Ask The Agent- Round 1
What’s Jack up to? Wild child is romping around underfoot like a toddler today. I have work to do, Jack. No time to play with you, Love. Ok, maybe just a minute. Sigh.Today My Fab Agent, Elaine Spencer from The Knight Agency is back with the first round of questions answered from Ask The Agent.Did your question make the cut? Check it out.But please keep tuning in. There will be more questions answered next week. Major thanks to Elaine for taking the time to answer these in between her hectic travel schedule.Here goes:1.What do you look for in query letters when selecting writers to work with?
The number one thing that I look for in query letters is a professional product. I look for someone who has obviously done their homework on the querying process and on our agency. We hope to see that the potential client has a basic understanding of the business and what is expected of them as a potential client.The query letter acts as a general introduction, think of it as a first interview. If an author can’t follow directions at this preliminary step it sets off warning signs for difficulties that we may encounter at every step down the line.
There is a plethora of information available not only on the internet but at every imaginable writing event across the country on how to write a great query letter. It is really a pretty straight forward piece of the puzzle. We hope to gain a clear idea of the project being presented and of the author who is presenting it. We aren’t looking for bells, whistles or confetti, just the bare-bones facts about the project at hand and a high-concept pitch!
It sounds too good to be true, I know, but really this is a tough business, we need to see in a very simple way that the project has what it takes to stand out from the crowd.
2. What’s the best part of your job?
There are a million great things about my job! I can go on for days and days here. I think that this speaks directly to the favorite part of my: Variety. There is SO MUCH variety. Not only am I working with very wonderful and very different people and projects on a daily basis but I’m working with them in a variety of ways. Some days I’m inquisitively reading, some days I’m evoking my creative muse, some days I am the hard-nosed negotiator, and then others I’m the compassionate shoulder to lean on.Our job is a million things all rolled into one. Agents act as educators, entrepreneurs, promoters, counselors, planners, you name it, and we do it in some capacity or another.
3.What’s The Knight Agency’s normal response time? How Many queries do you normally get?
The Knight Agency’s typical response time to queries is on average two weeks. Some times (as in right now!) we get a little behind and can lag up to a month, and then sometimes we respond every 2-3 days. This flex’s depending on a variety of things including project loads, travel, etc.For partial submissions this is more based agent to agent. On average for the agency we are between 3-6 months.
In both of these cases, if it seems that it has been an absurd amount of time more than that between the time when you sent your email off to us and hearing a response SEND A FOLLOW UP!
I can’t tell you how many times messages are blocked by spam filters and such, this sounds like an excuse, but really when our email server is handling as much mail as we receive its unfortunately pretty common. We have tried to combat it but without making ourselves completely susceptible to all spam it seems there is little else we can do to ensure delivery either on our end or yours.
We receive about 300 queries a week and read several hundred partial submissions a year. That makes for a lot of mail.
4.What is the single most important thing an agent and a writer need in order to work well with one another.
Is the answer sand-paper?Sand Paper? I’m not quite sure I’m following there. The number one thing that an agent and client need to work well together is clear lines of communication. Simple as that. If both parties are communicating what their wants and needs are there shouldn’t be any grey area here.
Now within certain relationships at some point in time it might become apparent that despite clear communication the client/agent just aren’t a good business match. That’s unavoidable due to the ever changing nature that applies to all parts of this business. There is not a one-size fits all agent out there. The best way to find your perfect fit again goes back to communicating clearly up front exactly what you want out of the relationship.
5. Are you still able to read for pleasure? What non-cliented reads have you read lately? And who would you love to represent (besides your current roster, of course)?
Of Course I still read for pleasure. Reading is my passion. Not only is it something that I love in my job, but also its one of the things I love in my life. Sometimes with all of the “work” reading it’s hard to remember what it feels like to just get lost in a great book simply for the joy of it. I try to avoid that though, because at the end of the day there still is nothing better than curling up with a captivating story. The longer I’m in the business the more I realize how important it is to take the time out to remember that feeling.As a professional it keeps us fresh and reminds us of the most basic purpose of our job, to bring people stories that will have an impact on their life.
