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.
"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!
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.....
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!
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.
~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.
~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
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!!!!!!
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.
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)
I finally got my response from Harlequin Blaze today. No, they didn't buy That Kind Of Magic. And no, I'm not devestated. I won't be throwing myself off any bridges or high cliffs. I won't even go sulk in a dark room. It is what it is. As far as rejections go it wasn't a horrific one. It had positive comments like "The manuscript is competently written and has an intriguing premise...." and it's not really negative comments, like "Our main concern is that the story doesn't have the sexual hook essential...." and "...the story has stronger paranormal elements than we like..." and "... makes the tone far darker than we generally look for in a Blaze." So, okay. Now I'm free to send That Kind Of Magic elsewhere. I'm okay with this. I was afraid that the paranormal aspect wouldn't work with Blaze. There is a home for it out there. Somewhere. And I'll find it! And I won't give up on Blaze, or Harlequin. I'll pull something else out of my sleeve for them! Onward and upward!!
And there's no excuse. Yes, I've been editing. Nearly done with the editing for Dreamer's Sea, except for the crit process. So, I ask, how much stock do/should writers put in critiques? I'm just afraid with this story that by waiting for the crit process to be finished I'll be 89 years old and I'll have to rewrite the whole thing. Well, maybe 45. It's long book. So, should I depend on these critiques or just trust my own judgement and send it out when I my editing done? I'm still waiting to hear from Harlequin Blaze regarding the status of That Kind Of Magic. Anytime now. Aaaanytime. Well, anytime between now and November. Not much going on in my world. Kids are back to school and the projects are starting to pour in, as are school photos and soon fundraisers. Ca-ching!! I havent even recovered from school shopping. Well, must be getting back to what I do to earn a paycheck. Not writing. yet.
So I thought I'd come out of hiding and post today. I really didn't realize that it's been so long since my last post. Whatever is wrong with me?!?!
Anyway, in the past few days I've had some movement in my writing career. Is it good or bad? Well, nearly any writing movement is good.
First of all, I need to announce that WHERE ONE ROAD LEADS is being released in print today. I was supposed to have started a contest for a free autographed copy, but I was away from home all weekend so I haven't organized anything yet. But it will be forthcoming.
My sister is out for a visit. She and my mom were at the airport picking up her mother in law and they stopped in the airport Borders to see if they carried my book. Well, it wasn't on the shelf but they were very excited when the cashier was able to pull it up on the computer LOL. Now if they'd only put it on the shelf. My sister's MIL was so excited to meet an actual author. She's is such a hoot.
This past weekend we went camping. No tent for us. We rented a cabin at a campground. It was actually fun. A little cold at night, but that's okay. We want to do it again next year. The kids had a blast. It was a very family oriented place. Kids galore! But I'm glad to be home and clean.
Oh, and one more piece of news. This weekend I stopped to check my mail.
The ENVELOPE from Harlequin was there.
I figured it couldn't be good news since it came back so fast. After all, generally it takes well over a month and it's only been about 3 weeks. So I repeated over and over that it would be a rejection.
Well, they want to see a more complete synopsis AND the first 3 chapters of That Kind of Magic!! I'm shocked and amazed and excited!!!
So today, after my meetings and I gather children, I'll be working on that synopsis.
They did tell me it would take 5 months to hear back from them. Okay, at least I have a time frame.
Life has been pretty stressful over here in the Hebert household. I won't go into details except to say that I haven't been able to concentrate on writing for the last few days. I have been able to look over other wips that I've started and put aside though (sometimes I like to check in with old projects to see if there's anything worth keeping, to see if anything sparks my interest). I think I've mentioned that I have a story that I started working on, oh, probably 17 years ago. A fantasy. It's a very ambitious project that I would love to complete because I love a good fantasy. But this project would be very time consuming, bigger than any project I've taken on before. Now my question (or questions). Is it a smart idea to write outside your comfort zone? I write contemporary romances. I think I do a pretty good job at it. So should I put it aside to start on a completely new genre? And is it even a good idea for a new writer, who's trying to establish a fan base, to wander away from the genre she's writing in to try something new, or is this something that should be put off to a later date. Not that I'm ready to jump into it today. I still have to polish up That Kind Of Magic, edit Dreamer's Sea (with it's new beginning) and write the sequel to Sweet Forever. Then I can decide. The 5th season in New Hampshire has begun. Black Fly season has officially started. They come straight from the bowels of Hell. I'm sure of it. Soon they'll be joined by mosquitos. I love spring in New Hampshire.
