All kinds of new things this year!

Last year, I neglected this poor blog entirely too much. And I apologize. Every year I write goals for myself, not resolutions, attainable goals. One of this year's goals is to update this page more often and find some awesome content for y'all!

As for the changes and goals for this year? Last year, I attended quite a few conventions and book signings. While I still intend on doing a few, I only plan on doing one that is not local and that will be CIL-Con in Mattoon, IL.Otherwise, I'm going to stick closer to home this year. Why, you ask?

My husband and I have decided to become foster parents. I'd done it in the past, but my license expired about two or three years ago. We'll be going through the classes starting this spring. We've chosen to do elevated needs, which can also be considered special needs. Since I've raised my own special needs kids, as well as worked with both special needs adults and kids, we feel extremely comfortable and confident. While previously I'd chosen to work with the teens, this time, we're focusing on newborns through six years old. Because I still have two teens, I didn't want the risk of any accusations or hardships on my own kids.

The only thing making me nervous is making sure I have everything we need. A lot of these kids come with little to nothing. I already found a toddler car seat, but I still need an infant seat, a booster seat, a crib, and some varying sizes of clothing in case they come with nothing. I'm extremely excited, and extremely nervous.

As far as my professional career, I still plan on writing. I figure I wrote when I watched four toddler boys, I can write with little ones living here. I put out my sixth book on December 30th and plan on putting out at least three more books this year. At least, that's my goal. I also plan on becoming better at marketing myself. I'm excellent at marketing for anyone else; time to work for myself just as hard. So, having said that, I'll be including links to my books on this blog, as well as my website, www.clparks.net.

That's all I have for you today, but keep your eyes open for new posts on cooking, cleaning, and being a housewife. After all, that is my primary job and I'm damn proud of it.

I'm a Glamorous Author....aren't we all?

When I was a little girl I read Charlotte's Web; it devastated me. Why the HELL did they have to kill Charlotte? (Mind you, I've always been terrified of spiders, yet Charlotte was different somehow) At six years old I rewrote the ending of one of the most beloved books. Okay, it wasn't very good, somewhere along the lines of "Charlotte lives and her babies live and they all stay with Wilbur forever and no body kills Wilbur." Oh, and it was very misspelled - give me some slack, I was six!

Fast forward thirty years and I'm still writing. Gotta tell you, my image of a professional writer is so much different than reality. Do you remember seeing the movie She-Devil with Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep? Okay, maybe you didn't see it, as most with any taste in movies laugh at me when I talk about it. There's a point in bringing it up. Meryl Streep is a romance writer in this movie, and has a very specific image. This is what most people picture when they think of writers:

Pink hat, pink clothing, pink laptop, and iced drink at hand. I mean, isn't this how EVERY writer looks while working? Ha...HA.....HAHAHAHA! You want to see a little reality?


Yes, that's me working on my latest book. No zooming in!



The reality is we (as in those of us who work from home) tend to stay in our pajamas, we go hours into the day without brushing our hair, and so many of us write wherever we're comfortable. I'll spend a few hours like I am in this pic, then flip to another couch. At some point the laptop will end up on the coffee table with me hunching over it, before I'll finally give up and have to walk around to stretch out my back. Between the wrist issues and the neck and back pain, this is a very NOT glamorous job! lol

There's a site on the web by Paige Cuccaro who has one of the coolest pages. If you haven't checked out The Writers Cave you need to head over there now! Seriously...now....GO! I'll be here when you get back. Good? Did you like it? I TOLD you so! Wow...I just realized I not only talk to myself, and to my fictional characters, but now I'm talking to my readers on the blog like they can hear me.

Anyway, I would love to see you writing. If you're a reader, send me a pic of you reading. Do you have a specific place you work/read? Are you only comfortable once you have your coffee, cigarettes, chocolate, etc?