my week has disappeared

I am having the hardest time writing this week. Even on contracted freelance writing! Ergh. Maybe it's the smoke in the air from the large wildfire burning somewhat nearby. My eyes are tired, from both smoke and staring at the screen. Makes wanting to write less and less appealing.

Sigh.

On a plus note, I am chock full of writing ideas. Love that!

Current WIPs:
-novel, Uninhibited
-novella with shifters
-werewolf short story

Is this writer's block? Eh. Not sure. Probably more of...writer's malaise??? Life block?

Sigh. Again.

Ok. Back to it, folks! And have a great weekend. If I get more inspired, I'll write a post more worth reading. ;)

New Voices, New Me

Still super pumped about the Mills and Boon New Voices Contest. They announced the Top Ten Finalists the other day, and while I'm not one, a writer on the forum I'm active in is, and I'm stoked for her! Check out her entry, it's great. They chose some good ones for sure.

And, of course, you can still read and comment on my entry, the first chapter of my hot contemporary romance, Uninhibited. I am working on finishing it. Have the outline, just need to crank out about 33,000 more words. Cake, if I focus! ;)

Now, on to the new me portion of this post.

I've long been a yoga practitioner and an exerciser in general. My body simply demands it. Over the last year or so, however, I let my yoga practice slide into near-nothingness. And let me tell you, I felt the ramifications in all areas of my life. I'm stiffer physically, mentally less focused, emotionally more scattered. My chi was basically trampled and tattered, and I didn't like that.

As a writer, who's become a lot more focused in the past two months since I quit my day job (another story for another time), sitting at the laptop for hours on end does not do my body good! So I finally began taking my yoga practice seriously again...and what a difference! I feel so much lighter already, and it's only been a few weeks. I ordered a Shiva Rea dvd the other day, and I love it. She's a fabulous teacher, not to mention so damn strong and flexible that I have a lot to aspire to in my practice. Heh. I've been doing morning and evening routines, and even though I knew from past experience I would feel so much better, I almost feel like someone new to yoga in my awe and gratitude.

Of course, not only is this a wonderful thing for my body as well as psyche, it's doing wonders for my writing as well. Very, very pleased...and peaceful.

On with my day. Have a beautiful one out there, everyone. Namaste, and happy writing.

this weekend's to-do list

It's a gorgeous day, and I'm hard pressed to stay at my computer today. However, I do need to get some work done, since last week was less than fully productive. Here's my list o' things to get done by Sunday night:

-finish and turn in book review for top secret reviewing place

-write cover copy for two books and turn in

-send in invoices for both places

-work on my shifter short story! Trying my hand at an erotic werewolf tale. Having tons of fun, so far.

-take a closer look at the novel WIP, Uninhibited, and tighten up the synopsis so I have a super clear idea of how I'm getting all the way to The End. I have a strong idea now, but a few gaps exist. Oh, and feel free to check out the first chapter, in the Mills & Boon New Voices Contest. I'm getting great feedback, which feels wonderful! Have four chapters plus some, and a decent synopsis/outline. This might be my NaNo project this year...

-mm...sleep!

Ah. Feels good to see it all in black & white. Now to get started....

Mills and Boon New Voices Contest

Wow, they've got hundreds of entries already! Here's mine. I've been having a great time reading other entries and commenting. There is some very, very good writing out there. Good luck to the editors who have to go through and then whittle down to ten (ten! A mere ten! Eep.) the 2nd round finalists. And they'll have less than a week to do it. Well, I bet they've already been making decisions along the way.

Now, off to keep working on my WIP...

I'm in love...

...with my Kindle. For reals. That thing sees more time with me than my print books now. The ease of buying! The quickness of the download! How light and easy to operate it is! Heaven.

But I gotta tell ya. This is a funny pronouncement from a woman who was utterly opposed to electronic publishing back in the day. I mean, I was brutally against it. When Amazon attended BEA (Book Expo America, then called ABA), many of us print publishers and supporters of small, independent bookstores were horrified. Digital? Sacrilege! They were going to destroy small publishers, small bookstores, change the world!

Well, they did indeed. And it was, and still is, sad in many ways. But here's more brutal honesty: That's the way of the world. Things change. Advances are made, discoveries promoted, things end, and people adapt. They really do. Eventually. I still do and always will love paper-printed books. I very mildly dabble in rare book collecting, and there are certain authors whose books I automatically buy in hardcover. But being the kind of voracious reader I am, as well as a total nature girl, the invention of e-ink and e-readers was a marvelous thing on many levels. Pocketbook, environmentally, my aching eyes. So I do now embrace it fully. Even so, I haven't abandoned print books, and I very much understand the multiple layers of debate that are swirling now on the subject of digital publishing.

