It's a good Friday!

Barnes and Noble and my sister are awesome!! For Christmas, my sister got me a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble and somehow, I lost it. Seriously. How that's even possible I don't know. We went to visit the inlaws for a couple weeks and I distinctly remember 'hiding' my gift card in a safe place so I wouldn't lose it. Apparently I hid it too well. So, I finally got around to using it and can't find it. I tore the house apart (and even picked a fight with the man over it). Anywho, she called them and somehow, maybe b/c she saved the receipt or ordered it online (I don't know the details) they're mailing me a new gift card. Sooooo, next weekend, I'll be hanging out at B&N with money to burn! Yay :)


Any suggestions on books? I've got a few TBB, but those don't come out until April/May of this year. What are some amazing books you guys recommend that I absolutely have to buy that are out now? And why should I buy them? I want to use this whole card up!

Harlequin Celebrates 60 years

Thanks to Ciaralira, I just found out Harlequin is giving away 16 FREE digital books to celebrate 60 years of reading. There's something for everyone. Check it out here.

Wednesday @ Writers Gone Wild

Today is Wednesday so I'm blogging at Writers Gone Wild. Today's topic: books. Hope to see you there!

Procrastination

Normally I'm on task with my writing, but the past couple weeks I've been out of it. I'm hitting my word count (for the most part), but my schedule has been totally loopy, which makes me feel stressed. I know it shouldn't, but I compartmentalize things and when I get off schedule, I stress. I think part of the reason is I'm still getting used to sharing *cough* MY computer with the hubby. Now that he's back and doesn't have his company laptop anymore, I'm forced to share. Apparently I don't do that as well as I thought.


Plus my sister just got engaged so all the free time at work I use for writing (we work together) has been occupied with looking up stuff, planning, and making appointments for bridal stuff. I'm not complaining about that though :) She's my only, younger, sister (and my bff) so I'm super excited. In a couple weeks we're going to a bridal show so I'm sure I'll have pictures to post. Those are the only updates in my life right now. Just wanted to spend more time procrastinating and NOT finishing the scene I need to!

Visit me at The Island

Over the next three days I'll be at Desert Island Keepers answering interview questions, posting excerpts, and having a contest in honor of tomorrow's release so stop by for a chance to win!

Everything to Lose - Available tomorrow from Ellora's Cave!

Blurb
Sean Sullivan refuses to let his wife go without a fight. He made a mistake a year ago by suggesting they get a divorce. He only wanted to scare her into staying in town, so he gave her an ultimatum. No one was more surprised than him when she walked out the door and never looked back. Now that she’s on the same continent, he plans to convince her they’re meant to be together, and he’s not above using sex to get what he wants. When killers target them to die, he’ll use any means necessary to keep her safe. Even if he has to kidnap her and tie her to his bed to do it.

Blogging at Writers Gone Wild

Today is my first day blogging at Writers Gone Wild. I hope to be a regular contributor on Wednesdays so feel free to drop by and say hello. I'm blogging about the perfect hero today :)

Bathroom Project = Finished

I'm officially over the halfway point in my current manuscript. Finally jumped the hurdle this weekend! I'm still fleshing out the villain and I'll definitely be going back to expand some of his scenes, but I'm relieved at how far I've come with this story.


On to more important things. With the exception of the grouting/sealing around the window, the bathroom is finally finished and I can now take showers! Before and after photos:

Any Battlestar Galactica Fans?

*Grrrr* The bathroom project is STILL underway. I'm very grateful my hubby is able to redo our bathroom himself, but I'm still feeling quite whiny at not having a shower. I hate baths. Yes, I realize I sound like a child. Okay, mini rant over.


Any fans of Battlestar Galactica? The premier to Season 5 (or maybe they're calling it 4.5, I can't remember) begins Friday! I'm sad the show is coming to an end, but it's been a great run. The final Cylon will be revealed and at this point I have no clue who it is. Hell, I'm still in denial about Tigh. I really hope the fifth isn't Baltar. Blech. If you don't watch the show I apologize, but other than Bones, I don't watch much television and I'm very excited about this! The characterization of humanity in this show is brilliant.


Anywho, off to see Bride Wars with my girlfriends. A mini-review will probably follow :) Hope everyone is having a great week.

Today at Romance Divas

Angela James, editor extraordinaire, is coming to Romance Divas for a 3 day class on Epublishing! Come join us Jan 13-15 and ask her anything.

Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Epublishing (and some things you didn't know you should know)

Why doesn't epublishing offer advances? What are some of the pros and cons of publishing my manuscript via epublishing? How do I research publishers? Can I really make money in epublishing? What exactly is POD? Can you give me a snappy comeback for people who say that epublishing isn't real publishing?

Epublishing has evolved and grown, especially in the last 5 years, but with growth comes pitfalls and problems, and trusting an epublisher with your baby might seem like a risky proposition. We'll cover the basics of epublishing, from choosing an epublisher and contract details to methods of ebook and print distribution to reasons why you might not want to epublish your manuscript.

