A joke from Gizmo Guy

It's been a rough November dealing with Curly's pneumonia, Mom's stroke, and Gizmo Guy's neuropathy tests. So, knowing I was stressed out, Gizmo Guy sent me this joke and I figured I'd share it with you:

God: Men, what car you get in Heaven will depend on how faithful you were to your wives on Earth.

Man 1: Please God, I can't count how many times I cheated on my wife. There were just too many beautiful women on Earth, and I had to have them all.

God: I am ashamed of you, my man, For that, I give you a run-down truck that barely moves.

Man 2: Dear God, please forgive me! I cheated on my wife once, just once! We were going through problems and I took the wrong turn. Please forgive me!

God: My man, I am ashamed of you too. But I will be kinder to you. For that, I give you a convertible BMW.

Man 3: Dear God, you will be so proud of me. I loved and worshiped my wife. I brought her roses everyday after work, I brought her gifts every anniversary, and we went traveling, and had dinner out 3 times a week, and...

God: Okay, my man, enough! I get the point. I am very proud of you! For that, I give you any car you desire!

Two weeks later Man 1 and 2 are driving on the freeway when they see Man 3 ahead of them, stopped in the middle of the road in his Black Jaguar.

Man 1 and 2: Hey Man! Why are you sitting in your car and crying your eyes out? You're acting like some ungrateful bugger! Look at your car, man! What is your problem?!

Man 3: "I just saw my wife on rollerskates!"

Weekend Round-Up

Back in October, Tina Gerow, who also writes as Cassie Ryan, was on my blog talking about her book Seducing the Succubus.

I'm sad to say that Tina is currently in hospital after undergoing repeated brain surgeries to treat something called Arterial Venus Malformation.  She is in need of your thoughts and prayers.

If you want to know more, go here on Facebook for updates on her condition. If you can help her family out with their mounting medical bills, stop off here at a page where they've set up a system to donate via PayPal.

I own a Sony reader PRS 505, that's now 2 1/2 years old. I've noticed for a while that the battery hasn't been holding a charge so I've been doing some research online and playing with various Sony readers and the Kobo -- at Word on the Street in Toronto a while back, and in the stores. I'd never managed to put my hands on a Kindle until I sat down with Angela James from Carina Press. She'd brought hers up from the States.

My Sony gave up the ghost this week. Gizmo Guy suggested I buy a new device and give him my old Sony which I agreed with. Until I discovered to replace the Sony's battery via Sony is going to cost me a $135. (Talk about highway robbery!)

So after some careful consideration, and lots of discussion with people in the shops, and on Twitter (Thanks Shannon Stacey, amongst others) I've ordered myself a Kindle 3.  Since they're so popular, it won't arrive until Valentine's Day but that's okay, I'm not in a hurry.

As for Gizmo Guy, I'll let him have a shot at replacing the battery on the Sony himself but if he doesn't get it working, then I may just buy him his own Kobo for Christmas. *ssssh*

This Last Thursday of November

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. Up here in Canada, it's just the last Thursday of November.

For those of you who have asked how Mom is doing, she's much better. She's been moved to a Stroke Rehabilitation unit just a couple miles away from me and one week in, they've got her up and walking the hall with a walker. She's able to get out of bed and move to a wheelchair by herself where a week ago it took two people to help her. She gets physio twice a day along with other activities. They have a group session where they do things like play basketball to get them lifting their arms above their head -- Mom says she can sink a ball in the net every time. They play dominos and other games to exercise their fine motor skills.  Since Mom's hand was affected only a little, it's not as much work for her as it is for some of the residents of the unit. They figure she'll be home in a month, if not sooner with the progress she's making.

On my side there have been lots of phone calls I've made and received from family and friends concerned about her, naturally. And from Mom herself -- even with all the activities, it's boring sitting in a hospital room. She's got cross word puzzles and I took her a couple books, including Susanna Kearsley's Shadowy Horses and Audrey Niffenegger's Time Traveler's Wife. 

But those phone calls and the concern about Mom do make it hard to concentrate on my writing. So I've been doing some sprints to push my wordcount and I'm up to 40K on Troy's story. But now I'm more than halfway through and I'm approaching that all important black moment, as it's so often called, where I have to start weaving all the tails of the story together and it's slowing me down a bit again.  My original goal of finishing the first draft by the end of November doesn't look like it's going to happen. And I'm disappointed but life--and family--comes first.  And though it's not Thanksgiving for me technically, I have a lot for which to be thankful.

Gina Gordon: What makes you feel sexy?

Meet Gina Gordon

Your significant other will be home any minute. Dinner is made, the children have been shipped off to a safe place, the table is set, the music is playing and the lights are dim. There’s only one thing missing….where’s the sexy?

I’ve come to the conclusion that sexy is not a physical thing. It’s not a setting, a piece of clothing, a certain body type or facial feature. Sexy is a state of mind.

For example, let’s look at Megan Fox. It’s not her beauty alone that clinches her spot at the top of every most sexy list. She has an air about her, a confidence, a look in her eye that screams sexy. I would love to know her secret trick. Probably the fact that millions of men all over the world drool over her picture…that would put a little more oomph in my strut.

Although sexy may be a state of mind, sometimes we all need a little help. For me it’s lingerie. Something about the tight fit of a corset and the silkiness of stockings transports my brain to a sexy place. No matter how I may be feeling mentally about my body, it all disappears. Don’t believe me? Try wearing some sexy lingerie underneath your regular clothing. The little secret you have with yourself can do wonders for your confidence.

How did I come to this conclusion? My newest release, Forever in Lingerie, book one of my Bare Naked Designs series. Each story centers around one piece of lingerie and it just so happens that the hero accidentally walks in on the heroine wearing said outfit. Of course it isn’t the lingerie that binds the couple together. It just kicks the relationship up a notch or two.

So what about you? What do you do to make yourself feel sexy?

Gina Gordon is an erotica and romance author living in Ontario, Canada. Her newest release, Forever in Lingerie, is available now from Lyrical Press. To find out more about Gina, visit her website at www.ginagordon.net

Sunday, busy Sunday

My wordcount usually slows a bit on the weekend because the family's all home and that's when I have to do all my running around. (It's weird, you'd think I'd do any shopping etc. on weekdays when the stores aren't so busy, but then I'm usually so focused on my writing I forget everything else.) I am still plugging away on Troy's story. I'm at 32,000 and I figure I'm slightly over halfway through the story, maybe a little bit more. It's a little frustrating because this time last year I was only a few pages away from completing 50K and I'm so far behind. But I'm determined to type "The End" on the first draft by the end of the month. Even though it means I'll have to write about 3K per days which is tougher some days than others.



