We have a winner!

Thanks to everybody who visited my blog during the Howloween Blog Hop, graciously hosted by The Blog Hop Spot.  I'm happy to announce that hentaifangirl is the winner of the Kitchen Witch prize pack.  I'll be contacting you shortly for the details.  Once again, thanks to everybody who entered and I hope I'll see you around!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

For a complete list of participants, click here!

Whoa!  That was a surprise!  I'd barely gotten started at my end, and I already had comments on my blog.  Rest assured, if you've already commented on my first post you're entered for the Kitchen Witch prize pack, which consists of a signed cover flat, magnet, and trading card, plus a copy of the e-book (your choice of format).  To be entered, just leave a comment either here or on the previous post, including your email.  The winner will be announced on October 30, so I hope you stick around.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the full list of participants, click here! 

The last blog hop was so much fun...

I thought I'd participate in another one!

This one is the Howloween Blog Hop, hosted by The Blog Hop Spot.  I'll be on the hop October 26th through 29th, and I'll be giving away a Kitchen Witch prize pack consisting of a signed magnet, cover flat, trading card, and a copy of the e-book (your choice of format).  Sounds fun and I hope to see you there!

Here we are, on the last day of the blog hop.  I want to take a moment to thank everybody who's stopped by and left a comment, not just here on mine but on all of the participants' blogs.  It's been a great week for authors and readers alike.  Good luck on the drawings; winners will be notified later this week.

With that, I leave you with this musical number from Were The World Mine:

Did you know...

If a single woman sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, she will dream of how to get buttercream frosting out of bed linens.

I'll leave you with this wonderful animated short for Cher's Dark Lady, produced for The Sonny & Cher Show:

Did you know...

Here's an odd one:  if you drop an umbrella on the floor, there's going to be a murder in the house.  Especially if somebody doesn't get back here AND PICK UP THAT UMBRELLA AND PUT IT BACK ON THE COAT RACK LIKE I'VE ALREADY ASKED THEM TO DO ONLY ABOUT A MILLION TIMES TODAY.

No, I don't think this one is from Every Mother's Guide to Superstition.

To help you start your weekend right, here's Cindy Wilson of the B-52's and her electrifying rendition of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You:

Don't forget: there's still plenty of time for you to join the blog hop and enter for your chance to win a Kindle Fire or other swelligant prizes, including a copy of my latest e-book, Kitchen Witch!  The hop runs until this Sunday, October 7.

Did you know...


If the bottom of your right foot itches, you're going to take a trip.  Or it might just be time to change your socks.

And here's tonight's special guest, Frank Sinatra with his hit Witchcraft:

 

Did you know...

According to a superstition dating to the 1580's, you had to crush the ends of your egg shell after you'd finished eating your eggs.  That way, a witch wouldn't be able to gather the empty shells to fashion a boat, go out to sea, and create storms.

I think I dated a guy like that for a couple months.

Speaking of crazy witches, here's Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched as Samantha's groovy cousin Serena singing "Blow You a Kiss in the Wind" to send you off:

Did you know...

Today's superstition first appeared in 1957's Every Mother's Guide to Superstition:

If you drop silverware on the floor, that means company's coming to visit.  Possibly the paramedics if you don't put some shoes on, walking around barefoot with silverware all over the floor like you do.  What, I didn't raise you to know any better?

Man.  Sorry for the flashbacks.

Here to send you off to the next blog on the hop is a polite request from Dame Shirley Bassey:

 
 

Did you know...

Today's superstition was first reported in Soperstishon, Majik, Annd Othir Maladeze, published in 1567 in Caerwent, Wales.  It states:

Wenn the howsecatt winnks at yu, it is yur tirn tu chaynge the howsecatt's pottybocks.

Lucky you.

Meanwhile, here's a fan remix of Cass Elliott performing "Different" from the movie H. R. Pufnstuf to see you through the rest of today.

It's the Musa Publishing First Anniversary Blog Hop

While it officially kicks off tomorrow and runs until October 7, I thought I'd let you know that I'll be covering some superstitions and witchy-related music.  Some of the superstitions may be real, some not, but it's all to get you in the mood for Halloween.  Don't forget:  during the blog hop, every comment you leave is an entry in the drawing for a Kindle Fire and other great prizes.  I'll also be giving away a copy of my latest Musa e-book, Kitchen Witch.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Rules to the HOP 

1) HAVE FUN!!!

