Thursday Thoughts

I'm feeling a little bit like Rip Van Winkle today. I may not have been asleep for twenty years, but it sure seems like it. What with RT in April, vacation in June, Virgin's deadline in early July, RWA in late July, Hero's blog tour and a trip to the lake in August, I feel like I've missed the entire summer.

It isn't that I haven't experienced it, it's that my house, yard, barn, and horses got ignored. I'm waking up and seeing cobwebs and dust and dirt and such that I've turned a blind eye to for months. Perhaps it's because we've had a party the second Saturday in September for the past twenty years (not this year, though!) and I'm used to doing some mega cleaning at this time of year, but suddenly, I'm in clean up mode.

To remedy this situation, I decided a few days ago that I should clean up at least two things that I've ignored every day. This didn't seem so hard at first. I started with little things like cleaning the kitchen sink and then moved on to sweeping and washing the concrete floor in the barn (which I did over two days), but yesterday, I got ambitious. After running some errands in the morning, I mowed my dry, dusty, leaf strewn yard, pruned back some trees and brush so I could get the lawn mower through without getting slapped in the face (Mikey must not have minded this or he would have done it while he was mowing), and ate a lot of dust in the process. Then, as if that weren't enough, I gave all three horses a bath. Then I came back to the house, threw some clothes in the washer, took a shower, drank a beer, and sat down to read Kendra's Renegade Angel. (we traded books; I sent her a copy of Hero and she sent me this one) Unfortunately, I didn't get to read much of it before the dryer alarm went off and it was time for dinner, (a pork roast cooked in the crock pot) but so far, it's classic Kendra!

I am now so stiff I can barely get out of a chair. The funny thing is, at one time, doing all that in one day wouldn't have been unusual for me, but now I spend so much time right here at my computer that when I do decide to get busy doing something else, it nearly kills me.

I can already hear the admonitions to get more exercise, and, believe me, it's nothing I haven't been telling myself.

I'm sure someone told Rip Van Winkle the same thing.

Whopping Weasel Wednesday!

I'm guest blogging today on Fresh Fiction!

After you've shown this bad boy who's boss, come on over for a chance to win a free copy of Hero!

Monday Moons!

Hero's blog tour marches on! I'm guest blogging on Books 4 Moms today, so when you're finished inspecting the buns, come on over!


















This is the buns picture Vincent sent me. Since I have no idea who these girls are or whether or not they want their pictures on my blog, I'm disguising them, but their expressions (not to mention the cat o' ninetails our birthday girl is wielding!) were so terrific, I couldn't edit them out completely, and had to at least leave their smiles.

So, what say you, ladies? Does Vincent have the right stuff?


This guy would be SO much better with the flowing tresses of a Zetithian, but we can't have everything!


















While I was up at the barn yesterday, I got to thinking more about book nine, and wrote down a few ideas, and I even have a title for it. It helps to think ahead so the ol' brain has time to mull it over before I actually start writing, and especially before I have to pitch it to someone.

It's also good to have something to work on while I'm waiting to hear from my editor. No word yet on what she thinks of Virgin, so I'm plowing ahead with book 8 and the erotic short story--*pause for wicked laughter*--which will knock your socks off!

Whopping Weasel Wednesday!

The blog tour marches on with an interview today on Fumbling with Fiction. I can't remember what I wrote for that one, but I'm sure I was fumbling!

See anything else you might like to fumble around with?

I checked on Amazon yesterday, and Hero was ranked 7,634, which is probably the best ranking I've seen for any of my books.

And, yes, authors do look at those rankings from time to time. Even though I was actually there to see if there was an ebook or a Kindle version yet.

No, really! I'm not lying!

Monday Moons and Hero's Launch!

Look closely, ladies. . . He's a cowboy!

Today is Hero's launch party on Casablanca Authors!
Come on over and join the party!

When you're done there, Hero's first guest blog is today on Star-Crossed Romance!

Thursday Thoughts

This guy is a perfect segue from Wet Hunk Week to Pretty Eyes Week. Actually, he'd work for just about any week if it weren't for the towel factor. He's just plain gorgeous any way you look at him!

I'd better make this quick. I can hear thunder in the distance (actually it's fairly close!) so my internet may get screwed up at any moment.

