Sm:)e Feel Good

ThurSTUDay already?

2012-02-16T09:07:00.001-05:00

Wow, where does the week go???

Last night was the premiere of Survivor. @mrlemmony and I have watched almost every Survivor (save the first one, we both worked second shift at Outback Steakhouse at the time and were never home.) This time, when the new one was announced, we were a bit lackluster in our response.

"I don't know if I care if I watch it," I said as he flipped to CBS to see what Survivor: One World had to offer. Then we saw the expected gaggle of scantily clad girls, followed by these boys...

...and I thought, what kind of fan would I be if I didn't see this one through to the end?

What about you, did you watch Survivor last night? Were you as embarrassed of the girls as I am?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Happy ThurSTUDay!

Happy (Zombie) Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T09:51:00.011-05:00

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, BRRAAAAIIINNS!

smashbook*

2012-02-13T05:53:00.000-05:00

I have a new obsession. I'm not sure if I should categorize it with Poodling, or if it belongs in a category all its own. This little invention is sort of a hybrid of a notebook and a scrapbook.

I'm not one to scrapbook photos of my family and friends. I used to keep albums but the invention of the digital camera has made the handheld photo obsolete. And Facebook has given me such a better way to display & share pictures. But I still wanted to scrapbook, so I made cards. But then I give them away. Which is fine, except some of them I really wanted to keep for myself.

And who gives themselves a card?

I decided I could scrapbook the books I'm writing. But it wouldn't fill an entire scrapbook... then I had to decide on size. 5x7, 6x6, 8x8, 12x12? About the time my head was about to explode, I stumbled upon the smashbook*.

No rules. Like the video said, you simply put things in there that make you happy. Mine made me so happy, I ran out and bought my BFF one for her birthday. I gave it to her already. Her birthday is in March. *grin*

I love it so much, I swear I'm going to buy everyone I know one of these. Like buying the world a Coke, I'd like to buy the world a smashbook*.

You could be next.

Here is the page about my current work in progress (WIP). My heroine's a realtor, hence the key.

What about you? Do you scrapbook? Smashbook*?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, smashbook*

Down to the Studs

2012-02-09T07:54:00.001-05:00

When I decided on this title, two things came to mind.

1) I am rewriting a formerly (and deservedly) rejected manuscript. It's silly to call them rewrites, actually, since I'm gutting it like I'm going to do my kitchen this spring. (Hold me!)

2) And secondly, how each and every book I've written includes very attractive heroes.

While I'm sure the literary glutton in you would love for me to dissect my current manuscript and share the woes and trials of changing everything but the characters names and locations and broad brushstroke premise, I thought maybe you'd rather just look at some hot guys.

Heidi Betts has studs on Wednesday. Jeannie Moon has studs on Friday. And Twitter feeds are abuzz for Man Candy Monday. Where does that leave Thursday?

Right here, folks.

I give you...drumroll...

ThurSTUDay!

Er...maybe I'll come up with a better name for it eventually.

Here are a few inspirations for Donovan, my current mansion-owning, restaurant-inheriting hero.

Then there's this guy - who reminds me of my hero because of his silvery-blue eyes.

You'd think with these inspirations, my hero would be a breeze to rewrite. Especially when he lives here.

But now we are onto studs of a different color, aren't we?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Happy ThurSTUDay!

From Plotting to...Poodling?

2012-02-01T03:25:00.000-05:00

You've heard of Plotting. (see my blog about My Muse, who Linda Grimes calls "terrifying" and who I know doesn't help me with plotting.*

You've heard of Pantsing. (see my blog Depansting Myself)

I've done posts on both. But what about...Poodling?

Since I am rewriting the book I write every January (a good book is in there somewhere, I swear!!!), I had to lay out the plot and determine what wasn't working. So what do I do?

Bullet points are always nice.
But they look the same.
And when skimming along looking for Hero's motivation,
It can be hard to differentiate one point from another.

Then there's the ever-famous spreadsheet, or Word table. Don't get me started on that failed attempt at character organization. I have SO many of these lying around and they don't really work for me.

And while journaling does help me make decisions, it has the same problem as the ole bullet points up there. Every page is in my same handwriting on equally lined paper --perfect for writing scenes to transcribe later. But not remotely useful for skimming for plot points.

I could try outlining, but that method is very unforgiving. I start with Roman Numeral I. thinking I will have all of these headings, but I don't. I only have that one Roman Numeral, then I go to A. then B. Then when I get to C. I go off on a tangent and have to do the 1. 2. thing, only I think of another subheader and before I know it I'm doing a lowercase a. and b. then think of another point to make under that which means I'm right back to bullet points again. Not to mention that my entire outline is now crammed into the vertical space on the right side of my paper and I'm writing in a space about the width of a bookmark.

Being a cartoonist (by hobby, not trade), I decided to grab my new sketchbook. Yes, I bought another sketchbook. Yes, I know how many sketchbooks I have already. Don't judge my sketchbooks unless you want me to bring up your pen collection.

>.<

I started with words, writing the first thing that happened, then the second. Then I added arrows, loop-de-loos, boxes, and doodles. Before I knew it, I wasn't Plotting or Pantsing. I was doing a mix of Plotting and Doodling.

I was Poodling.

What a fun process! I love it!

I have referred to my "poodles" multiple times since. I can find what I'm looking for thanks to visually recalling the arrow I drew in the upper left corner, or the face I sketched at the bottom right. And often, while shading in the puffy letters of one of my character's names, my plot problem sort of solved itself. Sometimes you have to get your brain out of the way to come up with solutions.

I don't know if Poodling will work for you, or, ultimately, if it will work for me. But I know it's fun to do and gives me an outlet to combine the two things I love most. A nice glass of Cabernet and writing.

Er--I mean, DRAWING and writing.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Or if you don't like the term Poodling you could always call it Dotting. No? What about Plotoodling or Doodotting?

*...I mean my Muse doesn't help me plot, not Linda. Although, now that I think about it, Linda doesn't help me plot either. But I'd bet she would if I asked. She's just that nice. :-D

Going With Your Strengths

2012-01-27T03:45:00.000-05:00

I once read an amazing book. NO, it wasn't Twilight. (Though, yes, that book WAS ah-maz-ing!) It was called "Organizing From The Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern. Self-proclaimed clutterbug and organizing expert. My sister-in-law has a personal organizer, but her organizer calls what she does "whirling" which, I think, is spectacular. It makes me think of a fairy godmother bibbity-bobbity-booing the house clean.

***brief daydream of my entire house being cleaned with the wave of a wand***

Because of that book, or, more accurately, ONE PART of that book, I have radically changed my thinking in one area. Which one? I'm glad you asked.

Go with your strengths rather than retrain yourself.

Julie uses the example of a woman who comes home from work each day and kicks off her shoes, drops her coat, purse, and keys, the moment she enters the house. Traditional organizing (and our mothers!) would have us believing that this woman needs to retrain herself to hang up her coat, put her shoes in the closet, and put those keys on the little brass rack in the shape of a key. It's either that or leave them in a pile on the floor, right?

NOPE. Julie had a better idea. Build a hall tree (coat rack with shelves and drawers) and put it by the door. Then, this woman can come home and deposit her things by the door like she was in the habit of doing rather than carry her belongings all over the house.

Brilliant, no?

Here, all these years I've been trying to get myself to put my shoes in the closet instead of cluttering up the floor and threatening to break my husband's toe if he trips over them. Thanks to a NEW DRESSER (thank you, IKEA, saver of all things good in my household) I noticed my kicked-off-thrown-on-the-floor shoes fit perfectly underneath. Well, all except those new boots I told you about. ;-)

Now, when I kick my shoes off by my dresser, I simply shove them under it.

It's much easier to go with your strengths than weaknesses.

How can this change your life?

If you hate to chop onions so much you avoid cooking because of it, then why don't you buy them pre-chopped in the freezer section?
If you continue to try and write a how-to blog but find you're not a very detailed person, maybe you should change the title from "HOW TO DO STUFF" to "WHAT I THINK ABOUT STUFF."
If you're not a morning person, then for the love of everyone who knows you STOP TRYING TO GET UP AT 6 AM AND WORK OUT. Your P90X routine may come at Midnight. So be it.

It's human nature (and your mother's!) to browbeat your weaknesses and try and turn them into strengths. But if you already have a strength and can make it stronger? Well, that's even better.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Seriously, you know you hate scrapbooking. Maybe you should give all that stuff to your niece.

I.O.U. (a blog)

2012-01-25T08:21:00.001-05:00

It's been a week since I posted that adorable picture of my dog, Daisy. (And thank you for concurring that she is, in fact, adorable!) And as tempting as it is to snap a picture of her and post it here again (she's lying on my bed, face flat against the covers), I won't.

I.O.U. a blog. But in the interest of being a true American, I am going to blame someone else for my lack of blogging this past week.

MY DENTIST.

I was in "the chair" last Thursday for 30 minutes (maybe 40, maybe 3 hours, I don't know, I go to my unhappy place when I'm in the dentist's chair) getting a filling. Oh, wait, I'm sorry, TWO fillings. And while my doctor is a kind and genteel woman, she also weilds instruments that grind and whir away my will to live. So in that 30-40 minutes (or 3 hours) I temporarily hate her.*

I was not this calm.

So, there I am, numbed up, prone, my mouth agape, ruining a perfectly good Thursday morning. And when I get home I have to collapse in bed because I'm so TIRED. Yep. Thoroughly worn out from the (mental?) trauma. Then the next day, THE PAIN. No, not TOOTH PAIN. Not even jaw pain. BACK PAIN. Oh my gosh, you guys. Apparently when you're TENSE and OLD, you pull muscles in your back.

:-P

The good news is, I'm on the road to recovery. I have a delightful holistic doctor who reminded me that if I'd have flossed, I wouldn't have been in that chair to begin with, and if I'd have drank more water (instead of coffee) my kidneys wouldn't have been weak and I likely wouldn't have pulled anything.

Whaddayaknow? It was my fault. :-/

In case you were wondering, a week of back strain and pain doesn't really lend itself to the writer's lifestyle. Sure, the sleeping part, and the movie-watching, book-reading part... just not the WRITING part. (That part is important.) I did get a lot of the other things done, including develop an affinity for Aleve (seriously, I need to send Bayer Health Care a Valentine.)

I know loving you is wrong, but it's only temporary.

On Monday, I did get back to the keyboard. I have a few contests and publishers I'm ~~waiting~~ going to hear back from, so in the meantime I picked up an old rejected MS. I couldn't help it. I LOVE this story. And the characters. Too bad the plot's a disaster and the writing mediocre. No, really. Jessica has come a long way since first drafting this mess. And while I suspect I still have a LONG way to go, I can look back at this MS and appreciate it and its imperfections. Like the way you look back at your third grade picture and think, "Wow, that ugly bucktoothed kid is cute in a way."

No? Just me? But, enough of my ~~belly~~ back aching!

What have YOU been up to lately while I've been suffering tooth decay and a swelled disc? Do tell! And for GOODNESS SAKE, FLOSS!!!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, I mean it. Go floss right now.

*not really, Dr. Paula. I think you're awesome. But you can see the humor here, right? *grin*

Random Wednesday

2012-01-18T10:10:00.001-05:00

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Daisy in her element

Scream! If You Love Bad Guys

2012-01-16T09:35:00.001-05:00

It's no secret that I like scary movies. And I've noticed as I've watched some older films that the bad guys have gone on to become our heroes. Was it their humble start as psychopaths that made us take notice?

I'm sure you know Tim Olyphant now, but do you remember him...

as the weird film student-slash-ghostface-kiiller from Scream 2? Hmm. Still cute. Go figure. ;-)

Speaking of Scream, who even knew a thing about Matthew Lillard until he uttered those fateful words

He went on to Scooby Doo fame from there. Zoinks!

Oh, and now we're onto my favorite... Scott Foley, most recently remembered as Henry from Grey's Anatomy. I assume if you're a fan you saw the season finale last year. *cries*

Well, guess what? Scott was the super-twist in Scream 3 when he revealed that he was--DUN-DUN!!!-- Sydney's BROTHER! Yup. You remember him now, don't you? But don't cry over losing Henry for long. In the last episode of last season's True Blood, Mr. Sexypants up there walked into Merlott's. SQUEE!

Fun fact, Patrick Dempsey, or McDreamy to you Grey's fans, also graced the screen with his presence in Scream 3.

But he wasn't the bad guy, he was Detective Mark Kincaid, who Sydney fell for.

And while we're working our way around the seven degrees of Scream, why not mention that Grey's beloved Arizona Robbins played by Jessica Capshaw... (how can you not love her?)

...once played a not so loveable killer Cupid in Valentine.

Who knew? She looks so innocent...

Who have I missed? I know there are more heroes who used to be villains that you can think of... Hmm, who was in Scream 4 again?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Scream!

Shopping Spree!

2012-01-09T07:13:00.001-05:00

Normally, January is not when Jessica goes shopping. No, no. Januaries are only for going out to do things one must do, like drive to work, or buy more coffee. But this year, we've been blessed with temps ranging from 57-62 (!) degrees. And I happened to have some Christmas money so...

SHOPPING!

I used to love shopping. Lately though, I have not done a good job wielding my mall money. So on Thursday, when I went to JC Penney (best clearance EVER, seriously), I was ready to spend.

Boot shopping is excruciating. I'm not sure what's worse, that everyone wants $150 for a pair, or that because I have giant clown feet, they all look like sled runners. Enter, the Rory Mid-Calf boot by St. John's Bay. *SQUEE!!!*

Here it is! But, I got two of them.

This shoe LOOKS small because of the placement of the heel, and the toe is wide rather than those kinds that come to a point (and only make one's foot appear longer.) AND, I scored them for $34!

Then I wandered over into the peacoats. There were a sea of them on sale. Camel, Black and Red mostly. But I spotted one in olive green. A lone peacoat, the only one in this particular style. It was 60% off AND my size.

This is not me, btw.

I also bought pants, jeans, a sweater, some gloves and scarf and a handful of other necessities while there. I brought home two bulging bags and only spent around $200. SCORE!

Over the weekend, I shopped at IKEA. Mr. Lemmony and I are planning to gut our 1956 kitchen (original!) that we've since kept looking pretty (and retro) with paint and new tile. Alas, everything is looking old and tired, and it is time. I found the cabinets and appliances I want at IKEA, now it comes down to planning and money. But the one item I did purchase from IKEA that I am using right now and LOVE is this lapboard. I know it doesn't look like much, but it's so perfect. And way better than balancing my laptop on my knees while typing. PLUS, it's hinged so it folds flat and stores anywhere.

In true IKEA fashion, it was a bargain at $9.99.

I wish I could say the same for my future IKEA kitchen, but you'd have to add another "9" onto that figure and slide the decimal point to the right two places. *whimper*

How about you? Any post-Christmas shopping finds?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Ironically, every day the weather has been too warm to wear my new coat. I've never wanted snow so badly!

One Year Ago

2012-01-04T09:04:00.001-05:00

It's not like me to look back. But after thinking about the year of ones I realized that this month in 2011, two major things happened to change/shift my life. First, I found a gray hair, and second, I became a vegan.

The gray hair thoroughly freaked me out, by the way.

(Gray hare, get it?)

But try as I might to get sympathy from my friends, I couldn't. Turns out age 35 is a bit long in the tooth (har har, that's a rabbit joke, son) for a first gray hair, but let me assure you, no less traumatic. I was at work, too, which was majorly inconvenient because I couldn't have a proper breakdown. So I plucked it, went to my office, and proceeded to hold the gray--okay it was WHITE-- hair against everything in sight. White paper, black keyboard, oak-esque desk material. I was trying to prove to myself it was blonde. Guess what? IT WASN'T. Knock on wood, it was the last one I've seen, though my stylist is under a strict gag order. If she sees a gray/white hair up there, she is not to tell me.

The vegan thing was born (or is it borne? I never know...) out of desperation. No, it wasn't a ploy to drop some poundage before a major event. No, it wasn't because I was diving headlong into a third-of-the-way life crisis. It was because I was tired of being tired all the time (Chronic Fatigue, though I hate labels, but that's what they call it) and feeling sick all the time (Ebstein Barr, again, hate admitting that) and a general sluggishness that followed everything I ate. Not to mention what I was eating was, well, eating me. Eating away my energy, my spunk, my general happiness. I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (gonna have to write a thank you note to her!) and my life changed. Twelve hours after eating a Bacon Cheeseburger (no half measures here), I cleared all meat/dairy/eggs out of my fridge and became a vegan.

Vegan Breakfast: tofu scramble (like scrambled eggs if you do it right, and I DO.), roasted redskins and French toast.

Now there was a lot more to this than I knew, and I won't bore you (or freak you out?) with the details. Probably the thing you would be most terrified to hear about would be that after three weeks of no cheese, you really don't miss it that much. And, I'm far from perfect. I have indulged in a veggie eggs benedict on the rare occasion, or the cheese pizza along with a pitcher of beer. What's nice is that these moments never happen because I NEED CHEESE. Also as a result of being vegan...if I could brag just a touch...seemingly without trying, I...

LOST 23 LBS!!! What's that look like, you ask? Well, here you go.

BEFORE:

My friends, and me there on the right (November 2010)

AFTER:

October 2011 (that's my Debra Morgan costume from Dexter)

So here I am. 2012. Wiser? Maybe. More committed to hair color than ever? Definitely. Lighter and feeling better? You bet.

What about you? Did you make any changes in 2011 that you're reaping the reward from now?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Mr. Lemmony calls us "cool vegans," I call us 99% vegans, take your pick. ;)

Please Stand By

2011-12-28T08:41:00.001-05:00

I trust you all have had (are having?) a lovely holiday season. Once I resurface from Christmas, and from the serious writing breakthroughs I am having, I expect to blog all about them...

Eventually.

At least by New Year's.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Another year flown by!

A Christmas Project

2011-12-21T08:20:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd do a post and give you a chore. That sounds fun, no? ;-)

This is my hand-drawn Christmas card this year, only instead of posting the colored one, I'm going to post the black and white so you can print it out and color it yourself. From left to right, we have Bailey (dog), Mr. Lemmony, Me, and Daisy (other dog.) And in case you don't golf, Mr. Lemmony's reference is to a club. :-)

Happy Holidays you guys!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Tap Your Creativity

Original artwork by Jessica Lemmon ©12/1/11

Last Minute Gift Ideas

2011-12-19T08:19:00.001-05:00

It's only SIX days till Christmas you guys! And I, for one, still have gifts to buy. If you've waited till the last minute, or if you're starting your Christmas 2012 shopping now, here are a few helpful gift suggestions.

For that warm-weather friend who never has a white Christmas: SNOW IN A CAN!

Or for the person who likes a little drink in her ice: FROZEN SHOTGLASSES!

For anyone who appreciates Salvador Dali, or the fluidity of time... A MELTING CLOCK!

For the vegetarian/vegan in your life. Give the illusion of a succulent Christmas dinner without the detestable carcass with: INFLATABLE TURKEY!

And lastly, something I'd recommend buying for a gift, AND for yourself: CHEW BY NUMBERS CHRISTMAS TREE!

Kit contains:

GumArt board with printed Christmas tree design (5” x 7”)
32 pieces of gum
Gum Reference Guide
Gum chewing and spreading instructions

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Happy Shopping!

(all products are REAL and REALLY for sale at the perpetualkid.com)

WANT!

2011-12-15T08:34:00.001-05:00

It may not look like much, but the latest addition to my (growing) Christmas list is this chair:

Told you it didn't look like much.

But to a writer, even an aspiring one, a good chair is as necessary as a pen and paper. I sit A LOT. I know they now make those nifty treadmill computers, but I believe those were invented for people who have missed their calling as circus acrobats. I mean...really? If I became immersed in a story while trying to type and walk at the same time, I'd probably break my leg. I can see it now. Clickity-clickity-clackity-WHUMP! And, down I go.

Though a hospital stay would give me plenty of time to finish my latest manuscript, I believe I will permanently remove that prospect from my option list. That leaves the chair I mentioned earlier. The Global Malaga high back chair. I own a LOT of office chairs, mostly those ranging in the $150-$200 range. I mean, who on earth pays more than that for a chair...for a desk?!

