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So, my love/hate relationship with my laptop continues. I booted up one morning last week to continue writing my new Silhouette Special Edition … and the hard drive crashed. Dead. My computer guy was unable to even spin it to retrieve any information.

It’s the first time in my 23 years of computer ownership that I’ve ever had a hard drive crash (knock wood). People had warned me. I’d heard blood-curdling stories about entire manuscripts lost, precious family photos destroyed, general rending of clothing and tearing of hair. But it had never happened to me, even on a couple of computers that got pretty old, in computer years, before I replaced them. I get lazy about backing up — too busy, or I forget or I tell myself I’ll do it tomorrow — and I know I’ve pressed my luck too many times when a crash would have been disastrous.

Fortunately, when my keyboard had to be replaced a few weeks ago, I backed up my entire computer to an external hard drive, just in case. So, all I lost in this crash were a few photos I’d taken since — two of which I really hated to lose, my husband and our son sitting on a little wooden bridge over the creek we hiked beside during spring break — and the first chapter of my new book. Grr. I hate losing pages. As I try to remember what I’d written before and recreate the scenes, I’m always convinced that those lost pages were the best I’d ever written. If only I could remember exactly the phrases and word choices I’d used before … If only I’d taken a few minutes to stick a flash drive into a USB slot and back up every evening.

I was able to buy a new, much larger hard drive for a very good price on-line, with free, very fast delivery, so the machine wasn’t down long. I’ve spent the past two days trying to get the computer restored to the way I had it before. Every program had to be reloaded, downloaded, updated, etc. I love my sidebar, which I keep on top at all times, so that had to be set up just so again. My Word settings, about which I am very particular, are almost back to normal. Now if only I can get my iTunes library reloaded …

So, I’m now back at work on my WIP (work in progress). I’ve been writing a little each day on my husband’s old dinosaur computer while I waited to get my own back up and running. And for now, I’ve been religious about backing up every day when I finish writing. I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get lazy again. Have you backed up your important family photos and other files that are important to you? Crashes happen! But the next thing that goes wrong with this only 2-year-old laptop — and that tossing out the window thing just might be the answer, after all.

Oh, by the way — the photo at the top? One of the photos from my Memphis zoo trip I managed to save (I lost all the ones from my two recent hiking outings with my son, darn it). I think this poor tiger looks like he’s been battling technology and lost. It drove him to drink (see the empty keg in the water?). Or maybe I’m just making up stories again …

Our son was home from college for spring break this past week, so I took the week off from writing. The weather wasn’t great during the week, but we had a nice time, anyway, and managed one day of hiking near the Little Red River in Heber Springs, Arkansas. My husband and I enjoyed spending that time with our son.

Today I started a new book, the second in my Doctors in Training series for Silhouette Special Edition. The first book of the series, DIAGNOSIS: DADDY, will be in the stores in August, 2009. It introduces a close-knit group of five medical students, and the series will follow them through all four years of medical school, each book covering a different year — and a new romance, of course. The book I began today, PRIVATE PRACTICE, takes place during second year — and many thanks to my almost-doctor-daughter, Kerry, for answering lots of questions yesterday about that grueling schedule! We both know there will be more questions as I get further into the story.

Starting a new book is always a challenge. I don’t really know these people yet, though my heroine, Anne, was introduced in the first book. But now I’m delving more deeply into her life. Her demanding family of overachievers. Her hopes and dreams and fears. And I’m getting to know the hero, Liam. Who is he? What’s he like? What does he want more than anything in the world — and what’s keeping him from obtaining it?

Every romance novel has a conflict. Some people think conflict means fighting. I’ve read a few books in which the couples fight all the way through, and then suddenly declare their undying love at the end. Those stories didn’t work for me. I have to see them falling in love, despite their differences. I have to believe that this couple will beat the odds and stay together for a lifetime after the story ends. Conflict, in a romance, is the obstacle that threatens to keep the couple apart — whether it’s an external conflict (the family feud in Romeo and Juliet, for example) or internal (the differing personalities in The Taming of the Shrew), to put it very simply.

