Win A Free Book!

I'm blogging today over at BlazeAuthors.com. Tell me your favorite heroes and you can win a free copy of THE PERSONAL TOUCH!

Opinions?

I've bought some on-line ad space for my upcoming Blaze, and need your opinion. Which one of these ads would most likely cause you to drop what you're doing and run out and buy my book?

Ad Option #1

Or Ad Option #2

Or Ad Option #3

Blogging and POV

I'm over at Sizzling Pens today talking about the craft of writing. This installment deals with POV, what it's for, and how to use it.

And if you haven't read it yet, make sure to check out Tracy Wolff's FROM FRIEND TO FATHER. I gobbled this story up in one sitting and loved it! It's a great premise about a man whose wife is killed while her best friend is pregnant with their surrogate child.

What a great plot for a story and it's handled masterfully by Tracy!

My First Romances

I just ordered both the musical soundtracks as well as the DVDs for The Music Man, The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady and West Side Story.

They are my four favorite musicals. My mom dragged me to see them when I was a kid, we had all the albums and though I never realized it at the time, they were my first introduction to the world of romance.

I've mentioned before that I hadn't read a romance novel until I was in my 40s. Heck, I haven't even seen most of the classic chick flicks everyone talks about. Needless to say, I feel like I'm definitely a romance late bloomer--until I start listening to these movie soundtracks. It's then that I realized I was introduced to romance very early in my childhood--even earlier than most veteran romance readers I know. I simply got them in the form of the 60's Hollywood musicals.

Though I didn't know it at the sprite age of 5, West Side Story is simply an urban musical remake of Romeo and Juliet. The Music Man's Professor Harold Hill is your standard bad boy falling in love with the puritan Marion the Librarian. My Fair Lady's Professor Henry Higgins is the confirmed bachelor who unwittingly loses his heart in a Cinderella story of rags to riches. And The Sound Of Music has all the elements of a romantic suspense, an unlikely couple falling in love and running from the Nazis.

They don't get more classic in terms of themes and characters. And go figure, I've been here all along!

What do you think of musicals? After the success of Chicago, I thought for sure Hollywood would start to revive them, but it didn't happen. Luckily, we've got the classics etched forever in DVD. Do you like them? And if so, which ones are your favorites?

Summer Crocs

I gave you Wooly Crocs, those fuzzy-wuzzy comfy Crocs for the winter. Now that the heat is up, I thought I'd bring you the best I've found in summer Crocs.

They're called "Patricia", and they come in lots of pretty colors. I've got them in navy blue and black and they are the only summer Crocs I've come across that not only feel great on your feet but actually look good.

Have you tried any summer Crocs? I've tried a few that I ended up returning because they were either horridly ugly or didn't fit right. These were the keepers. And if you're not into Crocs, do you have a favorite pair of summer shoes? Tell me about them!

A Sad Day

Wow, my generation took a hit today. If there were any two people who epitomized the 40-somethings of today, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett were them. Sure, everyone down to my son's age knows Michael Jackson, the freaky guy you probably didn't want your kids playing with. But the Michael Jackson I still think of after is all said and done is this one:


When I was a kid--only 3 years younger than this one here--you were one of two things: A Jackson 5 fan, or an Osmonds fan. Girls either loved Michael or Donny. I loved Michael. He made better music. And went on to make even more amazing music as I grew from a child into a teenager and then a club-hopping young adult.

I turned 21 in 1983, the year after this album was released:


You didn't spend an hour in a club without the deejay playing something off this album, and that was only the beginning. He hadn't even made MTV history yet with Thriller and Bad.

Needless to say, I'm very sad. No matter what went on in his personal life a generation can't help but to mourn this loss.

And if that weren't enough for one day, we're also watching the chapter close on Farrah Fawcett. If you were in high school during the 70's, you had Farrah's hair, or tried your damnest to get it. And while the girls were feathering their tresses and wishing they were married to the Six Million Dollar Man, all the boys were in their bedrooms tacking this on their walls:


They all--and I mean everyone--had two things: This poster of Farrah Fawcett and the Frampton Comes Alive album. Now Farrah's gone and Frampton's playing the fair circut.

Sigh. A very sad day indeed. And it will go into my memory banks with the other famous people I've lost in my lifetime.

