CONTEST!!!

THE TAGLINE/TITLE/TEN LINES AGENT READ CONTEST
Submit the tagline, title, and first ten lines of your manuscript, and you could win one of two critiques of your partial + synopsis from Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency!
The contest is divided into three phases and runs from July 23 to August 10.

Refer a friend, and you could win a box of spa/author goodies!For more information, visit Dawn Halliday's Website

When We First Met....

Over at Romance Divas we were talking about how ourselves and our SO (significant others) met and it was way too cute, and since I am quickly approaching my 5 year anniversary with the darling BF, I thought I would take a minute to wax poetic about fate and chance meetings. ;)

I went to a mostly girls college (my class was 3:1 girls to guys) and it just so happened that it was also a very homosexual friendly college soo of the 100 guys available about 45 of them were gay another 25 were taken and the remaining 30 were either butt-ugly or riddled with STDs from being constantly chased. Romantic huh?? soo it was October, I had officially been there for 2 months and I was homesick as hell, I had a hard time making real friends and was suffering from shyness and insecurity that accompanies major life changes.

My first job at school was telemarketing Alumni and begging them to fund us so that I could keep my scholarships, we regularly raised over 100,000 in the 10 weeks that this was done so the college paid us minimum wage and at the end threw a big party to celebrate our money whoring. My boss came late to the party, said her car had broken down and oh look how nice her cute (and available *wink wink) nephew had been kind enough to drive her.

I hadn't wanted to go to this party but went in an effort to make new friends (especially of the hot boy variety) and while i was there felt OH soo wonderfully awkward, ended up talking to a very nice girl named Susan who was in teh french program about going abroad. Turns out she knew boss's nephew from high school and ended up striking up a convo with him in the food line. She brought him back to our table and kept chatting him up while i tried not to die of embarrassment because I trip over my own tongue on a regular basis (it was a close call)

Finally he mentioned that he loved Virginia and really wanted to move there when he graduated. My ears perked up like a bunny's and suddenly he and I were engaged in conversation. I told him how home sick I had been and he offered to take me around town, even mentioning that a Martin's (the grocery store that i missed) and offered to take me by, I gave him my phone number on a napkin (that he still has) and we parted ways so he could drive auntie back home

He called me the next day and left possibly the world's longest and most awkward voice mail ever in the history of voice mail. I loved it!! I think i listened to that message about 800 times, he was so fricking cute and I feel a little bit in love with him right then. Of course then came the "boyfriend" question and it was decided by consensus of my hall (about 20 girls) that he was only in the "boy toy" stage at this point and i was cautiously optimistic that he would become more. He came to pick me up at campus (no car in those days) in this beat up old Caviler blasting Maroon 5. I laughed a lot and he said (after the fact) that I stopped his breath with the way I looked.

He took me to the mall and since I didn't know whether or not this was a real "date" (nor did I know how to ask!!) I paid for my own ice cream at Maggie Moo's, a bone of contention he brings up to this day. After the mall he took me to Martin's just like he promised and happiness over took me and I squeed just a tad, which he thought was cute. (yes I am nerdy enough to get excited over grocery stores) we went to the in-house Chinese restaurant and ate on a little bench inside the store. We talked a lot and at the end of the date he drove me back to my dorm and we hugged.

prolly the best hug of my life. I felt this incredible spark and knew i needed to see this boy again. Soo about a week later it was Halloween and I invited him over to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show and to go to the school dance...only slightly plotting to make him spend the night so we could get past the hugging stage ;) Sure enough it was soon to late for him to drive home and we spent the whole night cuddling on my twin bed (plan worked PERFECTLY) and I am pretty sure my heart, which started tripping at the voice mail, fell firmly at his feet as we spent all night talking (and making out slightly)

Fast forward 5 years and I love him more now then ever, I can't wait to be his wife but we are taking life slow in order to make sure that we have the resources to do things "right" but one day soon I shall be Ms. BF and nothing on earth could make me happier


So...dear invisible people, how did you meet your SO? I love hearing about love so spill :-D

Moving and flogging mollys

sooo I need a new job, and since writing doesn't pay yet and I still haven't wormed my way into being a kept woman that means I have to interview

I fricking hate interviews

they are like walking up to a stranger and saying "please won't you point out all my flaws and hit me with them??" soo my stomach is in knots, and I am attacking those around me to relieve the stress building in my bowels. None of this is conducive to creativity, although apparently Dax has decided he is Catholic so go figure

anyway I will be gone until next week, trying not to throw up until then

in the mean time enjoy some flogging molly

more songs!

Remember when I said that each book/person/everything in my brian has a sound track? Well I wasn't lying, it's a prty in there :)

Driving home yesterday I heard one of my favorite songs, "The Best of You" by the Foo Fighters and it is THE perfect song for Kayleigh/Her as-yet-defined man

Kayliegh is an enigma, she runs a bar in the underground (litterally) of Dupont Circle and houses and mentors some of my more esoteric mutants. She is kind and motherly in a tough love kinda way, but that's about all anyone knows about her. She doesn't talk about her powers and is generally defined as "other" even though it is well known that she can sense and track other mutants in the vicinity, so no one comes to her town unannouced.

Her man is even worse, and I fear a long way off becuase of right now he is little more then a dark haired shadow that wanders in occasionally. I do know that they do rescue each other from very different threats, both internal and external and thier book should be an exciting one if I can get the words out of my head on on to the page :)

So enjoy the song and as a bonus here is another one that I love to rock out to: Bandages by Hot Hot Heat

thoughts about symbiotes

I fully admit to being a card-carrying, pocket protector wearing, sci-fi watching, vampire loving nerd. Which is prolly why I want to write paranormals in the first place, I mean it can't possibly be a coincidence that what essentially amounts to aliens who used quantum theory to come to earth invaded my head right??

