Home Sweet Home NOLA

Gustav came and left. Some areas hit harder than others.
My home survived. I believe Houma and Baton Rouge areas got hit the hardest this time.
I have friends and family in both areas and they say this was the worst they've ever seen.

Our worries were the levees on the Westbank, but good news, they held tight. A few leaks, but the Corps are working on them to get them good as new.

We lost some trees, and the yard and pool is a mess, but overall we are safe and sound.

I dreaded evacuating, having to miss Heather Graham's writers conference, but I heard the hotel kicked them out Saturday morning. All those authors and editors had to leave. Sorry guys, but that's how it goes in New Orleans. Better to get out than to stay where it's not safe.

Kathy sorry I missed your Divorce party, next year lady...I'll be there come rain or shine....
Erin, missed seeing you, Kathleen, Kate, Adam, and the Sola group.....I'm thinking about squeezing in another conference, maybe we will catch up then........

Hugs,
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com

Hurricane Gustav

Well, its that time of the year again. "Hurricane time" and we all know what that means.
Filling up the vehicles with gas, shopping for supplies, and getting a plan in gear.

We haven't had to evacuate since Katrina, and what a nightmare that was just trying to get out of town (14 hr. drive to Houston, normally 4 hours). If Gustav comes our way we will more than likely leave again. I live on the Westbank side of the Mississippi River and that is worse than being in New Orleans (well some parts). We are surrounded by water on most sides. Our levees on the Westbank are not complete. Still under construction, thats the worst part. My house sits a few hundred feet from those levees. So if you are wondering if I'm nervous, well of course I am.

I have kids, and they are always your main concern. You want them safe and not have to go through this again.

If you want to keep updated in New Orleans and the storm you can go to several places for our local news.
www.wwltv.com and then there is another station where a news guy blogs. Go to bobbreck.blogspot.com

Someone asked me on a loop of all my books which ones do I take with me....
Well, I'm not really allowed to take too many because we need room for the kids (grin), but I'd have to say off the top of my head. Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward, Karen Moning, Farrah Rochon, Stephenie Meyer, Christine Feehan, JD Robb, Kathy Love, Erin McCarthy, Heather Graham, Laura J Rowland,.....darn it...as you can see I can't decide........I love them all....I might just have to buy all new books...

Good luck to all those on the Gulf Coast.....I wish you well........ I'll try and blog from where ever I am once I get settled. (if I have to leave)........

p.s. Heather Graham's writers conference is this weekend in New Orleans. I hope I still get to go and have fun with all the wonderful writers, authors & editors coming in town...I've been both of them before this and they were a blast.....

Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com

Starting the next Voodoo book

Wow. I can't believe I'm already starting the 2nd book in this series.
I've got a lot to flesh out though with my hero. He's going to have some serious issues.
His beliefs are just way out of wack. Time to throw in my heroine and get him into trouble.

Never had trouble with a title before, this one I am.

Dawn
One shoe can change your life - Cinderella

Cruise Picture

My buddies asked why I didn't post a cruise pictures on my blog. (Didn't realize they read it).

Anywho, this is the group I went with, bunch of yahoo's. (grin) I believe we were missing two who already went aboard the ship. (30 grand total) You can barely see me. I'm sort of way in the back with a brown shirt. My hair was straight for this pic. which is normally pretty curly. We had a blast, though I won't do cruises no more. I'd rather fly, saves time....

RWA Nationals

Last year I attended the RWA Nationals for the first time, and boy was I surprised.
I had no clue what to expect, I stayed with 3 people I had no idea who they were, even though we were all on-line writing buddies. My hubby thought I'd gone off the deep end.

He says, "You who are afraid to go anywhere by yourself flies to Houston to stay with three strangers." He shakes his head....

How could I make him or my family and friends understand. Once you make a writing buddy on-line, you get to know them really well. Besides, they are writers, they can't be bad, right?

One of my WB's picked me up at the airport with her hubby and 2 little girls. For all they knew I was a axe murderer. But, us writers have a good judge of character. So, I sat next to the baby girl in the back of the van, and what a sweet little doll she was. Talking baby talk up a storm to this stranger. (me). Sweet!

WB's hubby drops us off, and we go inside the Hilton and there are tons of people everywhere. My mouth hung open. "Holy Crap." I had no idea. Huge!

We then find our other WB partner and she's so excited, we all hug, find our room and then we stalk famous authors, agents and editors. (no, we didn't, not at first.)

We mostly hung out at the bar, then we had people join us. I saw some other writers I met at other conferences, and hung out with them too. I ended up having a great time.

I didn't have any appointments last year, I wasn't ready, but I did go and tell a few editors hello that I met. And yep, they remembered me by name. Shock Shock.... Made me feel less nervous...

So those that are wanting to go but are scared to because they are not the out going type. Just do it. I did, and I have to say I had the best time. Don't focus too much on your pitch if you have one. Just enjoy the information you'll absorb, the great people you'll meet, and just an opportunity to mingle with people that love the same things you do. "Reading and Writing"....and if your pitch happens to be great, thats a plus. Remember everyone has different taste, just like we do.

Oh, and don't forget to bring a camera. You'll get some great pics. of your favorite authors.

I'm sad I'm not going this year, but I had another writers thingy that cost a ton this year and I chose to do that instead. Which it turned out really well. I had a NY Editor request my work and 3 NY Agents as well. (no news yet)

I'll miss my WB's but they'll see me next year, maybe by then I'll have signed a deal.
And keep my bed empty, Dawn and Nikki!!! And nope, I don't want the blue smurf this time, I think Dawn M. wants to keep it.

Dawn C.

A cruise to remember!

Just got back from a wonderful cruise on the Carnival Valor. Although, I wouldn't recommend 7 days on a ship to anyone. At least, that is not my idea of a great vacation. Next time I'm flying to an island, skip the boat scene....4 to 5 day cruise would have been plenty of sailing for me.....

I got plenty of writing idea's from this trip, and no it's not going to be about a cruise. It's more of an tropical island mystery thriller. I only say this because after our trip we heard our driver happened to sort of be a sly fellow, I won't go into details, but let's say his day job was a cover-up. He didn't tell us this, but the locals did. Maybe they were joking to give us a thrill, but boy did idea's pop into my sunburned head...

Then we ended up on a nude beach, stunned. We had no clue. You can imagine our surprise. We ended up snokeling in St. Thomas and St. Maarten, what beautiful beaches they have....Wow!!! We also visited Atlantis in Nassau. Gorgeous!

Now its time to get back into the writing, and stop crying about how tired I am and how much weight I gained on the trip...(did someone say diet?)

Okay, anyone in the New Orleans area want to attend a SOLA writers meeting please do. 2 meetings are free...and in August we have a great author speaker, "Diana Rowland".

Update on Revision Hell

I haven't blogged in awhile. But just to update, I revised almost 300 pages in two weeks.

I sent out my queries and my requested submissions, so I'm happy.

Dawn