Friday, November 20, 2009

Nano realizations

Today I got to 50k. I've always enjoyed doing Nanowrimo and the adrenaline to punch out the words. I'll admit it's probably not all good. I'll be rewriting and changing things. But it's still 50k more than I started out with 20 days ago. I realized things along the way.

a. I am capable of shutting off that internal editor. The past week, I've been cranking out at least 4k a day. How? I shut it off. Using write or die, I completely shut that inner voice off and simply wrote. That's all. Crap? Some of it is. But there's potential and that's all I really wanted. The potential to be able to turn it into something worthy of reading.

b. write-ins are great for brainstorming. although it may not be quite as effective for getting in the words, major ideas pop up.

c. writing in order is like plotting and means instant blockage. Writing out of order is how I get things done.

This is why I love Nano. Yes, I may not have a full book (mine are usually longer than 50k), yes my scenes are all over the map, but I still end up with so many ideas and knowing more where it's headed than when I first started. I knew the major points, but Nano helped me to get there. And for me, that's a major win. :D

Monday, November 16, 2009

New release!

A Love Neverending
By Rowan Larke

Death took Jason from Clarissa, and she blames herself. Night after night, she throws herself into the arms of other men—men who abuse and pleasure her, but never take her far enough. She is waiting for the one who will take her over the edge and into death, so she can be reunited with Jason.

Death didn’t take Jason far enough. Every night, Jason watches. His immortal self is trapped inside the club Clarissa owns, and he longs to be with her once more.

Death is a dark angel. A handsome man. The promise of violence in his eyes draws Clarissa to him. Will a single night in bed with Death be all it takes to destroy Jason and Clarissa’s love neverending, or will it be just the beginning?



Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: BDSM theme and content, violence, voyeurism.

(Authors note: This book also contains hot angels who sometimes do bad and/or dirty things.)

Buy it now at Loose-Id

Plot bunnies and new shinies

Nano count 33k

Ever get an idea that comes to you and you just get so excited that you're a bundle of energy/nerves all day? Yesterday was one of those days for me. An idea for a trilogy came along... whispering in my ear. What was I doing when I got this snippet? Watching the History channel. It was doomsday Sunday or something, talking about the Apocalypse and all the signs.

And although my idea has nothing to do with this, it still inspired a what if... and oooh that could be good. Only problem? It's time sensitive. As in... it needs to be done like pronto Toto. So after nano, I'll jump right in. I'll still work on my other projects, they can't avoid me that easily. I'll need to put down Fatal Temptations for a bit anyway to let it simmer.

I know many authors reccommend doing this, putting it down for at least a month. So I'll do that and work on this new idea.

But it does make me wonder some days how I get these thoughts. I mean, for the longest while it seemed as though the random thought would get through but nothing would stick. Lately my muse has been in overtime, doubling its efforts to pump out something that would resemble something interesting. Not that I'm complaining. At all. Indeed...

Those plot bunnies can come around whenever they want if they give me ideas like these...

Sunday, November 15, 2009

A confession...

One thing about life is that you have to expect the unexpected. You have to expect that things aren't going to happen as you want them to and that you'll run up against roadblocks. I have faced one of these hurdles and instead of leaping with the agility of a gymnast, I've landed on my face.

You see, my wordcount for Nanowrimo has dropped. You may have remembered my deluded determination to write 100k. I've conceded that I may have been a bit foolish thinking I could. It's good to be determined but life happens.

50k, will be written but not 100k. I'm already at 27k, so a bit past half done but 100k will not be in the cards. I haven't given up, but I'm no where near where I need to be. High hopes clashed with reality and I was spun around. Delusions happen and I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. I wanted to push myself past my limits but at this point in time, I've realized that it just doesn't always work that way.

Friday, November 13, 2009

New release!- War Flesh by Kim Knox



Fina Brodie is warflesh. Enhanced by her government to bring ultimate pleasure, her negotiation skills secure anything her superiors want. The choice of pleasure she offers has always been hers. Until now. She’s not meeting Kian, Lord of the Tir, to negotiate for their mysterious spice-water. She’s payment.



And she’s not alone in bringing pleasure to the mysterious Tir leader. The man Kian has chosen to join them in the very sexual, very public spring festival has long headed her “never ever” list. Add the spice-water, which is rocket fuel to her already highly evolved libido, and it makes her reactions to Jonathon Raegh all the more dangerous.



But the Tir have a hidden agenda, and as the aphrodisiac qualities of the spice-water ignite long-suppressed lusts, all is revealed to Kian, Fina and Jon in the heat and passion of the arena.



Reader Advisory: Let there be no confusion. The spring festival is a sexual feast between two incredibly sexy men and one very lucky woman. Get the ice water ready!



Excerpt and buy link

Thursday, November 12, 2009

What do I know?

I'm always in a constant war with myself. I think with a scientific mind... I need to see the science of something. I mean I do have a joint degree in biology, but I digress. I'm a science-anthro article whore. I am always curious about the world we live in... maybe not the politics of it, but the hows and the whys. Problem with this... is that it is way too easy for ideas to come to me.

Problem #2, science is always changing. Therefore, my ideas are always changing. Evolving. I need to stick with an idea and ignore the fact that life and our knowledge is always changing. But that isn't always simple.

This also reflects in my writing because I'll admit that I often am so focused on what is currently thought that I forget to just tell the story and not worry on those little details that probably only a handful of readers would know. You know?

Fatal Visions for instance, is a story of my heart but bless its little plot, it's evolved so many times that in the beginning it was about a virus that gave telepathy... a virus found from Neandertal bones (because it was my theory in highschool that that was how they communicated). I thought that Neandertals were alive in what some would claim are Big Foots or Zetis... Abominable Snowmen, Skunk Apes, etc. And that reflected in my work. Do I still believe this? I don't know but my story has evolved past it into something entirely different and unrecognizable to that first seed of a thought.

My point to this is that things are always changing, no matter what. There will always be something out there. Ideas don't have to change because science has per say... or at least it shouldn't be the focus of it. A story shouldn't have to lose what it was once because of changing marketing trends or something like science. Just keep plugging at it. And that's something that I need to remind myself.

A few articles of interest that I've read today:

Meet the Ancestors

Who Killed the Honeybees? We Did
The Man Who Discovered What Killed the Dinosaurs

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Excerpt Monday- November!

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Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

Webs of Trust

Part One
Part two


...“Why are you here?” She repeated again. Back to square one.
He leaned back, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he rocked on the balls of his feet a moment. “That depends.”

“On?”

“You.”

“Me?” She snorted out a laugh before covering her mouth. Yeah flipping right and she was the Queen of Mocha. Considering the situation and her knotted stomach, she thought she was doing quite well considering every instinct in her body screamed to run in the opposite direction. “Too bad I’m going to ruin your plans. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

His lips curved in that way of his that had always made her heart beat a little bit harder. Her knees trembled.

“I don’t have the time to try and win you over to my side.” His finger reached out and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Are you done here?”

Done? She shook her head, glancing down at the scattered books on the small table and her milk steamer that was not even half way done. “I’m busy. Whatever lies you have to tell me can wait another time.”

Unless he decided to take off again. Not that she would care. She was over him, she told herself. This man had nothing on her anymore. The fact that he still made her jittery meant nothing. He could walk away and she wouldn’t blink. Once a ghost, always a ghost.

She moved away from him, settling down into her chair. Her steamer was still warm, even as she wrapped her fingers around the mug. “If you have any information about the pyramids of Giza and the constellation of Orion, I might be obliged to listen but because I very much do-”

“I need your help.”

She lifted a brow. “And if I don’t want to help?”

He sighed and slid his hand into his coat. Shooting a glance around him, he pushed it back to flash an unmistakeable gun. Her blood turned to ice as she stared at him. “Then I’ll have to force you. Please, Becca, don’t make me force you. I’d hate to do it.”

Not again. She wasn’t going to put herself in another situation with him.

“Are you going to help me?” He asked again, but she heard the irritation in the tightness of his words. His eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, closer. Crowding her.

Don’t let him get too close. Don’t let him get too...

He settled a hand on her arm. She threw the steamer into his face and shoved to her feet. She barely thought, her heart pounding so hard in her ears that she didn’t hear him swear. All she focused on was getting away from him. Snatching her purse, she pushed through the crowd gathering and ran out the door into the whip of frigid wind and the downpour of rain.

It was on days like these that she hated not having a vehicle. But after having had to pay for it after it’d been impounded and no money to deal with repairs, it now simply sat in her driveway until she was either told by the city that the eyesore had to be removed or... it simply rotted away. She hoped for neither because that car had meant a lot to her father but really, she needed the money if she wanted to do anything with it.

And with a historian's paycheque, she wasn't getting rich fast.

She took the long way home. Instead of one bus, she took two. By the time she shoved into her small one bedroom apartment night had fallen. Latching the locks, she stood with her back pressed to the door for a moment, staring into the dark shadows of her livingroom. Now when her legs shook so bad that she didn’t think she could stand straight, she let herself slide to the carpet. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs.

Her breath rattled out.

“Took you long enough to get home. While I’ve been waiting, I’ve become acquainted with your cat.”

That breath froze. Her blood pressure shot up. She searched desperately through the shadows and found him sitting on her couch. Leaning against him, the betrayer lay sprawled over his lap. Over the pounding of her heart, she heard Tibs’ purr.

Before she could say anything, he’d set the cat aside and was kneeled before her, one palm over her throat, his fingers brushing back and forth over her pulse. “I am really not in the mood for more hot drinks being thrown in my face so I recommend you be a bit more civilized.”



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