Happiness makes me happy!

Autumn is here and it's frigging cold in Yamalamadingdong!!! Duh, I know, but I'm too old to shake the chill apparently. As pretty as autumn can be, it's also a time for tedious yard work. Tigger and I have nearly finished winterizing our yard. The end can't come too soon.

I'm getting ready for the holidays too. Cleared out a spot for the tree, wrote my Christmas letter, and nearly have all the pics ready for the card. Oh, and I'm even a few gifts away from finishing Christmas shopping. Yeah, I'm that good.

I love autumn because most of my favorite shows return (waves sadly at Community). The Walking Dead is wonderfully gross and Rick isn't pissing me off as much this season. Supernatural is sexy awesome. How I Met Your Mother is apparently spending the whole addictive season at Barney and Robin's wedding. Finally, I'm hearting the hilarious Brooklyn Nine Nine. Of course since I love the show, it'll be cancelled. All the great sitcoms are. Weeps for Happy Endings.

The fall weather has caused a lot of sinus headaches and I slept most of last weekend. This means I'm behind on writing Damaged and the Outlaw, so it won't be ready by Halloween. Denial was my best friend until Candy Girl gave me an intercontinental pep talk and I had to accept I couldn't finish by my self-inflicted deadline. Why rush the book and shortchange the characters and by extension my readers? As soon as I admitted on FB I wouldn't finish Outlaw until closer to Thanksgiving, I felt a sense of peace. The pressure was off and I could breathe.

I don't normally write one book at a time. Having pushed back my Outlaw deadline, I will be able to bounce to Blue#2, Scattered, and Shadow City. I'm also thinking about goofing around with Memphis Death Wish. Occasionally writing silly stuff relaxes my writer's block. I don't currently have writer's block, but Outlaw is dark and a little fluffy fun might keep me focused. That's the plan anyway.

Blogging-wise, I suck more than usual when it comes to interviews and showcases. I did post reviews from Deadly Dee and Miranda Macabre on Where Zombies Come to Read. Soon, Dee will provide reviews for my new currently unnamed and unformatted blog. I should also write an update for Bijou's blog and probably some other stuff too. Yeah, I'm totally on top of it.

I did write a few posts for the Whisperer blog. Rick and Melissa are having a really funny battle which gave me lots to mock. In her attempt to dox me, Melissa managed to out one of her socks. D'oh! I did take time out of pointing and laughing at asshats to reformat the Whisperer blog to a holiday theme. Plus, on BL, I started a thread about what BBA we would dress up as for Halloween.

This week, I'll post an interview with GB Banks on Where Zombies Come to Read and those reviews from Dee. Might get that blog up and running. Will totally move Outlaw closer to the finish line. I'm nearing the abduction scene with the quote I posted on the Bijou blog. Most of all, I suspect I'll be lazy and goof off. That seems to be my go-to move lately.

Monchichi Goes Military

With Halloween around the corner and zombies back on TV, I had to change my Monchichi avatar. He's a precious little guy prepared for the mayhem of the zombie virus breakout. Ah, I love freckles!!!

I want to start off by wishing Mustang Sally a happy birthday. A few months ago, I mentioned buying her a laptop. Instead, she wanted a new recliner for her reading den. I also bought her all of the books in the Hollows and Fever series. Sally has been hogging the library's editions for over a year. Now, she has both series in her personal library and is super stoked. I have no idea how I'll wow her for Christmas.

With all of the shopping I did for Roo and now Sally, I'm psyched about the holidays. In fact, I'm already putting together our Christmas card and letter. Yesterday, I bought new tree ornaments to replace the ones destroyed by our then kitten Tinker. Even a year old, she'll likely view a tree in the house as an invitation to attack. Plus, those colorful balls dangling are just begging for a beating. Yep, I bought the shatter-proof ornaments.

I've been pretty lazy the last week. Writing Outlaw with the hopes of publishing around Halloween, I didn't focus on editing Scattered. I did take a break from goofing off to post an interview with Jeffrey Littorno on Indie Angie. Plus, I added book showcases on Indie Angie and Where Zombies Come to Read. KT Grant's new romance, The Gate, was published last weekend. The sequel to the zombie novel Red Dust is also available. Finally, check out Zombie George Washington by new authors by GB Banks and Blaine Hislop. This week, I plan to post Deadly Dee's review of an erotic zombie compilation. Yeah, it's as gross as you're imagining.

