Thanks for your comment, Heather!

Yes, some time ago I joined a writers group based in Conway. I enjoyed the meetings and the members, but they weren't comfortable with the explicit nature of some (most) of my work -- and I read them one of the tamer stories, skipping the really explicit parts. Since I didn't have anything much less explicit, I quite going to meetings. I didn't have the heart to tell them that one member's weekly Sunday school lesson (which she read as her work of the week) offended me about as much as my steamy romance offended them. Oh well.

Not being a morning person by nature, I haven't made the attempt to join the FWCA (Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas for non-Arkansan readers). Now, with gas prices so high, I'm not likely to. I do, however, attend both the Arkansas Writers Conference in June and the White County Creative Writers Conference on Labor Day weekend.

The Little Rock Science Fiction Society (LRSFS) is putting together a writers group that will meet sometimes in person and sometimes on-line. If your work is at all speculative, this might be the group for you. LRSFS meets the 1st and 3rd Saturdays at Barnes & Noble -- on Chenal the 1st, McCain (North Little Rock) the 3rd. The website is www.lrsfs.org.

I'm a member of several on-line writers groups, most very specific as to topic, and to Writing.com. I've made some wonderful friends on those lists, some of whom I've actually met!

Yes, I'm still here

I know I haven't been posting regularly -- or at all for the past few months. Working nights and sleeping days works well for me, but since I share an internet connection with everyone else in the house (up to 5 of us, depending on who's home), my time on line isn't necessarily my creative time.

To catch y'all up (I presume someone's reading this from time to time):

When I went to work at Wal-Mart last October, I weighed 267 pounds. That's not something I'd admit to anyone besides my doctor, but in just getting off my butt and working 32 hours a week I started losing weight. By the beginning of March I was down to 244, and had stopped losing spontaneously. Inspired by a story on NBC's Today Show -- one of their Joy Fit Club stories -- I logged onto WeightWatchers.com and signed up. I had successfully lost weight (many years ago, before baby #3) with Weight Watchers, and I knew I could do it.

This week I weighed in at 218.

I've lost nearly 50 pounds (total) and have only 80 more to go!

More news:

Jeanie has graduated from NYU and come home for a while; James has finished his freshman year at Subiaco Academy. His quiz bowl team won their regional title, and was featured on our PBS station (AETN) for the state finals in their division. Though James (the only freshman on the team) didn't play, they were all introduced. They took second place -- a very good finish for such a small school. (In Arkansas, private schools "play up" a division in all competitons, so they were playing public schools a level larger than they.)

I just started a new position with Wal-Mart -- I now work in the accounting office 2 days of my 4 day-a-week schedule. It's a raise of 4 pay grades, and I love the work. maybe eventually I'll be able to work more in the office and less on the sales floor.

This weekend is the Arkansas Writers Conference, and I'll be there both days (though I don't know how long I'll be able to stay awake on Friday, coming off working all night). It's also the weekend for the Texas Scottish Festival at UT-Arlington, and Mom and Jeanie are off to spend three days with Men in Kilts.

I recently edited an anthology of horror stories for Spinetinglers. The book will be available 6 June 2008 from http://www.spinetinglers.co.uk/. I hope to edit more stories and books for them as they ramp up their fledgling publishing company.

That's about all for now -- I'll try to post more frequently -- at least keep y'all up on my weight loss. Coming up is my mother's 80th birthday, hubby's birthday, and our anniversary. June is such a busy month!

(Belated) Happy New Year!

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but the holidays (and working in retail, the holidays start in October) took all my time and energy.

Family

We had a wonderful Yuletide -- not quite all the family (niece Natalie, her husband and son couldn't join us) got together at my sister's home for a couple days of celebrating and way too much food. Now everyone has gone home, back to school, or off to see in-laws, leaving Hubbie and me alone. Don't get any romantic notions -- remember, I work nights and tax season has started, so Hubbie's working a second job until mid-April.

Music Question

While listening to "Music of the Night" (from Phantom of the Opera) on my new MP3 player (thank you, Santa), it occured to me that if one didn't know the story of Phantom, one just might think the song was sung by a Vampire. Any comments?

Paul Potts

I was listening to the CD from the British talent show winner (like American Idol), Paul Potts. He's totally untrained, but a superb tenor -- the first time I heard him sing "Nessum Dorma" I was in tears. He outdoes Michael Crawford on "Music of the Night" with a stronger low register and clearer high notes. I hope to see/hear many more recordings from Potts.

