VIRTUALLY HERScame out Oct. 2009. Get it atSAMHAIN Publishing. VIRTUALLY ONE coming soon. VIRTUALLY HERSOUT IN PRINT AUG 2010.
I've also made available at AmazonBIG BAD WOLFa COS Commando book, an earlier manuscript about Killian Nicholas Langley. You can sample the first five chapters right here. EBOOK now available for KINDLE, NOOK, and at SMASHWORDS for $4.99.
I appreciate all your emails. If you'd like to buy Virtually His NEW, please contact me. Thank you.
Right now, I'm packing for the RWA convention. By this time tomorrow, I'm going to be with my author friends, chatting and exchanging news. I can't wait. No sweaty roofing gear for a few days, yay.
I lost ten pounds for RWA and now I can wear my new outfit that I bought for the party. It's going to be strange wobbling around on high heels for four days, especially since I've been climbing up and down roofs non-stop for the last two months. And instead of hammering, I'll be signing books--it never fails to amuse me how I morph from one to the other, from clothes to conversation to company!
Of course I'll be taking pics and blogging about RWA events. Meanwhile I have two books to give away!
The first the ARC to Kelley Armstrong's newest book:
The other one is none other than the third book in the brilliant Maxine Kiss series by Marjorie Liu:
I just love, LOVE the cover art of both books, don't you? Kelley is one of the first urban fantasy authors who caught many romance readers' attention with her strong women and sexy men. Then there is Marjorie, who writes some of the best paranormal romances as well as this awesome series.
Since their books are coming out end of July together, here is a chance for two lucky winners to get their hands on them. Just write in the comments why you enjoy urban fantasy, one of my favorite genres.
I thought it'd be appropriate for Demon Dog to pick the winners! Good luck!
It's been a long, long week. Next week, I'll be at RWA, Orlando, and it'll be another kind of long, long week (this time, with me having fun with my writing buddies!). I hope to have more news by then, or at least, pretend to have a more interesting life, heh.
For those who don't follow me on Facebook and have been writing emails, Demon Dog, aka Pepe Le Pom, is doing well. Why am I not surprised he's getting more fan mail than me? I guess that video I made of him "being bored" made him lovable, huh?
He's going through an ugly stage of puppyhood--hair falling, all teeth, unimaginable destruction. Fortunately for him, he's loved. Not all day long, but he's loved. One day, the sweet dog inside him will emerge and he'll be the most obedientest, most quietest, mostest everything goodest dog evah. I live in hope.
But for now, I live to come home hoping the book collection is still intact; only one magazine has been snagged and munched; no electrical cords have been dragged; and nothing more than hairballs have been puked out. Yes, it's always neat and tidy in the Low Home ;-). My dogsitter thinks he's the cutest fluffball ever too, and spoil, spoil, SPOIL him.
*****
It's strange to watch a small 20-inch TV again. My big screen TV went kaput and it'll cost more than it's worth to fix it, and since I need the $$$ to pay for my hotel room at RWA, it's back to Old Faithful, the 30 year old little Sony, who's still chugging along. But whoever said, once you've tried bigger, you can't go smaller, is right ;-). It is indeed a shock to the system to watch a show and can't see the pores in the actors' faces. Also, the TV is in the bedroom, so I've to actually sit down on the bed and watch the whole segment, instead of running around the room doing chores. Just not the same, you know?
*****
Many authors are now uploading e-files of their older books (whose rights have been reverted back to them) onto Smashwords and other online places. I think this is pretty cool. It means writers have more avenues to make money AND they can get a bigger percentage than the old 5-10 percent from their New York publishers.
This also means that authors are getting used to ebooks being part of their sales options. Five years ago, many would tell you that their electronic sales numbers weren't substantial enough for them to worry about. That was before Kindle, Ipad, and the Nook, though. Suddenly, everyone is yakking about putting up ebooks for sale. It's pretty amazing how a few good sales can attract writers' interest, yes?
