Bad News

Well, here I am, finally updating. I wonder if anyone even remembers me these days? I'm such a terrible blogger, it isn't even funny. But I've been busy with real life stuff - both writing and non-writing related, so unfortunately, something had to give. And since it seemed like I'd blogged about everything I could think of, guess what got sacrificed?

Anyway, I'm back for now and unfortunately, I'm the bearer of bad news. Last Friday, I woke to an email from Musa Publishing. It seems they are closing their doors as of February 28, 2015. And just like that, I've got orphaned books.

Six orphaned books, to be exactly.

The four books in my McKenzie Brothers series and the two in my Mordainia series are now homeless. Damn it.

Now, I'll admit, they didn't earn me a fortune, but the royalties were a nice little bonus every month. But more importantly, it just makes me sad that they will no longer be out there. I've received quite a few good reviews on them, and frankly, I'm very proud of them. They are--in my humble opinion, of course--good stories. And I've grown quite fond of both the McKenzie family and the Mordianian royal family.

So, I don't really know what my next step will be. I will have the rights returned to me free and clear as of the end of the month. I'm considering self-publishing them, since they've been edited and the only changes I want to make to them are very small. But I don't know yet. We'll see. One day at a time and all that and I have a ton of research to do before I make a decision.

But, considering I believe that every time a door shuts, another one opens, I"m trying to look at this as a positive thing. Trying. I was lucky when this happened with Aspen Mountain Press. Musa scooped up my three orphaned McKenzie Brothers books (The Pursuit, Playing With Fire, and A Perfect Lady) and gave them a home. This time around, I don't know what will happen. We'll see.

There is quite a long thread over on the Absolute Write Water Cooler forums regarding Musa--both the good and the bad--and I have to admit, I've had my ups and down with Musa, I was always paid on time, but there were issues with what seemed to be a long list of revolving editors. But over all, mine was a good experience and I don't regret it. What I do regret is that it's ending this way. And I wish they'd given more than a week's notice. But what's done is done. All I can do is look to the future now.

We'll see what happens.

It's ALIVE!!!!

That's right! It's finally here - Musa Publishing has opened its doors and gone live! Check the Musa Publishing blog to learn more about them, their philosophy, and the people behind Musa.

Want to read some great books? Pop on over to Musa Publishing's bookstore. Want to read one of my books (and you know you do, right? Wink wink) well, they can be found right here!

So why are you still here (not that I don't love having you here because you know I do) but go! Scoot!


But come back real soon, m'kay?

It's Coming!

Musa Publishing, that is!

I can't tell you how excited I am about being a part of this - so spread the word and check out the great books, terrific authors, and maybe even win a prize!

Well Hello There...

Good Lord, is it really almost October? Yikes. Bad blogger is bad and then some. I'm so far behind on reading blogs, never mind posting in my own.

So to catch up...

You might have noticed my Aspen Mountain Press books are no longer here, or on my website. Or anywhere else, for that matter. I no longer write for them. There are some serious issues with that publisher with non-payment of royalties (mine included), books being sold after the contracts on them expire, the owner dodging rights-reversion requests and basically vanishing from view. It's been a mess, really, and I feel for AMP authors who are still being held hostage over there. What the owner is doing is terrible and childish and frustrating and I hope those authors can get themselves freed as soon as possible. Check out the thread over at Absolute Write, especially the last few pages.

But I'm one of the fortunate ones. Musa Publishing bought out (and promptly released) the contracts of Aurora Regency and Aurora Regency Historicals imprints (Well, they bought the imprints themselves, as well.)

Have no fear, though. The Pursuit and Playing with Fire are back under contract with Musa and will be released in the near future under their Clio imprint.

Remember A Perfect Lady? Well, I'm thrilled to announce that it will be released in October from Musa, which is kicking off their launch next week. I'm so excited about working with this publisher, it isn't funny, and I should have shiny new cover art to show sometime this week.

I've also finished the first draft of Midnight Angel, and the (hopefully) final draft of To Dance with the Devil. That one will be going out later this week, or so I hope.

