Ceri Hebert

MEXICAN CORN DIP

2011-06-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

This is a really awesome dip recipe my husband brought home the other day. Even the kids love it.

Ingredients:

3 -11 oz cans Mexican style corn (Mexicorn) drained
1-4oz can diced green chilis (drained)
5 green onions chopped
1-8oz container sour cream
1 jalepeno pepper chopped
3/4 cup mayo
10oz shredded cheddar cheese (I've seen a recipe added pepper jack cheese too)

Directions:

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

It's really tasty. I'm thinking of trying it out with elbow noodles and making it a pasta salad. I think it would work!

Too Perfect

2011-06-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

That's what the editor said about my heroine in the manuscript I sent her. Like the girl in high school who gets straight A's, is head cheerleader and prom queen. But is super nice, likes little kids, works as a candy striper at the local nursing home....etc etc etc...

Okay, so maybe not that bad. But I have to admit that, yah, she is pretty perfect. Usually I throw a few flaws my character's way. So where did I go wrong here? She doesn't have a lot in the way of insecurities and is pretty accomplished for one so young.

So what do I do about it? I've put a lot of time into this manuscript, but it's a story that I really really like. Do I take it a part and give her flaws? Well, yah, I'd do that. I'd have to. But do I really want to right now.

How much time should be vested in a manuscript? I don't want to shelve it forever, but I have so many others that need my time.

So, I guess what I'll do is put it on a shelf for now. Think on it, think what I want to remove, how I want to change her so she's still the spunky, fearless heroine who'll go after the guy she's been in love with forever. And I'll work on one of my other manuscripts.

And remind myself that my best characters are flawed.

I'm Here..... Really

2011-02-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't quite fallen off the edge of the earth though sometimes it feels that way. Actually other aspects of life have been getting in the way and, well, sometimes they have to take priority.

One thing is that I've been keeping my New Years resolution to get into shape. Really. My husband and I joined the gym last month and have been doing a terrific job at going several times a week. Most of the time I eat properly, but I do slip up. Hey, I'm only human. And I've lost about 15lbs since starting.

My writing has been lacking as well, but I'm pushing myself to finish an almost-complete manuscript. I'd like it done before the end of March. And then I'll throw myself into the sequel to That Kind of Magic.

Speaking of which, I got a terrific review over at The Long and The Short of It Romance Reviews

"Ms. Hebert gives us a sweet, sentimental love story, infuses it with a little betrayal and a lot of non-conformity with a good splash of woo-woo and, other than the woo-woo it could be your normal everyday love story taken off any daytime soap or romance TV channel. Happily, that woo-woo gives it the edge that makes it hard to put down. In fact, I read this story in one sitting."

Well, click on the link for the full awesomeness of the review. :)

So, this has been a short and sweet post. I'll be doing more later. Hopefully I'll have exciting news about a contract on another short.

Be Back Soon! for That Kind of Magic. They like me! They really like me!

New Review!

2010-11-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe that even though That Kind of Magic has only been out for 4 days I already have a review for it! I love reviews!

Love is a complicated sort of emotion. This story will melt the heart of any who may be tempted to love but afraid to fall. The story was vividly written and I felt as though I was a bystander watching rather than reading. Casting love spells is what got these two polar opposites together, but biting you're lip until you know if the common person in their life can help them keep their heart together or not makes your heart ache for more. A woman’s heart is not something to be toyed with and a man’s loyalty is an unreachable bound to leap if the wall is too high. Ceri Hebert maybe a witch at heart as she has cast a love of reading all things magical in her story. I look forward to reading more of her tales of love and then some.

4 Hoots

Go to Nocturne Romance Reads for the full review.

I really need to think of what I'm going to do for the sequel. I know what my heroine's major hurdle will be but I've yet to put my thumb on the hero. Will he be magickal or will he be a non-believer. I really feel that I ought to go with a magickal man since my hero in TKOM wasn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is an errand kind of day I think. DH is working and then off to a concert with friends so it'll be the kids and I to fend for ourselves.

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!

2010-11-17T01:33:00.000-08:00

That Kind Of Magic is now available at The Wild Rose Press!!

What's a witch to do when she refuses to use magic to find love? Beautiful Wiccan Charlotte Noone has a shop for magical supplies and a goddess who's pushing her to find the man of her dreams. When Patrick Riordan, a straight-laced non-believer enters her life, Charlotte falls madly in lust with him. Despite their very different lives, neither can stop the erotic journey they’ve embarked on, but will it be enough to break through their barriers so they can accept that love itself is magical?

EXCERPT

If Patrick hadn’t stopped the kiss, Charlotte had no idea where it could’ve led. Her head spun wildly. She couldn’t even explain what possessed her to kiss him as she had. Curiosity couldn’t be to blame, though she’d wondered often since the last dream if his kisses were as good in real life as they were in her imagination.

She had her answer. Reality was definitely better because she knew she wouldn’t have to wake up and think of this as something fleeting and with the substance of morning mist. Patrick was solid and standing right in front of her, his gaze smoky and sensual. Reluctantly, she let her hands drop away from him, but she continued to feel the warmth of his body on her skin. One thing she didn’t do, though, was look away from him.

“Wow,” she murmured. “What was that?” She knew what it was. Fire. Just one kiss had been enough to set her body ablaze.

“I’m not sure,” Patrick replied. He looked as puzzled as she felt.

“I think we’ll be late for our reservations,” Charlotte said softly. She wanted to take his hand but knew if she so much as put one finger on him they’d never make it to the restaurant. She’d drag him back to her apartment and make love to him for the rest of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm so excited about this one! Well, I'm excited about all my releases. Best Man over at Sapphire Blue Publishing is still doing very well and getting lots of praise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sounds like another rainy day. Where was all this rain back in August? Not that I'm complaining. All the leaves are off the trees anyway. But this doesn't do much for the cold that I've been battling for a week. We're down to just a horrible cough. I feel bad for everyone who has to listen to me, though.

NaNo is going all right. I lost it for the past week because of this cold and other things, but I'm slowly catching up. I may finish this puppy yet. Of course I have to do a lot of writing each day to do it.

And now I'm off to some of that writing.

NaNo? Or NaNot?

2010-11-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, I won't get myself down over a few completely none productive days. Things have been out of balance here, including a hideous cold. So my word count stands just under 13,000 words. Not good. I'm nearly 5k behind right now. I want to finish it though. I think I can if I can just get things straight in other areas.

In the good news department, though, That Kind Of Magic will be out on November 17th from The Wild Rose Press. I'm so excited about this book!! Now I'm ready for more!

Okay, this is a short post, but I needed to get the updates out there.

Back to NaNoing.....

NaNoing and Other Things

2010-11-03T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well, Day 3 of NaNoWriMo is here and I'm very underwhelmed at my progress. I hit a wall right away (well, about 2000 words in or so) so I switched to a different project yesterday. I figure better to switch early than halfway through. I've done better. Current word count is 4210. I should be at 5000. Well, not too bad I guess, but this is not the project I had wanted to work on.

Not that I don't like the story.

Of course today I have errands to run which should keep me well away from my writing for a good long time *sigh*.

My birthday was yesterday. The big FOUR FIVE. Yes, I'm now on the downward spiral to the big FIVE OHH. No, I won't look at it that way. It's just that 50 is such a BIG number! Half a century. Yikes! But isn't 50 the new 30? I'm trying to put a positive spin on this! I did get a lovely present for my b'day--a new laptop. It's sitting right next to me. Don't know if it's ready to go but it sure is purty.

OH OH OH!! Best Man got another review over at The Long and the Short of It Reviews. Go check it out! It got 4 Books! Love it!!

Now off to start my day. Ugh.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN and other things

2010-10-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays, especially as an adult because it's almost 100% stressfree. Just pick out a costume, and take the kids trick or treating. No huge meals to plan, no long drives to relatives, no getting months in debt so everyone gets a present. It's perfect!

It's also the day before NaNoWriMo!

Tomorrow morning I'll be up at my insane time of 4am, settled at the keyboard ready to go. I've decided to do a complete rewrite of Dreamer's Sea, a story I wrote years ago. I loved it but it was duller than dirt. So it's going to be revamped with a curse, some ghosts, maybe a possession or two and I'll be good to go. Tonight I think I'll do a collage to give me inspiration. I'm going to, however, make this a sex-free story. Yes folks, none at all. I have no idea how well it would sell in this world of erotica, but I want to go this direction this time. The original didn't have any so I'm going to stick with that. Helps that my heroine is pregnant throughout most of the book.

In other news I received yet another awesome review of Best Man the other day! This from Night Owl Reviews:

"Ceri Hebert takes the reader and her characters from the lowest of lowest emotions to the most satisfying and fulfilling in a concise but clearly descriptive manner... Betrayal and humiliation are bold character s in this story, but Ceri Hebert brings them in and turns them on with excellent results that will leave you cheering in the end for the “Best Man”."

It received a 4.75 (out of 5) Star rating and it's a Night Owl Review Top Pick

REMINDER!!!!

THAT KIND OF MAGIC IS AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 17TH FROM THE WILD ROSE PRESS!

So everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween!!

5 Hearts For Best Man

2010-10-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

I was doing a little surfing yesterday and I found a new review for Best Man over at The Romance Studio.

"Ceri Hebert has written a wonderfully gripping fast-paced book. The book was so emotionally-charged that it was almost impossible to put down. Her writing style made the plot come to life. She described the New England surroundings so vividly I felt as if I was seeing it myself. The sensuality was sweet as well as hot. This storyline was so well written that I wanted the story to continue."

Go here for the full review.

The reviewer gave it 5 hearts!! Yes, I'm pleased!

Less than 2 weeks until NaNo!! Still not sure what I"m going to write.

AVAILABLE NOV 17TH!!

2010-10-14T03:20:00.000-07:00

What's a witch to do when she refuses to use magic to find love?
Beautiful Wiccan Charlotte Noone has a shop for magical supplies and a goddess who's pushing her to find the man of her dreams. When Patrick Riordan, a straight-laced non-believer enters her life, Charlotte falls madly in lust with him. Despite their very... different lives, neither can stop the erotic journey they’ve embarked on, but will it be enough to break through their barriers so they can accept that love itself is magical?

That Kind of Magic will be available on November 17th from The Wild Rose Press

I'm so psyched about this one! Well, I'm psyched about all of them, but it's so satisfying to see something I've worked so hard on be presented to the world!

IN OTHER NEWS....

