My CALL came during a strange faze of my life. After ten years of staying home with my children, I’d just returned to work nine months prior. Juggling work, four children, husband, and house, I was at the point where I feared I’d have to give up my dreams of becoming an author. Writing was forced to a back burner, but missing it tormented me. It’s a shame a day only has twenty-four hours…

My agent had informed me that Chocolate Kisses :choco: was getting a second read, but I was too tired :yawn: to think about what that meant to my career and too afraid to get my hopes up. Trudging into the house one evening in mid August, 2004, with soccer and football bags tossed over one shoulder and a fast food dinner for four hungry kids in the other hand, I didn’t think much about the flashing red light on my answering machine.

My husband, who hardly ever checks messages, told me I should listen to this one, then stood there staring expectantly as I did. Five times:!: My agent. Saying something about an offer. Need to call her as soon as I get in the door. OMG:!: It was after 9:00pm in CA. After midnight where she was. Call her? This late? My husband reassured that that’s what she said. I grabbed the phone, ran to the living room couch, and cried. Dinners forgotten, my four little sports-grubby monsters danced and cheered around me as I bawled into the pillow. :rofl: “Mommy sold a book” :rofl: they repeated during their twirls through the house.

Their excitement:bounce: snapped me out of my tearful moment. What if it was something I wasn’t going to accept? I couldn’t let them be this happy, then let them down. So I dialed. And got the answering machine. At almost 1:00am my agent’s time, duh, what did I expect? :doh: Darn. I called my mom twice but got voicemail both times. I called my critique partner, but just as it started to ring the other line bleeped. I clicked over thinking it was my mom, but nope. It was my agent who sounded like she’d just crawled out of bed, which she had. She told me enough of the details. NAL. A sale. Enough to know that I’d sold. I’d sold. :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Back in mom mode, I finished getting the monsters dinner, into showers and tucked into bed. It wasn’t until the house was still and quiet when I sprawled across my husband’s chest, tucked into his embrace and finished crying out those tears. I sobbed and my hero held me. :hug:

Hi All! Not my usual day, but my pal Sylvia is kicking-ass on her Misled edits this weekend, so I’m taking over tonight. Besides, I’ve had too much coffee and need to do something with my fingers. Get your minds out of the gutter, you nasties!

So, I’m going to play a little cover game. I swiped this idea from Diana Peterfreund. Thanks, D. I love it. The Cover Game:

Go to Google Images and type in the title of your book. Use quotation marks. Whatever the first image that comes up is the new (often nightmare) cover of your book

Here’s some of Sylvia’s titles. First, BAD BOYS AHOY
Vs.

SEX ON HOLIDAY
Vs.
(No offense dude. I’m sure you’re nice, but um, you’re no LL Cool J)

Even though Sylvia’s next Brava has no cover yet, and the title will be changed, here’s what she’d get if she googled it.

SEDUCING THE WIDOW

Meow! Wow! Wasn’t expecting that. But I like it.

MISLED

This one cracked me up. Sigh….

Here’s mine. The orginal cover from CHOCOLATE KISSES :choco: is above. Here’s what google would give me.

I could keep going because this is just too much fun. But I won’t. You all may not be as easily amused as I am. Don’t get started on the finger thing again, :doh: You all go off and try this. It’s neat. Do your own cover or the cover of your favorite book. What do you come up with?

Have fun!

9/1/91–9/1/05 Today is my anniversary. :cheer: I’ve been married fourteen years today. :yay:

I think I may have told you all how old I am. Too young to have a daughter 13. :doh: I’m 33, which would make me just 19 when I got married. A kid really. A mere six years older than my daughter :naughty::snooty: Yeah, that scares the crap out of me.

Last Sunday I spent the day in San Francisco at my sister’s bridal shower. She made the comment that I really should have one of these….after fourteen years? No thanks. :love: But, I never did have a wedding. At least not a traditional one. My hubby and I eloped to Reno when we were little more than kids. Being in Reno for RWA’s National Conference this past July triggered a lot of memories for me. From my room, I could look out over the city, to the small area where The Chapel of Bells would be. The place I got married. :hug:

My hubby tells a story about the day and I’ll do my best to tell it the way he does. Here goes: We were 19 and 20, too young to drink. Too young to gamble. Old enough to have a baby. Old enough to get married. So, after waiting all summer for the right day, the day we’d chosen 9/1/91 we drove our five year old Hyundia up Interstate 80 toward Reno. The trip is 117 miles, but at about mile 80 our small little car popped a tire. My husband silently thought this was a sign from God telling him he was making the wrong move. A mistake. That he shouldn’t get married that day–or any other. Throw in the towel. Pack it up and go home. He didn’t tell me until years later, because chances are, if he had we wouldn’t have gotten married. He may have gotten his ass kicked, but married? I don’t think so.