*****
Finally, and as a good segue on the craziness of puppies of the human form, Youtube is/was running a Cutest Boy Contest. No, I wasn't paying attention, but I happened to come across this entry because it had had over 15 million viewers and Youtube kept asking me to check it out. The two kids = Adorable Puppies. They were just lip-synching and fooling around, but their little brotherly antics and one-upmanship of each other cracked me up. Also, Mommy/Sis walking by in the background between 2:00 and 3:00, totally ignoring their antics in front of the camera, took the cake. It reminded me, years ago, of my own brothers and sisters screaming and generally "killing" each other ten feet away from me while I sat there reading my book.
Yes, when I'm ignoring them, below is what Jiggle Low and Pepe Demon Dog do ;-):
I'm desperately trying to get some roofs done before RWA comes around at the end of the month. And the writing. Oh, the writing. Desperate and trying describe that too. It's amazing how one's mind refuses to cooperate when the body is exhausted.
But, if you do have time on your hands and have a few hours to enjoy surfing the Internet, here are two links guaranteed to have to clicking the hours away:
From Alexander the Great to Byron to Paul Newman, the writer details the beauty of these past delicious beauties with humorous, but still, somewhat disturbing, banter. The funniest was checking out the backside of the statue of Spartacus. Yes, she went there. Go see if your favorite handsome dead guy is there. In his prime, of course.
Happy surfing! And don't blame me when you look at the clock. I warned you first.
In this corner, Jiggle Low, Strategist Extraordinaire:
In this corner, Pepe Le Pom, The Enfant Terrible:
My mutant pom, Jiggle Low, is a very possessive dog. You've read about his evil jealous antics, chasing after male Bug Guys, lifting his leg on anything used by my male friends, and growling at any encroachment of his territory, which includes me and his "harem."
Because of this, I've trained the new mutant baby, Pepe Le Pom, to not jump on the bed at night, but instead sleep on a pillow on the floor at my side of the bed. It has been working well. Late at night, I would turn over, dangle my hand down and give Pepe a pet and ear rub, which is a rare feat, since that dog is a walking piranha at the moment; he walks and runs with his mouth open all. The. Time. And his idea of playing is to chew on anything you extend in his direction. So it's nice to be able to have a quiet moment with him. In the morning, if I peer over the side, he'd turn on his back so I could give him a belly rub before he dashes off to his rampant destruction of any new toy of the day.
Jiggy, on the bed by my side, seemed satisfied with the arrangement. Or at least I thought so. He used to jump on and off the bed because he liked sharing time with his Other Woman, Lilah, who resides under my bed. I know. How typical male, right? But that's another topic for discussion ;-). Anyway, when he's not a possessive hump on my chest, I assume he's under the bed guarding his Other Woman.
This morning, he wasn't on the bed. I sleepily turned over, dropped my hand over the side, made contact with fur, and sleepily, as always, pet Pepe. I felt him stretch his neck out so I could reach under his jaw (do dogs have chins?). As I--sleepily--rubbed him, I could feel him just moving his body under my fingers, getting the maximum mommy attention.
I was thinking, how cute, he's learning how to move around so I could scratch all his favorite spots. Wait. A. Minute. My eyes slitted open. I slowed my hand, exploring a little. Pepe, in spite the amount of food he consumes, has a bony back, and this one is rather...rumpy and thick with hair instead of puppy fur.
I moved closer to the edge of my bed and peered down. There, on the pillow, wasn't Pepe Le Pom. It was Mr. Jiggle Low, using all his Bad Boy Skillz to hunch down like a small puppy and staying quiet as he stole his rival's morning privilege.
Pepe's tail was peeping out from under the bed, so I'm assuming Jiggs had pushed him there sometime before I woke up. He had PLANNED this. TIMED the precise moment I would reach out for the pup. HUNCHED DOWN in the exact place. And WAITED.
Is that not deviousness? That is awesome deviousness. I could only stare down into his soft melty (and triumphant) gaze in proud momma admiration.
I'd love to attend it too. It is The Augmented Reality Event, a conference about Virtual Reality and how to make it even more immersive for those experiencing it. Sure, it's mostly targeted at video games right now, but you know the government labs are taking that one step further.
