I’m in a crappy place today. Not in real life – in real life I’m in southern California, its 70 degrees on the first day of March, it can’t get much nicer. No, I’m in a crappy place in terms of my book. I’m at that place that every writer knows and dreads, the place where you start to question everything, and nothing is as good as it was when it was bright and shiny but still solely in your brain. Where you just want to pull everything apart, or shake your characters and scream “what do you want from me???”
Of course, this isn’t practical. Or (in the case of character-shaking) feasible. Instead, you have to write through it, and eventually, you remember why you liked these characters and their story in the first place, and the pendulum swings the other way. I know my process. All will be well.
In other news, Revealed is out in mass market TOMORROW. (Or today, depending on your time zone.) Get excited people! This means that there is only one month until the official release of The Summer of You!
Holy cats, February has been flying, right? Flying so fast that, I looked at my calendar and saw that Revealed’s mass market release is a mere week away! Revealed was originally released a year ago, in trade format. This means, for those of you who missed it the first time around, can now find it again at your local bookstore, at a highly reasonable mass market rate.
But it makes me think: has it really been a whole year since my second baby was released upon the world? Since Phillippa Benning graced us with her estimable presence and Marcus Worth, er, learned to put up with her? Some things have changed. A year ago, I was living in a different city, working at a different job. I didn’t own a car (in New York you don’t need one), and didn’t yet know that I could stream Netflix through my Xbox. But other things are basically the same. Those 5 stubborn pounds that existed on my frame are still there. My hair is basically the same length. I’m still eagerly anticipating my next book coming out while working feverishly on the one after.
And since its only a week until Revealed hits the shelves in Mass market, that means that we are BARELY over a month away from the release of The Summer of You. April 6th, 2010. Can. Not. Wait.
Previous to now, I have not had any print materials. I have gone to conferences and written my name and email on a napkin for someone that asked for my contact info. I am SO pleased to have finally gotten my act together and had these cards made. Trust me, I’m going to be handing them out to everyone – the barista at the coffee shop, the Barnes and Noble help desk guy, everyone.
I love that they are thematically in line with my website (scrolly-flower-bubble thingies!) and they are just in time, as we are just over two months out from the release of The Summer of You! (Yes, I’m going to mention that EVERY time I blog. Because it’s exciting. And scary. I should just cave and get a countdown clock installed on my website.)
And lookie what I got for that:
Bookmarks! They’re awfully pretty. And on the back you’ll see a pic of Compromised and Revealed – the latter of which is getting its RE-release in mass market on March 2nd, 2010! That’s ONE month away. Egads!
Other than that, it’s a writing week. So I’d better get to it!
Ok, so I’ve been living in Los Angeles for about six months now, and I think I figured out why A. so many other people live here and B. they shoot movies here:
Its freaking gorgeous.
Seriously. I mean I knew it was nice. Temperate. There’s a beach. But its been raining for a week, and this weekend, when the sun came out, it became paradise. The smog was cleared, the hills and ground were this verdant green that rivals emeralds, and you could see clear to the ocean.
Oh, just look:
This was taken from the trail that hikes up Mt. Hollywood. See?
That O and H are the back of the Hollywood sign. Try to climb it and the sheriff in his helicopter will come after you.
In other news, now that the release of The Summer of You is a little over two months off, I’ve been thinking a lot about promotion. I’m going to be setting up some guest blogs and hopefully some website reviews, but I can tell you that one personal appearance I will be making will be at Lady Jane’s Salon in New York the first weekend of April! It’s a great cause and it seems like so much fun: Can. Not. Wait.
And other than that, I’m typing. Typing typing typing. Sigh. Typing.
That’s all for now, so until next week – Happy Reading!
Hi Everyone! Quick Blog today, because I am over at the Book Smugglers being initiated into that fabulous rite of passage, Smugglivius, their year-in-review. I compiled a list of all my favorite things from the year 2009, and there’s a new Summer of You excerpt, AND a giveaway! It is my Smugglivius gift to you all, so head over and check it out!
In other non-denominational holiday stuff I am pleased to announce… I AM DONE. Done with cards, done with shopping, wrapping, shipping, decorating, cookie making. I have completed Christmas and still have ten days to go! For once in my life, I came in on a deadline early. I’m so proud of me.
I hope everyone is having a merry go of it… and if you need any last minute gift suggestions… I’ve always found a good romance novel to fit easily into a stocking.
I have been holding on to this tidbit of information for a while, I didn’t want to say anything until the contracts were signed and filed, but now that they have been, I am pleased to tell you… drumroll please…
I’ve had my first foreign rights sale! Revealed will be published (sometime in the next 18 months) in Russian! I am incredibly excited, not only to have Revealed cross the pond, but because it’s a whole new alphabet. I can’t wait to see what the titles look like in Cyrillic.
