A final summer fling

I'll admit...I'm a seafoodaholic. After all, I live in New England where you can fall out of your front door and have your fill of shrimp, scallops, cod, and clams. So, imagine my thrill when a friend of mine here in Florida said she'd take us out on their boat for a day of fishing.

It was a gorgeous day in St. Pete when we floated out onto Tampa Bay.



The water was calm and inviting, as was the sun as it shimmered down on us. With our bait of pin fish, shrimp, and squid, we took to the poles.



After a few hours of nothingness, the tide shifted, causing the water to airate, which means more fishies! That's when we started pulling them in. A couple of gray snappers, a few salt water catfish, but most of all, I caught an 18-in Spanish mackerel!



And, my sweetie and co-author of THE OTHER SIDE: A TEEN'S GUIDE TO GHOST HUNTING AND THE PARANORMAL, Patrick Burns, caught a two-foot long shark! Check out the video we did!



I cooked up the mackerel in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and did a quick fry in veggie oil. I whipped up a mango coulis from fresh mangos from my friend's tree and voila! A meal fit for a king.



So, that's pretty much it for summer. Time to get back to the grind. There are book proposals to write, books to edit, and promotions to do. And speaking of, soon, we'll have a huge week of giveaways for my newest book in the GHOST HUNTRESS series - THE COUNSELING.



To get things started, let's have a little contest. Did someone say CONTEST?

Tell me about your summer adventures and your highlight of the season. I will pick three winners to announce next Wednesday. Two winners will get a packet of Silly Bandz and one winner will get an advanced copy of THE COUNSELING.

Hugs,
Marley = )
http://www.marleygibson.com/

Get spooked this Halloween!
GHOST HUNTRESS: THE COUNSELING - available September 1st!

And Just When Life Got Back to Normal...

Whew! I finally made it back to Oklahoma City from a summer in Las Vegas and Orlando. I got a lot of my emails answered and the rest organized to answer soon. I even started to thin out my closet and pack away my bookshelves in preparation for my upcoming (hopefully before the new year) move.

And then...

My editor scheduled a phone call about revising the first Medusa girls book (which actually has a tentative working title, but I'm waiting to see a cover comp before I give a final opinion). A phone call is, um, rarely good. Not at the revision stage, anyway. At the buy-the-book stage it's awesome.

Anyway, an editorial phone call is usually a way to soften the blow of a less-than-minor revision. And also to talk through ideas and confirm that author and editor are on the same page, but mostly the former. In this case, I was already expecting a somewhat massive revision for three reasons:

1. This book is very different from the others I've written. Instead of one main character, there are three. All in first person. Instead of writing it one book at a time, it's a predetermined trilogy (not that there can't be more, but there are at least three) which means a three book story arc. Very complicated.
2. When I wrote the first draft, I stuck very close to my outline. Which is great, direction-wise, but not-so-great depth-wise. Before I turned it in I did a lot of fleshing out for myself, but I knew there was going to have to be more.
3. I (we) want this book to be extra special. It's darker. It's triplets. It's mythology. It's monster-hunting. It's longer. It's more complex. It's a book that I hope will appeal to an even wider audience than my first two series. That all means that I have to work even harder to make it the best book it can be.

All of the above add up to a pretty significant revision, no matter how you look at it. And, since my revision packet arrived yesterday, you can guess what I'll be doing for the next couple-to-few weeks.

On top of the revision, there's also the fact that my dad has accepted a one year teaching position at OSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That's a bit over an hour from where their house is in Oklahoma City. After his second day of commute he announced that the round trip drive cost $25 in gas. Gasp!

Guess what this mean? Even before I get my act together to move to Seattle, I'm going to pack up and move (very temporarily) to Stillwater. Thankfully I've got a few weeks to pull that off, and I can combine it with packing for the move to Seattle, only keeping out what I absolutely need. Still!

Add to all that the fact that I think I broke my baby toe yesterday on a shopping cart, and, well...

Even though my life is "back to normal" at the moment, you can see that there really is no such thing for a writer and daughter of theatre parents.

At least it's never dull.

Hugs,
TLC

teralynnchilds.com
@teralynnchilds

The Zen of Summer

It’s been a busy summer, but even while finishing my new book for Harcourt and working too, I did get a chance to get away with my bf for a fun weekend in Montana.

