Ilsa has been wanting a Wii for ages. That's probably as long as six weeks, in kid terms. Three families we know received a Wii for Christmas. Ah, the wonders of extended in-home demonstrations.
My floppy extremities would like a Wii too. I like the idea of making yoga competitive. Only the Japanese and Americans could come up with such a fascinating contradiction in cultural values! But to get a Wii and a few games and the controllers and the battery chargers and the balance board...yeah, probably $400.
I really tried to be weak and consumerist when Ilsa and I went out on Monday. But the price of Wiis has recently dropped from $250 to $199.99, so no stores--seriously, I mean no store anywhere or online--have them in stock right now. Thank you forced discipline!
So our new family plan is that we're not going to eat out between now and my birthday. That's 13 weeks. Saving roughly $30 a week, we'll have $390 by then. We probably spend more than that on dining out, so there should be a little bonus in our checking account when it's all over, too. We made a savings chart and have a box to put the cash in each Saturday. The girls are psyched. And oddly, it saved me from going out to get a coffee yesterday. It would've been a betrayal of our family goal.
But that didn't stop me from trying to spend money on our treadmill. We bought it last January and it cost roughly $800. It died about mid-January of this year, just outside of the warranty coverage. The electronics console just...fizzled. I called Sears to do an in-home repair, but the estimate was for a $400 part and $185 labor. Um, no.
This got me thinking about our environment and how completely hideous this situation is. Forget my $800. I don't even want to think about how that money got totally thrown away. But because of the company's determination to do the bare minimum--to get their treadmill past the one year mark as far as quality goes--I now have a giant addition for the nearest landfill. Multiply this out by thousands of treadmill purchases. How is this responsible? Where are we going wrong?
Fiddle-de-dee. Playing Scarlett O'Hara is about the only way I can deal with problems that overwhelming. I won't think about that now. Ugh.
In the meantime, I have to figure out some way to get motivated about exercise. The weather isn't nice enough to walk by the lake. I may just have to suck it up and use my exercise DVDs until the weather get nicer. Feel my enthusiasm. That is the nice thing about saving for a Wii rather than buying it now--I can put off getting serious about shaping up until May!
2/25/10
Official Cover
I've had the graphic lurking on the sidebar here and on my website, but now it's officially official. Yay! It's absolutely lovely and I'm so tickled. The finished cover copy text will be ready soon, but for now you can read more about SONG OF SEDUCTION here.
Go to Sleep!
For the last two days Juliette has woken up very early. Their normal wake-up time is when I pry them out of bed at 7:00, about two minutes after I've hit the alarm for the third time. But yesterday I woke up and found them both dressed and in the living room. Their bed was made. Juliette had woken Ilsa up specifically to make the bed. Ilsa's teacher later informed me that she had taken a nap after lunch and seemed particularly groggy. I'd be groggy too if my sibling poked me awake at 5:30!
So today...same thing. I had a weird dream so I happened to be awake around 5:30. I heard whispers in the other room. So I told Ilsa to get into my bed, where she is currently snoring as loudly as a backhoe's engine. Good thing Keven normally sleeps with me and is used to the sawing of proverbial logs. I don't know if Juliette went back to sleep. I'll know in a half hour when I wake them up. If she's anything like her father--which, holy moly, she is!--then she'll be lying there awake.
Poor kid. But stop it!
I'm one book away from finishing my RITA selections. I've also finished reading all of my Fire & Ice contest entries, but I haven't done the scoring and feedback inputs. That's awaiting me like a root canal.
Otherwise, my work has sorta...slowed down. In a good way. I'm working on writing one project, PORTRAIT OF SEDUCTION, and researching another--although that may have to wait. It's complicated and has a lot to do with a conversation I had yesterday. No details yet, but it's good news.
I think I'll retreat to the library today and log some serious word count. Probably a good thing that I got up early to finish up odds and ends online. That way I can nap this afternoon! Silly Juliette.