In other news, next Monday, Dec. 14th, I will be guest blogging at the Book Smugglers, as part of their annual wrap up holiday, Smugglivus (for the smuggler in all of us). They have gone all out this year, including having awesome posters:
Remember, Dec. 14th. Make sure you stop by, I’ll be having a give away, and maybe, if you’ve been good this year, a special sneak peak.
As I sit here on my sister’s couch, watching football with her, as her husband fetches and cooks, I come across that rare realization that all is right with the world. I’m where I want to be with the people I want to be with, doing what I want to do. And therefore, I would like to present to you my list of what I’m Thankful for this gluttonous holiday.
(Side note: I’m gonna skip over family and friends, because, yeah, they’re handy, and obviously I’m thankful for them. But this list is for what I’m TRULY thankful for.)
1. A solid internet connection. Too often I find myself in the land of No Wifi, and the withdrawal symptoms are ugly and painful. It hurts me. It hurts me to my core.
2. That the Muppets exist. Specifically, that they exist doing this:
3. Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans. I may have won only three games so far in my fantasy football league, ranking me second to last, but Chris Johnson is the reason I managed to win those three games.
4. That my 4-year-old niece knows all the words to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” thanks to Beatles Rockband. I now have hope for future generations.
5. That my third book, The Summer of You, will be released in April 2010 (*cough* shameless plug*cough*)
And lastly…
6.That Thanksgiving calories don’t count.
7. … they don’t, right?
Happy thanksgiving, happy reading everyone, and be sure to be thankful for the important stuff!
There is something new and interesting about my blog page on my website — can you guess what it is? Could it be that nifty sidebar on the right with search functions and archives and categories like regular blogs have? Maybe its this little thing at the bottom of the page that says “RSS Feed”? The ability to comment on individual posts? OR is it this:
The Ability to post pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The amount of exclamation points alone should tell you how happy I am. That’s right, the changes to my blog are complete, and I could not be happier. My first blog format was great, perfect for a completely un-savvy computer user, but I’ve learned a little over the past year or so, and therefore know better what I want… and also what widgets are. I no longer have to limit myself to just text. I can link things, I can post media if I wanted to (but I’m too scared to try) and I can post as many pictures as I want. Like this one:
My office area with inscrutable handwriting on my big white board. Book 4 plot!
Or a picture of me with straight hair, which I find hysterical because it tends to freak people out:
I know what you’re thinking: I’m about 5 years behind the times in terms of blogging. All this cool stuff I’m crowing over is standard on your average blog format, from livejournal to blogspot. To you I would say… don’t squelch my happy, guys. I have parents for that.
Other news: Outline for the next book has been turned in, and I can’t wait to start writing it! So much so, I think I won’t wait any longer…
I posted the excerpt of my next book, The Summer of You, last week, and you guys are so amazing, I’ve received such a positive response. But, I did get asked the question more than once, “April? I have to wait till freaking April for this to come out?” Which is a legitimate question – the romance world is one of quick turnover. Readers are voracious, demanding the next when they close the page on the last. Why, in the midst of a series, have a year or more between books? The answer is quite complicated, but the short version is:
I suck.
I am not a terribly fast writer. I have a day job I love. I have research to do for the book. I have, er, laundry to do. Luckily, my lovely agent and editor know this about me and accept it. To allow me a writing schedule I can live with, my books have release dates about a year apart. Do my lovely agent and editor grumble about my molasses-like speed? Of course they do. Hell, *I* grumble about my molasses-like speed. But it’s the only way I know how to write a book.
“Okay,” you might say, “but then why post the excerpt and cover now? Why tease us so bloody far in advance?” (You’ll notice in our hypothetical conversation, I’ve made you British. You’re welcome.) Again, the answer is complicated, but it all comes down to:
I suck.
I had the info at my fingertips, the listing got posted to Amazon, and Goodreads, and all those other book sites, and I couldn’t not tell you what it was about then, now could I? So I got approval from the powers that be, and posted the Summer of You info. If you’re wretched about being teased and not having the book in your hot little hands, I sympathize. Feel free to blame me for your pain. I can take it.
This week, haircut. The summer straggle needs to go! (And, oh yeah, writing.)
I am incredibly excited today to announce the first of several changes on my website. Some content shifts, a newsletter feature for those who would like to join, and most awesomely…
An Excerpt of The Summer of You! You’ll find it on my bookshelf page. It’s being released on April 6th, 2010… I know! So far away! But trust me, it’ll be worth the wait.
Over the next few weeks, other new features will be popping up on the site, most excitingly, an RSS feed for my blog, so I don’t have to post it 7 different times on 7 different sites and you can subscribe and follow it at your leisure.
As for everything else, I spent the weekend holed up working on the next project, which wasn’t much fun as it was perfectly gorgeous here in Southern CA. But I only have myself to blame, getting into the same pressurized situation that deadlines always create, forcing me to whine and moan and racket around my apartment until I finally give in, sit down, and write.
Which is what I should be getting back to, right about now…
