Anniversaries, the Baltimore Book Festival, and Taking a Break

First, I have to say please enter this giveaway. At the time I'm writing this, there are 666 entries, and that gives me the heebie-jeebies. You have a few more days!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Under the Moon

by Natalie J. Damschroder

Giveaway ends September 30, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Next up, Baltimore!

On Friday and Sunday I will be participating in the Baltimore Book Festival in Baltimore, Maryland. (See the link in the sidebar to the right -------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>). I don't know what's more exciting: being able to meet SO many readers, or being able to meet SO many authors! :) There are many authors from both of my publishers attending. If you're in the area, stop by!

It's the biggest event I've ever done as an author. I'm going to be at the Maryland Romance Writers tent. There are author panels all weekend long. I'm going to be doing "Trends and Readings in Romantic Suspense" with Joya Fields, Caridad Pineiro and Rebecca York (not too intimidating!!!) on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, I'm joining Kate Dolan, Stephanie Draven, Laura Kaye, Alethea Kontis and Catherine Asaro for "Making Old Stories New." I'll have a giveaway each day, as well most of the other authors. Can't wait!

After that, Wednesday is...the season premiere of Supernatural! No, wait, that's not it. Wednesday is my 20th wedding anniversary! My husband can't believe it. Alternately, he feels every minute of those 20 years. :) Because of work and stuff, we're going out on Friday. We talked about doing a trip, but with all the overnight visits to colleges and the awesome but not-cheap vacation we took this summer, we're keeping it casual. Dinner and maybe a movie. Whooo, we're party animals! But it will be nice to have some time that's focused on just each other.

Speaking of time...

I've been taking a much-needed break over the past couple of weeks. Not a complete break. I still have my day job and my freelance work and promotional obligations carrying over from last week's release of Under the Moon, but I've actually gone almost all of a weekend without working. Almost! LOL

I'm finding it difficult to get back to work, though. The summer really burned me out, and having no pressure, no "OMGthishastogetdoneNOWeventhoughit'smidnight" feels really good. Too good. I spent a lot of evenings re-watching Doctor Who (only up to middle of season 4) or reading instead of working. It's necessary, but at some point I have to kick myself in the a$$ and get back to it.

After Baltimore! :)

Stereotypes in Sci fi (And How I Tried to Avoid Them) by Guest Blogger Aubrie Dionne

A great big welcome to the fantastic sci-fi author Aubrie Dionne!

Be sure to read all the way through and enter her giveaway at the bottom.

We’ve all seen the gray, scary aliens trying to dissect people, the clunky robots with little or no emotion, and the evil galactic empires ruling the universe with an iron fist. As a sci fi writer, I tried to avoid these common plot lines in my New Dawn series, and go against the associations people have with science fiction in general.

1. Scary/Evil Aliens 
Thanks to movies like The Thing, Alien, Mars Attacks, Predator, and others, aliens are evil power-hungry creatures that eat/dissect/kill people and take over the world.

Without giving too much away, the aliens in Haven 6 actually coexist with people. Called the Guardians, they live much longer than people and are able to keep the society’s long-term goals in mind from generation to generation. They are peaceful, intelligent creatures that often marvel at humanity's ability to feel and express emotion.

2. Robots 

Star Trek broke the mold with this one. Data wasn’t clunky at all, and he endeavored to understand emotions and develop his own. In Star Wars, C-3PO and R2-D2 have personalities and emotions, but they are reserved for comic relief.

In the New Dawn series, I play around with the idea of people connected to machines. They aren’t robots, because they are real living people, but they are not normal once they are connected to the machines. Each colony ship has people in varying stages of connection to the central processor on the ship. In Haven 6, the commander is a brain in a glass aquarium of pinkish liquid. She controls the ship, and the mission objectives. Some people whisper that being connected to the computer for so long without a body has made her crazy.

3. Evil Galactic Empires

This one, perhaps, is the most fun to write. You have instant bad guys. However, if you do create your own evil galactic empire, it has to be original, and very different from the one in Star Wars. Or that’s what people will think of. In the New Dawn series, the colony ships have lost contact with each other, so each ship has its own laws dictated by a book called the Guide. There is no evil ruler of them all, per se. But the commander of each ship does not favor democracy.

