New Year's Resolution--for the Millionth Time

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, the time for looking back and looking forward.  The year slipping away has been phenomenal:  two books published, milestones for our business, the same for our children.  It has also brought some sadness and challenges, especially for our parents.  As always bittersweet.   And so another year sneaks in, and what will it hold?  Certainly its share of joy and tears.  But, this year, I'd like to look back on a couple of specific triumphs:   finish Sensible Shoes and climb myself back up onto the diet bandwagon.   If I could accomplish those two things, then I would feel like the turn of the decade was all I could have hoped for. 
If I can finish Sensible Shoes and then sell it to a New York publisher, well, then, all would be right with the world and I would be content until 2020.   That doesn't seem too much to ask for, now does it?

Most Interesting

The January issue of the Lake Highlands Advocate and I am profiled as one of the 5 Most Interesting People in Lake Highlands.  The magazine has been following the progress of the books on this blog and I am thrilled that they deemed it INTERESTING.   So here is the link to the article (sans picture) online:

http://www.advocatemag.com/lake-highlands/magazine/The_List_LH_0110.html?c=y

And, I would invite you to browse my website for more info about me and the books, including the trailers and excerpts.

http://cindycausey.com/

And if you're interested in purchasing either (or both) books, you can get them from Amazon.com.

I guess I've come full circle now.  I started this blog to follow the publishing path from start to finish.  I hope this isn't the end.   I'm working on a new book and with encouragement, such as the article in the Advocate, I will complete it soon and start the process all over. I hope you'll stick around for the journey.

15 Minutes Continues

Just when I thought my 15 minutes of fame were over, I got an email from the Advocate, our neighborhood four-color magazine, and they want to include me in the cover story for the January issue!  It is a Best of the Best story.  They ran an article about this blog last January and a mention online about the book signing, call ing me "The most famous romance author in Lake Highlands".  How funny is that since I'm the ONLY romance author that I know of in Lake Highlands.  Anyway, it's all very fun.

The book signing was a great sucecess and here is a picture.

Book Signing this Saturday!

It's actually going to happen. I am having a book signing at Highlands Cafe here in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas on Saturday, Nov. 21 from 4-6:00 p.m.  I met with the very sweet women of Highlands Cafe and we decided to serve spinach dip and tea to the hungry hordes who que up for the signing.  HAHAHAHAHA.   Here's hoping SOMEONE comes!   I've ordered plenty of books and Scott will be there to help me sell, plus a couple of the kids.  Then after that we will head up to Uncle Julio's where Molly is a manager and enjoy a family birthday dinner for Scott--who's turning the BIG 6-0.

A great day!    Can't wait.

Excitement for Fall

So long since posts, but things got really busy after school started and now it's crazy indeed.  PLUS things have really heated up for A Hot Time in Texas.  I will be having a book signing in Dallas at Highlands Cafe, a sweet dining spot in our community, on Saturday, Nov. 21 late afternoon.  I'm hoping everyone who hasn't ordered a copy of Hot Time will stop by and stay for dinner. I'll also have copies of Drum, too, plus  I would love to sign copies already purchased. 
And as if that isn't exciting enough, LakeHighlandsToday.com is doing an interview and will post it online the week before the signing.  Woohoo!
AND the Dallas Public Library may purchase the books for all the Dallas area libraries.  Wouldn't that be amazing. My little books in the library!
More to come, but that's it for now!

A Hot Time in Texas Makes it Debut

At last! My second book from The Wild Rose Press is here! A Hot Time in Texas is a late summer sizzler set in the fictitious town of Howard, Texas and, well, I'll let the new review tell you all about it. This is what The Romance Studio had to say:

"Ms. Cindy Causey has written a wonderful book about a couple who both wanted something so badly they couldn’t see any way for compromise. The main couple was so attracted to each other. The chemistry sizzled and the conflict was electrifying. Causey created two people with their futures already settled who had not counted on love getting in the way. These people were so well written it was as if I was in the tiny town of Howard living with them and all the chaos as it presented itself.

