Sunday, October 29, 2006

Did you know I have a newsletter? I do! It's called The Sultry Pen. Did you know that I'm writing a free story for my newsletter subscribers? I am! The fourth part of my free story Tranquility will go into the next edition of The Sultry Pen!! You can catch up on the story (complete with original typos!) in the last edition, posted in the archives for subscribers.

And just when you thought I couldn't possibly use any more exclamation points.... I even give away prizes every month in random drawings. They're GOOD prizes too, like $20 GCs to Amazon.com, free books, and chocolate! November's prize is a Border's gift card.

Here's a link to join.

Please note that the excerpts and the free story are hot, so no one under 18 may join. Thanks for your understanding.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Yay!!! The background is fixed. Pretty, isn't it?

We recently had someone over at our house who, upon running into Kitty, our outdoor stray (honestly, he's not much of a stray. He's pretty spoiled and well taken care of) commented on the "unluckiness" of having him hang around...and maneuvered so he could not cross her path.

Here is a picture of Kitty:



I was offended for all of blackcatdom.

This is the second time I've heard this strange superstition openly expressed. The first time we were at a resort in Mexico where there were several stray cats. One of them (scenting we had "sucker" written all over us) followed us back to our room, where we invited him in and ordered him room service (a hot dog).

Anyway, one of these cats was black. A drunk woman saw the black cat and raised hell, yelling about bad luck and why doesn't the resort round up all the black cats and drown them.

:-/

There have been few times in my life I've wanted to punch someone, but this was definitely one of those times.

An animal shelter volunteer once told me that they can't adopt black cats out. That if you go into the cat room on any given day, the overwhelmingly majority of cats are black. Mostly, I don't get it. Why don't people like black cats? Why do people persist in these silly superstitions in the year 2006?

Personally, I adore black cats. We have three. Kitty, Wiggle and Kokopop. They are sleek and beautiful. They have attitude. They can blend into the shadows for superior stalking ability.

Basically, black cats rule.

So do me a favor and be nice to a black cat this Halloween. Out of all the different colored cats in the world, they have it the worst.

Friday, October 27, 2006

If you visited my blog in the last couple days you may have seen a funky background (pretty, but not oriented properly to my blog) and it was probably hard to read. Luckily a very helpful person alerted me to this problem.

Seems the background that was being hosted remotely was changed. My fault. I should have been hosting the background myself. Duh. Anyway, this background is a temporary fix. A bit bright and hard on the eyes, isn't it? I'll have it adjusted as soon as I can.

Dreams....

I've been having very vivid dreams lately. I tend to go through cycles of vivid dreams that I remember in the morning and cycles of non-dreaming (or at least I don't remember them).

Vivid dreaming has been something I've done since childhood. I still remember some dreams I had as a child. When I reached young adulthood, I began to lucid dream.

A lucid dream is when your sense of self "wakes up" during the dream. You realize you're dreaming and you may be able, if you have the ability, to alter the dream itself. Lucid dreaming is an unmistakable occurrence. You KNOW when you've had one. It's like being in reality -- you can touch, smell, feel, ect -- except the world is surreal. The couch is on the ceiling or Cookie Monster is in your living room. (Both have happen to me)

In lucid dreams I have crawled on the carpet (and experienced the scratch of it under my knees and hands) chasing darting shadows that felt smooth and silky between my fingers. I have caught snowflakes on my tongue and flown over a patchwork quilt of the countryside. In dreams anything is possible.

I'm fascinated by dreaming and lucid dreaming and probably have every book ever written on the subject. If you're interested, I highly recommend the works of Robert Moss. He's done a lot of research on dreaming cultures of indigenous peoples, shamanic dreaming and the like. Fascinating stuff.

I haven't had a lucid dream in a long time. Since I don't have the time or energy to induce lucid dreams, mostly they only happen spontaneously these days. I am, like I said, dreaming vividly though.

Sometimes, like last night, I'll dream about a place and then I'll revisit that place over and over. These aren't recurring dreams because the cast of characters and the situation are different. The symbols are different. The place, however, is the same. I dream sometimes of roads that twist through forests. Narrow in places, they flood easily and quickly. That where I was last night, trapped on the end of a quickly flooding road and a thunderstorm rising in the distance.

Ominous, huh? I still haven't figured out what it means, but I do think it means something to me. Pulled from our subconscious, I believe each dream we have is a message from us to us.

There is value in remembering and interpreting our dreams. If you can't remember your dreams, there are ways to enhance your ability to recall. If you do a Google search, you can come up with many web sites packed with info on ways to do this. Most effective is simply staying quiet for a couple minutes after you wake. Don't move. Don't turn over. Don't do anything but allow the flood of memories to enter your mind. Keeping a dream diary is very effective too.

What's your take on dreaming?

