Watching the Worm

Last weekend both my kids were home and though we don't like to do it when they are visiting, we put them to work. On Sunday, we worked at covering the backyard pool. We have a big tarp that we hook up after we've done the 'winterizing' thing and, frankly, it's just too much work for two people so the kids pitched in. Now I don't know where this big fat worm came from but after we'd finished I spotted it on the patio. It was a chubby little thing. Admittedly, I was a little pooped from the hard work and a nice person would have gathered it up and deposited it in the yard. Instead, I got a little bit fascinated by the thing.

A few hours later, I went back outside and saw that he'd progressed about an inch. Pretty slow moving. I've kept up with the worms slow progress over the past few days and I'm happy to announce that he has made it pretty far by just steadily plugging along.

So now you're wondering why I'm talking about worms, aren't you? Progress on Cactus Mackey's story (the fourth of my High Plains Shifters series) is moving along at about the same pace as that poor chubby worm. For some reason, I was inspired by him this week. I thought to myself...he's going for it. No matter how long it takes, he's going for it. Slow going but moving ahead. So while he's doing it a slow inch at a time, I've been hitting the writing a page at a time. I set a basically miniscule goal but always managed to far surpass it this week.

Now, I'm seeing the light at the end of this long tunnel. Figure I'll wrap the book up over the weekend and get it off to my editor when last week, I thought it would take me much longer. I would write steadily and then realize, quite surprised, that I'd progressed farther than I thought. So yes, I guess there are lessons to be learned from that slow moving worm. Continue on, forge ahead, and EVENTUALLY you'll get there.

signed a new contract!

I've already shouted about this on Facebook, but I'm too excited not to say something about it here too.

I've signed a new contract with Samhain Publishing! Yay! This one is a short story. Erotic, of course. LOL (to be released Aug. '10)

Here's a blurb:



What She Wants

Summer just got a whole lot hotter…

Summer Chase has already loved and lost once and she has no intention of going through that pain again. But when a hunky Camaro driving P.I. shows up at her B & B looking for a room for the week, she sees something more than a hard-bodied guest. For the first time since her husband’s death, Summer’s sexual interest is awakening, and she’s not about to hit the snooze button!

Gage Knight is a P. I. in desperate need of a vacation. His impromptu trip to Cape May, New Jersey seems just what he needs to relax and unwind. But when he knocks on the door of Chase’s Bed & Breakfast and comes face to face with sexy owner, Summer Chase, relaxing drops to the bottom of his to-do list. Now all he wants is a tasty Summer treat, and he plans to take his time, savoring the curvaceous beauty one inch at a time.

Question is…can she watch Gage drive off into the sunset when the week comes to an end?

5 The things I love about this story:

• The story takes place in Cape May, New Jersey. I used to visit there when I was a kid so it's special for me. I love the shore!



• Gage, the hero, has a big dragon tattoo on his upper back. He's the first of my male characters to have a tattoo. It's very sexy!



• Gage is also the first of my characters to be bald. Gage does bald VERY well. lol



• Summer's drive to make her bed & breakfast a success. I admire women who push past the pain of life, determined to find happiness.



• The sex scenes...LOL I haven't had a hot tub scene in any of my books since Haley's Cabin. I felt it was time to do another one! *wicked grin*

You can see my inspiration for Gage here
Excerpt coming soon!

***

Also, I wanted to share an update on that 15 year old girl who was gang raped. They've arrested a 7th suspect. A 21 year old. And I read where the girl who had called 911 spoke for the first time. You can read her statement here

And the victim spoke for the first time as well. Her pastor shares her statements with the press. A few of the things she wanted the public to know are:


"Violence is always the wrong choice... We realize people are angry about this," the statement said. "But let the anger cause change; change that is necessary to keep our children, our neighbors and our friends safe. We thank everyone for their love, support and ongoing prayers." more here


What a smart, strong young lady! She has my admiration AND my prayers!!

Saying goodbye to a series

I accomplished something really big lately. At least it felt big to me. I always feel really great about finishing a book, but when I finished this last one, there was something a little extra there. See, I struggled a lot with this one. I did a lot of reading it over, changing things, adding and taking away. I used the delete button WAY more on this book than I ever have before. It felt like it was plaguing me which made me sad because it was the last book in a three book series that I LOVED writing.

Finally, the last couple weeks everything just flowed. I wrote like crazy and things finally came together. Just a couple days ago I was able to write 'The End' and while one part of me jumped for joy because this book had felt like such a weight on my shoulders, the other part of me was a little sad. I had to say goodbye to these three girls: Kaylee, Tabby and Brianna who had become friends to me over the past couple years. They've pretty much been a part of my life since I started writing with the goal of publication. They were my first sale and now it's a little hard to say goodbye to that.

This series started because I wanted to do a series with a group of girlfriends who would do anything for each other. They were there when the other needed to cry, there to make them laugh, and there to tell each other to pull their heads out of their you know whats when need be. Through it all I felt like I was a part of their little Friday's at Luciano's group and now I'm kind of sad that is gone.

It's weird...feeling so excited about something and sad about it at the same time. I've never really experienced being sad to finish a book before. But, on the other hand, I breathed life into these characters and it was a joy to be a part of their lives (does that make me sound crazy? LOL). I enjoyed these three books and I hope readers will enjoy Bri's story as well.

As a reader or a writer, is it hard for you to say goodbye to a series?

A New Toy!!!!

Just in time for the holidays another ebook device hits the market. The long awaited Barnes and Noble Nook looks pretty cool, to tell you the truth. It does everything the Kindle and others does for a fairly decent price. At $250 you get a wireless machine that stacks up and in some areas surpasses the Amazon Kindle. Personally, I like the clean look of it. Maybe it's just me but are there a gazillion buttons on the Kindle??? The Nook looks simple to use, it displays the book covers and simply by touching the pic, you can open your book. Looks pretty easy to me.

Probably the BEST thing about this new handy dandy machine is the fact that other readers will probably all go down in price. Now for ebook lovers a device like this can't come more highly recommended than by ME. I love my little ebookwise 1150 BUT I lately I find myself drooling over the new stuff that's hitting the market. Talked with someone at Romanticon who is trying out a Cool-Er reader and has no problems with it either. The bottom line is, readers have a bigger and better selection, it seems, almost every day.

The loops have been buzzing about the new Nook for the past week or so and lots of writers have discussed the 'sharing' feature involving B&Ns reader. If you own a Nook you can 'share' a book with friends. This, I must admit, is pretty damn disturbing but here's how I gather it works. If you have a Nook you can send a book to a friend for 14 days. This can be sent to their Nook, computer, I-phone, whatever. While that 'friend' has the book, you will be unable to read yours and it disappears from the friends computer, Nook, or Iphone in fourteen days. So it really is geared toward a 'loan' only. It's temporary and I imagine since it disappears after fourteen days, it wouldn't end up on a pirate site somewhere. Most Nook's titles will cost roughly $10 and that includes bestsellers and B&N will also offer lots of 'free reads' as well. My main gripe about many readers is they aren't available anywhere but in the US. What? Are there no readers in the rest of the world? I know there must be a reason these aren't available elsewhere. I don't know what it is exactly but I wish they'd change that. E-book readers should be made available to everyone.

As a writer who writes for the ebook market, I'm personally thrilled to find such a selection of readers on the market these days. Competition is a good thing and will drive the costs down, too. Lately, I've even seen commercial after commercial on television about the Sony, the Kindle, and I suspect we'll see plenty on the Nook, too. The main thing this tells me is that ebooks and ebook readers are coming into the mainstream. This can only mean good things for those of us who write and read ebooks.

Dad's surgery!

I don't have much time, but I did want to ask you all to keep my Dad in your prayers this week. He's in the hospital for tests. On wednesday he'll have the surgery where they'll take care of of that clogged artery, which caused him to have two strokes recently.

Also, today is Mom's birthday. She gets to spend it in the hospital with my Dad. Not a load of fun, needless to say!

