By anniversary I mean the date my very first book came out – May 11, 2005 – Triad from Ellora’s Cave.

Three years has brought me a lot of wonderful writerly moments I have to say. In that time I’ve contracted thirty novels and novellas. I’ve written for multiple publishers and have developed some wonderful working relationships with my editors. I’ve met a lot of fabulous authors and readers. I’ve signed on with an agent, been rejected a lot and have sold to New York (including my dream house, Berkley!) I’ve had lovely reviews that have made me cry, I’ve had (less thankfully) some not so lovely reviews too.

Every day when I turn on my computer, at some point I’m struck with just how very blessed I am to be living this dream. I get to write books! There are times when I read back over something and I’m so proud of it, other times when I read over those early books and I think, “ouch, look at those comma splices!”

Above all, I continue to be amazed by the support I get from my readers, who are so wonderful and have so much to say about romance and reading and are just totally class acts. I don’t believe there is an author reader divide. I think there are those authors and readers who get into it but overwhelmingly, the romance community both readers and authors, are healthy and supportive and appreciate each other. Thank you for that – thank you for being there with me each step, for supporting me and reading my books, thank you for the advice and the cheers and just for being there!

I hope to be here in another three years and three years after that and then again after that. I’m in this for the long haul!

1. I just sold a contemporary romance called Always to Samhain. Always will be out in April of 09!

2. I finished Fated and sent it to Angie last night!

3. I now have a title for notFallen – Relentless.

4. I’m totally pleased with the title change.

5. Laura Bradford pitched two projects for me in the last seven days

6. It’s a totally gorgeous day today

7. So I can send my kids outside when they get home from school

8. Chinese dumplings/potstickers. They’re like happiness in a little doughy pouch.

9. I got all my words done for the Sven Challenge (and there was a time when I wondered if I would)

10. Copy edits for Undercover arrived and at first glance they scared me but upon closer examination they’re not that bad

11. My husband finally gave in to my nagging and we’ll be getting a new couch

12. Frauke designed AWESOME postcards for me for Taking Care of Business!

13. Writing continues to make me happy and it challenges me but I’m finding after some struggles I can push myself to try new things (and they seem successful)

Bonus 14 – Love is love.

(as always, cupcakes, my husband, Gerard Butler and Clive Owen are on the list. Heh)

Yesterday the UPS truck pulled up to my door and my totally handsome UPS delivery guy brought six boxes to my doorstep. Two of those boxes contained postcards I recently had made for the Vegas release and also for Undercover. Another one contained new business cards – all this designed for me by Frauke who is wonderful and fabulous.

Two more contained my author copies of What Happens in Vegas which I carefully opened and then stood there, just staring at the books within. They’re a good weight. I love the cover very much. I flipped through, loving the little scene break icons (nifty little vegas styled card icons) and then i read my acknowledgements and I started to cry.

This book sold at a time when I was really low. I was really beginning to wonder if I’d ever break into New York and it got me through in a way I can’t even think about right now without crying. I’m not used to not being confident about my work. I was raised to believe if you worked your hardest at something you’d succeed. The publishing industry doesn’t always work that way. It certainly takes hard work, but it’s not enough. Waiting is really hard and it can kill your confidence.

So when I picked it up and held it, I did so knowing that the sweet feeling belonged to more than just me. It belongs to my husband. Ray. He’s my best friend and my number one fan. He has supported my work without fail. It belongs to my agent and friend Laura Bradford who has been there for me, flogging the hell out of my books to editors for going on two years now. When she called me to tell me about my Berkley deal she didn’t miss a beat when I started to cry. She’s awesome and I love her. It belongs to my parents who raised me to know everything is possible (and my mom who harasses people in bookstores to buy my books!). It belongs to my readers who have supported me continuously across publishers – Renee and Tracy who’ve beta read for me countless times. It goes to a lot of people because none of us does this alone. Ann Leveille at Ellora’s Cave and Angie James at Samhain who’ve been such fabulous editors they’ve both helped me become a better writer with each book. Megan Hart and Anya Bast who’ve been my homegirls for a number of years now who have read my stuff and critted it and who have just been the kinds of people I can trust to never bullshit me.

Anyway, I’m being sort of schmoopy but I never, ever want to be that person. You know the one who tells everyone she’s the master of her genre or the best mother in the world or whatever. Because I’m not here solely on my own merits. I’m here because of the support and efforts of those people around me.

Thank you, all of you, for helping me make my dreams come true.

1. My husband. I can’t say this enough because he’s just the best person in the world. He’s intelligent, compassionate, loving, passionate, funny, a great dad, supportive, a rockstar between the sheets and just an all around fabulous person. We’re going into our 22nd year together and we’ve faced some major challenges and thank goodness we continue to make it through.

