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Dear Diary,
I got my braces off today!
And I met the cutest boy!
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Ah, diaries. Repositories of our dreams,
rants, triumphs, heartbreaks, darkest fears, delicious secrets,
fragments of Styx lyrics... well, that was my high school diary,
anyway. My high school diary reads like a collaboration between
Sylvia Plath and Marcia Brady. Admit it—yours probably wasn't
much different!
Just for fun, I thought I'd use this section as a sort of "day
in the life of a first-time author" —I'll update it
from time to time with pithy commentary and riveting glimpses
into my life (feel free to roll your eyes right about now). And
be sure to visit my blog (see below) for other more of that pithy
commentary (this page may morph into the blog entirely in the
future—I'll keep you posted!)
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February
5, 2006
Five of the Fog City Divas descended upon Barnes
& Noble in the Tanforan Shopping Center in San Bruno last
weekend to talk about writing, brag about and make fun of each
other, and sign our vast collectio n
of books (well, I only have two so far, but the rest of these
babes boast quite a library between them). Babs
Freethy and I are over there to the right, and and below,
from left, we have Candice
Hern, Kate Moore,
Carol Grace, Barbara,
our faithful blogger, Isabel (who took these photos), and moi.
Oh, and some unidentified guy who's pretending to be browsing
the shelves behind us when he's actually clearly hanging on our
every word (and who could blame him?). I'm not sure whether you
can see it clearly or not in the photo below, but for some reason
there are about fifty beverages on our table. All that talking
and chocolate makes a girl thirsty.
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November
4, 2005
For Halloween, my nephew Sam dressed up
as a monkey, which is kind of like saying, "For Halloween,
Julie Anne Long dressed up as an author." In other words,
Sam is a bit of a monkey, despite the fact that he hasn't shown
any signs of developing a prehensile tail. (Personally, I've always
thought a prehensile tail would come in handy. It would make re  ading
on the bus easier, for example—I could hold a book in my
hands and hang onto the overhead bar with my tail. But I digress).
The monkey outfit wasn't voluntary, however, because so few things
are when you're Sam's age, the age where your mom is allowed to
dress you up however she freaking pleases. And Sam protested mightily
at first. Much wriggling took place. As you can see from these
photos, he steadfastly refused to wear the monkey feet of the
costume, so he's wearing sneakers instead. A small triumph for
the pee wee.
His mom, my sister, tried to get him to hold a copy of THE
RUNAWAY DUKE while he was posing, but Sam just wanted
the phone. I love these photos, because it looks like he's trying
to decide who to call to get him the hell out of that outfit,
and he's finally all smiles when he's able to make that
crucial call. Actually, he eventually warmed to the costume, because
it was cuddly, and because everyone made a HUGE fuss over him,
and no one in my gene pool has ever objected to having a huge
fuss made over them.
As for me and Halloween: In general, I'm
a whimsical person, but even in my wild youth my approach to dressing
for Halloween was all about vanity and practicality: e.g., 1)
Will I look foxy in the costume? and 2) Will it be easy to get
in and out of when I have to go to the bathroom at a party, or
will it take 30 minutes? Will it itch or chafe? Will it rub off?
This year for Halloween I dressed in pajamas and crashed like
a big flannel boulder and slept and slept and slept, because I
had just finished off a series of up-at-7-in-the-morning-in-bed-at
-3 in the morning days working on a final round of revisions for
BATS. It was a bloody good sleep, too. A well-spent Halloween.
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August
31, 2005
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here Toni Blake
and I vamp on Rita night in Reno at July's Romance Writers of
America conference. You'll notice my hands are conspicuously
empty of Rita statuettes, which would be because I didn't actually
win one. This is probably fortunate, in that I lost my
bullet- point thank-you speech (written on a napkin—I think
I might have accidentally swabbed lipstick with it) right before
the ceremony, |
(Photo by God knows who. I stole it from Toni's
site) |
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and watching me try to wing it, sweating and
stammering in a stream-of-consciousness way up there on stage ("ummm...I'd
like to thank my ed-ed-ed-itor...and Santa Claus...No! I mean—"),
would no doubt have been a trial for those present.
