Guest!!

By now you've heard that Brava (the imprint that publishes my contemporaries) has been running the Writing With The Stars contest. For the first part, people were invited to submit manuscripts. Kensington editors Megan Records and Alicia Condon picked their top ten favorites. That was a huge accomplishment on its own, but now those finalists have moved to the next part of the contest. Excerpts of their work are posted at Romantic Times and people get to vote on their favorites. Frankly, it's really hard to put your work out there and then sit back and read what people say without being able to argue. Authors have to get used to the feeling, but it takes some time.

I was lucky enough to work with one of the contest finalists, Alannah Lynne, as her contest mentor. She's terrific – very talented and professional and super nice. I wanted you to all meet her. Here she is!

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It's not what's taught, but what's caught

On the Brava author blog last week, I talked about a few of the things I'd learned from the Writing With the Stars Competition. This past weekend, I realized I'm not the only one who learned a few valuable lessons.

For years, I was a Mary Kay lady. Not a very good one, sales really aren't my thing. But I wouldn't trade the years I spent toting my little pink bag around for anything. Not only did I learn how to match foundation and apply eye shadow (something I rarely do), I learned a lot about being a wife and mother. Mary Kay Ash was a brilliant woman, and if you've never read her books, I strongly suggest it.

One of the things Mary Kay often spoke about was the influence we have on our children, and the things they learn by watching us strive to reach our goals. She'd say, "It's not what's taught, it's what's caught."

My oldest son is a musician, currently in school studying audio production and engineering and writing his own music. He has enough songs for a mini-album, and by the time he graduates in March, he hopes to have enough for a full-length.

This past weekend, he gave me the highest compliment I can imagine receiving. In talking about his career, and some of the doubts and fears he's having about himself, he said, "Mom, you are my inspiration. Every time I'm at the house, you're sitting at your desk, on the computer, working on your writing. You're dedicated, and you work hard. And you keep me inspired to keep going, too."

Wow!

Mary Kay Ash was right. I never could have taught that. But in watching me strive to reach my goals of being a published author, my son has "caught" what it takes to make his own goals a reality. Just for the record, that goes both ways. He keeps me inspired too.

What about you. Have your kids ever said something that let you know they were watching? And it doesn't have to be as profound as what my son said. It could be along the lines of what my youngest said after missing a shot on the pool table. The word that came out of his little four-year-old mouth told me he'd definitely been paying attention when the big people were playing pool. LOL

P.S. from HelenKay… go read Alannah's excerpts and vote here.