On a totally different note, you may have heard that you can now give ebooks to friends over on Amazon's new "Give as a Gift" button. You don't have to own a Kindle to receive a Kindle book, you can read it on your computer and such. I immediately thought "yay! This is great, now I can send prizes to my contest winners that way!" Um. Nope.

As a trial I 'gifted' a book to Angela James. I chose a book from Angela's wishlist (really handy and I'd never set on up before--why?). I clicked on the "give as a gift" button and was told I couldn't purchase that book since I was in Canada. Shoot. So even though Angela, the receiver of the gift, was in the proper geographic area to receive the book, I couldn't send it to her. Strange thing was if I went to the book's page instead of through Angela's wish list, I was allowed to purchase it and send it to Angela. My credit card was properly charged, Angela received a very pretty email saying she'd received a gift from me. When she tried to download it however she was told she couldn't because she was in the wrong geographic area. She ended up having to change her Kindle's location by changing her address to Harlequin's Toronto address before she could download it. It was a US book for pete's sake. Being delivered to a US Kindle owner. Another author tried to send a book to someone in Europe (possibly England?) --- same thing happened. The receiver had to change their account address, and then received a bill for UK's VAT tax and Whispernet charges. So it looks like Amazon still has a few bugs to work out.

Snippet Saturday: Happy Birthday to...

This week's Snippet Saturday theme is Birthdays. I didn't sign up for it initially since I thought none of my stories involved a birthday. So imagine the 'face/palm' moment I had when I realized the entire plot of Private Property revolves around the hero's planned birthday present to the heroine goes awry.

Private Property

copyright© 2009 by Leah Braemel

“Jodi Tyler, I’d like you to meet Sam Watson.”

Sam Watson? As in the owner of Hauberk Security and Mark’s college buddy? Jodi closed her mouth when she realized her jaw was hanging open. Was this some sort of joke?

“So is this really your place, or are you checking me out to make sure I meet your company’s qualifications?”

“Yup, place is all mine.” He smiled as he picked up the cigar, his gaze flicking over her again.
“As for checking you out, there ain’t a man alive who could fail to admire your…assets.”

Annoyed at being held captive by the man who would soon be her new boss, she placed her hands flat on Sam’s chest and pushed. And failed to budge him at all.

“Since you own one of the biggest security firms on the east coast, you obviously don’t need Mark to upgrade your security—so why have me break in? Oh, and in case you haven’t heard, there’s a law about sexual harassment of employees. So you’d better have one damned good lawyer.”

Sam’s eyes widened; he quickly stepped back, letting Mark take his place.

“Relax, babe.” Mark rubbed her shoulders in a move meant to pacify her but she batted them away.

Jodi shoved the paper in Mark’s face. It was either that or kick him in the groin. “This list was supposed to be just between us. How could you humiliate me like this?”

Mark cleared his throat and cursed softly in Spanish. “I’m sorry, babe, I wanted to surprise you for your birthday—you know, so we can cross the rest of those items off your list. I thought it would be funny. Sort of an icebreaker. “

“Funny?” She thumped her fist into his shoulder. “You have a twisted sense of humor. Besides, what could possibly be on there that you’d need to show to a perfect stranger?”

Sam waved his cigar toward the paper that was now a crumpled ball in her fist. “You might wanna refresh your memory and read number six there, sweet pea. Ol’ Mark here’s asked me to help fulfill that particular fantasy.”

With a growing dread, she scanned the list, her eyes widening.

6. I’d like to have a ménage with Mark and another man that we could trust.

Read Excerpts here and here or on my website 

Buy from Samhain's My Bookstore and More. Also available on Amazon's Kindle, All Romance e-Books, Barnes & Noble, Fictionwise and other ebook catalogs.

Don't forget to visit the other Snippet Saturday participants' snippets:

Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Shelley Munro

The New Normal, and a New Goal

Thank you to everyone who emailed me or left comments about my mom.  She's been moved from the hospital in the smaller town that's farther away from me to a stroke rehab unit only 3 miles away. Which makes life easier for us both. Especially since she has a phone so we can keep in touch that way too.  The doctors are quite pleased with the strength she has in her arms and the physiotherapists are keeping her busy with lots of exercises to bring her leg back to full strength.

So life has sort of returned to normal -- the new normal -- which means I'm back to writing. Thank heavens. Writing has always been a good way for me to focus on things other than the curveballs life throws me. Otherwise my brain has a tendency to churn issues over far too many times and make them into bigger dramas than they actually are.

Anyway, Troy's story is progressing nicely. I'm at 25K of what looks to be probably a 60K or more story. I really need to break the synopsis down so I can predict the final word count a bit more precisely. It's good practice for those times when I want to sell by proposal. (which means you contract the story before you actually write it -- I can't do that with my Samhain stories though) It's awful tough if you're contractually obligated to write a 60K story that turns out to be only 40K long. That means you've got a lot of padding to reach your goal. Usually that involves creating a subplot and trying to weave it through the existing story. It's even worse if you write a 90K story when your contract calls for only 60K. That's a heckuva lot of cutting. Especially if you don't have a subplot.

I figure if I write 2K a day between now and the end of November, I will squeak past the NaNo requirements of 50K, and will be darned close to typing "The End" on my first draft. If I want to actually finish the first draft by the end of November, which was my original goal, I'll have to up my daily wordcount to 2833 words a day. Yikes. Well, I'm going to give it a shot. Even if something else crops up and I don't make it, I'll be that much closer to the finish line.

Tomboys and Wonder Woman

Meet Ella Drake

As a kid, I was a bit of a tomboy. I didn’t play with dolls. Instead, I fought my brother over his Tonka dump truck. Never have I owned a Barbie though I played with Star Wars action figures, usually light saber fighting. I didn’t wear dresses. I played football in the front yard. I had short hair and people thought I was a boy. My play with other girls seemed to delve into my domestic future as mother and wife only for the sake of making mud pies. I came into the house very little, but when I did, I watched one TV show a night. And, gasp, when Little House on the Prairie—the ultimate in popular shows of the 70s—stared airing, I watched it, but I much preferred the newer show, Wonder Woman. I wanted to be Linda Carter! Now as an adult, I now know exactly why so many men and boys tuned in to watch the gorgeous Linda Carter. Sadly, that future was not in the cards for me. Though, I do have WW pajamas and wear them proudly, if not as… well.

