shannon mckelden

Moving!

2009-04-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm consolidating my life--well, my blog and my website anyway--into one handy-dandy spot. I'll no longer be updating blogger with entries, but I've not stopped blogging completely.

Just hop on over to my website, ShannonMcKelden.com, to find the latest news and entertainment! Don't forget to change your links and bookmarks!

See you there!

Missing in action!

2008-06-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

No worries, readers! I'm still alive and well...focusing on the new book and some other projects I have going. I will be updating at my website for now, whenever anything comes up new and noteworthy. So, to keep up with life in the McKelden household check there: www.shannonmckelden.com.

~Shannon

Fun contest giveaway!

2008-05-06T13:37:00.001-07:00

My friend Erin is giving away three great books (including mine) on her blog today! Go check it out!

Testing out a really cool feature...

2008-04-09T18:10:00.001-07:00

...to Microsoft Office 2007. I'm actually blogging from my Word program, which should publish straight into Blogger and also save a copy for me on my computer. Nifty if it works! Okay, I'm hitting "Publish" ....now!

[Added note: Fabulously cool! It really worked. Not sure if it will make me blog any more often, but still. ~ Shannon]

Anyone still here to hear my good news??!

2008-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, if you've come back here day after day after month...geez, it's been two months, folks! Don't you have a life? Anyway...if you've stuck with me this long, you get to hear the great news!

VENUS GUY TRAP, the sequel to VENUS ENVY will be published in early 2010! So for everyone who has been clamoring for the second book, we all finally have our wish. Thanks for sticking the wait out with me!

I'll try to post more often, I promise...however, I have a book to write! See you soon!

Shannon....and Venus!

What Would Venus Do?

2008-01-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Venus is visiting us today with a Q&A from our reader mail! When you're done taking Venus's most goddess-like advice, come visiting ME at ChickLitGurrl, where I've done an interview! Thanks to ChickLitGurrl for asking me to be part of your great site! - Shannon

Dear Venus,

I love shopping! But, my boyfriend says I spend more time shopping more than I do with him and it's either him...or Saks!! What would you do??
-- Have to make a choice in O.C.

Mmmm....shopping. We should get together and hit Rodeo Drive sometime!

The thing men don't get is that shopping is important. To our self esteem. To our social status. To the economy, for Zeus's sake! (Black Friday wouldn't exist without the shoppers who make it possible.)

Men need to look at shopping differently...as a skill that gets far too little credit. It takes as much stamina to make it through a Macy's Thanksgiving sale as it does to run for a 60-yard touchdown. (And we do it without the benefit of padding and safety helmets!) And any woman who's made a dive for the last pair of designer heels on the bargain table could teach baseball players a thing or two about sliding home. (It's all about how much you really want it.)

Before you forego Ferragamo, you could try convincing your man to take up shopping as a spectator sport. Remind him that it doubles as a workout if he carries your purchases. If that doesn't work, offer a little incentive. For every day of shopping you get, you'll buy a little something for him...and I don't mean a Dooney & Bourke handbag. Sexy lingerie is a gift you both can share.

Finally, ask yourself if he's right. As much as it pains me to say it, shopping really should be the second most important thing in your relationship. If you treat him like #1 most days, he won't be so jealous of your time with Barneys and Marc Jacobs.

Blog Tour - Sylvia Day

2008-01-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

HEAT OF THE NIGHT

by Sylvia Day

ISBN: 978-0061231032

HarperCollins Avon

January 8, 2008

Bad boys are her weakness and no one is as wicked as Connor Bruce… He is the realization of every woman’s erotic fantasies. Existing in the Twilight between sleep and consciousness, Connor brings them decadent pleasures, fueled by their sexual energy. But violence and strife now tear apart both worlds, and Connor must embark on a perilous quest into the mortal realm … and into the arms of one intoxicating enchantress. Stacey Daniels has always been attracted to the wrong type of men – and the muscular, Viking-like champion on her front doorstep is no exception. She can hardly believe the wounded warrior is from another world, a world where erotic dreams are needed to survive, a world of terrible danger that has followed him to her home. Connor finds solace in her passion, but only time will tell if he can defeat the dark foe who hunts them … and if Stacey can surrender to the promise he offers with every electrifying touch.

Excerpt: http://www.guardiannovels.com/novels/heat

ABOUT SYLVIA DAY
SYLVIA DAY is the national bestselling, award-winning author of over a dozen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. Her books have been called “wonderful and passionate” by WNBC.com, “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist, and frequently garner Readers’ Choice and Reviewers’ Choice accolades. She’s been honored with both the EPPIE award and a finalist nod for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence.

REVIEWS

“I highly recommend this book especially to readers who love fantasy romance.”– Paranormal Romance Writers

“Sylvia Day’s Guardians are deliciously spicy, especially the intensely sexual Connor. Love the paranormal world! Love the characters! Love the sizzling romance! Love Heat of the Night! Love Sylvia Day!”– Annmarie, Joyfully Reviewed

“Heat Of The Night is not only a love story, it’s also an extremely adventurous tale of good versus evil. I couldn’t stop reading, waiting to see what would happen. In this story, there were characters from the first book as well as new characters, both evil and good. The adventure and love story combine, woven together by a wonderful plot. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in Ms. Day’s marvelous series.”– Marcy Arbitman, The Romance Studio

“Day’s second installment in her Dream Guardian series starts off with a bang! Her hot and steamy sex scenes will leave readers breathless and aching for more. The hero and heroine are believable and well written, and the hero is rugged and definitely dreamy. With characters from the first book added in, as well as a mixture of new faces, plus dashes of paranormal elements, Day has a winning recipe.”– Janean Sparks, RT BOOKreviews

Website: http://www.dreamguardians.com/ http://www.sylviaday.com/

It's DeLovely....It's Delicious....It's Delightful!!

2008-01-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Not only is the new mass market version of VENUS ENVY on sale now, but I got a huge box of author copies today! It's glossy and colorful and that picture to to left doesn't do it justice at all.

So, I'm feeling generous. I'm giving a way 2 copies of VENUS ENVY, and as a bonus, I'm going to throw in 5 more books from various authors I know and love, just because I can!

There will be two prize packages:

Fabulous Prize Package #1:

1) Venus Envy, by Moi

2) Unbecoming Behavior, by Stephanie Rowe

3) Beyond the Edge, by Susan Kearney

4) Jane Millionaire, by Janice Lynn

5) Lip Lock, by Susanna Carr

6) Don't Look Down (hardback!), by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Fabulous Prize Package #2:

1) Venus Envy, by Moi

2) Unforgiven, by Lindsay McKenna

3) Silent Memories (signed copy!) by Pat White

4) Charmed & Dangerous, by Candace Havens

5) DirtyLittle Secrets, by Julie Leto

6) Passion, Betrayal, and Killer Highlights, by Kyra Davis

All of the above books are by authors I've read and loved.

So, how can I make this a little bit difficult? How about this: The first two people to find the mass market copy of VENUS ENVY (with the cover as above) in a bookstore and who send me pictures of themselves holding the book, win one of the two lovely packages above. Send the picture and the name of the bookstore where you found it, along with your name to:

shannon(AT)shannonmckelden.com

Now hit those bookstores find me some Venus!!

~ Shannon

My Love/Hate Relationship With Christmas

2007-12-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

A few days ago (okay, maybe a WEEK ago), Christina tagged me for a Christmas MeMe of my favorite things about Christmas. I was gonna do it. I swear. Except the more I thought about it, the more I felt like a big fat liar. And since I'm trying to slide under Santa's Radar of naughtiness, I figured I couldn't complete the meme without getting put down on the naughty list for lying.

So, giving it some thought, I realized that what I have is a love/hate relationship with the holidays. I WANT to love the holidays, but there's just something (about everything) that stops me.

So, with no further ado, my own Christmas MeMe of Honesty:

1) I love....the beauty of Christmas. The decorations and twinkly lights, the smell of fresh-cut fir trees, the colorful ornaments and packages.

I hate....the beauty of Christmas. Do you know how freaking long it takes drag the boxes of all that crap out of storage?? I hate the time it takes to decorate and second-guessing myself on what looks goods. I hate the fact that those lovely-smelling fir trees are like blow torches waiting to happen...I simply don't get a single good night's sleep as long as that thing is in my living room. I hate turning the lights on them, sure we're going to get a short and burn the place down. (Solved this last year with the necessity to get a fake tree, but the feeling still lingers.)

Even worse, I hate taking all that pretty crap down. Do you know how freaking long it takes to stuff all that stuff back into the boxes and drag them all back out to storage??? ONLY to discover a day later that you forgot something??? Last year we forgot a 1-1/2-feet-tall ceramic Christmas tree that lights up. We left it on top of the desk in the living room until we drug out the decorations again this year. And, no. I'm not kidding.

2) I love....the food. The frosted cookies, the home-backed goodies, the egg nog, the pies.

I hate...the food. How many pounds do I have to pack on every year during the holidays before I learn my lesson? Apparently at least another ten. At our family gathering a few weeks ago, I ate all this stuff I don't normally get to eat until I was nearly comatose. Then, my cousins brought their traditional homemade English toffee, all sugary and chocolatey and topped with crunchy slivers of almonds--one of my all-time, once-a-year favorites. It was as delish as I remembered! Then, somehow I ended up leaving the party with an entire bucket of the leftover English toffee. Did I mention that no one in my house eats it but me? And did I mention that I ate almost nothing else BUT the English toffee for the next four days until it was finally gone?? Give me one good reason this is a GOOD thing.

3) I love...Christmas carols. They are so sweet and sentimental, remind me of childhood and goodwill and the real reason for Christmas.

I hate...Christmas carols. Because, you see, I have this sickening sentimental/emotional side, and when I hear said lovely carols that remind me of my childhood and goodwill and the real reason for Christmas...I cry. And, do I want to cry for the entire month of December? Not really. Ditto Christmas movies. The deepest Christmas movie I've watched over the last few years is The Santa Clause, and even that was pushing it. So, I've listened to exactly 1 Christmas CD this year, avoid it on the radio like the plague, and have managed to avoid ANY Christmas movies this year, even though Darling Daughter taped the entire 25 Days of Christmas Movies on Lifetime Channel and they are sitting on the TiVo just waiting to be watched. Not.

4) I love...gift giving. Ah. Finding the perfect gift for your loved one. Isn't that the best feeling ever?! I know they are going to adore it, it's what they've always wanted, or something they mentioned that I actually remembered they mentioned. I can't wait to see their face when they open it and light up at the sheer joy of receiving this gift!

I hate...gift giving. Ennnhhh. The above never happens. I NEVER remember what people want for Christmas, except when it's NOT Christmas, and by the time it IS Christmas, they've already got what they wanted, so I'm back to square one. What the heck is the JOY of calling up your family members and begging them to give you a list of what they want, while they beg you back for a list of what YOU want. Then, you go on your respective searches to fulfill each other's wish lists, often unable to find what they want (because you really aren't sure what the heck a "mandoline" is, for instance). You search high and low, check and recheck the lists, your budget, the UPS tracking system (to see if you are actually going to GET the gift you spent days tracking down before the holiday and could only find at some obscure dotcom which is probably just stealing your credit card number and not planning on sending you anything in return), and then wrap the suckers you aren't even sure they are going to like.

Um, wouldn't be easier and a lot more joyful, if everyone just bought their own gift, wrapped it up, and opened it on Christmas?? It would save EVERYONE a boatload of hassle. (This is a reciprocal hatred, I'm sure. I have no doubt people hate buying for me as much as I hate buying for them.)

5) I love...spending time with my family. We have a blast together, enjoy each other's company, and all get along.

I hate...spending time with my family. At the holidays anyway. See above, #4. It's all about the damn gifts. I think I got my brother a great gift this year (not something from a list for once), but the PRESSURE of wondering if he's going to think it's as wonderful as I think it is, or if it's not quite right, or not the right color, or is missing feature he really would want in this item...the pressure is killing me. Why do we put ourselves through this??? I have much more fun with my family when we're just hanging out and under no obligation to buy each other anything. My gift to them is my presence. (I can hear the snorting now!)

So, call me Grinch if you like, but that's the Truth about Christmas for me. And for all you who wax poetic about the joy of the Season...more power to you.

~Shannnon

Blog Tour

2007-12-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

[I knew this would happen, though not so quickly...having my "to read" book list messed up. I think I need to go through my Amazon Wish List, where I keep track of the books coming out that I want to read, and add those books to my list. I will NOT miss this book. Gena's Alien Huntress books are awesome! Check out the first two books in the series, Awaken Me Darkly and Enslave Me Sweetly, if you haven't read them! ~ Shannon]

SAVOR ME SLOWLY
by Gena Showalter
(Pocket) December 26, 2007

Mishka Le’Ace was created to be an undercover operative . . . literally. Her beautiful body has been mechanically augmented to give her superhuman strength -- strength she’s going to need. Her latest mission sends her to rescue Alien Investigation and Removal agent Jaxon Tremain from torture and death. With him, she discovers a passion unlike any other. A passion she was forbidden to know. . .

From the moment they meet in a darkened cell, Jaxon craves her touch. But the machine half of Le’Ace forces her to do things she doesn’t always want to do. Even betray him . . . and ultimately destroy him. Now Jaxon must battle the man controlling Le’Ace and even Le’Ace herself to at last claim the woman he’s come to love.

ABOUT GENA SHOWALTER:
Gena Showalter sold her first book at the age of 27. Three years later, at the ripe old age of 30, she had sold an amazing total of 15 books in a multitude of genres: paranormal romance, contemporary chick lit/romance hybrid, young adult and urban fantasy. Her books provide something for every fan of fiction. For more information about Gena and her novels, you can visit her website at http://www.genashowalter.com/ and her blog at http://www.genashowalter.blogspot.com/

REVIEWS:
In versatile Showalter’s new futuristic novel, the world teeters on the edge of disaster unless a tough band of human and alien allies can stop it. Danger spiced with sizzling sensuality are definitely hallmarks of Showalter’s style. Kicking butt and taking names is what these protagonists do best which cranks up the action quotient for this intense new book! – Romantic Times

One of the premiere authors of paranormal romance.” New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole

SAVOR ME SLOWLY is the third and strongest installment in Gena Showalter’s Alien Huntress series. As riveting as the previous two books were this one is better. Fresh Fiction

The characters in this book are flawlessly drawn. . . Science fiction at its best! So if you’ve never picked up a story by this talented author, now is the time to start. Two Lips Reviews -- 5 lips, their highest rating!

Gena's Website

Standing out

2007-12-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

So, I thought I'd do my year-end book round-up early this year (mostly because I can't think of another blog topic at the moment). Last year (2006), I read 74 books...this year (2007), I've read 73 as of today, and figure I'll probably get at least three more read before the end of the year. I find it really interesting that I'm so close to last year's count without even trying.

I feel like I can analyze my books now, before finishing out the year, since I know what the next few books are that I am going to read, and they don't fit in any particular niche for me, other than finishing up a series I've really enjoyed. Catching up will be nice!

Last year my goal was to read more YA and more new-to-me authors. You can read that round-up here, and see that I did exactly that. This year my goal was much less defined. Thankfully. Since nothing really stood out as a goal or an accomplishment. I just read for the joy of it!

I only read 7 YA books this year, which I have to say really surprised me. Last year, I read 24. I supposed if I counted the Harry Potter books, I actually read 10 YA's, but I really can't put them in that category (and neither would Jo Rowling).

Last year, my new-to-me authors added up to 42 out of 74, a resounding success in meeting that goal. This year, I read only 23 new authors. Why? Not really sure. Several of the new authors I read this year, I ended up reading several other books they had written later in the year...which I guess is a good thing, right? Means that I was picking up on new-to-me authors who will be repeats for me. These include authors like Nalini Singh, Stephanie Rowe, and JR Ward. I just glanced over last year's book list and I notice that, while I read a lot of new authors, not so many of them were (or will be) authors I choose to read again or add to my auto-buy list of authors. Does that mean my choices were better this year? Not sure.

There were definitely a lot of stand-outs this year, though! Looking for fun books? You can't go wrong with Jackie Kessler, Stephanie Rowe, Janet Evanovich, Serena Robar, and Jennifer Crusie/Bob Mayer. Looking for more dramatic/romantic/serious books? My favorites were by Nalini Singh, Jane Porter, Joshilyn Jackson, Lani Diane Rich, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sarah Addison Allen, Kristin Hannah, and Diane Setterfield.

What about the authors that just provided a damn good book? Who do I go back to time and again...not necessarily because they deliver a book that punches me in the gut (like Kristin Hannah or Jane Porter), but because I know what I'm getting with them every single time? Suzanne Brockmann, JR Ward, Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

I'm really happy with what I read this year. An interesting stand-out was the book I just finished. The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. This one was purchased because it was really popular and sounded good. But it was very different than my norm. NOT a romance at all, it had a decidedly gothic flavor to it. Took me back to my day of reading Mary Stewart and Phyllis Whitney (as well as others I probably can't remember). I read The Thirteenth Tale very quickly, but throughout the entire reading, I couldn't have told you that I loved it, or what it was about it that kept my interest. The mystery of it? The mood? The way Setterfield sucked you into the story and you couldn't stop reading until the entire truth was revealed? Whatever it was, it was a great change from my typical.

Another standout would be my reading of the JR Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood series...again totally atypical for me (dark paranormal), but these truly grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let me go. I read the first 4 books in the series in just 10 days, which was phenomenally fast for me. Her world-building is fabulous!

And just because I didn't mention every book here, doesn't mean I didn't love them. In fact there are only a couple on the list that I'd have called mediocre (and NO, I'm not going to say which ones). In fact, this was a big year for not finishing books for me. If I didn't get hooked pretty quickly, I didn't waste my time. I never used to be able to do that...and no I don't feel guilty about it. My time is precious.

So, for 2008, my plan is to read a some new authors, more YA, and to clean out as many of the books I have purchased in the last couple of years as I can. No more lounging on my shelves waiting to be read! In fact, one day, while locked away in my daughter's room, in her comfy chair, "working on my nonfiction articles", I got sucked into browsing our library. I opened a document and started listing the books I really, really want to read...mixing it up with YA, new authors, contemporaries, suspense, non-romance novels, historicals, etc. I ended up with a list of 46 books! That's a half year's worth of reading if I read at the speed I've read the past two years...and that doesn't even count any newly published books I want.

I think this next year will be full of good reading!

A MeMe of Randomness

2007-11-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, Christina tagged me for this days ago, and I finally have a minute to post.

First, the rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Don't drink anything over the keyboard while reading this meme on other pages.
4. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
5. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
6. Stretch.
7. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

So, here goes. The following is a list of Seven Random Facts you may not know about me:

1) I suffer from "cosmetic laziness." I rarely wear makeup, but when I do, I never take it off before I go to bed. I brush my teeth, but the makeup stays on. I thus wake up with raccoon eyes from where my mascara smears during the night. It's probably a good thing I don't wear makeup very often, or my skin would be a complete mess.

2) It's quite possible that I ate a slug when I was 3 years old. At least to hear my dad tell it. He was salting slugs around the yard and I was toddling around behind him. When he turned to see what I was doing, I had slug slime and salt on my fingers and around my mouth. I argue that I just touched it and then touched my mouth (which is sick enough in and of itself)...but this is one argument neither of us will ever win since only God knows the truth.

3) Everything my family knows we learned from the Simpsons. My son, when asked a random question about God one day, quoted Ned Flanders. I contemplated teaching him the facts of life beginning with "Sponge Bob is not a contraceptive," something Bart had to write on the blackboard for a school infraction in the opening credits of one episode. Many of our family conversations begin with, "Remember that episode where Homer..."

4) Mine and my husband's first date was to the movie Bambi. We were going to go with friends, as a group, but they backed out at the last minute, which made it a "date." We left that movie very "twitterpated" and had our first kiss in my driveway afterward. The kiss was really lousy, because neither of us knew what the heck we were doing. We got better at it. :-)

5) I love to read and watch movies...however, the moment I have read or watched, I completely forget what it was about. I can usually tell you whether I liked the book or movie, and maybe something really vague about it (it was about a boy who went to wizard school), but details are completely lost on me. There are probably only a handful of books I could ever recall well enough to explain to someone. This makes it difficult to recommend books or movies to people also: "I have no clue what it was about, but it was fabulous! You'll have to take my word for it." Don't even try to get me to dissect the specifics of a book with you. The facts are lost deep within my brain somewhere to never be found again.

6) My nickname in high school was Hugo. I was christened this by my German teacher, Mr. Peluso (possibly the funnest teacher ever!). In class, we had to read little skits in German to practice speaking the language aloud. For some reason, one day, I got stuck reading the part of Hugo...which turned into a huge joke. My best friend and boyfriend (now hubby) had buttons made that said, "Have you hugged your Hugo today?" and wore them all around school until practically everyone called me that.

7) I am apparently so boring that it took three of us 30 minutes to come up with 6 random facts about me that were interesting enough to post.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because Christina tagged everyone I know. :-)

In love...

2007-11-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

...with my new furniture.

Is it a sad commentary that I have never owned a piece of new furniture aside from a desk and mattresses? Everything I've ever sat on, eaten at, or illuminated my house with has been a hand-me-down. It just never seemed important that it be new.

I have now discovered that the after-effects of new furniture are like the after-effects of getting a highlight and cut at my favorite salon. I feel beautiful!

The loveseat is the PERFECT writing seat! I wrote 5.5 pages today. The whole family had movie night last night, because we could actually all sit comfortably in the living room, watching a beautiful tv highlighted by a lovely entertainment unit. And they asked to do it again next weekend!

Furniture has brought the family together. :-)

4 Blogs I Love to Read

2007-10-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

1) Post Secret - This blog posts just what its title implies...secrets. People mail in their secrets, with the idea being that it's easier to confess our secrets to strangers, anonymously, and that confession is good for the soul. Some of the secrets are just funny, some are poignant. Some have made me laugh. Some have made me gasp. This is a fabulous blog...and what a source of ideas for characters! Every character has a secret, after all.

2) Midnight Hour - The 6 authors who participate in this blog lend such a variety of topics, writing styles, and ideas, that it's never boring. The authors include Cheyenne McCray, Lilith Saintcrow, Kathy Love, Stephanie Rowe, Alexis Morgan, and Michelle Rowen. There are lots of contests and guest authors to boot!

3) Jane Porter's Blog - Even if you've never read Jane's books, you're sure to enjoy her blog. She's one of the most honest people I know, which I think is what makes her books so fantastic. Her blog has been alternately hysterical, tear-jerking, and informational...all depends on her mood.

