I think I have good stress right now. Good stress motivates you instead of gives you nightmares. Here’s what I have going on in the next few months:

Tomorrow, I’m going to Peru.

On September 15, I have a book due. On October 1, I have a partial due. On October 15, I have a book and a short story due. On December 1, I have a proposal synopsis due. On December 15, I have a book due. When I think about it all at once, I start getting a little frantic, but when I break it all down and just focus on one task at a time, it feels more doable.

I get so tired of people asking me how long it takes me to finish a book. Honestly, what does that matter? Even more, I hate when people tell me I am “so lucky to be a fast writer”. Well, no. Emphatically, no. I am not lucky in that I was born with the ability to write 3K a day. I trained up, just like athletes do for a marathon. Once, it was super hard for me to write 1K a day. But I got to the point where that was doable and then bumped my goal to 1500. And I kept going in that manner until I could do more. It took years of focused, disciplined effort. That’s not luck. Nor does it feel fast when it takes me twelve hours to finish my words because it’s not going well. So yeah, I’m neither naturally fast, nor lucky. I work hard.

Now I’m not saying my way is the only way. Writers should do whatever works for them. This is how I accomplish my goals, and other folks should figure out their own systems. How I work doesn’t take away anything from the way they do. I hate such comparisons. The only person I’m trying to measure up to is myself. I do want to do better than I’ve done before and improve my craft. I strive for that continually.

And speaking of that, I have words to write today. What good stresses do you have in your life right now?

So I’m at RWA in Orlando. I’ve been on the road since Friday and done lots of stuff. I went to Comic-Con, where my signing went well. Had a lovely time in San Diego.

I was traveling all day yesterday. Plane delays got me to the hotel even later than I expected. That’s why I tend to come in a day early; if I had been traveling today, I probably would’ve missed the signing. So I’m glad I booked for Tuesday.

It’s strange to be at Disney without the kids. How long ago was it since y’all were here? If you could come to Orlando, what would be the one thing you wouldn’t want to miss? Random commenter wins any book he or she desires from my backlist.

You can have anything in the widget below; there a couple of books in there that haven’t been released yet, so if I order those for you, they won’t arrive until they come out officially.

ETA: Winner = Donna S. Email me your details.

So I am redoing our house, bit by bit, from top to bottom. To my surprise, I’m enjoying the process quite a lot. I love seeing my ideas come together, getting rid of things that don’t work and adding those that do. This actually reminds me quite a lot of revision, only it’s my house that I’m changing from its draft form. My plans are actually quite ambitious.

Before I am done, I will have reupholstered every major piece of furniture, including sofa, loveseat, armchair, dining room chairs, and my office chair. The latter now matches the sofa and loveseat; all are done in this fabulous mocha that’s faux-suede and is scotchguarded so it will be easy to clean. The dining room chairs are now claret (same fabric) instead of dirty beige. Where my office used to be, I have cleaned that space out and moved my desk into the front room. That will be a guest room by the time I’ve finished with it. Right now there’s just an easy chair (in dirty goldenrod), bookshelves and a sidetable. I’ve gotten sheets and pillows and a rug in a really fun pattern. I’ll be combining stripes and dots in an interesting way in there. The room will be red and gold. I just need to buy the daybed and then have that chair reupholstered in the same claret cloth as the dining room chairs.

But wait, there’s more! We’re also redoing the back garden. It’s such a small space (maybe 12 x 30) that previously I had decided it wasn’t worth bothering with. I’ve since changed my mind. The reason for that is because a storm blew down the privacy fence we had at the top of the brick wall that separates us from the other houses. Since we’re in the mountains there are houses above us (the land is kind of terraced) so that taller fence was to block the houses above from peering down into our garden. Turns out, I don’t care so much about that. I’m not going to run around naked out there. That privacy fence was also incurably ugly, made of green, latticed vinyl with barbed wire on top. Between that and the grim, mismatched red/rust paint on the brick wall that encloses our back garden, it was like prison yard. But when the storm came and blew down that privacy fence, suddenly I could see the sky. Sunlight streamed in. A tree that had been struggling to grow shot up and become impressive (really fast!) Turns out we had a pomegranate tree in our backyard, but they need lots of heat and light to thrive. Now it is. We could see trees and flowers in the neighbors backyard. Ivy is starting to come down.

