Whatcha Listenin' To?

This post is dedicated to the killer pop tunes that are currently making my foot hurt. Maybe because it's feeling halfway better, I've been dancing more...which means I'm probably overdoing it. Oh well. Feels good in the moment.

These are my fave tunes at the moment, almost all of them pointlessly addictive pop songs, and a great many of them taken from SYTYCD Australia. I'm so old that I get my new tunes from a reality dance competition. Gah!

Gabriella Cilmi - "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now"
Nelly Furtado - "No Hay Igual"
Kevin Rudolf - "Let It Rock"
Metro Station - "Shake It"
Lady Gaga - "Poker Face" and "Just Dance"
Ida Corr - "Let Me Think About It"
Beyonce - "Single Ladies" (loved Charlie & Penny's take)
Britney Spears - "Womanizer"
Elbow - "Ground For Divorce"
The Pussycat Dolls - "When I Grow Up"
Rihanna - "Breakin' Dishes," "Break It Off," and "Disturbia"
Mirah - "The Garden"
Sam Sparro - "Black & Gold"

But that's not enough! I want suggestions. Gimme more! Old or new, what are you listening to at the moment?

Mid-Week Music and Stuff

I thought my computer was going to arrive today, but it's just the monitor. The actual computer is still being built. Because it's been delayed, HP gave me a $50 gift certificate to their online store, which is nice. I'll find something to snag.

Of course, I'm hip deep in a new season of So You Think You Can Dance, this time out of Australia. I get three a year if I follow the US, Canadian and Aussie versions. So happy. Faves are Charlie and Ben for the men; Penny and Giane among the gals. We'll see how they fare. This is my fave routine so far. Something about the unapologetically JAZZ quality of it makes me smile.


This morning, while making breakfast, I was listening to the ultra funky "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Ilsa asked, "What's in your iPod, mommy?" So I gave her an earbud and continued to hip shake as she listened. Did she move? Did she tap her toe? NOTHING! My children have absolutely no dance genetics. Poor dears. Afterward, when I'd taken my earbud back like a petulant child--fine, if you're not going to dance, give it to me!--she stared to wiggle her rear. But I think she was making fun of me.

The song, however, got me thinking. The woman she's playing is a nasty piece of work, and I realized that of my new four-story proposals' heroines, I have no nasty pieces of work. Seriously, this must be remedied. I can't write stories without action, and I can't write a lot of milquetoast ladies. Someone has to be ready to play hardball!

Today means cleaning and editing and catching up with my online presence. I'll have a monitor by the end of the day, but no computer. Oh well. Soon, my precious!

Checking in on Monday

Mom went home on Thursday, now that my foot is rather close to fully functioning. The throbbing pain in my heel has returned and I keep it elevated when I rest, but it's much better than it was. I think my "no pain" reaction last week was a bit of numbness after the procedure. I have no doubt, however, that my doc will keep with it until it IS fully functioning. Right now it feels like I've strained my Achilles' tendon, which isn't bad less than a week on from being in the hospital.

In other news, Alphasmarts are awesome. I bought one second hand from my friend Liz (now that she has a new laptop), and Thursday I wrote 1,100 words like breathing. Something about the limiting 4-6 lines of type keeps me from fiddling and re-reading stuff I've already written, and the no-interet-access, no-distracting-programs feature means I stay on task. Nice.

Speaking of computers, my laptop got very, very sick on Friday. It was already vulnerable and had contracted a virus the week before, but this was the tired old thing's death knell. Luckily, the slow fade into utter uselessness happened over three days, when Keven and I were able to rescue everything of value. I suppose that means I shouldn't take my new computer to skanky file sharing areas of the Internet anymore? Yes, I said new computer. Saturday night I ordered a new HP Slimline desktop with a 19" flat panel monitor, a machine that is incalculably faster and more powerful for 35% less than I paid for my laptop back in 2006. My Alphasmart will be my portable device.

Tonight I'm off to Chicago North where I'll read one of my WIPs to the group for critique. I dread/love this. It's instant feedback, which is good, and it's instant feedback, which makes me nauseous. Here's a sample:

Vivienne, Viscountess Bancroft, stared at a shelf of books and idly picked at the fraying corner of her lace handkerchief. Her loud, arrogant, bombastic father, Sir William Christie, was dead. His lavish funeral had come and gone, well-attended despite a chilly afternoon perched on the edge of autumn. Now, three weeks later, as those rituals and eulogies softened to dreamlike detachment, Viv waited for the reading of his will.

She waited to breathe again.

Not for the first time, she dwelled on whether she'd done enough to prove herself to her father, the colossal shadow that loomed over her whole life. Had she repaid his kindness when she was nothing but a dead Frenchwoman's brat? Had she hidden her resentment when he'd treated her that way? The terms of his will would determined her future. Anything less than a full share of the inheritance meant a return to the gutters, back to the rabble and filth of her childhood.

Or back to England, back to her husband.

Never.

Scoundrel's Kiss Cover Copy

This morning, I received my back cover copy for SCOUNDREL'S KISS, which hits the shelves in January. I'd ask you to play count the romance cliches, but that might seem like I was making fun of it. I'm not. However, parts of it do make me snort. I think we romance writers use up all the ellipses that other genres shun. As for the cover image, we'll have to wait another few months.

Front Cover:

Dare to resist his touch...

SCOUNDREL'S KISS
CARRIE LOFTY

Back Cover:

WHEN IT COMES TO TEMPTATION...
Turning his back on his old life as a rogue, Gavriel de Marqueda has joined a monastic order in Spain and taken a vow of chastity. Before he becomes a monk, he must pass one final test: help a woman who has lost her way. But when he lays eyes on Ada of Keyworth, he is tempted beyond measure by her sultry beauty and dangerous curves...

RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN...
Far from her home in England, Ada has been battling inner demons for more than a year. When she discovers that her only friend has abandoned her, she has no choice but to grudgingly accept Gavriel's help. But Ada is not fooled. Though Gavriel wears the robes of a monk, Ada sees that he is a virile man who looks at her with a hunger that matches her own--one that begs to be satisfied again and again...

"Readers will delight in this inventive foray into a legendary place."
--Susan Wiggs, New York Times Bestselling Author on What a Scoundrel Wants

Update on Me

More doctor talk, so here's Mr. Lovely to stand in for my own hot doc.

Mom arrived on Sunday night, and we spent Monday shopping for groceries and preparing for worst case scenarios. We drove around Kenosha to show her the route to take Keven to work and the girls to school. I packed an overnight bag and psyched myself up with the truth: I can't walk without pain. What was going to happen needed to be done.

Keven drove me to the hospital on Tuesday morning, quite early, and various nurses and doctors explained what was going to take place. What they couldn't explain, not with any accuracy, was the outcome. Even my cutie doc basically shrugged. Because two thirds of the procedure was diagnostic--an angiogram and a veinogram--he wouldn't really know until he got in there.

Yay! Bring it on. *sigh*

The nurses were in good form and very funny. They played satellite radio in the operating theater--good, pumped, upbeat stuff, only I couldn't move my feet, and my right arm was attached to an IV. So I tapped the index finger of my left hand--the middle finger had on the pulse cuff thingie--and reminded myself that this was part of why I was there: I miss dancing. Seriously dancing.

A note: Happy drugs are awesome. I was feeling pretty good. I never dipped into unconsciousness entirely, and I certainly felt when he was poking around and injecting various things into me, but I don't think I cared. Not hardly at all. By the end of two hours, we were all finished and I was wheeled up to the hospital.

Nurses kept asking if I needed anything for the pain, and I really didn't. No pain. A little achy, like maybe having a minor leg cramp or a bad bruise. But that's it. When my doc came up to discuss how things went, he had only good news. My veins and arteries are all perfectly normal, except for the localized place where I have pain. That means after a few more minor treatments, I'll be good as new. I might not even need my granny stockings anymore. He also said that if I wasn't having pain by then, I wasn't going to. He was right. It never got worse.

I think because of all that happened with my wrist this time last year, I didn't have much faith in the outcome. But sure enough, this went just as planned...and then some better. By that evening, I could walk on my nasty heel without any of the old pain I once had. Get that? Not only didn't I hurt from the procedure, but my previous pain was already in remission. This morning, I checked under the compression stocking and about 50% of the visible evil blue veins that had been the bane of my last twenty years are GONE. Entirely. It's like he took a magic eraser to the whole area, taking the throbbing away too. I can't imagine how awesome this will be come summer.

So now I have all these cool plans. I'll get the last few treatments--all very minor, by comparison, because I won't need to do the angiogram and veinogram and all that other junk that required sedation--and then I'll buy summer clothes. Can you imagine? Sandals and short pants! Summer dresses and walking without stockings. Working out without pain and being able to tackle summer things like Nationals and our trip to Italy without dread.

Yeah. A good day. Today mom and I are going out for lunch and heading to the Circuit City in Racine that's being closed down. You know...just to see what's there! She'll go home tomorrow because really, all that worst case scenario of me spending time in the hospital or hobbling around on crutches for weeks just never happened. Color me relieved.

Anyone up for hiphop lessons??

Sunday Kick Ass

It's Sunday night, and most of you are probably reading this on Monday morning, but I've had a good day. Although it was long and filled with ordinary things, I am immensely satisfied with what we managed to accomplish. You know that list of chores you optimistically write at the start of the day? Ordinary things like laundry, bills, cleaning, getting the kids ready for the start of the school week--all done--plus having breakfast out and brainstorming with my faboo friends, reading with the girls, filing our taxes and student financial aid paperwork, housekeeping on Unusual Historicals, and watching the first performance episode of So You Think You Can Dance Australia (which was so meh that I won't even elaborate here). Now my back is a little sore, my hands are a little chapped, and my eyes are heavy. A good day. Here's hoping that my week proves fractionally able to keep pace.

So how was your weekend? Any good?

Medical TMI? You decide!

Reader stats on my blog have dropped by 20% in the last month, perhaps because I've discovered Facebook. Or maybe everyone checks out new content on their readers. Hm.

I got my glasses yesterday, which means I can see with excruciating clarity the dreck I'm typing. Fun tricks with lenses! But I can also see my skin and the kitchen floor with excruciating clarity--not so good.

In other medical news, I'm scheduled for a Tuesday out-patient surgical procedure on my right foot. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to it. AT ALL. From what my cute young enthusiastic doctor says, the whole thing will be a piece of cake...a piece of cake involving painful needles and injections! Holy Hellraiser, Batman! Luckily, I'll be given some sort of happy drugs, which he compared to a "couple glasses of wine." Ha! Considering my tolerance, he should've said "a couple bottles of wine," where upon I would simply fall asleep.

The goal of all this poking is to walk without pain, so I guess I'll suck it up.

Mom is arriving on Sunday to help me wrangle things while I recover. I aim to be back on my feet--har har!!--by the weekend, coz dudes, I have stuff to do! On the docket for the Saturday after surgery is a birthday party and parent-teacher conferences, and then I have a Chicago North meeting on the last Monday of the month. Basically, I have a four-day window in which to employ my mutant healing factor.

Oh wait, I don't have any mutant healing factor. Damn. Whatever. Any mention of mutants means posting a picture of X-Hotties, so here you go:

HIS WOMAN Winner & Bjork

The winner of Diana Cosby's HIS WOMAN is toni! Congrats! Contact me at this address and I'll get it out to you. The meme actually seemed to be faily intriguing because a lot of people linked back to it.

And here's some funny, because damn--anything that makes fun of the economy and highlights the adorably insanity of Bjork cannot fail.

Music for Old People

In this age of Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers and Twitter and other Very Young Things I don't understand, I have a hard time picturing what kids would think of seeing U2 on the Grammys--as if they'd even watch the Grammys. Hell, I don't know what I think of seeing U2 perform their newest single. But maybe it's not that I'm all that old...I just like old things.


Radiohead, however, are a whole different animal. They're awesome because even people who love their work don't understand them all the time. This makes them immune to criticism from the youth end of the spectrum. They haven't become uncool--they're too cool, to the point where everyone kinda scratches their heads and pretends to get it.


