Recovering

Recovering from a virus that had me down yesterday. Still a little . . . off.

Hope you enjoyed Cathy's installment. The Sinors are next. Be sure to stop by and see them tomorrow and Monday.

Okay, since Rosie is humorous (albeit a little bit dark), I'm thinking the Saturday Morning Serial will be serious this time out. I even have something in mind. Be sure to stop by!

Bestest.


Cie

ROSIE DAY 2

OKAY, Rosie is on Day 2, go to Cathy's blog to find out what happens when her rivals try to hire her arch nemesis -- MAX HUNTER.

Wednesday, 3-11, Cathy Clamp: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=141026485

No Comments?

No comments on Rosie? Bummer.

Let's see, I was talking with another author who is a friend of mine, and she's talking about starting up a forum. The trick is, knowing whether or not you have enough people interested to actually HAVE a forum. Nothing seems as lame as a beautifully laid out board with nobody showing and posting. Sort of like one of those parties that no one attends. (Been there, done that. Wasn't fun the first time.)

Don't get me wrong, I've had some great parties too. But some . . . not so much.

ANYWAY, back to the point. How do you know when? I mean, for someone like Laurell, or Sherrilyn, or Jim, it's obvious. They're huge. But what about for the rest of us?

Oh, and have you made any decisions on the swag and contest stuff?

THE ROSIE HUGHES PROJECT

Ladies and Gentlemen -- Welcome to "The Rosie Hughes Project."

It is a blog chain running Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. I get to start, then we're going round to various other participants for the following installments. If it doesn't wrap on the 21st, it will be back to me:

Wednesday, 3-11, Cathy Clamp: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=141026485
Saturday, 3-14, Brad Sinor: http://sinor-sb13.livejournal.com .
Monday, 3-16, Sue Sinor: http://sinor-sb13.livejournal.com . They share a blog, but Sue will post separately.
Wednesday, 3-18, Rachel Caine: http://rachelcaine.livejournal.com
Saturday, 3-21, Jackie Kessler: http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog

Rules are fairly loose, but not loose enough to get us in trouble on public blogs. We can go humorous, or dark, or both. You just have to read and play along. Our villaness is the terrifying vampire Rosie Hughes.

AND WE'RE OFF: (Way off, but that's another story) ;)

*******************************************

Dear Morgana:

I do hope you are well and that your shoulder isn’t still giving you trouble. Damned crossbows anyway.

As you’ve probably guessed, I’m having to start anew. You were right to warn me about that investor. I suppose there is no fool like a (very, very) old fool. He’s in the limelight too much at the moment, but soon, very soon, I will do to him things that would make your dear little Marquis (how is he doing by the way?) blanch.

But enough of that. Exciting news! I’ve started a new venture and it’s going amazingly well. Cosmetics. That’s right darling. I stumbled onto the idea when I was out for a bite. Not only did the little tidbit show me a perfectly lovely fang whitener, she had sun block. For the first time in centuries I can actually go out before dusk. Well, of course I had to hear more! Lo and behold, by siring a mere ten, and enthralling a few dozen, I now have a sales force that works twenty-four hours a day. Who knew it could be so profitable? In next to no time I’ve earned the coveted "pink limo," (with driver) and have bought myself a perfectly lovely stucco home. You simply must fly by sometime. (You can’t miss it. Just look for the tasteful arrangement of flamingos around the pond.)

I know you worry, but you shouldn’t. One of those annoying teenage girls did pop by with her stakes, but I showed her a truly effective acne cream, and now she’s referring all of her friends. And there’s been no sign of any of the descendants of that hideous troll of a man. (What was his name dear? Van or Von something . . . Trapp? Beetho. . . no, that was the musician. Drat my memory. Well, you know who I mean.)

Please tell me you’ll come by return bat. It’s the perfect set-up. What could possibly go wrong?

Rosetta "Rosie" (Stone-Red-. . .) Hughes.

P.S. I’m enclosing a sample of the new night cream. My Renfe. . . Assistant, says it’s "to die for."

FUNNY

Okay guys, sometimes I like to think I'm funny, or clever, or whatever. But then I read something hysterical and think "Oh, I am SOOOOOO dull." But you have to read this, okay. Maybe you won't think it's as funny as I do, and that's okay, but I love it.

http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2009/03/publishing-911.html

Now this does not mean that you get to skip out on the whole Rosie thing come Monday. Unh unh. Nope. I've invested too much time in prepping you. I mean, I even nibbled your EAR for crying out loud. Nope, I expect you to show up.

Anyway, have a great weekend.

More Teasing

Hmnnn, I'm supposed to keep teasing you.

Boy, this is really hard. I mean, you're there, I'm here. I suppose it's sort of like phone sex. Only there's no phone. And no sex. JEEZ. Okay, maybe it isn't.

Okay, so come by Monday. Read the blog. PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE?

Oh, and I've contacted a couple of tech types to see if they can work with me to get the website finished. Cathy and I are really on deadline, so we can't do it, and having it half-done is driving me nuts.

Oh, and I LUCKED OUT and got an autographed ARC (advanced review copy) of the new Jim Butcher book, Turn Coat. OHMIGOD IT SO ROCKS!!! I wanna write like him when I grow up. Really. Really really. You NEED to buy this guys.

OK, gotta go.

Herding Cats

OKAY! The cats have all reported in. But nearly everybody's on deadline, so Rosie is in suspense for another week. It will start next Monday.

I am supposed to tease you, tempt you, and get you all hot and bothered about the story. Sort of the heavy petting of blogging.

Consider me to be whispering in your ear, maybe while nibbling on your earlobe:

"Come and see me next Monday. You know you want to." I purr. "We'll have so much fun." Nibble nibble. "Nobody needs to know. You can trust me . . . "

(So, is it working?)

Cie

Saturday Morning Breakfast Serial (Yeah, I spelled that right).

Okay folks, the Saturday morning serial has been postponed for a week. Why? Because HOPEFULLY (assuming we can round up our other authors -- and rounding up authors is like herding cats) we're doing our blog ring next week. If we CAN'T raise everybody then it may have to wait two weeks.

HMNNNNN, let's see, am still recruiting. Come on guys. I've got prizes, I've got cards, there are openings in my organization for: Lackeys, Minions, Toadies, Super Spies, Not-Completely-Trustworthy Allies, and Fawning Sycophants. If you are clever enough to amuse me, you can even come up with your own title. Special thanks to those who have already enrolled. The swag is now packed and should go to the post office tomorrow. Assuming I can get there when it opens. (That's more of a challenge than you think guys. They open AFTER I have to be at the day job and CLOSE before I get off at the day job and they're always packed at noon (go figure!). But the Minions/Lackeys/Toadies and Sychophants who form my Posse are WORTH IT!

Working on some limited edition bookmarks reminding people about the new name. If I like how they look I may wind up printing a gazillion or so of them and sending them to cons and such.

Speaking of cons. ConDFW was a blast! It was great to see everybody. I had a great time.OH, and GOOD NEWS --- a book that has been sitting gathering dust on the shelves for a decade may have found a publisher. They've at least requested a copy to review. Keep your toes crossed (fingers are for typing).

The draft of the next Sazi book is progressing. Cathy has currently chained her muse to the computer and is bribing her with chocolate for a full-out rush to the finish.

Congrats to my sister and brother-in-law. They're having their 38th wedding anniversary. WHOA . . . . and they're still crazy about each other. Really cool. Best wishes.

I'm trying to come up with contests. I'm not sure what to do. What do y'all want? I'm kind of crafty, used to do art (but am WOEFULLY out of practice). Occasionally knit neckscarves in various colors. Have author swag. We can do trivia stuff, whatever. Comment below with wish list. (And be real folks, I may be a Not-So-Evil Overlord, but all this recruiting has strained the budget, no "ten million dollars, a trip to the Bahamas and a good-looking companion to go with me." If I had that, I'D be in the Bahamas, letting said good-looking man feed me peeled grapes.)

Best always, comment here or at MySpace -- I want to hear from you.

C.T. Adams

Cross-Posting

All right. Some people do go to Blogger. A lot don't. So I'm going to double post with this also on my Myspace site. Because da** it, I want viewers.



That said, I should probably do a "catch up" post so that everyone is on the same page. No. I'm not in Denver yet. Yes, I'm frustrated about that! But I haven't given up. Life has been . . . complicated. But soon, soon. . . .



I took a quiz on Quizilla and have discovered that I am, indeed a (not really so very) Evil Overlord. Well, this prompted my co-author to take a quiz. She is NOT an EO, no, she is a Criminal Mastermind. She seems to think that this is, in fact SUPERIOR. Which is, of course, pigswill. So, while I have been carefully approaching potential (not completely trustworthy) Allies, Superspies, and recruiting, lackeys, minions and sycophants, she has been trying to outdo me. People this is SIMPLY NOT ACCEPTABLE. Please submit your applications to be part of my posse/horde by putting Cie/Recruiting in the subject line of your e-mail and sending it to cat_cie@msn.com. Note, there will be a identification card, and certain swag associated with participation.



Next, we have decided to do a blog chain. Next week (or the week after) we, and a few other of our writer friends, will be participating in a blog chain. The rules will be something like this: First poster (me) posts the beginning of a story with a cliffhanger, and a link to Second poster (Cathy) who posts her entry the next day with a link back to me and forward to the next poster. We've got a really cool line up, and it looks to be a lot of fun. Hope you'll participate and comment.



Also, I'm going to be doing a "serial" story with installments every Saturday morning. Stay tuned.



In case you haven't looked -- Magic's Design is on the shelves. Green, with a tree on the cover. It's under the new pen name of Cat Adams. FIND IT AND BUY IT -- You know you want to. ;)



Con DFW was a blast. Was great to meet such cool people.



Oh, and Cie's word find problem of the day -- (For those of you who didn't know, I've been hit by lightning and whacked on the head a few times. Sometimes this leads to the traditional 'word find' problems where you can't remember the right word. Usually it winds up odd. Occasionally I find it hysterical.) Instead of the "Scarlet Pimpernel" he was the "Scarlet Pumpernickle." Oops.



Now the Myspace folks have caught up with the Blogger guys. And I'm out of time. Have a great day guys.



Cie

It's FRIDAY

WOOT!