I still remember exactly where I was when John Lennon died (the Hickory Farms storeroom at Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon). And to this day, I can't hear a Queen song without feeling a little sad Freddy Mercury is gone. I wonder how beautiful Natalie Wood would still be if she were alive. And I suppose you can't talk about losing famous people without mentioning Princess Di. One loss seems to bring them all back.

Tell me, what famous person's death saddened you most? Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? Tell me the story.

PAN vs PRO

In case you haven't picked up on this, I'd like to confess that I'm an extremely opinionated person. If you don't see it, that means I've done an exceptional job trying to not look like a complete ass in front of readers and writers I'd like to keep as friends. Part of it's because I happen to be pretty liberal, but if people who enjoy my books happen to be conservative, I not only want to respect their opinions, I want them to keep buying my books. Thus, in the blog world, I try really hard to keep my mouth shut on anything too topical.

Until now.

You see, there is an ongoing debacle going on in RWA about what makes a publisher legitimate in the eyes of RWA. This subject often goes along with what makes an author "published", and while I've read several of opinions on the subject, I haven't seen anyone share my particular viewpoint. Thus, I thought I'd bring it up here.

In case you aren't in the know, RWA separates it's authors into two very distinct categories: Published (PAN) and Unpublished (PRO). If you're published, they offer all kinds of special loops and lounges and contests that the unpublished don't get to participate in. And to be sure, they have lots of special things for the unpublished as well. But unfortunately, because they do slice the pie in two, there is this never-ending debate over who gets to go in which bucket. Try to define the word "published" and you've got trouble. And there's been much brou-ha-ha in the blog world lately about epublishers and who "counts" and who doesn't.

What I don't understand is why RWA bothers with these categories in the first place. I can tell you that when I sold my first book to Harlequin, I didn't feel any different than I did the week before. Did my interests change? Did I want to stop learning the craft? Did I want to stop talking to my friends who hadn't yet sold their novels? Did I want to stop entering contests, or stop considering other publishers as potential buyers for my books? No.

I've never quite understood why we can't just be romance writers, all treated equally in the eyes of RWA. Despite what many people claim, my needs weren't much different after I sold than before. I was interested in marketing myself before my sale. I wanted a blog and a website. I was looking for an agent. Lots of published authors are looking for agents. I was just as interested as the next guy in who was acquiring what. Why can't the information be shared?

Is it so I can get some sort of special credits for selling? Sometimes, I really think that's what's underneath all this, even though you won't find a solitary author who will admit it. But seriously, I've seen complaints over one author's name getting a bigger cover font than someone else's. I've seen authors boycott publisher's parties because "outsiders" crash it. Therefore, it's not a stretch for me to think that some people place grave importance on tenure and special treatment when it comes to writing.

Don't get me wrong. I admit that selling a book to a publisher--any publisher--is a big deal. When I sold, I wanted some sort of recognition for that feat. I wanted every little perk I could squeeze out of this industry for making that great jump. And I got it.

From my publisher.

To me, the cool part of going to RWA National as a published author wasn't the PAN lounge. It was meeting my editor and being invited to the functions sponsored by my publisher. I sold to Blaze, and that gave me a cool ticket to the Blaze party. Harlequin sent books for me to sign at the literacy signing and I got to go to the infamous Harlequin party. I got to mingle with the senior management staff and talk to editors without having to make an editor appointment. Every publisher offers these things for their authors, and yes, it's completely and totally cool. So why do we need RWA pissing people off by insinuating themselves in the middle of it all?

Personally, I'd love to see RWA get rid of PAN vs PRO and focus on the community as a whole. It's what they claim they're trying to do, so why don't they really put their money where their mouth is? What use is PAN? Most of the published authors I know don't even participate in the PAN loops or the PAN functions. And it seems to me that it would end a whole lotta debate and headaches, and probably increase the volume of it's membership. So why not?

What do you think? While I'm extremely opinionated, I'm also someone who can be educated, so I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts. Do you think we need a PAN vs PRO? And if so, what benefit do you see from making that distinction between members? What are the potential pratfalls about eliminating it?

You Are What You Eat

And passing 40 really drives that point in, much more so than it did when I was younger.

