Tucson Festival of Books and my new cowboy friend, Randall Dale!

Met this great guy, Randall Dale, who writes real cowboy stories. I'm going to interview him some day on this blog.  We shared a table, and he stood outside with his rope, and boy did the cowboys come. It was fascinating to watch the readers that flocked to him, as opposed to the women reading romance who came to mine. He's a talented writer, I can tell. I overheard the stories about his growing up, stories passed down by two generations of Arizona cowboys, and it was like vitamins for my soul. He won't be there today with his quiet ways, so I'll miss him terribly.

The Festival was wonderful. We had perfect weather...the fans were awesome, and got to see some superfans yesterday. Today, Kellie and Beth and several others are coming by. Kellie will help me from 12 to 2 and then during my talk in the tent (Yay! A Tent Talk - not to be confused with a Ted Talk, but some day - my first ever). I'm at Booth 108, and will be at Booth 178 for the Tent Talk and author's pavillion.

Isn't this the best tee shirt? His wife bought my vampires!

Leslie Jones was on the other side of me. We have gotten to know each other over the years of my attending Arizona Dreamin', along with my other pals Kris Tualla, Morgan Kearns and Deena Remiel. Always old home week when we get together, share war stories and just plane goof off. Leslie now has 3 books out. I'm so proud of how her career has gone.

Every place I go I learn something, see something that moves me, and I make friends I didn't know were friends before. I have way more to say, but I'm off again to the Faire, finishing breakfast, and thinking of all of you. Have a beautiful Sunday. And think about all those wonderful connections we make online and in person. What a small and beautiful world it is indeed. I'm getting to do what I absolutely love to do, and can do for the rest of my life.

Courtesy of Lindsay McKenna, another awesome military romantic suspense author!!

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: Patchwork Of Our Lives

I'm here in Tucson as I write this blog this morning. When I checked into the Arizona Inn Friday night, the first thing to greet me by my courtyard entrance was a blooming orange tree. Have you ever walked under a huge orange bush/tree and smelled those blossoms? Like nothing else on this earth. I robbed a small twig, and put it on the bedside table and let it have its way with my muse all night. They had a good time....

There will be more about this in my next newsletter. And we will be giving the quilt I made away to some lucky reader. I hope it's you. I wish I had the fingers and the time to make all of you one, but perhaps in another lifetime. Right now, I'm only given this snippet of time and I'm making the most of it.

Last week I spent from Sunday night to Wednesday at Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg, California. Healdsburg is important to me because several of my stories take place here. The Monteleone vineyard is here where Marcus and Ann make love in the vineyards and the bloom of their love lasts forever. Hugh Jett combs the bars in downtown Healdsburg doing security for the Monteleones (a book to come later this year). Daniel and Claire walk the square in Heavenly Lover at Christmas time, and Claire, the guardian angel who falls in love with her human charge, joins the angel display in one of the store windows and surprises Daniel. Daniel signs children's books in the book store on the square. Tyler visits Kate at the family winery here, and they stay at a bed and breakfast near downtown, in SEAL Of My Heart. The town is one of my favorites to write.

Bishop's Ranch is a place of retreat and reflection, run by caring staff who are all about the experience of spiritual and personal growth. I'm going to make it a must-do each month, for a self-imposed writing cave. I think better there, just as a change of pace.

The quilting retreat is the second year for me. My friend Jody comes with me, and I'm always amazed at the beautiful pieces others have done. We "stitch and bitch" as they say, but mostly we laugh, listen to music, and just marvel at the beautiful surroundings. I walked the labyrinth, walked under blooming trees, and in general just watched the countryside just begin to lush up with green grasses and see the vineyards beginning to bud. Almost like mother nature takes a big gulp of air and sighs before the frenzy of the wine business takes over. 

We all come together, women from different parts of the state, and share the love of quilting and fellowship. I always learn so much. I bought a craft iron and a seam stick for ironing absolutely flat seams, watched techniques of paper piecing and measuring, learned the power of advanced preparation and planning, and discussed and indulged in all the beautiful colors of the fabric. We are like a quilt of many colors: some red, flowered, striped, patterns of the sunset. The theme for the retreat was the daybreak quilt I show up top, but I had the mission to finish mine so I could do a giveaway on the Newsletter. (Remember, if you're a subscriber, you'll have a chance to get in on the drawing.)

