The Day after Black Friday

Before Thanksgiving I swore I would not be doing any in store Black Friday shopping, but Thanksgiving morn the newspaper stuffed with more enticing ads than ever appeared in my home. And it taunted me with it's good deals, unrelenting in it's pursuit of my meager shopping dollars.

So I gave in and went through the ads, finding deal after deal that would save me money and help me complete my christmas shopping. Oh no, how I was tempted by the 4 am, 5 am and 6 am openings. Maybe I could go out and it wouldn't be so bad.

You may think you know where this is going. That I got up early and fought the cold and the crowds for some deals but alas no. I came to my senses and stayed in my nice warm bed until almost 8 am.

I then got up and followed through on my original plan and thanks to my friend Bree who guided me through some of the black friday sales at Amazon, I was able to find some great deals there. Can't tell you all about them here in case someone in my family wanders across my blog. lol

I did buy something for myself though. A new HP wireless printer for my office. $49.00 OMG $49.00. lol But that's not even the best part. It comes with a $70 rebate.

While I got some great prices on some gifts that printer was the "steal" of the day. Now to clean up my office and make way for it.

Did you go Black Friday shopping? Was it worth it? Or did you try my style and shop online?

Have a good one!

Eliza

A Day Late and A Dollar Short....

Well, Blogger has defeated me in scheduling my blog post. I thought I had it figured out...sadly, I'm more techno-challenged than I thought.

Life around our house has disintegrated to "normal"...or as normal as the Scott household has ever been. The drama teen has some phone priveledges restored, and "Mama, buy" has become the new battle cry of my boys.

Yep, tis the season for the toy commercial. This year, we've decided to scale back. The boys will get one large gift between them (a new playset for the backyard) and a couple of packages under the tree. The teen wants clothes and money (easy, peasy).

Me, I'm hinting for Santa to buy me more memory for my computer and a B&N gift card. Oh, and a knitted belt for my belly dancing class. Yep, the teen and I are "bonding" and taking a class together. So far, it's been a lot of fun. And Lord knows, I have the belly for it. Teehee!

Here's hoping that I can figure out the scheduling a bit better before next Friday. Until then, I leave you with a great review I just received for Breathless.

"Breathless is an action packed love story. What starts off as hostility ends in heated passion. Breathless is a fantasy story that pulls you in from the first moment you start reading and makes you wish for more when you have finished Jason and Michael’s story. Breathless is a fast, easy, and engrossing story that I think all M/M fans will love."

Reviewed by Raine at Joyfully Reviewed.

Thanks Raine! I'm so glad you enjoyed Breathless.

To read the entire review, click here.

Finished NaNoWriMo & More Reading

Check it out! I'm a NaNoWriMo winner for the third year in a row. Yay! It's always a great accomplishment. Not only to take part in NaNo during the month of November, but to be able to say: "I just finished another first draft." It never gets old. The excitement is always the same.

I have another novel under my belt. Sure, it'll need some more work before I can say it's done, but heck, the main bulk of work is out. Outta my head, to be precise. And that's a good thing, because it's always a little crowded up there. Lol.

So, tell me, how did you go? Did you manage to meet your 50k goal already, or are you getting close? I mean, there's still several days to go until the end of the month, so don't give up. And if you didn't meet the required amount, did you surprise yourself and got more words out than you thought you would? I hope so. :)

Well, asides from the crazy bout of writing, I've also been reading some more. These are the excellent books I finished this week:

UNSHAPELY THINGS is the first book in an urban fantasy series by Mark Del Franco. It follows the life of Connor Grey, a druid (and former Guild investigator) who suffered an accident that caused him to lose his powers. But that didn't stop him from working. He's living in Boston and helping the police. Though the latest case throws him into some very dangerous situations, and turns out to be more than what it seems.

HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT is the first book in a trilogy written by our very own Cynthia Eden. I've got to say that I was sucked into the story from the first page. My gosh! This book is SO darn good. Everything about it kept me wondering and thinking about it so much that I grabbed it every chance I got. And it didn't disappoint. If you're looking for an awesome read with infectious characters, suspense that'll keep you on the edge of your seat, and a HOT, sizzling romance, then you've gotta check this book out. You won't regret it. :)

I enjoyed both of these books so much that I've already ordered the second ones.

And last night, I started reading this one:

It's a very long book, but the concept sounds intriguing. And I love Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, so I'm looking forward to reading about a different world. So far, so good.

Well, that's it for me for another week. Have a good one!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Twilight Drains The Box Office

Oh man was that title cheesy enough for you? I read these headlines and groan. But maybe i'm too picky.

I have a teenage daughter who has been counting down the minutes for Twilight and I have to admit her enthusiasm was catching. She begged to go to a midnight premiere but I knew better. I would not have dealt well with crowds of teens making a lot of noise so instead I took my daughter out of school early and we went before the high school ever got out.

Perfect timing.

The theater wasn't even half full and was fairly quiet. And I enjoyed the heck out of the movie. I haven't read the books so I didn't have to go in worrying about if the movie could live up to the book. I just got to enjoy the movie for what it was. A teen vampire flick.

Oh Edward Cullen where were you when I was 17? Or Jacob too...

Yes it was angsty but it was supposed to be. It was funny a lot too. The imagery was incredible and makes me want to pack up and leave the south and move right now to the Pacific Northwest. I love even more that it was directed by a woman on a shoestring budget (37M is shoestring to Hollywood anyways)

There are not enough paranormal romance movies out there. More often than not they might have a slight romantic element to them but they are far more horror than anything else.

If by chance any Hollywood types are out there listening...True Blood is a success...Twilight is a huge hit...Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series is patiently waiting for that Hollywood movie. Hurry please, make me some more, okay?

Drama Teen

One of my friends went with her daughter to see Twilight last night. She said she would have enjoyed the movie if all the teenage girls in the audience had been gagged. Every time Edward appeared on screen, they screamed. Every time Edward and Bella kissed, yep, you guessed it, they screamed.

So, with that in mind, I can say I won't be seeing Twilight. I have a teenage girl in my house (just turned 15) and the drama we have at home is unimaginable. The worst part is that I hate conflict. I'll go out of my way to avoid a fight. My teenager thrives on it. If she isn't fighting with us, she's fighting with her brothers or her friends, or her bio-dad.

Well, early last week, the angst started with her asking to get her belly button pierced. I answered with a resounding "No, wait until you're 18". Tears, slammed doors and hurt feelings whirled through the household for days. Then, we came back from our weekend at Riverside and later that evening caught her sneaking out of the house. We still have no idea where she was going or what she was going to do when she got there, or even if it's happened before. So, she's grounded...which meant she couldn't go with her friend (mentioned at the top of this post) to Twilight last night. More screaming, ranting, and even a little cursing thrown in. She lost her phone privileges over that. Now, mind you, she already lost her IPOD to a grounding earlier this month over yet another bit of drama.

Heck, if this wasn't my life, I could probably turn it into a bestseller...

So, unless I hear that things have quieted down at the theaters, we'll wait until Twilight comes out on DVD. I'll be the one sitting on the couch in my jammies eating popcorn and, believe me, I'll have plenty of duct tape on hand for the drama teen...

NaNoWriMo & Reading

Well. Is this week three of NaNoWriMo? I just checked the calendar, and yeah, it's week three. You know, at the beginning of the month I seriously doubted I would get to the amount of words I've written now. But, check out the word meter. Things are moving along very well.

My goal by the end of this week is 37,500 words. Anything extra is great. Secretly, I'm really hoping to have crossed the 40k by the end of Friday.

