Starting Up Again

It is almost a full year since I've put together a blog post. A year!  I knew I'd been slacking but I had no idea how long I'd left it abandoned.

I've been thinking about this blogging thing and whether or not I want to keep going with it.  Obviously, all signs seem to point to "no" here if the year-long hiatus is any kind of indicator ... but I'm not entirely ready to give it up yet.   I still think it's a great medium ... it gives you way more space to offer up your point of view on something, and you can attach as many pictures of Chris Evans and Chris Pine as you like ... but more importantly I think it gives readers a chance to get to know you better.

Not that I have readers.

Yet.

I was perusing through Veronica Roth's blog a couple of days ago and it's interesting to watch her go from unpublished author who's a little scared of getting rejected by an agent ... to mega-author, all in just a few short years.

It was fun to read her early posts and watch her as she goes on her journey.  Reading that blog and watching her get her first deal, and her first ARCs, and all her other firsts, made me wonder why I left my blog in the first place.   And then I remembered that I put a lot of pressure on myself to want it to be perfect.

At the end of the day, it's supposed to be a journal .. and I shouldn't have to wait until I'm published, or I have some kind of crazy blog schedule worked out.  It should just be here ready for me to blog whenever I'm ready to say whatever it is I want it to say at that particular moment in time.

And right now all I want to say is that I think I'm ready to start again.

Cage Match: Chris Evans vs. Chris Pine

CHRIS EVANS
Let me demonstrate the concept of
"perfect scruff"

CHRIS PINE
No, let ME demonstrate the
concept of "perfect scruff"

I spend a considerable amount of time "researching" heroes.  Too much, some might say, but I feel if you're dedicated to this thing we call 'writing' then you need to show you're serious.

I am so serious about it that I know the difference between Chris Pine and Chris Evans. Trouble is, which one do I like better?

Chris Evans 

(Captain America, The Avengers,What's Your Number?, Cellular)

What do you think?  Too underdressed?
Should I put on a tie?

Pros
1) If you haven't seen Cellular (thriller with Kim Basinger), then you need to watch it.  It was the first movie I'd seen with Chris Evans, and he really held the movie together - which is a big deal when you're a newbie actor.

2) He looks good shirtless.  Correction.  He looks amazing shirtless.

3) He can do comedy.  And when you're in a movie with Anna Faris, you'd better be able to hold your own.

Cons
1) He's done a lot of superhero movies over the last few years ... needs to show his romantic side more.

Chris Pine

(Star Trek, This Means War, People Like Us)

My name?  Christian. Christian Grey.

Pros
1) Even thought I did not like the the movie This Means War, the man knows how to make out!

2) He rocked the James T. Kirk role ... and those were some big William Shatner shoes to fill.

3) He looks amazing in a suit ... which even though is not the same as shirtless, still has its own appeal.

Cons
1) He's not as classically handsome as Chris Evans ... but I'm okay with that

Nikki's Choice:   Chris Pine

I'm choosing Chris Pine as the winner of this one .. but who would you choose?

If it's definitely broke, do you fix it?

Karen Wiesner's awesome planning
guide.  I will blame her if I don't
finish ... seems fair.

As some of you might know, I finalled in the 2012 GH contest.   I'm still drinking wine to celebrate that achievement (although, I do admit the appropriate celebration time has probably expired).     Reading back on my entry, I have to say I still like it.  It's a really solid 50 pages.  Heck, I would even go as far to say the first 100 are quite good.   The other 300 pages though?  Pretty much a mess.

I did try to edit it .. repeatedly.   But after a year of work I finally realized I was doing a lot more work "avoiding" the manuscript than writing it.  My house was exeptionally clean during this bleak period ... my toilet gleamed while my writing desk sat and waited for me to find my way back.    Even though I wasn't writing, I still wasn't sure if I should quit.  Quitting the ms and putting it on the backburner seemed like a bad idea.  What about all those agents and editors I met at conference that I promised the manuscript to?  What about finishing what I started?  What about learning to push through all the tough middle part?     And to make matters worse, I'd done this once before with this manuscript. I put it aside once before and worked on something new, only to give up on the new manuscript once I got to the middle.  I was afraid I was going to just repeat the same mistake.