For a month now, I've been working to lose weight by eating healthy and getting exercise. I'd lost close to 10 lbs and was on a roll--until Father's Day weekend.

Friday we went to Pier 39, which has this great candy store we adore. They sell all kinds of things we haven't seen since we were kids--candy cigarettes, Flicks, Mars bars, Ice Cubes, just to name a few. And every time we go to Pier 39 we make a stop there.

Afterward there was breakfast for dinner at the Black Bear Diner. Chicken fried steak. My favorite. Yesterday was burgers for lunch, enchiladas for dinner. Oh, and over the weekend, there was a coconut cream pie, hubby's favorite.

All of this to celebrate Father's Day. I started out good Friday, but by Sunday, my energy was gone. I forced myself to do some work in the yard then a walk, but it was torture. I took a nap, then couldn't sleep worth a damn last night. I'm up 4 lbs and dragging my feet this morning as if I were hung over, even though I don't drink.

But it's very much the same thing. I know the main culprit for hangovers is sugar imbalance and dehydration, two things you can get from eating horribly, too. And while it was easy for me to realize the margaritas weren't worth the next day's hangover, I'm only just now getting that same revelation when it comes to food.

It's just not worth it.

I'm actually very thankful Father's Day weekend is over, and so is Mother's Day, and the birthdays, and all the other crap that comes along to make us eat poorly. I simply don't have the stamina for it anymore. Which I'm hoping is a good thing. I've GOT to lose at least 50 pounds. If for no other reason than my big corporate health insurance plan doesn't cover squat anymore and I can't afford to have health problems as I age. This morning, I'm feeling very inspired to get back to my healthy eating plan that had me losing weight and feeling so good.

So I guess for that, Father's Day weekend was a good reminder that there are better things in life than chicken fried steak and chocolate. Or at least maybe I don't need both at the same time!

What about you? Does food affect how you feel? Have you ever eaten something that made you feel like crap the next day?

More Vacation Stuff

I'm making a list of things I want to do this summer. Like everyone else suffering from the crap economy, we're thinking day trips. Options on the list:

• Touring the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. They tell me there's a chocolate factory on the same street. Two candy factory tours on one street? It's like watching Food Network's "UNWRAPPED" but actually getting to eat the stuff when the program's over.

• Visiting Old Town Sacramento. Okay, we do this all the time. We take family there when they come visit. We've seen the big train museum I don't know how many times. But some things you've got to keep doing, you know?

• The Winchester Mystery House. I've seen countless programs on it on TV. I live 1 1/2 hours away, yet I've never been. What's up with that?

• Visit Old Faithful in Geyserville. I imagine driving up there, waiting forever, finally getting a glimpse of that rotten egg smelling scalding hot water spouting out of the ground for fifteen seconds then looking at the blank stares of my family's faces and going, "So, that was fun." Then we'll hit the gift shop, maybe pay 50 cents to run a penny through one of those machines that would stamp a tiny picture of a geyser on it, buy some post cards for the kid's scrapbook then head for the nearest hamburger joint we could find.

• Ooh, that reminds me: Addendum to Sacramento--best part of the trip and probably the REAL reason we go all the time--Murder Burger is on the way home. If you're driving between Sacramento and San Francisco, veer off Olive Avenue in Davis. Best burger you've ever had.
  

• Monterey Bay Aquarium. Okay, so this one's an overnighter, but I'm really tired of spending the last 30 years hearing, "Ooh, you've got to go to that aquarium! It's the best aquarium ever!"
  

• Play Monopoly. My son wants to play. That little fact makes hubby and I cringe since we have such horrid memories of the last time we played. I remember a comedian on TV once mentioning that no game of Monopoly has EVER ended well. If you can get out of the game without someone flipping the board over, sending all those hotels flying, telling the people with all the money where they can put it then storming off royally pissed, it's a good day.

What attractions do you have near you? Day trips that you frequent over and over again but they never get old? Places near you that you've never visited but always wanted to?

How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation

This weekend, I FINISHED my novella! This is the February 2010 Manhunters anthology for Blaze that I'm doing with Joanne Rock and Betina Krahn. Short of any revisions I get from my CP and the eds, that project is in the can.

