I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain's Log, Stardate 07.31.2005 WARNING: BOOK-LENGTH TALL TALES Just got back today from RWA National Conference held in Reno , Nevada . Good conference, although a bit overwhelming because of the sheer number of people--around 2,200 attendees. I drove up with Marilyn Hilton , who's in the ACFW San Jose group, and her friend Anne Kim, a technical writer who used to work with Marilyn and lives in San Jose as well. Anne writes Asian Chicklit, with a bent toward Mainstream Literary fiction. We had a real "Thelma and Louise" weekend, the three of us. The drive to and from Reno went quickly as we talked. We met up to eat meals together and somehow never had a problem finding three seats at the tables despite the large number of attendees. I couldn't imagine going to National by myself. It was fun to laugh and exchange opinions. I met up with one of the "Fab Four," Cheryl Wyatt . It was great to talk to her again. I me...