Two...

Before I tell you that there's only 2 days left till Bunco Babes Gone Wild comes out, I want to share news about the winner of my Which Bunco Babe are you? Contest. Yep, there's a winner! Congratulations to Pat G from New Jersey. Pat won a $50 gift card to Borders plus an autographed book. I had so much fun running this contest! Thank you to everyone who participated. By the way, Pat's a SHEA.

Here's the rundown:

Shea's of the world: 56%

Kittys: 33%

Pilars: 11%

I'm a Kitty. Just in case you're wondering or anything...

On another note. I had a fantastic Halloween last night! I made 2 recipes from the Pioneer Woman cookbook (will post on them later next week), watched college football, wrote some, had a lovely dinner (eating those awesome PW recipes) then sat out on my front porch with Mike Geraci and gave out candy. I'm not sure how many Trick or Treaters we had, but I would guess at least 150 kids came to our house. Here's some pics of the cutest trick or treaters ever (they were looking for bones, btw)

Tuffles, who would not hold still on the ground for a photo was dressed as a pumpkin. Alas, her Snow White costume did not fit. Even the small was too big for her. She kept tripping on her wig, so we decided to put everyone out of their misery and put her back in her pumpkin garb. Here she is being held by Mike Geraci (only time she was not barking at the kids. Bad Truffles! We had to put her back in the house after about 10 minutes of hyper freakdom on her part).

This is Sweet Tea. And believe me, she lives up to her name! She belongs to my mother-in-law who is here visiting this week. Sweet Tea is dressed as a witch. She sat on the porch with us for a long time, getting petted by the children who came up to the door. See, Truffles? Being good gets you held and petted. Plus let's you sit in on all the action. Just sayin' for next year....

Three...

Yep, I know you can count, but still... you know what's happening in 3 days. See the lovely animated banner on the side of my blog that Jax made for me? I love it.

By the way, Happy Halloween everyone. It' s my 2nd favorite *holiday*. I just went to Publix and wiped them out of candy (well, almost.) I get a million Trick or Treaters at my house so I must be prepared.

Here's an image to leave you with. Truffles dressed as The Great Pumpkin!

Four...

Days till Bunco Babes Gone Wild comes out! I know, I know, you're sick of hearing about it. Sorry, excitement is hard to contain. Especially if it's mine:)

Today is Sneak Peak Friday.

That means I'm going to let you in on a few things.

First, my Which Bunco Babe are you? contest is almost at a close. There's only 2 more days to enter, so hurry. You can take the quiz right here and directions to enter are at the end. I haven't done an official count yet, but right now by glancing at the entries I'll tell you that so far, the number of Kittys and Sheas are pretty close. Pilars of the world, where are you?? Remember contest ends November 1.

Which brings me to my November contest. Write a review for Bunco Babes Tell All and/or Bunco Babes Gone Wild and post it either on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble or Goodreads or any other place you can review a book, and earn one entry per review (yes, this means you'll have a chance to enter multiple times! And no, the review doesn't have to be a 5 star- I want you to be honest!) The prize will be another $50 gift certificate to Borders plus a gigantic bag of books. The books are going to be a collection of my favorites, which means they are all going to be fantastic, which means one lucky winner is going to have a lot of hours of great reading! Believe me, this is one contest you aren't going to want to miss! I'll have more details up on my website and on the side bar of the blog. Contest will start on November 3 and end December 1.

Oh, and don't forget, you can win a copy of Bunco Babes Tell All by leaving a comment right here at Book Junkie. You have till November 3 to enter.

Five...

More days till Bunco Babes Gone Wild comes out. Just in case you're wondering or anything...

To celebrate I'm over at Book Junkie where the lovely Brande has posted a review of Bunco Babes Tell All and a Q&A with yours truly. I giving away an autographed book, so go on over and comment and enter to win.

Yesterday I recieved a lovely surprise (although I guess you can't really call it a surprise since I was expecting it, but you know what I mean). I opened my door to find a package from Harper Collins. And now, I haven't switched publishers. Inside my HC package was my copy of Pioneer Woman's Cookbook! I won it on Goodreads. The book is absolutely gorgeous, filled with lots of beautiful pictures, and I can't wait to start digging into the recipes!

Six...

That's the number of days left till my newest release, Bunco Babes Gone Wild comes out! I'm pretty excited about this book. And I have to admit, it was really easy for me to write and I've always wondered why. Well, now I think I know. To get ready for the book's release, I've been guest blogging around the stratosphere and one question that has popped up more than once was "What's been your favorite scene to write?" The answer to that made me realize why BBGW seemed to write itself. By far, the Black Tie Bunco party scene in this book has been my favorite. After you read the book, I hope it'll be one of your favorite scenes too:)

Speaking of countdowns... there's just 4 days left to enter my Which Bunco Babe Are you? contest. Follow the directions at the end of the contest to enter. There's an autographed book and a $50 gift certificate to Borders up for grabs, so don't miss out. I'll be hosting another contest in November, so look for details on that one too.

Plus...he he.. I have a special surprise for next week. But you'll have to tune in to find out. Don't ask me what it is though, because I'm terrible at keeping secrets. Unless... you've told me a secret, in which case my lips are sealed;)

So You Think You Can Dance?

Man, am I out of shape. Lest you laugh and say duh cut me some slack. I (or rather my thighs) are paying dearly for my mad dash across the Leon County Civic Center Parking lot Saturday night to see the So You Think You Can Dance traveling show. In my defense, I was not on Cuban Time. If you're not sure what Cuban Time is, let me explain. It's 30 minutes later than regular time. But I've been so excited about seeing the show, that I was a good girl. I shuffled my 16 year-old out of the house almost 45 minutes before the show started. Which ordinarily should have been okay.

Here's how I imagined the breakdown:

Drive to Civic Center: 20 minutes
Park and walk to the gate: 10 minutes
Buy a program, check out the merchandise, and find our seats: 15 minutes

Sounds good, no?