The back garden now has some rustic charm. At that point, I decided to redo it completely. We had the scrap fence hauled away and yesterday, the gardener painted the ugly, ugly brick wall in a fabulous Mediterranean cream. It makes such a difference; you have no idea how much brighter and bigger the area looks already and I’m not nearly done yet. The gardener is going to spray for pests since we intend to use the space (we have a clay tile patio back there but it was so ugly, who would want to sit on it?), cut the grass and then tell us what supplies he needs us to purchase so he can lay some concrete walls to build some raised flowerbeds. (This is necessary to protect the landscaping; otherwise the dog will just dig all our new flowers up.) I spent the afternoon one day last week researching drought-resistant plants, so I now have a list of things I want in the back courtyard. They include catnip, bougainvillea, verbena, sweet alyssum, honeysuckle and jasmine. There are more on the list, but that’s what I can remember off the top of my head. Once we have the landscaping finished, I’m getting a yard swing to put on the patio because it’ll be a space we can enjoy for the first time since we’ve moved in here.

That nearly brings us to the end of my recitation. Only not quite. Inside the house, we’ll be having a carpenter come in to build some custom end tables and bookshelves and a hutch where we can keep the cat food out of the dog’s reach. Once we get that done, I want to do repaint the upstairs and have all the awful carpets torn out, and replace them with wood laminate. If we get all of this done? I absolutely will not be moving because this house will then be perfect. Andres says we can use the land we own up on the mountain to build a cabana-style house. We’ll put in a pool up there and make the house adjacent with, like, a bedroom loft and a big party room. He intends to send the kids there to rock out with their friends on weekends, when they’re old enough. If that comes to pass, we’ll be the coolest parents ever.

So apart from writing, that’s how I occupy my time these days. And I am profoundly enjoying seeing the house go from worn and grubby to pretty and refreshed. How do you feel about DIY projects? I am not very handy and most of my time is spent working, so I mostly hire the work done. What’s the most ambitious project you’ve ever tackled? And what changes would you like to make to your home? If all goes well, I will post some makeover pictures next month!

Join the fan club on June 1. You know you want to.

So Skin Tight comes out next Tuesday. If you didn’t know, it’s the second book in the SKIN series by Ava Gray. It’s helpful to read the first one beforehand, I think. I’m really pleased with this series overall. So far, we’ve sold SKIN GAME (which is now available in Thailand), SKIN TIGHT, SKIN HEAT, SKIN & BONE (novella), and SKIN DIVE. It’s like a dirty & violent blend of Fringe and Heroes, so that should give you some idea what to expect. Interestingly, this is the only series I have sold on proposal.

For instance, when I decided to write a YA, I cleared a space last fall and just went hell for leather on that manuscript. We sold it at auction a couple of weeks after I finished it, and recently, I just found out that Cliff Nielsen is doing the cover art. He’s worked for DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dark Horse comics. He also did Cassandra Clare’s covers, and I just love them. My editor said they’re going for a similar style / feel to City of Glass, only it will have both boy and girl on the cover. I’m way chuffed! And after having perused his portfolio online, I’d be hard pressed to find anything I didn’t love.

I’m very pleased with my YA result; that’s actually my preferred way to do business because otherwise I’m expected to write sample chapters and work up a really compelling synopsis. Given my inability to plan, this could easily take me a month, and you know, I can draft the book in six weeks. So for my money, I’m better off just banging out a draft and asking my agent to pitch it (because she’s really good at distilling a project to its essence). I know for some writers, it’s the dream to be able to sell an idea. And I have done that. But I much prefer selling a finished book for a number of reasons.

1) I hate writing proposals *so* much. You have no idea. I am incapable of plotting a book before it’s written so my synopses are a vague, hot mess full of phrases like “Complications ensue” and “they fight the bad guys” and finally, “they save the world and make out for a while.” I know perfectly well that a proposal won’t encompass the best aspects of any project I dream up.

2) I like having a finished manuscript going into a sale because it means my next deadline for subsequent books won’t be for a while. If you sell a proposal, then you have to drop everything and write that book. With my schedule, that’s a major concern. I basically can’t afford to pitch anything unless I have the book ready to go. I have books going into 2012 at this point.

3) This is just my opinion but I think it’s easier in this climate for editors to say no to a proposal. But a complete manuscript that’s ready to be purchased and slotted into the schedule, that’s more tempting. They can see the big picture, envision how they will position it, what’s the best way to market it. The full story, if you’ve done your job as a writer, makes your book a treasure they can’t resist. Ideally, anyway. Of course, if you’re super-famous this does not apply to you; you could jot an idea on a cocktail napkin and have it go to auction. *g*

Finally, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a finished book that doesn’t sell. Someday the market might be different, or you might be so in demand that editors are begging for anything you have ready to go. Which is when you whip out the manuscript and go, “Well, since you mention it…”

Finally, I think writing a lot improves your craft. I don’t see how it could be otherwise. You write; you learn. To quote Alanis:

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

She can be quite anthemic for this business, no? So what do you guys think? Do you prefer selling on proposal or on a draft? Opposing opinions welcome!