But then came Buck Rogers in the 25th century! And I wanted to be Erin Gray. Once again, oblivious to the crushes the boys my age had on her, ala Linda Carter. But whoa, the romance! The aliens! The sci-fi goodness! The woman carried a gun and wore a shiny outfit! I didn’t know another single girl who admitted to watching the show (the show aired two seasons. Maybe NOBODY else watched it). Still, was I really a tomboy? Was it inevitable that I grow up to be a tech geek who was into science fiction? Well, I did do that. But I also found Jane Austen around this time, and like many girls, read my share of the Bronte sisters, including several reads of Wuthering Heights.

I turned into that teen who dressed up to be girly and dance at the Homecoming dance after the football game, while being one of the few girls who actually watched said game. I read Woodiwiss and I read Stephen King. I read historical fiction tomes on past rulers of Scotland, my favorite being the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots.

Am I still a tomboy? Not really. I’m not really sure what that means, anymore. The idea of what a little girl should be and how she should act has changed. And thank goodness for that. I did find those roots of fascination in the unknown have stayed with me. I did mesh my love of intergalactic war scenes with the romance I looked for in those shows, but got very little of. But more importantly, I found that so many of the roles we expect to fill, or think our kids might fall into, aren’t that predictable. It’s okay to be a girl who plays sports, loves Star Wars, and reads romance.

I wouldn’t have dreamed, back then, that I’d write a sci-fi romance novel. What about you? Did you have these kinds of signs as a kid of what you might be doing as an adult?

Ella Drake is a dark paranormal and science fiction romance author. Look for her latest, a space western, SILVER BOUND, releasing November 22nd from Carina Press. For more info and excerpt, please visit http://www.elladrake.com/SilverBound.htm


Cover Art Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Six months and counting down...

Good news! I just found out the month Tangled Past will be released. From some other announcements I've seen floating around, I figured it would probably be July or so. It's not. It's ... *drum roll* May 2011! 

Of course, I had to bribe Carina Press's Executive Editor Angela James into emailing me the planned release date. You see last night I went out to dinner with Angela (and 6 other writers.) Despite the ear-splitting music they played, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. And while I was there, I took some pictures. Now, pictures taken of people eating or talking seldom turn out well. At least when I'm behind the camera. So I threatened Angela over on Twitter today...and she gave me a date (okay, okay, I wouldn't have actually blackmailed her but it makes a better story, no?)

I will share this picture though...

It's the sampler dessert plate. It's a treacle pudding on the left, biscotti in the middle, white chocolate brownie on the far right and ... I'm not sure what the thing in the glass is...ah, just checked their menu -- that's a chocolate espresso mousse. Shoot, now I'm craving something sweet.

To a Mouse

I'm always divided about what I should be blogging about here -- whether details of my personal life are just too....personal.  Or whether you like seeing the inside of an author's life. I'm pretty much an open book (HaHaha! Hadn't thought of how that analogy works now I'm an author) when it comes to "sharing" things with people. And this past week does have a link to writing, so here goes...

If you've been checking that wordcount progress meter over on my sidebar, you may have noticed it hasn't moved since Tuesday.  NaNo and I apparently don't have a good relationship -- in fact, I'm pretty sure NaNo is out to get not just me but my family members. Every time I sign up to participate, something major happens to someone in my family.

The first year, 2007, I was 10 days in when my father had a massive stroke that meant he could never go home again. I spent the next 5 months driving my mom up to his hospital, advocating between her and the hospital.

I didn't participate in 2008 because I was in the middle of edits for Private Property and had just finished Personal Protection. But I did participate in 2009. Gizmo Guy got H1N1 in the middle and when I took him to the doctor we discovered he had undiagnosed diabetes. We spent the next couple weeks running around having blood tests done, ECGs, visiting the diabetes clinic and having meetings with nurses and dietiticians.  Luckily I'd finished my story the day before, 5 days early -- which was Deliberate Deceptions by the way.

This year? Three years to the day after my mother phoned me to tell me about my father's stroke, I got another call from her. "I'm not feeling well. Something's wrong." Mom lives out in the country and about 45 minutes from me, so I raced up there to discover her right side of her body wasn't working properly. (She didn't tell me that significant detail on the phone, only that she thought perhaps she had the flu.)  Suspecting she'd also had a stroke, I raced her down to the hospital near where my sister lives instead of the one in her county where they'd taken my father. (They're the same distance apart, and this one is associated with a much better larger hospital if they'd had to transfer her.)

After several CT scans, echocardiograms and ECGs, high blood pressure meds, heparin to stop blood clots, cholesterol lowering meds (she's apparently been ignoring herself while worrying about Dad) they confirmed she did have a stroke. Good news is it was mild and she's stabilized now.   She's to be transferred to a stroke rehab center that's only 3 miles from home so that'll give me both peace of mind that she's being cared for while being able to pop in for quick visits around her therapy sessions. According to the specialists, she has a good chance of recovery, but whether she'll be able to live in her house out in the country alone again we're not sure. So we may end up having to find her a new place to live.

Needless to say, while I've been worried about her and racing around between her house, my place and the hospital, and just all the general stress of seeing Mom sick, I've not been able to concentrate on writing at all. Now all the panic's off and we know what's happening, I'm going to try to get back to a routine -- it'll be a new routine with added items on my to-do list, but at the top of the list will be writing again.

And on the list will be note to never ever participate in NaNoWriMo ever again.  

Oh, and the title of this post? It's in homage to Robert Burn's poem "To a Mouse" where he coined that immortal phrase "The best laid schemes of mice and men//gang aft aglay (go astray)".  Yeah, you can make all the plans (and to-do lists) you want, only to have life remind you you're not in charge...

Snippet Saturday: Make 'em Laugh

This week's Snippet Saturday is "Make 'em Laugh". This scene from Texas Tangle always gets me chuckling, and it's also a scene that gets the most comments--everyone seems to identify with Dillon's grandmother. I can easily envision myself being a "Gramma Barnett" in the future. I look forward being the curmudgeonly old matriarch who isn't afraid to say what she thinks damn what anyone else thinks. Of course, not everyone in the family thought Gramma was particularly funny. But that's a story for another day (yup, Jackson's reaction here will foreshadow some of the conflict in Griffin's story.) And this scene is also handy because it is the scene that inspired my upcoming Carina release, Tangled Past.

