Saturday, January 30, 2010

Big E-Book sale!

This just in! All Romance E-Books is having a sale this weekend. A super-secret, not so secret 50% off sale. Order all the books you want--including my Samhain and Phaze titles, I hope--and use the code SBTBARe1 at checkout.

The best news? It doesn't affect authors' royalties, so you can get yourself a great deal and your favorite authors still get paid.

This means I urge you to use the discount to pick up some of the fabulous "Coming Together" charity titles, such as Coming Together: Al Fresco, an anthology of outdoor sex stories with proceeds going to rainforest protection, or Coming Together: Against the Odds, sexy mysteries supporting autism research, or Coming Together: For the Cure, or any of a number of great titles. You save money and the charities still get all their usual funds. (I happen to have stories in Al Fresco and Against the Odds, but I receive nothing except a good feeling from the sales.)

Why is ARe doing this? Well, Amazon and mega-publisher MacMillan got into a snit about e-book pricing and Amazon booked Macmillan's e-titles. This seemed like a good opportunity for the smaller (and more author-friendly) store to get its name out there. Read more about the price wars here  and some engaging commentary (the source of this discount code), at a great blog with a tongue-in-cheek title, Smart Women, Trashy Books.

Go forth and shop!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

I have a dream...

That some year I'll spend January not sick as a dog. I had high hopes that by not going to any New Year's Eve parties, I'd avoid whatever horrid bug was making the rounds these days.

No such luck.

I'm basically OK, but yesterday the residual congestion got into my sinuses--and the Cat-Herder's too--and the entire day was wasted in an effort to shake that nasty, headachy, dizzy feeling. Much better today, actually writing, but the Cat-Herder's still down with it. We may end up missing the Robert Burns Night party tomorrow. Sigh. Such a fine, literary excuse to drink too much Scotch on a week night.

Whine over. Back to work now, for a little while at least. At least I figured out why my scene felt so wrong. Now I "just" need to fix it!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Writing and other goals 2010

I said I'd do it! Here they are:

Goals and Big Projects 2010



Writing

Finish Cougar’s Collective-noun by March; polish and submit by April.
Start the next Duals and Donovans.
Get Threshing the Grain to my Phaze editor by late Jan. (It’s finished but needs revision.)
Write The Longest Night (last Seasons of Sorania novella, m/m or mmf) on time to get it in as a Yule story.
Finish Sophie Mouette projects (not putting a date on these since that involves Dayle’s schedule)
Ease back into writing poetry.

Garden and food preservation
Add new raised beds (w/Himself).
Build cold frame and/or hoop house/poly tunnel (w/Himself).
Can more tomatoes and make more salsa.
Can peaches.
Research fruit trees—peaches? Apples?
Add table grapes to yard.
Track garden yields, but be willing to stop if it makes me crazy.

Personal

Get back to 135 or whatever it takes to feel less soft and squishy in the wrong places.
Improve condition of my back.
Knit socks.
Do holiday gift knitting throughout the year so it’s actually done by Yule.
Conquer my fear of pie crust.
Add more local/organic food to our diet without breaking the budget.
Use time more efficiently (more doing, less blog-surfing).
Read more books (and fewer random blogs).

And most of all—HAVE FUN!

Guest blogging!

Today I'm over at my publisher's blog, the Samhellion (isn't that a grand name?), babbling about getting back to normal after the holidays. (Post wasn't up yet the last time I checked, but it's early yet.)

Edit: I don't what happened here, but apparently someone or something glitched. I'll let you know when the post's actually available.

And I'm the featured author all week long over at Whipped Cream Reviews. I was sure I posted that on Monday, but it didn't take. Regardless, it's not too late to wander over and enter to win books. We like free books!

I'm pondering writing and life goals for this year, and while I have a few in mind, I've yet to put them into a coherent list. Watch this space for more details.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

New publication for the new year


Like vampires? Like lesbian vampires?

Check out the new Torquere anthology, Vamps: A Lesbian Anthology with Teeth. It includes stories by several fabulous writers--and me. My own contribution. "Wherein Elen Encounters the Ladies," features Regency lesbian vampires in Wales.

