A Tribute

I lost my older sister yesterday. She was 58 years old. She'd battled brain cancer for years. For a while, she'd been winning. Yesterday, she didn't.

Yesterday, I received a call from the hospital near the nursing home she'd been living in for the past 2 years. She'd been in the hospital since Sunday night. I had no idea she was in such bad condition, or I would have made the 4-hour drive sooner. I'd been told she had a urinary infection. What she really had were massive blood clots in her heart and lungs. No one at the hospital told me that until it was too late.

My husband and I rushed up there right after the doctor called. He didn't hold out much hope that we'd make it. We didn't. We were 1/3 of the way there when the doctor called us to let us know that she'd suffered a fatal heart attack.

My sister was 9 years older than me, never married, never had children. For the majority of her life, she'd raised Rottweilers and was the founder of Ebonstern Kennels. She loved those dogs more than anything else in her life and dedicated her entire life to them. Ebonstern had a reputation of raising high quality dogs. My sister was very picky about who bought one of her dogs. I used to say that it was easier to adopt a child than to pass her stringent "vetting" of prospective parents for her beloved puppies. She was a responsible dog breeder and had an extensive contract she required that new owners sign. Only show quality dogs could be bred if they were AKC champions. Her pet quality dogs were to be fixed.

One of her "babies" still lives with us. He is partially blind and deaf but seems happy and healthy for a 16-year-old Rottweiler.

So what does this have to do with writing and books? Nothing on the surface, but my sister instilled in me a love of books from the day I was born. She was an avid reader. What a shame that she couldn't read in the last few years of her life. That is her legacy. That, and her beloved Ebonstern rottweilers.

May she finally rest in peace and live happily in heaven with her canine children once again.

The Princess is in The Pasture

There's a horse in my pasture. Yup. A big red, warmblood mare.

Normally, I board my horse, but I have a few acres, a nice barn, an arena, and a pasture, not to mention miles of trails right off my property. So I decided to bring her home for the weekend to eat the pasture down and do a little trail riding, Unfortunately, our little 20-minute trip had some trauma. I'll tell you all about in my blog on Sunday at Equestrian Ink.

Anyway, all's well, and the mare is happily enjoying the fresh green stuff she doesn't normally get to dine on. I'm enjoying sitting in my lounge chair in front of the barn and watching her graze.

Life doesn't get much better than this.

A Technology-Free Weekend

I spent the entire weekend at a horse show. I'm the type of person who is married to my cell phone and laptop so, of course, I brought them along.

Here's the amazing part. I didn't use either of them once in three days and never missed them.

Guess what I did? I socialized with real people and horses. No My Space, no Facebook, no email, no blogging. Just me, my horse, my husband, and good friends.

I had a lousy show, but I had a good time. As I was driving home, camper on the back of my truck, horse trailer in tow with my 1500-pound horse tucked inside, I resisted the urge to pick up that cell phone. Instead, I reflected on the weekend, and how I managed to go technology-free. Not an easy feat for a technology obsessed person.

Our society has become so attached to our techno-stuff, that I wonder if we're heading down the wrong path and losing touch with the important things in life, the simple things, like the sound of a horse munching on hay in the early morning or conversation with good friends or the evening sunset. Technology is a poor replacement for the good things in life, the simple things.

Tonight try turning off that laptop and cell phone and sit on the porch with people important to you and watch a sunset. You might be surprised how much you've been missing and how much you truly enjoy it.

Birthdays and Life and Memorial Day

I have a big birthday this Monday--Memorial Day. I can't decide if there's some kind of perverse humor in that or not. It's one of those decade birthdays you'd just as soon forget about it. Regardless, May has been an excellent month for my husband and I. If fact, I don't recall a time when things have ever fallen in place so beautifully like pieces of a puzzle.

