heidi's blog

I just found out that BEDDED THEN WED has been nominated for a Reviewers' Choice Award at CataRomance.com.

Yip-yip-yippee! :-D

I really loved Mitch's and Emma's story, so I'm thrilled that CataRomance liked it enough themselves to nominate it for this honor. Once again, though, it's in there among a lot of other very good books, so I won't hold my breath for a win. I'll hope, I'll dream, but I'll continue to breathe normally just in case. *g*

On a side note, I was equally excited to see good friend & mega-talented Delores Fossen on the list for her Harlequin Intrigue, Covert Conception. If you haven't read her yet, do so immediately. You won't be sorry!

(Forgot to use a proper header when I posted this yesterday...probably cuz there's nothing exciting about the post that lends itself to a title. :-P)

Still nothing much going on around here.

I swapped my one remaining sea turtle earring for a couple of plain cubic posts--I've given up finding the missing earring, at least for the time being--& started watching a movie called Mindhunters on the bike this morning. I really wasn't expecting much of it, but it turned out to be pretty decent. The first half, anyway; I'll finish it tomorrow.

It's one of those spooky who's-killing-everybody? thrillers about a group of FBI trainees who go to a deserted island for a training exercise, then start mysteriously (& rather gruesomely) dropping like flies. And since the TV listing only mentioned LL Cool J & Kathryn Morris (of CBS's Cold Case) as the stars, I have to admit I was expecting it to be some low-budget hack job. But it turned out to also star Christian Slater & Val Kilmer, & is actually really good. At least so far; I've still got forty minutes to go, so I suppose it could fall apart at the end. LOL

I also think I've figured out who the bad guy is, but I'm not entirely sure. :-p

Aside from that, I've just been writing. I'm working on the first love scene of CHRISTMAS IN HIS ROYAL BED right now, which is fun. And my hero has recently discovered a tiny little secret about the heroine that adds to the tension...both sexual & otherwise. :-)

Better get back to it. Don't want to leave Alandra & Nicolas naked for too long. They might get chilly. *vbg*

LOL I've lost earrings before, but I can't ever remember it coming as such a surprise before. :-P Because I tend to have a lot of trouble with my piercings, I try to keep posts in my ears at all times. But just yesterday, I happened to reach up & discover that one of them was missing. Very weird. I didn't feel it come loose & I didn't hear anything ping to the floor, the way I usually do.

So now I guess I shouldn't vacuum for a while--yeah, like there was a big risk of that to begin with LOL--until I either find the darn thing or decide it's gone with the wind. And even though I really liked these earrings...they were tiny little sea turtles...I can always pick up another pair at Wal-Mart. It's not like they were valuable or family heirlooms. Of course, if a cat swallows it, then I'll certainly be in trouble.

In other news, I've been biking again. The Sears repairman came on Friday, & a miracle occurred...he actually had a replacement pedal in his van. I couldn't believe it. Even when he went out to get it & said he thought he had one, but it might not work, I was certain it wouldn't work. I mean, when have I ever been that lucky? The answer, apparently, is Friday. *g* He put the new pedal on & the bike is good as new. (Knock on wood.) I keep having this panicked sensation that I can feel the pedal coming loose again, but so far, it seems to be holding. Yay!

This repairman was smart, too. He said he's going to order a couple of extra pedals & have them sent to me. Then I can hang on to them, & the next time one of my pedals flies off, all I have to do is have someone come out & put a new one on without waiting the extra time for parts to arrive & all that. Very bright. :-) Of course, what do you want to bet the next thing that goes wrong will have nothing to do with the pedals? LOL

That's about all going on here. The weather is getting cold again after a very brief warm-up early last week, & we've gotten some snow & ice. But since I'm staying inside to write, I really don't care. :-D


Currently reading the Mysteria anthology & Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich

I got a very interesting phone call last night. Turns out MR. AND MISTRESS has finaled for the Southern Magic "Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence."

How cool is that?!? I knew Cullen & Misty were good folk. :-D

And then a friend e-mailed the complete list of finalists for the Short Contemporary category when she saw it & told me she thinks they're listed in order of scoring, from highest to lowest. I don't know if that's true, but mine is at the top, so if it is, that could be very good news. *g* Doesn't mean I'll win, but it would still be neat. And as always, it's an honor just to be nominated. :-D

Ah, yes, it's that time of year again. Time to get the taxes done so we don't miss the IRS's April 15th deadline. Fun, fun.

So I spent the weekend gathering & organizing my receipts, then adding up numbers until my eyes crossed. Blech! And I spent Monday making sure I had everything together & done properly, & meeting with my tax guy. Boy, I sure hope his math skills are better then mine.

Then on Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment, so this is about the first time I've been home & able to get to the computer in several days. You'll be excited to know that the time away produced absolutely no interesting stories or happenings. :-p

This morning, however, as I was finishing up my time on the exercise bike, I started to notice the left pedal feeling funny. Yes, the left pedal again & the same "mushy" feeling as all the other times I've had problems with the darn thing. Not quite wobbling, not quite loose, but almost as though the pedal was angled a bit, where it hadn't been a few minutes before.

Part of me thought, "Uh-oh, here we go again," & another part of me thought I was just imagining things. But I never imagine things, not really. LOL Two seconds later, the pedal went flying off, the handlebar just about cracked me in the face, & that was the end of my biking excursion for the day.

&^%$#@!

Thankfully, I was nearly done, anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal. However, this now means my bike will be out of commission for God knows how long. Called Sears & they're sending a guy out on Friday--way sooner than I expected, frankly--but that's only to look at it. He'll then need to order parts, I'm sure, & won't be able to come back to actually fix the thing until those arrive. Oh, yeah, I am ever so familiar with the routine; I've done this--what?--a dozen times before? So many, in fact, that the man I talked to mentioned that I may have a bit of a lemon on my hands & might want to put the replacement clause from my repair agreement into effect.

That made me laugh, because usually companies try to talk you out of demanding a replacement. But I love my bike, I really do. When it's working properly, that is. And I'm not sure I'd be able to find another one that I'd like as much. Still, I agree with the guy that it may be time to start looking. I mean, really, how hard is it for a bike to keep its pedals on? It's not like I'm riding it up & down mountains or something! :-P

So that's this week's crisis. You know I've got to have one or I wouldn't know what to do with myself. LOL And until the bike is fixed, I guess it's back to Tae Bo or the treadmill for me.

Wanna know the worst part, though? I'm going to miss catching up on a lot of television shows that I record just to watch while I'm biking. Pfffft.

I can't believe it, but I finally finished Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince last night!

Whew, I thought I'd never get through the darn thing. LOL It was a good story, don't get me wrong, but I'm a slow reader & it was a very, very looooooong book. It also weighed a ton, so every time I picked it up, it was like working out. :-P

Can't say I'm happy about what happened at the end, either. I won't use any spoilers, even though I'm pretty sure the whole world has already read it. But I'm bummed & I think what happened was just plain wrong. So there!

The seventh & final book is coming in July, & I'm sure I'll think about reading it then. But chances are I'll wait a year or two before diving in. I like to keep up with my reputation of always being perpetually behind the curve. *vbg*

Happy Valentine's Day!

The most romantic day of the year, right? Hope that's holding true for all of my most deserving readers. :-D

I got a very nice surprise in the mail yesterday from Harlequin/Silhouette, & I've decided to pass it on to you, if any of you are interested.

Harlequin sent me a packet of Valentine's coupons worth $1.00 any Harlequin or Silhouette title through the month of February. (Yes, I realize the month is almost over, but there's still time to put them to good use.)

And since it just happens that I have a book out this month--hint, hint--that you could use the coupon on--hint, hint--I will happily send one of these coupons to anyone who sends me a self-addressed stamped envelope before the end of the month.