So that's it for now. I will be posting with a little more frequency as the clock ticks down to Musa's launch. I may even give away some books. I'll never tell. Well, okay, I will tell, but not yet. :D

Happy Birthday, A Few Thoughts (And Some News, Too!)

Okay, it's a little silly, but today, A Few Thoughts turns five. I looked back at the very first post, which is amazingly boring. Some six months after I posted it, someone commented. I remember being shocked - shocked, I tells ya - that someone actually --yanno - read my blog. I clicked on it (I was moderating comments at the time) and....

It was spam for a porn site.

Ouch.

Okay, so the blog's come a long way since then - now my comments are usually from real people (I still get the occasional spam link) and I love reading them! I don't blog as much as I used to - although I keep telling myself I will get back to it. And I will. Promise. :-)

And now for the news...

I recently sold A Perfect Lady to Aspen Mountain Press/Aurora Regency Historicals and it's set to be released in October to coincide with Aurora Regency Historicals first anniversary. It's the first book I've sold based on only a rough outline, so now I'm under the gun to get the book written. It's almost halfway finished right now and it's what's keeping me from a lot of other things. I've never worked under these circumstances - my books are usually completed by the time I sell them - so this is new (and stressful) for me.

A Perfect Lady is a McKenzie book, a prequel to Playing with Fire and The Pursuit. It's James and Rebecca McKenzie's story, which starts with one night of unbridled passion (if you're going to have passion, it might as well be unbridled, right?) and ends with... well... you'll just have to read the book when it comes out, right?

So, in order to celebrate both this sale and A Few Thoughts' birthday, I think I'll hold a bit of a contest. From now until May 15th, just leave a comment here to enter for your chance to win digital copies of Playing with Fire and The Pursuit.

Happy reading!

Taking a Break

From my NaNoWriMo project. I have to be honest, I hate the story. I hate the characters. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I don't want to write. I have to force myself to sit down and hit my word count each day.

I think it's partly because I didn't have time to do much more than a few paragraphs of a synopsis. Now, I'm not really a plotter. Never have been, though I've been leaning more and more toward it. But, I usually have a bit more of a skeleton, and I know the time period I'm writing about. But this year, I was editing two books during September and October, which meant I had no time to do even the most preliminary of research. As a result, my NaNo story, which is supposed to be an historical set in the Old West, reads like it could take place in any time, which is Not Good when writing an historical. Not Good at all. Yeesh.

But mainly, I think I'm tired. By the end of January, I'll have four books out (The Pursuit - July, Playing with Fire - November, Tiger Eyes - December, and After the Storm, January) with a fifth one coming as soon as I get a release date. Playing with Fire and Devil in Disguise (release date TBA) were the books I was working on in the run-up to NaNo (I also did first round edits on Tiger Eyes in there somewhere.) I finished The King's Bride. I started two other books in addition to everything else. It's been a busy few months, and that's without adding in everything that's been going on with my mom as well. Which all adds up to one tired writer.

So I'm looking forward to December. I'll take the month off from most of my writing (I'll have final edits on Tiger Eyes and that should be it for deadlines.) I'll work here and there on The King's Bride because I plan to start subbing that in the new year. I'll work a little here and there on my current WIPs, and I'll blog, but that's about it until sometime next year. I need a rest. I don't want my writing to suffer and I'm thinking that it's starting to do just that. And when the time comes that I have to force myself to work on a story? Yep, that's a hint.

So, I'm looking forward to my little vacation. I think I've earned it.

Imagination

When I first sat down to write this post, I planned to blog about imagination. But no matter what I wrote, it sounded ridiculous. Probably because it was ridiculous. What do I know about imagination? I know that I've always had a good one and sometimes it runs wild with me. :)

I never had invisible friends (either human or rabbit, and a cookie to anyone who gets the reference), but my favorite toys were my Barbie dolls. My best friend and I would play almost every day and we never played like those stupid Barbie commercials ("Barbie's a veterinarian!") We had storylines. And drama. And conflict. There were love triangles, and betrayals, and reunited lovers (oh, yeah... our Barbies were gettin' a little somethin'-somethin' as well. Hardly a surprise I grew up to write steamy romance novels, eh? :D) Kris's grandmother would come to watch her and her brother for two weeks every summer, and she said she preferred watching us to her soaps. Is it any surprise I'm a writer now?

