Date Night

You know you write Young Adult romance when you're watching the State of the Union and are struck by how much it resembled a prom this year.



Or maybe I just have been blogging with the Fictionistas for a while, because you know how much we love crazy prom stories here.



In a spirit of bipartisanship in the wake of the Tucson tragedy that many are criticizing as empty symbolism, members of Congress abandoned their time-honored partisan seating chart and sat with members of the opposing party during Obama's speech to a joint session of Congres.

The last several days here in DC have been like a politican Match.Com as members of Congress have scrambled to find "dates" to the big event.



After all, those all-important prom pictures look that much better when you have the perfect date.

In years past, the State of the Union looked just like a junior high dance, with the Republicans on one side and the Democrats on the other. But now we have a more mature Congress that's graduated at least to high school.

The tradition of partisan seating dates to 1845 in the House of Representatives, with Democrats on one sides of the aisle, and Republicans on the other. But it wasn't until 1913 that it became the practice for the State of the Union. For the first time since Thomas Jefferson, President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, and the Representatives and Senators observed the House's partisan seating.

For the next 70 years, partisan seating was the norm, but no overt partisanship during the speech. But in 1983, Democrats mockingly applauded President Ronald Reasan during a line in his State of the Union. From then on we saw an era of one side of the chamber leaping to their feet at various times during the speech, with the other side sitting quietly and sometimes grumbling. At times it looked like the party the president was from was engaged in a weird aerobic workout during the State of the Union, they would get up and down so often.

It was always entertaining, that's for sure. Several State of the Union drinking games were even built around the jovial jumping up and down. (Because let's face it, even for the biggest politics die-hards among us, the only way to get through these things is with a drink.)

But this new seating arrangement really screwed things up. It used to be that members of Congress didn't even really have to listen too terribly hard in order to participate in the political pep rally. If the President was from their party, all they had to do was pay attention to what the sea of politicans around them were doing. If your seatmates are standing and cheering, you do too.

I kept watching last night to see if anyone would mess up, forgetting that their seatmate was from the opposing party and just following along, caught up in the excitement. That would have been funny.

I do know of one person who was very caught up in the excitement of the evening. She kept standing up and clapping whenever she saw the people on TV doing so.

My 1-year-old daughter. :)

Hey, it's DC. We start 'em young.

When I was COOL

Once upon a time I was cool, and so was this jacket.  I swear.  I have witnesses.

In fact, yesterday (Sunday) I made my normal morning rounds and came across Bill, who dated me a little a million years ago, and somehow ended up married to my absolute best friend, Roxy.  (You may now shriek the Police song in your head… you’re welcome.)

Anyway, I was minding my own beeswax, standing in line at the pharmacy with ice, a newspaper, and some Tylenol when Bill wandered up with his two adorable kids—Johnny and Bill Jr.  He kissed me on the cheek and said “hey, sweetheart!”

That’s where the trouble started.

Johnny:  WHY are you calling Chrissy “sweetheart?”

Bill:  Because she IS a sweetheart.  Back in the day everybody wanted her to be THEIR sweetheart, you know.

Johnny (incredulous—thanks, Johnny):  WHY????

Bill:  Because she was cute, she could sing and play guitar, she could play BASEBALL, and she could open beer bottles with the buttons on her Levi’s jacket.

*note: this is true… and I can still do it.

Johnny (considering):  Welllll… okay, that IS cool, but it’s a really stupid reason to fall in love with somebody.

*insert hysterical laughter wafting through CVS

Everybody’s a critic.  That kid can open his own bloody beer bottles.  *fume*

She's a star, baby!

Our own Gwen Hayes is a best seller! Her novella, Second Son of a Duke, is currently ranked number 5 in Amazon's historical romance list. Isn't that awesome?

If you haven't checked out this gem for yourself, you really should. And hey, at .99 it's the best buy you're going to get all week.

Check it out here.

Happy reading!

Puppy cuteness overload

Back around Thanksgiving, I got two doxie pups, which we named Daisy (the girl, lighter color with the pink nose) and Duke (the boy, darker color with a black nose). haha. I hearty heart my puppies and decided to overload you with the MOST ADORABLE PUPPY PICTURES EVAR. haha. As you can see, they sleep a lot. It's so, so freaking cute.

Awwwwww! I lubs my babies. Thanks for letting me share. :D

so over her

I'm totally over Katy Perry. I liked her when she kissed a girl. But now? Ugh. The airwaves are saturated with Firework, California Gurls, & Teenage Dream...and I just wanna barf every time I hear one of those songs. (which, if you listen to the radio, is approximately every 13 seconds)

I actually really liked her at first, so I feel really badly that my finger automatically hits the seek button every time I hear a few bars of one of her songs. It's like Pavlov's dog...only with my finger and Katy Perry.

And it's not fair. It's totally not her fault that the stations are cramming her into our heads until our eardrums burst. Or at least, until my eardrums burst. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one off the Katy Perry bandwagon. I'm alone, on the side of the road, while the rest of the world rides off into the sunset with KP. But I'd rather be alone than listen to California Gurls one more time. Yeah, I know. She's so hot she'll melt my popsicle. I guess that means I'll stop eating popsicles then.

Are you over anyone right now?

These are some things that are really bothering me.

I'm usually a happy go lucky blog poster. "This is great!" "Look at this link!" "I love this" etc.

But lately.

Here goes:

Pluto is still a planet. I don't care what they say. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060824-pluto-planet.html

There are twelve zodiac signs. Not thirteen. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/13/horoscope-hang-up-earth-rotation-changes-zodiac-signs/ Not only are they messing with people's tattoos, but omG, what about the continuity on Battlestar Gallactica?

Words have meaning. Especially negative ones. By removing them from classics, you change the context of the story. How about instead of whitewashing history, we talk to the kids about why it's important to remember even the ugly bits of history so that we continue to move forward. http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/05/new-huckleberry-finn-edition-removes-the-%E2%80%9Cn-word%E2%80%9D/?iref=allsearch

So...what's eating you?

Marlene Awards is low on entries!

Calling all unpublished writers! The Marlene Awards, sponsored by Washington Romance Writers, is low on entries in all categories.

This is a fantastic contest, with great feedback and stellar final editor judges. And the 1st place winner in each category wins a detailed critique from a published author!

And if you happen to be the winner of the YA category, then your critique will be provided by none other than Fictionistas' own Gwen Hayes!

So don't wait or hesitate! (Sorry, I've been watching too much Sprout network lately.) The deadline is SATURDAY, JANUARY 15.