Okay, I need this work week to end. Just do. The day job has been stressful as hell lately and it makes me too tired to be very creative. Since the writing is my major income and my joy, life's work, calling, whatever, this is so not a good thing. But the week is ALLLLLLLLLMOST over. I can hang in there. And then this weekend is Con DFW and I get to see Jim and Shannon Butcher and a bunch of my other friends, which is SOOOOOO cool. One of the very best things about the writing gig is that you get to meet and be friends with some of the BEST people.

When I was young (and still now a lot of the time) I NEVER fit in. Always the odd one out (emphasis on the odd). On the one hand, this gave me time to live inside my head, create worlds, people them, and generally indulge my creativity, which is why I CAN write. On the other hand, it can be a very hurtful situation.

I believe everybody in this world wants to be accepted for who they are, and having to pretend to be someone else just to get by is damned painful. At some point in my teens and early twenties, I stopped trying (and became known as a wild woman, raging bitch and several other things until I moved to Denver). One of the reasons I liked Denver was that it was big enough that there's enough variety of people that I really wasn't all that odd comparatively. (I mean, when you can drive down Wadsworth and see someone very calmly walking along the side of the road in a straitjacket [the utilitarian heavy canvas kind, not the kinky kind] trying to work their way out of it and see that nobody else is reacting [and, yes, I did call the authorities---I'm such a poop that way.] you know that a little day-to-day oddity is nothing.) On the other hand, for the past five years I've been struggling to "be good" and keep most of the more outre parts of my personality hidden so that I don't wind up getting tarred and feathered. And it hurts. And I'm beginning to fail at it. Parts of the "real" me are starting to pop out at odd moments. Which is weirding some people out. A LOT. Time to go home to Denver. Hell, PAST time to go home to Denver. And I will go. Just as soon as we get the contract money.

ON TO MORE FUN THINGS!

I got some good news yesterday, but I can't post it yet. ARGH! But it made me VERY happy.

In answer to the most recent question in my comments. A serial is a very old-fashioned idea. Goes back to like Dickensian times and Arthur Conan Doyle. They used to have magazines (I believe Conan Doyle was in the Strand, but I may be misremembering). And periodically (like monthly, although mine would be weekly) you'd get a new installment on the story. So, if y'all are interested, I'm thinking that every Saturday I'll post a few new paragraphs on a "Blog Only" story that I will make up as I go along. Now, I have to warn you, there will be no editor, and no two or three passes to make sure it's perfect before it posts, so it won't be "book" quality. And also, because my mood is what it is, we could occasionally take a turn to the weird. But if anyone is interested in this, and feels game, I'm willing to give it a go. As I said previously, I'm thinking of starting with the "Queen of the Courts" story, which is a humorous and non-paranormal story that I have a wild desire to write, but don't think the publishers would bite on because it's kind of "out there."

So let me know what you think. I want to make sure I don't drive off the folks that are kind enough to stop by here.

Bestest.

Cie

Let's SEE here. . . HMNNN

Hello all! Hope you're well. I'm hanging in there.

My esteemed co-author has decided to attempt (attempt mind you) to one-up my overlord status by becoming a "Criminal Mastermind" with underlings. HMPFH! WE SHALL SEE.

On another note -- I am wanting to do fun things with the blog. SO I need the reader(s) input. Do you want to:

1) Have a trivia contest? If so, on one series, or all-encompassing. There would be prizes.
2) Have a Monday Serial installment posted to the blog with an ongoing story that will only be published here. I'm thinking of using the "Queen of the Courts" post-chick-lit idea I spoke of oh so many, many posts ago.

Oh, and Cathy and I are looking at doing a one-week blog chain story with some of our friends as well.

Input would be appreciated -- note, votes from registered lackeys, minions, trusted henchmen and general members of my posse will get immediate attention. ;) So feel free to help me thwart Cathy's plans.


Cie

Thanks/Help Wanted/Con DFW

Hi Guys! I only have a sec, so please forgive me if this is a little short/brusque.

First, thanks for the condolences. I appreciate the kindness.

Second, a favor, if any of you have read and like the new book (Magic's Design) could you please go over to Amazon and write a review for us? Normally reviewers cross-post, but they haven't this time, and we've got one good and one bad review at this point.

Finally, Cathy and I will be going to Con DFW this coming weekend. We'd love to see you.

Thanks!


Cie.

Sad Day Today

I'm very sad today. I keep crying. Can't seem to help it.

You see, I had to have Algonquin my elegant elder kitty put down this morning.

There's some debate how old my beautiful girl was. Around twenty-something anyway. James remembers when we got her differently than I do. But she'd gotten very frail, and I could tell she was in pain, so it was time to say goodbye. But that isn't easy when you've spent so much of your life with her.

Sometimes knowing that something is the right thing to do doesn't make doing it any easier.

It may be a couple days before I stop by here again. Take care of yourselves until then.

Cie

Hi! Waves vigorously.

Okay, in answer to Dolly's questions:



1) Random genetics rule. The Sazi traits tend to be recessive genes, but occasionally you have double recessives pop up and get a new Sazi in families that haven't had one in generations. No one species is more likely than any other. So Bobby and Asri could get either, neither, or both. Cat and Raphael are more likely to get wolves because it's in his genetics on both sides and she was an attack victim, but you also have to figure in the magic factor too.


2) Three day dogs can, in fact have Sazi children -- Jake from Howling Moon had Jasmine and Iris with his human wife. Holly is an attack victim (turned by Corrine). In fact, it is more likely that a three day dog will have a Sazi child with a human. Weirdly enough. It is a "let's get some new genetic material in the mix and prevent inbreeding" thing.

3) We haven't discussed having Fiona as the lead in a book. So many characters, so little time. . .

That's it for now.

Later.

Cie

THANK YOU EVERYBODY

Thank you all for looking for the book for me. And special thanks to those of you who are reading it! Hope you love it. Right now it is expected to be a stand-alone, unless there is an outcry for more to our editor at Tor.

Feel free to cry out.

Also many thanks to those who are in line to become lackeys, minions, my possee, or trusted henchmen. Your spoils shall be distributed soon.

I am in a very good mood today. In fact, I am in the mood to answer questions. Does anyone have a question they'd like to ask about any of the characters in any of the books? Some esoteric fact that nobody but the author would know?

Or, if you have a writing question that I might be able to answer (but no guarantees, despite rumors to the contrary I am not actually a "know it all.") feel free to ask.

Now is your chance.

Best always.

Cie

I HAVE A LACKEY!

Greetings friends and neighbors. After yesterday's post I have my very first lackey. In honor of being the first, she gets prizes. (AHA, had you known that, you might have voted sooner. But those of you who did not, do not despair. I may be feeling magnanimous later too. You never know. The whole Overlord thing has gone to my head, making me fickle.)

Let's see, what else.

Cathy and I are both going to the RT convention in Orlando where there will be much merriment. Is anyone else going?

I'm busy writing away. So is Cathy. Books will be produced. Deadlines will (hopefully) be met. RAWR.

Lucky the Wonder Dog has a new "No Pull" harness. AND IT WORKS!!!! For those of you who do not know about Lucky the Wonder Dog, this is an issue. She is a Catahoula Leopard Hound cross with something a little bit bulkier, so that she is large, strong, and a handful. (She is also very protective of me, which is a good thing. (And if you want to see a photo of my baby girl, you can go to my myspace page here myspace.com/ctadams and look in the pictures.) Anyway, I got it AND IT WORKS!!! WOOT! (Have I mentioned how much I like this?)

Okay, I've got to go. Otherwise no writing tonight. And I am, after all, supposed to produce books. So bye for now. And keep checking in. And cast your vote. I need MINIONS/LACKEYS/HENCHMEN/TOADIES. Come on people!

OH LEAGUE OF POTENTIAL MINIONS

Okay, I went to one of those sites that have all the quizzes (Quizilla I think, but I could be wrong). And it told me that I was the perfect Evil Overlord. The thing is, to be an overlord requires REQUIRES minions. I have no minions. This is unacceptable folks.

SO, for a limited time only, we are having a e-mail Cie thing going on. (I'd call it a contest, but it isn't really, because there are no losers.)

First -- the e-mail address: cat_cie@msn.com
(THERE'S AN UNDERSCORE BETWEEN CAT AND CIE)

Second -- you e-mail with the subject line FOR CIE/MINIONS OR LACKEYS

Then in the body of the e-mail you submit your vote -- should my volunteers be minions, lackeys, or "other" (get creative folks).

Then, if you want to receive the SERIOUSLY OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL CARD that I'm going to create just for this purpose you include your full name and mailing address.

The card will include a (possibly somewhat demeaning [or not] because that's just how those evil overlord types refer to people) nickname to which you shall henceforth be referred to by no one other than me, and likely not even that since I have no memory whatsoever.

For example:

ENTRY:
Vote - Lackey
John Doe
1234 56th Dr.
Lake Worth, WI 78910

CARD:

Doe, John Induction Date 1/15/09
a/k/a "Dude" or "HEY YOU!"


With my official signature.

If you have any trouble entering, comment below.

Thanks Guys!

Thanks guys!

Cathy got her copies from Amazon, and I really like the foiled cover. :)

So seriously, (well, not really, but SORT of seriously) would you like "minion" cards or some such? I want to reward people who actually do stop by the bog . . . um, I mean BLOG.

Let's see, what else. HMNNNNN, oh yeah. My son is healthy and happy. I'm working on getting back into the rhythm of writing. (I've been a bad, BAD girl). I changed my hair color drastically.

(For those of you who don't know me, this is one of the things that I do when I'm absolutely frustrated with my life. I think it's because it's something I can actually have control over when the rest of my life isn't. (Say, for example, when I want to move, but CAN'T yet. UGH!). But there you go. First I color it. Then I cut it. Then I do something weird like get fake nails in riveting red or some such, which is counterproductive because I can't type worth a damn with them, THEN I get a bunch of clothes in a totally different style. Right now I'm leaning toward going a bit goth, with fluffy stuff in black with plunging necklines for dress clothes and getting a bunch of smart assed tee-shirts, saying things like:

Good Morning is an oxymoron.
Don't get even -- get ODD.

