Archive for July, 2008
Feeling like everyone is off to Conference?
July 27th, 2008 | 
Author: The Romance Divas annual Not Going to Conference Conference will make you feel a bit less deprived! Amazing workshops, a star-studded guest list and awesome giveaways, all on the Diva forum! Don’t miss it!
Here’s a bit of a schedule update for the Q&As and Workshops…
Wednesday, July 30
Paula Guran, Editor, Juno Books
Q&A on Creating Kick a** Heroines
Laurie Rauch, Editor, Samhain Publishing
Workshop on What Happens After the Contract (aka Editors are People Too!)*
Thursday July 31
Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary
Q&A on Inspirational Romance Stories and the Inspy Market
Sandra Schwab, Historical Romance Author
Workshop on Historical Accuracy and Anachronisms
Friday, August 1
Yolanda Sfetsos, Author of Guarded by Stone
Q&A on Paranormal and Urban Fantasy World Building
Katie MacIver, KatieDidDesign
Workshop on Website Design and Color Selection
Saturday, August 2
Joey W. Hill, Erotica Author
Workshop on Plotting Erotica and Erotic Romance
Rhonda Stapleton, Editor and Author
Workshop on Style and Voice
How about if I list some door prizes?
- What Gwen said” mug donated by Gwen Hayes
- 3-chapter critique of a YA by Simon Pulse author Rhonda Stapleton
- 3-chapter critique of a YA, chick lit, or rom com by Golden Heart Finalist Amanda Brice
- An ebook of your choice from Nell Dixon’s backlist
- An ebook of either Second Sight (paranormal romance) or Dragons’ Choice (fantasy romance – dragon-shifters) from Debbie Mumford
- Ten dollar Amazon gift certificate from Jodi Henley
- Lush stuff from Seeley deBorn
- e-book copy of Chasing Shadows from Erin Richards
- Paperback copy of Iron Horse Rider OR Smiling Eyes from Adelle Laudan
- Book thongs from Angeleque Ford
- 3 chapter critique from Sela Carsen
- winner’s choice of ebook copy of “Not Quite Dead” or “Heart of the Sea” by Sela Carsen
- e-book copy of HEATWAVE by Eden Bradley
- e-book copy of BREAKING SKYE by Eden Bradley
- a box of goodies, trade and paperbacks, bath products candles, etc… All for a fun and relaxing home spa day treat. courtesy of The Midnight Moon Cafe
- 1 download each of Natasha Moore’s Samhain books, The Ride of Her LIfe and The Passion-Minded Professor
- a copy of “Painted Soul” by Mary Quast
- e-book copy of HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX by Jenna Bayley-Burke – Samhain
- e-book copy of PAR FOR THE COURSE by Jenna Bayley-Burke – Samhain
- e-book copy of FOUND by Jenna Bayley-Burke – Wild Rose Press
- e-book copy of NIGHT OF INSPIRATION by Jenna Allen – Phaze
- e-book copy of ON AGAIN by Jenna Allen – Phaze
- $10 gc to Amazon from Kendal Corbitt
- ebook Vampire Oracle: Harmony by MG Braden
- Ebook ARC, Art of Sensuality by Jax Cassidy
Plus a lovely bar of wonderful Chagrin Valley hand made soap, Caramel Pralines jar candle, handmade jewelry, Tarot readings, a Lush box for European Divas/Dudes, a $10 fictionwise gc and much more!
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My Anniversary
Well I’m officially back from the land of no internet (yaaay) so you can all stop hiding now. I know Lanie is scary but honestly, she’s a really lovely person.
Anyways. Now for my photo laden post!
Thursday was my two and a half year anniversary with my fiance and we went to a lovely town called Tenby for the day. Started the day really early, (like 5.20am early) so we could catch the train to get there early-ish. The day started out a bit wrong when i realized i’d very stupidly left my travel sick tablets back at my fiances house and that we’d be on the train for about two and a half hours.
Luckily i just felt a bit queasy by the time we arrived and nothing untoward had happened. It was really amazing as i don’t get to see the sea that often. We walked up this hill and suddenly you have a panoramic view of this huge sea with massive waves. breath taking! This was the view you got as soon as you topped the hill:
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Thursday Thirteen #2
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| Thirteen Things about Power Lines 1. Power Lines is my Fantasy WIP 2. The heroine is called Lakiya or Kiya for short 3. My hero is called Prince Jareth Laretha Mondeyo Adare (or Jareth for short) 4. He is the Prince of the Rowan’s a species not unlike Elves 5. My heroine thought she was human 6. She developed magical powers 7. She is taken to Avala, The capitol city of the Rowan 8. There are all sorts of species there including Dragons, Unicorns fairies and Nymphs 9. Jareth is promised to the Queen of the Otherlings, an evil warlike species 10. Power Lines are the outside representation of how much “magic” a Rowan has. 11. Kiya has some very special Power Lines 12. Kiya and Jareth are thrown together and must work to control her powers or have her risk going out of control. 13. There is also a dark secret that is threatening the peace that Jareth has made that could end in a war |
My anniversary
Ok so tomorrow is my anniversary with my wonderful fiance. We’ll have been engaged for two years and together for two and a half years!