4) Dear Author - A romance friendly blog of reviews and industry news. Jane, Jayne, and Janine have varying tastes, so there's something for ever romance reader. I've read a few books outside of my normal tastes based on their in-depth reviews, which I've turned out to really enjoy!

Article prep and other stuff

2007-10-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy with prepping for articles...3 this month and 1 in advance for next month. The articles themselves are usually quick and painless, but keeping track of sources and interviews and planning is crazy sometimes.

I've recently acquired and read two of the books from my Most Wanted list from a few days ago...Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward was the first. Fab-U-Lous! I adore these books, and I really don't know why. I am so caught up in her world, in the characters, in their stories. There were a few surprises in this one, one "disappointment" that really wasn't a disappointment, but more of a "okay, if that's the way we have to do it, we'll do it that way" type of thing, but as a whole completely satisfying and wonderful. I LOVED Jane, the heroine, as well as Vishous, the hero. I hadn't been so sure about the hero/heroine of the last book in this series, so it was nice to go back to being really invested in the love story part of the book.

Also, I received the ARC for Stephanie Rowe's, Sex & the Immortal Bad Boy. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Stephanie!! If you guys haven't read this series, you totally should. (Um, Mizzz K, I'm talking to you! These books are right up your hysterical alley. Contact me for more info about where you should start.)

Here's the blurb from the book, as I stink at blurbs and wouldn't do it justice:

IF THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS...
Paige Darlington is finally free of the literal boss from hell—Satan. There's just one hitch: she's been cursed, and will soon lose her soul. The only way to reverse this ultimate buzz kill is to skinny dip in one of Heaven's cleansing moats. But Heaven has defenses against girls like Paige…and they typically involve being charred to a crisp.

MAYBE THE ROAD TO HEAVEN IS PAVED WITH SEXY ONES.
Jed Buchanan, shadow warrior and Satan Jr.'s favorite assassin, is on a fast track to hell. Until sexy, spirited former Rivka Paige Darlington begs him to help her sneak past the pearly gates. Heaven's no place for a man as dark as Jed, but one look at Paige's sensual eyes and long legs and he knows one thing for sure – he's in for a hell of a hot ride…

If you want an excerpt, check here.

This book was just a fireball of fun! I'm not kidding. I adored Paige from the first time I met her in the last book (He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot), and Jed was the perfect guy for her.

Stephanie's writing is fun, her grasp of how to create conflict for her characters is outstanding, and I find myself wanting to go back. I've read the first in this series (Date Me Baby One More Time) twice so that I could read all of the last three together, and it was just as great the second time as the first.

So, check these out, you won't be sorry!

~Shannon

Writer Montage

2007-10-08T08:45:00.001-07:00

Enjoy this fun montage of clips from movies depicting writers. It's a kick! Any RWA members who attended the awards banquet in Atlanta (?) a few years ago will recognize it. :-) - Shannon

How I'd Like My Writing Days to Go

2007-10-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

So, I had to miss the September Eastside RWA Chapter meeting, but all my friends went, and they were completely inspired by Susan Mallery's talk on how to write more. She spoke about how to be more productive in the amount of time you have. I'm definitely going to put her methods into play. In just the last two days (not using this method but just on the sheer rush of "I don't have to have surgery, so I'm going to write instead!), I've written 15 pages. Yay me!

Anyway, I think we all have an idea of what we'd like our writing lives to be like. Assuming I'm not going to win the lottery and be able to quit my job tomorrow, I decided to do a little creative dreaming about how my ideal writing day would unfold:

5:30 a.m. - Roll out of bed, dress, work (on the 2 mornings a week that I work) or check e-mail, work on nonfiction article prep/writing, do desk work.

8:30 a.m. - Take GameBoy and Nephew to school.

9:30 a.m. - Any household chores done, fresh cup of coffee on hand, settle down with laptop to work on today's pages. Ideally, I'd like to get 10 pages done each day in a 3-1/2-hour period (giving me 50 pages per week). I've done this before (we're talking first draft), it can totally be done again. I'll have to work up to it, I'm sure. (I've done approximately 7-1/2 pages each of the last two days, so I think I may have to work up to 10 pages).

1:00 p.m. - Put the writing away, and do a bit of prep work, for tomorrow...what I plan to write, maybe a brief outline for the next day, so that I have something to think about for the evening.

1:30 p.m. - Start "real" job.

7:30 p.m. - Finish "real" job. Of course, in between there's a break to debrief my sister-in-law on the day and deliver Nephew into her hands, a break to make dinner, then finishing up work. Ideally, I'd like to make my line/report goal every day within this period of time.

I've never been much of a TV watcher, but I have to admit, there are quite a few on my agenda this season. I want my evenings free to do so. If there's nothing on the tube, I can do more prep work, work on my articles, etc., to free up a bit more writing time during the week. Weekends will be for editing what I wrote the week before and, again, getting work done on the freelance articles if necessary.

So that's the dream. What's your dream day look like...writer or not?

A Wag-Worthy Day

2007-10-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Silly title for a blog? Not really. I got the idea from my friend Elizabeth Boyle's blog entry about bumper stickers and...wagging vs barking. Check it out!

So why is today a wag-worthy day? My surgery got canceled! Yay me! I was originally scheduled to go in tomorrow for surgery that wasn't going to be very pleasant (though not life-threatening...any more than any surgery is anyway). However, the necessity for the surgery completely disappeared over the last 2-3 weeks! A miracle? It feels like it to me anyway. I left my "preop" appointment yesterday grinning like a fool and haven't stopped since. :-)

So, the plan is to get back on a writing schedule! Starting....as soon as I stop wagging. :-)

What's got you wagging today???

~Shannon

Book I Want To Write

2007-09-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

Crazy week here with rearranged work schedule to accommodate medical appointments, GameBoy breaking off half a front (permanent) tooth, requiring emergency repair, etc. Good grief!

Fun stuff happened though...a trip to Bellevue for the booksigning of Jane Porter's ODD MOM OUT. I wish I could have stayed for the party afterward, but I learned my lesson about wearing my very-rarely-worn contacts when I can't take Excedrin for the headache they are sure to give me. Arghh! Oh well, the bonus to missing the party was getting home in time to watch Grey's Anatomy, which was a sigh of relief. I missed it so much!! And now that Burn Notice is on hiatus for 8 months or so, I needed some more eye candy. :-)

So, I came up with this list of books I'd like to write.

1) A book just like Twilight, by Stephenie Meyers, only not that. A YA that's a little bit dark and edgy, but also humorous. Like with vampires, only not vampires. Hehe....Couldn't resist after that video the other day.
2) Funny women's fiction - Chick lit, if I dare call it that. It may have "fallen from favor," but I still love to write it and to read it. Not sure if a place for it will still be out there or in what incarnation, but I still want to write it.
3) A mystery/suspense. I love the chick lit-like mysteries out there, and I have a few ideas. I'd love to have a continuing series.
4) Romantic comedy - This is really close to the idea of women's fiction, the only difference being, I think, the idea that the women's fiction may have less to do with the romance than the woman herself. Not sure I could ever write one that didn’t have a romance in it, but there is a subtle difference.
5) A deeply emotional women's fiction novel... still with the requisite happy ending, don't get me wrong. But I'm not opposed to some angst in the middle.

What would you love to write?

Shannon

Editors and Writers

2007-09-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Too funny! Thank fully, I've not had this experience. Although the voices in my head frequently sound exactly like this. -
Shannon

5 Book I'm Looking Forward To

2007-09-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

1) Jane Porter's - Odd Mom Out - Jane is a good friend of mine, but that really has nothing to do with loving her books. A few years ago Jane branched out from a successful career writing Harlequin Presents to writing Chick lit/women's fiction/whatever you want to call it. She struck gold as far as I'm concerned. Her first, Frog Prince, was poignant and touching. Her second, Flirting With Forty, was made me sigh and smile and cry just a little. Odd Mom Out is next up...we're going to pick that up at a signing and book launch party on Thursday night, and I can't wait. I've been told by some who've read it already that is may be Jane's best book yet.

2) J.R. Ward's - Lover Unbound - I know I'm going to love it. I adore Vishous and I want to know his story. The other books in Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series have been at the top of my favorites list this year.

3) Jackie Kessler's - The Road to Hell - Oh, my favorite ex-succubus is back! I can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! Jess was such fun in Hell's Belles, I just know she's going to entertain again.

4) Stephanie Rowe's - Sex & the Immortal Bad Boy - Stephanie's books are a crack up. Seriously (or comedically, really) you never, NEVER know what will happen next, but it's sure to be worse that you thought it possible could be. Her talent amazes me...I've read the first book in this series, Date Me Baby, One More Time, TWICE. Not a common occurrence for me. This latest installment is about Paige, and I adored Paige! As a bonus, I just found out I get to read a copy early! Yay! and thanks, Stephanie! I will sing your praises all over the net! :-)

5) PC and Kristin Cast's - Betrayed: A House of Night Novel (Book 2) - I recently read the first book by this mother/daughter team, Marked. They've created an intriguing and different Vampire world, which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to the further adventures of Zoey Redbird.

What's Up, Pussycat?

2007-09-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm still alive for all of you who've been wondering.

If you haven't been wondering, that's okay, too. I can't be the center of the universe for everyone.

So, what have I been up to in my long absence? Um, nothing exciting. When I tried to explain why I hadn't updated my blog in two months, one of my coworkers had it just about right: What's so exciting about, "I got out of bed this morning. I worked 8 hours. I went back to bed."? Not a damn thing, I'm telling you.

Shocking, isn't it, to discover the life of a writer is boring as white bread sometimes.

But, seriously...I've been, um, in a slump? I really hate to admit that. I always swore this wouldn't happen to me.

I was also sure as soon as school was back in session that slump would begin to un-slump. Only that hasn't been the case. Not only has life conspired to keep me from getting into a writing routine again (still playing Mom Taxi, some medical issues to take care of in the next few weeks), but I've been stuck. What do I want to write? Where do I fit in?

It's not that I haven't been thinking about writing. I've actually done quite a bit of studying of the craft, which is really important. I've been listening to the RWA National Workshops CDs...I recommend Michael Hague especially, as well as the no-punches-pulled chat with The Nora. Then, I watched a DVD workshop by Michael Hague and Chris Vogler that I've had for years and never watched. It was fabulous...the same info Michael gave at National, but expanded. Highly recommended!

October's going to be a big (and hopefully Inspiring with a capital I) month for me. I'm attending a workshop by Donald Maass, based on his Writing the Breakout Novel book, which I'm sooo looking forward to. Then, to be further inspired, I'll be attending the Emerald City Conference, put on by the Greater Seattle Chapter of RWA, at the end of the month, which never fails to light a fire under my behind. I was finally able to finish VENUS ENVY after a weekend at that Conference in 2004. I so missed being at National this year that I need ECWC more than ever, I think. Bonding and breaking bread with 200 or 2000 romance writers is like the Red Bull of inspiration.

Anyway, I'm going to strive to blog on a more regular basis. I know there are people watching me. My coworkers (Hi, Ladies!), whom I have come to know and really enjoy through X-Chat (since we live all over the country and have never met), discovered I have a blog, so I've been warned to update. And, Mizz K, though she restrains herself for the most part, sometimes just breaks down and has to beg. J

I promise I'll try harder.

The Impotence of Proofreading By Taylor Mali

2007-08-09T20:25:00.001-07:00

I think I've become addicted to YouTube! Is there a 12-step program? But really, this was pointed out to me by one of my agency sistahs, and it's hysterical!

Romance Novel

2007-08-09T12:04:00.001-07:00

Enjoy! This totally cracked me up!

The End of Harry Potter - no spoilers

2007-07-25T09:18:00.001-07:00

Well, like much of the rest of the world my weekend was devoted solely to Harry. With book #6, I didn't read it right away. In fact, I didn't read it until just a few months ago...and by then I knew that Dumbledore had died (though not at whose hand). It wasn't a surprise when I read it.

This time I wanted it to be different. I wanted to know, right along with everyone else, who died, who lived, if Harry triumphed, or if it was Voldemort. I couldn't bear the idea of hearing it second-hand this time.

Darling Daughter and I preordered our copies from Amazon, guaranteed to arrive Saturday. DD works at a PostNet store in town, so when her dad dropped her off at work Saturday at 9:30 a.m., she was anticipating having to wait for the books. Well, they were already there! So, my husband arrives home, I report that DD has called and the books are there. He offers to go back to get my copy. I, of course, having 8 hours of work left to do for the day, say no. He, of course, being married to me for 21 years, knows I'm lying through my teeth and goes back anyway. (Gotta love the guy!)

He delivers my book and I allow GameBoy (my 11 yo son) the honors of opening it. We very, very sneakily try to see how many pages it is without seeing what the last word of the book might be. 759. Wow. That's going be a push. Hubby, seeing the really sad, sad look on GameBoy's face, because he is going to have to wait until Darling Daughter or I finish one of our copies before he can read it, decides to bargain chores out of him in exchange for a trip back to the store to get his own copy. Sad. We are so sad. A family of 4 with 3 copies of the same book because none of us wants to wait.

It was worth it. :-)

GameBoy started it at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. I started it at 5:01 p.m., the moment I finished work, and Darling Daughter started it by 6:00 p.m.

GameBoy finished it at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. (Did I mention he's 11? That's my boy!)

Darling Daughter finished it at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. (No surprise there.)

I finished it at 5:30 p.m. Sunday (slowpoke!).

We spent much of the previous three days avoiding TV, the radio, the internet, and delivery owls who may have been tempted to ruin the suspense for us. We succeeded in remaining in the dark, although a few times I had to yell at GameBoy (some 200 pgs ahead of me and reading in the same room) to stop gasping and making faces, because I didn't want to know!

I was so happy with the book. I loved that Rowling didn't sugar coat it. That there were deaths as she promised. I realized later, though I cried wholeheartedly at those deaths, that, being a war, had there been no deaths...no meaningful deaths...or only faceless deaths...it would have diminished the importance of the war. It would have minimalized what Harry had just spent the last 7 years doing....fighting against evil. Not just for himself, but for everyone. Those deaths all meant something.

So to any parents out there worried that their kids shouldn't be exposed to death, guess what? Your kids will be exposed to death (or already have been) for the whole of their lives. Rowling didn't betray anyone or kill off characters just for kicks. She allowed characters to sacrifice for a good cause. And they all did it with valor and bravery.

I'm sad to see that the series is over. I think, someday, I may read them all again, beginning to end, just to pick up on all the things I know I missed.

But in the meantime, thanks, Jo, for sharing with us your incredible imagination.

~Shannon

Making Romance Hip

2007-07-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

You know it's a real concern for a lot of romance writers these days...how do we bring in the next generation of romance readers if all we have to offer are the mainstays we've lived with for the last 20-30 years? I think the upswing of paranormal romances has helped, riding on the popularity of Buffy to grab a few readers. But is that enough?

Dorchester decided it wasn't and created a line of books for the next generation of readers. With hip Manga-style covers, they are sure to attract readers who wouldn't look twice at a clinch cover or a cover with pretty flowers on it. And, once these readers are hooked on the Happy Ever After ending, they become our new readers. It's like passing on a legacy.

So, with the SHOMI line of books, Dorchester is inviting a new flood of potential romance readers to take a look and try us out. I think it's brilliant! And a friend, Marianne Mancusi, is one of the fab new authors to introduce romance to our next generation. Rock on, Mari!!

MOONGAZER

by Marianne Mancusi
Dorchester, August 2007

Imagine every night entering a nightmare world you can't escape and being told your life is a dream. Skye Brown has it all: the cool job, the hot boyfriend, the apartment on New York's Upper West Side. But lately she can't enjoy any of it. She's having dreams of a post-apocalyptic world. Of a bleak futuristic wasteland. Of a struggle against oppression. And she's been told she's a...

MOONGAZER
But what is that? And what is reality? In her dreams, she's not Skye Brown at all, but Mariah Quinn. In her dreams there's Dawn, the beautiful yet haunted soldier, and Skye is but the empty shell of a girl he once loved. And there was a betrayal, a great betrayal. Ripped between Dark Siders and club kids, the mundane and the mystic, Skye must discover who she is, what she wants and who wants her. And why. But in the glow of the moon, it's not always easy to recognize the face in the mirror.

Excerpt:
http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/SpecialFeatures.cfm?Special_ID=2222

ABOUT MARIANNE MANCUSI
When it comes to writing, award winning author Marianne Mancusi doesn't like to play by the rules. A multiple Emmy award winning television producer, she sold 11 novels to three publishers (Dorchester, Berkley, Dutton Children's) in less than three years. Marianne has worked in television stations in Orlando, San Diego, and Boston. A graduate of Boston University's College of Communications, she currently produces for a nationally syndicated lifestyle show. She lives in Manhattan's Upper West Side .

REVIEWS
“Exhilarating! Once I started, I couldn’t put this book down!”
– New York Times Bestselling Author Gena Showalter

"Dreams, reality and virtual reality collide in Mancusi’s exciting and frightening new futuristic thriller.”
- Romantic Times Magazine 4 Star Review

"An enthralling combination of The Matrix and Snow Crash with a bit of Blade Runner thrown into the mix.”
- SF Scope

Website: http://www.mariannemancusi.com/

Who'da thought?

2007-07-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

I may have touched on this topic before, but it still so surprises me that I have to bring it up yet again.

If someone had told me, a die-hard, straight contemporary romance reader, that I would become a die-hard paranormal/fantasy reader, I'd have laughed in their face. I didn't read books with silly stuff like that in it. Witches? Pshaw! Angels? Get out! Um, demon heroines who's sole job it is to sexually attract men and suck the life force from them? Get. Real.

I was only into "real" books. (Yes, I know that romances are pretty much a fantasy and rarely resemble real life, but you know what I mean. I liked my fantasy reality based.)

But, that last example up there about the sexual, soul-sucking demon? Just finished Succubus Blues, by Richelle Mead, and guess what it's about? Yep, you guessed it in one. And, guess what? It was fabulous! I laughed, and best of all, I loved the characters so much by the end (yes, even the DEMONS), that I cried. A lot, I'm not too proud to admit.

Mead (who is another Pacific NW author, yay! Maybe I'll get to meet her in person sometime.) created, not just characters, but real people. People who might, on the outside, or by their labels, be considered good or evil, but who didn't fit into any expected mold. People who, though they may not have any choice but to accept their labels, don't have to like it...and hold on to the hope that they can, maybe, someday, if they wish hard enough, be who they really want to be. Maybe that's what I enjoyed most about the book.

I really can't tell you what's turned me around in my choices of reading. Why'd I go from strictly books that I felt I could relate to, to books that, seriously, aren't in any way, shape, or form, a possibility? (Well, actually, I suppose we don't really know what's truly out there, do we? Maybe it is all real.)

When I was a kid, I loved books about witches and magic and ghosts and stuff. Maybe I've reverted to my childhood fantasies, where all that stuff wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Maybe books like Harry Potter opened up doors for adults as much as children, reminding us that it's okay to reach out and accept the magic of life.

So, what has surprised you in your reading choices? Have you ever picked up a book, or a genre of book, sure you wouldn't like it, only to find out that you're hooked?

Oh, and go pick up Succubus Blues. It rocks!

~ Shannon

Anyone want to win a book??

2007-07-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

My good buddy, Erin, is giving away Dating4Demons, a book by another good buddy of mine, Serena Robar! Check out Erin's blog to win! I read Dating4Demons just last week and it was awesome!! Go, read, win!

Vacation's over....sigh.

2007-07-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

While I would be lying to say I didn't miss being at the RWA National Conference last week, I have to say I am extremely proud of what I got done at home. I read a lot, finished plotting my book (with Serena's help), completely outlined the book for reference while I write it, wrote the synopsis and about 10-12 pages. So, I did a lot...a lot that I would NOT have done if I'd been at the conference.

So, I have to think of it in terms of which furthered my goal of getting another book sold. I think I came out ahead by staying at home. If I'd gone to conference, even if I networked my butt off, I would still have been at the point of floudering about this book...what was it about, where was I going with it. And, now, I'm not.

Sometimes it's NOT about networking or marketing or revitalizig or, um, socializing. :-) Sometimes it's about sitting your butt in the chair and writing. At least that's what I'm telling myself so I don't feel bad about missing all the fun.

But, on the other hand, I completely, utterly, and truly believe it, too.

~Shannon

Going too fast

2007-07-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Why do vacations always seem to fly by? I can't believe I only have 2-1/2 days left. Very depressing.

But I've accomplished some things....
1) Play date that was really a work date...got the rest of my WIP plot ironed out. Love it!
2) Went to the beach with my family for the first time in about 3 years. Lovely!
3) Finished inputting my WIP plot onto the computer.
4) Wrote half of the synopsis yesterday (plan to finish the rest today!).
5) I've also read 2 great books this week...Dating4Demons by my pal, Serena Robar, and Dead and Dateless, by Kimberly Raye. Both fun and highly recommended! Next up is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, which is a YA book narrated by DEATH. How wicked cool does THAT sound?? I'll let you know how it is.

Well, off to get some more work done on my book. It's a quiet day around here. Must take advantage!

~Shannon

Nine day vacation: Day 1

2007-07-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, vacation. I loves me some vacation. Even if I'm not "doing anything." It's all a matter of semantics, I think. I'm not "doing anything" as in taking an actual out-of-town vacation, traveling, going to conference, etc. But my to-do list is quite lengthy. This is what I've done so far today:

1. Spent a leisure 1/2 hour over iced coffee, reading Diana's new book, UNDER THE ROSE. Fun stuff!
2. Took shower.
3. Took Darling Daughter to work.
4. Hit the grocery store for a few immediately necessary items.
5. Put some gas in Darling Daughter's car, since I have driven my car a grand total of 2 times in the last 2 weeks, so I figured, even though I'm teaching her how to drive, I do owe her some gas since half the places we go are for me.
6. Cleaned the kitchen....partway anyway. I have a few more plans for it this weekend.
7. Took a trip to the bread store to stock up my freezer with outlet bread, fresh from the bakery. Yum!
8. Entertained the brief notion that I was losing my mind and/or Alzheimer's had taken firm hold, when I got an e-mail from a friend confirming a play date for tomorrow...that I don't remember making.
9. After speaking to friend on phone, it was revealed that the play date was just a suggestion (one not previously suggested), so my mental state remains "normal."
10. Mentally rearranged schedule for week to accommodate play date tomorrow. Confirmed with necessary parties (WaterGuy) that I would not be missed if I disappeared all day tomorrow.
11. Wrote out menu for week.
12. Read e-mails.
13. Tried to start load of laundry, only to discover a previously started load of laundry from about three days ago, still in the washer, wet and mildewy-smelling. Added to mental to-do list: Discuss with Darling Daughter what "doing laundry" really means.
14. Stole a few more minutes of UNDER THE ROSE while eating lunch.

