That’s what I’ve been up to lately. For many years now, I’ve worked outside the home. I word it that way because now that I write full-time, I work at home. Anyway, I’ve worked many different schedules and many different places. At one point I was working at a university all day and going to college most of the night. I had NO time for yard work.

Now that I’m here all the time and looking out my window often, I was starting to freak out. The neat little yard that used to be my very own looked like Tarzan had taken over.

I find myself (like a dork) staring down a prickly vine and yelling, “You shall not pass!”

For those who don’t know, I live in the woods. I like it that way. Except it’s been a very long time since I had time to maintain my yards. My roses look great. In fact, they’re the only things I had the time to maintain. No worries about grass getting overgrown. It’s a struggle here to get it to grow in the first place. So, my yard has developed bald spots. Ha. Ha. Ha.

My husband still works 12 hour shifts, so I’m doing this (for the most part) on my own. My dad visits from time to time with his chain saw. Until I began this undertaking, I didn’t realize how much I’d forgotten about landscaping. Or how much I really love my axe.

Another thing I was determined to find more time for was getting into better shape. I’d started a fairly strenuous routine near the end of last year, but had no time to maintain it. No worries there anymore. Lifting logs (from fallen trees) and carrying them several yards to the burn pile has given me incredible muscle tone. Not to mention, pulling weeds (all that bending and lifting) and raking, is giving my back definition like aerobics never could.

Amongst all this, I’ve released another book on my own. Diary of an Incubus is my second self-publishing venture and so far, it’s going great. Plus, I’ve signed a new contract with Ellora’s Cave for a book called, Constant Cravings. I just got the cover art for that one and I’m in love. No release date yet for Constant Cravings, but I’ll keep you all posted.

Man, I’m tired. LOL

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Diary-of-an-Incubus-ebook/dp/B0071PNY96/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_5

Coming Soon to Ellora's Cave

I don’t just watch television shows. I have a tendency to glom onto a particular show and watch it like crazy. I used to do this with scripted TV, but in the past few years it’s been nonfiction shows. Two of my favorites are Mythbusters and anything involving true crime. In the past year I’ve also started watching such shows as Pawn Stars, about a Las Vegas pawnshop, and American Pickers (which features these two guys who travel around the US buying junk to sell).

My latest obsession is kind of weird, though, even for me. The other day I stumbled onto a cooking show called Chopped, in which four chefs vie for a $10,000 prize by cooking a three-course meal, with one of them being eliminated (or “chopped”) each round. Now I am by no means a chef. I don’t particularly like cooking. I tend to prefer my food simple, and not in tiny, beautifully arranged portions like they make in the show. So why am I watching it so much? I’m not sure. There’s the element of competition, which is interesting to see. And then there is the basket of truly odd ingredients each chef is given before every course. Last night they had to make dessert using pasta, basil, roma tomatoes, and white chocolate! That sounded pretty repulsive to me, but the two remaining chefs got really creative with it.

Maybe the element of creativity is what I like so much about the show. Just like authors do, chefs take different elements and try to blend them into something beautiful and enjoyable. Perhaps my recent obsession with Chopped isn’t so strange after all.

And who knows? I just might get some story inspiration from it…

Cassandra Gold
Gay romance with a heart of gold
www.cassandragold.com

Nearly four years into our relationship, my girlfriend and I still go on dates. Big dates, little dates, fancy dates, simple dates… it’s wonderful.

… Is fraught with failure.   Yep, I said it, F.A.I.L.U.R.E.

This is true for most things in life, but it’s especially true if you’re pursuing a career as a writer where rejection is constant whether it’s from editors, agents, reviewers, or readers.  Every time a writer puts their work out there for all the world to see they face a sea of rejection.  And you know what, that’s okay.  Every rejection, every failure is a learning experience.  The trick is to keep on going.  And going. And going… without losing faith in yourself.

“I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  ~Thomas Edison

And, I know this is just the beginning, because an agent is only one tiny step in the process.  But that’s okay, I’ll just keep going and I sincerely hope you will too.

~Julia

An erotic paranormal romance

Sorry about the title. I just couldn’t help myself. Since my last post here at FAB I’ve been very hard at work on a new business venture. I’ve dared to boldly go forth into the world of self-publishing. There’s been so much buzz lately about authors making lots of money publishing for themselves. I just couldn’t resist trying it out myself. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not all about making money. However, I’ve got bills to pay, just like everyone else. I am all about keeping a roof over my head. Ha. Ha. Let’s be honest, writers (unless you’re already hugely famous) do not make that much, no matter what Hollywood says.

