Jess Anastasi

Shona Husk - First Guest Author for 2012

2012-02-01T09:39:00.000+11:00

Hello there everyone!
I'd been thinking for a while now that I really should be more proactive about having the many talented authors I've come to know through RWAus randomly visit my blog every once in a while. So here's the result! I'm pleased to introduce the fabulous Shona Husk, who is celebrating the release of her latest book with Ellora's Cave. FYI, have a cold drink of water on hand when you check out the cover... because woo baby! Anyway... here's Shona!

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

Thank you for inviting me over, Jess. I’m Shona Husk and I write paranormal and fantasy romance. Some of my stories are sensual others are erotic but they all have a happily ever after.

Please tell us a bit about your book.

Sharing Sirius is the third book in the Lucinda’s Lover series. Lucinda’s Lover is a Vampire rock band and each book follows a different guy as they fall in love. They can be read as standalone novellas, but read in sequence they take the band from inception to end. I’m working on the final book at the moment. Sharing Sirius is also my first mmf ménage story, and was a lot of fun to write ;)

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

When writing Vampire’s I always like to know how old they are and which bits of history they’ve been involved with as it shapes who they are. In the first book, Kissing Phoenix, Aiden was quite young and he’d been a medic in WW1, Etienne in, Tasting Thanatos, had barely survived the French revolution. With Owen in Sharing Sirius I knew he was the oldest of the four Vampires, and at just over seven hundred his age is catching up with him. The story is about his lovers quest to save Owen and give him a new lease on life, of course the best way to do that is to have a second lover. So there’s a little jealousy, a wounded heart or two, some arguments and lots hot Vampire nookie before everything gets sorted out between the three of them.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

While I’d read plenty of ménage stories, writing was different to what I’d expected. That extra person tripled work as there was more emotion, more conflict, more of everything to think about. On the other hand, I think that is what made it so much fun, pulling all those bits together and getting a HEA for everyone made it such a great story to write.

When / Where / How do you write?

Every day, usually in the evening, usually at my desk with my laptop. Sometimes I’ll write during my lunch break at work in a note book.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

I’m a civil designer. Which means I design roads and drainage…and I’ll stop now before you all fall asleep.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I’m reading books for the RITA at the moment so I can’t talk about them L I love talking about books. It’s the first time I’ve been a judge for the RITA and I’m really enjoying it.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the last Shadowlands book, For the Love of a Goblin Warrior, which will be out towards the end of the year. Then I’m moving on to a new paranormal romance trilogy.

Thanks so much for stopping by and telling us all about Sharing Sirius, the whole series sounds great. Its been on my TBR pile for a while, but now I'm thinking I need to move it closer to the top!

Top 22 Best TV Kisses (Part Two)

2012-01-26T22:15:00.011+11:00

And here we are, back again for part two of my Top 22 Best TV Kisses (as rated by me). As I said in Part One, some shows get a multiple mention and that is just because the awesomeness cannot be contained to just one kiss. So, read on for some more juicy lip smacking!

12) The Vampire Diaries - Damon and Elana
Damon Kisses Elana... And This Time Its Not A Trick
We were all shocked at the end of season one when Damon kissed Elana. No, we weren't surprised that Damon would try that, but that Elana actually kissed him back. Of course then it turned out to be Katherine and our moment of shocked joy fell burning to earth. There have been many Damon and Elana 'moments', many of which you can find fans spending way too much time obsessing over on the internet, moments that have brought them closer together. Little by little, Damon has become the sane brother (though he did some questionable things, we always knew that underneath, Damon had a true heart), while Stephan has gone totally dark-side. I must admit, I love Evil Stephan, similar to how I loved Angelus on Buffy. The only difference? I wanted Angel to come back eventually, despite my enjoyment of Angelus. While on Vampire Diaries, I'm happy to see Evil Stephan stick around as long as he wants. However, we saw this week, with the fall out of Elena telling Stephan she kissed Damon, that perhaps the old Stephan is hidden deep within Evil Stephan somewhere and he may be coming back sooner than we think. I haven't read the books, but have heard that Damon and Elana do get together in them. I'm hoping this transfers over to the TV series... if you can't tell, I'm totally Team Damon.

13) Farscape - John and Aeryn
At One Stage There Were Two John Crichtons and They Still Couldn't Get Their Relationship Straight
A bit like Lois and Clark, from episode one it seemed that John and Aeryn were meant for each other. I actually think their love story is one of the best archetypal romances stretched across a series I've ever seen. And like Lois and Clark, everything that could keep these two apart did until viewers were left wondering "is it too much to ask for a happy ending?" John wanted Aeryn from very early on, but she had issues. At one stage, there were two John Crichtons running around and he had the weird situation of being jealous of himself. One John went off with Aeryn, and at last the relationship between them evolved. Except that John died and Aeryn had to return to the other John who loved her, though she felt he wasn't the same man. Then she found out she was pregnant and the complications compounded. I loved that we got to see John die, even though he didn't really. And there was a great several-episode arc where they went to a planet that had a special formula that could tell you if two people were genetically compatible through a drop of this substance on the tongue followed by a kiss. At the end of a tortuous journey, where it seemed like John would get frozen for eighty years, John and Aeryn used the tester, but then never said whether they matched or not. From the goofy grin on John's face, I have to assume they did. Truly, this relationship kept me glued to the screen. And I think I also feel another Farscape re-watch coming!

14) Pretty Little Liars - Aria and Ezra
Slow Motion Running Into His Arms
Okay, Pretty Little Liars is my guilty secret. I freaking love this show! Aria and Ezra are easily my favorite on-screen couple of the moment. In some ways its wrong, yes. He was her teacher and they always knew they'd be in a serious amount of trouble if anyone found out. But they met and got together before either of them realized he was her new English teacher. And though they tried to stay away from each other, they fell in love quickly and neither could deny what they felt, no matter the seriously complicated (and possibly illegal) nature of their relationship. In this kiss, Ezra had decided to leave his teaching position because of Aria, he knew he couldn't be her teacher and keep seeing her. So to have Aria, he took a teaching position at the local college instead. There was a misunderstanding between them about why he was leaving and for a while it looked like they might break up. But then on the last day of school, as he's packing his car to leave, Aria realizes she can't be without him and rushes to find him.
Yes, the Slow Motion Running Into His Arms To Be Passionately Kissed thing could be considered cliche, but it was actually done very well by the writers and production team, making for a heart wrenching moment.
These guys have been lucky enough to have some great kisses. Just this week past, we saw a romantic Kissing In The Rain reunion scene. After Ezra decided to tell Aria's parents about them, things went (unsurprisingly) bad, with Aria's parents forbidding her to see him any more. So they'd had some time apart, with Ezra wondering what the right thing to do was. Obviously, in the end his love for Aria won out. Can't wait to see where things go for them in the coming weeks.

15) Pretty Little Liars - Toby and Spencer
Spencer Defies Her Family And Chooses Toby
Again with my guilty secret show. I'm going to give the cutest couple award to Toby and Spencer. For me, this union was a surprise one, but one that works fantastically. Spencer is the straight-A, always wanting to do things right girl, while Toby is the black sheep of the entire town. He spent some time at a juvenile detention center for lighting a fire he didn't light and then ended up as suspect number one in the case of Allison's murder. He and Spencer unite to investigate their suspicions against his step-sister, Jenna, (for Allison's murder. And Spencer also believes Jenna could be 'A' who is blackmailing the four girls), in which time they come to see each other in a new light. A few episodes later, Spencer is attacked at a carnival. Her mom (and I think her sister) had warned her to stay away from Toby, because much of the town still believes the worst of him. As they're leaving the carnival, Spencer sees Toby waiting for her. At first, she starts to walk away as her mother tells her. But then after a tense moment (where Toby stands there looking heartbroken) Spencer defies her mother and goes to Toby for comfort after her ordeal, leaving her mother and sister looking on in shock.

16) Battlestar Galactica - Kara and Lee
What Never Was But Should Have Been
Right from the beginning of this series, Kara and Lee had history. Deep history, complete with her being engaged to marry Lee's bother before he died. When I started watching Battlestar Galactica on DVD, I hoped that I was going to get another John and Aeryn type romance. But a short bit of googling revealed the disappointing truth. Though it seemed like they should have been together, Kara and Lee never quite got there. At one stage they were both with different people, even though they clearly had feelings for one another. In season four (correct me if I'm wrong) we find out that one night, soon after the settlement on New Caprica, Lee and Kara give into their feelings, with Lee going so far as to admitting he loves Kara. All excited for the future, he vows to tell Dee (the woman he was seeing at the time) if Kara will tell Sam (her boyfriend). The following morning, Lee wakes up alone and shortly after, discovers that Kara has rushed off to marry Sam. Heartbroken much? Hell yeah! The pair eventually come full circle as both their spouses die in different circumstances, yet even with the end of the series, nothing was really resolved between them. We got even more history, that Lee and Kara had almost had drunken sex while she was still engaged to his bother, on the first night Lee and Kara met no less! However, in the last moments of the show, Kara literally disappears into thin air, leaving more questions than answers.

17) Stargate SG1 - Jack and Sam
Even Though She'll Never Remember
The Groundhog Day episode of Stargate (circa season 4 I believe) goes on my list of best episodes of anything ever. I love it. The first time I watched it, I laughed so much I cried. The writers and actors just pulled it off so well. It had been obvious for a while that Jack and Sam had feelings for one another. Jack even goes so far as to admit his feelings at one point, during an interrogation to discover a Goa'uld assassin. Throughout the seasons, the emotional tension was done quite well, but to stay true to the military basis of the Stargate program, there was no way they could ever be together and still remain in the SG1 team together. And what sort of series would it have made if not for Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c? Well, still a good one, as we later found out when Jack left. But back to the kiss. In the episode, Window of Opportunity, where Jack and Teal'c get caught in a time loop, at first they do everything they can to escape it. But then Daniel makes the off-handed comment that they could do ANYTHING they wanted and know that in a matter of hours, things would go back to the way they were. Well, the party was on after that. But even in the throes of Groundhog-Dayness, Jack still did things by the book, giving General Hammond his resignation just so he could kiss Sam. And she'll never remember.

18) Stargate SG1 - Daniel and Vala
Sexual Tension Much?
Ah, Daniel and Vala. Talk about a love/hate relationship. These two played off each other so brilliantly right from the word go. I loved that Daniel got another chance at love after the whole Sha're disaster. Technically, by the end of the two movies that wrapped up the series, Daniel and Vala weren't together (I don't think... can't remember clearly now. Add it to the re-watch list), but in fact, the two of them did live an entire lifetime together.

Late in season 10, Daniel, Vala, Sam and Teal'c get trapped on a ship. It takes them like fifty years to find a way out of the time dilation field they're stuck in (or whatever it was) in which time Daniel and Vala are together. When they save themselves, they all revert back to the age they were when first trapped, except for Teal'c because he was the one to set off the device. Unsurprisingly, Teal'c never tells either Daniel or Vala what developed between them during those years, leaving them to start the process of discovering each other all over again.

19) Castle - Rick and Kate
She's Pretending But He's So Not.
This show is a perfect example of a series where we are constantly wondering "will they/won't they?" Everyone knows Castle and Beckett are in love with each other. In the end of season three, when Kate got shot and things were looking bad, Castle even told her he loved her (to which she now claims she doesn't remember anything that happened when she got shot). Yet the two of them are so stubborn, neither will give an inch toward getting together. Sometimes they'll date other people, which inevitable makes the green-eyed-monster appear. Yet none of their other relationships ever work out. They just keep circling back to one another. The only kiss these two have ever had was when they were attempting to sneak into a building and trying to convince the guard outside that they were no threat. When the security guy came over, appearing all suspicious of them, Beckett went for her gun. But just like a scene he'd put in one of his books, Castle pulled her into his arms for a heart-stopping kiss. For him, it was all too real. Yet Beckett kept her cool, never giving any hint that she'd felt anything from the lip action. The moment after, when she turned away and Castle had to collect himself was done brilliantly by Nathan Fillion, who, coincidentally is one of my favorite actors (Firefly. What can I say? I can also say "Doctor Horrible." Brilliance!) These two are so much fun to watch, they work so well off one another. I choose to believe that eventually Castle and Beckett will get their act together. Or course, I can see where the writers might fear it'll be the beginning of the end for the show. Unfortunately, often when the lead characters sleep together, it ruins the dynamics and viewers are lost in droves.

20) Warehouse 13 - Pete and Myka
Would It Ever Work?
That's the million dollar question. These guys go so well together as friends. They're so close, there's a lot of trust and yes, a lot of love between them. I can see the potential for them to develop that friendship into something stronger, but I don't necessarily think it will take the show to the next level. However I stand ready to be proven wrong. So prove me wrong, Warehouse 13 writers! But back to Pete and Myka. There was one episode where they woke up naked in bed together and couldn't work out what they'd done the night before. Hilarity ensued, as it does in a lot of Warehouse 13 episodes. That's one of the things I really love about this show. It can be serious, and touching, or poignant. And then sometimes its laugh-out-loud funny. For me, that's what makes a well rounded, fantastic show that I'll come back to again and again. Like Castle and Beckett, the kiss between Pete and Myka wasn't a real kiss at all. Myka had body-swapped with a mirror, so technically it wasn't even Myka that kissed Pete! Still, he got totally whammied when, to cover the fact they were lurking outside the potential-bad-guy's room in a hotel, Fake Myka laid one on Pete. And just like Castle, it totally bowled him over. But I had to laugh toward the end of the episode, when he had worked out it wasn't really Myka. One of his reasonings was "because Myka never would have kissed me!" I would like to see some episodes where these two do get together, but just for the duration of the episode -- something like a love-spell relic that tricks them into deciding they're going to get married. Or an alternate universe relic where they meet a Pete and Myka who are together. Something that gets them together, but will ultimately result in them not being together at the end of the show. There I go again, telling the writers what to do... And while I'm here, I just want to say that Warehouse 13 have had some really great guest actors on, from other shows I love to watch, which just makes it even better!

21) Dark Angel - Max and Logan
I Wish It Had of Been Alec But I'll Take What I Can Get
Don't get me started on shows that were cancelled before they really got a chance. Okay, so Dark Angel got two seasons (Firefly got half a season. Brutal, Fox. Really brutal.) but still, the last episode of season 2 was a cliff hanger that will never be resolved. Max and Logan kind of had a star-crossed-lovers thing going on. Things happened which meant they couldn't ever be together, namely a DNA specific virus given to Logan that would kill him if Max so much as touched him. Yeah, it was sad, but I was never that upset about it. Because along came Alec (Jesen Ackles, you can do no wrong... except when you think its a good idea to be on a show like Dawsons Creek... let's just forget that, shall we?) and then I was more interested in seeing something develop between Max and Alec.
Of course, there was that one episode when they'd been ordered to... *ahem* make the next generation of little baby super-soldiers, but nothing really came of that.
From some of the hints dropped, I really think the writers may have moved in that direction, the tension between Max, Logan and Alec was already becoming apparent toward the end of season 2, with Logan believing at one stage that Max and Alec had spent the night together. But alas, the axe fell and we were left forever wondering.

22) NCIS - Tony and Ziva
Okay, So Technically They Were Undercover And Faking It
I must admit, despite how much I enjoy NCIS, my viewing of it has been a bit spotty, I've missed episodes all over the place. It always gets put up against other shows I want to watch (like Supernatural... as good as it is, it's not going to beat the Winchesters). Still, the relationship between Tony and Ziva remains one of the most entertaining on TV at the moment. Yes, we all know they have feelings for one another, but like Jack and Sam, protocol keeps them apart (among other things). In season 3, us poor saps of viewers momentarily got tricked into thinking Tony and Ziva were finally getting together... only to later find out they were undercover... figuratively as well as literally. Still, the moments they spent together were all too real, leaving fans wanting more, more, MORE! They're up to season 9, with no sign of ending the show yet. The question on every fan's lips is will Tony and Ziva ever actually get together?

Well, there you have it. My top 22 Best TV Kisses. Hope you enjoyed the show. I've got some thoughts on other tv/movie based posts I'd like to do, including season 5 quotes of Supernatural. So keep an eye out for those coming up this year.

Top 22 Best TV Kisses (Part One)

2012-01-25T12:25:00.007+11:00

As rated by me!
So the other day I randomly decided to do a post on my favorite TV kisses. At some stage I'll have to do an updated list as I'm discovering a whole new bunch of great shows I love at the moment. So here goes. Some shows get multiple mentions, but that's because they're so brilliant. These are in no particular order.

1) Once Upon A Time - David/Prince Charming and Mary-Margaret/Snow White

We All Knew It Was Coming But It Was Still So Damn Good.

This show had me hooked from minute one. Seriously, I love it. Fairytale characters living in our world, not knowing who they are? Romance, action, mystery? Sign me up! Mary-Margaret (aka Snow White) and David (aka Prince Charming) couldn't stay away from each other. Only problem? In this world, David Charming is married to someone else. I had wondered how long the writers were going to draw their story out to keep them apart. So I was very glad to see this past week the characters were brought together. They spent all episode trying to come to terms with the fact that they couldn't be together, yet fate kept throwing them in each others path. In the end, they both realized they couldn't resist any longer, which made for an emoitionally intense (and watcher satisfied) kiss.

2) True Blood - Eric and Sookie

Eric Kisses Sookie... For Real This Time!

This was a kiss worth waiting for and if I had of tried to put this list in order, this one would have made my top five. The writers had teased us a few times with either Sookie or Eric dreaming about one another, so it wasn't the first time we'd seen these two with their lips on each other. But this first real kiss was something apart from those dream-kisses. At first, Sookie tried to resist, but Eric was having none of that. The kiss really showed the passion between them they'd been trying to deny. And I really loved how it ended, with Sookie saying "okay, I get it, I'm irresistible..." with Pam interrupting to say "Blah Blah Vampire emergency Blah." Which consiquently had to be one of her best lines ever. The writers broke the tension between Eric and Sookie really well with that, and left us wondering where that kiss would lead. Of course, most of us knew where. I must admit, I liked this kiss when Eric was still cold, distant bad-ass Eric. He became a bit less Alpha when he lost his memory and while I enjoyed his devotion to Sookie, I didn't like the way he'd totally changed by the end of the season. And I also didn't like Sookie's decision that she loved both he and Bill, meaning she could be with neither of them. Can't wait to see where the writers take us in season 5.

3) True Blood - Jason and Jessica

Finally Give In.

I really loved that in season 4 of True Blood, Jason came into his own as a character, cementing his position in the dynamics of the show. Making him a cop was a brilliant idea by the writers, it gave him much more depth and an important role. When Jessica and Hoyt didn't work out, at first I wasn't very impressed. But then when things started developing between Jessica and Jason, I was more than satisfied. Didn't see that coming until Jessica gave Jason her blood. Of course, as per the True Blood world rules, that meant he started having hot dreams about her. Jason did try to do the right thing and stay away, after all, Hoyt was his best friend. But circumstances kept pushing them together and every time Jason saved Jessica (as above, sorry about the blood-spatter) it brought them closer and closer until they both gave in. The first kiss, when Jessica knocks Jason to the floor, was one of those ones that makes you laugh and feel happy for the couple all at the same time.

4) Smallville - Lois and Clark

Well, It Was Destiny After All.

With so many kisses to choose from, how was I meant to pick just one? These two had everything; kisses that almost happened but didn't, kisses where they thought they were kissing someone else (when Clark pretended to be Green Arrow to cover for Oliver... which technically I think was their first kiss) kisses under the influence of mind-altering substances, kisses in other dimensions. Its exhausting, really. But okay, truthfully I do have an easy favorite. I think the best one was at the end of season 9, when Clark thought he'd be dying to save Earth from the Kandorians. He asked Lois to meet him as the Blur and ended up kissing her goodbye. It was at that point that Lois worked out the Blur was really Clark.

5) Supernatural - Dean And Jo

Dean Kisses Jo Goodbye And Breaks My Heart

You know, when Jo was first introduced to Supernatural, I didn't really like her character. She was young, thought she knew everything and wouldn't listen to reason. The attraction between her and Dean was instant, but for a whole lot of reasons that were never explored (mainly I think because Dean knew what sort of guy he was and couldn't give Jo what she wanted or deserved.

Plus he was scared of her mom, Ellen) the two of them never got together, despite some great tension between them. After the episode where Sam goes dark-side, possessed by Meg, and tracks Jo down, I started to change my mind about her. I had hoped that something would come of her and Dean. I didn't necessarily expect them to get together, but at least hoped she'd feature in some more episodes. I think the writers missed a good opportunity by not utilizing her more. Anyway, she never appeared again until the episode where she dies. The goodbye kiss between her and Dean was heartbreaking. Yes, I cried. And wished again that they'd been given a chance. You could say that considering how things ended between Dean and Lisa, it was probably a good thing Dean and Jo didn't get a chance to screw up each other's lives. But since Jo was a Hunter and knew all about the life, I think a relationship between them would have been far different.