Speaking of Dee, I'm creating a book review blog soon and she'll be my main reviewer. She reads everything from horror to romance/erotica and even young adult on occasion. Candy Girl might share her eclectic tastes on the blog too. Eventually, I'll add a few more reviewers, but I don't want to take on too many projects for the rest of 2013.

The main reason I decided to start a review blog was because authors I'd interview would often ask if I wanted to read their books. I know how difficult it can be for new authors to get reviews. Especially since the bigger bloggers are avoiding indies now. Thanks, BBA.

This week, we wrote a few posts on the Whisperer blog. One was the update and the other focused on F&G's lie about doxxing. With the hate site retiring soon, we'll likely blog less. Candy Girl and I could really use a break for the holidays. No doubt in the future, the asshats will congregate around a new whiner cooler to moan about conspiracies. Until then, we hope to reduce our blogging to the weekly updates. Our work will continue behind the scenes though.

In fact, this week F&G pissed themselves in glee over how a jackass created a fake book on GR to mock a reader. Their happiness led Candy Girl to discover the sock who created the book. GR deleted the book as well as the sock. We have no doubt the person behind the sock will return. She's had plenty of fake accounts deleted. No doubt she thinks she's sly, but we know what she's up to when not hawking her books. We'll let the pathetic whiner have her fun. It might be the only amusement she has in life.

As for me, I love October. Two big birthdays and Halloween begin the holidays in the best fashion. If I manage to hit my deadlines with Outlaw, Scattered, and Blue Awakening, I'll take December off to write Shadow World books. After all, I really haven't written enough poop humor lately.

High Five for Book Six

What can I say? Organization is my new thing. While I planned to get Damaged and the Cobra published by October 1, I had it on sale by September 30. Look at me, ahead of the curve!!!! Ammy decided to make me squirm a little though.

When I asked to have the Kindle and paperback editions linked, a goof up occurred. The Kindle version was hidden and a few readers received errors when attempting to buy it. Plus, the paperback was attached to my Angela author page. I know Ammy gets a lot of grief for being a cold empire, but I sent another email asking for the issues to be fixed and they were quickly dealt with. Now, all of the links are where they belong. Having worked in IT, I know how easy it is to pick the wrong option and mess up something simple. As bothersome as the issues were, I believed everything would work out. Hooray for positive thinking!

Since Damaged and the Beast found an audience, I've made a habit of going into a bunker mentality after a new book is released. It's too easy to get obsessed with sales, rankings, and reviews. Since the link was dorked up, I was checking the book page a few times a day to see if it was fixed. Yes, I checked my rankings and noticed I am technically a best-selling author in subcategories of contemporary and new adult romance. The proper etiquette is not to call yourself simply a best-selling author unless you've had a book under a hundred in paid Kindle sales. I don't know where I'd announce I'm hot shit besides on my blog, so I just did it. Bragging complete.

The problem with even checking comments on my Bijou Facebook page (I have awesome readers) is I get into an "author" mindset, instead of the lowly writer mentality.

I have no time to pat myself on the back since I announced I would release Damaged and the Outlaw around Halloween. Why so soon? Well, Cobra was a novella (technically a novel, but barely) and I feel like readers need another full-length book to enjoy. Especially since I'm thinking this might be my last Damaged book for the year. I still plan to write Dragon and Saint in early 2014. There are a few readers who seem interested in Dylan getting a book, but I'm unsure about that idea.

So I'm already writing Outlaw, but it's in the early phases. Meaning, I'm jumping around to scenes I have written in my head. Later, I'll piece things together as the story takes on a life of its own. I am really enjoying Vaughn and Raven. As much as I love sweet romances, Aaron and Lark were tougher to write. They were such well adjusted characters and knew what they wanted. There was less drama in their pairing, but I didn't want to force conflict into the book. Readers are savvy and they can feel when an author is feeding them bullshit. Better to keep the book true to the characters and take the chance that it's not wild enough.

Roo had a great birthday last week. Very mellow like we wanted it. We're a mellow family chilling in our tightknit clique. His birthday week basically started on Thursday and is still going. We have a few plans for the next few days.

