We had a nice weekend with our friends. Went to a place around the corner for dinner and a movie. It’s a restaurant that actually serves you dinner while you’re watching a movie. (We saw Pirates again.*g*) They tend to have films that have been out for a while. We forgot how good their sound system was, but we won’t make that mistake again. Dh and I plan to go back.
This week is going to be busy. We’ve made plans to go hot air ballooning, which should be fun. I really enjoyed it the last time. We’re also going to go to the driving range and hit golf balls. I’ve never done that. It’s a good thing there are walls on both sides. *ggg*
I can tell already that the time is going to pass quickly. 
Luckily, we’ve started to make plans for the next time. It looks like we may be meeting them in Whistler (Canada ski area) to go skiing and snowboarding next year. Should be a blast.
Other than that, I’m just reading a friends manuscript and enjoying every word. Probably won’t get much written this week. I’ll have to make up for it next week. I plan to leave the house to write. My goal is to have the first draft finished by the end of next month. Wish me luck!
Archive for September, 2006
Yesterday was a mad dash after I sat for three more hours at the garage. My car did turn out well. It’s very shiny. Today I have to run to the bank to deposit checks, drop taxes off at the post office, drop books at the used bookstore, and go to the grocery store. When I arrive home, I get to clean the bathroom. Yah!!! *ggg*
After all the car BS, I did manage to type in my edits to my urban fantasy. I gained seven pages in the process. I have several more pages to type in today that I wrote while waiting at the car place. I will get that done before our company arrives.
Rumor has it Bacchus will be released next week. Fingers and toes crossed that’s correct. I will be checking in periodically over the next week and a half. If anyone needs to reach me, email me directly.
The debate over quantity vs quality of love scenes continues to rage online. I must say I’m really disappointed with the way the tide is turning. I do have a question that’s been brought up that I’d like to hear your take on. Do you think that readers are so desensitized with content that only multiple, bolder, more graphic depictions reach them?
Dh and I went out to dinner tonight because I had an especially bad day at the oil change place. Don’t ask. Let’s just say, I have to go back tomorrow.
Anyway, back to dinner. We went to a restaurant that always serves consistently good food. Tonight, they had a special wine tasting menu. We don’t tend to go for these types of things because normally there are things on the menu that we (read ‘I’) don’t like. This menu was no exception. Instead of immediately dismissing the idea, we decided to go for it and I’m so glad that we did. We had one of those meals that you remember for a lifetime. I’m NOT kidding. Every bite was exquisite.
We started off with a Frisee Salad. Let me start by saying I don’t normally like blue (purposely spelled like the color) cheese. In fact, I HATE it, but this warm salad with point reyes blue cheese and lardons (of bacon) was simply magnificent. Think tiny spindles of warm bitter greens lightly coated in a peach vinaigrette with the juice from the panchetta and blue cheese mixed in for good measure. Yes, my mouth orgasmed too. *wg* It came with a glass of Miner (Viognier) Simpson Vineyard wine. This first course was followed by what can only be described as death by butter…truffle butter to be exact.
The second course was Risotto with wild mushroom and truffle butter. Think about your favorite rich, creamy comfort food, then magnify it by a thousand and you’ll just dip a toenail into how good this risotto was. They paired it with a Miner Merlot. (The Miner winery owner was at the restaurant checking to see how his wine was going over with the crowd. It was a hit by the way. High praise indeed from a New Zealand and Australian wine junkie.)
In the third course, you had a choice between slow braised beef short ribs in cherry ale with glazed carrots and celery root puree or Ono fish over a pureed carrot with vanilla bean. My dh order the short ribs and I ordered the fish. Ono is a lot like halibut in texture, very meaty with almost a steak consistency. I love white fish to taste this way, but it’s a personal preference. They served a Pino Noir that was smooth, but quite fruity in flavor. You could definitely taste a hint of apple.
This entire meal was followed by a warm chocolate brownie with chocolate mousse and lavender anglaise. I never knew you could cook with lavender until recently. I mean I’ve enjoyed it sprayed onto my pillow and dropped into my bath on occasion, but I never knew you could eat it beyond seasoning. Well you can and it’s delicious. They served the dessert with a 2003 Miner Cabernet Sauvignon. We savored every bite and even made reservations for the next tasting. I know you have to be a bit of a foodie to appreciate this entry, but the meal was just so great that I had to share it with you all. It completely wiped away my bad mood and left me delightfully replete.
Today is a friend of mines birthday. I met him years ago when he was in film school in L.A. We became friends fairly quickly because my best friend worked for him at a bar. (You have to pay for film school somehow.;) He taught me a valuable lesson. He said, “Everyone who’s going to flake will do so within six months.” And you know what? He was right. Every person who flaked on me in L.A. did so within a six month time period. They can’t help it. It’s just in their nature.
I’ve actually carried that lesson with me. I enjoy meeting new people, but I don’t take them seriously until after I’ve known them for at least six months. My friend is a producer (and sometimes director) now. I’m very proud to have made it well past the flake point. Happy Birthday, M! You’ll always be young to me. 
Now to the *&$% spammers. Due to having my site cached, I may have to shut down my comments for a while. I have to wait until dh gets home so we can discuss my options. Right now, they’re looking like ’shutting down the comments’ or ’switching over the site’. I’ll let you know what we decide.
Our friends arrive on Friday from Scotland. They haven’t been over to the states since our wedding, so we’re really looking forward to showing them around. I’ll probably be fairly quiet, during that time period. I hope you all understand. 
