We Are the Universe

Tucker's Story

Several readers have asked me if there'll be a story about Tucker O'Brien, the brother of Tanner O'Brien, the hero in THE RODEO RIDER. Tucker ran off when he was fifteen to ride the rodeo circuit and never returned to the Rocking O Ranch...until 2011.

There's a glimpse of Tucker in THE RELUCTANT WRANGLER, when he briefly appears in the epilogue. But in June 2011, readers can discover what Tucker has been doing for the past 20 years in his own book, THE MAVERICK'S REWARD.

Ghosties and Ghoulies

A week ago, my youngest daughter and I went on a ghost tour in an area of the city that has a reputation dating back to over 100 years ago. Delano was a rootin' tootin' prairie town on the west side of the Arkansas river, across from the larger town of Wichita on the east, where cowboys who'd traveled the Chisholm trail could relax and enjoy the gambling, drinking, and ladies of the evening. Later, Delano became a part of Wichita, but the area has lately become well-known for the tales of ghosts haunting some of the businesses in the area.

We began our tour at Lawrence-Dumont baseball stadium, where ghostly sounds and visions have been the norm for years. I've been to L-D several times in my life, but I never knew about the hauntings. It's probably a good thing. I grew up half a mile from the baseball stadium AND Delano. After hearing the tales of the stadium, we traveled on to visit four buildings open especially for the evening, where owners and employees told stories of strange happenings. Most of the buildings had been built before 1890 and had housed regular businesses on the ground floor, but also included brothels on the upper floor. In fact, according to a brochure provided for the event, the "900 block seems to be the most haunted block in Delano, with reports from residents as well as business owners. Half of the buildings on this block are from 1890 or before."

The next day, I returned to one of the stores with my next oldest daughter Chelsea, who needed to purchase something. I mentioned to the owner that I'd been on the ghost tour the night before, and she asked if I'd visited a specific building. I hadn't, and she insisted that we visit it that day, so we did. We were a little nervous about asking for the story of the happenings during business hours, but the young woman took us to the back where she was helping customers and told us the tale of "Red" Beard, the ghost who haunts the building. Verrrrrrry interesting! And "Red" doesn't keep to that one building. He's been seen in many of the buildings in the area.

If you're interested in the ghosts or history of Delano, be sure to visit the Historic Delano website for more. And for more paranormal information, visit Wichita Paranormal Research Society, a part of TAPS.

Have a Happily Haunted Halloween!

A Big Day

Yesterday began with finding this news in my email:

Lisa Childs is not only a wonderful writer, but a very good friend and one of the Ditzy Chix, so being listed with her is an honor, along with the huge surprise of seeing my title and name on the list!

Then news came that Tucker O'Brien's book has a new title! Look for THE MAVERICK'S REWARD in June 2011.

The next surprise was a review for THE RELUCTANT WRANGLER (October 2010) by Harriet Klausner. Read the full review at The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews. Pat Cooper at Romantic Times gave THE RELUCTANT WRANGLER 4 1/2 stars.

Days like yesterday don't come along often, but they definitely make even the dullest days shine. :)

Book News!

Trying to blog has been about as easy as getting an audience with the Queen, thanks to all the things that pop up whenever I think I've found a few minutes. What with updating websites and designing new ones to working on two new books (more about that later), there never seems to be a quiet minute that hasn't been filled. My fingers are crossed that minute has arrived.

I'm happy to announce that Pat Cooper at Romantic Times Magazine reviewed THE RELUCTANT WRANGLER and gave it 4 1/2 Stars! Available in October, it's the fourth book set in Desperation, Oklahoma, and revisits many of the characters from the four previous books. (Thanks for not giving away Nikki's secret, Pat!)

For those readers who have asked if Tucker will have his own story, the answer is YES! Tucker's story will be released in June 2011. We should have the official title sometime next week, so check back later.

Garrett Miles, City Attorney for Desperation, who was introduced in THE LAWMAN'S LITTLE SURPRISE, will have his own story in the near future. More about that at a later date, as information comes in.

For more on the Desperation books, there's a website page dedicated to the Hearts of Desperation mini-series.


I'll be blogging on the Harlequin American Romance Authors blog tomorrow (September 18), so stop in and leave a comment for a chance to win free HAR books! And you can find me blogging on the 8th and 30th each month at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way, where we talk about writing romance.

This is AMAZING!

Summer Days

Over the past week or so, the g-kids and I have been trying to make a trip to the nearby playground a daily ritual. Even with no sidewalks for three blocks and the fact that we have to watch out for crazy drivers, we enjoy the four block trip. In fact, when I offer to drive, they all loudly refuse. They like to walk.

(Gavin swinging)

On our first trip, the kids were enjoying the equipment (2 sets of swings, a lopsided merry-go-round, 3 types of bars, and a slide), when I looked at the sky and saw that dark clouds had formed in the southwest, a sure sign of rain coming. We quickly gathered our things and started for home. We were half a block from my house when huge drops of rain started falling from the sky, accompanied by tiny pieces of hail. Jaxon and I walked faster, while Scarlett, Ally, and Gavin ran on to the house. Just as we stepped up on the porch, the sky opened up, then a loud crash of thunder made us all jump when we ducked inside.

(Scarlett with Jaxon on the basketball court)

I thought they might not be as eager to go the next day, so I didn't mention it. They did! Our second trip was even more enjoyable without the rain. And they'd still rather walk.

(Payton swinging)

The Five Days of June

Each year during the week after Father's Day, my daughter Lyndsay and her hubby go on a canoe trip in Oklahoma with his family and a few family friends. They leave on Wednesday and return on Sunday. Sabrina and her hubby, Chelsea and her guy have all joined them at one time or another. I'm the designated baby-sitter, with Mallory's help. I call this time of year The Five Days of June.

I've never gone on the canoe trip. I don't plan to. From personal experience, a camping trip means at least one very stormy night. At my age, rain, wind, lightning and hail are better experienced in a sturdy building, not in a tent.

Today is Sunday, the last day. Gavin, Jaxon, and Payton will soon be going home with what I expect will be exhausted parents. I'm eager to hear what Ally, who went on the trip this year, thinks of the trip. I suspect it might not have been as great as she'd hoped, but I could be wrong. Will know more in a few hours.

The bright spot in all this is that it'll be another year before we do this again. I'll have my bed back, instead of sharing it with Jaxon's feet in my back. I'll sleep the night through, not being awakened once by Payton's crying from the playpen next to my bed. And Gavin, well, thank goodness he sleeps like a log on the sofa. But we had some good times, and those are what we'll remember...until next year's Five Days of June rolls around again. :)

A Tribute to Dads

Still Moving at Warp Speed

In spite of my good intentions, my last post was three weeks ago. My excuse? The release date of the fourth of my books set in Desperation, OK--The Reluctant Wrangler--was moved up from January next year to October of this year. The book was written and in the hands of my editor, but there were changes that needed to be made, in addition to getting the information for the cover, new title suggestions and other small but important details to her. Now that all of that is done, I have a couple of days of breathing space. Not much, because copy edits are here and are due back in a few days.

The cover for The Reluctant Wrangler will probably be available about the time The Lawman's Little Surprise (Trish and Morgan's story, if you've been following the series) hits bookshelves in July. The Desperation books, dubbed by me as Hearts of Desperation, have been a joy to write. Will The Reluctant Wrangler be the last? I hope not! But there's no word on others, as yet. When I know, you'll know!

I'm blogging on the 8th and 29th of each month at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way, and also blogging on the Harlequin American authors blog on the 18th of each month. At Bits & Bytes, we focus on writing topics, with some reading favorites thrown in, so if you're an aspiring romance author, we'd love to have you visit at any time! And, of course, the HAR authors would love a visit from readers. With a huge array of topics, there's something for everyone there. Hope you can visit both soon!

It's back to work time...those copy edits await. As soon as my energy level gets back up to normal, I'll post more! Until then, enjoy spring!

Happy First Day of Spring

Ahhhhh, Spring! Yes, it's the Spring Equinox on this side of the world. Autumn Equinox downunder. Winter, here in Kansas, where overnight, after a beautiful 60+ degree day yesterday, a storm dumped 2 or more inches over much of the state. Typical.

