America's next top model in a bikini?

H'lo!

I've been here, just working at a trade show booth for the past couple of days, so no chance to blog. Fortunately lots of down time to edit GG, though...I got at least 5 chapters done. Woot! This is good, since today at lunch I desperately need to watch the finale of America's Next Top Model and find out WHO WON before someone tells me accidentally.

What?

Today I also want to point you over to a wonderful friend of mine, Linda Gerber, whose book DEATH BY BIKINI is released today. I can't wait to read it! I've known Linda forever from the Compuserve Books and Writer's Forum, and she is the real deal, so this one will be good. Go visit her blog today for fabulous fun and prizes!!

A Mother's Day Good/Bad

Good: It's Mother's Day, which just makes everybody think about and appreciate the mothers in their life even more. I love my Mom. I LOVE being a Mom.

More Good: We played this morning, which I don't ever have as much time to do as I want. We made orange rolls.

Bad: Child felt a little squicky.

Good: We went swimming, and had fun splashing in the pool.

Bad: Child felt more squicky. Still insisted she was okay, though.

Good: We went to see the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, a wonderful folk dancing/singing/music playing group we've seen before and love. My Mom came too, and we ran into one of Child's best friends, so they sat together and giggled.

Bad: Child not feeling better. I made her mac & cheese, but sadly it was rather a lost cause at that point, and stomach virus took over. Poor thing. We spent the evening in the bathroom, and then wrapped up in a big soft blanket sipping sparkling water, nibbling graham crackers, and watching a Barbie movie.

Good: She's been asleep for a couple hours now, next to our bed. I'm so hoping she sleeps through the night and feels better in the morning. I HATE seeing my baby sick. {sigh}

We shall see about school/work in the morning, though I'm doubting it...

Like there's no tomorrow

Last night was the first performance of Child's dance recital. Of course she was utterly cute and perfect (whether she did the steps or not), and when she's on stage I can't look at anyone else but her. She glows for me.

When she's not on stage...well.

I was a ballet dancer for 8 years. I was in a professional ballet company (even though I was a teenager). I also did tap, jazz, and modern. I am cursed for the rest of my life with the dancer's eye.

This means I see how it should be, each move: arms, hands, fingers, legs. Extension. Arch. I see whether a movement is on beat or off. Whether the group is together the way they should be. Whether everyone hits their jumps at the same time, who is weak at turning left, who can dance fine on their own but doesn't do well as part of a group. It's similar to when you learn to be a writer and you have trouble reading just for pleasure anymore--you see craft, or lack of craft, everywhere.

But I realized again last night, watching girls of all ages and all different skill levels on that stage, a vital truth. It is NOT, ever, the most important thing to be technically perfect. It wasn't the technically perfect girls my eye was drawn to, that I enjoyed watching.

It's the ones who put their hearts into every move.

They were confident, not hesitant. They didn't hold their bodies back for fear of making a mistake--or even if they did make a mistake. They owned the dance. They sold it. They smiled, not the fake grit-teeth smile plastered on, but the smile that says "This is ME dancing. I am enjoying the hell out of this."

Watching someone dance like that, I forget about all the technical stuff. I nod along, and wish I was up there too--because damn, it looks like fun.

That's the kind of writer you want to be too. Confident in your words, your characters, your images, your story. Not writing for other people--that's like the fakey-fake smile. Writing for your ownself, and enjoying the heck out of it. Dropping your whole heart into every line.

And you know what I was thinking last night, as I was clapping another girl who hit the last beat, arms spread wide, grinning like she would do it again, this minute?

Maybe that's one of the secrets to life, too.

The title for this year's show: "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." Indeed.

Woot!

Woo-hoooooooooo! I just turned in my last paper. I am officially DONE with this semester.

Tids & Bits

I'm still on a high from our amazing getaway weekend. WOW. Highlights:

--As a surprise, hubby bumped us up to first class. Picture me at 33,000 feet lounging in a plush chair, my feet dangling above the floor, sipping a gin-and-tonic at 11 AM and completely engrossed in reading about Bones (Jeaniene Frost's yummy hero--and Vic, he is so mine.). Aaaaaaah. Also, the board room at the Seattle airport is a secret haven.