Some great reads of late, The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff, The Pact by Jodi Picoult, Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, A Dangerous Beauty by Sophia Nash, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rites of Spring by Diana Peterfreund, A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray – These are all totally random selections that I have loved, as you can see I’m really I’m all across the board.
6. I have a question for you. How do you feel about sharing a client with another agent–i.e., if the other agent only reps one genre of writing, but the client wants to write in another, too, and needs/wants representation for it. Do you or your agency ever run into this situation? Do you think it can work out okay? If so, any tips on how to make it work and how someone in this situation would go about it?
I think its possible, but not ideal, we try to avoid it at all costs. Here within TKA we share certain clients within the agency, but that’s a whole different topic I suspect. I do know situations where an author has needed separate agents, so again I’m not saying it is impossible, but its just not that common.Since I’ve never been involved in a situation such as this I really can’t offer much advice on it beyond the obvious. I think it is most important that all involved parties are offering full disclosure up front regarding all business matters. It is going to be important that each agent is aware of the scheduling restrictions and deadlines that are involved with each other.
My advice would be to TRY to find an agent or agency that handles all the genres you are working on. Not only will your agent/s be able to better plan and prepare for your future but this should help prevent confusion on what you heard from one agent in comparison to the other.
7. I realize that you as an agent may handle this in a specific way that renders my question completely irrelevant at your agency, but *in general,* say an agent reads a full, writes a nice long letter about revisions, and tosses the ball back to the author with the option of viewing it again after a revision if the suggestions make sense to the author. All of this is rather open-ended (ie, I don’t know if we’re even as far as if-then statements–just “ifs.”). What, in general, do you and your cohorts view as a reasonable time to do these open-ended revisions in? A few weeks? A few months? Any idea of a generally reasonable timeline would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hmm. Anything that shows you have put detailed thought and consideration into revising the manuscript as a whole. If someone sends the manuscript back to me within 24 hours (don’t laugh, it happens!) or even within the week, I’m going to assume they breezed through these and didn’t REALLY put a lot of thought into making the manuscript stronger.I would say that it should take a few weeks to make the changes, depending on how detailed the letter is. Its hard to generalize because editorial suggestions can really be across the board in scope. Obviously it will take less time if they are just asking you to bulk some stuff up versus a request to revisit an entire storyline.
I would suggest that you sit on the edits for a few days after receiving the letter to really let the ideas and suggestions sink in. Let them roll around in your end and really form into a fuller picture. Typically an agent isn’t asking for an easy fix, in most instances the suggestions are things that are really making or breaking the story. They shouldn’t be easy, and they should take a bit to come to fruition.
Plus, remember, this is most likely your last shot, you want to make sure you get it right! I would suggest when you respond to the agent that you outline their suggestions in your email/letter and let them know how you tackled them. This in itself can save both parties some time, it can help identify if the edits are heading in the envisioned direction.
Wow! That’s it for round one. Great questions folks and Great answers, Elaine. Don’t forget to tune back in for the next round. Thanks again to, Elaine and thank to all of you for stopping by.Best,KwanaManic Monday
What’s Jack Up to? He’s shaking of the rain after his walk this morning and marveling over the quiet of the house. Whew. Could it be we’re alone again, Jack?The weekend and Spring Break are both over and it’s back to the grind. It was nice to have a week without the daily push and shove, but it will also be nice to have a few hours of alone time in the house again. Possibly a few house of writing time once all the missed errands of the week are done in a a day or two. Can you say laundry?
This weekend before all the yard work the DH and I were super nosey and went to see a house that doesn’t know there’s a recession going on and gas is at 4.00 a gallon. It’s in walking distance from our house and we’ve watched this mini-mansion being built for the past year and a half so when the sign went up for an open house I was practically running over there acting like at potential buyer.
Of course we started going back and fourth about what the asking price would be in this NY suburb. DH went low which was not low at all and I went considerably higher considering the schools and the town.
As we were walking one of our neighbors drove by and asked where we were going and we told him. “Oh you gotta tell me what they want for that thing when you get back!” he said with excitement.