Are there some sci fi stereo types that I’ve left out? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you so much!

~~~~~~~~

Haven 6
A product of an illegal pairing, Eridani is the only woman without a lifemate aboard the colonization ship, the Heritage, and she is determined her less than perfect DNA will not get in the way of finding love. As the ship nears it's final destination of Haven 6 after five hundred years of travel, images of the surface show evidence of intelligent life on a planet that's supposed to be uninhabited.

Commander Grier assigns Eri to the exploratory team to spy on the alien society and return with information on how to defeat them. When Eri's team lands, tribes of humans attack and Eri is saved by Striver, the descendant of a colonist and a pirate from Old Earth's colonization efforts in other parts of the galaxy. Striver helps Eri rescue her team and they are drawn to each other despite their different allegiances. While Striver battles with trusting Eri, Eri must decide whether to warn him and his people about the commander's intentions, or follow orders and complete her mission.

Add it on Goodreads

Available soon on Amazon

Available Soon on Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Aubrie grew up watching the original Star Wars movies over and over again until she could recite and reenact every single scene in her backyard. She also loved The Goonies, Star Trek the Next Generation-favorite character was Data by far-, and Indiana Jones. But, her all time favorite movie was The Last Unicorn. She still wonders why the unicorn decided to change back to a unicorn in the end.

Aubrie wrote in her junior high yearbook that she wanted to be "A concert flutist" when she grew up. When she made that happen, she decided one career was not enough and embarked as a fantasy, sci fi author. Two careers seems to keep her busy. For now.

Now for the professional bio:

Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She recently signed her YA sci fi novel with Inkspell Publishing titled: Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed, which will release in November 2012. When she's not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras. She's a big Star Trek TNG fan, as well as Star Wars and Serenity.

@authoraubrie

www.authoraubrie.com

http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

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Barbara DeLeo Debuts as a Guest Blogger—from Cyprus!

Please give a hearty welcome to Barbara DeLeo, who has honored me with her first guest blog post! Her book, Contract for Marriage, is burning up the lists! Welcome, Barb!

Hi Natalie!

Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog and huge congratulations on the release of Under the Moon. It looks fantastic and is ready on my e-Reader!

I’m lucky enough to have a book out this week, too. Contract for Marriage is my debut novel and I couldn’t be more excited!

This week’s been a bit crazy in other ways too. My family and I have traveled from the Greek Island of Lesvos to the city of Athens, and now we’re on the island of Cyprus! By family, I mean my husband and his parents, my twin girls who are 11 and my twin boys who are 8. And we’re travelling through Greece and Cyprus together for a total of 3 months.

If you think that’s a recipe for insanity, then you’d be right! But it’s also an amazing cultural experience (my husband’s parents are from here), a unique opportunity to have 24/7 time together as a family, oh...and a huge amount of fun.

We started planning the trip pretty much when the girls were born. For us all to go back to the countries where my in-laws were born, and where my husband and I had lived in our twenties, would be incredible. The birth of another set of twins kind of put the brakes on things a little, but we kept the goal in our sights.

There were many things that we compromised on to save enough money to be able to take three months off work, pay airfares for eight people, and have enough for living expenses while we were away. No new car in nine years, no snazzy house renovations, none of the latest gadgets—it was sometimes hard to keep the dream in sight but we all believed in it enough to see it through. And now it’s paying off daily.

Writing with a view to getting published’s a bit like that. You need to keep your eye on your goal and stick with it through all the tough times, the crows of doubt, and the people who can sometimes put obstacles in your way.

If I leave one thing behind from pursuing a career as an author, I hope that my kids learn that if you want something enough, believe in it for all the right reasons, then the sacrifices will be worth it in the long run. They’ve seen the results this week with the release of my first book, and the amazing time they’re having on this trip.

So, what’s the goal that you have for yourself, and how are you putting things in place in your life to meet it and avoid the distractions that could make you stray off your path?

 I’m sitting here with my piece of baklava and a Greek coffee, dying to hear from you!

Contract for Marriage

Pregnant and alone after her ex-lover’s death, magazine editor Ruby Fleming’s not about to give up her home to the man who broke her heart—until she discovers her mother left half of the estate to somebody else, and she realizes she’s trapped.

Property tycoon Christo Mantazis wants the one thing his riches can’t buy—the villa where his mother has lived and worked as housekeeper for forty years. That it’s the same house he was banished from after being caught making love to the owner’s irresistible daughter stirs up old memories and now he wants her more than ever.

When Christo offers a marriage of convenience, Ruby knows it’s the only way for them to get what they want. Ruby needs her baby to have the link to its past, Christo needs his mother to retain her home, and for him to have the child he could never father.

But it’s another need—to have Christo again—that Ruby must resist at all costs.

Buy it now!

Learn more about Barbara DeLeo at her website.

Hey! I Just Had a New Release!

Under the Moon came out yesterday! Yay!

I was so swamped by my blog tour, social media activity, and deadline (almost to the end of book 3, Sunroper!) that I never got to post. Not like most of you probably didn't see me elsewhere. But still. It feels odd not to celebrate a release day on a release day.

SO.

I have a bunch of stuff going on with regard to this release!

First, sadly, my local stores are not carrying Under the Moon. Which means I can't visit it, what with blog tours and deadlines and the day job and the kids that prevent me from driving three hours to bookstores that are carrying it. So I'm giving away magnets to anyone who sees Under the Moon in the wild!