In my writing about Hell using the VR suits, I've neglected the use of shoes. The Adidas shoe that's shown in the article gave me an idea, so TADA! Hell, you're going to have a shoe experience ;-).
It's always fun to do research and implement it into one's stories. With the concept of VR, I have to keep up a lot more than with other research because it's constantly expanding and I don't want Hell's and Jed's VR tech to fall behind current science!
Many writers deal with it sooner or later. Writer's block.
I thought Jeremiah Tolbert's piece, Writing is a Sail Boat and I'm Stuck on the Reefs, described what I went through very well. Except perhaps, in my case, my ship was in dire straits of sinking and I don't swim very well.
There are many writers who call their creation their babies, and many online tend to mock them. All you have to do is go on Twitter and search for the hashtag #booksarenotbabies. Sure, some authors do tend to go on and on about their characters and stories like proud mamas, and when they rage against those who dare to point out their flaws and imperfections, especially in a public forum, they become entertainment fodder. That kind of behavior is known on the web as Authors Behaving Badly.
However one looks at it--baby or not--most books are written with a lot of time involved, borne out of the writer's love and need to create that particular story from start to finish. It is a fever very similar to the need to procreate, to make something that comes from oneself, that would perhaps be one's contribution to one's life. Perhaps, writing genre books, an accomplishment on which many already look down, might not be comparable to that Ivy League Baby of Literature that holds everyone's esteem, even if the latter sucked the boringness out of boredom. Those works are treated like fragile babies, come to think of it.
As a reader, I don't know the book I'm reading's particular journey. I can only enjoy it. Or not. Yet, as I continue in my own journey as a writer, I'm too aware of all the things that can make or break a writer's concentration. And in that sense, I understand the "this is my baby" phenomena. When writer's block happens--for me, anyway--there is a sense of panic that is equivalent to seeing a child sick and being unable to take away its pain.
The feeling of helplessness grows and grows to the point that the pages I keep writing don't seem to make sense to me. At the same time, one can't share one's fears and pain while one's writing friends are happily chirping about their pages and creativity for the day/week. It's like Mr. Tolbert's analogy--shipwrecked on an island, alone and depending on oneself for survival.
But talking about the pain of writing is like sharing TMI in a conversation, isn't it? And defending one's work is like the biggest No-No in the world of writing-correctness, especially if one came across as a shrew (but even if one didn't, it's an automatic accusation, regardless of gender of writer). Or (gasp!), get threatened to be put on somebody's Do Not Buy List. So it is better not to talk about the pain of writing in a forum that's making fun of writing, especially one's own at that moment. Unless you're like me, and just want to unleash your inner devil's advocate and start calling everyone mean just so I can hear the We're Mean Girl Pride speech.
These things have been on my mind lately and I'm just processing it. Thinking and putting it out here would probably get me in trouble. But hell, if I could survive a shipwreck, I could survive somebody making fun of my baby.
Note 1: I don't actually see my books as my babies. My poms are my babies. Make fun of that and you incur my wrath. You may make fun of my books as long as you've paid for at least one of them new. I can be insulted for a quarter or a dollar (royalty depending on bk).
Note 2: So what the hell are you babbling about on this blog entry then, Jenn? Aha! Suffer writer's block and you'll understand.
NASA commander Alan Poindexter told reporters that sex and romance is banned in outerspace. The funny thing is, the whole article is about three women in space together, LOL. Are they worried about something between them?
I would think zero gravity would make it pretty difficult to assume position, but I'm sure astronauts are very, very smart people and know the ins and outs of outerspace muscle control.
Also, I'd hate to be on that mission to Mars. Man, that's a mighty long time not to have sex. I wonder whether they'd allow vibrators. Of course, if one is lost in outer-space, floating forever, I can't imagine what an alien would make of it when he finds it.
You come home after a hard day roofing. You're tired. Limping. You're looking forward to a glass of chilled wine, maybe a foot rub, maybe a little furbaby lovin'.
You open the door.
ArggghHHHhhhhHHHHH. That is just the beginning of the trail of destruction. Boiled Pepe Le Pom, coming up.