I'm about to.

The chair I want is around $500, which makes me want to gasp like a fish on dry land.

*BUT*

My current workplace bought these chairs for us to sit in when I worked there in a previous life, about ten years ago. Since I left, they gave my chair to someone else in the office, and apparently, by the time I returned to my job, my statute of limitations had run out to reclaim it. *hmph*

But this week, one of my coworkers has been on vacation and I have been using her office. Sitting in her Malaga chair. I noticed that this chair, even though it was a decade old, is the perfect chair for me. Even after 10 straight hours, my back didn't hurt, my legs didn't ache.

It's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! I proclaimed via email to Mr. Lemmony. His response: "Go get it!" (I should add here that there was a caveat -- go get it WITH MY MONEY.)

I do have some saved. And I do expect Christmas cash. But when it comes to paying cash for something to put your backside on, it's a little hard to pony up the dough.

Still, I want that chair *ever so badly* - I wonder if they make one in purple?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Or maybe orange. I like orange...

Holiday Update

2011-12-12T07:50:00.001-05:00

Finally, Mr. Lemmony and I got our tree up! I'd blame an inconveniently-timed cold and four bedridden days for the delay, but honestly? I'm always delayed in putting up the tree. Try as I might to dutifully decorate the week after Thanksgiving, it never seems to happen.

Our tree is one of whimsy. The ornaments are hodgepodge, ranging in color, size, and shape. I fill in the gaps in our fake pine with rows of sparkling garland and stuffed animals that have no earthly place on a Christmas tree.

A miniature bendy Kermit the Frog sits near the top...

a talking Chihuahua dog from Taco Bell is nestled near the bottom.

And this little gem was a gift from my grandmother. He's wearing fuchsia sequins, which earned him the name "The Gay Nutcracker" (not that there's anything wrong with that) and nary a year passes where I don't hang him on the the tree and announce "Merry Chrisssstmassss, Everybody!"

There is also a sock monkey, a few owls, a puffy Santa head with flowing beard, and an array of gift ornaments from family and friends. On top this year, since we have long grown tired of our boring and generic "angel holding a candle" topper, we exchanged it for a Santa hat, which we like just fine.

This got me thinking about what a tree says about its owners. Mr. Lemmony and I are childless but full of childlike whimsy. We love to laugh, love to smile, and cherish friends and family above all else.

So if you ever happen by the house for a cup of coffee around this time of year, take a moment to peruse the gold dipped leaf, tiny stuffed bear in a Santa suit, and the penguin that is a candy dispenser. Every one has a story and I'll probably offer to tell them even if you don't ask. I'm a storyteller, don'tcha' know...

How about you? What does your tree say about you and your family?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Aww, I love that owl ornament!

The Rejection That Made My Day

2011-12-07T03:27:00.000-05:00

Rejection is not exactly a word that gives your warm fuzzies. It doesn't even give you cold fuzzies. It's more like the kind of fuzzies you get from steel wool that's been dragged through a pile of thumbtacks first.

Yesterday, I was home from work with a terrible cold. I dragged my weary body out of bed to eat lunch (my philosophy has always been to feed a fever and feed a cold), and checked the mailbox. There was the expected junk, a catalog, a Christmas card from a local business, and a gray speckled self-addressed stamped envelope with a return address marked "Harlequin."

Unlike the people in the movies, I did not hold the envelope against my chest, say a prayer to the god of publishing, and close my eyes as I gently tore the edge. Instead, I ripped it open with all the grace of a rhino in a shopping mall, and skimmed to the second paragraph where I saw the words: "I'm afraid this project doesn't seem right for us..."

My reaction was also not one of televised melodrama. I didn't weep, I didn't moan or shake my fists at the heavens. I didn't get angry and light my book on fire, laughing like a crazed madman while ash rained down around my head.

Instead, I felt...fine.

The book that was rejected was the second full-length manuscript I've ever written. I finished it back in February of 2010. (You may remember me talking about it in previous blogs.) It got a complete rewrite this winter (2011.) It had been rejected by Harlequin once before, but I'd since reread it and understood why. And I knew that this year I'd come to understand more about conflict, about strong writing, about showing not telling. If I could apply what I learned, well, then I could resubmit. Which is exactly what I did.

In May.

Now would be a good time to discuss how patient you should be during this process. But to that, I say, BULL PUCKEY. Don't patiently await, aggressively FORGET. Yep, log it into your spreadsheet or notebook where you track your submissions, and FORGET ALL ABOUT IT.

Then start your next book.

I heard back on my manuscript in December. That's seven long months, my friends. Since then, I have written another book. It has seen critique partners, I have changed the ending and edited it five or fifty times (I lost track.) It has been entered into the Golden Heart contest as of last month. And via a God-induced twist of fate, I was sick in bed and decided to submit my new novel to Kensington. Since I was you know, lying there doing nothing anyway. *insert tiny violin here*

That email went to Kensington about thirty minutes before I opened my mailbox.

If it hadn't been for my starting a new book the moment I said Bon Voyage to my MS back in May, if it hadn't been for my eagerness to move on, to write my next MS, I may not have had the same Zen-like reaction to Harlequin's rejection. But because I've grown as a writer over the last seven months, and because I'd taken a peek at that admission recently, well, I knew before I opened that letter that it would be a no.

Like relationships, the best way to get over your old book is to write a new one.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Keep Calm and WRITE ON.

Cough-Hack-Sniff

2011-12-05T08:03:00.001-05:00

It started out as a light cold on Friday and I, in my optimistic stupor, believed it would be gone by now.

*GROAN*

Anyone have suggestions for good movies to watch while lying prone in bed???

For today,
Sm:)e (weakly), Feel Good (I'm trying!), ACHOO!

Plantser

2011-12-01T05:47:00.001-05:00

I'm a plotter. I'm a panster.

I'm a plantser!

As usual, I fall somewhere in the middle. You gotta hand it to me, I'm consistent in my inconsistency.

Once upon a time, I considered myself a Plotter. In my blog "Depantsing Myself" (chuckle) I talked about wrestling my inner pantser into submission. Recently, with the novel I submitted to the Golden Heart Contest (eep!), I reverted back to my old pantsing ways.

My book, about a millionaire CEO with a dark past, and a heroine who leaves a direct sales career and a marriage at the same time, practically wrote itself. Every scene bloomed from the hearts of those characters. Other than the hero's past, which I decided before I even gave him a name, I don't think I had a lot of say in what they would do next. That's when I realized I was a pantser. Hands down, all in, put me in, Coach, PANTSER.

Then I tackled the follow-up book to the one above and realized that once again, my inner writer was having a serious personality conflict.

The follow-up book is about the secondary characters in my Golden Heart Submission. In the background I told the story of my hero, who has finally split from the wife who makes extra-marital affairs a sport, and my heroine, who is feisty, jaded and dealing with the fact her ex-fiance left her for her younger sister. I tried to pants this book. I did. But I can't really pants it when they've already established themselves in the first book. They already have voices, pasts and interactions. I have to be true to them.

Darn it.

And so, I sat down last night with my LITERAL PILES of notes (I've been writing scenes for this book since I started the Golden Heart Submission), and wrote a *GASP!* Synopsis. The good news is, I came up with an ending that is absolutely perfect, and I am not all that great at writing the end of books. Beginnings, middles, sure, but ends? Not my strong point.

So here I am. I admit it. Jessica Lemmon. Plantser.

Well, don't just sit there, tell me which one you are. Plotter? Pantser? Or Plantser?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, You got your pants in my plot! You got your plot in my pants! Err- wait...

60-second Book Review

2011-11-28T03:11:00.000-05:00

A little review about a book I loved...

All They Need by Sarah Mayberry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sarah Mayberry has done it again! She made me cry. In a good way.

This book is a grown up book about two people so real, you'd swear you could call up Melanie and rent one of her little cottages for this weekend.

All They Need is a glimpse of the middle of Flynn and Melanie's lives, and you feel privileged to be allowed in it. Focused on the emotions, which had me misted up for most of the book and bawling by the end, it's a lot of bang for your five bucks. It's not in the least bit expected, either, taking a road less traveled... Most of the conflict isn't between them as a couple, but what is raging inside them individually.

It's unbelievably beautiful in its commonality. Another gem to read and reread.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Time!

View all my reviews

Your Friday Sm:)e

2011-11-25T07:57:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Heidi Betts.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, For the love of the dog

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:57:00.001-05:00

I may be leaving the turkey to the dogs this year, but I'm still going to stuff myself on everything else! Green bean casserole, stuffing, kale salad, Mom's homemade crescent rolls, mashed potatoes and pumpkin cheesecake.

Enjoy your holiday, and your families!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, God bless!

The Biggest Drinking Day of the Year

2011-11-23T08:05:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, or as I've called it throughout the years, Turkey Day. Come to think of it, now that I'm an (imperfect) vegan, do I have to call it Tofu Day? Or maybe Tofurkey Day?

O.o

Anyway.

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, you know what that makes today, don't you? Well, I should hope so since it's the title of the blog. That's right. It's...

THE BIGGEST DRINKING DAY OF THE YEAR!!!

How did this come about, I wonder?

I imagine* some responsible law-making man with a name like Hendry William Thorpe, II, petitioned in the official carcass-basting holiday and, God bless him, the day off work that came along with it. Then, his younger, less responsible, social drinker of a brother (probably with a name like Jimbo or Larry), piped up, "I got an idea (hic!)"

How else can one survive one's family for an entire dinner? Right? I mean...I've heard. *sheepish grin*

Not only is the day before Thanksgiving The Biggest Drinking Day of the Year, but someone dubbed the day after The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year. (Probably Hendry's wife.)

I always celebrate today's unofficial holiday, but have only been out on Black Friday a total of ONCE. And that was because my glasses broke and I had to run to Lens Crafters to get them repaired. It was awful. I nearly lost an eye in a dispute over a waffle maker.** And I didn't even want it to begin with.

What about you? Are you celebrating today with a Scotch, tomorrow with a turkey and Friday with a FREE coupon?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Pass the stuffing (hic!)

*this story has no basis in actual history
**that's not true, either

Monopoly Meltdown

2011-11-21T08:17:00.001-05:00

Mr. Lemmony and I rarely play board games. And there is good reason for that. But, like last night, sometimes we get sick of vegging in front of the television or immersed in our separate forms of reading. Him: learny books. Me: romancey books.

And so, we dusted off the ole Monopoly board. Actually, a new one. My grandma, Monopoly connoisseur, gave it to me. She's a lean, mean, Monopoly machine, by the way. She may always be the thimble, but she will kick your butt up one side of that board and down the other. I once asked her when I was a kid if I was allowed to move my houses from one property to another. She said, "No, you can't do that! The toilets are already plumbed!"

So, Mr. Lemmony and I sat down and prepped our Disney Monopoly board. I, of course, took Lady and the Tramp for my token. He was chagrined that his characters were, well, less than manly. I agreed. The kid from the Jungle Book, Pinocchio and Peter Pan? What about Baloo? Captain Hook? Beast?

We set our house rules. You know, the one where you put all the taxes, and the money paid from Chance & Community Chest in the center of the board, then win it when you hit Free Parking. Also, you could build a maximum of one house if you didn't have a monopoly on the property, but if you did have a monopoly, well, mansion away.

It was all going so well...especially since I was winning. I don't win Monopoly often, if ever, against my husband. He's ruthless, analytical and thinks ahead like we're playing chess. I'm more the blow-on-the-dice and root for doubles kind of girl, buying what I can afford, stacking my money into orderly, separated stacks along the edge of my board.

I had not one monopoly, but two. Drunk with power, rather than on my innocuous can of light beer by my side, I built house upon house. I was gonna skunk him this time, I could feel it. His cash assets were dwindling and the board was built with enough houses to make his teeth sweat when he next rolled.

And that's when it happened.

Mr. Lemmony reached under his stacks of properties and sneaked out a $500 bill. Beside which were several other $500 bills. That's right. He was HIDING HIS MONEY.

*gasp!*

This incensed me. More for the fact that I was playing what I perceived as an honest game, my pastel colored bills fanned out proudly, than the fact that Mr. Lemmony had more monetary ammo than I knew about.

We argued our points like John Grisham's lawyers (not that he'd know that since he doesn't read fiction.)

"It's principle!" I shouted.

"It's not in the rule book!" he insisted.

"It doesn't say not to put the houses up your nose in the rule book, either!" I said.

Okay, I didn't say that last part, but I should've. It's a good point.

I won the game, but was somehow disheartened that my competitor was dancing in the gray area of the rules. And Mr. Lemmony is a good loser, congratulating me genuinely on a game well-played.

After we simmered down, I was still confident that I was right. I batted my eyelashes at him, smiled, and said, "But you can see how hiding your money is unfair, right?"

He smiled back at me. I could see he was going to agree. Then, he said, "There's no rule against hiding your money."

*GRRRRRR!!!*

What about you? Can you play board games with your significant other? Or do you get to the point of throwing punches when you do?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, It's unethical!

"Read it again, Sam."

2011-11-16T09:22:00.002-05:00

I don’t want to say that having to read my own manuscript for, oh, the eighteenth time is driving me mad or anything, but I am on the brink of opening a blank page and typing this phrase over and over and over:

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.

Is that bad?

If you are a writer who has done any amount of editing on a manuscript, you know of what I speak. It’s that read where you are SURE you’ve dotted your Ts and crossed your eyes. (snicker) And then you find this this happening. Or maybe you’ve moved something maybe and left a maybe word where it shouldn’t maybe be.

*growl*

It will never be perfect. At least that is what keep telling myself. And at this point, I am questioning every sentence’s structure. Should I move this? Leave it? Is this a cliché? If I use a few too many in a humorous way, will an editor see it as my “style” rather than a cliché? Did I squeeze all of the emotion out of this scene? Do I use the word “eyes” too many times. (Yes. I do.)

This kind of thinking is what’s got me a little twitchy. That paired with a self-imposed deadline. I signed up for the Golden Heart Contest, sure that my MS was mined gold. Only now, it’s looking not unlike a plastic painted gold ring out of a gumball machine.

Talk me down, friends, before I grab an axe and chop through a door.

“Heeeere’s Lemmony!”

For today,
Sm:)e (not like a maniac, though), Feel Good, Editing is fun! (And by fun, I mean hellish.)

Immortals, the Movie

2011-11-14T08:03:00.001-05:00

I went to see Immortals on Friday night, and yes, I went because I wanted to see Henry Cavill shine on the big screen, but I also went for the story. (Is that like saying one reads Playboy for the articles?) You have to admit, though, the previews do an excellent job of showcasing the film's unique look. (It's from the Director of 300, dontchaknow?) And who can resist Mickey Rourke's über-bad guy, King Hyperion? Not I, sayeth this viewer. Whatever weird stuff he's done to his face, it really works for odd or evil characters. Remember The Wrestler? His turn as Whiplash in Iron Man 2?

Speaking of looks, as much as I love to look at Henry Cavill (and really, who doesn't?) he captured my heart first--or maybe in tandem--with his onscreen charisma. On the Tudors, he absolutely took my breath away as the tortured Duke of Suffolk. He made me FEEL his pain, his loss, and in the fourth season, his soul-rendering loneliness. THIS is what makes movie stars, people.

In Immortals, Henry delivers his finest. He acts his heart out in this movie, bringing what could have been cheesy up a level or ten to fantastic. Theseus is a warrior at heart, but a peasant in class. When war strikes his village, he doesn't have to gird his loins to fight (but wouldn't that have been fun to watch? *snicker*), he simply fights. Because that is who he is.

"I'm kind of a bad-ass."

It's probably to unfair to use the word "simply," now that I think about it. Henry Cavill trained 6 months in advance of the films shooting to get in shape. He did a rumored 2,000 sit ups every day before going to the set AND used the 45-minute breaks in filming to work out, eat and catch a quick catnap.

Henry gives his all, physically, emotionally, in this film. And what's really cool is that he's given a breathtaking canvas in which to showcase his talents. Immortals is a beautiful movie. Watching it is like watching a moving painting, with its dusty browns and burnished golds, and yes, menfolk who seem to be chiseled from stone.

The story is as moving as the visuals, the ultimate good vs. evil story, paired with Zeus as the all-knowing, fair and just father-figure. While it is about "the gods" it does make you think of THE God. Zeus, played by Luke Evans, is a brilliant sight to watch. You can relate to him. And he's a god. Maybe it was because of how he viewed his part. The actor said he played Zeus, "like a father because that's who he is."

The entire cast is divine, actually. I'm not even going into Poseidon's Kellen Lutz, the scene-stealing Stephen Dorff, or the gorgeous Virgin Oracle (we all have a pretty good guess as to what happens to her, yes?)

"Sure my hat is silly. But if you put it up
to your ear, you can hear my abs."

The movie is exquisite, violent, and cringe-worthy, but it is so worth the price of admission to see it on the big screen. Mr. Lemmony and I left the theater with sore jaws and shoulders from tensing up, however. At one point (mini-spoiler!) King Hyperion and Theseus fight. Let me tell you, I felt every teeth-chattering blow and each knife-sharp slice.

But that, too, is credit to Henry Cavill's acting.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, "Fight for Immortality!"

A Yellow Car

2011-11-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about how sometimes we don't see things until we see them. You know? Like, if you never told your brain to recognize certain things, well, they wouldn't register on a conscious level.

One example is the "new car syndrome" or for me, the "yellow car syndrome." Before I bought the Lemmonmobile, I didn't pay too much attention to how many yellow cars were on the road. After I bought it? They were EVERYWHERE. I was convinced that everyone had gone out and bought yellow cars the same week I did. I must have started a trend, right? Not so much. My car is approaching her tenth birthday and I hardly miss when a yellow Lancer drives by (we honk and wave at each other like Jeep owners, btw.)

Or, how about this example?

See the arrow? It's right there between the E and the x. For those of you who didn't see it before now, you'll probably notice it from now on.

The same rule applies in writing. Until my critique partner pointed out that an ellipses...doesn't have a space after it, I never saw that. Now when reading over my MSs, I see that mistake over and over. Same goes for other grammatical errors, or those nasty adverbs that crop up (she points out hastily) in your MS. Once you know what to look for, you will be ~~absolutely~~ assaulted by them.

Have you ever seen something unseen before? Maybe your new car highlighted every other like it, too. Or maybe that little FedEx arrow has been hiding from you in plain sight your whole life.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Wasn't that fun?

Misc. Monday

2011-11-07T08:18:00.001-05:00

I haven't done a Misc. Monday in a while. Let's, shall we?

Here's what I'm into at the moment.

THE FAITHFUL (novel)

Rememeber that public promise I made to read Jonathan Weyer's book, The Faithful? Well, I am. And it's great. The ghost story circles around a pastor who has lost his faith, murder, and creepy sets of footprints that keep appearing in the crunchy snow. And that's just a third of the way into it!

THE IMMORTALS (movie)

Rather than explain, I'll just post a picture.

Ahh, I knew you'd come around to enjoy Greek mythology.

SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFASTS

This admission is going to get me in BIG trouble with the Vegan Police. But, recently, Mr. Lemmony and I have indulged in...Eggs Benedict. We get the veggie EBs, (tomato and spinach in most cases) and we only do this every other week. And, we eat 100% vegan at home. I dunno, maybe we're only 99.9% vegan. Is that a thing? Do you think that will earn me a plea bargain in the courts?

STROKE 9 CONCERTS

I went to one. I need more. If you missed my most awesome post about my trip to Louisville, then you can either read about it HERE, or just look at these:

See that shot glass Luke (lead singer) is holding? Yeah, I just handed him that. See that giant smile on my face as I'm carefully leaving the stage? I was having a moment.

They even sang Little Black Backpack, their biggest Billboard hit.

After the show, we were invited into the "VIP Room" and Luke bought my friends and me a beer. True story.

So there's what I'm totally into at the moment.

What about you? Reading a good book? Anticipating a good movie? Causing a scandal with your eating habits? Or maybe you have had a surreal (but nice) brush with fame recently.

Do Tell!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Luke and me are like *this*

Stroke 9 & More Costumes!