How can you get a magnet of this beautiful cover to hold recipes on your range hood for easy viewing, or to-do lists on the side of your filing cabinet, or the running grocery store list on the front of your refrigerator? Easy! Just let me know you saw the book in the bookstore! It would be great if you post pictures on Twitter (include @NJDamschroder) so I see it, or on Facebook (tag me @NJDamschroder or @nataliedamschroder) or e-mail me at natalie AT nataliedamschroder DOT com and let me know what store, where. I'll get your mailing address from you and put the magnet in the mail immediately!

There are also a BUTTLOAD of places you can try to win a copy of Under the Moon, both e-book and print. Look to the right ------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There's a blog tour with the first chapter broken out into 7 parts. You can enter to win an e-copy of the book at each site, AND enter to win a Goddess Box (it's not a basket because a basket is too problematic for mailing) with a T-shirt, print copy of the book, pampering items, jewelry, and additional swag. See the Rafflecopter below, as well—I think you can enter that once a day.

You can also see that I'm giving away a print copy of UtM at Goodreads, AND a VERY rare print copy of Fight or Flight, as well. Both of those are accepting entries until near the end of the month.

Today I'm at Fade into Fantasy with an interview (giveaways included!) and there are two more upcoming stops with regular guest posts you can check out (also listed to the right).

I'm one of the Featured Contests at Coffee Time Romance this month, too. LOTS of great stuff being given away there, so visit them all!

Finally, tomorrow, 9/13, I'll be participating in The Romance Studio's new release party. Those are always fast, furious fun. :)

Phew. I think that's everything. While you're heading over to your local store or to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, or any other retailer, check out some other 9/11 and upcoming new releases:

The Space Between Us by Megan Hart

Haven 6 by Aubrie Dionne (who will be guest blogging here on 9/25/12)

Captured Heart by Heather McCollum

Playing with Fire by Tamara Morgan

From the Ashes by Adrien-Luc Sanders

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Delusion in Death by JD Robb

Beneath the Mountain by Susan Gourley

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Sky Riders by Fae Sutherland

Broken Promises by JK Coi

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My Lust Has Been Kindled

So last week I was in Barnes & Noble, and I took advantage of a lurking-CSR-free moment to play with the new nooks. The original one always frustrated me, so I was happy when my loving husband got me a Kindle for Christmas. I liked it better (more intuitive navigation) and he eliminated the "do I want one/I don't need one" debate I couldn't get out of my head.

Obviously, since the 2nd Gen Kindle 3G (pictured left, with the awesome skin my brother gave me; see below for the back side), all e-book readers have gotten progressively better. Well, in theory.

I don't like the Kindle Touch. The screen is darker and has a slightly gold tint compared to the cleaner gray of the previous generation, and the touch sensitivity is unbearable now that I'm used to my iPod. So if I *had* to replace my Kindle with a Kindle, I'd stick with the keyboard.

Anyway, like I was saying, I tried out the nook in B&N. I liked it. The touch screen is nice, the navigation much better, and the Glowlight is cool compared to using an external light that causes a glare or even worse, a backlight. So I was thinking that if I *had* to replace my Kindle, I'd get a nook.

But then I bought a book from B&N for the nook app on my iPod, for comparison purposes to the Kindle app. And I'm back to being supremely annoyed. I can't necessarily blame nook. It's a self-published book, so the formatting problems could be from the author or the formatter they hired. But I get maybe two paragraphs on the screen and then a big empty space. Even for a tiny screen, I have to swipe way too often.

And NOW. *cue angels singing* Amazon announces Kindle Paperwhite.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you already know I'm a gadget girl. I LOVE gadgets. Electronic ones, simple ones, cool ones that have no practical purpose. But I also love books—and that's still true, even if more than half of my reading is digital nowadays. So wanting an e-book reader has never been simple for me. I never really lusted for one.

Until now. OMG, I want the Kindle Paperwhite so bad I can taste it. The size, the screen, the special lighting. The price is affordable, too. I love the 3G but would do just fine with wireless, and I think I'd like getting special offers on the screensaver. At least it would change. I am so freaking tired of the same fusty old classic authors all the time.

Have you checked out the new Kindle line? What do you think?

Under the Moon Release Month!

Yay, September's here! That means fall-type weather, and FOOTBALL, and TV premieres!

And this year, it means Under the Moon in bookstores!

So I have a lot of promotions going on. As you can see by the image on the left, I'll be doing a blog tour during my release week. There will be an opportunity to win digital copies of the book at every stop, as well as a Goddess Gift Basket at the end. I'll be doing a few additional blog stops after the tour, too, so there will be even MORE chances to win! Stay tuned for details.

As you can see in the sidebar to the right, I'm also giving away a copy of the new print version of Under the Moon through Goodreads. Even BIGGER is that I'm giving away a copy of Fight or Flight, which was never sold in print. There are only about a dozen copies of this mass market paperback that even *exist*, so make sure you head over there and get in the pool.

I ALSO have a contest going on at Coffee Time Romance this month. That prize is a print (or digital, your choice) copy of Under the Moon AND some Dark Goddess Velvet Dream Whipped Sugar Scrub. There's also a sample bar of homemade soap that smells incredible.

But wait, there's more!

UtM in the Wild
If you see Under the Moon on your bookstore shelf, please take a picture and send it to me! You can tag me on Twitter or Facebook or e-mail it to me at natalie AT nataliedamschroder DOT com. I'll send everyone who does so a book cover magnet, while supplies last.

Interviews and Parties!
You'll be able to find me at The Romance Studio new release party on 9/13 and in the Coffee Time Romance new release chat on 10/2 (no new release chat in September). I have interviews at Romance Author Hotspot (9/9) and Fade into Fantasy (9/12) and I'll be participating in the Online Reader Retreat in October.

PLUS You can Meet Me LIVE!
I'm a featured author, guest of the Maryland Romance Writers, at the Baltimore Book Festival the weekend of September 28-30. I'll be part of two discussion panels and hanging out to meet readers and some of the hundreds of other authors who will be there.