It's only 2 p.m. on day one and I'm exhausted. And I still have several things to do today, including preparing for play date tomorrow, double-checking with family on grocery needs, grocery shopping, and I'm sure I'll think of something else. Anyway. I'm SOOOO happy to be "relaxing" on vacation, I can't even tell you.

~Shannon

Blog Tour: Michelle Rowen

2007-07-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

[I know! I know! Technically, even two blog tours don't count as one real blog entry, but I always hate to blog the same day as a tour, because then the tour doesn't get it's proper place.
Besides...I WANTED to tour this book big time! I can't wait to read it! I read Michelle's BITTEN AND SMITTEN and it was a blast. I'm totally sure that F&F will be just as great. Hmmm...I have a Borders $5 off coupon. I may have to take a field trip! ~Shannon ]

FANGED & FABULOUS

by Michelle Rowen
Warner Forever, July 1, 2007

Just stake me now.

My name is Sarah Dearly, and I've got major problems. Last month, I was turned into a vampire by the world's worst blind date. Then I may have, totally by accident, started a war between the mostly peaceful bloodsuckers and a bunch of sociopathic vamp hunters who have nicknamed me the Slayer of Slayers. Now I'm being used as bait to draw out the hunters' bad-ass leader, while my gorgeous 600-year-old boyfriend Thierry seems to be blowing me off, and my sizzle-hot, fanged friend Quinn is trying to turn my self-defense lessons into make-out sessions. So you know what? I'm done. I've had it. There comes a time when a vamp has to just suck it up and go after what she wants. And as soon as I figure out what that is, that's exactly what I'll do...

Excerpt:
http://www.michellerowen.com/ff_chap1.htm

Book Trailer:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2ERqRXudbo8

ABOUT MICHELLE ROWEN
Michelle Rowen is a self-confessed bibliophile, Reality TV junkie, and is well known for making a mean pot of Kraft Dinner. Her debut title, BITTEN & SMITTEN, was a Waldenbooks bestseller and the 2007 HOLT Medallion winner for “Best First Book.” Michelle lives in Mississauga, Ontario, and is currently hard at work on her next fantastical novel.

REVIEWS

"What's a new vampire to do? Win a lot of readers with her upbeat persistence, that's for sure. You can't put "Fanged & Fabulous" down." – NYT Bestselling Author Charlaine Harris
"Four stars! an exciting, action-packed and often humorous tale…a great addition to Rowen's vampire series. " – Romantic Times BOOKreviews
"Rowen has done it again. She has written another wonderfully amusing, suspenseful story. It’s terrific!!" – Romance Reviews

Website: http://www.michellerowen.com/

Blog Tour: Robin Owens

2007-06-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

HEART DANCE

by Robin D. Owens
Berkley Trade, July 3, 2007

DuFleur Thyme is a scientist who's secretly experimenting with time. She'll allow no distractions from her work-not even from a HeartMate. Meanwhile, Saille T'Willow has sent his HeartGift out into the world in hopes of finding his HeartMate, who, it turns out, is DuFleur. Still, DuFleur wants nothing to do with Saille, especially when she discovers that it was his grandmother who brought about her father's ruin. Unfortunately, her body can't help but submit to the passion he stirs in her. But when a scandal threatens Saille's position as head of the family, will DuFleur stand by his side?

Excerpt:
http://www.robindowens.com/reads/01Heart%20Dance.pdf

ABOUT ROBIN D. OWENS
Robin D. Owens has been seriously writing longer than she cares to recall, but is very happy with how her writing career is proceeding. She was named the Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers in 2004, and 2003 Writer of the Year by the Denver Area Science Fiction Association. Robin has been the librarian, contest co-chair, and President of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She has given seminars at Pikes Peak Writers Conference, the Colorado Gold Writers Conference, and Romance Writers of America as well as other groups.

REVIEWS

"Another fascinating visit with the dynamic people of the futuristic world of Celta."— Fresh Fiction

Website: http://www.robindowens.com/

Exciting new cover!

2007-06-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Whoever said you can't judge a book by its cover...I think they were right. I TOTALLY pick books based on their covers. If the cover doesn't draw me in, I'm not going to pick it up. If the cover draws me, I'll at least pick it up and read the back cover blurb to see if it's something I would enjoy. The problem comes when the cover doesn't represent the book properly. For instance, a cover that would be right at home on a literary novel doesn't represent a humorous romance so well. Just as putting a cartoon cover on a very dramatic novel or a thriller wouldn't work either.

Now, don't get me wrong. The VENUS ENVY cover is beautiful...from an artistic standpoint. The artist, Raul Colon, mostly illustrates children's books, and I think the artistry is intriguing (lots of neat swirls and texturizing that you can only see in person, I think, not so much with the jpg file to the right) and quite beautiful.

I also understood what they were going for with drawing her to look like the Venus de Milo statue in modern clothing. However, there were a LOT of people who didn't get that and were kind of grossed out by the armless woman. The cover was even nominated for the 2006 Worst Cover Contest! It didn't win (or LOSE depending on how you look at it!), but came in 6th out of 10. A lot of the voters just couldn't get past the dismemberment. A lot of the fan mail I've received echoed the same sentiment.

My sole problem with the cover is that I don't think it depicts what's in the book at all. Venus is fun and flirty, a little too "made-up", a LOT vain, and is a fashionista with a touch of trashy thrown in. She has a closet full of stilettos, leather minis, and see-through animal prints. Soooo not into the bohemian style shown on the cover.

Again, it's not about the artwork, it's about the representation, or misrepresentation, of what's inside.

So, now for the news...VENUS ENVY is coming out in mass market paperback size in January 2008! I've literally held my breath waiting for the cover. Would it be the same cover? Would it be different? Well, it is different. And....completely freakin' adorable!!!

Now THIS is the cover I dreamed about for VENUS ENVY, back when it was still a dream!

THIS is Venus. The shopping bag, the stilettos, the hot pink zebra-striped mini skirt. The completely awesome cupid tattoo on her ankle. THIS IS VENUS.

I do love that they kept the same title font, which is about the only thing on the original cover that I completely loved. :-)

I'm so completely excited about this that I can hardly stand it! I think more readers will pick up the book who will enjoy the book, which is what really counts in the end, isn't it?

Let me know what you all think of the cover. And what you think about book covers in general? What makes you buy a book? What makes you pick it up in the first place...the title? The cover? Or do you completely ignore the covers and just pick up every book and read the back cover blurb? I'd love to have your opinions.

Well, anyway, enough of that. I have some writing to do today. Things have finally settled a bit around here, and I've been able to work on my WIP 2 days in a row. Today will make 3! I had to hit the bookstore this morning though. I picked up Diana Peterfreund's newest, UNDER THE ROSE, DEMON MOON by Meljean Brook, and THE UNFORTUNATE MISS FORTUNES, a novel by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, and Anne Stuart. (The tagline to that book is hysterical..."Hocus Pocus. Hanky Panky." *snort*)

So, lots of writing to do, lots of reading to do. And a rocking new cover to admire!!

~Shannon

Googling for good news....

2007-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

....it's kind of like fishing. You can stand in cold water or risk sea-sickness in a rocking boat every day for hours and hours and not catch a thing. And then one day, Fish On!

I found this today while searching for "Shannon McKelden":

VENUS ENVY has been nominated for Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's 2008 Book Award!! That's so exciting! I have no idea who nominated me, but I am ever so grateful! :-)

I also have some other really cool news I found while googling, but I haven't been able to confirm it yet, so I'm not going to announce it just now. As soon as I get confirmation, I'll post it. It totally made me squeal with excitement!!

Oh, and have you checked out the price on VENUS ENVY at Amazon?? Holy cow! It's on sale for 80% off the cover price! If you've been wanting someone to read it (or just want to support a starving writer), hop on over (there's a link in the sidebar) and pick up a copy or ten....It's only $2.59 right now!

~ Shannon

What's up with that?

2007-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

How is it I can feel like I never have time to rest because my life is so full, and yet, I can't come up with a darn thing about my "full life" that is interesting to talk about??

We made it through Darling Daughter's graduation...I think I'm the only one who cried, at least until she had her diploma and we still had another 150 kids to go, at which point I was too bored to be teary-eyed. (Oh, don't tell me you've never been bored to tears at a school function!)

I've also survived several driving lessons with Darling Daughter...none of which involve the open road yet, but that's coming.

Work has actually "slowed down" (read: no more mandatory OT, but still full time, which takes up ME time).

I have read some really fabulous books lately. J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, for one (or 4, actually). I read four 400+ page books in 10 days. And then I wrote my agent and told her I was giving up writing forever, because after reading these four books, I picked up a book by a favorite author....only to find that it sucked. Seriously. Which means, if she sucked (being a NYT bestselling, practically cult-status author), then I clearly have to be far more sucky than that, so I might as well give up.

Gotta love the agent who responds to my completely serious career crisis with, "Okay, you are screamingly funny!" Except I wasn't trying to be funny. However, I couldn't really dash all her hope and faith in me by really quitting, could I?

Also gotta love an agent who knows just the right book to get me back into reading again (after four books clearly designed to overshadow every other book ever written). She suggested TWILIGHT, by Stephenie Meyer, but since I read that last year (and loved it), I decided to see if NEW MOON, the sequel, would work. Thankfully it did, and the end to my never being able to read anything but J.R. Ward books was swift. NEW MOON was wonderful, thrilling, thought-provoking.

Then, I read THE DEFIANT HERO, by Suzanne Brockmann, as I'm working my way through her Troubleshooter series. I've read the first two... love the first one the first time I read it years ago, as well as this time. I'd also read THE DEFIANT HERO before, I'm sure, as parts of it I recognized, and yet...I didn't remember it. Does that make sense? Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Brockmann is such an amazing talent, though for different reasons than Ward, I think. And that's more than okay with me.

Next up is LAMB by Christopher Moore, since Darling Daughter hasn't finished LEAN MEAN 13 yet, so I have to wait. That or not read for another day or two until she finishes, which I just might have to do.

Oh, and I've also discovered the joy of Heroes!! My kids watch it, but I never started it, as I really hate to have TV that I feel that I HAVE to watch every week. So, instead, I discovered that every episode of Heroes is on the net, and I've watched 16 episodes over the last week. Sheesh.

So why is it I feel I have no time to write????

It's the thought that counts...

2007-06-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's post, Mizz K, misinterpreting my jaunt through the woods as actual sports-mindedness, threatened me with physical activity...I mean, kindly invited me to go on a scenic hike with her. Only I've read about her "scenic hikes" and, frankly, I'd rather have my fingernails removed with pliers...without anesthesia.

There is a reason God made me a writer. It allows me to nurture my growing skills. I'm especially prolific at growing the gluteus maximus species, having grown it to new breadths and depths, merely by feeding it and otherwise neglecting it terribly.

I wholeheartedly believe in sticking to what I'm good at.

After yesterday morning's cat fiasco, Darling Daughter and I headed over to the community college to take our final exam in Patience 101. I believe if the professor understands that we did our best, though it's not our best subject, we may both squeek by with passes. Three freaking hours to register for 5 classes! The actual registration took exactly 10 minutes. The rest was spent waiting in line. And, the worst of it was that phone reception sucked, so after chatting with Serena and being disconnected 3 times, I finally lost ALL connection and had to go back to staring at the walls. Sigh.

Anyway, I have actually completed most of my to-do list this morning. We're at T minus 2 days until graduation, so my list is huge and has to be done between work and sleep. So, I'm off to the bank now. I'll check back later!

~Shannon

Tell me again why I have cats?

2007-06-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

I ask this same question about my kids sometimes, but you'd think cats would be easier, right? I mean, no poopy diapers to change, no 3 a.m. feedings (though if you ask Darling Daughter, aka Nighttime Keeper of the Cats, she may say different). However, as evidenced by my sheer exhaustion at 9:30 a.m. today, all because of the dang cats, I'm thinking maybe babies ARE easier.

Exhibit A:
A couple of weeks ago, the older cat, about 5 years old, decides that the kittens need something to entertain them one Saturday morning (at 6 a.m.) and brings a full-grown, ALIVE and completely uninjured wild bunny in the house and releases him in my living room. No, I am not smoking crack for breakfast. The cat can barely fit through the cat door, mind you. How he did it while gently gripping a (I'm SURE) struggling rabbit, is beyond me. And he was completely at a loss as to why he got yelled at and thrown out of the house. Sigh.

Exhibit B:
Then we have the kittens, Thor and Ollie, who made their last appearance on this blog last Christmas. They are approaching a year old (end of this month), which I have determined is the Teen phase of cat life. Old enough to know better, but still stupid enough to try.

We've been letting them outdoors lately. At first for just a few hours at time, then pretty much all day, just coaxing them in with tuna and then locking them up inside for the night. They stick close to home. Heck, we have 1-1/3 acres of mostly wooded property...PLENTY of places to play without having to wander.

Right.

So, this morning, as I'm driving my son to school, I turn the corner around the front of our property (which is surrounded by a 6-ft fence) and drive along the long side of our land, only to spot one of the kittens racing BACK cross the road from the other side, back toward our house. He has been outside for a grand total of two hours this morning. My son immediately freaks out. They aren't supposed to be that far from home!

I got out and tried to coax Thor back, but he was having nothing to do with that and raced up the hill toward the back of our place. I continued on to school reassuring GameBoy that Thor was headed home and would be there by the time I got back.

Apparently not.

I got home, confirmed he wasn't in the house with his MUCH lazier (read: easier) brother, and then went calling for him. In my slippers, because surely he was back on the property by now. Not so much. By the time I located him, with my keen sense of hearing, I determined that he was not only NOT on the property, he was also not on my neighbor's property which abuts ours. See, they have a fence I didn't even know existed. About 6 feet high, too, which has pretty much been absorbed into the treeline that flanks the long sides of our properties. And Thor can't get back over it. He's in the trees somewhere, crying every time I call him, wanting back but unable to figure out how to get back.

At this point, it crosses my frustrated mind to just leave him there to figure it out on his own. But, like any mother, you wouldn't leave your teenager at a party after they call you to say they've been drinking and need a ride home...and I won't leave my cat in the middle of a forest when he calls and says, I'm stuck and I can't get back. Sigh. Motherly instincts can be highly inconvenient sometimes.

After going back into the house and throwing on a pair of flip-flops (what was that I said about being "old enough to know better, but still stupid enough to try?"), I get in the car, go around to the road side of the treeline, get out of the car and start calling. I can hear him, though I can't see him, and he can't see me. But I can't get to him, as he is at the top of a heavily wooded hill there is no way I can climb in flip-flops. Duh. He also, for some reason, doesn't grasp that I am no longer calling him from inside the property, and if he'd just come down the hill toward the road, he'd be saved.

I finally give up and decide to go change my shoes, then come at him from the inside of the fence. Surely, if he got out that way, I can find the way back in. Did I mention it is HEAVILY wooded? As in thick in the grip of fir trees, Scotchbroom and blackberry bushes that haven't been touched in 12 years?? I can't even GET to the fence without a machete. Okay, I used my arms...adrenaline can hack away anything. I'm like a mother bear bound and determined to save my baby.

I finally get to the edge of the fence, and I can see Thor, standing on a rock about 10 feet away from the fence crying desperately now. He calms a bit when he sees me, but refuses, at first, to move from the rock, which is surrounded by thick bushes, etc., just like on my side of the fence.

So I simultaneously try to coax him closer to the fence while trying to figure out how to get him over or under the fence (which has become one with most of the bushes around it, and I can't even stand upright alongside it). A few feet away, I finally spot a rocked-over hole that used to be a dog escape route. I started shoving away the rocks and digging the dirt with my fingers just as Thor finally braves the trek through the blackberry bushes on the other side of the fence and makes it to me. A moment later, I have lured him under the fence with promises of loves, captured him, and rocked up the hole again. Home free!

Only not.

I can't find the path I took to get to the fence, and the trees and shrubs have coalesced into a wall behind me. So, now I have to get back to the house (mind you, the house is only about 100 feet away at this point, but you'd never guess it from where I stood halfway down a hill, surrounded by forest). I have a cat in my arms now, who wants down (NOT going to happen), and I have to hack my way back through the trees and bushes with one arm. Oh, and did I mention I've just taken a shower and my hair is partly dry, and a few minutes ago I actually smelled halfway decent?

Sigh.

So, long story short, I ended up following the fence line back to my son's quad trail, stomping through very wicked blackberries and ducking under low-hanging branches snatching at my hair and clothes...and skin. Finally made it back to the trail, up the hill, into the house, and closed the cat door, locking the beasts inside.

At which time Thor promptly ran over to the cat door and cried to be let back out. As if.

It took me another half hour to recover. Sitting in front of the air conditioner even though it's only 55 degrees outside. My arms look like I've been flogged. I have at least one blackberry sliver in my palm that's going to be a mother to get out. I've picked half a bush out of my clean hair, and a bug off my leg, and a handfull of pine needles out of my bra.

I swear to god if any spiders are found on my person, I'm adding cat kabobs to the menu.

~Shannon

Shocked yet?

2007-06-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

Yes, I just clicked "new post" and started typing before I could tell myself I didn't have time! Hey, Mizzz K, have I beat Serena for posts this month? That's my goal. :-)

Yet another crazy week has begun. Mondays are the beginning of the week for me, since Sunday is typically my only day off, so I consider that my gift at the end of the previous crazy week. Except that I didn't get yesterday completely off... I worked 2 hours to make up for Friday, when I couldn't get my full shift in because it took me 35 minutes to get OUT OF THE PARKING LOT when I dropped Darling Daughter off at work. Seriously. Road construction. Nightmare. I can't even begin to describe the stupidity involved that gridlocked an entire Fred Meyer parking lot for HOURS. I think I was lucky to escape in 35 minutes.

Anyway, so I made up for it yesterday on my own day off. Then, I planned my grocery list to go shopping for the week. Until my husband came in the house and drug me outside to take a look at my Jeep. He'd been doing yard work and was walking past my Jeep, when, over the roar of the music in the headphones he had on and the weedeater he was carrying to the back yard (engine running), he hears this crackling sound. He turns around and notices the back passenger window of my car....shattering into a million pieces. WTF?!

He kept trying to figure out how he was to blame, except that his weedeating was taking place far, far away from my car, on the opposite side from the broken window, so it would have had to be one hell of a ricochet. We never did come up with a logical explanation. Instead, we spent two hours at high noon on a 89-degree day, removing glass, vacuuming, taking off the hard top, putting on the soft top...dropping with exhaustion. Oh, and then I still had to go grocery shopping.

Sheesh.

Checked out Darling Daughter's new-to-her car last night. She picks it up the day after graduation. Can't WAIT to get her driving....my goal is to have her licensed by fall, thus freeing me. FREEING ME, I say!

I have to tell you about my reading adventures, though. Remember 6 days ago when I mentioned I'd be picking up the first JR Ward book? Yeah, I'm 1/3 of the way through...book 3. Seriously. Such great books! And, I totally think they will help me with my writing. Give me something to aspire to. Saturday, after finishing book 2, I just wanted to make my own book bigger, better, more exciting, to, um, torture my characters a lot...okay, maybe a little. Baby steps after all. But Ward is completely fabulous at high stakes, making things worse, figuring out how to get her characters out of places I would have been terrified to put them in the first place.

If only I can be half as good, I will die a happy writer.

~Shannon

Hello? Is this thing on?

2007-05-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that's what you're all asking, right?

Well, I'm still alive. That's the good news. The bad news is, I probably won't be able to blog any more often for a while. Sucks for me, too, believe me.

This weekend was the first "vacation time" I've had in almost a year. Actually, it was the first time I've had two days off in a row...or in one WEEK...since last year some time. And, I took it guilt-free. Almost.

Work has been crazy. I wish it wasn't, but it is what it is. I increased my hours to full time in February so that I'd have more money and they'd have more help...and now I'm stuck with it. Theoretically, I was supposed to have more writing time with the new schedule, but considering yesterday was the first time in about two weeks I actually had time to sit and write anything, that theory has been shot to hell. I have two kids who need to be carted around, so Mom's taxi service is running seemingly non-stop.

On the bright side, we bought Darling Daughter a car. Okay, half a car. A really cheap car. Actually, it's more of a gift to myself. If I can only get her driving and licensed by fall....I can almost feel the freedom. Mine, not hers.

Added to that is my daughter's high school graduation in less than two weeks. I'm so proud of her, and nervous for her...it's time to go out into the big bad world. Am I guilty of maternal treason if I say I'm not sorry that she'll be spending at least one more school year at home? I'm not trying to keep her from growing up, honest. I just like having her here. I'm afraid I won't have anyone to talk to if she leaves me.

More random thoughts: I have two good friends who will be making rocking good announcements this week, too! At least I hope they make them, as I'm getting tired of waiting! Keeping my mouth shut takes a enormous amount of energy. Congrats, ladies. You know who you are, and I'm soooo happy for you!

Next random thought... I just finished the third Stephanie Rowe novel, HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT! Great book! Great series! Since I've really been trying to read with a bit more critical eye, to absorb the strengths of other writers, I've found myself really "seeing" how books are put together more than I ever have before. Stephanie ROCKS at conflict. If you think her characters have problems in the first chapter....just keep reading. She is absolutely amazing at throwing her characters to the lions and then making sure those lions have been on a low protein diet for the last three weeks just to up the stakes. It's truly amazing! Besides being completely and utterly hilarious. Can't wait for the next book!

Now I'm going to read JR Ward. I'm a little leary about them, to be honest. I'm coming off the high of laughing my ass off for the last three books I've read, and I've a sneaking suspicious JR Ward isn't a laugh riot. But I've heard from too many people how amazing she is, and I've decided to give it a try. In the last few months, I have either had people tell me in person or read somewhere that these books are the best, more than a dozen times, I swear. And that seems to be increasing with each passing day.

