Inside an author's mind....

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T22:38:00.000-06:00

Well, it's the new year. The dawn of new chances, new opportunities, new... well, new resolutions.

I can't say that I have a whole lot of them this year.

The biggest one, being that at least once a month, I will hit the Michelle Pillow writing assignment. Of course, if I hit her writing assignments every week, I would be chucking out 400 page books every month... She's bossy, wants me to be all productive and stuff. (You know I jest, she's truly been a great inspiration when it comes to moving forward in my writing and staying on task.) I appreciate her "smackdowns," because occasionally, we all need to be reminded to get off our butts and work. So she's been a great blessing in my life the last couple of years.

The only other major resolution I have this year, is to save money. Yes, I know what you're thinking--everyone wants to save money. Save money, lose weight, all that stuff. And yes, I do want to lose weight -- my 20-year high school reunion is coming up, and I'd like to look, well, better. But that's another blog post all together.

Right now, though, I need to save money, with a goal in mind--a down payment on a new home. That's something that we very much need. I'm not terribly good at saving money, either, so it should be an adventure. Like remembering that I DON'T need that new pair of shoes/jeans/shirt, just because it's on sale, or even that new cleaner that I've been hearing about on TV, just because it's at the store. (Can we say impulse shopper?)

So I think those are the two big ones this year. More productivity, and more saving of the money.

We'll see how it goes.

What about you? Any resolutions for the new year?

Idea Journal

2011-12-07T12:23:00.000-06:00

I have given up, and decided to keep an Idea Journal.

I blame my muses. They are forever dropping awesome story ideas. Right now, I'm in the middle of my Charming Nobles series for Lyrical Press, and while I'm super excited about this particular series, my muses seem to think this is open season for ideas.

So we have a couple of scifi ones, a paranormal comedy series, and a couple more contemporary books all looming in the back of my mind, ready to be spewed out as soon as I'll let myself.

And there in lies my problem. I want to work on everything at once, and I know I can't because I can't get to all of it at once. So I try to do research here and there on different ones, store it away in my brain, and work on the writing on the current project. Sometimes I'll write out a brief (2 pgs or less) synopsis of an idea, just to see what's there--and I make myself most of the time do it in this Idea Journal, so I have them written down in a singular place, and I can go back, add notes or whatever pops in my head when I'm vacuuming or folding laundry.

There's also my One Note files on my laptop called "New Story ideas" when I cannot get away from an idea, and have to plot it out a little.

So ideas are there, lots and lots of them. It's finding the time to bring them all to life that I have trouble with.

New Cover: Rescuing Rapunzel

2011-11-12T19:46:00.000-06:00

The cover for Rescuing Rapunzel, due out Spring 2012!

Inspiration

2011-10-26T10:58:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, the best inspiration comes from the strangest places. Last night, when frustrated with a few details from a book I got the best line of inspiration I'd had in a long time.

Go with your gut.

I seem to forget that on occasion when I'm writing. I get lost in the details, trying to make everything lace together and forget the most important part.

Yep, I'm a pantser, and while a lot of my stories are at least roughly plotted out, I have learned that the more plotted it is, the more stale it feels to me as a writer. I love the organic growth and gut feeling I get when I grin, laugh, cry, or even yell at the computer when I put something down on the screen.

I know, I know, there's a lot of people out there who swear by plotting out their stories. And that's great. I'm glad it works for them. For me, though, the story always seems more interesting when I don't plot it out, and instead just let it flow and see what happens and where it goes.

I have to remember that going with my gut is how I do it. And it works for me. The extraneous stuff can always be weaved in later.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go

2011-10-25T10:59:00.000-05:00

Insert corny whistling, because you know I can't whistle. You'd think someone who played a flute in school, I'd be able to whistle. Nope, not me.

Anyway, I'm just doing a quick update, to tell you all that Rescuing Rapunzel is coming, spring of 2012, along with two top-secret sequels (Yeah, okay, not really top secret, but I am paranoid about naming anything on the public blog, for fear I won't finish it).

Rescuing Rapunzel is the first in a series, called The Charming Nobles, about three noble men, who grew up together, Nicolas, Penn, and Bryan. All three trying to avoid the entanglements of marriage, because what good would their titles of The Charming Nobles be, if they were actually married?

It's my first attempt at a historical series, but it's proving to be more of a Fairy Tale than anything, because we have magic, and true love, and wicked women, and all the really cool elements of a fairy tale.

When I have a cover to show, I'll be putting it up asap. :) So for now, I'm hard at work, pounding my fingers into my keyboard, getting things going on this.

More updates to come. :)

Time to Dig In

2011-10-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I've been sadly neglecting the blog again, but this time, I really do have an excuse.

I've landed in the editing cave, working on the edits for Rescuing Rapunzel, slated for release in Spring of 2012 -- I'm so excited.

So once again, I'm slow to post. But I will work on it. For now, though, I love Calvin and Hobbes, so sharing that. And I think I have that block in my house... :)

Things My Daughter Says

2011-09-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Yep, this could probably be a Twitter thing, but some stuff needs to be immortalized on the blog.

"You know, it could be worse. You could be bitten by a vampire wiener dog."

I wonder if those are related to alien vampire bunnies.

Back to School!!!

2011-09-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I suppose I shouldn't happy dance too much. Son started his 2 day a week preschool last week, and starting this week, I'll be able to have the days for writing, and NOTHING ELSE. It'll be so friggin' awesome.

Most of my writing is done in 1-2 hour sessions, if even that long between sessions. I might get lucky and get 3 hours in a single stretch, but that rarely happens. Now, I'll be able to actually have an entire day to work. I am not sure how to deal with that.

Am I complaining? Nope, not in the slightest. I just feel so strange, because I am so used to "Mama, I play Angry Birds?" or "Mama, I play Thomas?" (Said in cute, 3-year-old voice) as I try to write, or check email, or get anything in particular done.

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I'm not having a bad day...

2011-08-18T13:11:00.000-05:00

Really I'm not. I just have been incredibly busy the last two weeks. After all, school's started for my daughter, getting my son enrolled in his preschool and all that entails, as well as helping out with specific family issues going on.

And then, there's the writing. I've somehow managed to booger myself into a little corner, where I have a lot to get done in a very short period of time. Not that I'm complaining, I am thrilled that I am in a position requiring that I have to get stuff done by a certain time, just not exactly used to it.

It's one thing to set up your own schedule and if you miss a deadline, then, pbbtthht, who cares. It's something completely different to miss a deadline when someone's waiting for you. And I hate for people to be waiting on me. I know stuff happens on occasion, but I also know that punctuality is very important in every aspect of life.

So I know I have been neglecting the blog, but that's why, I've got a lot on my plate right now, and as I get through different things, I will be back with more posts, but for now, the blog may be a little neglected.

So sorry... I will be back more often though. I will. Just not sure when that will be, at this point.

Yep, it's Monday

2011-08-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

Today has not been the day of the Happy Monday. Frustration has been just under the surface, simmering all day. I haven't gotten much done today, aside from usual Monday errands.

Had a snarky 9 year old daughter, who seemed to snark, smart off, and generally irritate me most of the day. Whether it was her trying to "mother" me over things (You know Mom, you said you'd...) or be snarky about meals. (You know if you make that, no one's going to eat it.) I had my fill by dinner, and pretty much informed her to go to her room, because I was very close to beating the snarky out of her.

If this is the beginning of Teen Life, then I'm going to need happy pills as well as the occasional sedative. Because it will get ugly.

Oh, and to make my day even more exciting and wonderful (NOT) I got two more rejection letters today, and the trim on the carpet broke, the metal now sticking up in the air, regardless of the amount of hammering I perform to press it back down--it's cracked, and probably needs to be replaced.

So yeah, Monday was not productive.

Think I need to go write a really mean, nasty fight scene. Someone's getting their butt kicked, even if it's just in my writing.

Clothes Matter

2011-07-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

They say clothes make the man.

Or the woman, for that matter.

As a writer, one of my favorite parts of the job is dressing my characters. Many times, I have general ideas of what my characters look like, and what they wear. When I was a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer, so I took a decent amount of art classes, read books on how to draw bodies, so I could put clothing on them. I'm not the best artist, but I am able to sketch out a body shape, dress the character--not in anything super detailed, but enough that I have a general idea of the look.

And that works with a lot of my characters.

Unfortunately not all of them. One particular character I have demands specific clothing needs and wants, which has me wind up searching the internet to find the images of these looks--see the boot and skirt here in this post--and figure out how she would wear them.

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Great News. And Vin Diesel. (Because It's Vin...)

2011-07-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

Don't ask me why I have lovely Vin here, except that, well, it's Vin Diesel. Isn't that enough? lol

But really, I do have some news to share here on the blog. I have signed a new contract with Lyrical Press, for the release of (tenatively titled--it could change, don't know yet) Rescuing Rapunzel!

Yes, I'm talking about the very story that my daughter and I started as a challenge several months ago, after reading the original Rapunzel in Grimm's Fairy Tales. My daughter and I had a contest to see who could write a better retelling of Rapunzel. She won, of course. She had witches and sisters and all sorts of things I didn't come up with.

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Technology is Kinda Freaky

2011-07-26T12:21:00.000-05:00

That has been my latest discovery today.

Today, I went to my Goodreads Page just messing around with it--I don't log into that site too often, but I try to check it every week, or every few days, if I have been reading a lot.

Anyway, I saw a little place that said "link your blog" to the author page. So, figuring that I'd have to do something to tweak my blog to make it work, I tried it, expecting it to fail.

Imagine my surprise when it worked seamlessly.

And I have to say, it rather freaked me out. Not that I didn't like the quick connection, as a matter of fact, the reason I'm posting this particular blog is to see if it automatically posts to Goodreads, or if I have to do something to update it.

I never professed to be the most internet savvy, but I can usually figure stuff out. However, so many codes and connections got me thinking about how fast we are connecting ourselves to each other, and is it really the best idea?

I think of Drew Barrymore's line in "She's Just Not That Into You," and it illustrates it perfectly.

I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work so I called him at home and then he e-mailed me to my Blackberry and so I texted to his cell and then he e-mailed me to my home account and the whole thing just got out of control. And I miss the days when you had one phone number and one answering machine and that one answering machine has one cassette tape and that one cassette tape either had a message from a guy or it didn't. And now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting.

And I know exactly what she means. We have all these ways to connect to each other, yet we don't connect any faster than we did when we had just a home phone and an answering machine. Instead, we now have a thousand ways to follow other people, see what they're up to, see if they're lying about not being available, etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to be able to get business out, and to get replies (in most businesses, anyway, publishing is still one of the slowest, lol) and move things along much faster. Which is great, especially for the impatient like me.

However, I do think on occasion, it's okay to unplug from the computer/phone/tablet, whatever, and just be.

How do you unplug?

Time To Show This Blog Who's In Charge Here

2011-07-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, yeah, that sounds really good, and I'm all about good bravado, but even I know better than to believe that one.

It's summer here, and oh, heck yeah, is summer here, with a vengeance. Been in the 100's for the last three weeks, and we're moving onto a month of triple digit weather.

Not fun, not by a long shot. Especially when hubby works outside in the heat all day. And some days there's not enough water and Gatorade to make it through.

I'm no weather expert, but normally we at least have winds to cool things down a bit, but oh no. Hubby, (an amateur meteorologist) said something about a jet stream that usually runs across the midwest, bringing storms and cooler temperatures in the summer, has shifted north, bringing tornadoes to the Dakotas instead of here.

So we're stuck with this horrible heat here.

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A Little Elbow Grease

2011-06-27T13:47:00.000-05:00

Today, I did something I'd never done before.

I waxed my car.

If you didn't know, I bought a new Chevy HHR (well, new to me, it's a 2009), bright, fire engine red. And I knew it probably needed a good waxing, but I'd never done it before, so I went to my parent's house, where my dad stood by, arms over his chest, and instructed me how to do it.

"Do one section, let it set up, move to another piece, then go back and buff it off with this rag" holds up blue and white striped terrycloth towel, "then buff it again with this one" holds up a peach towel, "then use this polishing rag. Do that with every section."

"Okay." And I got started.

It took me a good hour and a half to do it, since I'd never done it before, including having to use a three-step ladder to reach the top (I'm a bit short). And several times during the adventure, we had to tell my 3 year old "Don't touch the car! Especially not with the sidewalk chalk all over you!"

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Moving Forward

2011-06-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I sent a new manuscript, along with a proposal out yesterday. It was a book I'd intended to be very short and quickly written, and it wound up taking me four months.

Part of that had a lot to do with me getting a bit burned out on it just as I was near the end, and I think it's because I took several weeks off in the middle of production. That's a habit I have to break. I need to stay with a story while it's intense and moving in my head, because when I let it sit and idle, I tend to loose it. Then it takes me days, sometimes weeks to get back to it.

I am one of those when I write that I would be called a "Pantser." While I am doing more general plotting of stories, it still amazes me the little things that come up as I'm writing, the plot threads that I didn't see when the initial idea came to me.

A perfect example of that was in A Darker Trinity. There's a scene where Templar Knight Liam is assisting the vampires in the story, and he starts writing charms in the air. That was one of those things that I didn't plot, hadn't seen, never even imagined. I mean, I would have never come up with that on purpose--my big, strong, gruff Liam drawing wards of protection? Not something I could ever see Liam doing.

It may be a small thing, but that little element unlocked a few other ideas in my head at the time, stuff that would make the entire universe better. So I was thankful, but it was an element I'd never considered.

So in that respect, I'm a pantser, but in the most generic term, I'm also a plotter, since I usually know the entire story arc when I start. Of course, I have to say, that much isn't hard, because I write romance stories, and let's face it, I do happy endings, so I know it's all going to work out in the end. It could take a book or two, but I do get there.

Inspiration in Silly Places

2011-06-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

That photo is pretty much for my husband, who's a huge Ghostbusters fan. I know he'll love it.

Anyway, onto today's subject. Today has been a big money day for me. Not that I'm making any of it, mind you, but I've sure been spending it like crazy.

Okay, it's been on bills.

And groceries.

And, uh, a tabloid magazine. Okay, I admit, it was a frivolous expense, and I never buy the things, mostly I just laugh at the covers in the grocery store line, and move on. But today, I was looking for something, for inspiration for a story maybe, an idea to pluck out of thin air/tabloid news.

I don't really need a new story idea right now, I'm in the middle of working on several projects right now, but you never know.

Not that I think the prediction of Arnold Schwarzenegger choosing to go on Dancing With The Stars to improve his public image will actually come true, but man some of them were hilarious to read.

And there were a couple of very interesting ones in the list of 100 predictions -- several relating to some new advances in medicine relating to regrowing organs and body parts, and there was that other article about the scientists who supposedly opened a time travel tunnel for a nanosecond with subatomic particle generator thingy in Germany. It wasn't their intent, of course, but it happened while trying to move particles at 90% the speed of light.

I really don't need more ideas roaming around in my head, but it's quite fun to look in a new place for inspiration.

Where do you go when looking for inspiration?

I Love Snapped (And Other Crime Shows)

2011-05-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

I do, I have to be honest. I have an addiction. It’s called Snapped, and it’s on Oxygen. The show is about women who snap and kill their husbands, and how they get caught. I absolutely love it. I love the show, because they’re real cases, they talk about the murders, the how, the when, the where, and most of all, the why.

And I watch it all in the name of novel research. Snapped isn’t the only show I love. I am always one for Cold Case Files, Forensic Files, and Wicked Attraction, as well. For me, it’s not just about the case, and the solving of them (while not exactly romantic, I do love that the bad guy gets it in the end), but it’s also about the how and the why.

