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So I got back from Vegas around 8 in the morning yesterday. Our flight left Vegas around 1:30am and we got into Houston close to 6 local time. By the time we got home, it was after 8 and I was entering the coma stage. I caught a few hours sleep but got up because I hadn’t seen my kiddos in five days and they were wanting lots of hugs and snuggles and of course the PRESSIES :lol2:

By 8pm last night I didn’t even know my name so I passed out.

The trip? A lot of fun. Played lots of poker, caught a few shows, kicked ass at single deck, avoided the slots at all costs. (I hate those things)

But my desk? Gah, piles and piles of shit. Ton of mail to go through. I also have galleys for Sweet Persuasion, Line edits for Amber Eyes and copy edits for The Tycoon’s Elusive Lover. Yes, all at the same time. Amber Eyes is due like now and the other two later in the week. I also have a synopsis and blurbs to write like now.

Going back to bed is totally an option, right?

I started on Songbird tonight. I had to take a break from the super sekrit project because all that was left was a synopsis and I’d rather write an entire novel than face that torture. For someone who writes like me, it’s nearly impossible to write a synopsis when you dont KNOW what the hell happens until you get there. Still, I am not one to admit defeat ever. I will beat the bastard down. It just won’t be tonight :lol2: Or tomorrow…

I’m not trying to be all secretive about Songbird. It’s just that I haven’t narrowed down any descriptions to something manageable to post. And well there’s that whole not knowing everything that happens until I get there. I have the nuts and bolts and that’s what’s important.

It’s going to be a really emotional story. It deals with some issues some of my past books haven’t and it makes me a little achy as I start to write it. It’s all about love, rejection, love, loss, love again, acceptance, forgiveness, hope but mostly just love. And faith. And trust. Losing someone you love and picking up the pieces. Learning to survive. Being loved when you don’t feel you deserve it. Learning to forgive yourself.

Yep. That’s pretty much the story in a nutshell :hug:

I’m grumpy today and a result Im sure Im not very pleasant to be around. I’m trying very hard to get as much of the shit that’s piled up on my virtual desk out of the way as possible before hubby and I leave for Vegas this week. Can I just say how much I cannot freaking WAIT to get out of here?

So Im grumpy and irritable and easily distracted and I’d rather be doing just about anything other than what I am doing.

But it has tob be done so I need to just :stfu: and deal.

:nunchuk:

It’s always fun to start something new. There’s always a certain excitement in creating something from nothing and shaping characters and a story from the ground up. And no, not working on Micah yet. He’s still brewing. I’m actually doing one of those “February” projects which means something that isn’t contracted. I want to finish this proposal before I leave next week for Vegas (oh I cannot WAIT for Vegas) Im looking forward to some time off the way a starving dog eyes a T-bone.

But Micah…soon. Songbird and Sevren’s Rule also soon. My brain is going to take a week’s vacation in Vegas and I’ll come back all refreshed and ready to burn rubber :rockthefuckon:

Yesterday we went to Houston for the day. My daughter’s birthday was earlier in the week and she wanted to go ice skating and shopping so she brought a friend of hers with her and the entire family spent the day in the mall. OMG just kill me now.

Today my middle child has a baseball scrimage and it drizzled all morning so the fields should be nice and muddy. How much more fun can you ask for? A fun scrimmage that doesn’t mean a thang and MUD. Weeee.

I’ll be making my last pass over Sweet Seduction today. I’ve fiddled and tweaked and mulled over certain parts and I have at least one more scene I know I want to add but for the most part, it’s done. I’m sure I’ll do much more tweakage during edits.

I’ve already started pondering Micah’s story, and even though it’s not due for awhile, I’ll probably go ahead and dive into the first few chapters while he’s still very fresh on my mind. I also have edits for Amber Eyes to do this week and *gulp* it releases in about a month and a half.

So that’s my Sunday (and the weekend) I hope yours went well!

Now I usually greet the end of each book with a certain amount of spaz and glee but this one, whew, this one is…I don’t have words. You see my deadline is uhm Monday. And I’m one of these people who is ANAL about getting things done ahead of time. Usually, and there have been very few exceptions, I finish a book at LEAST a month before deadline. Sometimes more. That way I can set it aside, forget about it, come back to it later and take my time sending it in.

Well that all came to a crashing halt last fall. Yeah, things have a way of going the domino effect. We had hurricane Ike which screwed things up royally. On the heels of Ike, as in when we’re doing repairs, hubby had his heart attack. If that wasn’t enough, my doc changed some of the meds I was taking for headaches then left the country for a month and those meds fucked me up big time. Ugh. So I wrote nothing. Not a THING for two entire months. And with deadlines like mine, I can’t afford that kind of “break”

Suddenly at the beginning of December I was facing two books that were due by Jan 1 and still another due Feb 1. Did I panic? Oh yes. You see, because I always finish things way ahead of time, I haven’t really ever been challenged. I wasn’t sure what I would do when faced with YOU HAVE TO GET THIS DONE NOW. Would I choke? I mean flaking on a deadline just isn’t an option for me, but what if I just couldn’t get it done? I was facing something I hadn’t had to face yet, even though I’ve written over two dozen books.

