A Contest over at Murder She Writes

Over at MurderSheWrites I'm holding a little contest. For answering an easy question, two commenters will win a copy of EXTREMELY HOT and a $10.00 Barnes and Noble gift card. You have all week to comment, and I'll announce the winner on Saturday.

Go forth and comment!

Karma

What's your Karma? Do you believe in Karma?

I believe in it more and more. There are different believe systems of Karma, mine is pretty simple...

"What Comes Around Goes Around." And "Action Breeds Action."

For instance, a friend just spent 90 minutes on the phone with me, helping me talk about some revision notes from my editor. That's 90 minutes out of her writing time. Why? Hopefully because I do it for her. But I don't do it so that I can get a "return," I do it because I love her work, admire her talent and love to talk about writing.

Last weekend, another friend, went over an entire proposal for me. Just because I asked her to. It's a big deal to me. I thanked her repeatedly. She said I've done it for her, so she was happy to do it. But guess what? When I looked at her stuff, I wanted to do it! I wasn't looking for a return.

I've also NOT done things I wish I had. With my first book, I donated books, and critiques, etc to every charity thing that came around. Somewhere along the line I stopped. I'm not sure why, probably exhaustion. It just dawned on me last night when I was cleaning out some old files and found all the stuff I used to do. I should do more--not for Karma but because I want to.

So I'd say my Karma can use a little work, and that Karma really is a work in progress anyway. Overall, I'm probably not too bad on the Karma scale.

What about you?

A New Sun Rise

This morning I drank my coffee in the back yard, watching the sun rise over the hills and feeling damned grateful that I still have a home.

It's been hellacious in Southern California. Every year we get these winds, but this year, they are the worst I can remember. Combined with the dry humidity and the fact that we have drought conditions, it's little wonder that treacherous fire storms have erupted.

Whenever we get these fires, I hear snarky criticism about people for building too close to hills or whatever. In some cases, yes, people are taking risks. But with the Santa Ana winds, it doesn't matter where you live. The embers are carried MILES and start fires even on flatland tract homes. The flames are whipped up so fast by the winds blowing at 50 to 100 miles an hour that there's little anyone can do.

I'm pretty sure all of us in So Cal know someone who has been evacuated and is waiting to hear if they still have a home. I feel terrible for them.

One thing I'm grateful for is our firefighters and police departments. The firefighters have worked tirelessly. They put up with flack from people not wanting to leave their homes, and with constant second guessing from laymen. But they do their job, saving lives and as many structures they can. The police lend a hand with evacuations, crowd control, looting (which infuriates me), tracking the arsonists, and just doing whatever is needed. Everyone is working their butts off. I can't say this enough: I am grateful.

So this morning I went out back to check the pool that I spent two hours yesterday trying to clean, but I stayed to watch the hope of a new sun rise in Southern California.

Chatting and News

It appears that B&N has released EXTREMELY HOT, but Amazon hasn't. The book isn't supposed to be released until October 30th, but apparently the book was too hot to hold onto for B&N...LOL!

I just finished reading Kelley Armstrong's INDUSTRIAL MAGIC. Anyone else read any of her books? I liked it. It was one of those books that I put down and picked up a lot, but I wanted to finish the story. I also think part of my reading problem was the unending sinus headaches last week that made my vision blurry. Armstrong builds an interesting world with lots of supernaturals.

Okay, so I'll stop chatting and tell you all my real news (that I also announced over at MurderSheWrites today too): I've sold my paranormal series to Ballantine in a two-book contract! I'm very excited about this. The first book is tentatively titled BLOOD MAGIC. I am so pleased about this, I love this book and am really looking forward to writing the series.

I have so many people to thank for their help and/or support: Laura Wright, Maureen Child, Marianne Donley, my sister Carol Raney, Michele Cwiertney, Natalie (Roberts) Collins, Dana Diamond,. Writing is often so isolating, I don't know what I'd do without my friends!

Reading and Reviews

What are you all reading?

I just finished Lori Foster's SIMON SAYS. It was pretty good. I liked her heroine a lot, and I like the fight scene at the end of the book a great deal.

I went to Amazon this morning and found a new and lovely review for THE SEX ON THE BEACH BOOK CLUB--what a great way to start my morning and the weekend! While I try very hard not to react to reviews too much, I'd be lying if I said that they don't affect me. Or course they do!

Harriet Klausner put up a review of EXTREMELY HOT on Barnes and Noble, but her reviews don't really affect me. She does so many and has become something of a controversy for many people. I don't really know why people care, but they do get bent out of shape about her. So--her positive review of the book doesn't get me too excited. Besides, reviews by pure fans are much more satisfying than "professional" reviews. Professional reviewers are driven to post their reviews for various reasons like money, attention etc. But a fan who likes the book so much they take the time to post a review really is special.

Generally people are more likely to take action when they are annoyed, disappointed or flat out hate a book...have you ever noticed that?

Have a great weekend!

Finished LOVER UNBOUND

I finished LOVER UNBOUND over the weekend. I had to think about what I wanted to say. So...

JR Ward has created an amazing world and brought us deeply into the lives of the brothers. Over the course of the books, we really feel like we know them. Intimately.

I think LOVER UNBOUND has created more controversy than the others because of that. We all think we know how Vishous's story should be told.

Oh man, IF ONLY I COULD DO THAT! I'd be a fantastic author too!

But, for me, Vishous's story didn't end in a way I envisioned for him. And I'd have liked to see some more follow through on threads in the book.

I'll still read Phury's book, probably very quickly. But I see concerns there too. Still, we shall see. Ward in an incredibly talented storyteller, and her stories are fascinating.

Anyone else read it? Thoughts?