Okay, so this may seem utterly geeky, but I nearly squealed and jumped off the couch when I found (on-line) a boxed set of Kindred: the Embraced on DVD. Of course I ordered it. It was one of those good-bad shows that part of your brain criticizes while the other part leaps right in. I’m going to be watching the mail box like a vulture waiting for it to arrive.

Yeah, it was a slow week.

Oh, I love this site!

http://www.ghosttocoast.us/index2.htm

Plan your ghost vacation, hook up with paranormal conventions, get your ghost-busting gear. It’s all here!

I bet my ghost-busting heroine, Holly, would have had it in her favorites list. Heck, she’d probably be submitting content.

I’ve seen other ‘ghost holiday’ type of advertisements—such as the small local ghost tours or even the Dracula-centric treks around Transylvania. It’s interesting to me how the paranormal is becoming a mainstay of the tourism industry. Some would say it’s all an opportunity for con artists to part vacationers from their cash.  True, in some cases. However, I think the phenomenon as a whole is good because that means people are curious about what’s out there.  Curiosity is healthy. It means people are more than the mental equivalent of sponge puddings.

However, the moment the commercial world figures out just how much cash might be made, it could get interesting. What if Disney got involved? What about the descendents of the dead wanting a piece of the action?  Heck, what if the ghosts themselves started seeking agents? My people could be calling your people on a ouija board.

There’s no place like home. Dirty dishes. Piles o’ laundry. Naughty cats. Bills. Emails. Yup, I’m not on holidays anymore, but I’m glad to be sleeping in my own bed. After two days at home, I’m still tired—I have that close-the-eyes-and-tilt-sideways thing going on. Was going to the Romance Writers of America National Conference worth it?  Absolutely.

Good news: The romance book industry is healthy. Publishers are buying pretty much all genres.

Bad news: It’s not getting any easier for new authors to get a foothold. Competition is fierce. The market is crowded. It’s up to the author to do what they can for themselves, contact the right people, do extra publicity and so on. Not really anything I didn’t know, but it’s nice to realize my perceptions were on the mark.

Ugly news:  Sadly, no one has discovered the magic bullet that will a) create a bestselling formula or b) get your name in front of the requisite number of eager readers so that your book fulfills its potential.  Theories abound, however, many with price tags attached.

Overall:  The only thing people agreed on as a critical ingredient for success was persistence. The stubborn will survive.

Exciting stuff:  Paranormal romance and urban fantasy are booming and OMG are there some talented writers coming out in the next six months!  Definitely check out Jessica Andersen’s Final Prophecy series. I got a free copy of book one (Nightkeepers) and started reading it when I got home. I’m hooked.