heidi's blog

Today was our community yard sale, so of course I had to bop around & see what everyone had. I should have cleaned the house & had one of my own, but I'm either too busy or too lazy. Maybe next year.

Although it was a little warm & I'm not a fan of being out in the sun for too long, I put on my big, floppy hat & walked around & around. It was fun. Didn't find a whole lot, but then, I don't really need anything. :-p

I did find a couple of new monkeys to add to the collection, though. (Gads, I'm not supposed to have a collection. I didn't set out to have a collection. I don't need another collection!)

The first (on the left, though it's not a very clear picture) is a little wall sconce/votive holder. Kind of peculiar-looking, but cute, too, & he was only a dime. :-) I already hung him on my office wall. Whether or not I'll actually burn candles in him is a different story. What if he falls down? What if a cat knocks him over? What if I light a candle, then walk away & the whole house burns down? So we'll see. I may give him a test run & see how it works out.

The second is one of those stuffed monkeys with velcro on his hands so it can hang around your neck. I've got about six of these now...& don't need a single one of them. But they're cute & I like them, so I'm keeping them. So there! I actually hung this one on the front of my exercise bike...mostly just to get him out of the way for a while, but it turns out he looks really cute there, so I may leave him. We'll see how that works out after the next time I use my bike. Don't know if he'll flap around & drive me nuts or keep me from sticking a bottle of water in the holder or what. Again, we'll see. :-)

Oh, & I found a little set of frogs to add to that collection. (Not looking. Not trying to collect. These things just keep falling into my lap & I don't have the will to resist them!)


So that was my day, & now that I'm home, I need to get back to writing. Oh, & finding some clothes that seem to be MIA so I can start lining up my outfits & packing for RWA. :-p

I can't believe it's Friday again already. Where the heck does the time go?

I've been writing like crazy, getting pages & pages done on my first single title for St. Martin's Press. I am so excited about this book, having a fabulous time, & can only hope that everything I'm doing now makes sense in the end when the whole book is finished. :-p

I've also been working closely this past week or so with my web designer on the redesign of my website. Yes, I know I've been talking about it for quite a while, but we're coming down to the wire now, I swear. We're hoping to have the new site go live over the weekend or early next week. I definitely want it up before I leave for the RWA National conference in Dallas because I'll be handing out little cards to promote my blog & mailing list there & I don't want folks to get home with them, try to check the new site, & go, Huh?

It's all going to be gorgeous, that's for sure. Yeah, there will probably be some bugs to work out, & since we're moving my blog from Blogger to WordPress, it will definitely take me a while to get the hang of the new layout & functions. But bear with me & I promise we'll have some fun. (Wait until you see! He he he he. :-D)

And last but not least, I've been watching some movies. (I can watch & write at the same time, thankyouverymuch.) Watched the end of Sahara, which I'd actually started quite some time ago...didn't love it, but watching Matthew McConaughey is never a hardship; The Cave, which I expected to be bad, but actually enjoyed...it's one of those dark, eerie, almost B-movie horror flicks; & The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which was also better than I expected...that one I thought was going to be a horror flick, but it ended up being more of a courtroom drama-type thing.

Oh, & I'm also working on the galleys of my November Silhouette Desire, CHRISTMAS IN HIS ROYAL BED, going through the story one last time for typos & the like before it goes to press. Hopefully I can catch them all this time, since I've been getting letters about a name snafu in FORTUNE'S FORBIDDEN WOMAN. Did you know that at one point (I want to say on page 34 or 35, but I'm not sure) the hero's name changes from Creed to Chase, then back again? LOL Don't know if it was a typo or a mental thing (since Chase is the name of my hero from the previous book, BLACKMAILED INTO BED), but there it was. I never caught it, & apparently no one else did, either...at least not until the story reached readers. :-P

But what can you do? I guess the good news is that it didn't ruin the book for anyone, & everybody seems to have caught on quickly enough. I have such smart readers. *g*

Or are Australian movies a big snooze?

All right, I admit I've only watched two, but both of them made me want to go to sleep.

First, it was Open Water. Two hours of watching these people bob up & down & be circled by sharks. No real storyline, & by the end, I found myself praying for the sharks to just eat them already so I could delete the movie from my DVR & go to bed.

Then I watched (just this week) Wolf Creek, & it's just as bad. An hour into it, all the main characters have done is party, drive, & hike. B-O-R-I-N-G. I wanted them to get to the part where the crazy guy torments them, already! Now, I admit that when that finally started, the movie picked up...a bit. I was almost interested.

But then the end! Of both movies! Again, is it just me, or are all Australian movies completely open-ended & sort of...it might have happened this way or it might have happened another, we really don't know. Grrrrr.