If you’ve never tried fly-fishing, let me tell you – it is so fun. It's nothing like the boring plunk fishing you may have done before. With fly-fishing, you’re constantly in motion and really paying attention to the task at hand, watching the fly on the water, stripping or mending your line. All your troubles (thoughts of character development, plot twists, your day job, the pile of emails to be answered) drift away as you focus on luring the trout with your fly. Your're there on the river listening to the sound of the water, feeling the wind and sun on your face, and all around you is pure, natural beauty.

I hadn't realized I missed going to Alaska every summer, and living in the North Cascades so much. Montana reminded me of those simple times in the woods, about the best of the life I lived before I transformed back into a city girl.

Here’s a picture of Brownie the trout, the little guy I caught that morning on the Gallatin River. Also, our guide Lyn was terrifc. I didn't expect a woman fishing guide, so that was really, really cool.

Have you ever tried fly-fishing? Did you get into the Zen of it? Or maybe there’s something else that puts you into that state… what is it? What gets you away from your troubles and into the wild mind?

Happy Summer,


Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com

Wherever You Go – Harcourt 2011
Never Cry Werewolf – HarperTeen – Paperback Sept 2010!
The Clearing – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010

Writer's Wednesday

I get a lot of questions from fans and writers alike asking me for tips and tools for their writing. I thought I'd respond to a question here to help others out.

Dear Ms. Gibson:

I love your books and hope you can give me some writing advice. So many times, I run out of words how to say things. I use a thesaurus and such but I just get so frustrated trying to find more words to get an action across. Like walk. How else can you say a character walks. And said. I get so tired of writing said. Any advice?

I've had this problem myself. In fact, I have several thesaurus websites booked just so I can do quick references for actions that my characters are doing.

I'll list suggestions for word replacement. But, let me tell you what many writers and editors have told me about "said." Said is a throw-away word that has to be there. You want to be careful not to use to many descriptive words to replace "said" because they'll just get in the way of the story or won't make sense. Example: in a contest I judged, the writer kept saying...

"...Sally giggled." or "Sally sighed." or "Sally squeaked."

Is she an asthmatic mouse who'll laugh at anything? LOL! Seriously, though...you can't giggle, sigh, or squeak dialogue. In attempting to get away from the word "said," the writer wrote something that's incorrect. She should have said something like, "...Sally said with a sigh," or "Sally giggled as she spoke" or "Sally said with squeak." See the diff?



If you still need other words for said, use them...just do it sparingly. Here are some suggestions:

Action verbs to replace SAID -

add, affirm, allege, announce, answer, assert, break silence, claim, come out with, communicate, conjecture, convey, declare, deliver, disclose, divulge, do, estimate, express, flap, gab, give voice, guess, imagine, imply, jaw judge, lip, maintain, make known, mention, opine, orate, perform, pronounce, put forth, put into words, rap, read, recite, rehearse, relate, remark, render, repeat, rely, report, respond, reveal, rumor, speak, spiel, state, suggest, tell, utter, verbalize, voice, yak






Action verbs to replace WALK -

advance, amble, canter, crawl, creep, ease, escpre, exercise, foot, go, hike, hoof it, hustle, lead, locomote, lumber, march, meander, pace, pad, parade, patrol, plod, prance, procede, promenade, pursue, race, roam, rove, run, saunter, scoot, scuff, scurry, scuttle, scramble, scamper, shadow, shamble, sidle, shuffle slink, slog, stalk, step, stride, stroll, strut, stumble, stump, tottle, tour, traipse, tramp, traverse, tread, trek, troop, trot, trudge, wander, waddle, wobble

How these help! Let me know other words you'd like replacement help with.

Hugs,
Marley = )

GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON - available now!
GHOST HUNTRESS: THE COUNSELING - September 2010

The Other Guys

I don’t go out to theaters very often--it’s true. But earlier this year a friend and I went and saw Date Night, and among the previews was a trailer for a summer release, The Other Guys.


It immediately caught my interest. Not just because one of its stars happens to be Mark Wahlberg, for whom I have a teeny, tiny, so-small-it’s-hardly-worth-mentioning crush (and whose shirtless screen time in Date Night was both noted and appreciated by me). But also because the storyline of The Other Guys looked like a fresh spin on a cop buddy movie, and it came across as genuinely funny.

