Dana's Magic and Mayhem

Character Pics

2012-01-24T17:57:00.000-05:00

I'm doing some more research today on Robin and Michaela, and I found the perfect pics to represent them.

Robin is slender, with long red hair and a flair for the dramatic. When I started hunting pics, I found one that made me go, "Oh. That is so Robin."

Polish model Bartek Borowiec

Isn't he perfect? This is exactly how I see Robin Goodfellow. I couldn't believe how close this guy is to my mental image. Needless to say, his pic is now in my files. For reference purposes.

For Michaela, I went looking for a woman who's a bit athletic. Michaela loves her weekend sports, especially skiing and dirt biking. So when I went picture hunting, this lady stood out:

Danicka Patrick, professional race car driver

Oh, yeah. Now let's watch her turn Robin's world upside down...

New Contracts!

2012-01-23T15:47:00.001-05:00

I know a lot of you are waiting for word on Cynful. (So am I. I'm hoping to hear something within the next week or two, and if I don't, I'll poke my editor.)

But I do have some contract news for you:

Shadow of the Wolf and Hecate's Own, Books One and Two of Heart's Desire!

The Beckett Brothers have been picked up! It's currently a four book series about magical brothers whose family was cursed long ago with lycanthropy. The only way to control the beast is to find the one the Goddess means for them, their mate, or they lose themselves forever to their beast.

Here are the temporary blurbs for Shadow and Hecate:

Shadow of the Wolf
Heart's Desire Book 1

Christopher Beckett is tired of being alone. His wolf is howling for his mate, and Chris knows it is only a matter of time before his needs override everything else in his life. He casts the spell all the Becketts have used to call their mates to them. What he wants is a woman of an older lineage, of power to equal his own. And she has to accept the one aspect that sets him apart from almost every other wizard: his wolf.

What Chris gets is Alannah Evans, a powerful witch of the Evans Coven. The petite, dark haired woman has no problems with the wolf. What she does have a problem with is the fact that Chris is a wizard. Since wizards and witches don’t get along very well, neither should they, but the sparks flying between them can’t be denied. Chris isn’t taking no for an answer. When it becomes clear that an old enemy has targeted them both Chris will wind up engaging his enemy in a duel that could cost him his life.

Or worse: Lana.

Hecate's Own
Book 2 of Heart's Desire

Zachary Beckett has been a screw-up most of his life, but he's finally done something right. He saved his brother's life at great personal cost, and now he's on his way to Cleveland to train as a witch. There he meets Johra Yashodar, a teacher with the belief that Zach is still a screw-up. It isn't long before Zach realizes he's hot for teacher.

Jo has never met someone like Zachary Beckett. His blue eyes haunt her, his body is made for sin and his magic... well. The less said about that the better. He's the worst witch she's ever met, bar none. But Jo is determined to help him, and to do that she'll fight the attraction she feels towards him tooth and nail.

But things aren't always what they seem, and when Zach realizes he's under a hex he comes into his own... as one of Hecate's Own. Chosen by the Goddess Herself to fight evil, it's up to Zach and his brothers to save Jo from a fate worse than death.

I can't wait to fill out the art forms on these. The art department is going to hunt me down. They've been known to run and hide when they see my name on the form.

Wriiiting Sloooowly...

2012-01-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

I think the sun is waiting for Robin's story too.

Thank you, Mr. Headcold, for kicking my butt this week. The good news is, I got a lot of research done on The Hob. The bad news is, I didn't get much writing done on The Hob.

The story is willing, but the body is weak.

I'm hoping it's almost out of my system, and in the meantime I've made sure that I've gotten as much research material imported into WriteWay as I can. I'm almost done Chapter One, and I'm working out who the tertiary character will be. I'm thinking it almost has to be Oberon, as his book is next, but it could be his lady. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm going to lay down and drink OJ and take meds so I can get back to work on Monday and start Chapter Two.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Robin Has Been Started, and So Has a Head Cold

2012-01-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

Robin and Michaela's story has been started. The outline had to be updated a little bit to reflect the last three books (I wrote it back when I was mid-way through Dare to Believe), and am just at the point where Robin is going to see Michaela for the first time. He's going to be charmed, but not enough to go off-mission... not yet, anyway.

Of course, just as I get started, I get a fever.

Maybe because he doesn't want my cold? It could happen...

I should have known when M, who is never out sick from school, wound up staying home for three days last week. Even Dusty, who gave M his immune system, was sick for almost a week. There's no way the black hole of disease could miss that one.

What my sinuses really look like.

So here I am, sniffling and trying to remember how to be witty while the cat looks at me and wonders why I'm making those funny noises. You know, the ones where you breathe in, but then there's this little popping sensation, and you realize that other people around you could hear that and politely tell you to blow your nose?

Yeah. That.

Maybe I'll skip witty and go with sincere.

The Hob: Playlist

2012-01-11T11:25:00.001-05:00

I always listen to music when I write, and today I finally started The Hob. I set up WriteWay, got everything imported from Word, and put together my playlist.

The first song on that list? "Sing Along", by the Blue Man Group (featuring Dave Matthew):

For some reason, the lyrics make me think of Robin. Now I just need to find a good song for Michaela...

Back to Work

2012-01-06T15:05:00.000-05:00

The tree is down, the toys are put away, and I'm back to work. I'm starting off the New Year with first round edits for Howl For Me under my belt and a book that's just about ready to submit. There are a few more things I need to tweak on Guardian Angel (when a beta reader writes, "Wow, that was really stupid" you should probably change it) before I ship it off to Carina Press.

He can fly away with me anytime.

Oh, yes. And I still need to come up with a name for the Hob's book. Something better than, ya know, The Hob. Because I start his book on Monday, and... yeah. He's the Hob. Not someone who should have a lame book title.

I haven't heard anything back yet on Cynful, but I'm hoping to sometime in the next two weeks. I've also submitted Shadow of the Wolf and Hecate's Own to Samhain Publishing. I should have some news on that soon as well. I know a lot of people have been looking forward to me continuing the Beckett brothers, and Samhain will hopefully give me that opportunity.

So, that's it for this week. A lot going on, but not a lot of news. Not yet, anyway. I'm chewing my nails off on Cynful the same as the rest of you, and if it gets picked up I'm so taking the family out for dinner!

P.S.: I'm officially registered for the Romantic Times convention and the Lori Foster Reader/Author Get-Together, so I'll be in Illinois in April and Ohio in June. I hope to see you there!

Welcome to 2012!

2012-01-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

My first newsletter for the year is out, I've gotten edits on my first release of the year (Howl For Me), and I'm crossing my fingers on three books I've turned in to Samhain and one I'm going to turn in to Carina. My kids are playing Skylanders like it's the last video game that will ever be invented and they need to defeat it twenty times before Tuesday, and Dusty is killing giants in DDO and grumbling that his normal partner is busy playing Skylanders.

Yup. It's New Year's Day.

Here's hoping 2012 brings happiness to all!

Winner of Blood of the Maple

2011-12-24T11:47:00.002-05:00

The winner of the download of Blood of the Maple is:

Julie W!

Just let me know if you want .pdf or .epub, and I'll mail it out to you.

P.S.: Once I know the name of the winner for the Grand Prize I'll update this post.

UPDATE: Congrats to YADIRA for winning the Grand Prize!

Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop!

2011-12-16T07:29:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop! What's a blog hop? It's an opportunity to win prizes, that's what!

To win a copy of Blood of the Maple, just comment here on my blog.

I'll post the winner, then ask you to contact me at danamariebell AT gmail DOT com with your email address and your choice of either .pdf or .epub. It's that simple.

Each of the participating authors is offering a prize on their website (you'll have to check them out to find out what). And best of all, there's a Grand Prize of a color Nook pre-loaded with over thirty books! The links to the individual give-aways are below. To enter, just hop on over to the author's blog and follow their instructions for entering. For a chance at the Grand Prize, you'll need to click here.

Here are the participating authors, with links to their give-aways:

These are the books that will be loaded onto the Grand Prize:

A Brush of Darkness -Allison Pang (WINNER MUST DOWNLOAD THROUGH ADOBE DIGITAL EDITIONS)
A Hard Habit to Break - KC Kendricks
Angel in the Middle - Marie Dees
Betting on Hope - Kay Keppler
Blood of the Maple - Dana Marie Bell
Cry Wolf - Angela Campbell
Dearly Departed - Lia Habel
Entanglements - PR Mason
Eris - D. Renee Bagby
Golden - Joely Sue Burkhart
Grey's Lady - Natasha Blackthorne
Her Dark Knight - Sharon Cullen
Hunting Kat - PJ Schnyder
Knight of Runes - Ruth A. Casie
Leading Her To Heaven - Kayleigh Jamison
Love on Cloud Nine - Linda Andrews
Lust on the Rocks - Dianne Venetta
Men of the Sea Anthology - Eliza Knight
Murdering Eve - Kelly Lee
Redaction - Linda Andrews
Relearning the Ropes - DC Juris
Risking Trust - Adrienne Giordano
Shadows & Dust - Yvonne Nicolas
Sloane Wolf - Margay Leah Justice
Snowy Encounters - Clarissa Yip
Soul Catcher - Vivi Dumas
The Alchemist's Perfect Instrument - AL Davroe
The Demon He Knows - RA Vaughn
The Fallen Queen - Jane Kindred
The Knife's Edge - Stephanie Draven
Underdead - Liz Jasper
What Not To Fear - Robert C. Roman
White Hot Christmas: Santa's Claws - Stephanie Burke

Good luck, and Happy Holidays!

Meat Grinder and Blog Hop

2011-12-15T17:22:00.001-05:00

The rough-rough draft of Guardian Angel is done!

It's still sitting at around 80k, which is a bit more than I thought it would be. We'll have to see what happens when I'm done with the Meat Grinder, which should be next week (I hope). Then it's off to the beta readers, and hopefully to my editor beginning of January. I'm probably going to submit it to Carina Press first. After that, if I don't start on Throne of Oak soon I think my Carina editor is going to hunt me down and tie me to the keyboard. I might get potty breaks.

Might.

Oh, and when I'm done with Guardian Angel, I'll be starting work on The Hob.

He's not that kind of elf.

So I'll be taking the last two weeks of December off. My kids will be home and hyper for the holidays, so I usually don't get much done during that time period anyway. I may start the outline on Throne of Oak, but that would be about it.

It will give me a chance to clear my brain of angels and get it into Robin Goodfellow.

He's not that kind of elf, either.

P.S.: Don't forget, tomorrow launches the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop! I'll be posting bright and early. You could win a copy of Blood of the Maple, or the Grand Prize: a color Nook, pre-loaded with tons of books!

Aw Crap. My Dad Was Right About That...

2011-12-12T09:47:00.002-05:00

So, maybe it was the chat about M wanting a toy called Doggie Doo, but I saw this and had to post it:

Dad was right. NEVER swallow your bubblegum!

Holiday Free Read: Just the Way You Are

2011-12-09T20:09:00.001-05:00

Staring Kir and Logan of Very Much Alive!

(Warning: Wieners touch wieners!)

Kitty Attack

2011-12-08T15:11:00.000-05:00

The tree is up and decorated. The presents are (mostly) bought. Guardian Angel is on schedule and almost ready for the beta readers. Best of all, I've almost finished my holiday free read, Just the Way You Are. I'm just waiting to hear back from one more person before I turn it into a .pdf and post it on my website.

My hands. They hurt. But it's an "I accomplished a shit-ton this week" kind of hurt, so I can live with it.

So to spread some holiday cheer (and because I like cats) I'm posting some of my favorite holiday kitty pics. I'll see if I can find some dog ones later, when my hands aren't calling me names in languages I don't even speak.

OMG, It's DECEMBER

2011-12-01T16:38:00.001-05:00

When the hell did that happen?

So, I have no holiday shopping done, no plans other than taking time off between the 22nd and Jan. 2nd and getting Guardian Angel ready for my beta readers before the fat man in red drops down my non-existent chimney. So far, the only thing I'm on track with is getting Guardian done before Christmas.

If I don't get cracking on the shopping soon I'd better find a nice hole to hide in.

My newsletter is out (with a sneak peek at the unedited Howl For Me), and WriteWay is working nicely as an editing tool. I'm looking forward to writing a brand new book with it and seeing if it works as well for that. I'm thinking it will, since I plot AND pants my way through a book. I can do spur-of-the-moment thoughts on chapters I haven't even written yet, something I've always used MS Notepad for and then promptly lost.

So November was busy, and December is looking to be the same. I've got the outline done for The Hob, and will start work on that as soon as the holidays are over. I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of March, at which time I'll start work on Throne of Oak. I've got a lot done this week, and it's not over yet!

Wait. Tomorrow is Friday?

Crap.

Artistic Vision is Available Now!

2011-11-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

Artistic Vision

By: Dana Marie Bell

Type: eBook

Genre: Paranormal, Shape-shifters

Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

Publication Date: 11-22-2011

Length: Category

ISBN: 978-1-60928-553-1

Series: The Gray Court

Desire is the raw material. Lust is the spark…and love will sculpt their destiny.

Akane Russo, one of the Hob’s top Blades, can’t wait for her current assignment to end. She’s been tasked with protecting Sidhe hybrid Shane Dunne from the Malmayne clan’s scheme to kidnap him once again. But no one—not even her Seer half—warned her she’d have to protect herself from his heated gaze. Or that her dragon half would find him an irresistible puzzle.

Shane knew his destined bride would never come to him willingly, but she’s stuck with him and he plans to use her predicament to his advantage. It’s only a matter of time before she succumbs to what they both want. Their Claiming will be beautiful beyond even his wildest imaginings—and his wild, free dragoness will finally see herself as he sees her.

Then his unique, hybrid-borne visions reveal a new danger. The prophecy of the Child of Dunne can only be fulfilled down a path he must travel alone. To a place so dark and dangerous that not even his truebond’s flame may be bright enough to lead him home.

Product Warning: Contains explicit sex, graphic language, a pissed-off dragon assassin and a smart-mouthed Nebraskan farm boy. Bet you can figure out who wins that fight! (Hint: It’s not the dragon…)

Akane allowed the rhythm of the music to flow through her. She kept her movements sensual, tempting the man across from her in the way only a dragoness could. From the amount of drool on his chin her target was buying into it. Akane allowed some of her inner fire to seep into her expression, smiling slightly when the target almost dropped his drink in his lap.

If Robin’s facts were correct, this man would lead her to information the Malmaynes would kill to keep quiet. She ran her hands through her hair, fluffing the curls around her face with a coquettish look. She licked her lips and allowed her gaze to roam over her target. When she was sure she’d set him to a nice simmer, she crooked her finger at him. All she had to do was seduce him enough that he was distracted. Her temporary Sidhe partner would then read the target’s mind and extract the information they needed. But if the target sensed for even one moment that his mind had been invaded, the entire operation would have to be scrapped and the back-up plan put into action.

Akane did not want to go to plan B. Plan B involved Robin’s direct involvement, something she was striving to avoid at all costs. If Robin showed up, things would get…messy.

Akane allowed the target to slide his hands around her waist. The Malmayne looked like most of them did, with golden, gleaming hair and pale eyes. On any other occasion she might have found him semi-attractive. Tonight, he was nothing more than a mark.

She danced with…what was his name again? Tristan? She danced with Tristan Malmayne, wondering when her temporary partner would give her the signal that they’d gotten what they needed. It would be a simple matter to slip away at that point, something she’d perfected over the years. More than one man had been left in her dust after she’d gotten what she wanted.

The target wasn’t a bad dancer. If he hadn’t been on the devil’s side she might have even enjoyed herself. She ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, scraping the skin with her nails. A shiver ran through him. His pupils dilated. His erection brushed against her as he pulled her closer.

She turned in his arms, allowing him to move against her ass, hoping her partner was done. His hands roamed over her bare legs, trying to slip beneath the hem of her miniskirt. If his fingers moved two inches higher he’d find a four inch stiletto pinning his foot to the floor. She wanted gone from here before she found herself thrown over Tristan’s shoulder and carted out of the bar. She’d hate to have to explain to Robin that she’d been forced to break the target into tiny little pieces for being too grabby. Again.

Akane looked up, trying to locate her partner, and damn near shrieked in surprise.Right in front of her was one of the handsomest men she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. His sapphire eyes were blazing with anger. Dark blue silk stretched across massive shoulders. Tight, dark jeans were molded to his legs like a second skin. Those scarred hands took hold of the Tristan’s and twisted, sending the Sidhe reeling back in shock and pain.

“Mine.”

“Sorry.” She turned to find Tristan’s eyes narrowed. He studied Shane, way too closely for Akane’s comfort. “Don’t I know you?”

Shane grinned. “Nope.” He took hold of Akane’s arm and pulled her to the middle of the dance floor. “You are in deep shit, Miz Akane.”

It took everything in her to keep from twisting his fat head off his neck like a bottle cap. “I’m working.”

“That’s one word for it.”

She gasped in outrage. If he said that again he was going to be known as the Cockless Wonder. She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms just so she could hiss in his ear. “Do you know what you have done?”

“Nope. Don’t care either.”

