Vivacious Vixens of Romance Blog

So here I am again. What to blog on? Who knows. Every day I see posts on the Yahoo group stating “I blogged about…” With various subjects. So how do you think of something unique and interesting to blog about?

Well I’m clueless. I have some books that will be coming out soon, but I do not have covers yet, and besides I send them around to Yahoo on promotion days. So who wants to see that again on my blog day? Not me, quite frankly I get sick of posting them. So I’d rather wing it.

So I’m winging it.

What is your favorite thing to do for inspiration? For anything. I’m talking, if you’re in a profession that needs to have some type of inspiration or imagination and you’re blocked, what do you do? Do you go for a walk or do you listen to music? Do you brainstorm with a friend? I do all of the above.

Right now it’s not that I need inspiration, I need a kick in the BUTT to get me going. I have good intentions to write or edit. But getting to that document and opening it. Well that’s the easy part, but actually starting the work is what blocks me. If I can just start. I’m fine, then I before I know it, it’s been a couple of hours and I’m stiff from sitting and I didn’t even realize the time had past.

Okay so I need your thoughts. How do you get that kick in the rear to start?

Did you think I’d miss my day again? Well I almost did. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA, in my defense I had ankle surgery. I will notgo into the gory details. But instead tell you what else has occupied my time. I’ve been trying to find agents for our Utah RWAConference. We finally found our 2nd agent. It is so late, I’ll just post the announcement. If you’d like to do a conference but feel overwhelmed with a large one, well this is a great small one. A lot of opportunities also.

The 2009 Heart of the West Conference

RWA Utah Chapter

Writing: A Magical Journey

October 9 & 10, 2009

at The Lodges at Deer Valley in Park City, Utah

Featured author and Key Note Speaker

NYT Bestselling Author, RITA Award Winner Rachel Gibson

Award Luncheon Key Note Speaker

2009 RITA Finalist, Author of more than 30 books, RaeAnne Thayne

Featured Editor—Acquiring for Avon, Amanda Bergeron

Featured Agents –

Kelly Mortimer of Mortimer Literary Agency

Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency

PRO/PAN Workshops:

Joy in the Journey – Sherry Lewis

Goal Motivated Public Speaking – Jude Bown

Craft and Industry workshops:

The Writing Journey Begins with Your Voice – Lynn Kurland

Sifting the Mudane from the Magic – Melissa Mayhue

Extreme Makeover: Editing Edition –Kelly Mortimer

TBA – Christine Witthohn

An Editor’s Ideal Query: The Ultimate Journey – Amanda Bergeron

Book Signing

Check our Web site for full schedule.

Conference fee URWA members $149.00—Non-URWA members $165.00

Special Group rates on rooms – Hotel rooms $99 – One bedroom suites $129 per night. Limited number, make your reservations soon to assure rate.

If you would like to donate promotional items, books, bookmarks, magnets, etc. please email mary @ marymartinez .com (no spaces)

For registration forms and more information check our website:
www.utahrwa.com

Wow, I almost missed my day. Let me tell you what I’ve been up to. Giving my web site a little Botox. Yup you heard me correct. I didn’t entirely give my web site a complete make over or plastic surgery. I did however change the background colors, remove some of those damn sunflowers–don’t get me wrong I love sunflowers they were just a little much on every page. And I changed my personal pictures. Doesn’t sound like much.

WRONG! I have a gazillion pages, with excerpts, reviews, biography, etc. etc. etc. updating some information on one page is not a big deal. Changing the color and font color, removing a border and changing pictures–an all day event. Because I have to change at least the color and font color on every one of those gazillion pages.

So paleeessse check it out for me at http://www.marymartinez.com. 

Please leave a comment to let me know if I succeeded in making it more professional and eye catching. In other words, did the Botox work?

Thanks Mary – chat at you next week!

You got it, I missed last week. But in my defense I was flying from Salt Lake City, UT to Washington D.C. for the RWA National Conference. By the time I arrived, I had to check in, go to the signing, meet my chapter and yes I’m exhausted just writing it all!

I will recap my experience…. Wonderful! I had opportunities galore. I moderated a workshop for Susan Elisabeth Phillips. Fun and informative workshop. Saturday I helped with the Agent and Editor pitch appointments again a wonderful opportunity. I met several and actually chatted! Hopefully they’ll remember me when I submit.

I brought home too many books as usual, now I need to organize and find a place for them. And also, I’m trying to catch up with everything that slipped by while I was gone. My fingers itch with new ideas, but I can never concentrate if I have something I need to do hanging over my head. So I’m using Benedryl to stop the itch until I can write!

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a writing conference DON’T pass it up!

I’ve got to go! Talk to you next week.

Let’s talk contests. Not those given by authors, like our scavenger hunt, etc. Writing contests when you send in anywhere from your hook to 25 pages. Judges look them over and the top three or four, depending on how the contest is structured goes to a final round judge, usually an editor or agent.

The RWA Chapter I belong to has the Heart of the West contest going on right now. We’re in the judging process. The chapter coordinator and judges really donate a lot of their time to make our contest a success.

