I’m seriously considering a virtual assistant.   : )

Suza

Wow, have I been out of touch with my blog or what? Two weeks have flown by, and here I am without an interesting tidbit. Unless you count the fact that the new “Karate Kid” movie features a boy who learns Kung Fu. Anybody else see the descrepancy there?

Can’t complain about how busy I’ve been, since the reason for my abscence can be summed up in a word. Deadlines. How sweet the sound! As a matter of fact, I’ve cleared the week to finish the first draft of one book so I can start on the next project. With my first release coming out in June or July, I have to get at it.

In lieu of the research trivia that seems to have gone over well with followers, I offer a cat story. 

In the past two months the cats and I have suffered a home invasion. Make that multiple home invasions. By foreign cats.

Felines who are unknown to my kitties or myself. The problem is, I have a cat fence that keeps my lovelies safe in the yard and away from the cruel world. (Plus, they don’t leave paw-prints in neighbors’ cars. That makes people angry, and I know this from past experience.) So when a strange cat gets in, they can’t get back out.

The first time it happened, a beautiful long-haired tom, black, with white chest and paws, sought shelter from the pouring rain. He made the mistake of coming in the cat door, only to be greeted by my brood of 5, who were not happy with the uninvited guest. Needless to say, he ran back out, and only a little fur flew in the air. (Daisy, the bodyguard, doing her duty.)

After being chased out of the grill where he’d hidden(once the rain had stopped, because I’m not heartless) the cat came back two more times, making a total of 3 visits with the same scenario, due to his evident short-term memory, then he wised up and never came back.

Two nights ago, I was awakened by the scrambling noise of a crazy cat trying to find a way out of the fence and the growls of my 5 who were at the windows watching. (I’ve taken to closing the pet door at night with mine inside. Too risky to leave it open.)

Couldn’t believe my eyes. It was another cat entirely, and wild, wild, wild. Full black, a yearling, and probably just terrified to be trapped. So in my daze, because EVERY time, it happens between 4 and 6 a.m., I opened the fence gate and herded him out.

This morning, at 5:45, a little later than usual, there it was, the clawing of toenails on the fence, and Thomas O’Malley, who has had enough of this, by the way, standing at the door and chomping at the bit to get out.  He normally lets Daisy do the dirty work, but even he realizes when a missive needs to be sent out to the area cats. Stay out of my yard!!!

And wonder of wonders, it was a new cat entirely, full white, young male. They’ve all been male, but anyway…

So now I have a problem. Evidently, they’re leaving a scent behind that’s got other cats curious when they pass by on their nightly strolls. I’ll have to figure out how to put a stop to it, maybe some wolf urine or whatever I can buy at a hunting store, right? And no, I have no females in heat here. Everybody in this household got fixed years ago. C’est la vie.

Well, that’s all for now, have to finish up that book. So excited about what’s happening and can’t wait to release. Funny, it’s been right at a year since I first set up the website, blog, etc. How much difference the last 11 months have made.

With love and murder,

Suza

E-book options, what a winding road of technology and changing by the hour.

There are e-publishers, both classic publishers and new, there are companies that allow you to publish things yourself, Kindle, Barnes and Noble. Goodness, another arena to learn about in the new millenium of publishing. They can publish you e, or you can publish you e…whew.

Things sure aren’t what they used to be.

I’m not as knowledgeable about e-books as I want to be, but I admit, I’m also leaning heavily on my techie webmaster. He loves this kind of stuff. I need an E-publishing for Dummies book.

But it’s not neccesarily a bad turn of events. Statistics about how much attention publishers give to their writers, how much they PAY their writers, and how much publicity work the writer has to do for themselves…well, it’s food for thought. (Yes. That was a cliche, but again, that’s the freedom of the blog!)

Well, this has been a ramble, but that’s pretty much what my brain sounds like when I start reading about anything that employs binary digits.

I’m going to go take a bath and read a book.