This is how it went down:

Get stuck in traffic because it's FAMU's Homecoming (which I forgot) and everyone and their brother is trying to get downtown: 40 minutes
Get stuck in the line to park, then find out the parking lot is full and you're getting diverted to a parking garage across the street: another 15 minutes
Run from said parking garage to the civic center in 2 inch heels: another 5 minutes (although it seemed like an eternity).

So you do the math. We are now 20 minutes late.

Luckily for me, half of Tallahassee was late too, because the show was just beginning as we got inside the civic center. Hearing the theme music sends my pulse racing, so we started running again to find the right section and our seats. I also think I might have been yelling something like, "Brandon! Janine! I'm coming!!" Yeah, I might have yelled something like that.

All I can say is that it was worth it. Every second of it. The show was fantastic. I laughed, I was wowed, and I even shed a few tears. Even my thighs are happy we went:)

Saturday Morning Live

It's live, Saturday morning, and I have my cup of coffee in hand. Am being VERY careful not to get it near my laptop. Yesterday, I carelessly let some of the strawberry jelly drip off my bagel while I was writing and the keys on my keyboard went into a diabetic coma. In other words, they stuck together all day. Yuck, you say? Me too. I had to get Mike Geraci to unstick my keyboard. Which sounds kind of nasty, doesn't it? But believe me it was totally PG rated.

My Stop Plodding, Start Plotting! workshop at Romance Divas has "officially" ended, although I'm still going to be posting material today and taking questions through the weekend. I'd given this workshop once before for my land based RWA group Florida Panhandle Romance Writers but never online before. I learned a lot. And hopefully so did the participants. There's a really great group of writers over at RD and although I've been a member for awhile, I've never really participated. But I hope to change that and be more active in the future.

On the nice news front, I got a really lovely review of Bunco Babes Tell All over at Ellz Readz. Yay! There's nothing lovlier than hearing that someone loves your book. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it!

Guest Blogging Hooked on Romance

Today I'm over at Hooked on Romance, where you'll find a sneak peek excerpt from my new novel Bunco Babes Gone Wild. Leave a comment and you could win a free autographed book!

Yay! Stuff

There's lots of stuff going on right now to jump up and down and shout yay! about. Want to hear? Okay, since you twisted my arm:)

First, it's finally official. I signed the contract for my next book and it's on its way to New York, ink barely dry. I sold a third Bunco book back in June, but after some deliberation, my pub decided they wanted me to go in another direction. So I came up with another concept (still women's fiction, still funny and still sexy, I hope!) but not Bunco related. The book is titled (tentatively) The Boyfriend of the Month Club. Here's the working blurb:

Grace O’Bryan has just turned thirty and works as the manager for her parents’ embarrassingly tacky Florida gift shop. And Grace’s professional life isn’t her only source of frustration. She’s also dated every loser Daytona Beach has to offer. After the ultimate date from hell, Grace decides enough is enough and turns her dwindling book club into a Boyfriend of the Month Club. By coming together to discuss the eligible men in their community, maybe she can help someone else avoid the frustration of finding out an attractive cover doesn’t always mean there’s a good guy inside. Comparing the men they’ve dated to classic literary characters such as Heathcliff, Mr. Rochester, and the ever popular Darcy and Wickham, club membership explodes as the women of Daytona Beach come out in droves. Unfortunately, Grace is about to discover that men are a lot more complicated than books, and that what separates the Mr. Darcys from the Mr. Wickhams might not be so cut and dry after all.


I told Mike Geraci that a research trip to GatorLand is in order. Believe me, when you read the book, you'll understand. MG isn't sure he wants to do GatorLand. But he will. Trust me. And when I go, you'll get plenty of pics!



So, my next Yay! thing:

I won a copy of Pioneer Woman's cookbook from the goodreads program! If you don't know what goodreads is, then you should. It's like the biggest online book club in the world. They also do giveaways (my book Bunco Babes Gone Wild is a current give away, so if you want to win a free copy, head on over there and enter!) I've never entered one of their give aways, but you know how I feel about PW's upcoming book. So I put out the positive vibes, entered and was notified yesterday that I won! Recipe updates to follow...

And my last Yay! thing:

Today, my Stop Plodding, Start Plotting! workshop began over at Romance Divas. It's free if you're a member. So if you want to partake of my awesome workshop (he) come on over and sign up then look for me in the Author of the Month section.

So, that's it for Yay! stuff for me. Plenty to jump up and down about, don't you think?

Christmas Miracles

No, it's not too early to start thinking of Christmas! My good friend Marley Gibson, author of the fabulous Ghost Huntress series has a new book out and isn't the cover just fabulous? The book came out last week and below, you'll find Marley's interview with her co-author Cecil Murphey (who also co-authored the NY Times best seller 90 Minutes in Heaven)

An Interview with Cecil “Cec” Murphey
by Marley Gibson
Co-authors of Christmas Miracles, coming October 13th from St. Martin’s Press


I am extremely privileged to have the opportunity today to talk to my friend and co-author, Cecil “Cec” Murphey, and to chat about our upcoming book, Christmas Miracles.

Marley: Cec, thanks for spending some time with me today.

Cec: Marley, it's great that you could take time away from important things like making a living to spend a little time with me.

Marley: I’m so jazzed about our Christmas Miracles book that’s coming out soon. I’ve had a lot of questions from folks wanting to know how we met, what brought us together, etc. So, I thought we’d do a back and forth on how it all came to be. Of course, I have to give props to our amazing agent and friend, Deidre Knight, for bringing us together. For those of you who don’t know, Cec co-authored the runaway New York Times bestselling hit 90 Minutes in Heaven with Don Piper.

Cec: I have to say thanks to Deidre Knight as well. Between Deidre and my assistant, Twila Belk, I've been able to sell quite a few books. 90 Minutes in Heaven has been my big book. I'm also proud of a book I wrote in 1990 called Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. The book has never been out of print and has hit close to four million in sales. Early this year, Cuba Gooding Jr. starred in the made-for-TV film version.

