Wednesday Musings

I've decided to do my own personal musings this week. For those bored with me, you can check next Wednesday's musings for my usual musings post.

I can hardly believe yesterday was the end of November. I've always liked November. Perhaps it is the whole huge feast toward the end of the month. Maybe it is because it is the longest official holiday time off in the U.S.

But now it is December. December is a mixed month from me. I love Christmas, of course and it's always nice to look forward to whatever a new year will bring.
December is also the month when my dad's birthday was and since he's been gone many years now I can't help but feel the loss even now years later. Growing up I knew Dad's birthday was two weeks from Christmas. It was a special day because I was such a Daddy's girl. Also December was the month of PD's mom's birthday and she passed away just this year, so this will be the first December without her birthday celebration.

Still the holidays make it a wonderful month and I am reminded at this time that life is precious and we should enjoy each holiday season with our hearts full of joy and kindness.

And December has me looking back over the year and thinking about what I have accomplished, what I have yet to accomplish, who I have lost, who is still with me, what I have to be thankful for, and what I can hope for next year when everything is new again.

So Happy December and Happy Holidays

Monday Updates

My Monday updates is a little later than usual because I don't have much to update.

I'm back to the EDJ after five blissful days off.

I'm still waiting anxiously for my cover for Pulling Apart. All the other covers around that time have been completed so I am stalking my inbox hoping to see it arrive. lol.

As far as writing is concerned, I'm working on free stories for December right now. Once I have those out of the way I'll likely work on either Accidentally His or Galaxy's Heart (Sutter's bay 3). When those are out of the way I suspect I will finally turn my attention to my cop partner story as it's nagging me the most these days, but probably won't get a chance until well into 2011 to sink my teeth in there.

Yesterday, my fabulous critique partner, Ava March, had her first release from Amber Allure. As I believe I have mentioned on the blog over time, Ava and I have been working together for several years, back since our days in a critique group through an online writing chapter. Ava is the only one who gets to see my stories ahead of time and I am the only one who gets to see hers ahead of time. It works for both of us quite well.

So, I can say without a doubt, Beyond Reckless, is a great short story. Do yourself a favor if you haven't done it already, hop on over to Amber Allure's site and get Beyond Reckless for $1.95!

Have a good week.  

Some Updates

I hope everyone in the United States is having a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. I know I ate too much yesterday, but it was still a great time. Now onto Christmas! lol.

I did have a productive few days in that I finished The Impersonator. Go me! And I was the first author at Amber Allure to get my masquerade story in (the stories are supposed to be done Dec 01-Jan 01) and therefore I think I will also have the pleasure of having the first one to be released. I have a tentative release of February 20, 2011.

On the way home from work the other day I heard a Christmas song on the radio (yes a radio station in LA started their 24 hours of Christmas songs before Thanksgiving) that had me thinking of another Christmas story. It's too late to have that story published, so I think it's going to be another free story from me. It will be new characters too. So look for that sometime in December. I will provide more information about it later.

Otherwise, I'm chillin'.

Wednesday Musings - Thankful

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
Buddha

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
Oprah

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitser

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
Dante Rossetti

Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.
E.P. Powell

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
Erma Bombeck

It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it.
Alistair Cooke

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.
O. Henry

Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.
Michael Dresser

O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
William Shakespeare

Monday Updates

All right, I'm back.

This is a short work week for those of us in the United States who don't work retail. For those of you who do you have my sympathy for Black Friday. This is an especially short week for me since I also took Wednesday off. Hooray!

Now that I have buckled down and turned my attention 100% to The Impersonator I got a lot done on it this past week. This book has a deadline of December 01 and I wasn't sure I could make it but I think I just might now. This was a real deadline, although the date is flexibleish, but I'd prefer to get it in as close to on time as possible.

If I can get it done, that means basically having the month of December to chill. That puts a giant grin on my face. Now, does that mean I won't do any writing? Nah, of course not. I have the free story EH asked about, plus I just can't go weeks and weeks without writing. But it does take a huge amount of pressure off not having to get anything done if I don't want to and December is crazy busy this year for me, so this is my fondest wish. Wish me luck!

Speaking of December, those of you paying attention will recall I do have a final release for 2010 in December and that is The Naughty Ones from Silver Publishing as part of their 25 Days of Christmas releases. My particular Elvish tale comes on on December 12, 2010, but you may want to check out the other offerings as well. Some of the daily releases are M/F, but I know for a fact that my dear friend, Andi Anderson, also has an M/M book coming in this series called, His Christmas Wish. I don't know Andi's release date though I do believe it is later in the month than mine. Unlike some of Andi's other offerings, I haven't read any of His Christmas Wish and have no clue what it is about, but if Andi wrote it I am sure it will be a lovely, sweet Christmas story.

I'll likely do one of my world famous contests (LOL) for The Naughty Ones so stay tuned for the details there.

This is Thanksgiving week for the US, so Wedneday look for a Thankful Musings. And as my beautiful Shayne would say, Have a Fabulous Week!

Sunday Eye Candy

Monday Updates - Week Off

I'm tired. I think I've been fighting a cold for the last few days and today I'm tired. I'm writing, always writing, but I think I'm going to take this week off from blogging. The only exception being if I get a cover for Pulling Apart I'll post that but otherwise, I'll catch you next week.