FINAL ROUND JUDGES AND CRITIQUE AUTHORS FOR EACH CATEGORY:

Single Title Contemporary Romance
Final Editor Judge: Amanda Bergeron, Avon
Critique Author: Jane Porter

Series Contemporary Romance (long and short)
Final Editor Judge: Patience Smith, Harlequin/Silhouette
Critique Author: Amanda Berry

Historical Romance
Final Editor Judge: Leah Hultenschmidt, Sourcebooks
Critique Author: Janet Mullany

Paranormal/Fantasy/Futuristic Romance
Final Editor Judge: Latoya Smith, Grand Central
Critique Author: Stacia Kane

Romantic Elements
Final Editor Judge: Holly Blanck, St. Martin's
Critique Author: Gemma Halliday

Young Adult
Final Editor Judge: Kristin Daly, HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
Critique Author: Gwen Hayes

http://www.wrwdc.com/ee/index.php/marlene_awards/

Wild Blue

I am something of a bird-nut.  I love watching them out on the rivers, harbor, and marshes. I love the slow glides of the swans, and the brilliant little flicks of the nuthatches and titmouses. I even love to watch sparrows and chickadees, pedestrian as they may seem.  I love flicking french-fries at them in the parking lot at the harbor.  But my favorite of all is the great blue heron.

If you have never seen them, you don’t know what you are missing.  We are lucky enough to have a healthy population in my area, and they fascinate me.  They are huge—which makes them hard to miss when they stand along the edges of the harbor or the river, usually on a boggy spot of marsh.  In flight they are gigantic—so much larger than our largest birds of prey.  If those long legs seem awkward on land, the wing span you see in full flight is all magesty and grace.

Saturday evening, on my way home, a male great blue flew over my head.  He was no more than ten feet above me, but it felt as if I could reach up and touch him.  The sun was setting, and his color was amazing: a faded denim blue that picked up peach and rose from the sun.  He took my breath away.

The long, meandering paths along the Green Harbor river and amazing views of the marshes are one of my great joys. Even as a child I wandered these woods, getting covered in muck and dragging home all manner of critters and clippings.  My mom would make me empty my pockets, only to discover a mangled bit of wild sassafrass root, a carefully pocketed feather, or—sorry Mom—something furry.  Moles, mice, newts, and chipmunks… baby ducks who incited near-violence from their mother, and turtle babies my father helped me return to the marsh.  I was quite the manky little beastie, with quite the wild menagerie. 

I don’t bring wild things home these days… unless you count Ahmed.  But I do so love to watch them.  I guess I always will.

another year?

Yeah. Another year. And I guess I'm supposed to make resolutions and try not to fail meeting them again.

I have a love/hate relationship with the new year. I love the idea of new beginnings, of wiping the slate clean and starting fresh, of getting a chance to right some wrongs of the previous year.

I hate the idea of setting myself up to fail with resolutions. The last two years I've described the previous year with 3 words and then assigned 3 new words for what I hope the new year will be.

This year, I'm just making one resolution.

Move Forward.

What are your plans? Are you resolving or boycotting the whole idea?

To Age or Not To Age, That is the Question

My good friend Gemma Halliday posted a question on Romance Divas yesterday, and it got me thinking.

If you're reading a YA series, do you expect the characters to grow up?

JK Rowling did it in her Harry Potter series, of course, which correlated nicely with how her original readers were aging. But that was a fantasy world, and the characters were dealing with fantasy issues very far removed from our own everyday world.

For a contemporary, if the main character is 16 in the first book, would you expect her to be in college by the end of the series? Is this a good idea?

On the one hand, if you're putting out 1 book a year, and your target audience starts out in the 12-15 age group, then by the time you're 3 or 4 books in, your readership has "outgrown" this type of book, so aging your character might be a good idea.

On the other hand, what about your readers who find you once you already have a backlist? As a mom, would you want your 12-year-old daughter to start off reading books with a 16-year-old protagonist and then continue reading that series all in a row, even if the main character is now in college? It wouldn't be a big deal if your daughter is now 16 or 17, of course, but if she came upon the entire series while she's a preteen, it could get awkward.

But then again, keeping your main character in a vaccuum and never aging her, Nancy Drew style, is unrealistic.

YA writers...what do you do?

YA readers...what do you prefer?

Something tasty to start the New Year with

I've got a new book out - The Perfect Dish!

It's a light, contemporary paranormal with a chef hero. Yum! Here's the scoop:

Texas-born Kelly Spicer is not just one of Manhattan's hottest young chefs, he's also one of the city's most eligible bachelors. Desperate to help his grieving sister, Kelly uses the magic cookbook passed down through his family's generations to conjure up a recipe of chocolate-laced persuasion to enlist the help of the only woman he thinks can reach his sister.

Psychologist Meredith Black has buried two husbands, an experience which has made her an expert in grief and pushed her to pen two books that landed her on the Oprah show and the best seller list. A cynic in matters of the heart, her success does nothing to ease her belief that she's a jinx. She vows never to love again and when she makes that sentiment public, dating Kelly becomes her best damage control.

Buy it for Kindle or Nook or any other format - for just $2.99! A print version should be available in a week or two. If you read it, I'd love to know what you think.

Happy New Year

Once again--I have no resolutions. However, today is my Big Fat Writing Day. I promised myself 5000 words (on my manuscript, not this post, don't be scared) so I'm gearing up. I usually shoot for1k a day, but I haven't been very good about getting it done, so I thought I'd end 2010 in a productive way.

What are your plans? Quiet NYE? Going out on the town? Starting a new diet tomorrow?

All of us at Fictionistas wish you a very happy, fulfilling new year. And happy reading, too.

N'oreaster

It never ceases to amaze me that people will visit my little hamlet by the sea and fall in love with it... in June. Which is fine. Words like "quaint" get bandied about. Next thing you know some retired person decides to purchase a little cottage.

Yeah. Wait a bit.

We are in the midst of a N'oreaster. In local terms, that's "a wickid stawm offa tha wattah."

This morning I got up, cleaned off the car, and went to the post office. Locals (townies like me) were out and about. The transplanted people were absolutely wigging. Some of them in their driveways acting like snow is nuclear fallout. Some attempting to drive gigantic 4 wheel drive SUVs that are really good at GOING in bad weather, but absolutely dismal at STOPPING in bad weather. And, unfortunately, they don't come with a "fix the jerkwad's driving" button.

