Sink surgery and the disappearing video game

I swear, one of these days I'm going to write a handbook for children warning them of the things not to try, because someone already has and it didn't work. A been there, done that sort of thing. Or maybe I should have my fifth grader write the book. He's been doing his best to research what will and won't get him caught. *g* He's compiled a decent list already: 1. Do not shove wads of toilet paper down the bathroom sink. And if you do, do not, under any circumstances, try to get the soggy toilet paper out with a wooden skewer. That'll get stuck down there too. 2. If you get caught playing your handheld video game after you've had your game priviledges taken away, don't shove the video game under your bed and pretend you didn't have it. And after your mother has seen it under your bed, don't cover it with a pile of dirty laundry and pretend you can't find it. In most cases, your mother is not senile. She's already seen the game. She's not going to forget she saw it in the span of five seconds. 3. The dog's collar will stay on just fine all by itself. That's what the buckle is for. School glue just makes the dog's neck itch. 4. If you make the mistake of not turning in your parent-checked, completed homework, don't bring it home and hide inside the rarely-used lobster boiling pot. Your mother will eventually find it, even if it is a year later, and make you bring it in to your former teacher. 5. Book reports are part of life, and will be for many years to come. Skipping them helps no one, and, in fact, brings your grade point average way down. If you've forgotten to read your book and the report is due, don't lie to your mother when she asks you if you read the book. This question is often followed up with "What book did you read?" or "What was your book about?". Lying through this one requires some really quick thinking, but your mother will probably know you're lying anyway. 6. Brush your teeth when you're told to. There's nothing to be gained from skipping it, unless you want dentures by high school. 7. (This one is especially for children of writers, editors, agents, and publishers) Don't try to pass off a three sentence paper as a one page essay. Your parent will notice the fact that you've skipped lines, written in huge letters, and moved your margins in. Your parent will also noticed that you didn't proofread, drew lines between your words instead of spacing them correctly, and wrote in one big paragraph. They will make you redo said essay, wasting time for both of you.

Snow Day

The kids are home from school today since we're due to get 4-8 inches of the white stuff. Amazing, considering it was 60 degrees on Saturday. *g* Gotta love those New England winters. Later today I'll be doing some much-needed website updates and getting my newsletter ready to send out. Have a great day, everyone!

Temperature is now apparently relative

We've had a lot of warm weather lately. So warm that I've been able to turn off the pellet stove during the day to give the house a chance to cool down. The SO was around on Saturday night, when the house was 75 degrees and the kids and I were walking around in shorts. He turned the pellet stove on and wrapped up in a blanket. I pointed out that, according to the thermostat, the current temperature in the house was warmer than we keep it with the air conditioning in the summer, and he said "Maybe to you." Yeah, and everyone else who can read what the little numbers on the digital display say. *g*

Writing, newsletters, and updates

It's been a long few weeks. Due to a few family crises, I've had to extend my time off from writing. Things are settling down now, but I know I have a lot of catching up to do. This month I'm planning on revising a book to send to my Ellora's Cave editor, as well as writing a sequel to Reality Check for my editor at Samhain. In other Reality Check news, it looks like it may release at the end of this month instead of in February, which is really exciting news. I'll keep you all posted on the updated release date. The website will be updated around the end of the week, and the newsletter will be sent out around that time, too. The newsletters will be sent out twice a month now, one around the 15th and one around the 30th, and I'll be posting a free story, chapter by chapter, in the end of the month editions. I hope everyone's having a great New Year so far!

Happy New Year

Almost 2006. Did you all have a good year? What are your goals for next year? Writing-wise, my goals are outlined, the first few months' worth of writing time scheduled, and I can't wait to get started on Tuesday when the kids go back to school. My newsletter and website updates are going to be a day or two late this month due to the holidays, but after that they'll be back to the end of the month again. Congrats to Cathie, the winner of last month's contest for a download of Nothing Personal. The contest for January will be announced in my newsletter and posted to my website in the next couple of days, so be sure to watch for it. I have a bunch of prizes planned to celebrate the new year.

Ack!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Things are always crazy around here this time of year. I'll have some more to post later, but I just wanted to touch base for now. I'm headed out the door in a few minutes to take my son to his tap class. Oh, some quick and exciting news (for me at least *g*) I was shopping in Borders the other day and I found a copy of Dirty Pictures on the shelf! It's the first time I've seen any of my print books in the store, and it was a pretty cool moment. Of course, I had to pry the copy out of the SO's hands before he made a big deal out of it. lol Have a great holiday, everyone! I'll be back to my regular schedule on Monday.

Same Time Next Year is now available

From Changeling Press. This one was so much fun to write. It's a paranormal, and very short. Just enough for an hour or two of reading. Here's the blurb: A love stronger than time... Something draws Cayden back to the same place every year on Christmas Eve. That something is Lilith -- the woman he's always wanted -- the woman he could never keep. Lilith can't live with seeing Cayden for a fleeting time each year, but she doesn't have a choice. It's a cycle that was set in motion long ago -- a cycle dictated by a past that can't be changed. Still, no amount of time or distance can keep them apart forever.

Baking cookies...

The next few weeks might be a little quiet around here. *g* This time of year I bake and sell Christmas cookies, so I'll be spending most of my daytime hours baking and icing while I have the house to myself. I love baking and cooking, so I'm looking forward to it.

