I am SO Tired

Ah, finally, the ability to stop writing and just breathe.  

Edits and more edits took a bizarre turn last night. Basically, I made more work for myself having to patch things together. 

For some reason, I decided to save my edited draft so that the original would not be changed, in the event I went back to it.  But I forget that my shortcut function on my desktop linked to the original version.  Since I had to shut down my work halfway through, when I started back up, I managed to edit two different manuscripts from two  different points.  Needless to say, last night at one in the morning I wasn't very happy.  

I finished up my edits this morning and sent out my bizarro manuscript.  It's for a special project for one of my publishers, but I fear I may be too outside the box for what was asked.   I'll be working on edits for Julian's Jeopardy (Dawn Endeavor book 3) this weekend, but Monday marks the beginning of a new novel--Gunnar's Game.  Can't wait to get started.

I love beginnings, and Gunnar and Ava have been dancing around each other in books 1 through 3, and Ava is tired of it. I am SO looking forward to her petite 5'4" frame kicking Gunnar's giant self all over the place!

In other news, I have time this weekend to catch up on Spartacus and True Blood.  Yes, thanks to my friend Cat, I am now hooked on True Blood.  I am so going to hit her the next time I see her.  Like I don't have enough distractions!

So I'm rounding out my day with a birthday celebration for the 5 year old, a good night's sleep, and then more work this weekend.  With school nearly over, I have a lot of work to do before I get the kids 24/7 again.  And that's not counting my Cougar Falls work over the summer.  So much to do, so little time.

Happy Friday! 

My Super Excuse

Today, I punched out the rest of my story.  Yes, friends, I am Supergirl...on a computer.  Deadlines have been making my head spin, so I've been working around the clock on a project I can finally put down, now that it's finished. A few edits and I'm good, but that's easy stuff next to finishing the actual story idea, as far as I'm concerned. (Especially since I edit as I go.)

Anyway, that's my excuse for not posting much this week. I still have Desert Dreams Conference stories to post, an explanation about my hidden abilities as a wannabe fireman, and some insider scoop on the world of epublishing.  

So more after Friday, when this *&$#@! project is done.  

Contest Winner

Man, I can't believe I forgot to announce the contest winner!  Congrats to Joy, who won a print copy of Circe's Recruits 2: Derrick.  Thanks to everyone who participated, and good luck in the next contest. 

Huh?

Yes, there's a story behind this. I'm just saving it for next week. 

HTHS: My Day

I'm blogging at Hitting the Hot Spot today about demons. Check it out, if you value your soul...

Happy Dance

Happy Dance. I've spent the past three days adjusting to Eastern Standard Time and editing my *ss off. My 60000 word story needed extensive revisions, and I really must thank my editor for her patience, diligence, and heck, for having read the book as it was when she got it. Talk about plot holes and strange character issues that go nowhere.

Well, at least that's done. The first round of edits, that is. Now I can get back on track. I've got another 16K words to do on my weird novella before submission in another week. Then the start of Gunnar's Game, which I need to get moving on since the month of May is tight. School ends May 22nd, I think, and I get a lot less done with kids on the loose.

After that, I have two Cougar Falls projects I'd like to finish, one in June and one in July. Yeah, I'm dreaming to think I can get all this done during the summer. But I thrive on challenge. Give me a year to finish the project and I have trouble. Give me a month and somehow I get it done with days to spare. Weird.

So that's my happy dance, because the future is once again clear to me. Cheers!

Hayashi's Hero: It's here!!

HAYASHI'S HERO is now available from Loose Id!

Genetic manipulation has created the first super soldier, the Circ. Able to transform into hulking, inhuman beasts at will, the second generation of Circs, under Project Dawn Endeavor, is much more dangerous than the first. Psychically gifted, the secret four-man team who once worked for the U.S. Navy now belongs to the mysterious Mrs. Sharpe. Bent on cleaning up science gone wrong around the globe, Mrs. Sharpe sends the men of Dawn Endeavor out on behalf of the United States government. But there’s more to her agenda than patriotism. If only the team knew what she really had planned.