I've come to the downward part of the book. Where everything starts to make sense to the characters and so many pieces of the puzzles fall into place. Yet, at the same time, some horrible things are yet to happen. The hero and heroine will soon find themselves in the darkest part of the story, and I feel sorry for them. But at least I already know that everything will work out well in the end for them. What's also a lot of fun now is introducing the heroine for the next book. She's shaping up to be very interesting and totally connected to the characters already established in this series. Too bad no one in the novel knows that, though. Lol.

By the way, I've managed to squeeze in some reading the past week. These are the two excellent books I've read:

Loved both of them! :)

And this is what I started reading last night:

So far, it's great. I'm really getting into the character and the world he lives in. Lots of danger, a bunch of mysterious deaths, and that lovely comfy urban fantasy feel I love to sit down and get cozy with. :)

Before I go, what have you been reading lately? My TBR pile is still huge, but I'm slowly working my way through it.

Well, until next week, have a great one!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Panic!!

I apologize for being late with this post--my weekend was crazy. You see...my computer crashed. Died. Gave me one of those fatal error messages and even my Tech savvy husband (seriously, he's got a degree in Computer Sciences) couldn't recover my files.

Yep, panic began to attack.

But, blessedly, we were able to call in a professional and he recovered all my files. So sweet. So, now I'm celebrating! Saved!

I'm celebrating the recovery of all my data--and I'm celebrating the fact that next Tuesday, MIDNIGHT SINS, my second single-title from Kensington Brava, will hit store shelves. I always like to celebrate book releases because they make me so excited...and so very nervous.

And, wow--the holidays are also sneaking up on us. Another reason to celebrate. :-)

Is there something that you're celebrating right now? Could be something big or something small. I'd love to share and celebrate with you!

Shapeshifters...What's the new werewolf??

As I race through NaNo doing my best to keep up and writing the second book in my upcoming cat shifter series, I cant help but think about different shifters.

Those in the "know" seem to think that paranormal is declining which i'm not sure I believe yet because that's what i'm seeing in the stores and thats what I am reading, but at the very least things do change in the genre.

Used to be strictly vampires and werewolves with a few witches thrown in for good measure but according to NY now the Demon is the new Vampire but I want to know what is the new werewolf?

I've never written wolves, only cat shifters and dragon shifters, guess that makes me more of a cat person. Although I would gladly write a wolf if and when a story idea ever hit me. I go with what calls to me.

But as a reader what do you want? Wolves? Cats? Dragons? Snakes? and the list goes on...

What are you tired of? Just curious.

It's November 15th and i'm a couple thousand words short of my NANO goal but still almost halfway through my book. I am so excited by this. With one of my goals for 2008 being to start writing longer i'm ecstatic to see that finally happening. I still love writing short, but taking the time to write longer and deeper into the world is rewarding as well.

I can't wait to introduce you to the Black Cougars in January but until then I have a new release of a different kind.

Last week, my new contemporary BDSM, Her Surrender, released from Cobblestone Press.



Blurb:

For years Jillian had struggled with who and what she is. Submissive. Society thought her weak but she knew better. Despite knowing the depth of her true need she'd fought against it until she met Rob.

A Dom for many years, Rob immediately knew her and what she desired. The connection between them sizzled for weeks as he prepared her for her new life as his submissive. His demands increased daily and her need for his touch grew stronger. Finally her day has arrived and she will go to him to learn once and for all if true freedom lies in her surrender.

To read an excerpt visit Cobblestone Press or my website at http://www.elizagayle.net

Have a good one!

Eliza

The Other Woman

Every year, my husband is a judge for a regional programming contest. It's a whole year of planning and a really big month-long push at the end. We call it "the other woman".

It's a pain in the butt and has really impacted my writing this year. I was on a self-imposed deadline that whooshed right past me. I think the wind is still whistling in my ears. Sigh. He took off early this morning. Luckily for me, he took our drama teen with him this year...she's to help and will be able to earn a little money depending on how much assistance she provides.

I have "the boys" for today and tomorrow. It's our yearly junk-food binge. So far, we've had McDonald's for lunch and we're ordering in pizza for dinner. The boys will probably have McD's again for lunch tomorrow while we're on the road...but me, I'm stopping at In and Out Burger.

