Behind Brown Eyes

Romancing the Genres: Have a Little Faith in You

2012-02-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Once a month I blog at Romancing the Genres.

Here is the blog for this month.

Romancing the Genres: Have a Little Faith in You

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T06:19:00.003-07:00

Today is the official day of LOVE. That day when stores are crazy busy with men looking for the perfect gift for their significant other at the very last second and settling for a card and heart-shaped box of chocolate (because the flowers have gone up 100% in price).

You know there are some people who actually hate this holiday....and it's not the can't-find-love types either. My friend Toni rants yearly about it...which just cracks me up. Personally, I've never given much thought to the day except for where my kids are concerned. When you have elementary students you have to do the whole Valentine's Day thing, which can be fun when the teachers make it creative--like decorating your container where the valentines go. When I was a kid we just had brown paper bags and the kids only gave valentines to their friends or "crushes"....needless to say, I didn't get many valentines (boo hoo).

Anyway, my kids are practically out of school but I still like to get them a little box of chocolate...and today I'll be one of those last minute shoppers because I kept putting it off. My husband and I don't really do anything special...usually just a card for each other and sometimes lunch or dinner (we do the same on our anniversay)....but I'm not the materialistic type and I'm a perpetual dieter, so no chocolate for me. I figure, if I want something, I'll just get it myself.

Anyway....however you celebrate the holiday, I hope it's a lovely time for you.

Romancing the Genres: LOVE OF A LIFETIME

2012-01-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging at Romancing the Genres: LOVE OF A LIFETIME: In April my husband and I will be celebrating 20 years of marriage. For some reason it doesn't seem like it's been that long ............
follow the link to read more

Contest Winners!!

2011-12-17T10:32:00.001-07:00

I forgot to post this yesterday.

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of my contest!!

Kelly Anderson is the winner of the Kindle basket (and I'll post a picture of it soon)

Tammy Ramey is the winner of the Visa Gift card!!

Thank you both, ladies!!

I'll be posting another contest soon...so, stayed tuned. =)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-11-30T12:58:00.007-07:00

Okay....that title is a little misleading because, although the neighborhoods are lit up with beautiful Christmas displays, it's hard to get into the spirit of the holidays when it's 80 degrees outside. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love the nice weather we have in Arizona this time of year...but I need just one day of freezing to get me into the holiday mood. I know I'll get there by the time Christmas arrives, even by the time I start my shopping....no, I haven't started shopping yet. My husband and I usually don't shop until the week of Christmas...mainly because of how the paychecks fall, but also because, it's easier to have to store large gifts for a few days as opposed to all month. Even though the kids are older we still don't set out gifts until after they go to bed on Christmas Eve. Anyway, waiting for the last minute to shop really isn't that bad because we get it all done in one day and that's because we have a list already made up of what we're getting and for whom.

Which reminds me, if you're having trouble thinking of a gift or maybe need something last minute, I have just the thing for you. From now until December 15th, I’m having a contest to help promote my novel Forget Me Not. To enter the contest you just have to email me the answer to this question:

In my novel Forget Me Not, Casey is on the phone with her sister-in-law. With Scott on the extension, Casey says something in Spanish to Jennifer. What does she say?

Again, email me the answer at TerriMo2 @ yahoo.com (remove the spaces) to be placed into the drawing to win one of two gift baskets. Basket one will contain a Kindle along with some chocolate and yummy home-baked snacks. Basket two will contain a $25 VISA gift card, a mouse pad, chocolate, and some yummy home-baked snacks. ;-)

The drawing will be held December 15 and the basket mailed out no later than December 18, just in time for Christmas!! So, get your answers in soon! And come back each week for another question. Also, for every 25 entries received, I'll throw in another $25 gift card. So tell your friends and family members to grab their copy and find the answer and get their entry in. (Please don't give the answer away to friends/family. Let them find the answer on their own.) =)

So, tell me, are you a last minute shopper or do you get it all done early?

Thank you all for your support!!

Happy First Weekend in November!

2011-11-06T10:01:00.002-07:00

I can’t believe the year is almost over! I’m not complaining too much though because I love this time of the year…the weather is cooler, the holidays are just around the corner and much baking will ensue in my kitchen, which means the whole house is going to smell Heavenly!
Speaking of the holidays, if you’re in need of a last minute gift or maybe just want a gift for yourself, I have just want you need. From now until December 15th, I’m having a contest to help promote my novel Forget Me Not. To enter the contest you just have to email me the answer to this question:

In my novel Forget Me Not, Casey is on the phone with her sister-in-law. With Scott on the extension, Casey says something in Spanish to Jennifer. What does she say?

Again, email me the answer at TerriMo2 @ yahoo.com (remove the spaces) to be placed into the drawing to win one of two gift baskets. Basket one will contain a Kindle along with some chocolate and yummy home-baked snacks. Basket two will contain a $25 VISA gift card, a mouse pad, chocolate, and some yummy home-baked snacks. ;-)

All You Need is Love

2011-10-12T12:42:00.001-06:00

I LOVE books! Which is part of why I’m a writer, because I can put my crazy stories down on paper and share them with whomever wants to enjoy them. I’ve been reading since first grade-- when I started learning how to read and I devoured whatever books I could get at the school library. During the summer I’d sign up for the summer reading program at the local library. My mother was an avid reader too, which is probably where I caught the bug, and she was a big Barbara Cartland fan. I never tried to sneak her books because I was a child at the time, and in my teenage years when I moved into the more “adult” books, I went for Mary Higgins Clark and John Saul (now my tastes vary).

When I decided to become an author I didn’t think about writing romance. Not that I didn’t enjoy them, I had become a big fan of Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz, but I just couldn’t see me knowing how to make people fall in love. But, as I wrote and the story progressed, so did the relationship between the characters. Before I realized it, I’d not only written the suspense I was going for, but I’d also written a romance.

Over the years I’ve learned not to dictate what or how my characters feel, because they tend to know better than I do. I might argue with them from time to time, because I’m just stubborn that way, but I don’t get in their way or try to stop them from falling in love, because it’s a natural progression between them. And if it doesn’t progress, then time to add a character who will be the love interest.
My recent release, Forget Me Not, went on sale on October 7th. I wrote this book eight years ago and it’s been a true labor of love for me. Not only did I believe there was an audience for this book, but I refused to believe there wasn’t. (did that make sense?) I found an agent right away, which was validation that I was right. Of course the agent left the agency and it took me a year to find another one. That didn’t quite work out, even after we had editor interest….but that’s all a long story I won’t bother to bore you with. Suffice it to say, I refused to give up on this book. I’m a perfectionist and when I do something I plan to do it right or die trying…(to quote Jack Reacher..hah). So, eight years and countless revisions later, my book sold to Decadent Publishing in electronic format. I can’t be more proud of this book and, although I’m not a well-known author, I’m confident this book will find it’s audience.

If you’re a fan of Catherine Coulter or Nora Roberts, and you’re looking for a great book to curl up with, this book is for you. But, don’t just take my word for it. Listen to NYT Bestselling author Michele Martinez, who said:

The romance is hot and the suspense high in Forget Me Not. Terri Molina has crafted characters you’ll care about from the very first page and a plot that will keep you guessing till the last. Don’t miss this delicious read.

You can find the book here and here

Time For Me to Fly

2011-08-26T11:39:00.004-06:00

Figurative speaking that is.

On October 7, 2011 my novel Forget Me Not will officially hit the virtual bookshelf! I'm very excited....and terrified...to have this book out there for everyone to read. This book and I have gone through a lot together in the past eight years! Two agents, almost an editor and at least forty rejections from more agents and editors. But I couldn't give up on it, I wouldn't give up on it. I knew I had a great story and I was determined to prove it to whomever I needed to prove it to.

Last May, after seeking advice from the wonderfully talented and awesome friend Lauren Baratz Logsted, I dove back into the story and started fixing the things she said needed to be fixed. I then joined a critique group in my local RWA chapter (Desert Rose, Yay!) and we each set a goal to complete our novels by October. My critique partners pointed out more issues with the story that I hadn't seen....and being that I'd been reading this book for eight years, it was easy to glaze over certain inconsistencies. In November, I decided to forgo messing with editors and agents and submitted the book to an online publisher. A couple of weeks later they contacted me and said, we want to publish this. I was beyond thrilled! And so very impressed with their staff. Not only did they give me a kickass cover
they also went to work editing the story and finding more issues I didn't see. The book is so much better and stronger than it was eight years ago and I couldn't be more proud.

Now, it's time to get started on promotion...which I really don't do well with. But, in the upcoming weeks I'll be posting contests and information about the book launch part on this blog and other social networks I frequent. So, stay tuned and learn how to win some prizes!

Summer Daze

2011-08-21T11:00:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe we're almost at the end of August. You know, when you're a kid time seems to go by so slow...but once you hit 20 it flashes by in a blur! I turned 49 over the summer...June 17, to be exact...just one last hurdle before the big Five-O. I don't really feel that old though and as I think back to my aunts and uncles who've passed away, I wonder...did they? Growing up they seemed so old and wise and old. But now that I'm as old, it just doesn't feel old anymore. Even with my kids getting older, I feel like they're just catching up to me.

Of course, getting up in the years also makes me think about the day when I won't be here anymore. Who will take care of my children, especially Amanda? I know they'll be older and probably have their own kids by the time I kick the bucket, but it makes me sad sometimes to know I won't be here for them anymore.
Okay...that got a bit maudlin.

Anyway, I'm kinda working on the staying healthy so I can be here a while thing, I started doing Weight Watchers this month. I'm actually on day 10 and I'm already 5 pounds down (and a helluva long way to go to reach my goal weight). I've done all kinds of diets over the last 30 years. Some successful, some, not so much. Mainly because, once you get off a diet all the weight comes back on twofold. But, I think I'll do well with Weight Watchers not just because of the points programs but because of the vast selection of recipes! Usually when I'm dieting I cook two separate meals, one for me and one for my kids and husband....but now, I'm doing one meal and everyone eats the same thing. I'm buying more fruits and vegetables and no more junk...except popcorn...which isn't quite junk because of the fiber...and the kids are eating a little better. I'm hoping to knock of a majority of my weight before April and the writer's conference my RWA chapter has. But my real ulterior motive is to get to a healthy weight so I can get off my blood pressure and cholesterol medications. So, wish me luck!

Summer's Here

2011-06-03T11:36:00.004-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't kept up with this blog as I said (a bazillion times) I would. Things just get so crazy busy here. These past few months have been busy with getting ready for Becca to graduate (and prom.) She and my niece Sierra (who came to visit for the whole month) looked stunning in their gowns! Then we had lots of family come in for graduation...well not lots, but there were fifteen people in my house for five days! It was a blast!

Now that all the fun is over it's time to start the summer routine...which means nothing really. The kids are free to do as they please (within reason, of course). Three of the four have jobs so they'll be working all the time while the youngest, who turns 16 in August, will just be trying to stay in shape. At the end of June I'll be going to RWA's national conference in New York. As a graduation/18th birthday gift I'm taking Becca and Sierra and their friend Ciera. We'll be there a week but will only have four days to sightsee...which is plenty. When we get home we'll get to work on Becca's career choice....she wants to be an actress, so we'll work on finding her auditions and stuff. She auditioned for a local commercial the other day, we'll see how that went next week. I'll also try to get back to writing. My muse just hasn't been with me in a while.....or it has but it's been too lazy to kick my butt and make me write. Not that I'm a complete sloth...I do have a book coming out sometime this year (still waiting on the line-edits) and I'm now president of my RWA chapter, which will keep me hopping...but it's the writing I wish to get back to....if I could just get over the doubts and do it.

Anyway....as blogs go, this was pretty boring. But, that's my life. hah

Hope you're summer plans are fun and exciting! Stay tuned for more info on my book. Oh, and here's the new cover

Vaya con Dios, Jennifer

2011-04-12T18:08:00.009-06:00

(Hit PLAY)

Tuesday morning my daughter learned a dear friend, she once considered a sister, took her own life. Why? No one can say. Jennifer was a beautiful young woman with so much to live for. Unfortunately, she didn't think so. It shatters my heart to think this young child felt ending her life was the only answer. That no one close to her even knew she carried such a darkness inside her. She was a special person and she will be deeply missed.
While online earlier, I found this article by Sarah York, a Unitarian Minister who specializes in grief counseling. Her words were comforting to me and I hope to you. I hope she doesn't mind my using her words.(I changed the names to Jennifer).

Early this week, Jennifer completed a decision. Where there is pain and confusion, despair and doubt, we long for the end to suffering. For some, life no longer has any choices but one. Life leaves scars that the suffering can not find the inner resources to heal. The inner pain was too great – pain that she had contained within herself for years, pain that often lashed out in anger, mostly at herself. Jenn chose to end the suffering for herself. The mind was exhausted, the heart frightened, and the end taken. The suffering does not end, however, for those who have loved and cared for her. Friends and family are left with feelings of shock, betrayal, anger, sadness, and – in time – compassion and forgiveness. Those who are left ask and continue to ask, “What could I have done? Why didn’t I see it?”
No one knows. And nothing will bring her back.
No one is responsible for Jenn’s choice but Jenns

and this

We come into this time with a range of emotions as deep and complex as the young woman we are remembering.
Here there is love – and the searing pain of separation.
Here there is anger – and the futile search to understand why Jennifer could not weather the despair that locked her alone into her self.
Here there are questions – why, mostly. Why?
Some of you come feeling bruised by this death and asking what you could have done to prevent it.
Jenn’s choice to die touches the despair that courts many of us in our own moments of loneliness and threatens the structures of meaning that affirm our own lives. Let us remember that no single act of desperation can define a life. No matter how stalked by pain, Jennifer’s life also had its moments of delight and happiness, caring and friendship, sharing and love. Death by choice is not a denial of life; it is the cry of despair for more life. It grows from a deep personal alienation or profound suffering and is carried out alone, after a struggle within the self.
When a death such as this cuts across life in its fullness, we are left with a certain incompleteness. We know that Jennifer leaves much unfinished, unfulfilled, unsaid. There are still other things you wanted to share with her, and she with you: Graduations, weddings, the birth of grandchildren; another walk on the lake at sunset with friends, another shopping spree, another video game. This sadness for the loss of this life, full and blossoming, mingles with the sadness for the loss of possibilities not realized.

It's so difficult to find words of comfort for the family and friends suffering through this tragedy, but Ms. York says them well.
Rest in Peace, Jenn.

Bitch and Rant Post. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

2011-03-30T00:54:00.006-06:00

Okay...I'm not in a good mood, so I'm going to spew my venomous anger here....sorry....you might want to just move along...although hardly anyone even reads my blog, so, whatever.

Anyway....what's got me so pissed off, you might ask? Contests! The RWA Golden Heart to be exact. What's the GH you ask? It's a contest for unpublished writers held by RWA....duuuhhh

Like an idiot, I entered...two of my novels....yeah, really stupid waste of money. But, I entered because I really thought I had a good chance of finaling...after all both books had been professionally edited and 'doctored', both have gotten rave reviews from my beta readers and both have had many requests by agents and editors, and one recently sold. But, when March 25 rolled around, I didn't get "the call". There was always a part of me that knew I wouldn't because for some reason when I enter a contest (which I very rarely do) I always end up with that one judge who just trashes my scores. (I haven't gotten my scores back yet for GH, but was told recently that neither novel's scores were very high.....which just pissed me off even more!!) It's like they have a personal vendetta against me or something. Maybe they're threatened...who knows? Or, maybe I just get the worst judges they can find...those newbie writers who judge the books based on the "rules" of writing...for instance...Assinine rule #1---the hero and heroine must meet in the first five pages (nope, doesn't happen in my books). Assinine rule # 2....the first male character shown in the book must be the hero (not always in my book). I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them cuz I'm still annoyed. (I've downgraded from pissed so that's a good thing.) Ranting on a blog really helps....and kept me from replying to an earlier email with a comment so nasty it probably coulda gotten me suspended from RWA...then where would my local chapter be? They're about to elect me president...haha.

Anyway...for anyone thinking about entering GH..ever...DON'T...it's a waste of time and money and you get nothing valuable from it. To be honest, in the whole scheme of things the contest means absolutely nothing. I mean....no one can even tell you who finaled or who won last year (without cheating, that is) and you likely won't find the winning book in the stores because half the time the winners or finalists don't ever sell their book...I can name several people who constantly final but never sell....that should tell you something about the judges. But, that's besides the point.

Am I being too bitter? Damn straight! Do I have a right to be? Hell yeah! Am I shooting myself in the foot by shooting off my mouth? Most likely. Do I care? Not really.

Now...do I feel better having said all this? Kinda.

Anyway....on to something less bitchy.

I finally got my assigned editor for my recently sold book, so hopefully I'll have a release date soon. Which means I'll have to do some promos to help get the book into your hands....and doing promos isn't fun...I'm just not the attention getting whore I need to be. (heh) I'm also trying to rebuild my website...and I must bow down to those people who can build websites without wanting to kill someone!

Ok....Rant's over and it's getting late. I'm going to bed now.

So...tell me fearless reader....what's pissed you off recently?

Never say Never

2011-01-06T11:29:00.002-07:00

Okay, we're going to pretend that's NOT a Justin Bieber song.

Well, it's official....I signed a contract with another electronic publisher for my novel Forget Me Not. This is the book that was on the table at Kensington a few years ago, but the editor left and it got kicked to the curb.

Anyway, I refused to give up on the book and sought the guidance and copy-edits of my dear friend the wonderful Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

I had hoped to go to a traditional publishing house with the book but felt like I'd already burned those bridges when I had an agent. And I gave up looking for an agent to help me sell when the two I had previously didn't work out. Such a long story and not worth going into. Eventually I'll look for an agent again....the third time's a charm, right? But, for now, I'm going to stick with taking care of business myself.

I'm really excited that this book is going to be published, but at the same time I'm terrified it's going to be out there for strangers to read and maybe even rip to shreds...not that I expect anyone to hate it, the readers I've had so far all love the story and especially my hero, Scott (who is my favorite character of my works).

So, anyway, I haven't gotten the details on a release date, but I'll post that as soon as I get the word. There's a lot to do before a book can be released...gotta make the cover, gotta go through about five sets of copy-edits, then gotta proof the galleys. Although, electronic publishing is faster than traditional publishing so the book will most likely be on sale within the next six months...maybe by my birthday. :)

So, I hope you'll search it out when the time comes and let me know your thoughts. In the meantime...I have to restart my web-presence, rebuild my website and try to figure out more ways to promote myself (which is really hard cuz I'm not the "Look at me!" type.

Oh, and to whet your appetite for the book, here's the blurb:

Thirteen murders. Six years. One connection.
Romance novelist Casey Martinez thought changing her name would help her escape the pain of her past but when she receives photographs of a grisly murder, it becomes evident that a killer is stalking her. Over the past five years, women who share an eerie similarity to Casey have been found raped and mutilated—each with the remains of Casey’s book by their side. Haunted by the death of her mother twenty five years earlier, Casey does what she swore she would never do-- returns to her hometown, Rosehill, Texas.
Hidden away in a beach house, Casey's stubborn determination clashes with easy-going Scott Weller, the detective assigned as her bodyguard. When Casey is attacked during a break-in, evidence points to a second stalker. And with the gruesome discovery of another body, it becomes a race against time to find the real killer before Casey becomes the next victim.

Happy 3rd Day of the New Year!

2011-01-03T12:56:00.002-07:00

I hope you all had a great weekend ringing in the new and tossing out the old. I think most everyone spent the time putting away their Christmas decorations. We were no exception. Funny how fast you can tear it all down. On New Years day I made our traditional dinner of black-eyed peas, cabbage, cornbread and ham. The kids all complained about it, but they ate it anyway...no one was going to chance the bad luck. I even told Becca about the superstition that if you sneeze on New Year's day you'll have good luck for the year. She really took it to heart and sneezed a jazillon times that day! Anyway, the rest of the day was spent doing much of nothing. My husband watched football all day, Adam and Manda both had to work, Jeremy played some game (WOW, I think) on the computer and Becca and I went to see The Little Fockers. It was a pretty funny movie. We planned to see Black Swan, but it was so packed and the only open seats were the ones right in front of the screen, so we passed on that movie and went to see the Fockers.
So, anyway....Becca and Jeremy went back to school today so I've had only peace and quiet all day (Manda slept in--her classes don't start for another two weeks). I was planning to try to start a new book (or jump back into an unfinished one) but I can't seem to get motivated. All the rejections of the past years have really killed my muse. :-/ I need to find another one or steal someone else's ...hmmm....I wonder where Nora Roberts' muse vacations. hah
Okay, so far my new year is a bit dull...or at least the blog is. Maybe it'll get better...my horoscope keeps telling me it will.
I guess I should go try and be productive at something. If you made it this far....wow....sorry. =D
Enjoy your day and thanks for reading. I shall attempt to post another rambling blog tomorrow.
Cheers!

Goodbye to you...2010

2010-12-31T09:00:00.005-07:00

Well, less than fifteen hours left of 2010! I can't say I'm sad to see it end! I'm looking forward to ringing in 2011 with our friends and family. It's going to be a great new year, full of new challenges--Becca will be graduating high school and heading off to L A to make her mark. Adam is going to start taking classing in the summer to enhance his law enforcement career. Manda is still in college (she passed with flying colors last semester) and Jeremy, hopefully, will be playing baseball on the high school team. I'm planning to do more writing...just gonna throw up words on the page and hope it turns into a work of art. haha
I hope your new year is spectacular! May you close the door on 2010 and all the regrets and what if's you had and step into 2011 refreshed and full of hope and make your dreams come true!!
And, if you're even a little bit superstitious when the clock strikes midnight and you look at your calendar the date will be 1/1/11...make a wish!

Warm Hugs!!,

Happy Christmas--the year is over--ALREADY???

2010-12-22T09:12:00.002-07:00

Wow, only three days until Christmas and less than two weeks until the new year! I can't believe how fast 2010 went, it's practically a blur! Not that I'm complaining, 2010 turned out to be a sucky year! My daughter, Becca, said it's because on New Year's Day we didn't do our traditional "Good Luck" meal of ham, cornbread, black-eyed-peas and cabbage. I've done this meal all my life and except for a few times between '81-'85 (which explains a lot!) I've never strayed from the tradition/superstition. But last year, with my oldest (Adam) living in Houston (and apparently that bummed me out more than I let on) and my kids complaining how much they hated ham/cabbage/black-eye-peas/cornbread, I decided to skip it. And, what happens?? A crappy year!! Becca had A LOT of teenage drama which included a cyber-bully and backstabbing by her "friends". Most girls would have been broken by the betrayal, luckily she's a strong soul. Jeremy didn't make the cut for the high school baseball team (his fault for failing English), but he had a good spring playing ball and even made All-Stars. Amanda--okay she didn't have too bad a year. She graduated high school and started college (although she's going for kindergarten teacher instead of pastry chef because her limitations made it too hard to do the job). Adam--as I said he moved back to Houston before the end of the year. He started out with a good job in construction but then got screwed over big-time! They took him off the construction job and asked him to do security--working him 12 hrs a day 7 days a weeks, but only paying him ten hours of overtime and banking the rest (for rainy days I guess.) Then they told him the site he was watching was closing up for a week and they'd call him when they got back, but never did, so he spent March thru September unemployed and unable to find a job all the while getting behind on his car note and rent....which we had to pay for him so he wouldn't lose his car...which really put a strain on our finances. (I'm still very pissed at the owner of this company who doesn't even pay attention to what his foreman is doing!!) Anyway, in September, we told Adam to just come home, which he did. Within a month he'd found a job with a security company and is doing very well.
So...I say good riddance to 2010!! And, come on over 2011!! You are going to be OUR year!!
Because, not only will I be making my traditional New Year's Dinner, but midnight, when we ring in the new year, we will close our eyes and make a wish....because the date will be 1/1/11....11-11 in other words. For me and the kids, whenever you see 11-11 you close your eyes and make a wish. They don't always come true but a majority of them do (like Jeremy wishing to pass all his finals--and he did!) so we aren't gonna mess with a good thing. =)
Of course you have to make your own luck too, so, for 2011, I'm going to fight callouses and braincells to get more novels written and sold! I'm also going to really fight to lose weight before I hit RWA's National Conference in NY over the summer...which I'm really looking forward to. A full week in NY with Becca and hopefully my niece Sierra.
So....what are your wishes for the new year? Do you make wishes or set goals? (for me, goal is a four-letter word!)
Thanks for reading. Have a Wonderful Christmas and an Awesome New Year!!

Senseless Rambling

2010-10-10T12:26:00.004-06:00

October 10, 2010. Five months and five days since my last post. That should mean something, right? (other than my laziness when it comes to blogging--heh).
I've never been into numerology or even understood it for that matter, but some people seem to think days like these are special. Okay, granted, you'll only see these dates once in your lifetime, but that doesn't make them unusal. Just...cool. Like 11:11. For some reason those numbers are supposed to be magical, at least my kids think so and whenever they see them they close their eyes and make a wish. Okay, I do too...I also wish on the first star at night...sue me. ;-P

Anyway...my friend Brenda Birch said I needed to update my blog, so that's what I'm going to attempt to do. If you're familiar with me or my blogs, you'll know I'm not very talkative so my blogs tend to be rather random.

