Good Friday and The Weird Sisters

Ah, I have been such a bad blogger. Can't believe an entire week has gone by without blogging, but I have been basking in the glow of my new sale (aka spending way too much time on the computer and emails). That said, Good Friday, everyone!

Back in the day (that would be my youth) Good Friday was always the bleakest of bleakest days. Being raised a strict Catholic it meant no school (yay!), no tv, no radio (boo!) no fun, no meat, and going to church at exactly 3pm. The best part of Good Friday was that it meant that Lent was almost over.

I'll admit my giving up of the Holy Trinity (diet coke, bread, and chocolate) has not gone well. I did great for the first 2 weeks of Lent, but then fell off the wagon and have had some of each. However, I have had much less of each (especially the diet coke, which was the hardest) so I feel pretty positive over all.

Tonight is my book club night and we're discussing The Weird Sisters. Great read, btw! I will definitely being taking pics and posting on that, so stay tuned.

Want a chance to win another great read? FREE? (Did I say the magic word?) Then hop by the Stiletto Gang where fellow Girlfriends Book Club member Cindy Jones is giving away a copy of her new book My Jane Austen Summer. Just leave a comment by Sunday. How simple is that?

Happy Easter, everyone! May the Bunny bring you lots of chocolate!

Good News, Bad News

I'll start with the good news first. I sold another book! Here's the blurb that went to Publishers Weekly:

Maria Geraci's THE UGLY GIRLFRIEND, after accidentally finding out she's the "ugly friend" in her crowd, Emma tries to channel her inner swan, only to discover that some labels are hard to shed, to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley, in a nice deal, by Deidre Knight of the Knight Agency. (World English)

Yay! I'm so very excited about this book I could burst.

Now, for the bad news. It's official. All My Children has been cancelled. I blogged about it over at The Girlfriends Book Club. Sigh.

Is Kirstie cursed?

I should say not! How could Kirstie be cursed when she has hottie Maks as her partner? But twice in a row now she's had a mishap and the tabloids are a buzz with Kirstie's bad luck. And if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about it's Dancing with the Stars, which imo is having a rather excellent season.

Last week, Maks pulled a thigh muscle (he!) during their rumba and fell, bringing Kirstie down with him. He apologized profusely and was quite the gentleman. I'll admit, in 12 seasons of DWTS I've never seen Maks so taken with his celebrity partner. Not even the ones he was supposedly romantically linked to. Kirstie is old enough to be Maks' mother and is no size 6, but honestly, I see a whole lot of chemistry between them. Not in a romantic way, but in the kindred spirit way. I think Maks genuinely likes Kirstie and it shows in their performance (when he's not dropping her, that is).

This week, Kirstie lost a shoe during their waltz. Personally, I'd like to see Maks lose his shirt more (which happens quite a bit, much to Judge Len's chagrin, although not enough for me). But despite these little setbacks I still think Kirstie and Maks are the couple to beat for the big Mirror Ball trophy coveted by B Grade celebrities and professional dancers alike.

My prediction for the final four? Kirstie and Maks, Hines and Kim, Ralph and Karina, and Chelsea and Mark. Final winner? It's any one's guess!

Fat Boy gets in a fight

This is a picture of Lucky Geraci aka Fat Boy. He wandered up to our house about 8 years ago and plunked himself down in our yard. He looked like he'd just escaped from Auschwitz he was so skinny. He wasn't wearing any tags (and I'll be honest, I didn't think about taking him to the vet to see if he had one of those chips inside him.) He had been declawed and was obviously starving.

Now, I'm not a cat person, but I'd been tricked a few years earlier into getting a cat (Lizzie aka Heartless Bitch) by my two daughters, so I wasn't totally clueless about cats. Urged by Daughter #2 to "do the right thing" I put some food and water out by the garage. Of course, the dang cat gobbled it all up. So I put some more food out there. Repeat previous sentence (the dang cat gobbled it all up again).

