Apple Chancery script option.

Let the Voting Begin

Okay. I’ve done it. I’ve gotten the first Pinterest poll under way.

This one is not about suits and ties because I had a more pressing matter — the script for printing the invitation envelopes. Daughter would like it to be elegant against the dark gray of her envelopes (I’ve simulated here, but your color may vary, so don’t hold me to it).

I looked through my available fonts, and picked a couple that I thought would look nice and be easy for the post office scanners to read.

Snell Roundhand option

Now all I need is for some kind folks to vote by clicking Like on the Pinterest Pin that corresponds to their favorite choice.

For those who do not want to add another social network, but who do want to vote, the options are printed here, too. You can leave a comment with your favorite choice.

Santa Fe LET option

I’m going to give it a few days to let votes collect — and to collect up my nerves to do a mail merge and envelope printing.

So far, I’ve done the testing on getting the envelopes through with the addresses in the right place (they’re thin and tall), and I have that worked out.

Brush Script Std option

Next comes the address merging and actual feeding of the envelopes through the printer. Haven’t done anything like this since I worked at the local university, almost ten years ago. I’m trying to forget that I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with printing envelopes.

Lucida Calligraphy option

Wish me luck!

REMINDER: For any Kindle owners who don’t want to miss a second of the Turtle Mom Wedding saga (which began last year with Confessions of a Turtle Mom), you now have the option to subscribe to the About a Wedding blog on Amazon. Unfortunately, you cannot subscribe to blogs with the Kindle app yet, so you non-Kindle folks can Follow the blog, or the RSS feed, or sign up for the monthly newsletter for a reminder.

18 Minutes and Choose Love

Daughter and I talked this week, and I was supposed to do a Pinterest poll on yellow ties. But, for various reasons, I did not go to the store and take the pictures I meant to take, so the poll will have to wait for next week.

This morning, I grumped at my inability to get the pictures taken as promised, and pondered what to write about instead. As I told Daughter, I’ve been reading 18 Minutes, by Peter Bregman. It’s one of those self-help books that focus on how to get on top of your life, instead of letting your life get on top of you. I really like the concept, and I’ve been reading his blog and trying out some of his suggestions. The book was on sale for $2.99 last week, so I bought it and I’ve been slowly reading it and trying to let the concepts sink in.

His philosophy is very simple: take 18 minutes a day to figure out how to best use your hours to fulfill your goals for your day, week, year and life. This concept appeals to me because I am in the process of peeling away the many tasks I have taken on that are interfering with my life goals and giving me panic attacks at night. I worry that something I’m putting on the back burner may be the wrong choice, and Bregman’s philosophy offers a way to put decisions into context in a way I need right now.

What does that have to do with the wedding?

Well, as I’ve said, part of this year’s goal is to do more promotion of my Once Upon a Wedding series to help finish funding Daughter’s wedding. It is a lot of work. And, when I look at Bregman’s advice, I can see how worth it the work is — it fits two of my important goals (connecting with family and building a strong writing career). It is not something I would regret doing if I were to find out I had a week to live.

Speaking of which…I watched the Today show this morning, and — I apologize in advance — I am about to make you cry. Because there was a story on about a young couple who loved each other and planned to get married. And then he found out he had cancer. And they put a wedding together in 3 days.

The story, the pictures, the video footage are all about what makes marriage a celebration for the community and not just the couple. Watch it. You will cry at the poignant story of Ryan Smith and Bethany Schmidt. But you will also smile. Because, this couple did not waste any time wondering about what they wanted most — they knew, and they embraced it. They, and their families and friends, will have nothing to regret down the road. They made the right choice, and got a lot of joy before the inevitable pain (which would have come, with or without the joy).

So, somehow, out of the blue, their story merged with my morning musings and my daily 18 Minutes of decision-making like a rainbow in a stormy sky. Choose joy. Choose love. Because the rough patches come no matter what, and good memories last forever if you let them.

Daughter made me change my picture (I had one of me touching a Vandegraft generator with static-y hair…she said it made me look crazy). I defaulted to the hat picture. I need a good picture of myself, but I take truly awful pictures. Eyes closed, red patches, upside-down smile. Blah. Anyone who has tips on how to learn not to become Frankenstein in front of the camera — please share!

I just may take some (natural, not professional) pictures of myself in various attempts to look approachable, human, and non-crazy and put them up to a vote on Pinterest. Hmmm. I wish I’d thought of that yesterday. Will definitely do for next week. I need help!