The last five months have been pretty uneventful, so it won't take long to play catch-up. My daughter, Manda, graduated high school and as promised we went to Texas for a party with the family. We rented a beach house in Port Bolivar and had a wonderful time! We also got to spend some time with family and friends and even got to spend some long-past-due time with my niece, Sierra. She even came back home with us and spent another week. Manda is now in college, taking her general studies. She's planning to be a kindergarten teacher, although she'll probably only be an aide since it's not likely she'll be able to handle a full class on her own.
The first week of August my other daughter, Becca, celebrated her 17th birthday. A few days later she got her driver's license. The officer who gave her the driving test was greatly impressed and told her she was the best driver he'd had all day. (yeah, I take credit for being her teacher. heh). School started right after her birthday and now we're doing all the 'senior/pre-graduation' stuff for her.
My oldest, Adam, moved back home--he'd been living (or trying to) in Texas for the past year. He recently found a good job, so hopefully he can get on his feet and start supporting himself!
Jeremy, the baby, is a sophmore, so two more years before we have to do the 'senor' stuff for him. Over the summer he was on the Little League 'All-Star' team. They did fairly well, although if they'd had a better coach, they'd have gone all the way! Now that Jeremy's too old for LL he has to wait until spring to play ball again..provided he makes the school team.
As for me...not much has changed. Still, kinda, sorta, writing. In April I sent my novel, Forget Me Not to a friend, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, who does book-doctoring and copy-edits on the side. She'd worked on my other book Dark Obsession (which is still with two houses...just waiting for them to say YES I WANT THIS BOOK!! HERE'S A BUTTLOAD OF MONEY!!) haha....okay, I can dream, can't I??? Anyway, the year before and I was very happy with the results, so I sent Lauren my next book. She had about two pages of comments about what didn't work for the story so I've been rewriting and deleting a lot of scenes. I even started working with a new critique group who have been very helpful with the inconsistencies as I rewrite.

Okay..so this was boring. Like I said, not much of a blogger.
If you stayed through this whole thing...wow...you're either very sweet or very bored. haha As a token of my appreciation I will send you (via PDF) a copy of my book, Her Will His Way. Just email me at TerriMo2@yahoo.com with your email.

=)

Who do you think you are...Mr. Big Stuff?

2010-05-05T19:18:00.008-06:00

My son and I were watching the news earlier and he stated that he was going to sign a petition opposing the new Arizona Immigration Law that went into effect in April. My son is 14 and not the brightess bulb in the box (unless it has to do with math or sports). His position on the law is because Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns is against the bill. Really? Stick to what you get paid for Steve, although you won't get paid for much longer if you continue to rally against your home state.

Okay...if you know me or read my blogs you know I don't follow politics much...I'm certainly not passionate about it but I have to say, all the hooplah about the immigration bill just really irritates the shit out of me. I mean, seriously...boycott a state because you think the law is unconsitutional?? Who's it unconstitutional to?? Illegal immigrants? They're not legal...they have no US constitutional rights!

What I don't understand is why everyone is making such a big deal about the bill. Govenor Brewer is just enforcing the Federal immigration bill. The new Az law says :

police officers, “when practicable,” can detain people they reasonably suspect are in the country without authorization and to verify their status with federal officials, unless doing so would hinder an investigation or emergency medical treatment.

Now, for some assinine reason, some people seem to think this gives the police the right to "racial profile''. No...it doesn't! Racial profiling happens all the
time--whether intentional or not and sadly, that's just the way life is.
Sure, we've learned to be more tolerant of each other's political, social,
economic and religious views, but that doesn't mean we don't look at certain people and think...are they a terrorist? or are they going to stand on my doorstep and shove pamplets at me and make me listen to how the world is going to end and I'm going to Hell if I don't go to their church? Or if a young woman is standing on a street corner are you going to automatically assume she's "looking for company'? I know, that's not racial...but it's still profiling.

I'm second generation Mexican/American...I was born in the US...my grandparents were lucky enough to escape across the border and build a life for their children and I'm very proud of my heritage...but I do not oppose this new law. I'm sorry, but I see nothing wrong with wanting to keep our borders safe and protect not only those family that live on this end of the border but those families trying to cross over because they believe the coyotes when they tell them they can have a better life. I'm not saying I don't want them here or don't want them to have a better way of life....everyone is entitled to that....all I'm saying is go through the proper channels. Come on over but do it legally. The Mexican president is opposed to the law as well...but dude...treat your people better and maybe they won't keep trying to escape!

As I said, this whole debacle is completely ridiculous. To all those companies and people pulling their business and money out of Arizona: That isn't going to help your cause. Emotional or financial blackmail only makes you a bully and you're hurting the millions of families already struggling to make ends meet. Someone at a forum I ran across said, maybe we should ship all the illegals to one of these states who think we're doing something wrong and let them foot the bill for their care....those states would do a fast turnaround of support.

On the midday news Rev. Al Sharpton stated he planned to march in Phoenix against the bill when it goes into effect. As if that wasn't stupid enough he also stated: "And I'm not going to carry any identification papers!" Uh....are you that fucking stupid Sharpton (that's rhetorical)...you're a US citizen...unless you plan to drive your own vehicle or board an airplane...you don't need your ID. And to those who are worried about the bill or being profiled....if you're here illegally...keep your nose clean, follow the law and don't cause trouble that would have you detained by the police. If you are legal...the same thing applies!!

Anyway....my rant is done for the moment. Until someone else says or does something stupid, that is....which seems to be every day.

Kudos to Danny Glover!!! (I've always liked him as an actor...now I like him even more!)

So...tell me....what are your thoughts?

The Rich Declare Themselves Poor and most of us are not sure

2010-03-23T08:12:00.002-06:00

I'm not a politcal person, I don't 'serve' a party and for the most part I pay no attention to the political world around me. And it's not because I don't care, it's because, I'll admit, I'm not smart enough to understand what they're all fighting about. Call me simple...no don't call me that.

Anyway, despite my lack of understanding at why we have two opposing parties who think they're what's best for our country, I do follow the news programs and count on their intelligence to help me understand in layman's terms what all the hooplah is about. And over the years I've figured out that whenever the Republican party is all about the money...their money. The minute they feel their pocketbooks are threatened they scream our country is falling apart.

Take the new health care bill for example. According to the opposition this bill is "forcing" Americans to get health insurance. WHAT??? Where in this bill does it say "Any American Citizen who does not have insurance will automatically be given insurance whether you want it or not." People....it's a choice--free will---take it or leave it!!!

Can someone please tell me why these f**king idiots are even in office??

Now, seriously, why is there even a debate about this? Who wouldn't want insurance??

As the mother of four, one child with special needs and another who takes a monthly medication, not to mention that my husband and I are getting older and with age come health problems...I'm grateful we have insurance! And to be able to keep my children on our insurance until age 26 not only eases one worry for my daughter--who will be under a doctor's care for the rest of her life (because she developed type one diabetes) it shows that, yes our country is finally looking out for the little people.

My guess is the people fighting the bill are doing so because they feel the money to cover it is going to to come out of their pockets....as always the rich want to continue to get richer while the poor should stay in their place and get poorer.

This link was posted by a friend at Facebook. Check it out and tell me....what is so wrong with this bill??? Really....because I just don't know why it's causing such an uproar.

Untitled cuz I can't think of one

2010-01-13T07:42:00.003-07:00

Okay, so I failed my New Year's Resolution. Did you really expect me not to??

To be honest, it wasn't a realistic goal to begin with. I mean, I'm not really a blogger because (1) I'm more private than a blog allows (2) I don't quite see the point. I mean, really, does anyone actuallly care what I had for breakfast (coffee) or that I had a dentist appointment yesterday (no cavities!)?

Sure there are some really good blogs out there and some that are very informative, but, sadly, this isn't one of them. Of course I could probably make it entertaining, but that can take too much thought of which I haven't had enough coffee for and then it will come across as forced. Not that I'm not amusing at times.

A n y w a y.

Another reason for my lack of posting (aside from the dreaded What's my title going to be??) I've been busy putting together interviews for the Desert Rose Blog. Desert Rose is the RWA chapter I belong to in Phoenix. This year we're holding our bennial conference and as a way to "break the ice" we're spotlighting our speakers. It's been a lot of fun so if you get a chance, swing by and comment or just read, whatever. I'm only posting three a week so it gives me time to work on my own writing....which I'm not really doing a lot of anyway.

So, how have you been doing with your resolutions? Have you kept them?

Belated Happy New year

2010-01-02T11:29:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I missed a day posting. I couldn't think of a song title for the heading. hah

Right now I'm having my second cup of coffee and catching up on posts for an online writing class I'm taking. Alexandra Sokolov is running it so how could I miss out on that??

I'm really taken aback at how many multipublished authors are in this class, but for any writer, new or established, who is serious about their chosen field, writing courses are a must. You can never stop learning or perfecting your craft. But the classes aren't just for learning the differencce between active and passive voice or showing not telling, they're about getting motivated and inspired to move on to the next book and the book after that. I've been having a bit of a slump in that area, but I'll admit some of it is due to laziness on my part. The other is trying to write when one kid has the TV full blast, the stereo (whining out the Jonas Brothers) and You-Tube on the computer listening to Jim Gaffigan (over and over!). Talk about not being able to concentrate! Thankfully school starts back up Monday!

So, until then, this last weekend will be spent taking apart Christmas and moving into 2010.

What are your weekend plans?

It's Just Another New Years Eve

2009-12-31T10:19:00.002-07:00

***Lyrics from a song by Barry Manilow***

Well, so far I haven't failed my NYR (New Year's Resolution for those who are acronym challenged). Although it's not actually the new year....semantics.

After my complaints about 2009 in yesterday's post, I came across a post today by Brett Battles at Murderati . In it, Brett talks about the good things he came away with during the year. Like most of the posts at Murderati, it got me thinking. Unfortunately I can't think of anything about 2009 to be thankful for, but in his post, Brett mentions how nervous they are about his son making the transition to high school in the fall. His son has Down Syndrome.

In today's day and age you can't help but worry about your children and how they'll handle moving from one stage of life to the next, especially if they're handicapped. My daughter is handicapped. She has Cerebral Palsy, Scoliosis and Type One Diabetes. Her CP isn't as severe as some, she's ambulatory (meaning she can walk, no wheelchair or assistance needed). She's smart as a whip...an A/B student and takes regular classes, although some are c0-taught. She has difficulty speaking (because of a tongue thrust) and she has difficulty with her gross and fine motor skills (she needs assistance getting dressed sometimes and brushing her hair). But, the thing about Manda that touches everyone she meets is that, she doesn't think of herself as handicapped (and she doesn't like the lable). She's always ready to greet you with a smile. She's happy and friendly to everyone she meets (although she can instantly dislike someone if they're rude or mean).

She's a typical teenager-- goes to the mall, hangs out with friends, chats on Facebook and even has a job as an usher at the local movie theater. She's a senior in high school and is planning to attend the Art Institute in Arizona this fall, to be a pastry chef.

Like any normal teenager, she has goals and a plan of what she wants to do with her life. As her parent, it's my responsiblity to make sure her goals are realistic (like, sorry baby, you can't be a ballerina or a singer--although she has great tone). I've always tried not to shield her from too much, because I know how cruel the world can be and over the course of her life we've been very lucky in that she has never had any problems with bullies. Of course that could also be because from day one in kindergarten I made a point to be at her school regularly and scare the bejeezus out of anyone who dared look at her cross-eyed. haha

Even today there are a lot of kids in her class who will go out of their way to make sure she is protected and that no one bothers her. It says a lot about society and how we've changed from calling the children with handicaps "freaks" to saying they have "special needs" and treating them as equals.

So, if I have to say something good about 2009 it will be that even with the diagnosis of Type One Diabetes and knowing she will be insulin dependant for the rest of her life, Manda stayed strong and focused, she took the punch and got up, dusted herself off and continued to live.

She never let the CP define her and she doesn't let the diabetes. She's going to make her mark in the world and I can't wait to see what she does.

Okay, so this post had nothing to do with New Years Eve, but I warned ya yesterday, I'll be rambly. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by

You Say Goodbye and I'll Say Hello

2009-12-30T10:17:00.008-07:00

**For those of you who don't usually follow my blogs (here or at MySpace) I tend to title them with a song title or lyrics. =)

Only two days left of 2009 and I can't tell you how glad I am to see it finally end!! It's been such a crappy year altogether! I won't even go into all the horrible things 2009 tossed at us because I try to never dwell on the past, it happened, it's so yesterday, and now you can look at it as a learning experience and move on. Suffice it to say, we survived intact.

Okay, to be honest, a lot of the personal crappiness of 2009 is partly my fault. I let the fact that I haven't had an agent since July 2007 get to me. But, how could I not? I mean, finding an agent (twice) was validation that yeah, I can have a career as a writer, but, unfortunately, that agent didn't deem me worthy enough to stick with me through the ups and downs. She didn't fight hard enough to get my work to an editor and she didn't believe in me enough to know I could give her more work to sell. Initially, when she dumped me, I was pissed off, then depressed, then determined. I sold my novella, the one an editor (now at Simon & Schuster) requested I write and I returned to work on my third novel. Of course my momentum died when 2008 ended and I still didn't have another sale or agent and my e-books sales were practically obsolete.

So, I spent 2009 in a funk...not really writing, getting more and more depressed that, although I was getting requests for fulls on my first book Forget Me Not and I got awesome feedback on my second book Dark Obsession from the amazing author Lauren Baratz-Logstead who totally loved my book (she even did the copy edits) I wasn't getting any offers. The eighteen months of rejections totally killed my spirit and I let the depression fester for so long I completely lost sight of the pot of gold that is writing. I let down my family, my friends and my (limited amount of) fans. And, I'm sorry.

Now I'm not normally one to make a New Years resolution because....I don't know why, I just don't. But this year I'm going to give it a try. So, here goes:

On December 31st I'm going to flush 2009 down the drain, clear my mind of the self-doubt that became my prison and I promise to sit butt in chair and write--non-stop---for two hours a day!
I will complete not one but two novels this year.

I will find an agent and an editor by the end of June!!

I will market myself better than I have been by posting a blog daily---be forewarned, they could be dull and rambly. =)I might add more as the days go by, but for now, there ya go.

So, Goodbye and Good Riddance 2009.

Welcome 2010!

So, what are your resolutions for the new year?

Guest Blogger Lucha Corpi

2009-12-01T22:08:00.005-07:00

Today I'm honored to introduce to you a very facinating woman. Lucha Corpi.

Lucha is a poet, novelist, and children's book author. As a woman, a Hispanic, an immigrant and a mother, she has always found herself breaking down barriers in both life and literature. Her art has always meant activism.
In 1970, she received a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship for poems later included in Palabras de mediodia / Noon Words (Fuego de Aztlán Publications, 1980; bilingual edition Arte Público Press, 2001). Her first collection of poems appeared in Fireflight: Three Latin American Poets (Oyes, 1976), and a third poetry collection followed: Variaciones sobre una tempestad / Variations on a Storm (Third Woman Press, 1990).

In 1990, Corpi was awarded a Creative Arts Fellowship in fiction by the City of Oakland, and she was named poet laureate at Indian University Northwest.
She was a tenured teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers Program for over 30 years.

An Essay by Lucha Corpi

I spent the first eight years of my life in a small tropical community that fostered the creation, performance, and appreciation of music and poetry, in addition to storytelling. Located in the southern part of the state of Veracruz, my hometown, Jáltipan, had a population of about two thousand when I was born.
Although we enjoyed the use of electricity, we lacked other modern conveniences. Since there was no tap water, for example, people caught rainfall in large drums for washing and bathing. Folks who could afford it paid water carriers to bring cans of drinking water to their doorsteps from the natural springs outside town.
Twice a week, Tirso, the water carrier, brought the spring water to my grandmother’s house. Sometimes Tirso would let my brother Víctor and I sit on his mules while he carried the cans inside. Water carriers were famous for being among the toughest and most foul-tongued men in the region. Our Tirso was no exception. But unlike other water carriers, he delighted in teaching the children in town some of his favorite colorful expressions. Víctor and I were only five and three years old, but we were Tirso’s star pupils.
Being a great deal more cautious than I, Víctor did not use this kind of colorful language in front of our parents, and he suggested I follow his example, a warning that I, naturally, didn’t heed. I filled up with those forbidden words, as if they were mangoes or guavas—meaty, sensual, sweet. Encouraged by my aunt’s and cousins’ chuckles, I practiced my newly acquired vocabulary quite often.
During one of those practice sessions, my mother heard me. “I’ll wash your mouth with soap if I ever hear you use bad language again,” my mother warned then added, “I promise you.” I gave her innumerable opportunities to keep her “promise,” and she did. That year I was the three-year-old with the cleanest, though not necessarily the purest, tongue in town.
****
Despite the two-year difference between us, my brother Víctor and I were inseparable, but he was already six years old and he had to begin school. Despite promises and threats, he refused to start school without me. I was four years old. The only way I could attend school was by permission from the principal and the first-grade teacher.
Whenever people became too nosy about each other’s private affairs, my mother was fond of saying that a small town can be a big hell. But one of the advantages of living in a “small big hell” is precisely that people know one another well. In my case, this proved to be a blessing since my parents knew Professor Martínez, the school principal, well. My father took Víctor and me to see him. My father explained the reasons for his unusual request. The principal agreed but warned, “You understand that even if she stays the whole year, she will have to start the first grade when she finally reaches the legal age to attend.”
My father and I agreed. Two days later, Víctor and I began school. I was given a desk in the back of the classroom. I liked sitting in a corner, thoroughly fascinated with the subjects we studied. During the next two-hundred school days, I sat in my little corner quietly content. Quietly also, I learned to read and write, to add and subtract, to tell fruit from flower, clock from calendar, caterpillar from worm, dolphin from shark.
At the end of my first year in school, naively, I asked if I could participate in the cultural program or if my drawings could be included in the students’ art exhibit. But I was refused. Everyone liked me and the teachers admired my tenacity and constancy, but I wasn’t even a name or a file number on the school roster. I was four, free to go to school or stay home, but I was also an illegal student. I was invisible. The next year, nonetheless, no one objected to my returning to school. So my brother and I started the second grade. At the end of the year, everyone was pleased that I would be legally attending school the following February. But it was decided that I was too young to go on to the third grade, even though I passed every test with only minor errors. So I was asked to repeat the second grade. I loved going to school so I had no objections.
On the first school day in February 1952, my father and I walked into the second-grade classroom. The teacher showed me to a student desk in the front row, close to her desk. But I wasn’t happy there and I got her permission to sit at my usual place in the remote corner of the room. Because I already knew the subjects well, I was often asked to tutor other students. The following year, trying to keep me challenged, my third grade teacher began to instruct me in the recitation of poetry. She taught me how to deliver an impeccable line by sensing the rhythm of the poem, in the same way that my piano teacher later helped me to understand musical phrasing.
Because by age seven, I could read well, my father asked me to read to him from any section of the regional newspaper, except the crime page—la pagina roja. He pulled it out and folded it to dispose of it later, but he didn’t tear it up. I always found it and read it. After awhile I tired of reading about brawls, knifings, bloody accidents, but began to get interested in the kind of crimes, in which someone plotted to kill, rob, kidnap, or defraud someone else, and in the cops or the amateur detectives who conducted the investigation of the crime. This is basically the detective story. That is the kind of mystery novel I write and love.
Death at Solstice, out this year, is the fourth of the Gloria Damasco series. It joins Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood and Black Widow’s Wardrobe. Each of the novels deals with the history and culture of Mexican Americans and Latinos in the U.S., elements that are integral to the plot without sacrificing any of the conventions of a good fast-paced crime story. If I’ve done my job well, these will be of interest to you and your readers. Gracias for inviting me to share my story and my work with you and your readers today.
About the Book

Chicana detective Gloria Damasco has a ''dark gift,'' an extrasensory prescience that underscores her investigations and compels her to solve numerous cases. This time, the recurring vision haunting her dreams contains two pairs of dark eyes watching her in the night, a phantom horse and rider, and the voice of a woman pleading for help. But most disquieting of all is Gloria's sensation of being trapped underwater, unable to free herself, unable to breathe. When Gloria is asked to help the owners of the Oro Blanco winery in California's Shenandoah Valley, she finds herself on the road to the legendary Gold Country. And she can't help but wonder if the ever-more persistent visions might foreshadow this new case that involves the theft of a family heirloom, a pair of antique diamond and emerald earrings rumored to have belonged to Mexico's Empress Carlota.
Soon Gloria learns that there s more to the case than stolen jewelry.
Mysterious accidents, threatening anonymous notes, the disappearance of a woman believed to be a saint, and a ghost horse thought to have belonged to notorious bandit Joaquin Murrieta are some of the pieces Gloria struggles to fit together.
A woman's gruesome murder and the discovery of a group of young women from Mexico being held against their will in an abandoned house send Gloria on a fateful journey to a Witches' Sabbath to find the final pieces of the puzzle before someone else is killed.
Corpi weaves the rich cultural history of California's Gold Country with a suspenseful mystery in this latest installment in the Gloria Damasco Mystery series.

Find more interesting stories about Lucha at her Red Room Author's Page You can also find her at these sites during her tour.

Death at Solstice Book Tour
Dec 3 Lara Rios Julia Amante Author's thoughts on her previous books
Dec 4 Ana The Sol Within Indept and soul-searching answers
Dec 7 Misa Chasing Heroes Author's seeking Heroes
Dec 8 Monie Reading WithMonie What are her writing achievements
Dec 9 Carol Book-lover Carol Part One: How Series came to be
Dec 10 Tasha Heidenkind's Hideaway Part Two: How Series came to be
Dec 11 Nilki Musings Author writes on her theories of writing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prizes
As you visit each blog on the tour, leave a comment with your email addy and be eligible to win an autograph copy of Death at Solstice.
Also the author is offering a Grand Prize of a set of all her books in the series to the person that visits and leaves a comment and their email addy at the most blogs during the tour.

Guest Blogger Anjanette Delgado

2009-11-13T07:03:00.006-07:00

It’s always a pleasure for me to host guest bloggers, especially debut authors. Today’s blogger is Anjanette Delgado, whose debut novel The Heartbreak Pill is available now.

Please help me extend a warm welcome to Anja Delgado.

Thank you so much for hosting me Terri. It’s a pleasure to be here.

It isn’t often that contemporary “chick-lit” concerns itself with research-based, scientific theories of love. For that matter, it isn’t often that Time Magazine delves into the field of romance novels. So when the issue of love and pain pops up in both, within weeks of each other, we might wonders if the apparently shallow topic of romantic heartbreak may not be quietly entering the realm of current events, as relevant to the future of society as the centuries-long, global trade wars.

In an age where people still have safety concerns about having a “potentially-emotional” woman president, my novel “The Heartbreak Pill,” tells the story of a professional in the cusp of her career as a scientist, who loses her bearings in the midst of shocking betrayal. She then uses her knowledge of organic chemistry, and her position as head of research at an upstart drug company, to create a pill that will eliminate the pain of love for all mankind; all while (initially) sidestepping FDA watchdogs and using herself as a guinea pig.

Notwithstanding the literate humor of this debut novel’s ensuing Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde scenario, or the irony and the surprising depth of the heroine’s arguments for her actions, the fact that it’s not a fantasy or sci-fi novel, presupposes that this premise is actually possible and, even more controversially, that it is needed.

I believe it’s absolutely possible. There’s a fantastic amount of scientific proof, readily available in everything from popular magazines to scientific journals to prove that love is indeed in our brains and that we could, and should, at least attempt having a say in what it does to us. In fact, the nature and depth of a person’s love for someone can already be confirmed by viewing the changes caused by the direct correlation between feeling and the chemical imbalances of certain substances in our brains. These are the substances that Erika is wreaking havoc with in the novel.

When I talk about scientific proof, I'm referring to modern-day love doyenne, Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University Anthropologist who’s written books such as “Anatomy of Love” and “Why We Love” to both critical and popular acclaim. According to Fisher, “perhaps no single phrase in all of literature so clearly captures the essence of passionate romantic love (better than): a state of need.” Fisher, who has conducted wide-ranging studies on humans over a period of time using advanced brain-scan machines such as FMRIs, writes "that human need for emotional union with their beloved is so intense that it is capable of blurring the lover’s sense of self.”

But, getting back to the quest at the… uh, heart, of “The Heartbreak Pill,” how lofty a goal is eliminating growth-inducing heartbreak? We’re playing with fire when we say to people, ‘you’ll get over him or her.” It’s one thing to eat like a pig or make prank calls after a breakup. It’s another to suppose that that’s the extent of how deep it can cut. We have only to look at the numbers of people killed by previously-stable, non-violent partners, or at the statistics for leading causes of suicide among the widowed and the divorce. These are not all emotionally-immature people losing their minds all of a sudden. There’s something going on in their brains. Something they’re unable to deal with. That’s the heartbreak Erika’s trying to cure.

Anjanette Delgado is an Emmy award-winning writer and producer with over eighteen years of local and network news experience. She has produced for CNN, NBC, Univision and Telemundo, among others, producing extensive coverage for events such as the 1991 Gulf War, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the present war with Iraq, which she executive produced for Telemundo in 2003. She won her first Emmy for her human-interest series “Madres en la lejanía,” about the plight of Latino mothers who leave their own children behind and come to the United States to work illegally... as nannies.

THE HEART ♥ BREAK PILL
ANJANETTE DELGADO

Erika Luna is a thirty-something scientist living and working in Miami. When her husband of seven years; the very successful, very smart, very good-looking, founding partner of one of Miami’s most successful Public Relations firms falls in lust with another woman, their marriage spirals to hell and Erika’s practical nature leads her down the strangest of paths.
What’s a scientist to do when slapped with pain so deep it interferes with breathing? Try to cure it, of course! This is the premise of Emmy award-winning writer and producer Anjanette Delgado’s delightfully funny and touchingly poignant debut novel, THE HEARTBREAK PILL (Atria Books; April 2008).

To learn even more facinating things about Anja, you can find her at her website: www.anjanettedelgado.com

Anja will be stopping in all day to answer your questions, so please feel free to ask her anything. Also, while Anja continues her tour, all who leave a comment will be placed in a drawing to win a copy of her other works.
To find Anja’s other stops, check the list below.

Heartbreak Pill Book Tour

Nov 9 Richard Lori http://www.un-loaded.com/
Nov 10 Lara Rios http://juliaamante.blogspot.com/
Nov 11 Anna Rodriguez http://www.thesolwithinanna.blogspot.com/
Nov 12 Mayra Calvani http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner
Nov 16 Misa Ramirez http://chasingheroes.com/
Nov 17 Nilki Benitez http://nilkibenitez.blogspot.com/
Nov 18 Monie Garcia http://www.readingwithmonie.com/
Nov 19 Vanessa Torres http://thathappenedtome.blogspot.com/
Nov 20 Icess Fernandez http://www.locacrazywriter.blogspot.com/

Celebrating Veteran's Day and a Shout Out to the Spouses

2009-11-11T09:47:00.005-07:00

When I was a kid all I cared about when Veteran's Day rolled around was--NO SCHOOL!! During that time the Vietnam War was going on, but because we didn't watch TV (or the news) and didn't know anyone in the service, what I heard about the war I heard after the fact--when it ended and our town was one of the many on the gulf coast saturated with refugees looking for a new life.

