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My current work in progress, detailed HERE, is coming along nicely. I'm just over 60k+ words. I usually aim for around 75k so not long now to go. Then it's polishing, editing, and submitting. After that I should be starting on the sequel to Chasing Seth.
Just a reminder if you haven't already voted, Chasing Seth is up for Best GLBT Paranormal Romance over at The Romance Reviews, so please head over between now and Saturday March 31st to cast your vote. Vote Here
And Touch Me Gently is up for Best Gay Romance again over at the TLA Gaybies. If you haven't already cast your vote or would like to vote again (you can vote as many times as you'd like) please go HERE between now and Saturday March 31st to vote.
On to some mindless rambling...
I haven't read the Hunger Games and I have nothing against it, but HOLY HELL, am I sick of the commercials! I can't even go to a website online where they aren't pushing it. It makes me NOT want to see it. I feel like they're shoving it down my throat. UGH.
It seems my boss at my day job wants to send me to California for a conference in May... I don't even know if I want to go. I mean the idea of going to California is awesome, but it's not for a vacation, it's for a conference where I am sure to be bored out of my tree. Maybe I'm looking at it in a wrong perspective, but it's unknown territory for me in many ways. 1. Never been to a conference, what the hell do they do at one? 2. Never flown... my first flight was to be in September for a retreat I'm going to and the flight would only be three hours with one layover. I would prefer the three hour flight for my first flight versus SIX hours! 3. They're sending me alone... Really? No one else can go? I'm being sent three thousand miles away from home, on a plane for the first time, to a state/city I've never been to before and I'll be on my own. Could we take a fish out of its element anymore than that? When I went to Orlando for Gay Days on my own, that was a big move for me considering I've never gone that far from home alone. It's just overwhelming and mind boggling. Any advice for the novice in all of that?
I was hoping to have a contest on my blog, but unfortunately the contest I had in mind isn't going to happen because of what I intended to do for it. Apparently the state of Florida frowns on raffles. I wasn't going to sell tickets, just offer up three tickets to every reader who purchased one of my books between March 15th and March 31st to enter a raffle for either a t-shirt or a tote bag with their choice of book covers on it. *sigh* But of course, the state I live in stinks. I'm trying to think of another one which would make it as exciting. :) So keep an eye out for it.
I think I'll stop rambling now, lol. If I keep going, this is going to turn into a monstrous post. Have a good one, all!
J.R.
Take plenty to read, & drink lots of water... and be glad you're not my. For my first flight (not counting the one when I was 2; I don't remember that one at all) was when I was about 7-1/2 mos pregnant with my 3rd child. My oldest was not yet 5, the other was about 18 mos. We were flying from VA to WA, where my DH already was. It was a nightmare. I was so happy my dad lost his job (company went under) because he was free to travel with me.
ReplyDeleteAnd my Mom's method for conferences is: spend the 1st night in the hotel bar. You don't have to drink, but identify fellow conference-goers and strike up a couple of gentle conversations. Make a lunch or dinner date if possible. Make sure you've found out from your boss beforehand which info you most need to bring back; attend those sessions & one or two others that just plain interest you (if possible) or seem like they could be useful. Take a little free time to sightsee nearby. Have as much fun as you can, and try to get email/phone numbers from people. That way, you'll know somebody at the *next* conference.
I would definitely ask your boss what kind of information they would like for you to bring back from the conference. I can't say with any specifics whether or not your attendance of the conference is a good use of your time or not (without knowing any details) but it's probably a good idea to establish this beforehand. In fact, I just came back from my attending my first conference (in San Diego) and the particular one I went to was a scientific/technical one so it was mostly a summary of new medical research. That being said, over 90% of the information was not relevant to my work, so while it was a learning experience, I don't think I would attend the particular conference again. I also had to go alone, which is unfortunate, because it always helps to have co-workers attend with you so you can make lunch and dinner plans with them. If you're really good at networking and meeting new people, I do suggest chatting up other conference attendees in casual conversations and see where it goes from there. If not, I recommend you attend the sessions that have the information you need and maybe some that interest you, and leave free time to check out the local area. Especially if you've never been to that city before, I would take advantage of the opportunity to get to know the area a bit better and identify some things you'd like to do should you ever visit again (whether that be eat a particular restaurant, take a tour somewhere, etc). I also can't stress how important it is to do some research on the area you're visiting before you go! That way you have some idea of what's close enough to sightsee and having a map in hand will keep you from getting immediately lost.
ReplyDeleteAs to a first time flying? Definitely bring enough reading material to keep yourself occupied for the whole time. The last thing you want to do is end up on a plane for six hours with nothing to do but sit there. I'm used to flying often enough for vacations, school, and now for work, taking another trip, even if it's on my own, it's really no big deal, but if you haven't traveled alone much, it can be pretty eye-opening. Best advice I can give you is to always be aware of your surroundings. At an airport, you'll need to make sure you pay attention to your flight's status, which gate to go to, and when you're traveling to other airports, you have to figure out which way to go to get to where you need to be. If you plan to get around the city by rental car, bring your own GPS and program some key places ahead of time so you can focus completely on driving in a new city, which for me, is the most stressful part of going somewhere new.
So, I was re-reading Chasing Seth and thought up titles for Nick's book. I thought I'd share with you for the heck of it.
ReplyDelete-Accepting Nick
-Forgiving Thayne
-Being an Ass (that's for you Thayne :P)
That's all for now. Just thought I'd share :)