When Good Things happen to Good People

I'm embarrassed, okay, maybe ashamed is a better word to admit that in spite of my love of reality TV (really just Survivor and The Bachelor- but The Bachelor is another blog for another day) that I've never watched Extreme Makeover. I think part of that is due to the fact that it's on Sunday night and Sundays aren't really a TV night for me.

But that's going to change because Extreme Makeover has come to Tallahassee! And it's not only come to my hometown, but the family featured is one that I actually know. Sort of. I first met Barbara Kadzis 9 years ago when she came from up north (basically that's the rest of the country to us Floridians), and began teaching 8th grade at Trinity Catholic School. She taught my daughter Stephanie social studies and my husband and I were impressed with her no-nonsense attitude and wealth of knowledge. Their son Michael was in Stephanie's class and their younger son Christopher was in our Megan's class as well.

I remember being a little saddened when a couple of years later, she quit teaching. But when I discovered that it was because they had adopted a little girl from China it made perfect sense. They've gone on to adopt more children from China, most with some sort of handicap. Then their house got damaged by one of our infamous hurricanes. When I discovered that it was the Kadzis family that was getting a new home on the show, I was thrilled. It seems that good things really do happen to good people sometimes!

Celebrity for a Day

Yeah, right. But really, I did sort of feel like one, even if it was just for a couple of hours. Yesterday, I had my first real author interview. It was for an upcoming feature in Tallahassee Magazine.

Making the surrealness (is that a word?) of it complete was the fact that the interview took place in Starbucks. A place I often frequent (and really do love) but make complete fun of in my books. Ah well, such is life's little ironies. I really was quite thrilled to sit across from the lovely Jennifer who wrote down everything I said. I just hope I didn't ramble on too much and make an idiot of myself.

This all happened a mere hour before I turned in a Q & A session on myself to my equally lovely publicist at Berkley who requested I do one for my press kit. You know what I'm talking about. It's those "frequently asked" questions on author sites. I have to admit, I've always wondered where those questions came from, and I'm sure that established authors get them from their fan mail. But for debut authors like myself with a fan base that pretty much consists of family and friends at this point, the questions are... yes, made up by the author themselves. LOL. That was the hardest part. Not answering the questions, but thinking of what questions to ask in the first place. NOT. EASY.

With that under my belt, today looks to be like any other ordinary day. No interviews in sight. Sigh... I guess I'm back to being a normal person.

I think Jen is going to be okay

Was I the only woman in America last night who gasped when she realized that poor Jen was going to have to stand up and present an Oscar less than ten feet away from her ex and the woman he left her for?

I mean, I have nothing against Brangelina. They seem perfectly nice and likable for a couple of adulterers (whoops, did I say that?) But really, what these Hollywood types do is none of my business and normally I wouldn't care, but last night at the Oscars (which really was a fabulous show) the cameras kept making a big deal of Brad and Angie sitting in the front row. Then about half-way through the presentation, out comes Jennifer with Jack Black. You could feel the tension sizzling through the air. At least you could in my living room. Isn't it enough that Jennifer has been dragged through tabloid magazine hell? Or that Angie already has one Oscar under her belt and was up for another? Just the fact that Angie is drop dead gorgeous would give any woman reason to hate her. Not that Jen isn't pretty. But Jen is sexy clean and Angie is sexy dirty, and Brad obviously prefers the latter.

So, the presentation progresses and after making Oscar small talk with Jack Black, it's time for Jennifer to do her thing. That's when it happened. It was only a split second, but I caught it. Her eyes flitted to the front of the audience (to the exact spot where Brangelina was sitting) and she gave the "hey there" smile/eye narrowing thing. The air swooshed from my lungs. It's okay. Jen has moved on. Maybe now I can start to like Brad Pitt.



