Celebrate the Small Things - Games with Friends edition

Hi everyone!  We made it through another week :)

I'm happy to report that my summer school session is almost complete! Only 4 more days of class (not that I'm counting or anything!), and then I'm off until the fall semester begins!  Yay!

Mine aren't nearly this pretty... ;)

I'm also happy to say that Mister and I are having friends over for dinner tomorrow. I'm cooking fajitas, they're bringing dessert and games, and we'll hopefully have a fun evening!

What's going on in your world this weekend?  Stop by my Facebook page and comment on the Flash Giveaway post for your chance to win an advance copy of FATAL FALLOUT!

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Fridays are reserved for a post where I celebrate the little things that have happened during the week. This is a blog hop hosted by VikLit, and it's one of my favorite blogging things to do.  I encourage you to check out her blog and the full list of participants, because who doesn't love reading about good things?

Flash Giveaway on Friday!

Pssst!  I'm holding a flash giveaway on Friday on my Facebook page!  If you want an early copy of FATAL FALLOUT, be sure to like my page so you can comment for your chance to win!

FATAL FALLOUT is in the house!

Mister called me while I was at RomCon.

"You have a package.  It's a box from Harlequin."

I told him to open it right away and take a picture.

"Are you sure?  You don't want to be the first to see them?"  (Another reason why I love this man!)

I assured him it was okay, and told him to take a good whiff of that 'new book' smell for me.

So here they are, the advance copies of FATAL FALLOUT.  So pretty! :)

Stay tuned for giveaway information!

Monday Motivation - Keep going!

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I've been guilty of this a time or two...  What about you?

Celebrate the Small Things - Better Late Than Never edition

Sorry I'm late with this post!  I'm in Denver, participating in RomCon.  I attended in 2011 with my mom as a reader, and we had a great time.  Now that I'm an author, I decided to go back and meet some new people!  It's been a blast, but I will admit to being tired. :)

On Friday, I participated in the Bridal Shower Mania panel, which was a lot of fun.  We played a lot of common bridal shower games with the readers, and they won prize packs from each of the participating authors. As you can see, the authors wore a bit of bling to make it easy for readers to find us:

That's me with Molly Cannon :)

My first prize pack was given to a reader named Jeanette.  She was very sweet, and it turns out she was there with her mom.  It seems to be a tradition!

I participated in a few more panels (but forgot to take pictures!) and then it was on to the booksigning.  My table was full of swag, and most of it was taken by readers, which means my suitcase is a lot lighter coming home :)  The signing was fun, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to 'Elton John' (she was ready for the dance party that started right after the signing).

I also had the pleasure of meeting Dream, one of the moderators on the Harlequin message boards!  It's always nice to put a face to pixels :)

Today has been a ton of fun as well, and while it's all a bit of a blur, I did get to sit next to Heather Graham during a panel.  She very graciously took a picture with me, and I managed not to squee too loudly in her ear.

Fangirl moment!

Overall, the conference has been a blast!  I'm a little sad to leave tomorrow, but I must say I miss Mister and my kitties.

The good news is that I have a ton of goodies coming home with me, which means some awesome prizes for you guys!  My Facebook page has been steadily growing in recent weeks, and my current goal is to get to 500 'Likes'.  I'm going to offer some prizes for every milestone (400, 450, and 500 'Likes'), so if you haven't liked my page already, get over there and do so for your chance to win!  I'll post more details next week.

In the meantime, I hope you're having a good weekend!  What are you up to?

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Fridays are reserved for a post where I celebrate the little things that have happened during the week.  This is a blog hop hosted by VikLit, and it's one of my favorite blogging things to do.  I encourage you to check out her blog and the full list of participants, because who doesn't love reading about good things?

Monday Motivation - Inspire yourself

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Celebrate the Small Things - #LuckySeven edition and FATAL FALLOUT teaser!

Many thanks to Nana Prah, who tagged me for this fun hop!  The rules are simple:

Go to page 7 or page 77 in your current WIP.  Find line #7, and post the next 7 lines.

Here we go!  This is from FATAL FALLOUT, coming in August (that's a month and a half away, in case you're keeping track!).

She [Claire] nodded, but it was too late. The image was burned into her brain. All she had to do was close her eyes to see Ivan, her friend and collaborator, lying in a pool of his own blood, the horrible words painted in jagged red script across his chest.

You’re next.

******* 

“Again!”

Thomas looked down into his niece’s smiling face and couldn’t help but grin in return. “Okay, but this is the last time.”

Want to know what happens next?  Check out the FATAL FALLOUT tab above and pre-order your copy today!

Want to participate in this hop?  Just follow the rules above, and leave me a comment so I can check out your snippet :)

What are you guys celebrating this week?

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Fridays are reserved for a post where I celebrate the little things that have happened during the week.  This is a blog hop hosted by VikLit, and it's one of my favorite blogging things to do.  I encourage you to check out her blog and the full list of participants, because who doesn't love reading about good things?

Pre-order LETHAL LIES today!

I'm happy to report that the pre-order links for my December release, LETHAL LIES, are active!

You can find the book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble now, and I'll post links for other retailers as I find them.

What's this book about?  Here's a short description I posted to Facebook a few days ago...

Alex Malcom is an undercover FBI agent who has infiltrated a violent D.C. gang. When his cover is blown and the only man who can prove his innocence is shot, he kidnaps ER doctor Jillian Mahoney, hoping she can save the injured man. But the gang is determined to find him, and now Jillian's life is in danger as well. Oh, and did I mention it's December and a raging snow storm has the city on lockdown?

This was such a fun book to write--Alex and Jillian go through so much together, and I loved developing their story and their relationship :)  I hope you guys will enjoy it as well.

If this sounds like your kind of book, please consider pre-ordering it today!

Monday Motivation - Um, yeah...

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An excellent question for any WIP...

And one of my favorite movies, to boot! :)

Celebrate the Small Things - Outdoor edition

One of the nice things about having a house is that now I have a backyard. While I've never really thought of myself as an 'outdoor' girl, I do enjoy being able to have potted plants and bird feeders and the like.  I thought today I'd share some pictures of my yard, and some of my favorite things there.

These are my garden lights.  During the day, the look like unassuming, super-cute figures, but at night, watch them glow!

And finally, meet my new friend.  There is a dove living in my gutter, under one of the eaves.  It's a pretty smart location, since she's in the shade most of the day.  I've taken to calling her Debbie.  Here she is, posing for you :)

Do you like gardening, or being outside?

What are you celebrating this week?

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Fridays are reserved for a post where I celebrate the little things that have happened during the week.  This is a blog hop hosted by VikLit, and it's one of my favorite blogging things to do.  I encourage you to check out her blog and the full list of participants, because who doesn't love reading about good things?

IWSG - Enjoy the journey

If you're just joining us, IWSG is a great hop, started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, that has grown by leaps and bounds.  Check out the blog for a full list of participants, and to sign up yourself!

Hard to believe we're about halfway through the year already.  It seems like just yesterday I was snuggled under a blanket while the ice storm raged outside, and now I'm standing under or near every fan I can find in an attempt to stay cool!  It's becoming more and more difficult to take a moment to just breathe and to enjoy the days as they pass.

As our lives grow ever-busier, it's easy to overlook the everyday joys that occur.  For a lot of people, this means they start to pin happiness on some future event.

"I'll be happy when I get an agent."

"I'll be happy when I get published."

"I'll be happy when my book sells X number of copies."

I'm just as guilty of doing this as the next person.  But the problem with this attitude is that you keep pushing your happiness into the future, rather than grabbing onto it with both hands right now. "I'll be happy when," is self-defeating, because it's an ever-elusive goal. You're constantly moving the goalposts, and you can never win.

"Sure, I just signed with an agent, but I'll be happy when I have a contract for my book."

I'm not saying we shouldn't have goals or benchmarks to strive towards. But I think it's a mistake to decide that our happiness depends on meeting them.  Rather than focusing on future happiness, why not take some time to celebrate the joys in your life right now?

Monday Motivation - Well, sort of...

I'll admit, this statement does sometimes apply to me.  While I generally like to get my work done in a timely fashion so I'm not scrambling in panic as the deadline approaches, there are definitely tasks in my life that I delay completing.  Like housework. :) There's just always something more interesting to do, you know?

Even if you're not a procrastinator by nature, what's the one thing you always put off doing?