First things first: Happy Memorial Day. Please remember the service and sacrifice military men and women and their families make and say thank you if you can.

I didn’t look at the date of my last post because I had to really think, think, think to remember how to log on so that’s way too long. Thus, long post ahead!

1. I’m working on THREE more books for Harlequin Heartwarming and I AM ALL EXCITE about this. We’ll be going back to Tall Pines to visit a beautiful bed and breakfast on lovely Spring Lake, and then we’re changing scenery, going a little international, and then going to the dogs and cats and…well, we’ll have to see! I love all three concepts, so let’s see how well I can pull them off. While I’ve been away, the 2-in-1 version of A Minute on the Lips for sale in Australia arrived. SHINY! Also, “G’day, mate. Throw another shrimp on the barbie.” That’s all the Australian I know.

Here’s the whole international family: A Minute on the Lips, its British cousin, and the Australian branch.

2. I drove down to the RT Booklovers’ Convention in New Orleans at some point this month. All my days are blurred together, you know? It was my first visit to New Orleans and my first RT. Highlights: hanging with my friend Codi Gary, meeting Sara from Harlequin Junkie, peeking at Lisa Kleypas at the Avon party at Acme Oyster House, and shaking Charlaine Harris’s hand, and…there are many! After all the convention excitement and actually meeting FANS (I mean, of MY books, not just people who like to read because I love those but people who talk about my characters and are not actually named my best friend…that’s like whoa), I went to Cafe du Monde, had beignets, and this view.

3. I drove to Florida, camped out under an umbrella, and listened to the waves with the person named my best friend. It was awesome. We watched the beach attendant. We shopped. And did I mention it was awesome? Because it was. When we decided to exert ourselves, we visited the Gulfarium and I learned that I need a 13-stroke handicap to play minigolf on the pink course at the Big Kahuna. That was a sobering realization. Obviously I need to work on my putt-putt golf stroke.

4. I drove home. The ginormous yard had returned to its natural, jungle-like state, the mail was out of control, and the dog was mad. If they didn’t keep the beach so far away, I would have just jumped right back in the car. Eleven days, 1500 miles, 27 hours in the car. After I fought my way out of the paper bag that is streets I’ve driven my whole life and still managed to miss my turns, I did it flawlessly. There was some circling of the hotel in New Orleans, but I blame traffic, construction, and one-way streets for that.

5. Now I must write like the wind. Yesterday was a solid day of 5,000 words. I’m looking at my deadline and doing the math on my fingers and thinking there’s totally a chance I could still possibly make it. Maybe. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me, ‘mkay? While I write, this song is playing in my head. The Bandit is my driving inspiration, after all. I’m just going to get in the rocking chair and put the pedal to the metal.