Secrets…and last chance to enter!

Today is the last chance to enter my December Contest for the Amazon gift card! I’m going to draw a random number from among my newsletter subscribers and send that person the $10 gift certificate.

**Update–#23 was the lucky number..Nienke Hinton! Nienke, check your in-box for your gift certificate. :thumbsup:**

I have a secret. A few close friends know…. Can you guess what it is?

Hint: It’s related to my New Year’s Goals….

It’s worth celebrating…:drunk:

So, let’s have a contest to celebrate! Guess what my fabulous secret is! Post a comment here and see if you know what it is. (If you’re one of the close friends who already know, don’t tell! But you can gloat.)

You can enter as many times as you like. The person who correctly guesses will win an autographed copy of Her Irish Warrior just as soon as I get my hands on my author copies. :woot: I’ll announce my news on Wednesday, January 4th. In the meantime, happy guessing!

New Year’s Resolutions

A close group of friends and I usually set New Year’s goals. We periodically check on each other to see if we’re making progress. This year, my goals are a little different. Last year my goal was to sell my first book and to complete at least another novel and a new proposal. I’m happy that I did achieve those goals.

But this year I’m feeling a little fuzzy about the goals. I know I’m going to finish at least two more books, but the question is where I want to take things from here. Do I want to continue writing more Irish medievals? Or do I want to try out a new historical time period? I live near Colonial Williamsburg, and I’ve often wondered about setting a book in that era. I could probably come up with a hunky militia man…It’ll be interesting to see where the new year takes me in my writing.

What I need to do most is speed things up. I tend to write three drafts: the first is my rough draft which just maps out the basic character conflicts. The second draft is where I flesh out the emotions and the descriptive detail. The third draft is where I try to avoid repetition, both word-wise and plot-wise. Right now I’m ahead of the game, in that I have three completed novels and 100 pages on the new book. But this year I need to be much more consistent with writing every day and increasing my page production.

So, I guess for me it’ll be:
1. Write every day
2. Increase my page production so I can finish a book every 4 months
3. Write two new books and one new proposal
4. Make a book trailer for my upcoming release
**And the one that’s not technically in my control:
5. Sell three more books

In my personal life, I need to start exercising more consistently and taking better care of myself by eating less junk. :popcorn:
I’m tempted to take up figure skating again….:banana:

How about you? What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Christmas gifts and Pimp My Daughter

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! :santa:

I love watching my children open their gifts on Christmas morning. It’s such fun. This year, my son got his first bicycle. He’s still trying to figure out the pedals and is a bit freaked out by the training wheels, but I imagine he’ll learn.

My daughter received a trunk of dress-up clothes. They were a huge hit. As soon as she saw what the trunk contained, she had to put on a princess dress, tiara, high-heeled slippers, bracelets, and wave a star wand. I thought she was cute. My husband thought the dress-up trunk should be renamed “Pimp My Daughter.” She was tricked out in everything sparkly, princessy, and girly. It was exceedingly tacky and she had a blast.

We have a tradition where the elves, the reindeer, and Mrs. Claus all give gifts. Any time a tag reads that it’s from Mrs. Claus, it means the gift is underwear or pajamas. The reindeer and elves give gifts and games. Santa gives the good stuff.

When I was growing up, the only thing I ever wanted was a Barbie Dream House. I pored over the catalogue, staring at it so hard it’s a wonder the pages didn’t wilt from all the drool coming from my eight-year-old mouth. It was like the Red Ryder BB gun gift mentioned in the movie “A Christmas Story.” But I didn’t get the Dream House. I got a plastic shelf.

Yes, my thrifty parents wanted me to use my imagination. “It has four floors!” my mother exclaimed. “It’s like an apartment building. You can store your books on it, too.” Gee, thanks, Mom. I always wanted a shelf. Can’t you just picture the elementary school conversations?

“I got a dirt bike!”
“I got a dog!”
“I got an electric scooter!”

And me? “Ooooh, guys, I can top this! I got a shelf!” :loser:

But this year, 25 years late I might add, Santa finally came through. My parents bought me a Barbie Dream House. And they had the nerve to install it in my daughter’s room.