I miss those days now - those Barbie games and their stories, laid the groundwork for the writing I do now. I learned all the basics just from my imagination, without even knowing I was learning and without ever thinking that it might be something I'd actually get paid to do.

Imagination is limitless. It's infinite. It's a gift. And it's a shame most people lose that gift, or let it fade away. The ones who retain it are the lucky ones.

A Quick Detour

I'm thinking of hosting a contest to celebrate the true releases of The Pursuit and Playing With Fire. Now they won't be out until later this fall, but it's never too soon to begin planning, right?

So, here is where I call on my wonderful readers (and I know you're out there!) to tell me what they think or what they'd like to see as prizes.

Right now. I have books to offer as prizes. I have ARCs (complete with editor notes that'll make you laugh or cringe.) I have earlier drafts loaded with my own revisions and notes scratched from front to back on page after page. If it's on paper - I have it as a possible prize.

But I also had an interesting idea. I've seen done before and wondered about holding a contest where the main winner - the grand prize, so to speak - is the winner appearing in a future book as a major secondary character. Now, I've never done a contest of this sort, so I'd love to hear some information either for or against such a contest. Pros and cons would be super appreciated, so anyone who has an experience to share - I'd love to hear it so leave me a comment!

I've got time, but it's going to go fast, so get your ideas in quickly! I'm dying to hear any and all suggestions!

Settling Dust

Whew... when things get hectic, they really get hectic. And lately, things have been hectic.

First, I want to apologize for my random posts. My mom was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, so I've been running like a madwoman, taking her to radiation therapy, for this test and that test. Then, this past Thursday, she went in to have a lung biopsy done. There was a complication that resulted in her needing a chest tube, which led to being admitted into the hospital for three days. But, she's home now and resting, so that's all good. She'll be going for a PET scan sometime this week, to see if the cancer's spread. So, if everyone could just think good thoughts for her, that would be great. Thank you.

I've also been working to get Playing with Fire finished and out to my editor and I'm happy to say that it's done. Yay! Just in time for me to begin the first edits on Devil in Disguise. Nothing like busy on top of busy, right? Keeps me out of trouble.

But tonight, I'm taking for me. I'm working on Aidrian's story and, of course, a new story idea hit late last week, so maybe I'll get that outlined or at least roughed out.

I'll try to get back to regular blogging, but right now, everything's so up in the air, that it'll be hit or miss at best. Once we get things settled with my mom, things should calm down a little (or so I hope) and with any luck, I'll even have ideas for blog topics. We'll see.

And now, since the Boy and the Girl are peacefully watching a movie (it's raining and gray outside today, unfortunately), I'm going to try to get some new words written.

I've missed writing new words. :D

It's Here!

I should have posted this on Friday, but real life gets in the way sometimes and it did so in a huge way over the last two weeks -

The Pursuit is now available!!

Yay! You can find it here at Aspen Mountain Press, or you can find it here, at Amazon.

So come and happy dance with me, won't you?

YAY!

Running

Is what I've been doing for the last week. I thought it had been a lot longer since my last post, so I'm pretty happy to see I'm not really that far behind.

I've been working like crazy trying to finish the first draft of Playing with Fire - which my AMP/Aurora Historicals editor is patiently waiting for, so that's taken up a lot of my time. I can't say much about it - yet. But when I can... look out.

Also, there's quite a lot going on for me personally. I don't want to say too much just yet, but it involves someone very close to me, and someone I'm really worrying about. So, for the next week or so, I may be blogging sporadically at best. Come Monday I'll have a firmer handle on what's what.