Later that night it began to storm. Now Daughter #1 joined in the fight to "save" the cat. Clueless Son, who was probably off playing Nintendo, did not join in the argument one way or another (clearly he is destined to be a dog-man). So because I still have a heart, I took the cat in. Hence she (we later found out he was a neutered male) was bestowed with the name "Lucky."

Lucky spent the next 3 days in the laundry room lying on top of my warm vibrating dryer (which saw a lot of action in those days because I have 3 kids), alternately eating, using the litter box, and sleeping. After about 2 weeks, he looked more like a fat prison guard at Auschwitz and Mike Geraci bestowed the name "Fat Boy" on him and we have loved him ever since. However, we cannot keep the dang cat inside. He craves the outdoors. So he's an indoor/outdoor cat with no claws. Ay caramba. If I had a teenager who was driving I couldn't be more worried (oh, wait, I have 2 of those as well).

Speed forward to the next 8 years. Lucky now roams the neighborhood like he's King Cat. Mostly he guards our front yard, but he also likes to go over to the neighbor across the street because there are horses in the lot behind their house. He's had one snake fight that I know of (because I witnessed it and subsequently killed the snake myself) but other than that he's pretty peaceful. So imagine my surprise when he came home one day with a part of his tail scratched. I figured he had scraped it trying to squeeze in between the fence. I put some Neosporin on it and kept an eye on it. Within a few days it had begun to abscess and all the hair on his tail was falling off. This means a visit to Dr. Steve (local veterinarian.)

According to Dr.Steve, Lucky was in a tomcat fight. What? My sweet old Lucky is running around fighting at night? It appears so. A shot of good old fashioned antibiotics and few days later, Lucky is on the mend. Of course, he still goes out several times a day, although I've noticed he's now hanging out in the backyard more. Still, it's weird knowing he has this secret life I know nothing about. It makes me wonder what my teenagers are up to...

This is a bad picture of Fat Boy's tail, which is healing very nicely.

Want to get published?

How would you like a chance to be featured in a great winter anthology alongside other women fiction authors?

“Sleigh Ride” is an anthology of short stories by women for publication in the fall of 2011 as a print book and e-book by Buzz Books USA, an independent press and promotions company in the Midwest. The book is also a fundraiser for education and awareness of domestic violence with $1 of each book sale being donated to the cause. Stories will be gathered via a contest and judged by professional writers in other states. The anthology will include original works by published authors (yes, I 'm one of them!) as well as aspiring authors who have entered and won the contest. A minimum of ten stories/authors will be included in the anthology.

Here's the link to the complete 411.

The End

NO April Fools Joke here. Although I do wish everyone good luck with their pranks today;)

Mike Geraci and I got into a little snit over our morning coffee on who was taking the dog and the cat (Charlie and Lucky) to the vet this morning. I swear, last night he told me HE was going to do it. He said I had said I'd do it.Guess who won? I think instead of apologizing for my crankiness I will blame the whole thing on an April Fools joke. I'll let you know Monday if I got away with it.

Okay, so on to this morning's post.

As writers we always pay so much attention to our opening lines. It, along with the first few pages, is what draws the reader in, so we spend countless hours editing that first line and making sure it "pops." But what about our last lines?

Fellow GBC sister Ernessa T. Carter is over at the Girlfriends Book Club talking about last lines. You can check her post out right here.

For fun, I thought I'd post the last lines to my own books.

"I play Bunco on Thursdays. Every Thursday. No exceptions. It's sort of like my religion."
He smiled. "I know. I get it now."

Because it is a truth universally acknowledged that when a woman gets a diamond engagement ring, she must show it off to her closest friends.

He was just Joe. And that was more than good enough for Grace.

What Amanda Hocking and Barry Eisler can teach us

Today, I've over at the Stiletto Gang talking about Survival of the Smartest. Or what Amanda Hocking and Barry Eisler can teach us about self-publishing. It's a changing world out there and we have to adapt.

New Releases today!

Shiver of Fear by the fabulous Roxanne St. Claire comes out today! I can't wait to get my paws on this and start reading. Doesn't it sound fabulous?

