Th..th...That's All Folks!

After a very strange (and strained) start to the year, I'll be once more temporarily MIA around here. This is probably the last chance I'll have to blog for a while (not that I've been so regular lately - like I said, it's been an odd first half of the year!)

My computer will be in storage for the month of June while I shuffle around from place to place, homeless for a month, until my new place is available the first week of July. I do have a housesitting gig from June 19-July 4, so it's really only the first part of June I have to worry about. I imagine we'll be in a hotel, but I hate to leave my daughter alone in a hotel (she's almost 15) while I'm at work all day, so we're trying to find friends for her to stay with during that time.

Edie, you said things come in threes, I hope this is the last round! ;) Actually, I have three (no, four!) good things to look forward to in July. I'll have someplace to live (yay!), my daughter's birthday is the 14th, Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix comes out 7/13, followed by the last book on the 21st. *grin* It's the little things in life, ya know? :)

So, anyhoodles, I'll be away for a while, though I imagine I'll be logging in from work from time to time to read your blogs. Just don't tell anybody. :)

Meanwhile, I recommend Linda Howard's "Raintree: Inferno" from this month's Silhouette Nocturne. I just finished it last night and am looking forward to the next installments of the Raintree trilogy. The only thing I didn't like, was the fact that she left me hanging and the next two books will be written by two different authors. (I'm guessing that was the deal with this series.) Though it will be interesting to see what the other two do with it and how they tie her story in with theirs.

As I read, I could see why she is a best-selling author. Her writing style is fast, clean and fun. There were only one or two very minor blips that she and the editors didn't catch, but nothing dealbreaking (little things like using the same word twice in a sentence). The truth is, I just bought this book because it was small, on sale, she wrote it, and I liked the cover. :) I intended to read it to study her style and ended up impressed with her pacing and economy of details, as well as the realism - her heroine had to pee and brush her teeth. :D You don't see that often, and the way it was written was funny and realistic.

So there ya go. Have a great holiday weekend, and I'll see you around. :)

Publishers

Since a few male (and non-romance writing) readers have suggested lately that they might try their hands at romance and/or erotic romance, I thought I’d list a few publishers here. (Spyscribbler - check out Juno Books for books about strong female characters in roles other than the usual - I believe you were looking for something like that lately. :) (Unless I have you confused with someone else! lol)

Note: None of these publishers require agents to submit, and some are also open to genres other than romance.

In alphabetical order:

Aphrodites Apples (new e-publisher; they published my story “Unmasked” in their Masquerade anthology, volume 3. I’ve found them to be very nice and responsive - a fun group of women currently run this company)

Aspen Mountain (e-publisher of most genres)

Avon (large mainstream publisher of “large” romance - usually historical romance)

Cerridwen Press (e-books & paperbacks of most genres - the non-erotic offshoot of Ellora’s Cave)

Changeling Press (e-publisher of all genres of erotica - (romance/horror/sci-fi/fantasy, etc.) have been around a few years)

Cobblestone Press (e-pub, mainly romance & erotica)

Dorchester (large mainstream publisher of most genres of romance)

Ellora's Cave (e-books & paperbacks of erotic romance - was one of the first and largest publishers of romantic erotica in e-book form)

eXstacy eBooks (e-publisher of erotica and erotic romance)

Harlequin (large, mainstream, many imprints and “flavors”)

Juno Books (small, mainstream with focus on strong female characters - publishes mainly fantasy - not really romance, though can have romantic elements - their books look really interesting.)

Kensington (large mainstream publisher of most genres of romance)

Medallion Press (small mainstream - current openings many genres)

Mundania Press (small mainstream publisher - closed for submission until later this year - but check back)

Penguin-DAW (large mainstream publisher - this particular imprint of Penguin publishes fantasy and sci-fi, also with romance - you can check their ROC imprint as well for guidelines.)

Phaze (e-publisher of erotica/romance - been around a while)

Quanum Kiss (e-publisher of short romances - pays flat $10 for each accepted submission)

Quill Pen (online pulp fiction magazine)

Red Sage (mainstream publisher - paperback erotic romance)

Samhain Publishing (mainly e-pub, but also some paperback, most genres with a lot of focus on erotic - currently only open to special themes so check their website for details. I have friends published with them, I’ve had exchanges with them also, and they seem very nice.)