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The ever-lovely Patrice Michelle was kind enough to alert me to this great post on Dear Author for WATER CRYSTAL. They are TOUGH over there, so I am very content that this book was enjoyed. :) :)

Check it out!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Either that or it's very bad allergies.

For the last two weeks I suffered some kind of back injury. I thought it might be sciatica but, in hindsight, I THINK it came from toting my computer into Best Buy to be fixed while wearing high heels. Don't try that at home, kiddos. I'm just sayin'.

But the back is (mostly) healed. Now I have a cold. I'll take a cold over a hurt back, though.

There is a good thing that came out of it. I learned about ergonomics. It's an important thing for us folks who spend a lot of time at computers.

Now I'm sniffing and sneezing and researching demons amongst discarded Kleenex. *rubs hand together with glee* I love me some demon research. Heee!! *Achoo*

Romantic Times Book Review magazine gave four stars to Seduced in Twilight in their November issue.


"Bast's enticing story focuses on male warrior partners who discover that their "third" is a female, and that she will be bonded to them for plenty of time in the future. While the story contains contains deliciously sexy menage moments, there are no male-on-male scenes. The attention focuses on Olivia's relationships with Mason and Will as individuals.

Yee ha!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tonight at 6pm pacific/9pm eastern, the Maverick Authors are going to
be chatting over in the chat room on our website.

Come on by and say hello. I'll be giving away your choice of DL from my backlist and Lauren is giving away an ARC of Cascadia
Wolves: Tri Mates. I'm sure Megan will be giving something away too.

Come by for fun, prizes and bawdy tawk!!

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Oookaaaay, I understand now. I bow to the God of Erognomics and pay my penance with the back pain of a thousand exploding stars.

I have seen the error of my ways and foulness of my past practice of bad posture. No more will I sit Indian-style on my chair, or slouch with my feet up as I type.

I offer you, O God of Erognomics, these sacrifices of lumbar support pad and sloping butt pad thingie with tail bone cut out.

Be appeased.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

It's messing with my sex life and it's making me cranky.

It is marginally better today. At least I'm not suffering the pain of a million exploding stars when I sneeze anymore. I can also get in and out of bed without needing my husband to help me, thus making me feel as though I'm about 95 years old.

But I do smell like Ben Gay. And I'm wearing my rumpled PJ bottoms, slipper socks and sweatshirt from yesterday. And I haven't brushed my hair or washed my face. I am totally HAWT. Fear me.

And you will only pry the Tylenol and my heating pad out of my fingers when I am dead and cold. Tylenol and a heating pad ROCK.

So, since I'm all bolted in place for the day, I thought I write up a FAQ of sorts. These are some answers to some frequently asked questions:

1. Will Rowan from Ordinary Charm ever get a book?

I do plan to write her story. I have a few other things in the pipeline first, but I have always wanted to explain what was happening to her while her sister, Serena, was off hunting down demons and having hot witch sex with Cole.

2. Will Killian from A Change of Season ever get a book?

I don't actually plan to write his story at this time. I wrote five books in the world the Seasons of Pleasure series was set and I got a little burned out on it. I needed to move on to other places/series.

That doesn't mean that one day I might not get up a wild hair and decide to tell his story, but there's no plan for that right now. In my head he went off after the end of A Change of Season, found the perfect woman and settled down.

3. What's going to happen to Dray from Blood of the Raven and Blood of the Damned? Will he get a book?

I really want to write his story. Obviously, I have much on my plate, but I enjoy Drayden very much. I think because he's a redeemable bad guy and I LOVE my bad guys...esp when they're redeemable. At the moment he's in a not-very-nice place, paying for his past sins. Hopefully I can get him out of there and tell his side of things one day.

4. When's Adam getting a book?

He's next up. I do plan to start his just as soon as I can. It's this little matter of too many books to write and not enough time. He's on the docket, though.

5. When does your first Berkley Sensation book come out and what is it about?

The release month has been switched around a little. Right now it's scheduled for an August 2007 release. I've been saying "summer of 2007".

Witch Fire features Mira, a witch who never knew she was a witch. Mira has some extraordinarly powers that a group of warlocks want to steal for themselves. To thwart their attempts, Jack, a fire witch, is sent in by the Coven to act as a bodyguard to Mira.

Jack has many secrets and a past that intersects with Mira's. They also share an explosive sexual attraction that complicates just about everything.

Obviously, that's not the official blurb. I'm just blathering on. One day I'll have an official blurb and it will be SO MUCH better than one. The book is a paranormal romance and it's spicy hot.

6. When does Blood of the Damned [or other title] come out in print?

I have absolutely no information on this at all. If you want to help get Blood of the Damned out quicker, write to Ellora's Cave and tell them so. :) service@ellorascave.com

In the meantime, check out all the titles I do have in print.

