First, let me say that GRIMSPACE COMES OUT TODAY! WOOT! The fabulous Ann Aguirre delivers a story that will take you on a journey like no other and you should run–don’t walk–to get this book today! Go Ann!

You can buy it here, here, here, and here.

I’ve been on the hunt for something new to read, something different, yet at the same time in the romantic suspense genre so as to keep my mind and mood set there as that’s what I’m writing right now.

So, I called my mom.  She’s been reading romance ever since I can remember, and lots and lots of  romantic suspense.  She named off a bunch of authors, some I’d read, others I’d meant to read but hadn’t as of yet.  I wrote down the names such as Tess Gerritsen, Sharon Sala, Johanna Lindsey, JoAnn Ross, Karen Rose, and Kay Hooper to name a few.

I figured I had a couple Sharon Sala, JoAnn Ross, and Karen Rose on the TBR shelf so I was good there, and then I went to the library and checked out some Kay Hooper and a Tess Gerritsen.   The Kay Hooper books, The Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series, totally sucked me in and I’ve been devouring them every spare moment ever since.  It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for and never would have known where to find these hidden treasures without the assistance of my mother (Thanks mom! You rock!).

Romantic suspense books with a hint of the paranormal via psychic, telepathy, precog, etc.  They are just soooo good.  If I could avoid work and every other responsibility in my life, I’d sit down and do nothing but read these books, one right after the other until I ran out.  They are that good.  If you haven’t already tried them, I highly recommend them, starting from the beginning with Stealing Shadows .  You can find the reading order here.

So, have you found any hidden treasures lately?  Please share, because I’m always looking for more. 

ADD: Must clarify.  To me, muse = writer/author creativity.

There was a minor kerfluffle on the RT boards and on one of the blogs I lurk at and the readers and even possibly some authors were more than slightly miffed at the fact that an author who was supposed to have had a book out over a year ago still doesn’t have a definite date of release.

Fans who were once nice to this author are now cruel and heartless. But I honestly do not think that the readerly fans understand the extent of writer’s block.

Possible reasons for writer’s block that I can think of off the top of my head would be: writing too much, writing the wrong story at the wrong time, writing for the “market” and sale-ability rather than for yourself and what your heart desires (or rather what your muse desires), writing what you don’t know versus writing what you do know, and life changes and tragedy in your life that takes up all your time and you just don’t have the time to write.

Those are just a few and there are many more out there. But there is one more, the one that stands out first and foremost in my mind, and one I live in fear of developing: the successful first book block. What I mean by that is, a writer writes their first book, it gets published, and sells very, very well and gets raving reviews… a super-successful first book. Then you sit down at the computer to start your second book or continue on with it, and the words won’t come because in their place is doubt, self-doubt, and fear. Of what you might ask?

Fear of failure. Fear of ridicule. Fear that your second book is going to be a flop compared to the first. Fear that your second book won’t measure up and readers and reviewers are going to bash you and make you wish you were an ostrich who could stick their head in the sand. You sit down at the computer day after day hoping the words will come but all that comes is the fear, the self doubt, the insecurities all writers have, but at levels that make your muse go into hiding. Yet you struggle. Each and every word is a chore to write, and at the end of the day as you reread it, you realize it totally blows (whether it does or not, you see no reason at this point), and then you panic. And your muse goes further and further into the abyss and you wonder if you’ll ever be able to coax him or her back to the surface.

This is the one I hope never develops. Ever.

So, you see, writer’s block isn’t just an excuse for when a writer can’t write, it’s an affliction. A detrimental affliction, one that can ruin your career in more ways than one. You try to hide it because you can lose your agent, your contract, and your readership… but in doing so you’re jeopardizing the very same things. So you publicize it. You get ridiculed. You start to get your muse back, and your publisher gives you a release date, then your muse gives you fits, you need to make major revisions, or life gets in the way or your publisher changes that date, so your readership gets annoyed and ridicules you some more. Then, for whatever reason, your release date gets pushed back again, and your readership gets more annoyed.

What can you do? What should you do? Do you update your website or send out an announcement each time the date gets pushed back even though you have no new release date to give to the readers? Or do you stay quiet, try to get your muse into check, finish the book or revisions and get them to your editor?

Me, I’d chose the latter. Why? Because if I have nothing definite, I’m not going to give out false hope for a time frame for release, and if my muse has still only partially returned, I’m not going to be able to explain that, and who knows if he or she is going to go back into hiding… especially if you go public and you get chastised or ridiculed once again. I think my muse would then be gone permanently. So basically, no news is just that–no news.
What’s the point of this post? Well, to an author, their muse is what helps them write a story. And a muse is a fickle thing. If the author gets insecure, feels doubt with regard to their abilities or their talent, or feels the fear of failure, the muse will be the first thing affected, and it can be affected in a very unfavorable way.