Snow Day

I haven't gotten much accomplished today, though it's technically a work day. The storm that was supposed to leave us with 6 inches of snow has now dumped about 14 and it's still going. lol The kids are home, and I've been trying to keep up with them and all the shoveling. At least I know I'm getting a good workout. What is everyone up to this weekend? Have anything fun planned?

Website

I started out making a banner, and it all snowballed from there. lol I've revised my website, and my blog to match. If you get a chance, stop by and take a look and let me know what you think. I'm really anxious for opinions on the new design.

A Christmas Story

One of my editors recently told me he was really surprised that I'd never seen It's A Wonderful Life. Growing up, we didn't watch that movie every year like a lot of families do. We watched A Christmas Story. I still love that movie. *g* I've you've ever seen the movie, check this out. It's hilarious.

Almost finished

The novella I've been working on is almost done. 9060 words out of a projected 10k, though I have a feeling I might run over by 1-2k. Now I just have to come up with a title. I guess I'm not really a title person. *g* For the writers, when do you title your wips? Do you give them a title before you start? Somewhere during the writing process or at the end? Do you have a title in mind before you even start writing?

I have a cover...

And it's awesome. *g* Thanks to Scott Carpenter for doing such a great job with it.

Variety in fiction

I was going to title this post Narrow-Minded Literary Snobs, but I decided that would be a tiny bit too snarky. *g* And this really isn't a rant, just a small observation about an article that made me laugh. Not every writer wants to be the next Jane Austen. *g* Some of us write just for the sake of writing, and some of us read just for the sake of reading an enjoyable story. And what makes a story enjoyable is different for all of us. That's the beauty of having so many books and authors to choose from. There are good books in every genre. There are bad books in every genre. Get over it already. :) Everything in moderation, ladies.

Half day off

I'd planned on writing all day to finish my novella, but the SO, who was supposed to work, took the afternoon off and we took the kids to see Harry Potter. It was good--though I have to admit I'm a fan of the books and usually would prefer not to see a movie if I've read the book. I did enjoy it, though, and the kids loved it, so all in all it was a fun afternoon. I'm going to write for a little while now, before they go to bed and I settle in for one of my 3 hours of TV a week. *g* But I don't plan on getting much done. I have a sex scene to write, and those always seem to take me a while to get right. Have a great night, everyone!

Newsletter

The new edition of my newsletter is available online. There's a new contest this month, and an excerpt from a holiday story, SAME TIME NEXT YEAR. Be sure to take a look.

Holiday shopping (AKA why I like the Internet)

So I set off on my shopping trip this morning, along with the SO. Silly me thought we'd be able to get everything on the kids' lists, plus buy for everyone else, too. It did not go as easily as planned. First, let me say that I'm not really much of a shopper. I don't care for big crowds. I like to go in with a list, get what I need, and get out as quickly as possible. *g* The SO, for some strange reason, seems to thrive on the chaos of holiday shopping. When we left the stores--in 2 cars because of the ton (literally) of stove pellets we had to pick up to heat the house for the winter--he got into his car with a big smile on his face. So I guess you could say our shopping personalities really don't mesh. LOL We did get most of the kids' stuff, and I will be sitting in my nice warm house this weekend ordering everything else online. That's my kind of shopping. And it's usually done the week before Christmas.*g*

It's all good...

LOL...The goals are set--and number 1 on my list is to make sure, each month as I write out my schedule, that the goals are realistic. I love writing. I think I have the best job in the world. But every once in a while I tend to get a little ahead of myself. Tonight I'm caught up. Well, almost. I have one more short crit to do for a crit partner, but that won't take long. Then I can sit down, watch TV for a little while, and go to bed knowing I've finished all I set out to do today. Tomorrow I start Christmas shopping for the kids. I have all day while they're in school, and I'm hoping to get it all done. Being someone who's generally still shopping on Christmas Eve, this would be a major accomplishment. *g*

Setting goals part 2

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to my longterm goals--probably more thought than I should given that I've never really been much of a planner. *g* It's not so much about the number of books I want to have published, or the number of manuscripts I want to have out for consideration. It's more about where I want to go, as a writer. One of my critique partners writes romantic suspense. Another writes contemporaries. Another writer friend writes cool paranormals. And what do I write? Um...just about everything. I haven't been able to nail my writing down to one or two things yet. For small press publishing, this isn't too much of a problem, but I'm currently looking for an agent and, for that kind of stuff, I'd probably want to stick with one genre. So part of my goal for the next year (along with a way-too-long list of books I want to write) is to really think about where I want my writing to go, and nail this whole thing down to one or two genres. Mind you, this isn't a New Year's resolution--I can never keep them so I don't bother to make them anymore. *g* I'm starting in December. For the writers out there, what are your goals for the coming year? For the readers, I'm really curious to hear from you. What do you think about authors who write in multiple genres with the same pen name? Does it bug you or do you like it? Would you rather they used different pen names for each genre?

Same Time Next Year...

Is the title for my new super hot, super short story recently contracted with Changeling Press. Thanks to my amazing, wonderful editor *g* who came up with the title. Since it's a Christmas story, she's aiming at having it released in December. Same Time Next Year is about a man and woman who love each other, but are separated by forces beyond their control. Every year, at Christmastime, they get one night together. It was a fun story to write, and I hope everyone enjoys it. I'll post a blurb on my website soon and I'll have an excerpt in my November newsletter.