Behind the Bit (Canterwood Crest #3) cover reveal!

That just popped up on S&S's Website and it's the cover for BEHIND THE BIT (Canterwood Crest #3)! On the cover is Callie Harper, my main character's BFF. Callie is looking at her horse because....well, that's a plot secret for now. :)

BEHIND THE BIT hits stores on June 23, 2009. Woo hoo!

TGIF and happy weekend! I'm off to watch a movie...not sure which one. Something funny.

Ocala's Horse Fever and lots of pics!

My favorite!!


Isn't that butterfly amazing?!

The Starbucks where I met the writer...


Marion County's INSANELY awesome library!!





Yesterday, I went to Ocala to be interviewed by an awesome magazine for a future issue. I completely lucked out because there were horses in the downtown square!! Marion Cultural Alliance produced this display, "Horse Fever," and it was sponsored by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. These are fiberglass life size horses with acrylic paint. Just amazing! I almost DIED when I saw them in the square.

I also drove by the Marion County Public Library and WOW. The library's outside is covered in mosaics and one is "Misty's Twilight." How cool! I think I have a pic of it...I'll look for the next post.

Ocala was great and it was nice to go on a relatively short road trip. It was only a 3 hour drive to get there--so much shorter than the drive to St. Louis.

Hope you guys like the pics! :)

Halloween pics part 2 and presidential chocolates!

The outside of the house

The back door

The famous Zombie from 2007 (recreated for '08!)

Yep, more pics! Note how in the first pic, the sky is insanely blue. It was 85 degrees and I was muttering about how it MUST be colder for actual Halloween feelings to begin. :) The decoration war has started in my neighborhood. Everyone's trying to outdo each other with bigger, scarier and more elaborate decorations. Mine are simple, but I love them. The Decoration War of 2008 kind of reminds me of Matthew Broderick's Christmas flop (I still love you, Mr. SJP!)-- Deck the Halls. Except, obviously, people here are trying to best their neighbor's pumpkins and candy offerings.

What if I gave out something like this to trick or treaters?

It's presidential chocolate! I saw that on the news a few days ago and thought it was cool. So many jokes to make about that... ;)

Tomorrow, I'm being interviewed by another Florida magazine. I'm driving south to Ocala (Horse Capital of the World!) to meet the writer and have pictures taken. I'll be taking my camera and hope I get a few good pics of the trip.

Halloween decorations! Pics galore!

Desktop display

In the kitchen

Mantle

Close up of mantle

Close up of mantle 2

Sooo, it's time for Halloween decoration pictures! If you remember from last year's assault of Halloween posts, it's probably my favorite holiday. I absolutely adore Halloween and even though I'm too much of a wimp to watch scary movies (I hear chuckling, friends!) I love, love it.

Last year, I posted these on October 1. And pictures of Martha Stewart's Zombie Craft here. Then, you've got your Halloween cookies. Finally, pics of me in my Regis and Kelly 3-D glasses. ;)

That was 2007. I'm kicking off Halloween 2008 with the above pics to start! There will be many more Halloween pics to come over the month. :)

Yesterday, I went to a Halloween outlet to look for a certain someone's Halloween mask (they were OUT, boo!) and the displays were freaking scary! Fake blood...I, um, can't handle it. Maggie
says I'm very Victorian with my fainting tendencies and I guess I can't disagree. No, I didn't faint from fake blood and super-creepy Halloween displays, but I could have. I think. Eek. And I wasn't jumpy the rest of the day. No way. ;)

If you've got Halloween decorations or will be putting them up soon, I'm tagging YOU to post pics!

The World's Best Paid Authors--according to Forbes

On Wednesday, Forbes published a list of the "World's Best Paid Authors." Interesting!

Was there ever a question about who is number one? Of course not! JK Rowling tops the list and is joined by James Patterson, Stephen King, Danielle Steel, Dean Koontz, Janet Evanovich and Nicholas Sparks. I'm guessing that Stephenie Meyer will hit the list one day. The Twilight movie could certainly boost her stock even more. :)

Read the full article here!

Scoliosis: an explanation with my actual x-rays

After posting about the video shoot at Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis, I got a couple of emails with questions about scoliosis. So, let me give you a quick explanation. It's best told with pictures.


This was my spine (I was around thirteen and a half) BEFORE spinal surgery. See the "S" shape? That's an S-curve from scoliosis. Doctors aren't sure what causes most cases of scoliosis. Maybe, with more research, they'll soon have answers to that question.

So, it's pretty obvious that my spine was waaaaay out of shape. Even after years of wearing various back braces and doing different exercises--it looked like that. My spine was so twisted that it was pressing on my heart and lungs. Not good, you know?

That scary x-ray led my doctor at Shriners to do this...



Yep, two titanium rods and a handful of screws. Can't feel a thing and I don't know that any of that "hardware" is there. Before surgery, I was in constant pain, had shortness of breath and wasn't living a full life. Isn't the difference in spinal curvature AMAZING?!

After surgery, the pain disappeared and I can do almost anything. (Except for skydiving, football, etc. Things with jarring impact on the spine.)

I had that spinal fusion in November 2000. Now, I counsel Shriners patients who are going through similar surgeries and are nervous. For more info about Str8 Spines for Shriners, just check out my Website.

Hopefully, that brief explanation answers the questions I've received about scoliosis. So many kids I talk to are embarrassed and teased about their condition. DON'T BE EMBARRASSED, GUYS! C'mon, now. You didn't cause it and did nothing wrong. Scoliosis isn't something to be ashamed of. Explain it to your friends and they'll understand. If not, maybe they're not the friends you thought they were.

If you have more questions (those who emailed me), feel free to email again.

Interview and NaNoWriMo 2008!

Today, I'm being interviewed by a writer for a local magazine. The magazine is interested in featuring me in a future issue and I'm meeting the writer this afternoon. I'm excited and it should be fun. :)

Also...it's exactly one month until my favorite writing event--National Novel Writing Month--begins!! Yay!! I heart NaNo and it's soooo much fun. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is the craziest and hardest writing challenge I've ever done, but I keep doing it each year. :) I'm not sure where I'll be in my draft on November 1, but I'm trying to schedule things so I can start something new for November. We'll see how that goes.

So, if you haven't friended me on NaNo, please do! I'm "jessicab_87" and I'd love to add you to my friend list. The forums are already busy with activity and I'll be popping in and out on those over the next couple of months. Love it.

Who's with me for NaNo '08?