At the end of Open Water, we're led to believe the sharks ate them & that was it. But then they say maybe it didn't happen that way; some people think they saw this couple wandering around after the supposed event.

And at the end of Wolf Creek, they say the bodies were never found, no sign of violence was found, & the man suspected of all these horrible things was released for lack of evidence. Excuse me? I just spent two hours of my life watching a movie "based on true events" only to discover that it was mostly based on conjecture?!?

So has anyone seen any Australian movies that are actually really good & both get to the point sooner & wrap up better than these two?

As for me, I think I'll go back to plain old made-up American movies, thankyouverymuch. A nice romantic comedy, maybe. :-P

Patti Fischer of Romance Reviews Today e-mailed me this morning to let me know they're giving away a copy of the HEAT WAVE anthology at their blog this week. How nice!

The contest runs until Wednesday night, so run on over & enter if you'd like to win. :-D

Good luck!

Or does that Fancy Feast commercial where they show you the grilled salmon being prepared make you hungry?!?

The first time I saw it, I perked up in rapt attention, waiting to see what restaurant was running that dish as its current special. I was ready to run out & eat there, then was totally devastated when it turned out to be a cat food commercial. Pfffft.

And even though I now know it's a cat food commercial, it still throws me off in the beginning. I sit up & go, "Yum," then sit back & think, "Wait. Is this that Fancy Feast commercial again?" Darn it!

It makes me hungry ever time. :-p

I'm home, & rather than keep you in suspense, the winner of the Sherrilyn Kenyon Born to Be BAD book giveaway is...


Congrats, Bonia! Hope you actually have time to read it, what with a sick baby & all. But e-mail me with your mailing address & I'll send it out. :-D

So the reason I wasn't home yesterday is because I volunteered to help set up for the local AAUW (American Association of University Women) book sale. This is the first time I've ever done it because my mother just joined & members were allowed to bring friends & family members to help. Well, let me tell you, I can understand why! My goodness, is that a lot of work.

First, it was hot. Just before I left, it got cold & rained, so I changed from shorts into jeans. Big mistake. By the time I got there, it was hot again, & by the time we got to work, I pretty much wanted to strip out of my pants & run around in my underoos. The building we were in was air conditioned, but either A.) they didn't have it on, or B.) even if they did, it didn't make a difference because the doors were open to haul in all the books. So we were sweating & huffing & praying for a cold front to move in.

Second, there were a lot of boxes of books. We must have unloaded five or six truckloads, then we had to haul them into the building & to the correct tables, set them up, & sort them. Thankfully, they were mostly sorted already. Those university women are smart; they sort them bit by bit as the donations come in so it's less work before the actual sale.

I have to tell you, though, I had a blast. It's sad & pathetic, probably, but I actually enjoy that sort of thing. Since my house is full of boxes of books very similar to all of that, I was in my element. LOL Other folks were complaining or looking at it as work & I was like, "Are there any more? You mean we have to leave already?" Needless to say, the lady in charge told me she's putting me at the top of the list to help out again next year. I guess the unloading is the part they have the most trouble finding volunteers for, since it really is a lot of hard, heavy, sweaty work. But I was thanking her profusely for letting me help, so she's either delighted to have found me or maybe thinks I was smoking something in the parking lot before going in. *vbg*

Also yesterday, I hit a couple of yard sales. It was one of those "third time's a charm" thing, because the first two were uneventful, but the last was very productive. I found a couple of tops, a winter coat, & a ring. Now, I paid $40 for the ring, but you'll never believe this...it's 10K white gold with real diamonds. (Not big diamonds, mind you, but real ones.) At least that's what the little girl running the yard sale with her grandmother said.

Would I have simply taken her word for it? Give me a little more credit than that. *g* I actually didn't believe the diamonds were real at first, but I looked inside the band expecting to find that .925 stamp that verifies sterling silver. Instead, I found a stamp verifying it as 10k gold. And they wouldn't put fake diamonds in a real gold band, would they?

So I thought it was worth the risk, & the next step will be to take it to the jeweler & ask them to check it out. I'm expecting good things & it really is pretty. I'm wearing it now & will probably wear it at the RWA conference next month. If you're there, stop me & ask if I'm wearing my yard sale ring. :-D

Since I may not be around much tomorrow, & the weekend may be busy, as well, I'm posting this a bit early.

I'm giving away a copy of Born to be BAD by one of my favorite people (& yours, too, I'll bet), Sherrilyn Kenyon. (Not a very good image, unfortunately, but I know you'll know what book I'm talking about.)

