Jaci Burton’s Muse

A four day holiday weekend meant absolutely no writing time for me. First off, family visits, a baby shower, shopping and hubby home equalled disruption in normal writing time.

So today it’s back to work.

I’m writing a proposal. Have the synopsis finished, so today I’m working up a few chapters. This is an anthology proposal, where I would be writing all three stories, so it’s a bit odd, because I have to do the beginning chapters of all three stories. But the stories are connected, so when story 1 ends, story 2 picks up after that, and story 3 picks up after the end of story 2. It’s rather odd to think about writing a chapter of the first story, then the first chapter of the 2nd story which actually starts after story 1 ends. I haven’t written story 1 yet, but I’ll have to write the first chapter of story 2 as if I’ve already written story 1. And then the same for story 3.

For a linear writer, it really screws with the brain cells *g*

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Now all of you….back to work! ;-)

To those who celebrate thanksgiving, have an enjoyable time with your families and friends, and if you’re traveling, be safe.

I’m contemplating day after Thanksgiving shopping. Insane, I know. Charlie is already giving me that ‘look of fear’ when I suggest I might like him to come with me. He might have even whimpered. Yes, the crowds are awful, parking is nonexistent, people are mean, surly and will push you out of the way to get to a bargain. The mall is packed, it’s hot, you can’t breathe and by noon everything is picked over. If you want to get anything ‘deal’ wise you have to be there by 5 in the morning.

But it’s a tradition. Something I always did with my mom when I was a kid. I remember she and I riding the bus into downtown the day after Thanksgiving every year because that’s where major shopping was (and where I could get my picture taken with Santa *g*). So day after Thanksgiving shopping always seems to put me in the mood for Christmas.

And I really need to be put in the mood for Christmas.

Then again, there’s a lot to be said for doing the majority of one’s Christmas shopping via the internet *g*

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My husband Charlie and I are facing the same milestone recently. Both his father and my mother have become frail and unable to take care of themselves.

Last week we put Charlie’s dad in a nursing home. His dad is 90. Now Charlie and I haven’t been together all that long, only 4 years, so I haven’t known his dad for long. But I know this man who can no longer take care of himself, can no longer walk or bathe himself or even take himself to the bathroom, once was a proud man able to take care of not only himself, but his wife and his children. He stood tall and provided for his family. And now his wife and his children must help him bathe, eat and dress. I felt his pain and confusion as we moved him into the nursing home. He knew it was coming, it was necessary because his wife could no longer be his caretaker, and yet my heart broke for him, because he was leaving the comfort and safety of his home and embarking on a new and frightening journey. I would not have wanted to be in his shoes for anything, and I hope that all of us there made the transition a little easier for him.

My mother is 84 and in declining health. Her back hurts her greatly. She has arthritis, scoliosis and osteoporosis and her pain is debilitating. She called my sister yesterday morning because she couldn’t breathe. My sister took her to the emergency room (I live in a different state than my mom), and all was fine with her heart and lungs. The pain in her back was so severe it made it hard for her to breathe. The doctor gave her pain medication and told her how she felt right then was as good as she was ever going to feel again. When I spoke with her on the phone last night she was near tears. Weak, defenseless and broken. It tore my heart out to hear the despair and pain in her voice.

My mother has always been my rock. The person I went to when life got me down, when I needed a shoulder to cry on, when I needed counsel. That rock is crumbling and I can do nothing to stop it.

I know Charlie, ever silent and stoic about these things, feels that same sense of loss with his dad. That the person who raised him, scolded him, loved him, was there for him during good times and bad, is not the same person anymore.

They will never again be our rocks. We have to be theirs now.

Leigh is one of my favorite writers….And this is a fantastic book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“White Heat” featured in SECRETS, Volume 12 by Leigh Wyndfield
(Red Sage, July 2005)

Raine has spent the last few years avenging her murdered team, but the cost has been high. She’s hiding in an icehouse in the middle of nowhere from one of the scariest men in the universes. Walker escapes from a burning prison, staggering to safety. Imagine their surprise when they find out they have the same man to blame for their miseries. Passion, revenge and love are in their future.

Excerpt:
http://www.redsagepub.com/w_heat.html

ABOUT LEIGH WYNDFIELD
Leigh Wyndfield spends her free time reading anything she can get her hands on, watching movies, and skiing or hiking, depending on the season. Unable to find romances that take place on other worlds, she started writing her own. Her books have won awards and finaled in published author contests, including the PRISM, More Than Magic, the Holt Medallion and the Dream Realm Award. Her novel, IN ICE, was nominated by RT Magazine for Best Erotic Romance of 2004, won a PRISM Award and the Write Touch Readers Award! Romantic Times calls her work, “Engrossing, enthralling and entrancing.”

REVIEWS
“White Heat is stunning” — Jane, Fallen Angels.
“WHITE HEAT is full of action and adventure and will keep readers turning the pages and waiting with baited breath to see what happens next.” — Angel, Romance Junkies
4 ½ Star Top Pick RT Bookclub Magazine

Website: http://www.leighwyndfield.com

For my Holiday Contest this year I’m giving away three prizes. The grand prizes I’m so excited about. It’s a hand made quilt featuring several of my book covers. Check out the picture! Isn’t it gorgeous? And it’s so hard for me to give it away rather than keeping it myself…..sigh.

