So I’m back from Catemaco, where we had a lovely time. Once I have the pictures downloaded from the digital camera, I’ll devote a post strictly to what we did there.

I finished two projects last month, which left me really ready for a break. The vacation came at the perfect time. But that’s not all I need to refill my tanks. In addition, I’ve also been playing FALLOUT 3 (quite an addictive game  I might add) and reading whatever I can get my hands on. These things help me rejuvenate, but it’s not always the same. After some projects I watch a bunch of movies, or sometimes DVDs of television shows. It varies from book to book.

My favorite thing about ebooks is that I can browse for what I want online, then buy and download immediately. For instance, I bought four novels last night. I’m a fast, insatiable reader, something you may not have known about me. I keep that in check when I’m working on one of my own books because otherwise I wouldn’t get my words done. I’d just sit around and read all day, which would be delicious, but it wouldn’t do anything for my productivity.

Therefore, after completing a project, before I get started on something new, I indulge myself. I do these fun things all day long as a reward for staying so focused when I’m working. How long I do that depends on the project, how grueling it was, how tired I am, and of course, my deadlines. But generally I like to take at least two weeks off between books. Sometimes I can’t, but I find that’s long enough to reset my brain and get me ready to begin the next fictional adventure.

Anyway, so yesterday, I spent most of the day playing FALLOUT 3 with breaks for meals, to help my son pack for a school trip today, and I did a little grocery shopping as well. Around 9pm, the cat started to complain that I’d spent the day on the computer after I had been so evil as to leave him on vacation (the housekeeper fed him, I swear!) but Don was noisy as only a Siamese can be, so I sighed and went upstairs to snuggle with him. (I was frustrated with the game by then too.) We settled down in bed, and the only thing I needed was a good book. So I got my Ibook and went shopping. Oh, I had plenty of stuff to read, but if you’re a junkie like I am, you know the feeling of being unfulfilled by what you have in your TBR pile, no matter how much you wanted those books when you got them. Generally, I read outside the genre I’m writing because I don’t want anyone else’s world in my head when I’m working on mine.

Here’s what I bought:

I read two of them last night (I know, already!) and they were fabulous. I’ll let you guess which two. What good books have you guys read lately?

Undercover is a TOP PICK in Romantic Times Book Reviews for December. Holy cupcakes.  I haven’t even seen the magazine yet! December isn’t online (although it might be by the time this posts) so I was blissfully ignorant. But Jaci Burton, Maya Banks and I have a group ad in this upcoming issue and Jaci sent an email to say she got her issue and how pretty the ad looked. It was a cool email but it was the, “Oh and congrats on the Top Pick for Undercover, Lauren” at the end that made me gasp and read it twice more before emailing her back and asking, “Really? I did? OMG!!”

She kindly sent me the text of the review shortly thereafter so thanks, Jaci, for totally making my day!

OMG!!!!!  I’ve never had a Top Pick before. Several 4 1/2 star reviews but never the top pick. I’m so freaking excited!!!!!

Here’s the review:

Dane has written a sizzling, delicious tale of love lost, found and expanded. The M/F/M triad is as endearing as it is molten hot. The friction between Sera and Ash as they resolve their past is intense, and with Brandt added to the mix, it’s nothing short of explosive. An adrenaline-filled, suspenseful subplot keeps the reader engaged.

Reviewed by Bella March.

Thanks so much to Bella March for the review.

Undercover comes out December 2 from Berkley Heat and it’s my verra first single title from a NY publisher. I’m not a newbie, I’ve got over two dozen published novels under my belt but this one is big for many reasons and I so want it to do well. Of course that means some days I’m euphoric and others I’m panicking that it’ll be the worst book ever, LOL.

Anyhoodle, amidst the mountain of ironing and laundry I did this weekend, the dinner out with my dude Friday night and the low point of some dire news from a friend, seeing this review was pretty darned fabulous.

