I attended my first science fiction fan convention this weekend. It was really fun. It started with a RapidReading with some broads from Broad Universe. We looked harmless, but actually, we were a pretty creepy bunch of women. (In a totally cool way, naturally!) I can't say exactly what I expected (maybe more Star Trek or Star Wars costumes), but I didn't expect so much variety or so much fun.

On Saturday morning I attended a fandom 101 class, just so I'd know what people were talking about. Good thing or I'd never have known about LARPS and furries and that would have been a pity. 

I also met Martha Wells, who writes some of the Stargate Atlantis books and she signed a book and gave me hope for the upcoming season. She's seen the first episode and said it rocks. Oh and Teyla had her baby, both character and actress (it was a boy, congrats!).

I also bought some art and some new books by authors new to me. One was a new author, K.M. Tolan, who wrote Blade Dancer. I was able to download it when I got home. In addition to the Atlantis book, I bought one of the guest author's books. Alan Steele. Probably all sf readers know him, but he was new to me. Looking forward to both books. :-)

And I bought some art. Did you know they have art at SF cons? Because I didn't. It was really interesting to see and i was tickled to find something I could afford. The dealer's room was cool, too. Favorite thing? A bumper sticker that said:

"We brake for things you don't believe in." (Or something like that.) I thought that was great.

It goes great with my dragons (if you look closely, you can see my dragons are "making a wish--using a little "hero." I know, I'm dark!):


I planned to take some pictures, but didn't for two reasons:

1. There was a warning in the program about not taking pictures in certain places. Being new, this intimidated me, since I didn't want to be escorted off the premises of my first convention.

2. I forgot. That's right. I forgot. I would have had some amazing shots, too. Possibly award-winning. Really.

What I think I liked the most was that everyone seemed to have a sense of humor about themselves and the experience. There was a real sense of fun (with the exception of a couple of panels, but hey, there are always a few people who take themselves way too seriously, right?) What's really sad is that this convention has been around for FIVE years. I've lived in Houston for SIX and I never heard about it! 

If you've followed my adventures (mostly misadventures) with the TRS Diva contest, then you probably realize by now that I won't be a diva. My home state will be happy, since they don't approve of anyone being a diva, particularly a native. I have, however, posted the excerpts I wrote for the contest, so you can read them if you've been dying to find out which ones I wrote (which you have, right? I mean can't sleep at night dying, right? Oh well...mildly curious then...)

Other than a bit of reading, a bit of writing, a bit of convention going, I've been....twittering. That's right. Twittering. It's called micro-blogging and I got into it researching social networking for the promo book that Jamie Engle and I are writing. My mind has truly been boggled at what's out there. I didn't join everything, because I don't have enough life left for that, but if you're curious, look for me on your favorite site. I might be there. :-)

Happy Fourth of July! Thank you, thank you to our troops, their families and to those who helped secure our freedom!
Gratefully, perilously yours,
Pauline

One of the things I got a big kick out of, was when they told us some of the funny questions people asked. Here's the ones I remember:

1. What altitude is the ship? (in case you don't know: sea level)

2. Does the ship generate it's own power?

3. Does the crew sleep on the ship?

4. What do you do with the ice sculptures after they melt?

5. How small does your face have to be to get a mini-facial?

They also told us to be sure and pack our Ulu knifes (curved, very sharp and pretty big!) in our checked baggage. Apparently a LOT of knives were getting confiscated by security.

Was it just me or did April seem really long? It was like most months, some good things, some not so good (like taxes). We flew to New York for the marriage of one of our daughters. It was really nice. The weather was perfect. Our other daughter lived there, so we got to see her, too. 

The wedding was on a yacht, very swish and sassy. The hubby was feeling sassy, too. We were posing for a picture and he decided to jazz things up a bit by pinching my tush. Only he missed. I'm not saying what he got, and I'm not posting the whole picture, but I think this picture says a lot. (evil grin)



I thought the look on his face was priceless...and says more than I could. Well, we can see my expression. Not my best look, but certainly apt for the situation.

