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“Work like you don’t need money, love like you’ve never been hurt and dance like no one is watching.”

I would love to attribute this quote, but since I found about five different authors credited, I’ll just say that it is one of my favorite inspirational sayings. I’ve mentioned before that I’m easily embarrassed, so this quote speaks particularly to me. Sometimes we all need to just forget about what everyone else thinks or how they judge us and experience our too-short lives for all they’re worth — even the pains and disappointments that inevitably accompany the joys and triumphs.

I think this advice is especially apropos for creative types — writers, artists, performers — because the more we worry about pleasing everyone, making a lot of money, or trying to gain fame or awards, the more our work seems to suffer. Some of our greatest artistic works have come from people who were met time and again with rejection, or were pressured to change or conform.

I think of J.K. Rowling, who struggled financially and sometimes wrote on paper napkins, who was reportedly rejected by a dozen major publishers before she finally found one who would take a chance on her quirky and unique series about a young wizard in training for an epic battle. I think it would have been a great loss if she’d given up or let those naysayers derail her ideas or change the story she wanted — needed — to tell. I credit her for bringing an entire generation back to a love of reading; seeing a group of nine-year-old girls and boys immersed in a book with more than 700 pages was a thrilling sight for this life-long book lover. I stumbled upon her with the publication of her second book in the U.S. I was looking for books for my then-eleven-year-old son to read and saw a comment about her work on a writers’ internet forum. I ordered the first two for him in hardcover, and he loved them, telling his friends about them before any of them had even heard of Harry Potter. Though my now twenty-year-old son is more interested in video games than books, to my admitted disappointment, he is still a 4.0 student in college, and I credit a great deal of that to the good reading skills he developed growing up surrounded by books, including the Harry Potter stories. Now that he has an iPod Touch that allows him to download books through Kindle, he is reading more again, when he is in waiting rooms or on breaks from work or classes (and no video game is available). Whatever the media, I’m delighted whenever he tells me about something interesting he just read.

In one of my earliest posts on this blog (Why not romance?), I mentioned how often romance novels are scornfully dismissed or snickered at. They aren’t recognized as “real books” by the “literary” types. It’s too easy for romance writers to become defensive; I really hate it when readers who love romances feel the need to hide their books for fear of being judged or ridiculed. If I were to think about what a critic might say about my books, I would be unable to write at all. I try very hard to please my readers, and to tell a story that feels honest and entertaining to me — but I don’t worry about reviews or acclaim. I love romance, and even if I occasionally branch into a different genre just because another type of story intrigues me at the time, I suspect there will always be a developing relationship included in the plot.

On our recent trip to Branson, we watched the fire-and-fountain display that plays every hour at Branson Landing, a relatively new retail/restaurant/hotel complex on the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Syncronized to music (mostly classic rock, though I’ve also heard jazz numbers and Christmas tunes there), the fountains shoot high into the sky accompanied by noisy bursts of flame, from which you can feel the heat throughout the ampitheater where the crowds gather to watch. This little boy was totally into the music — Creedence Clearwater’s Up and Around the Bend. Oblivious of the audience, he danced in the spray from the fountains, throwing out his arms and enjoying every moment. When do we lose that unselfconscious ability to savor every experience in our lives? How much joy do we sacrifice because we worry that someone else won’t approve or will make fun of us?

So, my wish for you today is to dance like no one is watching … and savor every moment.

*****

Don’t forget to enter!

This month is half over, and at the end I’ll be drawing for the two connected paperbacks, THE GROOM’S STAND-IN and THE BEST MAN’S PLAN. Click the Enter to Win! tab above for details of how to enter the contest.

Available in stores now — DIAGNOSIS: DADDY, the first book in my Doctors in Training series.

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One of the downsides of being a writer is that it is an isolated job that encourages solitude. For a natural introvert — as many writers are — being a full-time writer sometimes leads to hermit-like behavior, living in a made-up world with imaginary companions. Especially since my children are grown and my chauffeuring services are no longer required, I’ve been known not to leave my house for days — once on a particularly tight deadline race, I didn’t leave the house for almost three weeks. My husband has taken on the job of making sure I get out sometimes, especially when he can see tension or frustration mounting. He told me one time, “There are no ideas left within these walls.” We went out that weekend, and he was right — I found several new ideas on our excursions. Since then, I’ve tried to make it a point to take off weekends (well, at least parts of weekends) and go out to do new things and see new sights to refill the creative well.

Sometimes, though, I prefer to revisit a place filled with memories rather than trying something new. At least once a year, I am drawn to Branson, Missouri. Only a three-hour drive away, it has been a vacation spot for my family since the 1960s, when my three younger brothers and I were small. Branson was still a rustic, picturesque little town with a smallish amusement park and a few country music shows back then. When I married and had children of my own, we took them there often, buying season tickets to the rapidly expanding Silver Dollar City for the occasional weekend getaway with the kids.

