MIA

Geez, I've been very neglectful of the ol' LL, haven't I? So sorry about that.
I have a review coming up in the next day or two for Cindy Gerard's RISK NO SECRETS. I'll warn you ahead of time that this is a stellar continuation of this series and there will be much gushing. I buzzed down to Columbus on Saturday and attended the Romantic Times convention book signing. What a madhouse those things are. I took two books to get signed, one by Shannon K. Butcher and my RISK NO SECRETS arc to be signed by Ms. Gerard. Both were so very kind, despite having signed countless books and I imagine they were very tired of smiling. Some readers came wheeling carts with plastic cartons and pulling suitcases full of books (yes, I'm talking about you, Judy Ann!). Others bought armfuls of books. I really had no intention of buying any books, but walked out with three brand spanking new ones!

Besides appreciating the patience and kindness of all of the authors, I have a new appreciation for my clothes dryer after being without it this past week. We washed several loads of clothes and took them to the coin-op on Sunday afternoon to dry. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The laundrymat we went to was huge, very clean and tidy, and even had a large tanning facility in the rear of the building. Talk about full service! There were lots of little girls running around with their Barbies, one sporting a Bounce sheet as a strapless gown and another who had balloons on her legs as knee-high boots. It was fun to see those little imaginations at work. I recall going to the laundry with my mother until she had machines at home, I think I was about five years old. We went to Duds 'N Suds (it's still in operation here in town) - it sits alongside the Olentangy River and there's a bridge that almost goes over the top of it. I recall going down to play along the riverbank while my mom did laundry. Now I hear there are a couple of homeless men who live under that bridge. When I was a child there were two homeless men that I was aware of who lived in cars at the junk yard down the street from me. My friend April lived in the same vicinity and can probably vouch for the accuracy of that more than I can.

There are a lot of authors and readers who are in a tizzy over the RWA convention that was supposed to be held in Nashville in July. Needless to say, with the Opryland hotel being under six feet of water they've canceled the convention. Now everyone's wondering where it will be moved to. My thought on the subject? Cancel it altogether for this year, authors and RWA take all of the money you would have spent to go to the convention and donate it to the Red Cross to use to help the folks of Nashville. You could write it off as a charitable donation rather than a business expense, right? My author friends will probably commence throwing things at me.

Kelsey has been texting me today about the "hippies" who are camped out on campus as this is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings. For how terrible it was, I think Kent has done a decent job of observing the deaths with memorials, monuments and marches. I was only ten at the time and my only real memory is knowing that something terrible had happened. I told Kelsey that I was more interested in riding my bike or deciding where Barbie and Ken were going to go and what they would wear.

Please give a shout and let me know what you've all been up to. Books you've read? Trips you've taken? Plans for Mother's Day? We haven't even talked about Mother's Day yet - I have cousins coming to visit on Saturday, none of whom have been to my home, so I'm attempting to make it sparkle and shine.

Have a great week - look for that Cindy Gerard review very soon!
Laurie
xo