As I Twittered earlier, today I am home alone for the first time since I got back from RT. *blissful sigh* I love my family very much, and I am grateful to have them. But I am someone who thrives on routine, and said routine involves my children being in school five days a week. I have come to depend on that time as my work day, and while my kids are actually pretty great, they are still kids. They find it hard to understand why I can’t hang out with them all day instead of playing on the computer.

Sometimes I have to remind them. “You remember that I work on the computer, right? You see those books on the shelf in the TV room…?”

They’re disgusted with me for reminding them because they never forgot for a minute that they have a “famous” mom. Yeah, right. I kind of doubt it comes up when they’re talking their friends. Not that I want them to go around bragging — I certainly don’t. (Well, maybe a little.)

At any rate, I start to feel crowded if I haven’t had any time to myself. It make me snappish. Right now, I am not working on a contracted novel, but I’m always writing something. I think the neurons in my brain would stop firing if I wasn’t. Not having space to think, or lay around and dream plotting daydreams makes a big difference. How awesome is it that I have a job where I can lay in bed in silence and watch made-up movies in my head… and it actually is work related?!

But for that, I do need this quiet time. I need to be by myself. So yay for silent mornings where the sun slants into my office like a golden ladder. What do you guys appreciate today?

I have a signed book to send out. Cheryl McInnis, you need to email me at ann.aguirre at gmail.com to claim your prize. I need your address.

RT was a lot of fun this year, more fun than Pittsburgh by far, and the hotel staff was wonderful. When you asked for help, you actually received it, and in a timely fashion too.

I enjoyed seeing the Bradford crew and my wonderful agent; that goes without saying. I also loved hanging out with Larisa Ione, who is about twenty times more fun than I thought she’d be. We had met briefly at RWA the previous, but I hadn’t enjoyed the chance to chill with her before. I had so much fun with Larissa that I totally lost track of time and forgot I was supposed to go to Club RT on Friday afternoon.

The signing went well, and I am now writing this blog late at night from Azteclady’s guest room. Everyone else is probably at home already. Tomorrow, I have lunch with Sharon Shinn and then I fly home as well.

What have you guys been doing?

Hi, everyone!

I´ve only been back from San Diego for a day, so I am still a bit jet-lagged. For a full account of my trip, check this out. Now that you´ve read that, it´s almost like you were there! But I have some pictures to share with you.

These were both taken at Barnes and Noble, by the way. In every B&N we visited, BLUE DIABLO had fantastic placement on the New Paperbacks rack. I was quite excited to see my book near Janet Evanovich!

But that´s not the best part of my trip.

Look at all those delicious books! Since I took only the minimum of what I needed, my overnight case was mostly empty. I proceeded to fill that sucker up with books. But don´t worry; I wasn´t 100% greedy. I brought back a signed copy of BARBIE & THE BEAST. I´m going to give that away to a random commenter.

So here´s the question you must answer to win: what was the last book you purchased and what made you pick it up?

PS - That Patricia Briggs you see there? Signed!! I love Mysterious Galaxy.

I can sense your ears perking up. What’s that, you say? Another contest? But Ann, you might say. You’ve already got one going on your blog. That’s true… and you should enter if you haven’t already. There are some sick prizes. I mean, a $250 visa gift card for making a book trailer? That’s a helluva thing; you can’t afford not to enter.

But first things first. I have a winner to announce. Lisa W, come on down! You snagged the Amazon gift certificate. Cool, right? Drop me a line: ann dot aguirre at gmail.com. I need your email and your full name to hook you up.

Now for the exciting news. I got my hands on another Blue Diablo arc. Just when you thought I’d given the last one away, right? But wait, there’s more. Included with my arc, you’ll also receive a special mystery arc.

ETA: Big winna!

JANICU!

After checking the count twice (with major thanks to Andres & Azteclady), Janicu wanted it most, and she gets the prize pack. Thanks for playing. Look for an email shortly.

Jackie, you wanted it too, so I’ll be emailing you too.

We all have stuff that we don’t think people should know we like. So here I am, making my confession. Will y’all absolve me?

This video is a perfect example. First, I loooove the song. I know it’s not PC. I know it’s borderline offensive to women — and I so don’t care. This song makes me want to dance (and give that big booty a slap. It also kind of makes me want a pair of Apple Bottom jeans and boots with the fur.) So that’s my first confession. I’m not all about the emo music (Sorry, Death Cab for Cutie. I love you, but it’s not monogamous. I’m cheating on you with Hip Hop songs.)

