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.