I'm All For Suspension of Disbelief...

...but come on!

Last night I sat through My Bloody Valentine 3-D (the 2-D version, though, because rentals don't come with 3-D glasses). I was in the mood for a splatter movie. Jensen Ackles and Kerr Smith are hot. It got half-decent reviews. And aside from the strange-looking 3-D-effects-rendered-2-D moments, it wasn't a bad story. I liked the "twist."

My issue?

The movie is set in a West Virginia mining town, in February. February! So why were folks running around in light sweater coats? And there were leaves on the trees!

I know, I know, they probably had the film the movie in April or something, but come on. There are not leaves on the trees in WV, in the ass-end of winter.

*sigh*

Books, Books, Everywhere!

Since last month's contest winner was already the proud owner of the books I offered up as prizes, she will soon be the proud owner of the following titles:

NICE GIRLS DON'T HAVE FANGS by Molly Harper
RED HEADED STEP CHILD by Jaye Wells
ANGELS BLOOD by Nalini Singh

Awesome choices!

Yesterday was also a great day for New Releases, and I invaded my local bookstore as soon as I was off from work. One of the books I went for hadn't been shelved yet, but I found others to remove the sting. Among the new, amazing titles weighing down my TBR pile:

BLACK & WHITE, Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge (I am not allowed to read this until I've finished edits on my own super-hero novel--it's a good incentive, since I've been dying to read this since I first heard about it)

STRANGE ANGELS, Lilli St. Crow

THE REPOSSESSION MAMBO, Eric Garcia (as a huge fan of REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA, I had to try this one)

MAGIC IN THE BLOOD, Devon Monk

STREET MAGIC, Caitlin Kittredge

So much to read, so little time.

What have you guys purchased lately?

New Release Date

So the news I mentioned two posts ago...

THREE DAYS TO DEAD now releases on November 24. It's being pushed back because of an in-house scheduling conflict (no, I don't know with who). The Random House site, as well as a few others, have the new date up. Amazon and everyone else will probably follow shortly.

Please help me pass the word!

Winner! Countdown: May

After a random drawing, the winner of this month's contest is:

Caffey!

You mentioned you had the books offered up as the prizes, so email me at "mail@kellymeding.com" and we'll talk. :)

Congrats!

Housekeeping

The Countdown: May contest is officially closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. The answers were varied and gave me several new authors to check out. I'll post the winner tomorrow afternoon.

I've also got some news I'll post tomorrow (not bad news, but not YAY-SQUEE news, either).

Fun With Numbers

I wonder if the number 27 is my new lucky number. Good things happen for me on the 27th of months.

For example...

On May 27th of last year, I received a career-changing email from my now-agent, Jonathan Lyons, offering representation (a year ago today, which just makes me grin).

On January 27th of this year, I first received word of German interest in my books. A deal was made not long after.

And on October 27th of this year, THREE DAYS TO DEAD releases into the wild, exactly one year and five months after the representation offer.

I think I like the number 27.

Five more months until TDTD is out. *looks at calendar*

Holy crap, when did June get so close?

*boggles*

Countdown: May Contest!

CONTEST CLOSED!

I think I said I'd do this yesterday, but since it was a holiday here in the States, I didn't. I did, however, have a yummy dinner of steamed shrimp and corn on the cob, and I chased it down with the last two episodes of "True Blood" Season One.

Eventually I'll post my thoughts on the series as a whole (as well as my new crush on Sam Trammel). Needless to say, though, I've got vampires on the brain, so this contest is going to revolve around vampires. And it'll be an easy one, I swear.

First, the prizes! Keeping vampires in mind, I thought hard about a fun, vamp-oriented prize, and I decided on books. We all need more books, right? But for added fun, the winner gets a choice.

CHOICE #1: The first three Southern Vampire Mysteries books, by Charlaine Harris (Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead).

CHOICE #2: The first three Night Huntress books, by Jeaniene Frost (Halfway to the Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave's End).

Both series feature awesome heroines, humor, drama, and varying degrees of sexiness. Plus hot vampires!

So what must one do in order to be eligible for this prize? Leave a comment on this post answering the question below, and you'll be entered into a random drawing. You have until Thursday evening (May 28) to comment.

The Question: IF YOU COULD BE A VAMPIRE IN ANY AUTHOR'S FICTIONAL WORLD, BOUND BY THEIR VAMPIRE RULES, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

My own answer: I'd like to be a vampire in Molly Harper's NICE GIRLS DON'T HAVE FANGS world. They are starting to mainstream into society, and they can go outside in the daytime with, like, SPF 500 sunscreen.

How about you?

And don't forget: the winner of Countdown: May! is automatically entered into an October drawing for an advance copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD!

Jacob in the Box

My nephew playing with packing peanuts, courtesy of my brother and Youtube.

I *heart* Shapeshifters

I do. I prefer them over vampires. I suspected as much before, but my taste was reinforced yesterday when I threw myself into Season One of "True Blood." I don't have HBO, so I had to wait for the DVD release last week to get it. After the exhaustion that was our yard sale, all I wanted to do last night was watch TV.

Seven hours of TV. I finally quit at quarter til two, after devouring the first seven eps of TB.

Love. It.

I've probably ranted before about judging movies/shows on their own merits--especially those adapted from another medium, such as graphic novels or books. Part of it is my former-film student geekiness, that recognizes the necessary differences between visual and print media. I have read the first two Sookie books (I'm working on it!), so I could ruthlessly make comparisons. But I won't.

Because I can't. One is not the other. And I love both for their own charms and quirks.

So where is the evidence that I will, 99% of the time, choose the shapeshifter over the vampire? In both the Sookie books and TB, I was rooting for Sam. I love Sam.

Want more evidence? I've never even read the Twilight books, and I will willingly cast my vote for Team Jacob--cuz werewolves are hot. I fell over myself to read all four Mercy Thompson novels once I started them, because of the werewolf awesomeness in those books (heroine shapeshifter bonus!). Give me a paranormal romance with the heroine stuck between choosing a shapeshifter or any other sort of character, and I'll be rooting for the shapeshifter (unless they are irrevocably evil, duh).

I'll chat more about my impressions of "True Blood" once I've finished the series, but for now, I'm enjoying the hell out of it. And I'm seriously considering paying for HBO this summer, just for the new season.

A Note On Growth

I'm sure I've mentioned, at least in passing, the revisions (I like to think of it as a surgical procedure, at the very least) I did back in February/March on my superhero novel. The one I was slapping around in preparation for presenting it to my agent.

The good news is that he likes it. Yay! On Tuesday, we chatted a while about revisions and something he said made me laugh (internally, I'm pretty sure I didn't giggle about it over the phone). (Paraphrasing) "You wrote this before THREE DAYS, right?" "Yes."

Which is where growth comes into play. I have a lot of trunk novels, and I don't regret a single one of them. They helped make me into the writer I am now. I needed the practice, and that simple exchange was confirmation that I have grown as a writer. And growth is important.

The superhero novel still has flaws. Most of my Jonathan's notes hit upon some of the problems I still had with the book, and some of the things my lovely beta Nancy had pointed out to me. Things that still need to be fixed. But I let my subconscious work out the problems for me these last few days, and I think I figured out how to solve several of those issues in one fell swoop.

Cross your fingers for me.

How about you guys? Any moments like this where you realize, "Hey, I have gotten better at this writing thing"?

Heroes, Contests, and Tony, Oh My!

Just a couple of quick things.

First, the awesome Jackie Kessler is giving away copies of her upcoming release BLACK AND WHITE, co-authored with Caitlin Kittredge. I am uber-excited about this book (superheroes!). To get in on the giveaway, you just have to follow Jackie on Twitter. She'll have drawings as she reaches 600, 700, and 800 followers.

Countdown: May! Contest will commence Monday, May 25th. This one will be a little simpler than the last contest, and there will be prizes. As with April, the winner of May is automatically entered into an October drawing for an Advance Copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD. So look for details this coming Monday!

The new project is moving along swimmingly. In just over two weeks, I've hit the halfway mark and this feat coincided with a flash of insight. I now know who the Big Bad is. Yay! This book is giving me several new Favorite Lines.

And the best part of about last night's "24" finale? It made me dream about Carlos Bernard. *happy sigh*

That New Idea Smell

If only new ideas came with a neat scent, like new cars do. Did you know you can actually buy air sprays that smell like New Car? I kid you not. It's strange, but there's something exciting about that scent. It screams SHINY! NEW! FUN!

It's pretty rare (for me, at this point in my writing career) for me to stumble upon an idea that just reeks of the New Car Smell. The one you want to inhale for hours, roll on the seats, and revel in its awesomeness. I stumbled into one of these ideas on Friday, May 1st, over a pitcher of sangria and an eclectic movie marathon.

