Release Dates

I have some release dates to share with all of you.

First, for everyone who wants to know about the print editions of the Halle Pumas, here's what I've got. The Pumas will be released in print in two anthologies. Mating Games will contain The Wallflower, Sweet Dreams and Cat of a Different Color, and will release in June of 2010. Animal Attraction will contain Steel Beauty and Only In My Dreams and will release September 2010.

The other print book I'll have next year will be Dare to Believe. It will be released in print May 1st, 2010, the day of the Giant Book Fair at RT!

Last but not least, Only In My Dreams, the last Halle Puma novella, will come out in e-book November 2o, 2009.

I have no word yet on Shadow of the Wolf's release date, but I'll do my best to keep you posted!

Quickie Update: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Just a quick update: did the first round edits on Shadow of the Wolf Thursday, so no new writing got done. And yesterday I was laid up thanks to thunderstorms in the area. I wound up laying down with my knee propped up, a Dominic Dunne: Power and Privilege marathon on TV and Lora Leigh's Bengal's Heart and Jayne Castle's Obsidian Prey in my hands.

The good news is I did that 4k freebie, got edits done, approved artwork for Only In My Dreams and managed to get some work done on my Valentine's story. The bad news is the work I planned to do on Bear Necessities got sidelined by arthritis. The rain's supposed to let up on Monday and I should be able to get back to writing.

A Little Rick And Belle

I wrote a free read yesterday about Rick and Belle called Little Red. It will be available some time in October, just in time for Halloween! Once I have more deets I'll make sure to post them here. It's a 4k short story where Belle is her usual naughty self and Rick is loving every minute of it.

Today I'm working a little bit on a quick Valentine's day short story that I'm hoping to have done in about two weeks. The working title is Ghost of the Past, but odds are good it will get changed before the story is finished. I'm also working on Bear Necessities, but I've hit a point where I'm thinking, "Now what?" Don't worry, while I'm writing about the candy maker and how he stupidly lost his true love, I'm wondering how to introduce the next step in Bunny and Tabby's relationship. I might work again on that tomorrow, but the Valentine's short has a deadline and Bunny doesn't.

I've been assigned a new editor at Samhain, the lovely Laurie! (Heh. I've been dying to type that for some reason.) We've chatted over email a couple of times and I'm looking forward to working with her in the future. You can find some of the authors and books she's edited here.

I should start seeing edits soon on Shadow of the Wolf. I've been assigned an editor, Devin, who has also contacted me (I've had a lot of editor contact lately. I've started noticing every single adverb I type. I think they're rubbing off on me.) I've only spoken to her once but she sounds really nice. You can find some of the authors and books Devin has edited here.

My Bad

I know I haven't been around in the last couple of days, but we've had a lot (and I mean a LOT) of rain recently. A lot of rain means a lot of pain, so I've been fighting my arthritis and trying to get some work done.

As you can see from my progress bars, that didn't go so well.

The good news is, there's no rain until Thursday this week, so I should be able to get some stuff done. Yesterday I wound up spending about four hours researching magical herbs, colors and flavors for a Valentine's day short I want to work on when I'm not Bunny hopping. So even though that bar doesn't always move it doesn't mean I'm not doing something for the story. Research can easily take up an entire day. For Cat of a Different Color, researching albinism and blindness took up an entire week.

P.S. Speaking of Bunny's story, remind me to add Toilet Mouse.

I Only Have One Thing To Say

PROJECT RUNWAY! SQUEEE!!!!

Hmmm...

So yesterday didn't work out quite as planned. The work I planned on doing on Bunny wound up taking a back seat to edits on Only In My Dreams. However, I now have the official tagline and blurb, and a tentative release date: November 20, 2009!




Delayed gratification has its place. This wouldn't be it.

Gabriel Anderson has accepted a unique position in the shifter world. He’s about to become a Hunter, one of the few trained and sanctioned to hunt down the rare rogue shifter dangerous to humans and shifters alike. There’s one catch: until his training is complete, he must hold off on marking his mate. No problem…after all, she probably couldn’t handle the sexual demands he dreams of making on her.

Her mate’s apparent desertion devastates Sarah. And his friendship with another woman threatens the bond they should be sharing and building. Maybe flirting with another man will make him sit up and take notice—and finally win Gabe’s heart. It works. Almost too well.

One touch of another man’s hand on Sarah’s tempting body brings every ounce of Gabe’s possessiveness roaring to the surface. He wastes no time making his erotic dreams of dominating her a reality—whether she’s ready for it or not.

If she’s not, the only place he’ll ever have her is in his dreams…

Warning: This title contains graphic language, explicit sex, deep blue eyes and spanking. The author is not responsible for any tall, dark and handsome men who slip into your dreams.

My Baby Got On The Bus Today

My youngest is now in kindergarten. *sniffle* It's so quiet. And he's only been gone ten minutes! I have the feeling that I'm going to get into the "groove", the work will be going well... and this feeling of dread will come over me. It's too quiet. They're up to something, I just know it. Then I'll remember they're in school. No "Mommy, can I make a fort out of sofa cushions?" At least not until they come home.

When R started school M was still a baby, so I've had one of my kids with me for the last ten years. This feels really strange, like I let them sleep in or something. On the other hand, I should be able to get a TON of work done when my arthritis isn't bothering me. Bunny's been chattering up a storm, but with all the back-to-school stuff I've had to do in the last six days no writing has gotten done. I'm hoping to fix that today.

So if you talk to me today and I seem like a distracted basket case... I am.

Angela James Moving to Quartet Press

Today it was revealed that my editor at Samhain Publishing, Angela James, is moving to a new position with Quartet Press.

Angela James

SOUTHBURY, Connecticut. August 17, 2009 — Quartet Press announced today that Angela James has joined the company as editorial director.

At Quartet, James will be responsible for acquisition and development of titles, as well as management and training of editorial staff.

I'm not certain when she'll take on her duties with her new publisher, but I wish her the best of luck. Having worked with Angie for a year and a half and seeing how dedicated she is to books and publishing, I doubt she'll need it. She's a strong lady and she'll make one hell of a mark over there.

I Love Bunny

Especially when he gives me a six page love scene like he did today. Heh. Come to think of it, so does Tabby.

Now that his buddy Julian is out of the way Bunny is talking like mad. He won't shut up, in fact. And Tabby is enjoying the ride. Oh boy, is she enjoying her ride. I've almost hit the word count I was at before I took Julian out and turned him into a friend and the first love scene has been written before the twenty thousand word mark.

Yeah, this one is full length, so I'm adding a few more love scenes in. I don't think anyone will object to a little extra Bunny love.

P.S.: I couldn't make Tabby moan "Bunny, oh Bunny! Do me, Bunny!" during the love scene. Just. Couldn't. There's good giggling, and there's bad giggling and I kept thinking about the wrong kind or rabbit ears. So during the love scenes she's calling him by his given name, Alex.

Word Counts

For those of you keeping an eye on the word count on the sidebar of my blog, you might notice a slight... drop in Bear Necessities. Just an itsy-bitsy-half-my-work one. Tiny, really, in the grand scheme of things.

It's a painful thing when you realize you have to rip out half the book and start over. But I finally realized why I was having such problems with this book.

Bunny doesn't like to share. And he really, really wants Tabby.

So Julian is going to be a friend of Tabby's who will get his own book (I'm thinking of pairing him with a friend of Tabby's named, of all things, Cyn). Bunny will get his little wolfie mate. And I get to keep all my hair, because tugging it out while arguing with my characters is not fun.

It sets me back by two weeks, roughly. I did the rough "ripping" today, gutting half the story to get rid of the M/M/F and turn it into a M/F. Now I have to go back over my work and make sure that there aren't any gaping wounds left. Then I get to rework the outline a little to make sure Julian still gets a little air time but isn't integral to the HEA. And after that, I write. I'm not back to square one, I'm back to square one point nine, but this decision feels right.

Nominated For Best Book

Steel Beauty has been nominated by LASR reviews for best book of the week! Just click here and vote for who you think is the best book based on the review. Wish me luck!

Oh Dear

Bunny wants to be written to Ludo's Love Me Dead. Tabby is insisting on Bowling For Soup's cover of L'il Red Riding Hood, and Julian wants If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback.

I have such an interesting muse...

Internet! C'Mere, Internet! Good Boy! Goood Boy!

I seem to be having some problems with my internet connection. I'm the ONLY one in the house having problems with my internet connection. And since chocolate bribery only works on USERS of the internet, I may be off quite a bit today.

Dusty's going to try and figure out what's going on, but it could be a while before I'm back "on". For now, all the on-line things I planned to do today will have to go on hold. I'll answer emails as I can, and if worse comes to worst I'll string a cable to my laptop and use a physical connection. Bear with me while I get this worked out!

UPDATE: It took most of the day but we finally figured out it wasn't me, it was the network. The problem was it started out looking like it WAS my computer that was the problem, but then the kids started having issues and we realized that perhaps one of the brownouts we'd had this week messed some stuff up. So now I'm back on-line and just fine... but my workday is shot.

It's 3:30, the kids are finally settling down and I'm in no mood to write. I'll have to see if I can come up with at least a little something so the day isn't a total wash, but if it is at least I can claim "My computer made me do it."