Dana's Magic and Mayhem

Interview and Nasty Migraine

2009-11-13T09:13:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the universe slapping me upside the head yesterday I won't be around much today. But I wanted to make sure that everyone got a last chance to win a copy of Only In My Dreams, or a title off my backlist.

I have an live interview over at I Do Not Want To Wait's blog today, and if you comment you'll get the chance to win an ebook of your choice.

Only In My Dreams: Available NOW!

2009-11-10T10:11:00.002-05:00

Only In My Dreams is the last Halle Puma novella.

Yup, you read that right. The Halle Puma series is officially over as of today. The novellas are complete, pretty much the way I'd originally envisioned them when I wrote to Angela James and said, "I think I can take The Wallflower and make it a series. What do you think?" And Gabe and Sarah's story ends the series in almost the exact way I'd planned. (I say "almost" because once a story hits the Meat Grinder nothing is sacred. Out went the crazy Mad Hatter and in went... well, you'll see.)

Does this mean I won't write a shifter ever again? Does it mean that Halle is now in "Backlist Land," never to be seen again? What happens to Max and Emma? Does he convince her to name their first-born son Magnum, thus insuring another generation of male Cannons with porn star names? Does Becky ever get Simon that corset for the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Does Sheri ever take Adrian moon-bathing and does Sarah get to video tape it like she'd secretly planned? Does Gabe ever get Sarah over her fear of waitresses?

And most important of all: does Rick ever find Belle's stash of airhorns?

Guess you'll have to wait and find out. I'm hoping to start a new series, the Halle Shifters. In that I'll be introducing Bears, Wolves, Foxes, Tigers, Lions, Coyotes and maybe a wereBunny or two. (Although my husband has pointed out that if there ever were any werebunnies they were a brief, tasty blip on the evolutionary scale.) Oh yes. And Pumas. It is Halle, after all.

When does the new series start? I have no idea. I've finished the first book and turned it in, so now it's a wait and see. Do I want to shut the door on Halle? Nope. I just knew that after Only In My Dreams the Pumas needed to grow a little. Take a step out into the big, wide world and see what else was out there. If I do things right you'll see more of Max and Emma, Simon and Becky, Adrian and Sheri etc. Because like you, I don't really want their HEA to end. I want to find out what happens next.

Guest Spot and Giveaway!

2009-11-09T08:18:00.002-05:00

I've done a guest spot for Novel Thoughts today about Only In My Dreams, Halle Pumas Book 5. Here's a little snippet:

Once upon a time Gabriel Anderson, Sheriff of Halle, Pennsylvania, Marshall’s Second to the Halle Puma Pride, and mate to Sarah Parker, was given a wonderful opportunity to serve the shifter community even more than he already did. He was asked to fill the shoes of a deceased Hunter, one of the few shifters sanctioned to hunt down rogues. But the training required would take him away from his newly found mate for six months. So rather than have them both tortured by memories of being together and then apart he accepts the advice of his trainer and slips away in the dead of night, leaving her without marking her.

Six months later, he’s come to regret that…

If you want to read the rest of the post click on the link above or on the Novel Thoughts banner. Comment and you'll be entered to win a book off my backlist. So if you've never read a book of mine and are curious, or are missing one, now's your chance to catch up before Only In My Dreams releases tomorrow!

Release Date

2009-11-08T13:08:00.002-05:00

I have a release date for Shadow of the Wolf, Book 1 of Heart's Desire.

It will release in time for Christmas from Liquid Silver Books: December 7, 2009!

Chats, Contests and Craziness

2009-11-05T08:38:00.003-05:00

I was going over my schedule for the month this morning, just reminding myself of what I'll be doing and where I'll be. And I realized that perhaps November was not the best month to try and do fifty thousand words in thirty days. So far, we have:

Nov. 5th: Live chat from 9-10 p.m. EST with Fallen Angels (readers' choice of ebook give-away)

Nov. 9th: End of my ARC contest and a give-away at Novel Thoughts

Nov. 10th: RELEASE DAY for Only In My Dreams (I'll be at the Samhain Cafe in the morning)

Nov. 11th: Live Samhain Cafe Chat from 7-9 p.m EST and CHILDREN HOME FROM SCHOOL ALL DAY (sob)

Nov. 12th: Live Coffee Time Romance chat from 9-10 p.m. EST

Nov. 13th: Interview with I Do Not Want To Wait blog (and give-away)

Yes, that first chat is tonight. The click-through to the chat room is on the upper left. Pick a nickname, click "Enter Room" and come win a book!

So far I've broken the 10k mark on Noble Blood; hopefully despite the crazy fun that is a release week I'll manage to break 20k next week. Heck, I need to break... 24k? to stay on track. My goal this week is 12500 words minimum. So far, so good.