So, if you know an author who is experiencing publishing delays for reasons that are known or unknown, be patient with them please. They are doing their very best. They don’t mean to anger you, the reader. They’re just trying their damnedest to get you the story you deserve, one that is worthy of publication versus one that was rushed and doesn’t measure up.

As a reader myself, I’d rather wait for the quality version than get the rushed version one.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Gee whiz it’s cold here. Below zero with a windchill of -32. Can you say brrrr? *teeth chattering*

I’ve been working on something new, something different. I’m working on a Romantic Suspense (which I’ve done before) but this one is about a female cop as the heroine, the hero is a psychiatrist who is working with the FBI as a profiler on a serial killer case, the case that just landed in the heroine’s lap.

It’s interesting and very challenging to write. I have to keep in perspective what the heroine sees as she processes the scene, yet not let her have more knowledge than one would be able to gather at that point in time… in other words, can’t have her knowing about things until they happen. Very challenging.

I never realized how much work and thought goes into writing a book like this. I have to give props to authors like J.D. Robb, Lisa Jackson, Kay Hooper, etc. because they do it flawlessly.

Does anyone out there read Romantic Suspense of this nature? Who out there reads the In Death series? Kay Hooper? James Patterson? Etc.? What in particular do you enjoy about them?

I’ve got some questions for you all today, and I’ll answer them for you as well.  I’m just curious what everyone is reading out there, genres, etc.

What do you like to read?  Specifically, what genre(s)?

Do you like romantic suspense?  If you do, do you prefer it where the suspense isn’t the main focus of the story but rather the romance?  Or do you like lots of suspense and the romance secondary?

I enjoy romantic suspense a lot, and I prefer it when the suspense is light, where it’s not the main focus of the story.  I tend to write this way as well.  RS comes in secondary to contemporaries for me. 

Do you like paranormal?  What type?  Vampire?  Werewolves?  Demons?  Angels?  Witches?  What’s your favorite?

I like some paranormal, but not a whole lot as of late because it seems like that’s all there is out there.  If I read paranormal, I prefer vamps to wolfies.  I’m going to be trying Meljean Brook’s Demon Angel this week.  I picked up a while back but haven’t gotten to it on my TBR pile.  No surprise there.  I also like witches.  They’d come in second to vampires I think.

Do you read category romance?  Silhouette Special Edition?  Silhouette Desire?  Harlequin Blaze?  Silhouette Romantic Suspense?  Harlequin Historical?  Harlequin Superromance? Etc.

Yes, I do.  I especially like Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, and Silhouette Romantic suspense.  I think they have the best storylines for my taste.

Do you read inspirational stories?

No, I don’t.  I’d probably like them if I read them, but I like some sex in my stories. *shrug*

Do you like contemporaries?  With a light plot, mainly relationship-based?  Or do you like a little more plot, say the characters come with a lot of baggage and they need to work on that before they get too deep into the romance?

Contemporaries are my favorite.  I prefer both types, relationship- and plot-based, but the characterization is what really works for me.  I tend to like the works of authors such as Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Susan Mallery, Rachel Gibson… and more.  I like a variety, but this is the genre I prefer above all others.

Do you read chick lit?  From which author(s)?  What do you like about it?

I read some, but only stories where the heroine isn’t completely selfish and self-absorbed.  Totally annoying that.  A good example of a book I consider sorta chick-litty that I really enjoyed is Ronda Thompson’s Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel.  Great story. 

Do you read women’s fiction?

Yes, I do.  There are times I look for a deeply emotional book and that’s when I grab the women’s fiction, though I like the story to have some romance to it as well.  I found Harlequin Next has some really good women’s fiction stories.  Two that stand out are Marie Ferrarella’s Second Time Around and Jennifer Archer’s The Me I Used To Be.  Phenomenal stories.  Too bad the line was discontinued.  Le sigh. 

Do you read historicals?  Western historicals?  Medieval historicals? Regency historicals? etc.

Yes, some.  I like some western historicals- Sarah McCarty comes to mind.  Medieval historicals- HIGHLANDERS BABY!- and even some regency/European.  They aren’t my first fave genre, but I enjoy them when I read them.  Medieval Highlanders are my fave.

Do you read young adult books?

