*Insert Medieval Trumpet Sounds Here*

My friend, Gina Welborn, has started her own blog! There was much kicking and screaming involved but she's done it. Gina writes a column for us at Romance Divas and it's always a winner. She is also writing a fabulous historical. You may have even read some of her musings on Deidre Knight's blog recently.

Anyway, go check her out and add her to your links - I promise many interesting postings to come.

Now, I must away! I have about 50 people headed to my house for a cookout in roughly an hour and a half.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! If you know a vet or see a person in uniform, thank them for the job they do. You'll make their day and feel pretty good yourself! GO AIRFORCE! (Love ya, honey!)

The In-Betweener Blues

I finished the first draft of Out Of The Ashes last week. It was a great moment, because it proved that I had more than one book in me. Not that I ever doubted that, I didn't. But so many people never even finish the first one.

So the polishing process has begun - I go through the chapters on my own, adding, correcting, layering, etc - then I turn them over to a crit group to be eviscerated and the polishing begins anew. So far, it's working like a charm. There's much polishing left to be done, too. At least a month's worth (maybe less).

Meanwhile, the next book waiting to be written is completely plotted out. An utter anomaly in the world of a pantser but thanks to Judi McCoy (chaptermate and diva in her own right) and her plotting workshop, it sits ready and eager on a stack of green post-its. Staring at me. Write me, it whispers...I'm going to be great...

I even had a flash of inspiration about this new story last night. Up until this point it was a traditional contemporary (which didn't truly blow my skirt up) but a way to throw in a paranormal element came to me in the drowsy twilight moments just before sleep takes over. Good stuff. Fun stuff. And completely different than anything I've written before.

So am I sitting down today to get that first chapter started? No. I'm not prepping to write any of the seven - wait, just thought of another, make that eight stories currently torturing my brain.

Why? Because like a bad breakup, I'm still in love with the characters of Ashes. I'm not ready to let them go and get into the heads of another hero and heroine. I'm not ready to fall in love again. It's too soon. What if the next hero isn't as studly as my last? What if this new heroine starts whining and I don't like her? What if, what if, what if.

I've got the in-betweener blues. I know it will pass. After all, I started Ashes when I was still editing Heart of Fire and that worked out just fine. I guess I'll know when I'm ready.

Do you get the in-betweener blues too?

Obsess Much?

Pics are up on the RWA site to accompany the names and titles of the Golden Heart finalists. Sigh. Ick. Sigh.

I hate pictures of myself and having this one taken was especially painful due to the mouthful of metal I currently sport on my grill. I insisted on no open mouth smiling. I just didn't want my braces immortalized for this particular event, know what I mean?

Click here to see the pic: Photos.

One good thing...I'm at the top. At least you don't have to scroll to see me. And I know the picture will look better when it's blown up on the big screen during the actual awards ceremony but right now it's rather pixel-y. I wonder if I was the only one barefoot during their photoshoot?

All I can say is I write much better than I photograph. Thank heavens for that.

CONGRATULATIONS, BABE!!!

Check out either of Deidre Knight's blogs for further info:

http://knightagency.blogspot.com/ OR http://www.deidreknight.blogspot.com/

Tag, You're It!

Total number of books I own: Uncountable. Seriously.

Last books I bought: Gena Showalter's Awaken Me Darkly, PC Cast's Goddess of Spring, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome and Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire. (If you hadn't noticed, ancient Rome figures prominently in a book I'm plotting.)

On the 'To Buy' List: Judi McCoy's Wanted: One Sexy Night, Sherrilyn Kenyon's Sins of the Night

Last Books I Read: I reread Karen Marie Moning's The Hightlander's Touch then started Stephen King's On Writing

Most Influential Authors: Shakespeare (don't laugh, I think he's the bomb), C.S. Lewis, Judy Blume, Forrest Carter (If you haven't read The Education of Little Tree, you need to.)