The secondary characters were adorable, especially Ethan’s mother. This small town, written in Causey fashion, simply drew me into its clutches and made me want to live there. Even knowing how things were progressing, there was myriad of surprises and laughter (as well as tears) written throughout this manuscript. The story was fast-paced and I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

I recommend this book as a good read which will leave great feelings long after the last page is read. "

And here's the new video trailer for Hot Time.

High-Tech Workshop

This past weekend I had a great time presenting a workshop on building websites and book video trailers to the authors at Dallas Area Romance Authors, a chapter of Romance Writers of America. I took my tech guy, Scott, with me because I had designed a multi-media presentation with DVDs, Internet, PowerPoint, and sound. It got pretty complicated, but worked great. We only had a couple of glitches (like losing the Internet connection) but, hey, it was a great time for a bathroom break while we fixed it. About 60 writers, very enthusiastic and they laughed in all the right places. Thank heavens. Here's a picture.

It's a Hot Time in Texas!

My second book, A Hot Time in Texas, is available on Amazon.com----3 weeks early! Hard to believe it's already here. I haven't even been able to finish all my promotional ideas for A Different Drum and now I need to start on the second one. Who'd would ever have thought that I'd have THAT problem! What an embarrassment of riches.

I feel so blessed this summer with all that's happened with the books and the documentary for Good Sam. I'm just trying to maximize the potential of all this. I would hate to feel like I did with Cherish that I just never did enough.

So, here I am, thinking I will keep a low propfile about Hot Time for a little while until Drum gains a little more ground.

So everyone, keep it under your hat.

Incredible Review for A Different Drum

The release of the book has been amazing. Several book signings and parties with friends and family. And yesterday I got an incredible review from an online review site call Between the Lines. The reviewer Jade Ryan gave me a TOP PICK, which I've come to understand is rare --better than 5 stars!

Here's an excerpt and link to the whole thing.

"About one chapter into this book, and I was hooked. I snarled at my children who dared draw my attention away."

http://blog.lyndacoker.net/2009/07/13/wrdf-review-of-a-different-drum-by-cindy-causey.aspx

I'm on cloud nine about this and wanted to share with all of you my great news on this crazy wild journey.

At Last!

The book is here. Well, not here exactly since my author copies haven't arrived yet. But it's THERE. For sale on The Wid Rose Press.com (here's the link)

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/a-different-drum-p-1260.html?zenid=8b2a81d844f9c1de0fd3eeabafc0eef3

and Amazon.com. Here'sthe link:

http://www.amazon.com/Different-Drum-Cindy-Causey/dp/1601544502/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243786212&sr=1-12

It's complete with a review from the fabulous LJ who was the first one to get a copy. I've spent the last couple of days, between working, trying to get the word out via about 2,000 social networking sites and vehicles. GEEZ. I wanted to post a little more info here, so I needed to wait until I had the time.

I put up the trailer on YouTube. Here's the link, in case you haven't seen it a thousand times already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dg3iJilcaQ&feature=channel_page

I have to say the whole thing is a little overwhelming. It's the ending (or the beginning) of a really long journey which started when I woke up one morning in 1995 with a story in my head that had to be written down. I never fancied myself a fiction writer. That was the year I sold my serious non-fiction book.

Fiction is so, so made up. It's fanciful, fun, and frolicsome--at least in my head. I know there are serious fiction writers out there who can make me cry and think and change my mind. But that's not me. I'm afraid it never will be. Oh sure, I have serious thoughts, God knows. But I save those for my non-fiction writing. My fiction will forever be light, airy, funny (I hope) and quirky.

I hope you'll check out A Different Drum. I hope you like it. I'll hope you'll come back for more in August when A Hot Time in Texas will be out.

So, the original purpose of this blog was to follow the process of getting a book published. That purpose is fulfilled and now Sensible Shoes will morph into ---who knows? I appreciate those of you who have followed along. I hope you'll stick around for whatever's next.

God's Beautiful World

I just came back from five glorious days with friends in Flagstaff, AZ. Here are some pictures. Amazing.

AUTHOR COPIES READY

Hi! I can now buy the first author copies of my new book A Different Drum. These are the print version of the book, which is so exciting. The book will be available to buy on May 29 via electronic or print. I'll send an email to the entire world then!

For Erin and Sarah

We just finished celebrating our daughters' birthdays with a lovely, fattening, delicious dinner at Red Lobster. It's difficult to get us all together these days and we didn't have Molly and Beau due to other plans, but we were thrilled to get the five of us, including Adam, plus Sarah's Justin.

Sarah is 25 and Erin is 28 this year. Hard to believe since they came to me fully formed when Sarah was 8 and Erin was 11, part of my new, blended family when Scott and I married 17 years ago.

Erin and Sarah lived with us for a number of reasons, but it was always a joy for me as they are amazing women as they were amazing girls. But they were my stepdaughters, not my daughters really, since they had a mother, Robin, who loved them happily, deeply, completely.

And they loved her, too. How could you not since Robin was an angel among humans.

And then she died, suddenly, horribly, unexpectedly and the girls became mine. It was unspoken, mutual, easy. . . a passing of the torch from a woman I loved to me. A bequest which I embraced and have rejoiced in ever since.

Robin would be so proud of her girls. They have graduated from college and are living full lives, discovering their talents, gifts and potential more every day. They are like her in different ways. Erin has her beauty and her courage. Sarah has her compassionate spirit and her gentleness.

I have them both now, a gift from their mother to me, that I unwrap with gratitude on their birthdays.

Our family is different, many will say. But it is also seamless, beautiful, complete. We are blessed indeed.

Earth Day Keeps on Going

Did you miss it?

Yesterday was Earth Day and the media was full of green this and environmental that. All good. But what about today? Earth Day is over and now what. We forget about the earth and its attendant woes for a whole year?

Let's hope not.

How about Earth Day every day? We could reduce, reuse and recycle every day. We could reduce our carbon footprint every day. We could conserve water, drive less, and eat low on the food chain every day.

Yes, we can.

Coming Full Circle

You may know that life is circular.

So it should be of no surprise that my blog is circular also. It started out as a blog about writing, following the publishing process until my fiction book comes out next month--YES, NEXT MONTH!

Then I got bored and changed it to Sensible Shoes and began writing about more bloggy things like kids and diets and whatever.

Then, here came Earth Day. Well, my first book, Cherish the Gift was spawned 19 years ago on Earth Day, 1990, so I have a passion for saving our little blue planet and started writing about that.

Multiple Personality Disorder.

Here comes the circular part: Today I finished a detailed proposal for a new version of Cherish the Gift subtitled Ten THings Your Church Can Do to Save the Earth. I submitted the idea to Chalice Press last month and received a request for a full proposal to be considered at the May editorial meeting. So I have finished it and sent it off today with lots of encantations, mantras, prayers and Hail Marys (covering all the bases.)

And so, now I'm writing about writing again.

Drive-By Ecology

No time today to chat, so here are five fast things to do in your car (or out of it) to save energy, resources, money and the earth.

1. Don't idle at the drive-through for more than a minute or two

2. Recycle used motor oil

3. Get tires aired up to the proper pressure

4. Tune up the car

5. Walk if you can

Leave It a Lawn

God did not create lawns.

God created an ecological wonder that requires only that it be left alone to work properly. So we have come into the garden, tilled it, planted it, and mowed it. God created fields of wildflowers; we planted Bermuda grass. God created forests and we cleared them and planted St. Augustine.

And most amazingly, we insist on having lush green lawns in the strangest places--the middle of our western deserts, on craggy mountain tops, in marshy wetlands. We are punished for this by God, who sends pestilence and grubworms and dandelions. And so we poison, fertilize and yank them out by their tenacious roots.

God will win.

So, cut your losses. Plant some native grasses, trees and shrubs. Those are the ones meant for your sunlight, your temperature and rainfall. They will survive and thrive and be beautiful because they were intended in the great scheme of things to live long and prosper.

Okay, so I've mixed my Bible with Star Trek, but you know what I mean.

A Mountain of Garbage

Landfills are just big mountains of garbage.
Did you know that every American throws out about 4 pounds of garbage a week? Think about that. Over the course of the year, we throw out aboiut 208 pounds of trash.

