Off to Orlando!

In less than an hour or two (or whenever my last load of laundry gets dried) I'll be packing up the car and heading down to Orlando with Mel. It's the 30th annual Romance Writers of America conference and I plan to suck the marrow (and whatever else I can find) out of it. I spent all yesterday running errands, doing laundry (still!) getting groceries and trying to leave enough food for my men-folk who will be holding down the fort in Tallahassee.

If you're in the Mickey area, please stop by the "Readers for Life" Literacy signing. All the proceeds go to adult literacy foundations, plus you'll get to see some really BIG stars in the romance industry. Right now, I'm a little star, but I'll be there, signing copies of Bunco Babes Gone Wild. Will keep you posted and updated on the week's events.

Oh, and don't forget, Love Sucks! comes out today. Go but it!

Love Sucks!

Do you realize that just 2 days from now the sequel to last year's hot debut YA novel Bite Me! will hit the shelves? That's right. Love Sucks! by the incredibly talented, witty, fantastically awesome Melissa Francis comes out Tuesday. I read the uncopy edited version of this last year and it was fabulous. Can't wait to read it in print. Here's a short blurb:

AJ Ashe may have gotten rid of her vampire stalker and her evil ex-teacher, but things are hardly back to normal. For one thing, she still has to maintain a strict look-but-don't-touch policy with Ryan, her hot ex-boyfriend-turned-stepbrother. For another, she has to learn to control her vampire superpowers—which means more than a few dates with Lex, mind-reading professional vampire trainer and too-sexy-for-his-own-good bad boy. And as if that's not enough, she happens to be the key to her father's plans to take over the world . . . and he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

All this and she's still got to plan the prom. Being a teenager is tough, but being a teenage vampire just flat out sucks!


Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Run out Tuesday to your local bookstore and buy it! And get a copy for your favorite teenage girl. She'll love you for it.

Oh, and if you just so happen to live in the central Florida area, don't miss out on the "Readers for Life" literacy signing at the Romance Writers of America Conference to be held at the Swan and Dolphin Resort. It's Mel's first time signing and my second. Should be a blast! Here's a link with more info.

Chicklit Club Review of Bunco Babes Gone Wild

Here's a nice review of BBGW. On a more recent note, I finally finished copy edits for Boyfriend of the Month Club and I'm happy to say, I really still love the book. yay! Now, I just need to read through the book one more time and make sure the changes all make sense, write up my acknowledgements and my dedication (that part is done) and send it in by Friday. I feel like the little engine that could, chanting, "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it..."


Bunco Babes Gone Wild (2009)
In the sequel to Bunco Babes Tell All, Georgia Meyer is devastated when her long-term boyfriend, Spencer, gives her a calculator instead of an engagement ring for their five-year anniversary. She escapes to her sister's house in Florida to re-evaluate her relationship. Her sister and her outrageous friends make up the bunco babes of their small beach town. In the midst of rolling dice and drinking margaritas, Georgia meets Dave Hernandez. Just as things with Dave heat up, Spencer comes crawling back to her. This is the perfect steamy beach read full of fun characters. (AO)

Things I'm looking forward to

July is busy. So incredibly busy. For one thing, I have 2 family birthdays. My oldest turned 24 yesterday and Mike Geraci's birthday is on Sunday. Then there's the copy edits I'm doing for Boyfriend of the Month. Not even half-way done, but so far, I'm still liking the book! So this is good. Plus I promised my youngest who is off at the Broadway Theatre Project that I'd paint her room while she was gone. Let's see if that actually happens...

Once all this gets done, or when 2 weeks pass (whichever comes first), I have a lot to look forward to. First, there's the RWA conference in Orlando. yay! Then, a fabulous BTP performance in Tampa on July 31. Then it's back to real life for a week, and then off to the beach for another week. I just have to last that long :)

For my sister, Carmen, thanks for being the Lettuce

So with the copy edit instructions came the request to forward my book dedication and acknowledgements. I knew this was coming. I mean, this is my third time and all, but for some reason, this part always makes me cringe. Not because I don't want to dedicate my book to someone or because I don't enjoy thanking people, but I'm always afraid that I'm going to forget someone and they'll feel hurt or I'll word something weirdly (my acknowledgement doesn't get copy edited!)

