No unwrapping required!

I know it's early for gift giving, but I believe the key to a stress-free holiday season is to start early!

So, on that note, I'm offering a gift to my readers.

I have re-released my 2005 vampire novel, Fresh Blood and it's now available from my website as a FREE download!

Check out this cover art! This was created for me by one of the incomparable Romance Divas! Ginny Glass [aka Word Sugar] does incredible work, and I plan to have reason to need more of her covers soon.

Please stop by my website and pick up a copy of Fresh Blood - and if you've already read the book - thank you! I haven't left you out. There will be a another free read available soon - all new and never before published, so please check back to my FREE READS often.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

It's that day again!

I blogged about Black Friday last year and how much you just have to love a day that most people have off for no better reason than it's the day AFTER a holiday.

You really can't beat that. Now, I realize everyone out there who works in retail probably curses this day. The sales start at 4:00 AM [seriously - what does anyone need that badly they have to go out at four in the morning to get it?], the crowds are vicious and the next day is Saturday, so people just come back and shop all over again.

I stay home and put up the tree. Today it all got done - amazingly enough. I put up the outdoor decorations, and the tree - DH cleaned the living room for me from top to bottom [will miracles never cease?] and now I'm ready to crash.

Dinner was leftovers from Turkey Day, and they were just as good the second night with a little fresh corn bread stuffing and some home made chocolate covered rice krispy treats for dessert.

I can honestly say, I'm just about ready for the holidays and marginallly stress free at the moment. So on that note: Happy Black Friday everyone! Have a great un-holiday.

Have a happy turkey day!

Sexy Comments & Profile Graphics

WANT!

I must have one of these.

It's called a Smart Fortwo and it's just adorable, don't you think?

Sure, it is literally a tin can on wheels. Not much bigger than a Matchbox car, it's not made for highway driving, and it's real purpose is for city folk who will be hopping short distances to go from office to Starbucks to pick up their dry cleaning to the corner market then back to high rise apartment, but damn...

I WANT one!! I could fit four of them in my driveway. Heck, I could probably fit one in my purse.

Summerfallwinter in New Jersey

I envy anyone who lives in an area of the country [or the world for that matter] where the weather is predictable.

One thing I tell people I like about living in northern New Jersey, is the change of seasons. However - case in point this weekend, I'm not so fond of having three out of four seasons occur all in the space of 24 hours.

Yesterday started out humid and 'tropical rainy season' wet. I discovered the depth of that wetness when I went out to go shopping and discovered my car window had been open a crack ALL NIGHT LONG.

So, after covering my damp driver's seat with a plastic bag and beach towel, DD and I set off in search of crafts.

The half-hour ride was full of rain and wind - seasonable Novemberish weather. After about 90 minutes in the craft store, we emerged to hot sun [so glad I left my sunglasses on the kitchen table at home because at that time they were utterly useless to me]. We cranked the AC in the car and headed home. Welcome back to summer.

We arrived back home to windy rain, and this morning woke to bitter cold and a threatening gun-metal gray sky that looked like it was gearing up for a blizzard.

I often wonder how nice it would be to live somewhere where the weather is static. A balmy 80 degrees for maybe 360 out of 365 days - or someplace with a rainy season, a dry season and a tropical paradise season and that's it.

Don't get me wrong, we do enjoy some beautiful days here in NJ, but they're usually interspersed between a day of blazing heat and a day of bitter cold. We've learned over time only to appreciate the kind of weather we had last month [whatever last month happened to be] - for instance in the middle of winter everyone is wishing for the dog days of summer [during which they were cursing the heat and counting the days until the crisp afternoons of autumn begin.]

The funny part is Mother Nature has our number. She doesn't want to hear us complaining so she gives us what we want - all in the same day sometimes.

And from the file of 'Things no one needs...'

Literary action figures.
There are more available at this place and various others around the web.
With all the debate lately about whether or not books are 'recession-proof' [just in case, you know, we actually have a recession one of these days] it begs the question, how do companies that manufacture stuff like this intend to stay in business?
Granted, action figures in general are big money. Kids love 'em - Ninja Turtles, Star Wars - even the collectors go crazy for the stuff [DH being case in point]. There are people who will forgo paying the electric bill in order to get their hobby fix, their books, etc, but how many people do you suppose will be saving their scarce pennies in the coming months to complete their collection of literary action figures?