Best Man placed 3rd in the Best Book of September contest over at Happily Ever After Reviews
I've gotten a lot of great feedback from this story, which is available now at Sapphire Blue Publishing.

~~~~~~

Well, November is almost upon us, and we know what that means. NaNoWriMo. Yes, I'm participating this year with all the good intentions I can muster. I still have to pick my story, but I've got one on the brain so I think I'm going to go with my revampation (yeah, I know that's not a word) of Dreamer's Sea. This time with more ghosts.

When November comes to an end I'll be giving my attention to the sequel to That Kind of Magic.

At least I'm in the mood to write. I guess my muse has returned. Just hope she sticks with me for a few months.

First Review For Best Man

2010-09-14T01:28:00.001-07:00

What a pleasant surprise I had on Sunday when I received my first review for Best Man. Although I was a bit scared to open the link when I first received it, I'm glad I did.

Happily Ever After Reviews said this about Best Man: I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked up “Best Man.” Admittedly, it did appeal directly to one of my largest personal kinks: friends who become lovers. Yet beyond the story itself came strong characterization, fantastic dialogue, and a wealth of emotion that powered its words from beginning to end.

This story had an amazing amount of heart. I can’t recommend it enough.

Go to the link for the full review.

It's still giving me warm fuzzies.

I'm currently working on the galley for That Kind of Magic. The final step in the process! It's the last chance to catch any problems before being published. It's a much needed process, so I'm discovering. It's amazing the little things that can slip through the cracks throughout the editing process.

Fall is here and my mind is turning toward November and NaNoWriMo. Yes, I'm attempting it this year again. I love to do it, even though I don't always complete it. Just have to decide on what I'm going to write. Can I put of the sequel to That Kind of Magic until then? Or there's that young adult I wanted to write (well, more than one) or the next in the Sweet Forever series. So many options. One thing is for sure, I won't run out of ideas anytime soon!

New Website

2010-09-03T02:46:00.000-07:00

I've been unhappy with my website for a very long time. A)it's boring to look at. There's absolutely no wow factor at all. And B)I have no idea how to fix it up. I'm sure if I sit down with a book for dummies and my husband telling me what to do, I could figure it out over time. But I have neither the book or the time to sit down.

So I decided to take a different direction and try a new program. Weebly.

I solved one problem. I have no problem setting things up on this program. It's basically a drag and drop program that my ten year old could do. I have up to 6 pages I can work with, which seems enough.

Problem is it's still kind of boring.

But I have all the links and book info up on it and I can add whenever I want instead of waiting for DH to do it.

So, what I have to do now is work on graphics and see if I can give it that wow factor that way. Maybe I can load a new background too. There is a way to work with html as well.

And I have a new blog there too.

So, check out my new website at www.cerihebert.com and give my new blog a try. I'm hoping that this will work out, though I'm keeping my options open. Could be something better out there!

And thanks to Marianne for the offer of help. You may regret it :)

So Much To Do

2010-09-01T02:43:00.001-07:00

I'm making my To Do List:

~Work on website-okay, I've had this on my list for a very very long time. Problem is, I have no clue how to do it myself. I used to be able to make websites with no problem-back in the Geocities Homestead days. I think I had about 5 different pages then. But it was so much simpler. Nowadays, I'm lost. Luckily my husband knows how to put them together, but our time is very limited. Besides, I want the site to go through a complete overhaul. It's very vanilla right now. I want something more stunning.

~Hold contest to celebrate my release of Best Man from Sapphire Blue Publishing, so please STAY TUNED!

~work on a book video, or at least gathering pictures and music and then turning to the experts over at Goddess Fish Promotions because they know what they're doing and have done some really good book videos.

~As soon as I receive them, work on the galley changes for my upcoming The Wild Rose Press release That Kind of Magic.

~Brainstorm for a sequel to TKOM. My editor asked me yesterday if she was going to get a story for one of the secondary characters in that book. I've been tossing the idea around but now I have to get serious about it.

I'm sure there's much more to do. School is in and kids are starting to get involved in school activities, so that'll keep me hopping.

I'll keep a blank sheet of paper handy to add to the above

NEW RELEASE

2010-08-30T01:24:00.000-07:00

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE*

I'm so pleased to announce that my story Best Man is now available at Sapphire Blue Publishing

Lorelei Warren is facing every bride’s nightmare—she’s been left at the altar with a “Dear Jane” letter from the groom and a church full guests. Will Draper, her best friend and the best man, wants to pick up the pieces. He’s been in love with her for years.

Now Lori has to decide where her life will head. Leaving Florida on what should have been her honeymoon in New England, questions torment her thoughts. Can she leave her old life behind and start fresh?

What a great way to start the week! Soon this will also be available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is the first day of school here in my slice of NH. This will be my oldest daughter's last year of school, it's the first day of high school for my other daughter and the first day of middle school for my son. Quite the exciting year lined up! But I'm not ready for summer vacation to be over yet. There's too much we haven't done.

Everyone have a great day!!

Catching Up

2010-06-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I really need to make it a point to post at least every other day. And since I'm on vacation for the rest of the week, there really isn't any reason not to post.

So, I'm in a holding pattern right now over my edits for both That Kind of Magic and Best Man. Should be starting the first round of edits for TKOM within the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to getting into it, especially since everything else is falling into place with it. Now just need a release date.

I sent Finally Home to The Wild Rose Press and got as far as sending in the full manuscript, but they didn't take it, for a very curious (to me) reason. They thought it was told in a young adult voice. Um, okay. I didn't see it, and now I'm thinking of maybe rewriting the beginning to make it more "adult". I did start writing this story when I was sixteen and my characters were teens and supposed to remain that way, so maybe some of that stayed with the story, though no one who's read it before ever thought so.

Anyway, I'm not too devastated, though it would've been nice. The editor at TWRP told me if I have anything else that might fit into her niche. So, that's good. At least she didn't hate me.

Of course this has renewed my interest in writing a young adult story. Every time I see the shelves of YA novels my fingers just itch to write one, or more. Something paranormal but with a twist. No vampires though. I think they've been done to death.

First must finish edits on Forever Home and get that sent out to Kensington.

Well, everyone has descended on me. Time to get breakfast.

Beautiful New Cover

2010-05-26T01:39:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased with the cover of my upcoming release from The Wild Rose Press "That Kind Of Magic" I don't have a release date yet, but having a cover makes everything seem so real.

I'm also plunging head first into the editing portion of my Sapphire Blue Publishing book "Best Man" I don't have that cover or release date yet, but I'm sure it's going to be just as fabulous. In the meantime the editing will keep me busy. I'm not that much into editing (don't know too many writers who are) but it's a great learning experience so who am I to complain. I have had to put Forever Home on temporary hold, but that's coming along nicely. I've decided to send it off to an agent or two

Can't believe May is almost over!! Pray that I make it through June. It's going to be an uber-busy month with 4 kids graduating (though I'm not sure I consider moving from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school a major event, but the kids are looking forward to it). The month also holds 4-H events for two daughters, American Heritage Tour for one, Special Olympic summer games for another daughter and who knows what else. I can't wait for summer!!

Okay, time to edit.

And edit.

And edit some more.

Ouch

2010-04-25T04:42:00.000-07:00

I'm sore. Yesterday I worked on a painting project over at my mother's house. I've decided that I like to paint. The weather was absolutely perfect and despite the annoying black flies that are now out, I really enjoyed myself and could have continued, but I had to stop so the kids, my mother and I could participate in her town's roadside clean up. We were assigned to the cleanest roads in town because for the two hours we spent on these endless dirt roads, we filled maybe one large garbage bag. Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing, but didn't win us any prizes at the end of the day.

Still, I enjoyed doing it. One of the roads we walked would've been perfect for horseback riding and the kids and I found little ponds full of frog eggs and cellar holes galore. Two hours went by much too quickly. After an ice cream sandwich we went home and I returned to painting for a while.

Of course today is gray and will be drizzly so continuing the painting project is out. Do have some gardening to do.

I've sent in all my paperwork to The Wild Rose Press and I've been added to their list of authors. I've begun to introduce myself to the other authors, and am looking forward to the next step. Okay, so editing isn't exactly my favorite part of the process, I'm still psyched to see That Kind Of Magic transform itself into the final version that will be published.

I've also received my copy of my contract for Best Man from Sapphire Blue Publishing so I'm sure I'll be doing the same for this story as I'm doing for TKOM. I'll be a busy little writer! Now if I only could figure out how to work on my webpage. It needs sooo many updates it's not funny. My web designer isn't available too much so there the page sits. I'd love to revamp the entire thing. I'm not crazy about the layout or graphics. I want something that'll grab people, not put them to sleep.

Guess I'll have to play around with it.

In the meantime it's off to play in the dirt.

Big News!

2010-04-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

I have great news! I've been offered not one, but TWO contracts on two different stories I've submitted recently.

The Wild Rose Press has offered me a contract on my contemporary romance meets fantasy "That Kind Of Magic" and Sapphire Blue Publishing will publish my short story "Best Man"

I don't have release dates yet, but as soon as I do I'll post them. I'm so excited and ready for more!! I'm working hard on putting the finishing touches on Forever Home and hope to be sending a query out soon. And of course I have so many other projects brewing that I don't think I'll ever run out of things to work on.

That's a good thing, right?

Of course a bad cold has been kicking me around like a soccer ball, but it's getting a little better. By the end of the week it should be gone. *fingers crossed*

I have been thinking about something, though. Currently I'm published under the name Ceri but I've wanted to change that to my full name, Cerian. Is this a smart thing to do? I know it's not a huge leap, but maybe, since I haven't had anything out for a few years, now would be the time.

Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!

More soon!!

Worms On The Sidewalk

2010-03-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

This is how I know spring is here. It rained and rained yesterday. When I went out to my car the pavement was covered with worms. I knew spring had truly arrived. I just hate the thought of running over the little guys.

So, I'm still waiting to hear back from one publisher, but I have about a month to go before I can expect an answer on That Kind of Magic. It's okay. Most of the time I don't think about it.
In the meantime I sent another story out to a different publisher and I'm in the process of chopping words out of Forever Home so I can send it to Harlequin. Only 7000 words to go!!
I'm so ready to move onto something new, but I really have too many unfinished projects that need my attention. Wish I could settle down with one and see it through without any distraction!

Unfortunately there's work and things that get in my way.

Quick Note

2010-02-17T02:43:00.000-08:00

I heard back from the editor at The Wild Rose Press. She's asked for the full manuscript of That Kind Of Magic. It's on it's way!

One more step. Fingers are crossed.

In the meantime I'll continue to go through the edits for Forever Home. It's looking good, thanks to my crit group and the awesome skills of Denise.

We got lots of snow yesterday. It actually looks like winter outside now.

Meet Sandy

2010-02-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it. We now have a dog. My son has been asking for one for as long as I can remember and we got the go-ahead, so Sandy joined our family on Valentine's Day.

Sandy is a 4 year old of unknown breeding. Maybe some Yellow Lab? Not sure. She's been with my DH's friend since she was under a year old but she originally came from the streets of Puerto Rico. She's come a long way!

She's only about knee high, very quiet and sweet. Likes sitting on laps and sleeping in a bed. Can't wait to get out on walks with her! (Decent walks-we already do the 4am walk and the 9pm walk). This will be good for my waistline!

Goodbye Potatos

2010-02-08T04:26:00.000-08:00

Or is it Potatoes? I never get that one right, to my shame.

Anyway, my DH and I have decided to embark upon a journey of healthier eating. I ask the age old question: Why is it that everything that I love to eat is so bad??? I think I need to go to a hypnotist to convince me that pizza and sausage tastes like cat litter and tofu is the nectar of the gods. Something to help!!

My brother in law is in the National Guard and he's on a military diet. He's going to give DH the details and that's what DH is going to do. I don't know if I'll join in, but I'll do better.

So buh-bye pasta. Buh-bye potato(e)s, buh-bye things that have no nutritional value.

No word yet from The Wild Rose Press regarding That Kind Of Magic. By Friday I hope. The editor said I should hear by Friday. In the meantime I'm hacking away at Forever Home, thanks in large part to Denise's help. And when I'm not doing that I'm working on a Blaze-worthy wip and thinking about my young adult book.

So, I'm not slacking off!

Unacceptable!

2010-01-25T02:42:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I haven't posted here in nearly 2 months!! I'm a bad bad bad blogger. But for what it's worth, I have been posting over at JanNoWriM o and of course I'm at my Facebook on a daily basis. Sure, I've been spending much too much time on Farmville, but I need something mindless at least once in a while.