So today...same thing. I had a weird dream so I happened to be awake around 5:30. I heard whispers in the other room. So I told Ilsa to get into my bed, where she is currently snoring as loudly as a backhoe's engine. Good thing Keven normally sleeps with me and is used to the sawing of proverbial logs. I don't know if Juliette went back to sleep. I'll know in a half hour when I wake them up. If she's anything like her father--which, holy moly, she is!--then she'll be lying there awake.
Poor kid. But stop it!
I'm one book away from finishing my RITA selections. I've also finished reading all of my Fire & Ice contest entries, but I haven't done the scoring and feedback inputs. That's awaiting me like a root canal.
Otherwise, my work has sorta...slowed down. In a good way. I'm working on writing one project, PORTRAIT OF SEDUCTION, and researching another--although that may have to wait. It's complicated and has a lot to do with a conversation I had yesterday. No details yet, but it's good news.
I think I'll retreat to the library today and log some serious word count. Probably a good thing that I got up early to finish up odds and ends online. That way I can nap this afternoon! Silly Juliette.
2/21/10
Kidnapped!
The only reason how I knew that Keven had planned anything is because I'd arranged a playdate for Ilsa today at 11am. He got a panicked look on his face as he figured if we'd be back in time. Up until then I'd only heard "save the 20th" as my advance warning. I'd assumed dinner and a movie.
Well that turned out to be true, just much more elaborate than I'd imagined. He arranged to have our friends Brad & Josie watch the girls overnight. Just having the luxury of childcare arranged in advance is pretty damn sweet. So we dropped off the girls around 2:30 on Saturday. Then we headed south. Apparently the movie theater in Gurnee is the only place for miles and miles that is still showing Sherlock Holmes. Yay! I finally got to see it! (Review coming tomorrow.) We were surprised to see that the theater was considerably packed for a two-month-old film. Maybe everyone looked around at the February line-up and thought...Sherlock!
After that we headed south again. He still wasn't giving up any details. I'd been convinced he was going to take me skiing, which would be great for him because he knows how. He's been threatening for ages to make me try it. But it was cold and miserable outside, and I was relieved to see that nothing more exerting than fine dining was in store.
We drove to Evanston and parked at the Hilton where we'd eventually stay the night. Then we walked to a place called the Davis Street Fishmarket. By this time it was nearing 7:30 and I was so hungry. Everything smelled marvelous. We ordered starters and a bottle of prosecco to share. Decadent! And the silly goose even had a little trio of roses in a glass vase delivered to our table. *sniffs with happiness*
Can I just say that filet mignon is the bestest beef cut there is?
Afterward we wandered around for a bit before realizing that I'd left my glasses at the restaurant. We checked into the hotel and headed back, stopping off at World Market before it closed to buy chocolate and wine. A local Borders even had two copies of SCOUNDREL'S KISS, which I signed. There's always time for stock signing!
The Hilton was lovely, and we even got the free cooked breakfast buffet come morning. (Notice how I skipped what happened between Borders and breakfast? Sure I write romance, but I fade to black for my own stories!) We drove home, got the kids, and made it back in time for Ilsa's playdate, which is taking place right now. Hopefully it'll be a fairly quiet Sunday of kids, laundry, Olympics, and reading.
What a lovely surprise from my favorite Valentine. Now it puts me in mind of getting back at him one day...
Well that turned out to be true, just much more elaborate than I'd imagined. He arranged to have our friends Brad & Josie watch the girls overnight. Just having the luxury of childcare arranged in advance is pretty damn sweet. So we dropped off the girls around 2:30 on Saturday. Then we headed south. Apparently the movie theater in Gurnee is the only place for miles and miles that is still showing Sherlock Holmes. Yay! I finally got to see it! (Review coming tomorrow.) We were surprised to see that the theater was considerably packed for a two-month-old film. Maybe everyone looked around at the February line-up and thought...Sherlock!