We’re going on a day trip to Tenby, a costal town in Wales, with amazing beaches to celebrate. Two and half years ago i got my first ever compliment out of him, and i still remember it to this day. I went into College (which is the end of highschool for you americans) all dressed up in high heel boots (hate heels) a long purple skirt (never wear skirts) and a cute if revealing black top (hate revealing tops) with a ankle length leather coat on top (ok love the leather).
My fiance and i were in the same building, a tiny little one with only four rooms for the first two periods and we always had a break in between. Well, the break came and i was waiting in the corridor to speak to him, as had become habit, and he was no where to be seen. finally when i only had a few minutes left he came out and looked at me. And said the best four words i’ve ever heard (until he said “I love you AJ” and “will you marry me” of course)
He said to me : “Wow you look nice”
Ok not a huge compliment but i thought it was at the time. The next day he asked me out and we’ve been together ever since. He’s my hero and i’ll love him forever.
Dreams
I’m still offline for a few days but i have access to the internet for a while so i’m lining up some posts and my good friend Lanie is posting them for me.
On with the blog!
Today i’m going to talk about dreams. Not my life dreams or where i want to be in the future, but the dreams i have at night when i close my eyes to sleep. Now unlike most people i know, not only do i have vivid dreams but i almost always remember them.
This is perhaps one of the things that makes me such a varied writer. I take what happens in my dreams and either apply it to a manuscript i’m already working on or create a whole new piece from it. My latest Work In Progress (or WIP) is called Power Lines and came directly from a dream.
Now the dream was set in the modern times and involved rocket launchers and universities (no i wasn’t blowing it up) and my WIP is a fantasy with magical beings who live in trees. These two sound like they have nothing in common but i took a very solid image from my dream and created a whole world from it.
So when i’m asked where my ideas come from, i’d have to say most of them are from dreams.
AJ is MIA, so I'm taking over.
Mwahahaha. That’s right. Lanie is taking over AJ’s blog until she returns. I’m silently praying I don’t scare anyone off. So, if you do get scared off, could you blame it on someone else? Like…anyone else? Great.
Anyways, it’s going to be a small post as I’ve got work in 7 hours. *Joy* (and yes, that sound you’re hearing is sarcasm). I hate mornings–but that’s an entirely different post.
On to the real post! I figured, in AJ’s absence, that we could list off reasons why we love and miss her terribly.
I’ll start. AJ is funny, smart and can crack me up in the worst of moods. If you know me, then you know it’s actually quite a feat. I’m a night owl (except on nights I have to be up when the sun is–that is SO evil–err, back to post) and since we have a great time difference, she’s usually just getting up as I’m going to bed. We’ve pretty much worked it so we talk twice a day and take over Live Chat at the Divas. I think, between us, she discovered we cover it 24/7. We’re addicted, we know, but if you go there, you can relate. If you don’t go to the Romance Divas, then you should, and THEN you’d relate–which is what we’re looking for. World Domination, one Diva at a time.
Getting off track. AJ. We miss AJ. I miss my talking buddy. I miss my friend. COME BACK SOON!!
So, while you’re posting about the wonderfulness that is AJ, don’t forget to cross your fingers that her annoying internet gets fixed and we get her back. Diva withdrawal is nothing to toy with, folks. Trust me. I know first hand.
No updates
I had a few blogs all lined up to post, but unfortunatly my internet has died a slow painful death and is valiently struggling to make any connection. What this means is basically i can’t get online to update for a while until they fix it. I’m actually borrowing my fiances internet at the moment but only for a few hours.
Watch this space for more news.
Thursday Thirteen #1
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Thirteen Things I have to do today
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And now for something completely different….
This is my dog Alfie:
he likes to pretend he’s a rug. 
He’s a nine year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel – Ruby coloured. (or so i’m told). We got him about a month ago from his old owners who had business abroad, and he’s settled right in. I take him for his evening walks and muse on plots and ideas while i’m doing it. Or course sometimes that just isn’t possible, and here’s why.
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Why writing?
I get asked that question a lot, more often than you would think to be honest. Maybe it’s because I’m quite young to be so focus on one thing - I’m only 19 after all. People think I should be out drinking and partying, not stuck behind a computer typing away into the early hours.
But I enjoy it. I couldn’t ever envision a time when I wouldn’t want to write. For as long as I can remember, writing has been something I did. Creative writing back when I was 7 or 8 was always my favourite lesson, and now I’m in University, still making up stories on an English With Creative Writing course.
Even if I stopped tomorrow, my mind wouldn’t stop coming up with ideas. I couldn’t turn that off even if I wanted to (which I really really don’t by the way 
). I get inspiration from the weirdest things and it’s such an amazing way to see the world. Say you’re out walking the dog, enjoying the sunshine and see a feather, just one, stuck out of the ground. You wouldn’t think twice about it. I suddenly think that someone must have put it there, maybe you would too, but then the creative magic happens. I wonder who put it there and why. My mind races through possibilities of strange rituals or fairy circles, druids gathering to worship strange Gods. Maybe it’s a clue in a murder mystery? A small taunt to the police. It could be a remnant of a strange creature that passed through here on an epic journey. The possibilities go on. And all the while my dog is running around wondering why the hell I’m staring at a feather.
So while I may answer the question flippantly on occasion, ‘Why writing?’ Well why not? The real answer is I couldn’t not write. Writing is what I’ve always done, and even if I feel like it’s too hard sometimes, I don’t think I could ever stop imagining things.
-AJ
(By the way, yes I know that my answer was a double negative but shush.)