Suck It, Apple!

So you all know about my iPod being stolen, right? And how much I miss it?

I promise, this is the last time I'll post about this! :)

So seven or so years ago, I guess, my husband bought me an iPod photo for my birthday. In 2007ish, the battery died. No Apple stores around here, so I sent it in for a new battery for around $63. They don't actually install a new battery and send it back, they send you a refurbished unit. Which is all nice and shiny and unscratched and everything, but the battery failed again 6 months later, which totally pissed me off.

What pissed me off more was that Apple wouldn't just replace the battery again, because of the icon I was getting. It was the same icon as before, but it could indicate hard drive failure, so they would charge me over $300. Frak that, I could get a new iPod classic for $189. So I did.

And, as you know, it got stolen last week. I hope Vicki is enjoying Pottercast and Jason Manns. Bi***.

Anyway!

I was also pissed at Apple because they never notified me of a recall on my laptop, even though I'd bought it directly from them and registered it. When the logicboard failed, I was lucky that it was one month before the recall expired, and I sent it in to get repaired for free. Guess what? Six months later it failed again, and they charged me an outrageous amount of money to replace it again.

Clearly, I have a love/hate relationship with Apple.

My iPod Classic lasted three years without needing a battery change or any other repair, by the way, even though I dropped it three times on ceramic tile, chipping the plastic front of the case.

ANYway, geez, digress much?

My wonderful husband loaned me his iPod, which was excellent because with the NFL lockout ending, I was withering without my podcasts. Seriously, when I started listening again, I was like an outdoor plant in August being taken inside and doused with water. I am sooooo refreshed.

But it was a temporary solution, and I feel guilty every minute I'm using it, even if he wouldn't be at the time. So I thought of something else. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier!

I called Batteries Plus about replacing the battery in the iPod photo. I almost hung up when I asked if they could and he scoffed. "No. They won't let us touch 'em." After I pushed a little and explained that the iPod photo *is* an older generation and that I did *not* mean the iPod Touch, we established that he had a battery in stock.

It is now in my iPod! For only $31 and change!

I also got some Apple Cores. I never saw these before. They're awesome! One is wrapped up in the cassette adapter in my car, and another the dock that I will once again be charging my iPod in.

Add the 2,000 words I've already written today, and the fact that I made a new Twitter friend who loves Wes Welker as much as Shannon Stacey and I do, and I'm flying high!

Back to Heavy Metal, followed by City Islanders soccer watched online and reading of Ghost Story, which I have to devour because even only 90 or so pages into it, I MUST KNOW THE END RIGHT NOW OMG.

"Yep. Gooood day."

Man, I Miss My iPod

I couldn't have picked a worse time to get my iPod stolen. Right in the middle of summer, with lots of expenses like biology prereq, conference, vacation, a new muffler... Why couldn't it have been some time when I could easily justify the expense of a new one? Like...um...okay, there never is a good time. Maybe after Number Two is done with college. In 10 years.

*sob*

I miss my iPod because doing chores and exercising are tedious again. MORE tedious. But worse is the 25-minute drive to and from work. Did you know music on the radio sucks? I did, that's why I listen to my iPod. But I didn't expect it to always suck. I have 12 presets on my radio, and every single morning and every single afternoon, I end up trolling for "Rolling in the Deep" because that's the only decent song* anyone ever plays. I usually catch the last four lines of it.

Commercials actually take up half my commute, because everyone plays them at the same time, for at least 10 minutes.

Once in a while, I hit talk radio, but that usually just aggravates me. The other day, they were reporting a "new" announcement that peroxide is not good to use on cuts and scrapes.

First, that doesn't surprise me. Though I grew up having peroxide poured on my injuries, it always made things worse—yellow and puffy and sore—so I never really used it as an adult.

More importantly, that news isn't new. They were telling us this at least as far back as 16 years ago, because I'd heard it and read all the reasoning for it before Number One got her first boo-boo.

It kind of boggles my mind, how much information we're inundated with, and yet, how much we still miss. I avoid watching or reading the news, for one because it's usually depressing, for another because journalistic style, whether written or performed, drives me insane. For how much still gets through, how much more is out there that I never hear about.

