By Robin 'Red Hot' Kaye
Here I am writing my swan song and I'm wondering where the heck we came up with the term. Does anyone really know?
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| From Wickimedia Commons |
I'm wondering if it has something to do with Swan Lake, because, well, how many swan inspired books, movies, ballets or operas are there?
So I do what every normal, basically lazy writer does--I google it. Once I saw what it means, I decided this was so not my swan song.
Did you know that the beautiful swans we picture when we think of the word swan are called Mute Swans?
The legend is that they only 'speak' when they're dying.
Like I said--that's so not happening.
If you want to hear my voice, come visit me: I'll be blogging a a few times a month on
Blame It On The Muse.
You can always visit me on my
website, on Facebook--I have my
personal page, my
Fan Page, and on the
Killer Fiction Writers Page.
Then there's me on
Twitter. My twitter feed is sporadic but fun. You just never know what I'm going to tweet about when I'm at Starbucks. And I can also be found blogging
So just to let you all know, I, like the rest of us Killers, will be around and ready to chat with anyone available.
I have a feeling I'll be talking well after I'm dead, but hey, I guess that should only bother you if you're my children. I often tell them I'll come back just to give them a good scare.
Swan Song
4 Feb 2013 6:52 AM (12 years ago)
It’s my last post here at the Killer Fiction blog. It’s been
a long, good run for all of us, but things change and technology marches
forward, always forcing us to a new medium of communication in order to keep
up.
But the Killers are not going away. We’re simply relocating
to our
Facebook page. It allows us more direct interaction with readers and to
post more often when we have announcements, releases, contests, etc. or just a pair of new shoes we'd like to show off.
I know some of you are not fans of Facebook, and honestly, I
resisted for a LONG time. But for those that don’t want to get online and find
“friends” etc., all you have to do is set up a page under a pen name. Call
yourself Reading Goddess or Queen of the Library. No one you might want to
avoid can find you that way, and you’ll still be able to Like your favorite
author pages and keep up with them on a much more regular basis than through
blogs. I usually post on my Facebook author page once a day or more, and offer
readers a look into my everyday life—something you can’t really get on blogs.
I’m sorry if some of you make the decision not to move with
us, but I wish you’d reconsider. I promise, we didn’t make this decision
lightly or to offend. The harsh reality for writers is that it’s impossible to
keep up with all the social mediums available, write books, and ever see our families, so we have to handpick one or two items to use, feeling it’s better to
do one or two things well rather than five things poorly.
For those that boycott Facebook, please sign up for our
newsletters. We announce new releases, contests and other fun things through
that medium.
Thank you all so much for supporting the Killer Fiction blog
all these years!
Signing off, one last time……
Deadly DeLeon
I love Women’s Fiction, mainly because
the characters in them are just regular, real life people that I feel
comfortable being around; so comfortable, in fact, I can envision myself sharing
a beer with them.
Like most authors, I pull the
characters in my novels from people close to me. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell
you that my beta husband, of thirty-nine years, Jim, has had a strong impact on
the characters in my novels. Jim is the consummate animal lover. Our dogs are,
for the most part, rescues. One of them is a sheltie named Cassie, or “Crazy
Cass”, as I like to call her. We’d initially decided to purchase only one dog:
an eight-week old sheltie without issues (for those of you who own shelties,
that statement is almost an oxymoron).
From the second we arrived at the
breeder’s home, she gave us the sales pitch, trying to talk us into purchasing
two shelties; one normal baby pup, and one---shall we say---with issues. As Jim
and I tried to befriend this older dog named Cassie, she slithered into a
corner. Making eye contact with this dog nearly caused her to go into
convulsions. Jim was ready to cough up a small fortune so that we could take
both dogs home. I refused to budge, insisting I wasn’t about to pay a breeder
for a dog with hip dysplasia in need a lobotomy.
The breeder apparently sensed my
reluctance and sold us the eight-week old puppy at the agreed upon price, tossing
in Cassie as a freebee. The good news is that after four years, Cassie has made
significant progress. While she’ll never be as affectionate as the other dogs
are, Jim and I both love the fact that we’ve made this dog’s life better. We
expect little in return, and on some level, that’s the mark of a true animal
lover.
And that brings me back, full circle,
to the topic of creating real life characters. In my novel, LAST CHANCE TEXAS,
the hero is a large animal vet named Nathan Wainwright. What makes him likeable
to the readers is that he often treats animals for free, insisting that the
animal’s welfare must take precedent over the owner’s ability to pay him for
services rendered. Although well educated, mucking out stalls to make the
animals lives more comfortable isn’t beneath him. Obviously, the man doesn’t
take himself all that seriously and you can’t help but love that in a hero!
Nathan Wainwright has definitely
passed the litmus test. I think he’s someone I could
share a beer with. For all I know, Nathan and my husband might be the ones with
more in common. “Drink up, boys, the beers are on me.”
Comment for a chance to win a copy of Tessa Gray's book! Two lucky commenters will win. Check back around 9 PM central time to see if you've won.
You probably already know that the Killer Fiction ladies are all making our final curtain calls. But just from blogging.
We'll still be around in all our own hideouts (mine are amandabrice.net and Facebook), as well as at the Killer Fiction Facebook page. And really, that seems to be the way things are going these days -- interaction moving to social media rather than the blogosphere.
So don't be sad. You can't get rid of us that easily. (Besides, where would you hide the bodies?)
Plus, we're working on a sooper sekrit project that I think you'll LOVE. It's very excited. So stay tuned!
Anyway, as part of my own swan song, I wanted to take a moment to thank Gemma for making the initial suggestion that resulted in inviting me to hang out with y'all. I was just a baby in the world of publishing (still am!) and had just had a baby (and then had another), and it was such a thrill to get to play with the Big Girls.
But like I seem to do, I killed this blog.
No really! I'm a blog killer.
I used to blog with the Fictionistas, a fantastic group of (then) YA authors, consisting of me, Kristen Painter, Gwen Hayes, Melissa Francis, and Rhonda Stapleton. But as time went on, our writing habits diverged (not everyone was writing YA anymore) and eventually we decided we'd rather, well, you know, write our books than a blog, so now we continue to have an email loop for friendship rather than cross-promotion.
Then last spring I joined YA Indie, which was a vibrant community of indie-published YA authors, blogging about writing and publishing. Two weeks ago, the YA Indie blog founder Dalya Moon decided to restructure the focus since she was no longer focusing on YA and should spend more time writing books than blogging about books, so instead of a daily blog about self-publishing, it became Heck YA! Indie, which is a twice-a-month-ish blog put out by Dalya herself.
And now the Killers have decided to suspend the blog.
What's the common theme here? I'd like to say it isn't me, but well, would that be entirely true? Sure, I doubt I myself killed any of these blogs, but I did happen to be a contributor to each of them and now they're gone.
Hmmm...
Right about now, my blogmated at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood should probably be worried.
Anyway, thank you to the Killers for letting me come play, and also for the friendship. And thank you to my readers for loving my books. Come join us on Facebook!
And if you're in the DC area, come join me on Sunday, February 17 at the
Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill for the first
Romance Lovers Get Together. You'll enjoy complimentary drinks and appetizers -- including a specialty cocktail named by Washington Loves Romance readers -- in a fun, casual atmosphere. Prizes, including a huge gift basket stuffed with all kinds of book goodies and a $50 Amazon gift card, will be given away.
And not only will it be fun, but you'll be raising money for an excellent cause. All profits generated during the event will go to the
Washington Literacy Center.
See ya!
As most of you know, Killer Fiction blog is leaving us. Of course I'll still be blogging but I will no longer be playing the field with my "Killer" mistress. Instead I'll save my snarking, emoting and promoting for kyradavis.com, the blog I've been married to since the beginning...well at least since Sophie was born. My blog and I sort of had a shotgun wedding. And of course I look forward to posting on the Killer Fiction Facebook page.
I keep trying to think of how to bring this to a close in a satisfying way...when a television series ends you want answers. Mysteries are supposed to be solved, disputes settled, secrets revealed. My mysteries are in my Sophie books and any dispute of mine that you might be interested in are also enclosed within my novels. But I do have a few secrets I can share...secrets I've never posted anywhere before....
...for instance, for those of you who have read the Sophie books you know that Sophie's on-again-off-again boyfriend is a hot Russian guy who served in both the Israeli and Russian army before moving to San Francisco.
The secret is, I met that guy. I even went out on a date with him. He was Russian and he had indeed served in both the Russian and Israeli armies. I met him at a party in San Francisco back when I was in college. Our eyes locked across a crowded room. He was beautiful, sculpted, intense. Fair skin with dark hair...I couldn't look away. It was a dinner party and we sat next to one another. The chemistry was so exceptional that even now, thinking back, I get goosebumps.
And then he had to go and screw it all up by opening his mouth.
It was such a bummer. I tried to convince myself it was a language problem. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and went out on a date with him...by the end of the date it was clear, this wasn't a language problem. He was just sort of a womanizing jerk. Even his advances were clumsy. He drank a bit too much and asked if I could drive him home...in his car...which would mean that I would have to take a cab from his place which he swore he'd pay for. I got up to his place to make a call and he said, "What's the rush? Make yourself comfortable and you know, take off your jeans!"
I didn't. I left, irritated that reality didn't live up to the chemistry of that moment. It's really amazing how quickly you can conjure up a fantasy and how suddenly that fantasy can be yanked away. So, years later, I wrote the fantasy, injected it with the permanence of ink and then I gave my fantasy-Anatoly to Sophie. I stretched out that magical moment and now thousands of readers can have him without the messiness of reality(although there are lots of murders in my Sophie books, so I guess that's kinda messy).
It's not the only time I've done that. Mr. Dade in
Just One Night isn't entirely fictional either. I did date a man who had a PERFECT body and salt & pepper hair. A guy who came from a lower middle class family and a truly traumatic childhood only to pull himself up by his bootstraps and work his way up in the world, eventually starting a company that now grosses a little over $100 million a year. If I told you what that company was there's a good chance you'd know it. He has the expensive car and the beat-up dirt bike. He wears the cheap t-shirts and lives in a house he bought from Richard Gere...a house that has one of the most amazing views I've ever seen of the city. And he had a fierce, almost pathological individualism...one that didn't always sit well with me. Weakness in those in his life was not tolerated. He strongly believes that we should all be motivated first, last and always by our own self-interests. If we do something kind it's not because it's "right" on a societal level but because it A) makes us feel good and B) it improves our lives. Everything was put in the context of "I." No love should ever be above the love we have for ourselves. The goal should always be to enhance our own lives.
And yet he would express true distress when he saw a homeless person shivering in the cold. He had empathy. He quoted Ayn Rand and then praised community service. He could be totally light hearted but control was so very important to him. He said he loved life and yet he seemed to have to work so hard to remind himself to be happy. He was full of contradictions and although I didn't love him I found him to be absolutely fascinating. My friend suggested that maybe I was dating him just to figure him out. That might have been the case. But in the end we just weren't a good match. As I said, we weren't in love. Our world views were simply too different, our connection not quite strong enough...and part of me was in love with another man. Unlike Kasie, I didn't cheat. But I did choose that other man over him. That didn't work out either but I don't regret my choice. My Mr. Dade wasn't the man for me but I still thought he was fascinating so I wrote him for Kasie. And in some ways Kasie, with all her contradictions and her attempts to be one thing but suppressing other aspects of her true nature...well she was somewhat inspired by my Mr. Dade too.
So those are my secrets. I'm only revealing them once, here on a blog that is about to disappear. I may erase it at the end of the weekend. I'm not all that interested in having Mr. Dade read this and track me down again. Like I said, he's never been in love with me (I didn't break his heart) but I intrigue him and when something sparks his interest he can be a very persistent guy. I just don't think I want to go down that road again. And I sure as hell don't want to be tracked down by Anatoly.
So this is just for you, my Killer Fiction readers, during our last days here. Thank you for letting me share my writing adventures with you over the years. It's been an enormous amount of fun and I hope that you'll keep the fun coming by joining us over on Facebook. We've all shared to much to become strangers.
--
Fashionista Fatale
Jana, Kathy, Christie, Gemma, Me & Farrah at that Cuban restaurant, July 2007
This is where it all began. July 2007, in a Cuban restaurant in Dallas. Dorchester Publishing took its authors to dinner. And while we were sitting there, eating, drinking and laughing, an idea was born. Our then editor, Leah Hultenschmidt, suggested that since we wrote funny, mystery/romance - we should get together and create a blog. By August, Killer Fiction was live.
Authors have come and gone, but the core is there and if I do say so myself - we are still as wickedly entertaining as we were 5 years ago. Gemma's had some adorable babies and Christie's still cracks us up...Kathy has seen her tripletts through college and Jana is building us all new houses with retaining walls...and my hair is gray. Well, more like silver, actually.
Thank you friends for making Killer Fiction so much fun to be a part of. We are not going away - just to another place at Facebook. Look for us there. And watch for some exciting projects coming down the pike (does anyone know what a pike is and why you'd come 'down' it?).
Stay in touch (don't make me come after you). We'll see you over on Facebook!
With love,
The Assassin
My Sad Swan Song
29 Jan 2013 12:30 AM (12 years ago)
WINNERS UPDATE! WINNERS UPDATE! Thanks so much for stopping by my last blog to chat with me and Shauna! The lucky winners of Shauna's book are: Sabrina Robert, Sarah S., and Kristi! Please shoot me an email at: christie (at) christie-craig.com and let me know if you'd like an Amazon or B&N book and we'll hook you up! Congrats!
You know me,
forever curious, so I looked up what Swan Song really meant. There’s a legend that says that Mute Swans are
. . . well, mute, and never sing until they are about to die and then they sing
the saddest and most beautiful song. Doesn’t
that just getcha right in the heart? True,
it sounds poetic. But it also sounds terribly
sad. First off, for a girl who’s a bit
of a jabber, not to be able to talk is terrible. But then to only get the gift right before
you’re about to croak, well that’s just downright screwed up. So I was really happy when I read it was all
a lie. Oh, the Mute Swan really exists,
but they are simply less vocal than the other swans. Sort of like some people we know, they don’t
have a lot to say. Or they have a lot to
say, but are too shy, too private to share their thoughts and opinions. I guess you could say if I was a swan, I
wouldn’t be a Mute Swan.
Ahh, but while
the legend is a lie, it’s not a lie about Killer Fiction closing our doors. And it is a sad swan song. I will miss reading all the other Killer
Fiction gals’ blogs. It was great to keep up with each other. And while our reasons for saying goodbye to
this venue are completely validated, as I already said, I wouldn’t make a good
Mute Swan. Anyone who has met in me
person can testify that I’m simply not a shy person. Some of my friends say I could talk to a nail
in the wall. And they’re right, but only
if the nail could talk back. I like to
talk, but I also like to listen. Which is why you will not only be seeing me on
the Killer Fiction Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KillerFictionWriters but you can still come visit my blog
Laugh, Love, Read, at http://christie-craig.com/blog/.
Anyway, it
may be goodbye to Killer Fiction, but if you ever need a chuckle, want to read
about the new stupid things my hubby’s done (believe me, I thought he might
stop this one day, but I’ve given up hope) or maybe you’re just curious about
what authors I’ve been reading, pop over and say hello. I blog every Tuesday.
No, you won’t
find all my KF buddies there, but who knows, maybe I’ll have them stop by every
now and then and entertain us with their humor.
And you know if I hear of them doing anything worth gossiping (I mean
blogging) about, I’ll be the first share it with you.
And
now…because it’s not really goodbye for me, I’m going to introduce you to Shauna
Allen. Shauna isn’t just a buddy, she’s
also assisting me over at Christie-Craig.com.
Ahh, but Shauna is also a writer.
And a darn good one. If you like
bad boys, tattoos and cupids, all wrapped up in a sexy, witty writing style, you
gotta read her. Today I’ll give away a
copy of Shauna’s e-book to three lucky people who leave a comment. So make sure to leave a post. And don’t forget to come visit me at my new
blog site.
Take it away, Shauna:
***
Labor Pains
Thanks, Christie! So glad to be here and thanks for letting me be in on your Swan Song and saying a fond farewell to Killer Fiction!
A friend and writer I
respect immensely told me recently that writing a book is a lot like giving
birth. Well, in my “other life,” my
full-time job is a labor and delivery nurse.
I thought about her analogy for a moment and had to laugh. She is absolutely right.
We start with a tiny
seed of an idea. We nourish it, we love
it, we have all kinds of hopes and dreams for it . . . you following me
here? Then, the time comes to bring it
into the world. And it’s a painful
ordeal which, for some of us, can become a downright ugly, bloody affair full
of tears and screaming. There’re no
epidurals in publishing.
But, hey, in the end we
get to hold our little bundles of joy in our hands and proudly proclaim, “I
created this!” Amazing!
But, wait.
Like babies, the work
has just started. The cuteness will
always be there—just look at that cover!—but we still have to get our butts out
there and work for it. Um, did we sign
up for this back when we were germinating those precious little characters in
our minds? Well, if you want your baby
to succeed, yes you did.
Ah, a mother’s, I mean
an author’s work is never done.
