A LOW PROFILE: July 2005

Monday, July 25, 2005

Spies Have Many Hats

When uber-spies become uber-travelers, how do they find time to keep up with world news, current events, bills, phone calls, emails, blogs, and debriefing? ;) That's my dilemma right now. I seem to be dragging my top secret suitcase everywhere, opening and closing it, taking things out of it, zipping them back up, then dragging it to another location. At least, that's how I seem to be marking time. Otherwise, I have no idea what day or time it is, much less what's really happening in the real world.

I guess all of our personal life is pretty insulated from the big things, but when we traveling, we get even more out of the loop. And with my luck, of course, I lost my cell phone the first night I went spying ;-/ and so I couldn't even make contact with my liaison. Heh. I had wondered what super Jack Bauer would have done in my situation. Probably hold up a convenience store with a super shotgun so he could hijack the free phone cards that are on sale! You know how uber-spies are...borrowing someone else's cell phone isn't an option.

I have also forgotten that time has an odd way of achieving warp speed when one's traveling. Days become night almost immediately and events blurr into a series of adventures. Since Friday, I've gone to a concert, lost my cell phone, dragged into a creek, met a bunch of interesting people, went to a barbeque, played ball with two very raggedy dogs that wouldn't STOP bringing me the ball, gone to a birthday party, signed a lot of books, watched a double header baseball Sunday live and got roasted by 95 degree heat...and got lost a dozen times driving around mountain roads. And I have another week of to go before I sleep in my own sweet bed again!

I should be in Reno by Wednesday, authorly clothes on top, spy clothes at the bottom of that very important suitcase.

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Thursday, July 21, 2005

What, No Coffee Pot? Must A Spy Bring Every Gadget?!

My posting here will be sporadic in the next ten days while I travel to CO and NV. I tend to have too much fun and then get lazy about getting online ;-).
RWA becomes busier and busier for me every year. I love it, but man, this year, instead of going to parties, I'm going to find a corner where I'll just sit and drink and holler at other writers. That will be my relaxation!

This year's RWA is being held at the Hilton in Reno. They don't have coffee pots in their rooms, so you can imagine the screams coming from at least a thousand writers. We need our coffee, you know! I'm sure a few hundred are bringing their own brewing pot or something. I'm not sure what I'll do yet. I guess, it being a casino, it can't be too hard to wander downstairs and get a cup of coffee, except that I don't want anyone to look at me before I have my coffee! ;-)

I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends whom I only get to see once a year. Catch-up, gossip, lots of discussion on 101 topics, and of course, the new RWA scandal about sexual graphical standards, or something like that.

I told RB that when I was touring the submarine, a few women were asking why the Navy doesn't just send down a whole female crew and that will take care of the close proximity of sexes in closed quarters problem. He got my goat when he snickered and said, "Can you imagine 500 women in a submarine? They will arguing over the sexual graphical standards of their uniform." Sigh. He won that round ;-). Why did I even tell him about that stuff? It's just another weapon to use against me when we bicker, grrr.

Anyway, famous authors, aspiring authors, favorite authors, writing experts, agents (and they spy too! I know this!!!), editors (masquerading as spies too!!!) will congregate for a week in Reno, NV. And there will be plenty happening there this year! After all, astrologically, Mercury goes retrograde for three weeks, and you know how writers love to communicate. A retrograde, people, means there will a lot of trouble during the annual general meeting, especially about that graphical standard and that questionaire with the weird wording. You know, 2000 women authors in a hotel in the sweltering desert is almost like being with a female crew inside a hot submarine ;-). Except that I won't get to enjoy half-naked sailors walking around, of course. LOL.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Spies Don't Have To Think About Their Credit Reports

So everyone everywhere, in blogs and forums, is complaining about the weather. It's almighty HOT, folks. It was scorching on the roof yesterday and I think a bunch of my brain cells melted in the heat. Sigh. Still on that roof with those nooks and crannies. It's a major project and only RB and I are working on it. I feel guilty leaving him to tackle the monster this weekend. I'll be gone for ten days doing my authorly thing while he has to figure out a way to put shingles on those little nooks without someone to help (easier if you have someone handing you shingles when you're working off a ladder...). I love being uber-author, but my uber-roofer self is constantly feeling guilty that I'm not giving 100 percent to the other job.