Remember, if you haven't entered the contest yet to win an electronic ARC of Only In My Dreams you have until Sunday night. Monday morning I'll announce the winner and email their format of choice! I wish all of you good luck, and if you don't win there are other chances to win a copy. Just attend one of the chats or comment on one of the blog posts above and you'll be entered.

All of my beta readers (save two) have gotten back to me on Bear Necessities, and I'm not really expecting to hear from those two. One just started a new job (YAY RR!), and the other is crazy-busy. However, I should have the synopsis done and the book off to Laurie Rauch (my new Samhain editor) next week.

Gah. I think that's it so far. I'm running around like mad and having a blast doing it. Jaden of Noble Blood has decided to be a pain in my butt, but Duncan and Moira are cooperating nicely. Those two will whip that vampire into shape in no time flat.

P.S.: The music in my head changed, as it tends to do when I start a new project. So far the theme song for Noble Blood is Seal's "Kiss From A Rose". I went to look up the lyrics because I couldn't understand something he'd said, and had to laugh. See, I always thought the lyrics were "kissed by a rose from the grave". The actual lyrics? "kissed by a rose from the gray"! How appropriate for book 2 of The Gray Court!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:59:00.002-04:00

DONE DONE DONE AND DONE!

2009-10-30T17:24:00.003-04:00

Pantpantpantpant....

Today was one of those "Let's see how hard I can trot" days. The new washing machine/dryer was delivered half an hour early (and works, which gives it a leg up on the last pair); I almost forgot to make M's lunch for his field trip today; I had to finish the artwork paperwork for Mating Games and Animal Attraction; I finished the Meat Grinding of Bear Necessities; and I did final line edits on Shadow of the Wolf.

Guh. Brain death imminent, but I got it all done. I'm not sure how, either. I think I may have subconsciously cloned myself and passed off the housework to the poor confused fool who's still wondering what to make for dinner tonight and why her new washing machine plays a jaunty tune every time the cycle is done.

I'm going to enjoy myself this weekend, glut myself on leftover Snickers bars and get myself ready for NaNoWriMo (by glutting myself on leftover Snickers bars, of course). Next stop: Noble Blood!

Lots of Words

2009-10-29T08:11:00.005-04:00

Alex (because no way am I having a character moan "Bunny" during the kinds of sex scenes he's instigating) and Tabby (who is a very happy woman, thank you) are officially in the Meat Grinder. The rain has let up, my body isn't giving me fits and I feel like I can sit at my desk again without whimpering like a baby. I'm going to do the first of three full read-through's on Bear Necessities today, tightening stuff up, removing things that don't make sense, beefing up the descriptions of people/places and things, that sort of thing. This is the part where I try to make sure I've written something readable rather than just put a fantasy on paper.

This is the part that's work.

Today, tomorrow and probably part of Saturday will be spent on it. On Sunday (or Saturday, depending on how things go) I'll be sending it to the Betas. Once I hear back from them I'll be able to do the final polish, write the synopsis and send it to my editor.

Have I mentioned I love Bunny?

***

“Ohmigod, ohmigod.” Tabby pulled her hair, staring into her closet. It was six forty-five and her mate would be here any minute, she didn’t know his name and she had nothing to wear.

“Little black dress.” Cyn stuck her head in Tabby’s bedroom, grinning at the pile of clothing around Tabby’s feet. “Can’t go wrong with a little black dress.”

“Guh.” The panic was threatening to tear Tabby apart. She stared at the three black dresses hanging in her closet, her hand moving between them like a demented butterfly.

Glory’s head peeked in from the other side of the doorway. “The sleeveless one.”

“Uh?” She held up her sleeveless black dress, the one with the red belt and matching shoes.

Two heads bobbed in agreement.

Tabby stripped, more than used to being naked in front of her roommates. Hell, when she’d first moved in with them they’d been shocked at how easy she felt being nude. Glory had actually asked her if she was gay and trying to tempt them to “the dark side”. She’d then giggled and said that she might be susceptible to temptation if the dark side had chocolate. Tabby had just shaken her head and put some clothes on. She’d spent so long as a Wolf she’d forgotten some of the basic parts of being human, like pants. The first time she’d used a toilet after so many years had been an interesting experience, something Mrs. Anderson still chuckled about.

When Cyn and Glory found out what she was, they’d realized why she was so comfortable with nudity. They’d freaked a little. They hadn’t accepted her immediately. In fact, there’d been another girl, Brit, who’d worked at Living Arts. Brit had left, refusing to believe what she’d seen the night Tabby, drunk off her ass for the first time in her life, let her Wolf loose in the middle of the apartment. But Glory and Cyn, after the initial shock had passed (and after, they claimed, they wiped up the dog drool) had accepted her without reservations. Hell, they’d mocked her once the hangover had passed.

If she thought they’d take it she’d make them Pack in a heartbeat. She missed having that connection, the knowledge that there were others for her to rely on without a shadow of a doubt. Part of her wondered if her dipshit ex had ever told his father the truth, or if he’d shrugged and let it go. Let her go.

