Our Tsunami

They are calling this hurricane "our tsunami". Considering the size of the waves they're describing, I guess it isn't far wrong.

I'm just stunned. I know, I'm supposed to have words for everything. I'm a writer. But there are no words. I read where they're putting refugees in the Astrodome and they've cleared the calendar there until DECEMBER. Holy Freak Batman DECEMBER. It's only September 1 tomorrow.

I'm completely flummoxed -- and wind up sounding like an airhead every time I think about it (see previous post). It seems WEIRD also having other countries offering US aid. Kind of backwards. Could well be we'll be needing it too. Wow.

Pray for everyone.

OK Weird

I wrote something about Katrina, the Red Cross, and why I don't understand random looting. (Although it occurs to me that if you don't have safe food, and you don't have access to emergency services... I dunno. I'm such a regular customer at my local grocery, I'd probably leave 'em a note with my list so they could charge me. But that's the advantage of using little local stores. I had a couple in Denver (They eventually sold out for big money -- SIGH.) that I went to for YEARS, we watched each other's kids grow up, they delivered to my house when I was sick with pneumonia free of charge, special cut my meat, special ordered things for me all the time. Same with the little family-owned pizzaria. I miss that. A lot. Even though I'm in a small town now, I don't get that level of service most of the time. Although the butcher at the meat shop is beginning to know me though, which is improving my service there.

ANYWAY, back to the point. I believe in helping others, so as soon as I can I'm sending donations to the relief efforts. The people in the gulf area have been so hard hit. The photos of the devastation are just amazing. It's such a BIG disaster, I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. I've been sending e-mails to folks I know in that area making sure they're OK. I haven't heard from some -- but then power has been out, etc. So I'm keeping them in my prayers and hoping that there won't be too many deaths.

HMNNNNNNN Stuff and Fan Fiction

HI Guys!

OK, the weekend is almost here again. Where the HECK is the time going I feel like George Jetson on the treadmill!

Let's see...

They did a second small print run on Hunter's Moon. :) BIG good news. It's still selling steadily and well. :D

Moon's Web is selling solidly, but not as well as Hunter did at this time. :( (Which means folks, PRETTY PLEASE go tell everybody -- word of mouth helps.) Basically I think a couple things might have happened. (1) We had the change of covers, so some of our publicity went out with the old cover and folks got confused (maybe another author who has had that happen said it really had a negative effect on her sales. I dunno.) (2) When they were promoting Hunter they were promoting the start of the whole line -- so now the line is out and they're back to normal so we didn't get any extra marketing push and special placement.

BUT

We're getting MUCH more fan mail on Moon's Web (probably triple), and the reviews are coming in BETTER than for Hunter. SOOOOO I think it will build, maybe more slowly than we'd like, but I believe it WILL build. But word of mouth is good. (HINT HINT ;))

COOL NEWS -- It looks like I may actually be able to go to The Vampire Lestat Ball. Keeping my fingers crossed. (Sorry about the pun. Couldn't help myself). AND there is a possibility (depending on if I can haul my heinie to Washington DC) of my getting an interview on "Eye on Books" at a future date. This would be seriously cool because (a) Well known site with a seriously cool interviewer; (b) The interviews go up on the website for them, which is excellent exposure since he interviews the really big names (which we, of course, want to become). That's still up in the air, but we're working on it.

Health is so/so at the moment. Ugh. Working on that too.

OK ONCE UPON A TIME...

I said I would give my opinion on fan fiction.

My opinion is.... "Whatever."

I know. How inflammatory is that!!!!

But, seriously, I would be flattered as hell that somebody loved the books and the characters enough to want to play with them. But I'm not going to read it and risk getting my... ahem... heinie sued off. I think some fan fiction is as good as the original works -- and some is just absolute dreck, a lot are fun, some are really and TRULY perverted (I may never look at Harry Potter the same way again after having stumbled across one particular piece when looking for samples to see what all the kerfluffle was about!)

Some authors think that by doing fan fic you're saying they screwed up by not putting something in, or going the direction they did. Nyeh.... metz metz. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I mean you can't exactly make everybody happy and it's foolish to try. You do the best you can and hope there's an audience out there who will agree with you. (And buy books -- LOTS AND LOTS of books ;))

I do feel bad about a couple of things -- for one literacy is down. People don't read fiction. UGH! I do have hope for the younger generation though. The Harry Potter phenomenon made reading cool again.

SKUNK

Well, have to say, I'm not looking forward to work next week. At all. See, we have this little problem. It's black, with a wide white stripe down it's back. At least I ASSUME that's what it looks(looked) like. Somewhere around or under the building where I work there lurs(lurked) a skunk. It has occasionally been spraying the area. Particularly the area by our office. Bad enough. But now I think it may somehow have crawled under the building and died. At least that's what it smells like. OOOO baby, and in summer too!

I love animals. I do not love skunk smell. Last time we had to deal with this it lasted over a month -- and it wasn't nearly this bad.

Life is such an adventure!

