Well late this afternoon actually. I mowed the back yard while Biker Dude went to get gas for the mower (we have an acre and a half and a riding mower. Yee ha!). I call it the ‘tanning machine’. I ride, the sun tans me.
However we have about six very tall, very sharp pine trees out back. Trying to mow around these suckers is not fun. The tall white pines aren’t too bad, but the shorter ones have these sticky ‘thingies’ that are just obnoxious and painful.
The trees assaulted me. I didn’t even notice I was bleeding until I was well clear of the trees.
Bastards. I have a chainsaw and know how to use it. Don’t mess with me. (Okay, I dont’ know how to use the chainsaw, but Biker Dude does ).
So anyway, after cleaning up we decided to take a ride on the bike to get dinner (fighting off woman eating pine trees works up an appetite).
We went to Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut used to have this great dinner for two meal deal. Like around $17 for a medium pizza, salad bar and drinks for two. Sweet. They don’t offer the meal deals anymore. Everything is separate.
Thirty bucks it cost for a medium pizza, two salad bars and two sodas. Holy shit! No wonder the place was practically empty on a Friday night. We’ll be taking our pizza appetite somewhere else in the future. You suck, Pizza Hut.
The ride home on the bike was heaven. It was dark, temps had cooled off, and we took the back roads home. As we rounded a curve, there right at the side of the road was a deer. She was utterly still, just watching us as we crept by (Biker Dude slowed to make sure she wasn’t going to dart into the road). She was so pretty.
And the fireflies were out in the woods, like little fairie lighting our way home.
Short weeks due to holidays mess with my head. I never know what day it is. So today’s Thursday, right?
Galleys for Riding Temptation are finished! I’ll be faxing corrected pages over to my editor this morning. Which means I don’t have to read the book anymore! Gah. It’s so hard to get to this point in a book. By this time I’ve written the book, edited the book, edited the book, reread the book, revised the book, reread the book, read through copyedits and then had to read the final typeset books, I’m so done. Sort of . Because oh man is it difficult during the galley stage not to want to make changes again (they really frown on that ). It’s always hard for an author–or at least for THIS author–to let go. But I did. It’s done and gone and reading through the story I really, really like it and hope you do too when it releases.
So all the projects are done and I can finally get back to Riding On Instinct, my book due…gulp…July 1st. I’m way behind! Hopefully nothing else will show up to sidetrack me between now and then.
On an exciting note, my Samhain editor asked me to write a Christmas story, so for those of you who fell in love with Mitch in last year’s holiday story, UNWRAPPED, he’ll be getting his own book in this year’s UNRAVELED. Look for it in December at Samhain! (And if you haven’t met Mitch yet, now’s a good time to read Unwrapped).
I am truly blessed by the cover gods. Another awesome cover, this one done by Scott Carpenter for my July 29th Samhain release!
A big thank you to my editor Angie James who helped design this cover since I like to be hands off in that department (i.e. please God give me one less thing I have to do ). She has a great eye and a determination to get the best covers for me. She did good huh?
Blurb below the cover:
A romantic game of chicken—and they’re both too stubborn to flinch.
Lucy Fairchild, lawyer and heiress to the Fairchild fortune, has just had the worst day of her life. Her father has found the perfect man for her to marry. Yes, she’s thirty and single, but that doesn’t give her father the right to run her life. She’ll choose her own husband—someday.
Jake Dalton is struggling to make his fledgling construction company a success. Ever mindful of his father’s derogatory comments that he’d never amount to anything, he’s spent his entire life trying to prove he’s not a failure.
From their first meeting on a construction site, verbal sparks fly. Their argument escalates into a dare for a date—and the game is on. Lucy thinks Jake is the perfect fake boyfriend to parade around in the hopes of getting her father off her back. Jake is amused by the chance to annoy both Lucy and her dad—he doesn’t intend to take the dating thing seriously.
But the heart is a fickle thing, and not above playing dirty. In their quest to prove something—to each other, or maybe to themselves—they find themselves building a case…for love.
I did no writing. Zero, zilch, nada. Did not work on galleys that arrived last week. In short, I did nothing work related all weekend. I needed a damn few days off. And oh, did I enjoy it.
Hope your weekend was good.
If anyone’s looking for me this week, I’ll be at my desk until my eyes bleed, paying for taking those few days off.
