I stayed up late last night nitpicking galleys, and then woke up early to take my son to school, so I ended up needing a nap. That was nice. Of course, my monsters had to come check on me every few minutes.

Jack (in a shouting whisper): “She’s still sleeping.”
Shanna (not even bothering to whisper): “Yeah. She’s still sleeping.”
Hubby (shouting up the stairs): “Hey, you two, leave Momma alone. She’s sleeping.”

Uh, yeah. I was sleeping. This went on for a couple hours until I felt relatively human and could get back to work. LOL Man, I love my kids.

My hubby calls me everyday on the way home from work, and asks if he should bring home dinner. Tonight the phone rang and I told Jack to get it. He picks it up and says, “Hello? Uh… hello? Oh hi, Dad. Uh… what do you want? I mean, what are you calling for?”

Then when hubby came home, Jack was so excited. “I answered the phone for the first time today!” He was awfully proud of himself, because up until now, he’s been afraid to answer the phone.

In other news, I got a really cool email tonight! It’s my first ‘official’ review of Misled.

From Romantic Times:

To celebrate RT BOOKclub’s 25 year anniversary (1981-2006) there will be a special feature in every issue for 2006 with “25″ fun items related to a pre-selected topic. Some of the lists will be compiled by our staff but for others we want your vote.

The February topic is Reader’s Favorite Romantic Hero (from ANY genre as long as he is romantic!).

Please submit your vote by placing the following in the SUBJECT LINE of your email: Hero’s Name, Book Title, Author.

Please include (in the body of the email) a sentence or two stating why it’s your favorite hero. E-mail your pick to webmaster@romantictimes.com. One submission per e-mail please.

Note: Your e-mail address will be kept confidential and will not used for any other purposes.

And I’ve sat through two earthquakes in the last three hours. Tomorrow, we have a construction crew scheduled to tear out a retaining wall planter in our backyard, but I doubt they’ll come now. Too wet.

Just sent me an email, chastising me for not writing in my blog today. Sorry. *g*

I received galleys for my November AQP release, Snaring the Huntress, so I’ve been working on those today. I also had to update my BBA excerpt page to reflect final edits. My hosting community just switched to this fabulous self-automation system, so I updated my reviews and backlist. It was such a shock to see that I have a backlist! And so totally cool! :yay: This time last year I was aspiring. Now I have three stories for sale with three different publishers, with another release in Nov. :cheer:

I’ve also been yapping back and forth about the new PASIC Blog. Have you stopped by there yet? I can’t tell you how honored I am to share a blog with the wonderful PASIC authors, some of whom have written books that are on my keeper shelf, like Madeline Hunter. I sit here and think, “Wow. How did I end up here?” I get so startstruck.

So anyway, that’s why I haven’t blogged today. I do intend to blog some more about the branding thing I started a couple days ago. Later tonight…

Guest Post by Renee Luke

It’s here! It’s here! The cover and back cover blurb for my new book!

It’s super hot. So sexy infact, that I was a little concerned it looked like a men’s mag cover. Please, tell me what you think. Is this the perfect ‘romance’ novel to market to men?

And, the back cover copy–

Looking for temptation, for fantasy, for sensual adventures beyond your wildest dreams? You’ve come to the right place, baby. The Night Kitty…the club for every desire. It’s always open, and the business here is endless pleasure…

DO I KNOW YOU?
Successful literary agent Jamal James is tired of by-the-numbers booty calls. He wants something he’s never had before, something that goes deep like the no-holds-barred fantasies spun by his star erotica writer, Kat Mason. The sistah’s sexy stories, published in every men’s magazine, have made him rich…and whetted his appetite for more. Someday, he hopes to meet the mystery woman–his perfect chocolate fantasy–in person and act out every one of her sizzling tales in the flesh. For now, he’ll have to content himself with some time at the Night Kitty…

Kat can’t believe she’s in this club dressed to the nines in body-hugging lingerie. She may be the hottest writer on the planet, but deep down, she’s as shy and straight-laced as they come. Yeah, and she’s also out of material. It’s time for her to do some research–hands-on research–in a place where no one knows her, where she can be anybody indulging in a night of complete carnal pleasure. And she’s just set her sights on Jamal, the one man to take her there…

Smokin? Sizzlin’?

I love my WIP. I really do. I’m not sure why I like this story so much. Honestly, I sit here and try to figure out why I like it. I love Gerard, my hero. I just find him so charming. And there are a lot of firsts for me in this story–my first secondary romance, my first story with no external conflict, my first younger hero.

But one thing remains constant–”My brand”.

I learned about author branding in Reno. I had always thought author branding was a logo, or a tagline. “Author of Sensual Romance” That was my brand. “Erotic Romance Author”. That was my brand. My red site with gold accents. That was my brand. But that’s not what it is at all. By saying “Erotic Romance Author” I’m promoting the genre, not me.

What is my brand? I had no idea. I thought it was having a certain heat level in my books. But that’s not it. According to what I learned in Reno, my “brand” is the one common thread you can expect to find in all of my stories. I wasn’t sure what that was until the absolutely fabulous Kate Duffy pointed it out to me. All of my stories are about trust. My heroes and heroines struggle with lusting for and loving a partner they’re not sure they can trust, for whatever reason.

Do you know what your author brand is? And looking at the stories that you like to read, what is the brand in those?

My editor and I have talked about covers for my Brava books. She would like less historical-looking covers. I’ve been trying to picture in my head what she means. Then tonight I saw Susan Johnson’s new Brava cover. She has three historical Bravas coming out. (Yay for me! LOL :dance: I can’t wait to read them.)

Oh man… Here it is.

Yep, that’s a historical book.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Is it just me? Renee and I were talking about the title of my August Brava release Ask For It. She said if she were looking for a historical, she probably wouldn’t pick up a book titled Ask For It. I wonder if a reader who didn’t know better would think the same about covers like this. But I really like it. I think it’s fabulous. I’d certainly pick it up and read the back and find out it was historical.

What do you think?

I can only pray that I’ll be as lucky. :love: