Seriously. Does anyone want to know why?
Because I've been thinking about entering the Ellora's Cave Caveman anthology contest.
I *know*! What is wrong with me?!?!?
First off, Jana doesn't write sex scenes. One of the criteria of the EC Caveman anthology is...you guessed it -- sex scenes. Wait, I take that back. Jana does write sex, just not under her own name.
I'm not embarrased. I like to think of it as a little experiment. I choose a pen name because my real life name has connotations and limitations. I am such-and-such's wife, so-and-so's mother, girly-girl's friend. These are connections I consider sacred, connections I would be really, really ticked about if someone said I had misused them for my own personal gain.
But I wasn't really talking about my pen names. Yes, I have more than 1. I was talking about how ridiculous it is for me to even consider the Caveman anthology. Unfortunately, that's where my brain is tilting. The deadline is the end of the month. Let's see how much trouble I can create for myself!!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Holy Sh!t Damn!
I just finished Lover Awakened by J. R. Ward. I'm cereal y'all -- Buy. This. Book. Buy the entire series. Holy Sh!t Damn is how I feel. I even thought that to myself once I finished Lover Awakened.
I know Book #4 (Lover Revealed) will be available in March but that's too long to wait!!!! This series makes me feel like I'm on crack (some really really good crack, like Whitney Houston good)!!
I mean, I love books, and I love series books even more. But when the release date for one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books nears, I start twitchin' and itchin'. Then I buy it, inhale it, and begin twitchin' and itchin' for the next book.
I'm addicted...and I love it!!!
[By the way: Lover Awakened is Book #38 on my "50 Books Read in 2006" quest. I've got to do a mass update at The Book Geek. This total doesn't count books I've edited or written!]
Get Thee...
...to Romance Divas for a Q&A with THIS IS CHICK LIT authors. Joining the RD forum is F-R-E-E! Plus, these ladies are a hoot!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
And So It Goes...
While blog-hopping this morning, I stumbled across Colleen Gleason's blog. I've visited before (and left comments, I think) but Colleen's blog is not a usual haunt of mine. Her post about 1980s mini-series heartthrobs got me thinking, especially when she mentioned John Jakes.
If you don't know, John Jakes is a writer. An awesomely Southern historical writer. He wrote one of my favorite trilogies of all time:
I spent the last summer vacation we ever went on as an entire family reading Love and War (Book 2). It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. I remember lounging in the hotel room in Myrtle Beach while my parents and younger brother were out by the pool or the beach. Obviously, I loved the Mains and the Hazards more than I loved swimming!
When the mini-series aired, my mother wouldn't allow me to watch it. Under no circumstances could I turn on the black and white portable television in my room. Cruel and unusual punishment would follow -- like I'd be grounded from the telephone or I couldn't attend a football game. Oh, the horror!
When I turned 19, I bought the TimeLife North and South Collection with my very first credit card. 24 VCR tapes in a nifty cardboard box that still doesn't hold the tapes very well. I spent the entire two weeks of Christmas break of my freshman year of college staying up until 3 am watching the mini-series and writing a horrid novella. Over the next ten years, I plotted and planned, adding characters and situations, going backwards in time to visit the past, allowing my characters to grow up, marry, and die within the span of...8 books. That's right. Eight.
I never actually wrote those 8 books; I did write 2. (I pulled them out last summer to revise and man, did they suck!) Every now and then I think about those characters, the first characters I created, modeled after characters I loved so dearly, even today. Maybe theirs is a story I'll get back to soon.
If you don't know, John Jakes is a writer. An awesomely Southern historical writer. He wrote one of my favorite trilogies of all time:
I spent the last summer vacation we ever went on as an entire family reading Love and War (Book 2). It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. I remember lounging in the hotel room in Myrtle Beach while my parents and younger brother were out by the pool or the beach. Obviously, I loved the Mains and the Hazards more than I loved swimming!
When the mini-series aired, my mother wouldn't allow me to watch it. Under no circumstances could I turn on the black and white portable television in my room. Cruel and unusual punishment would follow -- like I'd be grounded from the telephone or I couldn't attend a football game. Oh, the horror!
When I turned 19, I bought the TimeLife North and South Collection with my very first credit card. 24 VCR tapes in a nifty cardboard box that still doesn't hold the tapes very well. I spent the entire two weeks of Christmas break of my freshman year of college staying up until 3 am watching the mini-series and writing a horrid novella. Over the next ten years, I plotted and planned, adding characters and situations, going backwards in time to visit the past, allowing my characters to grow up, marry, and die within the span of...8 books. That's right. Eight.
I never actually wrote those 8 books; I did write 2. (I pulled them out last summer to revise and man, did they suck!) Every now and then I think about those characters, the first characters I created, modeled after characters I loved so dearly, even today. Maybe theirs is a story I'll get back to soon.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Because Rene Asked...