So anyway, I'm here. I'm alive. I'm writing. Oh, and I have a book coming out in TWO DAYS! That's right - The Pursuit goes on sale at Aspen Mountain Press on Friday! Yay! :D

Just a Little More Shameless Promotion (Oh, and a Release Date!)

Have you gone and visited the new Aurora Regency blog? If so, let me know what you thought of it (or leave a comment there instead!) If not? WHY? The big day is right around the corner. Mark your calendars for July 23rd, when Aspen Mountain Press will be offering sneak peeks (and by sneak peeks, I mean, come and get some books!) at the new Aurora Regency and Aurora Regency Historicals lines. Go. Now. It's okay. I'll wait...


Hmmm... back already? Okay, well, after a nice relaxing Fourth of July, I'm back. First off, I hope everyone's Fourth was nice (ours was wonderful, but man! Where the heck did this heat come from. It's ungodly out there. Blech.) Second, I finally had the chance to finish reading Stacia Kane's Unholy Ghosts. Remember the whole heroine-is-a-drug-addict kerfuffle over at Dear Author a few weeks back? Well, frankly, I don't see what the fuss was about. I think Chess Putnam's pretty cool, drug problem and everything. It was a great story, the world building was amazing, and as soon as I finished it (Saturday afternoon), I couldn't wait to read the next one - Unholy Magic. Fortunately for me, it came out yesterday - so guess what book is sitting on my counter, one chapter already devoured?


And lastly, After the Storm has a release date - look for it on January 21, 2011! Woo hoo!

Shameless Promo, Part III!

 Here is a little peek at what you'll find over at LovesRomancesCafe!

   The Pursuit 

~ The Synopsis ~ 

Born into privilege, Katherine Bainbridge never thought the day would come when she would be happy to find work as a maid. But having fled London to avoid being tried, convicted and hanged for murder, she will take whatever work she can get, even if the offer comes from the most beautiful man she has ever seen.

Garrett McKenzie needs to staff his new home, but when he sees Katherine, the position that comes to mind does not involve mops and buckets. Determined to woo his lovely new maid into his bed, he will do whatever necessary to keep her there.

But when Katherine’s past comes back to haunt her, Garrett will do whatever he has to in order to prove to her that she can trust him with her life, as well as with her love.

~ The Excerpt ~

Garrett watched as the tall woman ran at him, priming himself for the imminent impact. A short, barrel-chested fellow was close at her heels, but Garrett wasn’t concerned about the man. Perhaps he had good reason to be chasing the lady. If not, Garrett would know soon enough and remove her from harm’s way before making scraps of the little bastard giving chase.

So he waited, his blood pounding in his ears, pulsing through his veins. A muscle tensed in his back, but then the little man looked up from his quarry. As quickly as he appeared, he halted his chase and simply melted away into the shadows.

Unfortunately, the woman failed to notice she was no longer being pursued. She didn’t so much as glance over her shoulder. Whump!

He caught her easily, although she slammed into him with hard enough to knock him back several steps. His left ankle twisted as he braced that foot to halt his momentum, but he held on. For a long moment, her body pressed against his. With her generous height, they matched up almost perfectly, setting off a ripple through his entire body. He savored the soft feel of her for an all-too brief moment. “Easy, love. Easy. I mean you no harm.”

Her body heaved against him as she fought to catch her breath, her arms limp at her sides. The peace only lasted a minute or so before she jerked free and shoved him away. “Unhand me!” 

He held up both hands. “I said I’ll not hurt you.”

She spun about to stare into the shadows behind her. “Where is he? Sanders? Where did he go?”

“That I can’t say. He looked up, probably saw me, and thought better of continuing his pursuit. Disappeared into the darkness and skulked away, I assume.”

Her gasps slowed, and she shoved a loose curl away from her face. “Bloody hell…”

He tugged his handkerchief from the pocket of his frock coat to press into her hand. “Tell me, who was that you were running from? The devil, perhaps?”

“No. The devil isn’t nearly as frightening.” She snatched the handkerchief from him and dabbed it against her brow as she straightened. “I thank you.”

“Of course.”

The handkerchief came away from her face. “Did you say he disappeared?”