There's also a few other perks to the "other woman." Tomorrow, after the boys soccer game, they boys and I will drive a couple of hours to join the contest in session. We'll stay the night in a historic haunted hotel (soooooo cool!) and eat a nice dinner (not fast food, but someone else is cooking, so I can't complain). On Sunday, we'll hob-nob with the other judges for the closing breakfast. It's a small vacation away from home.

As a bonus, we'll also get to do some early Christmas shopping and I may get a little writing done. That's a big MAY. But, it's all research for me...especially since the best part of being involved with 'the other woman' is that we're on tap to go to Stockholm for the international competition this coming spring. (Can you say whoot?!!!?).

So, I'm off to finish the laundry and do a little packing. I'm taking the camera in hopes of getting a few ghostly photos or at least some lovely holiday shots of downtown Riverside, CA.

Meh & NaNo

Have you ever had one of those days, or even weeks, when you feel a little lost and distracted?

I'm feeling like that at the moment. It seems to happen to me at least once a month. Gee, anyone would think I was a werewolf or something. ;)

Still, when I feel like this it can get a little hard to focus on what I'm doing. Unless I'm so totally involved in it that it's consuming my mind so much not even a state of mind can shake my commitment. That happened the last time I wrote a novel first draft in September. But... it's not happening now.

Why?

I think that there have been too many distractions going on lately. Some were computer or internet issues, while others are just the fact that I've got one new idea munching away at my brain and another that wants the second book started. Now! And since my NaNoWriMo novel isn't about any of them, my head feels a little like there's a struggle going on. Still, I'm determined to get my NaNo novel written this month because it's an idea that I got a year ago, while writing the first installment. And I just have to get it out of my head, there's too much in there already.

Am I sounding like a nut yet? Lol. :D

At the moment (it's Tuesday because I won't be able to post on Wednesday) I'm sitting @ 20,011 words. I hope to at least be up to 25k by the end of the week. We'll see how I go. More importantly, how are you going with your tale? Moving along at a nice pace? I'm moving much slower than what I'd like to be...

See ya next week!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Whew! What a Tailspin!

Hi all,

I'm so sorry you haven't seen much of me. I've been traveling like crazy with the day job and getting ready to relocate to a new state on top of that. God, now I remember why I have packing/unpacking so much! But I'm totally excited about the move so even the thought of packing has yet to send me into a round of prickly hives from head to toe.

Can you believe that in the last two weeks I've been to three countries (Switzerland, England, Germany) and two states (Indiana and Washington)? Talk about TIRED! Man, I'm so happy that I don't have to hop on a plane to go anywhere anytime soon.

Oh, there is some writing news to report - the October round one winners of the Holiday Hotties contest will be announced in the TJ On A Tangent newsletter this weekend!

Gotta run. I'm still catching up at work (imagine my eyebrows on fire and that pretty much sums up how it's going so far ;D)

TJ
www.tjmichaels.com

Backup & NaNoWriMo

Phew! What a week I've had so far. My gosh! If you read my post last week, you'd know that I had it all figured out. Yeah. Right.

I had every intention of sitting down with my laptop on Monday afternoon so I could get started on my NaNo novel. But my USB drive had something else in mind. You see, I carried this 2GB drive with me everywhere. It's got all my writing stuff - whether currently in-progess, or already published. It's got everything and a little more.

When I stuck it into the laptop, I got a bunch of incoherent type. And when I clicked on any of the folders, it claimed they no longer existed. I was thinking, WTF? I still have no idea what the hell happened. But it did. And as a result, I've lost the first chapter of a new novel and novella idea I wrote during the last few weeks. One second it was there, now it's gone. All I can do is write down what I can remember and start again. Not something I prefer to do, but since the original versions are gone, there's no other choice.

