Are you starting to feel the pressure of the end of the year? Are you staring at your goals list for 2007 and wondering what the heck happened? Is Christmas coming at you like an avalanche? Really?

Me too!

Why is it that every year around this time, everything seems to pile up like a slinky coming together after a long stretch. It’s snapped back together and suddenly there are not enough hours in a day, days left in the week or year.

I had all these great plans to finish three books between October and December, but so far, it looks like one and a half at the rate I’m going. Never mind the day job, (I only work part time) reared its ugly head and sent me out of town last week and again in December. And I had to shop for Christmas in October for my daughter and grandson. They live in Guam and to get the large package to them by I had to send it on the slow boat to China! Now I have to shop for the rest of my family in the states. Nothing like Christmas shopping from October through December and most of it without the lights and cheerful songs. Sniff.

So, what am I going to do about it? Hmmmmm. I guess I’m going to strap on my big girl panties and enjoy it! So what if one of my book doesn’t get done by end of year, it’s not due until April, I just wanted to get ahead. My younger daughter and I promised to enjoy the Christmas season this year and actually put up a tree. We’re going to do it! We’re headed out of town for Thanksgiving, and that’s okay. We have lots to be thankful for this year and there’s nothing like celebrating it with family.

So I’m going to fly without my seatbelt and jump on this super-sonic rollercoaster ride to the end of the year.  If you’re looking for a short read for your holiday season to take you away from the mad rush, check out my Dec 14th release THORN’S KISS. If you like werewolves and Memphis, it’s the book for you!

All aboard!!!

Important moments… By which I mean those moments we don’t realise will change our life when they happen…

Now I’m certainly not saying that being signed by Harlequin wasn’t an important moment for me-
I can still remember that feeling of utter disbelief and absolute elation-
Well, elation doesn’t quite cover it, to be honest with you!

(The Call found me curled up in a chair in the foetal position stuffing chocolate in my mouth while I waited for the promised call from my editor-
Unfortunately, when she rang I forgot to take the remaining chocolate out of my hand and smeared it all over the ‘phone - which never recovered!)

But however wonderful that moment was, what I didn’t realise at the time, was that the romance community- readers, authors, and other industry professionals, would become such an important part of my life, or that I would make so many wonderful new friends amongst this community.

So that leads to our chat topic for today…
What important moment in your life- and there must be many- have changed your life for the better without you realising it at the time?

Looking forward so much to chatting with you as always- and don’t forget, I’ll be choosing a winner at random from everyone who posts, to win a super prize…

Good luck everyone!

All my very best to you from the UK

Susanxx

I’m a huge romance reader, and I read across subgenres. No surprise there, huh?

I love discovering new authors, and it has recently and belatedly occurred to me that there are many, MANY big-name authors out there whose books I haven’t read.

For instance, Suzanne Brockmann.

Suz Brockmann, I heard. Suz Brockmann, Suz Brockmann. Who is this Suz Brockmann?

Just kidding. I know she’s the hugely popular author of the Navy SEAL series. I could no longer stand not knowing about her books, so today I picked up and started one of her earlier titles, Forbidden. Guess what? I love it so far.

Other big authors I’ve never read, but need to one of these days when I get the time:

Debbie Macomber;

Linda Lael Miller; and

Janet Evanovich.

What about you? Any big names out there you haven’t read yet? Any you intend to read soon? Any recommendations for me? I’m thinning my bookshelves, making room for all the books I hope to receive as Christmas gifts, and I’d love to give a surprise book bundle to a lucky commenter at the end of the day!

I read a magazine piece the other day about last meals. Someone had done a study on what condemned prisoners requested for their last meal. Mostly steak, mashed potatoes, fries, and hamburgers, it turned out. No surprises there–they wanted simple comfort food. But then the article went on to discuss a new cookbook that listed what famous chefs had picked for a last meal. These were top chefs, the ones who spend their days coming up with exotic, odd, and very, very expensive meals. Truffles, cavier, goose liver pate, bittersweet chocolate with gold leaf, that kind of thing. Guess what they wanted for a last supper? Mac and cheese, hamburgers, steak, mashed potatoes . . . in other words, comfort food. One guy even asked for a hotdog. And all these chefs talked about how the comfort food was what they’d eaten as a child. What Mom made.