Most of my ideas start with a question. THREE DAYS TO DEAD began with, "Why would a dead vampire hunter be brought back to life? What could only she do?" It evolved into something a tad different, but that was the basic question.

The New Car idea I'm playing with now began as, "Why would a coven of vampires hold a town hostage?" I had no idea, so I let my mind wander a bit over the course of the movie marathon. At some point (probably around 2 am), another question occurred tome: "If vampires did take a town hostage, who would be sent in to negotiate?"

I woke up Saturday morning with my mind whirling, did a few hours of research, and by noon I had half a dozen characters and an opening scene in mind. So I started writing. I've written every day since, and my word count is sitting pretty at a healthy 33,000 words.

I'm having fun with this idea, more fun than I've had since I wrote the first draft of TDTD. Exploring a new world, with new characters and their issues, is very freeing. I'm excited to write this, because I'm uncertain where it's going. I'm getting there at the same time as my heroine, and that's part of the excitement of the journey.

Now all I need is a title. :)

How do you guys react to new ideas? Do they take you over?

Read in 2009 Update

As of last night, my count of books read since January 1st is twenty-three. It may not seem like a lot to some, but for me, it's an amazing number. Especially when we're only 18 weeks into the year.

Last week I set a nice little personal record of three books in one week: NICE GIRLS DON'T HAVE FANGS (Molly Harper), TAMING THE FIRE (Sydney Croft), and FOOL MOON (Jim Butcher). Yes, I know, I'm woefully behind on the Dresden books, which is why Grave Peril is next, then I tackle a few more new-to-me authors.

I've said it before, but reading is one of the greatest tools in a Writer's Toolbox, and it's one we have complete control over. I hear a lot of people say, "I don't have time to read," or "I've always wanted to write a novel, but I don't like reading." Um, what? For me, books have become the gasoline in my creative fuel tank--if I don't refill it once in a while, I'm going to lose steam.

What's everyone reading right now?

Star Trek

The new movie was frakkin' awesome! And I say this as someone who did not particularly like the original series. I got started with The Next Generation, and became addicted through Deep Space Nine. And yes, I admit it--I'm one of twelve people who loved Enterprise.

But this movie just rocked. It rocked its cast, its concept, its music, and its fans, without excluding non-fans. The nods were awesome--lots of fun things in there for fans to enjoy, from the first "red shirt" to "Admiral Archer's prized beagle."

Eric Bana makes a truly bad-ass Romulan.

In Drei Tagen Bist Du Weider Tot

If you haven't stopped by the League of Reluctant Adults yet this week, we're having another theme. This week is "The Mother of All Vampires" Week, to celebrate both a Leaguer's release and Mother's Day (this Sunday, folks!). So stop by and join the conversations!

In other news, some random Googling of my name landed me on Droemer's website, where I discovered my German listing for THREE DAYS TO DEAD, as well as the super-hawt cover. The Bond-girl, spy-leather look is pretty awesome.



The title (In Drei Tagen Bist Du Weider Tot) literally translates: In three days you are dead again.

Two other fun facts:

Germany release is 10/05/09, twenty-two days before the US release.

There are apparently three German horror films with the exact same title.

Happy Friday!

Writer Beware Blogs!: Victoria Strauss -- Why You Are Probably Not an Independent Author (or, Another Post for Which I Expect I Will Get Some Flack)

Writer Beware Blogs!: Victoria Strauss -- Why You Are Probably Not an Independent Author (or, Another Post for Which I Expect I Will Get Some Flack)

Or "why changing what you call something doesn't change what it is beneath the label."

Taming the Fire by Sydney Croft

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
As soon as my box arrived from Amazon today, I cracked this one open. It didn't disappoint (not that any of them have).



More exciting action from our favorite ACRO operatives, as well as some new and interesting faces. I would have liked more Annika and Creed (cuz they're my favorite couple), but it's a minor thing, since the other story lines were so fascinating.



My only real complaint is that I read it too fast, and the next one isn't due for a while.


View all my reviews.

Author Scoop Interview

I was asked to participate in the "5 Minutes Alone..." series of interviews on Author Scoop, and the interview is now online. I chat briefly about THREE DAYS TO DEAD and writing in general.

If you don't follow Author Scoop, add it to your list. It's a fun and informative resource. Thank you, William Haskins, for allowing me to participate.

DragonCon

The humidity is here, and it's only May 1st. Ick. Not to mention the high pollen alerts. Every morning, my poor car is dusted yellow. Double ick.

I have fun news! Thanks to the awesomeness that is Kat Richardson, I have a room for DragonCon! I am thrilled to be able to attend this year. Working in retail for so many years, I've never been in a position to ask off on Labor Day weekend (traditionally a busy weekend for shoppers). Now that I'm a lesser peon, I asked my manager about getting the time and he said no problem!

DragonCon! Have you seen the guest list? Authors, actors, and entertainers, OH MY!

Now comes the big decision: fly or road trip it to Atlanta. Road trips are less fun alone, I admit, but I have so much fun thinking and plotting while I drive. Plus I've flown in one plane in my life and it freaked me out. Hmm...

#

In other news, my cover is starting to pop up on Amazon and other sites. Woot!

In Which I Gush....

...just a bit more about my Cover Art Love.

Winner!

And we have a winner for the Countdown: April contest - alanajoli! Congrats!

For those interested (and whose Google-fu failed them), here are the correct answers.


1) "Home, sweet home."
2) Don't ever get him wet. Keep him away from bright light. And the most important thing, the one thing you must never forget: no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs . . . never, never feed him after midnight.
3) P3
4) "Moon Child"
5) Sonny Bono
6) Killing his wife's rapist
7) Bogus
8) Vampires
9) Bill Nighy
10) An American Werewolf in London

Countdown: April Questions!

ETA: I'm extending the deadline for turning in answers. You've got until tomorrow, noon-ish, EDT. :)

Naturally, Blogger would choose this morning to act weird on me. Arg!

Anywho, moving on to the fun stuff...

Feel free to ask questions or make comments on the blog, but remember! All answers must be sent to [ mail (at) kellymeding.com ] in order to be entered into the drawing. I'll reply to all entries (at some point during the day) to let you know if you answered correctly or not, and if you're in the drawing.

Good luck!

#

1. In "School Hard," a season 2 episode of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," what is Spike's first spoken line (this is also his first appearance on the series)?

2. According to the film Gremlins, what are the three basic rules for raising a Mogwai?

3. What is the name of Piper's night club on the television show "Charmed"?

4. In The NeverEnding Story, what is the name Bastian gives to the Childlike Empress? (the answer here is based more on the book itself, since it's dang hard to hear what he's shouting into the storm at the end)

5. Which former 70's icon has a small role in the 1986 film Troll?

6. On the short-lived 1998 television drama "Brimstone," the main character, Ezekial Stone, dies and is sent to Hell for what crime?

7. In the climax of the 1987 cult classic The Monster Squad, what is the single word Frankenstein says to Dracula right before he tosses him onto an iron spike?

8. In the UPN series "Special Unit 2," set in a modern Chicago crawling with creepies, what is the only mythical creature said to not actually exist?

9. Which Underworld vampire actor has also appeared in recent films potraying Davy Jones, a German general, and a zombie?

10. What film helped create the Academy Awards category for Best Makeup, and garnered a first-ever win (in this new category) for makeup artist Rick Baker?

Contest Details

Alrighty, seeing as tomorrow marks six months until Street Date, it will also be host to my first Countdown Contest. I'll be hosting six of these, all on or around the 27th of each month (although August will either be early or late, because I believe my vacation begins on the 23rd).

Hopefully each contest will be fun for you guys, and each will come with a prize. As a BONUS for playing along, each single contest winner (winner for April, May, June, etc...) will automatically be entered into a drawing to be held in October, to win a signed copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD.

So, on with the details.

Countdown: April will be a 10-question quiz/scavenger hunt. It's not multiple choice. You'll have to find the answers. The topic is somewhat narrowed down to SF/F/Horror films and television shows. Some are obscure, some are popular. Most of the questions relate to the critters in the Dreg City/Evy Stone books in some way.

I decided to change it from a "first person to correctly answer all wins" format, because it's limiting for folks who work and aren't on US time. So, all folks who send me ten correct answers will be entered into a drawing to win the Swag. I will post the questions to my blog tomorrow morning (Monday, April 27th) around 8 am EDT (barring disaster). Please don't answer them in the comments. All answers must be emailed to me [ mail (at) kellymeding.com ]. I will keep the contest open until 8pm EDT, so you'll have a window of twelve hours to play. Again, everyone who submits all ten correct answers will be entered into the drawing to win.