The paper kind.  ; )

I looked at the date and title of my last post and wondered how I could have gone so long without hitting the blog. Yes, the holidays contributed, and I did travel, but there have been some strange vibes in my life lately.

I won’t share all the gory details, just needed to touch base. That’s the great thing about a blog…you can write what you want.

I got into the spirit of Na No Wri Mo, and while I did not write an entire book, I did get the layout, characters,  etc. etc. completed, as well as 4 chapters.  That doesn’t sound like much in hindsight, but considering what a crazy month November was, I’ll take it.

(Sound in hindsight? That can’t really be right, huh?)

I’m taking a deep breath, petting the cats , who always know when to gather around me and give me licks of affection and support, and I’m envisioning a brand new day.

I’m making December my own month…No Fin Mo Dam…Novel Finishing Month Dammit!

Suza

Because “curve” doesn’t quite do it justice, especially when it comes to writing.

So I’m working today and going over some pointers and worksheets I’ve amassed at workshops et cetera, and something both discouraging and encouraging occurred to me. I’m still on the front side of becoming a writer, and I don’t really have a problem with that, because I’ve been here before.

Let me equate it with nursing. When I first started nursing school, we went over things like blood pressure, heart rate, the normal ranges. I remember being terrified to take someone’s vital signs! Catching that pulse in your stethoscope when it appearred and disappeared was tricky. I mean, it made me sweat when I had to perform it on a teacher. 

Now I do it at the drop of a hat. (Cliche, but I don’t care. It’s my blog. Nyah.)

The point is, writing is like everything else. You study, try to do something, come up a little short, study some more, and keep going until you’ve got it. I’ m ten times the nurse I was 2 years ago, but not half the nurse I’ll ever be. (Unless some extraordinary offer sweeps me away from hard labor)  : )

This month is National Novel Writing Month, or to the devout, Na No Wri Mo. I didn’t even know that until last week! Not only have I been working on characters, plot, and all the other goodies for a book, but I’ve been organizing all my worksheets and “How to Write” info. It highlights my strengths and weakness and is a good way to see how far I’ve come.

I may not be Dan Brown…yet…but I can recite the elements of a good romance novel as surely as I can catch that pulse. I just have to get it down on paper. Effortlessly.

Well, still practising that part, and the more I practise, the better.

Write, write, write, write, write.

Suza

I just had to take a minute to address this. The V-factor? I’m sure many of you know where I’m going.

As I lay stretched across my bed doing some research in Esquire magazine…yes..in Esquire…I came across an article that asked, “What’s really going on with all these vampires?” The author of the article had his own idea about that.

And I quote, “young, straight women want to have sex with gay men.”

Huh? Now hold up for just one blood-soaked minute. The jealousy that some (not all) males have over the female fascination with vampires is getting completely out of control. Now it’s because we don’t really want straight men at all? Give me a break.

Here it is guys, and girls who just don’t understand it either.

The V-factor

1) They’re always hot, because entertainment professionals know that’s the cornerstone of catching our attention.

2) They’re dead and have historically been portayed as monsters, therefore, they are the quintessential bad boys. We all know the saying about the attraction there.

3) They only come out at night. That’s just sexy, and frankly, I don’t know why.

4) Relationship conflicts finally have a new twist, and there are all kinds of interesting “situations” that can come up.

5) The new breed of vampire is special, because they’ve been written from a female perspective. They are strong and protective and most important of all…

6) They have walked the earth for centuries, at minimum, and have finally found the one woman they just have to have. Who doesn’t want to be that special?

But would I trade my guy for Edward, Eric, or even (gulp) Bill? No way.

Relax guys, it’s all just entertainment. And True Blood has some pretty good looking female vampires, too. Why don’t you give it a try?

Feel the love.

With love and murder by exsanguination in mind,

Suza

Before I explain this latest title, I have an O’Malley cat story. My five precious felines have their own domain in the house, because some of the humans that live here are allergic to them. They basically have the run of my office and the backyard that is enclosed by a cat-fence. (Yes, they do make them.)