I have one more book on my contract to write, the partial (three chapters and synopsis) is due at the end of August, though because it won't be published until November, 2010, I could probably wiggle that deadline a little. So what this means is, I'm taking a long writing break. Probably most of the summer off.

I'm kinda excited about it. I wrote the last two books in a row, so it feels like I've been writing forever. I need some space to regenerate and renew. So I'll be continuing work on my vegetable garden project. I want to do lots of reading. My TBR pile is pretty high and includes new Harlequin releases from two of my favorite writing people, Jillian Burns and Tracy Wolff. My son made All-Stars again, so we have out-of-town tournaments for two weekends in a row, then the regional tournament in July. I'm taking the next four Fridays off, and I'll spend them doing something fun with the family. This Friday is a day in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 for Father's Day.

So, for a while, life will be about not writing.

What about you? Do you have plans this summer? Doing anything fun? And if you're a writer, do you take much time off between projects?

Writing Advice

If you are interested in writing advice, stop by Sizzling Pens Monday 6/8. I'm talking about lessons I learned on my road to publication!

TV on DVD...My new addiction

It was Night Gallery that started it all. The series went off the air 30 years ago and hasn't seen much syndication since. So when I saw the series on DVD in Best Buy, I had to have it.

Hubby has since bought me the first seasons of CSI and House on DVD as well and I am now completely addicted to TV on disc.

Best feature of all: No commercials.

Second best feature of all: They're presented to me in order, with episode info and bonus features, and the shows are sitting there at my disposal for whenever we feel like watching them.

I'm now hooked. Christmas's, birthdays and anniversaries are loaded up for the next 10 years between my book wish list and now the DVDs.

Other series I want:

• The Ghost Whisperer (Night Gallery might have given you the hint that I love the macabre. This show is just as fun for all things that go bump in the night.)
• The original Star Trek. A sentimental favorite. There was a time when I had all the episodes memorized and could recite a line or two from any of them. (Nerdish, yes). And the latest movie? Roooooccckkksss!!!
• Good Eats. Just in case I want to cook cheesecake using the most anal method possible.
• The Carol Burnett Show. Yes, I'm dating myself, but to anyone over 40, it's pretty much a must-have.

How about you? Do you have any TV series on DVD? What series do you have and what would be on your wish list?

Welcome to my next project

You saw the bathroom remodel. This here is my next project.


It's our side yard, currently an almost blank slate thanks to the fact that I spent all of last summer cutting down and digging out those 6-foot-square bushes you see to the right. Yes, that gigantic hedge went all the way around the fence line, so I had to get rid of them to make room for vegetables.

In my mind's eye, my finished project will look something like this:


Reality? Probably nowhere close. But this is the concept I'm going for. We've got about 5,000 square feet of grass in our back yard, and here in California, you've got to be a millionaire to water that much turf in the summer. So we're removing it all, slowly but surely, to replace it with walking paths and beds like this that can be watered more sparingly on a drip.

This weekend I started weed whacking out all the grass down to the dirt. I spent 3 1/2 hours at it and got less than half of it done. Today, I'm unable to pick up anything heavier than a #2 pencil.

I will keep you posted with pictures as I go along. But in short, this is how I'm spending my summer. This and the February 2010 anthology that's due July 15th. You know, because I need just one more thing to do with my time!

In the meantime, do any of you have projects you're working on right now, either indoors our out? Craft projects? Remodeling? Schooling? What's everyone up to?

Free Sneak Preview!!

Today is my birthday, and as such, I've got a special present to share. I've updated my website with the official back cover blurb on my August Blaze, THE PERSONAL TOUCH.

But that's not all! You'll also find a sneak preview excerpt! Chapter 1 in its entirety!

So go check it out then come back and tell me what you think!

You'll find it at www.LoriBorrill.com!

My Ex-Friends

I joined Facebook a couple months ago and really like it. I love the fact that my family is there. With all of them out of state, it's a great way to keep in touch on a regular basis. I've also got friends, coworkers and writers all together in one place, which makes it a one-stop-shopping for staying in touch.

What I love about Facebook is the ability to group your "friends". This allows you to filter posts from only those people in the groups you create so that posts from close friends and family don't get buried under all the traffic.