Anyway, I'm heading up there now. With luck this week will go smoothly and he'll be home, in his easy chair, sipping coffee by Friday!

Insecure? Check this out!

Yesterday I took a little writing break and tuned in to the Biography channel. They were doing a wonderful piece on author, Anne Rice. Have to admit I was fascinated with her story. She began writing in the 70's and her very first book? Interview With The Vampire. Her story wasn't much different than the stories we hear about lots of authors. She put together the book of her heart but couldn't sell it. She faced rejection after rejection. Naturally, that really caught my attention because MOST writers go through this.

Finally, she hooked a publisher for the story. Good for her! She was paid an advance of roughly $12,000 for the work, which at the time was pretty good money. She'd been living with her family in California but yearned to return to her roots in New Orleans. It wasn't until she wrote her third book (with a hefty advance of half a million) that her family could actually afford to relocate.

I don't think anyone can argue with the great successes she has had in her very long career. What I found really interesting was that reviewers and critics hated her work. They found it too flowery and that it was overly dramatic or purple-prosey. From all accounts she took this criticism to heart. She HATED being raked over the coals this way. Still..it didn't matter. Her stories flew to the tops of the bestseller's lists and readers loved her. Movies were made and money rolled in. YAY for Anne!

I'll admit that most of my reviews are pretty good but there HAVE been a few bad ones. They just killed me. They hurt my heart! Yes, I realize (and have been told repeatedly by friends) that this is just ONE person's opinion but I don't think it really hit me until yesterday how very true that is. To think that an author of Rice's popularity would worry about the scathing reviews of ONE PERSON makes me shake my head. Hell, all of us would love to find the success she has had over the years!

In other news: Today my husband and I celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. He was in his first year of law school when we married in Houston, Texas to very little pomp and ceremony. Because of time constraints and yes, money, we married in the home of a local Justice of the Peace. He wore a nice suit and I wore a pretty but very average dress. There were no witnesses or friends or wedding cakes or gifts but we were fine with that. We were in love and we saw our lives spread out before us with infinite possibility. Now two kids later, happy successful careers for both of us, we are finally a couple again instead of a couple-with-kids. Once again, we are seeing the adventure ahead and it's nice.

Check out the BIG SALE at Ellora's Cave!!! All books featuring Vamps and Shifters are marked down drastically for Halloween. If you haven't read my shifter stories, now is a great time to pick up either Feral Moon, Highland Beast, Lone Star Lycan or Ringo's Ride. The sale won't last much longer so check em out. Hot shifters for a pittance. How can you go wrong?

What do YOU think?

Something has been on my mind and I figured I may as well bring it to the blog.

Yesterday, I read a news article about a 15 year old girl who was gang raped at her homecoming dance. She left the dance early and was waiting on her dad when a group asked her to join them for a few drinks in the school courtyard. She went with them, probably expecting a fun time. Instead, what she got was 2 1/2 hours of sheer torture. The full story here.

I'm sickened by this. Even more so by the fact that there were over 2 dozen students who stood and watched and cheered as this poor little girl was beaten, robbed, and repeatedly raped. The assailants AND the onlookers reportedly took pictures and even videos with their cell phones. By the time the police found her she was unconscious and they were still raping her!

There's no question these individuals should fry for what they've done. My question is, should the ones cheering, taking pictures, and doing absolutely nothing to help be punished as well? The California law states that if you see a sex crime being commited to a person 14 and under, and you don't report it, you could face criminal charges. This girl is 15, which means all those people who took joy in her suffering get to move on with their lives, happy as clams. This makes me sick! The entire thing makes me want to keep my daughters closer than ever!

What do you think? Should doing NOTHING be a crime?

Also, take a moment today and send this girl some healing thoughts and prayers. She needs them.

The power of music

I'm a big music fan. To me, nothing compares to hearing a good musician live. Last night I had the pleasure to see on of my favorite singer/song writers, Bobby Long perform. This wasn't my first time to see him. I've been lucky enough to see him about five times in the past year, but he never ceases to amaze me. Each time is like the first time, but at the same time, it's like you're seeing an old friend. His lyrics almost make you feel like you know him, like he's showing you little glimpses into his soul with each word he speaks. With each strum of his guitar.