The dedication for my first 2 books were pretty brainless. I had to dedicate my first book to my husband. Mike Geraci is my fiercest supporter and best friend, so that was a no-brainer. The second book was dedicated to my kids. Another no-brainer. But this 3rd book was a little harder. I really had no idea who I was going to dedicate it to. Then I started doing the copy-edits and it suddenly became extremely clear who this book belonged to. She doesn't read my blog, so it will still come as a surprise to her when she actually sees it in hard copy for the first time.

Copyedits

I got my copy edits for The Boyfriend of the Month Club! Just took a quick sneak peek, but I can already tell this is a different copy editor than the one I had for either of my Bunco books. For one thing, she makes comments. You know, the kind you see in little bubbles off to the side of your manuscript in track changes? Not that my other copy editor didn't make a few comments to point out an error or something, but these feel different. I actually have line edits!

I know that might not make most people too excited, but goofball that I am, it gives me tingles. So I'm off to buy a big pack of computer paper to print this thing out. Am anxious/excited to read this book again. Hopefully I'll love it as much as I did when I was writing it!

The Bare Necessities

I'm seriously thinking about buying a bra online.

I know. I know. Probably a big mistake. A bra is something you have to try on to make sure it really fits, regardless if you've worn the same size forever. But if there's one thing I hate is shopping for bras. And I really really need some new ones. If something should happen to me and I have to go to the Emergency Room and they have to rip open my shirt to perform CPR I would probably expire from embarassment (forget the heart attack) due to the condition of my extremely threadbare bras. The poor things are exhausted from all the hard work they're forced to do by keeping my girls up somewhere above my navel.

So... I'm thinking this one might work. A bit pricey, but the shipping is free. And I'd be saving gas by shopping from home, and that's always a plus. Pun intended.

Bunco from a man's perspective

This is too funny.

A new year's resolution that involves air conditioning

So technically it's not a new New Year, but it's a new year for our country, so I figured that sort of counted. Regardless, it seemed like a fine time to make a resolution to exercise more. Or at least more regularly. Walking just isn't comfortable anymore in this Florida humidity. Plus, it's been raining. Like every day, which of course is normal for this time of year but even at 7am it's like a sauna outside, and if the humidity doesn't kill you, then the bugs will.

While I was walking outside the other evening I must have inadvertently opened my mouth (maybe to breathe, not sure) and a flying something or other (not a palmetto bug because believe me I would have known what that was) flew into my mouth. You should have seen me jumping around on the sidewalk. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was having a seizure. Or maybe not, since no one ran outside to help me or call 911. Maybe we're all used to bugs flying into our mouths. Not sure. But I am officially over doing anything outside that does not require a bathing suit until the weather decides to become more cilvilized. Like maybe October, some time.

Which brings me to my post. Years ago, I used to Jazzercise and loved it, but when I moved to Tallahassee 14 years ago I couldn't find a class near me with convenient hours and child care. That has now changed. I no longer need the child care, but the hours and the location are perfect, so my friend Rebecca has convinced me to join. Plus she's promised me there are NO mirrors anywhere, which is an important consideration. Wish me luck. Hopefully, I won't blow my knees out or make too big a boob of myself. At any rate, I think I'll have lots of fun, and most importantly, it's air-conditioned.

Can we get Mary back?

Pretty please. Because Mia sucks. She's a great choreographer. But as a judge? Not so much. Mary wouldn't have kicked Christina off. And she wouldn't have thrown Melinda under the bus this week by telling her (and the rest of America) she made a mistake last week. And I think Adam, whom I adore, is under some evil spell of hers because even Adam seems a little whack to me this season. It's like he has no mind of his own and he's just agreeing with whatever the all powerful Mia says. Thank God for Nigel of the chicklet teeth. There's nothing wrong with his eyes.

I yearn for one of Mary's big yells and her Hot Tamale Train express. So, powers that be of So You Think You Can Dance, can Mary please come back??

Oh, and check out the new look on my website. Jax has done some awesome updates, with more to come!