Contest!

In celebration of my upcoming book release (33 days left, but who's counting?) I'm running a contest over at Fresh Fiction. The winner gets this lovely Bunco game and an autographed copy of my debut book, Bunco Babes Tell All. Go check it out here: Maria Geraci's Bunco Bash.

Ouch

I did something funky to my back. It must have happened Monday night while I was working (probably when I delivered that baby on the stretcher). I came home Tuesday morning as usual and went to bed. I woke up at 3 and my back was in a spasm. I thought at the time that it was a message from Aunt Flo, telling me to get ready, because of course she'd come to visit 2 days before we hit the beach. So I took 800 mg of Motrin (yes, it's safe, believe me) and laid back down. Two hours later, I couldn't move. Clearly, this wasn't a case of mean Aunt Flo. So I had to call in sick to work and take a Flexoril. Two hours after that I was sound asleep. I think I slept for 12 hours straight. Might be a world record for me.

Unfortunately, my sore back isn't the only ouchie in my life. To make matters worse, I found this review from Publisher's Weekly in my inbox:

Bunco Babes Tell All Maria Geraci. Berkley, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 9780425227589

A north Florida realtor with an abysmal romantic history continues her quest for a suitable man in Geraci’s formulaic debut. Kitty Burke is the only single gal in her circle of friends who get together every week to gossip, play dice and drink. But then she meets Steve, a plumber and multiple divorcé who seems like a horrible Mr. Right, but an excellent Mr. Right Now. As Kitty’s personal life heats up, her professional life does, too: she is offered a chance to broker a new condo development, something that will be very unpopular in her town, but very good for her pocketbook. Things, however, are not as they seem, in love or business. While genre fans will feel at home with Kitty, who is attractive, somewhat successful and, like her pals, full of quirks, her story is woefully unoriginal. This disposable diversion’s good for a few laughs, but not much more. (May)

I mean, ouch and double ouch! I've had a couple of pretty awesome reviews for my book and I knew that chances were, I'd have a couple of bad ones too because it's part of the business, but I have to say, this one really hurt. Publishers Weekly is a highly respected magazine and although they're not always romance friendly, I was hoping for something a bit better. The part about "good for a few laughs" did ease the sting some. I mean, do you know how hard it is make people laugh?

But wait.

I read it again. And again. And then something occurred to me.

Things, however, are not as they seem.

Was this some sort of hidden message? Was I missing something here? So I read it a few hundred times more. And that's when I saw it. The real review! How did I miss it the first time around? I've highlighted the words the reviewer put in secret code so you could see what I mean.

A north Florida realtor with an abysmal romantic history continues her quest for a suitable man in Geraci’s formulaic debut. Kitty Burke is the only single gal in her circle of friends who get together every week to gossip, play dice and drink. But then she meets Steve, a plumber and multiple divorcé who seems like a horrible Mr. Right, but an excellent Mr. Right Now. As Kitty’s personal life heats up, her professional life does, too: she is offered a chance to broker a new condo development, something that will be very unpopular in her town, but very good for her pocketbook. Things, however, are not as they seem, in love or business. While genre fans will feel at home with Kitty, who is attractive, somewhat successful and, like her pals, full of quirks, her story is woefully unoriginal. This disposable diversion’s good for a few laughs, but not much more.

Let me put the secret code words together to show you the real review:

Geraci's debut is excellent. Genre fans will feel at home with Kitty, who is attractive, somewhat successful and, like her pals, full of quirks. This very good diversion's good for laughs!

I'm feeling much better now, despite the fact that I'm still walking like an old woman. I just have to be careful with my back for the next few days and keep repeating my favorite quote for Bunco Babes Tell All: Jennifer's roommate's mother loved it!

So there.

Louisville Bunco Mommas!

Aren't they fabulous? The Louisville Bunco Mommas are the first group (outside my own) to be featured on my "Let's Play Bunco!" page.

Last month when my website went live I put out a call to Bunco groups across the country to see if they wanted to be featured on my website. One of my first contacts back was Rachel Wintringham, one of the members of the Bunco Mommas (love that name)

Go check them out. There's a fabulous recipe for Chicken enchilada salad that sounds absolutely yummy.

