Made it to Los Angeles yesterday safe and sound… Day One of my cross-country adventure started out pretty rough. First of all, I woke up with some kind of freak 24-hour stomach flu. I’m not sure if it was the stress of the computer crash, or the stress of leaving, or a wicked hangover from the night before, or legitimate case of food poisoning, but I felt TERRIBLE from the second I woke up until much later in the evening. I was afraid to eat anything all day, cause I didn’t think I could keep it down. Pretty rough. But I seem to have recovered now, thank God.

We were shooting to get out of town at 10am, but with the computer drama, that didn’t happen, lol. Jay, our amazing Humanities Computing support, to whom I will be FOREVER grateful, had my computer overnight trying to do data recovery to find my deleted files. At 8am, he still hadn’t had any luck, and wanted a few more hours to try one last solution. When I picked up my computer at 11am, he had been able to recover some files, but because they were all in a jumble mess sans filenames, we had no idea if the last draft of WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH was in there. So John and I take it back to the office and after about thirty minutes of searching, I was able to locate the deleted file!!!! Halle-freakin-llujiah!!! Jay is my HERO! I immediately re-saved it, emailed it to myself and printed that bad boy up. SO Relieved. So with that disaster resolved, it was time to get back on task and get my ass on the road… Finally.

John and I didn’t end up leaving until about 2pm, but we made good time and managed to avoid any major traffic snafus. This is John’s first time in Cali (he’s a New Yorker), so I decided to take the scenic route down to LA via Highway 101. Lovely drive, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed having a travelling companion. I’m so used to travelling by myself, but John is great company, and since I was feeling so terrible with the whole stomach flu thing, having someone around to help me carry stuff, load the car, keep me on task, keep me awake, etc. was like a godsend. Not to mention he’s so incredibly sweet to me, and genuinely caring. I’m so glad he came with me, we’re having an awesome time.

Sometime around 7pm, we pulled over at my favorite hidden beach just south of Santa Barbara so I could swim in the ocean. Due to the cleansing properties of salt water (apparently salt neutralizes negative ions), I try to swim in the ocean as much as possible, but it’s just too cold in Santa Cruz so this was a real treat. The water was a tolerable temperature and we frolicked around in the waves like two kids – so much fun. Then we just laid out and rested for a minute, catching the beginning of a beautiful sunset before getting back on the road. Excellent pitstop.

By the time we finally got to Chris and Andre’s, Faby was there, dinner was on the table, and the hospitality was off the hinges. I couldn’t indulge in the drinking (and there was plenty of that going on, lol), but I did manage to eat dinner, and keep it down, the first signs that I was starting to recover… Thank God. It was so nice to see my girls again, reminisce about the good ole college days, and meet Faby’s new man. The six of us just sat around drinking and talking late into the night. A really relaxing way to end a really long day. I slept like a baby last night and am fully energized and hyped to continue on to our next destination…

As soon as John wakes up and we eat some breakfast, we’re heading out to Sedona, AZ via Phoenix. I’m SO excited because not only do we have two days there, but they opened the forest so I can do my vortex hiking after all!!! Wooo Hoooooo! Sedona is going to be great. So far, so excellent 🙂

Well the adventure has definitely begun…. The past few days have been jammed packed with activities. I swear, I have had more people visit me in Santa Cruz in the past week than I did in all of 2005, lol. Had Jordi, my bubbly doll, staying with me for a whole week while she attended the Mandolin Symposium at UCSC. Then Bill and Jes (with au pair Susana and Lola in tow) brought Devin to Santa Cruz last Monday, for a LOVELY visit. (We taught Devin how to pop his collar – I’d post pics but my computer is currently out of commision – more on that later). Then Edwardo stopped by en route to a series of book signings in the Bay. Nice visit, even though he’s allergic to cats and couldn’t breathe the whole time he was here, lol. Then Monday night I went to the Catalyst to check out Mr. Free’s show, and everything changed…

So I’ve been crushing on Free for MONTHS, lol. He’s a beautiful soul, a conscious brother, aspiring rapper, and actually lives in Santa Cruz! Anyways, I hadn’t had a chance to catch a show yet, but he called Monday to invite me to his gig at the Catalyst, and how could I turn down a personal invitation?

