Books With Merritt

I'm going to be guest blogging once a month at Nocturnal Nights on the 10th of each month, starting, you guessed it, next month! Like you can't get enough of my mouth here or on Facebook. If you hunger for my insight, you'd better join me over there. I promise to ramble less than I do here. 'Kay?

Unfortunately and like so many people, my brain gets in the way of honest-to-God thinking sometimes. I get so excited about going for a walk that I forget to bring a camera. So today's SIFWIW has photos from last week. But they're still cool pictures, of course.

As many of you are aware, particularly if you're interested in the Civil War, this year is the 150th anniversary of it's beginning. It's also the 150th year since the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The national park is close to my heart as I had relatives living just north of the battle zone in 1861. You can't help but wonder if they listened to the cannons from the front of their porch or if they huddled, fearing for their lives while the Union soldiers marched by, in the confines of their house.
You might remember from last time that I brought a dog with me, a dog who had no name. She has a name now. You can thank the dog formerly known as Daisy, but currently known as Restless, for keeping me safe fr…

That was one helluva good conference. If you missed the Ozarks Romance Author's annual conference, I pity you. The speakers were amazing, the food was amazing, the raffles were amazing. It was all-around amazing!
If I were you, I would definitely consider getting myself to next year's conference if you can. It's already in the planning stages and set for June 23, 2012. Guaranteed to be twice as amazing. I really don't know how much more amazing I can stand. Is it possible to explode from all the amazingness? I promise to stop using amazing now.

I was running late Saturday. Supposed to be at the registration table at 7:45 sharp to help get those early risers signed in. As per usual, my hair was giving me its 'but I don't want to!' attitude. It really didn't want to do anything except be big. Big is bad when you have short hair. Praying that it will do anything except be big when it's curled is pretty much useless. So I did the only thing I could thin…

I only do the one conference a year. You know the one: Ozarks Romance Authors. I'm pretty excited about it because I get to spend all day surrounded by other writers talking about writing. I'm not a big talker (oh, no, I'm a rambler). Especially in situations where I don't know a lot of people. I mostly watch others and listen in on their conversations, which will likely lead to me hearing something bad about myself someday. I like to sit in the back so's I can see everyone, although sometimes people do have big hair.

This will be my third ORA conference, so last night I was thinking about some of my favorite ORAcon moments.

#5 - 2010 - Memories of sitting at the registration table. There was a really pretty pink lily on the table that stank horribly. All day I was going, what is that SMELL? I prayed it wasn't me. I'm pretty sure I even checked the bottom of my shoes just to be safe.

#4 - 2010 - Attending the author's dinner. I had an orange creamsicle …

*Gasp!* Can it be? She's starting a feature that could occur on a regular basis? With photos? Oh, golly gee, don't you feel special?

Here it is: Stuff I Find While I'm Walking. Because I "claim" to be a wilderness adventurer. Never mind that the whole eco-adventure thing didn't go over for me. Ask me to regale you with that story. I will cheerfully oblige you another time.

Stuff I Find While I'm Walking is pretty cut-and-dry. It's pictures of stuff on the ground or in the water or wherever nature lays something interesting that I feel like snapping a shot of. For your viewing pleasure, I give you the first Stuff I Find While I'm Walking photo buffet.

This is a collection (ooo, I like that word) of photos from Hayes Spring Conservation Area outside Hurley, MO. It's a lot of former pasture land that's, frankly, pretty boring. It reminds me of the jungles of 'Nam. Okay, I've never been to 'Nam, but I've watched lots of war mov…

So who's in? Thinking about your first novel? Second, third? Hundredth? Camp NaNoWriMo started this month (without my knowledge and I'm miffed, seriously, there was no update on FB, no e-mail when I usually get all kinds before regular NaNo). It's also going on in August, so I didn't totally miss my chance. You can still jump in or you can just fill out your profile, which is what I did. I guess I'm writing the third story in my fantasy Victorian/steampunk romance whatever-you-call it series. I feel guilty because The Sky Pirate's Wife need so much work on the plot.

I haven't done much writing this year. Last year I wrote three books, although two of them were pretty short. This year I've added 30k to THL and written a short story. Sometimes you just feel guilty about things. Like I knew THL needed a lot of editing and some revising and that meant there wasn't going to be much writing. I gave it six months to get the edits done. I'm really clos…