Louisville Bunco Momma tip: Do not take Bunco or life too seriously! You can learn a lot from Bunco, and the most important life lesson is to roll with the dice, but always make it fun!

Awesome philosophy, ladies!

Blog pimpage

Today's starting out busy.

There's so much blogage going on out there, I thought instead of writing a new post I'd share the goodies.

First, there's my group blog Title Wave. The blog has an entirely new look and concept. Go check it out. We're talking about the best way to back up files.

Then, there's the Knight Agency Blog. Secret Agent 24/7 is going to answer publishing questions today.

And last but not least, go read Mel's interview over at In Bed with Books.

Enjoy!

I see Lawn Boys...

Mel called me this morning to tell me she had a dream that Berkley had changed the title of my book to Bunco Babes Go Mowing.

All I could do was laugh. Especially because Naughty Kate emailed me last night to tell me that RT had reviewed my book. I got 3 stars! It's not the awesome 5 cups of coffee I received from Coffee Time Romance or the 4.75 I got from Night Owl Romance (2 obviously very smart reviewers there...) But I'm very happy with it. Heck, they gave one of my favorite books Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin 3 stars too, so I think that puts me in some pretty illustrious company. But what cracked me up the most about Mel's dream was how it coincided with this tidbit from the RT review:

The first novel in Geraci's Bunco Babes series really enforces the importance of friendship between women, despite a somewhat fatuous title. Kitty, the heroine, is not the most complex character, but she shows heart and sensitivity.

I admit I had to look up the word "fatuous." I had a rough idea of what it meant, but I needed a (cough) reminder. Here's what Dictionary.com said:

FATUOUS /ˈfætʃuəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [fach-oo-uhs] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly.
2.
unreal; illusory.

Louisa wondered what RT would have made of the book's original title, The Church of Bunco.And I can only imagine what they would have made of Bunco Babes Go Mowing.

I have to admit that title is growing on me.

I'm seeing lawn boys. Lots of bare-chested, well-muscled, sweaty lawn boys. Now I just need a plot...

"My roommate's mother loved it!"

Can I just say I really really love that quote and wish I could use it for a book blurb?

It came from the lovely Jennifer, the youngish twenty-something reporter who interviewed me for the upcoming May/June issue of Tallahassee Magazine. I gave her an ARC (advanced reader copy) and she emailed me back to say that while, she hadn't read it yet (insert Maria smirk here) she'd loaned it to her roommate's mother who is a Bunco player and that said mother loved it and read it in one day. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Go Jennifer's roommate's mother!

It's just so weird for me to think that people beyond my critique partners, agent, editor and mother are actually reading my book.

Here's a link to another review. This one is from Night Owl Romance. I got a 4.75 out of 5! And I I DO intend to put the following quote somewhere. "This book was awesome." Yep. She's talking about me. Or rather, my book.

This is almost better than Bunco Cupcakes!

Bunco Cupcakes!

Are these not the coolest ever? These scrumpilicious looking cupcakes come from Two Parts Sugar a site I can see myself getting sweetly attached to. I have Elen to thank for bringing these to my attention. I must confess, when Elen first sent me to Cupcakes Take the Cake (another awesome site) I wasn't paying attention to the actual picture (I'm currently at my parent's house in central Florida for a less than 24 hour stay in order to attend a memorial mass for the mother of a dear friend of mine). I'd just sat down after a 5 hour drive and was multi-tasking- checking my email and talking to my mother at the same time, so I bookmarked the site. Then Elen commented back, "did you see those Bunco cupcakes?"

What? Bunco cupcakes? I quickly went back to the site and saw that yes, indeed, they were Bunco cupcakes. How on earth did I miss that?

Thank you Elen and Two Parts Sugar for bringing a HUGE smile to my face on what was otherwise, a very sad day for me.

Another reason to love cupcakes. They make you smile!

Bookmarks and Cupcakes!

It's less than 2 months to the release of Bunco Babes Tell All and I'm getting pretty psyched. Yesterday, I received my bookmarks. They look fabulous, don't they? I stuck one up on the cork board above my desk in my closet so that I can stare at it as I write. I know, pretty goober of me, but there you go. Little things get me going!

And talking about little things... I know I'm late joining the craze. But I just can't seem to get enough cupcakes in my life. Last month, at my cousin's Big Fat Cuban Baby Shower, instead of a cake, they served gourmet cupcakes.

Isn't that gorgeous? And they were to-die-for cupcakes. Chocolate with a creamy filling inside and smoothest, most delicious frosting you can imagine. Yummy.

Since I'm the Queen of showers (bridal, baby, you name it... all my co-workers are constantly getting married or pregnant), I'm always finding myself in the middle of helping host a party. This Saturday I have 2 bridal showers to go to. One I'm attending as a guest, and one I'm co-hosting. Instead of cake, I'm doing cupcakes. I'm not actually baking the cupcakes this time (I'm having them done by the fabulous Tasty Pastry.But one of my goals this year is mastering the art of the gourmet cupcake. I found this awesome cupcake stand online at Target. Unfortunately, I don't have time to order it, and my local Target carried a smaller version that only holds 13 cupcakes. So I bought 3 of them. I going to decorate the sides with flowers, etc.. so it will be serve as a centerpiece as well as a dessert holder. I'm hoping the whole thing will turn out fabulous. I'll let you know!

Is Big Brother watching me? or why am I turned on by leather holsters?

So, in lieu of my great belief in conspiracy theories, I have another little mouse (not a squirrel, mind you, it's definitely a mouse) running around in my head that tells me that someone is always out there listening, watching and reading. You just have to watch Enemy of the State with the brilliant Will Smith (love Will) to never want to use your cell phone or log into a computer ever again.

Last night I was up late writing (one of my best writing times) and I needed some information about a gun. In my wip, my hero (Zeke Grant, police chief of Whispering Bay- love Zeke too) is wearing one of those sexy leather shoulder holsters with a gun tucked inside.

Okay, short break from the topic here, but is it just me or are there other women out there that get turned on by the sight of a guy (preferably a cop/good guy) wearing one of those leather holsters? The minute I gave Zeke a leather holster, my heart began to pound. Just typing the word "Glock" gave me a thrill. I kid you not. And I am not a gun girl. Despite my many conservative views, I am firmly in favor of strict gun control.

So, instead of writing, I got distracted and started to think of other visual cues that did it for me. A black tuxedo (shaken, not stirred), Vampire fangs (hello? Almost any vampire. Except for those creepy ones from 30 Days of Night). Guy with a leather holster (any sexy cop you can think of).

I remember reading once that if you wanted to make your hero instantly appealing, just give him a gun. I never really understood that until now. Even the whiny guy from Bones looks kind of hot in his leather holster.

If short skirts and stilettos do it for men, I can have my little leather holster thing going, right?

I might have to take back the tux thing. I honestly can't tell you which of these is nicer...

Okay, back on topic. So, since I am clueless about guns, I start googling things like "how to carry a concealed weapon", and before you know it, I've hit some of the most bizarre sites you'd ever want to encounter. Very creepy. But I couldn't stop. And then it occurred to me. Cripes. What if Big Brother is watching? What if I get put on some "lunatics to watch out for" list or something? With that lovely thought, I turned off my computer and finally went to bed. If I don't blog for a couple of days, send someone out to find me...

In which Maria Steals Mel's Blog to wish her a Happy Birthday

I felt so deliciously sneaky doing it, that I might just do it again one day. And soon.

Happy Birthday, Mel!

Book Giveaway!

For all you readers out there (and I hope that's a LOT) are you a member of Goodreads?

It's a free site dedicated to all things BOOKS. You can write your own reviews, read other's reviews, hook up with your favorite authors, see what your friends are reading, join virtual bookclubs and even sign up for free book giveaways. This month in honor of my upcoming debut I'm giving away 2 ARCS for Bunco Babes Tell All.

