Inside My Head

Okay, I know I haven't posted here in a while, sorry :-( But I have a cover for my next book, Untamed Heart, and the excerpt's up on the Samhain website, and I am SO SO SO excited I can't stand it! This is, IMHO, about the best book I've written, and the cover is absolutely beautiful, and I just HAD to share :D
Blurb, cover art and excerpt here:
http://samhainpublishing.com/coming/untamed-heart
Isn't the cover gorgeous???? Anne Cain is the artist. As usual, she read my mind and gave me something absolutely breathtaking. I love you, Anne!!!!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Satan Said Dance"

Okay, I got this from Jet Mykles' Yahoo group. This is a perfect example of the type of humor I like. Corny as hell *g*

THE RECIPE

A man is showering up in a locker room with his buddy when he notices
his friend is very well endowed.

"Damn Bob, you're hung!" Jim exclaims.

"I wasn't always this impressive, I had to work for it."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked.

"Well, every day for the past two years I've spent an hour each night
rubbing it with butter. I know it sounds crazy but it actually made it
grow 4 inches! You should try it."

Jim agrees and the two say good bye.

A few months later the two are in the same locker room and Bob asks Jim
how his situation was.

Jim replied, "I did what you said, Bob, but I've actually gotten smaller!
I lost two inches already!"

"Did you do everything I told you? An hour each day with butter?"

"Well, I was out of butter, so I've been using Crisco."

Wait for it...



Wait....





"Crisco!!?" Bob exclaimed. "Damm it, Jim, Crisco is shortening !

MORAL: You gotta follow the recipe!!!


(from Ally: BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!)
**falls over laughing**

Current Mood: hyper
Current Music: Larrikin Love, "Six Queens"

Mary Ann Williams! She is the grand prize winner in the Collector Tour contest! Congratulations, Mary Ann!
You've won a $10 gift certificate to Loose Id from me, and a whole slew of great prizes from the rest of the gang :D

And now, back to writing Teh Ghey Buttsecks...

Current Mood: giggly
Current Music: Rondo Brothers, "Sing Into the Machine"

Curse my inability to sleep past seven! Guh. Nothing's going on until 1 p.m. I will begin my Ghost Hunters fangirling at that point, with their first talk of the con. But until then, here I am with my coffee and cinnamon roll, having been up for almost two hours and taken a shower and everything, and everyone else is still asleep. But the people watching is already fantastic, and if I was smart I'd take advantage of the relative quiet to get some writing done. Now the question is, am I smart??? Noooo. I am watching the early-rising costumes go by and getting all sorts of story fodder, but not writing. Oh well. Maybe i'll get smart later on *g*

Current Location: Atlanta Hilton lobby
Current Mood: groggy
Current Music: hotel lobby musak *gag*

* You've ever tried to stick a fish of any sort in your ear. Goldfish crackers DO count.
* You always know where your towel is.
* You are deeply suspicious of small Italian restaurants.
* You've ever ordered a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster at a bar. If you ordered a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster at a bar and actually GOT one, the bartender is a bigger geek than you.
* You laugh hysterically every time you see the number 42.
* You come to the inevitable realization that Ford is The Smart One, no matter how hard he tries to be The Fun Drunk instead, and Zaphod is a man on the run from himself.
* You know there is such a thing as HGTTG slash fic not because someone told you, but because went looking for it and found it.

Guess what I'VE been reading :-B

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Muse, "Supermassive Black Hole"

Welcome to the lovely and history-steeped Mississippi Gulf Coast! The Collector 4: Eight Arms to Hold You (http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=376) takes place for the most part along this stretch of coastline and in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina nearly destroyed this beautiful place, but it is making a comeback, thanks to some very determined inhabitants who never give up.

Here's some facts you might not know about Biloxi and the rest of the Mississippi coast (unless you live there, or nearby!):
* Biloxi and other towns are situated along the longest manmade beach in the world, 26 miles, bordering the Missisippi Sound.
* Mardi Gras is an official holiday all along the Gulf Coast.
* Eight different flags have flown over coastal Mississippi since the Europeans first invaded in the late 1600s: French, English, Spanish, Lone Star of the Republic of Florida, American, State of Mississippi's Magnolia Flag, Confederate, and the current Mississippi state flag.
* Barq's Root Bear was first bottled in Biloxi in 1898
* The shrimping season is opened every year by the annual Blessing of the Fleet in May. This is a very popular celebration along the Gulf Coast.
* At one time, Biloxi was the shrimping capital of the world. It still produces huge amounts of delicious Gulf shrimp every season.

Now, in order to win all the way-cool prizes the Collector series authors are offering, you need to put your thinking cap on *g* Here's the trivia question to answer for this stop in the tour:

What popular beverage was first bottled in Biloxi in 1898?

Email your answer to collectors.contest@inbox.com with Grand Tour Stop #2 in the subject line.

Your next stop in the tour: The Sights, Sounds, and Lure of India, setting for the last book in the Collector series, Laura Baumbach's The Lost Temple of Karttikeya. Visit her blog, http://sensualwriter.blogspot.com, starting Tuesday August 21st! And enjoy your tour :D

Current Location: the dining room table
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: none, everybody else is asleep...

So I'm going to DragonCon this year, sitting on a one panel and spending the rest of the time engaging in stealth promo and fangirling on the Ghost Hunters. Who's going?

BTW, Oswald (my iBook) is being a bitch. I may have to smack him around.

Current Location: the couch
Current Mood: pissed off
Current Music: Dr. Who theme *g*

I love David Cross. That is all.