Anyway

When I met my husband he was a third class petty officer in his eighth year in the Coast Guard stationed in Sabine Pass, Texas. Of course my first thought when he told me he was in the Coast Guard was....they're part of the military?? And, don't deny it, that's your first thought too.

Many people don't know this, but the Coast Guard has been around for over two hundred years and was founded by Alexander Hamilton, who was a founding father and the first secretary of treasury....okay, he's that scary looking guy on the $10 bill. Although founded in 1790 they didn't become part of the Armed Forces until 1915.

Anyway, while thoughts and prayers go out to the men and women giving their lives to the service, no one really thinks about what their spouses and families go through. The separation anxiety is just as hard if not more difficult, and when the children are small and don't quite understand it's up to the single parent to keep them feeling safe and leading a "normal" life. And it's even harder on both parents when the military spouse comes home and is a stranger to his/her children. This actually hit home for me when we were stationed on a small island in Alaska. We only had two children at the time, Adam-6 and Amanda-1. Matt had been gone for a month, their cutter had to go to the 'yards' which was in Ketchican--a whole other island away from our island, and when he came home our daughter was totally scared of him. In fact, one night I went to meet with some other wives and left the kids with Matt. During the night Amanda was about to get into some mischief and Matt told her "no". The kid totally freaked out and ran to her big brother, clinging to him for dear life. Adam thought it was amusing and got to play protective big brother while it took my husband the rest of the night to convince his daughter he wasn't going to harm her. They say it takes a strong person to be married to someone in the military, I think we passed that test in Alaska.

Though my husband spent almost all of his twenty year career on land, aside from the two years in Alaska (where he was gone 70% of the time) we were only separated one other time before he retired in 2000. He had to spend his final year at a station in Raymondville while the kids and I lived in Port Arthur--long story short, we'd bought a house in PA because he was supposed to finish his term there but then got send to Raymondville. Finances and no housing forced the kids and I to move back home while Matt finished out his tour.)

Anyway, when he retired (which was pretty uneventful, although we had a big party at our home in Port Arthur) I received a letter of accomendation from the President thanking me for my service to our country as well. Pretty Cool, huh? I have to admit, getting that letter really surprised me, I mean, I didn't think I did anything special. And maybe I did, maybe I didn't but I do know it's true: it takes a strong person to be married to a career military man and I'll add, anyone in law enforcement.

So, while you're out celebrating our vets, take the time to thank their families as well.

Give your Shout Outs here!

I'll start: Jennifer Ratcliff and her two children Coral and Thomas!! Thank you for sticking by your man, (Ret.) Senior Chief Bryon Ratcliff! ;-)

To learn more about the US Coast Guard visit them at their site: US Coast Guard

We are Family

2009-10-13T00:29:00.005-06:00

Today I'm participating in a mass blogging!

WOW! Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We're celebrating the release of Therese Walsh's debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy. (Random House, October 13, 2009) It’s the story about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers.

Visit The Muffin (http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html) to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit Therese's website (http://www.theresewalsh.com/) to find out more about the author.

Families can be a complicated thing sometimes. No one ever really understands what makes one family close while another is totally dysfunctional.

I grew up in a large family. On my mother’s side alone I had eighteen aunts and uncles, twenty-six cousins and of course my own six siblings—and we were all very close. Growing up it was more like having eighteen moms and dads and thirty-two brothers and sisters. Okay, I'll admit at times my family was a bit dysfunctional, but I love being from such a large family. It was like having you're own little community. I even wanted to have a large family of my own, at least six kids. Unfortunately I had to stop at four….to which my daughter Becca is very grateful….not always, but sometimes.

I can almost understand her feelings since my older brother was the same way. He hated that there was so many kids and so little money. But…such is life. My mother had to struggle to make ends meet after the death of my father. It wasn’t easy being a single mom, especially back in the seventies. It didn’t help that we were minority and poor as dirt, but we managed. And when she suddenly passed away, her siblings rallied around and took us in, even though money was tight for them too. We were a very close family and still are. I’ve lost a few of my aunts and uncles over the years and I often wonder if they knew how much I appreciated what they did for us, the support and encouragement they continuously gave.

Because I know what it’s like to lose a parent at an early age, I try to teach my children to understand the value of family. I try to instill how important it is to stick together and take care of each other. Being kids, they balk at the thought, but I know they take it to heart. My oldest daughter, Manda, was born with Cerebral Palsy. It’s a mild form, but it still limits her from doing certain things. In January of this year she was also diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. When she was little we never treated her any different than we treated the other three kids, and they didn’t treat her any differently either and they still don’t. While Manda is very independent (don’t dare tell her she’s disabled), she is also aware that she may not be able to live independently. Her siblings understand this as well and often joke about who gets to “keep” her. But, their jokes aside, I know they’ll do right by her and each other.

But, telling my children about family isn't the same as showing them. Before moving away from home, I made a point to get together every birthday, holiday and summer vacation with my Aunt Minnie and my cousin Michelle. Minnie was like a second mother to me--although technically she's only 13 years older-- but she was always very maternal and my sister, Becky, (my bestest friend) and I lived with her and her family for a short while, so Michelle has always been like a little sister to us. We grew very close when I moved back to Texas (in '87) and she was still in high school. She used to call me every Thursday night (during Knot's Landing-haha) to help her write her essays for AP English. (Oops, now you're gonna get in trouble for cheating on your assignments!)

Anyway, Michelle was also one of my best friends. She used to babysit my kids when I needed her (she was even there for a couple of the births). I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding (and even helped her with the wedding plans), and I did my share of pacing the halls during the birth of her kids--she has four, like me...the copycat! Although our children aren't close in age, they're very close in relationship...even with the twelve hundred mile distance and two hour time zone that separates us. I miss seeing and talking to her and her mom on a regular basis. (yes, I admitted it, Michelle.)

My children are getting older and within the next five years will all have left home. You’d think this would make me sad, and I’m sure when the time actually arrives I’ll cry my tear ducts dry, but I know regardless of where life takes them, they will always know they have a family to go home to.

Scribbler Award!!

2009-09-25T13:09:00.002-06:00

A special Thank You to Jo Ann Hernandez at BronzeWord Latino for recognizing me with this special award.

As a recipient I too would like to honor some blogs. Each of these blogs that I honor are asked to do the same. In other words, here are the ground rules:

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

So, here is my list of The 5 Recipients of The Scholastic Scribe’s Superior Scribbler Award:

I hope you enjoy them as well.

Murderati

Murder She Writes

STET!

Killer Fiction

The Scruffy Dog Review Blog

Congrats to all!

How far into your reading list are you?

2009-09-20T12:10:00.003-06:00

I've been on a bit of a tear lately...uh, that's the expression, right?
Anyway, while I wait on my son to finally move out and give me back my office--(that sounds bad, but the kid is almost 22 and has no life) I decided to tackle my "To-be-read" list of books. I have a lot of them, some a couple of years old that I've just totally forgotten I had because I buy new books from my writer friends as they come out and add them to the stack. Yeah, I know, I should start my reading with the bottom of the pile, but, I don't.

Anyway, in the past couple of weeks I've read
Girls Just Wanna Have Guns (book three in the Bobby Faye series by Toni McGee Causey)
Natural Born Charmer --Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Kill Her Again--Robert Gregory Browne
Kiss Her Goodbye--Robert Gregory Browne (although I read this one last month)
Fatal Secrets--Allison Brennan (also read Sudden Death last month)
Say Goodbye--Lisa Gardner
Chasing Darkness--Robert Crais
Two Minute Rule--Robert Crais (my son read it too and was disappointed it wasn't an Elvis Cole book..hah)

I'm getting ready to read Black Lightning--John Saul
I love his work but haven't read anything in a while, so I'm looking forward to being creeped out. hah

On Friday the local library had a book sale (1/2 price) so I went to pick up some books I had once planned to buy but forgot about. So, yeah, instead of my list getting shorter, it's getting longer. (not that I'm complaining.) =)

I've always been a reader, even when I was a kid. I think I developed the love of books from my mother (and I hope she'd be happy to know she passed on something good to me) she was a fan of books. She used to go to the library every couple of weeks and check out up to ten books at a time. Mostly Barbara Cartland, at least those were the ones I noticed on her dresser. No, I didn't pick them up to read (I was only 11--but I did sneak one of her books once and it scared the crap out of me because it was Helter Skelter.) lol I think that's why I later became a John Saul fan...

Anyway, I suspect my mother's love of reading (like my own) came from a sort of lonliness and despair she felt at being a single mom of seven. I even suspect she planned to die at an early age (40) so she wouldn't have to be lonely (the mind can be a powerful tool).

Uh, anyway that's a post for another time (or couch) hah

Although my inital love of reading came from my need to 'escape' my life (as a teen), over the last ten years I've started using my love of books as a training tool. I'd always had stories in my head and occasionally I would write the stories down, sometimes in screenplay form (not that I knew how to do that..again, I was a teenager), but I never really thought to pursue the dream of being a published writer. It was a fleeting thought sometimes, but I never had enough faith in myself to go for it. Shortly before I turned 40 I decided it was time to do something about that dream...part of it was because I was nearing 40 and so far it looked like I'd surpass the age. (that's another 'couch' blog)

Okay, if you're not totally dizzy with this rambling post, I'll get to the point....whatever that was. ;-P

I guess I just want to thank those writers out there who had the courage to bleed onto the page and send those stories out there to be published. Without their knowledge and talent (and encouragement from many I've had the pleasure to meet--some of whom are listed above) I wouldn't have jumped on the bandwagon too. Their words not only entertain me for hours on end, they also teach me how to entertain others.

National Hispanic Heritage Month--and Reminiscing

2009-09-15T08:20:00.002-06:00

This is actually a repost from last year. But, since today marks the first day of National Hispanic Month, I thought I'd put it up again...hence the word repost. heh

From September 15 to October 15 the nation will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. I'm not sure when the holiday started or rather, when the nation decided to acknowledge it, but for as long as I can remember, there was always a celebration in my hometown, Port Arthur, Texas.

Every third weekend in September my family (and I mean everyone in my family) would attend a three day "Mexican Fiesta" held by the Mexican Heritage Society in Port Arthur. At that time, it was held in the parking lot of the local strip mall, Jefferson City (I remember only because last year someone commented and reminded me. She also remembered the Woolco department store that used to be on the corner...Geez, how old does that show my age or what?)

Anyway, the festivities would start on Friday evening and consist of mostly food booths....what better reason to go to a fiesta, I ask?? The food was so totally awesome! made by local families and parishoners from Our Lady of Guadelupe Church and the money raised for the Heritage Society and the Hispanic community. They also had a pagent to crown a queen (done on Saturday evening), mariachi players, Calpulli dancers, tamale eating contests (which my brother Dave won once) and a street dance (literally since we were in a parking lot) with bands from Victoria Texas or Corpus Christie and other towns. Most of the people attending either sat on the gates of their pickup trucks or brought lawn chairs to sit on, circling around an area designated the 'dance floor'. My brothers and sisters and cousins and I used to jump in when the band played The Cotton-eyed Joe....one of the few dances we could do without a partner. Occasionally we were allowed to work a food booth or drink cart...always fun when you're a kid. (and on a side note, I had my first kiss at the fiesta, but I won't say who he was or my age at the time.)

Nowadays the fiesta is held at the Port Arthur Civic Center and (imo) isn't the celebration it used to be. It's lost a lot in it's transition (mostly the tradition). Last year Hurricane Ike forced the cancelation of the celebration, but it came back strong over the weekend. One of these years I'm going to make it back home for one of these celebrations.

Anyway, if you've never been to an actual Mexican Fiesta, you should go. Aside from the one in Port Arthur, Brownsville also holds a week long celebration called Charro Days. It's held yearly at the end of February, and celebrates the sister cities of Brownsville, Texas and Matamoras, Mexico. I've never had the opportunity to attend this party, but one of these days I will. Especially since I've introduced it in my current WIP, House of Cards (soon to be sold...uh...once I finish it.)

So, how do you plan to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and National Hispanic Heritage Month? I know....why not curl up with a hot Latina Romance?

Today only I'm giving away copies of my novella, Her Will His Way to everyone who leaves a comment. Just send me your email info.

Her Will His Way is a romantic love story set in the Rio Grand Valley, Texas.

After her husband’s infidelity ends their ten year marriage and allegations of fraud send her interior design business into bankruptcy, Anita Perez is more than happy to take over her late grandfather’s flower shop in the Rio Grande valley. However, she has a problem–she doesn’t speak Spanish, which is something her grandmother’s sexy neighbor, Antonio Hernandez, feels the need to remind her of on a daily basis.
Antonio has loved Anita for as long as he can remember, but the only attention she’d give him was in willful response to a dare. Now that she’s returned to the valley Antonio will stop at nothing to win her heart.
But Antonio’s plan may backfire if Anita finds out that he made a deal with the devil, and he used the flower shop to lure her into more than just his bed.

Excerpt:
Antonio’s lips curved into a sexy grin. “Are you still afraid of me, Anita?”
The amusement in his eyes stopped her from answering. He was baiting her again. Well, two could play this game, she thought smugly.
She moved her hand to the V of his shirt, skimming her finger over his chest. The warmth of his skin shimmered through her, charging every nerve in her body. She’d never seduced anyone before, but maybe it was time she did. After all, she’d moved to the valley to start a new life. And taking what she wanted, when she wanted, was the best way to do that.
She sent him a feline smile and gripped his shirt. “Maybe it’s you who should be afraid of me,” she said, pulling him into a kiss.

Guest Blogger Mayra Calvani

2009-09-07T07:47:00.012-06:00

Today I’m honored to host Guest Blogger Mayra Calvani.

Multi-genre author, reviewer and animal advocate Mayra Calvani hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, playing the violin, and interviewing other authors for her blogs and newsletters. She’s a member of SCBWI and the Latino Books Examiner for Examiner.com, as well as a regular contributor to Suite101 and Blogcritics. Visit Mayra at: http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.com/ http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com/ http://www.violinandbooks.wordpress.com/

For a special treat Mayra has posted one of her short stories.

Déjà vu
By Mayra Calvani

Amanda stood on the sidewalk overlooking the sea. The splash of the waves against the rocks below resonated in the air. She could taste the salty tang sharply on her tongue, feel the cool breeze tousling her hair. She hugged her arms to stop the goose bumps.

Tonight Old San Juan vibrated with a magical quality. Twinkling multi-colored lights and shimmering garlands adorned shop windows and balconies. Christmas trees glowed from inside the flats that lined the street.

Amanda admired the sea a little longer; it was late and she had to go home. She and her husband were giving a party. They always did on Christmas Eve. She was stalling and she knew it, though she didn’t know exactly why.

Abruptly someone bumped into her. She turned to see a little boy running down the street. She froze for a second before realizing what had happened—he had stolen her handbag.

“Hey!” she said, running after him. “Come back here!”

A sensation of unreality grabbed her. She saw the little boy running in slow motion, his dark curls floating behind him as if there were no gravity. An intense feeling of déjà vu shook her to the core. She had to catch up with him. She had to stop him!

“Stop!” she shouted, breathless.

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. The boy glanced behind his shoulder just as he tried to cross the street. A fast approaching car was coming in his direction. Amanda reached for the boy’s shirt and pulled him harshly to the sidewalk and away from the street. The boy struggled against her, but she held on, a wave of relief flooding through her.

“Stop that. The policeman will see us,” Amanda said, her eyes on the strolling officer across the street. Oddly, he looked bored, as if he had not noticed anything unusual.

The boy relaxed under her grip and for the first time she had a chance to look into his face. He had shoulder-length curly hair and large brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes. Under the streetlight his chestnut curls glowed. He couldn’t have been older than eight. In spite of his arrogant attitude, he reminded her of a cherub.

“What do you think you were doing? Trying to get yourself killed? That car almost ran into you!” she said.

“Are you going to have me arrested?” he said, lifting his chin.

Amanda glanced at the officer, who was now far away. She sighed. “Are you going to give me back my bag?”

Looking oddly calm, he gave her the bag.

“Thank you,” Amanda said drily.

“Can you let me go now?”

Amanda realized she was still holding on to him. Confusion and fear filled her being. She didn’t want to let go.

“I’m not going away,” the boy said enigmatically.

Their eyes locked momentarily.

“Oh… all right…” She let go. “What’s your name?”

“Felipito.”

“Why did you try to steal my bag?”

His small, thin shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Why do poor kids steal rich people’s bags?”

She decided to ignore his wisecrack. “You should go home. It’s late. Your parents must be worried.”

“Nah, they never worry.”

They began to walk side by side.

“Let me bring you home.”

“I don’t want to go home. There’s always too much fighting in there.”

“It’s Christmas Eve. I bet your mom is preparing a nice meal.”

“I don’t want to go home,” he said coldly, stopping her in her tracks.
Amanda looked at him. She was not ready to say goodbye. “Well, do you want to come to my house? We can have something to eat together.”

“Do you live in a mansion?”

“You could say that.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I have a dog,” Amanda said.

His expression brightened. “What’s his name?”

“Noah. Well?”

Felipito seemed thoughtful as he stuffed his hands inside his pockets and resumed his walk. “I’d like to meet Noah.”

***

At Amanda’s home the party was at full swing. Guests in sophisticated attire were gathered around the pool with drinks and cigarettes in their hands. Some couples danced. Others ate by a long buffet table. Holiday music poured out of hidden speakers.

Amanda led Felipito to the back of the garden and towards the back door of the kitchen.

“Do you know all these people?” he asked.

“Yes and no.” She halted momentarily to look at the guests. “My husband is an important man. These are mostly his co-workers.” Her voice had turned sad, bitter. “ I’ve always been sort of a hermit.”

“What’s that?”

“I like being alone.”

“Oh.”

“My husband is a very important man.”

“So you said.”

They looked to the kitchen as a large blond dog stormed out the door and dashed into their direction.

“Noah!” Amanda said, smiling for the first time that night. “Come here, boy! Let me introduce you to someone.”

She bent over to stroke him and scratch him behind the ears. Felipito laughed as he joined in the petting. Noah whimpered as if he couldn’t have enough of Amanda’s affection.

“Let’s go inside,” Amanda said.

She led him to a table at the far end of the kitchen, while the servants continued their duties on the other side of the room. After bringing an assortment of food and pastries to the table, Amanda sat across from Felipito. Noah lay at her feet, his tail still swaging from contentment.

“Go ahead, eat,” she said.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’ll just have a drink,” she said, lifting a glass of wine as if in toast.

Felipito studied the servants in the kitchen, then turned to Amanda. A dark cloud crossed his features; he appeared infinitely older than his years.

“Do you have any kids?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve always wanted kids, but I can’t have them.”

“Oh…”

After Felipito finished eating, Amanda said, “I probably should bring you back now. It’s late. Your mom must be worried.”

Amanda leaned over to stroke Noah, who had started whimpering again as if sensing her parting.

***

Amanda and Felipito stood by the door of the small house which was his home.
Felipito looked somber. Amanda was about to knock when he stopped her and said, “Don’t. Let’s just go in.”

Inside the small living room there was no Christmas tree; no lights or garlands or poinsettias.

A woman sat alone in the dark, her back to them. She had something in her hands.

Felipito took Amanda’s hand and together they approached the woman until they stood over her shoulder.

Felipito sighed. “Don’t cry, Mami,” he whispered.

“What that in her hands?” Amanda asked.

Then she saw it. It was a photo of Felipito.

Amanda turned to him, the floor shifting under her, the room swirling around her. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“I died one year ago,” he said calmly.

Amanda took a step back. “No…”

She moved away from the crying woman and away from Felipito. His big eyes shimmered with emotion as he extended a hand towards Amanda.

“Come. I’ll show you,” he said.

“You can’t be dead. You’re here, with me, talking to me. You just played with my dog, ate at my kitchen. You can’t be…”

“Come.”

***

In the late hour the Old San Juan cemetery was cold and windy and Amanda could hear the waves crashing against the rocks below.

“Where are you taking me?” she said.

Now it was his turn to hold on to her. “You have to know, Amanda. You have to let go.”

She shook her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. “You’re going to show me your grave, is that it?”

His small hand pressed tighter around hers, his nails digging into her.
“There,” he said, pushing her in front of a tombstone.

She read the name engraved on the stone and covered her face with her hands, while all her life, all the memories rushed through her mind until that last very moment. “No! No! No!”

“Why is it that no one can see or hear us—no one except Noah? How do you think we moved from here to your house without a car?”

“No!”

“You have to let go,” he said.

“No!” She fell to the ground, wallowing in the knowledge, guilt and pain.

“You’ll be here forever without freedom or peace until you forgive yourself. Look at me, Amanda.”

Her sobs weakened as she looked up at him.

“It was not your fault that I tried to steal your handbag. You had to run after me. It was not your fault that I got ran over by that car. You’ve punished yourself enough, drowning in alcohol and pills. Why did you take so many pills that night?”

“It was an accident…”

“I know.”

“I never meant to kill myself!”

“I know.” Then he said, “I forgive you, Amanda. This is why I’ve come here. Tonight.”

They were quiet for a long time. Amanda stood up and looked around her. Would she smell the sea again? Play with Noah? She felt scared and lost. “What now? Where do I go?”

Felipito took her by the hand. “Let me show you the way.”

The End

More of Mayra’s works ::

The Magic Violin
By Mayra Calvani
Illustrated by K.C. Snider
Guardian Angel Publishing
Tel: 314 276 8482
ISBN: 978-1-933090-49-8
November 2007
Paperback, 32 pages, $10.95
Picture Book, Ages 4-8

“This is a beautiful book with lyrical text. Vivid descriptions make Melina’s
emotions tangible. The accompanying illustrations are a perfect match.
They give a charming view of 19th Century Europe. A lovely addition to any
child’s bookshelf.” --Julie M. Prince, YABooksCentral

“Filled with old world charm, children will find this book has a distinctive foreign flavor. Illustrations are reminiscent of earlier days and the story itself conveys an old-fashioned feeling. The magic of a European Christmas Eve comes to life through text and pictures in this gentle tale for music lovers. Young violinists may discover their own dose of self-confidence in this unique picture book.”
–Nancy K. Wallace, VOYA reviewer

Order Here at Amazon.com

Crash!

by Mayra Calvan

iIllustrated by Anna Pylypchuk

Guardian Angel Publishing
ISBN: 1-933090-54-5
April 2008Paperback, 32 pages, $10.95Picture Book, Ages 3-6

Join Marcelo as he learns to care for his brand new—and very peculiar—puppy and sets out to choose the perfect name for it.

Find out more about Crash here

Check out the Spanish edition, Chocalin:

In a bazaar in Istanbul one evening, ten-year-old Alana Piovanetti glances into the shadows to find a man watching her. He smiles, and over time she convinces herself that it was just her imagination that placed sharp fangs amongst those flashing teeth.
Twelve years later, Alana is surprised when she is chosen to manage a new restaurant opening in her home city of San Juan. She has neither training nor experience to justify her success. But La Cueva del Vampiro has the kind of ambience she adores, for Alana has always had a penchant for horror and the dark side of life. Yet she is also plagued with dreams of dark sensuality, dreams that take on shattering reality when she meets the stunningly handsome, charismatic Sadash.
For Sadash is the man she saw in the shadows so many years before...and Sadash isn't human….

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:

"[Embraced by the Shadows] is a superbly written, deftly balanced story of love and death and twisted loyalties that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. More importantly, it will make you think and perhaps take a closer look at the shadowed corners of your own psyche.” –The Blue Iris Journal

"Mysterious, intriguing and somewhat unsettling at times, this novel is a must for all vampire reading fans. A rich, twisting plot and a surprising ending awaits you."
--The Midwest Book Review

"[Embraced by the Shadows] is a wonderful tale of a woman torn between a love she can not resist and a life she does not understand. Alana is a character to fall in love with... Mayra Calvani did an exemplary job in weaving this story of passion, love and betrayal. Once the reviewer started the prologue she was hooked and could not put this book down. This is a must read for fans of paranormal!" –Love Romances

“A dark brooding novel, Calvani takes us on a journey into the darkest corners of our hopes and desires, especially the desire of all humans to somehow survive and how far would we go if we were given the chance to live forever...This is a must read for all fans of vampire romance novels.”
--Murder & Mayhem Book Club

"...For any of you female readers that have always had the fantasy of your masculine vampire following you all through your life and not revealing himself until he thinks you are ready, this book is for you. This was an excellent read."--ParaNormal Romance Reviews

Embraced by the Shadows
By Mayra Calvani
Twilight Times Books

The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing
By Mayra Calvani & Anne K. Edwards
Twilight Times Books
http://www.twilighttimesbooks.com/
Twilight Times Books
Trade Paperback
188 pages, $16.95
Writing/Reference
Foreword by James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review
*2009 ForeWord Best Book of the Year Award!
*EPPIE Finalist
*Next Generation Indie Finalist
*USA Book News Award Finalist
Ebook ISBN: 1-933353-89-9, Available on Fictionwise
Trade Paperback coming in October 2009
Visit the author’s website at http://www.mayracalvani.com/

Are you passionate about books? Do you have the desire to share your thoughts about a book with readers, yet are unsure about what makes a good review? Are you curious about the influence reviews have on readers, booksellers, and librarians?
If you’re an experienced reviewer, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing will serve as an excellent reference tool and amalgam of resources. If you’re a beginner, this book will show you how to write a well-written, honest, objective and professional book review. It will also teach you:
· How to read critically
· How to differentiate the various types of reviews
· How to rate books
· How to prevent amateurish mistakes
· How to deal with the ethics and legalities of reviewing
· How to tell the difference between a review, a book report, and a critique
· How to start your own review site
· How to publish your reviews on dozens of sites and even make money while you’re at it, and much more

If you’re an author, publisher, publicist, bookseller, librarian, or reader, this book will also bring to light the importance and influence of book reviews within a wider spectrum.