So, during the last two days I've been updating everything in four different places - two 1GB USB drives, the laptop and the main family computer. Whenever I update anything, it takes twice as long to synchronize everything. I don't care, though. At least now there are several places for me to refer to in case something insane like this ever happens again. :/

Remember: always BACKUP everything you write!

I've also been working on edits and got through the three required rounds during the last few days. Now it's done. And I can put all my concentration into working on my NaNo first draft...

Are you taking part in NaNo this year?

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Sin A Little

In less than a month, MIDNIGHT SINS will be available at a bookstore near you (or it will be shipped from the always fun Amazon.com). In honor of this book release, I thought I’d have a contest. I tried to think of cool contest prizes and then I realized—hey, the holidays are coming. Folks like presents. And the best presents? Gifts that you can give yourself. When you get a gift card, oh, yeah, that’s a great present because YOU get to choose the items that you purchase with that handy-dandy card. How sweet. So, here are the prizes that are up for grabs in my SIN A LITTLE contest:

1st Place: $100 gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret

2nd Place: $50 gift certificate to Bath and Body Works

3rd Place: $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com

4th, 5th, and 6th Place: Your choice of two autographed books from my backlist.

Yes—you will have these items before the holidays. I plan to rush the prizes to the winners! Hmmm…can you tell I’m going for a pampering theme with these prizes? We all need pampering during the holidays!

So now, you may be wondering…

How do I enter?

Oh, it’s amazingly simple to enter—promise. And there are two ways to win.

Option one: Simply copy the code for the graphic (yep, that lovely one up above showing Detective Todd Brooks) and post it to your blog—hey, that’s helping me to spread the word! You can click the “Share” button to get the code you need. Then, just copy and paste the code onto your page (insert it in the HTML view) and the image should appear.

Once you’ve posted the graphic on your blog, please go to my main contest page--you can leave a comment there to tell me that you've posted the contest info. You will then be entered to win.

Quick note: if you can’t copy the code for any reason—that’s okay. You can just write a bit about the contest. That will count, too. I’m really trying to make this easy! And, you can talk about the contest on your personal blog site, MySpace, Facebook–any place like that will work!

Option two: I realize that not everyone has a blog, and I wanted to make this contest open to everyone. Thus, the two ways to win. The second way to win is to go and read the excerpt from MIDNIGHT SINS and then answer this question: At the end of this scene, where is Todd going to take Cara?

Email your answer to info@cynthiaeden.com with the subject line of “Sin A Little” and, if your response is correct, you’ll be entered.

Some more rules (because I have to have them):

1. The contest begins on November 1, 2008 and runs until midnight on December 3, 2008. On December 4, I’ll announce the winners on my blog.

2. All contest entrants must be at least 18 years of age or older.

3. Yes, you can enter the contest more than once. Hmmm…better explain that. You can follow option one (above) and enter the contest by posting the necessary information on your blog and you can enter a second time by reading the excerpt and emailing the correct response to me. But, no, you cannot send me five excerpt answers and count that as five entries. Doesn’t work that way.

Any other questions? Well, feel free to email me. And thanks for reading about my contest!

REC Awards - I've been nominated!

I have been nominated for several REC awards which is so cool. The two covers of mine that were nominated are definitely some of my favorites so far. But not only was I nominated for some of my paranormal books, which have kept me busy busy this year, I also received a nomination for my upcoming interracial contemporary BDSM story.

Her Surrender debuts friday at Cobblestone and i'm very excited about this. It's been a while since I have done a contemporary but I do have several in the works now. So 2009 might see more contemporaries along with my paranormals.



Here is a list of the categories that I have been nominated in.

Erotic Romance - Paranormal Cover of the Year
Erotic Romance - Paranormal Author of the Year
Erotic Romance - Paranormal Short Story of the Year
Erotic Romance - Interracial/Multicultural Short Story of the Year
Erotic Romance - Paranormal Best Male Character

To vote for your favorites you just need to go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Romance_erotica_connection/polls

Voting seems appropriate this week, so JUST VOTE!