In my book, Inked by an Angel, my hero and heroine
have drastically different relationships with their own fictional mothers. And even though my hero, Jed, is a tattooed
bad boy, I made sure he had a teensy-weensy soft side when it came to his mother. Here’s an excerpt so you can see for
yourself:
Sweat poured from his head and
stung his eyes as Jed pushed his father’s ancient lawnmower in neat lines
through his mother’s backyard. He paused
long enough to shuck his T-shirt and wipe his forehead with it before tossing
it to the porch. He knew his mom would probably prefer he left it on just in
case her neighbors were to peek out their windows and get a good eyeful of him.
Not that Paula Gentry gave a rat’s ass about other people’s opinions, and she’d
never once said anything about being embarrassed about his appearance, but he
knew she’d probably just as soon have him not rock the boat in her nice, quiet,
conservative neighborhood.
"Jedediah!” she called from the shaded back
patio, her hand perched on her hip.
He stopped pushing the mower, but
left it running, and turned to face her. “What?” he yelled over the racket.
“Are you almost—?” She stopped mid-thought. “Where is your shirt?” She looked
around, presumably for those nosy neighbors he’d already scouted for himself.
He shrugged and kept on going. He
was almost done here anyway. Surely, if they were gonna look, they’d have
looked by now, and they would’ve seen the bald man full of tats and piercings. Oooh. Big, scary man. Big damn deal.
It’s not like he hadn’t been here before and wouldn’t be here again. They would
just have to get used to him being around here. A lot.
He finished the yard and shut off
the mower, pushing it into the shed before striding up to the porch. With his
eyes on his mother’s face, he bent over and retrieved his sweat-soaked T-shirt
from the chair she’d draped it over and pulled it back on.
“You wanted me to take a look at
the air conditioner, Mom?”
“I just needed you to see if the
filter needs to be changed.” She studied his face. “Jedediah.”
He raised a brow in question.
“I’m not ashamed of you, son.”
He nodded once. “I know that.”
Her eyes softened. “You don’t have
to do all of this for me, you know.”
“Mom—”
She reached out and brushed a hand
across the koi fish tattooed across his forearm. “No. You don’t. I’m just so,
so sad that your father isn’t here to take care of these things anymore.”
He felt a little pebble tumble off
his heart. He swallowed. It killed him to remember how devastated she’d been
when Dad died. She could hardly function for a while. It was almost as if he’d
left them on purpose. But, by not taking the doctor’s advice, he had. And he
didn’t want any part of a love that could tear him up like that. Never again.
“I know,” he reassured her. “That’s
why I do them now.” He cupped her chin so she’d look up at him. Her eyes were
shimmering with tears, nearly breaking him. “I always will. I’ll take care of
you now.”
She nodded, held back her tears. He
was grateful. “I know, sweetie.” She brushed a kiss to his cheek. He caught the
familiar scent of her Liz Claiborne perfume. She pulled back from him, gathered
herself, and smiled. “Are you staying for lunch?”
“Did I smell chicken and dumplings
on my way in?”
“You did.”
“Then yes, I’m staying.”
Mothering–nurturing and
loving something to fruition— is so worth it.
In all that you do.
So let’s celebrate all
those ‘mommies’ out there . . . whether you’re the mother to a child, a furry
creature, a fictional character, or perhaps something else . . . we’ve all got
our own labors of love. So tell me,
what’s yours?
***
Thanks for being here, Shauna! Gotta love those tough guys that love their mamas! So, like she said, tell us about your labors of love, whatever they are, and three lucky commenters will win a copy of Shauna's book which will be released from Soul Mate Publishing this week! Good luck!
Shauna
grew up an only child with two open and loving parents in Central Texas. She’s married to her high school sweetheart
and is the mother to three fantastic (no, that’s not a typo!) teenagers.
When
she’s not writing, editing, or acting as a personal assistant to a NYT
Bestselling author, Shauna enjoys reading, movies with Gerard Butler, vacays to
the beach, and hangin’ with the kiddos–even if they don’t like hangin’ with
her!
For more information about me or my book, please visit my website and blog at: www.shaunaallen.com
Soul Mate Publishing: http://www.soulmatepublishing.com
Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/shaunaallen7/
P.S. Here's the book trailer for Inked by an Angel : Book I of the Cupid Chronicles if anyone wants to take a sneak peek! :)
My Final Adieu
25 Jan 2013 12:00 AM (12 years ago)
As Kathy mentioned yesterday, we have made the unanimous
decision to move our Killer group from this blog to our Facebook page. Never fear - we're not going away! In fact, as we shift our focus away from
blogging, we've come up with some new ideas for 2013 that we think our readers are going
to enjoy even more. So please do stay
with us as we relocate to our new home on Facebook!
I want to extend a huge thank you to all of the Killer Fiction
blog readers and supporters who have been with us over the years. We all sincerely appreciate every single one
of you, and we hope you'll continue to follow us as we move forward with new endeavors
in the coming year.
Hugs & Heels forever!
~Trigger Happy Halliday
The Last Roundup
24 Jan 2013 1:00 AM (12 years ago)
We've had a great ride here at Killer Fiction Writers blog. From the original Killer Five to our present Killer roster, I've been so fortunate to hang out with such amazing authors. Alas. All good things come to an end. And so it goes with the Killer Fiction blog. With more and more folks hanging out on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and You Tube, the Killers thought it was time for a new focus. So, at least for now, we're going to suspend this blog and put the focus on Facebook and other social media outlets.
So, most of us Killers will be saying our "see yas" in the next few days and urging you to keep connected via Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/KillerFictionWriters?ref=ts&fref=ts
Me? I've got my head down and I'm focused on the finish line for my next Calamity Jayne caper. Check out the Killer Fiction Writers Facebook page for updates!
See you there!
~Bullet Hole Bacus~
A few weeks ago, I was at the library and found this book called
Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui. I've always been interested in Feng
Shui, but end up getting confused by the grids and charts and the fact
that every article I read or book I see tends to have a different
philosophy. This is supposed to be enlightening, but it just ends up
confusing me. Anyhow, I picked up this book and immediately saw that it
had no big charts. Point one for said book.
It turned
out to be less about placing certain objects in certain spots and more
about releasing things from your life that you no longer need. It's a
simple idea, but so hard to do in reality (at least for me).
In
fact, the book was so good that when it was overdue at the library (is
that a form of clutter?) I went ahead and bought a copy. It gives step-by-step instructions on how to clear the things
out of our lives that serve to muck things up - not only that stack of
school papers or bills on the dining room table, but those unfinished
projects that just serve to make us guilty. Or what about all the stuff
in the basement that we never use? You ask yourself: Do I love it? Do I
actually use it? (and not just once ten years ago).
It was amazing to me just how many things in my life failed that simple test.
It's
not about pristine neatness (thank goodness), but more about only
having things in your house that work for you. Like having a junk drawer
works because it is a catch-all. Having all drawers be full of junk is
less workable.
It's amazing to find out what's really
clutter. I went down in our basement and started going through things:
like the serving platter we've never used (yet we hosted Christmas eve
this year), the seven plastic tubs of cake pans that my mother-in-law
gave us. Yes, she had a business selling cakes, but when am I going to
use an Alf pan? I found cool things from college that I do plan to keep.
But I also found my freshman year diary that gives a day-by-day replay
of my miserable first year at school. Why am I holding on to that?
It's
been my mission to fill the trash cans every week with clutter. The charity trucks have been by twice this month already and it
has been cathartic in a way I never expected. Yes, there are things I
will always keep - like that little box of cute baby outfits from when
my kids were little. But to have space in my basement - and to know I
made that space in my life - it really has been priceless.
By Robin 'Red Hot' Kaye
I spent all day yesterday sitting at Starbucks with my
critique partners, Laura Becraft and Deborah Villegas plotting my next book.
I’m so thankful for these two women—they’re my best friends, they're the closest of sisters who adopted me and made me one of them, they're my support group,
my bullsh*t meters, and a veritable laugh factory. They are also talented
writers and fabulous plotting and critique partners. I’ve written my last five novels and one
novella with their help, and I can’t imagine how I managed to write the first
three books without them.
 |
| Deborah and Laura at one of our favorite New York haunts--the St. Andrews Restaurant and Bar. |
Yesterday they took my blue Monday, the most depressing day
of the year, and made it one filled with joy and laughter. My blue Monday was especially
blue because my college boy flew the coop that morning and winged his way back
to Boise State for classes tomorrow. Somehow they still managed to make me
laugh so hard I was thankful I always do my Kegel exercises—as were the
Starbucks employees, I’m sure!
