New Releases and Contest Winner!

Two announcements today. First up, The winner of the Hunting Love print contest is:

RHONDA W!!!

Congratulations! You have an email waiting for you!

Second announcement: new releases at Samhain, including new print releases!

In e-books, we have

And in print books, we have

Is your pocket book weeping yet?

P.S.

Only one more day to enter the contest to win an autographed copy of Hunting Love!

It's ReWrite Time!

I've got the rewrite notes for Only In My Dreams back from Angie, and skimming them this morning it doesn't seem bad at all. Probably about half the story will fly off into the sunset (because of me, rather than Angie... Heck, all but 4k of Sweet Dreams got gutted when I got an R&R from Angie on it because their story changed completely on me. I blame Simon. So does Becky.)

So I know what I'm doing for the next couple of weeks. Once that's done I can finish My Heart's Desire and start officially on Bunny, Julian and Tabby.

After that? Only the Muse knows, and he ain't talkin'.

I Got Work Done Despite Pajama Sam

M is feeling much better, thank goodness. The fever is mostly broken, his breathing is beginning to sound better, and his voice is normal. However, he's still sick enough to make him uber-cranky and just well enough to follow me around moaning about how sick he is and could I play Pajama Sam for him?

Not with him. FOR him. *headdesk*

So I spent somewhere around nine hours yesterday shuttling back and forth between my computer and the Wii, helping PJ Sam collect socks, his lunchbox and face the "menace" that is Darkness. Somehow, despite my footie pajama wearing friend, I managed to write over 3k. I just didn't write it in the story I was originally working on, Mr. Werewolf-Mage and his witchy mate. Instead I started a SciFi romance that's been floating around in my head for weeks.

I don't know if my brain latched on to the SciFi story because of SyFy, or because I saw bits and pieces of the BSG finale (I didn't watch the series, but Dusty did, and I didn't begrudge him the TV while he watched the last episode), but Rabi and Stern's story just flew out of my fingertips yesterday.

Yup. Just what I needed. Another evil plot bunny messing in my yard.

Yes, I'll finish the werewolf mage first, don't worry. My muse says there's one issue I need to work out but I couldn't see it, so taking a short break from the story usually shows me what's missing. Bunny and Julian are on hold since I got a rewrite/resubmit on Only In My Dreams and Julian has a cameo in that. He gets a reason to head to Halle where he'll meet Bunny. I'm not sure if that's staying in or not, so I don't want to work on Bear Necessities until I get the R/R notes from Angie. I can work around his meeting with the Pride, but it makes other things more complicated in his story if he doesn't meet them in Only. I'll have to find some other way to make him welcome in Pride territory if that winds up getting cut. I have an idea that could work, so it isn't impossible, just more... difficult. It certainly changes the original beginning of his story, hence the Bears being put away temporarily.

On another note, Dusty comes home today from his business trip. And yes, I've already texted him and told him how much he's going to love playing Pajama Sam.

So Tired...

I was up pretty much all night with M, poor thing. He fell asleep on the couch, and when I went to take him upstairs he woke up, so I had to settle him back down again. That took a while, since my poor munchkin is still sick. I bunked him down in my room so I could keep an eye on him, since he's not even five yet and I got rid of the baby monitor a long time ago. Then he woke up some time in the middle of the night and had a coughing fit so bad I thought he was going to throw up a lung. And THEN he began mumbling in his sleep, so loud I almost got out of bed because my Mommy brain woke up before my Dana brain did. Luckily my Dana brain had me peek over the side of the bed (he was sleeping on the floor), and I saw he was still asleep. He did that at least three times last night, leading to one sleepy Mommy today.

So even though I went to bed a little early last night I feel like I went a few rounds with the champ. Luckily my Mommy brain doesn't really need my Dana brain to function, or I'd be in big trouble today. The Dana brain is still asleep. So if anyone needs that brain, it might not be until this afternoon and multiple cans of Wild Cherry Pepsi before I finally shake it awake.

New Releases at Samhain

New This Week

Little Sickies

R did have an ear infection, but luckily is old enough to get antibiotics in a pill now instead of that chalky icky stuff he really hates taking. He takes the last pill tonight and has gone back to school. He's feeling much better.