Today is 9/11. Personally, I can’t believe it’s been five years. I took a moment to remember. I hope everyone out there does the same.
Today is also the day my in-laws met…43 years ago. They mark this date, along with their anniversary. I’m still amazed by the love I see in their eyes when I am around them. I never knew couples could be like that after so many years of marriage. I’m truly grateful that I have them as part of my family. They’re coming to visit us next month and I can’t wait.
Yesterday was my Aunt’s 85th birthday. I called and sang to her…off key of course. Wish I could’ve been there to celebrate. The family was taking her out to dinner. I’m sure a good time was had by all.
No news on the writing front other than Bacchus coming out in a week and change. I’m still waiting to hear about two single titles and the Blaze. I have to do another round of edits on the latter, so we’ll see how that goes.:-/ In the meantime, I’m still writing the urban fantasy. First person point-of-view goes much slower for me than third. I am happy that I have the book charted out though. It saves a lot of headache later.
What is everyone working on?
Due to the overwhelming response to my ‘Is It Just Me’ post, I thought I’d open up the book discussion further. What have you been seeing in books that’s been driving you crazy? I’m not talking about the TSTL heroine. They’re always a big peeve. I am talking about other trends you’re noticing that are bugging the crap out of you. (ie out of context dropped in love scenes, menages, anal play, m/m, etc.) I know there is more out there than what we discussed in the previous entry. Here’s your chance to voice your opinion.
I’ll start. I’m not crazy about dying heroes or heroines. I know that in the stories the h/h gets a reprieve from death, but the storylines smack too close to real life for me. Like I said in my previous entry, I also don’t like tacked on love scenes. They make me crazy when I come across them and most of the time I stop reading. Now it’s your turn.
The a/c guy came again today. And no, before you ask, it is NOT fixed yet. He has to come back tomorrow. Sigh. Seriously, whoever has the *$%& voodoo doll, it’s time to take out the pins. Grr…Did I mention that I’m part cajun and that two can play that game?
I had a productive day with the manuscript…if you can call cutting 15 pages productive. It hurt something fierce, but I think it’ll be better in the end. I did have to stop myself from fussing over every sentence. That will come in the edits. For now it’s onward and upward (in the page count). Tomorrow I’m going to read through the changes that I made today. I want to make sure they’re cohesive. I really cut a lot. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it must make sense before I go any further.
I’m also going to go through the final edits again for Saber-tooth. That shouldn’t take long, since they’re very minor. (It’s a Quickie, so the story is short.) Once I do that, the Phantom Warriors are officially ready to go. Phantom Warriors: Bacchus comes out in a couple of weeks and Saber-tooth is set to release in November. YAH!!!
Other than that, I’m still reading through the comments in my “Is it just me” entry. I’m glad to see that the subject has been on everyone’s mind. I must say it’s a relief. Perhaps that’s the first step toward change. Here’s hoping. Until next time.
I heard in the news today that the Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) died doing what he loved to do. I must say that it creates a mix of emotions inside of me. I feel so sad for his wife, Terri and their kids. At the same time, I’m glad he was doing what he wanted to do with his life. I am also glad that he went fast and didn’t suffer. He changed the way people looked at crocodiles and put a smile on a lot of faces with his wild antics. May he find peace in the fact that his caring and conservation efforts left such an indelible impression on the world. Cheers, mate and thanks for giving me a glimpse into a world I might never have seen. Crikey, I can’t believe you’re gone.
Today I picked up Alison Kent’s new The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romances. If you haven’t bought your copy, you need to do so now. There are plenty of tips about writing for the folks who don’t write erotic romances. (A good story is a good story and Alison knows how to write a good story.)
Other than the above, my weekend’s been quiet. I re-charted my urban fantasy. (I needed to add another subplot and make sure I had it broken into a three-act structure.) I’m finished for the most part. Now it’s time to write forward without stopping. The a/c repairman is coming back out tomorrow after spending all day yesterday ‘fixing’ my a/c. At this point, I’d like to know who is holding the a/c voodoo doll. Seriously. Fess up. I’ve peaked on this particular repair. Snort. Hope everyone is having a safe and ‘cool’ weekend.
I’ve been reading a ton of ebooks lately and to be honest they’ve all began to blur in my mind. (And no, I’m NOT talking about the books I mentioned the other day. I still haven’t read them yet.) Maybe I’m getting old (wg), but it seems like things are being thrown into books for ’shock value’ and/or ’salable’ reasons.
I realize that BDSM, M/M action, Anal, and Menages are big right now, but why does every book have to have them? I can’t tell you how many times I’m reading along and then bam out of nowhere there’s an anal scene, a menage, or whatever. Nothing leads up to the scene. It’s just dropped into the book. WTF?
I find this trend particularly disturbing when the authors have created an abused character. It’s like all the years of physical/sexual abuse can be wiped away with a menage or by tying the person to a bed. Yeah, I don’t think so. I literally cringe when this happens because I can’t get past the mental scarring that’s taking place.
I know people do strange things for love, but I’ve never known anyone to get over their ‘discomfort’ of certain acts quite so quickly as they do in these stories. Also disturbing is the fact that the hero seems to be doing these things for the heroine’s benefit.:-O How in the hell does having a menage/gang bang with his best friend/brother/posse benefit her? Please explain this to me.
I want to make it clear that I’m not talking about stories where the characters have fantasized about having a menage/anal/whatever. I’m talking about the stories that seem to be one thing and turn into another. The old bait and switch.
Let me know what you think. I could be way off base. It wouldn’t be the first time. *ggg*