Tabby shook her head and reached for her hairbrush, smoothing down her hair. That didn’t matter now. Her mate would be here any minute. She slicked on some berry gloss and stared at herself in the mirror. Then she stuck out her tongue and made a face. She was so nervous her Wolf was whining. She slipped her feet into the red high heels, grabbed her favorite purse, and headed for the living room. “Well?”

Cyn circled her finger. “Twirl.”

Tabby twirled.

Glory wolf-whistled. “See you at work tomorrow.”

Cyn snickered and threw a pack of condoms at her. “You’ll need these.”

Tabby swallowed. “I’m gonna throw up.” Nausea roiled in her belly. She bent and picked up the condoms just as the doorbell rang.

Glory had the door open before Tabby could drop the packets. “C’mon in!”

In stepped the hottie from the store. He wore a green shirt that really emphasized his hazel eyes, dark wash jeans that looked painted onto his thighs, and thick soled black boots. Now that she was upright she could see how tall he was. He towered over her, the top of her head barely reaching his upper lip. She’d hit his chin in her bare feet. His bald head gleamed, his jaw clean-shaven. She could see the tattoo that circled his biceps and her fingers itched to trace the design. In his hand he held a daffodil.

My favorite flower. How did he know? Tabby smiled, knowing it was trembling. “For me?”

He held it out, a smile on his full lips. “Hello, Tabby.”

“Thank you.” She reached for the daffodil.

He coughed. “I’ll take those.” He reached over and removed the condoms from her hand, grinning at her embarrassed squawk. “It’s okay, honey. I’m just glad one of us is, um, prepared.” He eyed the condoms. “Very prepared.” He unrolled them, one eyebrow rising in disbelief. “And optimistic.”

Glory was practically doubled over with laughter. Tabby’s face was beet red. She snatched the condoms back with her free hand, snarling as one got left behind in his big paw. She could hear Cyn snuffling and snorting behind her and just knew they were practically choking on their laughter.

She turned to her two roommates with a smile. “Don’t make me forget I’m housebroken.” They stopped, but from the way they were clinging together Tabby figured it was only a matter of time before one of them broke again. She turned back to her new mate. “And you, whose name I don’t even know.” She smiled at Mr. Chocolate. “Thank you for the flower. My name’s Tabitha Garwood.”

Mr. Sin held out his paw, the condom miraculously gone. “Bunny.” She wondered if he’d dropped it or shoved it into his pocket for later.
Wait. “Bunny,” she repeated carefully.

“Alexander Bunsun, but everyone calls me Bunny.” He grinned.

She sniffed. Nope, his scent is definitely Bear.

“Are you laughing at my name?” Bunny’s hands went to his hips but she could tell he wasn’t pissed by the way his lips quirked up.

She blinked. “Yes.”

He coughed but she could tell he was trying not to laugh. “Dinner?” He held out his arm.

She gave him her sweetest smile and took it. “Yes.”

“Hold on.” Glory stopped them by placing her hand on Bunny’s arm, her expression worried. For all that Glory liked to flirt like mad when it came down to actual dating she could be a real worry-wart.

Bunny chucked her under the chin. “I’ll take care of her. My word on it.”

Glory studied him, and Bunny stood still, allowing her intense scrutiny. Glory relaxed and nodded, looking relieved. Tabby wasn’t sure she felt the same.

***

Something tells me Bunny is going to the top five on my Favorite Hero list just for that scene alone.

No word yet on Shadow of the Wolf's release date, but I'm expecting final line edits any day now. Liquid Silver Books sets the release date after final editing is done, so I should have something for you by Thanksgiving.

Only In My Dreams is out November 10th! The last Halle Puma book! Muahaha! (Okay, maybe not the last of the shifter novellas. Ben and Dave look like they might be a novella rather than full length, but I've had stories fool me before so I'm not holding my breath.) Also during November is NaNoWriMo, which I signed up for. I'll be working on Noble Blood, Book 2 of The Gray Court and a M/M/F menage. I think. So far it's leaning that way, but Duncan and Jaden might surprise me and refuse to touch bits. We'll have to see.

So that's it for my updates for now. You'll see this silly little bean like cartoon at the top of my blog that has my NaNo word count on it. Right now he's sleeping, since I'm not working on that project yet. And if you're not signed up for my newsletter that will be coming on Sunday, November first. I'll talk about my on-line appearances for November, give you the Hottie of the Month and any further news I've got like what I'm going to be doing at RT in April.

Now off to grind the meat...

It Wasn't Supposed To Rain Today!

2009-10-27T08:34:00.003-04:00

ARGH! I got up this morning barely able to walk thanks to the sudden rain. I check the forecast every night before I go to bed, and last night? No rain mentioned until Wednesday. I get up this morning and BAM! Arthritis is killing me. So all the stuff I needed to do today is on hold while I try and get a handle on this. Grr.