Real estate is a funny thing. We live in a town where the houses go from modest cottages (like ours) to just a few blocks over Mc Mansions that need intercom systems to call every one to dinner. And in the end it’s all about the school. I often say, “we didn’t buy a house we brought a school.”
Well, I’m proud to say I know my high end real estate. I priced it perfectly at 1.6 mil. Cra-zy. The house is gorgeous. Drool worthy. 4 bedrooms. Office. Great room with vaulted ceiling and stone 2 story fireplace. Basement ready to be finished as you like included in the price. I imagined a small theater and billiard room. The DH a 2 lane bowling alley. But still, 1.6 mil. I sure hope it sells. Will be great for my property value. Hmmm, must go and sweep the cottage steps.
Since it’s Monday, that also has me thinking about dieting. I’ve been doing so poorly. So I’m shaking things up. I’ve been on WW forever and not really following it forever. Usually being done with my points by around 12:00. But instead of giving up on WW I’m shaking things up by going on core today where you eliminate the white products but get whole grains and fruits. It’s more limiting than flex with the food choices but maybe that’s what I need. Wish me luck. Let’s see if I can make it till 3:00 today. Eek.
Oh, and once again the winner of the Liza Palmer Seeing Me Naked contest was Brown Girl Gumbo. See below and if you missed the interview click here. Liza was so inspiring. Thanks Liza!
Best,
KwanaWe Have A Winner!
What’s Jack up to? He’s relaxing on this Sunday after watching the DH and I (mostly the DH) work in the front yard all afternoon yesterday. Now today it’s rainy and perfect for lounging around.
Thanks to all who left a comment and entered Liza Palmer’s Seeing Me Naked contest. I had the lovely DH pick a winner out of a hat and the winner is:
Brown Girl Gumbo!!!Who also has the coolest blog check it out when you have some time.
Brown Girl please send me an email with all your info and we’ll get your book to you. Congrats.
In honor of Liza, Seeing Me Naked and Top Chefs everywhere here’s a final goodbye to faux-hawk Jen. She’s no longer doing it for Zoi. Oh and check out her super cool Casio watch. Perfect for timing dishes.
Best,
KwanaInterview With A Cool Girl- Liza Palmer
What’s Jack Up to? Jack is tired. It’s getting near the end of spring break week and he’s feeling ready to have his quiet days back, oh wait, is that just me? Whew.
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Today I have the cool honor of interviewing author, Liza Palmer. I have been a big fan of Liza since reading her book Conversations With A Fat Girl an
d became an instant friend after bonding with her on line at an RWA convention in Dallas while waiting for free books. Somehow the first season of TOP CHEF came up and that was it. We were soul sisters!Now I’ve become and even bigger fan after reading her latest book Seeing Me Naked. The story of Elisabeth Page, daughter of famous novelist Ben Page and sister to equally famous novelist Rascal Page who is trying to make a name and life for herself as a pastry chef in in the hottest restaurant in L.A. while coming out of the shadow of her famous family.
For a chance to win a personally autographed UK edition of Seeing Me Naked. Please leave a comment and I will draw a winner at random and Liza will send a copy to the winn
er. Yay, Liza!Now to the hard hitting interview:
1.First off I’ll start with a couple of traditional questions. Liza did you always want to be a writer? Is it something you always knew you’d do?
I started writing at a very young age – even before I could write actually. My Mom would write my stories down– stories about Animal Land. Hilarious.
But then…life happens. And especially for young girls – writing and being different are not really sought after characteristics in junior high school. So, I stopped. And then high school came along – where you just try to survive. And then it became about putting food on the table – and there wasn’t any room for dreams and silly stuff like that. It was like this numbness set in. Years later I looked at my life and…well, it wasn’t what I wanted, you know? I was working at this law firm in LA and it just freaked me out – I could see myself there in ten years, twenty years. So, I started going to these little Saturday morning workshops at Vroman’s bookstore here in Pasadena. And weekend by weekend I started believing that maybe…maybe I could write after all.2.Please tell us the story of you ‘overnight’ success? I always laugh when I ask that one.