Recently, my hubby had a dream job literally fall into his lap and a reunion with a beloved person in his life. I received a raise at my day job, have my first book coming out in under a month, and all sorts of good things with which I won't bore you. I'm beginning to think that we'll be able to afford that addition on our house that I've dreamed about for years without skimping on all the amenities I want in it.

It's funny how things turn like that. I have to count my blessings because life for us couldn't get much better.

As I gear up for the release of "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?" I get a little nervous about it. What if no one buys it? What if it's a bomb? Should I even tell my friends about it because they might hate it? But I'm a firm believer that life will become what you expect it to become. You have to have faith and keep on believing in whatever it is you believe in: God, Karma, yourself.

So take care this weekend. Have a fun and safe memorial day. Believe that life can be what you want it to be and be grateful that you have the opportunity to make it whatever you wish.

While you're enjoying a long weekend off, take a moment to remember those who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and will never have the future you and I have. If you have children, take them to a memorial service so they can gain a small understanding of what this holiday really means.

Take care, Jami

Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction

Four years ago my husband went to Iraq. When he came back, he was a diabetic. You see, he was hit by a roadside bomb. The concussion damaged his pancreas. So one minute it worked and the next it didn't. He was luckier than a lot of soldiers, at least he had his life, all of his limbs, and everything else was in good working order. Worst of all for him was that they medically discharged him from the Army. He didn't want to leave his troops over there without him, but he didn't get a choice.

Still, it was very hard for him to adjust. He didn't want to have this problem, and he fought it for a very long time. He has to take insulin and watch what he eats. He has to monitor his blood sugar and make sure he doesn't go too high or too low. It's been a very educational experience for both of us. I knew nothing about diabetes before I met him.

That's why I want to do my little part in advertising Brenda Novak's auction for diabetes research. I hope you'll take the time to stop by Brenda's website and bid on something. The bidding starts tomorrow (May 1) and runs through May 31.

http://www.brendanovak.com/auction_index.php

What's in a Pen Name

I've been asked lately by a few new writers why I chose to write under a pen name and how I came up with it.

There are lots of reasons to consider a pen name if you're a writer. Privacy was a consideration of mine. After all, I have aspirations of being a NYT bestseller eventually. ;) I also wanted a separation between my writing career and my day job and a certain degree of anonymity because of the steaminess of some of my books.

After making the decision to have a pen name, here's how I picked one. Jami was a no-brainer. My father's name was James. My parents had wanted to name me "Jami," but my sister liked Pam, so my real name is Pam.

For a last name, it was more difficult. I got out a family tree, wrote down some of the last names I liked, and went to a couple bookstores. I checked out where I'd be placed on the shelves. I wanted to be next to some good authors that would attract customers to that area on the shelves. I also wanted to be near the beginning of the alphabet. When I'm browsing, I start at the beginning and usually don't get to the end before I find a book.

Davenport was the last name of a great-great grandfather of mine. Anyway, I chose that last name based on the above criteria.

If you're a writer with a pen name, how did you choose your pen name?

San Juan Islands--Day 4 & 5

Sorry I didn't post the last day, but we left early on Wed. to catch the ferry.

Both "The Dance" and "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed" are set on a fictitious farm on Orcas Island that is in danger of being developed into a world-class resort. On Tuesday, Dennis and I drove to Deer Harbor on the other side of the island. I've always pictured Rosehill Farm to be somewhere in this area with a view similar to this:




Wednesday we left the beautiful San Juans behind us and passed another ferry on our way. The Washington State ferry system is one of the largest in the world and operated by the state of Washington, rather than a private company. There are many inhabitants of Washington who live on islands and depend on the ferry service, not just in the San Juans, but throughout Puget Sound.

I hope you've enjoyed a little look at the islands.

San Juan Islands--Day 2

Monday Morning


Even though the weather report said rain all day, it barely rained at all. There were even periods of sunshine.