However tempting it might be to write a book and immediately publish it to Amazon and/or Smashwords, there are still a lot of factors to consider. You’ll need to thoroughly edit the work as well as have someone else (preferably with good grammar skills) go over it also. You’ll need to know how to format the books according to the site’s upload guidelines. You’ll still need to file copyright. (This can be done very easily online.) And last but certainly not least, you’ll need some stunning cover art to help catch reader’s attention.

There are of course, other factors to consider, but these are the bare minimum.

I self-published a book in late December and I must say, so far it is doing quite well. Though it’s much too early to make a call on self-published vs. traditional publishing and what kind of income you can earn, I am very pleased.

And what did I chose for my first subject matter for this self-pub venture? Frankenstein.

I see no reason why Frankenstein can’t be sexy!  Seriously. Why should Dracula and The Wolfman get to have all the fun? In Mary Shelley’s story, when Victor Frankenstein first looked at his creation he saw him as “beautiful.”

 
I’ve always thought he had the potential to be not only beautiful, but sexy. We already know he’s supposed to be tall and dark, the rest shouldn’t be a stretch. Ha. Ha.

 
I’d like everyone to know that my story Frank and The Werewolf Tamer has nothing to do with Mary Shelley’s version, or anyone else’s for that matter. This is my version of a classic creature, with a completely different background. The man in my story, Frank Eastwick isn’t your traditional sort of monster. To me, he isn’t a monster at all.

 
I can’t tell you all of his secrets in one post, or I’d give away the story. Maybe the best way to describe him is to share an excerpt. This is the first time the heroine of the story, Katherine, sees Frank.

 
Enjoy!

Frank and The Werewolf Tamer, excerpt:

 
It was late January and there was still a chill in the air, even in Florida. I’m not sure if it was the warmth coming from inside or fate that made me walk into the main arena that night. The air was filled with the scents of cotton candy and lots of liquor. Needless to say, Notte Oscura was for the twenty-one and over crowd.

 
I hadn’t taken in any of the attractions on my previous visits, so I had no idea what I was walking into, or why most of the women in the crowd reeked of sexual arousal. I heard the crackle of electricity, and then I saw him. He was well over six feet tall and stood directly in the center of the stage. He was stripped to the waist and though he man had many scars, they did not distract from his beauty. His head was down and mounds of long, black hair trailed over his chest. It looked like the beginning of a live S&M show. His arms were bound to what appeared to be enormous antennas, the way he was turned showed off the well sculpted muscles of his arms. It also revealed what looked like a completely metallic right elbow. He twitched slightly and lightning arched between the polls and from numerous other places around the stage. As the flashes of light and crackle of electricity came to a peak, he tossed back his hair and with a primal yell, broke free from his chains.

 
He smiled. The crowd went wild and in that instant, looking at that smile, I knew I was lost. The lightning stopped and with a dramatic flair the tall man slipped into a cloak.
“My name is Frank, and I’ll be your host this evening. Welcome to Notte Oscura.”

 
The crowd cheered again and I took an involuntary step forward. Though he used his hair to cover the right side of his face, I could tell he had another scar there. I was trying to get a better look when someone pinched my ass. I can think of few things that piss me off more. I reached behind, using my superior speed to grab the pincher by the wrist. I was a bit surprised to feel fur, but that didn’t stop me. I twisted the arm with a violence born of the frustration of my night and locked his elbow in place, taking the werewolf to the floor with a pain-filled howl. This all happened just as Frank said, “Please allow me to introduce…” His words trailed off as the spotlight hit us. “Our new werewolf tamer!”
Frank began to clap and the crowd soon joined him.

 
“You’re hurting my arm,” the werewolf growled, though he was careful to keep his voice fairly low. Obviously, he didn’t want the crowd to hear.

 
“I should break it,” I said, pushing down harder to emphasize my words.

 
He yelped again, but I let him up. He ran onto the stage, snarling and growling on all-fours. With a gesture from Frank, I followed.

Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Werewolf-Tamer-ebook/dp/B006PU2JBW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325023363&sr=8-1

I have high hopes for Frank as well as other books I plan to self-publish in the future. I hope everyone enjoys them:)

Pantser \ˈpants-ˈər\, n

A NaNoWriMo term that means that you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ when you are writing your novel. You have nothing but the absolute basics planned out for your novel.

This outlook towards writing is often opposed by the ‘planner’, who knows exactly what is going to happen, when it will happen, and where it will happen. There is often enmity between the two types of writers.