Is anyone else watching Top Chef? Son and I are enjoying it very much, though I still wish the phrase would be, "Take your knives out of everyone's back and go home." I like Stephanie the best, but if she doesn't get her act together, she's going to be the next to go home. Two bad weeks.

Was sorry to see Brooke voted off Idol. I liked her a lot. Lost track of Dancing with the Stars, while waiting for my brain to catch up with me after our trip, but managed to see The Big Bang Theory this week. That show is SO funny!

Can you tell I haven't been reading? I've been writing, actually, though unfortunately not on the novel. :-( I'm in a non-fiction time crunch, but trying to write my way out.

And don't forget, The Romance Studio Diva Contest starts Monday! The voting is blind, but I'm in there, so if you're in the mood, stop off and read the excerpts and vote, vote, vote! 

Happy May one and all! May it be a month filled with flowers, great books, chocolate and time for family!
Perilously yours,
Pauline

 I had to write seven blogs for Novel Spot, so I'm a little short on words today. It was good for me, but SEVEN.Wow. It's for their "Behind the Scenes" feature, which is actually a really cool idea. It's a peek behind the curtain of the working author's life. Or in my case, the "blogging her brains out" author. 

In other news, I've started another contest at Author Island. Just click on "contests" and look for "Dead and Breakfast." That's right, for the first time, I'm giving away a print copy of our chapter anthology, containing my short story, Do Wah Diddy Die Already. I've got some more shorts appearing in anthologies. If you're curious, go to my website. The covers of the anthologies are there. Publication dates are either not set yet or in the fall. :-)

I'm concluding my second,serialized short story, Dance with Me, this week. It goes out in my ezine, then I post it on my website. It will go out early, because I have a family wedding this weekend. I'm already no  mail on my yahoo lists, so only receiving personal email and tons of spam until Sunday. And only when I remember to check it. :-)

I was involved in a fun project. An elementary school student sent me a Flat Stanley (see book by same name) to take around. So, after showing Flat around Houston, I'm getting ready to send him back to the student. It's such a cute idea, to have students make their own Flat Stanley and send them out. We even took him to MD Anderson with us. Got a few strange looks from those who don't know Flat.

Saw The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan. Wasn't sure I liked it at first. They teased it as a comedy and it wasn't, though it had its funny moments. Ultimately, I would say I liked it. The pacing was a bit off, but that might be because we pace our movies differently. Totally clean, good message. Pretty girls. (grin)

Have a great week!
Perilously yours,
Pauline

I want you to notice the date. MORE THAN FIVE DAYS EARLY getting my taxes in, because I got them in last Monday. That's right. I finished those bad boys. The evil that government does is behind me (more or less) for another year. 

My to-do list isn't that much shorter, because as we all know, as soon as we check something off, at least four more things pop up to take its place. And some items are never ending, like laundry, dishes, scooping the cat litter, shopping...

Speaking of shopping, I need to get something to wear to my daughter's wedding. It's somewhat casual, so I can go with dressy pants. I can tell my sister is worried about me venturing out on my own. She does have a point. I probably shouldn't shop for clothes unsupervised by a professional. It's like I go...I wouldn't call it color blind, because I can still see the colors, maybe the right word is "fashion blind."

Unless an outfit is put together on a model, I can't figure out what goes with what. BUT, I am just looking for elastic waist, dressy black pants. And I need them...yesterday. Well, not quite that bad. I've got two weeks from yesterday before I get on a plane. So that leaves me...(crap, math), some few days to figure this out. Because I am NOT procrastinating. Really. I'd be a wimp to be afraid of shopping for a pair of black pants. 

And I'm not a wimp.

