By the way, if you haven't voted for My One True Love (see previous post) that's okay, really, but if you feel like showing the love, please vote.

Right. Get your mind off Viking vampires, Carolyn.

I'm transferring paper edits of The Next Paranormal to my document today. And I am, in a sick kind of way, happy to say that I did some massive chapter order re-ordering. The pacing was off. Way off. I've moved some bits from one place to another because I've got split actions and they need to be consolidated. I've also handwritten a big portion of a new chapter -- just enough to set in my mind what I want to happen. I have 49K and really, really want to be at 80K by end of this month. I'm 2K behind target though.

In other news, my agent has sent my historical proposal to my editor and since this is Publishing we're talking about it's time to hurry up and wait. Hopefully they won't want chapters because I'm not sure how I could hit 80K for the WIP and also bang out proposal chapters too.

I suppose it's safe enough to say that I've signed the contract for two more paranormals, but until they sign their end, it's not officially official.

Since I'm up too late, time to go to bed.

Labels: editing, proposals, The Next Paranormal

Today, Amazon.com delivered two copies of Lover Avenged and I was thinking of returning the extra (ohhh, can I do that to a fellow author?) when I said to myself, Hey, Carolyn, you can give that extra copy as a present for your birthday bash!


All righty! As my birthday approaches (soooo close!) here are today's prizes:

1. A cool ceramic plaque that says Believe. Pictured below.


2. JR Ward's latest in the BDB saga: Lover Avenged

Here's a pic of the Believe plaque. Sorry for the bad photo. It's no more than 5 inches high by 3 inches, roughly. It's cute, too, and will look really good hanging in a window or by your computer or any place you would like to be reminded that it's important to believe.


To have a chance to win these prizes, leave a comment on this post about your favorite Brother, or about something you believe in. Like this: Zsadist is my favorite Brother followed closely by Vishous and I believe both those choices explain why I'm Team Jacob.

Only better, if you want.

If you don't leave me a way to contact you, check back around May 1 2009 to see if you've won.

In writing news (just in case anyone's curious) I am working on a proposal for my next historical.

Labels: Birthday bash, contest, proposals, writing

All right, so this isn't exactly about writing, but I'll get to that later. Late this afternoon, as my son and I were walking up the driveway after taking down the garbage, we met our neighbor High-Bob (to distinguish him from Low-Bob, the neighbor who lives below us). High-Bob was trying to flush a trout out of his water line -- to no avail. Apparently later on he'll need to hook up the compressor and basically blow the stuck fish out of the pipes. In the meantime, he mentioned that he had a big old mass of bees hanging off a tree behind his house. "Really?" I said. "Can we go look?"

So my son and I walk up to his house to look. Sure enough, there is a massive collection of bees about the size of two footballs end to end, hanging off the slender branch of an olive tree. Said branch looks to be in danger of breaking. That's a lot of bees. We went back to our house where I discovered that the local paper (publishes weekly) had just run an article about The Bee Lady, who has a farm and raises bees. The article talked about bee swarms such as High Bob's and how she will come and get them, and that quite often the bees die from the cold. Hives that get too big will split off.

I took her phone number to him and about an hour later, the Bee Lady was at his house. She had the whole bee keeper suit and a long cardboard box with a silver-dollar sized hole in one end. She also had an extra hat which she let me put on. Since it was evening, and cooling down fast, the bees were pretty quiet. I was able to get within five inches of this mass of bees. Oh my gosh.

Basically, she just kind of scraped the whole mass off the tree. (She estimated 35 to 40,000 bees) Most of the mass fell into the box, but not all, as you might imagine. The rest landed on the ground near the box. I had a few moments of wondering if I was going to panic as a few flying around bees landed on my mesh covered face, but I didn't because, they were outside the mesh. Pretty neat, I have to say.