Basically I am trying to figure out the low-down on my pet aliens, and since they like to change their minds its been a little hard to pin down but here is what I know so far
1) There are two (Dax and Adrianna) that came to earth in the 19th century, they opened a wormhole onto Earth to escape their dying planet, Meridia
2) Meridian's don't eat, they actually draw energy from other people and living things, making them kinda like energy vampires (and yes their favorite form of energy transfer is sex)
3) They used their knowledge of electronic technology to support themselves during the Industrial Revolution and hold a few patents on some pretty important but largely taken for granted tech
4) Dax fell in love with an English governess, Emma, sometime in this period, shortly after Adriana joined some kind of English exploration company so that she could explore the world
5) Humans with Psychic ability are genetically compatible with my Meridians so within a few years Dax and Emma had about 7 kids, all combinations of Meridian and Human DNA which gives them unique issues.
6) At some point Emma suffers a traumatic injury and Dax gives her his blood as a transfusion, altering her enough that it amplified her physic powers and gave her a life span closer to that of a Meridian, who usually live between 5 and 6 hundred years and are resistant to most things that kill normal people
7) the half-Meridian's (Emma now included) have some pretty particular issues.:

• with food and digestion, their bodies won't tolerate anything "dead" so the eat a raw veggie diet.
• They can handle inorganic matter (things like medications and preservatives) but not usually in large quantities.
• They are also deathly allergic to Tylenol, and have to be very careful about vitamin regiments to stay healthy.
• Sunlight tends to burn their eyes and their skin becomes very susceptible to burns.

All good right? but what is plaguing me is how to make these changes work, DNA is great for the kids but how do you explain the blood transfer??? it's kinda complicated but I was reading about E-Coli and how it lives in a symbiotic state with humans, infecting them shortly after birth and then protecting them from all other forms of E Coli thereafter and I was wondering if this might be my answer, cause I do love a good symbiote (What Up Teal'c!!)

BUT I worry that I am adding into much, I already got aliens, magic, quantum physics and I don't want to overload people with Sci-Fi outta the gate ya know? Anybody got any suggestions for me???

Calla

Hello again oh invisible people who may or may not be lurking around :)

I have returned from vacation very relaxed only to go back to work and tie myself into physic knots *sigh* oh well. Today I would like to talk to you about one of my favorite things, music

I am a music-holic, I listen to anything and everything (except country) and always manage to find ways to connect the songs to my life or my stories. All of my characters have songs that remind me of them, all the stories have a soundtrack that sets the mood from the first meeting all the way to that final kiss soo I thought I would share a little something with you

Yesterday I was listening to one of my favorite artists Rufus Wainwright, his voice is unique and he writes and accompanies all his own songs. I love him, and one of his songs Pretty Things, is just perfect for my character of Calla, who you will meet in the second book.

Calla is a brat, a spoiled rotten little princess who never really wants to "do" anything with her life. She lives on her looks (and her parents money) and is pretty much the shallowest person you will ever meet. At least, that's exactly what she wants you to think. Calla is special to say the least and that leads to a lot of pretty unconventional issues in her life. So she hides behind the exterior of a spoiled rich girl that people want to see when they look at her to keep people away.

Pretty lonely life though :( However I have a plan in the works to throw her together with the one man that no one can lie to, and don't worry I'll tell you more about him another day. ;)

Ms. Pershing's Response

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting Ms. Pershing's response so here it is: http://espan-rwa.com/rwa-president-pershing-responds/

I have not yet read it, but I will come back after I have. Please feel free to go read it with virgin eyes in the mean time

*NOTE: I have like less then NO time today as I am trying to crit a manuscript and get ready to go into the wilds of NY tomorrow, so I need to get a lot of things done today and the blogging will prolly have to wait til I get back, sorry folks. Think you can live without my stunning wit for a few days?*

Villain??

I have a problem, shocking yes, but I find myself liking my villain even though I know he is evil. Truly evil, his mind is gone and all he wants is the power to make those around him suffer. He has made life miserable for nearly everyone in my series and is going to do horrible things that haven't even been written yet

but i feel for the guy

he hasn't exactly has it easy and while i don't want to go into a ton of detail, there are reasons his brain snapped but does that make his decisions excusable?

is it okay for people who have seen bad things to do bad things back? or are you expected to rise above and become a better person despite your circumstances?

Oy Vey

UPDATE RWA vs E-Pubs

I have learned that unfourtunatly Ms. Pershings comments are only availble to RWA members, which is fine as it is a letter from the President to her constiuents (yeah that's not the right word, but its the best I can come up with right now :D) however she will be responding to Ms. Knight's comments on the ESPAN blog this friday. I look forward to reading her reply to this issue.

In the mean time you can look at the blog of fellow author Eva Gale for an excerpt from the letter and some really good information!

RWA vs. E-Publishing??

Hey all, still plotting away here and man do I have a LOT of research to do!! But that is not today's focus.

Recently I have been considering joining RWA, or Romance Writers of America when I move up to NY (please god soon!) but after the recent kurfluffel in the ranks over the comments of RWA president Diane Pershing, I am not so sure. Now I have not yet read the full article, but I have read bits and done my best to seek out positive and negative comments about Ms. Pershing's remarks, but basically what she said boils down to this: people who e-publish their books through markets like Samhain, Liquid Silver and Ellora's Cave are not really authors and are in fact are marginalizing their work just to be called "published" (apparently published was in quotations like that) now I am trying to get a hold of the real article, so if I can find I will certainly post it for you to read, because I know that even invisible people like to form their own opinions.