And it was extraordinary to even be nominated—surreal, in fact.
I hope it happens again some day. In preparation for that moment,
I'll do curls with my ten-pound weights so I won't topple under
the weight of the statue when I carry it back to my seat. Both Karen
Rose and Lani
Diane Rich let me hold their Rita's, which is how I know
how hefty that sucker is.
Rita evening was many, many things, including unforgettable, gorgeous,
interminable, and challenging to the necks of those down front who
spent the evening tilted back to look at the stage, and it was a
joy to share it  with
so many good friends. We laughed a lot. Sometimes even in
the right places.
O n the whole, the best
part of the conference is reconnecting with friends and making
delightful new ones. Thanks to Emily Hixon of Levy Home Entertainment
and her stories of flying monkeys, conga lines and hand-licking
(don't ask), I nearly fractured a rib laughing at the Warner dinner.
The food at the Steak House (It's actually called that!! But I
had the salmon) was amazing...and the dessert slices of cake were
about as big as my head. (And yes, I ate all of my cake). Warner
author Michelle Rowen
took that photo up there, and as it's a rare photogenic moment
for me (author Susan
Crandall always looks lovely) I decided to include it
here in the diary. However, you won't be seeing the one of me,
Michelle and Megan Crane,
in which, frankly, I think I look something like an Elvis impersonator.
At least you won't see that photo on my site.
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July
24, 2005
Because I have a long, long list of little things to do before the
conference (buy pantyhose! get waxed! figure out how to use that
bizarre little FREE digital camera Comcast sent me!) and because
I've discovered that my reservations at the Reno Hilton are, shall
we say, slightly screwed up in an ulcer-inducing way (Mercury retrograde,
anyone??), and because I need to be working on my revisions for
BATS, and because I feel that familiar "OMG-how-am-I-going-to-accomplish
all of this before Wednesday?!?" knot growing in my stomach...I
thought I'd update my diary. LOL. I find it strangely soothing.
See, already I'm more relaxed. Over there to the right we have my
1950's vintage Rita gown, which should continue to fit as long as
I don't eat anything between now and the evening of the ceremony
(Saturday the 30th). I'll bring safety-pins just in case I can't
zip it by then, for that ever popular Grace Kelly-meets-Nancy-Spungen
look (google Sid Vicious if you don't know who she is).
The conference promises to be a mile-a-minute blast, and I'm v.
excited. But they don't have coffee makers in the rooms!!! Hands
up to cheeks in horror! (I'm a tea drinker, but still, the water
has to get hot somehow!! Yikes! (add to list: get teeny coffee maker).
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no eating between now and the 30th!
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March
7, 2005
And here we have photos from two events, one in a very, very dark
place—the Starlight Room of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel
in San Francisco—the other in a very, very bright place,
right beneath the skylight at a Waldenbooks author event at the
Northgate Mall in San Rafael. The Starlight room event was the kickoff
party for the San
Francisco Writer's Conference, where Candice
Hern, Jackie Ivie and
I were the Romance Panel. A drink called The Bestseller was created
in honor of the conference—it was, I believe, comprised of
Vodka, grapefruit juice and Campari, but it tasted like Vodka, Vodka
and Vodka with a splash of Vodka and a Vodka twist. I took one sip
and water started pouring out of my eyes. I'm such a wuss when it
comes to drinking. But I finished it...at least I think I did...everything
that happened after that first sip is a little fuzzy, for some reason...
The bright booksigning was hosted by Waldenbooks at Northgate Mall
in San Rafael and was a lot of fun—
more than two dozen Bay Area authors participated, but since I was
just learning how to use my camera phone, the only decent photo
from that day is the one over to the right—and author Diana
Dempsey took it.
