Megan Hart

Got my volunteers for the promo disc. But if you’d like to sign up to get one when they’re ready to go, please send me an email with your address and STRANGER in the subject line.

Thanks to my guinea pigs!

M

Ok, a really long time ago, like, in the 90s at least, I read a book about these…astronauts, maybe. Or explorers. Sort of like Planet of the Apes, they land on a planet they don’t recognize. I can’t recall if it’s actually Earth or not but the main thing is that the reptiles became the dominant species. They don’t speak aloud, they use sign language, and are cold-blooded. I remember a scene with him and a female reptile taking place at night when she is sluggish because of temperature and he can’t “hear” her because she’s using sign language. I think they had crests on their heads. And he was a prisoner, I think.

I want to know the name of this book!!!!!

HELP ME!

I need five volunteers to test out a new promo item I’m making. You must have a computer, either PC or Mac, of varying age. You must have a DVD drive in it. You must agree to look at the items I send you on a disc and tell me if you can open them and watch/read/look at them without problem, tell me if there ARE problems, etc. I basically need five folks with computers different than mine to check out this promo piece to make sure it can be used by a variety of people!

So, interested? Send me your name and what sort of computer you have, operating system, brand, age, specs, whatever! U.S. only please for this purpose…

Send the info to readinbed@gmail.com with TEST SUBJECT in the subject line and I’ll let you know if you qualify. Which, you probably will if you’re one of the first five.

M

Yeah. So. A few years ago I began this SF trilogy that takes place during a cross country journey from Maine to California. A large chunk of book two and three takes place in the mid-West. Two has a huge “Mall of America” type thing in it, and book three features Yellowstone National Park as well as a town called Thermopolis. Places I’ve never been. I researched, of course, but nothing is as good as experiencing something for yourself, so I’d often said I wanted to visit Thermopolis and Yellowstone.

This was the summer to do it. So we rented a motorhome,

packed up two weeks’ worth of stuff and headed off. And oh, the sights we saw! We hit Chicago (driving downtown in an RV!) Then on through Wisconsin where we put cheese on our heads…

Then to Minnesota for the Mall of America —

which wasn’t really on our trip list but hey, I needed to see it. Then we found this super funky place off i-90 called Porter’s Sculpture Park….

where we saw the world’s largest bull’s head…

and then down to the Badlands National Park which was AMAZING!

From there we drove a bunch more and went to the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore,

Jewel Cave and the Cosmos Mystery Area. (I survived it.)

We also went to Devil’s Tower.

and of course, Yellowstone.

where you’d better not step off the path…

and you’d better stay away from buffalo…

I saw a cowboy in Jackson Hole. (I saw real cowboys elsewhere but none took their picture with me.)

I swam in hot springs-fed pools in Thermopolis.

Where apparently people like to get frisky…

and we saw a giant ejaculation ball of hot water that made this funky fountain. It’s called the Teepee fountain but we just like to call it the ejaculating mineral ball.

Stayed at the infamous Stanley Hotel right down the hall from the dreaded room 217!

Yes, this is, literally, my hair standing on end.

I also crossed the continental divide a couple times…

and of course, stopped for gas.

A lot.

Oh. And I sat on a jackalope.

WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I have, literally, close to 2,000 pictures, so these are just a couple. I might post more if requested but it’s taking me a lot of effort to do just these few and I actually have to, you know.

Write.

M

Yes, I know I promised an account of my trip, but today I’m blogging over at Love is An Exploding Cigar and you can see a little piece of my journey there!

M

They’re all gone. After two weeks in a motorhome with them, my family is now GONE. Gone to school, gone to work. And I? I sit in my freshly redecorated office and contemplate the fact I was going to exercise but have not, and that I am going to have some oatmeal and perhaps some hot coffee…

And I’m going to write.

That is the plan today.

I promise I will regale you with tales of my trip (which was fantastic) and some very cool pictures, but right now, I really really want to eat and then write. In fact I might write while I eat. Because though I also want to take a nap, it’s been too long since I had the house to myself so I could actually, you know, WRITE.

M

If you read this carefully, you might come to the conclusion I’m in the habit of passing wind in movie theaters.

….

It’s all a lie! A vicious lie!

M

Cue the creepy music, everyone. I’m typing this from a bed in the Stanley Hotel, just down the hall from room 217. Yeah! Pretty cool. It’s a little side trip we hadn’t planned orginally, and I’ll have lots of cool pictures to share when I get home, but I’m taking advantage of the free internet and quiet time to drop in and say helloooo, I AM AT THE STANLEY HOTEL!

If you don’t know what that is, you won’t care.

M