My book trailer for The Wizard’s Spell is done! Yay!! I learned a great deal from this experience–and I had a darn good time. (I don’t know if Nick did–I think I might have driven him to near insanity with frustration a few times.)

Originally, I’d planned to do a “live action” trailer and “still-shot” sequence. But, well, time snuck up on me. When my editor from ImaJinn notified me recently that my book would be released on July 21st, I realized I would only have time for one trailer. So I opted for the still-shot.

I know I want to do another trailer. I’ve already started planning one for The Wolf’s Mate. I think I may be addicted now.

A quick note about The Wizard’s Spell: I don’t have an ISBN number for this book yet, and it won’t be listed on Amazon.com for a few more days. As soon as I get more info, I’ll list ordering information on my site.

I’ve been a bad blogger this week, so I thought I’d play a quick game of catch-up.

Here’s a few personal life events that have been keeping me busy: Jack was baptized recently. Wow. My little snookums screamed like the Omen child when he was oiled up and dunked in the water. Even though he was only six months old at the time of the afore-mentioned dunking, I kept expecting him to turn to me and say, “It burns, Mama, it burns!” Luckily, he didn’t say that, and he now appears to have fully recovered from his dunking trauma.

Next life event: Saw Superman Returns and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. First, let me talk about Superman Returns. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Would have loved to see more of Clark Kent. Sigh. And I’m a huge Lois Lane fan. Huge. But I didn’t like the way she was portrayed in this movie. I got a few hints that Lois wasn’t the best mom on the earth. (If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want spoiler info, I suggest you skip the next few sentences.) For instance, her son is “supposed to” suffer from asthma–but the woman keeps smoking. Then she forgets to pick her child up from school. Then she takes him straight into a very dangerous situation. Those details just didn’t fly for me. I think Lois would have been a great career woman and a great mom–but that’s just my humble little opinion.

Second film: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. I, ahem, actually saw this movie twice. The first time, I thought it was good, but not as great as the original. The second time I saw it (last night), I loved it (but I still prefer the original). Will Turner is as sexy as before, and Jack Sparrow still manages to steal the show. Lots of action, some romantic surprises, a giant sea beastie…oh, so much fun. A definite recommend.

Now for publishing news…Today, Nick and I are finishing up my still-shot trailer for The Wizard’s Spell. I’ll be updating my website today (tomorrow at the latest) and putting the trailer up for view. I’m also getting ready to start a contest in conjunction with the release of The Wizard’s Spell. More details on the contest will appear soon…

I was a busy girl this week–I sent off 3 submissions. Two were requested, one wasn’t–just sent it off for the heck of it. Hopefully, I’ll hear some positive news on one of those manuscripts soon. And now that I’m all submission done, I think I’ll turn my hand to trying something new. I’ve got an urban fantasy idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for the last few days. Perhaps I’ll give that a go.

Nick sent me this link from Para Publishing that details some pretty interesting publishing statistics. The ones that particularly caught my fancy? Here they are:

1. “On the average, a book store browser spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds looking at the back cover.”

2. “81% of the population feels they have a book inside them.”

3. “6 million have written a manuscript.”

4. “6 million manuscripts are making the rounds.”

5. “Women buy 68% of all books.”

6. “Men are more likely to shop in chain stores than women. Women are more likely to shop in discount stores and supermarkets than men.”

7. “58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.” Sorry–but to this one, I have to say WHAT???

8. “80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.” Sorry–this is another WHAT???

9. “57% of new books are not read to completion.”

10. “Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.”

Interesting…very, very interesting…

All data obtained from: http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm

Heather Graham is planning a Writers for New Orleans Workshop. The workshop will be held September 1-3. Christine Feehan and Kate Duffy will both be attending, and there will be such tempting workshops as “Vampires, Ghosts, Just Plain Evil Beings, Things that Go Bump in the Night.”

Oooohhhh…I am so interested in this workshop. And the ghost tour…

A chance to help New Orleans and hone my writing skills. Definitely count me in!

I just spent a good hour trying to map out my schedule for the upcoming RWA conference. I’m super excited to be heading to Atlanta for the event, and, of course, I am also super obsessive–so that means I’m attempting to plan out all the details of my conference days down to, oh, the exact minutes. 🙂

There are a few big events that I know I’m going to attend–the Gathering for FF&P, the Passionate Ink luncheon, several PAN activities, every publisher spotlight that hits my sub-genre…and, well, there are several craft workshops that just look cool and interesting. One even has the title of “50 ways to nearly kill your lover.” Come on–how can I not go to that one?

This conference is my big opportunity to network with other writers/editors/agents, and I’m sooo looking forward to this trip. I’m even going to print out nice little business cards to take with me–in case I meet a prospective editor or agent. Gotta think positive!

For anyone else out there going to RWA, is there an event or workshop that’s definitely on your to-do list?