Yes, Laura, Deborah, and I are those weird women cackling at the window table in
Starbucks. It is ‘our’ table, and thanks to my Deborah—the shy and reserved one—we
were able to get the nice man who was using it to move. I offered to pay him
off in coffee, but he kindly refused and said he’d seen us there so often, always
at our table, he wouldn’t dream of messing with our mojo. And mojo is exactly what
we have. When we work together we feed each other more than just coffee and iced
tea lemonades. We call each other on taking the easy way out—and yes, we’ve all
been known to try to get away with it, we force each other to dig deeper, to
write fresher, work harder, and we help each other finish our books.
Yesterday we plotted an incredible story for my third Bad
Boys of Red Hook book and now all I have to do is write the synopsis—a thing
that puts the fear of God into most writers—and do it justice. I’m not worried—believe
me, they’ll tell me if I don’t make the grade.
Amanda is drowning in Deadline Hell as she prepares for the release of her new book Pas De Death, so her friend, the fabulous Juli Alexander is here today with a Q&A about her new YA spy novel, Investigating the Hottie.
Take it away, Juli!
______________________________________________
Amanda: I loved, loved, loved Investigating the Hottie. How did you come up with the idea?
Juli: Thanks, Amanda. Hottie was my first YA, and my first completed manuscript of any kind. I dreamed up the idea after seeing the Princess Diaries. I’m a huge Meg Cabot fan, and I started thinking what if the main character found out she was a spy, instead of a princess? What if her aunt were her family connection to the world of espionage?
Amanda: Awesome. Next time you're here in DC, we'll need to take a research trip to the Spy Museum. Fellow Killer Robin Kaye lives in the area, and rumor has it another one of our lovely Killers might be moving here as well! It'll be awesome. Field trip followed by drinks at the martini bar next door. Whaddya say?
Anyway, I digress. You were a Golden Heart finalist with this book, but it was the 5th of the five novels you indie-published this past year. Why did you wait on this one and decide to start off with the other books (which I also loved, but this one was my favorite)?
Juli: Hottie faced challenges when we shopped it in NYC because every line had a spy book. I wanted to be sure that I was ready to launch and market Hottie. I published the others, and then decided to evaluate Hottie. I thought the manuscript would need more updates, but after some technology changes (Palm Pilot to iPad), I published it. Turns out, readers are ready for a quirky spy book.
Amanda: You got that right. :) You invented a super secret spy government organization, GASI. How did you do the research for this?
Juli: My research on super secret spy organizations was exhaustive. I decided to make the acronym sound like a synonym for flatulence, and the agency solidified in my mind from there. Amanda’s aunt, an agent, has signed her up, and her parents don’t know.
I plotted this book like a movie made for a tween/teen cable channel and went for a fun ride from start to finish. It didn’t hurt that my son was ten and that I had fully acclimated to ten-year-old boy humor. I’m now adapting to teenage boy humor, but it isn’t as charming.
Amanda: You do a great job of "keeping it real" -- your books really do ring true to teen girls. How do you reach this perfect balance?
Juli: Sometimes I think I’m one of those lucky women who never matured beyond that awkward fourteen year old.
Amanda: Ha! Me, too. Probably why we get along so well.
Juli: Each of my characters has at least a piece of my own backstory, like Amanda Peterson being accused of leading during her first couple’s dance.
I also conduct extensive research on a daily basis, watching every teen movie, reading every YA book, and finding “professional excuses” to immerse myself in teen culture. I have to watch The Vampire Diaries, people; it’s part of my job!
Amanda: I freaking love that show. My favorite episodes are when they show the flashbacks to when the vmapires lived in different eras. I love seeing the fashion, especially Katherine Pierce's Civil War corsets and hoop skirts.
Juli: It doesn’t hurt that my 17-year-old son has a crew of twenty or so high school boys and girls who, it seems, no longer need to knock on our front door.
Amanda: Yeah, my 3-year-old and 1-year-old aren't any help in the YA department, unfortunately. Do you have any plans for other mysteries in the future?
Juli: The Hottie series is about to take priority. I have a contract with my readers for one more book in the Stirring Up Trouble series. Then I am going to focus on Amanda and Will and the adventures ahead of them. Undercover with the Hottie, book two, will involve Amanda and Will investigating a threat at the United Nations. Despite their budding romance, they’ll have to convince the other teens that they are brother and sister. I plan to release this sequel in May or June of 2013.
Something you guys at Killer Fiction must have already figured out—mysteries are amazingly fun to write. My love for mysteries started early and involves every facet of my life. Ever since reading, Harriet the Spy, I’ve wanted a dumbwaiter. How cool would that be? And if I could be a cartoon character, I’d be Kim Possible. I’m excited to spend as much time in the teen mystery genre as I can manage.
Amanda: Most of our readers here at Killer Fiction are adults who prefer adult mysteries and romances, but who have daughters/nieces/granddaughters. Can you recommend some other teen mysteries to add to their shopping lists?
Juli: For all teens, I recommend Meg Cabot’s 1-800-Where-R-You Series and Amanda Brice’s Dani Spevak Mystery Series. These are fun, compelling, and devoid of parent-angering issues.
Amanda: Okay, thank you, but that totally wasn't intended as a fishing expedition for you to compliment me. Really! Although I'm never going to complain anytime my books are mention in the same sentence as Meg Cabot's. ;)
Juli: I also love Carl Hiaasan, Anthony Horowitz, and Rick Riordan books.
Amanda: Love Anthony Horowitz! Right on.
Juli: For teens 15 and up, I recommend Stephanie Hale’s Revenge of the Homecoming Queen and S.R. Johannes’s Untraceable. I adore the Heather Wells mysteries by Meg Cabot, starting with Size 12 is Not Fat, even though it isn’t technically a teen book.
I’m dying to read Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girl Series and also Shannon Greenland’s The Specialist series. I haven’t allowed myself to read them because they have the potential to be quite similar to my Hottie books. Once I finish my series, I’ll be excited to read them.
Amanda: I'm totally the same way. Despite it appearing in my also-boughts (and me in hers), I haven't gone anywhere near Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Squad series, featuring undercover cheerleaders. Hers is a spy series whereas mine's more of a cozy mystery, but it just seems too similar to my dance series. Probably because I both danced and cheered growing up. :) But as soon as I say my final goodbye to Dani (probably sometime in 2014 or 2015, depending on whether the fans still want more books), you better believe I'll be catching up!
Anyway, thanks so much for joining us today, Juli.
Here's the blurb for
Investigating the Hottie, which has been hands-down my favorite read so far in 2013. (Yes, I know it's early, but seriously -- it's really good! Funny, exciting, romantic...the real deal.)
Peterson. Amanda Peterson. When my life suddenly turns into the Princess Diaries meets Mission Impossible, can I do in a week what I haven’t managed to do in all my fifteen years—reel in a hottie?
When Amanda spends a week with her aunt, Christie, she learns that her aunt is a spy. Christie admits that Amanda has security clearance and has already started her training. When her aunt asks her to investigate a teenage hacker, Amanda thinks that spending time with a nerd should be doable despite her social ineptitude. Unfortunately for Amanda, the hacker is a hottie.
Question: What do the former New Jersey governor (Jim McGreevey), the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals (Ted Haggard) and former Alabama Attorney General, Troy King have in common?
Answer: They all lived a lie, and that lie eventually destroyed them. All three of these men were very successful in their careers and they all preached, in their own way, "traditional family values." They were all married, extolled the values of a heterosexual family life and tried to live their life the way those around them expected and wanted them to. But they were all gay. One by one their secrets came out. They all cheated on their wives and got themselves involved in risky, salacious situations that they really should have had the sense to sidestep. You can't exactly excuse their behavior. They lied to everyone. The people they represented, their friends, their families and most importantly themselves.
That last part is really the important piece. There is no bigger lie than to lie about who you are as a person. But usually people who do that are also trying very hard to delude themselves. These guys had all been told from a very early age that being gay was a horrible thing. So they tried to be someone different, with different desires and different needs. And it worked for them for a while. But when you deny who you are (to yourself and to the world) sooner or later something breaks. Suppress your true nature for too long and it usually comes out in a rather destructive and chaotic way. And when those who go down this path finally give in to an irresistible temptation they don't come clean right away because doing so would involve acknowledging who they are, not just to their loved ones but to themselves. For these guys that was unthinkable. For many of them, acknowledging their desires was as good as acknowledging that they were literally going to hell. So they convinced themselves that their infidelity was just a one-off...then a two-off...and eventually they just saw it as a hidden drug addiction that at some point they'd find a way to kick. Apparently these dudes didn't see Brokeback Mountain. It just doesn't work that way. To quote Jim McGreevey:
"It destroyed my career, ruined my marriage and helped me discover who I really am."