2. My Kids. Three more unruly, wild and unmanageable people I’ve never met. They’re a challenge every day. But they’re also amazing and I love them more than I can articulate.

3. My parents. They’re good, solid, kind people who are wonderful parents and really excellent grandparents. I’m forever grateful to them for being such good parents. They’re a great example of how you can be individuals but still place parenting as a priority. Not all parents are like that. I’ve never heard my mom make an excuse or blame her behavior on anyone else. My dad came into my life when I was 4 and he’s consistently shown that parenting isn’t about biology but what you DO.

4. My friends. How freaking blessed am I in the friend department? You all know who you are. I’m thankful for you every day. Thank you Megan for reading and critting, for listening to me whine and for kicking my butt when I need it. Anya, you too! Angie – what a wonderful editor and friend you are. Laura Bradford you rockstar. Thank you for believing in me and for being such an articulate pest on my behalf.

5. My readers. Some of you have been with me since day one, others come along with each new release. My deepest gratitude to you for taking the time to read my books and for being such staunch supporters of romance in general.

6. My publishers – Ellora’s Cave for giving me a place to make a name for myself. Samhain for taking a chance on me in a new genre and for being so incredibly author focused and supportive of me. Harlequin for opening the door to New York and for, well, being Harlequin. Berkley – for being my dream publisher and giving me my first ST deal. Black Lace – wow, for *getting* erotica in a way that makes me so freaking happy! Each one of you lets me use a different part of my writerly brain and skill – I’m so grateful for that.

Some Moments in 2007 I’m Thankful For:

February – my Harlequin contract arrives. Holy crap, it’s actually happening!
March – Reading at Babeland, 4 1/2 star RT review for Tri Mates, Anya and her husband go to China to meet their daughter
April – RT – Had a freaking blast with Megan, Laura and Amelia. Met Sasha, Vivi, KKT and a multitude of other super fun people, including the extra fabulous Renee Meyer, Joy and Danny who came all the freaking way from Germany!!
May – Angst because really, if you don’t have the pain is the victory as sweet? I contracted the last two Cascadia Wolves books with Samhain. Wolf Unbound is out January 1 and Standoff March 4!
June: Lori Foster gathering and hanging out with Anya! Meeting Badbarb, Pam, Anne, Karen, and a whole host of other folks! Ascension releases. Making Chase releases. Bradford Bunch Blog starts up. We did the Susan Komen cancer walk as a family along with tens of thousands of others.
July – First 70 Days of Sweat and it helped me finish multiple projects!
August – Vegas trip with my husband! Two of my brood have birthdays. Contracted To Do List
September – School finally back in session, my youngest starts kindy, my oldest is now a 4th grader! Sold the second anthology to Spice!
October – My dude and I celebrate 21 years together! The second round of Sven is pushing me into an incredibly productive space. I’m ahead of my schedule. Halloween, whee! Gorgeous cover for Vegas anthology.
November – MY SALE TO BERKLEY! Oldest kiddo turns ten. Vegas anthology goes up for presale.
December – MEGAN AND I SELL TO BLACK LACE! Three CAPA nominations. Finish round one and two revisions on Undercover. Get back cover copy and it’s fab.

Yep – I’m a fortunate woman. I hope you all had a great 2007 and here’s wishing us all a truly fabulous 2008!!!

2. Sasha White’s release of Sexy Devil

3. Red Garnier’s release of Sheeman

4. Lori Armstrong’s Fabulous Announcement!

5. All those fabulous videos of Julian McMahon on youtube

*fans self* sighs

6. A sex scene I’ve been writing for the last three days. It makes me so happy, I actually just giggled about it!

7. That’s it for now, but really, it’s a lot of fabulous!

So here goes in no particular order:

Have a lovely Thanksgiving. May you have lots of lovely food, family and friends. And ice cream on your pie. And for those who live outside the US – I still wish you ice cream on your pie.

1. My husband who brought me home a bouquet of exotic flowers when I got the offer on Vegas II this week.

2. My kids are, well, my kids and they’re all alive and full of kid-type goodness. My oldest is obsessed with Pokemon. And in that way a 10 year old boy can be obsessed which means it drives me insane. He starts telling me about this dream where he’s in a cave and suddenly it’s all about Pokemon and I groan.

“Dude. No Pokemon stuff.”
“But mom, it’s for school! I wrote an assignment about it.”
“No way. Don’t wanna hear it. Tell me about math.”
He tells me about Pokemon anyway!
“DUDE! I said no. I can’t take it. I’m going to have a seizure.”
“But it’s for school!”

3. My friends. I’m very blessed in my friends. People who have been with me even when things get rough, who celebrate when things are good and give me love when things are bad. Friends who’ll totally tell me if I have spinach in my teeth (metaphorically too) or if my dress is bunched in my tights. I’ve been making some new friends recently and that’s wonderful too.