Everybody who posts from now until I get the chance to check back will be entered, so chat amongst yourselves, invite your friends over, spread the word.

Then have a great weekend & good luck! :-D

"We're all just five seconds from being ugly." That's what the Ugly Betty star (America Ferrara, is that her name? I don't watch the show, so I'm not sure.) just told Ellen on The Ellen Degeneres Show after Ellen threw on a wig, glasses, & some fake teeth--in under five seconds, of course--to look like Ugly Betty. Too funny. I totally agree, too. There are some days it doesn't even take that long...I just roll out of bed & aaaaaagh! *vbg*

Anyway, I've been busy. The last two days, I was bitten by the cleaning bug. Don't ask me why; it definitely doesn't happen very often. But once in a while, ya gotta do something about the clutter & dust bunnies. The only problem around here is that the new little one, Tigger, is petrified of the vacuum cleaner. Not just afraid like the others, but petrified. So you know what that means...no more vacuum cleaner usage. Nope, never. That thing can go in a yard sale. What I've tried instead & found to be a decent replacement is a DustBuster & iRobot Roomba for Pets.

The Roomba is just nifty. (I named mine Robbie. *g*) I've been hearing about these things for a while now, of course, but never thought I'd have need of one. That is, until Tigger made me begin to research quieter vacuuming sources. And it is. It's still noisy, but not as noisy--about the same as a DustBuster, I'd say--& Tigger doesn't seem to be nearly as afraid of it. He leaves the room until it's finished running, but then comes right back out; whereas with the vacuum cleaner, he hid in deepest, darkest corner of the basement & wouldn't come out for at least a full day. Poor baby. And it does pick up just about everything. I got the Roomba for Pets version because I wanted it to pick up stray litter & copious amounts of fur. LOL Which it does, thank goodness. Yay!

The only down side is that--if you want it to do a thorough job--you pretty much have to move everything out of the room before you let it run. It can go around things, but the more junk it has to bump into, the less area it gets clean. Once you get that done, though, it is nifty to be able to turn it on & walk away, doing other things while you hear the vacuum cleaning the house on its own. :-D

In addition to the Spring...er, Summer...cleaning bug, I've been writing, writing, writing. I'm having a blast with my first single title for St. Martin's Press, & it's coming along really well. Yay!

And since I don't want to lose that momentum, I'd better get back to it. Have a great day!


Currently watching Four Brothers
Currently reading Murphy's Law by Lori Foster

Okay, you know about my beloved "Saving the World One Kitty at a Time" Mutts pajama top, right? The one I searched heaven & earth for. The one I adore more than life itself.

Well, disaster struck. Do not even ask me how this happened, but a banana is to blame. Yes, a banana. I don't like over-ripe bananas...once they start getting brown spots & turn soft, they're icky & must go in the compost pile or be made into banana bread, so I try to always buy the greenest bananas I can find, giving them a longer shelf life in my house. This plan has always worked for me...until I ran across The Bananas That Would Not Ripen. Yes, they actually exist. I bought a bunch of new, very green bananas, thinking nothing of it, but damned if those stupid things never, ever turned yellow. I did try to eat them, anyway, though. I mean, I like a nice, firm banana, so I wasn't worried about them being underripe.

The problem occurred when I got tired of waiting & decided to try one...wearing my very special, unique, priceless "Saving the World One Kitty at a Time" tee, of course. &^%$#! Don't ask me what it was about this banana, but the thing started seeping & dripping & leaking all over me. This sticky, gooey stuff, too. I still didn't think much of it; I figured whatever it was would come out. But it didn't! Even though I tried to get it out right away, it turned brown & hard & would not come out! Aack! I tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked. And when I sprayed the stains again, then threw the shirt in the washer...oh, merciful heaven...not only did the ghastly stains remain, but the entire shirt turned splotchy, leaving it partly blue, partly white, & partly pink. (Pink? Why pink? There was no pink on the shirt or in the washer!)

I just about died. I was a basket case. My favorite shirt! My irreplaceable shirt! After a few deep breaths, I calmed down enough to decide that I could fix this...I would simply spend the rest of my life searching for a replacement shirt, no matter how long it took, no matter how much it cost, no matter how many mountains I had to climb or oceans I had to swim.

And--almost immediately, believe it or not--at the Mutts Comics website, I discovered that these beautiful shirts have been brought back by popular demand. Oh, joy! Oh, rapture! Not only that, but they're available in actual t-shirts now, rather than just sleep tops. (Although, I have to admit, I prefer the sleep tops...they're a softer material & less boxy.) So I ordered three, of course. Then I also ordered a matching mug...cuz it was adorable & you can never have enough mugs or enough things with that saying on them! It's my favorite. :-D

So if you love these shirts as much as I do, rush over there & order some before they disappear again. But don't order too many...I don't want them to run out in case I need more back-up tees. Eeek. (Do you think twelve or eighteen would tide me over for a while?)

