Lords of the Underworld

Even the title is breathtakingly sexy, isn't it?

I finished the first book in Gena Showalter's newest series, Lords of the Underworld and it was fantastic! THE DARKEST NIGHT comes out in May, followed in June and July with 2 more books in the series. Best of all, there will be more!

For an excerpt go to Gena's website here: The Darkest Night.

TETL

I had a TETL moment (Too Embarrassed to Live) at work last night. This one directly involved my new Dansko Professional clogs.

About half my unit is wearing these now and everyone raves about them. This clog has been credited with the elimination of aching feet and legs, sore backs, tired muscles, etc. So after I left work Sunday morning feeling like a mule who had been kicked around for 12 hours (don't ever let anyone tell you delivering babies isn't hard work), I decided to bite the bullet (they cost $115) and drink the Dansko Kool-aid.

The girl at the Walk-About store told me it takes a few weeks to "break" them in. My first night wearing them I felt like a Geisha walking on thick wooden slats. My feet are completely flat (no natural arch at all) and there was something poking into the side of my foot. So by the end of the night I was practically limping. But that's okay. I can suffer temporarily if the pay off is worth it in the end.

When I woke up Tuesday, my feet felt fine and I wore them to work again. So there I was, standing by the desk in Triage talking, and I pivoted to turn and leave. I must have turned my ankle because the next thing I knew, I was went down. But just like a movie, I went down in my mind in slo-mo. There was a huge Ultrasound machine stationed on the wall next to me and I can remember thinking I was going to hit my head on it. All I could think was "No! Not the head! Broken bones can be fixed, but I need my brain to finish my revisions!!" Everyone said I went down screaming "I'm fine!!" but I don't remember that. Of course, everyone came running to my aid. I jumped up as fast as anyone wearing 5lb wooden clogs can, my face so hot I could fry an egg off it, saying, "Everyone go back to work!"

Tonight is night 3 of the Dansko Clog. Hopefully, I will master the art of wearing them. I just pray I don't have to run in them anytime soon:)

I'm Back... and Free Books!

I'm back from the beach, where we had an incredibly relaxing week. The weather was crummy (only 1 day of sunshine) but I hear it was like that all over north Florida, so better to be at the beach with crummy weather than at home, right?

Meanwhile, I spoke to my fabulous editor at Berkley, Wendy McCurdy, who gave me some great suggestions for revising my manuscript. Like "up the tension in the last half of the book". Now why didn't I think of that? LOL. She's absolutely right of course. I've been brainstorming with myself, not a sin in the eyes of the Church:) and I think I've come up with a few ideas. Now I just have to put them on paper and see if they work out.

Besides sleeping and shopping and playing lots of Scrabble and Monopoly at the beach, I also got to read an advanced copy of Gena Showalter's fabulous new book The Darkest Night. It's absolutely fabulous and incredibly sexy! A must read for everyone. Kristen Painter is giving away an ARC. Go to her blog and check out the details!




And talk about free books... my friend Marley Gibson's first book comes out in less than a month. Leave a comment on her blog and if she gets more than 50, you'll be eligible for a free copy of Sorority 101- Zeta or Omega? Isn't the cover fabulous? I plan to scoop up a bunch of these at her launch party next month!

Off on Mini-break!

I'm nearly finished packing for my vacation (which starts in about 3 hours!). The family is headed off to Seagrove Beach for a week of sun and fun, which I desperately need. Lately, work has been super hectic and as much as I love it, I need a break from birthin' babies.

On another fun note, I mailed in my contract to Berkley. Very exciting! When the guy at the mail store (who is a big talker and loves to see what you're mailing) asked what I was sending, I couldn't help but practically shout, "It's a publishing contract!". He was duly impressed and helped me double check that I had, indeed, signed everything in the right place. I told him years from now (when I'm rich and famous, of course) he could brag that he had helped me start my career:)

Thanks to Mel, I've been turned on to HBO's new miniseries, John Adams. Based on David McCullough's Pulitzer-winning biography, it stars one of my favorite actors, Paul Giamatti.

