Anya Bast

I loved it, of course. Actually, I saw this movie a while ago, right after it came out. Anything with Christian Bale and I’m there in a flash. Christian Bale as Batman? Heaven, peoples, heaven.

Personally, I was very impressed with Heath Ledger portrayal of The Joker. I thought he did a fab job. No huge surprise, since I already knew Ledger was a kick-ass actor. But what do you think? Does he deserve an Oscar? I’ve got my head so buried in work, I’m not sure what his competition might be, so I can’t give an adequate answer.

What say you?

As an aside, mark your calendars for September 10th. That’s when the Book-a-Day extravaganza will start on this blog. I’ll give a new book away every day until shortly after the release of The Chosen Sin on October 7th. Check back every day, answer all my questions and you’ll have a chance to win free books.

Now, back to working on the second draft of Witch Fury.

Of our dog. I snapped it this morning. I think she’s a gorgeous pooch, but I may be a bit biased. I have friends who are doing the 365 Project. You post a photo a day, every day…for a whole year. I can’t commit to that, but I am going to make a point to post more pictures on my blog.

I joined Second Life today. Oy. There’s a learning curve, methinks. It’s going to take me a while to get the hang of it.

I’m working on two projects at once, something that generally drives me nuts. And, yes, it is making me nuts. Big time. Right now I’m working on the second draft of Witch Fury and I’m also writing my novella for the Christmas themed anthology I’m in next year. My story is actually Yuletide themed. This novella kicks off my new fae series and introduces my new world. I don’t want to say much more than that because I’m superstitious.

I hate working on two projects at once because it’s hard for me to disengage from one world and slip into another just like that. I also hate having to head hop between all my main characters. I can head hop between two characters in the same world, no problem, but four across two different worlds is a bigger deal.

As well as making myself nuts, I’m getting ready for the rather large promotion I’ll be hosting on this blog in September/October. I’ll be giving a book away, every day. Sound good? Along with a bunch of my books, here’s a sampling of the titles I’ve selected:

Lora Leigh — Mercury’s War
Lauren Dane — Making Chase (autographed)
Jeri Smith Ready — Wicked Game
Keri Arthur — Embraced by Darkness
Jacqueline Frank — Noah: Nightwalkers, Book 5
Patricia Briggs — Cry Wolf
Megan Hart — Tempted (autographed)

Plus many more. I also plan to give away a signed ARC of Witch Heart (January, 2009)

Now I’m off to take my daughter to the library. It’s actually NOT a bajillion and three degrees today. Yay!

Along with a box of 2500 postcards. Promo materials for Witch Heart and The Chosen Sin. These were waiting for me when I got home from vacation yesterday. (We went up to Minnesota to visit friends)

The bookmarks are lovely. Want to know the scary part? They all have a place to go! I will have about 1k left once my mailings are done. If you’d like a Chosen Sin postcard and/or a Witch Heart bookmark, drop me your mailing address using the contact form on my web site. Don’t worry about a SASE.

Yep, my cover luck is holding. Here’s the cover for Strands of Sunlight, a historical fantasy menage a trois romance (say that three times fast), releasing from Ellora’s Cave on September 12th. Pretty, isn’t it? There’s a blurb below. Watch for an excerpt soon!

Rhiannon always thought she was just a low born peasant. When a mysterious lord buys her contract of servitude and brings her back to his keep, she finds out she’s actually the bastard daughter of a great lady. She also discovers she’s prophesied to kill the man responsible for her mother’s undoing.

And prophesied to die while doing it.

At the keep, Rhiannon is caught between two men: Tristan, the severe and sometimes brutal lord who introduces her to erotic bliss and binds her there, helplessly addicted to his every whim. And Gareth, the shining, handsome knight who treats her like the lady she never knew she was. In competition, Tristan and Gareth tempt her with physical pleasure beyond her imagination. Both of them stake a claim on her body, but only one of them will win her heart.

But once the prophecy begins to unfold neither Gareth nor Tristan will be able to save her….

The always spectacular Vivi Anna guest blogged today over on Maverick Authors. Go on over and say hi. She has her new cover up! Veiled Truth releases in October from Nocturne and is, by the way, one of the books I’ll be giving away during my huge Book A Day month-long contest in September.