Editing began at the beginning of January. I had grand plans to chop out 30k from the manuscript but it didn't happen. I've gotten rid of just under 3k and I have another scene or two to dump, but nothing that will get me within the Harlequin word count range. So I'm looking at other options. Kensington is a place I haven't tried, so that's my next, um, target. Then The Wild Rose Press.
I really want to see this one in print.

Currently I have another submission in with TWRP. I should hear back in the next few weeks. Fingers are crossed!!! Yet again.

So many projects on the stove. Gets hard to prioritize. One major decision I've made is to take back the rights to Finally Home which has been with Whiskey Creek Press. I'm planning on doing a little work on it and submit it elsewhere. It's a leap, but I think it'll work out in the end.

And now it's time to get ready for work. Booooooo.

Character Development, Careers and Contests

2009-12-05T02:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Day #5 of Denise Robbins Connect The Dots book launch! I was thrilled that Denise asked me to be involved in the fun. There are prizes galore every day! I hope you've enjoyed the tour.

The last few days I've been stewing about character development. I tend to like to put a lot of details into my writing, lots of narrative, maybe too much narrative and I've discovered that sometimes I spend so much time on my surroundings that I forgot to develop my characters just as much. So I pulled out a book on writing and stared at it.

And stared.

And looked at one of my manuscripts and then back at the book. When I first started out I had a book on getting published. I read that thing cover to cover and back again. Since then I haven't been much for books, but I wonder, are they a resource that should be tapped in times of trouble? Will they show me the err of my ways, or am I better off figuring it out on my own.

I've looked back at past characters that people have liked, and wonder why them? The sweet, the romantic and the troubled. As a writer is it a good idea to stick with "what I know" or branch out into the unknown? I'm all for branching out.

Turns out I didn't read the book. It's still on my desk. I may read it, but I feel better with coming up with a solution on my own. Besides, I had other things to worry about, like researching a few things about one of my latest characters careers. He's a small town police chief but he's just returned from war. Since I don't know too many people personally who've been there, it was a little more challenging. But again, it all comes down to character development. The more I know, the more defined my hero will be.

Of course he doesn't have to be a vet. Maybe he could be an encyclopedia salesman. Out on the road for weeks at a time. How important is the job the character holds down anyway? Can he get away with holding down a mundane job, like the owner of a environmental safety equipment company and still be dashing, dangerous and sexy?

If you want excitement I highly recommend Denise Robbins books. She has a flair for writing fast paced, suspenseful and thorougly romantic stories.

Here's a glimpse into her latest, Connect The Dots, which comes out December 15th.

CIA Human Intelligence Operator, Charley Duston gets the shock of her life when she opens her freezer to find the picture of her murdered ex-lover. Worse is the implied message: She is next. Not one to give into intimidation tactics, Charley is determined to uncover the truth behind her ex’s death and bring the culprits to justice. Not knowing whom she can trust, she moves to an undisclosed location where she can covertly investigate the death threats. Here she meets her new neighbor Jake Frisbie at gunpoint when she mistakes him for a carjacker. Attracted to the handsome, easy-going hunk, Charley knows her relationship with Jake would only put him in danger. She tries to fight off her feelings but finally gives in just before her world crashes and she is kidnapped
.
The beautiful, new neighbor entrances Jake but he can make no sense of her secretive nocturnal disappearances. As a Special Agent, he investigates her and is shocked to learn she is at the center of an international crisis. Despite common sense, he becomes involved with the young woman and when she disappears, he vows to find her. Risking his life, Jake ventures into the world of black sites and international intrigue to save the woman he loves and expose the responsible criminals. No matter how high up in the government they sit.

I know, you've been dying to know the answer to yesterdays question. So here you go.... Human Intelligence Officer (wow, that does sound very cool).

And your question of the day is.......... Who is the hero of Connect the Dots? Give his first and last name. How did Denise come up with the hero’s last name?

Remember to go to Denises blog at http://deniserobbins.blogspot.com/ and leave the answer on her blog to win great prizes.

And for the answer to today's question please head over to http://thebookjournal.com/blog/ on Sunday morning.

Enjoy!!

What Sells Better?

2009-11-29T04:09:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Hope everyone had a marvelous holiday. Mine was good as always. My sister in law puts on a spread to die for. I don't know she does it.

So, I've been very short on inspiration the last few days. Maybe it's the commotion of having everyone home. They're restless and therefore make me the same way. Could be that work has got me in a tizzy. Spent a half hour with my supervisor and the CEO at my desk the other day. Not fun. But whatever the reason, I just haven't had the desire to do my editing. Or any other writing for that matter. I hate to say it, but Sims had more of a draw than my characters.

Then yesterday my daughter and I saw New Moon. Seeing Robert Pattison (or should I say Edward) made me want to check back in with my young adult fantasy that I started last year. It got me thinking, as I read it, about what is a better seller, a young adult fantasy or an "adult" fantasy (I'm not talking about erotica-that kind of fantasy, but the witches and dragons sort). I'm only about 22 pages into the story and I could go back and modify it to make it more for grown ups or I can take the path I'm on now and write it for teens.

What is the teen e-publishing market like? Sure I'd rather have it published in book form, but I like to keep my options open.

Sometimes I have a strong desire to be the next Stephanie Meyer instead of Nora.

Har har har.

Okay the troops are awakening. Time to get down to business.

Moving On

2009-11-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

I've made the decision to stop doing NaNo this year. Though I think I have a plot I can work with, it's just not coming together the way I want. I'm less than a quarter of the way through when I should be well past half way through. I don't think I get that much writing done on a daily basis to reach the goal anyway.

So I've decided to A)Get the edits finished for No Going Back. B)Write the query and synopsis for NGB. C)Work on edits for Forever Home. I wonder if I can resubmit it to Samhain after the rewrites are done. Must ask my editor. D)Work on rewrites for Dreamer's Sea.

That's the plan unless I get this awesome idea in the meantime.

What a rainy day we had yesterday. And I had to choose yesterday to track all over NH. From home up to Concord and then down to Nashua then home. It poured all the way. Not fun.

Today is all about laundry, putting new tires on my van and fabric shopping. Million thrills a minute.

My NaNo Collage

2009-11-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I whipped one up for a little inspiration.

It's Time!

2009-11-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, November 1st is here. It's 4:04am (though it feels like 5:04am) I should be sleeping but couldn't. So here I am, ready to start one of the toughest months of the year when it comes to writing.

NaNoWriMo

That stands for National Novel Writers Month although I'm sure everyone here knows that.

I've decided to go with the new fresh idea instead of the rewrite. I hope I've made the right choice. It feels right, but only time will tell if I'll be able to get it done. Unlike the other story I don't know everything about what's going to happen (except the happily ever after and some details in between), but that's what makes this fun, right?

I need to do 1666 words a day to finish by November 30th. I'll be posting my progress over at JaNoWriMo Fingers are crossed! No, they're not. Makes it very difficult to type.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Critting

2009-10-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to throw up my hands and go it alone with editing. I'm getting such conflicting opinions within the crit group I belong to, and while I'm getting lots of good suggestions I also hear "you have too many details, it slows down the pace." and "you need more details so I feel like I'm there." And "what is her/his tone of voice when she/he says that?" and "you don't need so many dialogue tags."

My head is spinning!

I'll admit it freely, I like details. I like knowing how things sound and smell and look, how a shadow is cast, how something feels to the touch. It's how I write. Maybe this means I'll have trouble with getting published with Harlequin or I'll just have to compromise what I want to get across.

November 1st is just around the corner and I'm still not 100% positive on what project I'll work on, the total rewrite on Dreamer's Sea or my brand new story idea. At this point I'm going to end up doing "eeny meeny miney mo" on Sunday morning. Well, we'll see.

Craft Projects

2009-10-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

I don't like craft projects, I've decided. My son and I are working on his wigwam for school. Not enjoying it at all. If it involved painting I'd be good with that. Beading, sure, why not. But working with birch bark, sinew and superglue is not for me.

It snowed yesterday. Lots and lots of fluffy white snow. It stunk. I'm not ready for this. I firmly believe that the first day of snow should come on December 24th. The last day of snow should be January 1st. Anything after that is just no fun. Maybe I need to win the lottery and buy a winter house somewhere warm and snowless.

What I fear the most, though, is another ice storm like the one we had last December. That was horrendous and expensive.

I'm hoping that at some point I'll be able to get to some writing. As soon as the wigwam construction is finished. *sigh* This is not my forte.

Cheating?

2009-10-18T05:21:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about a manuscript I have, Dreamers Sea. It's a complete manuscript but I'm completely dissatisfied with it. It lacks umph and angst (great words). So, over the last many months I've been wracking my brains as to what to do with this story. I love the characters, I love the settings and if I add in the missing elements I think it would be a really good story.

Thing is, the elements I want to add would pretty much change everything about the story. The characters would still pretty much be the same..... well, sort of, the setting would be the same, but nearly everything else would be gutted and rebuilt.

I had thought about going through the current manuscript and just changing things when they needed to be changed, but that's easier said than done. There's just too much to change.

Would it be cheating to rewrite this story for NaNoWriMo? If I don't go back and snag bits from the original and just completely start from scratch? I've been a stickler for following the NaNo rules and I don't want to bend them, but I know this story, I know the characters-and how I want them changed in this new version, I know the setting, the plot (pretty much) and how I want it to end.

If I start from scratch it wouldn't be cheating, would it?

Beginnings

2009-10-16T01:55:00.000-07:00

I find that I have a real hard time with the beginnings of my stories. When I'm writing a first draft I don't easily jump with both feet right into the action. I'm more of a lets set up the scene and ease our way into the story kind of gal. I know that this is frowned upon by most, so I'm trying my best to change that from the time I start writing the story. I find it very difficult to go back to a story that I've already started writing and completely change the beginning. Cutting out info and trying to find a place for it later in the story is a huge challenge.

I'm facing this challenge with three different manuscripts. You'd think I'd learn by now. Sometimes I wonder if this is why I do prologues, so I can jump into action right away, then go back to setting the story up.

It's going to be a cold day. I believe I'm going to have to make some chili. Thanks Denise!

Feels Like Winter

2009-10-15T02:21:00.000-07:00

I really hate the time when we have to have the heat turned on on a regular basis. Might as well just grab fistfuls of money and throw it out the window. Sure, I love this time of the year in every other way, except the cold. And the knowledge that a long winter is ahead of us.

But other than that....

The time has arrived to get the kids ready for Halloween. My daughter wants to go trick or treating. She's 13. Is this too old? I see older kids out there so I guess it's not really. I'm sure at that age it's more of a social thing. I didn't trick or treat when I was that age, but then again I lived in the middle of nowhere so it wouldn't have been worth it. I tried having a Halloween party once at an old cemetery in the woods. My friend and I chickened out and didn't go.... to our own party. But I wasn't exactly cool back then so I don't think anyone else showed up either.

Still tossing around NaNoWriMo ideas. I'll probably keep tossing until Oct 31st. Or longer. I would love to do a young adult story (and so would my daughter) but I have another story buzzing around.

What to do....

Anyone else have plans for NaNo? Started doing research? Character sketches?

Not me.

Need a little pick-me-up? This is a lousy copy of this video but I love it so.....

This Is What I Have To Do

2009-10-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

Concentrate on writing and networking.

Sounds simple enough, right? I have so many friends who are able to juggle a heck of a lot more than I do and do it successfully. Yah, sure, I work 8 hours a day and have 4 kids, but I need to learn to juggle too.

One thing, need to blog every day. Yes, I've said it before, but I need to mean it. I need to visit more blogs. I need to figure out Twitter, and do more networking on Facebook. I can't forget my MySpace page and of course I have a website which is just sitting there lonely and forgotten.

In the meantime, I have NaNoWriMo looming. I think I know what project I want to work on, but that doesn't mean I can't change my mind.

So, here I go. This will work!

WHAT I'M READING: The Carpenter's Lady by Barbara Delinsky. I love Barbara Delinsky's books. She sets them in various New England states so I feel like I'm reading about a bit of home. This book is set in New Hampshire. I love Nora Roberts, but Barbara Delinsky is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Yes, November Will Be Here Soon

2009-09-05T04:56:00.000-07:00

Have to face the fact, time is flying and sooner than we know November 1st will be here. And we all know what November 1st means. The first day of NaNoWriMo. Yes, I plan on participating this year again.

