Seductive Suspense

2010-11-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Please visit me at my new site: www.erickascott.com/blog

The Zombies are Back and Darkness Falls

2010-04-30T15:20:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited, and on so many different levels --

First off, THE ZOMBIES ARE BACK! My current work in progress, Nevermore, started out an Urban Fantasy. However, while digging into my heroine's identity, I realized that the backstory I was researching WAS the story. I began writing and somewhere along the way, the zombie thread didn't seem to be working. There ended up being a fairly mundane explanation for the undead creature. Well, that was the FIRST draft. I'm now seven-eighths of the way through the second draft (where I make sure the back half of the story matches the front and that none of the threads have been left hanging) and amazingly, THE ZOMBIES ARE BACK in all their decomposing glory. Even better, the story works this way, the ending is much spookier, AND (this is the best part), I'm able to let the villain live to terrorize another day (or another book).

Secondly, I survived State Testing Week in all it's minimum day glory. Bored kids be damned, I even managed to get a little work done, although I won't be finished/finished with the second draft by tomorrow as I'd planned, I'm still making forward progress. Granted, three of the five school days next week are minimum days (is this some sort of conspiracy to drive parents to drink right before summer break when it's all kids/all the time?), but I'm optimistic that unless we have another viral outbreak, this book will be ready to start the submission rounds by June.

Thirdly, this blog will be going dark. What?!? No more posting, you ask. Heavens no. You know I love you more than that. I had an entire website overhaul done. The result has been to move the website and blog to WordPress. The site is stunningly gorgeous. Frauke, at CrocoDesigns, did all the work and I'm stunned with the gorgeous result. Come visit me at www.erickascott.com

For my MySpace readers, I will still be posting my blogs here, so i don't despair, the posts will still appear with alarming regularity (especially if I can figure out the RSS feed)

Oh, and I've been invited to be a weekly blogger at Written In Ink. I'll be starting there on Wednesdays in mid-May. Wow, with Monday Madness, Too True Tuesdays, and Frantic Fridays, I certainly hope I have enough to talk about on Wednesdays! LOL.

So, I'll see you "on the other side" of the internet and hopefully on a bookshelf near you soon!

Ericka

Too True Tuesday

2010-04-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

I missed posting yesterday. Why? you ask. Well, our school district has "conveniently" scheduled half-days for State Testing Week (i.e., week from hell). This has cut my writing time in less than half. Oh, and I had this brilliant plan to hire a babysitter for 3/5 days so that I could get a break. Ha...our sitter still has to work (although in HS, she's a teacher's aide at the elementary school). Today, I might be able to slip off for a few hours. Operative word is might...Drama Teen has girl friends coming over to try on dresses for an upcoming dance and I'm not sure they'll be able to adequately watch the Kinderboys while they are doing girly things (or worse, I'll come home to Kinderboys in makeup and hair curlers)

So...here's my too true Tuesday offering.

The Wiggles (that kid's television show from Down Under) has made a significant impact on our family. Oh, not in the way of education or anything...but in our vocabulary.

We eat fruit salad (chopped up whatever I can find in the fridge) every night for dinner. And every night...someone says "Can you pass the fruit salad...(pregnant pause)...yummy yummy".

Thanks Anthony, Greg, Jeff, and Murray. (smooch!)

Friday...already!?!?!

2010-04-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, this week has shot by in a blur. Seems like just yesterday it was Monday and I had hours and hours and hours of freedom from tiny tyrants. Now, it's down to just a few hours to get redlines incorporated, edit a few more pages, and get ready for "Mom, can I..." "Mom?" "Mom" "Mom"...I swear, there are days when I want to change my name.

It's especially depressing when the upcoming week is State Testing at the school. Minimum days (home by noon) and yet another excuse for the school district to not teach our children anything. What, you say. Testing is necessary, blah, blah, blah.

Testing, I say, is a waste.

Case in point...I have two kindergartners. All next week is "testing"...there is no flipping way my kids are going to be tested for 3.5 hours each day on kindergarten lessons. Instead, they will test for part of the day, watch movies for an hour or so, and maybe do a lesson or two. For Kinderboy#2, school comes easy. He was almost ready for first grade the day he stepped into the classroom back in August. For Kinderboy#1, he'll be lucky if he even completes the testing he is supposed to do. Not so much because he can't, but because without the proper motivation (rewards of toys and candy), he won't want to. I've heard the treasure boxes are fully stocked in preparation, so I have my fingers crossed he's in a cooperative mood next week.

Then there is Drama Teen. School has never come easy for her. She has some ADD issues that have been around since her kindergarten days. And as for math...well, I still count on my fingers and she inherited her math skills from me. Need I say more? She "tests" dismally...so although she can maintain A's and B's in any class except math, I'm sure her State testing won't reflect that. So, what sort of information is that going to give the bureaucrats in Sacramento? Nothing definitive, that's for sure.

If, as I suspect, there will be little to no teaching/homework at the high school level next week, I have a devious plan to get some writing done and get away from my children for a few hours. I'm going to hire Drama Teen's friend and have them co-babysit the boys while I sneak off to the library and/or Panera Bread for an hour or three at least 3 days next week. It's the only way I can think of to preserve my sanity because, oh, did I forget to tell you...the week after next is parent/teacher conferences and guess what...MINIMUM DAYS most of that week too! ACK!!!

Jeez...I wish it was Monday, last Monday....

Too True Tuesday

2010-04-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Essie over at The Accidental Mommy has once again thrown down the gauntlet to tell the truth, the whole embarrassing truth, and lots of it.

Today, because Essie knows that even though it's true, some of us might not like to own up to the topic at hand, so she's given us a multiple choice selection.

1. The best secret you ever kept from your parents
2. Worst date stories
3. Annoying Significant Other stories
4. What I wish someone would have told me before I got married

Being as my parents won't ever read my blog (my dad has Altzheimers and my mother is severely techno-challenged), I'm going to tell you about our dog.

Tucker came to live with us when he was six months old. Marriage preparations between me and Mr. Wonderful were in full swing and for her bridesmaid's gift, Drama Teen (who was then only 10) wanted a Labrador puppy like in a popular toilet paper commercial. When a "puppy" was found on the flightline at Edwards AFB where I worked at the time, I thought it was fate and adopted him (after we tried unsuccessfully to find his owner).

Then, the trouble with puppies reared it's head. I've always been a cat person (we had two of them)...I never realized puppies did chew everything, pee on everything, and chase cats. Sigh. About a year into the relationship, pee spots began appearing in odd places. On the floor, a briefcase, puddles here there and everywhere. An examination of the walls with black light revealed lots and lots of pee.

Tucker had been "chemically" fixed. The vet determined it hadn't "took" (gulp), so Tucker had the traditional cut and snip done. Problem solved, so I thought. Still, pee continued to make occasional appearances on walls and surfaces. Then about six month later, I caught Tucker peeing on the wall RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Off to the pound he went. It was a Friday evening...

Saturday, I told my mom the dog was gone and what he'd been up to. She celebrated (she doesn't much care for pets, period)

Plagued by doubts about doing the right thing all weekend, I was alarmed when I found a fresh spot of pee on Sunday. Gazing around, my eyes came to rest on our adorable, loving, male kitty. Yep...seems like Pikachu and Tucker had been having a peeing contest in the house. Unfortunately for the dog, Pikachu was sneakier.

Monday morning, I offloaded a huge lie to the staff at the shelter and brought a tramatized doggy home. Pikachu, instead, had to be re-homed. And then, later, the other cat due to a similar problem. Our house has been pee free since and I've come to realize I really do like dogs.

So, where does the lie come in?

I sortof never told my mom that we picked Tucker back up. She was so happy to see him gone, and I have this insane need for "parental approval". Needless to say, it's almost five years later...and she still doesn't know we have a dog. When she's come to visit, it's been a bit of a juggling/magic act to keep him out of the picture... And after five years, I'm really not sure how to just "fess up to the matter.

I could just cry...

2010-04-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

First off, I know this is going to sound childish...but I have to rant.

After spending Thursday with a sick child, Friday contracting the virus (although I got a bit of work done), all day Saturday sick, Sunday feeling like someone wiped the floor of a NY taxi with me, I wake up this morning to....

Kinderboy#2 with PINKEYE...AGAIN. School rules...they can't come to school until they are treated. The Dr. has called in drops...they "might" be ready for pickup around 2 pm (oh, right after school lets out...gee, thanks)

So...yet another TOTALLY unproductive day. Oh, but there's the rest of the week...right? No...tomorrow is housekeeping...they'll be here for 2-2.5 hours, ruining what little concentration I have. By then, I'll probably have another 1 to 2 children home sick. I admire people who can write in the middle of chaos, but I'm not one of them.

Oh, and just in case I DO get any work done this week...the school has state testing next week...Minimum days all week, THEN, because they don't like taking care of the kids any more than the parents do and they have the power to foist them off, they scheduled minimum days for 3/5 of the next week for "parent-teacher conferences.

I could just cry...hell, I am crying...

Felled by the Virus of Doom....

2010-04-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

And an "ah-ha" moment gone wrong

On Thursday, Kinderboy#1 came home from school with a stomach ache. The school nurse told me he'd thrown up. Then, she dropped unwelcome news into my lap (figuratively). "There's an awful virus going around. All the kids are getting it."

Friday dawned, Kinderboy#1 felt better, kidlets went off to school, all was well... yeah, that was just Fate having a good laugh at my expense.

4:58 am Saturday morning. I woke up, feeling like crud and crawled out the living room to sit in the dark, hoping the nausea and tummy ache would go away. It didn't. By 9 am, I was in full-blown sickness mode. Luckily Mr. Wonderful pitched in and ran to the store for lemon-lime full-sugar soda and various tummy ailment medications. He then took the boys out on their scooters to run around the neighborhood. When he got back, he collapsed on the sofa and gave himself over to the virus - it was noon. Drama Teen was the next to fall at 3 pm. Kinderboy#2 - 5 pm (right after he ate a huge plateful of mac & cheese - bleh)

It's now Sunday morning, it seems that most of us have recovered. Hard to tell with Drama Teen, she hasn't made her weekend appearance yet and probably won't until around noon.

Needless to say...I won't be eating Tyson Chicken Nuggets anytime in the near future. Sorry Tyson!

Sometime on Friday, I had a brilliant Ah-ha moment regarding my historical romance. Boy, would it up the tension, blah, blah, blah... it wasn't until sometime during my recovery last night that I realized the timeline is off, off, off...ten years off. So, unless I want to decrease the age of my heroine (which I am considering), I'll have to figure out what little bits and pieces I changed to "up" the tension.

I'm blaming the virus...

The Maasketeers

2010-04-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Having attended a Donald Maass workshop (back in January, remember?) -- and about to begin "the GREAT agent search of 2010", I stumbled upon this video and simply had to share.

ENJOY!!!

Too True Tuesday

2010-04-13T15:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know about other people, but I simply will not finish a book that doesn't hold my attention. I have better things to do with my time. That being said, I found some authors I won't be adding to my auto-buy books.

I recently bought some books from new to me authors. They were all "name brands" and I had hoped to open myself up to a few new series to enjoy. Now, perhaps my mistake was buying books too far into the series...but honestly, an author should be able to garner new readers with their books and not just rely on repeat buyers.

M.C. Beaton, A Spoonful of Poison -- I simply could not muster any sympathy for the nymphomanic protagonist. What made it worse is that I had the solution to the mystery figured out by Chapter 3. I think I made it almost halfway through the book before I threw it against the wall.

Stuart Woods, Shoot Him if He Runs -- This was one of those books in a series that simply didn't have enough information about the characters. When two of the characters were inexplicably having sex (I'm assuming they had some sort of history, but it was never explained adequately), it gave me pause. AND I WRITE EROTIC ROMANCE PEOPLE. Seemed like the sex was just in there gratuitously. I had my suspicions of who the bad guy was...this one, I read about 1/4 of the book, was interested enough to see how it ended, and then threw it against the wall.

Sometimes I do struggle through a book, just because. I'm not driven to solve the mystery, but something about the story keeps me limping forward.

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner was one of these books. I liked the protagonist (a bookseller). In the end, it wasn't solving the mystery that kept me slogging through the awkward shifts in POV, but the budding romantic relationship and the smattering of historical details and characters.

Social Networking Woes

2010-04-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

As if it isn't enough to write & self-edit a book, promoting one's book is also an author's duty. For those of us who are a bit shy or technologically challenged, this can be a nightmare.

I do have a myspace page, a facebook profile, and a twitter account. I try to access all of them at least once a day. For whatever reason, the Facebook account gives me the most problems. Partly because they are always "tweaking" it, much like what Drama Teen does with her recipes. Today, none of my blog feeds are going to my Facebook account. And I'm puzzled as to how I get my updates from my profile page to link to my newly created fan page without having to cut and paste. Grrr.

As if I didn't have enough to do!

I spent 3 hours at Panera Bread yesterday editing Nevermore. I'm up to page 101 on the hardcopy but haven't hit page 50 yet in the electronic version. The nice thing is that as well as taking out extraneous "telling", I'm adding words. My goal, an additional 8K. I know that later on in the book I have 2 scenes to add....and the Chapter 4 rewrite should add a chunk as well.

The worst part of this whole process is I thought I had until the end of the month to get all of the editing done...however, the school district, has once again thrown a wrench into the works. Star Testing... a whole week and a half of minimum days at the end of the month! Lordy...no wonder our children don't learn anything -- Le sigh.

Just Another Frantic Friday

2010-04-09T15:35:00.001-07:00

Wow - did this week go fast! The largest part of the issue is the Monday holiday, which caused Tuesday to be a Monday. Needless to say, I'm torn between wishing it was one more day long and being thankful that it's over.

I did get some work on Nevermore done this week. I've done a preliminary edit of Chapters 1-3 (reading it out loud, smoothing out the prose, etc.). Then I hit Chapter 4. Ouch. Now, I knew it had issues... During the Donald Maass workshop in January, it was the scene that I worked on during the workshop. However, despite all that, it still needed help. Help came in the form of a "eureka" moment weeks ago. At about 4:30 in the morning, I suddenly realized what my hero's "motivation" is. Now, I had a motivation to begin with -- and I'll still be using it as a sub-plot, but I now have his main motivation AND, even better, a way to tie the zombie issue in a bit stronger.

Amazingly, instead of being thrilled to bits to get my feet wet in editing and changing the manuscript, I've found that I'm dragging me feet. Why?

Fear.

Yep. Even with over 30 short stories, 18 novellas, and two full-length novels under my belt (figuratively), I am afraid to finish this novel. Why? Well, mostly it's because I *think* this is, to date, the BEST thing I've ever written. THE BEST. It's not only a story from my heart but it fits commercial expectations of the genre. But, what if I'm just biased? What if I send it out to agents and publishers and it's not as good as I think it is? Worse, what if it sucks? I don't want to send my manuscript out with high expectations of finally catching that elusive agent/NY contract, only to have my dreams dashed.

Yet, if I don't finish it, polish it, send it out -- I'll never know.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

As for the family -- let's just say that everything went pretty well this week. Drama Teen forgot her change of clothes for picture day AND her PT clothes for ROTC today. But that's okay...I had to make a trip out to the school campus anyway since one of my sons, I shouldn't have to tell you it's Kinderboy#1, put his foot in the toilet at school because his friend told him to and I had to run a change of pants to the school. Only pants, you ask? Yep, because, of course, my little RADish lied and said he slipped and fell in a puddle of pee in the bathroom without letting the office ladies know that he had a soggy shoe and sock as well as pant leg. Sigh.

Kinderboy#2, well, he's just anxiously awaiting the arrival of the ice cream truck...

Too True Tuesday

2010-04-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

What to post, what to post, what to post...???....
Oh! You're there! Sorry about that.

It's been a Tuesday disguised as a Monday around here, and I'm still scrambling to catch up. Last week, Essie, the Accidental Mommy was talking about the list. You know, the one discussed on the show "Friends" years ago. Five people, who if they walked into your life, could sweep you off your feet and out of your marital bed. I guess the idea is that Mr. Wonderful would turn a blind eye, because it would only be for one time, never repeated, blah, blah, blah.

My list is very, very short. I can't come up with five...only two.

Keanu Reeves (smooch)
Lou Diamond Phillips (swoon)

Mystical, Manical Monday

2010-04-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

Well, let's just say that I'm really not happy with the school district. Who's bright idea was it to give the kids a holiday on the Friday before Spring Break AND the Monday after? Who? Do they not realize that eleven days is too long for the kids to be off school, especially as I just got all of them BACK to school after a horrible winter of illnesses. To top it off, we went camping, and guess what? Two of the kids in the other family were ill! They holed up in their RV, but still....I'm holding my breath, wondering what tomorrow will bring...

We had a great time at the beach. Yes, the beach in April. It was a bit cold and blustery, especially at night, but the days were gorgeous and warm. We took a day trip to Solvang and ate Danish-type food, shopped, and rode a 4-person bicycle around town. My legs are still protesting.

Granny sent the kids money for Easter. Mr. Wonderful, because he really is the coolest Dad in the world and the most caring and considerate father, took the boys to Toys R Us to spend their moola after dinner. Yeah, it's a school night but I enforced a nap this afternoon. We'll be lucky to get their squirmy butts into bed by nine o'clock anyway.

Drama Teen, with her totally mad time management skills, waited until this afternoon to do ALL of the homework assigned for Spring Break. She did manage to get it all done and is now working on her hair for tomorrow. I'm assuming that indicated that she has the intention of getting up in the morning and going to school.

Writing, you ask. Yes, I dragged my book to the beach...it sat in the backpack the entire time. Needless to say, I really am looking forward to cracking the binding, so to speak, and editing it over the next few weeks. My goal is to start subbing it out to agents in May.

My Big Cat Shifter story got put on hold. Spring Break intervened (grumble, grumble, grumble) and honestly, I've realized that I'm not James Patterson...I simply cannot work on more than one book at a time. But I will work on my ONE book this coming week (germs allowing).

Too True Tuesday

2010-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm writing my post on Monday evening as we have a trip planned to the eighth level of hell tomorrow. Where is that, you ask? Chuck E. Cheese's, of course.

As the weather gets warmer, I'm instituting a new Tuesday rule in our house.

No TV Tuesday.

We'll see how long I can survive without the boob tube for kid anesthesia.

Spring into Spring with an Easter Egg Hunt!

2010-03-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air and we invite you to join us on an Easter egg hunt.

You can find complete information here: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/promo.htm

There are a total of TEN sets of prizes shared between the sites - and prizes include: $25 Amazon or BN.com Gift Certificate, publisher GCs, eBooks, autographed books, tote bags, Easter baskets filled with goodies, T-Shirts so much more!

It's easy to enter. Each of our author sponsors has hidden an egg on their site -- you earn one entry for every egg you find!

I've donated a $10 gift certificate from Lyrical Press. So, hop on over and start collecting those eggs! Good luck!

Too True Tuesday

2010-03-23T16:01:00.001-07:00

Essie, the Accidental Mommy, didn't do a too true Tuesday challenge this week. So, I'm pretty much on my own. Hmmmm...

Today's will be an easy one.

My favorite flavor of M&Ms (especially the speckled Easter egg-shaped ones)is....Peanut Butter!

Mystical, Magical Monday

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever spent THREE WHOLE HOURS in Target? We did, yesterday. That's what we get for doing a family shopping trip. Everyone needed things (okay, I just *wanted* colored filed folders for my writing stuff) but Drama Teen needed new tennis shoes, Kinderboys needed new socks (theirs are always in holes), even hubby was shopping for a calendar/planner. He's picky and frugal (C-H-E-A-P, that spells frugal). He found a Franklin Covey planner that *might* be just perfect, but...it's $130 (I don't blame him, I don't think I'd spend that much money on a calendar). The $20 planners at Target/Staples/Walmart/Online have been calling for him to do some comparisons. So, we spent some time in the office supplies and then just meandered through the store enjoying our popcorn, sodas and together time. There were no temper tantrums, no fits, no....nothing. It was wonderful!

