Clover Autrey

The summer before Jordan's senior year, her brother is killed in action and his best friend, Alex--the boy Jordan has crushed on since she was six--comes back from Iraq, wounded and unable to remember the details of what got his friend killed.

Heaven is for Heroes is not a fluffy coming-of-age tale. It deals with grief, guilt, self-harm and forgiveness in a realistic, yet gentle manner.

Jordan and Alex are great characters who I found myself rooting for. They are both instilled with a can-do/must-do attitude under tough circumstances as they deal with what they've lost and learn to appreciate what they've gained.

Join me tomorrow as the author PJ Sharon stops by.

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I'm have many things to be thankful for. My family, my husband and children. They mean everything to me. We're all in relative good health so I'm grateful for that. For my husband's employment and my own little job. For the ability to follow my dreams even when it's hard and doesn't seem worth it.

I'm grateful for my friends--I have some good ones, old and new. For getting to hang out with people who have nothing in common with me and also to hang with people who enjoy the same interests.

I'm grateful for my parents and my siblings and some wonderful kind in-laws. I'm grateful for my beliefs. I'm grateful to have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my belly, and medication to help my body from completely falling apart. I'm grateful to live in America, though I know I take what we have here for granted most of the time.

Yeah, I have a lot to be grateful for. Have a wonderful Holiday everyone.

The North Texas Chapter of Romance Writers of America has an annual writers retreat every November. For the past two years since I've been a member I haven't been able to go for various reasons, so I was real excited to be able to attend, hoping to get lots of writing done.

So how'd I do? Uh, let's skip over that part for a minute.

Around 10 of us converged upon the Jefferson Street  Bed and Breakfast Inn in remote Irving, Texas. I'm joking. Irving is smack dab between Fort Worth and Dallas (which reminds me of a joke: If Fort Worth is where the West began, that makes Dallas where the East petered out.) approximately about a pig and poke from the old Dallas Cowboy Stadium before it was torn down. Not remote. But it was in the Historic Downtown Irving District and was real quiet and pleasant. There is even a horse painted on the side to inspire a remote atmosphere.
Great times were had by all. We enjoyed two workshops. One with a former secret service dude who waltzed in all innocent looking with several hidden weapons on his body and yes, we all now know how to make a homemade silencer with a baby's pacifier and which guns will go off if accidentally dropped and which won't.

We also enjoyed cringed as Nikki got thrown around the cottage by the multiple Martial Arts instructor and listened to our mild-mannered chapter president exclaim "damn!" each time a body smacked the floor. 

(Excuse the blurriness. They were in motion. Also I kinda can't take a good picture. Hubby keeps sending me how to take good picture links, but, well, here ya go.)    

Just hangin out and plotting. That's Marsha, Nikki, and Chrissy's back.	Marsha wrote approximately 7000 new words.

Chrissy and Michelle aka Lavender.

Jen got a new premise worked out for her T/T WIP.   Most frequent question overheard: Does your story have a secret baby?

Gina reworked three scenes.

This is what the Hill Country Suite looks like without 10 writers hangin out in it and also in focus.

Everyone together, even the two dark heads who wished to remain unphotographed. Vampires or something. Oh, and me, I'm behind the lens. Raquel (blonde in the back) wrote a truckload of words, but she's prolific any day of the week anyway so I don't know her final count. The Dark head writing team who shall remain unphotographed plotted the weekend away.

Wow, looks like a grumpy group. It's morning and I just hadn't warned them to smile yet.

The bathrooms rocked. Three words: Heated tile floors.

And me? The group as a whole helped me figure out my villian's motivation. It only took the entire Saturday, but after that I was able to write a pivotal scene that pretty much the entire WIP hinges on. Only about 800 words total, but some very vital-better-get-it-right 800 words so I'm happy.