Available Today!

A Rogue's Redemption by Jennifer Colgan

ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-417-4 (Electronic)

Sequel to A Rogue's Reward...

Fallon Robard, captain of the all-female crew of the Gabrielle, made her most difficult decision when she abandoned young lovers Rhea Galant and Lord Sheppard York on a deserted island after Sheppard’s father refused to pay the ransom for his kidnapped son. Now, months later, Sheppard’s older brothers, Jacob and Jon, have tracked down Fallon.
The handsome twins seek to avenge their brother’s suffering and demand Fallon repent her crimes. When faced with punishment at the hands of two masterful men, will Fallon get more than she bargained for, or just what she deserves?

Genres: Historical / Pirate / Action / Adventure / BDSM / Series

Heat Level: 3

Length: Extended Novella (32k words)

Check out Amber Quill Press for a sizzling excerpt!

What size do you prefer?

Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about purses.

I ask because I often find myself faced with the purse dilemma. A big purse is great because you can carry everything. In addition to the essentials like wallet, keys, sunglasses and cell phone, you have room for those important emergency products every woman needs - like a novel, a can of hair spray, coupon file, manicure kit, assorted lip gloss and a small pharmacy.

The down side of the big purse is they tend to become satchels that you sling over your back like Santa on Christmas Eve. They weigh a ton and usually you can never find what you want inside, even though you KNOW it has to be in there somewhere.

Last week, I dumped my satchel purse and went for something petite and compact.

It holds my wallet [a new, smaller wallet], a miniature hair brush, my keys, cell phone, sun glasses and a pen.

You would think I could get by on that, but I'm worried. What happens when someone hands me something to carry?

For instance, DH will regularly hand me his wallet and his keys when we're out shopping - because being a man and having pockets sometimes isn't all its cracked up to be. The kids do the same thing. I become the repository for small items they buy and don't want to carry - the lip gloss, the Matchbox car. I become the holder of the four useless crayons that come with the kids menu in any restaurant. [Heaven forbid they just leave them there - it's not like we don't have 4000 crayons at home]. I become the keeper of the Nintendo DS, the library book and anything else they are too frail to schlep home from wherever they've been.

Now I can't do that. In fact, I had to perform origami just to get my paycheck in my purse on Friday. There is no extra room at all.

Maybe I should get a new big purse and just put my small purse inside it. That should solve all my problems.

So, big or small? Which way do you roll?

I don't want to know.

Seriously, you can throw rotten tomatoes at me if you want to, but I dread finding out the outcome of this election.

I know I could stir up a lot of political upheaval, and there are staunch defenders of each side, but my personal belief is, no matter who wins, we all lose.

All politicians make promises they don't keep - either they never intended to in the first place, or they discover they just can't re-align the wheels of change the way they thought they would be able to.

It's long been my belief that anyone truly qualified to run this amazingly complex country would be too humble to want the job.

My wish is that whoever is fortunate [or unfortunate as the case may be] enough to win will surprise us all and be the kind of leader he already thinks he is. I will light a small candle for hope, but I won't be holding my breath.

Good luck everyone. I do believe we're all going to need it.

The new grind...

...as opposed to the old grind, begins today.

I'm off to my new job - yes, yet another one, and hopefully a new way of looking at my life as a writer. It's time to re-invent myself and change my approach.

How am I going to do that?

Not sure. I think I may start by cleaning off my bulletin board.

Projects on deck:

Revisions of my gargoyle story, revision of my blurb for Strange New World [Samhain, Feb 09], plotting of my demon story, revamping [no pun intended] my website and possibly making a free read available.

All in my copious spare time.

Oh, yes, and shopping for a new washing machine since mine broke down yesterday [surprise, surprise] and in doing some research DH discovered the darn thing may be at least 20 years old. Definitely time for a new one. SIGH.

Have a Spooky Day!

Trying to Forget Sarah Marshall

So last night, the complete lack of decent television compelled me to visit Blockbuster. I rented Forgetting Sarah Marshall which stars Jason Segel [oddly enough, Marshall from How I Met Your Mother], Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis.