I managed the first hurdle, which was getting those two books done and submitted but then I had to turn my attention to Nathan’s book which is a longer book than the other two. He’s a single title. The other two were category length.

My husband has been amazing this month. Really. He’s always terrific about house/kid stuff. We’ve always split duties even when I didn’t have a “job” But this past month, he took over everything. House, laundry, cooking, kids. I love him more than caramel.

The most exciting thing that came of this? I know I can do it. I don’t ever want to cut it that close again, mind you. I like my anal ways of finishing ahead of schedule. But now I know I CAN do it. Some of my panic is gone :woot:

Been doing a LOT of mulling lately. Probably because I’m approaching February, and for whatever reason, that seems to be my appointed month to take off from writing and figure out new projects, new directions, make goals etc.

Last Feb, wow, much has changed since last Feb. At the beginning of the month, all I knew was that I had several goals burning a hole in my brain and I really wanted to make them happen. So I took a month off from already contracted work and I wrote proposals. In March I sold two three book deals to Berkley Sensation and Silhouette Desire. Feb turned out to be a very productive month and a wise investment in my career.

This Feb I have just as much bumping around in my brain and I’m already looking forward to sorting it all out. Some of it I got a jump on by contracting Songbird, Sevren’s Rule and also the third Falcon book. But that’s not all that occupies my brain space these days. I have a few other things up my sleeve… One of which I was up all night last night pondering.

This is what I love most about this business. The boundless possibilities. The only limit is your own imagination. It’s important, in my not so humble opinion, to surround yourself with people who share the same motivation and the same drive. Being “unequally yoked” can be a huge detriment. Your agent needs to be firmly in your corner and share your career goals. Your writing “go to” pals need to be on the same page. Nothing worse than getting talked down by a “partner” But perhaps most importantly is not to ever let self doubt creep in and sabotage your progress. And for the love of all that’s holy, ditch the “yes men!” :stfu:

ahh there’s my sermon for the day, as much to myself as to anyone else since I abhor preaching in general :lol2:

which is pretty stupid when I think about how often I get interrupted. you know, a few billion times daily. I get up this morning and immediately get to work, barricading myself in my office. Kids are still in bed, hubby had to work today so all is quiet and Im getting lots written.

My lardass cat, who is not the brightest bulb, likes to jump onto my desk and “visit” me which usually constitutes her annoying the shit out of me until she tires and goes away. So today she’s walking around on my desk and I notice her eyeballing my little cubbies above my desk. Now these are slots, mail slots really, that are all of 4 inches high and about 12 inches wide. Perfect for paperwork, mail, etc. Suddenly she launches herself upward only to realize about the time she smacks into the too small entrance that her lardass isn’t going to fit. She flails and then flops onto my desk, knocking over my tea and scattering shit from one end to the other. I yell at her dumb ass and she runs to hide under the bed. And to think I once suggested that cats were smarter than dogs.

I clean the shit up, get back to work and Im all concentrating as I’m about to finish up a scene when hubby walks in and asks a question and when he doesn’t get an IMMEDIATE response, asks again somewhat impatiently. Which annoys the piss out of me because damn it I just lost my entire train of thought. So I growl at him and tell him to give me a minute. I turn back but I’m already out of the moment *sigh*

It’s an important scene. I want everything just right. The emotion has to shine.

So I break and we talk about all the crap that needs to be done and Im mentally groaning. Finally I suggest that we eat locally and that hubby take me back home so I can work and he and the kids can go run the fourteen errands that need to be ran. Because damn it, I need to get back to that scene that’s eating a hole in my brain.

Finally I’m back, I sit down, read the last paragraph and am hopelessly lost. :cursesign: So now I need to read back over the last 20 pagesand hope to reinvest myself once more so I can capture the essence of precisely what it is I want to highlight in this moment in the story.

I hate interruptions :crying:

There is an auction to benefit author Sharon Cullars going on right now with lots of really cool stuff from some really terrific authors. I donated a complete collection of all my print books (autographed) as well as an ARC of Sweet Persuasion (Damon!) and an ARC of Sweet Seduction (Nathan!)

You can check out all the goodies here.

Go bid! I can’t think of a more worthy cause than a home.

where if someone looks at you in a certain way annoys the piss out of you and every little noise makes you grind your teeth and you just want to tell everyone to shut the fuck up?

Yeah, today was one of those days. Of course the root canal did not help and the entire left side of my head aches like a bitch, not to mention they tried to send me home without pain meds. Picture my head spinning as I hold the side of my face in agony.

:cursesign: