Future destination...

While I haven't read one in ages, I used to love time travel romance. Usually the plot involved the heroine going to the past...falling in love...bringing the hero back to the future where they lived happily ever after. Simplistic synopsis, true, but it was a popular theme with few variations.

Reading such a story often made me wonder: Would I go back into the past if I could? Where? When? And how long would it take me to miss the modern conveniences of life?

If we're talking indoor plumbing and computers, not long.

It's funny, however, that years later I'd be hard-pressed to tell you the title of even one of those stories. I've racked my brain...but nothing. I do remember a few movies that used such a plot. One in particular: "Somewhere in Time" was my favorite for years. More recently I've come to adore the more action-packed version of the time travel plot in movies such as: "Deja Vu" and "Next" -- both excellent movies, btw. (Denzel Washington??? Enough said.)

But back to my original questions... Would I want to go to the past or future? If so, where and when? If I had the choice, would I stay?

I'm still pondering, in truth. While I think the slower pace of the past is appealing, I also deeply appreciate such things as refrigerators, indoor bathrooms, television, eBooks and print books for the masses. Not to mention wonderful REVIEWS. (GGG)

I suppose, in the end, it would depend on my potential hero. For me, it's always about the romance. ;)

But what do you think? If you could time travel, what would be your destination?

13 Story Ideas I Can't Decide Between

Here's the situation. I'm waiting on my agent to get back to me on my latest completed projects, and in the meantime I don't know what to write next. There are several stories burning a hole in my pocket, so I'm not devoid of inspiration, I just don't know where to constructively apply my time. Once my agent gets back to me, that will help me focus on whichever project we mutually agree has the most potential, but until then I don't want to waste one single day. I only get two a week (when the toddler is at the sitter) and I already burned one this week because both kids stayed home on a snow day.

Needless to say I accomplished less than nothing on that day, which was, incidentally, today, and which is, incidentally, why I'm posting my Johnny Come Lately blog entry at nearly midnight.

But I have tomorrow to myself and...tick tock!

Have you ever been in a position where several projects interest you but you can't settle on one? If my projects didn't take as long, I wouldn't be as reluctant to dive in, but there's that aforementioned two days a week thing that curtails my speed. And it's better than it used to be--until September of last year I got zero days a week.

So I thought I'd put it to a vote or at least solicit opinions. Here are 13 potential stories I could write next. In the comments, you can tell me which one you'd rather read!

1) Take a contemporary romance novella and turn it into a novel that would be a (wonderful) cross between romantic comedy, erotic romance and Southern fiction. This one's at the top of the list because I just finished the novella last week but it probably needs to percolate before I revise it so drastically.

2) Expand the short I sent my agent several months ago into a single title--premise is a dream guardian thing where the standard (or not so standard) secret organization goes around saving the world from monsters created by dreams.

3) Work on my vampire premise I call "My Big Fat Undead Twenty Year High School Reunion" where the heroine, a vamp, is pretty damn sure she'll earn that coveted "Least Changed" award.

4) Work on this dragon/mom lit idea I had where a mom and her two kids escaped a parallel dimension full of bad dragons to come here, only to find perhaps they were followed.

5) Another vampire idea, probably a short, featuring a world half overrun with vamps and the heroine grudgingly enrolling in a vampire self defense training program which I suspect has been infiltrated by those wily bloodsuckers.

6) An erotic (maybe) romance set in an adult school for wizards with a heroine getting a late start in the whole training part of wizardry.

7) A short piece of absolute smut that occurs during a midnight traffic jam after the interstate shuts down due to ice.

8) The sequel to my novel Survival of the Fairest that my editor has gently hinted she would sure like to read.

9) Finish the werewolf story about Harry the rebellious, non-pack joining were and his ladyfriends in the tea room I started at another blog. Problem: it didn't seem to want to be a romance, and I know romance sells better.

10) A futuristic erotic (maybe) road trip story where powerful mages rely on regular people to transport them across the badlands via nonmagical means else the wild magic will seek them out and destroy them.

11) Another futuristic erotic (maybe) roadtrip -- I never know if they're going to be erotic until I start writing them and the characters get hot and bothered -- set in an arctic area where the hero has to fetch his best friend's sister from school and transport her safely down the "ice road" while getting hunted by bad guys from the military (he's on leave).

12) Two elderly lesbian ladies who realize that the place they buried one of their husbands (after they maybe sort of killed the bastard) is about to be dug up for a mall parking lot. Yeah, I know! Why haven't I already written it? Because I have ideas 1-11 tempting me too.