The anger still appeared to be riding him hard. She was surprised his magic hadn’t escaped his control, filling the air around them with sparks or painting the whorls of a leprechaun on his skin. Only Shane’s eyes glittered with an almost inhuman rage. His attention wasn’t focused on her, though. His eyes were tracking Tristan Malmayne as the man made his way back to his seat.

“Robin will be here shortly.”

That got his attention. “Shit. You meant you were working, didn’t you?”

She gritted her teeth. “How attached are you to your balls?”

He had the audacity to laugh down at her. “Pretty damn attached.”

She pulled his head closer. “That was Tristan Malmayne. He might have given me an in with the Malmaynes if you hadn’t fucked it up.”

“They know who you are and who you work for, remember? Didn’t you damn near hand out business cards the day Duncan explained to his ex-clanmates why Charles Malmayne had been executed, and by whom?”

She grimaced. True, she’d told the Malmaynes in the room who she was and backed up Duncan’s declaration that Charles’s execution had been legal and fully justified. That didn’t mean she still couldn’t work the case the way Robin had asked her to. Besides, Tristan hadn’t been in that room, may not have gotten a good enough look at her through the satellite feed Duncan had set up. She could have pulled it off, especially the way Tristan’s hands had been inching up her skirt.

Shane lifted his head and pulled her so close she could practically feel his heartbeat. “Your mom called. She said hi.”

Akane bit him through his shirt. The son of a bitch had been talking to her mother?

He pulled her head closer with a happy sigh. “She also said happy birthday.”

Akane attempted to lift her head. It was like trying to lift a Chevy Tahoe with her pinky. Damn, the man was strong. She usually snapped people like twigs when they annoyed her, but Shane was made of sterner stuff. He was the only person she’d ever met, other than Robin Goodfellow, who could physically haul her places she didn’t want to go. She’d kicked him once, and instead of the satisfying sound of bones breaking, he’d barely grunted. “You’re dead. You know that, right?”

She felt the rumble of his chuckle under her cheek. “Dance with me, sweetheart.”

She rolled her eyes. He was not going to wiggle out of his imminent demise that easily. “Sweetheart? Since when?”

“Since the moment I saw you.” He allowed her to lift her head, and she was under no illusions about that. He allowed it. “No matter your form, no matter what Robin asks of you, remember one thing: you belong to me.”

WINNER!

2011-11-21T06:36:00.000-05:00

The winner of Artistic Vision is:

LINDSEY EKLAND!

Congratulations, Lindsey! I've emailed you your copy. Enjoy your book!

P.S.: Don't forget, I'm giving away another copy at The Romance Studio!

TRS Giveaway!

2011-11-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

I'm taking part in the TRS Thanksgiving Giveaway! The grand prizes are a Nook and a $100 gift certificate to Amazon. For rules on how to enter (and to check out my awesome cookie recipe) click here!

Cookies and books. You can't go wrong.

WriteWay vs Scrivener

2011-11-15T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with some new toys recently, ones that are supposed to help me with my writing. A lot of authors on the RWA loops have been talking about two in specific: Scrivener, which just came out for Windows, and WriteWay, which was, apparently, always for Windows.

The first one I tried was Scrivener. My friend, PJ Schnyder, is working with it and loves it. She says it's really helped her keep track of her notes, her research, and keeps everything she needs in one place. I was intrigued.

Then I opened the program, and apparently I'm stupid, because I could not figure it out after two hours.

It starts by having you open a tutorial on how to work with it. Unfortunately, I found the tutorial to be utterly confusing after an hour of working with it. Scrivener was originally written for the Mac, and maybe that was my problem. I'm far more familiar and comfortable with programs written with the Microsoft Suite in mind. While the look of Scrivener, with its Corkboard, was really nice, I found the binders to be confusing. Worse, the program ate eight pages of The Hob, turning it into the tutorial's document! The good news is, the original Word document still exists, so I didn't lose my work from a few years ago, but still. I wasn't thrilled with Scrivener.

So I decided that while I liked the concept, Scrivener was not for me. What else was out there? That's when I saw WriteWay.

It was easy to work with immediately. I needed to hit the Help button once in the five hours I worked with it over the weekend (and I rarely write on weekends). I've got Angel in My Arms loaded, chapters and scenes set, research links added, all within two days. It's got a Synopsis page for when I'm ready, opens my Excel spreadsheet that I use for series work (as a separate doc), and has spots below where I'm writing for chapter and scene plot points and notes. When I'm ready to write, I click on the chapter scene I'm ready to write/edit and get straight to work. No confusion, no muss, and no eating of my document! It even keeps track of my word count in an obvious, top-of-page place. No hunting for it, no confusion. In short, it's perfect for me. Bonus? WriteWay is working on a version for Mac users.

The third program I heard of but didn't try was WriteMonkey, but the website was done in simple text, with no pics of the program. It is, however, free, which might explain the no-frills website. Some authors swear by it, but I'm happy with my purchase of WriteWay, so I won't be checking it out.

P.S.: If anyone has used Scrivener (or WriteMonkey) and loves it, please comment! While I didn't like the program for me, it looked really neat to work with. Maybe Mac users would find it more intuitive?

Meat Grinding and Names

2011-11-04T08:52:00.001-04:00

I'm going through Angel in my Arms, just like I'd planned. Unfortunately, Robin (aka the Hob) has different ideas. He's been sneaking scenes into my head, and whispering, "Write it. You know you want to."

He's evil. But right. I do want to write him, but I'm stubborn. I've got a file of notes on the scenes he's given me, but I'm determined to finish Angel before I start Robin's story. I just need a working title for it, since I'm not sure I want to call it The Hob forever.

Don't worry, I'm not setting you aside, Mr. Angel

I want something with a little pizzazz; after all, we're talking about Oberon's personal Blade here. The man who scares the piss out of the Dark Queen's strongest warriors. The man High King Oberon walks warily around.

Chuck Norris might be slightly more bad-ass.

So I'm leaning towards something along the line of The Hob's Heart or Puck's Match, but I need to ponder it a little bit longer. Dusty came up with Wicked Games, but I'm worried it sounds a little too BDSM for what I'm writing (plus I already have Mating Games). Maybe Hob's Game?

I know. You're wondering why I don't just start writing it and come up with the name later. I'm one of those writers who likes to have a good working title in mind, one that likely won't change when I'm done the book. I'm weird that way. If I don't have it figured out by mid-November, maybe I'll put it to a vote.

P.S.: Don't forget about the Artistic Vision contest! There's plenty of Hobby goodness, as Akane is a Blade.

Contest Time!

2011-11-01T08:15:00.001-04:00

Told you I'd be starting the contest to win a copy of Artistic Vision at the beginning of the month!

For details on how to win a download of the third Gray Court novel, go to my website! The winner will be announced on November 21, the day before the book releases.

P.S.: When you enter, don't forget to send me your preferred format!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.002-04:00

P.S.: Here's your treat: I'm sending Cynful to Samhain by the end of the day!

Love You, Sweetheart...

2011-10-25T16:41:00.002-04:00

A Name Chosen and an Angel Takes Flight

2011-10-24T11:40:00.002-04:00

The poll has closed, and the majority has spoken: Cynful will remain the title of Book 2 of the Halle Shifters. Two hundred and twenty-five of you voted. A hundred and forty-five of you loved the original title. I've gotten feedback from two of my beta readers, and so far the criticisms have been minor. (Dusty cackled during his first read through, which is always a good sign.)

No matter what, Cynful will be out to my editor on October 31.

I was going through what books to work on next with Dusty, when he mentioned something to me about the Nephilim series I've been talking about since, oh, 2009. I have this whole nine-book, full-length series about these descendants of angels and fallen angels. Two factions with mystical powers battle it out, one believing that they are the protectors of humanity, the other that they should be its rulers. The first to receive his HEA I named Seth, and his lady is named Abby. I've got it completely outlined. In fact, I started it quite some time ago (around, say, 2009), but I wasn't happy with the direction it was taking and set it aside. Dusty asked, "Are you ever going to finish it?"

Yes. Yes, I am.

He TOTALLY wants me to write him. Like, now.

So I started re-writes on what I'd already done to Angel In My Arms, and so far I'm happy with the new direction it's taken. Robin of The Gray Court is stomping his foot at being put on the back burner, but I've promised him that his book will be the longest Gray Court book so far, so he's calming down a bit. I'm not putting a word meter up yet for Angel, though, because it would be confusing as hell right now. I'm adding, I'm subtracting, I'm decimating and rebuilding, and the word count is fluttering like a circle skirt over a subway grate.

Kind of looks like angel wings, doesn't it?

Once that skirt settles down (or I step off the subway grate, whichever comes first), I'll start the traditional word count meter. Until then, patience, and know that I'm writing!

EDIT: I did put the word meter up after all. It occurred to me that I like to know where I stand even when doing re-writes, so get ready for the roller coaster.

After You Type The End...

2011-10-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

... what comes next? A friend of my Aunt Jeanne (who rocks, btw) wrote to me today and asked for me to give her some pointers on publishing. She's working on her first novel and is loving the writing, but is unsure about what comes next. I thought it would make an interesting blog post, so here goes:

Make sure at least two other people read over your novel, people whose opinions you respect. Listen to them, but if what they suggest goes against your instincts, feel free to discard any or all of their advice. It's your novel, no one can write it for you. But if all of them say the same thing, I'd pay attention!
If for some reason, the first novel isn't working for you, don't be afraid to scrap it a different one. Believe me, it's scary to say that it isn't working, but better to set it aside than to try and force something that doesn't feel right.
However, if you find yourself doing this with every book you start, then you need to decide where you're going wrong. My suggestion: read! I was trying to write traditional, Harelquin-esque romances and it didn't work for me. Then I read a Mary-Janice Davidson novel and something clicked for me. I started writing like I wanted to, and I haven't looked back since.
Never start querying publishers/agents until after the novel is finished. This can be a red flag to them that you aren't serious. Wait until it's completed before sending it out. (You'll see this on a lot of agent's advice sites, so I'd pay attention to it.)
Once your novel is completed and you feel it's been polished within an inch of it's papery life, DON'T sit on it! Get it out there. Have a plan. Do you want to go the traditional publishing route, i.e., get an agent, go to the Big Six publishers, and cross your fingers? Do you want to go electronic publishing, with some of the smaller presses like Carina or Samhain, and cross your fingers? Or somewhere in between, like with Harlequin, who will accept unagented submissions but IS a big print publisher (and has imprints that will only accept agented submissions)? Once you know where you'd like to head, you'll feel a lot more comfortable about the journey. You'll have a direction, a goal, and that's a good thing.
Once you've decided, read the guidelines of the agent/publisher. If they say they don't accept romance, don't send it to them. If they say they do, check their "heat levels". I write on the mild side of erotic, so I can't send it to a strictly "sweet" publisher or agent. Also check and see if what you've written fits in with any of their imprints and, if so, who you'd send your query to. (The query step will be taken care of by your agent if one agrees to work with you.)
Do your homework. Don't be afraid to write to authors who write for that agent/publisher to ask their opinion. Not all will answer, but enough will to give you an idea if the fit will be right for you.
When writing the query letter, mention you've completed the novel and are working on a second. This lets the agent/publisher know you're serious about your writing.
Don't think your job is finished after you type the end. It's just beginning. This is your business as well as your passion, and you have to treat it as such. There's website design, blogging, social media (if it scares you, I'd suggest Facebook to start rather than Twitter), advertising and promotions, editing, monthly newsletters... LOTS of work goes into being a published author. I spend half my day writing, and the other half working on all that other stuff. How much time you put into it will be up to you, but at a minimum you'll need a website if you're accepted for publication. The readers need to know where to find you.
You have to make sure your website is easily navigated. There's nothing worse than a reader who has to ask, "Where's the books?" when you're an author. Check other author websites to see how they're doing it, and with what. Several use Wordpress; others use programs like Yahoo!SiteBuilder. Still others will pay someone to create and maintain the website. It's all up to you and what you can afford.

Scared yet? Don't be. It's the most satisfying career I've ever had, and I'll give it up when I'm five years dead and buried. Maybe not even then.

P.S.: I'm mailing Cynful to my betas first thing in the morning! WOOT!

The Devil is in The Details

2011-10-13T16:55:00.000-04:00

It may look as if progress is moving slowly on Cynful this week, but really it isn't. We're in what I call the Meat Grinder stage.

Picture Julian and Cyn going in here and coming out fabulous.

It can look like things are going really slowly, but in reality this is the part where things go quickly. What I'm doing is fixing grammatical errors, finding mistakes in continuity, and adding any scenes that should have been added from the beginning. Since I won't be able to work tomorrow due to family issues, I'll be finishing up this portion on Sunday. Then it's off to the beta readers, who will let me know whether the Meat Grinder worked or not. I'll take a look at the suggestions they send me and make the appropriate changes.

After that is the scary part. Once all of the meat grinding is done, it's time to write the synopsis and a rough blurb and send it to my editor. So far I'm on schedule. It looks like Cynful will be out the door at the end of the month, or at the latest the beginning of November.

At that point, it's just wait and see whether or not my editor wants to pick it up. Cross your fingers!

And your toes!

Contest Winner

2011-10-07T09:01:00.000-04:00

The winner of the signed copy of Noble Blood is...

Evelyn Chung!

Congratulations, Evelyn!

P.S.: I'll be starting a contest for a download of Artistic Vision the beginning of November.

RIP Gremlin Bell

2011-10-04T08:52:00.000-04:00

Gremlin had an enlarged heart, something we found out was a birth defect. He had an undetectable heart murmur that only becomes apparent when the cat has a heart attack, which Gremlin did on Saturday. When he came home from the hospital yesterday the cardiologist told us his prognosis was good, and that he could live at least another two years without problems.

He passed away this morning. I'm going to miss my dapper little man.

An Evil Attack Kitty Has Taken Over My Life

2011-09-30T17:34:00.000-04:00

Yup. That right there is pure evil.

I know, it's been about a week since I posted. I've been hard at work on Cynful, the next in the Halle Shifters series. It's also been the first full month of school,with all the attendant learning curves and aggravation that me, Dusty and the kids have to go through every year. And in case you hadn't noticed through my tweets and my Facebook, we got a new kitten.

Gremlin wants to know what the hell we were thinking.

It's not an ordinary kitten either. It's an Attack Kitten, master of the stealthy noms. I'll be sitting at my computer, writing, either with my fingers or Dragon NaturallySpeaking, when I will feel a sudden sharp pain in my toes or my leg or my knee. Really, he doesn't care what part of me he's noming. Any old port in a storm, right?

When he reached my chest I learned I make a pretty good kitten catapult. (Disclaimer: no Attack Kittens were harmed by the subconscious kitten catapult. My boobs, on the other hand, may never be the same.)

So now my hands look like shredded wheat, and my poor Julian plushie will be singing soprano from here on out. I'm pretty sure he lost his, um, manliness soon after Thumper discovered him.

I'm telling you: eeeeeviiiiil.

However, despite numerous distractions and a crap load of Kitten induced pain, Cynful has hit the 60K mark! The rough draft is almost complete. I have one or two more scenes to add before I send it through the Meat Grinder. I should have it out to my betas within a week or two, and then it's off to the publisher!

Computers and Contests

2011-09-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

I finally have my website program and all my website files on my new work computer. In case you hadn't been reading my tweets a couple of weeks ago, my old work computer's video card/drivers became totally messed up, and I wound up spending far more time than I would have liked trying to revive it.

Okay, Dusty spent far more time. I know video games, not video cards.

Long story short, it would do a hard freeze after half an hour of Dragon Age. When updating my website, it would freeze, then then bring up the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.

Attack of the Fifty Foot BSoD

Pretty soon all it was doing was freezing and blue screening. After about a week of this we tried updating the video drivers, which didn't work. If anything, it made things worse. We tried all sorts of solutions to stop the deep freeze treatment, but to no avail.

Frustrated, I wound up ordering a new computer.

No aliens have leaped out of my screen...yet.

My old gaming computer has become my work computer, and I've gotten a newer, shinier video game computer that has Mr. Bell all Kermit-colored with envy. I'll be paying it off for a bit, but at least I can once again update my website and play video games without fear.

You don't want to see what happens when I go through video game withdrawal. Not even chocolate can save you if that happens.

So my website is up to date, including the pre-order button at Amazon for Artistic Vision, and the contest I was hoping to start over a week ago is finally posted. I'm giving away a signed copy of Noble Blood, Book 2 of The Gray Court, which will be out in print October 4. Details on how to enter are below the excerpt.

Nobility has its privileges…and its price. Sometimes it just sucks.

The Gray Court, Book 2

For Lord Duncan Malmayne, it was love at first sight with his true bond, the lovely half-Sidhe, half-leprechaun Moira Dunne. Yet something is missing from his relationship with the fiery redhead, something that prevents him from completing the Claiming and making Moira his forever.

As problems multiply in what should be a magical, idyllic time, the depression weighing on Moira’s Sidhe heart signals a potentially devastating condition. Mate sickness. Her instinct tells her what’s missing: Jaden Blackthorn, Gray Court vampire, Duncan’s bond brother and closest friend—who tactfully withdrew from their lives after Duncan declared his love.