My daughter read the first one in her series, and then read all the rest of them (like 4 more, I think?) within a WEEK! And then? She literally refused to pick up any books for another WEEK. This is my child who consumes books at a nonstop rate of at least one every other day or so. She was sooo enamoured with JR's books that she refused to read anything else because she was afraid she would hate anything she might pick up. Okay, that's quite a recommendation. In fact, I kind of understand it. I read Nalini Singh's SLAVE TO SENSATION right before I read all the RITA books I was to judge, and truthfully? Three out of five of them were horrible. But, I still have this niggling guilty feeling that they weren't really horrible, they were just horrible after reading SLAVE TO SENSATION, which was, I think, one of, if not THE, best book I've ever read in so many ways. So, did I hate those others because they were really hatable, or because Nalini's book was so incredible that it ruined them for me? I have to say, I kind of understand Darling Daughter's predicament.

So, anyway, back to JR Ward...after the wholehearted recommendation from DD, then my agent, who I told about my quest to be a better writer and really learn how to "up the stakes" in my books, tells me that JR Ward is her new goddess. That once I read her, it will change the way I write forever. Okay, mind you, JR Ward is NOT a Knight Agency client. Deidre was not trying to increase sales. She truly believes these books are incredible, and I trust her judgment.

I also trust that the Universe is trying to tell me something, if I'm getting bombarded from all sides about these books. I'm picking up the first of them tonight, so if you don't see me for a while, you'll know why....

~Shannon

Oh, by the way...

2007-05-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Amazon has a rocking good sale on VENUS ENVY! If you don't have a copy yet, or would like to buy gift copies for all your closest friends and family, hop on over there!

What is it with the best intentions?

2007-05-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Are they automatically destined to fail? This is a serious question! I want to know that answer.

I started blogging again, fully intending to keep it up, and what happens? Crap happens. I won't bore you with the details, but they involve health and work, not necessarily in order of importance at any given moment. Sheesh.

I've been giving my new WIP some thought. The thought is not making me happy. With Serena's help, I've determined that maybe I need to ditch most of the idea and go back to the basics. A hero and heroine I like very much and with goals, motivations, and conflicts that just lend themselves to an awesome plot. I need to go back to basics and, well, re-plot. Start all over. So, I'm working on that. Or, I was until the above health and work related crap came up again.

However, on a bright note, both are feeling a bit more under control today, so keep your fingers crossed that I can share more words of wisdom very soon!

Write on, rock on!

~ Shannon

You're never too old or "too published"

2007-04-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

I've heard it said by some of the greatest romance writers...they've never stopped learning their craft. They WILL never stop learning their craft.

It's safe to say there are a myriad of reasons a writer should work on her craft:

1) She's unpublished (there's got to be a reason).
2) She's published a book or two, but new sales have stalled (there's got to be a reason).
3) She's published, selling steadily, but can't seem to achieve that next level (there's got to be a reason).
4) She's multiplished, hitting the lists, and wants to continue to do so (if she doesn't keep growing there WILL be a reason she falls short of that goal).

I don't care if you've written 1 book or 50...you have not mastered the craft. That's like a dancer saying they know all the basic steps, or how the waltz is danced, or how the foxtrot is done, and believing they no longer have to practice or study new steps or harder steps. Sure, they can ballroom dance through life, but if they are really passionate about being on stage, they darn well better not stop learning. Especially if they want any gigs. Or, in the case of some of us, have had 1 or 2 gigs, but the callbacks have stopped coming.

The thing with learning is that you can hear something, but if it's not applied, it's useless.

It's not enough to go to workshops and take copious notes. If you don't review those notes later and APPLY THEM, there was no point. I have dozens of notebooks filled with notes from fabulous speakers that I know hold tremendous wisdom...that I've never looked at again, let alone really applied to my work.

It's not enough to OWN craft books. You have to read them, glean from them and APPLY THEM. And tons of info is available on the web...no need to spend a fortune on craft books. Borrow them at the library. Ask friends to loan you some of their favorites. But keep in mind, if you keep hearing recommendations for a particular craft book over and over and over again, it might be worth the $$ to own your own copy.

It's also not enough to own books in the genre you love and write in. You HAVE TO READ THEM! Does that one seem really silly to you? then you're probably like me and this is not a problem. But there are writers who seem to feel that writing is more important than reading, and I have to completely disagree. I can't not read for pleasure. I easily read a book a week or more, even at my busiest writing times. If you're a writing reading only a few books a year, you need to rethink that strategy right now. As my friend, Serena, put it one day, a writer not reading is like a fashion designer not attending fashion shows. I added to that that it's like a fashion designer not reading Vogue or never entering a clothing store. Makes no sense at all.

I'm going to touch base here more often and try to share some of what I'm learning in my quest to improve my craft. Hopefully you'll get as much out of it as I have. And the way I figure it, if I get even the tiniest bit of APPLICABLE info out of my study of my craft (as long as I actually do the applying of it), I'm moving closer and closer to my goal.

It's not enough that I've written 6 complete books and sold 1 of them if I never sell again. I'm going to make certain that that does not turn out to be the case.

~ Shannon

Sneaking back in with head hanging...

2007-04-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Now that I've lost all my blog readers...

If it makes you feel better, I could relate all the reasons I've been lax (okay, nonexistant!) in my blogging lately. I could mention the 2 weeks of bronchitis for me, the week of bronchitis for my hubby, followed by another week of illness for hubby (requiring doctor's visits and CTs requiring wifely taxi service due to pain med use), which is finally just in the last day or so over with (followed by sighs of relief for a clean bill of health). I could mention that I've been in a slump, not so much with writing, but with writing-related things. I could mention promises made but not kept, and hard decisions I've had to make for my own sanity.

I could mention that I'm not doing much READING of blogs let alone writing them. Which is nearly as distressing to me as not keeping up with my own blogging.

I could tell you all this, and it probably wouldn't help, would it? I actually have been writing, or rather I have been attempting to improve my writing. I've been immersing myself in learning some things I need to learn about writing. I've been studying some masters and giving more thought to my writing. I've created a branding plan for my career. Which WILL happen, despite how it may appear on any given day.

I've been holding my breath about my YA project, which is being reviewed by several editors right now. I've been beating my head against a wall about...other writing-related things.

This is a damn hard business. I knew that coming in. I know it's not going to change. I keep telling myself I can handle it...and I can. But it would be a darn sight easier to handle if things were going better.

I do want to thank everyone who's written to me about VENUS ENVY! You have no idea how wonderful it feels to a writer to have a reader show their appreciation. It's amazing and humbling and inspiring all at the same time. Another way to show your appreciation is to tell your friends and family what a great book it was and ask them to go out and buy their own copy. Or buy copies for them as gifts! Publishers don't buy second books without really good sales on the first. That's a fact. So help me along!

I promise to sincerely try harder to post more often. I do. Really. Swear.

Thanks for hanging in here with me!

~ Shannon

Great online writing class!

2007-04-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Eastside Chapter of RWA (my home chapter) has a great program throughout the year called Year of Craft. The online classes are great fun and very useful. Check out April's class:

Dates:* April 16th-20th

*Speaker:* Sandy Blair

*Topic:* A Writer's Building Blocks
Like a child's wooden ABC blocks there are elements that make a story unforgettable, that keep readers coming back for more. This program outlinesthem all, A-Z.

*Bio* Award-winning author Sandy Blair has slept in castles, dined with peerage, floated down Venetian canals, explored the great pyramids, lost herhusband in an Egyptian ruin (she still denies being the one lost,) and fallen (gracefully) off a cruise ship.

Winner of RWA's 2003 Golden Heart for Best Paranormal Romance, the 2004 National Readers Choice Award (3 nominations), the 2005 Write Touch Readers Award, the 2006 Golden Quill, recipient of Romantic Times BOOKClub's 4 ½star Top Pick rating, and nominated for a 2005 RITA, Sandy loves writing about the past. Her third novel, THIEF IN A KILT will be released November 1, 2006. Currently contracted to write two more Highlander novels, Sandy is thePresident-Elect of DARA and resides in Plano, Texas with her tall Scot husband.

Find out more about the class here.

2007-04-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

PARALLEL SEDUCTION by Deidre Knight
Signet, April 3, 2007

The author of Parallel Attraction unleashes the next novel in a series about an alternate world, where treachery can destroy the strongest of allies, the most loyal of friendships, and the fiercest of passions...Warrior Jake Tierny travels back in time to stop a traitor in his beloved king's camp. But when a twist of fate proves the mission unnecessary, Jake is trapped in a time not his own, with friends who cannot learn his true identity.

Scott Dillon may be the king's trusted lieutenant, but he is also a man at war with himself, a human hybrid who refuses to succumb to the Antousian nature he abhors-and that Jake Tierny embodies.

FBI linguist Hope Harper refuses to let near-blindness keep her from joining the Refarians in their war to defend mankind. Yet her sizzling attraction to both Scott and Jake, and the strange memories they share, force all three to question the core of their beliefs. As their enemies surround them, Hope knows she must choose one man for all time.

Excerpt:
http://www.deidreknight.com/ps_excerpt.html

ABOUT DEIDRE KNIGHT
Deidre Knight is president of The Knight Agency, which she founded in 1996. Since that time, she has grown the agency to national prominence, landing authors on every major bestseller list. Deidre began her writing career at age nine, when her award-winning essay on Barbie was published in her hometown newspaper, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. She has been writing in one form or another ever since. After nearly a decade of working with Knight Agency clients, helping them discover their creative potential, her fiction debut with NAL in 2006 marks the fulfillment of her own lifelong writing dream. She is excited to embark on yet another new and fulfilling creative journey.

REVIEWS
There’s never a dull moment in this terrific series! – Romantic Times (4 stars)

I was on the edge of my chair with each and every turn of the page with this one. I hate that it ended because now I want more of the story. Each book becomes more and more fascinating and raises more questions. It is my fervent hope that talented Deidre Knight has many more Parallel stories coming! – Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews

Just when I thought this was the end, Ms. Knight threw a curve in the story resulting in the upcoming PARALLEL DESIRE (October 2007). This series is filled with heart-pounding action, plot twists, passion and great steamy romance. I was hooked from the first book in this series, and I can't wait until October. – Jory Reedy, Fresh Fiction

Website: http://www.deidreknight.com

Blog tour...

2007-03-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

SIGHT UNSEEN by Samantha Graves
Warner Books; April 1 2007

Raven Callahan doesn’t do it for the money. She does it for the thrills. As a consultant for API, an art recover company, she gets to steal—legally. But when her colleague is kidnapped during an assignment, Raven is forced to steal a priceless master painting to save his life.

David “Dax” Maddox was the perfect street cop—until a botched burglary raid cost his partner his life and Dax his ability to see color. Now, with his world gray, Dax has only one mission: to take down the murderer. And he’ll use anyone—even a sexy thief with questionable ethics—to get justice.

Soon Dax and Raven are forced together as pawns in a madman’s scheme. From the heart of Cuba to the New York art world, they find themselves in a race against time to stop the ultimate revenge.

Excerpt: http://www.samanthagraves.com/suexcerpt.html

ABOUT SAMANTHA

Samantha Graves turned a lifelong love of daydreaming into writing fiction. Under the name of C.J. Barry, she is the award-winning author of the UN-Forgettable Futuristic romance series. She now brings her unique blend of high adventure, sizzling romance, mystery and humor to her first contemporary romantic suspense.

REVIEWS
4 ½ Stars & a Top Pick “This fast-paced adventure provides all the action, romance and thrills a reader could ask for. " - Romantic Times magazine
Five Stars "I found myself hooked from page one!" - Huntress Reviews
"Tightly woven and suspenseful...will keep readers riveted." - The Road to Romance
"A refreshing paranormal romantic suspense thriller." - Harriet Klausner
Five Angels & a Recommended Read "Fun, exciting and at times heart-wrenching." - Fallen Angel Reviews

WEBSITE: http://www.samanthagraves.com

Venus interview...

2007-03-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hey, Readers!! I'm busy, busy here at home, and Venus is out galavanting. Okay, she's being interviewed over at Cat and Muse (Jackie Kessler's blog). Check it out!!

Yummy!

2007-03-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was right! I couldn't read this book fast enough...and now that it's over, I wish it wasn't.

I have a really hard time articulating (cause, I'm a writer, you know, and I know next to NOTHING about words!) what it is about Nalini Singh's Psy series that I love so much. I think it's the contrast between the Psy characters, who have had their emotions suppressed until it nearly cripples them. For a Psy to break away from the collective mind, to bond with the changlings, requires them to risk madness...or worse.

I think I'm drawn to the poignancy of realizing that everything you thought as true and real isn't necessarily. And having Faith (and Sascha in SLAVE TO SENSATION) decide it is worth every risk they take just to FEEL again, is so touching and so brave that I just couldn't help but love it. Erin agreed with me...I hooked her!

I will continue to try hooking people...even if I can't articulate it clearly. Just trust me on this, 'kay?

Got started on my paranormal romance this week...um, like 5 pages and 1 line into it. :-) I'll do more today, though. I just need to get to the forging ahead part, bust through the first draft barriers, and race forward. I can do it. I know I can!!

Shannon

Blog Tour - Rebecca York

2007-03-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

NEW MOON by Rebecca York
Berkley Sensation March 6, 2007

It's in one man's true nature to remain by the side of the woman he loves, rather than live without her in his own universe...
Landscape architect Logan Marshall is out for a jog-in his werewolf form-when a trap catches his paw. As it saps his strength, he is saved by another werewolf, who-to Logan's amazement-is female.
Female werewolves aren't supposed to exist. But Rinna is a shapeshifter from another dimension who's traveled through a portal to this world. And the trap that ensnared Logan was set by her former captor, and meant for her...
But as soon as Rinna and Logan touch, an electrifying bond forms between them. Unable to resist his desire for Rinna, in all her many forms, Logan will have to earn her trust, and travel through both dimensions to save her-and earth-from the wrath of her enemy...

Excerpt:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/glick/sneak-p26.htm

ABOUT REBECCA YORK
Ever since she can remember, Rebecca York has loved making up stories full of adventure, romance and suspense. As a child she corralled her friends into adventure games or acted out romantic suspense stories with a cast of dolls. But she never assumed she could be an author, because she couldn't spell. Her life changed, however, with the invention of the word processor and spelling checker--and the help of her husband, Norman Glick, who spots spelling errors from fifty paces away. She has authored or co-authored over 60 romantic suspense novels, many with paranormal elements.

You can see an interview with Rebecca York at
www.romancenovel.tv

REVIEWS

Logan Marshall is out for a run in his werewolf form when he is caught in a vicious trap that saps not only his strength but also his intellect and consciousness. He is saved by a female werewolf who cajoles him into changing form and frees him from the mysterious trap, which had actually been laid to trap her. Female werewolves don't exist in Logan's world (a world that could be our own), but Rinna is from a parallel universe. That world descended into feudalism and came to be ruled by the cruel Falcone, who has been using Rinna's paranormal talents for his own gain. Using the portals between worlds, Falcone has plans to invade and conquer Logan's world. Rinna, a slave in her realm, finds Logan's world horribly confusing and dangerous but Logan himself incredibly enticing. York's combination of werewolves, romance, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy is a winning one. -- Booklist

I really have this thing for werewolves. I also am a big fan of romantic suspense. Rebecca York is a master at combining the two. New Moon is the latest page turner in the heart pounding Moon series.

Logan is so tender and compassionate that I can't imagine any other for the strong yet cautious Rinna. Logan is a hero we can all lust for! It's not just the romance that will keep you squirming on the edge of your seat, New Moon is very suspenseful. I was so torn. I couldn't wait for them to be out of danger but I didn't want the story to be over either. – Joyfully Reviewed

NEW MOON is an excellent read, one fans of Ms. York’s Moon series are sure to devour. While this book is part of a series it can easily stand alone, I will add that Rinna first appeared in Ms. York’s previous story SHADOW OF THE MOON. Rinna and Logan have a strong connection that is wonderful to watch. I do want to tell readers that Rinna’s past offers a secret that some may find a little hard to handle, however I felt Ms. York dealt with the situation with grace and realism. I was eager to find out if Logan and Rinna could win this battle. Author Rebecca York is a master at writing stories full of suspense, sensuality, romance, and action. Fans of paranormal romances will want to pick up NEW MOON today. Thank you Ms. York for giving me hours of enjoyment in another splendid story. – The Romance Readers Connection

SENSATIONAL! Once again Ms. York creates another fabulous tale that continues on with her Moon series, keeping her plots delightfully refreshing and the romance sinfully wicked. Fascinating characters that you get to know, and some secondary characters you may already know, this story takes off at lightening speed and it does not stop until the very end. Cleverly laid out plots and several twists and turns keeps this story energized, while the romance keeps you tantalized. As a fan of Ms. York I cannot say enough about this series, an absolute must read. – Coffee Time Romance

NEW MOON is a refreshing story told with a new light and a few twists I couldn’t see coming. Ms. York brought some wonderfully strong characters into this book with Logan and Rinna. Their love is a pure and caring love that brings tears to the reader’s eyes. She reprised some of our beloved characters from previous books and they helped to complete this story. NEW MOON is a definite “must read” in this clever series! – Romance Junkies

BOOK TRAILERS

30-SECOND VERSION: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cqrP5KtxJvc
2-MINUTE VERSION: http://www.myspace.com/cosbooktrailers

Website http://www.rebeccayork.com

Getting into the "swing" of things...

2007-03-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

So last week was my first week with my new work schedule, which is basically working swing shift on weekdays and then day shift on Saturdays.

The best thing about working like that in the afternoons/evenings, is the fact that, by then, I mostly have everything that could possibly be on my mind taken care of. At least early in the week. By the end of the week, Thursday and Friday, I was starting to get behind a bit, so I still started working in the afternoons with stuff on my mind that I really wanted to finish. I think this is something I will just have to tolerate until I can write full time.

However, I kicked ass in the writing department!! With extra time all week (plus WaterGuy was home on vacation, so he took over some of the taxi duties), I finished plotting the paranormal romance I'm working on. I wrote the synopsis and, by last night, had trimmed it up to an acceptable 12 double-spaced pages.

Also, I heard back from my agent on my YA, which she loved...YAY! and made a few minor changes for her and got those back. The proposal will go out soon. Again, YAY! I'm ready for another book contract, I'll tell you!

So, anyway, I know this wasn't super entertaining, but I just thought I'd check in. Up for this week is to write the first chapter of the paranormal romance. I'm really excited! It's different than anything I've written before, and so far everyone who's heard the idea loves it. That always helps in the motivation department. :-)

Shannon

2007-03-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

[CAN'T. READ. FAST. ENOUGH. ARGHH!!! I have this book in ARC form and it is totally as fabulous as SLAVE TO SENSATION, Nalini's first book set in this world. I just don't have enough hours in a day....Must. Read. Faster. But then it will be all over with too soon, and I'll be sad. I hate these dilemmas! - Shannon]

VISIONS OF HEAT by Nalini Singh
Berkley Sensation / March 6, 2007

Go deeper into the world of the Psy and the changelings, where a gifted woman sees passion in her future-a passion that is absolutely forbidden by her kind... Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need...exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her. Changeling Vaughn D'Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar's instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith's sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn...

Excerpt: http://www.nalinisingh.com/visions.html

ABOUT NALINI SINGH

Nalini Singh is passionate about writing. Though she’s traveled as far afield as the deserts of China and the temples of Japan, it is the journey of the imagination that fascinates her the most. She’s beyond delighted to be able to follow her dream as a writer.

Nalini lives, works and eats copious amounts of chocolate in beautiful New Zealand.

REVIEWS

“…if you're a paranormal reader, this is one book that you have to read!"~Julie Kornhausl for Romance Reader At Heart

“Nalini Singh has done the enviable; she has written a sequel that lives up to its predecessor.”
~Fallen Angel Reviews, 5 Angels, Recommended Read.

“A breathtaking blend of passion, adventure and the paranormal. I wished I lived in the world Singh has created. This is a keeper!”
~Gena Showalter, bestselling author of The Nymph King

“…I read the book in one night. One single night. Stayed up until 3 a.m.…This book sucked me in and would not let go….The sexual tension between Vaughn and Faith was explosive from their very first meeting….” ~Jaci Burton, Author of Surviving Demon Island

Website http://www.nalinisingh.com/ (includes Behind the Scenes info on the Psy/Changeling series)

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2007-03-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

I need to tell all my friends about the changes I've made in my life since last week, but decided I could kill two (or more) readers with one blog post instead. :-)

So, my day job is always busy, always behind, always crazed. I work 33 hours over 6 days a week, but it's actually very difficult to do so on some days due to the schedules my kids keep, the fact that one of them now has a job (but doesn't drive), etc. When my day job asked me to increase my hours last week, I reflexively said, "No way!"

Then I thought about it.

Not being a self-supporting writer yet, we could always use the extra money, but there was no way I could see squeezing extra hours out of my already crazy week. I want MORE writing time, not less! But, when I sat down one night last week to get a little extra work in, I realized how much more productive I am at the JOB in the evenings. I can't write in the evenings to save my life. I much prefer to do that during the day when everyone else has vacated the house. I had three days a week where I could do that, and I was generally very productive on those days.

But, work-wise, I transcribe better in the evening...everyone is home (or will be delivered home by someone else), I don't have to jump up for the next taxi run to school, work, school, store, or work, and I know that I can just sit and type.

So, after working out a schedule, discussing it with WaterGuy, and then with my scheduler at work, I've changed my hours. I'll be working six days a week still, but increasing my hours by 6 hours a week, and working mostly in the evenings (M-W with all day to write!). On my 8-hour days, Thursday and Friday, I'll split the days -- three hours in the a.m., all day to write, and then 5 more hours in the evening.

I'm both excited with this schedule and scared to death. This morning it feels very surreal not to be up working by 6:00 a.m. To have time to read e-mail, blogs, plan my family's dinner, etc. -- those are all things I'm use to squeezing in during work, which cuts my production (how I get paid) by quite a bit. I'm excited to see how this helps me in many ways.

Oh, and before my pals panic...I have premission to change those hours at any time, so my RWA meetings and Tiara meetings are sacred and will NOT be affected by my new hours.

So, that's my change for the week! More work AND more writing. Wouldn't have thought that was a possibility a few weeks ago.

More tomorrow, I hope!
Shannon

Just because I promised...

2007-02-27T13:06:00.000-08:00

Why is it such a struggle to blog for me these days? I really can't tell you, other than I've been crazy busy. Mostly the craziness has been writing related...making some decisions about my future, what I want to write, how much I want to write. I've turned in a proposal for a YA book to my agent that I'm waiting to hear on, and I'm working on a really exciting proposal for something very different than I've ever written before.

It all takes time, folks! Some days it's a choice between a shower or making progress with my writing. Most of the time, the writing wins. :-)

Okay, so I got tagged by Jackie Kessler (of the awesome HELL'S BELLES!) for 10 Random Things You Don't Know About Me, but I did that here. So I stole another one from her site. Apparently it is the nameless tag, as there was no title.

