Read In Bed!

Let’s break it down…

Friends. Parties. Fun!

This year was my second RT, but we arrived the day before the official start so we could settle in and get the party started. Though we’d intended to hit a club Tuesday night, we had little luck. We went out. We came back. Even so, it was a good time! Wednesday began with more fun, meeting friends, a Black Lace panel nobody came to give so LD and I jumped on it. Dinner with my editor and agent and friends. The EC party, yay!

But Thursday morning, I was feeling pretty lousy, and I continued feeling lousy almost the entire time. I rallied every now and then but mostly…felt like ICK. I blame the hotel — lots of people were sick. I think it was bad air.

I know RT makes some people’s lips curl. Cover models, they say, GROSS! Mr. Romance, EWWW! People in their underpants on the dance floor! HOW HORRID! Okay, I’m sort of with you there on the whole wearing your underpants on the outside thing, but you know what? Whatever.

RT isn’t RWA, okay? RT is a reader/fan convention, it’s not a professional organization’s professional conference for the purpose of learning. RT is parties and meeting readers and friends and hanging out and yes — some get a little wild. There are cute boys (and really, honestly…the whole “they’re gross, or he does nothing for me” comments…these are people, you know? They have feelings. Not everybody in the world has to melt everyone’s butter, you know?) and there is mayhem, but I have to say, I didn’t see anything that I thought was out of line. Maybe I have a higher tolerance. Maybe I’m one of the people misbehaving — but I was having fun. I didn’t go upstairs with a Chippendale, okay? I only talked to one in the bar.

Do I agree with all the behavior that allegedly went on? No way. Do I think it’s okay for ANYONE to be rude to a reader or an author who’s not wearing a name badge, or an aspiring author who’s not yet published? Erm…what’s the point? What, really, is the point of being a moron to someone who could decide to read, OR NOT, your books? To another author, editor, agent, bookseller or librarian? In fact, the bottom line is, you shouldn’t be nice to strangers because they might be someone you can use later, but because you should BE NICE.

Anyway, I’m sorry for those who didn’t have fun. I felt like death not even warmed-over, and I still had fun. Because I was there to meet friends and readers and other authors and yes, Mr. Romance contestants, because life is too darned short NOT to fill it with fabulous people, and how do you know who’s fabulous until you’ve met them?

We had a fantastically attended reader appreciation party, THE LOVE SHACK, with food, goodies and karaoke, and it was great! And I got lots of swag, and met tons of new people and saw people I’d met last year and didn’t expect to see ever again, so that was a thrill.

On another note, the decorations were amazing. I didn’t eat much food (but I LIKE CORN!) and missed most of the official lunches and dinners due to illness, but I heard it was good. RT really puts on a fantastic event.

And you can see all of it, if you wish, below…

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…well, I guess it depends on what I need them for. :)

Been listening to Katy Perry’s cover of Use Your Love. Heh. I liiiiiiiiike it. Also her song Ur So Gay makes me smile.

So, been cleaning off my desk, organizing photos, working on some short fiction, doing some business related stuff that’s not writing but is necessary. 2008 is fast approaching and I’m going to be ready for it. I have three books I need to write in 2008. All three are already started. One is already contracted.

I am prepared to face 2008 with courage and conviction and discipline. I will do the work. I will take the time. I will be there for my family and friends and I will be there for myself. I will take more pictures, make more videos, read more books, dance more and sing more karaoke. I will write like I don’t have a reputation. I will kiss that man I live with when he least expects it. I will pursue new projects with determination and I will keep my house clean. Ok, forget that last one. It ain’t gonna happen.

2007 was a pretty damned good year for me. Thank you to everyone who helped make it so.

Things I would like to accomplish while my children are home with school: repaint my bathroom, paint my upstairs hall, paint my bedroom and dressing room. (Pretty sure it’s not going to happen, but I’d like to do it anyway.) I’m going with a chocolate brown, I think, with pale teal towels. In the bathroom. I don’t know. I would like to find a reason to use my new Superman shower curtain rings, but since I don’t have a shower curtain, something tells me that’s not going on in the bathroom.

Ahem.