I drove around them in my normal-drive Nissan. Picked up my mail, sent out some mail, got dog food and bread, and visited Starbucks. I'm fine.

Most of them are in snowbanks or ditches... and the snowbanks are pretty wimpy. I'm hoping against all past experience that these people have realized that Green Harbor is "quaint" in the summer, but she's a bit of a nasty harpy in the winter. She's... well, she's like me. I, too, can be a harsh mistress. It's easy in the good times. Not so much in the midst of a N'oreaster.

Batten down the hatches, folks.

Christmas Eve Traditions

Growing up, my family's tradition was to open all our presents on Christmas Eve. Rumor has it this was because my father was unable to wait until Christmas morning. We did save the stockings for the next morning, though.

This year, we'll be celebrating another Christmas Eve tradition, The Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian-American meal of many seafood courses that celebrates the midnight birth of the baby Jesus. We're not hosting this magnificent dinner, we're strictly guests, thanks to the generosity of another family who is opening their home to us. I am providing my world famous tiramisu, however.

What Christmas Eve traditions does your family observe?

I just wanted to say...

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! I for one plan to spend my time with my family and loved ones. :D

On a side note, I planned my 2011 goals out, both personal and career. What about you--anyone else a goal-oriented person?

a charlie brown christmas

One of my fondest memories as a kid was watching the A Charlie Brown Christmas. Poor Charlie Brown, he never could get a good tree but he always made the best of it.

Imagine the happiness that lit up my inside parts when I found a real Charlie Brown tree at Walgreens last week. So I bought it, and took it to the boyfriend's house because he wasn't planning on decorating. And I'm sorry, but we just couldn't have a tree....

Best. Tree. Ever. I may never do another tree again.

Are y'all ready for the holidays? Try anything new this year (like a Charlie Brown tree?) or are you a stickler for old traditions?

Hope you all have a very Charlie Brown Holiday with friends, family and a pet you love. ;)

Free ebook for your holiday enjoyment.

It's the holiday season and I love the music and the lights and (frankly) the food.
I also love giving things away.
Whatever you celebrate...or don't...please enjoy this short story that is very dear to my heart. Beth and Lucky's story made me laugh and cry while writing it...I hope it's the same for you while reading it.

The ebook is available at Smashwords. Please enter the coupon code ZR99E  at checkout. Coupon expires 12/26/2010. Smashwords has a variety of formats for most ereaders--or you can read it right on your PC.

The Holidays--AKA I'm not ready!

Okay, usually I'm that person everyone hates around the holidays: all presents are purchased and wrapped well before Thanksgiving. Decorations are up, tree is lit, and nothing left to do but enjoy.

Except this year. This year, I'm a HOT MESS. I have, like, half my presents purchased. The other half I still have noooo idea what to get them. LOL. No Christmas tree up yet. No decorations. My mom is going to poop a chicken if I don't get on that. Uh, don't tell her I said that.

Anyone else in the OMG-I-HAVE-SO-MUCH-LEFT-TO-DO haze like I am? Or am I going to be super-envious of you this year?

Wrap it Up

I have a confession to make.

I love wrapping presents.  Like… I absolutely ADORE wrapping presents and every year one of the big holiday productions for me is picking out my coordinating gift wrap for the season.

It has to match.  It has to be in a minimum of three different gift wraps with ribbons and tags that coordinate within the theme.  I tend to like patterns, plaids, or stripes with bold colors. 

This year I kind of robbed myself the joy on that since I am giving almost everyone money or gift cards.  I’ve been both a little under the weather and incredibly busy.  But I’m seriously thinking about going “all out dude” and doing the guys’ stuff in brown paper bags and duct tape ribbon.

Waddaya think?

Sugarcat

So I just found out one of my cats, Sam, is a diabetic. I was only vaguely aware that cats could be diabetics. Now I'm going to have to learn to give him a shot twice a day. Since we also have an asthmatic cat that needs an inhaler twice a day, I figure how hard can this be?

Pets are really something and an incident like this (Sam went into ketoacidosis, an often fatal-for-cats diabetic shock and is actually still in the hospital as I type this, making a remarkable recovery) makes you conscious of how much company they really are. When I'm at my desk, so is Sam, sprawled next to my lap top, his watchful eyes occasionally opening to see if I'm working or just shopping online.

Animals are a comfort. They are a source of unconditional love. They don't care if you're having a bad hair or you haven't brushed your teeth after eating garlic or that you're still wearing your pajamas at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They love us the way we should love each other. Except I don't think jumping on someone when they walk through your front door to see if they're carrying food will ever catch on.

I can't imagine not having pets. No matter how many litter boxes I have to clean or vet bills I have to pay. They're just great additions to life. Do you have pets? I'd love to hear about them.

Let ICANN Know What You Think!

Do you remember a time when .com, .org, .edu, or .gov were pretty much the only three letters you'd ever see at the end of a web address? I know, it seems like such a long time ago, and yet, those top-level domains (TLDs) continue to be the most used in the US.

What is a TLD? A top-level domain is the last segment of a domain name. The TLD for our blog is .com.

How many TLDs are there currently? Here's a visual, courtesy of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, of the world's TLDS...all 280 of them. (I think it's a little bit out of date, because I believe there are actually 21 gTLDs (generic top level domains) currently, but close enough.)



Most of the current TLDs are country codes (.us, .mx .ca, .cn, .ru, .uk, etc).

But see that medium-sized dot that shows 20 "g"s? Right now there are 20, but under a plan that will be voted on at an important ICANN meeting in Cartagena, Colombia on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 (2 days from now!), the "g" domains will explode in number. ICANN has not placed an actual number of how many new TLDs will be created, but has said it could potentially be 1000s of new TLDs per year.

No, that is not 1000s of new URLs per year. I mean 1000s of new top-level domains. Come May, we could see .coke, .canon, .fashion, .book, .author, .paris, .xxx, .food, and on and on and on and on.

And on.

And on.

Rather than expanding to one or two new2 TLDs at a time like they've done in the past, ICANN has proposed an UNLIMITED expansion. This poses significan problems for trademark owners because of the possibility of additional consumer confusion and the great costs that will be involved in brand owners protecting their brands.

So what exactly does this mean for the Fictionistas and our readers?

I'm going put on a quasi-legal hat today and do something I rarely do on here or in the greater writing community...give advice. Sure, I frequently dispense legal info, but I generally am pretty careful to steer clear of giving advice, for ethical reasons.

