Enter the World Of:
You can find me talking about HARD TO HOLD – and the brothers – over with Sue Grimshaw at Borders True Romance blog
today! I’m also doing a giveaway of TOO HOT TO HOLD, which comes out January 5, 2010. My wonderful editor offered those
up, and I believe you’ll get them before the actual release date, which is always nice!
So come on over and comment for a chance to win TOO HOT TO HOLD and talk about your likes and dislikes of series / trilogies, etc.
Obviously, I’m a fan of trilogies.
1. The extremely talented and generousAnn Aguirre (aka Ava Gray) is having some cool giveaways on her blog this week in honor of Christmas – I’m up there today, so head on over and check it out!
2. I’ll be chatting tomorrow night over at LIST at 8PM EST – come on over and have some fun! 
3. The tree is up. Gus, however, is far too enthralled by the idea of having an actual piece of the outdoors in the house. He’s like, dude, it’s like having a stick anytime I want – all I need to do is rip it off myself!
Me: Zoo, Gus is chewing on a piece of the tree!
Zoo: At least his breath will be evergreen fresh.
4. Amount of actual Christmas shopping accomplished : Zero. Why can’t the tree be enough?! It is for Gus…
Irene Goodman’s my agent and she’s awesome, so if you’re looking for a great critique of a partial, I wouldn’t hesitate to bid on her ebay auction. It’s for a great cause – one very personal to her heart:
Proceeds from twelve critiques will go to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and thirteen will go to the Deafness Research Foundation. Ebay doesn’t allow multiple bidders on one auction, so there will be 25 separate auctions on which you can bid. You can choose which foundation you want to benefit by clicking on one of the links below.
You can find all the details and links to the eBay auction here.
So go forth and bid! 
Oh, and Shamaya sent a picture! Look – Suzanne Brockmann and Linda Howard are touching me!
I mean, not inappropriately or anything. But they seem to like cozying up to Jake. Lynn’s Alexandra will not take kindly to this…
Me: Look – Texas Walmart!
Zoo: Cool. *mumbles something about driving Sharon around*
Me: We’re totally moving to Texas.
Zoo: You know we have a Walmart like 20 minutes away. They probably have your book too.
Me: Then why no pictures?
Zoo: Well, you’re the one who’d take those picture.
Me: Don’t use logic on me – we’re totally moving to Texas.
I’m also a guest at Seductive Musings today – with an exclusive new HARD TO HOLD excerpt and a giveaway that’s only open for today, so come on over and check it out!
I have so much work to do, the only thing that can justify me taking time out to blog is this fantastic post by Teresa Medeiros, titled, Teresa says it loud and says it proud: I WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS!!!!
Here’s a small tidbit from her post:
People often ask me why I write romance. I write romance because the ever expanding boundaries of the genre allow me to express my own heartfelt beliefs in optimism, faith, honor, chivalry and the timeless power of love to provoke a happy ending. In a society gutted by cynicism, we have found the courage to stand up and proclaim that hope isn’t corny, love isn’t an antiquated fantasy, and dreams can come true for women still willing to strive for them.
I have an entire post (okay, a rant) about that stupid, STUPID Washington Post article on RWA from last week, but I’ve restrained from posting it. I’m just going to remind all of us – romance writers and readers alike – please think before you speak to the media when questioned on romance and stop using words like smut and orgasm and trashy and the like. Seriously – just don’t do it. And if you’re doing a panel and using terms like that, seriously, rethink your content. Please.
Well, I guess I did have a little more rant left in me after all.
Writeminded post on Gus and his new friends is here. Writeminded Chat on Writerspace is tonight at 9PM EST.
And yeah, the book is due, as the title of the post says. In two weeks. And galleys for Jake’s book are coming at the end of this week. And Larissa and I have a Sydney short story to write.
Did I mention the book due in 2 weeks? Because it’s not finished. It’s almost like it doesn’t want to write itself, which is really not such a great thing. And for every 1K I write, I swear I need to delete more than that. And new characters keep showing up – some random hero and heroine that are not supposed to arrive for at least another book, if not two.
But there they are, demanding their stage time. Staring at me with their beady little character eyes. We’ll give you the word count you need, Steph. Put us in the book…
Happy Easter! I guess you’ve decided that my soul needs saving and are using your current policy to do so.
I’ve already taken time out of my busy schedule that includes actually writing more books that you can censor on your website by writing and calling about your disturbing new policy that bans adult materials from searches and sales ranking on your website.
My alter-ego, Sydney Croft, is directly affected by this as are many authors I know personally. And it’s a very slippery slope once you try to decide that people need you to think for them – and to limit their choices toward what you deem acceptable. How do I know that tomorrow, you won’t decide that some of my Stephanie Tyler titles have too much adult material in them? Although granted, I’m now in very good company, as you’ve decided to stop ranking books like Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence. I’m assuming Shakespeare is next? Or Brideshead Revisited? Feel free to reference these titles for your sweep of any books with any references to sex in them.
Shame on me – I used the S word.
I’m a huge Amazon shopper, as my husband and the Amex bill can attest to. I’m an Amazon Associate, and so the book links on my site go directly to Amazon. I can promise you that all of this will stop if you don’t rescind this ridiculousness and stop censoring books.
I encourage any and everyone – authors – readers – to read the post references above and these below that pertain to this Amazon debacle and then write or call Amazon. This affects everyone – there is no way of knowing who Amazon will decide to censor next. Information on reaching Amazon customer service is included in the links below.