Tag Victims: Jax, Michelle, A.D. Roland, Sela Carsen, Lynn Daniels

On Writing

I was up past 1am last night reading Stephen King's On Writing. I read 116 pages in the first sitting. Actually, I was in bed, so it wasn't a sitting so much as it was a lying. Anyway, great book. I can't believe how interesting it is! I've owned it for a least a year and decided last night was a good time to start reading it since nothing on my TBR shelf looks that appealing. Besides, I'm sure Awaken Me Darkly will be here today or tomorrow and then I'll have something interesting to read.

What's your favorite book on writing?

Gonna Party Like It's Yer Birthday!

Today is my birthday!

Send all presents, gifts, trinkets of varying value, sparkly things and assorted male slaves to my home address. :o)

Thanks!

Why Kristen Can't Read

I can't read. I'm trying to, I really am but everything I pick up lately is just, well, dreck. (And how often do you get to use that word? Not nearly enough.)

Book One - A paranormal I took with me to Spain and read through only because I had nothing else to read. Seriously. If the potato chip bag had been in English, I would have pitched that book into the Mediterranean. As it was I left it in Spain. Reading this book was like swimming through nettle-embedded mud, a long painful process. The characters were so poorly drawn and lacked any depth of personality that by the mid-point I was routing for the bad guys.

Book Two - A historical I picked up when I got home from Spain, ready to sink my reading molars into something juicy. The opening scene was a very hot, sexy description. Of two horses mating. ICK! Get real! Even in my most desperate reading moments, I wouldn't read that. It totally skeeved me out. That book is now marked for the yardsale.

Book Three - A regency that I am still reading. But not for long. The book features a rape scene between the hero and heroine. Yes, a rape scene. I'm trying to read a little further, just to see how it's handled before I make my decision whether or not to mark up my wall by pitching the thing into it. So far, neither the hero or heroine have endeared themselves to me. He's a boorish clod, she's a ninny. Not really my kind of book.

Where have all the good books gone? They are not, I assure you, on my TBR shelf where the rest of these winners came from. Fortunately, most of these books have either been given to me or won. I haven't paid for most of them. Small comfort, really.

I guess I'll have to wait for my next Amazon shipment of tried and trues. Or June, when Gena Showalter's Awaken Me Darkly finally hits the stands. (Actually, I've preordered it from Amazon so it may come sooner. I love when they surprise me like that!)

And will someone please pick up Catherine Spangler's new series? I need something good to read!

Sigh. I guess I'll go write...

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

A new Mega-Blog is about to be unleashed and if you write or read paranormal, you need to know about it.

All hail Out Of The Blogosphere featuring authors Catherine Spangler, C.J. Barry, Robin D. Owens, Gena Showalter, Jaci Burton, Marianne Mancusi, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Morgan Hawke and super agent/author Deidre Knight. Check it out at www.outoftheblogosphere.blogspot.com.

Don't forget where you heard about it!

The Ebb and Flow

I know I said I was going to write about my trip to Spain, but I lied. We did a lot of lounging poolside, site-seeing, shopping and eating. There, now you know everything. Oh and I had my wallet pickpocketed by a short, lying, pregnant Spanish girl. Now you really know everything.

Moving on...

We travel frequently (last year we went to England, Germany, Australia, Hawaii, Texas, Florida and Nevada) so I've developed the discipline necessary to write on the road. I've written violent scenes surrounded by the hubbub of a busy airport. I've written tender scene in the dark cabin of a redeye flight. I've written in hotel rooms, by resort pools, even jotted notes at a sushi bar. I can write anywhere. And I do.

But not this time. I wrote very little while we were in Spain. It was almost as if my muse decided to take a vacation too. Frustrating, because I desperately want to finish this book and start polishing. This is the book that will get me published. I know it. I can feel it. I've even had others tell me this. The premise is truly unique. At least I think it is. (Those of you who've read snippets would probably agree, no one else is writing this story at the moment.)

So, we're home. And I'm finally recovered from the jet lag/time change. And I'm writing. Not just in dribs and drabs but in half-chapter chunks. Twelve pages one day, fourteen the next. And I'm editing too. One hundred ten pages in a single day. Then thirty on another day. WOOHOO! I'm back and so is my muse. Apparently, the vacation did wonders for her.