It's finally starting to feel like autumn here. Cooler weather and the leaves are changing. Speaking of where I live, F&G tried to dox (reveal personal info) me last week. They commented about the city they claim I live in, even though I'd never mentioned the location before. Hmm...if they knew anything about me, they'd understand I don't spook easily. Whisperers aren't wussies.

Last week was busy with Roo's birthday, Cobra's publication, and starting Outlaw, so I didn't get much blogging done. I did post an interview with author Jonathon Kane on Where Zombies Come to Read. He's currently working on a paranormal novel, so I look forward to interviewing him on Indie Angie when the book is done. On my Bijou blog, I added a Bijou Babbles post today along with a poll.

Really digging BookLikes. I changed my profile picture and blog background to something more October festive. My Monchichi is in a costume!!! How f'ing cute!!! I found a pic for Christmas too.

I also set up Mustang Sally on BookLikes. Adding books she wants to read, but doesn't have time to get to yet. Set up her cool looking background. She really liked the profile picture of us back in the 1970's.

I have a lot of interviews to get done for the zombie blog plus a few for Indie Angie. The weekly whiner update for BBA Whisperer is due soon too. Eek! Better get to work.

Happy second week of October and keep a lookout for zombies. This is their time of year!!!

So long, September

As Philip J. Fry would sing, "I'm walking on sunshine!"

Man, I was super stressing that I wouldn't have Damaged and the Cobra done in time. I also worried about what my beta readers would think at the lighter, sweeter tone of the novella. Fortunately, they all enjoyed the story and found only minor issues to fix. The book will be definitely ready for its Oct. 1st publishing date. Hot damn!!!

I've already started Damaged and the Outlaw. Sweet and light, it ain't. Vaughn and Raven are wild, rough, rude, funny, and damaged characters. I hope to have the book ready by Halloween. My third book in the Angelic Redemption series is also due next month. I should be able to meet both deadlines, yet...

Talking with Mustang Sally the other night, I realized I just can't finish all the books I had planned for 2013. Candy Girl is likely rolling her eyes and thinking, "Duh!" I know I aimed too high and I didn't get enough done early in the year. Even knowing all that, I hoped anyway. Now, my only other must finish book for 2013 will be Blue Awakening. It'll be the ninth book for the year. Not as many as I hoped for, but better than 2012.

Even unable to write projected books for series like Gigi Monroe and the Shadow Sisters, I made the decision this week to finish writing a book called Shadow City. I originally started it in Spring 2012 until work distracted me. Twice in the last few months, I've pulled up the book file and read it. Each time, I laughed my ass off. Even if starting a new series makes no logical sense, I worked hard this year and my reward is to finish Shadow City this holiday season.

Another awesome part of my week was that I figured out how to personalize my page on Booklikes. My Monchichi and planets are on my blog plus I've figured out how to post. Candy Girl even dumbed down how to review. I want to use the site as a reader, instead of an author. The best part of BL is how every user gets their own blog. Plus, there are half stars and private shelves. The customer service is awesome apparently. Candy Girl has only positive things to say about it and she couldn't claim the same about GR. If any of you are on BL or heading that way, feel free to look me up here.

Earlier in the week, I mentioned upcoming interviews on my blogs. There was Jeffrey Littorno on Where Zombies Come to Read. I'm also planning to interview him about his paranormal novel on Indie Angie. I was super excited to interview Stephanie Nicole Garza who I met through my Bijou books. Love Came Back is her first novel and I'm thrilled to do anything to help the newbie author.

On BBA Whisperer, we wrote a farewell to Bad Santa. Rick's nicknames have been retired even if his delusions haven't.

By Monday, the first chapter of Cobra will be up on the Bijou blog. Sheesh, a blogging girl's work is never done.

It's been a good week, but the next one should be even better. Not only will I publish Cobra, but Roo will turn ten. In our family, we celebrate birthdays over the entire week. This year, Tigger and I have plenty of cool things planned for Roo's special week. Here's hoping everyone else has a great week too.

Mustaches are Hot and Not Just on Zombies!

Let's start off with this week's super important news. My mustache fetish was ahead of the curve, baby! Look at all of the hot guys who want to be the next Burt, Tom, or Earl. Growl, purr, yums, and not at all 1970's porn.