Are they worth the time and cost? Has anyone ever received a contract from winning a chapter contest?

Whenever I enter a contest it seems that one judge loves me, another hates me and one just doesn’t really care. Therefore I’m always in the middle of the pack. And a lot of times the comments are questions that had they been able to read further into the book would have been answered. I mostly write suspense, that’s the category I enter. As a suspense author I want the reader to wonder and question. Usually I can not use the suggestions in a helpful way.

My questions to you are:

1. What do you get from a contest?
2. Have you ever won and did it result in a contract?
3. Do you feel they are worth your time and money?
4. Do you find them helpful in rewriting and editing your work?

I’ll check back to see your answers.

Thanks

Well today is Thursday. I completely missed a day. However, the good news is….

We have a winner for our Scavenger Hunt! Drum roll please….

Congratulations  to Charlene Coyle

She has won the Following Downloads: A Download of Meet Me In Fantasyland by Mary Martinez, A Download of America’s Hero by Regan Taylor, A Download of your choice of Tracy L. Ranson’s backlist and last but not least a Download of Pretend I’m Yours a Colonial Romance by Phyllis Campbell.

It’s summer. What do I do in the summer? I watch the older boys who are off track. So today started at 6:30 am and no I wasn’t ready to get up yet, so I let the first two to arrive to snuggle into bed. Except Ayden (3)–he’s a pacakge deal with his older brother–likes to smack and sprawl in his sleep. Finally drifted off, then the next installment of two arrived. Time to get up.

Now we’ve had swimming lessons, played in the park. Homemade lunchables–meat, cheese and crackers, dang why didn’t I get out the wine–while they played play station. Then it was blueberry muffins, and then peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into dinosaurs. This was all before noon.

It’s now time to run through the sprinklers. Ayden (3) forgot–mom did–his swim trunks, so Nana went down to ruffle through James (3) drawer to find something. So in James’ Thomas the train pjs Ayden is running with the big boys. In another hour we’re off to see Night at the Museum 2.

I may sleep.

Then home, and the kids will be going to their homes, and James who is at the sitters, will be home since he lives here. When to write? I have no idea, but I’ve made myself a promise to write 4 books per year and I’m at the end of the 2nd. I’m hoping to be done by the end of the week. Then it’s onto book 3 and I’m still on track.

I think that’s pretty good for an old Nana!

And it starts again tomorrow. Take Care!

Good Morning,

I haven’t had my coffee yet, so I hope this is coherent. From now on it’s just Vixen Mary Wednesday! Since I’ve last blogged, I spent a few days in California visiting our daughter. No one bothered to tell me about the June Gloom. We left rainy Utah hoping for sun, did we get it? Well I’d say a big resounding NO except Nichole–that’s our daughter–took us to Laguna Beach on Thursday where we did manage to catch some rays.

And Bird Shit–can I say that on a public blog?

A seagull dive bombed my husband and I, starting with the top of my head down the front of my bright red tee. The rest of the day, even though we tried to clean it, I had white smears all over. Since we were an hour away from our hotel it wasn’t like I could go change. Alas, luckily that wasn’t the highlight of our trip.

We ate at some fabulous places–I’ve been watching what I eat all week before I weigh I don’t want to go into shock–the best was a in Toluca Lake. If you ever have a chance check it out. D’Cache. They have live entertainment and a little bit of everything along the food lines. The group that entertained were so good we bought their CD. Jose Garcia he’s worth checking out.

Last week I said I’d be taking a NIA class from our daugther at The Pilates Studio, however, I decided to sleep in, instead. Of course that was the day we went to the beach. Maybe that’s why I ended up with bird poop in my hair. Karma. I was on vacation, isn’t that what you do? Sleep in?

Have you ever been to Huntington Gardens? Awesome place I would recommend it also. The weather, being the gloom that it was, actually made the day better. It was just the right tempreture to spend the day wandering around the plants and other treasures.

Other than the long drive there and back I’ve pretty much summed up my California trip. Except for the stop in Vegas on the way home. We were only there one night, but we saw The Blue Man Group. I had no idea what to expect, especially since we were in the ‘poncho’ rows. Third to be exact. I wore the plastic thing all night, and only once was I in danger. But mostly it was entertaining and fun. I’m not sure how to discribe it, loud, colorful, funny and… If you get a chance to see it, go!

Okay through boring you.

As all of you have probably noticed, the other vixens have supplied you with wonderful excerpts and blurbs, and I’m giving you boring stories. I believe I advised you on my first blog I would post excerpts and other promotional stuff when I had a new release, and I plan to keep that promise. I’m out most times on all the loops where you can catch my blurbs and covers. But I wouldn’t mind, if you’re curious that is, if you take a trip to my web site and checked out all the blurbs, excerpts, trailers and contests I have going on there. http://www.marymartinez.com

And if you have checked our chat schedule the Vixens have a chat scheduled for this Saturday at Novel Sisterhood, come by and visit.

Talk to you next Vixen Mary Wednesday!