I spent most of the weekend not writing but doing craft-improving things...reading, reading, and more reading. Most of the reading was focused on writing-related articles; however, I took out a little time to enjoy Plum Spooky, by Janet Evanovich. Research, I tell you. It's all research!

After having had ill people in the house for a total of four weeks and being ill myself for almost two weeks of that time, the sun came out a couple of days ago and I think it's here to stay! Wahoo! I woke up still a little pink around the edges of my eyes but tossed in my contact lenses anyway. Then, despite the fact that I didn't want to, I went for a walk. Not my 2-mile version, but put in a little over a mile and am feeling darn spunky.

With that...I'm off to write. I have 14K to pound out in 9 days. I think I can, I think I can (even with spring break fast approaching)...then, I'm gonna print off my historical romance (working title Nevermore) and take it camping with me. I plan on editing the historical while the Big Cat shifter "cooks", the same way Nevermore has been simmering. This method is just an experiment on my part...I'm honestly not sure this is the way I *can* write, as my historical novel keeps bumping elbows with the shifter story in my mind (picture two kids in the backseat of the car shrieking "he touched me" and "he looked at me funny" at inconvenient times). I may end up being a one-story-at-a-time kind of gal. Which is okay too. Because you know there's only one rule a writer has to follow and that is:

To Write!

TGI Friday Update

2010-03-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've got five minutes to blog before I have to dash to the high school to pick up Drama Teen. The rest of the afternoon will be spent waiting for the arrival of the ice cream truck, which, quite honestly, is about all I can muster the energy for.

I'm almost well again, except for my eyes. Being nearly blind, I hate wearing glasses. I've worn contacts since I was 16...so to be sentenced to wearing frames on my face for a week has been miserable. I'm not vain, but I feel downright dowdy and old in glasses.

Spring has sprung here in the High Desert. Night time temperatures have been in the high 30's and daytime temps have hit the upper 70s. Gorgeous sunlight! I'm excited to be able to tote my Alphasmart out to the patio and write in the evenings. Especially since Mr. Wonderful has been taking the boys out to ride their bicycles after dinner.

I've been doing the happy dance all week as I got an offer from for one of my books. I'll make a full announcement when I have a few more details about the when and where to share.

Now, I have to get back to writing the Big Cat shifter I'm striving to have written by the end of the month. In April, I will start hitting edits for my historical romance -- I'm hoping to start shopping it around in May. I'm hoping that by alternating writing and editing, it will give me a little more distance from the book and help me be a bit more ruthless in editing.

Too True Tuesday

2010-03-16T15:39:00.001-07:00

Yep, I know you've been anxiously waiting for this post. Essie over at the Accidental Mommy has thrown out the gauntlet again this week to 'fess up to our secret indulgences...those things you would give up everything except chocolate to have. In fact, in order to keep these two things, I'd seriously consider going to boot camp.

Diet Pepsi. I was never a coffee drinker, but in college, developed a strong addiction to soft drinks. Then, I went to work for Frito-Lay for 5 years. The result, I simply cannot live without Diet Pepsi. When we went to Guatemala to pick up the boys, I had to subsist on Diet Coke. I lived...barely. Our trips to Canada and Sweden introduced me to Pepsi Light. I'm just hoping that if we troop off to Egypt next year that they, too, will have unlimited sugar-free Pepsi products for my consumption. If not...well, I won't NOT go, but I'll be grouchy until I get my hands around an ice cold can...

The next is books. Books, books, more books. Yes, it's true, I have heard that there are places they call libraries where I can pick up books to read for free. And I do...but honestly, they never have the exact titles I want when I want them. B&N.com, Amazon.com...one click of the mouse and voila, I can have books sent to the house. Even better, e-books. One click of the mouse and "poof", they are right there for my eager eyes to devour.

Heaven is a Diet Pepsi and a book.

What about you? What's your secret indulgence? 'Fess up, you know you want to.

Pretty in Pink

2010-03-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Got up this morning to pandemonium. Drama Teen got herself up, hurraye, hurraye. Kinderboy #2 awoke complaining of a sore throat. A glance at his tonsils determined that he needed another trip to the Dr. Unfortunately, having just come off antibiotics, they weren't willing to dish out any more to him. So, grape chloroseptic for kids it is. He was home all day (can you hear the despair in my typing?).

I'm bright-eyed...unfortunately, my eyes are bright PINK. Yep. So, I, too, went to the doctor to get eye drops. No sign of improvement yet...hopefully by morning (fingers crossed).

The case of the gift has gotten more complex, convoluted, and confusing. I figure my daughter will be lucky if ANYTHING arrives for her. Supposedly Ex- canceled the gift to be delivered today, then, told me that UPS called for an address...so does that mean it's back on??? And the replacement gift that he purchased (because the first one was canceled) was supposed to just be a gift card (to arrive in the mail), but he supposedly canceled that as well and bought her a Jr. Drum Set (we suspect the first gift is a Jr. Drum Set as well). The problem...Drama Teen is 16 years old and the Jr. Drum Sets are geared toward children 10 and under. Hmmmm.... even if the gifts do get here (I'm not holding my breath), they won't be age appropriate. Thankfully, she's taken this in stride and doesn't seem too bothered one way or the other).

Drama Teen has a good heart...she was concerned for the Ex- and his wife that they were spending money they didn't have. So she convinced Mr. Wonderful to give the caged cobra (Ex-'s wife) a call to make sure she was cognizant of all the $ being spent on gifts, as from her experience, there was often a lack of communication that resulted in fighting over expenditures. For the heads up, Mr. Wonderful got an earful of spite and was told to mind his own business. Luckily, he, too, took all of that in stride.

The best part of the situation...it's all MY fault. I'm just amazed that without any effort at all on my part, I can screw up things 2000 miles away. Am I good or am I GOOD?

The Attack of the Virus and/or Dismal Word Counts

2010-03-12T11:10:00.001-08:00

Despite this being week 2 of sickness, only one person in the family seems to have fully recovered. That's the child who brought it home and gave it to everyone. Doesn't seem fair, does it?

As a result, everyone has been dragging, sniffling, coughing, sneezing, medicating, coughing some more... I had the Lysol spray out this morning treating doorknobs and other surfaces, hoping to kill off some of those germs. I figure anything will help.

My word count has been dismal. I'm participating in the write a book in a month challenge hosted by Deanna Lee at Cobblestone Press. Luckily I'm just writing a tryst. I'm 3400 words into a 15K novella. If I can stop coughing and/or blowing my nose, I should be able to spit out 12K more by the 31st.

Writer's are people too...we all have lives outside of the books we write, some lives may be idyllic and some fraught with pitfalls. My major pain in the butt is an ex-husband. Drama Teen is the child from that union...I've posted her a little about her troubles with her bio dad and his new wife. For the past 1.5 years, things have been more than a little rocky with them. Just this past week, I made an appointment with an attorney to see what needs to be done to clarify some of the child custody terms and make them more favorable to our sixteen year old daughter being able to make the decision of when and where to see him.

I wrote a huge open letter to him this morning, just to get a few things out in the open. I probably won't ever mail it. He doesn't have "the time" to read "drivel" from me, and honestly, I just needed to get the words on paper so they were no longer jumping around in my head, competing for attention with my WIP. However, I thought this last part was simply too witty (and true) for it to go to waste. So, for your entertainment, I'll post it here...

To my ex-husband --

You have called for the past two mornings, not to talk to our daughter but to ask ME a favor. What about the word EX-WIFE do you not understand? What burns me the most is NOT you trying to charm our daughter with flowers and gifts. Hell, I expect that. However, did you HONESTLY think I was going to be an accomplice in getting you back into our daughter's good graces? You screwed up the relationship, you need to make it right.

So, you mailed her a package and put the wrong address on it? Do you HONESTLY think I'm going to fix the problem to make YOU, the looser dead beat ex-husband, look like a hero? SNORT. I don't think so!

UPDATE: The story gets EVEN better. When he first called yesterday, the Ex- reeled off the tracking number to Mr. Wonderful who scrawled it down on a post-it note. After we discussed our non-action on the issue, we discarded the post-it (trash pickup was about 9 am this morning). About noon today, I get another call from the ex-. He needs the routing number of the gift HE SENT through UPS so that he can change the delivery address. Could we please let him know what it is? WTF!?! You ordered it...why don't you have the tracking number? Repeat, what about EX-WIFE do you not understand????

Now, in case you're wondering, this man, my ex-, will be 50 years old in a few weeks. A half a century of ineptitude. Where is Darwin when you need him?

Too True Tuesday

2010-03-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Once again, I missed my Monday blog due to illness. This time, mine. Yep, I've succumbed to the virus my family insisted upon sharing with me. Good thing they are "mostly" well, so I can stay home and rest.

I've been making coffin jokes...don't need a fancy one, or it'll only cost the price of a shovel to bury me, etc... Which brought to mind today's too true fact about me.

Do NOT bury me in socks!

I don't sleep in socks...so if I'm heading for eternal rest, don't put socks on my feet.

Friday's Frantic Family Update

2010-03-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Remember last Friday, when I was soooo looking forward to Monday. This is one of those times when if I'd known what was in store for me, I'd have run away to Las Vegas for a week, or two.

Saturday, Ed took kidlets to the movies, everyone felt fine and dandy (well, except Drama Teen who still had lots of pain from her angio Seal/angiogram). Sunday, the first inkling that things weren't "right" began to rear their ugly head. Mr. Wonderful was dead tired. He's been fighting a cold for weeks and just never getting better. Then, on Monday, Kinderboy #2 had pink eye. I used Kinderboy#1's drops while I waited for his prescription. Kinderboy#2 also had a cough from the souls of his shoes, a headache, and an earache. By Tuesday, so did Drama Teen and Mr. Wonderful. A trip to urgent care set us up with all sort of medications. Kinderboy#2 started feeling better, even Drama Teen's eyes have finally started to clear up (we were late starting her drops because she's allergic to "everything" and needed to make sure her face wouldn't swell up if we used the boys drops. Ends up, that's all that was needed.

Wednesday night, I had my first oh-oh of symptoms. A cough that dug so deep I thought I'd spill my dinner. Woke up Thursday with a sore throat, ear ache, headache, congestion, etc. Just in time for everyone else to feel well...yippeee!

I'm blogging over at the Lyrical Press blog today about something...not sure what as it's still early yet. Perhaps I'll address the issue of how to write and meet deadlines when you feel like a zombie.

Too True Tuesday

2010-03-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

If you missed my post on Monday, there wasn't one. 3 out of 5 of our family members have pink eye, ear aches, sore throats, runny noses, and...and...and.... I'm one of the lucky ones who isn't sick, the other one is only 6 years old. Guess you don't have to wonder who's been dispensing medicine, tissues, and lots of love. I didn't get any writing done either...but that's okay because the book is FINISHED. Well, it's out with critique partners and put away for a month while I tackle a book in a month challenge at Cobblestone Press (can you say erotic big cat shifters???) Luckily, I can plot and be a mom simultaneously (sort of).

Essie, the accidental mommy, has thrown down the gauntlet for us to reveal to the world our compulsive/obsessive habits. The ones that enable society to exist and keep us from sliding into a horror even Stephen King couldn't contemplate (Dean Koontz, now, maybe he could envision my sort of horror -- read Relentless).

My obsession came along long before I was an author, but I didn't "own" it (i.e., I lived by myself and no one else noticed) until I was an author.

I check.my.inbox, um, constantly. Even when I'm writing, surfing the net, chasing spiders... my e-mail is open on my desktop. I've tried to turn it off when I write, but curiosity drives me to open it every one to five minutes. I found I spent more time typing in my virtually unbreakable password (which is near to impossible to type correctly the first time), every time I *had* to check my e-mail. So, it stays open so that I can see what has dropped into my inbox.

I'm also right on top of collecting phone messages & mail.

Now, the door? Someone else can answer that puppy, because I'll tell you, no editor/agent is going to come to my house, so I know whoever is standing on the steps is either Jehovah's Witness or for the kids.

So, do you have any obsessive/compulsive drive you'd like to share?

Friday already????

2010-02-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy, crazy week. Monday was pretty typical. The kids went to school, everything was great. Then, Tuesday came.

Drama Teen had a follow up angiogram at Loma Linda to evaluate her aneurysm. Is it blocked (fingers crossed that it is), has any titanium shifted (fingers crossed that it hasn't). When we were all caught up in the aneurysm scare, I looked at the angiogram as a blessing. It was a way to get a glimpse in there and find out what was needed to fix that bulging vessel. So, I've been amazed at my reaction to this last (hopefully last forever) angiogram.

It was at a new hospital (Loma Linda versus UCLA) although our beloved neurosurgeon, Dr. Nestor Gonzales, was in contact with the doctor performing it. It also took all freaking day. The appt was to have been at 10:30 but she didn't go in for the procedure until 1:30, was out at 3:30. I was prepared for a 5-hour lay flat period. Mr. Wonderful called at 6:30 saying they were being released (can you hear the screetching brake sound I made?) They pierced the femoral artery and they are letting her go now????

After some checking, we discovered that they were using a new type of seal for the artery. I made the mistake of Googling it. Damn scary. Now, I'm sure that the old sandbag/lay flat method is just as dangerous, but I hadn't googled that and didn't know. So, Damn!

They got back late and she was white as a sheet. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well at that night. I think I was up every half hour alternating with Mr. Wonderful, also up every half hour. That she got any sleep was a wonder. We also weren't prepared for the pain of this new closure. Before, it looked awful (bruising up the wazoo) but it didn't hurt. This Angio Seal hurts. So, instead of a quick recovery (used to be a couple of days of laying around and then she'd forget about the procedure)....she's been down for the count. Bruising, swelling, and general malaise. Instead of an decreased recovery time, it's been days longer. Yeah, it's great for the hospital. They get the patients "out" in a few hours instead of most of the day...however, the recovery time just gets pushed off onto the patient at home.

On Wednesday, Kinderboy#1 went to school and immediately came home with pink eye. I don't know if I just didn't notice the crusty eye because my own eyes were barely open or what. The drops have cleared it up noticeably and he went back to school on Thursday.

Yesterday, Kinderboy#2 got off the bus with his performance slip. He gets one every day that gives me an accounting of how good (or bad) he was at school. Oddly, a red pen had marked a "not good/not bad" block stating that he'd had trouble listening and had interrupted the class. But, the "Excellent" box had also been checked. Hmmmmm. Interrogation by me elicited that Kinderboy#1 had been coerced into marking that block for Kinder#2. Shouldn't that mean that Kinder#1 would get in trouble. Um, no... So, after an hour or so of crying and saying "sorry", I'm pretty sure Kinderboy#2 won't be pulling that stunt again.

As for me...I'm gonna be glad when it's Monday and they all go back to school, especially as it's going to rain most of the weekend and I've still got a bit to go on polishing up my work in progress. I'm still loving the story and I'm going to be a bit sorry to see it go. I'd be sad, but I know that I'll fall deeply in love with the next one, too, and I'm just a bit excited that I'll be meeting it soon.

Totally True Tuesday

2010-02-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

Here it is, your tidbit of the week:

My mother raised me to believe that five minutes early is "on time". As such, I stress about arriving a few minutes late for any appointment. But, today, was my personal best for being early. One day...yep, a full 24-hours early.

ARRRRGGGHHHH!

TGI Monday

2010-02-22T13:09:00.001-08:00

I am certainly glad to see Monday come, although the weekend was a good one. Saturday, we didn't do much. Just the usual cleaning, playing, and entertaining bored kids. Sunday was our Wedding Anniversary. Six years (don't ask why 2 out of 3 of our kids are older than our marriage -- it's one of those long, complex, blended family sagas) and they've been the best ones of my life. To celebrate, we went shopping. I know that sounds a little weird, but we don't often get time "alone" and this way, we got a weekend errand done AND got to actually talk to each other. After the household stuff, we went looking for a new chair for me.

Since I spend so much time with my butt parked in one, we decided the wicker rocker that wasn't good for anyone's back or legs, needed to retire and we'd get a proper computer desk chair. After lots of sitting, and shopping, and more sitting, we picked one out. But, guess what? They didn't have it in stock.

Grrr... luckily, there are two business supply stores in the area and the other one had two chairs in stock. So, we ditched our first set of dinner plans (Black Angus) to drive to Palmdale and pick up the chair. Proximity and time pretty much dictated our choice of dinner to a local Indian restaurant. Curry for our anniversary? Worked for both of us! Then, home to rescue Drama Teen and her friend, who were co-babysitting the boys (and devouring pizza, wings, and cheesy bread).

I was thrilled to send the whole crew out of the house this morning and dive into my editing cave. I'm taking a finished first draft deeper, adding details, characterizations, and fleshing out my characters. Honestly, this is the most fun I've ever had editing before. I have Donald Maass to thank for this...his workshop opened up new horizons for adding tension to not only the manuscript in total, but to individual pages, paragraphs, and even lines. Let's just hope it pays off in the sale of this story!

Frantic Friday Update

2010-02-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I love my children, I love them more when they are at school or asleep (or playing at a neighbor's house -- can you spot the trend there?). Despite it having been a short week, it's gone relatively well.

Drama Teen has had issues with her bio dad for over a year now. She's 17 months shy of 18 and anticipating that once she's passed that magical landmark, he will have nothing more to do with her. Honestly, I fear that, too. He threatens it often enough. Sad that the person who is "supposed" to love you repeatedly talks about rejecting you. Yes, this is why she's in therapy to improve her self-esteem -- grrr...

The Kinderboys have had a relatively good week. They've both earned ice cream...too bad it's supposed to rain tomorrow (another grrrr). Good thing we have a local Foster's Freeze (or, if I can get my act together, I might head into town and stop by Cold Stones -- can you say YUMMY!!!)

Kinderboy#1, our RADish, has been having trouble with the word 'No;. It's his automatic answer to any question (just to be contrary). Needless to say, he's missed out on some good snacks and one night's dinner because he didn't listen to the question. He begs for a second chance, but after the first couple of times giving him another shot at it (and still having him sabotage himself), we've run out of seconds. He's also having trouble *hearing* the word No, but I don't think that's RADish, just kidlike.

Kinderboy#2 is growing up W-A-Y too fast. I'm so glad that out of all my children I got one snuggler. Even now, he'll curl up in my lap right before bed, snuggling in just like a baby. I get tears in my eyes thinking that by next year, he'll probably be too mature to want to be rocked for a few minutes. Where does the time go?

Speaking of which, Sunday is my wedding anniversary. It's been six years of nearly married bliss. He's buying me a new computer chair for my gift...even better, we'll get a whole afternoon of shopping for a chair and a gift for him and then dinner after, without the kids! Wooowwweeee!

I'm running through self-edits on my finally finished historical (remember, the one I was *never* going to write?). Now that the "story" is written, I'm having a blast layering in nineteenth century details, slang, and fleshing out my characters. I look back on when I first started writing this book a few short months ago and marvel, wow, have my hero and heroine grown! Still, I'll be glad when I'm ready to send them out into the cold harsh world of publication. I have high hopes for their success, and I'm already thinking about my next book. It's one of those stories that pops into your head almost fully formed (thank you Madam Muse). I just have to get it from my brain to my fingers and then on to paper.

Too True Tuesday

2010-02-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm counting down the days until Drama Teen turns 18. Not because then she'll be a grownup, but because after that date, I can block my ex-husband's phone number from our home and never have to speak to him again.

Sounds like a case of bad attitude on my part? You'd change your mind if you ever met him.