Some.  I read some that I thought were adult by accident by Meg Cabot.  One was Size 12 Is Not Fat  and it was good.  I’m not sure if this was adult or YA, but it as a good story.  I’d read more of her stuff.  I’ve also read Stephenie Meyer, just the first one.  Good stuff.

Do you prefer first person (”I” which has only one point of view, generally the heroine) or third person (”he/she”)?  Does it bother you when there are more points of view than the hero and heroine?

I prefer third person.  I do read first person books, but third person will always be #1 to me. I like the POV of both the H & H.

So there are my questions to you and my answers.  Your turn. 

I had a brainstorm… I was going to change my website program from where I was at to WordPress.  I can’t, at this point, afford to hire anyone to do it for me, so I’m going to do it myself.  I mean, how hard can it be right?  I use it all the time, it’s easy, it’s got plugins and widgets and custom smilies.  It should be fun.

It has been fun, really, right up until the point where I couldn’t put any text on the first page, my /blog link isn’t working, and I have no clue how to customize the nav bar.  There are widgets and plugins for this as well, but you get them up there, read the instructions (which incidentally are written for web/tech-savvy people), and find that even though you’ve read the instructions, you have no clue how to make them work.  Heh.

But alas, I haven’t given up.  I’ll found a way to get text on the first page, my /blog link still isn’t working, but I think I figured out  a way to fix it, and my friend Lori (tech genius, I kid you not) helped me out with the menu/nav bar and the smilies.  Whew.

Who knew it would be so difficult and time consuming?  I guess if I were an experienced web creator then it would go quickly, but since I’m learning, it’s taken me hours at a time over a period of about 10 days to get just this far.   :-O

I really like the theme colors, but I want a left-side sidebar, so I’d have to alter the theme including width, etc, which really isn’t too difficult just, again, time consuming at a time when I don’t have a whole lot of extra time as I’m doing some rewrites so my lovely agent can pitch this book again and working way long hours.

Sounds like complaining, right?  I guess it is in a way, but I have to tell you, I love the challenge creating the website presents, and I’m not one to back down from a challenge.  I may need help from Lori more often than not, but once I’m done figuring it out the first time around, the second time won’t be nearly as difficult… and there will be a second time because I will, of course, decide at some point to change the theme.  It’s just how I work.

Anyone else out there ever tried to tackle a project of this size?  How did you fare?

Lately life has been busy and stressful and I’ve really needed a laugh, and then I got this email from a friend of mine and OMG it’s so funny I had to share. I laughed out loud more than once and am still snickering as I type. Here you go… enjoy!

Here are six reasons why you should think before you speak - the last one is great!

Have you ever spoken and wished that you could immediately take the words back… or that you could crawl into a hole?

Here are the Testimonials of a few people who did….

FIRST TESTIMONY:

I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow and asked loudly, “How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?”

I turned around and walked back out and never went back my husband didn’t say a word… he knew better.

SECOND TESTIMONY:

I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women’s type I had been using. After browsing for several minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store. He asked if he could help me.

Without thinking, I looked at him and said, “I think I like playing with mens balls”

THIRD TESTIMONY:

My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold a variety of candy and nuts. As we were looking at the display case, the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help.

I replied, “No, I’m just looking at your nuts.”

My sister started to laugh hysterically.

The boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away.

To this day, my sister has never let me forget.

FOURTH TESTIMONY:

While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and ran amok. I was finally able to grab hold of her after receiving looks of disgust
and annoyance from other patrons.

I told her that if she did not start behaving “right now” she would be punished.

To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, “If you don’t let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy’s pee-pee last night!”

The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing.

I mustered up the last of my dignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow.

The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me, were screams of laughter.

FIFTH TESTIMONY:

Have you ever asked your child a question too many times?

My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was on him
constantly.

One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch, in between errands. It was very busy, with a full dining room. While enjoying my taco, I smelled something funny, so of course I checked my seven-month-old daughter, she was clean. Then realized that Danny had not asked to go potty in a while.

I asked him if he needed to go, and he said “No” .

I kept thinking, “Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don’t have any clothes with me.”

Then I said, “Danny, are you SURE you didn’t have an accident?”

“No,” he replied.

I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse.

Soooooo, I asked one more time, “Danny did you have an accident ? This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants, bent over, spread his cheeks and yelled, “SEE MOM, IT’S JUST FARTS!!”

While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing, he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down.

An old couple made me feel better, thanking me for the best laugh they’d ever had!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST TESTIMONY:

This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likely think before she speaks.