Do you think news and information are important? How do you learn about the things that are going on in the world? How do you feel about it?

~~~~~~
*I'm not an old fuddy-duddy who hates that modern music, honest! Half the stations I troll are oldies stations. They just all never seem to have songs that *I* like, and even the newer ones I do like, they play incessantly until I hate them anyway.

Entangled Launch in T-17 days and counting...

Under the Moon, my paranormal romance with Entangled Publishing, doesn't come out until November. But you don't have to wait for fantastic stuff!

Entangled is having 2 Spectacular Launch Events! over at Coffee Time Romance on August 2nd and 5th. Click the link for details on the EP blog. See you there!

A Smaller, Better World

Log on to the Internet on any given day, and you're likely to find an article or blog post about how bad the Internet is. We (and our kids) are spending too much time on our computers, too little time outdoors or interacting with other people, absorbing damaging material, blah blah blah. I sometimes feel bombarded by it, and it sinks into me, leaving a greasy, sick feeling that I'm a bad person.

And then the U.S. women's soccer team loses the World Cup.

"Congrats Japan" trended on Twitter to #2 that I saw, and well over 100 new tweets were loading every minute. Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people were not only bonding over the experience of watching a tremendous competition, they were being good sports. Obviously, winning a soccer game isn't going to magically fix the challenges Japan has faced and is still facing, or the repercussions worldwide, but the whole thing raises morale, and the positivity seeps into everything else. And without Twitter (and all the other social media and Internet-based tools that make instantaneous communication worthwhile), the ripples wouldn't go nearly as far.

Anyone reading this post knows the power of the Internet. It allows millions of dollars to be raised in a matter of hours, for aid to victims of natural disasters everywhere. Via the Internet, regular people can team up with their favorite celebrities to go to Haiti to build schools. When a woman tragically loses a husband and finds herself a single mother of four kids, her friends thousands of miles away can mobilize to organize an auction, drawing donations and bidders on a scale unheard of when all we could do was put cans on convenience store counters for loose change.

All of that isn't even touching the smaller ways it connects us, like when I got an e-mail from my Hawaiian cousin I'd never met.

Any technology has the power to be used for good or bad, but I would far rather dwell on the ways it changes the world for the better. This weekend, I watched it happen, and it made my day brighter.

Things That Are Making Me Happy Right Now

But first, I forgot a couple of things that are annoying me. And it's every day, too! I can't believe I forgot.

First is the clumps of hair on the bathroom floor every time I go in there. I eliminate them whenever I see them, even scan the edges for more, and still, every time I go in! More! Maybe we need to shave our heads.

The other thing is the water here. It's town provided, but we border a rural area. I don't want to live in a big city, but when I was in NY, my hair always looked great, and my makeup came off clean with one swipe. Here, my hair looks like it needs brushing two minutes after I brush it, and I have dark smudges under my eyes, even days after I last wore mascara. The skin gets sore from rubbing at it with makeup remover swabs or cloths.

Okay, now the important stuff! What's making me HAPPY right now!

The Kids Being Home All Day
It's really nice to have the dishes always done, and I can assign chores to them every day, taking a couple of items off my shoulders.

I'm sure they aren't so happy about this one. They may even be eager to go back to school by now.

My Loaded TBR Shelf
It was getting very empty before RWA. I had maybe a half dozen books in print and half a dozen on my Kindle. Now I have at least a couple dozen in print, plus the ones I gave Number One to read first and demanded she give back.

Not that I have time to read much right now, but a full shelf makes me happy!

New Jim Butcher Coming
I never have an answer when someone asks my favorite author, but at this time of year, it's easy to say Jim Butcher. It has been way too long since Changes, and I may pull another all-nighter with Ghost Story.

Jason Manns
Jason's finally coming back to the east coast! For a while, he was here quarterly, but it's been over a year since we saw him last. As I mention that every so often, both here and on Twitter/Facebook, you can imagine the glee I feel about being able to see him sing live again. If you've only ever heard his produced albums, or even heard him recorded live, you're missing out. He's amazing in person.

I shouldn't complain that it's been too long since his last gig out here. Every time he announces one, he gets a stream of complaints that he never goes where they live. I'm lucky to live close enough to some major cities!

Captain Jack Harkness
I agonized for months about whether or not to shell out the money for Starz because I didn't want to wait forever for DVDs or streaming. Then my husband sees an ad for Torchwood and says, "This looks interesting." I say, "But it's only on Starz. We'd have to subscribe." He says, "Okay." So I did. And got to watch the premiere live, and it was awesome!

Upcoming Vacation
This has been a work-centric summer, plus the travel for RWA and my chapter retreat. I try to have focused family time, but having a week together in which I will only work when the time becomes organically available will be awesome.

Harry Potter
I guess I should put this on here. The final movie comes out this week, and like my kids, I've grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I'm eager to see the final battles portrayed on film. Even if it means three hours of sleep Thursday night, and a houseful of teenage girls, and cleaning, shopping, and chauffeuring. My eagerness to see the movie is tempered by the changes I know they've made and I'm not convinced I'll like. We'll see if the most important line remains, and is attributed to the right person. :)

Each Bit of Work I Finish
Yesterday, I focused on fiction, which felt really good. I'm on track for my deadline, but hadn't touched it since I got back. But my workload is so heavy, progress on Heavy Metal put me behind on editing work. I'll catch up today—at least, that's the plan! But it's been really difficult to balance it all, so I'm happy with every small bit of progress, whether it gives me a praising or scolding note on my tracking spreadsheet. :)

Behind the Scenes in audiobook!
I learned yesterday that my next romantic adventure from Carina Press was picked up by Audible. That will probably come out in October, too.