Of course that is TOTALLY impractical for where I am living right now. I am in the buckle of the bible belt. And folks here take things like what you wear REALLY seriously. I've actually had more than one person say that they wouldn't hire a particular person because he has TATTOOS. (I have a tattoo. A small, tasteful little water lily. I stopped hiding it shortly thereafter. It raised a ruckus. I'm not sorry. I consider it a small protest.)

Interesting note. (At least interesting to me). People over 40 have been acting shocked by the hair color. People under thirty have been complimenting me. Why do you suppose that is? I mean, it's a color found in nature. It's not periwinkle blue or anything. (Although that might be fun, I think I'm a bit too old for it.) I didn't even go for black. Nope just a vivid auburn/red. Heck, it's even a very popular color right now. So, should I see if I can manage technology to the point where I post a picture sometime next week? (Which, at the rate I'm going will include a new haircut and my ravishing red nails. I'm SOOOOOOOOO frustrated right now.) Or should I wait until I get one of the daring goth blouses I'm thinking of ordering? HMMNN???

Yes, I know. Over 40. Bad ideas. All of them. Ah well . . .

CELEBRATION!

WOOT -- The copy edits for Cold Moon Rising are back to the publisher -- ON TIME.

YIPPEEE!!!

So, tell me folks, I really need to know -- HAVE YOU SEEN Magic's Design on the shelves and WHERE? Pretty pretty please comment. I need to know who is carrying it and whether it has special attention (face out, display, special placement, that sort of thing). And it matters whether it's a bookstore or the grocery too.

Hmnnnn. How can I award the minions for this service? Hmnnnnnn. Do we give them a special "Minion" ID card? Perhaps have a contest putting the names of the folks who answer in a hat and drawing for an autographed ARC (advance review copy) of the book and a nifty author pen?

What sayest thou oh (I hope) legions of minions?

Moving Right Along . . .

Hi Guys!

Time is moving FAST. I must be over the hill because I am definitely gaining momentum!

Anyway, edits to do, but I thought I'd stop by and thank everybody who has complimented us on the change in website. Still ironing out the glitches, but we're proud of it. And MEGACUDOS to Cathy who beat me to the punch making the edits.

:)

Bestest.

Cie

What do I call this?

Okay, what do I call this? I'm going to talk about a little bit of everything, and nothing. So I'm supposed to come up with a heading? Really. Jeez, and here I SUCK at titles.

First, it's Sunday. I'm mostly feeling OK. Yesterday I ran to the city so that I could pick up stuff for my esteemed co-author and give her time to write. I also started working on the galleys for Cold Moon Rising. I put together an e-mail to the esteemed agent with a proposal for a book that has been kicking around my head for a while as an individual project. It may wind up being a co-authored book, but it is wall-to-wall angst, which is not Cathy's favorite thing. I refer to it as my "Oprah" book. Now don't get me wrong, I think Ms. Winfrey is one of the most impressive people I've had the privilege to read about. She encourages people to do their best, supports charities, is up front, supports literacy. . . . and on and on. I mean, if nothing else, her ENERGY is phenomenal. But her taste in books runs to the angsty. Just does. So this particular fantasy novel is wall-to-wall angst and is thus, my Oprah book. Not that she'll ever want to read it. Hell, it may never get written or published. But that's what I call it. Because, if it ever does get written and published, it is the kind of thing she'd like.

And I'm very nervous about it too. Because while I am quite confident in my ability to write a pretty-damned-good paranormal, and I've learned (with difficulty I may add) to write a pretty-damned good paranormal ROMANCE (which is a whole 'nother creature), this is straight fantastic *literature* and that's a different animal entirely. But you can't win if you don't play. So I'm going to play -- AFTER I get finished with the back-to-back trilogy I'm writing this year.

BUT since the publishing schedule runs a couple years after the writing schedule, I'm trying to get it scheduled. (If that made sense, you're doing well.)

Worse yet, I'm not good at proposals. I'm much better at cranking out a book and THEN worrying about finding somebody to love it. But I want to try to improve that too.

So I did it. And it may or may not work.

Still, today is Sunday, so no worky for Cie. This is my day of rest -- sort of. Tomorrow I will finish the galleys and (hopefully) get to work on the website edits. But for this moment in time I will blog, pet the pussycat on hand (currently the Bacchus cat) do enough laundry that I won't have to go to work naked and enough housework that I can stand the place. Oh, and cook ahead for the week. Yeah, yeah, all of that sounds REAL restful. But what can I do? I mean, I've tried to talk the dog and the cats into picking up some of the slack, but they just don't seem inclined.

On another note (B# I think), I'm having a bit of a problem with self-destructive tendencies. No, not the suicidal kind, the screw up your life because you just can't DEAL with it any more kind. So you say and do stupid stupid stupid shit so that you will wind up being forced to change. Which is STUPID since I'm already trying to change things and I can't afford to screw up what's already in progress. I think part of what brought this on is anger and frustration over issues I can't discuss here.

Another part (that I can talk about) is that I'm frustrated. I found somebody I'd like to work with as my assistant BUT because he's there (as in Denver, my home-to-be if I can ever get my ass up there) and I'm HERE it's not working. Which means I'm probably going to lose a very good possible employee, [which sucketh scum covered pond rocks. YES there are other potential employees (in this economy DROVES of them) but I LIKE him. And I TRUST him. And I'm so not good at trust. I don't just have issues. I have a subscription --- with automatic renewal.]

Good news, Magic's Design is almost out. Buy it. Buy it now. The more people who get it the first week, the better our chances of hitting a list again. Which would be lovely. So please guys, BUY THE BOOK.

Also, the drive to the city gave me lots and lots of time to work on the three-books-back-to-back series in my head. Solved problems that had been bugging me. Got to hear the music that I connect to the characters, so that it's clear in my head again. YIPPEE! I'm so anxious to get writing. But edits first! Get them galleys out the door!

My brother-in-law is closing his business and moving on to the next stage of his life. I don't think he knows what it will be. Exciting and scary that. But he and Diane are two of the smartest, most hard-working and ambitious people I know. They are quite simply built for success on the grand scale (which was no doubt why his business WAS such a success). So while I will pray for them I'm not really worried.

Anyway, parents are fine. Haven't heard from my brother in a bit, but due to technological challenges that are all my fault it's hard for him to reach me. Fortunately, he knows I love him, and that I'm a dufus.

Well, I'm going to run. Keep me in your thoughts. Keep your fingers crossed. Oh, and in case you didn't get the message earlier -- BUY THE BOOK (LOL).

Cie

Sigh

Hi Guys!

Back from a Monday at the day job.

I need to write. I need to work on the website. So many, many, things I need to do for writing and in real life. Unfortunately, I haven't got it in me at the moment. My head is just too full of . . . stuff. I can't seem to focus. Part of it is the remnants of allergy/asthma medication. Not good for clear headedness. Good for breathing (which is a habit I refuse to give up), but not good for clear-headedness.

Spent the weekend watching a marathon of the US version of Life on Mars. LOVED it. Oh, some of it was awkward enough that I cringed in embarassment -- but that meant that the actors did a good enough job to MAKE me cringe. Truly, though, my absolute favorite bit of acting was done by the guy who played his father in the episode where Sam finally has his birthday party. Seeing that transition from supposedly two-bit to seriously dangerous was impressive. Because he didn't overplay it. Small, tiny little changes in expression, tone of voice, gesture. Oh yeah. I bought it. And I felt bad because Sam had been fooled for all the right reasons. Brilliant acting on the part of the guy who played his dad. Also great work by the guy who played Sam, but his part was written more broadly, with less subtlety. And I, of course, am a sucker about good writing. Not that any of it was bad. That would be nit-picking. It was all great. Just that part hit me the most.

I also watched a bit of House. I have to admit, I got hooked on it while I was in Denver and they were having a "House" marathon. Oh to be so brilliant that you can get away with being an ass. I think I'm only saying that because I feel like I've had to compromise too much this past little bit. I would like to think I wouldn't/won't turn into a monumental ass. Or maybe I AM one and I just don't know. I do know that I'm not very good at dealing with people whose minds and attitudes appear to be set in concrete. And I can only slow down so far when dealing with people who don't understand. So maybe I am.

I dunno. I do know that I need to eat something that isn't all sugar. Between the meds I took and the chocolate I've indulged in my mind is buzzing, and not in a good way.

Toodles.


Cie

Morning!

Good Morning.

Ah, no one appears to have been in a bent frame of mind the other night besides me. Oh well.

Let's see. Edits are necessary to the website. Hope to make them today. The first page is up, but the rest of the whole thing is still under construction. Ugh.

Getting ready to try to build a MySpace ad today too. Nothing like lumping all of my tech challenges in one spot! LOL.

I've been puny all week, which means I'm behind on everything, and I have a bad case of the don' wanna's this morning.

I am, however, in a good mood. :)

On a much sadder note, one of my son's best friends killed himself last week - on his 27th birthday. I am so sad, and so sorry for those he left behind. I understand debilitating depression, but it is a great sorrow when someone decides that they can't go on. I pray for his soul, and hope that he has found the peace he didn't manage to find here.

I know there are those who feel that suicides are damned. I hope not. Such hopelessness and pain doesn't deserve more pain to follow, and so much of depression is linked to biological problems. I believe that God (or Goddess depending on your religion) is kinder, gentler, and more understanding than that.

I don't know what to say, not to my son, or anyone else. Life is hard. Losing someone you care about is incredibly difficult, particularly when it is abrupt, unexpected, and unfathomable.

Unfortunately, on that particularly sad note I'm going to have to sign off.

Be well, be happy, be kind.


Cie

Stuff and Nonsense.

Hi! Don't have a lot to say. So I'm going to blather.

I have an odd turn of mind. Often.

For example. I like Def Leppard. A lot. They have a song "Animal."
In the song it has lyrics that go "And I want," (echo) "And I need" (echo) "And I love" (echo) "ANIMAL."

My mind switches in the middle of that song to a close up of a bright red Muppet playing the drums and shouting his name.

********

And of course the lovely Mrs. Robinson, for whom "heaven holds a place for those who pray. Hey, hey, hey. . . " At which point I picture Fat Albert for the second "HEY HEY HEY."

*******

But my son had them both beat nicely. After the inimitable "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah AHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he said "Choo." (before the "Oh baby, pretty baby . . .")

*******

Does your mind ever do that kind of odd cloning?

Come up with a couple here in my comments. I could use a good laugh.