“I did, and he did. Now, do you wish to tell me why he was chasing you? Did you snatch something of his, perhaps?”

Her brows met as she scowled up at him. “Absolutely not.” She shoved the wrinkled handkerchief at him. “I thank you for this, apologize for running into you, and now I think I will go back inside.”

“Very well, if you didn’t steal something from him, why was he chasing you? Do you owe him money?”

At first, she seemed to be on the verge of confessing but caught herself, pressing her lips together. “Of course not. Now, if you will excuse me—”

He didn’t know what madness possessed him to lean toward her other than the overwhelming urge to feel her lips against his. An urge he couldn’t ignore, didn’t want to ignore. He wanted to kiss her. 

Lights exploded before his eyes and pain lit up the inside of his skull as her fist connected solidly with his jaw.

A perfect punch.

He staggered back a step. “Jesus!”

“There’ll be none of that now, sir! I don’t do that!” She shook out her hand as if the blow hurt her as much as it hurt him.

He resisted the urge to rub the sore spot on his jaw, even as bells clanged against the inside of his skull. “Beg your pardon, my lady, but I’m not about to rape you.”

Her hand went still. Wide-eyed, she stared at him. “Oh dear…I apologize, of course, sir. I—I suppose I panicked.”

He chuckled, giving into the urge to rub his jaw with one hand. “You hit the way a man would.”

“I apologized, didn’t I? Now let me see if I’ve done any damage.”

He got his first good look at her as she lifted her face to his. “You’re that barmaid, aren’t you? The redhead Jefferson was giving a hard time.”

She lifted her hand to his jaw, brushing him where her fist met his face moments earlier. “I do believe you’ve the beginnings of a bruise. Again, I apologize.”

“Please don’t. It’s nice to see you could defend yourself if the need ever arose—for the most part, anyhow.”

Her eyes glittered in the moonlight like black opals, but he knew they weren’t black. They were hazel. A lovely combination of brown and green, although earlier he thought they seemed more green than brown. “Even so, I apologize just the same.”

As his jaw hurt only a bit, he managed a smile. “There is no need. I must admit, this isn’t exactly how I hoped to meet you but the end result is what I wished for. Have you a name, then, my lady?”

“I thank you for catching me, but if you will excuse me, I must get back inside.”

He caught her by the wrist as she stepped back. “Ah, but you will at least tell me your name, won’t you? I did save you from a fate worse than death, didn’t I?”

“I suppose.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “So grateful, sweetheart. So grateful, indeed.”

She gave him a sour look. “My name is not sweetheart and I’d appreciate it if you’d not keep calling me that.”

“Then what is it?”

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Kat-ah, I mean, Katherine. Katherine Bainbridge.”

“Kat, eh?” He repeated it as if tasting it slowly. “I like it, even if it is unusual. It goes quite well with strong arm of yours.”

“Yes, I suppose it does.” She sighed, softening her sharp tone. “I apologize for my rudeness. I should be thanking you.”

“Think nothing of it. I’ll put it down to being frightened.” He offered her his arm. “Come, let me at least see you inside—to make certain no more harm befalls you. Tell me, did you know that man chasing you?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. I’ve never seen him before this evening,” she replied, averting her gaze and taking a quick step back. “Most likely one of Miller’s drunken louts who thought nothing of his pawing earlier or trying to take that pawing further still.”

Garrett thought her reply a bit too quick, too vehement, to be the truth. But, if she knew the man, it was her business. If she wished to tell him, fine. If not, it was fine with him as well.

Katherine cleared her throat softly. “I do appreciate your catching me, however, Mr.—”

“McKenzie,” he replied easily, his gaze holding hers for a long moment. “Garrett McKenzie.”

~*~

A New Look!

Change is good for the soul, right? So, every so often I like to go in and play around with the blog's layout and template and all that other fun stuff. Well, this time, I'm not so sure I like what I've done to it and, of course, I can't undo it. So now I have to play around with the changes until I find something I like.