So what's making you happy this week?

Things That Have Annoyed Me Lately

My Stolen iPod

Yep, my iPod was stolen out of my room at the Marriott Marquis when I was at the RWA conference in New York City. Of course, the hotel denies any responsibility, which I accept. I knew the policy. But it still burns me that it happened in the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed in.

When I got to the train station on Monday, I wrapped the headphones around the iPod in its leather case and stuck it deep in my laptop bag. I never thought about it again, until Friday night. My roommate was gone, and I decided to listen to the iPod while I did my hair and makeup. But I couldn't find it. I dug and searched and emptied the bag. My headphones were coiled up in the bottom, but the iPod wasn't there. I got on the floor to look under the bed, thinking maybe it had fallen out, and spotted the leather case deeeeep under the bed, up against the baseboard. I guess I could tell just by looking at it, because my heart sank even before I reached in there to get it, and yeah, it was empty.

It had to be housekeeping. Who else could have had the time to do all that? I don't get tossing the case. If they'd taken it with them, it could have generated doubt about how it disappeared. It could have maybe fallen out in the train station or the train itself, or I could have decided I didn't remember using it and storing it somewhere else. But the empty case under the bed, that couldn't have gotten there in any manner except deliberately? Total giveaway. And housekeeping is really the only possible thief. They clean with the doors closed. My roommate was in the room most of Wednesday and Thursday, but not Friday. So the evidence is damning.

I hope you enjoy it, Vicki.

My Killer Foot

I pulled a muscle in my foot on Sunday, and it's been killing me. It's the top of my foot, so it's fine when I walk, but hurts most when I'm driving or sitting at my desk--which I do more than half my day, so by the time I go to bed, it's really throbbing. It also made me yell when I bumped it against my chair last night.

This isn't annoying so much because it's an injury, as the way it was injured. I bet this is a new one for you:

Walking too fast in slippery flip-flops.

Stupid People

I think my biggest pet peeve is stupid people. Number One (not the stupid person) is having a slumber party Thursday, and we're going to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter. One of her friends (also not the stupid person) couldn't give us her RSVP until yesterday, and it was late in the day. I tried to get tickets online, and they said there weren't any more, I'd have to try at the theater. So I headed out. And had this exchange with the guy at the box office:

Me: "Are the tickets for the midnight showing of Harry Potter sold out?"

Him: "Just the 3D."

Me: "Oh, good, then I need 6 tickets for the 2D show of the 12:01 a.m. Friday showing."

Him: "That will be $73.50."

Me: O.O

Him: "The 3D tickets have--"

Me: "You said the 3D tickets were sold out. I don't want 3D tickets."

Him: "I said we only had 3D tickets."

Me: "No, I asked if you were sold out, and you said just the 3D."

Him: "Oh, I thought you asked if tickets were available."

Yeah, because "available" and "sold out" sound exactly the same.

Get On With Your Life Already

I read a lot of paranormal young adult fiction, and there's a commonality in some that just doesn't make sense to me.

Why would immortal beings keep going to high school?

The whole "Edward controlling Bella" issue would never have happened if the 90-year-old vampire had actually graduated, like, 72 years ago. Angels who are millennia old and fighting a war shouldn't have to wind up in reform school. That they look young is irrelevant. They need fake IDs anyway, right? So why not make them fake-legally of age and get a job or something?

A mission or destiny that requires them to be in a certain place temporarily makes sense, but to happen across your reincarnated true love in high school without placing yourself there intentionally is hard to swallow.

So any authors out there writing YA with immortal or ancient characters, please consider the motivation a little more thoroughly. :)

So that's it. Tomorrow I think I'll post the things that are making me happy lately.

Soccer Sunday

So much soccer going on right now!

Number Two and her father were watching the women's World Cup match today, and kept sucking in me and Number One, though we were trying to get ready to go see the City Islanders play. They were only five minutes into the first overtime (USA down 2-1) when I couldn't stand it anymore. They'd paused the game for a while and were behind, and I couldn't stand not knowing what happened, but I didn't want to miss kickoff of the CI game. Soccer live is so much more fun than soccer on TV!

So I went into Number Two's room, where she had ESPN 3 queued up. I was just going to check the score, but they had a live stream, and when I clicked it, I saw they were at 123+ minutes and tied! So we lingered to watch the penalty kicks. It was so hard to scream and boo silently, especially when it was over and we'd won. I actually hurt my throat a little without making a sound. LOL

The CI game wasn't so exciting, though it was a good game overall. We tied in the first few seconds of stoppage time, but then the weirdest game ending I've ever seen happened. We were driving toward the goal. The referee started to blow his whistle just as we shot, and scored. It sounded like he was whistling a foul, but he was whistling the end of the game.

Which you are NOT supposed to do in the middle of a play on goal. That's like declaring a football game over while a pass is still in the air, or a basketball game as the player shoots the winning basket. Part of what makes soccer exciting is that you never know when the game will be over. Control is fully in the referee's hands.

I've never seen the players react so violently to anything. Half a dozen got in the ref's face, shouting, and the fans were screaming, and yellow and red cards flashed. I have no idea who got the red card. One of the coaches came to lead the ref away from the players, who subsided a little, but were justifiably furious.

I'm sad that there are only four home games left!

So Random it's Got a Pattern

An article/blog post about building followers/readership/commenters said to remove the word verification from your blog, because people hate it. Doesn't seem like THAT big a deal to me, but I've never had that much problem with spam, so I removed it yesterday.

Today? Only comment was porn spam. *sigh*
~~~~~~
Back from New York! I'll post some pictures soon. Not ones of Lisa, because last time I said I could post it because she doesn't read my blog...and she read my blog. I room with her at RWA National, y'all, I'm not risking it again. :)