This movie was the talk of the town when it came out, and I’d been looking forward to seeing it...Now I can add it to the list of movies I’m glad I didn’t spent $10 bucks on.

It had its funny moments. Seeing Jason Segel in the full Monty, however, was not one of them. That, I think was one of the big draws. Few movies, even R rated ones, bother will male frontal nudity because, let’s face it – who needs to see that? I certainly did not.

No offense of course to JS who seems like a really nice guy and does a wonderful job on HIMYM, but he ain’t no romance hero. If you get my drift.

Yes, I know. I’m being somewhat sexist. Romance writers tend to rail against the idealized female figure – we prefer to write heroines who are not size 0 [like Eva Longoria, who recently made news by tubbing out to a single digit nothing from 00 which is apparently in Hollywood, the new size 2]. We’re tired of the blond, blue-eyed nymphettes who are lovely enough to be runway models, yet brilliant enough to be astrophysicists. So who am I to be less than impressed with a male physique that’s not streamlined, tanned, waxed and oiled?

I offer my sincerest apologies, however, I’m still going to do my best to forget Sarah Marshall. I imagine I will have a much easier time of it than Jason Segel’s character did.

Hot Hot Hot!

Here's my sizzling new cover for A Rogue's Redemption, sequel to A Rogue's Reward.
Redemption will be coming this November from Amber Quill.
Here's the blurb:
Fallon Robard, captain of the all-female crew of the Gabrielle, made her most difficult decision when she abandoned young lovers Rhea Galant and Lord Sheppard York on a deserted island after Sheppard’s father refused to pay the ransom for his kidnapped son. Now, months later, Sheppard’s older brothers, Jacob and Jon, have tracked down Fallon. The handsome twins seek to avenge their brother’s suffering and demand Fallon repent her crimes. When faced with punishment at the hands of two masterful men, will Fallon get more than she bargained for, or just what she deserves?
And here's steamy excerpt excerpt, rated R for language:
Fallon crouched in the shadows of the cell, the freshly oiled links of the shackle chain clutched in her hand. She hadn’t bothered struggling after Jon York locked her up. She knew the friction of the iron cuffs would only damage her wrists and leave her less able to defend herself, so she’d remained as still as possible for hours, contemplating her next move and wondering what flaw in her character had led her to wish, even for a fleeting moment, that Jon might have fucked her when he had the chance.
That at least, she could relate to. If they’d tied her up and taken turns, or even just threatened to use her to sate their base male urges, she’d have understood their motives. But these strange games, binding her here, shackling her there, telling her things that caused her pain rather than simply hurting her physically—none of that made sense.
Of course, she had to wonder why it even mattered to her what the elder York brothers wanted from her. They’d get nothing that they didn’t take by force.
She held the chain tighter and strained to hear their footsteps. For a while they’d been above her in the infirmary, and she wondered if they’d found the knothole through which the crew often observed prisoners. They could watch her if they wanted to, but they’d still gain nothing.
Now one of them approached. The lock on the cell door rattled, and she allowed herself to hope it was Jon. His soft, sensual touch with the drying cloth had given her some hope he might be more easily manipulated. Being one step away from his father’s seat as governor, Jacob had apparently already lost his ability to feel compassion. Jon, at least, still obviously possessed a soul.
She knew instantly it was Jacob when the door swung wide. It wasn’t the scar that gave him away, but the flinty quality of his stare. The shadows behind his piercing gaze made her heart beat faster with an emotion she couldn’t name. When he looked at her she felt as naked as she’d been this morning on the deck.
Fortunately the savory aroma of soup chased away all thoughts of attacking him with the coiled up chain. She tore her gaze from his and followed the path of the food tray which he set before her on the floor.
“I don’t need to ask if you’re hungry. I can tell by the look in your eyes.”
She ignored him and concentrated on not licking her lips. A fresh biscuit accompanied the soup, and her stomach rumbled at the sight of it.
“Come here if you want to eat.”
Fallon considered refusing, but how long would she last if she starved herself? Glaring at him, she dropped the chain and shuffled over to the tray.
“Sit.” He didn’t wait for her response, just lowered himself to a cross-legged position before the still-steaming food. He then burrowed one hand into the pocket of his dark trousers and pulled out a length of black silk. She recognized the sash from her wardrobe. Woven by a blind artisan in Port Royal, it bore threads of silver and gold that lent a sparkle to the cloth in any light.
Jacob held it up in both hands. “This is for you.”
“It’s an expensive napkin, milord. I’d rather wipe my mouth on my sleeve than ruin a fine piece of work like that.”
He hesitated a moment, then laughed. “I’m not so jaded that I would use silk as a lapcloth. This is a blindfold.” His smile faded on the last word, and Fallon shivered. Her quizzical expression prompted his further explanation. “Sheppard told me at first he was not allowed to remove his shackles while he ate. Rhea fed him. So I will feed you.”
“And I can’t watch?”
“No. You’ll need to rely on me…to trust me.”
Again Fallon considered refusing, but her traitorous stomach protested loud enough this time for Jacob to hear. His flawed eyebrow twitched, and Fallon felt herself blush. “Fine.”
He leaned forward and fastened the sash across her eyes with quick, efficient movements. This was a man familiar with tying knots, or at least accustomed to blindfolding women.
His masculine scent rode over the aroma of the soup for a moment, and beneath the cloth, Fallon closed her eyes. She recognized clove and wild mint, a fragrance popular among gentlemen of the aristocracy.
When he finished his task and pulled back, she tried to follow his movements and gauge his position, imaging how he looked and how he might be looking at her.
“Are you ready?” His seductive whisper left her lightheaded, or perhaps that was hunger. Fallon had to wonder just what he wanted her ready for.
“Yes.”
She listened to the blunt scrape of metal spoon on wooden bowl and waited. “Open.” The word struck her like an arrow. Her heart thudded, and her clit throbbed when she considered what else she might open upon his command besides her mouth.
***