Last night's big stunner for me was Hugh Jackman. When I heard he was hosting the Oscars, I was dumbfounded. He's about as appealing as a sheet of cardboard to me. But I was pleasantly surprised. He can sing. He can dance. He has a personality. He was actually good! Maybe I'll give him another chance. After seeing him in "Kate and Leopold" I've avoided his movies like the plague, but I've heard some good things about "Australia" so I'll put it on my Netflix list.

The highlight of the show for me was seeing my beloved Kate win her first Oscar. I absolutely adore her and everything she does and it was so nice to see her finally recognized. She looked fabulous (although I wasn't crazy about her hair do). I'll admit, I almost had tears in my eyes as she gave her acceptance speech.

All in all, the show was fantastic. One of the best Oscars I've seen in a long time.

In which Maria Blogs about the Invisible Maid...

So I haven't posted the 2nd part of My Big Fat Cuban Baby Shower blog because this week has been unbelievably busy. I screwed up and somehow lost my electronic copy edits for Bunco Babes Gone Wild. Can you say Idiot? Yep, I admit it. Nevertheless, I pulled an all nighter and managed to get the copy edits to NY today. I was rewarded with a visit from the FedEx man. This is what he left on my door step.



ARCs for Bunco Babes Tell All! Woo hoo!

And if you want to know more about the Invisible Maid, go here to the Title Wave blog.

My Big Fat Cuban Baby Shower (part 1)

This past weekend I drove down to Miami for my cousin Carolina's baby shower. Imagine my glee when I found out the baby shower was going to be held at a bookstore (my most favorite place on earth).

But it wasn't just any bookstore.

It was held in the courtyard of Books & Books , a very cool indie shop located in beautiful Coral Gables (the store also has locations in Miami Beach, Bal Harbour and the Cayman Islands). The shop is shaped like a large U with a spacious open air courtyard in the middle (the courtyard is where the baby shower was held). Besides having fabulous books and a very helpful and knowledgeable staff, the place also has this very charming (and extremely narrow) indoor cafe. One side is solid wall filled with photos of famous authors who've done events at the store.

The cafe has also done culinary collaborations with author-chefs such as Lidia Bastianich, Anthony Bourdain and Jamie Oliver.

I have to admit though, probably the coolest part of the store was that open air courtyard. As you walk inside from the street there's a bar set up, where they serve beer and wine from around the world. When I complimented the wait staff on their beautiful store, one server proudly told me "You should see this place at night." I later found out on Friday nights the cafe hosts live music.

An awesome array of books, a beautiful atmosphere, good food, wine, beer and live music... When I go back?

(tomorrow I'll actually blog about the baby shower!)

I have a winner!

My "Got Bunco?" blog contest officially came to an end at midnight and the winner of the $25 gift certificate from Victoria's Secret is... Estela! Congratulations! And thank you to everyone who entered.

A Steamy Romp!

I got my first cover quote!

Haywood Smith, New York Times Bestselling Author says, "A steamy romp of a read whose lively characters kept me turning the pages."

Woo hoo!

I'm honored and thrilled to get such a wonderful quote from an amazing author whose work I've always admired. I absolutely love The Red Hat Books series. And her newest book Wedding Belles is an absolute hoot!

The New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hat Club fearlessly takes on mothers and daughters, wedding madness, and midlife passion in this frank, funny, and fabulous new novel.

Sweet 16!

It's hard to believe my baby is 16 today! Wow. Where did the time go?

As far as deliveries went, she was pretty easy. Third times the charm and all that. I went to bed the night of the 11th and woke up around midnight. I poked Mike Geraci in the shoulder and told him it was time to go the hospital. We'd already taken our other 2 kids to the neighbors for the night b/c I'd had some bloody show earlier in the evening, coupled with the fact that I was a week past my due date, and I was pretty certain that I'd go into labor that night (being a labor and delivery nurse does have it's advantages).

Let me just tell you Mike Geraci doesn't wake up well. He looked at me and said, "I don't think you're in labor." Then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

So I got up and took a shower. Put on a little makeup. After all, I was going to be delivering in front of my co-workers.