2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: October 1, at Midnight (est)

    THIS TOUR ENDS: , October 7, at Midnight (pst)

    Winners will be drawn and posted October 9th! ***

Come Join the Party on October 7th at The Romance Review Forum to enter to win more prizes. http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/index.php?board=41.0

4) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP and COMMENT ON, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES.

5) Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire is for US and Canada mailing addresses only. International winners will receive a $50.00 Musa Gift Card. Winner will be announced on October 7th  2012 at 11 est at The Romance Review forum.

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN?

 ***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***

It's the Musa Publishing First Anniversary Blog Hop!

My publisher is celebrating their first anniversary from October 1 - 7, and you get the presents!  (Isn't that the way it's supposed to go?  A friend has a birthday, they get married, have a baby, I should get a present, right?  I mean it never made any sense for me to be the one to bring cupcakes to school on my birthday when it really should have been the other way around.  Then again, some of the vipers I went to school with, I probably wouldn't have trusted them any farther than I can spit a piano...OW!  Okay!  I get it!  Jeez.)

Where was I?

To celebrate, Musa is giving away a Kindle Fire, two fantastic Musa canvas swag bags loaded with promo material from their authors (Kindle Fire and swag bags to US or Canada entrants only), and a $50 gift card (international entrants).  All you have to do for your chance to win is follow the hop and comment along the way.  Each time you comment, you get an entry for the drawing.  That's it.  Plus you have the chance to win a prize from a Musa author.  Free stuff!  What could be better?

When you stop and comment on my blog, not only are you eligible for one of the boss keen neat grand prizes, you'll also be in the running for a free copy of my latest Musa e-book Kitchen Witch (your choice of format).

Rules to the HOP 

1) HAVE FUN!!!

2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: October 1, at Midnight (est)

    THIS TOUR ENDS: , October 7, at Midnight (pst)

    Winners will be drawn and posted October 9th! ***

Come Join the Party on October 7th at The Romance Review Forum to enter to win more prizes. http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/index.php?board=41.0

4) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP and COMMENT ON, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES.

5) Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire is for US and Canada mailing addresses only. International winners will receive a $50.00 Musa Gift Card. Winner will be announced on October 7th  2012 at 11 est at The Romance Review forum.

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN?

 ***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***

 So please pop in, as we'll all have some fun things to share!

Win one of five autographed copies of But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! More details on the giveaway at The Romance Reviews.

Special giveaway!

Please visit my author page at The Romance Reviews August 5-19 for a chance to win one of five autographed copies of the special print edition of my first novel, But I Never Said I Didn't Love You!

Click here for my author page.

Email.

Instant messaging.

Message boards and forums.

LiveJournal.

Twitter.

MySpace.

Facebook.

When does too much become enough?

How many forms of online communication do we really need before we've reached Absolute Saturation?

How much can we convey to others without repeating ourselves?

What's the limit?

How far can we go before there's nothing before or behind us?

Do we really need to be the one with the most contacts or "friends" or "buddies" to the point where we get our own series on MVHE!TV1 or are ridiculed on Attack of the Show on G4?

Do we really need that many more opportunities to ignore others and be ignored ourselves?

What are the social obligations of having so many ways to contact people and share with them?

Are they even real forms of communication?

Is much of what we're sharing vital to true social interaction?

Is much of what we're sharing true social interaction?

Is much of what we're sharing even necessary?

When can we say we're finally validated?

When can we say everybody's responded to us?

How can we say anybody's responded?

Is anybody listening?

"Kitchen Witch" is now available!

I'm happy to announce my latest e-book, Kitchen Witch, is now available from Musa Publishing! Please take a look and buy many of copies! Vast quantities! Heaps and mounds! Gobs and Gobs! Whole bunches!

More about my publisher than me

My next book, Kitchen Witch, is being released on July 6 so I thought I'd take a moment to talk up my publisher.

Musa Publishing: About Us

My transition over to Musa wasn't exactly a cakewalk through the park. I'd had some serious setbacks with my previous publisher, The Publisher That Shall Not Be Named (no, not Publish America, braise Jeebus) but I'd sensed a better opportunity when Musa opened its doors. I'd worked with Editorial Director Celina Summers on my first book, But I Never Said I Didn't Love You, and knew I'd want to work with her again if given the chance. When the rights to BINSIDLY reverted back to me by default, I took it to Musa and it was re-released last winter. Several hours after BINSIDLY had been accepted, I'd received word Kitchen Witch was going to be my next project. Flash forward to this spring and I had the chance to work directly with Celina again on Kitchen Witch. To be honest, it was the toughest edit I'd gone through, "surviving" a more apt word. But given another chance? I'd go through it again. Sure, it got a bit disheartening the deeper I got into the edits and I really, really questioned my abilities as a writer but I'll have a brand new shiny book WITH MY NAME ON THE FRONT COVER AND EVER'THING! come July 6. I'm really proud of the work done on/to/for it, and I appreciate everything Celina and Kelly Shorten, the cover artist, have done for me. I hope to continue a long, fruitful relationship with Musa. Again, take a look at their history and background by clicking the link above. Also, to have some fun and get to know some of my fellow Musa authors, our Erato imprint is having a blog scavenger hunt. Click the graphic below for clues and to join in!