But there will be feet. And maybe some pictures with other people I didn't get permission to post. :)
~~~~~~
I could still use input from people who've read my books. Click here to take survey. I'm leaving the survey open indefinitely, so if you've come across this post months later because, say, I mentioned "Harry Potter," and you want to take the survey, feel free! :)
~~~~~~
Picked up tons of books at the conference. I'll be reading print books for a good long while now! :) Won a couple at the YARWA (YA writers group) meeting, and bought some at the Literacy Booksigning (raised over $46,000 in 2 hours!!!), and scored most at the publisher signings. My TBR pile was getting low; now I have so many choices, I can't pick one!
~~~~~~
Firefly was marathoning yesterday. I am DYING to watch the series straight through. Right this moment. But alas, I have copy edits and client edits and client proofing piling up, and too much responsibility.
~~~~~~
So here we are in July. July is Number One's birthday month, and guess what she got this weekend?

Her AAA card.

Ack!

So, yeah, getting her permit will be the big thing. Second only to a weekend at the beach and the last Harry Potter movie. She is very, very sad that it's almost over. I'm not, because I went through it with the last book. THAT was when it was all over for me. :( Anyway, I guess we're doing the midnight show and a sleepover, and she's marathoning the previous movies right before that. So it's a big month.
~~~~~~
Stay tuned for announcements about The Goddess Society and The Film Crew, celebrations of my fall releases, Under the Moon and Behind the Scenes.

Who are my Readers?

Authors nowadays are being bombarded with the idea of an author brand, and targeting their core readers.

The first part I have no problem with. I write high-stakes romantic adventure and paranormal romance, and with a little help from a professional, I came up with "Love with a Shot of Adrenaline" as a catchy tagline.

But the concept of my core reader is difficult for me. I think I balk at defining my core reader because *I* don't want to be defined. I asked once if identifying my CR means "a 30-something married mother of two with a day job" or more like "someone who loves Suzanne Brockmann, Firefly, and the idea of jumping out of an airplane." The answer I got? Both. *sigh*

I feel like saying "my core readers are X" is exclusionary, even though branding experts insist it's not. I would be annoyed if someone said the most die-hard Suz Brockmann fans are 30-something, because I'm 40. I like Falling Skies and Modern Family, and those are diametrical opposites. Hence my resistance to defining you, my readers.

But in addition to being a rebel, I'm also pretty obedient to the people in authority over me, so I want to try to understand my readership better. (Honest, it's only PARTLY so I can say "neener neener, they're undefinable!")

So yay, fun survey time! :) Completely anonymous, of course. Also of course, you have to have read and liked at least one of my books. Please tweet and post on Facebook or link on your blog or send an e-mail to friends or whatever, so I can get more than, like, three responses. :)

I'm at the RWA National conference this week, probably with no Internet access (expensive hotels mean no free wifi, how dumb is that?), so I'll post about the results in two weeks. The poll will remain open indefinitely, so if you want to go buy one of my books now and THEN take the survey, that would be awesomeness. :)

Thank you!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

On My Way to RWA

I'm getting ready to go to RWA National next week. (For the non-writers who read this blog, that's the Romance Writers of America conference.) Some of my fellow attendees had a 15-page planning document weeks ago. Some were so overwhelmed with what they needed to do, they just kept buying shoes. I'm somewhere in the middle.

Yes, I have a four-sheet spreadsheet with a color-coded schedule and all my packing planned out. But that only came together this week. I still have to sort through a half-inch-thick folder of papers—untouched because I had a long to-do list of things that I needed off my desk before I leave. I still have to practice my pitch and research my pitchees, and read through the book I'm pitching so I remember all the details they might ask me about.

But I'm close to ready. I bought a dress for the Harlequin Black and White Ball, and borrowed shoes and a purse from Number One. I know, I can't believe it either. She has big feet, but they're the 15-year-old feet of a normal-sized teenager. My big feet are 40 years old and have been through two pregnancies and support a not-normal-sized person. The style of the shoe, though, makes them fit perfectly.