The main thing I wanted to pass along was this link to the review of Hero on Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews. This is easily the best review any of my books has ever received, which makes me believe that, yes, indeed, I AM getting better at this writing thing!

I have now seen two reviews of Hero, (in addition to what you ladies who won ARC's have sent me!) one written by someone who hadn't read any of the others, and this one, by someone who has obviously followed the series and really gets it. To say I'm pleased is putting it mildly.

If you want the truth, I feel like celebrating! Anyone up for a game of Snatch the Towel? I'd love to see what it's hiding! Who wants to go first?

Wet Monday Moons!

Are we done with wet hunk week yet? To be perfectly honest, I've lost track. I've posted the last three days on internet that was so slow I thought I was back in the days of dial-up. You just don't realize how much snappy web service means until you've got to pre-post a bajillion blogs and cyberspace suddenly develops a tic.

It all began with a music download to my iTouch, and I'm not sure where it's going to end. It took more than twelve hours to download twenty songs, and I didn't even get the last two because my DH shut off the connection to the internet before all twenty were done. Even with that problem eliminated, my emails still wouldn't load. I'm not sure my download caused the problem, but it certainly made it worse.

Then my DH came to the rescue and reset all the internet stuff and everything started working again! I'd been working on guest blogs for Hero all day and when I could finally access my email, the notification for the first review of Hero came through.

You wouldn't believe the way my heart was pounding when I hit the link! It's downright scary the way reviews can do that to me--and I'm sure other writers feel the same way. Except from the feedback I've received from those of you who won ARC's, I had no idea what anyone would think of it, especially someone who had never read any of the others. Well, now I know. Here's the link to the review of Hero on Fresh Fiction.

I'll be doing a guest blog there on 8/18, and I think I know what I'll be blogging about! NERVES!!!!

Monday Moons and Ramblings

Now, where were we? Wet Hunk Week? I got so carried away with the Big Chief yesterday that I forgot he needed to be wet!

Let me delve into my archives and see if I can find some wet buns. . .
Ah, here we go.

Notice the way he's positioned in the sand? He must not want to crunch his YD into the little sharp shell bits one so often finds along the shoreline. Can't say I blame him for that; I don't like walking on them in my bare feet, and my feet aren't anywhere near as sensitive as the average dick.

Okay, now for the news. I sent the synopsis for book 8 off to my editor yesterday--well, actually, I sent it to her new assistant, whose name, interestingly enough, is Cat. I suggested a title and a tagline, but they'll probably change it, so I won't bother posting it here. You'll only have to readjust when the final decision is made.

Actually, I'm not even sure the synopsis will be approved. Somewhere along the line I was supposed to call and talk with my editor about it. But I never quite got around to it, and now they've asked for this preliminary information. I guess I'll find out whether she likes the idea or not, won't I?

Truly, it's a wonder I managed to get it done as quickly as I did. They wanted a short synopsis, so I wrote a long one, then saved the original and started cutting the copy. I didn't exactly cut it to the bone, but I did go from two pages to less than one. We had a contest on Casablanca once where you had to make your pitch in 50 words or less. This was about 475 or so. Not quite the elevator pitch, but it's getting there.

I'm rambling. I wrote this Sunday night at about 9PM and I'd been writing guest blogs and judging a couple of entries in the Indiana Golden Opportunity contest since about 9AM. One was a mess, and the other was nearly perfect. It's amazing the difference you see in the entries. I'm also coordinating the Romantic Suspense category this year, and fortunately, there were only 15 entries, which made my job much easier. I certainly don't envy those managing the larger categories because it took me about three hours last weekend to get the forms filled out correctly and email them to the judges. Some of them I've had to send more than once, too. I'm doubly grateful that I didn't have 20 or 30 entries like some of the other categories, because this landed at about the same time I had to finish Virgin and start writing guest blogs for Hero.

That's right, ladies! Hero will be in bookstores in less than a month! Can you believe it? It certainly crept up on me. I fiddle-farted around and now it's really too late to schedule a booksigning, unless I do it later in August, and I'm going to the lake that last week as it is. I sure hope the WiFi works down at the dock like it's supposed to, or I'll have to go hunting for someplace else that does because I have two guest blogs going up that week.