Which brings me to my next guilty pleasure. I looooove dance movies, the more cliche the better. I’ve been trying to lay hands on Strictly Ballroom for a while now. So far I’ve met with no success. But a story where the mousy girl becomes sexalicious through the wonder of dance? (That’s the whole beauty of Dirty Dancing, isn’t it? I own that movie by the way. I can quote bits of it. And in my mind, they live happily ever after. Don’t ever bother watching Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights btw. It’s TERRIBLE. And I say that with the conviction of someone who has almost no standards where dance movies are concerned.)

There are a few I haven’t seen yet, like Take the Lead (Antonio Banderas, as a concerned teacher? Really? But ok, I’ll give it a shot.) And Dance with Me. But if it has dancing, I’m so there. I also love the “different social class” schtick, regardless of how played out it is.

So now that I’ve made my confession, I need two things from you. First, you have to confess one of your guilty pleasures. Second, you need to tell me if you know of any dance movies I may not have seen. Random commenter will be win a $10 gift certificate for Amazon. The contest wraps up two weeks from today.

I’m so pleased you asked.

For starters, I’ve been nominated for a PEARL award in two categories, one in SF/F with Romantic Elements, and one in Best New Author.  That’s really cool. Now I’m just waiting on the RITAs, in which I have no expectation of finaling. But the cool thing is just being eligible to enter. It’s a tangible measure of success.

I completed my first draft of KILLBOX on Friday, which means as soon as I finish writing this post, I’ll be shifting focus to DOUBLEBLIND. I need to have these revisions completed by the end of February. Despite the amount of new material requested, it won’t be a problem. I’ve never been so happy that I work fast. Sometimes, over the past few months, I can’t believe the amount of work I’ve done.

Let me give you an idea. Last year, we sold a total of nine books. I’ve now written seven of them. I think that’s pretty impressive. When I look at objectively, I’m surprised at my discipline and my output, but in a good way. See, I’m the sort who had trouble holding a day job. I didn’t like being on someone else’s schedule. I didn’t like having someone tell me how to budget my time or what I should be working on. No matter my intentions, I always wound up telling my bosses to fuck off in some fashion or another. I worked in an office once with a particularly bitchy boss; she was constantly on my back (and I work best self-directed). The day I quit, I had a terrible toothache, and I needed to go to the dentist, but she wouldn’t let me. Before she went to some meeting, she chewed me out good about the fact that I hadn’t changed the filing system to her spec (it was busy work, filing according to some numeric code instead of just using the alphabet). I had real work I needed to be  doing, like checking references. (I worked in HR.) With the combination of the toothache and that ass-chewing, I’d had enough. I just got up and walked out. It was one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

But here’s the thing. My spotty job record made me worry that I couldn’t stick with anything. Then we sold all those books, and I got a bit scared. Sure, I’ve never quit writing. It’s always been my dream, and I’ve been working at it since I was 15. But could I deliver when the heat is on?

Turns out I can. And that makes me feel a whole lot better about myself. I’m not a quitter who can’t stick with anything. I’m actually very focused about writing. Today is a holiday here in Mexico. The kids are home, and my husband doesn’t have to work. But I do. I turned down breakfast out for cereal at home and am settling down to get on these revisions. That makes me proud.

In other news, I got the back cover copy for DOUBLEBLIND. I really dig it:

[FRONT COVER:]

She’s humanity’s last hope.

Run for your lives.

Doubleblind

Ann Aguirre

National Bestselling Author of Wanderlust

“Sirantha Jax is an unforgettable character.” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan

[SPINE:]

Doubleblind

National Bestselling Author

Ann Aguirre

[BACK COVER:]

It’s not easy to tread lightly wearing steel-toed boots.

Sirantha Jax isn’t known for diplomatic finesse. As a “Jumper” who navigates ships through grimspace, she’s used to kicking ass first and taking names later—much later. Not exactly the obvious choice to sell the Conglomerate to the Ithtorians, a people whose opinions of humans are as hard as their exoskeletons.

And Ithiss-Tor council meetings aren’t the only place where Ambassador Jax needs to maneuver carefully. Her lover, March, is frozen in permanent“kill” mode, and his hair-trigger threatens to sabotage the talks—not to mention their relationship.
But Jax won’t give up on the man or the mission. With the Outskirts beleaguered by raiders, pirates, and the flesh-eating Morgut, an alliance with Ithiss-Tor may be humanity’s only hope. Which has Jax wondering why a notorious troublemaker like her was given the job…

What do you guys think? Good? Would it make you want to buy the book? And what news do y’all have this week?