Burned by a failed marriage, former FBI agent Marc Rossi wants back in the investigation game with no emotional strings attached. Taking an assignment for his enterprising Angelino cousins, he heads to Northern Ireland to pry a key piece of evidence from a missing socialite-any way he can. But when the ice queen turns out to be warm, beautiful, and on a secret mission of her own, the job becomes a passionate reminder of what happens when duty and desire mix.

The daughter of an infamous fugitive, Devyn Sterling has survived betrayal only to find that her mother has mysteriously disappeared. When her search uncovers secrets, lies, and threats, Devyn and Marc must trust each other when every instinct says they can't . . . and a terrorist wants to make sure they won't live to try.

And how about this gorgeous cover? My Jane Austen Summer by fellow GBC sister Cindy Jones debuts today as well.

Lily is caught in a cycle of loss: her mother died of cancer, her boyfriend left her for an earth mother, and she’s been fired from her job for reading Jane Austen novels when she should have been routing payroll tax deposits. When the opportunity arises to travel to England to re-enact Mansfield Park, she thinks she may finally realize her dream of living in a novel. But even in England, where Lily is immersed in a literary festival so rich it seems Jane Austen is present, her problems find her. Lily must summon her resources and confront painful truths before she is demoted to the role of secondary character in her own life. 2011 Cindy Jones Copyright ©

Weekend Home

This is my parents' new baby, their miniature schnauzer named Paco (my sister and I came up with that name). He's four months old and absolutely adorable. The heel to the left of Paco belongs to my sister who was modeling a new pair of shoes she bought at Kohls (love their prices). While she was shopping I attended the local RWA chapter meeting (Space Coast Romance Writers). What a fabulous group! I joined of course, and hope to make at least half the meetings. The fabulous Roxanne St. Claire gave a workshop on channeling your inner ad ex. It was just what I needed to help me cement the tag line on my wip. The weather was gorgeous too, so all in all, it was really a terrific weekend:)

Lovely Review

After a week in which I've been down with the stomach crud, I'm happy to say that I'm finally on the mend. I'm going to my hometown of Melbourne this afternoon to pay a much overdue visit to my parents, and of course to visit my new "brother" Paco. Paco is a 4 month old Miniature Schnauzer. Very cute. I've only seen him once and I'm sure he's grown since February. I'm also planning to catch a STAR meeting (Space Coast Romance Writers of America). Can't wait to see what they have lined up.


On the home front, I received a very lovely review for Boyfriend from A Cozy Readers Corner (click to read the whole review).



"Ms. Geraci’s writing is easy to read and follow. I enjoyed the laid back approach I was able to take in reading this book. It reminded me of the many reasons I enjoy chick-lit and fiction as a whole. "

Major Wonderful

Every once in a while a book will come along that really tugs at my heartstrings, one that's difficult for me to put down, and makes me want to be a better writer. That's how I felt about Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It's such a simple little novel- character driven (my favorite!)and so beautifully written and engrossing. I was sad to reach the The End. I absolutely fell in love with Major Pettigrew, a 68 year old retired British army major and perhaps one of the wittiest and most romantic heroes ever written.

While reading this book I used the highlight feature of my Kindle for the first time, which is so cool because you can use a cursor to highlight sections of the book that you want to remember.

These are few of the many sections that I highlighted:

He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child's math book. Instead, it was almost as if his body contained a big pile of garden rubbish full both of heavy lumps of dirt and of sharp thorny brush that would stab at him when he least expected it.

..."These days, men expect their wives to be as dazzling as their mistresses."
"That's shocking," said the Major. "How on earth will they tell them apart?"

"But I must ask you, do you really understand what it means to be in love with an unsuitable woman?"
"My dear boy," said the Major. "Is there really any other kind?"

"That's what love is about, Roger. It's when a woman drives all lucid thought from your head; when you are unable to contrive romantic stratagems, and the usual manipulations fail you; when all your carefully laid plans have no meaning and all you can do is stand mute in her presence. You hope she takes pity on you and drops a few words of kindness into the vacuum of your mind."