Marley: That’s amazing! You are truly prophetic and definitely “the man behind the words.” Now, people ask how we teamed up. Sadly, there was a personal tragedy that brought Cec and me together as friends.

Cec: True. In early 2007, our house burned and our son-in-law died. Aside from the grief over Alan, we lost everything. Deidre and Jan, my-then-assistant, sent the word out of our tragedy without telling me. I'm immensely grateful for every gift people sent, but I probably wouldn't have admitted I needed help and wouldn't have asked. They taught me how much we need other people.

Marley: Deidre put out a call to other clients of The Knight Agency, to help Cec and his family out in any way in their time of need. At the time, my company was moving and we were cleaning house. We had a ton of office supplies that we were either going to throw away or give to some of the charities the company worked with. I got my boss’ permission to send a large care package to Cec…full of office supplies for him to re-stock his writer’s office. You name it…post-its, staples, paper clips, pens, pencils, markers, white out, ruler, scissors, paper, notebooks, notepads, envelopes, a laptop case, tape, glue, folders, binder clips…etc. A veritable potpourri of office delights. I was hoping that it would help Cec have a sense of getting his office back so he could keep working.

Cec: Marley's gift was the most unexpected I received. We hadn't met, although Deidre Knight had spoken of her many times and kept telling me she was wonderful. I wonder if you can imagine what it was like for me to open that box from someone I didn't know. I saw all those practical things for my office and yelled for my wife. I felt as if I were reading a first-grade book. "Look! Look and see! Oh, look!" I was overwhelmed by the gift and even more to receive it from a stranger. Those supplies were the most practical gift anyone could have given me. I'm still using black paper clips and red folders from Marley.

Marley: Awww…thanks, Cec! I didn’t have to think twice about doing it. Writing is such a solitary “sport,” but the writing community always astounds me with how they help their own. Not long after that, over plates of spinach and Gouda omelets, Deidre introduced me to Cec in person and I was thrilled to finally meet the man behind the words. Deidre knew we needed to work on a project together and thus began our brainstorming. What did you think of that first meeting, Cec, and cooking up the idea to work together?

Cec: Deidre and I had already spoken about a Christmas book and I had some idea about what it should contain, but nothing had come together. One day Deidre told me that Marley was coming to visit her and she wanted us to work together on a Christmas project. Marley and I talked before we ate and again during the meal. Everything felt right to me. I knew my strengths and Marley knew hers (and Deidre knew both of us). Everything clicked. Marley, a far better networker than I am, immediately sent out the word for submissions. Within days she had almost four times more than we could use. (She read every one of them!)

Marley: I was truly impressed with the submissions we received and it was hard narrowing it down to the ones we chose for the book. We’re fortunate to have such a go-getter agent in Deidre Knight. Cec, can you share how the whole idea of Christmas Miracles came about and what you thought of the project originally?

Cec: For me, it actually started while I was on the rapid-rail train from the Atlanta airport when I listened to teens talk about Christmas and it was mostly about gifts. I had the idea then, but nothing really came together. Months later when Deidre I and had a meeting, she brought up the idea of a compilation and mentioned my working with Marley. I've been Deidre Knight's client since 1997 and I've learned to listen carefully when she comes up with an idea. I said yes before she gave me all the information.

Marley: That’s the truth about Deidre! Getting back to those submissions, Iwant to say we got more than two hundred submissions for Christmas Miracles. So many wonderful stories to read through and select for the book. It was a challenge to pick and choose which ones were right for the book, but I loved every minute of it. After I chose the entries that would go into the book, Cec toiled long hours editing the works for a unified voice. What was the biggest challenge you found in the editing process, Cec?

Cec: I've been a ghostwriter and collaborator for twenty-plus years and this was a switch to give the book a unified voice—which was mine. It would have been easier to stay with each writer's voice, but the book—like many compilations—would have been uneven in tone and quality. When I discussed this via email with our delightful editor, Rose Hilliard, she was (to my surprise) familiar with my work. She told me she liked the warm tone of my writing and that I don't waste words. "That's the voice we want," she said. It still wasn't easy, but it was an exciting challenge. After Marley and I agreed on the stories and gave them that unified voice, our editor pulled six contributions. Although different, Rose felt they were too similar to other stories.

Marley: Can you give our readers a preview of the book? A favorite story perhaps…or one that moved you to tears? (I have to say the little boy who wished for nothing but to be able to read a book all the way through because of his stutter had me bawling when I read the submission.)

Cec: That's not fair! I liked them all. The one that touched me most, however, is the last story in the book, "Sean's Question." We had almost finished the book and I was teaching at a conference in Florida. I felt we needed one strong story at the end. Despite all the good ones, I didn't feel fully satisfied to conclude the book. On the last day of the conference, I met a conferee named Sara Zinn for a consultation. As we talked, I mentioned Christmas Miracles and that I still needed one more story. "I have a Christmas story," she said and told me about Sean. As I listened, tears filled my eyes—but, being the macho type I am, I was sure it was an allergy. Sara wrote the story, and it became the one I sought.

Marley: Oh yes…that one is an emotional one all right. It was meant to be in the book because of how you met at the conference. Now, you and I have both had challenges in our lives that others might have found too much to take, but we are both very strong in our faith and our relationship with God. How do you think Christmas Miracles is going to help others feel closer to God and experience His miracles in their own lives?

Cec: Awareness and appreciation are the two things I want readers to grasp. Awareness means for them to realize that they're never totally alone in life. Those unexpected, out-of-the-ordinary events remind us of that. Appreciation means to be thankful for what we already have. Too often, and especially at Christmas, we focus on what we'd like or what is supposed to make us happy. Christmas Miracles gently reminds readers of both.

Marley: In this day and age when our country is fighting two wars, unemployment is high, and a lot of people have a lack of hope and faith for their future, what do you want readers of the book to take away from Christmas Miracles and how can the stories in our book help provide comfort to those struggling?

Cec: I want readers to see that miracles do happen—sometimes simple, unexpected blessings or those that involve the supernatural (as in one of Marley's stories). I call myself a serious Christian. For me, the world's greatest miracle began with the birth of Jesus. Regardless of a person's religion, this book encourages readers to think about life during the Christmas season and see that life as more than gifts and celebrations. It's also a reminder that God loves us and hears our needy cries.

