My Summer Vacation...

So who wants to help plan it?

I should begin by noting this is my LAST POST until mid-July (probably July 10 or so). I have a thousand things going on in the next few weeks, including work HUGENESS, a 5000 mile road trip, a memorial that I am meant to be planning, and a BuNoWriMo project to finish.

I will MISS all of you, but really need the time I normally devote to blogging for this week before my trip so I can PLAN...

But see, that's where you come in.

I'm aware of THIS.

My family is DRIVING to IDAHO for my aunt's memorial, then to PORTLAND to see my husband's family (his father passed away this spring). Then we are driving BACK...

What I am looking for from YOU is help breaking the monotony.


Any great sites we can't POSSIBLY miss on Highway 90 going out there?

We also plan on spending a day at Yellowstone—what are the things there we CAN'T MISS?

Not my style of curio...

What are the coolest things on Highway 80 for our drive back?

Anyone have any excellent 4th of July Fireworks recommendations circa Salt Lake City, or maybe Twin Falls (or anywhere in between?)


This will be an interesting family adventure. My daughter travels well (as do I) but the son gets bored and HWMNBMOTI has a history of being a whiny baby. We'll have to see how it goes.

Wish me luck and I'll see you on the other side!!!

Epic Sex

So I don’t write sex scenes very often, and I’ve never written a YA sex scene before, but I find myself facing my first of these. Now nobody panic, I am not jumping into kiddy porn… I will focus on the first-person emotion of it because that is what matters to my story. Still, it is intimidating.

I mean I want to get across…

Hot.
Scared (a little).
Wonder.
Insecurity.
The sort of out-of-body experience it can be when you don't know what you're doing...

That’s a lot.

This book has been fun to write so far. I’m about half done with my BuNoWri goal, but probably only a third or less done with the overall story.

So wish me luck! Or orgasms… wait, no… first timers don’t get those… at least the girls… poor things.


On the TOPIC of Epic Sex…

A friend of mine who shall remain nameless sent me a note last week… “uh, erm… I’ve written this book…”

I knew she was a writer—we’ve been friends for years and it was always one of our common interests—but I DIDN’T know she was writing fiction. She’s not online a ton and is not the attention whore I am. But she asked for a little guidance and help getting her book out there. I am thrilled to give her some introductions, but that ‘must remain nameless’ thing makes it a little tricky. You see… she has a job and a child… and has written erotica…

So FIRST, I want to introduce her book, but then ask you guys some advice…

High Stakes Chattel
by Andie Blue
When Lord Nico Chattel tackles an intruder on his property he is surprised to discover the captive beneath him is a voluptuous wild-eyed beauty seeking his help. Samantha is determined to win the grand prize at the Chattel game tournament that will save her family farm. Now all she needs to do is dress like a man and convince the game’s creator, Lord Chattel to mentor her. The dark and handsome Lord Chattel wants nothing to do with the silly game that once defined him or the woman pursuing him. He agrees to play but only if the victor can claim a sensual prize he is sure will scare her away. The stakes of their game get higher until Samantha is left standing naked before him and Nico must call her bluff.
This erotic romance mixes Downton Abbey with a touch of Fifty Shades of Grey.

If you are an erotica reader, I’d love it if you’d check her out.


Next—any of you have experience with this incognito stuff? How would you go about starting from scratch? I mean I have a separate online persona, but it is more about branding than secrecy—My real friends know both and I don’t mind my professional colleagues learning. I just wanted a clear line between my fiction and my science. (thus dropping my first name for my fiction).

I’d just love to pass on some advice about balancing privacy and/or secrecy with promotion.

Pondering Helicopters

So I was awakened yesterday morning to helicopters... Helicopters do something to my imagination that I can only attribute to my writing obsession...

Once upon a time I lived in Portland, and every news station in town had a helicopter. I mean... I still noticed the helicopters, but they were up there every day checking out the traffic, so it just wasn't that big a deal.

Here in Michigan it is a different story.

The local helicopters are the UM Life Flight helicopters... they are navy with the maize M on the side and always meaning they are trying to save someone's life... these cause me awe... I am moved when I see them.

