As I compose this, the family is relaxing. Patrick is playing a new computer game with the wee ones looking on, napping, or watching Tv. It is so nice to relax today. Between our day jobs and writing and the family, we never seem to totally relax as a family any more. We deliberately made this a quiet Christmas in our own home instead of running about to cherish this time together.

This year has been full of new and exciting things. We’ve sold four books to Ellora’s Cave this year and our very first one released electronically in Feb. and will be in print very soon. With that, one of my major dreams was accomplished. When family and friends asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I was hard pressed to give them an answer beyond the intangible of time.

Having said that, I must go back to my family, but not before wishing you a very happy and safe holiday season.

I just learned today that Animal Attraction will be in print sometime next year. EC is aiming to put it out in the first quarter! Our little story will be on print bookshelves everywhere! It is a heady experience!

Animal Attraction will be in a print volume with other Valentine Vixen quickies. The volume will be called Candy Cravings! We’re so thrilled

My family has barely seen me and sadly blogs and the Internet in general have taken a backseat to Alexa & Patrick’s great writing adventure. We’ve been sweating with Sven and NaNo-ing so much, but we’ve written a lot, hope to have some exciting news sooner rather than later, and are really going to try to be better about our Internet presence. I’ll see if I can pin Patrick down to say a few words in the next week or thereabouts.

We’re sweating with Sven again, dividing our time on three projects destined for EC. I’ll try to do a daily update.

Chocolate Destiny, our first book written together, has been accepted by Ellora’s Cave! We just got the news this morning. No inkling of a release date yet.

I won’t bore you with the mundane details of why we’ve been quie. Suffice it to say that wee ones, school starting, our day jobs, and writing writing writing have kept us busy.

Hello again!

Like everyone else, my family has been Harry Potter obssessed with the release of the movie and book. This Thursday Thirteen is about the boy wizard.

Thirteen things about Harry Potter that I love.

1. It has brought my family together. Three generations can talk about the books and movies.

2. Hermione Granger. Her convictions rule. Anyone who has been an awkward pre-teen or teen can identify with her.

3. Neville Longbottom. His story tears at my heartstrings and his courage and loyalty warms my heart.

4. Remus Lupin. Harry’s teacher is gentle and a great listener and his window into the world of his parents. When his malady is revealed, we see so much more of his character.

5. Severus Snape. So many layers. So many potentials for both good and bad. He fascinates me.

6. Lily Potter. No mother can fail to be humbled by her everlasting gift to her son.

7. Harry Potter. At times such a normal little boy, at other times the savior of the world.

8. The entire Weasley family. Such interesting characters and a great cooperative family.

9. The worldbuilding. I bow to JKR’s worldbuilding. I aspire to be one thousandth as good.

10. The movie casting. It has been a joy to see the characters come to life.

11. The books and the fact that so many people have grown up with this world. How often do you see young adults devouring thick books?

12.  The mythological creatures. Dragons, unicorns, etc. all come to life under the author’s talented pen.

13. JKR herself. What a rags to mega-riches story!

Thirteen jobs one of us have held.

1. Camera operator for a closed curcuit feed of weekly Catholic Mass.

2. Paid companion for the elderly.

3. Military service, classified, of course.

4. Internet contract researcher.

5. Trolly attendant in a major city.

6. Pilot.

7.  Radio DJ, voice over artist.

8. Computer Tech Support.

9. Web page content creator.

10. Authors!!! Big cheesy grin.

11. Lifeguard.

12. Parents! It isn’t a job, its an adventure! Ask our wee ones!
13.  Marketing consultant.

Thirteen places where our books are set.

Our family loves to travel. recently, we’ve been taking that travel only in our writing. Here are thirteen settings for our current and upcoming books, as well as our WIPs.

1. Animal Attraction Chicago O’Hare Airport. The majority of the book takes place in the airport during a snow storm.  This book released in Feb.

2.  Primal Fate. Release date TBA. This book takes place in South Africa and Switzerland.

3. Troika. Release date TBA. Troika is a futuristic and takes place on a far flung planet.

4. R.C. (working title). Our new male/male  story takes place in the city of London.

5. W.T. (working title, under consideration by our publisher). Takes place in an un-named city. This one takes place mostly in a hotel.

6. Chocolate-Soaked Destiny (under consideration by our publisher). Takes place in Washington DC and aboard a spaceship.

7. B.R. (working title). Takes place on a ranch, but we haven’t determined which state yet. I’m leaning toward Arizona.

8. D.S.N. (working title). Takes place in New York City. We’re finally working on a story that features our adopted home!

9. I.H. (undergoing revisions at publisher request). We created a new country for this story, which is in reality a part of Finland.

10. Y.T.M.O. (expanding, hopefully submitting to the Bava contest). Takes place in New York City, Las Vegas, and London.

11. T.G. (working title). Takes place in Wales and the Fae realm.

12. Title TBD (not quite a working title yet). Takes places in the “Roughlands”, the paranormal realm.

13. Dreamstalker (writing, writing, writing). Takes place in Philadelphia and Dublin.

I’ve been suffering from a small crisis recently. How much DO I want it. “It” being success as a published author. The first and immediate answer is a lot, followed by OhmiGod, I’m not worthy, I haven’t sacrificed enough, what if I never sell another story.

If I don’t, that doesn’t negate the fact that I am a writer, a published author. I need to learn to slow down and cherish that.

My writing has slowed recently, due in part to the fear of success. I finally realized how much I stand in our way and how I have to get out of the way of our success. I need to just be quiet and write. Everything else (promo, networking, etc.) will fall into place.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the business of writing that we stifle our creativity. There is no denying that writing is a career and must be approached as such. I would never suggest otherwise. However, there comes a point where the muse and creativity need to rear their heads and take control. For me, I reached that point just after Animal Attraction released in Feb.

Due to both of our work situations, our success has had to be a quiet shared victory. This added its own stresses and a bittersweet quality. I want to yell from the treetops that we’re published authors, and yet I can’t. There are very few friends who we can share our successes with. There are even less people who understand.

We got so focused on what was best for our careers, what our next step should be, navigating promo info, and wondering if we were doing things that were the best for our career or not that we forgot to enjoy the successes and remember that we made a dream come true! Okay, in an ideal world we could share it with everyone. That day may come in the future. For now, we have to focus on the positives instead of the negatives.

Patrick had a serious talk with me recently. It can be summarized in one statement “Stop thinking and just WRITE.” It is so very true.  The best thing for our career is to create, to bring a story out. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? And yet it makes so much sense.

I’m switching screens now and “just writing.” I’m writing for the pleasure of creating something out of nothing. How special is it that we can fill a blank piece of paper with a story and have others read our words? That is a gift. Cherish that gift and try not to overthink anything!

I appear to be dividing my time here, thanks to my ever so helpful muse!

July 8

Dreamstalker=1682 words/4 pages

July 9

Dreamstalker=2104 words/6 pages

July 10

Dreamstalker=342 words/1 page

Male/male project=1978 words/5 pages

Total=6106 words and 16 pages