Kisho Hayashi lives in two worlds. Reality as he knows it is a team of men closer than brothers, Circs he would die for, Circs he would kill for. But in dreams and waking wisps of potential tomorrows, Hayashi is haunted by a single male face that confuses and worries him. He’s a trained weapon, comfortable in the beast that lives within his soul. But for a man who sees snatches of the future, he should know better than to think he can outrun his own destiny.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices, ménage (m/m/m), sex in shifted form

To read more, click here.

Return of the King, er, Queen, er, Me

My time in Arizona has come to an end. But it was well spent. I had a terrific time with friends I hadn't seen in a long time, met with my wonderful editor who's a lot of fun, and had a story pitch that I think went well. So hurray for me.

The dry landscape outside of Phoenix is beautiful. I'd hoped to escape the allergy season in Georgia, yet I hit it in Arizona. But the wildflowers made it worthwhile.

I stayed for a few days in Superior, Arizona and got to see Jerome, a cliff-side mining town, and eventually stayed in Scottsdale. The hotel was beautiful, but not as nice as the place I stayed in while in Superior, an old mining town. So big thanks to Cat and Todd for letting me roost at their place. They have a great house that's big, comfortable, has terrific views and the best outside room (pool and patio) for viewing the stars at night. Their dogs didn't eat me, yet another plus, though the little Terrier didn't roll out the welcome mat. (I'm talking about YOU, Trouble.) Cat hooked me on TruBlood, just another distraction I don't need, and I had my first taste of Prickly Pear jelly, which tastes like strawberry rhubarb (yummy).

This is the prickly pear cactus , by the way. The small balls on the cactus are the prickly pear fruit, the bloom of which is a bright yellow flower. While checking these out, we happened upon a roaming group of cattle that had burrs all over their coats. It was neat seeing them just walking freely through the desert, grazing on whatever the heck they eat.

I was pleasantly surprised that the weather wasn't too hot nor were the nights cold. I picked the perfect time to visit, apparently. Yet I still had to drink a lot of water to keep hydrated.

I'll post more on my visit and my time at the Desert Dreams RWA Conference throughout the week. But I'm behind on edits, so I have to nail that. And I have a new release tomorrow, so I of course need to blog about that.

Happy Monday, and it's good to be back.

Flyin' High

By the time this posts, I'll be in Phoenix, Arizona (hopefully) for a week of writing fun. Yeah, fun, because I'm meeting with Cat and Teri, two crazy women I met years ago at a Romantic Times conference. We're all going to the Desert Dreams conference this coming weekend. But until then, I'm getting the grand tour of Phoenix and the surrounding area, to include some mining towns. I've never been there, so I'm really excited to go. Supposedly the desert is awash in wildflowers. I can't wait!!

Are You Kidding Me?

I love this. The bun, which has little purpose without the dog to go inside it, rejects the hotdog. Yes, my friends, I am that hotdog.

Who among us hasn't dealt with rejection? From romance to relationships to the workplace, we all have to deal with the word "no" at some point.

As a writer, I deal with it an awful lot. I'm always writing and always submitting. Some places like my stuff, others don't. But hearing the word "no" is never easy.

What I find fascinating is how people respond to rejection. Some publicly complain, others nurse their wounds in private, while still others show themselves as neurotic hopefuls by blogging about their book to death. (Trust me, this post isn't that neurotic.)

Me? I feel the pain, the anger, and work hard to buoy the hope that my project just wasn't right for this particular editor or agent. Because when you start to doubt yourself, you can get into a sticky situation. I'm not saying I don't pay attention to reason behind a rejection, but form letters leave you with nowhere to go but crazy. No reason for a rejection is almost worse than a reason. You won't know what to fix: your writing, the concept, the characters, what?

Recently, I received a rejection I wasn't expecting. But instead of immediately shooting off a response, I commiserated with a friend and waited a day or so. Then I sent back a thank you to the publisher and thanked them for considering my story.

The rejection did reinforce the notion that no matter how many books I sell, there's no guarantee I'll sell another. So good to know, and good to make sure I'm still hungry for success. However, in one way the rejection did help. Because it made me consider how I'd be received if I penned that toxic response I'd wanted to. Instead, I took the professional way out and sent a courtesy thanks. The editor did take time to read my submission, after all.