As my children grew, so did the area. Branson is a completely different place now, crowded with hotels and theaters and shopping centers and go-cart tracks and resort condos and souvenir shops and tattoo parlors. It revels in “tacky” — nearly every shop sells frantically bedazzled clothes and flashy faux jewelry and hillbilly souvenirs made in China. A huge building shaped like a sinking Titanic is a prominent feature of car-jammed Highway 76. The popular attraction bills itself as a museum; a huge billboard on the way into town features a broadly smiling woman in a maid’s uniform beckoning toward the building as though welcoming visitors to the sinking ship. I can’t bring myself to visit that particular attraction.

I’ve seen most of the other shows and attractions, though. Some are spectacular, others low-key. Silver Dollar City is still a great place to visit, with rides and shows and crafts — long lines, high prices, over-priced food, but still fun, especially with children. We no longer purchase season passes, though I still love to go at Christmas time to see the millions of lights and the Christmas-themed shows. They make the best hot chocolate anywhere on earth.

The shows in the many Branson theaters have been called cheesy and corny — and they are. Nearly every show includes a syrupy tribute to the veterans in the audience, a segment with gospel music sung by attractive young performers in white robes and with a cross displayed on a screen behind them, and a huge flag unfurling at the end accompanied by a rousingly patriotic song. Pure, processed American cheese. I don’t care.  I love the shows — and I’ve been known to get teary-eyed right on cue as that flag waves. I expect schmaltz when I go to Branson — and I’d be disappointed if I didn’t get it.

It’s been a busy year for me, with one deadline stacked on top of another and several other projects on my agenda. The rest of the year is going to be a real challenge, with two books due and an upcoming writers’ conference to attend. Though I did get to visit New England in June when we helped our daughter and her husband move, we had only a couple of days to sight-see and I had to get back quickly to finish a book. There’s been no time for a real vacation, but my husband and I wanted to spend a few days somewhere with our son, who just finished a summer research job and starts college again on August 20.

I opted for Branson. It had been more than a year since we’d been, and I figured that was the perfect place for us to relax and just enjoy being together. We left Wednesday morning and returned Friday evening. We did some back-to-school shopping in the outlet malls (I grabbed a few bargains for myself), had a couple of very good meals (I didn’t wreck my diet too badly), played some miniature golf (the guys stomped me), and enjoyed dinner and a show on the Showboat Branson Belle. A friend’s lovely and talented daughter performs on the huge paddle-boat that cruises Lake Taneycomo during the show, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Broadway musical numbers, the requisite patriotic finale, and a ventriloquist/comedian who had all three of us laughing hysterically.

Mostly, I enjoyed revisiting the memories. We’ve made the drive through the beautiful Ozarks so many times that every landmark holds a memory. In and around the town are the places I visited with my parents and brothers, and later with my husband and children. I saw lots of grandparents there this time with their grandchildren — maybe I’ll have that pleasure someday. My mother particularly loved Branson. I smiled when I saw her favorite diner, her favorite theater, the place where she used to stay when she and her three sisters made their annual “sister trip” there. Our laughter-filled excursion on the showboat was on the second anniversary of my beloved mother’s death, another reason I needed the diversion. I know she would have approved our way of honoring her memory.

I got a couple of new ideas during my mini-vacation (and a few nice photos, which will probably pop up in this blog in the next few weeks). I’ve returned home refreshed and ready to get back to work. I hope you find time to recharge in your own way as summer winds down toward another school year and busy holiday season.

The back to school ads playing constantly on TV and showing up in my newspaper remind me that yet another summer is drawing to a close. My son begins his third year of college in two weeks. Football season starts at the end of the month. Time really does fly when you’re having fun — as were these summer-loving families recently at Little Rock’s Peabody Park in the fun River Market District.

It’s been an odd summer, weather-wise. Usually bone-dry and viciously hot, Little Rock had a near-record rainfall this July and the temperatures were generally lower than normal, though they’ve climbed back into the upper 90s for the beginning of August. My daughter in the Pacific Northwest — where most apartments, including her own, are not air conditioned — suffered through record-breaking heat for the past couple of weeks, while my daughter in New England shivered in cool July mornings as she reported to work. My heart goes out to the people in Louisville, Kentucky after I watched the news coverage today of a destructive flood. Thousands of books were destroyed in their flooded libraries — which, of course, hurts my book-loving soul.

