Boo ... or not

Have I given you long enough to drool over my gorgeous new cover? You're probably saying, "Uh, yeah! Get a life." All right, I'll move along.

So today's Hallowe'en. I have to confess I've gone full circle about Hallowe'en. When I was little, we lived in the country. Kind of hard to go trick-or-treating when your neighbors live miles apart down dark gravel backroads and your father - the only one who has a drivers' license - is working. So yeah, no Halloween for little Leah.

When the boys were little, Gizmo Guy and I would go the whole route - sort of an overkill I suppose for my lack of Halloween childhood memories. We would set aside a day to go out to the farms and choose 'just the right pumpkins' and carve them up into scary images - cats and witches and fancy designs. We'd decorate the outside of the house with spider webs and ghosts and lights and you name it. I think our best year was when we stuffed an old sweatshirt of GG's, along with a pair of blue jeans, and the ubiquitous pumpkin head, then sat it in a rocking chair on our porch. Gizmo Guy put a speaker in its chest and hooked it up to his computer's voice program. When a little one least expected it, that dummy would start talking. Specifically to that child - about their costume so they knew it wasn't just a taped program. Scared the cr*p out of some of 'em.

I'd go all out and make Guitar Hero's costumes from scratch. For GH's first Halloween, I made him a car out of a cardboard box with pie plate wheels and a steering wheel. I had to lift it over him (I'd cut out the center) and he 'wore' it around the neighbourhood thanks to the straps I'd attached that hung it over his shoulders. I've made Power Ranger costumes, Grim Reaper cloaks, Batman outfits, Dragon outfits. You name it, I've sewed it. For Guitar Hero that is.

For Curly? No.

What? You gasp in horror. You went to all that trouble for one child and not your other? Yeah. Because when he was little, Curly was terrified of Hallowe'en costumes. I'm not just talking wide-eyed scared. Curly was curl-up-on-the-floor-in-a-ball-and-scream terrified. (Yeah, we often wondered if it was payback for that talking dummy on the porch trick.) Curly has always had an amazing imagination. I couldn't read bedtime stories to him either because those stories would become so real to him he'd be frightened all night. (Poor Gizmo Guy was really upset to discover he couldn't read Where the Wild Things Are to him the way he had with Guitar Hero. It would send Curly into crying fits.)

I'm not sure when Curly stopped being so afraid of Hallowe'en, but I think he was in his teens before he went out for the first time. AHA! Yes, I have made him a costume. I am REDEEMED. He went out as Legolas about 5 years ago with a bunch of his friends. I made him a cape from fabric that had a weave very similar to the one they wore in the Lord of the Rings Movie. I also supplied my elven leaf pin for it, along with a bow and arrow set I dug up from ... somewhere.

But nowadays, with the boys too old to go out, and not into it any more, we don't celebrate Hallowe'en. Plus Gizmo Guy was heard to grumble the other day "I don't know why we even celebrate Hallowe'en. It's just a big sales pitch for the candy companies." And you know what? I'm getting to the age when I'm starting to agree with him.

So for the five or six kids that come to my door tonight, there won't be cob webs or carefully carved pumpkins or spooky music or strange lights. There will be candy. But no spirit.

By the way, Gizmo Guy had a meeting with his boss yesterday who told him that today is an official government-recognized religious holiday for those who are practicing Wiccans or Samhains. Gizmo Guy tells me he suppressed a laugh at that last one. He asked me if that meant I had some special celebration I hadn't told him about. I said yes, and then winked at him. Okay, so maybe there'll be a little spirit. But none fit for kids. ;)

Woohoo! Private Property has a cover!

Isn't it beautiful? It's designed by the wonderful, artistic Natalie Winters who did a marvelous job, and obviously read my descriptions of my characters (three pages worth of character descriptions and pictures - poor Natalie!) I love the black and white look, it's so artistic, so classy. And I love how the red of "Private" (as well as that different font) and my name really pop out in such a dramatic fashion. Gorgeous!

And in case you've forgotten what it's about, even after my endless blogging and nattering on about it, here's the blurb:

Jodi Tyler has loved and lost too many times to believe in happily ever after. That’s what makes her no-strings affair with her boss so perfect—his power in bed matches his respect for her independence. Still, when he surprises her with a ménage for her birthday, her secret thrill wars with a nagging thought: Why would he so casually share her with another man?