I had so much fun. He rocked the house. Flow and energy – amazing. He’s part of the movement that’s trying to bring hip hop back to a pure place, and I hope he makes it big cause he’s like a breath of fresh air in the bootyshake bling world of contemporary hip hop. Now ya’ll know how I feel about musicians, so you can imagine how cranked up the crush got, lol. But then I noticed a tall, thoughtful-looking guy on the periphery of the crowd… Who was apparently noticing me as well.

Half an hour later after Free’s set, I had the pleasure of making the handsome man’s acquaintance. John “Survivor” Blake, a spoken-word poet currently in the midst of a West Coast poetry tour. Voice as smooth as butter, delivering soul-searing verses to the masses, moving people to tears with his words. A true Survivor. He walked me to my car and with one kiss, managed to rock my world in a way it hasn’t been rocked in a WHILE. And he hasn’t stopped since.

John was not at all happy to hear that I was leaving Santa Cruz in just a few short days. Apparently that is just not enough time to get to know and enjoy me to his satisfaction, lol. So his crazy ass has decided he is COMING WITH ME on the first leg of my tour. Straight up cancelled a show in Sacramento and rearranged God knows what else and we are leaving, together, for LA tomorrow. Cause life is just crazy like that and I am committed to having Adventures. No day but today baby…

Needless to say, having my life hijacked by the handsome man (and he is a man – 36 years young and I freakin’ LOVE it!) has me all behind on my pre-trip packing. Then today, as I was trying to back up my computer, I managed to erase all the contents of my Documents folder, including the 15,000 words I’ve written for WHEN LOVE in the past 2 months. Aarrrgh – DAMN RETROGRADE!!!! So things are hectic, to say the least. But I’m trying to get out of here by 10am tomorrow, so I can make my dinner date with Lil Chris and Faby in LA. I can’t believe I’m leaving tomorrow! Next time you hear from me, I’ll be officially “on tour”. Wow, months of anticipation and it’s finally here… Surreal. Please think good thoughts for me as I try to get this packing done and get this computer fixed…

Anyone who has travelled with me can tell you that I have a mild case of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) when it comes to packing and pre-trip preparations. I will check the stove or whether or not I have the tickets dozens of times before I take off. This is why I have to start packing for major journeys weeks in advance of travel. It can literally take me hours to get out of the house.

Anyway, my OCD totally saved me this trip! After Megan flies out to meet me in Chicago (yay!!!), we’re going to be camping our way home across the Northern part of the country. This is the commune-with-nature/cost-saving leg of the trip, lol. Well yesterday was a picture perfect sun shiny day in Santa Cruz, and I spent most of it packing up all the camping gear. Then I decided to “practice pitch” the tent, to make sure everything was okay with it. I haven’t camped in many years, and thought it would be smart to check out the equipment before setting off. Good thing I did, cause after I unpacked the tent I discovered that I did not have the poles!!! Crucial piece of equipment, don’t ya think? So I immediately shifted into panic mode and tore the shed apart, but no poles. Freaked out for a good 20 minutes, called mom to see if maybe she had them. Then I thought to look one last completely obscure place (inside a suitcase), and found them. WHEW! Can you imagine if I had set off without the poles, and then Meg and I get to our first campsite and discover we have no tent to sleep in?!?!? That would have been a disaster!

Anyway, I successfully pitched the tent, which I also can’t believe cause this thing is HUGE and definitely requires two people. I had to get reeaaal creative to get this thing off the ground, lol. But there it is, one of my homes away from home this summer…

I actually inflated the air mattress, busted out the sleeping bag and slept in the tent last night, lol. Yes, that’s right, practice camping in my backyard, and yes I know I’m a nerd, lol. But I’m proud to report it was super comfortable and I wasn’t cold at all. My new sleeping bag totally rocks! 🙂

4 Days to Go and then I’m off!!! Wooo Hooooo!!!!

I leave for my cross-country tour in one week. That is just wild. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, I can’t believe my departure is imminent. I’m especially excited about the first non-California stop on my tour – Sedona, Arizona.