Cie

Good Morning

Good Morning!

There is absolutely no logical reason for me to be in a fantabulous mood. But I am. And I'm going to roll with it while I can. Actually, that's not quite true. There is a reason. I hadn't been writing. Yesterday I not only wrote, I wrote well and for a long stretch.

Writing is a part of who I am. My identity. And when I don't get to do it I go a little wonky. I get depressed, and GRUMPY. (Not that you would've noticed that from my previous posts. NAH, couldln't be. LOL)

ANYWAY, I wrote, I'm feeling better. Presto. Magic.

Today is Sunday and I have house stuff to do. But I'm getting up early tomorrow morning and will see if I can get the re-write to page 200. That's the goal. It's quite a few pages, but re-writs generally go faster for me than the original. And I'll have all day today to think about what I want to do.

In the meantime, everybody be well and happy. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as far as the move stuff goes.

Bestest.

Cie

REALLY GOOD DAY

WOOT!! I got to page 179 on the re-write of the first book of the new series. This is great. Wonderful good news. I'm back into it. I can hear the character again. :)

Oh, there's lots more work. But there's time to do it. And I'm very, VERY happy.

Celebrated this evening by watching "Stranger than Fiction." It is a very cool and fun movie for a writer, and quite good. Great cast. But it's a bit of an odd duck, so it didn't get a lot of attention when it came out. Anyway, it's one of my favorites.

I have used a whopping 6 tissues today. Which, compared to yesterday (with more than a full box getting used because of wicked allergies and an asthma attack) is pretty remarkable. My nose no longer looks like Rudolf. My eyes don't look as though I've been on a three-day crying jag. Really cool.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Everyone have a wonderful evening.

:)

Cie

Ahhh . . . CHOOO

Hi Guys!

I'm back and in a much better mood today. Of course, after the last post I'd just about have to be!

Anyway, yesterday I didn't post because I got hit bad with allergies.


(BRIEF RANT FOLLOWS. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT, SKIP TO THE ****)

I have asthma. I have allergies and sensitivity to chemicals. Sometimes you can't even smell the chemical, but if it's there, I'm sick. Cleaning products in particular, some perfume bases, lotion bases, that sort of thing. Hell sometimes even perfumes I LIKE make me sick enough that I wind up needing an inhaler and hoping I don't wind up in the ER getting a breathing treatment.

So yesterday I walk into work and WHAM, it hits me like a wrecking ball in the doorway. I'm digging in my purse for the inhaler while my eyes are running and my nose is dripping and I'm gasping for air. UGH! Wound up using the last of my inhaler, and calling for an emergency refill -- RUNNING to the store for tissues (I went through an ENTIRE box in 1 day. No kidding.) and antihistimines/decongestants.

When I got home it dried up within an hour and I was breathing close to normally. So today my nose is red, my eyes are red, and I'm breathing just a little rough, but by tomorrow I should be fine. Just in time to go back to work on Monday. UGH.

I hate this. I really hate this. People who do not have this problem honestly don't get it. Nothing I can say or do will change them. I just have to avoid the situation when I can and take the medicine when I can't. I just keep chanting SOON, SOON. SOON I will be moving to Denver and writing full time for a while and it won't be an issue. SOON.

(END OF RANT)***********************

Anyway, I'm home and I'm feeling better and am in a better mood. I'm getting some house stuff done and writing stuff done. I kind of blew the budget with the unexpected meds and stuff, but we should be getting the on-pub check soon, so it'll be fine. I just need to be patient. Yeah, RIGHT, like that's my BEST thing. LOL

I'm signed up for the RT convention. I'm excited to go. Orlando should be fun. Writing is going well, slowly, but well. Cathy has approved the website, now I just need to get the FTP software, and figure out how to use it again (it's been a few years). I figure I'll get it online by the 1st. I hope. No promises though. If it isn't compatible we'll be at square one. (I don't even want to think about that.)

ANYWAY, I'm off to turn up the tunes and get some more work done. Everybody be happy and be safe.

Morning Off

Hi Guys! I took the morning off from the day job because I needed some time. For a couple of reasons.

First, I'm not feeling well. And I knew that this morning would probably be worse (never mind how. I'm being discreet. I just did.), so I decided to stay home.

I also had some things I needed to do.

But most importantly, yesterday afternoon I caught myself for the second or third time doing something that I find completely unacceptable.

I'm turning into someone I don't like at all, just to fit in. I don't mean to, but I'm catching myself doing it. Being that bitchy gossip girl that I always hated. That's not me. I don't WANT that to be me.

Once upon a time, when I was young (yeah, a REALLY long time ago) I didn't give a glorious #@$*@# about what people thought. I did what I wanted and was who I was. And I was thus THOROUGHLY ostracized, criticized, and marginalized for it. So I moved. (There were other reasons, but that was a big part of it.) To the city. Where I could be who I was and really, seriously, it didn't matter much. In fact, compared to a lot of folks I was just seriously boring. SERIOUSLY boring.

Then about 5 years ago I moved to a small town again. I am not young. I am not "cute". People are not going to excuse me for oddities because of the two previous sentences. (And yes, like it or not, pretty people get cut quite a bit of slack in our society.) And this small town does, in fact, have small town attitudes. And I need to work in the town. So I adjusted a bit to try to fit in. And then I adjusted a bit more.

And now I find myself being who I don't like. Having lost my way. On the good side, I've gotten back in touch with my religion. On the bad side, I'm turning into a shallow bitch.

I've said repeatedly how I want to go "home." I feel like a heel. There are nice people here. Really there are. But I'm not turning out to be one of them. And while I should have control of that, I don't.

When did I start worrying, CARING about what other people thought to the point of letting it change who I was. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

I know it's my fault. I'm just confused as hell about it. Where's the courageous kid I used to be?

***************************************

I'm changing subjects now. Mainly because I don't have an answer, and I probably shouldn't be discussing this on a very public blog anyway.

But my resolution is to find a solution where I can be me and not screw up making a living at the day job until we get the contract money and I move. Maybe by duct taping my mouth shut?

***************************************

Good news, I had NOT totally pissed off the person I thought I had. She's just had a frantically busy life. I'm glad.

Thanks for Commenting Guys

Thanks for commenting guys! I'm really glad to hear from you. It means I can actually feel like I'm talking TO somebody.

Let's see . . . I took tomorrow morning off so that I can do all of the stuff that accumulates that can only be done during "regular business hours" which are, of course, the hours I work as well. Ugh. And also because I need a bit. I just do. Doesn't make sense. I mean we just had holidays. But there you go. Who said I have to make sense.

Cathy has gotten her comments back to me on the website. SO one of the things I'm going to try to do tomorrow is get the new site up and see if it will actually work. OY. I haven't tried anything like this in ages and ages, and the tech has probably changed. So it should be . . . um, challenging.

Signed up to go to RT in Orlando. Woo hoo! Hope y'all can come. We are (see previous posts) up for some seriously cool awards. I'm not doing my actual flight arrangements yet though because I don't know if I'll be in Denver yet or not. (JEEZ I certainly HOPE so!)

Anyway, I hope you are all well and happy. I'm going to go fix myself dinner and then come back and work on the book again.

Be good. Be happy.

Cie

Music and Writing

Usually I write in silence. The lyrics to music usually are just too distracting when I'm trying to type. I suppose it's too many years of having typed dictation. My head keeps thinking I should be typing what my ears are hearing.

BUT, that said, some books just REQUIRE a soundtrack. Some of them just have music that gets you into the mood and head of the character. I've found that the heroine of the new series in particular gets coaxed into my head with certain music. Since I need to get into her head and get back to work I currently have Evanescence blasting from the speakers.

There are other songs that seem to be working with this (not all attributed, because I've only heard them on radio and gotten them in my head and don't know which brilliant artists came up with them. But it is what it is and it's helping me.

On another note, I've had a nice conversation with David, my new assistant-to-be. It seems we're on the same page. He's a very cool person, and I like and trust him, which is not something I do easily.

Anyway, we're working through the kinks of getting his employment set up.

But NOW, I'm in the mood to write. So I shall adjourn and do so.

Better Day Today

Today's a better day. I spent a good part of yesterday chilling with a good friend, and it helped my attitude. Today I'm doing my Sunday thing which is to say, nothing. Day of rest and prayer and all that. I need it badly once a week.

I'm going to go ahead and post the following. I thought about not, because it's kind of personal. But I'm going to do it after all.
***********************

The good news of the day is that I've been having book thoughts and ideas again. Enough that I'm having trouble keeping up with them.

THIS IS A GOOD THING.

See, when the health goes totally to pot, I can't think clearly. In my regular life this generally means I screw up my checkbook, forget simple things (like to turn off the tub until it's ready to overflow), and other equally fun stuff. (There are also some worse symptoms. But I'm not going into them now.)

In my writing life it means that I can only sit still for a little while to type without stiffening up and I can't come up with an original idea to save my life. That I am having ideas again means that I caught it in time and I'm coming back out of the trough and that I won't be bottoming out like I did before. I'm VERY glad.

With regard to the website, Cathy's tweaking. I'll let you know when it gets posted.
With regard to the deal with Tor, we've got it negotiated, now we're waiting for paperwork. But it's a VERY good deal for us and we are extremely happy about it.

The first book of the new series is on the burner, and I'm plugging away at it. Cathy, meanwhile is working on another Sazi.

Our next release is GASP (CRAP WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!) NEXT MONTH! It's called Magic's Design. Buy the book. Really. Totally unique world. Lotsa fun. For those of you who like romance, it's romantic. But for those of you who are action or fantasy buffs, I think it will make you happy too.

In August the next Sazi book comes out. Tony 1st person POV with Ahmad featured. Now come on, can you actually resist that?

If you subscribe to (or can buy) Romantic Times Book Review we have a greeting in the February issue, along with an Ad we designed specifically for it. AND we are in the nominees. Still can't get over how massively cool THAT is.

Still haven't heard back from the person I e-mailed. Hope it's just that she hasn't been on-line. But you never know.

Take care of yourselves. I'm off to pre-cook a bunch of meals and freeze them in individual sized containers so that I can just pop things in the microwave and not have to do the whole stove or oven thing any more than is absolutely necessary. But before I can do that, I have to go get milk. I forgot it earlier. Oops. (Okay, so I'm better. I'm not perfect.)

