Happy New Year!

2009 is officially here! I'm grateful for a new year and new opportunities. Though I didn't accomplish every goal, this was a productive year for my writing career.

A few things I was able to do this year:
1.Finish a solid draft of Secrets Uncovered and send it out to 4 publishers.
2.Enter Secrets into several contests. I won 2nd Place in the Reveal Your Inner Vixen contest.
3.I joined my local RWA chapter (I'd been a national member, but hadn't joined my local group)
4.I volunteered for the 2009 Board of Directors for my chapter.
5.I entered the Romance Divas mentoring program last April and worked with Madelyne Ellis for three months to polish my manuscript & improve my writing.

This year, my goal is to sell a novella or novel. To that end, my next goal is to finish another story, preferably by the end of April. I'm planning to go to RT (Romantic Times conference) on April 22nd. My other personal goal is to move to a new apartment, hopefully in the same timeline.

I generally don't make New Year's resolutions because I find I generally don't keep them. I like to make goals for myself, but keep them a bit flexible.

One of my favorite quotes is this: "The greatest miracle is life itself. You are that miracle and you can create anything you want, which is another great miracle. There is no limit to what you can have, only what you can ask for, picture, and receive." Sanaya Roman & Duane Packer in Creating Money.

I wish you joy, contentment, creativity, prosperity, and love immeasurable.

Happy 2009!

As a side note, I created a section of Twilight and Romance Writing T-Shirts on Cafe Press to earn some extra cash toward my goals (moving and RT): http://www.cafepress.com/vromancewriter

There are tote bags, t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and more. Most of them have a paranormal theme (Twilight, Buffy, Heroes), but I also have gifts for "Romance Writing Addicts".

Until next time...

A Night of Debauchery (A Diva Get Together)

So, Thursday night, Eden Bradley's best friend, Lilli Fiesty, came to town for a visit. A few of us met at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks. Now, keep in mind that you have 6 erotica authors all together at once and at least two of them are crazy and up for anything. The rest of us will go along with just about anything.

I wish I could thoroughly explain the hilarity of the evening. Here are the highlights: wine and Indian food; a camera who had a little too much vodka; ice in the restaurant toilet; ruined underwear--going commando; toying with a player via text message; the robot stripper dance; two lap dances (one professional, one courtesy of Ms. Fiesty); a strip club with nude dancers; a bar with 4 fascinated table neighbors (three men and one woman) who were enamored with Eden Bradley and the fact that there are six erotica writers at the table next to them; a man under the delusion that Eden was his wife and they've got two kids at home; Fiesty and Lisa reenacting the lipstick scene from Breakfast Club, and plans for a trip to Vegas where I'll get my first lap dance at a male revue... Actually, that would be my first lap dance ever. Sadly, I was not the recipient of Fiesty's lap dance (though she did bury her head in my boob for a picture).

LOL!

I didn't have a camera, so I can only rely on the pics that KB sent me. There are more pics, but I have not received them yet. Unfortunately, the funny picture we took with our table neighbors came out really blurry or I would post it here.

Here's a teaser...






This is what happens when a group of Romance Divas get together!

I've Been Inked

Okay, so not really. But, I'm developing an uncharacteristic fondness for tattoos. Not on me--I don't do tats--but on the right man...

If you happened to see yesterday's post, you'll know I've become addicted to more videos on YouTube. Specifically, General Hospital music videos featuring Greg Vaughan and Kelly Monaco (Lucky & Sam). So, back to Greg's tattoo. So now I totally have a tattoo fetish, if only for one tattoo. Here's a pic:



I have to say that the pic does not nearly do it justice. So, I'm posting a sexy slow motion scene of Greg Vaughan in a hot tub. At the end, you can see Greg's tattoo. It's a Native American eagle. I just want to run my hands over it. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's attached to Greg!



