What I Read Last Week & Pictures of Halloween Decorations

Happy Halloween!! Before I get to what I read last week, here are some pictures to put you into the mood for the holiday. If you click on them, they will enlarge and you can see the detail a little better. These houses are located on the corner of Main & Maple Streets in Fairborn, Ohio.
 

 

Now, on to what I read last week:

Oct 25: "Seducing the Vampire" by Michele Hauf. I had been avoiding vampire romances because I write them, but realized, wait a minute, I'm not writing one now! So, I'm back to reading them. This one goes back and forth between 1785 and present day, and at first it kind of confused me (not for long, though), and then I got caught up in the story (it was hard to put down). It was kind of genius how she wrote this. Two stories, two goals, one man. I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads.

Oct 26: "Forever Vampire" by Michele Hauf. Yep, I started this the day I finished the previous book and finished it the next day. This book deals with the offspring of the characters from the previous book (so it has to be thirty years in the future, but seems like present day – at least technologically speaking). I enjoyed it (apparently, I read it fast enough), but I liked the characters in the previous book better. I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

Only two books completed this week, because I've been more engrossed in editing Book #4. I think I'm motivated to get it finished so I can give it to people to read (again). I want to start querying!!! Yeah, I'm nuts like that.

Here are some more pictures of decorations. Foy's is a store in Fairborn (they have like 4 shops) and they're really big this time of year, as you can see.

I would have posted more, but Blogger was being a slow pain. Thought I should quit while I was ahead. Hope you have a spooky day!

 

 

The Next Big Thing Tag

Someone's Halloween decorations. I thought it was appropriate for this post!

NaNo Prep: The Next Big Thing. Todd Moody tagged me for this. He's one of my critique partners. No, I'm not doing NaNo, but thought I'd play along anyway.

 

As NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month—write a 50K word novel during November) is all about writing “the next big thing,” I currently don't have a "next big thing" since I just finished my last "big thing." So what to do, what to do??? Maybe I'll just talk about my last big thing, then. Sound good?

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?

ALIEN DESIRES. It's supposed to be a play on words. Not sure if it works or not, but it's what I have for now.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My husband said I should write a book about an alien. Since I write paranormal, and I already had three books with vampires and one book with a ghost, I thought – why not? But while he came up with the alien theme, the story is all mine (and nothing like the alien he envisioned, I'm sure).

What genre does your book fall under?

Paranormal romance, what else? Just because it has an alien doesn't make it science fiction. There is no techno-babble in this book.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I was going to say I have no idea, until I watched Fox's NFL Pregame Show on Sunday. He's too old now (my alien is 29), but a young Howie Long (and I looked up some older pictures of him) would be REAL close to my alien character! Longer hair and indigo eyes (oh, and he'd have to be 6'7"), and there you go! Do you know a young actor that can pull that off? As for the other characters, I haven't stumbled across anyone, yet.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When an alien comes to Earth on a mission to find a new home planet, his neurotransmitter is accidentally destroyed and he discovers love and sexual desire for the first time.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My goal is to find an agent and get published the traditional route. I'm hoping the project before this one gets me there, but if not, that's what this book is for. Of course, if no one's interested, I will then search for a small press. If that bombs, then there's self-publication. This is the route I went through with my vampire books (currently on the small press portion of my mission) and the route I will go through with my ghost book. I'm nothing if not consistent, huh?

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Six months (almost to the day). Not the quickest I've ever written, but not the longest either.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Maybe a little bit of Starman? I liked the innocence of the character in that, and I kind of based my alien on that. Other than that, I have NO CLUE! I haven't read too many alien romance books. You got any suggestions?

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

This is my fifth book. The last book inspired me to write this book and this book inspires me to write the next. I have to write. It's in my blood.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I've got romance, some humor, and some suspense (I hope). I turned a beta male who never had sex (yes, a virgin) into what I hope is an alpha character (or close to one). Writing about a character who is seeing Earth for the first time (based upon data his people obtained from an 1830 visit) and experiencing stronger emotions (i.e. going through a sort of delayed puberty) was difficult, but fun.

Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.

I already told you about Todd. Here are the five I've tagged. I'm curious to see what their projects are all about (whether or not they're doing the NaNo thing).

Amber Belldene

LD Masterson
Jennette Marie Powell
B.E. Sanderson – The Writing Spectacle
Erin Kane Spock – Hold On To Your Bloomers


Rules for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop:

***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.

Heavenly Intervention?

I like not having to go to a job I'm good at, but don't necessarily enjoy. Unfortunately, the pay sucks. However, even my husband is wondering if things are starting to work in my unemployment favor.

 

My husband was informed at his work about a bank offering a lower interest rate on our mortgage. We have a fairly low mortgage now and had just refinanced two years ago. But the closing costs were small and it intrigued him, so he checked it out.

Seems like we can save nearly $300 a month and drop the escrow. So, is someone intervening, helping us so we don't need me to bring in an income? (At least not right away – I am hoping to bring in writing income someday.) It would certainly help, that's for sure.

As for my job interview, it went as job interviews (for me) go. Short. But for a part-time job, it seemed more like a full-time job. 32 hours, 5 days a week, 9-4:30. Not exactly what I had in mind for a part-time job. We'll see if I get called back, though. I was told I'd be contacted either way, so at least I won't be left hanging (unlike some queries I've sent out!).