13) And last but not least, a story that takes place in DunVegas about a huge magic show that may--or may not--change the whole world!

Thoughts?

Jody W.
www.jodywallace.com

The Watchers (paranormal romance)

No one can say when the first vampire walked the earth. No one knows where he came from. He was known by many names, and although myths about his abilities differed, there was one common theme─death. Brutal killings and blood-drained bodies settled fear and anger in the hearts of humans.

Those who grew tired of hiding within the shadows and being hunted stepped forward, wanting a better way of life. They learned to leash their lust for blood by obtaining their sustenance of life from animal meat and not from humans.

It was this new civilization of vampires, those who realized their only means of survival was to blend in among the humans, who set the standard for the future of their race. But, even as this new society grew, so did the number of rogue vampires.

Dr. Stephanus Olivia traveled the world seeking strong, honorable warriors to fight for the continued survival of their race by removing those who threaten to reveal their secret and destroy how far they have come.

Thus it began. The society of Watchers was created with Cells of warriors all over the world, upholding their vow to protect the innocent and eliminate Rogues.


Dr. Stephanus Olivia created the Watchers to help balance the scales of good and evil. Cells of Watchers, vampire warriors, were established all over the world to protect humans and civilian vampires from Rogues─merciless killers with an unending quest of sating their desire for the thrill of a kill, and the blood of their victim.
Downtown Louisville, Kentucky is home to one of those Cells. When the sun goes down, four Watchers guard the city, upholding their vow to protect the innocent with their lives. The job is rough, requiring focus and training, not to mention the drive to eliminate rogue vampires in order to keep their race under the radar.

The first book of the series, Midnight Reborn, sets the stage for the city, the downtown Louisville Cell and the day-to-day, or rather night-to-night, life of a Watcher.

Trigg hunts alone, just how he likes it, and he’s never been one to follow the rules, which usually lands him in hot water with his CO. The others believe him to have a heart of stone and give him space…a lot of space.

Follow Trigg through his coming to terms with who he is, what his head tells him about his life as a Watcher, and what his heart wants after Robyn Andrew steps off a bus and onto the city’s streets.

In the second book of the series, Midnight Rose, Vane is faced with the reality that trying to fill the hole in his life with women and spending all his free time out on the town has gotten him nowhere, but alone.

That is until he meets Rosa Bella.

Find more information about these books as well as books three and four scheduled to be released this year - http://www.dmcentire.com/.

Happy reading...and don't talk to strangers!

Diane McEntire http://www.dmcentire.com/
Midnight Reborn trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFoKh3I3YD8
Midnight Rose trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydtHDKwAl-Y REVISED!!
check out http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/

Rare Vintage - Out Next Week!

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about my upcoming release, Rare Vintage. It's a revised, rewritten and greatly expanded re-release of a story that started life as a short story with a publisher that has since gone out of business. The new version has been beefed up to novella size and is the second in a trilogy of vamp novellas I call the Brotherhood of Blood.

The first was One & Only, which re-released last November and the final of the three, Phantom Desires, will be out at the beginning of April. Eventually, all three will go into a single print volume that will probably be out sometime around the end of this year or the beginning of next.

Rare Vintage will release on February 6th from Samhain Publishing. Here's the blurb:

She would give her life to save his, but can he save her from himself?

As the new Gal Friday at Atticus Maxwell’s winery, Kelly is grateful for the much-needed job, and delighted to be working with her best friend Lissa. What she doesn’t need is the exasperation brought on by Marc LaTour’s constant flirting. Yet she can’t deny she is drawn to the mysterious, unsettling Master vampire.

After six hundreds years of searching, Marc has resigned himself to the fact that he’ll never find his One. Kelly is under Atticus and Lissa’s protection, and therefore off limits. Yet the desire to possess her is too strong to resist. Curiosity leads to lust—and the surprising discovery that they indeed could be destined mates.

But a dark cloud hangs heavy over them. A rival vampire has challenged Marc for leadership—a challenge that involves a fight to the death. The cost of survival could forever poison any hope for a future together, but if they can both pass the final test, they could find love that will last for eternity.

Warning: This book contains graphic language, hot neck biting, outrageous flirting and undeniable lust.

I also wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who made Lords of the Were the #9 Best Seller for Samhain Publishing in 2006 and Hara's Legacy the #7 Best Seller for 2007. The first-ever SAMMIE Awards were given out yesterday and they went back and gave out Best Seller Awards for the prior years. That's the first incling I had that these books had done so well.