So far, I have one booksigning scheduled, on November 17 (time TBA) at the Camp Hill, PA, Barnes & Noble. More to come, so stay tuned!

And everyone have a great holiday weekend! (Or, if you're outside the U.S., just a great weekend. :) )

Defying Labeling: The Reader Edition

What Kind of Book Reader Are You? A Diagnostics Guide - Entertainment - The Atlantic Wire

The above link is to an amusing article about different kinds of book readers (and non-readers). It got me thinking first about how my reading habits have changed over the years, and then about how much I dislike being labeled. Pick a categorization tool, quiz, or breakdown, and I will defy placement.

So what kind of reader am I? When I first graduated from college, I was a committed reader. I'd read one book at a time, and always finish it, no matter how bad a fit it was for me. That continued long after I became a writer, when I read more widely to determine what kind of writer I was and where those books could go. I paid for the books, I'd finish them, or the money would be wasted.

Then we had kids. I had a full-time job, a baby with me 24/7, and a fledgling writing career that was all about stolen moments. Time became more important than money, and it was a huge relief when I gave myself permission NOT to finish books. This was helped along by attending my first writers conferences where they gave out tons of free books. There was no loss there when I didn't finish one. I just passed it along to someone who'd appreciate it more.

Until recently, however, I was still a serial monogamist. I *might* have two books going at a time. One upstairs, one downstairs. One print, one Kindle. But I'd usually focus on one of those for long chunks of time before going back to the other.

Then I loaded the Kindle and Nook apps on my iPod, and things have been wild and crazy ever since! I grab a print book from the shelf in the bedroom to read while I eat dinner. I have one going on the Kindle for portability, reading while I dry my hair in the bathroom, cook in the kitchen, wait for traffic. The iPod is great for unexpected moments of down time—picking up one of the kids somewhere, waiting while they try on clothes at the mall, on hold because my computer is slow to boot up, with the TV show on pause while my husband hangs up his laundry. If I get a book from the library, I might have FOUR going at once! Which one I grab depends on my mood, how grabbed I am by any of them, and my co-reading activity.

Back to that article: I'm never a hate reader anymore. I'm a chronological reader at times, definitely a book buster (but not to the extent described), a combination instant gratification/delayed onset reader (I buy books ALL the time and then wait months or even years to read them!), a bookophile because nothing beats the feel and smell of a book, a DEFINITE cross-under because I read tons of YA as well as some fantasy and SF (even though the vast majority is romance), a multi-tasker (as described above), and yeah, it's quite common to find me making up the rest of the story with my eyes closed because I'm trying to finish the chapter at 1:00 a.m.

So what kind of reader are you?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and His Calves

(I really should be writing. And I will be again, in just a moment. But that's how I neglected this blog in the first place, so I'm striving, once again, for better balance. So here we go!)

Last weekend, I snuck out for a couple of hours by myself—when my eyes couldn't handle the computer anymore—to see Premium Rush. You know, that bike movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I've loved him since Third Rock from the Sun, and I'm always excited when he's in a new movie. Completely because of his acting, of course.

The movie, overall, was really good! It was a pure adrenaline rush. Several times, I found myself tapping my feet on the ground like I was pedaling along with the cyclists. It was nice to see a smaller movie that was about individual people with individual problems. Don't get me wrong, I love epic adventures with the fate of the world at stake, but Premium Rush delivered the same action with a much more personal focus, and almost no property destruction. Yeah, New York City came out of this virtually unscathed!

So often I get bored during chase scenes, and my mind wanders. That didn't happen this time. I don't know if it was because they kept the focus on the people in the chase instead of on all the cool stuff they could do, or because JGL is just that good at commanding attention. Probably both. There were plenty of stunts, and they were great, but JGL has enough charisma to render them unnecessary.

I spend a lot of time in the summer thinking about how fit soccer players are, but this movie reminded me that cyclists are, too. Besides being a great actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives great calf. Go see for yourself!

Trends in Romance Reading

Several years ago, the romance industry lunged in a "new" direction. Books had been getting steadily steamier, not only keeping the door open on love scenes, but bringing the reader deeper and deeper into the experience. Then came erotic romance. This was pioneered in large part by small publishers, led by the highly successful Ellora's Cave, among many others.

And erotic romance boomed. For a long time, sales were low for any e-published book that wasn't labeled "erotic." Envelopes got pushed further and further. Publishers demanded steam, and some authors and readers lamented the loss of the closed door, the sweet romances where sex wasn't the central focus of the story.

The boom faded, and over the last few years, the trend has been not so much trendiness as an opening up of every kind of romance (or other story) you could possibly want. And now, in a nice juxtaposition, we're getting a double surge of BOTH extremes! New readers are discovering erotic romance, and new avenues for sweet romance are emerging.

One of the best, IMO, (not that I'm biased) is the new Bliss line at Entangled Publishing. Bliss launches tomorrow (Saturday, 8/25) with three books by Kelley Vitollo, Roxanne Snopek, and Rachel Astor. Editorial Director Stacy Cantor Abrams says, "The books read like romantic comedy movies set to the page: Love, Actually for the romance reader. Though the focus lies on the characters’ emotional journey, at Bliss we like to say our heroes and heroines still jump in the sack…it just then fades to black." Read more at the Entangled Romance Blog, and check back there for information on their awesome contest and launch events.

Most of the time I lean toward the longer, more complex romances, especially those that are paranormal, suspenseful, or adventurous. But I've been really enjoying a variety of the lighter, shorter, more romance-focused stories that are being published lately, and can't wait to see what Bliss has to offer.