I've found a fellow Prison Break obsessie in Rene Lyons. Seriously, people! If you're not watching this show, get thee to Blockbuster and watch the first season so you can keep up with the second season.
And because Rene told me to read a book in a week (she's under a deadline, I think, though I am trying to finish a novella this week too!) -- I did!!
I shouldn't admit this -- being a Southern Lit freak -- but I was disappointed in Joshilyn (Miz) Jackson's debut gods in Alabama. I loved the tv commercials for the book, loved the reviews, LOVED the first line (There are gods in Alabama -- Jack Daniels, high school quarterbacks...) but once I inhaled it, I was left with this little piece of empty when I knew I should have been shouting its praises to all my friends. From the moment I first discovered Ms. Jackson's blog, (it's to right over there, y'all <-- data-blogger-escaped-and="" data-blogger-escaped-description="" data-blogger-escaped-for="" data-blogger-escaped-her="" data-blogger-escaped-hooked="" data-blogger-escaped-i="" data-blogger-escaped-read="" data-blogger-escaped-was="" data-blogger-escaped-website="" data-blogger-escaped-when="">Between, Georgia, well, I was in Southern Lit Heaven.
I started Between, Georgia over the weekend and I wasn't getting it. I wasn't happy or completely immersed in the characters so I knew (I just knew) I was in for disappointment when I reached 'The End.' Not so, ladies and germs. The very next chapter flipped-flopped, and I could NOT put this book down. (I think it was about Chapter 13 or 14.) I mean, it was like someone shot me and despite the fact I was bleedin' to death, I didn't stop reading. When I finished last night around...I cannot remember what time...I was so sad to see the book end. I wanted to stay in Between (ha!), to see what the future held for Nonny and the Fretts and Crabtrees. That's what I consider the hallmark of a great book -- when you hate to see it end. And Between, Georgia certainly did not disappoint this little Southern gal!
And because Rene told me to read a book in a week (she's under a deadline, I think, though I am trying to finish a novella this week too!) -- I did!!
I shouldn't admit this -- being a Southern Lit freak -- but I was disappointed in Joshilyn (Miz) Jackson's debut gods in Alabama. I loved the tv commercials for the book, loved the reviews, LOVED the first line (There are gods in Alabama -- Jack Daniels, high school quarterbacks...) but once I inhaled it, I was left with this little piece of empty when I knew I should have been shouting its praises to all my friends. From the moment I first discovered Ms. Jackson's blog, (it's to right over there, y'all <-- data-blogger-escaped-and="" data-blogger-escaped-description="" data-blogger-escaped-for="" data-blogger-escaped-her="" data-blogger-escaped-hooked="" data-blogger-escaped-i="" data-blogger-escaped-read="" data-blogger-escaped-was="" data-blogger-escaped-website="" data-blogger-escaped-when="">Between, Georgia, well, I was in Southern Lit Heaven.
I started Between, Georgia over the weekend and I wasn't getting it. I wasn't happy or completely immersed in the characters so I knew (I just knew) I was in for disappointment when I reached 'The End.' Not so, ladies and germs. The very next chapter flipped-flopped, and I could NOT put this book down. (I think it was about Chapter 13 or 14.) I mean, it was like someone shot me and despite the fact I was bleedin' to death, I didn't stop reading. When I finished last night around...I cannot remember what time...I was so sad to see the book end. I wanted to stay in Between (ha!), to see what the future held for Nonny and the Fretts and Crabtrees. That's what I consider the hallmark of a great book -- when you hate to see it end. And Between, Georgia certainly did not disappoint this little Southern gal!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
In A Fog
It's been a week since I've blogged? Wow!
I'm not doing much of anything except the usual things so if you're looking for a 'Woot!' news from me, you're outta luck. I'm writing, editing other people's manuscripts, spending time with my family, the day job. I have a stack of library books to read, so many in fact, I'm going to go ahead and renew them all before the week is up!
One thing I will be attempting next week is Book in a Week. I've seen little BIAWs popping up all over the place. My goal is to finish a couple of novellas I have running around in circles. The pen names will certainly appreciate that!
I'm not doing much of anything except the usual things so if you're looking for a 'Woot!' news from me, you're outta luck. I'm writing, editing other people's manuscripts, spending time with my family, the day job. I have a stack of library books to read, so many in fact, I'm going to go ahead and renew them all before the week is up!
One thing I will be attempting next week is Book in a Week. I've seen little BIAWs popping up all over the place. My goal is to finish a couple of novellas I have running around in circles. The pen names will certainly appreciate that!
Friday, August 4, 2006
Finally!
Here's a picture of the lurvely Julie Ramsey and I (I'm the blonde) from the TKA party (which I snagged from Nephele Tempest). I've got a story about Julie that involves bras (natch) but I'll save that for another time.
And Mel Francis -- I'll be your fangirl anytime. I have a loud squeal; I once walked away from Mardi Gras with hundreds of strands of beads (and my boobs stayed firmly in my shirt). That too is a story for another time.
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