Recently, there were two other tattoos that kind of struck my fancy. I saw this picture of The Rock with his tribal tattoo and it's pretty hot:



And, I bought Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld books because I first saw this picture from Darkest Night:



If I am honest, I must also admit to my crush on Daegus MacKeltar from Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series. And, since Cian (Kee-yan) is my second favorite Highlander Hottie, there must be something more to this closet tattoo fetish. It doesn't hurt that they both have that redeemable bad boy thing going on.

So, I confess. I'm in the early stages of HMWTA (Hot Man With Tattoo Addiction). What are the 12 steps?

How I Get Inspired (Distracted) While Meaning to Write....Or, Twilight and GH on YouTube

So, I'm working on a new paranormal story idea. It's taking a while to flesh together as this is a series and is more detailed than writing a novella or single title.

When I'm supposed to be writing, I'm finding myself on YouTube looking up mvids of General Hospital. Sad, but true. I was browsing for pics of Kelly Monaco (who plays Sam) and I saw one of her and Greg Vaughan (who plays Lucky). I'd been having trouble finding a face for my hero and when I saw the pic of Greg/Lucky, I knew I had a winner! So, I stumbled upon these really good music videos of the LuSam romance and I got hooked. I look at them when I'm getting ready to write and it's totally amusing because I never even watched GH during the time they got together. Side note for GH fans: the whole Sam and baby Jake storyline and the JaSam breakup was just annoying beyond belief, so I boycotted the show. Jason is my favorite character and I liked Sam, so I just couldn't get with the craziness...

So, back to my LuSam obsession. Those videos are muy caliente! That's some hot stuff. And, I just LOVE the clips of Lucky when he gets into the hot tub in his jeans and no shirt on. I'm not a girl for tats, but Greg has this beautiful Native American Eagle tattoo on his back that is OMG sexy!

Here's one of the videos on my LuSam playlist. If you skip to about 1:41 on the time, you'll see the sexy hot tub scene... Just sayin'.



And, this one is my favorite. It's more sweet than sexy:



Edited to add: I found a clip of just the hot tub scene, in slow motion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGeXoCCkM0A

Twighlight

My other obsession lately is the Twilight series. I know people have been talking about these books for a while, but I was slow to jump on the bandwagon. So, a good friend of mine started reading them and then got me to read the first one before we went to see the movie. I'm now on the third book, Eclipse. Well, more than half-way done.

So, I went Twi--I mean--Christmas shopping from my computer yesterday and bought several of my friends Twighlight stuff. Apparently we're all hooked on Sparkly Vampires. I'll show you some of the cool things I got:

http://homedecor.cafepress.com/item/twilight-sparkly-vampires-throw-pillow/331066054 I didn't actually buy the pillow, but I did buy something with this logo.

This one is my Twilight gift to myself: http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/team-edward-jacob-womens-dark-tshirt/329774475
Because I am switzerland. I refuse to be affected by territorial disputes between mythical creatures. A hot wolf AND a cool vampire, now there's a girl's dream come true!

And, for my friend who is NOT neutral territory...

http://bags.cafepress.com/item/team-edward-better-tote-bag/331168061

I do have to admit, there is something quite sexy about a sparkly, protective, velvet voiced vampire named Edward...

With any luck, my Greg Vaughan lookalike and paranormal hero, Connall O'Neill, will turn out to be just as sexy. Though my vamps do not sparkle. :)

My new addictions are inspiring, but terrible distractions. Last night, I spent 5 hours watching old episodes of GH on YouTube. This morning, I spent about 4 hours reading Eclipse.

So what are your distractions?

Reading Frenzy

Lately, I've been on a book-buying binge. Not sure if it's stress or just exciting gems every time I pass by the bookstore or the online bookstore...

Recently, I'd become obsessed with the Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark Series. I love those books! I got one for free or maybe it was 50 cents at my local RWA chapter. We have book exchanges and raffles. One day, I got some books both in the book exchange and I won a goodie bag in a raffle. At first, I was dismayed by the quirky title: Dark Needs at Night's Edge. Who thinks up these things?