The how—probably my favorite part, because I see what real criminals do, and how they screwed up, and I think “well, I would do it differently so it would be harder to catch the villain.” These shows are wonderful “how to” or rather, “how not to” get away with murder manuals. Granted, there’s a lot that’s not revealed in how evidence is collected, analyzed and cataloged, but that I can research myself when I need it. Besides, who wants to read about the exact way a cigarette butt is picked up for possible DNA? I don’t care about that, I’m more concerned that the smart detective, or resourceful beat cop thought enough to snag the butt in the first place, and it happens to have the necessary DNA on it.

And then there’s the why—why would someone do this? What can make a person do such an act? What was the logic? Why would they move in that direction? Are they a psychopath? Sociopath? Or fueled by a deep rage or jealousy?

I take all those shows, and shake it around in my head to write my villains, because villains can be boogie men like Jason in the Halloween movies, and jump out at you, (not really that scary—there’s always the music just before he appears, total rip-off) or there’s the villain that in some way, we can connect to, we can see inside their head, if only for a moment, and realize just how frightening they are.

Those are the ones I really like, they scare me far more than any boogie man.

Because they are closer to real for me.

Where The Funny Comes From

2011-05-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

That's a very good question, one that really, I have no idea. Okay, well, this is my blog, and I'm blogging about it, so I suppose I do have a few ideas.

Probably my favorite books to read are funny books. Not biographies, or joke books, but stories that lace humor into the plot in a way that feels so natural, and so completely organic, that it's very real and believable. To the point that I laugh out loud, envisioning myself in that very same scenario.

And isn't that the point of funny stories? They're funny to us because for some reason, on some particular level, we can relate to the characters, understand what they're saying and imagine ourselves in the same scenario.

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Disney's cool new Ad series by Annie Leibovitz

2011-05-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

Found this picture in a People magazine at work, and I thought it was wonderful. And then I turned the page.

Disney has done a really great marketing design, using photographer Annie Leibovitz to do a series, (and evidently this series has been going on for a few years now) of live action shots of Disney movies, with Hollywood actors.

This one, is of course, Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Patti Smith as a pirate.

This one here, is a dramatic shot from this year's campaign, with the Evil Queen from Snow White, and of course, her magic mirror.

Cast is Olivia Wilde (Tron, House -- She was "13") as the Evil Queen, and for magic Mirror?

Look closely. You might be able to tell...

Yep, it's Alec Baldwin.

Personally, I like this one, but I find I get a kick out of Baldwin, because he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. And it's really a great photo, too.

For more of the photographs, and more information about the series, here's a link to the Huffington Post where an article, and more slides of this year, as well as previous year's campaigns are.

Believing in Yourself

2011-04-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

I love this particular Star Wars picture. The color, the determination of the combatants, all that jazz.

And it's a nice reminder to me to remember that sometime's it really is a fight to do what you know to be right. (You could be completely diluted in what you consider right vs wrong, but that's another discussion.) You believe in what you're doing.

Shepard Book in "Firefly" explained it best, I think, when he was trying to tell Mal about the Operative in the movie Serenity, how the man was a believer. That he had to believe. And that Mal needed to believe in something, didn't matter what just believe in it.

They are very poignant words, words that I think are forgotten many times in our day to day life. We have to believe we are doing something, working toward a goal. Me? My current beliefs--I'm trying to get some serious writing done this year. Have I gotten as far as my little writing schedule said I should be by now? Nope, not hardly. One reason is because the ms I was working on wound up being almost double in length as the original projected idea. (Yeah, yeah, my friends, writing short just isn't easy for me, I know...) And the other, is that I haven't been devoting the time I have available to myself to work on it like I should. Oh, I do write, but not nearly as much as I should if I have any desire to get a large quantity of writing done this year.
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Thankful Thursday

2011-04-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

Not too long ago, my husband and I got into a rather heated debate about the idea of putting a television in our daughter's room.

I said absolutely not. He said he was tired of watching kid-appropriate television all the time, and it would be better if she had her own TV to watch her shows.

My argument was that if anyone in the house should get their own private television, it was us, as the parents, who should get our own TV. Not our children.

Television, radio, computer, all of that, in my opinion is a privilege that children receive from us, a thing to be thankful for, and appreciate. They don't have to watch television. They don't have to use the computer. They don't need a cell phone. Or an iPod, a video camera, and a laptop.

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Preparing a Book Tour

2011-04-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

Well, with the release of The Reluctant Prince on May 3rd, I'm working on setting up some book signings. My lovely author buddy Michelle Pillow is wanting to do a mini book tour, and of course, I convinced her to let me go along with her. (Okay, I bribed her with the prospect of a new car to ride in)

So far, we're planning on hitting Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Dallas, so if you have a favorite store, please email me and let me know to add to our stops.

We're talking about numerous signings this summer in different areas around the Midwest, and I gotta say, it's a daunting prospect.

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Thankful Thursday (title linking to Oasis for YA MEME blog)

2011-04-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here's my Thankful Thursday MEME for the Oasis for YA Blog.

There are days when my husband's ghost hunting thing drives me absolutely crazy. Truly, his need to watch almost every ghost hunting/paranormal/find the lost creature in the murky water show that's on can drive a person nutty.

Most of the time, I can tune many of them out, though sometimes, simple little things will filter in my head, and suddenly I'm hit with a story idea or plot bunny.

Last night, I got hit, hard over the head, with a plot bunny. One that would make my husband absolutely ecstatic if I wrote it. And a couple of my friends, who are huge paranormal fans as well (cough cough, Michelle Pillow, cough cough) would be thrilled to see me put this together.
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Closet Wrestling Fan

2011-04-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

If anyone were to ask me, face to face, if I liked professional wrestling, I'd roll my eyes, let out a sigh, and say "Well, I have fans at the house, so I know about it, but no, I'm not a fan."

And that's true. For the most part. Hubby has always been a huge fan, knows who all the guys are, how long they've been wrestling, their finishing moves, all that jazz. However, a lot of the WWE plot lines have been played through for him. He doesn't have a lot of passion for it like he did, even when we first got married a dozen years ago.

And while he does watch it, it's not his favorite thing.

Then he managed to convert our almost 9 year old daughter into a fan. So now we watch all of it... Yeah. All of it. Even the 2 year old knows certain entrance music, different wrestlers "EDGE! EDGE! EDGE!" (the boy thinks everyone is EDGE!)

But for me? It hasn't done a lot for me in a lot of years.
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Thankful Thursday (Oasis for YA meme)

2011-03-24T13:15:00.000-05:00

It is Thursday, and it's time to think of things I'm thankful for today.

Today, I'm thankful for my car, even though we're looking for a new car, the one I have is still getting me around. My Mazda 626 is over a dozen years old, has way too many miles on it, and has been wrecked in the last year, and put back together with zip ties (you think I'm kidding, I'm not), it still is running me around where I need to go.

Would I take this car on a road trip? Oh heck no. But to get me to the bank, the store, and any other errands I have to do in my little corner of the world, it is still running and getting me where I need to go. And currently, I have no car payment.

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Thankful Thursday (Oasis for YA meme)

2011-03-17T13:04:00.002-05:00

Happy St Patrick's Day to you, may the luck of the Irish be with you, and all that jazz.

When I started to do this Thankful Thursday, I knew it would be a commitment, and I knew I would have to do it every single week, on Thursday. Whether I felt like it or not--up to this point, (if you haven't noticed,) I'm very much a "when the mood strikes me" kind of blogger. Or, and I won't lie about it, if I have some good news to share or a new promotion I want to let people know about. Otherwise, I'm less than disciplined on my blog.

So today, when I sat down here to think about what I was thankful for, I must say, I was stumped.

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Well, I'm Attempting to Be ::cough cough:: Adult...

2011-03-16T13:12:00.001-05:00

Well I am attempting (and notice I say that word in italics) to change and grow and get better.

I'm still using my little writing schedule. I won't talk about how far behind I am, (sigh) but it's not so horrible that I don't think I can't catch up. A project may have to get slipped off my writing schedule in order to get everything else done, but other than that, I am doing my best.

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Just Kinda, Ya Know?

2011-03-04T13:02:00.003-06:00

Ever have one of those days, where you know you have a million things to do, but frankly, you just want to sit on the couch and watch your favorite hottie's movie?

Yeah. Having one of those days.

Can't say as I'm happy or sad, just generally tired and a bit unmotivated. I have stuff to do, I spent the morning labeling and sorting my latest AVON shipment, putting together bags, and in between doing laundry, dusting, and doing dishes.

Still doesn't feel like I did much, and that I have very little desire to do more.

I was considering making my own espresso mix (dumping a whole bunch of instant coffee in my already made coffee, and adding milk, see what I get) if only to jump start me.

Now I'm considering digging in hubby's ghost hunting bag to see if he has any secret 5-hr energy stashed in there. If only to get me going while little guy is napping, so I might actually get something done today.

I'm a little (not horribly) behind on my writing schedule -- yeah that hasn't gone so well the last week, but I'm bound and determined to get caught back up this weekend.

But maybe later...

Thankful Thursday (Oasis for YA meme) (LATE)

2011-03-04T12:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, I know I'm late, but here's my Thankful Thursday.

1. I am thankful that my very old, very much needing replaced, made it across town today, so I could meet an awesome friend for lunch.

2. I am thankful that said friend was as excited to see me as I was to see her.

3. Also, I'm quite thankful that my 2-year-old was mostly well behaved during the lunch.

4. And lastly, I'm thankful that my very old car made it back home again.

That is the short and sweet version, since I'm late anyway.

Do the Math...

2011-02-28T14:42:00.008-06:00

I was reading today one of my favorite blogs Bookends, LLC blog, where agent Jessica Faust made a post about writing in multiple genres, and this was one of the things she said:

"Most publishers want you publishing at least 9 months apart, so if you can have two different names and publish each name 9 months apart (writing a book every 4 to 5 months), then you can easily write in two genres. If, however, it takes you 9 months to write a book, you might want to stick with one genre, at least until you’re established."

And as a writer who writes all over the place, I can see where she's coming from, but I can't say as I completely agree. However, that's not the reason I started this.

What jarred me more was what people said in the comments, a chain reaction, if you will.

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Thankful Thursday (Oasis for YA meme)

2011-02-24T09:01:00.003-06:00

Over at Oasis for YA they have started a "Thankful Thursday" meme, and I totally agree with their idea--you can't get anywhere in the world if you aren't thankful for what you already have.

I read the Oasis blog regularly, but mostly, I'm a lurker, and the big reason I read a lot of the posts is because my awesome friend A E Rought posts over there. So I have to read her posts.

But today, I really wanted to talk about what I was thankful for as well, and I've been very blessed in my life.

I am thankful for a fabulous family, that even though occasionally I want to hit hubby over the head with a frying pan, I thank God every day that I have such a super supportive husband. You're the best babe!

I'm thankful that I have a residence, a car, and a job (several, actually) so I can help take care of my family.

Of course, I'm thankful for my friends, who ask whenever they talk to me "How's the writing going?" even when I forget their birthday. (There aren't enough calenders in the world to keep me on top of birthdays) For my friends near and far, thanks, and I love you.

I have been greatly blessed with amazing people around me, and even if they're just mere acquaintances, I learn something all the time. Heck, I learned just yesterday that if a car model is "SS" it is the highest end version of that car. And I'm glad I learned it, because I'm starting a new car hunt.

So I thank you to everyone who's been there, supported, and even helped me in ways they didn't realize.

Now I have to go check on the almost 3 year old. He's making strange noises. I'm afraid what he's gotten into.

Fairy Tales with Modern Children

2011-02-14T12:57:00.005-06:00

Last week, me and my 8-year-old daughter were reading some stories from Grimm's Fairy Tales. We read the original Red Riding Hood (She felt there was no way the hunter would find Red Riding Hood in the wolf's belly. She would have been all chewed up), Rumpelstiltskin (It was okay, just ended rather blunt, she decided), and Rapunzel.

Rapunzel was the one that had her up in arms the most. She felt the story was outright dumb. (I did not prompt her with any of this--she's the one that came up with this stuff). She felt that it was ridiculous that the prince wandered around the woods for years, blinded, and Rapunzel's tears washed away his angst and he could see again. She couldn't figure out why no one came to find the prince.

Much less, that a blind man would be able to find Rapunzel, hidden again by the witch, in the desert.

So as a result of this utter irritation at the original Rapunzel (She's not seen Tangled, but did read a book about the movie), she has decided that we are to have a writing contest.

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Seriously... Why So Serious?

2011-01-27T09:14:00.004-06:00

Because I have to be. Okay, no not really. I'm not horribly serious in my life, so why would my writing be serious?

I actually have hanging over my writing area a sign that says "Why So Serious?" to remind myself that stories are supposed to be fun, enjoyable and all sorts of pleasant. I should be enjoying myself as I work on them. Because if I'm not enjoying them while I write, then why would you enjoy them while you read?

The manuscript that's circulating now has a lot of fun little bits in it, one of my favorites is this one:

Rico pulled out his samurai sword.

“Big sword. Compensating?”

That's probably one of my favorite parts. I mean, I can totally see the main character saying that with a grin on her face--one of those pissed off, but yet excited that she gets to kick some ass expressions.

And when I wrote that scene, I didn't plot it, I didn't expect her to say that, it just came out. And I laughed my butt off when I realized what she'd said. That's one of the things I love about writing--the fun stuff that comes up.

So when I work on my stuff, I let the sillies, the smart-assed comments, the fun in the world come out. Even when it's a very dark and serious book.

Here's another one, from A Darker Trinity

Holy water—truly blessed water by a completely devoted minister, could burn the skin. Darkness in the minister’s heart, though, tainted the water, and it remained harmless.

Which made Nicole want to run around and test all the holy water at all the churches, just to see.

See, if I was a vampire, I would totally do that. Just because. See, having the fun has to be there, or what's the point, you know?

And here's a cute moment from The Reluctant Prince (Total plug--will be out in PRINT in May! SQUEE!)

A couple of literary novels, a sci-fi novel, Star Trek to be exact, two mystery/suspense novels, all best sellers, and he snagged another one. When he turned it over, he jerked. The cover had a naked male's back holding a broadsword. Hadrian held it by his fingertips.

“Oh knock it off,” she muttered, snagging it out of his hands.

“You actually read that stuff?” He gestured to the cover with the guy on it.

“I‟m a girl. Of course I do. Every girl needs a hero and romance in her life once in a while.”

And who hasn't seen a guy do that to a romance novel? Hold it by their fingertips like the thing was diseased. I know my husband just grunts when I get out one of the sexy book covers--which is why my Nook is so much better. He doesn't see the covers then.

Regardless, though. It's about having fun. If you don't enjoy, have fun, laugh a little as you write your story, I can guarantee you, your readers won't either.

So really, why so serious?

A Very Fine Line

2011-01-19T09:37:00.004-06:00

Over at Scott Eagan's blog today, he has a post called Be Careful Over-working Your Story. You Will Never Finish and it got me thinking about my own story that I'm working over.

And this of course made me pause and think, "Wow, is this what I'm doing? Overworking the story?"

I did get to sit down with a reader over the weekend who got to look at the finished manuscript before I started the reworking. Granted, my reworks started as basic clean-up: taking out unnecessary stuff, repetition (I am glorious at repeating myself), and cranking a few elements in the story a bit harder so they ring more true to me. She was quite helpful with showing me where she had confusion on certain things, as well as what did work for her.

And a lot of the story did. I asked her pointed questions about certain elements that had bothered me, things I had planned on changing/adjusting to make them resonate better. She gave me valuable input to the wonderful questions like "Did the character's behavior here make sense?"