Once you're a member, you can sign up in the Giveaways section under Books.

Eat your heart out, Samantha. Naked Guy can dance!

That's right. Not only can Naked Guy act (do not snicker) but he can also dance! Last night was the premiere of Dancing with The Stars, and honestly, as much as I love the show, I had no idea with the exception of Belinda Carlisle (I was a huge Go Go's fan in the 80's) who this season's *stars* were. So imagine my surprise when Sex and the City's Gilles Marini shows up with Cheryl as his partner. Talk about some serious heat. He was outstanding. He was hot. He was sexy. He was gorgeous. He was... well, you get it. The judges also agreed. He got the top score last night. Cheryl was worried that Naked Guy didn't have a large enough (cough) fan base. Is she for real? I predict Naked Guy and Cheryl will have a long and prosperous season.

So... the show was moving along and I was still reeling from watching Naked Guy do his thing, when the host Tom Bergeron announces there will be a secret surprise star, because one of the stars hurt herself during practice last week (on a side note- this show is becoming more dangerous than an NFL football game for injuries) and she had to be replaced on 2 day's notice. They keep building this up and building this up and then suddenly they announce it's Melissa from The Bachelor! Yee haw! The audience goes wild. Maybe even wilder than when Naked Guy danced, because it appears that like me, a lot of America has fallen in love with Melissa. At this point, I get on the phone with my friend Terri and we spend the next hour rehashing the Melissa/Jason debacle and how thrilled we are that Melissa is on the show.

Ordinarily, I hate the girl who cries a lot, and believe me, Melissa was one wet Bachelorette. The only person who cried more on the show was Jason. But her tears always seemed genuine. Whether The Bachelor people gave her a great edit or she's just a great girl, I bought into it. She wore her heart on her sleeve and I just found her so dang adorable. And now she's back! And boy, can she dance. She came in second in points only to Naked Guy. And she only had 2 days to rehearse. Even her "official" DWTS bio pic is a cropped picture of her and Tony b/c they haven't had time to pose for one yet. I'm also loving that Tony has a great partner in Melissa. The last 2 seasons he'd had aging divas with no rhythm (Susan Lucci and Jane Seymour) for partners and the guy deserves better.

I do have to add, however, that I got a bit uncomfortable listening to the Jason bashing. Even Bruno called him a big Loser. Not that the guy doesn't deserve it, but it's over. With Melissa on DWTS, maybe we can get some closure on the whole mess. I say, let the healing process begin. Oh, and let's all vote to keep Naked Guy on the show.

To the squirrel who ate my hamburger...

It's been over four decades, but I've decided to finally forgive you.

When I was four, my mother took my sister and I to McDonald's, which at the time, was a big deal. My parents had only emigrated to the US from Cuba a few years earlier and money was still very tight. I hated catsup and mustard back then (I know, total brat) and my hamburgers had to be ordered "plain" which meant my mother had to wait the few extra minutes it took to cook it, etc. It was a beautiful sunny day, so we went outside to the few picnic tables in the back of the restaurant. The tables were surrounded by large trees. Which, of course, means there are rats with furry tails, I mean, squirrels in the vicinity. I swear, I only put my hamburger down for a couple of seconds while I ran off to play. Those couple of seconds were all it took for some giant meat-eating squirrel to come along and whisk my burger off. Right in front of my four-year-old eyes.

I learned a valuable lesson that day.

Never trust a squirrel.

So when my friend Terri sent me these pictures of Finnegan the Squirrel, I was extremely suspicious at first. Sure, Finnegan looks friendly enough. But then, who really knows what's inside a squirrel's heart? I kept going back to the pics, trying really hard not to smile. In the end, I gave up. Okay, maybe not ALL squirrels are bad. Maybe not even the squirrel who stole my hamburger that day so very long ago. Maybe he was just hungry.

What if no one likes my book?

Yesterday it occurred to me that my book comes out in exactly 2 months. In just 60 days someone can walk into BAM or Borders or Barnes & Noble and go to the counter and pick it up, and I have to tell you, it's a pretty frightening thought.