I am, however, quite annoyed with the volume of Facebook "spam" I'm getting--a term smartly coined by author Alison Kent for those invites that pile up to events thrown by authors I don't know and have never heard of. You see, I tend to accept all friend requests, even though I don't know the person. The problem with being an author is that I don't know if the stranger is friending me because they're a reader who enjoys my books. If that's the case, I definitely want to friend them back. But all too often, these strangers are other writers who are simply using Facebook to build distribution lists to announce their books.

And that annoys the crap out of me. So much so that I've started to "unfriend" these people.

Yes, I'm mean.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want to hear about book releases or don't want to know where an author is blogging, etc. It's just that I'd much rather have it posted as a wall item that I can quickly scroll through, click on the ones I'm interested in and ignore the others. This whole setting up an event thing where I've got this inbox I have to go to then respond lest it stay up in the corner incessantly bugging me drives me nuts. And worse, I started noticing that they kept coming back from the same people--thus the "unfriend" rule came to play.

So tell me, do you Facebook? If so, how do you feel about Facebook spam? And if not Facebook, what on-line communities do you hang around and why?

One More Award

Thank you to the wonderful people at the Greater Detroit RWA! UNLEASHED finaled in their Bookseller's Best Contest.

This one in particular is a bit of a bummer because the winners will be announced at a luncheon during the RWA National, and this will be the first year in a while that I'm NOT going. It would have been so much fun, but I hope all the other finalists are able to make it and have a great time.

And thank you again, Michigan readers! You're the best!

Bad Blogger

Yes, I've become one in the sea of bad bloggers--us writers who get a blog thinking we've got lots of witty and wonderful things to say on a daily basis, then realize after a while that our lives are truly pretty boring. Nope, it's not that I've been too busy to blog. It's that I really have nothing interesting to say!

But regardless, I am going to try to come up with something so that this blog doesn't die a slow and painful death.

I see to the right sidebar that I have a cover for my August Blaze. I'm waiting for the art department to send me the official PDF for it before I slap it on my website. Here's hoping it sells lots of books!

It's been quiet around here. What is everyone working on? I'm in between books. Finished my last Blaze and am taking a couple weeks off before I start up the next one. In the meantime, I'm reading Victoria Dahl's TALK ME DOWN and I'm loving it! It's been a while since I've read a book that resonates with me, but this one has. There's really nothing unique about the plot. It's a fairly classic contemporary love story, but there's a fun freshness that is keeping me entertained and something about the setting and characters that I absolutely adore. (Oh, and the sex is HOT!) It seriously could have been a Blaze. I highly recommend it and can't wait for a follow-up book which is on it's way. I think I've found a new contemporary romance author to fangirl over!

I'm also hoping that a special someone (eh, hubby?) gets me the books in Brenda Novak's LAST STAND series for my birthday. I finished the STILLWATER trilogy and wished there was more.

I think it's one of my favorite things about being in between projects. I tend to do a lot of reading as part of my rejuvination. My latest selections have been hits for me.

So what are all of you doing? Are you working on books or reading them or a little of both? Any big events coming up? Friends or kids graduating?

Tomorrow is my 20th wedding anniversary, btw! If you're married, how long has it been for you?

(Well, gee. I guess I had a couple things to say after all!)

Author Of The Month

May is my birthday month, and the wonderful ladies at www.thegirlsonbooks.com are kicking it off by featuring me as their author of the month!

I hope you'll come visit and check out this fun blog. There's also rumors of prizes!

How My Writing Career Began

Come on over to www.sizzlingpens.blogspot.com where I'm talking about how my writing career began!

(And thanks, December, for the idea! Hope you like it!)

Done And An Award!

Done. Done, done, done, done, done.

I finished my latest Blaze. This will be my 6th for the line, and unfortunately won't be seen until 2010. But it is DONE!

And this one is especially sweet because it was one I seemed to drag and struggle through from start to finish. The premise is a spoiled and pampered bad-girl heiress (think Paris Hilton) gets sentenced to work 30 days as a maid for a battery conviction. Hero is the hotel owner who isn't happy to have her. It sounded like a fun dynamic when I was first plotting it, but I have to admit, it was a lot harder to pull off when it came to actually writing it.