Cie

Frustration and General Stuff

Welcome to the new year.

See, I HAVE been being better about blogging. Of course if nobody stops by, does it really matter?

I am having a frustration day. We all get them. It's not anything huge. Just the little crap that should be a ten minute thing that turns into an hour-and-a-half, and still didn't get it done the way you wanted to thing.

Good news, I did hear from Jim. YEA!!! His life was a little . . . awkward . . . for a while too. I can understand that.

Frustrating thing number 1: My health is being a pain in the patoot. Not BAD, okay, I've been MUCH worse, but I'm having memory problems, and I feel like somebody beat the crap out of me. No fun that.

2: I'm still stuck in limbo with regard to some of the major life changes I'm trying to make. Everything is on hold pending the actions of others.

3: The water system in the town in which I live is . . . well, let's just say that I won't drink it, and some days (like yesterday) I don't even want to bathe in it. I mean, tap water properly treated does not come out of the tap piss yellow. It just doesn't. I don't even want to give that to the dog and cats.

4: I think I pissed off someone I like. I hope not, and I'm going to write them about it in an e-mail. But if I did there's not a damned thing I can do about it. And it sucks.

The fact of the matter is, I am quite socially awkward. There are worse. (Or so I've been told). But I AM. There is a reason I live mostly in my interior world.

But I care about this person, so I have to bite the bullet and risk MORE social awkwardness. Oh freaking goodie.

Ah well, enough whining. Life is mostly very good. I am grateful for almost everything in my life. And EVERYTHING will look better after I eat breakfast, have my caffeine and take something OTC for the pain.

Everybody have a great day.

Cie

Buenos Nuevo Anos (Correct as needed including tilde)

Happy New Year!

Wow, the year went faster than I can even begin to convey. I mean . . . WOW.

The reason the greeting in the heading is in my abyssimal version of Spanish is that I am, at the moment, indulging in a Margarita. This is because I promised the folks at Waldenbooks I'd raise a glass in toast to them.

You see, as of 1/24 their store is closing, and as of 1/31 the merchandise unsold will be boxed and sent back.

It is a serious bummer and the end of an era.

This is the Waldenbooks that was the first to acknowledge us in the area, to treat us like real "authors" and not red-headed-step-children because of what we write. They took phone orders. They did up very nice signings. They actually kept our books in stock as local authors and presented us to people buying paranormal books.

So I am raising one or two glasses in their honor in the safety of my own home, in the company of my puppydog and pussycats.

Also, in toast to the folks at the local IGA whose store closed ABRUPTLY on the night of the 27th of December. I don't think they even got any warning.

And to everyone else who has lost their job. The economy sucks. I am sorry. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

But enough gloom and doom. I do not want to start the year with weeping and wailing.

Cie

Good Job Folks.

Good job on the limerick. I'm not even going to contemplate what's in that bucket! LOL

Let's see. The holiday weekend is winding down. Will be headed back to the day job tomorrow. Got Cathy the website. Of course she's going to make changes, but that's part of the process.

My new photo is copyrighted to Timothy Klein and I purchased rights for use on our website. It's absolutely gorgeous and I'm only showing it off here for a couple days with acknowledgement to him because I (a) love it; and (b) am hoping it will bring me good luck as to getting back to Denver.

I fixed the back fence, so that Lucky the Wonder Dog can get more exercise. She's been MUCH happier since. :)

Periodically people ask for a list of the books, thus far. Since the website is currently under revision (but OHHHHHH so close to finished -- I hope) . . .

Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen, Western Reflections Publishing.

THE SAZI BOOKS (All through Tor/Forge Publishing):
Hunter's Moon
Moon's Web
Captive Moon
Howling Moon
Moon's Fury
Timeless Moon
And, COMING IN AUGUST, 2009, the return of Tony Giodone in Cold Moon Rising.

THE THRALL/KATE REILLY SERIES (All through Tor/Forge Publishing):
Touch of Evil
Touch of Madness
Touch of Darkness

There are also lots of short stories in anthologies, and articles and such, but you'll have to wait for the webpage for those, because I don't have the patience to list them here. ADD strikes again (OOOOOH SHINY!!!)

OKAY, a bit of useless trivia for those of you who are into such things. This is also known as Cie being . . . well . . . Cie.

FIRST -- Much to Cathy's frustration, until an appropriate title was come up with for the third Thrall book, Cie privately referred to it as . . . "Touch of Oregano."

A friend called down to the bookstore and asked us to autograph books for him (which we are always glad to do), he told the clerk to have me "Write something really cool." Swear to you, the first (and only thing) that came to mind was "Ice Cube."

And now we're off and running for another day. Thinking about Jim made me remember that I haven't heard from him in forever. I think I'll pop back by The Werewolf Cafe and check up on him.

Toodles.


Cie

Let's Play!

Okay guys, I'm feeling playful. I also want to see if anyone is stopping by. (And thank you to all those who have commented so far). Here's the game I suggest. It's called build me a limerick. I start. Then one comment after another you add on until we have at least the semblance of a bad joke.


We'll start with the traditional. . . .

There once was a man from Nantucket . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

It's Christmas day and I am very happy. For one, I've actually had time to unwind today. Talked to a bunch of people I love on the telephone, but generally had a nice, quiet day. I know there are folks that think that's pathetic. So be it. Their loss. I spend so much of my time running around in high gear that I truly love getting the chance to just BE for a little bit.

The animals are all well and happy. The elder cats are old enough now that I know I don't have too much more time with them, so I am very glad to have another holiday. How old? Best I can calculate, Algonquin is something close to 20. For a cat that's past ancient. Bacchus is not as old, but we got him as an adult, and I'm not sure how old he was then. And he's male, which gives him a shorter life span. But while I'm having to go get them the special cat food periodically (for anorexic cats -- did you know there WERE anorexic cats? I didn't, but there you go.), they're hanging in there.

Lucky the Wonder Dog is well and feeling frisky enough to be demanding my attention when I'm trying to type. I've fixed the hole in the fence, so for the past two days she's been able to run in the back yard. I'm really glad, because she's needed the exercise. I've been in too much pain to give her the twice daily walks that she really needs.

Widget the kitten is old enough to need to have his "BIG" vet appointment. Had it scheduled, but he wouldn't cooperate. You have no idea how elusive a formerly feral kitten can be in a house filled with nooks and crannies. Since I didn't have all day to wait him out (I had to be at the day job that day) he got a temporary reprieve. Only temporary though.

James is doing well. The website is revised and on a jump drive to take to Cathy (who I hope will like it!), and I have put all of my deadlines for book stuff into the calendar.

THAT was scary. If next year goes as fast as this one did I'm going to be frantic with all the stuff that's due. But frantic in a good way. After all, a writing career has been my dream since I first picked up a picture book. How cool is it that I actually GET to? VERY cool.

Well, gotta run.

I hope you all have/had the holiday you dreamed of.

Bestest.

Cie

Merry Not-Quite Christmas

Happy holiday, of whatever your flavor. Since I'm a Catholic, mine's Merry Christmas!

I got off early from the day job today and came home and have been working to fix the issues with the website. I THINK it's done. I THINK. WOOT!! I will give the jump drive to Cathy on Friday to see if she can get it to upload, or if we're going to have to try to translate softwares. Keep your toes crossed. Fingers are for typing!

Tomorrow is going to be quiet for me. I'm not going to visit any of the relatives. I've spent my travel wad by job interviewing and visiting my mum when she was sick. Just as well. I need to rest. Symptoms have been acting up. Besides, there's writing to be done.

Anyway, today I am happy. I'm not going to question that too much. Just enjoy it.

Everybody take care.


Cie

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

I got it done. I did. And it looked GOOD. ALL of it. From the main page to the sub pages to the SUB SUB pages it worked. The links worked. Everything.

Then I loaded it onto the jump drive and was going to take it to Cathy. Exhausted, but doing the happy dance (VERY slowly).

THEN I did something dumb.

I decided to check it.

******


ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!

It didn't work properly. Somehow or another it lost all of the cute little things we paid Calaban for (which I will now have to recreate so that they DO translate) and there were font weirdnesses (which is actually a fairly easy fix, but @#*$#$@ IT ANYWAY).

THIS is why I don't learn and do tech routinely. This right here. The frustration. YES I can learn it. I'm even pretty good at it. But it takes time I don't have and leads to the kind of frustration that drives my blood pressure into the red zone.

But I am stubborn/determined. It needs to be done. Needs to be done NOW. So I will take my Sunday off that I earned, then I will get up obscenely early and I will fix it. And I will check it to make sure it STAYS fixed, then I will give it to my business partner who WILL like it (I hope), and we will get the @#$*&@#$ thing LOADED where it WILL work and not need to be re-done because of some freaking software glitch. SO THERE! RAWR!!!

EXHAUSTED

Okay, I'm pooped. Really, seriously, oh BOOOOOOY am I pooped.

BUT, the draft of the website is done. There will be tweaking. Of course there will be tweaking. I mean, I didn't have a list of all of our short stories and anthologies in front of me and I KNOW there are more of them. I know we want to add some just for the website short stories as well. And I didn't have on hand the first chapter of either the upcoming book in February for the sample chapter, or for the Tony book coming out in August. Oh, and if we're going to use the new covers on the Sazi books I need to add those too. But the pages, and the subpages and the links are DONE. I worked my fuzzy little TAIL off. The animals are being raging pains in the patootie because all I've done all day is sit at the computer and not pay attention to them. But it is DONE.

I'd done a lot of it before, had the basic format done. BUT there was a lot more left than I thought, and it became a sequential vortex as I went along. But, I am NOT going to give myself a hard time. I am just going to put the silly files onto a jump drive so that Cathy can look at them and make changes. (Her internet provider is down AGAIN). Then I am going to my well deserved rest. I will clean my drains, my house, and color my hair in the morning. For tonight I'm SOOOOOOOO done.

Let's just hope the whole thing uploads properly and I don't have to convert it to another kind of software.

No. I won't think of that. THAT is the stuff of nightmares.


Bestest.

Cie

Stuff to Do

Hi all!

Just taking a minute out to update the blog. Thing is, there isn't all that much to say. Need to write. Need to get the house clean (it's disgusting). Need to get my budget balanced and all of my paperwork sorted. Need to get the revised website to Cathy so we can make revisions and get the @&#$*$@# thing up.

