Aloha!

Aloha!

I'm back and recovered (almost) from a fantastic vacation to the Hawaiian island of Oahu with my husband, Jeff. You may have seen in the news that the islands had A LOT of rain while we were there. In fact, according to the news reports, it's still raining. It's causing them some problems but luckily we were spared the worst of it. We stayed on the north shore of Oahu, and though we had rain every day, we didn't have rain ALL day like other parts of the island did. For the next few days, I'll be posting about the trip, some of our experiences while there, my Honolulu booksigning, and some of the very nice people I met while there. I'll post photos, too. This one is of our feet in the sand on a gorgeous beach with a wave rolling in. You were probably hoping for something more interesting than our feet, right? Sorry. It's a weird tradition of ours. We always take photos of our feet in the sand when we go to the beach so we'll have a realistic memory of what we were looking at. That awesome wave...Ahh. I'll show you something besides feet tomorrow--more of the island. I promise.

Rain or shine, Hawaii is gorgeous and magical. Truly. You feel the magic the minute you step outside the airport. I've never been to a more relaxing place! The water, the countryside, the air, the people -- they all combine to make the place seem like heaven on earth!

I felt the magic most of all on the morning of March 24th when I checked my home phone messages and got the news that my novel The Me I Used To Be finaled in the Rita! I'm a nominee in the "Novel with Strong Romantic Elements" category. And what an amazing group of talented writers I'm up against! I'm stunned to see my name on the same list with these women! Susan Wiggs, Barbara Samuel, Nora Roberts, Mary Alice Monroe, Beverly Brandt, Lani Diane Rich and last but definitely not least my dear, fabulous friend Candace Havens! I called her immediately and we giggled and gushed over the phone. What a great feeling! Her book, Charmed and Dangerous is incredible. Back before it was ever published and she read the prologue to my critique group, I told her it was not only going to sell, it was going to be a big hit! Am I right, or what? And Candy critiqued The Me I Used To Be for me while I was writing it! The Romance Writers of America national conference in July, when the Awards Ceremony will be held, should really be a fun one for me this year!

I'm still playing catchup on work since coming back home from the trip, so I'll sign off. Back tomorrow with more stories and photos.

Jenny