Jennifer Labrecque

Tuesday, October 25th

Here it is....

10279839[1] (29k image)

Jennifer on 10.25.05 @ 09:07 AM EST [Entry Link] [No Comments]

New Cover

Woohoo! I finally saw my January Blaze cover. It is smokin'. This is Nick O'Malley's story -- Roarke's brother from REALLY HOT! The cover gods have once again smiled upon me. rolls eyes Thank you to the art department powers that be at Harlequin. I'll see if I can't get the cover and first chapter excerpt up soon.

Finally a breakthrough in my WIP. I had a major insight into my heroine. That's the cool/frustrating/scary part of writing sometimes -- it's like getting to know a blind date.
hehe

Jennifer on 10.25.05 @ 09:02 AM EST [Entry Link] [No Comments]

New Cover

Friday, October 21st

Festivals and Costumes

This afternoon/evening is one of my fave school activities. It's Fall Festival. Ya know, cake walks, giant slides, bean bag toss, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, candy apples. It's always a ton of work, but it's so much fun and the kids love it.

Not quite so much fun was the presentation/skit The Girl had to put together for school today. They have to be a character from the book Freedom Train and present a 2 to 3 minute skit in front of the class. On the rubric, a fifth of the grade is based on them presenting the skit in a historically accurate costume. I can't tell you how excited I've been about trying to put together a historically accurate outfit from the early to mid 1800's in between all the other activities this week. crazy

Jennifer on 10.21.05 @ 09:56 AM EST [Entry Link] [2 Comments]

Wednesday, October 19th

Back on the Wagon

I didn't just slip a little, I fell off the exercise wagon with a big splat. For the last month and a half I've found it incredibly hard to juggle working, writing, The Girl's extracurricular activities, and eating well and exercise. Wow. Can I tell a difference. Uh, my clothes aren't fitting quite the way I'd like crazy , the scales have crept up a few pounds confused , and my mood has been in the toilet angry, grr .

The worst of it is, when I fall off the exercise wagon, my eating habits plummet as well. It's sort of a vicious cycle. But, I can't think about those extra five pounds sitting on my waistline, I'm just taking it one day at a time. Yesterday was the second day in a row that I hauled my butt out there and walked. And today's a new day. rolls eyes

Jennifer on 10.19.05 @ 07:33 AM EST [Entry Link] [2 Comments]

Tuesday, October 18th

Wonderful Week-end

What a great week-end! My family went down to visit my mother and stepfather. He turns 80 next month and we surprised him with an early birthday gift and birthday cake. It was cool, crisp mornings and evenings and warm, sunny days. We ate cake, played tag football, watched t.v. and spent a lot of time laughing.

My stepfather was a soldier in the Pacific campaign in WWII and in the Korean conflict. He's a colorful character who tells great stories. I've heard his stories over and over and I never get tired of them. It occurred to me this week-end, that I don't want his stories to end with him. I'm hoping that he'll let me tape record some of his tales. I could try writing them from memory, but trust me on this, his memory is much better than mine.

Okay, I'm off to my make-believe world of time travel.... confused

Jen

Jennifer on 10.18.05 @ 09:36 AM EST [Entry Link] [2 Comments]

Friday, October 14th

Time Travel and a Pet Peeve

Wow! My time travel is going impossibly slow. I love the premise and I like the hero and heroine but navigating a historical within a contemporary is one tricky, time-consuming maneuver. confused It's also been quite interesting as it makes me consider all the modern conveniences we take for granted. And interestingly enough--or perhaps it's geekily enough on my part hehe -- Albert Einstein didn't dismiss the notion of time manipulation or travel.

And can I take a minute to mouth off about one of my pet peeves? People on cell phones in restaurants and book stores. Now don't get me wrong. I'm extremely attached to my cell phone and I'm slightly ashamed to say that I've stood in the grocery line and the bank line and completed those transactions while yakking away.

But, for years it's annoyed me to be seated next to a table in a restaurant where someone was really loud. Now you not only get them loud, you get them loud on a cell phone. Heck, at least the other way, you could evesdrop on a two-way conversation--although those loud people usually aren't being loud about anything very interesting. It's usually the ones that are quietly speaking that are having the interesting conversation. And do I want to be browsing in the nice quiet of a book store, skimming back cover copy, reading the first few pages, RELAXING, when some big mouth on the next aisle over starts yammering about their stock transaction? I've seriously thought about asking them to take it outside because they're being rude...but what would be the point? If they were worried about being rude they wouldn't be blabbing their business in a public place anyway. crazy

Jennifer on 10.14.05 @ 11:21 AM EST [Entry Link] [2 Comments]

Wednesday, October 12th

Close Call

My hands start to shake just thinking about. One of our greyhounds got out the other day. We're having an annoying ant problem, so I had one of our technicians come over from the office. He went into the back yard and apparently didn't latch the gate all the way. The Girl and one of her friends let the dog out into the back yard and Cleo (the dog) quickly discovered the unlatched gate. Unfortunately, the girls freaked which means the dog freaked. They were screaming and chasing her and, being the most skittish of my dogs, Cleo ran.

Here's the thing. Having your dog loose isn't a good thing anyway, but greyhounds are sort of different. They're sight hounds. For thousands of years it's been bred into them to chase small furry things when they see them. They're fast and focused and unfenced is not good.

I flew out the front door, barefooted nonetheless and yelled at the girls to shut up, calm down and get back inside. Cleo was already across the street and in another yard. I tried coaxing her and every time I'd get within distance to grab her collar she'd dodge away. I knew if a squirrel or a cat happened by, both of which are plentiful in our neighborhood, my chances of catching her were nil and her chances of getting hit by a car were high.