With most but by no means all of the bees in the box with some slats for them to cling to, she put the lid on the box. Once the Queen is in the box, all the other bees want to be in the box with her, and the ones that aren't already inside go in through the hole in the end. That part took about 20-30 minutes. Small hole, lots and lots of bees. There was (are you ready for it?) a bona fide bee line into the box. Once or twice she took off the lid and scraped bees inside. They were actually very docile.

I learned lots of fun bee and non-bee related facts. Bees have a body temperature of about 92 degrees F, so they're pretty warm. This time of year Yellow Jackets are our friends because they eat insect larvae. Skunks are bee predators. Who knew? Later in the year, Yellow Jackets are not our friends. They puncture grapes and eat them and they drown in your coke for you to drink -- ICK!!!! So glad I don't drink soda.

Once the bees were in the box, she plugged the hole, duct-taped the lid on and carried the box to her car. The sound from the box was a vibrating constant buzzzzzzzzz.

She was happy to have High Bob's bees because a box of bees with a Queen costs about $95.00 and those boxed bees are, it seems, wimpy critters, having been coddled and what have you. Bob's bees are wild and acclimated to our climate and are much more robust. They will make good honey.

We intend to visit her soon and I intend to buy some honey. Also, it turns out she used to be a patient of my father's, I went to school with one of her daughters, and my son goes to school with one of her grand daughters.

In writing news, yesterday I sent off my two proposals to my agent who will then send them off to my editor unless there are any more tweaks. Today I got most of a The Great Revision chapter done today; all of a first pass and some good work on a second pass.

Labels: Bees, proposals, Revisions, writing

I'm so proud! I've adopted a word, you see. I actually did it two or three weeks ago. I didn't say anything because we were getting used to one another and I didn't want him to get overstimulated.





Not only is Scathefire my very own word to share with you, today, I used my word in the proposal chapter my agent finally likes.

Scathefire: A great destructive fire

Really. I'm just so proud! If you want, you, too, could adopt your very own word. SaveTheWords.org.

Labels: proposals, Random silliness

I'm tired cuz I stayed up too late last night. But I wanted to wave hello to you all at the end of a day with an appointment in a another city (Sorry Soccer Boy, left over pizza for dinner) and some champeen dithering about and getting not much done. I have a proposal to finish dangit! Revisions to get to.

I was going to rant about the whole Kindle 2, Text to Speech thing, but for now all I'll say is that the Author's Guild is wrong on this one. I disagree wholeheartedly with their position. (Sorry AG, but I'm staying a member, K?)

Couple things to flail away at, but I'm off to maintain the horizontal.

Does anyone else go to bed thinking you shouldn't read in bed because if you do you'll get sucked in again and stay up too late?

I know it's going to happen again.

Labels: dithering about, proposals, reading

I had this totally amusing post to write but first I had to do a bazillion other things like try to stay on top of the bookmark requests. This weekend I will prep a bunch for mailing unless I decide to hold them until I get my bookmarks for Scandal and My Forbidden Desire. I emailed all the new people who didn't provide a name and address, too.

Then someone sent me a 10 GB file three times only I don't have broadband. I refuse to count satellite as broadband. It's not nano-band like dial up but it's still narrrow-band. My internet choked for quite a while. Urk. Then I had to send out an announcement for Scandal for the Regency Reader since they're doing February releases and since I needed to include the cover art that was a big attachment going upstream. I also had to view the revised book trailer for Scandal which I think rocks but I had to send it Megan F for outside opinion. Another big attachment going out.

After that I had to completely rewrite my "Proposal Blurbs" which my agent wants to send on to my editor before Friday. I did a complete re-do. Complete. I kept the names. That's it. But I got all three done with relatively low pain once I remembered that should I get to write these books, I'm not likely to stick with those plots. On the other hand, I found it was remarkably useful to write them as I am now much more focused on the central conflicts, and from there, my friends, even Carolyn can write a novel. Blurbs have been sent.

In between all that I had to feed the dog, spend some time with Soccer Boy, feed him dinner (gnocchi and sausage), show him how to back up his iPhone, uninstall crapware from his computer, report my Golden Heart scores to RWA and do laundry.

