Oh my freaking god, you are not going to believe what happened to me today. I have to tell this before I get into the really cool contest that Moira Rogers is hosting.
Okay, I was on my way out of the door at 6:30 am to get to the early morning sessions as the customer event the company I work with hosts each year. Well in my house we have a baby gate at the top of the stairs to keep my kids’ puppies from running around the house at night.
Yours truly stepped over that gate, down one step…and my sock slipped on the carpet. I went down like a ton of bricks and slid down the stairs, bumping my ass and my head until I got to the bottom. It was SO not fun!
My son came running from his room to help me get up (my sacrum and head were on FREAKING FIRE!) the puppies were at the top of the stairs (amazingly the baby gate stayed in place) looking at me like ‘what the hell…?’ and my daughter, who can’t walk right now, was in the living room downstairs yelling and asking if I was alright.
So here I am at the end of the day in the most amazing pain. My sacrum is bruised and it hurts to get up or sit down. Hurts to just sit here. Ack! But overall, the day was awesome! ROFL!
Now on to the good stuff…
Author, Moira Rogers, is holding the coolest contest I’ve heard of in awhile. Not only because one of my books is featured in it, but because it’s an awesome idea for people (like me ;D) who enjoy series. I’m always looking for a good series, ya’ll. So first, the cool graphic…then the details ;D
So, what do me, Sharon Cullen, Misty Evans, Carolan Ivey, Kate Johnson, Melissa Lopez, Michelle Pillow, Moira Rogers, Renee Wildes and Linda Winfree have in common? We’re all authors with Samhain Publishing, and we want to hook you on a new series! These stories range from paranormal romance to romantic suspense, and are sure to entertain you. If you’d like a chance to win one, fill out the form on Moira’s website and you’ll be entered in the Get Hooked On a Series drawing. Eleven lucky winners will discover a new series! Winners will be announced on October 20th.
So scoot on over to Moira’s and get in on the goodies…while I go take some more Motrin! ;D
Last year we had a kick butt contest called Holiday Hotties. It was such a success we’re doing it again this year. Only this time instead of the contest covering just Christmas, we’re including Halloween and Thanksgiving, too!
So what does this mean for you? Basically we’re going to have a running contest that spans from October to Christmas. Each month, the TJ On A Tangent newsletter will contain excerpts from your favorite participating authors and questions about those fabulous writers.
A single winner will be chosen each month. Then at Christmas, everyone who has played has the chance to win one of three gift baskets of cool stuff from all of the authors.
What’s really cool is that your prize depends on the number of authors that participate. So if we have twelve participating authors and three winners, you each get four books and lots of goodies in your gift basket. If there are eighteen authors, each winner gets six books and oober-cool goodies!
Anybody, other than me, who used to watch a young Will Smith as The Fresh Prince of Belair? And what about those good old fashioned cartoon movies based on classic books, like Rock-a-Doodle from the book Chanticleer?
Well, one of the awesome women from a group of awesome ladies called The Posse (now is that a good old nostalgic name or what?) with a rocking Yahoo group loop posted this oldie-but-goodie not too long ago. Now let me tell you, I’d just heard that my older sister has cervical cancer and the very next day learned that my ex-husband has stomach cancer. A few days after that I saw this posting on the loop, watched it, and it made my whole damned day a lot brighter!
I’d love to know if you ever have those days when you reminisce on a time long past and it just makes you smile like an idiot? Or, better yet, makes you laugh out loud until your office mates wonder what the hell you’re doing at your desk that makes work so much fun?
And now for contest news - The winner from the Wild On Books blog contest from my post, Introducing TJ Michaels, was…PAMK! She received a copy of my brand new release, Hatsept Heat, Vampire Council of Ethics Book 3!
And winner from Kate Hill’s list mom day over at the Ellora’s Cave Yahoo reader’s loop was…KIMW! She also received a copy of my latest release, Hatsept Heat!
The next contest will be happening here on my site. It’ll be a blog contest where you have a chance to win a copy of J.C. Wilder’s kick butt book, Winter’s Daughter! Check out the review from Joyfully Reviewed - it’s smoking!
The fabulous Cait Miller put this out on the author loop recently. Enjoy!
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A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10-lb weight loss Program. The next day, there’s a knock on the door, and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19-year-old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.
She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss Company. The sign reads, ‘If you can catch me, you can have me.’
Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens.
On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs as promised. He calls the company and orders their 5-day, 20-pound program.
