Thank You Thursday...Tunes!!!

Thought I'd share what I'm listening to right now. It totally helps me get in the mood to write and plus, I'm in a Transformers phase.

Delicate and hard at the same time. Plus it's a little quirky. I love quirky.


Luke Bryan is plain old sexy. This song is a great get in the mood kind of song and plus, again, there's Luke Bryan. He was part of the inspiration behind Tucker in my upcoming book, Ever Fallen in Love. Ain't he a cutie?



Personal favorite. Gary Allan, airplanes, and a reminder of Right Where I Need to Be.

Enjoy!!!

Friday Flirts

I'm gonna cheat. Last night I got to see Gary Allan...again...not that way... I'm married. But I did get to see him in concert. Yum. Always a favorite. So instead of Friday Flirts where I talk about my WIP's since they are all pretty much at a standstill...(**SIGH**), i thought I'd share mt fave pics of Mr. Allan. I'd post mine, but I haven't had time to stop whirling like a dervish. (Sorry...not really)

Enjoy!

(I love the jacket look)

(Shivers)

(Gotta Love a Man in a Cowboy Hat)

Thankful and Sad but Happy at the Same Time.

I know, that sounds like a silly and somber title for a post.

It is.

Over the past year, I've met some great friends, learned A LOT about reading, writing, and editing. I learned what HTML is and that it's not just some strange binary code or something. I felt the joys of editing because I got a contract, and the lows of oh hell, the editor didn't want it, please send again or better yet, never. I've read more ebooks than I ever thought possible. And I managed to drive my family crazy on more than one occasion.

Highlights:

February - I joined LASR/WC. (PS - I love it.)AND I saw Clint Bowyer at the Auto Show!
March - saw Gary Allan in concert where he played Right Where I Need to Be.
April - a whole lot of reviewing went on.
May - I got the contract for my first novel - Right Where I Need to Be through The Wild Rose Press. I also subbed a short story that got shot down at the editor level.
June - went to the Lori Foster Get Together and got a crash course in promotion
July - more reviewing and editing for the novel
August - see July
September - got the contract for my erotic short story Learning How to Bend through Total E Bound
October - worked like a dog on a couple of ideas for novels and short stories and did reviews
November - the craziness of NaNo, but I won!
December - more reviewing, writing, editing, and critting, and writing a short or two for WC (well, five on the year). (Did I mention I have a new CP? Yup and I'm making headway!)

And I have the edits for yet another novel idea done for the moment. I love it when things come together and work out. For a little while I lost a little faith in my writing abilities, but a kick in the pants from a couple of CP's got the ball rolling.

I have some sorrows, but they can wait until later.

Toodles.

In the Mood...

I may have mentioned him before now, but I'm working hard on my farmer story, entitled A Matter of Trust. Now, I have a key scene and a wrap up scene yet to write.

Am I worried?

No.

I'm I a bit stuck?

You bet. I love to write a love scene. It's a beautiful way to express the devotion and passion between two people BUT I believe you must be in the right mind frame or, shall we say, in the mood. Really.

Think about it. When you feel arduous, its a mood. Anger sometimes brings it out, other times its the vision of a particularly yummy person of the opposite (or not so opposite) sex. But it's still a mood.

The same goes for writing about it. You can't write about sex if you aren't in the right mood. If not, it becomes a shuck and f**k and, really, is that sexy? Maybe, but not all the time. I like it to be beautiful and passionate, but that's me. Don't think I'm all sweetness and flowers. Roses do have thorns. Tee Hee.

So what do you do to get in the mood to write a love scene? I listen to a couple of favorite tunes and try to imagine in my head exactly what's going on between the two (or three or four) people. Dierks Bentley's "I Want to Make You Close Your Eyes" is a good one. So is "Putting My Misery on Display". I also use "Relentless" by Jason Aldean, "Come a Little Closer" also by Dierks, "The One" another by Gary, "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams, and "See If I Care" yet another Gary Allan tune.

Now I ask again (Since I shared one of my iPod playlists), what's your song to get in the mood?

And So It Goes...

Just heard that song "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel. Yes, I like Billy Joel's music. "Summer, Highland Falls" is my favorite song. But listening to it made me think... time flies. When Storm Front came out, I was still in elementary school. Yup, I was. I'm watching a selection of Weezer videos... sheesh... they hit it big when I was in high school. Crazy.

