Being Busy is Good

I like when I'm feeling productive, even though I sometimes grumble about not having time to scratch my butt. I've been editing for some awesome clients since the beginning of the year and that took up most of my time. I'm in a little lull now (I try to schedule in a few weeks where I'm not editing, so I can catch up on other things) and have been able to write a novella and a half, a short story and hopefully will get the fourth book in the Unveiled Seductions series finished soon too! :) Makes me happy.

I also heard that Ellora's Cave will be putting the first two books in the Unveiled Seductions into a print anthology! No word yet about when it'll be released (I'll be going to Romanticon this year, so it may be then) but it's still exciting. I love e-books like cats love arrogance, but there's still something really thrilling about holding a book with my name on the cover in my hand!


The two novellas that will be in the anthology are Fleeing Fate and Stone-Hard Passion, with two of the most awesome heroes I've ever written--Jakuta, my West African storm god and Vidar, the shy and gorgeous troll. The heroines are no slouches either, Grainne the banshee, looking to find and hold on to emotion, and Jasmina, the strong, sexy jinn who doesn't think she's capable of love. When the couples come together, magical sparks fly, in more ways than one!

Hold that Modem and Curb your imagination!

So my good friend Amy Ruttan told me a couple of days ago that she'd dreamed about zombies, which kind of grossed me out. I'm not one of those people who find the concept of zombies fascinating. In fact I'd go so far as to say the thought of them grosses me out. Yes, I know...vampires are undead too, so if they can be considered sexy, why can't zombies? Umm, no. I don't care how you rewrite the zombie mythos, there's still that whole decay-and-something-may-drop-off issue that I just can't get past. Let's not even touch the brain-eating aspect of it!

So, anyway, Amy dreams of zombies and then last night our internet goes dead. Nothing in, nothing out. I jump on my phone to see if I can pick up messages that way...nada. Huh. Interesting. Well, I went on working, but there was this little niggle of worry in the back of my mind. What the hell was going on? Had the zombie apocalypse actually started? After all, Amy's a little bit psychic!

It was then it struck me just how dependent I am on the internet to know about what's happening in the world. That made me shake my head, considering I didn't even own a computer or have an email address until 1998. Up to that point I gathered info from the newspaper, television, telephone or by going out and seeing stuff for myself. Fourteen years later I'm an internet addict who can hardly bear to be without the ability to go on line.

I'm not sure what to do about it, if anything. A lot of my business is transacted online and it pays (literally and figuratively) to stay connected. Yet how much is too much, even under those circumstances? Something to think about...

Embracing the Mystery

There were so few mysteries left. The world couldn’t spare the loss of even one of them.

                                                                                    Greenmantle

Charles de Lint

When I first signed up for Goodreads, not knowing what I could do with it but feeling I should, one of the questions they asked was, “What are you reading now?” My reply was Greenmantle, by Charles de Lint. I’ve probably read a few hundred books since then, but if you look at my Goodreads page, it still says the same thing. Not just because I often go to Goodreads while I’m writing, not reading, and have nothing to change it to, but also because every time I think of changing it, I can’t bring myself to. Hands down, this is one of my favorite books, and one of the reasons I finally decided to let my inner fantasy writer come out into the light of day.

The mysteries, the myths and legends and questions of what, why, when, where and how, fascinate me. I’m a believer in there being more to this world than we can see, touch and completely understand. I’ve always wanted to think the fairies danced just beyond my peripheral vision, the clouds hide magical beings and the rustle of the leaves is the wind whispering secrets. Oh! If I could just interpret what it says, the treasure that awaits!

And the world is a wonderfully big place. My mysteries, the things I believe with my heart even as my head says they can’t exist, are only a tiny part of the collected mysteries of mankind. Exploring the various ideas others hold thrills and inspires me, opening my mind to life. Some of that exploration comes out in my Unveiled Seductions series--along with some of my own longings, experiences and wishes, suitably camouflaged to protect the innocent and give no glory to the guilty. 

Greenmantle isn’t a gentle fantasy novel. It’s gritty, deals with some of the worse of human nature as well as the best. As a romance author there is sometimes a temptation to not explore the difficult themes, to make everything rosy or take the less stress-inducing route to the Happy Ever After. Yet books like Greenmantle remind me it’s the struggle through darkness to light that makes the sunrise that much more beautiful, the ability to suddenly see what was hidden that much more thrilling.

While we can’t explain the mystery, exploring it, learning about ourselves as we go, makes life worthwhile.

The Week Ahead

Ahhh…Monday morning. What does the week hold for me? I have no clue, except that it will no doubt involve trying to rescue my shoes from an inquisitive, teething puppy (who right now seems sure there is gold to be found behind my back, if she could just dig hard enough to find it) and hopefully getting more done on my WIP, tentatively titled Luck is No Lady. When I started it I didn’t think it would run as long as it is, but hopefully that’s a good thing, rather than the alternative.

It’s the third book aimed at being a part of my Unveiled Seductions series but, of course, whether it makes it into Ellora’s Cave will be in the hands of my editor, the inimitable Grace Bradley. These books are set on the faie side of the Veil separating humans from what we call the supernatural beings. Of course, as far as the elves, vamps, gods, banshees, jinn, trolls and others living in the faie realm are concerned, we’re just another specie, who just don’t have access to both areas of the world like they do.

The first two books, Fleeing Fate and Stone-Hard Passion (don't you LOVE the covers?), being also part of the Pricked series of tattoo themed books, are already up for pre-order on the EC site! During the month of June I’ll be posting snippets of Fleeing Fate during Six Sentence Sunday, prior to its release on July 4th. In July I’ll post snippets of Stone-Hard Passion, which is scheduled for release on July 27th (the day before my birthday...happy birthday indeed!). In August I’m thinking it’ll be Luck is No Lady, but it’s a book with a serious twist, and I’m not sure how much I can post without giving that away! We’ll see LOL!

So, here’s hoping for everyone out there a safe and productive week! Or a really nice vacation…

Shake, stir and see what comes out

What do Steampunk, a modern-day Realtor, a megalomaniacal cat and a tortured Viscount have in common? They're all elements of various stories fighting for my attention! No sooner have I settled in with one tale than another starts clamouring for me to get back to it.

Luckily for me, crit partner Amy comes to the rescue again. Hearing about the Passionate Reads pitch contest, she dared me to enter. I did, with a pitch for my partially completed erotic Steampunk novella, Beyond Prudence. So now, no matter what else I'm tempted to get into, that particular book has to have first dibs on my time. I'm afraid Ellora's Cave editor Grace Bradley will actually be interested, and I won't be ready.

Fear really is a great motivator...

If you have a moment, please do pop by and vote for me! Voting on the pitches opens on January 8th, 2011 and ends on the 15th.