2011-11-02T03:50:00.000-04:00

We got to dress up twice this year, which was SO exciting I could hardly stand it. #halloweenjunkie Technically, these costumes were first since this party happened prior to the party we attended this past weekend. Here's how they came about:

Once upon a time, there was a song called Little Black Backpack on the radio, circa 1999. I loved this song so I immediately bought the CD. And played it to death. A decade later, I began to wonder what else Stroke 9 had going on. Had they faded into oblivion? Kept recording? Toured random road stops collecting money in an open guitar case?

I downloaded another CD onto my iPod and fell in love all over again with Rip it Off, ironically from 2002, so I wasn't *really* caught up. By then I had followed them on Twitter and one day they announced an album. Their new album. The name of this new album?

The Jessica Album, Part I

I'm not kidding. Is this, like, way cool, or WHAT?! Even better is that I *love* this album. Even better than that? They were offering a free download. (They may still, you can find it here, if you are so inclined.)

I started looking for concerts/tours but they weren't close by. Mostly California, or Georgia. I think they were in NYC once. Then, this summer, verrrrry close to my birthday, they were going to be in Chicago. I jumped on it. Then, in the middle of planning my trip, I learned the show had been canceled. *cries* I jokingly (sorta) referred to them for the remainder of the summer as "The Band Who Hates Me."

Then in September, I got the email.

They were coming to Louisville, KY. I'm in Ohio, y'all. That's closer than Chicago! Closer than California! Closer than Georgia! Mr. Lemmony jumped to make plans with two of our friends. And when he called the Billiards Club of Louisville to pre-order tickets he learned that the concert was the night of their annual HUGE COSTUME BASH. And when I tweeted the band (@stroke9) and asked for a playlist? They asked what I wanted to hear. Yep. Took my requests.

They shall be hereto forward known as "The Band Who Is Madly In Love With Me." I mean, they did name their album after me. What more proof do I need? ;)

Oh, and by the way, as soon as I scrabble my brain around the AWESOMENESS that was last Friday, I'll post about it again. Here's an example of how cool it was:

And then there was this:

*squee!*

Sorry, where was I? Right! Costumes.

*focus*

Mr. Lemmony and I donned our best Dexter & Deb Morgan costumes for this bash (yeah, it's a rerun of sorts since John was Dexter once before - click here.)

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, How many people wanna see Stroke 9? I do! I do!

Holy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:38:00.001-04:00

If you haven't seen the library of costumes past, you may want to check it out here. And here. Aaaand here.

For those of you who are already caught up on Mr. Lemmony's and my costumes of All Hallow's Eves gone by, then feel free to keep reading.

This year was tough.* Mainly because Mr. Lemmony wasn't too keen on my most awesome Halloween costume idea EVAR.

Wanna see my original brainchild?

I was gonna be Portia. *pouts*

Oh well.

Then it came down to a few other ideas, one which was a major to-do, but I'm not mentioning it b/c we may do it next year.

Or my fantabulous dream of being Pam & Eric from True Blood.

Alas, this is way obscure for the party we go to. *cries*

My other idea was easy-peasy yet way cool: Priests. Like, from the movie Priest. The vampire-killing priests. We went with that one.

Here are our alter egos:

And here we are:

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Kill some Vampires!

*I'm pretty sure I say this every year

Humble Beginnings

2011-10-27T03:19:00.000-04:00

Often when people skyrocket to success, people believe they arrived there instantaneously. It's the "Overnight Success" Theory and it's wrong more often than not. I started thinking about this the other day when the SyFy channel was on in the background. What was I half-watching, you ask? Leprechaun starring none other than Jennifer Aniston.

Ms. Aniston is a big deal nowadays. She's known the world over, has been in over 29 movies and made a million dollars an episode for a certain decade-long sitcom. But if you've ever been tempted to believe she hit the fame lottery when she scored her role as Rachel on Friends, you may give her a bit of credit when you see the 1993 movie Leprechaun. Sometimes achieving overnight success means running from an angry two-feet tall gold-hoarder with buckles on his shoes and crying, "He's a Leprechaun! We have to give him what he wants!"

Or what about Stephen King? The Maine-borne author struggled as a teacher for years before he published Carrie. In the meantime, he stabbed his rejection letters onto a nail on the wall. Under the weight of so many letters saying, "NO," the nail eventually fell off the wall. (Note: he later replaced them with a railroad spike. How's that for tenacity?)

Consider, too, an author who I've referenced often lately, Darynda Jones. She's achieved major fame with her tales of Grim Reaper Charley Davidson and sexy paranormal hero, Reyes. Know how? She forced herself to enter RWA's Golden Heart contest so that she would finish her book, First Grave on the Right. Then she won it. And in two weeks, she landed an agent. She has now sold 5 books in the series with no end in sight. Overnight success? Not so, says Darynda, who says she's always written, but if you start counting from the time she started writing "seriously" (with a goal toward publication) to her winning the Golden Heart in 2009?

That little jaunt took seven years.

We all have goals, some big, some small, some personal, others professional. But if you do go about achieving it, you may need to remind yourself that you'll spend a great number of days working toward it and only one day achieving it. Rather than see that as discouraging, I choose to believe that each day is bringing me closer to that one day that supercedes the others before it.

Yep, it's a process. So the next time you find yourself coveting someone else's instant success, remember that they too have spent their fair share of time down in the muck, too.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, "I gave him his gold, what more does he want?"

Procrastination

2011-10-26T07:45:00.000-04:00

Last week, I looked so forward to my day off. I had big plans to get lots done! Lots and lots and lots! Now, while I'd love to tell you I scaled that monumental to-do list and conquered Mt. Dustbunny, I can't. Unless I tell big, stinking lies...

:-| *considers*

Alas, I cannot tell a lie. I spent the day (the cold, dark, rainy-all-day, day) in bed (or near it) commenting on blogs, writing blogs or playing Angry Birds--erm--I mean, reading. :P

You may remember my post from that day, a post about the paralysis by analysis I was suffering at the hands of my story. Long ago, I was sure if I only had the appropriate piece of furniture, all my worries would be over.

Only now, I have the perfect set up. It's upstairs in my bedroom. In front of a window looking out at the giant Maple tree shedding brightly colored fall leaves. Pandora plays music of my choosing from the television behind me. There are two adorable sleeping dogs snoring softly in the background. All of my color-coordinated paper products are readily available: calendar, manila folder, notebook, even a purple pen... I'm ready to write! Edit! Tweak!

Hmm. Wonder what's on the SyFy channel?

Why is it so hard to open that file? To tackle that edit? For me, I suspect it's because I know the end is nigh.

No, not this end...

This end...

And when it gets here, I have to change it. Because it could be better. Like, monumentally better. Therefore it must be changed. Eek! :^o

My day of sloth, and this very thought, prompted this tweet:

Although, I did get several blog posts done. But, Mr. Lemmony might argue that blog posts don't make for a very tasty dinner. But who can make dinner when there's all this creative stuff to do??? If you answered Taco Bell, you might be correct.

What about you? Been putting off any important (work projects) or non-important (dusting the top of the refrigerator) chores in your life?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Procrastination, Population: 1

An Anniversary Poem

2011-10-24T03:41:00.000-04:00

*ahem*

The number 13 is unlucky they say
But perhaps "they" don't know
I married you 13 years ago today

At age 22 it's hard to grasp
We could stumble into each other
And have a marriage that lasts

But I think that by now it's safe to say
That neither of us can imagine
Ever going astray

And as for you, darling I know
You would miss my bad habits
If I were to go...

My shoes in the floor
My oversized "writer's robe"
My penchant for potato chips
My aversion to planning
My love for horror movies
My losing... everything
My knack for messing up the kitchen
My Henry Cavill screen saver

(Well maybe not that last one)

But I bet you'd miss my head
Even though you request blonde
And it comes home red...

Let's do 13 more years, by jiminy!
Because it's only you, babe
Who puts the Lemmon in my Lemmony

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Happy Anniversary, John. I LOVE YOU!
The Lemmons at The Titanic Museum, Gatlinburg TN, October 2010

Senility or Creativity?

2011-10-20T03:17:00.000-04:00

I was recently having a conversation with someone online about how writers (Creatives in general, really) were forgetful types. Distracted types. Tunnel vision types. I know, I know. You want examples. You want me to admit some of the embarrassing things I've done while living in my head.

Fine! You bunch of vultures (I mean that lovingly); I will share a few.

Once, after scooping out a hard won and delicious bowl of peanut butter chocolate chip ice cream, I put the container back in the fridge. I do mean the fridge. As it NOT the freezer. That was fun to clean up.
My ten-year-old niece (who lives a few blocks away from me) remarked recently that she stood on the corner waving frantically as my yellow car zoomed by. I never even turned my head.
A few minutes ago (at the time of this writing), I packed my Keurig filter full of Highlander Grogg coffee, pushed the button and turned to look out the window. Then I heard this splashing sound. Caused by the coffee filling the reservoir rather than my coffee mug, which I neglected to put under the spigot.
When I first started my job where I work now, I wasn't quite used to getting up at 5:30 in the a.m. (I'm not sure I'm used to it now, actually.) My skin care line has this really cool toner in a spray bottle that you can spritz on your face without the use of cotton balls. It's refreshing! Environmentally savvy! Fun! On this particular morning, however, I noticed the toner was like, incredibly potent. Probably because I had picked up my perfume by mistake and pumped two hardy sprays directly into my face. :P

As I'm writing this, I remember I've done things like this my whole life. So maybe it's not appropriate to call it senility after all...

Back when I was barely a teen, my mother asked to borrow my hairspray. A long-time Aussie user, I trekked to my room in search of that iconic purple can. I stood in the hallway and held out the hairspray for my mother to take from me. Instead she laughed. First lightly, then in increasing fits akin to hyena-like giggles.

Turns out, I handed her this:

instead of this:

Hey, it was the right size, and the bubble solution (complete with dual wand!) was in a purple container. You can see my mistake, right? :( ...Yeah, neither could my Mom, who, between screeches of laughter said, "Bubbles? What would I do with bubbles*?"

More importantly, what on earth was distracting me that day?**

Do you ever zone out? Live in your head? Or maybe you're lucky enough to have a real-life medical diagnosis to excuse your behavior. Do share!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good that it's not just you, it's me, too!

*Who knows? It was the 80's.

**Johnny Depp, most likely

The Slump

2011-10-19T08:31:00.001-04:00

No, it's not a new dance craze. Though with the increasing popularity of zombies, perhaps it should be.
It's just a slump to left, then a step to the riiiiiight...

In fact, I hated to even title a blog like that here on Sm:)e Feel Good. Then again, I'm not talking about the everlasting slump that only a prescription anti-depressant can help cure, I'm talking about a slump that is (hopefully?) temporary.

The writer's slump.

You may already know that I LOVE the first draft. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I think it could have something to do with the freedom and rule-ignoring that come along with it. I am never intimidated by the blank page. I can't relate to the writers in movies who type THE on a page and then spend days upon days staring at the single word, unable to put more after it.

Maybe it's because THE is a terrible way to start a story.

For me, the slump only comes at editing time. Currently, the story I'm (re) editing has been edited three times by me, read by two CPs and I have re-read it probably two or three times on my Kindle. Suffice to say, my slump may be caused by good old-fashioned boredom. I often grow tired (I'd use the word "hate" here, but that feels disingenuous and really, not true) of my story after I've attempted to beat it into submission.

Even before, well, submitting it.

I also may have a bit of "paralysis by analysis" going on since I'm not a hundred percent sure what to do after it's finished. I can't submit to Harlequin because they (still) have a work of mine marinating in the slush pile (and has been since March.) Only one MS at a time, apparently, their rules state. I could sub it to an agent, but which one? (eep!) I could add twenty thousand words and submit to other publishers (gack! 20,000?!) Or I could enter it into the Golden Heart Contest.

Light bulb!

Yesterday, I logged onto RWA.org to find out more about this illustrious contest. (It rocketed Darynda Jones into semi-stardom, dontchaknow.) And while I have no illusions of my little story rocketing me anywhere, I think the contest will be good for me for one primary reason:

It would give me a deadline.

Yep. I have to pay, you know, like MONEY $$$ to say I'm going to send in my MS for the contest. Even before it's done! I will be making a commitment to sub this book, which means at some point, I have to stop tinkering with it. Once it's sent, it's done. Over. Finito.

And then I can write another first draft. Squee! And that's my plan to get out of this writerly slump.

As a writer, do you have any advice for getting over (under? through? around?) the slump that inevitably comes? When does it happen for you?

And if you're not a writer, I know you can still relate - what causes you to slump?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Slump-free days are a'comin'!

Not Your Mama's Breast Exam Video

2011-10-17T03:50:00.000-04:00

Last week, I stumbled upon this video via Kat Latham (@katrinalatham if you are so Twitterly inclined) and I had to share. Not only is it SUPER FUNNY and WITTY, but I suspect it does just what it intends to: gets women to consider self exams more often.

All that and eye candy too? Works better than any pink ribbon, if you ask me.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Admit it, you've already decided to download this app...

15 Again

2011-10-14T03:34:00.000-04:00

I posted yesterday about how two authors I have come to admire had been rather *cough* buried in the bottom of my TBR pile. In the interest of full disclosure, I did make Maisey Yates and Jonathan Weyer aware that they made an appearance on my blog, via Twitter. I knew my confession would get me a bit of elbow-in-the-ribs jokes but I didn't expect what happened next...

They became my Internet Parents.

O.o

It started like this...

Escalated to this...

Aware of what was starting to happen, I commented (snarkily) with this:

When I promised to blog about the books after I DID read them, I got one of these:

And finally, as I regressed in age, I pulled one of these...

Which led to this...

Is it any wonder why I <3 these two? If you're on Twitter, I suggest you #FF them. I can't promise "Dad" won't give you a curfew or that "Mom" won't lick her palm and fix where your hair is standing up, but I CAN promise you laughs, and plenty of them.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, "I know, I know, home by Midnight." *grouse*

The Right Moment

2011-10-13T03:35:00.000-04:00

Confession time.

I have had a book on my shelf for so long, I'm almost embarrassed to say how long it's been there. Mainly because I haven't read it yet. And I so should have. I contacted the author via Twitter the day I bought it because I was so excited to read it! Then... I didn't.

Then, yesterday, I was commenting on a Facebook entry by another author I follow when it occurred to me that I have never read his book. I have looked it up, read the blurb, read the reviews... but haven't purchased it. Only now, I'm starting to feel like I could read a dark, murky, twisty kind of book. And his would fit that mood perfectly.

This got me thinking about the way I choose which book to read next. There are the tried and trues, the "they-publish-it-I-read-it-right away" types, like Heidi Betts (but of course!) and Sarah Mayberry. Darynda Jones quickly became one of those as well.

But mostly, I choose books based on a *feeling* - a sort of sixth sense what-book-do-I-read-now tingle. Sometimes I go to my shelves of (too many?) books and run my fingers over the spines until I find the one that matches how I'm feeling. And other times, I walk by a book on my shelf for the 90th time and finally pick it up to read it.

I guess the lesson here is that, as an author, really the most important thing you could do is keep in front of your readers. You never know who may be commenting on an inane FB post and think - hey, I should read his book today. Or maybe you post a blog about a past book and the characters and remind a reader of the dusty book on their shelf, just waiting to be rediscovered.

And I promise, I'm going to get to your book, Maisey. There's a right moment, I know it. And Jonathan? I haven't forgotten about you, or The Faithful.

How do you choose what to read next? Do you have to wait for the right moment? For your Spidey senses to tingle? Or do you simply pick up the next book in the order in which you purchased it and begin reading?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Read a book by someone you admire

Supernatural Hotties

2011-10-11T03:29:00.000-04:00

You may have caught my tweet yesterday about Supernatural. I was having an intense debate - yes, with myself, doesn't everyone debate themselves?

Wait - don't answer that.

Anyway, as I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself... I was having an intense debate about which brother to take home to Mother. Or take home, period. Maybe they're one in the same, I don't know.

I should mention, I don't watch this show that often. Only on reruns some random weekday mornings when I feel like lazing around a bit. I wish that were more often. I mean, LOOK at them.

So... back to my cute boy debate. On the one hand, Dean (left) has that smoldering look that made him so perfect as Sammy Brady's twin brother on Days of Our Lives. And he's got this deliciously deep voice, raspy and smooth at the same time. And, he looks good in his clothes... and without, apparently. O.O Though, I have never seen this particular look in Supernatural.

*le sigh*

Then we have his brother on the show, Sam. And while Sam has a bit of a baby face, he's got his own brand of intensity. And he stands a head taller than his more diminutive on-air brother.

I should also note that shirtless, he isn't exactly a slouch.

Even when slouching. *grin*

Okay... um, I had a point. Oh, right. The debate!

Here's the situation. They've both asked you out. You are, in the land of SmileFeelGood-opolis, delightfully unattached and free of any real-life relationships for the sake of this very argument.

They're waiting for your answer.

One you have to say yes to, and one you have to turn down. (Even as tempting as Summer's comment was yesterday that I choose *cough* BOTH of them, I'm afraid in my world, you will have to choose.)

Come on, let's hear it. Who and why? And what on earth will you say to the one you turn down???

...Srlsy, tell me. It may help me arrive at a decision.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Dean or Sam? Sam or Dean?

The Winner Is...

2011-10-10T07:38:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, Heidi Betts sat down at the Craps table to give us the odds on her new book, Must Love Vampires. Then she left us with this heart-pumping excerpt, and THEN, as if we could take any more, she promised to give one lucky commenter a book - their CHOICE of book!

Heidi drew a name on Friday, as promised, but my personal schedule (cough-WORK-cough) prevented me from doing a blog post until today. To apologize for my lateness, and since this book is about TWO SISTERS who fall in love with two hottie vampire brothers, well, I DREW A NAME TOO.

Yep. TWO WINNERS.

REGINA ROSS!!! Heidi drew your name out of her coffin!

and...

JEANNIE MOON!!! I rolled the dice on Sebatian's abs and came up with your number. (That's the older brother, in Must Love Vampires, by the way.)

Winners: Email me at jlemmony[at]gmail[dot]com with your address and which book you would like to snuggle into bed and read before bedtime and Heidi and I will send them out post haste.

The rest of you, THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming - and a special hello if you have never visited before. Be sure to pick up your copy of Must Love Vampires, or even The Bite Before Christmas, 3 short stories of vampire lovin'.

And THANK YOU MOST OF ALL to Heidi Betts, for giving us a great interview!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, We must do this again, dontcha think?

Vamps in Vegas - Freebie Friday!

2011-10-07T04:06:00.000-04:00

You showed up.

You commented.

You want a *free* sexy vampire book.

And I planned on picking a winner, Vegas style... then my roulette wheel went on the blink. And, okay, I work all day on Friday, so I couldn't stay up until Midnight EST on Thursday night to ensure everyone had a chance to enter. *yawn*

But, NEVER FEAR!

The winner will be picked TODAY as promised. Mistress Heidi is gonna loan me her Craps table and the winner will be ANNOUNCED on Monday.

You still love me, right? Yes? Good.

So, Monday. I'll see you there, people. In the meantime, here is your parting gift, a vampy Alex Skarsgard a la True Blood.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Monday's not that far away...

Vamps in Vegas - Part TWO

2011-10-06T02:00:00.000-04:00

If you're just tuning in, Heidi Betts is visiting SFG and talking about her Vegas Vampire book Must Love Vampires. I know I promised you an excerpt today - but first, I have to ask Heidi about the book we were abuzz about in 2010 that is making a special holiday reappearance...

I understand that your holiday vampire collection from last year, which I *so* totally won from Kensington's blog (not that I'm bragging - cough) - what was I saying, oh, right! THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS! I hear it is also being re-released this week in paperback and with a new cover.

Yes! Very exciting, if I do say so myself. It’s always been a wee little dream of mine that my Bravas (which are first released as trade-size) would be re-issued in paperback. I wasn’t actually expecting a new cover treatment, but it’s a good one, so I can’t complain. :)

It’s also wonderful timing, because THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is—as you may have noticed from the title *g*—a holiday-themed read. Vampires and Christmas—oh, my! And this will give folks the chance to pick it up now, if they didn’t last year…maybe buy copies as gifts, stuff some stockings with them, or simply settle down with a nice cup of cocoa to enjoy my Christmas vampires for themselves.