I'm sending my query and synopsis out this week, come Heck or high water. I'm 100 pages away from being finished with my editing, which actually is going pretty well so I'm sure that it'll be done and ready to go by the time Harlequin Blaze requests the full. I'm going to stay positive. They WILL ask and they WILL love it. I hope. I hear that Blaze wants its authors to submit at least 2 manuscripts a year. I wonder if I have at least 2 Blazes a year in me. I do have several possibilities though. But do I want to go that way or do I want to go for an agent and write how I want to write instead of writing one single style. Then I have to turn my attention to Dreamer's Sea again. I'm wondering if I should continue submitting it to the crit group. I love them but it's such a looooong process. It'll be worth it in the end. It has to be worth it in the end.
Oh, I'm so happy!! I found Blake Shelton's new video on You Tube
I'm trying to update my website without the help of my webmaster.
It isn't working. At all.
Okay, so the good news is that with his help, I've got a new free read up and running. But I'm trying to do the reviews and even with the handy dandy book on Front Page I'm still having issues. In fact I now have no graphics on my page. My webmaster is going to be displeased. BUT the review posted.
My stomach hurts.
Some people just weren't meant to do things like this. I'm one of them. Give me my manuscript and I'm a happy camper.
Speaking of which, I've been busy working on That Kind Of Magic, my potential Blaze. I added a much needes scene in and now I'm over the maximum word count for Blaze, so I have to shave off 1200 words. How come it's easier to add words than to remove them? I'm very tempted to write my query and synopsis for this story and get it sent out to Harlequin Blaze even though the editing isn't done. I know, bad idea.
I'm home today. I had things to do but it didn't happen. I guess this is okay too. Nothing like messing up my website and working on my editing.
Snow. More snow. Enough snow to possibly break our all time snowfall record. I believe it.
Enough snow so school is canceled today. The kids won't be pleased. Yes, I said that. Two of them have after school things going on and my oldest is just crazy about school. There's no place she'd rather be.
Got some more editing done on my HQ Blaze and have just added back in a very steamy Blaze-worthy scene but it's put me over the maximum word count so I'm going to have to do some trimming. Not as much as Dreamer's Sea, but enough. I just have to remind myself not to add anymore unless I take some away. I'm glad I've made some progress.
I've been looking for pictures for my book trailer and have been having problems finding someone to represent Ben, my hero from Sweet Forever. I wonder if George Canyon would let me use a picture of him. He's the model for he character and there is no substitute. It'll be the same when it comes time for a trailer for Dreamer's Sea (I'm staying positive). I'll need James Tupper for that role. He (physically) is Jonas.
A reminder! There are still two more days of author interviews over at Diane Craver's blog. Yesterday she interviewed Allie Boniface, today she talks to Diana Castilleja and tomorrow it'll be me.
This morning I applied for a First Time Homebuyers loan. We've lived in the same apartment for the past 8 years. And before that we lived in an apartment. And before that... well you get the picture. I'm ready for my own home. We're outgrowing our living space and it's no fun dealing with the parking (though neighbors from heck are gone and the new ones are a dream thus far). I just want to pay for a place knowing that some day it could be mine all mine. Have one in mind (though it looks like it's going to need lots of work-as long as it's just cosmetic work and nothing is majorly wrong with it, I'm not afraid) and it's still in the town I'm in now and it's just a few doors down from the town playground/pool/rec center so the kids will have easy access to it. Just have to get prequalified.
I feel like I've stepped off a cliff and I'll either fall onto fluffy pillows or land on jagged razor sharp rocks.
I started (or restarted) edits for That Kind Of Magic, my Blaze hopeful. I'm not having a good time with it. I have to take a scene and break it up so it happens over the course of several nights instead of just one and it's not easy. But I'll keep trying. I really like the story and it has lots of potential, just have to concentrate on it. I'm looking forward to sending it off to the big bad world. If I had guts I'd send a query now for it, but I've done that before, queried before the manuscript was finished and surprise surprise, got a request for a full. Not a good idea. I had to rush through it and it looked rushed.
Location: Southwestern, New Hampshire, United States
I'm 44 year old mom of 3. I work as a customer service rep for a publishing company, and I write. I have five published novels and working on adding to that.
THAT KIND OF MAGIC--AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 17,2010
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?.
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