Visit: http://www.mayracalvani.com/ and http://www.slipperybookreview.wordpress.com/
Sunstruck

by Mayra Calvani

Zumaya Publications

Release date: February 2009

Print ISBN: 978-1-934841-18-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-934841-19-8

Parody/Satire/Women's Fiction

Available on Amazon and as ebook from EReader.com

Visit: http://www.sunstruckthenovel.blogspot.com/ for reviews, excerpt, etc.

Meet…
Daniella, a naive and deeply sensitive architecture student who feels herself surrounded by carnivorous creatures from the Mesozoic Era.
Zorro, a deranged criminal running rampant on the streets of San Juan, terrorizing women who wear miniskirts.
Tony, Daniella's boyfriend, smug and selfish and demonically handsome, who seems oblivious to everything about him except to his own obsession with fame and LSD.
Ismael, Daniella's ex-husband, as cruel and innocent as a child, an art critic whose fantasies of revenge will force him to do something that will shock the entire island.
Irene Carlier, Ismael's new wife, better known as Lady Dracula, a ghastly rich woman who collects torturing devices and in whose penthouse apartment something utterly dreadful will be discovered.
Set in steamy San Juan, Puerto Rico, these and other crazed, eccentric characters swirl together in an intriguing, warped, darkly humorous world where not even Turkish cats are safe from marijuana smoke.

Mayra’s tour continues thru September 18.

Find out more about her at these wonderful blogs.

8 Roxanna SpanglishBaby
9 Silva Martinez http://www.mamalatinatips.com
11 Icess Fernandez http://www.locacrazywriter.blogspot.com/
14 Efrain Ortiz Jr. http://efrainortizjr.blogspot.com/
16 Christina Rodriguez http://christinaerodriguez.blogspot.com
17 Ricardo Lori http://www.un-loaded.com
18 Misa Ramirez Chasing Heroes http://chasingheroes.com

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

2009-08-25T10:29:00.002-06:00

Six years ago I wrote and completed my first two novels. Both romantic suspense although two completely different sub-genres. Forget Me Not, which is a romantic suspense I dubbed an Hispanic version of The Bodyguard and Dark Obsession, which is a supernatural romantic suspense I never came up with a logline for.

Shortly after completing both books--which, by the way, only took me a total of four months consecutively (that's what happens when you enjoy what you're doing and have no worries about getting published or meeting deadlines)--but before I completely lose my train of thought let me get back to what I was saying.

After completing the books I began working on my query letters. Now, being very very green...so green I was mold...I started seeking out help from a variety of "self-help" books and writing websites such as Writer's Net and Absolute Write. Unfortunately, when you join writing sites, not only do you open yourself up to ridicule you also invite unwanted "stalker-ish" types of people...those who want to see you fail and do everything in their power to make you feel like you'll never make it. Needless to say, that's what happened to me on both of these sites. But, I also met some very, very wonderful people who were the total opposite of these "trolls" as they were called.

Anyway, one of the WN members, Roy Abrahams (RIP) decided he'd had enough of the flamers and decided to open up his own writers forum. It was a private room and by invite only and although he's since passed on, the few of us who originally attended the forum are still there (I am also the moderator). Our main goal is to help each other as best we can to get published (and some of us are, I'm proud to say).

Shortly after Roy opened his room, two more writers who'd had more than enough of the problems at the other sites decided to open their own site as well. And, thanks to Christopher Graham and Karen Dionne, Backspace was born. I'd like to say I've been with the room since conception, but I was actually invited by my friend Brenda Birch a few months after it opened...although Karen says she invited me at the beginning but my email bounced back. ;-) (I like to tease her about that.)

Anyway, getting back to my original post...see, told you I lose my train of thought.

Backspace is also, more or less, a private forum. Anyone can join, for $30 a month and participate in the active rooms...chatting up such bestselling authors as Kay Hooper, Allison Brennan, Robert Gregory Browne, Sara Gruen, even Karen Dionne herself...just to name a few...and believe me, there are a lot more than a few! but, the rooms are also 'locked' so you can't come in unless you're a member and you can't read the posts...which is a good thing because a lot of members...myself included....will often post chapters of our WIPs for pleasure or critique...mostly critique because Backspace is like a giant critique group.

Now, while I've gotten some really great feedback on my posts/query letters at Backspace I have to say, sometimes it becomes a bit too much.

As we all know, and have been told ad nausem, writing is a very subjective business. What one person doesn't like another will. Even the agents and editors who frequent Backspace agree to disagree about certain rules and guidelines.

So, is it a good idea to post your work in a room for others to critique and give feedback on, or should you work it out on your own?

Well, to be honest, sometimes you need that additional help to point out what you're doing wrong or what you're not doing correctly (sounds the same, but it's not). However, don't get hung up on all of the comments/advice because sometime too many opinions will take away from what you originally planned for your book. And writing a grabbing query letter is, again, subjective.

What I've learned from my dear friend Rhonda (who thinks I'm stubborn and don't always listen to her..heh) is, look at the query letter from a marketing standpoint. You're selling a product...two products...you and your book. So you're going to have to think along the lines of that. What can you say to grab that reader by the collar and pull him into your story and have them beg for more?

In fact, here is exactly the advice she gave me:

Choose words in your query carefully. You only have a few sentences to make an impact with.
-Start with something exciting.
-Make the blurb sound as active as possible.
-Remember you are trying to break into a BUSINESS. That
means they are looking for selling points when they read your blurb. Selling points that they can mention to their bosses, the marketing department, the book stores, the customer...

And, trust me, Miss Rhonda knows what she's talking about!

Admittedly, I've yet to master the art of query writing, but I still try and I still seek advice. Granted, I don't always follow it, but I do listen to it. =)

So, what's the best or even worst advice you've been given?
And, what advice do you have for those still struggling with their own attempts at writing a query letter?

Come on now, don't be shy. =)

Interview with Raul Ramos y Sanchez

2009-08-10T18:43:00.009-06:00

Debut novelist Raul Ramos y Sanchez has been making the rounds promoting the release of his novel America Libre and he graciously stopped by to answer a few questions. If there are any questions you'd like to ask him as well, step on up to the podium. He'll be more than happy to answer. Not only that but he's also going to give away a signed copy of his novel to one very lucky commenter.

A long-time resident of the U.S. Midwest, Cuban-born Raul Ramos y Sanchez is a founding partner of BRC Marketing, an ad agency established in 1992 with offices in Ohio and California. Besides developing a documentary for public television, Two Americas: The Legacy of our Hemisphere, he is host of MyIimmigrationStory.com — an online forum for the U.S. immigrant community.

Hi Raul. Thank you so much for visiting.

For those just tuning into your book tour, tell us a little bit about yourself. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Raul: I think every writer begins as a reader. In fact, I don’t have any memories of learning how to read. I’ve known how for as long as I can remember. That was in Spanish, though. I do recall learning to read English. I was seven at the time and it began with the word “January” on a calendar in our apartment in the Bronx. I pronounced it “HAN-nu-a-ree.” I’m not sure at what point I decided to be a writer. I started my career in graphic design. Before long, I was writing headlines for the ads, then the body copy. Eventually, my writing was more in demand than my design skills. Looking back, I feel I’ve made a living from words. Whether it’s arranging words on a page as a designer or creating them myself, words have paid the bills in my household for most of my life. My career in fiction began about five years ago when I was able to step away from the day-to-day work at the ad agency I help found in 1992 and devote myself to projects that meant more to me personally.

This story seems to have caused some controversy. Were you worried, when you wrote this story that it would cause a negative impact or backlash?

Raul: Unfortunately the negative impact and backlash are already here. The number of hate crimes against Latinos has surged 40% since 2004. The Ku Klux Klan openly brags about the increase in its ranks thanks to the backlash against undocumented immigrants. In the last two years, several young Latinos have been brutally attacked simply because they “looked” Hispanic. What I have tried to do with AMERICA LIBRE is show the potential consequences of this xenophobia and violence.. I always intended for the premise of the novel to be provocative. A cautionary tale needs to create a worst-case scenario to be effective.

As a writer, I know how difficult this profession can be. So, what would you say has been the most rewarding part for you so far?

Raul: Hearing from readers has been the most satisfying part of being published. A writer and a reader share a unique bond. It’s something like telepathy when you think about it. A writer’s words enter the mind of the reader through the printed page and the reader enriches the narrative with their own experiences. This mind-meld goes on for hours--longer than a movie or a play and certainly longer than looking at a painting. So when I hear back from people who have read my book, I know we’ve shared thoughts for an extended time. To learn the experience was entertaining--and perhaps enlightening—is very gratifying.

When you’re in the zone and writing, is there a “must have” to keep you focused? Such as music or background noise of the TV?

Raul: I find it very difficult to write dialogue when I can hear people talking. Whether it’s folks at the office or a TV set, it disrupts the conversations going on in my head. For that reason, I usually write at home. Even then, I prefer working between 3 and 6am when it seems the whole world is quiet. This makes for some odd hours, since I still go into the office almost every day.

It’s said you can learn a lot about a person by their surroundings. What does your work area look like?

Raul: The laptop computer has liberated me from a regular work area.. The room I once used as my home office is now a catch all for correspondence and reading material. I work all over the house and change locations regularly.

What about hobbies? Do you have any other outlets besides writing?

Raul: I enjoy taking photographs and occasionally put together multi-media presentations with the photos. These are mostly of family and friends. I also play golf when I can spare the time. It’s always good to do something for which you have no talent so you can appreciate the things you do well. Golf is very good at keeping a person humble.

Tell us something about yourself no one else knows.

Gosh, it’s hard to think of something about me that my wife or family and friends don’t already know. I’m not a real mysterious guy—although sometimes I wish I was. Hey, I think I just answered your question!

What's the one question you've never been asked that you wish someone had asked you?

Raul: OK, here’s a question I’ve yet to be asked and would like to answer: Do you consider AMERICA LIBRE to be “Latino fiction?” I think there is a perception in some circles that there is a Latino literary style, almost as if it were a genre. I think AMERICA LIBRE breaks with that tradition. Although the novel’s content is very much about the Latino experience in the United States, it reads like a commercial fiction thriller. As one of the nation’s major houses, Grand Central Publishing is taking something of a risk with AMERICA LIBRE. They’re betting that both Latino and mainstream readers will find the book a compelling read. As its author, I’m doing everything I can to help GCP make this kind of cross-over novel successful. I hope Latino readers will too. It could help pave the way for other Hispanic writers to achieve wider marketplace acceptance.

That's a great question...and answer.

Thank you so much for spending your day with us.

To learn more about Raul visit him at his website

And if you want to follow along with the rest of the America Libre book tour you can find him here:

August 12
Mayra Calvani
http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner

August 13
Ricardo Lori

http://www.un-loaded.com/

August 14

Caridad Scordato
http://www.caridad.com/

August 17
Lara Rios
http://juliaamante.blogspot.com/

August 18
Charlie Vasquez
Queer Latino Musings on Literature
http://charlievazquez.wordpress.com/

Your writing doesn't have to be perfect, but it should at least be close.

2009-08-05T13:00:00.005-06:00

Over at the Murderati Blog, J D Rhodes talks about the "writing rules" and a debate between two other writers as to why you should or should not follow them. One of the writers had posted a "Do and Don't" list after slogging through a bunch of short story contest entries. I won't give the play by play, just go read JD's post.

Last year the website Gather.com, along with Penguin Putnum (I think it was them) hosted a crime fiction novel contest. Contestants were to put up the first chapter of their conpleted novels for review by the general public. The readers would them comment on the pieces and give a vote of one to ten stars. The top twenty five vote getters moved onto the semi-finals and posted chapter two. The top ten went onto the finals, which were sent to "professional" judges (published authors and such.)

Anyway, the contest was pretty much about popularity...who could get the most votes. Now, that's not to say some of the entries weren't good. I didn't enter the contest, but I had been in the previous contest for the Romance category (I made the second round and finished tied in the top ten, but I didn't do enough spamming for votes I guess.) Anyway, during the romance contest I kind of made a name for myself as (as one person put it) a hardass when it came to critiques. I didn't hold back any punches, didn't sugar-coat to make the writer feel good, I stricktly pointed out what I felt was wrong with the piece and how I thought they could fix it. Only one or two contestants spewed insults at me, the rest thanked me for my candor.

When the Crime contest started I posted a notice saying I would not be reading/rating the entries unless they were sent to me via personal invitation. But, before accepting any invitations I posted a caveat for everyone to read so there would be no misunderstandings where my comments on the work are concerned.

For me the hardest part of the contest was commenting on an entrant's story, because in no way did I want to discourage or hurt anyone with my opinion. However, for anyone who "knew" me, knew I also prefer to be honest in order to help the writer improve.

Now, something I noticed during the contest. The guidelines state that the chapters can be up to 10K words. Well, it appears several of the contestants (at least from what I read) decided to combine a few chapters. Their reasons, I assume, were so the reader would have more to read and get more drawn to the story.

Well, for me, for the most part, having to read such a long chapter only put me off a lot of the stories. Why? Because, aside from the time constraints, it made the chapter feel overwritten.

Like with anything in writing, there are no clear cut rules on chapter length. Your first chapter should be as long or as short as you want it to be...but it should also grab you within the first few pages and end with such a cliffhanger that you have to turn to next chapter.

I understand, more than anyone, no writer is going to have a perfect first or second or even thir draft. There will always be edits for grammar or punctuation. However....it doesn't mean you should toss your manuscript "out there" and hope no one notices or cares that you misplaced all your commas, or even used too many.

On an entry (I didn't particularly care for because of the amount of edits I felt the story needed) someone (who's work I didn't care for either) posted this comment in regards to my critique:

Yes, we all know that there will be revisions and more editing; however
sometimes we need to look past that and just read the story.

Uh....No. Agents and editors aren't going to look past bad writing so they can find out where your story is going. If you can't grab them in the first few pages your story is history....it doesn't matter if it's the best thing since microwave popcorn! (um...I love mircowave popcorn)

Now, I read close to a hundred of the entries because for some crazy reason people wanted me to....their reasoning being, they wanted to learn and I'm known as the resident Hard ass where my comments are concerned and I tend to give detailed feedback (when I can), without sugar-coating. I didn't set out to get such a reputation, but I do know, if you can't take it from me (when I'm trying to help) how are you going to take it from an agent or editor??

So, here is my advice to new writers based on what I've read of the entries and the comments I left on the works I felt aren't quite there yet.

To those who chose to write in first person...and for some reason, thriller and/or crime fiction newbies seem to think they're supposed to...I would suggest, unless you've read and studied works by the pros who know how to write first person exceptionally (i.e.; Lee Child, Robert Crais, Rick Rhiordan, and love her or hate her--Patricia Cornwell)...don't try it at home.

The mistakes I see a lot of new writers make with first person are they tend to spend too much time in the narrator's head, explaining the who's and why's of everything until it becomes monotonous to read. Granted, with first person your main character is telling you the story....but the reader doesn't need to know the background of every single thing that affected the character's life....because it's really not that important (and if it is, it can be woven in as secondary character's are introduced. But at a minimum. Less is more.)

Don't write a whole passage about how John met Jane twenty years ago at the vet when they were waiting for the free rabies shots given each year and the dogs fell in love so it was natural they would too but it didn't quite work out because...blah blah blah! None of that has anything to do with who the character is as a person or why the reader should relate to him/her. All it's doing is taking the reader out of the story. And once you do that...you've lost your reader because (unless they're related to you) they aren't going to want to go back and read to figure out what the heck you're talking about.

With first person, you have to tell the minute details as they are happening to you (the MC) because you want the reader to have the same pieces of the puzzle so they can also try to figure out who dun it...assuming it's a mystery you're writing...but regardless, with first person, you don't want the reader a step ahead of the character.

Now, I would never claim to be an expert (in anything) but over the years I've learned a few things, so I'm going to pass along my Do tips for writing scenes. (And several Don't's). It's kind of a mishmash of tips, so try to keep up. heh

First and foremost, make sure the scene you're writing is necessary to the plot.

Don't throw in a description of the scenery for the sake of trying to tell the reader you character is now standing on top of a mountain. In other words don't open with a panoramic view of your setting just to introduce your character sitting in his study smoking a pipe by the fire.
Don't give a history lesson on your setting (saying when the town was founded, or who founded it, unless it plays an important part in the story.)
Don't overdo your prose by using too much descriptive narrative or exposition-such as going through the minute details of the character's everyday mundane life (she went home, made a cup of tea, put on some opera and went to bed--y a w n.)
Don't do a prologue (there's a lot of debate about this one, but most agents and editors really hate them!)
And Don't open in present day with something exciting happening, then jump back in time to explain how the character came to that part. It's not only annoying, it's intrusive. When you do that you're basically doing this:

... Jane stepped off the curb, the street vibrating under her feet. She barely
had time to register the danger before the truck rammed into her. She flew
through the air, her last thoughts of Jacob as she landed with a heavy thud
against the concrete. But, wait....let me tell you what happened first....

Don't describe your characters through their own eyes, build them through someone else's eyes. (meaning, when you're in Jane's pov she could describe John's traits...and so on)
Don't start sentences with THEN, FINALLY, SUDDENLY (because nothing ever really happens suddenly).
Don't use too many AND's or THAT's...you don't want your sentences reading like a grocery list of action.
Don't use any of the following words or variation of these words--see, hear, feel, taste, smell---to explain what the characters saw, heard, felt, tasted, or smelled...SHOW it.
Don't introduce too many characters in one scene. If each of the characters are integral to the story, introduce them in their own chapter and in a way that shows how they're affected by the incidents that have happened so far (meaning, how are their lives changed by what happens) And again, don't give the everyday mundane actions they go through each day.

For any novel (regardless of genre), something has to happen immediately. Usually something life-changing for the main character. You can not spend the first ten pages introducing a character and giving us his/her life story (as it was or is now) because you will bore the reader (especially this reader). Just give the minimal facts that are relative to the character (who s/he is/what's his/her job/what type of personality s/he has) and weave the rest in as you go to further develop him/her...but do it in a way that isn't TELLING. In other words, don't say, John is a cop. Instead, show what makes him a cop....maybe open with him at work. Don't say Jane has a soft heart for stray animals, instead show her sneaking a can of tuna fish from her mother's cabinet and leaving it in the bushes for the cat that's been prowling around at night.

When writing your dialogue try writing it as you speak (unless you're writing historical or period pieces of course.) Don't have your characters constantly say each other's names when speaking to them.

"Hi Jane."
"Hi David."
"How was your night, Jane?"
"It was fine, David.
I went to a movie."
"That's nice, Jane. What did you see?"
"Well David, I
don't remember because I fell asleep."

Annoying huh.

Another thing to look out for in dialogue are your tags. If your writing strong dialogue, it isn't necessary to use a tag to identify how the character is speaking. You don't need to say...

"They're coming back," she proclaimed!

The dialogue and the previous action should convey the emotion in the character's voice.

When starting a novel, figure out who your main character is and write from their POV. Show everything through their eyes as they see it unfolding. Otherwise, your story will read like an article in a magazine with no real emotional connection for the reader. And, don't talk at your reader. As a reader, I want to be pulled into the story, I want my emotions challenged...not my intelligence (which is what I mean by talking at me, like you're trying to explain everything.) You don't need to hold the reader's hand. As Dave King states in his book SELF-EDITING FOR THE FICTION WRITER, resist the urge to explain! Because, really, if you have to explain the who's and why's of your story...then you're not doing your job.

Here are a few more tips from the comments I made on entries in regard to what to look out for when writing.

Don't put thoughts in quotes. Quotes are for actual speaking dialogue only. Thoughts should be in italics.
Don't use adverbs when a stronger verb will work.
She pleadingly looked around the empty city
How do you look pleadingly? Show it better.

She searched the empty streets, her heart pounding, searching for someone,
anyone who would help her.

Watch out for too literal descriptions (sometimes referred to as flying body parts...rolled her eyes; threw up her hands, etc)
For example:
She ducked into an alley, pushing herself up against the wall as far as she
could go.
Try saying she ducked into an alley, pressing against the wall...etc)
If you plan to start your story with a dream, make sure it's there for a reason. Otherwise it's like a tease and can really piss off a reader. They think something exciting is happening only to find out it's a dream.
And one more very important thing: READ! Read everything...fiction, non-fiction, graffitti on the bathroom wall...(heh...just kidding..unless it's really good. ;-)) The point is, if you don't read, you can't learn.

Here are just a few more (nitpicky) things to look out for when you're writing:

Passive voice.

Sentences starting with AS.

Sentences that read like a grocery list (this AND this AND this happened....you know?)

Watch out for too much exposition--meaning too much back story too soon (or worse, going into backstory to explain what happened previously)

Show don't tell ...in other words, don't use the words: saw/heard/felt/smelled/tasted...just say what it was. (instead of this: She heard the beep of the answering machine and hung up. Say, she hung up the phone when the answering machine clicked on. It's not necessary to say it beeped since that's a given on all machines. And sometimes you gotta give the reader the benefit of the doubt to know what you mean. Like, don't tell them someone closed the door after they opened it. In other words, don't hold the reader's hand.

Another no-no with exposition is putting it all in dialogue.

"Leave John and come away with me."
" You know I can't do that. I own him. He
is the one who made it possible for me to attend law school. Before he
showed up
I had to work long weekend shifts. I was almost ready to give up
the crazy idea
of becoming a lawyer while working as a stripper so that I
could give my mother
and Johnny a decent place to live. Now John is about to
go to college and Mom
doesn't have to work so hard as a maid in order to pay
for everything because
her arthritis is so bad."
"Yes, I know. You told
me this a zillion times."

This is called info dump through dialogue. Never have one character say something to another character that they already know. If any of this is important, feed it in later.

Another thing I noticed during that contest is sometimes writers will chose to use their first chapter as an introduction to the story, then tell the reader, "but wait, the second chapter will explain everything." Well, I'm sorry but I have to reiterate...unless you grab the reader in the first few pages of the first chapter they aren't going to bother looking for the next chapter!

Okay....I'm done. :)

I hope those of you who made it to the end have found something useful to consider when going back to your work. Feel free to leave your comments or writing pet peeves.

Regardless....I wish you only the best in you endeavors.

As an aside, come back August 11 when my guest blogger will be Raul Ramos y Sanchez, whose debut novel America Libre is in stores now. Stop by with questions and comments and one lucky poster will win a copy of his book.

Hope to see you then.

Fear of Failure or Fear of Success?? What's stopping you?

2009-07-09T11:52:00.005-06:00

There are very few blogs I read, mainly because it's another excuse to procrastinate, but Murder She Writes is one of them. The link is for a post written by guest blogger and reviewer Andrea Sisco, author of A Deadly Habit : A Penelope Santucci Mystery. In her post Andrea writes:
"What if I’m an utter failure? Or, what if I’m a success and then people actually expect something from me and expect that something (a book) every
year?"

This my friends is what we call a Fear of suscess/fear of failure.

After the life I've lived, not much scares me anymore, but that above is it in a nutshell. What if my work becomes a big hit? What if my work tanks and the reviews are so scathing I'll have to change my name and have plastic surgery? (okay, the plastic surgery could be a good thing)

I've written two books and a novella in the last six years, only the latter of which has sold (the novels are still on slush piles so to speak). For nearly four years I've been working on my third novel, House of Cards. Why is it taking me so long to write this book? Again...fear!

Way back when, my former agent read the first hundred pages and said, "Finish this! It's going to be your breakout novel!" (great....no pressure there) Immediately my subconscious kicked in said what if she's right? Now you're going to have to make the follow-up even better. You can't do it!

Needless to say I let that fear stop me and the book hit an iron wall covered in six inches of concrete. Yep, I wrote 1/3 of the book and it stopped. Dead in it's tracks.

I told myself to just give up on the book that it ain't gonna happen (especially after my agent dumped me---so much for believing in me). But, try as I might, I can't give up on the book. Every time I do, new scenes pop into my head, which tells me the story wants to be told. But, am I the best person to tell it? (insecure much?)

Doubt comes second nature to a writer, we all feel it no matter how many books we publish.

I posed this question, the one about Am I the best person to tell the story--not the insecure question-- to another writer Robert Gregory Browne and his answer was "why not?" Okay, his answer was more detailed than that but I forget what it was.

The point he wanted to drive home (with a hammer no less cuz I'm a bit thick in the head) is, unless you're writing a non-fiction book, you don't need to be an expert in the subject you're writing...especially if you're writing about murder...that would be bad. hah Anyway, research is key in writing fiction and as long as you can Google or have a library card, you're going to find what you need to give your book the realism you're hoping for and give the reader that suspension of disbelief.

Is there a key to overcoming the doubts and fears that have you afraid to sit butt in chair and type? Not likely, but commiserating with other writers--either online or face to face helps at least quell some of the doubt so you can continue to write that breakout novel.

I'll let you know how that works out.

So, tell me, have you let fear stop you from reaching your goals/dreams?

And, for another great writer's blog, check out Murderati.

The Day the Music Died/ RIP Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T06:05:00.002-06:00

I was visiting with my in-laws when my cousin Michelle sent me a text asking if I'd heard Michael Jackson died. I thought maybe it was a lame joke or something so I quickly turned the TV station to Headline News and sure enough....

Aside from losing an important part of our history, it's like losing a piece of your childhood. So many grew up with Michael and the Jackson Five. Even today children are singing his songs and imitating his dance moves. The world is mourning his loss.

Now, normally I wouldn't blog on my feelings about this because dying is a part of life, even the sudden, unexplainable deaths. What I'm blogging about is the callous reaction to Michael's death by certain people. They didn't care. Wait, that's being kind...they didn't just not care that he died, they celebrated it. One women in a forum I frequent said the reaction by a group of teenagers at her home actually laughed at the news. My sister-in-law's stepson smiled and pumped the air like it was a victory for the world. It not only pissed me off, it saddened me. Of course I let the kid know it was an inappropriate reaction....the man was an indelible part of history and regardless of what you think he did or became, no one will ever touch him as an artist and performer and he deserved the respect he once had.

The world has lost a lot with his death. He is a true Icon and will be missed.

Life without Limits

2009-05-28T17:17:00.003-06:00

It's summertime and you know what that means? Lazy days of sitting by the pool or at the beach (or in my case the baseball field) working to even out the tan and catch up on reading.

