www.yorkwriters.com

Between Steve and me, we have two blogs and three webpages. Now we also have a domain name, where we can link all our various secret identities. Well, they aren't really secret, but I think having a secret identity would be really, really cool.
Even though there isn't much there at the moment, it will be the hub of our little empire. Ok, not so much an empire at this point, either. But that would be cool, too.
What we do have that is cool, is Herbie.
We have had Beetles of one sort or another for a long time. Kind of a York family tradition. Steve's been riding in Beetles since he was a baby. So, when we went to buy a new car a few years back, we got The Tick, otherwise known as the Great Blue Vehicle of Justice. Even had a custom license plate frame made that read "Knock Off All That Evil." The Tick was a Techno Blue TDI (thus the name), and he served us well. This summer, however, he gave his life to protect Steve in an accident.
So, we had to replace The Tick. We went searching for another Turbo Diesel Beetle, since there really wasn't another car on the road that we wanted as much. But rising gas prices have made diesels - and their 40+mpg - hard to find. Which is how we found Herbie.
Herbie is a factory custom job. The number and stripes are decals that were applied at the factory. We don't know how many were made, but I doubt there were many. Maybe someday we will find out.
Herbie was on a lot about 60 miles from our little seaside town, and was the closest diesel Beetle in the state. I went to look at him, and immediately burst out laughing. He was so impossibly over-the-top. Naturally, we bought him.
Driving Herbie is like being in a parade, all the time. People stop and stare. They wave and smile. Little kids squeal and drag their parents over to see him. A few days ago, Steve came out of a store to find a woman taking pictures. She said, "My duaghter will never believe this." And it's a chick magnet. Cute girls stop Steve all the time to tell him, "Cool car." Even when he's parked next to a brand-new Corvette, Herbie is the one that gets the attention.
So, I don't have a secret identity, but I do have a new identity. I am now known around town as "Herbie's mom."

More good news

Last night I came home from work to find an email from one of the editors I work with. She was writing to tell me a short story, "A Day At The Unicorn Races," was accepted for the anthology FANTASY GONE WRONG. It's a silly story, for a light-hearted collection about what happens when fantasy works on ways we don't necessarily anticipate. I don't know when this one will be out, but I'll be sure to announce it when I do know.

The really cool part is that this is the third story I've sold to this particular anthology packager.

The first one, "Godspeed," is coming out the end of this month in a collection called TIME AFTER TIME. It's up on Amazon, and I'm very pleased with it.

The story is about John Glenn, and is my very own little slice of total hero worship. I think Glenn is one of the true heroes in my lifetime, one of the good guys, and doing this story was a tribute to a man who truly has "The Right Stuff." Being old enough to remember Sputnik, and the original Mercury 7 astronauts, this was just a fun story to write.

I hope copies will be available in time for the Orycon science fiction convention the first weekend in November. I will be there, doing some panels and a book-signing, and it would be wonderful to have new books to sign!