Monday, February 27, 2012

The Difficulties in Describing Color

Since I've been a bad, bad blogger I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the ball gown Michaela's wearing to the Fairy Ball:

From Sears. If I could fit into this, I would so wear it to RT in April.
Isn't it pretty? But that color... how do you describe that color without the reader thinking "Joker on a rampage through the jewelry district"? Or "Barney in a rainstorm"? Yes, it's pale lavendar mesh over mint green (with sparkles!), but the reader is going to think "purple" and "green" and...

You get the idea.
So I'll have to describe the effect the two colors have on one another just as much as the colors themselves. It's something I don't always get right, but I have beta readers who have no trouble asking me what the hell I was smoking when I came up with that idea.

"And I thought vegetarian vampires were strange."

Friday, February 24, 2012

Fifty (Per)Cent and a Print Date



I know it's been a while since I posted, but I wanted to leave the Contest post up as long as possible. With all the funky weather around here, I haven't gotten as much work done as I would have liked, but more than I'd hoped for.

These have seen a lot of use this week. That and enough Aleve to fell an elephant.

Since I'm hurting today, I'm just going to hit the highlights:

1. Galley (aka print) edits for Artistic Vision are done. The print release date: October 12, 2012.

2. Final line edits have been turned in for Howl For Me. Unless there's a last-last-minute issue, it's done and ready to come out in March.

3. My Romantic Times Convention schedule has been pretty much finalized. I'll post that on my website soon, so people know where I'm going to be and when.

4. I broke the 50% mark on The Hob this week, which, considering how the weather's been, I consider a triumph. I've made notes of what's going on in the next chapter, it's just a matter of sitting down and writing it. A fairy ball, a fight, Oberon making an unexpected appearance. Oh, and smex.

So that's it! I'm still (yes, STILL) waiting on Cynful. I need to hunt some people down and threaten them with my cane.

Okay, maybe not. I could totally hobble away with their coffee maker, though. That would get things going, now wouldn't it?

Oh, and one more thing. I'm so not cooking dinner tonight.

I know what I want... if only Dusty could cook. And man, that looks GOOD. The site calls it Grandma Pizza.

Monday, February 13, 2012

CONTEST!

It's contest time! Want to win a free download of Howl For Me?



All you have to do is go to my website and click on the Write to Dana button. Enter your name or handle, your preferred ebook format and your email address. That's it!

One entry per person. Any entries without a name, email address or ebook format choice will be disqualified (if you forget, you can send a second, corrected entry in. I'm not a total meanie).

The winner will be announced March 12th. Good luck!

Please note: Howl For Me is M/M. Yes, man-bits touch man-bits. Frequently, and with great gusto.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Pain, Pain, and... Oh Yeah. Pain.

This week has been a little rough on my joints. Thank you, Puxatawney Phil. Another six weeks of winter, eh? Remind me to look up groundhog recipes later.

So I've been using some highly recommended arthritis gloves to keep my joints warm at night, since I've been waking up with stiff, sore fingers recently. I picked up a second, lighter pair for while I work, and I've found they're pretty comfortable.

And stylish. If you're a Golden Girl.
I wound up taking Monday off completely, spending the day in my ultra-deluxe hospital bed so my knees remained elevated and, of course, rocking the arthritis gloves. The same thing wound up happening Wednesday, but I made sure I got my wordcount in before retiring to my room like Scarlett O'Hara, sweeping my pain-train behind me.

I don't think there's enough brocade here for Ms. O'Hara. Or curtains. You can never have too many curtains.
Anyway, other than my knees and hands taking one for the team, work has gone well. I've hit my word count every day except Monday, and realized something. I have a habit of taking one day a week to do things like website maintenance, blog posting, ordering promo or doing edits/paperwork. So I set WriteWay to a four day a week writing schedule, and promptly whimpered at what it did to my daily minimum word count.
If you're lazy and you know it, clap your hands!
 Surprisingly enough, I did not resort to Dragon NaturallySpeaking this week. I think my stylish gloves worked.

You want them. You know you do.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Print Release Dates, Quarter Mark, and Boys Being Boys

This has been a busy week. I've almost hit the quarter mark on the rough draft of The Hob, I got my February newsletter out, and I updated my website to show the two new contracts I got and the print release date of Artistic Vision. All during a week when the kids had half days.

The devastating results of Fart Wars. Thank God they didn't use action figures.
I kid you not. I'm trying to write a scene where Robin thinks perhaps Michaela might be the one in Shane's sculpture of his future, when I hear the children making fart noises at one another. I turn to look, and they are literally lifting their butts at each other and pretending to fart. I kept waiting for them to hold up score cards.

Or get a panel of impartial judges.
Thankfully, Robin and Michaela are getting along like oil and fire, so the writing went well despite the despairing cries of "Cheater! That was a real fart!" and questions like "If I use a lot of spit, does that make it a wet fart?"

I love my life. Really.

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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