Luckily I finished Bunny's rough draft yesterday. If taking today off means I have to do some editing this weekend so be it. The medicine I take for bad days like today can sometimes make me sleepy, and editing with your nose on the keyboard and fuzzy vision isn't such a great way to make a good story. What's most annoying is I JUST got over a head cold. It's frustrating when the mind wants to go but the body won't cooperate. Blech.

Anyway, hopefully the rain will ease up and so will my body. If not, I'll be playing hide and seek for the rest of the day. So for those of you who miss me, remember two things: Today is release day for a lot of publishers out there and rainy days are great days to read a book; and TA Chase's blog story should be updating today. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with his work he writes M/M, so if that's not your thing I suggest skipping it. If it IS something you enjoy... what are you waiting for?)

Bunny Is Done!

2009-10-26T14:31:00.003-04:00

And in the Meat Grinder. I hit the 66k mark today when I finished the rough draft, so I'm pretty sure it will hit the 70k mark once finished. I plan on polishing it for the next four days and then sending it off to my beta readers for a final finish. So everyone who has been waiting for Bunny and Tabby, we're finally at first base! (Home plate being release day, of course!)

Then... NOBLE BLOOD! Menage time! Duncan, Moira and Jaden, here I come! Here's the quickie blurb I came up with for Noble Blood:

Duncan Malmayne has found his future wife, the lovely half-leprechaun, half-sidhe Moira Dunne. He whisks her away from her family, ready to claim the woman who will make his life complete. There's only one small problem: she's been blood-bonded to his vampire.

Jaden Blackthorne loves Duncan Malmayne more than almost anyone. The only person who touches his heart even more is Moira. Her strength impresses him even as her loyalty humbles him. He'd do anything to see the two people he loves most happy. Even leave, knowing it will slowly tear him apart.

And Moira? She's not having any of it. Her two men are sulking, hiding from each other. The lovely leprechaun is going to put her foot down. And when an earth sprite puts her foot down, it really shakes things up...

This will be my NaNoWriMo project!

Honey, I'm Dead.

2009-10-23T13:01:00.002-04:00

Okay, not really. But it seems I picked up a little bug out there in the tropics, possibly because the tropics weren't very tropical. I have the head cold from hell, and I've had it since Wednesday. My word count has pretty much sucked ass this whole week, but I've made myself get in front of the computer and put at least a thousand words to paper everyday.

The result? The rough draft of Bear Necessities has crossed the 60k mark and there are at least two more scenes to write before the meat grinder next week. The Big Fight Scene is done, and all that's left are the Questions/Explanations and Lovin' Aftermath scenes. That should put me just over 65k before the Meat Grinder, in which I fully expect to add another two to five thousand words. This might hit 70k before I'm done, but I'm not going to hold my breath. I need every one I can suck in through my stuffed nose right now, thank you very much.

If you don't hear from me this weekend it means I'm in a Nyquil-induced coma, happily dreaming of Bears in love.

Honey, I'm HO-OME!

2009-10-20T08:29:00.013-04:00

Yup. I got Dusty to wear the t-shirt in the Bahamas. He got stopped so many times. People wanted to know how he benefited. For those who can't quite read what it says: My wife writes romance novels. I benefit. Big time. (P.S.: The lady in the picture is his mom, but I forgot to ask if it was okay to post her picture. Hence the blue sunshine smiley over her face.)

The first thing we noticed about the cruise ship was how beautiful it was.

The second thing we noticed was the size of our cabin.

Yup. Four people, two under the age of eighteen, in that room for three nights. We spent very little time in there, thank God. I won't even go into the size of the "bathroom", or how I had to sit sideways on the bed to do my makeup in the "bedside" mirror. But it was clean, and quiet, so I can't complain too much. I just wish we'd known exactly how small the rooms would be. We might have upgraded rather than going with this. Getting the scooter in and out was an exercise all by itself.

So we left our tiny cabin and went exploring. Guess what the first thing my family found was?

Yup. The video arcade. Le sigh. M wanted the pool, R wanted the video games. R won, and M had to wait to go swimming. M was not happy. M took it out on the poor, defenseless dirt bike riders in the virtual world. Poor virtual people. How many times can you be run over by a five year old before you give up and cry like a little girl?

But we eventually made M happy.

Night-time swims will do that to you. He collapsed soon after into an exhausted little heap, wet, happy and clutching his stuffed puppy. R on the other hand had to have his PSP taken away before HE'D go to sleep.

That let us know we needed to try harder. Heh.

Day two of the cruise: NASSAU!

Yup, sunny, hot Nassau. Which, by the way, was NOT designed with mobility scooters in mind. I didn't take a picture of the "handicapped-accessible" curbs. I was too busy cursing the fact that I couldn't get up them. That kind of curtailed our enjoyment of Nassau. But what I saw was beautiful. A tip for those of you like me who are mobility challenged? Try some of the tours where you ride a boat or a bus for most of it. Don't try and sight-see on your own unless you're in a wheelchair with tall wheels and a nice burly guy to help you on and off the sidewalks.

We skipped the beach in Nassau thinking we'd hit it in Cocoa Cay the following day. After all, it was the Bahamas, right? Beautiful sunny and hot are like synonyms for the tropics. So we hit the pool for a little while before I left to get my hair done for the formal dinner with the family. Which, unfortunately, I don't have a picture of yet. I need to scan it in after I unpack. We had a lot of fun, met family Dusty hadn't seen in a while and I'd never met, and afterwards took the kids back to the pool. Once again the PSP had to be removed from ten year old hands before sleep took place.

Maybe he'd sleep after a day on the beach, right?

Last day of the cruise! We head to breakfast, eager to bury ourselves in warm sand and swim in turquoise oceans. This image didn't bother us too much.*

After all, sunny, Bahamas, beach. Then the couple next to us told us that the trip to Cocoa Cay was canceled due to the weather. Apparently they use a ferry to get you on and off the island and the seas were too choppy to allow the ferry to safely meet the cruise ship. We were handed a modified "ship compass", a sort of what's-happening-today outline. The boys were disappointed. As R pointed out he really wanted to bury M in the sand. And M really wanted to be buried. We quickly headed off a meltdown by offering a day by the pool. The boys agreed and we hit the pool deck, ready to enjoy our day.

And the pool deck hit back.

Sunny my very large tushie. I thought I left October behind but, damn it, it found me. I'm pretty sure it was between fifty and sixty degrees after wind chill, and the wind was fierce. If not for a quick grab my new red hat would have become a dolphin's latest fashion accessory. But the kids wanted to swim. Insisted on it, in fact. So we compromised. We'd allow them one hour, then back to the cabin for warm, dry clothes. So I parked my behind in a lounge chair, covered my bathing-suit clad self in a long towel and tried not to shiver too much. People in jackets and long pants walked by and stared at the crazy people in the pool, two of which were my children.

The beach picture I promised you? This is pretty much it.

After five minutes M decided it was too damn cold and hit the hot tub for the remainder of the hour. Much more stubborn, R pretended he was a polar bear until his tummy started to hurt. Then he, too, hit the hot tub. Of course, after five minutes he decided he felt better and got back in the freezing water. Gah. We dragged them out as soon as the hour was up. We then forced them to go to the children's play area of the ship, where we dropped them off for a few hours of supervised fun while we hit the casino (I still can't win at slots, damn it) and Dusty headed off for a relaxing massage. Dinner that evening was fairly informal. I somehow wound up at a table full of men. Not that I'm complaining, but most of them were either jail-bait or just past jail-bait. It wasn't a big deal, since I have nephews who range from eighteen to two years old. I know how to talk to boys. ;D

Unfortunately my back was beginning to make its presence felt. Forcing the scooter up and down ramps with my legs and my back, plus standing around in heels for family pictures during the formal dinner was taking its toll. I took a Tylenol with Codeine because I realized I might not be able to walk back to the cabin without it. Then I ordered the tiramisu for dessert without reading all the ingredients.

Did you know they soak the ladyfingers in Kahlua on that ship? I didn't. I had to be dragged back to the cabin. I still couldn't walk but really? I didn't care. Dusty took the kids back to the kids' area where they did some kind of pirate thing. He went to visit his family once they were signed in.

I went to sleep. It was a happy sleep, until The Dread Pirate M got back to the cabin and landed on my butt.

The next morning arrived way to early. We were told the night before that our call number is Lavendar Two, and we have the luggage tags to prove it. After breakfast (which is from six a.m. to eight a.m. this time) we are to go to a lounge and wait for our call.

We missed breakfast. We got there at eight fifteen, by which time they'd already called our number. The crew sighed and shook their heads at us when we told them we hadn't heard any announcement in our cabin. "That's because we don't do ship-wide announcements anymore," explained one crew member. Apparently everyone would respond rather than just the ones they wanted and that created chaos. So instead they wander through the lounges holding up a card that has the different colors on it and yell for you.

Yeah. That works. Not.

Off the ship, through customs, on the dock and damn it's cold out! Florida isn't supposed to go below seventy, damn it! I'm shivering in a maxi-dress and a shawl, and my kids are huddling together for warmth. Off to the airport earlier than we'd planned since they pretty much boot your ass off the ship with a smile and a fond farewell, and did you know you can't check your luggage in more than four hours before your flight? Home sweet home, order pizza because no way in hell am I cooking, and sleepy-bye for this tired, sore writer.

And we didn't give R the PSP either. He slept like a baby.

*P.S.: Ignore the date/time stamp. I didn't realize it was screwed up until I looked at the pictures. Some have the right day and time, some don't.

Last Call Before Boarding!

2009-10-14T13:04:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow I leave for sunny Florida. I leave behind my Bunny, knowing he's in good hands. The big confrontation scene is coming up next, followed by some luvin' and some reveals. I'm thinking Bunny may shatter the 60k mark by the end of the Meat Grinder. I'm not sure how close he'll come to 70k, I just know I'm nearly at 60k and his story isn't over yet. But he WILL be done before NaNoWriMo hits, I know that for sure.

I'll be without internet, computer or phone for (Friday, Saturday, Sun... gah!) FOUR DAYS. All I'll have is my PDA and my camera (the phone part of my PDA won't really work at sea unless I sign over any future grandchildren to the tenth generation or pay a really hefty fee).

So if anyone needs anything now is the time to get a hold of me.

To tide you over while I'm gone, here's a sneak peek at Bear Necessities:

(Inspiration photo for Tabitha Garwood, heroine of Bear Necessities)

Oh shit. Oh, fucking shit. Tabby waited as Glory rinsed her hair out. My mate is out there. My mate. What’s even weirder? My mate is a Bear. And I have orange roots.

She was damn near hyperventilating. When she’d called dibs on the dude little did she know she’d actually get him! And now she was going to wind up meeting him for the first time with orange roots. She was going to look like a half melted Skittle. She grabbed Glory’s arm. “Y’all tell him I’m dead. Please?”

Glory grinned. “What is wrong with you?”

“Remember the whole woof woof thing?”

“Yeah.”

“That guy out there?”

Glory’s eyes widened. “He’s a woof woof too?”

“Er, no. More like grrr grrr.”

Glory blinked.

Tabby shook her head. “Never mind. That whole werewolf mate thing in romance novels?”

Glory’s mouth did that really wide “O” thing. “Really? He’s your mate?”

“Yes! And I am having serious hair issues.” She put on her best pleading look. “So, tell him I’ve been killed in a horrible vegetable dye accident.”

“Tabby!”

She held up her hands in mock-prayer. “Pleeeease?” She blinked, trying to look desperate. Hell, she probably did look desperate.

“Excuse me.”

Tabby quivered. That deep, rich voice rolled over her, making her think of wicked things involving dark melted chocolate and lit candles. “No customers allowed in the back room!”

Glory, bless her heart, threw a towel over her face, hiding her hair. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait out front.” Of course, now the towel was soaking up the still running water. She was going to be drowned by a towel.

“Is everything all right in here?” The man’s voice was pure sin, deep and slightly gravelly. “Why is her head covered in a towel?”

“Please. Tabby will… be a while.” She could hear Glory clap her hands and tugged on her shirt, desperate to have the water turned off. “Why don’t you hit one of the diners in the area for lunch? Maybe do a little shopping? Um, oh! Frank’s Diner has the best burgers in town!” Finally someone turned the faucet off saving her from a watery grave. She could just see the obituary: Woman Drowns In Towel.

There was a deep, happy sigh. “All right, if… Tabby, was it? Will be more comfortable. When can I return?”

“Uh…” Glory was obviously at a loss. Cyn was the one who usually took care of Tabby’s hair.

“Try around seven.” Cyn sounded amused, the bitch. “You can take her out to dinner. In fact, Tabby has the rest of the night off.”

I do?

“But she has to be back in to work by two tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and the lady loves steak.” Tabby groaned behind her towel. That’s an understatement. “Glory, see to it he has our address, okay?”

“But–”

“Trust me, just do it.”

“Okay, boss.” The curtain swished, but the scent of Bear remained. Glory must have stepped through the curtain.

“Ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you.” The curtain swished again. The Bear was gone.

“Oh honey. You are so screwed. Literally.”

“Cyn.”

The towel was whisked off her head. Glory bunched it up, wringing the water out over Tabby’s face. “You always were a greedy bitch. I should get Cyn to leave you with orange roots.”

Tabby sputtered and wiped the water away from her eyes. “Don’t worry, Glory. Some day your prince will come.”

Glory blinked her big blue eyes, trying to look innocent. Tabby had seen that look more than once just before something outrageous came out of Glory’s mouth. “God, I hope so. What would be the point otherwise?”

Cyn started laughing.

Tabby shook her head. “You are so bad.”

Glory smiled her sweet, happy smile. “I know.”

Have a good weekend and I'll talk to you all on Tuesday!

Bunny Watch

2009-10-12T16:12:00.003-04:00

I'm getting close to finishing the rough draft of Bear Necessities. I have roughly 11k to go before it should be complete. I know the next three scenes, and I'll be working on them a little tomorrow and Wednesday.

Thursday I'll be at the airport no later than eight a.m. We leave for Florida that day, ready to spend some time with Dusty's family. When we get back I'll finish the rough draft, send it through the Meat Grinder and fire it off to my beta readers. We're approaching the finish line on the first full length Halle novel! WOOT!

P.S.: I found out today that my free Halloween read, Little Red, will be available the day I leave. *headdesk* I won't have access to my computer the entire time I'm gone so I won't be able to leave you a link to it. Look for it at The Samhellion, and I promise I'll post a link the day I get back!

New Video! Only In My Dreams!

2009-10-10T15:25:00.000-04:00

All Romance eBooks and the Aldiko Application

2009-10-09T11:16:00.002-04:00

This is for those of you who use an Android smartphone (which isn't me, btw; my smartphone is Windows Mobile based):

All Romance eBooks (ARe) has partnered with Aldiko to make their eBook catalog available to Google's Android-powered mobile phones.
Palm Harbor, FL (PRWEB) Octobe r 8, 2009 – Readers will now be able to browse, search and seamlessly download more than 10,000 http://www.allromanceebooks.com [eBooks], including free reads, to their Android phones directly from ARe without a computer, cable or subscription using the Aldiko application.
With the Aldiko app readers can easily browse ARe's extensive online book catalog, read detailed descriptions and book reviews, and quickly find the books they are looking for using a powerful search tool right on their Smartphone. They can organize their purchases by criteria such as title, author, or subject, edit detail information, tag, bookmark and search—all on a fully customizable display. New features include a full text search that allows readers to find words g! lobally within the book, and a look up feature, which lets users search for a word in the dictionary, Wikipedia, or on Google.
"Readers love the convenience of being able to download ARe's eBooks anytime, anywhere," said Julie Cummings, ARe's manager of Publicity and Marketing. "Earlier this year we launched an iPhone compatible catalog and it's been hugely popular with our consumers who use ATT. We're really excited to now bring that same service to customers who use other cellular carriers," Cummings added.
"Our mission at Aldiko is to provide an open platform where users can discover, access, read and manage a wide variety of digital publications instantly and seamlessly" said Tiffany Wong, co-founder of Aldiko. "The partnership with ARe will help us offer the best and broadest selection of titles to our users."
Aldiko is available worldwide and is free on the Android Market as well as available as a paid premium app for Android open platform phones. To learn more visit Aldiko at http://www.aldiko.com and Android at http://www.android.com.
All Romance eBooks, LLC was founded in 2006, is privately held in partne! rship, and headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. The company owns All Romance, which specializes in the sale of romance eBooks and OmniLit, which sells both fiction and non-fiction eBooks.
Aldiko Limited was founded in 2009. The company has developed an ebook reader application, "Aldiko Book Reader" for use on Android-powered devices. . With Aldiko, users can build and organize their digital library, read on the go and wirelessly browse and download from a broad range of digital publications right on their Android-powered devices.

I love smartphones because of their versatility. My PDA, calendar, phone and ebook reader all on one palm-sized device. How can you go wrong with that? I even make notes on possible book titles. I jot down story ideas I get when I'm in the grocery store. Heck, the entire plot of Only In My Dreams was written down on my smartphone's Notepad at five-thirty in the morning because I didn't want to wake the household by going down to my computer. So yeah, I love smartphones and am always happy to see more apps and more ways to make them even better, especially for those of us who use them as our ebook readers. So enjoy!

Who Knew?

2009-10-07T09:00:00.003-04:00

That getting ready for a cruise could be such a pain in the hiney?

I spent most of yesterday doing the "pre-boarding" check-in that has to be done prior to three days before the cruise, picking drink and food packages, double-checking that, no, my scooter will NOT be a problem for the cruise line and making sure that any land-sea excursions, which cost more than the birth of my firstborn by the way, are all lined up and accessible by wheelchair.

Pantpantpantpant.

I think I did more paperwork for a four day vacation than I did for the mortgage on my house.

The cruise we're taking is a family reunion on Dusty's side, so we're also making sure that we don't forget to meet and greet there as well. And thank God I bought a back-up dress for the formal reunion dinner. The one I originally planned to wear needs some alterations and I just don't have time to go get them done. (I can't sew. I'm about as crafty as a doberman pinscher.) Suits had to be bought for little boy bodies and one man body, causing much moaning and groaning in the Bell household. But the major indignity the poor males in the house had to suffer through?

Shoe shopping. Yup, none of them had dress shoes. I've heard less complaining at my local Pathmark ("What do you mean you only have on cashier on a Saturday?"). At this point I'd happily trade the paperwork for the shoe shopping.

Whaddya say, sweetheart? Want to trade?

Anyway, I'll be without internet from October 15 through the 19th. Despite my grumbling about the paperwork I'm really looking forward to this. It's two firsts for me: I've never been on a cruise and I've never been to the Bahamas. I'll make sure I take lots of pictures to post so you can see my pasty self under a palm tree. I figure with my pale skin I'll be bright red in about .3 seconds!

Win an ARC of Only In My Dreams!

2009-10-03T08:40:00.003-04:00

Want to win an ARC of Only In My Dreams, Halle Pumas Book 5? Simply click here, fill out the form with your email address and the electronic format you'd like to receive the book in and you'll be entered to win! The contest ends November 9th, when I'll post the winner here on my blog, my MySpace blog and on my website.

Good luck!

An Interview and Contest with The Blackraven Erotic Cafe!

2009-09-30T08:18:00.004-04:00

Today I've been interviewed by The Blackraven Erotic Cafe! You can find out how I know that kids really DO lower your IQ, how I keep all those series straight in my head and what methods I used to try and escape Catholic school. I'll also be giving away a book, so comment or ask a question for a chance to win!

NOW Banned Books Week Starts!

2009-09-27T11:11:00.004-04:00

Yesterday kicked off Banned Books Week at the Samhain Cafe. Whether you agree or not with the premise behind it, everyone can agree with free books, right?

The Samhain Cafe will be partying from Saturday Sept. 26th, to Saturday, Oct. 3rd. Authors will be giving away books; Samhain Publishing will be giving away books. So make sure you check in during the week and comment for prizes!

P.S.: To see a just some of the books people have tried to have banned from schools and public libraries for various reasons, click on the picture above.

P.P.S.: Charlotte's Web? Winnie The Pooh? Seriously?

Decisions, Decisions

2009-09-24T07:58:00.004-04:00

Today the migraine is at the "Okay, I don't hate hate you anymore" stage, which means I can go into the refrigerator for some iced tea without iron spikes jabbing into my eyeballs. I still can't leave the house, though, so for the third day in a row SuperDad is taking the kids to the bus stop. (I say SuperDad because he's doing it without caffeine.)

Now I have to decide if my brain will let me work or not. Bunny is starting to chatter again and I really need to work on him. If I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo in November I have from now until the end of October to finish, polish, polish, polish. And in mid-October I'm going on a family-reunion type cruise with Dusty's mother's folks, so that will cut some time into the writing.

Huh. I was going to say maybe I'll take a stab at it, but all things considered that's a bad thing to say. I think, instead, I'll ease into it. I'll try some editing, see if my head explodes or not. If you're on the Eastern seaboard and you hear a kaboom, don't worry, it's just me.

Update from SuperDad: Apparently M decided to crawl around on all fours at the bus stop, baaa'ing and pretending to be a sheep. He would then stop and stare at the other kids because, well, he was an evil sheep. *headdesk*

Migraining

2009-09-22T07:37:00.002-04:00

Have a migraine today so I won't be around much. Blech. Hopefully the meds will kill it before tomorrow. Have a Happy Tuesday!

Part-Ay!

2009-09-19T09:37:00.003-04:00

Next week kicks off Banned Books Week at the Samhain Cafe. Whether you agree or not with the premise behind it, everyone can agree with free books, right?

The Samhain Cafe will be partying from today, Saturday Sept. 26th, to Saturday, Oct. 3rd. Authors will be giving away books; Samhain Publishing will be giving away books. So even if you can't stop in today for my chat from noon - 1:30 (EST) make sure you check in during the week!

Note to self: Do not post before caffeine has kicked in because apparently I have the IQ of a gnat. Banned book week does NOT start today, but the 26th. And today is not the 26th. It's the 19th.

Still, I'll be chatting today from 12 - 1:30 and giving away a book, as promised. Just because I'm a dork doesn't mean you have to suffer.

Two Things...

2009-09-16T08:51:00.004-04:00

One, I'm taking today off. I think even my toenails hurt. I'll be checking my email periodically but that's about it.

It's official. I am sick to death of rain.

The other thing is the Writeminded Blog Giveaway:

Starting Monday it’s going to get crazy around here. All day every day for the entire week and a few days into the next week as well! I’m going to give away lots and lots of ebooks. There’ll be a few other really cool prizes too so be sure to come hang out with us.

I thought I’d get all the fine print stuff out the way now and explain how it’s all going to work :)

There’ll be at least four prize posts per day. The ebook giveaways will each contain five ebooks. We’re going to post the covers and the blurbs with links to the author’s website, to an excerpt and of course the purchase link.

We have over ONE HUNDRED ebooks to give away weeee! How cool is that?

For more details and to see the ebooks being given away you'll need to check out their blog. Every day they're adding more books! Good luck!

Sully's Sweet

2009-09-15T14:07:00.004-04:00

Has been submitted to Liquid Silver Books! I finally got it the way I wanted it. I wound up adding 6k words yesterday (and doesn't my hand just love me for that one!) to get it done in time.

Tomorrow I break Bunny out of the hoosegow and get back to work on him and Tabby. I'm roughly a third of the way done on Bear Necessities and I hope to have it completely done before the end of October. Preferably sooner. OH! And next month you'll see a free story by me, a Halloween themed one called Little Red. Rick and Belle throw a Halloween party at the lodge! I'm not sure when it will be available but it will be hosted by The Samhellion. I'll let you know more when I have more details.

I'm taking the rest of the day off. My hand feels like it's been through the meat grinder, but it was worth it!