What do Eskimoes get from sitting on the ice too long?

Polaroids.


What did the fish say when he ran into the brick wall?

Dam.


Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
(Doesn't take much to amuse me, does it? *g*)

These are my new slippers...giant gorilla heads.

Half the time I look at them & think they're adorable. (That would be why I bought them, after all.) But the other half, I look at them & get a little creeped out. I mistake them for my black cat, Nicholas, & once I turned around, saw them lying on a chair, & jumped because I didn't know what they were. :-P

I haven't actually worn them much yet, either, because it's been so warm & these are more winter slippers. But my foot goes straight into the gorillas' mouths, which is also kind of creepy. When I put them on, it basically looks like a monkey is eating me from the bottom up. LOL

So what do you think? Did I make a smart decision by buying a pair of cute, unique slippers that will keep my footsies warm in the winter? Or did I make a huge mistake by buying a pair of slippers that are going to look weird & scare small children & animals? *vbg*

Or is Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" written from a dog's point of view?

Seriously, I was listening to this song the other day & it suddenly occurred to me that I think it's a dog's song. I mean, they sing about chasing cars (do you know of anyone else but a dog who does this?), lying there & watching the world go by, & will you lie with me & watch the world go by?, etc. Sounds like a dog's life to me!

Next time you hear it, listen to the lyrics & let me know what you think. Because now whenever it comes on the radio, I immediately think, "Hey, it's the dog song."

I can only recall one other song that I do this with. It's the Gin Blossoms's "Till I Hear it From You," which I call The Denial Song. You know, because the guy's friends are all telling him his relationship is over, but he just shakes his head--or buries it in the sand, as the case may be--& says, Nope, I'm not gonna believe them, I'm gonna wait until you tell me it's over, even though there's all this questionable stuff going on. La-la-la-la-la.

So am I the only one who thinks this way, or are there songs out there that you find amusing & think of in ways that the artist probably didn't intend? :-p


Currently watching Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
Currently reading Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton

Okay, so it's not a feature or book review, but I'll take it!

I recently did an interview with DearAuthor.com, & unbeknownst to me, USA Today picked it up for their website. (Go read it, go read it!)

How cool is that?!?

Yes, I admit that if I'd known such a thing was even possible, I probably would have thought through my responses a little more. Then again, I might have been so nervous, I wouldn't have been able to form a single sensible answer. LOL So maybe it was better this way.

I think Dear Author did a terrific job, & they were super-great to work with. I thank them very much for the opportunity & the added exposure. Thanks, Ja(y)nes! :-)

And it certainly gave me a little weeee for the day. :-D

Exciting news. FORTUNE'S FORBIDDEN WOMAN must be in stores now, because it is currently #2 on the Borders Series Romance Bestsellers List!

Yippee!

And it would probably be number one if it weren't for that darn fabulous "Raintree" trilogy from Nocturne. Blast those brilliant women! (Linda Winstead Jones, whose Raintree: Haunted is at #1, is actually a good friend of mine, so A.) I'm allowed to gripe about her, & B.) she totally deserves it!)

Besides, there's always next week, right? Everybody concentrate hard & maybe FORTUNE'S FORBIDDEN WOMAN will move up to the top spot. *g*

Also related to FORTUNE'S FORBIDDEN WOMAN, at this very moment I am trying to learn how to use Microsoft Office Publisher to design & create postcards, which I try to mail to readers who don't have internet access & aren't signed up for my e-mail Mailing List. (Which, of course, all of you are, right? Right? :-))

I have Print Shop, too, & had been using that. But lately, it's been giving me fits & I just couldn't stand it anymore. It was printing off the page, or too much on the page, & just not holding the format I needed. I didn't know what the heck the problem was, & since I'd used MS Publisher in the past & like it, I figured I'd give it another shot.

I am happy to say that so far, it's working well. Recreating the postcard I'd already designed in Print Shop was much easier than I expected, & they're printing now, with no problems. Yay! One annoyance is that I can't figure out how to print more than one page at a time...same thing happened with Print Shop...but if that's the only problem I encounter, I'll be a happy camper.

So that is what I'm up to today, even though I should be writing. But the sooner I get these in the mail, the better.

Now go. Buy. Read. And then let me know what you think of Creed's & Maya's story. :-D

You're heard of T&A, right? Yes, that T&A.

