WOW. I HAVEN'T POSTED SINCE OCTOBER 2017

Speaking at a conference, at least for me, has the effect of making you look at various other things. It opens up my mind to attend workshops as well as giving them.

So when I returned home and looked at this blog yesterday I realized that either I've gotten lazy or had too much on my plate to post anything since October of last year. Truthfully, it's a little of both. Working on two new books, the normal challenges and enjoyment of life. Current challenge--got home to a leaking washing machine. Repair person comes today.

My daughter Jakki is visiting from England. She came in on Monday, the day after I returned from the conference. We have had a good time just being Mom and daughter. Wish I could see her and my grandsons and son-in-law more often, but I'm grateful for the time we can spend. We went to the iconic Bootlegger Bistro on Monday night and joined my writer friend Diane Taylor and her friend Dorothy. Jakki held out until almost midnight so I guess she wasn't plagued by jet lag. If you're in Las Vegas and haven't visited the Bootlegger on South Las Vegas Boulevard on a Monday night, you should. Singer/MC Kelly Clinton hosts open mic from 9:00 pm until ??? and you never know who will show up. With Vegas being an entertainment town, the show is as good or sometimes even better than the ones you spend the big bucks for. And, the food is good, too.

New resolution. I will keep up the posting on this blog and try to stay as current as possible. Lots of things go on in my life and I'm happy to share many of them.

First of all, the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society conference. As always it was packed with terrific workshops and since I believe you never stop learning, I came away having learned a lot. As for the workshops I presented, attendance was very good at both and the attention level and questions were excellent. (Crafting Twists and Dropping Clues--not just for mysteries, and Ripped From the Headlines which was presented together with author Michael Fleeman ) That is always gratifying.

I met some lovely new friends and re-connected with people in the Los Angeles writing community that I hadn't seen for some time. I heartily recommend to writers that they attend at least one or two conferences. Every time you attend workshops and panels, it opens your mind, tweaks your creativity and you never know who you will meet.

I had a chance to spend a few minutes with our agent for Incest, Murder and a Miracle. So happy that Sony Pictures exercised their option on that book.

That's all for today. The Summer issue of WRITERS TRICKS OF THE TRADE online magazine publishes on July 15 and in in final stages of preparation. You can find all of the current and back issues at http://bit.ly/allWTTissues