Ironically, she noticed two or three things, without knowing any of the story arc, that were elements I had very, very discretely laced into the story, and had been thinking about going back in and cranking them a little harder, to make them a bit more obvious.

Now, I'm sitting here debating how many of the small changes I was planning on making are really that important in the overall story. Because I don't want to loose my story, but I do want to make it the best possible book I can.

And it is a very fine line between making changes for the better and fluffing just to fluff and put off working on other things. And believe me, I have other things to be working on.

So while the reader's input was awesome and amazingly valuable to me, it does make me wonder if I really need to drastically change some of the scenes I'd started adjusting.

Hmmm... Ponder, ponder, ponder.

Dreamweaver Web Designing

2011-01-07T10:31:00.004-06:00

I do my own website, as well as a friend, AE Rought, and it's time to update her site, and the craving to update my own is creeping up on me as well.

Here's my problem. I use Dreamweaver, it's an awesome program, and I love it. I know how to do most anything in it (except CSS sheets, I've never quite grasped that, I don't know why, it doesn't seem that hard, never learned the coding for it--suppose a trip to the library is necessary again, sigh). But the problem with using it, is because the version of Dreamweaver is so OLD, I can barely use it on my desktop anymore. It just doesn't work very well. And frankly, a new copy of it is very expensive, and way out of my budget right now.

So my question to the Internet 'verse is this: Is there a comparable web designing program out there that doesn't cost so much? I never liked Front Page, because it put too much coding in for any little thing, so that's out. I really like how easy Dreamweaver is to use, so it would have to be something that was fairly user friendly too.

I know that Dreamweaver is available with a student discount, however, I'm not a student.

So, anyone have any ideas?

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T13:00:00.005-06:00

Cruising the web, I found the Bookend's Agency's blog post about these 100 books that we all should read to enrich and enlighten our lives, make our living fuller and more rounded...

Yadda yadda yadda...

"If you’re on Facebook you’ve undoubtedly seen the Book List Challenge. It’s purported to be from the BBC, a list of 100 books that they believe most people will have read only six of."

(from Bookend's Blog)

I perused the list, and I realized, I wasn't nearly as uneducated as I thought... I'd read a fair share of these books. And ironically, really liked them. :) Though I noticed a few weren't on the list, like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Peter Pan, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and Aesop's Fables. All great books certainly worth reading.

What about you, have you read any of these books? (I will mark the ones I've read.)

*1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

2. The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien

3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

*4. Harry Potter series – J. K. Rowling

*5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

6. The Bible

7. Wuthering Heights

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman

*10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

*11. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

12. Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare

15. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier

16. The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien

17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger

19. The Time Traveler's Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch – George Eliot

*21. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

*22. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

*28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

***29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (have started reading it...)

30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

***31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (have started reading it...)

32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

*33. The Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis (tes, to all of them)

34. Emma – Jane Austen

35. Persuasion – Jane Austen

*36. The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis

37. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere

*39. Memoirs of a Geisha - William Golden

*40. Winnie-the-Pooh – A. A. Milne

41. Animal Farm – George Orwell

*42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery

47. Far from the Madding Crowd _ Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding (Hate this book!!!)

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martell

52. Dune – Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

***54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (yet another I have started)

55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

*57. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

60. Love in the time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

66. On the Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

70. Moby-Dick – Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula – Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson

74. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal – Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - A. S. Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - Charles Mitchell

83. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

*87. Charlotte's Web - E. B. White

88. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare

99. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Pick a Santa....... Wait. I mean, Stalling

2010-12-16T14:23:00.003-06:00

I doubt you won't be looking past the lovely Santas, but in case you felt like perusing this collection of letters strung together in words, I suppose I could write something.

It's the end of the year, and the holidays are fast approaching. I have been wrapping some presents--and I stress some--making candy (I am SO not a cook, that much is obvious. Did you know you could burn chocolate? I didn't know you could do that until today), and generally trying to keep up on everything.

Yeah, failing miserably.

Online orders not going through, or items I ordered on back order (naturally). I've been on the phone with customer service numbers, and then, if my day wasn't even more exciting, I decided to balance my checkbook.

Yeah, that's always a bit depressing. Especially when I find those two or three things I forgot to write down.

And I heard the dryer click off, so I really should go fold clothes. Instead, what am I doing? Picking my own Santa -- Think I like the guy on the back row, third from the left -- and wondering if it's not time, yet again, to redo my website.

And I just did it over the summer. I don't know why I'm craving to change it up again.

Wait, yes I do. Because I should be working on other things. So I want to revamp my website.

Ahh, the holidays bring out my procrastination. What do they bring out in you?

Happy Dance!

2010-12-15T22:07:00.004-06:00

Yes, I'm doing the happy dance. I have a reason, and it's not going to make sense, but for me it's true of the way life works out.

As you know, I have a manuscript circulating with several agents. And slowly, as time has progressed, I've gotten my rejections.

Today, I got another rejection.

Yet, I'm doing the happy dance.

I know, it's odd... but let me explain.

This manuscript is one that has been close to my heart for quite a while now. I've been working and reworking the concept for quite some time, trying to get it right. I finally did get it where I wanted it, and completed the manuscript.

Unfortunately, I've gotten mixed reviews about this manuscript from others, more on the negative than the positive. A lot of it I have taken with a grain of salt. I mean, I believe in my book. That's what matters, right?

Right?

RIGHT?

I couldn't help myself wondering, though, if I was moving in the wrong direction, if I had made the story too big, too much for what I was trying to do. Could the negatives be right?

Well, today, I found out that I was on the right track. Even though it came through a rejection.

One of the agents who passed on the story did admit to being "riveted" by the opening.

I mean, it's still a rejection, but it was a positive rejection, in my opinion. It made me smile, and I probably would have called the agent to thank him, had I not called and squealed to my friends.

It restored confidence in myself and my story.

So thank you to that agent who was kind enough to add the couple of lines that made me feel amazing.

I needed my faith restored. Thank you.

Still Waiting

2010-12-13T11:03:00.004-06:00

Yep, I'm still waiting to hear back from the agents I subbed my latest manuscript to. No word yet on the requested materials either.

Of course there's that old saying--no news is good news.

I'm trying to remember that.

I'm also trying to take good advice, like over at Scott Eagan's blog he's always talking about writing while waiting for those replies. (I don't have a particular blog entry linked, but he says it all the time). And I'm doing my best. I'm also catching up on stuff around the house--cleaning, xmas cards, all that fun holiday stuff.

We put up the tree this weekend. It came out well. I always enjoy Christmas trees, the blinking lights are so peaceful and relaxing.

So in gearing up for the holidays, I'm hoping to get away from the crazy email checking I've been doing.

Yet I still want to check it every hour, lol.

New Review for The Reluctant Prince

2010-12-06T10:16:00.003-06:00

What a nice thing to find as I cruised the internet today. The Romance Studio has a new review for The Reluctant Prince up. I got 4.5 hearts!

"The author has combined a really quirky and entertaining love story with action and suspense that will never leave you bored." Yeah!

You can read the full review here

Thank you to The Romance Studios, as well as Maura F. for a very nice review.

Yeah! ::happy chair dance::

Ahh, Submissions and Rejections

2010-12-02T22:51:00.004-06:00

I have a new obsession. I have queries out with several agents, and I'm (im)patiently waiting to hear back.

Yes, I've been obsessing over my poor email inbox. So far, I haven't managed to break my inbox, but give me time. I'm sure my constant checking will eventually overload it.

I believe the current count is as follows:

10 queries with no response yet

*not counting the auto responses, of course, telling me my sub arrived. Of those, I've gotten several, multiple ones from some agents, even. I have no idea why, lol.

1 request for 1 chapter and synopsis

1 request for a full manuscript

These were submitted over the month of November, the last ones going out the weekend before Thanksgiving. And I must say, some of the rejections came out extremely quick. Many of the agents answered within the first week. (5 of the 7 rejections--one within 12 hours of submitting it.)

So keep that in mind if you do submit via email to an agent.

And I have to say, while I have gotten rejections, most of them have been better than a form letter--as in, they were addressed to me and not "Dear Author." And several actually included the name of the manuscript in the submission, which I take as a plus as well.

A couple had lines like "while I looked over your submission with enthusiasm, I do not have room for it in my line at this time." I am taking that at face value, that they liked it, but they probably had something that would compete with it already.

(Don't crush my dreams if that's just Agent speak.)

And they weren't nearly as cold as older rejections I'd received in the past. I got-- I kid you not--a STAMP on my original query that said "Rejected" and mailed back to me. And then there were the little slips of paper, no more than an inch wide, that was my form rejection, with my original query.

So to get emails that actually have my name on it, I feel like I'm coming up in the world.

Well, and a full request, which only makes me do the giddy dance, because I've never had an agent request a full before. Heck, I hardly remember ever getting requests for any additional material the last time I did this.

But a full... :::super giddy dance:::

Okay, goofiness over.

Of course, I've grown a lot, (no, really, I have--giddy dances aside) and my writing has gotten a ton better since I last did a big round of submissions to agents and editors. It's been three years, I think? Maybe a little longer. And since then, I've published several books, and learned a ton about the craft as well as my own voice.

So, here's hoping I get more news.

But in this business, no news is good news, right? What are the old myths? The longer it takes to hear back, the more interested the agent/editor is in your project. I can't say as I believe that, because I've received rejections a year later on a project submission. Even after I've told the publisher it was no longer available.

So here's hoping.

Though while I go through this process, just for anyone interested, I'm also working on new material for the coming year, so I am still producing. I'm not completely obsessing over my inbox.

Man, time to check it again.

Oh, and if anyone's interested, the lovely dolls on this post were made by a sweetheart back from the days I wrote Star Wars fan fiction. They were too cute, and I had to put them up.

Potty Training FAIL

2010-12-02T22:27:00.004-06:00

Yeah, I think that cartoon says it all.

That's about what my son said, if I could speak baby, every time I put him on the potty.

Not a single time, did we make it. He'd sit, be quite happy to be there, and then run out in the living room and pee in his pull-up.

Me and hubby decided after several days of total failure that we'd try again after the holidays.

Sounds like a plan for me. It just wasn't "clicking" for him as to what he needed to be doing. And it didn't help that he got sick, and I got sick, and neither of us wanted to train anymore.

So, back to diapers. I really hoped he'd at least have a clue by now, but I couldn't be so lucky.

Potty Training, Day One

2010-11-16T10:01:00.004-06:00

Well, unfortunately, the little boy in the picture is way more enthusiastic about potty training than my boy is.

Of course, this is Day One.

He screamed bloody murder this morning when I put his Pull Up on him. Though he got used to it after a bit...

We are doing the egg timer method of potty training. Every 30 minutes I'm taking him to the bathroom, when the egg timer goes off.

We've had several trips this morning, and no pee-pee.

No accidents, either.

He has decent bladder control, he's 2 1/2, and he seems to be able to go almost all morning before going pee-pee.

It's just getting him to actually figure out what he's supposed to be doing...

He sits on the potty, first on the real toilet with a ring. Then he sits in his potty chair. He doesn't mind sitting there, really. He just hasn't actually done anything. Though he's figuring out this potty time gives him free reign to grab his private stuff, so he seems to be liking that. (Must be a boy thing....)

Needless to say, my day has been smashed into 30 minute blocks. My hope and dream is to have him done by Thanksgiving, though I'm not holding my breath. My daughter took forever to train. And I had experienced grandparents and aunts to help out. This time, I'm on my own...

Let's see how this goes. I just know, now that I've started I can't quit. And I can't let it stress me.

My gut keeps saying that once he figures out what "pee pee on the potty" means, he'll be okay. It's just catching him to make him understand what he's supposed to do.

Neglecting the Blog again... 2

2010-11-14T22:37:00.003-06:00

Yep, I'm really bad. It's been a month since I've updated my blog. That's just awful. It really is.

Life has been rather busy--who's isn't, really? But I've been working on polishing off a manuscript, and have started that wonderful Agent Hunt. It's like the Easter Egg hunt, but the eggs are usually filled with rejection letters.

I do have some good news, though.

I took 2nd Place in Paranormal Underground's writing contest, and this month, at Paranormal Underground you can read my short story "The Pioneers" for free. It's a fun little romp about a ghost hunt from the perspective of the ghosts. (Yep, I've been spending way too much time with ghost enthusiasts.) You do have to register at Paranormal Underground to read the story, but the registration is pretty simple.

I think my son is finally healthy--I swear, every time I turned around, the boy had an ear infection. Earlier this month, we put tubes in his ears, and wouldn't you know it, he got sick again--this time with infantigo. It's an infection where bacteria on the skin enters a wound. The boy had a scratch on his cheek and a runny nose. Evidently this is the breading grounds for all things bacterial.

But after days of rubbing cream on the 2 yr old's face and him screaming bloody murder, we did get it managed.

Next on the agenda? Potty Training the Boy.

Should prove really, really interesting.

Halloween Cards

2010-10-08T22:06:00.003-05:00

I found the cutest thing last month. Little packs of Halloween cards, like Christmas cards, and I addressed them and got them ready for mailing. I'll probably send them out next week. (They were Peanuts, of course, hence The Great Pumpkin picture)

Why is this such a big deal? Because I never EVER do Christmas cards. My mother will probably flip when she gets the Halloween card.

I like to tell myself it's excellent practice for Christmas cards. It made me get current addys from all my friends in preparation for Christmas cards. The sad thing about me and Christmas cards? I almost always buy a box of them to send out. I have I don't know how many unopened boxes around the house. Every year, I have the best intentions, and then I don't get to it.

So this year, I'm actually going to do it. The Halloween cards are practice.

I won't even have to buy new Christmas cards, either, lol, I found a couple of boxes.

So one of these days here in the next couple of weeks I'll drink some 5-hr-energy and sit down, and get them all addressed. I know, it's sickly organized, but not really. If I'm motivated to do it, and I do it soon enough, then they'll be ready to go when I want to mail them.

I'd like to get at least pics of kids, maybe even a family portrait done to put in the Christmas cards. But that's just getting a little out of control. Let's just get the cards addressed at this point.

New Phone Time

2010-10-07T12:26:00.002-05:00

Well, as much as I didn't really want to do it (that is, spend money...) I ordered a new cell phone today. I had a Blackberry, and I'm third generation owning it. It came to me not in the best shape, but it worked. I had a full keyboard for texting, and it had that lovely wifi in it. Of course, I hardly ever used the wifi (unlike my hubby, who uses his all the time) I would rarely bother with it.

So I decided to go with a less fancy phone this time--the Samsung Gravity 3. I did do it in a smart way, I went to the store, held it, fiddled with it and several others, and decided that I liked the Gravity 3 the best (see pic).

It's white which means I can actually find it when I put it down, it has the full keyboard, which is a must for me, with all the texting that I do. Also I had my nails done when I went in, and I could easily text on it, the spacing was nice around the buttons for texting.

Something that I didn't like with my Blackberry--the buttons are close together, and when I do my nails, because, yeah, I can be girly once in a while, I have a harder time texting. This phone, the buttons seemed easier to use.

Of course, time will tell as far as that goes.

But it doesn't have a damn roller ball to contend with. The Blackberry has a trackball, and unfortunately, the only way to move around on the device is with the trackball. And when you're 3rd generation owning the phone, the trackball doesn't work well, no matter how many times you clean it.

In an ideal world, I'd get a new Blackberry, but what those cost are beyond what I consider reasonable for a cell phone. Especially when I won't be using it to its fullest potential. Mostly I do texts and calls on my phone.

I might miss the wifi capability of my Blackberry, but I doubt it'll be that big of a deal.