This particular story has been retold so many times with different actors the public barely registers shock anymore. But a while ago I started wondering...why do we assume this story only holds true for closeted gays? Aren't there other ways of being closeted? Aren't there many completely heterosexual individuals suppressing their true nature only to have it break through at the most inconvenient moment? There are so many ways children are frequently indoctrinated by philosophies that requires them to learn and embrace the art of self-deciet.
And it was while thinking about all that that I invented Kasie Fitzgerald, the protagonist who stars in
Just One Night: The Stranger, the first book of a
novella trilogy that will be released on Monday. Kasie was raised to believe that she needs to be a certain way: reserved, cautious, conservative in every area of life and most importantly, controlled. Due to some experiences from her childhood this has become more than a life philosophy, it's practically a religion for her and yes, she does believe that if she rejects these dictates she will in many ways be put on a direct path to hell.
In fairness, following the rules that have been set for her has served her very well in many ways. She's a graduate of Harvard Business School, she's doing very well at a global business consulting firm, she's engaged to a man who may not excite her but fits into the picture she's been told she's supposed to live in.
And then she meets Robert Dade. A fiercely, almost pathologically independent man who embraces risk and lives by his own rules without apology or excuse. He has salt-and-pepper hair and the muscular form of a much younger man, his clothes speak of wealth and his calloused hands speak of harder labor. He intrigues her... and he wants her. Temptation knocks on the door and suddenly her true nature, the woman who wants adventure, who craves spontaneity, who doesn't want to live by rules aimed to stifle rather than inspire...that woman comes roaring out...for a night.
The problem is that Robert wants a hell of a lot more than one night and now Kasie has to wage a battle within herself. She wants to be the woman her family, her fiancé and almost everyone else around her wants her to be. But Robert wants her to be the woman she actually is, a woman she's been taught not to acknowledge at any cost.
This is an erotic romance, there's lots of sex and sexual tension...but in the end it's a story of self-discovery. Kasie's story. It's her battle, her conflict and she makes a lot of bad, even destructive decisions as she tries to work it all out. People will be hurt. Her current fiancé has ties to her work so her career is at risk, her relationship, her family's approval and most importantly her identity...it may be a false identity but it's a forgery that she has carefully crafted and cherished throughout her life. She has to decide if it's worth risking all of that in order to pursue a path that she thought was forbidden.
I'm guessing that a lot of you here simply don't read erotic fiction and to be honest, I rarely do either. Typically it's just not a genre that speaks to me...which is why I added an atypical entry into it.
For $1.99 I hope you'll give it a shot. It might surprise you...it certainly surprised me how much I enjoyed writing it
Kyra "Fashionista Fatale" Davis
It was two days before Christmas, I was running around like
a chicken with its head cut off and a lit stick of dynamite up its back-end. You know, doing all that pre-cooking and last
minute wrapping. Then, the phone
rang.
“Mawmaw.” That sweet little three-year-old voice filled my
ear and the holiday stress faded like magic.
Now, my granddaughter is extremely verbally talented. There’s nothing she can’t say or talk about. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I
were over in my daughter’s neck of the woods and were taking our granddaughter
to a park. We were about five miles from their house when she piped up from the
backseat and said, “Mawmaw, you see that white building? That’s where Mama and me went and voted for
president.” Yes, she’s three years old
and this kid is blessed with language skills and intelligence. I mean, she already knows where she has to go
vote.
About the only time I can’t understand everything she says
is when she’s really excited. And on
that pre-Christmas phone call, she was very excited. I heard, “Mawmaw, Mama said I couldn’t, but .
. . blah blah blah,” and, “tea party blah blah blah,” followed by . . .
“Okay? Is that okay?”
Wanting to make her
happy, (Hey, I’m Mawmaw and that’s what we do) I said, “Okay.”
And I wasn’t worried at all until I heard the
little darling voice
say, “See, Mama, I told you Mawmaw
would say yes.”
My daughter gets on the line and says, “Mama, you didn’t
have to agree to that.”
I stammered just a second.
“Wh . . . what did I agree to?”
My daughter starts laughing and then she tells me the
story.
My granddaughter had decided they
needed to have a tea party.
So she went
and found her little play tea set.
But
she found it swept under her bed, so it had something in it. And not just
anything in it. We’re talking Texas mold growing inside tiny plastic tea
cups.
She was so upset when my daughter
told her she couldn’t drink out of them anymore.
She was still pouting, but then my daughter said
my granddaughter’s eyes lit up and she said, “I know, when I go to Mawmaws, we
can have a real tea party with real tea cups.
Not play tea cups, not regular tea cups, but
real fancy ones.”
You see, years ago I collected antique tea cups. So around the house, I have about a half a
dozen of some of my nicer cups set out on shelves and such. My granddaughter had never really had an
interest in them . . . until now. The next day, Christmas Eve, my daughter, her
hubby and my granddaughter showed up, wrapped presents in hand. We were still setting the gifts under the
tree when my granddaughter comes running up with about four antique cups and
saucers stacked in her arms. “We’re going to have a real tea party,” she squeals
with the biggest, sweetest smile on her face.
My daughter’s face grows pale seeing her three-year-old so
haphazardly carrying my hundred-year-old tea cups as if they were building
blocks. I know my daughter is remembering
when she was a teen and broke my favorite cup.
She had felt terrible and even went out and bought me a
replacement. But I have to tell you,
seeing my granddaughter all lit up with joy over us having a “Real” tea party
was simply priceless.
I told my daughter to relax, if a cup or two got broken, it
would be okay, because the memory would be worth it. So I just helped my granddaughter bring them
into the kitchen and we made tea and sat around the table, pointing out our
pinky fingers, eating cookies that we called scones, and we had ourselves one
fine Christmas Eve tea party.
You know, I’ve had some of those antique cups for over 20
years, but I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed them more than right then. Happy New Year again, guys. Even if you break a cup or two, I hope you
all take the time to sit down with a three-year-old, point your pinky fingers
out, share some tea, laughter, and make some memories.
Are we what we drink?
James Bond is known for his “shaken, not stirred” martinis.
Though I doubt the manner in which the ingredients were mixed made any
difference in the taste, the concept of “shaking” evokes much more exciting and
dangerous implications than the much more tame “stirring.” No doubt this
particular drink was an element of the spy’s character to which the writer
devoted quite a bit of thought.
The ladies of Sex and the City made the Cosmopolitan an
everyday term. The pinkish color of the
cosmo is feminine, while the fact that it is served in a martini glass gives it
a classy, big-city allure.
JD, a quirky doctor in the TV show Scrubs, always ordered an
appletini. Though heterosexual, he was definitely in touch with his feminine
side.
Those of us who indulge in alcoholic drinks tend to have a
repertoire of favorites.
I tend toward the girlie frou-frou drinks like piña coladas,
strawberry daiquiris, and margaritas. To me, drinks are sort of like a grown-up
dessert, and I drink them for fun with friends. I’ve never had a stomach for
the hard stuff and, as I’ve learned the hard way, tequila and I don’t get along
too well. On occasions when I’m feeling
more sophisticated or when I’m in a more upscale restaurant or bar, I’ll order
an amaretto on the rocks. The drink is still sweet and smooth, but has a more
mature feel to it.
In my January 29th release, Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria, IRS Special Agent Tara
Holloway mixes quite a few pitchers of peach sangria, using a recipe obtained
from the mother of her sexy co-worker, Senior Special Agent Nick Pratt.
What types of drinks do you like? Does your choice of drink
reflect your personality? Do you drink different types of drinks depending on
your mood or the atmosphere of the venue?
Ooops!
12 Jan 2013 11:38 AM (12 years ago)
OMG! I just realized I forgot to blog Thursday. Why? Let me count the reasons:
One: Meno-fog (I'll be blogging about this condition in the weeks to come.)
Two: The holidays got my schedule all screwed up.
Three: It's tax time and my head hurts.
Four: I started rewatching the previous seasons of Downton Abbey in preparation for Season 3's debut.
Five: See reason one.
To atone, I'm sending you cyber Valentine's Day cookies. Trust me. They're delicious.
And I'll try really, really hard not to forget to blog again.
~Bullet Hole~
My 2013 Plans
11 Jan 2013 12:00 AM (12 years ago)
How is everyone doing on
their New year's resolutions this year? My
biggest one has been to produce more books this year! To that end, I have several projects planned
for 2013, including...
Secret Bond (Jaime Bond
Mysteries book #2)
In this book Jamie will be investigating
a very personal case - one that involves the shooting of her father. She finds old skeletons buried deep in power
people's closets, which causes her to question just how well she knows those closest
to her. She also navigates the muddy
waters of her budding relationship with the hot assistant district attorney
versus her feeling for her best friend that are starting to grow into a little
more than just friendship.