The only problem is that they're kitten heels. Which is excellent, because my other "fancy dress" shoes are nearly three inches, and I don't want my feet to hurt like that for three events (the Carina and Harlequin parties one night and the awards ceremony another night). But I'm prone to turning my ankle while wearing flip-flops, so I'm a little nervous about that possibility on these teeny heels. When it happens, I generally go to the ground, and not very gracefully. So I'll be holding my breath all night for two nights. Especially the one where I have to go out of the hotel.

I think I've bought all the little things I needed, mainly travel stuff for efficient packing. I'm not flying, but I don't want bulky stuff in my suitcase, either. Plans are being finalized, and now I just need to find the train station before I'm in a time crunch, and I'm all set!

My goal for this conference is networking. I'll be meeting authors and editors from Carina and Entangled, members of YARWA, and old friends, some of whom I've never met in person. I have official editor and agent appointments and some opportunities for informal meet-and-greets, as well as multiple volunteering duties. So my plan is to build my professional presence a little.

And to have fun! I've added karaoke one night and hanging in the bar with some people another and I expect a few dinners out. The hotel is on Times Square, so there will be a lot to choose from, dining-wise! And since my TBR pile is dwindling, I'm eager to get my hands on some new books. If you live in NYC, come on over to the Marriott Marquis on Tuesday night from 5:30 to 7:30. There's a gigantic, 500+ author booksigning, with all the proceeds going to literacy. It's open to the public!

I'm finishing writing this at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning, but I'm setting it for Sunday, the day before I leave. I'll be gone for a week, likely with no Internet access. Pray for me. :)

Good for You, New York!

Last night, I heard Number One pounding through the house. "She has news," I said, and paused the TV. She flew down the stairs, and a prepared myself for a funny celebrity tidbit. But no, her excitement far outstripped normal.

"New York just legalized gay marriage!" she cried.

This morning, I spent some time reading articles, checking out the rainbow-lit Empire State Building, and crying a little. I have few friends or acquaintances who are gay, but this is a cause that I feel fiercely about—so fiercely, it's the only controversial topic I ever blog about.

This feels big. So much bigger than just adding a sixth state with legal gay marriage. I really believe this is going to start a cascade of legality. I think we've turned a corner, one we could only turn by time and pressure. Because honestly, the longer the argument goes on, the more ridiculous it sounds.

Number One said a lot of the talk among her peers was about Tiger Woods and Charlie Sheen, those paragons of traditional marriage. Seriously, when proponents of "family values" are getting flicked off their political pedestals because of infidelity, how on earth can they claim gay marriage threatens the institution? If having sex with prostitutes and posting your junk on Twitter doesn't do it, how will two men or two women getting married do it?

My neighbor's divorce did not undermine my partnership with my husband. Heck my parents' divorce didn't damage my marriage! So how would two guys getting married be any kind of a threat? If two people live together for 15 years, support each other through their careers, and even raise kids together, why would legalizing all of that so they can actually benefit from it instead of getting penalized do any harm to the rest of us?

I have still never heard a satisfactory explanation. Because there isn't one. And the longer the argument goes on, the more apparent that will come, and the more states will realize it doesn't help anyone to keep fighting.

So congratulations, New York and New Yorkers. May your marriages be long and loving.

Summer TV Tryouts

Hi, my name is Natalie, and I'm a TV addict.

Okay, not really. I only watch TV at night, after all my work is done, although I don't always make sure it's ALL done before I watch TV. If I were an addict, I would never care about getting my work done.

But I admit I really, really hate when there's a long lull in new programming. It makes me happy that summers now have their own seasons, mainly via cable, and there are always new shows to try out. Here are the ones I've tried so far, and my thoughts on them:

Love Bites
This show is short stories containing overlapping characters. I liked it better than I expected. I think I watched it mainly for Becki Newton (Amanda from Ugly Betty), but have so far enjoyed all the vignettes, especially the ones featuring Greg Grunberg. (Between him and Bradley Cooper being all over the movies, I'm really wanting Alias back.) I wouldn't miss the show if it was gone, but it's a nice diversion for an hour a week.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Meh. I'm intrigued enough to give the pilot a pass and watch episode 2. Chloe is adopted, her father left them 10 years ago, and she just turned 16 and died. She's a descendant of an ancient race and has partial shapeshifter powers. (If she fully shifts into an animal, I'm done with the show. I haven't read the book(s) so I don't know if she does or not.) Since she was pushed off Coit Tower and "survived," she's apparently marked as some special version of her race, which makes her a target and stuff.