Also, I went through my stack of RWA books and found I have duplicates of duplicates. I feel a contest coming on.

That's why I forgot the amusing topic for tonight's blog.

Now to bed.

Labels: Book Trailer, bookmarks, proposals, stuff

This weekend I was in Lemoore California for a soccer tournament. 6 hours to get there with Friday traffic and a stop for dinner. 5 hours to get back on Sunday. Thank goodness I wasn't driving. The woman I drove down with is in a book club and my main job, aside from monitoring the GPS and the boys in the back seat, was to talk to her about books so that she stayed alert. No problem! I can blab about books all day. Six hours of book blabbing was no big deal.

Through the magic of my iPhone, I was able to check email pretty much whenever I felt like it. On Saturday I started getting email requests for bookmarks. Cool, I said to myself. A bit later, it wasn't really a few, it was over a hundred. As it stands right now there are 360. DON'T do the math. It's deductible I tell myself. A fair number actually checked out my website and even said they liked my books. Are they all lying? I don't know why they would. I spent quite a while tonight going through and emailing the people who neglected to include a name and/or address.

The thing is, a bit of Googleing reveals that some people are doing more than emailing for the bookmark. They are checking me out. (waving!!!) and thinking about me and my books. (Yes, Carolyn Jewel's books rock, you should read them!! Feel free to use your bookmark in my books when opportunity arises.)

My bookmarks are, of course, all purpose and can be used in any book. If you're a ninja you could probably take someone out with one, though I must say, I consider that an unauthorized and unwise use of a bookmark.

The next best part is the origins: most from the US as you'd expect. But also, Jordan, Spain, Lithuania, Malaysia, India, the UK and Canada. I get a kick out of sending bookmarks overseas. Once, I sent some to Nigeria.

In writing news, I have to work on the paranormal blurbs. But my agent has given me detailed feedback so I have to go write better blurbs for books I won't ever write -- meaning before anyone panics, that what I do write won't resemble whatever blurb I write.

I have some other writing-related reading to do, too. I'm not ignoring you, Megan! I've been emailing all freaking night!

While I was traveling or not watching soccer, I finished Jessica Anderson's Nightkeepers which I really enjoyed. Then I started The Earl and His Butler in Constantinople which isn't fiction. It's pretty interesting. I wish it had come sooner, though. Now I'm reading Diana Holquist's Sexiest Man Alive which is really cute so far.

Off to read stuff and whatever.

Labels: bookmarks, proposals

Somehow it got to be the very last day of 2008. And here I am, still ticking. A good thing, indeed. And all you get in this post is the remains of my thoughts.

Writing in 2008

All the hard writing work of 2007-2008 will be showing up in 2009. I'll have 3 books out. Three!

February: Scandal
June: My Forbidden Desire
October: Indiscreet

That's going to cost me a fortune in promotion and RITA entry fees. Yeah, I often wonder if I can afford to write novels. Apparently I am a writing fool since I will, whatever happens, keep writing.

Technology in 2008

Twitter gets my vote for the application that actually added value to my life. More than mySpace, more than Facebook, probably even more than email. I'll have a separate post on my website about twitter in the new year.

The iPhone gets my vote for the gadget that blew me away. I heart my iPhone. It's worth every dang penny it costs. I can check and reply to my email! I can twitter! I don't need an eBook reader or an iPod (or mp3 player). A free book I downloaded (about how to read tea leaves) sparked a major plot thread in my October historical Indiscreet

I made the move from PC to Mac when I got an iMac. Technically that happened in late 2007, but the primary usage has been in 2008. I am now saving to replace my PC laptop which is old and getting clunky. I'll get a Mac laptop.

