Guest Blogger Alert: JULIE KENNER!!!

Well, for regular viewers of my blog, it's no secret how I feel about Ms. Julie Kenner. I truly believe that anything she touches is golden, and to be able to call her my friend is an incredible honor. Now if only I could lure her back to our monthly meetings! Oh, the perils of having so many projects! Please feel free to comment and/or ask questions, as she'll check back in here regularly to reply!
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DEMONS AMONG THE DRESSES
So. Apparently I have become my heroine. No, really. Let me explain. My current book is CARPE DEMON: ADVENTURES OF A DEMON-HUNTING SOCCER MOM (A Booksense Summer Paperback Pick. And a Target Break-out Book! Yay! Check it out. Shelved front of store or in the Sci-Fi section. End commercial.) At any rate, since I'm doing this blog tour to tell folks about the book, I thought it made sense to talk about the book or the character or something somewhat relevant. Which meant I had to come up with a topic.

I found one today at the mall, at the same time I realized that I've become my heroine, Kate Connor (note how carefully I got back to my original thesis after that brief commercial break? Snazzy, huh?).

You see, Kate is a Demon Hunter. She's also a mom, and a rather harried mom at that, considering she has to keep the whole demon-hunting thing secret. And that, you see, is what I have in common with Kate. Not the Demon Hunting part, but I've got that harried mom bit down to a science.

Case in point: this afternoon. C's day care is closed for teacher workshops, and so I figured this is a good day to shop for clothes for the RWA National Convention coming up in Reno later this month. (Clothes being necessary since my hips have expanded such that my pants no longer fit; I've therefore made the wily decision to wear dresses at National since they will still fit even after I beat my hips and caloric intake into submission. Which would probably happen faster if I put away the potato chips I'm currently eating, but now that I've bought dresses, it's not like I'm any hurry ...)

But I digress. At any rate, C and I schlep to Lakeline Mall with the goal of finding mommy dresses. So. We head first to the cookie place (for the promised treat for a well-behaved child), only to get waylaid by the Dippin' Dots stand (little tiny pellets of ice cream that we discovered at Sea World and really are yummy). After much negotiation, we decide on the Dots over the cookie. No problem. Buy. Sit. Eat.

Except they don't melt as fast as they do at Sea World (thanks to the industrial strength air conditioning in the mall). So after about 3 bites, C wants a cookie after all. I weigh whether it's better to teach my kid some deep life lesson about decisions and commitments and bargains (and, possibly, calories) against the possibility of sitting at a sticky table in the food court for 30 minutes while we wait for the dots to melt.

I cave. We buy a cookie. (See? One demon slayed already!!)

We head through the mall, C happily munching and me searching for Ann Taylor. Ann Taylor, I realize, is not in Lakeline Mall.

Bummer.

But I can adjust. I'm channeling a kick ass Demon Hunter after all. Surely, I can find a dress. Or three.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Casual Corner with some really cute clothes in the window and a giant SALE sign. Ah, nirvana!

We enter. At this point, C is covered w/ chocolate (from the chips) and green stuff (from the icing) and crumbs. I tell her NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. The sales girl laughs. I am heartened by this blatant show of understanding, but still keep a sharp eye on the kid.

I manage to pull off a few dresses in my size before C gives in to the urge to touch. Off we go to a dressing room where, before trying on anything, I clean the kid's hands with water, a napkin, and a lot of rubbing.

Now the fun really begins. The dressing room is the curtained kinds, and every time I'm in my underwear (braless - I was wearing a tank top), C manages to pull the thing open. (Have I mentioned she's 3?) And she also plays "spanky" on my butt. Yeah, I know. But the kid finds it amusing. Of course, she yells out "spanky butt" loud enough that I hear giggles from the adjoining dressing rooms.

Despite my mortification, I manage to find 3 dresses, in a size smaller than I usually wear. I decide I love Casual Corner's dress forms and sizing policy. Nothing demonic there, but maybe magical?

We pay. We move on. The store is still in tact, the unsold clothes aren't sticky w/ cookie. I consider the venture a success.

Next, I discover a sale at Dillards. DARLING dresses for $9.99. Yes, $9.99. I and a bunch of other women (also with strollers) are digging through the racks. My child decides to play hide and seek in the racks. I hear a little voice calling "Marco!" and I have to yell "Polo" just to get the kid to come out. We were getting some strange looks.

But overall, the adventure was a success. My own little 3 year old demon behaved pretty well, all things considered (I could make it as a demon hunter, huh?) and I got a pile of new clothes.

Life is good.
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USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner spent years mainlining venti nonfat lattes and working full time as an attorney, writing about four books each year, and being a mom. Finally, she realized that sleep is a good thing, and quit the practice of law to write full time. She lives in Georgetown, Texas, with her husband and three year old daughter. Her current releases include THE GIVENCHY CODE and CARPE DEMON: ADVENTURES OF A DEMON-HUNTING SOCCER MOM, currently in development with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. CARPE DEMON was also selected as a Summer Paperback Pick for 2005 by and is a "Target Breakout Book!" For more info, visit Julie on the web at www.juliekenner.com