After many months, I've decided to update my page. Actually, thanks to April mentioning that it hadn't been updated in a while, I started feeling guilty. Maybe I've been spending too much time on Facebook!

Anyway, I've added some new photos. For the wedding photos and Belize album you'll need to hop over to Facebook, though. For some reason, My Space takes me forever to load. Which is why I've been negligent.

The past year has been a blur. Mostly work. But I'll update you since my last post.

* Robin and Mike had a miscarriage in early January. But are trying once again to add a Cieszinski to the family!

*Matt and Alli got married in May, in a beautiful ceremony. 

*I celebrated my 50th birthday in August.

*Jeff celebrated his one year anniversary of being alive after his heart attack / heart surgery. 

*Matt and Alli found out they are pregnant and will have a baby the week of their first anniversary!

*Molly and April will be coming home in Spring, after living in East Texas for way too long.

*I finished my first attempt at quilting (pictures also on Facebook).

*Maybe I'll get back to writing soon.

We've had a year of tremendous blessings so far. Can't wait to see what's in store for us!!!

Peace and hugs

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since August!! But it's been quite an eventful few months.

Suffice it to say:

* Jeff had a heart attack and open heart surgery
* We bought a new house and moved
* We decided to keep the old house and lease it -- we're landlords
* Robin was scheduled for surgery, but it was cancelled becaused she's PREGNANT

So in 2008 we:

* Look forward to our trip to Belize, since our passports finally came through
* Can't wait for Matt & Alli's May wedding
* Will Summer on a caribbean cruise with my cousin and her family
* Will welcome a GRANDBABY in August or September

I have actually gotten back to writing. Not my mystery manuscript, but a romance. I plan on getting back to the mystery, but who knows when.

I also gave up my job as co-chair for the MWASW conference Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats. I just haven't been able to concentrate and Mike will do a great job without me. But I definitely plan to attend because the line up is terrific -- Jan Burke and Tony Hillerman!

Well, I guess that's a rap for today. 

Cindy 

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer 12 years ago, my life and the lives of my children were forever changed. My priorities weren't the same, and I definitely learned to NOT sweat the small stuff. The kids dealt with my mortality in their own ways -- Robin's way was detailed in our book IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU:a mother & daughter's journey. Matt kept it inside.

Now the tables have turned on  me. I'm not worrying about my mortality this time, but my husband's. He had a heart attack a week ago, then a sextuple bypass last Thursday. He's doing wonderfully, but I keep thinking "I was 'this close' to losing him." He's my best friend. And although I know I could live without him, I would've pulled myself together and gone on, I don't want to. 

Where will life take us now? Will I be afraid for him when we're not together? Can I go back to work without wondering if he needs me to help him? And how do I let him know how much he means to me without getting all teary-faced all the time.

I suppose I'll figure this all out over the next few weeks. Milloins of people go through this all the time and make it just fine. But it gives me something to reflect on. Something else to keep me from completing my manuscript...

Cindy

I want to welcome some new friends from various breast cancer groups. I've been cancer free for 12 years; just had a mammogram last week and it was fine. It was also fast -- having only one breast (the other was reconstructed and they don't consider it real..) means the exam only takes half the time.

My daughter and I co-wrote a book about how my breast cancer affected her --" IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU:a mother & daughter's journey through cancer." She was a teenager when I was diagnosed, and she had a difficult, traumatic time dealing with my cancer; the thing was, we didn't realize how it was affecting her until after my surgeries and I was well.

Anyway, if you know of anyone in the same position, you may want to direct them to our website - www.notmymom.com

I am so blessed to be cancer free, and doubly blessed that Robin has gotten over her depression. To be able to co-write the book with her was healing and enjoyable.

Cindy

Silly me - I forgot to mention that the re-release of FAMILY AFFAIR (the second of my Death Warmed Over series) is out and is now on Amazon!

Take a look. Buy the book!

Thanks,
Cindy

It's been FOREVER since I've posted. For some reason I haven't been in the mood to get on the computer when I get home from work. I haven't even started working on the manuscript of MAD MOMS again -- which I PROMISED myself I would do as soon as the writing conference was over with.

By the way, the conference Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats was a smashing success. I got to visit with a couple of my favorite authors: Jerrilyn Farmer (cozy mysteries) and David Morrell (of RAMBO fame). They gave some wonderfully encouraging talks to everyone present. I also spent some quality time with the agent Jane Dystel. So as soon as I can get my rear in gear and finish my draft she'll read it.

Of course the day after the conference I was already emailing guests for next year's event. That's okay. It was fun and it helped a lot of writers. And before I forget --- a HUGE thank you to Mike and Leah Kirkpatrick for co-chairing the event!!!! We did good.

My Dad's 80th birthday is next month. We're trying to pull off a surprise project and create an "Ernest Godwin - This Is Your Life" kind of book for him. I'm having a hard time tracking down friends and family to pitch in a paragraph. So Mike Partain, Sharon Jennings Caraway, Steve & Diana Hatfield, and Hal & Niecie Loney, if you're out there and want to contribute a memory I'd love to have it!

My friends from YEARS AGO have been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe it's because a couple funerals made me think about those who were so important in my life. I hope I told them! It's probably just as well I don't have contact information for a lot of them -- they'd probably get these blabbering emails from me. I don't get sentimental too often, in fact I'm pretty much silly and NOT serious. But every once in a while my Effexor level gets out of whack and I get a case of the teary eyes, wondering if I made amends for past misgivings and if I let my friends truly know what a difference they made and how they are always in my heart.

From this post you're probably thinking I should have no problem going back to my mystery manuscript and the various morbidities it entails. But my mind is too cluttered right now. The holiday tomorrow should be a tremendous help; I should be able to read to my heart's content and empty my mind (which is how I like it...).