Even though Mark Rodriguez holds Jodi at arm’s length from his heart, her self-confidence is a turn-on he can’t resist. Inviting old college buddy and future business partner Sam into their bed for one night was supposed to set free her wildest fantasy. Instead he finds the tables turned, forced to watch while Sam brings her to the height of ecstasy.

Now, Mark’s not so sure he wants to share his treasure…

Is there a camera hidden in my house?

Zits by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman has been one of my favorite comics for a long time now, and today's panel is just one more reason to love it. What can I say about it? The multiple glasses on the head? That's me. (I even blogged a while back about losing my glasses when I was wearing the danged things.) The "Where's my purse?" when it's on the shoulder? Again, me.

And Jeremy's answer? Guitar Hero has actually said that to me.

Game Night at the Braemel household

It's awesomer

I've been fiddling around with various storylines over the past couple of weeks. I've outlined a couple contemporary erotics as sequels to Sam's story, mucked about with the contemporary paranormal I wrote last summer - the one the publisher I submitted it to lost. But a couple days ago, a story I wrote five years ago started talking to me again. I wrote it once as a 50K fantasy-romance, knowing nothing about how you really should have a happy-ever-after ending and left the hero and heroine parting as he went off to war. Oops. And sex? Um, I think there might have been a kiss or two. But that's it. Lots of innuendo. But no sex. Vanilla.

And so I sat down at my computer and opened up Word and started writing it again. Oh, I'm not editing the old one, it's not usable. My writing style has changed immensely since then (for the better I hope.) Today I actually started rewriting it from scratch. I'm hoping that since I know the characters so well, that since I've written it once, it'll be easier as the details have been settled in my mind for a while. It's a fantasy with dragons and wizards and magic. And sex - mustn't forget to mention the sex.

And then Guitar Hero dashed up and showed me this cartoon that made me literally laugh out loud.
If you go to the link and let your mouse hover over the picture, there's a popup box that says "Except for anything by Lewis Carroll or Tolkien, you get five made-up words per story."

Hmm, five words, huh? Ooops. I think I'm at my limit and I've only written one chapter. Ah, the hell on rules! I'm creating my own swear words and animals and names. But don't you just love that line "which are like swords but awesomer"? Doesn't it remind you of something Dr. Horrible might say?

(I'd link to Dr. Horrible, but it only shows to people in the States, not us here in Canada. Or I'd post a clip from YouTube, but since they're trying to sell the videos through iTunes I have a feeling the YouTube posts are breaching copyrights and I don't want to breach copyrights. Have I confused you enough? Anyway, if you don't know who Dr. Horrible is or how he'd use a word like awesomer ... just trust me, he would definitely use a word like awesomer.)


Oh, all right, stop complaining, here's a link to part one.

Found in Translation

Thanks to Guitar Hero for pointing this PDF out to me. It's a real document, and can be downloaded from www.motorcyclecourse.com ... look at the bottom left ... it's the doc called "Driving Tips from a 1962 Honda Publication."

It's just too funny not to share. I LOVE that first sentence in point #5. Good advice to always watch out for the 'skid demon'. (I think I may have the title to a new paranormal.)

HOW TO RIDE MOTORCYCLES

1962 Safety Rules from Honda

Taken from a 1962 Honda Motor Cycle Instruction Book. Translated by

Honda for the American Motorcycle Rider

1. At the rise of the hand by Policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him by or otherwise disrespect him.

2. When a passenger of the foot, hooves in sight, tootel the horn trumpet melodiously at first. If he still obstacles your passage, tootel him with vigor and express by word of mouth, warning Hi, Hi.

3. Beware of the wandering horse that he shall not take fright as you pass him. Do not explode the exhaust box at him. Go smoothingly by.

4. Give big space to the festive dog that makes sport in roadway. Avoid entanglement of dog with wheel spokes.

5. Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon. Press the brake foot as you roll around the corners, and save the collapse and tie up.

Price Shopping and a Compliment

It's 1:30 and I'm finally sitting down at my computer. I spent the morning running Guitar Hero around - picking him up from work, driving him over to the dentist's for a filling, then two towns to the west to look at motorbikes.