Marley: Beautifully put, Cec, and I couldn’t agree with you more. Can we share what’s next after Christmas Miracles? J

Cec: Why it's the Cec and Marley show, of course. Because of our go-getter agent and our enthusiastic editor, we've already received thumbs up for The Christmas Spirit. This will be stories of people who express the true spirit of Christmas by acts of love and kindness, for release in the fall of 2011.

Marley: And I can’t wait to start working on that project! Thank you so much for your time, Cec, and answering my questions. It was a privilege and honor to work with you and I look forward to our future projects together. You’ve helped me along during a trying time and I appreciate your friendship and support.

Cec: I liked this project because Marley had to send out the word, collect submissions, read them, and discard the weaker ones. I get to see only the better-written stories. (Don't tell her that I have the better job.) Although I mentioned only one story, all of those in the book touched me because of the poignancy of their situations and the miraculous answers. I won't say the stories increased my faith, but they increased my appreciation for the delightful mix of human need and divine intervention.

Marley: Thanks again, Cec! God Bless! And to our readers, please be sure to pick up a copy of CHRISTMAS MIRACLES, out October 13, 2009 from St. Martin’s Press. It’s a great stocking stuffer or gift basket filler. We hope you, too, will discover your own Christmas Miracles your life.

Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Target!

Today I'm over at Novel Thoughts talking about my soon-to-be-released book Bunco Babes Gone Wild. Hop on over and say hello, and you might win an autographed copy of Bunco Babes Tell All. Although if you read my blog, then you should already have a copy, right? But come on over and say hi anyway, it will make me feel good!

There's also a tiny sneak peak into my next, next book, The Boyfriend of the Month Club. And for now, that's all I'm giving away:)

So you're probably wondering why the word Target is in my blog title. I've always joked around that I'll know I've made it when I see my books at Target. Well guess what? Yep. I'm at Target! Not physically, mind you, but hey, that's a technicality right now, because last night while I was accidentally googling myself, I found Bunco Babes Gone Wild on sale online at Target! Check it out right here. Pretty cool, huh?

In which Maria gets up on her soapbox

Because I'm such a Kitty (and if you don't know what that means, then you need to take my Which Bunco Babe are you? quiz. Now. But I digress)...Because I'm such a Kitty, I hardly ever make waves. I just don't like to stir the pot, so to speak, but this has been weighing on my mind for some time now. I want to talk about those persons who will pick up a book and then blast said book because of a) the language and or, b) the sex. Now, this is America, and people are free to do what they want. Which means I can also write this post:)

Maybe books should be like movies and come with ratings. I think that would solve a lot of problems. But unfortunately, they don't. Sometimes, you pick up a book with one expectation, and what you get is something altogether different.

Take "The Time Traveler's Wife" for instance. *spoiler* Here's a book with lots of sex, lots of profanity, and a few strange scenes (Henry's masturbation) thrown in for good measure. I will say that that masturbation scene threw me a bit, but I kept reading. Not so much because I loved Henry (I found him to be extremely selfish, but also extremely compelling) but because the writing was just so damn good and I had to find out what happened at the end of the story. That said, out of curiosity, I went to some review sites and read what people had to say about the book. Not surprisingly, there were as many 1 and 2 star reviews as there were 4 and 5 star reviews. Big books are like that. The more people that read a book, the more all over the spectrum the reviews are. But what surprised me is the frequency in which some of the 1 star reviews called the author out for excessive, offensive sex and profanity. I don't know about you, but if I pick up a book and it offends me, I stop reading it. Life is too short to do something that a) I don't want to do if I don't have to, and b) makes me uncomfortable/squirmy.

So let's go to what I really want to say here. If you pick up a book that's been labeled erotica or Christian literature, then you know what you're going to get. But what about all those books in between? Namely, the genre most dear to my heart: chick lit/women's fiction. From my own personal experience (and I haven't gotten a 1 star review yet, but I will welcome it if it means that lots of people are reading my books!) I've come across people who have told me that they are *shocked* by the sex in my book. These are people who know me, so I have to wonder how well they really know me if they are that shocked, but for a long time now, if anyone has asked me to describe my books I say it's "Bunco meets Sex and the City." And that pretty much takes care of that. And honestly, there's not that much sex in the books. Really. And the few scenes that are there, I think are pretty funny, or at least they are to me, but I'll stop right here, because that's not what I want this post to be about.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that stories are about real people. And real people (especially single men and women in their 20's and 30's and beyond) have sex, occasionally cuss and do other assorted things/behaviors that you'd find in any movie/TV series out there. Here's another big shocker: Teenagers also have sex and use profanity! Pretty much with the exclusion of fiction that's been labeled "Christian" I would expect to find a little or a lot of all that in a book that focuses on male/female relationships. Now, let me scoot back a bit more and say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Christian literature. There's a market for it and most of it, is, I'm sure, wonderful reading. I myself, am a Christian, I just don't happen to write Christian fiction. I write the kind of books I want to read, because if I don't love my own books then why should anyone else? So, for future reference, let me just say that all my books are going to be rated R. Pretty simple way to solve the problem, huh?

Does Len need glasses?

I used to love Len. The way he and Bruno bantered on Dancing with the Stars always used to bring a smile to my face. But this season, he's seriously getting on my nerves. What the hell, Len? The first week you give Mya a 5, and then last week you gave her a 7. A 7? For one of the best rumbas I've ever seen on the show??? I was really hoping your meds had kicked in this week and that you'd seen the light. At least last night you gave her an 8. But seriously, when the rest of the judges are giving her a 10, and all you can come up with is: "It's not enough!" or the even lamer, "It's too much!" I have to wonder what's going on.

Everyone who knows me, knows I adore Dmitry. Last season, he was paired with the sadly uncoordinated Holly Madison, and even I couldn't bring myself to vote for them. But now that he's paired with the beautiful, talented Mya, (their chemistry is freakin' unbelievable!) all I can say is that they better win.