So, these little workshops taught me the business of writing – query letters, yaddayaddayadda. You know. So, I wrote the Worst First Draft ever over that summer, gave it to a group of friends (now former…echem). I thought in the time it takes to edit this draft down to something not ridiculous, I could send out these queries. So, I looked in the acknowledgements of books that I thought we like mine (Conversations with the Fat Girl) and queried four agents. Three of them wanted the manuscript and one turned me down…twice.
I thought…okay, they won’t forget about me in a month – so, I edited the draft in about three weeks and sent it back out. I signed with one of those first three. And then that little book just kept wriggling into the perfect situations…it was bought by Warner three days before Christmas and then launched the 5Spot line at Warner (now Grand Central).3.What is your usual writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser. Do you have a set everyday writing schedule?
I am definitely a pantser. If there ever was one…but, it’s evolving though. I think of it like this: I know that I’m driving from LA to San Francisco. I know where I’m starting and where I’m ending. And I just need to decide if I’m taking the 5, the 101 or the 1. But, the problem with this whole “drive to san francisco’ theory is that most times I get stuck somewhere around San Luis Obispo wondering where the heck I’m going.
Lately, I’ve been going to this amazing little coffee shop everyday because a) I am actively bribing myself with nonfat lattes and b) I’m starting to feel like a shut-in. And you know – it’s totally worked. I look forward to writing again and it’s been a nice evolution for me. I’m probably going to stick with it for a little while.4. Seeing Me Naked takes us into the world of a gourmet kitchen. How did you choose that as a setting for the book and how did you do the research? I was totally immersed and it felt like it was written by an expert. Did you ever work in a kitchen? How much research do you do for your books?
When I just started percolating about Seeing Me Naked, I thought about jobs that I could see myself doing – if I couldn’t write. And I thought: chef. So, then I did some research and learned that the only place a woman is really tolerated in a French kitchen is in the pastry corner.
I then made a few phone calls and got hooked up with Karen Rawers, who was the pastry chef under Michel Richard (citronelle). I picked her brain for everything…every last detail. She drew out what a French kitchen looks like, told me all about etiquette, staffing, politics…all of it. And then we went to Bastide here in LA, when Chef Ludo Lefevre was still the chef there. We ordered the chef’s surprise menu, had it paired by the sommelier and then got a tour of the kitchen…it was just one of those nights. It gave me everything I needed…until I asked my next battery of questions.
But, I needed it to be right, you know? I hate reading books about certain settings and finding wrong details…, so, I really worked to make that kitchen as authentic as possible. And the recipes in the back are the real deal…my step-dad’s chicken and dumplings recipe, a family friend’s flan recipe (I can’t even begin to tell you how I wrassled that from her grip)…and on and on. I really had fun with all the desserts that Elisabeth made throughout the book…and now, my dish at Christmas is cherry clafouti! Pretty cool.Sidebar question: With the setting for this book, all I want to know why in the world you had to be coaxed to blog about TOP CHEF? LOL!
I had to be coaxed because I didn’t know if everyone was going to be as nutso for it as I was, you know!?!? I mean, I can go OFF on that show…I love it. But, I wasn’t sure if people were only into Project Runway or if they were sick of the tv recaps. But, I’m so glad I did – I love it. I am totally Blog Envious though…because you are so much more succinct about those shows then I am – you say things and I’m like…ohhh, that’s how to say it so people understand. Good to know.5. You are so good at your characterization. How do you come up with your characters? Do you do the whole GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) for all of them or is it just something you have in you?
Weird! I just learned that GMC thing in this screenwriting class thing. Weird??! Eerie, even.
So, obviously…I didn’t use the GMC thing for my characters…where was I when that thing came out? I mean, it’s genius!