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Jackie Ivie
and Julie Anne Long do their best to squish
Candice Hern in the Starlight
Room of the Sir Francis
Drake Hotel in San Francisco
Yours truly and author Barbara
Freethy at the Waldenbooks
signing in Northgate Mall, San Rafael. |
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March
5, 2005
Why a baby, you ask? Well, just look at him. He's so freaking
pretty. That's my nephew Sam, and he's a year old now, and
he's pretty much the best baby ever. Between Sam and my cat Domenic
and my new camera phone, this site could easily become babiesandcats.com.
For your sake, I'll exercise moderation.
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Sam, the best baby! |
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September 14, 2004
Ah, diary. I've criminally neglected you, but I have an excuse:
a life! A full-blown blizzard of a life! In fact, if it wasn't for
Febreze, I would never do laundry. (Yes, I realize Febreze doesn't
actually clean your clothes, but just be grateful there's
something out there for first-time authors who don't yet have servants
and who would prefer not to reek). My worlds are all colliding:
first book, second book, promotion for both, emails, day job, grocery
shopping, plumbing, bronchitis, etc.
Obsessing about my Amazon ranking also takes time. See that little
number over there in the bottom right corner of the Amazon graphic?
177?? That's the highest I've seen THE RUNAWAY DUKE!! Which is kind
of amazing, actually. Now, mind you, that number doesn't actually
really tell me anything...it's just a comparison of how well
the book has sold in a given hour on Amazon compared to all the
other books on Amazon...but just TRY to stop looking at that
number once you start!! I defy you! It's like bloody E-Bay!! I've
been forbidden to look at the ranking anymore by people who care
about me (and whom I've irritated beyond words by flying into Amazon
raptures or sinking into an Amazon slough of despond, often in the
span of a couple of hours). So I've stopped. HONEST. Ahem....
I'm finishing up revisions on TO LOVE A THIEF—and I WILL update
the website with a little description of the story and the final
cover, etc., as soon remember exactly how I intended to set up that
web page to begin with. LOL! I also have some photos from various
signings, etc., that I need to add to my gallery. I'm thinking...October,
at this point. Meanwhile, if someone races past you in a cloud of
Febreze, you'll know it's me...my head full of revisions and new
stories, a bus to catch, a cat to feed...
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how a single, first-time author does laundry
my self-worth-o-meter, aka amazon.com
Tthis is the train I catch in the morning to
go downtown. In this photo, it's going
into the first of two tunnels. Sometimes
it goes
into the tunnel and stops there inexplicably for a
long, long time.That usually heralds the beginning
of what we san franciscans like to call "a bad day."
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May 10, 2004
Hurrah! the ARCs for THE RUNAWAY DUKE
arrived. They're so beautiful. They look just like books, bless
their little hearts. Heck, I guess I really am an author.
And my job is to find homes for all of them, just like kittens or
puppies. Just kidding! I'll be sending them to reviewers and book
groups. Send me a note if you're one
of the above and would like to see one.
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free to a good home... please be kind. |
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April 31, 2004
I finished TO LOVE A THIEF (my second novel) and hit the send button.
Now all I have to do is wait in abject terror for my editor to read
it and render an opinion... or many, many opinions. Remind me again
why I wanted to be a writer...? LOL!
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terror, anyone? cue the theme from "Jaws..." |
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April
10, 2004
Everyone should experience an audience as warm and receptive as the
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the RWA—God, we're such a great
group. :) Today was our panel discussion on "Breaking In/Breaking
Out of Publishing," where four of us—Candice Hern, Jennifer
Skullestad, Shelley Bates and moi—expounded on our experiences
in the trenches to date. I had a wonderful time, and it was great
to have both my agent, Elizabeth Pomada, and her partner Michael Larsen
(Elizabeth was on the panel, Michael in the audience) present, too.
