Golden Heart, etc.

I’m entering the Golden Heart contest this year. This is Romance Writers of America’s biggest contest for unpublished writers. It has 1000 entries this year, which is the limit. I’m glad I sent my entry form in early. At the moment, I am printing out my pages so I can mail them in a day or two. The entry consists of 6 paper copies of the first 55 pages of the manuscript, including an up to 15 page synopsis, and a copy of the completed manuscript, on disk, CD or paper. I’ll also be judging in a different category.

What am I reading?
I just finished reading a medieval historical romance called Dryden’s Bride by Margo Maguire. It is a Harlequin Historical from the year 2000. Why am I reading such an old book? It was in my TBR stack, I read the back and it sounded interesting. A knight with a dark soul. Yeah, I can get into that. I really loved the hero who'd been tortured and wore an eyepatch. I’m trying to narrow down my TBR stack because I’m sure at the moment it contains well over 200 books. I would like to get it down to 100 at least, because let me be honest with myself, how can I ever read that many books? I would love to read them all but I simply don’t have time, considering the amount of time I spend writing.

What am I watching?
Braveheart - the most famous of all Scottish historical movies. We’ve all seen it before, of course. I wanted to watch it again and see what I’d forgotten. I remembered the violence. :-) I had to fast-forward through those parts. With a DVD I still saw enough to know what happened. I really hate the part where William’s wife is murdered. Heart-wrenching. I always cry during the part where, as children at the beginning, she gives him a thistle at the burial of his father. There are many, many things to love about the film--the beautiful landscapes, the bravery and determination of the Scotsmen, the drama, action, adventure, humor and emotion, men in kilts, Mel Gibson. Sigh.

Speaking of thistles...have you ever seen a white one? I hadn’t, but I discovered this one (pictured above) while I was out walking one day. I seriously have not altered this picture in any way, though I confess I did some of my earlier ones to see if you were paying attention. (Blue and purple leaves, haha! ;-))