Texas Tangle

text copyright© 2010 by Leah Braemel

While she already knew Dillon’s family, her nerves jumped to see Dillon’s brothers, Griffin and Matt, grinning a smile identical to Dillon’s as if they knew full well what had happened the night before. Middle brother Ethan and Dillon’s sister Lilly sat on the opposite side of the table. While they were nodding and smiling, they didn’t make her stomach flip-flop. She took a deep breath and took her seat, telling herself she could get through this meal.

At least until she glanced to the head of the table where Dillon’s father sat, a frown on his face, his dark eyes, normally sparkling like Dillon’s, solemn and penetrating. She wiped her hands on her skirt. Did he suspect what had happened?

From the chair to his left, another pair of sharp chocolate eyes scanned her. Mrs. Barnett placed her hands on the shoulders of Dillon’s grandmother. “Nicole, you remember Jackson’s mother, Ruth, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am. How are you, Mrs. Barnett?”

Gramma Barnett flicked her gaze from Nikki to Dillon for a moment then turned to Brett and pursed her lips. From the few times she’d met Dillon’s grandmother before, she got the feeling that little escaped the woman’s attention. With a curt nod of her head, Gramma tapped on the table. “Glad to see you made it this week. Now where’s dinner? I’m hungry.”

Feeling as if she’d just been judged, and passed inspection, Nikki exhaled a slow breath.

As plates were passed around the table, and the family settled into a half-dozen different topics in which everyone voiced an opinion, Nikki gradually relaxed. She’d half expected that Dillon might try something inappropriate considering he was sitting right beside her, but he kept his hands to himself the entire time.

The main course finished, they’d moved on to Mrs. Barnett’s famous apple crumble pie when the discussion drifted to the headlines. Dillon reached over and grabbed the last slice, bobbling his plate when his grandmother changed the direction of the conversation.

“Did you see that story on the news the other night about a woman over in Cleburne who was arrested for marrying two men without them knowin’ about the other?”

Trying not to draw too much attention to herself, Nikki leaned close to Dillon and whispered, “Please tell me you didn’t say anything to her about me dating both of you.”

“I swear I never said a word,” he whispered back.

Gramma Barnett frowned at them and pointedly raised her voice. “Apparently, she travelled a lot for her job, and neither suspected the other existed. From what I saw of the report, she’d been married twenty years to one, then married another half her age over in Austin a couple years back. Both men said they were both as happy as a pig in shit.” An earthy chuckle erupted, starting deep in her belly. “At least until they found out the other existed.”

Nikki chanced a glance sideways at Brett and met his puzzled gaze. He lifted one shoulder a half inch and shook his head. Was it merely a coincidence that Gramma Barnett had mentioned the subject? Or had she picked up on something they’d done—some way they’d looked at each other?

Faith joined her mother-in-law’s laughter. “As long as she didn’t have to do their laundry, good for her.”

Mr. Barnett wasn’t as forgiving. “Mother, Faith! What type of example does that set for Lilly?”

The conversation hitting a little too close to home, Nikki sipped her iced tea in hopes it might cool the blush creeping into her cheeks.

Gramma Barnett stabbed the last bit of pastry on her plate and waved it toward Nikki. “Nothin’ wrong with a woman living with two men, Junior, s’long as everyone’s amenable to the arrangement. Look at this little filly and how she’s keeping your boys so happy.”

A chorus of “Gramma!”s echoed around the table while Nikki choked on her drink.

“What? It’s an honest opinion.” Gramma Barnett thumped on the table. “What woman wouldn’t be tempted by two fellas as good lookin’ as my boys? If she’s not, there’s somethin’ wrong with her.”

Dillon’s father fixed his mother with a glare. “I hardly think this is the appropriate venue for this discussion, Momma.”

“Bah.” She leaned toward Nikki as if she was going to whisper a secret, but didn’t lower her voice. “My grandparents had a permanent threesome all their adult lives. Betcha Dillon never told you that before.”

“No way! Really?” Lilly piped up, though instead of shock, her eyes were wide with interest.

“I could hardly tell her something I didn’t know myself, Gram.” Despite his tan, Dillon’s cheeks bore an unmistakeable hint of a blush.

“Yup.” She dabbed her mouth as delicately as if she were presiding over a state dinner, then realizing she had the attention of the whole table, placed the napkin on her lap. “And I’ll tell you something else—they weren’t the only ones in the county with more than two to their bed.”

She glared around the table as if warning anyone who dared challenge her. “Times were hard back then, and there weren’t as many women around as there are now. According to my daddy, his daddies decided instead of fighting for the hand of the woman they loved, they’d all live together. Musta worked out because they’re even buried side by side by side out in the churchyard.” She pointed at Nikki then waved her bony finger between Brett and Dillon. “You should do the same thing. You’d be a fool to pass up the opportunity to bed down with such fine-looking specimens. And it’ll keep these boys on their toes—make ’em keep you happy both in the bedroom and outta it, in case you decide to kick one o’ ’em out. The good Lord knows young Dillon here needs something to keep him out of his mischief.”

All the eyes that had been staring at Mrs. Barnett trained on Nikki, waiting to see her response. Feeling like a bug under the microscope, Nikki looked to Dillon for help. That was a futile hope, as he was dissecting the remains of his apple crumble. For his part, Brett stared at his plate, his brows drawn together. No help there either. The pie that had been so delicious moments before now lay as heavy as a rock in her stomach. “Um, th-thank you for the advice, Mrs. Barnett. I’ll certainly keep it in mind.”

“You do that.” Mrs. Barnett put down her fork and pushed her plate to the center of the table. “Close your mouth, dear. You’ll attract flies.” She stood with a groan then shuffled to the door. Halfway down the hall, she called, “Jackson, get off that keister of yours and drive me home. Or are you gonna make your poor old momma walk all the way?”

Don't forget to visit the other Snippet Saturday participants:

Mari Carr 

McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw

Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon 
Lauren Dane 
Sasha White
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Shelli Stevens
Jody Wallace

Buy Texas Tangle from Carina Press

Or from: Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble, Diesel Books,and Kobo Books.