What have you been reading lately? Have you picked up anything outside your usual habits and found yourself glad you did?

This Fall's Sadness

This is the first fall in about 12 that we don't have a soccer season.

The local soccer club has been going downhill, and this year, they were unable to put together teams for either of my kids. Number One isn't a surprise. She was lucky to have a fantastic coach from 5th to 11th grade who held together a team when there were very few in her age group throughout the league. But last year there was only one senior on her team, and some of the players were 8th graders. The writing was on the wall.

But Number Two is more frustrated. At her age level, her sister's team won their division. Number Two got dropped without any effort from the club, though one of the parents tried to get enough players for a second team. From the time she was 8 years old, the focus was always on fielding superstars, and a bunch of good players who love to play got left in the cold.

Number Two will play for school in the spring, but Number One is done, and that makes us all sad.

There are some perks, though. No more practices for us to drive to and from four times a week (they almost never had practice at the same time!). No more getting up at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday to drive an hour and a half for an 8:30 game. (Seriously, who writes these schedules? We'd have 1:00 games five minutes away.) No more yelling at the fellow parents not to give away football scores during Sunday soccer games, because we were watching on tape delay. I get to attend all my local writer's group meetings. We won't have to sit in blistering heat and insanely freezing cold. And we'll have lots more time for things like yardwork!

Wait, did I say perks? Let's try that again.

We'll have lots more time for things like writing. Yeah, that's better.

It's all part of growing up, I guess. What's something you've had to give up recently? What are the pros and cons?

Welcome Keri Ford on her Roughnecks Blog Tour!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us our contestants have just completed Round One of The Best Hero Dudes Ever and the winner is…Jacob! Congrats on showing off your rear in those tight pants. Time for Round Two. Take it away Trent!

Trent shuffled through his cards and chuckled. "Two? Really, Keri? Of all the idiot things I've heard these guys say, two lines is the best you have?"

That's all I need.

Trent shook his head. "In round two I have lines my brothers fed their girlfriends. By some miracle, they bought into this load of BS."

Just wait until your turn. You'll probably be worse than the two of them combined.

Trent glanced up to the overhead lights and scratched the side of his head with his middle finger. "First line is from Lane. He told Gretchen: 'You’re like a nudey magazine. If only I could roll you up and tuck you in my back pocket.'"

Trent lowered the cards and stared at his red faced youngest brother. "Really?"

Jacob elbowed him on the couch. "Nice line."

Trent shook his head. "And the next line is a real winner. What Jacob said to Flora: 'If I thought you were easy, I wouldn’t have bothered with the dinner part.' Really great job pointing out that you're a manwhore."

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a man—"

All right boys! Two great lines fellas! Trent, tell our voters what the prize is today!

Trent returned to his cards. "Leave a comment and one winner will be selected at random to win a copy of a Harlequin Medical Romance, The Baby Who Saved Dr. Cynical by Connie Cox. Don't forget to leave your email address so we can get your prize out to you!" 

Book is paperback or digital (Kindle or Nook only). US only. Visit Connie at her website for all her latest release information! http://www.conniecox.com/ Thanks!

***

Rough Play, second in The Roughnecks Series, is now available! 

Jacob Iverson has plans. Distant plans, but they do exist. Find the right woman, eventually settle down and do the whole “white picket fence” routine. But until eventually comes, he’s having fun with right now. Then he meets Flora, who blows him back a step. Or two. Suddenly his distant plans are rushing up to meet him…only not quite the way he imagined. 

Abandoned at seventeen, Flora Simms has made her way through the world, found life and family in the form of two best friends. Everything is just the way she likes it. From life to love to relationships, she knows what she wants, how she wants it, and doesn’t care if anyone agrees or not. And what she doesn’t want is someone trying to tie her down with long-term plans. But Jacob Iverson brings images of the future to her mind, and heart. Jacob somehow knows what she needs and he’s hitting all the right spots. But can Flora give up her idea of independence to let him in?

$2.99 at Amazon Kindle | B&N Nook | Kobo | AllRomanceEbooks | TMP | Smashwords | Bookstrand

Coming soon in print

Add to your Goodreads Shelf

For the latest information on Keri and her books at
 
Website http://bit.ly/Heo4Vr
Twitter http://bit.ly/HRgGgu
Facebook http://on.fb.me/HenzL0

Knocking the Rust Off

Hellooooo, everybody!

*waits for everybody to come back from where they gave up on ever seeing another post here*

This has been a cah-RAZY summer. I think I mentioned that, oh, back in May. So I'll be here catching up, but in the meantime, I'm excited about two things.

First, tomorrow I'm hosting Keri Ford in a stop on her Roughnecks Blog Tour! That link will take you to her main page, which lists all the stops on the tour. Of course, she's going to have a giveaway! So be sure to come back in the morning to check it out.

Second...

I was having kind of a down day. You know, those "I suck at everything" kind of days? And then UPS dumped something at my door. I was expecting packages, but small ones, and this one was big. When I opened it, I literally went "Squee-e--e---eee!" to get the kids to come running so they could see the beauty.

I can't WAIT to see this book on the shelves in just 21 days!

The Bloggess is a Goddess

My cell phone just rang. It was upstairs, so I ran up to answer it, even though it was a number I didn't recognize. They hung up as soon as I answered, the forons. (I'd use a stronger word, but Number Two reads my blog.) Since I was upstairs and I wanted a cup of tea, I decided to make one while I waited to see if I actually missed the call and it went to voice mail. While I was making my tea, I started reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess.

Big mistake. HUGE. Because now I don't want to stop reading, and it's been at least 15 years since I've read a whole memoir.

But I have to go finish my post for tomorrow at Everybody Needs a Little Romance, and then I have 18 client projects to complete tonight. I know, right? I should totally not be posting here right now.