This time, I stood over the bed and gave him my "I mean business" eyes. He sighed and got up and went to brush his teeth. "I'll be out in a second," he said.

I went out to garage and got in the car. It was cold. We were living in Austin at the time and it was a chilly February morning.

I waited.

And waited.

Where the hell was he? What part of "I'm in labor" did the man not understand?

So I unbuckled my seat belt (not an easy feat at 9 months + 1 week pregnant) and rolled myself back in the kitchen. Mike Geraci was standing by the refrigerator, stuffing a piece of frozen chocolate pie in his face. WTH?

"I'm hungry," he mumbled, stuffing the rest of the pie into his hole, watching my expression leerily. Yeah. He knew he was in trouble.

I rebuckled myself into our Explorer, and we drove the 5 minutes to Seton NW Hospital. Back then you had to do a U turn to get to the hospital coming from our direction (probably that's different now). I remember as he did that U turn he gave me a long sideways look. "You don't look like you're in labor."

"How do you want me to look?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Like you're in pain."

"You'll be the one in pain if you don't step on it."

His brows shoot up.

Yeah. He knew I meant business now.

We get to the hospital. Mike Geraci immediately tells my nurse, Jacqueline, that he doesn't feel well. His stomach hurts. Poor baby. He must have eaten something that disagreed with him. Yeah, that chocolate pie. No one pays any attention to me. After all, I work there. I know what to do. So I put on a gown and get in bed. Jacqueline runs to get Mike Geraci some antacid. My doctor checks me. I'm 8 cm dilated.

Now Mike Geraci really looks sick. "I thought it was false labor. You didn't act like this when you were 8cm before."

My doctor breaks my bag of water and an hour later I have a baby. It's 4:29 in the morning.

By 5:30, Mike Geraci is sleeping on the fold out couch. An hour later, he wakes up, looking disoriented. "Where are we?" he mumbles.

"At the hospital."

"You mean... that wasn't a dream?"

Ha. That's his story and 16 years later, he's still sticking to it.

PS- My Valentines Day contest is open till Friday midnight. Go by the Knight Agency blog and scroll down to my "Got Bunco?" post and leave a comment to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret.

Big NEWS

Today, I'm guest blogging at The Knight Agency Blog. Click on over there and enter my contest to win a $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret (just in time for Valentines Day) AND, check out my new website. YES. It's finally done! My web designer did a fantastic job. And he's not done yet. This blog is getting a make over to match the new site too. Should be done by the end of the week:)

And there's more big news. Mel's book is finally available for pre-order on Amazon.com. BITE ME! comes out late August and is everything awesome YA should be- funny, a little scary, and full of teenage angst and romance. Readers are going to lap this up!

Valentines Week Give-aways

In honor of Valentines Day, The Knight Agency is running a series of romance writing (what else?) guest bloggers on their site. Today's guest is Dakota Cassidy, the author of the awesome "Accidental Friends" series (I've read the first 2 and they're a hoot!) Check out her contest right HERE.

Yours truly will be guest blogging on Wednesday and I'll be giving away a $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret. I'm pretty psyched. My website will be ready to unveil by then and I'm so happy with the final product!

Baby Girl Geraci

Here is the newest addition to the Geraci family. Right now, her name is Truffles. That could change, but not if Megan Geraci has anything to do with it. She's a 6 week old Dachshund puppy and she's absolutely adorable. The blue blanket came from her mother's house, so she's pretty firmly attached to that.

So far, she's 3/3 for tinkling outside. I'm not naive enough to think she's got the peeing outside thing down pat but it's a good start.

Thank you, Pioneer Woman

It's getting close. My new website is almost ready to go live! Here's a little taste of it above. I really love what my web designer, Delroy "Ricky" Neath at Yard Media has done. If you could only see the concept the first designer came up with. I still have nightmares about those dice tattoos on the naked butt... but I digress.

