My Latest Article at Her Nashville

This month, Her Nashville is all about pets. The magazine is showcasing those lovable, adorable, playful little influences that can change your life with their unique brand of affection. My article about a very special little cat appears in the August issue. "A World of Love, Wrapped Up in Fur" is the true story about the fuzzy soul who changed MY life forever.

You can read the article here.

And if you're in the Nashville area, pick up your print copy of Her Nashville. It's a great read!

I'm a Terrible Blogger...But I Have Good News!

I know I've said it before, but now I'm absolutely certain of the fact that I'm a terrible blogger. It's been well over a month since my last post (almost two months, actually, but why split hairs?), and though I've had plenty to say, I haven't had much time in which to say it. That's the cool thing about life these days...busy is very good. The flip-side is that I'm too busy to talk about how busy I am.

Wait...is that good or bad?

I find that I'm updating my Twitter account quite frequently...so if you want to follow me there, it would be much appreciated! Here's the link to my tweets.

Anyway, there is good news coming in from all sides. This past year has been a marvelous ride, as most roller coasters tend to be. Here are the highlights of the last few months...

The freelance business is booming. I am continuously surprised by this tiny little business, which isn't so tiny anymore. It's grown by leaps and bounds, and lately I've found that I have to turn down more work than I accept. On one hand I feel badly about that, because I know I am missing out on awesome projects...on the other hand, I absolutely LOVE the projects I'm working on right now.

I am very happy with the way things are going right now, and I count my blessings every day. I wake up each morning to the dream job, and every one of my clients is a joy to work with. No complaints here!

Vacations are good things. This summer the kids spent a month with their other Mom and Dad in Kentucky, so Chuck and I took the time for mini-vacations. One of the best ones we took was down to the Mississippi Delta, where we spent time in Greenville and Clarksdale. The land was beautiful, as always, and the towns were so quaint and lovely...but the big shocker came when we drove through downtown Greenville and saw so many of the businesses boarded up. It broke my heart to see what was once a thriving center of community now little more than a ghost town.

But beyond that, we had an excellent time throughout the month. It was nice to get away, take some deep breaths of other places and spaces, and come home with a feeling of calm renewal.

I'm still writing novels. In fact, I recently signed with an agent, and I am very optimistic about what we can do together. Ironically, this comes about a month before the surprising and unfortunate demise of Black Lace, where I am published under my pseudonym. The fact that most Black Lace authors learned about it through the media was an unfortunate insult added to injury...but in the spirit of Forrest Gump, that's all I've got to say about that.

The new novel is coming along nicely. Mississippi Rising is my latest, and it's at the halfway point right now. The trip we took down to Mississippi was the inspiration I needed to really get moving on this one. The follow-up book is in the planning stages already...it's going to be set in the flatlands, too.

And the big news for the hubby, of course (save the best for last, right?):

Chuck comes back to Cougar Hill! When Dickson County's longtime radio station closed in the spring, Cougar sports disappeared with it - but they are coming back this fall to a new station, 94.5 FM, "The Dove."

Chuck and all the Cougar broadcasting crew, including Randy Tidwell and Ed Sheley, will be coming back to call the games - and now they will have the power of 50,000 watts behind them, which means you can hear it throughout ALL of Dickson County, as well as surrounding areas. We even picked up The Dove in Kentucky over the weekend, so it's safe to say the coverage area is huge.

For more information on that, as well as an upcoming games schedule, you can log onto Chuck's website.

Football season is almost here...autumn is fast approaching...and that's the sweet sugar-on-top after a very, very good summer.

Come Hang Out With Me Next Weekend!

On Saturday, June 27, I will be signing books at Sherlock's Book Emporium in Lebanon, Tennessee. Come out and hang with some really cool people - many of my fellow Music City Romance Writers will be on hand to sign their books. It's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Sherlock's Books. Lebanon, TN. From 1 - 4 in the afternoon on next Saturday, June 27. I'll be there to sign copies of Carolina Hurricane, as well as copies of the latest books written by my spicy alter-ego.