But I'm breaking with the mold here. Today I'm going to talk in an advocacy capacity, but not as "Amanda Brice, Author and Attorney", but rather as "Amanda Brice, Author and Stakeholder."

Say what?

Sure, I may not have a registered trademark for my pen name, but I have established common law trademark rights in my pen name, nonetheless. I've been promoting myself online for years under this name, and have created a brand, so to speak.

As authors, our names are our brands. It's how readers know how to find our books. It can also serve as shorthand for reader expectations. When you pick up a Nora Roberts book, you have a pretty good idea what type of experience you'll get. Or if you pick up a JD Robb -- which as we all know is written by Nora Roberts -- you'll get a completely different experience.

So what the heck does pen names have to do with ICANN's expansion of TLDs?

A lot, actually. As we all know, having a website can be a crucial tool for an author. And more important than merely having a website is having the right website. In other words, you want YourName.Com because that's where most people look.

But many authors have found that although they use the Dot.Com of their name as their primary website, defensive registration of other variations is important as well.

Take for example, my good buddy, Rhonda. She has not only http://www.rhondastapleton.com/ but also http://www.rhondastapleton.net/ which points back to the DotCom. She doesn't want to leave the .net one hanging out there in cyberspace for anyone to take, so she snapped it up when it was available. This way she avoids infringers or cybersquatters. (A cybersquatter is someone who goes around registering domain names in the hopes that whoever actually wants it will pay them money to buy it back from the cybersquatter.)

ICANN's proposal to allow a potentially unlimited number of new TLDs will create an open season for potential infringers and cybersquatters. Now we don't have to worry about policing just a few potential domains, but possibly 1000s.

One of the proposed new TLDs that has been bandied about is .book, which would be a pretty sweet one in our field. And you can buy this TLD and become a registrar for domain names if you have a mere $185,000 to spare, and $2 million over the next 10 years.

Will someone actually buy the .book TLD and create a register? Maybe not, since it's an expensive undertaking. But if the .book TLD does get off the ground, then every author is definitely going to want to snap up their domain name in that register as well, before an infringer or a cybersquatter does.

Right about now, you're thinking, "But I'm a midlister" or "I'm a debut" or "I'm unpublished." Why would someone want to infringe you? How would you even get on a cybersquatter's radar screen?

I'm going to break with convention again, and do something I rarely do...embarass myself publicly.

Go to http://www.amandabrice.com/

Go ahead...take your time. Read some of it. Now click on "about".

It doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is NOT my website.

Sure, I used to own this domain, but due to my own stupidity, I lost it. I thought that I'd renewed for a 2-year period that would come up for renewal in January 2011, but in reality, it was only a 1-year period. I had the January 2010 date calendared on my Outlook at work, so had I actually been there to get the reminders, I would have realized my mistake, renewed it in a timely manner, and all would be well.

But I never went into the office during the month of January. In fact, exactly one year ago today was my last day in the office for several months...rather unexpectedly. My daughter was born 6 weeks early a year ago TOMORROW, so I suddenly went on maternity leave without taking care of anything.

Including renewing my domain name.

A few weeks back, I decided to be all proactive and do my renewal early. Um, wrong. I was about 10 months too late. I couldn't renew and couldn't even register, because after my domain went back for sale on the register, someone bought it.

In checking the details, it seems someone bought it within a few days of my losing it, but they didn't do anything with it for several months. Best I can tell, this someone was hoping I'd contact them and offer to buy it back, and then once I didn't do so, they decided to just put up a blog. A rather haphazard and random blog, I might add. Completely erratic, with no rhyme or reason, although the high heels at the top of the screen are a clear attempt to make it look at first glance like it belonged to me, since I write Chick Lit. If you read enough of it, you can find some references to Duke and UNC...so I think this is intentional.

Yup. They're cybersquatting.

But I ain't biting. Had I noticed this months back, I would lawyer up but I'm just going to sit back and wait for now. The 1-year period ends in January, so I'll revisit this issue then.

So if I, an unpublished nobody, can get cybersquatted, then bigger names definitely can and will. Once there are 1000s of new gTLDS, it is going to be next to impossible to police your brand everywhere at all times, so tons of opportunity for infringers and cybersquatters.

ICANN does have a procedure whereby trademark owners (both registered and common law) can get their domains back, but this is costly and time-consuming, and frankly, small businesses and individuals just won't be able to handle it.

If you agree with me that the risks outweigh the advantages of these new TLDS, then please make your voices heard. I do not believe that a business or public interest case for new gTLDs had been made. No launch of new gTLDs should occure before a meaningful study of the economics of the domain name marketplace has been completed and reviewed. Such a study is necessary so that if a launch does occur, it will benefit consumers rather than create risks to trademark holders. As it stands, nobody even knows the scope of this launch.

ICANN is meeting in Cartagena this week, and will be voting on the proposal ON FRIDAY. Please let them know that as a stakeholder, you do not want 1000s of new TLDs created without careful study and without creating protections for those who are likely to be infringed.

At a meeting the other day, a representative from IPO (the Intellectual Property Owners Association, a trade assosication involved in advocacy for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets) indicated that the large corporations and lobbying groups have all weighed in, but ICANN hasn't really heard from small business or from individuals. So here's your chance!

Submit your comments by December 10, 2010:

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-5-en.htm

baby it's cold outside!

The holidays are upon us and the radio stations are pummeling us with Christmas carols.

I'm not ready for them yet. I know, there are only 18 days between now and Christmas Eve. I know that halls are being decked, sweet treats are being baked, and stockings are being hung...and yet, the Christmas Spirit is eluding me.

Maybe it's because I can't have a tree this year. My terrorists kittehs will destroy it, much like they have destroyed every roll of paper towels and toilet paper I've brought into the house...

Maybe it's because this holiday will be a weird one for me. It's the first post-divorce holiday. It will definitely feel strange. The good news is, I will actually get a gift this year! I guess I've finally been a good girl.

Or maybe it's because I just haven't heard the right song yet. There is one song that always makes me happy, even though it's not technically a Christmas song, it is always played around this time of the year and it works wonders for my spirit.

Today I shall listen to it over and over again until I'm no longer feeling the ba humbug.

Baby It's Cold Outside


Do you have a specific holiday song that always gets you in the spirit?

McNuggetini--not joking

I'm picturing the hangover that goes with this and it's not pretty.

Wishing you 8 crazy nights!