Welcome to Friday

Welcome to Friday.

I've been thinking of buying a piano. I used to play when I was a kid. I miss it. I actually did have some talent at it -- not enough to make a living, but enough to enjoy myself. So I think I may get one now that I'm a grown up and spend what little time I have for relaxing playing the piano and singing the blues.

Yup, the blues.

My son tells me I was born the wrong color and in the wrong generation, because my voice was absolutely made for the blues. I love it. And I love gospel music. And really GOOD bad songs. There's a certain joy to singing something that is just SOOOOOOO bad it's wonderful. (Think "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw?" or "Let's Do Something Cheap and Superficial" or how 'bout a new one "Alcohol", or the ever classic "Copa Cabana"). My voice isn't what it used to be. I'm aging, and it's suffering from disuse. But I can still have fun with it, and I want to. Just like I want to do more of my paintings. But everything takes time, and there are only so many hours in a day. (Again I say unto you -- "Sleep? I don' need no stinkin' sleep!")

I'm going to be spending the weekend writing. That makes me happy. The book is coming along -- probably well. I can't be sure. I'm at place where I usually wonder if I'm wasting my time, if it's irretrievable, unreadable dreck, etc.

But I'll keep plugging.

HI GUYS!

Hi guys -- stealing away for a couple minutes very quickly to update y'all.

Things are going well. BUSY, but well. Cathy and I are each making progress on the manuscripts we're working on. (Our style of working is to each do a book separately, then trade for editing, then trade back). Work is nuts! Personal life is cranking as well. So, believe me, I'm not missing out on blogging by choice, there are just so many hours available and sleep has to come in there somewhere. (Sleep, I don' need no stinkin' sleep -- LOL)

I'm going to try to take time to do a REAL update this evening. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get to. I still have opinions on things like Fan Fiction and... well... everything. I just feel as though life has become a downhill slalom: WHEEEEEEEEEEEE oh shit there's a TREEEEEEEEEEEEE, WHEW missed it, WHEEEEEEEEEE.

ALSO, want to take a quick minute to welcome the new folks. HI MOONCATX!!!! (Cie is jumping up and down and waiving).

Gotta run -- the lift's arrived. (GRIN) Later.

HI GUYS/HAPPY WEEKEND

OK, I am doing this quickly while I have a minute. Things are insane busy. Good busy, but still insane.

The next mystery anthology is coming up quickly, and other things are going on as well. I'm really hoping that I will have good news to pass on soon.

If so, maybe I'll host another Blog Party -- if, of course, anyone would be interested. Hmnmnn. We'll have to wait and see.

Well, better run. Sorry this is so short, but I have miles to go and things to do.

Later.

Cie

OY!

Oy! My schedule has been NUTS. I keep thinking I can make it slow down, but that just doesn't seem to be working. I've never down-hill skiied, but I'm wondering if it's like this - exhilerating and a little crazy.

I can't even say what's got things so riled up. They just are. Work at the day job is crazy, but it has been for a while now. Writing is going well, but it isn't getting nearly the time I'd like to give it. Just... stuff I guess.

Have to take the cat to the vet again, his eye isn't healing up very fast. It's better, but it's not healed. This has been going on for a couple weeks. UGH. Hate having him feel bad. Hate vet bills. (Almost as much as I hate MY medical bills).

Raining again. It's been doing that a lot lately. I understand the midwest is having a drought. We are SOOOOOOO not.

Hope you have all had the chance to pick up Moon's Web. Hope you love it! Either way, like it or loathe it, please (pretty please) drop me a comment or e-mail to let us know how we did.

Jim, if you get a chance could you do me a favor? Drop me an e-mail with suggestions as to where to stay in New Orleans. I'm going to try to go to Lestat. Keeping fingers crossed that life won't intervene again!

Later guys. Thanks for stopping by, even though I haven't written much.

Cie

Thanks and Stuff

Thanks Yolanda for posting the review for us! Appreciate it. Also, glad you like the new cover for Kate/TOE. We're not posting it up anywhere like the blog or website yet because we want Moon's Web to get the glory for a little while. (But Jim, if you're interested and can get big attachments I can sneak you a peek).

Moon's Web is doing well and we're very proud of it. The whole cover thing is tricky because some of the publicity went out with the old cover, so it keeps cropping up (and OOOPS the space cadet forgot to send the stuff to Jim and Yo. SORRY! I'm writing myself a note now!)

Writing on Cat went marvellously during my vacation, but has slowed down this week as I try to get my feet back under me at the "real" job. One of these days I hope that writing will be the "real" job and the day job just filler. Not yet, but VERY soon I think.

Well, speaking of which, I'd better get back to it.

Cie

QUICK CORRECTION

Re-read previous post. Hunter and Web might be on the shelves, but with Cathy as the sole author.

But I'm glad that we're co-authors.

And I'm happy with the direction my career is taking.

And I'm rested enough that I'm actually thinking creatively again!

Amen I say unto you -- WHOO HOO!!!