(from Urban Dictionary)

I admit it.  Throughout most of my writing career, I’ve been a pantser.  Rather than plotting out my stories using intricate outlines, character sheets, etc., I just start writing.  Sometimes I have an ending in mind, sometimes I’m just as surprised by what happens as readers are.  It’s a fun style (and fits well with my ADD tendencies), but sometimes stressful, leading to writer’s blocks and the frustration of writing myself into a corner.

In the past couple of years, I’ve experimented with a mixture of pantsing and plotting.  I try to plan out a vague-to-moderately-detailed outline, and use my pantsing skills to fill in the rest.  This seems to be the best method for me.  I get the freedom of writing whatever comes to mind, but there’s enough structure to keep me from going totally off the rails (although that can sometimes be fun, lol).

Sometimes, however, my mixture does not work.  The best example of this is with my most recent WIP.  I’ve been working on the sequel to Healer, an m/m paranormal novel about men with special abilities.  I got a really good start on the next book, and I knew how the book would end, and then…

SCREECH!

My inner pantser dragged everything to a halt.  Instead of being content following the rough outline I’d set, my brain (or maybe my characters) decided I needed to take a new course.  A character revealed new motivations, and another one decided he needed to be a lot more ambiguous.

So did I ignore my inner voice and keep following the plan?

Nope.  I started the dreaded re-writes.  I had to rework a huge section of the beginning, rendering a few thousand words completely useless and another 5+k in need of major tweaks.  Even the over-arching outline will have to be reconfigured, which means a lot more time.  Ouch!

I’m sure it will be worth it in the end, though.  I think when I get finished, I’ll be a lot happier with the story, and I hope readers are too.

What about all of you writers out there?  Do you plot or pants?  Do your characters ever decide to change something major on you when you’re in the middle of writing?

And readers: Do you prefer a plot that’s full of twists and turns, or one that’s more structured?  Do you think you could tell whether an author identifies as a plotter or a pantser by reading their work?

Cassandra

Gay romance with a heart of gold

www.cassandragold.com

A lot of people (relatives in particular) have asked me why I write so much about vampires. I write werewolves too, but vamps seem to draw the most attention. At least, it gets the most questions. The truth is, I write what I like. When I was in school I read every book that had anything to do with vampires. Anything I could get my hands on that had vampires in it, I read it so thoroughly it could be considered studying. I also wrote a few short and semi-erotic stories about werewolves just for fun. Of course, they weren’t up to par with what is considered erotica now, but it was pretty sexy to me and my friends.
I always knew that I wanted to write professionally some day. It wasn’t something that just came to me out of the blue or something I did on a whim. Everything I have ever done in my life I have viewed as “good writing material.” I knew that each experience, whether it was a job or a relationship that went wrong, would somehow end up in my books. In the case of bad relationships, it could be considered therapy. Ha. Ha. Of course, names have been changed to protect the guilty, but there are a few of those along the way.
Since I always knew I wanted to write and I have always been drawn to vampires, it seemed only logical to me that’s what I’d write about. The other question that I get even more often than, “Why vampires?” is “Why sex?”
The short answer: Why not?
Now, for something more in depth: I love science fiction, but find it grossly lacking in sex. Ha. Seriously, I enjoy a good story but what I also enjoy is a good romance. I used to read the really old romances, the ones you could find at garage sales and such. So, they were really outdated and for my tastes, too … sweet. I wanted a heroine who could kick ass and take names. I wanted someone who I could identify with. Someone who wasn’t “pure as the driven snow,” and all that crap. I wanted someone real.
Of course, I also wanted a hero who was sexy beyond imagination. I don’t want the guy next door. Let’s face it, unless Hugh Jackman lives next door, none of us are really interested in normal guys, are we?
I also have a deep love of fantasy. So, you take all that, mix it together (shaken, not stirred) and you get paranormal romance. Paranormal romance is really an adventure for women. We just happen to find romance to be part of the adventure.
I write what I like to read. Why would I try to sell something to someone if I didn’t even like it myself? That’s ridiculous. I love vampires and if we get them alone in the story, someone better tell me what they look like naked! I don’t know about you, but I’d feel cheated otherwise. Of course, I’m okay with waiting for such a moment (like in the case of a series, which I enjoy writing). But once we get there, I want details. Ha. Ha.
The last and probably best answer I could give is this: Writing is wish fulfillment and so is reading. Who hasn’t fantasized about living forever with some gorgeous hunk? Tall, dark and immortal sounds pretty darn good to me. To never grow old, never get sick and die. And let us not forget, eternal love. I think these are all pretty strong fantasies that most people can identify with, even if they don’t get into the whole, “Bite me,” thing.
Unfortunately, in the area where I live most people just see it as macabre. For the rest of the fang bait™ out there (like myself), please check out my latest release. LOL For everyone else, I do hope we can move beyond that some day.