After that we headed south again. He still wasn't giving up any details. I'd been convinced he was going to take me skiing, which would be great for him because he knows how. He's been threatening for ages to make me try it. But it was cold and miserable outside, and I was relieved to see that nothing more exerting than fine dining was in store.
We drove to Evanston and parked at the Hilton where we'd eventually stay the night. Then we walked to a place called the Davis Street Fishmarket. By this time it was nearing 7:30 and I was so hungry. Everything smelled marvelous. We ordered starters and a bottle of prosecco to share. Decadent! And the silly goose even had a little trio of roses in a glass vase delivered to our table. *sniffs with happiness*
Can I just say that filet mignon is the bestest beef cut there is?
Afterward we wandered around for a bit before realizing that I'd left my glasses at the restaurant. We checked into the hotel and headed back, stopping off at World Market before it closed to buy chocolate and wine. A local Borders even had two copies of SCOUNDREL'S KISS, which I signed. There's always time for stock signing!
The Hilton was lovely, and we even got the free cooked breakfast buffet come morning. (Notice how I skipped what happened between Borders and breakfast? Sure I write romance, but I fade to black for my own stories!) We drove home, got the kids, and made it back in time for Ilsa's playdate, which is taking place right now. Hopefully it'll be a fairly quiet Sunday of kids, laundry, Olympics, and reading.
What a lovely surprise from my favorite Valentine. Now it puts me in mind of getting back at him one day...
2/18/10
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Alison Lohman Christine Brown), Justin Long (Clay Dalton), Lorna Raver (Sylvia Ganush), Dileep Rao (Rham Jas)Directed by Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan)
From IMDB: A loan officer ordered to evict an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.
Although I listed the very serious and respected A Simple Plan as Sam Raimi's directing credit, this film has more in common with his cult horror classics Army of Darkness and The Evil Dead, which starred His Royal Highness of B Movies, Bruce Campbell. But because it was also a film meant to scare the pants off of folks, I had to watch it by myself. Keven refused to come near it. Wuss.
That said, OMG gross! This film is, in a word, disgusting--in the best, most entertaining sense. I cannot stand horror films like Hostel and Saw, where the hideous torture could actually be played out in real life. Give me monster movies any day, back to Alien and forward to modern classics like 28 Days Later. This one sits in an uncomfortable middle ground between what I enjoy and what I can't stand.Alison Lohman played a painfully desperate character. She is desperate to fit in, desperate for the approval of her boyfriend's family, and eventually desperate to survive. The subtlety of her descent into crazytown is well done, particularly as she moves into kitty-killing self-defense mode.
Justin Long is a cutey. Sure he's the Mac guy, but I've always liked them skinny, pale, dark-haired, and nerdy.
But there is a reason why this movie took me more than a week to watch. I caught snippets in 20-minute bursts over several days because holy crap, it was disturbing. As opposed to other creature films...this one didn't do it for me. Maybe the unfairness of Christine's situation was too difficult to stomach. The whole set-up seemed like entrapment. She didn't deserve having to go through this horrorfest, and the "bad things happen to good people" vibe made me uncomfortable. Sure apocalypse movies like 28 Days Later are predicated on such a concept, but I didn't like seeing it played out in an everyday situation. Perhaps that's a win for Raimi. He made me supremely uncomfortable, especially when psycho gypsy woman gummed the heroine's chin and puked puss into her mouth. And possessed goats. And projectile eyeballs. Ew. My "ew" moments outweighed my enjoyment. Maybe Keven had the right idea after all.
2/17/10
9 (2009)
Christopher Plummer (1), John C. Reilly (5), Jennifer Connelly (7), Elijah Wood (9)Directed by Shane Acker
From IMDB: A rag doll that awakens in a post-apocalyptic future holds the key to humanity's salvation.
This computer animated film is an extension of the short film created by the same director. We'd seen the initial preview for it at the theater, but its PG-13 rating and the fact that the girls couldn't watch the trailer without freaking out meant that it was an adults-only animated experience.