Recently, I finished writing the sequel to Lords of the Were and will hopefully have news about release dates and such in the next few weeks to share with you. It picks up the story of Dante, the vampire from Lords of the Were. A werewolf girl is sent to spy on him and an evil sorceress is on his trail. Fireballs fly as the two are drawn together in a forbidden love.

Divination: Celtic Ogham - Ura

Welcome back to my series on Celtic ogham divination! To see all the posts in this series, click the "ogham" tag at the bottom of this post.

Name: Ur/Ura (pronounced OO-rah)
Plant: Heather
Letter: U
Color: purple or red
Month: June
Planet: Venus or Mars
Deity: Branwen,
Crystal: purple and red stones like amethyst or garnet
Chakras: All

Heather is a versatile energy enjoyed by both male and female (hence the dichotomy of the ruling planets!). The Celts found this plant quite useful in making the items that helped them rejoice in the summer solstice - honey and beer! What better way to break down the barrier between the conscious and subconscious, the visible world with the underworld? ;)

The plant is a low-growing shrub that grows thick on the moorlands of Scotland and northern Ireland. The purple blossoms are rich in nectar and very attractive to bees, which are seen as messengers from the Underworld. Its fragrant sprigs are still seen as a symbol of good luck, and most Celtic brides still will not be caught without it at their weddings.

When Ura appears in your reading it reminds you to get back in touch with Mother Earth, and reawaken your awareness of the inner wisdom nature can teach us. Depending on your situation, it could be telling you that you are ready to take the next step in your spiritual development.

If you have health issues, it is telling you to listen to the messages your body is sending you, and to do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Think about integrating your whole self to achieve whole healing - mind, body, spirit. Heather is a traditional symbol of healing and generosity, so be generous with yourself and put you first for a change!



Carolan's Web Site
Latest release: Legends, Book 2: A Ghost of a Chance

Ariadne Awards 2008

Voting is now OPEN for the first annual Ariadne Awards, hosted by eroticromancewriters.com. Click here to vote for your favorite books of 2008!

You'll need to enter the title, author and publisher in each category.

Ahem. If you feel so inclined, Beaudry's Ghost or A Ghost of a Chance belongs in the "Best Paranormal, Ghost/Psychic" category. [grin]

Voting ends Jan. 31, 2009.

Just A Second, Let Me Write That Down

Like most writers over the years, I’ve forgotten more ideas than I will ever get on paper—and I get more than my fair share on paper—which lead to the ever-present notebook, (that is somehow never quite ever-present enough). From the inside, it feels as if I am ever chasing down an idea and not quite making it to pen and paper in time to retain it all. From the outside, apparently, I am forever writing, barely making it through a chapter of any book or a scene of any show without stopping to gather a thought I’ve been reminded of, or a new one I’ve been inspired to pursue. This has led to the often heard phrase in my house, “just watch this with me”.

I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to just watch something, anymore than I know how to just read something. The entire world is one big “what if?” to behold. What if the ever-empty, but somehow thriving, dry cleaners I pass on my way back and forth to work is really a front for a preternatural community center? What if the bus driver I always recognize, but who somehow always looks a little different, is a skin-changer that never quite comes back all the way from each change?

What if I’m not just tired and that tree really used to be on the other side of the road and no one else seems to remember? What could it mean? What would happen next? And why am I the only one to notice? These are the things that flitter through my mind and leave behind the seeds of stories to come. If I can’t make it to work without needing notes, how I am supposed to make it through an entire show with new things to see and new places to theorize about?

Admittedly, every rush to the notebook is not a new idea. Sometimes my subconscious has been working on a plot hole for days and suddenly a turn of phrase, an outfit, or a song will bring it all to the forefront and lead me to frantically scribbling down a solution long coming. How do I turn away from that? How do I just watch? I didn’t even make it through this blog without having to stop and take notes about the preternatural dry cleaners. *grin*

Some things you can’t help. Some things just are, like gravity and taxes. Oo, a tax on gravity at a space station around Mars. Just a second, let me write that down…

The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant

The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo, & the Poltergeist Accountant.

Is that a brilliant title or what?

For those of you who follow Samhain releases, I hope you are watching the calendar because the Tickle My Fantasy releases are coming. This one releases on February 17th, so I thought I’d take a moment to put it on your To BUY list.

Why? Because it’s a riot. I mean, come on…how many books do you know with Gigolo in the title?

But that’s not what makes it a wonderful book. It’s a grand story for a novella. Vivi Andrews writes it with such humor that it’ll make you think even while you’re reaching for your inhaler because you’ve laughed to the point you can’t breathe. Yes, I know this from experience.