Cover Art Copyright© 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. © and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Coming Soon: Tangled Past

Remember that happy dance I was doing with Matt back in early October? You know the one here?  Well, I'm thrilled that I'm finally able to announce why I was dancing.  I've just signed my second contract with Carina Press for an erotic historical romance called Tangled Past.

This book is inspired by the Barnett family dinner scene in Texas Tangle where Grandma Barnett mentions her grandparents' marriage. It stands alone and you will not have to have read Texas Tangle to understand it.  And there are a few secrets about her grandparents that Grandma Barnett didn't know...

I don't have an actual date of release yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.  Oh, and hey, another thing to mention -- it's my first non-alliterative title ;-)

Tangled Past

a historical erotic romance novel

1888 Texas

The living proof of her mother's infidelity, Sarah McLeod has suffered a lifetime of rejection. When she’s forced to marry a man she just met, Sarah clings to the hope that she’ll finally find the love and acceptance she’s always craved but never received. But her tenuous dreams are in danger of being snatched away by the one thing she can’t change—her husband’s love for another man.

Jackson Kellar’s determined to do right by his bride. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if he hadn’t already given his heart to his best friend Nate. Now he’s torn between his new-found love for Sarah and his still-burning love for Nate.

Ranch owner Nate Campbell loves them both. He hates to see Jackson’s loyalties so divided, and doesn’t want Sarah hurt either. But how can they fix the tangled mess they find themselves in?

Can they fight society’s dictates to find their happiness? Or will it destroy what they’ve found together?

Cover Art Copyright© 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. © and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

Thank You...

Lest We Forget

Thank you to my mother's stepfather, a British marine who served in both World War I and World War II who was taken prisoner in Crete and spent 1940 through 1945 as a German POW. Thank you to my grandfather who spent his career with the British navy and fought in World War II. Thank you to DH's father who was the first one off his boat on the beaches of Normandy (he was the tallest and they wanted to see how deep the water was) then went on with the Fifth Medium Infantry of Canada to help liberate Holland. God bless my nephew who is in the Canadian military and is training to help the soldiers in Afghanistan. Thank you and God bless all those who have given their lives in service to their country to protect our freedom.

Cristal Ryder is having the Ryde of her life!

The whirlwind of being a newly published author struck home the other week. My first release, No Fantasy Required, is out now. Released this past Monday and I’m dying to know how it’s doing. Has anybody decided they would like to read it? It seems so surreal that something I worked on for so long is now out there for all to see.

Then I received the great news two weeks ago that my second submission is being contracted by Lyrical Press. Woohoo! Lost In Fantasy – Being Ariana, will be out sometime next year. Then while basking in the glow of my wonderful news, I received more, a great review from Happily Ever After Reviews on No Fantasy Required. I was thrilled beyond words and higher than a kite with happiness.

I was inspired to write No Fantasy Required a few of years ago for my own hero and it grew into this wonderful story of discovery for Kelly and Brian. In my next story, I love the characters in Being Ariana, the mystery that revolves around them and the journey they take as they discover themselves in a variety of unexpected ways.

These tales are our escape from the real world to a place where we can lose ourselves in the powerful emotion and feelings of our characters, where we can become them and fulfill our desires and fantasies through their experiences.

I hope to accomplish this for you. To spirit you away where you are the heroine, whoever she may be in the story. You love her, love being her and thrill at experiencing everything she does. You desire the hero as much as she does and root for her down her journey of discovery and passion. My goal is to make you feel and live her fantasy with her.

I hope you follow me on my journey of storytelling as I pen new stories with passionate and inquisitive characters, in places of intrigue and fantasy where you can escape into. It’s a discovery for me as well, this new world of being published and I’m loving it!

Please remember to visit my fledgling blog and website as they grow along with me.

www.cristalryder.com

www.cristalryder.blogspot.com

www.lyricalpress.com

Buy NO FANTASY REQUIRED from Amazon

Buy NO FANTASY REQUIRED from Coffee Time Romance

Cristal Ryder - For the Ryde of Your Life!

Sneak Peek at Deliberate Deceptions

I promised you last week that I'd post an excerpt of the next in the Hauberk series, Deliberate Deceptions. Except I got bogged down and forgot. Then yesterday I received the "Cover Art" form from Samhain. That's a sheet authors have to fill out to help the cover artist come up with an idea for the cover. I have to describe the hero and the heroine physically, provide a summary of the story, mention any tokens or special objects that might have meaning in the story (for instance in Lord of the Rings, the special token would be, uh, the ring?), locations the story takes place and any other covers that I see as being similar to what I'd like.  Natalie Winters designed the first two covers and did a tremendous job with them -- they have such a film noir quality and the red title just pops against the black and white photos.

So while I'm filling out the form, here's a quick peek at Lauren, whom you haven't met yet, though she was mentioned in Personal Protection. Lauren is Chad's ex-wife, a former FBI agent who has been working for...well, read the excerpt, where you'll meet another acquaintance from Personal Protection.

Deliberate Deceptions

Copyright by Leah Braemel
*unedited*

Lauren stepped from the Brigade’s jet onto the tarmac, glad to be standing on firm earth after being in the air for almost ten hours. The smog-shrouded Washington Monument across the Potomac drew her attention, a calming beacon saluting her return. Would its people be as welcoming?

A sleek black stretch Humvee limo sat with its engine running less than thirty feet away. The driver got out, his windbreaker unbuttoned to allow easy access to the weapon he always wore. After a quick check of the area, he opened the back door, allowing the devil himself to step out.

Cooper Davis straightened his French cuffs and smoothed his perfectly pressed Armani suit before nodding to his driver. Anyone meeting him for the first time might buy his cover as an unassuming businessman, intent only on making a killing on Wall Street; she knew better. He strolled across the pavement with a confidence and casualness as if he were about to greet an old lover. Something he’d once suggested. To this day she hadn’t decided if it had been a test or a sincere suggestion.

She turned her face when he bent down to kiss her so his lips brushed her cheek. One dark eyebrow quirked up at her evasion. “Welcome back, Lauren.”

“I’m done, Cooper. I want out.” Saying the words both soothed the jumbled thoughts in her brain while setting free the butterflies in her stomach.

“I figured you’d say that.” He gestured toward the Humvee. “Let’s sit inside while we discuss your future, shall we?”