I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.

Easy, no?

Oh, yes. I mentioned Swag. You wanna know what you win.



The swag: a $10 B&N gift card, Professor Dalrymple's Fairy Catching System, and two fun sticky note pads from a company called KnockKnock. One says NOTE TO SELF (and has options such as Urgent, Relay, File Away, and Put in Novel) and the other says BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

And don't forget, the winner of Countdown: April is automatically entered into a drawing to win a signed copy of TDTD in October!

Questions? Comments?

Writing and Planning

So what have I been up to since Monday? Writing and planning, mostly.

The writing has been the fun part. I've been working on a short story that I'm currently calling "Bird-Watching." It's a mixed-POV story set about two years prior to the events in Three Days to Dead, and introduces us to a minor character from the book. Well, minor as in overall page-time, but not in terms of plot importance. Writing for Original Recipe Evy is a kick, because her perspective on the world (and the creepy things in it) is so black-and-white. And it's giving me a few little details I can plug into As Lie the Dead. So keep your fingers crossed.

The planning has been...at times stressful, and at times kind of fun. On Tuesday morning, the man we rent our house from calls and says he's getting out of rentals and will be selling all of his properties. Including our house. *headdesk* He did say he wanted to offer it to us first, before it went on the market. Not that me or my roommate are even in the market to buy a house. So we have roughly three months to find a new place and move.

I'd like to stay in this town, but I also wouldn't mind moving a bit closer to Salisbury (where we both work). Fortunately, there are plenty of places for rent around here, and all at competitive rates. I had just hoped to be here at least two years before moving again. My dad hasn't completely recovered from last summer.

Countdown Contest Update

I wanted to update quickly, before the big blob of red on the radar strolls through and potentially knocks out the power (candles are lit!). My first contest kicks off a week from today: Monday, April 27th.

Blog readers who've been around a while know I love random trivia, especially from movies and television. So my first contest is going to be a quiz/scavenger hunt. Later in the week, I'll let you know exactly when I'll be posting the quiz to my blog (obviously it'll be at some point on 4/27), as well as more details, such as the number of questions, plus the prizes. Yes, plural prizes. The first person to email me all correct answers is the winner.

I've also been working on a little book-related extra, and I hope it ends up being as fun for y'all as it is for me. More on that later, too.

I'm just a big tease today, aren't I? *g*

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Minor Spoilers.



This book proved that if you really love an author, you must trust them to do right by their characters. After reading a handful of reviews on the previous book in the series, Iron Kissed, some folks seemed dismayed by the very end.



I loved that Bone Crossed rewound just a bit and started with that same final scene, adding some texture and internal dialogue, and giving a very different twist. Made me love Adam all the more.



One of the things I really enjoy about these books is how details from one will come back to play again two books later. It makes the world feel fluid and connected, and it shows the consequences of choices made.



One of my favorite relationships in this one was Marsilia and Stefan. Marsilia is one of those characters I just can't hate, because she's so darned conniving. And yet everything she did was for one particular reason.



I'm eager to dive into the Alpha & Omega series now, but have a couple of vampire debuts to read first. I need a little balance in my literary diet, no?


View all my reviews.

Dust Bowl Dreamin'

So what does a Dust Bowl town, an old barn, a tornado, and actor Luis Guzman have in common? They were all in my dream last night.

I often remember my dreams. Sometimes I'll take the time to write them down when I wake up, because something really sparked in my imagination. But last night's was one of those rarer dreams--the kind of dream in which I remember consciously thinking and making choices. Sort of like what folks call lucid dreaming.

I remember it taking place in a ramshackled barn that served as...something. Not a restaurant, but maybe a blacksmith shop? Dunno, but a guy who looked just like Luis Guzman (and I have no idea why he was in my dream) ran the place. I was a stranger in town, looking for work. Stuff happened. A tornado was coming, so a bunch of us hid in the basement.

The really vivid, surreal part of the dream was the bit of conversation in the basement. He asked why I was there. I remember thinking "I can't tell him the truth, not all of it. He won't understand. Be vague." So I lied to Guzman.

When I woke up, I had to really think about this dream. I came to the conclusion that I didn't recall ever having such a conscious internal dialogue during a dream. I definitely recall a dream in which I realized I was dreaming, and therefore decided I wanted to fly (and flew). But not internal decision making and dialogue.

It was pretty weird.

First Fifteen

Fifteen weeks, that is, of 2009. On New Year's Eve, I made a promise to read more this year, and in just these first few months I've probably surpassed last year's total. My personal goal was one book a week.

My count of finished novels is standing at 17 (and will probably hit 18 by tomorrow night). Yay! You can check out my GoodReads sidebar for all of the books. Some are brand new. Some are books I've meant to pick up and read for a while now and just didn't. Some are short story/novella collections.

Currently on my nightstand: Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs.

What's on your nightstand?

Weekend Round-Up

Well, it's been a hectic couple of days. On Thursday, my dad and I went to an auction in Lebanon, PA, and bought some fun stuff. We do some side selling on eBay and at flea markets, so we were stocking up a bit. I managed to pick up some awesome things from my childhood: the My Little Ponies Show Stable and Nursery playsets, with most of their furniture, and about ten ponies. I still need to wash them (dirt accumulation points toward being in someone's garage for a while), but they're both in good shape.

I couldn't even tell you where Friday went, but yesterday was spent cleaning and cooking in preparation for today's Easter dinner guests. Let me tell you, chicken pot pie is not as easy to make as my mom always made it seem. Plus, I stole a method from Semi-Homemade and concocted a yummy-looking lemon pudding cake (and I say "looking" because I haven't tried it yet).

Saw the movie "Quarantine" last night. The shaky camera was starting to make me seasick, but as far as horror films go, this one rates up there. Good set up, good build of tension. My only complaint was the final scene--given the "we aren't really sure what's going on" vibe from the rest of the film, it felt unnecessarily tacked on. That's about all I can say without spoiling it.

Gotta finish making crusts for the pot pie. I'll leave you with this thought to ponder: if the Easter Bunny was a paranormal creature, what species would he be?

Outlining and Famous Last Words

I'm blogging over at the Fangs, Fur & Fey community on their Topic of the Month. We're discussing whether or not we outline.

Come on over and play. :)

#

And on a completely tangential note... Last night, I was at my day job (well, night job, I guess), and a customer rushed in at ten minutes 'til close, wanting to exchange something. My associate teased him, and he teased back. We all joked a little bit, and he (customer) starts getting flirty. He guesses my associates name on the nose (impressive!), but (God bless him) he guesses me...

"Hmm...eighteen or twenty?"

I started laughing. Since he was off by about ten years, it really made my night.

It really made my night (side-splitting laughter notwithstanding) when he left on these final words as he walked out the door: "Be good, and if you can't be good, be good at it, because if you're not good at it, you'll get it all over you."

I admit, I had to think about that one for a minute. When I finally got it, I think I turned six shades of red. Thankfully, he was already gone and the store was closed.

Something Fun in the Works

First, I have to say the response to the cover for TDTD has been overwhelmingly positive. Comments in various places have ranged from "I want her abs" (me too!), to "I want her hair" (ME TOO!), to "If I saw that in a bookstore, I'd stop and pick it up" (YAHOO!). So thank you to everyone who gave a shout-out! You are all awesomesauce!

Mostly, though, I want to tease y'all a little bit. With a bit over six months until Street Date, I'm in the planning stages of a six-part contest/giveaway to be hosted here on my blog. The first five parts will be smaller contests (with prizes), one a month, each leading up to the final, sixth Grand Prize contest in October. I'll have more details as I finalize things, but if anyone has ideas for for contests (I want to do a scavenger hunt one month) or prizes, feel free to comment.

Cover Art Awesomeness

Is it possible to fall in love with a fictional character? Because after seeing my (Amazing! Fabulous! Gorgeous! Inspired!) cover art for THREE DAYS TO DEAD, I'm in love. Evy is gorgeous (She's wearing her cross! Important plot point alert!). The background is atmospheric and gritty, and the shadowy man behind her? Buwahahaaaa!

Okay, enough raving (for now).

TADA!



Didja see the awesome Patricia Briggs quote?

I've got the back and spine, too, for added goodness (and official summary).



My name is on a book cover. OMG.

*thud*

League Release Trifecta

Three intrepid members of the League of Reluctant Adults have new releases today, so if you're in the market for something paranormal, check them out! Two are debut authors!

Stakes & Stilettos, by Michelle Rowan. Book 4 in her Immortality Bites series.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, by Molly Harper. Debut for the Jane Jameson series.