Barnes and Noble PubIt!

2010-10-04T12:36:00.007-05:00

So, you're self-published, or your ebook rights have been returned to you, you say? And while you already uploaded them on Amazon's Kindle platform for more sales, you're bummed about not being able to get it up on Barnes and Noble? Well, be bummed no more.

Barnes and Noble has announced PubIt for authors to upload their books directly to Barnes and Noble and earn royalties.

Personally? I think this is pretty awesome, it allows authors yet another venue to get their books out to their readers.

You know I'm from Team Nook, so more ebook options from Barnes and Noble is a great thing to me, especially as a reader, because I am loving my ebooks. :) And my Nook.

The pay scale of the PubIt! royalties seems good (though I don't know what Kindle's percentages are), 40% for books from $.99 to $2.98, 65% for books $2.99 to $9.99 and 40% for books over $9.99* (According to Publisher's Lunch) The books will also be included in the "Lend Me" option with the Nook as well, a feature that I just love.

Anyway, it sounds like a good deal to look into. Now, I don't have anything currently, but maybe when contracts are up, this might be a viable solution to just letting books lay around and get dusty.

It's That Time Again

2010-10-01T08:31:00.003-05:00

Muhahahaha......... it is time, once again, for the Raven Happy Hour Scavenger Hunt, sponsored by Michelle Pillow and Mandy M. Roth

Once again, you have to search through the participating author sites, and find the RAVEN......... When you do, you write down that location, and when you get all the hidden RAVENS, you can win prizes! Print books, Ebooks, all sorts of stuff.

Me personally? I'm giving away an autographed copy of my print book Moonlight and Shadows which is, of course, Unholy Night and A Darker Trinity together in one book.

So grab your pen, and start your Raven hunt! You have the month of October to complete it.

Good luck!

Romance Endures

2010-09-17T12:18:00.007-05:00

Check out this video for If You Can Dream, by Disney, featuring the Disney Princesses

Scott Eagan wrote another blog post that hit very hard at home with me. (Yeah, I read his blog a LOT. Like daily. Very good blog about writing in general. Check it out.) He's talking about romance, the way we fall in love the first time.

The way the emotions tug and jerk at our hearts, yank us into that perfect, happily ever after.

And once again, it makes me think about my own writing, and my own life for that matter, the places where I've been, wrapped up in love, and felt nothing but the shining warmth of sun on my face.

It's a reminder to me to find myself that lost in a story, that's what my books, my stories are all about. It's all about the romance.

No matter how intense the plot, the story and the world building is, it's still just about the romance. Because, for me anyway, what else is there? It's always going to be Cinderella's glass slipper, Mulan's journey, Belle's dance, Briar Rose's song in the woods, and Snow White's echoes in the well.

That's romance. That's what I want to do, that's what kind of love and joy I want to bring to readers. And heck, to myself, as far as that goes.

If I don't cry while writing it, then how are you going to cry when you read it?

Excitement in the Midwest

2010-09-16T21:45:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's been exciting around here. We had a heckuva storm last night. There were moments of bending over and kissing the ass goodbye, because we weren't sure we'd survive.

See my husband's Twitpic of the destroyed dugout next to our house. Now, this might not look like anything, but there were tons of "microbursts" or "gustnadoes" last night, that did beautiful things like this.

You mean, you don't know what a "gustnado" is? Heck, neither did I until today. But here's the skinny: Basically, it is gusts of wind, from two different directions, slamming together and spinning for just a second to make a spinning tornado-like destructive effect. It lasts a few moments, but it can cause super powerful damage, like a tornado.

Yeah, I sat out most of the storm in a church parking lot, waiting for the rain to stop. When it did, and the sun came out, I spent the next two hours trying to get home through all the water that had risen up past the curb on most of the major roads.

Nope, not a lot of fun.

And it's SEPTEMBER. For those of you considering a Midwest move, please be advised, tornadoes are possible whenever there's hot weather. Starting in early spring to late fall. As long as the weather is hot, and a cool front moves through, BAM, we get storms and tornadoes.

But that's just the way it is. The sad thing is? Even though I was utterly terrified while trying to get home, and get a hold of my husband (the storm took out a cell phone tower and he had no signal for hours), in the back of my head, I kept hearing the muses saying "Yep, you can use this later..."

Man, I think the writing might be overpowering on occasion.

I Need Your Help

2010-09-09T13:50:00.006-05:00

Medical induced haze...

Yep, that's where my brain is today. I'm on meds, my son has an ear infection, and will probably have tubes put in his ears. He's 2, and I'm a bit nervous about that. That whole major surgery thing.

Anyway, I'm working on a WIP that I know you all will love (No previews, sorry) but I do need your help with another project I"m working on.

It's a sequel to my Samhain contemporary romances, Fantasy Girl and The Reluctant Prince. I've been running backwards and forwards about this story, and I really need some help with it. Most of the story is fleshed out, but I need something to really make it come together.

This is what I need:

I have an undercover cop in this story, but what I need help with, is WHAT he is doing under cover. Narcotics is just, well, done. I had considered a prescription drug ring, which is still a possibility.

But I would love to hear some ideas--what kind of under cover story would you like to see?

What just floats your boat?

What has been done a million times, and you never want to see done again ever?

Ideas?

Alien Vampire Bunny Contest

2010-08-30T21:35:00.003-05:00

Last year, Scott Eagan had the Alien Vampire Bunny writing contest. It was in honor of Kate Duffy, who passed away.

It started as a joke between them--her saying not to send her alien vampire bunnies. Scott always teased her that he would find her the perfect Alien Vampire Bunny story.

I entered the contest last year because, for one, I got an idea. For two, I thought it was a wonderful way to honor his friendship with Ms. Duffy.

And I happened to take 3rd place in the competition.

Well, this year, Scott Eagan is doing it again. So check out his blog for more information. Or you can check out the Greyhaus Literary Page for more info.

Enter and good luck! It's not as easy as you think... :)

Neglecting the Blog again...

2010-08-30T12:49:00.008-05:00

(Pic courtesy of ICanHasCheezburger.com)

Anyway, I kinda feel like basement cat... Arising from the depths to attack. It's been a rather busy week in the life of me lately.

I've opened an at-home business, selling Avon products. So, for those of you who love Avon, feel free to check out the website: http://www.youravon.com/candicegilmer for the latest deals.

And yes, Avon's new Fergi fragrance, Outspoken, will be out soon. You might have seen a commercial for it during the Emmys last night. (plug plug plug)

So that's kept me rather busy, getting started with that, figuring out the routine, all that wonderful stuff, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's a learning process. I have taken online courses about product knowledge and running the home-based business, which wasn't too hard--I have been writing by myself for a while, and let's face it, there's a business side to writing, and things have to be done. And there is, of course, my being a hair stylist. That's a business too.

So it hasn't been hard getting started, but it's been different. But the managers and staff have been incredible at helping me set up/figure out anything I have questions with.

I'm also trying to get my website updated, match it to my blog because I just love this layout. I am part way done, but it is a lot of just sitting down and doing it and getting off Facebook and Treasure Isle game, lol. Yes, I'm one of those people, I'm addicted to Facebook games.

Oh, yeah, well, and then there's the writing... I'm working on that too. As well as I have started co-hosting Dear Emmy on www.ztalkradio.com. It's a radio show about relationships, life and all sorts of fun stuff every Saturday night, at 10pm EST. You should pop by and listen. :)

(Boy to read this back, you'd think I didn't sleep. Actually, I do. I just drink coffee and 5 Hr Energy too...)

And yeah, I started Weight Watchers again, (Which, I'm down 9.5 lbs, yeah!!!), as if I didn't need more stuff to do...

So I think I'm going to go try to get something done.

Coffee.

I need coffee.

New Review for The Reluctant Prince

2010-08-18T15:10:00.004-05:00

Blackraven's Reviews gave The Reluctant Prince 5 Ravens!

"Candice Gilmer will have you flipping the pages so fast your fingers will be burning (along with a few other parts - oh my!)."

Thanks Ashley for a great review!

SQUEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Waiting for reviews is never fun, and I'm always biting my nails about them, so to get one that's good, well, that's wonderful. When I get 5 ravens? Even better!

Get your copy today...

My Bookstore and More

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Fictionwise

UMK Answers, and a Winner!

2010-08-13T12:13:00.004-05:00

Well, we had to break out the die today, and my daughter threw it, because we had so many correct responses to Useless Movie Knowledge.

Thanks to everyone who participated, we had a lot of entries! I guess I didn't stump you all as much as I thought, lol. I'll have to work harder next time!

Anyway, the winner this week is Cathy! Congrats girl, and you'll be getting an email soon with your prize!

And now, for everyone else, here's the answers:

1. "Oh, really? When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side." When Harry Met Sally

2. "In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight." Pretty Woman

3. "I love you." "Snap out of it!" Moonstruck

4. "Look at you, you have a baby... In a bar." Sweet Home Alabama

5. "People wait their whole lives to see an ex when things are going really good. it NEVER happens. You could make relationship history!" Music and Lyrics

6. "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." He's Just Not That Into You

Thanks again to everyone, and we'll do it again soon!

USELESS MOVIE KNOWLEDGE!

2010-08-10T23:47:00.003-05:00

It is that time again for Useless Movie Knowledge! Time to pull out all your stored up movie memory and see if you can name the following movies from these lines of dialog.

And today, in honor of Marie-Nicole Ryan being Author of the Week, the theme is...

Drum roll...

ROMANTIC COMEDIES!

And the prize? An e-copy of Marie-Nicole's latest release, Love Me If You Can from Wild Rose Press.

Now, on to the challenge...

Oh wait, rules........... I must post the rules..... (Yep, there's rules, but they are pretty simple)

Do NOT Post your answers in the comments. Email them to me, with "UMK" or "Trivia" or "Useless Movie Knowledge" in the subject

candice (dot) gilmer (at) gmail (dot) com (no spaces, and of course, change the stuff in parentheses)

You have until midnight EST Thursday to get your answers in. Any answers after that will not be accepted.

And if there are multiple entries with all correct answers, we'll do a random drawing for the winner. (It involves a D&D die and my daughter.... it's always an adventure)

Now, on to the challenge:

1. "Oh, really? When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side."

2. "In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight."

3. "I love you." "Snap out of it!"

4. "Look at you, you have a baby... In a bar."

5. "People wait their whole lives to see an ex when things are going really good. it NEVER happens. You could make relationship history!"

6. "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting."

Good Luck Everyone!

(And no, Hitch is not one of the movies.........)

Author of the Week, Marie-Nicole Ryan

2010-08-09T11:57:00.004-05:00

This week's Author of the Week is the lovely Marie-Nicole Ryan, with her new book Love Me If You Can from Wild Rose Press.

Here's the tantalizing blurb:

Music City Heat Series

Summertime in Nashville gets pretty steamy. No wonder Tess and Scott combust.
Nashville Homicide Detective Tess O’Malley has a lot to prove. She comes from a long line of police officers, including her father and older brothers. First, she and her partner are taken off a high-profile case and sidelined with a cold case instead.

After reviewing the files, she’s certain her cold case is connected to the current one, and she sets out to prove it. Too bad it means locking horns with a handsome PI who could win her heart and derail her career.

Scott Holt is all business when it comes to running his family’s PI firm. When the lovely Detective O’Malley comes to question him about his possible involvement in her cold case, he has everything but business on his mind. Like locking lips with the fiery redhead.

And if that wasn't enough, here's a nice spicy excerpt:

Tess took another bite of pizza, her silver gaze never leaving his. “You going to help me out or not? Forbes is your client, after all.” Her voice rose and, again, heads turned in their direction.

“Calm down. I’d like to live long enough to walk you home…and maybe get a goodnight kiss.”

Taking a deep breath, she leaned back and signaled everything was cool. “You want to walk me home and kiss me goodnight? How sweet.” Her soft tone mocked him, but he didn’t care.

“Like we’re high school sweethearts.” She wrinkled her nose, but her eyes shone with moderate good humor.

“Would you rather I said what I was really thinking?”

Her lashes fluttered briefly, then she eyeballed him directly. “Maybe. Depends on what you were really thinking.”

He lowered his tone a notch. “About pressing you up against the wall and having my way with you.”

For a second, her gray eyes flashed silver. Damn. He was a goner—as in, he’d gone too far. Said too much. Too soon.

She leaned forward. “I’ll have you know I don’t engage in up-against-the-wall, wild animal sex on the first date, not that this is even a date.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, but her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Maybe he could still pull his nuts out of the fire before they went up in smoke.

“A guy can always hope,” he said, without a chance in the world she wouldn’t kick him to the curb. Or have one of her fellow officers do the honors.

“A guy can hold his breath…until he turns purple.”

Get your copy from Wild Rose Press

And be sure to come back Wednesday, when we do USELESS MOVIE KNOWLEDGE... The theme? Romantic Comedy Movies, where you could win a copy of Marie-Nicole's ebook.

See you Wednesday.

School Will Start in 14 Days...

2010-08-02T20:52:00.006-05:00

(Well, the pic has nothing to do with my subject today--hubby took this at the local bookstore of my books on the shelf.. YEAH!)

It has been a really, really long summer this year. Though really, it isn't as long as it used to be, but still, I'm more exhausted this year than I have been in forever. Part of the summer, I have been car-less, due to wrecking my car in May. Though now I have the car back, I'm still dreading the days.

It's been a long, hot summer this year. Today, we had record heat--107 degrees. I can't bring myself to make my daughter (she's 8) play outside in that weather. It's just too hot.

So I've had her and her friends in the house.

Yeah, it's been fun.

I should say, mostly the girls are pretty good, and my son who's 2 likes to run around and follow them, so that's good, he's occupied too. But my problem isn't the girls being inside as much as it is my tiny house, where I really don't have any room to go anywhere to get away from girly giggles and baby squeals except my room.

And I don't enjoy doing that, only because I hate not monitoring the kids.

So, to say the least, I'm counting down the days until school starts. Because I'm ready to get my somewhat quiet back. The baby will still be here, of course, but he's easy, and generally much quieter.

He's even learned if I'm writing, he can play on the floor next to me, and be quite content... Something I didn't think would ever happen. ;)

But hey, I did get to go shopping in my favorite store in the world--the office supply store for school supplies. They even had a couple of typewriters there. That you could buy--they weren't decoration. (Let's not talk about my daughter's "What is that?" question... Oh, the humanity).

But, I got new mechanical pencils and notebook paper for me... :::squeal:::

So are you ready for school to start?

School Will Start in 14 Days...

2010-08-02T20:52:00.003-05:00

(Well, the pic has nothing to do with my subject today--hubby took this at the local bookstore of my books on the shelf.. YEAH!)
It has been a really, really long summer this year. Though really, it isn't as long as it used to be, but still, I'm more exhausted this year than I have been in forever. Part of the summer, I have been car-less, due to wrecking my car in May. Though now I have the car back, I'm still dreading the days.

It's been a long, hot summer this year. Today, we had record heat--107 degrees. I can't bring myself to make my daughter (she's 8) play outside in that weather. It's just too hot.

So I've had her and her friends in the house.

Yeah, it's been fun.

I should say, mostly the girls are pretty good, and my son who's 2 likes to run around and follow them, so that's good, he's occupied too. But my problem isn't the girls being inside as much as it is my tiny house, where I really don't have any room to go anywhere to get away from girly giggles and baby squeals except my room.

And I don't enjoy doing that, only because I hate not monitoring the kids.

So, to say the least, I'm counting down the days until school starts. Because I'm ready to get my somewhat quiet back. The baby will still be here, of course, but he's easy, and generally much quieter.