She followed him to the limo, taking a seat facing him so she could read his facial expressions. As soon as the door closed behind them, sealing them into Cooper’s bulletproof, soundproof world, he leaned forward. “There’s a problem you should know about before you start planning on retiring.”

Problem to Cooper could mean anything from a paperwork snafu to the start of the next world war. From the way every cell in her body went on alert, it was probably more the latter than the former. “I was right, wasn’t I? Someone in the Brigade was behind those attacks.”

“Yes.” He stared out the window, his eyes narrowed. “Frank Harris.”

She sucked in her breath. Of all the Brigade’s operatives, Harris was both their best marksman and their best tracker. He was also currently the most unstable.

“From what we can gather, he discovered it was you who filed the complaint. He’s declared war on you, Lauren.”

“I need to leave then. Find a bolt hole. New York. LA. San Francisco. Somewhere I can get lost in a crowd.”

Cooper nodded slowly. “It might work. But it’s also possible that Harris will try to get at you through people you care about, Lauren. What’ll you do then?”

People she cared about? She’d long been estranged from her only sister and her mother had died a decade ago. Which left… “Chad?”

Snippet Saturday: Bring Me a Tissue

It's been a while since I've participated in Snippet Saturday. As you see, there are different themes each week and I had a limited number of books that didn't have any scenes meeting their themes. *Happy dancing that this is changing!* But today's theme of "Bring Me a Tissue" was right up my alley. In fact I had a hard time choosing which scene from which book, and even then I had a hard time choosing just the right portion.  I put a call out on Twitter -- Heather from Everybody Needs a Little Romance suggested the scene at the lake where Nikki and Dillon find Brett after he's taken off and Brett realizes he's not alone as he'd thought.  I'll confess, I start crying at the scene before this, when Brett's telling Nikki how he and Dillon forged their life-long friendship and why Brett feels he owes Dillon his life.  I guess you'll have to buy the story and decide for yourself. ;-)

Texas Tangle

text copyright© 2010 by Leah Braemel

“What do you want of me?” His voice was husky, as if he’d been screaming for hours. Maybe inwardly he had been.

“I want you to talk to me. And to listen. Please.”

Though it took him a moment, Brett finally settled into place beside her.

“At the very beginning of this, I asked you if it was all right to go out with Dillon, and you said you were fine with it.”

If Brett saw Dillon straighten and stare at her, he didn’t give any indication. She shoved away the thread of guilt that arose. They hadn’t been dating then, and she’d been perfectly within her rights to check to see if Brett was interested, she told herself. She turned her attention back to Brett, reaching out to touch his arm with her fingertips, to re-establish the contact she’d had with him.

His eyes closed at her touch. “You deserve to be happy, Nik. You’re happy with Dillon, and he’s happy with you. He loves you.”

“But you do too, don’t you?”

It took a long moment before he nodded.

“Except you decided to be noble and not interfere because you didn’t want to lose your best friend, your family, the way you had before, didn’t you?”

“They’re all I’ve got, Nik. I don’t have anyone else.” He took a deep breath and looked at Dillon. “When I went to Boston? I was miserable. Your mom phoned regularly, and Griffin emailed me every once in a while, but it wasn’t the same. I couldn’t stand being alone like I’d been before. I love your family, Dill. I’m not about to let them be ripped away from me. Not again.”

Dillon tossed the husk of a beechnut into the pond. “You could have come home more often, you know. They’re your family too. Matthew, Lilly, especially Griffin. They missed you. They used to rag on me about you all the time. Shit, Brett, all you had to do was say something, and I would have backed off and let you date her too.”

“Yeah, but see, they were caught in between, and if they talked to me, I’d know they’d feel like they were being disloyal to you. I couldn’t do that to them. I was used to being alone, to not having anyone when it was just my pop and me. But once I’d been part of your family, gotten used to having people care for me, talk to me like I was worth talking to, I couldn’t live without them.” His voice was rough, as if he’d swallowed glass and each word tore his throat apart. He turned back to face Nikki. “I’m sorry. Maybe I should have told you, I don’t know. You’ve always been special to me. You always will be, but I couldn’t lose Dillon or the Barnetts. I just couldn’t.” The bleak look Brett gave her was one filled with need, with love, but no hope. “You deserve better than me, Nik.”


Visit the other Snippet Saturday participants. (And don't forget your tissues!)

Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
Sasha White
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels

Buy Texas Tangle from Carina Press

Or from: Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble, Diesel Books,and Kobo Books.

Cover Art Copyright© 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. © and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

On Texas Tangle, Curly and Christmas

Wow, it's Friday already. I had an idea for a post today but for the life of me I can't remember what it was, so here are just some random thoughts of what's been going on this week.

* Texas Tangle received a lovely review yesterday from Stella over at Book Lovers Inc.  It was another one that gave me that wonderful "she got me, she really got me" moment. I especially liked her final summation:

Verdict: Texas Tangle is a special ménage story, because here, besides the amazing sex love, friendship and respect also play a crucial part. The other thing that sets Texas Tangle apart from other ménage stories is how realistically (I know it may sound unbelievable, but it is true) it portrays this situation: how two best friends, almost brothers could love and share the same woman and how a normal, even small town society can accept it.

* Troy's story, which is still untitled, is coming along nicely. When I'm writing a first draft, and from what I've seen of other authors complaints over on twitter it seems to be a common phenomena, I waver between "I'm loving this story" and "this is a piece of crap. I suck at writing."  Sometimes between paragraphs. At the moment, it's "thank heavens I solved that issue that bugged me yesterday morning and the hero and heroine are connecting."  By noon, who knows, maybe I'll be back to "OMG what was I thinking?"  But I'll keep writing. I've written almost 10K since Monday, not bad for four days, and should exceed that mark today. So things are progressing nicely on that front.

* For those of you who follow me on Twitter and saw me talking about Curly having pneumonia a couple weeks ago, his antibiotics have worked, he's doing much better now and after being sick for two weeks, is finally back at work.

* I started my Christmas shopping yesterday. *quiet sob* I didn't mean to. I was shopping for a present for Gizmo Guy's upcoming birthday. But while I was at the mall, I saw things that the boys would like and thought "while I'm here, I may as well pick these up." 