Red-Headed Stepchild, by Jaye Wells. Debut for the Sabina Kane series.

Yay for you, ladies! Happy sales!

*throws confetti*

Seven Months Until Due Date

Yes, I'm counting down. Why do you ask?

Waiting for my book release day is starting to feel like prepping for a baby. To wit:

*Getting the nursery ready = setting up a website and maintaining a blog.

*Baby shower = launch party.

*Collection of clothing, diapers, wipes, and assorted baby paraphernalia = creation of marketing tools and giveaway items, such as business cards, bookmarks, pens, buttons, etc...

*Baby weight gain = too much stress-relieving chocolate consumption.

Fortunately, the birthing of this particular baby will not require a hospital stay or maternity leave, and I won't have to send it off to college in eighteen years. But I do expect to take at least one copy with me everywhere I go for at least a month or two afterward.

What else is a proud mama to do? *g*

Mmm....Brains....

It's Zombie Week over at the League of Reluctant Adults, complete with guest blogs and lots of squishy pictures.

Stop on by if you love brains!

Sunday Silliness

Check this out for something quite hilarious.

Spike & Angel debate the Battlestar Galactica series finale.

Brilliant!

League Post

New (rambling) post over at The League of Reluctant Adults, re: age and the urban fantasy hero(ine).

Besides "How Much Do You Weight?" What Is...?

R.I.P. Battlestar Galactica

Four amazing seasons.

Dozens of inspiring performances.

Millions of loyal fans.

One truly awesome show.

Frakkin' A! And don't miss this post-finale interview with creator Ron Moore.

#dayfail

My productivity was shot to hell first thing this morning, because I didn't sleep well and had a hard time dragging my butt out of bed. Should have seen that as a sign.

The majority of my day was spent making sure the state of Maryland had proof that I AM an insured driver (Note to Self: never assume government agencies have a clue what they are doing when you move state to state). That was quite fun, especially the letter I received today (3/16) telling me that as of 3/12 I was considered uninsured. Uh, HUH? Anyway, after a brief panic attack in front of my insurance agent's assistant and a trip to the MVA, all is well. Case closed.

So get home around 3pm, thinking there's still time to salvage and get some stuff done. Until my computer gets spyware. And an attitude. And slooooooooooooow. Another two and a half hours of downloads later (and a lot of swearing that would make Evy proud), all seems well.

Except I haven't had dinner, it's almost 7pm, and "House" is on in an hour.

*eyes the TO DO list*

Yeah, major #dayfail.

Now Playing...er, Twittering

I've given in and joined the world if Twitter.

Let it never be said that I don't submit to peer pressure.

Well...the good kind of peer pressure.

FlyCon 2009

If you've never attended an online convention, now's the time!

FlyCon is an international, round-the-clock LiveJournal-based SF/F convention. Panels will be running all weekend, at all hours. A schedule can be found here (complete with multiple time zones).

Even if you can't attend them live, be sure to check out the archived threads. I've already skimmed a few, and there's lots of great information to be found.

A Surprise Blurb

Q: What's more exciting that receiving a new author blurb on your debut novel?

A: Receiving one from an author you didn't even know had the manuscript!

Yesterday I read and reread part of an email forwarded by my agent. I kept trying to figure out if I knew someone named Patty. Then I looked at the last name, and finally figured it out (bit of a dumbstruck, blond moment, I think).

Three Days to Dead is gritty, imaginative and a terrific read. Debut
author Kelly Meding is a real storyteller and I look forward to reading
more of her work. --Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson series

A real storyteller. As an author, I don't know if there are any three better words to hear about your work (except maybe "you're a best-seller," hehe). Thank you, Patricia!

Fun With Used Books, aka Take Away That Girl's Wallet!

So I have a weakness for used books. Not books that are currently still available via booksellers or Amazon, but older books. Out of print books. Weird titles I've never seen on a shelf in Borders.

After getting somewhat lost looking for an auction house today, my parents and I discovered a small thrift store/indoor flea market tucked away in a little town north of Wilmington (DE, not NC). Okay, so not really small, since it was three stories of an old furniture store building.

I love walking through places like that. Full of antiques and mystery and the PAST. It always gets my writer-brain working. And those places are ripe for discovering awesome and unusual books. I bought too many, but four of them really stood out.

WOMEN, WAR AND WORK, by Maurine Weiner Greenwald. The impact of WWI on women workers in the US. I love learning this stuff.

TEXANS, GUNS & HISTORY, by Col. Charles Askins. If it's western US history pre-1920's, I am so there. The American old west is my favorite period of history, and this book is right up my alley. My dad (the non-reader) even expressed interest in reading this one.

THE WORLD GUIDE TO GNOMES, FAIRIES, ELVES AND OTHER LITTLE PEOPLE, by Thomas Keightley. It's a 1978 reprinting of a book first copyrighted in 1880 as The Fairy Mythology. Persian, Arabian, Oriental, Scandinavian, Iceland, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Eastern Europe....lots and lots of mythology to be found here.

And perhaps what excited me the most: PET SEMETARY, by Stephen King. 1983, Hardcover, First Edition. For twenty-five cents. No joke. Whoever sold this had no idea....

Time to go update Goodreads. :)

What books have you bought recently? Anything that excites you?

Three Ways...

...I geeked out today.

1. I saw Watchmen, and I loved it. It's not a perfect movie, but it could easily become one of my favorites. And someone give Jeffrey Dean Morgan some sort of award for his tour de force performance. Holy crap!

2. I bought the soundtrack for Repo! The Genetic Opera. Awesome music. Definitely rocks out well in the car with the bass up. *g*

3. I splurged on a pair of earrings from Hot Topic! that are silver angel wings inside of large hoops, because the wings remind me of a favorite character in AS LIE THE DEAD.

Geeking out is fun. Embrace your geekiness!

H.S.S, or Hit Send, Stupid!

A year ago, back when I was still querying, I'd have these little moments of hesitation. I'd have the query letter formatted into an email space, with the first few pages pasted into the bottom. I'd double and triple-check the agent information, my salutation, everything. If it was a request for pages, I'd double and triple-check the attachment. Anything to avoid hitting SEND.

Then my finger would hover on the mouse, with the pointer over the SEND button. And hover. And hover. Until a little voice cried out, "Hit send, stupid!"

Hesitation anxiety is not, apparently, chased away by having an agent or a deal. I had a H.S.S.-moment last month when I sent book two to my agent. I had it big-time last night when I emailed a draft of book two to my editor. After spending all morning tweaking. After staring at the blank email for five minutes. After hovering the mouse over SEND for five more minutes. Finally, that little voice popped up and cried, "Hit send, stupid!"

And I did.

Hesitation anxiety: does it ever truly go away? Or should I just make a t-shirt with H.S.S. emblazoned in large, bloody letters?

*
Cross-posted at The League.

When Is a Twist.....

....not really a twist?

When it's a cop-out. Or when you know a show still has at least one season left, and one of the major story lines can't possibly continue in the same direction it's been going, so the big, last-scene revelation isn't all that shocking. Okay, it's not even a tiny bit shocking.

I'm looking at you, Nip/Tuck. You had me up until that final phone call. Argh!!!

I love it when writers make the hard choices. I love it when difficult situations have difficult solutions. I love it when an author or a series GOES THERE. Not many of them do. Maybe it's why I don't like watching sitcoms anymore--the majority are neat little packaged problems, solved within twenty-two minutes, and tied up with a bow.

Nip/Tuck pushes boundaries, sure. It shocks and surprises, and it'll go places a lot of shows won't (having sex with a sofa, for example). Alas, tonight's season finale "twist" had me rolling my eyes, wondering when I'd wandered into a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Writers' Rooms

If you were ever oddly curious about what a writer's work area looks like (or mine, in particular), hop over to the League of Reluctant Adults for Jeanne C. Stein's lastest post.

And yes, my work space really looks like that. Only messier. And often with a cat perched in front of the monitor, obscuring my view.

Updates

I continued to be amazed and impressed by the level of detail that goes into a book's production. Two emails have come from production with questions about certain lines in TDTD, most of them issues of logic. Making sure that yes, it's what I intended it to say, or that the meaning is clear. It's funny how much using "until" instead of "at" will completely change the meaning of a sentence. The production peeps overseeing my book are awesome in their thoroughness.

Yesterday was officially eight months until release! Yes, I will be counting down, why do you ask?

I need to finish one more new scene and do a final pass-over on AS LIE THE DEAD, before I turn it in to my editor. Should have that finished by the first of next week. I'm really excited about this book, even more than TDTD. It has two fun new characters who both challenge Evy in very different ways, and it gave me a chance to really dig into some of the minor supporting characters from TDTD. Plus the usual ass-kicking and mystery-solving, with a dash of "how do I cope with this new life in someone else's body?" angst for Evy.

