RIP, Grandmother Grace

Dusty's grandmother passed this weekend; hence my Twitter update that a bad day had gotten worse. We've been dealing with the arrangements to get him to Florida for the memorial service, which will be on Saturday.

Grace was one of those women it was a joy to know. She was smart, funny, a true Southern lady who enjoyed ballroom dancing and traveling the world. She adored her family, and they adored her.

Rest in peace, Grace. You'll be missed.

Well. Huh.

Sometimes, The End can startle even the author. That's pretty much what happened when I finished typing the last scene in Ben and Dave's story yesterday. I sat back, stared at the screen, and thought, "Well. Huh. Whaddya know. I'm done." The rough draft fell a bit short of the 25k I'd envisioned, but that will probably change once the book has been Ground. I'm betting it hits a little above 23k, which is fine for a novella.

Now it's into the Meat Grinder, where I'll add, subtract, and get it polished for my Beta readers. I'm probably going to change the title; what started out as a pretty good one for the story turned out to be not so hot once I finished. I've got an idea or two, but I want to let them marinate before I make a final decision.

Once this is through the Meat Grinder and off to the Betas I plan on working on Shane and Akane, the next Gray Court book. I'm looking forward to getting back into my elves, especially since once Shane and Akane are done the next Gray Court book will be... ROBIN! Yup, I know, a lot of people can't wait until I write him. Well, neither can I. But Shane and Akane get to go first.

Win An Autographed Copy of Animal Attraction!

Want to win a signed, print copy of Animal Attraction, containing Steel Beauty and Only In My Dreams? Just use the Contact Me page of my website to send me an email with your name (or handle, like LuvPuppy2004) and email address and you'll be entered to win!

The winner will be announced on my website and here September 6th!

Please note that I will ask who you want the book made out to when I announce the winner,so feel free to use a handle. The handle is for the winner announcement if you don't want your real name plastered on my website and blog.

Back To Work!

I'm finally back to writing! WOOT! I've got some more done on Ben and Dave's story; the first round edits are done on Eye of the Beholder; and my ass hurts from sitting thanks to my arthritis.

But my tummy feels fine! WOOT!

Looks like I'll be back in the full swing of things by next week; this week I'm dedicating myself to getting Ben and Dave, if not done, then close to it. Worth Fighting For is supposed to be novella length; we'll have to see if I can keep it there. I'm about to hit the first sex scene; I might wait until the kids are in school on Wednesday to write it, but write the aftermath first. The little one keeps looking over my shoulder and that's an education he can live without for the next few years.

In other writing related news, I'm starting to hear a LOT of voices; sifting through them is going to be a bitch and a half. Right now my plan hasn't changed. Shane and Akane of The Gray Court will be next, followed by Jeff and Fenris of True Destiny (which means two out of the three stories right now are M/M). After that, Stern Negotiations, because the space pirate captain is getting ready to board and I forgot to load my space cannons. Argh.

For those of you looking for more Halle books, I'm leaning towards doing Julian and Cyn after Stern, with Ryan and Glory a close second. That might change, but when I think of the next Halle book, it's always Julian who's in the forefront of my mind. Chloe and Jim will follow Ryan and Glory's book, with Julian playing an important role in their mating. Chloe has a long road to travel before she gets her HEA with Jim, and it's not going to be all roses and peeled grapes.

So I'm glad to finally have my fingers on the keyboard and writing again. It's been a long few weeks, but I'm raring to go!

P.S.: I JUST added the buy link for Bear Necessities at Fictionwise to my website, so if you've been waiting, it's available now! (If the link doesn't appear to be there, try hitting your Refresh button; that should solve the issue.)

Friday the 13th

And all is mostly well. I'm almost done first round edits for Eye of the Beholder; I've filled out and filed some necessary paperwork; and Operation Get The Kids' Butts Out The Door Toot Sweet is going along nicely. I think.

Every year around this time we start "dry runs", getting the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, and into shoes and backpacks just as if they were heading for school, because as of Wednesday it's real. They're back in school. R starts middle school this year and M is in first grade, so they get to go at different times. I gave Dusty two choices: get up earlier and deal with the older, and easier, child or sleep in a little later and deal with the younger, more difficult child. See, R will get up, get dressed, joke around and be ready to go no matter how tired he is. M will start the week as Spongebob ("I'm ready! I'm ready!") and end it as Squidward ("Do I haaaave toooo?").

Ah, I can hear his snores now...

I'm hoping to be back at writing new material full time next week. It sucks that I had to take a little over a month off to deal with the tummy, but I'm finally feeling better and Dave and Ben are ready to beat their way out of my head. I'm not sure what my next project will be, but I'm still leaning towards either the sci-fi romance I wanted to do or Shane and Akane of The Gray Court. Once Ben and Dave are done, I'll know for sure.

But I do know that my NaNoWriMo project will be Howl For Me, Jeff and Fenris's story from the True Destiny series. That one has been running around in my head for over a year, and I'm finally able to work on it.

So. That's it for this week. I'm going to try and blog a little more often now that I'm mostly back on my feet, and some time next week I'll announce the contest for a signed print copy of Animal Attraction, so stay tuned!

Something I Don't Often Do Part Two

Okay, I'm not doing as well this week as I was last week, so as much as I love PJ and her work I'm gonna keep this brief. I LOVED Heart's Sentinel when she asked me to proof read it for her, and I think you'll love it too. This is her debut novel, and it's available from Decadent Publishing.

Heart's Sentinel - Book One of the Terra's Guardians series



Born human, Mackenzie never wanted to be a shapeshifter. After a shifter stalks and brutally Changes her, she runs to the jaguars of River Gap pride for protection from the stalker still searching for her, to come to terms with the attack and learn to control her new, powerful cougar body.

Adam, a River Gap Sentinel, is assigned as her guard and mentor. Well aware of his strength and how new she is the shapeshifter world, he holds himself back from the flames of primal desire she ignites. But, to survive the stalker, they both need to first battle their pasts and learn what it truly means to be the sentinels of each other’s hearts.


Heat level - 3

Genre - Paranormal romance, Sci-fi romance, fantasy romance

Cover art by Dara England and Charles Paz

Cover Pretty!

Guess what's on the Coming Soon page at Samhain! Finally, the second True Destiny book, Eye of the Beholder! WOOT!

I can't explain how excited I am to be revisiting my Norse Gods. Tyr and Jamie and the rest will have to face off once again with Grimm, AKA the Old Man, as he tries to regain the Godspear and the rule of the Aesir. Here's the blurb:

Justice isn’t blind anymore.

True Destiny, Book 2

Travis Yardley-Rudiger deliberately stayed away from Jamie Grimm, desperate not to pull her into the petty war of wills between him and her grandfather, Oliver Grimm. Unfortunately the reemergence of Baldur and Loki and their claiming of Jamie’s sister Jordan put her squarely in Grimm’s sights. Her torture at Grimm’s hands left Travis determined to claim and protect the woman he’s loved for years—but first he has to find a way to break the news that Travis is actually Tyr.

Jamie keeps seeing the weirdest things. Flames in her sister’s eyes, for instance…even Travis’s entire body glowing. Then there are the recurring nightmares she just can’t shake. One thing is certain: Travis’s usual standoffish attitude has done an abrupt one-eighty. He’s even gone so far as to move with her into her sister’s condo while she convalesces. And when he reveals who—and what—he is, Jamie is left to wonder what the Norse God of Justice could possibly want with a crazy redhead with severe family issues.

As far as he’s concerned, it will be Travis’s pleasure to show her…

Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, a real blond god and a woman with reasons to have trust issues.

I can't wait until it's out!

P.S.: Did they do a great job on Travis or what? Justice never looked so good.

Something I Don't Often Do

But I'm gonna do it a few times more. Two friends of mine have finally gotten published! Today, Robert C. Roman's Steam Punk story was released from Decadent Publishing. Fae Eye for the Golem Guy is a short romp of a story whose origin came about when Bob, his wife, my husband and I sat around drinking frozen mudslides and plotting to take over the (publishing) world. It's gone through a few changes since that hangover, but I think it's a story you'll truly enjoy or I wouldn't give it my stamp of approval.

Take a look:

Micah Slate has lived centuries, his lonely existence dedicated to the protection of art. Then he meets Ophilia Morgan, a young artist who has transformed herself into a living work of art. Micah thinks she'll never give him a second glance, but she has dark secrets of her own. When a greedy socialite uses Micah's museum as the setting for fraud and destruction, he and Ophilia will be thrown together in a night of mayhem.


Heat level - 2
Comedy, Fantasy, Urban fantasy, Steampunk

All I can say is: He needs to write longer stuff! He's got another short, Road Mage, coming out soon.

My other friend, PJ Schnyder, will have her first release August 6th. Yup, I got to read it first, and yup, I enjoyed it, or I wouldn't mention it here. I'll help her celebrate her first release with a blog post then.

But first: Congratulations, Bob!