Welcome back to the Musa Memorial Day Blog Hop! I'm certainly glad to see you've stopped in again. Now I won't feel so lonely out here in the blogosphere. *snfsnf* Just kidding. Been busy off my feet lately. My latest Musa title Kitchen Witch will be coming out soon, so I'd like to celebrate with a giveaway of my current title But I Never Said I Didn't Love You!

Coming out should be this much fun. Callum should have come out years ago, but getting married seemed like a better idea. When his coworker Brian begins to flirt with him, Callum starts to question his earlier decision. Shortly after his divorce, Callum and Brian begin dating. Nothing serious. Just a laugh and a pint or three down at the pub. Even though he’s uncertain how strong his feelings are for Callum, Brian encourages him to see other guys. This backfires in a rather unexpected way: Callum meets his second boyfriend Simon. Simon might just be a better suitor – he’s a bit more romantic and a lot less brash than Brian.

If this sounds like something you'd love to have on your e-reader for the upcoming summer, please leave a comment below. One lucky winner will receive a FREE copy at the end of the hop. And don't forget: Musa is giving away free copies of their speculative fiction e-magazine Penumbra to active, retired, or reserve military personnel. To send a free PDF copy to somebody you know, click here for more information.

And don't forget to check back to see if you're a winner! Many prizes will be given away this weekend, so stick around!

Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend!

It's another one of them there blog hop thingies! Join me and my fellow Musa authors for a tour around teh intarwebz May 25 through May 28. There'll be plenty of discussion and even a giveaway or two. Hope to see you there!

"Up hill, both directions, snow, barefoot, blah blah blah"

It's been tough for the last couple of weeks for me. We're getting arranged at the day job again, having been arranged once before back in December. My cat's currently at the vet for an obstructed urinary tract, but he's making good progress. As if that's not enough, RT Booklovers Convention is next week already and I'm in the final throes of getting ready for it. I have the last round of some sample booklets for But I Never Said I Didn't Love You to cut and assemble before I have to ship out the promo materials tomorrow. Too many things are overlapping right now and I'm trying to make sense of it all. I've been through worse before, but I will get through this and I will attend RT Booklovers come heck or highwaters. Besides, it'll be the first time you'll get to see me in my Utilikilt.

Free stuff!

Oh, my God. This is like...SO COOL. When I went to RT Booklovers Convention last year, a group of authors had gotten together and created trading cards to help promote their work. I've collected non-sports cards off and on over the years, and this was the sort of thing I look for. I grabbed as many as I could find at the convention and decided I was going to join in for this year's.

It wasn't easy putting these together. I had to fake my way through Photoshop Elements, using layers for the first time, but I finally got it put together the way I liked. It also took about four or five revamps with the printer before I finally said "ENOUGH!" and told them I couldn't/didn't want to do any further revisions on it and would take the responsibility if they came out for crap.

Actually, I'm rather pleased with the final product. I love love LOVE this new cover, to start, and it lends itself beautifully for a myriad promotional opportunities. I'll be giving these away at RT Booklovers Convention in April and if you'd like one, please send me an email with your address and I'll be more than happy to send you one.

Erato: The Orpheus Fiction Contest is Now Open!

Erato: The Orpheus Fiction Contest is Now Open!: We've been talking it up for weeks, and now the day is finally here! As of 12:01 am EST, February 28, the Orpheus GLBT Fiction Contest is now open for entries. Here's how you enter:

Send a brief query-length summary of your GLBT work (at least 20,000 words), including title, genre, and word count to orpheus.fictioncontest @ gmail . com with the title ORPHEUS FIRST ROUND. We will remain open for entries through March 8, 2012, so get those entries in!

If you're looking for pointers on how to write a query summary, check out this post.

ONLY ENTRIES SUBMITTED TO THE CONTEST EMAIL WILL BE CONSIDERED. If you send your query to our normal submissions email, you will get stuck in the slush pile!

Blog Hop Finale

Thank you to everybody who stopped by during the Musa Publishing Blog Hop this weekend! It was great seeing everybody showing their support and I really appreciate it.