When she first showed this to me, I literally choked on my coffee as I sat down to read it. The sheer brilliance of the premise combined with her humorous style had me in stitches from the very first line. I lusted after the hero, related to the heroine to the point I wanted to be her, and found myself cheering for the plot.

When I flipped the last page, I was smiling with a lighter heart than when I started. Why? Because there’s nothing like a great story and honest laughter to lighten the soul.

Lucy is a Ghost Shrink who helps wayward ghosts release their worldly cares and transcend into the great beyond. Unfortunately, a dry spell has put her a little on edge and created a situation where she’s attracting sexually repressed ghosts who just can’t get over the fact they died before they could live out some of their sexual fantasies. In walks Jake Cox, who is thankfully not a ghost. He’s a private investigator bent on talking to a specific ghost that he’s been tipped off will come to Lucy to work through his issues binding him to the world.

The problem? Lucy and Jake have an instant connection and he has to keep his hands off her or the ghost won’t come. Tie in a poltergeist account who thinks Lucy is his destiny and you’ve got a plot fit for Comedy Central.

This is Vivi Andrews first publication; however, it is not the end to her brilliance. Her Single Titles are just as fabulous.

If you’re interested in a closer look at Vivi’s perspective, she’s the feature author on my website until the end of February where she talks about writing and how she came upon this story.

And for a teaser, why not skip over and read the official blurb and the sample from Samhain Publishing?

Thursday Thirteen: Thirteen Kinds of Vampires

Because vampires are like potato chips. You can’t stop at one.

Dracula – The Big Daddy, model for all modern vampires: rich, sensual, aristocratic, able to leap tall buildings in a single shape shift. This platinum standard of the breed comes equipped with chiseled fangs, bitchy ex-girlfriends and a back story five hundred years long.

Nosferatu – What the German director F.W. Murnau came up with when he couldn’t get the rights for Bram Stoker’s Dracula for his vampire film: bald, bat-eared, buck-toothed with lethal halitosis and a seriously bad manicure.

Lilith – Adam’s first wife and the Bible’s first divorcee. She discovered the Devil didn’t care who was on top. Her second S.O. granted her immortality. Unfortunately, it came with a nasty side effect—a taste for innocent blood.

Jiang Shi – According to legend, when a Chinese person died far from home and his or her relatives lacked the resources to ship the body home for burial, the family would hire a Taoist priest to reanimate the corpse so it could make the trip under its own power. Some of them developed initiative along the way and took a detour for a little liquid refreshment.

Chupacabra – A recent addition to the American vampire fraternity. It specializes in goats (hence the “cabra” in the name) and other livestock. Descriptions vary from something very much like a coyote with a bad case of mange to a bug-eyed alien the size of a bear with jagged spines down its back.

Cihuateteo – The Aztecs believed giving birth was a kind of battle. Therefore, women who died in the process qualified as fallen warriors. The spirits of some such women took the analogy further. These bloodthirsty spirit warriors hung out at crossroads and attacked anyone who happened by, especially children. Like their patroness, the goddess Cihuacoatl, their faces were like skulls and their nails sharp and curved like an eagle’s talons.

Empusa – An ancient Greek fashion plate who favored brass slippers and ran around with her hair on fire. She was a firm believer in pleasure before business. Wild monkey sex was her idea of foreplay. The all-important bloodsucking came later, while her paramours were sleeping it off.

Lamia – Early myths portray this half-woman, half serpent as a formerly human Libyan queen who made the mistake of believing Zeus when he said his wife “had an understanding”. Later writers used the term to describe a class of female demons who didn’t just suck your blood, they made you feel all dirty about it too.

Nukekubi – Japanese monsters which appear human during the day. Instead of taking off their clothes at night, they take off their heads, which er, head out to catch a bite on their own.

Loogaroo – The voodoo-steeped Creole culture of Louisiana and the Caribbean had their own brand of vampires long before Anne Rice. The loogaroo was a beautiful woman with lustrous eyes who exuded a fragrance of vanilla of jasmine. But her beauty was the gift of the Devil, and she paid for it with nightly offerings of blood.

Sanguinary – In the human vampire community, individuals who feel the need to drink the blood of their partners for ritual or sexual purposes.

Psychic – In the human vampire community, individuals who derive sustenance from the psychic energy of their partners or the emotional energy of large cities.

Vegetarian – A Dracula-style vampire who needs blood to live but refuses to drink it from humans. Seems a waste of a good set of fangs to me. What’s the point of hooking up with a vamp if he (or she) doesn’t act like one? I mean, who doesn’t crave a nibble now and then?