Marie Force said she did 30 guest blogs for her last book. I'm doing fourteen for Hero, (I've written four so far) and I cannot imagine what it would be like to do thirty. I think my brain would just shut down completely. I'll be posting links to the guest blogs here, and I'm counting on you ladies to keep me company if it gets lonely on those other blogs. I think blog traffic is lighter in the summer anyway, but I guess we'll see.

I just realized something else. I'll be heading to Orlando for the RWA Nationals in a little over two weeks! Something else that has crept up on me while I wasn't looking. OMG! I am so not ready. . . .

Whopping Weasel Virgin?

I'm pretty sure this fellow is straight. I mean, check out the pictures he's looking at--at least, I THINK that's a woman. Too bad we can't see his face along with his other parts, which are all very nice, but I guess we can't have everything.

I finished Virgin and sent it off Tuesday morning before heading out to my riding lesson. I could have sent it Monday night, but for some reason I didn't want to let go of it one moment before I had to. My agent only gave me one suggestion after she read it, which was to make the opening scene as sexy as the one from Fugitive. Seems she'd discussed this with my editor and that was one of the things she wanted to be sure were included in the book.

This was something I knew my editor wanted, but which is easier said than done, particularly when you have a virgin hero who has rarely even had an erection before. True, he's finally spotted a woman who interests him, but as you know, unlike today's Whopping Weasel candidate, Zetithians can't function without the scent of feminine desire. Pictures and fantasies just plain don't work for them.

I've had a few people write to me to complain that they didn't like the idea that Zetithian men couldn't masturbate. This was a characteristic that I felt made the Zetithians more animal-like--that scent was more important to them than anything else. I stretched this a bit in Fugitive; Manx can do it, but only because of his keen sense of smell. He still has to have a woman at least upwind from him. An aroused woman. Dax, on the other hand, has rarely met a non-Zetithian woman whose scent does it for him and hasn't a clue what it feels like. My agent was able to offer some suggestions for the opening chapter, which made my work a little easier, but it was still hard to come up with anything quite as hot as Fugitive's prologue, and I'm not sure I succeeded.

This is one of the problems inherent in writing a series; once you've decided on the traits of a particular species, you pretty much have to stick to them. You can stretch the rules, but breaking them whenever it's convenient makes your creations seem less real. I've tried to adhere to those basic principles in my writing. If a character has supernatural powers, it's because those powers are natural for their species. In Virgin, I use a character that is a Mordrial, the alien species from which Tisana (Warrior) was descended, and from whom her powers are derived. Threldigan is a full-blooded Mordrial, but there are still limits to his powers. The Mordrials can control one of the elements (Tisana's specialty was fire) and/or possess some form of mind-reading ability (Tisana's was reading the thoughts of animals). Threldigan can read minds to a certain extent, but he is also a magician, adept at creating illusions, though these are learned abilities, rather than magical powers. For him to be able to do more than his species allows would be cheating, just as it would be for Dax to be aroused by something other than a female's scent.

I'm pretty sure the manuscript will come back to me with more suggestions from my editor, but this is the first step, and I'm glad it's finally done. Now I have to write a dozen guest blogs for Hero and start on the proposal for the next project, book #8 of the CSC, which has yet to be named.

And so it continues. . . .

Whopping Weasel Wednesday!

I'm in the mood for Harry today. He is just too. . . too. . . something or other.

If I seem weirded out, it's because I actually got to the end of Virgin on Monday night, and I still haven't quite recovered. It needs tweaking of course, but for all intents and purposes, it's finished, just in time for me to start writing all those guest blogs for Hero.

Shifting your focus from one book to another is one of those odd things a writer must do from time to time, though it's usually not by choice. At the INRWA meeting on Saturday, one of the ladies present said that she is usually has two or three books in the works, so when she has writer's block, she just switches to another one, so the dreaded block thing isn't ever a problem for her. I used to do that, but times have changed. Nowadays, I usually only have one book going at a time, so when I have writer's block on a book, I write a blog, complete with fellows like Harry to goad me on.

I think this is a good thing. . . .

Thursday Thoughts

As you may have seen on Facebook last night, I finally finished the last edits of Hero, which will be out in August. It's a little scary sending a book in for the last time. I'll never be able to change anything in that book again. It is now, for all intents and purposes, carved in stone.