And what an experience. The visuals are just amazing. The action scenes, in particular, are such a head-trip. They basically decided to take all of the things you can't do with real humans and make it happen with animated dolls. I love that approach, because what else does animation really bring to a movie for adults? Some superhero movies are so rife with CGI that they may as well be fully cartoon. This made no apologies from the start.
Basically 9 was everything that the utter shitpiles of The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions should have been. It was tense, daring and so well constructed. The steampunk sensibility and unusual appearance of the dolls made for a completely engrossing visual treat. The plot is rather deep but I won't get into that here. Suffice to say that the dolls each represent a facet of human personality: bravery, physical daring, idiocy, insanity, creativity, fear, etc. Some of these facets are killed off. Some survive. If you think of them as individual people, then the arc of the story is very sad. But if you regard it as one person's attempt to eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive...then it's bearable.
Purging the weaker elements of one's character, however, is never an easy process. In this gruesome little fairy tale, the process is amazingly traumatic and violent. I enjoyed it very much, but it's certainly not a film for kids.
2/16/10
Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell (Sam Bell), Kevin Spacey (GERTY)Directed by Duncan Jones (a debut film from David Bowie's son!)
From IMDB: Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Keven and I saw this a while ago, probably just after Christmas. I haven't written about it because I'm lazy. Heh.
I loved it. Fans of big plot sci-fi and obvious storylines might have problems with its slow build and esoteric possibilities, but I was entranced. Most of that had to do with Sam Rockwell, who delivered a truly remarkable performance. He played two characters throughout almost the entire film. Identical men. Seriously. But never once was I confused as to which was which. He imbued each man with subtle yet distinct physical characteristics that said so much about their personalities. Make-up and costuming helped, but I really credit Rockwell for breathing difference into each. Although Keven and I worked out the major elements of the plot in advance, the way it played out was very entertaining. I really rooted for Sam Bell, hoping he would find a little bit of happiness at the end. The finale was so perfectly ambiguous that I felt like writing an epilogue. Heck, a whole book! Sam Bell finds romance...
I can't tell you anything more, really, because it's too good to give away. Loved it. We've enjoyed Sam Rockwell ever since his portrayal of Guy on Galaxy Quest, but this proved that he has fantastic acting chops. I can't wait to see what he does in the future, hoping for a big star-making role that will give him the recognition he deserves. And props to Duncan Jones on a terse, interesting sci-fi gem. Sometimes show biz nepotism sucks hind tit, but this really paid off.
2/15/10
Kid Updates
So it turns out that Ilsa, little goofball that she is, has tested in the full gifted range. We learned during her Armitage admissions process. She has the intellect of a mid-8yo. Her ability to express language is almost equal with her receptive cognition, which is rare at this age, and her verbal and math abilities are evenly matched. She's also been composing, untutored, on the synthesizer we gave the girls for Christmas. The compositions have regular meter and repeating motifs, not the random plunking of a six-year-old. And her aptitude with French is scary.
Oh, the girl is gonna get expensive really quick.
This past week we ran into the first complication of all this. Juliette brought home a math assignment for her homework that she just couldn't get--not without a lot of tutoring from Keven. The concept itself is rather advanced, having to do with number families and reciprocal values. 7+4=11. 11-4=7. Etc. Ilsa took a look at it and got it straight away. I had to ferret her away and distract her so that Juliette could concentrate. Ilsa has also passed Juliette in the "Magical Treehouse" series of books that they were reading.
Part of this is just Ilsa being able, at last, to have one up on her big sister. And of course Juliette isn't too keen on that. But I see it continuing. Once Ilsa gets into more regular schooling and learns spelling, handwriting, and how to have a an attention span for things that don't interest her--fat chance!--she'll be a mondo threat. We'd more stridently push for having her skip a grade if that wouldn't land her in direct competition with Juliette. At least the testing they did at Armitage will let them know what to expect.