Right now, I’ve copied over some of Daughter’s choices that reflect her wedding colors of yellow and gray (not up for a vote, she’s really happy with them). I am responsible for getting suits and ties for DH and sons, though. There are a lot of yellow tie possibilities. Expect that to come up for a vote very shortly.

Also, I think her wedding photographer is going to do a guest post for me very soon on how to work with your photographer for the best wedding pictures ever. Hmmm. I will definitely ask her advice on looking non-crazy in the wedding photos. I can’t be the only one who need remedial help on this, not when every smart phone now comes with a camera.

Very exciting stuff!

I always wanted to run for student council, but I was much too shy to do so. On TV sitcoms, they make it look like a big deal (teens create professional looking posters, campaign, have platforms, have competition). That was not the way it went down in any of my schools. The teachers tapped the kids they thought were right for the job (Honor Society was a feeder pool), it was rare that anyone else put in their name so that there was a competitive election.

Today, at last, I get my chance to ask for your votes…for the Goodreads’ IBBA awards. You can see the vote link in the sidebar (you have to be a member of Goodreads to vote). I guess you could call that my campaign poster.

Here’s my stump speech:

Me: (smiling genially and meeting the eye of several people at the front of the crowd of listeners) I’ve paid a lot of attention to what’s been going on in the publishing world the last year. I’ve shared some of my observations with you, in between featuring interesting guest authors, highlighting my daughter’s wedding, and blogging my novel-in-progress The Ex-Files.

Pause for effect.

Me: (with a serious air) If you’ve enjoyed my shared insights and want them to continue, cast your vote for my blog!

Pause for effect.

Me: (grinning) And if you haven’t enjoyed my insights and don’t want them to continue, I’m sorry to inform you I’m not going anywhere, vote or no vote.

Pause for cheers and whistles from crowd.

