…for HELL in a handbasket!

Thursday went from relatively calm to that in 2.3 seconds. I’ve been working on placing some advertising for Engineers Week (yes, they have their own week - can you believe that? It’s February 17-23, so be sure and hug an engineer that week. If you can stand to get that close to one, that is haha) and so I’ve been busy talking to ad folks most of the week. What I’ve found is - they really want to talk to you if you’re going to spend a small fortune with their publication.

I did talk to a lady with the Los Angeles Times who was so nice to talk to! Of course, she was at the local Dallas office and not actually IN Los Angeles, but you know, that was okay too. In fact, everyone I’ve talked has been super. It’s rather…refreshing.

It’s a good thing I have super organizational skills. Because I’ve talked to every publication in Southern California I think. hehe I was surprised to discover that not on publiation does a special focus on Engineers Week. Our local newspapers and business journals do that sort of thing. I’ve been putting everything I find out in stacks by state and then by publication. And then I add it all on this very gigantic spreadsheet in Excel.

I know. This is thrilling information, isn’t it?

But as I was filling out all this information, I got to wondering. What sort of people end up being Director of Advertising? Or an Account Executive? I wanted to do an in-depth interview with them to see what led them there and if they enjoy their job and if they do any other interesting work on the side. You know, like us writers who work full time jobs and write part-time.

I’m SO not a people-person (I can’t stand the general populace to be quite honest) so I know talking to people on a daily basis is not for me.

Anyway. Went to lunch with my friend. We were in search of Kincaid’s Hamburgers but never found it, sadly. We think it’s gone. Instead, we ended up at a Chinese place, which wasn’t exactly what I had my mouth all set for. I’ve been craving a big drippy cheeseburger for days. I still haven’t got it.

Afterward, we drove through and affluent neighborhood in Fort Worth called Westover Hills. He was showing me all the multi-million dollar houses. And WOW they were gorgeous. I mention a very affluent neighborhood in my book (which is also next to a country club) but I needed to see it to make the reference more plausible. Even if it is just a reference, I still want to get it right.

As we drove through the narrow black top streets, seeing this gigantic houses that were two and three stories (and the Rolls in the back), four car garages, iron gates across the driveways (and even SOME had their own guardhouse at the gate!), I wondered… what do these people do for a living? Where do they get their money? Is it old Fort Worth money? Or are they up and coming entrepeneurs? My friend said that most of them were probably CEOs, presidents of companies, maybe even a senator or two (with a guardhouse!).

I’m not sure I’d want to live in a house that big (two toilets is about all I can stand to clean), but it sure is nice to dream about it.

And so… it’s FREE BOOK FRIDAY - in case you forgot. I want to know… what do YOU dream about? Something big like a fancy house? A car? A boat? Or maybe it’s something simple…like a nice pair of shoes. Or a dress you’ve been eyeing in the shop window.

Post your comments here and if you want to be in the drawing for Melissa Schroeder’s The Accidental Countess, post that too. Contest closes at midnight CST and I’ll draw the name Saturday morning and announce the winner.