Blurb: A sexy debut exploring an erotic future universe of passion, danger, and deceit…

On the battleground or in the bedroom, one woman and two men fight for dominance in a bold, new, and excitingly different direction in erotica…

As a lieutenant of the Federation military, Sera Ayers is accustomed to giving orders, not taking them. Now she must obey the one man she can’t stand—and can’t stop thinking about.

With the enemy Imperialists gaining ground, a covert team is assembled by Ash Walker. Ten years before, Sera had lovingly submitted to Ash’s dominance in the bedroom. But when he was forced into a political marriage, she refused to play mistress. His marriage now over, Ash wants Sera on his team—and back in his bed.

The third team member, Brandt Pela, has an elegance to match Ash’s savage sexuality. And when their undercover plan requires Sera to pose as Brandt’s lover, it ignites a passion among the three of them more dangerous than their mission.

Here are some quotes:

Sexy, pulse pounding adventure with a heart twist of emotion that’ll leave you weak in the knees. Dane delivers!
Jaci Burton - Author of Riding Wild and Surviving Demon Island

Lauren Dane deftly weaves action, intrigue, and emotion with spicy delicious eroticism. Undercover is a toe curling erotic romance sure to keep you reading late into the night. - Anya Bast, national bestselling author of Witch Fire

Exciting, Emotional, and Arousing! Undercover by Lauren Dane is a ride well worth taking.
Sasha White author of Bound, Trouble and Wicked

With its fast-paced action, steamy romance, two sizzling heroes and a heroine I adored, Undercover is a book I can’t wait to put on my keeper shelf. Dane does it again! – Megan Hart, author of Tempted

Scintillating! Lauren Dane delivers a roller coaster of emotion, intrigue and sensual delights in Undercover. I was hooked from the first sentence. – Vivi Anna, author of Hell Kat and Inferno

And lastly, after the jump, you can check out an excerpt!  18 and Over Please!
Read the rest of this entry >

There’s nothing like working on a book with complete devotion, and then coming into that last week of work, knowing on a particular day, you will finish this book. It’s a really sweet center of a job that’s sometimes very lonely. I’m not conscious of it as I’m writing, but sometimes when I’m not, I realize how much time I spend by myself, lost in imaginary worlds.

I’m starting the home stretch today. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll wrap up SKIN GAME on Friday. I couldn’t be more excited about that because this book is big and challenging. I wrote it in four points of view, which I haven’t done in years. It’s also longer than most of my books, as the first draft will be 95K, and I almost always add when I revise.

I can’t wait to finish so I can get started on my first revisions. I love polishing a draft, taking what’s there and making it shine. It’s my favorite part of the process. I’m really proud of how I’ve stuck to my writing schedule on this book. I didn’t have a lot of leeway in this deadline, but I wrote everyday what I had to, and I’m nearly at the finish line. What have you guys done this week that makes you feel proud and happy?

A certain amount of competitiveness is natural among authors, only it’s a lot less cute than what’s depicted above. Sometimes you can’t help but feel if author B gets a six-figure deal, there might not be a six-figure deal in the budget for you. If this author makes the NYT with her book about were-ferrets six months before your were-ferret book comes out, readers will think you totally jacked her idea, even if you were handwriting your manuscript on a remote windswept mountain in Tibet and sent your query to NY via yak.

This type of thing can create a toxic environment. Jealousy can be an ugly, corrosive emotion, one I don’t like at all. When I get jealous of someone, I feel petty and awful and small. It affects my productivity, my attitude, everything. And I’m not sure I’m not alone in this. But no matter how good you think somebody has it, you just never know what things are like for them. Maybe it’s not all sunshine and roses behind closed doors. That reminds me of a snippet from a WIP I’m working on.

“I had a friend who got a great job out of college. Melissa married her dream man. They bought the perfect house and took vacations in the Bahamas. Then she died of pancreatic cancer.”

“No shit. Was there a moral to this story?”

She thought about that for a minute. “Even if life doesn’t suck, you still die?