Because I spent the majority of my summer editing existing manuscripts, I hardly got any new writing done. Made for a long summer and I'm revved up to work on something new. I have a few seedlings of ideas starting, just not sure which project I'll work on. But I am looking forward to it. Generally I find a lot of drive in November, I like that challenge to complete something-or at least to meet that goal of 50K new words.

On the submission front, not doing so hot. I comfort myself by knowing that even Nora Roberts must have faced lots of rejections before hitting the big time. Forever Home has been passed on by Avon, which leaves me a few more options for it. I can give it a complete overhaul, which includes taking out about 30K so it's an acceptable length for Harlequin, or give it a complete overhaul and submit it to a new publisher. I'm kind of intrigued with the idea of giving a brand new publisher a try. Could get in the ground floor of a company that will be hugely successful, or might not work at all. Lots of e-publishers don't make it.

A short story I submitted to Samhain also received a pass. Not enough conflict between the hero and heroine. Okay, I agree there. Not going to do anything about this story for now. I have bigger fish to fry.

I still have a short story in with The Wild Rose Press and a full length in with Kensington.

So there's still hope out there.

I hope everyone has an awesome Labor Day weekend! I'll be scraping paint. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that.

Really, no.

BannerSnack

2009-08-04T16:36:00.001-07:00

2009-08-04T15:09:00.001-07:00

Time Management

2009-08-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

It's a talent far above my abilities.

I read my friend's blogs and Facebooks about how busy they are with everything, writing, maintaining their websites, involving themselves in contests, blog tours, interviews and anniversaries and I'm having trouble getting my story out of me. I'm too easily distracted by other things and definitely don't use my time wisely. Pair that with the fact it seems like I'm constantly on the go, and I sometimes wonder if I even have the dedication to what I'm doing.

I absolutely love to write. I want nothing more than to have a decent career, or heck, even a hobby, as a writer, but I just can't seem to pull it together to get involved like these other ladies do. Maybe I need to attend a few marketing classes, or just get ideas from other blogs. Something has to give, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My DD had a good time at the fair. I was on my feet almost constantly for Saturday and Sunday, but got to see the horse show and the kids got to ride on a few rides. DD showed her chicken on Sunday and Bubbles won Best In Class in the pet category. She's a little dove gray Old English Bantam and very sweet. So it was a good weekend. But DD was eying the horses. That's what she really wants to do. I'd love to give her the opportunity I had to ride, but right now it's not a possibility. Now she wants to get a job at a stable and work for lessons. I'm hoping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll be dogsitting for the next week or so starting Wednesday. That means no internet. I'll check up on it after work, but for most of my time away from work I'll be completely unconnected. But I'll bring my lap top and get tons of writing done! Tons and tons.

And maybe come up with some marketting ideas. I have to get pictures, text and music for a new book video for one of my previous books.

But for now I'll leav you with Sweet Forever

Wow....has it been a month?

2009-07-31T02:14:00.001-07:00

I'm really bad! But I can't believe it's the last day of July. Where has the summer gone? Washed away by all the rain we've been having. This has been the strangest summer but it finally feels like summer. The kids have finally had a chance to go swimming but nearly every day we've had rain.

So, what have I been doing with my summer? I spent the majority of it editing. And submitting. I now have four stories out there in the world, 2 short stories and 2 full length. I'm trying to be patient. I had planned on spending the entire summer editing but finally I couldn't deal with it. I needed something "new". So now I'm basically editing. Well, sort of. I've decided to take Dreamer's Sea and completely refashion it. It will hardly look like the original when I'm done. It's going to be far more paranormal than it originally was. A few more ghosts, a curse, a little folklore and legend. Fun for all! Just having a hard time getting going with it.

Maybe it's because all my energy is being sucked up by work. Our conversion hasn't been going so well and we haven't been able to enter any orders for nearly a month and wow the work is piling up. This is one of the absolute worst times for me not to be able to be productive. While I'm trying not to let this bog me down it's a little hard when I have to walk by the piles of work waiting for me. I see lots of overtime in the future.

Today through Sunday is the local county fair. My DD will be showing her chicken, Bubbles, there. Should be fun. I'll have to sneak away and watch the horse show and remember my glory days when I showed my horse at that fair.

Hmm... that could be a premise for a new story.

Busy Weekend

2009-06-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was my 25th year reunion. I didn't really want to go but I'm glad I did. About a third of us showed up (not a very organized picture above, I'm hoping for a better one). It was nice to see so many familiar faces, so may that haven't changed a bit (darn them) and a few who I didn't recognize at all.

All in all it was fun catching up and finding who was where and doing what.

Nearly done with my editing (re-editing) of Forever Home and I think I've made some huge improvements on it, thanks to my latest rejection letter on it. When I'm finished I'll move along to That Kind Of Magic and do the same. I haven't decided if I'm going to retry with Kensington or go for Samhain with it. After I get rid of the passives it may be ready for the big time.

Kids are beginning their first full week of summer break. And it's going to rain all week. Go figure. I'm hoping they'll get out for a lot of walks. Justin has a scooter he's learning to ride so he'll need many trips to the bike path. Good exercise! I need it. My step daughter headed down to South Carolina for the summer so it'll be a little emptier around home.

Now back to editing. I'm only about 20 pages away from being done!!

100 Things

2009-06-21T04:26:00.000-07:00

Grabbed this from Marianne's blog

The instructions: Just copy the list of 100 accomplishments, highlight the ones you've achieved in bold, and elaborate as desired. Be forewarned, this is a long meme: a marathon to read; just about as long to write.

001. Started my own blog. Actually have started about 3 blogs.

002. Slept under the stars. Loved building makeshift camps out in the backyard, usually without much of a roof.

003. Played in a band. I was that kid in the band that played all the miscellaneous instruments like the triangle and cowbell. In parades I played the cymbals.

004. Visited Hawaii. I wish.

005. Watched a meteor shower. We were lucky to live in the country so there were no lights to block the night sky. Love meteor showers.

006. Given more than I can afford to charity.

007. Been to DisneyWorld/Land. Been to Disney Land once (I cried on the Alice In Wonderland Ride and Disney World twice. Love the Haunted Mansion.

008. Climbed a mountain. We live right next to the second (or possibly most) most climbed mountain in the world, Monadnock. No car roads, just hiking trails. Fantastic view!

009. Held a praying mantis.

010. Sung a solo. When I was in college I was part of a traveling children's theater group. Luckily they didn't care that I couldn't sing very well. I was one heck of a puppeteer though.

011. Bungee jumped.

012. Visited Paris.

013. Watched lightning at sea.

014. Taught myself an art from scratch. Used to draw horse heads and people heads all the time. Never could do bodies, though.

015. Adopted a child. Only furry ones.

016. Had food poisoning.

017. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Can people do that anymore? Stood right in her crown.

018. Grown my own vegetables. First time is this year!

019. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.

020. Slept on an overnight train.

021. Had a pillow fight. Many, many times.

022. Hitchhiked.

023. Taken a sick day when you're not ill. Me? no. Never.....

024. Built a snow fort. I lived in Minnestoa for the first 11 years of my life. I don't think I could've gotten away with not building one every year.

025. Held a lamb. Does a baby goat count?

026. Gone skinny dipping. Well, only half skinny dipping.

027. Run a marathon. Have always wanted to. maybe someday

028. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.

029. Seen a total eclipse. Very cool

030. Watched a sunrise or a sunset. Many, many, many times.

031. Hit a home run.

032. Been on a cruise. Been on several. One to the Bahamas and several from Portland Maine to Yarmouth Nova Scotia.

033. Seen Niagara Falls in person.

034. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors. Well, sort of. My family comes from Bath and northern England and Wales. I visited London once. So that's close. Never been to Wales though. That's a dream of mine.

035. Seen an Amish community.

036. Taught myself a new language.

037. Had enough money to be satisfied.

038. Had a tatoo removed.

039. Spit off a bridge.

040. Seen Michelangelo's David.

041. Sung karaoke.

042. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

043. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.

044. Visited Africa.

045. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Very romantic.

046. Been transported in an ambulance.

047. Had my portrait painted. Well, I had my caricature drawn.

048. Gone deep sea fishing.

049. Been to the Sistine Chapel in person.

050. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

051. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. I snorkled while in the Bahamas. I loved it. I'd love to try it again.

052. Kissed in the rain. Actually as romantic as walking on the beach in the moonlight.

053. Played in the mud. only as a kid.

054. Gone to a drive-in theater. yes, several times. And when I was a teen I sometimes even watched the movie.

055. Been in a movie. No, but my neighborhood was in the movie Sensation of Sight.

056. Visited the Great Wall of China.

057. Started a business. Kind of. I used to hand paint boxes and sell them at craft fairs.

058. Taken a martial arts class.

059. Visited Russia.

060. Served at a soup kitchen.

061. Sold Girl Scout cookies.

062. Gone whale watching.

063. Got flowers for no reason.

064. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma. I'm O+, so the blood bank loves me.

065. Gone sky diving.

066. Visited a Nazi concentration camp site.

067. Bounced a check.

068. Flown in a helicopter.

069. Saved a favorite childhood toy up until adulthood. I still have a teddy bear and an old rabbit

070. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.

071. Eaten caviar. wasted on me.

072. Pieced a quilt.

073. Stood in Times Square.

074. Toured the Everglades.

075. Been fired from a job.

076. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. Fantastic, especially for a 19 year old girl who's sucker for a man in uniform ON A HORSE.

077. Broken a bone. I've been lucky *knock on wood*

078. Been on a speeding motorcycle. Didn't like it much. For many reasons.

079. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.

080. Published a book. Thank goodness I can say yes.

081. Visited the Vatican.

082. Bought a brand new car. Bought a brand new Toyota Corolla in 96. Drove it until it was rearended by a pickup many years later

083. Walked in Jerusalem.

084. Had my picture in the newspaper. Waaaay back when I was in 6th grade and I won 3rd place in a writing contest. Out of 3 people. *sigh*

085. Read the entire Bible. No, but I'd like to.

086. Visited the White House.

087. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Trout and hornpout. Couldn't do more than that.

088. Had chickenpox. I was in the first grade. Stayed home for a week and that week was followed by a week vacation. It was terrific.

089. Saved someone's life.

090. Overcome a physical disability.

091. Met someone famous. A couple of the members of Diamond Rio and a politian who ran for president recently.

092. Joined a book club. yup, but bad idea.

093. Lost a loved one. My brother 11 years ago next month, my aunt nearly 10 years ago and my father almost 2 years ago.

094. Had a baby. Three of them!

095. Seen the Alamo in person.

096. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. And stubbed my toe there.

097. Been involved in a law suit. yes, but don't like talking about it. It involved a vicious landlord.

098. Owned a cell phone.

099. Been stung by a bee.

100. Ridden an elephant. Not the most comfortable beasts to ride. I'd rather ride a horse.

What about you?

Daimler

2009-06-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Future author, future pilot for American Airlines and future smoke jumper. What a mix.

Can't believe our dad let us get this close. Can you imagine if we scratched it? Good thing my brother didn't get his BB gun until after this car was gone!

Wasn't I Cute??

2009-06-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Me sitting on the running board of, I think, my favorite Rolls.

Another One

2009-06-19T18:05:00.001-07:00

This is the Daimler that we took on the ill-fated trip out west. That's my Dad holding up, I believe the "Booby Prize" Flag. I think it was given to the car with the most problems. Lucky us.

One Of Our Cars

2009-06-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

No the model did not come with the car. No clue who she is, but this was my favorite of all the cars we had. The house, also not ours, was in Minneapolis on one of the lakes.

We were not a wealthy family. My dad just had a love of classic cars. This was one of our Rolls Royces.

I've Been Tagged!

2009-06-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Diane tagged me. I don't get tagged very often, so I hope I'm doing this right.

I have the following questions to answer. Instead of tagging 4 more people, I'll let anyone who wants to be tagged go for it.

Here goes...

FOUR MOVIES THAT I CAN SEE OVER AND OVER
1) Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I could cheat and make three of them seperate, but I won't)
2)PS I Love You
3)Enchanted
4)Practical Magic

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1)Minneapolis, MN
2)Rindge, NH
3)Kissimme, FL
4) North Salem, NY

FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH (only 4??? thats so not fair!)
1)The Office
2)Fringe
3)Eureka
4)Men In Trees (though it's not on anymore, so I guess I could replace that with Lost)

FOUR PLACES WHERE I HAVE GONE ON VACATION
1)California (in a classic car caravan, riding in a gorgeous Daimler that broke down while we were out there. I believe we took a Greyhound home from that trip. But oh that car was beautiful! I'm going to post pics of cars my dad used to own)
2)Orlando
3)Bahamas
4)Petit Jean Mountain in Arkansas

FOUR FAVORITE FOODS
1)Lobster
2)BBQ ribs
3)cheesecake
4)steamers

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY
1)Denise Robbin's Blog
2)Reading Writing and Stuff That Makes Me Crazy
3)Facebook
4)WMUR

FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE
1) On the back of a horse
2)Visiting my sister in Idaho
3)sleeping
4)ocean

FOUR THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO BEFORE I DIE
1)Publish lots more books and be able to quit my day job
2)Travel to Wales, Scotland, Ireland and back to England
3)See my kids have a happy life
4)Not have to worry about money.

FOUR NOVELS I WISH I WAS READING FOR THE FIRST TIME
1)The Stand by Stephen King
2)Watchers by Dean Koontz
3)The Once And Future King by TH White
4)The White Mare's Daughter by Judith Tarr

Okay, anyone who wants to join in go for it! Let me know!

The Evil "Was"

2009-06-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, another publisher was heard from. L&L Dreamspell emailed me today saying they're passing for now on Forever Home. One reason was my overuse of the sentence weakening "was". And I thought I was a "that" queen. Guess I'm now a "was" queen.

The other reason was that the storyline wasn't unique enough. Too many stories that are similar out there at the moment.

So, here I sit and wonder what to do with the evil "was"es. (was's? wuzzes?) If I take a sentence: "Galloping across the prairie was the way she wanted to live her life." how do I get rid of that annoying evil little "was"? Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of ways to do it and when I sit down and really go over this manuscript with a fine toothed comb I'll come up with ways to fix them. I'll get right on that tomorrow, even if means sacraficing some "new" writing time.

And then the next question popped into my head: Are the rest of my manuscripts just as overused? Have the storylines been done to death? How can I make them so unique editors are going to be clamoring all over me to be the first to get that fantastic fresh idea. And is there such a thing as "fresh ideas" out there?

So, it's time for me to take stock of what I have, what I'm doing. No, I'm not going to bail on the writing business. Absolutely not. This is a challenge to me, figuring my way around this.

I really have to thank the editor at L&L Dreamspell for letting me know just why she wasn't requesting a full on this book. It's probably the biggest help of all. Because without the feedback how can an author grow and improve?

Oh, and I just sent out a query to Avon for Forever Home. So I best get my fingers going on the keyboard and do battle with the Evil Wuzzes.

Call Me A Geek...

2009-05-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

But I LOVED this show!!!

Of course I have to wait 'til fall to see the next episode, but it's worth it. As I watched it I got such an urge to work on a young adult manuscript. I happened to have one in a file somewhere that was a good start. No, not about a glee club, I won't copy cat, but I saw the cute tall guy and I thought he'd make an awesome character model. So, we'll see where it goes.

Been a busy last few weeks with kid's activities. I have a 4 day weekend to look forward to starting tomorrow so I hope to get lots of writing done.

Right now I think I'll have a glass of wine and get back to the story.

Hero Types

2009-05-06T01:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm happy to say I've finished another "short" story. Ended up with nearly 21K words, but I haven't started editing yet, so I'm sure it'll change. I like it a lot. So, that leaves me with a growing pile of finished manuscripts that need editing. Maybe I should concentrate on them instead of writing something new.

But you know me, always have to have a dozen irons in the fire. I've started a new story and I'm not sure who'll be my models are going to be. I like to have models when I write. It helps to have a solid idea in my own head as to what my characters-at least my main characters will look like. Which leads me to my question--

Is this man hero material?
I love John Krasinski. I think he's adorable, but is he too (I'm sorry John) geeky to make a convincing hero? I was going to first go for this guy--

Timothy Olyphant.

Maybe I just watched too much The Office yesterday.

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Well, last Saturday my DS competed in a game called Hit Pitch and Run at the local rec center. I love my son, he's the best, but an athlete he's not. Still, he tried his hardest and that's what counts. The overall winner in each age group (we thought) would move up to the state level (this is a nationally sponsored competition that will eventually end up with the winners of each group competing at Yankee stadium (I think a Red Sox jersey would be in order). Well, DS got a 2nd place overall out of 2 people (though he did win the Hit portion). Yesterday I got an email saying that he qualified to go on to the next level, which is the state level.

So, he has a week to practice. He's pretty excited though. Who'd have thought.

Okay, time to squeeze a little writing into my morning.

New Week New Spark

2009-04-27T02:47:00.000-07:00

I think I beat the blahs. I went through a phase last week where I really didn't know what I wanted to work on. I flitted back and forth from wip to wip. But I think I have a reasonable plan. I've resurrected a short story to work on, I hope to send to Samhain at some point, and I'm again working on Dreamer's Sea. Thanks to lots of advice from my JaNoWriMo companions I have an idea that may carry me through, along with the other changes I'm implementing.

So, I'm looking forward to a good writing week.

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What a hot weekend! We've gone from April to July in a matter of 2 days! Saturday the temps reached 90. I finished planting the veggie garden and then lay in the grass and stared at the sky. It was so relaxing. After that DH, DS and I attempted to do some geocaching but our GPS doesn't go into enough detail to lead us directly to the spot we need. So we ended up drivng down some really pretty roads where I practically drooled all over the homes and farms we passed. It was a pleasant way to spend the day.

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And now it's back to work. Back to school for the kids who were on spring vaca last week. Joy to the world!

My Heroes Would Never--

2009-04-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

Start working on a car at 6pm after the heroine has spent an entire afternoon digging a garden and just wants to go in, get showered and have dinner. I was out until after 7pm while DH installed new headlights in his truck. Sheesh. Can't we do this tomorrow??

Yes, got about 1/3rd of a garden dug at my mom's and now I'm very sore. Got to go back today and continue. It's a little late to do this, but had to wait for the ground to thaw enough. We'll have beautiful veggies in no time!

I submitted Forever Home to L & L Dreamspell this morning. I've heard good things about them. Wish I could've sent an entire chapter, but they only want about 5K for a sample and my chapter 1 is 7k. My fingers are yet again crossed.

And I have to get my Kensington submission ready again and hope this time it doesn't disappear. In the meantime I need something exciting to write. Need a break from the other manuscript. I have a few ideas.

But first, dirt and more dirt. And a few worms.

I Feel Better

2009-04-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

I heard from Samhain today, a very nice letter from the editor who reviewed Forever Home. She gave me the reasons behind the rejection, so I'm feeling better now. Of course I'm still bummed out that they didn't take it, but at least I know why.

So, now I have to work on my characters. They weren't engaging enough. Okay. My heroine is a young woman who's tough, independent and cynical. She doesn't believe in romance except when it comes to the hero, who she was in love with when she was a child. He's ten years older and married his childhood sweetheart when he was eighteen, and broke my heroine's heart. But now she's grown up, he's been a widower for two years and they are developing a friendship.

So, okay, I can do this. Currently she doesn't have a romantic bone in her body. Maybe I need to give her one.

I also heard from Kensington and they told me to resubmit That Kind Of Magic.

So, it was a better day than yesterday. I have a little direction now at least.

Of course my JaNoWriMo weekly total is going to bite! :)

Can't Catch A Break

2009-04-15T02:37:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Samhain regarding Forever Home. They said no. In a form letter. With no explanation as to why they said no.

Of course getting a rejection hurts, especially when I love this story, more than Sweet Forever even. But it happens. I can handle it. It's the fact that I got a generic form letter is what bugs me. I have two books with Samhain, they've been fantastic to work with, but I'd think they'd give their authors a more personal note. I'm not looking for them to give the manuscript a second chance, but I'd like to know why they said no.

Am I asking too much?

So, here I am, two manuscripts that are ready to go (though I'll have to tweak FH so it'll work as a stand alone instead of being a sequel). I don't know, at this point if I should resubmit to Kensington, or submit That Kind Of Magic to Samhain, or try another publisher all together.

It's put my new writing on hold.

So, I've got some thinking to do today. Got lots to do so I'll be out and about for most of the day, but I'll do my mental pros and cons list on this.

All I can say is grrrrr.

Frustration!

2009-04-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling completely and utterly frustrated!

I'm feeling bored with my current wip so, upon recommendation, should find something else to work on. Problem is I'm not "into" any of my wips. Maybe I'm just needing a bit of a writing break. I hate taking breaks though. I want to write through it, but when I'm in this frame of mind I'm too easily distracted.

So, maybe I'll give myself today to rest and plunge in tomorrow with something. But what, I don't know. My "problem" is that I have several wips that I can work on, wips that have lots of potential if I could just get going on them.

Maybe hypnosis would work.

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On the submission front: No word from Samhain yet regarding Forever Home. Wish I would hear back because I can't submit anything else to them while I have something already submitted.

And then there's Kensington. Kensington Kensington Kensington.

I discovered that the editor I submitted That Kind Of Magic to left Kensington in February and apparently didn't hand off to anyone else. Who knows what happened to it. I have an email into another editor to find out for sure, but I'll probably have to resubmit it, and that means ANOTHER 3 month wait.

Or I could just send it somewhere else. Problem is that it's a hard story to place. It's paranormal... sort of... not enough of a paranormal for it to fit into a real paranormal catagory, but not really contempory.

CURSE MY IMAGINATION!

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So, off I go to make dinner and figure out what wip I'll go with next.

Growing A Garden....Is It Just Cruel?

2009-04-06T02:42:00.001-07:00

Seriously. I just kill plants. Why would a veggie patch be any different? Luckily for all involved, especially the harmless lives of the tomato, pea, and corn plants, they'll be living at my mother's house and she has a green thumb. But I can just hear them shrieking with terror at my approach.

I really need to read up on gardening. We want to grow corn. Can you buy corn that's already starting to grow, or is this something you start growing from a seed (in a hole with a dead fish)? If my mom was smart she'd make me my own "special" garden that's always green and healthy....and plastic. I'd probably never know the difference.

I tell ya, this is definitely going outside my comfort zone.

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Despite a busy weekend the writing is coming along pretty well. I miss having something to edit, but that'll come eventually. For now I'm giving my attention to The Staying Kind, which is/was my 2007 NaNo project. I never made it to 50K with it, but I'm almost there now. It's turning into a relatively steamy project, but I have to make sure there's plenty of sigh-inducing romance, which is difficult when my heroine doesn't believe in love and romance. My hero is working on that though.

My mind, though, is on how to make Dreamer's Sea into something viable. Marketable. Need that strong oompf. Right now it's just a calm ride, but who wants to read that? But I'm not going to rush it. Still have SK and another one that needs more editing.

Now I have to get ready for a fun filled day of work.

But now for something to make you laugh.

Breakthrough-Well, I Hope

2009-04-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

I've had a wonderfully productive morning. Even though I'd love to sleep in I was still up before 430am. I find I can get a lot done early in the morning. Today was no exception. In fact got over 1000 words written by 530am. I call that a good morning! But I'm going to have to take a break soon to take DD #1 to school. She's off for the state Special O basketball tournament today. Then I have spring cleaning plans. Then have to go help my mother pick up a table. Oh, and plot out a garden (help!!)

We've decided to put in a veggie garden at my mom's. I'm not known for my green thumb. In fact I have no plants here in my home. My kids gave me seeds and little pots to plant them in a few years ago for mother's day but I just can't bring myself to plant them, knowing that they'll die a slow torturous death. Herbocide. That's what I commit on plants in my care. I'm hoping that, with my mom's help (plants love her, they thrive in her presence) we can make this garden work. I'm really wanting fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, peas and beans and zuchini.

Anyway, my breakthrough. I've been trying not to think about Dreamer's Sea. I feel horrible that I wrote this long story, which I really do love, but it has no zap, no zing, no pizzazz. Not that I found the missing element, but I've been playing around with the basic elements, like giving my hero a son who he's raised on his own since the boy was an infant (I have a reoccuring abandonment theme, I think). And now I've written a prologue that'll change the relationship between my hero and heroine. Before they didn't know each other before chapter 1 but now they were childhood summer sweethearts. It'll give them a foundation I can build on

Boy, I hope this works. I really want this story to be good. I still need that zip zang pizzazz, but at least this will build the romance between the two characters.

Just need to finish the prologue and brainstorm the rest of it.

I will NEVER give up!

Gauging Progress

2009-03-23T02:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure how to go about this.

I've started editing a wip I've had around for a long time. While this will include mainly editing material I've already written, I'm also adding a bunch to it and changing a lot. Doing a lot of cutting and pasting (I think it's easier to do this rather than trying to do the changes/additions within the original document). How in the world am I going to track my daily new word count? I'm sure I'll be able to get in 500 new words a day with this manuscript, but I'm just not sure how to track it.

Oh, and my head aches from all the head hopping in the original manuscript! Who do I think I am, anyway?? I really thought I knew better. Guess not. So that needs to be corrected. I compare this wip to a fixer-upper house. Has a lot of potential, but needs A LOT of work.