But, then I got to reading. And, I got to liking. And, I realized there was a whole series...So, from that point on, I was a goner. I read them all except for book #5--which I am postponing because I don't want to wait a long time for book #6 to come out.

A week ago, I got an email from Amazon saying that there was a 4 for the price of 3 romance novel sale. Temptation got the best of me. I saw a Christine Warren book in the promotion and I'd already read She's No Faerie Princess, so I was excited. I thought, why not just buy the rest of the series since I'm brainstorming a paranormal right now. So, I bought 5 books!

And, my friend Eden Bradley's book Forbidden Fruit came out and I was at the bookstore last weekend and had to buy it. A few weeks ago, my RWA chapter had a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble and I just had to buy something in support.

Is it time to check me into book-rehab? Or some kind of obssessive compulsive support group? Book Buyer's Anonymous?

I won 2nd place in the Reveal Your Inner Vixen Contest

I found out on Friday that I placed second in the Erotic category of the Maryland RWA contest for best sexual tension. This was exciting for me as I have worked very hard on Secrets Uncovered. Harder than I've ever worked on a book in my life. Next month, it will be two years since I first wrote a draft of this book.

A list of winners in all categories has now been posted: http://www.marylandromancewriters.org/mrw/index.php?page_id=9

Burnt Toast

This week, I've been reading Teri Hatcher's book, Burnt Toast. I wanted to read the book when I'd first heard about it on Oprah, but somehow never got around to it. It was on sale at a local B&N bookstore and I figured this was the perfect time to buy it.

It's a funny thing. Lois & Clark was actually my favorite TV show in the mid 90's (that and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman). I loved Lois Lane and Dean Cain (as Clark) was my crush in school. Oddly enough, I didn't have a thing for Superman, just Clark. I think it was the glasses and the preppy clothes and maybe the brainy attitude. Or, maybe it was just nice to see a strong man rely on things other than physical strength in his "normal" life.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand: Burnt Toast. As I read through the book, I realized how much I have in common with Teri Hatcher. Her introspective musings remind me of the word jumble that goes on in my head on any given day. She talks a lot about mindfulness and awareness, which is something I think of a lot. So, when something good or bad happens in her life, she's thinking "What does it mean?" or "How can I use this to learn more about myself or become a better person?"

Some of the book is funny. Some of it is kind of sad. It was reassuring to know that someone I'd always thought of as being pretty also has some of the same body issues that I've struggled with. And, a few that I have not. It reminded me of how each day you wake up and look in the mirror and you have to deal with what you see there. Outer success has nothing to do with that first impression you get when you wake up and see yourself in the glass. Being on magazine covers doesn't make you any more comfortable in a bathing suit or getting naked with a new guy for the first time (for that story, you'll have to read the book).

I think the lesson carries over into other realms as well. How many people have I looked up to and thought, "Ooh, I want to be just like them." Well, the truth is, do I really want to be just like them? Do I want the pain of divorce or loosing a parent or having my cellulite appear on the cover of a tabloid magazine? No, not so much. I think as women living our lives everyday, we fantasize about the glamorous attention (getting to wear designer clothes or having pretty pictures taken or having a hot male movie star chasing after us). But, we don't think too much about the day that celebrity wakes up and feels fat or that she's having a terrible time in her marriage and tabloids are posting pictures of her boyfriend with other women and making insinuating remarks. And, we don't think too much about the day that the TV show gets canceled or the big movie bombs or the record label refuses to publish the album.

Ultimately, it's good to be me. I may not like it all of the time, but do I want someone else's problems? Baggage? Insecurities? I think I've gotten used to mine and they are used to me, so I think I'll just stick with the devil I know for now.

Okay, so this post has gone on way longer than I'd anticipated. It seems my last couple of posts have twisted and turned in unexpected directions as I started writing them. I'll blame it on Mercury Retrograde.

Feel free to drop a line. Would you want to trade places with a celebrity or successful person? On a good day? A bad day?