Jaden is both heartbroken and elated that the two people he loves most in the world are together. It’s best he cut off all contact to give them space to complete the Claiming. But trouble is brewing in the Malmayne clan, and when Jaden’s forced back into their lives by the Hob, their extremely rare tribond clicks with a reaction that’s swift, sensual and all-consuming.

But not everyone looks upon it as a blessing. In fact, the price of their love could be a potentially fatal shift of power…

Warning: This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, and M/M/F love scenes between a Sidhe lord, a vampire and a leprechaun. And no, that’s not the start of a dirty joke no matter what my Beta readers said.

Las Vegas, Two Weeks Before Christmas…

Jaden danced across the floor, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him. He was starving, and not just for blood. But none of the many hot, available bodies called to him. Hell, at this point he’d be willing to pay for a body that appealed, but none of them did. Not one, damn it. Not even the blond with the blue eyes whose build so reminded him of…

Okay, not going there.

Jaden loved a big, strong man, and dayum if that guy didn’t have big and strong down to an art form. Not even the stupid Santa hat detracted from his looks.

Then the guy had to go and ruin it by lifting some little twink up in the air and almost dropping him.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. Or not.

He hit the edge of the dance floor and made his way through the crowd, pausing only long enough to check his watch. Almost two thirty, and he still hadn’t fed or gotten laid like he’d originally planned. As a vampire he couldn’t even get good and drunk without a little veinicular help.

Heh. Veinicular.

Jaden sighed and propped up a wall. It was pretty fucking bad when the best part of the evening was a lame vampire joke. He hadn’t been laid in more months than he could count, and sucking without fucking was, well, chocolate without peanut butter. Coke without rum.

Turner without Hooch.

Jaden rubbed his chest. The ache that kept him from following that blond’s tight end right to nirvana had been growing by the night. He knew exactly who to blame for it, too.

Damn it, he missed them. He missed them both so much it hurt.

“You okay?”

He grimaced and stared down at the small Asian woman in front of him. “Yeah, I’m good.”

She shook her head, her glossy black hair shimmering under the lights. “If you’re hungry I could feed you.” Her startling eyes looked up at him with a mild expression, almost as if she was offering to order him something off the dollar menu at Taco Bell.

Akane Russo had the weirdest eyes of anyone he’d ever met. One eye was dark brown with a startling light hazel star in the center. The other eye was a pure light hazel. Black brows were a straight slash above them, giving her a stern expression.

Those eyes freaked him the fuck out every time he saw the woman. Considering how many times they’d worked together over the years, he’d found himself freaked out quite a lot. He’d long ago become used to the sensation and counted her as one of his few real friends. “Nah. I’m good.”

One brow rose in disbelief. It was almost Spockish in its elegance. “You sure? You look really hungry, Jade.”

He grinned and tried to make it look like he meant it. “I’ll be fine.”

She shrugged. “All right then. But eat soon, okay? I’d hate to have to hunt your ass if you go feral.” She started to walk away, ignoring his shiver, but before she got very far she turned back. That golden star in the center of one of her eyes widened. “There’s something different about you.”

Oh boy. He had no idea what she was seeing, but there was a curiosity in her expression he could live without. He had no desire to be dragged off to her lair and dissected. “My shirt is new. It’s Marc Jacobs.” He spun, making sure to leer at her over his shoulder. “You like?”

Her eyes rolled, the star shrinking to its normal proportions. “Please. I’m probably the only piece of ass in this bar not interested.”

He wiggled his butt, confident she would turn him down. “You sure?”

She laughed, the sound remarkably sweet from a woman he’d once seen rip the head off a Black Court vampire. “I’m sure. I don’t poach, remember?”

He frowned and wondered what the hell she was talking about. Before he could ask she waved good-bye and headed back to the dance floor.

“Freaky ass dragon bitch.”

She glared over her shoulder at him. “I heard that.”

That startled a laugh out of him. How she did that he’d never know, but it sounded like she was standing next to him in a nice, quiet room. He shook his head and turned back to the dancers. He had no idea if he was going to be able to fine a real meal tonight, but he was sure as hell going to try.

The sight of the blond man bent over the red-headed twink brought home that no, he wasn’t. Damn it.

He headed toward the door, his hunger effectively demolished by the thought of Duncan and Moira. It still amazed him that she’d let him in after his role in kidnapping her sister-in-law Ruby. The human had been a trooper when faced with the Deranged Darling.

Just thinking about Kaitlynn was enough to have him clenching his teeth in rage. So he brought forth the memory of how he’d made her pay oh so dearly for everything she’d done, including the murder of her own father. She’d been bitter going down his throat, but at least he had the satisfaction of knowing she’d never hurt anyone else ever again.

Duncan was now head of the Malmayne clan and newly mated to Jaden’s dream woman. Too bad Jaden couldn’t be there with him to celebrate. The way Moira had defended her new sister-in-law had earned Jaden’s undying respect. He’d left a piece of his heart in her soft hands. Hell, he’d left fully half of it there, since that’s all he’d had left to give. Duncan owned the other half, and had for a century.

He couldn’t even muster up any enthusiasm when his favorite song came on. It had been a while since he’d heard Seal’s Kiss from a Rose. He always smiled when he heard the line, “I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.” Everyone thought that the line was “rose on the grave”, but they were wrong. He’d looked it up one night, wondering why that line haunted him.

A rose on the gray. Damn it. Visions of Duncan’s gray eyes and Moira’s fiery hair danced before him.

Aw hell. Now he was getting all mushy and stuff. Next thing he knew he’d be sending little Hallmark moments to the both of them over Facebook or something. If he didn’t get himself under control soon he was going to wind up destroying all of them. Duncan, ah, beautiful Duncan and his sweet little leprechaun deserved better than that.

This was Jaden’s burden to bear, and bear it he would. No matter the cost.

Just head to my "Write to Dana" page and send me your email address (I'll contact the winner for a mailing address, so no need to send that) and what name or handle you'd like me to use when I announce the winner. (Think "Puppydog Eyes 775" or "Kitty in Poughkeepsie" if you don't want me to use your real name.) I'll post the name or handle of the winner here and on my website on October 7!

Also, I'll be starting a contest for a download of Artistic Vision the beginning of November. Artistic Vision comes out November 22 in E-Book; no print date is available yet.

P.S.: for those of you asking about a release date for Howl For Me, I don't have one yet. I'm hoping to get one soon, and I'll put it up on my website and here once I have it.

Sick Days and Kittens

2011-09-07T07:52:00.001-04:00

Why do I always get sick this time of year? Everyone in my family seems to have some bug or other. My mother was complaining of a sore throat, I've got the sniffles and a fever and worst of all, my BIL actually went to the doctor. Voluntarily! (Prepare for the Apocalypse. The end times, they are a'comin.)

Yesterday, I got the kids off to school and told Dusty I wasn't feeling well. I took what I thought would be a nap. At two p.m. I woke up, still feeling like I could sleep some more. Needless to say, writing did not happen. I'm feeling a little more awake today so I'm hoping to get something done before I lay down, but this week will be slow going for those of you watching my word count meters.

I've had a couple of email inquiries about a release date for Howl for Me. No word from my publisher yet, but I promise I'll post it once I know. I've also had people ask if I'm planning on doing more M/M. Howl for Me is M/M, but until I see whether or not you all want more M/M I'm putting it on the back burner. Besides, the next four books I've got in my brain (Julian and Cyn, the Hob and Mikayla, Stern and Rabi, and Dragos and Mina) are all M/F. Perhaps when I'm done I'll set up a poll. If I get enough votes for a M/M story I'll add one.

Oh! On a happier note, we got a kitten! No name for him yet (I'm leaning towards Wheeler, because the squeaky wheel gets the grease and damn this cat does nothing but). He goes to his first vet's appointment today. Wanna see?

I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet…

2011-08-24T13:19:00.000-04:00

So an earthquake wasn't enough for you, was it? How about this?

And according to the Weather Channel, the sky's going to come tumbling down. An earthquake and a hurricane in the same week? Someone seriously ticked off the karma gods. Dusty's Florida relatives are sending us ideas on how to ride out a hurricane, and we're looking at evacuation if Irene is a Category 2 when it hits us. Tonight we'll probably pack up essentials like our birth certificates, passports, homeowners insurance papers and the latest vet records for our pets. By Friday, we'll know whether or not we're going to try and stick it out or run for the hills (I'm looking at you, Ohio).

This is the first time either one of us has been an earthquake. I'm not certain either one of us is ready for it to be the first time we ride out a hurricane. We have to remember things like the children's medication and making sure each one of us has some form of identification on us. I read somewhere that you should have dogtags made up that state your name, place of residence, allergies emergency responders need to be aware of, and any medication that you're on. I'm thinking of having that done today.

Now I have to admit, I'm hoping none of this is necessary. I'm hoping at worst we'll get high winds and heavy rain. We've dealt with 65 mile an hour winds before, and we will again. But if we're told to evacuate, we are so out of here.

Why did the chicken-shit cross the road? To get away from the god-damn hurricane!

On Soul Mates

2011-08-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

Note the word "especially"...

It's been a while since I caught up on Dear Abby (I don't watch soap operas, but I'll read advice columnists; go figure). Someone in one of the articles mentioned having met her "soul mate", but that soul mate wasn't her spouse. What to do?

Abby handed down the usual "don't break up your marriage" advice, along with the definition of a soul mate. Neither definition she posted mentioned love, sex, or anything like it.

Merriam Webster defines a soul mate as:

1: a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament
2: a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs

Dictionary.com has a similar definition:

a person with whom one has a strong affinity.

The Cambridge Online Dictionary does mention romantic partners:

someone, usually your romantic or sexual partner, who you have a special relationship with, and who you know and love very much

Note the key word here: usually. A soul mate doesn't necessarily mean that person will be in your bed and sharing your day-to-day life. For instance, I happen to know someone with two soul mates, one of them his spouse, the other...not.

Dusty approves

Picture this: a man goes to college and meets someone. That someone becomes his best friend, his comrade, the one who completes his sentences and gets his jokes when no one else does. He follows this person a thousand miles to a new city, a new life. They get jobs together, play together, live together. There are very few people on earth he'd rather spend time with, and the other person feels exactly the same way.

Sounds like soul mates, right? Keep reading.

The man meets a woman, and that woman has many of the same characteristics as his soul mate. He marries her, has children with her, builds a happy life with her. The soul mate also meets someone with many of the same characteristics as the man, marries her, has children with her, etc. Their children are taught that they are family in all respects but one: blood.

Our children call Dusty's other soul mate Uncle Bob.

In other words, they're brothers in every way but biological, soul mates even though they were never meant to be together romantically. A lot of people forget that a soul mate isn't always someone you have sex with, and roll their eyes when they hear the words. But for me, a soul mate isn't just some romance trope; it's more than that. It's a connection between two people that can't be denied, sisters and brothers of our hearts, and not always the person we go to sleep next to each night. I'll bet you've met people who are soul mates and just didn't describe them that way because we always tend to think in terms of our soul mates being our romantic partners.

Trust me. Neither Dusty nor Bob want to see the other naked.

Well. Now that I've got that off my chest I should get back to my day job, hmm?

Quicky Post: More Authors After Dark Pics!

2011-08-18T13:14:00.000-04:00

I did a post over at the DC Area Storytellers with some more pics from the con. If you want to see Stephanie Burke as a geisha or PJ Schnyder looking like Christine in Phantom of the Opera, head on over and take a look.

Totally Steamed

2011-08-15T09:56:00.002-04:00

That was kind of... disturbing...

Having left my camera at my mother's, I don't have a picture of Dusty and I at the Steampunk Ball. I know. I has a sad, too. But my friend PJ Schnyder has promised that once she's done at the Evil Day Job she'll send me the picture she took of us. As soon as I get it I'll post it for you.

My last day at Authors After Dark, and I overslept. I managed to drag my butt out of my lovely Murphy bed a full hour after I'd planned to get up, so when Robert Roman, a friend, my brother-in-law and an author, came to pick me up to attend the Blog Fail panel I was barely functional. In a way, he's lucky, because I was just short of butting in on a panel I wasn't sitting on. I kept thinking "Oh, I do that too!", but before I could open my mouth someone else was already saying it. Damn you, lack of caffeine! I could have totally ruled that panel.

Off to the book signing after a quick yet delicious lunch of a mushroom pizza steak (GOD I love Philly food!) I honestly thought I'd give away more Bear Necessities posters than I did, but people took one look at Artistic Vision and wanted Akane! Kudos to Kendra Egert for a beautiful cover; everyone near me had cover envy.

Back to the room for a much needed rest while I wait for Dusty to arrive. By now I've got a bit of a sore throat from yelling to be heard over three hundred other people who were also yelling to be heard over three hundred people, but it was worth it. I met Jess Haines, who took one look at me and said, "You're the vampire cactus lady! Oh my God, I laughed so hard!" Apparently, she'd really enjoyed Blood of the Maple, and I will forever be the Vampire Cactus Lady in her mind.

Robert asked to borrow my room to change into his outfit for the Steampunk Ball, and he arrived shortly after Dusty did. (By the way, Dusty took one look at the Murphy bed and declared we were going home right after the ball.) So Bob changes into his kilt-and-mad-scientist outfit (don't ask, you had to be there; it involved a long explanation in a Scottish accent about engineers) and Dusty and I go out to dinner since he's not allowed in the Steampunk Dinner. We enjoyed a nice, leisurely meal at the hotel's bistro/bar, then head back to our room to pack and change.

Off to the ball, where some of the vendors had set up their wares. We grabbed plenty of business cards. A lot of the steampunk jewelry was absolutely gorgeous and we plan on doing some shopping. We wandered, got our picture taken, and had a good time. Then the Olde City Sideshow arrived, and I became really familiar with the brim of my hat.

Eating earthworms? EW! But the sword swallowing act was rather neat.

We were changed, checked out and on our way home by 11:30, thus ending my very first Authors After Dark. Honestly, it was such a mixed bag of good and bad that I'm not sure how I felt about it. On the one hand, none of the problems I encountered were the fault of the event coordinators. Most of the issues had to do with the hotel changing things at the last minute, moving wipe-away boards so the attendees couldn't figure out what had been changed to where, and other pleasant things like that. Add in the horrible room I was in, and I think my memory will be a mixed bag of awesome (the con itself) and angry (Doubletree Hotel).

I don't think I've ever done this before, but I'm doing it now: if you're planning a convention, especially a romance-centric one like AAD, DO NOT book the Doubletree in Philadelphia. I have no idea what bug flew up their butt and started munching, but it was not pretty. And for the record, I in no way blame Authors After Dark for any of it. I blame the venue.

UPDATE: Found my camera! Here are the pics from the Steampunk Ball I asked a friend to take:

Someone said, "Lift her skirt!" So he did.

Me and my cowboy.

They're doing what on the stage?

Oh, no they didn't!

Foxy!

2011-08-12T23:12:00.000-04:00

Me, looking foxy in my black wig, ears and tail.

Pardon the short blog post, but I'm really, really tired. It's been a long day, but I promised a picture of me in the black wig and the tail, and I'm delivering.

Today, I was on a panel on the life of the average author. Since Stephanie "Flash" Burke was on it with me, there was nothing average about it. (Bathroom attendant at a strip joint? Really?) This afternoon, Bianca d'Arc, Carolyn Ivey, JC Wilder and I gave away a Nook at the Wine and Cheese party in the Hospitality suite, and then it was time for the Mythos Ball. I was a Kitsune in some really crappy glitter nail polish that looked fabulous in the crappy lighting of the ballroom. The food was surprisingly good (but then again, this is Philly) and then door prizes were given out. I actually won something, a mug and a hoodie from Larissa Ione.

Tomorrow is the booksigning from 2-4 (or 2-4:30, depending on who you talk to), and afterwards is the Steampunk ball. Have I mentioned I'll be on the arm of a really hot cowboy named Dusty?

The Good, The Bad, and The You're F'ing Kidding Me

2011-08-11T23:12:00.000-04:00

Me and Robert C. Roman

Today was my first day at Authors After Dark. Hell, it was my first for a LOT of things. First time sitting on a panel. (I had my first two panels today, starting at 11 a.m. Dakota Cassidy was on both of them!) So that was the good.

The bad? You need a freaking map to figure out where anything is, and half the time the hotel has changed it on the poor event holders at the last minute. so not even they know what's accurate and what's not. Finding out that something you thought was at six got moved to seven then they shut the doors so you thought it was cancelled when it wasn't? Absolutely stupid. I feel kind of sorry for PJ Schnyder and Stella Price, because they're trying damn hard to put on a first rate con and the hotel is trying damn hard to fuck it up. So far every event I've gotten to has been fun, but that's more on PJ and Stella than Doubletree.

At least the french toast was good.

The you're f'ing kidding me? First time staying at the Doubletree in Philly. Last time I will ever stay at the Doubletree in Philly. I requested a handicapped room, and, in the spirit of the law, I got one. The fact that I paid for two queen beds and got a single Murphy bed does not negate the fact that the bathroom has the correct handlebars. It's not their fault that they gave me a room that's essentially a crooked shoebox / ex-storage room, right? One I can barely fit my scooter into?

Oi.