Last week was a busy one for me. I finished the first draft of Witch Fury, and I completed all the edits on Witch Heart. *whew* Except for the final proof read, I don’t have to worry about Witch Heart anymore. Witch Fury still needs a lot of work, though. That book will go through at least two more drafts before I send it off to my editor.

Yesterday I also started plotting a new novella. I’m itching to begin writing it, but I need to map it out a little more before I dive in. That’s what I plan to do today. I need to delve a little deeper into my characters and find out what makes them tick. I have to decide whose story it is primarily–the hero or the heroine’s?

By the end of the day I’ll probably know a lot more about how the “chase” will go.

There’s a common thread that runs through all romance novels, no matter the sub-genre. Usually either the hero or the heroine is doing the “chasing”. Nine times out of ten, it’s the hero chasing the heroine. Generally that’s because most romance novels focus on the heroine–it’s mostly her story, her journey–and she’s the one with the most emotional baggage. That baggage prevents her from jumping right into a relationship with the hero. He needs to pursue her and convince her that she loves him and will be happiest with only him.

It’s not always the hero doing the chasing, sometimes it’s the heroine. And in some books neither of them wants a relationship, but it ends up happening anyway. But I mostly seem to read stories in which the hero chases.

I tallied up my own novels and found they range the spectrum. When I write there tends to be a natural “chaser” who emerges, and that chaser tends to be the character who has the least amount of personal baggage. Or sometimes, like in Witch Fire, they both resist–but falling in love happens despite them.

So, here’s my question for you–what sort of story to do you most enjoy reading? Do you like it when the hero is the one to pursue the heroine or vice versa? Or do you enjoy a mix? What scenarios do some of your favorite romance novels feature?

Jasmine Haynes is guest blogging over at Maverick Authors. G’wan over and say hi. You know you want to!

By random drawing of the entrants to my Cover Delishishness post on this blog (and from my LJ), the winner is Jackie! Congrats, Jackie! Can you please drop me an email with your preference via the contact form on my site?

Have an awesome day, you-all! I’m getting so veeeery close to the end of Witch Fury. Looks like I’ll be writing The End tomorrow.

I’ve been in my cave editing Witch Heart and finishing up Witch Fury this week. I have tons of work right now. It’s hard because it’s summer and a mild one at that. I want to be outside. So I’m getting up early and staying up late to work. That way the bulk of the day is mine to do with as I wish.

Today it’s beeeeeautiful, so I’ll probably spend a large of chunk of it outside with my daughter, who just got a new slide. She’s crazy about it. She calls it her Wheeeee! 😉 Tomorrow it’s going to be very hot, so I might take her to the pool. We have a pool in our backyard, but the public pool is graduated in depth, like a beach would be. So much easier for the little ones.

Soon I’ll be starting a novella that will introduce a new series I’ll be starting after the Elemental Witches series is finished. This novella will be included in an anthology to be released in October 2009. The other authors will be Angela Knight, Lora Leigh and Allyson James. Think I’m happy to be included in an anthology with such an absolutely fantastic group of writers? Er….trust me, I made the squee heard ’round the world when my agent called asking me if I wanted to be included. I don’t know the title yet or many of the details, but I’m sure more info will be coming soon.

A couple announcement/housekeeping type things:

I’m planning to draw a winner for my contest (see below) this evening, so if you’re going to enter, get your patoochie down there and do it. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.

Also, did you know I’m on Facebook? I love Facebook, guys. I’m not so much an ardent fan of Myspace (but, BOY, I get a lot of personal notes from readers through MySpace). I’m not a monster promoter in general, and especially not on Facebook. I just hang and play with some of the applications. I won’t be trying to fling my books at you on there or anything. So, if you want to friend me, go ahead!

Okay, now for a monster promotion. Heh. Way to make a liar out of myself. Look for a really big month-long contest on this blog starting in early September. I’m still working out the details, but it’s going to work something like this — a chance to win free books every single day from some of the authors I love, (you should see my shopping cart on Amazon.com right now as I prepare). There will also be some rocking, HUGE, prizes at the end of the month (think awesome gift certificates) to coincide with the release of The Chosen Sin on October 7th. More details coming soon.

Lastly, check out DaneHart.com! Megan Hart and Lauren Dane have teamed up to blog together. I’m sure the results will be hilarious and entertaining.

Now I’m off to play in the sunshine!