In my city, they’re starting to pass out dry ice, which I’m taking as not a very good sign for those people who’ve lost power.  (We’re okay, so fingers crossed we stay that way.) It’s a mess around here.  Early Saturday, part of our neighbor’s tree fell across his driveway into our yard.  As Zoo said, it hasn’t been a really good year for the foliage in our yard.  Add 2 bushes and 2 more trees down, as well as parts of our fence, but it’s nothing in comparison to what’s happened around us.

I will, of course, still bitch about it.  Just not a lot.  But you all understand.

When we lost all our trees a few weeks ago, I put in for a homeowner’s claim – I really didn’t think they’d be covered but we’ve (luckily) never had to put in a claim and I figured I’d try.  It was denied, and I asked, since we’re getting new trees, why / how they’d be covered.

The woman said, “Well, they’d have to be destroyed by an explosion, fire, an aircraft crashing into them, or they’d have to be run down by a vehicle not registered to you.”

And I’m thinking, dude, if any of those things are happening, I’m worried about a lot more than my trees. But hey, I guess that kind of puts it all in perspective.

When I told Zoo, he said, Maybe we can borrow some parts from a local airport and scatter them throughout the trees.

I just looked at my watch, which claims it’s the 31st.  So really, I’m still back in February somewhere.  Mainly because I’m on revision deadline and I need those lost February days, especially the ones I lost when I was sick with the flu along with my kid and Zoo. So don’t ruin my illusion, okay?

But I think I’m on track with the book  - these revisions are for PROMISES IN THE DARK (aka Zane’s book, out 11/23) which just went up for pre-order on Amazon!  I’ve got book blurbs for both Promises and LIE WITH ME (out 10/26), and I think my book pages will be updated with them over the next couple of weeks, so I’ll point you in that direction when they’re up.  No covers as of yet, but hopefully soon!

Since most of my books are connected, I find that sometimes I have to write ahead on the characters (like, into the next book) in order to see the bigger picture.  That’s the way they reveal their world to me, and then when I know what’s happening with them in the future, it helps me to paint a better picture of them in the current book.

As I say to Larissa all the time, this totally makes sense in my head.

Anyway, this week marks the return of Real Housewives of New York.  I’m sadly addicted to the entire Housewives franchise, but New York is my favorite.  I’m finding Celebrity Rehab to be horribly depressing and American Idol isn’t thrilling me because the judges don’t interact with one another anymore, although thanks to one of last night’s performances, I found a new song for Mace’s soundtrack – Lips of an Angel by Hinder.  Not a new song, but it’s pretty perfect for my purposes.

So, what’s up with you guys?  Recovering from snow?  Is everyone healthy?

I had to call the dry cleaners because there was some small mix up with Zoo’s shirts…so I call and I’m like, Hi, it’s Zoo’s wife (because he’s the one who always goes there since it’s on the way to the train – I’ve been like, once.)

The woman who answered was like, Oh, Zoo’s wife!!!  And then people in the background were like chiming in, saying Zoo, etc. Like he was some kind of dry cleaning celebrity.

I IM’d Zoo and asked him what he does when he goes to the cleaners to elicit such a response at the mention of his name.

Then again, maybe I don’t really want to know.

1. Snow will not ruin my weekend plans because those include sitting in bed writing, reading and eating cake.  And catching up on TV shows I missed.

2. I missed Burn Notice again last night…and Celebrity Rehab.  And the Real Housewives of Orange County.  And Grey’s.  Falling asleep will do that.

3. Jaci Burton has a new book out this week.

4.  If Jaci Burton lived closer, I would give her this cake.

5.  This cake was made by a good friend of mine.  I get to eat the samples – they are good.

6.  Cake totally helps with revisions.  This is a proven fact.

I was battling a migraine and trying to get things done, like some guest blogs I owe, plus adding to a scene for my newest proposal that agent suggested, plus working on one of those, just for me projects.  The day went surprisingly well, because I just took it all slowly.

I decided to put the last of my copy editing off until tomorrow, when I was sharper.  I can’t do those when I’m foggy.  I can write while foggy – written some of my best scenes that way.

I was also playing around on Facebook, asking people to suggest some of their favorite music and I got some great suggestions.  The first thing I do when I get a lead on a new song is play the sample on iTunes while I look up the lyrics.  Several of the songs suggested to me today are actually really perfect for the proposal book (It’s Mace’s book – I’m calling it In the Air Tonight, but I doubt that title will stick. Working titles rarely do.)