After 30-plus years, my husband has gained an inability to put away my clothes. He says its because I keep everything so scrambled that he can’t figure it out. I think perhaps its his rebellion – after ten years of being a wage-slave, he’s finally an actor again (no day job – got laid off, yay!) so he does a lot of the day to day household stuff. The stuff I infrequently did when I was the one at home, so maybe there’s a teeny bit of backlog – like, five years’ worth of laundry? Um….maybe…But the funny thing about it is, he grumps about it. “I did laundry, but I didn’t put all of yours away because I can’t figure out your system.”

I’ll admit it, I’m not the world’s best housekeeper. (Better Homes and Gardens won’t be knocking on my door any time soon to show the world my pretty living room, and trust me, they’re not getting anywhere NEAR the bedroom.) But I seem to have an over-abundance of clothing. Most of it is “classic” (another word for boring – well, MY clothes, anyway); skirts and jackets and shells. But when I went shopping last night for clothes for the dreaded company Christmas Brunch, I realized (as I came home with three jackets, three shells, and a couple of pieces of jewelry – most of which was on sale, btw) that I’d need to seriously start weeding out my wardrobe. I can’t keep recycling the same clothes every week at work.

Or rather, since I work with five GUYS, I CAN recycle the same clothes every week because Lord knows, they’d never notice. But I get bored.  And the “classic” clothes, the ones I wore all the time a few years ago, now look dated and make me FEEL frumpy. Not a good thing for an aging, over-her-boxing weight writer who sits on her butt too much.

Um. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, drawer. So, my hubby can’t figure out that the top drawer in the middle of my dresser is for short sleeved tee shirts, the middle drawer for long sleeved tee shirts, and the bottom drawer for sleeveless tee shirts. He also is blind when it comes to my sock drawer; okay, so maybe it’s full – but did he have to put my socks in my underwear drawer? And okay, so maybe my underwear drawer had been fairly empty at the time, except for a couple pairs of really expensive nylons still in their package that are too small for me currently but which I refuse to get rid of. Nylons are coming back – have you seen how pretty they make Kate Windsor’s legs look? (I THINK that’s her last name… you know, the gal that married the oldest Prince over in England this past April or so.) Vogue or Cosmopolitan or someone hates her for bringing back nylons, but as the saying goes – everything old is new again…

It’s not much to ask, after all. Having hubby put my clothes away in the proper drawer, I mean. I did it every single time I did laundry this past ten years – all eighteen or nineteen times, definitely.  Plus, I fold his boxers. He never folds my underwear, they all just go into a colorful jumble in my drawer and getting one pair out is similar to pulling on just one ornament hook at Christmas time. You’re going for one, you get the whole bunch, and they end up scattered on the floor. Except with underwear, there’s no poky bits to stab you in the foot when you’re walking in the dark, sneaking a cookie and a cup of hot chocolate in the middle of the night.

It’s not that I’m a procrastinator, it’s just that there are so many more interesting things to spend time on than housework. Right now, I’m avoiding decorating the Christmas Tree. The rest of the family is pretending not to know they’re expected to get the ornament boxes and the lights out so I can proceed to decorate. I am NOT going into the garage and risk my neck getting those boxes – I think I’d need some crampons, climbing rope and chalk for my hands to ascend the pile of camping stuff currently stacked in front of the shelves holding the Christmas boxes. That, after all, is why I have two strapping sons with long legs and longer arms. They just need to lean over a bit, grunt a couple of times, and snag the boxes. Me? I’d probably break my other leg.

But to get back to my main topic – I guess I’m going to have to weed out the clothes I’ll never wear again. And this time, go through my tee shirt drawer as well as my sock drawer, and maybe hubby will find it easier to put my clothes in the proper spots.

And maybe the bedroom will actually get finished in 2012. We started stripping wallpaper off in June of this year. We’ve gotten one wall stripped. Not puttied, not re-sanded – just stripped and sanded. It took me two years to finish the boys’ bathroom, and that room was a lot smaller than our bedroom.

I’m guessing the bedroom will get done by 2015. There are just so many more interesting things to do…

What are you putting off? Donating old clothes, cleaning out your closets, getting your skin checked for skin cancer…? Pick one and get it done. I promise I’ll go through all my clothes before Christmas Day and donate all the clothing in good condition. How about you?

~  ~  ~

~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~

Demon Soul is available for the Kindle and the Nook! Have you read it yet?