However I will post for you Dierdre Knight's response to Ms. Pershing and RWA in general, it can be found here: http://espan-rwa.com/the-digital-age-and-rwa-a-call-for-change/

This is a wonderful and well-thought out article that outlines the flaws in RWA's current theory, and I will add in one more

I work a full time job, in fact I intend to work one for the rest of my life. In essence writing will be my second career, on that I will spend maybe 20hrs per week on instead of 40-50 hours like in my full time job. Reason: WRITING DOESN'T PAY!!! even with a 5,000 advance from an NY publishing house (ie Bantum, Harlequinn, or Penguin) and a contract to write 4 books in a year I would be living in worse then the poor house. I went to college not to be a writer, in fact its looking like I went to be a teacher, but I still have a lot of loans to pay off.

Consider for a moment that the average college student comes out of school with 50,000 in loans (which rounds out to about 700 dollars a month in payments), add in rent which even in a cheap market place is going to 500 for a studio apartment then add in 150 a month for food and 150 for things like gas and such and were talking at MINIMUM the average college graduate (which is what I am) has to make about 1,500 dollars a month to live comfortably or 18,000 a year

Now I know that I can do things to spend less money, like live at home and bum off my parents. Take a part time job (except that's going to take away from writing just as much as my job, I promise), find a sugar daddy (or momma if you're a man), make the government pay for me, or just go ahead and be independently wealthy. But really barring those things, I need to work.

More importantly I like to work and I don't want to give it up but that doesn't mean I want to give up writing either. Nor does it make me a "hobbyist" which has to be the most condescending thing I have ever heard, to imply that any writer who will bleed the way it takes to get words on paper and published is alien to me. Hobby's should be fun, not suicide/homicide inducing. /end rant

ANYWAY, I am committed to writing one book every year for as long as the people in my head keep speaking, and considering that i already have 4 books to plot out that's going to be at least the foreseeable future. I also plan to publish them through e-press because I love e-press, I feel that it will be much easier to get someone (ie an acquisitions editor) to actually read my book instead of rejecting out of hand because I am not a big name and I don't want to pay an agent. Will I eventually try to make a run at NY? I don't know, honestly at this point I will be content to see my books up for sale and if I find a publisher that treats me well then will I even have a reason to go for the heartbreak that is an NY publishing house?

These are personal questions, and right now I need to do what's best for my writing nothing else, but I am not so sure that joining RWA will be best for me anymore

Notes on Plotting

Okay, I have stopped and started, stopped again, read a bit, opened back up my files and glared menacingly at them, transferred things to work so I can plot during lunch, ignored everything and then neglected to keep all my files up to date so I have a string of plots wondering throughout my building *oy vey* written and discarded, changed direction, performed a sex change on a main character that I am not sure I am happy with, found and lost motivation for my main baddie and figured out a new and better way to make a mutant, and just generally found myself in a quagmire of my own making where things that I need are scattered to the four winds and buried inside my over stressed and very tired brain

Whoever said writing is easy needs to be kicked in the shin

But, my loyal invisible followers I have learned a few things

1) LESSON: Do what makes you comfortable not what you think you should.

For whatever reason it is 100 times easier to write things out in a notebook rather then on the computer, especially for plotting purposes. I think this is especially important due to my historical writing based background, I am used to having to write research papers and political position papers and when you do that you always start with notes. All through college I took notes in a cheap dollar store notebook where I would buy 1 for every paper and then fill it with notes I took from articles. Then once I sat at the computer it was time to write. Simple huh? So why it took me the last 2 months to figure out why I couldn’t bring myself to write outlines in word is beyond me. Call it professional blinders, other people were writing on word so by god I would to.

2) LESSON: People are always gonna judge the big dog harsher.

As a part of the ridiculous amount of success that the paranormal genre has experienced lately, it is currently the top dog of sub-genres which means it is constantly under attack. I have heard people, people that actually want to write the genre mind you, say how much paranormal annoys them with its sameness and how they wish they could write something else. Face it, the market is saturated and new ideas are rarer then a Ben and Jerry’s cartoon at weight watchers. I think the market is shifting away from paranormal in general and that means soon it’s gonna be harder to sell a book in that genre but does that matter? Check lesson 3

3) LESSON: Even if you don’t think you can sell it, write what the voices in your head tell you to.

Writing is hard!! No matter what anyone says, it is not a Zen experience where words flow full formed from a secret place in your brain down to your hands while angels sing chorus in the background and god himself (or herself or themselves) massages your weary muscles. (What? Sitting in a computer chair all day sucks) It is in fact work, and it takes a lot out of you so why on earth you would want to write about something you don’t like is beyond me. Not only will you suffer, your product will suffer, your characters will be flat and your readers will rebel!

Mini Lesson: Always remember that your fellow writers are also readers before you rag on something, people are always watching and they have big mouths.

Any who, if you really want to be doing historical then BY GOD do not write about vampires, because they will likely be crap. I am an avid fan of everything undead and bite-y but I can’t tell you how many books I have read where it just doesn’t work because the writer obviously doesn’t have the hots for a good vamp and therefore suppresses all the things that a vamp lover like me WANTS!! I don’t want to listen to my hero lament his existence for 20 pages, I don’t want his quest to be to find a way to be human. Humans are boring, I want mad, bad and immortal!! (Phrase stolen from Sherilyn Kenyon, who is one of my favorite writers) So please, just stop because reviewers will make it their mission to make sure no one buys your lame-o book anyway and then it defeats the purpose of writing what “hot” doesn’t it?

4) LESSON: Listen to the voices in your head.