Bio:

In 2005, Angela James joined Samhain Publishing, Ltd, a small press company focusing on digital publishing, as its executive editor, where she has played an instrumental role in building the company from the ground up. In her executive position at Samhain, Angela is responsible for managing the publisher's editorial services division. Her responsibilities include the management of editorial staff, quality oversight, networking and marketing efforts at regional, national and international writing conferences to promote the electronic publishing industry as well as Samhain.

In addition to her administrative duties, Angela continues to edit more than 50 authors including national bestselling authors Lucy Monroe, Lilith Saintcrow and Deidre Knight.

Another Monday

All that's left of the bathroom project is to seal the tile and paint the walls. Still waiting on the grout to dry, but so far it's coming along nicely! Pictures will follow :)

There's been some craziness going on in the blog world this past weekend. For the most part, I love the blogging world. I've discovered some fantastic authors through blogs and made some great friends purely through the online world, (something I never thought possible until a couple years ago). I was directed by a friend of mine to a certain blog regarding EC suing Borders and if you haven't heard of it, I'm certainly not pointing anyone in that direction. I was so surprised that pretty much 80% of the people commenting seemed to solely want to vent their personal problems and dirty laundry. The topic was originally about one thing, but it got dirty, dirty, dirty and completely off topic to the point it went in three or four different directions. I thought about commenting, but couldn't really see the point when people were more concerned with making personal, venomous attacks than staying on topic. All I know is I'm happy with my publisher and my current sales, I get paid on time, and I adore my very professional editor. Nuf said ;)

New Cover & Miscellaneous Goodness

I just got my new cover for Everything to Lose. My hero doesn't wear an earring, but I'm not complaining. I definitely dig this one. I'd assumed this story was going to be under EC's Breathless line, but it looks like they opted for Moderne.


Currently, I'm taking a plotting class and am loving it. I've taken one before, but I was too busy at the time and couldn't fully immerse myself in it. I saved my notes, but it's not the same as having instructor feedback. We're only into the second lesson, but it's really helping me evaluate the plot and characters in my current manuscript.


The man is home permanently so I've been fighting off my self-induced guilt at spending so much time on the computer. Since we've been married he's always traveled and it's never been an issue. Don't get me wrong, he's supportive of my writing time, I just can't shake the feeling that I should be spending more time with him. When he used to come home, I'd take those days off and now I have to remind myself that he'll be here in the morning :) It's definitely been an adjustment, learning to share space again. One nice thing, I've enlisted him to re-tile our shower. He started today and I'm hoping he'll be done in a couple days. And, he doesn't know it yet, but he's slated to re-carpet (or maybe lay down wood flooring) the back room in a couple weeks.


Okay, back to editing. Blech :)

Resolutions & Goals

As far as writing goes, this has been a good year for me in regards to output. I pulled up my log and couldn't believe I'd written about 185,000 words this year. Some good, some not so good :). I also signed my first contract with Ellora's Cave, which was a personal goal of mine and one I gladly 'checked off' my list. For this year, in the writing area of my life, I don't necessarily have 'resolutions' as much as goals though. I'd like to find an agent, but I think that would be categorized as a goal. I'll certainly be trying to land one, but some things are out of my control. In my personal life, I do have a few resolutions and I hope putting them out there will help me achieve them.

1. Since I've gotten a treadmill my dog has been missing her exercise time so my first resolution is to walk her at least three times a week.
2. Spend more time with my family and call my in-laws more often.
3. Visit two of my (out of town) best friends at least once this year.
4. Make more time for my girlfriends.
5. On average, I'd like to write a couple more thousand words per week.

That's it for me. Nothing big or glamorous, but I'd like to make an effort to improve on these things. How about anyone else? Any goals or resolutions for 2009?

Happy New Year!

I'm officially back home! I love my in-laws, but I'm sooooo happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. Christmas and the New Year was spent in a totally chill fashion (just the way I like it). We spent New Year's at the in-law's neighbor's house watching fireworks and I was in bed at 12:02. (can't believe I'm admitting this aloud) Surprisingly I got some writing time squeezed in during our visit and got a lot of quality time with the family. The first couple years we were married I always felt a little overwhelmed during our visits, but maybe b/c this visit was so long I felt like I got to spend more time with everyone, including my niece who is super shy and super adorable. Also, it was great to spend time with my MIL. She's hopefully done with her battle against breast cancer. She's now pretty much off all her meds, including the steroids they put her on and I can tell a huge difference, not only physically but mentally. She lost all the weight she'd gained (thanks to the steroids) and was like the person I met all those years ago. It was great to see her back!


Just finished the third load of laundry and now I'm trying to go through all my closet and clean out what I don't need or use/wear anymore. I was reviewing my resolutions from last year and I only accomplished 4 out of the 8 so I'm going to try and get tougher this year. I'm still working on my list but hopefully I'll have it posted by tomorrow.


I did come back to some exciting news! My editor with Ellora's Cave contracted Dangerous Deception. (a blurb will follow later)


Glad to be back and I promise I will be checking out everybody's blogs over the next couple days!