I’m busy having fun and rocking out at RT. Talk amongst yourselves this month. Here, I’ll give you a topic.

How do you feel about that “Show me your papers!” bill that just passed in Arizona? Feel free to cuss.

So this is late today. I have no excuse. I was running around; I went to the mall. I hung out with my family. And then in the afternoon, I wrote some words on a side project. I’m kind of on vacation right now, so I’m staying off the internet as much as can. Unfortunately, that means I didn’t look at my calendar until just now.

So this is totally on me. Here’s what I’ve been up to: I finished drafting my novella, SKIN & BONE, which is 3.5 in the Skin series by Ava Gray. I also finished revisions on NIGHTFALL, my paranormal apocalyptic book written with Carrie Lofty. All that done, I decided I needed a break before writing the next Ava book, SKIN DIVE, which stars characters you’ll meet in SKIN TIGHT.

Sometimes it feels a little weird to have written so far in advance. By the time you guys read something, I’m way past that and have been working on other stuff for a year, or a year and a half, in Corine’s case. In some ways, that’s good. It lets me detach from the project, so my heart isn’t broken if people don’t like it. It permits me to be somewhat philosophical about it. If books came out sooner, I might still love them so much that I can’t stand to hear any other opinions. But it also dulls my edge of excitement, too. By the time y’all are enthused about reading a brand new book, I am wishing you could read the lovely thing I just typed the final line too. The waiting is hard for me too! But I do love the different stages, watching a book come together. For anyone who’s ever wondered, it goes like this:

I draft the book. Typically, this takes me about 6 weeks. Ideally, I let it percolate for a week or two. Then I go back and revise & polish. After that, I send it to beta-readers, at least one or two. I take note of their comments and criticisms. Then I revise again. At that point, I turn the book in. My editor keeps it for a while. I get cover art! I do the happy-dance because that makes it feel real to me, even more so than the money or the contracts. Eventually, I may get notes from her for more fixes. If so, then I do that. If not, then we proceed straight to copyedits. Once I finish copyedits, I wait some more and work on other stuff. Then galleys arrive. This is another happy-dance stage because it means I’ll be seeing a finished book soon. Around a month before the book comes out, I get a box of author copies. I do NOT spread them out on the bed and lay with them and tell them intimate stories. I don’t know where you heard that. And that, my dear readers, is where books come from. I know it’s rawer than you expected coming in.

So Anton had a release yesterday, book three in his urban fantasy series. When I first heard about his book coming out, I was like, DAMMIT, he’s doing psychometry! Why couldn’t I be first with this? And I was quite annoyed that I had near two-year wait before my book came out, because it meant he got the jump on me. But then I came to realize there’s plenty of room for all because look how many dang vampires there are running around book world. We’re fine with two psychometrists. Maybe I’ll even write some cross-world fan fic about Corine making out with Simon, but I won’t show anyone because that would be dirty and wrong.

To prove my good will, I’m pimping his hero, Simon Canderous (being partly named after the best KotOR character, he had to be awesome. And he is!) Without futher ado, here are his sexy books.

Don’t you want them? Yes, you do! But first, enjoy this quickie interview with Anton himself.

1) If you had only bacon, bread and peanut butter in the house, what would you make for dinner?

My love of bacon is well evidenced by my fantasy writer physique. For my recipe, I would roll the bread to form a ball around a core of peanut butter. I would then wrap a slice of bacon around it and fry the whole thing. The fat of the bacon would help crisp up the bread and it would be delicious. In theory, anyway. I might also just eat bacon out of a weaved bowl of bacon that I make.

2) If Simon Canderous were a pair of shoes, what would they be, and why?

Doc Marten’s, the mid height ones. Dependable, utilitarian, and great for kicking ass. Also, resistant to lycanthrope fur and brains wipe off them without discoloring the leather.

3) Do you ever dream about zombies? Why or why not?

As a long time fan of the Resident Evil games (hence using the last name Wesker in my series), I’ve been plagued by them. Lately I’ve been having more of them, but that’s due to sitting down with my friends for some co-op in Left 4 Dead, which mixes up slow and fast zombies, which adds a whole new level of terror. For the record, I am a bigger fan of slow zombies. They seem comical at first, all slow and shambling, but they never tire and eventually they WILL get you. Zombies represent the slow march of the inevitability towards death. Fun right? Remind me why I play these games. Whee!

4) How did you get to be so awesome? Was it a gradual development or did you come into your awesomeness all at once?

I’m like one of the X-Men when it comes to my mutant awesome powers. Like many of the students at Xavier’s, my powers awakened once I hit puberty, and after a quick but awkward phase, I blossomed into the awesomeness that is Anton. Anyone who knew me from my childhood and disputes this, is full of lies! Lies, I tell you! Please note that it is no coincidence that you too are awesome. There may be a correlation that involves the fact that both our names start with ‘An”…. [Interviewer's note: I think he's onto something here.]

