What I did on my summer vacation

Wow, the kids are back in school and September is almost here. Where did summer go? For those of you wondering what’s been going on in Vickie Taylor’s world, here’s a summary:

1) Wrote a book. The fourth book in the Gargoyles series, tentatively titled RUNESTONE is nearly complete

2) Did copy edits and galleys for my December and January releases, LEGACY OF STONE and A DOCTOR’S WATCH, respectively

3) Wrote 2 proposals and a novella

4) Volunteered with the Humane Society of North Texas after they assisted on one of the biggest puppy mill busts in Texas history when the Montague County Sheriff’s Office closed down Heddins Kennel and seized nearly 500 dogs. It’s been a tough year for animal welfare in Texas. Just weeks later, nearly 600 dogs were seized from a puppy mill in Kaufman County. This on top of the March seizure of around 250 large animals (horses, cows, llamas) in Hill County. Then we topped it all off two weeks ago with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office seizure of 77 prized Arabian horses from a ranch in my own home town! I’m currently spending several hours a day caring for the horses until they can be found homes, hopefully by the end of September.

5) Went on a bunch of searches for missing persons with my Search and Rescue dog, Krista. 2009 has been the busiest year in the 25 year history of the team.

6) Sold a super-secret project to a super-secret buyer which can’t be announced yet because the contract isn’t signed. How’s that for a teaser? More on that later. I hope…

Hmmm. Not much mention of vacation in my summer vacation report, is there? I’ve really been too busy to get away. I hope to correct that in October, starting with a breast cancer benefit trail ride called “Ride for the Cure” in Oklahoma. I’m going to have to find some pink booties and ribbons for his mane for my trail horse, Storm. *snort* He is NOT going to like that. I’ll have to catch some pictures just to embarrass him.

I hope everyone has had a fun and productive summer. Until next time,

Vickie Taylor

My other life

Here is an overly melodramatic glimpse into my non-writing life…search and rescue. This is an article and some pics and video of my team and our training facility in Texas. Despite the melodrama, it’s pretty cool!

http://www.popsci.com/disastercity

Blogging at the Silhouette Romantic Suspense authors’ blog today

Didn’t know the Silhouette Romantic Suspense authors had their own blog? Well, you do now! My turn to blog today on what reader mail means to an author. Check it out here if you’re inclined:

http://community.eharlequin.com/content/silhouette-romantic-suspense-author-blog

In other news, to recap my recent Tweets…

The release date for LEGACY OF STONE got moved up! It will now officially be out in December, 2009.

Got a little Hollyweird nibble on the Gargoyles as well. A few years ago, the Gargoyles were optioned for TV/Movie development, but nothing ever got made. That’s common in film — only about one out of a thousand projects that get optioned ever get made. Out of the blue this week I got another inquiry from a different company. It’s a huge longshot, but it’s still kind of fun to play the movie game…and to dream!

Now…who should play Nathan Cross?????????

Muddy Pup

Labs and mud puddles. You gotta love ‘em (but you don’t gotta let them in house afterward).

A Plethora of Updates and Writer’s Attention Deficit Disorder

Hola!

A grab bag of quick updates today while a take a short break from my work-in-progress:

1) Congrats to author Brenda Novak, who raised over $270,000 for diabetes research with her online auction. I was very pleased to contribute five books to the goody-bag and see them bring a good price for the cause! I’m already scheming something bigger and better to donate next year. Thanks to everyone who bid.

2) I’m back from my search dog training to Denver. It was a great weekend. It started out a little crazy when I boarded the airplane with my search partner, a black labrador retriever named “Boogie”. Boogie is a seasoned flier, and generally well behaved, but shortly after I sat down, while the last few passengers were settling in, he started barking quite loudly. I was mortified at his bad behavior so I bent over to sush  him (he was lying down with his head under my seat) and saw that he was nose to nose with a cat in a carrier the man behind me had shoved under the same seat! Boogie barked again, the cat screeched, and a rather panicked-looking flight attendant quickly moved me to another seat. Which just happened to be in first class. Oh happy day!

The training field in Denver is wonderful. They have literally acres and acres of rubble piles of all sizes and shapes. Boogie and I had great fun searching for buried “victims” (other handlers hidden in the debris) and I had fun hiding for the other dogs. I know, it’s kind of weird to enjoy being entombed in cramped, lumpy wholes with a few tons of concrete on top of you, but it really is fun!

I had my video cam and had planned to make some vids to put up of Boogie at work–he’s a pretty phenomenal dog–but I didn’t have the camera charged up the first day, and by the second day he had suffered abrasions on the pads of his front feet from running so hard across the rubble. I worked him in booties a little in the morning, but then he started burning up his back feet, too, so I had to quit. He’s doing fine now, by the way. The abrasions were minor and not uncommon in disaster dogs, especially early in the summer when it’s getting hot and their feet haven’t toughened up yet.

Boogie got to have his feet soaked and got a nice cool bath thanks to some wonderful people at Home Depot Garden Department who let us use their hose and their parking lot Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning on the way home we were assigned a seat on the plane in the very back row. I checked with the gate attendant, hoping their might be something a little farther up in the plane, since the vibration way in the back can be pretty tough on a dog who has to lie ont he floor the whole time, and lucky me, got upgraded to first class again! Woo-hoo! Their are advantages to flying in uniform…

Pics: Boogie waiting at the gate in Denver, then his buddy Scrappy, who was on the same flight, comes out of the jet bridge

3) On the writing front, things aren’t going as quickly as they should be. I have been bouncing around between four projects. Two paranormal  book proposals for Silhouette, a paranormal novella proposal for Silhouette, and the fourth Gargoyle book for Berkeley. Unfortunately, by going back and forth between the four, I haven’t managed to actually finish any of them. I plan to fix that this week by having all the proposals (two books and novella) ready for my agent by next Monday. Then I can focus on the Berkley book and should be able to complete it in a few weeks.

