Hot Stuff on the Hot Sheet

Titania Ladley interviewed me in the May edition of her newsletter and you can check out the online version of the Hot Sheet here. My deepest, darkest secrets revealed! (Or at least the fact that I have no deep dark secrets - revealed!) Also, she has a yahoo group where readers can meet and mingle. Don't miss it!

Shy Writers Unite!

Today I'm over at the Once Written, Twice Shy Blog chatting about handling my introverted tendencies at conferences. Stop of by and learn how I'm like Dana Carvey.

The Whole Truth

So last week I lied. And y'all tried to spot the lie. And a surprising number of you caught me.

Dude, I was hoping to fool more of you. I tried to make my truths ridiculous and my lies believable, but apparently, I am an epic fail. No poker for me. My bluffing sucks. And now, for the record, The Straight Scoop:

1. I have answered the phone to find Tobey Maguire on the other end of the line and worked on a film for which someone other than myself was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, & a Screen Actors Guild Award. TRUE. Patricia Clarkson was nominated for just about every supporting actress award for Pieces of April. Tobey Maguire was the "it" boy of the moment cuz Spiderman had just released & he just happened to be friends with the producer I was working for during my brief and ill-fated sojourn into the film industry. So, I have to ask, would you have been more or less likely to believe me if I'd told you it was Sigourney Weaver? Katie Holmes? Or if I said I'd been backstage at Conan O'Brien talking to someone in a prom dress? Do any of those make a better story?

2. I rode a camel in Morocco, but I have never been south of the equator - the lack of which eats away at my soul. TRUE. Sadly. I'm desperate to get below the equator. Soon... very soon... Australia is calling me.

3. I was valedictorian of my high school, a National Merit scholar and in Mensa - but I can't tell my left from my right. TRUE. Right and left are tricky bastards. They move around on you. My left, your left, stage left, leftfield... any one of those might not actually be to the left at any given moment. They are trying to mess with my brain. North and south are awesome. They don't try to screw with you by moving all around. I don't have any trouble with the compass points. And they like me, so take that made up directional left/right-ness! (If you read my books and I say someone is pointing their right hand, I have no idea which hand is pointing. No joke.)

4. I once had my head stapled shut after gashing it on the ceiling, didn't get home from the emergency room until two in the morning and went to my 7:30am class the next day. (Did you know there is something called the halo effect where head wounds close to the brain seem to hurt several inches above your actual skull? Soooo weird.) TRUE. The guys who took me to the hospital got special permission from the ER folks so they could all be in the room watching when the doctor took a staple gun to my head. It made this great whir-ka-chunk noise. You can't beat the sound of staples in your scalp, baby.

5. I hate earthquakes, thunderstorms, and blizzards, but love the natural power of tornadoes. I blame The Wizard of Oz. Tornadoes=magic. BIG FAT LIE. Oh-my-freaking-god do I ever hate tornadoes. They freak the hell out of me. I grew up with earthquakes & blizzards (love 'em) and took to thunderstorms right off (love love love!) but tornadoes give me the heebie-jeebies. I once heard a tornado warning on the radio when I was driving through Mississippi and, not knowing what county I was in, had no idea if it applied to my area. This led to three straight hours of me freaking out and watching the horizon, preparing to drive my car to the side of the road and go lie flat in a ditch if I saw anything funnely. Good times.

6. I once cried and nearly hyperventilated between sparring and board breaking during a karate belt test. And passed the test. (Never discount the sympathy vote in martial arts.) TRUE, actually. This one does surprise most people who know me well. I'm not usually much of a crier. To explain, there was a freaking ton of adrenaline in my system and I was trying to calm down after sparring (which always wigs me out, I'll be honest - I'm a grappler or a run-away-er by nature and standing there, waiting for someone to take a swing at me, is so not my thing) and my body decided the handiest outlet for my adrenaline high was great gulping sobs and big fat tears. First and only time it's ever happened. So I'm kneeling on the floor, making this awful heee-heee noise and my sensei tells me I have to break. I get up (still sobbing), position my boards, and break 'em all first try. And the hysterics magically stop. Attacking boards is apparently a hella effective way of relieving an adrenaline overload.

7. I can both lead and follow lindy hop. If you don't know what that means, you are in the majority, and while I refuse to explain, I will tell you that I did it at RT with Jess Granger and it was awesome. (Kinky girl-on-girl lindy... ooooooh.) TRUE. Lindy hop is a swing dance. I love it because it has this fabulous blend of totally-nerdy and bizarrely-cool, which is my favorite ever. Behold the lindy-ness:

Booksignings: The Untold Story

We laugh because it's soooo true.