In the meantime Juliette has basically be crafting an encyclopedia entry for the American Robin. The topic was assigned in science class, and she spent almost all of Saturday afternoon on the task. Her ability to synthesize information and remember it is staggering. If I go over her advanced spelling words once or twice during the week, she's good for the test--just like that. (I'm impressed because spelling gives me fits.) Funny to think that little sister will be giving my clever girl a run for her money from here on out.
Sorry to brag. Can you tell I'm proud? Keven and I parent by benign neglect, so it's good to see our casual "talk to them a lot and read to them a lot" strategy is bearing fruit...
Oh, the girl is gonna get expensive really quick.
This past week we ran into the first complication of all this. Juliette brought home a math assignment for her homework that she just couldn't get--not without a lot of tutoring from Keven. The concept itself is rather advanced, having to do with number families and reciprocal values. 7+4=11. 11-4=7. Etc. Ilsa took a look at it and got it straight away. I had to ferret her away and distract her so that Juliette could concentrate. Ilsa has also passed Juliette in the "Magical Treehouse" series of books that they were reading.
Part of this is just Ilsa being able, at last, to have one up on her big sister. And of course Juliette isn't too keen on that. But I see it continuing. Once Ilsa gets into more regular schooling and learns spelling, handwriting, and how to have a an attention span for things that don't interest her--fat chance!--she'll be a mondo threat. We'd more stridently push for having her skip a grade if that wouldn't land her in direct competition with Juliette. At least the testing they did at Armitage will let them know what to expect.
In the meantime Juliette has basically be crafting an encyclopedia entry for the American Robin. The topic was assigned in science class, and she spent almost all of Saturday afternoon on the task. Her ability to synthesize information and remember it is staggering. If I go over her advanced spelling words once or twice during the week, she's good for the test--just like that. (I'm impressed because spelling gives me fits.) Funny to think that little sister will be giving my clever girl a run for her money from here on out.
Sorry to brag. Can you tell I'm proud? Keven and I parent by benign neglect, so it's good to see our casual "talk to them a lot and read to them a lot" strategy is bearing fruit...
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
Finishing revisions is a marvelous feeling. It's even more satisfying, I think, than completing a rough draft. That used to be the big high for me, back when just climbing to the top of a 300+ page hill was a daunting task. But now when I finish, I know exactly how much work remains before the blasted thing is readable.
Last night I finished up Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, my World War II romance. And I love it. Love it, love it. It just goes to prove that the revisions process still works. Make it shiny! I'll be sending this off to various places later this week, with high hopes that one day I'll be able to share more about it in an official capacity.
Until then, the romance between Joe and Lulu will just have to be my own personal satisfaction. *happy sigh*
Last night I finished up Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, my World War II romance. And I love it. Love it, love it. It just goes to prove that the revisions process still works. Make it shiny! I'll be sending this off to various places later this week, with high hopes that one day I'll be able to share more about it in an official capacity.
Until then, the romance between Joe and Lulu will just have to be my own personal satisfaction. *happy sigh*
2/10/10
Snowpocalypse
I redid my blog because Haloscan is shutting down. I'm going to lose all of my comments for the last three years. Yay! Sorry, everyone, but your pearls of wisdom and encouragement have all been flushed. Such is the internet...
The storm did turn pretty nasty in the end. I wasn't expecting it to amount to much, not after every forecaster in the Midwest has been freaking out twice weekly about storms that don't materialize. But as the winds really kicked up, I was glad to have the girls at home. Keven's work even shut early. Juliette had been scheduled to take a field trip to Milwaukee to see the symphony, so I liked not having to worry about her in a school bus.
That said, I do wish people would just chill. Keep calm and carry on.
I presented my workshop on elevator pitches to Chicago North on Monday night. Lucky that the storm held off long enough for me to go down there and get my teach on. It was a nice trial run, because I applied to the RWA national conference to do the same workshop in July. If it gets picked up, I'll know better now how to structure my time.