6) Supernatural - Sam and Ruby

Its So Bad Its Good

Oh, we all know Sam getting it on with a demon can't be a good thing, but it was just done so gosh darn well. At this point, we're all hoping Ruby really is the good-bad-guy she seems to be. And poor Sam is so broken since Dean went to hell and Sam can't do anything about it. Sam wants salvation, but as we find out later, this was just Ruby putting Sam where she needs him to be for the Grand Evil Plan To Free Lucifer.

I think both the actors, Padalecki in particular, portrayed this really well. You could see every nuance of Sam's struggle. He knew he shouldn't, yet his grief, frustrations, the fact that he'd gotten so damn lost all collided into this one moment where Ruby saw his vulnerability and struck. The complexities of Sam's internal battle resulted in a highly intense scene. Maybe one of the best in Supernatural to date. That, and when Dean finds out Sam is exorcizing demons WITH HIS MIND and the resulting confrontation between them where Dean takes a few swings. I think this story arc really made the show.

7) Supernatural - Castiel and Meg

What He Learned From The Pizza Man

Okay, so this kiss isn't in here for the romance. It's here simply because I killed myself laughing over this. Meg kissed Castiel to distract him while she nicked his Angel-Killing-Sword-of-Awesomeness, but after, Castiel decided to take matters into his own hands. He turned the tables on her, going so far as to push her up against the wall and kiss her like there was no tomorrow (which, for Cas, sadly he didn't have that many tomorows left.). He finished by saying "I learned that from the Pizza man" in reference to the porn he'd been watching earlier in the episode.

I think Misha Collins played Castiel brilliantly. He and Dean worked off each other almost too well, which made for some really great Supernatural moments. In this scene in particular, Dean's reaction is half of what makes it so funny. He doesn't know where to look or what to think. Dean's face at one point was a perfect example of WTF? I only wish I could have found a better picture to show that!

8) Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Buffy and Angel

Kissing A Vampire Isn't A Good Idea... Unless He Has A Soul

Oh, Buffy and Angel. I grew up on these guys, Buffy was the same age as me through high school and I lived for a new episode every week. There were so many kisses I could have chosen from, and truthfully, its been a few years since I've watched my Buffy DVDs (I think I feel a re-watch coming on). Some of the most memorable were their first kiss, of course. And also the one where he changes back from Angelus just in time for Buffy to stab him and send him to hell. I think the best moment though, which isn't a kiss at all, was when Faith poisoned Angel and the only thing that would save him was the blood of a slayer. Buffy tried to catch Faith, but it didn't work out. When she returned empty handed, it was to find Angel close to death. With no other hope, she offered herself to save him. And we see that maybe, despite everything that's happened between them, they'll end up back together... Until Angel got his own show and took himself off to L.A.

9) Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Buffy and Angelus

For A Moment, Love Conquered Evil

Unfortunately I couldn't find the actual picture of when Buffy and Angelus, while possessed by the ghosts of two dead lovers at Sunnydale High, kiss reenacting the final moments the two spent together. Because Angel can't die, the haunting loop is broken and the two ghosts are able to resolve their differences, ending in a kiss. After the ghosts leaves, for a moment the kiss continues on and you see the spark of Angel still in Angelus, before he realizes whats happening and runs off. Buffy is left confused and probably a little more hurt that she has lost the man/vampire she loves. Yet from that moment, hope is kindled that somehow, they will find a way to overcome Angelus and have Angel returned.

10) Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Buffy and Spike

Geez, Get A Room Already

And a bit of shirtless action doesn't hurt. Buffy and Spike... they loathed, they fought, they sung and at last they kissed. The rest of the relationship was very up and down, especially after Spike attacked her in the bathroom. Then he went and got his soul back, which made the dynamics even more interesting. While I loved the Spike and Buffy relationship, they didn't have the star-crossed-lovers thing going on that Angel and Buffy did. And I don't know that Buffy every really loved Spike, a realization he comes to at the very end of the whole show, when he sacrifices himself to save her and the others. And aren't we glad he did? Because when Spike transferred over the Angel, it made for some of the best moments in the whole Angel series (Spike fighting the Angel puppet? Classic!). But back to Spike and Buffy. The episode they first kissed in (for real I mean. There was that extremely hilarious episode where something whammied them with some magic mojo and they thought they were getting married), Once More With Feeling, is my favorite episode of anything ever. I can get it out and watch it over and over. It never looses its fun. And yes, I do sing along!

11) Angel - Angel and Cordelia

Draw It Out A Bit Longer, Won't You?

I was always a bit sad that the whole Angel and Cordelia thing never worked out, then of course she died... (she did die, didn't she? My memory is spotty). It just seemed as if fate had a different idea. Every time they seemed to be getting somewhere, something would crop up to force them apart again. It was a relationship rife with landmines. Still, the moments they did get together were usually very sweet and poignant. And the viewers reveled in every single one of them.

Phew! I think we've had enough emotional highs and lows for one day. Tune in for part two of my top TV kisses, coming soon!

Unstuck Update

2012-01-22T14:29:00.000+11:00

So I had to go back and delete the scene I'd been stuck on and attempt a re-write. Then that still didn't work, so I went back and deleted the whole chapter. I had to put some serious thought into the love-scene lead in and decide what I really wanted to reveal about my characters in this scene.
After tossing around some ideas, I found the right way to go about it and just as I'd hoped, everything flowed from there. I've done 5000 words in the past few days and am now getting into the second half of the book and heading toward the story climax. Exciting times!

Stuck

2012-01-17T10:59:00.001+11:00

If you've followed this blog long enough, you would know by now that I have an issue with writing sex scenes. Not because of the actual sex, but because of the emotional complexities. I'm obsessive about getting my love scenes right, because in many ways, they are the most important scenes in the books.
These are the moments when the characters are stripped back (not literally... but okay, yes, that too) and vulnerable. The seconds in time where they can't hide what they truly feel.
To write this kind of scene, I need to be really deep into the character's POV so the words flow without too much trouble.
What I shouldn't do is stop writing and leave the scene either just before the sex scene is about to happen, or halfway through the sex scene. You think by the number of books/novellas I've written, that I would have realized this long before now.
But no. Earlier in the week, I got to nearly the halfway point of the novella I'm working on and was writing a scene that would lead into the first love scene. And that's where I stopped for the day. So of course, the following day when I went to continue on, I found it really hard to put myself back into that scene... and continued finding it hard for the next few days, only writing one or two hundred words here or there. Now I worry that the scene is going to read disjointedly, but somehow I have to find a way to push myself forward.
I have considered skipping it altogether for the time being and coming back to it, but I've never been able to do that. How can I write what comes after the sex scene if I don't know what happens during the sex scene?
So, maybe today, or possibly tomorrow... definitely sometime this week. Somehow I have to get myself back into that flow and let my characters have their moment so we can get on with the rest of the story!

The Dark Side of the Internet

2012-01-14T11:38:00.000+11:00

I read an article this morning about the plagiarism problem Amazon is having. (article: Amazon's Plagiarism Problem) This isn't the first time I've read about people (I refuse to call them authors. They're not authors, they're thieves) blatantly stealing other people's work. And I'm not talking about the pirates who offer your ebook for free download. I'm talking about people who copy your work, slap a new title on it and "self-publish" it as their own book.
As an author, this scares the bejesus out of me. Its one thing to be vigilant to make sure your book isn't being offered for free download (luckily this hasn't happened to me yet). That's a challenge, but not impossible. You know what is next to impossible? Finding your book if its been put out somewhere under another person's name and a different title.
There was a case last year of some silly person trying to pass off a JD Robb book as their own, on Smashwords I think it was. Now that's ambitious, and downright stupid.
I'd like to say I don't understand why people would do this, but I do know... it all comes down to money.
Anyway, back to my point about finding your own book with a different cover. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. My mind straight away made up a scenario where one of my books makes it into the Amazon top ten, with all those royalties going to some scumbag, and then having to prove the work was originally mine. Don't think I'm being dramatic. There are countless stories of authors having to jump through hoops just to prove what they say is true, being treated as if they are the criminals. There really is something wrong with the system when the thief is getting off scott-free, while the author is the one being vilified.
I just hope Amazon and similar organizations can come up with a way to start fixing this issue.

Good Start

2012-01-09T15:42:00.000+11:00

I know we're just a bit over a week into 2012, but I have to say, I'm quite happy with how my new career plan is panning out. Now that I have a clear direction, its making things a lot easier. And with two different projects on the go, and enthusiasm in spades, the words are flowing pretty easily at this stage. In the coming weeks I plan to get my current novella finished, and then will put it aside. In the meantime, I'm going to edit the first three chaps of my new young adult book and sub it to the publisher, before going on to finish it while I wait to hear if the editor wants to see the entire manuscript. Once it's finished, I'll be putting it aside to go back and edit the novella, and then send it to the specific publisher I wrote it for. I've found working on 2 projects at a time much more efficient. It seems helpful if I break from something and then later edit it with fresh eyes. And it seems to work even better when I've been writing something totally different in the meantime.
So as it stands, the career plan seems to have come together quite well. I guess a few months down the track with prove whether or not its going to yield some results.

Welcome to 2012: Year of the Unspecified Goal

2012-01-02T11:12:00.000+11:00

I may have mentioned on here that in 2011, my goal was to get an agent. Unfortunately that goal morphed into selling my sci-fi romance, Atrophy, which didn't work out so well. I became a bit obsessed and couldn't see my ultimate career plan any longer.
So getting an agent in 2011 didn't work out so well. This year, I've decided I'm not going to focus so blindly on one direction. Don't get me wrong, I still want an agent. I believe in order to get to where I want my career to end up, an agent is a necessary ingredient. However, while I query agents, I'm also going to be pushing myself out of the comfort zone I found in 2011. Writing and submitting to Noble is easy, I have a home there now. They're my base and I will continue writing manuscripts for them throughout the year, I have several planned.
But I also want to increase my market exposure (*gasp* this is starting to sound like a... business plan! OMG how grown-up of me) and to do that, I've decided I need to publish with (possibly) several other small to medium publishers. Of course, publishing with one of the "big six" wouldn't be half bad, but I think part of my problem is I keep trying to leap for the "big six" except I can't quite reach them yet. I need to build up the ground beneath me... if that makes sense.
So, with that in mind, I guess I'm going for a multi-pronged approach this year. On one side I'll keep up with querying agents, while on the other I'll be submitting to places such as Carina, Avon's Impulse line (I already have submissions out with both of these publishers) and Samhain. I'll also be exploring a few of the smaller e-presses, such as Entangled who have a open call out at the moment which pricked my interest.
If that's not enough, I've also started a young adult manuscript for an open call a publisher here in Australia put out recently. This all might seem like a lot to take on, but I've gone so far as to set timelines and word count aims. I'm lucky that when I put my mind to it, I can churn out a lot of words in a short amount of time. The other day I wrote 6000 words in one day. The YAW manuscript is going to be 50,000 words long. I'm already 9000 words down and plan to have it finished in the next 8 weeks, which is where the timeline and word count goals come into play. At that point I will submit it to the intended publisher and move on... but not before I take a short break. As much as I'm all about putting in the long, hard yards this year, I'm also smart enough to realize burning out won't help me one little bit.
So that's where I'm at. In November I felt despondent and lost, wondering how I'd pull myself and get back into things this year when 2011 didn't yield that results I wished for. Now I'm re-energized and looking forward to what 2012 and my Unspecified Goals will bring.

Spending My Time Off...

2011-12-20T11:09:00.002+11:00

I've really been enjoying my no-work policy for the last few weeks. Its given me a chance to catch up on my reading, watching some DVDs, and the other day I even bought one of those word puzzle books from the Newsagents, just for the heck of it. FYI, I suck at word puzzles. You would think as an author with a better-than-average grasp on the English language, I might actually have a knack for crosswords and jumble word puzzles, but more often than not I have to go find my husband to help me, who secretly is really good at those sorts of things and doesn't even realize it.
The other fun thing I've been doing is discovering new TV shows. I've just started watching Warehouse 13 (I know, I'm SOOO behind the times, but believe me when I tell you the TV stations here in Australia are suck-tastic) and I've found a new instant favorite. I've only watched four episodes but I'm hooked. The rapport between Pete and Myka is fantastic. The chemistry between them was instantaneous and already there's been some laugh-out-loud moments. Its got all the elements I love to see in a TV show, serious moments, funny moments, great characters, an intriguing plot and lots more. I'm really looking forward to where they go and hope this show has a long life of at least six or more seasons.
But back to my work. The self imposed ban on work until after New Year didn't last. Yesterday I wrote the opening sentence to a new book I've been thinking about and today I'm doing a read-through of The Last Shadow before I submit it to a particular editor at a certain publishing house who put out a call late last week. I think The Last Shadow might be along the lines of what she's looking for, so fingers crossed on that.
So I'm going to go back to my reading and later will be watching some more of Warehouse 13. Hope you're all having a merry December and get some time off to be with family and friends over Christmas.

Shelving That Manuscript

2011-12-13T09:07:00.000+11:00

I've tried a lot of different "strategies" over the years, trying to get published. I used to flit from one manuscript to another. If I couldn't get enough interest from agents, I'd decide to start on something new. One day I wondered if that was really working for me, maybe instead of chopping and changing, I needed to pick one manuscript and stick with it for a long haul, maybe that would be the key to seeing it published.
Atrophy was that manuscript. It's been almost 3 years since I first sat down to write it. I still feel something for Atrophy I've never felt for any of my other books, but that passion and dedication wasn't enough to see it in print. I got another rejection for Atrophy today, and while I could probably continue sending it out to the few smaller presses I haven't tried yet, or even my own publisher, Noble, I've decided instead that this has to be it.
I'm officially going to shelve Atrophy. No more submitting, no more adjusting, no more reading it over and over, trying to work out what's wrong with it that no publisher or agent wants to take it.
This is not the end, however. I'll move onto other projects, but one day I'm going to go back to it. Whether that's five, ten, or fifteen years from now, who knows?
For now, it's probably a good time to be switching gears. I'm taking a break and the New Year is upon us. I've already written up a plan of where and how I'm going to focus my energies. I feel like I've been a bit all over the place the past few months, not really sure of what I want to work on, so I was working on a bit of everything at once, which I don't think is a really successful way of getting anything done.
So 2012 will see new projects, new focus and new goals. And all I can do is see where this new map of the road takes me.

December Neglect

2011-12-08T14:27:00.000+11:00

If you've been around long enough, you may have notice that I severely neglect my blog at this time of year. Same goes for my work.
Its obvious why. Getting near Christmas, there's a lot of external stuff going on that keeps me away from the computer. I'm going into holiday mode because a lot of my family take time off over the Christmas/New Year break, so there's lots of parties and catching up to do. Most years I spend a lot of time thinking "I really should be writing this, or editing that." But today I decided something. I'm making my job an eleven-months-of-the-year thing. December is going to be like Sundays, a time when no work is done. Oh, you know me, I'm sure I'll do bits and pieces here and there when inspiration strikes. But I've worked my butt off in the last fifteen months, getting out five books after Sanctuary was released last September, not to mention the manuscripts I've worked on for the purpose of submitting to agents or other publishing houses.
So I'm officially going on holidays... except not leaving home. Don't be surprised if there's no new blog activity until January, though obviously if something interesting happens in terms of the submissions I have out, it'll be on here first.
So merry Christmas and safe New Year to everyone. I'm off to relax and put a dent in my to-be-read pile.

Timeless Desire Blog Tour Week Four - Guest Author HC Brown

2011-11-29T14:00:00.001+11:00

Wow, I can't believe we've reached the last week of this tour already! Its been great fun having so many people visit and likewise going to other blogs and meeting fabulous new people. My last guest is HC Brown, so let's get to know her a little better...

H.C Brown is a multi published author of, Historical, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, BDSM, Time Travel, Action Adventure and Contemporary Romance.

" I write tender erotic romance, with Male/ Female, Male/Male and ménage...always with a happy ending."

H.C writes under the pen name Pia Moonglow for YA Fantasy.

Living in Australia, HC gets her inspiration from the beautiful Gold Coast beaches.

" Let me take you to a world of fantasy and romance with delicious Alpha Males to melt your heart."

Please tell us a bit about your book.

Time to Live is a M/M BDSM story about sexual discovery.

Blurb

Seth Bannock is living a lie. Nothing in his life is working out. He likes women . . . he respects women . . . but when he tries to kiss a woman and she does that tongue thing, he wants to spew.

Confused by his body's reaction to the men at his gym, Seth seeks help from the only gay club he knows—Floggers. Is the man crazy? Seeking answers, the sweet, vanilla virgin marches into the BDSM club to speak to the owner, Rio Knight.

Realization that he has been on the wrong team all his life comes in the form of a six-foot-seven Adonis by the name of Matt Duffey. Instantly attracted to the leather-clad alpha male, Seth must leave his old life behind and embrace his newfound sexuality

Seth thought his life had complications before he met Matt, but nothing comes close to the rollercoaster ride in the big dom's arms.

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books?author=40

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

I enjoy writing M/M romance and BDSM the words flow as if the characters really exist.

When / Where / How do you write?

I write at home every day, I have a strict writing schedule.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

I am an International All Breeds Cat Judge.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I read constantly and mostly historical romance. I prefer to read newly published books so I enjoy a variety of authors.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Many, Diana Gabaldon, Nora Roberts.

What are you working on right now?

I have finished and submitted two M/M historical Romances.

A Tryst of Fate is under contract by Silver Publishing.

Lord and Master a BDSM Historical.

I'm currently working on a lot of projects, A fantasy romance, M/F and a contemporary BDSM Hurt Me Good and a Paranormal Dance for the Wolf.

Leave your email with your comment and go into the draw for a prize. Click on the tour logo to continue the tour.

You can find H.C. Brown here;

Web: www.hcbrown-author.com

Blog: www.hcbrownauthoroferoticromance.blogspot.com

Where Are All the Sci-Fi Buffs Hiding?

2011-11-24T15:14:00.000+11:00

When I was first thinking about this post, I was actually going to talk about the fact that I'm only seven years behind the trend, but I finally got around to watching Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 version) and man am I addicted! I'm about three quarters of the way through the first season and am very happy at the prospect of having three more seasons of a new (or, not so new) sci-fi show to watch. And since I'm a total spoiler wench, I went and had a quick look on the Internet because I wanted to know what happens between Lee and Kara.
I was a bit disappointed to see they have a rocky relationship, marry other people and never really end up together. I was hoping for a series-long romance like Aeryn and Crichton in Farscape. Is that too much to ask? I know a lot of people say a relationship between two main characters can be the end of a show, which is why couples like Mulder and Scully, or Jack and Sam from Stargate never got together as such. However, I think it can be done well, it all depends on how the writers handle it. After all, what would Superman be without Lois Lane? Alright, he'd still be Superman, but his relationship with Lois is part of how we relate to him. Personally I'd love to see someone like Dean from Supernatural get a strong female character to play off against, and have them fall in love (and not have his woman's memory wiped so she doesn't even remember who he is anymore).
Anyway, this post wasn't meant to be about my favorite on-screen relationships, I did have a question in the post title that I wanted answered.
Where the heck have the sci-fi community gone?
Oh, I know they're around on the net, chatting on their forums, indulging in a strong online community. But haven't they noticed there are no new sci-fi shows coming up in the near future? Alright, we've got Terra Nova and that's great. But I'm talking flying-through-space-on-a-big-ass-ship sci-fi. Oh yeah, I've seen that Battlestar Galactica is getting another chapter with filming of a new spin-off series called Blood and Chrome. It appears that like the Stargate franchise, they're going to explore as many different directions with BSG as they can.
But I want something new. In the early 2000s we were spoiled for choice; Stargate: SG1 and later Stargate: Atlantis. Farscape, Andromeda (which i have never watched), Battlestar Galactica, Dark Angel, and Firefly to name the ones I am most familiar with. Now we get fantasy type shows like Supernatural lumped in with sc-fi and people think we're satisfied? As much as I love Supernatural, its not sci-fi and I'm ready to get addicted to something brand new and exciting.
So why the lack of science fiction on our TV screens?

Timeless Desire Blog Tour Week Three - Guest Author Bryl R Tyne

2011-11-23T15:00:00.001+11:00

Today we have with us Bryl R Tyne and one lucky reader will have the chance to win a nifty swag pack. So don't forget to leave a comment. And now, without further ado...

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

I'm Bryl R. Tyne, I most often write gritty, sexy, gay fiction featuring dysfunctional men who find love despite themselves. I've never met a "misfit" or a dog I didn't like.