I’m always giving away a 2006 Ellora’s Caveman Calendar signed by a few of the hot and sexy cover models, as well as a goodie bag of my print books.

All you have to do to be eligible to win is be a member of my newsletter group.

For details, click HERE.

And Happy Holidays!

Ever watch a hamster running on his little wheel? He just zips along on that thing, faster and faster and faster, but of course goes nowhere.

I know how the little bugger feels.

I finished Charlie’s bludgeoning of Demon Island. A couple more CP’s will be looking at it, then I have to edit it again, then hopefully it’ll be off to the editor. And not damn soon enough for me *g*

Finished edits to Holiday Bound last night. That went easy. Of course it was an EC quickie, so a short book. Thank God for small projects. hehehe

I sent off two proposals to my agent yesterday. Not sure how I feel about those. I guess we’ll see how she feels about them.

I have to plot and write my prequel to the Storm series for the EC Forbidden Fantasies hardcover, but fortunately that’s not due til March 1st. (though that seems like….tomorrow *g*)

I have to start outlining my next proposal for Bantam/Dell as part of my initial contract with them. Outline and sample chapters are due February 15. (Yeah, that seems like tomorrow too). Do I have the story fully realized in my head yet? ‘Course not.

I have two completed books, one for EC and one for Samhain, that are lurking in the background and I know I’ll be getting edits on those soon. (Probably ‘tomorrow’ *g*).

And I need to write a full length EC book somewhere in there. Like….soon. (Tomorrow?)

Yeah….hamster on the wheel, singing Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow, You’re Only A Day Awayyyyyyyy

*snicker*

I’ve started Christmas shopping already….

Ack

Matt, if you’re reading this, I need your Christmas list, Stat!

*g*

I will never know what you went through in Vietnam, the things you saw or the things you did.

You are one of the quiet ones, never a complainer, never one to toot your own horn or tell ‘war stories’.

But I know whatever happened there couldn’t have been easy to bear, yet you did bear it. And I know that you can never, ever be thanked enough for the job you did.

Thank you, Charlie, for protecting all of us at a time when you were not appreciated nearly enough.

I love you and honor you today.

J

My late father and my older son, Kevin, were United States Marines. So in their honor…

“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference.
The Marines don’t have that problem.”
–President Ronald Reagan, 1985

with special thanks to Shan for reminding me via her blog

My quickie is finished! (no, not THAT kind of quickie…the book!). So let’s play a mememe!

Three screen names that you’ve had:
then you’ll know my real secret identity. So not tellin’ *g*

Three things you like about yourself:
My warped and twisted sense of humor. My legs. My ability to remain calm in a crisis.

Three things you don’t like about yourself:
My disgusting smoking habit. My complete and utter lack of organizational skills (ack). My addiction to the internet.

Three parts of your heritage:
Italian, German and guilt-ridden Catholic. *g*

Three things that scare you:
Drowning, enclosed spaces, something happening to my children or my husband.

Three of your everyday essentials:
My husband, my bitches, my cigs. *g*

Three things you are wearing right now: I
ck. I had to pick an ugly ass clothes day to do this, didn’t I? Blue sweats, grey tank top and blue flip flops. Yes, shocking that I’m not wearing a black peignoir and matching boa, isn’t it?

Three of your favorite songs:
Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers, Your Everything by Keith Urban (our wedding song), and just about anything but Bob Seger.

Three things you want in a relationship:
Faithfulness, attention and rockin good sex.

Two truths and a lie:
I’ve made a six figure income, I speak two languages, I have 3 children and I’ve given birth twice.

Three things you can’t live without:
Charlie, my children and food

Three places you want to go on vacation:
Hawaii, Scotland and anywhere in the Caribbean.

Three things you just can’t do:
A chin up, math and draw anything worth a damn.

Three kids names:
Kristina, Kelly and Julius. The girls names are the ones I had picked out for my two boys, who obviously ended up not being girls. The boy’s name was what I was going to be named had I been a boy *g*

Three things you want to do before you die:
Take Charlie to Hawaii, live near a beach, and make a bestseller list.

Three celeb crushes:
Gerard Butler, Denzel Washington, Pierce Brosnan

Three of your favorite musicians:
Bob Seeger, Elton John, Rod Stewart

Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
Eyes, Ass, Mouth

Three of your favorite hobbies:
Nap time, beach time, internet time

Three things you really want to do badly right now:
Take a nap, get a massage, have sex

Three careers you’re considering/you’ve considered:
Teacher, Nurse, and that’s pretty much all I ever wanted to be. The rest I’ve already done. Writer, of course, but I’m already doing that *g*

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
Burping, porn and action movies. *g*

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
I love to shop. I love girlie clothes and makeup and I love getting my hair done.

Three people that I would like to see post this meme:
Mel, Charlie, and Angie. And Matt!