So, anyway. Hotel sucks big hairy moose balls. Con? So far, so fun. Looking forward to tomorrow and the Mythos Masquerade, where I'll be wearing a long black wig, black fox ears and a black and white tail. Yup, I'll be the only Kitsune in a scooter on the planet. Wish you were here yet?

Rest In Peace

2011-08-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

It is with profound sadness that I announce that Leslie Esdaile Banks, our Queen literary passed this morning. I will share details of funeral arrangements as soon as they become available.

Adrienne King
President
Leslie Esdaile Banks FanClub

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150254114711440

I Know What I'm Getting for MY Birthday...

2011-07-25T10:27:00.000-04:00

And ooooh, the writing will SUFFER tomorrow!

Hehehehehehe....

Okay, in case you didn't know, I'm a TOTAL Dragon Age junkie, both Origins and Rise to Power. Heck, I might just be a BioWare junkie, since I've done two playthrough's of Mass Effect 2 in a week (I romanced Thane both times, my alien assassin cutie... what can I say? I have a thing for assassins. See Zevran. Nomnomnom...) and several of NeverWinter Nights 2, Mask of the Betrayer (oh, Gann...)

BioWare does really good character-driven plots with plenty of romances for those of us who like to take that option, but it's by no means mandatory for those who don't. They make just the kind of video game I enjoy playing the most. In fact, during my Mass Effect 2 playthrough Dusty came in and was all "Holy crap! You're playing a first person shooter?!?" And I replied, "Nope. I'm playing Mass Effect because I'm into hot assassins. The fact that I get to use a sniper rifle to put a hurt on the bad guys is just a bonus." For some reason that didn't bother him as much as I thought it would. Possibly because he has his own pixelated girlfriends (coughMERRILLcough) and I don't bother him about them. Heck, I've been known to give him pointers. "No, honey, don't destroy the tome of evil! Your bloodmage sweetie will totally kick you out of the bedroom if you do that!"

Aren't I a good wife?

So today, on my actual birthday, I'm going to do some edits and some writing, because tomorrow? I'm totally saving Thedas. Or at least Hawke's piece of it. Is anyone else as addicted to these games as I am?

P.S.: I prefer the PC versions of these games, because the romance mods rule.

P.P.S.: In all the above games, you can be male or female and pick your appearance, something I really appreciate since not all games do that.

Where a Door Closes Somewhere a Window Opens

2011-07-18T13:23:00.000-04:00

Or at least it seems that way. My sci-fi story Stern Negotiations is flowing nicely, unlike my shifter story Cynful. I haven't had a single argument from the main characters. Rabi and Stern are getting along fabulously and are agreeing with almost everything I want to put them through. I'm not sure why this one is flowing so much better than Cynful but I'm not about to question it. I'm enjoying writing a different sort of character with Rabi. He's little more formal the most of the characters I usually write, and Stern is having a fun time trying to figure him out. She can sense the passion in him and longs to bring it out. Both of them have secrets they're keeping from the other for good reasons, and I've just reached the point where one of their secrets is about to be revealed.

(Those of you worried I won't be heading back to Cynful any time soon, don't be. This happens to me sometimes. Once I shake out whatever is bothering me about Julian and Cyn I'll be back to writing my shifters. Until then, I'll be working on Stern and Rabi.)

I almost forgot to make the banner for the scavenger hunt for Authors After Dark! So that was one of the first things I worked on today, and I think it turned out rather well. We'll have to see what the finished product looks like when it arrives. Also, the final schedule should be posted soon. Once I know exactly where I'll be at what time, I'll post it here and on my website. Remember, Authors After Dark is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 11-14 at the Doubletree Hotel in Center City.

P.S.: My new bed arrived! I've never heard of anyone delivering on a Sunday, but these guys did. Last night was our first night on the new mattress and I have to say so far I like it. My back felt a little bit better today, but considering I could barely walk yesterday I'm not sure if that's saying much. We'll have to see how much of a difference it makes and if it does everything that's been promised. One thing I do know is that it's already better than sleeping on my chaise!

Time Flies By

2011-07-12T16:30:00.002-04:00

When you're remodeling, especially when you're sleeping on the sofa.

Okay, that's a lie. It drags on like a week-long visit with a guest from hell. You know the kind of visit I mean, where you want to stab your own eyeballs out with a grapefruit spoon rather than spend one more minute with the person across the table from you?

It's sort of like that, but without the vast quantities of tequila needed to get through it.

Dusty and I had decided when we got back from Florida that we would replace our waterbed with a memory foam bed, with the bed frame that can raise and lower your back and knees. We've heard this would be good for my arthritis and has been something we've been planning on for a while. But we realized we couldn't use our current bed furniture with the new frame and mattress, and since it was one of those all-in-one types with built in end tables we realized we'd have to replace all the bedroom furniture. So we decided that while we were at it we would also replace the carpeting and paint.

What started out as a master bedroom remodel has become the master bedroom, oldest son's room, stairways and hallway remodel, complete with installing a new wall between the master bedroom and the master bath and a brand-new closet system.

Have I mentioned my children are home from school right now? Pass the tequila, please. Thanks.

So things have been hectic around Casa de Bell for the last few weeks. The bed furniture and the carpeting are in. The drywall job will be started next week as will the painting, and yes I know that's kinda backwards, but I trust the guy doing the drywall work and was willing to wait for when he was available. It's going to go from a black and white bedroom to a gray and periwinkle blue one. I'm looking forward to the change, but with all the comings and goings things have been going slow on the writing front. Add in the fact that Julian and Cyn have been arguing with me lately over the direction of their story, I decided to work on something else for a little while. My sci-fi story seems to be flowing a little bit better for me right now, so I am doing a little work on that while I work out what's wrong with Cynful. I'm going to have Dusty read what I've got so far. He might be able to show me where I'm going wrong. I have vague idea, but I can't quite figure out how to fix it and I want to see if he sees the same thing I do.

I'm getting more and more used to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which means the words are starting to flow a little faster than they were before. That, too, was slowing me down. I'm not quite up to the speed I was when I was typing and my hand wasn't throbbing, but I'm slowly getting there. I still have to correct things by hand but not nearly as much as I did when I first started.

I'm looking forward to going to Authors After Dark in August, especially since it's going to be in my hometown. Just don't ask me whether I'm a fan of Pat's or Geno's. There's no way I'm getting in the middle of that war. We Philadelphians can get vicious when it comes to our cheese steaks.

I'm Ba-ack!

2011-06-20T11:25:00.004-04:00

Did you know that I'm an insane woman? Because only an insane woman would go straight from a conference to Disney World.

Yeah, I'm that kind of crazy.

Let's start with the Lori Foster Reader Author Get-Together. My first night there I was a day early because this was my first time at Lori Foster and I had no idea what to expect. When I made my travel arrangements, I thought it was like the RT convention where I had to be there early enough to register. What I didn't know was that the Lori Foster con has you register late afternoon, early evening on Friday, so I wound up spending a little more time in my room than I planned. I totally should have gone to the lobby to see if anyone else was as early as I was but I chose not to, mostly because I was still hurting from the flight, getting my rental car, getting my scooter in the rental car, figuring out how to turn off the emergency brake in the rental car, and feeling like an idiot.

(I mean, who doesn't know how to turn off the emergency brake?)

The good news is I was nice and relaxed by the time I actually went to the con. I had a wonderful time chatting with Leah Christiansen and her husband; Kathy Andrico (the photography lady for the con, who took a lovely picture of me at the book signing); and Bridget Locke, aspiring writer and all-around nice person. We even wound up hitting the bar for drinks until midnight, something I never do. The whole vibe of the con is completely relaxed, more like a family reunion than anything else. I had a great time, and I will definitely do it again.

A couple of pictures from the con:

This is Drea Becraft, who could only stay for a brief time before heading off to a wedding. It was great seeing her even if she couldn't stay for long.

This is me at the book signing, with my cover flats and the two posters I decided to bring. I wasn't certain if people would like them, but from the reaction I got to them I may have more done. Are there any particular covers of mine you'd like to get in poster size?

These are all the authors who were still available for the group photo by the end of the con. I'm off in the left-hand corner peeking around the chair. Getting to where the photo was being taken was tricky in my scooter and I almost didn't make it. When it came time to do the pictures for the individual publishers, I made sure I was out of the scooter and front row. I'll update later once I have those pictures.

I get home from the Lori Foster con, pleasantly tired, and walked straight into chaos. You see, this is the part where I prove to you that I'm an insane woman. My husband was finishing packing for us to leave the next morning to go to Disney World. so it was time to do laundry, make sure all the toiletries were packed, make sure all of my batteries and chargers for my scooter were ready to go (I need to take three to make it all work), etc. Honestly, Dusty did most of the work, but I did just enough to feel really tired by the end of the night.

So was off to Disney World and our timeshare was gorgeous. We bought into Bay Lake Towers, and I have to say I'm glad that we did. We loved our stay in the Contemporary last year, but it just isn't something we can afford to do all the time. However, we go to Disney World every other year to visit Dusty's family, so buying into the timeshare made sense for us.

One of the things I forgot about Florida was what it does to my hair. I have naturally wavy hair, and when I'm at home it looks like this:

Not too bad, but a little on the frizzy side. In Florida, it looks like this:

Yeah. That's attractive. Luckily I own lots and of lots of hats.

This year I was smart. I stayed off the roller coasters, but nothing could get me off Test Track. I'm not nearly as broken as I thought it would be, but I'm still hurting a bit. It was great seeing Dusty's family again, and the children had a blast.

We're back home now, and the only other travel plans I have are for the Authors After Dark conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August. That one seems to be a little bit more like the RT con, but like the Foster con, it will be my first time there so I'll have to see.

By the way, Dusty and I noticed something this morning. Our children are home from school until late August.

That was the way Dusty reacted when he remembered. I'm not going to show you the picture of how I reacted. Some things might just break the inter-webs.

Edit: Sorry for any typos. I'm still using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and it's interesting AutoCorrect. I thought I caught them all, until Dusty started to read it and pointed some out. Let me know if there are more and I'll fix them. I've read it through four times and haven't seen any, but sometimes you can't see the trees for the forest.

Oh look! New picture(s)!

The Carina Press authors! That white cowboy hat of Leah Braemel's was hard to miss. Have I mentioned she's a terrible stalker?

Heading to Lori Foster's

2011-06-01T15:04:00.001-04:00

I'll be heading to the Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together tomorrow. This will be my first one, so I'm really looking forward to. I'm especially looking forward to the Samhain Publishing pizza party Friday night and the book signing on Saturday. If you're going to be there, look for the little redhead in the black and red mobility scooter:

Here's the schedule from Lori's Website:

(EDIT: PULLED THIS FULLER SCHEDULE FROM THE GET-TOGETHER FACEBOOK PAGE):

FRIDAY June 3rd

4:00 - 6:00pm
Registration West Chester Ballroom III

6:00 – 10:00pm
LIQUID SILVER sponsored Photo Light Booth open to all attendees! Hallway outside ballroom.
Get your fun souvenir photos with author or reader friends, compliments of Liquid Silver.
(Also available 1:00 to 4:00 on Saturday.)

6:00 – 6:45pm
Introduction of Special Guests in main ballroom
Editors, Agents, Publishers, Industry Professionals, etc...
* Intro Sue Grimshaw last

7:00 pm
Pizza Party in West Chester III
includes a variety of pizzas, chips & pretzels, vegetable tray & soft drinks.

7:00 – 8:00pm
Agent & Editor Appointments
Suite 121: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Jennifer Schober, Agent.
Suite 120: Harlequin Publishing, pitch appointments - Margo Lipschultz, Editor.
Madison Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Nalini Akoleker, Agent.
Monroe Boardroom: Samhain, pitch appointments - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director.
Glendale Boardroom: Knight Agency pitch appointments - Elaine Spencer, Agent.
Fairfield Boardroom: Sourcebooks, pitch appointments - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor.
Hamilton Boardroom: Linda Keller: Making a Digital Diff in the World of Brick & Mortars
Springfield Boardroom: Ravenous Romance, pitch appointments - Lori Perkins, Editorial Director
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large

8:30pm - 12:00am
Games & More in West Chester Ballroom
Hosted by Barb Hicks, Jules Bennett, Janice Maynard, and LuAnn McLane

SATURDAY, June 4th

8:00 – 11:00 am
Continental Breakfast in ballroom

9:00 – 10:00 am
Workshops
Madison Boardroom: Keri Stevens presents “Quick Read Codes: The Readers' Treasure Trail”
Monroe Boardroom: An Intimate Chat with Nalini Singh
Glendale Boardroom: COS for authors - Presentation and appointment signups
Hamilton Boardroom: Secret Cravings Publishing - Presentation and sign up for pitches
Fairfield Boardroom: An Intimate Chat with Mary Burton
Springfield Boardroom: Ellora’s Cave – Presentation and sign up for pitches
Liberty Boardroom: What's your favorite promotion? Interactive presentation with Jenn Stark.
Sharonville: Turquoise Morning Press - Kim Jacobs, Editor.

10:00 – whenever
Used Book Trade Opens
See Barb Hicks for information and tickets

10:00 – 11:00 am
Speed Chats with Agents & Editors, and Workshops
Madison Boardroom: Harlequin - Margo Lipschultz, Editor
Monroe Boardroom: Sourcebooks - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor
Glendale Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency - Agents Jennifer Schober & Nalini Akolekar
Hamilton Boardroom: Samhain - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director
Fairfield Boardroom: Knight Agency - Elaine Spencer, Agent
Springfield Boardroom: Leanna Renee Hieber - The Joys & Struggles of Being Different
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large
Sharonville: Linnea Sinclair - How Authors Design Heroes…and Why

11:00 – 12:00 pm
Speed Chats with Authors
Madison Boardroom: Nalini Singh & D.Renee Bagby
Monroe Boardroom: Dianne Castell & LuAnn McLane
Glendale Boardroom: Mary Burton & Ann Christopher
Hamilton Boardroom: Kate Douglas & Shiloh Walker
Fairfield Boardroom: Toni Blake & Jules Bennett
Springfield Boardroom: Leanna Renee Hieber & Virna DePaul
Liberty Boardroom: Linnea Sinclair & Cheryl Dragon
Sharonville Boardroom: Patricia Sargeant & C.H. Admirand

12:00 pm
Lunch Buffet

1:00 – 2:00 pm
Raffle drawing in ballroom

1:00 – 5:00 pm
LIQUID SILVER sponsored Photo Light Booth open to all attendees!
Get your fun souvenir photos with author or reader friends, compliments of Liquid Silver.

2:00 - 4:00 pm OPEN TO PUBLIC
Barnes and Noble BOOK SIGNING: in the hotel, outside the ballroom
eBooks will be for sale through individual authors in the same location.

2:00 – 3:00 pm
Agent & Editor Appointments & Workshops
Suite 121: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Jennifer Schober, Agent.
Suite 120: Harlequin Publishing, pitch appointments - Margo Lipschultz, Editor.
Madison Boardroom: Spencerhill Agency, pitch appointments - Nalini Akoleker, Agent.
Monroe Boardroom: Samhain Pub., pitch appointments - Heather Osborne, Editorial Director.
Glendale Boardroom: Knight Agency, pitch appointments - Elaine Spencer, agent.
Fairfield Boardroom: Sourcebooks Pub. pitch appointments - Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor.
Hamilton Boardroom: Liquid Silver Publishing, pitch appointments - Moni Draper, Editor.
Springfield Boardroom: COS for readers: Finding book entertainment online. Giveaways!
Liberty Boardroom: Ballantine, Bantam, Dell - Random House - Sue Grimshaw, Editor at Large
Sharonville: Chrissy Brashear, Lindsey Faber, Samhain publishing – eBooks

3:00 – 4:00 pm
Workshops
Hamilton Boardroom: Liquid Silver, continued

4:00 - 5:00 pm
Raffle drawing in ballroom

4:00 – 5:30 pm
Group photos: authors, publishers, reader groups etc... please meet in atrium.
** We need people to be on hand at 4pm promptly right outside the ballroom! **
Special guests will be first – editors, publishers, agents, industry professionals, etc...
Authors will be next. (Authors please be there at 5:00!)
Other groups – just let Kathy know if you want a group photo!

5:30 pm
Dinner Buffet sponsored by SAMHAIN Publishing

6:30 pm
Final Raffle drawing in ballroom, during dessert
If you won’t be there, be sure to give your ticket to someone to collect if you win!

8:00-11:00 pm
“Sock Hop Party”
Sponsored by AuthorIsland.com

** Agent/Editor/Publisher Appointments: time and location will be given to each individual who has an appointment. Limited availability - first come, first served. MUST BE REGISTERED TO REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT.

I'll take as many pictures as I can and post them here when I get back.
Workshops/presentations/appointments with St. Martins, HQN, Liquid Silver, Carina Press, Samhain Books, Bonaparte Press, Circle of Seven, Wild Rose Press, Author Island and other various workshops will be presented throughout the day.

After they Get Together I'll be heading to Disney World with my family, so I went ahead and updated my website. The buy links for the print edition of Bear Necessities have been updated, as has the printable print book list on my About Me page. I know it's over a week early, but I won't be here when the book comes out and I wanted to make sure that the website was up to date before I left.

Froggy Went A'Courtin…

2011-05-26T11:02:00.000-04:00

So I was finally getting into the swing of things with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which means I was destined to get a head cold. Needless to say, things have been coming out somewhat garbled (garbled typing out as warbled, for instance). At least my voice came back a little bit today, so I was able to get some work done. I did wind up having to correct a few things… Okay, a lot of things, but it was worth it. However, thanks to this head cold and my need to speak a lot, I think I may peeing pure ginger ale now.

Ew.

Next week I'll be at the Lori Foster Reader Author Get-Together in Cincinnati, Ohio. For everyone who's registered to be there, I look forward to seeing you. Hopefully by then I'll sound a little less like someone who's looking for to the fruit fly bar and more like a human being.

Ribbit.

Dragon Speaking, Naturally

2011-05-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

So it's been almost a month since I last posted, mostly due to an arthritis flare up that kept me from doing any writing, let alone a blog post, for more than two months. On Dusty's advice (and constant nagging— hey, he wants the stories is much as you guys do), I finally broke down and bit the bullet.

I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

It's an interesting learning curve, trying to work out loud instead of just in my head.I can play my music on my headphones and it doesn't seem to interfere, which is good as I can't work without my music. But it's still weird to hear myself talking and watching it typed out on the screen. And it doesn't always get it right. For instance, every time I say the word shit it changes it to ship or shipped. And the F word winds up flocked and flopped.

I think I got the Disney version by accident.

And to write but the kids are home has been an exercise in patience. The little one keeps walking up to my microphone and yelling "HELLOOOO!" He keeps watching the screen hoping it will type that, and then I wind up yelling at him. What I'm yelling winds up typed out on the screen.

I never realized before how much I sound like my mother. Thank you for showing me that, Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

The good news is, I've had it for about a week and it seems to be catching on to how I talk,South Philly accent and all. Now all I have to do is figure out where I can write love scenes over the summer were my kids won't hear me. That should be a brand-new adventure.

Hopefully I won't be quite so quiet now that I've picked this up. After all, Italians love to talk. (I wonder if it can interpret hand gestures?)

Cover Art and a Contract!

2011-04-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

To forgive is divine…if he can pin his lover down long enough to beg for it.

Poconos Pack, Book 1

Ben Malone’s role as Marshall attunes him to every nuance of the pack’s wellbeing—which means he’s forced to feel every one of his mate’s hangovers. It’s the one reason Ben will never claim Dave Maldonado. Being alone is better than being with someone who lives in a bottle.

Dave was destined to be a pack Alpha until his first migraine hit at age fifteen, the day he caught his future mate holding hands with another boy. In the nine agonizing years since, he’s contented himself as Beta, but never learned to live with the pain and confusion of Ben’s rejection.

Dave’s worst attack yet sends him to the hospital—and brings them both face to face with the misunderstanding that’s kept them apart all these years. It’s too late, though. Dave is headed for Gay Pride Week at Disney World with one goal in mind. Forget Ben Malone.

Ben’s got a problem with that. Only one man is destined to hold his David. And he’ll give anything, even his last shred of pride, to win forgiveness—and the right to finally claim his mate.
Product Warnings
This book contains explicit sex, graphic language, and male/male love scenes between two top dogs. Who knew Rock Paper Scissors could be such fun?

Isn't it pretty? I'm thinking that's Ben on the cover in all his shirtless glory. And they got the Lodge in the background! The release date for this M/M (*YES, M/M - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!) is July 5th.

And guess what?

Jeffrey Grimm is a man with a mission. His grandfather, the god Odin, tortured his twin sister and nearly killed her. Jeff would like to return the favor, but he intends to finish what he's started. To do that, he needs the world's oldest living laser hair removal candidate: Fenrisùlfr, the werewolf prophesy has decreed will kill Odin at Ragnarrok. He travels to Norway only to find that the wolf isn't at all what he expected. When the wolf becomes a man Jeff finds him sexier than he could ever have imagined. What shocks Jeff most is that Fen wants him, despite his blood ties to Odin.

Fenris has been caged for far too long. Now the one whom destiny has decreed shall be his has come to free him from his prison. Fenris will protect Jeff with everything in him, even if it means giving up his hatred of the man who betrayed him and learning to live with the horrors of toothpaste and the Internet. But when Odin gets his hands on Jeff, Fenris will stop at nothing to fulfill the prophecy... even if it means his own death.
Together the two men must fight an evil older than time to find a love that will last through the ages.

My second-ever M/M has gotten a contract! Jeff and Fenris of the True Destiny series will be published by Samhain! WOOT! An excerpt can be found at www.danamariebell.com/HowlForMe.html!

* Yup, I felt the warning was necessary. Not everyone enjoys M/M, and for the most part that's not what I write, so if you don't enjoy it please give this book a pass. I won't be writing any further M/M for a while since none of the stories in my head call for it.

WINNER: Blood of the Maple and RELEASE DAY!

2011-04-11T07:47:00.000-04:00

We have a winner for Blood of the Maple:

LITHZ!

Enjoy your book, LITHZ! I've already emailed it to you.

Oh, and did I mention that Blood is out TODAY? To purchase Parker and Amara, go to Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or Carina Press!

New Book Trailer: Blood of the Maple!

2011-03-17T08:38:00.000-04:00

I got the Dusty Seal of Approval on the first try, so I'm feeling pretty good about this one:

I think I found a good match for how I envision both Parker and Amara.

P.S.: You can scroll down to the bottom of my blog for a larger version of this video or visit my YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/danamariebell!

Contest Time!

2011-03-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! Who wants to win a download of Blood of the Maple? Hmm?

All you have to do to enter is go to my Contact Me page and enter your email address, your "handle" (or whatever name you'd like me to post if you're the winner) and the electronic format of your choice. I'll post the winner on my website and my blog on April 10!

Shane and Akane

2011-03-07T07:35:00.000-05:00

Several people have written to me recently to ask if I have news on the third Gray Court book.

Well. I have news.

Artistic Visions
The Gray Court Book 3

Akane Russo, part dragon, part Seer and one of Robin’s top Blades, has been given a job to do, and damn it she’s going to do it. The Malmaynes are up to their old tricks, and the Dunne family still has no plans to accommodate them. She’s been tasked with keeping Shane Dunne safe from the Malmaynes and their kidnapping ways. But can anyone keep her safe from the heat in Shane’s gaze?

Shane knows the woman meant for him will never come to him willingly. Luckily for him she’s been ordered by none other than the Hob to guard him, and he’s going to use that to his advantage every chance he gets. He knows it’s only a matter of time before the dragoness succumbs and lets Shane Claim her like they both want. When they come together he knows the results will be beyond his wildest imaginings.

When Akane winds up poisoned by gold and forced into temporary heat, marking Shane suddenly takes top priority.
Keeping her new mate safe, and sane, will be a brand new puzzle, one the Blade isn’t sure she can solve in time.

The contract came this weekend; Shane and Akane will be out this year!

Suckage

2011-03-03T07:27:00.000-05:00

It seems like Mr. Barometer has it in for me. He's been bobbing his head like a ten-dollar whore on a busy night, and my body is friggin' killing me. It's gotten to the point where Dusty is starting to leave chocolate sacrifices to the growly bear I've become. Luckily he knows my preferences, so he's survived... so far. Although he says I should try to tone it down, because when my happy-go-lucky six year old backs sloooowly from the room, perhaps I've growled a bit too loudly.

The good news is I've hit the quarter mark on Cynful, and (when I can work on it) having a grand old time with Julian and Cyn. Glory is still giving Ryan fits, but Tabby and Alex have settled in with each other nicely. And there is mischief afoot in Halle, PA that might surprise you. Cyn is about to receive a bite Julian's been dying to give her, but it's not going to turn out quite like either of them expected.

The bad news is, until Mr. Barometer stops taking customers work will be slow. I plan on taking my pain meds and heating pad and try not to growl too much. And hugs. Maybe I can talk the six year old into hugs.

Think I could bribe him with chocolate? I have some lying around here somewhere...

Ow Ow Ow

2011-02-23T08:04:00.000-05:00

In the space of two days it went from 68 degrees out to 13 degrees WITH SNOW. Needless to say, I can barely walk and my hands feel like someone took a tire iron to them. Hell, even the joints that don't normally hurt are aching. Needless to say, today is an arthritis day and I won't be online except for major things.

Have a good day, everyone!

I Am A Bad, Bad Girl...

2011-02-21T13:20:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned at some point that I adore playing video games, especially ones where there is a "romance" option available. NeverWinter Nights springs immediately to mind, both 1 and 2, though my preference is for NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer. Gotta love Gann, that smooth talking Spirit Shaman who wants to be swept off his feet whether he knows it or not.
So recently, I suggested Dusty pick up Dragon Age: Origins, since he was becoming bored with his other games and looking for something new. He replied, "You first." Needless to say we both picked it up, and I began playing last week while I was sick.

I have to say, I adore it. There are both straight and gay romance options in this game! SQUEE! They storyline is fairly juicy (save the world, get the guy/girl of your dreams, etc., etc.) and the responses of the NPC's are human, rather than robotic answers. There is no black and white in DA:O; sometimes what seems like the right choice winds up being the wrong one for all the right reasons. Kudos to the authors who wrote this storyline. I think they hit more right notes than wrong ones. So much so I've already preordered the sequel. In fact, I've enjoyed it so much I've done something I never do: I downloaded mods to make the romance more "realistic" and other mods to alter the hairstyles of my PC's (yes, I've played it through more than once, much to Dusty's dismay since for once I'm giving HIM advice on how to play!)

For those of you who have played DA:O and want to know whether I'm camp Alistair...

or camp Zevran?

That, my friends, is a damn tough call to make. While I do love a guy willing to express his feelings (Alistair) there's something about a tough assassin who can't say the words but feels the emotion anyway. Besides, unless you play the Human Noble origin and take all the appropriate steps, Zev is the one who would be willing to marry the PC! And Zev doesn't give a damn about gender or race, so if you want to play M/M, he's your man. (There's Leliana for anyone who wants to play through a F/F storyline, and Morrigan for a straight M/F if you want to run through as a guy and not hit on Zev.) Although to be fair to Al, my dwarf noble just got a love declaration from him, so race doesn't matter to him either. Just gender.

Maybe I should play through one more time. Just to decide. Right?

P.S.: Bioware, keep up the good work! Looking forward to playing Hawke when Dragon Age 2 comes out in March.

P.P.S.: You can find videos on YouTube with these guys and the game play if you're interested. I found some of my favorite mods that way.

P.P.P.S; This is a MATURE GAME. There are love scenes in this, and the female city elf has... issues I'd rather not say on my blog. Just know, this is not a game for the kids. My twelve year old peeked over my shoulder and I said "NO" before he could even ask.

I Blame R

2011-02-14T07:45:00.000-05:00

I've been sick all weekend, so not much got done (and I'm betting not much will get done today, either). I blame R, who was sick not too long ago. M seems to have it too, but like the stubborn six year old he is he's loudly declaring "I DON'T HAVE A HEAD COLD!" while sniffling and coughing, just so he doesn't have to make Robitussin Ookie-Face.

(Of course, he might be reluctant to take it because he caught me trying to sponge off my tongue after I took it, but who knows for sure?)

Anyway, I'm officially declaring today a sick day. Blech. I had plans for today that had to be cancelled. However, I made sure to post something to Coffee Write. The Master is making his first appearance in Ice Blue!

Cyn and Julian's Song

2011-02-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

I started writing this morning and this song popped up on my playlist. I realized, Oh. THIS is Julian and Cyn's song!

Enjoy!

6th Annual Stroke of Midnight Contest - Short in ALMOST ALL Categories - Extended Until Feb 7th

2011-02-03T14:07:00.000-05:00

Passionate Ink, one of my RWA chapters, hosts an unpublished author's contest every year. This year they're woefully short of entries. Anyone interested (or willing to pass this along to those who might be)? Here's the info!

Please help by forwarding the announcement below to your loops and tweeting your friends. Even better - if you can, enter the contest. The odds of making the finals are great!

We need 5 more historical entries, 5 more Sci Fi/Fant/Fut entries, 1 more paranormal and 2 more novellas for viable categories.

Permission to Forward Granted
Passionate Ink's Sixth Annual Stroke of Midnight Contest

EXTENDED to Feb 7th - Short in ALL Categories especially HISTORICAL, SCI FI/FANTASY and NOVELLA!

Link to Enter - http://www.passionateink.org/som-registration

Make the first 35 pages of your novel so compelling that an editor has
to have more!

Five Sizzling Finalists in Five Categories:

Contemporary – novels with erotic elements that focus on the
developing romantic relationship in a contemporary setting. Includes
series and single-title length romances. Can also include elements of
romantic suspense/intrigue.

Historical – novels with erotic elements that focus on the developing
romantic relationship in a historical setting.

Futuristic/Fantasy/Sci-fi – novels with erotic elements that focus on
the developing romantic relationship in any setting in the future, an
alternate world/reality, or another planet. Includes elements such as
elves/faerie, sword & sorcery, aliens, etc.

Paranormal/Time Travel – novels with erotic elements that focus on the
developing romantic relationship in any setting that includes elements
of time travel, angels, vampires, werewolves or other paranormal
themes.

Novellas - novellas of 10,000 to 25,000 words with erotic elements
that focus on developing romantic relationship in any setting.

**All categories are open to alternative lifestyle entries and any
entry that reflects an erotic romance between two or more people,
straight, gay, bi, or any romantic combination.**

All entries must be in RTF format.

All entries must be at least 10,000 words in their completed form.

Link to Enter - http://www.passionateink.org/som-registration

Judging and Prizes:

First Round: Preliminary-round judging will be completed by three
qualified judges – Passionate Ink and other RWA members experienced in critiquing and/or published authors familiar with your genre. All
scores will be added and averaged to determine the entrant’s ranking.
Every attempt will be made to provide entrants with detailed score
sheets and judges’ comments from this preliminary round. Top five
entries in each category will move to final round.

Final Round: The top five finalists in each category will be ranked by
the following industry professionals:

Contemporary: Angela James, Carina Press

Historical: Treva Harte, Loose ID

Futuristic/Fantasy/Sci-fi: Kelli Collins, Ellora’s Cave

Paranormal/Time Travel: Melissa Jeglinski, The Knight Agency

Novellas: Lindsey Faber, Samhain Publishing

First place winners in each category will receive a free one year
membership in Passionate Ink ($25 value), a certificate, and an award
graphic for their website. (Writing teams will split the membership.)
All other finalists will receive certificates and a finalist graphic
for their website. All entries will be returned after finalists are
determined and statistical information is complete. Winners will be
announced at the Passionate Ink gathering at the Romance Writers’ of
America National Conference in New York. Results will be listed on the
Passionate Ink website, in the chapter’s newsletter, as well as have
their names published in the Romance Writer’s Report.

The decisions of judges are final.

Rules for Entry

Eligibility:

All contest entrants must be 18 years of age by the contest entry deadline date. Contest is open to all authors with unpublished, uncontracted
full-length erotic romance manuscripts of at least 25,000 words
(except novellas which must be at least 10,000) in the category they
wish to enter.

Entry Deadline & Submission:

Entry Form and details - http://www.passionateink.org/contests

All entries must be electronic in RTF format. All entries must be in one file. All entries and payment must be received completed by MIDNIGHT EST Feb 7, 2011. All materials, including entries and entry fees, must be
received by that date.

Submit questions via email to som6@passionateink.org. It is the
author’s responsibility to enter the manuscript in the correct
category. All clarifications as to category should be made prior to
submission.

Entrants may enter as many categories as they wish with DIFFERENT
submissions, but cannot enter the same manuscript in two categories.
Each entry must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee either via
a mailed check or online PayPal payment.

There is a minimum requirement of 10 entries per category. If a
category does not receive a sufficient number of submissions to make
the category viable, the category will be canceled. The entrant will
be asked to provide a second choice of categories. If the entrant does
not wish to place the entry in another category, the entry and
associated fees will be returned.

Entry Form and details -http://w w.passionateink.org/contests/

Entry Fees:

Passionate Ink members: $15
Others: $25

Email payments via PayPal to: Treasurer@passionateink.org

or mail payments to:

Stroke of Midnight Contest
c/o Robin L. Rotham
PO Box 2412
Norfold, NE 68701

Make checks payable to: Passionate Ink

Entry fees must be received prior to the entry deadline.
Include your name in the subject line and the titles of your
entry(ies) in the comments box, if paying via PayPal. Include the
title of your entry in the Memo field if paying via check.

Entry Format:

All entries must be electronic in RTF format. The synopsis and entry
must be in the same file.

Send a maximum of the first 35 pages of your manuscript (20 pages for
novella entries).

Entries must be in proper manuscript format: One sided, double-spaced
with one inch margins all around, size 12 font (like Times New
Roman or Courier) is recommended.

On the first page only, title and category on top left; page number on
top right. Subsequent pages should include only title and page number.
Name of author should not appear anywhere on manuscript; the entry
will be disqualified if name is on submission.

A synopsis of up to 5 single-spaced pages (which will not be judged)
must also be included. No cover page is necessary.

