Jaci Burton’s Muse

Every year at the close of the year, I like to take a look back to see what I’ve done, and a look forward to see what I’m going to do next year.

For 2008, I wrote 4 novellas and 2 single titles. That’s over 300,000 words.

I released 8 books this year:

Riding Wild (Berkley) February

Nothing Personal (Samhain) June

Dare To Love (Samhain) July

Riding Temptation (Berkley) October
Forbidden Fantasies (Ellora’s Cave/Pocket Books) October
The Darkest Touch (Bantam Dell) October

Holiday Seduction (Samhain) November

Unlaced (Berkley) December
Unraveled (Samhain) December

So I wrote over 300,000 words and released 8 books. No wonder I’m so tired.

In 2009, I have the following on schedule to release (tentative):

January - Sneak Peek print release from Samhain

April - Riding on Instinct - Berkley

May - Dare To Love print release - Samhain

July - Taken By Sin - Bantam Dell

September - Holiday Heat print release - Samhain

Tentative Winter Release for Riding The Edge, a Wild Riders novella to be released in an anthology with a Lora Leigh Nauti book from Berkley.
Tentative Winter Release for Unbound, another anthology like Unlaced from Berkley

So far, I’m scheduled to write one novella and two single titles next year. And I have a proposal I need to write for a new series.

I’m going to be busy. Again. And I’m ever so grateful I get to be busy. I thank my readers for that. Without you, I wouldn’t get to live this dream of mine.

I hope you have a wonderful 2009, and that your favorite authors put out some incredible books for you to read.

So Biker Dude and I got a Wii and Wii Fit right before Xmas. We finally hooked up the Wii and started playing a few days ago.

Wii is kicking our asses. In a good way. It’s getting us off the couch and moving, which is something we desperately needed. We’re having a blast bowling and playing tennis and boxing and playing golf and baseball. Omg I’m so sore. It’s awesome. We haven’t even hooked up the Wii Fit yet because we’re having too much fun playing the basic games that came with the Wii. Nor have we bought any additional Wii games yet, so if you have a Wii and have any recommendations for us, let me know. We really aren’t interested in any game that requires us to sit on our asses (God knows I do plenty of that when I write). The objective of getting the Wii was finding games that require us to get up and move around. Though I suggested Dance Revolution to Biker Dude and he didn’t seem at all interested in that idea.

The other Wheee is that I found out The Romance Studio handed out their annual CAPA Award nominations. Dare To Love has been nominated in the Contemporary Romance category, and the Unlaced anthology has been nominated in the Erotic Anthology category. I’m so honored and grateful to the reviewers at The Romance Studio for these nominations! Thank you so much!

I’m done! Done done done!

I finished RIDING THE EDGE this morning, one of my Wild Riders stories. It’ll be a longer novella for an anthology that’ll release late next year.

I have to tell you this was a hard book to write. I don’t know if it’s because the storyline or characters were difficult, or because I started it in the midst of all the holiday preparations, but i feel like it took me FOR-EV-AH to write this freakin book.

But I wrapped it up by knocking out the last 5000 words this morning, so this baby is done. Done done done and I did the happy dance all over the house (yes, I look like an idiot when I do this, and no, I don’t care. )

Now I’ll put it to bed for a few days to get it out of my mind. I have copyedits on another book that are due back to my publisher like…oh…right now. So I have to tackle those right away. Once those are done I’ll start editing Riding The Edge so I can get that turned in. Because I have another novella I need to start writing on like…oh…right now. Such is my life.

But for now, happy dance with me!

Whoa. Christmas exhausts me. Glad that’s over and I can go back to work now

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. So tell me what you got. I always love to hear about your favorite gift. Biker Dude bought me a docking station/clock radio for my iPhone. Whee! And this amazing Ed Hardy purse that rocks my world. I would have slept with it except it was a little lumpy. Heh.

Christmas Eve was just me and Biker Dude. That’s our alone time to open gifts we got for each other, drink some egg nog and for me to torture Biker Dude with endless Christmas movies . Christmas Day we had the family here. Always fun, but gah, I did a lot of cooking. By 7:30 last night I was ready to go to bed. Though not sure how we ended up staying up til 1 in the morning. (Playing Word Warp on the iPhone )

Here’s a pic of me and Biker Dude. It’s so to get pics of us to turn out decent. This one wasn’t too bad.

Hope yours was merry. So come on, tell me what kind of goodies you found under your tree. Or wherever you found them.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, or any other holiday related celebration, I hope you enjoy the ones you love. Make merry with your friends and family, and if you’re traveling, be safe.

I wish you all Happy Holidays, and thank you for being a part of my life.

On Sale Now at Samhain Publishing!

Mitch Magruder, rich, successful, wildly popular surfer and entrepreneur, is always on the lookout for the next big wave or the next great deal. So when he’s home for the holidays, he jumps at the chance to build one of his famous hotels right on the white, sandy, Florida beach where he grew up. The only thing standing in his way is Greta Mason.

Divorced with two children, Greta welcomes the struggle to make ends meet at the ramshackle beachfront motel her father left her. The motel means everything to her, and no amount of money—or hot nights of persuasion—offered by gorgeous, sexy Mitch is going to change her mind. No matter how much his touch unravels her defenses.

For once, Mitch finds he’s the one doing the chasing, and Greta’s doing more than throwing a monkey wrench into his perfectly orchestrated world. She’s making him think about things he’s never considered before, things other than the pursuit of money. Things like settling down with right woman.

Now if only he can convince her he wants more than hot sex, moonlit nights, and her hotel…

Click here to purchase!

Excerpts Available here and here

But aren’t they all? Friday night we went out to dinner, then my husband surprised me by stopping at Best Buy and telling me to pick up a Wii and Wii Fit, something I’ve wanted for a while now. Wheee! I’m really excited. It’s not hooked up yet, we’re waiting until after Xmas and we have all the decorations down and the presents are out of the room and everything is decluttered. I can’t wait!

My adorable granddaughter spent the night Saturday. We made sugar cookies together. What fun. Then we read books and watched holiday movies. Is there anything that can slide you into the holiday spirit more than a 5 year oldl?

Sunday we went to the furniture store and bought a couple side pieces for next to the big screen tv. There is never enough storage space for dvds and the accumulation of….crap. These are actually antique looking dressers and surprisingly enough they fit nicely next to the oh so modern plasma tv. Go figure. Picture below - what do you think?

This week–at least the first part of this week–is all about knocking out some word count on this novella from hell. I also have to clean my house since I’m hosting Christmas for my family. Fortunately, Biker Dude is on vacation this week, so he can help me.

And I have a book releasing tomorrow from Samhain Publishing, but I’ll be back to tell you all about that tomorrow.

So what are your holiday plans?

I used random.org to select a winner.

Congratulations to Ann Marie (post #34)! You’ve won UNRAVELED! Please email me at jaciATjaciburton.com and let me know what format you’d like the book in.

If I don’t hear from Ann Marie within 24 hours I’ll draw for another winner.

Thanks to everyone who participated! And don’t forget UNRAVELED releases Tuesday at Samhain!

If you read Samhain Publishing’s books, please take a moment and fill out the survey below about your favorites.

Thanks!

Survey here

I’m Guest Blogging today over at Greta’s blog, and giving away a copy of UNRAVELED! Come join me!

I’m also at Writeminded trading holiday recipes! Come share yours