I'm really trying to be good about working when I'm supposed to, because suddenly there's a lot of television I want to watch. The Olympics will, of course, turn into a massive time suck. I'm starting "Survivor"'s latest all-stars season with my parents on Thursday. I've also started "America's Best Dance Crew," but I'm not sure I'm getting into it enough to stick with it. I'd like to watch all of "Sharpe" before the new episodes are shown on PBS in March and April. "Caprica" is boring me to sleep, but we're hanging in there. "Doctor Who" and the WWII mini-series "The Pacific" will also air in March, and my dance-obsessed critique partners and I are just starting a killer season of "SYTYCD Australia."
By that list, you'd think I never do anything else but watch TV!
I'm on book six out of eight for my RITA judging, having already finished my Golden Heart entries. Then I have local chapter judging to do too. Not so bad this year. They seem to be spaced out better. My editor will have final copy-edits for Song of Seduction back to me for the weekend. I'm 3K into Portrait of Seduction, which is going to be fun. Sit back and revisit a place I've already researched! Quaint! I'm using the lovely Bradley Cooper and Sophia Myles as my leads. They couldn't look more Germanic if they tried!
As for future projects, FLAWLESS is out trying to track me down an agent, and my WWII romance set in England, WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS, will be heading out the door this week. I took Jenn's suggestion to re-title it based on a Bing Crosby song. Here's a version of it, although I don't know why he's singing to a bunch of Hollywood Indians.
The storm did turn pretty nasty in the end. I wasn't expecting it to amount to much, not after every forecaster in the Midwest has been freaking out twice weekly about storms that don't materialize. But as the winds really kicked up, I was glad to have the girls at home. Keven's work even shut early. Juliette had been scheduled to take a field trip to Milwaukee to see the symphony, so I liked not having to worry about her in a school bus.
That said, I do wish people would just chill. Keep calm and carry on.
I presented my workshop on elevator pitches to Chicago North on Monday night. Lucky that the storm held off long enough for me to go down there and get my teach on. It was a nice trial run, because I applied to the RWA national conference to do the same workshop in July. If it gets picked up, I'll know better now how to structure my time.
I'm really trying to be good about working when I'm supposed to, because suddenly there's a lot of television I want to watch. The Olympics will, of course, turn into a massive time suck. I'm starting "Survivor"'s latest all-stars season with my parents on Thursday. I've also started "America's Best Dance Crew," but I'm not sure I'm getting into it enough to stick with it. I'd like to watch all of "Sharpe" before the new episodes are shown on PBS in March and April. "Caprica" is boring me to sleep, but we're hanging in there. "Doctor Who" and the WWII mini-series "The Pacific" will also air in March, and my dance-obsessed critique partners and I are just starting a killer season of "SYTYCD Australia."
By that list, you'd think I never do anything else but watch TV!
I'm on book six out of eight for my RITA judging, having already finished my Golden Heart entries. Then I have local chapter judging to do too. Not so bad this year. They seem to be spaced out better. My editor will have final copy-edits for Song of Seduction back to me for the weekend. I'm 3K into Portrait of Seduction, which is going to be fun. Sit back and revisit a place I've already researched! Quaint! I'm using the lovely Bradley Cooper and Sophia Myles as my leads. They couldn't look more Germanic if they tried!
As for future projects, FLAWLESS is out trying to track me down an agent, and my WWII romance set in England, WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS, will be heading out the door this week. I took Jenn's suggestion to re-title it based on a Bing Crosby song. Here's a version of it, although I don't know why he's singing to a bunch of Hollywood Indians.
2/4/10
Hello?
So I've been gone for ages and ages and ages. To all 14 of you who remain--hello! Now that the absolute mental craziness of promo month has passed, I'm back! Promise!
