Edit, Teach, Write...Repeat

So, I've been busy this last two months, which is why it's been so quiet here on my blog. We had a wonderful 25th anniversary trip this spring and summer, sailing up and down the California coast and meeting new friends all along the way. The voyage included a stop in Morro Bay to work with my chef friend Len Gentieu on his upcoming memoir of fifty years in the restaurant biz, "Chasing the Heat," due out in November—more on that book soon.

Back in San Diego now, I'm teaching quite a bit with San Diego Writers, Ink, and looking forward to this weekend's "Fall for Writing" event at their new "Ink Spot" in Point Loma's very cool Liberty Station. It's so wonderful to see SDWI expanding and coming into its own, and to be a small part of its success.

And, of course, I'm getting ready for the always-fabulous Southern California Writers Conference, Newport Beach at which I'll be teaching three workshops, meeting writers, agents, and publishers, and reading new great work. There's still time to register—check it out. (If not this month, then perhaps the February SCWC in San Diego?)

I'm still blogging and judging the writing contests at Social Publishing House—in fact, a new short- story contest just got started at SPH. The last contest discovered a treasure trove of talent and three authors got their work published on the site. Check out the contest info here.

Meanwhile, the editing work just keeps pouring in. I'm going to be busy for the next couple of months, and loving the great variety of manuscripts I'm getting to work on—including a science-based thriller, a culinary romantic comedy, and even a Steam Punk fantasy novel. Just finished editing a wonderful middle-grade fiction called "Between the Lines" by Claudia Whitsitt (best known for mystery and suspense); can't wait for that one to be published so I can buy a copy for my ten-year-old niece.

In my spare time, I'm busy working with my husband Russel on a novelization of "El Camino," our feature film script set in San Diego, about the fatal consequences of forcing people to cross borders illegally (our short film version of the same story "El Camino Real" recently was accepted into three film festivals—whoo-hoo!).

So, what am I doing for fun? Reading, sailing, taking walks on the beach, and enjoying life. I hope to see you at one of my upcoming classes or workshops.
hasta pronto!