After much soul-searching at the end of 2012,  I finally made the decision to put my GH manuscript on the backburner.  I still think it's a good story, but I have lots to do to make it great ... and I decided I needed some distance to get it to greatness.   I also decided to work on something brand new that I was excited about.   And in order to ensure I don't fall into the same pattern of failure again, I decided to give "First Draft in 30 Days" a go .... try to work out all my plot problems before I write the book so I'm not stuck in the middle wavering. 

I just finished my outline of my new manuscript.  It took longer than 30 days (it took 90 if you want to know the truth) ... but I feel really good about it.   I got stuck in many of the same places I did previously, but somehow pushing through an outline is a lot easier than pushing through a half-written novel (go figure).

And now I'm onto the scary part.  Writing it.  I'll be keeping track of my progress on the right rail so you'll all know how I'm doing.  Fingers crossed I get through this one!!

10 Great Secondary Characters

A few years ago, someone in my RWAC chapter did a craft session based on the Donald Maass workshops.  I don't know if you have his workbook, but one of the exercises is about writing down all the things you love in great stories, as well as all the things you hate.  The point, of course, is that in your own writing you should concentrate on the elements you love in other's writing ... thereby making people fall in love with your manuscript.

Spike in full scuba gear.  He says he had nothing to
wear (laundry day) but I think he likes the latex ...

One of the things I love in great stories is letting the secondary characters be the comic relief.  I think you want your hero and heroine to be funny (at least in chick lit) ... that goes without saying ... but the really outlandish stuff can go to your secondary characters ... they are the real heart of really great romantic comedies.

Your secondary characters can do things the main characters can't.  They can make bad choices, behave completely irresponsibly, wear weird clothes, hit on inappropriate men ... and they are often the reason I laugh out loud when I'm reading or watching a movie.

Here are some of my favourites from movies and TV:

10) Betty White - The Proposal

9) The Clergyman - The Princess Bride

8) Scarlett - Four Weddings and A Funeral

7) Ned Ryerson - Groundhog Day

6) Kevin, Creed, Oscar  - The Office

5) Morgan - The Mindy Project

4) Billy Mack - Love Actually

3) Cyn (Joan Cusack) - Working Girl

2) Spike - Notting Hill

1) Schmidt - New Girl

Do you have any faves??

Random Act of Kindness - #3

Okay, I know it's been waaaaaay too long since I blogged ... but let's try to get back to this Random Act of Kindness thing.

This one I did at Christmas time, I just never blogged about it.   I was walking through a shopping mall with my son and my niece and nephew.  It was packed!  As we were leaving I noticed a woman carrying a big tote along with a stroller full of purchases, a baby in the stroller and a small 3year old child beside her.  It looked like they were leaving and she had her hands full so I offered to help her to her car.

She told me she didn't have a car.  She was walking to her apartment.  How she would get there with all that stuff and 2 kids was beyond me!   She looked so tired just trying to get all that stuff through the mall!

I had my sister's beautiful new SUV with lots of room in it so I offered to give her and her kids a ride to her apartment which was only a few blocks away. We loaded in the stroller, the gifts, all the kids and headed over to her apartment. 

Once we arrived, the kids helped unload everything and as we said our goodbyes she thanked me profusely.  And then she did something I'll always remember - she gave me a hug.  

Now, my sister wasn't thrilled that I brought strangers into her car ... but I can say that so far this act of kindness was by far my favourite!

RAOK - #2

Random Act of Kindness - #2

Continuing my pledge to complete 28 random acts of kindness for Newtown victims, I  completed act # 2 yesterday.

I participated in a "Secret Santa" activity with my co-workers, but when I drove into work I forgot my Secret Santa gift at home.  So I went to Wal-Mart and purchased another gift (flash drive ... I work with IT geeks ... it was a big hit). :)

But then I had my original Secret Santa gift at home.  It was Coconut body butter from the Body Shop (my department is 50% women ... Go Estrogen!).   I thought about keeping the Body Butter, but then I realized I could regift it to someone who could use a pick-me-up.

I gave it to our receptionist Amy who is always cheerful and helpful.  I even signed "28 Random Acts of Kindess for Newtown" at the bottom this time (although left my name off of it) so I could spread the word.

Now to think of item #3 ...

28 Random Acts of Kindness

I read about Ann Curry's challenge to perform some random acts of kindness as a way of honouring the lives lost in Newton last week and I thought it was an amazing idea.   Of course, we shouldn't need a tragedy to remind us to be nice to one another on Planet Earth ... it is common sense after all.  But it seems like every once in awhile you need to be reminded to focus on it.