The acting was a little too much of the wide-eyed, exaggerated teenager variety. A little too much Disney Channel, not enough Kyle XY. The best friend is super-annoying, the dialogue was often weak. But I like the other characters, and the father thing is intriguing, so like I said, I'll give it another try.

Franklin & Bash
I am quite shocked to say I love this show. It belongs on the USA Network, with its quirky characters and irreverent storylines. I usually don't go for courtroom dramas, but this is far more comedy than drama, and it has tons of chemistry. Kind of reminds me of Eyes without the edginess. Of course, the best part is the very close friendship between the two main characters. I'm really into those guy relationships for some reason. (Ref. Prison Break and Numb3rs and...oh, yeah, Supernatural! :) )

Falling Skies
We watched the "two-hour premiere" on Sunday. (I hate when they call it a two-hour premiere or finale or special episode, when it's really just two stand-alone episodes aired back to back. That's NOT the same thing as a longer, cohesive storyline.) I really, really liked it. Lots of action, an intriguing overarching storyline, complex characters—some you can only like, some you hate but understand, some you are supposed to hate but are probably going to really like. Of course, I love the father/son relationship already. Tom has a 17-year-old son who's a scout for the military, an 8-year-old son, and one in the middle who's been taken by the aliens as a slave. They're often in three different places, making decisions ultra-hard. This one is already on my "favorites" list, too.

Future tryouts will feature Unnecessary Roughness, Wilfred, and Alphas. UN because it has football, though I'm not convinced I'll like it. W because my husband thinks it will be funny. A because I'm very into the whole super-powered thing. :) We'll see who makes the cut!

Tell me what you think about these or other shows! What else should I be watching?

Super 8 and Ryan Reynolds in his Underwear

I kind of miss the summers of 4 or 5 years ago, when the kids went to Camp Nana every week and J and I went to a movie the night they were gone. Back then, we couldn't do anything until they were asleep, so it made us giddy to be alone and on a date at 7:00 p.m. with no kids at home and no babysitter. Back then, there were also new movies almost every week that I was dying to see.

Things are so different now! No Camp Nana this year, but the kids can stay home alone, so we can do whatever we want. Unfortunately, while there are movies I really want to see, none of them are at the "OMGgot-to" level. Not even Harry Potter, but that's a post for another day.

Anyway, J and I have seen two movies in the last two weeks, but we saw them on the weekend! At night! On opening weekend, no less!

Super 8 was as good as I expected it to be. I mean, JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg! Not that they never make duds, but this wasn't one of them. It was like they said "what if ET was captured before Elliott found him, and was held for 20 years?" The story isn't focused on the alien, but on the kids and families in the town where he escapes. The acting was superb, especially from the kids, and with the exception of one unnecessary, heavy-handed symbolic moment, the whole thing was well done.

The other movie we saw was Green Lantern. Call me superficial, but I greatly enjoyed Ryan Reynolds in his underwear. I mean, in this role. He did very well with both the cocky, snarky fighter pilot aspect of his personality, and the side of him that was convinced he wasn't good enough. We had just enough hints at his relationships to see how much he cared. The rest, of course, was all spectacle. The actress from Gossip Girl seemed like she'd had surgery two days before shooting and was trying to act through a haze of morphine. The subvillain was balanced, and the Big Bad as gorgeous as he was frightening. All in all, not the best superhero movie ever, but far from the worst.

Did you see these two yet? What did you think?

Carina Free Book Week

It's FREE BOOK WEEK at Carina Press!!!
Starting on June 20th, every weekday, all week, Carina is offering a spectacular title for free download. And when they say free, they mean ACTUALLY free. Not "sorta free", or "free with a $50 purchase" free, but actually, totally, no strings attached FREE! So, get thee to Carina press to download a free book every day! Here are the books being offered, and the links and promo codes for your free download:

Monday's FREE BOOK is:
The Debutante's Dilemma by Elyse Mady
Just type in the promo code DEBUTANTEFREE at checkout

Tuesday's FREE BOOK is:
Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee
Just type in the promo code DEMONFREE at checkout