Link to Enter - http://www.passionateink.org/som-registration/

Email questions to Sharon at som6@passionateink.org

Coffee Write

2011-01-31T12:20:00.003-05:00

Guess what I'm doing in February?

Looking for that little something to get your creative juices flowing? What about a fun way to use your imagination? Once a month we have a new way to expand your imagination and use your writing skills or improve your writing skills. We will provide the beginning of a story, the genre to use, and you provide your version of how the story should go. Authors...would you like be our host for a month? Contact us to check on the schedule today! coffeewrite@coffeetimeromance.com

So come join me as I start a tale and you help me finish it! I'll be there from February 4th to the 23rd!

Music Time!

2011-01-27T14:56:00.000-05:00

So I'm finishing up the rough draft of Howl For Me, when my playlist pops up with this:

And I thought to myself, Oh. Julian's song.

Now don't ask me why two singing guys from Scotland make me think of a Native American from Canada, but there you go. I think it's more the sentiment of the song than anything else. I also know Julian is one of those rare characters who will probably wind up with multiple songs, because this one also calls to me for him:

I think it speaks to his mystical side, the part of him that's Spirit Bear. They've got a heck of a connection to Bear.

Oh yeah, and because he's Julian:

Please don't ask. It hurts my brain sometimes to wonder why characters prefer one song over another.

Cyn's music is pretty much one song so far:

Believe it or not, the only other character who liked this song was Belle.

What?

What?

Sheesh. Okay, Belle liked it a lot. Your point?

Anyway, since I'm starting to hear their music it means I'm just about ready to sit down and start writing them. YAY! Jeff and Fen should be out to my beta readers by Monday, edits are almost complete on Blood of the Maple, and other than a big snowfall that has me feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck everything is going well.

Even if that means I'm going to be listening to a lot of Weird Al in the future.

Has It Been THAT Long?

2011-01-25T13:09:00.000-05:00

Oh wow! I just realized how long it's been since I posted my blog. Gah. Bad author. No cookie for you.

In case you didn't notice, Noble Blood is out! I added the All Romance eBooks purchase link today. Last week was so rushed, updating purchase links, setting up ads, etc., that some stuff got pushed aside. Like my blog. Ahem.

Along with the new release came edits on Blood of the Maple, my very first Carina Press release. Working on them took a lot longer than planned due to an arthritis flare-up and various other factors, like children and releases and cats thinking it's okay to chew on the cord of my World of Warcraft headset, the little pita.

The good news? I should have a release date soon. When I do I'll post it on my website and add it under the cover art on the sidebar here. The bad news? Dana's off to see a rheumatologist. Sigh. The doctor mentioned talk to text software so I don't strain my hand so much, but I have Google Voice. I've seen how it can mangle speech to text. It's not pretty. I'd rather sit here and type it right the first time than have to go back and retype what I just spoke.

Plus Dusty pointed out there are some educations you shouldn't get from your mother, preferences in anal lube being one of them. Until I have an office with a door (and soundproofing) it ain't happening.

Unfortunately, due to my massively busy (and painful) week last week, Fen and Jeff had to be put on temporary hold. I'm hoping to finish the rough draft this week and send it through the Meat Grinder next week. I've also got scenes in my head for Cynful and Mr. Red Riding Hoode, as well as Stern Negotiations, my very first sci-fi romance.

Someone's gonna have to wait their turn, and it sure as hell won't be Julian. I'm thinking Chela of Mr. Red will have to sit down and have a latte while Mommy plays with the Spirit Bear.

A Winner and a Website

2011-01-17T10:23:00.001-05:00

First off, since I know everyone's been waiting to see who the winner is: Congratulations...

TAMSYN!

She's already contacted me to let me know she got her copy of Noble Blood. I'll be giving away a second copy on the Samhain Cafe tonight when I chat there between 6 and 7 p.m., so if you want one last chance to win... BE THERE!

Second, the Samhain website is back up and running. MBaM is no more; now you buy directly from Samhain's storefront. The site is beeoootiful! I've updated all my buy links (including Noble Blood's). If for some reason you're still seeing a "Buy at My Bookstore and More!" link, hit refresh on your web browser. That will reset the "cache" or something, and the correct link should appear. If it doesn't, contact me!

Okay. I'm off to do edits on Blood of the Maple, which will be coming from Carina Press possibly late spring. Once I have a release date I'll post it here and on my website, so keep your eyes peeled!

(And isn't that a disgusting phrase? Who wants peeled eyeballs? Blech.)

New Cover Pretty: Blood of the Maple

2011-01-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

Is she not pretty? That's Amara and her tree, a Schwedler maple, that has red leaves instead of green. I'm hoping we'll be able to do leaves on all the books in the future (if the dryads are on the covers that is). What do you think?

Registration Open For Lori Foster Reader/Author Get Together!

2011-01-06T07:31:00.000-05:00

It's official; I'm going to Lori Foster's Reader-Author Get Together! I registered first thing this morning. Here's the dates and the link to the official site:

Register Here

June 3rd (Friday) to June 5th, 2011 (Sunday), so it's a lovely little three day weekend. At $52, it's one of the most affordable conventions you'll ever attend. It's the first time I've been, but I've heard that it's a lot more relaxed than Romantic Times, that there's more of a chance to have a simple chat with an author. So come on out to beautiful West Chester, OH to meet some of your favorite authors (myself included). The attending authors (so far) includes:

Lori Foster aka L.L. Foster
Dianne Castell aka Duffy Brown
Liz Andrews
D. Renee Bagby aka Zenobia Renquist
Becky Barker
Dana Marie Bell
Jules Bennett
Toni Blake
Monica Burns
Virginia Cavanaugh
Ann Christopher
Lisa Cooke
Paige Cuccaro aka Alison Paige
Gia Dawn
Sylvia Day
Jamie Denton
Virna DePaul
Kate Douglas
Marie Force
J. Paulette Forshey
Donna Grant
Mia Jae
Maddie James
Jambrea Jo Jones
Kathy Love
Donna MacMeans
Missy Martine
Janie Mason
Janice Maynard
Erin McCarthy
LuAnn McLane
Rosie Murphy aka Gabriella Edwards
Tracy Ranson
Patricia Sargeant aka Regina Hart
Jan Scarbrough
Keri Stevens
S. J. Willing

Hope to see you there!

Guess Who's Got A Book?

2010-12-31T13:47:00.001-05:00

Poconos Pack Book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance, M/M
ISBN: ???
Length: NovellaSamhain Publishing

Ben Malone knows who his mate is, but he’ll never be able to claim him. An abusive, alcoholic father has turned him off anyone who lives in a bottle. Being Marshall allows him to feel the physical well-being of his entire Pack, and Ben has been forced to live with feeling his mate’s hangovers over and over again. He’d rather be alone than be with someone who doesn’t want to get better.

Dave Maldonado is Beta of the Poconos Pack and Ben’s mate. He’s suffered from migraines for nine agonizing years. The first one hit him when he was just fifteen and saw his mate holding hands with another boy. He winds up hospitalized from a debilitating attack, forcing the truth to finally come out. He’s devastated to find Ben has rejected him all these years for a misunderstanding. Determined to find out if he could possibly be one of those rare Wolves with two mates, he heads to Disney World during Gay Pride Week with his good friend Charlie. He has only one thing on his mind: forget Ben Malone.

There’s just one problem with that as far as Ben is concerned. Only one man will ever get to hold his David. Ben is determined to follow his mate and claim him. In his arms he hopes to find forgiveness.

***

Yup! You asked for it, so I did it: the Poconos Pack is getting their own set of stories. Heck, I already know who Chela's mate is. I can't wait until you hear the title. Heheheheheh....

P.S.: Yes, I am evil. You doubted?

Noble Blood Book Trailer

2010-12-27T17:15:00.000-05:00

Twas A Coyote Christmas and a Contest!

2010-12-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, a LOT going on this week for me. My MIL is heading home a day late thanks to the storm that hammered the east coast; 'Twas A Coyote Christmas is up on my website as a free read; and I'm running the contest for Noble Blood, which comes out January 18! I'll also have an announcement soon, some really good news I hope you guys have been waiting for.

Christmas here was the usual "AAAAGHHHHHH! OMG! OMG! I FORGOT THE SUSHI! WHERE"S J'S PRESENT! WHY CAN"T I WRAP THIS! AAAAAAHHHH!" type holiday that we usually experience here in the insane asylum I call home. Wrapping paper flew, fish was consumed and the kids screamed themselves... okay, they weren't the ones who went hoarse, but you know what I mean. I think my MIL might be in culture shock, but that's okay. We introduced her to the Rifftrax of Plan Nine From Outer Space and finished the job but good.

So I'm over halfway done with Howl For Me and I've done a general plot for Cynful. I'm going to fully outline that soon, and scenes are already running through my head for it. I can't wait to revisit Tabby, Bunny, Julian, Cyn, Ryan and Glory again. And there's going to be an extra-special scene where Julian puts the smack-down on Jim for Chloe's sake.

P.S.: Oh! To top off my Christmas, I found out I've been nominated for the CAPA's at The Romance Studio! Look for Eye of the Beholder, Bear Necessities and Shadow of the Wolf! WOOT! That was one of the best presents I got this year.

P.P.S.: Dusty has a very dirty mind. He took one look at the cover I'd worked so hard on for Coyote Christmas and asked if the ornament arrangement was, um, deliberate.

Did You Say Five DAYS?

2010-12-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

Please tell me I'm not the only one sitting here thinking, "OMG! Five days till Christmas!" (Yes, ever since that Allstate commercial where the guy declares "OMG! Becky's not even HOT!" I think OMG.)

Does everyone have their shopping done? They're turkey (or vegetarian/vegan equivalent) bought? Or maybe you don't do turkey, you save that one for Thanksgiving? Tree up, watered, and hair-sprayed (thank you, Mythbusters). Kids home for the break, declaring they'll never go to school again? And are you rambling on a blog, because deep inside you're panicking because there's ONLY FIVE DAYS LEFT!

Deep breaths. Deeeep breaths...

Okay. Have I mentioned we LOVE Mythbusters (caution: auto-play video alert) in the Bell household? M wants to be one when he grows up. He even made his own Buster out of cardboard boxes with paper arms, feet and head. So to distract ourselves from the OMG! FIVE DAYS! we watched the holiday special they did where they made a Rube Goldberg device:

Now M keeps sneaking down the basement, cackling like Adam. I'm afraid to go down there. But hey, it might make me forget... you know.

OMG.

NaNo NoNo

2010-12-03T07:56:00.000-05:00

For me, National Novel Writing Month... wasn't. November became the month of Oh No rather than NaNo thanks to a head cold (mine), a migraine (mine), a bad asthma attack (M's), a head cold (M's), renovations to my family room (new carpet, new furniture, new paint) and the kids' bathroom (new flooring, new tub, new shower, new everything) still ongoing, Thanksgiving, a head cold (R's)...

Yeah. Everything BUT writing happened last month. Eh. It happens, but when it does it's frustrating from a writing perspective. I'm used to seeing between 20 and 30k done in a month, and I didn't even break my low end number. I have two more weeks before my mother in law comes to visit for the holidays; I'm hoping to bang out around 15k before that happens. Jeff and Fenris WILL get done. Oh yes. They will.

On the flip side, I did manage to get stuff back from my beta readers on Artistic Visions. I've changed its status to Submitted, but the truth is I'm turning it in this morning. Finished the synopsis last night, but couldn't hit the send button due to... you guessed it.

A head cold. Poor R is vomiting and sickly and blech. He's been out of school three days now, but at least today he sounds a little better even if he did hurl again this morning.

Help Desk Fun

2010-11-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

I'm coming down off a migraine. I'm feeling much better today, but rather than push it I'm taking most of the day off. I've been stressing myself too much, and the migraine is my body's way of forcing me to calm down. So in the interest of relaxing, I've been going through some of my old files and videos, some of which I decided to share with you guys to give you a laugh on this Monday morning.

Did I ever tell you that I used to work a help desk? And that most of my friends have, at one time or another, been tech support? Well, I did, and I remember some of the, um, "people" I had to deal with. I did hardware support rather than software, but that didn't stop me from having to deal with some interesting calls. I remember asking one sys admin what kind of cable she was having trouble with, thinking she'd know what I was asking: was it 10 base T, was it 100 base T, or was it coaxial (which should tell you how long ago I worked tech support).

Her answer: The white one.

So this one goes out to all my friends who have done tech support and wanted to eat their own headset:

And who can forget The Chronicles of George, havening a good time driving tech support insane?

I laughed so hard I started crying reading this, because I remember days where I too wanted to take a chainsaw to someone. Be warned: this is a total day-waster of a site. Second warning: any editor reading the Chronicles of George will walk away twitching.

C Is For Crazy

2010-11-15T13:38:00.000-05:00

That's good enough for me!

I've lost my damn mind. I'm in the middle of remodeling two rooms in my house, and without thinking about it I scheduled the carpet guys to come and install carpet today in my family room. I was so excited I convinced my husband that, arthritis or no, I could paint the family room before the carpet guys came. It's not like I haven't painted a room in one day before, right?

Yes, you heard that right. ONE. DAY.

So out we trot for paint, and off I go to, well, paint. The kids "helped", and while my molding is looking a little worse for wear we did a pretty good job, I think. Of course, I'm hopped up on pain pills today, so what the hell do I know? It wasn't as if I went to get out of bed today to take R to the doctors and had to hand-crawl up the wall to stand upright.

Oh. Wait. I DID do that, didn't I?

I get home from taking R to school after his appointment, and the new carpet is in. It is a pretty amber color, edging towards the orange end of the spectrum rather than the yellow. It's warm and cozy and contrasts nicely with my aqua walls (think sand and sea in the Carribean). The only thing that looks ugly is the sofa I'm already planning on getting rid of, so it all works. Except me. So I tell the hubby "Let me build the TV stand!" Because I'm hyped up on pain pills and can't hear the many names my back is calling me, bitch being the mildest. So it's built, and my pain meds are wearing off, and I'm reminded of what my mother lovingly calls my "special kind of stupid".

But hey, my carpet looks nice! Wanna see?

Spend The Morning In My Brain

2010-11-11T10:47:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder where an author gets her ideas from? I've been asked that before, and my standard response is, "From my brain."

(Well, think about it. Where do your ideas come from?)

But a writer's brain is wired really strangely. Take an Idea I batted to Dusty last night as we got ready for bed:

"What do you think of a character that's a Tabula Rasa?"

Since he's been with me for twenty years and is used to me going off on random tangents, he picked it up pretty quickly. He did, however, ask me how I got the idea.

You'd think after twenty years he'd know better.

"So. I was reading this story about a boy who can't speak because he's been so abused by his dad. While I was reading it I was also chatting with Bob (Robert C. Roman, writes some of the best steam-punk short stories I've ever read) and he told me about this superhero story he's got going where one of the characters gets super strong at certain times, but during those times she also becomes a six year old on a sugar rush. Have I mentioned she's a doctor? Then I remembered Bob has Latin for his tag line, and I remember thinking, who speaks Latin these days? So I went to his website to double-check, and sure enough it was still there. His graphic isn't done yet so his website is still under construction, and it's kind of a blank slate at the moment, all grays and blacks.

"Lightbulb. Someone who's been abused. Someone with unique powers. Someone who has no memory of who or what they're supposed to be. Latin. Tabula Rasa, the only bit of Latin I actually know. It means blank slate." I then attempted to bounce like a six year old on a sugar rush, which isn't nearly as cute on a woman with back issues.

One of the reasons I love Dusty is not only did he follow that rush of nonsense, but he had some really cool ideas to add to it. He'll probably give me some more ideas before I sit down and outline it. He'll help me define the powers of the character and, as my Power Police,will make sure I don't give him too much or too little. I even know which series the TR will go into, thanks to him.

Thank you, sweetheart.You're the only person I know of who isn't terrified of my brain (or Bob's, for that matter).

While The Raisin Sleeps...

2010-11-08T07:53:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you've noticed the huge honking, computer-using raisin graphic up above. Well, it's there because NaNoWriMo started last week, and I've decided to participate. I'm working on Jeff and Fenris's story, Howl for Me, and enjoying the heck out of it... when I can write.

See, the first day of NaNoWriMo I started off fairly well. I got a good wordcount in, and things were rolling nicely. I had good starting points, the plot is outlined, and I know exactly where I'm going. But I started to feel sick by the end of the day, and before it was over I had a fever.

I can't tell if I'm one of the lucky ones or the unlucky ones. Usually, when I get a fever, it's enough to make me feel ookie but not enough to send me to the doc's. It also tends to last for a week or longer, so I feel ookie for a while. Dusty, when he gets sick, gets REALLY sick but only for a day or two.

He says I'm the lucky one. I'm still not sure, because thanks to my little "cold" I'm behind on my NaNo word count by 4k.

That's FOUR THOUSAND words. Two whole days of work (for me; I know people who do that in half an hour).

So this week and next will be scrambling to play catch-up... except R is home sick and M has a doctor's appointment this morning. Oh, and the boys' bathroom is about to be ripped out, and...

You're right. What the hell was I thinking?