What is in your refrigerator right now? On your bedroom floor? On your nightstand? In your garbage can?

In my refrigerator? Towels. Yes, I like my towels chilled. No actually, I have a leak in my dang refrigerator. Not sure where it's coming from. Up. That's all I know. All will seem fine, and then suddenly there is water everywhere, in the drawers, on the bottom, pooled on every shelf. Gotta get to the bottom of it. My bedroom floor: Um, do I have to say? Okay, clean clothes to put away. Dog hair and the dog attached to it. (Or not.) Magazine stacks I'm going through. Can I stop now? I'm not going to get any writing done if I keep thinking about what's on my bedroom floor that needs to be taken care of. My nightstand holds 4 books, a teddy bear WaterGuy gave me for Valentine's day, chapstick, my old cell phone that I use as an alarm clock, and 1 earplug. Yes, only one, as the other ear is on the pillow which mostly drowns out WaterGuy's snoring.

Look at your feet. Describe what you see there. Do you wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are you in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or are you wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by your grandmother?

Medium blue socks. Nothing else. Hate shoes. Only wear when I have to.

When you think of your childhood kitchen, what smell does you associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant for you?

I don't smell anything. Not sure why. I do remember the avocado-green refrigerator, though. That stands out in my mind for some reason. Oh, and the pantry with the tippy-toppy shelf where my mom unsuccessfully hid cookies from us kids. I think we all used the same method of procurement, though. Count the cookies and take only an amount you are sure won't be missed. For example, if there are ten cookies, you could easily take 1-2 and no one would notice. But if there were only 2 left, taking 1 would be pretty obvious, so you were out of luck. The problem came from three kids all using the same method, until what once was 20 cookie was down to 2-3, and then Mom came unglued. We hadn't coordinated efforts well enough to keep from getting caught.

You are doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for you to throw out? What is difficult for you to part with? Why?

The last time I "spring cleaned" was in October when we found the mice in our pantry. And under our sink. And the utensil drawer. I pretty much threw out everything that wasn't washable. I actually love throwing things away...I just don't do it often enough. I wait until the Labor and Industries threatens to visit for providing my children with unsafe working conditions, and THEN I clean out the closet full of crap we don't need anyway so that it won't fall on their heads when they take out the vacuum cleaner.

It’s Saturday at noon. What are you doing? If you’re eating breakfast, what exactly do you eat? If you’re stretching out in your backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel do you lie on?

Saturday at noon? Probably typing an appendectomy and praying to the Writing Gods to hurry up and take me away from this career. And who's eating breakfast at noon? I'm on at least my second meal of the day by then.

What is one strong memory that has stuck with you from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

Our trips to Crescent Beach up on the Olympic Peninsula. It was this great, quiet bay of water, and we always had the best time there. The campground is a private one now, or I'd take my own kids up there. It had the best A-framed bait shop that sold ice cream bars, tide pools on one side of the dock, a beach with driftwood on the other. I fell off the dock once and remember seeing the flounders swimming on the bottom with their one eye blinking up at me before my dad jumped in fully clothed to save me. I remember his cowboy hat and cigarettes floating on the water and having to be rescued, too. I remember the time we were playing with canoes and having a race, around the dock and back to shore. Just as my cousin and I got to shore, our canoe turned sideways and a wave dumped us in. Once we found a giant jellyfish on shore that looked just like a giant fried egg. When I was about 10, my 2-yo sister and I got chicken pox the first morning of our camping trip, which was also her birthday. We had to go home. I had breath-holding contests with my grandpa there. My brother rolled over in bed in our tent trailer and landed on the ground outside because my parents forgot to secure the tent to the bed of the trailer. There was a giant wooden checkerboard that we loved to play with. The pieces were so big you had to pick them up with 2 hands. Down a dirt road was Agate Beach which was the polar opposite of Crescent Beach. There, the water was huge ocean waves and the beach was solid rocks. We'd sit for hours digging through the rocks and saving our agate treasures. I still have some around here. Ah. Great memories!

You are getting ready for a night out. Where are you going? What do you wear? Who will you be with?

A night out? That means I get to go to bed at a decent hour, right? So, I'm in my flannel jammies, with my husband, and I'm going to La-La Land. I'm such a party animal!

~ Shannon

Blog Tour - Susan Grant

2007-02-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I've been receiving ~~hate mail~~ gentle nudges about posting new blogs, I do have an excuse...I've been madly working on a business plan, proposals for new books, etc., over the past month. I've not been slacking, people, I promise! And will blog soon. Okay, how about tomorrow? I promise to try my hardest.

However, today is my turn for the blog tour, and this book I cannot pass up!! I read it in ARC format and loved it! (Note that my quote is included in the raves about MY FAVORITE EARTHLING below, and I meant every word!) Seriously, go buy this book!

So, without further ado:

MY FAVORITE EARTHLING
by Susan Grant
HQN; March 1, 2007

Even a Goddess can have a bad day...Keira, warrior-queen of the galaxy, is as famous for her beauty as she is for avoiding marriage. But when an upstart little planet called Earth threatens her world with its fleet of spaceships, the fate of her people lies in her hands. She must bind herself to a barbarian from the rogue world...or face the destruction of her own!

She's what he never knew he always wanted...Confirmed bachelor Jared Jasper knew the trick Earth pulled on the alien invaders wasn't a permanent solution. What they needed was a peace treaty. It just never occurred to him that he would wind up on the bargaining table. Playing the pushover groom to a mouthy alien babe who knows how to use a plasma sword is not exactly his idea of fun. But with six-billion people depending on him, he doesn't have much choice--sleep with the enemy...or bring on interstellar war.

Strange bedmates? You bet. But this alliance may turn into a romance the likes of which this galaxy's never seen!

Excerpt:
http://www.susangrant.com/books/earthling.htm#excerpt

ABOUT SUSAN GRANT

Former USAF jet pilot and current commercial airline pilot, RITA award-winner and New York Times bestseller Susan Grant loves writing about what she knows: exotic places, action, adventure, and the often unpredictable interaction between men and women.

REVIEWS

“Susan Grant writes heroes to die for!” --Susan Kearney, USA Today bestselling author

“I loved this book! I can't rave about this novel enough. From an arranged marriage, to royal espionage, to saving Earth, MY FAVORITE EARTHLING is not a book to be missed!” – Sylvia Day, bestselling author of Pleasures of the Night

“Susan Grant's sexiest story yet!” -- Gena Showalter, bestselling author of The Nymph King

“A sizzling cosmic romp!” -- Angela Knight, USA Today bestselling author

“Dang but Jared was a hot hero! Susan Grant is an author I sincerely wish I hadn't waited so long to discover! -- Shannon McKelden, author of Venus Envy

“Charming, witty, and sexy as all get out!” --Linnea Sinclair, RITA award-winning author of Games of Command

4.5 stars! “This interstellar romp starts off fast and soon is hip deep in sexy humor and deadly assassination attempts. Grant has really hit her stride with this marvelous blend of humor and danger.” --Jill Smith, Romantic Times Magazine

“Susan Grant proves once again why she is Master of the Futuristic Genre. Jared and Keira's heat burn up the pages!” – award-winning author Colby Hodge

WEBSITE http://www.susangrant.com/

Blog Tour - Lucy Monroe

2007-02-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

MOON AWAKENING
by Lucy Monroe
Berkley Sensation February 2007

An enthralling new romantic tale that pushes the boundaries between love and hate, passion and pain-and man and beast... When Emily Hamilton's family is ordered to send a woman to the Scottish highlands for marriage to the laird of the Sinclair, Emily volunteers in order to save her younger sister from such a fate. But at her new home, the only friend she finds is the laird's sister-especially after Emily's stubborn streak causes the laird to cancel the marriage. And though her plans have gone awry, she refuses to return home...Lachlan Balmoral is laird of his clan-and leader of his pack. One of the most feared werewolves prowling the Highlands, he is on the march against the hated Sinclair, who have abducted a Balmoral woman. He kidnaps the sister of the Sinclair laird, planning to marry her off in revenge-but the woman he takes along with her proves to be the greater prize...For Emily feeds a desire he has never known existed. And though Lachlan would not think of touching his enemy's betrothed, he must know how a mere woman could tame his heart so easily...

Excerpt:
http://www.lucymonroecotm.com/excerpt_ma.htm

ABOUT LUCY MONROE

Award winning author Lucy Monroe sold her first book in September of 2002. Since then she has sold more than 30 books to three publishers and hit national bestsellers lists in the US and England. Her highly charged, sensual stories touch on the realities of life while giving the reader a fantasy story not easily forgotten. Whether it's a passionate Harlequin Presents, a sexy single title for Kensington or a steamy historical or paranormal for Berkley, Lucy's books transport her readers to a special place where the heart rules and love conquers all.

REVIEWS

This is sure to be a popular series, and I am wiggling in anticipation of Ms. Monroe's next offering. This is a book not to be missed! -- Natasha for Romance Junkies

MOON AWAKENING is an electrifying supernatural historical romance starring a courageous highly moral female and the werewolf who falls in love with her. The story line is fast-paced from the opening eavesdropping to the final confrontation with evil. Lucy Monroe brings to life a unique medieval Scotland filled with the paranormal, the romantic, and the intrigue as she provides a clever tale of yore… -- Harriet Klausner

Website http://www.lucymonroecotm.com/
http://www.lucymonroe.com/

Top Ten Things You May Not Know About Me...

2007-02-06T16:08:00.001-08:00

I was tagged by Dona and then by Nadine, so here we go....

1. I was a totally good girl in high school. I never, ever, ever skipped school, not even once. The worst thing I did was sneaking off campus to go to Pizza Hut for lunch, when we had a closed campus.

2. As a result of the above, I eat really fast. That happens when you have to drive to the pizza place a couple miles away, find a seat, place your order, wait for your food to be delivered, eat it, and drive back to school, all in 40 minutes. I am frequently (if I'm not careful) finished eating long before my companions...or before they have even started in the case of my extremely slow-eating husband, who must arrange his plate just so before beginning to eat.

3. I'm kind of a slob. I inevitably spill food on anything I'm wearing. I can't tell you how many times I have worn a brand new shirt exactly once, only to have it permanently and utterly stained beyond repair. Maybe if I slowed down?

4. I'm also messy. I clean off my desk when my monitor is no longer visible. When I do clean it, it frequently is a mess again within only a day or so.

5. I own a lovely yellow Jeep Wrangler named Sunnee. My husband owns a black Jeep Wrangler named Scrat (the squirrel/rat thing from Ice Age). My license plate with its frame says:

It's Always

SUNNEE

In My Jeep

6. When I was younger, I had a mad crush on Shaun Cassidy (in the days of Hardy Boys). My cousin and I used to write very long elaborate sagas of our lives as teen girls in a fictional Santa Monica, with our HUGE families and our boyfriends Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. I still have some of those stories kicking around here.

7. I don't like diamonds or gold. I'm a silver and stone kind of person. I love colored rocks. Things like labradorite, moon stone, etc., set in silver is my favorite. The only diamond/gold jewelry I wear is my wedding ring.

8. I hate shoes. Sorry, I know that makes me the complete opposite of most women out there. It wasn't always like that. I grew up working in a shoe store, and it was always like Christmas when the box of shoes came in. I always got first dibs (and a great discount!) so I had tons of shoes as a teen and young adult. But time and gravity has made it so my poor feet can't stand anything but the most comfy of shoes. I think I own about 5 pairs. And probably wear the same 3 pairs 90% of the time.

9. I may have mentioned this before, but I married my high school sweetheart. He was the first (and only) guy I ever dated, ever kissed, etc. And I don't regret it one bit, 25 years later.

10. I'm a complete electronics junky. I have a PDA phone, get a new computer every few years (and we have 7 computers in our house for 4 people, 4 of which are on or under my desk), and the fact that I don't have Windows Vista on my two personal computers is killing me, because I love to be up to date on things. My husband and I always joke that while we may not have the best house in the world we have damn good electronics!

Blog Tour - Susan Kearney

2007-02-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

ISLAND HEAT by Susan Kearney
Tor Romance February 6, 2007

He dominated with an otherworldly seductive power . . .

What was happening to her? Former screen siren Shara Weston lived on an exotic and private South Pacific island as a recluse . . . until disturbingly masculine and utterly captivating Cade Archer fell out of the sky and into her life. Now, Cade gives her no choice but to follow him down a sensual path that fulfills her every desire.

Cade's on a mission to open a portal between Shara's island volcano and his world. But not everyone wants him to succeed. A powerful enemy has followed Cade to prevent him from sending the resources through the portal that will free his people.

While Cade's mission is as compelling as his dominating sensuality, Shara must find a way to fight him . . . to stop his mission because the fate of every man, woman and child on Earth is at stake.

Excerpt:

http://www.susankearney.com/island_heat.html

ABOUT SUSAN KEARNEY

Susan Kearney used to set herself on fire four times a day, now a USA TODAY BESTSELLING author, she does something really hot—she writes paranormal romance for Tor, sensuous romance for Harlequin Blaze and romantic suspense for Harlequin Signature. She can apply the old rule of "write what you know" and never run out of ideas for characters and plots. An All-American and professional diver, expert in martial arts, sailor, real estate broker and owner of a barter business as well as women's fitness and three hair salons, she has enough material for a lifetime.

Visit’s Susan’s website (http://www.susankearney.com/) for an exclusive book trailer!!!

A bit of Chocolate with your romance?

2007-02-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

[Is this not a gorgeous cover??! This is my Agency Sistah Renee Luke's book, and it is YUMMY! -- Shannon]

Dipped in Chocolate
NAL / Signet
ISBN: 0451220315 (trade paperback)

February 2007

Book Description
Romance has never been as temptingly sweet as it is in this trio of erotic treats from an author who knows how to seduce…and deliver.

In Gimme Some Sugar…
Jackson never realized how much he loved his best friend Alexis—until her wedding day was on the horizon. Now all he has to do is convince her that their harmless kissing games over the years weren’t so harmless after all. In fact, they may end up breaking his heart.

In 4 U Sweetheart…
Toni never imagined that a night of speed-dating could lead to something serious. But three minutes with the hunk of her dreams changed that. Especially after he slipped her a candy heart that said “Pick Me”…

In Dipped in Chocolate…
Nathan wants a special delicacy for his sister’s bridal shower. He finds it in Jayla, the owner of a decadent chocolate shop. As hot as she is, Jayla’s not looking for a fling. As hot as he’s getting, Nathan may have to abandon his bachelor ways for a piece of chocolate that’s a little more solid.

Reviews
4 Stars “Luke cuts right to the chase in these three spicy novellas with interconnected stories. A common thread is the intense passion each couple inspires. If you like quick, hot and sexy reads, you’ll definitely enjoy this anthology.” Leigh Rowlings, Romantic Times Book Reviews

5 Necklaces “Renee Luke’s three stirring entries in the most excellent Dipped in Chocolate will leave even an ice statue sizzling. There is fine, high-quality romance, there is love, there is sweets, and yes, reader, there is most definitely all the steaming and inventive erotica one could ask for. Run, do not walk, to your nearest outlet and buy this book!” Annie, Euro-Reviews

4.5 Lips “Dipped in Chocolate by Renee Luke is sinfully delicious and very satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed all three decadent stories and know that I will never eat another candy heart with out thinking of 4 U Sweetheart. I loved the way the three tales are brought together not just with the common thread of a candy theme but by the characters from the previous story. As one story rolled into the next, I was completely captivated by the characters and storyline.

Whether you have a sweet tooth or not I would highly recommend that Dipped in Chocolate be on your must-read list. I look forward to reading more work from the very talented Ms. Luke!” Susan, Two Lips Reviews

4 Stars “These three entertaining novellas will educate readers on all the practical use of chocolate (thank goodness I am not diabetic) with fully developed instructors providing delightful sweet tooth and more usage. Renee Luke provides three delicious tales that go beyond jus CHOCOLATE KISSES” Harriet Klausner, A reviewer

Blog Tour - Chris Marie Green

2007-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

NIGHT RISING by Chris Marie Green
Ace, February 6, 2007
0-441-01467-4

Welcome to Hollywood—after dark…

Stuntwoman Dawn Madison is a girl with attitude—and a lot of issues, mostly about living up to the legacy of her mother, a world famous movie star whose untimely death left Dawn to be raised by her dad Frank, nobody’s notion of single-father-of-the-year. Now that she’s grown up, she and Frank aren’t on the best of terms, to say the least.

Still, he is her dad, and when he vanishes while investigating the bizarre sighting—caught on film—of a supposedly long-dead child star, she comes home to Tinseltown to join the search for him. Working with his colleagues—a psychic short in stature but big in dreams, a beautiful Latina techno-geek, and the P. I. firm’s never-seen boss—she discovers an erotic and bloody underground society made up of creatures she thought existed only on screen.

They are devious. They are deadly. And some of them are dangerously attractive…

Book teaser link:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/395573/night_rising_vampire_babylon_book...

Excerpt:

http://www.vampirebabylon.com/books_night_rising_excerpt.htm

ABOUT CHRIS MARIE GREEN

Chris Marie Green also writes as Crystal Green for Silhouette Bombshell and Special Edition, plus Harlequin Blaze. Her first vampire book, THE HUNTRESS, allowed her to indulge in her love of horror movies and novels. NIGHT RISING is book one of the Vampire Babylon trilogy.

REVIEWS

Night Rising – Vampire Babylon is the first book in a new trilogy set in the exciting world of paranormal Hollywood…. Described as a noir-mystery-fantasy series, it is dark, erotic and compelling reading – Amanda at Lovevampires.Com

Green's storytelling prowess is hitting on all cylinders in Night Rising: a brilliantly developed plotline; compelling, realistically drawn characters; and enough ghoulish antagonists, horrific murders and erotic encounters to satisfy fans of all genres. Regardless of categorization, Green's latest is pure, unadulterated storytelling gold. Highly recommended. -Paul Goat Allen, Barnes and Noble

Chris Marie Green does a wonderful job of bringing this gritty, dark novel to life…. If this is the first installment of the VAMPIRE BABYLON series, I can’t wait to see where [the author] takes the rest of the books. – The Best Reviews

Website http://www.vampirebabylon.com
http://www.crystal-green.com
http://www.myspace.com/vampirebabylon

Sorry!

2007-01-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

This schedule of working 6 days a week and booksigning the 7th days, is really messing with my blogging resolution. Okay, I never really made a resolution, but I had been doing so well at the beginning of January.

Sadly, I don't see it getting better for the next 3 weeks or so. Darling Daughter starts her first job next week (and doesn't drive, so that leaves Mom's Free Taxi Service) and I still have two booksignings left, an RWA meeting, and a company dinner (my husband's), all in the next three weeks.

Oh, and I have made my commitment to God and Everybody to have my YA completed and submitted to my agent by February 15th. Progress is proceeding fairly well, but I really have to keep on track with this, or I am going to get my butt kicked by several people who are supposed to be holding me accountable. You know who you are, but more importantly I know who you are. :-)

So, today, you get a MeMe. I swiped this from Jaci Burton, who didn't tag me or anything. I stole it. So sue me. It's this or nothing. :-)

Women's Fiction MeMe

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?

I once was very partial to Contemporary, with a bit of Historical thrown in. My historical picks were, and still are, Elizabeth Boyle, Julia Quinn, and most recently Candice Hern. But lately, I've become obsessed with Paranormal. It's amazing what giving something new a try will do for your reading habits!!

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
I actually prefer Trade for ease of holding, with MM coming in second, and hardback last. I'll read a hardback if it's an author I love and can't wait for the paperback.

Heyer or Austen?
Um, I've never read Jane Austen. *duckingquickly* And if I read Georgette Heyer it was probably a hundred years ago, and I don't remember.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Amazon when I can't find it in the Brick and Mortar, but mostly I'm an instant gratification kind of reader.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Borders is close to me. B&N is about 30 minutes away, so mostly Borders wins out.

Woodiwiss or Lindsay?
Again, I read Woodiwiss about a billion years ago (not that either of us were alive a billion years ago), but I'm not even sure I've ever read a Lindsay. I'm thinking I haven't.

First romance novel you ever remember reading?
You are asking this of a person who cannot remember what she had for breakfast this morning. Next?

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
Darling Daughter handles the McKelden Library and organizes by genre until one of us reads a book, then it goes on the appropriate "Mom Read" or "Darling Daughter" read shelf. Then, we whine at each other to hurry up and read the books on each other shelves so we can make more room. Mostly this is her doing the whining, as she reads much faster than I do.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
NEVER would throw away, unless the book was falling to pieces. Used to sell, but takes too much time, and I feel guilty. I usually donate...either to friends who can't afford new books all the time, to my chaptermates (because I think it encourages people to try new books!), or to family members.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?
I usually start out with the dust jacket, then remove it when I'm tired of fighting it.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?
Never read Anita Black books, actually. And I tried a Sookie Stackhouse, and while I liked the characters, I didn't go back for more. Not really sure why. However, I would definitely say, of the two characters and what I know of them, Sookie would definitely be more my cuppa.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Both, depending on my mood and how tired I actually am.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
In the past, I would have always said "Once upon a time" but more and more I'm reading the "dark and stormy night" books.

Crusie or SEP?
I would like to protest this question. It is entirely impossible to choose! SEP books are some of the most well-written, touching, funny, wonderful books I've ever read. I am never disappointed! Crusie books are some of the most well-written, funny, creative, wonderful books I've ever read. I'm never disappointed. I cannot make a choice like this based on a 1-word difference.

Buy or Borrow?
A little of both. Mostly buy, sadly, but my budget only stretches so far. And, I have become a fan of so many new-to-me authors through library borrowing or borrowing from friends books that I otherwise would never have paid for at first.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Rarely pay attention to book reviews. It's all so subjective. Except when they are reviewing VENUS ENVY, and then they are brilliant if they loved it and mentally challenged if they don't. :-) Actually I prefer word of mouth, buzz around the net, or recommendations from friends.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
HATE cliffhangers. But, I'm okay with almost tidy endings. Lots of chick lits just hint at the happy ending, and then I can make up my own in my head, which is fine with me.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
All of the above! Though, nighttime is the most common time I have a moment to read.

Series or standalone?
Both are fine.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
I really don't have an answer for this. I read mostly popular fiction, which means, it's, uh, popular. Never heard of a popular book nobody's ever heard of. :-)

I tag Erin, Christina, Serena, and Kelli. Have at it, Ladies!