If I keep this up, the rough draft will be finished next week and the first few chapters (which a lovely agent is currently waiting on) will be polished and in the mail. I'll have this manuscript shiny and sparkling, ready to pitch in Reno. Of course, that's if I don't sell it or get an agent before then.

It could happen. And if does, you'll be the first to know. Well...right after my husband and my mom and dad and my best friend and my brother and my chapter and all the divas at Romance Divas and...

Temporary Blog

Well, I'm back from Spain. What a trip! I promise more details once I've recovered a little more. Now I'm off to my RWA Chapter Meeting.

Making Lemonade

What do you do with the title "Golden Heart Finalist"?

You submit like mad, trying to make lemonade while the lemons are still fresh. You know, strike while the iron is hot, make hay while the sun shines, do unto others as...no, that one is for something else.

Within days of finding out I had finaled, I sent an email to the editor who I had submitted my manuscript to well before the announcement, hoping to increase her interest.

But I couldn't stop there.

Borrowing the idea of a fellow GH Finalist, I whipped up some address labels with my new title boldly imprinted beneath my name in romantic red. That ought to get some attention, I figured. I did some research and settled on a list of my top six agents and promptly submitted to them. Five by snail mail, one by email.

A day later and the email submission was responded to. Send us a partial. Woohoo! Wow - that was fast but then that's the beauty of email.

A week later and the first of the snail mail responses came. This agent was kind enough to reject me by telling me there was nothing wrong with what I had submitted, it just wasn't her cup of tea. Cool. I can deal with that. I know fantasy romance isn't for everyone and I'd already been rejected by an agent who liked the work but didn't feel the market was strong enough. I just shrug that stuff off and move on. Someone will fall madly in love with Heart of Fire and find it a home. I feel that in my bones.

(By the way, you can read an excerpt of Heart of Fire on my website - just click on books and check it out.)

I tally up what's still out there and now I am waiting on four agent submissions, one agent request, and one editor submission. It's enough to make you crazy, if you think about it too much.

My philosophy is not to think about it. Well, not to obsess about it. Sure, I dream the editor will call and want all four books in the series. I imagine all five editors will love me like a fat kid loves cake. This is my world, after all. I'm not going to sit around, staring out the window, dreaming of being rejected.

Anyway, I'm off to Spain with my hubby and parents to appease our collective wanderlust for a few weeks. While I'm gone, I'll be dreaming about what the mail will hold when I return.

And for some reason, I think there may be a matador hero in my future...

Seduced By Red Satin

Shimmering like the light from a fine ruby, the silky fabric beckoned. Touch me. I parted the racks, eager to see what this slip of red really was even though I was looking for full length and just from looking at the hemlines on the rack I could tell it wasn't. Or so I thought.

The hem was held up by another hanger. Some exceptionally smart salesperson (undoubtedly a woman) had saved this gown from certain soiling by keeping the hem off the floor. Beautiful. She deserved a raise.

I held up the hanger and unclipped the hem. The fabric fell through my fingers, liquid and supple as all good satin is. The love affair deepened. It wasn't just floor-length. A small curvy sweep of a train graced the back edge, making it just a little longer and oh so old Hollywood.

I took a deep breath. It wasn't good to get this excited about a dress I hadn't even tried on yet. Or checked out the price tag on. I took another deep breath and flipped over the tag. I blinked and looked again. $29.99? That couldn't be right, could it? For this dress?

I held the dress up again and examined it, trying to find something to justify the price. No pulls or stains or tears anywhere that I could see. Perhaps it was cut poorly or cheaply made. But it was lined and the seams looked good. I needed to try it on.

Glancing around to be sure everything was on the up and up, I eased the dress into my shopping cart and headed for the fitting room. I saved the dress for last, figuring the disappointment would be easier to take if I didn't have to stare at the gown while trying on the rest of my items.

