I'm baaaaaaack!

Colorado was as beautiful as I remember it (I was last there way back in 1981). We spent most of our time in the suburb of Aurora rather than the city, but we did get down to the 16th Street Mall on Friday, both for lunch and dinner. My brother was absolutely shocked to see so many of his family members sitting there when my mother (who flew out a day earlier) took him and a friend to dinner. He first noticed his own children and grandchildren before he realized that my sister and I were also present. His 60th birthday was fun for all of us. I'd never been to the Mongolian Barbeque before, but I'll be going again!

I rented a PT Cruiser convertible (the weather was in the 70s) and zoomed around the mountains to an elevation of 8,500 feet, up to the historic town of Black Hawk, which now looks like a Las Vegas of the mountains, with two- and three-story casinos and saloons all over the place. I went into Fitzgerald's with $10 and left with $44 (my motto is, when you win don't stick around to give it back.)

You can't believe how close the moon looks at that higher altitude. But Black Hawk is some 3,000 feet higher than the Mile High City. I would have loved to see the moon from there, but those curvy mountain roads are not meant to be driven down after dark.

Anyway, I'm back and am working on my copyedited manuscript, which is the last chance I'll have to do any re-writing of Once Upon A Project. My editor wanted them, like, yesterday, but it's a huge work - 117,000 words - and I've already spotted several continuity errors that even she didn't catch, so I will look at it extremely carefully before sending it back. The first rule of publishing is that a rushed book is a sloppy book. Unfortunately, these edits have a way of showing up just before I leave for vacation.

Check my blog next week for a special sneak preview of the cover art. And please check out the interview I did with Gwyneth Bolton on her blog, www.gwynethbolton.blogspot.com .

Good to be back!

6 comments:

Gwyneth Bolton said...

A vacation and a mini family reunion all in one, you can't beat that. And a PT Cruiser convertible... Sounds like you had a blast. Welcome back!

Gwyneth

bettye griffin said...

Thanks, Gwyneth! I'm happy to be back. But that Cruiser isn't meant to traverse the steep 7% and 8% inclines of those mountain roads, that's for sure . . . .

Anonymous said...

Welcome back. Sounds like you had a good vacation. Edits always seem to come when there's a lot going on. When it's quiet, nothing :)

bettye griffin said...

You're so right, Shelia! Thanks for posting.

DonnaD said...

Can I share a story? As long as I can remember, I have always wanted to go to Colorado. I have no idea why. One of the reasons I loved "Dynasty" was because it was set in Denver (though it rarely snowed on the show).

I once wrote a story that was set in Aurora, Colorado. I have never been there and hadn't done any research (there was no internet) but for some reason, the name of that city worked for me. (I can't remember anything about the story except the main character was driving around in a convertible listening to Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." If you tell me you listened to that song in your PT Convertible, I'm going to have a seriously weird Twilight Zone moment.)

Hope you had a wonderful time! Welcome back. (Loved your interview and thanks for the mention!)

bettye griffin said...

Aurora looked like a nice city, Donna. I usually listened to my CDs that I brought with me, but when I let my niece take the wheel she wanted to hear the satellite radio. The only Phil Collins song they played on the Easy Listening Love station was One More Night, so rest easy!

Glad you liked the interview I did with Gwyneth. Had to give you gals your due. Mucho appreciation.