Today is my once a month blog stop at The Otherworld Diner, come on by. Enjoy the pie while you read why I think playgrounds are great for your imagination.

See you there!

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Ebullient

(adj) Exuberant, enthusiastic; boiling up and over

I'm going to admit to my geek side this morning. I am ebullient over the fact that I searched the web and found a wordpress plugin that will let me direct a page to another site! (Yes, sometimes it's the small things that rock my world.)

A few months ago I updated my theme to the newer version and was thrilled to find it came with drop-down menus for my navigation bar up top (if you move your cursor over the navigation bar, when you get to blog and books, a drop down menu will appear - with clickable links to those pages!)

Since I will now be splitting my blog time with several author group blogs, I wanted to make it easy for readers to track me all over the web...I wanted an easy link to those blogs.

A few minutes with google and I'd found what I was looking for. A plugin that does just that.

I was ebullient at the moment I installed the plugin (and found it worked) and am still pretty darn ebullient about it this morning.

What's made you ebullient lately?

Writing Inspiration Friday WINNER!

DARLA

*To claim your free ebook courtesy of Writing Inspiration Friday Guest Blogger, Kaily Hart, please use my "contact" link and provide your email and preferred ebook format.*

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My apologies to all my blog readers, I really am not ignoring you! Last week was the RWA annual conference in sunny Orlando Florida and I'm still not fully recovered! From the last minute travel preparations (and yes, that's mostly everything for me because I AM a last minute packer...which always means last minute trips to the store...*sigh*) until, well, yesterday - life seemed to pass by in a blur.

First off, the conference was fabulous. I met so many people I can now put faces to their online names, I learned so much from the workshops and I networked! If you're a romance writer there is nothing better than spending 5 full days surrounded by people that do what you do, that truly "get" you and everything that goes along with being a writer.

So now, it's back to business. Back to writing everyday, back to blogging and getting ready for my November release.

If you're not one of my facebook fans - you haven't seen my conference photos or my new head-shot! Here's the link for you to click on over there to see all the pics I posted over the last few days.

Last Friday I hosted the wonderful David Bridger and he had a truly inspiration post. I thank him for being here while I was away in Orlando. I've posted the winner to his contest at the bottom.

This week, Kaily Hart will be my guest, I hope you come by tomorrow and read about what inspires her!

WRITING INSPIRATION FRIDAY (July 30th)

WINNER!

Kissa Starling

*Please send me the email you'd like David to send to your free download to through my website contact form*

Have a great day, see you tomorrow for some more writing inspiration!

Related Posts:

• New Word Monday – Debonair
• Countdown to National begins…

Welcome to Writing Inspiration Fridays!  Today I'm proud to have David Bridger as my guest. He's here to share some of what inspires him to write romance. Thanks for being here David!

My grandmother's name was Mary. I called her Nan. She was a twinkly-eyed rogue, and for many people that's all they ever saw of her. But she was deeper than that. A lot deeper.

Nan came from an Irish Catholic family who moved from Cork to northwest England before her birth in 1914, and when she married into my grandfather's English Protestant family she left her church behind. Or so it seemed, to most people I guess, and certainly to me when I was a boy.

But she never did leave it behind. She simply took it underground and expressed it occasionally in the form of mild superstitions. I remember her doing that, and I joined in the fun with her.

There was never any unpleasant edge between us. I honed my youthful wit on her, and she gave me back as good as she got. We used to laugh a lot, often to the point of near incontinence. But I also remember that some others weren't so gentle about her religion, and I'm sure that's why she kept her beliefs close to her heart for most of her life.

After Grandad died, she returned to her church. I was still only a young man when she died, and although I was away at sea for most of her final years in retirement, I know she remained independent and active and very happy.

Nan inspired me to write.

She was a wonderful storyteller. She held me spellbound, effortlessly, with tales of big family childhood days involving all the siblings and cousins I knew as grown-ups, and of Saturdays and school holidays helping in the dockland café her family ran; of long hard hours when she entered "service" as a maid straight from school; and of how she'd worked her way up to the position of cook by the time she was twenty-five.

She used to grin and wink when she reached the bit where she got the job of Head Cook in a big hospital just as the Second World War started, which always suggested to me that there'd been a degree of blagging involved.

Because she was a blagger, and proud of it. She'd definitely kissed the Blarney Stone, which no doubt helped her move on from the hospital to a better job in a posh school after the war, and then helped her move up the ladder again a few years later to the position of Catering Manager in a big maritime manufacturing company on the banks of the River Mersey.

That was where she was when I came along. She stayed with that company for the rest of her working life, overseeing a scarily busy commercial kitchen that served hundreds of employees in the working men's cavernous café, a smarter café for the office workers, the managers' quiet restaurant, and the directors' luxurious dining room.

When I say she was a blagger, I don't mean she couldn't do her job. I remember how not only her personal office but also that whole huge kitchen and all the restaurants were filled with her personality. She shaped the place, and there was no blagging involved in that.

What I mean is that in her early life, she never let anything prevent her from shooting for her dreams. She would assure the appropriate someone that a task was well within her capabilities, and then she'd make sure it was. Somehow. Always. She was like a swan, all smiling capability on the surface while she paddled like hell under the water. That was a big part of her storytelling skill, too.

Thank you, Nan. I still hear your stories in your lovely voice, all these years later, and I still smile. You've never left me. I love you.