Monday Marathon

2010-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

Wow -- I forgot to do my too true Tuesday and my frantic Friday updates...mostly because there really wasn't anything all that memorable to write about. We saw Tooth Fairy (cute movie) on Monday, the kids finally went back to school on Tuesday (with a half-day break on Wednesday), and in between all of that I have been writing. And writing, and writing, and writing. My word count has been over 1500 words per day (my average is 500).

I can't seem to get the scenes from my head to the paper fast enough. Needless to say...I love it when this happens. It's almost as if I'm channeling the story. But I know the basis of the tale is coming from inside me. I've been dreaming about my characters, envisioning scenes while I'm driving the car, walking, picking up kids from the bus, taking a shower... the story seems to have taken over my life.

Now, this occasionally happens when I'm writing...but never to this extent. This particular tale has been dominating everything. I've managed to keep the household running...just. I have two, perhaps three scenes left to write for the first draft and my mind has been working overtime, reminding me of things I need to add, details/layering, and I have pages of notes to myself for things to correct in the second draft (already). To say I'm passionate about this particular story might be an understatement!

Valentine's Day was lovely. Gorgeous weather and I got to do some preliminary shopping for my wedding anniversary present (I'm hinting for a new desk chair, since my old one is in sad shape and I spend so much time with my butt planted in it.) Today, we're celebrating President's Day. Mr. Wonderful is feeling better (he's been fighting a cold all weekend) and has taken the boys to the park to feed the ducks. Drama Teen is tackling homework, so, I'm gonna cut this blog post short and bop on over to Word and write one more scene today.

The Darker Side of Valentine's Day

2010-02-08T06:00:00.001-08:00

I should'a been writing...instead, I'm giving you a free read! Happy Valentine's Day and Enjoy!

As you know, I write seductive suspense and often my writing focuses on the dark side of life. Murder, mayhem, magick, ghosts, goblins, and even a zombie or two, they are all fodder to my imagination and my keyboard.

When I was single, I dreaded Valentine's Day. But thinking about it, that yearly visit from Cupid isn't only dreaded by singletons, but also by those unhappily married.

Take a peek at how the men of one family solve Cupid's mistakes in A Family Tradition.

Flippin' it off Friday

2010-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

I had Drama Teen home sick two days this week, and Kinderboy#2 two days...only one of those days coincided (Thursday, actually today, since I'm writing this post early in hopes of not having to do anything more than park my butt in a chair on Friday and bang out over 2000 words). Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit failed by the school system. Why? Because next week on Monday is a holiday and to add insult to injury, Wednesday is a minimum day. Listen, I love my kids. I would give my life for my kids. Too bad sick, whiny kids don't want your life, they want every waking moment of your life to be spent getting them drinks, tissues, food, more drinks, more tissues, more food (can you see the pattern developing here?)

And, if the sick, whiny ones weren't enough, I have Kinderboy#1. His play therapist asked how things were going and I unloaded on her. How he wouldn't get dressed on Friday and nearly went out the door with a coat on over his birthday suit to school. And how on Monday, he was soliciting the playground guards to take him home because his house had burned down and his whole family was dead. Thank goodness Kinderboy#2 was playing happily on the playground, evidence to the lie. Then, on Tuesday morning, after he asked me several times if his shoes were on the right foot (no, they weren't) and after deliberately putting his shoes on the wrong feet several times, I asked him why he always wanted Mommy to wear her frustrated face. I told him I didn't like wearing the face, why did he go out of his way to put it on my face. He said it was because I was an evil witch.

Now, I'm a firm believer that parents aren't a child's friend. And I've been the target of quite a few "I hate you's" and slammed doors. But, the way that he delivered it was calm. He likes me to wear that horrible frustrated face because it proves his belief that I'm an evil witch. It was a "kick him to the curb" moment for me. If he had been eighteen, I'd have packed his clothes, changed the locks, and told him "sayonara, have a good life." Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it), he's only 6. I think the therapist got a sense of my desperation and she's going to mix up the therapy a bit to give me some support.

Thursday, this morning remember, since I'm writing this early, started out much the same. Two sick kiddos and Kinderboy#1 doing his best to punch my buttons. I refused to take the bait. I put his clothes out for him, refused to let my husband insist that he talk to me instead of whispering in hubby's ear when I'd asked him a question. It's just so not worth engaging at this point. Intellectually, I understand RAD, emotionally, it hurts.

So, yes, Thursday he went to school with his pants on backwards and if the kids made fun of him, so be it.

Needless to say, I'm sooo not looking forward to the long weekend. On a brighter note, my hubby (Mr. Wonderful) has promised me dinner with my Alphasmart tonight (Friday) at Panera Bread and possibly a nice long stint at the library on Saturday afternoon. This book may get done yet...with or without the school's cooperation.

Too True Tuesday

2010-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Essie, The Accidental Mommy, who's blog I stalk religiously 'cause she's funny, informative, and did I say funny?, has thrown out the gauntlet to confess our most shameful listening habit.

What music do I have on my IPOD that I'm embarrassed to admit to. Hmmmm...Now, I do have a Barney CD on my IPOD, but that's for the boys (really!). What I do have is a lose weight hypnotism session. I paid a small fortune for it one night when I couldn't sleep and got hooked into watching an informercial. Yes, I dialed the 1-800 number and waited anxiously until it came in the mail. Does it work? I haven't a clue. The session takes about 40 minutes for the first session which you are supposed to do daily for about a week. I don't think I've had 40 minutes to myself on consecutive days (when I'm not banging out my word count or shopping, or....). I tried using it a couple of times right after dinner, or right before bed, but my children are psychically attached to me. If they are home and I endeavor to exclusively use my brain cells for something selfish like reading or trying to lose weight, someone throws up, breaks something, clamors for attention, etc. I thought maybe, just maybe, this year I would give it a try right after lunch and before the yobs come home from school. In fact, I thought, oh, I'll try that today....well, best laid plans and all, I have one child home sick from school. See...it's that psychic connection thingy going on.

So, lots of money wasted... but I swear, I will listen to it and lose weight...one day....

TGIF....

2010-01-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

What do you mean it's Saturday already???

The week whizzed by, rather like a deadline, and all I heard was the whooshing sound it made. My excuse is that I'm running behind because of being gone all last weekend. Usually, on Saturday I make a meal plan for the upcoming week, plan my grocery list, shop... (gee, that sounds so organized). Needless to say, last week, it didn't get done.

I meant to do it on Monday, but I desperately begrudge having to give up any of my writing time for mundane housework. I write from about nine to noon on weekdays. Laundry I'll throw in and move around, but I don't fold it until kids go home. So, I didn't go shopping. On Tuesday, I had good intentions to clean out the car while the maids were here disrupting my schedule. It rained...so the car didn't get cleaned. Wednesday....well, you get the picture...housework/shopping/etc. just wasn't happening this week.

On Thursday, Drama Teen finally had her 1 year checkup of her brain surgery. I picked up the films (CDs really, although they still called them "films") and the reports. I could tell right off the bat that the test the insurance company had assured us was equivalent to the more expensive one the physician had ordered wasn't adequate. There was far too much discussion by the physician about not being able to make things out because of the scatter caused by the titanium wires blocking the aneurysm. Duh. Bad enough that we had to pay out of pocket to see the original neurosurgeon simply because his group had fallen off the in-network provider list and been replaced by an equally good group. Yes, the new group is as good...but the Dr. had never seen my daughter before. We wanted the surgeon who had done the surgery to see her for the first follow up. Two appeals later, we lost. Thank goodness we have a medical reimbursement fund through my husband's work. Lessens the blow to the pocketbook a little. AND, poor Drama Teen should still have the more expensive and intrusive test (a CT with angiography) done. Other than that, she got a clean bill of health.

And then, to top off the week, I subbed an online pitch to a literary agent for one of my books. They requested a full manuscript! Only thing, it needs a little more work before I send it off. Nothing like a deadline to set a fire under your bum! I know what I'm gonna be doing next week~

Major Squee!

2010-01-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Crisscross won a Favorite Book Reviewed in 2009 award at Romance Book Scene. What a thrill!!

Too True Tuesday

2010-01-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

Given the opportunity to go out or stay at home...I usually opt for staying at home UNLESS going out involves camping.

Now, I never camped growing up. My family seldom took vacations. My dad was in the military so we moved...a lot. There was never much need to take a vacation because about every two years we got to pull up stakes and live somewhere new.

When I first met my now-husband, we became friends first. I dragged him to movies, company picnics, the fair, all just as friends. So, when we first developed an interest in each other, he invited me to go camping. What I didn't know is that it was a TEST. Yep, one of those infamous trials that men subject women to in order to determine if they are "the one"....

So, we went camping. I loved it...so much so that I invited myself to go along on the next outing (the following week). Used to be, we'd go camping four or so times a year. That dropped off once the boys came home...it's much harder to camp with babies. However, now that they've grown up, we've been going more often. I just booked a trip to one of the state beaches over Spring Break and we're talking about a week-long road trip to Oregon this summer.

I may look like a girly-girl, but there's some pioneer spirit buried in there somewhere.

Donald Maass Workshop Recap

2010-01-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

All I can say is wowza (or, in his words...DUDE!) What an incredible day! Eight hours of writing information, networking, and spending time with people who "get" it (the writing life, that is).

I took 15 pages of notes and came back to the room last night, enthused. Wasn't able to write a word as my mind was simply too full of information that still needed to be process and absorbed. So, I read a little bit instead. However, this morning, I woke up early and banged out over 1K before I packed my suitcase. Now, it's time for the long drive back home. I have Pirate Latitudes to keep me company on audiobook and if I run out of that, I have Angels by Marian Keyes downloaded as well. I checked out the first of the Walsh girls' stories (Anyone Out There?) on audiobook from the library. Even my hubby (who is also a big audiobook fan) loved, loved, loved the characters. Especially Mum Walsh. I'm hoping she makes an appearance in this book and I also hope the mystery of who Anna married is solved at some part during the series (the sooner the better, but I understand if the author leaves me hanging. Okay, no, I won't. I'll hate it...hate her for keeping me in the dark, but I will buy her next book. Sigh)

Anyway....I'm posting this early - Sunday-, so don't expect a Monday post this week...I'll be writing on my WIP instead!

So, hope you had a fantabulous weekend. I surely did.

Too True Tuesday

2010-01-19T11:06:00.001-08:00

As promised, here's one little nugget of trueness about yours truly that may (or may not) come as a surprise. Although I have a near legendary sweet tooth, I do not like ice cream. Now, the toppings. I could live on hot fudge...caramel...strawberry....you name it, I love it. It's just too bad the "toppings" have to accompany ice cream.

Unrealistic Expectations

2010-01-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

Back in the summer, when I was thinking about the freedom I'd have once the kids went back to school has now settled into the reality.

I had thought I'd have five full, productive days to write. I pictured myself sitting down at 8:30 and writing until noon or so. Ha. It was a lovely dream. The reality set in with a thump. Since the kids have gone back to school in August, I think I've only had one or two "full" weeks to write. Holidays, minimum days, sick days, and the endless round of IEP meetings for one of my sons has whittled away at my productivity. Yesterday, I wrote 6 words. Yep...but it was a Sunday. I thought I would have the opportunity to get out of the house and go somewhere quiet to write. My husband beat me to it and took the boys out...leaving me with Drama Teen. Yes, theoretically, we could leave Drama Teen alone. She's sixteen and perfectly capable of sitting in front of the television and allowing her brain cells to wilt. Unfortunately, she doesn't "want" to do it alone. I mentioned leaving for Panera Bread and she brightened and wanted to go with me. Um...the point is to "get away"... it's not as if she would have anything to "do" there. The argument made sense to me, but not to her. In the end, it was easier to just stay home and get some busy work done. I backed up my files, finished a critique for a friend's WIP (jj Keller...if you haven't read her latest, Undercover Housewife, you are missing out. Do yourself a favor and hop over here and get a copy!)

I also got a first glance at my new website template. Frauke at CrocoDesigns rocks. There were just a couple of things I'd like fixed and then I'll be able to unveil the design. I cannot wait!

If all the kidlets actually go to school tomorrow (please!), I'll finally have a day to transport myself to Baltimore in 1849. My fingers are itching to get some words typed. Wednesday is a wash. An IEP late in the morning will throw a wrench into getting a lot of writing done. Thursday, I hope to have another full day and then Friday....oh, I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to Friday.

For at noon, my dear, darling, loveable husband is coming home from work early. I'm gonna throw my suitcase, my Alphasmart, a laptop, and my printed WIP into the car and start driving north. Not to Alaska...but to Sunnyvale. The Donald Maass workshop is on Saturday. I'm practically panting to "Put Fire in my Fiction"...getting away for almost two full days (Fri noon until Sunday at 4) and having to take care of only myself sounds heavenly.

And I comfort myself with the thought that just maybe for the rest of the year I can get more than two days a week to write....maybe....

A Day Late and Somewhat Less Than A Dollar Short

2010-01-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

After the wango-tango of Wednesday, the rest of the week was smooth sailing...perhaps because I headed off to bed as soon as Drama Teen was tucked in (a little after 9 pm) and slept until the alarm went off with very little wakeful times in between. Mama is soooo much happier with a normal night's sleep.

The ice cream truck, once again, skipped our neighborhood on Friday. He was out there blaring his annoying music on Thursday, so, I'll be mixing things up a bit next week and letting the kids have ice cream a day early (assuming he comes...the weather is supposed to be dark, gloomy, and rainy all next week). Being as we live where there are two seasons...summer and SUMMER...I relish the rain and the clouds. Makes me a bit reminiscent for home (Illinois). But, just to be on the safe side, I watered the lawn today. That should induce Mother Nature to dump some H20 in our direction.

It's a long weekend...the car I'll be driving north for the workshop next weekend was serviced early this morning and the boys are down for an afternoon nap (which they desperately needed). Tomorrow, we may try to take a day trip to Placerita Canyon for some hiking before the weather changes.

I am soooo looking forward to next weekend and the Donald Maass workshop. I'm hoping to see some of the wonderful ladies I met at the All Writers All Weekend conference last year. It's nice to network with people who "get it". Plus, I really need the kick in the butt. One of my e-publishers contacted me to see what books I'd be delivering to them this year. As I am now in the throes of writing my third full-length novel, I haven't been very focused on anything short/erotic. So, I grabbed a pen and a calendar this morning. If I can finish my zombie historical by the end of April, I could possibly write three or four novellas/short stories before the end of the year. So, I need to get cracking!

Surprise Wednesday Update

2010-01-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

Why? Well, although this falls into the happenings of my Friday family update, I feel the need to post about it now. Maybe just to get it off my chest.

I've been up since 3:18 am. Not because I wanted to be, either. I brought the sickness home over the weekend (picked up in Walmart on aisle 6 or 7, I forget which one). I had hoped it was food poisoning, but in the wee sma' hours of the morning, it was obviously viral. Kinderboy#2 woke Daddy up (because I sleep like a dead thing) and some shuffling and turning on lights ensued. I turned over, trying to recapture the dream starring Keanu Reeves. Hubby flies through door and I ask him what's up. He murmurs something about a thermometer. I inform him that the viral-thing I had didn't come with a temperature.

CRASH, BANG, BOOM. I sat straight up in bed, heart pounding, sure it was the Haiti earthquake repeating itself here in California (the land of the impending Big One). But no, it was angry hubby searching for the thermometer. More crashing, more booming, and it's obvious that things are being pitched onto the floor.

Hubby departs and quiet ensues. I try, desperately to recapture that Keanu feeling. Hubby creeps back to bed but ruins the affect by giving me a lecture on what to tell the maids about hanging cords in front of drawers that must be opened in the night. Then he tells me I need a lesson in cord safety as well. WTH?

Now I know, and he denies, that this all started with the dishwasher incident 3 weeks ago. What, may you ask, was that? Well, my husband is a great guy. He works hard and doesn't grumble (too much) about the money I spend to keep the household running or snipe at me for the housework I should be doing, since I stay home all day and work in the house. I appreciate all that. So much so that he only had one lousy little chore to do every day.

Empty the dishwasher.

That's it.

Get up in the morning, empty the dishwasher, go to work, come home, eat dinner, play with family, rinse, repeat. Except since the programming contest in early NOVEMBER, the dishwasher duty kindof dropped out of the routine. I didn't say too much from Sept - Nov, knowing that the contest takes over most things. But after? So, one night after I'd looked at TWO sinks full of dishes all day and watched him give up washing his hands at the kitchen sink and then walk away from a dishwasher full of clean, shiny dishes to go to bed that I lost it.

Yes, I could, indeed, empty that dishwasher. When it's only once or twice a week, I can swallow it. However, it was going on day 5 of him just "forgetting". Now, I could understand if it were buried among a busy schedule of other household chores, but this is IT. The only daily one he has. WTF? So, around midnight, I unloaded the dishwasher with vim and vinegar, loaded it back up, and meandered (stalked really) back to bed.

He acted all surprised, apologetic, etc. but I still suspect there's something passively aggressive about not doing the chore. So much that I brought that up. He denied it, but I still wonder if the whole incident hasn't just been seething on his back burner. So, was last night payback? He claims it wasn't, but as for me...I'm not that sure.

All I know is surprise, surprise...I've forgotten to cook dinner tonight. So there.

Too True Tuesday

2010-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

This week's topic is to "get your cheap on"...

I reuse plastic grocery bags for trash liners in the bathrooms

I bought hand soap pumps that dispense foam instead of pure soap. Now that jumbo bottle of hand soap refill lasts months longer.

I make our greeting cards (except Christmas)

I wear the same pair of sweatpants around the house for a whole week. If I have to go out, I change into a pair of jeans that also gets worn multiple times. Drama Teen has finally succumbed to wearing her jeans for two days instead of just one (partly because she has to do her own laundry). Mr. Scott, also, wears his pants for more than one day. The only clothing the boys can wear twice without washing is their PJs...their pants and shirts are usually dirty within minutes of being exposed to their little bodies.

Edited and Updated: Oh! I nearly forgot. I received a pair of hair cutting clippers for my birthday a few years ago and have been happily cutting my boys' hair (and saving 10.95+tip). Just last year, I got skilled enough that Mr. Scott now has me clip his hair as well (saving 8.00+tip -- he used to get his hair cut on the AFB where it's cheaper)

Best Laid Plans and All That Jazz

2010-01-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Well, this weekend certainly didn't go as planned.

It started out on a high point. Last year, I tooled up the coast to All Writers All Weekend hosted by the Silicon Valley RWA. It was tons of fun. This year, instead of a conference, they are hosting several agents to come in for workshops, etc. In two weeks, Donald Maass is having an all-day workshop there, Fire in Fiction. Despite the cold January temps, the weather looks pretty good for a road trip and I've booked a seat at the workshop.

I was planning on heading to the library but my friend called and wanted to know if Drama Teen and I wanted to go shopping with her and Tall Teen. Since I now need a nice comfortable outfit for the workshop (jammies would do for me, but I'm not sure that's the impression I want to leave with an agent), I ditched my writing plans for shopping. Tall Teen needed some black and white striped attire for a Beetlejuice-type costume for winter guard. What fun we had picking out shirts, skirts, and even some striped leg warmers! I found the perfect outfit for the conference (and even had a chance to give it a trial run for comfort at the kinderboy's award ceremony this morning). I even got all the accoutrements to redecorate the guest bathroom. Wow, did I feel like I'd gotten a lot accomplished, except writing...but I'd do that on Sunday.

While Drama Teen cracked open her cookbook and set about making a baked potato soup, I sat on the couch and realized I was dead tired. Not just the got up early and traipsed all over creation tired, but bone tired and I was feeling "off" in the tummy area. It wasn't until the kinderboys were in bed that I realized I felt a bit off. Understatement of the year.

By midnight, I had a raging tummy. I watched forensics shows into the wee hours, until some perky young thing wanted to sell me something to improve my abs, which were sore without exercising, thank you very much.