Let's Save All My Children

ABC is thinking of cancelling All My Children. Here's the article that almost made me spew my coffee this morning.

For years, I was a huge AMC fan. I watched it in college, watched it after I got married, when I had babies, etc. If I was gone for the day, I videotaped the episodes (obviously this was before the greatest invention ever, the DVR).

I admit, I haven't watched the show in a long long time. Every once in a while I would watch an episode just for kicks and be thrilled when I saw one of the regular oldies, like Erica or Tad or Adam. But even though I didn't watch the show anymore, I knew it was there. Waiting for me to come home to some day. Now, that some day might be gone and I'm bummed. Really really bummed. I'm going right now to program the show into my DVR. If you've ever been a fan of the show, consider doing this too. Maybe it's not to late to save AMC!

The Man Boy

I ran across this article the other day about a new book that claims we are raising a generation of man boys. At first I thought it was kind of funny. Then I thought, not so funny after all.

Beautiful Disaster giveaway

The very talented Laura Spinella is over at the Stiletto Gang talking about her fabulous debut novel Beautiful Disaster. She's also giving away one free copy of her book to one commenter (comments open till Sunday, noon). All you have to do is go right here.

Laura is a fellow Berkley author and Girlfriends Book Club sister and her debut novel is getting some big buzz. It's also set in Georgia and I love me some Southern women's fiction. Here's the scoop!


Mia Wells is poised to finalize the deal that will make her eco-friendly career goals a reality. The moment is interrupted when an unexpected phone call ushers in a tremulous past. The man she’s always loved, the one who abandoned her years before, has mysteriously resurfaced.

Set in the Deep South amid magnolia leaves and the innocence of college life, Beautiful Disaster begins with Flynn’s arrival. He’s a man with a doubtful past, half a name, and no ties to anything earthbound, except Mia. For a year they have the kind of love affair a man like him inspires. Mia trusts him with her life. It’s a precarious leap of faith when she learns that he’s a fugitive on the run. For the next twelve years she keeps his secrets, long after Flynn vanishes, devastating her. Succumbing to the common sense she once defied, Mia eventually marries. Michael Wells is a wonderful man: patient, successful, driven. She does love him; who wouldn’t?

Never anticipating Flynn’s return, Mia does her best to put the past behind her. It’s a bittersweet truth as she must admit to a love and a passion that has never died. Yet, the future is grim as a gravely injured Flynn lingers, his dark past hovering like a storm. When he finally recovers, the puzzle unfolds. Flynn’s recollections are sketchy, piecing together the years and moments leading up to his accident. A smart man for whom honor has been a nemesis, Flynn unravels the truth: one well meaning lie has altered three lives, creating futures that should have never been. As the past and present reconcile, Mia’s what ifs are endless.

Filled with sweetness and suspense, Beautiful Disaster is an achingly powerful tale—the kind of love story each of us wishes was ours to tell.

Brad, will you please shave now?

Way back when the powers that be decided to make Brad Womack the next Bachelor (again) I knew it was a big boo boo. I've never been a fan of Bachelor Brad and it wasn't because he didn't pick anyone the first time. It's because he's a big snooze fest. Plus, I just don't think he's all that.

But as usual, I got sucked into the show again. There were moments I almost liked Brad. Like when he was sitting on the couch talking to his "counselor" about his commitment issues. It's difficult to be the straight man in a comedy routine, but Brad can actually pull off looking semi-serious while talking utter nonsense.

Then there was the final show and he picked Emily (who I like, but let's get real. WHY did she come on The Bachelor to begin with??) I just got a chance to watch the finale and all I can say is that Brad is one big ass. The way he went off on Emily when she questioned whether or not he'd be there for her and her daughter (very legitimate concerns) should have been Emily's first big warning sign. I wanted to yell "Run away, Emily!" but of course, this was already taped months ago so it wouldn't have done any good.