Moving on, my trusty Treo died this week. Well, it's half dead. The phone side went first. It wasn't pretty either. All I did was mention that it was getting on a bit and the thing freaked out on me. I was able to stabilize the patient and thought I'd managed to save its ereading side, but then what might be a cascade failure occurred. I'm not sure on that part yet. But hope is fading.

So, I needed a new phone. I was going to be sensible. Going to be business-like. Going to be savvy. And frugal. Yes, frugal was on my list.

I wasn't any of those things.

I got an iPhone.

Okay, I know. But I LOVE it. Not only is it great at browsing, but you can put pictures with all your phone contacts. I know, other phones probably do that, too, but I have THIS phone and it's really fun to play with. Still sorting out the whole, ereading thing. I've heard you can read some formats on it, but right now my mobi books can only be read on my computer. 

Still, since I have two dedicated readers, both fully loaded with books, I think I'll be all right. (grin)

And the iPod function is great, too. I'm not ditching my cute little iPod, just adding more function to my experience. And it's way fun to flip through album covers. And be able to watch movies and stuff.

And by waiting a whole YEAR to buy, I have two daughter and two sons-in-law to tell me how to do things. :-)

Life IS good!

Oh, and I've been reading, too. Finished a couple of Stargate SG-1 novels. I really like the time travel ones. I'm afraid my print TBR pile has suffered a bit of neglect as I have been a bit distracted with my technology. Thankfully, books are patient. :-)

Hope your week is a happy one!
Perilously yours,
Pauline

It's been a fairly quiet week here in Houston. Spring is in the air, but my son caught a cold, so we've been playing a big of Wii. Okay, so maybe it's a lot of Wii. I  never could get the whole games thing, other than the occasional (or not so occasional) game of Solitaire. But I have to confess, the Wii is pretty fun. I've never had great eye-hand coordination, so I'm really lousy at anything that requires you to move and act quickly. When you consider I remember Pong, well, you get an idea of just how old I am. We downloaded Pacman and I'm lousy at that, which is a step up from really lousy, but results in the same thing: my character's repeated death. 

I love Mario Party, though, even though I'm not that great at the mini-games. If I had to explain why, I couldn't, except maybe because it makes me laugh and it feels good to laugh and be silly together. We even got another remote and made the hubby play. 

Son and I have also been reading some Stargate books, which has also been fun, but bad for the other books on my TBR pile. All this sharing has led to some interesting discussions. Probably the most interesting has been the one about how girls think and feel differently from boys. 

This was prompted by a bit on the radio when the host asked if all men are clueless. Based on my personal experience, I'd have to say, yes--though the degree of cluelessness varies from guy to guy.

I told my son, if he really wants to know how women think and feel, he should read our books. Or a couple of our books. Or read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. That's a total girl book.

Anyway, went on to share a few insights into the female mind. He was so surprised. It was cute, but made my heart hurt for the girls he's passed by without noticing. Or barely noticing. 

One thing I wished I'd know way back when, was just how clueless guys really are. I used to impute all kinds of thoughts and motives and feelings and now I realize how wrong I was. Man, if I'd know then, what I know now....

But maybe it's a good thing we don't know that much at a young age. That much knowledge could be dangerous in young hands. 

I'm working on an article for guys on how girls think, but in the meantime, if you're in a hurry, guys, pick up a couple of romance novels. It's a quick route into the female mind. :-)

And if you're in the mood for contests, stop by my website. I'm running two at the moment, one through Author Island. 

Hope you have a great weekend! Happy Reading!
Perilously yours,
Pauline

Our son finished being microwaved yesterday and he told the techs, "I'm cooked. Bring on the barbecue sauce!" 

Okay, so we're still a bit in the dark humor zone, but it got us through and he IS through! Woot!

His timing is perfect. The weather has turned wonderful and the fishing is starting to pick up again. In fact, he's going out today for a while. As promised, I am posting some pictures of our front yard. The tree got a bit beat up in the storm when it blew through, but thankfully, we didn't get it as bad as other places.



