FRIDAY STIR FRY - Better Late Than Never

I know, I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. No excuses. Well actually a couple of excuses.

Experienced both ups and downs a couple of weekends ago. It was our much anticipated Ozarks Romance Authors Convention (ORACON). See pictures here. https://www.facebook.com/OzarksRomanceAuthors/photos_stream

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As secretary I was in charge of name tags for over a 100 people. So, being the procrastinator I am, I worked most of Friday afternoon on them. I was sorry to miss the book signing of our talented presenters at B&N. But, I wasn't going to miss the fancy dinner at Flame Steak House for our volunteers and speakers.

All was well until I went to the bathroom. Being a bit unsure on my feet, (and no I wasn't drunk), I tripped over the threshold going into the one seater. Landed on my bad knee of course. And, because of my bad knees and, well, my weight, I had a hard time getting up. I wasn't about to ask for help and spoil every one's fun. Anyway, I did something really bad to my foot.

So, the day of the conference, I could barely walk. But, I had to be there because I had all the name tags. Thanks to some awesome pain meds and even more awesome friends Allison Merritt, Lisa Medley and Sara Jordan in particular, who waited on me hand and foot (get it?), I made it through the day. Even managed to pitch my novel to Holly Atkinson with Samhain publishing. And, although my head was a little groggy and I'm sure my pitch wandered off course a bit, she asked to see the manuscript. Yeah!

Several x-rays later, nothing was broken. Still bruised and hurting though. It's been hard to concentrate on anything. Ah, the trials of getting old. But, as they say, it's better than the alternative.

So, let me know - have you ever injured yourself being clumsy?

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Support Local Business

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I bought a CD today. WHAT! Yep. Felt good, too. And I didn't buy it on Amazon. I bought it at a local store, CD Warehouse. In case you didn't know, it's shop small business weekend. I think it's important to support our neighbors. Plus I really love a song on this CD, so it was a win, win. And it sounds great on my new car's sound system.

I have an i-pod and I download from I-Tunes but there's something better about a CD. The art work and the words to the songs are included. And you can hold it in your hand. It's not something in a cloud somewhere.

I also visited ABC Books and bought a . . .  book. WHAT! Yep. Felt good, too. I have a Kindle, but there's still something about a real book that makes me happy. And I could tell my business was appreciated.

I also plan on eating and drinking local tonight at Trolley's.

I can't remember the last time I went to the mall or ate at a chain restaurant (except fast food).

And speaking about buying local, we all need to support our local authors. Two great opportunities coming up in Springtown. ORACON 2013 Sept 21  http://ozarks-romance-authors.com/join-us-at-our-annual-conference-oracon-2013/   
And Wordfest Sept 27 & 28   https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/wordfest.thelibrary.org

Hope to see a lot of you at both of these events.

Do you shop and support local businesses? Please share.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Just Stuff

Yep. That's my new vehicle in my driveway. If you read last week's post (and I hope you did), you know I was contemplating this. It's a 2011 Kia Soul. I like it. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it (not to mention the taxes and insurance). Ah, the joys of modern life.

Maybe we should go back to the horse and buggy days. Your only worry then was if the horse broke a leg or the wheel fell off your buggy. You just shot the horse, hooked up another one and put the wheel back on. Which reminds me of a favorite movie from my hippy days. "They Shoot Horses Don't They". I use that phrase often and people look at me funny, When I explain it was a movie, they say they never saw it. And for the life of me I can't remember what it was about. I can't remember anything but the title. Did I mention this was during my 'hippie' days?

On another note, I'm still playing the waiting game with BTH. It's with two publishing houses and one agent and so far no word. Don't they know I'm getting old and I can't play this game like a young'un?

I vow this weekend I'm going to get some writing done. Who's with me?? Bueller. Bueller.