Lynn Raye Harris

I’m gone until the New Year. Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let’s hope for great writing in 2008, and the strength and perseverance needed to get that elusive contract.

See y’all on the flip side!

I will be aboard a ship heading for the Caribbean. I have to ask myself why, after 3 years of living in Hawaii, I’m going on a tropical vacation instead of doing something I’ve never done before.

I’ve been to warm places in the winter. I’ve lived the island lifestyle. So why go back to the tropics just a little over a year since I left them?

I dunno. Seemed like the thing to do at the time.

This will only be my second cruise, and I’m ambivalent. The first one was okay, nothing spectacular. You’re onboard a floating hotel with a couple-thousand other people. You eat, sleep, drink, and breathe the unique atmosphere that a cruise experience provides. This isn’t authentic travel, like driving across a foreign country alone or backpacking through Europe. This is luxury travel, no matter whether you have the cheapest room in the belly of the ship or the penthouse. You are taken care of, catered to. I’m not sure I enjoy that non-stop for a week. (Weird huh?)

So I’m trying it again, just to see how I feel this time. I thought about swearing off cruising the last time, but that wasn’t fair. This is the second chance, though I doubt the cruise industry will miss me if I decide I prefer a different mode of travel, one that allows me to explore a country rather than float into and out of it without experiencing the authenticity of the place.

Are there any vacation experiences you prefer? If you’ve cruised, do you like it or are you ambivalent like me? (Oh, I will enjoy myself — last time, we tried to do too much; this time we’re vegging by the pool with books and umbrella drinks, which should help a lot.) What’s the one must-have item you take with you when you travel?

Yesterday, I did something you are never supposed to do. I bought a dress that’s too small because I loved it and I intend to get into it. It’s not way too small, but I have a few pounds to go if I want to wear it.

How could I pass up a Calvin Klein formal gown on markdown at Ross? I couldn’t. I’ve gained nearly 20 pounds since moving to Alabama. This does not make me happy, as you can imagine. Too much good Southern cooking, and not enough exercise. In Hawaii, I could walk to the track. Year round. There’s no track close to my house now, but that isn’t a good enough excuse.

So now I’m motivated to get into this dress by the National conference. I want to sashay through the hotel in this gown. I want to feel like a million bucks in a gorgeous designer dress.

I know it’s wrong to buy clothes that don’t fit in the hopes they will. Typically, I don’t. But, well, it’s Calvin Klein. It almost fits. It’s gorgeous.

Have you ever bought clothes that don’t fit because you just couldn’t pass them up? Because you wanted the motivation? Did you succeed in getting into them?

Wow, guess what I got in my email this morning! A job offer! How cool is that? They got my email address from the department of Commerce and decided to offer me a job. I’ll need to deposit money in my bank account, of course, and they will then withdraw the funds — except for the 10% I’ll get for working so hard. How can I pass this job up?

Dear Sir/Madam,

Compliment of the season to you, My name is Ms. Felicia Mark and I came Across your email through the United State Chamber of commerce, I am the manager of Mark Textiles & Fabrics Limited company here in the United Kingdom, I am contacting you because we are in need of a Payment Representative in the Unites States. So I would like to offer you a part time job as our payment Representative and you can earn between 4,000 – 5,000usd in a month depending on your Speed, Accuracy and Devotion to your work.

REPRESENTATIVE ROLE:
1. Receive payment from Clients 2. Deposit Payments inside your account at your Bank 3. Proceed and 24 hours in which funds have cleared into your account for withdrawal of funds 4. Deduct 10 percent which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed. 5. Forward balance afar deduction of percentage/pay to any of the Offices you will be contacted to send payment to (Payment is to Forwarded either By MoneyGram / Western Union Money Transfer).

MAIN REQUIREMENTS:
18 years or older, Legally capable,Responsible, Ready to work 3-4 hours per week. With PC knowledge E-mail and internet experience (minimal) If you are interested in our offer, and would like to work for our company kindly fill the requested details below:

FULL NAME:
STREET ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
PERSONAL CELL PHONE NUMBER:
SEX:
AGE:
CURRENT JOB:

Thanks in this regards, Felicia Mark
Felicia Mark
(Hiring Manager)

This is a new one on me, I have to admit. Usually, I get the emails about helping some poor dying or dead person who left millions behind.

Whilst working on my GH entry, I decided I needed a non-writer opinion. Now, I know my hubby doesn’t read romance. I know he’s not going to understand everything about the genre and he may be a bit, well, confused with how much emphasis there is on the romantic relationship as opposed to car chases, gunfights, and space ships (or some such).

*sigh* You get what you pay for. He read every word, he laughed in a couple of places, and he gave me comments that were helpful. But he didn’t love it. It’s not his genre, and I know that, but I guess I still expected him to be wowed. His comment? “It’s not bad.” ROFL. I’m secure enough not to disintegrate over that, but still. Is it a bit too much to ask for some enthusiasm?

I think of Stephen King and his first reader. He says he writes for his wife. It’s her he wants to entertain. If she doesn’t like something, he’s disappointed. And I know how he feels, I guess. I can’t write for my husband since I write romance and he doesn’t read it. But I’d like it if he was amazed and stupefied by my brilliance, you know?

In his defense, though, he has always promised to tell me the truth when I ask him to read my work. I prefer that to platitudes and blind acceptance of everything I’ve written. He even once gave me the perfect plot twist on a short story. I value his opinion, but I still wish I could wow him. Maybe if I write an intergalactic space ship chase/gunfight/political thriller/horror novel combination, I’ll have the ideal first reader. Until then, I guess I’ll have to settle for It’s not bad.

Do you have a first reader who’s a non-writer? Do you share your work with your spouse, or another family member? Are you disappointed or helped by those opinions?