Obsessed for Zane

I’ve made progress on the new WIP (Work in Progress, for those of you who don’t know writer-speak!). The first chapter is complete to my satisfaction and includes the necessary elements–the introduction to the heroine’s ordinary world and the inciting incident that launches her on her journey of self-discovery.

Did I mention the heroine is OCD? I invited the ladies on my chat loop to tell me about the people they know who cope with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and man! I didn’t know how many deal with it from minor little quirks to severely debilitating problems. I sure hope I capture Briana’s personality and tics correctly so I can do her justice.

I’m counting down to my road trip to Memphis. Shayla and I have reservations for a hotel about half a mile from Beale street and will have to take the trolley to get there, but that’s going to part of the adventure. I’ll be taking a notebook and a digital camera to make sure I don’t forget a thing I should include in the story I’ll start right after OBSESSED. If anyone has tips for places that would be a good setting for something spooky, let me know!

Thought you might like a peek at the cover of the anthology I’ll be in. This one comes out sometime this summer. My offering is a short story featuring one of the MIK characters.

Short Story for British Anthology

Obsessed for Zane

As you can see from the wordmeters above, I finished the project for Mammoth Books yesterday (yay!), and am getting ready to plow through the next project, a novella for Zane. Yes, the same folks who will be releasing Purple Panties in May, which includes a short story by yours truly. Amazingly, the book is already making #1 lists at Amazon last time I checked, and it won’t be out for months!

Still, today’s the day I stare at a blank page and try to dream the first scene of a new story. It’s a little frightening. I love and hate new starts. Trying to find that perfect first line can really get to me. I play with it, turn it sideways, brainstorm a dozen alternatives. When I get beyond frustrated, I force myself to push on past and write the rest of the opening scene. But I really do have a process, and I hate to break with it. First, I have to have the right title. Then I have to have that perfect first line. The rest flows naturally from that start.

The Zane book is already pretty intimidating. The Purple Panties short was actually my first non-romance piece, but it was only 5000 measly words. This one will be 35,000, and I know I’ll be sweating every one of them to get the emotional intensity I need. I can usually count on the romance developing between a hero and heroine to provide that spice. Not this time.

I’m sure I’ll fly through this week and look back and wonder what the heck I was worried about, but for now, I get to whine and angst. Poor little insecure author me.

I saw something like this over at the Avon Romance Blog, and thought it would be fun to tag some of my “sister” writers. Be sure to check out the blogs of Sasha White and Cathryn Fox to see how they respond and who’s next!

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1. Car Hop at a Dairy Queen
2. U.S. Army Officer
3. Social Studies Teacher
4. Writer

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
1. Die Hard
2. The 13th Warrior
3. 28 Days More
4. Timeline

Four favorite places I’ve lived:
1. Zweibrueken, Germany
2. Heilbronn, Germany
3. Portrane, Ireland
4. Hill Country, Texas

Four favorite places I’ve travelled:
1. Greek Islands
2. Paris, France
3. Rothenburg, Germany
4. The Florida Keys

Four places I most want to see before I die:
1. Nepal
2. China
3. Venice, Italy
4. Scandanavia

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Menudo (Mexican soup with tripe–yum!)
2. Lamb with Greek tsasiki
3. Korean Kimchi
4. Fajita tacos

If you’d like to join the fun, leave your answers here or a blog URL where we can read your posting!

First, thanks to everyone who joined me at Access Romance’s All-A-Blog where I talked about my upcoming road trip, and the Avon Romance Blog where so many of us talked about dreaming and where our inspiration comes from. As a way of thanking you for being there for me, I drew a name. Rasha Hamdi will receive a signed copy of SEDUCED BY DARKNESS if she’ll Email Me!

I made a little poll, including my favorite hotties. Let’s see if we agree.

Who would you prefer to spend a night with? Poll Results
Scott Elrod, Men in Trees – 6 votes
Josh Holloway, Lost – 7 votes
Naveen Andrews, Lost – 3 votes
Dule Hill, Psych – 3 votes

I admit, I’m a TV junkie. Only I really don’t have time to watch a lot of shows. I TIVO everything I love, then watch them like a woman who eats chocolate–all in one luscious gobble.

I have my favorites: Psych, Monk, Men in Trees, Lost. If Eureka and Blood Ties ever come back, they’ll go to the top of my list again. So, I was wondering why I love these particular shows and figured out I really, really love the men.

In PSYCH you have two wonderful comedians, but I lean toward wanting Dule Hill more because he’s so put upon, and so very, very fine. If you ever saw the movie HOLES, you’d fall in love with him.

Tony Shaloub’s MONK would make me want to commit murder, so I’m not the least attracted to him, but I have to watch him out of morbid fascination. I love his quirks, cringe right through them, and I love the “And this is what happened” summation moment in every show. But he doesn’t make my hottie list.

MEN IN TREES is my new favorite. Anne Heche is great. The ensemble cast loveable. I want to move to Elmo, Alaska! Even if the concept of a New York writer settling in a small Alaskan town doesn’t appeal to you, glimpses of Scott Elrod will make it totally worthwhile.

Then, of course, there is LOST. The show totally exhausts me. I’m ready for it to end. I’m dying to find out what the ultimate mystery is, because I’ve guessed my way through so many scenarios, I want to know if ANY of them was right. One thing the show has in spades is hot men. Daniel Dae Kim, Josh Holloway, Naveen Andrews. All drool-worthy.