You know what would be a GREAT birthday present for me? A stripper who starts off dressed as Superman. I’m just saying. My birthday is months away, so…if you’re a stripper and you look like Superman (I’m not picky, actually, you only have to sorta look like him) please make plans to be working for me on my birthday.

M

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So we headed down to Dewey Beach, DE for the weekend to celebrate my sister’s thirtieth birthday.

We set off, me, my sister and her friend Stacy…

The drive down wasn’t too bad. We talked a lot about our hero, Dr. Tony Russo (he’s a giver AND a doer!) We spotted a bagel riding a surfboard.

WHEEEEEE!

And I got all atingle when we spotted…

Because you know how I love the boytouching.

It was, of course, time to eat when we finally reached Dewey. (Dewey? Yeah, we do!)

Our hotel room (DTRA — Dr. Tony Russo approved….)

Libations…

Um…stain of undetermined origin…

While we were hanging out on our very cool balcony…

We were introduced to our neighbors from a few rooms down. I was amazed at the preparations those boys made to go out for a night of drinking and dancing. Let me tell you, I was thoroughly impressed by the tooth brushing, but the EAR CLEANING!!! DUUUUUDE! A guy who cleans his ears before he goes out is either super duper hygiene-oriented or he really, really wants to make sure he doesn’t miss a word. (Sean Papadopolous, we thought you were FAB.) As we shouted back and forth it became apparent that we were all going to be heading to the same place…that hotbed of debauchery, The Rusty Rudder. This is, apparently, one of “the” hot spots to hit in Dewey.

It was, indeed, DTRA.

So we headed over.

And because it was Whitney’s birthday, we made sure she was given proper homage by all who attended.

Look! Patrick Swayze!!

Me and Sean Papadopolous. Or whoever he is.

You gotta give da luv to a guy who says things like “You can’t wear that. I won’t be able to control myself.” And who wears a St. Florian medallion. And buys beers. (Thanks, though I wasn’t drinking beer!)

LEAGUE OF CHAOS, UNITE!

Mah sisteh is turning THRITY!

At some point in the night, the live band that was playing took a break and some old school techno hit the speakers. And, just like in High School Musical, the crowd parted and formed a circle and…I can’t quite describe it but to say that there was a lot of gyrating and…wriggling…and…harrum. And so we made the birthday girl get in there and shake her groove thing.

BEST PICTURE EVAR.

More stealth photos…(”Cawl me.”)

OH, snap! CAUGHT!! (And btw, it is NOT sanitary to lick strangers, ew.)

Whitney and Stacy shared a bed. I’m just saying.

DAAAAAAAAVE!!!!

When we got back to the hotel it appeared to be on fire, based on the three fire trucks and two ambulances there and all the people milling around outside, so we went for pizza, instead. And then came back and went to bed. We had to step over drunk people in the hall. Yeah.

(As an aside…I drink very, very rarely, and when I do, I don’t really get drunk. I haven’t been what my sister calls “shithammered” in…a long time. I get giggly but I don’t get trashed. I act crazy without the benefit of booze. So while I’d had a couple of drinks that night and I had a really really good time…I was nowhere NEAR having to pass out on the floor in the hallway of a hotel. Or to fall over myself while walking. Or cross the street against the light and flip off the car that almost hit me. Or to urinate in public. Whatever. I’m all for having a good time but I’m not into getting trashed.)

The next day we spent the day on the beach, then went into Rehoboth for dinner…

Then to the Dogfish Head to watch one of our favorite bands play…Hoots and Hellmouth. THIS is what happened the last time I got to see them. (Sadly, I didn’t get to sign Andrew again.)

We were joined by some of Whitney’s friends…

And we watched the show for awhile. This one is especially for Whitney…

And then we headed back to the Rudder for more stealth photography…

She was thirty. I was Dirty.

Did I mention they also shared a bed?

A sighting of the fabled Unican.

“SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN! CLUTCHING YOUR PILLOW TIGHT!”

