Friday Field Trip - Oregon

Hubster went to Portland and Salem. First part business, second part to visit his sister. He's sharing some of his pictures today. Since I'm still out of town, if you want more details, ask in the comments and he should answer.

Friday Field Trip - In Search of a Cover

A mixed blessing of publishing your own book is that you are in charge of the cover art. If you're talented and have a good vision of what you want, that's a plus. If you're more of a "well, I'll know it when I see it" kind of person, it's a tough call.

I'm working with a graphic artist for a potential cover in anticipation of getting the rights back to one of my books, and then publishing it myself. Since it's set in Oregon, I asked my sister in law if she had any images that she'd like to share. You've probably seen some of her work before.

She sent me some pictures, and I sent some I thought would work to the graphics artist. Things we had to consider: vertical vs. horizontal, and high enough resolution, since when she took the pictures, she wasn't really thinking of book covers.

This week, I'll share her pictures. On future posts, I'll share the various steps we've been going through to come up with a cover for the book.

Barley or Hops?

What I'm reading: Birds of Prey, by J.A. Jance

Yesterday's excursion took us from Salem to the Oregon coast, with a brief stop at Otis, a wide spot in the road, for what was supposed to be their Marionberry pie, but turned into lunch. Most of the rest of the day was spent at scenic beach spots where I observed my husband, his sister and her husband endeavor to identify every living piece of flora and fauna.


The cold, windy, gray day didn't make for any striking views, but there's a rugged beauty in the gloom. Can't say much for the 'beauty' of the smells of congregations of birds and sea lions. We ended up on the streets of Newport, where we had dinner at a brew pub.



Question of the day. You're in a brew pub. You go to the area of the restrooms. There are two doors. One says "Barley", the other says "Hops." Which would you open?

Barley

Hops

Today's itinerary is supposed to focus on winery tours. There's some excellent Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley.

Gearing up for RWA

What I'm reading: Pointe and Shoot by Natalie M. Roberts

What I'm writing: Chapter 12

I leave in a few days for the annual national conference of Romance Writers of America in San Francisco. I'm looking forward to being surrounded by hundreds of people who also hear voices but aren't forced to live in padded rooms. I'm looking forward to cooler weather. I'm looking forward to meeting my agent face to face. I'm looking forward to seeing all those 'names on spines', and listening to their words of wisdom.

I'm looking forward to the behind the scenes tour of Customs & Immigration. I'm looking forward to the Death by Chocolate party where they'll announce the winners of the Daphne du Maurier contest. It's been an honor to have been nominated. Seriously. My book is with a small press, and a primarily e-publisher to boot. So hanging with names like Brenda Novak is just plain amazing. I even did the unimaginable – bought new shoes. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother, even if it's only for an afternoon. He's already made the restaurant reservations. And, after the conference, I'm looking forward to a week of decompression in Oregon with DH's sister and her husband. Since my current WIP is set in Oregon, it's a research trip, too.

What I'm not looking forward to: Packing. It's like packing for two trips. RWA tends to be wardrobe intensive, with meetings, award ceremonies, as well as all day in workshops. Then, staying with relatives in Salem requires an entirely different set of clothes. Laid back, casual. With the airline restrictions on luggage these days, it'll be a challenge to get everything I need into the requisite suitcases. And there are all the 'promotional extras' to cram in there somewhere. Although my contributions won't be making the return trip, normally the giveaways I collect equal or exceed what I leave behind. Thank goodness for my eBookwise. I can fill it with enough reading material so I don't need to haul books.

Then there are all the 'leaving home' details to remember. Cancel mail, paper. Have neighbor alerted to watch the house for things left in the driveway or on the porch. Change all my email groups to no mail or special notices. Make sure I've got all the necessities, which puts me right back to packing, because if I don't have it, there's not much time to run out and get it. I should make a list, of course. But I never got around to making a list for a month in Africa; two weeks on the west coast shouldn't be that hard.