Category: The Blog

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Unexpected Interruption

Sorry for disappearing on you guys today.  Remember the great escape from yahell?  It just so happens that they still “owned” one small thing.

The domain itself.  Which expired last night.  So my entire site was GONE this morning. 

Well, the good news is that it wasn’t “gone” just not getting the correct domain pointed at it!  A frantic scramble led me back to yahell and I took back my domain with them for one more year.  It’s such a scam — next year they’re going to charge me nearly 4 times more for the same service, basically because I don’t host my site with them any longer.  What a bunch of caca.  Needless to say, I’ll be working with Deena before then to ensure my domain is moved elsewhere.

So, not a lot of writing accomplished this morning.  Over lunch, I ran to Wal-Mart for a wireless USB adapter for the monsters’ desktop (That Man stepped on the old one and broke it.  Hmmm, gee, why was it even on the floor, girls??), and then cursed at it while dinner was in the oven because it wouldn’t work.  After installing and uninstalling three times, I finally tried it without the USB cable between the adapter and the computer, which fixed whatever difficulty the old dinosaur thought it was having. 

I don’t know that my domain e-mail is working fully yet, so if you need to reach me, try the gmail addy.

Gah.  Some days I really, really REALLY hate technology.

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Freebies, Contests, and More

I’ve already blogged about how much I loved Larissa Ione’s Pleasure Unbound — and how I can’t wait to earn my reward by finishing Revision Xibalba so I can read Desire Unchained!  I even picked Pleasure Unbound to win it all in DABWAHA and was thrilled to see my first author blurb in Desire Unchained!  How cool is that?  Here’s your chance to win some freebies from Larissa by spreading the word.

I plan to give away the entire Demonica series when Shade’s book is out, so stay tuned!

Smart Bitches and Dear Author are sponsoring Save the Contemporary.  Spread the word to win a copy of the latest Lisa Kleypas release.

For more blogosphere contests, check out Paperback Writer’s post.

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Revision Xibalba

Yes, I’m still slowly grinding away on the project that will not end.  I lost Friday night thanks to a lovely visit with Aunt BB and Uncle J — it’s always nice to see them.  Just hard on my writing schedule.  Saturday we had 3 hours in the car, and I actually got quite a bit done, but then I slept in really late on Sunday and visited with my Beloved Sis all afternoon.  We had a blast, baked cookies, made a Cherry-Diet-Coke Chocolate Cake, and realized we have exactly the same black Sketchers in the exact same size…but we didn’t write! 

I didn’t get up quite as early as I needed today, but I finally managed to finish up one section this morning and another (short) one tonight.  NSR is just shy of 90K (88,965).  According to my spreadsheet, I only have 5-6 sections, depending on how the resolution of two major story threads ends up.  That’s it!  Yet it feels like miles and miles away.

We’re hoping to do a mini-vacation trip for the monsters this weekend (they’re on Spring Break), so it would be most excellent if I could finish the revision and reward myself with the books I’ve been promising myself on the drive to St. Louis.  I also have first-pass edits to complete on Dear Sir, I’m Yours, so that might be wishful thinking to get both of them done before Friday.

We’ll see what I can manage.

Snippet:

In the center, a black stone rose up from the floor, sticky and wet.  A living, beating heart oozing fresh blood sat on top of the stone.

One Death gestured grandly.  “Behold the caged heart, some of our greatest magic.  Only the heart of a king can last so long, except possibly…”  His head turned slowly, his glowing red eyes latching on to her.  “A cursed priest’s who cannot die.”

She shuddered at the thought of Ruin’s heart ripped from his chest, magicked into beating for the Xibalban Lords’ pleasure.  They must gain a great deal of power from the constant beating of the heart and its fresh flow of blood.

“The greatest wonder is that we need do nothing to keep it beating.  Only the king’s great emotion keeps his heart caged and alive:  his love, hatred, and fierce desire for revenge.  Ah, such sweet, delicious emotions.  I’d forgotten what human emotion felt like until he came into our hands.  He’s given us much to savor.”

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Linkage

March Madness is here!  Check out the 64 book tournament DA BWAHA.  Set your brackets, vote, and win fab prizes!  I’m cheering for Larissa Ione’s Pleasure Unbound myself!

Don’t forget the Passionate Pen Anniversary — March’s prize is a copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007!  Details here.

The new issue of Membra Disjecta is now live with lots of cool fiction and articles.

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My New Teapot

I’m so excited!  I ordered the perfect teapot off Amazon yesterday.  Since I broke my other one, I made a joke to That Man about getting a cast iron one.  To my delight, they do make cast iron teapots and they weren’t that much more expensive.  The name of this one caught my eye first:  Cast-Iron Mythology Teapot.  It’s red, black, and has a dragon on it.  Is that perfect for me or what? 

I also ordered a cast-iron cup that sort of matches.  It doesn’t have a dragon but it looks to be the same red.  It didn’t qualify for Prime shipping, so I only ordered one, but I’d love to have a four-set of these someday.

If nothing else, I can get a workout by hefting my cup a few times while brainstorming my sticky plot mess!

I feel like I should now broaden my tea experience.  I keep English Breakfast in stock from Harney & Sons, as well as a few other store-bought tea bags like Vanilla Chai and Jasmine.  What’s your favorite tea and where do you get it?

Still sick but somewhat better.  Watch for Revision Xibalba posts today — I would love to finish another couple of new sections so I can be clear to revise tomorrow and Tuesday.

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Steampunk, Howl’s Moving Castle

I suppose it was inevitable that eventually I’d stumble into an interest in steampunk, especially with my recent sci-fi Regency spoof idea.  I’ve never gone out searching for steampunk before, but the more I learn, the more intrigued I am.  Part of my research involved picking up Howl’s Moving Castle — although I admit I got it for the kids, and at the time, I didn’t really know what it was about, just that it was highly recommended.

Oh.  I *loved* this movie!  We watched it today in bits and pieces (Princess Monster has been home sick all week and I snuck in some lunch time with her).  I guess it’s not strictly “Victorian” but perhaps closer to Edwardian or even WWI in feel, but I loved it just the same.  It’s definitely one of our Netflix tries that I’m going to add to our family collection.  I could watch it over and over.  Next in my queue is Steamboy, which I specifically added because of the steampunk themes.

I’ve also added Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti to my wishlist, and my current non-fiction read is Inside the Victorian Home by Judith Flanders.

Do you have any other Victorian or Steampunk recommendations to share?

[Don’t forget to keep checking for the free reads at Drollerie Press in honor of E-Book Week — two new books are up each day for free download!]