Special thanks and congratulations go out to June Kramin, the winner of a copy of But I Never Said I Didn't Love You. She was the first to correctly guess the answer to my trivia question, "What room are we in right now?" The correct answer, of course, was the library. Congratulations again and your copy is on its way, June!

I hope to see everybody later, and don't forget I'll be at RT Booklovers Convention April 11 to 15 in Chicago. I'll be signing at the E-Book and Graphic Novel Expo, so stop by!

Open Call

Welcome to my stop on the Musa Publishing Blog Hop!

One thing I do quite a bit...okay...a lot...when I read a novel is I wind up casting the movie or TV miniseries in my head. Usually it's from the author's description of the characters or the dialogue will trigger something in my mind and I'll have that particular actor or actress playing out that part as I read. (It was quite problematic when I first read Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. I was around 16 and I immediately imagined myself as Michael, who was twice my age. So? I didn't care. I think a lot of gay men my age did -- and do -- the same thing. The highlights included Jessica Harper as Mary Ann and Bea Arthur as Mrs. Madrigal. Bea Arthur might not have been correct physically, but she could rock a turban and a caftan. Anyway. Back to our story.)

To show you what era I grew up in and how much TV I watched back then, reading The Estrogen Posse has given me some ideas on who would play at least four of the characters: Elaine Joyce as Ellie (I mostly remember her from her run on many a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman game show, from Tattletales to Match Game '7X), Brenda Vacarro as her best friend Rina (she did the loud, brassy, sassy but important Best Friend role a lot), and in the dual role of twin nuns Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Margaret Mary, Brett Somers.

Yeah. Says a lot about me, don't it?

Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Musa Publishing Blog Hop!

Currently, I'm reading and enjoying Sharon De Vita's The Estrogen Posse. It's a bright, fun read, and I really enjoy her dialogue. One chapter even does a great job with parallel points of view on the same subject. Still early yet, but I really enjoy it. Very brisk.



And since this blog's mostly about me, I'd like to offer one lucky reader a free copy of my book But I Never Said I Didn't Love You. Just answer this real quick and real simple trivia question: WHAT ROOM ARE WE IN RIGHT NOW? Leave you answer as a comment below and check back at the end of the hop to see if you've won!

Big news

Erato, my imprint at Musa Publishing, has announced a new contest on their blog!



Announcing the Orpheus Fiction Contest - click here for more details on how you could win a two-book deal with Erato!

Ladles and gentlemints, I perzent unto you...

Coming January 20 from Musa Publishing, the reissue of my first novel, But I Never Said I Didn't Love You:

Look Back In Angola

2011 was a year of such extremes, I may have to hire an intarwebz lawyer so I can sue somebody for the emotional and physical distress. It was the first time I'd gone to a convention in a semi-professional capacity to promote my first book But I Never Said I Didn't Love You!. In the process, my taxes have been seriously screwed up; I can no longer fill out the 1040 EZ form! I'd barely come down off that high when I found out my publisher had closed up and quit operating right under my nose. During that time, I've also experienced some severe extremes at the day job. We'd won the consolidation to make us the only processing site in the country but a week later they announced the sales portion of the program was ending at the end of 2011. Now that the sales portion has ended (officially as of 50 minutes ago, at the time of this writing!), a good third of the department, myself included, has no idea what we'll be doing at the end of the month when the official official end is declared and things are shut down and turned off for the last time. And who knows how much longer the two hours mandatory overtime per day is going to last (at the rate I'm going, however, I'll be able to freaking BUY Chicago when I go to RT Booklovers' Convention in April!). And somewhere in there, But I Never Said I Didn't Love You! has been picked up for reissue by Musa Publishing and my second novel Kitchen Witch is forthcoming.

So, yeah, it's been a swing from one extreme to the other. Mind, I'm an expert at extreme emotional reactions but this last year has been too much. I'm just ready to take a long break or an even longer nap but I'm not sure when that's going to happen. I've got too much work, too much uncertainty ahead of me and like most, the unknown upsets me. I'm surprised I have any teeth left in my head, I've been grinding my jaw so much lately from the stress (not that my teeth are in the best condition, anyway). I don't know how I've made it this far under these conditions, but all I can do is take comfort in the fact that a lot of the stress will be ending soon and I've got the distraction of my writing to cover me. As I posted earlier on Facebook, I can only keep reminding myself of my mantra: "Things can only get better. No matter how bad they get, they can only get better". Peace, love, and strength in the coming '12, fellow babies.