It was one of those wild writing weeks. I finished Cobra. Yah! Edited. Snore. Mustang Sally read it. Fixed her issues with the book. Candy Girl read it and will send me her notes. Next, I'll fix it for Bijou's beta readers. If there are no big issues, Cobra will be released on Oct. 1st. Hot damn!

The book feels weird though. Like not as dark as the others or the ones to come. Aaron is a nice guy and Lark is a sweet girl. Drama kept to a minimum. I don't know how readers will react, but I enjoyed the romance. It was also a nice break because Outlaw looks to be one giant drama-llama clusterf*ck between Raven and Vaughn. It's going to be fun to write since they're both messed up yet funny characters.

I gave myself the weekend to relax. There was a lot of drama on GR and plenty of BBA were freaking out. First, the asshats were happy then they were mad. Now, they're fighting with each other. It's a little funny actually.

Since I was nursing a headache, I needed the break. I do love autumn and it's cooled down here nicely. Yet, my head reacted angrily. It's better now which is good because I have work to do.

This week, I will start writing Outlaw and editing Scattered. My goal is to have them both done by the end of Oct. Likely, I'm hoping for too much, but I think a month should be enough time to get Outlaw finished. I am still in an Ellsberg state of mind. I am also really into the idea of Vaughn and Raven. Better start writing before my brain focuses on something else.

This week, I had a cover reveal for Damaged and the Cobra on Bijou's blog. On Indie Angie, I had the pleasure of promoting the first book by Stephanie Nicole Garza. She enjoyed my Bijou books and we chatted first on FB then by email. I learned she was working on a book. A few months later, she's published Love Came Back. What an amazing experience to help a newbie. I'll have her interview posted this week on Indie Angie too.

Last week on Where Zombies Come to Read, I interviewed Steven Roy. His Black Redneck vs. Space Zombies is a wild ride. Also, Deadly Dee reviewed The Harvesting by the cool indie author Melanie Karsak. Today, I'll post an interview with Jeffrey Littorno who wrote The Most Uncommon Cold. Some of his answers cracked me up. The guy definitely has a solid sense of humor.

As happy as I am to finish another book, I feel like the process never ends. In fact, the assembly line isn't slowing down, but speeding up. Last night, I wrote up a few ideas for new books by different pen names. Eek! While it can be stressful, the fact is I'm making a living doing what I love. Next month is Roo's tenth birthday and I don't have to stress money when buying his gifts. He's not a greedy kid, but video games don't come cheap, you know? Also, through writing and blogging, I have met so many awesome people. I've also met plenty of jerks who make the awesome people more awesome in comparison. 

I'll leave you with something that made my jaw drop when I read it. Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame turned 70 over the weekend! Wow, time flies.

La La Is No Longer Lagging Behind

Did the title have enough L's for you?

I have caught up on my blogging. I'm also still plugging away (eww) on Cobra. I created a few Pinterest boards because I felt like goofing around. Today, I was reminded of how much certain BBA fawn over me. Can you blame them?

Let's get the blogging shout outs done first. I found a cool zombie anthology and blogged about it on Where Zombies Come to Read. Back in March, I interviewed a badass author named Armand Rosamilia. He contributes to this anthology, so it should be bloody awesome.

If this gif got you in a sexy mood, I have great news! KT Grant has a new erotic novel coming out next month. She was sweet enough to share the cover and blurb. I posted them on Indie Angie and will let everyone know when this sizzling romance is on sale.

On Bijou's blog, I updated readers on my goals for the Damaged series. I plan to have a cover and blurb ready by next week. My brain is fully entrenched in Ellsberg now. No goofing off with side books. All Aaron and Lark, all of the time.

For Dakota's blog, I added an excerpt from The Fallen. My hope is to publish the third book in the series in late Oct/early Nov.

On the Whisperer, we wrote our Weekly Whiny Whiner Update. It was a hit with the whiners. Three of the jayholes we profiled have responded to it by saying they don't care what we say. Caught you looking though, didn't we?

Finally, I want to wish a belated birthday to two bitching babes who shared a birthday yesterday! One is Jenni from Denny's. Today is her Friday, so here's hoping she spends her "weekend" partying. Sweet Gail baked a cake for Jenni. So many of the people at the restaurant are like family and I heart all over them.