Oh, and I’m happy to say that for anyone who noticed and was either annoyed or confused by the typos (i.e. incorrect character names) on the original back cover copy for THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, it has been corrected for this edition! Whoo-hoo!

That is great news! Okay, back to Vegas... Leave us with an excerpt from Must Love Vampires that keeps us wanting more, but won’t make my mother blush if she happens by to read it.

Oh. Um… I’m not sure I have any un-blushable excerpts. Okay, how about this…

So she didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in the “hot sex” department. Not that she was a bowl of Kibble and Bits. She owned a mirror and knew she had it going on, as far as her looks were concerned. Junk food addiction notwithstanding, she had nice boobs, a nice butt, and fit into Chloe’s “Flames of Hell” costume without too much overflow.

Face-wise . . . well, Chloe was gorgeous, and since they were identical twins . . . Just because she didn’t spend as much time primping and reapplying her lipstick as her sisterdidn’t mean she was Bride of Frankenstein material.

So Sebastian shouldn’t be too turned off, right?

But was he turned on? Even a little bit?

Lifting her wine glass to her lips, she used it to camouflage the direction of her gaze. She hoped.

How did one tell if a man was turned on? she wondered. Other than the obvious, of course. That’s what she was looking for, but damn the muted lighting and the folds of his black slacks. She couldn’t see anything of importance.

“Looking for something?”

Sebastian’s low voice caused her to jump guiltily. The wine sloshed, and she jerked her head--and her gaze--back up to his face.

Busted, she thought like a first-class fool, noting the quirk of his lips and knowing gleam in his eyes. And not for the first time tonight, either. Her entire face flushed hot with humiliation.

How did Chloe do this all the time, with guy after guy, without bursting into flames of embarrassment?

And the sex! Flirting and trying to gauge a man’s interest was hard enough; Chuck could barely imagine stripping naked and having actual sex with a bunch of them, too. Well, not a bunch as in “all at once,” just consecutively over a span of time. Her sister might be outgoing, but she wasn’t a slut.

With a mental head slap, she realized that somewhere during the last ten years, she’d apparently turned into a Puritan.

But she really wasn’t! Or at least, she never had been before.

She used to like sex just as much as the next person. And though she and Matthew hadn’t made a habit of doing anything in bed that would make the fine citizens of Las Vegas raise a brow --it was Vegas, after all; people could buy used panties out of vending machines, if they wanted (blurg)--they’d been adventurous in their own way.

“No,” she answered quickly.

A total lie, and she was sure he could tell by the way her voice squeaked when she said it. Oh, no, I wasn’t looking for anything. My eyes weren’t glued to your crotch like a crocodile scoping out the weakest zebra at the watering hole.

“Really?” He raised a brow like the upper curve of a question mark.

It was a damn sexy eyebrow . . . as was its mate and the rest of his handsome, chiseled face. But she was sort of beginning to hate that expression. The one that told her his curiosity was piqued, or he wanted her to elaborate on something she was trying to keep to herself.

“Because it looked as though you were staring at my--”

“No!” she screeched, cutting him off before he could finish that thought. Shaking her head like a rag doll, she said, “No, definitely not. I was not staring at your . . . anything.”

“Funny,” he murmured in a low voice, “I could have sworn you were.”

If she blushed any more in this man’s presence, she swore she was going to burst into flames brighter and hotter than the ones on the outfit she’d been wearing earlier.

Come on, Chuck, she told herself, mentally straightening her shoulders and sliding her spine back into place. Pull yourself together and act like the strong, independent woman you pride yourself on being.

“What do you care if I was?” she countered with a cocky eyebrow lift of her own. Ha! Let him get a taste of his own medicine.

“Oh, I would care,” he replied. “In fact, I would be quite intrigued.”

That caught her off guard. She blinked a moment, trying to find her thoughts and her voice. “Why?” she finally worked up the saliva to ask.

“Because you’re not the only one having fantasies.”

Chuck’s heart thumped as though someone had punched her in the chest. So hard, it stole her breath.

But it also quickened her pulse. Heated her blood. Made juices flow to areas that had been as dry as the Mojave Desert for longer than she could remember.

“What kind of fantasies?” she managed in a wisp of sound.

“The usual kind,” he said, tossing her earlier words back at her.

In one smooth, almost practiced move, he set his glass aside and slid toward her on the sofa. Crowding her, cornering her, pinning her between the overstuffed cushions at her back and his wide, silk-covered chest.

“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly, feeling the heat of his body radiating toward hers, and the laser-sharp intensity of his gaze tracking her like prey.

“Getting ready to seduce you . . . and make some of those fantasies come true.”

*pauses to regain my senses*

Oh my, that was a great excerpt. I'm sure that will leave everyone wanting more... which reminds me of the fun surprise you have planned for our Sm:)e, Feel Good readers. Do tell!

Yes, I do. Two of them…to go with the “double the pleasure, double the fun” of MUST LOVE VAMPIRES itself!

First, I want to give everybody a few weeks to get their hands on MUST LOVE VAMPIRES and read it, then I’m going to be holding a pair of really fun giveaways. Something along the lines of a Sex and the City game where I’ll be asking, “Are you a Chuck or a Charlotte?” But like I said, you need to read the book and get to know the characters before you can answer. :) So keep an eye on WIPs and Chains…those will be popping up soon!

(And if you’re wondering just how good the swag is that I give away in The Dungeon, you can always check out the contents of my recent “Vamps in Vegas” Giveaway.)

Second, I wanted to offer a bit of a treat for today’s bloggers. How about we pick one lucky winner to receive an autographed copy of either MUST LOVE VAMPIRES or the paperback reissue of THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS? I just got author copies of both, so winner’s choice!

Yes, let's! And, by the way, that's awesome! Thank you, Heidi, so much for stopping by the blog and telling us more about your book. I, of course, have MLV on my Kindle and am burning through the pages. Erm... the digital pages, anyway.

Again, THANK YOU for the awesome giveaway offer! w00t!

Thank you, Jessica! I always love dropping by Sm:)e, Feel Good. And I hope you and all your readers will feel free to drop by WIPs to keep me company, too! :)

Kensington Brava
September 27, 2011
ISBN 978-0758247636

Click here for links to where to buy! Or click here for the AMAZON.com link.

Thanks, readers, for stopping by!

Remember to comment today as much as you please, one entry per comment!

Giveaway will be announced tomorrow - a kind of FREEBIE FRIDAY, if you will! :)

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Must Love Vampires!

Vamps in Vegas - PART ONE

2011-10-05T02:19:00.000-04:00

Double the vampires, double the fun…

Look out, Sin City—here they come!

Last year I had the privilege of interviewing an author I’ve admired for years—Heidi Betts. Some of you entered the contest to win an ARC of her first Brava Paranormal, The Bite Before Christmas. And I can tell you, there are two reasons to be doubly (*nudge nudge*) excited about her newest paranormal release, Must Love Vampires (Is that not the best title ever?) which was just released last week.

LOVE AT FIRST BITE
Nightclub dancer Chloe Lamoureaux just met the man of her dreams: Aidan Raines is charming, considerate, rich, and hot. Of course, he’s a little mysterious about his age. And his favorite drink. And he’s not much for sunlight. But he’s asked her to marry him, and she’s ready to do it. Sure, she has a few secrets too—but they’ll have plenty of time to work things out while they’re living happily ever after. Right?

Her identical twin sister, Chuck, isn’t so sure. Maybe reporting for the local Bigfoot-sighting tabloid doesn’t make her an expert, but to Chuck, Aidan and his brother Sebastian look like honest-to-Dracula vampires. Especially Sebastian: beguiling, seductive, and just a hint of dangerous. Maybe she wouldn’t mind him taking a little taste. But with Chloe’s life in the balance, she has to know—do they want hot love or hot blood? Or maybe…a little of both?

I approached Heidi about a second interview recently, hoping she would be just as receptive as she was last summer. To my utter shock, she said, “Sure!” Yes, I’m still humbled and excited that my hero is willing to indulge me. *grin*

Without further adieu, or delay, or hesitation – okay, now I’m toying with you – Heidi Betts!

Thank you so much for coming back to SFG! I feel like you fit in over here since you cause Sm:)es and Feel Goods repeatedly. Especially on Wednesdays. Now that they’re properly baited, care to entice them with some up and coming content over at WIPS and Chains?

Aww, thank you---I do try. :) And we have a blast over at WIPs and Chains, if I do say so myself. ;) You already mentioned Wednesdays…which, for some reason, are exceptionally popular. I’m not sure why. Oh, wait—maybe it’s because every Wednesday is “Happy Hunk Day” and I have a tendency to put up photos of very sexy, very sweaty, very unclothed hotties for my readers’ viewing pleasure. But that’s just a guess; I could be wrong.

We also have “Free Book Friday (with a side of Funny)” every week, in which I give away…yeah, you maybe figured this one out…a free book! Saturdays are kind of gruesome (do the words “Sexy Fail” mean anything to you? O.0) so I don’t recommend anybody stop by then. Or at the very least, be sure you visit on an empty stomach.

The rest of the time, we just try to have FUN! I blog about my writing and new releases. I have a wicked sense of humor, so I tend to post things that are probably quite questionable, but infinitely chuckle-worthy. I give things away…sometimes books, sometimes bundles of swag, sometimes random junk I pick up from my office floor. (Hey, if you could see my office, you’d know just how true that last one can be.) And I update the sidebar filled with naughty bits to keep readers both chuckling and on their toes. ;-)

I can attest to it, people, I comment and visit Heidi's blog often! So, paranormal romance is hot right now. Did you feel pressured to make your vampires in Must Love Vampires stand out from others in the literary world?

It’s funny you should ask this, because any time I tell people I have a vampire romance coming out, I quickly qualify it with “It’s not like a lot of the vampire stuff that’s out right now!” Because, truthfully, I’m not doing the dark, serious, urban fantasy-type vampires that are ever so popular at the moment. I’m doing light, funny (but really hot and sexy!) vampires that pretty much anyone—even readers who don’t particularly care for vampires or paranormal—can enjoy.

I tell readers to think of my vampire books in one of two ways: 1.) They’re your typical contemporary romance novel, in which some of the characters just “happen” to be vampires. (i.e. put yourself in the shoes of a heroine who’s living a normal life, then one day runs into a (tall, dark, uber-sexy) guy who turns out to be a vampire, and you have to sort of adjust your perception of reality. 2.) As far as humor and sexiness go, my vampire romances are a lot like my “Chicks with Sticks” knitting trilogy. So if you’ve read and enjoyed those, think of the vampires books as “Chicks with Fangs.” *vbg*

Innovator that you are, I hear you’re offering an Epilogue for this book, sort of a "Happily Ever After, after the Happily Ever After," can you tell us more about that?

Oh, yes! I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m really excited about it. “ONE LAST BITE (an epilogue to Must Love Vampires)” is available as a free e-book download from Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. (It’s supposed to be available at Amazon, too, but apparently they’re having another little hissy fit and won’t allow anything “free” to load from sources other than established publishers. Unfortunately, because ONE LAST BITE is a freebie, there’s no other way to get it on Amazon, so we all have to suffer! :(

But to share how this little add-on came about, basically what happened is that after I turned the manuscript for MUST LOVE VAMPIRES in to my editor, I got this kernel of an idea for an epilogue. As you said, it’s a happily-ever-after after the happily-ever-after. MUST LOVE VAMPIRES absolutely stands on its own and has an ending I promise won’t disappoint, but “ONE LAST BITE (an epilogue to Must Love Vampires)” takes place about a year later and gives a bit of a glimpse into the characters’ lives after they’ve all recovered from Aaack! He’s a vampire! and settled into a (para)normal routine. (*snicker* Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one.)

But because it was too late to get the epilogue into the book, I decided to go this route and offer it as a extra-special freebie for my faithful readers. :)

And I’d love it if everybody would download a copy for themselves, as well as spreading the word that it’s available. Here are the links:

Barnes and Noble (for NOOK) - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-last-bite-heidi-betts/1105098757?ean=2940011467301anditm=1andusri=one%2blast%2bbite

Smashwords (other – including Kindle!) - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81178

(Even if you don’t own an e-reader, you can download it to your computer or read it right on the screen via Smashwords’s long list of options.)

But remember, this is an epilogue. To be read only after you’ve read MUST LOVE VAMPIRES. (I’m getting a lot of low ratings and nasty remarks over on BN.com from people who either don’t know what the word “epilogue” means or didn’t read the Author’s Note I included in the beginning that warned them it was not a stand-alone story. Le sigh.)

Do you foresee any more Vamp books in your future? Or maybe werewolves? Aliens? Come on, give us a hint.

Oh, I would love to do more vampires. And I definitely have some ideas. I’ve got werewolf ideas, too, so don’t tempt me.

Well that's all we have time (space?) for today, but I PROMISE, tomorrow there will be a PART TWO, including an EXCERPT from the book & a SPECIAL GIVEAWAY that will be worth tuning in for.

Be sure to comment today - tell us what YOU think of Vampires. Excited? Skeert? Somewhere in between?

AND come back tomorrow to enter (your name will go in each time you comment!)

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, FOLLOW me on Twitter! JOIN the blog! BRING a friend! See you tomorrow!

Mayhem Monday

2011-10-03T08:43:00.001-04:00

I love Mayhem.

Not like, mayhem, but Mayhem. You know, this guy from the Allstate commercials.

There are so many of these commercials that crack me up. The teenage girl in the pink car, the jogging woman, the raccoon in the attic. Go to YouTube and search sometime. L.O.L. Srsly.

Also, it doesn't hurt that Mayhem - erm, Dean Winters is so cute. But much like the contestants of Survivor, I only find him cute with his scruffed up Mayhem look. Like, if I ever went on a date with him, I'd be all, "Yeah, could you put that little Band-Aid on your eyebrow for me? Thanks."

Also TWO MORE DAYS till the Heidi Betts interview! Be here or be square (or be here AND be square, I don't mind) on Wednesday! You won't wanna miss what's coming!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Enjoy Mayhem this Monday!

Killing Season

2011-09-29T09:18:00.001-04:00

If you're just tuning in, I've been talking about what I'm watching and what I'm reading this week. Of course after my last two posts, I'm concerned you may be questioning my ability to write contemporary romance given my rather Stephen King-ish penchant for all things horror this time of year. But let me assure you, while I love it, I leave it to the experts.

I did tune in for Paranormal Witness last night. And, darn you, SyFy for putting that show on at 10 p.m., right before I have curl up in a ball and try to sleep while convincing myself that sound was just the wind and there's not a specter staring me down from the closet. Mr. Lemmony and I had to watch a bit of Conan to laugh off the freaky episode from last night. *cringe*

However, those of you who are a bit faint at heart, FEAR NOT! You should still plan on tuning in to say howdy to Heidi when she comes back for an interview October 5th. And, do not worry. Her vampire book will not terrorize you... unless two hot vampire romances in one book is terrorizing. In which case, terrorize away!

And today I saw a preview that made me *squee* - yes really, I leapt up from the couch where I was diligently playing Words With Friends (a game I shouldn't suck at but totally do). It seems the force-down-your-throat ad I usually skip was for none other than Dexter. And you should know how I feel about Dexter.

D-Day is Sunday, for you fans out there. And for those of you who do not yet know Dexter (and can stomach red-corn-syrupy-made-for-TV-blood) you can find the show on Netflix and get caught up.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, have a scary good time on SFG this week!

ONE MORE WEEK!

2011-09-28T09:28:00.001-04:00

How about award-winning author Heidi Betts giving away swag on SFG?

It could happen.

Actually it WILL happen.

In.

One.

Week.

You'll be here, won't you Sm:)e Feel Gooders? I want to impress our guest author with lots of comments and entries. Tell your friends to visit the morning of October 5th for the interview about Heidi's new book, Must Love Vampires and a chance to pick up an absolutely *FREE* Epilogue. (What I like to call the happily-ever-after *after* the happily-ever-after.)

New here? Follow my blog over there - you see it, yes? There you go. Follow so you'll stay in the loop, and follow me on Twitter for more announcements to come!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, SEVEN DAYS! (eek, that just reminded me of The Ring!)

It’s Coming

2011-09-26T09:09:00.001-04:00

Do I mean my interview with the beyond amazing HEIDI BETTS? (Coming October 5th, complete with a GIVEAWAY!)

Do I mean the remake of THE THING? (Coming… err, I don’t even know when. Nor do I care.)

I’m talking about the 31 Days of Halloween on the SyFy Channel. (Insert *squeeing* here.) Now, while I’m not a SyFy Channel nut (Battlestar Gallactica? No, thanks), I’ll admit I tune in frequently when autumn begins to show its colors.

The channel known best for its ridiculous made for TV movies, hits the mark on occasion. Ghost Hunters? Yes, please! Destination: Truth? Don’t mind if I do! And yesterday I discovered another. Paranormal Witness, a true crime show with real video, pictures and interviews with a paranormal twist. So, with my hands over my mouth and eyes wide, I watched two back-to-back hair-raising episodes. (Thank goodness I watched it in the morning or I never would have fallen asleep.)

“Honey, you know how I hate when you invite over your blurry friend, Katherine.”

What I did watch before sleeping was the third installment of the cannibal-hill-people thriller Wrong Turn. Wrong Turn 3 was much, much slower and much less scary than its predecessors. For sheer freak-out factor, I recommend Wrong Turn, for toss-your-cookies gore, I suggest Wrong Turn 2. But no matter, I didn’t have much invested in WT3, since I didn’t have to pay for a rental or theater ticket, thank you SyFy.

“Do I have something in my tooth?”

But the very best part? As of today, their 31 Days of Halloween is only 5 days away.

I won’t get much done this next month, I fear. And I will subject Mr. Lemmony to more fright than he cares to see. But, fair is fair, and he does make me endure many a round of golf and football game this time of year as well.

Anyone out there as excited as I am about the nonstop scarefest coming up on the tube?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Get Yer Fright On!

Happy World Gratitude Day!

2011-09-21T09:21:00.001-04:00

In continuing the tradition of my Monday post, I thought I would see if today had any special holidays to observe.

Turns out, it's Miniature Golf Day. Who knew? It's also International Peace Day and World Gratitude Day. There are all sorts of things to celebrate today! (Just be glad I didn't write this post yesterday or we'd be celebrating National Punch Day which I can only assume means you adorn others and possibly yourself with black eyes and bloody noses.)

According to HolidayInsights.com, "The United Nations Meditation Group created World Gratitude Day to express appreciation for the great things that individuals and groups do." Since I'm sure most of us haven't had the UN banging down our doors to lavish us with praise, I thought we'd celebrate it here at SFG, you know, on a smaller scale.

So get out there and show someone how grateful you are to know them. It doesn't have to be big, in fact, sometimes the smallest gestures mean the most. Here are a few ideas:

Think of a friend who always makes you smile. Send her an email or a card and tell her that you were thinking of her, and why.
Next time you're out to lunch, treat. You'd be surprised how grateful a coworker will be over a $5 combo.
Have a coupon? Find a shopper in the store and give them the opportunity to save money on something they were going to buy anyway.
Make a friend dinner and deliver it. A lasagna can be a great gift for a busy working mom or a recently divorced bachelor.

Those are just a few of my ideas. Did I spark any inspiration in you?

And, hey, don't limit it to today, feel free to be grateful EVERY DAY. And if you have a case of the blahs, you know we'll always be smiling about something here. :-)

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Happy World Gratitude Day!

image courtesy of: dmarciniak.blogspot.com

Happy National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2011-09-19T08:18:00.001-04:00

Things to Do to celebrate this holiday appropriately:

1. Read a pirate-themed book. Might I suggest Tawna Fenske's contemporary, quirky pirate-romance Making Waves?

2. For those of you who are more adventurous, you may want to dress the part. Behold, Captain Jack (Mr. Lemmony) and Wench (erm, me...) Halloween 2005.

3. Watch some festive pirate videos to get in the mood. I'd suggest Ray Steven's silly Pirates of Penzance about a pirate who can't quite stomach rum and just wants to sing and dance...