When you get stuck (and you will) go talk to your characters. Writing is a little bit like undiagnosed Schizophrenia in that your characters will “sit down” and “talk” with you, or won’t depending on how you treat them. Because I have been trying to focus myself to just a few characters at a time I have missed connections that I need to have in order to make sure everyone meshes, by avoiding these I stalled myself out. Your world is not an independent one and everyone needs to be nurtured at once, characters need to come and go as they please and they don’t fit into well ordered boxes. So talk to them and let them tell you about their families, their pasts and what they want for their futures themselves, don’t try to ignore things that might be important. Otherwise they won’t live on your pages, they will just exist and no one will be happy


So that’s the words of wisdom for today, let’s get this train back to rolling!! TOOT TOOT!

quiz time!!

Hi Everyone,

yes i am still plotting i promise, and getting lots of good advice from books that i will review once i am finished reading them. I feel pretty good about the way I am connecting with my characters, though it appears they have hidden crucial things from me as i have been ignoring them.


ANYWAY

this is really about the quiz that is now located at the bottom of my blog, it is from writer extraordinaire Hailey Edwards!! She has been gracious enough to let us play with the boys from her series in progress Lineage, a tale of vampires and wolves *wiggles eyebrows* more about her writing and current books and WIPs can be found at her site: http://www.haileyedwards.net/

and her blog: http://haileyedwards.blogspot.com/?zx=840c2974eba62e59

go visit!! and remember that graham is MINE!! ;)

Still Working

I am plotting I promise, the goal is to get my first three books plotted out fully (intersections and all) and then to begin research by July and actual writing by August

will try to keep you updated as i go!!

updates on the New Direction

Okay I am doing a lot more reading then writing at this point (in my defense Ward decided to come out with Rhev right while I was trying to work :D)

However, I am finding out that I am a plotter who wants to be a pantser. Yes I know this is the opposite way of things but hey I like to be different *shrug*

I am currently going through the book Novelist's Bootcamp by Todd Stone, and truthfully I like it. It's got sound advice and encouragement and is helping me confront my inner-pansy waist :D and come to terms with the fact that I have been putting tremendous amounts of pressure on myself (and in turn dooming myself to failure with unrealistic expectations, yeah pretty par for the course with my personality as well) soo I am backing off a tad, and coming at this from a new angle

Hopefully we (myself and you wonderful invisible people) will soon see some outlines coming out -- as soon as I figure out how to write an outline -- I might copy the WARDen on this one :D

if I am felling really ambitious I may even outline the whole dang series ;)

Trying something new

Okay, so i tried NANOW or whatever in heck the accronym is...and while I did manage to write more then I ever have in my life (GO ME!) I also managed to dump about half of what I wrote (not litterally dump, its just secreted away in a different file) and let me tell you this: I NEED help and am not to proud to admit it!!

So I have done what any responsible liberal arts major would do, I went out an bought a book on the assumption that if I am not an epert then someone else must be (who says college isn't an excersice in brain washing??) On that endevor I hope to be able to find more time to do excersices that I am going to focus and tailor to ONE idea (hear that brain ONE idea, not five or more) specifically that of my WIP, which at this point my exist only on the web :D

but who needs to be published when what I really want is to get these damn people free of my subconsious!! (J/K publishing gods J/K) soo let's see how it goes shall we?

Amazon Rank

Okay, my level of anger doesn't usually reach this high before 9AM, but hey first time for everything right? for the DL check out this link: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/amazonrank

But basically Amazon decided to implement a new "policy" (which they are now calling a glitch after massive amounts of public outcry) that stripped GLBT authors, as well as several erotica and romance authors of their search rank based on the fact that they were "adult" while simoulaniously leaving things like, sex toys, adult DVDs (yes actual things labeled PORN) and books about how to cure homosexuality alone

I don't know what kind of disconnect went through the minds over at Amazon HQ, but did they not expect huge amounts of public outcry?? Did someone over there go, ya know, censorship works great for Wal-Mart maybe we shoudl give it a try. Only instead of censoring everything we're only going to censor things as we see fit WT fucking H???

needless to say that I buy quite a few products from amazon (even my trusty Doc Johnson before it died becuase it was on sale :D) but the thing I by most is books, lots and lots of books almost exculsivly of the Romance/Erotica or EROM genres, and now I simply won't buy anything, not books, DVDs, CDs, or even a new lil rabbit until Amazon changes this policy and comes out with a formal apology for this incident becuase I DO NOT by the oh, we hope you are stupid enough that we can call it a glitch excuse

there are plenty of other ways for me to get the thins I need, if you want some suggestions check out these other websites I shop, which don't feel the need to censor their products:
http://www.ebay.com/
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/
http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/shop/
http://www.fictionwise.com/ both excellent options for e-books
also check out the publishers websites like:
http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/
http://samhainpublishing.com/
http://www.ellorascave.com/
all of which have thier books availble for purchase
http://www.overstock.com/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
http://www.booksamillion.com/

and countless others!!! tell amazon that really we don't need them and they need to be focused on keeping their customers happy!

New Challenge

Your challenge: Your characters have somehow managed to lock themselves in an attic of a really old home (I mean, cobwebs everywhere, dust an inch thick, creaking floorboards that threaten to give out). I'll leave it you you why they're in this house to begin with. While they are there, they hear scratching in the walls and sounds that cannot be describable. Is it a ghost? An animal that had made its way in the walls, or something else entirely different? What secrets do they uncover while they are there? And do they get out?