Last night was my Bunco night and it was freezing cold here in north Florida. Go ahead and laugh, but 20-30 degree weather is intolerable for us Floridians. I hate to run off to Bunco without feeding my family and last night's chilly temps called for comfort food. Big time. So I whipped up some of Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti.

If you aren't a fan of Pioneer Woman, then you should be. I can get lost for hours in her site. Her chicken spaghetti recipe was a huge hit at my house. My son rated it an A+ and my daughter called it a "keeper." It's rare that my men folk (see, I'm almost talking like PW) and my health-conscious-eating-almost-16 year old daughter all love the same dish. But they did. And it was so dang easy.

Who doesn't love a cowboy?

My good friend Kate Pearce is coming out with the 3rd book in her cowboy series. All I can say is YOWSA. If you haven't read Kate before, then you need to. Right. Now. She's even doing a give away on her blog. Click right HERE.

RIDING THE LINE

Rodeo cowboy Dakota Scott has a problem. His truck has broken down and he’s stranded in small town New Mexico. He’s due in San Francisco to star in a commercial for his half-brother’s boot company and hopes to God he’s going to make it. To complicate matters he’s picked up another stray, this time a woman who needs his help. Robyn Sparrow is a washed-up celebrity, famous in the 90’s for being the youngest of three sisters who had their own TV show. Now she’s reached rock bottom. When she meets Dakota, she’s desperate enough to promise him any sexual favor simply to get a ride back to the West Coast. While Dakota struggles to understand Robyn and comes to care for her, he unwittingly leads her back toward the spotlight that almost killed her. Can she resist the lure of Hollywood and can Dakota really believe she’d give it all up for love?

If someone takes away your mouth, then just put on your angry eyes...

I admit it, I'm one of those people who watches the Super Bowl for the commercials. But I have to admit, last night's game was fantastic. I'm just sorry the Cardinals couldn't pull it off (I'd volunteer to console Kurt Warner, but he DOES have that wife and million kids of his...) And it was refreshing to watch a half-time show that delivered pure entertainment without a bunch of smoke and mirrors and falling off tops.

So, there was no question which commercial was my favorite. Someone at Bridgestone has been spying on Mike Geraci and I and has turned us into Mr and Mrs Tater Head.

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!

Orgasmic Brownies

Jane, one of the midwives I work with brought a plate of brownies to the hospital the other night. They were, quite simply, the best brownies I've ever tasted. So I promptly went to Publix the next morning and bought the ingredients to make a batch. Mike Geraci brought some to work and I'm still getting rave comments from his co-workers. So this afternoon I made another batch to have for the holidays because really, you can never have enough chocolate in the house. The recipe is from foodnetwork.com and it's called Outrageous Brownies. (Although they really ought to change the title).

Don't be scared away by the "difficult" level. If I can make them, anyone can. Also, don't skip out on the instructions to refrigerate well before cutting. I really think that adds something special to the consistency.

Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Kate Spade is the Devil

Yesterday, while on my trip back to Tally from my parents' house in Melbourne, I stopped at the Prime Outlet Mall outside St. Augustine in the hopes of getting a few Christmas deals. While the economy sucking is a negative for us all, the one bright shining star in this mess is that retailers are going crazy with their sales. Kate Spade had a whooping 40% off all their merchandise, a lot of which had already been marked down to begin with. I tell you, the devil himself couldn't have come up with a better deal to tempt me with. I'm so not a designer type of girl. Prada, Gucci, Coach, they all leave me cold. Kate Spade is another story all together.

But I was strong. I wasn't there to shop for myself, you see, I was there to shop for others. So after combing through the store, I wiped the drool off my chin and shut the door on Kate Spade.

I did go on to find pajamas for my girls, designer fragrances and Christmas ornaments. All at reduced prices, so the trip was a total success.

Hopefully, the January sales will be even better than the ones they're holding now. If Kate goes down to 50% I'll happily throw myself into the inferno.

Oprah is fat again

It's official. Oprah is fat again. She's going to announce it in the January issue of O magazine and start another 'lifestyle' change so she can get healthy, lose weight, and start America on another craze while probably making trillions in the process.