Today is cold. It's 30 degrees at mid-afternoon, but the forecast says the temp will be in the 40's tomorrow and quickly climbing back into the 60's the rest of the week. I can accept that, but I'm really, really hoping this was the final blast of winter until much, much later this year. We've had more snow days than I can remember, and that's a long time.

I know there are a lot of people out there who pooh-pooh Global Warming and Climate Change, but I've been saying for the past 20 years that the weather as part of the climate has been changing. It's been slow, but it's been happening. I don't want to debate GW or CC. I'm not a scientist. But I have experienced the weather for many decades and have a fairly good memory of, at least, the past.

When I was a young girl, we had seasons. I remember Spring, especially in high school, and experienced many days of Spring Fever. I loved Fall and still do. It's my favorite of all the seasons. But the change in seasons, at least where I live and have always lived, has been slowly changing. Now the coming of Spring means a slow back and forth between days and days of bitter cold, interrupted by a day of warming. That back and forth continues as the bitter cold warms a few degrees for less days and the warming lasts for more days, until cold runs out, and it's hot summer. The opposite is true between summer and winter. Disagree, if you will, but I'll stick by my experiences. And I just don't like losing my 4 seasons.

So I'll stay inside today and avoid the snow as much as possible. At least the roads are clear, but wet, and driving isn't dangerous. There's plenty to keep me busy, and by the time I'm done with all that, the temps will be hovering 80 degrees. Deadline hell has arrived.

The Appliance Saga

A week ago today, my 20-year-old refrigerator gave it's last blast of cold air...and that only in the freezer. After nursing it along through ill-health for close to a year, it was almost a relief to unplug it and put it out of its misery. And mine. I'd been checking craigslist for something promising, but had come up empty-handed. I think that fridge knew it and decided I was procrastinating. Being the Queen of Procrastination, I guess that was only fair.

By Wednesday evening, I'd found a terrific prospect, and the owner and I began to exchange emails on a time to see and pick it up the side-by-side fridge the next day. Details of who had a pickup and could do the hauling were decided on, and all looked good. I began moving things out of the way, in preparation for the homecoming.

Thursday morning brought a call from my editor that threw a small monkey wrench into the pick-up plans, but more about that in a later blog. Fridge owner and I agreed on a good time, and off we (youngest daughter Mallory and I) went to start the process. Before it was over, we'd involved the friend with the pickup, Chelsea's (#3 daughter) SO, and one son-in-law, but it was exciting to know I'd have cold food again and not have to dig in two small coolers for the few things we managed to save. Getting the fridge into the house proved possible only after the guys removed the front door. But, hey, as long as they put it back, all was well. We left the appliance in the living room, along with the boxes waiting for content sorting from my office and the still unpacked treadmill I bought a year ago.

Too tired (and busy!) that night to even think about getting the fridge into the kitchen, I left it for the next day. By the time Friday evening came around, I finally had the time and energy to try moving it. Mallory, however, had other plans and left the moving to me. The oak coffee table was put into the only empty space left in the living room, and then I scooted the fridge toward the kitchen doorway, remembering to open the freezer door and angle it in.

Didn't work. And the fridge now blocked the doorway into the kitchen. I slept in Mallory's bed (off doing her own thing again), where the bathroom was closer, just in case. Saturday brought much the same results, but by now I was becoming an expert at walking across the coffee table and especially climbing the "black mountain" aka the big fridge. With one of the coolers stacked on a foot high table, I was able to boost myself to the top of the fridge, where I pivoted around, and then slowly lowered myself, feet first, to a tall, upholstered, bar chair on the other side. After many trips back and forth that way, I was thinking of applying for a job with the Flying Wallendas, but I didn't have a splangled costume. :(

Sunday was busy again, but by evening, I had time to remove both doors and hinges. Thankfully, the fridge now fit through the doorway, but neither Mallory (now home again) nor I nor even together could push it into the kitchen. An SOS to my son-in-law brought him over, and he managed to shove it through the doorway and into the kitchen.

I now have a wonderful, working, black, side-by-side refrigerator that's only 3 years old and didn't cost me a fortune! I also have sore ribs from all the boosting over the top of it and am eternally grateful that I'm not any bustier than I am. If I had been, I'd probably still be stuck between the top of the fridge and top of the doorway.