Bunco, the new Poker

Great video with Naomi Judd talking about Bunco!

Besides being a great time for everyone involved, Bunco is a natural for fund raisers. In Bunco Babes Gone Wild, my characters host a Black Tie Bunco fundraiser to raise money for the town's new rec center. But real live groups across the country play Bunco to raise money for breast cancer research (which gives me an idea for my own group) and I can't think of a better cause.

FYI check out the "ref" in the background. It totally cracks me up! Bunco disputes!

It's a book!

After months of wondering whether or not the Cover Gods were going to be kind to me, I finally got a look at my upcoming book. And I'm thrilled to say, I love it!

I first saw the cover for Bunco Babes Gone Wild back in January, so it's not like I was clueless as to how it would look. But seeing the cover on a computer screen is way different than seeing it in person. In person, it's just so... vibrant. So alive. It just screams BEACH! And for me, there's no better place in the world to be:)

Weekend Roundup

I was supposed to clean out my closet this weekend. You know, the one I write in? I even took pictures of the closet as "before" shots. Which I've done in the past to use as motivation to help get my butt in gear. It didn't work. Either time. And I'm not posting them this time until I have some "after" shots to show how industrious I am!

So, my Seminoles lost. Again. To Boston College???? All I can say is we SUCK. But I still love my Noles. We just have to get our act together.

That said, I took a trip to Hogtown yesterday (Gainesville) to visit the middle son because it was Parents Weekend. We couldn't spend the entire weekend there because it just so happened to also be Homecoming for the youngest daughter. She looked so pretty in her dress! It's always rough being torn between 2 kids events. Can the Universe not plan things out a little better next time please?

Tall, Blond and Handsome

This post is for all of you out there googling tall, blonde, handsome men. You know who you are.

A few months ago (or maybe it was longer) I wrote a post about handsome blonde guys. As opposed to the tall, dark and handsome guys. Besides "Cuban baby shower" it's one of the most popular google searches that lead to my blog.

Recently, I answered a quiz somewhere on the blogosphere that asked how you liked your heroes: blonde, dark haired or red haired. Yeah, you guessed it. The dark haired guys won by a margin of like 80%. Still, there's something to be said about those blondies. The heroes in my first 2 books have dark hair. But my current wip features a blond hero a little a la Curtis Stone.

September Contest Winner!

My September contest winner is Nicole P!

Last month was pimp my critique partners contest month. Which means Nicole is getting a copy of Can't Stand the Heat and Bite Me! The only thing Nicole had to do to enter was be a member of my newsletter community.

Congratulations, Nicole. I know you're going to love these reads.

And don't forget about my October contest. Take my Which Bunco Babe Are you? quiz and enter a chance to win a signed book from yours truly and a $50 gift certificate to Borders.

Maria and Ree: 365 Days, Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl Gone Cuban

Hee hee... I wonder what Pioneer Woman would think if I did a rip off of Julie and Julia using her upcoming cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks- Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl.

I have to admit, I've never bought a cookbook in my life (except the occasional one bought from a charity organization). Cooking for me has traditionally been like housework. Something that has to get done or else. The or else in my case would be the rebellion of 3 children and a husband (who, God love 'em, does more than his share of housework and child rearing, but actually admitted to me the other day he didn't know how to turn on our oven).

I will also admit that (probably to the horror of my good pal Louisa) I had never even heard of the term "foodie" until the RWA National Convention in Dallas back in 2007. I was hanging out at the bar with friends and someone used the word "foodie" and I asked, "what's that?" I was met with a multitude of blank stares that had me sweating with the memory of 5th grade science class in Ascension Catholic School when I raised my hand to ask Sister Immaculata how humans could be mammals when we didn't feed our young (yes, the memory of the stunned looks and gasps of my classmates is still seered in my brain.) Suffice it to say that I had a VERY sheltered childhood:) And believe me, the next afternoon at recess, my pals filled me in on the facts of life. At least all they knew about, anyway.

But I digress. So while I could never be termed a foodie, I am definitely a fan of Pioneer Woman's recipes. Which means I'll be buying her book when it comes out at the end of the month. Her photography (of which I'm sure they'll be plenty of) will be worth the buy alone. Plus, there's all those lovely recipes (her chicken spaghetti casserole is to die for).

Maria and Ree: 365 Days, Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl Gone Cuban.

I actually kind of like how that sounds!

2 Releases and a chat!

I have 2 friends with new releases today! I'm so looking forward to reading each of these books. First, there's Marilyn's Brant's According to Jane, which I've been salivating to get my grubby paws on for months now. According to Amazon, my copy shipped yesterday, so I'll have to wait a few more days to read it, but you better believe I'll be tearing through that puppy. It's Marilyn's debut novel and a former Golden Heart winner and it's been getting fantastic reviews!

Then, there's my good buddy Naughty Kate (better known as Kate Pearce)'s newest installment in her "Simply" series, Simply Wicked. These are wickedly good down and dirty romances that will have you flipping the pages long past your bed time. I've been waiting a long time for this one too. Looks like my weekend is already booked (he he...get the pun?) Okay, bad joke, but you catch my drift. Run out and buy these. Or run over to Amazon and order them. Either way, you won't be sorry!

And about that chat...

On Wednesday, September 30th @ 9pm ET, Louisa Edwards will be the featured guest author in The Knight Agency chat room. Formerly an editor at Penguin's Berkley imprint before turning in her editor's hat, she describes her debut novel, CAN'T STAND THE HEAT (St. Martin's, Sept. 2009) as a "culinary romance."

Louisa has an in depth knowledge of the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and she'll be sharing lots of information about her experience as a first-time author and details on her upcoming projects.

Hope to see you there! Of course, there will also be fun trivia and prizes!

Here's the 411 on CAN'T STAND THE HEAT: For sharp-tongued Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. The trouble is, she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: this critic has no idea how to cook.

As for Adam, well, he’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching Miranda what it means to cook with passion.

