Contests Coming Soon!

July 9th marks the release of the sequel to Mating Stone titled Lovers' Stone. Lovers' Stone is the story of two people who are bitter enemies and yet ardent lovers. Trust me, star-crossed doesn't even come close to describing it.

To mark the release I'm going to be running a contest July 7th through 11th for a genuine ruby and diamond necklace with matching ruby stud earrings. Be sure to check back for details.

Interested in winning $50 or $100 in Amazon gift cards? Stop by www.emuse-zine.com and read about the Writer’s Summer Camp to learn how.



It's a weekend of painting around our place. We spent today putting the sealer coat on the walls. The coat of paint put on by the builder was so thin it might just be an illusion. So we sealed the walls in the baby's room and will paint it tomorrow. We have, of course, changed our minds again. *eye roll* We'd chosen white but realized we can't tell whether we actually put the paint on the wall or not. The base color is white, the sealant is white, we can't tell where we painted and not. So today the trip to the home improvement store included buying a paint called Vanilla Latte. I was amazed it only took us three or four color strips to pick one we agreed on. It's the color of a coffee that someone put way to much cream in. A very very light tan. It will match the jungle decals and pictures we are putting up.

We've also had another change of mind related to Smudgie. We still don't know if we have a girl Smudgie or a boy Smudgie. That will have to wait a couple of weeks. But early on we had picked out two names we both agreed on. That wasn't easy, hence the early start on hammering it out. You see, I'm a traditional kinda girl. My family is very connected to each other and giving children family names is just something most of us do. My parents and both of my mother's siblings have sons that are Jr's or II's. The older of my sisters wanted to follow suit but ended up compromising with her husband and using his middle name. Almost all of us have a portion of our name that traces back to a family member. My great grandmother was named for her mother. I was named for my mother's uncle and my father, and right on down to the most recent addition who was named for her daddy's favorite aunt. My darling SO's family has no such family links. A name is a name. And unusual, but modern, names are best. I hate trendy names. Maybe it comes from being a teacher and the nuisance of having six children named Ashley, Amanda, Joshua, Justin, and Caleb in your class each year.

So in the early round we tossed out the new "hot" names: Aedan, Emily, Hannah, Jordan, etc. We also tossed out rather formal names like Addison, Parker, Bentley and others.

We came up with two we liked and we still like the girl's name. Anna Catherine. My great-great grandmother was Anna. My great-grandmother was Anna. My grandmother's middle name was Anna. And I had a great aunt named Catherine, so on my family terms this works. The SO likes it so it's okay.

We'd picked out a boy's name and though we both liked it, it didn't survive the 40 times rule. Someone once said to me that before you decide on a name you have to look at it carefully. ARe there any hurtful nicknames that rise quickly to the mind? Do the initials spell something offensive or humiliating? On both these counts the name we picked met the criteria. It wasn't a family name, but it was an older name, actually biblical in origin. Asher. Asher was one of the sons of Jacob and therefore one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

But Asher hasn't passed the 40 times rule. It goes like this. Imagine yourself over a period of a couple of weeks saying the name 40 or more different times. "Asher stop that." "Asher don't do that." "Asher don't pull the puppy's tail." and on and on and on. For me as much as I liked the name, it just didn't pass the test. I can't see myself using this name over and over and over again. So we are talking about a new name. Not so much a family name, but an older/non-trendy name. It is currently undergoing the 40 times test. The SO seems much less bothered by this than I. I don't think it will start to kick in until we actually know the sex.

JulNoWriMo. Yep. I've decided to do the July version of the NaNoWriMo that is held every November. November is a crazy time for me to try to dedicate to writing 50,000 words in a month. It's the start of the holiday season and it's a busy time at school. So this year I decided to take a piece that I started on a previous NaNoWriMo and do my 50,000 in July finishing this piece. That's the great thing about the July NoWriMo is that you can finish a piece you've already begun. The piece is much more solidly fantasy than romance. Most of my other stuff is mostly romance with fantasy/paranormal bents, but this is fantasy with a bit of romance worked in. It will be a bit different and is a whole different world than any I've had published. It's not the world of Sanctuary and not the world of my Weres.