We spent a lazy day, having lunch and dinner in the lounge and walking about the grounds. We also moved to another room. This was a much nicer room with a beautiful view of the San Jauns, but I was unable to get onto the Internet wireless anymore once we moved. So I’m sending this from the Moran Mansion lobby.

This is the Moran Lounge:

As we were returning from dinner, the sun came out and the skies were blue. I knew my window of opportunity had just arrived. I grabbed Dennis, much to his annoyance as he’d settled in for nap, and insisted that we drive to the top of Mt. Constitution. Mt. Constitution is the tallest point in the islands. You can see a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding islands and mainland. I’d never been up there, but I’d heard it was not to be missed. It was well worth the trip, as you can see below. Unfortunately it was a little hazy so none of the pictures came out very well, but you can see enough to know how beautiful it was.

Here are some views from Mt. Constitution of the islands.

I wanted to stay up there for the sunset, but it was blowing like crazy and about 34 degrees. No joke. Brrrrrr...

I hope you’re enjoying my journal of our trip.

Day One--San Juan Trip

Dennis and I caught the 1:15 ferry to the San Juans yesterday. It was a beautiful ride over, pretty warm for this time of year, and sunny. The ferry trip was about an hour as we stopped at Lopez and Shaw Islands before we could depart at Orcas.

Here's my husband on the ferry trip over.



Once we arrived on Orcas, we had a pleasant, scenic drive along a winding two-lane road to Rosario Resort. Rosario was built by Robert Moran in aprox. 1904. He was a former mayor of Seattle and a shipbuilder. The Moran Mansion is spectacular and now a museim. One of the highlights of the museum is the music room with its 1900-pipe organ. The woodwork in this mansion is Honduras mahogany and teak.

Our room was a surprise. All their bayview rooms were occupied so we were given a garden view room. It actually did have a water view of the marina and Cascade bay.

We had dinner in the bar, which was Robert Moran's library at one time. I'll post pictures of the bar later this week. In my book, "The Dance," Mariah and Rico fall in love in this bar while dancing. Once you see pictures of this romantic bar, you'll see why.


Then we took a walk around the grounds, and Dennis happened upon some very friendly deer.

Today, we're going to move our room to one of the rooms that are perched on the cliff and hang out over the water. I'll update you about everything tomorrow.

Have a great Easter.

The Last-MInute Adventure

Recently, my husband and I talked about a little trip for our anniversary, which is next month. Of course, I wanted to go to my favorite place and the setting for two of my books, Washington's San Juan Islands. Thursday, I started checking reservation information and realized if we went to the San Juans before April 1, we could get great deals on rooms. So at the last minute, we booked a room at Rosario Resort on Orcas Island.

So it's off we go this morning, for a 3-hour drive on I-5 and a pleasant 1-hour ride on the ferry.

If I can get Internet access, I'll post some pictures and some stories of our last-minute getaway.

I'm going to bring back some great "island" items for my promo contests when my first San Juan book comes out, "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed" followed by "The Dance," both set on Orcas Island.

I hope you'll join me--

because everyone deserves a little island time.

The Call and What It Means

Yesterday a very dear friend of mine got the call, actually since it was an email, I guess you could say THE Email. "The Call" is an offer to publish by a publisher, be it big or small press. She is now going to be a published author. I am so thrilled for her, you can't imagine. You can check her out at:

http://www.alliekadams.com/

Now we are both feverishly planning our first releases. There is so much promo that a new author has to do if they want to get their name out there. It's not as easy as just sitting back and waiting for the book to be published. Rookie authors even with big publishers don't get the promo opportunities. They need to create them on their own. Well, Allie and I were never ones to sit around and wait for life to pass us by. We are social creatures and like to be in the middle of everything. We're also both in IT, and believe me, that takes a certain personality.

No, we won't make the NYT bestseller list, yet, but someday, I think you'll see us both there. We'll make it happen somehow.

So have a toast for Allie and me and wish us luck as we navigate the murky waters of book promotion and publishing!!!