You should include a dead cellphone, a skull, a weird vine-like plant, and an old photo album

“Are you ready to leave?” Colin said softly, placing his hand gently on the small of Kat’s back.
“I guess,” she looked around at the dust covering the things her mother’s attic. “I know I should have come before now, or at least send someone in here to clean up. Still, it’s like loosing her again every time I think about this house sitting empty.” She hugged her arms around herself. All around her boxes were splayed open, revealing a lifetime. Grinning skulls peaked out from a nest of orange feather boas, because Halloween had always been mom’s favorite holiday. Old photo albums, stacked neatly on top of each other dominated a corner of the room. Kat felt her hands itch to go through everything, but she wasn’t sure she could handle the tidal wave of pain that threatened.
“These things are my memories, my childhood. Heck, up until a few years ago they were my whole life. I can’t let them go.” She whispered, tears threatening behind her eyes.
“Baby,” Colin turned her to face him, lifting her chin with a finger “you don’t have to do this now, we have time.” He grinned down at her, “Well, we have a little time; you really should let me get a carpenter in here before the dust gets so heavy the floor caves in. This house must be as old as me.” She jabbed him in the ribs.
“This house has history, jerk.” She pouted, “So what if the plumbing is old and the wiring was done by a blind drunk, it has character.” He laughed as he rubbed the spot she has punctured.
“I never said it didn’t have character, just that its character might be that of someone with a broken hip.” Kat scowled, but her eyes began to sparkle with amusement instead of tears.
“I know, what you’re doing.” She accused, “Thank you.” She reached onto her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek.
“Anytime baby, but really let’s get out of here before some rodent starts chopping at our ankles.” He took her hand in his, giving her knuckles a quick kiss as he reached for the attic door.
“For someone who was born in the 40s, you certainly don’t have any appreciation for antiques. Aren’t old men like you supposed to lament that things were better, faster and cheaper in their day.” She loved needling him about his age, but Colin wasn’t taking the bait. “Is everything alright?” She leaned over his shoulder just in time to see the door handle pop out of the door and into his hand.
“Crap.” He said, “Is this part of the house’s character love?” He turned and waved the broken handle in front of her.
“Hush you,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. Batteries were dead. Of course. Why hadn’t she charged it when he reminded her? Oh right. It might have had something to do with the fact that he had been partially undressed at the time.
“Uhh…” She glanced at him with a guilty look on her face.
“Double Crap. Do you know if there is a tool kit in this place?” He crossed the room to begin rummaging through the stacks of boxes.
“AH!” he jumped, falling back onto his hands. “What the hell is that?” He pointed to a vine coming out of the box. Kat walked over to peer inside the box. She started to laugh as she pulled out a shoebox diorama she made in 5th grade. It was full of sparkly blue and purple vines, complete with lizard replicas and a miniature volcano.
“This scared you? The big scary bouncer afraid of a replica vine.” She continued to laugh as Colin grabbed her ankle, dragging her to the floor. He plucked the diorama out of her hand, throwing it against the wall and capturing her wrists at the same time. He rolled until she was trapped under him, her wrists stretched out above her head.
“The big scary bouncer isn’t afraid of you babe. Maybe I should re-assert my manly fortitude.” He dipped his head to her lips and kissed her until her toes curled. She pulled her hands against his hold, trying to free herself.
“Just how are you planning on doing that, Mr. I’m afraid of sparkly vines.” She challenged, her eyes still glittering with amusement. “It looks to me like all you’re doing is getting us both dusty.”
“Well, I was thinking something like this.” He trailed his free hand down the side of her ribs, causing her to arch before he lightly dug the tips into skin.
“Colin!” she screamed, laughing hysterically, “No Tickling!”

time for men

okay, time to practice getting in touch with my inner man *giggle*

Colin stood at the edge of the club's dance floor, surveying the mash of bodies grinding against each other. He might never get used to the movements people called dancing these days. What had been wrong with the jives and swings of his youth? Dances like that had taken talent, something the punks in this club wouldn't know if it bit them in their heavily chained pants.

Colin scowled, Kayleigh had him on high alert tonight but wouldn't give him details. He hated when she pulled the silent routine, but knew badgering her for details was useless. Kayleigh would let him know what was going on when she was good and ready, until then all his super senses were on alert.

After all there were times when being half-animal came in handy. Times when being able to smell intentions and feel movements half a second before they were completed would save you life. Colin subtly lifted his head to sniff the atmosphere of the club and cursed. Then again there were times when it could get you in trouble. He sniffed again, catching the fragrance of intense lust unlike any he had ever smelled before.

okay peeps, here's the deal: today we are going to talk to Kayliegh, the original character that started me on this crazy path...well she only talks to me occasionally so if she is going to open up, I guess I will share :D so here goes

"You see the future?" Kayliegh smiled at the confusion on Kat's face. Her power was a strange one, hard for most people to understand.
"Not exactly, I see possibilities. The future is never certain, in fact in changes all the time and in truth is almost impossible to decipher, but I can catch glimpses. Those are only limited by the questions I ask." She offered Kat a snack from the bowl of fruit that sat on her desk.
"I don't understand." Kat's brow furrowed further.
"It's a little difficult, but imagine this," she paused to pick up an apple, "this apple has infinite potential, any of a million things can happen to it, but it only has one true purpose to bear fruit, everything else is a force trying to help or inhibit that purpose. Now ask yourself, what would happen if a person ate this apple would it help or inhibit it's purpose?"
"That depends, right?"
"Well, yeah it does, but that's where the questions come in. You see anytime someone asks me something specific enough I will get a flash of the most likely outcome." Kayliegh smiled. She put the apple she was holding down. "In the apples case, the most likely outcome is that I will eat it and then put the rind in my compost pile. This will probably stifle the seeds, so most likely they won't grow. But nothing is set in stone, so I could be completely wrong."
Kat scrunched her face, "That seems to easy." Kat laughed.
"Well if you want I could go into quantum physics and the watcher theory," she watched as Kat's eye's glazed at the mention of the quantum world, "but I have a feeling you hear enough of that around here."

Short Story

Okay gang of imaginary people who may or may not be reading this :D Following is a short story intro that i wrote as part of a challenge. Hope you enjoy!

Kat squeezed Colin’s hand, trying to reassure him. She felt the slight tremor of nerves as he prepared himself to take the stand in defense of mutant rights.

“You can do this, what’s a bunch of congressmen after you have faced down an army full of machetes huh?” She smiled up at him, trying to make his face relax out of the warrior’s grimace, “Besides, you are going to scare them looking like that, remember these are soft old men not punky teenagers at the club.” This cracked a smile out of him. A page came up to escort Colin to the main floor. Kat waved goodbye, whispering that everything would be alright.

As he left he was waylaid by an overeager reporter and her photographer. Lights flashed, momentarily blinding everyone in the area. Kat felt someone tug at her hand.

“Ma’am, if you would come with me, I will escort you to your seat in the upper deck.” Assuming it was another page leading her, Kat followed, sending good luck wishes in her mind to Colin. As she was led out of the coat room towards the upper deck, her eyes cleared of the blinding flashes, though it was still hard for her to see clearly. She tried to examine the man leading her, medium build and dark hair, dressed in a page’s uniform, the man looked nothing if not non-descript. Still Kat’s inner radar buzzed. The more she studied the man in front of her, the more concerned she became.

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?” she kept her voice polite, trying to censor the suspicion she felt.

“I didn’t,” the man sneered, he slowly turned towards Kat. As he did his features began to change and shift, he grew taller, broader. His hair changed from dark brown to flowing auburn, but his eyes didn’t change at all. The deep purple was unique to only one individual.

“Kieran,” Kat whispered, her heart picking up pace. She cursed her own stupidity at going off with someone without being absolutely sure who it was. She knew Kieran was still hunting, still playing at making mutants a super-race, dominant over all humanity. It was his fault that Colin stood before Congress at this moment, pleading for their freedom. He had exposed mutants as the children of an alien race only last year, placing them all in jeopardy by declaring open war on the human race. “What are you doing here?”

“Well child, I think that should be obvious. I can’t allow your husband, a decorated soldier and known advocate for peace make the case that we are no better then humans.” He spat the final word, betraying his contempt, “That we would want peace, we don’t want that. No indeed, so he is going to do as I say or you, dear, are going to die a rather horrific death.” Kat’s heart clenched in her chest, she had to find a way out of this.
*********************************************************************
Colin took his seat in front of the congressional panel, arranging his notes around him. He was one of about a dozen mutants testifying on behalf of their entire race this week. No pressure. He took a deep breath and then grimaced as one of his papers dropped and floated to the floor. He bent underneath the table to retrieve the paper and almost fell out of his chair as a familiar smell assaulted his nose. Kieran, his lion growled, that bastard’s scent was all over the paper. He stayed underneath the table to read the precise script that lined the paper in compulsively straight lines,

If you would like to see your pretty wife again, you will tell all you know about the so-called President of this pathetic country right now in front of this assembly. Make sure you speak clearly child, we don’t want anyone to mistake the President’s heritage and think him to be the same as one of the sheep.

Colin’s mind raced with implication. He had served with the current president, Ronald Blanton, while with the peacekeepers in Rwanda. It was in that service he had learned the man’s secret. The president’s mother had been a mutant, one who had left her child to be raised by his father. The child’s power had been subtle and easy to hide, just an extra dollop of charisma and the ability to anticipate a person’s desires. Sprit mutants were like that, they could blend a little more completely. Colin had been shocked when he had heard of Ron’s nomination, and now it looked like he had to out him.

Upcoming Workshop!!

Writing Historical Paranormal Romance with Some of The Hottest Authors in the Genre

March 20th & 21st at Romance Divas

Featuring:

Colleen Gleason

Melissa Mayhue

Jennifer Ashley

Sharon Page

Jennifer St. Giles

Character Descriptions

So I haven't written in a while, its been crazy and all free time has been spent pwning noobs in WOW in order to prevent real life violence, it happens kay?? Anywho, today and for the next several posts I am going to be working on Character Descriptions or CDs for short. Up first is Calla, who (should) appear by book two of the series that so far exists mostly in my head :D

Fallon pulled his car alongside the curb of 7th and K street, spotting Calla standing in a nearby door frame. She leaned in the doorway of a shop that faced the street; hands in her pockets, arms hugging tight to her body. Her face was a combination of boredom and anger, but anger seemed to be the norm after a shoot. Fallon smiled, Calla always looked ready to kill something after she got back from a job. He beeped the horn to get Calla's attention and smiled as his freind stomped towards the car.
"Why the long face, princess?" Fallon leaned over to push open the passenger door. He grinned at Calla's scowl over the hated nickname.
"Just the usual bullshit, but no matter tonight is about fun! I am dressed to the nines and you have brought me a beautiful car to match. Scoot over, I'm driving." Fallon arched his brow, and refused to move. He looked his friend over taking in tight, dark washed skinny jeans, a loose white lace top that floated at her hips and a stiff dark gray blazer that emphasized how small her frame really was.
"Exactly how do you 'match'? I hate to break it to you princess, but the outfit is pretty generic." Calla shot her a dark look as she climbed into the coupe.
"You just wouldn't know fashion if it hit you with a five day old fish. Besides, everyone knows the shoes make the outfit." Calla reached for her foot and removed one of a pair of six-inch stilettos that looked very likely to injure someone. They were also the exact shade of liquid platinum as Fallon's sports car, which explained the earlier fit over her choice of car for the night.
"Behold the beauty of Louboutin." Calla bowed her head dramatically, as if worshiping the shoe in her hand. Fallon rolled her eyes and cranked the engine.
"You never change princess."

