I can do paragraphs!

Thanks to Rachel Hauck for reading my blog and teaching me how to use HTML coding to set new paragraphs! I'm so excited

See how I did that???

Tracey

Hello hello hello!

I have GOT to figure out why I can't do separate paragraphs on this blog. It makes no sense. It's like return doesn't work. Oh well....bear with me. Back to work part time for me. Work gives me such a sense of well-being. Like there's a point. I'd love to be inside the heads of people who aren't workaholics and find out where they get their good vibes. I don't think one is better than the other, just different. On Tuesday the kids are back to school and I'm back to a full schedule. yippee. We went to see Night at the Museum last night. Took my four kids, Rusty and me of course and one girlfriend (15 yo boy's) and one sorta boyfriend (17 yo daughter's). Fun night. FUN MOVIE. Go see it. Ate too much popcorn though. I could never work in a theatre. I've been reading Calm, Cool, and adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck. The best of the Spa Girls IMO. Although I sort of hate when people tell me This is the BEST one....when talking about my books. It's all so subjective. Anyway, today it's raining outside. Perfect day to kick back, finish Kristin's book and gear up for a busy day tomorrow. HAPPY NEW YEAR all. 2007....I thought sure the apocalypse would have happened by now. 2010? :)

From a girl on Vacation...

Finished Straight Up yesterday. Man, Lisa Samson delivered HUGELY in the end. I'm serious. I know I'm a little scary in my love for this woman's writing. But please believe me. She's the best writer out there. And I know TONS of writers who are really good. Lisa is better than good. She's truly one of the greats and I want to see her on the NYTimes best seller list so I can say..."Whad I tell ya? Was I right, or what?" Right now I'm reading Calm, Cool, and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck, another of my favorite writers--definitely my favorite chicklit writer comparable to Sophie Kinsella, but also a good friend, so I feel a little fraudulant to sing her praises the way I can someone like Lisa, who I barely know. But let's just say, Poppy is my favorite of the Spa Girls so I'm totally loving the book. Kristin has a real in your face honesty that I respect and love. Whether I'm reading a post from her over a writer's loop or reading it in her books. You just have to love someone who isn't afraid to be real. I'm rethinking my decision to read The Kite Runner, though. It's a little too much for me right now. PLUS guess what I found that I've had for over a year that got lost in my moving shuffle? WOMEN'S INTUITION by ta-da Lisa Samson. So I'm stoked. But first i have to go shopping. Although I'm thinking about waiting until after 11pm when folks are winding down. Thank God for a 24 hour walmart in a town of 20 thousand people. Most of us are hicks who rise and retire according to the sun and roosters. Well, not me. I rise at 11am and go to bed at 4am. But I AM a writer and when else amd I supposed to write? Well, off to do other things. I LOVE vacation. I should have done this years ago. :) OH except I started working out with a trainer this week, so I'm pretty grumpy about the pain, but it'll get better. PEACE.

Straight Up

Here's the thing that bugs me... I've said it before, but there are just some writers who don't get their due. Lisa Samson is one of those writers. Highly respected and envied among her peers, so why isn't she a household name? I don't know... But there are very few writers that keep me awake, prying my eyes open, so desperate to keep reading that I wake up with the book cuddled in my arms, bookmark in a page I don't recognize because I turned pages in my sleep. This is what happened. I bought STraight Up because I saw it last week at the beginning of deadline rush where I sat alone in a hotel all week. Boo hoo for me. Anyway, there were only three copies on the shelf, so of course I panicked, worried that all the copies of this book that I desperately wanted to read would be gone if I waited until my deadline was over. I know. I worry about things like that...what if the store burns down and the internet suddenly goes totally off or we have an electrical surge in space and go back to the dark ages and no one is buying and selling books. I mean, at least I'd have a candle and a Lisa Samson book, right? So my reward this week for getting my deadline in. Straight Up, by Lisa. Calm Cool and adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck, and the Kite Runner because everyone else is reading it and I'm a big fat follower. So last night I turn in my book at 9:30pm, watch all the missed Survivor shows including the finale where I felt totally ripped off. Wanted Ozzie to bring it home. at 1:30 am, I really tried to go to sleep because, well, it was 1:30 am. But all I could think of was, "I have to read that book." What if I wake up in the morning and I suddenly don't know how to read anymore? Or I can't find my glasses, OR contacts or my other pair of glasses, or the ones I had three years ago and didn't throw away. I mean, what if books are suddenly outlawed? I would live with regret for the rest of my life.... So of course I HAD to get up and start reading. But then I couldn't stop. So I stayed awake until 4 am. Where does she get her words? Her writing is magical and truly an artform. If you haven't read this woman's work and you are a booklover, you truly are missing a rich experience. I highly recommend Straight Up. Tiger Lillie, Songbird, The Church Ladies. She's tough, I'll tell you this. Lisa doesn't skirt issues. So her books are not for the faint of heart. Read, read, read. This has been a non-paid advertisement for Lisa Samson. Now back to your regularly scheduled program....

Catching up

Hi all! Coming up for a minute to breathe. Deadline for my first Westward Hearts book is looming on the horizon. December 15....can she do it??? This book might be my best... For the last month we've had a beautiful family of six living with us. It's been noisy and fun and stressful and tearful. A time of blessing where we knew God was in charge and directing. Also discovered that God isn't necessarily about our convenience, but more about what needs to be done. On Thursday, during an ice storm, they moved out. I'm excited for them. Excited for us, but missing the kids. Our kids have been having a minivacation since Thursday. Icy roads and inches of snow that put us in mind of A Christmas Story. I've done a lot of online shopping this year. Don't get me wrong. With four kids and umpteen nieces and nephews I've definitely done my share of legwork in walmart and the mall, but online shopping is fantastic! Sears, walmart, Hollister, New York and Co (oh, that wasn't christmas shopping. That was for me. :) ) Anyway, Be watching for the launch of my new newsletter, new pictures, and new contests coming up in January along with the final books in two of my series: I Love Claire will cap the Claire Everett series, coming early in January. And Freedom of the Soul has now been pushed back to the end of January and will finish up my Penbrook Diaries series with Barbour. I look forward to a full, new year. New Beginnings. Fresh starts, second chances and continued love and friendship. Until next time...God bless and keep you.