I just sent out a newsletter using a new provider. I’m not sure if I like it! It took me a long time to figure out all the bells and whistles, and I don’t know if it’s useful to the subscribers.

Sigh.

We learn as we go!

I am excited beyond belief to have a story in the Halloween anthology Deadly Treats edited by Anne Frasier (Theresa Weir) for Nodin Press.

Today Pattinase hosts a guest post by moi about how I came to write my story, Slurp!, about a writer with a muse problem.

I just signed up for Rafflecopter – supposedly an easy way to do giveaways. Oh, yeah? Let’s see how it works!

If you want to play, fill out  form below.  I’ll give away a $20 Amazon gift card to a random winner.

Note: It’s pointed out in the comments that you have to click the “I did this” button to answer the question.

UPDATE — we have a winner! Congratulations, Samantha. Check your email for your gift card from Amazon. This was so easy, I’ll probably be doing another one very soon!

read more…

Okay. I’m going to have to do a little fangirl squee here …

All right. I’m back. Mrs. Giggles has reviewed Space Junque. And she liked it!

Give Me takes place in an alternate universe in a place based on Cornwall. I wanted the flavor and feel of medieval and modern Britain, but I wanted to bend elements to my will for a fantasy story.

The action happens in two time frames, the present day and the 10th century during King Edgar’s reign.

In this universe, Dumnos (Cornwall) is famous not for copper and tin but for iron. And Tintagos Castle (Tintagel) was built a few hundred years earlier.

King Edgar is king of Suramos instead of England. He’s married to the same lovely wife (some think she had her first husband murdered so she could marry Edgar), but they have a daughter in Give Me.

I needed lute music, or lutish music, for the story. I didn’t want to bend time too dreadfully – in the 10th century, there weren’t yet madrigals, and most of the religious music was in the form of chants with no harmonies. Fortunately, at some point in the past Frona, the wyrding woman, had done a favor for a sea captain. In gratitude, he brought her exotic gifts from around the world, including one year a pipa: 

Theresa Weir, who also writes under the name Anne Frasier, is terrific. And I’m not just saying that because she edited Space Junque! She’s a USA Today best-selling author, and most of her books are free right now for Nook here and here, and so far Hush and Play Dead have come up free for Kindle.

In response to the Spiderwork cover to-do, Alex Flinn has just posted this at her Live Journal blog:

Aug. 18th, 2011 06:22 pm Bewitching Cover Art to be changed

Thanks to some alert readers who alerted me to the similarity between the proposed cover for Bewitching and an e-book called Spiderwork by L.K. Rigel.  As I indicated in my original post, the Bewitching cover is a work-in-progress.  In light of the perceived similarities, my publisher has assured me they are creating a brand new cover for Bewitching.

Similarities do happen.  Recently, two children’s novels were published with virtually identical covers.  Two friends of mine had novels in the same season with stock photos which were, if not identical, at least of the same model in the same photo shoot.  Of course, everyone prefers to avoid these similarities if at all possible.

Again, I would like to thank those alert readers and, indeed, Ms. Rigel herself for her classiness.  I’m sure there will be an awesome cover for Bewitching, and you will see it soon.  Watch this space and my Facebook.

I’m very excited about Bewitching,  It’s a companion to Beastly, and about Kendra, my favorite character.  I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Very classy.

I knew my kitty had delusions of grandeur!

Coleridge’s first interview…

If you have

ever lost

a beloved pet,

then you know …

This haiku was written by Apple the parrot for Crystal the cat:

Crystal

Her lap you warmed
You played; she laughed. Now you purr
Forever in her heart.

So I was typing along – most assuredly in the midst of brilliance – when the cord of the new AC adapter I just bought (a Targus, from Staples) fell out of the laptop. I popped it back in and heard a dreadful ::pack!:: sound.

Hours later … the Geek at Best Buy said it fried my motherboard. I could pay 4-500 plus labor for a new motherboard that may or may not work. So I bought a new laptop for not much more than that. Why do these things happen when you can least afford them?

The good news: I had everything backed up with Mozy. Though time-consuming, it’s been relatively painless to reload the new computer with ALL my files.

The bad news: The manager at Staples gave me a refund on the adapter and a phone number for Targus and advised that I “reach out” and “share my story” with them.

Guess where I’m never shopping again?

I might have missed or lost a few hours of emails – if you’ve emailed me recently and I haven’t responded, I hope you will please try again!