Must blog...

That was my professional goal for the day. To blog. It's now 1AM and I'm finaly blogging. LOL This was a nutty day - mainly because I'm, well, at that time of the month, and feeling pretty awful, popping Advils, etc. My energy on these days goes from nada to zooming high. So I laid on my bed and watched tv half the day and the other half I cleaned. My kitchen floor is mopped. That's the upside. lol I got the kids involved in working too. Hell, all they wanted to do is fight all day and I've had enough! I had to crack the whip. Then they got to play with friends, and I got a cleaner house. Not a bad deal.

My "baby" got her introduction letter and package from her kindergarten teacher today. ::sniff:: I had no idea I was going to feel so sentimental about it. She's such a pip, and I love her company. I'm looking forward to having my time alone, but I will miss her, I think. The form asked me to list anything Maddie might be afraid of. I asked Maddie what she was scared of and she said after a minute of thought, "Skeletons, vampires, Darth Vader and skulls." Geez, if I put that in, the teacher will expect her mom to walk into class goth head to toe! ROFL. I told Maddie she's going to have a tough time at Halloween, and she nodded and said "Tell me about it." Oh, Lordie, she's a pip. ;-)

She's my night owl - just like her mama. I started tonight getting her ready to get up at 6:30 for school. We got her a new Hello Kitty alarm clock and I set it for 10 am. I had to wake her today at 10:00 and she was complaining she wanted to sleep more. So tonight she went to bed by 8:30. This was the first night in a LONG while that she didn't come out 10 times to ask for a drink of water, food, to read, etc. She's definitely been spoiled over the summer. lol But she's so cute - we typed out a list of things she has to do both when she gets up in the morning and when she goes to bed. This is something we did last year for preschool and she asked to do "my list" again. My favorite on the list is "pick up 10 things in my room". LOL Her room is such a disaster because of all the toys she's inherited over the years I'm happy if there's a path between the doorway and her bed.

Wow, didn't mean to ramble so much about her, but it's nice to share lovely thoughts about your kids sometimes. In real life, you don't want to come off as bragging, so chatting about her here is cool.

Oh, I have to mention the Emmy's. I was so happy 24 and Kiefer won - it made my night. And the dresses the women wore were mainly stunning. I hate turning on the tv and seeing a hideous dress. Don't these people pay stylists to make them look *good*? I hated Sandra Oh's gown and accessories - she called it "Russian Czarina meets Run DMC". Uh, ok. And Cheryl Hines looked silly with all the beading on her back. And what was up with Nick Lachey's chick Vanessa Millano (is that how you spell it?) Her dress was 80's trashy. Weird.

Love, love Denis Leary. He's such a sexy SOB. If you're not watching Rescue Me on FX, Tuesdays, 10pm and 11pm, you're really missing out. I hope to see it recognized next year for both Denis' acting, which is phenomenal, and for best dramatic series. Fabulous show.

Off to bed now. I have a bunch of new crossword books to do. They always slow my mind down from worrying about day to day stuff, though I can't do much higher than the medium challenges. Sometimes I feel like an idiot doing the puzzles. ;-)

Peace and Quiet?

Was I just complaining on Monday about needing the kids to go to school? LOL Right after blogging that I spoke with my mom in Pennsylvania who invited the girls to come and visit for a few days. Soooo I brought them on Monday and picked them up Thursday, then wound up leaving my son with my mom and my oldest daughter with my brother and his family for a visit. The 5yo had to come home - she missed us. :-) So it's been a much quieter week than I expected. Which was nice, but at the same time - too quiet! LOL The grass is always greener...

My 5yo had a sleepover Friday night to make up for the fact that she didn't get to stay with her cousins. We had a severe thunderstorm that night at about 2am. Both girls came into our room. I sent my DH to another bed and snuggled with the 2 girls for hours while thunder raged outside. Lordie, it was a large storm. My son in Pennsylvania said the hail hitting my mom's aluminum awnings kept him up all night!