I've also had my head buried in rewriting another project for agent presentation. I think I finally figured out what previous drafts were missing. Cross your fingers for me. *g*

And for additional fun, tonight I'm going back to high school! My old high school is doing a revival of Grease!, which they did in 1992. I'm attending with my sister (we were both Thespians, mostly stage crew stuff), while my parents babysit little Jade. I know some of my former teachers will be there, so it should be interesting. I haven't set foot in that school in almost eleven years.

Dark Fantasy on Display

I popped into my local Barnes & Noble today, for no real reason. Okay, I lie. I always go in there with the intention to browse, and almost always come out with a bag of books. It's sad, really, but I'm doing my part to stimulate my favorite industry. That's a good excuse, right?

Anyway, near the Information Desk, B&N had set up a center table with signs that said "Dark Fantasy Picks." Intrigued, I wandered over. To my sheer delight, it was packed with urban fantasy and paranormal romance authors. Many of the books were new releases, some where a little older. I saw favorite authors, authors on my "must try" list, and a few I'd never heard of. I was even tempted to rush over to the stacks and pull a few faves that weren't on the table.

I guess someone there noticed the paranormal genre has really picked up in recent months.

Seriously, though, no more buying until I read more.

Or until another favorite author has a new release (like Gena Showalter's The Vampire's Bride, which just released, WOOHOO!). I know, I know. I'm weak.

*sigh*

It's Nice to See....

That the alums of Battlestar Galactica (4 episodes left, *sobs*) are keeping busy.

If you haven't caught Tahmoh "Helo" Penikett in FOX's Dollhouse, tune in on Friday nights. No, seriously. Ratings aren't that great.

Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff has been burning up the screen on the last two eps of Nip/Tuck. It's great fun seeing her play such a one-eighty from Starbuck. And speaking of one-eighties, Richard Burgi's guest spot on last night's episode was PRICELESS! The ick-factor of what he did was worth the two butt-shots, though. Wow. Is it a contractual obligation for hot men to flash their rear ends on this show?

Jamie "Apollo" Bamber has, likewise, been busy on Law & Order:UK. Seriously.

Mary "Laura Roslin" McDonnell has popped up on Grey's Anatomy, and the role once again proves the woman can do anything. I do hope they bring her character back.

Did I mention BSG only has four episodes left? *sobs more*

A Tale of Two Wyatt's

Or a least a brief mention of the fact.

Seduced by the Storm by Sydney Croft

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's a little discombobulating to read a novel that has a hero with the same name as mine, but boy howdy. I want Wyatt Kennedy's powers.





SPOILERS! SPOILERS!





It feels like a trilogy of stories has concluded with this installment and, given the title of the next book doesn't have "Storm" in it and the weather weapon plot is all tied up, I'm eager to see where the series goes next.



It's a testament to the combined skills of the Croft writing duo that I am as enthralled by the continuing sub-plots as by the main story line. Annika and Creed have been favorites of mine since their first appearance, and their happy ending was hard-won and well-worth a three-book wait. The revelations about Creed's past were nice surprises, and I admit it--I cried when Oz killed himself. It was one of the most touching and wrenching scenes I've read in a long time.



Faith and Wyatt were a fascinating pairing. I've always been a sucker for telekinetic abilities, and the way theirs complimented each other was terrific. A man tossing furniture around with his mind is damned hot. And while I expected Sean to play a larger role in the story, I liked Faith's difficult decision to kill him.



Book four in the ACRO series comes out this summer. *eyes the calendar* *groans*


View all my reviews.

Pre-Orders, Release Dates, and Galley Proofs, OH MY!

Good grief, it's windy outside today. It's been gusting since last night, and my bedroom sticks off the side of the house with three exposed sides, so it's a bit like sleeping in a car with the window down (sans the comforting, rocking motion).

I've been stupidly quiet on the blog lately, and for that I apologize. I received a super-cool package in the mail two Fridays ago, and inside of it was the galley proof pages for THREE DAYS TO DEAD. Galley proofs, for those who don't know, are pages that show you how the book will eventually look in proper paperback format. Everything is laid out, from the dedication to title pages, all of the chapters, all the way to the very end. It's wicked cool being able to see how this story will look as an actual book.

But besides oggling the pretty pages, I had to sit down and carefully read it over. Why? Last chance to change anything. Last chance to find any little misspellings or extra punctuation, last chance to make sure that yes, Character A's eyes are, indeed, green. Phew. Now that that's done and off to my editor's assistant, I can get back to tackling agent revisions on AS LIE THE DEAD.

Wait! There's more!

The galley proofs also came with two more awesome things: a release date and an ISBN.

OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 27, 2009!!!!!!!!!!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!

What's an ISBN you may ask (although I'm sure most of you know)? It's a unique tracking number given to all commercially produced books as a way to identify them. And ever since I discovered this awesome little code, I've found TDTD available for pre-order in a plethora of places: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk., Chapters.indigo.ca., Random House, Inc., RandomHouse.ca., Target.com, and Amazon.ca. It's still eight months away, so there isn't a lot of information on those sites yet (cover, blurb, etc...), but more is forthcoming.

If you still don't know what the heck TDTD is about, check out my website for more info. :)

Writer's Humor

So tonight my family gathered for my grandmother's 75th birthday, and my Uncle Scott was in attendance. He has an amazing streak of dry humor and can make you laugh at just about anything (watching the news with him is fun!). I can probably attribute about half of my sarcastic streak just to him.

He made a joke tonight that I think other writers will enjoy.

My book's in its third printing......Yeah, the first two were blurry.

Hey, it made me laugh. *g*

AW February Blog Chain: Love vs. Romance

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Apologies for that.

It's once again time for an AW Blog Chain, and the theme is Love versus Romance. So far, it's taken quite a few interesting turns, from uninspired sitcom quadrangles to real life love stories, and ending so far with escritoria's post about how unhealthy forms of love can manifest in the real world.

As a writer, I often deal with the manifestations and repercussions of love. Not with romance, persay, because that's a whole other ballgame for me. I write urban fantasy, and I'm actually quite jealous of my favorite paranormal romance authors who can consistently churn out terrific, involving reads. But writing romance is tricky, and writing emotionally satisfying, believable romance is even trickier. So my hat is off to the ladies who excel at it (you know who you are)

In urban fantasy, romance is not the norm, but it certainly isn't excluded. Characters find romance, fall in love, break up, etc... Some popular series straddle the line; others stay easily within the realm of UF.

Love, rather than romance, plays a large role in THREE DAYS TO DEAD. Not the sweet wine-and-candlelight love, but the balls-out, messy kind of love. Love is the driving force behind one of my supporting characters, and it becomes an obstacle (and source of strength) to my heroine.

As a reader, I like both. The greatest thing about reading fiction is that, while I haven't found Love yet in my own life, I'll always find it at the end of the best in Romance.

Next up in the chain is bestselling author Cathy Clamp!

The entire chain:

Me
Razibahmed
Kat Frass
bsolah
AmyDoodle
FreshHell
escritora
ChaosTitan
Cathy C
harri3tspy
truelyana
tatkinson

Six Weeks, Seven Books

So far I've followed my 2009 plan to read at least one book a week.

The latest is below, the rest are in my GoodReads sidebar.


At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars


Before anyone asks, no, I'm not being nice just because Jeaniene gave me a great blurb. AGE was, in fact, an awesome read. I'm truly hooked on her Night Huntress series, and I can't wait for the next installment.







SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!!!



This one really twisted heroine Cat Crawfield through proverbial wringer, from the first act torture session with her vamp-Dad Max, to the emotional, third act turmoil of believing Bones was dead. I love me some angst, and AGE really delivered on all fronts.



I also really love how the author is developing the complicated relationships between the different vampires. Bones, Menchares, Annette, Ian, Spade, etc...and how the different lines are connected and interact. Every novel peels back a few more layers on this crazy vamp/ghoul underworld, and I love it.



Tate's becoming quite the complicated emotional mess. Justina and Rodney made me laugh out loud, just like Bones, when that...um, dalliance was revealed. And how awesome was it to have Dracula as a character?






View all my reviews.

This is the Second Post...

...in which I expand on one of last week's teases.

Drei Tage zu tot.

What's that, you ask? Why it's an online German translation of THREE DAYS TO DEAD. Why am I translating it, you ask?

Because we've sold German publishing rights to Droemer for THREE DAYS and AS LIE THE DEAD!!!!! I'm floored and excited to have sold these rights so soon, so kudos to my awesome agent Jonathan Lyons, and the equally awesome Annelie Geissler at Mohrbooks.