7. Do you feel like killing someone because of the sciatica?

With a powerful will. (Okay, I just threw that one in there.)

8. Where do you get your ideas from?

Oh, god...everywhere and nowhere. I come up with the characters first. I define them, get to know them. Then they tell me their stories. Sounds crazy? Yes, yes...I know. At least I'm not hearing any voices in my head...yet.

Thank you so much for all your emails and comments. I savor each and every one. :)

Friday, October 13, 2006

Personally, I prefer books.

I pulled a muscle in my left hip. Well, I guess I pulled a muscle in my left hip. All I know is that something in my left hip is shooting searing jolts of pain as bright as freaking solar flares down my left leg when I : 1. move wrong, 2. bend over, (oh, that's a BAD thing to do right now), 3. laugh, 4. sneeze (also really bad. There is the white-hot pain of a thousand, million suns when I sneeze), 5. exist and/or breathe.

It started yesterday and caused me an extremely restless night. It's worse this morning. I have NO IDEA what I did. I must've moved wrong or something. Sitting here in the computer chair is painful, but it's a tolerable pain. Hopefully it won't affect my writing today. If the pain is still there tomorrow I suppose I'll have to schlep myself into the doctor's office.

In other news, I LOVE Market Spice Tea. It's incredibly yummy. Especially when it's 30 degrees outside, like it is now. I brought some back for my mother, but now I wish I'd brought some back for everyone. It's a very strong tea, kind of cinnamony and citrusy all at once. It doesn't need milk or sugar. Lovely stuff.

I bought it when my husband and I went to Seattle this past weekend to hang out with Lauren Dane. Naaah nah!! I got to hang out with Lauren Dane and you didn't! *blows raspberry* because I'm sooo mature like that.

Anyway, I discovered this new tea and now I'm addicted. Must. Have. More. Market Spice tea!

In bookish news...I just finished Dead Man Rising, by Lilth Saintcrow. It's a sequel to Working for the Devil (I suggest reading in order). It was very good. It made me cry! I finished it up on the plane coming back from Seattle on Sunday and whimpered my way to the end. There's one more in the series to be released and I can't wait for it.

Right now I'm reading The Hoax, by Adrienne Jones -- This is speculative fiction. Well-written, intelligent and surreal. My favorite combo. I love the characters. They grabbed me from the first page.

Other books I recently purchased: (There's even some romance in there. Funnily enough, I don't read a lot of it because I write it.)

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Seduced by Magic, Cheyenne McCray
Witching, Yasmine Galenorn
Master of Swords, Angela Knight
Black Powder War, Naomi Novik

NOW I'm off to write, if my left hip will let me.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

So I started "plogging" today over on Amazon.com, something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. Plogging made me think of blogging, so now I'm doing that too. Erm...plogging really IS blogging, right? Yeah...thought so.

So it's a beautifully chilly fall day. My favorite kind. I've got quite a list of things to do today. I need to take our desktop computer, just returned from the Geek Squad after two weeks of them "fixing" it, back into be "fixed" again. Grrrr. I think I have to get my bitch on this time. I hate getting my bitch on.

I need to clean my house! Well, okay, I want to clean my house and, you know, even romance writers have to scrub their toilets. It's cold outside, I have candles burning, and I'm nesting. I feel all domestic and have a yen to make chili and old fashioned chocolate cake for dinner.

Can I mention how much I love my washing machine? I can stuff our entire king-size comforter in there, which means I don't have to schlep all the way to the laundromat and be assaulted by cute children who want to rip keys off my AlphaSmart and steal my quarters (which is exactly what happened the last time I was there).

I also plan to write at least 3k on my new proposal for Berkley Sensation. This book is the sequel to Witch Fire (releasing next summer). I'm itching to get my hands on this book and there are chores standing between me and it. Somehow I think the chores need to go bye-bye.

Witch Fire is finished and turned in. It's the story of Mira, a witch with extraordinary magickal gifts. When a group of warlocks hunt her with the intent to steal her power, Jack, a fire witch, is sent in to be her bodyguard. You'll have to read the book to see the kind of heat they generate.

The next book has the bland working title of "Earth Magick". It probably won't stay Earth Magick, but I need to call it something. I adore my characters in Witch Fire and, as Thomas and Isabelle bloom in my mind, I can tell I'm going to love them too.

So, through the course of this blog I've realized the Geek Squad can HANG, the house can get messier and we're having tomato soup for dinner. My writing fingers itch. :)

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

One of my crit partners, Cathy Pegau, recently finalled in RT's American Title II competition with her wonderful novel Haunted!!

Watch this author because you'll be seeing her often in the future. I can say with all assurance that her writing is delectable. To boot, she's a witty, humble, friendly author with a great sense of humor. (Her heroes are very yummy too).

Check out her recent introductory blog post over on the Title Wave blog!