I've been super busy trying to revise a pair of manuscripts. One is lovely and is off hunting agents as we speak. The other will be finished today if I have to shoot my computer to do it--although that sounds counter-productive. I've also been working on a couple of varied projects, all of which has me bouncing around from WWII to medieval Tuscany.
Here's a very cool announcement: the novel formerly known as "Serenade" now has an official title. After the poll on Carina Press's blog has officially closed, I can say that the new title is SONG OF SEDUCTION. I've seen the absolutely breath-taking cover and can't wait to share it. I will as soon as I get the official OK. SONG OF SEDUCTION will be released in June.
The title was so inspiring that I pitched a sequel to my lovely editors, and it's been accepted for publication as well. Yay! Momma's back under contract! Here's the blurb for PORTRAIT OF SEDUCTION.
I hope to keep the good announcements coming through the next few months!
Otherwise, Juliette has been having a few issues at school. I think she's trying to figure out how she fits in this world. It's as much about her inherent personality as it is any behavioral concerns. Ilsa will be doing her preview day at Armitage next week, which should be cute. I'll post pictures of Ilsa in uniform on Facebook. Keven is plugging away at his work, and I still haven't seen Sherlock Holmes. Sad! But I do have a very social weekend to look forward to: coffee with a friend tomorrow morning, dinner out with more friends tomorrow night, and a meeting of Broken Writers on Sunday. Love my peeps.
Coming soon: My review of Drag Me to Hell and Moon. Poor Sam Rockwell, so neglected by the Oscar love!
I've been super busy trying to revise a pair of manuscripts. One is lovely and is off hunting agents as we speak. The other will be finished today if I have to shoot my computer to do it--although that sounds counter-productive. I've also been working on a couple of varied projects, all of which has me bouncing around from WWII to medieval Tuscany.
Here's a very cool announcement: the novel formerly known as "Serenade" now has an official title. After the poll on Carina Press's blog has officially closed, I can say that the new title is SONG OF SEDUCTION. I've seen the absolutely breath-taking cover and can't wait to share it. I will as soon as I get the official OK. SONG OF SEDUCTION will be released in June.
The title was so inspiring that I pitched a sequel to my lovely editors, and it's been accepted for publication as well. Yay! Momma's back under contract! Here's the blurb for PORTRAIT OF SEDUCTION.
Hidden in Plain Sight...I have no idea when this will be coming out, but I'm thinking late fall or winter.
Gifted painter Greta Zweig earns her keep by forging masterpieces, whereby wealthy families can hide the priceless originals. She yearns to be known for her own work, but her uncle, a destitute marquis, exploits her desire for an advantageous marriage.
Oliver Doerger, a German duke's bastard and former soldier, poses as a valet in order to further his half-brother's political career. But he longs to respected--not as a spy but as a member of society.
Stepping Out of the Shadows...
When someone begins marketing Greta's forgeries as originals, Oliver is drawn into her world of art and subterfuge. She will do anything to shield her family from scandal, even if that means resisting her improper attraction to the intense, surprising valet.
But the appearance of a charismatic grifter threatens to reveal a shameful debt from Oliver's past. Caught between love and duty, he must choose between honoring his loyalties and indulging in a passionate affair with Greta that could expose them both.
I hope to keep the good announcements coming through the next few months!
Otherwise, Juliette has been having a few issues at school. I think she's trying to figure out how she fits in this world. It's as much about her inherent personality as it is any behavioral concerns. Ilsa will be doing her preview day at Armitage next week, which should be cute. I'll post pictures of Ilsa in uniform on Facebook. Keven is plugging away at his work, and I still haven't seen Sherlock Holmes. Sad! But I do have a very social weekend to look forward to: coffee with a friend tomorrow morning, dinner out with more friends tomorrow night, and a meeting of Broken Writers on Sunday. Love my peeps.
Coming soon: My review of Drag Me to Hell and Moon. Poor Sam Rockwell, so neglected by the Oscar love!
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