When the boys were little, I would shop all year long and often had all the presents bought by the end of October. Then they grew up and suddenly they were much harder to shop for because they weren't into Lego or the little toys that would amuse them for hours...well, okay, so they still like the little gadgets/toys that amuse them for hours, but these days the gadgets/toys are things like iPod Touches and gizmos that cost hundreds of dollars a shot that are not usually in my budget. (which is ironic because this year I'M the one asking for an iPod Touch.)

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Or do you leave it to the last minute? 

Erin Nicholas: Writing Romance Is Like…

Thanks Leah, for letting me stop by on my blog tour!

Since November is the anniversary month of my first published book, I decided to go on a tour and chat and give stuff away!

The “theme” (I use the term loosely) is Writing Romance Is Like…

And every blog stop has a different comparison that will give you some insight into who I am, how I write and my slightly weird sense of humor. Oh, and you can win stuff! Every commenter gets entered for a chance at a book from my backlist. And if you really want to have some fun: follow me around to all the stops on the schedule (on my website) get the answers to the questions (on the form on my site) and then e-mail them to me by December 15th to get entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or MyBookstoreandMore.com. Come join the fun!!

And now…

Writing Romance is Like...
A Grown-up Hallowe'en Party

Okay, maybe it’s a few days late, but the Halloween party comparison does apply (even if I don’t write paranormals). At a good Halloween party you get to dress up. You get to pretend, be someone (or something) else. Maybe even try something new. It’s expected, encouraged, applauded even.

Writing is the same. In a good work of fiction, romantic or otherwise, it’s expected, encouraged and applauded if you can pull your readers in and make them forget about the real world around them for awhile and care about the characters—even want to know them or be them on some level. As a reader and a writer I live vicariously through the characters between the covers of the book. In fact, as a writer it’s even more fun sometimes because I can make my girls wear things I’d never pull off, say things I’d never dream of saying, go places I’ve always wanted to go, have sex in places I would never (probably) have sex… well, you get the idea. For instance, I had a heroine throw a cell phone at her boss—who hasn’t wanted to do something like that?

I had a hero who undressed the heroine in a store dressing room. Who hasn’t done something like… Anyway, the point is, reading and writing romance is a fun way to see what it’s like to be someone else for awhile and take a break from the real world. I wouldn’t tolerate some of the mega-alpha heroes in my life for long, or the spies who are always jetting off on secret missions, or the save-the-world-but-I’m-never-home-for-dinner guys—but for a few hundred pages I can definitely let my imagination wander. I think that’s one of the best things about all fiction really.

But it can be a tough balance—making characters relatable but also just enough larger than life to be fun to read about. They can’t be too over the top or they aren’t believable. But if they don’t do something a little bit beyond what Average Joe would do then we don’t care. Think about your favorite hero or heroine—what makes him or her real for you? And what makes them…even more? Are they fun, brave, confident, generous? For me, I love when the hero or heroine does something huge—a public spectacle—for the love of their life. Some of my favorite books have that scene. Because that’s something in my real world that doesn’t—and won’t—happen! :) What is something that will always turn you off of a character? Or turn you on?

Thanks for stopping by today! Come with me next week too! :)

(November 9th: http://ErinNicholas.blogspot.com)

Excerpt of No Matter What
by Erin Nicholas

(the cell phone scene :))

Adam wanted to keep her talking. He loved her voice, the look in her eyes and the few stolen moments where they were just a man and a woman getting to know one another. “If physical therapy is the perfect job for you,” he said, “Why were you working as a bartender when I found you?”

“Tony didn’t research that?” she asked.

“If he did, he didn’t tell me.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“I didn’t care.”

She looked at him for a several seconds. “You didn’t?”

“You were the best for Emily. That’s all that mattered.”

“Why does it matter now?”

It was his turn to think for a minute. “It doesn’t,” he finally admitted. “I was just curious.”

She gave him a little smile. “Then in that case, I’ll tell you.” She got up to refill her cup. “I resigned. The plan was for that to be temporary.” She turned to face him and leaned against the counter. “But then I threw my cell phone at my boss, gave him a black eye, and ended up fired…forever. Then I marched into a public ceremony and called the philanthropist of the year an asshole. Which means no one else will ever hire me.” She shrugged. “Except you, of course.”

Adam wasn’t sure what to say, or do. Blinking seemed to be all he could manage.

“I can’t believe you didn’t hear about it.”

He was thinking the same thing. “I’ve been…distracted,” he said as explanation.

“Still, you must know Dan McCormick. Surely you have acquaintances in common.”

“Dan McCormick?” A thought occurred to him. He’d heard Dan had been named something-of-the-year. “Dan’s the asshole?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she said emphatically.

“But he was the one you publicly denounced?”

She nodded and sipped from her cup, watching him process what she’d told him.

“Wow.”

“Did you know that Dan and I were engaged?”

He stopped with his cup partway to his mouth. “You were engaged to Dan McCormick?”

“How did you know that I was the major fundraiser for the rehab wing at the hospital and came up a million dollars short but not know that the million was supposed to be my wedding present from Dan and when we broke up he took the money with him?”

The words, and their meaning, seemed to take an extremely long time to sink  in. “Apparently Tony isn’t as good at research as I thought he was.”

More about Erin Nicholas

Want to know more about Erin? Well, you can visit her website www.ErinNicholas.com or learn more about her on her group blog NineNaughtyNovelists.blogspot.com or her personal blog ErinNicholas.blogspot.com. Or you can find out about her books over at Samhain: http://samhainpublishing.com/authors/erin-nicholas

And you can also follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.

Note from Leah:  Don't forget to leave your email addy  in your comment (put spaces on either side of the @ sign so spammers don't harvest it) so Erin can contact you. Oh, and the contest will be open until 11:59 pm Sunday November 7 and the winner announced on Monday November 8th.

Gwen Campbell: Confessions of a Suburban Felon

Meet Gwen Campbell

I am a criminal. I admit this without apology. Despite society’s pressures to be good, I wallow in the pursuit of lawlessness with delicious glee.

I walk my dog off leash in public parks. There. I’ve said it. It’s out in the open now, dear reader, and I confess my sin with pride.

Let me take you back to the beginning…

Three years ago, we adopted a dog from a rescue organization. He’s of indeterminate age and breed. The best description we’ve come up with is BBD—Big Black Dog. (PG rated photos of said BBD can be found at www.GwenCampbell.net He won’t pose for racy ones so don’t bother asking.)

Three years ago I was a good person. Responsible. Law abiding. I only drove five or so kilometers over the speed limit in town. I separated paper from glass. I didn’t wear white after Labour Day. That was all before the BBD came into our lives.

