August already!  Summer has flown by!  I just returned from the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Atlanta and am finishing up my synopsis for HOT FOR CHRISTMAS so I can send it to my editor.  I'll actually write the novella (which will be in a Christmas 2007 anthology) after I finish my single title work-in-progress, HIP DEEP.

While in Atlanta, I also met my web mistress, Karen, with Novel Talk. Karen gave me a nifty NovelTalk pin and I participated in a NovelTalk Author scavenger hunt, which was fun

Atlanta was exhilarating and exhausting, but fun.  Imagine 2200 authors (mostly women), all in one place…and talking! The noise level was unbelievable.  I enjoyed signing at RWA's Autographing for literacy, almost selling out of The Cowboy and Pleasure Beach.  RWA donates the leftover books to battered women's shelters, so I autographed all of the remaining books before I left.  What fun and all for such a good cause.  The constant activities and visiting finally caught up with me, though.  My conference roommate, author Jaye Garland, and I slept most of the flight back to Houston.  You know you're tired when you can't find the energy to chew peanuts.

I really need to hit the ground running this month!  I have to achieve my writing goals early because we are making our annual pilgrimage to the Detroit area in September.  If any one out there lives close-by, I will be signing books in Westland, Michigan at the Paperback 'n Things on Saturday, September 9, 2006, from noon until 3PM along with three other authors, one of whom is Jodi Lynn Copeland, another Aphrodisia author.  I'd love to meet you!

Since my last newsletter, we have moved to a new house.  I'm drowning in boxes!  I can put my car in the garage, but barely.  My husband is relegated to the driveway until we slog through everything.  We love our new home and are gradually getting stuff arranged and put away.  Lately we have been on a decorating mission.  My husband has discovered his inner decorator.  Bless his heart.  That's what I get for forcing him to watch so many hours of HGTV.

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe summer.  I'll be waving good-bye to it from my office window.