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Hubby and I were still itching to get out and about so we took off for the beach and spent the day playing. Ate a picnic on the beach and stayed out to watch the sun go down.

Going…

Going…

Gone

So we’ve been having really gorgeous weather here this week. I’ve said in the past that December has the best weather of the entire year for south Texas. Bright, blue, sunny skies. No clouds. 65-70 degrees. Slight breezes. And sunshine out the wazoo. So hubby and I were feeling restless and adventurous yesterday (read bored and in need of entertaining) so we went to lunch and then skipped out to do some gator spotting on some company land (read a waterway that is infested with gators)

They are out en masse sunning themselves, and who could blame them? It was such a perfect day. Here’s just a couple of pics from the many, many we saw while we were out “working.” *snicker* :lol2:

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And here’s a really big one!

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Fun huh? :banana:

I finished my proposal. Editor and agent loved it. woohoo! :elephant:

Finished my edits for Her Majesty, My Love. :elephant:

I love this story. I’m sure it’s one of those cases where an author falls in love with a story and loses all perspective, but me and this story have quite a history. It landed me my first agent. It almost sold me to an editor in NY. We talked revisions, did revisions, editor left business. :crying: I put it away, but the love was still there.

Earlier this year, I submitted it to my Samhain editor and she loved it and bought it. Fast forward to now. I haven’t read the book in quite a long time. I wouldn’t read it until I got edits because I wanted to go to it completely fresh. I was afraid the magic would be gone. I was afraid that I’d cringe when I read it again. That didn’t happen.

I love it as much now as I did when I first wrote it. It still gives me the warm fuzzies. I still love my heroine and hero. :hug:

I can’t wait for it to release. It has an awesome trailer that captures the feel of the story so well. It has a gorgeous cover which also encapsulate the novel so well. All that’s left is to get it into the readers’ hands. :whoo:

My oldest turns 12 today. Which means I only have one more year reprieve until he hits the teenage years. :faint:

He’s so funny though, and as of yet, hasn’t turned into a frothing at the mouth, head rotating, mouthy, obnoxious junior high kiddo. Can you tell Im not overly fond of the junior high years? So anyway, the other day, on the way home from picking the kids up from school, oldest child is telling me about his day and how some girl tried to get another girl in trouble by lying about something she did blah blah and he went on to say that he HATES the girl. (The one who tried to get the other one in trouble) So I say why? He gets this repulsed look on his face.

“She’s a girly girl.” (as if that explains the mysteries of the universe)

My six year old girl pipes up from the back seat.

“I HATE girly girls!” :purplelaugh::hysterical:

So I look in the rearview mirror and ask, “WHy do YOU hate girly girls?”

She scowls and says, “Because they won’t do really cool stuff like pick up bugs or frogs or lizards.”

I probably shouldn’t mention at this point that my middle child, my 8 year old son, wouldn’t touch a bug, lizard or frog to save his LIFE. :purplelaugh:

Over at Writeminded, we’re kicking off the 12 Days of Christmas with daily giveaways. Lots of books, gift certificates and yummy, fattening stuff.

Also, the free short story follow up to Colters’ Woman is now available for download on my website. It’s in PDF format. Just click over to download.

The trailer for my January historical adventure release, Her Majesty, My Love is now up at my Sharon Long site. Go have a look. It’s gorgeous!

Yeah, if you look at the time stamp, you’ll see I’m up at two freaking o’clock in the morning. Blogging. :beam: For those who know me, well, you know I like my sleep. I have to have my sleep. I am not a nice person when I don’t get at least 8 hours. :passedout: Since I have to get up at 6, uhm that’s in about 4 hours, to get the kids ready for school, we can safely say, 8 hours ain’t happening tonight, er uh this morning that is.

So why am I up at this ungodly hour of the morning? One word. Deadline. :fainting:

Now, also, for those who know me, you know I am an anal freak about never being late. It’s one of my buttons. If I have to be somewhere at nine, you can bet your ass I’ll be there no later than 8:30. I turned in my last book over two months AHEAD of deadline. I function much better when I’m not worried about being late.

So uhm, my deadline is Friday. And this isn’t a normal situation. Extenuating circumstances led to this cluster fuck. I can only hope it doesn’t happen again because I won’t survive it. I AM finished. Well, I should ammend that. It’s written. Finished is such a subjective term. I’ve emailed it to Amy, who I’ve harassed into giving me a one day turn around so that I can email it to my agent no later than Thursday. Because I have to be in Houston on Friday. How’s that for timing. Have to be out of town on the last day of my deadline. :huh:

Personally I think it’s the worst piece of shit ever. But then in my current state of mind, it wouldn’t matter WHAT I was writing, it would still be SHIT. So clearly, I have no perspective. It’s Amy’s job to tell me if it really is shit. And believe me, she’ll tell me. We’re hurtful to each other that way :lol2:

I do so love my Samhain editor. She’s been keeping me company into the wee hours of this morning while I slowly LOSE MY MIND. No, this project isn’t for her. It’s for my Berkley editor, which makes her willingness to poke fun at me at 1am even more endearing. We’re SO going to tie one on at RT. :drunk:

So goodnight, Jess, and whoever else is unfortunate enough to be up at this obscene hour. I’ll be a raving bitch tomorrow, but at least I’ll be a bitch who finished her piece of shit proposal on time.

I’m giving away an ARC of Understood over at Writeminded today. Also be sure and tune in next week when we begin our 12 Days of Christmas giveaway :elephant:

Pressies are wrapped (what I have so far anyway) Christmas music is playing and now I’m just waiting on the cold front due in on Thursday :dunno:

Thanksgiving was fun. Spent it with my dad, stepmom, sister and brother in law and of course my new baby niece, Ella. I actually worked some over the holiday, but not as much as I should have. I actually didn’t open my computer for two of those days. I did most of my work on the trip up and back.

I’m down to the wire on my proposal that I need to turn in. But my problem was, I had a story, I had characters, and I had a plot, but I had no conflict. Thank goodness I had a eureka moment earlier today and so I’ve been furiously hacking my synopsis to bits and reworking it. I’ll be hiding in my writing cave this week. If I don’t come out by Friday, someone send somebody in after me. :beam:

(at least as they pertain to writing)

1. A loyal and supportive, not to mention very honest and harsh writing kick butter bestest friend. (say that five times fast)

2. An agent who loves my writing and believes in it.

3. My Samhain editor who gives me a lot of freedom to write what I love.

4. Selling to NY and an editor who loves my stories.

5. Other author buddies who provide an invaluable support/venting system.

6. 16 writing contracts in 2006.

7. Fans who write me the lovliest emails saying how much they enjoyed my stories.