Now think about everyone in your family doing that, now everyone on your street, in the city, the state, the country. OH MY!

Now consider how much of that is recyclable. Maybe a quarter, maybe a third, maybe half?
Since we started recycling to the limit of what our city will take, we have reduced our garbage by half. We now take out just as many recyclable bags of alulminum cans, tin cans, plastic bottles, newspaper, printed materials (like junk mail), glass and cardboard packaging as we do trash bags.

I know some cities aren't as generous about their recycling program as Dallas is, but hey, you can lobby city hall. And some places, while they may not offer curbside recycling, they will have a drop-off center near their landfill.

All-in-all, it's an easy way for me to reduce my footprint on the earth. And at least I won't be leaving such a big pile of junk behind for my children to deal with.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The economy sucks. Your 401K has tanked. You can't pay your mortgage, you're upside down on your car loan, and you just found out your kid needs braces.

It's tough out there.

And then you hear, "Save the Planet." You can't save the planet when you're life is in the dumper!

So save yourself instead. Take a tip from your grandmother. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." That's the heart of reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reduce your buying, your garbage, your spending, your packaging, your waste.

Reuse your clothes, your toys, your tools, your leftovers in new and creative ways. Donate to charities, swap with neighbors, hand off to friends and family.

Recycle your glass, paper, aluminum, plastic. Find donation points for electronics and hazardous waste. Give precious resources new life.

And, guess what? In the midst of saving the planet you'll save money, too. Really. It might just pay for those braces.

April is Earth Month

April 22 is Earth Day.

I know you don't know that, because it isn't a Hallmark card day or a TeleFlorist day or a honey-ham day or a give-gifts day or a candy day.

It's just a day for recognizing that God made the earth and there is only one of it (that we know of) and it has a finite amount of breathable air, drinkable water and tillable soil. It's a day of reckoning with our lifestyles.

Does what I do every day help or hinder the earth's ability to sustain life in the future?

No, no, no. Don't give me that "I'm just one person. How can I make a difference?" crap.

I'll tell you how you can make a difference. Every day. I'm going to put up a tip on how you can save the earth. Just you. Okay, maybe you and several billion others, but you matter.

More than you know.

Just think, if all the YOUs changed just a little, it could accomplish a lot toward saving the earth.

And don't you think that would make God smile?

Heck, yeah, it would.

So, here's today's tip: turn off the water when you brush your teeth. You'll save almost a gallon of water--clean, undirtied water running helter skelter down the drain, unused. It's easy. Teach your kids and your spouse.

Hey, there's maybe four people right there! You're on your way.

More tomorrow.

I Am What I Eat

And today I am low fat, low salt, low sugar. . . and low taste. Scott and I struggle with weight and trying to eat healthier so this week we have dropped salt from our diet. For months we have been low sugar, before that it was low fat for years.

Do you know that you can't really get low fat and low sugar in the same product? Those two gems of dieting seem to be mutually exclusive. So I look at calories. I have stocked up on high fiber, whole wheat and all-natural. I suck on rice cakes spread with a barely perceptible layer of non-fat cream cheese, sprinkled with a whisper of Mrs. Dash. We eat egg substitute, turkey bacon and 35-calorie bread for breakfast.

I'm comfortable with this. I've learned to love non-fat sour cream, diet soda, and Splenda. I can eat a Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice or Smart One. We can't believe it's not butter and even spritz it on dry, lifeless popcorn.

So adding low salt to our regimen seemed like the natural, organic thing to do. I went back to the grocery store today. I scoured the aisles for salt-free, low sodium and the moniker du jour--hint of salt. I filled the cart with low salt crackers, soup, condiments, and juices. I bought fresh meats, veggies and produce. Nothing processed, nary a box in sight except for the Shredded Wheat and Cheerios, the lowest salt cereals in captivity.

I got home and shoved the heinous sugar-free sodas, laden as they are with salt, to the back of the fridge to make way for the new salt-free vegetable juice. Tonight, we'll enjoy some special concoction, made just the way Mom never did.

But it's better than the alternative. At least we'll be here to play with our grandkids and cruise around the world (heck, yes, that's the plan.)

