Anya Bast

We watched Cinderella a few days ago and now my daughter is ALL ABOUT that movie. Shes always fishing it out of the DVDs and bringing to me. When I try to put a different DVD in, she says No! Sssss MORE, PEAS! (That means “More Cinderella, please.”)

Cinderella is not my personal fave of all the Disney princesses, although she’s much less wishy washy than I thought she was. Cinderella is not all content with her lot in life, even if she doesn’t do much to change it. She’s even a bit sarcastic upon occasion. And at the end she’s really doing all she possibly can to get downstairs and try on that damn slipper. My favorite part as a child was always the bibbity, bobbity, boo and this part (along with the mice, I suspect) is also my daughter’s favorite part.

Anyway, we’re on the second showing of Cinderella today alone. Oy.

I hope as she gets older she’ll like Mulan. She’s by far my favorite Disney “princess”.

A couple things before the meme….

Does anyone else keep thinking about Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series every time they talk about the tomato scare on the news, or is it just me? Also, just because I’m being denied tomatoes I’ve developed a huge craving for them…and I don’t really even LIKE tomatoes.

Second random bit…there’s this thing that writers need to have and it’s called DISCIPLINE. It means you sit your ass down in your chair every day or every evening and you write. We need to be disciplined because we have this other thing called DEADLINES. Deadlines are a part of a writer’s life, really the fiber of an author’s career, dare I say. *head tilt* The category authors have this great acronym — BICHOK — Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard. Yeah.

Now things happen and sometimes an author might miss a deadline. Sickness might occur, or natural disasters. Sometimes the book just simply doesn’t flow the way you want it too. Stuff happens. But that latter thing shouldn’t be used as an excuse because authors need to plan for the “worst case scenario”. That’s why I don’t lie around not writing until two or three months before my deadline. I start right away, anticipating I’ll be blocked here or there, or that I’ll have to rewrite significant portions. I plan for my “muse” to take a leave of absence at some point.

Bottom line is that I don’t wait around for my muse to strike me. My muse is discipline. My muse is MY CHECK in the mail. Dude, my muse is the POST PERSON. So, if you’re making six figures on your books and you only have one measly deadline a year, meet it. Don’t whine and make me want to kick your ass.

*deep breath*

Okay, meme time. I was tagged by Lauren Dane to share six things about myself.

The rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I chain chew Orbit gum (the bubblemint flavor) and can’t keep in the house.

2. I have a major caffeine addiction

3. I’m pretty superstitious by nature. It really bothers me a lot if you spill the salt in my presence and don’t throw some over your shoulder.

4. I’m fascinated by bugs in a way that leaves me intrigued and grossed out at the same time. I won’t kill a spider in the house (unless it’s too fast to catch and relocate, is exceptionally huge, or I think it could be harmful). I will immediately kill any centipede I see and then do the YuckYuckYuckThatWasACentipede! Dance of Blarg.

5. I must read every night before I go to sleep, even if it’s just a paragraph or two, or I have trouble sleeping.

6. I love, LOVE, LOVE vacationing at the beach even though I was not made for the sun. I don’t tan and must make sure I’m slathered with sun block at all times, and I get horrid heat rash.

I tag: Patrice Michelle & Lisa Shearin

I’m reading a book I picked up in the goodie room at RT called Seduced by a Spy, by Andrea Pickens. I believe this is the second book in her series, but I don’t think you have to read them in order. This one seems pretty stand-alone. I used to love historicals and lately have acquired a taste for them again (I’m not the only one, looking at reading trends within the romance genre).

This book is set in the Regency period and is chock full of spies, action, and espionage. The premise is intriguing. The heroine comes from a school called Mrs. Merlin’s Academy for Select Young Ladies. All the ladies are orphans taken from London’s slums and taught not only how to comport themselves in society, but also how to spy, wield weapons and seduce. Oooh…cool! I’m so there!

Is the premise historically accurate? Probably not. If it is, please correct me, but I think that if there had really been such a school in real life, learning about it would have kept me awake more often in history class. I’m sure many people have dismissed the series because it’s not true to history, but my attitude is this–it’s fiction I’m reading here. It’s not a history book. I’m reading to be entertained and I am very capable of suspending my disbelief as long as the story is good. Give me interesting characters with depth and a well-written, well-executed plot and I’m more than happy. You can give me the hero, Alexandr Orlov, while you’re at it too. I think I’d forgive him anything. Yum. In any case, so far I’m really enjoying the book.

Do you enjoy historical romance? What are some favs if you do? (Lord of Scoundrels, by Loretta Chase is probably my absolute favorite) And how about that historical accuracy thing? Do you need it, or can you suspend your disbelief enough to leave it?