###

The image is The Vampire by Philip Burne-Jones, reputedly a portrait of the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell, who inspired Kipling's poem "The Vampire" and Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. She's a BtV-worthy subject in her own right, but that's a story for another day.

January

In some ways, January and September are my favorite months. I guess I like beginnings, or I like the end of vacations. Even if I like vacations too!

But routine is a friend to me, and it's great being back in the swing of writing again. I finished up a project in the first week of January—not that there won't be edits. And I've got two new ideas running around in my head. So this week I want to write partials. Which are, obviously, beginnings.

One is easier than the other. It's set in the same world I've been writing in for a while, with shapeshifters (cats and wolves) as well as the occasional psychic. I'll read up a bit more on cats, because I like doing things like that. But most of the work is in the story itself.

The second project is in a different place and has different research needs. It makes me excited, to read about history and lighthouses and seals and the ocean and…well you get the idea. But that takes times, of which I never seem to have enough. But I'm still going get a partial out of this. I'd hate for the idea to fade away. This way, if I write my partial, then if I have to leave the idea alone for months (because of the other project), I should be able to find my way back to writing the entire thing.

Anyway, who else has writing projects for 2009? Or reading projects? I've signed on for a reading challenge which I hope I can keep up with. First assignment is reading a category, so I'm going to look for an old Silhouette Intimate Moments (my favorite and, sadly, now-defunct line) and read that. In fact I better pick it up soon!

One Book, 9 Endings!

Remember those pick the next scene books that were popular in the 80's? Well now you can direct the course of a romance novella in the same way! Thanks to a cooperative publisher (Red Sage) and hyperlinks in my ebook novella, MEGAN'S CHOICE, you, the reader, get to orchestrate the flow of the narrative. The book came out the first of January 2009, and boy am I excited about it!

Here is the blurb:

Megan Malone, the quadrant's fastest zip ship pilot, is overworked, overtired and craves the surf, sun and sex of a paradise planet vacation. When her employer receives an urgent commission from the government requesting Megan's services on a diplomatic mission, she's all set to refuse--especially when she finds out her domineering ex-lover Yusef Gunnen will be part of that mission.

But what Megan doesn't know is that she's no longer calling her own shots. You, the reader, must choose what she does next. And what you decide Megan will do at the end of each episode will change her life forever.

My publisher tells me that independent retail outlets don't support the clickable links inside documents yet, so fully interactive versions are available only at http://www.eredsage.com/


To try before you buy, I've got a hefty portion of the first scene up at my site here, and a portion of a later scene here. I'm also about to start a contest where the prize will be a download of the book and some extra goodies!


If you like to try new things...turn to page 1 :)


Jody W. w/a Ellie Marvel
Megan's Choice -- Choose Your Adventure!
http://www.elliemarvel.com/ * http://blog.jodywallace.com/

Angela James Workshop on EPublishing

Angela James, editor extraordinaire, is coming to Romance Divas for a 3 day class on Epublishing! Come join us Jan 13-15 and ask her anything. (Free forum registration required to view the workshop section.)

Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Epublishing (and some things you didn’t know you should know)

Why doesn’t epublishing offer advances? What are some of the pros and cons of publishing my manuscript via epublishing? How do I research publishers? Can I really make money in epublishing? What exactly is POD? Can you give me a snappy comeback for people who say that epublishing isn’t real publishing?

Epublishing has evolved and grown, especially in the last 5 years, but with growth comes pitfalls and problems, and trusting an epublisher with your baby might seem like a risky proposition. We’ll cover the basics of epublishing, from choosing an epublisher and contract details to methods of ebook and print distribution to reasons why you might not want to epublish your manuscript.

Bio:

In 2005, Angela James joined Samhain Publishing, Ltd, a small press company focusing on digital publishing, as its executive editor, where she has played an instrumental role in building the company from the ground up. In her executive position at Samhain, Angela is responsible for managing the publisher’s editorial services division. Her responsibilities include the management of editorial staff, quality oversight, networking and marketing efforts at regional, national and international writing conferences to promote the electronic publishing industry as well as Samhain.

In addition to her administrative duties, Angela continues to edit more than 50 authors including national bestselling authors Lucy Monroe, Lilith Saintcrow and Deidre Knight.

It's all about me this year

Happy New Year! Wow, 2009 already? I had just broken in 2008, it was all nice and comfortable, and now I have to start all over again.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I usually make a list of things I'd like to do, but this year I just wasn't motivated. The lists for the last two years, pretty much I've made everything happen (except the exercise thing, and I can explain about that!), so I'm pretty happy.

Then a few days after New Year's, I was working on the WIP, and thinking about how far I've come since my first book. A LOOOOOOOONG way. And I decided that I DID need some resolutions in my life. 2009 is going to be all about ME.

1. I resolve to stop letting the internet suck up all my spare time. And by spare, I mean time I should be writing but instead decide to 'just check my email'. Part of sticking to this resolution is really looking at my 'internet committments' and seeing which I really need to keep, and which can GO GO GO. (not this lovely blog, certainly not! Never! I love you guys. You don't suck up my time AT ALL.)

2. Addendum to #1 is to refocus on my career. I'm not renewing one of my 'writing' memberships, because after thinking about it, I wasn't getting anything out of it. I paid a membership fee to pretty much be on an email loop and have my name on their site. It's done nothing for me, so when the membership comes up for renewal, out it goes. Ditto for other email loops that I belong to that I don't really participate in - clean out that emailbox!

3. Write more. I've been working on working, and finishing that second Bachelor's degree, and that has taken up so much of the time I used to use for writing. If I can shake the internet time suck ball-and-chain, I can find time. And I only have two more semesters left, so by the fall I'll be finished. I have two novels that are still sitting here, waiting to be fixed up and submitted. I submitted nothing last year. (on the other hand, I had two ebook releases, so I suppose it all balances out)

4. Addendum to #2: part of refocusing the career is to rejoin SCBWI. Their regional chapter meets at the other end of the state, but at least they send me a magazine once a quarter. I've got four novels now, I should have professional credentials again. AND I'm going to save up and GO to the 2009 spring conference in NYC. This year it's at the same hotel that we're staying in for my sister's wedding. I'm hoping it's there again next year, so I know where I'm going. I was always kind of afraid to go to NYC, especially since I won't drive in the city. But with a dry run this year, I'm sure it will be a piece of cake. I've discovered NJ Transit, and it is GOOD.

5. Work on a new book. The steampunk fairy tale, which started off as a MG but which is now a YA, needs to at least have some notes or an outline (not a real one, but a diagram) this year. The YA trilogy I've had in my head for three years now needs something too. And of course I need to work on the rest of the Library of Athena series. If I could take one of these new books and find an agent, that'd be great too.

6. Not writing related, but I want to find a job. The son will be in school full time in September, I'll be finished that second degree - there's just no reason NOT to work full time. I would love a teaching job, which was the whole reason I went to the trouble of taking the tests last year. I know it's a big order to fill in these times, but I'm going to give it a shot.

There it is, my list of self-centered, all about me, resolutions for 2009. They may not all happen, but most of them are within reach. I hope you reach all your goals this year!

By the way, Shannon over at Confuzzled Books is giving away a signed copy of The Crown of Zeus. All you have to do to enter is comment on the entry. It's open until Feb. 2. Shannon is one of my biggest fans, and I was so happy to see her at the book's launch. So cruise on over there and say hi!

Wind turbine damage and UFO’s

You may have caught this in a “strange events” segment of the news this week.  On Jan 5th, in the small settlement of Conisholme in the UK, a 20m blade “fell” off a wind turbine, and another blade was left mangled by unknown forces.

Nearby residents report seeing “strange flashing tentacle shaped lights” above the wind farm that housed the turbine on the night before the damage happened.

 

 

Was it a UFO?  Or is there a more earthly cause for the damage?  Speculation has ranged from a giant block of ice falling on the blade (there was no sign of impact on the ground that would support this), to an unmanned Stealth bomber flying into the blade (no sign of debris from this either).  And what about the lights in the sky the night before?  Meteors?  Overactive imagination? 

 

The damaged blade has been sent to Germany for testing, and scientists hope to know within days if there is physical proof of the cause.  But what do you think?  Could this be proof that we aren’t alone in the cosmic playground?

Just under a year ago I blogged about another mysterious sighting, that time in Texas.  Stephenville Lights was a website started to track the information about that sighting as it was studied – it’s an interesting site to check out if you’re curious about what happened after the mainstream media went away to bigger and fresher stories.  I wonder if the people of Conisholme will start their own site as the story progresses.

What do you think of this latest sighting?  Another odd but not so mysterious sighting?  Or further proof that we share our universe with beings other than ourselves?

Looking forward to a new year.

Welcome to 2009 everyone, and I hope it’s a good one for reading and writing. Personally, I have two additional Watcher books coming out this year as well as the print version of book one, Midnight Reborn, releasing March 31, 2009. I am anxiously waiting to have my first ever book signing.

