HelenKay Dimon

Today is my hubby’s birthday. We plan to spend the day together. Here we are in Kauai. Unfortunately, we will not be in Kauai today. Still…Happy Birthday!!

I was without electricity for most of yesterday. We’ve had two days of rain this week and I’ve lost the electricity for two full days as a result. I’m thinking it might be time for San Diego to work on its infrastructure. Just saying.

Despite the no internet, no lights, no laptop thing, we did have some good news here last week. We have a new addition to our household. Yes, we got a Wii. Thanks to recommendation from Jill, we have the fitness package. We live in an area with perfect to near-perfect weather 360 days per year, so it totally makes sense that I picked a form of exercise that will keep me indoors. Well, it makes sense to me.

Don’t judge me…

We also got the sports package. My little Wii avatar – who is downright adorable, by the way – kicks butt in tennis. It’s almost shameful how good I am when I don’t have to, you know, actually run around a court. The golf game is evil, so I ignore it. I’m working on the bowling game. And despite having some junior high softball flashbacks, I tried the baseball game. I’m much better at the computer version than the live version. No trouble hitting the ball except that I can’t hit it very far. It would appear that even in computerland I have zero arm strength.

Then there’s boxing. Clearly I missed my calling because I rock at Wii boxing. I got so excited knocking people out yesterday that I just kept playing…until my husband made me turn off the game to eat dinner. Yeah, it’s like I’m 12 again. The bigger problem is that I can barely move my right arm above my waist today. [See previous comment about poor arm strength.] I figure there’s some Wii ice and a Wii massage somewhere in this thing. I just have to find that part of the package.

And now you know how I spend my non-writing portion of the day.

Whenever I speak anywhere I get asked about my writing process. I’m thinking writers and non-writers find this sort of thing interesting. For those who do, there is a website that talks about the regular schedules of famous people – writers, artists and others. It’s called Daily Routines. Check it out.

And now I know I lack self-discipline…

Right Now!!

ICE by Stephanie Rowe

The last thing Kaylie Fletcher wants is a return to Alaska , the place of too many traumatic memories. But when her family goes missing in a climbing accident, she has no choice but to head back to the land where the nights are long, the men are untamed, and passions run hot. Soon after arriving, Kaylie finds herself in a cat and mouse game for her life, and the only thing standing in the way of certain death is a sexy, rugged bush pilot who holds her life in his hands. If she’s going to stay alive and find her family, Kaylie has no choice but to rely on Cort McClaine, a dangerous and sensual male who is everything Kaylie doesn’t want… and everything she craves… But will Cort destroy her even as he is trying to keep her alive?

Comes out in July ‘09. Hate waiting…

Michelle over at B(u)y The Book/Lifetime named TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT this year’s Best Holiday Anthology – wahoo! Thought I’d show you the cover one more time in case, you know, you have one of those B&N gift cards in your pocket and are trying to figure out how to spend it. Aren’t I helpful?

Come on, you know you want to buy it…

I got married ten years ago today. All these years later and not one doubt I picked the right guy. James is better than any hero – fictional or not – out there.

Happy Anniversary, babe.

Saw this sale yesterday:

FILM RIGHTS
Nine-year-old Alec Greven’s HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS, optioned to 20th Century Fox, along with the planned next three books in the series.

There’s a joke in there somewhere about nine being the right maturity level of most men. I’ll refrain from going there. Instead, congrats to the kid. That’s quite something.

And, just wondering, what are your kids doing to earn some cash? Babysitting. Pffft. Try again.

I was supposed to be at B(u)y The Book over at Lifetime a few weeks ago but there was a scheduling snafu. No one’s fault. Just one of those things. The good news is that I’m there today…and there’s a contest. Stop by and say hello.

I continue to be sick. Apparently a sinus infection lasts three years…or it certainly feels that way. It also affects your television watching preferences because early this morning, before diving into a novella I’m writing for a January 1st deadline, I watched a movie. This movie had just started when I turned the television on. I didn’t actually put it on.**

It was one of those movies I started watching and couldn’t turn off. That is not a reflection on how good it is. Oh, hell no. The acting and plot were overdone. It was very pretty with this washed out sepia look but really not good otherwise.

The movie? A WALK IN THE CLOUDS. And Keanu needs to stick to ScFi. Just saying.

**That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Almost every day I walk by this house. It’s dark and kind of dreary. There’s all sorts of junk stacked up in the backyard. In a neighborhood of lovely little houses, this one sticks out. It’s in disrepair. Serious disrepair. I know people live there because I sometimes smell food and sometimes see a light on. But I never see people.

In my writer’s mind I spin stories about why I don’t see people come in and out. I think about whether the person who lives there is sick, or evil, or a hoarder or agoraphobic. Yeah, these poor innocent folks have become the subject of my fictional mental ramblings. I’m thinking this is how the Jodie Foster movie THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE must have come about.