So I try really hard not to think about what anyone else is doing and just write my books, stay in touch with fans as best I can from Mexico, and try to do my best, every single day. That’s all anyone can do. Sometimes it’s hard not to lose the day to day pleasures by keeping your eyes on the horizon. I invite everyone to hug your families today. Tell somebody you love them. Call somebody you haven’t talked to in a while and let them know they matter.

Therefore, this post is a shout out to my Bradford girls. You guys are so great. Just knowing you’re an email away makes a big difference to me. It means a lot to be part of something where people are positive and proactive and want to help. You’re an amazing group of women, and it makes me feel pretty flippin’ special to be part of things. Thanks for everything you do.

Beth Reimer, email me. You won a signed book from my last post.

I think I’m becoming Mexican.

Whether this is something that can happen via adopted environment, I don’t know. But things I used to accept in the States, I now find strange. I’m even adjusting to the holidays. For instance, tomorrow is Independence Day here. For me, the 4th of July doesn’t mean much of anything. I find myself thinking about the Mexican Revolutionary War instead.

There’s so much rich culture here that that most Americans don’t know about. Despite its close proximity, we just don’t learn that much about its history. So in honor of Mexican Independence Day manana, I’m going to share with you some facts you may find interesting:

1. Before the arrival of the first Europeans to the Americas, the civilizations of ancient Mexico achieved important advances in military strategy, architecture, mathematics and agriculture. The Olmec culture was the mother of all Mesoamerican civilizations. They lived between 1200 BC and 800 BC, and among their achievements is a complex system of numbers, which is the predecessor
   of the Maya Calendar.
2. After the Olmecs disappeared, several other cultures raised. The most known of those cultures were the Maya, unparalleled architects, and the Aztecs, who greeted the Spanish Conquerors on 1519.
3. After hundreds of years of Spanish domination, the population of Mexico began to dream about having a country of their own.At those times, Mexican society was formed by a minority of pure native descendants, by “Mestizos” (people with mixed Native-Spanish blood), by Spanish immigrants who came to Mexico to accumulate wealth, and by a majority of “Criollos” (people with pure Spanish descent who were born in Mexico). Tired of the taxes imposed by the Spanish Crown, the Criollos initiated an insurrection that resulted in the proclamation of the Mexican Independence in 1821. With the Spanish out of the land, the Criollos became the ruling class in Mexico.
4. The people of Mexico officially declared their independence in the town of Dolores. This declaration kicked off the Mexican War of Independence, which lasted for over a decade. The history of Mexico records September 16th, 1821 as its independence day.
5. 1822 General Augustin de Iturbide assumes control as Emperor of Mexico.
6. 1823 General Santa Anna deposes Iturbide, the monarchy fails, and a new constitution creates a federal republic.
7. 1829 President Vicente Guerrero abolishes slavery.
8. 1829 A Spanish attempt at re-conquest is halted by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
9. If you stand in a certain place by the main pyramid in Chichen Itzá, you will hear a bird-like sound. Some experts think that this is intentional, and that the Maya represented the Call of the Quetzal (a sacred bird) by building several air passages that recreate the sound when a breeze passes by.
10. The first known convention of Astronomers was held in the Mayan city of Copán, in the year 700 A.D.

The point that interests me in the most? #7. What year was it that Lincoln did the same? Anyone?

Now there’s something about. I think I’ll run a little contest here. Come up with another fact about Mexico, post it in comments, and you could win a signed copy of Wanderlust. Have fun!

It’s weird for me when there are holidays in the States, and they don’t apply here. For me, Labor Day happened back in May; it’s done. And everybody in the US gets off work today! Obviously I’ll be writing, no holiday goodness for me.

First, I have a couple of guest spots going today. I’m at Writeminded, running a contest. And I’m also on Desert Isle Keepers (or I will be whenever Katiebabs gets up to post. It’s Labor Day, after all! She deserves to sleep in). Today and tomorrow mark the final days to enter my Wanderlust contest. I suspect you don’t want to miss that; the prize is $200 in book money.

Second, just as a general update, I’ve finished Doubleblind and will be turning that in shortly. I’m now working on my Ava Gray paranormal romance (that’s my pen name, not the heroine). I think this book will be a lot of fun.