I also have RITA books to read – it’s my first year judging. Oh, for those of you not familiar with the RITA, it’s the RWA’s (Romance Writers of America) awards, announced yearly at their conference – there are different categories, like Romantic Suspense, Paranormal, Best series romance, etc.  There’s also a Golden Heart contest for unpublished manuscripts too, and I know lots of the Golden Heart winners went on to have their manuscripts published, so it’s a cool contest.

So yeah, that was my day?  Yours?

By the way, there was entirely too much football on today.  Seriously.

A happy and healthy new year to all!

I’m home and writing tonight.  And pretty much tied to the computer until I’m done with Zane’s book, but we had a yummy dinner of empanadas and spinach and feta cheese filo and brownies!  Appetizers and desserts – the only way to go!  

Of course, now I’m tired from all the food.  However, Lillie’s lovely picture from Twitter perked me up:

She says,  Look who I found hanging around Walmart – He looked lonely, so I had to bring him home.

He looks good, doesn’t he?  All shiny and proud.

So keep an eye out for TOO HOT TO HOLD, cause it might be hitting shelves a little early!  Technically, it won’t ship from Amazon and the like until 1/5, and it won’t be available on eReaders till then either.

Also, please visit me over at RomCon!!!  I’m talking, well, books.

I don’t really have writing superstitions, per se, but I definitely have rituals.  For instance, I write about half my book longhand and half on the computer.  For the longhand part, I use Clairefontaine notebooks, because the paper quality is amazing, and since I like to use more of a marker-like pen, I can write on the front and back of the page without it bleeding through at all.

I go through a notebook every couple of months – and I don’t use a new / separate one for each project.  For instance, the one I’m finishing now has some notes about Cam’s book, most of Zane’s book, rewritten scenes for Sydney’s Tempting the Fire and a few Stryker scenes.

If you look through the completed notebooks, you’ll find what my life was about at that time as well.  Phone numbers are scattered at the top or in the margins.  Lily’s surgery dates are often there, as well as word count, quotes I’ve come across that I like, lists of things I needed to do by a certain date.

When I start a new one, I have to pick the color of the cover, even though once I start, I never actual close the thing.  But I have to go with the feeling of where I am – and to me, colors represent mood.

For instance, I chose red for the new one because I don’t really like the color at all, and I’m having a tough time finishing up my book, and the last time I used a red notebook when I was having a tough time, things worked out well.

Then, I have certain things I put on the first page.  To start, I go with quotes that describe best where I am / what I’m thinking at that particular time.  And then I list what’s happening in my writing life at the time – what book I’ve handed in, what I’m starting, etc.  And I date it, so I know when I started the notebook.

Here’s one of the quotes in my current notebook:

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson

Do you have any rituals for when you start something new?  (This could be non-writing related, of course!)

Dear November -

It is November, as you should know.  Hence, that means nice, chilly fall weather.  I do not like needing the air conditioning this time of year, as I live no where near Florida.  Also, I’m tired of finding ticks crawling around the bed via Gus’s unsuspecting body.  Please bring the frost on now.

Thank you.

***

Dear People who appear to be freaked out when they see Gus as if he’s the most giant dog ever –

He is large, yes.  But he is certainly smaller than Great Danes and even some Labs and Goldens.  Surely, the best thing to do when you see a large dog on a leash, waiting patiently and not snarling, growling or barking at at all shouldn’t be to scream, jump, point a finger and look at me as though I’ve brought a HellHound into your midst.  Perhaps note the small, random child with his arm around Gus and know that this dog means you no harm.

Oh, and to the woman who told me I should not have a horse-like dog out while trick or treating, it’s Gus’s street, so get over yourself.

Thank you.

As an aside, all in all, quite a nice Halloween, despite the heat and the rain, which I think cut a lot of trick or treater’s nights short, which sucks.  I like seeing the costumes.  Lily was Batgirl, Gus was himself, and Zoo…well, at one point he was wearing an 80′s mullet and mustache and my AC/DC T-Shirt (which was insulted to be part of a costume as that is a favorite shirt of mine.)  I went as the wife who had no idea why her husband was wearing a mullet and I did a good job of it.

***

Dear Zane -

We have one month left in which to tell your story.  I’m tired and pissy and I’ve come down from the sugar-high.  The WIP is now open, so perhaps the writing no longer needs to be at your convenience?

Thank you.

***

I feel better now.  NaNoWriMo, anyone?  Any progress?  I have exactly…no words.  That needs to change.

I guess at one point I used the expression, damn straight, skippy, around my mother.  A conversation ensued in which my mother asked who this skippy was.

I tried to explain that it was just an expression (trust me, this took a while) and then she said, I’m going to start using it.

Except she couldn’t remember it.  At least not correctly.  So she’s been walking around, saying, suck it, smitty.

*shrugs* Maybe she’ll start a new trend.