So my challenge now is to figure out what the conflict is between Anne and Liam and then help them solve it in such a way that the reader wonders for a while if they’ll ever overcome their problems. When they do, the reader should be pleased and satisfied. One of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz, once wrote that the writer should take away everything the protagonist cares about — and then threaten to take away even more, so that the stakes in the story are very high and the reader becomes invested in wanting that person to succeed and find ultimate satisfaction. I’m sure I’ve accomplished that better in some books than others, but it is always my goal to make the reader care about my characters, to root for them, and to want them to win.

I’m always thrilled to receive letters from readers telling me they enjoyed a book and loved the characters. I frequently get letters asking for stories about secondary characters in my books. The reader feels as though she has come to know that person and wants to learn more about his or her life and future romance. One of my favorite letters was from a reader who apologized for asking, but she just had to know — did the couple in my book have a girl or a boy? (I left the heroine pregnant at the end of the book.) I knew then that I had accomplished my goal of bringing the characters to life, at least for that reader. (And by the way, they had a boy. I knew that already, because the characters become real for me, too, as I accompany them through their journeys).

So now it’s back to work. I know what Anne wants and what’s holding her back — but I’m still a little puzzled about Liam’s hopes and fears. I’m sure he’ll let me know once I immerse myself in his story and listen to him.

By the way, the first quarter of 2009 is almost behind us now. Have you scheduled your annual physical? A breast exam, if you are a woman over 40, or younger with a strong family history of breast cancer? A colonoscopy, if you are 50 or over, or have a family history of colon cancer? Our fight against cancer continues, and the best weapons in our arsenal are prevention and early detection. Charge!

Harlequin is celebrating their sixtieth anniversary this year. That’s a lot of years — and a lot of great books. To mark the occasion, they are giving away 16 free books to download at HarlequinCelebrates.com (a $60 value). Check it out!

I still remember the very first Harlequin Romance I read. I found it in my mother’s treasured library of creased and dog-eared paperbacks. It was called FLOWERING WILDERNESS by Kathryn Blair, a 1967 release. I was probably in my early teens, already a voracious reader, and I’d read all own books (many of them repeatedly) and was looking for something new to read, and she handed me that one.

I fell in love. With the hero. With the exotic setting. With the romance genre. True, the story would seem very dated now. The hero was so alpha he’d be considered a chauvinistic jerk now — but she made me love him, anyway. She used humor; I still remember a line that made me laugh out loud, though it wouldn’t seem funny to you if I quoted it out of context. The heroine would seem a bit too angsty and dependent by today’s standards, but she managed to stand up for herself, anyway, and get what she wanted by the end of the story. By the end of that book, not only was I a confirmed Harlequin reader, I dreamed of someday writing for them.

Selling my first book to Harlequin Temptation in 1987 was the culmination of that longtime goal. After writing more than 90 books for Harlequin/Silhouette, I am still so proud to be a part of their long and distinguished history.

As for these book downloads — well, I’m still adjusting to the idea of reading books on a screen. I love the feel of a book, either hardcover or paperback, in my hands. I love seeing my many “keepers” with their colorful covers on my shelves. I sit at a computer for so many hours a day that the thought of doing all my reading on screen makes me twitch a little, I confess.

And yet, I can see the advantages of electronic readers like the Kindle. To be able to download several books for a trip, especially now when baggage space is at such a premium, would be a definite advantage. And my books do take a lot of space in my home. It would be nice to be able to increase the font for books that have small print (something that bothers me more as I age, I hate to admit). My son has an iPod Touch. Now that he’s discovered he can download books from sites like Amazon, he’s been reading more. His iPod is always handy, always available when he has a few spare minutes, which means the book he is reading is always at hand. He’s even discussed some of the books he’s reading with me. Anything that keeps our technology-saavy young people reading is a good thing in my opinion. I’m beginning to think I might like an electronic reader, myself, though I’m not planning to purchase one at the moment.

