Today is the big day when I give my keynote address to the Romance Writers of America conference in Reno. Being the keynote speaker is one of the highest honors of my writing career, and I've worked hard to make it a special speech. My son Dale will be in the audience. I plan to have him stand up when I tell about my first sale–which was an anecdote about him–for which I received five incredible dollars. That sale launched my career.

Yesterday I practiced my power schmoozing techniques at the librarians' luncheon and at the huge, multi-author signing in the evening, which benefits literacy charities. The conference is in full swing now and I'm looking forward to all the activities. I'll check back again tomorrow.

Reno continues to be hot, hot, hot! But that didn't stop friends and I from exploring Virginia City, where we visited the Bucket of Blood Saloon and bought the T-shirt to tell about it!

From the Bucket of Blood we trudged up a hot, dusty hill to explore the cemetery and view the historic tombstones. Scattered in the cemetery we found three to four graves that appeared to have crumpled, wooden bed frames around them, where, apparently, people had been buried in their beds! Or perhaps this is an Old West tradition that has escaped me.

The day ended up with a session at the Texas Tea slot machine. There was no crude oil for me this day.

Wayne and I are in sunny Reno (OK– hot, hot, hot, Reno!), although I haven't been able to pry him away from the poker table to do anything outside yet. We're here for the big Romance Writers of America annual conference. Because I'm one of the featured speakers, we are in a suite, which is spoiling me for traveling with Wayne. I don't like to stay anywhere without room service and valet; Wayne doesn't like to stay anywhere with them, although I think he's coming around.

The family wedding in Spokane was lovely. It's hard to remember that we were once that young, but it's easy to remember that we were that much in love. I'll check in tomorrow. Today I have a newspaper interview and meetings with friends.

My swimming friends and I have been in a quandary. We simply couldn't understand why it is, when we exercise four and five times a week, we haven't lost weight.

I think I've figured out what we're doing wrong. After I swim my half mile, I power walk with my friends around the shallow end of the pool and, get this . . . we exchange recipes. Twice this week, I've raced home from the pool and jotted down a recipe one of the gals shared so I wouldn't forget any of the ingredients. Then after work, I stop off at the grocery, pick up what I need, and cook. Do you see where I'm going with this? Any good I did exercising was quickly negated by yellow cake filled with a pudding and cream cheese mixture, frosted with whipped topping and shaved chocolate on the top. I'm thinking that, just maybe, I should start wearing ear plugs.

Wayne brought the suitcases up from the basement this morning. It seems as though we just put them away from the Alaska trip, and here we are, heading out again!

On Friday we’re leaving for a family wedding in Spokane and to visit with Wayne’s mom in Colville. From there, we're driving to Reno, Nevada, for the 25th annual Romance Writers' of America conference (taking place July 27-30). I have the pleasure of giving the keynote address, which is one of the highest honors of my career.

If you’re in Reno, be sure to drop by for the massive booksigning held on Wednesday, July 27, at 5:30 p.m. in the Reno Hilton. I’ll be joining my fellow authors to sign books donated by publishers with the proceeds of the sales going to literacy charities.

Two of my children will be joining us at the conference. Jody, our oldest daughter, will be there for pure fun. Dale (my youngest) and his wife Laurie, are able to arrive early enough to hear my speech. I owe the sale of my first published work to my youngest son and thought he should be there to stand up and take a bow. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, so stay tuned . . .

Oh, and we've decided on a new car! It's a baby white Ford with lots of bells and whistles.

Wayne and I are car shopping. Wayne is in hog heaven, wheeling and dealing with the dealerships. Have you ever noticed that the only shopping men enjoy is the really big ticket items? There is no way I could get Wayne into a mall—not if my life depended on it. He gets dizzy and starts to hyperventilate the minute he steps inside the entrance. To be fair, I get dizzy, too, but it's from the adrenalin rush that comes over me when I see all those sale signs. My credit card starts to hum and . . .

All right, back to the car. This seems to be an especially good time to buy, so we are. But really, I just can't understand why there's that much to discuss. Other than color, just how many decisions are there? I'll let you know tomorrow just what we decide on and what color.

I've decided those skinny, high-priced fashion models don't make near enough money for what they do. I'm serious. Yesterday I did a photo shoot to go along with an upcoming Guideposts magazine article. Doesn't that sound glamorous? Trust me, it wasn't. For three and a half hours Paul Souders, a freelance photographer, snapped pictures of me in a variety of poses. You read that right – three-and-a-half hours. I was exhausted by the time he finished.

This is for the November issue, so I wore winter clothes, on what proved to be the hottest day of July thus far. That's not the kicker, though. Paul, who is funny and charming, is a wild life photographer. He's often in Africa and has carted his camera on all seven continents. I assured him I'm pretty tame. I'm telling you, I have a whole new appreciation for those models. It's downright hard to smile that much for that long. Now if only Paul could make me look that skinny.

I had a great meeting with a local readers' group yesterday afternoon. One of the gals in the group (Kathy) was kind enough to choose THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET for their June read. The leader of this fun band (Kathleen) contacted me, and we set up a tea here in Port Orchard. I love meeting you, my readers, and I listen to what you have to say. It was because of the positive feedback I received from you that I wrote the sequel to THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET. It's because of your comments and suggestions following A GOOD YARN that I'll be returning to Blossom Street once again, and probably once more after that.

It was a rare treat to meet with a readers' group, although I've done plenty of phone "visits" with groups across the country. This particular group was special, though. The ladies were fun and witty, and besides that, they fed me.

I think I must be coming down with something. After a completely delightful day with my granddaughter, which included a trip to the yarn store, lunch, and a Costco run, I went home and cleaned house. You read that right – I actually went on a cleaning binge.

I started in the den, which is stacked with books, and migrated downstairs to my yarn room, stopping only when Wayne started to whine about dinner. (Have you ever noticed that men tend to do that? We spoil them and before you know it, they expect regular meals.) Then I was back downstairs, sorting, organizing, and playing with yarn the way I used to do with my dolls when I was a kid. Before I even knew it, the night was gone. As I said, I think this is a rare form of flu bug.

I'm back! I know I said that yesterday, and physically, I was home; but mentally, I was still on the cruise ship. I swear to you, this office building had a gentle rock to it. It swayed ever so slightly.

This morning, however, after swimming and my usual morning routine, I'm really back. I'm so far back that I'm taking my granddaughter, Maddy, to lunch and shopping. There's no need to rush into another writing project. Not when I can spend time with my Maddy Rose.

We're off to the yarn store. I'm knitting her a sweater for the first day of kindergarten, and she's choosing the colors, of which there are five or six. (This is an ambitious project!) Tomorrow, I might actually be back enough to start writing again, but as I said earlier, there's no reason to rush.