Unfortunately, M seems to have caught the "creeping crud", as my mother calls it. Same symptoms minus the ear ache. Luckily M isn't prone to ear infections, so I don't see that happening (but never say never, right? Especially with kids.)

How much work will I get done today? Probably not a lot. I'm going to research web site colors and see if I can find a way to keep the overall feel of "dance with an alpha in the pale moonlight" and still please readers, who according to several recent polls seem to prefer "lighter" websites. I have a few ideas but nothing concrete. Other than that I have the feeling I'll be answering to "Mbommby!" for most of the day.

Poor Kid

R is still sick today, still feverish, and is complaining of an ear ache. Crap. That usually means yet another ear infection. He's had tubes in place for almost two years now but that doesn't seem to stop the infections when he gets a really bad cold. And this cold has been epic. Lost voice, can't sleep (so Mommy can't sleep either), stuffed head, sore throat, the works.

So it looks like I'll be spending my day at the doctor's and Happy Harry's getting prescriptions filled. If I don't answer emails today I'll make sure I get to you tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a better day today!

Cover Art for Steel Beauty

“Steel Beauty” by Dana Marie Bell

Genre: Paranormal Romance

ISBN: 978-1-60504-498-9
Length: Novella
Price: 3.50
Publication Date: April 21, 2009
Cover art by Natalie Winters

She’s everything a big bad wolf could want.

Halle Pumas, Book 4

Coping with a devastating injury is hard enough for Belinda “Belle” Campbell. Forced separation from her destined mate while she heals is almost more than she can endure. Until she is strong enough to take up her duties as Luna of the Poconos Wolf Pack, however, the safest place for her is Halle. Now, after months of being alone, she is more than ready to be claimed. But is the pack ready for a Puma Luna?

Rick Lowell has waited long enough to bring Belle home where she belongs. He’s aware of the danger, as well—and it isn’t long before a bitch with an eye on Belle’s position issues a challenge. The only way to put down the threat is for Belle to defeat the usurper in combat.

There’s only one problem. Thanks to the pins in her broken hip, Belle can’t shift. Without that tactical advantage, it won’t be a fair fight. With his new mate’s life on the line, Rick is forced to make a decision that will change everything.

That is, if Belle gives him the chance to make it.

Warning: This title contains explicit sex, graphic language, lots of doggie (or is that kitty?) style and some songs Rick will never want to hear again. Ever.

Oh, my. Is he not pretty? I think Belle would be pleased, and Rick would be... mildly embarrassed. Crystal Dee, I hope you like seeing the name you came up with on a book, because here it is!

New Releases at Samhain

We've got four this week, but each one looks like a winner! And look! My anthology partner, JB McDonald, has her new release this week, Second Hope!

Contest!

Between R being home sick with a fever, sore throat and no voice and NBC's Huh? moment, I completely forgot!

Who would like to win an autographed copy of my first print release, Hunting Love?

To celebrate my first print release, I'm giving away an autographed copy! Head on over to my Contact Me page, fill in your name and an email address I can contact you at, and I'll announce the winner here and on my website March 31st!

To read an excerpt from each story, click on the book cover!

And Today's HUH?!? Moment Brought to You By...

NBC! Yup, those crazy, hip kids over at NBC, parent company of The Sci Fi Channel, have decided in their ultra-cool-hip way that perhaps Sci Fi is just too geeky a name for a channel. After all, people who tune into a channel called Sci Fi might actually expect programs centered around, I dunno, science fiction! And let's face it, science fiction is for "geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that", not REAL people like you and me, right?

So they've decided on a name change, since, let's face it, The Sci Fi channel does more than play science fiction (professional wrestling or Scare Tactics, anyone?). The new name?

Syfy.

“When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you’d text it,” Mr. Howe said. “It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.”

Um.

Are you f'ing kidding me? It's a joke, right? Right?

No?

So let me get this straight. You are changing the name of an entire network, one that has a solid fan base, one that is "coming off the best year in its history", to something people would text on their cell phones so that you'll looke more "hip"? Like those text messaging viewers, the very ones you're targetting, aren't going to know what SyFy stands for?

HUH?!?

In conclusion? I think whoever came up with this name needs to return to his mother's basement and play some more video games. I mean, what's next? CNN becomes Srsly?