I hope to see you there!

Inspiration at Midnight

Late last night, as I was crawling into bed after a long day, I was struck by the final plot point to my next novel. It's something I've been wrestling with for weeks, and I was right on the verge of giving up on the idea and moving on to something else when the flash of inspiration finally came.

I immediately wrote it all down, but any hope of sleep was completely shot. So I lay in bed (the mind was going a million miles a minute, but my body was tired) and worked through the novel in my head. Today I opened up the rough draft and got to work in earnest.

And over the last week, I've decided that I'm not a good blogger. Terrible, really. I only blog when I have something significant to say, and sometimes not even then, depending upon the mood of the moment. I know I should be more proactive about keeping this little corner of the internet up to date...I'm going to try.

Another Nashville Examiner Article on Yours Truly!

How cool is this?

The lovely Paige from the Nashville Examiner has posted another article - this one is about my freelance work. We talked about ghostwriting, advice for up-and-coming writers and how I got started doing this writing thing.

You can see the article here - Spotlighting Freelance Writer: Shannon Dauphin

And if you need a good ghostwriter...well, you know how to find me, right?

Nashville Examiner Interview

There's another interview floating around out there! You would think I talk a lot, wouldn't you? *grin*

This one is with the lovely Paige of Nashville Examiner. I talk about quite a bit of things, including my pseudonym (*gasp*), Killer Nashville, dreams and ambitions, and the book I would recommend to anyone who wants to be a writer.

Go here to read the interview...and it's only the first part, so stay tuned for more in the coming days!

Chloe Gets Into Trouble

Well, not really. But she tried her best when she did this interview with MeanKitty! She told quite a few secrets in an attempt to embarrass me, which didn't work...so far. But she's just now enjoying her first taste of the spotlight, so you can bet she's not done yet!

Go here to read what Chloe had to say about yours truly.

Taking a Day in the Slow Lane...

I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with this blog over the last week - which is a bit sad, considering I've had so much to blog about. Today is a quiet day, just me and the computer, which is why it seems like a day in the slow lane.

Last weekend was the Heart of Dixie Romance Reader's Luncheon, and I had a wonderful time! I love meeting new people, and this was definitely the place to do that. The lunch conversation was great, the book signing went well, and it was a creative shot in the arm to be in the room with such energy and excitement. I came home ready to write, but exhaustion kept me away from the computer - in fact, as soon as I got home I hit the bedroom and slept for ten hours. The energy has to run out sometime!

I spent the entire week writing up a storm on freelance projects. I wrote several articles about diabetes, started a proofreading project, and did research into building chicken coops. I learned quite a bit about hockey, universal design, and backcountry camping. This job is never boring!

I also made good headway on my next novel, which is nearing the finish line. I expect it to be complete by the end of the month. Then it's on to finishing the crime novel I have been batting around for the last year, in the hopes of having the manuscript complete before the Killer Nashville conference in August.

On Friday morning I accompanied my husband to a meeting with the potential new owners of the radio station. We were both impressed with the couple, who seemed to know exactly what they were getting into and had a strong, solid vision for the station and its place in the community. Wouldn't it be beautiful to hear WDKN on the air again?

Friday night was the Boy Scout Blue & Gold Banquet, where our son received his Arrow of Light. He was surrounded by family and friends, and took the charge quite seriously, as he should have. He was welcomed into his new Boy Scout troop with handshakes and smiles, and all weekend he has talked about what he has to do before he makes Eagle Scout. He's very determined.

Saturday rolled around and so did a beautiful wedding in Kentucky, where my ex-husband got hitched. I suppose it seems odd that Chuck and I would be in attendance at my ex's wedding, but it was a joyous occasion - and I firmly believe that he got it right this time.

This week? Writing. Nothing but writing. Full speed ahead!

