Thursday, July 31, 2008

To Read or Not To Read...

This sort of thing really irritates me, even though I know it shouldn't:

"Romance novels should never be considered 'literature'. Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts and the like should not be allowed to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard."

Say what?

Uh, honey? Do you read Shakespeare? Emily Bronte or Charlotte Bronte? How about Jane Austin?

OH! How about Edgar Allen Poe? (Annabel Lee is a lovely romance, isn't it, even if it is in poem form?) Or Alexandre Dumas, who wrote perhaps one of the best romantic action/suspense novels ever when he penned The Three Musketeers?

I know, I know. How dare I lump Will, Alex, and EA in with the Bronte sisters, Austin, and Nora Roberts? It might have something to do with the fact that when I read, I read with an open mind. I consider any well written novel to be a source of enjoyment, regardless of the genre. Have I read War and Peace, or The Color Purple? Yes. Do I want to do it again? Not right now, but I might later.

And that's the difference between us. I can sit down today and read Shakespeare's Othello and tomorrow Roberts' Heart of the Sea, without sneering at either. Because I love books, not genres. I'm not tied to what I believe I should be reading (or writing) because someone told me that romance novels are nothing but poorly written, cliched, hackneyed things that harken back to the days when women were helpless and depended on men to protect them from the Big Bad World. I read what makes me laugh, what makes me smile, what makes me cry, and what makes me think.

Do I like all romance novels? No, of course not! Just like I don't like every play Shakespeare has written, or the fact that I prefer Pride and Prejudice over Sense and Sensibility, I can't be expected to like every single romance ever written. And neither can you.

However, if you don't go into it with an open mind, I can tell you that you are going to miss out on some of the best literature ever written.

I mean, according to Publisher's Weekly, half the books sold in the United States are romances. We must be doing something right, and I doubt it's "catering to the lowest common denominator".

Monday, July 28, 2008

Only Three More Days

to enter my contest for a free e-book copy of Sweet Dreams. It comes in .pdf, .rb. .lit. Sonypdf, .prc, .htm and .imp. So head over to my website, enter your email address and file preference, and you could win a copy before the book comes out!

Good luck!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Wait... I Forgot My Present


Anybody have a pin?

I'M FOUR(ty) YEARS OLD

So I got up this morning, made breakfast for the hubby and kids, let the dog out...

And remembered it's my birthday today. Yup. I'm THAT on the ball.

So I said, as I poured milk into my husband's cereal, "Does anyone have anything to say to me?"

And the mad scramble to figure out WHAT they could have done to tick Mommy off at eight-thirty in the morning began, starting with my husband (who complained afterwards that I can't expect him to think when he hasn't had caffeine yet). Which has me wondering... what could they have done to piss me off at eight-thirty in the morning?

Hmmm...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Three More Weeks Tomorrow!

Three more weeks until Sweet Dreams is released into the wild.




God, I can't wait!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Daring

I know this week I was supposed to seriously buckle down and start work on Bella Luna. I meant to.

Really.

Instead, I wound up finishing Dare to Believe, the first novel in my Gray Court series and the book I was working on before I started the Halle Pumas. Well, it's off to the beta readers, then it's off to my editor. I've also finished the research I need to do for Bella, so the work should start nicely.

Once I'm done Bella I may finish up the Pumas and concentrate on the other two series I want to do, or I may let the last book sit and concentrate on a rewrite of an old story I did a long time ago that also has the potential to become a series.

Can you tell I like series?

And Dusty had a delicious idea for a "ghost" story that I'll have to write down so I don't forget it.

Thank you, Madam Muse, for speaking to me again. The Godiva's in the mail.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

A Day In The Life

8 a.m. : "MOOOOM! One of the cats snagged a meatball from last night, and there's pasta sauce all over the carpet! EWWW!"

8:10 a.m.: "MOOOM! Do you have to run the Bissel now?"

8:30 a.m.: "MOOOOM! Are you done yet? I'm hungry."

8:45 a.m.: "MOOOOM! I found a spot you missed!"

9:00 a.m.: "MOOOOM! The sofa's wet? Why'd you shampoo that?"

9:30 a.m.: "MOOOOOM! He won't let me play video games! Yeah, there are four other TV's, but my game's hooked up to this one!"

9:45 a.m.: Mom finally gets breakfast after informing children that if she doesn't get five minutes of peace she'll list them on Ebay.

9:55 a.m.: "MOOOOM! He banged my head!"

10:00 a.m.: "MOOOOM! Can I have a snack?"

10:15 a.m.: "MOOOOM! He ate my snack!"

10:30 a.m.: Mom is wishing she had a Xanax.

11:30 a.m.: Little one is playing battering ram on Mommy's belly while older one explains the wonders of DigiMon.

11:45 a.m.: "MOOOOM! I can't get Cartoon Network on my computer!"

12:00 p.m.: "MOOOOM! Where's my sound?" Mom puts headphones on child's head. "Oh. THANK YOU!"

12: 15 p.m.: Inform chat friend and beta reader that if Mom is seen on the evening news not to be too surprised.

12: 30 p.m.: "MOOOOM! I defeated a Huge BOSS in my video game? Wanna hear all about it?"

12:45 p.m.: "MOOOM! The dog has to go out!"

1:00 p.m.: "Honey, aren't you supposed to be done work for the day? What? What did I say? And why are you growling? Oh, and when are you making lunch? I'm hungry."

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Interview and Contest!

I've got an interview up on Allie Boniface's blog! Check it out, and leave a comment if you want to be entered into Allie's weekly contest!

Also this month, I'm running my own contest! My birthday just happens to fall in Christmas in July.

Yup. Happy birthday to me. =)

So since I believe it is better to give than to receive, I've decided to give someone a copy of Sweet Dreams! The contest will run from now until July 30th; the winner will be announced August 11th.

Yup, someone's gonna get a copy before the release date.

Just go to the Contact Me page of my website and send me your e-mail address and the format you'd like to receive the book in, and good luck!

Favorite Quotes

"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability." Ron White

"So let me get this straight. You want me to kill the little guys, kill the big guys, crowd control those I can't, buff the team, debuff the boss, keep myself alive, AND keep you alive, all while waving a stick and dressed in a towel?" - Anonymous Role Playing Gamer

"I think that statue over there is a statement on modern life. The statement is, "Well, shit." - Varric, Dragon Age II

"Why is it all claws and guns? Can't we piss off a fuzzy planet? Still dangerous, but hey. Bunnies." - Joker, Mass Effect

"Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?" - Dilbert


"Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success." - Annie Oakley

"It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." - Flemeth, aka The Witch of the Wilds, Dragon Age 2

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.'” - George Carlin

"I hear there's a wild bridge tournament down the street. And you know Bridge. It's a lot like sex. If you don't have a great partner, you'd better have a good hand." Barry Weiss, Storage Wars

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." - Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, "A Late Delivery From Avalon"

"I aim to misbehave." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” - Henry Ford
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