What happens when you predict snow but don’t get any!

We had a female news anchor that, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn’t, turned to the weatherman and asked:

“So Bob, where’s that 8 inches you promised me last night?”

Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did too they were laughing so hard!

Now, didn’t that feel good? Laugh! It’s contagious!

Not too much going on in mine. I just got back from the dentist and ugh, it totally sucked. I had two cracked fillings and the teeth had surface cracks on them on the left side, one on the bottom and one on the top. So the whole left side of my face is numb. LOL Too funny. But I was sweating it because she said if the cracks went too deep, I’d need a crown and I so didn’t want a crown, and thank God, I didn’t need one. Just two replaced fillings and filling in of the surface cracks. WHEW!

I really dislike the dentist, not personally, but just the whole concept and what a visit there entails. Sigh. But I’ll be going back in a month or two to get a tooth on the left side crowned WAH! So not fun. My dislike stems from when I was a kid, say 10 or so. I had to have a cavity filled and the dentist hit a nerve (the jerk) then he yelled at me when I nearly jumped out of the chair (the bastard) . Ever since then, I live in fear of the dentist’s office and especially the drill.

So, do any of you have issues with the dentist? Or are you braver than brave and go there without issue?

Marissa ~ the wimp

P.S. The interactive contest at Great Scotts will be back underway tomorrow.  Sorry for the delay.  Life has been hectic.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a safe and joyous holiday season. Mine was just as I’d hoped it would be… relaxing.

Question: Do any of you make New Year’s resolutions?

I have in year’s past, but I don’t think I’m going to this year. I mean, I always make the one “I’m going to lose weight” and it starts out great but then trails off and I go back to the way it was.

So, this year I’ve decided not to make any resolutions, just to live my life the way I feel it should be. Meaning, I need to write more, read more, exercise more, eat healthier, spend more time with my children, and let all my friends and family members know without a doubt that I love them and am grateful for them to be in my life.

In other words, rather than just a resolution this year for all those things, I am going to try to change the way I live my life, fill it with more meaning and purpose.

So what about you? Do you do New Year’s resolutions? Do you stick with them? Or do your good intentions fall by the wayside? Are you, like me, going to go with the lifestyle change rather than the resolution? If so, what are your changes?

Oh… and the contest is still going on at Great Scotts and will continue to do so until I end the story.  I didn’t pick last week’s winner yet because of the holiday, so you’ve still got a chance to get your ideas in!

Ho, ho, ho!  Every one ready for Christmas?  Got all your shopping done?  Or are there a few little items you’ve still got to get?  I finished my shopping Friday night.  Thank goodness.  I just needed to pick up some gift cards, and I found an awesome deal for Bonne Bell LipSmacker for my niece.  She’ll be so excited.  :-)  I’ve only got boys, so this is a very cool item for me to buy.

Anyway, I’ve noticed that a lot of my friends are buying their gifts online.  I did that for one or two, but the others (gift cards) I needed to venture out for.  I think buying online is a whole lot safer… you don’t have to worry about parking spaces, all the people you have to maneuver around, and most importantly you don’t have to worry if there’s going to be some crazed person in the mall with a gun who’ll just start shooting.  That scares me the most.

I think buying online is an awesome, time-saving way to shop.  Yeah, you pay for shipping, but what you pay for shipping is probably what you’d waste in gas going from store to store, no?  So, are any of you out there online shoppers?  Or do you prefer to shop the old-fashioned way and browse through the stores to find just the right gifts?  Or, like me, do you do a combination of both?

I wish you and yours a safe and Merry Christmas.

NOTE: The contest is still going on at Great Scotts if you want to check it out. 

Literally. I read a book three days ago, and today I couldn’t remember the title. What the heck? It was a really good book too, one that I thoroughly enjoyed, but when I tried to recall the name? Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing. Does this ever happen to you?

I can’t really blame it on old age as I’m only 37, but maybe stress and just being too busy? You think? Maybe I need to get one of those brain exerciser thingies, you know, the ones on the commercial that tells you if you do these exercises it helps your memory stay intact.

I was a little freaked when I couldn’t remember the name. So I did the only thing I could do to refresh my memory: I went through my library receipts. I love my library. They so totally rock. Every time you check out books, they print your out a receipt with the list on it. Love it!

On a receipt, I found the book. To Catch A Cheat by Kelley St. John. Whew! I feel a little better now that I figured it out, but my memory…

Has this ever happened to anyone else out there?

By the way, there’s a mini-contest going on over at Great Scotts if you care to check it out.