Sunday, I spent on the couch or in bed, unable to get up and "do" anything. Exactly 24 hours after the onset (how is it that happens?), I started to feel better and managed to eat a little of the pancakes my husband whipped up for dinner.

Today, I'm tired but feeling almost back to normal. Mr. Scott & I went to the award ceremony and cheered Kinderboy#1 when he received the Student of the Month award. Needless to say, no writing was done this weekend and if I don't get my butt in gear today, I will be hopelessly behind. Good thing this workshop is coming up...I certainly need the kick in the butt.

Ericka

Friday Fiasco...

2010-01-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Horror, upon horror - the ice cream truck didn't meander through our neighborhood today. I know. Most of the country is buried in snow and freezing temperatures; however, here in the high desert, it's sunny and warm. The temperature today topped out around 60. The ice cream man came yesterday...so where, oh where is he today? The kids are driving me nuts, especially kinderboy#2, who's got the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" syndrome. Sigh. On a bright note, looks like I might be sending daddy and the kid crew to Foster's Freeze after dinner for ice cream.

It's been an odd week. Kids went back to school (yay!), had a minimum day on Wednesday (boo!), had one kidlet try out playing sick on Thursday to avoid Math resource (grr~) and now the week has drawn to a close. I'm glad to get back into a routine, although I'm not sure I'm really liking those 5:30 mornings. I flirted with getting up close to six, but on two mornings, I had kidlets out of the bedrooms shortly after six. They must be drawing to a close on a sleep cycle...so, back to 5:30 and having almost an hour to myself in the mornings. I just read e-mail, make lunches, pack backpacks and start breakfast, but I NEED that time to do it ALONE.

I didn't get much writing done. I started compiling all the information on my books that the webmistress I hired to redesign my website in Wordpress needed at the end of *mumble*. What? What month? Clears throat. November. She needed it at the end of November. Bad, bad me. Good thing the holidays threw everything off and she's of a forgiving nature. Since it seemed as if I were doing "busy work" and not writing, my muse took a few days off to chase cabana boys on her uncharted island in the Pacific. So, I only slogged through 600 words but...yes, there is a but, she arrived back this morning raring to go and left me with two or three additional scenes for my book and the idea to move the falling in love portion of the story until after the kidnapping & rescue... which will work she assures me. So, to celebrate, I finished gathering all that information from the four corners of my office (hard drive) and shipped it off to Frauke at Croco Designs. I still have a critique for a friend to finish but I can write and critique in the same work session (lucky me)... so I'm hoping to make good progress on both over the weekend.

I'll speed up my post here as it's about time for me to throw the pizzas in the oven. We were going to have lamb chops (yum!)...but no one but Mr. Scott & I would eat them. So, we're going to combine those succulent cuts of meat with the baked potato soup Drama Teen is going to whip up tomorrow night. Being as that left me with a blank spot in the week's menu - I did what I do best. Shop. Good thing the pizzas were on sale.

Speaking of sales, Pens.com had a fantastic deal on pens a few weeks ago. Being as I was down to having only 5 left of the 300 I'd ordered last year, I splurged a royalty check and placed an order. They came today and are GORGEOUS! If you'd like to take a look at them, leave me a comment with your e-mail address. I'll gather names and addresses offline and ship out 1 *or 5* to your address (1 for you and 4 to share with your friends/neighbors/strangers on the street). Unfortunately, I have to limit this offer to US residents, sorry!

So, comment away and have a fantabulous weekend! I know I will...I have a date with a library carroll and my Alphasmart tomorrow and a belly dance baby shower on Sunday. I'll be back on Monday with more zany news from the writing front ~

Ericka

Too True Tuesday

2010-01-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

Just to shake things up in 2010, I'm gonna post some true fact about our weird and crazy family on Tuesdays.

So, here goes the first:

We eat off paper plate every single night of the week (well, except when we eat out).

Sorry Mom!

Confessions of a blended family...

2010-01-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

I know...today is supposed to be my writing update...but I'm making an exception because today is our family day. Living in a blended family brings with it lots of stresses that bio-families don't deal with. But it also brings joys that greatly outweigh those problems.

Five years ago on a cold day in early January, we traveled to Guatemala to pick up two little boys. Our life has not been the same since! For the baby (kinderboy#2), the transition has been easy. Partly that's because he really is just a laid-back, easy going guy. For the toddler, (Kinderboy#1) the transition wasn't an easy one. The first 18 months were hell for me and for him. He'd been abducted by aliens that didn't speak his language and expected to him live by all these "rules". It also didn't help that in his 17 short months prior to coming with us, he'd had three disruptions (birth mother, foster family #1, foster family #2). We were his fourth family and there wasn't much trust on his part that we were "it". We're seeing that even five years later... So, we've signed up for counseling to help him deal with some of his issues and help bond him to us. But, for the most part, he's now a happy little guy who loves school and just doing boy things (riding his bike, playing in the dirt, video games, etc.)

But adopting the boys isn't the ONLY reason today is Family Day.

Two years ago, Drama Teen got her nickname simply by all the drama she induced in the family. Part of it was teenage angst, part was caused by her brain aneurysm being located in one of the emotion regions of her brain, and a large part of it was having to come face to face with her own mortality. Needless to say, we had a couple of rough, rough months. Like most children with an absent bio parent, she nursed fantasies about how wonderful it would be to live with her bio-father and the step-mother she adored. When her behavior escalated into some unsafe and illegal acts, I punished her. She called and complained to him. Granted, he and his wife are practically strangers to her...he's a Disneyland dad and although his wife has kids, it's "different" when it's a teenager you barely know. Drama Teen considered step-mom more of a friend than a mother. Bio-father had NEVER had to deal with day-to-day parenting-- he left when Drama Teen was a toddler and married his new wife after her kids were raised and gone. Over the phone, he undermined my authority, downplayed the seriousness of everything, told her I was over-reacting, and then played the "come live with me and step-mom and life with be rosy" card. So, she went for two weeks at Christmas on a trial basis. If she decided to live with him, I told her I wouldn't object (it would have broken my heart, but in all fairness, I knew I had to let go if that's what she wanted.) My biggest fear when she left was that she wouldn't want to go back. I, the worst case scenerio aficionado, had never envisioned/planned for what really happened.

One week into the visit, I'd had three panicked phone calls from her and a request to come home early, which bio-father nixed (although up until then, he'd told her she could come home whenever she wanted to). All was not rosy... There had been no honeymoon period. She'd stepped off the plane and into the embrace of a man determined to "set her straight" and undo all the "bad parenting" I had inflicted upon my daughter. Well, needless to say, fantasy and reality collided when she continued to act out there the way she had been at home. Bio-father and step-mom came down much harder and with much less understanding than they'd led her to believe they would. In fact, the entire visit became abusive...with bio-father hiding the abuse from the step-mom who wouldn't have believed my daughter anyway. It was a nightmare and all I could do was count the minutes until the visit ended. In retrospect, CPS should have been called and she should have been removed from the home. We were concerned that removing her to a foster/group home we knew nothing about and probably filled with juvenile delinquints until we could get across the country to pick her up would do more harm than good. We figured it would be three days to get flights and all the details worked out (babysitting for the boys, etc) and she would be home in four. Next time, we'll call CPS first and think later.

Drama Teen came "home" after that visit, crying and sobbing her heart out. When she turned to my husband, the man who has been in her life since she was seven, who's loved and supported her, who has been her "daddy" in every way except DNA, and called him "Dad" and meant it, that sealed Family Day on the calendar forever.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

glitter-graphics.com

Some of the blogs I've read lately have given a glimpse of their year in review. I'm not gonna bore you with a blow by blow. All I can say is lots of stuff happened, some of it good, some of it not so good. Drama Teen has had a remarkable change in attitude. Was it the brain surgery or just a sprinkle of maturity? I don't know, but this glimpse of the young woman she's becoming makes me proud. Kinderboy#1 is continuing to take slow steady progress toward attaching to our family. It's s-l-o-w process, not gonna happen overnight, but for once in a long time I have hope that it will happen. Kinderboy#2 is a constant source of endless snuggles which I'm indulging in for as long as I can. In other words, life happened, is continuing to happen, and that's a marvelous thing in and of itself.

I saw this quote the other day:

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.-- Alfred D. Souza

The words resonated deep and reminded me of the challenges I face as both a person and an author. Currently, I am on the great agent search of 2010. I've sent out agent queries twice before (coincidently in 2008 & 2009 -- hmmm). I don't know if this time I will be successful, what I do know is that just the act of writing stories and submitting them for consideration/publication is an authors "life"...and I'm gonna stop worrying so much about the destination and start enjoying the journey.

Thanks for "reading" along. I wish all of you blessings for 2010!

Ericka

Goals? I don't need no stinkin' goals!

2009-12-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

'Cept, I do.

I know there are plotters and pantsers, list makers, and wing-its. I'm a plotter and a lister. I need my goals clearly stated and listed out or else I forget. Heck, I often say I'd forget my head on the kitchen table if it wasn't securely attached to my torso.

So, without further ado...

Writing goals:

1. Find a home for Wild Ghost Chase - I've had nibbles in the agent and publisher department, so I'm hoping it's just a matter of time...
2. Finish zombie historical - I have such high, high hopes for this piece. So, why I am so afraid to just put my butt in a chair and write? I know the historical aspects and the tight timeline of one of the "real" characters have me a little spooked, but I'm trying to "just write" the first draft...if only I could find the time. Next week, when the kiddos go back to school, it becomes my first priority!
3. Write another Eclipse novella for Phaze
4. Write sequel to The Lady is a Vamp for Total E-bound
5. Write something, anything, for Cobblestone Press
6. Ditto for Lyrical Press
7. Rinse and repeat steps 3-6 until the end of the year.

I write novella-length fiction fairly quickly and have been known to kick one out in a month. What I have to learn to do is to let the story sit and stew. Wild Ghost Chase has ended up being a much better book for sitting until I could emotionally (i.e., ruthlessly) edit it (now, lets just hope a publisher agrees with me!)

It will probably be 2010 by the time I post again, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Ericka

Happy Boxing Day!

2009-12-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

Well, despite my worries and fears, Santa stopped by our home and dropped off many, many gifts for the kinderboys and Drama Teen. The tree was ransacked by 7:30 am and then breakfast of french toast made with eggnog was consumed (yum). Company arrived at 11 am and my uber-wonderful hubby took all the kids to a faraway park so that I could clean up the first round of Christmas debris and gird my loins for the cookie and pizza frenzy that was to ensue in the afternoon. Have I told you how much I truly love that man?

The kids arrived back at the house not long after I had an emergency run to the store for more pizza fixings (a surprise guest and long-time friend of the family is Jewish and needed veggies instead of the pork that sustains the pizza industry (ham, pepperoni, and sausage). Albertsons was closed but luckily Rite-Aid was open. They must have known I was coming for a few cans of diced tomatoes, sliced pineapple, and mushrooms were kicking back on a dusty shelf in their convenience food aisle. I'm also glad to know that I wasn't the only person with a Christmas emergency...there were lots of folks clogging the beer aisle.

Back at home, cookie decorating was a multicolored sugar delight (I'm sure I'll still find sprinkles in my drawers and on the floor for months to come) and although the pizzas came out of the oven staggered and everyone ate at different times, I think it will always be remembered as the "Pizza Christmas".

My husband joked this morning that he's glad I had my nervous breakdown on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day. I can finally laugh about it to.

And maybe I wasn't so naughty after all...I got a request for a partial from one of my dream publishers! I'm off to ship them five chapters and then chew my nails into the new year.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, or if you don't celebrate, have a fantabulous weekend!

Ho, ho, ho!

Ericka

Christmas Eve Update

2009-12-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

Well, there are three naughty children under this roof tonight and major doubt as to whether there will be gifts under the tree in the morning.

The well-oiled workings of the past week lulled me into a false sense of security. I really thought that, just perhaps, we could pull this holiday off without a hitch. HA!

The fighting and bickering started as soon as Drama Teen got out of bed this morning. She and kinderboy#1 aren't good together under most circumstances, add the stress of Christmas, and it's like lighting an incendiary device and throwing it into the living room. Luckily, I'd gotten the dishes and one load of laundry done before WWIII broke out and the crying ensued. The roast resided in a toasty warm oven and noon (when Mr. Scott was supposed to arrive) came and went. I slapped some lunch together and fed my whining brood. I thought pulling up NORAD tracking Santa would provide a bit of distraction. Nope. Or maybe it did...maybe they all decided just to see how naughty they could be before Santa called it quits.

At 1:10 pm I got a text from Mr. Scott that he was leaving work right then. He was moments too late to save me from melting down. Kinderboy#2, usually the reliable, good-natured, never gets into trouble kid, had stuffed 50-100 kandoo wipes down the toilet and flushed. When it clogged (chorus of DUHs here), he wiggled the handle until the chain got lodged under the flapper, so the water continued to fill the bowl. And fill, and fill, then overflow... Only when the water was several inches deep on the floor did he come to tell me there was trouble in paradise. The ding of Mr. Scott's text only fueled my irritation. By the time he got home, crying boys were ensconced in beds and even Drama Teen was sniffling in the living room. I was seething and instead of taking it out on everyone, I went to bed.

Now, cookies were supposed to have been cooked sometime in the middle of the afternoon. However, no one wanted to disturb furious mother bear from her deep dark pity cave, so when it was determined that the oven was too cool for the cookies to bake, they were cut out and stored. When I finally emerged, still irked and swearing off ever celebrating a major holiday again, to cook supper, I realized the cookies hadn't been cooked and thus, the roast wasn't done, as I'd allowed for that higher oven temperature in the cooking time. Curse words were flung, silently for the most part, and it's been determined that only Mr. Scott deserves to be visited by the jolly old elf tonight.

Well, these winter days may be short in reality, but it's been hours too long for my patience. It's 7:15...we did finally eat dinner and are now trying to convince boys that the quickest way to Christmas morning is to get bathed, pajama'd, and tucked in by 8. Ha! Good thing I napped, for Santa may not be visiting the Scott household until the wee sma' hours.

And yes, dear readers, Santa does deliver coal to those who are naughty. I guess I did my part in making the season a little less bright, for I got a nice big R in my inbox.

Next year...I'm canceling Christmas.

One week almost down...

2009-12-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm convinced that no one should ever tell children that they don't have school or that Christmas is coming in X amount of days. Kinderboy#2 (aka enthusiastic morning kid) was up before 6 am almost every day this week (except yesterday). My Christmas wish (2 weeks of sleeping in) won't be granted this year. Gee, thanks Santa.

And do young children really need to know Christmas is tomorrow? Why can't we just spring it on them? All I've heard this morning is "Is Santa Coming tonight or tomorrow?" followed by "What are we doing today?" Well, I had planned a "relaxing" day of laundry, cleaning, cooking, completing a few wrapping projects, and upteen other activities. Isn't it enough that we've "done" stuff all week (i.e., Build A Bear, appointments & the movies???) Luckily, Mr. Scott is getting off around noon today to come home and we'll bake that last set of Christmas cookies to decorate tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the roast cooked in time for Christmas Eve dinner...Usually I cook it all day long in the oven (on around 250 degrees), but in the middle of that, I'm gonna have cookies heating up the oven to 350 degrees. So, should I put the roast in later to allow for that or remove it to a crockpot while the cookies bake? But the crockpot will take up precious counter space needed for cooling the cookies. Decisions, decisions.

On a very bright note, I decided to ship my revised ghost story out to a few agents from my wish list who didn't get it the first time around (since you aren't supposed to send them revised manuscripts unless they've requested them, I've been holding a couple of agents in reserve). I've gotten two requests for partials and one request for a full. So, Santa, if you're listening, I know what I'd like in my stocking on Christmas morning!

Well, I'd better get back to dishes, laundry, and finding something to keep the kids busy for an hour or ten.

Merry Christmas!

Ericka

So starts two weeks of....

2009-12-20T23:31:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this Monday post on Sunday evening...okay, not evening, but late at night. I'm trying to stay positive about the next two weeks. It's difficult, but I'm determined not to ruin the Christmas season wondering how I'm going to keep my kids from driving me insane. I've planned out some activities (why does that always equal expenses?).

My mom sent our Christmas money early. So, I'll be using some of it to fund these adventures. The first is tomorrow. We're going to fabricate inanimate bruins (Build-A-Bear). Believe me, it's not as if we don't have enough stuffed animals already, but both boys had asked for Christmas bears on their lists...so we're off to stuff 'em. We'll grab lunch at the mall and pick up a few last minute Christmas items. Drama Teen has been angry with her bio dad for what seems like forever. The moment they manage to hit an even patch, he'll stop calling...then, she thinks he's mad at her and the next thing you know, she won't take his calls. I'm counting the days until she's 18. However, prior to today, she was determined not to buy him a gift, now she's changed her mind. So, this foray out will give her a chance to pick something up for him...assuming she doesn't change her mind between now and tomorrow afternoon. Sigh.

Tuesday is tied up in appointments. We'll be at the dentist first thing in the morning for my daughter to get a couple of cavities filled. Then, in the afternoon, Kinderboy#1 and I have our first counseling session. After reading our questionnaire answers, the psychologist came to the same conclusion we've suspected for a while...Reactive Attachment Disorder. For instance, this evening, we all gathered together on the couch to watch The Grinch who stole Christmas (the 1/2 hour cartoon). Kinderboy#1 would have none of sitting on the couch with us to snuggle. Instead, he stood behind the couch, or beside the couch. It breaks my heart that he won't allow himself to be part of the family, even when it's obvious that he so wants and needs to be included. Now, after The Grinch, when the "pressure" seemed to be off, he did crawl up on the couch and snuggle with Mr. Scott and Kinderboy#2. I'm hoping that he's receptive to the therapy and that we come away with some interventions that work for him.

Wednesday, I think we'll hit the dollar movies and on Thursday, we need to bake another batch of Christmas cookies (a small one this time) for all the kids to decorate on Christmas day. Oh, did I tell you, my brother-in-law and his three kidlets are coming to spend the afternoon. We'll decorate cookies and do a "make your own pizza" for lunch. I'm looking forward to trying out yet another recipe for stuffed pizza a la Garcia's Pizza in a Pan. I found a recipe that looks close... Last year's attempt was tasty but just not quite...so I'll have to let you know if it works this year. If so, I won't miss heading to C-U for the holidays quite so much. Yes, I do only go home for the pizza.

I've been working on my zombie historical. It's coming along slowly but surely. In between writing, I've been working on the snowflake plotting software. What I've come to realize is that I've got a fairly strict timeline (my one real historical characters is only in a certain place at a certain time for only so many days)...so as I'm plotting, I'm playing with time. It's driving me a bit nuts, so I'm trying to not worry about the when, just the what. It doesn't help that I have a domestic scene to write. It furthers the plot in both characterization and motivation, but I'm having trouble getting into my hero's head.

Well, it's closing on midnight, so I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas! I received a new phone from Santa and if I can figure out how to work the camera in it, you might even get pictures in my Friday post!

Ericka

Pink Glove Dance

2009-12-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

I'm out sick today, so instead of my usual Friday rant about my crazy family life, I'm going to pass along a video that brought a smile to my face today.

The Pink Glove Dance brought to you by the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR. to raise the awareness of Breast Cancer prevention.

Enjoy! (and I'll be back on Monday with an update...I looked at the calendar today and realized the kids are off for only 2 weeks, not three as I originally thought. I feel like a prisoner given a reprieve!)

Christmas Cruds...oh, I mean Cards

2009-12-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been full of not much writing and lots of Christmas activities...putting up the tree, baking Christmas cookies (my favorite shape is the Christmas T-Rex, yep, we also have a Blinkie - 3-eyed fish (from the Simpsons), a shark, many Christmas rockets, and even a Christmas heart. We also had some traditional shapes, but those aren't nearly as popular as the others.