And here's another view:



Luckily our yard managed to be amazing without much input from us this year!



It's been good for our spirits, though! And thankfully, not too hot yet. :-)

I read some good books this week. Particularly liked Amanda's Rib. While lightened with humor, still not an easy read, but very gripping and well done. I'll be looking for her next book. Also liked Girl of My Dreams. Very light and funny. 

On the TV front, well, I'm keeping track of Dancing with the Stars and Idol, but really loving New Amsterdam. Wasn't that wild about the Stargate Atlantis finale, but then I've never liked "kids in danger" stuff. Hits too close to home.

Running a couple of contests on my website, so if you like free stuff, stop by and check them out. I'm also still doing the serialized shorts in my ezine and just contracted my two, non-fiction books to L&L Dreamspell! Excited about that. You can see the new covers on my website. No release date yet, because I need to tweak them. 

Oh, if you haven't signed up for the free ebooks that Tor is giving away, then you're missing out. Visit their website for details. :-)

Hope that life is treating you good, that you have piles of great books to read, and spring at least on your horizon!
Perilously yours,
Pauline

I've been thinking a lot about perspective, mostly about keeping things like in perspective. As many of you know, last July everything in our lives changed when doctors suspected our 22 yr old son had cancer. Nothing like a huge shock to change your perspective. Since then my perspective of a lot of things has changed.

One of the more humorous ones is to do with bills--which usually aren't funny at all. When we first started getting the bills from MD Anderson, well, I'd have probably really worried about them, but I had this bigger worry: my son. But then, after a while they became a sort of fascinating distraction to the main event. Our insurance company told us not to pay anything until they told us to, so I was also able to achieve a certain amount of detachment as they climbed, sometimes as much as $50,000 a month.

The months passed and our insurance company didn't send us anything about paying anything and their payments started reducing the balance, even though it was still amazing to study how much different things cost. 

Then we got notification from MD Anderson that they were going to turn our balance over to a collection agency if we didn't start paying. Now keep in mind, the total amount has easily reached the $200,000 mark and they were quibbling over....wait for it....thirty dollars. 

Now that's what I call an odd lack of perspective. I mean, this is a cancer hospital and I can't even do the math and what percent $30 is of the total bill.

It turns out that we actually owe about $400, all of it copays that they were supposed to be collecting all along, but even so, that's still not even one percent of the amount that our insurance company has paid (and let me say, Cigna has been amazing throughout this process!). They've never called us to ask us why we aren't paying, though I realize they don't have to. I mean, we totally plan to pay our share. That's not the issue. The issue for me is perspective. 

Who freaks out over that small amount from a cancer patient?

We didn't have any way of picking what we're supposed to pay out of the miasma of stuff the insurance company is picking up and it's not like payments haven't been made to the account. I'll admit I have a little trouble seeing their perspective on this.

We were talking about it at dinner one night--and I confess, wondering how much the radiation treatments were going to cost.

My son, bless him said, "Well, when I was getting microwaved, that machine looked pretty expensive."

I'll bet that was an interesting perspective, too. 

And one I hope I never, ever have to see.

Okay, I know we have a rather dark sense of humor, but it has helped us get through the last months, so I won't apologize for it. :-)
Perilously yours,
Pauline

After getting side-swiped by life last July, I dove back into my TBR pile this weekend and finished off a couple of books that I'd been looking forward to reading. 

The first was the latest Thursday Next book from Jasper Fforde, First Among Sequels. As always, Fforde delivers silly entertainment with style and verve and left me looking forward to the next book--which won't be out until 2009, which is a bummer. No sign there's a new Nursery Crime book coming anytime soon, but he has started a new series. Will definitely be checking that out. 