To learn more about Louisa, visit http://www.louisaedwards.com/.

What: CHAT with Louisa Edwards
Where: TKA's Chat Room
When: Wednesday, September 30th @ 9pm ET
How to Chat: (1) Click on this link: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=115545(2) Enter a username and password (any combination) (3) Click Login

Are you a Kitty, a Shea, or a Pilar?

It's official. Thanks to the lovely and talented Jax, my website has undergone some updates! Look for an additional page titled quiz, where you can find out which Bunco Babe you most resemble. To celebrate my upcoming November release of Bunco Babes Gone Wild, I'm holding a contest. Take the quiz, and follow the directions at the bottom of the page to earn a chance for an autographed copy of Bunco Babes Tell All and a $50 gift certificate to Borders. You know you're dying to find out whether you're a Kitty, a Shea or a Pilar. So go ahead and enter!

Which Bunco Babe are you?

Are you a Kitty, a Shea or maybe even a Pilar? (And if you don't know who I'm talking about, then shame on you, it means you haven't read my book!) Kitty, Shea and Pilar are the heart and soul of my fictional Bunco Babes and pretty soon, you'll be able to take a quiz on my website and find out which Bunco Babe you're most like.

I'm had so much fun devising this quiz and testing it out on my friends. So far, I think the results have been pretty spot on.! So stay tuned and find out the real truth. Are you the nice one? The hot one? or the sharp one?

Weekend Update

Alas, it's Monday again. This past weekend just seemed to fly. Why is that?

Saturday I attended my monthly RWA land chapter meeting. The Florida Panhandle Romance Writers celebrated our one year anniversary! Usually we meet at the local library branch, but the room we use was already taken, so we met at Julie's Place, a local restaurant. We're spoiled beyond spoiled now, because I think we're going to start meeting there from now on. We had our own little room and full service (coffee, lunch, etc..) Plus, it's right off I-10 so it's perfect for our out-of-town members. I presented the afternoon workshop- Stop Plodding and Start Plotting! (cute title, huh? Mel came up with that). I think it went over really well, and I might think about adding to it to maybe one day try to present it at Nationals.

While the meeting was taking place, my beloved Charlie was at the animal hospital recovering from double ear surgery. He had two hematomas removed. Charlie is 11 years old and weighs over a 100 lbs, which makes him really old in dog years. He's such a trooper though. I'm taking him back to the vet today for a bandage change. The stitches don't come out for 21 days though. Ouch. I just hope I can keep him from messing with it too much. I'm calling him Civil War Charlie now. This picture is all the explanation you need for that. At the bottom of the pic you might see a small brown body (it sort of blends into the wooden floor). That belongs to Truffles, my 8 month old dachshund. Unfortunately, she's way too fascinated with Charlie's bandages. It's a chore to keep her from trying to help him take them off.

Saturday night ended with a bang when the Noles beat 7th ranked BYU in their own home stadium. What a game! It was like the good ol' days again. I'm really hoping this is a trend that will continue for the rest of football season.

Sunday evening I had my L&D book club meeting at Bonefish Grill. A super time was had by all. The book of the month was The Time Traveler's Wife, which we had hoped to all watch at the movies together (so we could compare the movie version to the book version). Unfortunately, we missed the movie by 2 days. What can I say? We are irony's bitch. Still, we all agreed it was a super book, even if there were parts that were a bit disturbing to some of us. Next month, we were going to read Jane Austen's Emma, but I persuaded the group to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies instead. I've heard a lot of contradictory things about this book and can't wait to get my hands on it (rubbing palms eagerly!)

According to Marilyn

Sigh. I just love the cover to my pal Marilyn Brant's debut novel According to Jane. Don't you? It looks so soft, so romantic, so wistful. I've been looking forward to reading this book for a long time now, and I'll soon be rewarded for my patience because it comes out Oct 1! Book Junkie recently did a fantastic interview of Marilyn that you can read here. There's also a contest giveaway involving an arc and some fabulous Starbucks coffee so run on over and comment!

Here's the blurb for the book (which by the way, won the 2007 Golden Heart award for Novel with Best Romantic Elements!)

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there. Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham. Still, everyone has something to learn about love - perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending.

What's Cookin'?

I'll tell you what's cookin', it's Louisa's book Can't Stand the Heat!

Today, Louisa's blogging over at Romance Novel T.V. and she's giving away a culinary themed package (cookbook, apron, spatulas...)as well as talking about writing contemporary romance (my favorite!) So go on over and leave Louisa a message. You might get lucky!

Bunco Babes Tell All is a Fresh Pick!

I was completely tickled and thrilled to find out that Bunco Babes Tell All was selected by Fresh Fiction Staff as their Fresh Pick of the day. Yep, that's today, Sept. 14. Yay! And thanks!

Kitty and her Florida girlfriends have been getting together to play Bunco every Thursday night for years. It's a girls' night out ritual that is sacred to the so called "Bunco Babes." They have shared dating horrors, marriage proposals and babies. This tight-knit group is held together by Kitty, Shea and Pilar: the reigning queens of Bunco.

This particular story revolves around Kitty. She's celebrating her 35th birthday and lamenting her non- existent sex life and dwindling bank account. She's certainly needing a little male companionship and some money. She is a real estate broker who's fallen on hard times as a new cookie-cutter neighborhood has cropped up in town and is represented by another broker.

The "Bunco Babes" try to make Kitty's birthday special by hiring an exotic dancer. While she's being detained by Officer Bob, Kitty's thoughts go to Steve the Plumber, the hot repair man who shows up to fix her broken toilet just as Bunco is getting underway at her house. After everyone leaves for the night, there is a knock at the door and Steve has returned because he left a plumbing tool at her house. Basically, Kitty's toilet is not the only thing that gets fixed by Steve the Plumber on this particular night!

BUNCO BABES TELL ALL is a very lighthearted read. If you just don't have time to schedule regular girls' nights out with your friends, pick up this book and you just might get your girlfriend fix. The gossip, food and drinks are always flowing. Maria Geraci has created a storyline that will be easy to follow-up on in future novels.