The group…

Then it was back home for people watching from the balcony. Some dude peed in the bushes below our room. So did some girl. *eye roll*

Though we did get to watch Eddie AKA Sexual Chocolate bust some fine moves in the middle of the street as he and Will AKA Liam were walking home. And we learned that something called Season’s Bites (or something) are the best post-drinking treat. And that Sean AKA “Half Irish and Half Greek” (he wouldn’t say which half was which) might not be cool with putting sunscreen on a buddy but he’ll demand oral favors from one at 1:30 in the morning from a balcony. You know, sort of like Romeo and Juliet but with boys and beers.

Then it was to bed, and up the next day where we hit the shops in Rehoboth before heading home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SISTER!!!!

M

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For the first time in…I don’t know how long, I have hair that is all one color. And it is a normal color.

You can see by my expression how thrilled I am by this.

It’s a nice color, don’t get me wrong. But I look in the mirror and it doesn’t really look like me. Which is weird because before I started going blue and purple, I was usually red.

Anyway.

Thought the world should know.

M

PS– going to the beach to help my sister celebrate her birthday. Prepare for the debauchery!

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Yes, I have completed my final vacation of the summer.

Wait. I lied. I have one more trip to take, this time with my sister to celebrate her birthday in August. Back to the beach.

But overall, the many, many trips of the summer are over. And we still have the rest of August! Gosh. I guess I need to get back to work, huh? Let me tell you, though, the past week was really wonderful. Very relaxing. I sat on the beach and read and read and read. Didn’t do a lick of writing. Came up with some great ideas, though…

Thank you, bronzed lifeguards who liked rubbing lotion on each other! THANK YOU!!!!

We mostly went to the beach but this year we also went to Assateague to see the…

PONIES!!!!

We knew we were there because we found…

Haha! I don’t care who you are, poop is generally funny.

But then we found some.

And that was fun.

I read so many books, and for once I didn’t run out! And I got…well…not a tan, because I don’t tan, but my freckles sort of blended together and formed a tan-like quality on my face.

It wouldn’t be a blog entry without a photo of me eating:

And I really regret not buying these now that I’m home and I didn’t buy them. :(

And of course…the captain fetish…

And finally, of course, because he claims I always cut his head off on purpose…

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All righty. Well, we spent most of the week at Cedar Point and it was a lot of fun. It’s about a six hour drive from my house (supposedly!) but it really took closer to eight, what with the stops and all. That was okay. The kids were all set up with their DVD players and there was no vomiting (thank god!) and I worked on my Alfie.

You see how tired I look? It’s because we got up at the butt crack of dawn to get on the road.

We drove. And drove. And drove. Then we got there, hurray! We checked into our hotel, at the Sandcastle Suites. And shall I say we were pretty much underwhelmed? I mean, for the price and all I’d have expected something a teensy bit nicer, but whatever. It was fine. It wasn’t the Ritz (as we are fond of saying around my house. Not that we’ve ever stayed there, you understand. We just like saying it.) but we are simple people with simple needs.

We had some twilight passes and since we got there before five pm (courtesy of the getting up at the buttcrack of dawn) we decided to go!

And I got to ride my second favorite ride!!

DISASTER TRANSPORT!!!!

You can see how excited I am!

We rode some other rides, too, including my OMGALLTIMEFAVORITE ride, PADDLEWHEEL EXCURSIONS!!!!!!!!

See? See my glee?

A bit of history, here. I loved that ride not for its corny jokes or tranquil path through murky green waters while watching somewhat creepy animated figures. Oh, no.

It was the Captains.

Ahhhh…in the good old days the captains wore actual Riverboat Captain outfits. (and they were…guh!)

So…wait for it. Wait for it, I said!

THEY DO NOT DRESS LIKE CAPTAINS!!!! They wear…polo shirts and…shorts…

*DIES*

Oh, Captain Alex, why didn’t you warn me? Did you know of this travesty? Did you? DID YOU!??

*weeps and gnashes teeth*

On the upside, we had a girl captain. *rock fingers* I would’ve been a great Paddlewheel Captain. That maroon vest would’ve looked hot on me, too, way back when.

But I digress.

Yeah, I was super sad but I guess this way my previous Paddlewheel experience remains untainted.

Eventually we went back to the room. It was about midnight. Everyone was tired. And the leak began. Torrents of water pouring from the light fixture in the bathroom, obviously coming from the shower in the room above.