Which brings us to the subject of guilt. Are you one of those people who feel guilty about things all the time? I belong to this category because I'm constantly trying to divide my time doing a dozen things at the same time. I get them done but then I start feeling guilty about things I've sacrificed--the neatness and cleanliness of my home, for instance, or the lateness of my bills. RB always tells me to do one thing at a time and do it well but I can't seem to do it that way ;-).

I mean, even spies must pay bills, but how do they do that when they're busy on their missions? I always wonder about that, LOL. Of course, in real life, their spouses are probably doing that for them. So I guess spies don't worry about the condition of their lawns and their credit report, huh? LOL.

Back to this monster that I'm leaving behind for ten days--it has everything that a roofer hates--five skylights of every imaginable size; tons of plumbing pipes, even a four-inch one (very rare); rotten overhangs; little nooks hanging in midair; sections sticking out in all directions, making it impossible to get "into" the job; and a first roof (the old roof) put down in every improper way imaginable, making the task of taking the old shingles off a battle every day. I really was glad I took off the weekend to Charleston because this roof was killing my back! But of course, I felt guilty when I came back to find all the shingles taken off. RB told me our helper took off. Not surprising, of course. They always takes off after a few days of really hard work.

Anyway, he told me a funny story. He and this helper was taking off the last small section, an overhang over this tall window, with all the shingles cemented on bare wood (arrghhhhhh!) and the helper lamented: "Can't we just put the new shingles over this? No one would see it." To which RB replied: "Man, Jimmy, we just went fifteen rounds. We lost the first seven and won the last eight. This is the final round and you don't want to come out of your corner?"

I laughed but that's RB for you. That man's attitude amazes me. A true hero, a fighter, and someone who will never feel guilty about not giving his 100 percent! Gah. Now I feel guilty again, dammit.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Spies In The Civil War

I'm finally home, back to the nook that I was trapped in last Thursday. Sigh. My weekend road trip was outrageous and fun. I've never driven a convertible for a long trip before and let me tell you, it's dangerous to have me and a girlfriend in one, LOL. We had TOO MUCH FUN.

Our timing was also great. We arrived at Charleston on exactly the same day they were closing the old rickety cable bridge that struck fear in the hearts of even the locals and the grand opening of the new one. We were one of the first group of people to drive across the new one! And the view was so beautiful.

Charleston is a fascinating city. If you ever get to visit, do especially drive a car in the old section of town and experience the tiny, tiny two-lane streets that were built for horse carriages rather than cars. And definitely, take the Ghost Walk tour to hear stories of Civil War ghosts and spirits. Also, conversation tends to veer back to the Civil War as if it happened recently; I keep hearing references to it in daily topics in which you and I would never dream could have any link to the C.W. ;-) But I collected lots of information about spies in that era.

I also highly recommend driving over to Mount Pleasant across the bridge to Patriots Point, where you get to tour three Navy ships and a submarine! After going inside the submarine, my admiration for the brave men who stay underwater for months in these things has grown a hundred fold. The cramped space, esp. the living quarters and toilet area, would get on my nerves in just one day, let alone six months underwater duty! I guess you just don't think about it...but how can you not when the tiny space reminds you of where you are all the time??! Mind-boggling. I would like to set a spy drama scene or a few chapters in a submarine. It would be cool.

I also got to tour the Navy and Air Force bases (the parts that were opened to the public), so that will definitely become fodder for future books. Spies in Charleston is going to be fun to write about!

I would love to visit this beautiful old historic city again. Three days just wasn't enough to see and experience everything. Hopefully, my little talk about "the inner cave of fear" was interesting enough to get me re-invited ;-). I'll talk more about the workshop in another blog. I'm sure none of you would be interested in my yakking about my own craft, anyway.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Old UberSpies and Creaky Bones

Today is the grand adventure, the long and exciting drive from FL to SC. I'm actually looking forward to it because I really hate driving but this is in a convertible ;-) and I have a friend with me ;-). Besides, compared to yesterday, it would be a piece of cake!

My current roofing assignment is a painful one (and I'm glad to have an excuse to run away for a few days). Yesterday, being uber-roofer of the SMALL variety, I was the only one who could step out onto a ledge over a window about thirty feet above ground. This ledge was more like a nook because it had a low overhang and so I was crammed inside it. It fitted me perfectly and I was like one of those Buddhas sitting out inside those small crannies at the side of the mountains, you know?

