I’ll be blogging today at Access Romance. Come keep me company! I’ll be talking about making it as a writer and my new book, Obsessed.

Just a little, before I have to go into promo mode again. Now that Texas Men is out, I have to look forward to next week’s two releases. Thanks to those of you who let me know how much you enjoyed TM—you know who you are!

The weather’s been crazy here—in the upper 60’s and raining constantly. The temperature dropped last night, so there goes my hope that the pool will actually heat up enough that I can slip into my wetsuit any time soon.

My life’s been a little crazy. I’m babysitting dogs while my parents are out of town. Could at least one of them have a bladder bigger than a peanut?! Both of them are Yorkies, which I find annoying. You have to remember, I was married to a canine instructor and am used to serious dogs with big barks. I’m not accustomed to watching where I step.

The past couple of months, I was hard at work on several projects—finishing up proposals, plus editing several works that are coming out later this year. This week, I took a breath and entered hibernation mode because I’m between contracts and nothing is pushing me to start on the last little deadlined project. I can’t write without adrenaline kicking my ass.

I had a couple of hopeful messages today. One concerning a publisher I thought might be a closed door. Another from my Dark Realm editor who loved by latest offering. Thank goodness. I was really worried she’d hate my crazy view of Hell. I have some revisions to make to the manuscript, but nothing really significant. Looks like the book’s a go! Woohoo!

Oh yeah, I did have one last contest winner to announce today. The last for the Texas Men countdown. On Sunday, I’ll post the name of Michelle’s winner. The winner of my contest is…Brandy. Brandy wins a $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com. I was going to offer her books, but I think she has just about everything I’ve written. She’ll make good use of the GC, I’m sure! 😉

Thought I’d pop in and give you an update. Today, I finished a new proposal aimed at a line in Harlequin and shipped it to my agent. Cross your fingers for me that the editor will like it. It’s sexy, has cowboys, and a woman on the run. I’ll let you know what happens.

In the meantime, I’m going no mail and won’t be posting to my blog until Monday. I’m heading to a vacation cabin in Oklahoma where I’ll be holed up with a group of writers who think I know something about plotting. Elle James and I are running a plotting retreat and expect to have a whole lot of fun.

Next week, I’ll kick off the countdown for the release for Texas Men. So get set, get ready… Of course you know that means I’ll be posting plenty of sexy excerpts and giving away prize packs, so stay tuned!

I remember the first time I saw Vin Diesel in “Pitch Black.” Wicked Sci-Fi movie. Loved the fact we didn’t know if he was good or bad. Had fantasies about his backstory since the movie left it sketchy. Sure, he’s had some misses so far as movies go, but I never claimed to have great taste in flicks. Sci-Fi channel “B” movies are auto-saves on my TIVO. I’ll watch Vin because I forget everything else happening on screen when I’m drooling over his pecs.

Last week was actually pretty productive—up until Friday. I caught up on a lot of promo activities and started a brand new proposal.

Today, however, I’m feeling kinda lazy and need to figure out how to kick my ass into high gear. I had the 4-year-old the last two days, and spent a lot of time playing with her, which meant I made minimal progress on my proposal. BUT the time away from the story gave me some perspective, and I realized I’d made a major newbie mistake when I set up the conflicts. All the hero and heroine’s issues could be resolved if someone locked them in a room together and told them to talk it all out. Misunderstandings can’t serve as strong hinge for an entire plot.

So, who did I call? My sister, Elle James, the queen of plotting. We threw some ideas around, some really involved, which I nixed because I’d have to start all over again (I’ve done that twice already) and, at last, one solution that was simpler and gave my heroine a very strong reason to keep lying to the hero. I’m happier.

This week, I have to finish the proposal (synopsis and three chapters), ship it to my agent, and then get ready to go to Oklahoma. Sis and I are conducting a plotting bootcamp for a group of ladies, and we will be gone Thursday through Sunday.

I’m still culling photos. I remember taking this photo in Memphis at Edgemont cemetary. I love studying statuary, wondering why people chose certain things for their loved ones. This one called to me. I’m sure there’s a story here somewhere.

Progress on current Western proposal

February’s moon is known as the Storm moon and sometimes the Death moon. Which makes sense. February is cold and harsh, and the days are short.

To the Wiccan, its a time for cleaning out the clutter in your house and preparing herb beds for new seeds. It’s also a good time to dump any emotional baggage you might be dragging around.

Spells are cast to help you get past the challenges a bleak February might offer. Seems appropriate for me at the moment—in between contracts—to think about casting a spell or two to help my dreams and new projects along. 😉