Regal Queen wave as I move aside so the next candidate can make his or her case.

~~~

Tell the truth: wouldn’t I have made an awesome candidate for student council if I’d just been a little less shy back then?

…I have no clue.

But I’m about to find out.

Right now, I’m in the experimental phase. I’ve put up two boxed sets of my Once Upon a Wedding historical romance series (Books 1-4 and Books 5-7). I thought 7 books in one boxed set would be even more unwieldy than breaking a set of 7 books in half. Every so often I’m reminded that I have an almost OCD fondness for symmetry, and that trait was in full evidence while deciding whether to go with Books 1-3 and 4-7, or 1-4 and 5-7. Briefly, during a momentary period of insanity, I actually contemplated finishing the 8th book (in proposal stage, rejected by publisher long ago).

Then I opened up iCal (in which I have everything scheduled, including things to do leading up to and including my daughter’s wedding). Right. That 8th book is going to have to wait. Maybe forever.

So I suppressed my uneasiness at the lack of symmetry, chose to break between Books 4 and 5, and shot off an email to my cover designer to see if she could do a boxed set cover. I sent her an example of what I wanted (to look like a real boxed set, even though it is only ebooks). I didn’t know how hard it was, or if she’d quit and refuse to ever work for me again.

But no. She just sent me two mockups that were nearly perfect. I’m kind of blind about these things. I know what I want, but I can’t describe it — or even imagine how to accomplish it. Thank the stars for a great cover designer who can translate my “like this, but for my books” directions.

I wanted to cry when I saw them, she’d made them so beautiful (despite my lack of clarity). We tweaked them a little more, and then it was on to the hard part: combining all the books together in two volumes.

There were a few decisions that surprised me — should I keep each book’s dedication? I decided no, I gave each boxed set a new dedication. I may change my mind on that, but it seemed right.

Should I put images of each cover at the start of each book? Yes. (Again, subject to change if readers complain).

Should I mark the end of each novel in some way? I did not in the first boxed set, and did in the second. I’ll be curious to see if I get any comments.

I do like that ebooks make my experiments easier. At least, once I shelved the notion of trying to finish an 8th book in a weekend…

No so for the bride. She bought the dress as a floor model and is having final alterations very soon. [Note: picture is *not* the dress she chose, but a fitted waist is a fitted waist.] Which means she can’t afford to gain — or lose — much weight if she wants the dress to fit her perfectly. When I asked her what she’d like me to fix for dinner, she emphasized “lots of vegetables.” When we grabbed lunch at the local university with DH, she decided to indulge in “bad” food — a wrap. A wrap is bad?

I did give her a little lecture about labeling foods as bad. I’m sure it went in one ear and out the other. She’s focused on fitting into that dress and she feels a great need to say no to every food indulgence until the wedding day.

I would freak out at being so tied to the perfect weight/size, but Daughter eats healthy and exercises to maintain her form, so I was surprised at how worried she was. Like 10 pounds could suddenly spring from the bushes and jump her when she wasn’t looking.

I’m trying to be sympathetic (the dress does call for a good fit). I know she doesn’t want to hear the truth — that she’s going to look beautiful, even if she gains/loses five pounds.

Mostly I wonder when it is that a woman doesn’t have to worry about her weight? I’ve been paying much too much attention to mine since I was 12 and my aunt told me I’d lose my babyfat soon (I was a skinny rail for my first 22 years, but I’ve always had a poochy belly, even before kids).

Maybe when I’m 75? Yes. Definitely. I hereby pledge to pay absolutely no attention to my weight beginning on my 75th birthday.

Now I have to go take an hour’s walk around the neighborhood (Daughter’s orders). I’m trying to pretend it’s because I want to keep my heart healthy, not because I want to lose XX pounds. But I do have to go dress shopping by July, at the latest…

ANNOUNCEMENT: For any Kindle owners who don’t want to miss a second of the Turtle Mom Wedding saga (which began last year with Confessions of a Turtle Mom), you now have the option to subscribe to the About a Wedding blog on Amazon. Unfortunately, you cannot subscribe to blogs with the Kindle app yet, so you non-Kindle folks can Follow the blog, or the RSS feed, or sign up for the monthly newsletter for a reminder.

The Ex-Files Chapter 18

Emily had showed up for Sunday morning bagels without Phil. Again. I didn’t ask because she was in the mood for a fight and I wasn’t. She took one look at the pictures I had spread across the coffee table and said, “Can’t you skip one?”

“If she skipped one, it should have been Henry, not this guy.” Nick seemed a little grumpy this morning. He had slammed down the bagels as if they were a declaration of war instead of a peace offering.

“Hey!” I protested. “Are you trying to cost me my job? Do you know what Olivia would do to me if I skipped Alejandro?”

Emily pouted. “Then I guess I should start drafting your prenup.”

Nick scowled at her. “Why not just draw up divorce papers while you’re at it. Isn’t that what your law firm does?”

“Someone needs to chill. Did your favorite barista give you an extra shot of espresso without telling you?”

He shrugged. “I was out late last night. I’m tired this morning.”

Sighing, I stood up and pointed to the photo-laden table. “We have no time for the grumpies today. I have to decide on the perfect weekend date so the powers-that-be can get it all set up. Any suggestions?”

Nick opened his mouth and I held up my hand to silence him. “No editorial comments about the photos, please. I know you wince when you look at the shadows and framing and…everything. But if you’d taken time to give me lessons, like you always say you will…” I trailed off. “Just ideas for what to do, please. Is tripping down Memory Lane too lame?”