Also, I've posted my Newbie Intro over at the League. Hopefully I don't sound like a dork. :)

This is the First Post.....

...in which I come clean about one of the things I teased about a few days ago.

Urban fantasy/paranormal author blog community The League of Reluctant Adults has a brand new look to the blog, an uber-cool Facebook page, and to top that off, their own Forums/Lounge.

And if the new digs weren't enough, someone over there was crazy (I'm looking at you, Jaye!) enough to invite me to join the ranks. Yes, I am now a Reluctant Adult. And I have my very own sub-forum. Stop by and say hello!

For My Best Friend

GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!

And just in case you missed it, here's Heroes Vs. The NFL. LMAO!!!

This is the Post....

....in which I tease you incessantly. Drop hints. Dangle carrots. Play with your mind. Hahaha!

First thing's first, though. I got to see Baby Jade on her one-week birthday, which coincided with baby-daddy's own birthday. She was awake the entire time I was there, making faces, wiggling uncontrollably, and just being utterly adorable. I didn't have my camera with me (dang it!), but I'll have new pictures soon. Baby pictures. *happy sigh*

Several cool things have been developing on the Writing Home Front. One of my awesome pieces of news has to wait a bit longer until it's official, but anyone who subscribes to Publishers Marketplace (and remembers me, hehe) probably saw it.

There are some exciting changes in store at one of my favorite blog communities. Tune in Monday, February 2nd, to find out which blog and how it affects me.

I'm also preparing to potentially dabble into a kind of writing I've not tried before (and no, dirty minds, I don't mean erotica). More on that as/if it develops.

And in closing, I'd like to do my duty and remind everyone that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA IS ON TONIGHT AT 10PM EASTERN. The last episodes are upon us. *weeps*

Thanks to Nip/Tuck...

...I'll never look at my electric knife the same away again. And being Dina Meyer, all I could think about was the Saw films.

Jennifer Coolidge, flying ashes, and the healthiest (if strangest) relationship Christian's ever been in. Yeah, just another day at McNamara/Troy.

RIP John Updike

The loss of another literary master.

Number Four Down

The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This series just keeps getting better and better. Read. It.



That is all.


View all my reviews.

Five Things I Learned.....

....on Saturday, when I hung out with one of my awesome betas for the first time.


1. Writing query letters is HARD.

2. Paying six dollars for the right chocolate bar is worth it.

3. I can walk out of a bookstore without buying a single book (YAY!). I feel guilty for leaving all of those un-adopted books behind, but I can do it.

4. There exists in the world a person called a Skimmer. The Skimmer, heretofore unknown to me, skims an entire book instead of reading it. Then they decide if it's worth it to actually read the book. Again. Now that they know exactly what happens. I do not understand.

5. The people who rewrote the Food Pyramid were wrong. The four basic food groups, in actuality, are: Protein (of which peanut butter is a major contributor), Cheese, Chocolate, and Slurpie/Coffee (we could not agree on this point, so we consider it a draw).

Story of a Girl

The story starts with a phone call yesterday afternoon from Sister. She's been having contractions, so she's going into the hospital that night. Should deliver by Friday morning at the latest. Yay! Finally.

A few hours later, she calls again--she's progressing faster than expected, so Baby Jade will likely come along in the morning. Woo hoo! I make dinner, guzzle some coffee, and head out to the hospital. I get there around 8:30 pm. Contractions are moderately close together, but not very strong. So we watch TV, chat, and wait.

And wait.

And wait. And try to doze in very hard, very plastic chairs, by a very drafty window. The TV was on A&E most of the night, and I sort-of-watched a marathon of Parking Lot Wars episodes. Strange show. Around one o'clock they started Sister on Petocin (to induce labor). Around two, the painful contractions started, and it still took over an hour for the doc to arrive with an epidural. Sister was very happy after that.

More slow progression, but by around nine this morning she was ready to go and the pushing started. Contrary to everything you see on television, there's a lot more pushing involved in birth. An hour's worth, in this case. It's truly amazing the changes the female body goes through in order to prepare for birth. And watching a tiny life enter the world like that is truly humbling. I'm so grateful to have been a part of bringing Jade Marie Lowe into the world.

Born at 10:15 a.m., and weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds-6.4 ounces. Happy Birthday, my darling niece!

Blurbs and Babies

Another fantastic blurb has come down the pipe, and from yet another of my favorite authors.

"Action-packed, edgy, and thrilling, THREE DAYS TO DEAD is a fabulous debut! Kelly Meding's world and characters will grab you from the first page. You won't want to miss this one." -- Jeaniene Frost, New York Times bestselling author of the Night Huntress series

*bounces*

And on the home front, my sister's due date has come and gone with nary a sign of labor. We were shopping in Hartstrings on Saturday (adorable baby/kid's clothes), and since Sister is obviously pregnant, the lady at the counter asks, "So when are you due?"

In stereo, Sister and I reply, "Today."

I with I had a camera for the look on that woman's face. I suppose baby Jade knows it's just too dang cold right now to come out, so she's staying in where it's warm. *g*

What Font Are You?

Found here.

Apparently I am HELVETICA.

You're an industry standard. Classic. Reliable. Okay, maybe a bit boring. But don't let the haters get you down--after all, you've still got plenty of friends who think you're the best.

I don't think I even know what Helvetica font looks like. ::off to investigate Word::

Good Night, Circuit City

Circuit City officially announced plans to close its 567 remaining stores. I admit, I've shopped in CC all of twice in my lifetime (both within the last year). The first time was when I bought my digital camera last spring, which now makes my 2-year service warranty seem a tad superfluous. The second time was last fall, because we'd earned a gift certificate rebate for...something. I think for one of our package Comcast deals when we moved.

The closings are sad (not quite as sad as closing KB Toys, because I used to love wandering their aisles as a kid), but particularly annoy me because of this quote from the linked article:

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter told investors that Circuit City's demise will help Best Buy cement its position as the market leader.

Best Buy makes me want to spit nails. Their customer service sucks--probably because they can't seem to hire anyone but nineteen year old boys. I went to a BB last spring during my digital camera hunt, because they had a good sale going on. Three salespeople stood chatting less than fifteen feet away from me for the entire five minutes I perused the camera section. I played, I tested, I read about the features. I even shot a few questioning looks their way. Not a single person approached me. So I left.

Back in December, I was tasked by my dad to buy a digital camera for my mom (since he was fresh out of heart surgery, he couldn't go shopping). For some reason unknown to me, I decided to give Best Buy a second chance. The camera section in this one was directly across from the front desk where there is always someone stationed. I looked and browsed and tested, and I finally picked one I liked. I stood there, looked around, waited for someone to notice me. Two people were chatting with the kid assigned to the information counter, but no one made eye contact with me.

I finally had to go over there and ask for help. The kid at the desk said he'd call someone over. I went back to wait. Stood there. Saw several of the same associates pass by me, but no one came over. I was getting seriously pissed at this point, and was tired of being ignored. I finally gave a glare at the next person to walk by me, who actually stopped and asked if I needed help. At the end of all that, the camera I wanted wasn't in stock.

So I went across the street to Wal-Mart. I found the exact same camera ten dollars cheaper, found someone to me right away, and I even got a free $10 gift card out of the deal. All in less than ten minutes.

Moral of the story? There really isn't one. Only that it sucks CC is going out of business, because I won't shop at BB again.

Awards (Not Mine) and News (Mine)

If you haven't already heard about it, check out the Urban Fantasy Land's Readers' Choice Awards and vote for your favorites! Even better, support your authors by selecting a title you haven't read yet and buying it.

A polished draft of AS LIE THE DEAD (a title I'm still not happy with, grrr...) has been sent to my agent. I'm pretty darn pleased with the story as a whole, and when one of my betas peppers the chapter breaks with "/popcorn /popcorn /popcorn" I know I've done something right.

I've also gotten the final cover copy for THREE DAYS TO DEAD. Squeeee! I don't know what the cover will look like yet, but at least I know what it'll say. Hehe.

By this time next week I'll be an auntie! Sister's due date is Saturday, but as of today she isn't even dilated yet, so..... if it comes to it, they'll induce Tuesday morning. The little bundle is already pushing past eight pounds, so she's coming out fully baked.

Free Writing Exercise

It began as a dual-purpose exercise.

Purpose #1 - Examine the backstory of one of my supporting characters, so I could better understand her current motivations. I knew a few things, but not enough. I hadn't dug deeply yet, and I was eager to play.