Yesterday I happened to notice that I was not alone in wanting to see it...that The Other Guys was the number one movie of the weekend. And reviewers are loving it. So now I really think I need to head out to a theater again...and soon.

But in the meantime, I happened upon this fun interview with Marky Mark on the Time Magazine Website, which can be read or viewed. And I will totally understand if feel you need to watch the video, especially if you happen to think he’s amazing to look at and want to hear more of his low, whispery voice...

A-hem! In any case, tell us, are there any movies on your list to see?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

The phone rings and ...

It's one thing to get an annoying sales call, or, IMHO, an even more annoying political survey call (Her: "Are you for ethical government?" Me: "Naw, the more unethical the better. Thanks for calling!") but two nights ago my family (and poor babysitters) received multiple threatening phone calls. Here's what happened.

My husband and I were out to dinner with friends and left our three little boys home with two fabulous babysitters. While we were waiting for our sushi, I realized I'd missed a phone call from them, so I tried calling back but I only got the voicemail. A bit worried, I called the babysitters' mom, who lives down the street from us and got a busy signal. I called two different neighbors and asked them to please go to my house and make sure everybody was okay. One neighbor called back to say lights were on but no one seemed to be home. Now I'm really worried/confused and am making plans to get back home. But I tried the babysitters' mom once more and she answered and told me the kids had been getting some vulgar and threatening phone calls over at my house and felt safer at their house. She told us to finish our sushi, that the kids were fine. I wouldn't have been able to finish eating had I called to get our voicemail messages, which I did when we were almost home.

It was the nastiest, scariest, most threatening message I'd ever heard. It was a man threatening to bash our heads in as well as other threats and terrible profanity I can't write here--and those were only the parts in English!

We picked our children up from our neighbor's house and while my husband got them tucked in (all but our ten year-old, who'd actually spoken to the caller and was freaked out, understandably so), I called the police. The officer came over about a half-hour later and listened to the messages (there were about 9, plus he spoke directly to the babysitter and my son) and jotted down the phone number off the caller ID. He asked if we knew who it was or had any reason to believe someone would want to harm us (or the babysitters) in any way. We couldn't think of anyone. The officer left and called the number, and then he called us to say it was actually a junior high kid living in a city about an hour away, that he got the kid's mom out of bed and told her they could be up for criminal charges and really let them have it. Then, about ten minuntes later, the mom called us to apologize on her son's behalf. At this point, I was feeling considerably less afraid but so disappointed that this kid thought this was somehow funny or entertaining or acceptable to make those kinds of phone calls. My husband told the mom it was okay (I would've had some different words had I been the one who'd answered) and hung up and we all went to bed. My ten year-old slept in our room, bless his heart.

Have you ever received a scary phone call? If so, what did you do?

Remember me? Recap of RWA Nationals and the Hectic Summah of 2010

Hey Buzz Readers!

Remember me? I'm the Bee who's been AWOL pretty much all summer. Sorry about that. In addition to traveling the country for conferences and booksignings in my RV, my boyfriend and I have also had his two boys (11 and 9) with us the entire summer and we've had a major adventure!

We started in New York City, worked our way over to Michigan and the U.P. and then a long stint in the north woods of Wisconsin with their grandparents, a visit to Mt. Olympus water park in the Wisconsin Dells, a five-day conference in Hohenwald, TN investigating several haunted locations, selling books, and doing lectures, and then down to Orlando, Florida, for the 30th Annual Romance Writers of America Conference.

Are you tired just reading all of that?

But, I'm back and I want to share some of my pics from RWA.

It was great seeing my fellow Buzz girls Tina, Steph, Wendy, and Tera, and we very much missed having Heather and Dona in our ranks.

As Tina has reported, we had a lovely dinner at Shula's (and yes, I was horrified that people don't know who Don Shula is...not just the winningest coach of all time in the NFL, but also the father of former Bama quarterback and coach, Mike Shula. LOL!) and the food was absolutely delicious, as seen here by my plate of food. What was I thinking ordering a 16 ounce steak?



I did a panel with my non-fiction editor, Rose Hilliard, from St. Martin's Press, and buddy, Louisa Edwards on "Creating a Symbiotic Editor-Author Relationship."



And here I am with Rose at the St. Martin's party on the Disney Boardwalk.