So I spent a bit of time thinking about how fast time seems to pass. Seems like yesterday I was in high school trying to figure out how to fit in and what the heck I wanted to do with my life. Seems like a few hours ago when I was in college and trying to decide if I was old enough to get married and to teach other students. Oy! Seems like just a moment ago when I was pregnant and wondering how the heck I was ready to have a child when I felt like little more than a child myself.

No, I don't feel much older now, but I feel a bit wiser. I gave teaching a shot and found it wasn't for me. I'm a parent and maybe I'm not so bad at that as I figured. I still refuse to grow up and I don't confuse growing up with maturity. You can turn the volume button to the left and still rock out. There's nothing wrong with admitting you still like Hall & Oats when the rest of the world like Nirvana. Oh and about maturity, you can be mature without losing that childlike wonder and humor. (And yes, I'm still the one who laughs 'til I cry when I watch slapstick comedy. Falling down is hysterical... just sayin'.)

Tomorrow my friend Debbie Alferio will be here with an interview about her writing and her books. Check back for that.

Update:
Well, I'm still in the consideration pile (as far as I know) with the editors. No word from one, but word is I may find something out come Monday. I didn't publicise this before, but I do believe in coincidence and things happening for a reason. When I wrote Right, I took some inspiration from Gary Allan's songwriting. (Like you couldn't tell...) But I put my own spin on it. While waiting for the answer on the submission, I got to see Gary in concert. Cool. And then the word came that it was contracted. As for my two under consideration, one deals with the Air Force and the other with the Air National Guard. One story has a dragonfly in it. A keyring with a dragon recently came into my possession (spooky, huh?) and then last weekend I went to the Air Show. It's an air show, so yeah, the military planes were there, but still... the C5 and C130 were there. Coincidence? Probably... but I'm going with the divine sign theory.

If I'm wrong, I'll admit my folly. 'Til then, I'm riding on faith and hope (and crossed fingers).

Toodles.

How I Got From There to Here

My friend Marianne blogged about that moment that everything seems to work out and the fabled contract offer is extended. Here's my story.

About 2, maybe 3 years ago, I had this idea for a NASCAR novel. It didn't pan out (As of yet), but it got me writing. While working on that novel, I got an idea for a pompous actor to hook up with a writer who's totally not Hollywood's standard for hot, but her personality makes her outshine the best looking superficials.

Well, I worked and worked on this MS and finally thought it was ready to send to my BF. Not the best idea (and not because she wasn't harsh, she was) but she's one of my close friends. I've known her since high school. Let me tell you, a crit partner is invaluable, but if it's your BF, she or he may tell you it's great when it's not. If you get lucky enough to find one who is honest and blunt - great, but don't count on it.

Then I received a rejection on another work that really needed help, but at the time I had no idea it was that bad off (Again here's where the crit partner helped immensely - she pointed out my lack of crisis in the story). Anyway, I signed up to work with another crit partner. Kathleen worked and worked with me (And made me schedule time to get Right right). It made me focus more and made me believe in the work.

We set a submission date for the first of March, but I got mine done a bit before Kathleen, so I sent mine in a week early. The coolest thing is that I titled the MS Right Where I Need to Be because Logan realizes that Hollywood isn't where he belongs (plus I love Gary Allan), now I got to see Gary Allan in concert the week after I submitted. He sings the song Right Where I Need to Be. HE DID IT IN CONCERT THAT NIGHT! I was so excited! Then he did some of the other songs that I used as inspiration for the novel. I loved it. Plus, that week I got to see my favorite NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer at the Auto Show in Cleveland. How cool!

After a bit of chasing and pestering, I found out that Right went to a real live editor. Even cooler!

Well, I didn't hear anything from anyone for over a month and got worried. I had some bad experiences, so I decided to check into things. On the Friday before Mother's Day, I got the blessed email with the CONTRACT! How awesome.

Since then, I've busted my behind getting ready with edits that were suggested before she really digs into it. I hope these edits help it for later. Don't know because at this point, this is all new to me, but a lot of fun (even when it is difficult).

When did that stroke of luck happen for you? Let me know!