I thought about this a bit. I’m from Minnesota, but my mother came from New Orleans. Guess what I’d pick for a last meal? Mom’s red beans and rice with sausage, a side of her cornbread, maybe a coke. Or even milk. I’ve always liked drinking skim milk. And I think I’d have to have her banana cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

So, my question to you is: What would you pick for your last supper? And why?

Cheers!
Elizabeth
www.elizabethhoyt.com
www.juliaharper.com

So, a little story if I may…

I sold my first book three years ago last month. At the time I thought, maybe I should give writing a real chance. Which was easy enough because I was on bedrest anyway and had a lot of time to spend. I sold that book despite my unfamiliarity with the rules and a big stroke of luck. That book sort of broke me, helped me begin to make a name for myself.

Writing can be a long and lonely path filled with fabulous high points and really low points. So when I picked up that very first, second-hand laptop and wrote Triad, I had NO earthly idea what I was getting myself into. Certainly, I’ve been very fortunate and I’d never trade this path in, but it’s hard sometimes.

Early last week I said to my buddy and partner-in-mayhem, Megan via IM - “you know, I’m just so sick of being on the verge of breaking. When do I reach the point where I accept it isn’t going to happen and just be happy with what I have?” (and she said, “NEVERRRR, We’re Spartans!” which is why I adore her so).

I hit this spot where I wasn’t necessarily sad, but I just felt sort of bleh and uninspired. I usually feel so passionate about writing but I think I was just in a big old rut. I had multiple submissions out in NY and despite selling two multiple author anthologies and doing very well for myself with Samhain and Ellora’s Cave, I had yet to break through and get a single title deal. I kept having these, ‘oh so close!’ moments, which, sigh, look, it’s better than you suck we hate you, but oh almost but not quite is pretty bad after you hear it a few times.

Then as the days of last week began to pass, I hit my sweet spot in my current project and I felt like I really began to get my characters and understand them. I had that moment of book clarity and I truly fell in love with the book. To top that off, I got a most excellent cover for my January release and I thought, “well, you know, I have things pretty darned good”

And then…

I got a phone call about forty minutes after I posted to my blog on Thursday. It was my agent and she told me I’d just sold to Berkley Heat. I nearly fell over. After much squeeing on both ends and a lot of “OMIGOD!” on my end and “holy ****!” I hung up and realized I’d achieved something I’ve wanted so painfully it’s made me cry at times.  I’ve wanted to write for Berkley forever and I can honestly say they’re a dream for me.

I called my husband and sort of blurted out the news (lucky man was in a meeting, LOL) and had to get off the phone because the other line was ringing and my daughter was talking loudly, demanding to talk to daddy and I couldn’t hear anything and I got about three steps to go downstairs and I had to stop and sit as the tears really hit.

I’m so fortunate. I have this dream. I have a beautiful, wonderful family and a husband who has been nothing but unerringly supportive of me and my writing. I have the most wonderful agent in the whole world who has been so supportive and has believed in me when I wasn’t sure I believed in myself and I have fabulous friends who did the happy dance along with me. I’ve been moved and humbled by the amount of love and well wishes being sent my way.

So now I can announce it in public and I’m still bowled over. I was telling people it felt like my agent was going to call me and say, “just kidding!” But thank god it’s 70 Days of Sweat and I’ve been working my booty off becuase I’m nearly done with Standoff and when I finish that I’ve got to get working on Battlefront because it’s due at the end of January! But I can do it. I can. OMG, I can!

Essentially, I suppose the moral of the story is - keep writing. It will happen. I know I’ve told myself this a thousand times and there were days I thought they were empty words. But I kept writing and wow, I’m just a goofy tool, but a lucky, goofy tool.

 I’ll start freaking about selling through and whether anyone wants to read a super hot, futuristic, menage with BDSM flavor next week. For now? I’m savoring.

Anyway, I’ll do a contest to include you in my savoring. In two weeks (November 26) I’ll choose a winner at random - book of their choice in any format available from my backlist - and all you need to do is tell me what you’re reading right now.