I'm going to try to document my random acts in my blog ... emphasis on 'try'.  I'm also going to try to ensure my random acts don't cost me $$.  Not because I'm averse to paying for things .... but I think it's far more interesting to try to do it without just plunking down money.   Of course, if you want your random act to involve paying for something for me, I am all good.

Random Act #1 - I wrote a thank you note to a co-worker who organized a Christmas toy drive.  I also made it anonymous so he wouldn't know it's me who wrote it.

Now to think of the next random act ...

Top 5 Most Anticipated TV Shows




The short-lived Smith.  Jonny Lee Miller
AND Simon Baker?  I can see why
that wouldn't work ... groan ..





I'm a huge TV fan, and September is always my favourite time of the year.  New shows!!  New shows that will probably be cancelled in a few weeks .. but new shows!

I actually stopped watching TV the last few years since the networks were so quick to cancel them.  I didn't want to get too invested only to have my hopes for greatness dashed (Smith, anyone???).  Unfortunately, by not watching  new shows, all it did was make me rewatch past favourites in order to get my fix.  So this year I bought a DVR and have decided to give a lot of new shows a chance. 




He's like the Channing Tatum
of crime-fighters ... and those scars\

are all kinds of sexy ...





Although it's still a little early to figure out which ones are going to be great, and which ones are going to be this year's "Whitney" ... I'm at least excited about them!  I missed that ...

#5  The Last Resort

Scott Speedman is a fave, but a show on a submarine/island seems like a tough sell.  Word on the street is the first episode is of Lost-like quality though, so I'll give this one a chance.  But he'd better be shirtless in a vampire coven at some point ...

#4 The Mindy Project

Is it wrong to fantasize about his socks?
My crush is getting Creepytown isn't it ...

I'm so-so on Mindy Kaling, but love the Bridget Jones' Diary in America kind of concept.  First episode was okay ... loved her drunk on a bike yelling "I'm Sandra Bullock" ... but I'll wait to see how it pans out.  I remember I didn't like the first episode of New Girl, and look how that turned out ...

#3 Arrow

Just started watching the Vampire Diaries last year and kicked myself for missing it when it originally aired. Do you know how many months I was unaware of The Damon?  Too many ... Not going to make that mistake with the CW this time.  And this guy has serious Damon potential.

#2 Ben and Kate

I had no desire to see this show until I saw the trailer last week, and then was hooked!!   And Dakota Johnson (Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson's daughter) can actually act!!  It's one of those shows you're either going to love or you're going to hate .. and I loved it! 

#1 Elementary

Jonny Lee Miller.  That's all I need to say.  I don't care if this is the worst show on TV ... I'm in no matter what.  But please don't let it suck.

What new shows are you  planning on watching this year?



Friday Check In

Well, I said I would check-in regularly and this week was pretty disappointing ... but now that I have to own it publicly hopefully that will make next week a little more productive.  I only wrote Tuesday night and only 357 words.  That's not awesome.

But onto next week!

Building a Habit ... The Redux

Hopping back on the bandwagon ... but will
resist asking Amanda Bynes for any
driving tips.

Okay, so about a month ago I said I was building a new habit.  And then managed it for about 7 days and then stopped reporting on it altogether.

What happened?

I could blame it on the new television schedule but since I've got my new, shiny DVR taping all my soon-to-be favourite shows, this would be an all-out lie (side note - have decided Elementary will be my favourite new show - Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes??  Drooling as I type this ...)

The truth?  I stopped spending time on the habit ... and even worse ... started to hide away when I realized I wasn't keeping on track.    If I don't report on my failures then they can't be failures, right???

As someone who's a Project Manager in real life, I can tell you that the absolute worst thing you can do when stuff is falling off the track is stop reporting on it.  Once you stop keeping track of how you're doing, it's very easy to ignore the problem indefinitely.   Even if you have to report fail after fail after fail, it's better than not showing up at all ... and as I've seen on most of my projects, once the failures start adding up it often spurs you into action!

So, I 'm jumping back into it and will vow to report on my progress ... no matter how terrible.  No one said this writing stuff would be easy ....