Unfortunately it's Monday and my writing time will be sadly minimized.

And it's going to be cold today! What's up with that?? It's spring! Flowers are supposed to be blooming! The sun is supposed to be shining and it's supposed to be warm! But we got snow yesterday. Not a lot, but it was still white and it was still falling from the sky.

Not funny.

Time To Move Along

2009-03-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've gone through my first round of edits on my "No Going Back" (working title, it really has nothing to do with the story), which was my 2008 NaNo project. I'm pretty pleased with it, except for the timeline (which I always have issues with), but it may work. now it's time to send it off to my wonderful critter so she can go through it and ask me her questions and fix my punctuation. She's an awesome partner. The questions are especially helpful because if there's a hole in the story somewhere, she'll find it. Best to find it before I send it off somewhere.

Anyway, now that that's done, I'm not sure what to move on to. I'm still working on my 2007 NaNo, but that is mainly new writing. I like to have two projects going at once. I have "Do Overs" which is my short story that needs editing, but I'm not as confident about the sale-ability of that one. It's not exactly a romance, and there's only one, maybe two kisses. I thought of making that a "free read" on my webpage. I'll see how I feel after I edit.

Then there's my trilogy (or 3 part book) that needs me.

I'm very pleased to be busy!!

NEVER (ASS)(U)(ME) ANYTHING!

2009-03-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

What a waste of a day! Well, at least most of a day and a LOT of gas!!

My oldest DD had an appointment with her cardiologist today. An echo at 11:30 and then at 1pm we meet with the doctor. He's located up in Hanover NH, about a 2 hour trip, depending on traffic etc. We got up there about 40 minutes early so I checked in to see where we were supposed to go (it had been about 4 years since we've been up there).

They couldn't find the appointment for the echo. Well, they said it had been scheduled just not booked. (is there a difference?) So she sent us up to the correct office. They told me the same thing so they got on the phone with the doctor's office.

We were at the WRONG hospital!!!

Yes, folks, that's right. We were supposed to go to Keene, which is only about 30 minutes from home. So, we had to decide whether we wanted to try to get down to Keene in 2 hours or reschedule. For June. I opted to try for Keene. We made it, sort of, got the appointment in, though late, and had a lot of people who'd already heard about my mistake giving me those "oh you poor poor dumb person" looks.

So, I could've gotten away with an hour's worth of driving instead of nearly 4!!

Okay, I shouldn't have assumed that the appointment would be up there, even though THAT'S HIS MAIN OFFICE!

Not like I got any paperwork telling me otherwise.

Okay, I'll stop complaining... for now. Off to do laundry and have a gin n' tonic at my mom's.

Editing For Others

2009-03-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud!

My DD and SD have started writing stories. I was about their age when I embarked on this marvelous journey toward being published, so it's kind of neat watching them.

The thing is, they've asked me to correct their work. I'm happy to do it, but how brutal am I supposed to be with them? If I was critting one of these stories for an adult I'd kindly rip it up (I'm not a mean critter). But I can't go that far with a couple kids. Yet I want them to understand what works and what doesn't. I never had any kind of help when I was their age and I'm sure I could've done much better with it.

So, you're faced with a wip from a 12 year old. How much do you change, or "fix"?

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It's going to be a nice day today. Nearly 60 degrees. Spring is coming! I'm thrilled, even if it means that I have to deal with mud and black flies. At least mud and black flies won't knock out electricity. Okay, yah, so we could have another bad storm, but we're getting further and further away from the chances of another ice storm. Please, no more ice storms!!!

Spring Is Thiiiiisss Close

2009-03-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful weekend! I know it wasn't amazingly warm, but after the winter we've had, anything over 35 degrees is a pleasure. And any day that we can turn off the heat and open the windows is definitely a good day.

I was on the run for a good part of the weekend, hitting WallyWorld for some grocery shopping, dropping DD off for her Special Olympic basketball tournament, going to my father in law's. But I managed to get a good deal of new writing done and lots of editing, so it was a good weekend. I'm not pleased about going back to work though. I want to stay home and finish my editing. I'm going to be doing a bit of running around this week, but I'm hoping it won't cut into my normal writing schedule.

Just need to have nice weather. I have to take above mentioned DD up north to the "big" hospital for her cardiologist appointment. It's not a bad ride, but it's a long one.

Okay, I really need to get ready for work. Writing done for the morning, but I hit my goal, so I'm okay.

Warm...Cold...Warm... Cold

2009-03-12T02:32:00.001-07:00

Can the weather please make up its mind??? And preferably stay warm! Despite the rain yesterday, it was actually pretty nice out. Today, we're going back down around freezing. I mean, come on!! Time for us to remain in the fifties and above.

The last few days haven't been very productive, I'm sorry to say. Besides the usual shopping trips and laundry chores, my DD has been luring me away from my writing in favor of Anne Of Green Gables. Over the last four days we've watched the first movie and the sequel. I suppose next we'll be watching the Continuing Story. She's all starry eyed over Gilbert. But it's gotten her interested in the books. So she's taking a break from vampires in favor of Anne. No complaints.

But I haven't gotten enough done on my writing. Maybe today will be different.

And, no, I haven't settled on a manuscript to work on yet. I think I have, but I always cast long looks toward my other projects.

But first, another long day of data entry and other projects at work. Yip. Peeeeee.

Don't You Hate...

2009-03-08T05:34:00.001-07:00

When you're lying in bed, or driving in the car, or you're somewhere where you can't write things down and you come up with a great part of your story. It just flows so beautifully and is a scathingly brilliant addition.

Then the next morning, when you settle down at the computer, open the document up and are all ready to go the idea is gone. You have absolutely no idea where you were even going with the idea. You sit there and rack your brain to get just a sliver of that idea that had been so wonderful, so inspiring.

I really need to keep a notebook by my bed so when this happens I can write it down because that happened last night and I have absolutely no idea what I'd come up with.

Maybe it wasn't so brilliant after all.

Feeling So Accomplished

2009-03-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

Do Overs is done. Well, the first draft anyway.

Which made today a very very good writing day. Actually in the last two days I wrote 4976 new words. I had incentive. I really wanted to finish it. Once I go back and edit it and *gack* write up the synopsis and *erp* query I'll send it out to Samhain.

The thing is, it's not steamy. There are two kisses in it. Tops. I don't know if they'd be interested in something that tame. Maybe there'd be a better place for it, but I'd like to build up my "collection" with Samhain. I wonder if there's any way to find out if they have any other tame stories.

So, now the plan is to get back to editing this years NaNo story and work on last year's NaNo story.

I'm on a roll, I'm going to enjoy!

Too Many Projects Not Enough Time

2009-03-03T02:53:00.000-08:00

I'm in the mood to write. I have so many projects waiting for me, so many I could easily spend the rest of my day... rest of my week sitting here and I still wouldn't get through them all. But unfortunately I have to give eight hours to my other job. I am very grateful for that other job right now, believe me, but it frustrates me when I want nothing more than to work on a good story when the juices are flowing.

Picking the right project to work on is another tough decision. I always go through this after I complete and submit a manuscript. It takes me a week or two to settle on the next. I'm working on a short story that's going well. I'm about 4K away from being finished with it. Then I have a first draft 0f a full lenght that needs editing and two others that need tlc. The problem is not knowing which one I'd be better off working on. I've been wanting to work on a horse oriented story again, so I think that's the one I'm going to pick up. I'm already 25K into it and it's solid and has potential.

I just hate when I second guess myself.

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My oldest will be back this afternoon so the house will be back to normal with four bouncing kids. I'm back on the house kick. I've requested a showing at a house here in my town. It's small, and with the price as low as it is, there could be some problems with it, but it's here so the kids wouldn't have to switch schools and the monthly mortgage would be less than what we're paying now. I can deal with small if it's mine! It would be a start anyway. I'm so ready to move.

In Like A Lion

2009-03-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here was my walk to work this morning... I didn't drive because my van was under a foot of snow and it would take longer for me to dig it out than to walk down the street to work. So I trudged through the driving snow. Such dedication. We got over a foot here.

I'm sick of snow.

But my oldest is probably loving it. She's up in Waterville Valley, NH snow shoeing her little heart out.

Before I delve into editing I had to show my son the original Land Of The Lost. Man it was bad. I can't believe that it's being remade.

Watching a Land of the Lost clip led to Sigmund the Sea Monster which led to H R Puffinstuff.... which led to insanity!!! I can't believe we watched that stuff growing up (not that the shows these days are much better).

I won't torture anyone by posting a clip of any of these shows.

Bugs Bunny was far superior.

How Cool!

2009-03-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

Happy March everyone! Spring is on it's way. Of course we have to get through another 5-12 inches of snow that is scheduled to fall tonight into tomorrow. Great. Kids will probably lose yet another day of school.

Anyway, this morning as I lay in bed, my mind was working on a new story idea. I was mentally going through my flash drive of bits and pieces of stories but couldn't come up with anything that would work. Yesterday my DH reformatted my computer and I saved a bunch of stuff from my hard drive onto my flash drive and this morning, low and behold, I found an entire folder of prompts that I did several years ago. New ideas, fresh for the pickin'! Well, there's no guarantee that the next one is in there, but I'm pleased to have rediscovered them after all this time.

Nice little morning treat.

Don't know how much writing I'll get done today. Must go to my mom's and then take oldest daughter to her bus. She's heading north to the White Mountains for NH Special Olympics. So everyone wish her luck! She always has an awesome time up there. That's the main thing.

Off I go. Need to get breakfast.

My Days As An Actress

2009-02-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, right.

I found this picture of me and a friend of mine in a play "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" back in college. I always played bit parts, you know, one of those background people without a name. I had dreams of grandeur, but they kind of fizzled. Oh well. I wouldn't have liked Hollywood anyway.

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This has been the LONGEST week in the history of weeks! I don't know why. Is it just because I have to work two extra hours a day? Is it because the kids are on school break? I don't know, but I swear it was Friday two days ago. But I guess I can look at it this way, I've got more writing time. Sort of. I've been sticking to my writing in the morning and editing in the afternoon schedule. I've got a lot of work to do on my Nano project, adding another daughter in for my heroine.

Of course when I want time to drag, like in the morning before I have to go to work, it flies by. Now I get to go to work and tell one of my coworkers I screwed up one of her Excel files.

I skeered.

Notebooks Notebooks Everywhere

2009-02-25T02:41:00.000-08:00

I was digging through a closet looking for a box of photographs but instead found about a dozen old notebooks filled with bits and pieces of stories, some going back as far as college.

God, they're bad. LOL

I was hoping that maybe there'd be something that I could use now, but I don't think there's anything I can do with a story about a girl who was born in a primitive village cut off from the world... in Hawaii. I'm embarrassed. But at least I never gave up. At least I evolved.

So, now I have another huge stack of notebooks to deal with. No, I don't throw them away. Who knows, maybe a hundred years down the road someone will find them and they'll be worth a lot of money, because I'll be a famous writer before I die.

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I've been working steadily on my short story. I'm past the halfway mark (and thinking this could be longer than 12K) but I think I'm going to go back to my old schedule of writing new stuff in the morning and editing in the afternoon. I have my NaNo project that needs A LOT of work (I added characters in halfway through, changed my timeline and dropped plot ideas along the way). It would be sweet to have another manuscript ready to go. It's been way too long since I've had lots of stories out there. I don't want to wait another two years between published books.

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Has anyone noticed that music videos are disappearing off of YouTube? It's rather annoying. So, I'll post my own video for Sweet Forever

Now, if only Samhain would publish the Sweet Forever sequel life would be good!

And It's Outta Heeerrrreeeee

2009-02-24T01:34:00.001-08:00

Yes, that's right, Forever Home is now in the arms of the editors at Samhain Publishing. I managed, after the forceful removing of fistfuls of hair, to write my blurb and got all my t's dotted and i's crossed (yes, my eyes were definitely crossed by the time I was done) but I did it. Normally it's a 12-16 week wait but since I'm a Samhain author I go to the head of the line (well, behind all the other Samhain authors with submissions). I'm psyched!

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In other news, Conant High School Class of 1984 is rumbling. There's talk about a 25th year reunion this summer. Yes 25. As in a QUARTER of a century!!! Excuse me... I feel faint. Now my class, God love 'em, was always the most deadbeat class in school. We had zero motivation. My brother's class trip went to Montreal Canada. We went to Hampton Beach. I'm wondering what kind of reunion we can pull off. Nah, I think we've got a little better over the years.

