Celebrating Dads

Yesterday I celebrated Father's Day by holing up in a small cottage and writing for a couple hours while my father-in-law, husband and two boys took off to go fishing. 

It was such a classic, "guy" thing for them to do I couldn't help but smile as I settled in for a couple hours to myself. Both of my father figures (my dad and my step-dad) passed away several years ago, so it warms my heart to see my boys doing all those things with their grandfather. Being able to go fishing, or build a bird house or playing catch. 

It's made me wonder about all the dads in books. Typically they're all larger than life, still heroes to their sons (despite their boys now being adults). 

Who are some of your favorite father figures?

And, can anyone tell me the best way to cook trout? The trip was quite a success.

Look for the helpers

Unless you've been living under a rock, in a complete black out the past couple of days, you know that the Boston Marathon was the target of a sick person (or people) who decided to target the crowd. In the moments after the attack my twitter and facebook feeds blew up. I sat in horror and tried to process what had happened, mind running through the names of the people I know who run marathons and mentally taking a roll call of where each of my friends were in the world.

Moments later the words of one of my childhood "friends" started echoing across the internet. That friend was Mr. Fred Rogers. And he was reminding us to look for the helpers.

Now, two days later, the horror of what's happened hasn't lessened. I've answered my children's questions as honestly as I know how, simply saying I don't know when my nine year old asked my how a person could do that to all those innocent people. I reminded my five year old to look for the helpers, not only now, but whenever he feels scared. And, as only a child can do, he brought it all down to his little world, asking me if the books I write have helpers.

I can only hope that my fictional heroes will bring justice to the men and women who go out every day and run towards the danger, rather than running away. Those who will place themselves, literally, between an innocent and a threat. Those people, some of whom wear a uniform, some who dress like you and me, deserve so much more recognition than I can ever give them, either in this blog post or future books.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you helpers out there.

One is the loneliest number...

I hear a lot about how writing is an introverted activity, how writers feel solitary and how a lot of that is by choice.

This has always made me feel like something of an outcast. See, I've met some AMAZING people through my writing. I've been mentored, encouraged and engaged.  I can't talk about other people's endeavors but for me, writing opened up a whole new world of friendships and peers.

I'll start by talking about Sabrina York...mostly because she will get upset if I don't.  Sabrina has been here before, talking about one of her books. I can't remember if she said it or not, but she's been published for a year. Fifteen titles in the past YEAR. Can you believe it?  Today is the anniversary of her first release, so as a thank you to all her fans...and those who want to be fans but haven't discovered her yet, she's offering her first self published title, Rebound, for free on Amazon.
Get it here.

I met Sabrina through our local RWA chapter and by volunteering for the Emerald City Writers' Conference, which she was chairing at the time. We've dragged our husbands to dinner, where they sit and listen to us chatter about everything...
This is a friendship I treasure...even if she doesn't give me any bling in her give aways. (There will be more giveaways today to celebrate too.) Go to her website or track her down on Facebook...tell her I sent you.

Another wonderful friendship developed in the same way is the amazing Anna Alexander.  Anna released her first book the same day Sabrina did. Talk about thick as thieves   Anna writes about erotic super heroes.  Freakin' YUMMY!  And, she's the only person I know who has been told that something she wrote was TOO HOT for Ellora's Cave.  I can't make this up!

Anna took me on as her assistant, introduced me to everyone and showed me how a smile can win over the worst critic.

I owe these women so much. For their smiles, laughter and friendship I thank them more than I can express. And I never would have met them had I not stepped out of my writing cave.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to introduce you to a few other friends who have held my hand at times and always been encouraging.

More soon,
Carmen