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

Timeless Desire and Halloween. Add a dash of Russian history and a liberal smidge of man on man loving, and voilá, you have IMMORTAL.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

IMMORTAL tested my mettle as a writer and my integrity. I cannot tell you how important it is to me that I say what I mean and mean what I say, but I'd overbooked myself and basically got myself in too deep. Thankfully, the publisher was willing to give me a small extension to get this story finished! (Thank you, Jill!) Other than that, yes, I enjoyed writing this one, even if it has vampires in it! Halloween does that to me. Each year around this time, I find myself thinking of vampires, never anytime else though.

When / Where / How do you write?

Anytime I get a chance/Anyplace that I can plug my laptop in/Lots of music, loud, LOUD music.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

I edit and also work in the printing industry as an advertising coordinator.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

Right now I've got Damon Suede's Hot Head open, Aleks Voinov's Dark Soul I almost finished, Entertainment for a Master by John Preston partially read, and How to Self-Edit about halfway through.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Not really. I read little as a child and only required reading as a teen. Nothing for 28 yrs afterward and only recently discovered m/m books, which I'm an avid reader of now. But I was writing the stuff before I'd read it.

What are you working on right now?

I'm working on my first attempt at Horror in my Anguish series for Riptide, and at the same time, writing my first Lesbian erotica for Noble Romance.

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

I have another slightly different kind of vampire tale, this one a bit more satirical, out with Riptide Publishing, called DIVINITY. I hope you check it out alongside IMMORTAL.

IMMORTAL by Bryl R. Tyne

Blurb:

Found abandoned as a child and taken in by the Nevsky clan, the man Ivis now feels the call of the water, the sea, but Sefton and his family, one of the most influential vampire bloodlines in Russia, isn't about to let Ivis go. As Ivis's powers grow stronger—powers unknown to him—Sefton's instructed to detain Ivis at all costs to tilt in his clan's favor the balance of power in an endless struggle between the Bogdanov water gods and Nevsky vampires. Sefton's left with a choice: power or love. Which is the greater desire?

Link to excerpt: http://bryltyne.com/excerpt-immortal-by-bryl-r-tyne

Author Website: http://bryltyne.com

Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books?author=59

CONTEST: Leave a comment to win a Bryl R. Tyne Swag-pack!

Continue the tour by clicking the Noble Tour button

Thanks for visiting, Bryl, and good luck to everyone who enters to win the swag!

Timeless Desire Blog Tour Week Three - Guest Author Brita Addams

2011-11-22T13:09:00.000+11:00

Week three already! The blog tour is going so fast, I can't believe we're over half way through already.
Today I have Brita Addams visiting, so let's go see what we can find out...

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

I'm Brita Addams, and I write both m/m and m/f erotic romance. I have written several historical romances, including my Sapphire Club series and have recently delved into the contemporary realm, starting with Free Me and In His Arms, the beginning of a new series, Romeo Club, and into A Minute After Midnight and An Evening at the Starlight.

Please tell us a bit about your book.

I actually have two books on this blog tour, both for the Timeless Desire series. One is A Minute After Midnight, which is the story of Logan and Reid, two men who lost each other due to circumstances beyond their control and have been lost ever since.

The other is An Evening at the Starlight, which I bill as a poignant story of love and desire. It fits very closely with the theme of Timeless Desire.

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

For Midnight, I wanted a contemporary tale of two men finding their way in the world. The motivation was really that simple. The characters guided me, which is always a thrilling experience for me. They literally took the wheel and made their needs known to me.

In Starlight, Royal and Doe are very dear to my heart. I loosely patterned their story on that of my great Uncle Roy and Aunt Dorothy. The story behind their story is on my website and I invite everyone to come and read about them.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

Midnight gave me fits at times, simply because Logan and Reid are very independent thinkers. There was a fine line between keeping them manly men and giving in to their need to be the people they were when they first parted. Ultimately, they showed me their deep-seeded humanity, and the rest was rather easy.

Starlight was a joy from start to finish. From Bud's snappy repartee, right down to the final line, when everything is revealed in just a few words, I loved writing this book. It flowed beautifully, made me laugh and made me cry. I'm very attached to this one.

When / Where / How do you write?

I usually write during the daytime, when the house is quiet. I don't have the television on (breaking a lifelong soap opera habit) and since my children are grown, and two no longer live at home. My husband is retired, but he has more than enough to keep him occupied while I hammer away at my laptop in the living room.

I've commandeered half the love seat, two cushions on the sofa and the back of the sofa, as well as an end table, all in the name of my craft. I don't like sitting up at a desk (did that for many years as an office manager), so I am quite comfy with my laptop and my sweet puppy, Fiona, laying next to me, all cuddled up, keeping my right leg nice and warm.

At five o'clock, my sweet darling husband has dinner ready—he is the best cook in the world—and we then settle into our evening, joined by our youngest daughter, who lives with us, thank the good Lord above. She's a writer too, Lindsay Marene Ordone and has one book out with Decadent.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

Aside from being a mother, a grandmother and a wife, I'm also a non-professional genealogist and have many for over twenty years. I've spent many hours tramping through cemeteries back in my home state of New York, recording gravestones for myself and for the local historical society. I can trace branches of my mother's family back to the Plantagenets. There's an old genealogy saying – "It all leads back to the Plantagenets," and I can honestly say, I haven't found too many branches in my own family tree to disprove that. Except maybe my father's Norwegian side. Nary a one of them are related to any English speaking persons.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading Erastes' Muffled Drum. Leads back to my love of historicals and the m/m genre in particular.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Inspiration yes, two actually. Aleksandr Voinov is a genius, both as a writer and as a person. I've been fortunate enough to have Aleks as a mentor for some time now and he isn't afraid to call me on something if he doesn't see it working. He's helped me and taught me things about writing that will stay with me forever. I love his work, which has helped me expand my reading into sub-genres I hadn't ever foreseen myself reading—particularly military. He's brilliant.

The second is my friend Bryl R. Tyne. Bryl doesn't realize how genius he is, I tell him that all the time. He's poetic one minute and hard-ass the next, but always he writes beautiful stories about men everyone wishes they knew.

Bryl and I talk a lot about writing and honing our craft. He's taught me to appreciate the beauty of character creation, helped me with passive/active voice by telling me WHY it passive doesn't work (a key in me learning something, the why) and even has helped me write blurbs. He's a master at blurb writing, as many of his authors know.

I love both these guys and I know I wouldn't be where I am today without their input.

What are you working on right now?

I'm working on a m/m historical called For Men Like Us. Two very broken men, each with their own set of problems.

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

Just a quick mention of my Romeo Club series. Romeo Club #1: Surprises is out now, with the second in the series being released in December. Each is a short, about 5,000 works. More about them can be found on my website.

Here's where I can be found around the net:

Email address: britaaddams@gmail.com

Website URL: http://www.britaaddams.com

Blog URL: http://www.britaaddams.com

Twitter: @britaaddams

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/britaaddams

Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4093476.Brita_Addams

Thanks so much!

Thanks for visiting, Brita. Sounds like you're a very busy lady! Good luck with your up-coming projects.

Back to the Future...

2011-11-18T21:08:00.000+11:00

... no trademark breach intended.
I'm working on my Shadow Hunter novel again this week. I got another two rejections for Atrophy, one of which the rejecting person in question had taken the time to comment on some elements of Atrophy that weren't working in her opinion. While I still do have five or so other Atrophy submissions out at the moment, I suddenly said to myself "get over it, man! Its been like three years. Don't you think its time you built a bridge?!?!"
So I plan on starting the querying game all over again. Which means I have to have something to query with. So I edited the heck out of the first five chapters, wrote a suck-nopsis (which my long-suffering crit partner is fixing up for me) and got on with writing the last 8000-odd words of the ending I never got around to doing.
And tonight, the beginning of the second book hit me, making me want to rush off and start writing it. But I'm not going to do that when I have so many other projects already on the go.
So, let's see how I get on with my Shadow Hunters. Meanwhile I have another new sci-fi novel on the go and the fourth Sanctuary book to write. Can't say I've never got nothing to do around here!

Timeless Desire Blog Tour Week Two - Guest Author J.S. Wayne

2011-11-16T16:00:00.003+11:00

The second day of week two and we have with us multi-talented author J.S. Wayne talking about his novella and current projects...

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

Hi, Jess! I’m J.S. Wayne, an author of erotic romance and paranormal horror. I’m currently in a program for procrastination and spork addiction, and love to write about love in all its forms and incarnations.

Please tell us a bit about your book.

“Ancient Magic” is a fantasy erotic romance story about a man who seems to have turned his back on his people to ride at the head of his homeland’s oppressors’ army and the woman who was intended to be his bride. When Varath leaves Jurav, Melody, the woman who was in line to be the High Priestess to the most beloved goddess of Jurav, thinks he is committing treason to his birthright, bride, and goddess. But all is not as it seems. . .

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

I’ve always enjoyed multi-dimensional characters who are more than they appear to be, and writing Varath and Melody against the backdrop of a nation that has been brought ruthlessly to heel presented a great opportunity to explore hidden agendas and the difference between what is true in the heart and what appears to be true on the surface.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

“Ancient Magic” was initially intended to be a vampire story under another name. I got about three thousand words in and wound up scrapping almost the entire concept in favor of something with a more fantasy feel. After five drafts, I finally came up with something that I really liked, and got rolling.

When / Where / How do you write?

I write constantly, all the time. I’ve got a little corner of the dining room where my desk is set up, and if I’m not sitting there, I’m either eating, bathing, or sleeping!

How I write is something else again. I’m fairly dogged about starting a story and not skipping around within it. Dodging back and forth between works is another matter entirely. It’s not uncommon for me to be back and forth between three or four WIPs at any given time, and those are just the ones that are on my immediate to-do list!

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

At the moment, I write as a career, which consumes my entire day. In the past, I’ve worked as a prison guard, a construction materials technician, a bartender, and a legion of other less notable jobs, so the short answer is, there isn’t a great deal I don’t have the know-how to do if I really have to.

But my heart’s in my writing, and when you love what you do, you don’t work a minute of your day!

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

Currently, I’m in the middle of National Novel Writing Month, this blog tour, editing, and a host of other projects. I’ve got several books on my TBR for December 1^st, when, if there’s any justice, I’ll be able to take some time off and unwind! But for now, I’m up to my ears in writing and simply don’t have time to read, much to my dismay.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Too many to name! But I’ll point out a couple of my favorites:

Dean R. Koontz, Jim Butcher, and John Sandford always shoot right to the top of my “must-have” list when they put out a new book.

What are you working on right now?

Since this is November, I’m also participating in NaNoWriMo, trying to finish off the last installment of the “canonical” Angels series and a WIP entitled Once A Knight’s Enough. After those are done, I’m going to get back to work on a modern paranormal erotic horror story, The Hollow, featuring the Headless Horseman.

I’ve got two upcoming releases: “Dancing on Flames,” which is an m/m paranormal erotic romance featuring werewolves; and “Dead Means Dead,” for the forthcoming Lesbians Vs. Zombies line from Noble Romance.

And after I get all those plot bunnies skinned, I’ve got six more in various stages of development! Plus, I’m working on raising awareness for Writing Out Child Abuse, a coalition of writing professionals dedicated to providing care, comfort, aid and hope to survivors of child abuse worldwide.

So, nah…I don’t do anything much these days!

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

So far, my best-known work, and the stories that have garnered the most attention and praise, are my “Angels” series. These are “Angels Would Fall,” “Angel of the Morning,” and the full novel, Angels Cry. I hope that the readers will check these out, because I think they’re great stories that they’ll love!

Is there something I haven't asked that you'd like to tell us?

I believe in love, magic, and magick. I hope, through reading my work, some of my readers will come to believe just how magical love in all its forms is, and that there are things which don’t make sense or follow “physical law,” but exist nonetheless.

Thanks so much!

Thank you for having me here, Jess! Before I go, I brought an excerpt from “Ancient Magic” for your reading pleasure. I hope y’all enjoy it!

Timeless Desire: Ancient Magic

Blurb:

More than two decades have passed since the Hodans invaded the peaceful kingdom of Jurav. In their zeal for conquest, they have mercilessly rent the Juravian national character asunder, starting with the temples of their gods.
Varath was raised from a young age by his uncle to one day assume his father's mantle— of the command warden of the Temple of Noradi, the most beloved goddess of the Juravian pantheon and the deity of heart, hearth, and the fires which burn in both.
Melody would have been the High Priestess to Noradi, and her own family has groomed her with equal care against the day when the Hodan hordes would be expelled and she could assume her rightful place as the most powerful figure in the entire nation . . . and as Varath's bride.
When Varath departed to serve in the Hodan army, Melody saw it as an unconscionable betrayal. Now Varath has returned to take his father's place as the sole guardian of a temple where no one dares enter, and he has made overtures to claim the other half of his bequest: Melody herself. But can Melody see past the deceptions and lies his rebellion has forced and learn to love the man who seems to have turned his back on his own people?

To see the book trailer, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me61FU-Xa-Q

Excerpt:

He hooked his thumbs into the broad battle belt at his waist and allowed his cloak to catch the wind; the silver chain which fastened the sable cloak tugged at his throat as the points of the heavy garment caught the night wind and flowed out behind him like ebony wings. He squared his shoulders, determined to look as confident as possible, despite the fact at this moment, he felt anything but.

Will she find me pleasing? And what of her? Does she know the tradition, and if she does, will she uphold it or shatter it?

He ground his teeth. Ludicrous, he scolded himself. This was hardly his first assignation with a woman. He had passed that milestone more than seven years previously. But experience offered no shield to ward his doubts at this moment, and he growled under his breath at his own dry mouth. His heart raced in his throat in uncertainty as to what to expect.

There! His battle-sharpened eyes picked out a flicker of movement in the trees beyond the moon-silvered, ruined courtyard. He stretched one hand casually toward his battle axe; at the first sign of anything amiss, the heavy weapon would be ready to his grasp. Aside from that slight motion, undoubtedly undetectable at the distance separating him from the interloper, he stood as still and quiet as the stones surrounding him.

Varath watched intently as she parted the delicate shadows of the sacred grove as if the moonlight had willed itself a pleasing form for his benefit. She drew closer, her feet making no sound on the ground beneath her as she came. Stark black and white resolved into myriad subtle nuances of silver, turquoise, amethyst, and onyx, crowned with a cascade of falling-star hair which rippled and flowed around her shoulders with every step.

She was a woman in the same sense that a raging thunderstorm was rain.

Oh, she had all the requisite curves and loveliness, of that there could be no denial. But she was much, much more than merely a soft collection of pleasing angles and lines drawing his eye, his hand, his desire. She was a goddess, a dove amongst crows, a sensual virginal temptress. There was something eternal in the way she moved, an intangible hint while she could touch and negotiate her way in this world, she was still somehow untainted by it. The dirt and filth accruing to mere mortals and the grief and pain layering their souls could find no purchase with her.

As Varath studied her approach with growing excitement, he wondered how this erotic apparition could possibly find any merit in him.

She stepped lightly over the tumbled ring of once-grand columns which had denoted the inner boundary of the temple's grounds. He noted her feet were bare beneath her gown of deep purple, piped with silver embellishment at wrists, neckline, and waist. She wore one ring on each hand, and a silver bracelet of craftsmanship no mere human could ever hope to duplicate encircled her delicate right wrist.

Varath's breath caught as she stopped a mere hair's breadth beyond his arm's reach and offered him a shallow nod.

"Varath."

"Melody."

Melody favored him with a cool smile. "How have you been keeping?"

Varath grunted, taking refuge in his best, brusque military manner to conceal his desire to say something foolish . . . like, I love you. "I've been lonely. Can you even conceive of how stultifying it becomes to stand watch over this same ground night after night for as long as I have? If anything ever happened here, I would undoubtedly feel different." His tone lost some of its edge as she cut her eyes down toward the ground; he realized he had unknowingly hurt her with his abrupt, clipped speech.

"You—you've forgiven me?"

If you want to stalk me:

http://jswayne.wordpress.com

http://nobleromance.com/authors/155

@jswayne702 on Twitter

Timeless Desire Blog Tour Week Two - Guest Author KevaD

2011-11-15T14:00:00.003+11:00

It's week two of the Timeless Desire Blog Tour and today I'm very happy to be introducing KevaD, and very excited to announce one lucky person will be winning a prize here today, so let's get on with it!

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

Hello, Jess, and thank you for allowing me to spend some time with you and your readers.

I'm KevaD, and I write any story my mind can conjure. Whether the tale is comedy, romance, suspense, horror, or whatever, I'll tell it. I'm a storyteller who sees inspiration in everything around him. The world is a saga begging to be told, be it a curve in a lady's brow, a haggard man drinking coffee alone, a dog loping across a field, the shape of a cloud,… these are all doorways to stories. I absolutely love what I do.

As a special gift for your readers I'll give away a $10.00 Noble Romance gift certificate to a randomly selected commenter.

Please tell us a bit about your book.

I was fortunate to have two books released as part of the Timeless Desire Line.

"A Dance with Bogie and Bacall" is a sweet romance of two people stumbling through life and the ghost bent on bringing them together.

"Desire Damned" is the story of two men and the events that will cause one to sacrifice eternity for the other.

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

"A Dance with Bogie and Bacall" is the result of listening to Bertie Higgins's song Key Largo over, and over, and over, and over, and…

"Desire Damned" took a totally different route to come to life.

We all love heroes, especially ones who stand against seemingly insurmountable odds. I thought about that for a long time. Finally the idea of a warrior unknown to the world, damned to suffer under the devil's lash stepped to the forefront. And what if he willingly suffered to protect the one person he loved, and in turn protected us all? The story fell into place from there.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

I thoroughly enjoy writing all my stories. To see a concept take life, to give it breath, is an amazing experience.

When / Where / How do you write?

I have the luxury of writing fulltime, so I do just that. I start when I get up in the morning, and sometimes go all day and night. But, being human, there are times I have to walk away from my desk and accept there are other things that require my attention. I'm fortunate to have a wife who not only understands my love of writing, but fully supports and encourages it. Writing also keeps me out of her way. =) I'm a freelance journalist as well, so that takes up a significant part of my writing time.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

I sell antiques on the weekends. Mostly farm related items such as horse-drawn plows, iron wheels, well pumps, some wooden cabinets, etc.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I just finished "Gangsters, Harlots & Thieves: Down and Out at the Hotel Clifton." It's a collection of poems and essays written by Todd Moore about his life as a child with an alcoholic father who did odd jobs for the Capones, and their life in a rundown hotel. Marvelous book, by the way.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Mystery author Sam Reaves and romance author Barbara Sheridan mentored me early on, helping me to understand the writing process and what it takes to become published. I will always be grateful for their interest and friendship.

What are you working on right now?

"Hearts on a Paper Boat" is the story of two broken lives whose paths cross. After fourteen years in prison for a murder he was convicted of while seventeen, Layton Landers isn't sure he can make it out here in a world totally foreign to him. Hannah Preston, pregnant with her dead lover's child, is only living because she has to – for her baby. Until she realizes that despite Landers's claim to the contrary, Landers didn't commit the murder.

Only by uncovering their pasts can they find their futures.

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

Oh my yes. Thank you for asking.

"Sunday Awakening" romantic suspense, the "Out of the Closet" books, romantic comedy, "Catherine's Toys" a four-part gay horror serial, and "A Demon Affair" a MM paranormal.

Is there something I haven't asked that you'd like to tell us?

Just to once again say thank you for having me here, and for the continued support of readers.

I'm KevaD, wishing you only the best in your life.

http://www.kevad.net/

https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/116

"A Dance with Bogie and Bacall"

Blurb:

Radio DJ Scott Kincaid's first caller of the night is a lady who died forty-nine years ago. The second wants to knock his head off. And he thought falling in love would be easy.

Maureen and Frank Johnson shared the kind of romance most people believe only exists in movies. Until a ballroom fire took Maureen's life.

Franci Johnson grew up hearing her grandparents' love story a thousand times and wishes to find the kind of undying love Frank and Maureen had once upon a time.

DJ Scott Kincaid just wants the ghost following him to go away. But Maureen thinks the hunky DJ might be just the answer to her granddaughter's dreams.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Frank propped his elbow on the iron railing at the edge of the dance floor and absently watched yet another Humphrey Bogart lookalike attired as film noire detective Sam Spade arrogantly strut across the ballroom, through the forest of faux palm trees and potted plants with crepe paper leaves.

Ribbons of gray tobacco smoke broke and swirled in his wake. The hard, leather heels of his polished shoes clicked a beat on the floorboards. At a rickety, corner table barely illuminated under the flickering flame of a sconce gas lamp, a Rick Blaine copy in the character's patented white tux and black tie rose from a wooden folding chair and grasped Sam's extended hand. An obvious Vivian Sternwood Rutledge in full aqua gown uncharacteristically scurried across the floor until she stood at Sam's side where she ran her hand over the back of his black suit coat. A glint of a too long pocket watch gold chain flashed in the dim, orange light. A subtle nod to Rick's left, and Sam turned his shoulders to take the hand of a seated Nora Temple resplendently sensuous in a black dress with plunging neckline that tickled the top of the fleshy V of her very noticeable, ample cleavage.

