Anya Bast

It’s pretty, yes? 😉

The cover fits the heroine. Isabelle is much more chaotic and impulsive than Mira.

Also, in the process of having my domain and hosting switched (having a new web site designed), the companies involved totally dropped the ball and DELETED my email account. My web site is also currently down. I’m still trying to resolve this issue. Anyway, if you emailed me between 2pm and midnight yesterday, I didn’t get it. Here is my unhappy face: 🙁

I got my cover for Witch Blood. It is the most beautiful cover I have EVER had. It is beyond gorgeous and I so want to share, but I don’t know if I can yet, so I thought I’d tease a little instead. Oh! The best part of the cover (and so far I haven’t found anything about the cover I dislike) is that it says ‘National bestselling author of Witch Fire’ on the bottom. *insert big cheesy grin here*

So we were out of town for the weekend and then I had to work the day job Monday and Tuesday. That’s why I haven’t blogged. Actually, I did blog on Monday (like every Monday) over on The Bradford Bunch blog (link in sidebar). I posted a contest too, for those that are interested. Apparently the contest is really hard, though, because I’ve only received one entry so far. Whoops.

On my day job days, I’m wiped. There’s not a whole lot of extracurricular blogging going on. Today, of course, I’m writing. I need to have The Darkest Kiss finished up by the end of this month so I can use September to revise it. My revision process is usually pretty involved. I tend to write light on the first draft. On the subsequent drafts (during the revision process), I add anywhere from 5-7k. At the same time I chop things out, rearrange, ect and ect.

Did I mention the cover for Witch Blood is really cool? Hee. I’ll share it when I know for certain I can.

Now…writing.

I’m back from being out of town. Bet you didn’t even know I was gone, did you? 😉

62,320 / 85,000 (72.9%)

The Darkest Kiss — Progress. Deadline September 30th.
Pretty average for word count. I was very busy this week with lots of kid related things. Then we went out of town, of course, which cut down on my writing time. And there was some procrastination.  Although I DID write about 9k. That’s really not too bad when you think about it, but it is about 3k less than I’d planned for.

I’m almost 74% done, though! And I’m past the middle. A big woo hoo on that one. Now I’ve got momentum all the way to the end.

My all time favorite poet, Charles Simic, has been made U.S. Poet Laureate. Here is my favorite poem by Simic, Crazy About Her Shimp. Go read! You won’t be sorry.

Do people really read poetry anymore? Am the only one? Tell me, do you read poetry? What are some of your favorite poets and poems?

To sweeten the deal, I’ll make it a contest. Everyone who replies to this post will be eligible to win one of my EC books (from backlist). Share with me your poetry predilections. The contest will end whenever I want it to. *g* So post now!

Trying to get writing done today, but need to clean the house, go grocery shopping, ect. Oh, and load songs into my new iPod. *g*  I do have a children’s play list in my new iPod and on it is every song Elizabeth Mitchell ever produced. Kid’s music that adults can listen to too. If you have kids, you might want to give her a listen.

Domestically, I bought a floor sweeper I have to take back because it’s missing a piece. AND! I bought a speaker plug-in thingie for my new iPod (that lets you listen to music on the iPod as if on a stereo, instead via ear buds) and even though it says it’s compatible with the nano, IT. IS. NOT. Not in this dimension, anyway. Argh. So frustrating.  That’s going back too.

Been thinking a lot about my writing process today. I am not, actually, a plotter. I’m not a panster, either. Really I’m some combination of the two. I write out my synopses, but before I actually start the book I don’t know for certain how true I’ll stay to them. This is because I don’t know my characters until I start writing them, not really. No amount of character charts or character interviewing lets me know them as well as actually writing them. Once they start “acting” within the limits of the plot, making decisions, reacting to stimulus, do I actually start to truly understand them.  I know that sounds crazy, but there you have it.

Now, back to The Darkest Kiss.

Currently it is listed on EC’s eBay store. Soon it will be available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, ect. I’ll let you know when it’s up. Should be soon.

Blood of the Damned is fourth in the Embraced series. It’s Niccolo’s story. The book won an eCataromance award for best sensual romance in 2006. *g* (plug, plug, …shameless promotion).

The Dominion are making a play for the future of humanity. They have achieved corporeality…with the help of a traitor Embraced.

Jade has been entrusted with the keeping of a Vampir known for his ruthlessness. The Embraced need him in the fight against the Dominion, but even his own friends consider him dangerous. As a Priestess of the Morrigan, Jade can handle most anything, but perhaps not Niccolo Romano.

Jade looks damn good to Niccolo, but she proves resistant to his charms. Soon bedding her becomes a mission, but he takes one step too far in his quest to possess her and soon she possesses his heart.

Jade has secrets she wants to keep, but Niccolo has a way of laying her bare in more ways than one. Every time Niccolo seduces her to his bed—-sometimes gently, sometimes not—-he unravels another piece of her history, bringing up long repressed sexual need and emotion.

Soon Niccolo is fighting two battles—-one against the Dominion and the other for Jade.

That’s right, I’ve entered the new millennium (quite a few years late) and bought an iPod. Now I’m faced with the prospect of loading it with new songs and selecting my favorites from my current MP3s. I’ll have to make playlists and cruise around iTunes. Oh, and I can load pictures into my iPod, make slideshows and set them to music. Intriguing!

I foresee many opportunities to procrastinate on my writing.

I wish I could listen to music while I write. Many writers can do this and I think it’s cool…helpful, even. Music invokes emotion and feeling emotion when you’re writing romance is a good thing, well, as long as you can transfer it to the page.

Music engrosses me too much, though. I can’t listen and not be caught up in it completely. So no iPod for me while I write, not unless I set the volume down so low I can barely hear it.

But I do have an iPod! And, as you can tell, I’m excited about it! Got any music recs for me? I tend to like all kinds of different things.

I blogged about the romance novel heroine over on the Bradford Bunch blog today. Please go on over and share your thoughts with me!!

This week was about getting synopses done and proposals finished. Happily, I accomplished that goal. So, again, didn’t get as far on The Darkest Kiss as I would’ve like, but it was because I was working on other projects. Now those projects are DONE. Woo!! So next week is all about The Darkest Kiss. Also, I’m finally pulling myself out of the middle of the book. Hallelujah!!

For all that, I’m still well on target to meet my deadline for TDK.

53,366 / 85,000 (62.4%)

*flogs the middle of The Darkest Kiss*

Bad, middle! Bad, bad, middle!