Alas, instead of just reposing and welcoming adulation and worship, I had, instead, manuever my ass around that tiny space so that I can take off these old shingles that some stupid roofer from before had TARRED onto the wood instead of doing it properly. It was a very frustrating two hours as I fought the heat and the cavity, along with painful cramped positions, to get a miserable six or seven shingles off that thing!

I had a pic taken of me with my cell phone but of course, don't have the cable to upload this wonderful sight of me (with a glimpse of the swimming pool down there) as uber-roofer. Anyway, there were TWO of these ledges and after finishing the first one, I declared that I enjoyed it so damn much, I'm heading off to do the other one too.

LOL.

Well, my right arm feels like Hulk Hogan has twisted it the wrong way this morning because I spent four hours chipping away at these shingles with a hammer at the wrong angle. And my knees definitely are feeling a bit creaky. So yeah, where's the damn coffee so I can get off my butt and pack for the trip? Grrrrowl.

Some smartass roofer suggested that I blow up the picture to show to the RWA members at Charleston and yell, "You wanna know about fear? I'll show you a picture about fear!" The pic has me dangling with one leg over the hurricane window shutters, trying to keep my balance, with a stupid smile on my face. I think I have too much faith. LOL.

Ever have one of those days when you feel that you're too darn old to be doing that sort of thing? Well, that's the feeling my body's telling me at the moment. NO MORE CRAMMED NOOKS three stories in the air! With no ladder! You ain't no young chick any more!

I wonder whether Uber Spies get into such spots for their kills and have these thoughts? It's good to know even glamorous jobs get their knees out of shape sometimes. Now, where's my walking stick? I need to hobble over to put on my Super Writer costume....

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

What's Your Spy Afraid Of?

I'm gearing up for a real road trip. My friend and I are driving from Florida to Charleston, South Carolina to give a workshop at the RWA chapter there. It's the Low Country RWA chapter...with that name, how could I say no to their invitation to give a talk about "Facing The Inner Cave of Fear"?

When I first saw the topic they gave me, I went "Wow! They want to me to talk about what???!" I guess it made sense, since my second book, Facing Fear, was about...umm...facing fear. LOL. But now I have to deconstruct my writing and explain how I do it. Deconstruction of self is not my favorite thing, let me tell ya. I would rather cook, which if you ask the men in my life, is a chore I excel at but do not like to do.

How does a writer write about fear? Or anything? When we write about love, we have an overall goal, a romance/relationship between two people that reaches that point when they realize they're in love. But fear? Fear is a lonely feeling. Fear is all about the self.

And how does a writer put that in paper in a story and not go into chapters of morbid soliloquy? It's a romance that she's writing, after all. I believe that fear is one of the hardest things to write about because a writer has to really dig deep inside her for some element of personal pain, then project it somehow into her scene, which might have nothing to do with that personal experience.

It's not easy writing about rape or violence in a romance. It's not easy writing about anything that's distasteful. Some books just give a detailed description of the scenes and they leave me cold as a reader. And then, there are the gems that I reread over and over again, no matter how crappy or sentimental or unbelievable the story.

Here are some great examples:

The heroine's fear of water and her final overcoming of it in Elizabeth Lowell's Chained Lightning. This is a very poignant story, albeit with some dated dialogue, but the scene in which the hero is watching as the heroine sits in shallow water trying, over and over again, to inch her way into deeper water. That is one of the most memorable scenes that dealt with fear. The reader is pulled in along with the hero's growing pain as he stops himself from interrupting. Simply fabulous!

Debra Dixon's Playing With Fire, a masterful story of a heroine trying to keep a secret and her fear of discovery. It's a different kind of fear, with a more urgent sense of secrecy to it, but Dixon's handling of the subject is subtle and suspenseful. I love this book.

These are the two off the top of my head for now. Do you have an example of a book that explores fear as a theme? It'll help me with more examples for my workshop, heh heh. A spy's gotta have ulterior motives all the time, girlfriends!

Monday, July 11, 2005

Future Uber-Spy :-)

I just have to show my youngest reader off! She makes me smile every time I look at her.

This is my niece on her first birthday! She is a reader already ;-).

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Spies Don't Make Wishes

In case you don't know...hurricane weather has descended on my part of the world again. It's been an extremely rainy month. A deluge, more like, and the worry here is that the ground is already so saturated that it can't take another couple of huge hurricane downpours. And that means--flooding and trees falling over if the winds get too rough.