Shannon

Blog Tour - Robin D. Owens

2007-01-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

PROTECTOR OF THE FLIGHT by Robin D. Owens
Luna February 1, 2007

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY:

Fans of Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey will appreciate the novel's honorable protagonists and their lively animal companions.

The Story:

If horses could fly...

Then Calli Torcher might ride again. But a devastating accident left her in such pain, she thought the chimes and chanting in her ears were a hallucination...until she found herself transported to another world, and met the Lladranans who had Summoned her.

Lladrana was a parallel, magical earth filled with exotic creatures, noble humans and magic– all threatened by an encroaching evil.

And when the might volarans stopped obeying the Chevaliers, the flying horses' unexpected rebellion had thrown Lladrana into an uproar. In desperation, the sorcerers had sought help from afar - and gotten Calli. If she could fulfill this mission perhaps she would also finally find all she had longed for – a mate, a home, a family. But against this great darkness she had no battle experience, no strategy plans. She had only a bond with horses...

Excerpt: http://www.robindowens.com/reads/Protector.pdf

ABOUT ROBIN D. OWENS

Robin D. Owens has been writing longer than she cares to recall. Her fantasy/futuristic romances finally found a home at Berkley with the issuance of HeartMate in December 2001. She credits the telepathic cat with attitude in selling that book. Since then, Heart Thief was a launch book for Berkley Sensation in June 2003, Heart Duel was published in 2004, Heart Choice in 2005, and Heart Quest in 2006. Her Luna Books series includes shape-shifting fairies and average American women Summoned into another world to fight monstrous evil.

REVIEWS

ROMANTIC TIMES:

Owens has an easy and engaging writing style which, when combined with her intriguing characters and interesting setting, makes for a fast and compelling read.

HUNTRESS REVIEWS:

This is among the most joyful series of novels in any genre...when the ending page arrives, YOU feel the Snap, pulling you reluctantly back to the real world. Ms. Owens has mastered characterization, interweaving the lives of previous main characters with those of the new expertly, so you meet new friends and catch up on the old. – Amanda Killgore, Huntress Reviews

Website: http://www.robindowens.com/

First Booksigning

2007-01-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

I made it through my first booksigning! Yay me!

Gerri Russell, whose first book, THE WARRIOR TRAINER, just released the week after mine, is a dynamo! She's done more in the last less than two weeks since her book came out than most authors do their entire writing career. And one of the things she did was set up booksignings and invite me to join her. Thanks so much, Gerri!

So, Gerri and I, along with another local author, Pat White (LOVE ON THE ROPES and THE AMERICAN TEMP AND THE BRITISH INSPECTOR), had our first signing at the B. Dalton in the Factoria Mall in Bellevue yesterday. Here we are:

The signing was great, despite the weather (and so many people still stuck in their driveways after 3 days of below-freezing temps) and the less than ideal traffic at the mall. We all had friends show up, including, in my case, my "oldest" friend, whom I've known since I was 2.

Equally fun, was having the wonderful Stella Cameron arrive to show her support. She is the type of author I aspire to be some day...successful, energetic, and giving. To be a NYT Bestselling author and still take the time to be there for those of us just starting out is incredible and thoughtful...and just the kind of person I wish to be. So, thanks, Stella, for making our day! Oh, and here's our pic. Notice the book she's holding??

We have more booksignings over the next few weeks, thanks to Gerri's awesome organization skills. I'm really looking forward to them. A couple of them even include some speaking, and amazingly, I'm not nervous! Having two people with me who are full of energy and positivity really helps.

I also wanted to talk for a minute about the lastest book I read. I plan this year to blog about what I'm reading, at least as time allows. I won't always, but if I have time I will.

Well, I think, time or no time, I would have made time to blog about HELL'S BELLES by Jackie Kessler. This book ROCKED!! I really don't know if I can articulate why (since being a writer doesn't always mean you are articulate). First of all, I loved Jezebel, the heroine of the book. She, being a demon, shouldn't have been likeable at all...but guess what? I loved her! Secondly, Jackie's world building was amazing! Half the book took place in Hell. And not a watered-down version of Hell, but a very realistic (and later thought-provoking) Hell.

This book, I should mention, is not a "romance" in the traditional sense of the word. It's sexy, and at times romantic, but not a "romance" as it is typically defined. And, know what? That's okay. For some reason I found myself loving the book (probably better defined as a sexy paranormal fantasy) from page 1. It was fast-paced and I loved the way it ended.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention it. So far, I am batting 1000 this year when it comes to books. Next up are the books of my booksigning pals, Pat and Gerri!

Talk to you soon!

Shannon

New VENUS ENVY Love!

2007-01-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to the VENUS ENVY review at Romance Junkies. Thanks so much, Leigh O., for reviewing it (and for loving it!).

Authorlink posted this "May We Recommend" recommendation for Venus:

"The goddess Venus is forced to become the fairy godmother to Rachel Greer, who is fed up with dating. The idea of combining classical mythology, fairy tale, and a chick-lit read was absolutely ingenious!"—Audrey Blaisdell, Sarasota News & Books, Sarasota, FL

Thanks, Audrey!

And, last, but not least, reviewer Harriet Klausner (who gave it 4/5 stars on Amazon, 5/5 stars on B&N) says: "Readers will appreciate VENUS ENVY as she does what she does best, cause havoc with the heart."

Fun stuff!

Blog Tour - Jaci Burton's SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND

2007-01-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

[I already told you how much this book rocked, but let's play it again!! - Shannon]

SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND
by Jaci Burton
Bantam/Dell December 26, 2006

She's all curves and combat boots.

He's six feet of lean, dangerous male.

Join them in a game of survival.

That's as real - and hot - as it gets.

What's America's top female action star doing on a tropical island shrouded in secrecy? To Gina Bliss, competing in a survival-type reality show is a nice change from fending off on-screen villains. Until she meets real-life action hero Derek Marks. A survival specialist in a tight black T and sexy stubble, he's arousing every bad-boy fantasy she's ever had...and testing her survival skills to the max.

Martial arts, jungle warfare - Derek's done it all. But his latest mission is more dangerous than a stick of dynamite. Try telling that to the sexy, adrenaline-pumped actress who's got his libido racing off the charts. As the heat rises between them and real-life violence erupts, suddenly Derek and Gina are on the run...and when they uncover a secret so explosive it could blow the lid of their so-called reality show, these two unlikely heroes are about to discover what surviving's really about....

Excerpt:
http://www.jaciburton.com/survivingdemonisland.html

Cover:
http://www.jaciburton.com/suvivingdemonisland_200.jpg

ABOUT JACI BURTON
Jaci Burton was born and raised in Missouri but now lives on an acre-and-a-half in Oklahoma with her husband Charlie. Jaci loves to write about passionate relationships with sometimes stormy outcomes but always a happily ever after. She’s a sucker for romance and a happy ending!

REVIEWS
Burton has an uncanny aptitude for intertwining the human and the paranormal so seamlessly that sudden demon attacks and labyrinthine underworlds are perfectly believable. Realistic dialogue, spicy bedroom scenes and a spitfire heroine make this one to pick up and savor. – Publishers Weekly

Big applause goes to Burton for succeeding in setting up a rousing & timely premise that is a real roller coaster ride. Not only does this book set the stage for further exciting adventures, it also delivers a great group of characters that have plenty of room for growth. Burton doesn’t skimp on the sizzling sex or romance either; this book has it all! Brava! 4 ½ Stars – Romantic Times BookClub

Fantastic reading is in store for paranormal fans with Jaci Burton’s new series about fighting demons. It’s a great good vs. evil story that will leave you breathless at times with the chills and thrills, and ready to take a cold shower at others as two of the neatest hero’s and heroine’s pull out all the stops as they get beneath the sheets, and behind their weapons. – Reader to Reader Reviews

Website: http://www.jaciburton.com

Two places at once

2007-01-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

What writer (or mom?) doesn't wish at some point in time they could split themselves in two and do double duty? Think how much you could get done!!

Anyway, it's possible in Blogland! I am appearing on two blogs today as a guest. Check me out on Midnight Hour and Milady Insanity's blog. Oh, and you can still see my post at Romancing the Blog by using the link in the below entry.

I also have a new review with Trashionista's!

Enjoy!

- Shannon

Open Blog Night

2007-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

I'm guest-speaking today over at Romancing the Blog. Come weigh in about "Genre Confusion."

Talkin' 'bout books

2007-01-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

I received notice the other day that my box of Rita books is on its way soon. I'm psyched!

For any of you who aren't Romance Writers of America (RWA) members, the Rita is kind of like the Oscars of the romance world. Published members (which now includes me!) judge the books of other members which came out during the year (I will be judging 2006 books) and score them on a points system. Then, in July, at our National Convention, we attend an awards ceremony during which the winner in each category receives a beautiful statue, The Rita, and the ability to forever after use "Rita Award Winning Author" after their name.

It's a dream many of us share...to be on that stage winning a Rita. It was also part of the reason that me and my support group changed our name from Goalkeepers to Tiaras. We wanted a snazzy group name to thank when one of us finally gets up there to give our thanks. :-)

I signed up to be a judge this year. I think I chose the categories of Best Paranormal Romance, Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements, Best Single Title Contemporary, and maybe Best Young Adult. Not sure about the last two or if the YA category made it this year. (It notoriously has too few entries to qualify, which is a shame, because there are some rocking good YA writers in the RWA.)

Anyway, I should get a mixture of books in the categories I signed up for, along with instructions on how to score them. Hopefully I will get a bunch of authors I haven't read before so I can meet my goal of broadening my horizons at the same time I'm reading all these books. I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of reading...as you can see, I'm up to two books this year` already! Great start, though I'm sure it will slow down at some point. I hear some writers complain about no time to read, but honestly I can't imagine not making time to read! I think it is really important to not only clear our minds of other things often, but reading, whether in or out of the specific genre in which you write, helps you study the market (what's selling these days), absorb the craft of writing (what works for this book or what doesn't), and just to keep you into what books "feel" like when a reader reads them.

And if we aren't in contact with what a reader feels like, we can't expect to write in such a way to make them feel anything ourselves.

I'm a little amazed that sometimes I will hear some person say, "I don't read much, but I'd like to write novel." Um, why? Obviously it's not for the love of storytelling or reading. Is it for the "fame and fortune?" (Pardon me while I laugh.)

Think of it this way -- the above makes about as much sense as someone doesn't watch football or go to ball games saying, "I'm going to be a pro ballplayer." And, in the case of those who are pro ball players, do you think they stop watching other football games because they don't have time? No way! They keep watching and learning all the time. And even when they aren't consciously analyzing, they are subconsciously absorbing. Just like writers.

Truthfully, I've actually found that when I'm head-down writing frantically and I begin to feel stale or like I'm writing crap, it's because I've stopped reading. Without realizing it, I have cut back or have stopped altogether, and I've lost touch. Often just the act of getting back into a great book will break free whatever is stuck inside me. Maybe this doesn't work for others, but it really works for me, and I encourage other writers in a "stuck" place to examine how much reading they are doing. Maybe not enough.

So, I decided this year that I would talk more about the books I read this year. So far, I've read two VERY different books, by two new-to-me authors, and have loved them both.

Candice Hern's JUST ONE OF THOSE FLINGS is the second book in a series about the Merry Widows. (I adore the covers!) I didn't realize that I was reading the second in the series (without reading the first book) until I was completely done with the book. That just goes to show that the books stand well on their own. But, I am going to go back and get the first one to read now, because I really enjoyed this one.

I'm not much of a historical reader. Not because I don't enjoy them, because I do. It's just that with my limited reading time, historicals are not what I choose when I have to make a choise. But, I really like the sense of propriety and rules that were followed back then. For some reason it makes romance a little more sexy, a little more dangerous. But not everyone follows those rules, and that made FLINGS a lot of fun. It was very different, in that the heroine wasn't the innocent virgin member of the ton, but a "matronly" widow, who is one of five widowed friends who vow to take lovers, to embrace their sexuality despite the fact that they no longer have husbands to fulfill this need. What results is a great read! It's witty and funny in some parts, and yet sooo romantic. I highly recommend it! Candice Hern definitely will be joining the only two other historical authors I read regularly, Elizabeth Boyle and Julia Quinn.

Next, I read SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND, written by my friend and agency sistah, Jaci Burton. SDI is Jaci's first "New York" book, though she has written for Ellora's Cave for years. I was so excited for her and really excited to read the book! I was not disappointed. It reminded me a lot of Cherry Adair, one of my favorite authors. Lots of action, and lots o' sex! But the characters had their vulnerable sides, too, which I really liked. And there were many unexpected surprises (well, if it was expected, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?). Jaci's take on demons is unique and exciting. Again, I highly recommend it and I can't wait for the next book in Jaci's Demon series!

So, better get back to life now. Can you believe I made it through a whole post without mentioning VENUS ENVY? Whoops! Blew that one. :-)

I stand corrected

2007-01-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

It's been pointed out to me by Teri, that when discussing my writing accomplishments for 2006 yesterday, I left out another really important accomplishment...making some money writing nonfiction. I was very grateful earlier in the year when my long-suffering and WAY too neglected CP, Teri, introduced me to her editor at iParenting.com. What resulted was another outlet for writing that I've really enjoyed this year. And it brought in almost as much money as my last advance check! Can't forget that!

It's not that I'm not grateful for that opportunity, because I really am. (Thanks a million, Teri!) It's just that when thinking about my writing and my career goals, I always think of book writing. I didn't even include in that accomplishment that I also had two short stories published in confessions mags this year. These two things are nice supplements, but not my major goal.

However, if you'd like to take a look at what I've written this year nonfiction-wise, you can see it here.

Well, I have a lot of things going this month, and I feel very ill-prepared for it. First of all, I'm going to be doing booksignings in the Seattle area with my friends Gerri Russell (American Title III winner!) and Pat White. Gerri has been super with-it in organizing all this, and I'm grateful to go along for the ride. But it's going to be busy. Here's my schedule. I'd love it if some of you could make it to see us!

Anyway, I feel unprepared not because I'm really nervous or anything, but because I already work at least some part of 6 days out of every week. I'm reorganizing the days, but it will still end up being 6 days of work and 1 day of booksignings 4 out of the next 5 weeks. I'm a bit overwhelmed at how organized I'm going to have to be to help my family do without me so much. And that's not even mentioning getting any writing done. Or the fact that work is swamped and though my arthritic little fingers have been taking a beating, I feel the need to help out as much as I can. I just have to remember to leave something for me. Some bits of time to replenish and renew and accomplish my goals.

Oh, I did go sign some stock in 2 bookstores today! That was fun! Waldenbooks even changed my placement from spine out in the trade sized romance section to right up front on the New Releases wall! Too bad there were only two copies there. :-)

Well, off to take care of the next annoying, but must be done item on my to-do list, take care of the leaking hot water heater. WaterGuy just got home and ought to be just thrilled to have to deal with that after an entire day working in the pouring rain....more water. Yay!

Later!
Shannon

Looking back and looking forward

2007-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well, Happy New Year, all! I wish the best for everyone this year. May all your dreams come true!

I was thinking about resolutions today. I don't usually make personal resolutions. Because really, resolving to lose the same 40 lbs year after year after year really doesn't do much for the self esteem.

But I do often make writing resolutions. I looked back on the resolutions I made for my writing career January 1, 2006, and frankly, I should have been disappointed. "Should" have been. But, not really. Because I realized that so much of what I resolved to do was dependent on outside factors. No, I didn't resolve anything like, "Sell a book," because I don't do that (and I don't recommend that any of you do that either, nor "get an agent.") Resolutions like that are completely out of your hands. So, if you reach the end of the year and haven't completed them, do YOU feel bad? Why? You couldn't have made them happen if you'd tried with all your might. Don't set yourself up to fail by making resolutions (which are essentially goals) like that.

Out of the 6 resolutions I made, I completed 1. Seriously. One. The reason for that is that was really the only one that wasn't dependent in some way on outside circumstances. It was to complete and submit a proposal for a paranormal romance, which I did back in March.

But everything from there on out needed something else to happen in order to accomplish it. For example, one was that if the paranormal romance sold, I was to write that. If not, work up a proposal for a new paranormal romance. Great, right? Not. Because that paranormal romance hasn't sold yet but not all the editors we submitted it to have responded yet. So, I not only didn't sell it (so didn't write it as per resolution), but it also didn't NOT sell either (thus no need to write another proposal). See the problem here?

Another resolution was that if my YA HEART BROKEN sold to write that. It didn't sell, so I was instead to write another YA proposal and submit that. Well, by the time I got to that time in late June and July, I had decided to write an ENTIRE YA instead of just a proposal. So I did that...almost. I didn't plot the whole thing, so I sadly have 90% of a new YA written, but not the all-important ending, so not only can't I submit even a proposal (ever heard of a synopsis without an ending), I haven't even quite figured out how the book should end yet! Then, by the time I got home from RWA National the first of August, I had an entirely different project to work on, which took me until the end of November.

Sigh. You see the problem with resolutions like this? "If this happens, do this. But if this happens, do this." Then if neither of those scenarios happens, you end up with a year of feeling as if you've done nothing. Now, I know this isn't true, but I definitely have not done as much as I'd have liked to.

This is what I have done:

1) Written and submitted a paranormal romance. (Still waiting to hear from a few editors on that one.)
2) Written 90% of a YA that I really like (will be finishing that up in January).
3) Written a proposal for a women's fiction book that my agent loved and which is on an editor's desk right now.
4) Done a lot of promo and preparation for the release of VENUS ENVY.

Not a shabby year, but not a great year, either.

The problem with this "accomplishment" is that it doesn't get me where I want to be. With a couple of contracts under my belt, that much closer to being able to write full time. What I need to do is to figure out exactly what it is. How many proposals do I need to write? And at what intervals? Do I wait for one to sell before writing another? Will this lead to selling "too many" that I then won't have time to write?

I'm really unsure how to proceed. But I do know that this waiting to see the outcome of one thing before starting another is NOT going to work for me. I need some guidance. I'm going to have to ask around, I guess.

Well anyway, enough of that. I'll figure it out and consider it my adventure of this year. :-)

On to other things! VENUS ENVY is finally available in my local bookstores. Thank goodness! I was beginning to despair that they weren't going to carry it at all and how depressing that would have been!

Also, I'm very proud of my reading list over there on the sidebar! I ended up reading 74 books this year! Not too shabby. I really like the discipline of keeping track. I feel like I've accomplished something. My memory tends to be very short, so I forget what I've read. Some of those books I read just a month or so ago seem soooo far in the past!

So my tally ended up being 74, 24 of which were YA. I wanted to get to know that genre better, and was really pleased with everything I read! In fact, I don't think I found any YA's that I didn't enjoy, which, sadly, isn't something I can say about all the adult books I've read.

The last month or so, I've had a terrible time reading. I've started book after book that I really hoped to enjoy, only to have to put the book down because I just couldn't get into it, or couldn't stand the characters, or couldn't believe the writing (especially the dialogue) was so stilted.

Dialogue's a big thing with me. I think it's one of my strengths, so I have very little tolerance for dialogue that sounds unnatural. I was shocked to find some actually "been around awhile" authors with HORRIBLE dialogue. (Oh, and I should note, right now, that NONE of the books that I disliked made it to the list at the right, mostly since I didn't include any of the books I didn't finish on the list.) So, back to dialogue...there was one seasoned author who, I SWEAR, wrote dialogue like this:

"James, I just don't understand."
"You aren't meant to understand, Jane."
"But, James, I love you."
"I love you to, Jane, but you have to understand."
"How can I, when you won't talk to me, James."
"Jane, you just have to figure it out."

By this time, I'm practically screaming in frustration. How could an editor have let this get through??! People rarely call each other by name, and certainly not every single line, or even every other line of dialogue! Needless to say, that book was tossed quickly aside.

After a month or so of this, I was ready to give up reading. I don't know what it was, but I was really starting to be afraid I'd developed a frequent "writer" syndrome of not being able to read without critiquing. I've never had that problem before, and really don't want that to become a problem.

But, miracle of miracles, I finally picked up Anjali Banerjee's INVISIBLE LIVES. I was cured! Such a good book! I finished it in two days, didn't ONCE feel like tossing it in the fireplace, and knew then that it was the books I'd been reading, not me. Thank God. Sadly, though, I think it was another several weeks and several books before I found another one I could get through, being Candice Hern's JUST ONE OF THOSE FLINGS. Again, great book! None of it made me want to slit my wrists. :-)

I really hope that this isn't going to be the way this year works out booklist-wise. I didn't have this problem earlier in the year, so maybe I'm just making poor choices lately. But, I have some rocking good books on the way, so I have faith. I think I'll begin commenting here on the blog about the books I read.

Oh, and back to the point of the list...my goal for reading this year was to try out new authors, and I succeeded magnificently! Out of my 74 books, 42 were new-to-me authors! And, I'm so happy I branched out. I found some awesome authors this year, ones I will definitely read more of (if I didn't already read everything they had out this year).

I'll leave this list up a few more days, until I finish my first book of 2007, then I think I'll archive it to my website. [Note: I have archived the list now, and can find it here.]

This year's book reading goal? Again, I think I will read a lot of new authors. And maybe branch out a bit more into genres/subgenres I don't typically read. Not sure how to quantify that one. But, it's all good!

Well, I'm sure you're all tired of my longwindedness. Ta-ta for now!

Shannon

Almost 2007...

2006-12-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

So what do the cool kids do on New Year's Eve?

Apparently they do their taxes. At least when they have a nearly (gag me!) 18 year-old kid, who expects to go to college next year and needs some dang financial aid form filled out before midnight tonight or she might not get a penny from the federal government. At least that's the story she told ME.

So, yes, while others have been partying in preparation for the new year, I have been doing my taxes. Have any of you ever tried to do your taxes before the end of January, you know, like when we get the all-important things like W2 forms?? Kind of like trying to write a book while missing...characters, for instance.

But, anyway, I faked my way through an entire 1040 form online. Only to discover that the FAFSA online form for 2007 wasn't available until, like 2007. After being told by every single counselor, financial aid administrator, etc., that if Darling Daughter did not push the SEND button precisely at 12:01 a.m., January 1, 2007, there was a strong possibility she'd miss out on, you know pennies from the government. So, I filled out the FAFSA worksheet and I hope to God that Darling Daughter is FAST so she can get that form filled out and click send by 12:01 a.m., because I sure as heck am NOT staying up for that.

Did I mention I have to do this every year for the next four years? Happy Freakin' New Year to me!