I hope I got it in soon enough that the books will be back from the printer in time for the booksigning in Orlando, but you never know how these things will go. I should have had them in by the 6th, but they sent them to me the day before I left for RT and I worked three nights in a row when I got home. I took that last day at RT to work on it, but one run-through is never enough (I prefer three). However, just as I finished the second pass, I got an email from Sourcebooks wanting to know when I'd have it finished. It was one of those "what the hell" moments that come to writers from time to time. You feel as though you've done all you can do at this point and it's time to run that book up a flagpole and see who salutes it.

One thing about those final edits is that you see so many things you'd like to change. A writer's technique evolves (at least, mine has) over the course of several manuscripts, and what seemed perfect three months ago isn't so perfect anymore. By perfect I don't mean spelling corrections. There was only one mistake in the galley they sent me, which was that the name of Jack's ship wasn't formatted in italics in one place. Aside from that, it WAS perfect. But there were also some things that were deleted in the last rewrite that needed to be added back in. In that way, leaving something for a few months helps you to realize those things, plus, some of the workshops at RT jarred my memory for things that needed tweaking.

The trouble with those last edits is that you can't change a whole helluva lot. A sentence, word, or phrase here and there is fine, but this is not the time to make major revisions. I did notice that I tend to overuse dialog tags. Now, this is something that the reader may not notice if they only read the book once, but after you've read a story through fifty times (and this is probably not an exaggeration!) those things tend to pop out at you. I deleted a few and changed a few, but most of them I left as they were. The next book should reflect a more sparing use of them, but when you've got six characters in a scene, they're tough to avoid.

Now it's back to writing Renegade, which was originally due the end of June, but my editor made a comment at RT that I may have more time, which is a good thing. She finally realized that having all manuscripts for a season due at the same time makes no sense because she can't read them all at once. I know how it feels on this end; I bust my ass getting it done on time, and she doesn't get around to reading it for another two months. Sometimes I'm actually finished on schedule, but there have been times when I could have used those extra weeks to smooth things out a bit more. Still at some point you must say, "It's finished!" and be done with it.

And I am. Yay!!!!!

Great News!

Well, yesterday was certainly an interesting day. Not only did we have the whoppingest weasel ever, I got the news that my ARC's of Hero are in the mail, and that the worldwide Thai translation rights to Slave and Warrior have been sold! My good friend Marie Force, author of Love at First Flight and Line of Scrimmage, assures me that there are big bucks to be made on these foreign deals, but I just can't imagine my books being translated into Thai. I mean, I made up a lot of those words! How on Earth will they translate them? Can't you just see people in Thailand going, "Snard? Snard? What the devil is that????"

And getting those advance copies of Hero will be a first. I've never even laid eyes on one for any of my other books, and I'm getting five of them! How cool is that?

Of course, this means that we're one step closer to getting Trag's story on the shelves. I really hope you ladies like this one. Trag was such fun to write. I think he's one of my best heroes yet. I can't wait for you to read it!

As if those two things weren't enough, I have some other terrific news to share, but I can't tell you about it just yet. I can only say this: It's even bigger than yesterday's weasel!

Back home again in Indiana...

Damn it's good to be home! Vacations are lovely, but my bed, and my sweetie, have been calling my name. And boy oh boy, have the mice been playing around the blog while the Cat Master was away!

The trip as a whole would have been a lot more enjoyable if I hadn't had a cold the whole time I was gone. While others all around me were catching the flu and every other bug imaginable, I alone remained healthy. Under a great deal of stress, perhaps, but healthy. Looks like the pressure finally caught up with me, though, but at least Hero got finished on time and the new contract is in the works, so it was probably worth it. I've pretty much recovered, but now Suzie has it and coughed her head off all the way home.

Another thing we had to contend with was crappy weather. If it wasn't raining, it was snowing or at least cloudy. Yesterday was the only day of sunshine we had this whole week. However, I can't complain. The snow around here was pretty tame in comparison to the blizzard the East got this week. Looks like all of you at least had internet while I was gone.

The lake trip was pretty uneventful. We watched movies, laid around, had one short sing-along, and, as usual, ate way too much. I never stuck my nose out of the house the whole time we were there. I felt like I'd been hibernating all winter by the time we left.