It just occurred to me that this will be my last post before 2011 draws
to a close, so I decided to take a look back at some of the things that have
happened in my writing life this year.

At the beginning of 2011, I had six romances, plus two short stories in
anthologies and two freebies, that had been published. I also had two young
adult novels published (the YA is under a different name). During the fall of
2010, I had gotten revise/resubmit requests on several books, and by January or
February of 2011, I’d done all the suggested revisions and had resubmitted all
the manuscripts. I had no idea whether I would end up with contracts or not.

At the beginning of 2011, my romances had been published by Excessica,
Noble Romance, Siren Publishing, and Pink Petal Books, and my young adult by
Jupiter Gardens Press. I had submitted to MLR Press, Passion in Print,
and—holding my breath and hoping my friend who recommended it was
right—Ellora’s Cave. The latter was the one I figured I was least likely to get
into. All three of those publishers sent me revise/resubmits, along with
Featherweight Press, where I had submitted a young adult novel.

I was accepted by Ellora’s Cave. And by MLR, Passion in Print, and
Featherweight.

In 2011, the rights on my first two romances, both from Excessica, were
reverted to me. Those stories sit on my hard drive currently, awaiting my
decision on what I’m going to do with them.

Since January, I’ve had another short story published in an anthology,
along with 10 stand-alone romances published. That number will go up to 11 on
December 26, when my MLR Press Christmas story “Tofurkey and Yams” is released.
I’ve also had 6 more young adult novels published.

I did a lot of promoting, a lot of guest blog posts and interviews, and
even traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Authors After Dark conference,
which was my first con and was a lot of fun.

It occurred to me in the midst of all that that I was probably doing too
much. I barely had time to promote each book as it was released, and I was
getting tired of seeing my names out there and had a feeling readers might too.

I’ve made some decisions during 2011, and some decisions were made about
me, that will change my writing life even more in 2012. In addition to working
with the publishers I name above, I’ll have releases from Cleis Press (a short
story in one of their anthologies) and MuseItUp Publishing (under my young
adult name) during 2012. I have a couple projects under submission at other
places, and a couple ideas that might lead to even bigger things.

Mostly, though, what I’ve learned in 2011 is that writing is a business,
but for me it needs to be a fun one. When I try too hard to do too much,
writing becomes work, and that defeats my entire purpose of doing it. So for
2012, the plan is to enjoy writing, celebrate my contracts and releases, and
take time to have fun with it all.

Where does the time go?  It seems like just a few weeks ago that I stood outside the doorway of my classroom, welcoming a new group of students.  Then I blinked, and suddenly it’s December!

And what do I have done to prepare for the holidays?  Not much!  I had to go waaaay out of town for Thanksgiving, so nothing got done last weekend.  I’m not much of a holiday person, honestly, but even I have to buy a few gifts.  Of course, as of today I have bought exactly zero presents.  The hubby and I will be visiting both our parents’ homes, as usual.  Most years I bring cookies, along with some side dishes.  This year I have no idea what I’m going to bring.

You know what?  I’m not going to stress over it.  I think this is one of those rare times in which being a “pantser” when I write will actually come in handy in real life.  I’ve decided I’m just going to go with the flow this year.  Instead of stressing over shopping, baking, and all the other myriad little holiday details I could be worrying about, I’m going to kick back and relax.  Read some books I’ve had on my to be read list.  Maybe even…work on the sequel to my latest release, Healer.  It’s been a while since I let myself have time to do the things I want to do without feeling guilty about what I “should” be doing.

The baking, shopping, and whatnot will happen, but it doesn’t need to be done right now, right?

I’ve got an awful lot of reading and writing to catch up on. 

What do you all plan to do for the holidays?  Read?  Travel?  Shop?  Hang out with family?  Just relax at home?

Cassandra Gold

Gay romance with a heart of gold

www.cassandragold.com

Anybody else out there looking to catch up on some reading?  If so, check out my latest release, Healer, available now from Amber Allure!

For years, Dr. Tristan Matheson has hidden his unusual healing abilities, pretending to be an ordinary doctor instead. And he’s eluded detection—until now. When Tristan’s targeted, a mysterious shapeshifter named Cam becomes his only means of escape

A member of the Delphic Institute, Cam is capable of taking the shape of anyone he’s ever seen. Retrieving Tristan was supposed to be an ordinary mission, but the feelings the doctor stirs in Cam are surprising and unwelcome

Unfortunately, Tristan and Cam have a bigger problem then their mutual attraction. A war brewing between groups interested in “recruiting” people with special talents could tear them apart before they ever get together…

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Institute_Healer.html