Reject me once, twice, more than that, okay. But don't think I won't bounce back. And that should go for all of you out there who decide to believe in yourselves. Stephen King did it; Madeline L'Engle did it. The successful folks of the world got that way by being talented, strong, and tenacious.

Happy Monday, and don't let anyone keep you down.

Friday's Checks

Mailed books to Arizona for book signing. Check

Just got haircut. Check

Readying To Do list for husband next week while I'm gone. Check

Last day of Spring Break for kids. Check and double check.

Happy Friday!

Dinner Death, It's Slowwww Going

The line that will follow me into hell is this: "What's for dinner?" It never ends. Day in, day out, some small person or tall person, girl or boy, man or, hell dog, will look at me with big brown eyes and ask what's for dinner. I'd love to answer with something creative, but the family will only eat certain things. (God forbid I make anything without meat in it and dare serve it as a main course.) I'm a big fan of easy meals. We had spaghetti and meatballs tonight. Last night we had Chinese food. Mostly, I'm scraping for whatever's left in the freezer because I'm putting off my other least favorite chore: no, not writing a dreaded synopsis, but grocery shopping.

Frankly, dinner and shopping annoy the crap out of me. Because I always rationalize that I could better be spending my time writing. Disregard the fact lately I've spent too much downtime reading and watching TV. I'm trying to relax my brain, get ready for a writer's conference, and prepare to write the last book in my Dawn Endeavor series.

Downtime is always a must for any writer. It doesn't have to be long, but some time spent not thinking about stories, but letting your brain rest and regroup. Then it's much easier to think of new adventures and new romances. At least for me. I'm just afraid that all this domestic crap I normally ignore (hello, dirty floors) is going to be the death of me. What's for dinner. Ech. Maybe it's time for me to invest in a pizzeria.

Happy Thursday, and cheers to good old take-out.

How to Train Your Dragon: a real gem

How to Train Your Dragon= A+

How to Train Your Dragon is a wonderful movie that doesn't talk down to kids and is incredibly entertaining for adults. The animation really works, though I don't know that you need to experience it in 3D to get the full effect of wonder.

The creatures depicted as dragons aren't scary so much as imaginative and heck, cute. Toothless, one of the main characters, is adorable. The others are intriguing and so varied from each other they all stand out. (Two headed dragon that breathes gas with one head and lights it on fire with the other. A tiny dragon that's full of zest, and another giant that lights itself on fire...)

The storyline involves dragons, but revolves around an outcast Viking named Hiccup and his village of dragon-hunting Vikings. His father was voiced by Gerard Butler, and the entire cast was terrific.

I can't say enough about this movie. Heck, I want to see it again. The gradual progression of friendship between Hiccup and Toothless works because it takes time. Hiccup himself is a terrific mix of inner strength, vulnerability, and outward weakness. He's much smaller than the others in the village, and he thinks things through in a way those around him just can't understand. The movie works because Hiccup has real issues, and his relationship with his father is one many of us can empathize with. Wanting to make his father proud and to finally belong somewhere, to fit in.

So if you want something to do with your kids, or you just want something fun and enlightening in general, don't miss How to Train Your Dragon. And the ending really grabs you, I have to say.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

New Cover: To Hunt a Sainte

Finally! I've been dying to share this new cover. To Hunt a Sainte is a paranormal romantic suspense story I wrote years ago. I tinkered and edited and revised--a lot--since I first drafted it. The book releases from Samhain in June. Five years ago, I was on a paranormal kick (that never seems to have stopped.) But it was all about psychic phenomena, not ghosts and things that go bump in the night. I had in mind this investigation agency that employed psychics, and a rival family firm full of folks who like to do things their way, legal or otherwise. And so, Westlake Enterprises was born. Enter To Hunt a Sainte, about telekinetic Alexandra Sainte, and one of Westlake Enterprise's best men--Hunter Greye. And yeah, it's all in a name.

To read the blurb and a short excerpt, click here.