Okay, not the trenches. More like paradise.

I spent the weekend in Sarasota, Florida for my RWA chapter, TARA's, first retreat. I roomed with my dear writing buddies, Kimberly Llewellyn and Tara Randel.

The renowned script/screenplay consultant, Michael Hauge, was our guest speaker. As always, he was brilliant. I was incredibly honored because he used examples from one of my books during his lecture on story structure.

We worked hard and we laughed even harder. Now I'm back home, totally enthused and ready to rock on the writing!

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2008 rings in a bright and shiny new year, filled with possibility, hope and aspirations.

As part of my New Year goal setting, it's my intent to post to my blog much more frequently. I have other wishes, such as losing 30 pounds, but I'm trying to set reasonable goals :)

In the writing arena, I sold another (second) book to Medallion Press. DIARY OF A CONFESSIONS QUEEN will be released sometime in 2010. It's hard to think that far ahead! It's a comedic mystery and they're going to publish both it and HOT FLASH as mainstream fiction.

On the home front, my office remains clean and is ready for another writing jag (that'll likely end in it being a wreck again, but such is the life).

On the family front, my oldest graduates from college in May. I can't believe it's come so quickly.

And on the house front, here's a before and after of our Christmas:

I hope each of you have a wonderful New Year, filled with happiness and success!

-- KC

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The good news: I sold a book to Medallion Press! HOT FLASH will be a February 2009 release! I'm very excited and will post more news later.

The bad news: I took a spill on an uneven floor at Starbuck's and went flying. It was like a pratfall on some TV show. I landed shoulder/arms/right elbow first on the ground, but began sliding on the ceramic tiles for several feet, into a coffee display, where my right hand wedged under it, stopping my forward progress. The display swayed, spewing coffee and accoutrements everywhere. It was so embarrassing! Now I'm having problems typing because of injured arms and shoulder, but Starbuck's has been very nice and mailed me a gift card. Someday I might not be so embarrassed I can actually return. In the meantime, I see the doc on Thursday. But it's making writing a bigger challenge than usual!

More good news: I'm attending the Craft Of Writing Workshop sponsored by the Emerald Coast Writers in Ft Walton Beach. I'm looking forward to meeting my new Medallion Press editor and visiting with writing pals, Vicki Hinze and Elizabeth Sinclair.

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Charlotte Daniels Lynch Nohr
May the Angels be with You

Within two weeks of my last post, I flew to Dallas because my mother was going into the hospital to have a minor medical procedure. I thought it best to be there. And it was -- on March 23rd, 2007, she unexpectedly passed away. I’m heartbroken.

When I lost my stepfather, it was truly difficult. But losing my mother was completely different. It's as if a piece of my heart died with her.

I hope none of you have to go through the devastating loss of a loved one anytime soon, even though death is a consequence of living. We each must find our own manner of going on. In my case, it means believing in myself enough to keep shooting for my dreams. This is something my mother would be proud of and I intend to make her exceptionally proud.

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My niece, Jordan, is both beautiful and talented. She's featured on the cover of the March 2007 issue of THE PAINT HORSE JOURNAL. Not only is she an award-winning high school wrestler, but she's even more known for her equestrian skills -- dressage and jumping. She's a tiny and petite thing, barely over 100 lbs.

Here's a photo of the two of us together summer before last:

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I had so much fun at the recent Space Coast Writers Guild conference. Pictured are SCWG officer, Bill Allen, author Alfie Thompson and Savannah Latamy during the Book Fair. Mark your calendars now for next year!

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I keep collecting photos and ideas to post to my blog and then life gets in the way. So I'm posting this now :) Pictured above is a photo from the Winter Luncheon sponsored by the Friends of the Clearwater Library. This is a photo of the participating authors (l-r): Tim Dorsey, Fawn Gurmer, Jeff Klinkenberg, Kimberly Llewellyn, Hank & Ursula Bracker, Patrick Foley and KC.

Here's my update:

Still planting lady peas (for the poster, from the seeds I collected the year before -- I don't know where to buy them. Lady peas aren't the same as the other kind of peas you mentioned, sorry.)

Still a clean air breather (which means I quit smoking almost 2 years ago! Yay me!)

Still the Mommy of two sons (Andrew's a jr in college and Ian is a sophomore in high school)

Still married to my Scottish honey

Still living an incredibly glamorous and exciting lifestyle

Still writing :D

In the interim, when I quit smoking I gained weight. When I gained weight, my diabetes started acting up. I ended up on huge doses of insulin, but I'm being weaned off of it and as that progresses, I feel a LOT better! Hopefully I'll soon be back to my normal weight (it'll take awhile, but with less insulin, it will go faster than it has been!).

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