I attended my second Lori Foster Get Together in Cincinnati over the weekend and, like last year, it was a blast. I loved getting together to see old friends and making new. Here are a whole bunch of photos. Originally I’d planned to post a few of these a day while at the hotel, but I had technical difficulties. So you get all the photo goodness in one go….

Anya & Amelia

Karen B (winner of the Maverick Author gift bag) and Lauren Dane

Anya & Rhonda

“I’m a little teapot!” Readers participate in a game hosted by JC Wilder, Carolyn Ivey, and the Mavs. Really Bab Barb helped to coordinate and hand out prizes.

Anya & Annicats

Lauren Dane, Megan Hart & Yuvonne

Beth Williamson

Lauren Dane & Megan Hart

Ellie Marvel/Jody Wallace

Laura, Lauren Dane, Laura Bradford, Megan Hart, Rhonda & Anya Bast

Laura & Anya

I haven’t been blogging because I’ve been writing. Sorry, all! Now I’m off to Cincinnati for the Lori Foster Reader and Writer get Together. However, I will be posting lots of pictures while I’m there. This is my objective.

So check back soon and hopefully there will lots of pictures. The only way there won’t be is if the hotel doesn’t have wireless (but all hotels have wireless these days, right?)

See you soon!!

I finally finished the book video for The Chosen Sin (October, 2008). What do you think?

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEr7Tl4HEbI]

I love creating these, picking out the music, the images, and planning out how to tell the “story”. For that reason alone, I’d probably never turn them over to a professional book video creation service. Hee!

In other news, I’m about 15k into Witch Fury and it’s clipping along very well. (My writer’s block of a week or so ago has passed, luckily.) I have so much story to tell! I absolutely adore writing this hero, who is the darkest, most tortured of all the men in this series. He doesn’t work and play well with others at all. He’s a loner and can barely force himself to have a conversation with anyone.

Soooo… you know what I did, right? I mean, I had to! She’s exactly who he needs–a bubbly extrovert who talks all the time. *Is evil* She’ll give a proper adjustment to his perspective on life. In the meantime she’s aggravating him like crazy. It’s so much fun.

Let’s see, I also recently finished another erotic menage a trois paranormal romance. This one is a stand alone and not connected to any series. I also agreed to write a short story for next year’s Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance. I’m excited about that.

Okay, so I talked about the things that are currently making me happy. What’s making you happy these days?

They’re sort of falling out of the news at this point, (especially Myanmar, thanks to the government). Everyone’s on to the next thing, but there are still many people in dire circumstances in both places. I read yesterday that 5 million people in China are now homeless.

Half the Sky has reported that in Sichuan Province, Mianyang (close to the earthquake’s epicenter) has become a major place for refugees. According to what they’ve been told, the whole center area of their stadium has been reserved for just toddlers and infants.

Half the Sky says that of the 24 surviving children who were brought to the Mianyang Zitong SWI social welfare institute (an orphanage) from the collapse of Xiao Ba Primary School, only 13 were reunited with their parents. Apparently this is a good thing, though, because they were all thought to be orphaned when they took them there. (ack)

There are some pictures here. And here’s the HTS daily journal. Again, you can give to their Earthquake Fund here.

My daughter is getting her two year molars and is not happy. When she’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy (ain’t nobody getting sleep, either). *falls face first onto keyboard* Zzzzzz.

The heroine in Witch Fury (at the moment, anyway) has a little dog. A Pomeranian, in fact. I didn’t set out to make her a pet owner, it was one of those things that just happened while I was writing. I was writing along like this: See? Life wasn’t so bad. She had friends, a job, and, most importantly, she had the love of a good dog. And I went, HUH? Where’d the dog come from?

I thought about it for a while and decided she really kinda DOES need a little dog in her life, so maybe he popped in there for a reason. Writing-wise, however, it’s going to complicate things. Even so, I’m inclined to keep the dog in there, except for one issue.

(But, first!, a tangent…) I hate, hate, hate! it when there are animals in movies or books because then I have to worry about them. I’m a big time animal lover and one of those people who, when watching a film, will say something along the lines of, “But I don’t care what happens to the hero/heroine, what about the dog?!” I Am Legend killed me, people, killed me! I know it’s fiction, I know it’s not for real, doesn’t matter.

So, here’s my question to you: Does it bug you to read stories with animals in them? Why or why not. I would love some opinions on the subject.

Bumped to top….

If you’re looking for a reputable place to donate money for the recent earthquake in Sichuan province, here’s one I would recommend. Half the Sky has a special fund dedicated to the children who will be adversely affected by the recent natural disaster. They intend to provide emergency relief, temporary or long-term foster care, and institutional care for the children orphaned or separated from their families during the quake.

Funding info from site:

Total Funding Received to Date: $53,295
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $446,705
Total Funding Goal: $500,000

As you can see, they still have a way to go.