Honestly, with all the crap going on in the world, I really can't believe this sort of stuff makes headlines. Don't get me wrong, I really like Oprah, but please, can't she move on to something else?

In more important news (at least in my universe) I've finished my revisions for Bunco Babe Gone Wild. I didn't have a lot to do, but one of the things my editor asked me to do was to show more of my heroine's growth. So I went in and changed up one scene, which of course had a domino effect. Each scene after that was altered, so I had to go in and fix it, which led to more fixes, and, well, you get the point.

I'm printing it out this morning, finishing my Christmas decorating and then sitting down to read it again from beginning to end. Hopefully, they'll be in her inbox bright and early tomorrow.

Christmas and Revisions

My tree is in the same state it was in 6 days ago. It's up, but there are no ornaments on it yet. A few years ago I convinced Mike Geraci to buy a fake tree. It took lots and lots and lots of whining but I eventually got my way. This is the first year he actually sort of admitted something to the effect that it *was* pretty convenient to simply get your tree out of a box and put it together in a few minutes. He's softening, I tell you. Of course, once it was up, only 1 friggin strand of lights on the tree worked. I swear, he got a gleam in his green eyes with an "I told you so" look, but he was way too smart to actually say it out loud.

This weekend, I'll get around to trimming the tree and putting up the rest of the indoor decorations (I still haven't gotten around to organizing the closets but it's on my list). I also hope to get my revisions on Bunco Babes Gone Wild done and back to my editor early next week. There isn't a lot to do revision-wise, for which I'm grateful, but what I do need to do is subtle layering-in which requires a lot of going over my ms numerous times to make sure I get it just right. Hopefully much progress will be made on all fronts.

Oh, and while you're out Christmas shopping, don't forget to buy the best present of all. Books!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just put my big fat Cuban Turkey in the oven and blogged about it over on the Title Wave blog.
I wish everyone a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving!

American Title 5

I blogged over at Title Wave this morning (very early this morning). Go check it out. I had an opportunity to ask the current American Title 5 contestants a question and got some interesting answers!

World Peace And Organized Closets

My dreams in life are simple:

1. World peace.
2. Keep the people I love healthy, safe and happy.
3. That my books become wildly successful.
4. That the Noles win another football championship under Bobby Bowden.
5. And that I one day, organize all the closets in my house.

Is that too much to ask for?

One day, I dropped my husband off at the aiport for a 2 week business trip and left him thinking I was finally going to orgazize all the closets in the house. I started writing a novel instead. Now 6 years and 4 manuscripts later, I'm finally going to start organizing those closets. Wish me luck. Here'a an ugly preview of this weekend's job:

Laundry room, laundry room shelves and kid's hall closet

Bunco Babes Gone Wild!

I can't believe it's already time to cover conference my 2nd book. My editor contacted me last week and asked what I envisioned on the cover. I always feel so un-artistic at times like this. I swear, I'm a totally left-brained person (I'm not even sure how I manage to write fiction). So I had to call Mel and ask her opinion (Louisa was on the eve of deadline, otherwise she'd have gotten a call too) and she gave me a few things to pass along. Otherwise, I think I might have been blank. I'll just have to trust the folks at Berkley to come up with something fantastic.

And speaking of fantastic, I got my cover copy today. I really love it! I think they got the spirit of the book perfectly. Here's the back cover blurb:

BUNCO BABES GONE WILD

Georgia Meyer needs some time to think—and what better place to get her head on straight than Whispering Bay, Florida, in the company of her sister Frida and her sister’s Bunco friends, better known as the Bunco Babes? Georgia’s boyfriend—and boss—Spencer Moody made a slight miscalculation in the romance department and gave her a calculator instead of an engagement ring. So she needs some sisterly advice, in between rolling dice and drinking frozen margaritas, as to her next move.