I watched Raising Helen tonight - it's a movie with Kate Hudson. Very cute film, but it brought up the usual angst-filled questions that come to mind when I think about writing my will - who are the kids going to be left to if both DH and I die together? Morbid, horrible thoughts, but practical. DH and I had asked his sister and husband to take the kids years ago, but honestly, we just raise the kids really differently than they do, so we approached my brother and his wife and they said yes. Awful, fear-filled thoughts of a parent.

But now I'm in the mood to write. I haven't been in a long time, so I'm going to stay up late tonight and take advantage. I had a massive headache most of the day and had to take Excedrin, which is keeping me up now, so I'm going to take advantage of the time.

I'm still on Chapter 1 of the WIP. Argh!! I'm going to get a move on.

Oh, one last thought. My middle daughter turns 11 in a few days. I saw my niece the other day for the first time in awhile - and she was wearing a bra. She doesn't turn 10 until November - my daughter isn't anywhere near needing a bra yet. It's amazing how girls change - all at their own time and pace. Makes me shake my head and wonder where the time has gone...

Busy busy busy

Busy days here. 17 days until school begins, but who's counting? ;-) I can't wait for a few moments of peace and quiet during my week. Can't wait!!

I've been lurking and posting on some very interesting yahoo groups the last couple of days - Romance Junkies Readers and World Romance Readers. I'd love to get the word out about Freya's Bower and Wild Child Publishing and the amazing books we offer, but I'm also enjoying chatting with different people about books - one of my favorite topics! The calendar at Romance Junkies Readers has a chat wtih JR Ward on Thursday which I can't wait for - she's a phenomenal author who has opened me up to the paranormal world. Her writing pulls the reader into the story by the second paragraph. Her heroes are stellar vamps, with one human in the mix. Sexy as all get-out with cool heroines.

Did I mention school begins in 17 days??

Tomorrow I have an interview at our local hospital to work every Thursday 3pm-11pm and every other weekend for those hours. It would be great to get out of the house and get paid for doing so instead of spending money when I escape! lol It averages out to maybe 10 days/month, so it's fine. DH is perfectly happy being home with the kids the weekends I'm "on", so I'm hoping all goes well tomorrow. Fingers and toes crossed.

Both my girls are sitting in the living room glued to another Disney movie, The Cheetah Girls - yet another phenomenon like High School Musical, I think. It's a harmless story with good morals and cute fashion. Right up their alley.

Off to do some writing. Or maybe I'll make it an early night tonight. I've been having insomnia issues - going to sleep around 4am and getting up around 11am. Not good, especially considering ... yep, school starts in 17 days. ;-)

Work in Progress

I'm working on an outline for my WIP due in December with Freya's Bower. I need to get more proactive on my writing. I've put it aside a bit due to swim and editing, but the muse is back, I'm happy to say!

So... today's count is up to Chapter 3 is completed. I've got to find myself one of those fancy progress bars online somewhere....

This is a contemporary novel-length story about a man and a woman who get pregnant very early on in their relationship and marry to provide a steady homelife for the child and how they figure out whether or not they made a mistake getting married.

Crabby Cows

Whoo-hoo. Just had to blog about being excited. I posted a short piece on the Crabby Cows and #1 said "I find this fucking marvelous. Great tone, voice, and damn good images." Wow. I'm floating on air right now. LOL The main reason I'm so excited is that this is the first tension-filled chase scene I've worked on and I sweated out sending it in to CC because I was so sure it sucked eggs. I also like the characters and kept thinking about them all day, so I'm going to have to lengthen this. I haven't had characters talking to me in my head this way in quite a while.

Other than that, it's a quiet weekend here. I took Penny, our 8mo golden retriever to a park today with my friend and a few kids and 2 of my friend's dogs. I had to walk Penny for over a mile before she calmed down enough to be around people. LOL She's so sweet, yet so energetic. She started foaming at the mouth because she was panting so much, the poor thing. Now she's lying next to me passed out for a nice long nap. A tired dog is a happy dog. :-)

SPIRIT OF DAWN

Hi all. This is an excerpt from one of my Bites, ANGEL OF DAWN from my Bites stories entitled SPIRIT OF DAWN available at www.freyasbower.com. Thanks for reading!