Jeff and Fenris Sittin' In A Tree

2010-11-02T10:39:00.001-04:00

You know how I always listen to music when I write? And that certain books have a certain set of songs? Eye of the Beholder, for instance, was written to Joe Satriani; The Wallflower had to have shiny happy music.

Jeff and Fenris have picked one. ONE.I know I'm ready to write for the day when this starts playing in my head. I went and bought the MP3 from Amazon because I didn't have it in my playlist and I couldn't get it out of my head.

I'd forgotten how much I loved this song.

Bookie Awards Nominations!

2010-10-28T07:49:00.000-04:00

My brain has pretty much gone bye-bye after all the furniture shopping and Meat Grinding I've been doing recently, but I just got a Google alert about something interesting. Bear Necessities is up for a Bookie award.

A who what now? Hmm, never heard of that one before. So I followed the link and found this on the Authors After Dark blog:

Hello all!

I'm home from my week in SC and low and behold, I actually WORKED while I was there, Surprise Surprise! So as Convention Director for the AAD event, I'm happy to present to you all the nominations for 41 of the 45 categories for the first annual bookie awards! Now the Bookies from this moment onwards will be handled by our Bookie Awards staff, both are readers and attendees and have agreed to give their time to make this a fair and impartial ballot.

This year, because of lack of nominations, we have omitted 4 categories. That could change in the future. Also, Any partial nominations (title without an author) were not counted. Voting begins in November, so shall we... get to the good part? Ok then...

So I scroll down (and DOWN; forty-one categories means a LOT of names) and low and behold, look what I find:

Shifter Non Wolf Novel:
Entwined by Fate- S.A Price
Eat, Prey, Love by: Kerrelyn Sparks
No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Healer's Choice by Jory Strong
Naked Dragon by Annette Blair
Bear Necessities Dana Marie Bell
Wildfire - Christine Feehan
Twin Spirits by Mary Winter
Beast Behaving Badly - Shelly Laurenston
Eternal Hunter, by Cynthia Eden
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister

By the time I got there I was reeling. There are some really talented authors on that list, let alone in the category I was named in. Eat, Prey Love and Beast Behaving Badly rank amongst my favorite reads so far this year, so to have my name in that particular hat is a real honor.

Here are some more than familiar names that jumped out at me as I read down the list:

Best Website: Bianca d'Arc and Maya Banks
eBook Only Novel: Conquering India - Melissa Schroeder (a DC Area Storyteller)
Paranormal Menage: Whirlpool by Vivian Arend
Publisher of the Year: Samhain Publishing
Werewolf Novel: Wolf Signs - Vivian Arend
Western Romance Novel: Corralled by Lorelei James

Congrats to everyone who got nominated. From the comments section, Stella Price mentions that these awards were "blind" nominations made by readers and bloggers, meaning no one knew who voted for whom. Once the votes were tallied, this was the final list. So double-congrats, because someone out there loves you!

Furniture Shopping (Or How Children Kill Brain Cells)

2010-10-25T08:11:00.000-04:00

Dusty and I have been forcing (yes, people, with whips and chains I tell you!) the children to accompany us when we go furniture shopping on the weekends.

Oh. The horror.

You see, we're doing a family room/kitchen remodel (heavy on the family room). One of the things I want to do is replace the old microfiber couch with a leather one, get a nice, comfy chaise lounge for me and a swivel recliner for Dusty. So far we've found the sofa and the recliner, but the chaise eludes us. So we trek on, intrepid hunters that we are, and thank god every time we go that furniture doesn't eat people. Because if we had to sneak up on an unsuspecting entertainment center just dying for a taste of juicy human, we'd be toast. Our kids couldn't be quiet if we showed them a tiger and said "If you don't be quiet he will eat you."

I can almost hear the chorus of "Why?"

So anyway, off we go furniture shopping. I'm having a really hard time finding a store that stocks chaises in their showroom. I have to test the tushie quotient, you see. If the tushie isn't happy, I'm not sitting in it. No on-line chaise shopping for me. So off we go, piling into the car and heading out onto the highway. The six year old is happily be-bopping to They Might Be Giants on his PSP when suddenly he pauses. "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"I farted."

Cue eleven year old's hysterical laughter. Why it's so funny that his baby brother cut the cheese is beyond me, but hey. I've never been an eleven year old boy, so what do I know?

I pinch the bridge of my nose and try not to breathe. Dear God in heaven, buffaloes smell sweeter. "Thank you for sharing. No. I mean it."

Dusty rolls down car window. Did I mention we were in the car? Note to self: check what I've been feeding that child. Oi.

Now that he's no longer so gassy, M begins making up lyrics to They Might Be Giants, who really didn't need the help.

R pauses his video game. I'm not sure which one it was, except he was muttering about building monsters and M seemed to know what he was talking about. "You know, I never realized how many forms Gabumon has."

"Huh?" I love it when Dusty gets that adorably confused look on his face. It happens so often recently.

"Huh?" I echo, because he doesn't have a Digimon game and there is no Digimon currently in the car. Where did that come from?

"There's Punimon, who's pink and shoots acid bubbles. And jelly his friends can eat."

Already I can see Dusty's eyes glazing over. Which is bad, because he's driving.

"Then he digitizes into Tsunomon, who also blows bubbles, but they don't hurt anybody. Oh, and then there's Garurumon, and WereGarurumon."

"Don't forget Omnimon!" chimes in the six year old, who has gotten over his sudden burst of flatulence to join the conversation. He's been watching Digimon with his big brother, and I get the theme song stuck in my head for days at a time. The good news is Sunday morning it was kicked out by the chorus of Heat Miser, so I didn't have to suffer for long.

"Oh yeaaaah." R drawl. "It's cool when Gabumon digitizes into Omnimon."

"You guys might want to stop before Mommymon digitizes into MonsterMommymon. Grr."

The kids laugh, but it's that evil laugh that lets you know they aren't done yet. Oh no. You've ruined their Saturday by making them go furniture shopping. It's payback time.

"Patrick has a flag sticking out of his butt," giggles the six year old.

"Do you think Guilmon looks like a velociraptor? He's actually a virus."

M briefly stops humming One Dozen Monkeys. Did you know the twelfth monkey's name is Larry? I do. "Can we go to McDonalds? I love their french fries."

Now steam is beginning to come out of Dusty's ears. "You don't like anything else there, M." M has been begging shamelessly for french fries ever since we got into the car. Being a quarter Italian, every road trip must involve food somehow, no matter how short a drive it is. "Besides, we're going to Friendly's, remember?"

"But I LOVE their french fries, Daddy. Can we?"

"Guilmon digitizes into WarGrowlmon. It's his Ultimate form. He's kinda neat looking." R's head tilts. "Can we have pizza instead? I like Little Caesar's."

"We're doing pizza Monday night, remember? I already promised. So no pizza tonight." Visions of chaises are dancing in my head, so I don't realize that we're there. Besides, I can tune out Digimon faster than my kids can tune out a lecture, which is pretty damn fast from the way I've seen their eyes glaze over. I can tell they've already checked out before my lips even part.

"Aw man."

"Does Friendly's have french fries?"

"Yes, M. They do."

"Cool. Mommy?"

"Hmm?"

"I farted again."

R begins giggling hysterically again.

Dusty, wild-eyed, pulls into the JC Penney parking lot. Fifteen minutes locked in a car with his children and he's ready to bolt. "What are we here for again?"

"Furniture."

He sighs and gets out of the car, ready to release the kids into the wild of the shopping mall. "I could be running my monk through Thelanis again on elite. They're handing out extra experience right now."

"FRENCH FRIES!"

Next weekend we get to drive thirty minutes to furniture store. If I'm not back by Monday, check in McDonald's. I'll probably be buried under french fries and digital monkeys.

Caution: Dragon in the Grinder!

2010-10-21T09:25:00.000-04:00

Shane and Akane are officially in the Meat Grinder, meaning I'm going through the first round of rough edits before sending Artistic Visions off to the Beta readers. The word count goal is still 60k and I know I need to add a scene or two, so I should come really close to that goal (if not over it). I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, but I noticed a few things on the rough read-through that really need to be addressed before it's ready for the Betas.

Once I'm out of the Grinder with Visions it will be time to plot my NaNoWriMo project, Howl for Me. Jeff and Fenris are already beginning to, well, howl for me. I'm going to re-read both Very Much Alive and Eye of the Beholder to get me in the proper, godly frame of mind. Then I get to do some research on Fenris and his part in Ragnarrok, and how that will affect the Grimms.

Fenris, for his part, will be trying to convince Jeff that fuzzy is the new black.

For those of you who are thinking of doing NaNoWriMo (or thinking "What the hell is NaNoWriMo?"), check out their website! November is the NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, and both professional and aspiring authors take a whack at it. Writing a 50,000 word novel in four weeks is a hell of a challenge, but that challenge made me write Noble Blood and have it ready for submission to an editor in less than six weeks. Here's hoping that I do as well with Jeff and Fenris as I did with Duncan, Jaden and Moira.

After that, it's my yearly break for the holidays as family and friends get together, children have off from school and I have my Mommy hat firmly tied down with green and red ribbons. After the holidays I'm looking at Julian and Cyn, who are looking back just as hard and tapping their feet impatiently. In fact, I'm not sure who I'm looking forward to writing more: Jeff from Howl for Me or Julian from Cynful!

Last but not least, I'll be at The Romance Studio's Release Party today starting at 1 p.m. EST and ending at 8 p.m. EST! Hope to see you there!

Release of Eye of the Beholder, True Destiny Book 2

2010-10-19T06:15:00.001-04:00

Eye of the Beholder is out! The buy link is live on My Bookstore and More. I'll update my purchase links as they become available, but damn! Jamie and Travis are finally OUT!

EDIT: The Amazon Kindle link is live and up on my website!

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Red Hots!

ISBN: 978-1-60928-227-1
Length: Category
Price: 4.50
Publication Date: October 19, 2010
Cover art by Angie Waters

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.

Jamie limped into the condo on Travis’s arm, staring around at the white on blue décor, the pale maple floors and the huge wall of windows with no drapes or shades of any kind. She had no clue what her sister saw in it. It was so…sterile, and the three lovers were anything but, yet she knew Jordan loved the look of the place. She grimaced at the thought of her sister with the two men. When Jordan decided to do something, she didn’t do it half-way. She’d fallen for both the bad boy and the angel, and fallen hard. Jamie was just glad both men returned her sister’s feelings, because if they hadn’t, they’d have her to deal with.

Jamie winced a bit as her damaged leg wobbled under her. She squeaked as Travis picked her up, but before she could really protest he had her in Jordan’s spare bedroom. He put her on top of the comforter, stroking her hair back when she gasped in pain.

“Sorry, Jamie. I’ll try to be gentler next time.”

Jamie nodded. She understood. No matter how she moved everything still hurt. She didn’t blame Travis at all.

She blamed Grimm.

Kir deposited their luggage inside the door before pulling it closed with a smile.

“I’m going to get your pain medicine, okay?”

Before she could protest Travis was out the door, that fine, fine ass of his flexing most temptingly in his blue jeans. She closed her eyes before she made a complete fool of herself. It wasn’t like he wanted that kind of attention from her, anyway. She’d seen the women he’d dated and not one of them had red hair.

She’d built so many daydreams around him, it was sickening. No other man had ever come close to measuring up to him. Jamie had loved him since the first day she saw him. He’d stood there, staring at her and Jeff, his blond hair streaked by the sun instead of a salon. His neatly trimmed beard couldn’t hide his full mouth or firm chin. His blue eyes had been both startled and, ultimately, full of amusement as she and Jeff told him off for stealing their big sister away from them. He’d thanked them for telling him his shirt was wrong and his tie was crooked, then sat down and asked them their opinions on what clothes he should buy. She’d been charmed at being treated like a lady by such a handsome man. She hadn’t even shrieked at him once, and she’d totally planned on it the moment he put them down. But Travis never did. He treated everyone with respect, and earned that respect back tenfold.

She’d dreamed of him every night since. She’d probably dream of him until the day she died, no matter how much she might wish otherwise. But those dreams had changed recently. Now he rescued her from Grimm instead of asking her on a date.

She was pretty sure that was the only reason she was still sane.

Working for Guardian Investigations was both heaven and hell. She got to see him and talk to him every single day. That was heaven.

Hell was seeing the women he dated and knowing that there was no way she could ever measure up.

Soon after coming to work for Travis she’d seen him with his girlfriend of the time, Karen. The way he’d held her, stroking her through the thin silk blouse she’d had on, his hand drifting down to the blonde’s ass, had broken her heart. The heat in his eyes when he’d looked at Karen had been intense. The friendly regard he’d turned on Jamie had been horrible. The smug, satisfied look on the blonde had been worse.

She’d gone out with her boyfriend that night, gotten tipsy and finally given him her virginity. It hadn’t been bad, actually. Some of it felt pretty good. They’d gotten comfortable with one another, or so she thought.

When she’d found Tim cheating on her she hadn’t been as heartbroken as she probably should have been. That was when she knew no other man would ever measure up to Travis. She’d given up looking soon after that, kicking Tim’s ass to the curb, much to her father’s relief. Fred Grimm had never approved of him.

“Here.”

She jumped. She must have dozed off, because Travis was standing over her with her pill and a glass of water clutched in his hand. “Mmm. Thanks.” She sat up gingerly, easing herself against the pillows. He handed her the pill and she took it, making a face as it stuck halfway down.

“Logan’s going to bring you something to eat in a few minutes. When you’re done eating I want you to get some sleep.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, Daddy.”

He shuddered. “Please don’t call me that.”

She shrugged and tried to smirk, knowing it looked more like a grimace but not caring. “It’s better than Pita.”

“That’s debatable.” He turned as Logan carried in a tray with a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on it and frowned. “That’s it? That’s what you’re feeding her?”

“Yes.” Logan placed the tray on her lap, winking at her.

“Hell, I can open a can of soup and make a grilled cheese. I thought you were actually going to cook.”

“Obviously your mother never made you the perfect sick foods before.” Jamie dug into the soup with gusto. The almost painful bite of the soup had her groaning in pleasure. “Oh, lord, Jordan told you?”

“Yup. Happy, Pita?”

She ate another spoonful of the sinfully spiced soup and sighed. “Practically orgasmic.” She ignored Travis’s growl and happily ate her soup, stopping every now and then to take a bite of the ultra-gooey grilled cheese.

“Are those jalapeno peppers in your soup?”

She looked up into Travis’s horrified face. “Oh yeah.”

“And grilled pepper jack cheese?”

She bit into the sandwich with as much gusto as her broken face would allow. “Mmm-hmm.” She licked her lips, moaning in cheesy ecstasy.

A dark flush crept up Travis’s cheeks. He cleared his throat. “Isn’t that bad for someone who’s sick? Aren’t you supposed to eat bland food?”

She looked at him blankly. “I’m already hurting. Why suffer more than I absolutely have to?” She finished her soup and handed the tray back to Logan with as sweet a smile as she could muster. “Thank you, Logan.”

He smiled down at her, his fondness for her written all over his face. “You’re welcome, Pita.”

She finished off the water and handed the empty glass to Travis, who took it with a frown. She yawned, snuggling down against the pillow, the pain pill making her sleepy again. “Night, Travis.”

“Night, Pita.”

She smiled, her eyes closed as she began drifting off to sleep. The gentle kiss she imagined against her lips sent her into sweet dreams where Travis actually wanted a crazy, pushy redhead for his own.

CONTEST WINNER

2010-10-18T10:45:00.000-04:00

And the winner of the download of Eye of the Beholder is...

TEENA M!

Congratulations, Teena!You should have received an email by now; if you haven't let me know!

For those who didn't win, remember I'm hosting a chat at the Samhain Cafe tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST. I'll be giving away a copy there too, so if you can, try to stop by and toss your name in the hat!

Feh

2010-10-12T07:29:00.003-04:00

Well. I started out the week with a whimper.

Okay, so I go to my parents' house for a family pot-luck, sandwich style. Everyone BYOS and prepare to share with the rest of the class style dining at it's finest. I hand out birthday presents, chat with family, watch a little Mythbusters and have a good time despite M's nosebleed that scared almost everyone. Little M bleeds like mad when he gets one, so my main concern was that his nose hadn't broken when Princcess SR's head hit his face. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, and M was back on the trampoline within fifteen minutes.

We head home, and Dusty and I are chatting about our work schedules. We miss the turn light has changed, and Dusty slams on his brakes to avoid hitting someone (which we did... avoid them, that is). This sends a shot of adrenaline through my system that, combined with some stuff that's going on at home and stressing me out a bit (renovations, the upcoming holidays, that sort of thing) triggers my favorite thing: a migraine.

Yay.

I felt nauseous and wanted to bury my head in concrete before we ever made it home Sunday night. I took some Imitrex (they upped my dosage and if I take it early enough now it stops the migraine), but by the time I got to it the headache had already taken root. So I took yesterday off and played possum. I got the nausea under control and was hoping the migraine would fade within a day or two.

Then R decides he's going to the wrestling tryouts at school and forgets to tell us he's not going to be on the afternoon bus.

Thirty stark, terrified minutes later we find out he'll be put on a bus by the gym teacher when tryouts are over. I'm shaking like a leaf, ready to vomit and kill my oldest child all at the same time. And M, who usually comes barreling in the house at full throttle, must have sensed the imminent damage his brother was about to face because he was sweet and, most importantly, quiet when he got home.