While considering subtracting Spencer, Georgia meets the very handsome Dave Hernandez. Unfortunately when a Bunco night gets a little out of hand, Georgia reveals more of herself to Dave than she intended. Now, as she helps the Babes prepare for a Bunco Black Tie fundraiser, she needs to search her heart—and keep her shirt on—long enough to decide if a love affair with Dave might be a dream come true or just a flash in the pan.

I'm on Amazon.com!

Pretty cool, huh?

Mel found my first book Bunco Babes Tell All available for purchase on Amazon last week. She called just as Crystal put the color on my hair. There I was, pacing around Red Hots (my hair salon) with my hair sticking up on end, hyperventilating.

It's a pretty awesome feeling.

Of course, it's early and the cover isn't up on the site yet, but this means people can start ordering my book!

Good Dialogue and warm garlic cure everything

It's no secret I love old movies. But somehow, I've always managed to miss The Lady Eve. It's been on my netflix list forever, but kept getting bumped down for something else. I finally watched it last night. I might have to watch it again tonight. That's how much I enjoyed it. There was so much terrific dialogue and I know I missed half of it because I was laughing so hard. Plus I had garlic in one of my ears, so my hearing was a little under par.

Let me back up a day.

I went to bed Thursday with a mild sore throat and woke up Friday morning with an earache. My mother-in-law swears that sticking a piece of warm garlic in your ear helps cure earaches. By Friday night I was miserable. I thought, why not? I warmed up the garlic, stuck it in my ear, and curled up to watch T.V. The instant I saw "The Lady Eve" pop up on my list of Free Movies On Demand, I clicked it.

Let me tell you, they just don't write dialogue like that anymore.

The plot is deliciously simple: Card shark/con artist Barbara Stanwyck tries to scam bumbling/handsome/naive millionaire Henry Fonda. Of course they fall in love. But the ending isn't exactly typical.

Watching Barbara Stanwyck outwit/outsmart/outplay Henry Fonda is like eating chocolate cake. And the fact that I woke up this morning without my earache is the whipped cream on top of it.

Done!

I sent off my finished manuscript Bunco Babes Gone Wild to NY last Monday. Now I've got my fingers crossed and hope my editor loves it as much as I do. I know they'll be revisions, but I really think the story is all there.

Of course, all the crunch writing I've done the past 2 weeks have left me exhausted. My throat aches and my ear feels funny. I don't do sick very well (don't have the time, either). I'm hoping a good night's sleep will fix all that. Ever the optimist, I am.

Oh, and for any writers out there wondering if they should book signings, go check out Gerri Russell's great booksigning tips right HERE. With my first book coming out next May, I've already been stressing a little about this. She makes it sound so easy! I'm sure it's not, but as usual, her advice is fantastic.

On Stephen King

Mel pays tribute to Stephen King over at the Knight Agency Blog today. It's scary stuff. Go check it out HERE.

Procrastination City

That's the name of my new town.

I bet you've lived there too. At least once in your life.

I've lived there a lot. I might even retire there. You can read about it in the Title Wave Blog.

How I spent my weekend

Or rather, my last, last weekend. Technically, I'm not supposed to be doing anything but writing (and working, etc...) but a girl has to take time out to have a little fun.

That's a picture of the lovely Deidre Knight (friend and fantastic agent) at her recent book signing in Madison. A good time was had by all. The book signing was held at this nice little restaurant in Madison called Town 220. Madison is the cutest town ever. It's so cute, books are set there ( Marley Gibson's "Ghost Huntress" series and Mary Kay Andrew's "Hissy Fit") to name two.



Deidre was signing copies of her new book RED FIRE. The book is the first in a series featuring yummy immortal Spartans. I can't wait to tear into my copy. But I'm saving it for after I finish my first draft of Bunco Babes Gone Wild. It will be my reward, so to speak.

Author Talk!

I took this off Gena Showalter's blog. It's just too delicious! Deidre Knight's new book Red Fire comes out Oct 7. Don't miss it!