The next day there’s a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, ‘If you catch me, you can have me’.
Well, he’s out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck.
So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.
Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs as promised.
He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day, 50-pound program.
‘Are you sure?’ asks the representative on the phone. ‘This is our most rigorous program.’
‘Absolutely,’ he replies, ‘I haven’t felt this good in years.’
The next day there’s a knock at the door; and when he opens it, he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, ‘If I catch you, your ass is mine.’
Jennifer over at Wild On Books caught up with me and invited me to guest blog over there. It was alot of fun and the topic is one that’s on everyone’s mind - The Olympics…and the upcoming release of Caramel Kisses (yummm!)
Check out the blog post and a sweet (and oh-so-naughty) excerpt from my first contemporary, older woman - younger man story. It’s smokin’! And as always, the plot is interesting and solid.
AND IT FREAKING ROCKED!! And of course we talked about the new book release, HATSEPT HEAT, but many of the other topics are just downright wild! Woot!!
We made it safely to Florida and we are having a ball! The Marriott Grand Vista is a pretty nice place. The surrounding area is also pretty neat. Nothing spectacular, as it’s a typical city, but the weather is really something. I love the rain and humidity, now if it was just a bit cooler I’d be in heaven!
We’ve been eating like crazy! Lord, I just know I’m going to have to spend more time at the gym when I get back to keep my butt from heading too far South without the rest of me. Geesh!
TJ On A Tangent went out right before I left so hopefully you’re enjoying it - if you aren’t a subscriber to the newsletter, you can sign up any time. This issue contains an excerpt from my new book, CARAMEL KISSES, that was just sold to EC. ToT subscribers get to see it first, but I’ll put it up on the Sneak Peek page after I get back from vacation.
You haven’t seen an issue of TJ On A Tangent in quite a while, but it’s coming on July 15th with new articles, sneak peeks into the new novel I’ve just contracted with Ellora’s Cave, news on the new Vampire Council of Ethics books coming next month, a cool summer recipe and something very catty.
Get in on the fun by subscribing. And we will never, ever give out your e-mail addy so be assured you’ll get no spamming from this quarter (grrrr, I hate spammers!)
I’ve been known to be more of a guy than a girl. Why? Because women have gotten a bad wrap, damn it! And some figure that if you’re not the stereotypical female you’re either too good to be true, or you are a ‘knuckle dragger’ like them. And I did NOT give them that name. It’s what they believe their women see them as. So, the term has become one that men (and some women) unite around and are proud to be called. At least I am.
Women, we’re seen as these fickle, complicated, emotional wrecks (especially on TV). We supposedly want to be pampered one minute only to flip the ’spastic switch’ and become Miss Independent I-Don’t-Need-Nobody the next minute. Total bull if you ask me, but then again, I’ve seen my share of female goofballs and tend to wonder…
Part of the problem is that as women, we tend to try to get men to ask like us, communicate like us, and understand us. But I read a book a long time ago called “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” and it saved my sanity. I learned not to nag my mate, nor chase him around trying to get him to talk to me when what he needed was to work things out in his own head. The way women help each other is to talk it out. But men don’t do that. Men disappear into their ‘man cave’ and think. Yet we run in there after them trying to get them to talk it out. And sometimes we get burned, not realizing that it’s just the way they are. So let ‘em be.
Anyway, back to the guy thing where I’m concerned. If a knuckle dragger is a person who enjoys peace and quiet, content to let the emotional wrecks get bent out of shape without us, then I guess I’m a knuckle dragger. Hell, even my ex had to admit that he was the complainer/nagger in our relationship, which to me, was a big compliment.
So…Knuckle Draggers unite!
Here’s a joke for those women, like me, who enjoy NOT nagging. Enjoy emotional stability instead of half the month PMS’ing and the other half of the month on her period. Find pleasure in NOT adding a million things to the honey-do list. Enjoy equal parts affection and raunch. Think highly of our men (well, when we have one ;D). And who do love being on the receiving end of chivalry and pampering while still maintaining our sense of self at the expense of no one.
(IF YOU’RE EASILY OFFENDED, READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK - ROFL!!)
A man was riding his Harley along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.”
The biker pulled over and said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.”
The Lord said, “Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for such a thing. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind.”
The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, “Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing’s wrong, and how I can make a Woman truly happy.”
The Lord replied, “You want that Bridge two lanes or four?”