I’m off to shop at Barnes and Noble now – and Borders too!
I love quotes – I have them everywhere – scrawled in the notebooks I’m writing the current book in, on post-it notes around the desktop and some are even in my Blackberry.
Someone tell me how I lived without email all the time, everywhere I go? Thanks.
Anyway, I stumbled on a few good ones recently, so I thought I’d share.
“Anything will give up its secrets to you if you love it enough.” – George Washington Carver
(Dear Cam’s book,
I love you. Now tell me everything. Immediately. Stop making me beg, because it’s not pretty.
Thank you,
Your author)
“Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge hammer.” - Major Holdridge, 1994
(It’s always appropriate to kill a spider living in my house with a sledge hammer. Or a shoe. Or by calling Zoo to come kill it.)
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.“ - Confucius
(I am not working, I am not working...)
Okay, did anyone else tear up at the intervention they had for Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice? Seriously, it made me so said…especially watching him keep refering to the past. I get that – I used to hear a lot of unpublished writers defending themselves like that. Heck, I used to do it too – but the thing is, the more defensive you are, the more you know that you’re wrong. I can’t explain why that works, but it’s like the nuns at my elementary school used to say, a guilty conscience always jumps.
I hope that makes sense. If not, blame the migraine meds, as this is turning out to be quite the rambling, train of thought post.
I’ve leave off by reminded you that I’ve been interviewed by Susan Palmquist at Between The Lines Blog, so come on over and say hi!
Aries horoscope for the week of March 26th:
Don’t you think it’s time you toned down your manic aspirations? Aren’t you curious about the sweet, sensitive success that could be yours if only you got really calm and peaceful? Wouldn’t it be interesting to explore the more manageable opportunities that might become available by accepting your limitations with humble equanimity? APRIL FOOL! Don’t you dare do any of those things, Aries. Your spiritual duty for the foreseeable future is to be a brave initiator of ingenious experiments . . . a high-powered self-starter who competes primarily with yourself . . . a pioneering warrior who’s in quest of transcendent exploits that make it unnecessary to go to war.
I don’t think I’m reading these horoscopes anymore. They exhaust me. Mainly because I was excited about the whole getting calm and peaceful thing.
This week requires a major writing push on Cam’s book (you’ll meet Cam in Hold On Tight, trilogy book 3)…like, a lock myself away with chocolate and don’t come out until major progress is made. Although I did have a great brainstorm on the way to dinner last night. If I can pull this off, I think it will be awesome. But there’s a big if.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. Somewhere, my editor just let out a silent scream.
Hey, have you been watching The Unit? I like the new guy, but Mac is still my favorite…
Am currently working on revisions for Hold On Tight and on a migraine (revisions and migraine are non-related, fyi) and thinking that I’d like Indian food for dinner. So there’s a lot of thoughts flying. Oh, and I get to read chapters of Larissa’s 3rd Demonica book tonight – it’s Wraith’s book and you should all be very jealous because it rocks.
I should probably put some thought into packing for vacation that starts Saturday (the same Saturday that I didn’t think was part of Labor Day Weekend because, in my mind, Labor Day is very far away.) Then again, I thought Zoo and I were leaving for vacation this past Saturday, which tells you where my brain is.
The fun part is that Larissa and Bryan are joining us in the Outer Banks for the first weekend. Hopefully, one of us can remember to take some pictures. I’m also hopeful that Larissa can train Gus while she’s there. I’m thinking that 48 hours is plenty of time in which to do so.
I’ve also got a nice pile of vacation books I’m taking with me as well, books I’ve been saving up. Or trying to. Sometimes, their lure was just too great and I’d say, I’m only going to read the first chapter and before I knew it, I’d finished the book. But I still have the newest Brockmann and Kenyon in the pile. Some Cherry Adairs I’ve missed along the way…Linda Howard’s newest too.
We might need a bigger car.
Steph T.
The romance writing community is a wonderful place, and never more so than when one of our own needs help. Please see the letter below about how you can help a friend:
Dear Friends,
One of our own, author Jo Leigh (aka Jolie Kramer) lost her husband on June 13 after he courageously battled cancer. If you don’t know their story which is the stuff romance novels are made of, you can read it here and see their wedding picture here.
In addition to being a fabulous friend to so many and a mulit-RITA nominated author who has written for Harlequin Blaze, Temptation, Intrigue, Special Projects, Silhouette Intimate Moments and Meteor Kismet, Jo is known across the country for the amazing writing classes she teaches, including one on plotting that is incomparable. She has been incredibly generous to so many in sharing her knowledge and expertise.
Unfortunately, Jo has been left with a lot of medical expenses she will be struggling to cover as they had no health insurance, and we would like to help her out by holding several fundraising auctions. If you have items to donate – books or book baskets/collections, critiques, ARCs of upcoming releases, mentoring opportunities, web or promotional material design work etc., please email the item description to the following email address: forjoleigh@gmail.com. This is the address we’re using to organize the items.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Alison Kent, HelenKay Dimon, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler
**edited to add – We’ve been asked about monetary donations – please email me via my contact page and I’ll email you the paypal address, if this is how you wish to help Jo.
We’ve already covered a lot of loops and groups, but if you’d like to post it where you haven’t seen it, or put it up on your blog, that would be wonderful.
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