Bite Me!

Don't worry, you didn't do anything to offend. :-)

I'm just excited about a book that's hitting the shelves tomorrow.

Melissa Francis's BITE ME.

Melissa is one of the warmest, funniest women I've met since I started writing, and can't WAIT to read her book.

There's a contest going on the Fictionistas Blog to win a copy! Really, I shouldn't be telling people, because I WANT TO WIN. But then again, I'll buy a copy regardless, so all of you, go enter, now. And if you don't win, go buy her book. Even if you do win, go buy her book. It'd make a great gift.

It was the best of timing, it was the worst of timing...

I got some great news about a week ago. I sold my short story "Lost and Found" into the anthology,
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE. Check out the hottie on the cover!

It's a quirky little story I pitched as a mash up of Groundhog Day, The Time Traveler's Wife and Life on Mars.

Clear, no?

You'll just have to buy the anthology and read the story to figure out how the heck I can combine elements of all those in one short story. ;-)

Although this isn't a big book deal, yet, here are the top five reasons I'm thrilled.

1. It's a publishing credit, however small. And one with a publisher I know can get books into stores.
2. The anthology includes some great authors and I was thrilled that the editor even considered reading my story, never mind deciding to include it.
3. The cover is hot.
4. It's going to be released in December, 2009. Soon. You don't normally get that kind of almost instant gratification in print publishing.
5. It's already available for preorder on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Chapters/Indigo, etc. No pressure. :-)

I've decided to overlook the fact they spelled my name "many more" on the cover. At least they got the initials correct. ;-)

The timing of hearing this news was both awesome and horrible, because I found out literally hours before I left for last week's RWA National Conference in DC. It was great, because I was able to tell a few friends I ran into there, and strangers, and basically anyone I spoke to. But horrible because I wasn't really able to "announce" this news to all my online friends since I had pretty spotty internet access last week.

So, a small start. But a start. Can't wait for this to come out.

Catching up

On TV that is.

After last week in DC, I'm watching a few of the shows I missed. And wow.

Just had to say that I never got why Jason was on SYTYCD. And Jeanine... I could see she was good, but again, didn't really get why the judges were so crazy about her.

Finally tonight. (Well, last Wednesday, but tonight for me.) Wow. Awesome. (almost put an f-related superlative in front of that awesome.)

Wow.

I didn't think Jason was that great before, but I have to say, I think that Kaitlyn was holding him back. Their lines didn't match and I now realize it wasn't him, it was her.

With Jeanine and Jason everything was perfect. Like they'd been dancing together for years. Fabulous.

Conference Stress

Or lack thereof.

Blogging about the upcoming conference on Drunk Writer Talk.

Alibi Junior High!

Do you know a boy (or girl) age 10-14 who needs a good book to read at camp? Or to get them off their X-Box for a few hours? Then buy them a copy of Greg Logsted's new book ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH. Greg and his whole family (wife and daughter) are repped by the same agent as I, and I think that kind of makes me family as well. So, to steal a phrase from Nadine Dajani's (actual) brother: Buy my brother's book or die.

Here are the deets:

Thirteen-year-old Cody Saron has been home schooled his whole life by his father, an undercover agent for the CIA. Cody has never lived the same life as other kids his age. He never went to a regular school, never lived in one place longer than a few weeks, never had a friend or played on any sports teams. Cody’s a black belt in the arts of Tae Kwon Do and Ju Jitsu. He speaks five languages and has traveled to every corner of the globe. But what Cody isn't prepared for is . . . junior high.

When the danger surrounding Cody's dad heats up like never before, Cody is sent to stay with the aunt he's never known, Jenny Williams, in her small Connecticut suburb. Cody knows how to pick a lock or follow a trail, but he has no idea how to fit in with regular kids, how to handle his first crush, or how to make it through a day of classes. How will he ever fit in?

“I just finished reading Greg Logsted’s Alibi Junior High in a single sitting. Thankfully the family had other things to do for a while because the author nailed me to the pages with his premise and with the fantastic pacing of this young adult novel. I wasn’t tempted even once to get up and go do something else. Logsted starts his spell on page one, and readers will have to stay with him to see what ultimately happens to Cody Saron, the 13-year-old professional spy.” ~ Mel Odol, INDENVER TIMES

Greg Logsted currently lives in Danbury with his wife and fellow author, Lauren Baratz-Logsted and their daughter Jackie. He is the author of Something Happened and coauthor of The Sisters 8 series for young readers.

Ranting and Raving

Ranting and raving about a couple TV shows over on DWT today.

Posting to new blog today!

I'm doing my first post today on a new group blog that some of my fellow 2007 GH finalists created. Nobody Writes it Better.

We went with the "Bond" theme because of the whole 007 thing.

Anyway... I blogged about the Bachelorette. Check it out.