Back to Bunco Night

Look familiar? These gorgeous little aqua flip flops have become like my writer's totem. The wine glass of course, needs no explanation. But I don't think you can tell by my picture that the little ceramic flip flops with the pink flower is actually a wine cork. So cute!

Wednesday night was my Bunco group's "Back to Bunco night." Because it's so hard with summer vacation to get us all together, years ago we decided to play only throughout the school year (Sept-May). Our first foray into the year always involves our organizational meeting, in which we make up our schedule, pay our "dues" and generally sit around and discuss what when on during the summer. This year's biggest topic is getting kids off to college. Sigh. When we get that old????

So back to that adorable wine glass. My good friend and fellow Bunco Broad Cheryl saw the wine glass while out and about this summer and "had to have" it for me. I absolutely adore it!

Research Trip!

This weekend I'm going to be down in Daytona Beach again with the family at the condo we've stayed at a few times this summer. I know, poor me!

It actually looks like we're going to have a Labor Day weekend without threat of a looming hurricane (The only Hurricanes I hope to see are those coming to Tally on Monday to get whooped by the Noles, but that's another post) so I anticipate a good time will be had by all.

I'm working on a proposal for a contemporary romance in which the main character's family owns this very tacky Florida gift shop. As a kid, I loved all the big state touristy spots- Weeki Wachi, Silver Springs and adored all the road side tourist traps. I remember begging my parents to stop the car so my sister and I could "browse." I hope to take lots and lots and lots of pics for inspiration. The working title on the proposal is "The Boyfriend of the Month Club." So far, it's been a blast to write!

Have a safe and Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Which Beatle are you?

I took this random Beatles quiz yesterday and was shocked to discover that I was JOHN. Unsatisfied with the answer (because I so think that I'm George) I found another Beatles quiz. And then another. In each case, the verdict was the same. I'm John. Who knew? My only relief was that I'm not Paul. Please. Even Ringo is preferable!

All Fired Up

Isn't that one of the sexiest covers you've ever seen? I can't believe I have 2 good friends with debut books coming out today! Okay, so you know about Louisa's cookin' book, and now there's Kristen's book. I think the stars are aligning for some hot reading. Go check out Kristen's blog and order her book. Right. Now.

Debut Day and free books!

"CAN'T STAND THE HEAT is HOT in the kitchen and everywhere else!"
Carly Phillips, NYT Best Selling Author.

I so could have given Louisa that quote myself (but I can totally understand why she'd want it from Carly!) As someone who was lucky enough to read the first version of CAN'T STAND THE HEAT all I can say is that this book is so hot it's going to jump off the shelves. It debuts tomorrow in fine book stores and Wal Mart everywhere. Here's a little bit about the story.

For sharp-tongued Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. The trouble is, she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: this critic has no idea how to cook. As for Adam, well, he’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching Miranda what it means to cook with passion.

Check out Louisa's awesome website here.



And speaking of awesome... Mel's book BITE ME! has been out a month now and is garnering fantastic reviews. I love these 2 books so much (and know that you will too) that I'm giving away a copy of each to a random member of my newsletter. I'm doing the drawing on Sept 10, so if you're not on my newsletter list (why not?) do so now right here.

My pretty new Banner

Thanks to the talented Jax, I have this fun new banner (look to the right!)

My 2nd book Bunco Babes Gone Wild comes out in just a couple of months and I decided I needed one of those cool flashy banners. (I especially love how the dice pop out at the end!)

Hot Bunko Babes

I'm featuring a new Bunco group up on my site. Go check out the Hot Bunko Babes. It's my friend Kitty's group and they're awesome. They've been kind enough to invite me twice to play Bunco with them and I've had a blast both times. I've also tried Kitty's Salsa Chicken and it's delicious. And super simple. My kind of recipe!

My son is now officially a Gator

So my son is now part of that segment of my family that I try to ignore (most of the time unsuccessfully) during college football season. A real live University of Florida Gator. Mike Geraci and I spent the last 2 days in Hogtown (Gainesville, Florida to non-Floridians) getting Kevin acclimated to his dorm and settling into college life. The atmosphere around campus was unbelievably contatgious. But don't worry, I won't be succumbing to Gator madness anytime soon, although I'm extremely proud of my son and am looking forward to his having a wonderful college experience. I have to admit, I was a little weepy too. Why do kids have to grow up?

I have to admit, we had a great time in Gainesville. My parents (Bull Gator fans to the death) had suggested this little Cuban restaurant to us called "Mi Apa" (a shortened familiar version of Mi papa). The food was very good. Not as good as Versailles on Calle Ocho in Miami, but very decent for Hogtown. I was impressed. I had the ropa vieja and it was excellent. I finished it off with a cortadito and it too, was very yummy!

So in between getting Kevin set up, I had hoped to be able to find some time to write. Or if not, write, then at least get some reading done on "The Time Traveler's Wife" which my book club is now reading. But I had won a copy of "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" on Marilyn Brant's blog and even though I had meant to read it after my book club read, somehow it ended up on the top of my pile. I couldn't put it down! My Jane Austen addiction must be tended to. I have to say, I absolutely loved this book and have to get the sequel "Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict." But I will be a good girl and finish Time Traveler, then, begin the Rude Awakenings book. Let's just see how much will power I can come up with:)

In which Maxwell makes his Creme Puffs

While Mike Geraci was off on his boys golf trip I took the kids to Daytona Beach to meet up with my parents and my sister and my nephew for a weekend of fun, sun, and relaxation. Luckily, we got all 3 in large abundance (the tops of my shoulders and upper arms can attest to the sun part. Ugh. Why do I never remember to reapply sunscreen there? Despite using an SPF of 45, I still burned :(

The condo we stayed at was on the 22nd floor, giving us this really spectacular view of the beach. We were so high up, that when we sat outside on the balcony, we could actually look down on the sea birds flying. No joke. A couple of times I thought they were going to fly right into the balcony and join us for a drink. But they didn't :)

One delicious highlight of the weekend, was when my sister's friend Maureen and her 11 year old son, Maxwell, came over (that's him above checking out the Publix bakery). Maxwell is a budding chef and just about the cutest thing you can ever imagine. We'd all seen the movie "Julie and Julia" and were talking about food, and about making food, and about eating food, which stirred our taste buds to no end. So we decided we had to run out to Blockbuster to rent "Big Night" and go to Publix so we could cook something. My sister made this simple and utterly delicious pasta dish with broccoli (sorry, no pics of the pasta, I was too busy eating!) and Maxwell made his famous creme puffs.