****

Okay, I'll stop complaining now. I promise. :-)

So the book seems to be selling very nicely! I've heard of it being seen in North Dakota, South Carolina, So. California, EVEN Toronto! I'm so grateful to everyone who has told me where they've seen it, and especially to those who have purchased VENUS ENVY! You guys rock!

So, to all my friends and readers (who I count as friends, too!), have the happiest of new years! I hope everyone's dreams come true in 2007!

~ Shannon

Happy Release Day!

2006-12-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

What a great day! My book is finally out!!! I'm unsure what to say actually, because it's all a little overwhelming.

And kind of...not.

I had to work today, and I am soooo not a shopper, so, Bad Me, I didn't even venture out on release day to see where I could find VENUS ENVY.

But I have an awesome "street team" of friends and family (who obviously are braver than I if they'd go out in that nightmare of traffic and rabid shoppers!) on the lookout for me! It was first spotted by Julie at Borders near Seattle. Then my mom found it at Barnes and Noble about a half hour away from us. I went out and signed the copies they had there on Christmas Eve. See the picture on the right? That's what it looked like, signed, with "autographed by author" sticker. And, it was already face-out on the shelf. I didn't even have to do that myself! :-)

Since then, I've received my copy in the mail from Amazon, as has Erin. So, if you pre-ordered, I bet you'll get it soon. Carol Snow, one of my MySpace friends, let me know that she saw it in her So. Cal. Target, in the Bookmarked Breakout Section! Whoohoo! Carol's book was there, too, called GETTING WARMER, which looks awesome! I'm going to pick that up at Target tomorrow, too, if our local store has it.

Even my mother-in-law has gotten in on the search. She called from Kalispell, Montana, this morning to tell me that she'd called her local Waldenbooks...only to be told that they HAD had it, but it had sold out really fast! Hot Damn!! I'm so excited!

And so happy that you all want to read VENUS. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Well, as you know, I keep promising a great prize. And I have a great prize. BUT, I want to do it right. I want to give it away in the best way possible. And I want to be able to give books away with it, and I don't have my author copies yet. As soon as I get them, I'll run the contest. Maybe we'll call it a New Years contest. It'll be worth the wait, I promise. Because the prize is beautiful. Looks smashing Venus, and it will look smashing on YOU!

-- Love to all!
Shannon

Sighting!

2006-12-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

No not of Santa, though I'm sure NORAD is gearing up to do their job tonight. But, really, the guy in the red suit can't bring me anything close to what I've already recieved.

No the sighting I'm talking about is even better! It's a VENUS ENVY sighting!

I knew it was coming. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I've been waiting and anticipating and sneaking peeks in every bookstore I've been to in the past two weeks (overanxious much?). But my friend Julie Revell Benjamin (the winner of the very first copy of VENUS I gave away) spotted VENUS in the Crossroads B&N (Seattle) last night!! Yay! This was so much better than Santa!

So, let me know if you see it, where it was, how many copies were there, and where it was displayed or shelved in the store. I need to keep track of all this stuff, ya know! I may not have as sophisticated a system of tracking VENUS ENVY as NORAD does to track Santa, but it works for me and includes all my pals around the country (the world?).

Love to you all! And many happy wishes for the new year!

-- Shannon

PS: I haven't forgotten the super-duper, one-of-a-kind, handmade prize, and I'm still going to do it, but it's Christmas, for cryin' out loud, and I haven't had time to BREATHE. Oh, and you can feel even more sorry for me...I have to WORK on Christmas Day. Sigh. Send your sympathies my way...or better yet, buy VENUS ENVY so maybe I can eventually retire and write full time instead. :-)

Hooray!

2006-12-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

Amazon just notified me that they have shipped my copy of VENUS ENVY! (Yeah, yeah, I bought a copy...way back in July when it first showed up on Amazon, because I wanted to be the first to place an order. I'll just add it to the other 50 copies my publisher is sending me.)

So, if you don't want to brave stores the day after Christmas, or you don't want to risk them being sold out, or GOD FORBID not carrying it in the first place, hop on over to Amazon and get your very own copy sent directly to you! Because, let's face it, some of us just don't like shopping the way that Venus does. :-)

Shannon

Major updates...

2006-12-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

To my website, that is. It's about time, I know, but I've been so crazy busy! I haven't even had the chance to enjoy the fact that my book comes out in five days! Can you believe it? I feel like I've been waiting forever.

I got the first REAL copy if VENUS ENVY today in the mail. It's beautiful! Don't all new moms say that about their babies? LOL! Seriously, though, I think it looks great and can't wait to see it in stores.

Anyway, in celebration, I finally got my website updated. I added a page for Appearances and Events, so if you live or are visiting the Seattle area in January and February, check out that page and come buy a signed copy of VENUS ENVY. (I'm also toying with the idea of doing bookplates or something for those who can't have a book signed in person...stayed tuned for that.)

I added a Promo Page with all the fun stuff that's been happening with Venus and me in the last few months, too. Plus, I changed the front page, including a new personal note from me. I hope to update that a lot more often than I have in the past!

Tomorrow night I may actually get a chance to reveal the one-of-a-kind, handmade, gorgeous thing I'm giving away to a lucky reader. You're going to LOVE IT!

- Shannon

Guesting today....

2006-12-20T10:17:00.000-08:00

Today I'm interviewing Venus over on The Knight Agency Blog. Check it out! Pay close attention to the little bit about the one-of-a-kind, handmade and very beautiful prize I'm going to be giving away as soon as I can get my act together. Hint: You'll find it on the cover of VENUS ENVY.

-- Shannon

Ten days? Seriously?

2006-12-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Has it really been that long since I posted last? I can't believe it! Time is positively flying in the past few weeks. It seems like there is always something to do, either for Christmas with family gatherings last weekend (and two more this weekend), shopping, cleaning, wrapping, organizing, cleaning, etc.

But the best part of it all has been the preparations for VENUS ENVY!! Only 13 more days! I can hardly believe it. So there have been things on my to-do list like lining up guest blogs, organizing some booksignings, figuring out what to do to update my website, gathering info for my agency to start getting the word out about the availability of foreign rights, etc.

It feels like I'm ending everything with "etc." Which basically means it never ends, right?

Next month will be the premiere of the "What Would Venus Do?" column in Affaire de Coeur magazine. Y0u can still ask Venus your most pressing questions about love, romance, beauty, or men. Write to her here and maybe you'll end up in a column or on the soon-to-be-updated Affaire de Coeur website.

The American Library Association Booklist magazine will carry a great review of VENUS in their December 15th issue. They say, "Witty, funny, and truly original, McKelden’s romance is a standout." Love it!

Also, stay tuned, after next Monday I will have more news about the super cool prize I'm giving away in honor of the publication of my first book. It's beautiful. It's handmade. And it's one of a kind. Check back next week for pictures!

I'll also be updating my website early next week (or throughout next week depending on exactly how time consuming it turns out to be). I'm adding an Events and Appearances page, a page about the column, uh, etc. :-)

Well, I'd better go now. I'm obviously sleep deprived considering I've published this blog entry twice already... once with just the title, once a few paragraphs ago. Now I need to publish the real, complete entry.

See you soon!
- Shannon

We're back to blaming the cats....

2006-12-03T18:29:00.000-08:00

6-foot freshly fragrant evergreen tree from the neighborhood stand - $20
New stand to replace the one that even a blind man could have seen shouldn't have been attached to the tree in the first place - $8.99
Artificial tree to replace the fresh tree and new stand that apparently STILL doesn't hold water - Priceless!

Yes, I have become shameful to my home state of Washington (not nick-named the Evergreen State for its lack of trees) by purchasing a freaking artificial tree. But, believe me, the choice was down to artificial tree or someone dying.

I went to water the tree last night and noticed that the floor behind the tree was AGAIN (or still) very wet. What the hell?! I suspect the kitties had been enjoying splashing games, but when I found out that one of the gifts (a beautiful maroon suede-like purse I had picked out for myself) had soaked through and come this close to being ruined, that was the final straw. The tree was stripped of its finery by the end of the night and tossed outside on its butt.

This morning, I bought an artificial tree well worth its $100 price tag and then promptly left to go Christmas shopping and let my family put the thing together. When I arrived home, all was well. And will continue to be well as long as the kitties down't realize that these branches don't bend down under their weight like they did on the real tree, and that they could probably actually climb the tree and perch there. I'll save that blog for when it happens.

Who'da thought these little buggers would suddenly provide me with endless blog topics? Maybe I'll tell you about their neutering which happens bright and early Wednesday morning!

**********

So, I have been tagged by Christina to do a Christmas MeMe, so I may as well do it while I'm on the topic, and my feet are throbbing from 4-5 hours of shopping today (UGH!).

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Egg nog is one of those "1 cup once a year" things for me. I love it, but I can't take that much of it, and if I bought a quart I'd feel obligated to finish it off before it went bad. Hot chocolate is not my favorite either. Only once in a while, although Christina reminded me how good it is with Peppermint Schnapps....ummmm...I may have to find a liquor store (and I do mean FIND one, as I really have no clue where there is one around here).

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
A little of both! Some are sitting out to look pretty, but the rest are all wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Also a little of both. I think we have a few strands of each on the tree. And a mix and match explosion of lights around the house.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No. My kids prefer that my husband and I keep our affections to ourselves (and out of sight). And, frankly, there's no NEED for mistletoe, if you get my drift. wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
I don't put decorations up. My kids have done it the past couple of years. Usually because they want it done far earlier than I do, so I use this to get them to do a thorough housecleaning, and THEN they can decorate. This usually occurs on Thanksgiving weekend or the first weekend of December.

[Note: Sadly I believe I will HAVE to decorate next year, as Darling Daughter is convinced she s going to come home from college at Christmas next year to find the house looking like it's still mid-July, completely devoid of holiday spirit. Damn.]

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Well, I'm not much of a veggie eater, but I adore green bean casserole...you know, the one with cream of mushroom soup and those crunchy onion things that come in a can. Yum!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child.
I have apparently blocked most childhood memory due to trauma (or I'm getting really old and my long-term memory is shot), so the ONLY Christmas memory I have is coming into the family room and seeing the tree lit up, with what looked like an incredible amount of presents, including a 10-speed bike (not wrapped).

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
No clue. See above about blocking out memories of my childhood due to possible trauma. Hey! Maybe finding out about Santa WAS the trauma!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Well, my husband came from a family of Eve-openers, and I came from a family of Day-openers. This is been one of the many things I have sacrificed, er, compromised on in our marriage. We now open family gifts on Christmas Eve and Santa gifts on Christmas Day. Oh, and sometimes several gifts in the days before as our children wear us down with their endless whining, "Just ONE, please, please, please, we'll leave you alone if we can just open ONE!"

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
See #5. I DON'T decorate. Okay, I put a few ornaments on this year for Tree Decorating #1, but a lot of good that did, considering it had to be stripped and REdecorated, so nothing is where I put it in the first place.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
I like PICTURES of it. I don't like cold, and I don't like driving in it. 'Nuff said.

12. Can you ice skate?
I actually took ice skating lessons as a kid. However, I think my middle-aged (read: rubber) ankles, wouldn't be putting up with it these days.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I really don't. Must be behind that closed door of my mind brought on by the childhood trauma now presumed to be my discovery that "Santa" stored his toys in my parents' sauna prior to "coming down the chimney" to deliver them on Christmas Eve.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
I love spending time with my family. Even though they apparently traumatized me in some way, as I can't rememer most of my childhood. This is really starting to bug me....maybe I should bring it up at the table at our family "Christmas" next Sunday. SEE? We don't even celebrate Christmas ON Christmas. Are they trying to drive me insane? I had to finish all my shopping today, a full 22 days BEFORE the holiday! They've even taken away the joy of last minute rushes to the mall! Where's my therapist's number??

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
I liked iced sugar cookies, homemade English toffee, and Russian tea cakes (balls?). My dad and Darling Daughter are going to try again this year to make their Peppermint Cheesecake that they made last year, only to have my mom and Darling Daughter drop it on its way into the fridge. I'm looking forward to trying that...again.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
We're not really traditional-type people. We are more like go-with-the-flow-and-make-it-fit kind of people.

17. What tops your tree?
A gold star, into which Darling Daughter stuck a green light. Kinda weird.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Receiving, but not because I'm greedy. Because I completely suck at picking out gifts. Seriously, I get a complete and utter headache even trying to think about what to buy people. Doesn't help to be friends with people *coughChristinacough* who are the best gift-givers ever. However, I may have discovered a secret weapon in Fuego, which has apparently recently opened at our mall, and in which I recognized several of the coolest gifts I have ever been given. :-)

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
I love Silent Night and I'll be Home For Christmas. And Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

20. Candy canes! Yuck or yum?
Yuck, but I eat them anyway. Not sure why.

Well, that's enough for tonight. I'll be back as soon. Or sooner if the kitties decide to give me any more fodder.

-- Shannon

Apologies to the kitties...

2006-11-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Remember #2 in the entry below about my kitten-filled Christmas? Well, I kind of have to publicly apologize for blaming the little monsters for drinking all the water in the Christmas tree stand. While, yes, they were drinking water from the stand, they weren't drinking as much as previously noted.

See, my daughter filled the stand one evening and mentioned that the water level drops quite rapidly as you fill it. I waved it off, figuring there was just something blocking the particular area she was pouring it into and it was just soaking it up more slowly.

So then I do the filling the next morning and, uh, wow, I put about 2 quarts of water...into a stand that might hold 1 quart at a time. And I don't think the tree had a straw going to suck it up as I poured.

I stuck my fingers under the edge of the stand. CRAP! The carpet underneath is soaked.

Soooo....have you ever tried to replace the Christmas tree stand of a fully decorated and NAILED TO THE WALL tree?? Not as easy as it sounds. And the tree stand? How did my husband not notice when he attached the tree (in broad daylight outside!) that the water reservoir is cracked halfway down???

Hopefully the carpet will dry quickly. The raggy towel underneath the new stand to soak up the old water lends an impoverished look to the whole bedraggled ensemble. And now the tree's not losing ANY water out of the stand, which probably means it already sealed up its stalk and will be dead by the end of the week, leaving us with a 6-foot fire hazard in our living room.

My kids are never surprised when I take down the Christmas tree by noon on Christmas day. Christmas night ends up being the first good sleep I get since the moment the tree goes up.

When do the artificial trees go on sale? I"m thinking that plan sounds better and better. I'll just clean with Pine-Sol for that fresh chemically-treated tree scent to make up for the lack of the fresh tree scent.

Shannon

Now touring...Vivi Anna!

2006-11-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

[Note: Blogger hates me today and won't upload pictures...so check out the link to her cover below!]

INFERNO by Vivi Anna
(Kensington, December 2006)

Vivi Anna's gorgeous, leather-clad heroine, Kat, is back in another wildly erotic adventure set in a future world where passion has no rules — and no limits ... Kat needs to find a scientist rumored to have created an antidote to a deadly virus, but he's hiding out in the violent underground city of Inferno. Her one-time lover Hades will take Kat where she needs to go, but only if she promises to be his, body and soul.

Excerpt:
http://www.vivianna.net/inferno.php#excerpt

Cover:
http://www.vivianna.net/inferno150x225.gif

ABOUT VIVI ANNA
A BAD GIRL at heart, Vivi Anna likes to burn up the pages with her original unique brand of fantasy fiction. Whether it's in ancient Egypt, or in an apocalyptic future, Vivi always writes fast paced action-adventure with strong independent women that can kick some butt, and dark delicious heroes to kill for. Once shot at while repossessing a car, Vivi decided that maybe her life needed a change. The first time she picked up a pen and put words to paper, she knew she had found her heart. Within two paragraphs, she realized she could write about getting into all sorts of trouble without suffering the consequences. When Vivi isn't writing, you can find her causing a ruckus at downtown bistros, flea markets, or playgrounds.

REVIEWS
Combine two star-crossed lovers, a deadly virus, a passel of Dark Dwellers, and an underground nemesis bent on destruction and you get one heck of an adventure. This follow-up to Hell Kat will have you cheering for the good guys all over again — and laughing out loud while you do it! A fun, sexy romp that leaves you crying out for more. – 4 stars, Romantic Times

Website: http://www.vivianna.net

Fa, la, la, la, la...la, la, la, MEOW!

2006-11-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

The holiday season in households with feline friends is one of joy and happiness. However there are a few steps that must be taken to ensure this is the case.

1. Set up lovely, fragrant 6-foot evergreen tree in prominent spot in the living room.
a. Attach said tree to wall with heavy duty wire and nails. Ensure nails are securely imbedded in wall studs. Plaster can be replaced and repainted when season is over.

2. Once a day make sure to water the tree, so as to maximize it's life span and minimize fire danger.
a. Water 4-5 times a day, because pitch-flavored water is apparently a feline delicacy.

3. Hang strands of multicolored lights on tree and around doorways and windows for maximum festive effect.
a. Ever seen a cat with a laser pointer? Think of light strands as thousands of miniature laser pointers taunting and teasing precious purr-buddies.
b. Blinking, flickering, and chasing lights are like laser lights on speed. Keep well out of reach.
c. This means don't bother hanging them at all, as no place is out of reach.

4. Spend time as a family choosing meaningful ornaments with which to decorate the tree.
a. Make sure none of the ornaments are breakable. Nothing fabric, paper, glass, ceramic, homemade, or edible.
b. Nothing plastic, wood, painted with toxic paint, coated with glitter, and or scented. Because it is all edible.
c. May as well just use catnip ornaments in the first place.

5. Place ornaments carefully on the tree with an eye for a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing finished product.
a. Place ornaments only on the upper half of the tree, on the three sides that are exposed (since one side is firmly against the wall, remember).
b. Make that the top third of the tree, as apparently cats can vault higher than previously seen when properly motivated.
c. On the quarter of the tree nearest the window, only decorate the topmost branches. Window sills make convenient launch pads.

6. Wrap packages in brightly colored paper and intricately tied ribbons that would make Martha Stewart proud.
a. Use ribbons no more than 2 inches in length, as anything longer, when swallowed by kittens becomes a ball of death in their stomachs and intestines...or must be pulled out of the throat and gullet in one long, stomach content-soaked strand.
b. Wrapping the cat tree in festive paper because it's cute and matches the presents under the tree is only cute until the cat mistakes the real presents for the cat tree and can't figure out where the door is. Hey! I'm getting a sweater for Christmas!

7. Spend time enjoying your decorating efforts, curled up on the couch, laptop in hand, basking in the holiday glow.
a. Don't forget to take your Valium cocktail and blood pressure meds because screaming at your fur-babies nonstop for two hours about staying out of the tree and away from the presents will try every ounce of patience you have and make you wonder why in the world you decided that two kittens would be a good idea.

8. With all the decorations tempting the fuzzy little monsters 24/7, they will need more rest than normal. These moments of rest will be few and far between. Make sure to provide them plenty of uninterrupted nap-time. See illustration below of the proper way to renew and revive for the next round of decoration destruction.

-- Shannon

10 things I am thankful for...

2006-11-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

1. My family, of course, WaterGuy, Darling Daughter, Gameboy, the kitties who make us laugh, the dog who looks at us adoringly, the crow...okay, not the crow. He's just annoying. Oh, and all my extended family, too, since I found out some of them actually read this blog. I didn't forget you guys!!

2. My friends. The ones who wear tiaras proudly and the ones who only WISH they wore tiaras. For my online friends and offline friends. The friends I've met in person and those I'm still looking forward to meeting. I love them all for everything they do to make me feel special every day.

3. Books...for entertaining me, making me think, making me laugh and cry. But not for the ones that I feel like throwing against the wall, of which there have been too many lately. But for all the others, I'm thankful.

4. For my agent, my editor, my publicist, the booksellers and everyone who is doing even the slightest little thing to make VENUS ENVY a success. Like those of you who will go back to the last sentence and click on VENUS ENVY and hop on over to Amazon to preorder your copy today! I'm really thankful for you!

5. For technology...without it, I wouldn't have as many friends as I have, I wouldn't be able to talk to people about books as much. I wouldn't have quick and ready access to my agent, editor and publicit (which they probably sometimes regret). I wouldn't have a ready-made excuse to ignore my family. :-) Oh, and for the fact that technology--the internet in particular--makes it exceptionally easy for anyone, yes ANYONE, to go back up to #4 and click on "VENUS ENVY" and hop on over to Amazon to preorder your copy today! Because without technology Amazon wouldn't exist, and you would actually have to get in your car and DRIVE to the nearest bookstore the day after Christmas (which, if you are like me and hate shopping, practically gives you hives to even think about) only to find that they are SOLD OUT of VENUS ENVY and will have to wait WEEKS to get your copy! See? Technology. Priceless.

6. For Google, the world's greatest search engine. It could actually be lumped in with technology, probably, except that I've used it so often lately that I think it deserves a number of its own. By the way, how many times do you have to Google yourself in one day before you go blind or get hairy palms...I mean, before you have to consider yourself a narcissistic addict and get yourself enrolled in a 12-step program?

7. I'm thankful for Venus, who has kind of, sort of, taking on a life of her own--

"Hey! What do you mean 'kind of, sort of'? I have a JOB! Do you not realize the significance of that??"

[Shannon wrestles computer back from deranged goddess.]

ANYWAY...I am thankful for Venus--most of the time--for the fun and the laughter. And I hope that everyone else will enjoy her as much as I have this year and, hopefully, for a long time to come.

8. I'm grateful for reviewers, which could probably be included in #4, but I thought I'd give them their own. You know, reviewers who say things like:

"Debut author McKelden is undeniably talented, milking a fun plot for all it's worth." -- Romantic Times Book Reviews

9. I am thankful for...my...job. Okay, there, I said it. I didn't want to say it, but I did. I am thankful for my job. I get to work at home. I don't have to deal with psychotic coworkers (as in past years off and on). I don't have to commute. I have some flexibility in my hours. I can, most of the time, work something on the order of part time, which gives me, theoretically, time to write. If I have to have a job (besides writing) I'm thankful this is the one I have. (I'm racking up karmaic brownie points by posting this for all the world to read, right??)

10. I am thankful for my future readers. You guys ROCK! No, really, you do. Whoever you are, you rock, totally. And I'm grateful for you. And...and...you're making me tear up a little. So, if you want to be one of those people making me a little misty, you know where #4 is up there above. And I think you know what to do since I've mentioned it twice already (but that was click, hop, preorder, if you missed it before) in order to make sure that maybe by this time NEXT year, I can be thankful for another book contract. :-)

Blessing to you all!!

Shannon

Got it covered!