Another event I am anxiously awaiting is the Lori Foster’s event the first weekend of June in Ohio. I attended last year for the first time and knew I’d make a point to be back the next year. So, if you can, catch me there, as well more romance authors than you can shake a stick at!

Last year was a very exciting time for me, stepping into the shoes of being a published author and experiencing the joy of having my first ever book release. I was blessed to end 2008 with another release. Midnight Rose, the second book of The Watchers series was released through Samhain Publishing on December 23, 2008.

Another first for me was creating a book trailer for Midnight Rose. I’ll admit it was okay at first, but after spending more time working on it, I believe it is now much better. Check out the links below to see the trailers for both books.

Keep your eyes forward as we enter another year and I hope yours is filled with happy memories to take with you into 2010.

Just a little introduction of The Watchers series before I end this blog.

Dr. Stephanus Olivia created the Watchers to help balance the scales of good and evil. Cells of Watchers, vampire warriors, were established all over the world to protect humans and civilian vampires from Rogues─merciless killers with an unending quest of sating their desire for the thrill of a kill, and the blood of their victim.

Downtown Louisville, Kentucky is home to one of those Cells. When the sun goes down, four Watchers guard the city, upholding their vow to protect the innocent with their lives. The job is rough, requiring focus and training, not to mention the drive to eliminate rogue vampires in order to keep their race under the radar.

The first book of the series, Midnight Reborn, sets the stage for the city, the downtown Louisville Cell and the day-to-day, or rather night-to-night, life of a Watcher.

Trigg hunts alone, just how he likes it, and he’s never been one to follow the rules, which usually lands him in hot water with his CO. The others believe him to have a heart of stone and give him space…a lot of space.

Robyn Andrews escapes a horrific situation in Texas which claimed the life of her mother. After four years of hell, she sees her opportunity to escape, and she does so by catching the last bus out of Dallas. It’s destination─Louisville, Kentucky.

A chance meeting and a returned act of charity brings the two together and sparks fly when the world of a vampire warrior and a human female collide, then it’s a fight for Robyn’s life and Trigg’s heart.

Midnight Rose steps in where Trigg and Robyn’s story leaves off. Vane is another Watcher of the downtown Cell. Dubbed the Latin Lover by his fellow Watchers, he was known to frequent the hot spots to scratch his two main itches─females and food.

Rosa Bella, a beautiful vampire singer at the Black Panther Lounge, is thrust into the world of the Watchers when her best friend was shot and hanging on to her mortality by a prayer. Once her eyes met Vane’s and, if only for few moments, his strong arms became her rock, her boring, ever predictable life was turned upside down.

Just as Vane begins to realize how he had been trying to get by all these years and the hole he had been trying to fill, more problems erupt in the city than the planned surge of Rogues on the streets during the upcoming Derby festivities.

Rosa’s abduction by a psycho vampire and crazed fan, and the threat of a vampire drug hitting the streets before they can discover the manufacturing site, puts both of their lives in a whirlwind which could bring them together, or drive them apart.

Be sure to catch both of these paranormal romance novels and stay tuned, as they say, to book three, Midnight Revelations, where we find out what happens when Rayne is called to investigate a Rogue killing wolf sighted at the Charlestown State Park. Then, it's on to book four, Midnight Savior. After the conclusion of the city's annual fireworks festival to kick off the Derby festivities, one Watcher, Kern, is MIA. With no sign of him for months, the Watchers fear the worse.

Midnight Rose - The Watchers, Book Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydtHDKwAl-Y

Midnight Reborn - The Watchers, Book One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFoKh3I3YD8

Diane McEntire





TURN THE PAGE...
SURRENDER YOUR HEART.

Thirteen Random Lines from A Ghost of a Chance

Thirteen random lines from my latest release, Legends, Book 2: A Ghost of a Chance. Have fun! :)

1. “If there isn’t a blond man in your life right now, there will be. And I daresay his entrance won’t be subtle.”

2. He narrowed his eyes as this new energy wavered and flickered, like a candle caught in a high wind. In danger of going out.

3. “Will you stop reading my mind?”
“I don’t have to. Besides, I’ve been in your mind. Cobwebs. Yeesh.”

4. “Your door’s open,” Lily remarked, and curled a lip in satisfaction when Ross’s gaze automatically dropped to his own fly. “Your car door, genius.”

5. Don’t breathe, don’t breathe, some last vestige of her conscious mind insisted. Hang on, help will come. It will. It will…

6. “I see,” she said slowly. “You’re not meanin’ her any harm, but you say there’ll be hell to pay if you don’t find her. Now I ask you, my fair fallen angel, how am I to interpret that?”