I had my first two days all planned out – Santa Cruz to Vegas to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Sedona. Unfortunately there are several wildfires burning in Arizona right now, one that just a week ago was threatening the town of Sedona. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon has been closed due to fire, which requires significant re-routing. The Coconino National Forest has also been closed until fire danger decreases. This is a huge bummer because not only is beautiful country being burned up and homes and businesses being threatened, but also because the main reason I’m going to Sedona is to experience the vortexes, all of which are located within the Coconino National Forest.

The incredibly helpful ranger at the Coconino Visitor Information Center told me that they won’t likely open the forest until weather conditions improve and they get at least 2 inches of rain… So while just a few months ago I was whining for the rain to stop, now I’m sitting here praying for rain in the desert. Oh the irony. But the Southwest is indeed experiencing a rush of thunderstorms (it was lightening that started the fires), so anything is possible. In the meantime, I’m doing my best to remain flexible and remember that this whole journey is an adventure, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned. I’m sure there will be plenty of beauty in the detours as well…

Seven days and counting… Fires or no, Arizona, here I come!

My new website is up and running folks!
http://www.stephaniecasher.com

I think of it as the “Gateway to All Things Steph.” I know, kinda scary, lol. To be honest, it feels a little strange having my own domain name, but I love the design of the site (thanks to everyone who gave me feedback!), and now I feel legit on the author tip. Or something. I decided to keep it pretty simple for now, but one new feature I did add is a photo gallery. Now the millions of pictures I plan to take of Devin will have a proper home, lol. 🙂

Things have been nuts over here. Between houseguests and tenants, packing, wrapping things up at the office, and visiting my nephew, it’s been pretty much nonstop activity. And I don’t care if it’s not officially Retrograde yet, Mercury is seriously fucking with me. Whew, this is going to be a very interesting journey I’m about to embark on… But I’m excited nonetheless. 10 days and counting!!!

I have always, always loved Angelina Jolie. In fact, if given a choice of any celebrity to have an affair with, she would top my list over any man. I’ve always found her a little troubled, but very real, very deep, and as far as starlets go, very down-to-earth. Last night, during her interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN (read transcript here), she gave me several more reasons to admire and respect her as a woman, mother, and human being dedicated to fighting the good fight.

Let’s face it – our culture is Celeb-Obsessed. For some reason we care SO MUCH about what/who celebrities are doing, and not nearly enough about current events, social issues, and what is going on in the world. I’m guilty of it too – I’ll admit I visit Pink is the New Blog every day for my dose of celebrity smack, and we all know how I feel about Tim McGraw… But I’m not so consumed in pop culture that I don’t know or care what’s going on in this world. We ALL could do more to nurture our global community. Even if what you do is as simple as educating yourself.

Angelina Jolie is a woman who is doing a whole lot to further human rights causes. She is a well-travelled, educated, enlightened individual who understands the power of celebrity, and is working it to do GOOD THINGS in this world. Knowing there would be a fierce bidding war for photos of her and Brad Pitt’s daughter, she sold the pics for 4.5 million dollars, then turned around and donated it ALL to charity. On top of that, she gladly donates 1/3 of her annual income to charity, recognizing that she makes way more money than she actually needs. And then last night, knowing legions of fans would tune-in to hear her talk about her experience giving birth to Brad Pitt’s baby, she used the opportunity as a platform to educate others about the plight of refugees in third world countries all over the world. The interview was not so much about Angelina as it was a 2-hour public service announcement about a host of global atrocities. Descriptions of her visits to Africa and Souteast Asia were juxtaposed with stories and footage of the mutilation of refugees in Sierra Leone, the children dying from AIDS in Africa, the genocide in Rwanda, violence against women in the Congo, and the situation in Darfur. Sadly, this short list only scratches the surface of areas in need of aid.