It’s Cyber Monday

So, in continuing the discussion of fake retail holidays... it’s Cyber Monday.  I’m not sure if you care—I know I don’t.  I do love shopping, but frenzied and forced “retail holidays” tend to turn me off rather than on.  I sat out Black Friday, Recovery Saturday, and Last Chance Sunday.  If there had been an incredible deal somewhere I might have been tempted to step outside and take a shot.  But nothing in any of the sales circulars seemed worth my time.

I DO love to shop, and I’m notoriously frugal.  (We don’t say cheap… not if we like our teeth.)  Bagging a bargain, for me, feels like a huge victory.  I leave Peter Harris with my bright yellow bags as if I am returning from the great hunt, sweaters and jeans aloft, a spring in my step.  Best part?  I don’t have to skin anything to enjoy the spoils.

So today is another fake retail holiday… which, let’s face it, is just as good as the other fake holidays.  I am perfectly happy to find great deals on eBay or amazon or anywhere else.  But I’m serving notice on the rest of you—I’M TALKING TO YOU SITTING IN THAT OFFICE CHAIR NOT FREAKING WORKING, CHUM—shut down the internet trying to get the last Arnie the Electronic Armadillo with Flash Action Prehensile Tail—yeah, I’m coming for you.

Do you or don't you?

Today is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, the day when retailers offer (supposedly) tremendous deals to those willing to rise before dawn, brave the cold (unless, like me, you're in Florida) and the crowds.

I've never done it. I know that might seem shocking considering how much I enjoy shopping and how good at it I am, but the prospect of fighting all those other people for merchandise seems more like combat and less like shopping.

Still, I know folks who do it faithfully every year and love it.

Which camp do you fall into? Have you already hit the stores this morning? Or are you content to stay in bed ignoring the siren song of low-priced goods? Or maybe you're doing some online shopping today? Tell me!

Happy almost Thanksgiving!

So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US of A. I, for one, am thankful for a lot of things. The biggies, of course--life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, friends, family, jobs, love, etc. But let's take some time to think about those little things that keep life rolling.

Here's a list of some of the little things I'm thankful for:

--two-ply toilet paper
--caffeine
--cute shoes
--cute shoes (this was worth thanking twice)
--stores that have clothes for curvy girls
--Garnier hair color (I can pretend for a little while longer that I'm not graying, lol)
--puppies
--my Mac notebook
--my iPhone
--Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's Christmas album
--deliciously warm gloves

What about you? What little things in life make you happy?

one year later...

Last year on November 22, I blogged about the 10 things I try not to take for granted. Guess what, not much has changed...including the fact that I still don't have a maid. Seriously, what is up with that?

So today, for the first time in a long time, I plotted with my writing partner, Maria Geraci (who's book THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB will hit the shelves December 7...and you should totally pre-order it NOW!) Anyway, this morning I actually worked on a book idea that I've been playing with for a year and a half but haven't written much on thanks to the foggy haze of divorce that was surrounding me.

Which means, I'm adding a couple of new things to my thankful list. Because apparently I took my creative juices for granted...and I never plan to let that happen ever again.

1. I'm thankful for my imagination
2. Thank all that's holy (and possibly all that's unholy) for Maria Geraci
3. Thanks for my 'Nistas who listened to my whiny emails and supported me even though I was acting like I was the only person who had ever been foggy and sad.
4. And for my agent Deidre and editor Kristin for their patience and understanding while I took the long road back to my creativity. :)

Now, let's all go eat some pie!

The Prince Chooses a Bride

As a young girl, I was fascinated with Shy Di--the school teacher affianced to the future King of England, Prince Charles. The engagement, the wedding, and the emergence of Diana, Princess of Wales, as a humanitarian with so much grace were all riveting during my formative years.  

As it turned out, her marriage was not a happy one nor do I think Charles is ever going to get a crack at that throne--but through it all, Diana has continued, beyond her death, to be an icon to me. 

And boy did she love her children. 

They are all grown up now, and Prince William--possibly the future King of England has proposed to his girlfriend of seven years. She wears Diana's ring now, and though that marriage ended badly--perhaps even began badly, I have to think Diana would be pleased. She would want her son to use that symbol that had stood for so much hope and so many expectations, I think. I find myself riveted once again. I hope Kate isn't forever in the shadow of William's mother--but I hope she learns what she can from the legacy that Diana left her sons and her country. 

New directions

So, as some of you may have seen, I've been absent from here lately. My life has been in a crazy state of flux--the day job ended in early October, so I'm freelancing, writing and teaching. It's been...an adjustment, to say the least. I set my own schedule. I work at Panera somedays, surrounded by retirees and stay-at-home moms. Other days, I work at home, nestled comfortably on my couch in my jammies.

I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, the annual monthlong writing challenge that pushes you to write a book in November. This year, I'm taking a big risk and writing a story that is very, veeeerrry different for me. An adult thriller featuring a kick-ass heroine.

It's been a couple of months of change. But I've learned a lot about myself through these challenges. I can take risks. I can self-motivate. I can put my mind to a task and succeed. Is everything perfect? Snort. Man I wish. Life is never going to be perfect. But I took a bad situation and am trying to run with what I have.

To those of you facing big changes--you have a well of strength and resourcefulness in you that is greater than you know. Embrace change. Use it as a chance to reinforce your awareness of your strengths. And be prepared to be flexible.

To those of you also writing, we can do it!!! Let's kick some ass and take some names this month. And don't be afraid to write something completely new. You never know--it could be the best thing you've ever done for yourself.

Fun With Radiation

This past week I began a six week run of radiation for a health issue.  No biggie.  Only the thing is, in comic books all the people who get exposed to radiation—or radioactive stuff—get superpowers.  Like, they fall into a vat down at the treatment plant and wake up with the ability to shoot flaming twinkies out of a secret compartment of twinkanyte in their arms, perfectly placed so that a pair of stylish aubergine gloves, for instance, could be worn to both enhance the twinkie fire power, but also conceal the twinkpockets of doom.

Yaknow… stuff like that.

So far the only things radiation, chemotherapy, cytoxan, and similar chemical experiences have granted me are the abilities to make my hair disappear and my lunch reappear.  Not to complain, but there are no marketable crime fighting skills there.  I mean I really don’t want to be Baldy the Puke Crusader or Vomitta, Mistress of Hurl.  I can’t imagine the get-up would be in a flattering color range. Something in a puse and pea-green spandex/lycra blend?  Not so much.

Plus sometimes I think the way the radioactive stuff manifests is bunk.  Peter Parker?  I think not.  Ever seen a spider that skinny?  Or both red and blue?  Red, maybe, but blue?  No.  And spiders are NOT skinny.  They’re ARACHNIDS.  Helloooo?  Round bulbous critters, those.  So Spidey is full of something other than webbing, if you know what I mean.