At this point, I nearly pounced on the puffs. But here they are cooling, and I was a good girl and refrained until they were ready.

Ice Cream Creme Puffs a la Maxwell. Creme Puff stuffed with ice cream and covered with his homemade chocolate sauce. Fantastic!

After a meal of pasta and ice cream puffs, we all collapsed to watch TV.

In between going to the beach, getting sunburned, watching "Big Night" and eating, I did manage to write 8 pages on Bunco Book 3. Yay!

Nice Dice

I absolutely adore this look. Katy Perry rocks! Coincidentally, she's also mentioned in Bunco Book 3 (title to be named later). No, Katy Perry doesn't come to Whispering Bay to play Bunco with the Babes (although the Babes would certainly welcome her with open arms in this dress) but she is a sort of character in the book. You'll just have to wait till Sept 2010 to find out how;)

On that note, I'm trying to finish writing a critical scene, do laundry, and get some sleep tonight before heading to Daytona Beach for a little fun and sun this weekend. Yay!

Julie and Julia

Is there anything Meryl Streep can't do? (besides sing?) Last night I went to see "Julie and Julia." I give it 5 pats of butter! (Butter being its own character in the flic) From the acting to the plot, it's utterly delicious.

My one and only tiny nit is that there weren't enough beautiful food scenes! I'm far from a foodie (cooking ranks up there with housework for me) but I do love to eat and there were some gorgeous bread scenes that left me salivating... and hungry for more food cinematography. I guess I was expecting more along the lines of Big Night (if you haven't seen it, run to rent it) which also, coincidentally, stars Stanley Tucci, which leads me to ask, is there anything Stanley Tucci can't do either?

And speaking of foodie flics, I had to go and comment on Michelle Buonfiglio's B&N blog in which she interviews book buyer Tommy Dreiling. Michelle wants to know what's the next big trend in romance. We all know vampires are hot hot hot right now (Mel's book Bite Me! is already in its 2nd printing. Yay!!) but I really think foodie romance is going to completely take off. Which is awesome for Louisa's book Can't Stand the Heat (St. Martins). It comes out Sept 1 and I promise, you won't be disappointed! It's as yummy as Julie and Julia is!

Bon Appetit!

Website updates

Thanks to the lovely Jax I now have event pictures on my website. The top ones are from the RWA Literacy signing. My very first one! I used to go to conference and walk through the aisles of authors signing their books and think, "One day, that will be me!" I have to say, it's a bit overwhelming. But thanks to Mel and her smuggled wine (I think I drank 3/4's of a bottle myself) it was a piece of cake:)

Who doesn't just love this?

My Perfect Hero

So I'm sitting here in my closet, writing away on Bunco book 3 (title to be named later) and I'm just having such a freakin' hard time whenever my hero enters the story. Now don't get me wrong, I love my hero. It's Zeke Grant, Whispering Bay's chief of police (and a secondary character in Bunco Babes Gone Wild). Zeke is married to Mimi, one of my Babes (only mentioned once in Book one, but a prominent secondary character in book 2) and he's absolutely delicious. (Think Josh Lucas in Sweet Home Alabama). But the guy is sometimes just too alpha to live. Every time he opens his mouth I want to put a sock in it. I wish I could curb the things he says but then he wouldn't be the right character for this book or for my heroine.

I was reading Eloisa James' article over at B&N titled Alpha Allure . I absolutely love Eloisa's heroes. One of my favorite all time heroes is Rafe from "The Taming of the Duke." He's the perfect tortured alpha male. And it got me to thinking about heroes in contemporary romance vs historicals and I've come to the conclusion that they aren't that much different. I think, as women, we are initially attracted to all the prominent characteristics of the alpha male- the in-charge, sexually potent guy who walks in a room who makes women stand up and notice. But it's the little leaks in the damn he uses as a shield that actually make us fall in love with him. Because let's face it, perfect is boring. Imperfection, on the other hand, allows us a glimpse into the real man inside and it's the way he handles those imperfections that can make or break a character. Like Eloisa's tortured Rafe. Sigh. I still wonder what he's up to. And that's the ultimate test of a really great character. Creating a person so vivid, so interesting, that they stay with you long after you've finished the book.

Which reminds me, I have to go finish writing the book...

BAM Loves Mel!

So, while I was out and about this weekend, look what I found at Books A Million. Mel's book on a center table surrounded by other Vamp books (only her cover is a million times more awesome!)

And then this fantastic review from PW!!! (yay!)

Bite Me! Melissa Francis. HarperTeen, $8.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-061-43098-5

First-time novelist Francis presents a tasty story that uses humor and a light touch to rise above typical teen vampire fare. Seventeen-year-old “good girl” AJ may be a closet blood-drinker, but that's the least of her problems. Her mom's remarriage has just turned her boyfriend into her stepbrother (“Momma's exact words to me were, 'Ariel Jane, if you so much as look at that boy with fangs in your eyes again, I'll bite you myself.' ”), her AP Lit teacher is already out to get her on the first day of school, and she might have accidentally turned her rebound guy into a vamp who is now threatening her family. On top of that, she's been accused of cheating on a quiz, and compromising photos have appeared on her Facebook page—someone has to be setting her up. But who? Francis keeps things moving, creating an absorbing and refreshing page-turner with a solid mythology, sympathetic heroine and appealing characters that readers will want to invite back to their own homes (well, almost). Ages 14–up. (Aug.)

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6673981.html?industryid=47139