Met some famous ladies on my trip...

The fabulous Heather Graham, who can sing "Bobby MaGee" like no one's business and is also into ghosts and SCUBA diving.



The ever-amazing Suz Brockmann, fellow New Englander.



And WOW...THE Meg Cabot, queen of YA. She's a total doll and so very nice.



And here's our very own former Buzz girl, Simone Elkeles, and her brand new friend, Rita...for Best YA! So proud of Simone!



Of course...time cutting up with Buzz girl Wendy...



Hanging with fabu YA author (and critique partner), Jenn Echols...



Fellow Knight Agency sistah and YA author who sat next to me at the Literacy Signing, Linda Gerber...



And, with my sweetie, fellow author, Patrick Burns...



Despite coming home with a severe cold and sinus infection, it was a great conference and I loved every minute I spent with the Buzz Girls!

Hugs,
Marley = )

More Pictures from National

Thanks to Stephanie Hale for opening our discussion yesterday about the Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando, Florida, attended by five of the seven Buzz Girls. (Next year we're hoping for a full house!)

Here are Steph and Tera flanking me in a picture Tera somehow managed to be in AND take (I am always inspired by multi-taskers):



Here stands me, Marley, Wendy and Tera, in a photo perhaps worthy of one of Marley's Ghost Huntress books:


And now replace Wendy with Steph, and add in the middle...oh...um...what's her name...(choke, sputter, gasp)... MEG CABOT.


Yes, *the* Meg Cabot. Looking every bit as warm, friendly--and gorgeous--as she is in real life. It was a thrill and delight for us to meet her!

That's it from me. Maybe some of the other Buzz Girls have pictures to share?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

Jetlag, a head cold, and tons of good memories....

Geographically I've been back from Orlando for three days, but mentally I'm pretty sure I'm still there. Or at least wish I was. Unfortunately my entire family brought home headcolds along with our Mickey ears, but it was so worth it. It was so wonderful spending time with most of the Buzz Girls, meeting some new friends, and getting some much needed inspiration for my writing. I spent most of the week at all the Walt Disney World parks with my family, but I was lucky to get to spend some quality time with the bees. Here is the one and only picture I took (Tera has some really good ones to post later).
Doesn't Tina look amazing in her crown? It is so exciting when they flash the Rita finalists up on a giant screen and you get to scream and clap for your friends. There really are no losers at this ceremony.

After the literacy booksigning, Tera, Tina, Marley and I had dinner with Lauren Strasnick (YA author or Nothing Like You) at Shula's Steakhouse. Marley had to explain to us who Don Shula is (the winningest football coach ever, in case you were wondering). The food was amazing! I'm pretty sure that Marley will be posting pictures of her dinner at a later date. I haven't been able to attend a conference since 2007 and it was wonderful to be able to be in the company of these wonderful and talented women again.

That's just a little taste of RWA Orlando. There will be many more memories and pictures to come.

xo,

Stephanie

http://www.stephaniehale.com/

Bees with Secrets!

While everyone is off having fun in Orlando, I thought I would post a clip that author friend Holly Cupala produced for the blog tour for her debut YA novel Tell Me a Secret.

If you watch closely, you'll see at least two Bees! (And lots of friends of BooksBoysBuzz, too!)

Hope you enjoy!

Hugs,

Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
Wherever You Go - Harcourt Fall 2011
The Clearing - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Never Cry Werewolf - Harperteen

It's Getting Better All The Time...

As we've mentioned here, most of the Buzz Girls are soon off to Orlando for the Romance Writers of America conference!

In anticipation, my weekend has been mostly about shopping, planning, packing--and laundry!


And in between loads, I've taken a moment to stop and think about the laundry process, and how wonderful it is to have a washer-dryer inside my house. In my earlier days, I have had to (first) go to a laundrymat, (second) walk down a hill and up another to a neighboring apartment complex, and (third) head outside to the garage--all three of those made harder by night, cold and rain. Now I can do my laundry at any hour, in any weather, and dressed in my PJ's, if I want. And I love it!

So as I continue washing, drying, folding and packing, I'd love to hear from our readers...is there any pesky chore or small annoyance in your life that's gotten better lately? Through technology, a product you've heard about, a new friend who's helping out?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

2010 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing

If you are anywhere near Orlando, Florida, next Wednesday, July 28, 2010, you’re going to want to be at the Walt Disney World® Dolphin Resort between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm for the "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing event, where more than 500 romance authors will participate to raise thousands of dollars for ProLiteracy Worldwide.