Mom’s explanation? “It got lost in the mail.” Riiiiiight….

What gifts did you want for Christmas as a child that you didn’t get?

**Update: My “Call Story” for my first sale is up on the Pink Heart Society’s Blog. Stop by if you want to read the whole saga.

Also…Santa Claus brought me another present this year…but I’m not saying what until after the New Year! A little suspense, perhaps? :dancingfool:

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to send out a very Merry Christmas to everyone. :santa: I have family coming in tomorrow and at the moment I have a sick munchkin who is plastered to my leg. She keeps complaining that she’s hungry, and when I ask her what she wants to eat, she says, “Umm….candy canes?” :hungry:

Me: How about dry cereal?

Daughter: No, I want chocolate.

Me: Saltines?

Daughter: No, Mommy, candy.

And so it goes. I’m not exactly sure how to get some writing done with a two-year-old crawling up into my lap every five seconds, but hopefully there will be a nap in her future. I may have to throw her in the mini-van and drive around the block a few times to knock her out. I think Child Protective Services would come after me if I busted out the heavy narcotics. Yeah, probably not a good idea.

Don’t forget–there’s about a week left to enter my December contest for an Amazon gift card! :shimmy: Can’t wait for a few more months when I’ll actually be able to give away a copy of one of my books!

On January 4th, I’ll be helping out with a workshop featuring Harlequin Historicals authors at Cobblestone Press. You’re welcome to stop by, especially because there will be multiple contests and giveaways by many historical romance authors.

Have a wonderful Holiday! :xmastree::rudolph:

Santa as Jack Bauer

I am a huge fan of the show 24. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the show takes place in a 24-hour period. Jack Bauer is the Alpha hero, shooting his way past the bad guys and relying on his cohorts at CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) to help him out of rough spots. My husband send this to me today, and it’s a scream! Enjoy!

A UK Release!

I am so excited! I found out yesterday that Her Irish Warrior will be released in the United Kingdom in December 2007. :shimmy: Yay! That was a great bit of happy news.

Also, I received revisions on book #2: Her Irish Lover. I seem to have a problem with repetition. I think it’s because in the early stages of my books, I can’t always keep track of what I’ve already written and sometimes I hammer it a little too much. But anyway, I’m glad my editor liked the book and hopefully I can pull off these revisions. I have a January deadline to get the changes done. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

The kids and I watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” tonight. That’s definitely one of my favorite Christmas movies. For more grown-up movies, we like to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas.” How about you? What holiday movies are your favorites?

A Case of the Mondays

Ever seen that movie “Office Space?” There’s a scene where the main character is huddled at his desk, trying to get through the first hour of his day and when people start to exasperate him, a secretary croons in a sing-song voice, “Somebody’s got a case of the Mondays.” This week will be a challenging one, since it’s the last week before our winter break for the holidays. The children start to get this glazed look upon their faces and any talk of academics makes their eyes roll back in their heads. Pretty much they’re good for coloring but not much else. :santa:

Then again, the teachers aren’t good for much more than coloring either. One of my co-workers is already enjoying her vacation, having taken these last 4 days off. I’m so jealous. It makes me wonder if year-round schooling might not be such a bad thing, if the kids could have a few weeks of vacation every nine weeks. It might avoid burnout.

I took the weekend off from writing and brainstormed a bit, watched mindless tv, wrapped presents, and vacuumed leaves in the yard. Sometimes it’s hard to take a writing vacation because you feel guilty about it. But I’m still fairly pleased with my progress. I’m on page 95 out of roughly 360 (I stubbornly avoid word count like the plague since I’m so dialogue heavy). It’ll get there.

I think my poor husband is frustrated with Christmas shopping. With that, I think I’m going to list a few of my Top Pick Wild and Crazy gifts for Christmas (the ones I don’t expect to receive. :lol:)
1. Maid service (can you see the saliva dripping upon my keyboard. Someone else to clean the house! :flying:)
2. A trip to somewhere exotic like the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, etc.
3. Did I mention maid service? :woot:
4. Built-in bookcases for my office so I can organize the tomes that are currently threatening to bury me alive.
5. And perhaps maid service might be good.

