August 31, 2009

New Study

After painting and sanding and changing colors a bazillion times,

My study is complete! The old merchant's cabinet is immediately to the left of the doorway. (To enlarge, right click and open in a new window.)

I was going for shabby chic, but it ended up being more Mary Englebreit. (This is a drawer on a bureau that we painted. I used old glass doorknobs as drawer pulls!)

Still, it's new and bright and fun. Here's the view from my desk. Behind me are the bookshelves with all my research materials.

Thanks to my best friend from high school, Lisa Miller, for helping me with the painting!! I couldn't have done it without her.

posted by Deeanne on 08/31/2009 - 9 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

August 24, 2009

Rough Landing

Last week my daughter moved back up to college, but she is going into an apartment this year instead of the dorm. We drove up Wednesday night for a Thursday "move-in" date.  When we got up Thursday morning, her car had been broken into. :(

Everything she had was in the car. The good news is, they didn't clean her out. Her bedding, clothing, shelving and kitchen odds-and-ends were untouched. The bad news is, they took her iPod and shoes.

It was the shoes that devastated her. She must have had 20 pairs. Cowboy boots, UGHs, rainboots, pumps, sandals, soccer cleats, strapy heels, etc., etc.

We have really high deductibles in Texas, so none of this was covered. :(

It could have been much worse than it was. We kept telling ourselves that, but it was just so disheartening. I stayed an extra day since all the police reports and car window repairs (they smashed out the driver's window) and the insurance claims ate up almost all the day.

I finally hugged her goodbye about 3:00 on Friday, walked out to my car ... and I had a flat tire. I'd run over a big ol' screw.

Before all was said and done, I ended up having to replace all four tires. Still, I'm glad she's safe and they didn't take more than they did and I'm glad I didn't have that flat tire while driving on the way home!

posted by Deeanne on 08/24/2009 - 9 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

August 17, 2009

Shabby Chic

You know how I mentioned last week that my muse likes to move around? Well, I decided for this next book that I'd redo my study.  For ten years it's been the place I did all my administrative duties (paid bills, balanced the books, filled out insurance forms, etc). I've never once written a book in there.

Partly because the room represented "ikky work" in my mind and partly because I had been sharing it with my assistant. (I need total silence to write. No way would I be able to write a book while someone else was in the room with me.)

A few years ago, in an effort to liven it up, I painted a border on its walls and a bee hive in its adjoining half-bath. Now, I've decided to get rid of all furniture that screamed "ikky work" and put in "fun" furniture.

I looked through magazines and found a picture of an old spice cabinet that had been used in a mercantile back in the day. It was exactly what I wanted. The whole shabby-chic thing.

I called my sister-in-law and she met me in Canton, Texas. Why Canton? Well, the first Monday of every month, there's a GIGANTIC flea market/antique sale in Canton. Thousands of booths, hundreds of acres.

Armed with the dimensions of my little study and a picture of the spice cabinet we set off. We found a bureau that would fit along my wall and that I could paint to have the shabby-chic look, so I bought that and a little jewelry stand that had lots of little drawers I could store paperclips and stuff in.

Hours and lots of miles later, we trudged into the last building. And look what we found:

It was EXACTLY what I wanted!!  So, I bought it, too. I didn't need a desk because we had an old wooden desk in storage that I could paint.

Next week, I'll show you the results.

What about you? Do you like to do the whole flea market/antique thing?

posted by Deeanne on 08/17/2009 - 11 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

August 10, 2009

Muses & Snoozes

Last year when the kids all left the nest, I invaded a corner of their gameroom. My muse likes to move around and I'd never worked in this particular spot.  So that's where I worked on Beguiled.

The couch up there has seen better days, so we let the dogs onto it. One of the dogs (Tootsie) is a loner. She likes to find a quiet place and stay out of the mainstream of the activity. Our other dog (Cowboy) is as social as they come. His favorite place is in your lap. Problem is, he's 50+ pounds!

Anyhoo, every single day when I sat down to work, he climbed up onto the couch next to me. In the mornings, he'd take a nap.

Then we'd break for lunch. After lunch, he'd take another nap.

But come 3:00, he was ready for some attention. I would be working away, then glance up to find this pitful face staring at me.

So, we had a quick break for snacks. Then, it was back to work for me and back to dreamland for Cowboy.

When the kids came home for the summer, I had to abandon my corner. But it was a good spot while it lasted.

What about you? Do you have an animal that demands attention? Or is it a loner? Does your muse need to move around like mine?

posted by Deeanne on 08/10/2009 - 4 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

August 03, 2009

Heart To Heart

Barnes & Noble has a new romance blog called Heart To Heart and it is being run by nationally recognized columnist Michelle Buonfiglio. Since 2005, she's worked to "define, not defend" romance by bringing it before the broadest audiences possible, syndicating her features at 80+ TV news websites like WNBC.com, and Lifetime TV's myLifetime. She's the founder and creative force behind Romance B(u)y The Book (which we have hopped over and visited on several occassions).

If you've visited my Press Room, then you've seen where she interviewed me for myLifetime.com.  Heart To Heart (H2H) used the RWA conference in D.C. as a springboard for launching the new blog.

"Here at H2H," Michelle says, "we talk new books and old faves, meet hot authors and upcoming stars ... with one caveat: You gotta want to have fun!"

If it is romance-genre related, H2H covers it--everything from inspirational romance to erotic romance. Michelle has her thumb on the pulse of the industry. Her posts are diverse and engaging. So, go on over and give her a howdy.

***

I'm over at Bustles and Spurs this week. We're talking about Historical novels vs. Vintage novels. Stop on by!

posted by Deeanne on 08/03/2009 - 0 comments - Post a Comment    RSS FEED

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