Luck Be a Lady (Tahoe Tessie Mysteries book#1)
This is the first book in a
brand new series that I'm super excited about! I've been wanting to write this
one for a couple of years now, and am finally getting the time to do so. I'll be co-authoring it with the lovely and talented
T. Sue Versteeg.
This book follows Tessie
King, who unwilling inherits a South lake Tahoe casino when her father passes
away. She finds herself suddenly involved
with a bumbling arm of the Vegas mob, a cheating scandal that could take her
casino down for good, and a sexy FBI agent who just happens to have Tessie on
his lifst of prime suspects for her father's murder.
Wicked Games (a YA mystery)
Due to some super secret
stuff, I can't publicly talk much about this one yet. But I'm thrilled to get back into writing YA
again, and I think you will all be thrilled, too, when you hear the name of the
co-author I'll be partnering with on this one. More to come on this soon...
Hollywood Hideout (a Hollywood Headlines short)
I've missed the Hollywood
Headlines gang so much, so I've been dying to find the right vehicle to bring
their tabloid world back. And I finally
got it! This summer I, along with 9
other bestselling indie authors including the fabulous Jana DeLeon, will be doing
a connected short story collection set on a fiction island off the Florida
coast. So far it's been really fun
working with these other authors to build our fictional town, and I am looking
forward to dropping my Hollywood characters there this summer for a little fun,
sun, and murder in paradise.
And last but not least...
High Heels book #8
This one is as yet untitled,
but it will follow Maddie and the gang into the world of professional baseball
- something that Maddie is completely clueless about. Which should be a blast. She always has the best adventures when she
had no idea what she's doing. :) This one was inspired by my own home team,
the SF Giants, and their awesome World Series win this year. (Go Giants!)
I plan to do plenty of research at the ballpark this spring!
So, what are all of you up to
this year? Any resolutions? New projects to work on?
~Trigger Happy Halliday
P.S. Check out my
Facebook page today for some great free reads for your weekend!
Happy Tuesday! Today, I'm working on a super sekrit project. (She
says, rubbing her hands together.) Hopefully, I can let you in on it
soon. In the mean time, I'm writing, brainstorming, writing some
more...and realizing I may be too caught up in this whole thing.
You
see, I thought I was handling everything else. But recently, I've
learned there are a few things slipping through the cracks. Nothing
huge. The kids are alive, the husband is happy, the dog has been fed (to
be fair, she has learned to bang her food bowl quite loudly). No, it's
Christmas decorations. They keep popping up -
Everywhere.
We
took down the tree the weekend after Christmas. The wreaths are gone,
the lights, everything big has been put away. But just when I think
we've got things handled, we keep finding Christmas decorations. I'm okay
with the little reindeer door knob hanger left on the way out to the
deck. How often do you use a deck with snow on it? And maybe the cookie
jar is okay to miss - it's been such a fixture for the past month. But
last night, I came walking down the main stairs and noticed we totally
forgot about the garland on the hand rails - complete with blinky lights
that the kids had turned on.
How does one miss blinky lights? For an entire week?
Alas,
there is nothing to be done. Not really. This new project is too
fantastically fun. After it's finished, who knows? Maybe I'll find
something from Halloween.
By Robin 'Red Hot' Kaye
It’s the beginning of the New Year and as usual, I’m a
little late to the New Year’s Resolution Party. I’ve been busy….
Sure, I’ve written more books in the last year than ever
before, but so much else has fallen by the wayside it’s come to a boiling point.
I’ve never been the most organized person—at least at first glance. My desk is
a mess. As a matter of fact, it’s so messy, if I had to write with pen and
paper, I’d have to take my dictionary and set it on my lap to create a flat
surface. But until recently, if I needed something, I could put my hands on it.
Until recently…
It’s not only the clutter that’s gotten completely out of
hand—it’s the time. Mondays and Fridays are the days I set aside to write blogs
and do business related work. I was up early, fed the dogs, showered and
dressed to leave. Dear son was not yet up so I thought I’d go through my email
while I waited for my son to rise. I can’t leave the Puggle puppy without
supervision unless I put her in her crate, and I hate having to crate her when
someone is home. I thought, what the heck, I’d let Pepperoni run off some of
her energy. Unfortunately, Pepperoni is a trouble magnet and found a tube of
hydrocortisone ointment, chewed it up while I wasn’t looking, and by the time I
found her, she had the cap off and a mouthful.
Then next thing I knew I was
calling the vet in a panic, wondering how I’d explain Pepperoni’s death to my
daughter since the little Puggle was her fifteenth birthday present, and
dreading yet another trip to the vet. Luckily, Pepperoni was fine, I didn’t
have to take her in, just watch her, so I woke up my son (who is home from
college) told him to take care of Pepperoni <read: Don’t let her out of your
sight!> pick up his sisters from school at 5:00, don't eat the pizza in the fridge--that was for dinner, and call me if he needed anything.
I was going to my office—Starbucks.
I got so much done at Starbucks, it was great. I wrote my dedication
and acknowledgements for my next book, YOU’RE THE ONE and sent them in with the
final revisions to my editor, I wrote several business emails, read pages and
pages of text for a class I’m taking, wrote two out of the three blogs on my
agenda, went through my schedule, and even remembered to drink my protein shake
before I was so hungry I’d gnaw on the table. Things were going splendidly—I
only had one more blog to write and I could shut down my computer. I would have
finished my work for the day before dinner instead of before dawn.
I had just given myself a pat on the back when I received a
text at 3:11 from my daughters. It turns out that the bowling alley where their
bowling team was scheduled to play was closed. There was no bowling therefore they
needed a ride home. Great. I called my son to tell him to go pick them up early.
Only he didn’t answer his phone. I texted. He didn’t answer that either. I packed
my things and head off to school.
By the time I got the girls home an hour later, it hardly
paid to go back to Starbucks, especially when I realized my son ate the entire
pizza I’d left for the kids for dinner. You see, I’ve also resolved to spend
more time with my husband, so earlier that morning, I’d called and scheduled a
date sans children. After all, I had an entire pizza in the fridge for them to
eat for dinner. And yes, I wrote: “DO NOT EAT!!!” on the box. So, the next
thing I knew I was thawing out chicken and cooking dinner for the kids. Which
is why I’m writing this blog at 5:30 in the morning.
Something has got to give. I’m reading books on time
management hoping that will help. If I only managed my time better, maybe I
wouldn’t have to work seven days a week to meet my deadlines and I can possibly
have a social life. I picked up the time management book and it said to read
her organization book first—organization will save you time she claims. God
help me.
So how about you? What are your New Years Resolutions? Are
you doing the annual diet? Do you have any time management and organization
tips? Do you want a Puggle puppy named Pepperoni?
New Websites
7 Jan 2013 6:44 AM (12 years ago)
I've gotten a lot of email asking about the Sinful Ladies Society and the town of Sinful. Apparently, people want to know more. So I created websites for both. You can become an official member of the SLS, complete with membership certificate, and you can learn more about the town of Sinful, including character bios and pics. The pic of Carter alone is worth visiting the Sinful website.
I'm currently hard at work on the next book in the Miss Fortune mystery series, so you have more of Ida Belle, Gertie and Fortune to look forward to coming in March.
In other news, I installed a new PC yesterday and am still missing half my stuff, so I know what I'll be doing today. ugh And, of course, I've made my standard new year's resolution to get healthier. We'll see how that goes......
Here's links to the new websites. I hope you visit and enjoy!
Sinful Ladies Society
Sinful Louisiana
So, does anyone else have new year's resolutions they're working on?
Deadly DeLeon
Princess Amber
4 Jan 2013 12:08 PM (12 years ago)
My daughter turned 3 last month, and she is now officially in the throes of a full-out princess obsession. In fact, she seems to have princess radar.
We can be walking down the street and suddenly Amber will shout "Princess Sleeping Beauty!" or "Look Mommy, I see Princess Cinderella!" I look around, expecting there to be a little girl playing dress-up or a t-shirt with the character on it. Or maybe even a poster. Nothing. What the heck is she referring to?
Then I look again and see a half-ripped sticker on the back of a book some child is holding, barely visible. In fact, maybe only the dress can be seen, but Amber spots it.
I tried my best not to indoctrinate her in the world of All Things Princess, but failed. After all, she takes ballet class, and to a 3-year-old, princesses are synonymous with ballerinas and fairies. And mermaids. Sometimes the 4 words can be combined -- ballerina fairy princess mermaids. That would be a little girl's dream.
Her ballet class has a core emphasis of classical ballet technique, but because the students are so young, their curiculum uses choreographed stories and fairy tales -- along with custom-made costumes and props -- as a teaching vehicle. Each week, the lesson plan is reinforced and brought to life as the students dance the adventures of "Snow White" or "Sleeping Beauty" or "Cinderella."
