I’m currently reading Every Night I’m Yours from fellow Bradford-ee Christie Kelley and I am highly entertained! I wanted a historical, saw Christie’s on Laura’s site, and so I decided to get it. I mean, after all, Laura likes my writing, right? So, she must have good taste. Heh.

You should check this book out. It’s a fun book. I love when she calls him a beast. 

Here’s the blurb:

A WOMAN YEARNING FOR A TASTE OF THE FORBIDDEN…

At twenty-six, aspiring novelist Avis Copley intends to wear spinsterhood as a badge of honor. But when she discovers a volume of erotica that ignites a searing fire within her, Avis realizes just how much she doesn’t know about the actual pleasures of the flesh. Determined to learn more, she devises a daring plan…

A MAN READY TO TEACH HER MUCH, MUCH MORE…

Avis chooses Emory Billingsworth, a fellow novelist-not to mention a beautiful specimen of manhood-to instruct her in carnal pleasure. But when the brash earl of Selby, Banning Talbot, a man she has known for years, unearths Avis’ true intentions, he claims she’s made a dangerously bad choice. Volunteering his services for one wicked night of reckless, abandoned passion, Banning promises he will satisfy all of her deepest longings. Yet Banning cannot begin to imagine the effect his willful, voluptuous, and very eager student will have on him-or how far an innocent lesson in desire can go…

Rock on Christie Kelley! :rockon:  :rockon4: 

This is only a test. :-)

I must give a huge shout out of congrats to gal pal Ann Aguirre who not only made the Locus Bestseller List with the ever magnificent Grimspace, but she also got a fabulous author quote from Patricia Briggs! You read the quote on Ann’s blog. Rock on with your bad self, Ann! Woo hoo!

I went to see Sex & The City this weekend. Remember when I talked about Movie Theater vs. DVD? And how I said I rarely go to the theater unless there is a movie that is a must see for me? Well, this is a must see movie for me. I love Carrie and the girls. They always have a good time. From the previews it looked like a lot of fluff, but it ended up being way more than that. The movie itself was over 2 hours long and each and every minute of it fan-freaking-tastic!!! I would love to go see it again, that’s how great it was. But instead I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD and it will be added to my collection and watched TONS. If you watched the series while it was on HBO, I really, really encourage you to go see this movie. It really is worth the money. You can watch multiple trailers here.

Will you go see it? Are there any movies coming out that you have seen or are dying to see?

I’ve never received one as I’m not published, and I imagine they hurt like nothing else, but what do you do when you get one? Do you go and try to defend your writing? Trying to get the reviewer to understand where you are coming from? Do you respond and thank them for their review? Do you just ignore it?

I personally think option #2 (thanking the reviewer) is the classy way to handle things. You could ignore it and that would be acceptable as well. But option #1? SO WRONG. Everyone has a right to their opinion even if it reflects negatively on your work–your writing–that you spent long hours sweating and slaving over a keyboard to create. Why is this wrong? It makes you look stupid for one, unprofessional for another, and readers/reviewers generally have a field day with this sort of behavior. Getting a reputation for being defensive of your work will stay with you for a long, long time…if it ever goes away. I’ve seen it happen more than once. It isn’t pretty.

I was thinking about it and this is the only fair comparison I can think of. It would be like getting a rejection from a publisher and then corresponding back and trying to defend your book to them, because in essence isn’t the publisher in their own way giving you a review of the book? Maybe not as thorough but it’s a review nonetheless. If you were to argue your points to the editors/publishers/agents, just how long do you think you’d last in this business? Not very would be my guess.

In the same manner, if you argue your point to reviewers/readers, just how long do you think they’ll buy your books, thus keeping you in this business? Same answer–not very long would be my guess.

What are your thoughts?

“I have nothing but respect for people who write books, whether they write literary fiction, genre fiction, nonfiction, whatever. If you’ve finished a book, even a bad book, then you’ve achieved something that’s akin to finishing basic training, or perhaps running a gauntlet. After a certain level of competence, publishing is luck, and success, especially financial success, is even more luck. There are many writers who are better than I am who are not selling as many books as I am, on the other hand, there are many whom ( I think) don’t write as well as I do, who are selling many, many more books than I am. The yardstick you have to go by, in my opinion anyway, is are they doing the work? The more books I write, the more reverence I have for people who write books.”  Christopher Moore

more cat pictures

The season where the TV shows are new. Le sigh. Now we’ll have summer repeats and boredom. But, I suppose this will give me an opportunity to watch those new shows that looked good but were on at the same time as my favorites. I’ll miss House, Lost, Eli Stone (which IS coming back! Yay!), and some others but those are the ones I’ll miss the most.

Tonight American Idol ends… well, the finale is on. There is tomorrow but not much happens then. I shall miss it even though the order in which the contestants got voted off this year was screwy. But that’s neither here nor there. Do you watch American Idol? Which David do you want to win? I want this one to win…

The dude can sing. He is awesome. But you know what? If he doesn’t win, I won’t be sad because then he can do an album HIS way rather than the absolute American Idol way. He’s going to tickle my fancy just as much as Daughtry. I can already tell.

Who’s your pick? What shows are you going to miss this summer? Do you know of any shows coming on that will are supposed to be good?

Except to say that I’ve been busy working and writing.  Does that count?  If you don’t see me here, I’m usually blogging over at Great Scotts or The Bradford Bunch.  I will do my best to cross-post from now on.  Sorry

I met my agent today, the Lovely Laura Bradford… and lovely she is!  What a wonderful person.  Not just because she believes in me even when I don’t believe in myself, but because she whole-heartedly believes in each and every one of her clients to an extent I didn’t realize until today.  I won’t go into detail but it was wonderful to be able to meet her in person and get to really know her and how she feels about me, my writing, the industry, and hear examples of how I’m not the only one struggling.  I feel like I’ve found a home with her at this agency, and with her other clients.  We all get along so well and support one another and not a fake support either… it’s genuine heart-felt support and I love it.

I didn’t get any writing done today because I worked in the a.m., then putzed before getting ready to meet Laura, and then drove to Green Bay to chat it up with her loveliness for over an hour.  Arranging to meet Laura while she was in Wisconsin was the wisest decision I’ve ever made.  I won’t be able to attend the Lori Foster event this year as my oldest son is graduating (Gah! I’m getting old) and won’t be attending any other conferences this year either, so this was my only chance.  Next year I’ll be at Lori Foster’s event in Ohio again.  I LOVE it there.  It’s a relaxed setting and so fun.   Laura will be there this year as well as a ton of the Bradford Bunchers. Next year will be a blast!

Over at The Bradford Bunch. Go check it out. It’s hilarious!

You’re feeling: moody.
To your left: TV remote.
On your mind: edits/revisions.
Last meal included: hamburger (yesterday).
You sometimes find it hard to: believe.
The weather: cold, snowy, rainy.
Something you have a collection of: Nora Roberts books.
A smell that cheers you up: fresh cut flowers.
A smell that can ruin your mood: burnt toast.
How long since you last shaved: two days.
The current state of your hair: bed head, in a ponytail.
The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): TV.
Your skill with chopsticks: Ridiculous.
Which section you head for first in a bookstore: romance.
Something you’re craving: Cheesecake.
Your general thoughts on the presidential race: panic, doom.
How many times have you been hospitalized this year: None, thank God!
Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: bedroom or shower.
You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: psychologist.
Something that freaks you out a little: Bats.
Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: Not one thing really.
You have never: cheated.
You never want to: give up writing.