Tinsel Time

....nope, it's not Christmas. At least not here in the high desert. In fact, we're sweltering in heat, wind, and fire warnings.

But, for the last week, it's been cold and snowy and Christmasy in New York. Which is where my contemporary romantic suspense, Tinsel Time, is set.

Now, when I started outlining and writing this story, it was supposed to be about the elves hiring a body guard for Santa, getting him to the North Pole, and then getting him in bed with my heroine, Tinsel. But, darn it all, no one cooperated. Not even Santa.

But, I'm really happy with the way the story turned out. Once I get it a bit more polished, I'll post some teasers.

It was one of my days to go to the library today. I got in over 2000 words and typed THE END to the first draft. I've also been making lots of notes over the last week, so I now know what tweaks I need to make to the story to get it to gel from beginning to end. The only thing, I think I need to add a bit more sex. . . so there might be an additional scene under the tree on Christmas day (oh, la, la!)

I hope to have it polished up and submitted in time to start the BIAW challenge on Main Street at Cobblestone Press. It's to be a story of ships passing in the night. . . then wham, bam, crash, boom. . . love. . .

And somewhere in there, I want to work in one more In The Cards proposal.

Hey Santa! I know what I want for Christmas this year~ 25 hours a day, or an extra day in the week, or a clone, or...

Romance and the ever popular. . . .Lust

Blame THE Deanna Lee for this one!




Oh, and I'm over at the Novelty Girls on Sunday talking about a room to write. Stop on by!

Tarnished Tinsel

Well. . .I've been struggling with a proposal for Cobblestone's tarot card call for submissions.

So, on my weekly foray to the library, I thought I would go ahead and outline the Christmas story I was planning on writing for the BIAW challenge starting July 9th. Well, I started outlining. . . then started writing. I managed to put 2500 words on paper (well, pixels on screen) and think I could probably almost finish the first draft by the end of the weekend!

But, then, darn it all. I'll have to come up with something else to write for the BIAW challenge. Sigh.

I'll sneak in the tag line for Tarnished Tinsel:

When Santa receives death threats, the elves hire a body guard. Too bad Noel Holiday doesn't believe in Santa, elves, or love.

Mrs. Giggles on Crystal Clear

Well -- Mrs. Giggles reviewed Crystal Clear. I'll just say that she was less than impressed with my tale. You can read her review here.

Update on Word Count

Well -- my two forays to the library netted me 4800 words! A big improvement over the 500 words a day I have been managing to put in for the last few months!

I went to work today. . .

This morning, I got up doing the happy dance. Why? Because at 9 am I was going to work.

Oh, not a job, per se. But for my birthday, my hubby gave me babysitting. I have four hours, two days a week, to leave the house, go somewhere, and write.

It was heavenly.

My first stop was the local coffee house to pick up a caramel frappachino. Yummy. I sipped it in the car as I drove to the beauty shop. I treated myself to a haircut and style. Now, I was ready! Next stop was the library. I returned the books I'd read, donated a couple from daughter's room from when she cleaned, and then made my way to a study carrol at the back.

It was wonderful, quiet. . .well, until two girls stopped at a nearby table and began to study Romeo and Juliet out loud (okay, they mostly talked about boys). Then some of my neighbors stopped by to admire our new lawn (we had rocks and some landscaping installed earlier this week). Then, when checking out (hey I found a couple of books I hadn't read yet), I ran into the "Storytime Crowd" who all wanted to know where the boys were, why I was there by myself, etc. Lots of questions from the under 5 year old crowd who just couldn't believe I was there 'working".

And now, the really great part. . . I get to go back tomorrow.

Found this on Crystal Jordan's Blog

It's incredibly hot today and I missed the ice cream truck. This was the best alternative. Sigh. . .

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Are you entered?

Samhain Publishing Best First Line Contest

Thanks to inspiration from the Romance Divas and author Karin Tabke,Samhain Publishing is going to be holding a Best First Line contest on our blog (http://www.samhainpublishing.com/blog).

Starting Monday, June 4th at 8am Eastern, authors are invited to leave the first line of a previously unpublished work (of 12,000 words or more) in the comments of the Best First Line blog post. The contest is open to published and unpublished authors not currently contracted with Samhain Publishing.

On Friday, June 8th at noon Eastern, we will close the comments and no more entrants will be admitted into the contest. Only those who enter by posting on our first line contest blog post between 8:00 a.m. EST, June 4th 2007 and 12:00 Noon EST, June 8th will be eligible to participate in the first line contest.

Samhain editors will choose a group of entrants for the next round and the "winning" first lines will be posted on Monday, June 11th.

There's more info/rules on the blog~ Good luck!

Crystal Clear Hits #5 On Cobblestone's Bestseller List for May!

It's not the NY Times Bestseller List. . . but I'm tickled PINK!

Also, today (June 3rd), Cobblestone Press is holding a Contest Parade on Main Street. Pop on by. . .there's author contests galore over there. And who knows, you,too, could win a copy of MY bestselling title. . . Crystal Clear!