Win-Win

Click here to enter the Riding on Instinct contest. You’ll be glad you did!

The Right Weigh

I can’t believe I’ve been doing it wrong all these years!

Thanks BF Margaret E. Reid for sharing this helpful hint!

Dancing with the Cons

Dancing with the Stars started again last night. What a range of contenders! Everything from Bachelor rejects to computer geeks and ex-cons.

I laughed all the way through it.

I know. It’s not respectful to laugh, but come on. Some of those guys had to know they’d never be able to boogie. Take Ty Murray–the cowboy–for instance.

The guy makes a living doing rough, tough, cowboy stuff. Did he really think he could cut a rug like a professional dancer?

Don’t get me wrong. I love cowboys. I write about cowboys. They’re an icon for romance authors–men who live with honor, no matter what.

But a ballroom dancer? Now way.

Of course, they have him at a disadvantage. Won’t even let him wear his boots on the dance floor. Now that’s no fair.

And how about the Apple Computer guy, Steve Wozniak? When they first showed his picture, I thought he looked like the Cowardly Lion. Sadly, he doesn’t dance as well as CL. Kind of skips through all the steps–but he declares he’s having so much fun! Snort. So am I. :)

And Lil’ Kim??? I almost fell off the couch when she said, “When I first watched Dancing with the Stars, I was in prison . . . .” Then she dedicated her performance to the women at the Federal Detention Center?

Whoa! Does she have to go through a metal detector each time she goes into the studio? Do they search her before every practice?

Are Len, Carrie Ann and Bruno afraid of her? (I would be.)

What about Lawrence Taylor? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about him–

Taylor had a controversial lifestyle, during and after his playing career. He admitted to using addictive drugs such as cocaine as early as his second year in the NFL, and was suspended several times by the league for failing drug tests. His drug abuse escalated after his retirement, and he was jailed three times for attempted drug possession. However, Taylor cleaned up his lifestyle and has lived a sober, drug-free life since 1998.

All righty, then.

And what about Stephen “Steve-O” Glover.

(From Wikipedia)–On July 31, 2002, Steve-O was arrested in Los Angeles on obscenity and assault charges for performing his now infamous stunt, The Butterfly (in which he staples his scrotum to his leg) at the Abyss, a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana.

On May 22, 2003 Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden due to a comment he made during an interview about smuggling drugs into the country, remarking that he swallowed a condom containing cannabis to get it past the authorities.

 On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to possession to cocaine. He will avoid jail if he successfully completes his treatment program.

Yikes! They’ve certainly spiced up the competition.  The dancers will not only have to learn to Waltz, Cha-Cha and Quick Step, they’ll have to watch their partners’ backs, too. Or maybe they’ll learn to dance back to back rather than cheek to cheek.

Do you wonder how these “stars” get on DWTS? How they’re chosen? Do they have to request a spot or are they picked from the used-to-and-didn’t-quite-get-there pack?

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season. When host Tom Bergeron says, “Tune in to see who survives . . . ” he may be speaking literally!

Ah Hah!

Have you been to my website? Besides being beautiful (thanks Ashlynn!) I’ve got some great stuff there.

Check out Ah-hah! Moments.

What are they? Explosions of knowledge, gleaned from some of the best writers in the industry.  Go look. Holly Jacobs learned that humor isn’t universal when she polled her friends about which TV shows they found hilarious.

Jaci Burton’s happened when she discovered erotica.

Marilyn Pappano had hers when she got a rejection from an editor for a book she hadn’t even written.

Margaret E. Reid was changed while reading a book.

Jenna Peterson’s Ah-hah! came when Jennie Cruise told her to write with her head down.

So what about you? When did the lightbulb go on over your head that made you say, “Ah-Hah!”?

Shameless

I’m SHAMELESS today at writing sluts. Come on over, read a snippet from BLIND SIGHT and say hi!

Skhye Moncrief

Isn’t that a great name? One of my very first favorite romance novels was called SKYE O’MALLEY, by Bertrice Small.  The book was published in 1980. I’ve had to buy it a couple of times because they keep wearing out.

I loved reading Bertrice, who was way ahead of her time. She had a KA heroine who could (and did) take care of herself, and she wrote about a woman who took on a non-traditional job. Several, actually. <g>

So what’s that have to do with Skhye Moncrief? Very little, except their names are similar. I assume Skhye and Skye are pronounced the same. (Before you ask, yes, I know what assuming can do.) 

So, as Mama used to say, the crux of the matter is Skhye Moncrief has a new book out from The Wild Rose Press called HE OF THE FIERY SWORD. And she’s running a contest.

From Skhye’s blog:

In celebration of the Irish, I’m giving away the wee-est scrimshaw sailing-ship pendant made out of fossilized walrus tusk to one person in honor of the journey my time-traveling shape-shifting dragon Arthur takes in becoming the King Arthur of medieval Ireland in HE OF THE FIERY SWORD. All you have to do to enter, is forward this information
in an e-mail to your friends and skhye@… to help get
the word out. Any of your friends may do the same to enter. Remember, you must include me as one recipient. Or I won’t know you’ve contacted your friends (i.e. entered). This contest ends at midnight CST, March 31, 2009. Find out who wins by subscribing to http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com,Skhye’s Ramblings. Come on over to see a picture of the pendant at Skhye’s Ramblings! ~Skhye

Pretty cool, huh?

WEEKENDS

What do you do on your weekends? DH is working, so I’m home alone. What have I done?

Worked on Make Me Howl–and that’s about it.

I decided to cut several pages–which means I get to reread everything after that so I don’t won’t have any glaring mistakes.I’m hoping to finish this weekend so I can zip it out of here to a potential agent.