Or perhaps re-watch the Rob Reiner classic The Princess Bride featuring the Dread Pirate Roberts himself. (Though, technically our dear Wesley was only the latest version of the Dread Pirate Roberts.) Just watch out for the ROUSes.

But wait, it's National TALK like a Pirate Day, so the most important object of the day is to alter your speech.

4. Visit the OFFICIAL site by clicking here and learn all the lingo that will get you through the day. Some may impress your friends, others may get you slapped.

Avast, me land lubbers! Tip a cup of yer best grog and toast to National Talk Like a Pirate Day! (Make sure it's full of rum.)

For today,
Sm:)e, Aye Aye, Arrrrr!

Recipe for Success

2011-09-12T07:47:00.001-04:00

I love to cook. In the interest of transparency, I should add the word "sometimes." Let's face it, there are days hovering over a hot stove sounds as fun as dental work. Yet for all my love of cooking, there was one recipe that eluded and befuddled me.

Pasta sauce.

Why a three-to-five ingredient staple was the one thing I couldn't get down was beyond me. And I tried, oh, I tried. At first I blamed my failure on the brand of tomatoes. Then I blamed my family for not gifting me with an Italian grandmother from The Olde Country. I even tried to blame Italian Food Network chef Giada DeLaurentis. I followed her recipe and even that didn't taste good. Finally, I accepted the blame myself. I may be able to make salad dressings, cookies, muffins, enchilada sauce, tofu scramble, biscuits and gravy from scratch, but not this. And so I relegated myself to a life of jarred Ragu.

Until one day, I made up my mind that I was going to crack the pasta sauce code. I wrote a recipe - my recipe. I used what I had in the pantry. I slow-cooked it for almost three hours. Then I tasted it.

And cried.

It was delicious. I did it. I made pasta sauce that had deep, rich flavor yet was simple enough to not overpower whatever I put it on. I've made the recipe three other times, varying the ingredients based on what is in my crisper. No carrots? Use celery. No bell pepper? Use mushrooms. It may change the flavor slightly, but it's still amazing.

Every. Single. Time.

It's a process that's a lot like writing. If you think you can't do it, you can't. If you blame your keyboard, your lack of inherited talent, you still can't. And if you try and fail to duplicate your favorite author's writing, well, then, it must simply be that you can never be a writer.

But for me to make the perfect pasta sauce, it took everything I'd learned about cooking up until now to succeed. If I hadn't made countless soups, pasta bakes and hollandaise sauces, I may have never been able to successfully piece together my own recipe.

I may not have my writing down to an exact science, but each method I use does produce words strung into sentences that create a 65,000-word book. And once I stopped mimicking everyone else and latched onto my own voice, I got better. Like cooking, I will continue to use the freshest ingredients in my head, knowing that the book that comes out may have a tad different flavor than the last, but I'm sure about one thing.

It's gonna be good.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, You can!

Try It, Don't Buy It

2011-09-08T08:12:00.001-04:00

Anyone here who doesn't like free books? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

That's what I thought.

Whether we win it, or have to pay a nominal amount for it in a rummage sale or at the local Goodwill store, stumbling across a book on the cheap is an exhilarating experience.

There's a half off book store that I haunt on occasion in search of discarded gems to add to my collection. And a bi-annual library sale was a great resource for trying out new authors I may not have taken a $5 chance on.

What can I say? I love a bargain. I am my mother's daughter.

*BUT*

Before you paint me as some dumpster diver, know that I am also the girl who after reading said free book and loving it, is the first to buy the next one by the author or even some of her backlisted titles. And I have favorite authors who I pre-order because I simply can't wait. Heidi Betts, Sarah Mayberry, and lately Darynda Jones.

Okay, so us readers like freebies, but what about the authors whose commissions take a beating thanks to our penny-pinching ways?

In a past issue of RWR: Romance Writer's Report magazine, Blaze author Leslie Kelly wrote an article called "Giving It Away" in which she outlines the success of her books thanks to a website called Try Harlequin. The publisher offers 18 free .pdf downloads for you to try and read on your computer or e-Reader.

Leslie Kelly admitted in the article that at first she wasn't "totally sold on the idea. It sounded risky, first of all. Second of all, the book was pretty new, and I worried about the free giveaway biting into sales numbers."

Now, however, Leslie says her worries were all for not. Slow Hands (pictured above) and it's sequel Heated Rush were originally released in June and July of 2008. Her sales were 849 and 1,185 e-copies, respectively. She says that this was on par for book sales of her past titles.

Then the giveaway started in 2009 and her e-book sales for the sequel doubled. During Jan-June of that year, Heated Rush sold 2,470 more. July through December? 3,562 copies. January through June 2010?

9,000 copies.

It seems that sampling Ms. Kelly's writing was enough for readers to put their money where their free book was. Not only did readers flock to purchase the sequel, they started trolling her backlist and purchasing previously published books as well. She says, "I was suddenly hearing from readers who were just reading books I'd nearly forgotten I'd written."

I've downloaded and read two of the freebies on the Harlequin site. Did I take my freebies and run? Yes and no. One of them was good, but didn't prompt me further. The other one sent me running to the Kindle book store for the sequel. If you guessed it was Leslie Kelly's Blaze, you'd be right. And honestly? It was a book I may never have taken a chance on otherwise.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, See? Everybody likes free!

Necessary Evils?

2011-09-07T08:30:00.001-04:00

At one point if you asked me to describe a day job, I would have pronounced, without hesitation, that it was a necessary evil. I quit my full time job way back in '04 to work for myself and became completely spoiled. No more early mornings (well, almost none), no office politics. Turns out the dogs make great coworkers. When I packed away my snuffer (yup, I was a PartyLite "candle lady" for nearly 6 years), I had to face a disturbing reality.

I didn't marry a millionaire.

Not that I knew any, mind you. Who I did marry instead was a man who understood the whims of a slightly head-in-the-clouds creative person. And thank God I did. A man who understands you and tolerates you trumps one who can send you shoe shopping at Nordstroms.

And so, my one part-time job working for my mom and step-father's business turned into two, when a friend called me and asked me if I'd like to come back to work. It was an office I worked at *years* ago, when I was attaining my graphic design degree. It didn't take me long to give her my answer. A resounding "Yes!"

So here I am, getting up at o' dark-thirty, packing my lunch and a thermos of coffee and heading off to punch the timecard. But you know what? I don't see it as evil. Sure some days I get a case of the "I Don't Wannas," but all in all? Not a bad gig. I have my own office, listen to my iPod, work with awesome people. And the other days of the week I work with my mom who insists on making me lunch.

Imagine the arm twisting. ;-)

Nowadays, I don't think of day jobs in such melodramatic terms. Necessary evils have taken on a different meaning, like those annual trips to the doctor or the bi-annual dental exams I lament each and every six months.

What about you? Have you come to terms with the fact you didn't end up quite where you thought you did? I know, I know, I still have time, what with me being only thirty-*mumble*years old.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Repeat

image courtesy of cartoonstock.com

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T11:03:00.001-04:00

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Enjoy the view

Write a Blog, Help a Dog

2011-09-03T12:09:00.001-04:00

According to Pedigree, over 4 million animals arrive in shelters every year due to abandonment, breed rescue, or other circumstances. To help shelters provide the care these animals need, they have an insanely successful campaign called: Write a Post, Help a Dog. Designed for the individual blogger, Pedigree promised to donate 20 pounds of food (one bag) for each blogger that blogs about this campaign. In 2010, 391 bloggers participated resulting in over 7,000 pounds of food donated to various shelters. YEA!!

This year, Pedigree wants to increase their goal to 10,000 pounds of food to be donated to a designated shelter. How can you help? It’s all very simple. Do what you do best—BLOG!

How you can help in 2011

Simply spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011 and once again Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of food for each blogger’s post. Here’s all you need to include in your post:

The Write a Post, Help a Dog program is aimed at raising awareness and food for the more than four million dogs that wind up in shelters and breed rescues each year.
For each blog post mentioning the Pedigree Foundation from now until midnight ET on September 3, Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of its new dry Pedigree recipe food for dogs — its best recipe ever — to a shelter, because every dog deserves leading nutrition.
The Pedigree Foundation — a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit organization is committed to helping dogs by providing grants to shelters and rescues and encouraging dog adoption. This year the Foundation has already raised more than $376,570 against its goal of $1.5 million to carry out its work to fund grants that not only help shelters operate, but to further shelter innovations.

The Pedigree Foundation depends on charitable contributions from individuals to carry out its mission to help dogs find loving homes. In addition to writing a blog post, here’s how you can help:

Donate online at http://pedigreefoundation.org/donate.aspx
Apply for a shelter grant from the Pedigree Foundation by completing a form at www.pedigreefoundation.org
Purchase Dogs Rule Gear at www.dogsrulegear.com where the proceeds go to the Pedigree Foundation to help loving dogs find a home. SPECIAL OFFER: Get 10 percent off Dogs Rule Gear by using the promo code BlogPaws10 from August 22 – September 30.

Then, link up to our Blog Hop below, hosted by the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers to help spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog. This is a Blog Hop! 126 entries so far… you’re next!

1.To Dog with Love

2.Two Little Cavaliers

3.Boccis Beefs

4.www. houstondogblog. com

5.Lis Careys Library

6.DogTipper. com

7.Grouchy Puppy

8.Keisha the Spaniel : )

9.Saving Pennies for a Rainy Day

10.Kyndall @ Say No To Recycling

11.4 The Love of Animals

12.Julianne @ Just a Simple Life

13.Write a post, help a dog

14.Laineys Pawtique & Bakery

15.Blog for Paws

16.Non profit organizations weekend on Empire Avenue

17.Brando and Bogart

18.Adriel Hampton on Tumblr

19.Write a Post, Help a Dog

20.Write a Blog, Save a Dog

21.Write a Post, Help a Dog

22.Help Feed Some Shelter Dogs This Week

23.Write a post, help a dog

24.A Lesson in Physics

25.The Dog Park News

26.Literary Escapism

27.Jocelynn Drake LiveJournal

28.Jocelynn Drake Blogger

29.Oh My Books!

30.www. pencilpix. blogspot. com

31.Jennifer @ Gimme The Scoop Reviews

32.Holy Cannoli Recipes- Help a dog

33.Write a post, help a dog

34.Jackie @ Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

35.Geeky Blogger Save a Dog Post

36.Vanessa@ theJeepDiva!

37.Books and Things Write a Post, Help a Dog

38.The Tales of Dexter, Nora, and Chloe

39.My Dogs and I

40.Our Furry Friends

41.Fearful Dogs Blog-Me the bloggers & Irene

42.Dog Blogging With Luna

43.Misfit Salon

44.Satias Journal

45.Telly Says. . . Help the doggies

46.Help A Dog @ Turning Japanese

47.Write A Post, Help A Dog 2011 (Adopt A Dog)

48.For the love of dogs!

49.Dogs need FOOD and You!

50.Exorcism of Hayley Callaway

51.Book Talk With Charla

52.Life As A Spaz

53.My Dog Daisy

54.Bella Gives Back

55.Share the Love with Pedigree Foundation

56.Pedigree Foundation Helps Bloggers Help Shelters

57.For the Love of all the furbabies

58.Best Friends: Write a Blog, Help a Dog Campaign 20

59.Married Minzilla

60.Hieuy

61.Write A Post, Help A Dog

62.Life In A Sea of Dogs

63.Help a Dog: Wicked Lil Pixie UF & PNR Reviews

64.Make A Difference Help A Dog

65.Help a Dog 2011

66.Paw Prints on our Hearts

67.A Three Way Tie

68.Life is Better with Dogs Aggie

69.Clicker Company Make a Difference

70.Pedigree “Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011″ #dogsrule

71.Write a post, help a dog.

72.Life With Arie

73.Reelblog

74.Enclave at Woodbridge

75.Help the HOPE Animal Shelter

76.Victorian Quarters at Team Ranch

77.Willeo Creek at Roswell

78.Timberwood Commons

79.The Preserve on Fredericksburg

80.The Villas at Valley Ranch

81.Reflections on Reading Romance

82.Domestic Comfort

83.The Village of Olde Hickory

84.Willow Wiggles

85.CatTipper: How Kitties Can Help Feed Doggies

86.Dog

87.Adventures of a Suburban Kitty

88.Bits N Bytes: Write A Post, Help a Dog

89.adventures of a curly tail

90.The Reader and the Book posts to help rescue dogs!

91.Write A Post, Help A Dog In 2011

92.Help Lucy Help Dogs

93.TEENS READ AND WRITE: Write a Post Help a Dog

94.Write a post, help a dog

95.Up All Night

96.Bastard Saves a Dog

97.Tanks Two Cents

98.Jenn @ Books At Midnight

99.Fiona and Abby the Goldendoodles

100.The Lesser Key of Tere

101.rumpydog!

102.Big Dogs Big Hearts Writes a Post, Helps a Dog

103.Pet Health Care Gazette

104.Social Savvy Pets

105.Mint Juleps and Magnolias: were for dogs.

106.Write a Post Help a Dog Campaign 2011

107.Make a Difference in the Life of an Animal in Need

108.Melograno at Teravista

109.Mira Loma

110.Sunrise Canyon

111.Sable Ridge

112.The Orchard

113.Big Dogs, Big Heartworm (linked to other blog post

114.415 Premier Apartments

115.Bunnys Blog

116.Its Own Sweet Will

117.Mitchell Lofts

118.A Passion for Books & Real Life

119.Write a Post, Help a Dog

120.Write a post, Help a dog!

121.DFW Animal Rescue: Pedigree helps shelter dogs

122.Write a post, help a dog

123.P. L. A. Y.

124.www. dogrelationsnyc. com/2011/09/this-post-i

125.Dexters Days- A Blog by a Dog.

126.Blogging for Doggies

You are next… Click here to enter

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Feed a Pooch!

Your Digital Footprint

2011-09-01T07:58:00.001-04:00

It all started with a popcorn maker.

Mr. Lemmony and I had never owned an air popper unless you count the one when we were kids. Sick of chemically butter-flavored oils in microwave popcorn, we decided to make it the old fashioned way.

Enter Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn maker by Presto.
"Hello. I'm a Presto Popcorn Maker."

After 5 uses, the bowl developed a crack. After 6, it developed two more cracks. After the 9th pop, it split apart completely. I did try to make it without the bowl.* But even armed with an open grocery bag, it turns out I'm not that good of a catch.

Since we'd only had it a month and had already thrown out the box it came in (not smart), I was ready to hit the internet and voice my dissatisfaction. I could post on the company website, popcorn-themed blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ (I'd reach 13 people alone from there!)

Then I thought. WAIT.

Is that the mark I want to leave on the world? I'm @lemmony. I'm Smile Feel Good. I'm not Gripey-Over-A-Popcorn-Maker Girl.

Nor do I want to be.

There is a lot of talk about your carbon footprint, the mark you leave on the earth while you live here. But what about your digital one? Will you be remembered electronically as a person who spread joy, or ranted about a household appliance?

After not very much deliberating, I went to the Presto site and ordered a replacement bowl. If that one cracked, then I would have a receipt and call the company if necessary.

When it arrived, the plastic bowl was at least twice as thick as its predecessor. It seems the company had already heard of the problem and had taken the necessary steps to fix it. And me? I got to reserve my right to spread only good vibes, keep my sanity, and avoid stress. All for the low, low cost of a replacement part.

Are you ever tempted to leave a smudge on the internet that is not worthy of who you are?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Fight the good fights & let the rest go

*not really, but now I think I might try it, y'know, just for sport...

Grim Reapers Get Better with Age

2011-08-31T08:50:00.001-04:00

Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Empire Strikes Back. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Fright Night 2. All were superior to the first movies (well, maybe not FN2), and this book is no exception.

Darynda Jones rewards you for plunging into her second book by giving you action and even more action and then leaving you thirsty for more. And, while she only teases us with not quite enough Reyes (though we thank you for the butt shot, yes, yes we do), she leaves us panting for more at the end.

By the time the last digital page was reached in my Kindle, I was stunned. Over already? And one niggling question remained:

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I CAN READ "THIRD GRAVE?!"

(Answer: January 31st, 2012)

View all my reviews
For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Charley Davidson ROCKS!

Sound familiar? I mentioned Darynda's first book before: CLICK HERE.

My Nemesis

2011-08-29T08:25:00.001-04:00

They come out at night, lately it seems every night.

Sometimes there is one, but often it is followed by another. Then another.

And they want blood. My blood. YOUR blood.

Something that has had me hiding in the house for unreasonably long periods.

I'm talking about mosquitos.

Every summer, I decide I'm going to screen in my back patio, only to decide not to come fall. Once it cools, I return to my porch for hot-tubbing, spirit-inbibing and music-listening. But for now, I'm Little Miss Indoorsy. Especially since three minutes in my backyard equals as many bites in as many minutes. And the other day, while submerged up to my neck in the hot tub, with OFF sprayed on top of my head, Mr. Lemmony advised me to slap myself in the face, where one of the little bloodsuckers sat. I killed it, but not before he got me. Yep. He bit me under the eye.

Note to self: Next time, spray OFF in my eyes.

Note to reader: I'm kidding.

This whole summer thing? Yeah, I'm OVER IT. Looking forward to dry leaves, cooler winds and the deaths of billions upon billions of insects.

Now there's an idea that will keep me warm at night.

What about you? Being hunted by any bloodsucking night-dwellers lately?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Come on, Autumn!

Sharing the Solitude

2011-08-25T09:15:00.001-04:00

I recently read an article about how many authors turn to co-authoring a book when their own process becomes stagnate, or to boost an already successful career.

That got me wondering... how do they do that?

Let's assume for a moment said author is not a type-A-control-freak (cough), partnering with another author still holds the pratfalls of hooking up (cough, cough) with an author whose idea of what is exciting or romantic may differ from their own.

And don't even get me started on voice.

Each author's voice is as different as... well, her actual voice. What if an alto were to co-author with a soprano? Wait, that would be harmony, wouldn't it?

The article went on to point out that you do have to be careful when choosing a writing partner. Do they have similar tastes to you? Are you writing a sweeping historical while she is crafting a wild paranormal? Would those two genres work together?

You have to be willing to give and take, merge ideas. Will you write a character a piece, or will you merge your ideas chapter by painstaking chapter?

It's an intriguing concept and had me thinking... ten years into this writing thing, I wonder if I will stumble upon a writer friend who might want to merge our writing styles. It happens more often than you know - since the two authors typically merge their names into one pseudonym.

What do you think of co-authoring a book? As a reader, would you want to know if one contributing party was your favorite author? As a writer, would you dare sacrifice your voice into the hands of another?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Are two authors as good as one?

Hooky

2011-08-22T08:32:00.001-04:00

I'm doing it.

REBELLING.

And you can't stop me.

I'm taking the day off my blog!

*giggling while feeling drunk with freedom*

But to appease you, I'm going to give you this:

and this.

Yeah, you like it.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, I'm running with scissors!

There’s Always a First Time

2011-08-18T07:11:00.000-04:00

I did it.

I entered my first writing contest.

*gasp*

Clinging to the phrase “Go big or go home,” I decided to make my first contest a big’un, with the top prizewinner getting cash and possible publication in the national magazine.

And do I think I’m going to get first place?

Nope. Not even a little.

Okay, maybe a little. Maybe the only other entrants employed their pet monkeys to write their stories. Maybe the primates banged out 3,500 random words and, in comparison, my submission will positively shine.

It could happen.

My friend (thank you, Tammy!) mentioned this contest. At the time I wasn’t thinking about entering contests at all. I was probably thinking about what I was going to have for lunch that day.

But, it had just so happened that I recently found my first gray hair (*cries*) and because it was traumatic, I had also jotted down a few sentences about it.

My short story was born.

The winners won’t be announced until February 2012, but I refuse to fret. I filed it away in a folder entitled “submissions,” and will begin focusing on my next story.

…maybe one about a girl who fell off of a stage at a rock concert.

Totally fiction.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Okay, maybe not “totally…”

Top 9 Writing Tips

2011-08-17T04:59:00.000-04:00

It's Writer Wednesday, so I thought I'd share a few helpful tips.