 THE WINNER IS: Comment #6 - Eva S~!  Eva, email me with your title and format choice and if you choose a paper title be sure to send me your mailing address!

   I don’t think Karl and I have vacations like other people.  Something always seems to…well…happen. 

   We decided to go to the coast.  We love the ocean and someday plan to be very rich and retire there.  That’s our goal.  We just haven’t discovered the means to reach that goal. 

   So anyway, Karl wants to get a cabin, but I opt for less expensive and closer to the beach.  I wanted to hear the waves as they rolled in.  We dug the tent out and got all the dust off it (it had been a long time since we’d gone camping), packed our stuff and headed for Port Aransas.

    The ocean is awesome.  There aren’t enough words to describe its beauty. 

   We checked in and got our spot–closest to the bathrooms.  It wasn’t close enough.  Do you know what it’s like to roll off an air mattress in the wee (no pun intended) hours of the morning, run to the ranger station, climb two flights of stairs, use the key card to open the door, rush down a hall and around the corner just to get to the bathroom?  I learned to drink sparingly while we were on vacation.

    We also discovered that when a thick fog rolls through in the morning it causes condensation on the inside of the tent.  It’s kind of like sleeping in a rain forest.  And fog or not, the sheets on the bed always felt as though they’d been taken out of the dryer too soon. 

    But that’s okay because by one in the afternoon it was so hot everything dried out really fast and we were able to start all over again.

     And there were ants.  I put the garbage bag in the tent so the seagulls wouldn’t get into it and figured I’d take it up to the trash bin the next morning when it was light outside.  By morning there were ants everywhere. 

    Karl and I realized that since we don’t go to bars (except if I’m at conference), and we don’t night fish, there’s absolutely nothing to do after seven.  Yes, I know, we could’ve done that but remember—air mattress.  I’m sorry but I had nightmares of this really loud bang as the air mattress explodes.  

    Was all that worth long walks on the beach, total relaxation, growing even closer together, the laughter at some of the things that happened, picking up shells, watching the dolphins, pelicans and seagulls–you bet.  It was worth every minute, but as soon as we got home, we looked up the price for the cabins and found they’re not so bad after all.  So the tent gets put back up and this time we’ll let it gather all the dust it wants.

Hugs,

Karen Kelley

www.authorkarenkelley.com       

Since I’m a lazy ass and am on crazy deadline…I’m double dipping my blog posting duties.

I’m also over at the Pink Heart Society Blog, talking about the same thing.

When I first heard that Silhouette was starting a paranormal romance line I squealed. Yup, I actually squealed. I’m not in the habit of squealing, but I was very excited about the prospects for writing for this line. I immediately tracked down someone I knew that had sold and asked them tons of questions (thanks Michele Hauf!) then I set out to submit something spectacular to them. All that hard work paid off six weeks later with a contract. Woot!

I love this line!! And here is why…

My top ten reasons I love to write for Nocturne:

1. My editor Tara Gavin, she rocks, enough said!
2. To be part of something new and exciting.
3. I get to fantasize and write about sexy dark heroes like Christian Bale as Caine Valorian in Blood Secrets, and Olivier Martinez as Jace Jericho in Dark Lies. And I have this lovely pic of Alex O’Loughlin from Moonlight for inspiration for my next hero.

4. I get to create different worlds where vampires, werewolves and witches rule. Making stuff up is my favorite thing to do!
5. My heroines get to be just as dark and tough as my heroes.
6. I can write lots of action scenes, with car chases and blow stuff up.
7. The awesome covers they are doing for the line.
8. I get to be in the same line as amazing authors like Linda Howard, Caridad Pineiro, Michele Hauf, PC Cast and Lori Avocato (they have a series coming out soon) and up and coming authors like Lisa Renee Jones, Patrice Michelle, and Pamela Palmer.
9. The freedom to create the stories I want to tell and the opportunity to grow and sharpen my storytelling skills.
10. Hullo? It’s Harlequin. Who wouldn’t want to write for them? Tons of awesome authors got their start here and are still writing for the company.

Do you have a favorite line???