I started my new TBR list last weekend with a trip to Borders. I ordered two books (because they were no longer in stock) and picked up four more. My family and I are going on vacation in June (16th) and we have a seven hour flight--two hours are a layover so I'm going to need some books to help pass the time. I'll likely bring all four books with me, if I haven't read them already by then. Of course I added to my list last night when I went to see Lee Child at the Scottsdale library. In case you don't know, I met Lee four years ago in Houston when he was doing a joint tour with an online friend of mine Cornelia Read...I went to the signing to support her because it was her debut novel. I got the book for my aunt for her birthday (she was supposed to pass me the book and never did...grr). Anyway, I'd never read any of Lee's books and only knew of him through another friend Karen Dionne (she's a big fan). So, I figured I'd better do the polite thing and pick up one of his books. Since he was touring for his ninth book (I think...maybe tenth) and his books are a recurring character--Jack Reacher--I thought I should start with book one, The Killing Floor. Suffice it to say, I now own eleven of Lee's books...don't know how I missed the other two but I'll grab them soon enough.
Anyway...I think I had a point...but I lost it. I have a house full of teenage girls...6 to be exact...so my brain is warbled right now.
So anyway, another thing we'll be doing this summer is preparing my daughter for her final year of highschool. Yep...she's a senior and she is seriously counting down the day when she graduates and can move back to Texas (wishful thinking on her part, but I'm going to do what I can to help.) In fact, she's decided she wants to go to cooking school. And this weekend we're going to go to an open house at The Arizona Culinary Institute in Scottsdale. Sounds like a plan, eh? Well, what you should know about my daughter is that she has cerebral palsy. It's a mild form but she's still physically limited with what she can do, and using cutting tools is one of the limits. But....Manda is a Life Without Limits kinda gal and believes she can do it (she cooks at home often but the cutting and dicing is usually done for her.) So, I'm going to take her to the open house and see what they have to offer and what she'd be required to do. If being a culinary chef isn't in the cards she can be a pastry chef...the kid makes some killer brownies. And, as a diabetic, she'll learn a lot about nutrition and maybe even make her own cookbook. Life without limits!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2009-03-02T07:43:00.006-07:00

It's Baseball Season! Yay! I love baseball, always have, always will. I don't have a favorite team as I did when I was a kid...way back then it was the Cincinnati Reds....I totally LOVED Johnny Bench!! Yeah I know...I was born in Texas and by all accounts should have been an Astro or Ranger's fan. Well...I prefer the National League and I'm more of a closet Astro Fan...I only come out if they're winning but stay hidden when they're losing...which is often. The Astro's are the "choke" team of the NBL. A n y w a y...

The season also kicks off for my son, who's playing on his 8th grade middle school team. Jeremy has been playing baseball his whole life...I think he's even a ballplayer reincarnated. Even as an infant you could sit him in front of a game and he'd sit quietly and watch. He especially loved watching his older brother play little league. When he was old enough to stand he'd entertain himself by practicing his batting stance using a plunger as his bat.

By age 3 he'd started calling himself Jeremy Bell after his favorite Astro Derek Bell. He finally started playing t-ball at age 5 and has only missed one season in the last eight years (and that was because he decided to forgo fall ball for football.) He even used to be superstitious about batting...up until third grade he wouldn't go up to bat unless I blew him a kiss first. ha ha

Jeremy's dream is to play infield for the Houston Astros, he's even learning how to pitch and has a very hard fastball! He can actually and has actually played every position on the field including pitcher and catcher. I think this year they have him infield at 3rd base.

So, today is the first game for the Pueblo Bulldogs. I'm really looking forward to it. Sadly, my husband has to go out of town this week so he can't make it. But I'll have plenty of pictures I think.

Okay, this has become my brag about Jeremy blog. Ha! What can I say....as they get older I find myself thinking about how little time I have left with them before they go off and live their own lives. Of course, should Jeremy make it to the majors you'll find me front and center at the games...ready to blow him a kiss should he need it. =)

Long Time no Blog

2009-02-25T12:36:00.003-07:00

Wow. Has it actually been four months since my last blog?? To all you (four or five) readers who stop by....so sorry.
Let's see if I can catch you up on what's happened since I blogged last. I'll try to condense so as not to bore. Well...I guess this won't be so hard after all since nothing much has been happening. Although the new year started out pretty crappy. My daughter, Manda, was diagnosed with Type One diabetes...it's the insulin dependant one. Totally came out of the blue! She spent three days in the hospital and they basically gave us a crash course on the illness and how to care for her. The hopsital staff at Banner Desert in Mesa were so wonderful! We couldn't have asked for better. Anyway her numbers are still up and down and for a while there the doctor thought she might be atypical and insulin resistant...she takes nearly 100 units a day plus a pill. Over the past week she's been having trouble with her feet, they're swelling like crazy. She's also put on about 25 pounds, which on a normal person would be overkill...on Manda, because she was only 83 pounds of bone, it looks very good....and she's very happy to be over 100 pounds now!! Goofy kid!

So, as for my writing....I'm actually working on another book. It's a stand alone sequel to my second book Dark Obsession. DO was Ray's story, the second book, which is currently called Body & Soul is Sylvia's story. Ray and Sylvia are siblings...for those who don't know. =) Both books are romantic suspense with paranormal elements and take place in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. I'm also still working on book three House of Cards---off and on---more off than on. I've had a few people ask me how I can work on two books at the same time and...well...it's just easier for me. Both books have the same theme which is ritual murders...although both go in two totally different directions. So, for me, it makes it easier to work on one or the other. When one stalls I move to the other. I did the same thing when I wrote my first two books Dark Obsession and Forget Me Not. Those two books also had a similar theme--stalkers. I'm hoping to have the books completed by summer....but that's a big HOPE because my laptop died on me. I guess that's what I get for ordering from Tiger Direct. *sigh* I have to use the kid's computer which has the most uncomfortable chair possible. And I use my husband's laptop on the weekends (unless he has to go to work). I would try to write in longhand, but it doesn't work out well...my handwriting gets to messy because I don't write as fast as I can type or think and when I try to read it back I can't figure out what I wrote. haha
Anyway.....I think I'm babbling. I should probably try to get some work done before I have to get the girls in an hour. Then it's run here, run there, run here again, run there again. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

So...thanks for stopping by. Hope I didn't bore you too much. I'll try to blog something a little more interesting next time...with in the next four months at least.

I've Been Tagged

2008-10-02T09:26:00.002-06:00

And no, I don't mean as in a microchip implanted in my head.

I'm sure you've all seen those "get to know you" questionaires that go around. A list of questions you answer then choose to send to someone else. They're supposed to be a way to sort of get to know the person. I don't know how accurate they are unless you're a profiler with the FBI. Hmmm.....maybe I should be careful how I answer. hah

Anyway...I was tagged by Jane Taylor , who was kind enough to ask first. Me...I'm just gonna tag someone randomly, cuz when I was a kid (long before computers were invented...can you imagine???)....when you played tag outside until the mosquitos chased you in...you tagged the first person you reached. So, first, I'll post my Q&A then I'll post my Tagees.

And, uh, don't read too much into my answers Mr Profiler.

If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

We have a dog, Lizzie. I’m not the big dog person I was as a kid, but I guess I consider her part of the family. My kids certainly do.

If you could have a dream come true, what would it be?

That my children have wonderful fulfilling lives when they move into adulthood.

What is the one thing most hated by you?

Ignorance

What would you do with a billion dollars?

First of all....who really needs that much money?? But, if I had it to burn, I’d first give every member of my family (but just the ones I know, not the ones who claim to be of my blood) and my husband’s immediate family one million dollars....cuz if you can’t live on that, you don’t deserve the money. Then, I take the rest and rebuild all the smaller, unknown towns along the gulf coast that were hit by Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike.

What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Spending the day out with my kids....they still make me laugh.

Choose one letter from your name and come up with a word to describe yourself.

TERRI–I=Intuitive

How do you unwind?

I watch TV...it’s the best way I can think of to stop my brain from over thinking. Haha

What is your bedtime routine?

I don’t have one. When I’m tired I go to bed.

If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

I don’t know. I'm more of a doer than a watcher.

What kinds of books do you buy?

Since becoming a writer I’ve met a wide variety of authors. So, their books are what I now buy.

Where do you want to be in ten years?

Alive, hopefully. And, living back in Texas with my books on the NYT Bestseller list for the tenth straight year.

What’s your fear?

That I’ll die before I have a chance to see my children start their own families (yeah I know...morbid). Oh, and bugs. I really hate bugs!!

What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

I only know Jane online, but she’s one of the sweetest online friends I could ever make. She’s very encouraging and supportive and always knows the right thing to say. I’m proud to call her a friend.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Wake my daughter’s for school then go downstairs and grab a mug of coffee!

What’s your favorite food?

Southern Fried Chicken!!!

Formal wear or casual wear?

Casual...I’m a jeans and t-shirt kinda gal

Sports: football or baseball?

Most definitely Baseball. I’m a Cincinnati Red’s fan....when I was younger I thought Johnny Bench was a hottie!! lol (in case you don’t know who he is, he was the catcher back in the 70's)

What do you consider your guilty pleasure?

Mmmm....Oreos. I could eat a whole package in one sitting....which is why I had to stop buying them.

Now....who can I tag next? Hmmm.....I think I'll tag Brenda Birch . Sorry hun. If I can find more to tag I will...if you want me to tag you....I can do that too. =)

Oh, and one more thing. This is a Mutation Tag, so if there are questions you'd like to add or delete, feel free to do so. But, try to keep under 20 questions.

Thanks for stopping by.

National Hispanic Heritage Month--and Reminiscing

2008-09-16T10:46:00.004-06:00

From September 15 to October 15 the nation will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. I'm not sure when the holiday started or rather, when the nation decided to acknowledge it, but for as long as I can remember, there was always a celebration in my hometown, Port Arthur.

Every third weekend in September my family (and I mean everyone in my family) would attend a three day "Mexican Fiesta" held by the Mexican Heritage Society in Port Arthur. At that time, was held in the parking lot of the local strip mall (can't remember what the name was, but there was a Woolco there...Geez, how old does that make me?)

Anyway, the festivities would start on Friday evening and consist of mostly food booths....what better reason to go to a fiesta I ask?? The food was so totally awesome! made by local families and the money raised for the Heritage Society and the Hispanic community. They also had a pagent to crown a queen (done on Saturday evening), mariachi players, Calpuli dancers, tamale eating contests (which my brother Dave won once) and a street dance (literally since we were in a parking lot) by bands from Victoria Texas or Corpus Christie and other towns. Most of the people attending either sat on the gates of their pickup trucks or brought lawn chairs to sit in, circling around an area designated the 'dance floor'. My brothers and sisters and cousins and I used to jump in when the band played The Cotton-eyed Joe....one of the few dances we could do without a partner. Occasionally we were allowed to work a food booth or drink cart...always fun when you're a kid. (and on a side note, I had my first kiss at the fiesta, but I won't say who he was or my age at the time.)

Nowadays the fiesta is held at the Port Arthur Civic Center and (imo) isn't the celebration it used to be. It's lost a lot in it's transition (mostly the tradition). Sadly though, because of Hurricane Ike, the fiesta was canceled this year.
Anyway, if you've never been to an actual Mexican Fiesta, you should go. Aside from the one in Port Arthur, Brownsville also holds a week long celebration called Charro Days. It's held yearly at the end of February to celebrate the sister cities of Brownsville, Texas and Matamoras, Mexico. I've never had the opportunity to attend this party, but one of these days I will. Especially since I've introduced it in my current WIP, House of Cards (soon to be sold...uh...once I finish it. )

So, how do you plan to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and National Hispanic Heritage Month? I know....why not curl up with a hot Latina Romance? Set in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas Her Will His Way is a lovestory you won't want to put down with characters you won't want to let go. Available now at Cobblestone Press for only $3.99

(oh, come on, you knew I was going to pitch my book)

Here we go again--Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-31T12:32:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I'm originally from SE Texas, my family and friends are still in Port Arthur. With the threat of Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf, all of my attention will be trained on the news channels.

When Hurricane Rita hit three years ago, I lived in West Houston. My family and I chose not to evacuate because we were so far west I knew we wouldn't get any of the storm (and we didn't. Just 60/70 mph winds and a few hours of lost power). Plus, with the problems on the roads...no way was I going to suffer that with four kids and a dog! Just a five minute drive to the grocery store took 45 minutes to get home!

Anyway, my family (in the Port Arthur area) left a few days before the storm hit and were safely in Dallas when it pounded through...however, my brother, who's a CCU/ICU nurse supervisor couldn't leave until just hours before the storm hit because he was still evacuating patients. Of course he said by the time he hit the road, they were empty so his drive to Austin was short.

The day after the hurricane my husband was able to go into town (because of his job, he was in charge of the communication towers and had to inspect their damage) and took a side tour of the neighborhoods to see what damage was done to our family's homes. (Thankfully, not much on the outside). But, a week later, when residents were allowed to go back to assess damages, I went with my cousin (who had come down to stay with us so we could get the kids back in school) to Nederland to drop her husband home...he had to be back to work (at Dupont). The outside damage from the storm wasn't too bad. Her trampoline was now twisted metal leaning up against the neighbor's fence. Someone's metal roof was laying in the front yard along with a lot of branches (her husband quipped now he didn't have to hire someone to trim off the dead branches---humor is a great stress breaker). The woodslat privacy fence in the back yard was gone (most of the neighhorhoods lost their fences...in fact, that was the only damage my brother had at his house about ten miles away). But the worst damage to my cousin's house was the inside. Though they didn't have any major flooding in her neighborhood, what little there was got into the house. The 90 degree weather and loss of power....well, you can imagine what the carpet looked like. (I think one of those mold spores even moved! But the worst was the smell!! The grouper fish in the tank died, the freezer full of meat rotted (don't even get me started on why there was meat in the freezer!--I don't let her live that one down!) It smelled like a hundred people died in there! It was awful!

Anyway, with Hurricane Gustav possibly on a collision course with the area, no one is taking the evacuation order for granted. I really hate that I'm not still in Houston to offer refuse for my family especially since no one has really recouped financially from the Rita damage and therefore are going to really struggle with where they can afford to go. I'll be keeping a close eye on this storm via The Weather Channel and The PA News online edition. I'll also keep in touch via cell to my family to make sure they're okay.

So....where were you when the lights went out? And, if you're in the path, how are you preparing for this storm?

Godspeed everyone!

Outraged

2008-08-29T18:39:00.002-06:00

Okay...I can't think of a song title for my title so I just went for the actual reason I'm writing my blog....feel free to find a song that matches.

Why am I outraged? Take a seat...this may be long.

My daughter has a friend named Holly. Holly is one of the sweetest, kindest, well-mannered young ladies you will ever meet and she is a very good friend to my daughter. Holly has one minor annoyance though...she has the tendancy to say "Sorry" a lot....and not because she has anything to be sorry about...it's just one of those automatic responses like "Hi, how are you?"
Case in point, she's been to my house several times. The first time she came over she asked something mundane like, "where's the bathroom". I pointed it out and she said, "Okay, sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't see it. I'm sorry." Seriously...three sorrys in one breath. I just smiled and said it's okay. It took a while to realize, this was just Holly. She says "sorry" in every breath.

Anyway...Holly runs cross-country track at school (she's a junior in high school). A few weeks ago she was riding her bike home after practice (like around 5 or 6 in the evening). Needless to say she was very tired. She crossed the street to get home, moving safely into the designated bike lane, however she was facing on coming traffic. Shortly after she crossed the street a woman came around the corner in her car and hit Holly. I don't know exactly how hard, but Holly managed to break the woman's sideview mirror (guess she used it to stop the car from taking her head off) and she sustained several cuts and bruises along her body, including a gash on her shin, a black eye, busted blood vessels in her left eye (whcih thankfully did not affect her vision) and she no longer has a bike because it was ruin, so I'm guessing--pretty damn Hard!

Now as you may be guessing, Holly's first reaction was to say "Sorry." Amidst her crying and bleeding all she could say was "sorry" over and over....and over. The woman, of course called the police to make the report. However, the asshole cop did not ticket the woman and told Holly it was HER fault for going against traffic. Uh....hello??? She was in the fricking BIKE LANE!! What the hell was this stupid woman doing in the bike lane!!!

Okay...sorry...when Holly told me this I was completely livid!! I mean, how stupid can that cop be??? He was probably related to that same jerk who killed someone's dog because he spent twenty minutes ticketing the guy for speeding when the guy was trying to get his dog to the vet. And on top of it saying.."It's just a dog!"

Now, the fact that this jerk cop told Holly it was her fault was bad enough, but now, the woman is apparently suing Holly for damages to her car! Can you F**KING believe that??? I told Holly if it came down to that (because they were afraid it would with Holly's "addmission of guilt" sorries) that my family and I would all stand up for her as character references. But it just so pisses me off that this woman...and if I knew who she was I'd egg her house every day!...has the gall to sue them for a $50 sideview mirror. Forget about the fact that Holly had to miss school, was laid up in bed for a couple of days, couldn't run track for a while and was totally traumatized...and still more so because of the lawsuit...this stupid woman needs a new mirror! Sofrickinwhat if Holly was going against traffic...that is still no reason this woman should have gotten off scottfree and be allowed to sue! And if she wins?? So wrong!! Makes me wonder if everyone who rides a bike against traffic in the bike lane and gets hit by a car will be the one to get sued. Heck, this morning I saw two elderly people riding their bikes against traffic in the bike lane....I coulda gotten a two for one lawsuit!

Arizona has a stupid motorist law where a person can be fined if they drive across a flooded road and have to be rescued...but what about the stupid people who drive 2 ton vehicles in the bike lane!!

Okay...rant over for now.

And, for the record...and to any cops who may stumble upon this...I love cops, have the upmost respect for them, even write about them in my work....but...sometimes I'll come across one in the bunch that makes me question my respect. So...apologies to those of you who aren't stupid jerks.

Day One (actually Two) at the RWA Conference

2008-07-31T22:43:00.018-06:00

It's nearing the end of day two of the RWA national conference in San Francisco and this is actually the first chance I've had to post a blog. I actually wrote one up long-hand this morning while waiting for the Opening Session (or whatever they called it) to get started, but I left it in my room. Right now I'm in the "internet lounge" where I can access the web free. Hey it's worth it to lug the laptop for free accesss as opposed to paying thirteen dollars a day.

Anyway. The conference, as always is quite an event. The Marriott, where it's being held this year, is very nice but like most of the hotels they choose, there isn't much of a bar. (and I've yet to hit it up for a drink....first on my list when I'm done here.) The chattering of woman is pretty loud and it's hard to hear the person next to you much less your own thoughts. But it's still a good time, albeit exhausting, and worth the trip.

I arrived on Wednesday morning and immediately reported to work at the literacy signing. I had volunteered to help set-up and stayed through until about 7:30 that evening, when it ended. Although I was "working" I got a chance to meet up with several of my writer friends (as well as make new ones.). Here are a few of the photos I was able to take:

Toni McGee Causey at the Literacy Signing. She's such a sweetheart! If you haven't read her book Bobby Fayes Very (very, very) Bad Day....you're really missing out on a great book! Buy it...now...now....now!!

Robert Gregory Browne. This was his first RWA conference...can you tell he's overwhelmed? ;-) He's a great guy! I had lunch with him, Toni and Jordan Dane today (Day 2)...such great people. Toni and Robert even gave me some great advice about my book....and it seems Robert and I are both working on the same kind of story....guess I don't need to say who's will be better. ;-P

Then of course there's Ally Carter.

She's just as adorable in person as her picture shows.

She kept teasing me about stalking this guy.

Hello!! Barry Eisler!! (swoon) haha

It was purely coincidental that I just happened to be going in the same direction as he....a few times. hehe. I think she was just jealous because I took three pictures with him.

Oh, okay. She got to take one with him and her agent, Kristen.

But, I still got her two to one! =)

There is also the very lovely and very photogenic Danielle Younge-Ullman, who's book is out NOW!

Alexandra Sokoloff who looked totally exhausted!

Jenny Gardnier

all decked out in her June Cleaver outfit! Too cute!

Allison Brennan
A Double Rita finalist!! Such a wonderful person!

Eileen Rendahl. I met Eileen a couple of years ago when my friend Rhonda spotted her and said, Hey, you two could be twins! So...now we're long lost twins. She's a sweetheart!

Anyway...the signing was huge, as it always is. I was posted at the side entrance so I could let in the authors and other volunteers. Alot of the authors had their own personal entourage...husbands, mothers, children....one author (can't remember who...but she writes Vampires---which I figured out when I saw her 'fangs') even had a couple of official 'hotties' with her...I guess they were for role play or something. (not that kind of role play!) There was a big to-do when "the queen" showed up. Lights flaring, cameras rolling....okay...I love Nora...but give me a break, that entrance was soooo over the top! And, poor Stephanie Bond chose the exact same time to enter the ballroom and was smashed up against the door while the official entrance commenced.

After the signing ended I met up with my Houston chapter mates and went to dinner. Just that hour of sitting made me realize how tired and sore I was! I went straight back to my room, took a hot shower and went to bed!

This morning I got up early enough to make it to the opening ceremonies. Something new they're doing I guess. No workshops or appointments were scheduled. Well, actually, workshops were this afternoon. I went to two, which were good (Susan Elizabeth Philips--who's always great to listen to. And one by Hilary Sares...who came with her own cartoon drawings and was really fun to listen to as well).

The opening ceremony was okay considering it was a motivational speaker. No offense to motivational speakers, but I find them overly rehearsed and way too perky. But, she was an awesome pianst.

So...now, the day is over and it's time to hit the bar! Tomorrow will be filled with workshops, more booksignings, more schmoozing and likely more drinking! I may even try to worm my way into an agent/editor appointment...provided one I'm interested in opens up. We'll see.

Until tomorrow!

Heading to National!

2008-07-28T17:09:00.002-06:00

In two days I'll be flying out to San Francisco for the RWA National conference. This will be my fourth conference in five years. I missed last year because I went to the Backspace Conference in New York instead. (Great time!) Unfortunately, for me, this year's Backspace Conference falls on my daughter's 15th birthday.

Anyway, I love going to conferences because it gives me a chance to meet up face to face with all my online friends and, as in the case of RWA, my idols.

The first day of the conference there's a huge booksigning with over 450 authors signing new and older books. The money raised from the signing goes to the local Literacy foundation of whichever city is hosting the conference. I have a lot of friends signing their books, which means I'll be bringing home a lot of books! I've been holding off buying them because I knew they'd be at the signing.

Anyway, the conference runs from July 31-August 2 and is filled with workshops by such wonderful authors as Lisa Gardner, Toni McGee Causey, Jayne Ann Krentz as well as spotlights on most of the publishing houses. The conference ends with an awards ceremony where we learn who won the Rita and Golden Heart contests.

I'm planning to blog from the conference, a day by day of the events as I recoup before crashing into bed. I'm also planning an article for the October issue of The Scruffy Dog Review. I'll even have pictures, maybe even a bit of a video, because my darling daughter is letting me use her digital camera. So I hope you'll join me for that.

Anyway...if you're not able to make the conference, maybe you can enjoy it vicariously through my blog.

Just some Updates

2008-07-19T10:46:00.003-06:00

June was a very busy month, so I apologize for the lack of a blog update.

The virtual book tour I did with several other Cobblestone authors went well. I hope you enjoyed the wonderful guests I had. I had a lot of fun. But I have to admit, writing a blog a day for two weeks wasn't easy. Over the weekend of July 13 --I put in an appearance at Killer Fiction....we can blame my friend Christie Craig for that one. My topic was a witty look at Writing What You Know. It's still available if you want to swing by and read it. You should also check out Christie's weekly blog...that girl is a hoot!!

Anyway, sales for my book Her Will His Way have been looking good. And I've been getting some wonderful reviews from a handful of online writing sites. You can find them at these places:

Romance Junkies
Nightowl Romance
Joyfully Reviewed
Sensual Romance

And, finally, I want to send out a very big Thank You to everyone who participated in my contest last month...and again, I apologize for the delay in posting about it (time just seems to get away from me these days!).

There were some wonderful stories sent in but by popular vote (I had to recruit my daughter and her friend as judges to help me choose) the winner of the most romantic gift ever recieved by their significant other is Layla Aaron.
Layla wrote:

I'm hard pressed to select the *most* romantic gift the Welshman ever gave me;
however, I'll go with the CD of Satie music. I was visiting him in Wales, our
first face to face meeting, and as a farewell gift he bought me the CD. He told
me he'd been tempted to buy me flowers, but they would die and he wanted to give
me something I could take home, something for me to remember him by forever.

Layla, drop me an email at TerriMo2@yahoo.com with your mailing address so I can send you your prize.

As for other contests....stay tuned....I may come up with another one.

One more thing. I recently did an interview at E-Cata Romance. So if you're at all interested, you can find it here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Meet L. Shannon...Author Extraordinaire

2008-06-20T10:08:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone. I'm Grant. You may bow if you want but I don't get off on all that scrapping and such.

I was asked to explain the basic rules of the nine realms (L. Shannon's view of the world). Feel free to ask questions, but I may or may not answer. If you want a more guaranteed response send it directly to L. Shannon at lshannon@hotmail.com.

good and evil are in the eye of the beholder (yep- same as beauty)
power is absolute, but it is not always misused.
existence is only limited by imagination (this might not be true)
in any battle, strength is the secret to triumph. (strength is found in more than muscles ~ never underestimate strength of will)
the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.

Now if you've had enough of that zen shit, let me (Grant) tell you a little about the nine realms. If I miss anything ask me on my blog (actually it's L. Shannon's but if you ask me, I'll answer and I won't sugar or shit coat it.)

If it's bigger or stronger than you- don't piss it off. If you do, put on your runners and haul ass, cause it will kill you or worse.
If you care about something, DON'T set it free. (trust me-bad idea) I recommend kissing her ass until she wants to stay.
When the big guy says duck, don't hesitate. He doesn't screw around, and he might find it funny if you suffer for your stupidity.
Friends and family. Always protect what you love, even if the cost proves too high.
Don't listen to me. I have been around for six thousand years and still haven't gotten it right. Find someone who has, and listen to them.