It takes place in the Pacific Exhibit Hall and is open to the public. There is no admittance charge. Since the proceeds from this event are donated to charity, Romance Writers of America asks that you purchase books at the event instead of bringing your own books. (RWA accepts cash, check, or credit/debit cards for book purchases at the event.)

Young Adult authors in attendance this year include Buzz Girls Tera Lynn Childs, Tina Ferraro, Marley Gibson and Wendy Toliver, as well as other "names you know" such as Shelley Adina, Meg Cabot, Ally Carter, Melissa Doyle, Jennifer Echols, Simone Elkeles and Lauren Strasnick.

Just to give you an idea of the fun, here’s some pictures from last year’s event:


Rita finalists for Best Young Adult Romance 2009, me, Rosemary Clement-Moore (who won!) and Tera Lynn Childs.


Jennifer Echols, who was sweet enough to make me a make-shift Rita flag to let shoppers know my book was a finalist, and me. This year, Jennifer and I are among the 2010 Rita finalists!


The legendary Janet Evanovich--holding MY Book!

We Buzz Girls hope you that you will make this fun and worthwhile event--and if you do, please drop by our tables and say hello!

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

Tales from the Friendly Skies

It's summer and for many people, that means travel. Especially airline travel. And for most of us Buzz Girls, next week has us heading to Orlando for the 2010 Romance Writers of America conference.

As I am preparing for my trip, I am reminded of my unmarried days and how whenever I boarded a flight, I would cross my fingers for a single, good-looking guy about my age to be sitting beside me. Which was about as likely as an unexpected upgrade to First Class--but hey, COULD happen, right?

Well, to my astonishment, one day, it actually did. I was on a flight from New York to Los Angeles, and a well-known entertainer was said to be in First, with the members of his band in Coach. This absolute Adonis--turned out to be the entertainer's guitar player--took the window seat beside me, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Except for one small thing. Not only did we not say even "hello" to each other, while I was busy noticing him, he was checking out the leggy flight attendant. Who, just my luck, was looking right back.

On and off for the next five hours, I had the utter humiliation having her lounge over me so that they could flirt. As I was getting off the plane, I heard them making plans for dinner. A humbling experience I have clearly never forgotten.

Of course, in the big picture, it didn't matter at all, because there was that grad student back in my office named Ferraro who I was starting to be friendly with...

Still, file this under the category of watching what you ask for because you might get it. I just didn't expect my much-anticipated single, good-looking guy to hit on someone else, literally in my face!

How about you? Any notable, funny or annoying memories of fellow airline passengers?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

Wanna-See Movies

I haven't been to the movies much lately. In fact, I can't remember the last movie I saw in theatres. Maybe 27 Dresses. Anyway, there are so many great movies coming out right now that I have to go. Here are my wanna-see movies of the summer:

Inception



Sorecerer's Apprentice



Salt



Do you want to see these movies? What other movies are you excited about?

Hugs,
TLC

teralynnchilds.com
@teralynnchilds

There's nothing on....

I don't watch a lot of TV during the summer because most of the time we are outside. But occasionally I find myself flipping through all 200 channels on our dish, muttering to myself that there is nothing on. Sometimes I almost think that there are TOO many choices. One of my favorite channels in ABC Family.

Right now I'm totally addicted to Pretty Little Liars. I only read the first three books in the series because I just didn't have time to keep up. Now I'm kind of glad because I don't want to know who A is until the very end.

ABC Family has the most adorable guilty pleasure movies. They are premiering another one this Sunday called Revenge of the Bridesmaids. It stars Raven-Symone who always cracks me up. Take a peek to see how cute it looks. I'll definitely be Tivoing this one.
Last night I watched When in Rome, which was so cute. Josh Duhamel and Kristen Bell make a great onscreen couple.
Okay, so maybe I watch more TV than I fess up too. How about you? What show is your guilty pleasure this summer?

xo,

Stephanie

http://www.stephaniehale.com/

Catch a Wave!

