I know I talked about jewelry last week but I’m still in the mood a week later ;)

I’m always on the lookout for interesting places to buy beads that I can use in my own pieces. I found out about one recently called Bead For Life and I quickly pulled up their website to purchase some handmade beads. They also have necklaces, bracelets and earrings (plus a few more things) for sale and I just think they’re beautiful.

From their website: “BeadforLife eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africans and concerned world citizens. Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads, and people who care open their hearts, homes and communities to buy and sell the beads. The beads thus become income, food, medicine, school fees and hope. It is a small miracle that enriches us all.”

Their website is: http://www.beadforlife.org

Now it’s your turn… are there any sites/organizations that you buy from that are eco-friendly or give back to the community in some way? I’m definitely interested in learning about them!

Okay, I admit I nearly forgot it was my day to post but i have a completely valid reason. I’m working on getting With Abandon plotted out completely. I’m hoping to get a synopsis written by Monday and sent to Sasha with a partial so I can get this baby contracted and get a publishing slot. I’m almost there. I’ve just got the ending to go. I’ve been working on it all week.

I also have other great news. One of My Jeigh Lynn titles has been offered a contract. I’ve very excited. I’m hoping to jump to work on it after I finish WA, then after that? Either a new Cowboy story or perhaps the new Sci-Regency. But WA first. I’m sending a proposal by Tuesday next week come hell or high water, wish me luck! I can’t wait to show ya’ll more of Matt and Aubrey.

What to buy your vampire lover for Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year, always leaves me a bit chilled. I’m not really a romantic, and so it goes without saying, most of the time this holiday rolls by without me noticing. And I know…how can I write hot sizzling romance if I don’t believe in it? But that’s not really true. I do believe in love, and well, I just have a hard time taking one day out of the year to celebrate it.

Then I got to thinking about my newest release, Last Chance, a M/M Vampire romance, and I thought — if I had a vampire lover, what would I buy him for Valentine’s Day? Crazy thought, but I always spend way too much time in my head.

I went online and googled Valentine’s Day gifts for him and up popped several gift guides. Pretty conventional stuff – the usual chocolates, gadgets (*sigh* always men and gadgets my DH would never use) and silly stuff like printed boxers.

So here’s my version of what I’d offer in the Valentine Gift Guide for your Favorite Vampire:

– Instead a heart shaped box of chocolate, a chocolate coffin filled with blood-filled Kisses wrapped in black and crimson foil.

– A dozen black roses with very, very sharp thorns. Continue Reading »

Adder is now officially available in print! Yeah, I know, it’s been on Amazon already. But now it’s OFFICIAL! Here it is up for sale on Samhain! Yay!

Read on for a celebratory excerpt :)

Music. Sex. Fame. What’s missing? Surely not the “L” word…

And it scares the hell out of both of them.

(Warning: This book contains adult language, hot gay sex, weird bands, colorful prophylactics and unforgivable fashion crimes.)
Continue Reading »

I’ve been reminded recently that the Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction is coming up in a few months (It starts on May 1st). So, I’m in the process of going through my bags of beads to find some gemstones to make some new pieces for the auction. I love being able to create something new, but right now I’m having the most horrible time figuring out what to pair with what. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t been making jewelry lately, or maybe it’s because I’m bound and determined NOT to buy anything new until I at least cut down on my current stash. Harder said than done!

Luckily, the act of using my creative muscles is making me want to sit at the computer and write a bit! I’ll have to see what I can come up with.

As soon as I have my items made and posted at Brenda’s site, I’ll let you all know so you can check them out :)

Give me a world where elves and magic are real. Where there are enough gods to keep each other in check.

Give me a world where shapeshifters and witches are fact.

Give me a world where a rock band can be made up of all openly gay men and still be wildly successful.

Give me a world where men regularly discover that they want to have sex with other men and that’s okay and not a taboo.

Oh, off topic, I started listening to Adam Lambert’s For Your Entertainment this week. Good stuff!!

Okay, so it’s not just a pet peeve of the week. This has been peeving me for ages. In fact, I may have blogged about this before. Hmmm…

Well, if I have, that’s too bad. Y’all just get to hear about it again *g*

Awesome author A.J. Llewellyn linked an article in a style magazine recently via Twitter (yesterday, I think?) about guys borrowing their girlfriends’ makeup. The article itself was pretty innocuous. The comments? Not so much. Some of them were really, REALLY hateful. A lot of them were along the lines of “REAL MEN DON’T WEAR NO GIRLY SHIT!”

All right. That really pushed my damn buttons. It’s not just because people ought to stay the hell out of everyone else’s make-up habits (WTF is it hurting you, Macho Dude, if some other guy wants to wear make-up? Let it go! Relax. Take a Valium.) What really gets under my skin is how the make-up wearing is seen as A Bad Bad Thing for a MANLY MAN to do because it is something women do, and womanly, feminine things are BAD.