There was a bit of a kerfluffle about it with maintenance but it was midnight. We were tired. We put towels beneath it and went to sleep. The next day they gave us a new, “remodeled” room and all I can say is this:

This was our old room:

and this was the new:

Yeah.

I won’t get into it but we won’t be going back to that hotel…for the price the service was pretty bad and really, I’d rather save some cash if we have to stay in a room that’s worn and torn.

Tuesday the weather was bad so we went to the movies and to the Sandusky Mall, which looked a lot different than I remember it, but we checked out the bookstore…

Wheee!

The upside to staying onsite is you get in an hour early to ride a certain few rides — which was great. On Wednesday We got to ride The Maverick which WAS FREAKING AWESOME! and The Skyhawk which holy crap…watch the videos on the site. Oh, man. My necklace was flying up off my neck and just hovering. I was really scared, not just thrilled.

We rode it three times. :)

We went on most of the rides, missing only a few. The lines weren’t bad and the weather was really great. On Thursday we went to the beach and the pool in between thunderstorms and Friday we hung out at Soak City all day long. Good times were had by all.

Look at the beautiful sky:

Oh, I have other pictures but they’re of me in a bathing suit and you know, not for public consumption.

The other negative thing about the trip was the food experiences…every single on-site restaurant we ate in was terrible. Food was expensive, service was absolutely TERRIBLE!!! We waited 45 minutes for our food at TGI Friday’s and then another ten minutes for the meat for our fajitas. And we’re pretty mild mannered people, so when we get all up in arms about waiting and complain about not getting our butts kissed enough, it’s pretty bad. We at at Famous Dave’s barbecue one night…bad! BAD BAD! Had a cute emo boy waiter who was very apologetic, but “sorry ’bout that” doesn’t make my chili hotter or the beer colder when it’s been sitting on the bar instead of in front of us. It was all around awful every place we went. Slow, slow, slow service and overworked staff.

Famous Dave’s where I had wings (not that great, either!) and a salad and cold chili. I could’ve sent it back but whatever, by that time we were starving.

NACHOS in the park!

We had one great food experience, OFF SITE!!! At the East of Chicago pizza buffet.

The Wrath of the Gorgon…snakes will soon to fly out of my head…

All in all? The parks both rocked, the hotel wasn’t worth the price and the food was bad, but we had a great time. I was ready to come home, though. As always. I love my family but sharing a room with three other people for a week –and a bathroom!!! — wears me down. I was ready to come home and sleep in my own bed, pee in my own toilet and eat some food that didn’t cost too much and taste too bad.

Came home to find out my final edits for Tempted had been delivered whilst we were gone. The neighbor picked up the package and I got it last night. Started on those. Finished Gilt and Midnight on the trip, have to polish it up and submit that. It’s going to be a busy week.

And, today is the day that twelve glorious years ago I bound my life to that man I live with.

Now, I really don’t like most of the professional pictures we had taken (if I were to do it again I’d hire Scott Church) but this is one I like and have hanging on my wall.

And in a strange twist of fate, I’m actually wearing those boxers today.

So there it is, my vacation story and a picture of me in my pajamas. Does life get any better than that?

M

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Woo hoo! We are going here and it will be much fun, I am sure. I worked at the Point the summers of 1991 and 1992, oh good times. Good times! I haven’t been back since ‘93 so I’m looking forward to it. Should be fun.

I *am* taking along a project to work on because, of course, I fooled around too much on the internet and didn’t to it, but that’s okay. I have a car ride to fill and yeah, that man I live with likes to “talk” to me (god knows why, I’m a very dull conversationalist) but he’ll have to deal. Child number two tends to vomit on long car trips which really isn’t much fun, because guess who gets to deal with it? Yeah. Me. But I’ll endeavor to work around this and finish up my second Brief before I get home. It’s almost finished, so, no worries.

I intend to have a very good time and read a lot by the pool and enjoy not working (when I’m not working) and to not stress (well, I am going to try. I am going with that man I live with and those children who live here, too…the combined forces of their need can be overpowering at times, but I shall gently and repeatedly remind them I AM ON VACATION TOO) and all in all, we’ll have a good time.

So, catch you all next week some time! Try not to get up to anything naughty while I’m gone.

M

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