So, here's to the spice of life. It'll just have to do.

The Sandwich Generation

So I am now officially the bologna in the Sandwich Generation--the group of people who used to be called Baby Boomers and who now hold the less-than-enviable position of having both aging parents and grown children. Less than enviable because while we thought we would have these years joyously and selfishly to ourselves, we find that we are called upon to switch our caregiving from our children, who are, for the most part, on their own, to our parents, who were, but aren't anymore.

Confused? You bet.

We have five kids, all fabulous, who would hate being discussed here, but who on occasion still show up on our virtual doorstep (via phone, email, but rarely in person) needing to borrow the odd vacuum cleaner, suitcase or 100 bucks til payday. Actually, lately they've even begun inviting us to their places for a party or dinner, a cause for celebration in my maternal heart.

They are all excellent hosts and hostesses, by the way, if I do say so myself. See the picture of them all with me last Mother's Day. I'm the one sandwiched in the middle of all that goodness.

As I've told my friends in the past, as long as all their plates are spinning, I consider it a great day. And so I wile away my very few and far between leisure hours daydreaming of more leisure hours filled with vacations to faraway and exotic places. I've begun planning cruises to skirt the outer edges of every continent, to explore the hidden wonders of the world, to taste the treasures other peoples and places have to offer.

But lately I've also started concerning myself with the spinning of my parents' plates as well as that of Scott's mother, Alice. And frequently I am left standing in a pile of broken china. Their health, financial situations, caregiving, houses, and especially stress and happiness are all part of my daily thoughts now.

Earlier today I heard a siren and saw an ambulance going in the direction of my parents' home and worried that it was on its noisy way to them. When I called to check, I found out from Dad's caregiver that my mom had gone to the beauty parlor (weekly trips to the beauty parlor, there's a topic to explore.) Thank God. That siren is not for them. Not today.

But one day it will be.

And for now my plans for great escapes are tempered with worries that while I'm away sunning on some foreign shore, a siren will scream down the street to their house or to Alice's and I won't be there to catch the falling plates.

Some Things Never Change

Last night Scott and I videotaped a wedding. And aside from realizing that we are both too old to be lugging around cameras and tripods and microphones (oh my!) and staying up that late (didn't get home til almost 1:00 a.m.--I had long since turned into a pumpkin), I was gratified to see that tradition is alive and well at weddings.

We shoot several weddings a year in our business and while they're grueling for us, they are beautiful and sweet and the best part of what we're all about as human beings: family, love, tradition, commitment, love, hope, and, oh yes, love.

The grandparents show us how to enjoy a life well-lived, to be devoted to someone over time, to make sacrifices of the one for the many. The parents model (hopefully) the years of work and struggle and the reward that comes when offspring are good and grown and off on their own path. The little ones, the babies and children of the young families give us hope for the future, a fresh start to set things right, a cure for cancer or the prospect of world peace. At the very least, maybe someone will eradicate the loss of aerable topsoil and stop global warming (okay, that's another topic, I know.) You get my drift.

I love that brides wear white no matter what, that they hand roses to their mothers and their mothers-in-law, that the couple lights the unity candle, that someone reads the love passage from Corinthians, that someone always processes to Pachelbel's Canon in D and that bouquets and garters are thrown, cake is cut and the first dance makes me cry.

In a world where technology does a 180 every 18 months (yet another topic), it is comforting to know that weddings will never really change. Oh, the noveau bride may fill jars with colored sand instead of lighting a candle, but really, as long as it sits on the mantel for a few years, who cares.

The Curse of Soy

My husband picked up a new prescription today and read me the warning label. He might as well have been holding raw mercury in his hand for all the things this medicine might do to him. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had come with a hazmat suit. No matter, I will be wearing one before I get in bed with him tonight.

But that's the way it is these days. Everything we thought was good for us is going to kill us now.
Here's a giant "for-instance:" soy. Now that my cholesterol is creeping up, I have been eschewing (I love that word--can't pronounce it, but writing it, well, that's cool) meat for a while now, substituting veggies or tofu whenever I can. I have also switched to soy milk for cooking and cereal. The reason? It helps with symptoms of menopause like hot flashes.