"You're staring," whispered Frank's own duplicated Nora into his right ear. "Not that she doesn't
have a lot to stare at."

"She forgot the necklace. When Lauren Bacall played Nora, she wore a necklace with that dress in Key Largo. A silver one that clung to the base of her throat and accentuated the graceful turns of her head. Lauren Bacall isn't only the most beautiful actress to ever grace the silver screen, she makes the clothing and accoutrements she wears stunning"—he shifted his gaze and lost himself in his wife's glistening green eyes—"just like you do."

A quickly raised hand pinched his jaw at the chin. "Franklin Johnson, you are such a liar." Maureen's glossy red lips curled at the corners. "But a sweet one." She pushed his face left.

"She's wearing the necklace."

He coughed a hairball of embarrassment. Oops.

Maureen pulled his face back to hers. In heels, she stood nearly as tall as he did and leaned in as if to offer up a kiss but stopped a heated breath short. "You want to gawk at a woman's chest, gawk at your wife's."

Frank glanced down. Maureen had captured the top of her black silk, body-clinging dress between thumb and forefinger allowing a full view of her diminutive, unclad breasts and perked, pink nipples.

His groin stirred immediately within his Rick Blaine white tuxedo trousers. "You hussy," he heaved out in a thick rasp. "Where is your brassiere? Some new moral descent didn't happen when we left the 50s behind us." Heat scorched his ears. How had he not noticed before this? His breath caught. God, she was beautiful.

"Built-in cups just firm enough to hold me in place." She chuckled at his discomfort and released the cloth, then slipped her arms beneath his jacket and around his torso. Inching in to him, she only stopped when the hardened beads atop her bosom pressed through his shirt and against his chest.

"Mmm," he moaned. Her mouth found his ear. Little nips tugged at the lobe. He stroked the sides of her body under the cool silk. The temperature of her skin headed for sweltering, the silken material warmed. Sweat beaded under his arms and between his thighs. She pressed into his thickening erection, which snapped to full attention under a tidal wave of arousal.

He allowed himself the publicly displayed pleasure of sliding his hands to the top of her buttocks, tracing the indentation with his little fingers. Nuzzling her soft throat, he whispered, "I want to make love to you right now. Let's get out of here."

The six-piece band comprised of three strings, the leader's clarinet, one sax, and a trombone returned from break to the small stage at the end of the long room, and oozed into a slow, soft rendition of As Time Goes By. Humphrey Bogarts and Lauren Bacalls of all sizes, shapes, and costumes materialized from the shadows of the gas lamps resurrected for this annual event celebrating Bogart's life and death. The past's mimes took to the dance floor under tiny squares of haunting light from the mirrored orb of the Harvest Moon Ballroom.

"No." Maureen grabbed his hand and yanked him into the throng of couples on the dance floor. "Bogie and Bacall wouldn't let a night like this go to waste . . . and neither will we." Her left hand snaked its way to the small of his back, her right took his left in a pretense of submitting to his "lead." She opted for a closed box foxtrot with her body trying to merge with his, their steps no more than foot-length shuffles.

"Besides, you haven't given me my anniversary orchid yet. Ten years today, Franklin Johnson. And though I love you more than ever, and have borne you three children, you will give me my orchid."

All the blood in him fell to his feet. The room swayed, but not to the music. The mirrored ball spun in a prismatic dervish. A ghostly orchid, fragile and pulsing its matte colors, swirled in and out of his vision.

"Frank? Frank! Are you all right?"

Movement. His. Somehow he moved across the floor—the orchid just beyond his grasp led the way.
"Sit down." The voice from an unseen well belonged to Maureen.

He did as instructed.

"I'll get you some water. I'll be right back."

The orchid hung motionless in the air. He reached out his open palm. The flower settled onto his skin. A smile parted his lips. The orchid was as beautiful as Maureen. A faint heat emanated from the flower's core. He brought the bloom closer. Flames engulfed the petals, burned his hand. Reflexively he dropped the small ball of fire onto the table where it disintegrated into black dust and disappeared.

"Drink this."

The chilled rim of a glass touched his lips. Iced water trickled between them. He gratefully swallowed the mouthful, filtering out the ice cubes with his teeth, and then gulped down the entire glassful of water.
"Come on,
pal." A man's voice. Hands under his arms lifted Frank from the chair. "You just need to lie down a few minutes. A little too much bubbly, eh?"

"Our tenth anniversary," Maureen said. "We had some champagne earlier, but I didn't think he'd had that much. My husband isn't a drinker normally. Only on special occasions."

Frank flopped his head back, watching the dark ceiling boards skip past. He tried to count them, but they moved too quickly as the men on either side of him half carried him from the ballroom. Then his feet scuffed their way up a stairway and into a small room. A lamp clicked on. Light under an emerald shade flooded a cluttered desktop. He was lowered onto a leather couch that squeaked his arrival.

Maureen appeared in front of him and helped him out of his jacket. She loosened his bowtie and unbuttoned his collar. Cool air sprinkled his exposed throat.

"I'll have a pitcher of water sent up. Stay as long as you want. Not the first time a guest needed that couch to sleep it off." Two shadows stepped through the doorway into the hall.

"He's not drunk," Maureen said in a huff. She wiped his face with her open hand. "Are you okay, honey? You scared me there for a minute."

Little by little, Maureen's face came into focus. Lines of worry wrinkled her brow. Still, the creases somehow looked damn good on her. Age would meet its match in this gorgeous woman.

Frank grinned. "Yeah. Better now. Just got a little dizzy. I guess I should stay away from champagne that comes in six-packs. I'm fine. Let's get out of here." He placed his hands on the cushions and pushed in an attempt to stand.

Maureen countered with her hands on his shoulders. "You stay right there, Mister, until I'm sure you're all right."

He tilted his head and kissed her wrist. "I'm okay. Honest. Let's go home." Something inside him rolled over. An urge, a need of some kind. A desire to leave this place.

"We will, Frank." Maureen guided him downward and placed a throw pillow under his head. "But I want you to rest for a few minutes. For me? Please?" She lifted his feet onto the couch. His shoes thumped on the floor. Cool air swarmed over his stocking feet, delivering a sense of comfort in its rush. Her hands went to his waist. His belt came undone, then his trousers unbuttoned.

Tension ebbed under Maureen's care. Wrapped in her love, he was as safe as she was in his. He swept away the orchid as a momentary quirk in the thick tobacco smoke. "Too much champagne, celebration, dancing, and too much confined heat from the packed house crowd. That's all that happened. Nothing to be concerned with. I'm fine. And I still want to make love to you."

She arched a brow and ran the tip of her tongue across her red lips. Subtly moving her hips from side to side, she gripped the zipper of his pants and slowly tugged it down; each metal link clicked surrender to Frank's private lap dancer. A not unfamiliar game in their bedroom. But they certainly weren't in their bedroom. His interest and erection swelled.

Ten years of marriage, and Maureen could still turn him on in an instant.

"Are you trying to seduce me, madam? I am a married man, you know." He waggled his left hand back and forth. "I have a ring and everything."

Maureen narrowed her eyes, and huskily whispered, "It's the everything I'm after." She ran a finger over the cylindrical shape of engorged flesh under his cotton briefs. "Bogie and Bacall wouldn't waste an opportunity like this."

A grin of desire spread across Frank's face. "And neither will we."

Staccato tapping at the door.

Maureen snapped her head around. Frank groaned and looked at the young man in the open doorway. Oops.

"I – I . . . ." The trembling teen filled his lungs and tried again. "I brought your water?" He held up a cranberry colored metal pitcher and two matching tumblers. A vein of liquid dribbled down the side of the pitcher. Droplets splattered onto the wood floor.

"Put it on the desk, please," Frank mumbled. His cheeks could have lit charcoal briquettes. He dug out his wallet and a five spot. "Here. For your trouble."

"No trouble." His task completed, the teen turned to leave.

Maureen snatched the bill and stuffed it in the boy's shirt pocket. "Then accept it as a friend who won't spill his guts about what he thinks he saw that he didn't. Will that work for you?"

The freckled face flushed. "Yes, ma'am. Thanks." He all but ran out of the room. The door clicked closed behind him.

Maureen turned the lock, and then pirouetted on the ball of one foot. She kicked off her shoes. One hit the desk with a thud. Her hands slithered down her body to the hem of her dress.

"Are ready for this, Mr. Johnson?"

"Oh yeah, Mrs. Johnson."

Her features grew concerned. "Are you sure you're okay, Frank? We don't have to do this."

His heart pounded excitement and need. Muscles contracted, relaxed, tightened again. There was no way he wasn't going to make love to his wife right here, right now. "Want to bet? Take off the dress, or I'll rip it off with my teeth."

Maureen pulled the black silk from her body without mussing so much as a strand of her rolled blonde hairdo. Black panties hid the fluff between her sweat-glistened thighs. After wetting the tips of her index fingers on her tongue, she rubbed each one around the pink areolas of her milky breasts. The nipples strained and stretched.

Frank's mouth watered for the taste of her—for every inch of her. His erection throbbed for the feel of her wet folds.

"What would you like me to do, Mr. Johnson?" she throatily taunted.

"Undress me. Then I want you to lie down and enjoy. Tonight's about you. I'm going to eat you from top to bottom and back again. And I don't plan to stop until you beg me."

She ran the back of a finger down her chest, to her belly, and then dipped her hand under her panties. The black material moved in waves as she stroked herself.

His hard-on needed another two inches of skin or he'd explode.

She took a step toward him. His body quivered in anticipation. Another step and her gaze shifted to the throbbing pole between his legs.

"What if someone comes to the door? What if they discover what we're doing in here?"

The questions served to tease him, to make him wait a few more pain-filled breaths of wanting.

"Let 'em wait their turn," he snarled. "Take my clothes off and spread your legs. Bogie's hungry, and he's looking at you, kid."

Stories Really Do Have a Life of Thier Own

2011-11-14T14:26:00.000+11:00

I've been working on my "CP novella", named that because I intend to submit it to Carina Press and don't have a title for it yet. I hadn't done any work on it over the weekend, since I wrote the first two chapters last week.
I sat down today and started writing chapter three, where we meet the heroine for the first time, though, as it is a novella, chapter three is only 5000 words or approx 20 pages in. This was all well and good, but as the heroine started revealing her story to me, I realized that things were becoming bigger than I'd intended them to be. The other character my heroine brought with her also have me intrigued and I'm seeing more books popping in the future. It seems I just can't help but turn everything I think of into a series. But then, who doesn't love a good series?
So it seems my "CP novella" had inadvertently become a "CP novel." I don't have a length in mind, I'm just going to write and see where I end up.
Stay tuned for this week's installment of the Timeless Desire blog tour. Tomorrow I have Keva D stopping by, followed by JS Wayne on Wednesday. There are prizes to be won and lots of fun to be had!

Timeless Desire Blog Tour - Guest Sarah Ballance

2011-11-09T17:45:00.000+11:00

Day two of the blog tour and today we have romantic suspense author Sarah Ballance visiting. Let's get to know her a little better...

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

Hi, Jess and readerly-types! It's a pleasure to be here today—especially considering I was able to sneak away from my kids for the day, LOL. I'm a mom of six—13, 11, 8, 5, 4, and 17m—and I write because it gives me a BREAK from my day-to-day! LOL. I started my first novel in summer 2008, not because I ever wanted to be an author, but because someone suggested I write a novel and I said I couldn't do that. Naturally, once I heard myself I realized I HAD to do it. (I excel in being contrary. My husband will vouch for me on that).

Please tell us a bit about your book.

Bridger thought Laney was the one, certain when she left for college she'd come back to him as she promised. Seven years later, he's still waiting (and none too happy to admit it). When she returns with hopes for a second chance, years of anger and hurt lead Bridger to turn his back on her. Then she's attacked, and there's no denying how he feels. But her stalker has the upper hand, and by the time Bridger realizes what he's dealing with, it's too late . . . Laney is gone. And the only thing more shocking than what happens when she disappears is the crime that follows, but divulging that would be giving just a bit too much away. *grin*

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

I used the Timeless Desire theme to give my characters a shared past. I absolutely love the coast and was able to use the seasonal tourist traffic to the advantage of my plot for FAMILIAR LIGHT and its sequel, TIDE OF LIES. The lighthouse element paired nicely with the beach, and it's a big player in the outcome of the story. As for the title, I actually found myself singing along to an old song while writing, but I messed up the lyrics. When I realized I'd said "familiar light" I thought, wow. Old lovers and a lighthouse? *love*! LOL.

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

A little bit of both. This was my second time working with a deadline and both times I think I hit the "eject" button with alarming frequency. And dang it, nothing ever happened when I did, LOL. I think I've had a love-hate relationship with every story I've written, though, so in that sense FAMILIAR LIGHT was very much . . . uh, familiar.

When / Where / How do you write?

I go through phases—I'll write in the morning for several weeks, then I'll stay up late for a few months. Right now I tend to do most of my writing between 8pm and midnight. My husband takes over the house and the kids after dinner so I can hole up in the bedroom undisturbed (or as undisturbed as anyone can be in a house with a half-dozen youngin's, LOL.)

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

In addition to herding kids, I homeschool them. This year they're in grades 8^th, 6^th, 3^rd, and K, plus I have two preschoolers to keep alive. Frankly, there's little time for anything else, but any time we can spend boating or hiking is awesome. I also decorate cakes and love to spend one-on-one time with my kids in the kitchen.

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I just finished Chrisi Barth's CRUISING TOWARD LOVE. Next up is A KNIGHT IN COWBOY BOOTS by Suzie Quint. I have a list some 60 titles long at the moment, and I swear it grows every time I feature another author on my blog! LOL.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

I credit the Harlequin Intrigue line for fostering my love of romantic suspense. I didn't pick one up until after I finished my first novel, and it was only then I realized my blood ran thick with romantic suspense. Talk about love at first sight!

What are you working on right now?

I'm finishing up TIDE OF LIES, which follows FAMILIAR LIGHT. Then I'm back to my new Packing Heat series with the second book, tentatively titled LAST CALL. Those who read UNFORGIVEN (the first book in the series) will recognize Maverick as he takes the lead in book two, but the books do not have to be read in order—each one stands alone.

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

I think I just managed to pitch them all! LOL. Seriously, I have five books out. Readers can check them out on my website or blog, where there's easy access to blurbs, excerpts, reviews, and buy links.

Also (*clears throat*) I'm not above bribery, and here's the pitch. Every week someone who subscribes to my blog *by email* will win a gift certificate—either $10 to Noble Romance or $5 to Amazon, winner's choice. If you want in, head over and look for the subscription box on the upper left hand column. It really is that simple, but if you want full details you'll find them here: http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/weekly-giveaways/

Thanks so much for allowing me to invade for the day! :c)

WEBSITE http://www.sarahballance.com/

BLOG http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/

AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003WKYEJI

TWITTER http://twitter.com/#!/SarahBallance

FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/sarah.ballance.author.news

"FAMILIAR LIGHT" BUY LINK https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/344/Familiar-Light

BLURB

Seven years of longing comes down to just one night.

Laney Kent returns to Barrier Shoals hoping to reunite with her first love, Bridger. She anticipates his reception might be chilly, but what she doesn't expect is to become the victim of a deadly obsession … or that this night with Bridger could be her last.

Bridger Jansen tangled a lot of sheets trying to forget about Laney, but his heart knew what the rest of him refused to admit: he could love no one else. He's determined not to forgive her for leaving him without explanation, but when he fails to protect her from a viscous attack, the person he can't forgive just might be himself.

EXCERPT

"Can I help you?" The gruff question trickled through the cavernous space like water leaking through pipes. He seemed to materialize from the shadows as he strode toward her, the rise of heat from the concrete floor keeping him just out of focus.

But her heart knew.

She swallowed a hard knob of regret. "Bridger?"

He couldn't have heard her—not with the way she clung to his name, as if saying it out loud would be to lose another piece of him. But his step faltered, and the recognition in that interrupted cadence brought the burn of tears to her eyes.

No regrets.

She stood, trembling, as the fifty feet between them dwindled to ten. When he was close enough for her to make out the stubble lining his jaw, his legs stopped moving, but his gaze tore over her. The impassioned glare was without direction, a harsh reflection of the hard lines edging his face. The warm brown eyes she remembered were now a bitter shade of espresso.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

The words, tense with fury, sent her backpedaling against the concrete wall. Too late, she realized she no longer knew this man. They were kids when they'd parted ways, too naïve to realize they'd never keep those breathless promises. At least she'd been that way. His tone suggested otherwise.

They were alone in the deeply shadowed belly of Barrier Shoals Light. And for the first time within those walls, Laney tasted fear.

"Was I supposed to wait for you?" he asked.

Seven years had passed since her weak-kneed promise to return to him. She didn't have an answer for that.

He took another step, boxing her against the curvature of the rock. He stood close—so close, she had to tip her head to meet his eyes.

And she summoned courage to do it.

"Was I?" he asked, his voice softer now. He leaned closer. The stifling heat morphed into sexual innuendo, his skin slick with sweat, daring her to touch.

She was one careless thought away from taking him up on that unspoken suggestion. Her fingers itched to claw through his hair, to draw him closer until the distance between them evaporated. Memories of frantically grasping for purchase against the stone wall besieged her, curling fear into boundless adrenaline. "Did you?"

Her words coaxed a slow grin from his sensual mouth. "Was I supposed to?"

Wait for me, Bridger I'll be back.

The thought came from nowhere, peeling away seven years to their last night together. He'd held her, caressed the hair from her face, and kissed every salty inch of her skin. Stay. A single word. A plea from a man who asked for nothing—and yet owned it all. Every piece of her was his.

She'd just taken too long to realize it. And those eyes . . . . They bore into her, dark with the kind of passion that made anger futile and sex magnificent.

She remembered the latter well.

"Can we talk?" she asked. Lame. But in that moment, all that mattered.

He ran his index finger along her jaw—a slow, teasing exploration he abandoned in short order to toy with a strand of her hair. Dipping his head so his lips grazed her ear, he said, "To think I have anything to say is to assume I still give a damn, Laney. And I think I left that behind a long time ago."

His words were so much at odds with his actions she failed to reconcile the two. Lack of awareness might also be blamed on the hand curling at her nape, the gentle touch drawing her against his chest. Or the heat of his mouth lingering on her flesh, following the coy path his finger trailed across her jaw. Every nuance of touch electrified her, each moment captured in a single thud of her heartbeat.

He stood so close she saw only snapshots of memories, each one triggering another landslide of emotion. His mouth closing over her skin. His fingers laced through hers. That wicked grin he wore as he held her captive with his touch, her wrists pressed overhead against the sand. The dark shadow of his profile blotting out the dance of moonlight on water, their heavy breaths intoxicated with salt air and lust . . . and a promise she failed to keep.

"If I were less of a man," he said, "I'd tell you what you wanted to hear. We'd have a good time, and then I'd walk. Let you spend the next few years wondering what the hell you did to lose me."

"Bridger—"

"But no one deserves that. Not even you." His tight smile brought hard lines to his jaw, but no trace of forgiveness. Holding fast to her gaze, he stepped away, taking twenty degrees of Fahrenheit with him.

Laney shivered. He may have put distance between them, but the narrow darkness in his eyes clutched her throat. She'd mistaken the flat, slated glare for fury, but it wasn't anger . . . it was hurt. She'd hurt him by not coming back. And that was far worse than his wrath.

"You should go."

She opened her mouth and closed it. Every reason she counted for coming back begged her to stay and stand up for what they once had, but there was one thing missing from her fight: a leg upon which to stand.

So, with nothing left to say, she went.

"FAMILIAR LIGHT" BUY LINK https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/344/Familiar-Light

Thanks for a fun visit, Sarah. Everyone, don't forget to leave a comment to go into the draw for exciting prizes and please click on the tour button at the top right hand side of this page to continue the ride!

Timeless Desire Blog Tour - Guest Lucy Felthouse

2011-11-08T19:06:00.000+11:00

Here we go, kicking off the Noble Romance Publishing November Timeless Desire Blog Tour. The first esteemed guest is an author based out of the UK, Lucy Felthouse. So, let's get into it....

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are.

I'm Lucy Felthouse and I live in Derbyshire in the U.K. I've been writing for as long as I remember, and for publication since 2006. Since then I've been published by Cleis Press, Noble Romance, Ravenous Romance, Summerhouse Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. I love reading, writing, movies, walking, spending time out of doors, visiting stately homes and ancient monuments and being with my other half (awww...).

Please tell us a bit about your book.

Love Through Time is a paranormal tale set in a British stately home. Most of the action takes place in the library. The main character, Emily, is a book conservator. Westbury Manor's library is enormous and houses a lot of books so Emily is going to be spending a great deal of time there. However, what should be a simple, quiet task turns into something altogether different when Emily knocks over a photograph. This sets off a chain reaction of events, leading to the discovery of a tragic past, a lost love and a stunning secret.