Yesterday GH spent the morning calling insurance companies and getting quotes. Insurance is going to be a lot more expensive than he'd originally been told, mainly because he's still under 25. Then he started adding up the money he plans to spend in the next year. Of main concern is his $7K tuition. Add to that the $4500 he's looking at spending on a bike, plus the $2500 for insurance. That more than cleans out his bank account. He wasn't a happy camper by the end of the day.

Still, he's bound and determined to own a motorbike. Today he found a bike he REALLY likes. It's a Yamaha V-Star 650. The one he's looking at/falling in love with is dark red with a custom paint job on the gas tank and fenders. It's got big leather saddle bags, a special passenger seat with a back, a light bar (three lights instead of one headlight), a light bar through the engine that glows red so people coming at you from the side can see you, special Vance and Hines exhaust pipes that are worth an extra thousand bucks (apparently, they're really fancy pipes.)

He likes it so much that he's afraid to buy it because he's afraid of 'dropping' it. The saying is that a bike's natural state is horizontal and that there are two types of riders. Those who have dropped a bike and those who are about to. You drop a bike at low speeds - when you're starting up or going around a corner and cause the engine to stall. (he explained how it worked, but darned if I can explain it here.)

But he's got a good head on his shoulders. He didn't impulse buy; he knew he needed to walk away and think about it even though the bike could be gone tomorrow. He walked because all of a sudden, spending all that money out of HIS OWN ACCOUNT made things more real. Especially when he factored in the insurance costs. And that he'd have to park the bike for the next four months probably.

Why would he have to park the bike? Because yesterday it snowed.

Now usually we have 'snow in the air' snow around this time of the year. That's not unusual. What was unusual is this snow stayed overnight. Ugh. That doesn't usually happen until mid November for my part of Ontario. Two winters ago we had no snow until February. I LOVED that winter. Last year the snow fell in November and never left until April.

Hopefully this winter won't be a repeat of last year. I really really really didn't like last year's snow. And I know Guitar Hero is hoping for an early spring or easy winter so he can continue to ride. Hmm, maybe I should be hoping for snow.

Oh, and one really BIG HUGE bonus moment for me? The salesman, Carl, was talking to us, saying how I could hop on the backseat and ride with him. I shook my head and said no, I'd leave that for his girlfriend, that I was GH's mother. Carl (who is 62 but looks about my age, by the way) did a double-take and shook his head. He said he thought GH was my boyfriend, that there was no way he thought I was old enough to be Guitar Hero's mother. And God Bless Carl, he said - with all truthfulness, it wasn't with that salesman's smoothness that usually really annoys me - that he thought I was about 25.

Woohoo! I look half my age!

He then said "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it, because it's working for you."

Yup. Though if Guitar Hero continues to insist on getting a motorbike, I think maybe I'll need to watch for a profusion of grey hair.

Learning Curve

Since I've sold Private Property to Samhain, I've been introduced to a whole new side of publishing. The promotion side.

I've been haunting other people's blogs to see what they do (Thanks Shelley Munro for a great post on promotion the other day, along with Marcia James' blog a while back). I've been reading other authors' newsletters to see what they include and how often they send them. I've been joining review sites - Coffee Time Romance and Romance Studio, Manic Readers, etc. Yesterday I waded even further into the deep end of the pool and created my own Leah Braemel Yahoo group as a method of distributing a newsletter, posting excerpts, etc.

Subscribe to Leah_Braemel

Powered by us.groups.yahoo.com

I've set it up so only I may post, so you won't be inundated with emails from it. Once I've figured out what to put on a newsletter other than just my cover and an excerpt, that is. If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see me put in a newsletter, or what types of thing you read or want to read, let me know.

(By the way, how you feel about Yahoo groups - do you prefer where only the owner/moderator posts? Or do you like to post to them? Or do you delete a lot of group digests unread because there is just 'too much' coming through in a day?)

Talk about a whole new ballgame once you're published. So much to do. So much to think about. So little time!

A Chicken and Egg question

On the weekend, a NY Times bestselling author spoke to my local RWA chapter. On multiple occasions during the course of the day, she said that because of the war in Iraq and the present US economic woes, people wouldn't want to read/buy contemporaries. They want Historicals, she said. Paranormals, she said.