Sorry, no photos of the death defying trick, even though Mallory threatened.

Thanks go to Brandon, Dan, and double to Aaron for all the help! Such manly men!

In Like a Lion...

March is here! The month of wind, not to mention rain, has arrived. I entered this month of promises (in like a lion, out like a lamb) with a roar. I decided to take the plunge and move the furniture in my office and bedroom, and then start purging the boxes and bins of definitely unneeded items. Now it's my body that's roaring.

Part of that roar is caused by sleeping on a loveseat in the living room, while my bed was loaded with papers, files, record albums (yeah, vinyl), and boxes. Believe me, when it comes to sleeping on a space that's not quite a foot too short is more than one night is too much--even for this not-tall person. But my bed is cleared and I enjoyed the stretching out as I drifted off to sleep last night.

So why the sudden need to rearrange my personal space(s)? Desperation, mostly. I picked up my packrat tendencies from my mother, the hoarder, and am surrounded by things I probably don't need. It's the sorting that may be my undoing, but I've begun tackling it today. Papers first. The Government-issue, 5-drawer steel file cabinet still has to be moved, along with the 5-shelf bookcase that holds treasures, but until the aches in my body ease, I won't be tackling that for a couple of days.

Oh, and did I mention that my 9-year-old desk finally bit the dust? All that's left are pieces, including a broken-in-half side that I'd reinforced once. Or was it twice? There's the still-very-good hutch that I've decided not to use. (Craigslist, maybe?) It was beginning to make me claustrophobic, no matter how much I like having things within reach. And because the desktop is still reasonably good, I've built a "new" desk, using it and two stacked 15"X15" wood cubes on each, one with 3-drawers for pencils and "stuff" to hold the desktop. Just recycling what I have, so there's been no expense. And except for the desk now being much taller than it was, it's working well. Moral of the story: A compressed wood desk can only take so many moves and nailing-togethers before it crumbles into a pile. Next time, I'll spend the extra $$ and buy real wood! But now I don't need one, so I've saved $$.

I'm hoping that by the end of March, everything will have a place that's out of the way (mainly the trash bin), and that there'll be more lambiness in my life. Time will tell. :)

TCM's 31 Days of Oscar Moodboard

Olympics: Freestyle Ice Skating

Okay, it was only our family, and only part of the family, at that.



The photos in the post below were taken by my oldest daughter, Sabrina, who invited us to go ice skating during the Christmas holiday break. Her 8-year-old daughter Scarlett (below and in blue in the slideshow) is taking skating lessons at the local ice center and appeared in the ice show a few weeks earlier.



Mallory, my youngest, and I were accompanied by Allie, 7 and in pink, and Gavin, 5, who both belong to my second oldest daughter. Neither of them has skated, but they did a good job!

We Are the World: 25 for Haiti

Settling In

Now that 2010 has a good start--a snowy start for many of us--I've made some progress. Believe me, that in itself is progress.

A couple of weeks ago, I had this great idea to clean. You know, that deep clean kind of thing. After working at it for two days, I was tired and haven't gotten back to it yet. Instead, the AAs (author alterations aka galleys) for THE LAWMAN'S LITTLE SURPRISE arrived, so I focused on those. The deadline I was facing on February 1 for a book due out later this year or early next year was met, so I have time on my hands. Not a lot, but enough to do some smaller jobs that had been set aside.

My old blog (delaney.blog/roxdelaney) has been integrated with this one so all the posts are rolled into one blog. And if you haven't noticed, I redecorated both this blog (new color!) and my website. Amazingly, it took less than two days to put it all together. Sometimes I amaze myself. Too bad it didn't work that well with the cleaning. :(

With a little luck, I now have things under control and am settling in for the rest of the winter, meaning I just might find some time to blog. Wouldn't that be new?

Hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year, and let's make 2010 the best we can!

The Return of...

Is it safe to come out? If so, this is the return of ME.

