The other day I was at the supermarket and I saw a woman with some seriously crazy hair. It was white and looked like cotton balls stuck all over her head. I wondered if she knew her hair was looking a little off, and then she took it off. It was a hat! She’d tucked her hair into the hat, and to a stranger, the hat looked like her (weird) hair. She KNEW it wasn’t her hair, so when she looked in a mirror, it would never occur to her to think her hair looked weird, because her subconscious knew it was only a hat.

Do we do something similar as writers. When I hand off my manuscript to my beta readers, there are so many parts of the story I have in my head, do I remember to put them all down explicitly for the reader? Every so often a readers will ask a question, and I’ll wonder why they would ask such a thing. Isn’t it OBVIOUS?

Perhaps not.  We run into this danger, especially in a series. I’m working on Book 5 of my Coded for Love Series, and I just assume readers of the book have read the other 4 and know every minute detail the way I do. Bad assumption.

So what to do?

Get a fresh pair of eyes. Have a stranger read the book and put question marks in the margins where they have questions. Have you ever experienced this in real life or while reading a book.

I attended Romanticon, the Ellora’s Cave conference/4 day party this weekend. Due to family events, I only arrived on Saturday night, but it was enough time for me to learn a lot. So in no particular order, here are observations about the event:

1. I am prude. Despite writing hot romance, I have no interest in getting a lapdance from a Caveman. They were adorable, but I best enjoyed them from afar.

2. Tara Nina works her ass off. Every time I saw her, she was carrying, lifting, running, doing.. Go Tara!

3. Jade Black is one loyal CEO. She inspires loyalty and returns it.

4. People besides my mother have read my books. I’ve seen the royalty statements, so conceptually I knew this was true. But it’s an amazing experience having strangers say how much they enjoy your books.

5. Rodney the Caveman became a bazillion times sexier to me when he ran Bingo and made us laugh with his quick witted comebacks. Proving once again, that my libido is in my brain not my eyes. (Not that Rodney’s not darn gorgeous too)

6. Thelmer is….Thelmer. I got to sit next to him at the book signing which added to the fun.

7. I don’t dance nearly as well as I think I do.

8. The key card reader to room 823 of the McKinley Grand needs to be replaced. No my cell phone was NOT next to the key.

9. Grace’s Fallen Angels are as fabulous in person as they are in their books and on the chat loop. (That’s Cassandra Carr & Cara Carnes)

10. Lexi Post can rock a red hat!

11. My editor, Grace Bradley, is gorgeous.

12. Participating in a book signing with actual books is…amazing.

Today we have another long time friend, also an MIT grad. Coincidence perhaps since Sark from Love, Technically went to MIT? Maybe? I also found her answer about airline safety interesting because I think I was sitting very close to her in 5th grade when the announcement came over the loud speaker about the Challenger disaster. I know Jon H was at the desk group, but I think she was there too.

1.     Can you give a few sentences about your background- your job, your degrees, a brief history of how you ended up in the industry?

My degrees are in aeronautical engineering.  I have a Bachelors and a Masters from MIT. When I started college I intended to work towards becoming an astronaut, however one of my high school acquaintances passed away in a horrific crash in Cali, Colombia.  Coincidentally, the following summer I got an internship working in the safety division at Boeing.   As much as I would have loved to become an astronaut, I felt like airline safety was where I should focus.  I ended up doing my graduate work in Air Traffic Control (ATC) and safety and I eventually ended up working at NASA Ames Research Center developing new ATC tools.

2.     Were you interested in science/technology as a child?

Very much so.  My parents used to talk to us about all kinds of medical advances and things going on in science and technology.  The biggest impact on me, however, was the air shows we used to go to down in Opa Locka and the shuttle launch that we saw when I was about 5.  Planes always fascinated me, and the idea of going into space was captivating.  It still is, but at this point I realize that the choices I have made to have a family and stay at home have made that career choice impossible.

3.     What’s it like being female in the tech/science industry? Any good stories?

People often talk about gender discrimination in science/tech, but I have never experienced any serious discrimination in any way.  Occasionally there were profs who were older and didn’t take the women quite as seriously, but they were retiring anyway.

4.     Favorite famous nerd (fictional or otherwise)

I don’t really have a favorite nerd.  But if I really had to choose, Captain Picard would be a lot of fun to have dinner with.  In real life, my favorite scientist was the housemaster of my graduate dorm.  He was a real character, one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, and also happened to be the person who discovered the cause of sickle-cell anemia.

5.    Star Trek or Star Wars?

Star Trek.  No doubt.

6.     Do you read/like romance novels?  

I haven’t read very much in the way of romance, but I’m always up for a good story.

Welcome to one of my high school friends. Mia was often spotted in the school computer lab during free periods. I never understood why since I didn’t know a floppy disc from a mouse at the time. I’ve since seen the error of my ways.

1. Can you give a few sentences about your background- your job, your degrees, a brief history of how you ended up in the industry?

 I am currently working for a government contractor, helping to design software that saves soldier’s lives.   Funnily, my degree is in Cognitive Science, but I started to work as a network administrator’s assistant during my grad school days.  The work was fun and challenging, changing my life’s direction.

2.     Were you interested in science/technology as a child?

Absolutely.  My father bought an Apple II Plus (which dates me horribly) and I would get on, slip in the language disks and start playing my games.  Later, as a teen, I would play on Bulletin Boards using my modem.  You couldn’t possibly imagine speeds like that nowadays.

3.     What’s it like being female in the tech/science industry? Any good stories?

For many years, I was the only one wherever I was working.  From the call centers at US Robotics to the Chicago Board of Trade, it was rare that I would run into another woman doing what I did.  I don’t think I felt it as much as I could’ve simply because I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy.  All my best friends were always men, and it didn’t feel weird to be surrounded by them.

Good stories?  About me…I’m not sure.  But I do love the time an older lady called into the US Robotics tech support complaining that her fax modem wasn’t receiving faxes.  I was tech lead at the time. The poor tech was frazzled and upset because she didn’t seem to know anything he was asking her to do.  We finally conferenced briefly and decided to just get her to restart her computer.  Her response? “What computer?”

4.     Favorite famous nerd (fictional or otherwise)

Favorite famous nerd…gah…Probably Willow from Buffy.:)  For a long time she was really the only girl nerd on TV that wasn’t an annoying Trope.

 5.     Star Trek or Star Wars?

I have to choose?

Where’s the Firefly question? Browncoats unite!

6.     Do you read/like romance novels?

Absolutely.  They’re my guilty pleasure.