Bio:

David Bridger and his wife settled with their three daughters and two monstrous hounds in England's West Country after twenty years of ocean-based fun, during which he worked at various times as a lifeguard, a sailor, an intelligence gatherer and an investigator. He writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

Blurb:

Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

 Visit David at his website for more information on him and his books.

CONTEST: David has graciously offered one free download of his book to one lucky commenter!  Comment before Sunday, Aug. 1st at 11:59pm to be entered to win. *Get an extra chance to win by subscribing to The Saucy Scribe by email and/or by GoogleFriending me - both found on the sidebar*

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"Love they neighbor - and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devasting, it will be that much easier." ~ Mae West

Today's Word: Debonair

(adj) having a carefree manner; courteous, gracious, charming

Maybe I'm dating myself here, but when I hear the word debonair, the first face that pops into my head is Cary Grant.

So, a little backstory might be order here. When I was little my Dad worked nights. My mom would iron (what's that? I don't think I own one of those weird devices...) and I would keep her company while we watched a movie on TV.

I grew up with the Cary Grant.

His charm, his wit, his just all around gentleman screen persona won me over quickly and so, to this day if you say debonair - I'm gonna respond, Cary Grant. (Although Johnny Depp is a close second, something about that man...um...yeah... )

I don't necessarily think of debonair as drop-dead gorgeous either. It's more of a aura, an attitude and sense of strength and confidence. It's the easy smile, the warm looks, the ability to mingle with both sexes, but exude a certain grace and charm with women that is not lecherous or conniving. A debonair man to me doesn't give off the "I gotta get into your pants" attitude, it's more a "I'm interested in all of you" vibe that makes him stand out from the crowd.

This week while you use the word, think about who you give that title to today. Who would instantly pop into your head and why?

Now to the fun stuff, tomorrow I'm headed to the annual Romance Writers Conference - this year being held in Orlando at the beautiful Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotel! I will be blogging, twittering and posting to my facebook fan page randomly the whole time I'm there (Tuesday - Sunday)

One of the best things about conference would be all the FREE books! Many of them signed by the authors. And what does that mean to you, my faithful blog reader? It means over the next few weeks or months (you never know how many books I'll be coming home with!) I'll be giving away some of those books as commenting prizes. Rules to win books are the same as the weekly Writing Inspiration Friday prizes - which means you only have to comment to get your name in the bowl-o-contestants! (and if you follow the Saucy Scribe by email and/or GoogleFriend - both located on the sidebar - you get extra chances for each comment!)

Writing Inspiration Friday Winner!

Michael

(Please use my contact form on the website to confirm your email address and what format you'd prefer for the free download and I'll forward it to Angelika!)

Happy Monday!

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• The Catch Up Post
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And panic begins.

Next week at this time I'll be in Orlando at the beautiful Swan and Dolphin Hotel in sunny (and hot!) Orlando for the Romance Writers of America annual national conference.

Seven us from Dunes & Dreams RWA are headed down there, some of us sharing rooms and flights!

We've all volunteered to help out in different ways, afterall, a conference that draws approximately 3000 romance writers -from the best selling Nora Roberts to the unpublished writer who only recently put that pen to paper - needs plenty of volunteers to run as smoothly as it does!

I've got appointments with agents, I've got lists upon lists of what I need to remember to bring, I'm ready to pitch, network, drink and put some of the online names with faces!

But with less than a week to go, this is when my neurotic tendancies start to emerge. From makeup to clothes to packing the right shoes - to OMG where is my camera charger and my mini-mouse for my netbook? Of course, the hubby keeps me on track and organized, but do I take the time to remember that? NO!  I'd much rather panic that I can't find the email with my online airline confirmation!

This morning I set up my phone for twitter, so I can tweet from the conference with ease - so if you don't want to miss my crazy twitter updates from Orlando...don't forget to follow me!

This morning I also set up my phone to post pics to my facebook - so again, I can post and update on conference on the fly! So, if you don't want to miss the photos coming straight from RWA National 2010 in Orlando - hit that facebook button on my sidebar and "fan" me or "like" me, whatever it is these days!

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"To get the chicks one must coax the hen." ~ Unknown

Todays word: Cajole

To coax gently and persistently

The weekend started out in the usual way for the DD household, which means, like most families - errands and shopping (which are really the same thing most of the time!) After the rounds of dropping kids at work and parties the husband and I found ourselves alone in the store - wow, that doesn't happen often.

Alone in the store with no one to toss unwanted items into the cart, no one to beg for stuff I don't want to buy - or so I thought.

Hubby and I found ourselves in front of the sunglass display.

Like every other redblooded woman, I love to see my guy in sunglasses, but he's a creature of habit and has resisted parting ways with his favorite pair of shades for a while now. Yes, ladies - the sunglasses are broken and have been glued! So while I was cajoling him into getting a new, improved pair of sexy shades - he turned the table on me and coaxed me into doing the same.

My problem is not that I've grown attached my sunglasses, my problem is more than I have at least a dozen pairs - somewhere. I can never find them. I leave them places, forget where I put them, toss them in the backseat of the car to be stolen by one of the kids...I think you get the idea.

This is what I picked out. Not sure if I like them yet...

WRITING INSPIRATION FRIDAY'S WINNER!

 

Winner of the Pocket-notepad - Krysten!

 

Please use the contact form on my website to email me your address.

 

Have a great monday, don't forget to use the word of the week!

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