So, tell me, what do you think? Fonts okay? Typeface okay? Let me know!

I finished up the first edits on The Pursuit, and the final edits on After the Storm. I sent in the cover art forms for Tiger Eyes and am still working on the forms for Devil in Disguise. Can we say, busy? So, I'm taking the next few days off to just kind of veg. The King's Bride is almost finished (and I hate the title, so while I'm asking for opinions on the blog, I'm also open to title suggestions. :D) and that's probably my next sub. Things should start to calm down now, just in time for summer vacation, so I will hopefully get back to some sort of regular blogging. Or so I hope. :D

A New Cover!

The Pursuit has a shiny new cover!

Pretty cool, eh? I love it!

Whew!

This was - as you know - a very busy weekend in my household. The Girl made her first Communion on Saturday and we had a beautiful day for it. Sunny and warm (actually hot is more like it. It was well into the 80s) and not much in the way of breezes. Unfortunately, the Boy came down with a fever on Friday, which resulted in my having to go pick him up around 10AM, so he and my husband had to miss the ceremony (is it considered a ceremony??) which really sucked. The Boy was still sick on Saturday, his fever went up to nearly 102 degrees, then came down, then went back up, until it finally broke for good Saturday night.

The Girl is also sick now as well. She started Saturday morning with not feeling well and by Saturday night, she was running a fever. She was out of school today and most likely out tomorrow as well. Sigh.

But I have to admit, for not feeling well, she stayed in pretty good spirits during the party. Her cousins were here, so she had a blast running around with them and I guess it's easy to forget how lousy you feel when you're having fun. The Boy was proof of that.

He went for his evaluation today with the pediatric neurologist, and I'm thrilled to say it is official - he is not  autistic. ADHD, most likely, but most definitely not autistic. My husband and I breathed such a sigh of relief because, until now, all anyone would say was they didn't think he was, but couldn't be certain. Now we are certain and it's such a weight lifted from our shoulders. Thank God.

I should have the final edits on After the Storm turned into my (very patient) editor by the end of the week, and then I should have a release date shortly thereafter. Yay! And then I begin another round of edits on The Pursuit. And then, hopefully, I will  be able to share the news I've been sitting on for so very long... or so I hope. :D

Quick Update

I'm running like a madwoman, since the Girl is making her First Communion this weekend. We're expecting almost 40 people (and they are all immediate family only.) And that is this week's excuse for not posting regularly. :D

I'm still revising The King's Bride (which is seriously in need of a new title. I hate this one. Hopefully, a new one will come to me.)

I'm awaiting the next round of edits on After the Storm and The Pursuit. And Murphy's Law will go into action, which means, they will arrive on the same day, within an hour or so of each other, and I will spend the two following weeks ripping my hair out because there are only 24 hours in a day. :D

I'm also sitting on that news. As soon as I can share, I will. Promise.

Dance with the Devil is almost finished. Well, the third draft, anyway. I decided I need a little break this week, so I'm working only minimally, seeing as how I'm spending most of my free time cleaning.

Soon this will all be over. Then I can go back to Tara...

Edits

I haz them.

I just finished up edits for After the Storm and I'm just beginning edits on The Pursuit. Oy. It's funny, but when I get those first edits, I have to wonder how the heck I managed to sell the damn book in the first place. The red - it burns! But, my editors are good at what they do and they are right more often than not. As a result, each book is the best it can be, and that makes me happy. :D

But it keeps me busy. And of course, the muse showed up the other night just shouting her head off about this new idea she had for me and didn't I want to write at that moment?! She's so fickle, that damned muse. But since I'd be sunk without her, I gave her a cookie and wrote a few pages to make her happy. It seemed to work. Whew.

It's been a great couple of weeks, it's spring, it's getting warm (although, last night was awful. It's been 80+ degrees and sunny here all week. Perfect. But last night it was hot and sticky. I must have woken up half a dozen times from the stupid heat. At least that's gone today. Whew), my daffodils are blooming, I planted my spring flowers. Everything is as it should be.

Only a little crazier. 

And now, back to work.