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, #9 is my downfall!

Teaser Trailer Tuesday

2011-08-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I’m excited about this movie. *squee*

I’m not a Twihard, but I am a Twilight fan, for more reasons than you might think (see this BLOG from the past… which gives you permission to obsess away ;) ) I admit, I have moved on to obsess about other things (like Henry Cavill and True Blood), but it doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to November 18th. Midnight. I will be there. :)

Here’s the trailer for Breaking Dawn:

Decisions, decisions…

2011-08-15T04:07:00.000-04:00

Picking blog topics can be tough. Especially on a day like today at the end of an uber-exciting week. And so, I was trying to settle on one to write- oh, hang on a sec…

Sorry. Jacque, my pool boy, was asking me if I wanted agave nectar or raw cane sugar in my iced tea.

Okay, that’s not true.

His name isn’t Jacque. And to be *totally* honest, I’m not really sure what he asked me about since he speaks no English.

Where was I?

Right! Blog post. So here I was, trying to decide between blogging about my super awesome contest wherein Linda and Michele won books and “nekkid” bookmarks. Er- well, they won handmade bookmarks, then requested nude men on them via Twitter. Or maybe I was the one who mentioned that. But since my mom reads this blog on occasion, let’s just say it was them. All them.

But then I wondered if rerunning a blog I essentially just posted wasn’t blogworthy enough for a Monday slot. And I do have an announcement to make. I thought, how fun would it be to bait readers with a super fabulous celebrity vampire author who will be making an appearance at SFG very soon to talk about her latest release?

NO, not those vampires.

(And please don’t confuse her with that author or else Heidi Betts will bring out her alter-ego Mistress Heidi and haul you off to the dungeon.) A REAL ONE with chains and dirt floors and… well, okay, one day it was rather nice in there when I had Henry over.

Since it happened to be my birthday that day, Heidi graciously allowed me to use her WIPS and chains…

You know, to entertain my *cough* guest *cough*

Now you see, with topics ranging from celebrity authors to Vegas vampires, to semi-nude men marking books, to foreign house servants how I might have had trouble settling on a blog, don’t you?

Ah, well, better luck tomorrow.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Stop staring at Henry.

Freebie Friday Winner

2011-08-12T05:16:00.000-04:00

Last week, I decided to give away a book. And rather than do a drawing, I decided to channel my inner Oprah and give away a book to everyone who entered!

YOU GET A BOOK! YOU GET A BOOK! YOU-

Oh, wait, there were only two of you. *shrugs*

YOU BOTH GET A BOOK!

Congrats to Linda Grimes and Michele Shaw!!! Email me at jlemmony [at] gmail.com with your mailing addresses and I'll put your books in the mail. I'll also be sending along a homemade bookmark made by yours truly.

I did flip a coin to see who would win HE CALLS HER DOG. Oops, I mean DOC. An understandable mistake.

Congrats, LINDA! You win the SuperRomance pictured here.

And Michele, I will be sending along a book from my secret library for your enjoyment pleasure.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Everyone's a winner!

A Little Help From Friends

2011-08-11T04:58:00.000-04:00

I decided Thursdays would be for sharing what I've learned along my bumpy road to publishing. I sat down to write this post and asked myself what I've learned this week. As it turns out, I've learned so many things, I'm not sure I've wrapped my tired brain around it all, yet!

Rather than itemize the (very long) list of helpful advice and tips that I'm applying to my life and work, I thought I'd thank a few friends who have helped me out recently.

A Favorite Author

Do you have a favorite author? One you've written to? One whose book you buy the moment it hits the shelves? One whose blog you follow? One you converse with via Twitter? Facebook?

I do. And not only is she an awesome writer, but she's an awesome person. She's helped me (in more ways than she probably realizes) over the last few days.

I used to say that waitressing was thankless work. Well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it's not. But writing? WOW. Writing can be tiring, thrilling, thankless and lonely all at the same time. And when the doubts creep in, they really take up residency. I joked recently that on a bad day, I believe my book is crap and on a good day, I believe it's fixable crap.

Anyone who can shine a flicker of light into the great, black, mysterious, spider-filled void that is the ever-evolving world of publishing rises straight to the top of my "People To Send Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies" list. And this person is definitely there. I guess I should get baking... She's a mentor, yes, but I also consider her my friend.

Thank you, Heidi Betts!

Beta Reader

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a writer more than handing over their precious opus for someone else to read. And not only are you entrusting someone with your blood, sweat and tears, but also your potential future livelihood. (And, possibly more importantly... your pride.)

When I approached a new beta reader yesterday, it wasn't replace my current one (no way, man, Michele is an AWESOME CP!!!) I did it because I believe if two heads are better than one, then three is the cherry on top of the great hot fudge sundae of life. I approached a Twitter friend, unsure if she would even be interested. That's scary. People are busy. Have lives. Have kids. Have careers. How dare I ask someone to sacrifice time to help little old me?

Well, if you ever expect to get anywhere in life (and in this business in particular), you better. A book written, edited and read by a single person may turn out to be a good book, but it's not as good a book as it could have been. And yeah, sometimes feedback hurts - we all have our pride, do we not? But it's a temporary pain. Later, when I'm editing I realize I was dead wrong to put that there, or to phrase this that way. And then I throw my hands into the air and thank God I have people in my life who are brave enough to point out my weaknesses. Yep, I said BRAVE. Beta readers and CPs are BRAVE. It takes a lot of guts to tell someone the truth.

So my shiny new beta reader agreed to read my work. And she loved my story. And my characters. And she got my jokes. How friggin' cool is that?! At a time I needed it most, she gave me hope, and I pray I can return the favor!

Thank you, Jeannie Moon!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Thank someone who made your day, okay?

image courtesty of afrobella.com

Feel the Love

2011-08-10T09:06:00.001-04:00

The most fun I can have on a page is throwing two people together and watching the sparks (good or bad!) fly. Often, they surprise even me by what they do and say. And sometimes, okay most of the time, I make them do or say the very thing they shouldn't.

I mean what could be more fun than making these two:

fall madly in love with one another?

They may not look like they have an ounce of passion in them, but I'll bet they do. In fact, I'll bet above those briefcases he's got a snarky smile on his face and she's glaring at him with a mix of admiration and irritation.

He's smart, and okay, she'd admit it to herself - he's also right, and she'd be happy to tell him that if he had a humble bone in his body.

And while he realizes he's being difficult, it's not like he can let her see how affected he is by her. Not again. Not after what happened before...

Care to play author with me? What do you think is going on between those two pairs of shoes?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel the Love, Pass it On

photo courtesy of dermologica®

Tuesday True Story

2011-08-09T09:14:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I was checking Linda Grimes' blog for termites and stumbled across this BLOG.

Since she mentioned dessert for dinner, I was reminded of a story. And whenever fellow bloggers get inspired by one another, we waste no time ~~stealing~~ borrowing those ideas for content for our own blog.

Especially when we're behind writing our own. *cough*

It's a sheepish grin, get it?! (I thought Linda would appreciate this pic.)

Here's a Tuesday True Story for you, I like to call:

GET IT FIRST

I was a waitress at a steakhouse, you may recall that tidbit from my post Love at Second Sight. My table, one fine evening, was a group of 4 older ladies who swore that *this time* they would save room for the amazing brownie fudge sundae.

"We always say that," one of them said.

"We're always too full," another commented.

In all my twenty-two years of wisdom, I had the answer. "Get it first," I suggested.

You would have thought I asked them to offer the busboy a lap dance.

At first, they were appalled! This went against the very order of the universe! Ice cream is meant to be enjoyed after a meal. That's why they say, "We all scream for ice cream," because we're really angry we had to swallow all those peas and carrots to get to it.

Then, they were excited. Scandal! Rebellion! The sweet, sweet taste of nonconformity!

I, of course, only egged them on. "You're adults, you can have dessert whenever you want," I reminded them.

They got the sundae for an appetizer, giggling and smiling, and mentally shopping for a pair of leather chaps. What? It could have happened. I could have tumbled the domino that led them down the dark, tantilizing road to debauchery.

Okay, maybe not. But it is a moment I will never ever forget, and I hope they still remember it too.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Have your dessert first!

Out with the Old?

2011-08-08T08:46:00.001-04:00

Ahh, technology. Wherein we replace 8-tracks with cassettes, cassettes with CDs and DVDs with Blu-rays.

When I received a Kindle for a gift last Christmas, I had mixed feelings. On one hand I was excited to have any book I wanted at my fingertips - like how all my CDs now fit into a palm-sized iPod. On the other, it was a time of mourning as I looked at the rows and rows of books that lined my shelves and apologized that I would never read them.

Only it didn't work out that way.

The technology of the Kindle, while impressive - especially when you're reading a 15 lb. book like Stephanie Meyer's The Host, did not replace good old fashioned paper-and-spine books.

I bought a book recently. I was at a local RWA meeting and got the privilege to meet debut author, Darynda Jones. (She's such a nice person and her story of how she got published is nothing short of a fairy tale, well, almost...) When Darynda offered her book First Grave on the Right after her speech, I rushed to the front to buy one. She signed it, pausing to smile up at me and said, "This is the first trade paperback I've signed."

"To Jessica, so good to meet you! Happy Reading, Darynda Jones"

*beams* You can't get that on a Kindle!

The next book I purchased was Tawna Fenske's Making Waves (my review HERE). I pre-ordered it. On my Kindle. And it was no less funny, no less entertaining, no less fun to read than a physical book. In fact, it may have been more fun since I was able to highlight and tweet some of my favorite lines.

You can't get that with a book!

Maybe the two work in tandem because a book is not a technology. It's not like they can stop making replacement parts for a book, and the machinery (your eyes) are unlikely to become obsolete.

It makes me wonder more about this debate over e-pubbing or regular old pub-pubbing. (See my blog post: Writing, Publishing & The Titanic.)

What about you? Are you a tried and true book reader? An e-book convert? Or, a little of both?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, As long as you're reading, you're a-okay by me!

Freebie Friday!

2011-08-05T02:42:00.000-04:00

There’s a new section here on the blog known as Freebie Friday! Sometimes, this could be a place for giveaways and winners of awesome loot! Who knows what could be coming?

*evil laugh*

And sometimes it will just mean I’m taking the blog-day off. In which case, I will help you entertain yourself otherwise. There may be a video, or a photo, or a short story…

I thought I’d announce it, however, and since this is the first Freebie Friday, I thought I’d bribe you with a book.

And, if your freebie book must come with a review, here’s one, from Dear Author.

Winner will be announced… well, next Friday! Feel free to enter until then!

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Good luck!

Writing, Publishing & The Titanic

2011-08-04T02:30:00.001-04:00

There seems to be two schools of thought when talking of self-pubbing or e-pubbing in the literary world. To illustrate this, I’m going to use a popular scene from Titanic – no, not that scene, this one:

You remember this, right? Jack gives Rose the floating door, then slips away to a watery death after Rose pries his frozen fingers from the panel. Which brings to mind the question:

Are you Kate or Leo?

In other words, if your method of publishing is the door, are you clinging to it for dear life, or resting safely on it?

From the traditional publishers’ viewpoint, you should rely on the team to get you through. Being Kate means leaning on years upon years of expertise. The market is changing, yes, but we are nowhere near ready to alley-oop paper-and-spine books altogether. Authors will sell far more books if backed by editors and marketing teams. Not to mention having the full support of a publishing house with a respected name and background.

To them, the world of self-pub/e-pub is like Leo. You may be willing to believe you know best, but they see it as your being unable to let go. This could be the authors’ unwillingness to wait to hear from editors, or change what an agent or critique partner has suggested.

From the e-pub point of view, you should get out there and slice off a hunk of this pie while you can! Being Kate means having faith in your work, trusting your ability to promote and sell your biggest commodity: YOU. They contend that it is you who are the most willing and able to promote yourself, not some stodgy gaggle of suits in another state.

They recount stories about the strength of the e-book market and e-readers, or tell super-human tales of Amanda Hocking. Leo, to this crowd is obviously clinging to the “Olde” world viewpoint. Much like the 8-track, four-wheeled roller skates or banana clips, traditional books will soon be out of style.

I hover somewhere between the two ideas. I have not opted to self-pub at this point, but never say never, right? I would find an editor invaluable, and team members with market expertise a welcome addition to the selling of my book. On the other hand, the wait can be interminable. I recently heard from one author that she waited 13 months to hear back from Harlequin. (and it was a rejection!) And, the advance can be underwhelming, or in most cases of digital publishing, there is no advance at all.

Readers: if you could *only* buy a book you wanted online, would you, or would you rather have a book-book? Would you take a chance on a book if it was self-pubbed, or do you prefer the backing of a publishing house?

Writers: where do you stand on the publishing forefront? Are you tempted by the immediacy of self-publishing, or is the traditional road one you travel, and if so, does it scare you?

Discuss.

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, To e-book or not to e-book?

#amreading

2011-08-03T11:49:00.001-04:00

Unless you are privy to Twitter-speak, the title of today’s blog post may lead you to believe I have a caveman-like speech impediment. Quite the contrary! (though I do slip into LOLCAT every once in a while…)

My referenced hashtag above is an excuse to talk about what nearly all of my Twitter friends are already talking about.

Tawna Fenske’s book, Making Waves.

I’d start this portion with “unless you live under a rock,” but I *hate* that phrase, so I won’t.

Unless you’ve lived under a stony precipice ;) for the last month, 6 months or year (that’s about when since I started following Tawna around like a crazed cyber-fangirl) you have already heard of this author.

And, if you’ve heard of her, you’re either busy commenting on the latest blog hilarity going on at Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing, or laugh-crying because you’ve spewed wine (or coffee) out of your nose whilst reading.

That’s a really long-winded way to say Tawna. Is. Really. Funny.

I pre-ordered this book on my Kindle and started reading it yesterday and absolutely LOVE IT. It’s a blast. I know you expect me to go on and on about her wit and humor – of which there is aplenty, but I want to point out the subtle way (SUBTLE?! Yes, subtle – not subdued) Tawna describes the characters and the tension between them.

Juli and Alex are practically ablaze with pheromones each time they’re on a page together. Even when they’re just talking, or looking at each other, or making out wildly… *cough* You, the reader, will know even from slight twitches of lips or innocuous touches of hands to forearms that they are absolutely nuts about each other. And the Newlywed Game at the bar? SHEER GENIOUS.

There’s also a pretty good Pirate/Action-Adventure story going on . I think. I have yet to be able to focus on anything save for Alex’s green eyes, bulging biceps and jaunty… um… first mate.

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, READ MAKING WAVES

Faking It

2011-07-28T09:25:00.001-04:00

“You know when it’s real,” Wendy’s catchy new jingle croons.

“Reality TV,” our television totes.

“100% Real Cheese!” a package boasts.

With all due respect to the red-headed fast food mogul, how do we know when it’s real? Not just chicken sandwiches, but all of it.

In the middle of the day earlier this week, I found myself in front of the television. I wasn’t watching Judge Joe Brown or Days of Our Lives, instead, I tuned in to Millionaire Matchmaker.

You’ve heard of this show, right? Host/matchmaker Patti sets up a millionaire on a date because he can’t find love on his own. Poor him! (not literally, of course, he’s a millionaire.) ;)

I was roped into an episode with a very tall, very attractive millionaire who was ready to settle down, get married, have babies. A nice, Jewish family man who had simply been too busy building a fortune to find love on his own.

*sigh*

As I watched his story unfold, I got to thinking about a hero that he could inspire. And so the gears turned while I watched…

The millionaire went on a date with a pretty girl who was overwhelmed by his charm and the fact that he spoke to her mom at length on the phone during their date. “I’m a nice young man,” he told her. (Warning bells?)

Then her overwhelm morphed into terror-slash-shock when later, our millionaire suggested that (in the future) they should get married.

How’s that for a first date?

Even though her reaction and their windfall love didn’t ring quite true, I thought, ah well, even if it’s fiction, it makes for a good story.

Then I did something I never should have done. I trolled the internet to find out about the Millionaire Romeo. From what I’ve pieced together, he did not marry his fair maiden. And it seems the more I uncovered, the more I decided that the stint on the show was a media blast to launch a book and possible political career.

*GASP!*

“You mean it wasn’t really love at first sight?!” the naive romantic inside of me wept.

While I wasn’t totally surprised that the proposal was crafted - I was getting a little spike on my BS-ometer if you know what I mean - part of me was surprised that someone would fabricate an entire version of himself for television. :-/

It’s just so inauthentic. So fake. So NOT REAL.

What do you think?

Are we all showing best sides in public? Is this another manifestation of putting your best foot forward? Or, if it’s geared for political or personal gain, does it then become cunning and crafty?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Shouldn’t all cheese be “real” – what does that mean, anyway?

image credits: Beliefnet.com

I'm "IT"

2011-07-23T09:08:00.001-04:00

Not "IT" as in the next biggest thing, more like when you're playing freeze tag on the playground. I'd like to thank my (long, lost?) blogger friend, Demery for tagging me. She wrote the sweetest blurb about me on her blog! (And as you may have learned by now, with me, flattery will get you everywhere*)

She passed on this blogger questionnaire and much like I couldn't resist answering them via email with my BFF ten years ago, so I cannot resist answering it now. Then *I'm* going to tag 8 friends and ~~force~~ privilege them with the opportunity to answer these questions too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaaaaaaand, here we go...

What do you think of when you the hear the word tag?
Chasing boys on the playground in first grade. Maybe I was singing Hall & Oates "Maneater" and maybe I wasn't...

Do you think you're hot?
It's 105-degree heat index here in Ohio, so - uh - YEAH. Oh, wait, you mean "hot," like Natalie Portman "hot," don't you? No way, man, my inner nerd would slap me silly if I used that adjective to describe myself.

Upload a picture or wallpaper that you're using at the moment.
Okay, here you go (and you're welcome)

When was the last time you ate chicken?
Around the first of the year. I became vegan on January 25th.

The song(s) you listened to recently.
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Till the World Ends" by Britney Spears
"Your Surrender" by Neon Trees
"Sober for Days" by Me Vs. Myself (they followed me on Twitter, I bought their music. See? Flattery. I told you.)

What were you thinking as you were doing this?
How much Demery had been on my mind lately - all week! We hadn't blogged/tweeted/emailed in months and I wondered what happened to her. Then I got up Saturday morning, and there, in my inbox was a message that she'd commented on my blog. :)

Do you have nicknames? What are they?
Jess, mostly. So much that it actually sounds odd when people tack on the "ica." Not that anyone has ever called me Ica. I hope no one starts... And, Lemmony, of course. The plates on my Yellow Mitsubishi Lancer read that moniker as well, so when I needed monikers for MySpace (*snicker*) and Twitter, I decided to name myself after my car.

Tag 8 blogger friends...

Who's listed as No. 1?
Michele Shaw is one of the few people who have read my work. She accepted when I asked if she would be my critique partner and has offered support along with helpful and honest (thank you!) feedback since last summer. She's also someone you just want to sit down and throw back a beer with. (Someday, Michele, we will!)

Say something about No. 5
Sierra Godfrey oft has a blog post that makes me laugh. Like "LOL." Srsly. Among my favorites? This one: "Mailbag!"

How did you get to know No. 3?
Kelly Breakey was one of the first bloggers I "met" online. I believe I may have first spotted her on Cynthia Reese's blog. She's awesome, funny and once sent a book to my Kindle.

How about No. 4.
Summer Frey drank all my beer. Okay, not really. After a workout the other night, I joked on Twitter, "Where's my beer?" To which, Summer quipped, "I drank your beer! Drank it up!" In a word, she's awesome. In two words. REALLY AWESOME.

Leave a message for No. 6.
Hi Abby , it's Jessica, er- Lemmony. I was going to send you a box of chocolates but in this heat, it's more of a "jug" of chocolates. Be sure to fill your tank! #poweredbychocolate

Leave a lovey dovey message for No. 2.
Linda, you are one of, if not the first blogger I followed. It was the story of the UPS man who tried to cram a package (*snicker*) into your mailbox that turned out to be TG's cigars that made me love your blog. Since then, you are the blogger I most rely on for camels on Wednesdays, responses on my blog, and an ice cold martini. (Also, you sent me Flarp! which will always remain close to my heart... and a stain on my carpet.**)

Do No. 7 and No. 8 have any similarities?
Yes! Julie Musil and Lynda Young are both indelibly kind. You may think that's hard to discern online, but trust me, it practically radiates from their blogs and their Tweets. They have an innate sense of wanting to help others.

