Just another Manic Monday . . .
Just got back from RT and I had a blast. Will have some photos for you in the next few days.
Many thanks to all of you who came by the signing to meet me! It was so nice to finally get to see you face-to-face!
Guilty Pleasure Cliff Lee
It’s that time of year when a girl’s fancy turns to . . .
Baseball! So today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday is one of my favorite baseball players, Philadelphia Phillie Cliff Lee. I had so been hoping that the Mets would be able to acquire him, but with their financial issues, Cliff went to the Phillies. Don’t even think the Mets were even in the running to get him, although they sure could use some strong starting pitchers.
How about you? Do you have any other baseball favorites you’d like to share? Like David Wright? Or Jason Werth? How about Mr. Utley?
Photo Credit: © Rubenstein, photographer Martyna Borkowski
Subway Takes a Wrong Turn?
Imagine waking up to this outside your door!
LOL! April Fool! This is actually a staged shot done for April Fool’s Day in Copenhagen, a most beautiful city. Apparently Gevalia coffee does a series of ads where their name pops up on various vehicles. Kind of funny!
Thanks to Lars Andersen@wikipedia.com for releasing this into the public domain.
On a more serious note: NO SNOW! At least not in NYC and my neck of the NJ Woods. It’s even a little warmer, maybe a sign that Spring will finally arrive. Maybe. Hopefully. Please, please, please come soon!
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. As for me, I’m working on new holiday vampire novella for Harlequin. I’ve got it almost there, but am tweaking some parts to make certain elements clearer. It’s a radical departure for me in the vampire world, I think. Very different from THE CALLING vampire novels. More similar to MORE THAN A MISSION in terms of style, sexiness and emotion. Here’s hoping my editor likes it.
Setting the Scene & Spring Happenings
On today’s Thursday 13, I want to invite you to take a visit to my fellow author India Drummond who is hosting me today as I blog about the powers of observation and setting a scene. Keeping in line with that, I thought I’d give you a list of the 13 things that I love about spring (not that it’s arrived here yet in the cold Northeast!)
1. Colorful crocuses peeking their heads out of the soil.
2. Golden daffodils.
3. Spring green bursting from leaf buds.
4. Soft pink of my Japanese weeping cherry tree.
5. The smell of freshly mowed spring grass.
6. The bite of wild onions mowed along with the grass.
7. First gurgle of the pond as I start up the pump.
8. Goldfish soaking up the sun.
9. Chatter of birds in the trees.
10. Sun, warm on my face.
11. Splashing through rain puddles.
12. Crisp breeze coming off the ocean.
13. The smack of the ball on the bat! It’s Opening Day!
Thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to visit me over at India’s blog. On this very last day of March and my month long birthday bash, I’m offering up a copy of AZTEC GOLD for one lucky person who leaves a comment on India’s blog by midnight EST.
A Frank Talk About Sex…
Scenes, that is. As fans of romance, many of the books we read often have scenes of intimacy between the couple in the story. In some books the door closes before the scene gets intense and leaves what follows to our imagination, although usually not before building some fine sexual tension.
In other books we get an intimate look at what’s happening, whether humorous, serious, dangerous or downright wild.
So let’s talk about those sex and/or love scenes, the two being distinct creatures in my book(s) (both literally and figuratively). Let’s discuss what you like and what you don’t like.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about covers and what we like to see on them in terms of sex. Are some too embarrassing/suggestive/misleading?
I had a number of people tell me they were put off by the very obvious suggestion on the cover of my paranormal romance SINS OF THE FLESH that Mick was going somewhere very intimate with Caterina. The cover was just too. . .brazen might be the word to describe what’s going on.
Any thoughts? Are there things that you find a distinct turn off? Are there certain words that turn you off? Like d**k or c**k or f**k (just in case you find those offensive).
Are the love scenes in our romance novels becoming just sex scenes and lacking the emotion to make them truly memorable?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of the above and more on this very Wicked Wednesday.
Einstein’s Theory of Insanity
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying:
As I consider this very simple of Theory of Insanity which requires no advanced degree, abacus, slide rule or computer, it confounds me that I seem not to grasp the principle. In thinking about my life lately, I realize that there are certain things that I have been doing over and over, always expecting that somehow I’ll have a more favorable outcome.But Einstein was right. Do the same thing. Get the same result. Always.
“So what to do?” I ask myself. Shake things up somehow? Try something different? I’m conservative by nature, so rocking the boat is not normally my thing, unless injustice is involved. I can’t stand to see people abuse power.
“So where shall I start making changes in my life?” I ask myself yet again this very cold not yet Spring morning.
Let’s start with the writing gig. So many changes are happening in the industry so quickly. The supposedly tried and true way of climbing the publishing ladder – the NYC print publishers – are taking a bit of a rocking lately with book store issues and the defection of writers like Barry Eisler to indie publishing.
Not that I recommend that approach to those who have not been previously published. Eisler had an established following, something which the average unpublished writer does not and before someone tosses out the Amanda Hocking story, just remember that for every Amanda Hocking there are thousands of writers who spend thousands of dollars self-publishing and get nowhere. Hocking is to be admired for her perseverance and determination, but ultimately she chose a six figure deal with a NYC publisher so that she could write instead of being a promotion machine.
But in the case of a published author, is the now titled “indie” publishing a viable option? And if it is, what is the price point for an indie book?
Would you spend 99 cents on such a novel? If you liked the work, would you then make the jump to pay $5 or $6 or even $8 dollars for the next work by that author.
I’d love to hear your thoughts as this writer considers breaking free from Einstein’s Theory of Insanity.
Chris Evans as Captain America
Counting down the minutes. Cannot wait to see this movie and the very sexy Chris Evans, this morning’s Guilty Pleasure! How about you? Is this on your must list of movies to see?
Wanted to announce the winners of last week’s giveaways!
Tammy Rammy is the winner from Rachel Firasek’s Guest Blog.
Margay is the winner of Kelly Moran’s Guest Blog.
Noreen Lace is the winner of Chritine Ashworth’s Guest Blog.
Please e-mail me so that I can forward your contact information to our fabulous guest bloggers.
Hope you all have a blessed Monday.