July 18, 2007

Yesterday was an interesting day. I started out by jogging/walking about 2 miles. Did my regular job the best I could while my new ISP company had my email and Internet up and down all day. I was getting messages that were 4-6 hours old. I had to covert to this new company because they are splitting from my old one. I had until Oct. to do this, but I thought I would do it now. So I called the company and was told, "we're trying to get up to speed!" What the hell does that mean? Weren't they ready to handle this volume of clients? I guess not. We'll see what happens today.

Last night I was asked to meet a fellow author named Don Hoglund who lives nearby. He's a veterinarian, cowboy, and what I like to call, "horse wrangler." He wrote a book about it last year. I'm sure it's much more than that, and will let you know after I'm finished the book. We were at a horse farm owned by friends and he showed them how to handle their 9 month old filly. I was very impressed - this guy knows his horses. We chatted about writing and he gave me one of his books. It sure seemed strange - me getting a book, rather than giving one to somebody.

We had bad thunderstorms last night - maybe that brought the heat and humidity down, but I haven't been outside yet to see. Heading off to the gym for weightlifting and a swim.

July 17, 2007

I'm on a roll here with this blogging. I recently finished a phone interview with a New Mexico public radio station. I'm not sure when it will air, but I will post that here for you when I know. You can listen to it via their web site. Yesterday was pretty quiet. I went running/walking for about an hour, maybe did 2 miles. The humidity and heat are bad right now, so it makes breathing harder, but I have a bikini goal... Listened to song clips again for my job to find the perfect theme song for a client. Made buffalo burgers on the grill for dinner and watched some interesting shows on the Discovery/Science Channel about mummies in Egypt.

Deadwood...

Getting a meal and having it served in a timely manner was a challenge in Deadwood. When we broke for lunch each day, we didn't want to spend two hours doing it. Some places were good, others were not. Dinners were better, but I think that's because we were exhausted by meal time. The buffalo at the #10 saloon was awesome. Kevin Costner's casino and restaurant were beautiful inside.

Speaking of casinos...Tom and Oli seemed to develop a quick affection for the one-armed bandits. Oli failed to see the enjoyment with dropping a quarter into the machine and then pushing the button to make it go. However, once I showed him the "arm," he was hooked. Tom enjoyed them as well. We swore he was addicted because he always had a pocket full of quarters, and disappeared a lot! Just teasing...

Blog commitment and more Deadwood

I must confess that this weekend I did nothing "author" related. Saturday we met friends (Bev & Dave) for lunch at Memphis Red, Hot & Blue, then wine tasting, then food shopping. I grilled Porterhouse steaks, sweet potatoes & corn for dinner. Sunday I did the girl thing and went shopping by myself for clothes, beach stuff, and birthday gifts. I got some great deals! Today I have to crack down and get the visuals done for my Taste of Tombstone book, and do my regular job.

Deadwood saga...the blogs I should have made when I was in Deadwood in June.

Let's see, the first full day in Deadwood began with a rain downpour that didn't want to end. Oli and Tom changed the filming schedule and we moved to the archives building in downtown Deadwood. By the time we got done and broke for lunch, it had started to clear, but turned cold. We had some additional problems with our next guest because of the cold weather, so poor Tom ran around Deadwood trying to find an alternative. Arlette, from the archives, graciously agreed. We headed up muddy roads to a remote location to film the "deadwood" lying about. By the time we got done, one of my fingers had turned completely white and had no feeling. With lots of literal hand hold handing, it recovered. I can drive again! I honestly don't remember all that we filmed there because I was so cold. The day wasn't over yet...

We dropped Arlette back in town, then headed out for an 1880s miner's cabin, which you'll see in the show (see the picture here with me and Oli, freezing). It was close to 7:00 p.m. and the temp dropped to 33 degrees. We left that location around 8:00 p.m., blasted the heater in the car and went to the cabin, then back out for dinner.

More on dining in Deadwood tomorrow (at Tom's suggestion)...

Back to work, True West magazine and more Deadwood

Well, it seems I haven't gotten any better at posting regularly here, so I guess sometimes is better than not at all. Please bear with me.

This photo was taken right after we wrapped up my closing comments about Deadwood. Filming was over, and we were ready to celebrate. In the photo, L to R., Peter, Tom, Me, Oli (in back), Rick, and Chris.

The August issue of True West magazine (on sale now) has featured me in their "Author Profile" section. If you can get a copy, check it out. I am also in there with my favorite reads.

I am finally back to a routine of working and writing. I just sent the manuscript to the Univ. New Mexico Press (Taste of Tombstone), which is a huge relief. I am a week past my deadline - I hate that. I still have to send them the visuals to use in the book, and will finish that this weekend. I am waiting to hear from the Univ. North TX Press about the pioneer women book - should be this month.

I said I would talk more about the Deadwood filming, so here goes. The more I think back on that (hard to believe it's been a month since I did it), the more I realize just how much I enjoyed doing it. I mean, I love history and I got to share that love with so many! It's every authors dream, well even if it's not; it's this author's dream.

On location: As I said, Oli, Tom, and Peter were awesome. A girl couldn't have asked for a better "crew." Here's what our schedule was like each day - Get up at 6:00 a.m., leave for the first location at 7:30 a.m., start filming around 8:00 a.m., break for lunch anywhere between noon and 2:00 p.m. for about 40 minutes. We changed locations often and didn't quit until between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. each night. We packed up, unloaded the equipment (ok, the guys wouldn't let me help), and then headed back to town for dinner. Had ice cream at the cabin, then to bed around midnight. Yeah, I know, ice cream before bed is baadd. It's all Oli's fault with his addiction to Ben and Jerry's! We girls all know where it ends up, right Oli?!

The first two days I did pretty darn good. However, the third day at Ft. Meade, I fell apart. I don't know what happened, other than I was standing on sacred Indian ground with a guest who had a very soothing, soft voice, and I felt very calm and relaxed. I think Oli wanted to strangle me (not literally, well maybe) because I had no "zip" and was very different from the previous days. We finally get it filmed, but it was painful for all. After lunch, I was fine. The following day went well, too.


Later I will post more about one day of the filming. Just to tease you, it was June 7 in Deadwood, SD and it was 33 degrees...

Trying to keep up

I've been busy playing catch up with personal things, my writing, and everything else in between. I have books to mail, bills to pay, a beach house to secure for vacation at the end of July, TV clips to send to a producer, a manuscript to send to my publisher, and way more than that.

I got behind-the-scenes photos from the Deadwood shoot. Copy & paste this link into your address bar - I can't get the link to work here - http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZt2TZu4bNmLjQ

The producers emailed me and said the rushes looked really good and they were pleased with me. I really enjoyed doing that so much.

Our niece Jamie comes here on Friday and we are taking her to the NC mountains for vacation. I will still be working, but that's the beauty of my new job - I can do it from anywhere. She and Larry (my husband) may just have to do some things together while I do my thing.

The DirecTV guy is coming this afternoon to fix the bad installation I got a few months ago. Get this, I have to pay for their screw-up because I didn't call and complain when they installed it! They won't leave today until I know it's working.

Well, back to work