Wednesday's FREE BOOK is:
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell
Just type in the promo code TWISTEDFREE at checkout

Thursday's FREE BOOK is:
Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley
Just type in the promo code GALAXYFREE at checkout

Friday's FREE BOOK is:
Friendly Fire by Megan Hart
Just type in the promo code FRIENDLYFREE at checkout

But wait, there's more! You can retweet and win! Follow @_ChristineBell and @ElyseMady on Twitter and retweet any of their tweets that mention the hashtag #CarinaFree and you'll be entered to win the following fabulous prize pack:

• An autographed print copy of "The Debutante's Dilemma" by Elyse Mady and an e-copy of her latest novel "Learning Curves"
• Christine Bell's souped up RWA swag bag including Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale mug, magnet, romance trading cards and Carina Press coupon, and a bag of hershey kisses and any book off her backlist
• A $25 Amazon Gift Card

It's Not the Romance Novels...

Recently, a psychiatrist and life coach declared romance novels addictive and destructive. The Internet exploded with hysterical laughter from sane people, but as always, there was a backlash from people who agreed with the original ridiculousness. Also as usual, it expanded to include such things as the damaging nature of Disney princesses.

Something similar occurred regarding the material in many young adult novels, though I was squashed flat under my workload and refrained from exploring that explosion.

I wish people would stop blaming STUFF for broadly described social ills. You think there's a problem? Target the actual source, please.

My kids loved the Disney princesses, and all the movies of that ilk. You know why they're not subjugating themselves to be-all-end-all relationships, or declaring themselves incomplete without the love of a shiny prince?

Because Disney princesses weren't the only influence in their lives.

Is it so astonishing that the loving, equal partnership her father and I share might have a little more sway than a two-hour bit of fluffy entertainment?

I'm so tired of "experts" blaming third parties for the problems of individuals. For one thing, I have a really hard time believing all the young women in our society think they should be living in castles and married to princes. But even if some do think that, the problem isn't that there are a few movies out there that make them think that way. The problem is just as likely to be a harried, overworked father struggling to keep his pampered wife in their cavernous house while she spends all the money he earns on anything the kids demand.

If a woman reads a romance novel about a guy who is loving and supportive, and is then dissatisfied that her spouse comes home every day and yells at her until bedtime, the problem is not with the romance novel being "unrealistic." It's with the woman being told she needs to settle and work harder at the relationship she has. I call bullshit!

(I apologize, Number Two, for the profanity.)

If my neighbor can't keep herself from mowing her grass four times a week, ripping out my lawn isn't going to fix her. If the guy across town is addicted to pink socks and can't go to work if they're all in the laundry, telling everyone in the world to stop wearing pink socks is not going to solve his problem.

So please, all you supposed experts, stop globalizing all the problems out there. I know you have self-help programs to sell, or practices to fill with patients, or an ego that craves the attention. Some of you are probably also well-meaning people who really believe what you say and want to help others, but this isn't the way to do it.

I'm healthy. Please leave my romances/movies/TV shows/lawn/pink socks alone.

My Favorite Part of Summer

I blogged yesterday about one of my favorite parts of summer, going to City Islanders games with my kids. Number Two told me to post it here, too, but I'm just linking to it.

The Islanders had a game last night, the first game in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup, and continued their time-honored tradition of losing for 85 minutes, then tying, and winning in stoppage time. So we go back next Tuesday! We've made the quarterfinals for the last two years, getting dumped by DC United, so expectations are high.

What's your favorite part of summer?

Victory, Dammit

Two years and four months ago, we bought a new front-load washing machine. No matter what machine I looked at in our price range, someone had a bad experience, so I went against my usual habit and bought the extended protection agreement.

The washing machine went wonky a couple of weeks ago. We called the repair number, and the guy told us we were covered, even though the protection agreement says 3 years for Kenmore and 2 years for other brands, and ours is Frigidaire. He said no, the model number was Kenmore. Okay, we said skeptically, and scheduled the first available repair date.

Eight days later.

The Real Truth of the Hard Truth

