Saturday, July 23, 2011

SEVEN MILE BEACH

One of our trips to Grand Cayman we stayed near Seven Mile beach. That's the area where Michael and Leesie stay when they first arrive in Grand Cayman. Put Michael on this beach carrying Leesie with her cast on her arm, nose braced, bandaged head, and her wrapped up broken collar bone into the calm water. The hotel is fictional, the rehab center is made up, but this beach is very real!





Friday, July 22, 2011

MY TEN FAVORITE THINGS and UNDERWATER CAYMAN

Andii asked me to tell her what my ten favorite things are for today's post on her cool blog, . It's very fun. Pictures. Short and sweet. AND she posted it in English and Spanish. Thanks so much, Andii! I've loved having you on this journey from start to finish.

Yesterday, you saw the best of Grand Cayman topside--gorgeous water, sand and sunsets. Today, let's check out how gorgeous it us under the that perfect turquoise water. Can you spot me in these photos with diving with my family? Look for the black flippy Force Fins. 


Dueling lobsters!


Easy to want to leap into water this enticing. 

Dive boats lined up along the wall. It gets busy at the best sites.



Yeah, that's me.



I'm holding onto the descent line here waiting out my ten minute safety stop. After every dive, a smart scuba diver waits ten minutes at 15' before surfacing to let nitrogen dissolved in her blood dissipate. 





Sea turtles swim hold their breath when they dive--just like Michael. And they stay down a long time and dive even deeper than our hero!

Spotted Eagle Ray in the distance. My favorite Cayman critter!





Thursday, July 21, 2011

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN GRAND CAYMAN!

I'm running around packing for our vacation and, of course, I didn't get lots of posts written and set to post automatically while I'm gone. I'm taking my computer, so I should be able to stay in touch. Grand Cayman is one of our favorite places, so I did find loads more pictures to share with you!

My daughter, Rachel, took these shots at the East End dive resort where Michael and Leesie stayed. Can you imagine them walking along enjoying these sunsets? More tomorrow. I found lots of great underwater photos, too. And I'll be visiting Andii's blog--so that should be awesome! She asked me to post about my ten favorite things.



I forgot this swing was there. That would have made a good scene.












Tuesday, July 19, 2011

PUBLICATION WORKSHOP, TOUR STOPS, and LEESIE'S CRASH SITE

I'm speaking tonight at a Writers Unite to Fight Cancer publishing workshop held at the Shea and Pima Barnes and Noble in Scottsdale. The event is free with proceeds from book sales going to AACR.

I'm speaking about how I got my contract with Penguin. I've also been asked to talk about traditional versus indie publishing. Queries, agents, ebooks, small presses, and print on demand will also be covered throughout the course of the evening.

It's going to be a relaxed, informal evening with lots of time for Q&A. The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at B&N, Scottsdale Fiesta Shopping Center, 10500 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85258.  I wish you could all be there! If any of you are in the Phoenix area, I'd love to see you tonight.

Plus, We've got two tour stops. Today you can enjoy part three of my interview with Bonnie at Bonnie Gets A Say and my interview with Selene at My City of Glass--posted in both English and Spanish. (Thanks for translating me, Selene!)  Huge thanks to both Bonnie and Selene for supporting the tour so generously.

And now for the pictures. I wrote the ending of UNBROKEN CONNECTION using Google Earth, but then I got to fly to Spokane for my high school reunion in Tekoa last summer. I rented a car and drove over to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and on down the highway to Lookout Pass. I stopped in Kellogg, Idaho and took pictures of the hospital. I revised the scenes so they are more accurate than the original drafts.

When my mother read UNBROKEN CONNECTION, she called me and told me once when she was driving over LookOut pass on the way to Spokane, she hit ICE in that exact place and almost went over the edge. My mom's ice became an important part of CAYMAN SUMMER. Bits and pieces--that's what all my books are!