He's even learned if I'm writing, he can play on the floor next to me, and be quite content... Something I didn't think would ever happen. ;)

So are you ready for school to start?

Ebook Princes Going Up? REALLY?

2010-07-19T12:37:00.002-05:00

I was cruising the net today, looking at stuff on ebook readers. I'm debating getting one for myself, and I'm leaning toward the Barnes and Noble Nook, the wifi-only version. Even Attack of the Show said that the Nook is way better than the Kindle. And those tech geeks know their stuff. I have yet found them to be wrong about their product reviews.

Anyway, while doing more and more research, because I want to be sure I know exactly what I'm getting, and not what a salesman says I'm getting, I found this particular blog... The Digital Reader It seems to be a blog that posts all the latest in the ereader world, with all sorts of news bits.

Probably a good site to find. However, this particular post bothered me: When will ebook prices start going up?. The thing that bothers me about it, is that I have been in electronic publishing for a while now.

I know how much I get paid per book sold, for those of you who don't know about such things, 40% off the cover price is the industry standard for most epublishers. Some vary, as low as 35%, as high as 45% but still, that's the neighborhood.

The reason? Because unlike printing, which costs a lot per copy, epublishing doesn't have nearly as large of an overhead.

The thing I don't get about this guy's article is this--he's perfectly happy paying $9.99 or $12.99 for an electronic book. And I want to scream--that's a total ripoff. Especially when the paperback versions of many of these $10 ebooks are CHEAPER or the same price as the electronic version.

I went to check this theory, and picked Janet Evanovich's High Five, (book 5 in the Stephanie Plum Series)This book has been available for quite a few years now, in print book form.

The price of the paperback book, ordering it new from Amazon? $7.99 The Kindle version, same book? $7.99 Barnes and Noble, same check, same book? The paperback was $7.89.

Part of the attraction to ebooks to me has always been the fact that I can get an entire book for less than a paperback, and for a frugal reader like me, that's a great thing. I tear through books in hours, if I like it. But because of that fact, I don't buy a lot of new authors. I don't like wasting my money on books that wind up being stinky. And an ebook, it costs me a little less.

And if it's the first book in a series, and I just get wrapped into the series? Well, I can get all of them in an instant, verses having to trudge all over the city (or in some cases the internet -- I had to do that once to find a sequel to a book I read, and wound up finding it on eBay because no one else had it) trying to get the rest.

I guess I just need to see how these big publishers pick their prices of what ebooks should be. Because savvy ebook readers will know not to buy their books from places like Barnes and Noble or Amazon (of course, if they have a Kindle, they're shit-outta-luck because all a Kindle reads is Kindle format, only available from Amazon) because the books are too high.

Savvy readers will visit places like All Romance Ebooks and Fictionwise for their books, because they're better priced.

Character Hook-ups

2010-07-12T12:53:00.004-05:00

I started writing when I was younger, and a huge Star Wars fan girl... Yeah, okay, I'm still a huge Star Wars fan girl, but I find myself watching Star Wars the Clone Wars in a different way. The romance writer in me wants to see Ahsoka and Captain Rex run off together before Order 66 comes out. (Yeah, I know she's only 14 or 15, and Rex is genetcially grown to be 25-26, but really, they have about the same mental age...) I know it's not going to happen, and I'm going to cry a lot, but hey, I can dream. (Hence my pic today)

But I do the same thing with the books I read, the books I write, the movies and other tv I watch. In True Blood, I know that Sookie loves Bill, but there's a part of me that desperately wants her to hook up with Eric. (I don't want to talk about her and the wolf on last night's episode of True Blood...)

And Marie-Ryan Nicole has a new post up at Shades of Suspense, debating between Morelli and Ranger from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Of course, I had to chime in with my love for Ranger...

But I think that's what makes a story wonderful--being able to think "what if" after it's over. Wondering if the characters can hook up, or what would happen if they did...

What about you, what characters from tv/movies/books would you like to see hooked up?

New Layout

2010-07-07T12:19:00.001-05:00

Yes, I felt like putting up a new layout... I really like it...

What do you all think? If I can figure out how to do it, I may redo my website to match....

Maybe.

New Toy

2010-06-28T21:22:00.004-05:00

I have a particularly strange fetish. I have a thing for keyboards. Maybe it's because I was taught to type on a typewriter vs. a computer, and when I moved to a computer, it was before Internet, so I have always been fascinated with typing and different fonts and all sorts of stuff like that.

And over the weekend, I got a gift--a rubber, flat, silent keyboard. It was a present from a girlfriend, who knew I'd done some radio interviews, and wanted to get me one, so you couldn't hear me typing while I was talking on the internet radio interviews. (See picture--that's my keyboard)

Do I like my keyboard? Absolutely. It will take some getting used to it, only because I do love the sound of the keys clicking. That was a big change, going from the noise of the typewriter to the lack of it with the computer keyboard (Though those old keyboards were almost as loud).

And now, technology has advanced to the point, in only a few years, where we're typing on flat, rubber keyboards that make no noise.

I can't help but wondering if my daughter will even remember keyboards and their noises. She has no idea what a typewriter is, though with the way she loves to write her own stories, I can't help wondering if she'd like one.

UMK Answers!

2010-06-25T21:32:00.002-05:00

Well, evidently, I stumped everyone this week...

So without further ado, here's the Useless Movie Knowledge answers this week:

1. "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." The Princess Bride

2. "Why are you staring at me?" "I don't know. It's just that... it's like you escaped from a Hallmark card or something." Enchanted

3. "I don't want to rule my own country, I just want to pass the tenth grade." The Princess Diaries

4. "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens." Chronicals Of Narnia, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

5. "Fascinating! Semmi, look at this! America is great indeed. Imagine a country so free, one can throw glass on the streets!" Coming to America

USELESS MOVIE KNOWLEDGE!

2010-06-23T10:27:00.004-05:00

In honor of The Reluctant Prince, this week's theme for Useless Movie Knowledge is movies with monarchies, (or princesses, or princes, or something to do with royalty.)

Now, for any new comers to UMK, here's the rules... (Yep, there's rules, but they are pretty simple)

Do NOT Post your answers in the comments. Email them to me, with "UMK" or "Trivia" or "Useless Movie Knowledge" in the subject. candice.gilmer@gmail.com

You have until midnight EST Thursday to get your answers in. Any answers after that will not be accepted.

And if there are multiple entries with all correct answers, we'll do a random drawing for the winner.

Now, without further ado, here's the quotes for today:

1. "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."

2. "Why are you staring at me?" "I don't know. It's just that... it's like you escaped from a Hallmark card or something."

3. "I don't want to rule my own country, I just want to pass the tenth grade."

4. "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens."

5. "Fascinating! Semmi, look at this! America is great indeed. Imagine a country so free, one can throw glass on the streets!"

Be sure to get your answers in by Midnight EST on Thursday. The winner gets an ebook copy of The Reluctant Prince!

Good luck!

Author of the Week: Candice Gilmer--that's me!

2010-06-21T11:37:00.007-05:00

Since The Reluctant Prince came out this last week from Samhain, it's my turn to be Author of the Week.

Here's the blurb:

Duty comes with a price—his heart.

Sydney Martinson’s budget is so tight, it squeaks—and she couldn’t be happier. Her divorce from her controlling husband is final, and a Vegas hair stylist convention is the perfect place to cut loose. Yet she can’t quite shake the feeling she’s being watched.

It took some doing, but Hadrian’s managed to slip away from his watchdog personal assistant for a weekend of well-deserved relaxation. Life as TV’s “Pasta Prince” comes with pressure, and so does his closely guarded secret. He doesn’t just rule the kitchen, he’s royalty with a capital R—third in line to the throne of Koros. And he’d like to keep it that way.

When he spots free-spirited, blue-haired Sydney tossing a coin into a Luxor fountain, he feels the punch in the gut that family lore says all Drake men feel when they meet their match. One weekend with her has him thinking about forever.

Until his assistant tracks him down with dreadful news. One cousin is dead, another is missing. Hadrian is the Crown Prince of Koros—the last job in the world he ever wanted. Worse, he and Sydney are next in line on a killer’s list.

And here's an excerpt from the beginning of the book:

“Listen, Debra, I’m a beautician, not a magician,” I said to my client on my cell phone. “When you dye your hair black with box color from the five-and-dime, you can’t go platinum blonde a month later. It just won’t happen.”

“But I was blonde before. Can’t it be removed?”

“It’s black. Black doesn’t come all the way out. There’s only so much I can do. And I’m not even in Kansas right now, anyway.”

“But my hair. It’s just too dark.”

I let out a sigh, resisting the urge to reach through my cell phone and strangle her. We’d spent probably six hours trying to get the black out of her hair, and it wasn’t until about hour four she admitted she’d done it herself. Not like I hadn’t suspected it.

“You’re either going to have to chop it off, or let it grow. There’s nothing more I can do without frying it.”

“I just can’t be this dark.”

“You should have thought of that before you dyed it black.” The plane shuddered as we taxied into position. “I have to go, we’re about to get off the plane.”

“I can’t believe you’re on vacation in Vegas with my hair like this.”

I rolled my eyes. “Your hair is fine. The dark auburn is very flattering to your blue eyes. In fact, it makes them pop more, and you don’t look so washed out.”

“It does?”

“Of course it does. It may not be platinum blonde, but it is very glamorous.”

It took a little more silver-tongued words from me, but finally, I got Debra off the phone.

“Customers are fun, aren’t they?” the man sitting next to me said. He was in his early fifties if he was a day, and had told me his life story all the way from Denver to Vegas. And I was pretty sure he wanted to sell me a new water purification system.

I shook my head. “No, they aren’t.” Maybe I needed this vacation. Technically a working vacation—I was heading to a big hair show in Las Vegas—still it was not at home in Kansas.

The plane slowed even more, and the flight attendants stood and started talking about proper plane exit. I rested my head against the headrest. Looking down at my left hand, the white line remained from my recently removed wedding ring. The finger was bare and empty, but the mark remained.

There wasn’t enough self-tanner to make the stupid line go away.

The ring had been huge. At least it was huge to me. God, I loved that ring. Even when the worst days had gone by. Even when Jim was completely intolerable, I still loved the ring. It was so beautiful and so, oh so…

Symbolic.

I was married. I, Sydney Martinson, had finally found someone who would be willing to tolerate me and spend the rest of his life with me.

What a crock of shit.

I ran my thumb around the place where the ring should have sat for the seventieth time today. I have got to get something to replace it.

~~*~~

And be sure to come back Wednesday, when I put up Useless Movie Knowledge, and the prize? An ebook copy of The Reluctant Prince!

UMK Answers, and a Winner!

2010-06-18T10:51:00.005-05:00

Wow, I almost forgot to release the winner of UMK this week! It's been a crazy morning around here, so I'm a little late getting them up...

But here goes:

1. "When you decide to be something, you can be it. That's what they don't tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I'm saying to you is this: when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?" The Departed

2. "To protect the sheep you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf."

3. "It's everyone's worst nightmare; you get into a cab and there's some psycho from Jersey behind the wheel." Training Day

4. "Keep it in your suit unless I tell you to take it out. Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol." US Marshals

5. "A quick lesson in lying. See, this is what us real cops do: We study liars. Example: If I ask you a question about something visual, like your favorite color, your eyes go up and to the left. Neurophysiology tells us your eyes go in that direction, because you're accessing the visual cortex. So you're telling the truth. If your eyes go up and right, you're accessing the brain's creative centers and we know you're full of shit." The Negotiator

And we have a winner.. Kelly won a copy of Melanie's book Cherished Witness!

Congrats to Kelly.

And thanks to everyone who played!

We'll have more next week!

USELESS MOVIE KNOWLEDGE!

2010-06-16T10:31:00.003-05:00

This week's theme for Useless Movie Knowledge is Suspense Movies, in honor of Melanie Atkins's series, the New Orleans Detectives.

She has even offered up a free ebook copy of the first book in the series, Cherished Witness to the winner of UMK this week.

And here's the rules.... Yeah, we have to have some...

First off, do NOT post your answers in the comments, email me with your answers. candice.gilmer@gmail.com

And, well, that's about it as far as rules. And no, Silence of the Lambs will not be one of the movies...

Now on with the questions:

1. "When you decide to be something, you can be it. That's what they don't tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I'm saying to you is this: when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"

2. "To protect the sheep you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf."

3. "It's everyone's worst nightmare; you get into a cab and there's some psycho from Jersey behind the wheel."

4. "Keep it in your suit unless I tell you to take it out. Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol."

5. "A quick lesson in lying. See, this is what us real cops do: We study liars. Example: If I ask you a question about something visual, like your favorite color, your eyes go up and to the left. Neurophysiology tells us your eyes go in that direction, because you're accessing the visual cortex. So you're telling the truth. If your eyes go up and right, you're accessing the brain's creative centers and we know you're full of shit."

Good Luck!

The contest will be open until Thursday, Midnight EST. Email me your answers.

Reluctant Prince Now Available

2010-06-15T11:40:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's finally time, The Reluctant Prince is now available in ebook.

And I"m just thrilled about it!

Here's a blurb and an excerpt for your reading pleasure:

The last thing free-spirited Sydney Martinson wants on her trip to Vegas is complications. She’s there for a conference, as well as a break from her obsessive ex-husband.

But that’s before she encounters the super hot Hadrian Drake while making a wish at a fountain. He is every bit a complication she doesn't need. Hot. Sexy. On a cooking show. Prince. Hot...

Wait… did he say prince?

Anyway, here's the promised Steamy Excerpt:

"Sydney." Heat from her shower flooded out into the hallway, and she had towels around her head and her torso. Her skin gleamed. She glowed.

Instantly, he was hard.

"Hadrian?" She slowly lowered the hairbrush. "What’s all this?"

He glanced at Robert. "I don’t think she’s got a gun in there, Robert."

Robert ducked away, pulling Bella with him, who’d followed to see what was going on.

Hadrian closed the door behind him. "I’m sorry," he said. They were now confined in the small, hot space, and as much as he wanted to attack her, he didn’t dare move for fear of what he would do as soon as he touched her. "He was checking for security issues. He does that."

"Must be strange to live with."

"You have no idea."

Sydney sucked her lip into her mouth, her gaze running up and down him.

Hadrian took a step toward her, reaching out for her hand. She accepted, and his thumb ran over her soft dewy skin, turning him on in ways he never would have imagined.

Her teeth scraped her lower lip, and when she released it, her lips were parted.

"You don’t seem real." She took a step toward him.

"Like a dream," he answered, a baby step toward her.

"I thought, when I saw you again, if I saw you again, that it wouldn’t feel the same way. That it was the allure of Vegas."

"I knew I would feel the same." He laced his arm around her waist. His face was barely an inch from hers. "Do you still feel it?"

"I still feel it." She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair.

When their lips met, it wasn’t a crushing, powerful kiss. Not that Hadrian didn’t want the crushing power. It certainly was inside him. This was a one-night stand fantasy, all over again.

Only it wasn’t.

The kiss deepened, and his hands were suddenly all over her, rubbing against the terrycloth towel. She twisted to the side, and the towel on her head fell to the ground.

He broke their kiss to examine her hair. "Dark." He ran one hand up into the locks, fisting the dark hair, slightly longer than it was in Vegas. "Good." He yanked her back to his mouth and resumed kissing her senseless.

She moaned, and he backed her up to the small bathroom counter. Her hands slid to his waistband, finding the line where his jeans met his button-up shirt, and she started pulling the buttons open and un-tucking the shirt. He ran one hand across her upper chest, at the towel line, and she arched her back, loosening it. Her hands met his chest, and her fingers flickered over his nipples.

