I hope your 2012 has kicked off to a good start - or at least "promising"! We're enjoying the mild winter so far here in the Northeast...although I'm saying that as we're expecting a foot of snow by tomorrow!

In the first few weeks of the new year I've been plotting my writing for the next twelve months. There are some Big Plans a foot, with a goal of four books before the calendar turns another year older. Now I'm putting that out there so you can all be my reminders if I slack off!!

Be good all!

I'm delighted to report that "Personal Shopper" - my new holiday m/m novella - is available now from MLR Press. 

This was something different for me - a story on the light hearted side and much shorter than my usual fare. It was a challenge (I'm a wordy girl) but in the end, I felt like a new door opened up for me. I can write short! I can write short and enjoy it! 

There's a danger for writers in believing that ALL the words will tell the story the best way when sometimes less is more - more powerful, more effective, more interesting for the writer and reader. I'm happy I got a chance to experience the novella in such a positive way and I look forward to writing more in the future.

And thanks for Kris and the folks at MLR for giving me this chance. They've been friends for awhile and I was glad to be a part of their great holiday promotion. 

Happy Holidays - all of them! - to you all. 

I think I'm a little addicted to my laptop.

It makes sense; my livelihood is on this computer! My creative focus is centered on this thing (I don't write longhand). I'm used to checking my various sites like Facebook and Goodreads, tweeting, etc. When my laptop isn't around I apparently get twitchy.

My beautiful Macbook Pro took a nasty fall on Thursday night and went to the Apple hospital on Friday. Five long days of me trying to deal with my email via my iPod and the ancient desktop - it's pretty funny how spoiled I am with the Pro! Watching me on the desktop, you'd think I was using a chisel to carve pictures on a rock!

All is well now. They replaced the damaged screen and now I have a gorgeous new case. The Apple folks did a wonderful job and I'm super grateful - now I can stop sending smoke signals!

Seriously - I could clearly not live very long in a post-apocalyptic society without electricity or computers! LOL

Okay - what piece of technology can you not live without?

My friends are well aware of the dramatic inner (and outer, sorry!) monologues which take place when I'm writing. The two worse bridges we have to cross are the beginning and about 3/4s through, when I'm convinced that that book will never ever be finished and I should become an electrician.

I'm sure it's funny by now but when I'm in those moments, it's So Very Serious! ;)

Starting a book is a tough one. Over the years, I've probably started a thousand books. And thought of about ten thousand more than that! Picking which story works and which story is enough to get to the end is a very tough part of being a writer. Sometimes we get almost to the end before we find out we're wrong! 

But that's the first step. In the endless file cabinet of my brain, which of those ideas is strong enough to reach the finish line? Which idea is equal parts love and potential, that I want to share with readers?

I'm in the place right now. I have some things sitting on my desktop but we're in a courting stage. I'm playing hard to get, they're wooing me...it might get rocky and dramatic but the right choice means a HEA for everyone!

Well, it took long enough!

After no less than three attempts at getting this done, the new website is at its new home. There are still things to be uploaded and tweaks to make but I feel like I can finally invite folks over to the new place!

Exciting book news to report - I have a book on the holiday schedule for MLR Press. My m/m novella, "The Personal Shopper", will be released in e-format on December 19th, part of their monthlong holiday-themed releases. I'll be doing a contest to win a copy so stop by November 15th to enter!

The Personal Shopper:
Will Nixon only has three days to whip up the perfect NYC family Christmas to impress his twin sister's future in-laws. By chance he meets the charming and possibly perfect Hudson Smith, an out of town business man, who agrees to be his "personal shopper" in order to get everything done. In the middle of a whirlwind of prep, Will and Hudson find themselves doing more than shopping - they might be falling in love.

I hope you like it - it was great fun to write. :) 

Cute boys falling in love over the holidays - what's not to love?

Thanks for stopping by!