Thursday, April 17, 2008

Donkey kick

Tax time has come and gone. Being self-employed, I generally don't get to cheer about getting a return. In fact, I get to guess what my income will be, send the money to the IRS and hope they don't want more. Usually they do. This year, doing my taxes felt as good as getting a powerful kick straight to the goods in the cellar if you know what I mean. Ugh. Surely lots of you can feel my pain. If you got a bunch of money back (or even some), then good for you. I don't want to hear about it, but good for you.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

A big hit with the ladies

Today was my signing at Borders and it went pretty well. It’s a beautiful day here, so some folks were probably outside getting fresh air and sun instead of coming to see me. Those folks need to check their priorities. Just kidding. The Borders people were great as always and it was a nice setup. I even got some free coffee, which is always a plus.

What set this signing apart was the fact that only women came over to talk with me. Since the western genre is pretty much skewed in the male direction, that’s usually the crowd that comes by to see me at a signing. There are always a few women that show up, but it’s mostly men. This time, every last person to notice me at my table was of the womanly persuasion. And hey…who can blame them? It was great seeing you all and I thank you so much for keeping me company.

More specifically:
Heidi – I hope you actually read that book you bought. I told you I’d blog about it.
Samantha – Enjoy No Angles for Outlaws. That’s still my favorite title of the bunch. Don’t worry, your characters will start cooperating sooner or later.

See? Show up and you too can be immortalized in a western writer’s section of the internet. There’s no better way to spend a wonderful Saturday afternoon. Oh yeah, I suppose there is the whole “outside and sun” thing, but that stuff will be around all summer.