I’m guest blogging this weekend at Eden Bradley’s blog, talking about my books and about tattoos! Come see me!
Also check out the new awesome rockin anthology HOT NIGHTS, DARK DESIRES, with stories from Eden, Sydney Croft and Stephanie Tyler, three of my favorite authors!
It’s a holiday weekend, and that means extra time for all kinds of fun stuff.
Of course we’ll probably take the bike out for a ride since the weather is supposed to be nice. Woo hooo! :charlie:
Annnnd, the rodeo is in town. Time to slap on the jeans, slide on the boots and put on my cowgirl hat, because there’s nothing like watching a rodeo cowboy in tight jeans and chaps:
Yippie Ki Yay! Research!
Sunday will be stay at home day to watch the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 races. Vroom Vroom!
And there’ll be barbequing and beer sometime this weekend. I plan to relax a bit, clean my house, do a little shopping, lots of race watching, and of course, ogling of the aforementioned cowboys at the rodeo.
Throughout all this three day weekend of celebrating, I also intend to remember those I love who have passed on. They may not be here anymore, but I never forget them. It’s not just this weekend that I remember, but always.
Revisions and Copyedits for The Ties That Bind are finished, so another project off my desk.
Back to Riding On Instinct. Smokin hot bikers…yummm… :sasmokin:
Don’t forget you can still bid on hundreds of items in Brenda Novak’s Auction for Diabetes Research, including mine, autographed copies of my Demon Hunter books plus an ARC of THE DARKEST TOUCH. Only 10 days left so get your bids in on the items of your choice!
American Idol final performances were last night. It was…interesting, to say the least. I’m a huge David Cook fan. I thought he did well. Was it his best performance of the season? I don’t think so. Should he win? Yes, I think so. Though I’m sure there will be thousands who disagree, because David Archuleta was really good last night. I just think he lacks maturity and a genre right now. But I’m probably wrong, David A will win, and David C will make a smokin hot CD that will sell tons. Still, fun to watch and I’ll be glued to the finale tonight anyway.
I couldn’t help but think the judges were trying to manipulate the outcome with their comments last night. Maybe the producers already know how they want this to play out. David A with the win, David C already with the lock on making a marketable CD. But who knows. Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Slezak had a great writeup about the whole thing. You can read about it here.
So who do you want to win?
Dancing With the Stars finale was last night, and Kristi Yamaguchi won it all. Finally, after what–3 or 4 Seasons–a woman finally takes the prize again. Now Jason was one stellar hottie and a damn fine dancer, but Kristi was better and deserved to win. If she didn’t, I think they should have renamed the show Dancing With The (Sports) Stars. Fortunately, the show got it right and they won’t have to rename it now. Heh.
So…onto So You Think You Can Dance. Thankfully the networks keep me immersed in reality shows so I don’t go through withdrawals in the summer.
So the start of this week brought revisions from Berkley for THE TIES THAT BIND, my novella in the UNLACED anthology releasing in December. Nice to revisit Rick and Lisa’s story again. This one is a reunion romance with hawt sex. Fun stuff. The revisions are going very smoothly and I should finish them up today, which means it’ll be back to writing RIDING ON INSTINCT, Spence and Shadoe’s story, the third Wild Rider’s book for Berkley that will release next April. I’ve gotten behind so I need to pound out some word count on that book in the next month.
Our weather has climbed into the 90’s. Air conditioner has been turned on. Loving the heat again! I planted white gladiolia bulbs in honor of my mother and they’re starting to poke through the ground, so I’m excited. We need to do a ton of yard work in the front yard (weeds! omg), so if the deluge of rain will just stay away, maybe we can get that started soon.
The Bachelorette premiered last night. Anyone catch that? There were some…interesting guys for DeAnna (who got royally screwed by Brad, so I’m glad she’s getting a chance to shine again). Is it just me, or were a bunch of the guys just…bleh? When Trista was the Bachelorette, there were a lot of really hot guys. Some of the guys last night were okay, but no one really hit my hot buttons. I guess it’s early and we’ll see how it goes. I’m sure some will grow on me (I really liked the chef. Cook for me and I’m yours )
I got a peek at the cover for DARE TO LOVE yesterday, my July Samhain release. It’s awesome! As soon as I get the final cover I’ll put it up for y’all to ogle.
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