Finally, after stopping several cars that were coming by so they wouldn't hit her, instead of me chasing her, I let her chase me. I called out to her, "Let's run" and I headed for the front door. That sweet, crazy girl came loping up after me.

They guy that left the gate open felt terrible but I told him I was equally at fault for not checking behind him. Even writing about it now makes me feel queasy. And I guess there's really no point to this story other than I'm really glad all the squirrels and cats stayed out of sight. And yes, Cleo got an extra treat that night with her dinner.

Jennifer on 10.12.05 @ 06:05 AM EST [Entry Link] [4 Comments]

Wednesday, October 5th

Contacts

Given the amount of time I spend in front of the computer and reading manuscripts, it's really no surprise that I've had to wear reading glasses for the last couple of years and have gotten increasingly dependent on them. I'm sure, however, that it has nothing to do with my advancing age despite what my smarty pants optometrist says. So, yesterday I had my eye exam and the optometrist suggested bifocal contact lens. Now considering that lately I've left the house with my reading glasses shoved on top of my head and my sunglasses on my face which is definitely a most uncool look hehe I decided bifocal contacts were just the ticket for me, even tough I've never worn contacts. Getting an eyelash out of my eye is traumatic enough. However, she assured me it'd be like having my old eyes back.

The part she skipped, however, was the incredible learning curve to putting those suckers in. Ya know, they're funny at the eye place, they won't just turn you loose with those brand-spanking new contacts. Oh, no. You've got to put them in and then take them back out. They finally put my right eye in for me. An hour and some odd minutes later I still hadn't managed to shove that little *&&*^ into my left eye. I did, however, manager to smear all of my eye make-up into a lovely circle around my left eye, leaving me looking like some kind of freakish zoo animal. I finally left, contactless, feeling incredibly loserly. crazy And even better yet, it felt as if my eyes had been sandpapered.

This morning, The Girl charmingly motivated me when she popped hers right in and said, "Gee, Mom, even you should be able to do this if a kid can." Righto. So, at lunch time I went back and after only half an hour of persistent trying, I managed to get them in. Of course, in a totally asinine move, they made me take one out and then put it back in AGAIN.

So, the good news is I know have my contacts and can kiss those reading glasses good-bye (for the most part). The bad news is I'm already started to sweat thinking about having to take them out tonight and put them in again tomorrow. confused

Jennifer on 10.05.05 @ 03:29 PM EST [Entry Link] [4 Comments]

Tuesday, October 4th

Conference and Rafting

Last week was a whirlwind. My editor came in early before the Moonlight and Magnolias conference and four of us (my editor and two other writers) went white water rafting one day. The Chattooga River is a wild and scenic river which means nothing can be built within a quarter of a mile of it. It's beautiful and pristine with towering evergreens flanking the river. It's not hard to imagine that it looked very close to the same several hundred years ago when the native Americans were following the same route in canoes. They filmed the movie Deliverance on this river. Anyway, it was an incredibly beautiful day and the rafting was great. We were the only group on the river. Our guide was a retired professor of historical architecture, a California transplant. Gorgeous weather, beautiful river, good friends, a few exhilirating rapids, interesting conversation--all told, a spectacular day.

The conference went well. If you're an aspiring writer or a published writing looking for a good regional conference, Moonlight and Magnolias is the one for you. Even if it is my home chapter and I sound as if I'm bragging, it's a darn good conference. Excellent workshops. Lots of editors and agents. Always a prestigious keynote speaker. Next year we won't have it because RWA National will be in Atlanta, but go ahead and mark your calendars for 2007.

Jennifer on 10.04.05 @ 07:46 AM EST [Entry Link]

Home
Archives

"Go out as far as you can in your writing. I can rein you back in, but I can't take you out there."
-Brenda Chin, Harlequin Enterprises, Inc

Writer Buddies

Anna Adams
Blaze Authors
Stephanie Bond
Beverly Brandt
Wendy Etherington
Jacey Ford
Dorie Graham
Rita Herron
Leslie Kelly
Julie Kenner
Alison Kent
Julie Elizabeth Leto
Tanya Michaels
Rhonda Nelson
Sari Robins
Debra Salonen
Jill Shalvis
Kelley St. John
Temptation Authors
Vicki Lewis Thompson
Wendy Wax
Debra Webb

“Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.”
-Napoleon Hill

Writerly Links

DoBelieve
Georgia Romance Writers
Harlequin
Romance Writers of America

"Some men admit they avoid confrontation (about breaking up) because they’re afraid we’ll cry. Of course we’ll cry; we cry at Hallmark commercials. What they don’t understand is that we’re not crying because of them, we’re crying because now we have to get naked in front of someone else.”
-Cindy Chupack, TV writer

Fun Links

Toby Keith
Dave Matthews Band

"If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
-Winston Churchill

"Sex is not a sin. Many people have complained that this is taking all the fun out of sex.”
-Dr. Ruth Westheimer

"I know the difference between a good man and a bad one, but I haven’t decided which I like better.”
-Mae West

"Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”
-Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“Men make love more intensely at twenty but make love better, however, at thirty.”
-Catherine II, empress of Russia

“My sister was with two men one night. She could hardly walk after that. Can you imagine? Two dinners!”
-Sarah Silverman, comedian

“A bit of lusting after someone does wonders for you and is good for your skin.”
-Elizabeth Hurley

“I used to think I had ambition...but now I’m not so sure. It may have been only discontent. They’re easily confused.”
-Rachel Field, children’s book author