So I was getting my passport photo taken yesterday (for a reason that's a story for another day :-p) & of course I was fixing my hair & putting on a little lipstick. Not sure why, the picture still didn't turn out all that great. But, anyway, I joked with the lady taking the photo that I didn't want to be slouching, so I should stand up straight & stick my boobs out. (Hey, they're not much, but they're mine, & they deserve to be in the photo. After all, they'll be traveling with me, as well. *g*)

And she told me that the instructor for a dance class she's been taking likes to call out, "T&T, ladies! T&T!" Which means "Tits & Teeth," & is a reminder for the female students to use both to their full potential.

LOL I just think that is too cute, & I'm going to remember it in the future if I ever take a dance class, or just for the next time I have my picture taken.

T&T, ladies! T&T!

Our very own Jennifer was kind enough to invite me to do an interview at her blog, "Jennifer's Random Musings," & it was just posted this morning. Weeee!

It's mostly about my June Silhouette Desire release, FORTUNE'S FORBIDDEN WOMAN--which should start showing up in stores any day now...aaaaagh!!!!--but there's a little bit in there about me & the idiosyncrasies that make me so very special. (And yes, I mean "special" in that way. *vbg*)

So pop on over to Jennifer's blog & read all about it!

And, because Jennifer is a complete sweetheart & none of my checks to her have bounced yet, she's also letting me do a guest blog next month for the release of my very first anthology, HEAT WAVE. I'll let you know when that one's up & we can get all hot & bothered together. :-)

Discovered this quote today & loved it, so I couldn't resist posting...

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her."
~Ellen DeGeneres

I knew there was a reason I liked her so much! :-D

Do new contracts qualify for a Snoopy Dance? New sales, definitely, but I'm not sure about receiving the actual contracts. After all, those require work. Then again, they also solidify a new deal, so there should probably be a celebration of some kind. If not Snoopy, how about a Woodstock Dance? :-)

The contracts for my new aggreement with St. Martin's Press arrived today. Now, this is technically a three-book deal, which usually means I'd get one contract covering all the details of all three books in the offer. But this time, for some reason I have yet to understand, St. Martin's decided to put each of the three books on a separate contract & to send those contracts in quadruplicate rather than triplicate.

Oooh, this big, wild single title world really is different. LOL

I glanced through them as soon as they arrived, of course--curiosity just would not allow me to ignore them--but after about three pages, my eyes began to cross. That's pretty typical of contracts, too. I have to be in the right mood & the right frame of mind to sit down & really read over them word for word. Until I'm ready for them, it tends to all be just gobbledygook. I recognize my name & the tentative book titles, & that's about it. :-p

But this is exciting. It's good to have the actual paperwork in front of me & know that I haven't been imagining things up to this point. Now I just have to get the books written so St. Martin's doesn't think they make a huge, colossal mistake in acquiring me to begin with. Eeek.

This seemed appropriate for a Sunday. (Or maybe "blasphemous" is a better word. LOL)

"The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. This doesn't mean God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision."
~Lynn Larner

Today seemed like a good day to draw names for the three Silhouette Desire titles I'm currently giving away...Bunking Down with the Boss by Charlene Sands, Bending to the Bachelor's Will by Emilie Rose, & The Bought-and-Paid-For Wife by Bronwyn Jameson.

And the winners are:

I just registered for the New Jersey Romance Writers' conference in October, & even though it's a ways off, I'm very excited because my new editor at St. Martin's is going to be there. As soon as I saw her name on the list of attending agents & editors, I dropped her a note saying Weeeeee! & asking if she wanted to get together. She said of course, so even though I'll also be getting together with her at RWA National in July, I'm already looking forward to my second meeting with her. I'm guessing the one at NJRW will be a little more lengthy & relaxed, since it's a smaller conference & neither of us will be quite as busy as we tend to be at National.

I'm also working on a new business card design. It's taking forever because I keep changing my mind & tweaking things, but I'm hoping to have them in time for the RWA conference. Here's a sneak peek:


What do you think? I love it, personally. (Okay, love, love, love.) The only part that's been giving me fits is deciding on which colors to use where. Is the border to light? Too dark? Does it blend too much & take away from the woman's hair? That sort of thing.

I become completely OCD when it comes to designs for promo stuff like this because once the order is sent to the printer, that's it. There are no more do-overs or touching the doorknob fifty-two times. And who wants to be stuck with 500 or 1000 cards or bookmarks that have a mistake on them or that you thought you'd love but suddenly hate all because you wish you'd used a different shade of brown?

Oh, my god, the pressure!

That won't be the case here, though. These things are going to be gorgeous...as soon as I work up the courage to finally okay the final design & send the order to the printer's. :-p