Finally, I unzipped the dress and slipped into it. So far so good. I flipped my hair over one shoulder and tied the halter snuggly. The zipper went up with no problem. I turned to face the mirror but there wasn't really enough room in the cramped cubicle to get a good look.

I ventured out to the all-knowing, all-seeing, truth-telling three-way mirror and peered into it, studying my reflection. The lighting was bad. I'd had better hair days. Had my mascara worn completely off?

And yet the dress was undeniably gorgeous. The sweep of crimson satin flowed over my figure, hugging my curves and transforming me. From the neck down I was Jean Harlow, slinky and seductive. I twisted around and checked the price tag again. Still $29.99.

Another deep breath and I hurried back into the fitting room. I slipped the dress off, and the fabric whispered sweet nothings as it slid down my body. Take me home.

You better believe it, baby. We've got a date in Reno.

The Power of Litigation

My husband, sweet wonderful man that he is, called Canaca this morning and told them very politely (in his best Air Force Colonel voice) that if they didn't make the original Romance Divas forum available for download on our ftp site, we would have no other recourse but to seek legal action against them.

I received an email telling me the files were available for transfer from our ftp site within five minutes. Amazing.

So, it appears, we may get the original forum back after all! Cross your fingers - there is still work to be done but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

Woohoo!

I'm heartsick.

Five months of promotion, hard work, blood, sweat and tears just disappeared. The Romance Divas forum has been lost (by our former webhost, Canaca.com, who we are pretty sure deleted it once we told them we would NOT pay the $70 a month they wanted to keep us up and running) and along with it all the posts, all the registered members, all the wonderful topics that made us laugh and sigh and think and learn. It's all gone.

Jax has begun building a new forum from scratch and that's exactly where we will have to start. From scratch. We had approximately 630 members when Canaca decided, without warning, to suspend our site because they couldn't handle the traffic. They even offered to transfer our files for us...but a problem arose and they weren't able to do that, so Jax started the transfer herself, only to find our forum and calendar databases were missing from the FTP site.

And so, we begin again. It was a labor of love the first time and it's still a labor of love, although I feel like I've lost a child...Romance Divas was our baby. Our dream. Our online home where we could laugh and cry and share and learn and make the most wonderful friends with other romance writers just like us. Wonderful women from all over the world who shared our vision and offered their support. Women who donated their hard-earned dollars so we could keep the site going when Canaca shut us down. Women who I am proud to call friends.

Now, I just hope they all find their way back to us as we begin this journey anew.

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Sigh. Yes, I now have a blog. Let's just say I fell under the oppression of peer pressure from my fellow divas and now, I too am a blogger. (Okay it's not so much that they pressured me into doing it but I wanted to jump off the bridge too.)

I guess that means I have to be witty and interesting? We'll see how that goes. If that doesn't happen, I'll post kitty pictures. Actually, I'll probably be posting kitty pictures anyway.

If you don't know who I am, that's okay. If you do know who I am, how did that happen? Did you visit the Romance Divas site I co-manage with Jax Crane? Or did you see my name on the list of 2005 Golden Heart Finalists at the RWA site? Or perhaps you're a member of CRW? At any rate, if you do know who I am, I promise that very little that's said about me is true. Unless what you've heard was good and then I owe that person a dollar.

If you don't know who I am, I'm a stay at home romance writer with dreams of getting published that are so real I can smell the ink. Stop by on occasion and see how I'm doing!

• Did you know it's National Library Week? Time to get those late books back, pay your fee and start acruing fines on a whole new set.

Having said all that, here's what I've been up to since I found out I was a Golden Heart Finalist.

• Sent out six packets to agents with address labels proclaiming myself "2005 Golden Heart Finalist". Heard back from one already, who requested a partial.
• Still working on completing my contemporary paranormal so that I'll have two manuscripts to pitch at this year's RWA conference in Reno.
• Wrote a synopsis for that ms. Ick. Needs work.
• Still waiting for publication dates on the two short stories I sold to the Sun.