5) What do you want readers to glean from your books, if anything?

There are hidden messages in the book that I desperately want people to tune into. Unfortunately, they are subliminal messages, instructing readers to run out to the stores with an insatiable desire to buy all three books, a set a week, over and over.

Actually, the real message is to have fun. I want people to be entertained. If there is a message, though, it probably is that it’s much harder to be good than evil. I find writing about characters who struggle to do good fascinating. Plus, it’s delicious fun torturing those goodie-two-shoes.

So now you know Anton a little better. Actually, probably not, since my interview questions are dumb, but I never claimed to be Barbara Walters. Hopefully you laughed a little, and even if you didn’t, you’ll never get those two minutes back. I’m so sorry.

Moving on! I know you’re really about the loot, so I’ll be giving away TWO FULL SETS of the Simon Canderous books. That’s two lucky winners who can glom Anton in one long, sweaty orgy of weekend reading. (You did process the last part of that sentence, right? I am in no shape or form promising Anton’s services in any capacity.)

To enter, you post a comment answering this question:

If someone with the gift of psychometry read your most cherished belonging through psychometry (that’s getting information by touching an object), what would they learn about you? And game on!

Contest ends Friday. Void where prohibited. Open to people who live in any country Book Depository ships to. Yes, I like you and think you’re pretty. Do not taunt happy fun ball.

ETA: WINNERS! Jackie U & Theresa! Email ann.aguirre at gmail.com with your full names & addresses to collect your prizes.

To drive off the chill for some of y’all I’m going to run a contest. Here are the books that are up for grabs.

Don’t they all look amazing? The Bradford Bunch has a ton of releases in January! So I’m celebrating these books right here. RULES: I’m not pulling a single winner, either. I’m doing random winners over the next week. There will be “hot” times to comment, but you must comment often because you never know when you might get lucky. This contest runs until I have announced nine winners, at least one a day. No spamming, no random links. Your comment must contain content and pertain to the books or something a prior commenter has already said.

Everyone understand how we play? I’ll start us off with a question, but feel free to let the conversation evolve. However, if you’re coming in later, and you can’t think of anything to say on your first comment, you can always answer this for your comment. (Do not answer it repeatedly; that will not win you anything.)

Which of these books are you most excited to read and why?

So that’s it. There are some lovely, lovely books up for grabs, and nine winners to be found. Go for it, people!

ETA:
First winner! Cathy M claims a copy of STOLEN SEDUCTION!
Second winner! Raelena wins a copy of CRUX!
Third winner! Joder snags a copy of THE STRANGER’S SECRETS!
Fourth winner! Booklover1335 runs off with SWITCH!
Fifth winner! Amy Kathryn snares a copy of COMING UNDONE!
Sixth Winner! Michelle K bags ETERNAL HUNTER!
Seventh winner! Jane steals a SCOUNDREL’S KISS!
Eighth winner! Miranda makes off with KING OF THE UNBLESSED!
Final winner! Bella walks off with WICKED ENCHANTMENT!

And that’s all, folks. Email me your name & address at ann.aguirre at gmail dot com.

I have eclectic tastes in music. One minute I’m listening to the Black Eyed Peas, and the next it’s Amy Macdonald. Right now I have an Amy Macdonald song stuck in my head. It’s called RUN. I think it’s quite haunting. But it doesn’t help that we played this CD on a loop on the way back from Acapulco.

I’m different from my husband in that I’m still discovering new artists. Andres stopped caring about new music about the time Ace of Bass disbanded. He also thinks the Bangles are awesome. Shh, don’t tell him I’m mocking his musical stagnation.

I’m looking at my Itunes right now and here are my ten most played songs:

I Gotta Feelin - Black Eyed Peas
30th Century Man - Scott Walker
Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
All My Little Words - The Magnetic Fields
Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet - Bachman Turner Overdrive
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak
Waking Up in Vegas - Katy Perry
Run - Amy Macdonald

Now it’s time for you to confess your top five most-played. You know you want to. Random commenter wins Skin Game or Doubleblind, whichever (s)he wants more.

So zombies seem to be big. I can understand them as mindless antagonists or even souped-up villains with working faculties. I’m not sure I can get on board with the idea of them as romantic leads. I mean, wouldn’t stuff fall off at inconvenient times? And you’d almost have to do something about the decomposition. It just doesn’t sound hot to me.

Dorchester has an romance antho coming out about zombies My friend Angie Fox has a story in it. How do you guys feel about zombies as heroes or romantic leads?