"Syd, I need you."

She let out a low moan, and put her hands in his jeans, unfastening the button.

He pushed the towel open, revealing her breasts, those beautiful breasts and their little rings, hanging in…

Wait.

Where were the rings?

"Hey," he said, flicking her nipples. "Where are my toys?"

She looked down. "Uh…"

"Why’d you take them out?" he asked, leaning forward and taking one nipple in his mouth, sucking on it, then sliding over to the other.

"The doctor advised it," Sydney replied, her voice deep and lost in passion, like she could barely speak coherently.

"Were they infected or something?" He licked his way down her tummy.

"No," she said, stroking his head. She moaned as he placed a kiss on her lower abdomen as he moved over her smooth, fresh skin. Was it him, or was she a bit softer than she had been in Vegas? Her bones weren’t sticking out as much on her hips. While he’d loved how she looked in Vegas, the softness on her now was even sexier.

She was even better than in his memories.

He slid a hand in between her legs, rubbing her clit a bit before slipping his finger inside her. "So why?" He almost couldn’t keep up with his own thoughts—she was so wet. His cock pulsed in his pants.

She moaned and bucked against his hand.

It gave him a thrill to see how lost she was. "Why what?"

He came back up her body, keeping his hand between her legs, letting his palm rub against her.

"Why are your rings gone?"

She reached between his legs for his cock, and she started fumbling with his pants. "Right now, you need to fuck me before I lose my mind."

Hadrian didn’t hesitate. Pants opened and shoved down enough to get out of the way, he grabbed Sydney and set her on the counter, pushing the few bottles of girly stuff into the sink.

The clatter echoed in the bathroom, but he didn’t care. He plunged into her.

He didn’t have to hesitate. He took her with everything in him—all the frustration, the worry, the difficulty he’d been through. She washed it away, her body against his made it all gone. Made it all disappear.

She was his.

~~*~~

The Reluctant Prince from Samhain's Bookstore, My Bookstore and More

Author of the Week: Melanie Atkins

2010-06-14T10:40:00.002-05:00

This week's Author of the Week is Melanie Atkins. Her book, Chosen Target, released this month from Desert Breeze Publishing.

It's the third in her New Orleans Detective Series.

Here's the blurb:

Jadan Calloway’s latest night out on the town ends in the death of the man who charmed her off her feet. Now the people who killed Kent are after her, and the only man who can save her is Cole McAlister, the rugged, willful detective who believes she is behind his brother’s death. Together they become wrapped up in a web of terrorism and intrigue, and must rely on each other to survive.

For more information on this exciting series, you can find Melanie on the web here:

Website: www.melanieatkins.com
Blog: melanieatkins.wordpress.com
Shades of Suspense: romanticesuspense.blogspot.com
Murder, Mayhem and More: murdermayhemandmore.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.face-book.com/melanie.atkins
Twitter: twitter.com/melanie_atkins
Crimespace: crimespace.ning.com/profile/MelanieAtkins
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Melanie-Atkins
Myspace: www.myspace.com/melanieatkins
Yahoo group: Murder, Mayhem and More

Later this week, we'll be doing Useless Movie Knowledge... So be sure to come back!

T.M. Hunter's Blog Hijack

2010-06-12T07:00:00.003-05:00

Oh no, the blog's been hijacked! Okay, only a little bit. T.M. Hunter's got a great post here, some little known facts from his Aston West series, fun little insider tidbits. And who doesn't love knowing insider facts? I always do!

Some fun little facts that you may or may not have known about Aston West and his tales:

The origins of Vladirian liquor, Aston’s favorite drink

I originally (in HEROES DIE YOUNG) had Aston drinking a blue drink (even though the method by which they extracted the liquor from the Roshtu was the same)…however, as all good writers know, you should never put similar words in proximity, nor names in a novel, and by an extension of this, watch those colors. It was pointed out to me during a round of beta testing that I had blue organic crystals and then turned around and had this blue alcohol. So, off the cuff I just decided to make it yellow.
Of course, in doing so, another beta reader commented how funny the yellow was, since it was excreted from an animal (I’ll leave it to you to figure out what that infers). I found it hilarious as well, so left it yellow. So, the next time you read about Aston drinking his sweet yellow nectar, you can laugh along with the rest of us. And since he’s an alcoholic, it shouldn’t take long to come across such a scene.

The name of Rione Sc’lari

Even if I have no worldly clue how I came up with her last name, the first name of the female lead from HEROES DIE YOUNG (and from the upcoming third Aston novel…oops, did I say that aloud?) actually stemmed from a girl (woman) I knew during my summer job after my first year of school. I didn’t go with her exact name (Rhiannon), but figured Rione was close enough. I’m not sure why I did this, since they aren’t really all that much alike, but I think both of them were really spunky females that you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of.

The other book you might see out there with my name on it

Those who’ve read my two books and all my short stories may be clamoring for even more Aston to read (patience isn’t something I have either). In your searches, you may have stumbled across another book with my name on it. Needless to say, this is a much earlier version of the book HEROES DIE YOUNG with a different title and publisher. Also suffice to say, one should avoid this “publisher” like the plague. Fortunately, I was able to get my contract canceled and have all of my rights returned after many years. Years went by after this point, and I had completed my second Aston novel (in first draft form) and began to wonder what I should do with the first. My initial plan had been to simply plaster it up on my site and let everyone read it for free. Then, someone convinced me that I’d be better off getting it in with a different publisher. So began the long tedious process of completely revamping the manuscript, using what I’d learned over those many years, until I had basically a far better book (including two bonus scenes that I’d not put in the first novel) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Tricks with cover art

Those who’ve actually looked over the cover to HEROES DIE YOUNG may wonder what that is the shadowed “Aston” is holding. The truth, of course, is not nearly as much fun, and is a jacket that the stock photo figure was holding. If you’ve read the novel, you realize that at no point when Aston enters the Rulusian freighter’s cargo hold (which was what I was going for when helping the artist narrow down the artwork choices) does he take his jacket off. So, one of my early concepts (which sadly, I never got to implement) was to run a contest whereas people would give their ideas for what that was he was holding. Even though I never ran the contest, I did pose the question to some friends, and the funniest response was that he was holding a decapitated bunny head (I have a morbid sense of humor if you’ve not noticed).

All these other people that aren’t Aston

Not so much with the novels (yet), but many of my short stories feature characters who have come a long way since they were written, so much so that many have found their way into their own stories. A rundown of some:

Jeanie has been a fan favorite for as long as I can remember. She made her first debut solo appearance in my published story “Obedience” and is currently acting in another that’s still in first draft mode.

Tabor Yurick was actually someone I came up with far after I’d developed my first two books (which is why at most, there may be a brief mention of him in one of the later edits), but he’s so useful to Aston that he gets a mention almost every time Aston stumbles across illegal cargo. His main appearance, along with the young woman Qae, comes in my story “Redemption” although there’s just so much that can be done with both of those characters, I do guarantee they’ll be starring in their own soon. Tabor is a guy that’s just so gross and disgusting, you just can’t help but be fascinated by him.

Kasey Reynolds was just a simple bounty hunter when I cast her in the tale “Entrapment” facing off against Aston. He’s always had a knack for falling into trouble when it came to ladies (Rione will verify that), but this one was something special. I knew as soon as I wrote that story that Kasey would not rest without me telling more about her life. Although I haven’t gotten any published, there are actually four different Kasey Reynolds stories out there on submission, just waiting for someone to pick them up. And not to worry, I do have plans for her to meet back up with Aston again.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say, if you have any questions about any of my characters (like the 5th grader who wondered if Aston and Juniper were going to get married…oops), feel free to ask me anytime.

And that’s about all I can think of at the moment…so hopefully it was as enjoyable for you as it was for me. Thanks again to Candice for having me, and see you on the flip side, everyone!

***

T. M. Hunter has always had a fascination with interstellar travel, spacecraft and beings from other planets. Twice a top ten finisher in the P&E Readers Poll for his short stories (2007, 2009), his book HEROES DIE YOUNG earned Champagne Books’ Best-Selling Book of 2008 award. FRIENDS IN DEED is his latest novel. For more information, including links to his published short stories and novels, please visit AstonWest.com. You can also find T. M. Hunter on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace as well.

UMK Answers, and a Winner!

2010-06-11T11:36:00.004-05:00

It's time to send a shout out to Angela M, who got all the movie quotes right, and won the random draw between all the right winners.

Thanks to everyone who participated, glad to see everyone come out and try UMK! :)

Now, as everyone is dying for the answers, here goes:

1. "You know, going back in time, changing history... that's cheating." Star Trek, 2009

2. "The report read "Routine retirement of a replicant." That didn't make me feel any better about shooting a woman in the back." Blade Runner

3. "You all wanna be looking very intently at your own belly buttons. I see a head start to rise, violence is going to ensue. Probably guessed we mean to be thieving here but what we're after is not yours. So, let's have no undue fussing." Serenity

4. "Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We're not meant to experience the world through a machine." Surrogates

5. "2011. A virus kills 99% of the worlds population. A scientist, Trevor Goodchild develops a cure. The 5 million survivors live in Bregna, the last city on earth. The Goodchild dynasty ruled for 400 years. Rebels emerged to challenge the Goodchil regime." Aeon Flux

Thanks, and be sure to stop by tomorrow, when TM Hunter hijacks my blog. :)

Next week, we're featuring Melanie Atkins, and her romantic suspense Chosen Target.

USELESS MOVIE KNOWLEDGE!

2010-06-09T09:34:00.005-05:00

Yep, it's back! Useless Movie Knowledge! So sharpen your brain, and unlock all that scifi stuff, because in honor of T.M. Hunter's book Friends in Deed, we're doing scifi movies for this episode of UMK.

If you can answer all five movies, you can win a print copy of Friends in Deed from T.M. Hunter! How cool is that???

Now, for any new comers to UMK, here's the rules... (Yep, there's rules, but they are pretty simple)

Do NOT Post your answers in the comments. Email them to me, with "UMK" or "Trivia" or "Useless Movie Knowledge" in the subject. candice.gilmer@gmail.com

You have until midnight EST Thursday to get your answers in. Any answers after that will not be accepted.

And if there are multiple entries with all correct answers, we'll do a random drawing for the winner.

And no, Star Wars is not an answer for any of the movies... :)

Good Luck!

1. "You know, going back in time, changing history... that's cheating."

2. "The report read "Routine retirement of a replicant." That didn't make me feel any better about shooting a woman in the back."

3. "You all wanna be looking very intently at your own belly buttons. I see a head start to rise, violence is going to ensue. Probably guessed we mean to be thieving here but what we're after is not yours. So, let's have no undue fussing."

4. "Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We're not meant to experience the world through a machine."

5. "2011. A virus kills 99% of the worlds population. A scientist, Trevor Goodchild develops a cure. The 5 million survivors live in Bregna, the last city on earth. The Goodchild dynasty ruled for 400 years. Rebels emerged to challenge the Goodchil regime."

Author of the Week -- T.M. Hunter

2010-06-06T22:14:00.005-05:00

It's time for Author of the Week!

I'm launching Author of the Week again, and to kick start it, I have the great T.M. Hunter and his book Friends in Deed, from Champagne Books. This book got Coffee Time Romance's Recommended Read in February:

"Another excellent Aston West Tale from Mr. Hunter. Aston is a complex type of guy who usually has too close a relationship with both the bottle and his onboard computer." Coffee Time Romance

Here's a blurb about Friends in Deed:

Aston West was condemned to life on the prison planet Lycus IV for spitting in a man’s face. Being forced to reside with the likes of murderers and thieves, he owes his freedom to Lars and Elijah Cassus, who orchestrated an escape. Now the twin brothers call in the favor and force his return to Lycus IV with their team to rescue crewmate Leah Jordan.

Aston discovers Leah’s desire to leave the twins forever, but Lars and Elijah use fear and intimidation to control their group and no one leaves alive. It’s a case of kill or be killed and Aston will need to become more like the brothers than he ever wanted.

To get your copy of Friends in Deed in either print or ebook, check out the following:

Champagne Books Print Copy or Fictionwise ebooks,
Also, it's available for the Amazon Kindle

You can find T.M. Hunter around the web here:
Site: http://astonwest.com
Blog: http://astonwest.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/astonwest
Facebook: Friends in Deed Fan Page

And Wednesday, in honor of Friends in Deed, we'll be doing Useless Movie Knowledge! Yes, Useless Movie Knowledge is BACK! We'll be doing some scifi movie quotes, so get your thinking caps on, and be ready to identify some movie quotes, to win a PRINT copy of Friends in Deed!

See you soon!

Um...

2010-06-01T11:44:00.006-05:00

Yep, I was supposed to start Author of the Week this week, but I forgot it was a holiday weekend, and time got away from me. So I will be officially starting it next week, with T.M. Hunter...

These darn holiday weekends just mess me up. Especially when hubby's home all weekend, and I lose track of what day it is.

This weekend we had fun, went out traversing Wichita's downtown area, looking for the troll.

You see, we have a troll that lives under the city. Rather, in the gutters near the river. It's a trick to find the troll, because even if you walk by where he's at, you probably won't see him unless you look down. Because he's chained up under some of the grates in the sidewalk.

All seven feet tall of him.

He's rather spooky looking, I must say, and I took some certain comfort in the fact that he was chained up under the grates. Even if it was a statue.

And of course, because I was out in the wind, not only looking for the troll, but later, when the kids were playing in the slip-and-slide (rather, my daughter was playing, my son was staying far away from the sprays of water). All the exposure to the Kansas wind sent my sinuses into over drive, and I"m just now starting to feel better about it.

However, on a positive note, I'll be signing books on June 12th at Barnes and Noble in Bradley Fair at 21st and Rock in Wichita, from 2-5pm. That just sort of popped up, but hey, I'm all about it, I"ll be signing Broken Shine for the first time there. :)

So, it's been a busy weekend... Now it's time to go get some writing work done... Well, and put the littlest guy down for a nap. Then get some work done. Maybe, if my daughter will let me...

Oh boy. School's out.

Things to Come

2010-05-26T23:24:00.005-05:00

Okay, after a totally stressed out week, I'm on the way to start some new old favorites here at the blog...

Author of the Week is coming back!!!!

And accompanying Author of the Week, is Useless Movie Knowledge! I'm resurrecting these two old favorites on the blog, so get ready to hear about some great new titles, as well as polish up your movie quote knowledge, because trivia is coming back.

Will there be prizes, oh Candice? Will there be?

Of course there will be prizes! :)

So check back next week to meet my first Author of the Week, A.E. Rought. :)

Oh, and I did wind up using all my turkey tenderloin--I love my mini food processor. Grinded the meat right up, and I made all kinds of stuff with it. I even made stuff my daughter would eat.

Sorta.

Leftovers, Day One

2010-05-18T11:50:00.005-05:00

Last night, in my desire to be more Susie-Homemaker (It's not working out too well, but I'm trying), I attempted to fix dinner for my family, a turkey tenderloin.

The idea was that I'd cook up the pre-seasoned tenderloin, and I'd have meat for the rest of the week to use in other things.

And that worked well. (It wasn't as pretty as the picture, but it wasn't too far off from that)

But in my desire to be a better cook, I have learned my first lesson: Read the marinade labels before buying that packaged meat.

What I thought was some kind of herb marinade wound up being a cracked pepper marinade. So, some members of the family had to have the seasoning cut off the meat before eating, because cracked pepper is not a good item in this particular house.

Anyway, after the meal was said and done, I saved the remaining pieces of meat, and today, I decided I wanted to make some turkey salad sandwiches for me and the baby. This would have involved getting out a grinder (which I don't have) or a food processor (which I didn't think I had) to get the meat into a state to be used for the salad.

And of course, the phone call to Big Grandma because I couldn't remember how long to boil the eggs.

But, on the good side, I opened my little cabinet, contemplating getting out the blender, to see if it would chop up the meat, when I found out I have a little Black and Decker Handy Chopper. It chops probably a cup of meat, just enough for me to make a small turkey salad sandwich.

And my son wasn't terrified of the noise. He actually squealed in delight every time I turned it on.

To make a long story short, my salad came out well. Made a nice sandwich. I used two small hunks of the turkey meat, two eggs (Which I didn't boil long enough, so I had to use the whites only), two dill pickle spears, a teaspoon of sugar (between the bitter cracked pepper flavor of the meat and the dill pickles, it needed something), Miracle Whip, a shake of salt, and a half a cup of shredded cheese.

This is the kind of simple stuff that I can do.

Though I'm trying to come up with more advanced recipes. Thinking, though I might chop up more of the meat tomorrow, and throw it in something else... Hmmm.. An omelet maybe?

Holy Crap, I Wrecked my Car!

2010-05-11T22:02:00.005-05:00

Yep, that's my car. And yep, I did that last night.

To make a long story short, I was driving to the pharmacy last night as the tornadoes were creeping into my little corner of the world, and at the light I was sitting at, the traffic started to move.

So did I.

Unfortunately, the truck in front of me didn't move.

Well, they did move. After I hit them. Speeding away from the scene as if my little car would blow up.

It didn't blow up, but now we're in a bit of a pickle, down to one car. And we're pretty sure, since my car is over 14 years old, that it'll be totaled out by the insurance rather than actually paying for any damages.

So, I suppose I'll be car shopping sometime.

I don't really want to do that, because our tight budget doesn't allow for a car payment. So, I may be consulting the local paper, looking for another well used, cheap car. Preferably one that I can pay for all at once, instead of having to finance it.

Were any of us hurt? Nope. We are fine, everyone was buckled up safe and sound. And no "creeping up pain" like what I've heard can happen after a car crash. Heck, I think my baby thought it was a ride...

Though I did learn this during this accident--there are teenagers out there who actually care about people other than themselves. Two teenage girls witnessed the accident, pulled over to make sure we were okay, and one of them talked to my daughter, who was freaking out in the back seat, partially because of the accident, and partially because she knew tornadoes were coming.

Those two girls, who I was so absent minded, I couldn't even think to ask them their names, I send out a thank-you to them. They probably kept me from losing my mind. And they kept my daughter calm.

I probably couldn't have made it through those first few minutes without the kindness of two strangers, two teenage girls.

SALE...

2010-05-03T12:53:00.003-05:00

For the month of May, to celebrate Lyrical Press's two year anniversary, they're taking 25% off select titles over at their new store...

What does this mean for you?

It means you can get Unholy Night and A Darker Trinity at 25% off the cover price!

Unholy Night is only $1.88

A Darker Trinity is only $3.38

Talk about a heckuva deal, and you can get the first two stories in the Moonlight and Shadows series!

Check it out. Of course, I'd love for you to buy my books, but there's a ton of other great authors over at Lyrical Press that you should check out too, like Cat Grant, A.E. Rought, Savannah Chase, Dara England, just to name a few.

So go, check out the sale going on at The Lyrical Press Store and see who you discover there!

This always happens...

2010-04-26T14:46:00.003-05:00

I swear, I think my body is working against my brain.

My last post on Friday, I talked about a plan coming together, the ideas churning and making sense and all that fun stuff.

And what is it about me, that I start to get sick just after I have this wonderful epiphany? Seriously? Are you testing me, fate? Really?

Am I that much of a gamble, that you have to test my mettle against my brain? Is that what it is?

GRRRRRRR

I must say, I don't know if I'm actually ill--no fever--or if it's a horrible attack of allergies. I'm leaning toward it being a horrible attack of allergies. I did take my daughter to her soccer game yesterday, and she had two games, so I was out in the wind for about three and a half hours. And that's never good with the sinuses.

So I'm hoping it's just my head screaming--I've always been one that after being outside for a prolonged length of time in the wind, the next day would be miserable.

That's all it is.

That's it.

Because otherwise, I would be getting sick, and I'm just too busy to be sick. So all you yucky sickness strains, you can just go away. I have things to do.

I love it when a plan comes together

2010-04-23T11:24:00.005-05:00

To say I've been slacking on my writing the last month and half is an understatement. I've been having a heckuva time pulling the details together on this new story I'm working on.

I have written probably five versions of this book, some with as much as 60,000 words going, and every time, I just couldn't feel it. It wasn't right. I knew it wasn't right. Some versions got to a point where I knew the story was stalled, unable to move forward because it wasn't working.

Sometimes, the character changed to something I didn't want--she'd become Firefly's Kayleigh, when she's supposed to be Zoe.

Sometimes, the story itself had plot holes so big a twister could blow through them, and I couldn't figure it out.

So I tried something new this time. I started writing an outline. Writing down all the backstory, in outline form, getting everything down, so I could see where the problems were.

And there was the problem--when I got to a particular point, everything went blank. I was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

And today, I finally figured out what that huge, gaping hole is. All the elements came together, like one big flash in my head. I'd been dancing around the issue for weeks, trying to figure out the specifics. And then, like someone hit me upside the head, it was there.

And I almost danced around the house, so giddy from the revelation. Heck, I kinda did dance around.

Now, I'll spend the next 24 hours going over it, backwards and forwards, working out the minor kinks--it's a time travel story, I will say that much--and pulling it all together as I put it down in my outline.

And hopefully from there, I'll be able to get down the rest of the outline in a very short period, and I can start writing the story--with a guide this time, so I know where I'm going.

This is my first attempt with an outline. It's a bit different, that much is certain, but I'm taking a cue from A.E. Rought and her new love of story outlines. I'm giving this a shot.

I'll keep you informed.

The Twister--Mother Nature's Blender

2010-04-22T12:07:00.006-05:00

It's tornado season here again, and I'm in full twister mode. Really, tornadoes aren't the most horrible things in the world. They're really not. It's just the one hour or so that they terrify you, the rest is just prep and recovery.

The beauty, and terror, depending on your point of view, is that you have, what 20 minutes to make a decision about what you're going to do for safety purposes. If you're going to stay home, hide in the basement, sit on your roof with the video camera, or run to someone's house with a basement.

Oh, and what you're going to take if you do have to bolt.

I have my tornado stuff--I grab certain items; my external harddrive, diaper bag stuffed with diapers, and a couple changes of clothes, and of course BLANKIE. We can't forget the baby's blankie. Then there's my daughter's stuff. Again, change of clothes, and one or two personal items from her room. Usually I get all this in the diaper bag.

Then there's my stuff--my laptop, (duh), my "mint copies" of all my print books (they're in a plastic zip-lock bag, sealed and protected from those darn finger prints and stuff), insurance papers, phone chargers, any other little thing that I think I'd be stressed about if I lost them. Mostly that is little things like jump drives, mp3 players, stuff like that I see as I'm walking through the house. I couldn't take my desktop, of course, but I wouldn't mind unplugging my new modem and taking it. It has the wireless router built in, after all.

And the husband's ghost hunting gear. Fortunately, that's all confined in two cases, that are easily carried.

Oh, and our stock of cigarettes. Because I'm sure we'll be blowing through them as we wait in terror at my mother's house.

But I mean, really, if we lost everything else, I couldn't be horribly freaked out about it. It's just stuff. Yeah, I'd be pissed to lose my movie collection, I have some great stuff in there--like Firefly autographed by Joss Whedon, and of course, all the Star Wars movies and the Clone Wars dvd series.

But in the end, they're all just movies. Granted, we are the type to watch them over and over, which is why we have them, but still...

(See me saying this now... Let's see what I say after a tornado takes my house)

I know if something did happen, my parents would let us stay with them until we got back on our feet. And hopefully that wouldn't take much longer than six months.

Yes, the over active imagination I have has thought this through quite in depth. And no matter how in depth I think it through, I'm sure there's stuff I've not considered. Like how long it would really take the insurance company to settle with us. In my perfect world, they settle with us pretty darn fast. Ha!

Now, I'm sure there's some of you out there saying "Don't say that! You're putting that out there in the universe, and it will happen!" A.E. I'm looking at you. :)

But in my experience, it seems like the more I talk about this stuff, the more I put it out there, it doesn't happen. I don't know why that is for me, but that's the way it usually is for me.

Like I haven't won the lottery yet, and I put out there that I win the lottery all the darn time. :)

But really, this is how I worry. I don't just wonder about what's going to happen, I tend to create little stories, figure out every aspect of a situation, move through it in my head, figure out as many possible outcomes as I can conceive, and then if the situation actually happens, I'm somewhat prepared on how to handle it.

I've been through one big tornado. I didn't loose my home, but my in-laws did. And they stayed with us for a week. That was an adventure (probably just as much for them as it was for me). Fortunately, at that time, we didn't have children, and the back bedroom was just a guest room.

I don't relish the idea of going through one again. But if I have to, I'm somewhat prepared.

What do you do to prepare for blasts of Mother Nature?

Blogging at Shades of Suspense today

2010-04-21T11:53:00.005-05:00

Blogging today at Shades of Suspense today about piracy, which just generally ticks me off.

Seriously.

And a friend pointed out this particular article by F. Paul Wilson that pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Interview and Chit Chat at Dear Emmy tonight!

2010-04-17T19:25:00.002-05:00

Tonight, at Z-Talk Radio I'll be on Dear Emmy, with Elizabeth Rose, talking about my books, about writing, and generally whatever else comes up. Should be a blast.

I'm really looking forward to the show, Elizabeth is a great gal.

The show is from 10pm to Midnight, EST

If you've never been to the Z-Talk Radio website, to hear the show, you click on the link at the top of the page that says "Listen and Chat." You'll be able to hear the show, as well as participate in a live chat.

Questions can be asked in the chat, and relayed to me during the live show, as well, so if you have a question, don't hesitate to ask.

Hope to see you there.

I'm in Vivi Andrews's Blog Party

2010-04-15T11:43:00.003-05:00

For the month of April, Vivi Andrews is doing author interviews ( I'm today and talking about Broken Shine)

So go check out my interview and leave a comment, you could win an ebook from my backlist.

Also, be sure to register for Vivi's Sony Reader giveaway at the end of the month. You have to answer some trivia questions about her books, and the answers are on her website (but you gotta find them).

Check it out, it's a month-long party!

I'm Around The Net

2010-03-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

Today, I"m blogging over at The Raven Blog, about ghost hunters being scared.

Okay, Time For Your Thoughts

2010-03-06T18:36:00.006-06:00

Okay, I'm getting that bug in my ear--I think I'm ready to redo my website again. And I want to do something sexy and romantic, without a lot of fleshy body parts.

So here is my dilema--I found these two lovely header banners at Web Song Designs and I wanted to get your opinions on them.

Banner One: (I like this one because it's toes, pretty toes, and it's subtle, but sexy, and leaves plenty to the imagination.)

Banner Two: (I like this one because there's great intimacy between the two people.)

Christine does really pretty stuff over at WebSong, and her designs are free to download and use, the only rule is that you give her site credit for the layouts. Which to me is no big deal, my current design is one of her layouts, and while I love it, I am thinking a change is coming.

Not sure when I'll do it, but I'm feeling that need to redo it. That darn WIP in my head is demanding attention too. I'm hoping I'll be able to launch the redo along with more information about The Reluctant Prince -- a cooking show star finds out his royal past is trying to catch up with him -- coming out in June from Samhain Publishing.

At least that's my goal.

But PLEASE, tell me which banner you like the best, 1 or 2... (I'd make a fancy poll, but I am not sure how, lol) And I'll be redoing the site according to the votes...

Reviews and Awards

2010-03-01T12:45:00.003-06:00

Coffee Time Romance not only gave me a great, 5 Cup review for Broken Shine, but they have also awarded me the Coffee Time Reviewer's Recommendation award!

Talk about being so excited I almost squealed! (And I probably would have, had I not checked my email at eleven at night). Talk about a wonderful thing!

"Broken Shine and Candice Gilmer will leave you astounded at the talent and creativity used to tell a story as old as time and will leave you wanting to read it over and over."

Click here for the entire review.

Thank you so much Delane! You are too kind!

Guest Blogging

2010-02-23T12:21:00.002-06:00

Blogging today over at Lyrical Press's Blog about writing Broken Shine, and more specifically, writing the Immortal Templar Knights. Stop by and say hi!

Blogging at the Raven Happy Hour Today.

2010-02-22T11:59:00.002-06:00

Blogging today over at the Raven Happy Hour's Blog, talking about Ghost Boxes--the little radios that are supposed to allow you to hear direct responses from ghosts. Come by and say hi!

The Booksigning Went Awesome!

2010-02-15T11:50:00.002-06:00

Well, I have to start by saying that I adore Michelle Pillow (www.michellepillow.com) and the book signing was a total blast.

We had lots of books, as you can see from the photo, candy to give away, and a lot of foot traffic in the store--always a good thing.

I got to talk to a lot of people, meet readers, some were fans of Michelle's, some were fans (and friends) of mine, and everyone was really nice and sweet. We had a good time.

Since it was the Saturday before Valentine's Day, I would have thought more men would have stopped by and picked up for their wives/girlfriends an autographed book. While a few did, I would have thought that would be an auto-gift, you know? Maybe it's just me that would find that really cool.

However, we saw a lot of couples in the store, which became a point of amusement between me and Michelle. We both noticed the couples, the guy would come in, walk right past our table like we weren't there, and the girl would slow down, glancing at the books, at us, but the guy would give her the impatient stare. Though some even did the whole hand motioned that screamed "you don't need that stuff, come on."

We did get a few pretentious stares, that whole "Oh... you write the romance.... how sad... tsk tsk" looks, but I just grinned at them and offered them a Snickers bar.

And they say it wouldn't be a book signing if you're not asked where the bathroom was...

We were asked not only where that was, but where the audio-books were. (And that was especially funny because there was this huge lit-up sign behind us that said "audio books")

And we got to see and play a little with the Nook from Barnes and Noble. Very sweet little ebook reader--$260, which isn't too bad, considering it does have a touch screen at the bottom where your book titles are--and that part is in color, a nice feature.

It does do the whole "screen goes black" thing when you turn the page in the reader, and that jarred me a touch, but most of the stuff seemed pretty cool. It has many different font styles and settings to make reading easier, which I did like. And it's roughly the size of a trade paperback book, but about 1/2 as thick. Nice device.

So yeah, we had a great time, all in all.

If you missed the signing, but still would like an autographed copy of Moonlight and Shadows, Books One and Two or Fantasy Girl, the Barnes and Noble at Bradley Fair in Wichita KS still has several copies there. And of course, Michelle's books are there as well. :) So swing by and pick up yours today. :)

I'm Signing Books

2010-02-12T10:27:00.002-06:00

Book Signing with Michelle Pillow and Candice Gilmer

Saturday February 13, 2010 2:00 PM

Looking for the perfect romantic book to heat up your Valentine's Day? Join us as romance and erotica authors Candice Gilmer ('Moonlight and Shadows' series candicegilmer.com) and Michelle Pillow ('Realm Immortal' series michellepillow.com) sign copies of their books from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.

Bradley Fair
1920 N. Rock Road

Wichita, KS 67206

316-315-0421

Bitten By Books Promo for Broken Shine

2010-02-09T11:43:00.003-06:00

Today, I'm doing an interview over at Bitten By Books featuring Broken Shine (of course... I just love this book), as well as a contest to win gift certificates to Lyrical Press's online bookstore.

First Prize is $20 gift certificate
Second Prize is a $10 gift certificate
Third Prize is a $5 gift certificate.

Come over, comment, say hey, and see all the ways you can win over at Bitten By Books!

See you there!

I Can't Believe I Forgot...

2010-02-01T15:26:00.003-06:00

My own release date! For one of my most favorite books I've ever written! How is that possible? I feel like such a goofball.

Yes, life has been super busy, the world zooming by me and I hardly realize that it's yet again another Monday, I've missed some scheduled appointment, didn't get to the gym like I wanted to, and today I realize that Broken Shine is releasing today!

Talk about feeling out of my mind.

Anyway, though, I am proud to announce the release of Broken Shine, the third in the Moonlight and Shadows series, the conclusion to the story arc, the one that pulls all the pieces together, and brings more insight to the Immortal Knights Templar.

Especially Liam

(Everyone's favorite Templar...)

Here's a blurb, and I'll post an exclusive excerpt as well:

Love will be the death of him.

Felicia Hunter earned herself the nickname Leeza early in life, and well as the reputation for being a klutz. How she landed a job in a glass store was a miracle. The bigger miracle is the mysterious designer who brings in the most beautiful glasswork she’d ever seen. Little does she know, he’s an Immortal Knight Templar.

Sir Liam has spent the last 700 years as a Knight Templar, faithful to the Balance Mandate. His charge is to protect humans from all manner mythical creatures. In the past 24 years, he’s become more attached to Leeza than his vows of chastity allow.

The closer Liam gets to Leeza, the more love and need surge through him. His feelings for her bring him to the very edge, but if she pulls him over, he may end up broken.

Content warning: This story contains unbounded passion, a little bite-and-bleed love action and a Knight to die for.

Exclusive Blurb:

A knock resonated on the inner door to her office, the one that came up from the shop.

“Come in,” Leeza said. Though she was pretty sure she knew who it was.

Sure enough, Sir Liam walked through the narrow door, tilted slightly to the side to fit through.

She could smell the cigar on him as he invaded her little office. “Hello, Sir Liam,” she said, smiling at him with her best professional expression.

“You have something for me?” His face revealed nothing. He looked as big and menacing as he had in her lawn. Maybe more so, since the small office felt much smaller with him in it.

“Yes. I don’t know what happened to these glasses,” she said, heading to the door near the hallway where the box was still sitting. “They were fine earlier, and then they just got warped.”

Liam followed her, and every sense in her body tingled—his presence enough to make her body sensitive.

Trying to ignore the overwhelming sensations, she pulled one of the bent glasses out of the box. “See, they’re just…warped.”

Liam took the glass, and when he did, his finger grazed hers.

Electricity fired through her. Not like the vibe from the lawyer guy, but something else entirely. It wasn’t the same, but more. More powerful, more mystical maybe?

Whatever it was, it was more.

It made her want to touch him everywhere. To grab his hand and start there, working her way up his body, in a slow, methodical pattern, examining every part of his skin. With her fingers, her eyes, her lips…

What was wrong with her?

She glanced up at Liam’s face.

His lips were pressed into a tight line, a little crease in his brow, like he was ready to hit something. And he was staring at her.

“Sorry,” she said, though she didn’t really know what she was apologizing for.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again, a slow blink, like he was trying to sort out his thoughts. “It is fine,” Liam said. “You just… There are things I shouldn’t be thinking about.”

“What things?” Leeza asked.

Again, the little crease revealed itself in his brow. “It is not your concern.” He shifted the box in his arms. “I will bring you new glasses.”

“Liam,” she called out as he turned his back to her.

“Yes?” He didn’t face her.

Like some unknown force propelled her, Leeza closed the gap between them, and put her hand on his back; a feather-light touch, but the muscles seemed to dance beneath her fingers, his body tensing.

Yet she couldn’t stop herself.

Each muscle, she drew a line with the tip of her finger, feeling the curve of them—how strong he was. His body was powerful, massive, a force to be reckoned with; that much was certain.

Slowly, she increased her pressure, running her hand down his spine, and touching the indentation of each of his vertebrae.

“Leeza, you shouldn’t,” he said.

But he didn’t move.

She slid her hand down to his jeans, then ran it back up, the tone of the muscles under the shirt sending shivers through her. His body was rigid, hard as marble under her fingers—she wondered if he was even breathing.

She didn’t think she was.

She touched across his shoulder, down his arm. She brought her other hand up to caress him, now both her hands running over the surface. She didn’t want to stop—she couldn’t stop.

“Leeza, please, I beg you.” Liam took a step away from her. The box dropped as he faced her, the shattering of glass a strained accompaniment to their dance.

But she was on a mission. She had to feel him, she had to touch him. The box was kicked out of the way; whether she did it or he did, she didn’t know. She just stepped into his body, her hands running over his chest. Her palms grazed his nipples, and they puckered, Liam inhaling a sharp breath.

She caressed the curve of his biceps, his triceps, his forearms, all of him, even the lines of his fingers.

He squeezed her hands, and she brought her head up to meet his eyes. They were feral, dark, like he didn’t know what he wanted.

“Touch me back,” she whispered.

“I can’t.” He didn’t let go of her.

So Leeza did it for him.

She brought their clenched fingers up to her face and ran his palm down her cheek. He jerked at first, but he didn’t stop. His warm hand slid down, his fingers caressing the corner of her mouth.

She didn’t dare move.

The urge to kiss his fingers almost overwhelmed her, but in her gut, she knew she couldn’t respond—she couldn’t do anything back, or he’d run away.

He released her hand, letting his fingers graze over her face, delicate, soft touches smoothing over her skin, feeling her. They slid up by her eyes, and she closed them, just as he passed over her lids.

It was like he’d never actually touched a woman before.

He reached into her hair, feeling the strands. “So soft,” he whispered as he stroked her locks. “I didn’t know…” He continued down the back of her head, stroking her neck, around to the front, his fingers sliding across her shoulders. Down her arm he moved, and every nerve in Leeza was on fire.

She’d never been so turned on in all her life.

His finger skimmed back up her arm, across her shoulder, pausing at the center, just under her neck, where her blouse neckline was open, revealing her skin. His focus was completely on her skin, that tiny flash where her shirt was unbuttoned, and he traced the small half-moon of the bone in the center.

She let out a shuddering breath—his touch was warm, so delicate for someone so massive. Since she’d met him, she’d wondered how someone so large and powerful could blow glass, such a fragile process. Yet feeling how his calloused finger barely touched her, she knew. He touched her with the same care that he used with the glass.

Part of her wanted to yank him to her, to wrap her arms around him and kiss him until their worlds erupted, but she didn’t move. She didn’t want to break the trance he was in. His name lingered on her lips, but she didn’t expel it. Instead, she rolled her lips into her mouth, wetting them, scraping them with her teeth, something that wouldn’t break his concentration.

Yet it did.

His gaze flicked from her neck to her lips.

One of those fingers reached up and caressed her lip, the moisture making it slide a little. He paused, his finger lingering on the center of her mouth.

And she couldn’t stop herself. She wrapped her lips around that fingertip and placed a kiss on it.

It was enough to break the spell.

He snapped his hand back, his eyes wide, like he’d been burned. “No.”

The force of his words had her stepping backward, and he grabbed the box at their feet and in a flash he was gone.

Get your copy of Broken Shine in ebook from Once Upon A Bookstore.

I'm around the Net

2010-01-13T12:38:00.003-06:00

It's my regularly scheduled post over at Shades of Suspense blog, and I'm talking about Heart Music, and the discovery (for me, anyway) of Country Music. Stop by and say Hey...

I am getting cynical in my old age.

2010-01-03T21:10:00.002-06:00

I just watched Julie and Julia tonight, going in with the good reviews from two of my girlfriends who'd seen the movie, and thought it was good. One was a huge Meryl Streep fan, and swears the woman can do no wrong.

I tend to agree with this most of the time--rarely have I been disappointed in her job in any movie, whether she's the zany Mom in Momma Mia or the ultimate horror boss in The Devil Wears Prada, she doesn't do a bad job. (Even if the story's kinda wonky=Death Becomes Her).

But anyway, I watched Julie and Julia, hoping to find this great story about two women's journeys through life, how they grow, change and become better people through cooking.

WOW, was I disappointed.

While the background on Julia Childs was interesting--I knew very little about the famous chef, pretty much just who she was--the storyline about Julie, to me was stupid.

The woman didn't evolve. She was just as self-centered and narcissistic at the beginning as she was at the end. She was throwing a fit over food not turning out right, yelling and screaming at her husband, and oh yeah, at the end, she got a book deal out of it.

Really?

Really?

Yeah, I know the movie's supposed to be a true story.

Yeah, I know things happen in strange ways, but really? I have a hard time believing that one little blog would get a book deal like they did it in the movie. You know, what they don't talk about in the movie is the hours and hours of work this gal would have had to do to translate a blog into a book, not to mention the unbelievable amount of editing involved.

And copywrite stuff? I thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, but most publishers won't touch anything that's been published on a blog already.

Her husband was an editor? Big whoop. Editing articles in a magazine is not the same thing as editing for fiction. Yeah, grammar is grammar, etc, but there's a huge difference in writing non-fiction than writing fiction. And really, are her books even considered fiction?

I think it's supposed to be memoirs. And she had another book! Which doesn't seem any more interesting than Julie and Julia.

Guess I'm just a cynic--I didn't like this movie at all, even with all of Meryl Streep's efforts.

Thumbs DOWN.

New Reviews for Mission of Christmas

2009-12-17T10:21:00.004-06:00

I'm always excited to get new reviews, and to be honest, I was getting paranoid that Mission of Christmas wasn't doing well, since I hadn't recieved any reviews for it yet.

And then, poof, two ones came in, with another coming tomorrow. I'm very excited about them.

Got Romance Holiday Reviews:

4 Candy Canes:

"This tale is a heart-warming little Christmas story. It contains all the best elements of its type, including a heroine who needs to see what’s in front of her before it – it being Andy, a conveniently studly childhood friend – disappears. Christmas spirit can be ours, we are reminded, if we are only willing to open our hearts and let it in." This was written by Kate at Got Romance Reviews

Click here for the full review

Dark Divas Reviews:

5 Delightful Divas and a Recommended Read

"Mission of Christmas is a can't-put-it-down Christmas story. ... Candice Gilmer delivers a magical Christmas story bound to make anyone who reads this book believe in Christmas again."

This was written by Deb at Dark Divas Reviews. Click here for the full review

And now I get to put up this:

Agent Appreciation Day

2009-12-11T14:49:00.003-06:00

Before anyone gets exited, no I don't have an agent. I wish I did. However this being Agent Appreciation Day, I thought I'd send a shout-out to the few agents so far in my fledgling career who've helped me out even without being my agent.

1. Lucienne Diver, of Knight Agency. When I met Lucienne, she was still working for Spectrum Agency. She'd given a talk about contracts at a conference in Dallas, (my first, btw) what each section is about, etc. I do remember it was the class I took the most notes in, because I didn't know anything about contracts.

After the class, I walked up to her, waiting very patiently for everyone in the class to leave. She was picking up her things, and I finally approached her. I remember she wore a turquoise necklace, and I think matching earrings. There was turquoise on her, anyway. I pitched a novel I'd completed to her, and she listened very patiently, as I tried to spit it out, since I had never done a pitch before. But when I was done, she turned me down. HOWEVER, she recommended two other agents that she knew were interested in that particular genre. She even wrote their names down for me.

I've never forgotten that piece of kindness to me. She didn't know me from anyone, and she helped me, stepping farther than I would have thought, by recommending others.

2. Nephele Tempest, of the Knight Agency (there's not a theme here, I swear... it just worked out this way). I had met Nephele at a conference in Dallas (not the same one where I met Lucienne, I don't think) and had pitched to her in a little ten minute session. She offered to read a partial of one of my stories, and later rejected me with probably the nicest rejection letter I'd ever gotten.

Time went by, and I had a problem. I had a book that was electronic, (the sci-fi novel I mentioned above), and the company had folded, the rights reverting to me. And I didn't know what to do with this book. I wanted it in print, and I was considering resubmitting it to agents, and starting the whole process over again. Before I started, I emailed Nephele, explaining my situation and what would she recommend doing.

She answered very promptly, giving me some very wonderful advice, and I have always treasured that. Again, she helped me out without having to, and I greatly appreciate it.

3. Kristen Nelson, The Nelson Agency. I submitted a novel to them in Spring of 07, and got a paritial request, literally in days after my submission. I submitted the partial, and recieved my rejection in about a week. This was roughly a month before the RWA Nationals in 07, which I attended that year.

And who did I see, but Kristen. Because I have no manners, I walked right up to her, even though she was having a drink with a client, and introduced myself. I wanted to thank her for her quick return time with my submission. She smiled, introduced me to her client, and asked me what my submission was. I told her the name, and she asked what it was about.

I think she wanted to see if she remembered it, and from her expression, I had a feeling she was going to tell me more of why she rejected it. I told her it didn't matter the particulars of it, I just appreciated the fast turn-around. That in a business where it can take literally months, sometimes even a year (I have recieved rejections a year after submission, I kid you not), to hear back from someone, a quick turn-around made the work a lot easier.

She may have told me what was wrong with my submission. She might not have even remembered it. But the fact that she tried said a lot to me--it wasn't my intention to get a critique, but I appreciated her at least asking.

4. Scott Eagan, The Greyhaus Literary Agency. Met him at the same RWA National conference in '07. I pitched two novels to him, right there, standing next to the escelator, and while he wasn't interested in the contemporary I pitched to him, he did ask some questions about the paranormal. And he gave me a piece of advice for that, telling me the importance of writing it in a darker realm, since it was intended for a more YA audience, and that audience liked the darker stuff.

I appreciate each and every one of these agents, and in little ways, they've helped out my career.

It's Amazing

2009-11-30T22:23:00.003-06:00

It's amazing what happens when you start working on a project. I was having some serious writer's block there for a while. I'd start a project, and whatever love or interest I had in it died out in a matter of days. Nothing seemed to resonate with me--either it was not thought out enough, not interesting (read=complicated) enough for me, or too twisted and complex that I was getting migraines trying to figure out all the details, (Or even where to start the story--one in particular I had that issue).

I was writing synopses to help me sort things out, making spreadsheets, all sorts of things. Anything I could think of to help me focus on a project and really work on it.

Nothing helped.

Then my husband gave me an idea--make a priority list, organize all the "open" projects I had, and sort them, from top to bottom, use whatever criteria I wanted. So I put everything I could think of on note cards, with a few minor notes, what my goals were, even word counts if I knew that, and started sorting them.

I picked the "which project will require the least amount of work" organization method. That was project one. And on through the list. When I finish project one, I'll tear off that card (I stapled the stack together--it took two staples, one on each side, to secure them all), and throw it away, and on to the next.

The irony of it? I am getting all sorts of ideas and things about the other projects. However, it's taking some discipline to not jump into the other projects. I just scribble the notes down on the index card, and go back to my current project.

And amazingly, it's working. I am approximately 30K into a story that I'm hoping will hit about 70K before it's done, (which means it'll probably hit about 85K, but that's just me), but I'm plugging along, writing anywhere from 2-5K a day.

Also I'm doing galleys for a new PRINT book coming out in the spring--Lyrical Press is putting Unholy Night and A Darker Trinity into print, followed by Broken Shine next summer. So I'm UBER excited about that.

More PRINT BOOKS! YEAH! When I have more info, I'll let you know...