WTF IS UP WITH THAT??? Huh?? Why is being seen as even the tiniest bit feminine such an insult, not only to men, but even to women? “Pussy” is an insult. “Throwing like a girl” is an insult. In a business environment, the more “manly” clothing (dark, tailored, simple, i.e. the business suit-type) is seen as more professional than more feminine clothing.

I’m not sure I’m expressing myself well, but it really bothers me that it seems so ingrained in our society to see female-ness and traits related to it as equating to weakness. And yeah, it bugs me that so many people get their panties in a twist about guys wearing make-up O_O

Oops

After many moons of blogging, I have only just now figured out how to reply directly to comments. Yegads. I wasn’t ignoring you all, promise. Just never was the brightest bulb on the tree. Although at the moment I am bright red…

Nostalgia

I was reminded of a song today. “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”. Y’all remember that? (I apologize in advance for any earworms.) That song came out right around 1997 if Google is to be trusted. 13 years ago. Ye gods. At the time, at the age of 21, I listened to it and thought “dude, awesome”. Now, at the age of 34, I listen to it again and think my God. If I had only paid attention and remembered that one over the years.

Then again, it is never too late to learn something new.

Which leads me to…

And Call Me in the Morning

Wow, folks. Just…wow. I cannot express how thrilled I am at the response to this one. From the bottom of my heart — thank you, thank you, and thank you again a million times. I love you all.

And last but not least:

Plot Bunnies

Most writers have a horde of them. They jump out of the woodwork and bite us at the strangest of times, or remain stubbornly crowded at the back of the corral like spooked horses when you need one most. But they are there, waiting their turn.

Right now, I’m working on one, considering another, and curious about the rest. I’d love to hear what you all think about some basic concepts. Yea, oh yea, nay, oh my God nay, or other.

1) Single gay fathers
2) A threesome comprised of absolute opposites
3) Reunited lovers (possibly with a murder mystery involved; I have always itched to try my hand at a murder mystery)
4) Beloved enemies
5) Lovers trying their damndest to stay together
6) Priest (or priests)
7) Arden’s story (Arden tried to take over the show in both Tomcat Jones and Buddy Holiday. I suspect I had better give him his own story before he does something truly alarming, which would be very much Arden’s style.)

Addendum

I have actually switched wholly to decaf. I believe it to be having the opposite-of-normal effect. Eek.

I’ve gotten a few emails recently asking me what I’m working on next, and if I’ll be writing about certain characters, so I thought I’d turn it around and ask you guys what you want to see from me. Not promising I’ll actually be able to do it if the characters don’t talk to me, but I’m curious :)

Right now, I’m obviously finishing up Broken Rules, so that’s a definite. BR also has two sequels that I will be writing sometime in the future. I also have a sequel contracted for the Storykeeper. This one will be titled Storyteller and is a m/m/f that features Jason’s sister, Magda.

The rest of my schedule is pretty open, though. So, what would you like to see more of? More Felidae books? Maybe Achan’s story? Would you like the sequel to Nut Cream, my werewolf story at Samhain? What about the Horsfall series? Or maybe you’d like to learn more about little Kitten and Rory from the FWF stories I’ve been writing for you guys here. Are there any characters that really call out to you that I haven’t mentioned?

I’m all ears :)

I’ve finally gotten back on track with writing. Things are going great and I’m nearly at 25k. I still have not submitted a partial to my editor. Bad JL! But this baby seems to be writing itself. Literally. I haven’t wanted to sit down and force it into a synopsis because it is being nice and going with the guidelines I have in my head, but it’s not going about it exactly like I intended. I’m not complaining, mind you, because I’m having a blast, but I really need to sit down and force a synopsis on this thing. If I don’t I’m liable to not get a publishing date this year. As it stands I’ll already have to settle for a publishing date at the very end of the year. Hopefully, I can get another book done after this one and get it published sooner. I have an editor that’s willing, I just have to get it done in time to get a slot. Wish me luck.

On a side note, I’ve finally refinished and reseasoned the cast iron skillets my mother-in-law gave me. The skillets belonged to Andre’s grandmother, but they were in the same flood that killed her and Andre’s grandfather so they were in bad shape. I’ve had them for a good ten years and I plan on giving them to my oldest son one day. I think his great-grandmother would get a kick out of that. My oldest was the only great grandchild they had at the time of their death and they saw him only weeks before. He was only a few weeks old. She’d also be proud because I learned to make tortillas and I’ve been cooking them on the cast iron. She was a neat lady, and is definitely missed. I’ve fond memories of her from my teenage years. She was a tiny thing who spoke no English and could cook like no ones business but somehow even with the language barrier she and I managed to communicate. She’s teach me Spanish and I’d teach her English. I really hate that my boys didn’t get a chance to know her. So don’t be surprised if you one day see a story with a little ole Abuela who speaks no English.

Until next time….