I got a few new things to wear to the writer's conferences this spring (RT) and summer (RWA) and refreshed my memory about how to get around Nashville (a little bit) so I won't be completely lost when I go back there in July. It'll be nice to visit when it's warmer, but Nashville in late July might have me wishing for February.

The good news is that now I can start writing again! I've got until the end of June to finish Renegade and I've already got 32,000 words, so I'm pretty sure I can do it. I wrote a little bit on book eight before I left for Tennessee because I had some ideas I didn't want to forget, but I need a title for it. This is the one about a Zetithian who has been spreading his seed as he travels. He winds up rescuing one of his "clients" but I'm not sure which way to go with the title; whether to focus on the seed-spreading or the rescuing. So put your thinking caps, ladies, and let's hear some ideas!

Hero RULES!!!!

I received word that the revisions to Hero have been accepted and it will go on to the copyeditor next week as planned.

Can you hear my sigh of relief from wherever you are?

You should. The absolute last thing any author needs is an emergency rewrite with Christmas just around the corner.

I think I'll put up my tree tonight and have a screaming orgasm to celebrate.


You know, the kind you make with Bailey's, Kahlua, and vodka?

Monday Moon

I'm still working on the revisions to Hero, but it's getting there. The worst part about revisions to the early part of a book is that there is a ripple effect that causes repercussions later on. If you change when something happens or the time that a pertinent fact is discovered, it will alter many other events or discussions. A simple revision to the heroine's backstory will require changes in her attitude throughout the story, which requires reading, revising, and reading again, and again, and again!

These are the things I'm wrestling with at the moment, so forgive me if I'm a bit brief here on the blog.

Anyway, it's Monday, and there's a full moon on the rise. Or would this be a bad moon on the rise? Doesn't matter. Either way, Adam will surely brighten your day--or your night!

Enjoy!

The "Look"

I forget just what site I was on when I found this one of Benji, but I was pretty sure you ladies would enjoy it. For my money, it's proof positive that he doesn't have to strip down to his undies to get your attention--or to say a word. He just has to give you that "look."

So how does that look translate into words? How can you describe it without using a picture? I think what you have to do is to focus on the reaction of the person looking into those arresting eyes, which is the tack I've taken in writing Renegade. I took that look, made him Zetithian, made him really tall, and made him (sorry Benji!) a virgin.

He's finally found a girl who does it for him, though, and he's got to woo her, but, never having paid much attention in "How To Entice A Female 101," he's clueless. I think the idea of a Zetithian man who doesn't know anything about women is sort of fun, particularly after the other guys who were all experienced in some way. This time, it's the girl who knows more than the guy, but she's wanting to go back to her old boyfriend, and it's our hero's job to make her change her mind, and his awkwardness is just part of his charm.

Of course, a tall Zetithian who looks like Benji shouldn't have much trouble doing that, should he? What are your thoughts?

Something for a rainy day....

I read Marie Force's manuscript for See You Next Time yesterday and finished it at about 7pm when I realized I hadn't written today's blog! It's a good book. I think you'll all enjoy it very much when it's finally published.

If you missed the update on the puppy, it's a girl. Must change the name. Don't know how I let the DH talk me into believing she was a boy when I was pretty sure she wasn't. But that's me, sometimes. Every now and then I let someone convince me I'm wrong when I'm pretty darn sure I'm right. I need to be more assertive.

The puppy formerly known as D'Argo was a real trooper on her first visit to the vet. She got four shots and two pills and then we went back to the waiting room where she met a Great Dane. Didn't bat an eyelash for any of it, just kept right on looking cute. What a girl!

I sent Marie my manuscript for Hero. No idea what she thinks of it yet, or even if she's started reading it. I seriously doubt that our editor has looked at it yet either. It's one of those limbo times. I'm glad I'd started writing on Renegade, or I'd really be feeling lost. It rained continuously yesterday, too. I took the dog to the vet in the rain, fed the horses in the rain, fixed dinner while it rained. . . you get the idea.

Somebody suggested a "Wet Hunks" week a while back. Not sure if this guy is wet or oiled, but since it's still raining, I'm gonna say he's wet.