I looked at all the pictures that documented my year with Alejandro. I could title the collection, My Year as a Tourist in my Own Town. There we were at the Met, in Central Park, at the Rock, biking over the Brooklyn Bridge, outside the Empire State Building. My stomach clenched as I remembered the day he had proposed at the top of the Statue of Liberty. I’d meant to say yes, but then a big school group had swept us apart and by the time we’d reached the ground again, I’d started to wonder if he just wanted his green card, like Emily had claimed.

“He’s got to be over the tourist thing by now.” I smiled at Emily, but I had to force myself to sound lighthearted. “If all he ever wanted was a green card, then he’s probably gotten it by marrying some other woman. It’s been over two years since we broke up.”

Emily nodded, cheered by the thought of a married Alejandro. “You’re right. What if he is married? Will Olivia still make you go on a date? That seems a little predatory.”

“Desperate is the word I was thinking,” Nick added unhelpfully.

I pinched off some poppy seeds from the top of my bagel and threw them at him. “He isn’t married, but rest assured that Olivia has already thought ahead, just in case one of the seven is married.”

“Is she planning to have the spouse offed quickly, so as not to interfere with the feature?”

“No.” Though no doubt she’d considered it, knowing her. “If any of my exes are married, we’ll invite the wife along.”

“Awk-ward.”

“Tell me about it.” I had been in favor of dumping the reunion if any of my exes had found true love, or a facsimile thereof. Tandy, with Olivia in agreement, had thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between the wife and the ex-girlfriend.

Emily looked at me more thoughtfully than I liked. “So? Do I need to get a prenup written ASAP?”

“Like she said, Alejandro is not married.” Nick glared at Emily. “He has his green card. And he’s started that carpentry business he was always talking about, in Brooklyn.”

Emily wrinkled her nose. “Brooklyn?” Her eyes widened. “You’ve talked to him?” She didn’t say traitor, but her expression clearly communicated it.

Nick had the grace to look slightly ashamed. “I helped him out by taking some pictures of his furniture, and his shop.For a brochure. Is that a crime?”

For some reason, I wanted to say yes. Instead, I said, “No. No crime. Alejandro is a nice guy. We all liked him. Even you, Emily, once upon a time.”

“I should have known it. There’s something in your voice. You’re looking forward to this date.”

I shook my head, thinking of the photos Olivia and Tandy pored over with a magnifying glass. “No one looks forward to revisiting an ex with Nick and his camera around. Who knows what embarrassing situation he’ll capture for posterity this time around.”

“Hey. You’re the one who thought it was a good idea I take this job.”

Emily scraped some cream cheese off her bottom lip with her teeth. “Which it was. We were getting tired of being your main bagel supplier. It’s nice that you can contribute more than day olds now that you have a steady gig.”

“Don’t forget to take one home for Phil. I want him to appreciate my newfound wealth, too.”

“Wealth? Please. A few nice paychecks does not mean anything in this town.”

“Do you want me to quit?”

His question wasn’t angry, but it still stopped my heart. “Quit?”

“If I’m making you uncomfortable, then maybe I—”

“Cut it out. Of course I don’t want you to quit.” I tried to make peace with him. “Besides, you liked Alejandro.”

He nodded. “He makes me see things in a whole new way. Gotta love a guy who can do that.”

She said snarkily, “Of course he makes you see things in a whole new way — everything here is new to him. He’s like a kid at Christmas.”

I objected, ignoring the pictures that reinforced his embrace of all things tourist. “Spain is not a third world country.”

“You’d hardly know that, the way he talks.”

Nick leaped to his defense, “He does very well for someone who learned English in his teens watching American TV shows.”

Emily scoffed, “Oh please, he works that foreign accent and wide-eyed innocence for one reason, and one reason only. He just wants to—” She stopped short, her face flushing bright red. “Never mind.”

I sighed. “Go on. You know if you don’t get it off your chest now, you’ll worry at it until you do say it.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms, and then recrossed them. “Diana, I know you don’t like to admit it, but that accent makes him attractive to every woman with a pulse. And he doesn’t mind.”

“It’s not like he asks for the attention.” Nick leaped to his defense again, which was really starting to irritate me.

“Emily. This is work. An assignment. A weekend. Do you expect him to cheat on me in two days?” I picked up the picture of us ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza. “Believe me. I’m going to keep him busy. I just need to know what to do with him.”

“Put him in a monk’s robes and don’t let him talk near any pretty girls.”

Nick ignored her. “You know, with your connections, you could get tickets to one of the live shows. He’s a big fan of Letterman.”

I nodded. “And The People’s Court.”

Emily raised her hands in defeat. “Fine. Ignore me. But, don’t come crying to me when Nick gets pictures of girls slipping Alejandro their phone numbers when you’re not looking.”

“He knows the deal. He knows Nick will be photographing us. Okay?”

“All I know is that he knows how to work that charm, and he can find any excuse. New Year’s Eve, a sprig of mistletoe hanging overhead…” She suddenly scrutinized her nails, as if checking to see if it was time for another manicure.

Nick looked puzzled.

I felt sick. “What are you saying?”

Emily swiped at an imaginary spot on her thumbnail and was silent for a moment before she looked at me defiantly. “I’m saying he found a way to be under the mistletoe once. And it didn’t bother him one bit that he took advantage of that stupid tradition to kiss his girlfriend’s best friend.”

Nick sucked in his breath. “You kissed Alejandro? And you think I’m wrong to shoot some photos for him?”

Emily looked like she might cry. “He kissed me, you idiot. I didn’t even see the mistletoe until it was too late.”