Liar, Liar

That's right, boys and girls, I've been nominated for Lesa's Bald Faced Liar "Creative Writer" Blogger Award! Mad thanks to Mary Hughes for singling me out as a prevaricator extraordinaire.

How does this work? I've posted seven statements about myself below. At least one is true and at least one is a bald faced lie. All you have to do is figure out which is which.

And because I love to share the wealth, I'm nominating a few liars creative bloggers of my own. Be sure to check out:

• Shelli Stevens - the author your mother warned you about... naughty books for all occasions
• Kinsey Holley - werewolfy goodness of the steamy delicious variety
• Kelly Fitzpatrick - laughter & romance, my favorite combination
• Kate Diamond - founding member of Damned Scribbling Women blog, romance afficianado, and aspiring scribe
• Jess Granger - sci-fi romance to fire the imagination and tug at the heartstrings
• Liz Talley - fabulous new author of comtemporary romance with Superromance
• Sela Carsen - Paranormal. Romantic. Comedy. (the trifecta)

And don't forget to swing back around to check out Mary Hughes - side splitting laughs and spicy hot vamps (and a gift certificate going to one lucky commenter).

And now, to the lies!

1. I have answered the phone to find Tobey Maguire on the other end of the line and worked on a film for which someone other than myself was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, & a Screen Actors Guild Award.

2. I rode a camel in Morocco, but I have never been south of the equator - the lack of which eats away at my soul.

3. I was valedictorian of my high school, a National Merit scholar and in Mensa - but I can't tell my left from my right.

4. I once had my head stapled shut after gashing it on the ceiling, didn't get home from the emergency room until two in the morning and went to my 7:30am class the next day. (Did you know there is something called the halo effect where head wounds close to the brain seem to hurt several inches above your actual skull? Soooo weird.)

5. I hate earthquakes, thunderstorms, and blizzards, but love the natural power of tornadoes. I blame The Wizard of Oz. Tornadoes=magic.

6. I once cried and nearly hyperventilated between sparring and board breaking during a karate belt test. And passed the test. (Never discount the sympathy vote in martial arts.)

7. I can both lead and follow lindy hop. If you don't know what that means, you are in the majority, and while I refuse to explain, I will tell you that I did it at RT with Jess Granger and it was awesome. (Kinky girl-on-girl lindy... ooooooh.)

Soooo.... how truthful was I? Can you spot the lie(s)?

Book Karma

Do you ever have a run of absolutely fabulous reading luck? Like when all the books you are reading suddenly seem to be surpassing your expectations and resonating against a little place inside you like they were written just for you? I've gotta say, it's pretty awesome when it happens and I'm having one right now.

These fabulous books aren't from new-to-me authors, so I knew they would be good, but for some reason the stellar reality of these books has surpassed my memory of the awesomeness I could expect to find within.

Maybe it's just a factor of mood. Was I in exactly the right mindset to be reading these books? Is that why I found Erin McCarthy's A Date with the Other Side to be a double helping of charming and delightful with a side of ghosts? Or why I turned to goo midway through The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner, moaning, "You had me at cryptography"? (I'm a math nerd, I can't help it if the Fibbonacci sequence makes me weak.)

Whatever the reason, I'd like to thank the Gods of Pleasure Reading for giving me this particularly delightful stint. What about you? Have you had a good run lately? Any books you want to gush about?

Straight Shot of Romance-spresso from Coffee Time

The Spring Showers Promo over at Coffee Time Romance is still going strong with many an excerpt and many a chance to win cool prizes. Today, the fabulous folks at Coffee Time have posted an excerpt of Serengeti Storm and if I'm understanding the fine art of prize-giving correctly (which I believe I am, but my brain is swiss cheese at the moment for reasons I won't go into here) then one lucky commenter on the thread will take home a shiny new download of Serengeti Storm. (Oooooh! Aaaaaaah!)

So come on by and comment to win. Or just come on by to chat with me or with other booklovers at the forum. This whole forum thing is a recent discovery for me (I know, I'm slow) and I'm kinda loving the concept (though sadly, my internet time is limited these days so I can't be as active as I'd like at the moment *le sigh*).

Samhain's Got a Newsletter

This just in! Or rather in a few days ago, but I forgot to post it then, so now, hot off the pressess, the latest scoop:

The new Samhain newsletter is about to launch and we're calling on everyone to spread the word and share the sign-up link below. The monthly newsletter will focus and feature upcoming and new releases - both in eBook and Print -as well as free downloads and contests. There will also be links to the social networks, Twitter and Facebook, and soon, YouTube.

Here's to getting the word out on our fabulous authors and their wonderful stories...because, it's all about the story!

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:1411505/acctId:1405219

Thank you!
~Samhain Publishing Marketing Dept