It also stars Laura Linney, who I've had trouble connecting with since she played in that really disturbing movie, The Life of David Gale, which is probably a testament to what a good actress she is since I can't quite forget her in that role. However, I'm really loving her as Abigail Adams. I remember one of my girls did a report once on First Ladies and picked AA so I knew she was a remarkable woman and I'm really loving how Laura Linney is playing her. Coincidentally, she and Paul Giamatti have played a married couple before in The Nanny Diaries. We all sort of snickered at my house when we made that connection:)

The series is being hailed as true to McCullough's book and the Colonial times look gruesomely authentic (as shown by a very nasty Inoculation scene). But so far the only scene that's disturbed me is the Tar and Feathering scene from Part I. I really had no idea how nasty the process was. I mean, it almost sounds mild (tar and feathers) as opposed to say, Drawn and Quartered. But watching that scene I cannot believe that the victim could have survived having all that hot tar poured over his body. Ugh. Very nasty stuff that was.

The series continues on next Sunday for a total of 7 episodes. And even though I know how it ends :) I'll be eagerly watching.

Make it Work!

Today was my turn to post on the Title Wave Blog. Go check it out. And Happy Easter, everyone!

AI Update

Kristy Lee Cook has not been kind to The Beatles.

I have nothing against the girl. She has a nice voice, is pretty, and seems very sweet in her interviews with Ryan. But for the second week in a row she's managed to butcher a Beatles song and that's just unpardonable in my book.

Last week, she country-fried steak'd "Eight Days a Week", sounding more like a chipmunk on crack than Dolly Parton on crack (as Simon described). But this week, she admitted to the camera she really isn't familiar with the Beatles (So I know that's probably an age thing , but if you're going to call yourself a musician, then you really need to know the superstar classics. It's like a writer saying she's never heard of Shakespeare).

Since Kristy doesn't know any of the songs, she picked one based on the title. Okay. I can live with that it. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is a great song, sung in a beautiful throaty style by Lennon. But I don't think Kristy got it (Lennon wrote the song in homage to the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, who for a long time had to hide his homosexuality). While you can certainly interpret the song any way you want, Kristy chose not to interpret it, I guess, since she sang it with all the emotion of a wooden puppet on stage.

As sentimental and entertaining as Beatle fest has been the past two weeks on Idol, I say it's time to move on. Same with Kristy Lee.

American Idol: My top 2

Jason Castro.

He's so deliciously cute and sweet, I could eat him up. My kids snickered as I spent the first night of the competition punching my redial button to vote for him over and over, but there's just something about him that I totally love. I guess it's called "it" or "star appeal". Not sure. But I do know that right now, he's my number #1 pick to win this competition.

This week, he did a beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah", which totally worked. He also went guitar-less, which was a risk, because let's face it, who doesn't love a guy with a guitar? I think that totally sealed the deal for me. He doesn't need the guitar to look good. Plus, he doesn't have some of the weird mannerisms that some of the other singers do. Like Michael Johns. While I find Michael cute and his singing very good, there's something distracting about the way he moves and the way he holds the mic.

And there's my other top 2 pick. David Cook. I wasn't so impressed with him initially, but each week I like him more and more. And this week, he totally sold me. He sang "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Which, normally would have been the kiss of death. I didn't like Lionel's music in the 80's and I certainly don't like his music now, but David managed to take a sappy song and actually make me like it. Plus, he's so damn cute.

Seeing a pattern here? Yep. Cute is in.

Speaking of cute, I guess I need to mention David Archuleta, who is beyond cute and has a fantastic voice on top. While I really like David and I loved his version of "Imagine" last week, this week's "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins left me cold. Although I'm sure the rest of America loved it as he seems to be the AI Poster boy this year. I just have the feeling that I could tired of David A's cuteness. Fast.

Unfortunately, due to it being Bunco night, I missed watching the girls perform last night. For some reason, my DVR didn't record it (although I think it was really Mike Geraci messing with the TV that screwed it up). I'm not broken-hearted over it though. The girls are a snooze fest for me. Other than Carly Smithson, who I think has a good chance to make it to the top, I'm just not that impressed with them.