WOW. This blog made me feel incredibly blessed to have friends*** like these! And so, I shall share the love. Do me a favor:

1) Visit these 8, if they make you :) follow them.
2) If I make you :) follow me
3) Make me :) then let me know where to follow you.

Smile, Feel Good, Be Blessed by Bloggers!

*almost

**Not true. I regifted it. :D

***I can call you guys that, right? ;)

“Laundry! Drop Your Pants Here.” ~sign

2011-07-21T15:16:00.001-04:00

I recently woke up from a coma. Not a literal coma, mind you. Sometimes, though, I move in with the characters and stories in my head for a while and do not see things that need done around the house.

It’s a magical, special kind of blindness, wherein I forget to cook (PB & J, anyone?) or don’t look at myself in the mirror all day (how long has that been in my teeth?!), or I do not notice the tumbleweed of dog hair rolling down the hallway until my mother pays me a visit. (YES, Mom, I do own a broom.)

And so it was this week, when I stirred from my coma, that I noticed there were no towels in the bathroom closet. Not that I am beneath drying my hair with washcloths, but I would need 23 of them, and only four were clean. I made the long, arduous* trip down to the laundry room and get some towels, and let me tell you, there were LOADS of towels in that laundry room. YAY! :) But all of them dirty. Boo. :(

So I put a smile on my face a la a fifties housewife and loaded up the washer. That was Thursday morning. By the time you read this post, I’ll probably still be doing laundry. If I haven’t posted a new blog by September, you may want to send Mr. Lemmony in to poke the stacks.

Seriously.**

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately, among writing and trying not to melt away in this suffocating weather. As I mentioned, my laundry room is in the basement. And a cool basement isn’t such a bad place to “sweat out” the next week of 90-degree weather if you ask me.

Are you suffocating in piles of laundry too, or just suffocating in the heat?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Stay Cool!

*my house isn’t that big for a trip from one side to the next to be considered “arduous”

**not really

Image credits: 247moms.blogspot.com

It's a Summer Wedding!

2011-07-11T14:31:00.001-04:00

Well, in my new manuscript, anyway...

And *I* get to dress the guests.

But it's not the bride I'm dressing, no-no, it's the maid of honor and the best man. And, my blonde haired, petite, snarky Tomboy-on-the-inside heroine surprised me by picking these shoes:

Pink? Really? I wondered.

Then I thought ohh-kay, let's find the dress.

So I went Google-shopping and found several that I liked.

Read: that I liked.

She turned her nose up at this:

I can't blame her, it is a summer, outdoor wedding and this is a little - well, a LOT - too much dress for the affair.

And you should have seen the look that this dress earned me:

Though I will admit, I was kidding. I mean, come ON...

Finally we agreed, after putting the man of honor, or best man as he is so known in this ensemble:

Linen Military shirt by Banana Republic. Only untucked, and imagine a beachy, tanned blonde guy instead.

With me?

Okay.

Now for her dress:

What do you think? A little pink, not gag-me pink, and I think it'll look nice with her over-the-top shoes.

I don't think she's so girlie she would go with matchy-matchy jewelry. Maybe little diamond-studded skull studs in her earlobes?

Hey... why not?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Google-shop!

Why Write?

2011-06-29T17:58:00.002-04:00

I got to thinking about this writing journey; now on it's second year. About the people I've created out of thin air. The stories that I didn't even know until I was hit with an idea so out of the blue, I'd swear I didn't actually think of it myself.

When I learn more about this business - because even though creative and highly rewarding, there is the business side to it - involving promotion, branding, marketing - I wonder, why do people do it?

Very few make bajillions* of dollars.

Very few make their foray into movies.

Very few pub more than one book.

Very few make writing their careers.

I don't know why other people do it. But I know why I do it. What else would have me, Miss Relater, launch a career almost no one in my daily life can relate to? What would have me excitedly talking about my newest tome when many people look at me with raised eyebrows as if asking the same question: Why is she doing this?

I could go all artsy on you and say, "Because I have to! These stories must be told!" And at risk of sounding like a Froot Loop, I admit, there is some truth in that. :)

Or I could go pop-psych-babble and tell you that I've never really, truly felt heard and that I've channeled all my unheardness into a format that yields someone's full attention. There might be a tad of truth in that too. :/

Instead, I'll tell you a combo of the two - while not very interesting, I do tend to ride the middle on a lot of topics. I write because I love to share. Ask any of my friends. I always have stories. ALWAYS. I don't care if it's about a trip to the grocery store. It normally involves conversation, air quotes and a hearty laugh at my own telling. I love to see their faces, hear them laugh with me; make them feel something, and hopefully equip them with a story they can retell at dinner parties.**

I write because I've always written. In my head lots, on paper some. The creation process of telling a story and tapping into who these characters are at the core makes me feel closer to God.

I think He and I have that in common.

What about you? Why do you write or read stories?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Do What You Love Even if You Don't Know Why You Do It.

*a technical term
**sometimes, at my expense

Love at Second Sight

2011-06-27T11:04:00.001-04:00

If you missed my post last week, I'm continuing the tale of how my husband and I met... and then met again. Catch up here if you're behind. Go on, it'll only take you a moment. I'll wait...

************************************************

Clang! Bang! *insert unsavory expletive here*

Such were the sounds behind me as I stood in the steakhouse's noisy kitchen. I was slicing lemons, my opening work for the day before the restaurant opened. It's not the worst task (I think that award goes to scooping butter into about a billion ramekins, traying them, then storing them in the fridge) but it's not the best either. Especially if you have a miniscule, otherwise invisible cut on your finger. Lemon juice is not your friend.

My boss, whom we lovingly called Pappy, because face it, we were like his (ill-behaved) children, stopped to introduce me to two new guys.

"Jessica, I'd like you to meet..." he said and I turned to see two men, one who I forgot instantly and the second who, to this day, I can remember in a moment marked with an exactness that is not typical of my normally scatterbrained recollections.

I remember finding him instantly attractive. He was smiling, always a good sign. I think I muttered something stupid like, "Nice to meet you," before turning back to my sour and stinging chore.

Not only was the new guy attractive, but funny. My Achilles heel. You get me laughing, and you've won my heart.

He's friendly, too. We chat at work. I develop a harmless crush on him and in passing one day tell one of the other waitresses, "I have a crush on that new guy."

She immediately gets excited.

"I know him! We used to work together!" she exclaims. "I can hook you up-" Then she stopped and screwed her mouth to one side. "Wait. You have a boyfriend! Aw, man!"

That's true. I did. But I could be friends with the new guy. No harm in that, right?

Right.

One evening, a gaggle of us were planning to go to a local wing joint for beers after our shift. I wondered, would cute-new-guy go?

I asked him.

And with a smirk, he replied, "I was just waiting for the right person to ask."

Well.

Over a pitcher, a friend of ours, who is still a good friend of ours, asked John, "So where did you work before?"

"Chili's," John answered from beside me.

That's when I turned to stare, dumbfounded.

"Chili's?" I all but squeaked. "Oh my- you were my waiter."

John turned to me as if seeing me for the first time. A smile tickled his lips. "You came in with your family..."

"Yeah."

"You ordered a pink lemonade?"

"Yeah."

We turned back to our coworkers, but my mind couldn't stop reeling. That had to mean something, right? That was a significant God-infused, kismet type of moment, right?

You bet.

Little did I know back in May of that same year that the waiter who brought me a pink lemonade would be reintroducing himself in August, then down on one knee proposing come December.

We married that following October, and this year it will be our 13th year as husband and wife.

It never should have worked. Who knows what you're doing when you're twenty-two? Neither of us had any idea what we were getting into - or the journey we were launching on together. We knew one thing for certain - we fell in love.

At second sight.

The funny thing is, it still happens. A moment where he genuinely cracks me up, or looks at me the way he did back before I knew him. What we tumbled headlong into may have started out as a whirlwind-puppy-love-I'm-so-into-you crush, but that spark ignited a steadily burning flame that doesn't seem to be flickering in the least.

I quote Jimmy Buffet: "It's the difference between lightning and a harmless lightning bug."

Lemmony & Mr.. Lemmony - 2004
I was looking for a good couple picture and I have to admit, this is one of my favorites. ;-)

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Fall in Love

Tip: Marry the Cute Waiter

2011-06-22T10:04:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd start a little advice column over here on SFG.

What do you think of my first tip? I think it's rather sound advice if I do say so myself. And since it's advice I've actually followed, I hoped it might lend credibility to my new career as Advice-Giver.

And yes, it's 100% true. I married a cute waiter. And yes, you're about to hear the story of how that waiter became my very own Mr. Lemmony.

*ahem*

**************************************

My mother is impatient.

I know that's not how you expected my Once upon a time... tale to start but thank God it did start that way. My mother's impatience ending up leading me to my husband of nearly 13 years.

It's circa Mother's Day, 1997. Here we stand, my younger brother, step-dad and mother, at a Mexican restaurant smack in the middle of a beautiful sunny day. Then the hostess gave my mother some news her rumbling belly protested to immediately.

They were on a 45-minute wait.

While I was hungry, I would have waited. Working in the restaurant business had made me many things - unbelievably patient in a dining facility was one of them. Plus, waiting was a-okay, especially when one could opt for a margarita at the bar followed by a complimentary basket of chips with which to ruin one's impending dinner. And while she's plenty willing to wait now, at the time, Momma wasn't havin' it.

Outside, I was eager to get to the next place that would acquire my goal of a full belly. Looking out across the parking lot, I pointed out the first place that caught my eye. Of all places, a Chili's. I'd never been there before but the sign was splashy and fun. And the name suggested (accurately) Tex-Mex grub. I made my suggestion and waited for my mother's opinion. She nodded as if to say, "Yes, let's."

So.

Chili's it was.

No wait at Chili's meant we were seated quickly. We settled down, me next to my mother, my brother and step-father taking the "man" side of the booth.

Then our waiter came by.

*blink*

He was tall. He was smiling. He had wavy brown hair, nice hands and blue eyes. I ordered a pink lemonade, maybe because I was temporarily smitten, or maybe because it was the first words I was able to form with my suddenly dry mouth. I'm still not quite sure how that blush-colored liquid ended up in front of me, especially since I don't like pink lemonade and likely haven't had a glass since.

I asked if the refills were free, to which he quirked his lips at the corner and with a sparkle in his eye I swear I didn't imagine, said, "Absolutely."

Then he left and I turned to my mother and on a sigh said, "Geez, our waiter is cute."

I should note here that I wasn't single. I should also note that if I were it's not as if I would've toyed with my straw while working my wiles on a complete stranger with my family looking on.

And so, it went. I ordered some forgettable chicken dish, admired the tall, blue-eyed waiter's smile - innocently, and from the far side of the booth.

At the end of the dinner, I elbowed my mother and told her to leave that "cute waiter" a good tip. And then... we left.

Yep. We left.

And I didn't go back to that restaurant since it was in an area I didn't frequent. And I didn't jot my phone number on a coaster, or sidle up to the attractive man and write my digits on the palm of his hand.

So then... how does one marry a waiter she only briefly meets?

That, my friends, is a story for another day...

Mr. Lemmony (in 1997)

What about you? Do you have an interesting "how we first met" story to share?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Tip Your Waiters!

One More Time With Feeling

2011-06-08T08:52:00.001-04:00

Literarily speaking, first drafts are bumpier than an eighty-year-old woman's thighs. But(t), you will never have a final draft without the first one. That said, you may as well write it, even if it's bad.*

After my fifth month of revising two previously written manuscripts, I decided that maybe I needed some fresh characters to work with. I went to my file cabinet where lie several story beginnings, character snippets and ideas that begin with "what if." These bits are in file folders named by the character or the scene setting. "Barfly" or "Lizzie" for example.**

They sit like understudies, waiting for the current book to exit stage left so they might make their debut. After reading through a few, I found a story I started on notebook paper, about four pages front and back. The premise? A woman at a bar staring at the place her wedding band used to sit. Suddenly, I wanted to know more about her and the man in the bar who noticed her from afar.

After two days at the computer and10,000 words in, not to mention (but I will) 10 scraps of paper of scenes, ideas and character portrayals, I loved my new story! I loved my new characters! This was it! The one! What I've been waiting to write! (I should note that I feel this way every time I start a new book)

But it's a first draft, isn't it bad? You bet it is!

In fact, most of the emotion played out between them is probably more in my head than on paper.

I like to get the characters, story ideas, plot points out into the draft as quickly as possible. On the second pass, after we all know each other better, feel more comfortable opening up to one another, I'll add in more emotion and details like a fresh layer of paint.

For me, first drafts are like first dates. I have to get to know my characters a bit before I'm comfortable digging around in their psyche. Before I started writing him, I knew my hero had suffered a trauma in his childhood. I knew he'd have a breakdown as a result, but I wanted to know him better***, wanted him to react in a real way rather than cliche.

Now that it is finished**** I'm beginning revisions. So far, so good! Now if only Harlequin would respond on my query from my last book (stares at mailbox).

What's your writing process like? Do you you have to get to know your characters first or do you just jump right in?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Play it again, Sam

*and it will be

**none of my folders say either of these things

*** if you are a non-writer and reading this, I realize it sounds a little nuts to refer to "knowing" him. But all writers are a little nuts imo. These characters that we made up? Yeah, they TALK to us. Keep us up at night. Interrupt our day jobs. No wonder we're nuts.

****is it ever really finished?!

Ms. Impatience

2011-05-04T10:12:00.001-04:00

I miss blogging.

Lately, I’ve sort of dropped right off the Internet and floated further away from the great Blogosphere. While you may think (if you’re thinking of me at all) that I’ve given up blogging or decided to let SFG flounder, that’s not the case.

I sat down today and asked myself, “Self?” (isn’t that the best way to start a conversation with yourself?) “Why don’t we blog like we used to?”

“I’ve been busy,” Self said.

“That’s an excuse,” I replied.

“I know, but it feels true.”

She had me there.

“At least I’ve been busy writing,” Self continued, sticking her tongue out at me.

I sighed. No sense in arguing. Especially with the far less mature inner version of me.

The fact of the matter is, we – erm – I have been writing and waiting. And an MS in revisions and waiting on Harlequin to reply to my chapter doesn’t foster very interesting writing blogs, now does it?

But, for the sake of bearing my soul on the internet, I will share. I am waiting impatiently for a reply. I check the mail every day (except for Sunday of course - I’m not that crazy) for signs of a big white envelope with my Chapter 1 returned in it (hopefully with marks and notes from an Editor.) Or if they didn’t see fit to return the chapter, I’d also accept the gray No. 10 envelope I self-addressed with Harlequin’s stamped return addy in the upper left corner. (NOTE to those of you submitting: self address a colored envelope so you recognize it as soon as you open the mailbox!)

The reason for my impatience is obvious, but also compounded by the promise to me from someone reputable. She offered to go over my rejection (if that is what I get back) and help me fix my story or perhaps take a gander at a new project and offer advice for resubmitting.

Needless to say, that had me feeling humble and grateful and like kneeling to worship her feet. Newbies appreciate anyone who will take the time to read the gobblety-gook we’re churning out on our winding road to publishing.

I also realize this impatience is as futile as shouting at the wind, but if you’ll remember that blog, I tend to do that anyway, so I suppose it’s more futile not to.

So, friends, Romans, countrymen (and women), that is the state of my being. Stuck between this and that, continuing to plug away every day, believing that someday my Prince will come, and his name is Harlequin Special Edition.

So, what shenanigans have you been up to lately?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Wait Impatiently for Your Future…

The Bright Side

2011-04-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

This may seem like the perfect title for a blog with the theme of Smiling and Feeling Good but let me tell you, I was far from my normal sunny disposition last week. :(

I posted on Monday and now wistfully recall that day as "the day I felt pretty good." That evening, I got that heavy, space-headed feeling and said to Mr. Lemmony, "I think I'm getting sick."

Boy, was I right.

As I write this on Sunday, I am sitting on my couch, day 6 of feeling crappy, with my left ear 40% plugged up and on my third dose of antibiotics trying to stave off Bronchitis. In a word: BLARG.

Enough of my belly-aching (or ear-aching, as it were)!

The bright side of staying home from work (next time I get a week off, I'd like to actually GO SOMEWHERE, m'kay?), was that I pretty much couldn't do anything but read.

And I read some good books, even dusted off an old one of mine and did some editing. I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Gina Wilkins for the great reads! :) And I'm going to recommend one to you that you might have trouble tracking down (sorry) but if you can find it (and you should look for it) I believe you will be as pleased as I was when you read it!

It's called Love Lessons and is one I found at a Library Sale, when they get rid of all the old books they don't want, selling them for quarters, even pennies. (I got an entire rolling cartful of books for $1 on their last day.) So my copy of Love Lessons was in the mix, sitting there waiting for a day when I dig through my shelves and decide to open it. It's beat up, bless its little paperback heart, and one page is dog-eared (pet peeve of mine) but I read it yesterday afternoon in between drinking orange juice and griping about how bad I felt.

And it made me feel better. :D

Catherine is our heroine. Newly thirty, she's prioritized her career and doesn't quite have her flirting skills up to speed. The apartment complex she lives in has a new maintenance guy - of the hunky-out-of-her-league variety - and when she sees him, she silently wishes she had a bit more practice chatting up hot men who come to fix things in her apartment. Turns out, Mr. Fixit is back in school and Catherine is a whiz at science. Who better to tutor him in Biology? :$

From there, you just sit back and enjoy the ride. Gina Wilkins is an amazing author and her characters are rooted in such believable reality that you'd swear you may even now the secondary characters.

At the very least, wander on over to the Amazon site and request this book on Kindle, all you do is click the link and they'll let the publisher know that this is one we want to read electronically.

Or, head on over to see Gina on her website. She keeps back-listed books on her shelf to sell to lucky souls who find a keeper.

Last but not least, I recommend these other reads by Gina, too:

The Texan's Tennessee Romance

The Best Man's Plan

Prognosis: Romance

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Read a Gina Wilkins Book!

Misc. Monday

2011-04-11T10:53:00.020-04:00

I thought it time to do another Misc. Monday, wherein I divulge miscellaneous things that have garnered my attention recently.

*ahem*

What I'm (going to be) watching: I looooooooove scary movies, and any of you that share my love for the genre may know that Scream 4 is headed for the theaters. It'll be there on Friday. As will I.

What I'm listening to:

Eric Hutchinson. Have you heard this guy? He's wonderful! And he's got a live album that's so fantastic I listen to it and then have to listen to it again.

What I'm waiting on:

Harlequin to review my submission. But I'm not twiddling my thumbs, no no. I've been rewriting my Nanowrimo project from November. I was shocked to reread it and find that it was pretty good. In fact, I think this hero has stolen my heart from my last hero. And there's no better way to get over an old hero than by writing a new one...

What I'm vacillating over:

My new cell phone. I need one. My contract was up in March. I have Sprint. All recommendations are appreciated!

What about you people? Any exciting, or not exciting, we don't judge here at SFG - things to share for Miscellaneous Monday?

For today, Sm:)e, Feel Good, Be Random!

Verbal Outreach

2011-03-28T09:53:00.001-04:00

I'm not much for fundraisers, but I feel that there is a growing need for stopping the abuse. The abuse of words. Simple words. Words no one should be misspelling at this point. It's gone on far too long and now they're cropping up in tweets around the world, Facebook is littered with them and, well, someone has to do something.

Let's look at a few of these unfortunates.

Alot
Alot was never meant to be one word, thrust together by an otherwise confused and/or lazy society. I admit it's efficient to skip that extra keystroke the spacebar requires, but did you ever give thought to the partners involved? Maybe "a" and "lot" didn't want to be permanently bound a la shotgun wedding. Give them their space, would you?