Hey, Mom...

Want A Chance To Win A eBook Reader?

In honor of Read an eBook Week, the Samhain Cafe is giving away multiple ebooks to lucky posters. Authors have scheduled chats from morning till night. Among those chatting this week are Josh Lanyon, AnnMarie McKenna, Jess Dee, Moira Rogers, Beth Cornelison, D. Renee Bagby, Ashleigh Raine, Ciar Cullen, Jaci Burton, Beth Williamson, TJ Michaels and many, many more.

From the Cafe Moderators: In order to share the goodies, only one win is allowed per person from Samhain during this event. The only exception is that all READER participants are eligible for the Samhain Grand Prize of an eBook Reader.

Samhain will be awarding 2 Print Books every day. There will be 2 winners drawn from the previous day's participants at the end of each day and each winner will receive one print book.

Remember these guidelines are only for the Samhain contests. Author contests are separate and do not affect the SP Cafe wins.

Remember everyone, the more you participate, the more chances you have to win!

Good luck to you all!

I'm scheduled to chat Thursday, from 12:30 to 2:00 EST. So stop on by, chat with some of your favorite authors, and possibly win a prize!

New Releases

Wow, quite a few good books coming out this week at Samhain!

New This Week

Been Nominated for April eBook of the Month!

Over at Jennifer's Random Musings, both The Wallflower and Very Much Alive have been nominated for April’s Book(s)-of-the-Month! She decided to go for "first in a series", and I was lucky enough to have both of mine chosen. So head on over and vote for which ebook (and print book, as she does both) you'd like to see named April's pick!

Still Feeling Sick, But Doing Better

Feeling a little worse today, but that's normal. I'm actually getting over this bug faster than I usually do (knock on wood), so today I decided to call it quits early. Dusty had to go into the office today which left me alone with M, who couldn't decide what he wanted to do today. Hence I only got half of what I wanted to do done today, but I know where the next scenes are going so it's not so bad. =)

Doing Better

Feeling a bit better today, so I decided to get some work done on Heart's Desire.

Wow. I really did a lot more than I thought I did, almost three thousand words today. No wonder Dusty's been giving me the stink-eye to get off the computer and get some rest! But the decision to lengthen the story from a novella to, well, longer was the right one. I'm planning on around 50k but I'm willing to go longer than that if Chris and Misty take me there.

Oh, and Jambrea and Molli? I'll finish Bunny after I'm done this one, k? I think I know where the "middle" of the story is supposed to be now, and Tabby fits in after all. Whee, menage!

Now I'm off to rest since I'm still a bit sick. Oh, and if you have Twitter? You can follow my kind of sporadic messages at http://twitter.com/danamariebell . I won't be on there every day since I have to write and raise the kiddies, but I'll try and post as often as I can.

I'm Just Sooo Lucky That Way...

There's a reason Dusty calls me the Black Hole of Disease. I catch every little thing that goes around, and have since I've known him. If it's in my vicinity my aura just siphons it into my body.

Well, it seems that there are two different bugs floating around right now, and I've caught them both. The good news? The tummy flu I caught seems to be gone. The bad news? Now it's on to my bi-annual head cold!

Sigh.

I'm hyped up on Tylenol Cold and Sinus and wondering if I should go ahead and work today. I probably will, since I'm already feeling guilty about taking yesterday off, but I can't guarantee what I do will be more than gibberish. Or worse: purple prose. *Shudder*

On the bright side the kids have another snow day! Why is this a bright side? It means R is home and willing to play with M, so I'm not M's sole source of amusement. Right now they're playing with the PS2 and beating up the bad guys. (Okay, R is beating up the bad guys and M is cheerleading. He's only four and a half, after all.)

Snow Days and Tummy Aches

Still not feeling well, which means Chris and Misty (Heart's Desire) will have to wait another day. There's no way I'm working with my stomach hurting this bad. Gah. To top it all off we've got about six inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming down, which means snow day for the kids.

Double Gah.

Hopefully I'll be around more tomorrow. I'll make sure the newsletter gets out, but that will pretty much end my work day. See you all tomorrow!

So Sorry

I haven't been feeling well all day, and I just realized I never got the March newsletter out today. Ugh. Forgive me, I promise I'll have it out tomorrow morning.