I've been spending a fair amount of time on the California coastline this summer, enjoying the sun (well, when it comes out), the spray of the surf (when I get close enough), and the sights. Like this one:


Making me realize that it is quite possible, that unlike my horse jumping fantasy, which I did make come true (and discussed here earlier this year), that it is likely that I will never Hang Ten. Not saying it definitely won't happen...but likely.

So here's a shout-out to all of you who have surfed. Allow me to live vicariously and tell me what it's like! Is it pure heaven? Scary? Exhausting? All of those? What say you?

Tina

Tina Ferraro
The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, 2010 Rita® Finalist
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita® Finalist
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com

And the Suddenly Summer Giveaway Winner is...

Thanks to everyone who commented to win a signed copy of my book, The Clearing, this week!

I'm so happy everyone has something to celebrate and touched by the intensity and diversity of all those things that are happening in your lives! Wow - big beginnings and endings..!




Ok.... so the random winner this time around is:



lostinbelieving



I'll be in touch soon, lost, to get your mailing deets. Off to finish revisions on the new book. Hope you're all enjoying the summer!



hugs,



Heather
http://www.heatherdavisbooks.com/

Suddenly Summer Giveaway!

It's suddenly summer! Finally the temperature will be almost 90 in the Seattle area. It's time to get out the flip-flops, slather on sunscreen, and... edit my new book.

Yep, although the weather is great, I've been inside revising my draft of Wherever You Go, my new book for Harcourt for fall 2011.

It's a book packed with characters in transition - a ghost boy, a girl caring for her grandfather with Alzheimer's, a guy who's lost his very best friend on the planet. As I'm writing this book, I've been working with the idea that guys are very emotional; they're just not encouraged to show that side of themselves. The loss and love they feel is no smaller than anything women experience. The hurt and the joy can be just as big as anything we go through.

I'm in the home stretch, which is so great to report. And there was no bigger satisfaction than to write "The End" on the last page of the draft - especially with my awesome bf across from me at the coffee shop during my writing fest.

THE SUDDENLY SUMMER GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate the beginnning of summer and the approaching end of this revising round one - I'd like to giveway a signed copy of The Clearing - my first book for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

To enter, comment about something worth celebrating - an end or a beginning - and I'll choose a winner Sunday 7/11.

Until then, enjoy the sun!

Heather
http://www.heatherdavisbooks.com/
Wherever You Go - Fall 2011 Harcourt
The Clearing - April 2010 HMH
Never Cry Werewolf - 09/2009 Harperteen

Hot Vacation Spots

As Tera pointed out earlier this week, Las Vegas is hot hot hot in the summer. I happened to be in New Mexico this summer when it hit some record highs. After my cousin's wedding in Carlsbad, this is how hot my car was. Yes, that reads 138 degrees fahrenheit, folks. Even after I started it up and drove on the highway at 70 mph, it only went down to 119. YIKES!

Now, I'm just going to post a few fun photos from New Mexico, which is only one of the nine states I have been in or will be before the summer is over. I hope you enjoy!

Being a cave dweller in Carlsbad Caverns, a Santa Fe sunset, and if you look closely at the Hobbs sign, you'll see tiny me! And here's big me holding a tiny wild turtle. The turtles thought my toenails were strawberries and kept nipping at them at the most unsuspecting moments! Last but not least I enjoyed hanging with the local folk in Roswell.

Good Things Happen in Vegas (Sometimes)

Anyone who's read my blog or follows my tweets knows that Vegas is not my favorite place on Earth. It's hot.




The people are either angry or crazy or both.




And the tourists can be worse.




The positive energy of the Strip is quite often sucked away by negative energy everywhere else. But... occasionally good things do happen.

Like amazing views from a rooftop restaurant.




And the theatre here ranges from the bizarre to the amazing. So far this summer I've seen Cher and Viva Elvis! And they both rocked.

The best thing that's happened in Vegas this summer, though, is that I'm going to do my first ever Borders signing. My first ever chain store signing, actually. If you're in or around Vegas, here are the details:

Who: me and mer princess Lily Sanderson
When: Saturday, July 24th @ 2:00pm
Where: Borders on north Rainbow
Why: Awesomeness

Hope to see some Buzz readers there!

Hugs,
TLC

http://www.teralynnchilds.com
http://twitter.com/teralynnchilds

Happy Independence Day!

We here at the Buzz Girls Blog wish our readers
a happy and safe July 4th holiday!