***For those wondering about the La Nora reference, the Great One once came to my blog after I wrote a little play that included her and jokingly "left in a huff to boil a puppy" because I didn't give her enough lines.
Oy. I spent the last few days on holiday--friends in town; 4th of July cookout; decompressing and catching up. All fun but now it's back to work. I hope all of you had a great weekend too, celebrating or just hanging out.
Ir's mid-2010, folks. I haven't accomplished much except lost some weight. I like being able to put on my favorite pair of jeans again, for sure, but I need to lose more to make it feel comfy like before ;-).
The last six months brought a few changes too. My Old Ladies's passing together was one of the sadder memories. But now, I have Pepe Le Pom, who has a personality the size of a whale, so the household is now lively again, what with his antics and determination to fit in with two obstinate furbabies who thought he was going to be a shy thang ;-). Puppies. They are fun but lots of work.
Best book of the year so far: Ilona Andrews' Magic Bleeds (Book 4). My Lord, great, great story--romance and big story arc coming together seamlessly, with lots of action and funny lines. That's what always wins me over--funny, witty dialogue.
Worst fear: My air conditioner, being 14 years old, might be on its last legs. Air conditioners are expensive here and the expense of replacing mine is going to break my wallet. Wah. So I have to start saving $$$ and hope the old thing can lasts another year. Living in the hot south, an air conditioner is a must.
What good book have you read lately and why? I'm going to the RWA conference at the end of the month and am compiling a list of books to buy/get from my favorite authors. It's always fun to go crazy and pick up a bunch of books with a group of friends who are as crazy about reading romances as I am!
I'm also excited about Virtually Hers coming out in print form. Some of my friends who don't read e-books have been waiting for this for a long, long time, and I'm very humbled that they're just as excited as I am. They're all planning to take a day trip to Orlando during the RWA Literacy Signing to get the book. It's a mid-week event (Weds evening) and some of them are literally taking off work early so they could go together. For me, rooferauthor. It makes me feel so blessed to have such great friends and readers.
Every time I hear this song, my heart starts pounding and I know BIG things are going to happen. Like an alien invasion.
Or humongous space gorillas pounding drums with bones and some giant baby floating above them laughing at the weird monument that shot out of the land like some subliminal message about erections and the future of mankind.
Or lots and lots of slo-mo dying of epic proportions, hopefully, with the good-looking nicely muscled heros (or bad guys) wearing codpieces and capes.
Or when a magic Ring get a bunch of pointy-eared people snarling and frothing. Or a credit card commercial. Take your pick.
This song is that BIG. And no one could ever sing along because it's full of prophetic words that only the wise understand. Until now. Like klaatu barada nikto--did Keanu even comprehend that phrase? I bet that song would have been in the background while he played with that Robot.
Finally, I get the profundity of this song. It is my duty to share it with you, my dear readers.
Sing along now. Especially when the fireworks are booming overhead this weekend. Feel the BIGNESS.
In Florida, today marks 140 or so new laws are going on the books. For example, effective today, there will be a ban on owning Burmese pythons. And one can't buy a bong from any stores. To top that, horse thieves who sell horsemeat will be prosecuted; apparently, horsemeat is $40 a lb in South Florida, who knew?
Anyway, that really bummed me out. There goes my plan for the 4th of July weekend. I was thinking about buying a bong and having a good time at home smoking it and then eating a horsemeat burger while playing with my new pet python. Dammit. I guess I'll just do the same old, same old, and go watch some fireworks by the beach. Sigh.
And what are your plans for the weekend, my friends?
"I want you by my side, not like some illusion up ahead all the time. I want to hear you breathe hard, so I know this is real."--Rick Harden in FACING FEAR
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Welcome! The GLow world is full of uber-spying news and roofing fun stuff. If you're new, be sure to scroll down and look for all kinds of Intel on the right side of the blog. All GLow spylettes can't go through Intel training without torturing the Uber-Subservient Chicken or watching GLow's personal assistant. If you're a regular spylette, rewatching those training videos once a year is mandatory. That's an order from TPTB.
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