Come to think of it… that’s a look I could totally pull off.  I have the bulbous thing going on.  Plus I think I could spin a web of any size and quite possibly catch thieves just like flies.  And if you’re going to toss up gross stuff, why not work that into a venom angle, right?

Right?

Don’t make me shoot silly string at you, dude.  I’m serious.

Now where did I put that...

I'm not an organized person and have never claimed to be, but that doesn't mean my stuff is all over the place either. I have my own system, like most people probably do, and thankfully it works okay. I do sometimes wish I was more organized. I have friends that label things, filing them in color-coded files with the precision of a drill sergeant. I have other friends who make spreadsheets for fun and recreation. Those people boggle me. I admire their skill the way one might look up to a pro-athlete and know that I will never compete in their league. I'm actually not even qualified to sit on that bench.

My husband asks me if I'm filing receipts. I always nod and smile brightly and then as soon as he steps out of my office, I shove them all into a folder and scrawl something across the tab in black Sharpie marker like Writing Exp 2010. I have no doubt that this will, indeed, some day be the death of him as he likes to proclaim.

I do what I can organizationally and while I dream of better things, I know my limitations. What are yours? Are you uber organized or furiously stuffing papers in a shoebox when no one's looking?

PS. That is NOT my office. No matter what my husband may have told you.

______________________________________
ETA: The winner of the copy of "Morning Glory" from Amanda's Wednesday post is...drumroll, please...Andy!
Please email amandabrice (at) romancedivas (dot) com to collect your prize!

Now in Theatres!

My good friend Diana Peterfreund is joining us today to talk about her experience writing the novelization of the new movie "Morning Glory," which hits theatres TODAY and stars Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diana Keaton, and Patrick Wilson.

Here's a blurb for both the movie and the book:

BREAKING NEWS: Ambitious young TV producer Becky Fuller is fired from a local morning show in New Jersey, and her career begins to look as bleak as her hapless love life.

Desperately in need of a job, yet still full of boundless optimism, Becky vows to land on her feet and stumbles into an opportunity at Daybreak, a floundering network morning news program in New York City. Abysmal ratings are only the tip of the iceberg: Executive producers seldom survive beyond the next commercial break, and the outdated cameras belong in the Smithsonian.

Promising the head of the network that she can reverse the downward spiral, Becky makes legendary newscaster Mike Pomeroy an offer he can’t contractually refuse. She successfully adds Pomeroy to the team, but he refuses to participate in any Daybreak fluff pieces and morning show staples like celebrity gossip, weather, fashion, and crafts. What’s more, he takes an instant dislike to his equally difficult co-anchor, Colleen Peck, a former beauty queen.The only bright spot in Becky’s career is Adam Bennett, a gorgeous fellow producer, but Daybreak’s dysfunction spells trouble for their blossoming relationship. As Mike and Colleen’s on-air chemistry proves more explosive every day, Becky must scramble to save her love life, her reputation, her job, and, ultimately, Daybreak itself.

Please welcome, Diana Peterfreund!



DP: Hi, Amanda! Thanks so much for having me!

AB: Glad you could be here! Let's talk writing. What was it like to write a book based on a screenplay?

DP: In a word: invigorating. I'd just come off writing ASCENDANT (a killer unicorn fantasy), which is my darkest novel to date. It was the depths of winter and I was in desperate need of writing something light and funny. When the script for Morning Glory came in, I sat on the couch and laughed my head off the whole way through. My husband, sitting in the next room, kept calling over to me and saying, "So it's good, huh?"

The process was pretty simple: they sent me a working script (there are differences between the script I had and the final film) and I tried to keep as true to the dialogue and storyline as possible. The challenges were how to translate the occasional montage into a cohesive narrative and of course, to fill in all of the action and the main character's interior thoughts. The needs of a screenplay and feature film are very different from those of a novel. In a movie, they can do a lot of visual short cuts. I can afford to be more expansive, to add in explanatory scenes and to flesh out parts that take more development on the page than on the screen. Whereas a film can get a lot of mileage from two attractive co-stars (in this case, Rachel McAdams and Patrick Wilson) making goo-goo eyes at each other, it doesn't come across as well in text, so I enjoyed adding to their romance.

After turning in the draft and doing revisions with my editor, we had to go through another round of approval with the studio and the the producers. We made some changes because they had updated the script. I had no descriptions to go by and only the stills I could find online, so sometimes I made changes to certain scenes so they'd be more in keeping with the actual sets/costumes/hair in the film. After the producers signed off on it, Random House put it into production.

AB: I usually write my books by "casting" them in my mind. Did you know who the stars of the movie would be before you agreed to write the novel?

DP: I did. In fact, that was one of the reasons I was so keen to do it. I've been a fan of Rachel McAdams since her Slings & Arrows days (an awesome Canadian show about a Shakespearean theater troupe), and I've loved Harrison Ford since my early childhood. To get the chance to write a character for Han Solo -- um, Ford? Awesome! Additionally, Patrick Wilson is from my hometown. He's a few years older than me, and I remember all the drama kids in high school would talk about him as one of the guys who "made it."

AB: How did you get involved with the project?

DP: My editor at Random House is the same one I had for all my Secret Society Girl novels. She called me up and asked me if I'd be interested in the project. I'd been hearing a lot about novelizations from some fellow writers in NINC (Novelists, Inc.) and I was keen to do the project. She thought we'd be a good fit because of the voice of my other novels. She pitched me to Paramount and they said yes.

AB: Are you working on anything new at the moment?

DP: My main project at the moment is caring for my newborn daughter. She's a month old now, and so I'm still on my one-woman shop's version of "maternity leave." But since my husband's paternity leave runs out soon, I'm going to have to figure out the details of how to be a mom and a writer all at once.

Just this week I signed on to do two new short stories for anthologies (yay!) I had so much fun with the short I had out this year: "Errant" in Kiss Me Deadly and "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" in Zombies Vs. Unicorns, and they seem to have found a readership, so I'm excited to do more. I have three in the hopper for 2011 and 2012. Additionally, I'm working on a YA post-apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion which should be out in 2012.

AB: OK, you hooked me with "YA post-apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion." Awesome! I can't wait! And congrats on your little girl!


OK, Fictionistas readers...I'm going to give away a copy of "Morning Glory: A Novel" to one lucky reader. All you have to do is comment!

