Rita

Jeeze! The waters haven't even receded from Katrina and we're hit with Rita. These hurricanes are starting to give women a bad name.

Rita managed to hit my hometown and I'm still awaiting word on my many and numerous relatives that I hope (most sensibly) fled the area. Luckily, my parents retired last year and moved to Texas. After this weekend, I'm pretty sure my mom won't be griping about the heat here anymore--there are worse things and she just avoided one of them.

I'll check back in with more information on the family tree. Please, anyone that can contribute - time, money, goods, services - do so. People are going to need a lot of help and the federal government and insurance never seem to be enough.

Thanks to all of those who are helping already! Louisiana and its residents appreciate you.

Jana

FIRST SALE!!!!!!

The big news is in - RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU has sold to Dorchester Publishing and will be a Fall 2006 release.

Needless to say, I am thrilled that someone actually "gets" my quirky, out-of-the-box, bayou romance. I spent an entire day calling everyone I knew and telling them. Of course, my husband's boss asked if he would still be retaining his employment there and I had to laugh. People SO don't understand how hard it is to make a living writing. It simply takes years and years of hard work - or one winning lotto ticket book, but how many people does that really happen to?

I'm working frantically on a chick lit mystery and a new romance proposal. Pray for me. I think that one remaining brain cell is rapidly slipping away.

Of course, the bad part about selling is the publicity photo which has prompted my current diet. I started officially on Monday and am hating life more and more each day. Why does one simply FEEL better while consuming beer and pizza. (big sigh) Oh well, I'll keep yall updated on my progress - both on the writing AND the weight loss.

Now - off to do some accounting. Day jobs.....................

Katrina

I know it's taken me a while to get around to this - and me being from Louisiana and all that may seem a bit strange, but what does one really say about the total destruction of a metropolis? The people, the history, the culture rewritten and changed forever. Even as a writer, I lack the words to describe this tragedy.

Thank God, none of my family was in the surrounding areas, so it's not hit me directly, but word is still coming in from old co-workers and friends of my parents, who until just last year lived right across the Mississippi River from Downtown New Orleans. The friends are, thankfully, all right, but their lives are changed permanently.

And of course the questions set in - Why does this happen? Why wasn't there an emergency evacuation plan?

All good questions, but pointless now.

So we do what we can. We pick up the pieces and with everyone helping in whatever way they can afford, New Orleans will rise again. A changed city, perhaps, but we can also pray a safer one.

Here are links to two great places to give for anyone who hasn't found a slot yet.

The first is collecting for Habitat for Humanity and romance writing's sweetheart, Nora Roberts, has agreed to match (at a minimum) what her fellow writers donate. Let's meet her challenge to give head on. The link for donations is http://adwoff.com/adwoffcares.htm

In addition to the people who are struggling through Katrina, our four-legged friends have been left stranded also. If you would like to help and receive current updates on their condition and needs, try this link http://animalhelp.com

Thanks everyone for your help and your prayers! The results may not be immediate, but it all makes a difference.

Jana

High Maintenance Women

Okay, I came to the stark realization the other day that I'm high maintenance. Now, some of you might say "so what?" And others who already knew me might say "and this is a surprise why exactly?" But I was a bit dismayed and more than a little disgruntled because I don't want to be high maintenance. High maintenance is for beautiful women with perky boobs that never fall with age. High maintenance is for women born and married into high society. Women who can fold napkins into swans and know sixty different ways to apply eye shadow depending on occassion and lighting.

I'm a tomboy. I raced motorcycles, for goodness sake, and have a collection of power tools that make most men drool. If you needed new fork seals on your motocross bike or a new deck off the back of your house--I'm your gal.

High maintenance? Surely that wasn't me.

But alas, the tags in my clothes didn't lie.

Once again, what had been a fantastic sale on every outfit in every color that I liked was about to turn into a laundry nightmare. I'd already gone through my "dry-clean only" phase, and since I'd managed to locate a really good (and relatively cheap) dry cleaners, that hadn't been a problem. The "wash separately and hang to dry" was a little rougher because it actually required me to do something domestic, but I still managed to lock myself in the house one day out of the month or simply limit my wearing of the outfit to once or twice a year. But these new tags, they were going to be a real problem.

"Hand wash only."

Hand wash? Hand wash?! Hadn't it been like 100 years or so since we scrubbed clothes on a rock? And why did it seem I was only drawn to items with these type of tags?

And that's when it hit me - I was high maintenance.

Of course, it should have occurred to me before. I mean, the dry clean only and wash separately should have been an indication of things to come, but they were really only scraping the surface. Thrown into a whirlwind, I thought about the things I'd purchase over the years--the suede winter shoes (and I live in a state where winter consisted only of rain), the 6-inch stilettos with no grip on the bottom (and marble floors in my office building), the hairstyle that required an entrie roll of aluminum foil and three hours of professional help to maintain, the jewelry with hooks that I couldn't work with those darned acrylic nails (not to mention the acrylic nails!) and the real kicker--the shower curtain that was "dry-clean only."

But then what are the options?????? Polyester in 105 degree weather? Cotton that must be purchased two sizes too big and ten shades too dark so that it still fits after shrinkage and remotely resembles any shade but gray? Broken, chpped nails? Hair pulled back in a ponytail, with (gasp) GRAY ROOTS!?

Blasphemy! The style gods would rebel. My friends would laugh. My husband would probably appreciate the increase in the checking account, but really, was financial stability worth looking like a refugee?

So high maintenance it is and with pride.

The moral of this story--Don't shy away from what you are, ladies. Embrace it over a spa pedicure while drinking a $6.00 latte' and playing solitaire on your $400 PDA.