Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

During the first weeks of January, my dh and I chose to leave our rainy, dreary home to venture south for some sun. Our destination was anywhere the sun was shining in California.

Huh. (We bumped into every rainstorm they had! Not to mention snow going over Mt. Shasta.)

First stop, Burbank (signed a copy of Breathless in the downtown B&N)where we had a ball going to the Jay Leno Show. Understand, this was the first week all the kerfuffle started with Jay, Conan O’Brien and their network. All the way south we wondered if Jay would be there come Monday.

He was. The show was great, and Bill Cosby (another fave) was his guest. Mr. Cosby is a wonderful storyteller: rambling, touching and very funny.

But rather than try to negotiate the freeways in any downpours of rain, we chose to head to the desert. I found copies of Breathless, Built and Pure Sex in a Borders store and B & N.

Clerks in bookstores are always so nice to me…mostly because I joked about the cover of Breathless this time. My joke?

Hold up the book, say “I’m her…well, not her, (move finger to bottom of book and point out my name) I’m HER. Not on my best days did I ever look like the photo.”

Still available (signed in bookstores all over California!)

Lots of chuckles about beautiful cover art…and then, like magic those clerks warmed up, felt comfy and let me sign away. One person asked me for identification and I have to wonder how often they get impostors coming in to sign books, but once I handed him my card, he believed me. Luckily he didn’t ask me to quote any of the love scenes because I tend to write those in the zone and rarely remember them clearly.

Everywhere we went I stopped at bookstores and signed whatever stock they had. What a wonderful way to spend my vacation.

I have to add that I swung into a Borders store in San Francisco and the clerk ran away to get the Customer Service Rep…who proclaimed her love of romance authors. Seems she recalls about 30 of them descending on the store during the Romance Writers of America conference in 2008. She told me we’re the nicest bunch of authors she’s ever met. (I have to say she’s right.) She was thrilled to have me stop in. (Hey, I’m tickled pink to see my books on the shelves so we’re even!)

I’m counting down the weeks now to the release of my Harlequin Blaze, Possessing Morgan. I’m thrilled!

Possessing Morgan will be available March 1 everywhere!

In stores March 1

What a week! I’ve been scrambling to get Wolf Tales 11 done by my February 15 deadline (and no, I’ve already accepted the fact–and thankfully, so has my editor–that it’s not going to happen) while dealing with all the promotion for DemonFire, my first mass market release that’s coming out on February 23, and I realized this morning what the hold up is on WT11–my brain is stuck in the DemonSlayers world while trying to write about the Chanku! (Trust me, that does not work well.)

I’ve been spending tons of time going over notes–for the life of me I could NOT remember what color wolf Logan Pierce becomes (black) or who was taller–Mik or AJ. And it’s Mik at 6’5″ as AJ’s just 6’4″, and normally I can recall details like that because I KNOW these guys, but for the past couple of weeks I’ve been working on promo for DemonFire and thinking about my six foot, eight inch Lemurian warrior Alton, and Dax, my fallen demon who has so much going against him in his fight to save the world from demonkind that it’s a miracle–and Eddy’s love–that he was still around for me to write him into HellFire. (okay, Kate…take a DEEP breath…)

Needless to say, I am not my usual calm, collected self! Anyway, when I get totally frustrated and to the point where I can’t get my thoughts together, I do something that takes me away from writing. Today I baked cookies and cleaned my office. The cookies are wonderful–double chocolate chip/chocolate cookies with pecans. Horrible for the waist but wonderful for the psyche–AND I cleaned my office, and you, my friends, or at least one of you, will benefit from my little writer breakdown, because deep in the piles stacked around the room I found an ARC of DemonFire I didn’t know I had, and one of you who leaves a post, even if it’s just to tell me I’m a ditz for losing it, will have a chance to win.

So there ya have it–a scary glimpse into the mind of a woman who can’t figure out which world to play in, but it’s all good, eventually! And while I worry about finishing the book, at least I’ve got yummy cookies to eat and an ARC of a really great story (if I do say so myself!) to give away. And just to get the ball rolling, what do you do when it all seems too much and you’re spinning your wheels? Maybe I can learn something new to help me deal with…well, sexy Chanku and really hot Lemurian warriors and this fallen demon who is just flat out gorgeous. Hey, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!

I’ll pick a winner in a couple of days, so be sure and check back.

Hearts and Flowers. . .and Chocolate, oh, my!

Happy February! Of course, the month of February means two things to me: Valentine’s Day and the release of my book. Hey, you didn’t think I was going to just talk about Valentine’s Day and not do a shameless plug for BETWEEN THE SHEETS, my fractured fairy tales book, did you? Okay, fine, obligatory plug is now over.
What I really want to talk about, anyway, is Valentine’s Day. And presents. The good, the bad and the downright ugly.
Because I’m the blogger, I get to start. My best Valentine memory is when my parents gave me a puppy. I’ll never forget it—I came home from elementary school for lunch and the puppy was sitting in the front window with a valentine tied around her neck. It was a great day.
My worst Valentine’s Day? I’d have to say it was the one when I found out my lying, cheating, scum-bag (now-ex) husband had not only been cheating but had contracted a social disease. Oh, yeah, that one was definitely the pits. Copious amounts of chocolate were ingested, just not in a good way.
Over the years, there have been ups and downs for Valentine’s Day. Most notably was the first one my current husband and I shared when we were so poor, yet somehow he managed to surprise me with a tiny pair of diamond studs. To this day, I still have no idea how he pulled that off. He’s definitely a keeper! My parents, ever the practical people, once gave me a toilet plunger for Valentine’s Day. I assume it was their not-so-subtle way of telling me to stop calling Dad when I had a plumbing problem. Two or three years ago, my husband gave me a laptop. It wasn’t that I wasn’t thrilled—I’d been wanting one for quite a while—or grateful. It’s just that. . .well, I think it was the tax deductible part. Oh, yeah, baby, nothing says love like tax deductible office supplies!
My friend, Candy, on her first Valentine’s Day with her husband, received a call from him asking if the flowers he’d sent had been delivered to her at work. Thrilled, she anxiously waited all day for a delivery that never came. When she saw him at home and told him the delivery hadn’t arrived, he started laughing hysterically—he’d never sent her any flowers and proceeded to tell her how stupid Valentine’s Day was and not to expect anything from him. Ever. To this day, she absolutely hates Valentine’s Day. BTW, he’s now her ex-husband.
So, what about you? Any best of worst Valentine’s Day stories? Leave a comment and you have a chance to win a book.
Thanks for stopping by!