7. “I think it’s time for you to be havin’ a reading.”
He gave a bark of laughter. “You can’t do a reading for a dead man.”
She continued to lay out the cards, smacking each one down with a vengeance.
He swallowed. “Can you?”

8. “Carey Magennis. You have to let me go.”

9. “I was raised on the scariest ghost stories in the South ever since I was old enough to stay up past sunset. You aren’t missing any body parts, no bones sticking out. So, I’m sorry to say, but for a ghost you really aren’t that scary.”

10. I don’t belong here.

11. This is what I wanted. A safe, secure marriage, no surprises. Two kids and a Golden Retriever. But is it what I want, she contradicted herself in a flash of insight, or what is expected of me?

12. It was him.
His powerful presence bored into her back. As she stared, he leaned close to her ear, his eyes intense, his strong, straight lips moving.
“Carey, don’t take the pills tomorrow. We have to talk.”
A loud crash. She gasped as icy liquid splattered her feet and ankles. She’d dropped her glass. Her gaze flew back to the window. The man was gone.

13. “Lane, please. I need to disappear. Just for a while."

Thirteen random lines from Legends, Book 1: Beaudry's Ghost.

See more Thursday Thirteens!

2009 Goals

It's that time of the year. Again.

Goals.

Resolutions.

Call it what you like, its the month we all look forward and say to ourselves, "What am I going to do this year? What can I change to make myself/my life better?"

I stopped resolving a few years ago. What did it matter? I never met my resolutions. But this year I resolved to resolve and sat down and wrote out some things I would like to accomplish.

I read this great blog post by JA Konrath on resolutions. Basically he said you can't make goals that are out of your hands. For instance, I can't say I want to sign a multi-million dollar deal with Penguin by December 31, 2009. That's unrealistic and something totally out of my hands. I can, however, tell myself that I will submit to Penguin by December 31, 2009 (not that I'm really going to submit to Penguin, but that multi-million dollar deal does sound nice, doesn't it?).

I've also discovered that if I make my goals public, then there's more pressure on me to meet them. So here they are, for everyone to see. And I beg you, hold me accountable. Throw tomatoes at me if I don't at least give the appearance of working toward them.

1. To finish/polish my RS and my paranormal and submit them to my editor NO LATER than March 1st.

2. I would like to sell to Silhouette Romantic Suspense so my goal this year is to finish revising an older RS I wrote a while ago and submit it to Silhouette Romantic Suspense (sometime between March and June 1)

3. Write Shane's story and submit to editor (after June 1)

4. LOSE WEIGHT! I know this is a cliche for this time of year, but I really, really need to lose some weight. I'm keeping my goal small - 10 pounds. Just enough so my clothes fit better and I feel better about myself. If I achieve that, maybe I'll set another, smaller goal. I won't set a time limit on this one.

5. Earn enough in royalties in 2009 to buy an elliptical machine. I'm hoping by June. And just as an added incentive I have this picture posted on my iGoogle page so I see it every time I log in.


So. What are your goals for 2009?

Better late than never?

Um, that's a matter of opinion.

My writing career started somewhat late in life, although I was pleased to have my first published story before the big 4-0 came around. Barely. A few years later and I find myself at an interesting crossroad: one publishing company closed; another booming; and my muse has been thoroughly taken over by things that go bump in the night.

I love the paranormal and have for many years. Ghosts and mysteries have long been my favored form of entertainment -- not to mention a family history of, shall we say unique experiences? But I'm not sure I really ever thought about writing something otherworldly. Not until a story idea took an unexpected turn.

I dare say I'll have a hard time going back. I'm becoming accustomed to thinking outside the box. I enjoy taking each "What if?" question one step further. I revel in the power that allows me to create my own version of reality.

And now as we begin another year of possibilities, I find myself both eager and nervous. Eager to triumph ... Nervous of the journey. But then I'm reminded that getting here wasn't a piece of cake. The road behind is strewn with discarded words, incomplete stories, disappointments, and a pile of rejection letters.

My one regret is that I didn't start this adventure years earlier in a time when publishing stood wide open to new talent. A time when some of the great writers my generation grew up with were just beginning to sell and flourish. Then again, it's likely I wasn't ready. Everything has a season and this is mine.

That's the beauty of writing. You don't have to be young, beautiful and in perfect form to make your mark. You only have to have talent, a bit of luck and a hide as thick as an alligator.

Yeah, I think I have it covered. ;)

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy New Year! Bring it on, 2009. We're ready. :)