Jeannie Watt's blog

A Difficult Woman was my first sale and the second story in which I wrote past chapter three. That might sound impressive—selling one’s second complete manuscript, but you have to understand just how many chapters 1-3 I wrote before that.   It was not time wasted. I learned so much in those chapters—voice, grammar, flow, dialogue. What I didn’t learn was how to plot. I’d have these spectacular set-ups and then at chapter four it all fell to pieces. Why? Because I didn’t have a clue what happened next. Or why. So I’d start a new story thinking this would be the one in which I would surge on past chapter three...Nope. Not this one either. Rats. 

My daughter is twenty-five today and she sent me an email telling me she felt old. I had to tell her that wasn’t allowed in our family because of one person…one tiny ball of fire—my mom.

My mom has never liked to hear the words “you can’t.”  Just tell her she can’t and she’ll show you a thing or two.  She’s five-feet one-half inch of feistiness and fire and every year she thinks of something new to do.  She promised me at the age of seventy that she was done riding colts.  No more young horses for her.  How old is her newest

 Last week my husband, my daughter and I ran like girls.  We were three of 20,000 participants in the Nike’s Women’s Marathon, which supports leukemia and lymphoma research.  Actually, only  one member of the family ran the marathon.  My husband and I know our limitations, so we ran (by “ran” I mean our gait was slightly faster than standing still) the half marathon. 

I didn’t start running until I was in my forties.  Both my kids were in cross country and my husband went on their training runs,

I went to a cowboy wedding this weekend.  It wasn’t one of those fancy theme weddings where the bride and groom wear expensive western duds and get married on horseback.  It was a cowboy wedding because we live in a ranching community.

The ceremony took place on an old homestead under the giant trees originally planted in the early 1900s to shade the tiny house from the Nevada sun.  The guests walked about a half mile to the site, where the groom and his groomsmen mingled with the crowd until it was time for the ceremony to begin.  There were chairs, but most people stood and quietly talked.  They were neighbors, after all, and needed to catch up.

 (Due to unusual circumstances, Jeannie Watt is posting Linda Warren's blog.  It's a long story....So without further ado, here's Linda.)

Houston…we have a problem…

Like a lot of authors I just returned from the national conference in DC.  Meeting fellow super authors was the highlight of my conference. The chocolate party was wonderful and, believe me, by that time I needed chocolate and something really strong to go with it. Thanks to Kay, Amy, Ellen, Susan, Holly, Jeannie and daughter Jamie and all the Super ladies who put it together.

I missed last year in SF. The year before in Dallas the fire alarm went off and we were evacuated in the dead of night in our night clothes. Ladies were running everywhere and some were not quite. It was a scary moment until we were told it was a false alarm. Someone was smoking in their room and set it off. Thanks for the heart attack.

This year I was ready for my conference fix and I was up for a Rita. So you bet I was excited. We left the airport on a high note. The plane was incredibly hot and everyone was complaining. The stewardess said once the plane gets higher it will get cooler. It didn’t. It got hotter. I was sweating like a pig and people were getting angry.

 Are you an impulse buyer?  I ask because­­ I am at this moment en route home from RWA Nationals and, since leaving the hotel, I have acquired a beautiful turquoise scarf and two sets of earrings.  I had no intention of acquiring more baggage, but I made the mistake of arriving at the airport five hours early. (The hotel personnel insisting that I relinquish my room did play a role in my early arrival).   Come to find out, getting to airport early wasn't a total faux pas, since I discovered I was not in the electronic ticket file, and therefore had to check in the old fashioned way, with an actual human being confusing me. Once I did exist in the eyes of Delta Airlines, however, I still had a four hour wait for my flight.  What could I do but wander through the shops?  And find things I need?

The winner of the Cowboys or Cops blog is.....Chey!  Please send your snail mail address to jeanniewrites @ gmail.com (without the spaces) and I'll send you a copy of A Cowboy's Redemption.

Congratulations,

Jeannie

 
Hi--I'm Jeannie Watt and I write Superromance.  My characters have a tendency to take over my thoughts, my dreams, my life while I'm writing, and, once formed, they're in my head forever.  So I figure why not make use of them? Jason Ross, the hero of my February Superromance, A Cowboy's Redemption, has agreed to ask me a few questions for my first Superromance Authors Group Blog.  (I'm pretty sure my buddy Ellen Hartman has already done this, but I'm shameless about lifting Ellen's creative ideas and passing them off as my own.  So if you'd like to know more about me and my books--and to be in a drawing to win a book, please read on as Jason asks his questions.)  

You seem to write a lot of cowboys.  Why’s that? 

Here are the last three mosaic mirrors I've made. Once I start a mirror, I have a hard time putting it aside until it's finished.  Fortunately, it relaxes my mind, which helps me plot.   I've come up with great ideas while cutting glass.