Ah, the website. If you've been following the blog for about a YEAR now, you know that it is an ongoing issue. You see, like virtually every other author we know who has tried to get their website worked by an outside source, we got burned a bit. Not a LOT, and I'm not even sure it was the guy's fault. His life fell apart. And YES I know there are LOTS of reputable people who do that sort of thing, but they're hard to find, and they're BUSY. It's time consuming. And, more likely than not, more expensive than I can afford right now. And now it needs to happen NOW. So I'm going to try again.

Wish me luck.

Cie

Thanks to All

Thanks to all who responded to the post -- and HI YO!!!

Okay, with that said, I am not really ready for Christmas. Yes, I've done my shopping (but no wrapping or mailing, which I've GOT to do). But the real thing is that I'm NOT READY for it to BE Christmas. As in, "Holy CRAP, it's DECEMBER, I mean MID-DECEMBER? What happened to summer, and fall and all those months since, I dunno MARCH?"

Panic. Utter panic. I must be over the hill because I'm definitely gaining momentum!

Today the animals have been a pain in the patootie. I love 'em, but they are SERIOUSLY getting into mischief, causing messes, interfering with anything even remotely resembling work. UGH.

Speaking of which. Lucky the Wonder Dog wants back in. NOW.

Gotta run.

Cie

Business as Unusual

Hi Guys! Thanks for stopping by and please keep posting comments.

I'm very slowly getting back up to strength and speed. Starting to be able to think creatively again. Staying up past 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. (Yeah, you read that right. When I've got symptoms I sleep. When it was bad a few years ago I wound up out for 18-20 hours and couldn't work. It isn't that bad any more [Thank God -- REALLY], but part of that is because I know the lead-in symptoms now and try to nip it in the bud.)

This is a VERY good thing. Aside from the obvious (I mean, who really wants to be sick, right?), I'm able to get back to doing more than just the day job. Since we just got offered a wonderful deal that involves me -- well -- um -- actually WRITING BOOKS this is a very good thing indeed.

I made a somewhat momentous decision (I think. But understand that I could always change my mind.) If I'm going to get everything I need to get done, done, and Cathy is going to get everything SHE needs to get done, done (which wouldn't happen if she was trying to cover for me because I'm not completely back up to speed), we are going to need some part-time help. So I contacted someone I know and trust, who was in search of a little bit of part-time work, and tentatively hired him on as my personal assistant. I told him on the phone the job description involved "shovelling all of the crap that keeps me from being able to actually write." In follow up e-mails (two, because Inkspot the Infamous decided he wanted to lay on the keyboard and send the first before I was done.) I explained in more detail.

I'm nervous as heck about this. It's a big commitment. But we've got good money coming up next year, and a little bit of it is coming for the on-pub payment for "Magic's Design" in January/February. Yes, there's LOTS of stuff I could spend it on, (and will, including going to RT for those of you who are interested.) but he's working for a VERY reasonable rate, and . . . well, I made the decision damn it, I need to let it go. I'll put a chunk of the money into a new bank account for payroll (enough for his estimated pay for the year and a couple of bonuses, which I can only do because he's being VERY reasonable) and that will be that.

Cathy and I are, indeed going to RT again. I've not been travelling much other than to try to move to Denver and for a family emergency. That has got to change. We need to get out there and actually SEE people. Besides, we're nominated for a couple of BIG awards, and I want to go and show my support. (I also hope we'll win. Keep your toes crossed, fingers are for typing.)

I'm a little bummed about a couple of personal things. First, I'm still in Texas. Texas is lovely country, but I am not cut out for small town living. But the economy does, indeed, sucketh pond scum covered rocks. I'm not giving up, but it's harder than I'd like.

Second, I've lost track of a number of friends. I've tried contacting them and they're not getting back to me. Which means they are probably truly lost. Always sad, that. But true friendship is a bond between two people where they BOTH want it. So there it is. And no, generally speaking, absence does not make the heart grow fonder (at least not if it goes on for very long at all). It tends to make the heart go find somebody to make it feel better. And life truly does go on. It was designed that way so that we could survive death of loved ones and other heartache. My life has gone on too --- which was why I neglected to stay in touch like I should.

Third, I've kind of lost myself. Okay, this is personal stuff, and maybe I shouldn't post it out here at all, but I don't think many people are reading this anyway, and I think at one point or another everybody's been here, or at least will be.

See, when you are in a new place and you obviously DON'T fit, you kind of hide the rough edges. It's the same sort of thing you do on a first date. Yeah, you're "you" but you're not the same "you" you usually are. Maybe you're language is a little better. You're certainly dressed a little better, or have your hair and/or make-up done in a more flattering (and time-consuming) manner. But after a while you start "letting your hair down" and being yourself. Only I haven't. Not really. And the times I've tried haven't gone all that well.

"You have a TATTOO?!!!" (expression of utter horror/disgust).
"Yeah, I got it for my 40th birthday." (which means it wasn't even a youthful indiscretion! Oh, the horror!)

Or the time I wore my leather biker jacket to walk the dog, and the little old man down the street nearly drove his truck into a tree.

Or the sweet, truly lovely and well-meaning, people who have come up to me to say that they are seriously concerned about the state of my soul because of the type of books I write.

Okay guys. It's been almost five years. I'm done. Toasty. Crispy critters done. I've made a few (emphasis on the FEW) friends, but even those I have to be careful around. For me, part of friendship is NOT having to always be so careful any more.

I wanna stop being on my first date. I wanna go home and be ME. ALL of me. I don't always want to be NICE and acceptable. I don't WANT to iron my jeans, and ALWAYS wear make-up. If I want to blast AC/DC "Highway to Hell" on my stereo I want to do it and NOT worry about somebody being mortally offended. I've lost track of big chunks of who I am and I want them back.

Cathy says I should just do it. Be who I am, and to hell with it. But there are consequences to that. And the point is that I want to be ACCEPTED for who I am. I want to RELAX, not have to be watching my back. Which I would. Carefully. Because I'm just a wee bit paranoid by nature.

So I hang on. But I'm REALLY hoping to move back to the city. Sooner is better.

NOTE TO THE WISE -- I just about deleted the rant part of this post. Sanitized it. Because, I don't want to offend anyone who might stop by.

But I'm not going to. Like I said. Crispy critters.

Hi Yolanda! (Waves vigorously)

HI YOLANDA!!

Thanks for popping by. I never hear from anybody any more. My own fault. I've not been online as much and kept in touch. Basically because of deadlines, depression and various other d words. BAAAAAD Cie! Bad girl!

I am back from visiting Denver. The news is, as usual mixed. The semi-bad news is, I turned down the job before it was even offered. It was a "career" not a job. The kind of career that routinely takes 12-14 hour days. If that career is your goal in life, you go for it, because it's a great opportunity. But my writing is my career. So I need a good, solid 8-hour a day job with benefits. With the commute it ends up being between 10-11. Which still gives me a little time to write. 12-14 with commute would be 13-16 hours. I'd be too pooped to even sit at the keyboard. So while the employer was lovely, I had to say no. Which was harder than it sounds because I WANT TO GO BACK TO DENVER!

The good news is that Tor made us a lovely contract offer. We are accepting it. And I need to get started. Deadlines loom, etc. The money is such that I am feeling actually fairly secure. A very good thing.

I would write more, but Inkspot the infamous is doing his "oooh, it clicks" thing about the keyboard along with the "PET me, you KNOW you love me, PURRRRRR." It makes typing . . . awkward. So I'll move on. Best always. Please stop by again, and leave comments. I get lonely.

:)

Trip to Denver

Hello!

I'm in the process of getting ready to go to Denver for a job interview. Yes, a DAY job. While I love the writing, and it is actually pretty well paying, the money comes in big lumps at odd intervals and there is NO insurance, NO retirement, NO security, and NO PERSONAL INPUT. This is bad, very bad.

So, I am trying to relocate back to Denver and to get a house (which I need to have the animals, and I'm not giving them up) I need verifiable steady employment, i.e., a job. And I have an interview. A good prospect even.

WOOT!

Wish me good luck.

Down in the dumps.

I'm down in the dumps. No real reason for it. Just am.

This weekend was cool. Saturday was my birthday. There are folks that don't celebrate getting older at my age. I'm not one of them. I had a very close call (actually, SOME very close calls) when I was young, so I actually CELEBRATE the fact that WHOO HOO! I MADE IT THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR!!! WOOT!!

In fact, I offended a few people last year when I said -- "Holy crap, I'm (INSERT AGE HERE). I may actually survive long enough to get old. I should probably think about retirement." The people I was talking to were very offended, because apparently you're not supposed to think that you might not get old. But, I looked at my track record and I mean, come ON:
1) Struck by lightning
2) Pneumonia multiple times (we're talking double digits folks);
3) Bronchitis literally more times than I can count;
4) Removal of one necrotic kidney;
5) Thyroid problems;
6) A pituitary adenoma;
7) A couple of car wrecks and close calls;
8) Bit by a black widow spider.

I mean, would YOU think I'd get old? Really? Boy are you the optimist. But apparently you're right. So WOOT!

SO, this year I got the big mailing from . . . AARP! ALL RIGHT!!

Now so many people I know would be going -- "Oh No, I'm OOOOOOOOOLD."

My first reaction?

HOT DAMN! COOL BEANS -- DO you think they have health insurance? Do I have to prequalify!

Okay, so now, oddly, I'm feeling better.

Keep rooting for me to get employment and make it back to Denver. I wanna go home.

Hello -- or is it Oh Hell?

Hello:

It's been a few days (maybe a couple weeks. I haven't looked). Life has been . . . interesting. I'm sure it's going to be wonderful, eventually, but right now it's a bit of a slog.

In the good news front, saw the cover of the new Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance. It's beautiful! And it's got a lot of the biggest names in Paranormal Romance writing short stories in it. Which, of course, makes me nervous as hell that mine won't stack up. Ugh. Really ugh. Oh crap ugh. I mean, **I** like it, but well, um . . . crap.