Have a good one
  

Sunday Eye Candy

The Naughty Ones Cover

Here's my cover for my Silver release December 12, 2010. This is the cover I believe most of the 25 Days of Christmas have. It's a nice cover to add to my collection.

And the newest title is...

All right, so here's the news.

The short story I was working on is a sequel to Pulling Away and is called Pulling Apart.

For those of you are fans of the original story (Devon, lol), this should be good news. Hopefully if you weren't a huge fan of the original you will still give Pulling Apart a chance. Basically, as the name implies things are not going swimmingly for Noah and Charlie.

The release date is January 23, 2011, so there you have my first release for 2011. I don't have a cover yet, but will post it when the time comes.

If you are curious how this came about, it was Noah's fault. In my free summer story with Kevin and Michael , Noah, of course made an appearance and there was a hint that not all was well. He kept bugging me about it, and before I knew it, I finally gave in.

For those of you who are Kevin lovers, he does make a few brief appearances in the story, but it IS Noah and Charlie's so don't expect too much of him.

So, that's the news. I'm back to working full steam ahead on The Impersonator. That's my Elvis Impersonator/Masquerade themed story if anyone is paying attention. LOL

Thursday Updates

I managed to finish the short story I was working on so since I already know who the publisher will be, I should have release information available in the very near future.

In other news...oh, wait. Is there other news?

Not really. I promised EH I'd write a free Christmas story starring her favorite of my characters, Kevin. I sort of started it but it hasn't really gone anywhere. I expect to finish it off once the story I am working on is safely in the queue for release. Then I simply must get back to The Impersonator which is due by the end of the year. I've gotten quite a jump on it though so I'm really not worried.

Last year I did some free Thanksgiving stories, but I simply do not have time for those this year. I may post the dates where those stories can be found this Thanksgiving so if there are new blog lurkers they can check them out.

Now..back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Wednesday Musings

“He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize.”
Oscar Wilde

“Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance.”
Dan Greenburg

“A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the keys.”
Barbara Holland

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.”
Joseph Heller

“A writer is, after all, only half his book. The other half is the reader and from the reader the writer learns.”
P.L. Travers

“The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”
William Saroyan

“Asking a writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp post how it feels about dogs”
Ann Landers

“Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.”

Monday Updates

Thanks to anyone who bought Manfred's Curse this weekend. As you know AQ gives a new release discount and that means it's only $1.95 now! I hope you enjoy it and I am thinking of a possible sequel next year.

In other news, the current WIP is coming along a bit better than it was a few days ago. It is my fervant wish to have it finished this week and therefore have news as to it's release very shortly after.

Next release is The Naughty Ones on December 12th from Silver Publishing.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Sunday Eye Candy

And the Winner is...

There were 11 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Ivan
Chris
Kaytee
Rachel
Lily
Don
Jason
Sandy Jay
Leni
Eyre
Sarah
Congratulations Ivan. You will receive your book when it is released this weekend.

Thursday Updates

So, as I changed my calendar earlier this week to November, I happened to notice that only three weeks from today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. This is the one holiday that is actually done at my house (starting about 4 years ago), so it's rather startling to see how quickly it will be upon us.

It also means I really need to crack down and get that story I'm working on done so I can quickly get back to The Impersonator. I need to meet my deadline. What seemed like plenty of time for everything now doesn't seem like much time at all.

I wish I could write as fast as I once did. Alas, those days are mostly gone.

Other Personal Musing

Tuesday ended up being a pretty good day for me.

I was #1 for October at AQ
I won a $25 Gift Card to a favorite store at work'
I received a very lovely royalty check from AQ
And Meg Whitman appears to have lost despite trying to buy the job of governor with her vast fortune.

Ah, yes, good.  

Wednesday Musings

“Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils”
Cyril Connolly

“And the days dwindle down To a precious few, September, November - And these few precious days I'd spend with you. These golden days I'd spend with you”
Maxwell Anderson

"How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.
At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow."
Elsie N. Brady, Leaves

"I saw the lovely arch
Of rainbow span the sky,
The gold sun burnin
As the rain swept by."
Elizabeth Coatsworth, November

"November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.
With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."
 Elizabeth Coatsworth

"When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year."
Carol L. Riser, Autumn

Amber Allure October Best Sellers

AMBER ALLURE / October 2010




1. The Beach House - Shawn Lane (Gay / Contemporary)

2. Troy's Surrender - K. M. Mahoney (Gay / Western)

3. Inhabiting The Night - Carolina Valdez (Gay / Shapeshifter)

4. The Club At Cool Harbor - Christiane France (Gay / Contemporary)

5. Wolf's Survival - T. A. Chase (Gay / Werewolf)

6. (Boys Of The Zodiac) Scorpio: The Heart To Help - Jamie Craig (Gay / Contemporary)

7. Trust Your Tutor - Lilith Grey (Gay / Contemporary)

8. Between A Rock And A Hard Place - Clare London (Gay / Contemporary)

9. Tough Guy - Bryl R. Tyne (Gay / Western)

10. The Wild Bunch: Stace - Deirdre O'Dare (Gay / Western)

Yep, there's me at the top. :-)

And on a Tuesday...

Thursday is the last day to enter to win a copy of my short story, Manfred's Curse. Winner announced Friday and book sent this weekend after it's release.