Vixenwriter

I didn’t get to pick a winner last night because we went over time and we were all so chatty no one noticed until everyone had to leave, LOL!

So - I did a random drawing of everyone at the chat and the winner of a download of either my, Anya or Megan’s books (winner’s choice) is:

Caity_Mack!

Email me doll, with your title and format choice and I’ll get it your way!

Tonight at 5:30 pacific/8:30 eastern in the Maverick Authors Chatroom! Please join me, Anya Bast and Megan Hart for an hour or so - hang out, chat, maybe win something.

Let’s see - Oh, this week I decided to go to Lori Foster’s Reader and Author get together in June. I’ve never been to Ohio (aren’t I lame?) and I wanted to go last year but couldn’t. Anya and I are going to go. I wish Megan could make it too but she’s going to BEA that weekend, sigh. Still, I’m hoping to stop by the EC warehouse and sign stock and meet people I haven’t met yet.

I ordered this gorgeous dress for RT and it came yesterday. Oh I love it so!

It fits perfectly but I’m gonna have to watch my calories from now until April because this dress will show it, LOL. I can wear it with the shoes I bought a few weekends back. I love it when my frivilous purchases all come together into something useful!

I have bookplates now, by the way. If anyone wants one, drop me an email

Oh and I don’t really watch American Idol but I’ve seen a few of the auditions that critics are complaining about - I just want to say that I have a really difficult time believing that these people are as clueless as we’re supposed to believe. In the first place, the audition process is like several days long. Totally clueless people who’ve never heard of American Idol are going to go to a stadium, wait all day to get a number, audition, and come back to wait in line for another 12 hours when they don’t know what American Idol is? Yes, it looks awful, but it always does - they’re always critical and every year people complain but um, hello, people wait in line for days to have it happen so where does the responsibility lie on the contestants? Sorry, I just get agitated with this kind of thing when people never take responsibility for themselves. It’s not like even people who rarely watch, or even don’t at all, haven’t heard about Simon’s commentary.

Ahh, I feel better now. Which is good because I have a lot of work to do.

Oh! Congratulations to all the folks who received RT nominations this week! Way to go everyone and good luck.

I didn’t do this last week because I was ill.

Over the last few weeks I’ve read (and I bought):

Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton.

I talked about this one a little bit when I finished it. It was my first book of 2007 and it’s nice to start the year off with something as good as this.

It’s a paranormal romance with lots of action and adventure in it but I’m also glad to say it’s got Jaci’s great chemistry in it. Gina is a kick ass heroine who’s actually kickass (instead of the more usual case where we’re told the heroine is kickass and alas, that proves untrue). The hero is protective and alpha but not an ass and her worldbuilding and the mythological structure around the demons is clever and unique.

I’m not surprised SDI is a good book, but I’m pleased it was even better than I’d expected and I can’t wait until the next installment.

She’s No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren

I’ve been a fan of Christine’s books since I read her Fixed series at Ellora’s Cave a few years back and I was so pleased when I heard she’d sold to NY. I was also happy to see some characters from her Fixed series featured. HOWEVER, even if I hadn’t read the prior books, it wouldn’t have mattered, she gave enough backstory and didn’t feature them in a way that would have confused you if you haven’t read her Fixed books (although you should really read Fur Fixed with Graham and Missy - my favorite of the series at EC)

Fiona is a total pain in the ass but she’s likeable too. I enjoyed reading about her character and I really loved the scenes with her pixie and imp.

And Tobias - well, one of the reasons I love to read about werewolves (done right) is how very alpha and protective they can be. I thought warren hit the right balance here. He’s sexy and strong and smart and you know he’s going to fall for Fiona in a big way but I thought the way they came together was believable (it is paranormal romance).

I liked the magic and the world she’s built and the chemistry was HOT! I wish there were more books about the Fae out there but in the mean time, check this one out.

I ordered some Bare Escentuals for my face today. I’ve been wondering about it for a while, liquid foundation clogs my pores and it’s a pain to put on and I have sensitive skin so the cream foundation won’t work because it’s too dry. I did buy this other stuff from Neutragena which I like but it doesn’t provide as much coverage as I’d wish. It’s good to do before I run to the grocery store or something but if it want to do the full makeup thing it’s not enough.

Anyway, Angie was raving about the BE mineral foundation a while back and it’s been on my mind to try it. So I was looking at Sephora today and saw it and bought some. So it’s also Angie’s fault that I picked up a few other things as well because, well, I need someone to blame. I will however, give her all the credit if it turns out as fabulous as she says it is, LOL.

Oh and I suppose I’d better assure you all I bought the products myself so the FTC doesn’t come after me.

Anyway, it’s date night with me and the dude. We’ve got a bunch of movies to watch and return before we become outlaws at the local video store (is it video store anymore or DVD store or just movie rental?)

I’ll be back in a bit to talk about the books I’ve read recently…

Last night’s chat was really fun. Thanks to everyone who came by to spend a really busy hour or so with us and a special thank you to Crissy and Angie who fielded loads of questions about Samhain!

Finished my proposal for The Others and got to to my agent so it’s on her to do list now, LOL! I also got a submission to my editor and now I have the luxury of choosing what to do next from a list of pressing things. I started thinking about Making Chase today which is nice because I love Matt Chase. I think I saved him for last for a reason, LOL.

Ascension is now turned in to final so I should be hearing back soon on a release date soon.

I went to pick my son up but he didn’t show up. I tried to go inside but all the exterior doors were locked so I had to trudge through the snow to find a door to get inside. I check with his teacher, he’s not there, it’s music class Wednesday. Where do I find him? Playing in the mirror with his buddies. Apparently there was play rehearsal today that had been resecheduled. But school has been out since late last week with the snow so I didn’t know. Grr. He’s going to be a Boxer in the 101 Dalmations musical at his school. He’s excited after a brief disappointment when he found out he wasn’t going to be a dalmatian. We looked at Boxers on the web and he perked right up. I love that he’s so easy to please (unlike his sister who is working my last, tired nerve over and over again)

My pens came today! They’re sooo pretty!!

Now I’m babbling and I need to get dinner together…

Hey all, I forgot to mention that I’ll be at Novelspotters from 1 - 2 pacific/4 - 5 eastern talking about my Chase Brothers books! Come on over and say hey!

More freaking snow! I tell you, I am DONE with snow. I want my mild Northwest winter back please. And I want my children back in school.

I’m halfway done with my synopsis for The Others. I hate writing synopsis but as I was just discussing with Anya that writing them helps me see the book like a machine. Helps me focus in on what’s truly important and how to work those elements and forget about the little stuff. It also helps me get focused on the story pacing. These are things I don’t see with such ease when I’m pantsing it. But when I’m pantsing, I’m more open and the story can sneak up on me. I like that.

There are plusses to both approaches I think and as I go on, I learn more and can use more tools to write better books, which certainly doesn’t hurt!

Anyway, I want to be done with this synopsis so I can clear the partial out of my computer and get it to my agent. I know Chased edits will be hitting soon and Threat of Darkness edits are due tomorrow and FLE will be coming for Ascension too. All sorts of stuff! I need to get to Wolf Unbound as well and also write a proposal for the next Spice anthology and do my edits on Stripped and write Making Chase all very soon.

I hope to see you at the chat tonight!

Please join me, TJ Michaels and Shelley Munro for our January Dynamic Trio chat. Tomorrow night we’ll be starting up at 9 eastern/6 pacific in the Maverick Authors chatroom

Samhain Publishing’s own Chrissy Brashear will be our guest for the first 30 - 45 minutes of the chat so if you have questions about publishing or Samhain in particular, head on over!