Any OTHER helicopter (other than game days—game day we get the news ones from Detroit) but any OTHER day and any OTHER helicopter puts me in an apocalypse frame of mind. Oh, I know... you're all saying, that chick sees apocalypses (apocalypsi?) everywhere... and you'd be right. I also see apocalypses with power outages and when I meet those nutty super-planners with basements full of survival supplies. Or when I hear about epidemics. Or chemical warfare... pretty much that is just where my brain goes.


Of course it isn't the ONLY place my brain goes... I see murder set-ups everywhere, too. I saw a father's day ad last week in my Groupon mailing that included a Father's Day DNA kit... um... yeahno... THAT is going to result in MURDER. How can it not? The options as I see it for that gift are:

“See you bastard, you ARE my father. Pay up.”

and

“See you bastard, you're not my father. Get out of my life.”

Maybe I'm a cynic, but I just don't see that gift going well...


So I was wondering how the things all of YOU write about influence where YOUR brain goes? Do you see strange things you didn't used to see? Jump to conclusions no sane person would?

A Cure for Insecurity!

Sorry for posting latish... but I have a new GRADUATE at my house! Pictures pending...

Having recently come off a book release—one of those writerly moments that can bring out insecurity in its most extreme form, it occurred to me how full of gratitude I was. You know what for?

YOU!

All my writing and blogging friends... my friends from home... readers I've never met... When I sort of step back and let myself look instead of fretting in my own head about what might go wrong...

YOU GUYS ARE TEH AWESOME!

So go forth, fine friends... go cheer up the insecure people and know you are loved and appreciated!!!

Some Stuff You Oughta Do

Crimson Romance Blog Hop

So I'm mostly absent today... daughter graduates high school and I got stuff to do, but there is a blog hop for some friends with Crimson Romance books that has some cool prizes! There's two $50 gift cards up for grabs, a seven ebook bundle from the seven authors who wrote a round robin style story (My friend Tara sort of headed that one up - must be mad *snort* - and most of the hoppers are doing individual book giveaways too.) Now Tara is a ton of fun, so why don't you start there, but I've met a number of these people now, and they are all fabulous, so go win stuff!

http://cardiffellanews.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-hop.html

Dragonfly Release

So you guys are all friends with Leigh, right? Well here latest book, a teen romance in a town full of deeply buried secrets, is releasing THURSDAY. You guys are going to want this! I had the good luck to beta read this one and love the MC, and especially all the juicy secrets!

Here is the Goodreads scoop on it.



Seeking YA Authos!

My buddy Marianne Sheldon is starting a blog whereby she interviews YA authors... are YOU a YA author? If so, go visit and pop her a note!

Here is here new blog https://mtsheldon.wordpress.com.

And if you want to reach Marianne about being interviewed, she is on facebook or you can email at sheldonmarianne@gmail.com.

Wait... Am I Supposed to Blog?

I had a full, scatter-brained weekend. As anyone here last week knows, I started BuNoWriMo and made good progress THERE. If anyone is ever curious where I am on that, I keep the meter to the right fairly updated. Saturday was my highest single-day wordcount ever—over 7000. But I was getting ahead because I know this week my time will be sort of limited.

I also had a lot of cleaning to do this weekend. My parents haven't been to visit in a few years and there is nothing that motivates a person who hates to clean quite as well as a mother visiting. Especially MY mother—she is meticulous. In fact I sometimes claim my aversion to cleaning arose in her too clean house. She could give Aunt Petunia a run for her money. Though if I'm honest, I really hate to clean because... you know... cleaning's no fun... and you just have to do it again in a few days... in fact the less you do it, the less you do it, if you know what I mean... you could do it all the TIME and never be done and really, where is the fun in that?

And then there is the graduation gift... we know the WHAT of it, but there are a lot of choices and I don't want to muck it up.

I feel a little like at the end of June, I will breathe a sigh of relief. I've had too much going on for too long and I'd like to just put some of these things behind me, even if I have been looking forward to them. There is THIS here at the start of the month, the writing ALL month, and then the road trip and memorial at the end of the month... Anyone else get that way? Surely I can't be the only one.

All that is just a long way of saying that while I have a few blogs I will post this week, they will be 'Tart-light'--shortish... but hopefully not sharpish, brownish and mossy, or even oldish or bossy... wait. No. Tomorrow's blog is a little bossy. But never mind...