Computers and News Updates

I've been fighting for the last two weeks with my wireless PC card and Outlook Express. I want my ISP's email to sync with Outlook Express. Well, it works fine if I dial-in to the ISP, and I do mean dial-in. We're talking speeds of somewhere between a slug on the sidewalk watching a tree grow. So now I have this wireless card, and I'm off to the races, except Outlook won't sync. After a couple weeks of fighting with the thing, I have it receiving mail but not sending. I know what's wrong, it's finding the right answer that's sending me off the deep end.

That makes me wonder--how the heck does the average person off the street manage to troubleshoot PCs when those of us in IT often struggle with the things? I've spent countless hours on this one problem, which should be easy to fix, but I find the easiest things are often the hardest.

On another note, I have some news:

I sold The Dance, the first manuscript (and the subject of a previous post, "That Special Manuscript") I ever completed, to Siren Publishing. It'll be out in late 2008. I'm very excited to see this manuscript in print.

Equestrian Ink debuts on Monday. This is a collaborative effort of several authors who write equestrian fiction. We have tons of fun things planned so drop in every couple days to check us out!!!

Time--A Four-Letter Word

Time.

Now there's a 4-letter word and something I wish I had more of. Unfortunately, there is nothing in my life that I want to give up in order to buy time for other things. So this is my life: I work full-time (sometimes more than that). I ride and show my horse in dressage. I am a writer. Lately, I am spending more time on promotion than I am on writing.

I need to write more and spend less time on the Internet. So what am I doing here? Good question. Other than rambling off some meaningless stuff that I hope a few people read. I have committed myself to posting here at least once a week. I'd like to post more. The problem is that 4-letter word again.

Time.

So I'm trying to come up with time-savers, but truthfully I'm doing a better job at time waster. The number one time waster of all? Wanna guess? The Internet.

I've cut myself back to just a few loops, My Space, and my personal email. Even so, I can still waste several hours a day.

What are your bigggest time wasters and time savers?

The Adventures of Cabana Boy

Over the years, my infamous older brother, aka Cabana Boy, has been entertaining friends and family alike with his Cabana Boy stories. Ever since he moved to Hawaii from the rainy Pacific Northwest, I've been trying to get him to chronicle his adventures, or would that be misadventures, on a blog or a website.

Finally, Cabbie has posted one of his recent adventures on the Internet for all to enjoy. While the names have been changed to protect the guilty, yours truly and my husband are named in this tale.

To check it out, go to this link:

Cabana Boy

Then choose the link on the left for "Hula Cruise."

Superbowl Sunday

So are you ready?

I am.

I love football. I think I mentioned that before.

I'm just crawling out from under the covers after a cold that for a week has kept me from my real job, my horse, my writing, and even reading, even--believe it or not--off the computer. Now that's a bad cold.

But I'm ready for the Super Bowl. Hubby and I are going to a SB party at a veteran's club that he belongs to. As far as who wins, I don't have much interest or any personal stake in either team after my Seahawks and Packers lost, but it'll still be fun. You'll find me rooting for the underdogs. It has inspired me to get The Gift Horse done so I can finish writing my football hero romance. One nice thing about writing for a small press is that you have a lot more freedom in the length of your book and what you put in it. It's somewhat liberating to not be writing with all those restrictions--imagined or real--that you have when writing for publication in NY.

Well, now I'm rambling, so I'm off to finishing a chapter before the Super Bowl.

Are there any other football fans out there?

July Girls

Tonight I'm sitting in a hotel room in Ellensburg, WA, and it's after midnight. Hubby and I are on our way to Idaho to see his daughter. We checked out the local bar for one drink and Karaoke. Not one person could sing a note on tune. It was pretty painful, so we executed a quick depart.