How do I come up with the characters…I don’t know. How’s that for a bad answer! No, I just build the main character and then just ask why over and over again….like, okay – Elisabeth is kind of snobby. So, how did she get like that? Then I build the parents – Ballard and Ben. Ben is a key element to the novel – so I spent a long time building the biggest shadow that Elisabeth would have to come out from under, you know? I mean, all of our parents are these titans, but I really wanted to create a Zeus in that character. Then I thought I should give her a sibling who she could be in the trenches with (Rascal), but I wanted to make him the opposite of Elisabeth – so she’s this hard-driving perfectionist and Rascal is this Fainting Couch dauphin who is constantly being brought down by melancholy.
And Daniel. Well…Daniel was certainly a lot of fun to write. Sigh. A basketball coach from Kansas? Just this straight shooting man? He almost eclipsed the whole book, because I loved his interaction with Elisabeth…how he made her really look at herself.6.What’s the one piece of writing advice that you would give aspiring authors?
*Do you want to write A story or YOUR story.
*Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.
* Kill your darlings. (Yes, you think it’s clever, but does it move the story forward?)
*and most of all – WRITE!
Stephen King says to ‘close the study door’ as you finish your first draft. Such good advice. Just finish that first draft before really talking about it, sharing it or letting it see the light of day. You’ll never finish it if you keep editing and futzing…something which everyone does and inevitably ends with someone tearing my final drafts from my cold, dead hands.7.What’s next for you, Liza?
I just finished a script for a television show I’m thinking about…I love it. I love working in only dialogue (can you imagine?!?!?!) – it’s awesome. And then it’s back for the second draft of my third book – which is due in May…oh wait…what day is it? The 24th? Uhhhh…maybe I should get on that.
🙂Thanks so much for doing this interview Liza. Once again I’m honored to have you here.
Don’t forget to live a comment to me entered in the giveaway guys. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday.
Oh and Check out Liza’s site http://www.lizapalmer.com/
Best,Kwana
Top Shock Me- Why Don’t cha!
What’s Jack up to? He’s Happy to have Nana up today. She’s giving him unlimited treats. Talk about spoiled.
First let’s talk America’s Next Top Model
The top model girls land in Rome and Anya’s first step is a face plant out of the van! Poor thing.
Thank goodness the first Tyra mil is read by Whitney alone and not all of them together. Fatima is sick and crying and I’m not feeling anything but wondering where is Mr. Jay and is he really fighting with Tyra and will he be back for another season? Will she? Other reports say it’s totally untrue though.
Are we supposed to be stupid with these “random” women that they are pointing out? Of course they are not random, but models they placed. Did anyone think they were random? Ugh. I’m getting so annoyed by this show.
They had another challenge and what happens? Anya wins again. That girl with the squeaky voice is taking over the world.
Then it’s a Cover Girl commercial in Italian and it’s a full on disaster for most of the girls. And Lauren has to go. What a HOT TRANNY MESS! We’ll see what happens in judging.
We’re in Judging and the bottom two are Whitney and Lauren. Whitney is criticized for being phony but Tyra is still behind her. Come on and just send Thumbelina home….
The verdict is in and it’s…. Lauren. At least they made the right choice.
Now it’s time for the show stopper Top Chef!
The show opens and once again Jen is talking about doing it for Zoi. Ugh. Why do I want her to go home already?
The quick fire is a dessert challenge and the judge is Johnny Izinnu (no, I can’t spell his name). I can tell there are some scared chefs. If you don’t know a dessert then you’re done for. Silly Lisa actually said she swore she wouldn’t do a dessert during this show. What? Has she ever watched the show? Never say Never. Now I want her to go home. I loved that Dale said he had 1 dessert up his sleeve and he was breaking it out! But the winner was… Richard. Ugh. He gets in the Top Chef cookbook.
Now they are going out to Second City for a night on the town and some comedy. But wait it quickly turns bad and it’s the really scary elimination challenge based on horrible improve.
Dale and Richard-green perplexed tofu- They are talking curry and other cool stuff with free beef fat what sure has me
Lisa and Antonia- Magenta drunk polish sausage and Lisa is mad. They are doing something with tequila
Jen and Stephanie- Orange turned on asparagus
Marc and Nikki- Purple depressed bacon
Spike and Andrew- are Yellow Vanilla Love and when they left whole food I wasn’t sure what they were making. Something with squash soup and love without a blender. Because now there’s no electrical equipment. Twister.The guests arrive at the chef house and Spike and Andrew are first up with vanilla love squash soup and everyone is really loving it.
