I have really sucked with the whole posting-to-LJ thing lately er, for a while. But! Here's some accountability. I've been writing down my wordcount every day in an excel spreadsheet (we'll see how long it lasts, this time. I usually forget about these things not too long after starting them), and despite it not being the greatest month ever in terms of writing, and writing consistency, I did write 37,094 in January. And there were only two days in the whole month that I didn't write something new. One of those doesn't count because I spent the day revising. So, I'm fairly pleased with myself, even if that number isn't as high as I think it should be.

I guess I'll be making up for that this month. ;) My goal is 3k/day. All month. Ye gods. I think this icon applies. ;)

Blood and Roses is available!!! *happydance*



The last thing Arjen wants is a vampire in his bed, despite the rest of the world's obsession with the creatures. Unfortunately, his reticence is precisely what attracts Maikel van Triet to him. After hundreds of years of being adored because of what he is, Maikel is enthralled by Arjen's apathy.

What starts as a simple arrangement soon becomes something more than either of them expected. But vampires are shallow, fickle creatures, and Maikel could never truly love another. Could he?

Read the first chapter here and buy it here.

Also, it is my birthday. :) Happy birthday to me AND my book! ^_^

The awesomeness just keeps on coming. Another unbelievably awesome cover courtesy of Anne Cain.



Seriously. <i>Seriously.</i> HOW do I keep getting so LUCKY??? I've had this cover for a week (and it's been KILLING me to keep it under wraps for so long!), and it still gives me a little hitch in my breath when I look at it.

I don't know how she does it, especially when all she's got to go on is my jumbled musings in the cover art form I filled out. How did she manage to get the suave, sexy, yet a-little-bit-adorable-ness of Maikel down so perfectly? Gah! *flail-love*

Check out what fell into my inbox last night!



Cover art for Sacrifice! By ANNE CAIN!!! *flails* Sooo preeeetty!!!

Clearly, my virgin sacrifices to the cover art gods have been paying off. ;)

I find Bones fun to watch, it's light and entertaining, I like Booth and I <i>love</i> Hodgins. But I always end up torn between warring impulses to bust a gut laughing, or start foaming at the mouth in rage, whenever Bones' writing career comes up.

This week, Bones is sporting a Rolex watch her publisher gifted her with, because her book has been hanging out on the NYT bestseller list. Also, they have informed her that this means her book is so successful that she'll "never have to work again."

Oh <i>WHATEV</i>. I just find this so thoroughly grating I can hardly speak.

There is no way that the proceeds of <i>one book</i> are going to give her enough income that she can live off of it for the rest of her life. So let's assume that what her publisher actually meant is, "You're selling well enough that you could totally quit your day job and support yourself with your writing."

Even if that were the case (and that's being remarkably generous, I think :P ), I still have one huge quibble with this logic. Because, look, I absolutely adore writing, and even if I knew for a fact that I'd never make a cent off of it, I'd still do it. But it doesn't matter how passionate you are -- WRITING A BOOK IS STILL WORK.

(Okay, it seems I have decided upon rage, rather than amusement. :P )

But seriously. Considering that I'm over here slaughtering my social life, sitting in the freaking <i>stairwell</i> on my lunchbreak at work, writing as much as I can whenever I can, and I have too many friends to count who work just as hard on their own writing, and even the professional writer's on my flist, the ones who have many novels out and have won prestigious awards, are still struggling to the point where they are having to find creative ways to pay the bills, or are even considering looking for an office job to make ends meet -- Considering all of that, and how <i>hard</i> we all work at this gig, the idea this show keeps projecting, that a writer's life is sooo eeeeeasy, just makes me want to freaking <i>smash things.</i> Ugh!

So. After two months of working together, Mohsen has finally discovered that I am capable of talking dirty, and he thinks it's the funniest. thing. ever.

What I think is funny is that it wasn't even that dirty! I never would have considered it "talking dirty" on my own. What happened was that he was being his usual swaggering self, authoritatively informing the new girl that a male/male USB cable is called a "gay" cable. And because I have no patience for his BS, I butted into the conversation and said, "Erm, I believe the official term is a male/male cable."

"Oh, but it's two males!" he said. "See?"

"Yes, but they still match with female counterparts."