Not sure I'm going to go. I probably will. My BBF is going. We're kind of the Romy and Michelle types (minus the quirky fashions but with a little more brains). So, I know my DH won't go. He doesn't like to socialize, so I guess I'll have to go solo.

If I go.

Oh, I have to get some writing done. Except for my 200 word blurb, I haven't got anything new done.

Just glad I don't have to worry about Forever Home... for now.

I Hate Blurbs

2009-02-23T14:15:00.000-08:00

The good news... I finished editing Forever Home and I'm extremely pleased! With help I found some spots that needed improving. So, I'm ahead of schedule Got the synopsis done. Now I have to face The Dreaded Blurb, you know the tiny description that goes on the back cover of the book.

So, that's going to keep me occupied for at least 3 days.

This stuff should be easy! Right? I mean I just finished a 91K manuscript! Why am I having such problems with a 20o word blurb?

Makes no sense.

But back I go to it. I'd love to be able to send this off today.

Oh, by the way, I haven't written any new words today. Must prioritize!

So This Is What I'm Gonna Do

2009-02-21T03:43:00.000-08:00

Edit the whole thing and send it out when it's finished. Thanks to everyone for setting me straight. Sometimes I get too impatient for things to happen. But I'll give myself a maximum of one more week. I don't think that should be a problem. I'm highly motivated. Right now, besides the editing, I just need to write a blurb. Ugh.

In the meantime I've turned my attentions to working on a shortish story (I'm aiming for about 10-12K). It's a bit quirky for me. I'm typically a drama queen when it comes to my writing style, except when I write in first person. This one will be in first person about a middle aged woman who wakes up one morning in her twenty-three year old body and gets a chance to do it all again. It's called Do Overs. I just need to decide if she'll end up with the same man she married the first go-round or if there's someone else out there for her. Should be fun.

I'm am enjoying my first Saturday off. Okay, so I didn't sleep in. I woke early and thought about the writing that needed to get done. Oh well.

Todays music video is Lauren & I by Celtic Thunder

So, here's my question

2009-02-20T03:21:00.000-08:00

Do I send in my submission to Samhain with the synopsis and three chapters today or do I wait another several days (all depends on how much time I can get to work) and get the entire manuscript finished and send in a full, which is, while not necessarily, certainly preferred?

I really want to get this out today.

Marianne, this is for you.....

Oh My

2009-02-18T15:39:00.000-08:00

Why doesn't this guy get any air time down here in the States? It's not fair that Canada is the only place that can enjoy him.

Editopolis

2009-02-18T02:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, well that doesn't sound as good as I thought it would, but it pretty much desribes what will be going on here over the next few days. I am nearly done with my NaNo project. I think I'm up to my last scene. So then I can start editing. Just throw it on top of my other editing projects. That would make three editing projects with high priority.

I hate editing nearly as much as I hate writing synopses. Oh, I have to edit my synopsis. I finished that yesterday.

Not that I'm complaining about finishing projects. There is a great deal of satisfaction finishing a first draft. Almost as much as finishing the final draft.

Now I'm in the middle of a writing challenge. I need to write at least 500 new words a day. So I guess I should find something to fill my time around my editing.

That's it... I'm quitting my job. I just don't have enough time in my day to do that and write.

I should be careful what I say.... it could come to pass.

There was mention of Monty Python over at Marianne's blog. I must post one of my favorite scenes.

Warning... there is blood involved....

New Schedule, New Project

2009-02-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

And so it begins. You would think an extra 2 hours of work wouldn't be a big deal, but I felt it yesterday. I eyed the clock when I used to leave and just wanted to escape. But I made it through a long day. Then I had to do laundry, so I didn't get to settle down until after 6pm.

Today should be easier. I mean, I only have to pay some bills and pick up some groceries. Maybe I have to pick up a child from an activity, not sure.

I'd make a lousy soccer mom.

Anyway, I've started writing my Forever Home synopsis. I'm grateful there's no page limit on it. As long as it's over 2 pages. No problemo. I'm up to 5 pages. Then I'm going to submit it to Samhain. I think that's an appropriate place since it's a sequel to Sweet Forever. Right or wrong, I'm including this in my dialy word count. I've put aside my other wip for now (even though that one is almost done) in favor of getting FH ready to go.

Another storm pulling in tomorrow night. Gee... I was missing snow and sleet. It's been nearly 2 weeks since I've seen either.

People Who Don't Call

2009-02-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

I'm going to gripe. It's been one of those mornings here so I'm just going to vent here a little.

I had good plans for today. My mom was going to take the kids and my DH and I were going to do a big Sam's Club run and do lunch. We really do need the SC run and we have the finances for it. It's a good hour drive to any of the "closest" SC so we need several hours for this.

But we're trying to get rid of an enormous TV and a guy is supposed to take it. DH arranged for him to take it today. Yah, great. He was supposed to call us around 8am. It's now 930am and no phone call.

I'm sorry, but I really dislike that. If someone says they're going to call then they really need to call. At least within 30 minutes of the scheduled time. Now we have to sit here and wait. I've cleared out our hallway so we can move the behemoth. If this dude ends up not showing up then I have to move everything back, yet again.

So, please, people, if someone is waiting for your call... then call them. Don't make them wait. If we wait too much longer then we can forget about the SC trip.

Upside is that I'm getting a chance to do some editing while I sit here. But I'd rather be keeping the plans we had already set.

Venting is now over.

Thank you.

Oh Editing

2009-02-12T02:26:00.000-08:00

I decided since I did so well on my "new" word count yesterday that I'd concentrate on editing this morning. I'm at that very tedious stage of removing "junk" words like "that" and "just" and "really". Such a long project, finding one little word in a 91K document and removing the ones that don't belong. I'm only on my second word. Boy I use a lot of "that"s.

Doesn't help that I'm having those days when the kids have different activities in the afternoon that require me to drive them. No one can coordinate their times either. Today will be much of the same. Tomorrow... much of the same... and then we'll be to the weekend, and it'll be, you got it, much of the same.

I'm NOT going to say that I need to do my writing full time. After what happened earlier in the week, I might just get my not-wish.

I'll put that down to a someday kind of wish. When I'm able to sustain myself financially by just my writing.

I love Louis Armstrong.

Cool

2009-02-10T16:08:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite songs along with one of my favorite TV couples...

Ahhhh.... memories.

That's all. Nothing else to say.

Becareful What You Wish For...

2009-02-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I hate Mondays? I think I mentioned that.

I hate Mondays.

First of all we found out that a co-worker, a wonderful woman who is always in good spirits and always makes everyone smile, fell on some bleachers at her grandson's hockey game this weekend and fractured a vertabrae in her lower back. We haven't got the details, but it's just horrible. A few years ago she had a knee replacement and was out for months and months. This is going to be a long road for her.

Then some other stuff we'd been expecting/dreading happened. A coworker, who started working the same day I did (nearly 6 years ago) was laid off, her position terminated. Like so many other companies out there we're in dire straits and a number of people company wide (we have offices in Illinois and a warehouse in another part of the state) were laid off. The warehouse will be closed, an entire office in IL will be closed, we will be consolidating 2 floors into one where we are, and we will no longer be open on Saturdays.

So all that complaining about only having one day off a week. Can't complain anymore. I'll have to adjust my schedule at work so I can squeeze an extra 8 1/2 hours into 5 days and still be able to get home for my kids.

I still have my job too. For that I'm grateful for.

And I'll have a normal 2 day weekend.

Now I have to get into some editing. Never know when they'll downsize some more...

Happy Monday

2009-02-09T02:44:00.001-08:00

How many people hate Mondays? Show of hands. I know I do.

Put it down to the fact that I only have one day off a week. Sunday flies by and way too soon for me it's Monday and that means the start of another six day work week. It's starting to wear on me even though I've been doing it for at least the past 2 years. But, the one advantage to this schedule is that I get out of work 5 days a week by 1:30pm (even though I start at 7am). I do like being home so early in the afternoon.

But man I miss a 2 day weekend.

Writing and editing has been going pretty well. Been meeting my JaNoWriMo goal every day and I've only got 100 pages left of first round editing on Forever Home. I have been, however, been doing more reading than editing. I really like the story. A lot. Maybe more than Sweet Forever even though my hero isn't as romantic as the SF hero. I'm still wondering where to send it. Probably Samhain even though I've been trying to make it a stand alone story.

Okay, explain this. Yesterday at this time the temperature was 45 degrees. Right now it's 22 degrees. That's quite the drop. But we're going to get more warm, but wet, weather later in the week. I hope it stays warm. We actually got through a week with no school cancellations, no major storms. I want to keep it like that for the rest of the winter. I'm so ready for spring even though that will go hand in hand with black flies and mud.

Ah, New England.

HAPPY GROUNDHOGS DAY!

2009-02-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

So, will he or won't he?

We may get another storm tomorrow. But then again, we may not. The local weather people aren't being too helpful. I'd be just as happy NOT having more snow but my kids are rootin for another snow day.

Now we're into February I have to begin my editing. I'm committing myself to 500 words (at least) of new stuff (still working on my NaNoWriMo project. coming along very nicely) and editing Forever Home. I think, barring any illness, tsunami, earthquakes, tornados, icestorms or volcanos, I'll be able to get it done.

Knock on wood

The Sun Is Out

2009-01-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

And snow is melting. We got wholloped again yesterday with a nice combination of snow and freezing rain. Kids were off school AGAIN, but today is beautiful and sunny and everything is melting. Well, for now.

Well, I've hit another snag in my 2008 NaNo story. The end is so close I can taste it, but I really have to do something about these dull no action parts. I'm building up the romance between my hero and heroine but she has two children so I have to do it in a way that puts the kids best interest first. Meaning dates have to be kept at a minimum and no sleepovers. It's a challenge, but I'm up for it. What I've been doing over the last few days is moving back and forth between this one and my young adult fantasy story. When I run dry on one I go back to the other.

BUT February is almost here, and that means EDIT TIME. Yes. Forever Home needs me. I've sat it on a shelf for about 3 weeks now to let it stew. I think I'm ready to push up my sleeves and get back to work. In the meantime I've "signed" up for another month of writing challenges with my JaNoWriMo pals. It was such a productive month, even if I'm 10k short of my goal. Well, I do have the rest of the week left to finish. Just have to get past sticky spots in the story. Or just write another scene and go back and fill in what needs to be filled in. Yeah, that's what I'll do. It's a good story and I would really like to finish it.

IN OTHER NEWS my computer is back to normal. I have no idea what was up with it the other morning, but the next time I turned it on it was how it should've been, complete with "my" Chowder background (Chowder is a strange kids show my son likes). My DH said he didn't touch it so who knows what happened.

Cat is still being a pain. Appointment with the vet is being made in the next day or so. (Okay Marianne, why didn't I think about taking care of this BEFORE she got to this stage?)

ROMANTIC SONG OF THE DAY

I love this movie, love this scene...

Just wish it didn't get cut off at the end.

Okay, DS just walked in. I should pretend I'm working.

Gee... It's Snowing

2009-01-28T01:35:00.000-08:00

We're expecting another foot of snow today which means, no doubt, another snow day for the kids. One of my daughter's aides pointed out that the kids haven't had a full week of school since November! At this rate they're not going to be out of school until the week before they go back in after summer break.

I woke up this morning and turned on my computer and found that it was basically stripped bare. Maybe it was computer brownies or elves, but all my favorites are gone, any extra folder I had on my desktop gone. So, my husband and I will be chatting. I hope he saved some of this stuff.

Well, it's time for a trip to the vets. Our kitten, Hemi, has finally reached THAT wonderful age. She's been mewling and crying all over the place. It's hard to explain this behavior to kids, especially to my nine year old son. Poor little kitty. I don't think she knows what's hit her.

Alrighty then. Must get some writing done. I kind of fizzled out yesterday.

Another Day At Home

2009-01-23T03:16:00.001-08:00

This cold is just stomping me into the ground. It's been over a week and I'm not much better off. I hate colds. I'd rather have a 3 day stomach flu than a week and half cold like this.

TMI?

And I've had kids home nearly every day since last week. Various kids in various combinations. Today my stepdaughter is going to be home for the second time this week. Today is my son's first day in school all week. Crazy.

Since I'm stuck at home I'm going to try to take advantage and get some writing done. Oh, I've switched wips again. Going Going Gone wasn't doing anything for me so I'm not back at work on my 2008 NaNo project. I wouldn't mind finishing it, I think it has potential.

I've also been brainstorming Dreamer's Sea plot changes with a friend. I'm adding a major character who will change a lot of the story, so there's going to be MAJOR rewrites to be done. But I think it'll make a huge difference. At least I hope it will. But I won't be digging into it until editing on Forever Home is done.

I'll be busy until November at this rate! And that is a good thing.

No Desire

2009-01-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

To write. To read. To watch TV. To do anything but die.

This cold has been savage. My throat feels like I'm swallowing double edged razor blades and I can't stop coughing. My head aches and all I want to do is sleep. But even that isn't easy to do because the coughing keeps me awake.