You’ve heard of Freaky Friday, right? Welcome to Peeve-y Monday. In my day-to-day life, which includes internet contact, I’ve noticed something that irks me. Oh, there are no shortage of things that do, mind, but this is a new one.

Have you ever met someone who has to make everything about them? This gets on my last nerve.

Let me give you an example. Say you belong to a message board where people chat, share problems, and good news.

Sally Shygirl doesn’t post much, and she’s not a complainer, but today she comes to the forum with some good news. She’s gotten a promotion at work. Woohoo, go Sally! Right? That’s the right thing to post in whatever form you prefer.

But along comes Lydia Limelight, who can’t stand for Sally to get any attention. She posts: “Nice, Sally! This reminds me of the time I got called into my boss’s office, thinking I was in trouble, and he made me district manager!”

WTF, Lydia! This is NOT the place to talk about how awesome you are. If you need attention, make your own post. Don’t demand attention all over Sally’s good news.

And this doesn’t just happen on the Internet. I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to tell someone something and they have this look that says they’re not really paying attention; they’re just waiting for their turn to talk. It’s like, “Uh-huh, nice. Btw did I tell you…” Blah blah blah, on with my news! How hard is it to listen and care?

Don’t you just hate people like that? Give somebody else the floor, for crying out loud. It’s NOT all about you, Lydia.

(Sally and Lydia are not real people. You didn’t miss any big brouhaha.)

What pisses y’all off?

I hope everyone is enjoying their preparations for the holidays. At this point, everyone probably has most of the shopping done and are finalizing plans. I hope everyone has the best Christmas ever. As for me, I’ll be making ham and sweet potatoes this year for Christmas, and then we’re going to spend the 24th and 25th watching holiday shows on Hallmark. It’s going to be a lovely, relaxed Christmas at home. I wish everyone the best in the coming year. Now have a smile on me.

First of all, the lovely Laura Bradford has crit for three chapters and a synopsis up for auction for the Jo Leigh auction! Check it out! I can say firsthand that Laura is wonderful with editorial and her eye has made all my books better.

I’ve also got something up for auction - all of my Chase Brothers books and all my Witches Knot books - all in print and all signed and personalized.

Fellow Bradford Buncher Cynthia Eden has a manuscript critique up for auction! ALSO autographed copies of Hotter After Midnight, When He Was Bad, Everlasting Bad Boys, Midnight Sins

Ann Aguirre offers up a mentoring opportunity: a full manuscript (romance / fantasy (which includes UF) / SF) critique and help with query letter for same manuscript, to be submitted to Ann within 6 months of auction. and ALSO - autographed copies of Grimspace and Wanderlust

Vivi Anna offers copies of HELL KAT and INFERNO

Denise Agnew offers a copy of Meant To Be

For those unfamiliar with the story - Jo Leigh - an author whose fabulous romances have made many a day better - lost her husband this year and the proceeds of the auction will go to paying the medical bills.

A full listing of the auction items can be viewed here

I go through periods where nothing satisfies me. Not my life, my house, my husband, my kids, my writing, or anything I read. I don’t know what to make of this baseless dissatisfaction. I mean, it always passes and I realize how lucky I am in every way. So why do I feel that way? Is it simple PMS? That seems like an easy explanation for these cycles that come and go. I don’t even think it’s monthly. It’s less frequent than that.

Honestly, I think it has more to do with completing a book. For me that’s akin to post-partum depression. All my effort has culminated in this wonderful product, but now I’m at loose ends, and I don’t have anything to do. Oh, I should be all excited about the time spent relaxing, but instead I wind up grumpy, which leads to this “nothing I do is good enough” sort of feeling. I’ve lost the knack of being able to chill, lose myself in a book or kill a few hours playing video games. All the while, I feel guilty, like I should be doing something. Saturday, I did laundry all day. Thursday, I cleaned the kitchen and made a proper feast for dinner. I miss being able to slack without having any emotional baggage attached to it. Now, I think about the books I have contracted and yet to write and I get anxious. How can I waste this time when I should be working?! What if something happens down the line and I can’t fulfill my obligations. And that’s not a joking fear; that’s my version of being scared of spiders.

I’m terrified of missing a deadline. I sooo am.

I realize I need to get this under control. I have to find a balance between a strong work ethic and being able to take it easy — to rest and rejuvenate. Even when I’m blogging, I feel guilty because I’m not working. Speaking of which…