Purpose #2 - Word war with a friend, to keep encouraging her personal word count. For anyone not sure, Word War is something that folks do during NaNoWriMo to challenge each other. You set a period of time (half hour, hour, etc...) and you both write. Whoever writes the most wins.

So dual purposes. We started the one-hour word war at 6:45. I didn't stop writing until almost 1:30 am (minus a break for "24", although I did peck away during commercials). What I ended up with was 9553 words of backstory in about seven hours.

Talk about exhilarating. I didn't want to stop, but my eyes were about to fall out, so I picked up again this morning. The word count's jumped to around 12.5k and it's reached a point where I could stop. There's more story to tell, but it was the earliest history I needed to figure out. It lays the groundwork for this character's psychology. I haven't done this sort of free-writing in a long time. Maybe no one will ever read it, but I told her story and I'm glad it's told. I can look now at Book Two, which utilizes this character a great deal, and make her a little more three-dimensional. Add layers, now that I'm aware of them.

I love me some strong female characters, and this chick has got strength to spare.

Jack's Back (again)

SPOILERS for the 2-night premiere of 24.



Is Jack back in full-force? Yes

Did the first four hours go by too fast? Yes

Is Peter Wingfield hawt in this show? Yes

Am I glad Tony's back? Yes

Is he still bad-ass? Yes

Did I like the undercover twist? Yes

Is the show starting to make up for Season Six? Hell-to-the-yes.

Repo! Genetic Opera

Two words: Giles sings.

Compliments From a Dog

A chihuahua, to be precise.

At work last night, I helped a very nice lady take some things to her car. She had three bags, plus a piece of boxed furniture. Since it was spitting rain and she was, er, over-fifty years old, I took two of her bags out so she could unlock the car. As we walked out, she warned me she had a chihuahua in the car, and that he barked at everyone, so I should prepare myself.

Customer unlocks the front door and puts her bag in. Little bundle of chihuahua-energy is in the front seat, wiggling and sniffing and...not barking. He was adorable, so I cooed and awed a bit while Customer put the bags on the floor. I went back inside to fetch the furniture box and loaded it into the backseat, with nary a bark from the pup.

Customer's comment went something like this: He must have picked up on your personality, because he always barks at people!

It made me smile.

Read in 2009

So you may have noticed the new sidebar, titled "Read in 2009." This is to keep me accountable for reading more this year, since I was pretty dang awful about it last year. I hadn't intended my first book to be the one I read, since I'd already started a different one. Ah, well.

I doubt I'll do this for every book, but since I keep track of things on GoodReads, I figured I'd post my first review of the year here.


Stranger by Megan Hart

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What happens when you pick up the latest book by one of your favorite authors, intending to only read a few chapters until you're sleepy, so you can try to get some sleep even though you can't breathe laying down from a cold?



You stay up until 4:30 am to finish it.



There is something so fun and easy about the way Megan Hart writes. Her heroines are so real, so flawed, that I can't help but be drawn in. I also love that her books are all set around Harrisburg, PA, because having gone to college near there, I know the area pretty well. Local references make me grin.



Some SPOILERS be had here.







I love that, in this book, we get to catch up with characters we met in "Dirty." Especially Jack, whose scenes in "Dirty" were, ahem, seriously memorable. I was rooting for him by the end of this story, so I'm glad he got a girl of his own.



The heroine, Grace, isn't quite as emotionally damaged as previous heroines, which was a pleasant change of pace. She was my age, which was awesome, and her pop culture references made me think she could have been any of my high school friends (except for the whole funeral home thing).



And as always, there was a scene near the end that had me in tears. It can really be summed up neatly in a line spoken by Sam, the hero: One must have sorrow to truly appreciate joy.


View all my reviews.

Ringing in 2009

I had to work early on New Year's Day, so we had belated festivities last night (and way into the morning) in the form of a movie/wine marathon. And boy did we run the gamut of the surreal. We started off with Hellraiser--classic horror film. I recalled bits and pieces, but not the entire thing, which always makes for a better viewing. Then we tempered the gore with an episode of "The Dresden Files." The one with werewolves and the super-hot scene where Harry smells Heather and she looks like she's going to rip his throat out. Mmmmm...

Then (because I'd told my roomie in the past that this movie is best viewed while drinking) we moved onto bottle number two and Dancer in the Dark. The last time I'd seen it was almost eight years ago, when it first came out. Superb movie. I bawled like a baby again. By the time it was over, it was inching toward two-thirty, but neither of us was tired. So I got out my Nightmare on Elm Street collector's boxed set, and we watched Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare in its original 3-D format (the set comes with 3-D glasses!). Let me tell you, watching that after two bottles of wine is FUNNY. Of course, the movie makes no damn sense sober, so I definitely recommend my viewing method.

After that, we started looking at photo albums (reasoning defies explanation). Then, since we were in the dining room anyway, decided to finish off the third bottle of wine while removing Christmas ornaments from our dead tree. I climbed a step-stool and didn't fall. And I think we managed to successfully remove all of them, plus every strand of lights, the garland, the topper, and the tree skirt. Sweeping was left for today.

We decided the tree was acceptably naked and wandered back into the living room, where the TV had stopped showing reruns of "Three's Company" and had moved on to infomercials for male enhancement pills and, er, vaccuums. I found the remake of The Fly on AMC, and we watched that until 5:00 am, when it was decided that we should try to get some sleep.

I haven't stayed up that late in a long time. It was fun. Surreal, but fun.

2008 in Review

Since today is New Year's Eve, it seemed the best time to look back on this strange, wonderful, scary, frustrating, and rewarding year. I'd taken a blogging hiatus this time last year, mostly due to work stress and anxiety, so I don't have a list of goals to check. I'm sure, though, I started 2008 with the same goals I'd had in previous years: get an agent and keep writing the best stories I can.

Guess that worked out, huh? In May, I signed with a terrific agent. In August, we accepted a two-book deal. I also moved closer to home, put one of my cats to sleep, wrote my second contracted book, started two other WIP's that have stalled around a hundred pages, bought a website, lost an uncle, paid off three credit cards, and supported my parents while my dad had quadruple bypass surgery. Hence the long list of adjectives in the first sentence of this post--it's been quite a year.

I also commented to a friend that I've read more books since October than I had the entire preceding nine months of the year. I really don't know why that is, but I'm glad for the change. I feel fresher, a little more open-minded, as I feed my brain with other people's stories. My list of books read isn't terribly long, but here are my five favorite from the year:

5. Riding the Storm/Unleashing the Storm, by Sydney Croft. I don't know who the two halves of this writing duo are, but this series is super-cool. The ACRO world is fascinating, and I am just mesmerized by their supporting cast.

4. Dirty, by Megan Hart. I fell to pieces reading Hart's Broken last year. This one packed a similar emotional whallop, and was one of the few non-paranormal books I read this year.

3. Savor Me Slowly, by Gena Showalter. I almost put Gena on my list twice, for this one and for the Lords of the Underworld series. But something about SMS just hooked into me and didn't let go. Maybe it was the fact that it started with the hero in mid-torture and it brought out the hurt/comfort lover in me. But I've read several of Gena's books this year, and this one is definitely my favorite.

2. Halfway to the Grave/One Foot in the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost. Dark, sexy, and limit-pushing in some ways, I adore these books. And it doesn't hurt that Jeaniene herself is a very kind, generous author.

1. Storm Front, Jim Butcher. Great hero, amusing voice, very well-built world. It's the book I really wish I'd written. The next three Dresden books should be arriving from Amazon soon. I can't wait.

It's Been a Long Time...

...since I've read a book in one day. A really long time. As a kid, I used to read at least that many in the summer, usually sprawled on a giant swing at my grandparents' house. Reading and getting a tan--yeah, that was nice.

I wasn't so much about the tan today, since I was curled up in bed with a marathon of "Psych" playing in the background. I hadn't even intended to spend the day reading (::eyes the open and untouched WIP::). Just picked a book off my shelf to verify if was my next choice*, glanced at the first page...and kept going. Four hours and 2/3 of the book later, I surfaced from the words because I really had to pee.

What's the book?

One Foot in the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost. Fantastic book. I tend to latch onto supporting characters, and boy howdy, someone hand me Tate wrapped in a big red bow, and nothing else. Please? If you haven't read Jeaniene's Night Huntress series, go do it now. Seriously.

Book three, At Grave's End, released tomorrow. My timing is (abnormall) impeccable.



*I stayed up late to finish reading Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris. Can't believe I haven't picked it up before. Awesome book (and again with the supporting-character-love, if I can't have Tate, I want Sam). Now I really can't wait for "True Blood" to come out on DVD. Or iTunes. Anything, so I can watch it!!!!

The Worst Feeling in the World...

....is being absolutely certain you have something, but being unable to find it.