Word Association - Exercise # 4

Okay, time for the next exercise brought to you by the Goddess of Photoshop herself, VP!!! *round of applause*

same exercise as last time but the word is now PRETTY, which is actually a really hard word becuase it is so simple. What is pretty? It's less the beautiful or gorgeous, but more then plain and simple so where exactly does pretty lay? (that might be bad grammar, I need a red pen ;D)

Madeline walked through the garden she had discovered. She stepped carefully to avoid crushing the flowers of low lying bushes. Never in her life had she seen a place so lush with life. Everywhere she looked where plants of every size and shape blending together in such a way as to suggest someone other then mother nature had carefully planned this place. Who would put a garden in the middle of the forest, she bent down to smell on of the fragrant peonies that grew around a particularly large oak tree. It's like a place of worship, but instead of God someone is worshiping nature itself. She continued to explore, walking around the width of the oak until she came to a small clearing. The clearing itself was perfectly circular with a short flat stone set in the middle like some kind of alter. Madeline walked closer and gasped. There was a naked man in that clearing!! He was doing a strange dance around the stone alter, muttering to himself as he moved, completely oblivious to being discovered.

Word Association - Exercise # 3

The internet crapped out on me last night, so no post for yesterday...whoops! I will catch up later today!

Here is the exercise that I am going to be working on for the next few days, it's based on one of my favorite things: word association!! YAY!

Writing Exercise: Take a word: scary, weird, ugly, etc. And then tell what it looks like. What does scary look like? Weird? Ugly? Don't say the baby was ugly (and you know, we've all seen one ugly baby in our lifetimes), describe it. Don't say the man acted weird -- tell us how he acted. SHOW us him in action.

Word for today: Docile, brought to you by the lovely and talented Hailey Edwards. Anyone reading this should go read her first two books available at Liquid Silver Books, as they are fabulous and full of adventure and excitement! Also she is the only author I have ever heard of to write about Phoenixes, one of the best mythical creatures known to man, so what are you waiting for!!! go read!! DO IT NOW!!

Elizabeth sat in an antique Louis XIV chair, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She kept her head down, refusing to look at her surroundings. They didn't matter, she would be moved again soon. She hadn't stayed in one place for more then a few hours in the last few days. Her long blonde hair was falling in her face, almost hiding her from view. Footsteps sounded behind her but she kept her eye focused on the gingham, dress she had been instructed to wear. She buried her hands in the full skirt and crossed her legs at the ankles. She made herself as small as possible, praying he wouldn't notice her.
"Don't worry baby, we'll be home soon" a deceptively soft voice said behind her. A large, masculine hand came down on her shoulder and she struggled not to flinch. Flinching made him mad. His hand lifted to stroke her hair back from her forehead. "Good, baby. I knew you would learn to accept my touch in time." he continued to stroke her as he spoke, "Very soon, precious baby, we will be home and safe. Soon we can be together forever, no one will ever come between us again."

okay creepy right, but docile is not something that I would do without being forced. More word exercises tomorrow!!

Excercise # Two

The reason that this is an above 18 blog is because I want to write romance, which means I have to practice writing sex without being embarrassed about it, one of my favorite books Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Cruise, talks about how you can't write sex while being a lady, the same way you can't have sex and try to be a lady...and trying to do so just leaves everyone unsatisfied, because all the best sec is more then a little dirty, but I digress...Today's exercise is going to focus on something I did a little while. Here we go!!

Okay so this one comes from the writing class that I took last month...The assignment:Pick three words you use all the time in a sex scene. If you've never written a sex scene, then three words you see used all the time.Now write a sex scene (or part, I know some scenes can be pages!) WITHOUT using those three words.

Here is my original scene:

He looked up at Cassie, beginning to regret giving her free reign over his body. She had stepped into the bedroom wearing an almost see through white chemise. Her every move had been so slow and deliberate, he was forced to fight the urge to beg. She had then approached his naked body, touching his chest just enough to send arcs of lighting through his body. Now she was rubbing him with fragrant oils, skimming close to but never touching his cock. The smell of cinnamon combined with her natural fragrance of vanilla, making his head rush as his body begged.
“Cassie, please,” he began, only to be cut off sharply.
“My way Phoenix, you always take me to fast. This time we go slow until I get my fill of your muscles, your skin, every part of you that I have never had time to explore.”

okay, there is a lot wrong with that scene...first it is all passive and that is a no no, second my POV isn't fabulous so I need to tighten that up and well the whole thing was written in about 5 minutes, so it just needs to be looked over, okay here are the revisions...hopefully better but I will have to look at it tomorrow to be sure :D enjoy!

Phoenix pulled at the restraints biting into his wrists, doubting his sanity as he lay naked on his queen size bed. He must have been crazy to promise Cassie complete control over his body, fulfilling his promise was surely going to kill him. He shook as her hands smoothed slick oil down his chest, leaving behind a strange tingling sensation.

“What is in that oil? It feels strange. Are you sure it’s safe?” his trepidation seeped into his voice. Giving up control was much harder to do then he had ever anticipated. Not being able to touch was driving him insane, skyrocketing his other senses and making him more aware of his surroundings. He could smell the candles she had lit, cinnamon and vanilla, mixing with the natural scent of woman that wafted from her skin. He could feel the silk of her negligee brushing the insides of his thighs making his cock jerk. His head rushed, as he saw her lips bend closer to that thick ridge, only to turn at the last second and kiss his hipbone instead.