Most of my difficulty centered around making these two people likeable. He's stoic and grouchy, she's a spoiled Hollywood baby. Creating sympathy for them while still allowing them to be the unlikeable people they start out being wasn't easy. I also had to pay close attention to turning them around throughout the story, giving them a big growth arc and ending up with two people you root for and believe in when all is said and done.

Did it work? I have no fricking clue. And being it's so far out on the schedule, it will be months and months before my editor even looks at it. So for now, I have to mentally cleanse my mind and move on to the next project, seek some sort of joy in finishing this book, all the while accepting the fact that it could come back and haunt me in the way of major revisions months from now when I don't even remember the characters names.

Did I ever say writing is easy?

In the meantime, I got some good news yesterday. UNLEASHED has finaled in the Short Contemporary category for the Oklahoma Romance Writers National Readers Choice Awards 2008!!!

Yay and thank you Oklahoma readers!! You are wonderful and you made this author's day!

For a list of all the finalists, check out this awesome group: http://www.okrwa.com/nrca.htm

Just Say No

Yesterday I did something wonderful. I stayed off the internet.

It was hubby's birthday, so I took the day off work and made him the 100% focus of my attention, which meant that my chronic internet surfing had to be set aside for the day. And I have to say, it was fantastic.

Now, before I go on, don't get me wrong. I adore the relationships I have here and with those friends and family I keep in touch with via the internet. But keeping up with those relationships takes me, tops, about an hour out of my day. The rest of the time is spent revisiting blogs, Googling my name, Twittering, Facebooking, checking sales rankings on Amazon and B&N, searching review sites to see who and what's being reviewed, then sadistically checking back hour after hour to see if anything new went on since I last looked.

It's gotten to be a habit. Like having a candy jar on the coffee table and you keep picking up pieces as the day goes on, not even really thinking about it until you count it up at the end of the day and realize you ate over 1,000 calories of junk.

And it's become just as damaging. For someone who has a full-time job, family, and book contracts with looming deadlines, I can't afford to spend incessant amounts of time scaveging the web, and yesterday proved how much I can accomplish when I don't. I actually hung with my family, read a book, went for a walk and saw a movie. If it had been a writing day, I probably would have gotten a whole chapter written.

So I'm making a new promise to myself. As of today, I'm allowing myself one round. I love getting up in the morning with my coffee and seeing what's going on in the world of romance. I have blogs I visit, I check Facebook, browse eHarlequin while the house is quiet. It's the only part of my daily routine I'm holding onto. But after that, I'm done. No more surfing. No more going back to places I already visited to see if something new has happened in the last 15 minutes. If something has, I'll catch it just fine tomorrow morning.

And instead of all the surfing, I plan to:

• Go for a walk
• Read a book
• Work on my WIP
• Hang with my kid
• Read Time Magazine
• Talk to my husband
• Watch something on TV

Tell me about yourself. Do you make a conscious effort to limit the time you spend on the internet? Do you think you waste time surfing, or are you pretty good about keeping your habits in check? And if you spent less time hanging around the net, what would you do with that time instead?

It's Here! The Official Blaze Author Blog!

We're launching an official Blaze Author Blog on 4/1, and no, this isn't April Fools. It's the hottest new thing to hit Harlequin Blaze!

All of your favorite Blaze authors (including yours truly) will be blogging there monthly, bringing you over 30 Blaze authors to chat with each and every month. In addition, on the 1st day of every month, Senior Editor Brenda Chin will be our guest to keep you informed of what's hot and new with the line. You'll be able to chat, ask questions, and learn all about this most awesome Harlequin passion line.

And if that's not enough to take you there, Harlequin will be sponsoring monthly contests. Our launch contest is a complete collection of all 6 Blaze releases for January, February and March of 2009.

Is this cool or what???

So head over to www.BlazeAuthors.com/blog and check it out. We're still tweaking the details today, but will be launching officially tomorrow A.M. Don't miss it!!

I Heart Denver

On the heels of my fiery crash-and-burn defeat over at DABWAHA, the lovely folks over at Colorado Romance Writers called to tell me UNLEASHED has finaled in the 2009 Award of Excellence in the Erotic Romance Category! Yay, CRW!