I thought for sure Amber would love the new Disney Junior show, Sofia the First. It's really cute -- the first Disney Princess who is a little girl (all the others are adults). A little girl princess? What's not to love, right?
Here's a primer for those of you without toddlers (and thus no reason to watch the new "little girl princess" show):
Sofia lived together in a small little cottage with her mommy, who made shoes. One day, the King was getting a new pair of shoes when he fell in love with Sofia's mommy (Miranda). They got married, so now Queen Miranda and Princess Sofia left their cottage to move into the castle. While there, Sofia meets her new step-siblings Princess Amber and Prince James.
Cool! A princess named Amber. My daughter's going to LOVE that.
Wrong.
Turns out that Princess Amber is mean. Well, she was for most of the first episode at least. My mom watched the entire thing and tells me that at the end Princess Sofia and Princess Amber become friends, and that Princess Amber is a really nice older sister. But I'll have to take Grammie's word for it, because my Amber wasn't having any of it.
No, as soon as she saw that Princess Amber was mean, she started screaming and insisted that we turn off the show. She hated to hear the words "mean" and "bad girl" in connection with her own name.
So no Princess Amber for us. Instead my daughter will just have to continue with her obsessions with Princess Ariel ... and Princess Cinderella ... and Princess Belle ... and Princess Snow White ... and Princess Jasmine ... and Princess Tangled (as she calls Rapunzel) ... and Princess Tiana ...
And the Sugar Plum Fairy. We can't forget her.
2012 Was CRAZY!
3 Jan 2013 12:00 AM (12 years ago)
Today I was looking back at 2012 and for the first time I realized that if there was one word that could easily sum up the entire 12 months it would be "crazy."
I started the year in Vegas with a man who I had known for some time but I had
just started a relationship with. We went to a small party where (of all people) Huey Lewis and The News were playing. I've never been a Huey groupie but hey, why not, right? And as it turns out they put on a great show!
A fun start....but that new relationship was over by the end of January. I distracted myself by working overtime trying to complete what would be my 1st self-published novel. That was a HUGE learning curve. A reader volunteered to do the cover but I didn't even know what to request of her. I didn't know how to format the book for the different e-readers or for a paperback version...I was clueless. But through blood, sweat and tears I worked it out and by mid March
Vanity, Vengeance & A Weekend In Vegas hit the virtual shelves. Phew!
In April I applied for late admissions to get my son into a new school (for gifted kids with learning differences). The school gave me a list of things we had to do/provide them with to be eligible and my son and I immediately got to work. It was around then that I was contacted by an editor at Simon & Schuster asking if I'd like to write erotica for them. I said maybe, then no (I had my reasons). It was also in April that I reconciled with that guy.
In May we broke up again.
I immediately started a new relationship...with Audible.com who, after some minimal courting, convinced me to produce an audiobook for Vanity, Vengeance. I got in touch with Gabra Zackman, the woman who recorded
the other Sophie books and asked if she would coproduce. She enthusiastically agreed and we were off and running...and by running I mean we were trying to figure out how to be producers. During that time there were some Hollywood writing projects I was up for...they ultimately came to nothing but I was researching and writing just in case.
Then in June my son got accepted to the school! To pay for the astronomically high tuition I started selling Lexus' to supplement my other income (it's a 50+ hr/week job). And just when I thought my plate was full Simon & Schuster came back to me with another offer. This time they didn't want me to write one erotica novel, they wanted me to write three erotic fiction novellas. The first manuscript to be due August 1st. But it was already June. It was impossible.
So I said yes.
And that was my summer. Cars, audiobooks & novellas.
Shockingly I made my 1st deadline. And now
Just One Night, The Stranger is getting
great reviews!
We also finished production on the
audiobook.
And my son started his new school.
....and I got back with that same guy.
 |
| I swear, we've had more ups and downs than Sophie & Anatoly |
But I did quit my Lexus job, I just couldn't balance everything. I spent the rest of the year writing two more books, helping my son transition to the school, working on my relationship...you know...stuff. Oh, and that guy and I are going on five months now. Call Guinness, it's a record.*
So in sum:...In 2012 I broke up with and got back together with the same person twice, I self-published a book, produced an audiobook, wrote three novellas, sold cars, tried (and failed) to get another Hollywood break, and got my son into a new school. It wasn't a smooth ride. It was turbulent- confusing-exciting-scary-wonderful-awful.
...and necessary. I
don't
regret anything I did in 2012. The things that didn't work...well, I had to try them and be sure before I walked away.
I don't know what 2013 will bring. I'd like a little more stability but I don't see that happening. In the end just another year without regrets would be fine. Honestly, I think that's the most any of us can realistically hope for. It may be the only thing that's within our control when things get...well, crazy.
Kyra "Fashionista Fatale" Davis
*
Annnd you should cancel to call to Guinness. We broke up again. For reals this time. Sigh. Guess 2013 will have to have a different emotional drama
Happy New Year!
2 Jan 2013 12:00 AM (12 years ago)
It's the new year and I'm up to my elbows in moving. Oh, not from one house to another. My kids decided they all need new rooms, so we are re-arranging three rooms and trying to get it done before school starts and our slave labor (children) disappear.
When we were kids, we swapped rooms now and then. I don't remember it being the madness it is now.
One week is already gone and our plans have been thrown out the window over and over.
Originally, we planned to start with a total clearing out of each room, before moving. This lasted about five minutes. Margaret wanted to have her friends over to help. We said we would tell her when we were ready.
Margaret took that to mean something completely opposite. And the next morning, we were awoken by the doorbell, and her friends began to arrive. We gave them specific instructions to go through Margaret's drawers, clothes, etc. Then Mr. Assassination and I worked in our room, listening to a book on tape.
When we came out, Margaret and her friends had carried all of her furniture down into the living room.
We had to move New Years Eve celebrations to a friend's house, because now we had nowhere to sit down.
Margaret believes we can do all this in one day. She has been incredibly disappointed by the fact that we can't. Teenagers have a warped sense of time.
So, our living room is packed with her bedroom furniture. And it's taking longer than she thinks. And she hasn't listened to one thing we said. And plans to do this change on an hourly basis.
Sigh.
I could really use servants.
Happy New Year!
