Soon is Good, But Good is Better Or, Please, Take Your Time

First of all, I promised an update of my Denver trip complete with poodle skirt pics. Well, it turned out not to be a poodle skirt, but pretty darn close. Given my musical background, this skirt was more appropriate. Please keep your laughter to a low roar.

Here are me and my family. Aren't my guys cute? If you look closely, you can see their fake tats on their arms with hearts and Mary Lou and Peggy Sue written on them.

And here are the my parents eating their cake and looking spectacular on their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

They had a ceremony and read vows to each other. It was touching to see my parents declare their love for each other after a lifetime together.

Afterward, we had a 1950's styled party complete with an acapella singing group doing all 50's music, hula hoops, and a 50's style dinner including mashed potatoes, chicken pot pies, meatballs, and chocolate cake.

Chuck and I performed the song, "All I Have to Do is Dream" by the Everly Brothers, and my whole family performed the song, "The Great Pretender," substituting lyrics written by my sister, Laurie.

Here are a couple of pictures of the cake with my parent's wedding picture on top. Isn't it gorgeous?

Of course, meeting my new niece was a highlight of the trip. Here she is, in a puff of pink, all dressed up for the big party.

IN OTHER NEWS...
First of all, a shout-out to one of my favorite Twitter friends. Congrats to you, Jamie, for securing representation! I'm thrilled for you and look forward to watching your career flourish.

Secondly, another agent has requested the full manuscript for SPARKS FLY SOMETIMES, which is beyond awesome. He said something to me that struck a chord. When I told him I was reviewing the ms before I send it out he said, "Soon is good, but good is better." Wow. Simple yet totally freaking brilliant. I have a tendency to want everything done yesterday (I blame it on my Brooklyn DNA) so this statement is deep for me. Very deep. SLOW. DOWN. Hmm.... What an ingenious concept.

So, I'm doing my best to read/edit at a reasonable rate, and not feel like I have to finish it in record time. I'm not yet halfway through, and have shaved off over 4,000 words. As I stated in my last post, Twitter has helped me hone my writing skills and become fearless in slashing words that aren't necessary. There's always more that can be cut, but I'm doing my best. In addition, I'm tweaking the dialogue to make it tighter, more efficient, and as genuine as possible.

I'm also writing THE SECRET KEEPER, but more slowly than before the requests came in for SPARKS FLY. I'm in love with my new book, and setting it aside is hard. It's like leaving your newborn with a sitter for the first time and feeling your arms ache with longing.

BUT... I know my baby's safe in the heart of my laptop (and on a back-up CD), and that as soon as I finish editing SFS, I will nurture it to the best of my ability.

So, thank you, you-know-who, for your sage advice. I'm doing my best to follow your counsel. I hope my work will prove worthy. No matter what, it's making me a better writer which is the greatest gift of all.