1. Go to page 77 (or 7th) of your current ms
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines-sentences or paragraphs- and post them as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other authors. No cheating.

It seems like a lot of fun, but before I get into it… I need to lay out a couple of provisos.  First, the only thing I’m really superstitious about is my writing.  This better be a *lucky* thing to do!  Secondly, my current manuscript is in the first draft stage, and because I usually include notes and place holders in the body of my first draft, it’s a complete mess.  So, since I got tagged by 2 authors, I figure I’ll also include lines from a recent submission – that hopefully isn’t a complete mess.  And, of course, I have no guarantee that either of these will end up getting contracted. This might be all you see of them.  But I’m only tagging 7 other authors!

–

First – completely rough, unnamed manuscript.

“We got word that one of the suspected up and comers in ***’s organization has advertised for a roommate.  I want you to get in there and see one – if the connection is real, and two – if you can find some inside information on ***.  If we can’t take him down, we’re going to have more incidents like today.”

Ivan frowned.  “A roommate?  Why on earth would he need a roommate?”

Moffett shrugged.

–

Second – refined submission, working title – Craving

Reason suggested he dial it back, interact like two civil colleagues, but reason was crushed under a rancid tide of anger and regret.  Brandon had done nothing but suppress his feelings since the day he’d been told his hearing would never fully return.  Seeing Oliver again tapped a deep well of bitterness he hadn’t known was festering in his soul, and words spouted from his mouth that his brain tried desperately to abort.

“Can you?  Without getting people hurt or killed?”

Anger added a rosy flush to Oliver’s bronzed cheekbones.  “Injury is a risk.”

–

Gah.  Terrified to post this… so superstitious!

Fiction with Friction

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Heidi Cullinan

Kari Gregg

That being said, I also must thank those who thought enough of Cop Out to nominate it in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s 2011 Members’ Choice Awards.  If you care to vote, please do.  Here’s the link, and I’m in the Coming Out, Gay/Out for You, and Contemporary categories.  You don’t need to be a member of Goodreads or the M/M Romance group to vote, but it’s a fun place to be, so think about joining.  Voting is open until December 30, 2011.

Regardless of how the voting turns out, I get to post this great banner, and I’m thrilled and honoured to have my name up there with so many fantastic authors.

p.s. the phone thing isn’t going especially well… in fact, failed miserably for posting this

MIA Case Files: Wolfsbane

MIA Case Files: Blood Relations

Spice ‘n’ Solace

The special rebate is in effect until 11:59 pm (US/Central) on May 30, 2011, for PayPal or credit card purchases.

• Best Vampire Book
• Best Book Cover

MIA Case Files: Blood Relations was nominated in the “Best of 2010″ Reader Awards at Love Romances Cafe for Best Vampire book and Best Cover.  Obviously I can’t take any credit for best cover — Croco Designs has been SO good to me   I’m in some fabulous company — I’m completely thrilled!

Now, I’m kinda cheating, because I’ve got one that’s already a first draft (last words finished this morning & my first attempt at cyberpunk) and one that’s got 10K already written (first attempt at a contemporary).  But if stacking the deck is what it takes, well, call me a cheater   It also helps that I’ve got tons of ideas besides those two.  I want to write a third MIA book (oh, poor Oliver — I intend to put him through the wringer).  I’d like to write a sequel to my upcoming Carina release, and this one would involve alien nookie.  And I’ve got an idea for another contemporary as well as a time travel one.  And those are only the ones I’ve made notes for.

For a change, I’ve even got titles picked out for half of them, which is highly unusual, since I usually use a generic working title until I’m ready to submit.  Then I agonize over choosing something suitable.  For instance, MIA Case Files: Wolfsbane spent several months as “the agency”.  Blood Relations was “vampire agency”.  Spice ‘n’ Solace, my upcoming Carina Press release started out as “rent boy”.

The cyberpunk is currently “the hacker” although I’ve chosen a proper title now, and the contemporary has a working title that I might want to keep.  MIA 3 already has  a title, too.  Because I’m weird about titles, I’m not going to share the ones I’ve picked out… not yet.

So…  back to the resolutions.  I have an idea of how long I want each one to be, and if I subtract the words I’ve already written, that means about 215K for 2011.  I think that’s manageable, even with a full time job.

As an adjunct, I’d like to find more time for Facebook — probably more people say they should spend less time on it, but I need to feel more comfortable with that style of communication.  So for me, the easy resolution will be the writing bit.  The hard bit will be Facebook.  And if I manage to exercise more and eat right, that’s just gravy!

Hope everyone has a fabulous 2011!