“Cassie, please,” he began, only to be cut off sharply.

“My way Phoenix, you always take me to fast. This time we go slowly until I get my fill of your muscles, your skin, every part of you that I have never had time to explore.”

His vision swam at her words, and he struggled to keep control over his body. There was no way he was going to come early and ruin her play, even if it did kill him in the process.

LSB Writer's Workshop

BTW, this is where I have been taking classes:
Writer’s Workshop
Liquid Silver Books is offering six writer workshops scheduled for 2009. These workshops are open to all writers, unpublished or seasoned veteran with any publisher*. All workshops will be held at Liquid Silver Books forum, Silver Net (SiN). If you’re not already a member, please be sure to join** prior to the day of the workshopWorkshop
Schedule:
Self-Editing: A Necessary Evil - Rachel Fox, LSB Terran Realm Senior Editor March 28th – Time TBD Sign up opens March 1st. Due by 23rd.
POV: Chronic Tennis Neck - Terri Schaefer, LSB Editorial Director May 30th – Time TBD Sign up opens May 1st. Due by 25th
The VS: Active vs. Passive/Show vs. Tell - Tina Burns, LSB Publisher July 25th – Time TBD Sign up opens July 1st. Due by July 20th
Time: Manage it for your Writing - Terri Schaefer, LSB Editorial Director September 26th – Time TBD Sign up opens Sept 1st. Due by Sept 21st
Dialogue: To Tag or Not to Tag - Rachel Fox, LSB Terran Realm Senior EditorNovember 21st – Time TBD Sign up opens Nov 1st. Due by Nov 16th
How do I sign up?
First step would be to join the forum, Silver Net. Then email me, mailto:tina@liquidsilverbooks.com with the title of the workshop in the subject line. In the email please include your Name, Author name (if you have one), email address and publishing experience.
What if I don’t sign up before the deadline?
I made deadlines so we’ll know prior to the workshop the head count of people participating, but if you were unable to email prior to the deadline, go ahead and send me an email including the information requested above. We’ll do our best to fit you in.
What if I’m out of town or can’t make one of the workshops?
All workshops are being held on Silver Net, so the teachings and comments will be available at any time, you’ll just miss out on the participation aspect.
What do the asterisks mean in the intro paragraph?
Good question…
*While we welcome authors from any publisher to participate, please keep in mind that some of the techniques and philosophies we teach could be specific to Liquid Silver Books, not the industry as a whole.
**In order to post on the forum, you must be logged in as a member. Please make sure you enter a valid email address when you sign up, this will ensure your registration completes. One thing we do require is that you enter your birthdate, this is a legal requirement in the US to comply with COPPA. The purpose is to prevent children under-13 from accessing the board.

A tip for people who are likely to return: tick the “Remember Me” box when logging on and don’t log out when leaving. This will have you auto-login next time you visit SiN.

*~*permission to forward*~*

Writing Exercise One

Time for today's exercise! YAY! This comes from this article about one of the precepts of creative writing: Show don't Tell, which is surprisingly difficult. In general, we are taught to remove ourselves from our writing and just presents the facts...especially former poly-sci majors like myself, who got reeemed for including any opinion not solidly based in fact and supported by at least three other people far more important then ourselves.

In that form of writing though, removing yourself from the actual story preserves objectivity and allows for a clearer view of the "big picture" in creative writing this same mentality is the kiss of death. In order to write a real story that will connect to others, you have to connect to yourself without comfortable barriers of fact to insulate. I think this is why writers talk like their characters are real friends, albeit imaginary ones, because they have to feel what their characters are going through on a very real level, one which I have NOT mastered. So onto practice!

Writing Exercise: Take this phrase: "It was hot." Rewrite it without the word
was. Better yet, don't even use the word hot. Think of all the things you can
use to describe heat. Make a list, if you want. Write a few sentences that SHOW
the weather is hot.

She stopped to perch on a sun-baked rock protruding from the earth, yanking the canteen from her waist as she did. She gulped water that tasted much closer to ambrosia and plotted her next move. Wildcats had been spotted in the area and she had to protect her cattle and horses from becoming dinner, but it was almost noon and the flat plains provided no relief from the high sun. She mopped sweat off of her forehead with the kerchief in her back pocket and decided to find some shade and wait until the sun sank a little lower in the sky before she resumed trying to kill herself looking for cats that had probably already gone on their way.

Beginings

Alright, I have been doing a lot of reading and even taking a few classes and the more I do the more sure I am about this:

I want to write

I am not sure that I want to make my living as a writer, but I am pretty sure that if I don't find a way to get these characters out of my head and in to the general populace, at least some of them will forcibly drill their way from my brain....they are a violent bunch I know, but what can you do.

Anyway, in all my reading and talking and dithering one thing keep coming out, if I want to write I need to write EVERY DAY, no matter what I have got to write and practice or my words are never going to see a page, much less a whole book. Kinda, a giant catch-22 right? Enter this blog, I need a place to practice and I need a place to get used to people at large being able to see what I write and judge it for themselves. So what is this going to be?

WELL.....essentially I will be writing, doing exercises designed to make me a better writer, research related to what I want to write and short stories and scenes meant to exercise and strengthen my creative muscles. Theoretically I will be doing this everyday...that is at least the intent, but I have never been good with resolutions so we will see how I do without adult supervision.

So welcome, and please bear with me. I know some of this is bound to suck and I doubt it will be terrible interesting to anyone but me and maybe a few nice friends who will at least pretend to be interested :D but I do appreciate criticism and would love to hear what others think!!