The second birthday babe is Sidwell. I salute her ability to be a serious professional, cool mom, sexy wife, and hip chick. Unlike so many Grumpy Gertrudes like in the gif (think PP, Athelissa, and Enema), Sidwell doesn't allow age to define her cool. My pal will be rocking to indie bands, vacationing in eclectic spots, and being awesome even when she's a geriatric babe. Some people are simply born to be a space angel and Sidwell is one of them.

Farewell For Now, Cool Beans!

What an exhausting week! I worked two days at Cool Beans Elementary and adored both classes and not in a fake "all kids are great" way. The kids at Cool Beans are simply charming. After all, there's a reason I made an exception this year for the school.

Since writing is my core employment now, I really didn't need to work at Cool Beans. I tried though because the kids are dolls and the teachers and support staff are awesome too. Yet, with only so many hours in the day, I've made the decision to stop taking jobs for the rest of the year. I still have plans to publish between five and eight more books by January. This means I must say farewell to Cool Beans for 2013!

Bijou readers are getting restless for the next Damaged book. I said Cobra would be ready in late September. They don't care about pen names' books. They want it now! I feel like a lame La La to take this long to finish the book. The upside is I hope to publish Outlaw around Halloween, so readers will have less time to wait between books.

Dmitri is on hold until Cobra is in the hands of beta readers. Same with Blue Awakening and obvious Rebound Biker. I'm panicking a little at how it's already September and I have a ton of writing and editing left to do. No way will I get all of my projected projects completed this year. Bummer. The must haves are:

1) Damaged and the Cobra

2) Damaged and the Outlaw

3) Dmitri (Catalina demands her book this year)

4) Scattered (needs a good editing and revised ending)

5) Wounded Soul (really big edit needed)

6) Blue Awakening

7) Damaged and the Dragon

Hopefully, I can get Gigi or Shadow Sisters started by the end of the year. Would love to get Rebound Biker done in early 2014 for the Etta pen name.

Regular readers probably remember my Denny's buddy Bill. Well, the guy is frigging badass and I'm totally writing him as a character in my next zombie book. He got all shy when I told him, but that's just how the guy is about attention.

You also might remember my fangirl Margo who humps my every move. A few weeks ago, I said she was writing another book and I hoped she would focus on writing instead of being a BBA. Nope. She's back to harassing readers and ignoring her writing. It's obvious where her priorities rest.

Another fangirl is Princess PP who linked her whine blog to my personal blog because she's hearting for me. Since she wanted a shout out, here it is.

In case you don't know, PP is a whiny woman who wears silly hats, writes awful books, cites herself as an editor on her books, and has never met a misogynistic pig she couldn't cuddle with. She's a winner for sure.

The funny thing is she claims I should focus on writing, instead of being "mean" to her. Hmm...since I learned she existed (back around January), I've published five books and two have actually done well. I don't think I need to worry about my priorities. Unlike Margo and PP, I can multitask.

The not so funny part is how PP named her new blog "Trollstomp." Classy, huh? She acts so uppity and refined, but her blog's title is a threat of violence. After all, I'm one of the "trolls" she hates and she wants to stomp me. Anger management classes clearly need to be in her future.

My blog tracking her bad behavior is called BBA Whisperer. Yes, I whisper to the badly behaving authors in the hopes of changing their vile ways. Meanwhile, PP threatens violence. You know, when she isn't abusing a thesaurus in a sad attempt to seem smart.

One of PP's buddies is Bad Santa who has admitted he plans to track down the personal information of readers and post them on his blog. We wrote about this on BBA Whisperer this week. I also had a lot of fun writing about Bankie Boy needing his diaper changed. The guy is a whiny loser who seems especially angry at women. PP's friends are the epitome of class.

You know who actually is classy? My new reviewer Deadly Dee. She reviewed an awesome author's books this week. I talked up Vincenzo Bilof last week and Dee couldn't say enough wonderful things about his books. Loved them! What a great start to our reviewing feature on Where Zombies Come to Read.

Since I worked at Cool Beans last week, I didn't have a chance to blog for Indie Angie or Bijou. I hope to get caught up in the next few days.

Most of all, I'm focused on finishing Cobra, so I can give it to my beta readers. As always, I have the amazing Candy Girl and Mustang Sally. This time, I'm also blessed with the help of a few great readers who enjoyed the first two Damaged books. My goal is to have Cobra published by October 1. Wish me, Lark, and Aaron luck!!!