4. My readers. Wow, what can I say? You are all so good to me and I wouldn’t be here celebrating all these contracts without your support.

5. Vegas II – I’d been in sort of a blues/funk space with my writing, or rather the publication aspect, feeling a bit stuck right on the verge. It’s not an eight book, six figure deal, but it came along right when I needed it and helps me continue to believe in myself and my work.

6. The cover for Vegas I – I can’t stop looking at it. I am jonesin to show it to everyone. All the authors in the anthology are so thrilled with this cover. It’s fun, sexy, young and sooooo pretty!

7. Music – I was talking to Ann Aguirre yesterday about MC Solaar and how much I loved French hip hop and now I’m on a renewed MC Solaar kick. I listened to Ben Oui over and over as I wrote last night. This novella will have a dance music oriented soundtrack. His stuff is hard to get here in the US but you can grab some of it at iTunes or find imports.

Here’s a bit from youtube – not a video but you can hear the song.

8. Wonderful books! I’ll talk about some of them tomorrow for Friday Booktalk

9. This writing gig in general. Five years ago I wouldn’t have imagined I’d be writing and making a real go of it.

10. TVGASM – I love their recaps. Since I don’t watch a lot of TV to make space to write, I can follow stuff by reading the hilarious recaps.

11. Planning for RT. I like dressing up. I like hanging out with readers and other authors. It’s one time I get to be Lauren without other contexts. I don’t have to worry about my kids and their schedule. I can just do my own thing and it’s a lot of fun. We’re hosting a reader party on Friday this year so I can’t wait.

12. Clive – He’s so pretty and yet, so masculine and there’s SUCH a bad boy in there. Yum. He inspires me.

13. Little things make me happy. Sure I want a big book deal, sure I want to win the lottery to pay off all our student loans so we can move into a bigger house, etc. But little things can still make me happy – a note from a friend, hearing an old song on the radio, pictures my kids draw, the smell of fall in the air, cupcakes.

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Thirteen Things I’m Thankful For

1. My husband. He’s good, kind, compassionate, strong, smart, passionate about things, handsome, very muscly, a fabulous father, supportive of my writing, brings me chocolate and he’s my number one fan. I’m so incredibly blessed to have a partner like him.

2. My kids. I may joke about them being monsters and so, okay I’m not joking, they are, but they’re the best part of me and my husband. They’re beautiful, horrible creatures and there’s nothing in the world better than their snuggles and smooches.

3. My mom and dad – they’re the best. They taught me about compassion and caring, they taught me to pursue the things that mean something in life. They’ve been tirelessly supportive of everything I’ve ever done and I can only hope to be half as good a parent as they are.

4. My friends. Jordan wrote about support yesterday and there’s a fabulous video up at Alison’s blog that touches on women’s relatinonships and for me – I know without a doubt I get through each day because of my friends’ support and love. From doing crit at the drop of the hat to sending me chocolate when I made my first NY sale – my friends are an integral part of my life and I’m grateful for them.

5. My readers (and many are friends too so I’m doubly lucky). You’re all amazing and I would not be here without you. Thank you. Seriously and most truly, thank you for supporting me and sending me notes and taking the time out of your busy lives to comment here, come to chats, to say hello on the loops, to read my books – you rock and it humbles me that you’re out there.

6 and 7. My editors – most notably Angie James and Ann Leveille. Ann has edited all my EC books and has taken me from something like 8 rounds of edits on Triad to two on books now. She’s taught me how to be a better writer. The thing about Ann I’ll always be most thankful for? When she sent my first round of edits on Triad she said, “make sure you make the threesome realistic.” And quite honestly, IMO, it’s the key to writing a good menage book. Make your characters human, there will be moments of jealousy, etc (well, even my non human characters can have jealous moments or at the very least a reason that three would work). She’s a good person and I love working with her.

And Angie – since Ann spoiled me and in the interim before I sold to Samhain I’d had other editor experiences, one was so awful I lost hair over it – I was wary but Angie is a fabulous editor. I remember asking one of her authors about her before I submitted and that author said she was hard core but a really good editor who didn’t mess with author voice. And that author was right. I love working with her, I love her sense of humor, I love the way she pushes me to write a better book. I never get the sense she’s just going through the motions or that she doesn’t care about anything other than finishing up and getting to the next person on her list. I always feel like she cares about me as a person, as a writer and that she wants me to do the best job I can.

8. My agent, Laura Bradford. She’s a wonderful person. Supportive. Tireless (and I mean tireless, the woman never takes time off). When I’m all mopey she sends me these great doubled edged emails that are supportive and then tell me to knock it off. I love that.