The Assassin
,%20as%20well%20as%20at%20the%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.facebook.com/amandabriceauthor%23!/KillerFictionWriters%22%3EKiller%20Fiction%20Facebook%20page%3C/a%3E.%20And%20really,%20that%20seems%20to%20be%20the%20way%20things%20are%20going%20these%20days%20--%20interaction%20moving%20to%20social%20media%20rather%20than%20the%20blogosphere.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ASo%20don't%20be%20sad.%20You%20can't%20get%20rid%20of%20us%20that%20easily.%20(Besides,%20where%20would%20you%20hide%20the%20bodies?)%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0APlus,%20we're%20working%20on%20a%20sooper%20sekrit%20project%20that%20I%20think%20you'll%20LOVE.%20It's%20very%20excited.%20So%20stay%20tuned!%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnyway,%20as%20part%20of%20my%20own%20swan%20song,%20I%20wanted%20to%20take%20a%20moment%20to%20thank%20Gemma%20for%20making%20the%20initial%20suggestion%20that%20resulted%20in%20inviting%20me%20to%20hang%20out%20with%20y'all.%20I%20was%20just%20a%20baby%20in%20the%20world%20of%20publishing%20(still%20am!)%20and%20had%20just%20had%20a%20baby%20(and%20then%20had%20another),%20and%20it%20was%20such%20a%20thrill%20to%20get%20to%20play%20with%20the%20Big%20Girls.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ABut%20like%20I%20seem%20to%20do,%20I%20killed%20this%20blog.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ANo%20really!%20I'm%20a%20blog%20killer.%20%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AI%20used%20to%20blog%20with%20the%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.facebook.com/amandabriceauthor%23!/Fictionistas?fref%3Dts%22%3EFictionistas%3C/a%3E,%20a%20fantastic%20group%20of%20(then)%20YA%20authors,%20consisting%20of%20me,%20Kristen%20Painter,%20Gwen%20Hayes,%20Melissa%20Francis,%20and%20Rhonda%20Stapleton.%20But%20as%20time%20went%20on,%20our%20writing%20habits%20diverged%20(not%20everyone%20was%20writing%20YA%20anymore)%20and%20eventually%20we%20decided%20we'd%20rather,%20well,%20you%20know,%20write%20our%20books%20than%20a%20blog,%20so%20now%20we%20continue%20to%20have%20an%20email%20loop%20for%20friendship%20rather%20than%20cross-promotion.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AThen%20last%20spring%20I%20joined%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.yaindie.com/%22%3EYA%20Indie%3C/a%3E,%20which%20was%20a%20vibrant%20community%20of%20indie-published%20YA%20authors,%20blogging%20about%20writing%20and%20publishing.%20Two%20weeks%20ago,%20the%20YA%20Indie%20blog%20founder%20Dalya%20Moon%20decided%20to%26nbsp;restructure%20the%20focus%20since%20she%20was%20no%20longer%20focusing%20on%20YA%20and%20should%20spend%20more%20time%20writing%20books%20than%20blogging%20about%20books,%20so%20instead%20of%20a%26nbsp;daily%20blog%20about%20self-publishing,%20it%26nbsp;%26nbsp;became%20Heck%20YA!%20Indie,%20which%20is%20a%20twice-a-month-ish%20blog%20put%20out%20by%20Dalya%20herself.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnd%20now%20the%20Killers%20have%20decided%20to%20suspend%20the%20blog.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AWhat's%20the%20common%20theme%20here?%20I'd%20like%20to%20say%20it%20isn't%20me,%20but%20well,%20would%20that%20be%20entirely%20true?%20Sure,%20I%20doubt%20I%20myself%20killed%20any%20of%20these%20blogs,%20but%20I%20did%20happen%20to%20be%20a%20contributor%20to%20each%20of%20them%20and%20now%20they're%20gone.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AHmmm...%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ARight%20about%20now,%20my%20blogmated%20at%20the%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/%22%3ERuby-Slippered%20Sisterhood%3C/a%3E%20should%20probably%20be%20worried.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnyway,%20thank%20you%20to%20the%20Killers%20for%20letting%20me%20come%20play,%20and%20also%20for%20the%20friendship.%20And%20thank%20you%20to%20my%20readers%20for%20loving%20my%20books.%20Come%20join%20us%20on%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.facebook.com/KillerFictionWriters%22%3EFacebook%3C/a%3E!%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://wrwdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/WashingtonLovesRomance-300x116.jpg%22%20imageanchor%3D%221%22%3E%3Cimg%20border%3D%220%22%20ea%3D%22true%22%20src%3D%22http://wrwdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/WashingtonLovesRomance-300x116.jpg%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnd%20if%20you're%20in%20the%20DC%20area,%20come%20join%20me%20on%20Sunday,%20February%2017%20at%20the%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.arlingtonrooftopbarandgrill.com/%22%3EArlington%20Rooftop%20Bar%20%26amp;%20Grill%3C/a%3E%20for%20the%20first%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://wrwdc.com/attend-the-romance-lovers-get-together-feb-17/%22%3ERomance%20Lovers%20Get%20Together%3C/a%3E.%20You'll%20enjoy%20complimentary%20drinks%20and%20appetizers%20--%20including%20a%20specialty%20cocktail%20named%20by%20Washington%20Loves%20Romance%20readers%20--%20in%20a%20fun,%20casual%20atmosphere.%20Prizes,%26nbsp;including%20a%20huge%20gift%20basket%20stuffed%20with%20all%20kinds%20of%20book%20goodies%20and%20a%20$50%20Amazon%20gift%20card,%20will%20be%20given%20away.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnd%20not%20only%20will%20it%20be%20fun,%20but%20you'll%20be%20raising%20money%20for%20an%20excellent%20cause.%20All%20profits%20generated%20during%20the%20event%20will%20go%20to%20the%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22http://www.washingtonliteracycenter.org/%22%3EWashington%20Literacy%20Center%3C/a%3E.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ASee%20ya!%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E)
.%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%26nbsp;%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0AStay%20in%20touch%20(don't%20make%20me%20come%20after%20you).%26nbsp;%20We'll%20see%20you%20over%20on%20Facebook!%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%26nbsp;%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0AWith%20love,%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0AThe%20Assassin%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%26nbsp;%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%EF%BB%BF%3C/div%3E)
I've been waiting for this movie to release ever since I saw the trailer, and finally Mama is in theaters. We went to see it Saturday night.
%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ATwo:%26nbsp;%20The%20holidays%20got%20my%20schedule%20all%20screwed%20up.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AThree:%20It's%20tax%20time%20and%20my%20head%20hurts.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AFour:%26nbsp;%20I%20started%20rewatching%20the%20previous%20seasons%20of%20Downton%20Abbey%20in%20preparation%20for%20Season%203's%20debut.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AFive:%20See%20reason%20one.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0ATo%20atone,%20I'm%20sending%20you%20cyber%20Valentine's%20Day%20cookies.%20Trust%20me.%20They're%20delicious.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3Ca%20href%3D%22https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav9sUyP4QQXATlhzhAtBneGNP-8YJ-emkAPbAi9jyOTTbEYagMizKDTAfQcTLUw99AjQe99oJgu6yuXCjTDGtWvzK6wA1KqhLhqpbJ_eN_Tf7Y5fGeWvRax5Mcu0pyv0Wj8oJ-Mqusw/s1600/VDay+cookies.jpg%22%20imageanchor%3D%221%22%3E%3Cimg%20border%3D%220%22%20height%3D%22240%22%20src%3D%22https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav9sUyP4QQXATlhzhAtBneGNP-8YJ-emkAPbAi9jyOTTbEYagMizKDTAfQcTLUw99AjQe99oJgu6yuXCjTDGtWvzK6wA1KqhLhqpbJ_eN_Tf7Y5fGeWvRax5Mcu0pyv0Wj8oJ-Mqusw/s320/VDay+cookies.jpg%22%20width%3D%22320%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAnd%20I'll%20try%20really,%20really%20hard%20not%20to%20forget%20to%20blog%20again.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cdiv%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%0A~Bullet%20Hole~)
%20Hopefully,%20I%20can%20let%20you%20in%20on%20it%20%0Asoon.%20In%20the%20mean%20time,%20I'm%20writing,%20brainstorming,%20writing%20some%20%0Amore...and%20realizing%20I%20may%20be%20too%20caught%20up%20in%20this%20whole%20thing.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AYou%0A%20see,%20I%20thought%20I%20was%20handling%20everything%20else.%20But%20recently,%20I've%20%0Alearned%20there%20are%20a%20few%20things%20slipping%20through%20the%20cracks.%20Nothing%20%0Ahuge.%20The%20kids%20are%20alive,%20the%20husband%20is%20happy,%20the%20dog%20has%20been%20fed%20(to%0A%20be%20fair,%20she%20has%20learned%20to%20bang%20her%20food%20bowl%20quite%20loudly).%20No,%20it's%20%0AChristmas%20decorations.%20They%20keep%20popping%20up%20-%20%3Ci%3EEverywhere%3C/i%3E.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AWe%0A%20took%20down%20the%20tree%20the%20weekend%20after%20Christmas.%20The%20wreaths%20are%20gone,%20%0Athe%20lights,%20everything%20big%20has%20been%20put%20away.%20But%20just%20when%20I%20think%20%0Awe've%20got%20things%20handled,%20we%20keep%20finding%20Christmas%20decorations.%20I'm%20okay%0A%20with%20the%20little%20reindeer%20door%20knob%20hanger%20left%20on%20the%20way%20out%20to%20the%20%0Adeck.%20How%20often%20do%20you%20use%20a%20deck%20with%20snow%20on%20it?%20And%20maybe%20the%20cookie%20%0Ajar%20is%20okay%20to%20miss%20-%20it's%20been%20such%20a%20fixture%20for%20the%20past%20month.%20But%20%0Alast%20night,%20I%20came%20walking%20down%20the%20main%20stairs%20and%20noticed%20we%20totally%20%0Aforgot%20about%20the%20garland%20on%20the%20hand%20rails%20-%20complete%20with%20blinky%20lights%0A%20that%20the%20kids%20had%20turned%20on.%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AHow%20does%20one%20miss%20blinky%20lights?%20For%20an%20entire%20week?%3Cbr%20/%3E%0A%3Cbr%20/%3E%0AAlas,%0A%20there%20is%20nothing%20to%20be%20done.%20Not%20really.%20This%20new%20project%20is%20too%20%0Afantastically%20fun.%20After%20it's%20finished,%20who%20knows?%20Maybe%20I'll%20find%20%0Asomething%20from%20Halloween.)
I started the year in Vegas with a man who I had known for some time but I had just started a relationship with. We went to a small party where (of all people) Huey Lewis and The News were playing. I've never been a Huey groupie but hey, why not, right? And as it turns out they put on a great show!
A fun start....but that new relationship was over by the end of January. I distracted myself by working overtime trying to complete what would be my 1st self-published novel. That was a HUGE learning curve. A reader volunteered to do the cover but I didn't even know what to request of her. I didn't know how to format the book for the different e-readers or for a paperback version...I was clueless. But through blood, sweat and tears I worked it out and by mid March Vanity, Vengeance & A Weekend In Vegas hit the virtual shelves. Phew!
