I got a new contract! hee hee

ok so not that huge, but I'm really excited and here's why...

Through a very good friend, I've discovered a new publishing company, Blade Publishing. I've received what I hope is the first of many contracts from them for a new book entitled Untamable. More about the story in a sec, but first, if you are an established or aspiring author and you are looking for a publisher, I'd love it if you checked out Blade. This is Abby Carmichael's labor of love and she has so many wonderful ideas that will set this publisher apart. I know, new e-pubs are a scary thing, but she's open to answering any questions, she's enthusiastic, she has a heart for charity and she works her ass off! Least of all, there’s the fact that I take my work very seriously and I don’t send it to just anyone…believe me! So check out the site and have a look around.

Now...Untamable!

Rhys Eckhart is haunted by dreams. Dreams of a childhood torn apart by tragedy and dreams of a woman he’d do anything to possess. Trapped by scars no one could possibly understand, he's spent most of his adult life effectively building walls to keep everyone out. Until one small woman rocks his world to its core and suddenly it’s time to face his demons.

Harlee dreams of a life with white picket fences and babies and puppies. She wants nice and orderly and controllable. She has a plan and she’s holding onto it tight, despite the quiet whisperings of her heart, until the night Rhys walks into her life. Now she’s dealing with passion and forbidden temptations and tormented by what ifs. The biggest one, what if she wasn’t already his brother’s fiancée?

I am so excited about this new series. Three books will tell the story of brothers, Rhys and Justin, but also, of their mother Olivia. These three have not had an easy road of things, there is a lot of pain in this family, but as you must know by now, my favorite thing is to take broken people and heal them with love. Keep an eye on the blog and the coming soon page for more info as it becomes available!

And one last thing I can not overlook, what do you think of that cover?! I think it's the best one I've gotten in such a long time and I'm thrilled with it. To be honest, I had the cover before I wrote the story, so it really inspired me. It's the work of the fabulous Shonna Brannon, who I can't say enough about. Her work is sexy and fresh. Check out her site if you aren't familiar because she also does site designs, banners, all manner of things. You won't be sorry you took a look. ;-)

ok, that's it for now, have a great week!

Labels: blade publishing, book contract, erotic romances, shonna brannon, web design

I had an absolutely crazy week.

I had the bf come home not once but twice on an overnight stop, which of course was wonderful coz I hardly ever see him, but those unexpected little visits threw off my schedule, such as it is.

I've been in the writing cave getting the final book in my Liquid Silver trilogy finished...which I did finish btw, but when I write, I don't do much of anything else. So the house was a wreck, the fridge was empty, my youngest was missing me so terribly he'd stopped eating!

...ok, so that's wishful thinking and the stopped eating was more a fact of the empty fridge then his missing my attention and company but hey, a mom can dream. p

So I knew Dale was coming home for his home time this weekend. I wrapped up Anything She Wants on Tuesday and tried to jump right into cleaning, but it didn't work very well. I'm not one of those writers who have a big energetic high at the end of a book, I tend to be pretty drained. I like to hole away for a few days and recover, but no time!

So I ended up pretty much righting off Wednesday, but I had a 2 day plan of getting the bathroom painted and organized, laundry done, dishes, tend to the poor dehydrated garden, the boys room straightened, clean sheets on Dale's kid's beds coz I knew they'd be here at the weekend. I needed to grocery shop and clean out the fridge. :P But that was ok, I had a 2 day plan. :D It was going to be tight, but if I could stay focused, I could do it!

The plan was, Dale was coming home late Friday and we were going to pick up the kids either early Saturday, or he'd pick them up on his way in...didn't go like that.

I got a call early yesterday morning, "The ex wants to drop the kids off either today or tomorrow" (insert scream of panic here) Ok, I calmed down, refused to look at how torn apart the house was and said, fine, tomorrow will work...somehow.

Ok, I hang up from Dale, am now doing my deep breathing and panic emails to my best friends and...phone rings...

