just received my first issue of the new e-zine from Virtual Tales, the publisher of my novel, The Gate House.How exciting to see The Gate House prominantly feature as one of the books slated to be released before the end of the summer!

Furthermore, when I reread the description of the book on the web site, I noticed it was described as a "wonderful English mystery." I can think of no better praise than to see something that I wrote considered a "wonderful English mystery."
I feel grateful to anyone who has ever taught me anything about writing, and grateful to my dad, who sparked my interest in history, especially British history.
Great things are happening!

New Web Site Find

I am quite excited about a new web site for writers that I came across yesterday called Book Marketing Network.I would be interested to hear what anyone else has to say about it.
It seems to be very user friendly for those of us who just want to get the word out there about our writing, and make connections with other writers.
I have also had another of my Central America adventures published on Starfish.
And my husband has had one of his photographs chosen for an article about endangered elephants.
It's wonderful to have creativity recognized!

It's Done!

I finished the final edit of The Gate House, and now it really should be out soon! Like a child going off for the first day of school, there is always a tendency to straighten something, to add or take away a word, or rearrange slightly. But I sent it off to the editors once again.
Editors are the most wonderful people in the world, at least in my limited experience. They see with fresh clear eyes and know what to look for. So I will just say "Thank you" to Jake and June at Virtual Tales.

It's a Learning Process

I'm doing the final edit for The Gate House. I wrote the book two years ago, and it is srange revisiting it. An editor's eyes see subtleties that I miss, and little by little I become a better writer.
It's exciting to see how my skills and insights grow.