He joined her on the blankets, slipping off his boots and pants along the way. She smiled and took off her shift. He ran the back of his hand down her cheek.

“You are so beautiful, sweetheart.”

Hell, he was almost ready to propose to this mystery woman. Based on nothing but a good tumble and a need to rescue her, though from what, he wasn’t sure. Wouldn’t that make a great story? God knows, he had heard flimsier reasons to get hitched.

Before he could say anything more, she knelt next to him, running her hands down his chest to his abs, caressing the muscles. The heat of her hands warmed his cool skin. She placed both hands over his heart, staring into his eyes until their breathing was as one. Tears pooled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks, sorrow shadowing her angelic features.

“Everything is alright, Honey.” Jack used his thumbs to wipe away the tears trailing down her cheekbones.

“What’s the matter?”

She shook her head. His heart beat against her palms. Jack gathered her to him, hugging her, absorbing her warmth as a weight lifted from him. Laying her back on the blanket, linking their hands, he slipped into her body. Seeing her so upset disturbed him, and he needed to see her face light up with pleasure again. He captured her lips under his, moving slowly, lingering over the sweetness of her mouth.

Their skin heated as they moved against one another in a smooth, soulful dance. He rolled to his side, taking her with him and pulling her smooth thigh to lie over his hip. He tucked her close against him. Her hand caressed his rough, stubbly cheek. He closed his eyes and drifted on the sensations rolling through his body. Her body tightened around his as they reached their peak together, giving one another comfort.

In that moment, the weight of Susie’s betrayal left his soul. He shuddered in his mystery woman’s arms, feeling renewed and hopeful again for the first time in ages.

Exhausted, he dropped down next to her, staring at the midnight blue sky. Wild nickered in the background, and a breeze rustled in the trees. The gurgling of the stream echoed into the empty night. Jack summoned the energy to kiss her, then gathered them both into the bedding, wrapped his body around hers, and slipped off into a dreamless sleep.

So much to do...so little time

As usual! Tons of housework to do. (Yuck) Lots of editing to do. (Fun!) Need to do a lot of writing too. (Fun, also, but much harder! LOL) Besides that, not much going on.

I could blog about the scariness of travel in today's world. Or about how watching the trailer for Nick Cage's 9/11 movie gives me horrible flashbacks about waiting at home in NJ for friends to make it home from the city that day. But that would be depressing. I think the movie looks well-done and well-acted, but it just brings back too many awful feelings. I wonder how it will do in the box office and whether today's security issues with the attacks thwarted in London will make a difference in its numbers.

Onto happier news...my middle daughter (almost 11) made the winter swim team she was trying out for with a bunch of her friends, so this will be wonderful for her. She's been on a team that has great coaches and nice kids, but she hasn't bonded with any of them, and as she gets older, this matters more. She'll be much happier, I think, with this team. My son (13) will remain on the other winter team, so that means tons of running for me, but that's alright because he's doing great on the team.

My youngest starts kindergarten on 9/7. It's full-day here, which is very nice indeed because being the 3rd child, she's used to a lot of activity and being stimulated by the older kids - which makes for one very bored kid when no one but me is around the house and I've got to get stuff done! I can't wait to have those hours to myself for the first time in almost 14 years. Sheer bliss. Sheer writing bliss!

Off to do laundry. Oh, joy....

Lazy Days

Lazy days...

I just got in from spending the latter half of the day at the beach with the kids. Gorgeous day. Warm water, sunny, cooler after 6 p.m. Perfect. I'm checking emails, etc. before I put the burgers on the grill for dinner.

I've got a lot of work to do tonight... AFTER Rescue Me, that is. I hope everyone is watching this incredible show. It's on FX at 10 pm Tuesdays and also at 11PM. Denis Leary is a genius - the writing is phenomenal and the acting is believable - hysterical at times; heartbreaking at others. Just like real life.