Building a New Habit: Day 7 .... Kind of

RIP Phyllis Diller. 
No one rocked the rainbow feather dress better!
[Photo by Allan warren]

I bet you thought I forgot all about this little habit-building journey I was on, didn't you?  Well, I didn't -- I just ended up taking a little break.

My day-job sent me across the country last week, and even though I had all good intentions to write while I was away, the job kept me going from early morning until late at night.  I did manage to haul my butt off to a Denny's at 5:30am the first day I was there and wrote for 45 minutes (yay!) ... but after that I tanked.  No writing at all!  And taking the red-eye back home didn't help me over the weekend.

But I'm back to it ... and this morning I got up early to write.  Got derailed by laundry and then drove to the day-job telling myself I would make sure I wrote before I started the day-job.

And I did!  I worked on my query letter for forty-five minutes today (much, much harder than it looks when you read other people's letters, isn't it??).

So writing successful at least for today.  Now off to Day 8 ....

Building a New Habit: Day 6

Schmidt and CeCe from New Girl
celebrating my successful week!
Holla!

Woohoo!! I hit 965 words in the last session.  I'm very, very happy with that and I got through the hard part - the kiss!  Now I just need to tie this scene up, clean up the rough edges, and send it onto my crit partners.  Yay!!

My new habit is designed for weekdays only.  I alwasys feel a lot of pressure to write every day, but I also know I need some breaks, so I've decided to give myself weekends off.  And since I was pretty good at writing this week - not great, but good - I'm going to count this week as a success!!

Thanks for all the 'pump-me-up' messages.  Looking forward to enjoying my wine tonight!  See you Monday!

Building a New Habit: Day 5

The classic 'kiss with a leg lift' ... I give them a 15.8 for
execution.
[Photo by Ohcaroliiina]

I wrote last night!   432 words.  Not the 750 I wanted, but I'm happy with 432.   I'm working on a scene where my characters kiss, and admittedly I'm lousy at these scenes.  They aren't my strong suit and I find them excruciating to write.  Thinking about them in my head?  All good.  But writing them down is painful.

One of my critique partners, Anne MacFarlane, is really, really good at love scenes.  They look effortless when she does them, but when I write them I seem to focus too much on the mechanical parts and it feels so clunky.  I *should* practice them on a regular basis and then they probably wouldn't feel so foreign to me, but I think I'll tackle that once I've got this habit down.

Have also been thinking about the time of day I'm writing.  Building a habit is about making it so routine that you don't even think about it anymore.  I'm moving my writing times around a lot, so I think I need to find a time where it's consistent.  Might move it to the morning next week to test it out.

Building a New Habit: Day 4

My well-flossed teeth. 

Okay, Day 4 did not go very well.

I didn't write.  Anything.   I had to stay late at work for meetings (didn't get home until 10:00pm) and then I was too zonked too write.  Admittedly, I watched TV instead of getting home and going right up to my office, but this habit-building stuff isn't going to be easy, right?

Normally, if I miss a goal I pile all the work up onto the next day and then feel so overwhelmed by it I find excuses not to do it.  But I'm not going to do that to myself.

If I miss a day of writing, I miss it.  I don't need to make it up the next day, I just need to make sure the next day I sit my butt in the chair and write. 

It's like flossing my teeth.  I have a good habit in place where I floss my teeth every weekday while I'm brushing in the morning.  Sometimes I'm rushed and I skip the flossing, but I don't floss my teeth twice the next day to make up for it.   And I have a great set of teeth (mostly thanks to my orthodontist - 4 years of braces - that's a lot of braces!).  I must be doing some things right!

So tonight, back to it!!

6 Things You Can Do to Help Support Authors

How do you stand out among this crowd??
[Photo by Raysonho@Open Grid Scheduler]

I love my writing friends and want to support them, but I'll be honest, I haven't always known the best way to help them out when they've released their babies into the world ...

Author  Shawna Romkey posted the following blog post about a month ago and it sums up all the things you can do to support your fave authors.  Hope you find it as useful as I did!!  (As a side note, Kobo is the name of an e-reader we use in Canada ... so it might be a new word for you) :)

Do you have an author you love, like, are a fan of or just want to plain old support? These are the six things you can do to help them out.

1. Like their book. Find their book on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads and “like” it. The more “likes” a book has, the more “like”ly it is to sell. If no one has liked it, a potential buyer may not want to try it.