Heart of Dixie Romance Reader's Luncheon

Put a whole bunch of romance writers into one room and what do you get? The Heart of Dixie Romance Reader's Luncheon! Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the event, which will be held in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday. There will be raffles, fun gifts, a book fair and signing, comments by Vicki Lewis Thompson, and of course, good food.

I will be there, so won't you join me? Register here to reserve your seat!

Memories and Drive-Ins

Drive-In movie theaters are always so inspiring. They are a piece of Americana, their soaring screens tucked away in the tiniest towns, their concession stands long and low and flat, their grassy parking spaces wide and almost always surrounded by high tress, the better to keep the non-paying customers from creeping in. They are almost always old, their screens sometimes blemished, their speaker poles sometimes damaged, but these little imperfections just make the experience more interesting.

Watching a movie at a Drive-In Theater is a unique experience. Forget the jokes about parking in the back row and breaking in your backseat instead of watching the movie (though there are often those who do just that). Consider the great things you just don't get at any other movie theater. Here in the great outdoors, the smell of the grill makes your mouth water, and the cheeseburgers and corn dogs are served up in wax paper, the grease spots competing with the yellow pools of melted cheese that have slipped out of the bun. The popcorn comes in buckets and the sodas are the perfect antidote to the humid summer air.

Spill a bit of popcorn on your way back to the car? No problem - that's why you see so many birds flittering around, hoping to find their share. By morning, Mother Nature will have made certain that popcorn is nowhere to be found. In the minutes before the movie starts, as twilight kisses the screen and the stars come out, people get to know each other. The Drive-In is not a hush-hush environment like the cool, enclosed movie theater. Here, you set up your chairs and remember your mosquito spray and bundle up in blankets when it's a bit chilly and wave hello to your neighbors in the next car over. See someone you know? Stroll over and chat for a while. There are no ushers to give you stern frowns and remind you to be quiet.

Even the movie quality itself is interesting. These are not often first-run movies -- the Drive-In theaters these days run on a shoestring, so they get the new releases a month after everyone else has had them -- so the reels have been shipped here and there, have been cut and spliced, and have a grainy feel that would be unacceptable in the big movie theater downtown. But that quality is perfect in the world of the Drive-In, where everything is laid back and casual and fun.

Some of my most poignant memories are tied to Drive-Ins. I remember my very first Drive-In movie -- E.T. at the Calvert Drive-In. I remember being in awe of the bike that flew in front of the moon. I cried when E.T. had to go home. I ate enough popcorn to make myself almost sick, bummed my Mom's soda and got upset when my baby brother started crying. So I sat outside of the car instead, and that's when the true love of Drive-Ins took hold. I was slapping mosquitoes and listening to the crackly sound coming from the speakers and gazing up at the stars when the movie got slow. Childhood heaven was in that big grassy field with dozens of people around me and the big screen keeping me entertained.

I introduced my own children to the Drive-In theater when they were very young. In fact, my son was just over one year old when I took him to see his first Star Wars movie. I relished that fact, considering the original Star Wars movies had come out when I was too young to really notice or care, and now they were seeing a resurgence in popularity. My son wasn't interested in the movie, however - he was more interested in toddling around, which became difficult as darkness descended. As he came toward me, he tripped on the blanket we were using -- and his hard little forehead collided with the bridge of my nose.

The burst of pain was astounding, unbelievable, impossible. I tried to breathe through my mouth while I blinked back tears. My son's first trip to the Drive-In ended with my broken nose...not exactly what I had envisioned, as you can imagine.

Fast forward ten years to last night, while our kids sat in their folding chairs at the Pink Cadillac and stared up at the screen, mesmerized by the movie, their hands deep in popcorn buckets, blankets over their laps, occasionally laughing out loud, saying hello to friends who walked by, and now and then looking over at us with the expression that said, "Mom and Dad, isn't this just the coolest thing ever?"

Yeah, it is. It certainly is.