Did you miss me?

I usually ask DH that question when I get back from somewhere that I've been for any longer than say six hours.

His response, usually accompanied by a sly grin, is something along the lines of: Were you gone?

I was gone this weekend - at NJRW in Iselin NJ at the Hilton Hotel, which last year I believe was the Sheraton Hotel.

Confusing as the venue was, I had a great time rooming with Jen Baum. We always have a blast and this weekend was no exception.

This convention was a bit different for me, however, in that I didn't look at is work. I wasn't there to schmooze, to sign, to pitch or even really to learn. I was there to get away for the weekend and a have some fun. It was nice not to have the stress of dealing with an agent or editor appointment or worrying about having to hawk my books at the signing [though it was fun last year]. This time I got to shop the Book Fair [limited myself to four books to go along with the 7 books I got for free], and I didn't feel rushed.

On thing I did learn this weekend in spite of my desire to just kick back and have a good time, had to do with promo. I haunted the goodie room as I usually do and took note of the types of things authors brought. As in the past I've noticed this: PAPER GOODS DO NOT MOVE!

If you're planning to spend money on promo items, I would suggest thinking twice about dropping a lot of money on paper book marks, business cards or even brochures or post cards. Anything not attached to a fun item like a beaded book mark, a piece of candy, a candle, a seashell, whatever, usually does not get touched.

If you want your name to be seen, or someone to take an interest in your books consider the following: Giving away free books [You may think, wow, that's expensive, but even giving away a dozen copies of your print book puts a dozen readers in touch with how you write. You could make a fan for life.] Attach your post card to a gift of some sort - my beaded book marks still moved pretty well, though it wasn't the free for all grab fest it has been in previous years. I came home with a box full, but the ones I put out did get taken. Invest in pens - seriously, writers can't resist pens or small notepads, these things move. Provide something useful - sticks of gum, packs of tissues, candles, matchbooks, etc - an item a reader will use will attract attention.

Disclaimer: I'm no marketing expert. I speak only from the experience of watching what people were taking and what they were not taking from the goodie room. In my opinion the most important thing is to get your writing into the hands of readers, not just your name.

NJRW - Episode 4

Tomorrow I'm off to NJRW's Put Your Heart in a Book Conference. This is my fourth year going to the conference and I've always had a great time.

It's awesome to be able to hang out with so many writers - and I won't lie, it's also fabulous to get away from the daily grind once a year. I won't have to make a bed, wash a dish or cook a meal for two days. It doesn't get better than that - except when it's for more than two days.

