23-29 Jul 2012 - RWA Conference:

I am happy to report that I will be on a panel, along with fellow RomVets AJ Brower, Geri Krotow, Rogenna Brewer, Heather Nickodem and Taylor Reynolds, for an RWA workshop called “Not Every Man in Uniform Is a Navy SEAL! Developing Military Characters to Steal Readers' Hearts”, which will be held Saturday morning at 0830.  I am not writing military romances, but I can surely talk military.  And, while SEALs are certainly eye-candy, I would take a fighter pilot or any Marine over a SEAL any time….

27 Apr 2012 – Guest Blog Post on Aloha On My Mind, regarding the Doolittle Raiders.

8-15 Apr 2012 - Romantic Times Convention:

I attended the Romantic Times (RT) convention in Chicago this year, to include the beginner’s pre-convention workshop.  What a fantastic experience!  I went to RT last year in Los Angeles, and had a good time/learned a lot, but I was kind of lost and fumbling my way through it.  This year, my experience was much more focused – I knew what it was about and what I wanted out of it.

Last year, I knew that I wanted to write, but just was not ready.  I was de-compressing from an insane deployment operations tempo during active duty – 4 deployments and an overseas move during the last 5 years of my active duty time.  I just needed a break.  So, while I learned a lot and took away much from Los Angeles last year, I wasn’t ready to put it into practice.

This year in Chicago, the pre-con beginner’s workshop was a great impetus to start truly thinking about and DOING my writing.  We had five pages critiqued by a published author.  Lynne Connolly commented on my pages, and she had some great insight on how I can improve my work.  I was able to chat with some authors I met last year, including Sally MacKenzie, Delilah Marvelle, Cathy Maxwell and Katharine Ashe.  And I was able to meet some other fabulous writers and get to know them a bit – Marilyn Brant, Cole Gibsen, Kasey MacKenzie, Linnea Sinclair, Maureen O. Betita and Mia Marlowe.  And, I was able to connect with some other aspiring writers – Sheryl Babin, Anna Silvernail Sweat and C. Morgan Kennedy…who are all going through the same growing pains that I am.

Overall – I love RT, and if I can get to the conference in Kansas City again next year, I will.  Now, I have a GOAL to have a completed manuscript that I can pitch at RWA in July….  Wish me luck!