What you need to know about the nine realms.

The world as you know it actually has nine realities instead of one. In some cases these are drastically different (like heaven and hell kind of different). The closest you could find reference to these realms is what you humans call Norse mythology. Although the records don't get it all right, they do hit the high points.
There are nine primary races to which the Creator gave nine realms. Aesir, Dark Elves, Light Elves, Dwarves, Jotun, Humans, Tascryn (land of the dead), Valhalla, and Vanir.
Though most people seem to think this is the first age, I'm not so sure. I think that perhaps Ragnarok has come and gone a couple times, though it is only my opinion. The predictions all point to the end coming (again) and I personally hope it doesn't come too soon.

What you need to know about demons

Not all are bad. In fact I can be very good (really very good). You might hear about my breathren the Tascryn demons and they happen to be mostly the good kind. The Tascryn are the protectors of souls and help to maintain the balance of life in all nine realms.
Being a Tascryn demon is mostly a thankless job. Very few people are happy to see us come to claim a soul, after all that means you either are about to die, or we are about to kill you. Our health plan is pretty good. Tascryn are extremely hard to kill and heal almost instantaniously. The vacation schedule sucks. Tascryn work 24/7 and are only allowed one vacation every thousand years. (yeah, I didn't think that was fair either)
There is more than one kind of demon. Tascryn Demons live and work mostly in Niflheim, but a whole different kind call Abaddon home. The Abaddon Demons tend to have fewer rules and a significantly different job description.

What you need to know about werewolves.

The kind of werewolf that I know the most about are called Valafrn werewolves. I have grown rather fond of them over the years. The Valafrn all descended from one fellow (who wasn't quite human) named Vali. You see, Vali went and got himself cursed into his furry form, but in his case it was much worse than others kinds of werewolf curses. Vali was a wolf for all but three nights a month. He took human form for the three nights (and 2 days) of the full moon. Yeah well it sucked for him and proved to be inherited, so all his children (and he was very productive) were cursed just like him. Vali did what any loving father would do; he went to the god who cursed him and begged. (Despite his usually furry form) he didn't beg very well, but Odin helped him anyhow. Together they found a way to let Vali's children use magic to control their physical form. As it turned out, the kiddies got more than they expected and ended up powerful shapeshifters.

If you liked hanging out with me, I invite you to read Tascryn Royals 1: Of Blood and Blessings which is my story through the eyes of L. Shannon (the voyeur, LOL) Or my mother, Sadrina's book, Tascryn Royals 2: Blood Reign. I have not and will not read about my mother and Pahele. Nope. Not gonna happen.

One last thing...I shouldn't, but because I've always been a pain in his ass, I'll share a friend's page that I recently found ~ http://heartoftheserpent.blogspot.com/.

Just do me a favor and don't tell him where you got the link. Ever since I was given to him as a slave way long ago, I've been able to piss him off in all the best ways. But I know one thing and that's if the end ever comes, I will be at his side one way or the other.

~~Grant.

Oh... PS Here's Shannon's site. http://lshannon.net

If you're a voyeur too, drop by and check it out.

Visit L Shannon at these locations to learn more about her. You'll be glad you did.

L.Shannon's website
my space
news
blog
books

2008-06-19T10:38:00.002-06:00

Selena's Sex Tips

Get creative. Do some research. Read an erotic romance. Think outside the box. Look up new positions. Once you've got some new ideas, present them to your SOS.
Get your SOS involved. Send them links to articles, websites, photos. Rent a movie together, read a book together, or flip through a magazine.
Get out a scarf or tie and tie one end to your wrist and the other to that of your SOS. Spend a whole day like this and you'll find plenty of opportunities for kisses and cuddles.
Tell it like it is. This is really the key. Ask for what you want. Use words like faster, slower, harder, softer, to the left, etc.
Get out of the bedroom. Nothing like a new venue to inspire you.
Try a sex toy. With dozens (probably hundreds) of websites out there that will provide quality merchandise in discreet packaging, you've got no excuse not to try something new.

And now, a look at how Selena puts it all in play. ;)

The Cajun's Captive

by Selena Blake

Sebastian Deveraux is the Alpha of his pack and like all the Deveraux men, he’s sexy as pure sin. He’s waited for decades for just the right woman. For his mate. And ten years ago he’d been sure he’d found her in Amanda St. James. But she’d run from him.Now she’s back. He’ll do anything to keep her. Even if it means chaining her to his bed.

Book 1 - Stormy Weather series

Cobblestone Press

Available June 13, 2008

EXCERPT

The blonde peering into his bedroom window never heard him approach.

“Can I help you?” he asked mildly when he was within pouncing distance.

Shrieking, she whirled to face him, backing up at the sametime. Her hands came up to balance herself, but it was too late. He made no move to rescue her even though he could have. Her momentum toppled her over the railing and into the soggy grass below. She landed flat on her back.

From the edge of the porch, he stared down at her not feeling the least bit sorry for startling her. What did a man have to do to get privacy?

Her wheat colored hair covered her face and the rain slowly soaked her clothes. She seemed too startled to move. Finally, she eased up on her elbows. Her breasts heaved and fell as if she might start crying. The last thing he wanted was a crying woman. Or a lawsuit.

“You all right?”

With a perfectly polished hand, she flicked her hair out of her faceand glared up at him. The blue eyes that locked with his couldn’t have surprised him more if there’d been eight of them.

Amanda St. James. Alive and in his yard. Couldn’t be.

He narrowed his gaze and took in her features. Same cute pixie nose. Same rosy, heart-shaped mouth he’d longed to kiss. Same delicious curves that his hands itched to caress. Suddenly he was transported a decade ago when they’d all been hanging out on a hot summer day. It had been August. Suffocatingly humid. Then Amanda had grabbed the hose and proceeded to drench him and his brothers to the bone.

Her kissable mouth had laughed and smiled as they’d chased her. When they’d finally caught her, turning the hose on her, the water had plastered her clothes to her sweet young body. It had taken all his willpower not to carry her off that very afternoon. To kiss her all over—from that adorable nose, to those delicious berry pink lips, to her hot pink toenails.

The clap of thunder brought him back to the present. His eyes didn’t fool him. He sniffed the air and her scent filled his lungs. She smelled so sweet, so familiar, and so wonderful that he almost closed his eyes to savor it. Instead, he took in her pitiful form. She looked like a drowned cat.

He watched as the rain molded her shirt to her breasts. Either from cold or, heaven help him, desire, her nipples beaded beneath the fabric and stood out like pebbles. He clenched his fists. Long dormant need surged upward startling him with its intensity. Its rawness.

He hadn’t seen or heard from her in nine long years but he’d never stopped wanting her. It was the reason he dated a long stream of women, never settling down. He’d never felt this kind of urgency with anyone else. Although he’d tried to wipe away her memory, none of them could compare to Manda. His Manda.

But her presence now reminded him of how she’d fled all those years ago. She’d gone off to Yankee country for school. Then she’d gone onto work for one of the biggest broadcast companies in the country. Never looked back. Never called. Simply fled. Ran from him.

His inner beast had been too proud to let him chase. Had been sure she’d come back in a week or two. Weeks had turned into years and now almost a decade. Now the beast growled deep inside, for the years he’d lost, for making him want her so, making him wait. It lay coiled, anxious and ready to spring to life and take what it wanted.

He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep the dangerous animal inside on a tight leash.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Amanda St. James.” He couldn’t keep the disdain from his voice. He hoped to hell she couldn’t hear the hurt, the yearning… “Did the Yanks kick you out? Get too cold for ya up north?”

“What a mean thing to say.” For a moment, she looked genuinely wounded. But he told himself that was part of her game. The network probably sent her.

“Then what are ya doin’ here?” Probably snooping for a story, he thought. Figured she’d use her looks, her connections, to get it. Like hell, she was going to get her story.

Her tongue slipped between her glossy pink lips to lick a raindrop. That simple movement reminded him of all the times she’d licked her lips, stuck out her tongue at him—reminded him of everything he really wanted in life. And just how much he wanted to kiss her.

Once again, he took in her sad wet form and saw everything he’d wanted for hundreds of years. Everything he’d been denied and had denied himself.

Sebastian knew he couldn’t be angry; she was worth the wait. He couldn’t let her get away again. This was a sign from the Gods. She was meant to be his. He’d known it all those years ago when he’d watched her blossom in front of his eyes. While he’d waited for her to grow up. Waited for her to come to him.He still knew it. Nothing had changed, he reasoned. Except that he wanted her more now than he had nine years ago. And she was well over eighteen now. He would finally make her his.

With the effortless grace his kind was known for, he leapt over the railing and landed at her feet. Oblivious to the rain, he glared down at her.

“Get up,” he ordered. She started to crab crawl backwards but she couldn’t get away fast enough. In a lightning fast move, he hoisted her over his shoulder. She barely weighed more than a sack or two of sugar.

“What are you doing?” she cried.

“Taking what’s mine.”

He knew the instant she comprehended his words. She squirmed and wiggled like a bunny in a trap, but it didn’t matter. He had her where he wanted her.

For now.

About the Author

Selena Blake writes paranormal and contemporary romance for Cobblestone Press. Her series Stormy Weather will be available in 2008. Drop by her website to find out more about the handsome Deveraux men of Louisiana and for a free short story. Http://www.selena-blake.com

That's the Power of Love..or Writing to be exact.

2008-06-18T12:40:00.002-06:00

The Writing Game

I started writing a little over a year ago. It all began with one story- a story that had been building in my mind for months, or maybe even years. It was a romance, a tale of soulmates and heartbreak and passion.

The story kept growing in my head until eventually I had to let it out. I wrote 75, 000 words in one month (my fingers were exhausted!). Of course, it was so full of head-hopping and passive voice and cliched characters that it never reached the eyes of an editor. But that didn't matter to me. I'd finished my first novel. I was damned proud of myself!

After I put that one onto the back-burner, I dipped my toes in the writing pool again. I wrote a couple of novellas and short stories, and over time I saw my writing improve. It was tighter. The characters were well-drawn. The sex scenes were hot!

The next step was finding a critique partner. After a few tries, I found one that fit. We worked together on our respective WIPs, helping and advising and commenting until we had polished manuscripts ready to be looked at.

I then spotted the Vampire Oracle call for submissions from Cobblestone Press and I absolutely had to be a part of it. I wrote a proposal for the Power card and, woohoo, I was accepted!

Since then, I've continued to write and submit. I've written thousands of words in one month, then suffered with writing block the next month. I've been accepted by both Cobblestone and Phaze but I've also had my share of rejections. All part of the writing process.

Looking back to a year ago when I was just starting out as a writer, I am so glad that I let the words come out. It's a big deal to put a pen to paper and allow yourself to be a writer. It's scary and intimidating to think of submitting a story to a publisher, or even showing a story to your own family and friends. But it's worth it. Believe me!

Coming July 4th from Cobblestone Press- The Vampire Oracle: Power
A vampire's promise lasts forever...

To learn more about Ava, visit her at her Website or Blog

A visit from Cassandra Moore

2008-06-17T10:51:00.001-06:00

Artists use pencils and paints. Sculptors use their fingers and clay. But it wouldn't seem like a writer would use much more than a pen and paper, would it?
Not so! Writers use a lot of tools to organize their ideas and get them out for general consumption. Pen and paper is important to some, and others don't touch it. Here are my tools of the trade:
1. A spiral notebookMead Five Star, if you please. Usually five subject. It's got pockets for storing loose notes that get scribbled on envelopes, a sturdy plastic cover that doesn't rip or bend much, and is stable enough that I can write on my knee if I want to.

2. PensPaper-Mate Profile has a nice flow to it. It makes my handwriting almost legible. Almost.

3. Power StructureThere are a lot of writing programs for your computer out there. Some of them almost write the story for you, some are very bare bones. I've found that which one you like is really subjective. Power Structure works out for me, although I've been looking into some cheaper alternatives. Still, I can't deny that this helps keep my plots and characters organized.

4. A wikiPower Structure's great for plots, but it's not great for world building. For that, I use a wiki. Just like Wikipedia, but with my own content. I have character profiles, story synopses, notes, you name it. I copy and paste descriptions from my stories into it to keep track of what I've said about who. This is a really terrific tool that I just discovered, thanks to Moira Rogers.

5. MusicWriting without music is torturous to me. Give me my iPod, or the playlist on my computer. I sometimes have specific playlists for specific situations, like writing steamy scenes or fight scenes. My main playlist is 193 songs long (that's about 14 hours of music).

6. Colored paperclipsThis is about as organized as I get.

7. Messy deskIf it's too neat, how can I think?

8. Pretzels (or black licorice)I don't smoke. But I've been known to sit around, writing a particularly tetchy scene with a pretzel stick hanging out of my mouth like a cigarette. Sometimes, I have good black licorice. Mmm.

9. FirefoxI sometimes have three tabs worth of research material open at a time. Included in this are the online dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and Wikipedia. Also, Google Earth and Google Maps.

10. PeopleNo one writes in a vacuum. I have my husband, my critique partners, my good friend, and other authors to bounce ideas off of, get told off by, and generally get help from. I use Pidgin to access multiple messaging services

To Learn More about Cassandra visit her at www.cassandra-moore.com

I Wanna Be a Paperback Writer

2008-06-16T11:52:00.003-06:00

Meet Today's Guest Blogger--the Lovely,

Dee Carney

A DJ on the radio asked listeners to think about the careers they had once dreamed of having when they were children. I thought long and hard about it and ran through my list...I'd wanted to be a medical doctor (ugh. too much school), a vet (allergic to a million things), a child psychiatrist (wtf?), a chef (still holding on to this one), an artist (not enough money per my dad) and a writer. That last one took me by surprise because I'd completely forgotten that once upon a time, I'd wanted to be a writer when I grew up. So how, if I'd forgotten I'd wanted to be a writer, did I end up here?

Well, lemme tell you...Scroll back about fifteen years. Sitting in a sociology course, I had an instructor who loved to hear himself talk. I mean LOVED.

While sitting there bemoaning the mandatory attendance requirement, I thought up a story about a servant and a land owner (think pre-Civil War) who embark into a marriage agreement so that he can keep his inheritance. For the next year, whenever I had a course that bored me to tears, I whipped out my story idea and wrote an actual story to go along with it. When school ended, so did my writing. I had to go work in the real world...with only 1 1/2 chapters left to go.

To this day, I still have 1 1/2 chapters left of the story. One day I'll finish it. But I digress....Scroll back about eight months ago. While perusing a publisher site for kicks and giggles, someone mentioned joining NaNo. Being the internet detective that I am, I went to the site. After reading some more, I figured, what the heck...and signed up.

Since it was only October, I also figured I'd better practice since my writing was a little rusty. So I thought up a story about a man who dies. But then comes back - in a new time & place. After I finished the first two chapters, I gave them to my secretary to read. She became engrossed in the story and refused to talk to me until I'd handed her the next chapter. And the next. And the next. All of a sudden, I was writing The End.

I was very proud when I handed her that final chapter. If I say so myself, it was a pretty good story. She thought so too. She called me out of a meeting to gush over the story. And my head got too big to fit through doorways. And when she told me to submit it to a publisher, my head was so big it barely fit into the car for the ride home. Once again, what the heck? flashed through my mind. And I submitted it to this e-publisher with a good reputation and fair terms. The fact that their authors had positive things to say about them didn't hurt either. And on Christmas Day while sitting at work I opened up my email to find a letter from Deanna Lee letting me know that she enjoyed my story too.

SOLDIER released from Cobblestone Press in April of 2008. Since then I've been contracted for an additional two stories with Cobblestone. I'm only looking forward from here.

Who knew that a little kid a zillion years ago could have predicted the direction her life would head?

I'm glad she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can find more about Dee here: Website Blog

Meet Cobblestone Press Author Michele Braden

2008-06-15T11:35:00.003-06:00

Vampire Oracle - Harmony

I never thought I'd be writing a paranormal romance. I write straight contemporary. I also didn't write fully disclosed love scenes. So, when the call came out for proposals for the Vampire Oracle line, why did I jump at it? I have no idea.

I originally read through the descriptions for each card and thought they sounded great. For someone else. Not my thing. But then the Harmony card showed up (they were released for proposals five at a time, just like they are being published the same way). I was drawn to the face on the card: Then, the description captured me: Key Words: sustenance, without conflict Meaning: This is a time of happiness and constancy. But like all good things, they have been worked for and could slip through the fingers if taken for granted.

My storyline for Harmony immediately popped in my head and I rushed to open a document and start laying it out. Once I finished that, I carefully checked all the rules for the proposal and then submitted it.

It all happened very quickly, but I was in the middle of the pack for submissions and we were to wait until mid-August, or maybe it was the end, but either way, it was a long wait. However, we got lucky and Deanna and Sable made their decisions much faster.

When I saw the email pop up in my inbox earlier than the expected date, I assumed it was a decline and was afraid to look. It was a contract!! (Obviously, since I'm writing this, but still, very exciting for me.)

From then to now has been a busy time: writing, editing, blurbing and getting ready for release date. The first five Vampire Oracle novella's released yesterday (June 6/08). Vampire Oracle: Harmony will release August 1/08. And, if I do say so myself, those love scenes turned out pretty hot.

I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed stepping outside of my comfort zone and writing it.

Here is my blurb:

Recently engaged, Kara Staten and Marc Brodeur are in love, and life is good.
Kara has a brand new business, and they have both worked hard to get to where
they are. When things start to turn bad, they struggle for the harmony they once
had. The balance starts to unravel, secrets become harder to keep. Kara's
skincare salon's "Take A Bite Out of Love (TBOL)" campaign results in several
almost fatal love bites, and Marc doesn't know if he's the cause. He's a vampire
trying to live a normal life. As the vampire in him struggles to take control,
Marc is only sure that he can't be the man Kara needs. She doesn't know he's a
vampire--can't know. As their lives spin into separate paths, they will find
that the thing that could tear them apart is the one thing that will ultimately
keep them together.

To learn more about Michelle visit her at her WEBSITE or you can find her often at her BLOG

That's the Power of Love..or Romance to be exact.

2008-06-14T09:45:00.002-06:00

The Power of Romance

Featuring

Guest blogger

Jamieson Wolf

A while back, I was talking to my co-workers and sharing my good news: Cobblestone Press had accepted Valentine, my gay erotic paranormal romance, and they were going to publish it!
Josh, the office admin, turned to me and said: “Did you just say your gay erotic romance?”
I nodded. “Yep.” I said.
"You mean like a fantasy right?”
"Yeah, but it’s a gay romance.”
"You write romance?” Lindsay, my other co-worker, huffed.
“For goodness sake, Josh! He just told us that his gay erotic romance was accepted. So yes, he writes romance.”
"But I thought you wrote fantasy stuff.” Josh said.
I sighed inwardly. The truth is that I write a lot of different things. I have a horror/fantasy series about soap operas and zombies. I have the first book in a dark children’s trilogy out now in paperback. So, I’m more known as a fantasy author. Only I like to call it speculative fiction.
Thus far, aside from my husband, everyone has reacted the same way when I’ve told them the news about Valentine: Bemused bafflement.
One of my friends reacted in a particularly amusing way. “You wrote a romance?” My friend scoffed. "Isn’t that a little tacky?”
For whatever reason, there seems to be this stigma about romance novels or erotic romance stories. People are always leery of either admitting they read them or that they enjoy them. \
I read tons of romances. Nora Roberts, Heather Graham, Diana Palmer, J.D. Robb, Carly Phillips, Caridad Piniero, Pat White, Pamela Palmer, all of them are fantastic.
I don’t know what it is about romances that I love so much. Perhaps it’s because there is no greater thing on this earth than passionate love and a happy ending?
Whatever the reason, I’m proud to be in the company of such talented writers. I’m proud to be writing stories that touch the heart, pull on the emotions and evoke feelings, something I think that is lacking in literature today. And though quite a few people might discount romances as smut, they are the only books I know of that consistently evoke a reaction: shock, envy, lust, contentment, sadness, happiness, a sense of triumph. I experience those emotions and more each time I read a romance.
I think the true power of romances is that it brings our fantasies to life and shows us its okay to dream, to hope, to want something better. They show us its okay to love. What can be more powerful than that?
Later on in the day, Josh came to my desk with a grin on his face.
“What?” I asked.
"Your romance,” he said sheepishly. “Can I read it?”
I grinned and shook my head. I guess some people can be lured by the power of romance after all.

For more info on Jamieson and her new release Valentine, check out her blog! www.valentineanovel.blogspot.com

And, while you’re at it, don’t forget to pick up your copy of Valentine by clicking here: http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/valentinejw

Website ~ Blog ~ Myspace

Cobblestone Blog Tour Continues--I Once Met a Girl

2008-06-13T10:11:00.004-06:00

An Interview With Leila Brown

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Well let’s see…I’m an avid reader. Always have been, always will be. I enjoy a good story whether it’s romance, science fiction, or horror. I’m in it for the story. That’s what I strive for. In every story I write I try to provide my readers with a great story first and foremost.

Were you a reader before you became a writer?
Oh yes. I could read 3-4 category romances a day or one and a half single titles. I spent hundreds of dollars a month on books.

Did you always aspire to be an author? Was writing a passion of yours?
Yes. I started writing in the second grade. Unfortunately, I didn’t win that first writing contest. But it created the need to write.

Have you always had the writing bug? And how long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing seriously since 2002. I entered contest but didn’t start sending my work out to publishing companies until 2005.

Your real job is very different (non-creative) from writing. Does this difference drive your imagination?
Some days. My day job as a computer programmer/analysts can be a drain. If I’m dealing with a particular hard problem or training people then I use the creative juices try to come up with ways to explain technical things to non-technical people. Other days I find myself coming up with new ideas while I work. I keep a notebook handy for just such an occasion.

What is the best part of being a writer?
Creating stories that entertain me and getting paid for it.

How did you get your break and sell your first book?
It’s kind of funny. The first book I sold will actually be my fourth book released. When Cobblestone Press first came out with their Vampire Oracle line I loved the oracle card images. I submitted three proposals. Battle, Lust, and Hunger. On Aug. 10th 2007 (like how I remember the date?) the publisher contacted me and expressed how much she liked my Hunger proposal. But she felt it fit the Sacrifice card better. After reading through her reasoning, I had to agree.

Has your writing made you adjust your lifestyle in any way?
I’ve learned sleep is for wimps! No, actually I learned to take care of my family first. After that the day job and finally all free time is spent on writing and promoting my books.

Are you planning on writing any series books or do you have any more books that lead on from your existing titles that we should know about?
You betcha. The sequel to The Diamond Heartstone is The Pearl Heartstone. I am working on that one right now. It’s the story of how the nasty prince meets his match. The sequel to A Chance Encounter is also in the works. It will detail how Monique, Heather business partner and best friend, gets caught by her own set of powerful Faeries. Yes, it’s another ménage. And…as if that wasn’t enough, in September and October of this year I will be releasing Mastering Mirage and Making Mischief. These will be the stories of Soundwave’s sisters who are out searching for big sis when they cross the wrong men. Is that enough?

Not quite. But if you want to learn more about Leila just go to her website at www.leilabrown.com

Cobblestone Blog Tour--Day Five (sorry, can't think of a song at the moment)

2008-06-12T11:41:00.003-06:00

Cobblestone has such a group of wonderfully talented writers with books you won't want to put down. One is the very lovely Yolanda Sfetsos. Her book Guarded By Stone is now available at Cobblestone Press. *Buy it Now*

The only reason Jemma walks through Hyde Park, is to cross paths with the
handsome stranger who always seems to be there. When she's attacked inside the
park one night, she finally gets to meet the man of her fantasies…Mason is one
of the Guardians of Sydney. When the woman he's attracted to is attacked by a
creature he's trying to stop, their lives are thrown together. To end the
creature's attacks within his part of the city, he'll need her help. Their
attraction is building, but how will Jemma react when she finds out what he
really is?

EXCERPT

As much as Mason wanted to explain everything to the beauty he’d left safely inside her home, he knew she would be unconscious until morning. The creature that attacked her inside the park wasn’t dead. He’d managed to scare the chimera off, but she would go elsewhere to find another victim. Mason had been tracking this one for weeks.

The monster wanted to feed on humans. It was the only thing on which these creatures thrived. He had no idea how she’d gotten to Sydney, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the chimera was here now and had already consumed enough humans to raise suspicion.

He’d seen the articles on discarded newspapers in parks all around Sydney. The victims were reported missing, but he knew they’d never be found. At least not complete, and not until the chimera was done with them. He had to stop her before the bitch destroyed more. The fact she decided to attack the one woman that made his desire to walk this earth burn wasn’t wasted on him. Maybe the chimera knew he was on her trail, or maybe she’d just gotten lucky.

She’d kept everyone from the scene of the crime via very powerful use of persuasion. He hadn’t been able to get through until it was almost too late. To realize he’d come so close to losing the brunette made his heart sink. He wouldn’t waste anymore time.

He wasn’t really a hunter of these monsters. He was just trying to get by. To live the mere existence that sunset gave him. It was an impossible way to live. A way that forced him to keep his distance from people—there was no point getting close to anyone. Not when he’d magically disappear at sunrise.

His duty wasn’t to hunt, but he had a duty nevertheless.

As the first rays of the sun caressed his face and warmed his bare shoulders, he closed his eyes. His skin tightened a little more with each degree the bright orb rose into the sky. He wrapped his fingers around the edge of the building, tight enough to keep him upright all day. So he could stare down at the living city below. Forced to sleep, turn to stone and awaken at nightfall, ready to guard it.

Everything hardened but his heart and mind. His thoughts turned to dreams of a beautiful, brunette woman he now knew was called Jemma.

To learn more about Yolanda Sfetsos visit her at www.yolandasfetsos.com

The Way You Do the Things You Do

2008-06-11T10:19:00.002-06:00

Today's guest author is Sophie Athens. Sophie's new book will be released with Cobblestone's new Vampire Oracles series.

Things that help put me in the mood to write.