Catch with you on Monday!

There's a new hottie in town

Admittedly, the last Season of Smallville was utterly dismal. I'd almost given up watching - seriously who wants to see Chloe marry Jimmy? Gimme a break.

However, with the return of Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow [oops, did I just give away his secret identity?] there's now a reason to go back to Kansas.

Here's a question - how do you think Justin would look as a blond vampire?? Bwahahaha!

The Paranormal is Normal

Or so says Garrett Husveth of Haunted New Jersey Paranormal Investigations.

The kids and I attended a lecture given by Mr. Husveth at our local library last night, perfect timing for Halloween! The presentation was fascinating and we learned a lot about real world ghost hunting [ a boring and expensive hobby according to the investiagtor who also co-wrote a book in the subject of hauntings in New Jersey].

Ghost hunting seems to be mostly about setting up tons of electronic equipment and waiting, sometimes months, for something to happen.

Over the more than 20 years Mr. Husveth has been investigating paranormal phenomenon he's actually had some amazing experiences and collected hours and hours of EVPs - or electronic voice phenomenon recordings. He played a number of these EVPs for us, some of which were quite spooky.

He also played what appeared to be actual 'spirit' communications [different from ghost EVPs] that were recorded by an organization that specializes in Instrumental Transcommunicaition - or conversations with the spirit world. Apparently this isn't something new, nor is it a fringe vocation, as the US Air Force is reported to have been experimenting with EVPs and spirit communicaiton for years.

All in all, we enjoyed the presentation, though it took some of the shine off of our obsession with Ghost Hunters [TAPS] whom Mr. Husveth calls 'the best of the worst.' I'd wondered if some of what we see on TV might be staged or tweaked for the cameras and I won't spoil anyone's fun, but meeting a real life paranormal investigator certainly puts a new spin on this topic.

Do you have any ghost stories to share?

What's your Portmanteau Name?

I can see you looking at me like I’m crazy – and I am a little, but I’m serious about this question.
A portmanteau word is a word formed by combining parts of two others ie emoticon, blog, frenemies, celebutante. Modern vernacular is full of them and it’s spilled over from words to names.

It started with celebrity couples like Bennifer [Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez which later became Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner]. Then there’s TomKat [Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes] and of course Brangelina, which needs no explanation. Then they started doing it with individual celebrities. We all know JLo and now there’s LiLo [Lindsay Lohan] and SamRo [her girlfriend Samantha Ronson] and I’ve even seen ScarJo [poor Scarlett Johansen.]

I wonder if the trend will ever catch on among authors? Will we be discussing NoRo at the next conference? SherKen doesn’t sound right. Maybe KMMo for Karen Marie Moning? I think having an ‘o’ in the name makes it easier to smash, not sure why.

It doesn’t work too well with Bernadette – BernGard? Yech. But I suppose I can get away with JenCo.

How about you? Can you portmanteau?

No. Can. Do.

I should never have even considered it, but there was nothing else on and I didn't feel like leaving the couch, so I put on the Presidential debate.

Big mistake.

I know, as a concerned tax payer [rather a terrified, disgusted, disillusioned taxpayer] I should be interested in what the candidates have to say, but to me...I don't know, it all just seems like a big show.

I don't believe either of them really know what they're doing and I don't believe either of them is making any promises they will be able to keep even if they wanted to. If politicians did half of what they promised they would do, we wouldn't be in a paralyzing financial crisis right now. So how can either presidential candidate get up in front of the nation and really expect people to believe they know how to make things better in four short years?

I ended up yelling at the TV, so I turned it off, went down to the basement and plotted out a quilt. I haven't done that in a while and it was relaxing to move little bright colored pieces of fabric around.

When it comes to election day, I really don't know what I'm going to do. I'm so tired of voting for the guy I think will do the least damage. I hate to entertain political dabates on my blog, but does anyone have some real insight into who might actually know enough to help the country rather than just compound the problem once they get into office? I sure as heck don't.

Picture of the week

I came across this while going through some old photos for a project DS has due the end of the week. It symbolizes my mood of late.

In an effort not to be too much of a downer, I'll probably be blogging sporadically for a while. But I will be looking for more inspirational photos.