So, since he was believing in signs from God that September day, the next one sealed his fate. There are very few exits going over the Sierras, but forced to take the first one because of our flat (and no spare) there was a chance we’d spend the day stranded and looking for help–but not getting hitched. Instead, we rolled gingerly off the freeway. There were no fast food joints. No public restrooms(I was four months pregnant and going potty pretty often, so this was a major concern) There was nothing at the exit. Except one thing. A tire store. Oh, yeah, sweet hubby, I guess the chick upstairs was trying to tell you something.

But being kids, we spend most of our cash on a new tire, got married a couple hours later, then had Taco Bell for dinner (which I later :puke: yeah, that kind of pregnancy) then crashed in a cheap motel room.

That was fourteen years ago. A college education ago. Four beautiful kids ago. A house ago. We’ve grown up married to each other.

Sigh….so, as I looked over the reminders of the day as I stared out my hotel room window an adult now (Okay, I pretend to be) I found myself wondering how I ended up writing romance. Had my life been so overly romantic that I just had to share? Had I been so deprived of romance I needed it so badly I wrote my own? Had my life been just the same sort of combo that our heroines face? Love, deaths, hardships, but always finding a way to survive? Finding a way to get the happily-ever-after?

Yes, I think it has been. Perhaps not the typical romance. Not the candles and flowers sort of romance, but isn’t holding hands romantic? Aren’t ‘I love you’ whispers just before he falls asleep romance? Isn’t the way he looks at me with a proud secret smile at our children’s accomplishments the sort of romantic love that’s needed to withstand time?

So, I may not have lived life to the same extent as some of my heroines, but the essence is the same. I may not have loved and lost, or suffered and recovered, or lived the same lives as my heroines, but I have lived through them. And, they live through me.

How do you write heroines (characters) you can identify with? Do you think that it’s important to romance?

I saw my cover. It’s such a strange feeling and such an embarressing story.:oops:

I’ve been waiting with desperate anticipation for my cover of Chocolate Kisses :choco: to be completed. I’d prepped bunches of promo stuff for Reno, but even as late as Monday, July 25, was told the cover was incomplete, leaving me with only handfuls of Hershey’s Kisses to hand out. If you recieved a handful from me in Reno, I sincerely hope you enjoyed them. My kids are loving with I brought home and thankful I didn’t hand out all the treats.:yay:

So Friday morning I searched through the lists of workshops deciding which one I needed the most. I found one that looked interesting but decided to stop by the NAL spotlight along the way to introduce myself to the editors. When I arrived they were up on a dias setting up and looked busy. I sat down about three rows back along the center isle, deciding to wait until they were finished.

Before I knew it, they were running through I slide show of covers and lines they were excited about.

The cover to CHOCOLATE KISSES came up. I’d never seen it. Ever. This is my first book. My first cover. I began to weep.:cry: These weren’t loud cries or noisy sobs, but giant silent tears. Unstopable tears. With no tissue and clear view of editors, I wanted to leave the room, but couldn’t make my legs work just in case they showed my cover again. Showed my baby again. I sat quietly swiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand trying not to be noticed.

I was noticed. Ann Bohner had a straight-line view of me. She kept looking at me with such sympathy in her eyes, but she didn’t know who I was. Just some crazy lady in a room of 200+ and maybe my dog had died. Actually, she told me later that she thought I’d just come from the worlds worst ‘pitch session’.

I waited off to the side when the spotlight was over as the room cleared, then rushed forward when the editors began to pack up their things, wanting to keep Claire Zion from disconnecting her computer before I had a chance to see the cover again. Through cries I was able to convince her I was sane enough to see the cover again and introduced myself. I hope she didn’t think I was about lose it completely. I was close.

I missed the workshop I’d planned on attending. That’s okay. I saw my cover. I saw my cover. It’s beautiful. I’ll try to discribe it to you. Keep in mind, what I saw was behind a veil of tears. Big, fat tears. At the top is a woman’s lips. Luscious lips. She’s holding up a heart shaped like chocolate. It’s all black and red, with the title and name in white. It’s sexy and sleek and classy and beautiful. Did I say beautiful yet?

I hope you all love it as much as I do. :love: I don’t have an image to show you yet–but I will soon I hope.

To all of you readers who were in Reno, thank you for sharing your hugs with me. When you see your covers I hope you feel the same wonderful feelings of joy I felt–though I sure hope you’re prepared for it and not surprised as I was.

CHOCOLATE KISSES cover coming soon…

I was fifteen when I first met and fell in love with him. :love: Fifteen when I gave him my heart.

No, I’m not talking about my husband. That didn’t happen until a few years later. I’m talking about LL Cool J. Ladies Love Cool J. Yes, we do. I do. Hey, I said that to my husband, too. There’s something about those delicious lips of his that make me say YUM! Something about the way the dimples deepen in his cheeks when he smiles. :drool: Something about his dark chocolate eyes :choco: that melts my heart and makes me want to take a bite.