As a writer, I'm always desperate for new things to put me in the proper mood. Here are some tips and tricks I use to evoke the atmosphere I need to put pen to paper (or more appropriately, fingers to keyboard):

1--Scents are often one of the most overlooked senses, and yet the human mind has scads and scads of memories associated with scent. Think of an emotional memory that ties in with a particular scent (perhaps one that makes you laugh, cry, or long for someone), and use that scent when writing to evoke those particular feelings in yourself. You'd be amazed how much easier it is to transfer those emotions to the page. For example, if you're trying to evoke a feeling of home, maybe pop some chocolate-chip cookies in the oven (then bonus, you have cookies to reward yourself, too! hah)
2--candles (scented or unscented). I love the flickering of candles off the objects around me. When I'm trying to write something dark or romantic, I find candles help pull that mood out of me.
3--music. If there's a mood you're trying to create, there's a song that can help. Some people love music without lyrics, while others love the lyrics. Play around with it and see what works for you.
4--sexy clothing. If I'm trying to write a love scene, I find I feel more confident and aware of my own sexuality if I dress in a more provocative manner.
5--watch a movie that has a similar feel to what you're trying to evoke before writing. Visual stimulation is a fantastic aid when going to write a scene. It helps make things more tangible in your mind.
6--act out a scene before writing it, whether just in your mind or with someone else. This can apply to sex scenes, as well as any other. Go through the dialogue in your mind and let yourself feel the emotions so you can accurately transfer them to the page.
7--a little alcohol can help. I love sipping on a glass of wine while writing. Too much will make your writing sloppy, but just a little bit can help relax you enough to let you tap into your sensory emotions.

If anyone has any good tips or tricks, please share them!

You can find more details about me at http://www.sophieathens.com and more about my novella, The Vampire Oracle: Hunger at http://www.cobblestone-press.com/cat...pireoracle.htm.

Today's Guest Blogger is the Multitalented Kris Eton.

2008-06-10T10:16:00.003-06:00

I began my writing career trying my hand at women's fiction. Serious stuff with angst and messy lives and women with things to work through. Then, I moved on to paranormal suspense. My mainstream ideas seem to be focused in this area, so I've got a zillion ideas to keep me busy there.

But erotic romance? I kind of fell into it. Honestly.

I was working on my 4th or 5th book. I had no success either finding an agent or a publisher with any of these books. A critique group I belonged to posted a call for short erotic fiction from an epublisher I'd heard of. And I thought...I can do that! 10,000 words? Easy as pie.
That book turned into MOONLIGHTING, a fun little tale about a woman who gets mistaken for a shoplifter in the dressing room of a store after hours. I'd never written an erotic sex scene before. But I threw caution to the wind and just hunkered down.

What made that particular story so successful was that I gave myself permission to fail. I had no pressure to make something 'great.' Which, in turn, freed up my creative mind. I didn't worry about what my mom might think or if an agent would think I was a nut. I just wrote what I wanted and decided it didn't matter. It could be silly or stupid or even plain ridiculous.
Several months later, I had a contract in hand for that book. It went through some rough times....making it through a bankruptcy. But now it has a new home with The Wild Rose Press, and I couldn't be happier.

Writing that first story was a breakthrough for me. A freeing of my creative self. Learning that I needed to please myself first...because if I liked the book, so would someone else.
Sometimes it takes a shake up in your writing to find success. Wanting to succeed in a certain genre and finding nothing but closed doors can take a toll on a writer's fragile ego. Sometimes a writer has to take a risk, try something out of their comfort zone to find success.
Now I have four published erotic romances and more on the way. Never be afraid to stretch yourself as a writer. Those are the times you grow the most.

To learn more about Kris and the wonderful books she writes visit her at
http://www.kriseton.com/

www.myspace.com/kriseton

It Takes Two, Baby

2008-06-09T10:11:00.004-06:00

Ever wonder what it would be like to co-write a book? Well, today's Guest Blogger makes it look easy!
Meet the writing team known as Moira Rogers. Their book Moonshine will released soon at Cobblestone Press. But, until then, why not take advantage of a great contest!

Write a Poem, Win a Book!

Every month we take all of our website search keywords from the previous month and post them, challenging our readers to create magnetic poetry style poems for us. It was so much fun the first time around it's become a tradition.

Starting in May, we invited an author to be our guest judge. The author donates a copy of one of their books to the winner, and we pitch in a gift certificate, both for the winner and the runner up.

Current Contest:

Previous Winners:

More about the dynamic duo writing as Moira Rogers:

Bree

Bree spends her days trying to create order from chaos working as a Database Application Designer and her nights trying to create chaos from order as a writer. She is interested in Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction and any book that tells her how to: knit, crochet, felt, bead, silkscreen, sew, quilt, cook, bake, do woodwork, make stained glass, or program computers.

In spite of the fact that she has a degree in Computer Science, she cannot operate her own VCR and has to ask Donna what her cell phone number is at least once a week.

Donna

As the mother of two toddlers, Donna also spends her days trying to create order from chaos. When chaos is sleeping, she enjoys reading, watching television, listening to music, and cooking, usually in some odd simultaneous combination.

As a writer, Donna spends half her time trying to wrangle muses who are actually more unmanageable than her children, and the other half trying to explain her bizarre plot ideas to Bree in a sensible, coherent fashion. She's trying to do better with both.

To learn even more, stop by their website, http://www.moirarogers.com/

Meet Author Loribelle Hunt!

2008-06-08T11:22:00.004-06:00

Today, during the first 'official' day of the Magical Mystery Tour, Bestselling author Loribelle Hunt is stopping by with a blurb and spicy excert of her soon to be released new book in Cobblestone's SHIFTERS series, CAPTURED MOON.

Available June 27, 2008!

Captured Moon: Lunar Mates 6
Blurb

When her marriage ended, Abby retreated into herself to lick her wounds and rebuild her life. She’s found satisfaction and some success writing, and she’s happy. Mostly. Who wouldn’t welcome a little R&R? Her favorite fantasy and many of her stories revolve around two men modeled after real life werewolf twins Rule and Lawe. When two of her friends talk her into participating in a local auction, fantasy and reality begin to mix. Rest and relaxation never felt so good, but is reality more than she bargained for?

Excerpt

God, she couldn’t believe her own libido. A familiar awareness coursed through her just thinking about them. Rule and Lawe made her want wicked, sinful things. Things she’d never wanted with any man, much less two.
It seemed so taboo, forbidden, especially considering she’d thought of them as her own brothers for years. There were other considerations, though. Deep fears. Good reasons not to explore the passion she was sure could ignite between the three of them. That kind of thing tended to lead to mate bonds and the last thing she wanted was to be mated to a Panhandle werewolf. Or two. Sighing, she pushed those worries from her mind. It wasn’t like they’d showed that kind of interest.
She focused on the open doorway leading to the stage. The waitress at the entrance was hissing at her. Time to go on. She wondered how she was supposed to stroll across the stage without literally showing her ass.
After walking out, it took her a moment to get her bearings. She’d never seen the bar from this angle.
“A yummy morsel, don’t you think, gentlemen?” Bill asked the crowd. “And I have to say, she’s just as lovely under the mask. Now, where should we start the bidding? Fifty? Do I have any takers?”
She shot him a horrified look. Was he crazy? No one was going to pay fifty dollars to go on a date with her! To her amazement, someone took the offer, then someone else countered. Before she knew it, the total was one hundred and fifty. She assumed that was the limit until she heard one of the dark, honeyed voices that fueled her dreams and fantasies up the bidding again.
Rule’s voice sent shivers down her spine. She longed to hear it in the darkest depths of night against her ear, whispering of the decadent things he was going to do to her and filled with the tenderness she ached to receive from him. Because as physically alluring as she found him, she wanted more. She wanted the steadiness, the strength of character, the caring and gentleness he’d shown her during the last year as she’d struggled to accept her divorce and the loss of her family. But she only wanted a few nights. She wanted to be able to walk away.
She tried to ignore a taunting internal voice. Yeah, right. Just a few nights.
After her parents’ deaths a little over a year ago, she’d taken the plunge and filed for divorce. Why she’d ever imagined a werepanther would be the same faithful, loving family man her werewolf father was escaped her. He was a cat, after all.
The loss of her parents had been horrific, but it had also been a wakeup call. She’d moved out within the week and started the long process of licking her wounds. Alex hadn’t fought for her. No, instead he heaved a sigh of relief and confessed he’d found someone else, someone he insisted was his mate even though, in her experience, werepanthers didn’t believe in life mates.
That was a week of changes. Maggie and Marilyn, who’d left for college and only returned for summer visits, moved back to Florida, and within a few, days the twins had come home too to take over their family’s bar. They were all together again. Sort of. The twins switched responsibilities. Every couple of months, one would take over the bar, and the other would leave. She had no idea where they’d disappear to or what they did while they were gone. They’d both been gone for a few weeks in December, returning just in time for Christmas. They’d worked out some kind of part-time arrangement with the Hunters, but Marilyn had told her earlier in the evening that Lawe would be back soon and they were both done. Retiring.
Her pussy clenched at the thought of his return, and she tried to ignore the memories that rose. Lawe was something else entirely. Wild. Untamed. They’d grown close a few months ago, and she’d almost felt pursued as if he were hunting her, as if he were going to take that next step and ask her out. Or take her to bed. Then he’d backed off, and Rule had come home to take over. Maybe Lawe had sensed her desires and disapproved. Or just didn’t reciprocate. And now Rule was bidding on her. Why?
She searched the crowd for him and groaned when she saw him standing at the rear of the bar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a sound of pleasure, not even the small enjoyment she got scoping Rule out anonymously behind the mask, because standing next to him were Lawe and her ex, Alex. She ignored Alex and concentrated on the twins.
They looked so much alike, most people couldn’t tell them apart. Tall and fit, with matching green eyes and long dark hair, they turned heads. In personality, they were polar opposites. Where Rule was calm and collected, Lawe was a force of nature, always volatile and in motion. Now, his brows were drawn down in a scowl, and he glared daggers at his brother before turning to gaze at her. The look didn’t soften when aimed in her direction. He recognized her. Did he not approve of his brother’s interest? Like this fiasco wasn’t bad enough, they both had to witness it?
With impatience, she waited for Bill to call an end to the bidding—she wanted to escape and fast—but before he could, the bid was upped again. The voice that called out one hundred seventy sent shivers up her a spine, and not in a good way.
Ripping her gaze from the twins, she turned to the corner booth where Gage, the Alpha, held court. His lips turned up in the slightest smile and he lifted his beer to her in salute. Her stomach flip-flopped. What the hell was he up to? The last thing she wanted was to come to the attention of the Panhandle Alpha. No way, no how. Thank you very much.
She whipped back around to Rule and Lawe. One of them had damned well better raise the bid. She was tempted to do it herself, but didn’t dare do anything that might embarrass Gage. He ruled the pack with an iron fist. As an unmated female associated with it, she was allowed a certain amount of latitude. But publicly opposing him… She shuddered. She didn’t want to know how he’d respond.
Thankfully, Rule countered with two hundred.
Gage held his gaze a long moment, nodded once, and let the bidding end.

About the Author

A native of the South, is it any wonder Loribelle has a love of story telling? After a few bumps along the way and stints as an Army MP, a waitress, a student, and a wedding photographer this mother of three has turned to writing full time. She is a staff reviewer for Romance Divas and a member of RWA. To learn more about this fabulously talented author, visit her at her website: http://www.loribellehunt.com/

The Magical Mystery Tour

2008-06-06T12:59:00.001-06:00

Okay...not so much a mystery...but it's a tour. A virtual Blog Tour, that is.

To celebrate Cobblestone Press's two year anniversary as well as help generate new sales, fourteen authors (including myself) will be doing a virtual blog tour. Meaning, we're each guest blogging on each other's blogs. (that really makes sense in my head)

Since I have two blogs I'll be posting ther appearances at both places. (This place being one of them). It's your chance to meet some great new authors and find some great new books. Including Cobblestone's new collection called The Vampire Oracles. (beware...they're HOT)

Now, as the handful of you who actually stop by to read my blog know, I tend to theme my blogs around song titles or lyrics. So, if you like to try to guess the name of the song or the artist who sings it, then hunt me down the week of June 7-21 and tell me the answer. It's kind of like playing Where's Waldo. Who knows....you may even enjoy the blog post. (it's been known to happen)

As an added bonus (in case you missed my bulletin post) during the same 14 days I'll be holding a contest. To enter, just go to my website, sign up for my newsletter and in the comment section, tell me what the most romantic gift was that you've ever been given by your significant other.
On June 21 I'll choose the best story and post it on my blog(s). The winner will recieve their own original print of The Pillslily (the picture Antonio gives to Anita in my book, Her Will His Way)

Good Luck to you all!

I'm looking forward to reading your stories.

I’m Coming Out!

2008-04-15T12:36:00.007-06:00

My book, that is.

Her Will His Way will officially hit the virtual bookshelves on Friday, April 18. You can download it here at Cobblestone Press.

Her Will His Way is a contemporary erotic romance set in the Rio Grande Valley. It’s a fun read with characters you won’t want to let go.

I really enjoyed writing this book and hope you’ll enjoy reading it as well. In order to pique your curiosity here is the blurb.

Blurb:

After her husband’s infidelity ends their ten year marriage and allegations of fraud send her interior design business into bankruptcy, Anita Perez is more than happy to take over ownership of her late grandfather’s flower shop in the Rio Grande Valley. However, Anita has a problem. She doesn’t speak Spanish–something her grandmother’s sexy neighbor, Antonio Hernandez, feels the need to remind her of on a daily basis.
Antonio has loved Anita for as long as he can remember, but the only attention she’d give him was in willful response to a dare. Now that she has returned to the valley Antonio will stop at nothing to win her heart.
But Antonio’s plan may backfire if Anita learns he made a ‘deal with the devil’ and he used the flower shop to lure her into more than just his bed.

For a sneak peak at the book, drop by Cobblestone Press and order your copy TODAY!!

Yay! It's Baseball Season!

2008-03-27T17:37:00.003-06:00

I love baseball season...and I'm not talking about Major League Baseball...I'm talking LITTLE LEAGUE!! Why? Because my youngest is playing.

Beware....proud mother moment to follow. ;-)

My youngest son is an avid sports fan and especially loves baseball. From the time he was old enough to see, he's been watching baseball. By the time he was two, he'd already started working on his batting stance. I even have a picture of him in diapers, wearing a Mickey Mouse cap (that belonged to his sister) and holding a plunger as if waiting for the pitch. He was such a cute baby!! (even his sister, who's only two years older, constantly says so).

When he was four he started calling himself Jeremy Bell after his favorite Astro ballplayer Derek Bell.

J was so excited when he finally reached the age to play T-ball. He's played every season, Spring and Fall, for seven years now. This year he's old enough to try out for the All Star team (which competes for a spot in the Little League World Series). We're really looking forward to that!

J is an awesome ballplayer and can play nearly every position on the field...and has. His best position is first base, which he's been playing for a couple of years. And, because he's a big kid (5'7) with a powerful swing he's batting clean-up.

Last night was his second game of the season. We didn't win, but J's first at bat he hit an over the fence HOME RUN!! He'd been waiting to do that for two years now!

It was kind of funny because J really doesn't like attention focused on him, so when the ball went over the fence he ran the bases with his head down, like he was embarrased. haha Anyway....now I owe him twenty dollars. Which I am more than happy to pay.

Okay....proud mother moment over.

Spring Break....literally

2008-03-08T12:52:00.003-07:00

This week starts Spring Break for my kids. Which means, I'll have to listen to them complain about being bored, which also means I won't get much writing done...not that I've been doing any writing lately. For some reason I just can't seem to get motivated...and I have a few novels swimming in my head waiting to be put down on paper! Anyway....part of the reason is because I'm still waiting to hear back from agents and an editor. There are a total of four reading (two separate books though). I'm also trying to "get my name out there" before the launch of my first book, Her Will, His Way. In case you didn't notice the cover over there -->

Anyway. I have a few online promos set up. Here's the list, so far:

March 18 Coffeetime Romance (actually I'll be there to support my fellow Cobblestone Authors)
March 22 Joyfully Reviewed (you can find it in the 'chat' section)
March 26 Love's Romance Cafe Yahoo group.

I don't have anything set up yet for April, but as soon as I do, I'll list them. As always, you can catch me here or at my Myspace page/blog or even the Cobblestone Blog from time to time.

So anyway, much of my time this spring break week will be spent waiting on my daughter. She took the term literally and broke her leg. Okay...it's not so dramatic as that. She actually has (what appears to be) a hairline fracture of her kneecap. In case you're not familiar with my daughter, she has a mild form of Cerebral Palsy (mild meaning it affects her gross and fine motor skills but she's able to walk), albeit she's a bit clumsy at times. She's 16 years old and I keep a pretty protective eye on her. Well, yesterday I gave in and allowed her to be a teenager and hang out with a few friends after school It was a half day and she wanted to go to lunch with them. Around 2:30 I had my son go pick her up. When he came home he said she'd hurt herself. Long story short...while she and her friends were walking across the parking on their way to one of the friend's house she tripped and fell. She said she was fine but by 4:00 her knee started to hurt and it was getting swollen. I'd iced it when she came home but it didn't help with the swelling. So I took her to the Urgent Care Clinic and they x-rayed it. Because it's on the kneecap and her kneecaps are (strangely) higher up on her leg than most people, it was hard to read the x-ray. But from what the doctor could tell it looked like a break. We'll find out for sure next week. Anyway....she has to stay off it for the next five days plus she has to wear a brace. I gave her some Motrin last night for the pain (and low fever she'd developed) and it helped her sleep. For the most part, we have to carry her or act as her crutch when she goes to the bathroom...or rather, I do. Anyway, she's taking it pretty well...of course who wouldn't when you get the whole house waiting on you hand and foot?

The Liar's Diary Blog Day!!

2008-01-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

What would you do if your best friend was murdered-and your teenaged son was accused of the crime? How far would you go to protect him? How many lies would you tell? Would you dare to admit the darkest truths-even to yourself?

No, I don’t really want to know the answers….well, okay…maybe I do. I’m a writer…I’m inherently nosy. =)

Actually this is the premise of The Liar’s Diary, by Patry Francis. Patry’s book hit the shelves today in paperback. And, to help her get the word out, I’m going to pose this question to you.

For myself, being the mother of four, I don’t know what I’d do. I know I would adamently believe in my son’s innocence, but would I turn him in and take our chances with the justice system? Or would I find someone else to lay the blame on? Hmm….I think I’d ship him to Canada….do they extradite??

Okay, seriously, that’s a tough question to answer and if you want to know what Patry’s character’s would do….buy the book!

It’s funny (strange) to read works by authors after you’ve met them because you tend to have this preconcieved notion about the kind of person they are. If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written (okay…that’s not really likely) you’d so have a different opinion of me….not quite sure if it would be good or bad…but you’d be surprised.

Anyway. I had the pleasure of meeting Patry (albeit very briefly) last year at the Backspace conference in New York. She’s a lovely, petite woman who seemed a bit shy and overwhelmed by the crowd at the conference. Of course, space was limited (it’s NY), so we were probably all a bit overwhlemed. But seeing this somewhat shy woman I’d have never guessed she could write something so dark.

About a month ago, I learned Patry was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. She’s been recovering well, but because of the debilitation of the illness she is unable to market and promote her book. Though I don’t really know her, we are both members of the same online writing sites, so in my eyes, that makes her family. And family is everything….(so I guess that answers my previous question.)

Several times over the last few months, I’ve sought out your help with my work or other writer’s works, and you’ve all been so very wonderful about it. So, now I’m asking again. Help support this writer, my friend, and pick up The Liar’s Diary. And, really, if you think about it, it’s not so much to ask. I’m telling you about a wonderful book and in return, you get to read it. It’s a win/win.

If you want to learn more about Patry Francis or her book, visit her at her website .

You can also go here and see how many more are stepping up to the plate in order to help this wonderful woman.

Order Patry’s Book at any of these sites:

What's so funny?

2008-01-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get so tired that you laugh at everything? It happens to me a lot! Exhaustion makes me giddy..and my kids seem to get a kick out of it...albeit in a Mom is weird kinda way. But, I say, if you can't laugh with your kids then you're not enjoying them enough.

I totally enjoy hanging out with my kids....not everyday, mind you, but a lot of times. They're all teenagers now so I can joke around without traumatizing them. Most times it's a quick witted jab that makes them roll their eyes....but then they have to admit...it was quick! My oldest son, Adam, has totally developed my sense of humor....I'm so proud. He's very quick witted and will have me in stitches at some of the things he says. And, some days, he doesn't even try.

Here's an example. He was at work the other day working the phones at customer service. A man called and was totally pissed off about something. He started tearing into my son using every curse word he could think of. What does my son do? He hangs up the phone. Two minutes later the man calls back, livid! He says, "Did you just F**ing hang up on me?" My son, without missing a beat says, "I don't know. Did it sound like this?" and he hangs up the phone. Priceless!!

The other day we'd gone to JC Penny's because the girls wanted jeans and my younger son needed shoes. While we were looking at shoes, I had daughter A try on a pair of flats. Daughter B was standing in front of her (they're face to face). I told A to take off her right shoe. She does.

Daughter B: "no, that's your left foot."
Daughter A is a bit confused but starts to put her shoe back on.
Me: "no, that's the right foot."
Daughter B: "No, that's the left foot. See?" Holds out her left foot. Mind you, she's facing child A. We both look at child B waiting to see how much longer it's going to take to snap. It took a while. I had to turn her around to prove A had the right foot.

Later on we were in the Men's department because my husband wanted some dress shirts and they were on sale. He picked up a blue shirt with white pin stripes.

Him: "What about this one?"
Me: "Don't you have a shirt like that
already?"
Him: "No, the one I have is blue with white
stripes."

You probably had to be there for that one, regardless....we all got a laugh
out of it.

My husband is a pretty good sport when it comes to our picking on him though. I tell my kids they get their duh moments from him....he's a natural blonde so it's in their roots. (haha)

And, here's yet another funny, blonde moment courtesy of my husband.
Christmas Eve dinner. Daughter B's boyfriend has joined us. We're having fun, silly conversation and I say something about B having ADD.

Husband to Daughter B: "You're ADD?"
Daughter B: "Yeah, but I get it from you."
Husband: "I'm not ADD I'm..." (pause...wrinkles brow and cocks his head,
thinking)...."what is that again?"

Yeah.....definitely one of the funniest spur of the moment moments you'll encounter with my family. So, should you come visit my house, bring a sewing kit because you'll be in stitches!

Pour Some Sugar on Me

2007-12-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

When I first started allowing people to read my work I expected words of praise, pats on the back, bottles of champagne popping open because I'd written the next Great American Novel....and for the most part that's what I got....because I'd sent it to people I know--friends, family...people who would tell me what I wanted to hear. Then I found a critique partner, whom I'll call "Andy", who had no qualms about telling me how bad a writer I was. After cleaning up the wounds he gave me, I did more revisions and then sent my book to an editor at Avon....who told me what she really thought. Now, the critque the editor gave my manuscript wasn't in any way mean like "Andy" (unless you consider post-it notes with Yuk and Double Yuk taped to the pages mean)...and she was very helpful. I wasn't where I needed to be with the craft if I wanted to be published. So, being the damned determined kind of person I am, I studied, joined RWA (Romance Writers of America for those who don't know) and found a critique group.

It's been four years since that editor's critique....and the novel has improved drastically...it even garnered me an agent and interest from another editor....but that's another (horrible) story. Anyway....because I've been learning so much over the years---mainly thanks to the wonderful writer friends I've made--I feel confident in passing along my *wisdom* to new writers. So, for the last few months I've been a part of a forum where writers are encouraged to post chapters for feedback. Now, I've made it a point not to read or comment unless specifically asked because most consider my feedback a bit....harsh. Not that I do it that way...it just comes out that way online.

For the most part, I've gotten great thanks from some of the people...but there are still several there who just don't want to hear what they're doing "wrong" and will argue till they're purple that I just didn't get it! Especially since others (their friends) are giving them those pats on the back they so desperately want. How is that helping??

So...why bother giving critiques to writers who only want me to pour some sugar on them? Call me a masochist...haha...no....actually because eventually they're going to see that it isn't just me.

And if these writer's can't take a critique from me, how are they ever going to handle rejection from an agent or editor??

Which reminds me....the Avon editor had asked to see the manuscript again if I cleaned it up...she's not at Avon anymore but with another major house. I wonder if I should consider resending to her??

Ending the year with a bang

2007-12-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, not so much a bang as in a POP....like the sound the cork makes on a bottle of bubbly. Yep....I got to open the bottle recently because I made my first sale!! (yay me!)

Last year, around this time, I was asked to participate in a Latina based anthology by an editor who really loved my work and was ready to submit my novel FORGET ME NOT to committee. However, before I could send her the completed novella (which is really more of a short story) and she could submit my book, she left the house for a better position elsewhere. Talk about deflating the ole ego boost. Then of course the rest of 2007 went totally downhill!! (I won't even rehash that since it's history and why dwell on it??)

So, anyway in November, on the advice of a writer friend, I submitted the story, who's new title is now HER WILL, HIS WAY, to a couple of online publishers. This week one of them emailed asking if the story was still available. I said yes. She offered a contract. I signed. And, after the first of the year the book will go through the process and be available online by the summer!! **woo hoo!**

I'm very proud of the work I did on this story and even the few people I sent it to really loved it! So I'm looking forward to sharing it with more people.....and hey, if they like this story....wait till they get a hold of my novels!! hehe

Anyway....as soon as the story is available I'll let you all know....although I'm sure you'll hear me shouting from the rooftops. ;-)

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Life as I know it is over

2007-12-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

My quiet, peaceful, stress free days to myself are going to be ending soon. I have to find a job.
I haven't had a job in nearly fifteen years but it's pretty much like riding a bike, right? Although, I haven't done that in quite a while either. Hmmm.

I've only had two types of jobs in the fifteen years I did work. I calculated earlier...my first job was in 1978 and I stopped working in 1992.

The first job I got was in food service...I worked for Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut and Friendlys (in NY). The other job was as a letter carrier with the US Postal service...which was also in New York, Hartsdale to be exact then Beaumont Texas and I did a year in Alaska. That one was my last job because it was really difficult to keep a job when I kept having kids (hah) and the government found it necessary to transfer my Coastie husband every two years. He retired in 2000 and got a real job, but he was getting paid so well it wasn't necessary for me to work...plus, both of us preferred our four children have someone home at all time.