Sourcebooks (small mainstream publisher, currently open to most genres of romance; also publishes non-fiction)

Stardust Press (new e-publisher - publishes most genres, though currently seems focused on erotic romance)

Tiger Publication (small, new mainstream publisher, but seem responsive & with big plans)

Tor-Forge (large mainstream publisher of sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal romance)

Triskelion (mainly e-pub, but also some paperback, most genres with a lot of focus on erotic romance - also currently actively looking for horror, fantasy and graphic novels)

Twighlight Fantasies (new e-pub of erotic romance)

Whispers (new e-publisher of erotic romance)

Whiskey Creek Press (e-publisher of mainly erotic romance)

A Shout Out to My Friends...

So many writer friends (online & in person) have had good news lately that I can barely keep up with it, but just thought I'd share a few highlights. To anyone I've forgotten, please forgive me. I'm working on 3 hours sleep here. :)

In no particular order:

Charles Allen Gramlich - his book, "Swords of Talera" is now available at Amazon. See his May 5th blog for the interesting story of how that came about. Like LaDonna, (see below) he kept it's contract a secret and I don't know how they do it. :)

Cynthia Eden received a 3 book deal from Kensington. Yay, Cynthia!

LaDonna Paulette has contracted two books with Tiger Publications. I am so happy for her! click on her name to read all about it.

Liz Kreger's "Forget About Tomorrow" will be coming out in paperback soon - Liz is an inspiration on many levels.

And last but not least, my dear CP, Amber , now has three books being published this year by various publishers. I am so happy and excited for her, but probably not nearly as much as she is - you see, not only is her dream of being published coming true, so is her dream of having another baby - a baby girl to go with her sweet little boy. Congratulations, Amber! :)

I know there are plenty of others - Stewart Sternberg has had some short stories published online recently; Mackenzie McKade just keeps churning them out - I've lost count how many she has now!

To all of you, congratulations. You make me want to do more. :)

Boggarts

A month or so ago, my daughter and I were discussing the boggarts from Harry Potter - monsters that take the form of what you fear most. We were trying to figure out what our boggarts might look like, but couldn't immediately come up with an answer. You'd think that it would be simple, but it wasn't.

Some things seemed obvious - what if something terrible happened to my daughter? But then again, what if something happened to me before she was old enough to be on her own? There's no one I can trust to look after her. Or what if I went completely broke, became homeless and couldn't care for her?

Well, soon after, I got sick and it was a scare for her and me (though I'm doing better now, thanks) then the payroll department at work messed up and didn't process my FMLA as sick leave, so I was out of a paycheck at the same time my ex decided he didn't feel like paying child support and is now two months behind - JUST when the people I've been subletting from said they needed to come back and I have to be out by the end of the month, and have no clue where or how I'll move. I'll not only not have the finances for it, but I also won't have much physical help packing & moving. My daughter has been fainting for some reason lately and hit her head on some bricks when she went down the other day. We spent 4 hours in the emergency room, where fortunately her EKG and CT were normal, but she does have a concussion. (She still has follow-up appointments with her doctor, but they seem to think it's probably just low blood sugar and nothing too serious, thank goodness.) Plus, this week she received all day detention every Saturday through the end of the school year for skipping so many classes.

So, let's see here... what did I say my biggest fears were?

That'll teach me.

But in spite of it, I'm surprisingly hopeful that things will work. I've only gotten tiny tastes of my biggest fears lately, and while they were nerve wracking, I'm grateful it wasn't worse.

I used to think one of my biggest fears would be revealing too much about myself and appearing foolish. I also used to fret over what people would think/say about my work. You know what? That's nothing. Barely worth giving a second thought.

Stewart blogged today about looking for that delicious thrill of fear that he used to get from horror stories or his own imagination, but which no longer have much effect. I think it's just that real life has so many boggarts hiding in every cupboard that ghosts and ghoulies are child's play in comparison.

What does your boggart look like? Have you ever used it in your writing?