The other day on my lunch hour a puppy (who should have been in a fence or on a lead, one of my big worries in this town since hardly anybody seems to bother and most of the dogs run loose) dashed under my moving truck. I hit him/her -- hard. I love animals (more than most people, which I probably shouldn't say, but there you go). She wasn't killed, but it wasn't good. She was rushed to the vet and had a broken front and back leg, one of which was going to require surgery and bolts. Because our vet was out of town, they had to take her to a vet in the larger city.

I felt and feel like CRAP. It wasn't my fault. But tell that to the pup. And the owners. And me a few more times. I mean I KNOW it wasn't my fault. But again, I feel like CRAP.

Another joyous event was a PHOTO SHOOT.

Okay, for those of you who look terrific, this doesn't sound so bad. For those of us who really REALLY don't look the way we'd like, (which actually is probably most people come to think of it) it's awful. Don is a great photographer. Don't get me wrong. But he can't change my weight, or my height or my "thyroid face and neck" (I have that lovely moonface and swollen neck thing going -- on top of the weight that we don't really want to discuss) or the fact that the camera is . . . well . . . accurate, damn it.

But we needed publicity shots of Cathy and I individually and together as a writing team. SOOOOOOO the morning was spent in front of the camera. The shots are as good as it gets for me in front of the camera. But it was not happytime. I am glad the results are good. And I am very, VERY glad it is over.

Also, I am a dinosaur. I accept this. Everyone who knows me accepts this. It is fine. BUT I had a mishap. Since I don't use a phone much, I only use a cell phone. Since I don't use the cell phone much, I use a Tracfone. One of those lovely buy your minutes and just use what you buy phones. I really like it too. Okay. I had a phone that was just that. A phone. Period. End of story. We even got it loaded for double minutes for the life of the phone and (WOOT) 800 minutes, which would last me a WHILE barring familial disasters (which eat telephone time). SO, I'm doing great. I have the minutes for all of WHOOO HOO, three whole days when I . . . wait for it . . . LOSE THE FRICKING PHONE.

Gone. Absolutely gone. Can't find it to save my life. Suspect some kid or teenybopper is now using it to call Taiwan or text their long lost boyfriend. (Or just threw it out in disgust because it's JUST a phone. [OHMIGAWD AN ANTIQUE!!!]) Whatever.

SO, I go to replace my phone and THEY DON'T EVEN MAKE THAT KIND ANY MORE. Nope. So, I get a phone that is a phone, a camera, can get me on the internet, and in all likelihood (assuming I could find the right button) tap dance and/or do the Macarena (which of course nobody does any more, but BY GOD my phone probably can). And the nice people at Tracfone replace the minutes, give me double minutes (came with the phone this time), and I get to keep my old phone number. BUT I have no idea how to use it. I mean, I'm learning. I'm literate. I can read directions. But JEEZ I keep hitting the @*#($& button that is supposed to link me to the internet (and going "NOOOOOOOOOOO stop it. I just want to make a CALL.")

I will learn. I have actually even successfully taken 1 picture. But this is not a good time for me.

SO, for those of you who know me. If you call and I do not answer, or you get cut off. Relax. I still like/love (depending and you know which category you fall into) you. It's just the freaking phone.

Cie

Hello Again.

See, I really AM starting to come here regularly. Honest.

Let's see. Today was a much better day. In part because I spent most of it asleep. (OOPS). Seriously, I'm on a new prescription, and it's making me very tired. I'm HOPING I'll get used to it in a few days.

Sent off the bags to the Vampire Lestat Ball charity auction. The proceeds are going to Habitat for Humanity for New Orleans.

Inkspot the infamous has joined me yet again. He is fascinated with the keyboard. Lots of edges to rub against AND it makes clicky noises. OOOOOOOOOh.

Lucky the Wonder Dog is gnawing on a bone at my feet. Ink is the only one of the cats who'll come in and play with her when I'm here, but I have caught the others sneaking in when they think I don't know.

I need to get back to my writing, but I honestly haven't felt well enough for a while. I'm getting better, so I think I'm going to give it a try tonight and tomorrow.

I'm hopeful again on the moving front. A miracle would be nice that got me there tomorrow, but I don't see it in the cards. Soon, I hope. Soon. This is my mantra.

Work has been quiet this week. The boss and his wife went on vacation. The rest of us got down to business and kept busy on old stuff, the kind of stuff you don't get to with the interruptions of new work coming in. [PARAGRAPH EDITED OUT]

I probably shouldn't post that in public. So I won't.

Well, I need to get food, and get to my writing. Wish me luck.


Cie

Stuff

Okay, this is a bummer blog, so if you don't want to be bummed, you probably should skip it.

Oh hell. I don't particularly want to be bummed either.

I think I'll just shut up and go to bed.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.


Cie

Updates

Okay, this is another quickie.

I've been applying like crazy for day jobs in Denver and it looks like MAAAAAYBE things are starting to come together. WOO HOO!!

Got the birthday package sent to my mum. She was a Halloween baby. I am periodically a Thanksgiving baby. (Since the holiday floats a bit, I'm not ALWAYS on the holiday, but frequently enough for it to count in my book.) The man I was absolutely nuts about in high school (and beyond for quite a while -- but I blew it badly enough that it's painful to even think about it) was a Christmas baby. The problem with that was, he wound up with "combined" presents and not having his day be special. Ouch!

Got another package sent off to my son. In it was Dublin Dr. Pepper (the special kind made with real cane sugar rather than the corn syrup. You can really taste the difference! But they only ship it out of Texas if you order online. It's available locally here. So I send him some periodically.) and a bunch of DVDs. I buy used from the video rental store. Does this make me a cheapskate? Probably. But I've never been burned that way, and the savings is significant.

Yeah, I guess I AM a cheapskate. So be it. I guess I spent too many years being broke to not watch it. Things are better now, but I still have times when I've overextended myself -- like right after I had to make a big payment to the IRS (with another one due VERY shortly UGH).

BUT I do not begrudge the IRS their money. Yes, I think they are unfair to the self-employed, but I LIKE having public roads, and bridges, and clean water, and Social Security and Medicaid available to those who need it. So I'm willing to pay for them.

UGH. Inkspot the infamous is making his presence known on the keyboard again.

I'd better go, or I'll wind up grumpy.

Toodles.

Getting Things Done

Okay, I'm going to try to post again. Wish me luck. Inkspot the infamous (my black kitty with extra toes) has decided that it's fun to lay on the keyboard when mom's typing. Oy!

Yesterday was BUSY. I'm pooped. But we did good work.

First, megacudos to Joan who got me information quickly so that I could send promo materials to Mile Hi Con in Denver in time for them to make it to the goodie table. LOOK FOR IT! And go to the con. It's a blast. In fact, I'm hoping to sneak in as a civilian, if I can figure out a way to manage the trip, not miss too much work, and have the critters taken care of. We'll see. I want to go SOOOO badly. And I need to get up to Denver anyway for a couple of interviews and to look at a house I've been talking to a real estate agent about. Keep your toes crossed. (Fingers are for typing---assuming the cat lets me.) Besides, I want to meet up with Jim and Shannon Butcher and a bunch of friends who are going to the con. AND I want to see my son.

ANYWAY -- we got all of the stuff done for the bags for the Vampire Lestat Ball in New Orleans. They will be mailed tomorrow after I get Cathy's signature on the books in the bags.

AND we saw the new covers on the new books -- They look great! :)

AND we sent off said promo materials to Mile Hi Con from San Angelo (because they wouldn't arrive on time from the small town I live in . . . don't get me started.);

AND we had a signing at the Waldenbooks in the Sunset Mall in San Angelo. (If you ever want signed copies, call them and see if you can work out getting them by mail. Not that I'm trying to sell books or anything. No, not me. That would be someone else, maybe my evil twin? LOL).

AND I bought props for the photo shoot for the other website I'm building for the mystery, speculative fiction I'm writing under a different pen name.

MORE TOO, too much more for me to even coherently discuss. I was so exhausted after all of it that I slept 4 more hours than I usually do! OY

Today I finished putting together the bags for Lestat (You should go, it sounds like it'll be a blast -- and Susie is wonderful. I can't, because I'm in the throes of the move/non-move stuff. But still.) I organized my 2008 tax receipts, I am looking into MySace Advertising, and trying to deal with the website stuff (Caliban, Caliban, wherefore art thou Caliban -- our website designer, who I'm actually quite worried about).

I'm also going to go onto some of the old websites and forums I used to visit. I'd fallen off of the map because of: time constraints, illness, tech problems, and depression.

ANYWAY, wish me luck getting all of that done. Oh, and the laundry, AND the housework, AND, you know, WRITING. ARGH.

Gotta go.

Cie

STUFF/WRITING/MORE STUFF

Greetings and salutations:

Let's see.

May have a job in Denver. May have a house in Denver. Not the house of my dreams, but a fixer upper that I can afford as I transition into my new life. SO, good things coming soon to a writer near you.

I don't have a lot of time so I'll have to make this fast.

First -- We have the new name coming out and are introducing it to the world.
Second -- We're looking into advertising on MySpace. I'll let you know how that works out.
Third -- We're donating baskets to the Ann Rice Vampire Lestat Ball (Still can't go. UGH).
Fourth -- Sending stuff to Mile Hi Con in Denver next week. I may go as a civilian, depending on my schedule. I need to go up to Denver anyway to look at said house and interview for said job. We shall see.
Fifth - the re-issue of the first four books with the SERIOUSLY COOL new covers is out. My nephew says that they were in the Kroger where he works, which means that THEY ARE IN THE SECONDARY MARKETS -- WOOT!
Sixth -- Contract negotiations are proceeding apace. Will keep you advised, but I'm excited.
Seventh -- First book of new series is going well. I'm very excited. The heroine thought she was full human, but when she got attacked by a vampire she wound up with her siren heritage coming to the fore. Now she has to deal with the results of the attack, the people who set her up, and. . . oh yeah, learn how to deal with her new powers. LOTSA fun. Particularly since she is SOOOO sarcastic in my head. I LIKE sarcastic people.

Crap, gotta run. Time's up. And I actually had more to say. UGH!

Cie

NEWS

Hi!

Well, I'm actually back within a week. Don't all keel over from the shock now.

Anyway, the asthma is still a pain, but I'm getting better . . . SLOWLY.

I'm still in Texas, but I think it's going to work out . . . SLOWLY.

Our website guru has had his life implode and has vanished. I am concerned about him personally, and frustrated professionally. But there you go.