2006-11-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

So Diana P. totally surprised me this morning with what she found. I mean, I knew I was going to be somehow included in a Publishers Weekly article about debut romance novelists, but I didn't know in what capacity or how big or interesting the article would be. But check this out:
Looking for a New Love.

Even more fun? I'm on the cover! I'm the little teeny tiny face second from the bottom on the right. Totally cool, huh?! My friend Gerri Russell, whose first book THE WARRIOR TRAINER comes out just a week after mine is also featured.

I feel like I won the lottery of promo!

- Shannon

Bad writer! Er, bad BLOGGER!

2006-11-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not a bad writer, I swear! Just a bad blogger. I've been chastized about not updating my blog in a timely manner, and I plead guilty, well, because it's pretty obvious I wouldn't have a leg to stand on in my defense in a court of law.

I have been busy, though, so I do have some excuse! I turned in a proposal for a book two weeks ago and am awaiting my agent's opinion. I'd love to get it circulating soon. I finished a project for a friend then started getting a lot of little things done for VENUS....which comes out in 42 DAYS! Can you believe that?? I can't!

I've been asked to join a new blog by my friend Leena Hyat, called Tote Bags 'n Blogs, with a bunch of other terrific writers. I'm soooo playing with the big girls now. Funny story: I'm in Safeway the other day with my husband, and we were looking at books. I'm going to a meeting of our Published Authors Network (PAN) authors for one of my local chapters later this week. I pointed to the #4 bestseller's book on the shelf at Safeway and told my husband, "I'm going to her house on Thursday." He laughed and asked why I was "slumming" with only a number FOUR bestseller. Ha! Then he promised that when I made it to the Safeway Bestseller List someday, he'd steal me the little plaque thing they stick in front of the book. I can totally imagine me putting that on my shelf in my office. LOL!

By the way, I'm looking for READER blogs that may want to host me in the month of December. I'm more familiar with writer's blogs, so if any of you know of reader blogs that like to have authors post, please let me know. That's another thing on my to-do list...find blogs to promo on throughout December and January. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

I also found out I'm going to be in Publishers Weekly sometime soon, in an article about debut romance authors! That should be fun. Hopefully there will be a way to share it with all of you.

The What Would Venus Do column will be starting in Affaire de Coeur magazine in the Jan/Feb issue, which I'm really excited about. It's about time Venus started supporting herself and seeing what it's like to live in the real world. You know. With a JOB.

We're still working on finalizing the super special, one-of-a-kind, hand-made give-away to celebrate VENUS ENVY coming out. I'm super excited about it and will let you know as soon as I can tell you more.

In real life, I've got so much on my plate right now...like holidays (ugh) and college planning for Darling Daughter (double UGH). So much has to be accomplished by the end of the year, and of course it all has to happen when I'd rather be kicking back and enjoying the fact that my book comes out in 42 DAYS! Alas, that's not going to happen. I'm just going to have to learn to multitask. :-)

Sorry, this had to be the most boring EVER blog entry. It'll have to do for now!
Shannon

The Lie Comes Out...

2006-11-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, Lacey's mom wins. I have no artistic talent...at least not for painting. I used to tole paint, and was pretty good at that, but that's where someone else tells you what colors go where. :-)

The rest? All true.
1) I married the one guy I ever dated and we're still together almost 25 years later.
2) I did, apparently, eat a slug when I was three, and my dad did tell "every guy" I ever dated. He loves to point out slugs along the ground and ask me if I'd like salt with them.
3) McKelden IS a family name passed down just as I described. I always wanted to name my daughter McKelden as a first name, but due to very mean and nasty nick-naming (by my husband and brother) going on before said baby was even a twinkle in my eye, I changed my mind.
4) I did spend my birthday...just a few weeks ago in fact...chasing, catching, and ridding my pantry of mice. UGH! Thankfully I'm not afraid of mice, and they were very tiny, so with gloves on, they weren't dangerous. They weren't spiders is all I can say. If my pantry had had 5 spiders in it, I would have evacuated the premises and called my husband to come home from work! EEK!

So the lie about the art scholarship...it's actually part of the plot for my current WIP. :-)

Tagged! Truth or a Lie?

2006-10-30T13:25:00.000-08:00

Lacey Kaye tagged me to do this, and since it sounded pretty fun...

The game is, I'll give you 5 facts about me that most people wouldn't know. Four of them will be the truth and one will be a lie. See if you can figure out which one is the lie.

1. I have only ever dated, kissed, and slept with one guy.
2. When I was 3 years old, I ate a slug. My dad was outside salting slugs and turned around to find me toddling along after him...with salt and slime on my fingers and around my mouth. My father told this story to every guy I ever dated.
3. McKelden is actually my middle name. It's an old family name passed down through 5 generations at this point. It started as my great-grandmother's maiden name, then my grandmother's, my father's, mine, and now my daughter's middle name. Found out at a family reunion a few years ago that McKelden was the family name passed down consecutively the most times without skipping a generation.
4. I am actually an accomplished painter. I won a contest in high school...Best Upcoming Artist in the oil painting category. It earned me a full scholarship to the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. The reason I turned it down? I wanted to get married (see #1) and was afraid (wrongly, I'm sure, now that I look back) that if I attended art school he wouldn't wait for me. Twenty years later, I have two kids and a very happy marriage, and I love my budding career as a writer...but sometimes, I wonder what might have been, ya know?
5. I once spent my birthday ridding my pantry of rodents...actually catching mice in my bare (okay GLOVED) hands and freeing them over the fence into the woods. I ended up catching 5 total over the next couple of days (plus a couple of dead ones). Happy birthday to me!?

Now, okay, which ones are for real and which one is a lie?? See if you can guess. (And no hints from those of you who know that answer!)

Oh, and I'll tag Christina Arbini and Kelli Estes since Lacey already tagged Serena and Erin. May as well make ALL the Tiaras play this game. :-)

Shannon

Shannon

Blog Tour - Robin D. Owens

2006-10-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Robin D. Owens is an absolutely sensational storyteller. -- The Romance Reader

Somewhere in Druida City of Celta, Trif Clover has a HeartMate. Impatient to meet him, she's actually going door-to-door with her charmkey to find him. What she doesn't know is that he has already found her. Guardsman Ilex Winterberry knows Trif is his HeartMate, but has reasons of his own -- and for her own good -- to keep to the shadows of her life. But there's a killer on the loose, stalking those with unstable psi power like Trif's. Facing his most difficult task yet, Ilex must reveal the truth of their destiny or leave Trif vulnerable to a vicious murderer...

[Note: If you want to see Robin's beautiful cover, check out the link below, as no matter how many times I uploaded it, it looked great when I was creating the post, but only about a 1/2 inch of it showed up on the actual blog. Blogger picture upload hates me sometimes!]

Excerpt: http://www.robindowens.com/images/01HQ.pdf

Cover: http://www.robindowens.com/images/HeartQuest.jpg

My Blog:
http://robindowens.blogspot.com/2006/09/heart-quest-is-out.html

Check out Robin, along with other great paranormal authors, who are still partying through the rest of this week at the Out of the Blogosphere party! There are prizes! There are recipes! There are excerpts and cool covers and all kinds of fun things going on. Check it out!

What a week!

2006-10-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this picture! It's my Venus! When I saw this, I just cracked up.

Note: I have to give Venus special thanks for taking over for me this week at the Out of the Blogosphere party...not that it was a huge sacrifice for her to hang out at a party. To hear her talk, though, I was sending her to the dentist in my place for a root canal. Oh, and don't forget the party continues this week! Many more authors to come...most giving away prizes!

Speaking of prizes, congrats to the two winners of VENUS ENVY arcs this week... PamK and Wende will both be getting their very own advanced copies in the mail very soon. Sure hope you enjoy them!

Great news this morning! VENUS ENVY was reviewed by Publishers Weekly. How rocking is that? I haven't determined yet if it is just online or in print also. Here are some of the highlights:

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Venus and Rachel, the story puts a fresh spin on the classic fairy godmother story, and Venus—catty and generous with her barbed wit—is cut from different cloth than the standard well-behaved fairy.

and

McKelden's sharp sense of humor pulls plenty of weight.

Works for me!! :-)

It's too late now for me to tell all about my, um, adventures this week. Oh, I can tell you about one of them, I guess.

So, on Thursday, after two days of just too much drama around here, I'm outside doing the mundane chore of cleaning a cat box (UGH!) when all of a sudden, I feel what feels like a bite on my leg. I smack the side of my leg, thinking, "Oh, shit! I got these jeans off the bathroom floor this morning...what if there was a spider in them?!" Like I would have had a spider in my pants all day without noticing. Right. (Notice I'm not chastizing myself for leaving my clothes on the floor all night, just trying to decide the logic of not noticing a spider in them, which wouldn't even have a chance to be there if I didn't leave my clothes on the floor in the first place.)

I let go and return to cleaning the cat box (figuring it was just a sticker or something), when I feel this bite again! Damn! That hurts! I smack my leg again, feel nothing, but decide I'd better get the pants off quick. As I turn to go into the house, I feel yet another bite!!

$%^&*!!

Don't try to picture me running through the house, stripping off my pants as I go. It wasn't pretty. I get to the bathroom, throw my pants on the floor and proceed to stomp the heck out of them, just in case whatever had sunk its fangs into me was still alive.

When I am completely sure IT is dead, I inspect my leg. Sure enough, there are two fang marks, about a quarter inch apart, as well as a third bump forming another quarter inch from them, forming a triangle. All three spots are swelling already. I begin to panic. I mean, I'm a medical transcriptionist. I've typed reports before. I know what happens when spider bites go bad.

While taking a wire bristled scrub brush and antibacterial soap to my leg...okay, it wasn't a wire brush, but it kinda felt like one with the vigorousness of my attack on it...I wonder what I should do. Take Benadryl? Go to the emergency room NOW instead of tomorrow, when I'm sure I'll be waking up to a half gangrenous leg wound? (Oh, who was I kidding, I wouldn't be waking up tomorrow, because there was no way I'd be able to sleep while worrying about flesh-eating disease taking over. I'd be awake all night. Maybe I should just sleep in the bathroom with the light on, so I'd know at what exact moment the spider venom took over my body.)

After scrubbing, I apply a generous layer of antibiotic ointment to the now mountainous fang marks on my leg. I change into a pair of shorts so nothing can obstruct my view of my leg as it loses color and begins to fester. The jeans go straight into the wash pile without another glance, as there is no way I am sticking my hand in them to see if Mr. Spidey is still alive.

I have to go out and finish the litter cleaning (wouldn't do to die with stinky cat smell in the house), so I hobble toward the back door again, trying to decide if I should menton to my husband where the life insurance policies are kept just in case the spider venom takes over more quickly than I anticipate and I don't even make it through the night. As I open the back door, I prayed I won't see The Spider Who Shall Not Be Named, because I know that actually seeing it will just freak me out further (can we say phobia?).

But as the door opens fully, a stray ray of sunshine slips inside, and as I step over the threshold I see it. It is upside down, legs in the air, wiggling just a little in its final agonizing breaths. It is black...with little yellow stripes. And at one time--probably right before I brained it by slamming its head between my fist and my calf--it had been able to fly. As in right up my pant leg.

It was a yellow jacket. A simple bee.

I nearly sink to the floor in praise. I'm not going to die! I'm not going to lose a leg to flesheating disease or be struck mad by spider venom! Halleluah!

Then I stomp that sucker flat and kick his dead body out into the driveway.

Little bastard. Sting me why don't you?

Want free books?

2006-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Head on over to my friend Kelli Estes blog and answer her questions all about spas. She's giving away free books in thanks!

Shannon -- still recovering from the wildlife around here. I'll tell you all about it this weekend.

Since Shannon's busy with birthdays and mice...

2006-10-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

...and not mice that will turn into footman at the end of the day...I thought I'd take over for tonight and announce my really, really fabulous news!

Check this out:

See this, folks! I have a job!! Not that being a fairy godmother isn't a job. (Don't even get me started on how hard I have to work on THAT, mostly due to SOME people who are stubborn as Zeus and don't listen to anything I ever say.)

But, I want more. I want to be heard. I want FAME.

So, when Affaire de Coeur magazine decided they wanted to offer their readers advice from the best, who did they turn to? Moi! I'll be the exclusive Advice Goddess. In the magazine and online. Watch as Affaire de Coeur makes itself over throughout the next year. Younger, hipper...still romancy as it was meant to be.

Wow! Not only do I do Extreme Love Life Makeovers...I'll be part of an Extreme Magazine Makeover. How cool is that?

So, really, if you ever don't know how to handle something, you need only ask one thing...What Would Venus Do?

Come on! Send me a question. Let me tell you what to do...I mean, help you.

- Venus

Thanks!

2006-10-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes, friends!!

Wish I could say it's been a fabulous birthday...like that I've been attending the Out of the Blogosphere party with everyone else...except that that isn't what's been happening. I couldn't begin to touch on this day right now, except to say that it involves mice, throwing away almost an entire pantry worth of food, and...disgusting things.

I'll blog about it when I recover. Thanks for all the happy wishes!! Oh, and keep checking out the party this week and next. I'll announce my winner whatever day I said I'd announce it (since I can't remember at the moment). Plus there are lots of other winners still to come!

Shannon

Let the party begin....

2006-10-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

Venus has arrived at the Out of the Blogosphere Blog Block Party! Shannon's Birthday is today (I won't even TELL you how OLD she is), so she's unable to participate. So, I've taken her place, which is better for everyone, believe me!

And, I'm giving away another book...so go check it out!

-- Venus

OMG! Check out who just arrived!

2006-10-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

The party at Out of the Blogosphere is hopping! And look who just showed up:

Michelle Rowan
Chris Marie Green
and
Marianne Mancusi

The food is fab, the drinks are flowing, and you never know when you might end up winning a gift! So pop on over!

Shannon

Ten day Blog Block Party

2006-10-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hey, readers, there's a party going on! Head on over to the Blog Block Party at Out of the Blogosphere. There's food! There's fun! There's party favors, drawings, and good old dishing with lots of authors! Did I mention prizes???

Oh, and visit lots, as there will be multiple authors posting multiple times a day! Party on!

Shannon

Two Chances to Win!!

2006-10-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is your LAST warning! Next week there will be TWO chances to win ARCs of VENUS ENVY.

Chance #1 - you must be a subscriber to my newsleter. Go to my website and follow the directions on the right-hand side underneath my author photo.

Chance #2 - Party with the Out of the Blogosphere crew! Details on this one to come, as I'm not exactly sure what day is MY day. But, I'll be giving away another ARC there. Oh, and so will everyone else there, so party with us Monday, October 16, through Thursday, October 26th.

Shannon

Bits

2006-10-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this last week and wanted to show it off...it's so seldom I'm "crafty," and when I am, it's even more seldom that I actually pull it off successfully.

For the Emerald City Conference attendees are invited to contribute raffle baskets. Tickets are sold throughout the weekend, with proceeds helping support this awesome conference.

I decided this year to contribute. My basket was called "Every Woman Should be Treated Like a Goddess" (in honor of Venus, if you didn't get that). I think it turned out pretty cute, considering the amount of frustration I went through trying to get everything in the basket to be visible. Yeah. Right.

Anyway, it was great fun to see the cheer go up by the person who won. She was excited to get it, and I was excited to think there was someone else out there who was going to read VENUS ENVY.

Oh, and on another note...or to tease you more...that super fab prize I mentioned yesterday, that one-of-a-kind prize? Did I mention it is a HAND MADE one-of-a-kind prize? Well, it is. Now I just have to devise a very cunning way to make you dance for it! Bwahahaha!

Shannon

Back in Kansas

2006-10-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

The Emerald City Conference, as usual, was fabulous. This year rocked! I think they said they doubled the attendance of last year, which is fantastic. My pal, Christina Arbini, already has a recap on her blog, including pics, so I'll just refer you over there.

As with every year, I came home completely pumped...mostly from a particularly fabulous workshop by the very talented writers Ann Roth, Pat White, and Theresa Meyers, called GoalSetting is NOT for Sissies -- which had me and two of my fellow Tiaras (the rename of our former Goalkeepers group) sooooo excited, we probably frightened all of our tablemates at lunch afterward.

The thing with that workshop was that it wasn't about how to SET goals, but how to actually achieve them. And it was presented by 3/4 of the group of women who call themselves the Goal Girls (I think that's what they said). Their experiences mimicked the experiences of us Tiaras, except that they had managed to get back to their original goal, which was to support each other in the achievement of writing success. I think Erin and Serena and I just connected with them and we were CHARGED by the time we left. Do not be surprised to find that the Tiaras are on FIRE over the next year! We have plans!

I also came home from the conference with the confirmation of a REALLY GREAT prize give-away when VENUS ENVY comes out. Like a One of a Kind type prize. I'm so excited about it, and as time goes by and it gets closer, I'm sure I will tease you all mercilessly and then taunt you with photos. I will have you under my constant power. Bwahahahaha!!

Also, as a teaser, I turned in a proposal today (not for a book) for a completely fabulous project! As a hint...Venus and I may be branching out. And, that's all I'm saying for now. As soon as I get the go-ahead, I will definitely tell you all about it!

Promo for VENUS ENVY is picking up its pace. In one way it's frightening, but in another very exhilerating! There's actually a lot that can be done with very little money, and I'm trying to do what I can.

I also came home from the conference with ideas for articles and a couple of workshops of my own, so it's a dang good thing I went to that workshop, so I have a snowball's chance of actually accomplishing all the goals I suddenly have!

Shannon

Off to see the Wizard!

2006-10-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really THE Wizard, but more like the wizards (witches?) of the writing world. The authors I so admire, who work their magic into books for everyone to enjoy. This afternoon is the beginning of a weekend of fun and inspiration called the Emerald City Writers' Conference, put on by the Greater Seattle Chapter of RWA. LOVE. THESE. GALS. They work so hard to put on an incredible conference every single October. I love it even more than National, I think, because it's more intimate, and mostly includes all my great friends from the Pacific Northwest. I look forward to it all year!

Last night we had a Librarian Meet and Greet, envisioned by the awesome Debbie Macomber and brought together by Mary Buckham. It basically was a chance for local authors to meet with the librarians and buyers in charge of purchasing books for the library collections for about 5 locals libraries serving over something like 3 million patrons. It was a blast! So fun to meet with women (and one man!) who love books. I was especially happy to hear one gal from the King County Library System say that she recognized VENUS ENVY from her recent search of new and upcoming books for the KCL collection. That was really cool!

Also, congrats to Kristen Brunori, the winner of an ARC of VENUS ENVY from Nadine Dajani's blog contest yesterday! You finally figured out how to get a copy, huh?? That will be winging its way to you next week. Thanks to all of you who supported Nadine (and me!) by visiting her blog and participating in the contest.

What else? Um, can't really think of anything, so I guess I'll sign off. I'll come back next week and let you know if anything exciting happened at the conference...I always go with such anticipation. A little bit of VENUS trivia? It was two years ago, on my drive home from the Emerald City Conference that I was so pumped up and excited about writing, that I hatched what turned out to be the final plot of VENUS ENVY. When I was so excited to write that I was determined to figure out what had been keeping me in a writing slump for months. That's when I decided to combine two ideas I had--the goddess who was a fairy godmother from one story idea with the reluctant "Cinderella" from the other story idea--into the one that became my first book sold. See why ECWC has a soft spot in my heart??

See ya!

Shannon

Thursday's My Day!

2006-10-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Go, quickly (as long as it is actually THURSDAY, since I'm posting this on Wednesday night) to the fantabulous Nadine Dajani's blog to read my interview and have a chance to win a copy of VENUS ENVY and another super stupendous prize! Good luck!

Promo stuff...mine and others

2006-10-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

First of all, don't forget to check out Nadine Dajani's blog again today. Today's featured author is another Tor sister, Wendy French. I have all her books, although I've only read SMOTHERING, so far, which was terrific!

Secondly, coming down to the wire on signing up for my newsletter in order to win a signed ARC of VENUS ENVY. Only 2 weeks left! If you don't sign up by then not only might you miss out on my first newsletter, but you'll definitely miss out on this opportunity to win one of the few precious ARCs I have. Again, all you have to do is go to my website (or click the link above) and follow the instructions under my picture to sign up. Even though it is technically a Yahoo Group, there will be no spam, no chatter (I am the only one who can post), and no excessive mail in your inbox. A few newsletters a year is all you can expect from me, but you never know when one of them might announce another subscriber-only contest!

No, on to more promo. Today's Out of the Blogosphere author is Cheyenne McCray! Doesn't this cover totally rock??! I love this kind of cover, with the sexy leg shot.

SEDUCED BY MAGIC by Cheyenne McCray
(St. Martin’s; October 3, 2006)

DESIRE
Copper Ashcroft is an accomplished D'Anu witch, but the magic she wields is a potent force—strong enough to hurl her into a mysterious Otherworld when a spell backfires. Before Copper can escape, another being is pulled into her realm—Tiernan, a powerfully virile Tuatha D'Danann warrior. Blond, blue-eyed, and shamelessly seductive, Tiernan could be Copper's savior…and his touch sets her body on fire.

DUTY
Like others of his kind, Tiernan stands alongside the D'Anu witches to battle the demons of the Underworld. Obligation to his cause and his people cautions against any entanglement with Copper, yet each second spent with this beautiful, uninhibited woman stirs an insatiable hunger. Desire explodes into carnal bliss, but the visions that haunt Copper's dreams are growing stronger, and they foretell a terrifying evil waiting to be unleashed…

DESTINY
Saving the city will take more than brute strength…more than witchcraft. Only together can Copper and Tiernan find a way to overcome the dark forces—and seize a passion that has bewitched them both..

Click here for excerpt

ABOUT CHEYENNE MCCRAY
Cheyenne McCray is the award-winning author of sixteen books and six novellas. Among other accolades, Chey has been presented with the prestigious Romantic Times BOOKclub's Reviewers' Choice Award for "Best Erotic Romance of the Year."

Chey has been writing ever since she can remember, back to her kindergarten days when she penned her first poem. She always knew one day she would write novels, hoping her readers would get lost in the worlds she created, as she did when she was lost in a good book. Cheyenne enjoys spending time with her husband and three sons, traveling, and of course writing, writing, writing.

REVIEWS

Her latest precious magical Ashcroft saga is a delightful torrid tale headed by a strong lead couple and supported ably by a horde of bad dudes. Fans who appreciate a strong fantasy will want to read the magnificent McCray mythos – Harriet Klausner

Website: http://www.cheyennemccray.com/