A couple of years ago, everyone was praying for more rain because it was so dry and the water table was getting low from being consumed by too many new residents moving to Florida and growth in the area. Your prayers are answered, folks....

Ironic, isn't it? You get what you pray for and then you complain about that too.

From watching the news, you would think Florida is such an awful place to live in. I hear it all the time, from friends from other states and during casual conversations: why do people move down there anyway? It's hurricane alley!

And people do flock down here by the thousands every year. The weather is very nice--no snow, folks, except maybe light flurries in North Florida once every twenty years, LOL. Where I am, we get down to the 20s once in a while but it only lasts two or three days, so nothing to complain about.

The housing used to be very cheap...so cheap that northerners come here to retire so they can have more money to spend. Those days are about over, though. The houses are still cheap compared to up north, but man, are they priced out of many young buyers' bracket.

As for the hurricane visits, it really isn't like it's depicted on television. There had been some horrendous damage wrought by hurricanes the last ten years, but mostly, during the last dozen years, it's been rain, rain, rain when the storms skirted up the coast. Usually, we see one major hurricane that blows through with some damage to older homes and coastal areas. Except for last year, of course. Going through four hurricanes in a month and a half was quite an adventure, and the damage they caused was felt from one end of the state to the other.

So now everyone lives in fear of the next big hit. And there is fear that the housing market will cool off. Not to add to the fear that insurance costs will go sky high.

An uber-spy would have anticipated these problems, of course. He would have Plan B and Plan C in the wings. Can I add here, as an aside, that Florida city councils, with the old fogeys, are definitely NOT SPIES? But that's another
topic. ;-)

As a writer, be careful what you wish for. You wish to be published some day. Is it for one book or are you hoping to make it a career? Do you wish to write because you love it or do you want to be published because you want to share your stories? There is a difference.

And when you get your wish, are you going to complain? There will be things that are unexpected, you know, because a wish coming true doesn't mean it will be a bed of roses with bottles of champagne. There are thorns...like a final version of your story missing sixty pages or a title so embarrassing that you can't even say it out loud.

Of course you will still say YES, you want that wish to come true! What writer doesn't want those problems? Sure there are hurricanes in Florida, but the houses there are affordable. And there's sun before and after the season.

Metaphorically speaking, being published is just like that. Every book is a hurricane with a title. The impact it makes can change your life. Are you ready for it?

Friday, July 08, 2005

Spies Watch And Learn

The London bombings is the main topic on many tongues. It's tough not to write about it when one's blog is about spying, even though it's more tongue-in-cheek than anything else. And it's even harder not to think about it when my sister and her husband are, at the moment, vacationing in London. They emailed to tell my family that they're okay, that they'd missed the bus because they wanted to sleep in that morning.

My thoughts and prayers to all my London friends and readers.

Violence is hard to understand, yet it's all around us. The comments I'm hearing are mostly about the inability to understand the need for this kind of violence--the slaughter of innocent. Why? "Can't we just get along?" "Respect each other's differences."

But violence/warfare has been a part of our "civilization" for millenia. It has nothing to do with getting along, difference, or even the ever-prevalent religious reasons. It all boils down to one simple factor. Violence/warfare/spying is all about land and possession. Has been since the beginning. And the innocent are always the ones in the way.

Yoikes. A rather morbid entry to start my day for my first local signing of The Hunter.... I write about spies, SEALs, and warfare, and thus can't ignore the subject of violence in books and real life. I also write about love. And hope. And happy endings. You know, I just realized how tough my writing job is.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Do Spies Miss Their Beds?

Boy, it's good to be home in my own bed, among my mess, in my space again. I love traveling but I wish I can bring my own bed with me ;-). Now then everything would be perfect--except for DELTA.

I live in a small city that has an "international" airport. It doesn't go anywhere internationally, really, and it only has one big airline. DELTA, which stands for: Don't Ever Leave The Airport. I'm constantly stuck in the Atlanta hub wherever I go because that's where all the connecting flights are. There are no direct flights anywhere from my city to civilization, so all my trips take double the time (along with the layover in Atlanta).

However, the airport is only 15 minutes away from my home; there is no long lines at all, so it all evens out if you are like me and hate the idea of waking up three hours earlier to drive the extra two hours to Orlando and then wait the extra 45 minutes at the security line there. And don't forget parking...parking at Orlando Airport is an unforgettable experience. With this local "international" airport, I just roll out of bed into the car, and into the plane within an hour. Can't beat that.