I'm all excited because a friend and Olympia chaptermate of mine, Kate Davies, just sold to Siren. She will be a July Girl along with Wendi (Darlin) and me. Wendi just got her cover on the Siren site. I am anxiously awaiting mine. I did get my story blurb posted recently, which it REALLY cool. This is so fun to be going through all this for the first time, especially when it's a good experience with a great publisher. That makes it twice the fun.

So I'm wondering if we should be July Girls or Summer Girls or what?

I need to get The Gift Horse done. GH is the best one I've done to date. I'd like to market it to the equestrian community and romance community.

Confessions of Football Fan

I am a football fan. I have been a football fan since high school.

Is it my fault that my chosen football teams haven't exactly been the bastions of victory? Hey, as a Washington native, I'm a diehard Washington State Cougar and Seattle Seahawk fan.

Let's talk about the Hawks. I was there in 1976, when they were infants. I met Jim Zorn (their quarterback) at the local department store that summer before their first season while the Seahawks were on a whirlwind publicity tour of Washington State.

I've been with them through the good times (Superbowl) and the bad times (too many to mention, but let's talk about 3-win seasons). I was in the Kingdome when they played in their first playoff game in years and played the last game played in the Kingdome. Yup, I've been there. I've screamed my lungs out until I couldn't speak or hear. I've been part of that crowd that became infamous throughout the NFL. I've hoped and prayed and cried and laughed. I've done it all, and I never gave up.

I'll be in front of the TV this Saturday when the Hawks meet Green Bay. I love you, Brett, but I gotta root for the hometown boys.

GO HAWKS!!!!

Goodbye to a Real American Hero

Today my husband and I attended the memorial service of his dear friend, Vern. I didn't know Vern well myself. After listening to comrades, friends, and family speak of him, I now know him a lot better.

You see, Vern spent 32 years of his life in the Army, specifically Special Forces. My husband, Dennis, also in SF, considered Vern a good friend and mentor.

Vern had four Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, Bronze Star, was nominated for the Medal of Honor, and numerous other awards I can't begin to recall.

When Vern was in Viet Nam, he was assigned to a small Special Forces team of 4 who were dispatched to monitor the Viet Cong. I don't remember the details of where or when or even why, but in a way that doesn't matter. Unknowingly, they were dropped into the middle of over 500 Viet Cong soldiers. The crew of the helicopter were killed and the helicopter destroyed. The four Green Berets dug in. SF soldiers carry enough firepower to sustain a fight almost indefinitely; but in this case, none of the four figured they'd make it out alive. After a long battle, Vern and his small group were still alive while the Viet Cong sustained 130 casualties. The VC retreated, certain that they were up against a larger force. Little did they know that only four men held off back that day.

Whether or not you agree with the politics behind war, please salute those soldiers who gave and continue to give so much and often for so little in return.

And for Vern, I say, go in peace to a better place. I salute you and may God bless you.

I want to be a cat

We are not cat people. Honest. I mean I like cats (in fact, we're animal lovers), but a nice barn cat that doesn't spread cat hair all over your house. Now, my husband is one of those macho guys (a former Army Ranger and SF Weapons Sergeant) that doesn't like cats at all. At least, he "claims" he didn't.

A year ago last fall, an orange tabby moved into our barn. Hey, I was fine with that. They're ruthless mousers, and I'm all for a friendly little barn cat.

So we fed him... And we took him in to get shots and to be fixed.

Problem is that he had greater aspirations. He wanted to be a house cat.

Last winter, my husband injured his back at work and was flat on the couch for a few weeks. Day two on the couch--I came home from work. There was the cat on Dennis' chest, both of them sound asleep.

One year later....

So much for the barn cat.

If you have cats, you know the rest.

When I die, I want to come back as a cat.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Really good things have happened to my husband and me in the month of December. For starters, we went to Hawaii for a week and stayed with dear friends of ours.

Then we heard from someone that we thought was lost to us. That WAS the best Christmas present ever.

Lastly, is news I can't report yet. Hopefully, within a week I'll have BIG news to report.

Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!