Continuing the trend of sharing holiday cheer, today I'm writing the dreaded Christmas letter. I hate those things and didn't want to do one this year. However, seeing as I didn't send out any cards last year (gasp), I had a lot to catch up on.

What about you? Do you do a lengthy letter or just a photo card with a signature? I'm definitely doing one of those next year~

I don't often share pictures of my kids on the blog, but I did this little layout for the Christmas letter and thought I would share. Scott is kinderboy#2, Alex is kinderboy#1 and you shouldn't have any trouble at all identifying Drama Teen.

Is Christmas really in 2 WEEKS!?!?

2009-12-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season consistently sneaks up on me, but as I was doing the weekend grocery shopping last night, the clerks says "Can you believe Christmas is in just 2 weeks?" Yikes. Thankfully, I'd hit the mall yesterday and finished up the shopping for boxes that needed to be mailed (Secret Santa and far-away family). Two trips to the post office this morning and everything should be on the 'sled' and delivered by Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas...remember the party we all went to last week? It's a kids' Christmas party, cookie decorating, crafts, a visit from the jolly old elf himself. Things went really, really, really well for the afternoon -- Drama teen decorated one cookie, took her about 1/2 an hour but it was simply gorgeous when she was done. Too bad it was meant to be eaten, which she did so before I could hunt down Mr. Scott and the camera. The boys had a great time playing games (ring tosses, beanie bag tosses...yep, they are boys and were happiest when throwing things). I should have seen the melt-down coming...

Every year we stop by the Burger King on Base to top off our holiday indulgence. There was lots of whining as "meals with toys" are banned in our family from Thanksgiving until well after Christmas. It's the rule, but those under the age of 7 thought it was unfair and grizzled about it. Too bad. Everyone put in their food order to me (i.e., servant, maid, and pack horse) except Kinderboy#1. He simply didn't answer, even after being asked three times. This happens quite often, so I'm prepared with the solution. You either don't get anything OR you get whatever I want to give you.

As I'm placing the order and gathering cups, pandemonium reins behind me. Both kinderboys are crawling up on the steel railings. Mr. Scott summons them down. One obeys, one doesn't. Any guess as to which one wouldn't come down? He was finally yelled into submission, but as Mr. Scott turned his back, Kinderboy#1 made as if to climb again. The direst threat possible was made. "If you climb up there, Santa will bring you nothing for Christmas."

Kinderboy#1 climbed the rail.

We're still trying to work on a compromise to carry out the threat. All of his advent calendars (the table mat that dials down the days and his red and green paper chain) have been taken down. He'll get a lump of coal in his stocking. Now, he will get family gifts, because our love is unconditional (too big of a concept for him to grasp now, but maybe one day???).

It's just all those lovely new unwrapped toys that will be under the tree will be Kinderboy#2's (unless, he, too, blows it between now and the big day). Of course, who are we kidding? Kinderboy#1 will end up playing with the toys, simply because his brother is such a generous soul, so much so that Kinderboy#2 turned over his table mat to hid the calendar and hasn't been tearing off his links either...

The whole event rather spoiled the holiday season, but we can't go back on the threat now. The one good thing that has come out of this (and the scary results of the school psychologist's report performed as part of Kinderboy#1's IEP) is that we'll be heading in for counseling for him (and us). We go next Tuesday.

On a bright note, Drama Teen has her voice recital tonight...although she's decided to give up voice lessons and dedicate the time to driving lessons (priorities, people...she is 16!). We'll also be indulging in our own cookie decorating extravaganza this weekend, and finishing up a few odds and ends in the shopping department. Then, I'll be done....

Well, except for those Christmas cards...guess I'd better get writing!

Have a great weekend!

Ericka

Just another Frantic Friday....

2009-12-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know, Monday's are supposed to be manic...for me, Fridays are the roughest day of my week. I'm usually trying to wrap up some sort of writing project so that I can spend a little time with my family. This weekend we'll be attending our town's Electric Light Parade, where we'll sit in front of the hardware store and drink hot chocolate while evil girl scouts and beauty queens fling candy canes at our heads. A good time will be had by all.

On Sunday, we'll be attending a Childrens' Christmas party hosted by one of the EAFB units. There's cookie decorating, craft making, games, and snacks. Me, I'm going for the cookies and the snacks, but the kids will have a great time. Santa flies in for a couple of hours and last year, even my teen sat on his lap to put in her gift requests.

Somehow between now and then, I have to get a few gifts purchased so that Santa has something to pull out of his sack at the party (shhhh)

I'm pounding away, writing like a fiend on my zombie historical. I've also rediscovered AutoCrit, so I've been running chapters through it's magic software and being shamed by my tawdry love affair for repeated words and phrases. Grrr. But, better to clean it up now than later.

The entire week has been uneventful, except for Tucker's trip to the vet. I don't talk much about the dog...he's six years old and has changed from a rambunctious puppy to a floor mat. For the most part, he's the calmest member of the family (except at mealtimes or when someone knocks at the door -- and don't even consider ringing the doorbell, he goes ballistic). Well, the poor guy is due up for his shots. So, last night, Mr. Scott loaded doggie and two antsy children into the car and headed up to the vet's office for the shot clinic.

It's held once a week and the crowd of people and their pets overflows into the parking lot. A parking lot my children decide to tear across in front of a huge line of cars! Poor Mr. Scott had his heart in his throat as one of those said vehicles nearly misses a collision with the kinderboys.

Gathering up the crew, he stands in a line of hissing cats and growling snarling dogs, admonishing the boys not to pet potentially vicious animals. Do the kinderboys listen? Not a chance. Mr. Scott takes solace in the fact that the animals are there to get their rabies shots, so that will save a series of painful injections in case anyone gets bitten.

Finally, his turn comes to fill out the paperwork to get Tucker's business done. Through all this, our dog cum chicken, has been shaking, whining, and looking pitiful. Mr. Scott loses sight of one child, but spots Kinderboy#1 (aka looking for trouble in all the wrong places kid) hanging in the doorway. Warns Kinderboy#1 not to leave the room and go out into the parking lot. Looks up. Kinderboy#1 is gone. With a sigh, Mr. Scott deserts his paperwork, gathers up Kinderboy#2 and goes in search of Kinderboy#1. Tucker prances all the way to the car...relieved that his ordeal is over.

What the poor pooch doesn't know is he and I will be heading back to the clinic this upcoming Thursday in an effort to get the dirty deed accomplished. Sigh.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Ericka

Please don't pass the brains....

2009-11-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

I'm soooo excited. I typed The End on Wild Ghost Chase. Earlier, I'd shipped the story off to agents and garnered quite few requests for fulls. Something obviously didn't click. I realized that as the rejection letters piled up. However, it wasn't until I got a rejection from Jessica Faust (I stalk, oh, I mean, love her...she's one of my dream agents...and after this past rejection, IS my #1 agent of choice, but I digress) that I realized what was wrong. The comment she gave me was the key that showed me where I'd headed up the garden path in the wrong direction. WGC is about two competing teams of ghosthunters. I had a nice black moment for one couple and an HEA...but when I re-read it, the HEA for one of the couples was too easy. Way, way, too easy.

So, I plotted, dreamed, and plotted some more until I had a black moment to die for (almost literally, for my heroine & hero). I put a twist in the tale. Literally.

The original epilogue just tied things up in a neat bow. I unraveled that puppy with glee. Now, the epilogue starts out the same...X did this, Y did that, this is what ABC meant. Then, WHAM. I ramp the story up again and keep pushing to the climax. I'm thrilled to bits with it. Now I can only hope that an editor will love it as much as I do. These are the times when I wish I could send the manuscript back to Ms. Faust...but that's a faux pas I'm not willing to risk. But I can guarantee that she's the first agent I'll query with my zombie historical.

Speaking of which...

Zombie historical may be a misnomer. There will be no eating of brains, and definitely no zombie lovin'. However, there is a hefty dose of voodoo (or voudoo, or voudon, I'm still researching how it was spelled in 1849 and which is really correct for the character I'm using), a handful of zombies, and Edgar Allan Poe...but that's all I'm going to say about it right now.

But in the spirit of sharing...here is the blurb for Wild Ghost Chase. Enjoy!

Two reality-show ghost-busting teams versus one haunted house – the first team to successfully exorcise the spirits wins the renewal of their television contract. It sounds like a pretty straight-forward competition, but something or someone at Harrington House has another agenda.

Siblings Monica and Malcolm McFee comprise the team for Happily Ever Afterlife. The show is a mixture of science and supernatural, for although they are twins, they couldn’t be more different. Monica is a skeptic. She grew up normal in a paranormal family, and she’s never met phenomena yet that couldn’t be explained away by cold hard science – even love. Her brother is a medium who can see and speak to the dead. Ambitious and proud, he's the seventh son of a seventh son and determined to sustain his heritage by only dating women who believe in the paranormal. It's led to some interesting matches, but none so exciting as the one he experienced years ago with a ghost. A ghost who seems to have come to life in the persona of Kylie Harrington, the owner of Harrington House.

Their rivals are Enigma Mysterio and Irene Hopkins. Their show is Bump in the Night, where investigative team participants pay thousands of dollars to be scared to death by either the ghosts or the dramatics. Up until two years ago, Enigma just had a funny name. Dying three times after a car accident changed all that. Now he has the ability to see through the veil separating life from the afterlife. It’s a gift he neither wanted nor asked for, but a man has to make a living somehow, and being the stooge for a beautiful woman on a hit television series isn’t so bad. Or so he thought until he meets Monica and loses his heart to the one woman who can’t see past his psychic ability to the man inside. Irene isn’t a psychic; she just plays one on television. Besides being married to the show’s producer, her one true talent is screaming on cue.

The paranormal investigation was Kylie’s idea; however, the competition wasn’t. All she wants to know is where her ancestor, Amos Harrington, hid his ill-gotten gains so that she can get out from under the mountain of debt she’s inherited along with the supposedly haunted house.

Over the course of the weekend, the two teams with their respective technical advisors, a supposedly impartial network executive, and the beautiful owner of Harrington House find it isn’t just the ghosts who are running amok. A killer is on the loose and if they don’t work together, they could all become permanent residents.

If this sounds like a book you'd love to read, I'm taking applications for a couple of beta readers who have experience critiquing manuscripts and who will promise to be brutally honest (well, perhaps they could go a little easy on the brutal, but I definitely need the honest part). If you're interested, drop me a comment.

Until Friday...or sooner, if something grabs me that I simply must post about...

Ericka

Raffle for Heartline Ministries

2009-11-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

I love reading other people's blogs. I'm not sure why, maybe it makes me feel better to know my life isn't the only crazy one.

Some of you may know that we adopted two little boys from Guatemala five years ago. Kinderboy#2 is fully attached. Kinderboy#1, not so much. Attachment Disorders run the spectrum and I often blog hop, looking for insights and new ways to foster his attachment. I found the Waters and have been following their adventures nearly daily.

Currently, Corey is in the process of trying to raise $10,000 for Heartline Ministries. http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx The goal is to raise enough money to buy an vehicle/ambulance to get pregnant women and at risk women and children, in Haiti, to the hospital.

To help reach this goal, she is having a raffle. I am doing my small part and have donated an e-copy of Crisscross and/or one of my erotic e-books - reader's choice (for those over 18 only).

Right now, there's over 20 prizes (prints, a Target gift card, an IPOD shuffle, kids' clothes, more books, body creams, a purse made in Haiti...well, you get the picture, there's something for everyone and it's a good cause. If you want to know more, hop on over to her blog.

http://watchingthewaters.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/are-you-ready-for-some-raffle/

Ericka

A Frenzied Friday Family Update....

2009-11-28T00:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I survived the week...barely. The only thing holding me together is the thought that this was just a dress rehearsal for the Christmas Holidays. THREE full weeks of kids, kids, kids (can you hear me screaming?). I need a game plan and I need one fast. Too bad I'm too busy with laundry, cooking and writing to be able to dedicate brain cells to an event so far in the future.

Thanksgiving Day. It's my favorite holiday...no expectation of gifts, just food, food, and more food. It's also nice that we were able to go to my brother-in-laws where my kidlets played with their kidlets and for the most part didn't destroy anything major (although some limes gave their juice up in the name of fun) and no one got hurt (well, Kinderboy#1 fell off the top of the play car...his "I'm really having fun and not writhing on the ground in pain" laugh didn't sound too authentic, but since he was back up on top of the car within minutes, I figured it wasn't serious). Kinderboy#2, Mr. Picky Eater himself, gorged himself silly on tortilla chips and soda. I didn't put the kibosh on his feeding frenzy as I'd fed him a PB&J sandwich before we came (to get some actual food into him) and he actually ate a huge serving of apple/yam bake and didn't catch on that the orange bits weren't apple! Perhaps there is hope for him yet.

I've also planned a repeat of turkey Day on Sunday, as I absolutely must have leftover turkey. I love my sister-in-law's cooking, just not her turkey. Each year, she experiments with something to dress up the bird. One year it was lemon-pepper & barbecue, this year, it was stewed tomatoes. I enjoy the adventure, but I crave the traditional. That roasted bird may be boring but I totally live for cold turkey sandwiches the week AFTER Thanksgiving. That's one of the bad things about going out for Thanksgiving feast...I don't feel as if I can be a total pig and steal all the leftovers. No, I feel compelled to be polite and not fight over that last piece of pumpkin cheesecake (although I so totally wanted it...and all the stuffing, and...and...and). So, this weekend, we'll be doing the feasting all over again. Yum.

Today was Black Friday. I didn't go shopping. Mr. Scott, in his infinite wisdom, scheduled Drama Teen's follow-up CT scan on a day when no one in the neighborhood was home to babysit the Kinderboys -- they were shopping!. To his credit, he managed to come down with the cold & cough from Hell and had to stay home from work sick. Gleefully, I stuck him with the boys and took Drama Teen to her appointment. As I pulled into the Imaging Center parking lot, I was amazed. There was a total of maybe 20 cars there. I've never seen it so empty! The staff was pleasant, underworked, and smiling. I've decided that next year, I'm scheduling ALL of our appointments on Black Friday (okay, maybe not all of them, but I'm going to try to work at least one in).

Which brings me to my wrap up. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. The Scott family has a ton to be thankful for. Drama Teen's health, the Kinderboys as not only the bestest adopted kids in the world but also the most entertaining. I cannot imagine my life without them. My life would be boring and much less fulfilling if it wasn't for them. However, I'll admit that what I am most Thankful for this week is that soccer ended last week. There is no butt-freezing 8:30 am (who the heck made up the schedule anyway???) game. We can finally go back to my regularly scheduled Saturday sleep-in.

Next week, I hope to be able to report that I've finally tippy-tapped THE END on my revised ghost story. It's coming together, albeit very slowly as the week draws to a close, but I think I've got the climax in my head. I just need to get it on paper.

Oh! Maybe I'm not most thankful for the end of soccer as I realized I'm ecstatically thankful that the kids go back to school next week. I'd like to give whoever invented the concept of sending kids to school for a large chunk of hours a great big smooch! (except, call me an ungrateful *itch, I only wish he'd invented school for 6 days instead of just 5).

Happy Leftovers!

Ericka

Bad Blogger....

2009-11-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

Yep, here it is, Wednesday, and I realized I didn't give you a frenzied Friday family update nor my typical writing-related Monday blog. So, here's an atypical Wednesday update instead.

The screaming in my head started on Friday, when the knowledge that the kids would be home 24/7 for NINE days straight, sank in. Now, as day 5 dawns, I realize it hasn't been that bad. The weekend was relatively "normal", the kinderboys had their last soccer game and then spent the rest of the weekend puttering/shopping/doing family stuff. Monday was a tougher proposition as I didn't have anything firm planned to do. The boys got up before 6 am...which meant we all got up over an hour before we had to and everyone was miserable (especially me). By 9 am, I'd had it with attitude and sent Kinderboy#1 back to bed. Peace reigned until noon when I picked up lunch from their favorite fast food joint (bet I don't have to tell you what that is - hint, it starts with an M and serves burgers & fries) then roused him out of bed. He was in a much better mood for the rest of the day (big smile). Amazing what a little sleep will do.

Tuesday, Drama Teen needed some medical lab work performed. By the time she rolled out of bed and we got going, it was nearly noon. So, after an hour of waiting in a stuffy room with hungry and antsy boys, her blood was drawn and then we ate lunch out, and got home after 2 pm. It was a warm afternoon and the entire neighborhood seemed to be outside playing. Drama Teen sat on her favorite rock in the front yard re-reading Twilight and the boys played with their friends. As for me...I snuck off and took a short nap. Again, amazing what a little sleep will do!

Today, I've got my act together. We'll be hanging around the house this morning and already the video game wars are in full force. I laid in a supply of personal-sized pizzas at the grocery store last night for our lunch. This afternoon, we'll be heading off to see Planet 51, not to return until it's almost time for dinner. Thursday is taken care of with cooking and then traveling to my brother-in-law's for Turkey Day dinner and lots of family & fun. Friday, I'll just have to play by ear. Hopefully, it's another nice day and I can just toss the kids out into the yard.

However, I can see that I'm going to have to have a better game plan over the Christmas holidays.

Now that the screaming in my head has abated somewhat, I'll confess that I've managed to do an amazing amount of writing amidst the chaos. Monday, while the kids "hung out" in their jammies playing video games and watching the boob tube, I banged out over 3K on the epilogue of the ghost story I'm revising. I'm doing something different with this part of the book. I'm calling it an epilogue...leading the reader to believe that the story is in the bag at the end of the previous chapter. Then, wham...I'm heating it up again for the REAL climax. I just have to finish this scene and type The End. Then, edit & polish the epilogue, make sure there's no inconsistencies, and do a final spell check, etc. before I submit it. The great thing is that it's now 80K, which opens up a couple more markets for the book (fingers crossed)

Here's wishing you a happy Turkey Day (if you are here in the states and celebrate), if not, have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Ericka

Sick and Tired

2009-11-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

Not of anything in particular. Just literally sick with a head cold and tired. I've managed to sneak off for a lie-down every day this week thanks to the kindness of Mr. Scott and Drama Teen. Thank goodness is was a short week, what with Veterans Day plunked right in the middle of it.

Winter seems to be right around the corner (finally) here in the high desert. We've been having a gorgeous Indian Summer, but I'm in the mood for some winter comfort in the form of lasagna, roasts, beef stew, etc. Hopefully, this upcoming weekend I can shove an angry pot roast (cross rib roast) into the oven and cook it all day long. I may even fire up the bread machine for some lovely crusty rolls, and if my cold allows, may even attempt to make a Yorkshire pudding. When I was a child, nothing on earth could have induced me to even try a bite of one of my mom's specialty "puddings" - which to me meant chocolate and vanilla sweet creamy stuff, not a puffy bowl of pastry. Now, I think I could survive on Yorkshire pudding...given enough gravy to eat it with.

I'm sure none of the Scott children will even take a nibble of the Yorkshire pudding. Well, take that back, Kinderboy#1 might. He's our adventuresome eater. The other two, Drama Teen especially, are picky eaters.
Kinderboy#2 will eat chicken nuggets, sausages, meatballs, yogurt, and the requisite peanut butter and jelly. That's about it. Oh, and french fries....mustn't forget those.

Drama Teen is our expensive protein eater. She isn't fond of pork, chicken, or beef. Dish up crab legs, shrimp, lobster, salmon, and most fish and she'll dig right in. She's become more open to trying new foods since she's gotten bitten by the cooking bug. If I can drag myself off my deathbed to get to the grocery store today, we'll be having Indian curry tonight, compliments of Drama Teen. She watches Gordon Ramsey's F word and Kitchen Nightmares faithfully and asked for one of his cookbooks for Christmas. I'm hoping she'll throw in a side of curried scallops along with our Chicken Tikka Masala and Shrimp Korma, tonight. Can I say how much I love this child's cooking?

Lest you think this post is only about food, I'll drag in that we have our last two soccer games upcoming. It's going to miserable out there now that the weather has turned cold. Most of our games have been at either 8:30 am (misery) or 9:15 am (slight less unpleasant). My preference was the 10:30 games, but I didn't make the schedule (sigh). Tomorrow's game is at 9:15, so we'll be out there freezing butt. Someone who'll also be out there in the cold is Drama Teen, who has a fund-raising car wash tomorrow. She has to be to the High School at 8:30 am to squirt cold water at cars. Can we all say "Brrrrr"

Next week is a full week of school and then the school district has "generously" given the kids a WHOLE week off for Thanksgiving (can you hearing me screaming????)-- sigh. So, I'd best be off and write while the house is quiet.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ericka

Dipping my toe in the unknown....

2009-11-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

(Insert big sigh here)

I've always prided myself on trying out books by new-to-me authors, I've had especially good luck with finding audio books and e-books by new authors that I've particularly enjoyed (The Rule of Four, The Baker Street Letters (looking forward to the sequel), Anyone Out There?, and Dead of Winter, Haunts of the Heart and Redemption. However, the last three books by new-to-me authors that I've purchased at my local big-box bookstore have been bombshells. They sounded like what my dad would have called "humdingers" on the back. Great, compelling back cover blurbs about topics that interested me.

The Poe Shadow -- I love Poe...not so much his writing, but just the romance of his character and the mystery of his death. This book promised soooo much and delivered soooo little. I slogged through to the end, disappointed, dismayed, and disgusted that I'd wasted the money on the book. It was a New York Times Bestseller, but I wonder how many other people who purchased the book were sucked in by the advertising?

Another literary figure book that I picked up from the cover and the back blurb was The Dracula Dossier. It combined TWO characters that are sure-fire sellers for me. Bram Stoker and Jack the Ripper. I opened the books with barely suppressed excitement on Saturday night as I had several hours of quiet time to read. The opening letter reminded me of some of the "newly discovered" Holmes stories, and I prepared to sit back and enjoy. It started out with such promise...a bloody knife. Cooey! I think my first indication that I'd been deceived was when the footnotes began appearing fast and furious at the bottom of every page. I've made it through 99 pages and will probably skim bits and pieces to see if it picks up -- there's some sort of secret society, a lunatic asylum, and a weird guy to follow, but I still feel as if I was terribly deceived by that back cover copy. Again, THIS is a NY Times Bestseller????

The last one was a horror novel I picked up as it involved a haunted house (rather an apartment complex) and I had high expectations. Audrey's Door. The title wasn't all that compelling but I guessed that it was using the premise of that "door to the other side" that drives a lot of horror/paranormal plots. I settled down to read. First off, I will say I loved the interspersion of old newspaper articles with the current story. For me, it lends some credibility to the fiction. Then, there's the spooky residents, ghosts, and the odd building who is a character itself. I really, really, REALLY wanted to enjoy this book. I made it to page 255 before I realized that I was no longer interested in finishing the book. I can't summon up any sympathy or empathy for the main character, Audrey. I think she is perhaps too flawed and too unlikable, in your face, stinking unlikable and, in my opinion, she never redeems herself. Then, there is her boyfriend who is infinitely more likable than the main character and should have kicked her to the curb a long time ago and never looked back. He deserves sooooo much more than what he gets in the end (Yeah, I skimmed to the disappointing ending, closed the cover, and was glad I didn't have to open it up again).

Now, these aren't proper reviews by any stretch of the imagination. I wish the authors great success, but, I won't be paying money for anything else they write (sorry guys!). The next book I'll be reading will be something by one of my tried and trues...Jeffrey Deaver, Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell, CS Harris....or....just to name a few.

Have a great reading week!

Ericka Scott

P.S.

What have you read that's been a disappointment or an unexpectedly rousing success?

I need more hours....

2009-11-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

This week has been hectic, to say the least. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes there were a few more than 24 hours in a day so that they could get everything done. Foremost among those is Mr. Scott... Every November, he's involved with an intercollegiate programming contest. This year, they had to move the contest up a week. 7 full days that he and the other judges could have used. Needless to say, my husband's been a little sleepless for the last couple of days. I'm just looking forward to Monday when life will go back to normal...or at least what passes for normal here in the Scott household.

Drama Teen had her heart broken by her first love six or so months ago. As the flame lives in our neighborhood, it's hard not to acknowledge that he's got a new girlfriend. I noticed Drama Teen looking a bit pensive the other day and leaped to the conclusion that she was feeling a bit blue about the situation. Au contraire, she was quick to tell me, that she wasn't the least bit sad about "that", she had just heard through the grapevine that Mr. Heartbreaker and his new young love were going to be parents. Parents! While I'm thinking "Better her than you", I asked Drama Teen how she felt about that. Her reply was more mature than I'd imagined. "Doesn't she know, Mom, that having a baby at sixteen isn't a good thing? There's diapers, sleepless nights, and she's not going to be able to hang out with her friends. Babies are no way to fix or keep a relationship." My heart hurts for Drama Teen, she talks a good game, but I know it has to hurt. I gave her a big hug and then we bonded over laundry.

The school invited us to an IEP meeting for kinderboy #1 today. We'd dutifully filled out the surveys they sent us and were interested to find out if the school psychologist had any insight as to what makes our little guy tick. The best guess is a pretty severe cognitive learning disability. Mr. Scott, who thinks like a computer programmer because he is one, explained it as an input/output problem. The information is going in just fine. Kinderboy#2 is just having retrieval problems. I'm hoping the interventions will aid in unlocking the info. Now, if they could only figure out something to cure his stubbornness! LOL.

Kinderboy#2 had his first playdate with a friend on Tuesday. He and his buddy walked home to the other boy's house and spent the afternoon goofing off, watching movies, eating popcorn, and playing video games. Kinderboy#1 was heartbroken that he didn't get to go too. Luckily, kinderboy#1 and our neighbor's other boy are friends. So, we're going to do a kid swap for the afternoon. I'll host one of mine and one of hers and she'll have one each as well. The only downside is that our new friends have to move during Thanksgiving week to a faraway town. So, I may have a whole 'nother set of broken hearts at the Scott household.

As for what's up with me...I got a sort-of rejection. A "we liked this piece, needs more work before you submit it again." So, I put zombie historical on hold so that I can polish up my haunted house story. On re-reading it, I have spotted some areas to improve and may end up adding a couple of thousand words. If'n I do (which I hope I do), I can then submit it to a couple of other markets that take a minimum wordcount of 70K. So, all is well in my world.

I'll be blogging over at Romerotica Authors tomorrow about my love affair with haunted house stories and my upcoming trip to the Mission Inn in Riverside. Is it haunted? I've stayed there several times and never had anything odd happen, but one never knows!

Have a great weekend!

Ericka

The maids are coming! The maids are coming!

2009-11-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

Can you tell I'm mega excited?

Then, on the other hand, I feel a bit as if I've failed some strange test of being a stay-at-home mom. I quit work to take care of the kids and the house. Yet...the house is neglected, to say the least. And it's not that I can't clean house. I can. I just don't want to. There are things that I don't mind doing and things that I hate. And honestly, there just isn't any job satisfaction in cleaning.

I've finally come to the decision that I could devote every hour of every day to the house, laundry, kids, etc. But what fun is that? I want to write and I want to make a success out of writing. To do that, I need the time.

Thus, we've hired a housecleaning service. Did I tell you they come tomorrow? I can't wait....

Frightful Friday

2009-10-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

Overheard at the boys school Halloween carnival today: "Could you hold my eyeball?"

I volunteered to help at the school today. As a result, I kept my eye on three little guys as they played games and acquired candy (lots of it, as though trick-or-treating tomorrow night won't be enough). The boys seemed to have fun and the school had the whole event well-organized.

This week has gone by in a bit of a blur. Monday, I interviewed the last housekeeping candidate. Tuesday, I made my decision and hopefully by the end of this upcoming Tuesday, my house will be clean and sparkling.

Tuesday, Drama Teen and I went to the dentist. I'd like to say fun was had by all, but honestly, there were a lot of cavities between us. Needless to say, I've become the toothbrush Nazi this week.

Wednesday, Kinderboy #2 went to the dentist. Cavities again abounded. Plus, the poor guy had two adult teeth pushing in behind his baby teeth. The dentist "wiggled" them out (Ouch). As a result, Kinderboy #2 got to miss an entire day of school so that the "sleeping juice" applied to his teeth and jaw wore off. He now thinks that going to the dentist wasn't so bad after all. In addition, he earned a visit from the tooth fairy. All is well in his world.

Kinderboy#1 had a better week. Of course, he was working toward two goals. The first was to participate in the carnival. The second was to get ice cream from the truck on Friday. He's still having some academic difficulties, so the school psychologist ran a few "tests". We haven't gotten the final results back, but from the preliminary stuff, it looks like he has a fairly significant cognitive learning disability. In a way, it explains why he can spell his name one day and not the next. Of course, I still think there is a liberal dose of contrariness in his system that aids and abets in his "forgetfulness"...but if pulling him out for some special instruction during the week helps, I'm all for it.

Mr. Scott traveled to Las Vegas for a couple of days at the end of the week. I'm sure it was a welcome break for him. Lots of work for me...but that and this entire week has validated my decision to hand in my editing towel. I'm finishing the last couple of books assigned to me and hope to have everything done, done, done by 1 December. Hopefully then I'll be able to really buckle down and WRITE. I miss my zombies. Of course, with tomorrow being Halloween, I'm sure I'll have more than a few of them knocking on my door.

We watched The Midnight Meat Train tonight, to help "get us in the mood" for the year's scariest day. Interesting premise and twist... When we got to the extras and Mahogany (played by Vinnie Jones) was narrating, I was exceptionally glad that he only had one line in the movie. His voice is like dark chocolate, rich and sinful... Although I thought the movie was all about the gore...he created an incredibly deep character just with his presence. Brava.

Tomorrow night, after all the ghouls and ghosties have retired for the evening, we'll be queuing up The Unborn.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Ericka

My Bloody Vampire...

2009-10-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

The family Friday update will be delayed until later this evening in order to make this announcement!

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12446

Welcome one and all to day 29 & 30 of our month long bash of bloody goodness.

Today’s contest is easy and fun. The winner will be announced later this week. There are 48 prizes for today! Spread the word!

What I'm donating:

Author Ericka Scott
http://www.erickascott.com/
$10 Amazon Gift Card. Open to readers worldwide.

TGIF...I think...

2009-10-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's been an odd week. Monday was just busy, then, all hell broke loose on Tuesday. I started off for my walk and realized my IPOD was dead. Since the day was cold and blustery, I opted out of my walk. Good thing. I got back to the house to a phone message. Mr. Scott had wrecked the van! Thank goodness he wasn't hurt, but my poor, poor van was in bad shape. We spent the rest of the morning coordinating insurance, towing, and car rental.

Wednesday the kids were home all day from school...need I say more.

I headed off to my critique group that evening with 12 pages of a new prologue to my zombie historical grasped in my hot nervous hands. I'd thought the previous prologue that I'd passed out last month was lame. Imagine my surprise when my six critique partners thought it was THE BEST writing I'd ever done. I handed out the new prologue...but came home and immediately stuck the old one back into the file (note to self, never delete sections...cut and paste them to an odd document you can discard only after the darn thing is published). Then, they have convinced me that third person POV is better than first...not such an easy fix.

Thursday, I interviewed cleaning services. I'm sooooo excited. Sometime in the next week, I will have my house spik and span AND have someone coming out at least once a month to keep the writing cave in order.

There's been very little drama out of the kids this week. Drama Teen has been singularly drama-less, Kinderboy #1 has had some breakdowns, but nothing out of the ordinary. Kinderboy#2 is getting his pictures retaken today (although I don't hold out much hope that the second set will be much better than the first. Sigh)

We have an early morning soccer game tomorrow. Thankfully, I'm not snack mom this week.

Now, I have to get back to changing the first three chapters from first person POV to third...so that I can get back to writing forward next week (between dental appointments, but I'm sure that will be another story for next Friday.)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ericka

Lesson learned and a close encounter...

2009-10-18T13:22:00.001-07:00

This week in review...

Monday started off with one sick Drama t=Teen (not sure she was really sick, although she looked and acted as if she didn't feel well) and then kinderboy #2 asked to come home from school. He, however, didn't look or act sick. I brought him home, warning him that there would be no television, no video games, no computer. He would wear pjs and go back to bed...as that's what sick people did. After a few hours of chasing him back to bed, offering him "sips" of water, because that's all that sick people could stand to drink, he'd had ENOUGH. Crying and moaning because his tummy was rumbling, he finally admitted that he'd only pretended to be sick as kinderboy#1 insisted that it was fun to stay home sick and kinderboy#2 had to try it out for himself. A deal was struck...kinderboy#2 could put his clothes back on, eat lunch, and head back to school for the last 1.5 hours. He did, and swore he'll never pretend to be sick again. Well, we'll see...

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Wednesday was a teacher-conference day so there was no school (we have another one this week, what the heck is that about????). We went to see G-Force, which was actually quite entertaining.

Thursday, Drama Teen had a close encounter with a fetal pig in Physical Science. It was already dissected, they just had to identify, draw, and learn the parts. The smell of formaldehyde (or whatever they preserve in these days) got to her, but to her credit, she stuck out the rest of the day. However, she's now a semi-confirmed vegetarian. While shopping at the store, I picked up veggie bacon and texturized vegetable ground "meat". Honestly, the bacon really isn't bad. Expensive but tasty. We'll be using the meat for spaghetti later this week. I did note that "vegetarian" didn't deter her from picking out scallops to eat for dinner tonight. Although I'll agree that seafood looks nothing like pig.

Kinderboy #1 had a decent week until Saturday at the Edwards AFB air show. If you were there and saw a family pretty much dragging a kicking and screaming child out through the gates, that was us. He's six, but like a two-year-old, no was his favorite word yesterday and nothing, nothing, nothing would do. He didn't want to go to the air show, didn't want what anyone else had for snack, and most of all, didn't want the same souvenir as everyone else got. Well, sorry. We had six kids with our group. They all got the same thing. Period. Either that or we knew it would be fights and fits all the way home. I bought him a souvenir, but he didn't want it and tried to throw it away. I fished it out while he wasn't looking and tucked it in my purse. Then, when all the planes had flown over and it was time to pack up and leave, he didn't want to go. Sigh. As soon as we got home, another fit ensued because everyone was playing with their toy airplanes and he didn't have one. When I pulled out his...he didn't even say thanks. Grrr. Contrary little cuss.

All in all, it was a pretty good week and I'm looking forward to next (with the exception of that silly conference day on Wednesday...sigh). Hope you all have a good one, too!

Ericka

The sound of a shy writer....

2009-10-16T06:37:00.001-07:00

I'm on talk radio tonight... http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Total-E-Talk

Crisscross Promotional Book Trailer

2009-10-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

I'm absolutely thrilled to find out that I'm one of the winners of The Long and Short of It review site video showcase. But that only meant that I needed to get my butt in gear and create a video for Crisscross. I'm really, really pleased with the way this one turned out.

Hope you enjoy!

Family Friday -- or much ado about food

2009-10-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know. Set a goal, break a goal. But, to be honest, this week has been rather calm and uneventful. Amazingly so. Everyone went to school, came home, did their homework, and I didn't have to referee too many squabbles.

So, what's up with that?

As for me...I'm exhausted. The school district, in their questionable wisdom, gave the kids 1/2 day off on Wednesday. Not sure why. Teacher angst, perhaps? Then, they gave the kids two full Wednesdays off in the following week, on the 14th and the 21st. So, we'll have two Mondays for every week (and two Fridays, but still...). I'll survive. One of the days will most certainly be a movie day. We'll pick something at the $1.50 theater and spend a few blissful hours staring at some ludicrous cartoon. Good thing they serve popcorn at the theaters.

Speaking of eating, I've realized that I have a problem with food. Actually, the problem is lack of sleep. I'm up at 5:30 most mornings and on the go until 11 pm at night, most nights. At nine o'clock in the morning, I want to crawl back into bed. But I can't...I need to write, do laundry, pick up the house, etc. So, I eat to stay awake. Right after lunch, I'm again, deathly tired, but if I lay down then, I risk not waking up in time to pick the boys up from the bus. And if I set an alarm, I simply wake up every five to ten minutes anticipating that it's about to go off. So, I find myself snacking on bits of stuff...cashews, granola bars, cookies.

Here I know people will chime in that if we didn't buy it, I wouldn't eat it. True. But that's when I find I can get very inventive. did you know that mixing brown sugar and butter together tastes great (you can even mix in cinnamon...it's like a roll without the bread. Or, butter a piece of bread and sprinkle sugar on it...tastes wonderful.)

Once the boys have been picked up, sleep is out of the question. Their incessant squabbling and neediness ensure that I have a raging headache (from being so darned tired) and am irritable and, yes, I'll say it, BITCHY all afternoon. So, by now, I'm once again scrounging in the cupboards looking for a sugary pick me up to get me through the afternoon until dinner.

After dinner, my husband usually takes the boys and I collapse in a chair. I can't sleep...they all make too much noise for that, besides, if I got to sleep now, I won't sleep tonight.

By 11, I fall into bed nearly crying with exhaustion. Only to close my eyes briefly before the alarm goes off, harkening in another day of exhaustion and eating.

On the weekends, I always have hopes of breaking the cycle. However, hubby snuck off to the bedroom for a 3-hour nap, leaving me, yet again, exhausted and eating...

Just another frantic Friday!

2009-10-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't know, my first full-length novel, Crisscross, released yesterday. I'm blogging about it over at The Romance Studio Blog. You can purchase your copy for the sale price of 5.50 at the Write Words, Inc. Website. It's also available at OmniLit, The bookstore on the corner of your digital neighborhood, and should be available at Fictionwise in the next few weeks. I'll post the link when I get notification that it's available.

This week has been a breath of fresh, cooler, air here in the high desert of California. Now that the mornings are cold, it sure is tough to get out of bed unless you are under the age of 6. Kinderboy#1, at the ripe "old" age of six is just beginning to discover the joys of sleeping in. Not so much Kinderboy#2, as he is up with the sun most mornings.

Our trips to the doctor continue, this time with Kinderboy#2's cough. Diagnosis, sinus infection. Treatment, amoxicillin. Yummy, exclaims the ailing youngster. Now, I know there's a fine line between making medicine taste good so that children don't run and hide, but that powdery pink stuff tastes a bit too good in my opinion. But if it helps his cough, I'm all for it. I just need to remember to put it at the back of the top shelf of the fridge as I don't want to tempt fate or little boys...

This weekend, I'll be taking the kids to the movies so that Mr. Scott can get some work done on the programming contest. When I mentioned Zombieland, my husband gave me an odd look, so I guess we're stuck going to see either the Toy Story in 3D double-feature or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I'm also trying my hand at smuggling in candy instead of buying the expensive stuff at the snack counter. I feel sorta guilty about it, except that we're going to the "expensive" theater and I'm still going to buy popcorn (lots of it).

So hope you have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend. Think about me on Saturday, I'll be the one sitting in the dark feeling guilty and wishing I was a couple of theaters down the hall watching dead people rise and walk...hey, it IS research, you know! (...wonders if the IRS would let me write off movie tickets as a business expense...)

Ericka

What a week...

2009-09-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

This week started out innocuously enough on Monday, but by Tuesday, all heck had broken loose.