Okay, yes, paranormals are still hot sellers, and historicals - well, they were always my first love (though frankly, I'm really tired of Regencies - particularly ones set in London and involve 'the ton'. Yawn. It has to be really something different to get me to pick one up in a bookstore these days. Instead, give me a good Roman Invasion story or medieval. I love Civil War stories and westerns, too. Or better yet a medieval fantasy!)

But I still love my contemporaries. I love to find a heroine I can identify with in my own time period. I especially love heroines and heroes who deal with all the same day-to-day cr*p I do and make it sexy. How they overcome the very things that plague me or help shift my own attitude to one of "I can do this!"

So I was really pleased to see a post over on Smart Bitches today about trying to "Save the Contemporary". Which solidified a question that had been simmering all weekend.

Are sales of contemporaries down because people aren't buying them? Or because publishers aren't producing them and hence the bookstores aren't selling them? It's sort of one of those chicken and egg questions. If I write it, will they buy? What a conundrum.

CSI: Jamaica

Where I grew up the locals used to joke that the land could only grow cows, corn, and Christmas trees. Because underneath the limited topsoil of the moraine was a huge a$$ mountain of sand and gravel. As I bussed to school every day, I remember watching one sandy hillside gradually disappear as the locals helped themselves to the natural resource when they needed to make cement or fill their children's sandbox.

About three months ago, according to this article, someone in Jamaica decided to help themselves to some sand on a much larger scale ...

Questions are being asked in Jamaica about a police investigation into the theft of hundreds of tons of sand from a beach on the island's north coast.

Apparently some 500 truckloads of sand were taken from a planned resort and ... disappeared. Three months later and they're still looking for it. Since Jamaican beach sand is of a MUCH higher quality than our poor glacial sand, the authorities suspect it didn't end up in cement, but on some other hotel's beach. They're even conducting forensic tests on other beaches to try to determine where the sand went.

One man's beach is another man's gold, I guess.

*Updated October 28, 2009* This apparently isn't specific to Jamaica. Sand theft is all the rage in the Caribbean according to this Discovery article.

(By the way, the picture above is one Gizmo Guy took from our hotel room overlooking Clearwater Beach back in the early 80s. That's really the color, it's not adjusted. It's sunset and really was that gold. The one below of the two boys on the rocks is one he took in Jamaica when we visited in 1979. They're both beautiful, aren't they?)

Motoring Along

While we were watching Guitar Hero testing for his motorcycle licence the other day, we sat near a huge Harley Davidson. Yup, that's me sitting on the grass just beyond in the picture above, Guitar Hero discussing his test with me.

In my upcoming novella, Private Property, I have a secondary character, Sam, riding a Harley. So I've been keeping my eye on the various types of bikes they have. And this one wasn't exactly the type that GH said Sam would ride - I figure he'd ride a Road King. But this bike was impressive. Although, it wasn't until we did a once-around that we noticed it had some ... rather, um, interesting additions.


Yup. Naked women. One on each side. Gizmo Guy and Guitar Hero took a rather long time examining these, finally announcing that the ladies flip down so when the rider is on a long-distance trip he can stretch out his legs by resting his feet on them. Uh huh.

Later I pointed out the kickstand to them. Yup, that's another naked lady. Guess it was too subtle.

Then again, not so subtly positioned at the back of the bike, yet I missed them entirely, were ... well ... I'll let the picture speak for itself. (I blanked out the licence plate to protect the owner's identity.)

Notice anything?

Below that big red light?

Yup. It's got balls. And so does the owner.

Less Bang for a Buck (or a Loonie)

Oh, yikes. I just bought the Holly Lisle book, Create a Plot Clinic. When I went to pay via PayPal, I noticed that once again, the Canadian dollar has tumbled and they're only giving 83 cents to the dollar. I guess the days when the Canadian dollar was at par with the US dollar are gone. *sigh* That'll affect my buying habits south of the border, of books mainly. Rats. I really liked not having to worry about that exchange rate.