This is the third time I've finaled in their contests, both as a published and unpublished writer, which is nice, because I've always loved Denver. It's good to know Denver likes me back! And I'm not just saying that. Back when my California house was actually worth something, my husband and I used to fantasize about where we would move to if we wanted to get out of the state and retire with our "land money". For the fun of it, we researched all kinds of places, utilized a cool website called FindYourSpot.Com, weighed a number of things such as weather, resources, lifestyle and the all-important people factor. In the end, we came to the conclusion that if we were to move out of the Bay Area, Denver (or more specifically, Parker, a town just south of Denver) would be the place we'd go.

Granted, we'll probably never end up there. We're too spoiled by our California weather, and heh, there really isn't any more California land money to cash in on. But it does make me curious.

If you were to pack up house and move to a whole new city, where would it be? And why would you choose to move there?

DABWAHA

Well, I am getting creamed in the DABWAHA contest. So much so that I'm not even shamelessly canvassing for votes. I would basically need more than 350 people to go vote for me in the next hour and a half, and--being the analyst I am--I've concluded it's not going to happen. LOL!

But I still think it's quite cool to have been there at all, and I hope you all will go over and vote for the books you like. Every 6 hours they are opening up 4 new battle-of-the-book pairings through the rest of today and tomorrow, and a number of really cool authors are yet to go on board. So go over and vote! Let's not let the Series authors get killed by Historicals!

http://dabwaha.com/blog/

Harlequin author Jamie Sobrato wrote a funny and very insightful blog about improving your craft as a writer, particularly in those years after you've published your first novel and are now learning the craft in the public eye.

The unfortunate part of growing creative talent is that those awkward adolescent phases never stop happening. We might write a great book, a lousy book, an okay book, a good book, another lousy book, and then a truly brilliant one. In that order. We get to be homecoming queen one year, and the awkward dork sitting on the sidelines the next.

If you are a writer, or a reader who wants some insights into the life of writers, I highly recommend it!

March Madness Book Style

I was just informed that my November Blaze, UNLEASHED, has been nominated in the Dear Author/Smart Bitches DA BWAHA tournament in the Series category!

Yeeee!

Okay, so, I have no idea what BWAHA stands for. In fact, I couldn't find an explanation for it on the site. But it's an annual event the two websites put on, set up as a March Madness type thing where, through voting, books proceed to the next round until one winner takes all.

While I'm thrilled that UNLEASHED simply made the list, I certainly wouldn't scoff at anyone who opted to register for the tournament and cast a vote...hint, hint. AND there are prizes for people who vote, so there's a win/win!

Here is a link to the DA BWAHA site which features not only mine but 63 other books you might be interested in voting for: http://dabwaha.com/ I'm not exactly sure when the voting starts, but this will give you a preview of who's in the running.

There's A Party Going On

And it's over at Publisher's Weekly. Barbara Vey, a columnist and blogger of romance, is having a weeklong party to celebrate her 2nd anniversary since the opening of her blog. And most importantly, authors from all over are getting together to give away tons of books and prizes.

Each day will feature a different genre of romance. Friday me and the Sizzling Pens will be there giving away a package of all our latest releases.

So pop on over to http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1240041524.html

It should be lots of fun!

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Okay, that's a little melodramatic, but it was the first line I thought of when I came up with this post.

I have a question for you all. Are you the type to speak up when a stranger pisses you off, or do you react passively?

You see, we have this room in the building where I work. It's supposed to be the Quiet Room. For decades it was the old credit union, but when they cut branch offices, they vacated our building leaving a big open space adjacent to the lobby. So the company turned it into a Quiet Room where people can rest, read or study. I, of course, use it to write.

Problem is, it's not always quiet.

Yesterday I was rather frustrated already because I've been struggling with the middle of my current WIP, trying to keep it from sagging. I'm behind on my weekly page count, and had gone downstairs on my lunch hour to see if I could make progress. I was thrilled to walk in and see the place empty, but no sooner did I sit down, open my portfolio and start eating my soup when two people walked in, sat down and started a "whispering" conversation. (Whispering in quotes because they were only periodically actually whispering).

Rather than say something, which I should have done right off, I caved and simply gave them "the glare".

Flew right over their heads.