Or reading for pleasure, no matter how smiley it makes me.

Help!

The Fun Stuff in June

Unfortunately, there hasn't been as much leisure time as I crave. But I am determined not to let the balance of my life get completely out of whack.

Movies
We saw Men in Black III and it was awesome! Very poignant at the end, surprisingly so, but well set up. Also very funny. Josh Brolin was PERFECT as a young K. I also saw Brave yesterday with Number One. That was good, too. It was nice to see a mother/daughter story and I suppose it's good that it wasn't all about falling for a prince. I missed the romance, though. :)


Books

My reading has been all over the place. Again, not much time, so I've spread it out. I was reading a library hardcover, a paperback, a short story on the Kindle, and a book on my iPod Touch all at the same time. I liked it! It allowed me to read many things I like all at the same time, instead of feeling bad for all the stuff sitting and waiting for me.


I didn't think I'd like reading on the iPod. Backlighting=eyestrain, especially with my dry eye issues from the LASIK, and it's small. But I started reading Megan Hart's The Resurrected on our trip and liked it better than I expected. The iPod reading, not the story. That I literally could not put down, even when it made me nauseous. That woman has a sick mind for horror, let me tell you. Wait until you read Part 8! This is a serial novel, and Part One is currently FREE so if you like horror, go get it now!


Anyway, yesterday I finally rejoined the health club and found that the iPod is perfect. I can listen to podcasts while I work the machines, then switch to reading on the treadmill, instead of carrying around the Kindle or a book or having to go back to the locker room to get it.

My reading time is mostly stolen time. Occasionally while I eat a meal, always right before I go to bed (though when that's usually midnight or later, it's short!), while I brush my  teeth, and once in a while, a stolen chapter in the parking lot at the grocery store.


TV

Ah, TV. *sigh* Not much of it on right now. We're in that hateful between stage when most of the summer shows I love (Leverage, Covert Affairs, Alphas) haven't started yet. Some have, but they're few so I watch them quickly and then have nothing to watch for a while. Falling Skies has my full craving now (on tonight, YAY!). Enjoying Bunheads so far. More serious a storyline than expected/than ever on Gilmore Girls, but the humor and dialogue are the same. Royal Pains is better than I expected, with the rift between the brothers. I thought that was improving, then they had to make it front and center again.

We are still loving Franklin & Bash. Mark Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer are effortlessly entertaining, and the surrounding cast, always awesome, has had more focus so far this season. They've also had some spectacular guest stars. Cybill Sheppard, Seth Green, Kevin Nealon...it's neverending! My theory is that they can tell it's a fun show and they get to play fun characters. So glad they do! :)

So what entertainment have you been enjoying so far this summer?

(Speaking of entertainment, I have a post up today at Everybody Needs a Little Romance about the evolution of entertainment delivery, and there's a giveaway involved. Check it out, tell me what you think!)

It's Not All Deadlines and Work

Here's more of what I've been up to all month:

View from library's third floor

College Visit
We went up to Burlington, VT, at the beginning of this month. MAN that's a long drive. It was much easier coming back, when we broke it over two days. Also more beautiful because we took the ferry across Lake Champlain.


Champlain College is tops on her list at the moment, but we have two more visits planned and then probably two more to do in the fall.


We got lucky and had gorgeous weather for the tours and stuff. The college and town are beautiful, and the program there very unique.


City Islanders Soccer
The season really got front-loaded with home games, so we were going a couple of times a week, with the Open Cup games, regular games, and friendly match against our MLS affiliate, the Philadelphia Union. Our backups beat their backups 3-1, which was great, but it also makes me nervous because they were a little unhappy about that and we have to play them in the Open Cup Quarterfinals on Tuesday. If we win and Dayton upsets the team they're playing, we get to host the semifinal. That would be AWESOME! This is the furthest the team has ever gotten in the Cup, and we always lose to an MLS team at this point, so it should be a good game. Even if the Union play hard because we pissed them off.


For regular season games now, they've got a heavier away schedule, and the few home games hit while we're out of town. So I'm glad we got to do as much as we did.

So Exciting to Finally Learn What Deadline Hell Feels Like!

GEEZ I've been away for a long time.

Very nice to see that while I've been not posting, people have still been visiting. "Ryan Reynolds in his Underwear" is still getting the top hits. Go figure!

So what have I been up to all these many weeks? Stay tuned...

No cover yet for Heavy Metal

Deadlines
First, the second-pass edits for Heavy Metal. Some of them were extensive, though not has hard as I expected them to be, so I was head-in-the-book as constantly as possible for a couple of weeks. I was really happy to make word count, because even though I originally came in 4,000 words short of the target on my initial submission, and then I learned it was okay to go 4,000 words over that original target, every revision my editor gives me seems to require more words rather than fewer. I was pretty happy with the changes, but haven't heard what she thinks yet.

Then was a Christmas short story I submitted cold. Very different from what I've been writing lately, because it's straight contemporary romance and features a lot of the tropes of category romance (though it's just a short story). Haven't heard about that one yet, either. I'm doing a lot of nail-biting this summer! That one I targeted about 12k and hit just under 15k, the upper limit. Could have gone longer, too. I don't think I can say that I write short anymore.

Now it's Sunroper, which is due August 1 and I can finally concentrate on exclusively. Until I get the final pass on Heavy Metal and the short story and the other short story I submitted a while ago.

Work
I won't say much about that. Lots of freelance work, which is paying for LASIK so that's good, and extra hours at the day job to help cover vacations. Fun!

More to come tomorrow. Tell me what you've been up to!

#doyoubelieveinmiracles?

I not only believe in them, apparently, I cause them.

Tonight I took Number One and Number Two to the City Islanders playing in round 3 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Wait, let me back up.