This week has been sunny and warm (for October in Ohio, kind of rare), so do you think we could have a warm, rain-free football night on Friday? Heck, no! In fact, the temps will be bottoming out and it'll probably be in the 40's (as well as raining, like it has almost EVERY Friday night during football season). I also heard snow may come into play next week. It's not fair going from the 70's to 30's. Not fair, I tell you!

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the cold weather. Guess that's the Southern Californian in me. Times like these when I miss that state. Oh well…

Happy Friday!

What I Read Last Week

Before I get into my post, I just want to say I typed THE END on the first draft of Book #5! And it only took six months! I'm so happy!!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way…

I've decided Wednesdays will be dedicated to posting about the books I read during the last week (Wed-Tues). Since this is the first post, I'm going to go back a little further than a week this time, since I just finished reading a series. So I'll list all the books here.

Oct 14: "Charmed and Dangerous" by Toni McGee Causey

Oct 18: "Girls Just Wanna Have Guns" by Toni McGee Causey

Oct 21: "When a Man Loves a Weapon" by Toni McGee Causey

I read the first two books under different titles back in 2008 or 2009, but didn't own the books because I had gotten them from the library. When Book #3 came out (in 2009), and the first two were released under new titles, I ended up buying all three just so I could own them.

I do NOT know what took me so long to finally get to these books. Hmmm, maybe my stack of books and the fact they got buried? I'm so glad I finally found them!

Bobbie Faye is funny and you could say she's a magnet for trouble. And it's not like she's out looking for it, it just comes to her. One adventure after another, it's hard to stop, but you have to to breathe!

I gave all three books 5 stars on Goodreads. If you like adventure and humor and some romance, well, you'll get them here!

What have you read this past week?

 

I'm Back...With Exciting News!

I was going to title this "I Interrupt This Break to Bring You…Exciting News!" but I just now decided I'm done with my hiatus, so it wasn't really fitting. Why am I done? Not because I finished Book #5, but because I'm ALMOST finished with Book #5. It won't be as long as my others (at least the first draft won't, who knows what I'll enhance when I start editing it), but a story is as long as a story wants to be, right? I have no fear of missing my goal of Halloween. NO FEAR! (Yeah, I'm trembling.)

 

Now onto my Exciting News, which is:

 

I can now put MY NAME into the search in Amazon and the book with MY NAME (as well as other authors) on it will come up! How freaking crazy is that??? My short story was selected for the anthology my RWA chapter put together (as a fund raiser) and it's now available in Smashwords and Amazon. Soon it will be on Barnes & Noble and in print (which I'm holding out for). Once I get all those links, I'll put them in my sidebar.

 

Here's the cover (created by Jennette Marie Powell, who also formatted and put it all together – isn't she great?). It's unreal, it really is.

 

If that wasn't good enough news to share, I have more. Apparently good things DO come in threes. I hope they come in fours and fives, though, because I really want more (yep, I'm greedy). Anywhooo… I submitted three chapters and a synopsis of MY SUNNY VAMPIRE to a small press publisher and was informed by the editor that she liked my story and to send the whole manuscript! I am so keeping my fingers crossed on this one. Maybe you can, too???

 

And good news number three? Last Monday I got called up for a job interview. Talk about shocked. The interview is today.

 

See what I mean about maybe getting the good luck to go into fours and fives???

 

I'm a happy camper and I love sharing news! I also decided my Wednesday posts will be "What I Read Last Week." I'm reading a lot more now, and it will give me something to share and blog about (besides the page up top listing the books I've read).

 

WRiTE Club has started the next bout of winners matched against winners, so check it out and vote - the rounds will be going a lot quicker this time around. My piece was never selected in the first bouts (boo hoo). I was really hoping it would (if I couldn't make it out of 72, I can only imagine how many people submitted!), so it would give me motivation to finish the story – ha ha! I may still finish it someday. Just not right now. Book #5 awaits an ending.

 

Have a great Monday!

On Hiatus

I enjoy blogging. I really do. But trying to find stuff to write about right now is difficult. My mind is focused on getting Book 5 finished by Halloween. In order for me to accomplish that goal, I need to step away from blogging.

This probably won't stop me from visiting blogs, just from posting. And hopefully, I won't be gone that long. Halloween isn't all that far away now, is it?

I'll be back once I've typed The End on ALIEN DESIRES, because that will be something worth blogging about!

Later!

 

 

What I Am Reading

Happy October!

I attended the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Conference this past weekend and had a wonderful time. I came away inspired and energized! The workshops were great and if I didn't learn anything new (and I did in some of them), I had stuff reinforced – making me feel like maybe I'm not doing it wrong after all.

And, like most writer conferences, I came home with more books (bought three of the seven – trying to support my chapter members). One of them I am currently reading.

Simone Elkeles spoke at the conference. I had recognized her book, "Perfect Chemistry," from her agent's blog, but it was YA, so I didn't give it much thought (most of the YA books I read are recommended to me by my daughter). But we got the book free and I had some time between workshops, so I started to read it.

I. Am. Hooked. I expect to finish reading it today.

What's different about this book is that it's written in first person from both the girl and the guy (each chapter will tell you who's speaking). So, it's first person, but I still get to hear what the guy is thinking (which is my pet peeve when it comes to first person stories).

I hadn't expected to come away from this conference finding another author to follow (I just finished Darynda Jones' third book in her Grim Reaper series and am itching for the fourth one to come out!), but it appears that's exactly what has happened.

Just what my husband wants me to do, find another reason to buy more books!

So, what are you reading right now?