Jaci Burton’s Muse

Hey, I have an actual release date for one of my books!

WILD, WICKED AND WANTON, my Berkley Heat book, will release May, 2007!

Woooo hoooo!

As soon as Demon Island edits are finished, I’m diving back into that book to get it finished. Can’t wait *wiggle*

So I’m heading to Tampa on Thursday for an Ellora’s Cave meeting then a booksigning on Saturday with nine other EC authors (wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!). Which means a short week and a ton to cram in it.

Here’s the to do list:

1. Work on editing Surviving Demon Island - try to finish this up before Thursday. (I SO want this book off my desk)

2. Nails and pedicure (VERY important *g*)

3. Laundry

4. Packing

It’s a short list, but mighty …hehehe.

What’s on your ‘to do’ list this week?

I’m done! Done, done done!

The draft of the rewrite of Surviving Demon Island is finished! Wrapped it up last night, and let me tell you I’m wiped out! It was grueling, but oh so satisfying. Like a marathon, or giving birth, or something equally hard won but worth it.

I’m much happier with this version. My editor is brilliant. Though it required me to do a ton of work (i.e. rewrite the entire book!), it was necessary. The book is so much better now.

Now it’s edit time, then off to the CP’s to bludgeon.

I’m realllllly anxious to get this baby off my desk. Few more weeks should do it.

Onward….

Today is my son Kevin’s Birthday. Now he might just be 27 today, but since I can’t bring myself to believe I’m old enough to have a 27 year old son, I’m having a denial day and posting this pic from when he was 2 years old.

I was a child bride, ya know.

denialdenialdenialdenialdenialdenialdenial

hehehe

Cute, isn’t he?

Actually, he’s still cute. Just a LOT taller.

Happy Birthday, baby boy! May all your dreams and wishes come true!

Love you!

I had some books to judge for an RWA chapter contest. One of the things I love most about judging contests is they give me the opportunity to read books that I normally wouldn’t read.

This batch of books definitely had some I wouldn’t normally read. I got a time travel, a Regency, a category and a paranormal. Considering I write erotic romance and paranormals, I tend to gravitate toward those as my books of choice these days. Comfort zone and all, ya know.

I was in a reading mood this weekend, so I grabbed them and started reading. Lo and behold, the time travel back to the old west sucked me in. I mean really sucked me in. I read that book in about 3 hours Saturday night. And guess what? I LOVED it. And it had no sex until the very end of the book, and at that it was meh sex.

Now I love me some sex in books. I write sex for a reason, y’all. *g*. But the story was entertaining, the characters engaging and I fell madly in love with the book. I’m still missing it several days later, wishing the story had gone on.

The next afternoon I read the Regency. I never read Regencies. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, they’re just not my cuppa tea. But the heroine in this one was spunky, intelligent and engaging, the hero smart, handsome and not overbearing. The secondary characters were delightful and not at all pompous. Again, I fell in love. And guess what? There were hints of sexual play in this book! *gasp*. Scandalous, you say! hehehe. I loved this story too!

Both these books wouldn’t even have rated a passing glance from me on a routine book shopping expedition. How sad is that?

How many of us read what we’re used to reading, or read primarily the genre we write in, or what’s popular or on the bestseller list?

My sole purpose when reading is to be entertained. This weekend’s read fest has taught me a valuable lesson - it’s time to broaden my horizons and step outside my comfort zone. There are gems out there that I’m missing.

Gina: Do you hate me?

Me: Of course not. I adore you. Why?

Gina: You’re giving me this really icky nightmare that’s dredging up horrors from my past.

Me: (grinning) I know. Isn’t it great?

Gina: (scowling). No. I don’t like it. Stop it.

Me: It’s great angst. Emotionally driven. Besides, you’re going to wake up and Derek will comfort you.

Gina: Comfort shmumfort. You’re really pissing me off. I don’t need this right now. I’m coming off a really traumatic day.

Me: You’re also coming off a night of stellar sex. Want me to delete that?

Gina: (glaring). No.

Me: Then go back to sleep and let me keep writing.

Gina: I hate you.

Me: No you don’t. I’m building your character. You’ll come out of this book stronger.

Gina: I hope you have nightmares tonight.

Me: Whiner

Gina: Diva

Derek: Could we move this plotline along? This emotional shit is fine and all, but I’d like more sex.

Me & Gina: Butt out!

The Bloody Demon From Hell :

Ingredients
1 oz Jameson® Irish whiskey
1 oz Captain Morgan® Silver spiced rum
1 oz Jim Beam® bourbon whiskey
1 oz Bacardi® gold rum
2 oz tomato juice
2 oz Worcestershire sauce
1 oz hot pepper sauce

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large glass. Garnish with a radish or a celery stick, and serve.