2. Tag the book. On Amazon.com you have the ability to add “tags” to the book. If you scroll down past the reviews, you’ll find “tags.” What tags do is show keywords that the book is about, so someone looking for a book on dogs might type in the word “dogs.” If your friend has written a book on dogs, add the keyword “dogs” to their tags. That makes their book more likely to come up in a search of that word. If your friend has written a romance, add the tag “romance.” If it is about “vampires” you can add that, as well as whatever else comes to mind: “horror,” “paranormal,” “gothic” etc… Add the author’s name. Add any other titles the author has written. Add whatever you can think that’s relevant. The more tags, the more searchable the book will be.

3. Review the book. Reviews sell books, plain and simple. Give the book a read, go to the big 4 sites I mentioned above (Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads) and review it or rate it. The review doesn’t have to be perfect. You aren’t writing it for your high school English teacher. It can just be a few lines about why you liked it. Try to avoid giving spoilers in a review.

4. Share the book on Facebook. Share your review after you’ve written it. I know on Amazon that option pops up for you to post your review on FB. If you can, Share it. If your author friend posts it on FB, share it to your list.

5. Tweet it. Just like sharing above, except for Twitter. You are given the option to tweet your review after you do so. Do it. Tweet it. Retweet your friend’s posting of it.

6. Pin it. The new social media giant on the block is Pinterest. It’s number three, right behind Facebook and Twitter. If you haven’t checked it out yet and are bored and have nothing to do, take a look. If you are a busy person, don’t because you’ll become addicted and never get anything done. Go to one of the big sites mentioned above and Pin your friend’s book. Their book will end up in the massive Pinterest feed for hundreds of thousands of people to see, and those people will be able to Re-pin it.

Those are the 6 things you can do to help out your author friends. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Goodreads are the big 4 sites you can go to for their books and to post ratings and reviews. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are the big 3 social media outlets out there to help spread the word.

Building a New Habit: Day 3

Inspiration for my "Kennedy's" inspired story. 
Now I just need to write it ...
[Photo by gdcgraphics] 

I'm a day behind on my Day 3 entry.  I did end up writing yesterday (went to a write-in with my pal Tory Leblanc), but it was slow going.

I didn't have a computer so had to write long-hand, and I'm not very good with that.  My brain is trying to write much faster than my hand wants to move, so I  find it's a tedious way for me to write.  I need a computer otherwise it seems like a waste of time to me.

I've also decided that just writing isn't going to be enough here -- I need to have a clear goal in mind for each session, so I'm aiming for 750 words each time.    I'll try to get one of those word count links on the side so I can keep track of how I'm doing ... but for now I'll probably just include it in my blog post.

And because this post was fairly boring today I'm uploading a photo of Aaron Eckhart.  For no other reason than I think he's hot ...

Building a New Habit: Day 2

My writing partner.  She doesn't contribute many good ideas but she
does like to take breaks to look up old boyfriends on Facebook.
(Photo by Davide Restivo)

Okay, Day 1 was HARD!  As soon as I wrote my blog post I pretty much convinced myself that I'd done enough work for one day and then shut down my Microsoft Word and started to check out movie trailers on IMDB (thank God Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes so many movies - my perfect Beta dream man ...).

It took a lot of "inner goddess" to convince me to actually write (sorry, couldn't help the 50 Shades reference since everyone seems to hate E.L. James, while I think "good for her ... she's writing what she likes and she's selling!").  And I DID write.  At first I just skimmed over the last 5 pages I wrote a few weeks ago, mumbled the words "wow, that sucks!" out loud, and then reminded myself that everyone thinks their writing sucks and convinced myself to keep my committment.

And I'm glad I did - I walked away feeling great that I tackled some pages, edited some old ones and even did scene caps for tonight ... which I'm about to use in a few short minutes.

So Day 1 was successful and with a glass of wine in my hand I have no doubt that Day 2 will be as well.

Habit officially begun!!!

Building a New Habit: Day 1

I remember the days when blogging used to be used as an online journal.   I haven't used it as a journal in a long time - now I just use it to write fun posts like what movie I want to see (I don't know why, but Total Recall is grabbing me), or what guy I think is hot (um, okay, Colin Farrell).

My shiny kitchen sink.

I haven't used it as an online journal in a very long time.