I read a heartfelt article recently about the difficulties of having a writing career. It talked about the pressure of deadlines, the reality of having to write, even when awful things like spouses dying and mothers with cancer upend your entire existence.

We (those of us who've been "in the business" for a decade or plural), often caution new, excited, hopeful writers about the truth of aspiring for a writing career. The constant rejection, even after success; the sheer enormity of the competition; the ever-more-crowded marketplace, and on and on. We always say that if you can quit, do it. That you have to truly love writing, deep down, if you're going to get through all the hard stuff intact and sane.

But you know what? The real truth is a lot more complicated than that.

Google Guitar

Here's Number One's tribute to Les Paul.

Bonus points if you recognize the song. :)

Happy Birthday, Carina Press!

In celebration of our one year anniversary, I asked as many of our Harlequin team members and Carina Press freelance editors as possible to write a short blog post, talking about what the past year or so has been like for them, working on Carina Press. I deliberately didn't provide any direction other than that, because I wanted to see what people came up with, in the spirit of Carina's 1st anniversary. I was so pleased when I saw what they'd all come up with, and had to say (and some of these posts made me just a little teary)! I hope you enjoy the post, and look for your opportunity to win a Carina Press book at the bottom of this post. ~Angela James

Dana Grimaldi is a member of the Carina Press acquisitions team. She loves to read sci-fi, fantasy, romance, mystery, steampunk, paranormal and any medley of these genres

Sometimes, when you start a new job, you find out that it comes with unfortunate surprises. For instance, sometimes you’re a camp counselor on your first overnight camping trip…in the middle of a thunderstorm. And then, when you wake the campers in the middle of the night so you can move the tents under a shelter, you discover that the shelter you’re trying to use is already occupied…by bats.

But other times, if you’re lucky, those surprises can be amazing. When I started working as the copy editor for Harlequin.com, the company was preparing to launch Harlequin’s digital-first imprint, Carina Press. Even though my job description didn’t say anything about Carina, it wasn’t long before I was copy editing back cover copy, pamphlets and author bios for Carina Press, too. I was lucky enough to find myself at the right place during a very exciting time. Before long, I joined the acquisitions team.

Right from the start, I knew this was an amazing opportunity. Being on the acquisitions team is like being part of the best book club ever. Every week, I get the chance to sit down with some of the smartest, funniest, most interesting women I’ve ever worked with and talk about something I love: books. But the most exciting part is that when I read a book, I get to pass on my thoughts and comments to the book’s editor.

Working on the acquisitions team has even changed the way I read. I’d never really considered getting an eReader. I was perfectly happy reading print books. I didn’t even call them print books; they were just books. But when I joined the acquisitions team, I realized very quickly that I’d need to find myself an eReader—there are no hard copy manuscripts at a digital-first publisher! I asked around—there was no shortage of opinions about eReaders here—and eventually decided to get a Kindle and a lighted case. The Kindle is really easy to use and the reading light doesn’t give me forehead crease marks like the light I use for print books.

Working for Carina Press has also expanded the types of books I read. I’ve always read a pretty wide variety of fiction, but even though I’ve read and loved fantasy books, I’d never read urban fantasy. Even though I love time travel stories, historical books and science fiction, I’d never even heard of steampunk. I found out that I love both these genres.

Looking forward to the upcoming year, I’m excited to continue reading books in new genres by fresh new voices. Hopefully this year will bring more good surprises—involving books—rather than not-so-good surprises—involving bats.

To celebrate Carina's one-year anniversary of publishing books, we're giving away some prizes. Today, on each of the nineteen blogs our team members are featured on, we're giving away a download of a Carina Press book to one random winner (that's nineteen total winners!) All you need to do to be entered to win is comment on this post. You can enter to win on all nineteen posts. In addition, on the Carina Press blog, we're giving away a grand prize of a Kobo ereader and 12 Carina Press books of the winner's choice. Visit the Carina Press blog to enter to win, and to see links to all 19 of today's blog posts.

And a sincere thank you from all of us, to our readers and authors, for making Carina Press's first year a success!