We’ve got a nifty wooded area a block from our house. On the other side of that, there’s a massive green space that backs onto two primary schools and two soccer pitches. Perfect for dog walking and the people in my neighbourhood walk their dogs, a lot.
Not everyone in my neighbourhood loves dogs, however.

Up until four months ago, there was a joyous peace between dog owners and the unwashed…I mean those without dogs. We picked up our dog’s poop. Their kind stuck to the playground, the paved path or cut across the soccer pitch to simply get from point A to B. We kept our dogs out of their way.

That system broke down when soccer season started and HE started coming around. The man. The heat. The white van patrol.

The by-law enforcement officer.

Apparently, somebody started phoning the by-law office, asking that the laws about unleashed pets be enforced.

That’s when WE took our criminal activities underground.

Oh we still break the law and love doing it. There are more of us than you’d imagine. Many, many more. These days, you’ll find us hanging out in the woods, huddled in furtive groups of eight to ten with our dogs running free around us. We still chat about the same things but now, our eyes move constantly. We’re always aware of where the exits are, how close we are to the paths that will let us make a speedy escape if HE shows up.

It’s with no small irony that, during those covert escapades, I think back on my misspent youth. How I’d slip out of the house before dusk, hang out with my friends in a woods or a field not so different from the one I do now. Somebody might have pilfered a beer from the fridge at home, and pass it around. We’d smoke cigarettes we were too young to buy legally.

Despite society’s pressures, like I said, I’m obviously a lifelong devotee of crime. Only now we sneak around so our dogs can run free. Unlike back when, however, I pick up my dog’s poop whereas I never picked up my cigarette butts.

Perhaps there’s hope for me yet. Gawd I hope not.

More about Gwen

If you want to know more about Gwen, visit her webpage where her dog has his own page!

Look for Gwen's latest book All Tomorrow's Halloween Parties from Shadowfire Pres.

Coming soon: Deliberate Deceptions, Hauberk Book #3

You may have seen me announce this on Twitter and Facebook yesterday but since I'd already had yesterday's post up, I decided to wait until today to post the details. Because this type of news deserves a post all its own!

Remember I did a post called "Squee" back on October 15th where I said I was happy dancing?  Well, that's because I'd just received an offer from my editor at Samhain Publishing. And now I can tell you the details because I just signed the contract to publish the next in the Hauberk series. Deliberate Deceptions will be book 3 and should be out around this time next year? (I'm guessing at that, I'll have more info for you as I find it out.) 

But you'd figured it out already, right? Considering I've been saying I've been working on book four?

This is Chad's story -- and his heroine may not be who you expected after Personal Protection. Better keep the tissues handy when you read it, it's an angsty one. But I love it!

Here's my rough blurb, it'll be cleaned up by the blurb wizards at Samhain:

Death and deception destroyed their marriage. Can anything bring them together again?

Lauren Miller spent the past eight years trying to forget about her failed marriage. Haunted by grief and guilt, even putting her life on the line rescuing hostages from terrorist organizations didn’t work. Now a vengeful ex-operative intent on harming her puts her ex in danger too. And that’s something Lauren can never allow.

Chad Miller finds out too late that Hauberk Protections’ newest client is his ex-wife. Trapped in a remote safe house with the one woman he was never able to forget, he’s determined to hold Lauren at arms’ length. But the flames between them are still scorching hot and she's proving very hard to resist.

With all the secrets and lies surrounding them, can they find their way back to each other again?

Dance with me!

How do I know it's November?

I woke up this morning to the thermometer in negative numbers and frost coating the grass and the cars for the first time this fall. It shouldn't surprise me. After all, it snowed for the first time yesterday.

And so begins our Canadian winter...six months of cold weather when I feel justified in hibernating in my office. Or in my family room with the fireplace going with a cup of hot chocolate. (In fact that sounds like a terrific idea for when I'm writing later.)

Out come the mitts and the hats and the winter coats. Out come the winter boots. And the snow shovels and the scrapers and brushes for the cars.

I still have to change over the calendar to reflect the new month--I'm not ready for it to be November yet. People are already announcing the number of shopping days left til Christmas. *gag*

Another sign I know it's November? The number of people talking about participating in NaNoWriMo.

What's NaNoWriMo you ask? It's short for National Novel Writing Month. Writers vow to write 1,667 words per day so that by the end of the month they have written 50,000 words.

Now since I write for my living, it's not a big deal for me. When I'm working on any first draft, I write a minimum of 2,000 words a day until the manuscript is finished. Yes, minimum. Some days I write up to 5,000 words a day, and rarely, on a really good day, 8,000 words.

But a lot of unpublished authors get excited by a new shiny idea. They sit down to write it but after that first blush of excitement passes, they run into the wall of "what happens next?" and they get stuck. They get frustrated. They get distracted by another bright shiny idea. They start working on that new story and shove the old project aside to work on "when it's talking to them again." Of course, it never does.


I went to a writers' conference a few years back and had the opportunity to talk to a lot of unpubbed writers. I think out of the dozen or more people I talked to one night, only one, maybe two of them had actually finished a manuscript through to the end. Almost all of them had multiple projects on the go--most between three and six, a couple guessed they had about twenty on the shelves, and one woman--97! 

That's why at that publishing panel I was part of a couple weeks ago for the Toronto Romance Writers, we were each asked to give the audience one piece of advice. Mine? Finish your manuscript.  You can have the best, most polished first three chapters imaginable, I continued. You can pitch it to an agent or an editor who will get all excited about it. But...the agent or the editor will need to read the entire story before they can offer you a contract.

So that's why NaNo exists. To get writers to put their butts in their chair and their hands on their keyboard and WRITE. To finish the damned book.

How do you do that when you hit that "what happens next" wall? Well, that'll be a post for another day.

Oh, and am I participating in NaNo? Yup. I'll be working on Troy's story, the next in the Hauberk series. Now technically you're supposed to start a new project for NaNo but as a published author with deadlines and contracts, that's just not possible. My starting wordcount is 9,932. By the end of the month, the story had better be at 59,932 OR the words THE END will be typed on the last page if I finish it off in less than 59K. (I'm not sure whether it'll take that many words to tell the story or not.) As part of making myself accountable to you, I'll be putting up a graphic on my sidebar so you can keep track of my progress.