Hey! Stick around for the derby pictures, but today’s my report card. Let me get business out of the way first. You know why I do this, right? If I don’t hold myself accountable in a public way for my progress, I might just decide to take a vacation. 🙄

I realize I’ve been absent a lot lately. I’m not deliberately dodging connections, but I’ve had a very hectic couple of months. This last week was another crazy, crazy week. Not a lot of new pages, but progress nonetheless.

I mentioned to you earlier this week that I spent several days at my daughter’s, babysitting and walking dogs. I managed to work in the mornings after getting the 5-year-old on the school bus and after getting her and the 8-month-old into bed at night. All the hours in between were a bust. As well, I stayed up until the red-headed hellion came home from work after 12:30 AM every night and we talked until 3-ish before heading to bed. I’ll be going back there tonight for the week. I’m hoping I’ll be better prepared this time and will actually sleep when I get the chance so I can be creative. She’s on dial-up and it’s a chore to get online and twitter or post, so I won’t be doing much of that.

Work-wise this past week, I completed a short story entitled The Weekend and submitted it for consideration. I worked on blurbs and cover requests for the two cowboy stories for Samhain. And I completed galley edits for the upcoming print anthology Captive Souls.

Yesterday was especially jam-packed. I attended the monthly Diamond State Romance Authors meeting, and honchoed it because our president was a no-show. Afterwards, I went to lunch and watched the Razorback game with friends while brainstorming story ideas. And then last night, I went to a roller derby match in Little Rock with Cyndi D’Alba and Shayla Kersten. I had a blast. See for yourself!

My flash didn’t work, and without light, the camera couldn’t catch the action very well, but I like this one anyway.

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I’m back at home for now. Have to head back to my daughter’s on Sunday night. Gawd, I’m exhausted. I’m hoping I can work on new material next week in between changing diapers and de-pooping dogs (It did feel like the theme of my week was “shit”!). We’ll see. Right now I’m sleep-deprived and feeling a bit like a walking zombie. Tomorrow’s the monthly Diamond State Romance Authors meeting, and some of us are planning a trip to watch a live Roller Derby match afterward. So, needless to say, neither rest nor writing is on the horizon.

To celebrate Halloween, Ellora’s Cave is offering every vampire book up for sale. If you haven’t read the My Immortal Knight books yet, here’s your chance to save some cash while you catch up on the series. It looks like book #7 will be out in November, so there’s no time like now to find out what happened prior to the next installment!

My daughter needed help at home for a few days. My job was to wait for the 5-year-old after school, play with the 8-month-old and keep her from swallowing everything she wants to put into her mouth—oh, and walk the three dogs. Of course, nothing is ever easy. Like those dogs? A Malinois, a German Shepherd and a Dachsund (the meanest of the bunch)—who all have an appetite for cats (daughter has two). So, as you can imagine, every time I got out the leashes, I had to shut up the cats, who love to play hide-and-seek, so they didn’t become the dogs’ next meal.

I’ve done this before. Raised my own brood and zoo. I wasn’t going to have any problems doing that and writing…

Pfft! I did manage to finish up a short story today and work on blurbs for my next cowboy stories. Not a complete loss. But tomorrow I’ll be back at home and catching up big time. Hope you had a more restful week!

I work hard at my craft, so I’m entitled to brag now and then. I wanted to share some of the fabulous reviews Lockdown has received.

From Novelspot: “…I am a big fan of Delilah Devlin’s work, so was eager to review LOCKDOWN. I think the character of a woman’s correctional officer is fascinating and not really touched on. Add in the supernatural spin this book contains and you know you’re in for a treat…LOCKDOWN is another hot read not to be missed by Delilah Devlin. The creativity and sexual energy in this supernatural erotic tale is amazing. I was caught up in the mystery and the foreshadowing evil in the story. All three characters were wonderfully done, and I loved their hardcore attitudes. This is a read you’ll not want to pass up.…”

From Manic Readers: “…LOCKDOWN was pure perfection…As good as the sex is I found myself totally immersed in the evil shadowing the three characters. I was downright riveted to my pages…Suspense, danger, mouthwatering sex scenes and a demon should be enough to make you pick up LOCKDOWN. I will recommend this book to everyone I know, it’s just that good!”

From Reader Reviews: “…LOCKDOWN by Delilah Devlin offers a uniquely different erotic tale. The sensual scenes are very well written and a pleasure to read. The plot is very complex for a novella, yet the author carries it well. I really enjoyed this story and hope that there will be more to follow along this line.”

From Just Erotic Romance Reviews: “…Delilah Devlin always delivers stories with real characters. LOCKDOWN is terrific at building suspense and creating tension; as a reader you can’t wait to see what will happen next…”

If you missed this story, which came out earlier this year, and want to learn more before you buy, click in the cover!

I like my horoscope today.

You’re making the most of what you’ve got—and flaunting it so the whole world can see your power! It may feel a little out of lien at first, but you should get some serious praise by the end of the day.

I’m blogging at Access Romance today, talking about fresh starts. I’d love for you to stop by and say hello! Follow the link: Access Romance Blog

Be sure to check out the pics my friend Sasha White took of our Seattle trip. Pay special attention to my doppelganger!

Here’s the link: Sasha’s Blog

I saw this on one of my loops where an author was talking about overcoming the doubt critics can cause, whatever your job or calling. I love it!

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt (Paris Sorbonne,1910)

Now, if I could just convince my inner critic to embrace that sentiment.

Most days, I’m scarily focused. The past week, again because I’ve had too much time on my hands to think, I’ve dithered. I’m not a ditherer. I’m a doer. I do…things. (Can you tell how much Grey’s Anatomy I’ve watched lately? I sound like Meridith!)

So just what did I get done this past week?

I played with opening scenes to two new stories. Just slapping down dialogue, trying to figure out who the characters are. Nothing’s solid yet. Very vaporous in fact. I have to keep working them to “gel” stage. But I’m thinking one will be about two men teaching the woman playing with both their passions a lesson. Yeah, I love it when guys turn the table on a woman, take charge, and rewrite “The Rules”.

I revised and shipped MIK-7 and Raw Silk to my new editor at Ellora’s Cave.

I completed a proposal for a new novel and sent it off to my agent. Hopefully, he will find it as much fun as I did and get behind it. Send up a message to whatever deity you worship that he finds it has legs. I love it.

That was all I accomplished writing-wise this week. I have to get motivated to plow deeply into something this next week.

Lastly, a BFF and I booked tickets for a cruise in December. As soon as we paid, I remembered I hadn’t seen my passport in a while. I tore apart my office and couldn’t find it, so yesterday I headed to the post office to apply for a new one. Have to start a countdown list of things to do and purchase before the trip. So if any of you have gone on cruises before, I’d love some advice. This will be my first. She knows someone who works aboard the ship we’ll be sailing on, and he will be our port guide. We plan to get up to plently of mischief aboard. Can you imagine the questions we will ask the crew? We’re both writers, so we’ll be looking for good places to stash a body or have a quick tryst. Murder and mayhem on the high seas!