There are terrible crimes against humanity being committed in this world. Every single one of us sitting in our air-conditioned homes, reading this on our computer screens, we are so blessed. We don’t even know how blessed we are. It is too easy for those of us in the first world to ignore the plight of the third world, to ignore the true suffering that exists. We complain about long lines or not being able to find a parking space, when there are people enduring unspeakable abuse every day. It really puts things into perspective. We don’t even know how good we have it….

So hats off to Angelina Jolie for trying to open the eyes and minds of the masses. After I got over being horrified, I was truly inspired. I’m going to do my part to be a little more mindful and a lot more grateful as I go about my days, and do what I can, when I can, to further the cause for world peace and the end to human suffering. I guess she and Anderson accomplished exactly what they set out to…

I learned that there is a very good reason you don’t see many “prequels” in books and film, lol. Because it just does not make sense to write books in a series out of order!!!

Aargh! Okay, I’m not pulling my hair out… But I did realize recently that I am going to have to rewrite several chapters in SOUL MATES. There’s just no way around it. When I started writing WHEN LOVE, I thought I knew exactly how the story was going to unfold. After all, it’s loosely autobiographical, and the sequel is already Done. But as I get deeper into the book, the plot is taking turns I never imagined. Instead of covering the span of two years, it is now covering the span of ten years, with a more epic quality. I’ve actually altered the course of events from how I describe it in SOUL MATES considerably. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the new direction, and I really think this is going to be a more compelling version of the story. But an extensive re-write of SOUL MATES is now in order.

I feel like it took me forever to get to a place where I wasn’t revising and tinkering with that first manuscript anymore. Where I was actually able to let it go. I can’t believe I have to go back in (eventually) and do yet another revision. So is the life of a writer, eh?

It’s a good thing I love my job 😉

Heads Up: Mercury is about to go Retrograde from July 4-29. I know that’s still a few weeks off, but I’m actually already starting to feel it (Oh Joy), so I thought I’d mention it. Slow your Roll folks, and don’t plan any major moves/initiations for July…

PS: Added more pictures of Devin below from my visit this past weekend! He is the cutest baby EVER!

This past week I met my new writer friend Liz Devitt for dinner and drinks. Liz and I met at the Prepare to Pitch! Conference last May, but life has been so hectic for both of us, this was our first chance to hang out since then. Anyway, I just have to say, I LOVE WRITER FRIENDS! We had so much fun! It’s so nice to be able to hang with someone and talk about your book, talk about your struggles with trying to get published (not like Liz and I are struggling, both of us are pretty flippin’ golden right now, lol), and keep each other motivated… We’ve also transitioned into becoming critique partners, which is Awesome. Having someone give feedback on my work is great, but returning the favor is also rewarding, as it sharpens my editing skills, and also gives me ideas on how to improve my own writing. Win-win, and we all know how much I love the win-win!

Liz is also hella cool on a personal level (so much in common AND she’s a Capricorn, which means she Rocks by default LOL). I know there will be many more dates in the future for us to pump each other up and commiserate. Good friends are hard to find, and it’s nice have found someone who I believe could end up being a pretty good friend. Also, from what I’ve read so far, she wrote an AWESOME book. I can’t wait to toast at her book release party 😉

I’m so blessed that my BEST friend, Megan, is also a writer. But as I network and start to circulate, I am indeed starting to make more and more writer friends, and build my own personal author community… It started with Edwardo, then Liz, and recently I met Thomas Brooks on myspace who has been incredibly helpful by sending all kinds of useful information my way 🙂 I hope to add even more names to that list as I hit the conference circuit this summer. In this business, it’s all about who you know. I feel very fortunate to know some pretty cool people 🙂

Book Update: Progress on WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH is going well. Just cruised past the 30,000 word mark (I’m trying to get to 80,000), and still trying to write every day. This book has taken on a life of its own, taking me in directions story-wise that I never imagined… But more on that later 🙂

Introducing Devin Anthony Casher, born June 7, 2006 at 9pm, weighing in at 7 lbs and 6 oz!!!

I know the world is raving about the preciousness of Brangelina’s offspring, but I tell you, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt ain’t got nothin’ on my nephew! I swear, Bill and Jes made the most BEAUTIFUL baby. He is just too too cute. Not nearly enough adjectives to adequetely describe the cuteness of this baby!