Of course, Curly is headed to Florida in February so it'll hurt just that much more when we buy American 'spending' money for him. And it'll make a difference to any south of the border conference attendance for me next year. Not that I can afford ANY conference really. Unless I write a fantastic book and get a huge $1.25 million (Canadian) advance like Andrew Davidson got for his novel, Gargoyle. Yeah, right. Like THAT's going to happen any time soon. Although considering this blog used to be called "Watch out for Falling Gargoyles" because I was working on a gargoyle story at the time, maybe I should haul out that story again. They wouldn't even need to offer $1.25 Mill. I'd settle for one tenth of that. That would pay off my mortgage and all the rest of the bills and leave just enough to have some fun afterward.

Still, a girl can dream ...

Oh, and talking about dreaming? Check out here for some dream-inspiring Toronto firefighters.

Today's the day, Canadians

For all Canadians, don't forget to vote today. If you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain about the government that comes to power.

Get Stuffed, Canadians

As in enjoy your Thanksgiving Turkey today.

Our bird is in the oven even as I type, smelling delicious. Roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, biscuits, gravy. And a home made peach melba crumble for dessert. All I forgot this year were the cranberries. But since I'm the only one who loves cranberry sauce with my turkey, I guess no one else will notice.

He's got a Ticket to Ride

Guitar Hero passed. He is now the proud holder of a motorcycle licence.

Oy!

For the past two and a half days, he's been studying hard at the local college who run a motorcycle licensing course. From learning basics such as how to mount the bike (did you know there's an etiquette to it? Always get on from the kickstand side) to doing emergency stops and swerves, they put him through his paces on a 200 cc Suzuki motorcycle. (No, it's not his bike, it's one supplied by the college as part of the course. He didn't get to bring it home. He wants a bigger one. Oy!)

When he came home yesterday, he said he spent the first half of the day terrified. And then he got the wind in his face and realized he had control of the bike and didn't want to stop.

Oy! Oy!


There were forty participants in his class. Of all ages. From a 16 year old who didn't look more than 12, to a 75 year old man. Equally mixed between men and women. And the course runs every weekend spring to late fall. I never realized there were so many bike enthusiasts in the area.

The students started off in the classroom Friday night. On Saturday they got their first chance to actually get on a bike. From learning how to balance the motorcycle while a partner pushed them (with no engine running - just like a youngster learning to ride a bicycle). Then they had to ride straight and do a turn (still no engine.) Then they got to start their engine and had to learn how to work a choke, the brakes and the clutch.

It's VERY important that you remember to put your motorcycle back in neutral if you stall out. One lady forgot her bike was in first gear when she stalled out and accidentally turned the throttle as she was reaching for the auto-start button. The bike took off. She went air-borne. Cement. Hard. Ouch! (But I have to give her credit, she got back on her bike and continued riding after a few minutes. And she passed her test today, too.)

Anyway, the instructors had them doing circles around cones, inside and out. Then they'd progress to figure eights. And then they'd ride with others bikers (instructors) intersecting them on their bikes - get this - flipping them off and trash talking them to distract them!


This is Guitar Hero taking the second last test of the day - the guy in the red shirt is pretending to be a car stalled out in a lane. GH had to ride up to him at speed, and then swerve around him (and the cones) in the direction the instructor pointed (the direction was random and would only be signalled at the last moment.) He had to do emergency stops, to take corners following a specific white painted line without straying outside of the lines and stop at exactly the right point.

In other words, they had to work for their licence. And rightly so. Because it scares the heck out of me thinking he can now buy a bike and drive out in traffic. Am I scared that he won't be a good driver? (Oops, excuse me, motorcyclists are not referred to as drivers, but riders.) No. I'm scared of the other drivers out there who are maniacs. Like the truck who ran a red light at our corner yesterday and just about hit my car. My car would have been crunched pretty badly. A motorcyclist? I shudder to think what would have happened.

Motorcycle Helmet: $110
Motorcycle Course: $300
Motorcycle Licence: Priceless (To Guitar Hero. To me? Terrifying!)

Wine time

I'm back finally - still sniffing and snorting with this cold that will not go away. But we're glad to be home.

Gizmo Guy and I have been in Niagara Falls for the last few days staying in a beautiful bed and breakfast called Park Place. Our suite - the Prince of Wales suite - included a king sized bed, woodburning fireplace, a huge bathroom with a sauna, walk in shower and whirlpool bath, a private balcony overlooking a lovely little courtyard, and - oh my heaven's I'm still stuffed - handcooked breakfasts delivered right to our bedroom.