Megan's Confirmation

Megan's Confirmation

(Picutres above because I can't figure out how to post a slideshow AND write something in it at the same time)

Last Saturday, Megan, my youngest was officially Confirmed in the Catholic Church. A good time was had by all, although you wouldn't know it by the pics, as there are no pictures of anyone in the family except Megan and her sister, Stephanie. Sigh. I'm still getting used to my new Canon camera that I got for Christmas. Of course, it would help if I ever took the time to actually read the directions on how to use it.

After the long, long mass was over, I rushed into the Parish Hall where the Confirmati (not sure this is even a real word- but Megan swears that it is) were all posed for a lovely group picture. However, since I did not have my glasses (those were in my purse which Mike Geraci was holding for me) I couldn't see the pea size setting in order to click on the right button to take a picture. Yes, that is how blind I am. So I had to push my way through the crowd, find Mike (who was now stuffing his face with cake), grab my purse, get my glasses and fix the camera setting. By this time of course, the group had dispersed and we had to stand in line forever to get a pic with the Bishop.

I think Megan looks lovely by the way. We had a bit of a skirmach over the dress. She wanted something "else". Translation: something not really appropriate for the sacrament of Confirmation. Her sister (thank you Stephanie) and I talked her into the sweet beige number she's wearing. In the end, I think she really liked the dress because she got a lot of compliments on it.

Save the Cuban Virgins

I used to joke that I was going to make a custom bumper sticker with that slogan. Honestly, people in south Florida would totally get it.

I've been crazy busy this week and haven't had time to do much, even sleep. So I'm just now getting around to checking out some of my pal's blogs. It seems that the world is full of injustice.

Save the Planet Thursday In which Gina ignores the plight of the Cuban virgins and instead tries to save the entire world. Go Gina!

Project Outrage In which Kristen (also ignoring the plight of the CV's) laments on the way Chris was totally dogged by Heidi and co. I couldn't agree with her more.

Word of the Day It seems that Louisa is in need of some dirty jokes. I would post one, but it concerns Cuban virgins and it probably isn't appropriate.

And last but not least:

Couldn't make this up It was rumoured that it was really a Cuban Virgin who was driving. No one knows what happened to her...

Books I loved, Part 2

In an effort to see what Berkley is publishing (besides me... he he) I ran out and picked up a bunch of books a couple of weeks ago. The first one I read is Unpredictable by Eileen Cook. I'm happy to report back that it's a winner! Not only does it have a great cover (eyes to Heaven and hands folded together in prayer, Please, let me be so lucky) but there's a great story inside as well.

Here's a blurb:

Sophie isn't crazy, she just wants her guy back. And posing as a psychic to give his new girlfriend a fake reading designed to break them up isn't going overboard, is it? Don't answer that.
Faking psychic powers turns out to be fun, especially after a few lessons from Nick, the cute skeptic, who teaches her all the tricks of the trade. But her readings do a lot more than she could have predicted. Now she must decide whether to accept her rising stardom in a less-than-honest line of work-and whether the best option is trying to rekindle her old flame or finding romance with someone new. And, most importantly, she needs to figure out whether the answers lie in the stars-or in herself.

Are you a Scarlett or a Melanie?

Today was my turn to post on the Tidal Wave blog. It's all about my fascination with Gone with the Wind. You can check it out here.

Have a great weekend!

Books I Love, Part 1

I just finished reading fellow American Title 2 sister, Gina Black's debut book, The Raven's Revenge. I always knew Gina was a great writer, so it was no surprise that I loved her book. It's historical romance done so really really well that you feel transported back to another time. I smiled, I got choked up, and like all good books, it's inspired me to improve my own writing. Right now, it's available in ebook format here from The Wild Rose Press and in paperback on June 8.

THE RAVEN'S REVENGE
By Gina Black

Katherine Anne Welles lives a life of duty and obligation, but marrying her villainous neighbor is out of the question. So, she defies her father and risks all by fleeing in the arms of a wounded highwayman, even though she distrusts his offer of help. But traveling with a dashing highwayman who won't ask directions is anything but safe. Especially when his searing hot kisses awaken a yearning for something Katherine never knew she wanted.