Then there was the After the Rose show, where we learn Brad has a "temper" and Emily can't get over her jealousy of seeing Brad kiss his way through 24 other Bachelorettes.

Is it really so hard to cast this show with a nice looking guy with a rockin' personality who legitimately wants to find love? Or are they an extinct species?

Oh, and by the way. Brad, please shave. The on-purpose-two-day-old five o'clock shadow thing is getting old. It was cool about a gazillion years ago when Don Johnson was sporting it on Miami Vice. But it's just not so sexy anymore. Unless you are Matt Bomer.

Casting my story

When I'm in the process of writing a story I like to put a face behind my character. It helps get me in the mood so to speak. So in my current wip, I have a character whom my protagonist has a huge crush on (her boss!) He's gone through 2 name changes but now that I'm over 1/3 of the way through I've settled on his name- Ben Gallagher. It took me a bit to realize it but every time I wrote him I had Matt Bomer in mind. Suddenly, it's very easy to get in the mood.

Chick Lit Challenge

Do you love reading chick lit as much I do? Want to win some really awesome chick lit books? Then enter the Chick Lit Challenge over at Chick lit Plus. You can read all about it right here.

The Day of Mel!

Happy Birthday to my awesome friend and writing-partner-in-crime, the one and only Mel! Most people celebrate their birthday on the actual day. Not Mel. She claims the entire month of March as her own, even calling it the Month of Mel (her posts are hilarious). But since today is the ACTUAL day, I'm giving her a shout out. Happy Birthday, my friend!


If you haven't read any of Mel's books, you are losing out. Her latest, Love Sucks! is as awesome as Mel is.

AJ Ashe is moving on. Sure she still has not-so-sisterly feelings for Ryan, her ex-boyfriend-turned-step-brother, but there’s a new vampire in town and his name is Alexander Archer. Caught between the desire to move forward with Sexy Lexy and being drawn to her past with Ryan, AJ thinks life couldn’t get anymore complicated. Yeah, right.

When her mother’s pregnancy is threatened, it looks like AJ’s long lost father is the only person who can save her. But Dad’s help comes with a price. AJ is forced join the evil side of her family, and a very creepy shape-shifting demon is there to make sure AJ cooperates. 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. Pun totally intended.

Catherine Mann visits FPRW

If you live in the Tallahassee area and are interested in writing romance (or just like to hang with people who like to read it) think about joining the Florida Panhandle Romance Writers of America. Tomorrow we're hosting novelist Catherine Mann. Can't wait! Click this link for more details.

High Octane Heroes” workshop – USA Today bestseller and Rita Award winner Catherine Mann presents an interactive workshop on powering up your heroes to keeper-shelf status. Using popular movies and images for examples, Catherine identifies compelling characteristics in fan favorite military heroes and explores how to apply those to your out-of-uniform hero. The first half of the workshop dissects the nature of the military hero and the popularity he holds with readers as well as publisher marketing departments. The second half of the workshop involves discussing with attendees a selection of non-military (non cop, non spy, etc) action/alpha hero in movies and analyzing how those identified elements were showcased to create the same spine-tingling charisma found in military hotshots.

Presenter Bio: USA Today bestseller Catherine Mann writes action packed military suspense for Berkley Sensation and Sourcebooks Casablanca, and steamy romances for Silhouette Desire. Catherine has over two million books in print in more than twenty countries. Since publication, she has won a RITA Award and the Bookseller’s Best, as well as being nominated for such awards as the RT Reviewers Choice, Reviewer’s International, National Reader’s Choice, Maggie and RITA (five times.) Catherine currently resides on the Florida beach with her flyboy husband, their four children and ever increasing menagerie of rescue pets. FMI visit her website at: http://www.catherinemann.com/

Oh, and I got another really nice review for Boyfriend. This one is from ChickLitPlus.

"A lighthearted and fun read, I would definitely recommend The Boyfriend of the Month Club to chick lit fans."

You can read the entire review right here. Thanks, Samantha!

I probably shouldn't find this as funny as I do

But God help me, I just can't stop watching this stuff.