I stuffed my shock back down inside. Deep down. With a shrug, I said, “Mistletoe kisses don’t count.”

Emily looked at me, and I could see she knew what I knew. Every kiss counted with Alejandro. The man knew how to kiss.

Daughter came for a visit last week. It was wonderful (and not just because her arrival ushered in a series of record shattering 70 and 80 degree days). We got a chance to sit down and do some number control (phew).

I also found out she has a Pinterest page, so I immediately Followed her and repinned some of her wedding stuff to my rather barren page. If you are on Pinterest, you can check me out here: http://pinterest.com/kellymcclymer/ I hadn’t really been sure how to use Pinterest, but now I’m getting an idea of the evil excesses of being able to make photo boards for all my dreams and wishes.

The nice thing about Pinterest is that it puts visuals to what she’s been telling me in her wedding planning updates. I confess to having been unsure of her colors: gray and yellow (not that I said a word — this is her wedding). But looking at the pictures, I can see how lovely it will be.

She’s also chosen cupcakes over wedding cake (I think this is trendy, but I can’t really say why).

I could imagine the flavors when she named them (raspberry lemon, chocolate, chocolate carrot, red velvet…yum, no trouble parsing those words into sensory reality). But I couldn’t quite see what the mass of 200 cupcakes would look like. Pinterest to the rescue.

Lastly, she wants her father and brothers dressed in gray suits with yellow ties. What color gray? Yellow? We stressed out a bit when she was vague (she’s probably still trying to decide). But there is a picture on Pinterest. And we can add more to come up with just the right combo.

I feel like I can see what she’s going for so much better. But now that I have a Pinterest page for the wedding…can I possibly avoid adding my own suggestions to the page? How can I not make comments on her new wedding Pins?

Oh well. Only a few more months to go and then we’ll be there, dancing and eating and laughing and crying. Then we won’t need a Pinterest board, because everything will be Pinned to reality, all decisions made and too late to change a thing.

I wonder if there’s anything I can Pin to show how impatient I am to be there, and yet how much I relish this planning stage before the whirlwind couple of days that will be the wedding?

For those who are supporting the wedding fund and enjoying the Once Upon a Wedding historical romance series: take note that the final book of the series, The Twelfth Night Bride, is now available on Kindle as well as Nook. It will soon be available as an iBook, too.

 Why positive thinking often fails

“Think positive thoughts.” Ever been told that? Positive thinking is often offered as a solution when things are stressful or when something hard just showed up in life. Friends, family, and even professional helpers often suggest thinking positive thoughts to relieve stress and feel better. It sure sounds logical. Why is it so hard at times? Why doesn’t positive thinking seem to last for very long before negative thinking creeps in again?

One reason is that we all have habits of thinking. Have you ever noticed how many of your thoughts during the day are repetitive? Or let’s put it another way – how many purely original thoughts do you have in an average day? For most of us, it’s not many. Try to keep track for one day and see what you discover!

So then when life has dealt some hard challenges, or it’s just one of those days when things are kind of down, it’s common to end up in negative thinking habits. If we notice this, and decide to “just think positive!” what tends to occur? Shifting gears from negative thinking or worry into more positive thinking isn’t like changing a channel with a remote, at least for most people.

Why is that?

There are several things going on here, but the main challenge is that thinking itself, whether so-called positive or so-called negative, can intensify the experience of feeling stressed. Tinkering with thinking alone isn’t enough. It’s important to be aware of the emotions in the mix, not just the thoughts. Emotions are the body’s way of giving us information about our lived experience – that’s the job of emotions in our lives.

Secrets of the Night

To Love A Scoundrel was the third book published during my writing career. Until I began writing this book, I didn’t fully understand or even investigate what prompted my creativity. I found out big time with this novel.

Jewel, the heroine, and Brent, the hero, constantly woke me up in the middle of the night with visions of the next chapter, up to and including lines of dialogue. Trouble was, I could never remember those thoughts the next morning. I told my husband about this problem and he came up with a fix. Since he knew I was too lazy to get out of bed, go to my desk, and write my thoughts down, he bought me a tape recorder and put it on the headboard.

I thought this was a swell idea, and chose a recorder with a voice-activated feature. This meant that I didn’t even have to reach up and turn the thing on. All I had to do was spout my pearls of wisdom into the night and they would magically be there for revising the following morning.

I woke up disappointed as I hadn’t awakened during the night, but that quickly disappeared when I checked the tape and discovered that I’d apparently rattled on for close to an hour.

Was my urge to tell my story so strong that I didn’t even have to be awake for the process? Hah! I replayed the tape and learned that (1) my hubby has a little hitch in his throat when he snores, (2) some woman snored right along with him as if part of band, and (3) my dog Sushi, (usually such a lady) snored louder than the both of us put together.

I still use the recorder today, but have retired the voice-activation button.

Is that not a perfect Saint Patrick’s Day story? Could it be the Leprechaun’s little joke? If you want to learn more about Sharon, visit her at Backlist Ebooks, read her blog, Like her on Facebook, or Follow her on Twitter. And don’t forget To Love a Scoundrel is FREE on Kindle from 3/17 – 3/21.