What about you? If you could have any crazy gift at this time of year (e.g. if you won the lottery and this was no-holds-barred), what would you wish for? :xmastree:

Attack of the Killer Cupcakes

I love to bake. Really. There’s just something wonderfully homey about taking cookies out of the oven, or banana bread, or brownies. But there’s something about holiday baking that makes me want to go cower in the closet with a roll of pre-baked cookie dough. I think it’s the fact that all the baking happens AT ONCE. All the kids’ school parties are tomorrow or early next week. If it were spread out more, it would be much easier. (We could have the annual Christmas parties starting in October. Hey, the department stores do it….):slap:

I cooked 30 deviled eggs for my husband’s office party yesterday, 20 cupcakes at 6:15 a.m. this morning, and at some point I’m supposed to bring in goodies for my faculty pig-out tomorrow. This, of course, occurs on the same night I’m required to chaperone the school chorus concert. :woot:

Where’s that roll of cookie dough again? I’m thinking of venturing out to the grocery store at the crack of dawn and looking at whatever’s left over in the deli. How sad is that? :loser: Yes, I KNOW I should have just doubled one of these recipes, but have you ever smelled a house when someone has been boiling eggs? It’s not pretty.

But on the bright side, I got the nicest surprise gift from my agent. A box of Godiva chocolates. That was all it took to make my day better.

Have you had to bake/cook a lot lately for kids’ parties or office parties? What’s your favorite hors d’oeuvres to make? (I’m a fan of meatballs. You combine one package of pre-cooked frozen meatballs, one small jar of grape jelly, and one jar of BBQ sauce in a crockpot for 4-6 hours. Very easy.)

4 things meme

Mary Beth tagged me on this one, so I’ll see if I can answer.
Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Dorm custodian
2. Mystery shopper
3. Mortgage Handbook Editor
4. Teacher

Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Ramstein AFB, Germany
2. RAF Lakenheath, England
3. South Bend, Indiana
4. Springfield, VA

Four favorite foods:
1. Russell Stover chocolate-covered caramels
2. spaghetti
3. Hunan Chicken
4. Tiramisu

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Braveheart
2. Gladiator
3. Last of the Mohicans
4. The Karate Kid

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. LOST
2. American Idol
3. 24
4. Survivor

Four places I’ve traveled:
1. Ireland (everywhere)
2. New York City
3. Paris
4. Rome

Four places I’d like to visit:
1. London–to meet the fabulous Mills & Boon Editorial Staff in person!
2. Egypt (to see the pyramids)
3. Australia
4. New Zealand

Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
1. eharlequin.com
2. pubrants.blogspot.com
3. writemindedblog.com
4. amazon.com (to make sure my book is still there and stare like a deer in the headlights)

I’m not going to tag anyone specific, but please feel free to share this on your own. I think the question that was most interesting to me was the travel-related one. I hadn’t really thought about exotic places I’d like to visit. I had a hard time narrowing it down. I’d still love to do a Caribbean resort or something fun like that. What about you? Where would you travel if you could go anywhere? :flying:

Watching good movies

This weekend, our family finally saw the movie “Cars.” My children were clearly deprived, because we must have been one of the last families on the planet to see it. Great movie! I really enjoyed the message at the end (I won’t give it away, but those of you who’ve seen it, know what I’m talking about). You have a traditional story about a car race, but there’s a greater message about being a better person. Loved. It. :shimmy:

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I am starting to get into the panic mode of Christmas. This is one of the last weeks when I can order stuff online and have it get there by Christmas. I keep wondering if I’ve forgotten anyone (probably). I have visions of being online on Christmas Eve and everything being sold out. I went online to order some things for my husband and sure enough–sold out until January. :hissyfit: Which means I have to go to the mall. Ack.

Then there’s the whole Christmas card thing. My husband and I usually send out in the neighborhood of 65-70 cards a year. We try to write a fun letter, but this year it’s more challenging. I’m thinking that perhaps egg nog and a box of Russell Stover’s chocolate caramels might be a way to get through the writer’s block. :hungry:

What holiday stresses are you running into at this time of year? Or are you pretty relaxed?