Is it any wonder then, that years later as I’m searching my memory data-bank for the perfect hero for my new story–now titled MAKING HIM WANT IT–that LL’s scrumpcious image would come to mind?

Ladies, meet Jamal James. You may need to change your panties.

Okay, you’re right. It’s an image of LL Cool J’s album cover, but you get the idea, yeah? He’s in the inspiration for my hero, Jamal James, in MAKING HIM WANT IT. Hell, he makes me want it, fo-sho.

Today marks the six-month count down to my release of :choco: Chocolate Kisses :choco: It’s still un-covered. I mean, I still haven’t seen the cover. I’d actually expected it before now, so I’m feeling pretty frustrated about it. is too strong a word. I’m not mad, but I’m very disappointed.

I’m feeling like I’ve been stuck in a Catch 22 with my publisher. They want good pre-sale numbers from me, but without the cover it’s vry hard to do the sort of promo it needs to make the numbers I hope for a reality. Though I’ll love you all forever :kiss: if you pre-order my book(please do) when it becomes available on Amazon (whatever bookseller you use) it’s actually the book-buyers/sellers who will be ordering my books for their stores who I need to get noticed by to get the numbers I’m hoping for:pray:. Being un-covered is really slowing me down.

I’ll come clean and get un-covered right now. I just sold a trilogy to Kensington’s new, unnamed erotic romance line. :cheer: I’m really excited about this opportunity, and thrilled they’ll be keeping the books linked and in a series. The three were actually novellas, planned for a single author anthology. So I’m working on word/page count right now, and bringing the novellas up to the single title area. My editor says I can have them ‘going at it’ :hug: as much as I want them to. So, I’ll have a busy summer :cafe: getting this books out of the way.

I’m also playing the name game, trying to un-cover some sexy, but cute names for my new books. Hum???? I’ll let you all know what I come up with.

So? Are you keeping secrets? Do you have things you’re keeping under-wraps, but are ready to UNCOVER?

In just five weeks Romance Writers of America’s National Conference will be underway:dance: in Reno, Nevada.

I’m getting pretty excited. There is so much to look forward to. This is my pink ribbon year. My first sale year. Sigh…

I went to Denver 2002, and New York 2003, but was unable to attend last years conference in Dallas. This year is almost local for me, with just over an hour to drive, then five fan-frickin’-tasitic days to put faces with internet names, to catch up with friends, to share laughs and news while sharing a drink or two or three or five in the bar. :beer: There’s nothing better than sitting down in a relaxed atmosphere with authors you admire, chatting concepts with agents you’re eyeing, or pitching ideas and manuscripts to editors you’ve been stalking….er, :doh: querying.

And, there is so much to learn. I’ve been gazing at the listed workshops in a fashion only akin to a child worshiping the Wish Book Christmas Catalog.:pray: A few I’ve circled as possible got-to-get-there classes: Author/Agent Career Building with Pam Hopkins, Barbara Collins Rosenberg, Joanne Rock, and Catherine Mann, The Career Doctor with Irene Goodman, RWA ‘Idol’ with Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman, and Lucia Macro, Discovering Your Author Brand with Theresa Meyers, Revisions 102++ with Jennifer Crusie, It’s Like Totally About YA, Dude! with Niki Burnham, Alesia Holliday, and Lynda Sandoval, and finally the NAL spotlight. :bounce: I can’t wait!:bounce: I can’t wait!:bounce: I can’t wait!

This is a first–The first year for PASSIONATE INK, which by the end of July we’re hoping will be a provisional chapter of RWA because some like it hot! Despite all the :banned: it looks like we’ll be approved because what we write is CLEARLY romance and not porn no matter how you choose to define what romance is. This year I’ll meet the amazing women who have teamed with me on the board of Passionate Ink and braved a virtual thunderstorm of emails, flashes of anger and resentment, a rallying of forces and voices and together we’ve made it through the rain and found the rainbow with huge, fat pot of gold. Members of PI, I can’t wait to meet you and cheer our successes! :clap: I see only great things for PI’s future:!:

And this year, on RWA’s 25th Anniversary my best friend and awesome CP is a Golden Heart finalist for the second time. I won’t mention that since we’re within driving distance that her husband is coming up on GH night and stealing my seat away from me, forcing me to party :party: in the back.:cry: I can’t wait to see her picture on the board, her name in lights–to applaud all of the authors who poured their hearts into finaling books.:love:

After seven super-cool months of getting to know Sylvia and becoming friends, we’ll finally meet in person. Sweetie, thank you for everything:!:

So, are YOU going to Reno this year, to attend RWA’s Silver Anniversary? :lol:Have you spent hours reading and searching the workshops for the ones that excite you? Have you made plans to go to parties, meet up with old friends, share dinner with your CPs? :rofl: Did you make appointments to pitch to agents and editors? Are any of you as freakin’ excited as I am?:dance: