Good afternoon Ladies and Gents, my Muse is working overtime, but I wanted to take this brief moment to tell you all to be safe out there among all the Thanksgiving food shoppers many of whom are not paying attention to the cars around them.  It's a lot like bumper cars out there...whack and wham and an uptick in body shop business.  It's Christmas for them, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, I'm well into the next novel!  I couldn't be happier with the way it's flowing.  My typing can't keep up with my brain, but that's okay.  As long as I get the basics down, I can go back and fill in the rest when I'm done with each session.  That seems to work the best for me.

Stay safe all!

I think I'd like to attempt a reverse cartwheel followed by a front flip, but I won't because I would most likely cause severe injury to myself.  However, in my insane excitement, it sounds like a really good idea!

Book Country just emailed me to let me know that, Case of the Missing Look-Alikes is now in the top rated section. Okay, I'm over the moon.  The downside?  Every single person I called isn't home! Is that even possible. Now, if it were bad news, they'd all be home.  Why is that?  

Here's the link: http://www.bookcountry.com/ReadAndReview/

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting.  That seems to be the name of the game in the world of writing. My novel, Case of the Missing Look-Alikes was chosen as an Editor's Pick by Book Country, a Penguin Community site for the month of November http://blog.bookcountry.com/book-country-editors-picks-november/  I'm doing cartwheels and back flips, virtual ones, mind you!  I still don't have either an agent or a publisher, but having my book in this venue might find it a home. In the interim, I'm updating and polishing my query letter for the umpteenth time in order to send it out.  This is all part of the publishing process.

My Muse says I need to get busy on the next book in the series and quit worrying.  I believe my Muse is correct.

I haven't visited my own blog, what's wrong with me?  I've been busy, that's what.  First, I had to vote, and that took forever.  The lines were insanely long, well, they were.  It was very confusing since there were so many offerings: Girl Scout cookies, and we all know how tasty frozen thin mint cookies are :)  This is all before you even get to the voting line.  Then, there's the line for the flu vaccine.  There was also something the poor Boy Scouts were selling, but alas, no line.  Must not have been too appealing. 

I skipped the flu vaccine line, too many people sneezing and coughing.  Seriously, keep your germs at home!  That included the person giving the injections.  Ick!  I'll go to my local pharmacy later on, thank you.  I voted w/o incident, and collected my beloved cookies.

Since then, I've managed to embarrass myself only a few times, and the worst of them was in Church, last week.  I consider writing to be a gift, and love the creative process, and all that goes with it, but why does my muse have to show up while I'm in Church with a great name for a character?  On the surface, it doesn't sound problematic, however, the name struck me as absolutely hysterical. Well, once I get the giggles, it's a tad difficult to stop.  I bit my lip, which made it worse.  I put my hand over my mouth, then the tears began rolling down my face. The person next to me gave me an odd look. I shrugged.  Fortunately, I had to leave my seat to tend to my duties.  Shaking my head, as I walked to the front of the Church, I thought, next time Muse, could you please choose a more opportune time and place to plant a character name on me. Thanks pal!

Well, here we are, in blog world. Okay, here I am. I'll have to see how I feel about it, the furnishings and such.  The chair seems okay, so far. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to set up, mostly because I had one under a funky name and had to figure out how to change it.  Took a bit since I'm not so techie. Yeah, that. I'm on Twitter, too! Go figure, and this has all happened in a matter of two days! Gah!

Too much for my brain. I must stop this and go vote. That I can deal with.