Yowza! Now there’s a drink to kill a demon! hehehe

Here’s the link to the site where I found this drink recipe. This site is NOT for the faint of heart and contains some seriously sick, twisted and major x-rated recipes. You have been warned. But I laughed so hard at some of the names I damn near couldn’t breathe. You have to hunt around for some of the weird stuff, but believe me, it’s there. I could spent hours at that site.

I know Diana has discussed this subject before, and quite brilliantly, I might add. With utter professionalism.

I’m just going to flat out whine about it *g*

After my second round of revisions on Surviving Demon Island, I came to the realization that the only way to do justice to the revisions was to rewrite the book (see previous whineage about that topic).

So I’m halfway through the rewrite and I’ve accepted the fact that all my pretty little prose in the first version isn’t going into the second version, because I’ve sufficiently altered the plotline so that nothing in version 1 will fit in version 2.

My precioussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

*sobs*

*moment of silence*

*wibbling bottom lip*

*utter dejected sigh*

There are several delightful scenes in version 1. Scenes I LOVE. Scenes that aren’t going to be in version 2. Witty dialogue. Sexual tension. Stellar prose.

Shit.

I’ve even tried cutting and pasting and rewording certain scenes. Yeah, I might get it to work here and there, but frankly, it stalls me and slows the pacing of the story. I think I can fix the end and include some of that, but that part wasn’t what I’m going to miss, anyway.

Dammit.

Granted, there’s a lot of version 1 that’s pure and utter C-R-A-P. Hence the rewrite. But there’s some great stuff in there, too.

Stuff that will die a painful and lonely death in the delete file.

In the end, I know it’s for the best. The logical part of me knows this. The emotional part is having a tough time letting go.

Mourn with me, y’all.

Mourn with me.

Gena Showalter has been blogging about this. So has my wonderful agent, Deidre Knight. They’ve both had some rather unsettling discussions lately about comparisons between their books and another author’s.

The concept of original ideas and how some readers think that one author can steal another author’s story idea is a topic I see popping up over and over again.

Puleez.

How many original themes are there out there? Beauty and the Beast. Cinderella. Romeo and Juliet. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers….okay, maybe not that one *g*. But you get the gist here.

It’s what the individual author does with the theme, how she twists and turns the concept and puts her own creative spin on it, that makes it unique.

Take my book, Surviving Demon Island, for example. Kickass heroine who fights her growing attraction to alpha male, but falls in love despite her emotional scars while at the same time triumphing over paranormal evil.

Hello….anyone want to compare that theme to countless others out there? Anyone want to start bitch slapping me for stealing an idea thought up by someone else? Or lots of way famous someone else’s.

But Demon Island is nothing like those others. Nothing. At. All. Yet the theme is universal. In fact, it’s one of my favorites to read, which is probably why when the story concept hit me in a huge way I had to run with it. I’d like to think my spin on it is fresh and unique. I’d like to think my agent thought so too, along with the three publishing houses who bid to buy the book.

There are plenty of unique spins on universal themes. Otherwise there would only be ten books on the shelves and few writers. No writing organizations. No agents, no publishing houses, and no billions of books sold each year.

Duh.

Chey tagged me so I have to talk about my perfect partner.

He’s, of course, my husband Charlie.

Now anyone who knows Charlie knows he far, far from perfect. Good thing, because neither am I. *g*. That’s what makes us perfect for each other.

He doesn’t cater to my every whim (dammit), knows when not to say anything and knows when to tell me I’m wrong. He doesn’t treat me like a princess or let me have my own way on everything. He argues with me, sometimes rather loudly *g*, he’s a stubborn, opinionated pain in the butt , rarely listens to my advice even when it’s good for him, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

He makes me laugh until I can’t breathe. He can bring me out of a bad mood with his jokes. He can hold me and take my tears away with the depth of his love. There isn’t a day that goes by that my breath doesn’t catch when I look at him. His kisses curl my toes and when I’m wrapped up in his embrace there is nothing that can go wrong in my life.

Because he loves me, with all my faults, and believe me, I have many. He thinks I’m beautiful in a raggy old shirt and sweatpants, with bedhead and no makeup. He supports my writing, in fact he’s the reason I started writing again after years of nothing but dabbling with no results. He believed in me, in my talent as a writer, when no one ever did before. I am where I am today because of him.

He’s not a perfect man, but he’s THE perfect man for me, and I love him with all my heart.

I’m tagging Mel, Shan, Angie, Mandy, Anna and Diana