Cathy is busy on the edits to the next Tony book. WOOT. I got the paranormal romance short story out for the Mammoth Book anthology (European). I like it. It came in a little bit under word count, but I was actually fairly happy with it. Funny, I had intended just to re-do a short story that I'd done up years ago, but I couldn't find it on the computer. So I thought, "well, I'll just do a quick re-write." Hah! Wound up with a completely different story altogether. But there you go. If I ever DO find the original version, I can re-use it with different names.

I'm in the process of writing a "nice little murder" mystery for my mom. I promised. And I'm trying to deliver. We'll see if I can get it published. I actually got my tax information off to my accountant (GASP/SHUDDER) ON TIME. This is a big thing folks. A BIG thing. Not only did I get that done, I ACTUALLY ORGANIZED ALL OF THE INFORMATION AND RECEIPTS FOR THIS YEAR TO DATE. In file folders. Named. Ordered alphabetically and everything.

I had disconnected the internet thinking I was moving. Since I haven't actually moved, I'm reconnecting it next week. I need it for job hunting, research and the like. It will also allow me to do little things like, oh, I dunno, BLOG, on a more regular basis.

We haven't heard back from the editor on the proposals. We are out of contract at this point. I'm hopeful, but would like to know what to be working on soon. I don't want to end up in a huge time crunch. At any rate, good things are happening. Maybe we'll hear next week.

Gotta run.

Later.

Cie

THEY'RE OUT

WOOT WHOO HOO!!!

The re-issue of the first four Sazi books with the new covers are out. They look GREAT! YOWZA. Cathy picked me up a set yesterday. I didn't get to see them myself because I'm still trying to rest and get well. Stupid bronchitis.

UGH.

Oh, and the Cubs folded. Again. Ah well, there's always next year.

Cie

Still Down for the Count

Ugh. Still fighting the bronchitis. Mostly gone thanks to heavy duty prescriptions, but the asthma aftermath KEEPS hanging on, as does the exhaustion. So, while I have a list of things to do that is several miles long, I am, in fact, resting. Yes, ME resting. I'm a little surprised myself. But I know that if I don't take care of this and RIGHT NOW, I will be fighting it for weeks upon weeks.

So, a couple of lines in the blog. A quick check of e-mails, then down again for the count.

Oh, and if you hear of any spectacularly good jobs with benefits in Denver, let me know. :)

LEVY TOUR/MEIJER STORES

WOOO HOOO!!!

The tour was a tremendous success. I met the most amazing people! So much fun---and such hard work! I am so incredibly impressed by the efficiency the Levy staff showed in "herding cats", i.e., keeping 27(!!!) authors on time and on task. WHEW!

The staff at all of the Meijer stores were wonderful. The set up was great, and the staff made sure that we had drinks (and in some cases snacks and home made cookies) available.

It was a whirlwhind tour over very few days with a lot of stops, but somehow or another they managed to pack in enough amazing food to pack back on some of the poundage I'd managed to shed pre-tour. But WHAT A WAY TO GO!

I'll try to write a longer post later, but I can't now. I'm still recovering because on the last day I caught the crud, which, as usual, dropped immediately into bronchitis. UGH! Still, I got the short story off to the editor and am now caught up on my deadlines (for about ten minutes). I'd celebrate, but most of what I'd celebrate with would either be fattening, or won't mix with the meds the doctor has me on. Ah well! Raise a glass in toast to good friends, good food, and a well-run, successful enterprise.

Utter Exhaustion

Just finished the Levy tour in Detroit. Detroit readers ROCK!

Oy, I am totally exhausted, and can't sleep. Just sent out a mass e-mail to the participants. I have to say, it was a seriously cool group of people, and props to the organizers for being such incredibly adept cat herders.

I'm on deadline for a short story, so I have to get to it. Besides, I'm on a laptop that seems to be possessed. (Bad news. You should see Cathy's short story on a similar vein.) ANYWAY, I'll be back, and sooner rather than later. I've made a vow to be better about my web social skills.

Cie

BIG DOINGS

Hi Guys!

I don't know if anyone still comes here. It would serve me right if you didn't. But there you go. I've had a lot going on.

First, good news. The website is SOOOOOOO close to done and I love it. We're hoping to get it posted before we go on the tour.

We have a new pen name -- we're thinking it's for the paranormal romances. Apparently it was an issue with the stores having two names (where do we shelve it?), SO, allow me to introduce ---(INSERT DRUM ROLL)-

CAT ADAMS

Next -- The tour is happening. We are going. Friday, Septem ber 19 we will be in Kalamazoo Michigan from 10:30-11:30; Grand Rapids from 3:00-4:00, and 5:00-6:30 (different Meijer stores); Saturday September 20 we will be in Lansing from 10:30-12:00; Ann Arbor from 3:00-4:30; and Canton from 5:15-6:45; Sunday, September 21 we will be in Rochester Hills from 10:00-11:30, Royal Oak from 12:15-1:45, and Monroe from 3:30-5:00. WHEW!!

Next au deux -- We will be having a re-issue of the first four books with new covers (seriously cool) and a special price coming up soon (I THINK October, but don't hold me to it.)

We have the ARCs of Magic's Design (the stand-alone novel), and they are gorgeous.

Cathy has turned in the draft of the upcoming Tony Giodone book.

We are working on the edits and proposal of the first book in the new series we are proposing. It's urban fantasy. I love it. Let's hope the publisher agrees! It should be going in later this week.

I have a deadline for a short story paranormal romance that I'm cranking on. I've actually got two of them. When they're finished I'll let the editor choose which she wants. Need to get it done before the tour so I'm pumping on it.

There's more, including my continuing attempts to make it to Denver. But that is a saga and best left to another post.

Toodles.

Cie

Trying to Be Patient

Okay, patience isn't my thing. At all. Not even a little. BUT apparently it's time for me to learn some. Because I'm STILL in Texas, even though I've been trying (rather desperately) to relocate to Denver. VERY frustrating.

The website is still with the designers and is running WAY behind. Again, patience needed. Unfortunately the tour is coming up VERY rapidly and we want the site up and running without glitches AND my tickets are out of DIA. ARGH!!!!

Touch of Darkness has been out a while and it didn't make as much of a splash as I would've liked. I'm very proud of the book. The second and third books in this trilogy are so much stronger than the first one. The first one started out as a novella, and I've never been completely happy with the way it expanded. Don't get me wrong, I think it's still a good book, but it doesn't hang together as well as the other two. But it sold the best. UGH. Go figure. ANYWAY, I'm proud of all of them, but I definitely like Touch of Madness and Touch of Darkness best.

We're running up against the deadline on the latest Tony Giodone book. It's very good. (Yes, I'm actually going to toot our own horn, so there). Also, we're getting ready to launch a new "joint" name for the books Cathy and I write together. It's one of the things we want to publicize hard on the website.

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance is doing well. We have a short story in it. I'm in the middle of writing the short story for the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance. Deadline is coming up rapidly. I'm actually BEHIND (ARGH!) on the proposal for the new Celia Graves series. The first draft of the first book is actually drafted, but I'm polishing pages to go with the proposal, and I HATE writing proposals. I'm much, much better at writing the actual friggin' book. UGH!! I HAVE to get this done and gone before I get the call and scurry out of Texas. Which means NOW.

Health hasn't been great. I don't want to talk too much about it. No single thing that is terrible, but there are a lot of little things that are adding up. Also, the stress isn't helping. I need to be more Zen. . . Yeah, RIGHT!

And then, of course, there are the individual projects, that all went on the back burner but are still knocking around in my head.

Wish me luck getting this all done. I'm getting exhausted just looking at it, and that doesn't even include "real" life like working the day job, packing, taking care of the animals. . . Have I mentioned I'm tired.

ANYWAY, I've got to scoot. I'm sorry I'm not here more. I will try to do better. I just can't make any promises.


Cie

Relocating

OK things are moving apace. A FAST pace. The past six months have gone by in a blur.

Wonderful things are about to happen in regard to the writing career. I'm excited about that. I'm also excited because I'm on my way up to Denver to visit the kiddo and house and job hunt. Although I'm hoping the job thing may be on an inside track. I hope. Maybe.

ANYWAY. I've got to get to work. I'm putting in extra hours so that I won't be quite so far behind when I get back. Because then I have book deadlines and the move.

OH, BTW -- Touch of Darkness -- the last Thrall/Kate Reilly book is due to hit the stands at the end of this month. It's the most romantic of that series, but it still kicks butt -- even if I do say so myself.

Gotta go.

Cie

STUFF

First, happy holiday.

Second. UGH! I'm POOPED. Good pooped, but pooped nonetheless. I cleaned the limbs out of the back yard (a friend stopped by with a chain saw to cut up the major portion of my neighbor's dead tree that blew down into my yard -- THE DAY AFTER I'D CLEANED OUT ALL MY DEAD BRANCHES DARN IT! ANYWAY, thank you DON!!!). I went to drop things off at the dump. It's closed. RATS. I mean, yes, I knew it was closed yesterday for the holiday. But today too? RATS.

ANYWAY, moving right along.

I'm getting ready to relocate. I'm trying to get the writing wrapped up before I do, because moving will mess with my mind and my schedule. I have nine million things to do and I'm SO far behind. UGH!

Good news -- there was a kitten that was born under the building next to where I work. The mother either got captured or died. The rest of the litter didn't make it for various reasons. But I managed to get this one eating (he was a little young not to be nursing) and we managed to catch him, and I found him a good home. YIPPEE. Yowsa but he's tiny and a little scrawny. But FEISTY! Anyway, I've checked back with his new family and he's doing fine. Happy, affectionate, and gaining weight. BIG HAPPY.

Lucky the Wonder Dog is on a diet and exercise plan. She is not amused. I don't blame her.

Still haven't figured out where the stray cat from the front porch dropped her kittens. (I was hoping to find them and get her, and them, a good home. She wants to be mine, but I'm rather over-catted. I want what's best for everybody, and my adopting another wouldn't be it.

Books are going well. Slowly, but well.

Work is going well. Not slowly at all, but well. I'm kind of in a panic because I'm running out of time if I relocate as soon as I want to.

ANYWAY, everybody keep me in your prayers, whatever your religion. (I'm a Catholic Christian myself). I can use all the help I can get.

Best always.

Cie