So, just a quick post about my current projects:

I finished the rough draft of my succubus story. Woo-hoo! I’m not going to begin my revisions right away, I’m actually going to take a few days off to let my mind chill a bit (and I’m going to read EDGE OF MIDNIGHT by Shannon McKenna–ooh, and read the second story in Shelly Laurenston’s THE MANE EVENT–I read the first tale already and absolutely loved it!). I’ve got to think of a good working title for my succubus story. As I was writing, I just saved it as “Sex and the Succubus”–but that was just a play name, and one that is way too light-hearted for my tale. So, I need to come up with something else, though if my “something else” sucks, I know the lovely ladies at Kensington will come up with something much better for me! The succubus tale finished at 421 pages–but that number is so subject to change, depending on my edits/revisions.

After my reading break, I plan to write a novella, about 25,000 words. My hero needs to be immortal for this tale, so I’m currently bouncing around different immortal ideas. I’m probably going to do what I call my “multiple-beginnings” writing option. With this option, I write about 5 pages of several different stories. The story that flows the easiest for me, well, that’s the one I stick with for the long-haul. The other stories are saved in my Idea Folder–I can always use them later.

I also recently finished up the page proofs for New Year’s Bites, my novella in A RED HOT NEW YEAR. Then, I spent some time autographing my lovely VistaPrint postcards that I created to promote that release.

I plan to post an excerpt for New Year’s Bites very soon, and I’ll also post a blurb for Wicked Ways, my novella that will appear in WHEN HE WAS BAD (Kensington Brava, June 08).

And, yep, I am planning to revamp my website. Nick is working on a new design for me now, and, though we had a bit of head-butting, I think we’ve finally got a look that we both like. And, okay, by “we”–I really mean me. 🙂

Hope everyone out there is staying busy with reading, writing, and life!

Okay, so I was watching the Today Show this morning, and getting seriously freaked out about all the toy recalls we seem to be having lately. I went to the computer, did a search, and found this handy site that lists all the recalled products (not just recently recalled, but dating back quite a while–in case you wanna be obsessive and protective like me!). And guess what? Jack had two of the recently recalled toys! Yep, my little builder-to-be had the lead paint drill and the lead paint tool set. Talk about flipping out! I immediately started digging through his toy boxes to make certain he didn’t have any other dangerous items. But with more recalls expected, I have the feeling I’ll be diving into those toy boxes of his again real soon.

So, if you’re a parent, grand-parent, heck, if you KNOW some kids, check their toys.

I think like 80% of the toys in this country are imported from China, so I’m definitely planning to pay close attention to the news to make certain I catch any other recalls.

I’m blogging today at The Bradford Bunch. If you get a chance, hop on over!

Okay, so if you’d rather not know anything personal about me, then I would most strongly suggest that you stop reading this post, oh, say about HERE.

Because the post right now, it’s about to get very much on the personal side.

Previously, I’ve blogged about my grandmother, Addie. She’s always been a great inspiration to me. Such a strong woman. Amazing, to me. And to all of her family and friends.

During the first week of July, my grandmother was scheduled to have a bit of surgery. There was a cancerous spot on her face that her doctor wanted to remove, and my grandmother–such an independent lady–wanted to have the spot taken care of so that she could go on about her business.

The surgery was performed, but, to the dismay of my family, my grandmother didn’t wake up. The doctors told us that due to her age (92–I’ve previously reported that she was 93 but time must have just erased a year), the anesthesia was probably taking longer to work out of her system.

The day after her surgery, I was at the hospital, staying my shift (my family divided shifts so that my grandmother wouldn’t be left alone). Addie woke up for a while, she talked with me.She was groggy, but coherent, and she could even answer the doctor’s questions about her medications. The doctor was very optimistic–in fact, he told me that she would probably be going home that evening, or at least the next morning.

But Addie stopped talking later. She closed her eyes and seemed to sink back into the fog of anesthesia. Later, the family would be told that she’d suffered several strokes, but, at first, it just seemed that she was sleeping.

And she continued to sleep. For weeks.

We all tried to hope for the best. After all, Addie had beaten strokes and heart attacks before. But the days just kept trickling by, and soon she had to be placed on a feeding tube.

On August 9, we got word that her condition had changed. Her vital signs had taken a “significant” turn. Her breathing was labored, and the nurse said that if family members needed to tell her anything, well, the time was now.

I didn’t really need to tell her anything–Addie already knew how I felt. But I went to her side anyway. Because she would have come to mine. And because I loved her.

At 12:51 a.m. on August 10, my grandmother passed from this world. She left behind many, many who loved her, and I like to think that she went to join the many who waited for her–the husband who had passed over twenty-five years before, and the four sons she’d had to watch slip away from her.

I hope she’s happy now, and I hope she knows how very, very much she will be missed.

I wrote my first real piece of writing for my grandmother–she was my inspiration. And she will continue to inspire me for many years to come.

Okay, so I’ve blogged before about how I’m trying to get my head in the PR game. With said game in mind, I decided I’d get some postcards printed (both regular size and oversize) to promote my next release, A RED HOT NEW YEAR. On the front of the cards, I wanted to have the image of the book. On the back, I wanted blurb info, contest info, and, well, contact-me info. 🙂 Once I knew what I wanted, the problem became deciding which printing service to use.

I did a bit of online price comparisons, and I discovered that VistaPrint was generally very thrifty–actually, super thrifty. They always seem to be running sales, and you either get discounts or (for the smaller quantities), you can get items for free (provided you pay shipping and upload fees–but you generally only upload your image one time, and after that, well, you’re just paying shipping if you make additional orders.)

Based on their prices, I decided to get my feet wet with VistaPrint. I spent an hour on August 1st designing and uploading my postcard info (and, yep, I did this myself, no help from the techno savvy Nick). The instructions were very easy to follow, and when I made a mistake (cuz, yeah, you knew I would!), it was an easy enough matter to go back and fix my bumble.

I ordered my postcards (not too many–I wanted to see what the print quality was like before I dove all the way into this print company), and today (even though I selected the slowest delivery option), I got my postcards.

The result: Very satisfied. Actually, I love the cards! And, since I’m planning to send out cards like this to several upcoming romance writers’/readers’ conferences, I’m gonna definitely order more. (Then I’ll autograph those babies.) Now, as an experiment, I did the cards in two different styles–basically bleed and no bleed (um, in one, the image goes all the way to the edge of the card, and in the other, a small white box/line skirts the edge of the image). Again, I’m pleased with both images–like ’em a lot; however, I think I may be more partial to the image that goes straight to the edge of the card. But that’s just me (or, heck, maybe I just like the oversize cards more b/c they look more realistically–in terms of size, anyway–like a book, or at least the front of a book.)

So, if you’re a writer looking to produce some promotional materials on a budget, then I would most heartily recommend the magical, not-so-mysterious VistaPrint.