Despite  the crazy weather, I hope you enjoy your remaining weeks of summer. This is a great time to curl up in a hammock or on a beach or in front of a fan or air conditioner with a good book. Which seems like a cue to insert a little blatant self promotion and remind you that DIAGNOSIS: DADDY, the first in my Doctors in Training series, is on the shelves now wherever paperback romances are sold!

There are lots of great books out there — romance, mystery, thrillers, sci-fi, literary fiction, non-fiction … pop into a bookstore or library while you’re doing your back-to-school shopping and treat yourself to a vacation between the covers.

Enter now!

I’m already receiving entries for this month’s giveaway of two connected paperback books, THE GROOM’S STAND-IN and THE BEST MAN’S PLAN. The drawing will be held on September 1. Click the Enter to Win! tab above for details.

The winner of the August 1 drawing for an autographed, hardcover, larger-print edition of LOVE LESSONS is Theresa Beers of California! Congratulations, Theresa. I’ll get that in the mail to you ASAP.

The prize for September is a set of two connected books, THE GROOM’S STAND-IN and THE BEST MAN’S PLAN. For details, click on the Enter to Win! tab above.

Remember, I destroy all entries at the end of the month, so you’ll have to enter again to be eligible for the new drawing. Everyone is eligible except immediate family and the past month’s winner.

When our daughter, Kerry, entered medical school five years ago this month, my husband and I knew it would be a difficult journey for her. Our older daughter was already deeply entrenched in graduate school, working toward her doctorate in microbiology, and we saw how difficult that was, so we thought we understood what medical school would be like. It turns out it was totally different. Not harder, per se, and certainly not easier than graduate school — but still overwhelmingly difficult, stressful and time consuming.

At Kerry’s orientation, we were a little taken aback to hear speeches from counselors about suicide and substance abuse prevention. Three upperclassmen gave talks about how difficult their studies had been, the havoc it had played on their relationships with friends and families, and how close they came to quitting. Kerry started looking a little nervous about what she’d gotten herself into. Watching her during the next four years as she suffered defeats and celebrated victories, as she tried to maintain her relationships with her family, her former friends, her new friends and the boyfriend who would become her husband after her second year, we were awed by her resilience and determination, and so proud of her when she finally held that diploma in her hands.

My family has long resigned themselves to being fair game when it comes to ideas for my books. They’ve even told me a few times, “Please don’t write this into your next story.” With Courtney’s assistance, I’ve written a couple of books about scientists and the frustrations of grad school and research. Now it was Kerry’s turn to provide me with inspiration.

I came up with the idea of a group of slightly-older students who bond together in a study group during their first year of school and remain friends throughout their training. I conceived of four books, each taking place during one of the years of medical school, and each telling the story of a romance for a member (or two) of the group, and the obstacles that medical school creates in addition to the usual challenges of a new relationship. My editor liked the idea.

DIAGNOSIS: DADDY is the first of those four books. An August release, it will be available for sale this week, wherever Silhouette Special Editions are sold, or through eHarlequin.com.

Connor Hayes is the first “hero” in the study group. Already stressed by the unexpected difficulty of his first year of classes, he is staggered when he finds himself responsible for the six-year-old daughter he never knew he had. His first reaction is that he will have to quit medical school to care for his daughter. That’s when his best friend and former coworker, Mia Doyle, steps in with a proposition: she’ll move in to serve as nanny to his daughter if he’ll let her live there rent-free so she can save money for her own post-graduate education. It seems like the perfect solution … until complications arise when both Mia and Connor find themselves growing too close for comfort in his little house. Can he find time to be a parent and a partner? And is Mia prepared to take on this ready-made family and possibly jeopardize her own long-planned future?

I’m thoroughly enjoying writing this series. Book two is already written (PRIVATE PARTNERS, available February, 2010) and I’m just getting started on book three (tentatively titled HEALING TOUCH). The best part about working on this series? All the input and suggestions from my daughter, now Dr. Kerry. She’s been so very helpful in reading the drafts and making sure I’m getting the facts straight (with a little leeway for fictional purposes, of course), just as Dr. Courtney did when I wrote about scientists (and I always reserve the right to utilize them again!).

My career has long been a family affair, since the girls hardly remember when I sold my first book and my son wasn’t born until after I was published. My husband is accustomed to being a sounding board, and to doing the cooking or eating sandwiches during deadline crunches, and my son is increasingly handy for consulting about computer issues. Even my very intelligent son-in-law is fair game — I have a feeling I’ll pick his brain soon for a future book. I am so grateful for my family — I don’t know what I would do without any of them.

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES!

The drawing for the hardcover release of LOVE LESSONS will be on August 1. All entries must be received by July 31. Click on the “Enter to Win!” tab above for details. Good luck!