Well, now the kids are mostly grown (the youngest is 12) and our finances are getting very tight (thanks to child one...but I won't go there) and we're having to rely on credit cards for everything right now. My husband is determined to pay them all off by this summer....which can only happen if I find a job. We were really hoping my writing would pay off....but every time I got close to selling....it didn't happen. *sigh* So, anyway, in order to make that goal for my husband (because he really deserves to not have to live paycheck to paycheck after all the time we had to do that)...I'll need to find a job.

I'm kind of nervous about it because like I said it's been fifteen years since I've had a job....I don't know if I have the patience to learn one...especially in food service...which is where I'm planning to apply. Why food service? I like it. You get to meet all kinds of people and interact with them. Of course that can also be a downside. haha With the holidays approaching, everyone is hiring, so it shouldn't be too hard to find something. Right??

Anyway....wish me luck...I guess.

Back to Back

2007-11-01T16:33:00.000-06:00

About four years ago I had a lumbarectomy to correct a severe herniated disc. The doctor just removed the part of the disc on my lower back that was herniated (because the swelling was pressing against mycarotid artery...or something....it was very painful regardless) Anyway, since then I've tried to be careful doing certain things so as not to re-injure my back, although pretty much anything I do causes my back to hurt. So, the other day I decided to clean my son's room...which was quite a chore! The boys share the room right now and you'll never meet a bigger set of slobs! I had to take the beds apart so I could clean under them....I won't even go into how disgustingly cluttered they were. Anyway, as I was lifting the boxspring I felt the muscles in my back stretch and thought...aw crap! Luckily I didn't injure it as bad as before, but it was still sore enough to make me take a vicodin so I could sleep that night...and the next two nights after. I'm still sore, but I don't think I'll need surgery again. Anyway, now my daughter, who is the same age now that I was the first time I hurt my back, is complaining about her back hurting. Talk about weird. So, now I have to take her to the doctor next week so I can get a referral to a specialist because our insurance won't let us see specialists without a referral from our doctor. It's annoying...and part of the reason I haven't gotten around to getting my oldest daughter her specialists yet.

On a bright note, my youngest, who plays baseball started his first game as pitcher on Tuesday. Coach said when he told J he'd be starting pitcher that night, J just looked at him...no reaction whatsoever. Most boys are usually excited or at least smile, say something....not J. I think he was secretly panicked because he's only been pitching a couple of years and usually one or two innings in a game. I don't think he wanted coach to know he was freaked. Anyway, he did a great job! Only gave up one hit in the first three innings, one run in the third inning. By the fourth inning he'd given up a few hits and thanks to several errors, gave up a few more runs. coach pulled him in the fourth with two outs and runners on because he wanted J to come out of the game ahead (meaning if the relief pitcher gave up runs and let the other team pull ahead, it wouldn't be J who lost his lead...ya know?) Anyway...we won anyway. J went two for four with a walk (and a double). He's become quite the ballplayer in his six and a half years of playing...we're very proud.

Thank you to my Friends

2007-10-25T14:16:00.000-06:00

I just want to send out a special Thank You to Brenda and Lynn for reading and commenting and caring so much. I don't know what I'd do without friends like you two.

Like I mention in the previous blog, I think it's mostly hormones making me feel so whiny....or rather the lack of homones...I don't think my HRT works. My "depression" could also be due to the fact that the year is almost over....I'm always down near the end of the year. Must me a mental thing...or a getting old thing.

Anyway, I'm starting to feel somewhat better (could be the herbal tea I'm drinking) and, although I haven't started writing again, I've jumped back on the horse (so to speak) and started submitting to a couple of publishing houses. It'll be months before I hear from them...if at all...so in the meantime I'm hoping to get some reading in. I have several books staring at me...wondering when I'm going to get them read. So, I should do that.

Anyway (yes, I say that a lot) I'll probably try to post more on the blog front too...not that I have much to say.

Well....almost time to get the girls from school, then feed them, then go to number four's baseball game. He went 0-3 at Tuesday's game, so hopefully he'll do better tonight....he's the clean-up batter. Tomorrow child # 1 has his physcial and psyche eval for the sheriff's department...so...wish him luck!! Not that he needs luck to show he isn't psycho. Child number three was supposed to be an extra in a film today, but they booked over her, so she lost the spot. Bummer. But, at least I'm not spending the evening sitting in a waiting room while she films, and missing my son's ballgame.

Did I say I was leaving? yeah. okay. Thanks for reading and for being my friends. ;-)

Time for me to Fly

2007-10-23T09:05:00.000-06:00

I was going to write a blog...but didn't really have anything to say so I thought I'd post the lyrics to an old song that I find expresses so many of my feelings at times....and right now it's dead on where my writing is concerned. Yeah, it sounds whiney on my part....I don't care. I've lost my love for writing...or my motivation...I definitely lost my confidence. Of course, it could all just be hormones...or lack there of....and I may or may not get it back...the confidence, not the hormones....keep up.

Anyway....here's the song....extra points if you can guess the artist.

TIME FOR ME TO FLY

I've been around for you I've been up and down for
youBut I just can't get any relief
I've swallowed my pride for youI've lived and lied
for you But you still make me feel like a thief
You got me stealin' your love away' Cause you never
give it
Peeling the years away And we can't relive
it
I make you laugh And you make me
cry
I believe it's time for me to fly

You said we'd work it out You said that you had no
doubt That deep down we were really in love
Oh, but I'm tired of holding on To a feeling I know
is gone
I do believe that I've had enough
I've had enough of the falseness Of a worn out
relation
Enough of the jealousy And the
intoleration
I make you laugh
And you make me cry
I believe it's time for me to fly

Time for me to fly
Oh, I've got to set myself free
Time for me to fly
And that's just how it's got to
be
I know it hurts to say goodbye
But it's time for me to fly

Disillusioned

2007-10-15T08:19:00.000-06:00

During one of my many letdowns in the attempt to be a published writer, I questioned if I should give up on my two novels and move onto the next one since I'm having such difficulty finding new representation. One online friend suggested, "if you find this business too hard, quit." It was his tough love way of saying, stop whining (which, incidently, I wasn't--at the time). However, now I have to wonder if his suggestion doesn't warrant looking into? After four years of trying to sell my work (and now trying to find a new agent) I have to wonder if it's something I really want to do? Granted, four years isn't a long time compared to others, but for me it's been a lifetime. Do I really want to continue putting my heart on the line only to have it crushed with rejection? The last two agent rejections, from two long-time respected agents, both made it clear I don't have what it takes (writing-wise)....and really to be honest, I don't have the heart to keep going. I'm tired of being sad, depressed, hurt, second-guessing myself. I'm not a writer....at least not the kind anyone wants to publish.

Maybe the problem is I want it too much and therefore am psychically sabotaging my chances.

Another online friend is always talking about signs, so maybe I should start looking at them too.

I used to think finding an agent was validation that I could write.....now....not so much.

For now all I know is, this is too hard and I'm ready to quit.

Who me, jealous?

2007-09-13T09:48:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'll admit it, from time to time I get a little green-eyed, green-skinned jealousy thing going when I hear my writer friends talk about their latest book deal or contest win. Not that I'm not extremely happy for them....as a struggling writer, I know how tough breaking in is....but for crying out loud why can't it be me??? WAH!

Okay, I'm over it. More or less.

Now, there's nothing wrong with getting jealous. It's a natural human emotion. But how you handle that emotion is what matters. My jealousy over not getting my work sold (just yet) only makes me want to work harder to see that it happens. But, it seems that some people will use their jealousy to sabotage someone's chances at making it in the publishing world. Case in point--I entered a writing contest at Gather.com. It's a first chapter romance contest which is also sponsored by Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books Imprint. The winner of this contest will get a guarenteed publishing contract. Now, normally I won't enter contests because I don't do well in them. Mainly because I don't write by *category* rules. But I figured, since this contest is going to be voted on by the public....much like American Idol type voting....I would have a better chance. Plus, I really wanted to know how my novel would fare in the public (non-writer) eye.

Now, as a contestant, we're more or less required to read/rate/ comment on the other entries, which is not a problem. And a lot of these entries are from new writers....several of whom haven't quite learned the *craft*, but they have such an interesting story premise, that you really want to know how the book is going to turn out. So, when I read, I read as both a reader and a writer. And when I comment, I give as much feedback as I can to help them *fix* the problems I saw.

Now, every writer knows how subjective writing is, so you take to heart what comments your given and if they work for you, great. If not....throw them out. The problem is, although these writers say they want honest feedback, what they actually mean is, "tell me I'm wonderful!" And if you have the unmitigated gall to tell them something in their story needs work (for instance stop with the prologues that have nothing to do with the story, and the background information that can be weaved in, and the over-telling exposition!!!) then they get defensive and tell you, you don't know what you're talking about or you just don't get it. Then, they'll stop by your entry and rate you a 1 out of 10 stars to make it look like your story sucks. It's ridiculous, really. I mean, I don't even presume to think my story is the best one there....because I've read a select few of the stories that left me feeling like a hack. But I DO believe my story should be in the top ten and I'm not alone in my thinking. I've had published authors email me and tell me how great the chapter is, how it should move onto the next level, how it's the best of the bunch. But with the petty jealousy of the other contestants and their friends, I'll be lucky to make it to the next round.

Okay...sorry, this turned into a rant.

Anyway....if you'd like to know for yourself if I'm worthy of moving to the next round or perhaps even being published, then stop by and read my chapter DARK OBSESSION. And, if you enjoy the chapter and want to see me as a finalist, then vote/rate me a ten...because when they tally the votes, they will only count the tens.

Voting ends Tuesday September 18 and the finalists will be announced the following Monday, September 24. One more thing, you will have to register at Gather.com in order for your vote to count.

Thank you in advance to those who drop by.

And, if you're wondering what my novel is about, here is a brief description:

Ray Chavez has just been given a foreboding message by his long deceased great-grandmother. But Ray, a 33 year old farmer from the Rio Grande Valley, does not believe in visions or omens or the necromancy of his Mexican/Indian heritage. Although, Ray feels he's doing his part by humoring his sister Sylvia, a practicing Spiritualist, and his grandmother Maria, a non-practicing Curandera, he ultimately dismisses the vision as a bad dream.

However Ray may reconsider his position when Lexie Solis stumbles into town, in search of a new life. Ray feels an instant attraction, as well as a connection, to the skittish young woman, and he pursues a relationship with her. But what Lexie does not tell Ray and his family, is that she is running from an abusive ex-boyfriend and he may be more powerful then even she wants to believe.When Lexie is assaulted by an unseen force, they soon learn that Jerry Kemp's obsession with Lexie goes beyond his need to control her; he wants to possess her soul as well. Lexie's only hope for salvation lies with Ray. But will he be able to embrace his destiny to save the woman he loves as well as his own soul?

Back to reality

2007-08-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

Vacation time is officially over, for me anyway. These last two weeks I've been back home (in Texas) visiting friends and family. It was a great trip, we started out in Houston, staying with friends for a couple of days, then we drove to Nederland (a small town between Port Arthur and Beaumont--not that you'd know where they are).

My cousin Michelle, who's kind of like my little sister (we're that close) wanted to surprise her mom (my aunt Minnie--pronouced Meanie) so she didn't tell her we were coming. It was just me and my two girls, who are ages 13 & 15 and aside from getting taller these last seven months, they haven't really changed much. Anyway....we made plans to meet up at the Texas Roadhouse...it's a restaurant and Michelle and family were meeting there to have dinner to celebrate her son's birthday. Mik has four kids ages 3-9. So, I told my daughter to go in first and go up to the table and ask to take my aunt's picture....like those people who charge you five bucks when you're on vacation. She said, what if she says okay? I told her, take the picture anyway. Then I said, it might take her a minute but she'll recognize you.

So, Becca goes to the table while Manda and I hide behind the booth watching to see what happens.
Michelle pulled out her handheld video camera to tape the whole thing.

Becca walks up to the table with her digital camera.
Becca: "Hi. Can I take your picture?"
Uncle Ramon: "Why do you want to take her picture?"
Becca: "It's for a school project." (uh....it's July....school doesn't even start for another month!)
Aunt Minnie: "Okay. Sure." (sits back in her seat and smiles...wondering why Michelle is laughing hysterically)
Becca takes the picture then shows it to them. She waits a moment and when she realizes they still don't know who she is says, "Would you like me to take another one?"
Minnie: "Okay."
At that point I send Manda out...who is immediately recognized. Then I step out from behind the booth and say, "Geez Minnie, it's been seven months, not seven years!"

It was really funny.....but I guess you had to be there.

Anyway, our trip was a lot of fun but now it's back to reality.

We flew home late last night so today I've spent the morning paying bills. Now I need to clean the house because....three guys...alone for ten days....'Nuff said. Actually, the house isn't that bad. But it hasn't been really cleaned since May (because I was laid up for a month after having surgery). Now that I'm up and around (and completely healed) I get to do housework again. Yay me. Plus, tomorrow is my son's birthday...he turns 12 and Tuesday is Becca's birthday...she turns 14. We're not really doing anything big for them since the trip was sort of Becca's present and Jeremy got a brand new set of golf clubs and played golf nearly everyday we were gone, but I do want to get them something....like a cake. Plus....school starts on Monday (YAY ME--and that's without the sarcasm!) so I've got to go fight the crowds at Walmart and gather supplies. Oh, and Jeremy didn't go to registration yesterday so I have to do that as well. And I have to go to the post office and mail out a request to an agent, plus do some much needed revisions on my novel Dark Obsession for a contest, and complete my current novel House of Cards.

Man....reality bites.

Lemons to Lemonade?

2007-07-21T12:42:00.000-06:00

If life throws you lemons....throw them back. Who the hell wants to drink lemonade everyday? And, let's face it....making good lemonade is an art form. If you don't do it right it comes out too tart or too sweet. Much like life....you have your good days and your bad. Unfortunately for me, they're on an equal balance. But, I've learned to expect it, keeping an ever watchful eye on that shoe...waiting for it to drop. Okay, so maybe being so pessimistic isn't a good way to go through life...but, hell, it's worked for me. Sure....I get my heart broken or my spirit shattered, but then I move on because I realize....what's the point on letting it get me down? There is so much worse going on in the world for so many people...my setbacks are nothing.

Case in point....my "writing career". I put that in quotes because it's not much of a career. Sure, I've written two very good books and a novella and am currently working on what I think can be a bestseller, but I'm not published and at the moment, I'm unagented. Yes, I had an agent and she was a very nice lady, but she dropped me because apparently I don't write fast enough for her. At least that's the 'general' excuse she gave me, which I'll accept because it's better than thinking she was wrong about my work.

Anyway....I went through my grieving process, wondering if all this heartache was really worth it, and-thanks to online friends (I totally adore!) like Melanie Hauser, Lauren Baratz-Logstead, Georgie Dowdell, Devon Ellington and a whole slew of writers at Backspace I realized it's not the end of the world. I'm a good writer and when my time comes I'll sell my work. The agent I had, though a real sweetheart, just wasn't the right agent for me. The agent who will get me a multi-book deal, who will sell the film rights and who will put me on the same shelf as Nora Roberts, is out there somewhere. And, when the time comes, I'll find him/her.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a closet optimist, but I DO believe in fate. And I believe things happen for a reason. I may not see that reason for several years, but eventually it shows up.

So why dwell on something that happened when there's not much you can do about it? It's not only a waste of energy, but a waste of time.....and the older I get, the more precious my time.

It's Getting HOT!

2007-05-10T09:25:00.000-06:00

Of course this is Arizona, so triple digit temperatures are the norm. The heat doesn't bother me, though...I much prefer being hot than cold since it's easier to find ways to cool off than warm up. Plus....we have a swimming pool now and it's clean! I say that because the guy our landlord hired to service the pool...didn't. The thing looked like a mold infested pond. The new pool guy.....who, sadly, looks nothing like those hot pool guys you see on TV....spent two days cleaning the pool. I think he even had to triple the chemicals just to kill the mildew. So...with temperatures expected to reach over 100 for the next several days/months my kids can now cool off in the pool. I'm even planning to do a few laps everyday to get back in shape...not that I was ever in shape. Of course, talking about it and doing it, are two different things. Another good thing about the pool is....I don't have to spend the summer trying to find ways to entertain the kids!

And, speaking of hot it's time to gather my summer reading list. There are several author friends who have books out, that I'm looking forward to reading. Here are a few titles on my list so far....
Bobby Faye's Very Very Very Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey (check out the book trailer)
Cover Up--Michele Martinez
Hell's Belles--Jackie Kessler
One Shot--Lee Child (who I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting a couple of weeks ago. And the awesome part....he remembered my name from when we met in 2005!!) *sigh*

Anyway...that's just a few books I have on my shelf to be read....since I can read a book in two days, and I'll be on bed rest for a few weeks I'll have a lot more than these on my shelves....plus, of course, I'll be working on my own manuscript (hopefully).

Next week (May 30-June 3) I'll be in New York for the Backspace conference. I'm really looking forward to meeting all of my online friends face to face. I've been corresponding with most of the members of Backspace since 2003 and they've been the most supportive, encouraging and inspiring group of people I've ever met, not to mention they're very talented writers.

So....with such an awesome start to my summer....how can I go wrong?? =)

Wow, has it really been three months??

2007-04-19T15:48:00.000-06:00

My time does fly. I can't believe I haven't updated this blog since January....well, yeah I can.

Life in Az has been going well, I guess. We haven't hit those Hotter'n Hell temperatures yet, much to the disappointment of my youngest who wants to go swimming in our backyard pool. I wouldn't even mind swimming daily for the exercise since I could really use it!

Aside from that I guess you could say we've adjusted. The kids have made friends, the younger one is still playing baseball and having a very good time....except for a couple of weeks ago when he got clocked on the chin by a 70 mph fast ball. But, the kid's a trooper and is still batting around .500

We've had our share of the media blitz this week. Apparently some very disturbed individual at my daughter's high school has been threatening violence, leaving cryptic messages on the boy's bathroom wall and accompanying it with a mutilated carcass (according to the rumor mill) and a couple of burning folliage. The date of the attack, which is supposed to include a bomb and hand guns, is scheduled for tomorrow...April 20th. Again the rumor mill is that the massacre is to be held in the name of the two psychos who shot up Columbine and that historic psycho responsible for the Holocost (not one of these individuals deserve to have their names spoken aloud). Anyway, the police and school officials are taking the threats seriously, especially in lieu of what happened this week in Virginia. Needless to say, a large majority of the student body plan to stay home Friday....my daughter included. I had tried to let my daughter know there was nothing to be scared about, that her school is safe. However, all my convincing went out the window today. The school was on complete lockdown today...no one in that didn't belong there. Cops, placed together in pairs, haunted every few feet of the building and blocked all entrances. After school all of the students were then corralled a block away at the football field and parents were told to pick them up at the church another block away. Needless to say, we were told this when we got to the school. My daughter, a freshman, is also special needs and the most timid child you'll ever meet, and being new had no idea where she was supposed to go. The extra precautions today totally freaked her out, added to the fact that the school was evacuated for half an hour while they checked into a suspicious package in the boys room, which turned out to be someone's science project. Anyway...thankfully we got my daughter a cell phone for Christmas, so her brother and I were able to talk to her while we hunted her down. Then, one of the aides at the school spotted her and was kind enough to walk her to where we were parked.
Leaving the school we couldn't believe the amount of press waiting to see what would happen. Helicopters hovered over the school, news vans for the local affiliates as well as radio stations were set up everywhere, satelite dishes and all. It certainly made me feel, even more, for the people in Virginia and Colorado, Kentucky....everywhere these tragedies happen.
And it's really sad that, when these stories hit the news, more focus is put on the killer than on the victims .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-01-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

Or is it?
2006 was one of the not so great years of my life….I can’t say it was the worst, because there have been worse….but like I do EVERYTIME something sucky happens, I move on. Only last year, it was harder because I let it get to me….the stress and anxiety and stuff. I told myself, this year would be different….literally. After all I’ll be in a new home, in a new state, minus one child (*sniff sniff*) and hopefully starting a new career path…or at least upgrading my current so called career.
So, anyway, the new year started like it always does, full of hope. Then….deja vu….I get a call from my agent telling me she will be leaving her agency to open up her own. Now, why is this Déjà vu? Well…because in January of 2005, five months after I signed with my first agent, she called to tell me she was leaving her agency to take an editor’s position at Simon & Schuster. You’d think this would be a good thing since she was my agent and loved my work…however…not so….my Romantic Suspense didn’t fit into the Latina line she was to be running. So, I had to spend practically all of 2005 looking for a new agent, and by the end of November, I'd finally found one!! My books went on submission in January 2006….we’ve had some interest….one editor in particular was very enthusiastic and even asked for a meeting at the RWA conference in Atlanta last July, and since then I’ve been somewhat furiously revamping the story for the editor. Then the holidays came around, and all the stress it entails….which included me and the kids having to move the first week of December because our house sold and living in a motel for eight days while they went to school, then spending a week at my cousin’s house (that would be a head count of 12!) so my son would get to see most of the family before he shipped out, then going to San Antonio for a week and leaving my son there, and me and the rest of the kids and my husband driving twelve hundred plus miles to our new home in Arizona. *heavy breath*….sorry…I keep digressing….
So…I get a call from my agent who said she’s leaving the agency to open her own….however, unlike my first agent….THIS agent wants me to come with her! YAY! So, I still have an agent which means I don’t have to stress so much about whether or not I suck as a writer. (call me neurotic)
So….starting February, my work will be pitched again but under the new agency name. No big….we still have that one editor who LOVES me….but wait….my agent now tells me the editor is considering leaving her house for another one. **ARRRGGHHH** What is this curse I have???
Okay….so I’m being dramatic. Turns out (I just learned) that the editor not only left her current house but took a position with a major house, where she’ll be a head editor and can buy her own projects, as opposed to assisting an editor and having to go through them for her buys.
What does this mean for me? Hell if I know. But, I’m hoping it’s good.
Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

And…..Have a Happier New Year!

Closing a chapter

2006-12-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Figurative speaking of course. I had my last official meeting as president of the Northwest Houston chapter of RWA yesterday. I guess you could say it was bittersweet, though no tears were shed...hmm....should I be insulted? Actually it was very nice, considering I don't do "goodbyes" well. But, even though I said goodbye to all those I consider dear friends, I'll still continue to be a long distance member of the NW Houston chapter, because they are the first physical writing group I'd ever been a part of and have been one of the most supportive and inspiring groups to be around. I've been in online forums since I started writing but interacting with people online isn't as personal as meeting one on one because it's so hard to gauge a person's real personality online. Although, I have to say, of the hundreds of people I've met online and had the opportunity to meet in person, have pretty much been like their online persona.

Okay, I'm babbling, but it's how I procrastinate. Now that I don't have my presidential duties to worry about anymore I have a couple extra hours or so a day to write. Okay, that count per day is on average how much time I spent doing chapter business...some days I didn't do anything. haha Anyway....I'm supposed to be finishing up a novella (I'm halfway through) but the neurotic side of me refuses to let go of my muse until she hears if I made the sale. But, I'm really not too worried about finishing the story because technically it's done, I just have to put it down on paper...so to speak...I'm just worried I won't have the sale...even though I have a great story...really....I do....Buy Me.

When it rains it pours

2006-11-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

You know, writers and most everyone in the publishing industry will tell you the end of year holidays are the toughest time to submit because agents and editors are trying to clear their desks and will reject just about everything without really reading. However, my dear friend Christie Craig has just proved this wrong. Here it is, the week of Thanksgiving and she just got a call that not one but FOUR of her completed novels have just sold!

Now this really comes as no surprise to me. I've read Christie's work and we used to critique together. Still do on occasion. From the first sentence I knew the books would sell. She has a tremendous talent and a wonderful sense of humor. (personally, I think she's the secret love child of Nora Roberts and Jenny Cruisie)

So, congratulations Christie! I can't wait to see these on the shelf and say "I know her!"

Is Ugly the new Black?

2006-11-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Whatever that means. Never got the New Black metaphor.

Anyway....I was watching Entertainment Tonight last week and one of the correspondents did a feature on how people are treated based on their looks. Now of course the woman Maria somebody is drop-dead gorgeous, so she had them fix her up to look "ugly"....or unattractive as I prefer....ugly is just so...ugly.
So, anyway, she put on a "face" and fat suit, wore a wild-haired wig and frumpy clothing. Uh.....HELLO?....of course you're going to be treated like last week's meatloaf....you're not showing any respect for yourself!! Did this woman or her producers really believe that over-weight women will not go out of their way to look more attractive??? I really took offense to this piece (can't ya tell?) I mean, I've gone my whole life feeling unattractive (no matter how hard I tried to "look'' attractive)....hell my theme song growing up was Janice Ian's Seventeen. So to see this woman, or other celebrities like Tyra Banks or Carmen Electra (yeah I know, probably spelled that wrong...don't care) dress themselves down to prove that beautiful people get all the breaks! Yeah....we get it!
Just a few weeks ago I got a ticket for speeding (don't EVEN get me started!) and the SOB gave me FOUR violations and I know it's because I wasn't attractive enough....he and his cop buddy proved it by continuing to flirt and talk with the young woman they'd stopped ten minutes before me...and were still talking to after I left.
Okay...I'm calm.
Anyway...another thing that pisses me off is the TV show Ugly Betty. And it's not the show that pisses me off because I refuse to watch it. It's the title!
The super models can dress down and scream all they want about how unattractive people get screwed....but deep down they're just as bad as the rest of society.

Yo, ladies, don't do us any favors!

Okay....rant over.

Hey....I have a blogger account. Who knew??

2006-11-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

I actually opened this a long time ago, but then changed computers and lost my cookies and didn't remember I had this blog. Thanks to Jenny Crusie's recent blog and my need to comment, I found my blog. Thanks Jenny....I think. Hmmm.....I'm not real good about blogging....I have one at my MySpace page....if you're bored...or curious, you can go there. You can also learn more about me...if you're bored or curious....at my website.Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to stop by as well.