Remember this line of dialogue from Sleepless in Seattle?

Meg Ryan character: "It's like that dream where you suddenly look around and you're naked."
Rosie O'Donnell character (sighing): "I love that dream."

Yeah, well, I don't.

Not that I ever recall having the naked dream, but I've definitely had the naked daydream. This is the one where you imagine yourself going into the bookstore and overhear two people saying, "Well, that book sucked!" And you realize that they're talking about your book.

In the course of the past year I've had the "what's your book about?" question more times than I can recall. And I always respond something like this, "Well, it's about this group of women in a small town in north Florida who play Bunco." This either gets a smile or the inevitable, "what's bunco?" question. And then I say something to the extent of, "It's kind of like women's fiction, but not. I mean, no one dies or has breast cancer or anything, so it's sort of light and fluffy..." and I go and on until I usually get embarrassed and change the subject. Because, really, who wants to listen to someone go on and on about their book?

And then something else occurred to me last night too (call it my post-Bunco epiphany).

I have to get over it.

Because let's face it, no matter how funny, charming, sexy, etc, my mother, critique partners, editor, agent, etc. think my book is, there will be people out there who will think it sucks because that's just the nature of life. Some people will love it, some will think it's merely okay, and some won't like it at all. And I'm going to have to learn to be okay with that. I didn't set out wanting to be the next Maeve Binchy. I can only be myself and write what comes naturally to me.

So, what's my book about?

It's about this group of women who play Bunco in north Florida, and yes, there's sex in the first fifty pages (because let's face it, people do have sex), and it's funny and light, and part of the conflict revolves around a missing pair of thong underwear and this evil land developer who wants to build condos on the beach, and... Well, you get it?

Bachelor Conspiracy Theory part 2

This photo comes from screen caps taken during the January premiere of The Bachelor to hype us all up. So, my question is this: Who the hell is the chick in the blue dress? Is even Jason capable of proposing to 3 different women in less than a year? First, there was DeAnna, then Melissa, then blue dress chick. I think blue dress chick is actually Melissa (whose dress last night was clearly yellow) but the dress has been altered in the pics by ABC to confuse. It's not all ABC is guilty of. Go here to Reality Steve. I totally believe him. I've always known that the producers mess with the contestants, but I would never have believed that they would go so far as to have Jason propose to one woman when he knew all along he was going to dump her.

This next pic is just too embarrassing for words.

For a fun take on it all, go check out the video on Kwana's blog.

Bachelor Conspiracy Theory

Call me cynical but if there's a conspiracy theory, I'm in.

It doesn't matter what the theory is about, or whom, or whatever, but like the old saying goes, If there's smoke, there's fire. Unless of course, the conspiracy theory involves me. Then it's wrong.

It's been my painful duty to have to burst the bubble of those I work with and who also watch The Bachelor along with me (but someone has to do it). It's been fun these past years playing Tuesday morning love quarterback and speculating on who's getting a rose, etc. But what's going to happen tonight in the BIGGEST season finale ever is just plain wrong. And, I hope, the demise of the show. Because really, don't most of us dupes tune in to see a romance? And from what I've been reading, there really WAS a romance this season, but the producers decided to hide it from us and instead give us DRAMA. They're finally going to produce on their continual silly promise to give us the most dramatic rose ceremoney evah.

I mean, I know it's reality TV, which means it's not. But regardless of what happens I've always believed that the final person is who the Bachelor/Bachelorette thought was the best of the 25 and whether they ended up engaged or even dating for just a week, or not picking anyone at all (as in Brad's season) that part of the show was at least semi-honest.

Now, according to Reality Steve this season has been one big scam from the beginning. And I really liked Jason, with his pitiful soulful eyes and his "It's all about his son" spiel. And while I have nothing against Molly, if Melissa is really being duped, like I think she is, then I truly feel sorry for her. On the other hand, maybe Melissa has been a part of it all from the beginning. Who knows?

I just know that unfortunately, I'll have to rubberneck tonight's finale episode. I just won't be able to look away.

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!