But still everyone wants everything from me. How is it that when a man gets sick his world stops and he has to wallow on a sofa under a blanket with the remote whining like a two year old with the wife at his beck and call yet when a woman gets sick she's still expected to run the household and feed everyone and do laundry and clean? Not fair!

I have to do laundry today. Hauling a heavy basket to the laundramat in 11 degree weather sounds like the last thing I want to do, but I have no choice. I've been putting it off for too long, thinking I'd be better.

Oh, and it snowed yesterday. Lots of snow.

So, here I sit, wishing I could get my mind in gear because I have lots of writing to do, but dreading the things I must do. Well, at least I'm not at work today.

Hairy Driving and Missing Luggage

2009-01-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it. Survived another trip to Logan. We got there early again and it didn't start snowing until we were nearly there.

So, we had another long wait. My DS rode the escalator to his hearts content (hey, we're small town folk). The flight arrived... early.... without us knowing. There's no TV screen that announces flight status, so we had no clue until SD called us... nearly 20 minutes after she arrived. Of course we should've staked the place out to find out where she would come out, but we didn't. So therefore she didn't get her luggage. Said she didn't see it on the carousel. And no airline personnel ANYWHERE. I called the toll free number, they gave me the local office number and I called that. No one. Come on... why is there no airline staff anywhere? Sure its past midnight, but seriously. So, we left. It was snowing like crazy and it was a hairy ride home. Lots of traffic, lots of crazy driver (like the big SUV doing about 65 with no headlights).

But we made it and now we have to figure out how to get her bag, which is waiting for her at Logan (they'll fedex it to us at our expense). I'm planning on taking a bus down this time. I can't do that drive again. At least I can relax on a bus.

But not today.

Lots of snow here, probably a foot. Ugh ugh ugh. Why isn't it May?

You Gotta Be Kidding Me

2009-01-09T02:46:00.001-08:00

We have to drive down to Boston tomorrow night. In this. Again. My stepdaughter is flying into Logan around midnight (what kind of sadistic airline arrives at 11:54pm and departs at 5:40am??) Oh, the cheap ones.

I have to say, I'm soooo tired of this snow! We had flurries the entire day yesterday, this on top of the ice/snow we had the day before. What's another 5-8 inches? I had to go to the grocery store last night and came upon an accident because of road conditions. We had a front row seat of the arrival of the first police, the ambulance and firemen. I just hope everyone is okay.

Writing is flowing, I'm happy to say. Guess this is a better genre for me. I like the fact that when I'm not writing I'm thinking about what I'm going to write. That's a good sign that this story (which I started years ago) has a chance of making it.

Will it make it to HQ? Don't know. Maybe if Kensington likes That Kind Of Magic that'll be the direction for me to go.

Everyone have a wonderful day!

And Next Again

2009-01-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

Well, so much for the fantasy. I'm not going to say I stopped because it was too much, but I have no idea where it's going and while I generally write by the seat of my pants this was taking that way of life a bit too far.

So now I'm doing my firefighter auction story. It's another contemporary romance with plenty of spice. Its flowing a lot better than the fantasy. Guess Iknow my niche. But honestly, I'm going to write that fantasy. Just need to really settle down with it and map it out.

My daughter is disappointed. She wants me to write something that she can read.

Yesterday was another day off for the kids. Man, this has been a tough winter for them! Well, for one of them. I don't know how they're going to make up all this time. The schools are suggesting longer days, school on Saturdays or giving up April vacation. Or, maybe since the ice storm resulted in a state of emergency the missed days may be waived. We have a long winter ahead of us.

Kensington should have That Kind Of Magic now. I'm really going to not think about it, but hopefully I'll hear back by March. I'm rather glad I sent it there. Hope they like it. *fingers crossed*

Oh, goodie. Time to wash dishes.

2009-01-06T15:35:00.000-08:00

I've put aside my short story. Just wasn't talking to me. In it's place I started writing the fantasy. I've discovered that it's a lot more work than a contemporary romance. I keep having to stop to look up bits of information. But it's all worth it.

Here is the collage for the story.

So, I was feeling cruddy today so I stayed home. Decided to watch a movie, just a break from writing. Well, I had to chose the longest movie I could find. Sex In The City. I had no idea that it was sooooo long. I've decided that it's too cynical for me. I like romances dripping with romance, not cynical movies where the shoes and the ridiculous clothes are more important than the romance.

But that's just me.

Oh joy, more snow and ice and sleet and freezing rain tomorrow! What a winter we've had so far!

Yeah Baby!!!

2009-01-05T01:57:00.000-08:00

I'm THRILLED to announce that the first draft of Forever Home is DONE! I finished it last night. I am so happy! Nothing like finishing a manuscript. It came in at just over 91K words. I'm giving myself til the end of the month before I go back and start the editing process. This way I can continue on my JaNoWriMo projects so I can hit my 50k word goal. I'm up to just over 12k right now.

I've decided to go for the short story, after mulling over the possibilities in my head last night before going to bed. At least this will be a short one, I'm thinking maybe around 10-12k words. I'm already up to nearly 8k so I don't have a long way to go. After that, don't know. Either my Blaze like book or the fantasy. I'm thinking the fantasy. I really want to write the fantasy though it won't really have the romance the others have.

But for now I'll go for the short story.

And Yeah! Kids go back to school!!! *Happy Dance*

Super Sunday

2009-01-04T05:40:00.001-08:00

Ding Dong the kids go back to school.. La la la. lala la la.

Tomorrow, that is. They've been out for 24 days (including weekends)! Holy frijoles! Two of them have decided they want to be homeschooled. Yah, as if. My third is estatic (I found her crying over her yearbook last week because she missed her friends so much).

And DH goes back to work tomorrow. He's only been out since Dec 23rd.

And things in the Hebert household will go back to normal.

I've been working hard on Forever Home and I'm in the "home" stretch right now. If I can just sit here at my computer for the rest of the day I know I can finish it. Just one more scene to go and then the epilogue AND I'LL BE DONE!!!!!! *doing the my book is done dance*

But no rest for the wicked. Immediately after the conclusion of Forever Home I'll be diving into another wip. I have three to chose from. My fantasy "The Wolf And The Dove", my Blaze-like wip "Going Going Gone" or my possible short story "Best Man".

Maybe I'll work on all three.

First, though, I have bunches of laundry to do. Want to get it all out of the way in time for school to start. I really truly want my own washer and dryer. Then I can do it all. But I'll have to settle for a pen and notebook and a place to sit at the laundramat and go from there.

Good day. It's going to be a good day.

Unless you're my kids.

hhhmmmmuuuuaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

WELCOME 2009!!

2009-01-01T02:08:00.000-08:00

At last it's here! How many people are glad to see 2008 out of the way *raising hand*. Here's to a better year! A year of lots of books being published!

So, I've officially begun JaNoWrMo, but it feels just like any other day. Same story, just keeping track of that word count. Actually I'm looking forward to this and moving on to the next one. And the next one.... and the next one. I think I have 4 manuscripts altogether that I want to work on.

Yesterday I sent That Kind Of Magic down to New York. Kensington should have it no later than Monday. So mark your calendars, three months from the 5th. Eek, that's a long time. Good vibes. I need good vibes!

It's 5:13am. I didn't stay up until midnight. Made it to about 10:30. I'm not the midnight type anymore. Maybe after the kids are grown and gone I'll get my second wind, but for now I need my sleep. For now I'm the only one awake, so I'm heading back to the writing. Almost done with Forever Home!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!

As If

2008-12-31T01:23:00.000-08:00

I needed another wip to work on. Yesterday I remembered another one sitting in my files and thought "hmmm... that could make a good short story for Samhain." It's already 7900 words long and has a ways to go before I can finish it, which is possible.

So, there ya have it. Now I have 3... no, make that 4 different wips I can work on for JaNoWriMo

Gotta love it!

Only one more day until it starts! Woo hoo!!!

Printing Printing Printing

2008-12-30T01:54:00.000-08:00

I printed off another copy of That Kind Of Magic for my Kensington submission. I hated to do it, but my first copy had header/footer and I realized that maybe they don't want that. Of course there's no clear direction on their page on what they want. They said 3 chapters, but a Kensington author recommended the first 100 pages.

So, which one to go with? Last thing I want to do is to mess it up by sending them what they don't want. I'm still tempted to send it to Samhain instead, but it's only (hehehe only) a three month wait. I guess I've waited for this long, what's another three months. That'll make it about a year since the first time TKOM left home.

Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for JaNoWriMo. Finish Forever Home and then take it from there. I still really want to work on both wips, but I want to settle on one and finish it. (I also made the mistake of looking through some boxes yesterday and I found several notebooks filled with other wips that I left alone, another possibility for a Blaze in there. I'm doooooomed!) I'd love to know how someone like Nora Roberts writes. Is she as fickle as all my writing friends when it comes to working on a story or is she focused on one until it's done and then goes on to the next. For me writing is like being a mom of more than one child. You can't just give one kid all the attention until he/she is grown up and out of the house and then start on the next one. They all need your time and TLC.

Or is that just an excuse?

All right, enough. Forever Home isn't going to get written by itself. Off I go before I have to leave for work.

Another Awesome Couple

2008-12-29T03:10:00.000-08:00

A lot of times I pull inspiration for a romantic couple from television and moview (as well as music).

I can't believe I forgot about one of my all time favorite couples!

Okay, the show gave them a real sucky ending (in fact the whole show ended really badly) but they were awesome together! Robert Downey Jr was excellent in the show. Too bad his addiction had to take over. Glad he's beat it.

That being said, we're only days away from JaNoWrMo. I think I'll be okay. Just a matter of finishing Forever Home and then moving on. Moving on to what, I'm not sure. Either my Blaze wannabe or the YA fantasy.

Now I have to go to work. It's going to be a long week. DH is home all week. This should be the last week the kids are home (man, they've been home since Dec. 11th!! they're going stir crazy!)

Enjoy the day! (oh, and That Kind Of Magic still sits on my desk. I'll make a decison today)

Settlin' In

2008-12-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

A cold, that is.

I feel horrendous right now and I know the worst is yet to come. It's the weather. I'm sure of it. One day it's in the 40's then next the 20's. One day it's an ice storm, the next snow and after that sun or rain. Can it just make up its mind?

Colds make it very difficult to concentrate on writing and I have a very important scene I'm working on and it's suffering right along with me. So yesterday I browsed MySpace layouts so I could change my background. yes, that's really productive.

I did do some writing this morning, but I'm just not wowing myself. I'm easily distracted. And I'm pretty ticked that my new coffee maker didn't make a beautiful cup of coffee this morning. Despite the fact we cleaned it there's a funky taste to it. Blah. Needed that coffee too.

That Kind Of Magic is still sitting on my desk waiting to be submitted to Kensington. So what's the hold up? I'm not sure I want to send it to them. I'm on the fence. I've been thinking of sending it to Samhain instead. I really want it in print and I know Samhain, if they even like it, will print it. Samhain is going to be working with Kensington too, so maybe it would be an in, and I'm very confident that Samhain would like the story.

So, what to do what to do?

Make breakfast and a cup of tea I guess and wish I didn't have to go to work today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

2008-12-25T03:54:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Hap Hap Happy New Year!

Now time to get back to pancakes, sausage and bacon. And lots of coffee.

Happy Day Before Christmas!

2008-12-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

At last a day off. I "slept in" until 6:45am then I needed coffee.

It's a gray slushy day here in New Hampshire. We really needed the ice and rain that came down this morning. Made for great driving as I had to head out to WalMart. Now this is what I call last minute shopping! What can I do? I'm just relieved that Santa will be able to leave a little something for the kids tonight. After this storm I wasn't sure.

I've managed to get some writing done, finished an important scene but have another one coming up soon that I really want to get to. In the meantime I'm printing my submission to Kensington. I'll be sending it out to them on Friday. Then it'll be time for another looooong wait.

I was thinking, though, that maybe I should try it with Samhain instead. I believe that it would fit in, and since I've already been published with them, maybe it would be good to get my name out there with them instead of waiting forever to hear from Kensington. I KNOW with Samhain the book would be printed, I'd just have to wait, but as long as they accept it then it would be published within a year.

Well, I have a few days to think about it. I really do want to submit something to a New York publisher, something that will go straight to print and definitely end up in bookstores everywhere, but should I work my way up to it, or stick with the path I'm on now.

I hate indecision. I think.

Awesome 80's

2008-12-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Now I remember why I was head over heels in love with Simon LeBon from Duran Duran.

Man, he's good looking!

I was feeling nostalgic for 80's music, so I decided to hunt down some of my favorite songs and videos from way back when.

It may have been gaudy (remember those neon colors and big hair?) but the music from the 80's was awesome. Such memories. Wish I could go back and relive them all.

This is a one hit wonder, but is there anyone who grew up in the 80's who doesn't know this song?

So many songs, so little time.