Yesterday, the Open Cup announced the round 4 games. If the City Islanders won tonight, they'd host next week. But Number Two had a school sports physical scheduled. So I changed it to August, figuring even if the Isles didn't win, she'd have additional recovery time for her ankle.

It started storming around 5:15. Management announced a half-hour postponement. J decided not to go, despite already having bought the ticket. He's not that diehard. But we were determined. We packed up towels, umbrellas, sweatshirts, and jackets. Hey, it worked last week.

Not this week. The storm passed by game time, but it rained for about 75 of the 90-minute regulation period. Which ended in a 0-0 tie. You can't end a game in a tie during a tournament. We were pretty pleased with our little USL-PRO team's performance. They had a lot more shots on goal than the New England Revolution did.

(Yeah, a bit of irony there. I was wearing a New England Patriots hat into the stadium, and one of the greeters got a horrified look on his face. "You're not rooting for them, are you?" Oh, hell, no! LOL)

So we're sitting there at the start of the first of two 15-minute overtime periods. They play both, so there's no sudden death. With the rain delay, we were already not getting home before 10. Now we weren't getting home before 10:30. I said I was being a bad mother, and I did feel a little guilty, though I had no intentions of leaving early. I have NEVER left a game early. EVER.

EV. AR.

So then we have this conversational exchange:

Me: What do you have at school tomorrow?

Number One: Mom. In period one we're watching X-Men: First Class. In period 2 we're watching another movie. In period 3 I have study hall. Period 4 I have to work on a paper, but I'm half done with it. Period 5 I'll probably just have food with Madame. Period 6 we're watching Pirates of the Caribbean. Period 7 we'll probably just play FunBrain.

Me to Number Two: What do you have tomorrow?

Number Two: My Algebra final.

Oh, lord, now I AM a bad mother. But she has a 98 in the class, and aced the practice test, so I wasn't that worried. Still...

Overtime starts. The officials demonstrate their continued bias (they'd called 17 fouls against us, only 7 against the Revs, and we had 3 yellow cards to their 1 yellow and 1 red) when they didn't call a Revs player offsides though he was at least three strides past the defenders. They scored.

The Revs were also adept at taking dives. I know this is rampant in soccer, but I swear, they see a foot, they deliberately trip over it. They'll push and push and push a player until he moves, then they'll fall—and we get the foul. So one of our defenders did a slide tackle in the box, all ball, and their forward deliberately trips. PK (penalty kick, for the few uninformed who for some reason have read this far LOL). They scored. Five minutes later, on a breakaway when we didn't even look like we were trying to stop him (though admittedly, we'd pulled one of our defenders and replaced him with a forward), they score again.

3-0 is a pretty insurmountable score in professional soccer. Not impossible. But tough, especially with only 15 minutes of play left. Number Two had a final tomorrow. And the last straw was a fan who turned completely obnoxious during overtime, as if he'd downed six beers in the 74th minute (that's when they stop selling them—people will buy 2, then get in line to buy more while they drink those). We couldn't stand listening to him anymore. So I asked the girls if they wanted to leave. They agreed.

I'm lucky they didn't kill me.

We heard cheering when we got to the parking lot (about 1/2 a mile away). So we'd scored, but we still needed two more and probably had less than 10 minutes left. By the time we got home, the City Islanders had scored TWICE and tied it up again. They were going to penalty kicks. Each team gets 5 shots on goal, alternating. If you've ever watched this one-on-one showdown, it's awful. For both sides. It's as difficult to score as it is to stop a goal.

We watched on Twitter, screaming and lamenting our stupidity.

1-1

2-2

3-3

And then holy crap, we scored and Nick Noble, our fan-freaking-tastic goalkeeper, stopped the final shot. We won.

We WON.

The Isles used the hashtag in my subject, #doyoubelieveinmiracles, but all I can think is how much they owe us. Because you know that if we'd stayed another hour, they'd have lost and Number Two would lose two points on her final.

Either way, tonight I'm the bad mom.

It's Hot, It's Crazy, and It's Not Even Summer Yet!

Okay, as far as the social season goes, Memorial Day weekend is over, so summer is here (even though we really have 3.5+ weeks until it's OFFICIALLY here...I know, I'm obnoxiously pedantic about this).

But JEEBUS it's hot. High 80s, with an AccuWeather "RealFeel" of 98, is too bleeping hot for May in Pennsylvania. My husband's worried about our trip to Orlando in the middle of summer. I told him it can't be much worse.

So where have I been for the past two weeks?

RETREAT!
Central PA Romance Writers had our ninth annual All About Me retreat last weekend. It was just as awesome as the 8 that came before, if you don't count the post-wedding screaming in the parking lot until 1:30 in the morning. The retreat venue was much fuller this year than last year, which is absolutely fine, as long as people aren't screaming "give me my f'in phone" for twenty minutes. Or puking in front of the hang-out bench.

But whatever! I got over 14,000 words written, submitted a short story proposal, and made great progress on Sunroper. I took a walk with friends I don't see often enough, and we laughed like crazy during our cocktail party and end-of-retreat game night. A bunch of new members came, and I'm hoping the regulars who missed it will be back next year. It's our tenth, so it should be EPIC.

Then I came home. And was hit by...

EDITS!
The oh-so-fantastic Kerri-Leigh Grady hit me with my second round of edits on Heavy Metal. I spent all weekend on them and only have 146 pages to go. The problem is that my freelance clients hit me at the same time (they missed me while I was gone), so I've been doing a lot of proofreading every day.

But that's okay! All work and no play gives you crazy!brain, so I made sure to slip in a few fun things. Like...

SOCCER! AND TV! AND MOVIES! Caution: Spoilers!
The Harrisburg City Islanders are doing great! They won in round 2 of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup, and this week host the New England Revolution—I'm super-excited to see them in person! Then on Friday night, in a hard-played game, they beat one of the top teams in the division, handing them their first defeat. Wahoo!

I caught up on a few shows. Revenge had a really good season finale, giving us some answers but opening up new avenues to explore. I'm fall heavier in love with Nolan every day. The one thing I didn't like was Amanda coming back pregnant just when Emily was going to tell Jack everything. That's a convenient and overused conflict.

