It's Only a Party if Love Inspired is There! by Pamela Tracy

Yeah!  This year I was able to attend the Romance Writers of America's conference.  With just one except, I had the best BEST time.  Below, are some of the photos I took of Love Inspired ladies, most of whom are on this blog.  Enjoy!

I arrived on Wednesday and that night I attended
a hands-on Murder Mystery.
Who was there?  Why Jolene and her daughter.
Hmmm, were they suspects?

Each table had a bag as a centerpiece.
Each bag had a piece of evidence.

My table included Sherri Shackleford and Tina Radcliff.
Between them is a Harlequin  Heartwarming author.
For sure she, Leann Bristow, is a suspect.
After all, a Love Inspired author would never be involved in murder.
Except for writing it.

Thursday, Harlequin had a signing.
Here we have Lenora Worth and Terri Reed.
They are flanking Joanne Grant, editorial director, extraodinairre

Ah, here we see Sherri Shackleford enticing a reader

Marta Perry is signing a book for me!

Teri Wilson writers for LI
But, at the signing, she was lurking in the Special Edition area.

The Love Inspired editors also hosted a meet and greet for its authors.
Here we see Deb Kastner and lovely husband Joe

Here we see Patricia Davids.
And!  I'll send a book to whoever can name the author standing behind her
She'll soon be joining this blog

Walking through the conference lobby you might find a surpise.
Here we have Jill Kemerer's cover.
Hey, you can even put your face in the place of the model.

The highlight, of course, is the Harlequin party.
Here I am along side my best friend Cathy McDavid who writes for Harlequin Heartwarming

Love Inspired authors ready to party!

It's always great to reconnect with friends

Sigh.... the conference ended way too soon.  I didn't get to sit down and visit with my peers enough.

Next year, it's in New York.  A long way for this Arizona girl to travel, but I'm hoping to go...

Pamela Tracy's next book is
The Soldier's Valentine
Release date April 2019
from Harlequin Heartwarming

Pamela is also busy working on a
Love Inspired proposal.

What Happens When You Have a Deadline

Howdy

Pamela  Tracy here

and

I had a book due Tuesday

All writers are different.
I have a friend who always finishes a week early
Me? I always have work count the day it's due
But, I write the amazing growing book

So, Tuesday morning...
I was finished
Then, in the shower I had a GREAT idea
which changed/bettered my ending
added 4000 words to count (yes in one day!)
and meant I had to reread quickly to pepper references throughout

So, you're thinking...
Ah, the life of a writer
Sitting back and putting words on paper
Er, no
Writer is just one hat

Another hat is housewife
I don't mind the word
I think taking care of a home
and raising children
to be the best life of all
... even when the plumbing breaks during a deadline
*Photo circa December 2016

My back patio
*Photo circa January 2017

Yes, this is today

Can you see the tunnel going through my back yard?

*Photo circa February 2017

BTW - my favorite place to write is the kitchen table

Next to the sliding glass door where are the noise takes place.

Good news is - hubby is a plumber.  He's making all the noise.

And for 1/3 the price

Speaking of noise and my favorite place to write
My son likes to build legos at the other end of the table.
Someday, he will have his own talk show.
Right now, he's practicing on me.

Best Interruption of all
Best Friend Harlequin American author
Cathy McDavid got married!
I didn't mind the interruption.
I called it research

By the way, my full-time job is college professor
I attended the ACT conference last Thursday
Yes, that would be four days before the book was due.
I learned that absenteeism in our elementary, junior, and high schools
is at an all time high

Saturday I attended an all-day workshop on creativity by Allen Arnold
I'm president of the local ACFW group.
And, we had it at my church.
I learned a lot.

One of the things that struck me was his talking about how someone  could look successful
Like a beautiful tree
But the roots be corroded

Now that my book is turned in, I have goals
1. I want to finish a week early next time
2. I want to clean my patio
3. I want to go to lunch with my best friend
4.  I want to play with my son
5.  I want to work on being a better, strong Christian woman, friend, mother, wife, writer.
How about you?

Pamela's next book will be available in April.

However, Pamela's next published writing
will be part of the Craftie Ladies of Romance's Valentine Serial
Which starts tomorrow!!!!

I Wrote a Book or 30!

This is what Pamela Tracy looks like today

This is what I looked like in 1999 

This is my 30th book!

This was my first book

In looking at the pictures, the only thing that hasn't changed are my Spock eyebrows.

In looking at the books, a lot has changed.

It Only Takes a Spark was written on a computer that didn't have the world wide web
When I printed it, it was on dot matrix paper.
I got the idea because I accidentally turned in my personal journal to the library.
 It was a bookclub book (mailing list), not in stores.
It lead me to the girls of Barbour, years of friendship, and a learning curve I've still not mastered.

Second Chance Christmas was written on a Mac where I could do research in a matter of seconds.  I now know more than I dreamed possible about the Lost Dutchman Mine.
I never printed it.  I emailed it right to my editor.
I got the idea because of a chance remark a kindergarten mother said to me more than 20 years ago.  She was a social worker.  She told me about going to a home and laying down on the floor in order to get the head of the family to actually look her in the eye.  The idea amazed me.
It's in book club, but also in brick and mortar stores as well as ebook.
My world is one of writers.