Thoughts about 2009

• I will be writing proposals. ::shudder::


• I hope to write my Dark Elf book which is the book proposal my agent loved (before she was my agent)


• February will see the release of Scandal which is the historical proposal that my agent (before she was my agent) said would have been an automatic rejection for her. This is the same book she read (after she was my agent and I rewrote it) and called a tour de force. Seriously.


• A year of uncertainty and hope. That's my take on 2009.

Have a safe and happy New Year everyone!

Labels: End of The Year, Happy New Year, proposals, Technolgy, writing

So, yeah, Sinful is done and all turned in. I should be relaxing. Only it's only a few days until Christmas and on account of the Dec-15 deadline, I'd done 0 shopping. And my mother's birthday is Dec-15. Sigh.

But then I had to pull together stuff for a mini-book trailer for Scandal and send out the few ARCs that I got. I have one left besides the now ratty copy I read to make sure there weren't any major goof ups. My agent told a story about a client who looked at her ARC (or maybe it was her author's copies) and discovered it was the unedited, unproofed version. omg. Scandal seems to have come out very well. So, that's good.

Anyway,on Monday before I went to get my facial and massage (Oh, 2.5 hours of bliss!) I went shopping to for my Mom, my best friend in Denver and this guy whose name I drew in ZeFrank's Duckie gift thing. If you aren't familiar with ZeFrank, get over to his site and get familiar. Watch episodes of The Show and you will be in love, too. Promise.

The Marshmallow Shooter Decision

Anyway, I also chatted with another store owner about his lack of Marshmallow Shooters. He didn't order them this year. But he did recommend that the pump action model is the one to get. I thought Amazon would be the less expensive place to get them, but it wasn't, not by a long shot. I ended up back at Hammacher-Schlemmer where the pump action model was $20+ cheaper. I got two, because what fun is one marshmallow shooter? My son's other gifts color-coded, tagged and ranked out of the H-S catalog: spring loaded shoes, lighter than air slippers (or something), the above mentioned shooters and a blanket warmer thing he's not getting because ... read on:

He has requested a snuggli from my sister ($19.95 two for one plus a free booklite!! Order now, Operators standing by!!!) If you watch TV, you've seen the ad, I'm sure. Hilarious hints have been dropped. Apparently, the Snuggli has now replaced his request for a giant cheese wheel.

The Tao of The Gift Exchange

My next dilemma is a new family tradition which, I admit I started 2 years ago because it's fun. I'm sure it's familiar to you: Everyone buys a gift the price of which is not to exceed some very modest amount. Then we all get together, pile up the gifts and take turns picking. Each gift can be stolen a max of 2 times after that, the person who has it gets to keep it. If the gift you elected to open is stolen, you can steal another gift or open a new one. Etc. For us, participants range in age from 6 to 81. The kids have proven themselves ruthless and eclectic about what they steal.

The trick with this is that you have to buy a gift people will want to steal. Too silly, and no one wants it. That's no fun. Too specific, and only a few people will want it. Because of our age range, alcohol and racy things are out.

It's a responsibility I take very seriously. I bought some pirate playing cards that come with a free! pirate doubloon, but I'm thinking that may not be quite right. I think I'm going to head for the bookstore and look for something there. Just in case. My local independent has a lot of gadget type stuff.

Then there's other stuff

Plus, I have proposals outstanding. I was supposed to send off some brief paranormal proposals to my agent, but frankly, it's too hard to write brief, and I just didn't have the time while I was working on Sinful. So now I'm working on that while helping my son study for his French exam. Soccer, and dinner and also my son has mostly grown out of his pants. Rats! Also, I just remembered I told my folks I'd shop for their gift exchange things for them. Good thing I remembered!

The Future?

Depends on the proposals I have to finish. Fortunately, no chapters at this point. I imagine I'll have to pull together a new historical proposal, too. I have only the very vaguest ideas right now. But I hope to write The Dark Elf Project next. Starting in January. Which may or may not be an issue, depending on if anyone ever wants to publish me again.

Off to relax. Right after I fold the laundry.

Labels: chores around the house, holidays, proposals, writing