--A full 4-course Thai meal with hubby. I love me some Thom kai gai soup.

--Sipping my first-ever Cosmos (pink!) with hubby in a bar in downtown San Diego, rocking out to bouncy live jazz as people streamed by outside.

--Shoe-shopping. Chocolate shopping, at the Ghirardelli store.

--The concert we actually went for, KT Tunstall, was sooooo fun. I loved it. The front row seats we bought on E-bay Actually Worked!

Unfortunately we did have to get up at 4:15 AM Sunday to catch our plane, but it was worth it.

***********

I finished the aforementioned book, One Foot in the Grave, on the plane rides. Yowza. I recommend Chapter 31. {cough} Well-written, engrossing, and I adore the characters.

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I turned in my final project for the multimedia class-from-hell on Friday! Hurrah. Just have to write that ethics paper today...

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Edits on GG are going well again, because I gave in and started editing chronologically. Apparently I just am more comfortable that way.

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Child has a dress rehearsal this afternoon for her dance recital, with performances tomorrow night and Thursday night. Then in two weeks we have Kindergarten graduation!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

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Jo has posted some amazingly excellent writing advice, which is not unusual for her. Jo's advice is clear, well-illustrated, and SMART. Listen to her.

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That is all for now! I've got a paper to write and some trouble to stir up!

One more sharing Friday: snippet

Quite a sharing week. I've shared a good link, music, books, and a picture of me. It's Friday, and we're back to what I share best: words.

One more snippet of Ghost Girl to whet your appetites, before I go back to GG radio silence. (and I go back to finishing my final projects! Almost...done...) Today, meet Tony.

From Ghost Girl, by Susan Adrian:

*****
Tony walked in, and my stomach flipped. I took a shot of him before he saw me, his dark blonde hair sleek from the wind, sunglasses hiding his eyes. Coatless, T-shirt and jeans filled out just right, a parade of goosebumps down his arm. Yeah, I'd save that shot for later. Maybe blow it up.

He looked around the room, acknowledged us with a chin jerk, and strode over. He didn't sit, though, just took off his sunglasses and tapped them on the table. "Hey."

"Hey," we all said, almost in chorus. My heart was drumming its own rhythm, a fast salsa beat.

"What's up?" His eyes flicked to mine, and held. His bottom lip twitched. There was just the slightest hint of stubble there, on his chin. I'd missed that bit last night when I was fantasizing.

Waiting for you, I wanted to say. Instead I said, cool, "Just got here."

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" He scanned the room again. "Outside?"

I frowned, with a quick glance at Dana. God, he wasn't a smoker, was he? I didn't think he was. But what did I know? She made a shooing motion, and I realized I hadn't answered him. "Sure," I said, as nonchalantly as I could manage.

I followed him out, zipping my coat up as we hit the frosty air outside. He headed around the corner toward the dumpsters, then stopped. He didn't whip out any cigarettes, though. Whew. He just stood shifting his feet, looking at me, eye to eye. I waited. He waited. Somebody was going to have to say something eventually.

He twisted to look behind him, then again at me. "So I heard about this ghost thing with you." His eyebrows drew together. "You're the ghost girl, right?"

Crap. "That's why you want to talk to me?"

*****

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Thursday share: me

And we have a winner! Two winners, actually.

#1 winner: Julianne! You get first dibs on the books.
#2 winner: Carmella!

Please contact me at susan dot adrian @yahoo.com with your shipping address, and I'll pop these puppies in the mail.

CONGRATULATIONS! And thanks for sharing the book love yesterday. That was fabulous.

For today's share, I'm sharing a real! live! photo! of! me!

I know, you're thrilled to pieces. But this is rather a big deal, as I've never posted a picture of me in the 3 years of having this blog. Not only that, but it's me in my true form.

Bwa-ha-ha! Now isn't that scary?

What? No, I'm a witch, get it? A scary witch? It's scary because of the witch--

Oh, never mind.