Begin Again...

I’m so geeked! Susan Donovan and I will be writing a sequel to A COURTESAN’S GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR MAN!

The new story will be about Brenna’s search for the true destiny of the Swan, based on letters the Swan wrote to Ophelia, the historical heroine of A COURTESAN’S GUIDE. The Swan’s tale will go take her from Boston to London to Barcelona—a research trip Susan and I greatly enjoyed!

At the moment, we’re hoping to have A MISTRESS’S GUIDE TO HAVING IT ALL published in late 2012, but stay tuned for more accurate announcements further in!

And yes, the Swan does have a name! And sooner or later she will have to tell me…

RT-smarty

Madness.

Really.

I don't know who came up with the idea for hundreds of romance fans to congregate in a hotel with hundreds of romance authors, but I really must thank them.

I could say I've talked to readers and booksellers and librarians and publishers and agents and that I have vastly advanced my knowledge of marketing, writing, and the newly emerging genres. I could say that and it would be true.

But, sadly for my character, the real truth is that I've been HANGIN' WITH THE B*TCHES!

Sarah--who is the the SNARKIEST woman on the earth!

Jane--who camouflages her hilariously dirty mind behind the classiest facade :)

Lorraine--ballsy librarian/opera singer!

Veronika--beautiful woman of many accomplishments!

Cass and Dani--(because they always come in a set) who introduced me to the concepts of the Buttery Nipple and garlic fries!

Miriam--who found the greatest steampunk bar in LA!

H.P.--brains and beauty!

Jennie--with the immortal ass!

Boyd--Okay, Boyd is not a girl, but for the purposes of this blog, we nominate him as an honorary "B*tch"!

And always, my buds, Susan D and Darbi, who make everything ten times funnier than it really is!

I am breathless with laughing, drinking, laughing some more. Thanks, gang!

I'm a doctor, not an accountant!

Actually, I'm not a doctor either. I'm just a poor, numerically-impaired author with a lot of 'splainin' to do to the Revenooers every year.

But I've come through yet again, more or less whole, and ready to write again--if only to wash all those silly numbers out of my brain! Of course, it would help if I didn't end up staring at a giant tub-o-receipts every Jan 1, glumly aware that I should have done a little periodic sorting...

Every year I swear to go on a course of self-improvement. I will lose weight! I will turn my books in on time! I will itemize bi-weekly!

Well, I did turn a book in on time this past year. One of them, anyway...

You can dance if you want to...

How could I have gone so long without dancing? Why do we forget to have fun?

I went out to celebrate a friend's birthday at a great Greek restaurant with attached bar. In the bar, there was a slick gent in his fifties, crooning Gordon Lightfoot hits while playing on a synthesizer. Silly me, I turned up my nose at his song selection and ignored him.

Then my friend dragged me in to dance--bad cheezy barfly music and all! Now, I love to dance but I'm not what you'd call a good dancer. I'm a little more Romy and Michelle than Janet Jackson. So it's an exercise in trust for me.

Trust schmust. I danced my a** off! I danced until I couldn't breathe! No partner. Who cares? I danced by myself, with other women's husbands, with a lesbian or two! Those gals could boogie.

I could do this because I realized that I didn't care. I didn't care if people thought I was lame for dancing to Mambo # 5. I didn't care if someone wished I'd stop shaking my butt in front of their table because I was putting them off their baklava. And it wasn't just the gin and tonic. It was me, ready to dance.

Dancing is fun. Dancing is healthy. Dancing is something that doesn't happen often enough in this world, at least not once you're past your clubbing years. Why? Are only young skinny people supposed to dance, like it's a performance for the public? We're supposed to sit back and watch them have all the fun?

Kid, I'm of the disco generation. I was dancing before your mama got her first Easy-Bake oven! Make some room!

New Year resolutions

On the top of my list this year was to blog more often. Actually, it was to blog weekly. It's the last day of January. I don't think monthly qualifies as success.

So, what am I up to?

Reading-I'm glomming Young Adult fiction at the moment. Hunger Games, Gone, Uglies--all outstanding!

Watching-working my way through a long-running BBC mystery series called "A Touch of Frost." Also, can't seem to stop watching the new "Star Trek" movie. Chris Pine or Zachary Quinto? Decisions, Decisions.

Making-I'm knitting up a storm. I've made 4 scarves, a yoga-bag, an afghan, and now I'm learning socks!

Cooking-not so much

Baking-bread! I gave myself a Breadman bread machine for Christmas. It has a gluten-free setting. Joy!

Organizing-the front closet today. Moved 6 months ago and it became the "I don't know where to put this" destination for all who helped that day. Of course, it was AFTER I finished that I found the light switch inside the closet.

Shopping-not really. Christmas shopping was fun this year but I'm not a shopper by nature...unless I'm at Staples. Or Home Depot.

Tick-tock until I can garden. I started some basil in a pot, just to hurry things along.

So, we're all caught up now, right?

Oh, WRITING!

Oops. Okay, I'm putting the finishing, final touches on the book I wrote with my sistah-from-another-mistah, Susan Donovan. A Courtesan's Guide to Getting Your Man will be released May 24th! Our cover is delicious--and someday, when I learn how, I will post it!

TTFN!