It's the little things...

I wasn't expecting a package from UPS yesterday, so you can imagine my surprise when the big and brown truck pulled in front of my house and blared the horn. The package was big. Fluffy. The return address read "Harper Collins Publishers."

My heart sped.

Look what was inside:



There's a bracelet, a NYC magnet featuring Times Square, a subway map in a nifty little holder, and a book called, "My First New York" about famous people and their first trips to the city. In case you haven't heard, RWA's national conference is being held in New York City next week. I'll be there from Monday-Saturday.

This little package, preparing me for my trip, was over the top. I cried. The publisher didn't have to send anything like this. They didn't have to think of me...but they did. It was the littlest thing--a bag filled with goodies---that made all the difference for me; I still don't think of myself as "making it" in the writing industry (and doubt I'll ever think that way), but as of yesterday I feel like I'm giving NYC a run for its money.

Writing update: I'm on Chapter 3 of my novella, still on page 60 of Book3 in the Crimson Bay Series. I should be finished with the novella by the conference and Book3 by Fall. And I must admit, I'm having much more fun writing the novella than I thought I would!

There's a first time for everything--a novel and a novella?

Ever wonder the difference between a novel and a novella? According to thefreedictionary.com:

nov·el 1 (nvl)n.
1. A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters

no·vel·la (n-vl)
n. pl. no·vel·las or no·vel·le (-vl, -vl)
1. A short prose tale often characterized by moral teaching or satire.
2. A short novel.

If you've been around this blog, or me, any length of time, you know I'm a novel-writing fool. Or at least I try to be. Although Dark Tide Rising was complete at 77,000 words, the two paranormals contracted with Avon Impulse are over 100,000 words each.

To think about writing something for the Harlequin Nocturne Bites line, I need a complete, kick-ass, dark and wild story between 10,000 and 15,000 words. That's cutting down a lot for me!

I've learned two things about myself, after writing one complete chapter of the work:

1-I can't keep it short and sweet.
2-I have a serious problem with massive amounts of plot

I think I'm going to have to try to keep it as concise as I can, then go back and weed unnecessary things out. The hard part? Deciding what's unnecessary.

Side note: I got copy edits back for Intervamption yesterday. I'm going to be working on those this weekend, along with trying to finish the novella. Maybe I'll give you a hint what it's about when I get closer to knowing that myself. *grin

The NEW COVER is here!! And a RELEASE DATE!

I'm sooo excited this morning!!! I can finally post the cover, title, and release date for the first book in my Vampires of Crimson Bay Series. It's dark. Sexy. Mysterious. Ominous. Just like the book itself.

I'm absolutely, positively in love with it.

Ready?

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Isn't it GORGEOUS?!? Avon's graphic design team really outdid themselves.

Intervamption will be released from Avon Impulse July 26.

It's right around the corner! How'd that happen?!? I'm glad you won't have to wait long to get your copy. If I were shameless I'd say it's super smokin'-hot good, but I'm not...so I won't.

I will say that I'm uber proud of this book. Esi, my fabulous editor, and I worked hard smoothing kinks and making the pararnormal world really Pop! I can't wait to give a teaser. I can't wait to skip around the net on my blog tour. I can't wait for you all to meet Slade, my shapeshifting assassin hero, and Dylan, my Vampire Rehabilitation Specialist heroine. You'll love them...

Whatcha think?

New Nook Commercial: Read Forever

I love absolutely everything about this video. But I mostly love the focus...reading...from whatever device moves you. Whether you love the eBook or the traditional print book, just read. Read forever.



I'm reading Gena Showalter's Heart of the Dragon right now. It's paperback and happens to be the last book I bought from my local Borders before it closed down. What about you?

Short Term Memory

First thing I did when I awoke this morning was try to find some news. Since the television was occupied by Looney Toones, I started up my computer and began google searching recent events.

Japan radiation update

Rebuilding Japan

Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Oil work on Gulf of Mexico beaches

I got nothing. All articles relayed information from the past. Like I was reading the tragedies from a history book.

So I added today's date to the searches.

I got nothing but a current article linked to the old information. I was flabbergasted. It seems news stations and papers have taken the attitude: It's not top news anymore, so why write about it? This has to be a result of google top searches on those subjects dwindling.

But Americans can't have such a short term memory, right?

Then I hop on Facebook. Most of my friends are shocked that we're still getting rain in June. Like it's never happened before.

Why doesn't anyone remember when high school graduations were held the first week in June? (I graduated today, actually, 13 years ago.) Why doesn't anyone remember how class after high school class had to have a back-up plan: 1) graduation on the field with unlimited tickets 2) in case of rain, graduation in the gym with two tickets. Why doesn't anyone remember the panic when it rained a few days before graduation and everyone was worried it wasn't going to clear up in time to have the ceremony on the field?

On the day of my elementary school graduation a huge storm was brewing. Strong winds cracked our huuuge "Graduation Class of 1994" banner in half.

It may not happen every single year, but it happens enough that people shouldn't be shocked about it.

I'm just wondering why we have such a short term memory? Doesn't anyone care about the cleanup efforts from the oil spill? The one that was said to be the greatest oil disaster in history? Doesn't anyone care about the extent of radiation in Japan or how the radiation dumped into the ocean is affecting that ecosystem? And why, on a much lower level, doesn't anyone remember that rain and storms are often a part of the first week in June?

I'm sure no one will have an answer. I'm just rambling.

And, as you can probably guess, I'm loving this rain. I just wish I could drink my coffee and catch up on my news while watching it.

What The Hell Wednesday

No, this is not a new feature on the site. I'm simply wondering what the hell is happening on this wacky Wednesday.

This morning I went to the local flea market with my mom and my munchkins. There wasn't exactly blue skies, but it wasn't raining either. Right when Princess decided she wanted a life-size Rapunzel pinata for her birthday it started POURING. Guess who had to run through the market, into the street, and across the parking lot carrying a big ass paper mache Rapunzel, cradling her as if the rain would make her melt?

This girl.

As the storm moved northeast, we heard Tornado Warnings announced...in Sacramento.

Crazy.

Also on this What The Hell Wednesday, you'll never guess what I found while perusing the shelves of Salvation Army:



What. The. Hell. Right?!?

Who would buy something like that? No. Scratch that. Who would take out their camera in the middle of a packed Salvation Army and take a picture of that?

This girl.

When I looked around, got a whole lot of "What the hell are you doing" looks, I snapped this picture too:



So at least if anyone was paying attention maybe they wouldn't think I had a thing for ceramic japanese aliens in purple jumpsuits.

I had a good laugh. Which got me more looks. It was a crazy day. Glad it's over.