Definately
I got an eye twitch just writing that. A lot (two words, thank you very much) of people misspell this baby, one out of three of your friends, I would venture to guess. If you see nothing wrong with the word, it's you.

's
Adding 's to words that are plural like pencil's or zebra's or spleen's make my other eye twitch. If they are possessive (i.e., the pencil's eraser - showing that the eraser does, in fact, belong to the pencil) then by all means, use the 's. Otherwise, if you are talking about a box of pencils, or a truckload of zebras or a grocery bag of spleens, then please leave the apostrophe behind.

Could of
This is technically a grammatical gripe, unless you consider the word "of" a misspelling of "have." Because saying something like, "I could of gone, but I slept in" should be "I could have gone, but I slept in." Could've = could have, not Could'of.

Angles
This word isn't misspelled if you are talking about the angles on her face or the angles on a building. If you are referring to dear ole Auntie Grace in heaven with the angles, however, you, and possibly Auntie Grace, are confused. Angels have wings, angles have points.

What I don't mind (anymore)
Used to, I'd see something like this: U R so awesome, luv u! and develop a tic to go along with my twitching pair of eyes. (You can imagine what an attractive sight that made me.) Now, however, I take it as simple shorthand on Twitter and Facebook and via text. Who has time to write out tomorrow when you can simply key in 2morro? I get it. I wouldn't use it on a resume or in a letter of recommendation, or (heaven forbid) in any of my manuscripts I'm toiling over. The others listed above are blatant misuse as opposed to shortcuts.

What about you? Do you think my fundraiser has a chance? Seen any spelling misteaks (that was on purpose *wink*), that you'd like to point out? Extra points if you've stumbled into it on my blog - a definite (with an "i") probability.

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Use Your Words!*

*correctly, please

S.W.A.K.

2011-03-24T16:49:00.002-04:00

Did you ever write S.W.A.K. on notes you passed in class when you were a kid? I remember doing this, even on notes to my girl friends, or notes to Mom and especially Santa (hey, greasing the sleigh bell never hurts when you really, really want a Cabbage Patch Doll, right?)

Often it accompanied a lipstick imprint, which was super fun because I wasn't allowed to wear lipstick until I was 27. (Just kidding... I was 23...) and if you haven't figured out yet, the acronym stands for Sealed with a Kiss.

What you may not know is that the acronym moonlights as other acronyms... such as the lesser known: Spinners and Weavers Association of Korea. That sounds slightly less romantic to me, so if your beloved is in the far east, you may not want to sign your love notes with S.W.A.K. after all. (Unless he/she is really into weaving.)

Then there's the even LESS romantic version of S.W.A.K.: Shallow Water Active Kit, or FedEx's version Scan, Weigh and Key (that might be a fun one to try on your driver next time you get a package!).

I think my favorite acronym is the Dutch version of S.W.A.K. which stands for: Sociale Wetenschappen Aktiviteiten Kommissie which is Dutch for Social Walrus Activation Kommission.*

They're very progressive over there.

What is your favorite version of S.W.A.K.? Or if you are feeling particularly creative (I'm looking at you, Linda) what acronym can you make up to entertain the lot of us?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, S.W.A.K.!

*loosely translated by my crack team of bloggers (me) based on rudimentary (zero) knowledge of Dutch.

image courtesy of http://www.greenhealthspot.com/

Déjà vu All Over Again

2011-03-14T09:55:00.003-04:00

Hello readers!!!

*peers into the bleak, gray nothingness*

...Some of you are still out there, no?

I know I've been AWOL lately but it's not because I've been lazy - well, not ALL the time. Nor is it because I've run off to live in a commune with my fellow Vegans and worship carrots - definitely NOT.

The truth is, I've been solely concentrating on the same exact thing I was concentrating on last year.

My book, A Second Chance.

Yes, I sent a query and synopsis to Harlequin last week, almost a year to the day I sent them one year ago. I didn't mean to do that but it worked out that way. My envelope arrived on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. I know because I sent it Certified Mail (anal retentive much?) and now I am revising and chewing my nails and lamenting that I do not own, nor know how to properly use, a crystal ball.

Just like I was a year ago.

While my life is smacking of the past, I'm wondering if I've literally come full circle. Maybe my book is doomed to an identical fate. Harlequin will request my manuscript, then return it with a rejection letter.

Or worse, return it with a note written in big red lettering: HEY DUMMY, WE DIDN'T LIKE THIS THE FIRST TIME. MOVE ON.

...Okay, probably not in those exact words.

I wonder, though, if I should prepare myself for either of those responses - or maybe the other, slightly less likely response of, "OMG, we love you, like looooooooooooove you!"

Or maybe I shouldn't think about it at all - just keep my head down, continue to revise and then work on the follow-up book (that is in a horrible first-draft mode) ...just like I did last year.

What would you if you were me?

Or, if you've been in this position - what did you do?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Stare at the Clock...

image courtesy of: http://invivoblog.blogspot.com

Err on the Side of Action

2011-03-03T08:09:00.004-05:00

Have you ever noticed that successful people mess up the most?

One of my favorite illustrations of this is a quote from Michael Jordan:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

When I first started out on this writing path, I thought, "Pshaw! Easy peasy. I can write. I'm creative. I'll be rich!" (...that's a rather embellished version of what I actually believed, but hey, I'm trying to be entertaining.)

Anyway...

So what did I do? I dug up a manuscript I'd started a few years ago. Then I finished it. I even reread it and added some more words to it, still not managing to stretch it to the full 50,000 (the average novel length). My "revisions" were little more than running Word's spell check feature. My story was cliched, my characters dull my scenes unoriginal.

At the time, I didn't know any of this. I didn't know what I was doing. All I knew was I finished a book (check!) and had written a query letter to a few publishers (check!). All I had to do was wait for a big fat paycheck to arrive (NOT!)

Even though that elusive paycheck has not arrived (yet), I did learn quite a bit during that process. Firstly, I researched and found out who would take unagented novels from unpublished romance writers. Next, it led me to Harlequin's helpful pages about submissions and writing technique. And third, with my queries in the mail, I felt free to start writing something else.

My next novel was better (but still not good) as was my next query. I learned how to write a synopsis. Harlequin requested my manuscript (YAY!) and then rejected it. (BOO.)

I continue to fail forward. Today I am resending a query for that second novel. It's one year later, it's been completely revised and I've "practiced" on three other novels that sit awaiting my skills to catch up to my ideas. The only reason I've learned what I have is because I've run into the ring and started swinging, even though I didn't lace up my gloves. It may be a sloppy technique and result in my getting a bit banged up, but I learn FAST.

Have you ever leaped before you looked? Did it lead to something better?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, JUST DO IT!

Eyebrowns

2011-02-23T08:43:00.002-05:00

Typos are unavoidable. For me, there are a few repeat offenders. Like the title of this blog. It seems once I get started on the word “eyebrows” I go on and toss the extra “n” in there for good measure.

At least it’s funny. Unlike the umpteenth time I accidentally typed “teh” instead of “the.” (Thank goodness for Microsoft Word’s Auto Correct feature.)

Some typos are simply because I have issues spelling them. Preturbed? Nooooo. Perturbed. Opportunity comes easily for me now but a few years back it was always oppurtunity.

And my sister-in-law’s former last name started with “Cust” so without fail, anytime I would type her email address, I ended up writing out “Customer.” Which was NOT her last name. But, again, on a roll, I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

I know I thanked Auto Correct earlier, and I could add my mistake words – such as eyebrowns – to automatically fix itself, but I didn’t. Why? Because I can’t help but chuckle whenever I read, “Eyebrowns pinched together, he regarded her with frustration.”

I like a cheap thrill, even if I’m the only one who finds it funny.

What about you? What are you keyboard mishaps that appear routinely in your typing?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Waggle your eyebrowns!

Placeholder

2011-02-21T08:33:00.005-05:00

Monday's regular blog will be posted on Wednesday due to an unforseen distraction.

It appeared in my mailbox Friday and truthfully, I've been unable to concentrate on much else.

In an unrelated (*cough*) question... how many weeks can I cycle this cover to the top of my subscription before Mr. Lemmony notices?

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Henry Cavill

My 2nd Grade V-Day Nightmare

2011-02-14T09:04:00.003-05:00

I've shared some personal plight before here on the blog. Remember my 10-year reunion story? (Click the link if you haven't heard it, it's one for the books...) Today I thought I'd share a Valentine's Day related post and recount the story of a V-day from long, ~~long~~ ago.

I was a dorky kid. In bifocals by the age of three doesn't exactly put you in the lead for prom Queen anyway, and though it was stylish to etch things (like Raggedy Ann or E.T.) into the bottom corner of the lenses, I don't think that was scoring me any "cool points" either.

So here I am, a dorky second grader with a huge crush on a classmate. (Let's call him Kurt to protect his identity - lest he still be reeling from the humiliation of my dorkyness and the effect it had on his coolness.)

As per tradition for Valentine's day it was customary to decorate a paper lunch sack and hang it in the front of the classroom with your name on it. Later, the class would drop valentines cards into the bags to their friends. (I can't remember if they'd yet passed the mandate that required giving valentines to ALL the kids in the class, lest the friendless, weird guy who ate his glue get his feelings hurt... But I digress.)

On this particular day, I had made a Valentine for Kurt. I'm sure I over-thought my choice in greeting and sentiment. And I probably wrote my name as carefully as possible, sure he'd see the secret meaning in my capital "J." Kurt didn't know I liked him. This would be my debut. I had high hopes, although I'm not quite sure what they were at the time. After all, I was seven.

Since Kurt was in the neighboring classroom, I would have to make a special delivery of his valentine. I asked my teacher right before class started if I could go next door to deliver the card and she obliged. When I arrived next door, I noticed two things immediately. Firstly, that the students were all at their desks and facing the front of the room, where I'd just entered. And secondly, that the holiday lunch sacks were on the bulletin board in the front of the room.

The teacher smiled at me and told me to go ahead and make my delivery. I stood at the bulletin board, scanning the paper bags for Kurt's name, acutely aware of the twenty-something pairs of eyes on my back. Then I spotted Kurt's bag.

On the top row.

Since he was also seven years old, I'm pretty sure my memory of it being at the six-foot mark may be exaggerated. But it may as well have been dangling from the ceiling for all the better I could reach it.

But I tried.

After a few embarrassing moments of standing tip-toed in my Zips sneakers while my shirt came untucked from my pink corduroy elastic-waisted pants, I was beginning to realize I may have to give up. Unless I stood there until my next growth spurt, the message I'd desired to leave for my sweetheart would never reach his lunch sack.

Thank God for my friend Misty (her real name) who had a few inches on me. She got out of her seat, plucked my card from my hand and put it into Kurt's lunch sack for me. At which point I am pretty sure I skulked back to class without so much as a peek over my hunched shoulders.

And that, my friends, is the tale of my Valentine's Day Nightmare.

Do you have a Valentine's Day that stands out in your mind? Good or bad, what is it?

Anticipation

2011-02-07T09:24:00.007-05:00

There are a few things I'm getting excited about so thought I'd share:

1) ST. PATRICK'S DAY - yes, some gals love Valentine's Day but I'll have a pint and my fave local band Homeland over flowers and candy, please and thank you. We wear green and go out late (NO Guinness and eggs for breakfast for this lady - bleck!)

2) CAPTAIN JACK - is back. Pirates 4 hits theaters this summer and I, for one, am stoked. This has got to be one of the best characters ever - and def the best character Johnny has ever portrayed.

3) RESUBMITTING MY MANUSCRIPT - once rejected, now going through rewrites, I am anxious to resubmit a query to Harlequin/Silhouette for "A Second Chance!"

And there are a few things I'm not looking forward to...

1) THE END OF THE TUDORS - mainly, I will mourn my multi-weekly dose of Henry Cavill. Though, speaking of the show in and of itself, I will not miss the multitude of head-choppings. *cringe* I'll delight you with a picture of my dear Duke of Suffolk instead of the latter, how's that sound?

2) MY NEXT DENTIST APPOINTMENT - no explanation needed

3) RESUBMITTING MY MANUSCRIPT- no explanation needed

What about you? Have any exciting or dreaded anticipation in your near future? Do tell!

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, At least Henry Cavill has a movie coming out...

Walking, Chewing Gum

2011-01-31T10:39:00.001-05:00

I've realized that it's difficult for me to do two things at once. Like walking and chewing gum... or rubbing my stomach while patting my head.

I once prided myself in being the ultimate multi-tasker, but we can all tell when we're on the phone with someone answering emails or watching television instead of listening, can't we? While in the middle of a riveting story that deserves an OMG!, instead we hear a distant "uh-huh" or other such none-distinct response.

If you focus on ONE THING AT A TIME, completely and wholly, then you will fare much better on all fronts. Talk on the phone with your mother THEN eat your breakfast. You'll enjoy your Cheerios more and Mom will thank you for not crunching in her ear.

I've had a bit of a problem with balancing that one-thing-at-a-time lately. Oh, I've done ONE thing last week - but it was like the ONLY thing I did. I went Vegetarian, borderline Vegan, thinking I could easily incorporate it into my part-time-employed, dogs-are-my-kids, husband-willing-to-join-me lifestyle.

However, I got almost no writing done and only blogged once. Every spare moment was spent looking up recipes, adding to my pantry (and my vocabulary) things like "tempeh" and "nutritional yeast." Because I'd never attempted such a diet, an added surprise was this massive amount of ENERGY I sprang out of bed with. I've always joked about being more of a "sitter" than anything - reading, drawing, writing, I'm good at lying around too.

I have battled the idea that a "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" diagnosis at age 23 was/wasn't real versus my sheer laziness being attributed to lack of motivation or just well, being plain old lazy. I've been lacking energy for as long as I can remember, amazed and awestruck at my husband's desire to run around and do all sorts of things like wash the car and mow the yard and do laundry and ride his bike. Meanwhile, I was lying on the couch with a book and feeling like I need a nap.

Turns out cutting out meat (and dairy and eggs too) tapped into the hidden culprit of my lack of energy. I'm positively VIBRATING with energy that didn't come from a pot of Starbucks home brew. Who knew?

This adjustment for me was sort of like finding the fountain of youth. I thought about blogging but mostly I cleaned the house and did laundry and walked the dogs and went out with friends.

Now I need to balance a bit better. New energy is wonderful, but don't forget to focus on the other important aspects of my life: my writing, my job(s), my art.

It's that way when you write too, isn't it?

You focus so much on PLOT, that you neglect your character's motivation. You're so busy axing overused adverbs that you overlook the amount of telling versus showing you are doing in your manuscript. Or your characters are true to themselves but your conflict is as flat as a flapjack.

At those times do the following:

1) STOP.
2) Breathe.
3) Reassess.

And I'll add:

4) GET AWAY FROM IT FOR A WHILE.

Perhaps this weeklong hiatus from writing/blogging (what little I did do isn't worth mentioning, TRUST ME) was good for me. Now I can approach it with fresh eyes and more energy (WEE!)

How do YOU keep all those things in mind when writing?

Honorable mention to those of you who work, raise kids, go to the gym, AND write - I take my hat off to your daily feat of superhero-dom!!!

For today,
Sm:)e, Feel Good, Find your center!

Misc. Monday

2011-01-24T08:02:00.009-05:00

1) What I'm reading: The Kind Diet

2) What I'm watching: AMC's The Walking Dead

3) What I'm eating: Vegetarian (Not sure what inspired me more to go Veg - the book, or the people-eating Zombies on the show above - lol)

4) What I'm working on: REVISIONS! Inspiration for my hero brought to you by...

and a little of...

5) What plight struck me last week:

I'm saving THAT for another blog... it's worthy of its own day.

What about you? What miscellaneous life-happenings are going on in your world?

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, In Trend of the Week: Zombies

Special Guest Teri Anne Stanley!

2011-01-21T07:59:00.002-05:00

Today’s blog will be brought to you by… another blogger.

For whatever reason I couldn’t get motivated to write my second blog this week. That’s why it’s coming at you a day late… and written by someone else. *grin*

But, I did write a blog. You can find it at Teri’s site (CLICK HERE)

I guess it’s the equivalent of cleaning someone else’s room. You know how when you were little you hated to clean your room, but then you went to a friend’s house and then cleaned HER room and had a blast… But I digress.

Here is the great Teri Anne Stanley! And after you fall in love with her prose, you remember to go HERE and follow her so you can keep up with her (amusing) musings.

For today,
Smile, Feel Good, Clean Someone Else’s Room

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Thanks, Jessica, for trading blogs with me today. We could totally do this like Trading Places and then never speak to each other again because we so hate what the other one did to our blog, wouldn’t that be cool? Or not.

Anyway, I’m going to share my limited perspective on the Critique process today. If you don’t want to hear about this, and just want to hear from Jessica, she’s (HERE)

I have always been a fiction lover. During my life, I’ve harbored a flotilla of story ideas. Sadly, I didn’t write most of them down and they floated into oblivion (I am also fond of metaphors. Can you tell?). Last summer, I finally decided to get serious and try my hand at writing a novel. It’s just one of those bucket list things, like scuba diving, but since scuba diving is really expensive, I decided to start with writing.

My first step was to hit the library and check out books about writing. Then, of course, I hit the internet. I discovered the wonderful world of blogging, and started seeing information about online writing workshops. I took a workshop about plotting, and started conversing with another newbie writer (Hi, Mary!). We decided that since we were both pretty new to novel writing, we could maybe show each other our work and not be too embarrassed about it.

Mary and I are pretty different. We are both romance writers, but she writes regency, I write suspense. She’s a little more conservative, I’ve been known to read an erotic romance or five. One thing we have in common is the desire to be better writers (and an aversion to purple prose, but that’s another post).

Having written a few scenes that I didn’t think were awful, I sucked in a deep breath, and hit send. I didn’t really know what to expect. Neither of us had done this before. We were two virgins, like Brooke Shields and that blond guy from Blue Lagoon, figuring it out on our own. So. Mary read my stuff, fixed some grammar and spelling, and made some other suggestions about stuff that didn’t work. She sent it back to me. I read her comments, and I didn’t throw my computer off of a bridge.

I read her stuff, made a few comments, changed some wording, and sent it back. She didn’t take a baseball bat to her computer. Instead, we both learned a lot (well, I did, anyway) from the critique. We have different grammar and style strengths. Mary is better at character development, and I am into plot twists. Right now we are working on tweaking each other’s plots by asking questions about why a character would do something, and what will happen next.

I have since sent a chapter to another friend who found some plot issues. I found a lot of colloquialisms in her work. She lives in North Carolina and I am in Kentucky, and there are regional differences in speech that can sound weird to “foreigners”.

I read a short story by another writer who needed more to her plot. I didn’t do so much editing of her piece, because it was pretty polished, but I was able to find some places where the story could be expanded.

All of this has made me brave enough to post some of my work online. My Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) excerpt can be found here: http://teriannestanley.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-show-me-yours-nano-project.html . I even submitted it to someone else for online editing, here: http://cjellissondailygrind.blogspot.com/2011/01/pay-it-forward-fridays-with-teri-anne.html

Every time I read someone’s work, comment on it and hit the send button, I start to sweat. Was I too harsh? Too picky? Should I have pointed out that the story is really boring and no one but your mom will ever buy it? JUST KIDDING, GIRLS, I HAVEN’T READ ONE OF THOSE YET.

Fortunately, everyone who has trusted me with their work is still speaking to me. As a matter of fact, after I hit Jessica’s chapter with the Track Changes feature yesterday, she invited me to be a guest blogger. Of course, she may just have been plotting her revenge, because she is at my blog today. You may not be able to tell from my blogginess, but I am actually pretty good at trimming unnecessary words, which is what I tried to do for Jessica. Her plot seems tight and compelling; and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of it.

So if you haven’t taken the Crit Partner plunge, I encourage you to do so. I met all my CP’s online, just by being chatty and friendly on blogs and Facebook and Twitter. I suggest that you step out of your genre and out of your geographical region, and work with several different people, because we all have different strengths. Showing my work to other writers was scary, but empowering, too. I have learned that I can take criticism. So far it’s always been constructive. My worst critics are the members of the committee in my head, and I just give them some chocolate when they get too loud.