Someone had to do it, anjavascript:void(0)d it gave me an opportunity to get my geek on in several ways--and use some of the research I'd done for my m/m Regency vampire story in Boys of the Bite. Not that I think there were a surfeit of vampires in the Regency, but the employer/servant relationship offers a lot of fine fodder for erotica!

A taste, safe for work if no one's looking too closely.

Soon, Elen was more naked than she’d been under anyone else’s gaze since she was a babe. You simply didn’t strip bare in front of other people, even a mother or sisters; you replaced one garment with another as quickly as possible, for warmth and modesty. In this lovely room with a fire blazing in the fireplace, the warmth wasn’t a problem, but the modesty…she simply didn’t have enough hands to cover everything that needed covering.

Cecilia laughed fondly. “Relax, child. One woman’s very like another.”

“Although it’s been years since we were as young and slender as you.”

Elen looked into Annie’s keen blue eyes and was startled by what she saw. Annie looked at her almost as intently as Mr. Watkins had, but where that look in Mr. Watkins’ piggy eyes was threatening, the way Annie studied her seemed more kindly.

Just as fascinated, though.

Just as lustful.

She must be imagining it, reading something nasty into what was probably born of thwarted motherly instincts or simple curiosity.

But something clenched inside her. She should be repulsed by what she fancied she saw in Annie’s eyes, but she wasn’t.

Not at all.

Her racing heart and the warmth flooding her belly sounded like what other girls hinted at when they talked about their sweethearts or husbands. Her nipples ached and she was sure they were swelling, although luckily she had them covered by her arm.

And between her legs, she was feeling dangerous, tempting, wonderful sensations that she certainly hadn’t when Ianto Williams kissed her.

Elen shuddered.

“Oh look, she’s shivering. Get into bed this instant, and we’ll join you shortly.”

Cecilia’s tone brooked no disagreement.

Once hidden under thick layers of coverlets in a comfortable bed, Elen felt more secure, more certain that she’d imagined what she’d seen in Annie’s eyes.

At least until her hostesses started undressing each other.

Friday, January 01, 2010

Goals? I had goals in 2009?

I'm still thinking about goals for the new year, but just for giggles, let's see how I did on last year's lofty goals:

Goals for 2009

Writing and Creativity

· Write something every day. Even if it’s only 250 words. Not even close. I wrote a lot, but in spurts.

· Get better about promo, but remember it’s not writing. I did indeed get more organized about promo. It's still a challenge for me, but I'm doing it. Which reminds me I have to look up the link for the website where I'm a featured author this coming week.

· Seriously investigate the cost of getting a Web site and take necessary steps to get one started. I’m way past due. It's started, but stalled because both the web guru and I got way too busy. Must get back to this.

· Find a way to have adventures and learn new things regularly. Not so much with the adventures, but I've learned to knit, learned a lot about gardening, and a lot about life, my work habits, and how to write.

· Take more pictures. I did--and I ended the year with a new camera. This year I learn to remember to do something with the pictures...


Daily Life

· Practice healthy habits, including yoga at least twice a week, regular walks, vitamins, lots of veggies and fruit.HA! I did eat lots of fruits and veggies, though, thanks to the garden.

· Meditate. Once in a while this happened.

· Plan menus, with an eye toward creativity, frugality, healthy tastiness, and less waste. This happened not as often as it should have. Overall we do pretty well with the stated goals, but the actual menu planning? Not so much.

· Expand vegetable garden. Done and to be continued!

· Preserve more seasonal foods. We have so many yummy green bean to enjoy, and even some tomatoes left. So I guess I did OK here. Not like my friend Kathie at Two Frog Home, but pretty well for a noob.



Business Practices

· *In 2009, record expenses and file things as they come in, not when you get around to it. Let's just be honest here. This did not happen.

All in all, I did better than I thought I had. Not so good with the writing consistency, but I was fairly productive nonetheless, even with working more hours and doing the garden. And thanks to Nano, I've been reminded I can be incredibly productive when I put my mind to it. (I wrote a 3000 word story and subbed it today.)

Tomorrow--new goals!