If you're interested, simply send your SASE to: Heidi Betts, P.O. Box 99, Kylertown, PA 16847 & I'll get the coupon back to you as quickly as I can.

Happy shopping, happy reading, & Happy Valentine's Day!

Talk about a big mail day. :-D

All three of these foreign editions arrived in the mail today--WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN translated into Italian (far left), Japanese (middle), & Greek (far right). Only the Japanese version got to keep the original cover art. Isn't that strange?

It's very cool to get all these different editions, but I have to admit I'm running out of space on my bookshelf, where I keep a single copy of each of my books...& a single copy of each extra version of those books that comes out. Yikes! Pretty soon, I'll either have to clear off another shelf or find someplace else to display them. 'Cuz I sure never get tired of receiving these nifty foreign copies. They're too much fun! *g*


Currently watching Valiant
Currently reading Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

I'm in the process of designing a new bookmark. This one will be for both my sexy beach novella, SHAKEN AND STIRRED, due out in June, & my November Silhouette Desire, CHRISTMAS IN HIS ROYAL BED.

That's quite a span of time to cover--not to mention two diametrically different stories, at least as far as settings go LOL--so we've had to get a little creative.

Here's a link to the sample: http://www.earthlycharms.com/sample1.htm, though keep in mind that it's a very rough, first draft design. I happen to love it, but that doesn't mean it still won't get changed. :-p

I also plan to change some of the text that's on this version. Instead of my usual tag line of "Passionate, sexy love stories...romance at its best!" I'd like to do something more oriented to these particular titles, & this particular bookmark. Like, "Whatever the season, Heidi Betts has a story for you!" I'm open to suggestions for that, too. I need something really short & catchy, & I'd like it to refer to the two different seasons these stories will cover--one summer/beach, one winter/Christmas.

But other than that, what do you think? :-D

How many of you have gotten your March issues of Romantic Times? (I did! I did!)

And how many of you haven't been able to stop smiling since? (Okay, probably just me. *g*)

Yes, I am extremely excited to announced that SEVEN-YEAR SEDUCTION has been nominated for Best Silhouette Desire of 2006. Wow, how cool is that?!?

The sad part is that I won't be able to attend the RT conference, where the winners will be announced. I'm already signed up to attend a different conference the very same weekend. Phoey! Not that I expect to win, but it would still be nice to be there, just for the heck of it.

Still--weeeeeee! I'm very happy, very excited, & I think Connor & Beth deserve this little nod. I liked them. :-)

Believe it or not, it's time to start signing up for the Romance Writers of America National Conference already, even though it's not held until July. I attend every year that I can, & I always try to register early so I can be sure to get in, get a hotel room, etc.

This year, however, I had a minor panic attack when I realized that the confernce date had been moved up by two weeks--from the end of July to the middle. Now, I don't really care when they hold the conference, except that the middle of the month is when my mother & I take our annual trek to the Hundred-Mile Yard Sale that's held in our area. (Remember last year, when the car died fifty miles in? Oy. But we're not quitters; a little mishap like that would never keep us from going out again!)

I realize it sounds terrible, but when I looked at the calendar & discovered that the conference might fall on the same week as the yard sale...well, I hate to admit it, but there was no contest. The yard sale won by a landslide. I can always go to the conference next year, but I can't live with the prospect of not knowing what kind of crap I might miss if I don't go on the yard sale. Aaack!

Still, I was kind of hoping there would be some way I could do both. (Ever the optimist, that's me...unless I'm in an Eeyore kind of mood.) So I got online & started searching for information about the yard sale, hoping to find an official date for which weekend it would be held this year. Not much luck there, I'm sorry to say. But I did find a bunch of phone numbers that you could call to get more information on last year's sale.

That was good enough for me. *vbg* I started calling them one by one. Three were disconnected. Two were busy. And one rang & rang, but no one answered. I kept calling the two that had been busy signals, & finally someone picked up. I'm sure the woman thought I was off my rocker, but it turned out she was involved in the planning of the event & she did have the dates for this year's sale. (Yippee!) She just didn't have them at the moment. (Doh!)

