I love my house, my friends, my family, and even (sometimes) my job, but oh, I did not want to come home. I wanted to buy the condo unit that we rented and just stay forever. Luckily, cooler heads and empty wallets prevailed.

I did come home to a bit of wonderful news. My Athena Force book CHARADE has been awarded a Reviewer's Choice Award by cataromance.com! What a thrill. I'm so grateful to the folks at cataromance, not just for the award, but for promoting category romance in general the way they do.

As for Maui, well, what can I say? We saw whales -- lots and lots of them. Right up close and personal, thanks to some very "crafty" sailors who took us right to the legal limit. The star of the show was a humpback who swam right up to our boat and jumped out of the water, giving us a show and more. Wow.

These whales were so plentiful, we could spot them from the balcony of our hotel!

I didn't snorkel. I love to swim, but with the fishes? Get real. I'm with Lucca Brazzi on that one. But the water was so clear, I could see a lot of what the snorkelers saw -- pretty fish, lovely coral, and some of the ugliest and most scary sea turtles you can imagine. Why anyone would want to be in the water with them is beyond me.

I had a great time. I'll try to post some whale pictures soon.

Kate

Well, we returned to California late Saturday night after driving virtually nonstop for 14 hours and over 900 miles. We had planned on spending the night in Reno, but once we started seeing signs for Sacramento, we couldn’t resist the lure of sleeping in our own bed. It was a good trip, but exhausting – a combination of long rides in the Highlander and long hikes in the parks.

So where did we go? ( Click here to read all about it )

We're headed for some beautiful territory -- the national parks of Utah. I'll blog about it when I get back.

Have a great week! ~ Kate

If you’re looking for a lovely, relaxing fishing village with great weather and stupendous scenery, I recommend Morro Bay, California. My husband and I spent a few days there last week and it was heaven. Just what we needed. We usually go to Monterey for these three-day escapes, and I adore it there too, but it can be so crowded in Monterey and Carmel. Morro Bay is a little more remote, and therefore, not quite as popular. But trust me – it’s gorgeous. I’m going to try and post a picture, but you probably won’t be able to see any detail. If you want to see a full-sized shot of Morro Bay’s famous rock – a huge volcanic plug that sits in the harbor – email me and I’ll send you one.

Writing news? I’m starting a new book today. I get shivers just thinking about it.

If you’re a follower of Silhouette’s Bombshell line, you’ve probably heard that the powers that be are re-thinking it. I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news. Will the line be cancelled? (oh no!) Will it be revamped to up the romance level? (Not my favorite alternative, but better than cancellation, and my latest one SPIN CONTROL is pretty romantic anyway, so what the heck…) Or will they start marketing it as a single title line? This is my wish, even if it means fewer books released per month. We’ve had such freedom within Bombshell to try new things, to let the story flow where it wants to flow, and I’d hate to lose that.

This waiting for news has been mildly disconcerting, creativity-wise, so the timing of our vacation was perfect. I was hoping I’d get the scoop before I started my next book, just in case. Luckily, I had a proposal for another type of book that was almost done, so I worked on that for a while. But I miss real writing too much, so today, I’m diving into my new WIP. It’s a non-bombshell, obviously, since there’s no point in working on NIGHT ARROW any more until I find out what’s going to happen.

Meanwhile, my author copies of SPIN CONTROL arrived in the mail! I like the look of it. The streak down the front is orange, not red the way it looked in the jpeg. But still, it’s okay.

BTYL, Kate

p.s. The major man-made tourist attraction in the Morro Bay area is Hearst Castle, one of the lavish homes built by William Randolph Hearst. I have to say that after seeing it, I didn’t much like the man. He apparently thought he “created” something impressive, but all he did was borrow from others, either by moving whole chunks of European works of art to his house, or copying. And meanwhile, some of the beauty was lost because he insisted on inappropriate juxtaposition of different works. Better to view them where the artist intended for them to be viewed, rather than to see them manipulated in the same way this man apparently manipulated people. He spent/wasted a huge fortune that could have been used to endow art or feed the hungry and homeless, and then he apparently patted himself on the back about what a visionary he was. And beloved too – I’m guessing not. The swimming pool was the one exception to the general garishness and waste – it’s stunning. If you’re in the area, you should see it. It’s so tempting to jump right in, but the state park police are everywhere, so you can’t.

That’s my Hearst Castle report!