The recent announcement by Dorchester that they are going to an ebook model is earth-shaking in a lot of ways. I totally, totally get that many people out there will never use ereaders. Print books should never go away, is my thought...although perhaps one day they will. (Shudder! Don't like that idea, but it's a possibility for sure.) You can read a more detailed analysis and very intense comments over here at Dear Author.

How does the saying go, though? "The more things change..." Indeed. It will be utterly fascinating to follow this whole digital evolution of the book publishing world over the next decade, as we settle more into technology and try to find a good balance between that and what may now rightfully be called our "old ways." The dust will settle eventually. Always does. But here comes another round of ire, conflict, confusion, and basically balking at the amazingly quick changes our world is experiencing right now. And I do understand the reasons behind it all.

Still in love with my Kindle as well as my print books. :)

*more interesting links to further research on this subject:
Dear Author on Wylie Deal
Norman Spinrad on the Publishing Death Spiral: Part I, Part II, Part III
JA Konrath's blog

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle

So I just bought my first Kindle. It should get here tomorrow. Whee! I'd wanted an ereader for some time, but utterly balked at the prices. With their most recent cutback to $189, it fell smack into a doable price range for me. (And yes, I've read that they should drop even more by the holidays. If they do, I might buy me a Nook too, just to compare. Ha.)

So, hooray! Now, years ago, when the concept of ereaders first came out, I was among the many skeptical. I love the heft and feel and smell of a real live book. Growing up in a household of readers and books, I early on acquired the habit of collecting as many books as possible. I am far more choosy now...but my shelves still groan with alarm at the sight of yet another paper book entering the house! Nothing will ever beat the feel of a real book in hand. Nothing.

However. All that said, here are my reasons for finally buying one of them new-fangled futuristic ereader things:

1) I feel bad for the trees. Like, really bad.

2) I feel bad for my bookshelves. I feel especially bad when I buy new ones and am faced with putting them together. Grr...

3) I love e-publishing, and reading tales pubbed in such form on my laptop is very hard on my peepers.

4) I love the idea of carrying around tons of books...in one slender little package.

So hats off the developers who could see into the future. And thank goodness for the competitive market.

Now, back to waiting with one foot tapping for the man in the brown uniform to show up at my doorstep with my lovely new delivery...

Books I'm Reading

Okay. I'm trying to get *slightly* more regular about posting on here. (Snort. This I ask of myself, the woman with waaaay to many projects to complete in one lifetime if I also wish to have a, um, life!) So today's is simple but fun:

Latest Books I've Read (and enjoyed)

1) Stormwalker by Allyson James. This was fabulous fun. I live in the sunny, skinwalker-y, spirit-inhabited Southwest, similar to the setting of this paranormal urban fantasy romance. (That's my label, at least.) A feisty, young, yet reasonably mature heroine, plot twists & turns that left me smiling and turning the pages, and an imagination and creativity that seemed boundless. Fun stuff! I'm looking forward to the next one, Firewalker.

2) Rosemary & Rue and A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire. Ah...gritty, magical, classic urban fantasy. Totally fascinating. Must admit, I was actually pretty freaked out by A Local Habitation. Very creepy premise, in my mind! Well-done.

3) Blood Cross by Faith Hunter. I am utterly in love with this series and this writer's voice. She does an amazing job of characterization, setting, plotting, and description. I love the skinwalker concept, slightly different here than in many other books/real life (hey, believe what you want--but skinwalkers are out there!). I love the "Beast" concept, and Beast's voice is so perfect. At least, it's what I imagine a mountain lion's voice might be.

4) Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland. Fun, dark, sensual, sexy, intriguing, full of "otherworld" things like demons, but set with the realistic and sobering insight into a detective's life. I eagerly anticipate the next installment!

5) Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. I love Mercy. I love her journey as a coyote among wolves (and all sorts of other things that go bump in the night). I love shifter books, yet what I also love about this is that the world is not only inhabited by shifters. Cool, cool stuff.

Clearly I'm on a paranormal kick. I don't see that stopping for quite some time. There are so many books out there to read...drool.

If anyone is even remotely reading this (ok, I just hurt myself laughing), I'd love to hear what you're reading now too. Love finding new books!