9. My laptop – oh how I love my laptop. Every book but Triad and A Touch of Fae has been written on it. It weighs next to nothing and has a nice, wide screen.

10. Music – I love music and I don’t know that I could write without it. Currently I’m loving TV On The Radio, Ministry, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney and The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Next week the list will be different.

11. Books – I started reading pretty early and I’ve been a book junkie ever since. There are books I read over and over because they’re like comfort objects or they inspire me. The book from my childhood I remember most? The Dark is Rising – I still read it from time to time. There are many others (god knows I’ve written about them a lot, books always kept me company) and every week I read something else that brings me enjoyment, joy, anger, inspiration, etc.

12. My house. It’s not big. It’s not grand. Most of the time it’s a chaotic mess filled with noise and clutter but it’s mine and it’s where my family lives. It makes me happy every time I come around the corner and see it there.

13. Inspiration. Each time I finish a book there’s always a bittersweet feeling. I’m glad I was able to finish and find the end for my story and characters, I’ll miss them and a tiny question about whether or not I’ll be able to do it again. And each time I start a new book, each time a new idea comes and I start to give it life, the wonderment that I’m living this cool as hell dream of writing settles in and I hope I never become so jaded it doesn’t fill me me with awe.

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1. Crit Partners who whip you into shape and yet, say things that boost your self esteem all at once.

2. An agent who believes in me and works hard on my behalf.

3. A husband who is truly my best friend and biggest supporter.

4. Parents who are proud and supportive and who think my kids are the best thing evar.

5. My kids, who are monsters but wonderful monsters who tussle over who gets to snuggle with momma in the mornings.

6. My friends, who have proven themselves over and over by being there for me in good times and bad.

7. Continued creativity – New book ideas coming to me, I still love beading and cooking and creating with my kids.

8. The ability to enjoy the small things like the way water beads on the leaves of the bushes in my yard and looking at spiderwebs with my kids.

9. Loving my life. I’m so blessed, I really am. I love my family and my house and this dream I’m living.

10. The best readers any author could ask for. Seriously. I’m terribly spoiled and so fortunate to have so many wonderful readers!

12. Thai food. I love thai food. I want to get thai food very soon because I haven’t had any in weeks.

13. The weather calming down here! After flooding, freak snowstorms, more heavy rains and hurricane force gusts that sent a million people into the land of no power – I’m quite happy to say today, while it started rainy, has calmed and it’s even a bit sunny now.

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1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

1. First and foremost I’m thankful for you all. An author could not possibly have a better, more supportive and enthusiastic group of friends/readers than I do. I would not be here without you and that’s the honest truth. Thank you for the notes of encouragement, the kind words you say here and elsewhere online, thank you for buying and reading my books!

2. My husband. For so many reasons, most of all because he is there at my side no matter what. Even through the rough patches he was there. He’s my best friend, my partner, my biggest fan and the father of my kiddos. All things he does exceedingly well.

3. My publishers. With EC and Samhain I have the freedom to write pretty much whatever I want. That is so huge, hell, I didn’t understand how huge it was until I started submitting to NY and realized most of us don’t have that kind of freedom there, especially as newbies. I’ve been able to push envelopes with my books and that’s incredibly satisfying. And Harlequin, wow, I’m going to be published with Harlequin!

4. My editors. Ann Leveille and Angie James kick ass. Marie with Whispers is also wonderful! Clicking with someone enough to trust them with your words and your voice is so important. Ann and Angie make me a better writer with every round of edits. I may not agree with every single change or suggestion they make but I’ll sure as hell take them seriously when I think about them because I respect them both immensely.

5. My parents. My mom and dad are in my corner no matter what I do. And they adore my kids and respect my life and choices. Seriously, that’s so important to me.

6. My friends – oh man, I don’t know what I would have done without them! I can’t express how much they mean to me. I’ve learned a lot in the last few years about what a true friend really is. I learned the hard way by being hurt by people who I thought were friends but weren’t there when I needed them more than once. I suppose the hardest lessons are the ones that hurt the most. But out of that I can see the people who are unflagging in their friendship – enough to pet me when I’m down and kick my ass if I get whiny.

7. My Kids – monsters each one, but dear, special little monsters who brighten my life even as they’ve probably taken a few years off it.

8. My success. My goodness, as I said above I didn’t have any idea and I’m so amazed and overwhelmed by how blessed I’ve been that people want to buy my books (publishers and readers) and that they seem to be liked and appreciated. I’m living my dream. I don’t know how many people can say that truly, I’m just amazed and thankful and giddy with it all.

9. Cupcakes – because what list is complete without that?

10. (ETA) My fabulous Agent, Laura Bradford. I can’t believe I didn’t list her yesterday! I simply adore her! She believes in me and I feel believed in and man oh man, that means a whole lot.