Last night, I wrote out the last check in my checkbook. Not a problem, I had a box of a hundred more (I'd just ordered them back in July and rarely write more than four checks a month for various bills). I also knew I'd just seen them a week or two ago, so they should be easy to find.

Nuh uh.

I searched in every drawer and even in those plastic tub things under my bed. Twice! No dice. That box of checks is well-hidden. I'll probably find them in March. I'm not panicking, because I know they're in the house. And I suppose it's as good a reason as any to order new checks with my new mailing address.

Still! I hate not being to find something I know exists! Grrr....

Anywho, I'll be off to my grandparents' house in a few hours for Christmas Eve festivities. Since my roomie is going to out of state to see her family, I've got the house to myself tonight. I think this is the first Christmas Eve night I've ever NOT spent at my parents house. Just me and my cat.

Oh, and the fudge? Semi-sweet chocolate with orange extract. YUMMY!!!!

Top Ten Christmas Movies

Shopping is complete. Presents are wrapped. Cookies are mostly done. Still need to make fudge tomorrow. But all in all, I'm looking good (and feeling better, if I could just get rid of this daggone cough!).

One of the things I remember most about Christmas is decorating the tree with my parents and sister. My mom would string the lights. My sister and I would put on the ornaments. My dad would sit on the sofa and watch. In the background, we'd play a stream of Christmas specials - Charlie Brown Christmas, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Christmas on Sesame Street, etc... All of those old videos hold a special place in my heart.

I also try to watch my favorite Christmas movies around this time of year. Haven't gotten to many of them yet, but I thought I'd offer my top ten (and if anyone feels like sharing, please do).

1. The Ref
2. Scrooged
3. A Muppet's Christmas Carol
4. The Santa Clause
5. Home Alone
6. Mixed Nuts
7. The Family Stone
8. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Trapped in Paradise
10. Gremlins

Holiday Musings

Saturday came and went pretty darn fast. Technically, there are still five hours left, though, so not quite done. I spent late morning and early afternoon visiting my dad. Trying to offer a bit of relief from house-bound boredom. And lunch from my favorite local deli, Capriotti's. Their sandwiches are amazing--they use real chunks of turkey and beef and chicken, not deli slices. As Rachel Ray would say, "Yum-O."

On the drive home, I had holiday baking on my mind. Mostly because it's December 20th and I haven't done any, yet. In my defense, I've hosted both Thanksgiving dinner and a baby shower over the last three weeks, so I think I've done my fair share of cooking. I just love holiday baking. I love making cookies and cheesecake and candy and fudge. Especially fudge. There's this super-easy recipe on the side of marshmallow whip jars, and two of the ingredients are vanilla extract and chocolate chips--two things I love to tweak. I'll play around with extracts and chips to make fun new flavors. This year I have a bag of chocolate-raspberry twist chips that will become fudge.

At least my shopping is basically done. I need to pick up one more thing for mom/from dad, and still something for my grandmother. Wrap the last odds-n-ends, and then I'm done. Well, except for Christmas cards. I am always so late in sending those out. Always.

Oooh, the timer is beeping. Another batch of cream cheese cookies is ready for extraction!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer Out

I suppose I could have saved my 200th blog post for something with a little more meaning and substance, but it's Hugh Jackman! And it's X-Men!

The trailer is out, and OMG, I am so excited to see this movie. May 1st cannot come soon enough.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD



SPOILERS for trailer content!

Duuuuuude, they've got Gambit! And Liev Schreiber as a young Sabretooth. And Deadpool! OMG!

And could I use any more exclamation points? Probably, yes. *g*

Amazing (and humbling) Blurbage

Now that I've come down off the ceiling, I can share the two amazing blurbs I've received for THREE DAYS TO DEAD. For anyone curious about blurbs, take a peek at the cover of your nearest paperback. See those quotes adorning the cover, the ones from published authors, endorsing the book? That what I just got. *g*

The first is from bestselling author Gena Showalter (long time blog readers know I adore her books):

"Dark, dangerous and delectable. A fantastic debut impossible to put down!"

The second came from the lovely and talented Jackie Kessler (if you haven't read Cat and Muse, you are so missing out!):

“THREE DAYS TO DEAD is one of the best books I’ve read. Ever. Evy Stone is a heroine’s heroine, and I rooted for her from the moment I met her. Kelly Meding has written a phenomenal story, one that’s fast-paced, gritty, and utterly addictive. Brava! More! More! More!”

I am so over the moon right now!

FF&F Member

I've mentioned the amazing livejournal community Fangs, Fur & Fey many times, and after joining as a Member last month, I finally posted my Intro. Come by and heckle me, if you haven't already. I'm really excited to be part of this fantastic community of writers (also a community of fantastic writers).

Why Do Today -- Follow Up

Several follow-ups, actually.

Well, Dad was supposed to come home from the hospital today. Unfortunately, his heart went into a-fib. They got it back to normal and have him on a new drip. The doctors assured us it happens with heart patients. *sigh* We've got our fingers crossed for no more problems and getting him released tomorrow. His dog is just beside herself missing him.

I've also been thinking more about "The Dark Knight." Even before the phone call last week, watching it again on DVD just didn't feel as...awesome. The more I thought about it, the more I came to this conclusion: TDK is a movie theater experience. It translates well to the small screen, but watching it at home doesn't have the power of widescreen, surround sound. The explosions and car chases and the musical score....I didn't get the same power from those things last week, not like I did after seeing it twice in the theater. It was almost disappointing.

I wonder if anyone else felt that way after seeing it at home.

And on a HAPPY personal note, yesterday's Big Sister Baby Shower went off smoothly. I had a lot of fun and, apparently, so did my guests. Lots of compliments on the decorations and the food (YAY!). Big Sister got lots of cool gifts. I got to see some family I hadn't in a long time. I was completely exhausted after I finally cleaned up and was able to sit down. I was in bed at 10 pm, which is hugely early for me. I'd been planning this for two months; now that it's over, I still feel like there's something I should be doing for it.

Weird.

Why Do Today....?

...what you can put off until tomorrow?

So yesterday (Tuesday), my dad had another morning in the cath lab, getting a balloon inserted into a clogged artery. He's had these before. No biggie, right? Until my mom calls me last night at 9:15 pm (yes, that late at night). We're watching The Dark Knight and, ironically, it's the hospital scene with Joker and Harvey Dent. I pause the movie and answer the phone. Mom asks if I have a few minutes to talk about the day. I say sure, figuring it's just a quick update, Dad's fine, blah blah.

Nope. Apparently, they found more blockages that they couldn't get with a cath, so guess what that means? Yep. Coronary bypass surgery. You know that feeling where the world just goes very still for moment? That happened. She said the surgery would be early this morning, and that she'd call when she had details.

I made it through the rest of the movie, but for all the love I have for TDK, I just couldn't pay attention. Worried all night. Worried all morning. And then I get the new message--they're postponing the surgery until Thursday. M'kay. In a way, I suppose it's good news, right? It means he's not critical, but it also means more waiting. And I hate waiting.

My awesome boss gave me the day off tomorrow, so I can take my mom out to lunch and distract her for a while. She has to do so much of this by herself, but I'm so grateful to be closer to home now and able to be there.

But you want to know the ironic part of my day? For all of the stress and worry over this surgery, I was bouncing around my bedroom tonight--got my very first cover blurb! It's an awesome blurb from a super-awesome author. I promise to share as soon as I'm able.

All in all, it's been a very mixed-up twenty-four hours.

Random Musings

I've been flittering all over the place lately, hence the lack of blogging. No one single thing I've done has seemed all that interesting, so I figured I'd save up and spew all at once.

I finally finished reading Storm Front, by Jim Butcher. Oh Harry, how do I love thee? Apparently Butcher likes to whomp on his characters as badly as I do. I adore hero who takes his licks and keeps on pushing forward. I haven't bought any others in the series, because my TBR pile can't support anymore dead trees. But I will, now that I know what other fans are raving about.

Agent Nathan Bransford is having another CONTEST. Go. Play. Enjoy.

Two agency sibs, Mai Sato-Flores and David Oppegaard, have new releases. Congrats to both!!

Dollar Tree is one of the best stores ever. Especially if you can find a massive one, like I did. Seriously.

I'm almost done Christmas shopping. Yay! Now I just need to organize and start wrapping. After the baby shower. Which is in five days. *checks list of things still to be done*

*starts to panic*

In actual writing-related news, I'm almost finished round-one editing on AS LIE THE DEAD, and it will be out to my critters soon. Woohoo!

Save Eli Stone

If any fans haven't found this yet, SAVE ELI STONE.

Please.

*whines*