Jen is obviously missing Zoi a lot because first she’s talking threesomes she and Stephanie and doing a whole skit that’s a little, um, icky and so is the dish.
Dale and Richard came out with their perplexed food and the judges weren’t perplexed. They liked it.
Antonia and Lisa and their drunken sausage fell flat. They seem to hate their suggestion and it showed in their presentation.
Mark and Nikki come out with purple depressed bacon and it’s good, proving once again that all things are better with bacon.Now for the top chefs. They are Dale and Richard and Spike and Andrew. What?
The winning team is dale and Richard and they each get 2500.00 work of Caphelon. These guys are now rockin’.Bottom two are Antonia and Lisa and Stephanie and Jen.
Not doing Polish sausage was a killer for them and Jen and Stephanie that Goat cheese was the killer for them plus the while crazy phallic thing. Stephanie run from Jen as fast as you can never partner with her again. She misses her girlfriend too much!Now back to the Not So Glad room and the girls are scared as hell. Strangely so am I.
Here goes… And it’s Jen that goes home! Wow! I know I wanted her to go but I can’t believe it’s her before Lisa or Nikki or OMG. Spike!!!!!Oh well. She’s not doing it for Zoi anymore and now and I’m sad.
Best,Kwana
Get Real!
What’s Jack up to? Happily romping around while the sun is still low. Here he is (with his cropped hair) yesterday hiding out from the strong sun. That dog is like me and both loathes and loves the sun at the same time. He soaks up some rays for a bit then does his best to hide for the rest of the day.
So did any of you get to watch the reunion show of the Not So Real Housewives of New York City? What a trip it was! Once again Ramona was just nutty, staying true to form and even walking off the stage without a word when Simon was there and talk came up about Alex’s nude photos. That Alex and Simon are just so delusional about the world and themselves that its a mess. 
At least the other women could admit that the show really did show them as they truly were. These two would not admit a thing. My favorite line came from Ms. Bethany when she called Alex, “All show and No go.” That was perfect.
I still think Jill is the best and wonder if they will have the guts to all come back for another season. I hope they will but I have a feeling that Alex and Simon may be breaking out on their on if the others don’t come back or even if they do. Those two social climbers will want their own show. Simon is such a Diva!
best,
Kwana
Hey Mr. DJ
What’s Jack up to? He’s spending the morning running around in circles today? Is that a sign of nuttiness? I think it may be. At least on my part for getting a nutty dog.
So I got this great RWA workshop tape from a friend of mine on Deep POV with Suzanne Brockmann from the 2003 National Conference. I was so excited to get it in the mail and get to hearing what Suzanne had so say. So a go to pick up my little portable boombox and notice for the first time that it has no cassette player. What the?
Now I have plenty of cassette tapes in my house from days gone by, but here’s the kicker. My DH got a new car a couple of years ago and it only has a CD player and now my car only has a CD too. What the heck am I supposed to do?I head to the basement. There has to be an old Walkman somewhere in this place. I’m digging though boxes and dust is getting everywhere and no cassette player is turning up. Craps!I head to the streets. They laugh at me at the better electronics stores. And look a
t me like I’m a little crazy at the discount stores. I was starting to feel like I had to head to eBay. Then the ever resourceful DH came home with paydirt yesterday! For 7.99 he found one at an obscure computer store that sold all sorts of outdated things. The strange thing is that it was actually made in 2007. Funny, huh?Now I’m excited about all the good music I can listen to while walking down the street with my big Walkman and thoroughly embarrassing my kids in the process. Way Cool!What would you listen to if you just got a new Walkman?
best,KwanaP.S Check out the train wreck reunion show of The not so Real Housewives of New York City tonight. I hear the fur was literally flying onstage and off.What? Me Stress? Nah!