This was a really fun story to write, and it has elements of the paranormal, romance, erotica and historical!

https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/162/Lucy-Felthouse

It's available from Noble Romance, Amazon UK, Amazon US, All Romance eBooks and all other good eBook retailers.

What was the motivation/idea behind this book/these characters?

I'm definitely more of a pantser than a plotter, so when Noble first gave us the theme for these stories, I scratched my head about it for ages. It was actually on the drive home from a stately home that I finally came up with the idea. It was vague to begin with (I'm not divulging too much because it'll give the game away!) and only developed when I started writing. That's usually how it works with me – I just open a Word document and see what happens!

Did you enjoy writing this book, or did you have some tough times with it?

A bit of both. It's probably one of the most research intensive stories I've ever written, because there were things I wanted to be mentioned in the story that needed to be accurate. And because I didn't necessarily know that I needed to research something right up until it appeared in the book, I had to stop and find out the information before continuing to write. I'm proud of the finished piece and hope that the hard work I put into it shows – it's quite a departure from some of my other work, and I really hope readers enjoy it!

When / Where / How do you write?

I'd love to say anytime, anywhere, anyhow, but that's not strictly true. In the main I write directly into a Word document on my laptop, in my little office room. But occasionally if I'm struggling with something or finding myself easily distracted, I'll grab a notebook and go and sit in my bedroom or in the garden (I live in England so that's not always a good idea!). As for when, it's generally squeezed in between everything else I'm doing. Usually it's towards the end of the week when I've done the screamingly urgent work and cleared my inbox as much as possible, then I'll start writing. Other times I'll just take my laptop to bed and have a late night. I work for myself so I can be pretty flexible about the when.

Do you have some other qualification/interest/something else you do besides being a writer?

I do. As I just mentioned, I work for myself. I run my own business, Writer Marketing Services. (http://www.writermarketing.co.uk). This basically consists of helping writers with PR, Marketing and Web Design. This is my main job, and because I tend to have lots of small projects taking up my time, it's easy to slot the writing in between them – though sometimes it's easier than others!

What book/s are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading Elizabeth Morgan's She-Wolf. I love paranormal stuff, and so far I'm enjoying it very much.

Do you have any authors who were your inspiration/hero?

Some of the earliest erotic pieces I read were by Portia Da Costa, Anne Rice (writing as A. N. Roquelaure) and Mitzi Szereto – so I guess they got me into it and inspired me to write. Now I inspire myself by telling myself if I don't write, I definitely won't get anything else published!

What are you working on right now?

I am working on a super-sekrit project for one of my publishers. The word count is 20-25k so it'll be the longest piece I've ever written to date, and it falls into the realms of erotic romance. Watch this space!

Do you have any other books out you'd like to mention?

Yes – as well as Love Through Time, October also saw the release of Weekend at Wilderhope Manor. Here's the blurb:

When Stephanie and Jenny go to a Murder Mystery Halloween weekend at Wilderhope Manor, they’re expecting fun and games. But following creaky floorboards, spooky noises and an alarming encounter in the Manor’s grounds, the girls begin to wonder if there’s more to Wilderhope Manor than meets the eye. As they find frequent comfort in one another’s arms – and their bed – will the girls discover what’s causing the bumps in the night, or will they run scared?

It's available from Summerhouse Publishing, Amazon UK, Amazon US, All Romance eBooks and all other good eBook retailers.

*****

Lucy is a graduate of the University of Derby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was dared to write an erotic story - so she did. It went down a storm and she's never looked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Noble Romance, Ravenous Romance, Summerhouse Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. She is also the editor of Uniform Behaviour and Seducing the Myth. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Noble Romance Author Page: https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/162/Lucy-Felthouse

Thanks for visiting, Lucy!

Now, if you haven't worked out how this blog tour works yet, here's a hint. Leave a comment on any of the featured blogs to go into the draw for prizes, which will be drawn at the end of the month. For a list of the goodies, click on the link at the top right hand side of this page that says "bonus prizes". To continue on the blog tour, just click the tour button also located on the top right hand side of this page. Have fun and good luck!

A Chat and a Chance to Win Book Vouchers

2011-10-29T19:02:00.001+11:00

Sunday morning 10am Australian time, which makes it 7pm Saturday evening EST in America, I'll be doing a live chat with my publisher. I've got two Noble Romance Publishing book vouchers worth $5 each to give away. Just go here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NobleRomancePublishing/
to join in and that's all you have to do to be in the running!

Expanding My Horizons

2011-10-22T12:32:00.000+11:00

I've decided to take a step out of my usual routine and challenge myself with a couple more novellas. Several publishers have put out open calls in the past weeks, looking for novellas to be part of themed collections. I enjoyed the one I did for my publisher, Noble Romance Publishing, so I'm feeling inspired to try again and submit to these other publishers, just to see how I go.
So I'm off to start on these stories now, both of which will be different types of sci-fi romance. Since that genre seems to be my strength at the moment, I'm going to stick with it and see what I come up with.

Getting Around

2011-10-20T14:35:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to say I'm over at the Dark Side DownUnder blog today and I've got 2 books to give away. Head across and leave a comment if you want to win!
Earlier in the week I also visited the Noble Romance Authors blog. No giveaways there, but some tips on how to run screaming in the face of cliches and boring writing.
November is almost here, don't forget to stay tuned for the Noble Romance Authors Timeless Desire blog tour, where prizes being given out include a Kindle! Lots of excitement happening all 'round.

All Quiet on the Writing Front

2011-10-13T19:49:00.000+11:00

I'm enjoying a bit of a lull at the moment. I've finished all the edits for Singularity (lucky, since its coming out next week!), completed initial revision on Heart of the Warlord Version 2.0 before I re-submit to my editor, and am now going to take a breath before I plunge back into writing the fourth Sanctuary book, Drayke and Leandra's story -- Sinner.
I have a couple of submissions out with agents and other publishing houses, I guess you could say I've always got some irons in the fire. Although, I don't have as many out there as I might normally would. Things have been quiet in terms of these submissions and in the coming weeks, the general length of time will be up on waiting, so I'll be sending out some follow up emails if I haven't heard anything.
In non-writing related matters, I've just finished watching season one of Game of Thrones. I really enjoyed it and am now twiddling my thumbs until season two starts, much like I'm waiting for season five of True Blood (mmm... Eric...). Luckily I have Supernatural, Vampire Diaries and my new obsession with Terra Nova to keep me entertained in the meantime. Are we sensing a theme here? No boring old cop shows for me. And now I will drift of to watch one of the aforementioned TV shows to give my brain a rest.

...And the Winner Is...

2011-10-09T12:15:00.000+11:00

Jodie!

Congrats, Jodie, an e-book copy of Savior will be coming your way in the near future. For everyone who entered, thank you and keep an eye out, I'll be having another give away later in the month when Singularity comes out on the 17th.

New Release Giveaway!

2011-10-02T11:36:00.001+11:00

Hey there everyone!
To celebrate the release of my Timeless Desire Novella tomorrow (Monday 3rd October) I'm giving away an e-book copy of Savior. And I'm going to make it super easy. I won't ask you any questions or tell you some big long story, or even make you come up with a story of something that happened to you once. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post saying hello and you'll be in the draw... Easy! The competition will be open until midnight on Tuesday (Australian time).
So leave a comment and good luck!

Cover Excitment

2011-09-27T14:42:00.000+10:00

So here's my brand spanking new cover for the novella and Sanctuary spin-off, Savior. This book is one in an anthology of themed stories and also part of the Noble Romance Authors Timeless Desire blog tour I'll be a involved with in November.
I'm very happy with how this cover turned out, but then, I always am... lol. This novella will be coming out on the 3rd of October.
And right now I don't have anything else to say because I've been organizing promotional-related stuff all day and it has turned my brain to mush. That is the extremely un-glamorous side of being an author. Haven't done much writing to speak of in the past few days, so my Warlord book is coming along pretty slow at the moment.
Sorry for the boringness of this post... just look at my new cover and don't worry about my rambling!

Trying To Get Motivated

2011-09-24T09:54:00.000+10:00

I'm sitting here in front of my computer trying to put my head in gear to get some decent writing done. I've checked my email, I logged onto my local library website and reserved the last 2 books in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series (I read the previous three in three days. Once you start, you just can't stop) and then I did some Internet stalking to see when book number 12 is coming out.
Last night I had another dream for an interesting plot idea and am trying to work out which series of books I should use it with. All week I've been chipping away at mainly my warlord book, but also done a few words here and there on various other projects.
But for some reason, right now I'm feeling decidedly uninspired. Need to find someway to get the creative side of my brain buzzing and then I might be able to get something done.
So, where do I go and what do I do to find inspiration?

Where Did the Pantsing Go?

2011-09-14T08:44:00.000+10:00

So apparently I've become a plotter in my old age. I used to be proud of my pantsing ways. As in, I did no plotting, but wrote whatever came to mind, like the saying 'fly by the seat of your pants. I wrote with no real direction in mind and still always managed to find myself with a complete, mostly coherent manuscript at the end. But then I started making notes to keep track of my Sanctuary series (I'm 20,000 words into writing the forth book) to keep straight what has to happen in the overall arcing story of the war between the angels and demons, whose book it had to happen in and why.
When I wrote Singularity, I started off pantsing it, but then the rest of the story came to me all at once so I had to write it down in point form so I wouldn't forget it. The same thing happened when I started writing Sinner, the fourth book. Maybe its more that in recent times, The story has come to me completely, in almost one hit, whereas before it used to come to me in bits and pieces. Maybe I've just gotten better at channeling whatever it is that provides my stories for me. Either way, I now seem to be doing some weird pantsing/planning combination.
I gave the warlord book some more thought and realized I hadn't really overcome the issues keeping my characters apart. There had to be more to the story and sure enough it came to me as I wrote some notes. So I'm pleased that it will now most likely his the 50,000 word mark, which while isn't a long book, at least technically makes it book length in my mind. I'm up to 31,000 words at the minute, so hopefully I can get it finished in the next few weeks.

Novella No Longer

2011-09-11T14:10:00.001+10:00

Okay, I suck at writing novellas. Really, I do. They're not easy! How do you cram an entire satisfactory story into so few words?
As some of you might know, earlier in the year I was writing a novella I'd titled Heart of the Warlord. I'm now re-working this. The old ending sucked. It was bad. Like, terrible. The conflict was pretty much non-existent. So I gave my characters some more hurdles and came up with an entirely different ending.
The result? I had to stop trying to force the story to be a novella. It wants to be a full length book. I can't fight anymore, the story will have its way. Its currently at about 28,000 words. The only problem now is, its going to land in no man's land of 40,000 to 50,000 words. Longer than a book, but shorter than most novels. I'm kind of hoping this won't matter to my publisher and am debating seeing where the word count ends up and then maybe going back to add in some more scenes earlier in the book, keep my characters apart a bit longer.
But I really want to be able to write novellas. So I'm going to come up with a different idea and try again in another few months once I get all the work I have on now out of the way. I will find a way to overcome my compulsion to write everything into novel-length!

The Great Writing Challenge

2011-09-06T09:28:00.000+10:00

Okay, truthfully it probably isn't as big as this magnificent title makes it sound, but it's still going to be a lot of fun.
My critique partner, Erin Grace, and I have decided to do a bit or role reversal. She is going to write something along the lines of a paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy kind of book and I am going to write a historical romance. This project will be a long term thing, because obviously we have to keep our contracted work a priority. But in my spare moments I'm going all the way back, circa early 2000's and reworking one of the first manuscripts I ever tried to write.
If you haven't been around this blog for say the past ten years, then you wouldn't know that my original intention was to be a historical romance author. I had an entire series of books planned, set in the 1780s and even went so far as to write the first 3. Obviously I moved on from these and never planned on going back because I had come to the conclusion that my voice wasn't suited to historicals. I was a bit depressed about this fact because I still thought the plots I'd come up with had merit. Plus the hero in the second book is one of my all time favorites, even to date.
My CP suggested that maybe now I have all these years of experience under my belt, I might actually be able to write them quite well. It could have been a case of being too inexperienced as a writer, as opposed to my voice not suiting historicals. So I'm going to rewrite the first book in the series from scratch and probably change quite a few scenes along the way. It will probably end up looking like an entirely different story. I'm still skeptical about whether or not I can pull it off, so we'll see what happens.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping my CP will write a story about vampires from space, just because it would be so much fun.
At the end of the challenge, whenever the manuscripts are finished, we're going to see who can get theirs published. But, I won't be getting much of the historicals done while I have so much other work on. Speaking of which, I should get back to working on the warlord novella.

Welcome to Spring!

2011-09-03T11:21:00.000+10:00

Here we are, officially three days into Spring. Since I devoted an entire post to how much I prefer the warm weather last time, I won't bother going into it again.
Okay, so where am I at with my work? I have edits coming up for both Singularity and the novella spin-off, Savior. The forth Sanctuary book, (working title) Sinner, is on the way, I've written about 20,000 words of that, so I'll be getting back into it soon. For the time being, however, I've decided I want to rework the warlord novella I wrote a few months back. So that's my aim for the next few weeks, then I'll finish Sinner and then I might see about finishing Ric and Madi's romantic suspense that's been languishing on my computer for the past six months. I have a lot of unfinished manuscripts it seems, so I should do something about that!

Time Rolls Around

2011-08-28T09:55:00.000+10:00

Its getting toward Spring here in Australia and we've started having some gorgeous sunny days - the birds are singing, the winter wet is drying out and the wattle has been blooming. I'm a summer person, I absolutely hate winter (which leads me to wonder why I live in a place that gets so damn cold in the winter, we're not that far from the snow fields, and some nights it gets to well below 0, or freezing point, sometimes up to -6. Brrr!) I'm a summer person all around. It has to get to about forty degrees (which in Fahrenheit, I think works out to be over 100 degrees) before I start getting worried. I just don't feel the heat like other people, I enjoy it too much.
So I love this time of year when we have the first few truly warm days, the hours of light start getting longer and you know summer is about to burst into the sky. This time of year always makes me think anything is possible. Who knows what tomorrow might bring, but surely it will be good! You might think that makes me one of those over-the-top optimists who can never see the bad side of anything. I think of myself more as a realist - I see the bad side alright, but I chose to believe the bad won't last, eventually the good times will roll again.
The other day, my crit partner also reminded me that its been a year now since I signed my first contract with Noble Romance Publishing. In some ways I think 'wow, that went quick!' while in other ways, probably since I've been so busy, I think it seems a lot longer than that.
So that's me, looking forward to Summer and now a year into my foray into publishing. I planned on giving an update on my workload, but now that I've rambled on so much, I've decided to leave it for another day.
Instead, enjoy this song (one of my favorites of all time) In The Summertime by Thirsty Merc. It is the Australian anthem for summer! ...I tried to find the link for the official video clip, but for some reason it didn't work. Instead I got the song over some clips of the TV show Bondi Rescue. You can't get much more Aussie than this!

The Journey, Not the Destination

2011-08-24T09:37:00.000+10:00

This morning I read a post over at Nathan Bransford's blog about the fact that there really isn't any such thing as an over night success in the book business, with maybe the exception of Stephanie Meyer. For most of us, it takes a lot of hard work and long time to get anywhere.
I can attest to this, it took me nine years to get published. And I'm taking from the very first day, as a nineteen year old, when I decided to sit down and try to write a full length novel, just to see if I could. If someone had of told me that day I wouldn't see any published work for almost a decade, I probably would have been very disillusioned and wondered if I really wanted to invest nine years into something I would get no thanks for, but plenty of rejection.
I'm a writer. No doubt I would have said "what the hell" and kept on with it the same way, even in knowing how long my path to publication would be.
One thing I've come to learn recently is that newbie writers don't want to hear about it. They're happy enough to hear about the author who took one, or two, or even three years to get published. I suppose that's a conceivable length of time to work at something before reaping the rewards. And they love hearing about the people who whipped up a book and sold it first off (like Stephanie Meyer), because they all want to believe that will happen to them. But they sure as hell don't want to hear about someone who took almost ten years to get published (which, apparently is actually about the average length of time it takes most writers to get their magical 'yes'). And god forbid they hear about anyone who took fifteen or twenty years. I know of some authors who took this long.
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these newbie's attitudes. Personally, I didn't want to know about it all those years ago when I started out and was all starry-eyed about getting a book published. I didn't want to consider it would take so long to get where I wanted to be. I wanted to be one of those lucky authors who got published off their first book, who rose to fast success and made a decent wage from writing.
Except funnily enough, I've learned a thing or two on this journey (which is no where near finished). I've come to see myself as one of the lucky authors. In taking so long to get my first contract, I've changed a lot of the years. I've made a lot of great friends and I think the path I took led me to be more prepared for the realities of being a published author. Because its not really that glamorous. Its a lot of hard work, with a bit more hard work, and some hard work thrown on top just for the hell of it.
And one of the biggest things I learned? Well, I always thought that being published was the destination. I was working toward that and nothing else. Once that happened, I would be fulfilled and everything in my life would neatly fall into place. Now I've come to see that being published is just one more mile-marker on the journey. I still have so much to learn and it excites me that there are many things out there waiting to be discovered. I think it won't matter how many books I write, or how long I'm in this business for, I hope to still be learning and changing.
I suppose the point is, alright, I can understand the newbie writers not wanting to hear cold, hard facts about publishing. I was there once and in that same frame of mind.
Time has proven to me that they'll either adapt and continue on, or burn out, give up and fade away.

Best Quotes of Supernatural Season 4

2011-08-23T11:17:00.000+10:00

I think I went a bit overboard. Seriously, I must have noted down half a dozen quotes from each episode. But come on, there was a lot of gold this season.
Season four saw the introduction of Castiel, who, I will admit, split my loyalties. I'd always been mostly in the Dean camp, though I'll say Sam has his moments. With the arrival of Castiel, things took on an interesting new dynamic. Meanwhile, I just realized in the picture here, the three of them are holding hands. Cute... but also weird... (the Sam-slash-Dean-slash-Castiel fans will be loving that)
Anyhoo, I'm very glad Cas became a regular and I am looking forward to re-watching season five, because there were some classic moments which were just brilliant in wit and deliverance. And I still say that the funniest Supernatural moment in history was season 6 with Cas kissing Meg and saying after "I learned that from the pizza man." Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? I bow to the writers, they are on a level of genius I can only dream of.
Right, enough blabbing, lets get to the quotes from season 4... Oh and I just have to say, this season had the best rant by Dean anyone has done in the history of anything.

Deanism

- I remember I was a hell hound's chew toy.

- Its like a demon yanked me out. Or rode me out.

- Hey Bobby, what's the deal with the liquor store, your parents out of town or something?

- So what, now I'm off the hook and you're on it? You some demon's bitch-boy?

- And what visage are you in now, holy tax accountant?

- Look, all I know is I wasn't groped by an angel.

- I thought angels were meant to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos. You know, Michael Landon. Not dicks.

- Nice threads. You know Sonny and Cher broke up, right?

- Okay, did the angels get their hands on some DeLoreans? How'd I get here?

- Sammy, where are you? Mom is a babe… and I'm going to hell. Again.

- So what, God is my co-pilot, is that it?

- This is going to sound a little… actually, this is going to sound massively, massively crazy.

- You're probably feeling your bones moving under your skin and your appetite is reaching hungry-hungry-hippo level. How am I doing so far? A little man-burger-helper may have crossed your mind already?

- So what, we've got a vampire and a werewolf monster mashing this town?

- Hey, do you think this Dracula can turn into a bat? That'd be cool.

- Which means we need to catch this freak before he Monster-from-the-black-lagoons somebody.

- I can't get over what a pumpkin pie-eyed-crazy son of a bitch you really are

- Sam, I'm not going to make a left hand turn into on coming traffic. I'm not suicidal. Did I just say that? That's kind of weird.

- Witches, man, they're so frigging skeevy.

- He was so vanilla that he made vanilla seem spicy.

- Leprechauns? Those little guys are scary. Small hands.

- There's nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he's on a holy mission.

- Are you going to figure out a way to find this witch, or are you just going to sit there fingering your bone?

- Zombie-ghost-orgy, huh? Well, that's it. I'm torching everybody.

- So what, big foot breaks into a liquor store for some hooch? Amaretto and Irish cream. He's a girl-drink-drunk.

- Or is it a big foot and he's some kind of alco-holo-porno-addict. Kind of like a deep woods Duchovny.

- Whoa, I know she's wire tapping your angel chats or whatever, but that's no reason to gank her.

- Let's can the thanks-for-trying speech, participation trophies suck ass.

- Why do you care? You're junkless down there, like a Ken doll.

- Boy, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and one homicide. This place is going to sell like hotcakes.

- What kind of ghost messes with a man's wheels?

- So what, she's been caged up like an animal and busts out and ganks dear old dad-slash-grandad?

- So the daddy was the baby daddy too?

- The bitch is a klepto!

- What part of that wasn't a steaming pile of BS?

- What kind of Kool-Aid you drinking, man?

- It ends bloody or sad. That's just the life.

- Evil bitches just keep piling out of the Volkswagen.

- Apparently shoving a kids arm into a Cuisinart is not a healthy display of anger.

- Whatever. Go have your Robin Williams oh-captain-my-captain moment. Just make it quick.

- That ghost is dead. I'm going to rip its lungs out. Well, you know what I mean.

- Dude, you totally c-blocked me.

- So they shake their thing and the guys zombie out.

- Dude, the middle of Basic Instinct and you're banging Sharon Stone?

- So what, the local reaper is on strike, playing the back nine?

- You and me, we're like the poster boys for the unnatural order of things. I mean, all we do is ditch death.

- Dude, you are so Amityville.

- You guys don't walk enough, you're going to get flabby.

- You'll spill your guts one way or another, I just didn't want to ruin my shoes.

- Look, man, I don’t know you, but I'm going to do a public service and let you know that you over share.

- I was freaking out. The guy penciled his damn neck.

- You don't want to go hunting ghosts without any health insurance.

- Just to shake things up? So you guys could have fun watching us run around like ass-clowns in monkey suits?

- Angel or not, I will stab you in the face.

- I can't see your face, but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders

- Behave yourself, would you? No homework, watch some porn.

- Okay, well how about this, I've got a gun in my pocket and if you don't come with me, I'll blow your brains out.

- You mind slowing down? You're going to give me angina.

- You think he's lying? You want to go Guantanamo on the guy?

- You used to be strong enough to kill Alistair, now you can't even gank stunt demon number three?

- Congratulations, Sammy, you just bought yourself a bitch-warmer seat for the apocalypse.

- Times are bad so let's use Sam as a nuclear warhead?

- You got ass-reamed in heaven but its not of import?

- Come on, Bobby, I've never trusted them less. They come on like shady politicians from planet Vulcan.

- Well, look at this. The Sweet Life with Zac and Cas. It’s a… never mind.

- You can take your peace and shove it up your lilly white ass. 'Cos I'll take the pain and guilt, I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some Stepford bitch in paradise.

Samisms

- I kind of got the feeling crazy pushed Mrs. Armstrong down the stairs.

- Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again.

- If you were a siren in '09 looking to ruin a bunch of morons, where would you set up shop?

- So what are you going to do, swing in and save the friendly neighborhood reaper?

- Dude, I am not going to do Fight Club with a twelve year old.

Bobby - Dean, your chest was ribbons, your insides were slop and you'd been buried four months. even if you could slip out of hell and back into your meat suit—

Dean - I know, I should look like a Thriller video reject.

Dean - What the hell is that?

Sam - Its an iPod jack.

Dean - You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up.

Dean - Dude, I'm so in.

Sam - She's going to eat you alive.

Dean - Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it.

Pamela - You can come too, Grumpy.

Dean - You are not invited!

Demon - Tell me what makes you so special?

Dean - I like to think its 'cos of my perky nipples.

Meg - Come on, Dean, did your brain get french-fried in hell? You can't shoot me with bullets.

Dean - Ronald, I thought we were buddies.

Ronald - That was when I was breathing. Now I'm going to eat you alive.

Dean - Come on, I'm not a cheese burger.

Castiel - Hello, Dean, what were you dreaming about?

Dean - You get your freak on by watching other people sleep?

Dean - Can you tell me where I can get reception on this thing?

Young John - The USS Enterprise?

Samuel - So you didn't notice anything unusual, ma'am?

Mrs. Wiltshire - You mean like my husband's guts fertilizing the back forty?

Mary - What do you think?

Dean - I think he just pimped his soul to a demon and he doesn't even realize it.

Sam - Travis said to keep an eye out for anything weird.

Dean - Werid? Alright, well, I've seen big weird, little weird, weird with crazy on top. But this guy? Come on, this guy is boring.

Dean - We're here to save you… I guess.

Woman - I'm calling the police!

Sam - We should go.

Dean - Yeah.

Dean - We still gotta see that Raiders movie.

Sam - Saw it.

Dean - Without me?

Sam - You were in hell.

Dean - That's no excuse!

Sheriff - The killer's some kind of a-grade whacko, right? I mean, some Satan-worshiping, Anne Rice-reading, gothic, psycho, vampire wannabe.

Dean - Which leads me to conclude my virginity is in tact.

Sam - What?

Dean - I have been re-hymen-ated.

Jamie - So you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something and the X-Files are real?

Dean - No, the X-Files is a TV show. This is real.

Sam - You're not going to like it. It's ghost sickness.

Dean - Ghost sickness. Oh god, no… I don’t even know what that is.

Sam - Basically, they're all dicks.

Dean - So you're saying I'm a dick?

Sam - How you feeling?

Dean - Awesome. Its nice to have my head on the chopping block again. I almost forgot what that feels like. Its freaking delightful.

(here comes the all time best rant...)

Dean - You know what, screw this!

Sam - Whoa, Dean. Come on.

Dean - No, I mean, come on, Sam, what are we doing?

Sam - We're hunting a ghost.

Dean - A ghost. Exactly. Who does that?

Sam - Us.

Dean - Us? Right. And that, Sam, is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters. What the hell? Normal people, they see a monster, they run away. But not us. We search out things that want to kill us. Or eat us. You know who does that? Crazy people! We are insane. And then there's the bad diner food and the skeevy motel rooms and the truck stop waitress with the bizarre rash. I mean, who wants this life, Sam? Seriously. I mean, do you actually like being stuck in a car with me eight hours a day, every single day? I don’t think so. I mean, I drive too fast and I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again and I sing along and I'm annoying. I know that. And you. You're gassy. You eat half a burrito and you get toxic. You know what? You can forget it.

Dean - I got this one.

Sam - Two words. Jail. Bait.

Dean - I'm telling you, both these vics are squeaky clean. There is no reason for wicked bitch payback.

Sam - Maybe because its not about that.

Dean - Wow, insightful

Sam - Why would Uriel tell me you remember hell if you didn't?

Dean - Maybe because he's a dick. That might have something to do with it.

Sam - I can see you're very interested.

Dean - Women. Showers. We have to save these people.

Dean - I gotta tell you, I'm pretty disappointed.

Sam - You wanted to save naked women.

Dean - Damn right I wanted to save some naked women.

Sam - Are we going to kill this teddy bear?

Dean - How? Do we shoot it, burn it?

Sam - I don't know. Both?

Dean - How do we even know that's going to work? I don’t want some giant, flaming pissed off teddy on our hands.

Alistair - Come on, Dean, don't you recognize me? Oh, I forgot, I'm wearing a pediatrician.

Sam - Where's Bobby?

Dean - The Dominican. He said we break anything, we buy it.

Sam - He working a job?

Dean - God, I hope so, otherwise he's a hedonist in a banana hammock and trucker cap.

Sam - Great, now that's seared into my brain.

Dean - An angel and a demon riding in the backseat. It's like the set up to a bad joke. Or a Penthouse form letter.

Sam - Dude. Reality. Porn.

Dean - Well, that's super disturbing.

Sam - Think it got left behind?

Dean - By who? Unless Bill Gibson liked to play with doll's heads.

Dean - Crap. So what now?

Sam - We could tell them the truth.

Dean - Really?

Sam - No, not really.

Dean - Listen, man, I've got a gun and if you don't get yourself back in that circle, you're going to have yourself a third hole.

Sam - Dude, you don't have a gun.

Dean - And?

Sam -That's Jed Baxter.

Dean - I don’t even want to know how you know that.

Sam - He's famous.

Dean - For what, douche-bagery?

Sam - Do you think we will, Dean, die before we get old?

Dean - Haven't we both already?

Sam - He slipped me.

Dean - He's sixty years old.

Sam - He's a magician!

Sam - How's it going?

Dean - The whistle makes me their god.

Sam - Right. Nice shorts.

Student - Aren't you the PE teacher?

Dean - Not really, I'm like 21 Jump street… the bus driver sells pot.

Sam - You seem pretty cheery.

Dean - Strippers, Sammy, strippers. We are on an actual case involving strippers. Finally.

Sam - She entices them with her siren song.

Dean - Let me guess, Welcome to the Jungle. No, Warrant's Cherry Pie.

Sam - You think she infects them during sex?

Dean - Like a supernatural STD

Sam - Come on, Dean, just focus on the naked girls, you'll forget he's even there.

Dean - I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for the girls.

FBI Agent - Are you sure about that? Because it sounds like crazy on toast.

Sam - Another guy gets capped by a mugger and walks away without a scratch.

Dean - Capped in the ass?

Dean - Alistair, I thought you got deep fried, extra crispy.

Alistair - No, just the pediatrician I was riding. His wife is still looking for him, its hilarious.

Sam - This might be hard for you to hear, but you're dead, you're a spirit.

Cole - Yeah, thanks, Haley-Joel, I know I'm dead.

Tessa - Dean, don't you remember me?

Dean - Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time a girl said that to me…

Sam - We need to learn some ghost moves.

Dean - By tonight? Yeah, sure, I'll meet you back at Mr. Miyagi's

Cole - Who is Mr. Miyagi?

Sam - Go to hell.

Alistair - If only I could, but they keep sending me up to this arctic crap hole.

Uriel - I'm going to seek revelations, we might have some new orders.

Dean - Get some doughnuts while you're out.

Sam - Well, the worst time we've seen since the great depression—

Dean - Is now. Yeah, now sucks. My portfolio is in the sewer. I don't even want to talk about it.

Ed - We learned this from those useless douche-bags

Harry - That we hate

Ed - The Winchesters. Shot gun, shot gun shells. Pack it up with rock salt. Very effective.

Harry - Winchesters still suck though.

Ed - Affirmative. Suckage major.

Ed - The aforementioned super annoying Winchester douche-nozzles also taught us one other thing.

Zachariah - You should see my décolletage.

Dean - Gross, no thanks.

Dean - What's a slash fan?

Sam - As in Sam-slash-Dean. Together.

Dean - Like together-together?... They do know we're brothers, right?

Sam - Doesn't seem to matter.

Dean - Aw, come on, that's just sick.

Chuck - Dean, you look terrible

Dean - That's because I just got hit by a minivan, Chuck.

Chuck - Writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night level douchiness.

Dean - I'm starving, let's get breakfast.

Sam - Where? We're like two hours from anywhere.

Dean - But I'm hungry now.

Sam - Holy water?

Dean - Yep, one sip of Jesus juice and this evil bitch is going to be in a world of hurt.

Dean - Well now I'm thinking about dad sex. Stop talking.

Sam - Maybe he slipped one past the goaly

Dean - Dude!

Adam - How'd he die?

Sam - On the job.

Adam - Wasn't he a mechanic?

Dean - A car fell on him.

Sam - Look familiar?

Dean - Yeah, Anna used something like that to send the angels back to the cornfield.

Jimmy - Angel inside you, kind of feels like being chained to a comet.

Dean - Well, that sounds fun.

Jimmy - Understatement.

Sam - Sorry, this is funny to you?

Dean - Mr. big, bad prison guard Jimmy McMook gives you the slip? Yeah, its pretty funny. What were you doing anyway?

Sam - I was getting a Coke

Dean - Was it a refreshing Coke?

Sam - Nice plan, Dean

Dean - Yeah, well no one bats a thousand.

Dean - How long is this gonna go on?

Bobby - Let me just look it up in my demon detox manual. Oh wait, no one ever wrote one.

Bobby - Correct me if I'm wrong, but you willingly signed up to be the angel's bitch… I'm sorry, you prefer sucker?

Bobby - I thought you were on call for angel duty.

Dean - I am on call, in my car, on my way to murder the bitch.

Sam - Did you bust me out of that room?

Ruby - How could I? The whole thing is engineered to bite me in the ass.

Sam - She was looking for Lillith.

Dean - That's French for manipulating your ass ten ways from Sunday.

Dean - Yeah, I heard you. I'm not calling him.

Bobby - Don't make me get my gun, boy.

Bobby - Well, boo-hoo. I'm so sorry you got your feelings hurt, princess. Are you under the impression that family is supposed to make you feel good, make you an apple pie maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable. That's why they're family.

Zachariah - We want you focused and relaxed.

Dean - Well, I'm about to be pissed and leaving. Start talking, chuckles.

Phew! So, that's it for season 4. I hope to follow it up with season 5 in the near future, but have got a bit of work on at the moment, so we'll see how I go. I'm also thinking of doing quotes from True Blood. Okay, yes, I'm a bit behind here, but True Blood is my latest obsession. And FYI, I am totally team Eric. A viking-turned-vampire? That's just too good to resist.
While I get back to work, feel free to drool over this picture here...

Fabulous Review for Severance

2011-08-19T15:22:00.000+10:00

As Merrylee over at TwoLipsReviews.com promised, she's read and posted a review of Severance after reading and loving Sanctuary.
This review easily has the best compliments I have ever gotten in terms of my writing:

"Ms. Anastasi has that rare ability to draw a reader to the heart of a character's emotions and insecurities that so many authors wish they possessed. Her main characters are real, likeable, and easy to care about, and her sex scenes – better described as love scenes – are near poetry, they're so beautifully and eloquently written."

Read the full review here:

http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6287&Itemid=36

You know, I'm always complaining to my critique partner how hard I find writing sex scenes. I think it stems from the fact that I obsess over them because I don't want them to be just another sex scene in another book. I want them to be the physical expression of love between my characters that I see them to be. And that doesn't make for easy writing! Its heartening to know that, at least with this reader, I'm hitting my mark.

I've been having trouble concentrating today, but I've been working on Savior, the novella which will be coming out for the blog tour in November. I've managed to do 2000 words, but know I could have done more if I were being more productive (and not checking facebook and twitter every other minute). Thinking I might have too much story to fit into the 5000 words left I have to work with. Oh well, we'll see what happens!

Conference Wrap Up

2011-08-15T12:09:00.000+10:00

The weekend is all finished and its back to real life.
Saturday I think my brain had overloaded and went off line. I'm completely serious people! As a result, by the time I got to my pitch with Kristin at 5pm on Saturday, I had nothing coherent to say. It didn't go as well as my pitch with Erika the day before. Still, Kristin requested to see the first three chaps and a query letter of The Last Shadow, which I'll be sending off sometime soon. I've already sent the requested material to Avon, so now all I can do is wait and see how that turns out.
I still can't believe how completely draining the weekend was. You wouldn't think sitting around listening to other people talk, or lounging somewhere in the Hilton drinking coffee and talking biz would be so exhausting. I'm already saving and making plans for next year on the Gold Coast. Though, I'm not going to aim for the whole weekend next time, maybe just Saturday and Sunday. With any luck, by then I won't need to be pitching or anything!
Got some good freebies and won myself some books. All in all, it was well worth the stress and nerves leading up to it. I only hope next year I can be more relaxed about things. But, knowing me, I probably won't be!

Day Two Romance Writers Australia Conference

2011-08-12T20:34:00.000+10:00

Day two over and done with and while I didn't participates as much in workshops today, I'm still exhausted! Another great day today, so much fun I barely have words. I picked my critique partner up from the airport first thing this morning and from there the day was another blur of people and talking shop.
I had my pitch appointment with Erika Tsang from Avon just before lunch and went with my heart, though I knew it might be a risk. I talked to her about Atrophy and she requested the first 100 pages and a synopsis. Very exciting!
Late tomorrow afternoon I have the last pitch of the day and the entire weekend with Kristin Nelson and have taken some of the terror out of that. After I left my appointment with Erika I was lucky enough to bump into Kristin outside in the foyer, so took the opportunity to introduce myself.
This weekend has far exceeded my expectations. I knew it was going to be fun, but I didn't realize how much it would totally blow me away. I've always been enthusiastic about my work, but this has launched me into the realms of hyper.
Getting into things this week will be both hard and easy. Hard, because I think it'll be difficult to settle my mind back down into a work-state after having so much free fun, and easy because this has bolstered my confidence and enthusiasm.
And now I really need to go rest.
I have the awards dinner tomorrow night, so I probably won't do a conference wrap up post until Monday, I'm sure I'll have lots to say though!

Day One - Romance Writers Australia Conference 2011 "From Here to Eternity"

2011-08-11T21:41:00.000+10:00

So here I am, having just faced down the first day of my first ever conference. I knew it was going to be fun, but oh my god, I couldn't have imagined just how great it actually would be, putting faces to people whose names I'd seen on the loops over the years. And spending the day surrounded by other like minded authors when usually I spend my days working alone was no small thing.
Sorry if I'm not sounding all that competent right now, but today literally blew my mind. And I still have three more days of people and information to take in!
Today I also got to sit in a Q&A session with Kristin Nelson. The things she and others had to say about the state of the publishing industry was very interesting. Anyway, I have a pitch appointment with her Saturday afternoon, so it was good to see her before that happens. I'm just hoping I can explain my Shadow Hunter book in a way that not only makes sense, but sounds interesting enough that she'll want to see it.
Tomorrow around lunch time I have another pitch appointment with Erika Tsang from Avon. I've decided to take a bit of a risk and pitch Atrophy, (yes, I have mentioned this in a previous blog post) though I know Avon have never published anything remotely sci-fi romance. If all else fails, I can offer the Shadow Hunter novel.
Another person I got to see today was Angela James from Carina Press and after hearing her I think I'd like to query them as well. But, I have a lot on my plate right now, so that's not something I'll be doing in the very near future.
So, if you can't tell, my thoughts are all over the place tonight after seeing so much and hearing so much in one day. I can't believe how fast it all went. But that's always the way with things that are so much fun. I know the entire weekend will be over and done with before I know it and I really feel going forward from here, my thinking about my work and career will be changed for the better.
Now, if only I can make sure I get to every conference every year from here on out. Bring on Gold Coast 2012!

Cover Goodness!

2011-08-08T11:38:00.000+10:00

Got the cover for Singularity this morning, so of course I'm all excited and slapping it up all over the place. And why not? I might be biased, but I think its just gorgeous! And that's all I've got to say this morning. Need to get some writing done... three sleeps until the conference. Eeep!

Release Date for Singularity

2011-08-07T10:46:00.000+10:00

Surfacing from my insane writing regime to announce I have a release date for the third book in the Sanctuary series -- Singularity. It will be coming out on the 17th of October. As soon as I have some cover art goodness to share, I'll be posting that up as well.
Singularity is gong to be closely followed by a novella, Savior. This story will be about Cadmiel, the angel of destiny who briefly appeared in Sanctuary. While Savior is set in the Sanctuary universe, it doesn't necessarily fit in with the time line of the other books, so doesn't need to be read as part of the series.
In Cadmiel's story, Archangel Michael forces the angel of destiny to travel five hundred years back in time to the year 2012. Cadmiel's assignment is simple, he has to change history by saving the only woman he ever loved, who was tragically killed a few short weeks after he met her. Cadmiel is forced to fight fate and his own sense of ethics, because he knows the perils of changing the past, no one can guess what affects it will have on the future. But once he's forced back, Cadmiel can't do anything other than follow his heart and knows he will do everything in his power to stop Emilyn from dying again.
This novella will be available sometime in late October/early November as part of the Timeless Desire Noble Romance Authors blog tour I'm participating in.
Depending on my workload, I then also hope to have the forth Sanctuary book, which is Drayke and Leandra's story, (working title) Sinner, out by January. But we'll see how I go with that!
So that's me. Four days out from the Romance Writers Australia conference and I still have about 30,000 words to write. Yes, I have admitted defeat and will have to write the last 20,000 or so in the week after the conference. And then I'll probably spend a couple of crazy days editing before sending it wherever it needs to go (assuming it gets requested).
Can't wait to spend next weekend with all the other RWA members attending the conference.

Blogging AWOL

2011-07-25T13:58:00.000+10:00

I'm here to tell you that I doubt I'll be blogging much in the weeks leading up to the conference. I can also confirm that I did get an appointment with Erika Tsang from Avon, so there's some more excitement. I'm seeing both her and Kristin Nelson on the Friday.
As you can see by my wordcount meter, I'm almost halfway through writing the Shadow Hunter novel I plan on pitching. I've got 17 days to go (eeep!) but I've been keeping up pretty well with my 3500 words a day aim. Although, I may well be brain dead by the time the conference rolls around from getting out this many words in such a short amount of time.
In other news, I've at last caught up and brought myself an e-reader. I just got a generic brand that takes Adobe PDF files, because that's the format all the e-books I have on my computer are in. Now that I've gotten one, I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about it. There are still authors whose books I would rather buy and read in print format, but I think at least half my purchases now might end up being in e-book. Its much cheaper!
Right, obviously I have 3500 words to pound out today, so I should get to that... ow, my fingers are aching.

Exciting Conference News!