If you know me, then in your mind's eye, you're seeing me fanning myself even now.

So I have been happy to kill those two birds--cholesterol and hot flashes-- with one tasty stone.

Yesterday Scott tells me as he's reading the paper (the clarion call of doom) that THEY have found that soy may cause an increase in breast cancer. OF COURSE IT DOES! Whatever in soy that helps hot flashes must have an estrogen-like characteristic and a curse from the devil.

Bottom line--for those of us who eschewed estrogen to avoid breast cancer and have suffered through hot flashes, crying jags, forgetfulness, have drunk the soy milk, munched on tofu and sucked the edamame out of the pods (so ladylike), JOKE'S ON US!

Too late now. Anyone for a soymilk frappe?

New Look, Same Old Woman

Okay, the first disclaimer. The high heels are a red herring. This blog is more about Erma Bombeck than Manolo Blahnik, and you'll find that out soon enough. It's just that pictures of lovely, comfy flats in an array of colors to match my tunics and elastic waist pants wouldn't catch your attention, so I lied.

We've been talking about the process of book publishing, and as exciting as that is to me, I'm getting the feeling it's a big yawner for you--not much better than hearing about someone's surgery, so I'll spare you the boring details until P-Day (Publication Day May 29) at which time I'll bore your head off.

In the meantime, I will be filling this space with something a little different, okay a lot different. I’ll be writing, not about fashion, which my children will tell you I know little about, but about women, for women and to women. Something I hope will be funny, wise, poignant, and relevant.
At least that’s what I promised myself.

But how to start? Aside from being a woman, I have no extraordinary qualifications for writing a column to women, for women, about women. My life is no different than yours. I have kids, parents, laundry, credit cards and cellulite. I have heartaches and backaches just like you.

But I know the first law of writing: write what you know. I know about aging kids and aging parents. Husbands and bosses. Hot flashes and ice packs. Crockpots and color-safe bleach. I know about being a woman. And so do you.

And you know there's more to you and me than just what goes on at home or even at work. We live in a global village now and as inconvenient as it may be, what happens with global poverty, global epidemics or global warming touches us all. And will definitely hit our children square in their adulthood.

So we’re going to explore new territory, examine the obstacles ahead, and try new paths. We’ll laugh a lot, cry a little, and generally lean on each other for strength. Traveling is tough, especially with the kind of baggage we’re carrying, but we can make it. Together.

First, let’s get comfortable. Unstrap the stilettos (6-inch heels! What kind of sadist invented those?) They’re not the kind of shoes we need where we’re going. Ease your feet into a pair of comfy slip-ons. Doesn’t that feel better?

And now, first things first. A new name for the blog. . . Sensible Shoes.

A Powerful Noise

Last night I had the privilege of viewing, with my daughter Sarah, my friend Kathy and two strangers, an incredible film, A Powerful Noise. It was an event organized by Care International and One.org among others to coincide with the UN International Women's Day. At theatres across the country, women, and men, gathered to view the film and listen to the discussion panel which followed. At our theatre in Dallas, we arrived early to pick up our tickets and get a good seat. Imagine our surprise when only two other women showed up! Where were the people who cared about this issue--the empowerment of women? Certainly instead of a powerful noise in our theatre, we heard the crickets chirping.

At least until the movie began.

For an hour and a half, we watched the lives of three women unfold before us. These were women from far-flung reaches of the globe, light years from us, worlds apart.

And yet.

Hanh is from Vietnam, working with victims of HIV-Aids, suffering with it herself, forming a support network called the Immortal Flower Group. These people include women and children, the recipients of HIV from husbands long dead, and men as well, who feel the stigma of the disease in a country still loathe to recognize it as the epidemic it is. Her efforts include educating local businesses and being an advocate for children at risk. Her own child was lost to the disease years before.

Nada is from Bosnia, a country devastated by war, where many of the men were killed and the women are left to tend to fields and families. She works tirelessly to build a women's co-op, where the fruits of their labors can be sold at a fair price. For many, the harvests are lost because no market exists, no way to process and sell produce, meat, milk, or grains. The loss of dignity goes hand in hand with poverty and is as devastating as the crumbled infrastructure of the ruined country.