It is also insane to me that Devin is a miniature version of Bill! I had my mom send me one of Bill’s first baby pictures – check out the resemblance!!! They even have the same crooked half-smile going on!

I had a surreal moment during my first visit with Devin… I looked up to see Bill holding his son, and I started having all these flashbacks of when Bill was a baby… (That’s actually Bill here on the left) Actual memories of the twins in arguably their cutest stage. I got yanked back mentally and emotionally to our childhood, flashes of memories of baby Bill and Eric, and then I watched our whole lives flash before my eyes…. Camping trips, He-man, Transformers and Go-bots, hot wheels races in the front yard, tearing it up on their bikes, then skateboards, little league and then basketball… Graduating from High School, and then college… And now to see my baby brother as a FATHER… Seriously, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gotten teary-eyed just thinking about it. Bill has a BABY. Mom and Dad are GRANDPARENTS. Eric and I have a new Nephew. It is just wild. Wild, wild, wild.

I guess we’re all officially grown-up now. It didn’t really feel that way until I held the next generation in my arms, but the Casher family has definitely entered into a whole new era. And the love I feel for my nephew is out of control. I swear, I’ll be going about my day, and I’ll think about him, or visit the blog to pull up his pic, and all of a sudden I just want to drop everything and drive over there to see him, lol. He is PERFECT, absolutely Perfect. My love for him truly knows no bounds…

Meeting Devin for the first time

Devin and Daddy

The above photo is now the desktop image on my work computer, lol.

Devin and Uncle Eric (hope he doesn’t get confused by the whole twin thing, LOL)

Devin, Mommy, and Auntie Jen

Biko is trying to work through his jealousy issues…

Susana is also in love…

Yup, Devin is well on his way to being the most photographed member of our family… I need to get a Flickr account or something, lol.

Introducing Devin Anthony Casher, born June 7, 2006 at 9pm, weighing in at 7 lbs and 6 oz!!!

I know the world is raving about the preciousness of Brangelina’s offspring, but I tell you, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt ain’t got nothin’ on my nephew! I swear, Bill and Jes made the most BEAUTIFUL baby. He is just too too cute. Not nearly enough adjectives to adequetely describe the cuteness of this baby!

It is also insane to me that Devin is a miniature version of Bill! I had my mom send me one of Bill’s first baby pictures – check out the resemblance!!! They even have the same crooked half-smile going on!

I had a surreal moment during my first visit with Devin… I looked up to see Bill holding his son, and I started having all these flashbacks of when Bill was a baby… (That’s actually Bill here on the left) Actual memories of the twins in arguably their cutest stage. I got yanked back mentally and emotionally to our childhood, flashes of memories of baby Bill and Eric, and then I watched our whole lives flash before my eyes…. Camping trips, He-man, Transformers and Go-bots, hot wheels races in the front yard, tearing it up on their bikes, then skateboards, little league and then basketball… Graduating from High School, and then college… And now to see my baby brother as a FATHER… Seriously, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gotten teary-eyed just thinking about it. Bill has a BABY. Mom and Dad are GRANDPARENTS. Eric and I have a new Nephew. It is just wild. Wild, wild, wild.

I guess we’re all officially grown-up now. It didn’t really feel that way until I held the next generation in my arms, but the Casher family has definitely entered into a whole new era. And the love I feel for my nephew is out of control. I swear, I’ll be going about my day, and I’ll think about him, or visit the blog to pull up his pic, and all of a sudden I just want to drop everything and drive over there to see him, lol. He is PERFECT, absolutely Perfect. My love for him truly knows no bounds…

Meeting Devin for the first time

Devin and Daddy

The above photo is now the desktop image on my work computer, lol.

Devin and Uncle Eric (hope he doesn’t get confused by the whole twin thing, LOL)

Devin, Mommy, and Auntie Jen

Biko is trying to work through his jealousy issues…

Susana is also in love…

Yup, Devin is well on his way to being the most photographed member of our family… I need to get a Flickr account or something, lol.