If you know M, you know he's never quiet. Sweet, definitely, but quiet? Maybe during the Zombie Apocalypse and that's only because he doesn't want to get eaten first.

So the migraine is back at square one, with me fighting nausea today and trying to stay out of the light sort of like a Mogwai. And don't feed me after midnight, especially sandwiches.

What's In A Name?

2010-10-05T14:28:00.004-04:00

Parker and Amara's book title has been chosen! Blood of the Maple will be out in Spring 2011. The excerpt page is up on my website and can be gotten to from either the cover above or by going to the Coming Soon page of my website.

Or...

You could check out this (UNEDITED) glimpse into Parker's witchy past...

Prologue

The California Desert, Some Time In The 1960’s …

“You know, my friend told me you were a witch, but I didn’t know he meant it literally.”

Parker clutched the bars of his cage and stared at the hippie chick he’d shagged just a few nights before. Damn, she’d been a sweet piece, too, tasty on the inside and the outside. A rare combination, and one he’d planned on sampling again before moving on. She had the sweetest hazel eyes he’d ever seen, and a mouth that could suck-start a Cadillac.

Too bad she’d taken exception to his little dalliance with the daisy-crowned flower child the night before. He’d been caught with his fangs down, and now the little witch was going to extract some freaky revenge. From the way her huge cauldron bubbled he wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to boil him alive.

“I worked pretty hard to get you into my bed.”

Parker blinked. He didn’t know if he should be flattered or terrified.

Never mind. He knew. Terrified. She stirred the mess in the cauldron and it was all he could do not to scream like a little girl. Okay, more terrified. He might be a vampire, hunter of the night and all around bad-ass, but a woman who felt scorned was still fucking scary. “You did?”

“Mm-hmm.” She tossed something he couldn’t see into the bubbling goo. The stench coming from it was foul beyond comprehension. What the hell had she put in there? And was it going to touch any part of him? He didn’t think there was enough tomato juice in the world to get that scent washed off.

“I’m flattered.” He thought back. He’d first caught sight of her dancing around a bonfire during one of the numerous parties his friends had thrown. She’d looked utterly edible and smelled divine. “I remember you dancing.”

She smiled like he’d handed her a gilded rose. “Yes!” She drifted by him, her voice dreamy, her expression serene. “I called you to me. You couldn’t resist my allure.”

Someone needs to stop taking the brown acid. “Look, it was nice and all, but—”

“Nice!”

Parker shook his head, his ears ringing. Damn, she could shriek.

“I let you into my temple and you desecrated it!”

Oh now, hold on a moment. “You begged me to ‘desecrate’ it!”

She pointed the sharp end of her white handled knife at him. “You cheated on me.”

He was starting to get annoyed. “You have to be in a relationship to cheat. All we did was party together. Horizontally.”

Her eyes teared up. “I thought I meant something to you.”

Aw shit. Humor the crazy lady. “We did.” He grasped the bars and rattled them. He still didn’t understand why he couldn’t just mist and drift through them, but when he’d tried he’d almost passed out from the pain. “We still could.”

She nodded eagerly. “Yes. And to make sure it never happens again, I’ve come up with a plan.”

Uh-oh. He gaped. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t worry, my love. You’ll never need to feed off of anyone else ever again.”

He felt the blood drain from his face. “You know?” When he’d thought about being caught with his fangs down he hadn’t meant it literally. How could she have found out? Like all vampires, he’d made sure the feeding was obscured in her mind. All she should have remembered was a sharp nip, the only physical reminder a tiny hickey.

Greg could have warned him if her lack of memory loss was due to her being a real witch.

Oh wait. Greg had warned him, to, as he put it, “Stay away from the crazy.” Too bad he he’d listened to his prick instead of his best friend.

She turned back to the cauldron bubbling away on her campfire. The smell coming from it was truly vile. “That you’re a Nosferatu?”

He winced. “I prefer vampire, myself.” Nosferatu made him think of that spindly, ugly-ass guy in the black and white film. Parker might not be Tony Curtis, but he sure as hell wasn’t that guy either.

She gave him the sweet smile that had led him to her bed. “Of course. I’ll remember that.”

“Thanks.” When her back was turned he gave his attention once more to the iron bars of his cage. He twisted the ones behind him, bending them slightly. He’d been working on it for an hour or more. Normally breaking out of one of these cages wouldn’t be a problem, but she’d done something to the cage, something… magical? Whatever she’d done, the bars were extremely difficult to break. “So, what do you have planned?”

“Nothing much. I’m just going to change your diet.”

He choked. “What?”

She grinned over her shoulder at him, her whole body glowing eerily. It wasn’t a reflection of the firelight on her skin, either. This was serious magic. “I’m going to make you unable to drink from anyone but me.”

This was getting too creepy. “That would kill you. You know that, right?” Besides, why the hell would he want to be tied down to one woman for eternity? The idea was revolting. It was unnatural. It was against the vampire code of ethics or something. He couldn’t live off of her. She wasn’t his singele sotiei, his blood wife. Only his blood wife could sustain him the way Terri was talking about.

She dipped a golden goblet into the green goo in the cauldron. “When I’m done, the only one you’ll ever need will be me.” She turned towards him, the goblet balanced between her hands. “It’s time, my love.”

“Oh fuck me.” Parker turned his back to her and began kicking at the bars of his cage. Whatever the witch had planned, it couldn’t be good.

“Here. Drink this and we will be together forever.”

No way. Parker turned and knocked the goblet out of her hand. The liquid inside sloshed, some landing on him, some on her. The dark green looked almost pretty against her skin.

She looked at him and smiled. “I love you.”

Then the pain hit, and Parker couldn’t do anything but scream.

A Book By Any Other Name

2010-09-27T11:02:00.003-04:00

So I spent the last few days polishing Ben and Dave's story and finding two, count them, TWO new names for books.

Carina Press, if you didn't know already (have I shouted it enough yet? I DON'T THINK SO!), has accepted my vegetarian vampire story, but requested I come up with a different name than Norwegian Wood. Poo. I liked that name, but it's not the first time I've had an editor say "Great book! Now we just need to change the name!" Ouch. The entire time I was trying to come up with a new name I could hear the song playing sadly in my head.

Then again, maybe that's why I was asked to change it.

So I came up with four possibilities and fired them off this morning. Hopefully they'll like the one that was my favorite, but I don't want to confuse anyone by mentioning what I sent them until I get final word back. I then booted up Ben and Dave's story and began writing the synopsis with the understanding I couldn't sent it to my editor without, you guessed it, a NEW NAME.

What's with me and coming up with bad names lately? It's probably a good thing I've already named my kids, or they'd be Apollo and Demetrius or something equally "My kid will get his ass kicked on a regular basis" bad.

Anyway, Worth Fighting For had to be ditched. It just didn't fit the story, and I hated the replacement name, Only You. It took writing the synopsis to give me the name. Oddly enough, it's the one that I'd originally intended for the story but changed my mind about when I wrote the outline. Finding Forgiveness has been fired off to my Samhain editor, and I'm liking the new name. Hopefully, so will Tera, or I'll be banging my head on the keyboard once more moaning "Naaaames! Naaaaaaaames!" while Dusty ponders what has to be the coming zombie apocalypse.

(Trust me. It's better if you don't know.)

New Contract With Carina Press!

2010-09-22T11:48:00.003-04:00

I can finally announce it: Norwegian Wood (the name WILL change, just not sure to what or when) will be released by Carina Press in Spring 2011! WOOT! My vegetarian vampire and his dryad love have found a home. I'm thrilled to be joining Carina as one of their authors. I've already spoken to my editor, and the contracts have been signed on my end.

I've got a small, unedited blurb on the Coming Soon page of my website. I don't want to post and excerpt page until after the new title is chosen. As soon as I know, I'll create the page and post about it here, on Twitter and on Facebook!

Eye of the Beholder Contest and Video!

2010-09-17T12:34:00.003-04:00

Didn't I promise you a contest today? Well guess what: you're also getting a book trailer!

Wanna win an electronic copy of E ye of the Beholder? To enter, just go to the Contact Me page of my website and send me your email address and your name/handle. I'll announce the winner on October 18!

And since it comes out around my anniversary, I'm doing a two-fer: Win both Eye of the
Beholder AND the previous book in the series, Very Much Alive. So if you haven't read the first book of the True Destiny series, now is your chance to get them both!

And here's the book trailer for Travis and Jamie. Enjoy!

WIPS and (Gold) Chains

2010-09-15T16:59:00.004-04:00

Wow. Progress on Artistic Visions is going along at a pretty good pace. For a story I couldn't get the main characters to talk to me about they sure have become remarkably vocal. It's to the point where I've sheered off into areas I hadn't planned on exploring, like an unlikely ally and the Dunne's acceptance of Robin as a good friend rather than someone to be feared. Shane's unique abilities are really coming into play and will foreshadow some of the future Gray Court books. Akane is resistant to the idea of a truebond at first, but she's slowly coming around.

I'm at the point where Shane is about to find out that gold is an aphrodisiac when dragons ingest it. Needless to say, that scene will be written while the kids are in school, because they should not be subjected to their mother cackling like a demented woman too often. It might damage their little psyches.

I'm a third of the way through and moving along nicely. I'll have to add in some parts where I explain some of the powers the characters have, but that will happen in the Meat Grinder. And it looks like Robin will get his story after Shane's, which will make The Hob the fourth Gray Court book.

Can you guess who will be the fifth?

WINNER!

2010-09-06T09:25:00.004-04:00

The winner of the autographed copy of Animal Attractio n is...

KIM M!

Congratulations, Kim! And I hope you like your name in purple; I'm feeling very purple-y today.

I'll be starting the new contest for Eye of the Beholder some time around the 17th, so keep your eyes open. I'm thinking since it comes out around my anniversary, I'd do a two-fer: Win both Eye of the Beholder AND the previous book in the series, Very Much Alive!

P.S.: Amazon has a great deal going right now: Buy Animal Attraction, Mating Games and Dare to Believe in print for $32.18. That's practically three for the price of two, so if you were planning on picking these up, this is a great deal.

New Book Trailer!

2010-09-04T11:55:00.004-04:00

Animal Attraction comes out in print on Tuesday, September 8th! WOOT! Belle and Rick and Gabe and Sarah!

RIP, Grandmother Grace

2010-08-24T13:06:00.003-04:00

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.

2010-08-20T07:03:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-08-17T06:46:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-08-16T15:40:00.002-04:00

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

2010-08-13T07:02:00.003-04:00

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

2010-08-06T14:25:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-08-04T13:31:00.004-04:00

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

2010-08-01T09:52:00.003-04:00

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!

Available Now!

2010-07-27T14:27:00.002-04:00

Buy from MBaM!
Read An Excerpt Online
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Red Hots!

ISBN: 978-1-60928-117-5
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: July 27, 2010
Cover art by Kanaxa

To hold onto his love, he must release his beast.

Halle Shifters, Book 1

Once a Bear sets his mind on a mission, it’s best to stay out of his way. Alexander “Bunny” Bunsun is that Bear. Something’s not right with his cousin Chloe, and he’s come to Halle, PA, to sort it out, turn his Harley around and head home to Oregon. Until an enticing scent lures him into the local tattoo shop.

There she is. An inked, Southern-drawled she-Wolf with lime-green hair. His perfect mate.

Tabitha Garwood’s rotten day just got worse. Her Outcast status makes her a target for harassment with alarming regularity. And now, in the middle of a root touch-up, looking like a half-melted Skittle, she’s met her destined mate. The only upside? She finally has a protector in the form of a huge, tattooed, shaved-head Bear who vibrates with carefully restrained power.

When Chloe is left for dead and Tabby is threatened, only Alex can keep his growing family safe. Giving Tabby the loving home she needs, though, could come at a price—Alex must give up the control he’s worked a lifetime to attain.

Which means someone could die at the hands—and claws—of his beast.

Warning: This novel contains explicit sex, graphic language, a hunky Bear named Bunny and… Yes. I said a Bear named Bunny. I don’t know about you but I’m not brave enough to make fun of it.

CONTEST WINNER

2010-07-26T08:47:00.003-04:00

Did you think all that lovely Vicodin would make me forget my promise to announce the winner of the Bear Necessities giveaway today?

Well, guess again! The winner of the giveaway is:

MARY D!

The winner has already been contacted. Congratulations, Mary!

P.S.: I will be at the Samhain Cafe tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. giving away another copy, so you have one more chance to win before the book comes out tomorrow!

Nip and Tuck

2010-07-22T07:49:00.003-04:00

So today's the day of the surgery. I'm just about to head over to the hospital for the initial sign in and mountain of paperwork. I'll be incommunicado except for emergencies until Monday. If I'm still down for the count, I'll badger Dusty into posting and emailing the winner of the contest. Bear Necessities comes out Tuesday; I should be able to sit at my desk long enough to update the buy links on my website, but it might take me the whole day, so please be patient.

Sandie, I'm going to mail you the excerpts on Monday, if I don't have Dusty help me sooner. (If I can't make the Samhain Cafe chat, Sandie, one of the mods, generously offered to post stuff for me.)

All right; I'm off! Have a great weekend, everyone, and I'll talk to you next week!

Ugh

2010-07-14T09:43:00.003-04:00

So. How many reruns of Most Evil and Cold Blood can a woman watch before she snaps? (Wait! Isn't there a show called Snapped?)

This is the most writing I've done all week, and already I'm going to have to move away from my precious laptop thanks to a sore tummy. *sniffle* Surgery is next Thursday, and I won't be on at ALL for a week or two after that, so this might be the next to last update for a while.

On a lighter note, my kids woke me up this morning playing bullfighter in the living room. There's nothing quite like hearing "TORO! TORO HIYA!" followed by the sound of a thousand elephants stampeding across the carpet, accompanied by giggles. How one tiny six year old can make so much noise when he runs I'll never understand.

Just A Few Things

2010-07-07T12:45:00.002-04:00

First off, I went to the doctor this morning and my surgery has been scheduled for July 22nd. That means I won't be doing the Bunny chat at the Samhain Cafe, but I might see if I can get someone else to do it for me.

Second, it appears that, while I was at the surgeon's, someone in China (CHINA!) got bored and hacked my email account. I've changed my password and it should be safe now, but if anyone gets a funny email from me let me know right away so I can take steps. If worse comes to worst I have an alternate email address I can set up instead of the one I'm using now, but it's a last resort kind of thing that I'd rather not do. I like the way my current email account is set up and it would take me a while to move all of my saved emails to the new account.

Third, we seem to be in the middle of a ginormous heat wave in my area, which means the kids are stuck in the house. Since I'm not allowed to run away screaming (thank you, hernia; thank you so much), and I don't have the escape of writing... something tells me my Ben and Dave book might wind up more like Belle and Rick's than I'd originally intended. The longer the kids are cooped up with me and Dusty, the meaner Dave sounds in my head.

Right now, he's planning on forcing Ben onto the Small World ride. It's not pretty. Before you know it he'll be dragging him out to buy a tiara and they'll be a vicious mauling right outside Pirates of the Caribbean.

Anyway, that's my current heads' up. I'll post again next week, sooner if something happens. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Win An Electronic Copy of Bear Necessities!

2010-07-02T09:09:00.003-04:00

Who wants to win a copy of Bear Necessities? You know the drill: go to the Contact Me page of my website and enter your name (or the handle you wish me to announce your prize by),email address and the electronic format of your choice. The winner will receive an email containing their ebook the day before it comes out!

The winner will be announced July 26th!

Congratulations! It's a Hernia!

2010-06-30T19:27:00.003-04:00

Do they give out cigars for that?

So I had my first consultation with the surgeon today, and he confirmed that I have a hernia, one that will require surgery. I got to go have my blood work taken, and got a CT scan. For the CT scan I sucked down enough barium to glow in the dark.

Blech. The least they could do with that stuff is make it in chocolate. The vanilla is just... nasty.

By the time I got home all I wanted was some food and a nap, in that order. Oh, and to never taste vanilla again. I have my next appointment on Wednesday, where I'll find out when my surgery will be, so I'll keep you all posted. I've been told my recovery will be roughly six weeks, and I'm not sure how many of those weeks will be computer free. I'm contemplating upgrading my mini laptop to something much more powerful that I can work on while lying down; we'll see.

In the meantime, I'm wishing everyone an early Happy 4th; if you're a member of my newsletter, keep an eye out for it tomorrow. I WILL get it out, and I'll list the details of the upcoming contest for Bear Necessities there first. The details will be listed on my website and here on Friday.

Well. Isn't That Special?

2010-06-24T16:19:00.002-04:00

So, I just got back from a trip to the doc's. Without going into detail, it looks like I'll probably have to go in for surgery to correct a problem, and that means I'll be off and on the internet until the situation is resolved.

Before anyone gets worried, the doc says it's an issue, but it's not life-threatening. It does, however, make it uncomfortable to sit at my desk for any length of time, so work on Ben and Dave is officially on hold until after my "issue" is surgically corrected. So if you've emailed me, I'll do my best to respond, but it might take a while.