Talk about pampering ourselves. And two nights cost about the same as one day's stay at the Sheraton I stayed at in Ottawa. Which didn't include breakfast. Or a fireplace. Or such GREAT service.

We wandered around during the day - went up to Niagara on the Lake that borders the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. It's a small town of 15,000, and home of the Shaw Festival where they've strived to keep that 'old' feeling.
This is the Prince of Wales Hotel. Far pricier than the Prince of Wales Suite we stayed in at the Park Place B&B. But you're paying for the location and the ambience.

For those of you not familiar with the Niagara region, it's Ontario's 'fruit region', probably because of its warm location nestled between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. According to our tour guide Tom at the Jackson Triggs winery, the warm air comes off of the lake and flows over the land and then hits the Niagara Escarpment and flows back, allowing them to grow fruits and vegetables other parts of the country can't grow.

Yes, I went to a winery. Several. Each tour we took ended in a wine tasting that included samples from at least four different bottles of wine. And they expected us to drink the large portions they gave us - this was no taste-and-spit-it-in-a-bucket experience. Now I'm not a drinker usually, but I do enjoy a glass of wine about twice a year - usually at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Luckily enough Gizmo Guy doesn't care for wine so he became my designated driver. If the police are ever looking to give out tickets, all they need do is position themselves down the road from a winery after a tour gets out. I was hoping all that alcohol would kill the cold germs I was fighting. No such joy, but at least I didn't care about it so much after my tours.

So now I'm back home and raring to get back to writing. While I was away, my brain was churning over ideas so fast I was dreaming of storylines. It was as if my brain couldn't figure out why I wasn't writing anymore. And here I thought I was being nice by giving it a week off.

New Version of the Sony Reader available

I got a really great email from my editor today giving me a sneak peek of Private Property's cover. OMG it's HOT! Even Gizmo Guy thinks so.

You'll just have to wait, but I'm going to be fanning myself for a while.

In the meantime, Sony has announced a new version of their Reader - the PRS-700.

Boasting an impressive 6.0-inch, touch screen display, this Reader uses paper-like E Ink® technology which makes it easier to read, even in bright-light situations. In addition to a built-in light, there's an interactive touch screen that lets you turn pages with the slide of a finger or activate the bookmark. You can also create annotations with a virtual keyboard, highlight text with a stylus pen, search for text in your digital book, and easily adjust the font size. A faster processor gives you quicker response times when opening content or turning pages. Ideal for travelers or people who like to read while on the go, the PRS-700BC holds approximately 320 digital books.

Instead of three text sizes there will now be five. And best of all there's a LED light for reading in low-light situations.

Of course these changes mean the cost is going up to around $400. Ah well, give it time and it'll come down. And if you don't need the light, you should keep an eye out as they clear out the old stock of the PRS-505s. The 700 will be available as of November 14th 2008.

(I should be looking for a commission from Sony for these updates!)

Bits and Bobs

I've seen a couple of posts that talk about how the US government is passing an Orphan Works bill affecting the copyrights of artists and authors over the control of their work. Read about it here. There's another post over on the Samhain blog here as well.

Now I'm no legal expert. Frankly contracts and all that legalese makes my head spin. If I'm understanding it correctly, the bill goes against the Berne Convention to respect copyrights not only in the US but also in any other country in the accord. Hmm. If anyone can explain it to me what it means, how they can pass this bill, or even attempt it considering the conventions, and how it'll affect non-American artists, let me know.


Michelle asked where the guy in the kilt was going, and I figured a picture is worth a thousand words. There were a lot of guys in kilts that day. The one in the last blog post was probably a member of the band above who played at the Memorial service. But lordy lordy, some of them were very nice looking. There is something about a man in a kilt. Well, some men in kilts.


These pictures were all taken by Gizmo Guy in Ottawa by the way. I keep encouraging him to register with Dreamstime or somewhere and make some money on his photos. If nothing else, they make GREAT jigsaws. Which is what I've been doing the last couple of days since I've been fighting that nasty cold that's been going around. Luckily for me, it held off until after I'd returned from Ottawa and completed my submission.

And finally ... I may not be around much the next couple of days. I got word early this morning that Gizmo Guy's mother passed away. Not unexpected - she was 92. But we'll be away from home for a few days.