I've once heard his music compare to musical poetry and that perfectly describes it to me. I lose myself standing in that crowd, singing along and letting the music wash over me. Even seeing him for fifth time, I still get a little teary eyed when he plays Being a Mockingbird. And last night, I was lucky enough that he played one of my favorite songs, Sad Woman Blues when I requested it.

Good music has the power to transfer you to a different place, much like the books we write or read. I read for escapism and I get that same private little getaway from all the stresses of my life when I step into that dim bar, and watch Bobby Long up on the stage with his guitar. It's mesmerizing. For that hour I step into a different world. I think that's one of the signs of a talented musician much like it is the sign of a good book.

He's not yet signed, but I have no doubts that he is going places. I feel blessed that I'm experiencing his music from the beginning and can't wait for the chance to hear him again. If you're in the Los Angeles area, he'll be at the Hotel Cafe again tonight.

Is music a form of escapism for you? Who are some of your favorite performers that you've seen live?

I'll leave you with a video of Bobby performing one of my favorite songs, Left to Lie.

Spooky Season

Are you a fan of Halloween? I always HAVE been. I dont know..there's just something fun and whimsical about the whole thing and, as a little kid, I loved dressing up and trick or treating with my friends. It wasn't about the candy! For me, it was about the costume and walking through the streets when the night was dark and spooky, seeing how others had transformed themselves, and gathering adult reactions to what we were wearing.

Later, when I had kids of my own, I loved going through catalogues and finding just the perfect costume for my little ones. I can't remember HOW many times my daughter was a witch! Several. Orange taffeta with black lace, lace-up black boots and velvet and satin pointy hats. Yes, um, I went overboard. Always. My son liked doing the whole BOY thing. He was a vampire with a cape and fake blood dripping from his mouth. He was a ninja, too. The cutest costume he ever had was a black spider. It was a 'cute' black spider though. At the time he was about four and I'll never forget that one. It was a suit with a colorful padded belly. Many 'spider legs' were attached and when he held out his arms those legs spread out. The outfit came with a black top hat that featured a big orange and yellow band. So cute. I later sent the costume across country to my sister in Florida and her two boys used the costume.


I honestly felt a little guilty getting very pricey costumes. BAAAAD Regina! But I worked out a way to deal with the guilt by finding other 'like minded' moms. We began with trade costumes every year. This way the child had something new and fun but it didn't cost mom the moon and the stars to do it! We began a nice little sharing network with this stuff. In October, the calls would start...what do you have this year? A funny spider? A witch? Perfect.

I know there are lots of cute 'make em yourself' costume ideas but I never leaned toward the crafty. I envy those who can whip up something fantastic with a little bit of felt and a huge imagination! What are some of the best costume ideas you've come up with? Do you make them up at home or do you whip out the credit card?

Halloween Traditions?

For me, Halloween always meant having my mom make a costume, and going trick or treating with my three brothers. After a few blocks, I'd have to go home while they got to go farther collecting more candy. My mom usually kept my costume simple, making me up to look like a gypsy or some exotic princess, which I LOVED. I think we ususually did those types of costumes though because it was a little easier and cheaper--not a lot of money back in those days. Some red lipstick, a pair of pretty shoes, a long billowy skirt and ta-da! You have a costume!

I don't think I understood anything about Halloween when I was a kid. It was scary movies, lots of candy, and one night where we weren't forced to go to bed on time. After I had kids of my own I did the same things with them. Carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, cute costumes that I just HAD to get pictures of... I guess it wasn't until I recent years that I started to get more curious about All Hallow's Eve.

Wikipedia says:

Halloween has origins in the ancient celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sau-an), which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced kalan-geyf). The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.

Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

Truthfully, and maybe I'm going to sound dumb here, but I really didn't know ALL that. I knew there was more to Halloween than candy and pumpkins, but I didn't know the whole of it.

So, tell me, how much importance do you place on this particular holiday? Do you have any special traditions? Do you dress up still??