The portion of the longest yard sale I visited was near Chattanooga, TN. While in the area I decided to do the “tourist” thing and visit Lookout Mountain. Taking the Incline Railway to the top was so fun. What breathtaking views! In spite of the clouds you could see for miles.

In addition to Lookout Mountain I wandered around their fabulous downtown area. Who knew Chattanooga is where they produce Moon Pies? So I had to visit the Moon Pie General Store and purchase a “redneck six pack” which consists of four Moon Pies and two RC Coca Colas. When I presented it to Mr. B he laughed and said how many memories it brought back from his childhood.

Last week I had the privilege of being one of a four person panel at the Lexington Library in Lexington, SC.  One of the librarians asked the Lowcountry RWA chapter (I am the secretary of said chapter) if we would present a program on writing and publishing. Naturally we accepted and spent a couple of hours last week talking about our journey from writing to publishing. The other three members are (left to right) Synithia Williams, Susan Craft and Paula Benson. I’m on the far right. As the only unpublished author I talked about my research into the world of self-publishing. We had a turn-out of more than thirty people and we stayed until the library closed. There were lots of questions so I believe it to be a huge success.

Have you heard about the Longest Yard Sale? It happens every year in early August. It follows highway 127 from Minnesota to Alabama which is over 600 miles! Seven years ago I went with my daughter to a portion near Chattanooga, TN.  We had a great time buying a rocking horse, some Christmas tins and Legos for my one grandchild. I now have four grandchildren and the Legos have been enjoyed by all of them. This year my sister retired and one thing she wanted to do was attend the Yard Sale. She flew to Atlanta where I picked her up and drove up to Chattanooga. In spite of the rain we had a great day. During my first trip I bought some metal pumpkins for outdoor decorations during the fall. The same vendor had more options available this year so I added a metal turkey to the set. My sister couldn’t pass them up either and also bought a turkey and two pumpkins. Her purchases will reside in my garage until next spring when she drives here and can take them home. Thought you might enjoy a picture of the trio.

The turkey is also a planter so I intend to find the perfect mum to brighten it up.

Thought you would enjoy more pictures from my trip to NYC where I attended the 2015 National Romance Writers of America Conference. There were so many workshops it was hard to decide which ones to attend while in NYC and which ones I would listen to later. Great decision on my part to order the recordings of the workshops so I could make the most of the experience.

The Romance Writers of American National conference in NYC wasn’t all work and no play. Speaking of plays, yes, I did see a Broadway musical. Wicked!  What fabulous costumes. Once the play started we were not allowed to take photos so all I can show you is the curtain which is pretty spectacular.

I recently attended the Romance Writers of America Conference in New York City. This was my first time at the national conference. What an information overload! I went to lots of workshops which included learning more about the craft of writing and how to market my books once they’ve been published. With social media reaching out to so many people even the traditional publishers expect each writer to market their own books.

Arriving three days before the conference allowed me the pleasure of seeing some of the tourist sites in New York. My favorite was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.