Now, O’Malley is almost 14 years old and used to being with his “mom” whenever he wants. He’s still not used to the division when I’m inside, and to make matters worse, the door that keeps him out has glass panes that allow him to see that I’m just inside and am neglecting him. He tends to scratch and meow. Really pitifully. If we’re sleeping, this is an issue. So, the plan was to take some of the leftover mesh from the cat fence and drape it across the door at night, so he couldn’t scratch. It worked like a charm.

And it totally pissed him off. He let into a torrent of loud yelling that was worse than anything previously. It took about 15 minutes for him to quiet down. And that was the last night we put up the mesh. O’Malley, the king, has gotten his way once again.

As to the title of this blog. I’ve mentioned before not knowing where to put my energy as far as writing. I’m in wait-mode for She Who is Hidden, and have been torn. Work on the follow-up book or another project all together?

Until I know how the suspense/riddles/history combo is going to work, I think I’ll work on a story that’s been tugging at me for a while. The other night I got out of bed three times to run to the computer and get scenes or dialogue onto paper because it was gushing out in bigger chunks than I could remember. That hasn’t happened in a long time, so I’m taking it as a sign.

I’m going to get to work on some of it right now, actually. Maybe you’ll see a new excerpt on the website soon, and you can let me know how you like the new direction.

Still nothing but love and murder in mind,

Suza

I’ve been gone from the home and the computer for a few days and haven’t posted. Here’s what strikes me as the most important thing going on for me right now, and that is the fact that I’m alive to write another day.

Okay. Maybe that was a little dramatic.

Seriously, I’ve been in Lauderdale by the Sea in Florida, where I got to dive some. My first beach dive, my first night dive, and my first scary dive. It wasn’t a terrible emergency or anything, but enough that I’ve revisted the moment a few times in the dark as I’m trying to fall asleep.

I was at about 50-60 feet, swimming around the most amazing wreck, even saw a manta ray, and it was awesome! Well, my goggles were foggy, and I didn’t want to miss anything, so I decided to clear my mask. Not a big deal, really, except that I also wear contacts. Now, I had to clear my mask to become SCUBA certified, and I did it fine for my instructor way back when.

 This time I screwed up.

I closed my eyes and filled my mask with water then attempted to blow the water out a couple of times. I must have had the angle of my head wrong, because I opened my eyes and the mask was still filled with sea water. I panicked when I realized it and shut my eyes and opened my mouth. It felt like water was coming in everywhere, and I was in the dark! It took me a minute to just breathe through the regulator and focus, trying again to clear my mask.

The next time I opened my eyes the mask was clear, but I was breaking the surface! Not good to do fast, as you may know. All in all, I was fine, but had to swim a heck of a long way to the boat. I also missed the rest of a great dive. The dive master said my deep breaths when I was trying to blow out my mask filled my lungs a little more, and that’s what started the ascent. I’m aware that lungs expand even more as you go up and make you float even faster, but with my eyes closed, I had no clue where I was or that I was going up so quickly.

Even though it all happened in less than a minute, I still get a little freaked when I remember the feeling of water in my mask and mouth with my eyes closed, basically blind at 60 feet below the ocean. 

The moral of this rambling post? I’m getting my act together and writing!

Then I’m going to order a prescription set of goggles.

Suza

I would normally blog about something useful or something I learned etc. Tonight I’m just sad that I have to go back to a real job in the morning. How did I ever become a writer? It came completely out of left field and now it has a clamp on me and won’t let go.

That’s okay, because I love it. The only bad part is I want to spend everyday researching and planning, then bringing scenes to life. I want to see my name on the cover of a real book on a real bookstore display. I’m good and hooked.

Don’t get me wrong, I still say it will happen one way or the other. I just wish it would happen between now and 6:30 am!

Okay, enough whining, but that’s where I am right now. I’ll leave all the interesting notes I’ve gathered tonight and dream about them instead.

With love and murder,

Suza