But I have to make some changes since I haven't been writing a lot these days.  And true confession:  I've never successfully made writing a habit that sticks.  Regularly.  I know I shouldn't say this out loud - I mean an agent or editor might read this and pass me over, right?  But I have got to find a way to make writing a regular habit - where I write consistently day after day after day.  And maybe even, gasp! - look forward to it!

I recently read Sink Reflections, which is also a habit changing book - albeit about housework.  I have a fairly clean house, but I've never been great at keeping it that way day-to-day.  I'm usually a 'clean it all up on the weekend, and watch it get messy through the week' kind of girl.

The first thing the author of Sink Reflections tells you to do is clean your sink.  Nothing else, just the sink.  She swears it works! So, I spent about an hour cleaning it up, and you know what?  It's actually made a difference.   I stick to her "clutter hotspots" rule, where every night I clean up the places that attract clutter.  It only takes about 10 minutes a night, and my house has been clean consistently for about a month.

If I can change my housework patterns, I'm sure I can change my writing patterns.   Which is what I'm trying to do today.

For the next 2 weeks I'm going to blog every day, at approximately the same time, and then I'm going to go write.  Worst case, it doesn't work ... but I'm going to try to be optimistic.

Fingers crossed!

Top Five ... Romantic Comedy Remakes



The good news is, as a mannequin
my shaving needs are non-existant!



I went to see the "The Amazing Spider-man" movie this weekend.  It was okay.  I liked Andrew Garfield more than I thought I would, and my girl-crush on Emma Stone remains solid, and yet still shy of Jim Carrey-like creepiness. 

But I wondered the same thing as many others ... why did we need this movie??

Tobey Maguire did a fine job in all 3 Spider-Man movies (and I would dare to say the villains were cooler than The Lizard .. although not much), but I guess when you're guaranteed to make millions of dollars re-packaging something you should go with what works.

I, however, would love to see a remake of my favourite romantic comedies.  I still watch my faves over and over, usually all spliced up into about 10 parts on YouTube ... but I do think it would be fun to see a fresh take.  And by "fresh take" I mean less 80's clothing and mullets.

This wasn't from the movie ... just a regular night at Kurt
and Goldie's place ...

I know all you purists out there will be mortified to even suggest a remake (I can almost hear Julia Phillips Smith gasping at the suggestion) ... and even I have the good sense not to put a John Hughes movie on this list.  But Zac Efron just can't be standing around making horrible Nicholas Sparks movies all day, can he?  Those abs are going to waste ...

Here are my nominees for favourite romantic comedies that deserve a remake. 

1) Overboard

I'd never realized that mini-putts were so 'high concept'.  This movie is pretty flawless as far as I'm concerned, but definitely looks dated.  Sleeveless denim shirts?  Okay, he still rocks that look ...

2) The Cutting Edge

"Toepick" was my favourite word for about a year.  Technically, they've made sequels to this so it probably shouldn't be on the list ... but since they also made sequels to Spider-Man and they rebooted it, you're outvoted.

3) Ever After

Love Drew Barrymore, and loved this movie, but her British accent sucked. And I had such high hopes for Dougray Scott and he seemed to die out a bit after Tom Cruise killed him in Mission Impossible (what would have been had he been able to play Wolverine ..)

4) Mannequin

Have not seen this in years .. kind of like Andrew McCarthy's career ... but I would love to see this again.  Although "Lars and the Real Girl" might be considered a more realistic version.

5) Legal Eagles
Remember when Debra Winger could do anything!?!  I loved this movie, and it would be easy peasy to remake again ... as long as they don't try to film it with Robert Redford and a heavily-filtered lens.  I'm done with that trick ...

What would you remake if you had the money ... and a lot of time on your hands??

Blogging with the Rubies

The Rubies!

One of the first things that happened when I became a Golden Heart finalist was that I joined an email loop with all the other finalists.  I thought it would be a kick to get to know a couple of other ladies before the conference, but it really turned into a community, and now I'm anxiously awaiting Anaheim to meet all these wonderful ladies.

The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood is a group of GH finalists from 2009, and not only are they a close community as well, but they are serious bloggers and invited each of us to take day on their blog to share our stories.

Today, I'm blogging about the secret society that is being a GH finalist ... I hope you hop over to take a look.

http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/meet-2012-golden-heart-finalist-nikki-mcintosh/