New Years Resolutions

I have two main resolutions this year (no, one of them is not losing weight; that's a given): One, to get my house in shape (clean is the operative word), including remodeling the kitchen; and Two, to get back to writing. Having my own computer again will help that (sharing computers in this family is a lose-lose situation). Now I just have to figure out how to get my old files off a dead computer (power supply input is damaged, and the battery is run down, but the hard drive should be OK). Part of the writing resolution includes blogging more frequently. It would be nice, too, to have some comments from time to time (hint, hint).

Observation

Imagine my excitement when I saw this week's People Magazine. The cover proclaims:

SEXY MEN IN LOVE!

Now imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be about sexy men in love with women.

Publishing Woes

I just got word that Sybaritic Press has canceled Slash & Burn. Evidently, anthologies are not marketable right now.

So much for turning Slash into salable fiction. I have been working on a couple of original stories, though, and I am hopeful they will eventually see publication. Meanwhile, there's always self-publishing for some of my converted fan-fiction. Keep an eye out right here for announcements about availability.

New Job

Boy, it's been a long time since I posted -- sorry, folks!

After two and a half years of unemployment except for freelance editing and substitute teaching, I have gone back to work full time. I've started working overnights (perfect solution for my insomnia), checking in and setting up new merchandise in the apparel departments (a lot like picking up after 3 kids) at our local Wal-Mart (I know, I've made a pact with the devil,).

I'll still be writing and editing, so keep coming back from time to time. I'll try to post more frequently. If you'd like to check out my editorial services, go to Emkay Graphics. I'll post news about my writing at EmmaKeigh.com

Empty Nest

It's official. I'm an empty-nester. This last Saturday we took our youngest child to Subiaco Academy for 9th grade. With my mom at my sister's, and being between cats, this house is WAY too quiet.

On the other hand, now we can go back to eating some OUR favorite foods that James didn't care for. There's always a silver lining.

Home again

It's been 13 days, 2 mothers-in-law, 5 Days Inns, and 4,000 miles, but we're home!

Not much energy right now; I'll post photos and tales soon.

Disneyland

Disneyland was great! All the old standbys and some new rides too!

A flat tire in the parking lot.

A lug nut that wouldn't budge.

An unexpected night in an Anaheim motel (no luggage, no clean clothes, not even a comb).

A new tire and back to mother-in-law's home only 12 hours late.

Vacations are TOO much fun.

My feet still hurt.

Traveling

Wheeeew!

I just drove from home (Central Arkansas) Lake San Marcos (near San Diego), California, with a side trip to the Grand Canyon. Next week is my husband's step-mother's 90th birthday, so we're here to celebrate. Driving all that way by myself (younger son is not old enough to drive yet) was challenging.

I'll have internet access (duh) from time to time, but may not post much until after I get home in mid-August (just in time for school to start in Arkansas).

We plan to do Disneyland on Monday, and later in the week we'll shift our base of operations to Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area), then home the 13th. Of course, it's loads of fun to drive across the desert in August! Not.

No Spoilers Here

Yep, finished it.

No, I won't tell you anything about it.

Busy busy busy

Reading Harry Potter.

'nuff said?

Computers

Can't live with them; can't live without them.

You don't really want to get me started about computers.

It was bad enough that I was using Jeanie's cast-off laptop (screen no longer worked) with my monitor, mouse, and keyboard attached. Then the mouse quit, so I went back to using the laptop keyboard (which I HATE). Then the power supply to the laptop broke, and unless I can get the battery recharged, it's dead, Jim.

So now Stuart and I are sharing a computer. Not only is it a logistics nightmare, I'm having to deal with his choice of virus protection and browser (for some reason Internet Explorer won't work on this computer). Also, though it has a clock speed of something over a gigahertz, programs load like it was an old 386 running DOS 5.1 and Doublespace (been there; done that).

So... what else could go wrong? Now the screen on this computer has lapsed into a coma (though it occasionally wakes up) so we're back to plugging in my monitor.

Fun? Not.

But we deal with it... we couldn't get along without a computer and internet access...

So if I seem lax in posting, or updating my websites, there's my excuse.

If it ain't Barroque...

We had a wonderful weekend in Rogers with my sister and her family, and my older son. We bar-be-qued on Saturday, and on Sunday attended a concert of my brother-in-law Ken's group, the LakeWood Trio at a church in Bella Vista (this group usually performs in churches since the third member of the trio is an organist). This was Ken's last performance with the group, and it was wonderful. He's retiring as of this week, and he and Laurie are headed for California, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.