4) Looking for a fan-tabulous paranormal author? Check out Catherine Spangler and her Sentinel series. The newest edition, TOUCHED BY LIGHT, is in stores today!

That’s all for now,

Vickie

TODAY Article confirms what romance writers have known all along…

Just a short post today as I’m in beautiful Denver for a weekend of disaster dog training. Gotta get some bk’fast and roll to the rubble site soon. Wanted to pass on this great article in TODAY about the role of romance novels in a down economy, though:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30986580/from/ET/

Reminder – 9 more days!

Just a quick reminder to everyone that there are nine days left in Brenda Novak’s awesome auction to benefit diabetes research, so if you haven’t already, get out there and support the cause!

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com

There’s books and trips and jewelry and critiques from authors, editors and agents (for aspiring writers) and books, and more books, and did I mention books?

I donated a set of five autographed books, two of which are Romance Writers of America RITA award finalist novels. Bidding currently stands at $45.00.

The auction runs through the end of May.

Thanks,

Vickie Taylor

Finally some release news, and sometimes inconspicuous is good

Wow, how about American Idol last night, huh? In a way it was a shocker that Kris Allen won (Congrats, Kris!) and in a way it wasn’t. I didn’t think he could pull it off. Kris has done a great job, getting stronger and stronger each week in the competition. But Adam was strong from day one to the bitter end.

I think they’re both terrific and will have successful careers. As for winning the show, I think Adam was just a little too flamboyant for mainstream America and Kris, with his “aw shucks” attitude and baby-face grin appealed to a wider slice of the population. I guess it pays to be inconspicuous sometimes.

Finally, some official release news. My next Silhouette Romantic Suspense novel has been re-titled to THE DOCTOR’S WATCH. No, it has nothing to do with doc being able to tell time. It’s watch as in “That’s not going to happen on my watch!” It will be releaseed January, 2010 (which means it’ll probably actually show up on shelves anywhere between December 21 and…never…depending if the stores are able to get it out admidst the holiday rush).

THE DOCTOR’S WATCH is a story I’ve wanted to write for a long time. It is based on the “what if” premise: What if someone was trying to kill you, but no one would believe you?

Two years ago, deep in a depression caused by the loss of her husband and parents, Mia Serrat tried to commit suicide. Afterward, she spent several months in a mental health facility. She worked hard to reclaim her life and her health and finally she has succeeded. Her future is bright…until someone tries to kill her and both her remaining family and the authorities suspect she is the one doing harm to herself. Can she convince the young psychiatric resident assigned to evaluate her in time, or will the would-be murderer get to her on THE DOCTOR’S WATCH?

Find out in January, 2010.

Support Diabetes Research

Just a quick note to make sure everyone knows about fab author Brenda Novak’s auction to benefit diabetes research. Brenda has tons of incredible items available for writers and readers — and the money goes to a great cause. Brenda’s auction has become “the” annual benefit event for anyone who loves books.

Bid early and often at: http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com

I donated a set of five autographed Vickie Taylor books this year — two paranormal and three romantic suspense. Bidding started at just $2.00 and I’m happy to say is up to $22.00. There is still room to save, though, since the package has a cover value of over $30.00.

ITEM NO. 1389152, or just use the search function and enter “Vickie Taylor”.

The auction runs throughout the month of May, so hop over and check it out!

Time for a Working Vacation?

Last year as I flew out to San Francisco for the RWA national conference, a haze began to fill the sky below the plane. At first it was light, almost white, like low clouds, but quickly darkened until it obscured the land and horizon below. The captain came on the loud speaker and said that what we were seeing was smoke from the wildfires burning out of control in the Yosemite area. Having never seen a fire produce anything close to that much smoke (and I’ve seen smoke from grass fires in Texas that burned tens of thousands of acres), I was amazed at the power of fire.

I think the seed for the book I’m currently working on was born then, though I didn’t know it at the time. As I sat down with a germ of an idea for this story, wildfire quickly became central to the plot. It was only natural that when I thought about where to set the book, then, Yosemite came to mind.

I’m kind of regretting it now. Not because it doesn’t work for the story — it’s a perfect home for the unicorns! But because the closest I’ve ever been to Yosemite is flying over it on that smoke-filled day. I’ve skated by writing about places I’ve never been in a few of my books. With some research, and by talking to people who live there, a writer can usually get enough of a sense of a place to get by, especially if the setting is a mid- to large-size US city. Let’s face it, there are certain elements that exist in every city.

But Yosemite…I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around that one. To create the sensory images I want in the reader’s head. I need to go there. I need to stand next to a giant sequoia. I need to hike the trails, gaze at my reflection in a lake, hear the rumble of the falls. I need to feel the rough granite beneath my hands and feet. Smell the pine. Preferably not when the whole place is burning.

You get the idea. I need a working vacation.

But since I have no money and little time, I guess I’ll have to scour YouTube for some videos instead (I’ve already been through all the travel books I can find). Until I sell the darned proposal. Then I’m taking my advance money on the road to Yosemite before I write the book. Hey, why not? Since it’s research, it’ll be tax deductible!