The Ex List

I need to get hooked to another television show like I need a hole in the head, but tonight I'll either be watching or definitely tivo'ing CBS's new show The Ex List.

I can kick myself for not thinking of the premise first. It would make a great book.

What if you learned you had already met your soul mate? When a bachelorette-party psychic reveals to Bella Bloom that she has already met the true love of her life, she goes on a quest to find this mystery man from her past. With a limited time to locate him, Bella puts her normal skepticism aside and, with the help of her friends, lists all the males she has dated, befriended or even briefly encountered in her lifetime. It’s an illuminating and sometimes humiliating search, but Bella knows it might be her only chance to find “the one.”

The actress in the show was the chick with the fake (or not fake?) amnesia from Grey's Anatomy, that story line being one of the many reasons I don't watch GA anymore (I have to agree with Katherine Heigl- the writing on GA leaves a lot to be desired) but I'm always harder on medical shows than other genre-dramas, so I'm probably not the most neutral person on that score.

I really hope I like this show. In my opinion, the world needs more good romantic comedy!

Bunco Octoberfest

Last night the Bunco Broads had Octoberfest at Joan's house. A good time was had by more than all (that's all I say about that). Joan outdid herself. She served bratwurst and knockwurst (although I always get those two confused), sauerkraut, potatoes, pickles, beer, wine, you name it. It was all muy yummy:)

I had the distinction of rolling 2 boobies, which means I wore the boobie hat most of the night. I'm kicking myself for not having brought my camera, because really, the boobie hat looked more like pimp apparel. Believe me, when I wore this hat, the dice were actually afraid of me.

I also brought my computer along so I could share my book cover to Bunco Babes Tell All. The Broads all loved it! I wish I could post a pic of my cov er but unfortunately it's not in jpeg form and I have no clue how to convert it, if it's even convert-able that is, so I'll have to wait to share.

On another note, I'm completely Dunder-Mifflined (yes, that's my own made up word) that The Office will not be on tonight. The VP debate is apparently knocking out regularly scheduled programs. Grrrr... Jim's proposal to Pam last week was the best. After half a season of trying to find the perfect way to pop the question, he drops to his knees in front of a gas station while it's pouring rain and blurts it out. Romantic? Yes! It was spontaneous and so unexpected. I had tears in my eyes. Pam, being no dummy, said yes. I swear, Jim was my soulmate in another life (no disrespect meant to Mike Geraci- my soulmate in this one)

Project Ugly

Thanks to Loinfruit (eldest daughter) and a little help from Mel, Kristen and Kiwana, for the past 2 seasons, I've been totally hooked on Project Runway. Last night's challenge was a fun one. Outed designers from this season came back to pair up with the remaining contestants to come up with an Avant-garde look inspired by an astrological sign.



Since I'm a fashion idiot I had to go look up the phrase. I mean, I sort of knew what it meant, but couldn't really put it into words. Here's what wikipedia had to say:

Avant-garde (pronounced [avɑ̃gaʁd] in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard".[1] The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm.


Notice that nowhere in that definition is the word UGLY mentioned. Of course, ugly is in the eye of the beholder. But really, people, take a look at this:

The outfit on the left was designed by Blayne, who went home last night.


The stunner on the right was Kenley's creation. She should have gone home last night too, but Terri, who's just a tad more irritating than Kenley got the boot. I think the judges were tired of her attitude. I think this was supposed to represent Aquiruis? But I don't get it.


















Jerell was the winner last night, although I wasn't crazy about this design.








These were my personal faves.
Leanne on the left, who, I personally find a little wimpy in personality, but her designs are really growing on me. I think the only reason she didn't win is because she's won the past 2 challenges. But as a Scorpio, I found this design to be brilliantly dead on.


Same with Korto. I LOVE this look on the right. Korto is by far, the most consistent designer in my opinion. Other than one dud look this season, the rest of her stuff has been dead on.

Is that a hammer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Okay, that line is corny as all out, but apparently Mel won't be satisfied until I blog about the hunky guy who came to fix my bathroom the other day.