2011-07-18T09:22:00.000+10:00

As I said in my previous post, I had missed out on pitch appointments because I registered late. However, I'm very excited to share that I found out last night I now have an appointment with Kristin Nelson, as there was a cancellation in her schedule. I almost fainted when I read the email! In my world, this is like being told I've got the chance to meet Nicole Kidman or something, seriously, it's that huge to me. I plan on pitching my Shadow Hunter novel, so obviously I have some work to do to get it finished - 3500 words a day as a matter of fact. But, if I put my other projects aside and focus solely on Nathan and Tessa's story, I have every confidence I'll get it finished in time.
I may also be getting an appointment with Erika Tsang from Avon. This is where things get a bit cloudy. I really want to pitch Atrophy, my sci-fi romance to her. Now, I know that Avon have never published a science fiction romance before. But, I really think it could be an up and coming genre. I'm going to discuss some facts with them (yes, this could all go horribly wrong).
Other authors with other publishing houses: Sherrilyn Kenyon's League series, published by Hachette UK's Piatkus imprint became a New York Times bestseller. Okay, we all know it was her name that was the driving factor in that, but it proves the right author can put a sci-fi romance at the top of the best seller's lists. Again, Piatkus have JD Robb's In Death series hitting the bestsellers lists. Its not hardcore sci-fi, but it does have a fair bit of technological advancements in it. Harlequin have been publishing Susan Grant's sci-fi romance under their HQN imprint for years and she has become a national best seller. Linnea Sinclair is published through Random House's Bantam imprint and has been nominated for a RITA. Jess Granger is an up and coming sci-fi romance author (who I think will do quite well) published with Berkley. And Avon have published Joss Ware's futuristic, post-apocalyptic romance series. Surely when other publishing houses are getting into this genre, and considering Avon are already half way there with a futuristic series, a sci-fi romance with the Avon imprint wouldn't be such a stretch?
If I get to sit down in front of Erika Tsang, those will be my arguments. And of course, I'll tell her a bit about Atrophy as well.
But right now, I have those 3500 words I need to get written, so I should get on with that!

Quick Update

2011-07-15T14:02:00.000+10:00

Four weeks to go until the RWAus conference and I can't decide if I'm extremely excited or so nervous I want to puke. Though I've been a member of RWA for 8 years, this will be my first conference. Because I registered late I missed out on applying for the pitch appointments, some of which included Kristen Nelson of Nelson agency (one of the top agents on my list) and Erika Tsang, editor at Avon Romances. But I got a spot on a waiting list, so if any cancellations come up with either of these two, I might get my chance. I'm looking forward to going and putting faces to names of people I regularly chat to through RWA.
In other news, I'm getting all the technical stuff done for Singularity (and yes, that now is the official title we're going with) and am hoping to get a release date in the coming week or so. I've also been getting through Sinner, which is Drayke and Leandra's story, doing a bit on Cadmiel's novella for the anthology that goes along with the November blog tour I'm involved in, and also writing some of my Shadow Hunter novel (which is the book I would pitch at the conference if I happened to get an appointment.)
So as you can see, I'm keeping myself very busy. I've never worked on 3 separate projects at once in a sustained fashion like this before. I am enjoying it, though I'm hoping I don't burn myself out. I've been writing a minimum of 2000 to 3000 words every day. But I guess I shouldn't worry, I'll be taking a forced break from writing once the edits for Singularity come in.
I've got queries out with two agents (the last two I plan on querying) for Atrophy and I'm still waiting to hear from Certain Publisher about it. But I've moved my focus onto my Shadow Hunter novel. All the energy I was putting into waiting and wondering was just exhausting, so I decided I couldn't do that anymore. I've been focusing that energy on my Shadow Hunter book with the thought of "if this doesn't get me an agent, I don't know what will!"
It looks like later in the year I'll be getting back on the query roundabout with yet another project... guess I've got to finish the thing first. So I should probably go do that.

Best Quotes of Supernatural Season 3

2011-07-10T13:30:00.000+10:00

Look at this! So it didn't take me very long at all to get through a re-watch of Supernatural Season 3 and note down my favorite quotes. There are a lot of them! Maybe I'm getting less picky and easier to please as the seasons go onward, or maybe the writers were just getting more clever. Either way, there were a lot of classic Deanism, a lot of the usual Sam/Dean snark and a few cameo one liners from some of the supporting cast.
Dean laughed in that face of death (actually, I believe he does literally, in later seasons, but that's a whole 'nother story) and even when he was about to take an express ride to hell via the not so friendly ministrations of a hellhound, he was still coming out with his usual wit. Poor Sammy got tortured in this season, got a glimpse of what life would be like without Dean and generally tried to hold things together and find some answers when it seemed Dean didn't even care about his imminent demise. This was a great season and of course we all know it was only building to bigger and better things down the track.
I've even made a start on watching and noting season 4 quotes, so look out for that coming up in a few weeks. But, here we go with quotes of season 3:

Deanisms

- Oh, so he kills somebody and we just sit here with our junk in our hands?

- So what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell?

- Okay, weirdy-Mcweirdison

- Gumby girl… does that make me Pokey?

- The kids. The creepy, stare at you like you're lunch kids.

- Great, we'll just bust in, drag the kids out and torch 'em on the front lawn. I'm sure that'll go down great with the neighbors.

- If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person.

- Say goodbye, wascily wabbit.

- Now what do you say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead thing?

- Oh, don't go away angry. Just go away.

- Or it could just be a suicide and a psychotic scrap-booker.

- And what? A few hours later you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye?

- A hand of glory? I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week.

- You couldn't pick up the phone and tell us a raging psychopath was coming after us?

- Its like a giant haystack and Gordon is a deadly needle.

- Just another day at the office. A massively dangerous day at the office.

- You just charged a super-vamped-out-Gordon with no weapons. That's a little reckless don't you think?

- Oh great, so we're looking for pimp-Santa.

- I hate witches. They're always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere. Its creepy. You know what? It's downright unsanitary.

- So we’re looking for some old, cranky Blair-bitch in the woods?

- Why does the rabbit always get screwed in the deal? Poor little guy.

- Let me guess, they dose up, bust out the didgeridoo and start kicking 'round the hackey-sack?

- I don't know what's weirder. The fact that we're in Bobby's head or that he's dreaming about Better Homes and Gardens.

- Sam, you know joints like this one are tourist traps, right? I mean, balls rolling up hills, furniture nailed to the roof? They're only dangerous to your wallet.

- Look, I'm just saying that its crazy, you know? Even for us crazy, like Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy.

- My god, you're a freak.

- Sammy, I get all tingly when you take control like that.

- It’s a free country. A man can't chose his own syrup? What have we become?

- Its like we got a contract out on us. You think its 'cos we're so awesome?

- Honestly, I think the world's going to end bloody, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't fight. We do have choices. I choose to go down swinging.
- Pack your panties, Sammy, we're hitting the road.

-Well don't get too excited, Sammy, you might pull something.

- Newsflash, Sam, people are supposed to be freaked out by ghosts.

- Zombies do like the other-other white meat.

- A zombie with skills. Doctor Quinn, medicine zombie.

- You're chasing slicey-McHackey.

- Oh right, yeah, Because you were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach.

- What, you gonna give her the Carrie stare and Lillith goes poof?

- Oh no. No. You're not going to bust out the misty goodbye speech. If this is my last day on earth I don't want it to be socially awkward.

- And then what? Give a Columbian necktie to a ten year old?

Samisms

- So what, this demon just walks up, touches someone and they go stark-raving-psycho?

- You do realize there's red meat within striking distance, right?

- Yeah, its like putting a neon sign on your front door that says 'come kill us now'."

Sam - Let me see your knife.

Dean - What for?

Sam - So I can gouge my eyes out.

Sam - Dean, what are you doing?

Dean - I'm comforting the bereaved. What are you doing?

Sam - Working. Dead body, possible demon attack, that kind of thing.

Dean - Just stay back.

Demon - Or what?

Dean - Good point.

Dean - It's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sam - That's hellfire, Dean.

Dean - Yeah, well… whatever.

Sam - How do you sleep at night?

Bella - Rolling naked in money.

Dean - I'm Batman.

Sam - Yeah… you're Batman.

Bella - It’s a shoulder hit. Relax. Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people?

Bella - I'm out one point five million and on the bad side of a very powerful, fairly psychotic buyer.

Dean - Wow, I really don't feel bad about that. Sam?

Sam - Nope, not even a little.

Dean - There's gotta be a demon or two in South Beach.

Sam - Sorry, Heff, maybe next time.

Sam - I'm thinking about fairy tales.

Dean - Nice, do you think about fairy tales often?

Sam - You remember Cinderella, with the pumpkin that turns into a coach and the mice that turns into horses?

Dean - Dude, could you be more gay?... Don't answer that.

Dean - And you shot her?

Sam - She was a smartass

Dean - Can I shoot her?

Sam - Not in public.

Bella - I think the three of us should have a heart to heart.

Dean - That's assuming you have a heart.

Bella - You know, when this is over, we really should have angry sex.

Dean - Don't objectify me.

Bella - What do you suggest?

Dean - I'm thinking.

Bella - Don't strain yourself.

(and later...)

Dean - Maybe next time you could give me a little heads up on your plan.

Bella - I don't want you thinking, you're not very good at that.

Sam - You.

Dean - What?

Sam - You mean she got one over on you.

Dean - Thank you, Sam. Very helpful.

Sam - Nice move you pulled back there, running right at the weapons.

Dean - What can I say, I'm a badass.

Dean - Well, I'm just saying he's not leaving us a whole lot of options.

Sam - Yeah, I know, we've gotta kill him.

Dean - Really, just like that? I thought you would have been like 'no, we can't, he's human, its wrong'."

Vampire - I'm staring down eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?

Dean - Well, there's hell.

Sam - I'm sick of your whole stupid kamikaze trip.

Dean - Whoa. Kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja.

Sam - Its not funny.

Dean - It’s a little funny.

Dean - So was I right? Is it the serial killing chimney sweep?

Sam - Yep, its Dick Van Dyck.

Dean - Who?

Sam - Mary Poppins?

Dean - Who's that?

Sam - Oh, come on… Never mind.

Dean - What could you possibly say that sounds crazy to me?

Sam - Um… Evil Santa?

Dean - Yeah, that's crazy.

Dean - What'd Bobby say?

Sam - That we're morons.

Sam - Huh. When you sacrifice to Holnacar, guess what he gives you in return?

Dean - Lap dances, hopefully.

Dean - Did you sell them for free?

Shopkeeper - No, its Christmas, people pay a butt-load for this crap.

Dean - That's the spirit

Dean - You bitch!

Madge - Oh my goodness, somebody owes a nickel to the swear jar. Oh, you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge.

Dean - I'll try to remember that.

(and later…)

Dean - You fudgin' touch me again and I'll fudgin' kill you!

Madge - Very good.

Sam - What was Bobby doing in Pittsburgh?

Dean - Taking an extremely lame holiday?

Sam - Bella? You're actually suggesting we ask her for a favor?

Dean - I'm feeling dirty just thinking about it, but yeah.

Sam - Dean, you sure you don't want me to drive? You seem a little caffeinated.

Dean - Oh, thanks for the newsflash, Edison.

Sam - Dude, Asia?

Dean - Come on, you love this song and you know it.

Sam - Yeah and if I ever hear it again, I'm going to kill myself.

Sam - Dude, I had a weird dream.

Dean - Yeah? Clowns or midgets?

Sam - Yesterday was Tuesday, but today is Tuesday too.

Dean - Yeah. No, good, you're totally balanced.

Dean - And did it look cool, like in the movies?

Sam - You peed yourself.

Dean - Of course I peed myself. A man gets hit by a car, you think he has full control over his bladder?

Sam - You're crazy, Bobby, I'm not killing you.

Bobby - Oh, so now I'm the crazy one?

Trickster - I tell you what, whoever said Dean was the dysfunctional one has never seen you with a sharp object in your hands. I mean, holy full metal jacket!

Hendrikson - After all, seeing you two in chains…?

Dean - You kinky sonuva bitch, we don't swing that way.

Sam - How's the shoulder?

Dean - Its awesome. I'll live. You know, if we get out of this alive.

Hendrikson - I shot the sheriff.

Dean - But you didn't shoot the deputy.

Ruby - Does anyone here have a breath mint? Some guts splattered in my mouth while I was killing my way in here.

Dean - Listen to me, there's some salt in my duffle. Make a circle and get inside.

Ed - Inside your duffle?

Dean - Inside the salt you idiots!

Harry (from the Ghostfacers ep) - Ed, you gotta go be gay for that poor dead intern.

Sam - So you two were talking a case?

Dean - No, actually we were talking about our feelings and then our favorite boy bands… yeah, we were talking a case.

Dean - What is it?

Sam - A Crockata

Dean - What, is that some type of sandwich?

Dean - I see they improved your face.

Sam - Right back at you.

Sam - You remember that thing in the paper yesterday?

Dean - Stripper suffocates dude with thighs.

Sam - No, the other thing.

Rufus - You do her ear?

Dean - Hey man, I'll try anything once, but that sounds uncomfortable.

Dean - Why don't we make a TJ run? Senoritas, cervesas. We could… what's Spanish for Donkey-show?

Sam - So if we do save you, let's never do that.

Bobby - Well, aren't you good at just brining down the room?

Dean - It’s a gift.

Sam - How do you get around so fast?

Ruby - I got the Super bowl jetpack.

Dean - What do you think?

Sam - I think you totally should have been jamming Eye of the Tiger right there.

Dean - Bite me. I totally rehearsed that, too.

Bobby - Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?

Bobby - Your piercing the veil, Dean. Glimpsing the b-side.

Dean - A little less new-agey please?

Bobby - You almost hell's bitch, so you can see hell's other bitches.

Dean - So is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to hell, kill Sam and then what? Become Queen Bitch?

Lillith - I don't have to answer to puppy chow.

A lot of great stuff there and I'm sure season 4 will prove just as good. For now, I've got some of my own writing to get back to.

Hacked!

2011-07-08T09:10:00.000+10:00

I checked my email first thing this morning to find I'd been hacked and a whole bunch of spam had been sent on my behalf. Ergh! I was so frustrated. I thought that if your password was made up of a combination of letters and numbers, it made it less likely this would happen. Maybe I'm just lucky.
Anyway, the worst thing about this is knowing all the agents and editors on my contact list (which, the way my spam folder is set up, anything that's not from a contact automatically goes bye-bye, so I need to make sure agents are on my contact list if I don't want their response to my queries to become cyber trash) who would have gotten this spam email from me. I know its not really my fault, but its still kind of embarrassing!
So I've started off this morning a bit stressed out.
But, at least at the moment my current manuscripts aren't stressing me out. The words are flowing and I'm having an easy time of it. I always try to enjoy this kind of run as much as I can, because I know that my mood can easily swing back the other way and then it'll be a chore trying to get even the simplest words onto the page.
I started working on my novella for the Noble Romance Authors Blog Tour I'm doing in November. Its going to be about 10,000 words long, so I should have it done in a week or so. I decided to make it part of my Sanctuary series. Its going to be called Saviour and is based on Cadmiel, the angel of destiny, who appeared briefly in the first book, Sanctuary.
Drayke and Leandra's story is coming along well enough. I'll be starting chapter five today.
I've also decided I want to put some serious energy into my Shadow Hunter novel. Even though I'd done a lot of research and written a chapter and a half, I had been resisting getting into it because I have so many other projects on the go. And because I hadn't been willing to accept defeat when it came to Atrophy. Okay, maybe that's the wrong way of putting it. Maybe I need to say something more along the lines of reassessing my publishing strategy. Anyway, however you want to see it, I've decided that I've queried Atrophy to death and can't do anything else about it, so its time to write something else and start the process all over again.
And I had promised myself that this year I would land an agent. It hit me the other day that sitting on my hands, waiting for a handful of agents and one editor to get back to me wasn't being very proactive toward that end. The year is half gone, if I'm going to achieve my goal for the year, I really need to get my butt into gear. So the plan is to see Drayke and Leandra's story through, get Cadmiel's novella written and then focus on the Shadow Hunter novel, which I'm aiming to make about 90,000 to 100,000 words long.
So I have a lot of work to do, but right now, I'm really looking forward to the prospect of it all.

Science Fiction Romance, The Next Big Thing?

2011-07-05T09:35:00.000+10:00

You all know I've been chasing dreams of glory with my sci-fi romance manuscript, Atrophy. I've been hoping that the next massive trend would be sci-fi since the whole vampire craze might at last be waning. Well, maybe I was on to something.
Over at the Sci-Fi Romance Brigade blog, Laurie Green posted the latest news from the Romance Writers America national conference. It seems the way might be opening for sci-fi/futuristic/apocalyptic to be The Next Big Thing.
This news is a double edge sword for me. On one hand, great! My sales of Sanctuary and Severance are going along steadily enough, and obviously I'm hoping to see a rise in sales when Singularity comes out. And even better, maybe I will be able to sell Atrophy.
Except, I spent most of last year querying Atrophy, so the number of agents I could now contact about it are probably limited. Its frustrating that I may have hit too early. Some of the agents who rejected me said the manuscript fell right between sci-fi and romance, so they didn't know where it would fit on a bookshelf, but that I should write something else and send that to them.
Certain Publisher still hasn't gotten back to me and I feel maybe its time I stopped sitting here waiting and considered my options with agents again. I'm going to do a bit of searching and see about putting some queries together.
But, I'm lagging a bit on my word count aims for the fourth Sanctuary book, so I should probably do that first!
In closing, I just have to say that I would be elated if sci-fi romance becomes the next big trend. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Great Review for Sanctuary

2011-07-04T11:33:00.000+10:00

It makes my job so much easier when I get fabulous reviews like this latest one for Sanctuary:

"I'm not a big fan of Angel stories, but the Sci-Fi aspect of Sanctuary attracted my interest and then the unique new slant Jess Anastasi has given to both the End Time scenario and the fight between Angels and Demons kept me turning pages as fast as I could read them."
"This short novella has just about everything you want in a book: a fast-paced plot with crisp writing, a few unexpected surprises, and interesting characters whose angst quickly invests the reader in their plight."

To read the review in full, visit here: Two Lips Reviews.

I'm looking forward to seeing the reviewer's thoughts on Severance, which she is going to read and review next. I only hope she enjoys it as much!
I guess some days I get so caught up in the work aspect of things -- getting the words down on the page, then making sure they actually make sense, then editing until the manuscript resembles something people might actually want to read, then editing it again over and over with my editor until its as good as its going to get and we can put the book out in the world -- yeah, its easy to forget on the other end of that, people out there are reading it for the enjoyment. They don't see the nuts and bolts like I do, they get to sit down and read it with no strings attached and hopefully come away feeling like it was worth their time.
Every so often, I'm reminded that's why I do this job.

4th Sanctuary Book Started

2011-07-03T13:43:00.000+10:00

I decided to jump straight into the 4th Sanctuary book, Drayke and Leandra's story, while the characters were fresh in my mind. I've made a good start in the past couple of days -- 6000 words and counting... wow, only 54,000 or so to go...
Anyhoo, I have grand plans of getting through it within the next five weeks or so. Yeah, we'll see how I got with that. It would be nice to get the 3rd and 4th books out in quick succession, and then maybe I will finish that romantic suspense of Ric and Madi's.
In other news, my local paper ran a double-page-spread feature on me and my books this weekend. Unfortunately, its not online otherwise I'd be pasting the link. The pictures turned out okay (I'm not crazy about getting my photo taken) and the story made me sound pretty smart, so I had to be happy with that. I've had lots of enthusiastic feedback from family and friends and gained a couple of new 'fans' on my facebook page, so that's nice.
My current daily minimum writing target is 2000 words. Its already after lunch and I've done exactly 0 words, so I should got do something about that!
Hoping to get word on a release date for Singularity in the coming weeks, so I'll keep you all updated.

3rd Sanctuary Book Finished!

2011-06-27T10:06:00.000+10:00

This post is probably coming a bit late because I actually finished Marc and Charmeine's story four days ago. I spent the weekend editing, but am not quite half way through yet. Hopefully I should have it finished by Friday though, and then its a question of what to work on next.
I have a novella I need to write to go in to the anthology for the Noble Authors blog tour I'm doing in November. The manuscript is going to be about 10,000 words and I have the story all ready to go, so I should be able to knock that over in a week or so.
I have a few options of what I could go on with, I could continue on in the Sanctuary universe and write Drayke and Leandra's book, though I'm still a bit cloudy on their details and the scribe angel, Ethan, has been pushing for his story (yes, my characters do try to tell me what to do.). Ethan's story is very clear in my mind, but for the sake of certain events unfolding chronologically, Drayke and Leandra need to come first.
Instead I could finish poor Ric and Madi's romantic suspense that I got a bit over halfway through. And then there was the warlord novella I was all excited about a few months back. The end of that needs to be entirely re-written.
Or, I could return to my Atrophy universe and write the second book in that series, because if the Certain Publisher or Certain Agent who both have Atrophy get back to me with the answer I'm hoping for, then it'd be nice to have the second one all ready to go.
But I don't have to decide today. Right now, I have over half a book to continue editing, so I should get on with that!