In fact, I think I'll sign off, tuck myself in bed, and go finish "Curiosity Killed The Cat Sitter" right now. 

Cindy

That is indeed the question.

I remember last year's MWA-SW conference, when I met with the agent and talked to her about a book I was writing. I was so excited, the words were flying off the keyboard. She even asked to see it when it was completed.

This year's conference is coming up next month - and I still haven't completed the manuscript that I was about 75 pages into eleven months ago. Although, I've added a couple more chapters to it in the past year (she said with embarrassment)

My excuses for not writing have been good, too. Until January I used: being the president of the SW chapter of Mystery Writers of America takes a lot of my time and attention. Not to mention how busy I've been co-chairing the 2007 Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats conference. And, of course, the old standby is: I have a full-time day job that drains all my creativity. Basically, though, I just haven't FELT IT.

Now, I will add that in the past year I have published the breast cancer book I co-wrote with my daughter. And I re-released DEATH WARMED OVER, after getting the rights back from my previous publisher. And the second book of the mystery series, FAMILY AFFAIR, will be re-released next month. So I guess I haven't really been sitting idle.

How do you motivate your writing, though?

Any tips?

My plans, or I'll commit and go ahead and say GOALS, are to work diligently over the next month to see how much I can accomplish before the June 15th conference -- maybe show my synopsis to the agent and editor who are attending -- with a self-imposed deadline for completion of August 8th (my birthday).  I have a one week vacation on a basically deserted island between now and then so I should be able to meet this goal.

To hold me accountable to this goal I'm going to go ahead and register for next year's Malice - to get back on the mystery fan radar, and register for the 2009 Left Coast Crime conference - feeling sure my unfinished manuscript will months away from release by then. (okay, the LCC thing, it's because I want to go back to Hawaii; the release would just be a BIG bonus)

Check back often to see my page posting!

As of today, I am on page 98 of my MAD MOMS IN MINIVANS series.

Sincerely,
Cindy Daniel
the author of Mad Mom's In Minivans; to be released in 2009
(she said with aplomb)

A special thanks to the Texas Writers Organization in Tyler; I was their guest speaker yesterday, and had a wonderful time.

It always invigorates me to talk to writers who are actively pursuing their dream. I guess it validates me as a writer, to know I can share information with them that may possibly help them on their own road to publishing.

It's also a good exercise for me to practice what I preach. Go back to the basics of writing, remember what first motivated me, and get back to typing.

And, of course, it's ALWAYS nice to sell books and make new fans. However, selling books now is doubly satisfying because I can share the story of  my breast cancer experience with others and how it affected my daughter. It tooks several years to get that book out, but it was worth it -- hopefully each book sold will make dealing with cancer a little easier for  a young girl or her mother.

So to everyone that listens to me talk about writing, and to all those who buy my books - THANK YOU. If you enjoy my books - let me know, tell others, and keep me writing. If you don't enjoy them - sorry...but give me another chance.

Cindy

www.deathwarmedovermysteries.com

www.notmymom.com

For those of you who don't know Elaine, let me introduce her - and then keep reading so I can tell you why I'm promoting another author on my page.....

As a young girl, Elaine Viets was taught the virtues of South St. Louis: the importance of hard work, housecleaning, and paying cash. She managed to forget almost everything she learned, which is why she turned to mystery writing.

Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actually works those rotten jobs. Perhaps her early training has given her a lifelong fascination with jobs. She and Helen both know working for a living can be murder.

Elaine's second series takes her back to work in St. Louis. It features Josie Marcus, a mystery shopper and single mom. The debut novel, DYING IN STYLE, tied with Stephen King on the bestseller list for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

(BTW - I copied all the above info from her website - because I thought it would be a better introduction than just "buy her books, she's GREAT!")

The reason I'm promoting her, other than she's great, is that Elaine recently suffered a stroke. My first thought was that she was way too energetic and YOUNG to suffer a stroke. But, unfortunately, it strikes even the sweetest, funniest, people you'll ever meet.

We've learned that all reports indicate her progress is amazing! But we've also learned that she has a new book coming out in May, Murder With Reservations, and one of her biggest worries has been that due to the stroke, she wouldn't be able to tour.

However, her friends have stepped in to help her out! Not only will her tour continue in her absence,  she will be attending the Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats mystery conference in the form of a beautiful life size poster, sitting in on panels and selling books. Her books have also gotten a very active tour started!

So go out and hear her colleagues share her stories, tell some tales, and support their friend!

www.mwasw.org

http://www.breakthroughpromotions.com/elaine.html

Thanks,
Cindy

It's stormy, cool, cover-up-with-a-blanket-and-read-a-good-book type of weather today. But I had that pesky day job to go to. Then, when I got home, I had to hurry up and have dinner so I could indulge my guilty pleasure.

Yes, I have to admit, this season I'm an American Idol fanatic.

In previous years Jeff & I would watch the first couple shows and laugh at the contestants. Then wait until the final show and watch again. This year, though, we got hooked.

 I think it was because my niece, Angela, tried out for the show. She's a wonderful talent and her acapella version of Unchained Melody bring tears to my eyes. But she didn't even make it in to the judges... So I guess I wanted to see who made it all the way.

Since Angela's not there - I have to say I've been pulling for Jordin. She is amazing every week and her voice is haunting. I don't vote! (sorry, Jordin) I can't make myself do that. But I am enjoying it.

Now, if the Monk and Psyche seasons would just run a little longer, I'd be in Heaven. They are my other addiction.

Well, back to work. I need to start fine tuning my current manuscript so it will be ready to present to the agent and editor at Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats in June.

Cindy