Finally, today we’re gonna celebrate the fruits of our labors (get it? It’s Labor Day.) What have you achieved this year, work-wise? Have you met the goals you set for yourself? Did you set any goals? Go on, shout them out. I want to hear what you’ve accomplished, people!

I found this article this morning. Check it out.

Must admit, when I was young, I always secretly thought of myself as the kind of woman who would have to move to Alaska, or somewhere like this remote Australian mining town in order to find a man. Turns out I was wrong about that. It makes me wonder about the power of self-esteem.  Can you imagine a woman moving halfway around the world because of the male-female ratio?

I do know this, though. If I wanted to start my life all over again, go where nobody knows me, someplace like that would look mighty tempting. I wonder what it would be like for an average woman to move where she’s outnumbered by men five to one. Would it be like the Wild West? Would men fight over her? I’d say there’s a story idea here, but I already have enough work to do.

But feel free speculate. What do you think would happen to our heroine if she moved there?

I will be somewhere else. I might be on a plane or in an airport. I might be at a hotel a thousand miles away. The point is, I won’t be where I wrote this post. Technology is cool like that, isn’t it? Modern life seems like it’s becoming more smoke and mirrors, so there could actually be one wizard pulling all the strings from behind the glass.

That would make an awesome novel, wouldn’t it? The most powerful man in the world — but nobody knows who he is — because he deals in data. He doesn’t have a face you recognize. His power is the most staggering kind, but you could pass him on the street without giving him a second glance. He knows the secrets of all the world leaders… but what does he do with that information? What kind of woman could bring him to his knees? I could so see Anne Stuart writing this.

In any event, I have a winner to announce. Acdaisy77, come on down! You get a copy of HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Email me your address, but since I’m on the road, anticipate delays.

I am in a strange, fey mood tonight. Dogs barking in the distance make me wonder if there has been some disaster of which I am not aware. When this sort of mood takes me, I find myself reading poetry, which I do but seldom, even though I love it. Poetry is a particular ravishment of the senses; the best of it is raw and visceral. It pulls the scabs from emotional wounds we long ago thought healed and we bleed over old losses. If the poet is good, we share his or her pain as well, across time, across space.

Recently I came across a poet whose work had been unknown to me: Anna Akhmatova. Her words are well worth reading. She combines the power and passion of Sylvia Plath with the stark artistry of TS Eliot. Her poems have a darkness to them, which is understandable once you know the time in which she lived.

Upon learning about Isaiah Berlin’s visit to Akhmatova in 1946, Stalin’s associate in charge of culture, Andrei Zhdanov, publicly labelled her “half harlot, half nun”, had her poems banned from publication, and attempted to have her expelled from the Writers’ Union, tantamount to a death sentence by starvation.

Only tackle her poem REQUIEM if you’re feeling brave. It will tear your heart out and stomp on it. But I’ll give you a little taste of what she can do.

Tashkent Breaks into Blossom

As if somebody ordered it
the city suddenly became bright –
it came into every court
in a white, light apparition.
Their breathing is more understandable than words,
in the burning blue sky
their reflection is doomed
to lie at the bottom of the ditch.
I will remember the roof of stars
in the radiance of eternal glory,
and the small rolls of bread
in the young hands
of dark-haired mothers.

I haven’t been so in love with a poet I discovered on my own since I found Sara Teasdale. What poet rocks your socks?

I’m now working on Doubleblind. That’s the third Jax book. I’m asked via email whether I intend to write more short stories for the website. Yes, I do!

You can expect a short story about Vel (in his POV) in the spring of 2009. People have been really excited about that, which surprises me. I’m just amazed how much people love Vel. Which leads me to the next question. Does Wanderlust have more Vel? Yes, it does. And he’ll play an even bigger role in Doubleblind.

Last week, I turned in Hell Fire, which is nicely polished. That’s the second Corine Solomon book. Blue Diablo is now up for order on Amazon, which I’m excited about. I’m told we’ll have cover art for it sometime in August, so that’s something to look forward to as well.