And here's a little something for Donna on her last day at work!!!!!
Have a great day and enjoy your retirement!
We're all so envious. . . .

Ahhhhh.......

This is another of yesterday's hunk, Christian St Jon. It's my favorite of all the pics I've found of him. I really like his expression in this one. Be sure to click on him. He gets much bigger.

I sent in the synopsis and the Hero manuscript last night, so, I'm feeling a little more relaxed--NOT!!!!

Unfortunately, when I sent it to my editor, I got an out of office reply. She's going to be gone until Oct 5th! After she reads it (probably not anytime soon) I'll have to go back and work on it some more. The thing I don't like about that is having to track the changes after the editor reads it. I hate that. It makes it look like a teacher has marked all over it. It's very hard to see your mistakes, too, because things aren't smooth. It has a very cut and paste look to it. But, no matter. It will get done eventually.

I've got a job for you ladies! Has anyone got an idea for a name for the "Benji" character in Renegade? If I use your suggestion, your name will appear in the acknowledgments, so if you're into that sort of thing, give it a go! Something feline sounding would be nice, but I'm open to any other suggestions.

Just chillin'. . .

I was in the mood for a sweet one today. I think he qualifies.

I keep thinking I need to be starting another book. Actually, I have. I have the template set up and the first two sentences of Renegade. That's all! It's hard to imagine that it will eventually become a 90,000+ word book someday.

LOL! Only 89,970 words to go. . . .

Maybe I'll just chill on the beach with him for a while. Who knows, I just might be inspired!

Funny thing about inspiration. You never know when it will strike. Too bad I can't write everything that pops into my head down just when I think of it. I have to mull it over first and then write it. I say I don't plot out books ahead of time, but maybe I do. I just don't do it on paper.

I'm rambling, can you tell? This is what happens when a writer loses direction. They ramble until they find their way. At that INRWA meeting I went to last Saturday, the speaker said the same thing: Just write. It doesn't matter if it's any good because you can always fix it later. You just have to do it. I have no problem writing most of the time. I hear voices in my head: They speak, and I write. Trag (Hero) was easy. He's not based on any particular actor or singer or anyone else, for that matter. He was just that younger brother type. I can't explain it any better than that. I hope the Renegade guy can speak to me as well as Trag did. Manx (Fugitive) was pretty good, too. He always knew what to say, but I did base him on someone. He's Jeff Goldblum, believe it or not. Somewhere along the way I lost Jeff's voice and it became Manx's own. It's nice when that happens, but it doesn't always turn out that way. You just have to find that starting point. After that, they take on a life of their own.

Come on little voices! Speak to me!

Meeting deadlines.....

There's nothing quite like realizing at 9pm that you have no post ready to go up at midnight, but here goes!

I've been reading through the final edits of Fugitive for the past several days, and the one thing that stands out is that I know I could have done better. It's amazing how much I've learned since I last edited that manuscript. Just yesterday I went to the meeting of the INRWA and the guest speaker gave us plenty of useful pointers; some that I'd never heard before. I guess it just goes to show that writing is, indeed, a learning process, sort of like practicing nursing or law. You can't know everything at the outset, you have to gain experience along the way.

I figured out a lot of things on my own before I was published, and I've learned quite a few since then--most of which I wish I'd known from the start. It would have made my life (and editing) much easier!

I wonder if my readers realize what a rookie I am. I've had thirty years to become a good nurse, but writing is a relatively new activity for me. I have to assume that those folks who review my books don't know anything about me; they only know what they read on the pages of my novels. Can they tell that I'm only a beginner? Probably. My writer friends are all very encouraging, but I still don't know everything I think I should about being an author. Unfortunately, I have to keep writing whether I know what I'm doing or not. I attended plenty of workshops at the conference in DC and came away with an even stronger conviction that I'm totally clueless!

After I finished with Fugitive, I probably should have drunk a toast or something, but all I did was send the corrections in an email and then open up the file for Hero. I'm glad I did, though, because I've had such a pleasant surprise! I'm not seeing a million things I'd like to change, so I must be improving. Either that, or I'm just slightly brain-dead from all the editing. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, here's a nice new hunk for you to enjoy. Frank Sepe is his name. Donna sent me several pictures of him. He's a little too beefy for my tastes, (she thought so, too) but you be the judge.