So I called her back a couple hours later & she had her calendar ready, with the dates clearly marked. She swore to me that the yard sale is the weekend after RWA, & I am trusting her. (She'd better be right or bad things will happen. I'm not saying what, but "wrath of God" is a term that's been bandied about.)

That's when I felt (semi-) confident enough to go ahead & register for the conference. It's in Dallas again this year, which I'm not all that keen on. I mean, we were just there, & it's hot & kind of boring. Then again, I don't usually give much thought to where they're held...it's just another hotel to me, since I rarely get out to do any sightseeing, anyway. :-p

Took me all darn day to register for the conference, register for the hotel, & purchase plane tickets. Ugh. But I'm signed up now & ready to go. And I even think I'm signing at the Literacy Autographing, which I told myself I was going to skip for a change. :-P

But, hey, HEAT WAVE will be brand new that month, & Stephanie, Leslie, & I will all likely be there, so it could be kind of cool for readers to have their copies of the anthology signed by all three of us. If you're there, come over to say hi & get your copy of HEAT WAVE signed. (Even if you buy it from one of the other authors first. *g*)

Oh, my God, it's awful. I am--in the words of Ned Flanders--a mur-diddly-erdler.

It's been really, really cold here in Pennsylvania, as I'm sure you all know. Frigid is a good word for it...& possibly an understatement. And I've mentioned before how very cold my office gets, right? So rather than have the furnace running almost constantly in a futile attempt to heat the office, I've been running my new space heaters during the day when I'm in here, then closing the door at night to keep the cold air out of the rest of the house.

Yes, I realize this is a risk. I'm terribly frightened that I'm going to end up killing my computer or some other piece of vital, expensive electronics. (Eeek.) But I just cannot stand hearing the furnace run constantly & knowing all that heat is just going out the window, almost literally. :-p

The first night I did this, I came out the next morning to find that the glass of tea I'd left on my desk was a solid block of ice. So, you know, it hadn't gotten too cold. LOL And it took about an hour of the heaters running warm things up again.

But the one thing I didn't consider...never even thought of...was my plants. Two of them sitting on a table by the window. Sheesh! The only reason I even noticed them today was that a cat jumped up on that table & when I happened to glance over at him, I noticed the dead, limp bodies of my bamboo & spider plants. I killed them. I killed them good.

Frankly, I should never be allowed near a plant. I don't just have black thumbs, I have black hands. Give me a sick animal & I'll nurse him back to health like a trained professional. Give me a plant & I can kill it overnight. I only even have the few that are hanging on for dear life because they say plants are a great way to keep the air clean, filter out toxins. Unfortunately, I don't think they do such a good job of that if they're tortured & left for dead.

Oh, my God, I feel awful. I would never, ever have done this on purpose. I even have them on life support now, pretending I actually believe there's a chance they'll survive, but it's not looking good. :-P

Oy. Another sad casualty of the frigid temperatures sweeping across the Northeast. May they rest in peace. :-(

I did a little interview & answered a few questions, which was a lot of fun. I hope you'll take the time to drop in & read it...then let me know if you have any additional questions. Maybe I can answer them next time around. :-)

You can visit the Desire Authors site at www.DesireAuthors.com, or go directly to the Author Spotlight by clicking here.

Okay, it's officially February, which means that BLACKMAILED INTO BED (Silhouette Desire #1779) should officially begin showing up at any moment.

Start watching for it at Borders, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, even your local grocery store. Wherever books are sold, hopefully you'll see a copy of BLACKMAILED INTO BED. :-D (I'm certainly going to be looking for it. *g*)

So let me know when you see it, okay? I'm always curious to know where books are showing up, & how early in the month.

And even more, let me know what you think once you've had a chance to read Chase's & Elena's story. I hope to heck you like it!