I even won the bloody raffle!! LOL!! I never win raffles. Maybe
it was because Michael bought the tickets and split them between Elizabeth
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The city might be foggy and cold, but the
SF RWA is warm and wonderful.
I even won the raffle!! A first in the
annals of JAL history. |
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April 7, 2004
Today my old friend Kevin Wing and I returned to Ohlone College
to speak to Bill Parks' (our former Journalism advisor) Mass Media
students about life after cutting classes at Ohlone. :) I'm so proud
of Kevin— he's been a reporter, an anchor or an assignment
editor for just about every major news station in the San Francisco
Bay Area, and he has two Northern California Emmy's. His latest
project is a documentary for the Travel Channel: Catchawave.
As for me—well, you all know what I'm up to these days.
:)
Kevin and I were editors together on the Ohlone College Monitor,
and we used to drag the paste-ups off to the printer at 3 a.m. every
couple of weeks, after littering the staff room with Tab cans (GOD,
I loved Tab back then) during layout. Truthfully, we were
a little rambunctious— I used to come home with pieces of headlines
accidentally waxed to my elbow, forehead, backside, etc.—but
always tediously diligent. It was a little eerie being back: I saw
ghosts everywhere (well, you know, not actual ghosts). The
library where we once found my old boyfriend Shawn fast asleep in
a puddle of drool (he'd been missing for a few classes, we sent
a search party out) ...the pond behind the cafeteria where a few
peacocks magically showed up one day...it was nice, actually. Ohlone
backs up against the Fremont Hills, so it's quite lovely. Mountain
lions have been known to come down to take a sip out of the fountains
at night.
And as it turned out, Bill's students had some great questions about
romance writing, although none of them claimed to want to write
a novel, if you can believe it (or maybe I scared them). Thank you
in particular to the guy with the glasses in the front row, whoever
you were, for grilling me. You woke me all the way up. (I was up
at 5:30 a.m. to get to Fremont in time, and anyone who knows me
will know what kind of shape I was in). And thanks to Bill for inviting
me—it was great to see him again.
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the pond behind the cafeteria at Ohlone.
(scene of much goofing off once upon a time.)
Kevin has two of these.
(not his actual Emmy)
thanks for grilling me, whoever you were!
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March 15, 2004
Possibly the best Monday I've ever had!! I arrived at work to an
an email from my editor at Warner, Melanie, sharing the fabulous
news about THE RUNAWAY DUKE'S early
review from Romantic Times BookCLUB magazine. It's still early,
yet—I suppose it's possible someone will hate the book and
say so, at length, in print, at some point. LOL! But RT...Wow.
I'm thrilled and humbled and hopeful and worried (I'm a Virgo, after
all, which means I'm pretty much always worried).
Melanie sent along the preliminary cover art for TO LOVE A THIEF
along, too— and it's GORGEOUS.
La la la! Life is good. I love everybody today, even that homeless
guy on Market Street who asked me politely if he could see my underwear.
("Sorry—not today, buddy.")
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a
draft of my next cover
Not
today, buddy! |
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March 11, 2004
Tonight I ate tuna out of the can with a fork and feverishly typed
a section of my second novel, TO LOVE A THIEF while the cats fixed
me with long, indignant stares. To quote my friend Kevin,
what is it with cats and fish? Have I mentioned that the life
of a first-time novelist is very, very glamorous? My diet and my housekeeping
and my wardrobe have all gone straight to Hell. LOL! Wait, there's
something I forgot to do...what was it, what was it... Oh yeah: marry
a rich indulgent spouse! LOL! But the book is going pretty welll,
so far, I
think. Deadlines are my friend. (Repeat, as a mantra.)
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dinner
tonight
(the cats were jealous)
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February 20, 2004
Today my sister gave birth to the best baby
EVER. He's a little early, but then again, impatience runs in the
family. He's also extremely beautiful, and I'm not just saying
that. Honest. |
beautiful sam
(he's not actually orange in real life)
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