Yep- I sure am. I bet you aren’t surprised by that at all! I’ve been an Obama Girl since 2004. When he spoke at the Democratic National Convention when Kerry was running for President. I turned to my husband that very night– with my throat tight and said — “That man is going to be the President of the United States.”

Four years later, I still believe that he SHOULD be President of the United States. I believe in his integrity, his HOPE, and in his promises that our country can be be so much better than it is now.

Some say he is long on promises but short on delivery. I don’t believe that. I believe he is a man who will change our country. I believe the world will respect us again if we put a man like him (intelligent, honest, and hopeful) in the White House. I believe that he represents the best of what our country can give the world.

He’s very close to winning the Democratic nomination for President. I’ve listed some links below — the speech that won me in 2004 and the speech on race that spoke to me on a very deep level.

I’ll say this– Obama, you had me at HELLO.

His recent speech on race:
A More Perfect Union: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU

2004 Democratic Convention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYHSBSlxec (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDa8b5n4dso (part 2)

So I had jury duty this week- a civil trial. It was an interesting glimpse into both the justice system in my area and the heads of 11 other people. We all sat in the same room, heard the same things, and yet we all came with very different perspectives on what it was that had happened and what we should do.

We deliberated the majority of the day and I’ll admit to not be being exactly satisfied with the results. Mostly I blame the lawyer for the plaintiff- she just did not do a good job at all and gave us nothing to work with. Sucks. Why file a lawsuit if you aren’t going to “bring it”?

What did I learn from jury duty? Oddly enough I took several lessons with me– 1. always document your important stuff with dated, witnessed pictures 2. no matter how I might see something– 11 people will probably see it differently. It’s made me think about my characters actually- I write A LOT in first person, so I dig deep into one character and carry her throughout the material. I think the heroine in my new novella is “unreliable”. LOL.

The best, most unreliable character I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading was AMELIA PEABODY in the “Amelia Peabody Mysteries” by Elizabeth Peters. Amelia’s world is completely skewed to her POV 100% of the time as Ms. Peters wrote those books predominantly in first person - later on the in the series she has some snippets in third person. What I find fascinating about Amelia is that she is so completely without shame– there are times when the reader absolutely knows that she is lying to herself and in turn to you — and yet I’ve forgiven her over and over again. It only serves to demonstrate how talented Ms. Peters is. Seriously.

Anyways - that’s what I did with the first half of my week. My first new book with K is in a good place and I’ve managed to add about 3k to it in the past few days. I’ve started to have a lot of fun with the characters but I’ve already seen some elements that I’m going to re-write on the second draft. It’ll help with the other two stories in the anthology.

All three stories are entwined and involve a conflict that will span the entire anthology- so I’ve some “weaving” to do on the plot points for each story but I’m very confident that I can do it the way I’d like. I also keep coming back to a suspense plot that I’m developing– despite my deadline and my self-lectures on staying focused. Still - working on something is better than working on nothing!

It’s certainly no secret to those who know me that I sleep occasionally, live on espresso and ambition, and generally plan my day on task lists that are as long as my arm. I’ve been this way since birth- every single job I’ve ever had– even simple ones– have turned into more because I couldn’t just be content with what I was doing. I always wanted to do more. I needed to do more. I’m not sincerely happy unless my plate is full.
March marked my first full year without a full time (out of the house) job. When I decided to quit my job last year and stay home so that I could devote more time to both my writing and Cobblestone Press — it was a huge step. I’ve had a “job” since I was 19 years old and often had more than one. In fact, all through college I worked two and went to school full time. When I graduated and came home– I came to the realization that I was entirely too sensitive to the pain of others to work in my degree field. It was a harsh moment but I know that I wouldn’t survive it. I knew it would slowly but most certainly take me apart.

I am a writer. A published author. I kept my writing to myself for 18 years. There are four people to “blame” for where I am today:

1) My mother who gave me the tools and support I needed even at the age of 12 to be a writer. She never once said that it was a mistake, made sure I had ink in my type writer and fresh paper to type on. It’s amazing, really, how much she gave me. I still don’t know if she understands how important it was to me. How relieving it was that she didn’t say that I was foolish for wanting to be a writer.
2) My husband who asked me point blank “When are going to do something with that?” in reference to the writing that I threw myself into every night after dinner. *Yes, he survived it*
3) My best friend, Sable Grey, who told me I couldn’t play on her forum when we first met because I claimed I wasn’t serious. She made me stand up for my dreams before I even fully realized what publication meant to me.
4) My agent, Jessica Faust, who emailed me after reading one of my eBooks and pushed me in a direction I never thought I’d take — the path to print. I was so comfortable in eBook land that I don’t know that I would have ever taken the plunge without her. I’m stunned daily by her belief in me and work like hell to make sure I’m worthy of her believing in me.

In a recent interview on Donna Grant’s blog, I talked about the landmarks of my life and they were all related to my writing career. Ever since I wrote that I’ve been trying to figure out what my next land mark will be and honestly I just don’t know what it will be. I don’t know at all. But I can’t wait for it come.