Nicholas Montford, the exiled Earl of Ashton, returns to England determined to reclaim his family lands. As a highwayman called the Raven, he takes revenge upon the Puritans who thrived while his family suffered. But when he kidnaps heiress Katherine Welles, thoughts of revenge take second place to kissing her soft lips and teasing the mistrust from her eyes. Can he find redemption in the arms of the woman he will eventually betray?

6 Very Dull things

Yes, Louisa, it's taken me nearly a week to think of 6 unimportant things about myself. Honestly, I think everything about me is important, so this was a toughie:)

Here are the rules:

Rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

This reminds me of that game they play in Jane Austen's Emma during the picnic scene where Emma accidentally (sort of) disses Miss Bates. That scene is sooo painful to read because you want to shake Emma and scream "no, don't say it!" But of course she does:

"...and she only demands from each of you either one thing very clever, be it prose or verse, original or repeated—or two things moderately clever—or three things very dull indeed, and she engages to laugh heartily at them all."

"Oh! very well," exclaimed Miss Bates, "then I need not be uneasy. 'Three things very dull indeed.' That will just do for me, you know. I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open my mouth, shan't I?—(looking round with the most good-humoured dependence on every body's assent)—Do not you all think I shall?"

Emma could not resist.
"Ah! ma'am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me—but you will be limited as to number—only three at once."


Okay, so for Louisa, here are 6 VERY dull things about myself:

1. I wake up every morning and do the crossword puzzle while I drink my coffee.

2. I never read the directions unless I absolutely have to.

3. I also never stop to ask for directions. I leave that up to my husband. I will literally drive around in circles before I give in.

4. I have a foot fetish. (I'll leave the details of that up to your imagination).

5. I just don't get the Brad Pitt thing.

6. I am incredibly lucky when it counts. I once went to see Peter Frampton in concert (cut me some slack, it was the 70's) in the Citrus Bowl (downtown Orlando-not a good neighborhood) and after we got into the concert, we realized we left our keys in the car which was parked about 2 blocks away on some random street. If we left the Citrus Bowl we wouldn't be able to get back in and of course, being 18, our priorities were what they were. So after a 6 hour concert we got out at midnight, thinking, "holy shit, what do we do now?" only to discover that the keys to the car were sitting right there in plain view with the car doors open. Yeah, NO ONE deserves to be that lucky.

Now, if I knew 6 people who hadn't already been tagged, I would happily tag them, but I think everyone in the universe has done this one!

Finally, some new TV

Lost premiered last week (yay!) and after that a new show called Eli Stone.

I loved it!

I especially loved Jonny Lee Miller who I've had a crush on since he played Edmund on Mansfield Park (even though I think Edmund is Jane Austen's wimpiest hero), but JL played him sweet and vulnerable and I was totally into him.

But back to Eli Stone.

The show has a great premise: A hot-shot, slightly jaded attorney starts having hallucinations. Really funny ones. Like seeing George Michael-singing-in-his-living-room-type hallucinations. Everyone thinks he's crazy. He goes to an accupuncturist (a really great secondary character named Dr. Chen that I hope is in every show) to try to fix him. But it doesn't work. Then he finds out that he has a brain aneurysm, which maybe explains the hallucinations. Or does it? Cause Eli starts to think maybe he's a prophet (although he doesn't believe in God) which could be another type of hallucination on its own....

His visions tell him what sort of cases he should take and he begins a quest to become a better person. It's a great set up. Loretta Devine plays his mouthy secretary and the show is set in San Francisco, so it's got great visuals.

Plus, I love love seeing British actors play Americans. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because it's the reversal of the ol' fake accent thing (you know, where you fake a British accent) so it's funny to think of them rehearsing an American accent, which of course, doesn't sound like any sort of accent to us... But you get my drift.

Oh, and Eli also has a semi-evil fiance (at least I think she's evil) so there's a romance conflict. I mean, he can't stay with her, right?

I'll have to keep watching to find out.

A thousand Thank you's

I'm finally crawling out of my NyQuil haze to take stock of everything that's happened in the past few days. But I still have to pinch myself to believe it. I'm going to get published! And best of all, I get to write another Bunco book!