I also finished my long neglected Monk and the Two Assistants. As always Goldberg delivers a fun mystery and a sense of watching an episode that lasts longer than an hour. Since the series is once again on a break until the summer, it was fun to have a "new" book to read. And it was great fun to have Sharona back and to leave her happy in her marriage. Like many, I was pretty unhappy with the way they shuffled her off the show and couldn't believe she'd have gone back to her ex. Goldberg made me believe she would have (though it's not a big help for the actress shuffled off the show!). I'm looking forward to next one, which is happily sitting by my reading chair.

I need to check out what Goldberg has been up to, but have been avoiding it because I didn't want to feel even further behind than I already did!

I'm also looking forward to finishing Hurricane Moon. I was partway into it when my life went crazy. It's such an intelligent, densely written book, I couldn't give it my full attention and I'm very much looking forward to getting back to it. What I'd read, well, it was impressive, but then I knew Alexis Glyn-Latner would deliver an absorbing read.

Okay, not to TV. I really enjoyed Friday's Stargate Atlantis episode. Had been...not thrilled with the first half of the season, but this second half has been full of the thrills and chills I've come to associate with the franchise AND Carson is coming back! I've really missed him, so excited about that. Okay, the other fun thing about Sci-fi on Friday night is the "I hate Saturday night" commercials. I love the dark humor of them and wish they'd show them more, or even upload them on their site for viewing. 

As my life slowly returns to normal, I always remembered to check out Amanda Tappings web series, Sanctuary and was excited to see that all the episodes were available and that the series has been picked up by sci-fi! On the downside, I wasn't able to download all the episodes I paid for and tech support has yet to get back to me. I hope they get on the stick soon, since I'm anxious to see the series. I really AT and was so glad they'd moved her to Atlantis when SG-1 was canceled. 

I'm also starting to get into Chuck, but then if you know me, I love fish-out-of-water stories, not to mention quirky and a bit dark. I'm glad the writer's strike is over, so that Big Bang Theory can start back up.

I know, I sound like all I do is watch tv, but actually all I do is read and do damage control, but life is slowly returning to our "new" normal. I've even started writing again!

I know some of you are locked in winter and I don't mean to make you sad when I say it is beautiful outside! Believe me when I say, we've needed some sunshine around here. :-)
Perilously yours,
Pauline

I have to face facts. My husband suffers from "Male Pattern Blindness." I've been in denial about it for most of our 34 years of marriage. I've been sure that with just more patience and a bit more nagging, he'd get over it.

He hasn't.

He can still look at a room, even be searching a room for an item, and even if it's sitting OUT IN THE OPEN, not see it. 

One of the early symptoms of MPB is "Refrigerator Blindness," the inability to actually see what's in there without verbal directions and sometimes physical assistance.

I suppose there are cases of Female Pattern Baldness out there, particularly among teenagers, but none of those women are wives and mothers. I know that as I pass through a room, I'm noting what's in that room that either my husband or offspring will at some point ask me if I've seen. It's like auto-notation. It's not a perfect process. I can usually remember I've seen a cellphone, but not always sure where.

Another symptom of MPB is looking in strange, even bizarre places for lost items. I mean, who considers the refrigerator a logical storage site for a glasses? Okay, he didn't look there first, but it was in his top ten places. On the upside, he didn't find his cellphone there, because it was hiding in PLAIN SIGHT, which seems to render highly desired objects, very RED objects, virtually invisible. 

When my family was younger (and I was much more tired), I used to have a rule: If I tell XX where an item is, they can't find it, and I get up and find it exactly where I said it was...I get to kick them. 

It didn't always work, but it did make them look twice. 

Unfortunately, kicking isn't a cure for MPB. I would postulate, that MPB is incurable and only gets worse with time. Luckily for the men who have it, they also seem to get cuter with time, sort of like protective covering. All I know is, I plan to keep my MPD sufferer (though it is debatable who is the primary sufferer from the condition). After 35 years, he's still my favorite Valentine. :-)
Perilously yours,
Pauline4