My youngest daughter informed me last night that I hadn't blogged for a looooong time. It wasn't news to me. Throughout November, December, the holidays, weekends, nights, I've been working to finish a book due Feb. 1. No time to blog, and barely enough time to use the whip to get some characters in line. I'm still not sure that they've been whipped well, but since I don't have two years or even six months to put them away in a closet, it'll have to do.

Has anyone noticed a difference yet between 2009 and 2010? Anything other than that the picture on the calendar has changed or that there are no phone numbers in the new pocket calendar that we females must carry with us, should we not be able to push the buttons on our cell phones because our sculptured nails are too long. (Note: I don't have sculptured nails, but those buttons are tiny!) But from where I sit, so far this year is the same as 2008 and 2009, running together in my mind, along with the past 9 or 10 years. Why is it that I can remember details of everyday things from high school and even as far back as when I was three years old, but I can't remember what I got for my birthday last year? Oh, wait! I quit having birthdays!

Because I've been blogging lately about goals at Bits & Bytes and on the Harlequin American blog (links are on the right), I'll close with a few hints I've learned along the way. Goals are not resolutions. They are something we work on, little by little, until we reach them, only to discover another goal is waiting. Only make a goal that we can control and doesn't depend on the actions or thoughts or opinions of others. This is my life, your life. Let's work hard to set good goals and work even harder to attain them so we can make life the best!

New Year Goals and Resolutions

Watching the ball drop in Times Square is over. The ringing out of the old year and the ringing in of the new is done. We've entered not only a new year, but a new decade. Boy, did that 10 years go by fast! The big question now is are we going to call this year two thousand ten, or will it be twenty ten?

Along with the new year and the new decade and what to call it, there's that R word. No, this time R isn't for Rejection (that's a whisper, because we don't like to say it too loudly), it's for Resolution. Just the thought gives me shivers. Typing it makes me queasy. In fact, I so abhor the word that I haven't made one of those R things for at least fifteen years. And even though the last resolution I made was kept and carried through, I don't intend to do it again.

Instead, I set goals. Maybe they don't feel as rigid as resolutions, or maybe I don't feel quite so disappointed when I don't reach them, but I think most of all it's because it involves more thinking and planning. And then comes the doing. I freely admit that I'm about as far from being a structered person who follows a set schedule as, well, as Pluto is from the Earth. Sometimes I wish I was, but I've accepted that I'm not and do my best to work with that in mind.

When it comes to Goals, there are four kinds of people:
1. Those who set goals and work hard to meet them, often succeeding
2. Those who never set goals
3. Those who set goals but don't know how to meet them
4. Those who don't know how to set goals

Those who fall into the #1 group can go play now. Those who fall in #'s 2, 3, and 4? Pay attention.

There's a key to setting goals that's taken me many years to learn. That key is to neither over or underestimate what can be done. It takes paying attention to discover your comfort zone, and then set the goal. With some goals, it's good to set them just a little higher than comfortable. Don't set a goal that is not within your control. Goals can't rely on others, only self.

With a goal set, the next step is to decide how to reach it. Bite-sized pieces is best. For instance, if I have a book to complete, I know that if I write 3 pages a day, I can finish it in 2 months. I also know that if something happens and I can't write a day or two now and then, I can make up those missed pages easily. In 2009, I wrote as many as 20 pages in one day. In 2008, I wrote 27 pages in a day. But that, I know, isn't the norm. 3 pages a day will get me within the one-chapter-written-per-week realm. Do I quit at 3 pages? No. Why? Experience has taught me that there will be days when not even a page will be written because of things I can't control. Those "things" cannot include I don't feel like it. In fact, it's often those I-don't-feel-like-it days that I end up writing the most, because once I place my backside in the chair and my hands on the keyboard, then force myself to write, I discover that I suddenly do feel like it. It may not start out as my best writing, but it's writing and it can be fixed.

The last step is the easiest and the hardest. You see, Nike is my friend. Just Do It. No excuses, no whining, just doing.

With all that in mind, I have to take my own advice. It's time to work on the three proposals I want to have ready to go in *gulp* just over two weeks.

Happy New Year! And the very best of luck on your goals for 2010! (You do have goals, right? No? Then get busy and set some!)

2010 Greetings

May 2010 be a year of

Happiness, Love, and Prosperity for all!