So, I am stuck with DELTA. It's a love-hate relationship ;-). I started traveling a lot since becoming a serious writer, going to one, then, two conferences, and now that I'm pubbed, add four or five signings at various locales. Every trip through Delta is an adventure, so much so that my girlfriends have sworn never to travel with me. They think I'm jinxed. I have had more airport shenanigans than anyone else.

I'm not talking about security, which is just an ordinary hassle. No, it's always something weird, like this time, when some freak storms took down the Delta computer system and caused major delays through the east coast. Every plane was two to four hours late taking off and arriving, so naturally, that affected many airports, including mine. We were assured that, since this is so, we would be able to catch our connecting flights because they too would be two to four hours late.

Made sense...until it came to my flight, of course. I arrived at Atlanta to find MINE was the ONLY flight that left on time, and so I'm without a connecting flight to DC. Yup. Major weather problems, right? Computer system down, right? Delay, delay, delay, right? But oh no, my flight didn't have these problems. It touched down and flew away while all the flights were grounded. How could this be? No one at Delta seemed to be able to supply me the answer. I mean, was the flight full? Didn't they know passengers were coming in late??! Obviously, my flight crew wanted to show the powers-that-be that they would be the bestest, fastest, most efficient and on time crew, even with an empty plane.

So I spent half a night at the wonderful Delta hub going standby. If you have done this before, it's all about running from concourse to concourse and looking for gates, and leaving your name, and then sitting there like an idiot while everyone boards and you're left there with your luggage like some leper ;-). So I made it as the LAST person called for standby, right? I was soooo happy! I got my bags and went into the plane. I whipped out my cell phone to call my sis so I could tell her the info and time to pick me, etc., as I headed for SEAT 31D, the number that would be branded on my mind forever. Just as I reached my seat, the attendant stopped me. The passenger whose seat that belonged to...he showed up. ARGHHhhhhh! They wanted me off the plane! Would that have happened to anyone but me? Of course not.

So anyway, I did make it safely (always) to my destination. I enjoyed my trip. And going home was quite uneventful because God probably thought I had gone through enough. I'm home but there's always the next big adventure with DELTA coming up! Lots of more amusing anecdotes to share with you....

And you haven't even heard the story about the missing underwear yet...heh.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Spies during July 4th

It's the fourth of July weekend and yes, I have family in the D.C. area. Sure...you're just home for some fireworks, says the Pentagon guy sitting by me with a knowing twinkle in his eye. As usual, i was stuck in the Delta Hub in Atlanta (which stands for Don't Ever Leave The Airport, btw) and I spent hours getting to know the carpeting at the concourse. It's good way to meet people, don't you know?

It's tough to blog when you're traveling, especially if it's to be with family. I spent wayyyy too much time eating and playing with my newest little niece, a sweet little girl who just had the best time with her first birthday cake. I think there is a reason all uber-spies, uber-writers, and uber-roofers are loners...all those happy distractions won't get any work done!

Here's a cute Beijing tradition that my sister did. On the baby's first birthday, it's a custom to place four items in front of the little one: fruit, cash, pencil, and toy. These things signify the "future" that baby will go after, i.e., whether she will be motivated by food, working, writing, or playing. My darling niece picked up the pencil! Hurrah. She's going to be influenced by books and writing, yeeha! ;-) Like I said, cute tradition.

I did an online interview: www.theromancereadersconnection.com.
Click on the author of the month link. I managed to keep out some spoilers from The Hunter ;-) and still couldn't make myself say the title of the next book (Sleeping Elipses).

This is going to be a problem, sigh. I showed the cover art with the title to my sister here and the look on her face (and she doesn't read romance) was exactly like the one on all the booksellers' faces at the conventions. She thought the title was tawdry-sounding. Tawdry. Even my computer-programming sister understood how awful that title was for a romantic suspense. Ah well. I now have a standard answer to everyone who first laughs, then comments about the awfulness of the title: you cannot fight against the gods of marketing. Especially when your editor loves the title too. You just have to grin, bear it, and slurr the words of the title when you're promoting it (Sleeping *cough *cough elipses).

On the bright side, I love the cover art, and so does everyone I showed it to. See the pattern ;-)?

Ah well, uberspies can't think of consequences. Just do your job. Isn't that Jed McNeil's favorite line?