"She has to be at work at 7:30 so she wants to bring them by today."

Insert foul language here.

I mean if she wanted to bring them by Thursday, why did she say today or tomorrow???? ACK!!!? Freaking hell!!!

So what am I supposed to do? Say no?

Ok fine, but tonight, not before 8!

Do I have time for a drink???

So together with my youngest, the ten year old girl upstairs, and her friend, we got busy. We painted, we cleaned, we found cat poop in a corner under a desk nobody every use.

OH

MY

GOD

I love my cats but at this point yesterday, they were nearly little tiny cat skin coats!

Anyway, by around seven or so, we actually had every freaking thing done!!

Ok so not the grocery shopping , so now every time the kids ask me for something other then water to drink I have to say, sorry I wasn't expecting you until the weekend, I wasn't prepared, drink the water.


Now I just have to manage a trip to Wal-Mart with two kids, a teenager and no car. Ugh

Wish me luck, I need it!

Oh, the bathroom...looks wonderful!

Labels: Life

As I'm sure you all are very aware, record floods have hit Iowa leaving most of the state a disaster area and thousands of people homeless. My heart breaks every time I hear of a natural disaster happening anywhere, but this one of course is here at home.

If you are at all like me, you are looking for ways to help, here's a list of things I've been able to come up with so far. If you are able to assist in flood relief efforts, there are many ways to help your neighbors in Iowa. Here are some resources to get involved, please help anyway you can.

• Call 2-1-1:When you call 2-1-1, you can receive information on flood-related assistance, including road closings, evacuation and shelter information. Opportunities to help are available by zip code, so anyone can find out where to help near their home.

• Iowa Concern Hotline:
  Volunteer hotline for people who wish to help in recovery efforts.
  1-800-447-1985

• Iowa City Flood Hotline:
  319-887-6202

• Johnson County Emergency Management:
  319-356-6028

• Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Service Program -- Cedar Rapids: 319-378-0337

• Red Cross is handling the clothing donations, and apparently only drop-offs. If you're in the area and want to donate, call (800) 733-2767 to make sure they're still looking for what you've got. (My guess is, yes, they'll be looking for stuff above a size 16 for women, at least.)

• Please don't forget about the animals. Contacting the Humane Society to see about helping homeless pets. My guess here is that foster homes near the area will be especially helpful, since so many people are moving into temporary housing where pets aren't allowed and so many pets may have gotten lost in the chaos already. They'll be scared and need care until hopefully they can be reunited with their families.

• this link is for info on where volunteer sandbaggers and the like are needed.

• the last time the river flooded, the Mennonites did a ton of rebuilding for people. I have no reason to think they won't be helping this time too. It's just that rebuilding is still a few months out. But their work is especially important for people who did not have insurance and who will not have money to hire contractors to rebuild. The Mennonite Disaster Service website is here.

• And of course, don't forget The American Red Cross

If anyone knows of any other ways to help and want to add to this post, please leave the information in comments. And please don't forget prayer, it helps more then most people think.

Labels: Iowa Flood

I swear, my whole life is a living example of that old adage, one step forward, two steps back.

Ok, so it's not quite that bad, maybe more like three steps forward, one step back, but it's that step back that always gets me. :p Maybe it's cause life always seems like such a steep hill, that I begrudge that step back something fierce!

Sometimes I feel like I don' have the ability to handle life, like I need a personal assistant just to get through. Someone to help me remember dates and appointments. Someone to proofread my manuscripts and clean the house and for goodness sakes, someone ELSE to fix that one step back part!

I have absolutely nothing against hard work, I work my ass off, but I sooooo begrudge having to do something twice. I'm a spoiled brat, I know. I mean it's not like I'm the only one, but I have to whine over it. Still, today is being one of those days. :p I'm really wanting to do is finishing my latest wip ANYTHING SHE WANTS, but everything and one else in my life is saying, oooh lets push her back a few steps! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I swear, I may kill myself before this day ends. :p lol Thanks for listening to me whine. :)