Jenna piped up, "So they're bi?", and I joked, "Oh, no, they're just having a foursome."

And that is what set him off. Seriously? "Foursome"? That's dirty?

Ohhhh, poor Mohsen. If you think that's the limits of my dirty talk... You have no idea. *roflmao*

Holy cow, Fate's book is over 20k. And that's not even counting the 30k already written that I've yet to incorporate. When the heck did that happen?

Well, apparently the Rapture was today. I dunno, I'm still here, and so is everybody I know. Clearly, I hang with the fun crowd. *grin*

I'm guessing it was the gay Catholic priest vampire porn that sealed my fate, huh? ;)

Copper Kiss, available at Liquid Silver Books

Reina Campbell used to think that term papers were the worst of her problems. Now her werewolf best friend has been murdered, the cops are covering it up, and everyone, it seems, is vying for control of her empathic abilities. With Logan, the city's sire vamp, at her back, she's out to stop a murderer, and God help anyone who gets in her way.

But she didn't count on losing her heart in the process. And they're both about to discover that the truth goes beyond one were's death, and the cost of vengeance might be more than her life.

Read an excerpt * Buy the book

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I don't suppose any of y'all are picking up on a wee bit of excitement here or anything? ;)

I am totally pulling a Snitch right now--*points at her icon*--and I'm not even caffeinated!

Dude! I just found out that "Blood and Roses" is being published by Samhain on my birthday! How freaking awesome is that?! :D

Holy CRAP. Loudest thunder I have EVER heard. It woke me from a dead sleep (and I have been known to nap with five-year-olds running and screaming around me, so it's not like I'm a light sleeper), and sounded like gunshots, except that each peal lasted about five seconds each. Ye gods. I've never been frightened in storms before, but waking up to THAT was enough to get my blood pumping.

Did 30 minutes of free step again today. Did not feel like I was going to die this time, so yay for that! Otherwise, this day has pretty much been a wash. Urgh.

No WiiFit for over a week due to dead batteries and my reluctance to spare writing time for a trip to the store. However, I seem to have lost a bit over 3 pounds in that week, so whoot!

Today, despite having batteries, I was thisclose to saying fuck it and not doing anything. Instead, I bucked up and turned it on, and instead of doing my usual 20 minutes, I did 30 minutes. The Wii's goal for me was 2400 steps in that time. I did 3250.

And now, I am BEAT. Holy shit. *pants, and sweats, and flops down on her futon*

BOOYAH! Now that's a workout. ^_^

Didn't exercise yesterday. Tried to do so today and was foiled by dead batteries. Argh. Must pick some up tomorrow.

But the writing's going great! 2k today, and I'm alllllmost done with this story.

No WiiFit again yesterday, because Mom picked me up after work and we went to go visit my aunt and new baby cousin, Max, in the hospital, so I'm not feeling terribly guilty about it. ;) 20 minutes of free step today, though. My knee was bugging me a little this time, but I got more steps in 20 minutes this time than I did last time.

Erm. Two days without using the Wii. *shifty eyes*

In my defense, I was distracted by edits last night.

10 minutes walking (outside! In the actual sun!), plus 30 minutes of aerobics on the WiiFit. I did 20 minutes of free step again, and this time my knee wasn't bugging me when I ended. Whoot! Go me!

Also, it's been about a week since I first started this up again, and so far I'm down 4.4lbs. Some of that may be daily fluctuation, but still! Yays!

I would be doing even better with this if I started drinking more water. Ah well. One habit at a time.

Whoops, nearly forgot to post this. But being accountable means reporting lack of progress, too, so -- I didn't use my WiiFit at all yesterday, mostly because I went to Mom's and didn't get back until absurdly late. I stumbled in the door and dropped onto the bed and didn't move until I woke up this morning. So, I'm calling that my one day off a week, and not beating myself up over it.

Today, I've already got a ten minute walk in.

10 minutes of free step today, plus another 13 or so of various other WiiFit stuff - a little yoga, a very little strength training, some more aerobics, etc. The 20 minutes I did yesterday really bugged my knee afterward, so rather than jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool before realizing I barely know how to dog paddle, I am going to try to curb my enthusiasm to something less likely to burn itself out in a week.

Also, even less writing than yesterday. Arrgh. But, it's only half my fault! Honest!