I was mentioning to a friend today (while bobbing in the ocean - bliss!) about how I'm doing review coordinating for Historical Romance Club (www.historicalromanceclub.com) and she asked me how I found the time to do all that I do on the computer and whether I didn't watch much television anymore. That's definitely changed since I have been concentrating on my writing. I only catch a few shows a week - Rescue Me, Project Runway (a guilty pleasure, but my girls love to watch with me!), Entourage and occasionally So You Think You Can Dance. That's it. Otherwise my tv is tuned to the cable music stations as background noise only. How refreshing!

Oh, right - I wanted to mention the chat that we're having at Freya's Bower on Friday from 5pm-10pm, EST. They're a wonderful new epub that is doing very well.

This chat is all about the senses. Be prepared to be titillated. You must be 18 to participate. Just sign in and join us. :) Authors and editors will be popping in and out throughout this time. Join us at: http://www.freyasbower.com/content/view/39/.

That's it for the night! Off to feed the family.

Lisa's Journey

I just got in from "playing tennis" with the kids. I put that in quotes because all I really did was chase balls for two hours, but at least we were outside enjoying the weather. The heat has broken a bit, and the humidity levels are low. I spent last night and this morning doing my Review Coordinator job for Historical Romance Club - www.historicalromanceclub.com. We publish reviews monthly for all historic romances plus those with a paranormal bent - ghosts, time travel, etc. I'm also playing catch-up with my crit group on Yahoo. I'd been so busy in July a lot got past me. Next year I'll have to let the world know I'm on a break for two months from online because of my "real life" responsibilities for June and July.

We are awaiting an important email tomorrow morning. Our daughter tried out for a rather elite swim team and they are sending out responses via email tomorrow. She can't wait. I think she'll make it, but we'll see! Other than that, it's a quiet week coming up. I have breakfast with friends tomorrow morning, a beach date at 4 pm and friends visiting this coming weekend. Very nice and slow-paced! I think I might actually make progress on cleaning this house!

Another thing I need to put back on my priority list is writing. I have a draft due in December, and I haven't done enough work on it to be comfortable. I was warned that editing took a lot of time away from my writing, and that's correct. But once school starts my time will free up tremendously!

I'm off to start dinner. Ribs on the BBQ, corn on the cob and potatoes in their jackets. Yummy! A happy and safe night to all...

Lisa's Journey

Lisa's Journey

Lovely day on the beach

The title says it all. Great day on the beach with the kids and friends. I spent a quiet evening with our girls, playing games. I opened a few that Santa brought that were never opened in the hustle and bustle of school days. I taught them how to play Mystery Date, that classic from the 70's. Sexist as all get-out, but fun! Then Abby creamed me in Monopoly.

I got a ton of editing work done this evening. My writing is flowing once again, and it feels just marvelous. It's 2am and I feel like it's 10am. I have such a weird nocturnal clock!

Not too many worries or concerns today. I'm trying to make a list of those before I try and drop off to sleep so that I am able to sleep well. Work is going great. The kids are doing well. Hubby is ok and settling into his new job. It's been a lovely, relatively quiet week after the last two months that were so hectic and stressful.

A trip to the mall with the girls is scheduled tomorrow, along with haircuts and some work in between.

I was talking with my 13yo tonight - he wanted to know what I thought the world would be like in 2050 - in terms of technology. I told him there wouldn't be flying cars, which he sees in older movies as being "futuristic". I said I'd be happy if each car is battery-operated! Wouldn't that be lovely??? Maybe by then the Middle East will be a safe place.

A safe good night to all.

Behind, behind, behind....

I'm so far behind with this blog that I won't even try to play catch-up! Real life interferes with my best cyber intentions. Swim season is behind me now, however, so time is my own again. Time to get back to what I love, writing, reading and editing!

I had a lovely interview by a fellow Diva and Freya's Bower author, Amanda Brice, at her blog: www.amandabrice.blogspot.com. It was an interesting perspective, having to answer questions. I'm setting up to do some author interviews for FB, so it was a great exercise for me. Thanks, Amanda! Amanda's Bites, She's Got Legs, are available at www.freyasbower.com.

More to come tomorrow. I have to get offline and do some actual work now!