Emerald City Romance Writers, October 2, 2010

I'll be at the Emerald City Writers Conference Romance Book Fair on Saturday, October 2, from 4 to 6 pm. Drop by, win a Kindle, and buy a few books. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to DAWN (Domestic Abuse Women's Network).
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Update

I've had a semi-productive summer. While I didn't finish many books, I started several.  ;)  I'm finally back in my zone and able to write like I used to be able to write. In other words, truly get into the characters' heads and become my characters.

I've started a new series, Seattle Lumberjacks Football Series. I've been shopping Fourth and Goal around since March. After two tough rejections and some excellent, detailed feedback from an editor, I gutted the plot and started over. I'm within three chapters of finishing my second set of edits. After that, F&G will be back out on the street again, looking for a good home. The Lumberjack series has been in my head for close to fifteen years. As a big football fan, I truly believe there can be a market for football romances. According to statistics, forty to forty-five percent of NFL football fans are women. So some of those women should be interested in romance with a football hero, don't you think?

My book will be different from most sports romances in that one of the subplots involves the team's journey to the championship. Most romances gloss over the sports part of the hero's life. Not me, I LOVE football, and I want the game to be an integral part of my book.

I am so excited to see F&G published, but it's importnat for me to find the right home for it, a task I won't take lightly.

I'm halfway through Book 2 of the series, involving an animal communcator heroine, a bad-boy quarterback, and a spoiled orange tabby cat.

Wedding Weekend

I spent the weekend preparing for my stepson's wedding. It's the closest I'll ever come to being involved in a wedding since I don't have "kids of my own." My stepson's mother is out of the picture, her choice, but still unfortunate. His new wife's mother died when she was young, and her dad never remarried. So my hubby and I tried to help out any way we could.

I am exhausted, but it's a good exhausted. Probably not as exhausted as my dear friend, Em, who did all the flowers and decorations. She's so talented. By the time she was done, it looked liked we'd spent thousands on the flowers and decorations. Em, you are a jewel. Everything was perfect. The wedding was unpretentious but classy. The setting out on Hood Canal was beautiful. The weather was mid-seventies. And the bride and groom looked so in love.

This was probably the nicest wedding I've ever been to, despite it not being the most expensive or the fanciest. It goes to show how far you can go on a budget when friends and family chip in to help. Not only that, but the bride and groom went out of their way to make every guest feel welcome and special.

Weddings are funny things, and unfortunately, good and bad memories can be made depending on how they're organized and who really runs the show. I'm still trying to move beyond a painful and humiliatng experience at a recent wedding which was painstakingly orchestrated to make it obvious we were not welcome there and were not considered part of the family. So you can imagine I was a little guyshy at attending another "family" wedding.

Of course, this wedding was different. I had a hand in raising my stepson, and he considered my new hubby and I part of his family as did his bride. Besides, I was involved in the planning. It was important to me that every guest feel welcome and an essential part of the ceremony despite anyone else's negative history with them.

Congratulations to the bride and groom!!!

A Warm Weekend

The Northwest has been cursed with some awful weather this spring and summer. Finally, we're getting a little taste of summer this weekend. As I write this, it's 8 pm and about 76 degrees outside. Lovely. It doesn't get better than this.


Our house is surrounded by trees so we're in the shade right now, but it's still warm and calm. I'm thinking it's the perfect time to sit in the hot tub with a glass of wine and enjoy the evening just watching nature do its thing.

Sunday we're going boating around Puget Sound on my ex-husband's boat. Did I say ex-husband? Yes, I did. After the inital two years of hating each other (which I think is expected when a relationship breaks apart), I forgave him and he forgave me, and we moved on. My hubbie introduced him to his new wife, as she was a friend of ours. We've all become great friends over the past few years. While most people consider it weird, they also admit that's how it should be after a divorce. Instead, many divorced couples can't seem to get beyond the hatred, their zeal for vengance against perceived wrongs, and their quest to make friends and family pick sides to further destroy the hated ex.

In fact, as I'm wandering all over the place, my next book Forward Passes deals with the results of a contentious divorce and how it negatively and tragically affects the children, even long after they've grown into adults. It's a sad situation, and mental health therapists will be the first to tell you that there's no cure for a parent who turns their hatred of their ex into an obsessive passion. You see it happen over and over. I'm sure every one of you has a story to tell from your own experiences or a friend/relative's experiences.

I'm currently shopping Fourth and Goal, book one in my Seattle Lumberjacks Football series, around to larger publishers. Forward Passes is book 2 in the series. I'm about a third of the way done.

I'm looking forward to seeing both books in print.

Songs

Currently, some of my favorite songs are:

1.  I'll Pray for You--Jaron and the Long Road to Love (A little too vengeful for me, but I can appreciate the sentiment).
2. I'm In--Keith Urban (just a fun, upbeat song).
3. If You're Going Through Hell--Rodney Atkins (My hubbie's and my anthem from last spring).

There's more... I have to think about it.

Rainy Weather? Who Cares?

My hubby and I are currently on a San Juan Islands vacation. It's pretty much rained the entire time with the exception of a few sun breaks.

We don't really care. In fact, while sun would've been a nice plus, we really didn't expect it.

One of our favorite places to stay, Rosario Resort, re-opened recently, and we jumped at the chance to stay there again. Not to mention, the reasonably rates attracted us, too.

So here we are on our last full day here, unless we decide to spend one more day tomorrow. We're playing that by ear. I'd like to share a few pictures with you of our trip.

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This picture is of the rowing pond at Rosario. Robert Moran built it for his guests to enjoy about eight-plus years ago.

 We witnessed this sunset on our ferry trip over. I wish the colors would have come out better. They were much more vivid than this.

This is a view looking out at Cascade Bay from the Rosario Marina.

I'll post more pictures on my Facebook. If you aren't a friend, you can friend me at:

http://www.facebook.com/jamidavenport

Where Were You When...

There are certain events in our lives which will always be remembered by each of us answering the question: Where were you when...? September 11 is one of those. The Nisqually Earthquake is another for those of us who live around South Puget Sound.

If you're a native Washingtonian, and you've been around a while, you probably know what May 18th means.

It's the anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Since today is the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, I thought I’d go out on a limb and date myself by telling you what I was doing on May 18, 1980.

It started out as a hot, spring Sunday morning in Pullman, Washington. My roommates and I were students at Washington State University. It was almost finals week. All four of us hit the books that morning and didn’t turn on the TV. Oblivious to what happened that morning, we noticed an odd-shaped storm cloud heading our way. The thing was huge and black and angry looking.

Mitzi decided to call her parents to check in. The first thing she mentioned to them was our impending store. To which they replied: Mt. St. Helens blew today. Turn on your TV.

We did and studying was put on the back burner. The emergency broadcasting system was activated. Fire station vehicles with loud speakers drove through the parking lots and warned students to stay inside. Breathing ash into your lungs wasn’t something any of us planned on doing. So we hunkered down and waited for the cloud to arrive. Before long the skies were black, the street lights came on, and the ash started to fall like dirty snow. Eventually you couldn’t even see the light from the streetlights. Our balcony was covered in about six inches of ash, which we collected in jars. I still have a few jars full of ash.

For the next few days we stayed inside a stifling hot apartment until we ran out of food and alcohol. We donned our masks and ventured out into a world very different from the one of a few days ago. This new world was shrouded in gray. Everything was gray. Mt. St. Helens had left her mark and saved us from finals, which we were allowed to skip.

It’s an experience I’ll never forget.