What had I planned to do this weekend?

Well, cleaning, of course. Make BB’s bed–which is all clean and ready to be made up for the next time he’s home. And I thought I’d cook something for supper tonight.

But so far, I’ve reworked MMH. And slept. Isn’t it funny, if you miss one night’s sleep, it takes several days to make it up. For me, anyway.

I think it might be time for yet another nap.

First Ever

Want to know about the first book I ever wrote?

It’s hidden so deep under the bed, I can’t put my hands on it, but I’ll tell you about it.

I wrote it in the late 80’s, I think, or maybe the early 90’s, on notebook paper. By hand. I’d get up early in the morning and scribble away. If one of the kids or DH came into the room, I’d quickly slide the notebook under the couch.  

I didn’t have a title for it. Heck, I didn’t even have chapters. I figured I could pick them both after I finished with the story.

Later, when I took a class given by Debbie Camp, I told the class about my book without chapters, and Debbie was horrified. Or maybe she laughed. She did a lot of laughing while I was in her class.

Funny thing is, I learned a few weeks ago that one of my favorites–a New York Times best selling author–writes her award-winning books like that today.

That’s about the only thing we two had in common. <g>

My book not only didn’t have chapters, it didn’t have conflict. Oh, there were problems, but not between the hero and heroine. There was no reason why they couldn’t be together.

I was so sad when Debbie told me I shouldn’t try to fix that one. But I did as she said–I started a new one for her class, but didn’t finish it. In fact, I finished only one chapter. The one we had to hand in to be graded by Debbie.

The week after I was late getting to class, and while I wasn’t there, she said mine was the best newbie first chapter she’d ever read. I heard it through the grapevine.  

My next completed book, “Moon Shadow”, was about a woman on a cattle drive. It had chapters and conflict and everything because I’d joined Romance Writers of America and a critique group. They didn’t let me get away with not having them.

I learned a ton writing MS, but it didn’t sell. 

After that I wrote “Oklahoma and a Cowboy to Boot” and then “Picture a Cowboy”.

I like to think of them as learning pieces, because they, too, live deep under my bed.

Finally the light came on. I wrote “TO SCHOOL A COWBOY”–my first sale, and a darn good story if I do say so myself.

These days, except for a novella I’m working on, I don’t have many cowboys or horses in my books. You never know when I’ll go back to them.

So tell me about your first book. Not the first one you sold, the first one you wrote in the dark and hid under the couch if anyone came into the room. You don’t even have to have finished it.

I’d just like to know how you started.

Big Love

Confession: I LOVE Big Love.

You know, the HBO series? I Tivo it every Sunday night in case something happens and I can’t get to my TV at 8:00. I look forward to it all week long. I watch it at least 3 times during the week–while it plays. Once in the middle of the week, and again just before the new episode airs.

My DH thinks I’m nuts. “Like you’d put up with anything close to that?”

While I’d have to hurt him if he even considered it, I’m still mesmerized by the show. The long-suffering, hard working and loving husband is Bill Hendrickson played by Bill Paxton. (He was great in True Lies!) Poor Bill relies on “little blue pills” to get him through the night with his three wives. He visits one a night (at least) and need a little boost most nights.

First Wife, Barb, is played by Jeanne Tripplehorn (Tulsa), and one of the big trouble makers is  Mary Kay Place (also Tulsa) the Prophet of Juniper Creek’s #6 wife and Nicki’s mother (Bill Hendrickson’s #2 wife).

I know it’s a little convoluted, but the world of polygamy is a confusing one.

It’s not just the mechanics of a family with one husband, three wives and eight kids and three houses that keeps my attention. It’s the interaction. The little intrigues.

Nikki can be reallybad, and yet she’s forgiven because they’re all “sealed”. Not being a Morman, I’m not sure what that means, but it works for the baddies.

Margeen is young, uber sexy, energetic and gives Bill a great time on her nights. He says he doesn’t need the blue pills for her. (Right) 

Something else that keeps me locked into this show is the way the original 3 kids react and respond to everything that’s happening around them. The older daughter, Sarah, wants NOTHING to do with polygamy.

The son was considering dating a pair of twins at one time with an eye toward marriage to them both.

The youngest daughter, Teeny, doesn’t say much. She’s there, but quiet most of the time–except when she’s showing dirty magazines to the boys in the neighborhood and charging them fifty cents a minute to look.

This is from Big Love: Am-Bushed! about last week:

Sarah (Amanda Seyfried), eldest daughter of Bill and wife #1 Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), revealed to her girlfriend Heather (Tina Majorino) that she’s pregnant, a confidence overheard by one of the pod children from the compound;

- Bill uses muscle to get Barb’s lawyer brother Ted (Patrick Fabian) to stymie anti-casino legislation among the church elders;

– Nicki (Chloe Sevigny), wife #2, is pleased to entertain the romantic interest of Ray Kelly (Charles Esten), her boss in the D.A.’s office where Nicki was working as a mole for her father Roman; and

- troubled teenager Franky (Mark L. Young), who is Bill’s half-brother but 30 years younger, hied off to Nicaragua in search of his banished mother.

The Henrickson family dustup came soon after the wedding, when a dispute rose among the wives as to which house Ana would stay in. Bill’s ruling that Ana would move in with Nicki -the one sister-wife who didn’t want her – quickly proved to be one of those awful executive orders that instantly make everything worse. It was like G.W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.

See how easy it is to get caught up in their lives?

In some ways, this show reminds me of the Sopranos. The subject matter is horrifying, something you’d never even consider . . . but it really keeps your attention.

Writing Sluts

I’m being a slut today, talking about how writers get that first idea they develop into a book. Come on over and say hi!

www.writingsluts.wordpress.com