Keziah, my niece, was home from her summer internship in Washington DC with the Budget Office (she's a graduate student in Economics), and Willis, my older (married) son, was able to visit with us, too. We missed seeing Leia (my daughter-in-law).

Laurie & Ken live on the shore of Beaver Lake outside Rogers, and it's beautiful this time of year. It was nice to get away for a couple of days, but now it's home to laundry and getting James ready for Boy Scout camp next week.

I've only got 2 weeks now until the deadline to submit stories for the White County Creative Writers Conference. So far I've got nothing appropriate.... I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Sad times

Early this morning my cat, Spooky, died. He'd not been eating for a few days, and Sunday afternoon would not drink water either. He spent the evening curled up on my lap, getting weaker and weaker. About 2:30 he had a seizure and stopped breathing.

We adopted Spooky just over a year ago, and the shelter said he was about 3 years old. I suspect that it was something kidney oriented (his last urine was very dark), either failure or cancer. We carefully checked the cat food recall (the toxin caused kidney failure), but his food wasn't listed. He started losing weight a couple weeks ago, and his fur thinned out, but I thought that was because of the hotter weather. Last week I started thinking I should take him to the vet. I doubt anything could have been done for him.

We'll bury him in the backyard.

It's June!

The 2007 Arkansas Writers Conference is history. I had a great time, didn't win any contests, sold a couple copies of "Handfast," and won a door prize. More than that, saw old friends and met new ones. Copies of the chapbook (pamphlet format) can be ordered from me and paid for via PayPal [to emma@ emmakeigh.com]. It's $5 (US), shipping included. Just e-mail me with your mailing address and I'll send it out as soon as PayPal tells me you've paid.

I have to congratulate Jennifer DiCamillo (aka Carys Weldon) on placing in several of the contests. It was great to meet her husband, Tony, too.

Spent the remainder of Saturday night with the Little Rock Science Fiction group (LRSFS) celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars with a viewing of the original version of the movie. We also watched a great short, Revenge of the Brick, all done with animated Lego parts.

The Spring issue of Shadow Sacrament is live, and my story, "Ephanie's Story" (I know, I'm terrible at titles), is featured. I've also had news from Sybaritic Press that Slash & Burn will be coming out sometime this summer (crossing fingers and toes).

Be sure to keep up with Valerie Mingus Beck's blog on her fight against breast cancer. If you haven't been reading it, start at the beginning and read the entire story. It's one of the most inspiring stories I've ever been priviledged to read.

Sold a story

I just heard from Skian at Top Dog Press — they're going to use "Ephanie's Story" in an upcoming issue of Shadow Sacrament, an on-line journal. It doesn't pay much, but is is a paying gig!

The funny part is, the story was written only as part of the back story for another character. It fit the submission request from Top Dog, so I sent it along. Never underestimate a story.

Change of Plans

Many of you know I've been planning a trip to Las Vegas this June to meet with friends from (originally) Highlander fandom — the 10th anniversary of Clan Denial (we didn't see it, it didn't happen). I've have to cancel my plans, since the events of this spring ate up what I'd budgeted for the trip.

I'll still be attending the Arkansas Writers Conference on 1-2 June (in fact, I just sent in my registration). I'll have a chapbook version of "Handfast" available for sale, though I had hoped to have copies of Slash & Burn, too. (Sybaritic Press has delayed publication until this fall.)

Surviving Breast Cancer

I just read through nearly a year's worth of blog entries from my friend, Valerie Mingus Beck, and her husband about Valerie's breast cancer fight. Valerie is 35 years old, and was the little sister of my flower girl (my 33rd anniversary is coming up), and she was the inspiration for my cutting my hair for the first time in 40 years last summer.

This is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever read (and so far has a happy ending!), and I encourage everyone to start at the beginning and read all the entries in order. It's all the more beautiful a story knowing that it's true and is happening to someone I love like a sister.

And last but not least, if you haven't had a mammogram, get one. Keep getting them. Breast cancer is not limited to older women (it's not even limited to women to be honest). Ask your doctor how frequently you should be screened. If you don't have insurance, there's probably a group that will provide cost-free screenings. DO IT.

Self exams every month are important too, but a mammogram can find tumors much sooner.

Next time we'll get back to our usual irreverent ramblings.....

My daughter the driver

Jeanie passed her driving test — she's a fully licensed driver now. She's on her way back to New York for summer school then her last semester. She'll graduate from NYU in December with a BA in Politics, just in time for all the primary campaigns.