We'll post the winner on Friday's blog.

baby you can drive my car

Yesterday I gave my oldest son (he's 16) his first driving lesson.

I remember begging my mom to teach me to drive when I was 12 years old. My 13 year old son is begging me to learn. My 16 year old? Has had absolutely zero interest until now.

I'm okay with that, mostly. The older he is before he's on the road, then the safer he is...technically. But, he's still riding around with all his 16 year old friends who are driving, so I suppose really it's the same no matter what.

I tease him all the time that the only reason I allowed him to make it to 16 alive is so that he could take over Taxi duties and that his lack of drive to learn to drive is an Epic Failure.

But the truth is, it's fine if he takes his time to learn. If he feels any sense of unease then there's no reason to unleash him on the public behind the wheel of a killing machine. Ya know?

Still, I find it odd that he hasn't shown an interest until now...just 4 months shy of his 17th birthday. Have you guys noticed a trend in teens not wanting to learn to drive. Ian isn't the only one in his group of friends. It seems to be a bit of an epidemic around these parts. What about around your parts?

BTW, he did a damn fine job for his first real time behind the wheel. He even drove down a neighborhood street!

Dear Hayley Nicole

Dear Hayley Nicole,

Eighteen years ago, you came into my life and changed me forever. You're not my baby anymore--today you're a young woman--and I am so proud of you.

You are such a bright, shining star. As much as it hurts to let go of you as grow, I'm also so pleased to send you into the big world. It really needs someone like you.

Happy Birthday to the best daughter a mom could ask for.

Love,
Mom

Ghosty Shows

Last night, as you all know, was Samhain, or Halloween, or All Soul’s Eve.  Pick one.  Hopefully you were treated, not tricked, and had a good time.  In a related, but not necessarily specific to the holiday, note—I spent the night watching the annual Ghost Hunters live show.

I love Ghost Hunters.  I think Jay Hawes and Grant Wilson get it right, and I love Steve and Tango.  I laugh just as often as I get excited about possible evidence, which is why I remain a fan.

I used to be really hooked on Paranormal State, too.  Ryan, the head honcho of the crew on that show, has become a tad too melodramatic for me.  They are less likely to rely on science, in spite of the fact that they have the tech on hand.  I still tune in occasionally.

Ghost Lab was interesting last season… but I am not yet hooked. I have to admit, Ghost Adventures occasionally sucks me in just for the pure dweeb-factor. I mean, basically we’ve got frat boys hyped up on Red Bull freaking out in the dark.  But that one dude’s hair is absolutely not of this world.  For sure.

What’s your ghostly poison? 

Technorati Tags: ghost hunters,ghost lab,ghost adventures,paranormal state,ghost tv shows,ghosty hair,fictionistas

A hot, fun, MUST read!

Roxanne St. Claire's first book in her new Guardian Angelinos series came out this week and if you love a good romantic adventure story and a hot, wounded hero, you should check it out. Just to whet your appetite, Roxanne has posted a free prequel to the book on her website - it's a great way to get to know the characters!

Do you like when authors do free reads? I think they're great. It's like when you spend $30 at the Clinque counter and end up with a free make-up bag stuffed with sample sized goodies.

Go check out her freebie and tell me what you think!

Speaking From Beyond the Grave

It's October, so when you read the title of this blog post, you thought I was talking about some paranormal phenomenon, right?

Wrong. I'm talking about the latest #1 Amazon bestseller, a book that hit that spot in preorders. The book doesn't release until November 15, and the author's been dead for 100 years.

In honor of the centennial of his death, the University of California Press is publishing "The Autobiography of Mark Twain," an uncensored, rambling, and supposedly hilarious look at his life. Samuel Clemens (Twain's real name...1835-1910) left specific orders that his memoirs were not to be published until he was loooooooooong gone and everyone mentioned in them were, too.

So he was free to speak his mind without offending anyone.

On CBS Sunday Morning, Twain scholar Roberty Hirst referred to the book as "partly a journal, partly a diary, and partly recollection. So yeah, I think of it as a kind of blog, a blog without a web."

Twain's memoir would have been very unusual for his time period, but actually feels kind of modern. It's not a chronological story of his life from birth to old age, but rather a "random meandering." Rather than picking up pen and paper or a typewriter, Clemens dictated to a stenographer. Hirst describes it as "daily dictations over four years, about whatever he found interesting that day."

Hmmm...sounds a lot like a blog to me.

And just think about it. How cool for people to care about your totally random ramblings from more than 100 years ago?

Pretty awesome marketing, too. He had to know that the buzz alone would drive sales.

Clemens planned carefully for a centennial posthumous release. Jules Verne (1828-1905), who was popular around the exact same time, did not.

Verne's "Paris in the Twentieth Century" was written in 1863, but not published until 1994. He'd only intended to put it in a vault for 20 years, per his publisher's suggestion, but then forgot all about it. His publisher didn't want to release it at the start of his career, because the grim distopian view of the future it painted was thought to be a potential turnoff to his readers.

(The heroine in my 2008 Golden Heart nominated manuscript, "Party Like It's 1899", finds a copy of Verne's lost book in a used bookstore in Paris and it magically transports her back in time. I won't tell you any more, because I hope to sell that book some day.)

Anyway, whether the work was lost or intentionally held back, the idea of posthumous publication so many years later is just thrilling. To have people so interested in what you wrote more than 100 years ago? Wow!

Win Some Steampunk Love

Miss Bramble And The Leviathan is officially on sale!!! You can get your copy here. Buy one for yourself and one for a friend! Nothing says I care like steampunk. ;o)

If you like a chance to win a copy, stop by Meljean Brooks blog today and leave a comment.

Here's the book's blurb:

The last thing she planned to steal was his heart.

The Company. Military institution, protector of Praeton and the nation of Grand Isle. Dirty rotten thief.

When Pandora Bramble steps aboard the Company’s premiere airship Daedalus it’s not for the exclusive VIP tour. It’s to secure proof that the Company stole the regulator valve her father designed—even if it means tearing the engine apart. Foiled by the unexpected appearance of a handsome crew member, she despairs of ever getting another chance—until he kisses her.

Captain Theolonius Hatch, sentenced to engine room duty for refusing to take part in the Company’s fleet week activities, never dreamed a woman like Pandora existed. Her brains match her beauty, a combination that adds up to more trouble than he ever expected.

As Pandora allows Theolonius to sweep her into a whirlwind courtship, her wildest dreams come true. As do her greatest fears, leaving her to decide what matters most. Loyalty…or love.