Currently, the kid's bathroom (which was infested by termites but that's a long story I won't bore anyone with), has been in a state of disarray for the past 2 months and is being renovated. I can't wait until it's finished. Seriously. We only have 2 bathrooms in the house and it's been hell, what with 2 teenagers, one of which I now realize showers for at least 30 minutes a day. But I shouldn't complain. There are people all over the world without decent plumbing so whining about my termite-infested bathroom makes me feel a little selfish, but I digress...

So there I was, pounding away on my laptop computer when my door bell rings. It's the 2 guys who are going to work on my bathroom today. One of whom is Dave Hernandez (the hero in my current wip- Bunco Babes Gone Wild). Of course, this guy wasn't really Dave H, since Dave H is a totally made up guy in my head, but honestly, he was a dead-ringer for the guy in my imagination. They even share the same occupation.

Talk about inspiration. How many excuses can I make to go "check out the progress" they're making?

My muse is now on over-drive as I discreetly try to catch any glimpse of my Dave-look-alike as he makes his frequent trips from the bathroom to the front lawn where they have set up some sort of lumber-yard, I kid you not.

My fingers fly all over my lap top.

At the end of the day, the guys ask me to come see their work. They want to make sure I'm satisfied before they leave (won't even go there)...

So I amble over to my bathroom, which seems very tiny now, with these 2 guys and me trapped in there, as I ooh and ah over their work.

"Great job!" I exclaim.

Both guys smile.

I turn red. I can feel it. My Dave-look-alike is smiling straight at me. He knows I've been crushing on him all day long.

And suddenly, the scene I've been working on takes a whole new meaning and before I know it, that corny line ends up in my manuscript. I'm just not sure who says it yet... him, or her:)

BUNCO BABES TELL ALL goes to NY!

Last night, I hit a writing milestone. I sent my first edited manuscript back to NY!

I have to admit, I was pretty overwhelmed when I ripped open my FedEx package and found my first ever set of copy edits. There were all these blue squiggly marks over it, most of which I was clueless about. It looked like a high school freshman English project:(

But thanks to Mel and the Internet I was able to figure it out.

Of course, I procrastinated doing my edits until I had absolutely no choice. Mostly, because the thought of rereading my manuscript yet one more time was like going to the dentist. And partly because I was terrified that I'd read it again and proclaim it to be crap. Happily, only a teeny part of it read like crap to me (which Mel says is normal) but overall I was pretty happy with it.

I have to give a big shout-out to the girl at the Kinkos on Thomasville Rd who helped me last night. She copied all 423 pages of it in color (and only charged me for black and white), then helped me find a suitable, ie- CHEAP package to send my baby off. In the end, we used the same exact bubble wrapped big-ass envelope it came in, so we were being environmentally correct too. Talk about excellent service:)

Back to Bunco and Sangria de cava

Last night, my Bunco group, the soon-to-be-made-famous by my books (ha, ha) Bunco Broads of Tallahassee had our annual planning session. An extremely good time was had by all.

Debbie (my fellow Bunco Broad co-founder) hosted and served up this most delicious (and I cannot emphasize that enough) Sangria de cava. The recipe is from the famous Columbia Restaurant, an Ybor City tradition since 1905. For those of you who don't know, Ybor City is the old Cuban section of Tampa- think rolled cigars and Cuban coffee- two of the best smells in the world.

I had no idea that The Columbia gave out recipes on their website. To be honest, I, who consider myself just a little bit computer savvy (don't laugh, Mel) didn't even now that the Columbia had a website. But I do now :)

Back from the Beach

I'm back from my writing vacation in which Mel, Louisa and I accomplished much and a good time was had by all. Still not unpacked of course (much to Mike Geraci's chagrin) but if I give in and put the suitcase away too early he might think his procrastinating wife has been abducted by aliens. Wouldn't want that, would we?

I blogged about my days on the RR (redneck riviera) over on the Title Wave blog. Go check it out:)