Query Limbo

2011-06-22T13:14:00.002+10:00

I'm in query limbo and I can tell you its a very strange place to be.
Since the beginning of the year, Atrophy has been out with a certain publisher that shall remain nameless. The editor I've been dealing with has expressed marked interest in the manuscript and I've been waiting (and waiting and waiting) for a final answer. At the moment all I'm getting is radio (or Internet) silence. I know I'll hear any day now, but seriously, not knowing is hard!
In the meantime, about 3 months back I was involved in an online pitch session with an agent at an agency that is on my short list. She requested the full (much to my obvious excitement) so I sent it off and got back to waiting (and waiting and waiting).
And now query limbo is starting to get to me. In the past two weeks, two other agencies on my short list have either hired a new agent or come out and said they are specifically looking for sci-fi and romance. My first instinct is to rush out and send off a query, with a paragraph stating that Certain Editor from Certain Publishing House has the manuscript and seems very interested. Except I suppose they probably hear that all the time.
Instead, I'm wondering if I should wait to hear back from the certain nameless publisher with or without an offer and go from there. Obviously having a contract up my sleeve would make a world of difference when approaching these agents. So, I suppose I have my answer. I just need to keep waiting (and waiting and waiting).
Hmm. Maybe if I did as much writing as I did waiting, I'd be finished Marc and Charmeine's book by now. Speaking of which, I should get back to it.

Does There Come a Time When an Auhor Should Stop Writing?

2011-06-17T11:35:00.000+10:00

This question has been plaguing me for a few days now. I'm three quarters of the way through the fourth book in a series by an author I once would have quickly claimed as a favorite. But a couple of things have let me down.
First, let's focus on the book I'm reading before I recant my entire collection of her works. This series started out great, it was a New York Times bestseller, though this wasn't the first time she'd published these books. The first time around, many many years ago, apparently they didn't do so well. But that's kind of besides the point. I know this author is capable of great things, which obviously made her a multi-New York Times Bestseller. She had something that really spoke to people.
This book I'm reading now, its like the words and the story is there, but the spark, the passion behind it is missing. And quite truthfully, though she writes several different genres, all her books are starting to sound the same to me. Like, A plus B with a little of C, D and E. Viola! You have a book.
There's been more than a few times I've had to go back and re-read a sentence or paragraph because it'd been composed awkwardly or so convoluted I forgot what the original point at the beginning was.
I'm sorry, but to me, this just smacks of laziness, from everyone concerned. From the author, her agent, and editors at the publishing house. Yes, I know this author's name probably guarantees a squillion sales alone, but doesn't quality matter?
In the course of the story, the author touched on one of the secondary characters being gay. I have absolutely no problem with this. One of my favorite couples/stories ever is Suzanne Brockmann's Jules and Robin romance. It was just done so fabulously. I've read a few other authors with tough, gay characters, JR Ward notably being one of them. I don't want to call it a trend, gay romances are becoming more acceptable in mainstream fiction. I even have a vague notion I'd like to tackle on myself one day. Not because everyone else is doing is, but because of the difference, similarities and intricacies of bringing something like that successfully to the page. Except when I read the gay character in this book, it didn't feel authentic, it felt like a popularity grab. I don't know, maybe I'm just being too cynical and harsh these days.
Its getting to the point where I'm having second thoughts about buying any more of her books. And this is not the first time I've been stung by this author. There have been other books in other series that were written so badly, I had to wonder if it was even the same writer. There was one in particular that comes to mind, I never even finished it.
All of this brings to mind the future of my own career. I'd like to think that in ten or twenty or thirty years, if I write something sub-standard, something that is lazy or crap or just plain horrible, then there might be someone around with enough balls to tell me so. I don't care if my name on a book will mean an instant 500,000 copy sale, I want to know that my readers won't be left disgusted or disillusioned. Quite truthfully, I'd rather be making next to no money, but know that what I'm putting out is worth the time my readers put into it.
Right now, I have so many ideas and dreams and plans. But what happens when I reach the day when I've explored them all and achieved everything I set out to? I'm sure every writer dreams of eternity, that there won't come a day when they have nothing else to say. It could happen though. Will I be brave enough to put down my pen or stop bashing my keyboard? Because if the spark and passion is gone, is there any point pushing on? Readers can tell and readers can be ruthless. So do you risk the reputation you've made to try and hang on to your glory days? Or do you fade away with quiet dignity? Many authors have faded away with quiet dignity and we may not give them much more than a passing thought. It's the ones who destroy what they've built we remember long after the flames have subsided.
I don't know about anyone else, but I don't really want something like that to be my lasting legacy. I don't know what the future holds, I guess all we can do is the best with what we have to deal with.

While We're on the Subject...

2011-06-14T12:05:00.000+10:00

Okay, I know we're so behind here in Australia, but last night they screened Supernatural episode ten of season six. I just had to say that Castiel kissing Meg was one of THE most hilarious moments I've even seen. Dean's face was priceless. Well done to the writers, because I didn't see that one coming.
I really like the fact that despite season six being overlaid with the dark tones of Sam having no soul and being on the scary-evil side, the writers have managed to get back some of that laugh-out-loud snark from earlier seasons. It got pretty heavy there for a while with the apocalypse and everything. Its good to see (and hope) that this show might still have a few good seasons in it.

Best Quotes of Supernatural Season 2

2011-06-13T19:20:00.001+10:00

Once, a long, long time ago, I promised I'd compile a list of quotes for season 2 of Supernatural. Yes, it was July 2007, almost exactly four years ago. This promise was made in the original post of Best Quotes of Supernatural Season 1. I'd like to say "I can't believe it took me four years to get around to doing this." But actually, I'm kind of not surprised. Let's hope it doesn't take me another four years to do it for season 3, because that would just be pathetic.
So, without further ado, here they are. Now, I don't know if I just paid closer attention to this season, or if maybe the writers were feeling a bit more snarky and settled into their places, but there seems to be a lot of really great quotes I've written down. So go grab a snack and a coffee, you might be here a while....

Deanisms:
- "Dude, I full on Swayzed that mother."
- "You're much prettier than the last reaper I met."
- "I think I'll pass on the seventy two virgins, thanks. I'm not that into prude chicks anyway."
- "You know what? You're right. Come here, I want to lay my head on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, and maybe even slow dance."
- "This is humiliating, I feel like a frigging soccer-mom."
- "So much effed up crap happens in Florida."
- "Yeah, but Max Miller was a pasty little psycho."
- "These things are vicious, they're violent, they're so nasty they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen Pet Cemetery?"
- "Man, that dead chick can run."
- "He full on Obi-waned me, its mind control, man."
- "One day I'd just like to sit down and eat something I didn't have to microwave at a mini-mart."
- "Its ectoplasm. Well, Sam, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man."
- "You know, Casper the blood thirsty ghost?"
- "My name is Dean Winchester, I'm an aquarius, I enjoy long walks on the beach and frisky women."
- "Pee break, so soon? You might want to get your prostate checked."
- "What have you got on the case there, you innocent-harmless-young-man-you."
- "Myspace? What the hell is that? Seriously, is it like some sort of porn site?"
- "These people are actually making deals with the damn thing. You know, coz that always ends good."
- "We know a little bit about a lot of things. Just enough to make us dangerous."
- "You know, I usually like to be warned before I'm violated with demon tongue."
- "What's the point of saving the world if you don't get a bit of nookie every now and then?"
- "I just figured after Ava, there'd be more droopy music and staring out the rainy window... yeah, I'll shut up now."
- "Wow, that attitude is just way too healthy for me. I'm officially uncomfortable now."
- "Old-school haunted house. You know, fog, secret passage ways, sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne inside... mmm, Daphne. Love her."
- "Don't you think this place is a little too white-meat for hoodoo?"
- "Don't go surfing porn, that's not the kind of whacking I mean."
- "Wow, this is a lot of dolls. And nice too. No, they're not super-creepy at all."
- "I guess mixing whiskey with Jagar wasn't such a gang-buster idea."
- "I think you could have totally hooked up some MILF action there, bud."
- "I just think its creepy how good a fed you are."
- "Shape shifter... I hate those frigging things."
-"Well, I think I learned a valuable lesson. Always take down your Christmas decorations after new years or you might get filleted by a hooker from God."
- "You ducked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambora. Of course, I think the scariest part about this whole thing is that you're a Bon Jovi fan."
- "Dude, you full on had a girl inside you for a whole week. That's pretty naughty."
- "How could it get any worse? Some alien made you his bitch."
- "Plan A was to get you out of here. Obviously that didn't go over too well with Farmer Roadkill."
- "You know, just once I'd like to round the bend and see a nice house."
- "I call this one blue steel."
- "Wait, who looks better, me or Nick Nolte?"
- "Don't worry, Sam, I won't trade you for smokes."
- "Man, I am frigging velvety smooth!"

Samism (there aren't as many, but he still got a couple of one-liners in!)
- "Looking for a cursed object is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles."
- "Wow, give you a pile of severed heads and a bunch of dead cows and you're mister sunshine."
- "My daddy shot your daddy in the hee-aad." (just had to fit Evil Sam's line in here somewhere.)
- "Dude, I'm not enabling your sick habit. You're like one of those lab rats that pushes the pleasure button instead of the food button until it dies."
- "A seance? Oh great, I hope Whoppi is available."
- "You know, maybe the spirits are trying to shut down the movie coz they think it sucks. Coz, I mean, it kinda does."
- "Yeah, being fugitives, it's a frigging dance party."

And now for the rest...
Jo - "Most hunters come through that door, they think they can get in my pants with some pizza, a six pack and a side one of Zeppelin four."
Dean - "What a bunch of scum bags."

Dean - "Come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the TV."
Sam - "At least I'm not afraid of flying."
Dean - "Planes crash."
Sam - "And apparently clowns kill!"

Sam - "Dean, get me a bucket."
Dean - "Why, did you find something?"
Sam - "No, I'm going to puke."

Sam - "I don't think they're killing people."
Dean - "Then how do they stay alive? Or undead. Or whatever the hell they are."

Sam - "Silver bullets?"
Dean - "Enough to make her rattle like a change purse."

Sam - "You think Angela's after someone?"
Dean - "No, I think she went out to rent Beaches."

Dean - "Besides, if I ran off with you, I think your mother might kill me."
Jo - "You're afraid of my mother?"
Dean - "I think so."

Sam - "Dean, you had OJ convicted before he even got out of his white Bronco and you've got doubts about this?
Dean - "He just doesn't seem like the stone-cold-killer type, you know? And OJ was guilty!"

Dean - "That was mind control, it's like being roofied, man. No, I'm calling a do-over."
Sam - "What are you, seven?"

Dean - "A young girl has been kidnapped by an evil cult."
Sam - "This girl have a name?"
Dean - "Yeah, Katie Holmes."

Dean - "What do you think, Scully, should we check it out?"
Sam - "I'm not Scully, you're Scully."
Dean - "No, I'm Mulder. You're a red-headed woman."

Jo - "Take it, it won't bite."
Dean - "No, but your mom might."

Dean - "You got a neighbor named Mr. Rodgers?"
Sarge - "Not anymore."

Dean - "Man, if you ever take off like that again--"
Sam - "What, you'll kill me?"
Dean - "That's so not funny."

Dean - "Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?"
Sam - "Well, you are a little butch, probably think you're over-compensating or something."

Dean - "You know, she could be faking."
Sam - "Yeah? What do you want to do, poke her with a stick?.... Dude, you're not going to poke her with a stick!"

Dean - "Frigging cops."
Sam - "They're just doing their job, Dean."
Dean - "No, they're doing our job, only they don't know it, so they suck at it."

Dean - "I like him, he says okey-dokey."
Sam - "He could be the shifter."
Dean - "Well, then we follow him home and put a silver bullet in his chest plate."

Dean - "There's a lot of lore on unicorns too. I hear they ride on moonbeams and shoot rainbows out their asses."
Sam - "Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns?"

Sam - "Alright, I'll admit it, we've gone pretty ghetto with spell work before, but this takes the cake. I mean, a Sponge Bob placemat instead of an altar cloth?"
Dean - "Just put it Sponge Bob side down."

Sam - "Dude, were you on my computer?"
Dean - "No, why?"
Sam - "Oh really? Because its frozen now, on busty Asian babes dot com. Just don't touch my stuff any more."
Dean - "Why don't you control your OCD."

Dean - "You're like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness."
Sam - "Yeah, I know."

Molly - "Oh, thank god!"
Dean - "Yeah, call me Dean."

Sam - "Why do you always get to hang out with the hot girls?"
Dean - "Coz I'm older

Dean - "What's a PA?"
Sam - "I think they're kind of like slaves."

Hendrikson - "You think you're funny?"
Dean - "I think I'm adorable."

Sam - "Considering our circumstances, I'm going to need something a little better than 'pretty sure'."
Dean - "Really pretty sure."
(and later...)
Dean - "I'd like a little better than 'pretty sure'."
Sam - "Okay... Really pretty sure."

Inmate Tiny - "Are you talking to me?"
Dean - "Another guy who's seen Taxi Driver one too many times."

Dean - "Bitch."
Sam - "Why are you calling me a bitch for?"
Dean - "You're supposed to say 'jerk'."
Sam - "What?"
Dean - "Never mind."
(alternate reality Sam apparently has no sense of humor.)

Dean - "Don't forget the extra onions this time."
Sam - "Yeah, I'm the one whose going to have to ride in the car with your extra onions."
Dean - "And get me some pie... I want pie!... love me some pie."

Well, that's it people! I hope you've enjoyed this compilation and I do promise one day I will also get together a list of best quotes for season three. Though, since it took me four years to get around to this one, I'm not putting any time lines on it. In the meantime, here's another picture to keep you occupied...

Couldn't Help Myself

2011-06-11T12:21:00.005+10:00

As you can see by the wordcount meter down the page, I'm 45,000 words into Marc and Charmeine's story. Its going well enough at the moment, my crit partner hasn't picked up any major problems so far. Though, we'll see what my other crit partner and editor think about it before making any broad, sweeping statements about how its really coming along.
Meanwhile, the other morning I woke up feeling energized because another new idea had come to me over night. I'm feeling particularly excited about this story because its not like anything I've tried to write before, its more Urban Fantasy and doesn't actually have that much romance in it. There will be some, of course, because I think that sort of tension in a story can take it to another level.
I started out doing some research for it and it's only fired my imagination further. I knew the paranormal subject the story is based around would have quite a bit of myth, speculation and history to it, but I've still been surprised at the depth and variety I found, which fostered even more ideas. I'm keeping hush about it now because I don't want to invest too much in this story since I have several other projects pending with agents and editors. But this book is demanding attention, so I'm attempting to find a balance between passion and where the muse is directing me, and the projects I'm already committed to. At least I'm not sitting here twiddling my thumbs with no inspiration or words to write.
That being said, I should get back to Marc and Charmeine. Happy writing and reading for the weekend!
Okay, if you really want a clue, I'm calling this new idea my Shadow Hunters series, but that's all I'll say on the project for now.

A Lovely Review For Sanctuary

2011-06-01T11:23:00.003+10:00

And it also happens to be the first review for Sanctuary!
I can't believe I forgot to post this up here when I got it, so this is kind of old news. A few weeks back I got a great review over at Joyfully Reviewed. I was actually surprised and very touched by this review, and I actually agree with the reviewer's sentiments that she wished Tori and A'albiel had more time to get to know each other. But I wrote it as a novella, so I guess there was only limited time I could spend on the getting-to-know-you stage. Maybe one day I'll be able to add in the scenes I left out, plus a few more and turn it into a full-length book.
Nonetheless, here's a few quotes from the review:

"Although Sanctuary is a well mapped out story, the plot is filled with lots of surprises because the author is very good at not giving anything away."

"There’s enough action to keep the story flowing fast forward, and then unexpectedly, the romance blooms and explodes all over the place until your heart is filled with such warm fuzzy feelings you’ll feel as if you’re going to explode from the warmth flooding your heart by the end."

"Best of all, I liked the unyielding element of timeless romance that played and tugged at my heartstrings. This is a lovely read for all the die-hard romantics and angel fans, and everyone else, too."

To read the review in full, go here:

http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/new-reviews/sanctuary-by-jess-anastasi

And while we're in the Sanctuary universe, here's an update on Marc and Charmeine's story: I've gotten past the half way mark, so now its a matter of counting down. I've got about 25,000 words left to write, hoping to have it done in the next couple of week.

The First Thing I Bought With My Royalties

2011-05-18T09:29:00.004+10:00

Actually, I haven't bought anything yet. The money I've made from Sanctuary, Severance and Dead Reality is still sitting in my bank account. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we're talking a lot of money here. I'm not paying off a huge chunk of my mortgage, buying a new car or booking a holiday to Hawaii.
I had been thinking about getting a new computer, but my four year old Asus F3J is actually running pretty well still... touch wood! I wouldn't be surprised if it crashed now just to prove me wrong. So I hadn't quite been able to bring myself to decide on purchasing any type of new computer (I also get attached to things and won't give them up until its quite obvious their only possible function could be as a paper weight) and had been telling myself I didn't really need to spend the money on that.
But yesterday, I suddenly came to a decision on what I want to buy with some of the money, The First Thing I Will Buy With My Royalties.
Excited?
Well, I am and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.
To go off on a slight tangent, I have a lot of books, as you might imagine an author would. And I mean a lot. They're everywhere. On my desk, next to my bed, near the TV, in the kitchen, stuffed into cupboards and pretty much littering every available surface. Some of them are even out in the garage (lack of storage space).
Due to some recent life rearranging, I now have an actual study (or, I like to call it my office) to work it. It's heaven! There's a desk and a couple of couches. Its a big room and a nice set up. But you see, there's an entire free wall that has nothing against it or near it. And this is where the money comes in. It would be the perfect place to put some bookshelves.
So I went shopping. Not actual shopping, because who has time to do that? I scoured the Internet and found some reasonably priced bookshelves that will match my desk. I measured and worked out I could fit 4 bookshelves in this space, as it is quite a long section of empty wall.
I'm going to go get them tomorrow and I've been having gleeful fantasies of alphabetizing and organizing my books according to genre. Sad, I know. But the idea of actually being able to find whichever book I'm looking for, instead of rummaging through piles, makes me giddy.
It might not be a Maserati or tropical holiday, but I couldn't be happier with the thought of spending money I made from my books on something to store my books in. Poetical, really.

Up & Running

2011-05-11T18:28:00.002+10:00

Just a quick entry to say that my Internet-related technical difficulties are all fixed, so I'm back on the net for good. I'm also trying to get back into writing in a big way. Once upon a time I used to make myself write 1000 words a day. If I want to get one of the three unfinished manuscripts completed and submitted to Noble, it'd probably be a good plan to get back into old habits. I've just started chapter two of the 3rd Sanctuary book, so hopefully I'll get rolling on it and things will run smoothly.
In other news, on the 20th of June I'll be a guest speaker for the Bendigo Writers Council. I'm going to be talking about Speculative Fiction and world-building. Should be a good night and I'm really looking forward to it.
Now, I have 1000 words to write, so I should go do something about that.

Really AWOL This Time

2011-05-07T14:01:00.003+10:00

I can't believe its been almost a month since I last posted here. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) this hasn't been due to a busy life or lack of time and motivation for blogging. In actual fact, I've been having some Internet issues and have been entirely disconnected from the world. I knew I was sadly addicted to the Internet, my email, blog, facebook, msn chat, youtube, twitter (occasionally) other blogs, google and a number of other random things, but it was a serious shock to the system to be almost entirely cut off from the cyber world. I'm hoping this problem will be rectified in the near future, but its probably going to be another couple of weeks before I'm back on the air for good.
In the meantime, I got another couple of reviews:

This one for Severance:
http://www.manicreaders.com/index.cfm?disp=reviews&bookid=12328

And this fabulous one for Sanctuary:
http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/new-reviews/sanctuary-by-jess-anastasi

Both have made me feel motivated to get stuck into the third book. I had started it, but other things going on in my life had really interrupted my writing. In fact, I was beginning to wonder how I was ever going to get back into the swing of things. And I don't just mean the Sanctuary series, I mean writing anything. Until yesterday I hadn't done any work, no writing, no editing, no scribbling of vague ideas. The creative well was dry and it had me concerned for a minute.
Funnily enough, the very middle-of-the-road review I got for Severance actually picked me up and got me going again. So thank you to that reviewer. I know the book was only so-so in your eyes, but you made me determined to write a better book next time and got my creative motivation flowing again, so I really appreciate it. Your timing couldn't have been better!
And with those thoughts in mind, I'm off to finish writing a chapter and hopefully get another one rolling.
Blogging will probably continue being spotty for the coming weeks.