Critique Group Christmas 2015

I'm the chubby one you see first. Next to me is my best friend Cathy McDavid (Harlequin American).  Across from her is Marina Myles (Kensington) and across from me is Connie Flynn (multi-published).

They read most of Second Chance Christmas. 

They could tell you that the heroine has a  hard time forgiving herself.

They could tell you that the hero doesn't give up on anyone.

They could tell you that life wasn't always fair to Elise and Cooper.

They could tell you that small towns, in my book, are characters too.

They could tell you that risk, redemption, and romance are my mottos.

They could tell you, but they won't, because they want you to read the book for yourself.  Go ahead.  It has a happily ever after, too.

What a surprise.  

My Life

Pamela Tracy here.

I've belonged to the greater Phoenix chapter of the Desert Rose Romance Writers of America for 20 years now.

Twenty.

As a romance writer, there's no stronger organization.

I found out about the chapter thanks to a creative writing class I was taking at the community college when I was 12 (that, by the way, is a lie.  I was much older).

It wasn't even me who found the article in the newspaper hawking an upcoming conference.

Four ladies from the creative writing class attended the conference.  By the way, one of them found the article on Tuesday.  We late registered on Wednesday.  Showed up to attend on Friday.  The conference was that last minute, and my three friends and I knew nothing.

I carried my manuscript with me (pre-laptop days) from workshop to workshop.  I'm not sure how I knew NOT to scoot it under the bathroom stall, but I managed to not make that mistake.

I was sold.  I joined RWA the next time they had a monthly meeting.  I remember the president's name was Pat.  I remember I was most impressed by a Harlequin author named Pat Warren.  She was worlds ahead of me both in ability and savvy and self-esteem.

For the first five or six years, only funerals and sickness kept me from the meetings.  I was that hungry.

I made wonderful friends thanks to RWA and Desert Rose.  They were in my wedding some years later (see before lie about being 12).

Cathy McDavid, Harlequin American; Stacy Connelly, Harlequin Special Edition; Alison Hentges, Kensington; Patti Osback, finishing book now; my sister Roxanne who could be the next Erma Bombeck  

This past Tuesday, they had a membership appreciation banquet, and I attended.  In some ways, I'm sad.  See, in 20 years, you do see a revolving door of membership.  The people I sat with, laughed with, danced with (it was an Hawaiian theme) were not the same people as five, ten, fifteen years earlier.  Some of those writers I long to see again.

On the other hand, there was a Desert Rose Award winner, and up-and-coming writer who always makes me laugh.  And tons of new friends.

This is our Desert Rose Winner, Virginia Nelson.

My husband came along.  When we were first dating, he was amazed by the writing world and often found himself amidst gaggles of female writers.

Now this is entertainment and I'm already thinking about using it in my next story.  Will Love Inspired let me?

All I can say, if I've enjoyed this writing life immensely.  
 

See the lady in pink?  Not me.  See the arm belonging to the body she's blocking.
That's me.

This year's service award.  My fifteenth.  When I join an organization, I raise my hand and volunteer.

I won the RITA entry drawing!  yeah.  I have three books to enter this year. 

Here's one of them.
Second Chance Christmas is available
in December.

So what meetings do you attend?  And some of your greatest memories?

Thursday Sisterhood with Pamela Tracy

Family Status: Husband (grumpy plumber; good kisser - age 49) Son (hates homework; loves legos - now age 9) Cat (seven toes; eats too much - age 3)

What Is Your Favorite Beverage: Diet Dr. Pepper 

What Is Your Favorite Food: Shrimp Fajitas

What Is Your Favorite Thing to do During Free Time: Free time?  What is that?  LOL, once work, little league, homework, and writing are out of the way, I most like to read. 

Who Has Been the Most Influential Person in Your Life: 

How do you answer something like this?  My life’s not over.  It’s a timeline answer... First both my parents, who adopted me when I was four days old and never considered me anything but theirs. (That's my dad to the left.  You can't tell by the picture, but he's wrapped around my little finger) Then, it was my high school best friend Patty McCoy who explored with me, cried with me, got in trouble with me, and is forever the friend of my heart. As a young adult, it was fellow teacher and mentor Elizabeth Weed. In the writing world, it's best friend Harlequin American author Cathy McDavid (There we are, at a booksigning, all blurry to the right).  Now it is my husband Donald Osback (standing next to me below) and my son, who both teach me patience and that love is glue with occasional bubbles.  And throughout time, Jesus.    

First Book You Fell in Love With: The Betsy Books by Carolyn Haywood

A Book You Wish You’d Written: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

First Book Published: It Only Takes A Spark (Barbour Heartsong) 1999.

Most Recent Book: What Janie Saw (Harlequin Heartwarming) 2014 - it released just last week!  (To win a copy, click here Heartwarming Contest ) 

Out Next: Holiday Homecoming (Harlequin Heartwarming) November 2014 

How Many Have You Written:  Twenty-four published, Five under contract 

What Do You Know Now That You Wish You’d Known Then: To stop thinking that somewhere around the bend is more free time LOL

What is Your Favorite Bible Story: The Prodigal Son 

What is Your Favorite Bible Verse: Matthew 2:28 “A voice is hear in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.”  This verse has always spoken to me because it showed me how much emotion could be taken down to just one sentence.  One sentence.  Wow

 hat is Your Favorite Hymn: (Please Click)  The Greatest Command

What is an Ongoing Prayer Request You Have: That my husband becomes a believer