The clock is ticking.

Warning: This book contains airships, mechanical owls, women who are good with tools, men in and out of uniform, steam generated by engines and people, and some hot carriage scenes.

Now go forth and purchase! Or comment! Or both!

Caught Up In The Net

Recently I signed up for one of those freebie "who is searching for you" trials out of pure curiosity. I'm still getting the same "someone is looking for you" email alert with the same four searches listed: a female of X age in Y location, etc. I recognized all four, which was reassuring. Ahmed signed up and got a big chuckle out of it-- he signed up with the name he uses on the internet, which is a slight variation of his actual name.

Several people who know him "online" had googled the name thinking to get all kinds of... what? I hope they weren't too disappointed. He got a huge charge out of it.


With the recent movie all about Facebook's founder, and with nearly daily alerts about some scam or another, I guess we should all be careful. I am a Facebook fan, but I don't play the interactive games, or take the quizzes, or respond to "somebody answered a question about you" alerts. I've never seen one posted by somebody who knew me well enough to answer a question about me, but I am flattered anyone cares. As long as it all stays fun, we're good.

Twitter and Facebook can suck a lot of time, though. And message boards start to get addictive. And these days you can't just shut off the computer... we've all got apps on our phones, or stand-alone devices, or... well, too much access, maybe.

But for me it's all worth it. I can keep in touch with family and friends and old co-workers without being on the phone all day. I've never liked the telephone. I always feel like the person on the other end expects me to entertain him or her. Only my absolute most-beloved ones get long phone calls from me or are allowed to place them to me. It's not that I'm wallowing in swamp-witchy hermitage. It's more that I like a quick howdy and a jack-rabbit exit.

So you know... you can always hit me on FB or shoot me a tweet.

The end is near

No, I'm not talking about the Mayan apocalypse. I'm talking about the end of the book I'm currently writing. I cannot wait to finish it. This book has not been a "gimme" for me, it's been a real labor of love at times.

A gimme book, as most writers will tell you, is one of those rare novels that just pours out of you, every character nuance and plot decision coming as seamless as silk. Some writers have never had one of those, some have them periodically, but most writers have had at least one. Ask a writer what their gimme book was and their face will light up and their eyes sparkle with a faraway remembrance. They'll nod and smile and start telling you about it, how it issued forth in six weeks and had no revisions or some such fantastical thing.

I've had one. It's called The Perfect Dish and I wrote the first 60 pages in about five days. It really did spill out of me, so fast my fingers could barely keep up. It was a risky book, featuring an older woman/younger man scenario long before the word cougar had really entered the vernacular. (He's a hot young chef with a recently widowed sister, she's a grief counselor who's meteoric career is suddenly spiraling downward due to her own unresolved issues. Also, he's got a magic cookbook and isn't afraid to use it.)

The Perfect Dish opened doors for me. It proved to people that I could write, that I was growing as a writer and that I was a talent worth noticing. That book got me my agent. It eventually sold, but the publisher closed, leaving the book homeless again. (I've decided to put it out there myself via the Kindle route, but that's a story for another post.) Still, The Perfect Dish was a gimme book that made a difference in my writing path.

Have you had your gimme book yet? What was it? What happened to it? Are you writing it now?

FALLING UNDER excerpt

Do you want a sneak peek at Falling Under? Of course you do!
Please visit the Haunted Halloween event at A Life Bound by Books blog for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win an Amazon gift certificate.
http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com/2010/10/haunted-halloween-gwen-hayes-exclusive.html

Land Ho!

No, I'm not calling a person on solid ground with a fast reputation a Land Ho (though, that would be kinda awesome...) I'm actually referring Christopher Columbus discovering America.

Today is Columbus Day here in the USA and it is a holiday for many offices. (Mine is NOT one of them... *grumble*)

In honor of Columbus Day, I thought I'd post some little known facts about El Capitan.

1. Christopher Columbus’ name is not Christopher Columbus. It is Chrisoffa Corombo. Christopher Columbus is the English translation of sorts.
2. The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria were not the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Well, the Pinta was but the Nina was a nickname for the Santa Clara and the Santa Maria was known as the Gallega.
3. While Columbus is considered a hero in the U.S., Spain and Italy, he was not well-known during his life.
4. Christopher Columbus never actually set foot on U.S. soil. He landed on an island in the Bahamas.
5. It was not Columbus’ idea to sail across the ocean. It was his brother, Bartholomew’s idea.
6. Columbus was an opium addict, the same drug used in producing modern-day heroin.
7. There is genetic evidence that Columbus and his men brought the sexually transmitted disease Syphilis to Europe.

Syphillis? Gee Chris, sounds like you could be called a Land Ho, too!

Hope you're off work or school today and enjoying something fun!

Falling Under Cover Flats

What you can't tell from the picture:

• The title and my name are foily!
• The cardstock has a softy suedey feel.
• It's so freaking gorgeous.
• I'm a writer so I make words up like "foily" and "suedey".

I will choose three random commentors  to get a signed cover flat. I'll also throw in a bookmark. So as Chaka Khan once said....tell me something good--tell me that you like it, yeah.....


And the winners are:
Lisa Henderson
Reggie Writes
and Gilliene 

Romance Divas' October Bash

Romance Divas is, perhaps, the greatest free resource for writers on the planet. Don't believe me? Ask Writer's Digest! October is going to be a very special month, too! Swing by all this month to suck up the free-writery-goodies, including an amazing live event with Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole in the chatroom: on Thursday, October 28th at 7pm EST.

Be there or be TOTALLY square!!

Remembering September

October is the 10th month of the year (it was the 8th month in the Roman calendar, hence the Octo part of the name that stuck) and one of seven months with 31 days. By now most of us are pretty settled into Fall. Here in Florida, it means we're starting to leave our doors and windows open in the morning and evening to take advantage of the first few cool breezes.

During October we celebrate such things as Columbus Day and Halloween, but also lesser known days like Apple Day, Freethought Day and Leif Erikson Day.

But today, on the first of October, people will look at each other and say, "Where did September go? Can you believe it's October already? It'll be Christmas soon!"

I know where my September went. I wrote 35,000 words that month. Celebrated my dad's birthday. Enjoyed the company of my visiting family. Saw a friend get married. Watched my niece perform in Cinderella. Took a trip with my husband and made some new memories.

All in all, September was a good month and while it did go by fast, it went by packed full of good times. My September feels well spent. How about yours?