Awake held me pretty strongly, too. It didn't pull me when I wasn't watching it, but when I was, I was hooked hard. The Inception-like ending was a little disappointing, though. I don't always like it when the writers leave things to the viewers' imaginations. Yeah, then we get to decide it's whatever we want it to be, but this one leaned too heavily in the wrong direction, so I can't do that. Still, strong acting, strong story right up to the end.

I thought Awake and The Firm were tighter shows than Touch, so I feel bad that Touch beat both out for a second season, even though Awake would have been hard to sustain for much longer, and The Firm was on a different network so they weren't competing. I still have a couple of episodes left of both of those.

But we're soon back to Summer TV! Remember when it used to suck? We have the rest of the final season of Eureka to go, and Franklin & Bash starts next week, with Falling Skies the week after, and Covert Affairs, Leverage, and Alphas not far behind!

I get to watch one or two episodes of something a night, most nights. We've also been squeezing in some weekend movies. I'm talking about The Avengers at Everybody Needs a Little Romance tomorrow (Tuesday), but suffice to say I saw it twice, and so did both Jim and Number One.

Dark Shadows was disappointing—slow and far less funny than in the trailer, with a weakish plot and haphazard characterization. But Men in Black 3 didn't disappoint! Josh Brolin and Will Smith were fantastic, and the story had a poignant twist at the end that shocked me. I have to go back and watch the original now.

There are a bunch of movies out this summer I can't wait to see, but right now, Magic Mike is the frontrunner. :)

So what have you been up to?

Brown Bears and 11-Year-Old Vandals

Today I drove past a whole bunch of cars, including two cop cars, at a cemetery near my house. I couldn't see much, but two cops were crouching next to what looked like a black bear, unconscious on a tarp. I checked the local police blog, and sure enough, there were apparently two young, non-aggressive black bears walking around the area all weekend. They captured one for relocation, but it looks like the other one is still at large. NO idea where they could have come from. We're not far from rural farmland, but decently far from any comfortable bear habitat.

Since I was at the blog anyway, I read through the reports to see if anyone I knew had been arrested or in a stupid accident. A couple of weeks back, I found a report about a fifth grader damaging computers at my kids' old elementary school.

By peeing on them.

He peed all over a car full of Macbooks. The cart and computers were "damaged beyond repair" (does that mean no one wanted to touch them?) and the total damages equal $36,000.

As a parent, I'm appalled at the amount of damages and can't even imagine what I'd do if I became responsible for a bill like that. As a human being, my response is a little more direct.

WTF?!

Who decides to PEE on a bunch of COMPUTERS? At SCHOOL. It's not incomprehensible that a kid with a lot of troubles at home or at school or both might pull over a cart full of computers, or even smash them with a bat or kick and throw them.

But PEEING?! Who on earth thinks, "let me pull out my dingle and urinate on this equipment?" (Note: "dingle" was my husband's word.) That takes a few more moments of thought and... I don't want to contemplate the state of that kid's brain.

I feel most pity, though, for the cleaning staff. That is a LOT of pee. Good thing the halls are tiled and not carpeted. Ugh.

Season Finales, Sunroper, and Bugs in My Eyes

I love May. So much good stuff happens in May! Mother's Day, the City Islanders season opener (local pro soccer team), my chapter's writing retreat, and FINALLY a holiday from work, after months and months without one.

But the sad part of May is the season finales on TV. WARNING: Some spoilers here about season finales that have already occurred.

Well, there's really only one I want to talk about so far. Castle! I can't express my extreme bliss that they gave us that moment. Note to Bones writers: THAT is how you get a couple together. I thought overall they did a good job all season of setting everything up. Kate carefully taking down her walls, brick by brick, admitting what she wanted but having difficulty getting herself out of the very deep tracks she'd dug on the trail of her mother's killers. Rick's deception as he tried so hard to keep her safe and save himself. And Tahmoh Penikett as the bad guy's bad guy! Loved it! But poor Kevin Ryan. He saved Beckett's life, and everyone is mad at him.

When I first started watching Castle, I thought it was bland, with secondary characters that weren't really worth much (except Alexis). But now I love Lani, Ryan, and Esposito as much as I love Kate and Rick/Beckett and Castle.

The Fringe finale isn't until tomorrow, but I just watched last week's episode where Billy, who'd always been of questionable morals in the pursuit of science but never truly evil, is now...evil. And Astrid was shot!!! I'll be pissed if she dies.

Many of the finales will occur next week, while I'm on retreat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the timing, because I'm really getting into Sunroper, book 3 of the Goddesses Rising trilogy, and I want to be able to concentrate fully on it. MAN, I can't wait. This always comes at a perfect time of year, when I really need it.

I'll miss a City Islanders game for the retreat, which makes me a wee bit sad. There's one the night before I leave, though, so it'll be okay. I hope it's better than last week's! Number One and I went to the home opener last Friday night, even though a storm was predicted. I swear, that was the slowest moving storm ever! We heard thunder and watched the massive clouds moving in starting around 6:30. The game started a few minutes after 7, and it had *just* slid over us when they called the weather delay in the 32nd minute. Luckily, there's a nearby baseball stadium that's not just aluminum bleachers. The crowd of 1300 people headed over there, but thinned out considerably by the time the pounding rain and whipping wind passed. Probably a hundred or so of us went back for the rest of the game, which started at 9:00.

The worst part wasn't the cold rainwater that soaked our jeans as we sat there for an hour, or the spitting rain that returned for about 10 minutes, or even the group of local kids incomprehensibly screaming for the away team...nonstop...obnoxiously...at the tops of their lungs. It was the clouds of gnats covering the entire island! I had two fly into my eyes. I was sooooo glad I was four weeks post LASIK and not less than that. Still, it totally freaked us out.

And yet, we did not leave. Who are the best fans in the world, I ask you?!