It does warm my heart to think that, as bands, they've stayed together for 33 years (U2) and 24 years (Radiohead). That's awesome, especially considering all the twists and turns their styles have taken. To negotiate those sort of artistic changes between four or five people--quite cool.

A Book Meme -- And a Prize!

I nabbed this meme from Nicholas at A Gentleman's Domain.

1. Tell me about the book that has been on your shelves the longest.

I have a copy of Jane Eyre from high school. I defaced it. Literally. The girl on the cover has no face. Wait, my memory's working now. I received Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey as a Christmas gift in junior high. Oh! And I've had the collected Little House series since elementary school. They win.

2. Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life.

Funny how I could answer this question with my own book, but that would be too obvious.

I'll pick Apache Legacy by Janis Reams Hudson. Never heard of it, you say? Shush. I had just been dumped by a certain philosophy major when my mom traveled to Bowling Green to talk me through the break-up--mercifully not killing said philosophy major during her stay. We went to a grocery store and I wanted something to read. I'd read Hudson's previous book in the series, so I picked up this one.

I read it in one sitting, and it rejuvenated me. I had only just recognized that I'd never be a good enough artist to make a go of it, not professionally, and a glowing sense of purpose called to me from the pages of that historical romance. When the next semester started, I went down to the registrar and changed my major from art to English and history.

OK, that's a little overly dramatic, but it went something like that.

3. Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way.

In high school, Jenny Townsend gave me a copy of what became my favorite romance of all time, a book called Fire and Rain by Elizabeth Lowell. I loved it. I raved about it. When Jenny wanted to borrow it, I lent it to her...and it never came back. Either Jen lost it, or we graduated. Something. Years later, I was in a bookstore in Columbus and found a replacement copy. Very happy.

4. Tell me about a book that has been with you to the most places.

I have the collected works of Shakespeare and the collected works of Poe, both of which sport fancy gold-trimmed pages. They're from a collection my parents once had of great works, most of which suffered unseemly book deaths in a basement flood. I'd taken these two with me to BGSU so they survived, and I took the Shakespeare to England. Thus it's been to two countries, three states, and seven cities via twelve moves--not counting wherever my parents dragged it through.

5. Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves.

His Woman by fellow Zebra Debut author Diana Cosby. Her book was released the same day as mine, back in December. We were participating in an online chat at Coffeetime Romance, and I accidentally won a copy in a guessing game. She sent me two copies, actually--one for myself and one to give away.

PRIZE ALERT!

Check in and let me know if you're doing anything interesting this weekend. Or, if you're feeling froggy, complete this book meme and link back to me. On Monday, I'll draw a name and send the winner a copy of His Woman. Good luck!

Mini Update

Keven's still in Chicago until Friday night. The last two days have been a bumble of weird, disjointed hours. Routine is a good thing. Being out of routine means things go haywire in little ways. Tonight I fed the girls popcorn and bananas for dinner. I ate soup in bed. See? Weird.

On Tuesday I went to a new doctor for my funkily-veined foot. Yay for good doctors! He's very excited about my case, actually, because I'm apparently rather rare. He's a young, very handsome American-born South Asian who speaks entirely too fast, and his practice partner trained out of Northwestern with the best AVM specialist in the Midwest. Expertise! So next week we start to identify the particular problems and strategize a cure. He's confident everything with my heel can be solved over the next few months, which is a little too nice to believe right now. Yet his enthusiasm is marvellous--just enough for me to buy in to his sunny diagnosis.

And now, coz it's obligatory everytime I think of doctors and happiness, here's a pic of Tennant. Gosh, I'm gonna miss him when he goes. *little sob*

Snow Dalek!

It's snowed so much in Britain that children are working through childhood fears using therapeutic snow. Exterminate!

(I stole this Facebook pic from a woman name Jo Tanner, via my friend Jenny. Hope she doesn't mind my sharing.

Old Skool Hottie

Have I shown you this picture of Gregory Peck? The look on his face is as if he'd been doing something worthy and studious...and then got distracted. Delicious.

The Big Hole

Today I'm over at Unusual Historicals talking about a really, really big hole.