What’s Jack up to? The sweetie is chillin. Being happy and carefree on this spring break week.
I went to a lovely ladies tea this Saturday. Stop laughing. It was for a good cause and I’m a grown up, well, most days. It was my first ladies tea and I had no idea what to wear. Eek!I ended up going dressy casual in cropped pants a linen sweater and sandals and I was fine up against the other women in the same type of outfits and there were a few with flowing print skirt and sweater ensembles. But I did hear at some of the more upscale teas they go all out and do the super-dressy hat thing. I hope I don’t get invited to one of those. Too much pressure.
Now this was through my DH and the women there were wives of friends of my DH and they know I’m a writer and had not seen me in and while. They are all sweet and wonderful women, but I felt like Bridget Jones going at a smug married dinner party with that dreaded, “so Bridget, when you getting married?” question.
About a 50 times I got, “so when is you book coming out?” or “where can I buy your book?” or “you still working on that book?” question.
It’s times like that when I almost regret “outing” myself as a writer.
Thankfully, the guest speaker was a totally cool spiritual healer named Nafisa who put all of us into a semi circle and talked to us about stress and how to deal with it. She then guided
us through a meditation where I clearly saw myself on the New York Times, USA Today and The Essence Bestseller Lists and I kept repeating my personal mantra “all roads lead to Oprah, all roads lead to Oprah, all roads lead to Oprah…”By the end of it I was just fine!
Breathe in- Breathe out.
Trust that it will all be purr-fect!So how was your weekend? Wonderful I hope.
Best,
KwanaLunch with some IT girls
What’s Jack up to? He’s like me and trying to figure out what the heck were going to do with the DD and the DS while there on spring break this week. Sorry kids but we’re not going to some exotic local like the rest of the super fab teens of today. Oh well. Welcome to the real world. That’s life.So had lunch yesterday with the premier women bloggers of my town (it’s a small town). It was Wish List Mom, PVE Design and I got to finally meet Confessions of and It Girl for the first time. Fun was had by all as we chatted over Greek food about anything and everything from being blogger moms, to publishing, to Queen bee moms and Kingpin dads. We also were nicely complemented by the-shall I say, interesting and it must have been 5 o’clock somewhere- patron of the establishment who pronounced us all verrrrrreeeey beautiful women. Hey, I’ll take it where I can get it, so it’s all good. Plus he threw in a free de-lish desert so you know we’ll be going back.On another note check out the new bag I scored from Tar-jay (that was for you, Megan) the other day. It’s a limited edition by Joy Gryson who used to design for Coach, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs and as soon as I saw it in Elle magazine I knew it would be a perfect throw across the body bag to keep my hands free while walking Jack and it is. I didn’t even have to order it on line. I had ended up in the store for other supplies and there it was like fate. I got the basic black, but it’s super hi-gloss and way cool. At 19.99 I could not go wrong. Hey, Jack. Let’s take a stroll. I got a bag to show off! What’s up for your weekend?
best,KwanaHe’s a Survivor- again
What’s Jack up to? Wow! Jack’s looking even better, but hating on me even more after yesterday’s visit to the groomer for a touch up now. The strange goatee is gone and he’s looking good. When I get some batteries for the camera I’ll post a photo.
I could not have enjoyed last night’s Survivor anymore if I tried. It was just fab! The whole episode was about getting rid or poor Jason in the worst way and after torturing him with the immunity challenge. The the whole tribe lied to him for pizza donuts and candy and was being all 7th grade by crossing their finger behind their backs and saying, “yes Jason we’ll be your friend.” Ugh. It was awful. I just knew Jason was going home.
But then a light. I could not believe it. What was going on behind the scenes with Mr. Jason?! I have a feeling that my cagey Cirie was behind it all. I just love her. And James (sorry Eileen) he has to go! In the end it was Ozzy that was gone with the stupid immunity idol in his pocket. Just perfect. I actually clapped. A great hour.
best,
Kwana
P.S. Chiming in late to say. Buh-bye to Stacy-Ann from America’s Next Top Model. Sorry you won’t make it to Rome sweetie.
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