Vixen Chronicles

Reno, Nevada. Uhm. Okay the women outnumbered the men by one helluva lot, but there were a few men who had the guts to show up to the Romance Writers of America Conference and proudly wear a badge that announced to the world that they were romance writers. It was all good. One guy stood out in my mind. He posts regulary to a loop I belong to, and although there may be other men that lurk, he is the only one that dares to speak up. Needless to say, I'm sure I wasn't alone as I was curiously awaiting the appearance of this fellow, affectionately known to us as "Chuck Lit." Most of us dressed up or at least wore good shoes to go to our reception, the meeting of the online chapter of this writers group. This time there was no pretense that we were indeed dressing up to impress other women. We knew before we started that there would be one man in attendance and one man only. More than one of us stared at the door waiting for him to show up. We didn't want to

Why does summer seem to be the shortest season? I can't believe it is almost August. I was just beginning to enjoy it. You know, first it had to get hot as hell here, and it finally has cooled down enough where you could actually walk outside without your lungs drying out. I just refuse to let summer go so quickly, but it seems like they are trying to rush into fall. First, the kids are getting ready to go back to school. Thanks goodness the Texas Legislature has decided to move that return date back past Labor Day. But then, the stores have put all the summer merhcandise on sale. Now, that is a blessing and a curse. How can I possibly think about buying wool clothing when it is still in the mid-nineties? Besides, it just got cool enough to actually wear all the cute summer fashions anyway. Prior to last week we were walking around buck naked (or wishing we were ) every chance we got. The good part of the early sales though is that there is a chance to snatch up some of

I went to Houston this past weekend for a conference. I arrived early, and being that the Galleria was only a few blocks away, I decided to head over to browse the end of summer sales. Luckily for me, I was staying at the Houston Intercontinental and they provided a free shuttle between the granddaddy of malls and the front lobby of the hotel. When my shopping sojourn was over, I called for the car. When I stepped outside Saks, it seemed as if the sky had opened up. It was pouring, raining, cats, dogs, iguanas, well, you get the picture. Torrential downpours such as this would absolutely close down businesses in my native Austin, but the Houstonians seemed unconcerned. The driver hopped out of the car and covered me with an umbrella. His attempt at keeping me dry was useless, it was raining every which way but straight down. I slid in the car with one side of my go-shopping jeans thoroughly wet. He glanced at my worried-looking face. "It rained just like this yesterday," he s

I went to see the Fantastik Four today. I was one of those atually antiipating a less than R Rated movie, glad to use my kids as an excuse to go. I couldn't wait to relive childhood comic books. The takeaway? The suits they wore were bad ass. Made everybody look good and when the heroes turned Fantastik they did too. I was all into it, but then, the rubber woman wore lipstick in Space. IN SPACE! And I thought I was a diva. Her skinny butt was nearly blown to kingdom come and the lipstck stayed perfect. What brand was that again and where can I get some? Let's review. There are some things that a girl, just has to know. (A man, too, if lip adornment is your thing.) We don't really go to the gym with a naked face. You wear mascara at the very least. Concealer or tinted moisturizer if you have bad skin. You can get away with sunscreen if you are a minimalist. Camping-If you must go, take a nail file with you. A must for the gook that can and will get under your

Thousands of people lined up in New York Today for the viewing of Luther's Casket. So sad to lose another legend from our community. There are certain times in your life you just remember, when you realize that you are GROWN because youa re losing the things and people that helped you make memories. I was in St Louis for a booksigning in a rental car with a screwed up navigation system when the radio broke in and said that Aaliyah had been killed in a plane crash. At another booksigning when I heard about T-Boz in Honduras. I wouldn't necessarily put these people in a league with Luther, their stars were just beginning to shine whereas his had eclipsed all other male performers for decades, but I will surely remember where I was when Luther died. My sister is such a big fan that her husband called her to give his condolences. We all did. I used to tease her because when you get into her car, the ONLY music you are gonna hear is Luther and it has been like that for a long time,

I am still getting caught up on my TIVO, but I got to watch part of the BET Awards last night. Will and Jada said they were trying to keep it classy. (Defined as highly stylish and elegant). They were walking a thin line up until Destiny'Child did the "lap dance" that the media was talking about last week. Class went out the window with that one. I realize that it was supposed to be reminiscent of the days where women lounged on top of the piano and winked at a man in the audience, suggesting that it meant so much more. You know, old-fashioned leave-something-to-the-imagination sexy. But they missed the mark. I would bet that some publicist came up with the idea for this segment, thinking it would get them noticed, which it did. I understand wanting to go out with a bang, but when did a behavior that is normally considered not acceptable become acceptable and condoned for an awards show? After hearing what the media had to say, I have to admit that I thought it was going