When I sent The Church of Bunco off into the publishing void I built a little cocoon around my heart. I let the story go. I let Kitty and Steve go (hero and heroine) even though their story wasn't completely finished. I had to. There was no use writing another book about them because if I didn't sell the first one, then what was the point of another one? This defense mechanism worked pretty well through the holidays. I started another manuscript, only to abandon it after a few weeks in favor of another story. I was just getting my groove into the new plot, when the call came that I'd sold. And that's when I realized just how much I would have hated to have never finished Kitty's story the way I wanted to. I'm just so flippin happy and thankful about that;)

I'm also really happy and thankful that I can breathe again and that my voice sounds almost normal.

And last but not least, I want to thank everyone who took the time to congratulate me. You made me feel like a rock star!

I sold!!

The Church of Bunco sold in a 2 book deal to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley! Woo Hoo!! I couldn't be happier. It was my turn to blog at The Title Wave today, so I spilled the details (in an uncharacteristically long blog) here!

I've been tagged

It's not the first time. But I decided that today I would play. I mostly don't play Blog tag because, frankly, there aren't that many interesting things to know about me (if you keep reading, you'll see what I mean).

Here's the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you;Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours;Post the rules on your blog;Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog;Tag 7 random people at the end of your post;Include links to their blogs;Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, here goes:

1. I was born in Cuba and Spanish was my first language.

2. I detest most types of condiments (mayo, mustard, salad dressing, etc...) If a food can't stand on its own, it doesn't deserve to be eaten.

3. I almost didn't make my First Holy Communion. Sister Pius (yep, that was her name) caught me making "fun" of the mass during one of our many rehearsals in the blistering central Florida heat of May. After a few tears and numerous recitals of the rosary, she gave in and let me do it anyway.

4. I once confessed to a priest that I'd robbed a bank. I was 7 and none of my sins seemed very exciting to me, so I thought I'd make one up. He was speechless (but still made me say the rosary as a penance).

5. In every "test" I take, I come up as a Left Brained person. Huh?

6. My first car was an orange Pinto with a white vinyl roof. Despite the many exploding Pinto jokes (you'd have to have lived through the 70's), it was probably the most reliable car I've ever driven.

7. Despite 3 & 4, I'm probably the most rule driven person ever. If it says not to walk on the grass, then I don't (mostly).

Okay, now that that's over with, according to the rules I'm supposed to tag 7 people. I tag: Gina, Debra, Ruth, and Lucy. Yes, I know that's only 4, but see number 7 about me.

Love in the time of Global Warming

I actually thought this might be a good title for a book. At least, Leon, the cashier at Walmart thought so. But it was shot down by my fab cp Mel. Louisa (other fab cp) never got a chance to shoot it down, as I quickly came to my senses and crossed it off my list of TTBA (Titles to be announced) before ever mentioning it to her.


But as the title implies, I do have to wonder if the earth's thinning ozone has something to do with all the weirdo-ness going on out there.

I'm referring to my obsession with all things ala Tom Cruise. Those who have known me awhile know how I feel about Tom (Just ask Rhoda and Erin. PS- My locker still looks the same as when you 2 "decorated" it 3 years ago). I love Tom as an actor (Jerry Maguire and Rain Man are 2 of my favorite flicks) but let's get real. Tom is becoming almost as weird as Michael Jackson. Tom first came to my notice way back when he did "Risky Business". His dancing underwear scene was hilarious. But as cute as I found Tom in his tidy whities, I have to admit my Gay-dar went into overdrive. I won't even begin to speculate on all the rumors of Tom being gay, or bi, or whatever. That's between him and Mimi, Nicole, Penelope and Katie...



What I do find fascinatingly bizarre is the supposed rumor from the unauthorized biography of Tom written by Andrew Morton (same guy who wrote the stuff on the Royal family) who claims that:



1. Tom is the # 2 guy in the Scientology Church and his "mission" (should he chose to accept it) is to recruit David Beckham.



2. The Church of Scientology is blackmailing Nicole Kidman to keep quiet about Tom by threatening to expose a series of "sex" tapes they have on her.



2. And best of all, that Suri Cruise is NOT Tom's long awaited bio-child after all. Morton claims that Suri was conceived with the frozen sperm of L. Ron Hubbard. OKAY. This is the one that I actually Don't believe.

I mean, really.


Is it the heat that's doing this to us?