Electronic Copyedits!

Those folks at Berkley are really with it. It's only been a little over a month that I sent in my revisions for BUNCO BABES GONE WILD and I've already received my copy edits. Only they didn't come in the mail.

Yesterday afternoon I checked my email to find something from the lovely Allison Brandau from Berkley with BUNCO BABES GONE WILD in the subject. Allison not only acquires books of her own, she assists other editors like mine (the equally-lovely-if-not-more-so-because-she-bought-me Wendy McCurdy). I really had no idea what might be in the email, but the one thing I definitely was NOT expecting was electronic copy edits. Genius!

I've already done the first 3 chapters and the whole process is going by ridiculously smoothly (pardon the double 'ly' words). I love the fact that I can delete and add with my computer. Honestly, I think my hand shook every time I made a mark on my copy edits for BUNCO BABES TELL ALL. I was terrified that I'd mark something in permanent ink and then I'd immediately want to change it, or that no one would be able to read the tiny writing I'd have to use to squeeze something in the margin.

This electronic thing rocks!

I thought Vegetables were good for you

Here's the commercial the networks don't want you to see this Sunday during the SuperBowl. They've deemed it too racy. Personally, I think it's a hoot. Am I too jaded?

Who doesn't want to eat this?

Louisa, you naughy minx. You never told me about Curtis Stone! (or if you did, I wasn't paying attention)

Mike Geraci jokingly calls chicken the Cuban National Bird. I guess that's because I cook it a lot. And I mean a lot. Mostly, though, I use chicken in dishes like arroz con pollo (chicken and yellow rice) or I'll roast a chicken or whatever, but I've never mastered the perfectly moist chicken breast. In my quest for the secret behind the elusive MCB I came across HIM. (see above!)

Oh, and Mel, he has an accent. I swear, one day I'm going to write a book called "Tall, Blond and Handsome". Now I just need a plot.

The Bachelor

Yes, I know, it's mindless, soul-robbing t.v. but I don't care. I still love the show. And this is just too funny so I had to share.

Tall, Dark and Handsome Blond Men

Pardon my descent into Beefcake. But I just have to talk about blond men.

"Tall, dark and handsome" is more than a romance novel cliche, it's the accepted description for the perfect man. I remember Mel and I once having this discussion about using this description for a blond hero. I was like, "but if he's blond, can you still use the term dark?" (unless he's Wesley Snipes with a dye job)
Mel thought yes, that the term had become a generalized description for "hot".

When I create a hero for one of my books, I use a real live guy to draw inspiration from. I've used Josh Lucas twice now. Once for my (yes, mine) 'Miles Mountkeefe' in my non-pubbed historical, "The War Bride", and I'm recycling him as my redneck Chief of Police, Zeke Grant, in "Bunco Babes Back in Action" (the proposal I'm working on and hope to sell- keep your fingers crossed for me). So I guess you can say I have a thing for Josh Lucas. Can you blame me?

I'm also particularly drawn to Daniel Craig (yum), Simon Baker (he's not just yours, Mel) and the delicious Rupert Penry-Jones.

I'll leave you with this little gift from You-Tube and Rupert. Wait till the end. There's a surprise! (if you're easily offended, don't watch)

My New Cover!

So... since I posted the pic to my new cover for Bunco Babes Gone Wild (see below) from a link on my photobucket account, it won't let me post the pic AND write script. I'm sure there's a way to do this, but I can't quite figure it out:)

Anyhoo, there's my cover. I LOVE it!

And if you have a minute, go check out my post on High Concept over at the Title Wave blog.

Promotion- Learning as I go, or NO dice tattos on naked butts

I'm such a man.
I never stop to ask for directions, let alone read the directions to any new gadget or gizmo I buy. I figure if I have to stop and read directions, then it's too complicated, so I move on. Usually to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how it works on my own (unless Mel knows, then I simply ask her). I've tried to break this pattern, but I simply can't. I think it's just the way I'm wired. So I learn as I go- by trial and error. I'm pretty thick-headed, so I think it's the only way something sinks in. Like this book thing. I have 2 books coming out this year. I've done all I can artistically- I've conceptualized them, written them, edited them, etc. The next part in the process is the promotion of those books. Since I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing I've hired a publicist. But there's still a lot as an author that's up to me.

That's where I'm learning as I go.

Now that the revisions for my 2nd Bunco book are done (yes!) I actually have some time to devote to promotion. I've discovered Facebook (I mean, really discovered it), online Solitaire (whoops), and checking out the stats on Amazon.com. My first book, Bunco Babes Tell All (which can be pre-ordered by the way) has been anywhere from 30 something thousand to the millions in presales stats. It's a mystery. In one day, my book can leap thousands of numbers. Does that mean one person bought my book in that day? Or maybe ten? Or maybe none, and someone else's book has changed its status, thus changing mine? Who knows? I have a feeling this obsessive game could take up a lot of my time.

Right now though, my focus has been on my new website. This process has gone on for over 6 months. The first web designer I worked with wanted to read my book so that he could get a "flavor" of what I wrote. Great, I thought. So I emailed him my manuscript. About 2 months later, he gave me his first mock-up. It was so horrible, I can't even describe it, but I'll try... I was on a writing retreat at the beach with Louisa and Mel and I didn't have Internet access. So in an excited tizzy, we drove to a Panera where they had free WiFi and flipped open my laptop . All we could do was stare in horror. There, on the Home page of what could be my website was a picture of a naked woman's butt with a pair of dice tattooed on her cheek. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the end, we all laughed. I don't write anything even faintly resembling erotica. So I have no idea how reading my manuscript could have produced that image. Go figure.

On to my 2nd web designer. I told him about the fiasco of the dice tattoo on the naked butt. He laughed (a good sign, I thought) and we talked for a bit on the phone. I immediately got a good gut reaction. In October, he came up with the first design for my website. I loved it. The colors were a bit off, but the concept was exactly what I was looking for. Since I'm doing my own copy, he then asked me for the copy so that he could get a better idea of how to set things up. At the time, I was in the middle of deadline for my 2nd book, so I couldn't get him the copy for almost another month. I had no idea how difficult it was to write copy for a website. I must have studied dozens and dozens of author websites in an attempt to figure out what I wanted. In the end, I sent him 20 pages (copy and detailed instructions for each page). I should be seeing a finalized version this week. I can't wait!