And last is the flambouyant Madame Urbain in Mali. She plucks marginalized girls off the streets, teaches them to read and write, and serves as an advocate with unscrupulous employers, making sure they are treated fairly and paid the wages owed to them. She is passionate about education for girls, and pushes, in a patriarchal society, for parents to send their daughters to school. As the recipient of an education herself, she knows it is the one true way to rise up out of poverty and create a different life for oneself and family.

Three women, one message: when women thrive, the world is a better place.

After the film ended, a panel began discussing global women's issues. It consisted of Moderator Ann Curry, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, actress and activist Natalie Portman, CARE president and CEO Dr. Helene Gayle; CARE advocate for maternal health and contributing editor for Marie Claire Christy Turlington Burns; and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, New York Times columnist and acclaimed author Nicholas Kristof.

This elite group touched on a number of issues including rape as a weapon of war, micro-lending, women's health, and gender bias. They also recognized how difficult it is for women to rise up in societies where they have no legal standing, can't own property, can't vote, and are basically the property of fathers and husbands.

At the end of the evening, the bottom line became clear: it will take the empowered women of the world, and the men who support them, to change the status quo. Women helping women in the poorest of the poor neighborhoods in the world. Women in the richest nations reaching out in different ways to lift up our sisters so they can help each other.

One of the powerful women I admire a great deal once said, "It takes a village. . ."

I would say today, it takes a world.

A Change of Pace

Now that we are in waiting mode as far as the publication of the first book , I am planning to launch a new look and feel for the blog. Watch this space for the transformation to happen over the weekend. I think the posts will be more fun, more relevant, more "me". We'll see what you think.

This is a hint about what the new blog will be about. No, you're wrong, guess again.

Final Proof and Release Date!

AUGUST 28, 2009!!!!

That's the release date for A Hot Time in Texas, my second book from The Wild Rose Press. That day it will be available in electronic and print forms. WOOHOO!

At the same time I also got the final proof of the completed book. It's such a rush to see the book as it will print with the cover, the copyright info, the dedication, the chapters, and the thank yous at the end.

This whole thing is very addictive. I think I want some more, please.

A Word For Our Sponsor

And now a word about e-publishing. I was surprised and gratified today to find that the Romance Writers Report, the magazine of Romance Writers of America, of which I have been a member for 13 years, published my letter to the editor in response to a flurry of controversy surrounding the status of e-publishers in the romance industry.

It seems that e-pubs and the authors they represent do not qualify as "published" under RWA guidelines, due to draconian rules about print runs and advances and sales and limits on contest entries.

Whatever.

Anyway, here's my letter.

November 10, 2008

Dear Ms. Adey,

After years of trying to break in with Harlequin/Silhouette, I gave up. They had a monopoly on shorter contemporary books and I had a number of books left on editor’s desks when they moved, cleared off at the end of the year, or just lost in the shuffle. Every one of my six completed manuscripts finaled in a contest and Harlequin/Silhouette asked to see a full on each one, but then would rarely respond. Discouragement and frustration are mild words to convey how I felt year after year.

Then I heard about The Wild Rose Press, which publishes both electronic and print versions. I had shied away from e-books for the very reasons the new president mentioned in her letter. I was brainwashed that they were somehow “not quite as good”. But I looked into TWRP and liked what I saw and decided I would put my pride on the line once more. Their response was professional, swift, respectful and FUN! They bought my book and now I feel like I am with a “real” publisher. I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I’ve submitted my second manuscript and I’m hoping the editors deem it worthy of TWRP.

Sincerely,

Cindy Causey

Now Comes the Waiting

I have just finished proofreading the galley for A Hot Time in Texas. No word yet on when it will be published. Sometime this year. But now that the galley is done, they will choose a publishing time. So, I wait. I also plan. I'm putting together my marketing plan for A Different Drum. I will share it with you here in a day or so when it's finished. In the meantime, I will just twiddle my thumbs, metaphorically speaking, and wait for the big day.