My son had this past Friday off from school. Imagine me, standing before the calendar and thinking to myself, “Only two weeks into school and already the teachers are shipping them home?” Haven’t they a care for my poor nerves? to quote the always quotable Mrs. Bennett. And since it was only the littlest hero and me at home, we decided to bake cookies. He loves the measuring and the mixing, and we all love cookies, so it’s a win all over the house. The first step was the debate over what sort of cookies to make: Chocolate chip? No, Nick doesn’t like those. Sugar cookies? No, not Dad’s favorite. Quite frankly, I’ve never met a cookie I’d turn down, but go figure that my house of men are picky about such simple things. We finally settled upon an old favorite recipe for gingersnaps, which everyone in the house loves but then we had to make sure we had all the ingredients. And it was about then, as I was hunting around the cupboard for molasses, that I realized how much baking cookies for one’s family is like writing romance novels for your fans. I smiled as I pulled out…

My trip to California (and back to Texas) is over. On one hand I say thank goodness, on the other, I miss the cool air of Northern California. According to husband it was in the 100s while I was gone. It’s “cooled” down to just 100 since I’ve been home. Just call me “bringer of cool temps” LOL Gwen and I saw lots of the country on our twelve day adventure, and it’s a BIG country if you were in any doubt. Still many many miles of beautiful vistas, no houses or lights and awe-inspiring landscapes! It nourished my soul to be able to see it closer than 40,000 feet through a small dirty porthole. Our main objective on this trip was the annual Romance Writers of America convention in San Francisco. We arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon and spent the rest of day relaxing and getting ready to go-go-go. We closed down on Saturday night after FOUR JAM PACKED DAYS!!! I’m not sure how to cover it all, so I’ll just try to hit some of the highlights. Fresh Fiction staff – Sara, Gwen, Suan, Mindy, Faye, TanzeyOriginally uploaded by freshfiction Wednesday, July 30th. The Fresh Fiction…