We are the sum total of all our experiences, and like the scenes from my stories, these have either been lived, or imagined. Parts of them are bright, parts sultry and sexy, parts emotional, and some dangerous or fearsome. Homefully all the stories are fearsome! I put myself into experiences so I can call out my treasure trove of many colors and bring them to my books. I'm drawn to the stories of the Underground Railroad and the secret messages contained in the quilts. Even during the Revolutionary War there were messages relayed by the women through quilting, the hanging of laundry beside the house, to give signals to the young patriot army. It is a rich history of this nation. I spoke at length with a woman yesterday who reads mainly black history books, and we discussed these quilts for a few minutes. We doesn't read me, but we have the love of history and the lives of our forefathers in common.

Living a colorful life filled with life experiences is what keeps me young. I hope that as I piece together the fabric of the rest of my life, that my quilt will be as beautiful and colorful as some of these, with stories so compelling, they are difficult to put down. And I'm glad I have you to come along with me. Thank you for that, by the way. Sometimes I don't say it enough.

Back in Sonoma County

Had a wonderful time in Tucson, and learned how authors work a Book Festival. Helped that I was with some real pros: Kris Tualla, Morgan Kearns, Deena Remiel, Tami Vinson, Donna Hatch, Gini Koch, Erin Quinn, Erin Kellison, Lynn Rush and others. We even braved the rain and hail together--not something book-friendly.

I've not been to Tucson, except for soccer and volleyball tournaments when my kids were playing competitive sports. Those days were usually lost in a food and adult conversation deprivation black hole. There were other authors there I would have loved to listen to, like Diana Gabaldon, Larry McMurtry and Jodi Picoult, but I manned my books, and gave out over 500 bookmarks and 400 red wristbands. Yes, I sold some books, but I met some wonderful people. A lot of our conversations were about their military careers, or careers of their family. Often people came up to me after many generations of military service. Very moving for me, personally.

I stayed at the Arizona Inn, 90+ rooms on 14 acres. All single level, with a library to die for. I lost  myself sipping tea by firelight in the evening, gulping coffee at dawn. I imagined I was one of those like the Roosevelts or the Senator John Kennedys (who it was said left his bathing suit behind - now there's a story - where did he leave it? LOL), and Clark Gable. From the golden age of past players. I wouldn't know today who was important, so I nodded and smiled and pretended I was one of them. Fun. Really fun. It's definitely a place I'll bring my husband back to some day.

University of Arizona is a beautiful campus, and, except for some people with yellow placards saying we were all going to Hell (well, some of my reviewers have said that too and it hasn't happened yet), I enjoyed my little stay on my little 28" of the shared tabletop under the tent. Even managed to get a little sunburned in the rain. Go figure. A California girl getting sunburned in the rain.

The airport was fun too, as I gathered with a group of other authors doing the Tucson to San Diego run, on our ways west to different parts. We shared a view of each other's book trailers, and had a small crowd gathered around the computer plug ins. I realized it was a wise thing for some big named authors to ride Southwest like I did. One explained to me he did it so he could pass out bookmarks. And he'd sign them. The girls loved it. I filed that one away for when I get to my goal weight.

The movie of being there was still playing in my mind when I went to see Jodi Picoult in my part of the country, and she had just come from Tucson. I felt like that was my dessert for all the hard work it took lugging books, bookmarks and dog tags around on wheeled suitcases. Where I could sit back and be entertained, instead of saying things like, "I got Hot Navy SEALs here," between the "I got Hot Baseball Players" and "I got Hot Christian Guys."

I needed to do this. I needed to do something I wasn't used to doing, to break out of my comfort zone. And my treat was to listen to a very wise and wonderful writer inspiring me to get back to the keyboard and begin writing the next chapter.

There are some times when I miss the "big" stuff of high profile real estate. But not many. And this weekend was one of those that I didn't miss it at all. I got to stay in the fantasy of my own choosing, sharing a time with others doing the same, putting our hooks out there and fishing for those elusive readers on a personal, one-at-a-time basis.

And I declare it good.

What about you? What did you do last weekend?