Kinderboy #2 fell while riding his bike on Monday night. I thought he'd just bent his nail back...ends up he jammed the digit and by the time he woke up on Tuesday, the base of his thumb was swollen and bruised. A trip to Urgent Care and 4 hours later determined that it really was just a jammed thumb. He was splinted and set free. We were supposed to come back this morning for a follow up...however his thumb is fine and I caught him taking the splint off in order to play his DS. I don't want to waste my time or the Dr's.

Sometime during the morning at Urgent Care I got a call from our "other" daughter. When my best friend died a few years ago, I stepped in as surrogate mother. We've tried to provide emotional and reasonable financial support when needed. Her call, informing us that her father had died unexpectedly, had us stepping up to the plate again. Clothing appropriate to a funeral had to be purchased and transportation to get her and her older sister to Arkansas for the funeral had to be arranged. I only wish I could be there to help out more, but I know she'll get things taken care of for the estate and her younger sister.

To top off our trip to Urgent Care, I came home to a house full of foul-smelling smoke. Mr. Scott had boiled water for his coffee and then wandered off to work, leaving the water to burn. Melted the tea pot. Most concerning is that none of the fire alarms were shrieking! Batteries were changed and tested and we now have another weekend project...the family fire drill.

Wednesday, I needed to take Drama Teen to the doctor to get all of her prescriptions refilled. We also needed to buy a dress and a gift for her friend's quincinera on Saturday. So, after the appointment, we had a little "girl" time. On Thursday, we got another surprise. The school has been using some new software to inform us of activities at the school. Well, they also give a weekly update on the student. I had tears in my eyes when the computer voice said "Pleasure to have in class" "Comes prepared to class" "Always pleasant and helpful". Wow. As Drama Teen gets older, I'm really discovering that I like the glimpses of the woman she is to become that I see in her.

Kinderboy #1 has had a decent week. Lots of smiley faces from his school status report. Looks like he's been saving his stubborn streak for us at home. I'm used to his selective hearing, arguments, and passive aggressive behavior and would much rather him be attentive and cooperative at school, so I can't complain. And for all of his lacking fine motor skills, this is one little speed demon on his bike! He looks so cute flying up and down the street following all the 'big' kids on their cycles.

As for me, I've just been reacting to all of the things thrown my way (and seemingly at my head). A work-related decision that I'd been struggling with for a while now was made easier by one of those events. Once it's all official, I'll let you in on the changes in my life.

No soccer this weekend, as our little town has their annual Armed Forces Parade. I'll be sitting in front of the gas station waving a flag.

Hope you have a great Friday and upcoming weekend!

Ericka

Coming Soon...

2009-09-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

My exciting news...I just handed in the galley corrections for my upcoming release, Crisscross coming on October 1st from Write Words, Inc.

The simply GORGEOUS cover was designed by one of my favorite cover artists, Emma Peterson.

Crisscross (noun): A web of deceit entangling a bestselling author and her small son, two ex-lovers, and a killer with a knack for cruciverbalism and a thirst for revenge.

A psychic, and skeptic, and serial killer…

Lia Morgan has seen portents and signs since she was a teenager; however, few people believed her, including her own family. Although estranged, Lia travels across country to aid in the search for her missing sister, Sylvie. What seems to be a simple case gets complicated fast when Lia discovers her sister had a plethora of secrets, including a small son. Is her sister running from an impending paternity case like the police assume, or is her disappearance the work of a serial killer as her friends suspect?

An anthropologist and crossword puzzle fanatic, Jared Trimble is a packrat with a PhD. His world is grounded in the here and now, with no room for paranormal mumbo-jumbo. When Jared's asked to work as a consultant on a missing person's case involving a series of crossword puzzle clues, he's conflicted. One part's thrilled. The other part is suspicious; worried he fits the description of suspect more than investigator.

All that is forgotten when he realizes his ex-lover, Lia Morgan, is the missing woman’s sister. While Lia follows signs and portents, Jared uses his wits and experience. When the two collide, nearly forgotten passions flare. As the final clue is revealed, the solution brings them both into the bull’s-eye of the serial killer's target.

Family Friday

2009-09-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

Writers are such solitary creatures that we often forget they have friends and family...heck, I often forget I have friends and family. So, I thought that I would start sharing some of the happenings around the Scott household on Fridays.

Drama Teen has had a good week. Her progress report was impressive...all A's & B's except in Geometry where she landed a resounding thunk of an F. Yep, genetics tell, math is not my strong point and I still count on my fingers when we play cribbage.

Kinderboy #1 was sent home with a stack of papers earlier this week. Each one had his indecipherable scrawl at the top with the teacher's comment to please make sure he can write his name. I'm looking at the words and a sudden pattern of the same letters, n-a-m-e in various configurations meme, amne, etc. emerges. Turns out that instead of writing HIS name at the top of the paper, he was copying the word in front of the line (name). Argh! We all had a good laugh at it...

I received a call from the school today about Kinderboy #2. My first thought..."oh, no, he's sick" disintegrated with the secretary's words. He'd tattled on a child doing something they shouldn't have been doing and that child got sent to the office. In a paroxysm of misplaced guilt, he was now crying and feeling guilty. Yep...that's my boy. The woman assured me that the child was, indeed, doing something wrong and Kindrboy#2 was right to tattle, but he still felt cruddy. Now, if he'd only feel that bad after he tells tall tales about his brother!

Mr. Scott is busy with "the other woman"... he's a judge/director of a intercollegiate programming contest and for about 3 months of the year is "distracted" by programming problems, programming solutions, website updates, etc. We're expecting the delivery of Mary Kate and Ashley (hard drives) and Vanessa, the server, lives in our garage.

The nursing home where my father lives, confined by the Alzheimer's Disease that has stolen his family and friends from him, has a whole wing quarantine with this horrible H1N1 flu. Luckily, he hasn't succumbed to it yet. My mother still spends most of every day with him. It reminds me of those couples that when one dies, the other one simply gives up living to be with them...I'm hoping that's not the case with my parents as Mom is still in good health and as vibrant as ever.

Well, that's it for us until next Friday. On Monday, I'll have some great book news and a new cover to share...

Until then,

Ericka

My new affair...

2009-09-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've got a whole new love in my life. Audiobooks. Wow!

Since the boys went back to school at the beginning of August, I determined to take back some of "my" time, which included exercise and reading. I used to take a book the gym with me...but it's difficult reading and cycling or reading and elliptical training. All that bouncing around made me a little sick and I ended up feeding my brain with useless news shows or worse yet, daytime dramas, playing on the gym televisions.

My husband listens to podcasts (yawn), but I got to thinking about books. Audiobooks. The first one I tried out was the lastest Diana Motts Davidson, Fatally Flakey. Cute book...it got me through a long car drive to San Francisco and loads of laundry. So...could it survive a walk?

Oh, yeah...it was even better than I expected. This week, I finished up The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. I love a literary mystery and this one kept me pounding the pavement and was interesting and thought provoking enough that I actually looked forward to my walks!

And whoever said that nothing can be learned from genre fiction needs to have their head examined. There was a fantastic image at the end of the book. That the present is a reflection of the future. Like looking in a mirror, the things to be stretch out behind you. There's a great temptation to turn away from that mirror in order to face the future. However, that only serves to take a person OUT of the picture....

What a fantastic concept. And it's so true in so many ways. As a writer, I find myself concentrating a lot on my future (when I get that book deal, when I get an agent) without enjoying the process of achieving success. I still get a stab of disappointment with every rejection and I keep wishing I could "make it"...but if I had "made it" with the first query to an agent back almost 2 years ago, I wouldn't be the writer I am today. I've learned sooo much in those ensuing days, months, and years, knowledge that will serve me well when I finally get "there". So, I'm determined to start enjoying the journey more...I'll get to my destination when I'm ready.

Digital Drama

2009-09-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Lots of shake ups in the digital publishing world today. I'm saddened that Quartet Press didn't even open their doors. I was very interested to see if their business model would succeed.

Just found out that there's going to be some changes at another one of my publishers. The news hasn't gone public yet, so I can't say much. I'm not sure how it's going to affect me, as of yet. I, too, have struggled with major decisions about where to place manuscripts, how much time to devote to activities outside my writing career, etc. Right now, I seem to have hit a good balance, but that could all change in a matter of weeks or months. (Yes, I keep hoping that I'll get an agent and a traditional book publishing contract, which I'm sure will take up all my time!)

On another note, although I still haven't found my notes from my zombie historical, I've managed to re-research and replot. In doing so, I think the entire story has turned out better and deeper. So, perhaps it was all for the best.

The only bad thing is that I sat down and wrote 900 words then realized that it isn't where the book starts. I may be able to recycle the scene...but if not, I can recycle the pixels! LOL.

A letter to my muse

2009-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Ms. Muse -

I haven't complained (much) about your flighty attitude, the way you pitch ideas to me in the shower when I have no paper to write them down, or how you tend to throw not one story premise at me, but sometimes three at a time. But you've gone too far this time, Missy.

You pitched two story ideas at me and then dashed off to a tropical island, which was bad enough. But stealing my research? Why? Oh, don't look at me that way. You know why! You knew when I started working on my heroine's back story that I would realize she isn't the same woman as the urban fantasy protagonist you'd been urging me to write about. You knew that when I cornered her for her story that I would realize it wasn't "back story", that it was more interesting than the infuriating drivel you'd urged me to plot back in July.

You tricked me! You promised me you'd only give me contemporary, paranormal, perhaps even futuristic plots. So, when I questioned Mary Reynolds...what did I find out? You knew full-well she was born in the early 1800's and that she had a most incredible story to tell that would solve a great literary mystery.

So, now that you know I know, you can come back. Just fling those useless pages of research into the shredder as you slink back into my psyche. But just answer me this one question.

Is it really "historical" if it has zombie's in it? And do not tell me to ask Jane Austen (hurrumph!)

Your servant,

Ericka Scott

Terrific Tuesday

2009-09-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've finally put the finishing touches on a paranormal romantic suspense and have it making the rounds to several literary agents. I've gotten several requests for partials and fulls, but I'm trying to be realistic and not get my hopes up. Yep, the book has a catchy title and a great premise... but I'm not holding my breath.

Instead, I signed a contract for Crisscross, my first full-length paranormal thriller/suspense/romance. I'm waiting on edits, but hope to have more firm news about release date, etc. soon. I'm uber excited, as this book has the potential to go to paperback (fingers crossed). I love e-books, but there's nothing like the feeling of holding your own book in your hot little hands.

My muse has been very conflicted over the next project she wants me to tackle. She's thrown out several ideas, two urban fantasies and a romantic suspense. Unfortunately, before she let me know which one to write, she dashed off to a Caribbean island somewhere and is oogling hunks and drinking frou-frou drinks with tiny umbrellas. *itch. It's left me in quandry, as the story I most want to write has a prologue (and perhaps some journal entries) set in the 1840's. What was she thinking??? Me, write historical? I distinctly remember asking her to drum up a Science Fiction plot. Did she listen? Obviously not. As for me, I hope she forgot her sunscreen and burns her knockers!

Other than that, I'm having a terrific Tuesday and hope you are too!

XOXO

Ericka

The erstwhile THAT...

2009-08-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

That - a pronoun and adjective, the plural of those, and both an adverb and conjunction.

Unfortunately, that word of all parts of speech has fallen out of favor. I've been going through my WIP, purging all the erstwhile thats. Not all of them, mind you...just the ones not needed.

I was tempted to put them all here in my post...however, it would be too long! LOL.

Praise from an e-book virgin...

2009-08-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just got a listing from Manic Readers of their reviews posted this week. I have three, count them, three great reviews from IvyD! Thanks Ivy!

The first is for my most recent release, Shattered. Now, warning, Shattered is not erotic and is not a typical romance (read -- NO HEA here!).

"Even with knowing where Shattered was going the getting there was still tense and interesting. It was a quick read, just the right size for a break. I really do enjoy Ms. Scotts’ short stories." IvyD

The second was for another recent release, Double Jeopardy. Warning, my mystery roots are showing strongly in both Shattered and Double Jeopardy. This is not your typical menage...and it's erotica not romance (having a HFN ending).

"Talk about being condensed down to its essence, that’s Double Jeopardy. There’s not a word that can be considered superfluous. Everything is extremely tight and fast paced. Ericka Scott packs an incredibly awesome punch into 24 pages. The ending hit me out of the blue. I truly never saw it coming, maybe I should have but I didn’t. Ericka Scott is a master of the short story." IvyD

And then, for Forget Me Not, a paranormal romance with only the typical adult disclaimers (i.e., graphic sex)

"Forget Me Not is another excellent short story with a twist. Ericka Scott has a knack for that and is now my new “go to” author for shorts that pack a wallop. I have no reservations recommending her to short story lovers." IvyD

To top it all off - I got a fantastic review from Kris Bradley for Shattered!

"It is a quick read, so I don't want to give too many details away. The story has a great twist which actually managed to surprise me....This was my first really enjoyable dip into reading online stories. I'd say if they are all as enjoyable as Shattered, I'll be back for more!" Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom

Glad to know an e-book virgin got to cut her teeth on my little tale...and liked it well enough to want more!

You can read the full review http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/2009/08/mrsb-reads-online.html

A Howlin' Good Time

2009-08-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

An article I wrote about one of my favorite subjects -- WEREWOLVES-- is being featured today over at Star Crossed Romance. Stop in and leave a comment for a chance to win a signed print copy of The Werewolf Whisperer (with the bonus story, Unleashed).

Hope to see you there!

Ericka

One of 13 Featured Authors Today!

2009-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a featured author on Nina Pierce's blog

http://www.ninapierce.com/romanceblog/

Stop by...say hi...leave a comment and I'll be giving away a free copy of The Werewolf Whisperer (just out in print from Phaze)

W is for Waiting...for ranting just a little...and for writing

2009-07-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

I read a post on an agent's blog recently about "waiters"...those people who put a submission in the mail and then wait for it to be accepted or rejected instead of turning their attention to more important things, like writing the next book. I agree with that, it's important to move on and up.

I also encountered some agent's guidelines firmly stating: if you don't hear from us, assume it's a rejection.

For me, that advice was a bit harder to swallow.

Yeah, yeah, I get the "they're just not into you" mentality -- if the story is great, the agents and publishers will be beating down your door to get hold of it. If you don't get an answer, they're just not that into your writing. I also get that they are all really busy and inundated with submissions: good, bad and indifferent. They have to invest their time in the good, not the bad. I REALLY do get it. However, without any feedback (positive or negative), it's like writing and submitting to a black hole.

I once quit writing because of that yawning bottomless pit. Yeah, prolific me just up and quit. I had over a dozen short stories out at the time and had heard nothing back on any of them for months upon months. No rejections even. One day, as I prepared to lick the submission envelope for yet another story, an unfamiliar feeling washed over me. Why bother? I realized I'd lost hope of ever having anything accepted (or even actively rejected) for publication again. And so I didn't bother. I still have that envelope somewhere.

Eventually the characters I carry around in my head clamored long and loud enough for me to think about writing again. Sadly, I still find myself waiting impatiently for answers from publishers and agents while I keep busy writing my next book.

Part of me just can't shut off that anxious wondering. As authors, it can take years for us to write a book. I, personally, have no idea how long it takes an agent or publisher to work their way to one lowly manuscript lurking in that towering slush pile. Days? Months? Years?

For those agents/publishers who don't want to send rejections to the seething masses, how hard would it be to simply put a statement on the bottom of the submissions page of a website or in that lovely auto response e-mail -- "If you don't hear from us within (insert appropriate time frame), feel free to assume it is a rejection."

I'd appreciate that honesty.

Now, I'll let you get back to your W is for Wednesday as I prepare to type THE END on my W is for work in progress.

Have a good one!

Ericka

The end of summer...

2009-07-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

...well, of summer camp, anyway. My boys were signed up for 3 weeks of day-camp. I did some spectacular writing (and some equally spectacular goofing off and am now twittering and playing eggbreaker on Facebook) for those three weeks. Now, I'm back to my summer schedule, but with a twist.

My hubby went back East to take care of his father while his mom is hospitalized. I have to say he is my hero...he took two of the kids and left me with the quiet 5 yo boy. It's been a great few days and is the first long-term one-on-one time I've spent with him in quite a while. Probably LONG overdue! We've been hanging out, heading off to a short soccer camp (with hot British guys!) and then swimming lessons. We're eating whatever we want, when we want to, and just being goofs. Amazingly, I've also been able to get in my daily writing stint (500 words or more) in the morning before he gets up and then after he goes to bed at night.

But believe me, I'm still counting down the days until August 10th when school starts again, and the true "end of summer" begins.

Hope you have a fantabulous day!

Ericka

The Storyteller's Creed

2009-07-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this today on another writer's blog and had to re-post it. It gave me the inspiration I needed today.

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge~
that myth is more potent than history~
that dreams are more powerful than facts~
that hope always triumphs over experience~
that laughter is the only cure for grief~

And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Random Thoughts

2009-07-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be writing, but I'm goofing off. Since the boys are gone all day, I figure I can get my 1000 words in after lunch. So, I've been surfing the net, researching markets, reading blogs, and decided to bore you with some of my most recent activities.

It's hump day, the first of July, and I've been on my Atkins diet for a full week now (has it only been a week????). I've lost 7 pounds according to the scale today, now, the odd part of that is that the scale indicated that I'd lost a sum total of NOTHING yesterday. What gives with that? My hubby used the scale to weigh our suitcases for all of our recent trips and it was right on the money. So, why is it that I can weigh myself three times a day and each time the scale reads a different weight. No wonder losing weight is so depressing.

On the upside, the all protein and vegetable diet has resulted in a significant decrease in the heartburn I'd been suffering from the last six months or so. I'm almost convinced that I'm allergic to carbs...two weeks ago, even a piece of toast and a glass of water in the morning would set my tummy on fire. This week, my breakfasts have been three pieces of bacon -- no heartburn; two sausages and some veggies -- no heartburn; two hardboiled eggs and some fried onions - no heartburn. Yep, I'm doing the happy dance! I know that Atkins isn't sustainable for the long-term (been here, done this before), so, starting in August/September, I'll be switching the entire family to something more resembling the SouthBeach Diet (lots of yummy food, lots of cooking, too.). Since all the kids will be in school at least 1/2 day (two kindergartners and a high schooler), I'll have some time to devote to menu planning and cooking.

I'm also contemplating sending out my Christmas cards. I was so busy at the end of 2008 that I simply couldn't squeeze in another activity. Things have slowed down a bit since I mentally scheduled time off this summer, so this might be a good time to get those sent out. To date, I have 18 novellas available at various publishers. Two came out in June, and I have one more releasing in August from Lyrical Press. After that, I have nothing.

Now, that's not to say I don't have irons in the fire. I have one full-length book out for consideration to traditional publishers, so even if accepted, it might not be published until late next year to early 2011 (yikes). I still may end up submitting it to e-publishers and perhaps get it published in early 2010, but I'm hoping not to have to go that route. We'll see, though.

In the meantime, I meant to finish a few novellas before I jumped into another full-length novel, but the muse wasn't having any of that. I opened a story file that I'd put down almost two years ago. Loved the characters...and honestly, I thought it was "almost" finished. I started revising the first chapter and then read through to find out that although I thought it was "almost done", in reality, there was so much more to explore, more character arc to add, and the spooky factor to be stretched out enormously. So, I chopped off the last three chapters, revised the front, and am busy writing to the end. I'm loving the story, although I still have one character's arc to figure out. But she and I are "talking" and I think we'll have it figured out by the time the black moment arises. If not, we'll hash it out in the second draft.

Aging parents have also been a considerable worry the past month. My father suffers from Altzheimer's Disease and lives in a nursing home. My mom, though still in relatively good health, had a scare with her knees early in June and I had to rush home to care for her. I'd no sooner settled in back here at home when my husband got a call that his mother was in the hospital with a very scary case of endocarditis! She's out of the hospital proper now, but still confined to a convelescent home in order to have the skilled nursing she needs to recover. My father-in-law, who is not in the greatest of shape, is being cared for by various relatives, but my hubby and his siblings (thank goodness he isn't an only child like I am) are working out a schedule to go home to take care of him for the six weeks or so that my mother-in-law needs to recover.