I managed to take a few days off, the end of last week and this weekend, although it was full of end-of-school social stuff, kid concerts, and parties we were obligated to attend. You’d think all of that would be fun, but it’s hard for me to enjoy myself when I have a book I need to write breathing down my neck. It would be simpler if I could just hibernate from my family too until the job is done, but they don’t look kindly on that for some reason. Go figure. *g*

This week, I’ll be little seen on the internet, as I’m trying to get some solid word count before I take off for Acapulco on Thursday. So that’s what’s been going on with me. What’s your news?

Twelve years or so ago, I met the man I would marry. The reason I’m thinking about that?

Today is our wedding anniversary. We have a date planned this evening, so after I write this entry I’m going to skedaddle to try and make myself pretty. But first… I feel like reminiscing.

We hadn’t known each other that long when he told me, “Within two years, I’m going to marry you.”

To which I said, “Schyeah, right.”

Imagine his immense satisfaction when we were standing before the minister in Vegas within the time frame he’d specified. At the time, I had a bad dye job, and I’d gotten my hair cut off in a fit of pique. In the old days, when I was upset, I ran off to the salon and got a terrible haircut. Now, I don’t even remember why I got the cut. I’ve since learned to curb that awful impulse, but back then, my hair was short and orange-blond. In my wedding picture, no less. Why’d he marry me when I looked like such a fright?

He loved me.

Marriage has so many cycles. There are highs and lows, points where you seem to fight every weekend, and periods where you don’t talk at all. Sometimes you wonder what made you choose to hook yourself to a crazy person for the rest of your lives. Sometimes you think, “Oh my god, I will never have sex with anyone else, ever.” The longer you’re married, the less this happens, I think. Or at least, that’s been the case for me.

Sometimes I curl up at night and admire the way his hair curls against his neck, the way he smells fresh from the shower, and the way he knows how to exert exactly the right amount of pressure when he’s running his fingers down my back right before I fall asleep. Sometimes I’m happy to realize I’ll never to have look for a date for a function, never have to go through an awkward breakup again. I take comfort in the way he knows what to get me from Starbucks on Sunday morning without even asking (White Mocha Frappuccino and a blueberry muffin).

And sometimes when we’re out to dinner with the whole family, I see the way his eyes return to me even when I’m not talking. It’s the hand he puts over mine, the arm he wraps around my shoulders, like he wants people to know I belong to him. The magic of building a life together is looking forward to stolen kisses and laughing when the kids go “ew” when they catch us. It’s him coming into the kitchen a little too late and asking, “Can I do anything to help?” Then we both laugh because his timing is impeccable.

I know he wants very much to make me happy, but sometimes he doesn’t know how. And I don’t always make it easy because I must regretfully admit to being one of those women. I don’t want to tell him what’s wrong with me, why I’m sad, or what I need to fix it. When I’m upset, I think, entirely irrationally, that “if he loved me, he’d know.” Which I know is wrong, and I’m working on that. I will also confess that on occasion, I’ve actually said, “You know what you did” when he expresses confusion as to why he’s in trouble. I’m working on that too.

There have been successes and failures between us, but we’re still together. I’m pleased with where we are. And I’m really, really proud of him. Some of you may not know this, but our family runs a pharmaceutical company here in Mexico. Here is their mission:

“To make the best quality medicines at affordable prices for the entire population”

They want to make health care accessible. To that end, they’ve instituted a program with their pharmacy franchise, where they keep a doctor on staff. He sees patients for a nominal fee (20 pesos, which is less than $2). Bruluart basically eats the doctors salary, and then the patients can purchase their required medicines from the pharmacy on site.

My husband is part of that. They manufacture medicines for the government for clinics and hospitals. He’s helping to make the world a better place. So when he tells me that his day was boring and he doesn’t have any glamorous news to report, I tell him I’m proud of him. See, he’s helping the sick and making health care accessible to the impoverished whereas I just write stories.

Happy anniversary, Andres.