So I put my head in my hand and tried to ignore them. Problem is, I seriously think I'm borderline ADD when it comes to writing. Ironically, I can balance spreadsheets and write complicated programs in a cubicle amidst chaos, but put me in a room with two people who are "whispering" while I'm trying to phrase out a paragraph and they might as well be talking through megaphones.

So I started shuffling my papers. When that didn't work, I did "the huff". And only finally, when I'd had enough, did I get up and storm out, proceed to my desk where I sent the building administration an e-mail complaining that there aren't enough "Quiet" signs in the quiet room.

Now, the thought of saying something to these people did cross my mind. It's clearly posted that it's not a room for conversation. Problem was, before I could open my mouth and say, "Excuse me, this isn't a conference room," I was sooo pissed off that I knew it would come out, "Excuse me, but would you shut the fuck up?!" And since one of the women I'd recognized as a manager, I figured that wouldn't be the best career move.

So I resorted to passive aggression. Which is something I often do.

I seriously hate confrontation. Someone cuts in front of me in the line at the grocery store, rather than say something, I stand and spear mental daggers in their back. A person has to do something pretty outrageous for me to speak up.

On the flip side, I have friends who walk up to strangers and speak their mind without the slightest hesitation--and will stand there and fight if it turns out that way.

Maybe it's part of the reason I write. In my books, I get to make my heroines do things I wish I had the guts to do but don't. I live vicariously through them, and it's my way of coping with my marshmallow spine.

But I'm curious. What about you? When the person behind you in the movie theater is kicking your seat, do you say something? What about the guy in the parking lot who bangs his door against your car because he apparently didn't see you sitting there? You get the picture. Do you have a spine made out of real bone, or are you like me and do anything and everything to avoid confrontation?

It's Here and It's Free!!

As you might know, Harlequin is celebrating their 60th anniversary with a year-long party featuring all kinds of free books, discounts, and special treats. What you might not know is that today begins the month-long spotlight on Harlequin Blaze!

The party starts with a daily on-line read written by yours truly, titled FAST AND FURIOUS. It's the story of a hot and wealthy magazine owner who comes across a down-on-her-luck newspaper reporter trying to save her family home from bankruptcy. The story is set in the fictional town of Dahlia, Tennessee, and is the prologue to the 0-60 Miniseries featuring Alison Kent, Julie Miller and Jennifer Labrecque.

FAST AND FURIOUS is coming to you in FREE daily installments starting today at http://www.eharlequin.com/article.html?articleId=1410. Along with it will be a discussion loop where you can chime in daily and tell me what you think, what you hope to happen, and what you hope won't happen. You can find the discussion loop here http://community.eharlequin.com/forums/simply-series.

So click over to Harlequin and get in on the fun! They're also offering free e-books and great discounts on print books, so don't miss out!

My Latest DIY Project

Welcome to the latest home improvement project that consumed my weekend. It's the finishing touches on the kitchen we remodeled over a year ago.

Since we moved in, there's been virtually nothing on the walls and no window coverings other than the mini blinds that came with the house. So when the light over the sink burned out I took it as a sign to finally decorate so I can consider the kitchen "done".


What's new is the updated light over the sink (the old one was a horrid 80's mod-ball thing that hung down in front of the window), the shelf and shelf decor, all of which took me about an hour to come up with.

The real pain in the ass was the window vallances. You see, despite the fact that I live with two men, they actually have decorating opinions. Thus, I spent my week bringing home fabric samples and tacking them up over the windows only to end up with thumbs down all around. It was Saturday when I finally came home with this fabric, shared my vision and went ahead with it. (Okay, maybe I just wore them out. That works, too, I've noticed).


I have to say that I love it! It was worth the pain and agony and $25 worth of fabric remnants I bought all week and later trashed. It's very French Cafe-ish (though I have NO IDEA what these phrases say. I'm hoping it's not something like, "You Americans are all douchebags").

I had to modify the curtain rods because the finials that came with the ends were big loopy things and I didn't have room for them on the bay window. So I found these little glass blocks that I painted with a smoky black stain and glue gunned onto the ends.



The only task left, which we will tackle this weekend is replacing this crusty ceiling fan with something more contemporary and less intrusive. Then my kitchen will be DONE.



So tell me what you all have been doing? Have you tackled any home improvement projects lately? If you could redecorate any room in your house, which one would it be?