Well, enough about me, what's new with you? Any random thoughts to share? Good news? I'd love to hear it!

Ericka

Twilight's Embrace - now available at Cobblestone Press

2009-06-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Can she trust him with her undead heart?

Maxine Twilight runs the hottest fetish club in the Midwest, a place where the rich and famous come to play with vampires. When her employees begin turning to ash, Maxine calls in a ‘consultant’, slayer Zachary Fox.

Zachary Fox slays rogue vampires not other slayers. But when his dead ex-wife, Tessa, calls in a favor to stop a slayer, he agrees to help. However, he didn’t count on losing his heart to Maxine. So when it appears as if she is the intended target of the next wooden stake, he’s forced to put his life, and love, on the line.

Excerpt:

Maxine heard a stifled scream and turned toward the sound. At the front desk, a couple stood staring at the spot where Victoria had been just moments ago. Then the man looked up, took a deep breath, and screamed like a girl.

What a nightmare.

In her mind, Maxine had prepared for this eventuality. She’d envisioned herself closing and locking the doors, calmly instructing the staff to conduct a swift and quiet search for the slayer, then she, personally, would dispose of the slayer, and the party would continue, so to speak.

Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned.

First off, Mitch’s caterwauling at the sight of the pile of ashes attracted everyone’s attention. Then, more people began screaming as they realized what had occurred. Vampires fled into the dark recesses of Temperance, and living patrons fled for the street. Thank the gods no one had been trampled in the pandemonium. Unfortunately, it looked like the slayer, whoever he or she was, had escaped.
Sorrow welled up inside her when she thought about Victoria, but she bit her bottom lip and carried on.

“I’ve called the police.” Jimmy, her brother, walked up behind her.

“And?” Maxine asked, although she knew full well what the answer would be.

“They pretty much said ‘good riddance’,” Jimmy replied.

“You’re surprised?”

“No, I guess not.” Jimmy shrugged and picked up a rag. “I had just hoped that since
Temperance was a Chicago landmark that someone would be concerned.”

“The undead have no rights, Jimmy. But believe me, if one of the living patrons had been murdered here tonight, the place would be crawling with cops.”

“Maxine?” A tall, thin brunette woman interrupted.

Maxine looked up. It was Tessa, one of her newly hired employees. “Everything is under control, Tessa. No need to be worried.”

Tessa shot her an impatient look. “Could I speak to you…alone?”

“Sure.” Maxine gave her brother an apologetic look, but he just smiled and sauntered away in the direction of his apartment in the back. She turned her attention to Tessa and silently prayed the pretty vampire wasn’t going to turn in her resignation.

“I’m so sorry, we’ve never had a slayer invade Temperance, and I can assure you—”

Tessa held up a hand to interrupt her. “I’m the one who needs to tell you I’m sorry. I made a call tonight after Vickie’s death.”

Maxine stayed silent, waiting for the other wooden stake to fall.

“I called my, well, ex-husband.”

Maxine was running out of patience while Tessa babbled on. Would the woman just come to the point?

“Zachary Fox. I phoned him this evening and called in a favor he owes me. He’ll be arriving sometime tomorrow.”

“Zachary Fox, the slayer?” Maxine shuddered. Was Tessa insane? Did she not think they had enough trouble with a rogue slayer in the club tonight? What was the woman thinking, inviting a professional killer into their midst? If the others found out, the club would be empty of vampires by nightfall, and Temperance would be closed for the first time in over 100 years.

“It’s not what you think. I know slayers, good ones and bad ones., Hell, you probably didn’t know it, but I was one once. There was something off about the hit tonight. I have a really bad feeling. I think someone was sending you a message.”

“Tessa, I get hate mail and threats on a daily basis. If it isn’t the public shouting for me to close down, it’s the mob trying to hone in on the business. I don’t think Victoria’s destruction was anything more than a rogue slayer trying to make a name for himself.”

“Maybe,” Tessa said, but her voice sounded anything but convinced. “But I think we need a professional to investigate. Especially since the police have pretty much washed their hands of all of us. Damn them anyway.”

Maxine looked around her at the gleaming oak tables, colorful Tiffany lamps, and the huge bar her great-grandfather had carved by hand. Temperance was her life. If it were to fail, stand empty, it would be a reinforcement of the existence that had been forced on her. No, she had to make this a success.

Her mother had inherited it after her grandfather’s death ten years ago. It should have come to Maxine. However, she’d lost it all when she died. Thank goodness, Jimmy had no interest in running the bar. After a brief period of ‘remodeling’, she had reopened it as a fetish club and struck it rich. She couldn’t bear to lose it. If the living patrons didn’t come, the vampires would have no other way to support their blood habit but by…

No, she wasn’t going to let that happen.

“We’ll just have to be more careful tomorrow night when we reopen.”

“Careful? How? A metal detector isn’t going to do jack shit against a wooden stake,” Tessa argued. “Or are you going to have everyone frisked at the front door?” She looked around. “Whoever killed Vickie was no amateur slayer, and if we don’t stop them, he or she will kill again.”

“And a professional slayer will do what? Help him kill us all?” Maxine shook her head. “No, we’ll handle the situation ourselves.”

Before Tessa could argue further, Maxine strode off. Her entire body felt numb with dread. Was Tessa right? Could someone be targeting her and her club?

It had to be the mob. When she’d first opened, they’d sent a few muscle-bound ‘gentlemen’ around to talk to her. Threatened her that if she didn’t pay protection money, ‘bad’ things were bound to happen.

She had sent the goons back to their boss with a few broken bones for their trouble. The mob had left her alone to some extent. She still got the occasional visit and letter from Mr. Poulos himself. But nothing like this.

After checking to make sure all her employees were reassured, she headed downstairs. She picked up one last crumpled napkin off the floor and then paused in the foyer. For the first time in six years, she locked the doors to Temperance before dawn. The clatter of the deadbolt left her with the uneasy feeling that she would never open the doors again.

No, she’d been killed, had fought the city for a liquor license, and had been threatened by the toughest man in Chicago. One measly murder was not going to force her to turn tail and run.

Striding down the hall on her way to her office, she passed a small cluster of employees. They looked up at her, and she stopped to talk, hoping to allay their fears. Even as she reassured them, she could see their doubts clearly in their eyes and expressions. If she didn’t do something and do it fast, they would leave. When they did, they would be easy game for anyone with a wooden stake and a Buffy-the-vampire-slayer complex. Here at Temperance, they were safe, they could earn a living, and with luck and Congressional lobbying, perhaps they could finally earn status as citizens again.

“So, what are we going to do, Miss Maxine?” a petite blonde vampire asked, her lips trembling.

“Did you call the police?” Vincent Price, their headliner who’s name really was Vincent, put his hand on her shoulder.

Maxine could almost smell his fear, and she hoped her outwardly calm demeanor would give him some comfort. It was hard enough to have died once and been forced to give up friends and family, many of whom recoiled from vampires in terror and loathing. To die again, soulless, was a terrifying possibility. One that she had every intention of preventing.

Maxine chewed on her lip. She could lie, but they deserved to know the truth. “Yes, the police were called, but they refused to help us.”

“So what are we going to do? I don’t have anywhere else to go. Temperance is my home.” Vincent’s friend and sometimes lover, Marcus, known to his fans as Van Helsing, had tears in his eyes.

“We’re not going to panic, for one. And I’m not going to close the club. But we are going to take some precautions.” Maxine looked around at their worried faces and grasped at the only straw she had. “I’ve called in an, um, consultant. He’ll be here tomorrow to investigate.”

The relief in her employees’ faces was clear. Marcus even smiled.

Damn it all, a consultant? The man was nothing but a cold-blooded killer, a slayer. Instead of relief, Maxine felt a surge of fear. Hopefully she hadn’t invited the wolf right into the fold.

Hope you enjoyed a small taste of Twilight's Embrace. You can purchase your own copy at www.cobblestone-press.com

Have a great weekend!

I'm back...I think...Yeah, yeah, I'm back...

2009-06-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

Wow....what a wild a woolly month it has been so far! It started out nicely enough -- a trip to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday. We took the whole crew and had a blast. Did "The Happiest Place on Earth" and then California Adventure (where I'd never been before). Gotta love those California 2-Fer specials.

Then, I set off for my mom's to help out with a medical issue and just to visit. Packed the laptop, backed up my files, and set off thinking I'd have a gay old time. Somehow I seemed to forget I was taking all the kids and no hubby to help. Also that my mother is something my husband calls a Luddite. She's technologically challenged and quite a snob about it. So, no internet there...no Tivo...NO DVD player! Yikes. Thank goodness the laptop could play movies for the boys. The lack of internet access gave me a 2-week unintentional vacation. I was able to steal a little time at a local pizza parlor (Garcias Pizza in a Pan is the greatest pizza in the UNIVERSE) and scanned through my e-mail for the important stuff (contracts and cover art). But other than that, I was dead in the water.

But I must say, I kindof enjoyed the time away from it all. Even though I took a notebook, most of the time I spent in my head going over characters, motivation, goals, and plot points while my body was taking kids to the petting zoo, taking kids to the park, taking kids to the movies, taking kids to the McDonald's playland... The benefit, I'm ready to tackle another book and I missed some of the RWA traditional versus e-publishing controversy. Unfortunately, I've been sucked in and have spent too much time scouring blogs and reading "all about it". I must say that the most succinct and clear articles I've found are on Jackie Barbosa's blog. Stop by and take a gander if you have a chance.

I'm finishing up wading through hundreds of e-mails. I still have about 20 that I need to address. But in betwixt and between I've been writing. I had every intention of completing a couple of shorts before I threw myself into another full-length. However, my muse had other plans. LOL.

Oh, and I got a simply gorgeous cover for my upcoming June release from Cobblestone Press. Lovely isn't it?

Cover Art Christmas

2009-05-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

I simply love getting new cover art for books. It's thrilling to see that "package" sitting in your inbox. I hold my breath and click.

All I can say is wow...this cover, designed by Renee Rocco, captured the tone of my little dark tale of suspense perfectly!

Shattered is due to be released from Lyrical Press on 3 August 2009.

Oh, and I'm blogging today at www.seductive-hearts.com about Genre Bending and my donation to the Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction. Stop by and say "hi!"

Sickness Strikes

2009-05-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yep...early on Tuesday morning, we had the first inkling that things were on a downhill slide in our house. Kids who normally popped out of bed for school were moaning and saying they didn't feel well. We did what normal parents do...we sent them to school anyway.

It's now Friday and everyone but Mr. Scott and our eldest boy have succumbed. I spent the night on the sectional last night sitting in the recliner feeling as if I were onboard the Titanic...and if the roiling in my tummy didn't stop, I wanted the boat to sink. NOW. Sigh.

I'm feeling a bit better (hence my post)...but I'm also reflecting on a conversation my hubby and I had recently. We're fast approaching summer and I'm dreading having all the kids home, every day, day in-day out...yeah, you get the picture. Mr. Scott blithely volunteers to let me go back to work and he'll stay home with the kids.

Not a chance. Now, I love my husband dearly...he's definitely the man of my dreams. However, he has his faults: Dirty laundry seldom makes it to the hamper, and wrappers litter the cabinets when he's snacking. And with everyone ill today, he wasn't keeping a good enough eye on the not-sick child who entertained himself by endeavoring to open a warm can of soda all by himself. It's now all over the floor ...and don't kid yourself, the floor will be sticky until I feel well enough to clean it up.

No, I'm not going back to work just to come home and work some more cleaning house of the mess he and the kids would create. Not a chance...especially with August 10th (first day of school for ALL my kids) lurking right around the corner...So, just keep dreaming Mr. Scott.

Something Unleashed is in the Keep

2009-05-06T07:08:00.001-07:00

Come on over and check out what the buzz is about at Keta's Keep.

I love a Sale!

2009-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, Phaze is offering a 15% discount on all their print and e-books. So, if you've been waiting to pick up your copy of The Werewolf Whisperer, Unleashed, or Out of Time, wait no longer!

Use KINKODEMAYO as the coupon code when checking out.

glitter-graphics.com

All Writers - All Weekend draws to a close

2009-05-02T22:50:00.001-07:00

The conference is over and I must say that I'm thrilled that I was able to attend. I met so many lovely ladies this weekend, both published and unpublished, and learned so much that my head seems "full".

Candice Hern presented a wonderful talk on Point of View with great examples for using deep third person.

Karin Tabke gave a talk on rejection...it's just business, don't take it personally, which put the whole submission process (to both agents and editors) into perspective. If you query an agent and they don't get back to you..."they're just not that into you". Get over it and go on. If you love the agent, keep submitting to them. If they're interested, they'll call!

Barbara Freethy told us how to take our book from good to great. She also gave out an ARC for her upcoming book (I didn't win, but I know I'll be buying it in June). The title is Suddenly One Summer. Cannot wait to read it!

Eric Maisel gave an invigorating presentation on Beating the Writing Blues.

Then came the book signing...yes, my staggering to be read pile is now substantially bigger. I picked up some favorites and a couple of new writers. But I missed a familiar name...Cat Grant. Her books were there, but if she was, I missed her. :-(

Then came the dreaded pitch session. Sadly, I pitched a category length story to Laurie McLean -- who doesn't do category romance. Howevever, she graciously gave me some wonderful advice for my career (keep writing, don't give up the day job, and feel free to send her a partial if I have something single-title length). She also mentioned that paranormal, although flying off the shelves, is a hard sell right now. Agent and publisher stables are full (why do they refer to us as horses? Catherine Coulter wonders) I was also able to touch base with Laura Bradford, who has a partial of Crisscross on her desk as I type. She does accept that length and I was glad to be able to put a face with a name on the manuscript. Scott Eagan of Greyhaus Literary was also here. Last year, I bought a critique from Scott at Brenda Novak's auction (which is currently running, hop on over there, as he and others have donated more critiques). I was able to thank him in person for his insight on the manuscript.

Catherine Coulter spoke of the state of the industry at dinner. It's tough times out there. HQN may be doing well, but it's simply because they have no slack to cut. Everyone else is seeing cutbacks and the best advice for writers -- write the best book you can, polish it up, and if it's rejected, keep writer. Preserverance is the key to success.

After dinner, a panel of published authors told us all things they wished they'd known before they signed the contract...my takeaway message, shoot for the top, don't settle, and write the best book you can. It's really the only thing you can control in the process. And again, preserverance is the key to weathering the recession. If you persist, you will succeed.

The really great thing is that I came back up to the room and opened my e-mail to find a request for a full manuscript of Crisscross from a small publisher that I had queried.

Oh, and Cindy Jacks, one of my CPs, is a finalist in the Knight Agency's Book in a Nutshell contest! Go Cindy!!

Update from All Writers - All Weekend

2009-05-02T22:48:00.001-07:00

I'm here at my first writers conference. Its All Writers - All Weekend hosted by the Silicon Valley RWA. Last night was the agent panel. Scott Eagan, Laurie McLean, and Laura Bradform presented what's hot (and what's not) and took questions. They also judged a first line contest. The best part of their presentation was a bit of news. Despite the recession, Romance is SELLING...big time. So, if you have a finished manuscript, get it polished up and submitted...now is the time!

Afterwards, we broke up into a no-host dinner. I went to a Malaysian restaurant (The Banana Leaf) with a small group of writers. What a blast. To sit and steep in conversation all about writing, the business, the struggle...it was inspiring.

Today, we have speakers, a book signing, and I'm pitching to one of the agents. It'll be my first ptich session and I'm doing it off the cuff, so wish me luck!

Oh, on another note, I bought my first audio book for the drive up here (5 hours). Wow...I don't often get to listen to anything I like in the car, but audiobooks are wonderful. Time just flew by...too bad I only had time to upload part 1 to my IPOD...so I'll only have 2 hours left of the book for the drive home. Sigh.

Happy May Day!

2009-05-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

It looks like spring has finally sprung here in the high desert of California. It's warm and sunny...a great day for driving. At least for me.

I'm setting off for the All Writers All Weekend conference hosted by the Silicon Valley RWA. It's my first writer's conference, as I missed Nationals last summer due to my daughter's surgery.

I'm mega excited and looking forward to meeting some of my favorite authors (Barbara Freethy and Karin Tabke).

So, have a great weekend and happy May Day!

glitter-graphics.com

Greetings from Sweden!

2009-04-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

As you are starting out your day, I've just finished putting my little ones to bed, while Drama Teen is competing in the IBM ICPC IDOL contest. It's a spoof on American Idol, but she's having a blast. Nothing like getting up and singing in front of 200-700 people. Better her than me!

Since we are here for the annual international IBM ICPC programming contest, we havent't been able to do all the sightseeing that we would have if this had been a pleasure vacation instead of a busman's holiday. Plus, we got stuck in the Oslo airport for 4 hours coming in as our flight was late leaving New Jersey and we missed our connection.

We have, however, found the Seven Eleven and McDonalds, so the kids are happy. While Mr. Scott took the boys to the practice session today, I took Drama Teen shopping in old town. It's truly lovely...narrow, winding cobblestone roads and shops galore. I picked out a few souveniers, then we were going to eat lunch and buy a troll on the way out. Well, we took a short detour as I spotted a bookstore (all the books in this one were in Swedish, sigh). Instead of backtracking, we forged ahead. Now, did I forget to mention the roads wind? Well, I forgot and thought we were traveling parallel to the way we came in. Wrong.

Lost. We were only six or so blocks from our hotel, but we were lost. Boy, does that suck the fun out of shopping. We did eventually make our way back to the hotel, tired and a bit footsore. Tomorrow, Mr. Soctt and Drama Teen will be working at the contest, so the boys and I will foray back to the shop. I'm NOT coming home without my troll!

So far, my most memorable aspect of the trip is that I'm tired. Youngest boy is on a self-maintained schedule and so far has been waking up at about 2 am and wanting to stay awake until around 8 am (midnight our time) and then sleep until noon. We kept him up all day today, so I'm hoping not to spend 3 hours in the hotel lobby with him.

The weather has been fabulous...but I'm amazed that at 40 degrees, the most popular street vender here doesn't sell hot drinks...but Ice Cream! Glass shops abound and the Swedish folk can be seen bundled to the gills in scarves and coats eating cold, creamy goodness. Oh, and they eat outside too (take away is a few krona cheaper than Ata Har (eat in, i think it means). And it's not because they are cheapskates, it's because everything is expensive here. I figure the Swedish krona is about 16 cemts. So, a burger at McDonalds for 85 krona works out to be 13.60! Ouch!

It's our last full day tomorrow and then another travel day. I'll try to post pictures when we get back.

Double Jeopardy

2009-04-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Double Jeopardy

Dominic Wells wouldn't hesitate to do anything to keep his wife happy. Anything at all . . . .

When one member of their marital triad dies, Dominic Wells figures he’s all set to have his happily ever after with his beautiful wife, Tabbitha. However, now that he finally has her all to himself, he realizes he can never be enough for her. No one man could. So, they set out on a quest to find a new husband to complete their loving marriage.

Special Content Alert: Menage, slightly macabre

Video Trailer for Unleashed by Ericka Scott

2009-04-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

Buy your copy today!

E-book

Trade Paperback (The Werewolf Whisperer and Unleashed - two incredible stories in one volume!)

I'm in PRINT!

2009-03-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Individually designed with blood and delivered with desperate hope for truth, the Vampire Oracle Cards guide the lives of five unforgettable immortals by catapulting them into a quest for love.

The fate of a vampire’s heart…

Accept a fate woven by another or fight it and miss out on the love of a lifetime...

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