There are quite a few free book download offers. From Harlequin and other publishers giving away samples of their offerings in hopes that you’ll come back for more in the future. From places like Amazon offering older books that are considered public domain. The prices of legal downloads are very reasonable, usually less than ten dollars, which is often less than the same book in hard copy.

I hope you’ll take advantage of Harlequin’s free download offer of 16 great romances from some of their most popular authors. Check out eHarlequin.com for other offers and news. It’s a fun site.

I have my own contribution to the big anniversary coming out in June, a short story in an anthology with two other authors. I’ll tell you more about it as the publishing date nears (I haven’t even seen the cover yet. Can’t wait!). In the meantime, happy 60th anniversary, Harlequin.

On my to-do list for today: Edit the book I finished at ten o’clock last night after a weekend marathon of writing. Proofread the galley of the Silhouette Special Edition that will be on the shelves in August. Pay bills, mail my taxes, make a doctor’s appointment for my son, pick up my son’s contact lenses, take back a shirt I bought without trying it on, clean the house I neglected last week while I wrote. Welcome my new great-niece to the world. Oh, and I should probably update my blog. Check.

Just as I find myself growing overwhelmed, I remind myself that I used to do all that with three kids still living at home, which added the duties of nursemaid, chauffeur, drama-club, choir and drill team booster. All while writing full-time and belonging to several community organizations. How did it ever all get done?

Our lives can too easily spin out of control. We can get so busy that the stress consumes us, resulting in health problems, sleep problems, depression and anxiety. I’ve been as guilty as anyone of forgetting to take the time to breathe, to enjoy. Of letting the days pass by in a blur of frantic activity, so that the time is gone before I realize it, and I’ve missed out on memories that should have been savored.

Looking at that to-do list again, I see only one item that really stands out as important. The other things will get done, eventually, but this is the only first day of life for my newest great-niece, Cassidy Rae Harrington. So, I’ll take the time now to welcome her, and to send my love and congratulations to my niece, Amanda, and her husband, Jamie. To Cassidy’s big sister, Marrissa, and to proud grandparents, Dennis and Lisa, welcoming their twelfth grandchild.

May you each find time in your very busy lives to stop and savor the truly special moments.

It was cloudy, but unseasonably warm in central Arkansas yesterday, nearly 80 degrees. When another plan fell through, my son and I decided impulsively to take a walk on a local hiking trail near Pinnacle Mountain. Because it was spur of the moment, I wasn’t really dressed for a hike — Clarks clogs and uneven ground not being the best combination — but I’m always up for a stroll through the woods. And a chance to spend time with my son.

We had a good time. The six-foot-one, 20 year old college sophomore and I laughed about some of the walks we had taken when he was little. Hikes with his dad and sisters along, back when my son was more interested in finding the “perfect” stick than in admiring the beauties of nature. His Sketchers being more hiking-friendly than my clogs, he bounded up the rocks, peered over the cliffsides, and pointed out some of the distant scenery along the Arkansas River.

Though the path we chose wasn’t crowded, we saw a few other families enjoying the warmth, anticipating spring. Two grandparents plugged quarters into a viewing telescope for their grandchildren to watch a flock (I guess that would be a gaggle) of geese on the water far below. A woman begged her two daughters to “act like you love each other” so she could take a picture of them together. Another woman foot-propelled a rented paddle boat across the emerald green water of the pond at the top of this post while her young daughter “paddled” with a long stick. I wanted to remind them all to treasure those moments.

When we’re young, the adults tell us that the years pass more quickly as we age. I’ve discovered that it isn’t my own aging that makes the years pass too quickly, but that of my children. One lives 2300 miles away now. Another is married and will soon move away, herself — possibly to the opposite coast from her older sister. It won’t be long before my son will be too busy with his own career to spend a day in the woods with his mom. I’m going to enjoy every moment I have with him in the meantime. I’m still close with all of my children, still talk to each one almost every day — but it’s not the same as when we all lived under the same roof and did almost everything together. I want to remind myself often to savor every chance I do have to spend with them. And to be grateful for all the memories.

Have you had a perfect moment lately? I hope the week to come brings more — and that you’ll find the time to appreciate each one.