Current Mood: dorky
Current Music: "Y'all Are Brutalizin' Me"

I'm sitting in Greenberry's Cofee & Tea Company right now, enjoying a nice iced coffee and crumb cake (which I SWEAR I will exercise into submission when I get home! honest!). At the next table, there's these two guys -- and by "guys" I mean grown men, one thirty-something in a suit and one at least fifty in jeans and a polo shirt. They are having a business meeting, judging by the papers and manila folders and PDAs and stuff. So the older guy's cell rings, and he answers it, and he's talking. Fine, fine, whatever. Then he says to the oh-so-lucky person on the other end, "rock 'n' roll, dude!" TWICE. During what was clearly a BUSINESS call.

O_O

I about peed my pants trying not to laugh out loud, I swear.

Current Location: Coffee shop :D
Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: crappy coffee shop freeform jazz. Ick.

Because I haven't posted here in soooooo long.
**spanks self**
Here's what's up:

- my latest Samhain novel, Fireflies, is the August pick for All Romance eBooks' new online book club! Yay! Check out their MySpace page for details:
http://www.myspace.com/allromanceebooks

- I'll be going to Dragon*Con this year, and sitting on a panel of published authors talking about making the leap from unpaid fanfic to published author. Sherrilyn Kenyon is one of the panelists O_O
http://tolkientrack.queencheetah.com/session_ProAuthors.htm
Grant, Jason and Steve will be there from Ghost Hunters! Am preparing list of totally geeky fangirl questions now...

- Forbidden Love, the new print journal of dark romance, has an all-manlove issue coming out soon. The title is Sacred Bands, referencing the Sacred Band of Thebes. My story is titled "Dragon's Kiss" and features black-and-white artwork by the Art Goddess Anne Cain. Check it out:
http://www.allyblue.com/DragonsKissPencils.html
WARNING for full frontal male nudity :D

- Twilight, book 3 of the Bay City Paranormal Investigations series, will be coming out in October:
http://samhainpublishing.com/coming/twilight
The 4th in the series, Closer, will be coming out in the spring of '08. A spin-off story starring everybody's favorite bisexual investigator, Dean Delapore, will be coming out sometime in 2009, after the main series arc is finished. Title of that book is Where The Heart Is and will tell the story of how Dean finds True Love :D

- right now, I am in the midst of writing the mother of all angst-fests, Untamed Heart, which is scheduled for release from Samhain in Feb. 2008. One of the main characters was inspired by Patrick Wolf, though he is in fact nothing like the Wolf-Boy *g*

Okay, that's the news for now. Stay tuned! And I really want to revive my LJ blog, so poke me if I let it slide too long!

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Patrick Wolf, "Penzance"

... somebody out there makes cookie dough flavored TOOTHPASTE??
o_O
WTF??? Come on, I like cookie dough and all, but I do NOT want to brush my teeth with it.
Ew. Just, ew.

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: Massive Attack, "Risingson"

Man, I haven't updated this in a while, have I? Oops...

Anyway. In the last few months, I've been really really busy. Like tearing-my-hair-out busy. In the last six months, I've written three longish short stories and two complete novels. If that doesn't sound like much (and to some people I know, it really isn't LOL), keep in mind the Evil Day Job which takes up 40 hours of every week, the house, the hubby, the kidlets, and the fact that I'm not a particularly fast writer by nature and have no organization skills whatsoever. Plus I still try to keep up with my running and bathe now and then.

Good grief, I know I had a point....
*thinks*
Oh yes. The point was, I've been so swamped, I've neglected my unhealthy obsessions of late. Now, though I still have edits to do and deadlines to keep, I'm able to relax a bit more, which means I have to fill the extra few minutes a day somehow. Naturally, that "somehow" is my bit of obsession with Radiohead in general and Mr. Yorke in particular. Amnesiac is back on heavy rotation in my CD player AND my iPod while I wait for a NEW ALBUM from Radiohead...
*pokes them*
... and lately I've been skulking around the fanfic archive reading some of the new stuff. And WOW there's some talent in that group, I have to say.

The other day, I watched some videos from Coachella and started getting all misty. Man, that was fun. Coachella, Bonnaroo, those were some amazing days for me. I miss everyone from RD2, I wish I could see yours guys more often :-( I am looking forward to MLK weekend so much, you have NO IDEA!

Okay, well, THAT was rambling LOL Of course, what else is LJ for, huh? Yeah.

Current Mood: lazy
Current Music: Thom Yorke, "And It Rained All Night"

... is TOO FUCKING HARD!! Therefore, I am procrasturbating by watching Queer As Folk sex scene clips and reading Harry/Draco slash. Such is life.
**drinks some more rum**

Current Mood: drunk
Current Music: They Might Be Giants, "I Palindrome I"

... you think totally smutty porno thoughts when you hear the Liquid Plumr commercial.
C'mon, though. It can't be just me that thinks "Foaming Pipe Snake" sounds dirty O_O

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Goldfrapp, "Oo La La"

Bad thing: I am sick. Sick, sick, sick. And no, I do NOT mean that in the sense of perversion. I mean coughing, hacking, sore throat, sore chest, feeling like one of my MIL's horses kicked me in the damn head. I HATE being sick. It makes me grumpy.

Good thing: I have all day lazing at home to write! Which I'm currently ignoring in favor of blogging, watching Travel Channel, and catching up on the latest Harry/Draco slash. Bad Ally.

Bad thing: I am so busy with novel contracts and promised short stories that I don't have time to breathe hardly.

Good thing: I am so busy with novel contracts and promised short stories that I don't have time to breathe hardlly. :D I love writing :D :D :D

Bad thing: It's almost October, and I haven't even started Christmas shopping. eep o_O

Good thing: It's almost October, and my very first paranormal novel, Oleander House, is being released October 3rd! Woot! I'll have to post an excerpt sometime soon...

Bad thing: being sick is keeping me from getting my running done

Good thing: I think I'm in good enough shape now that missing a couple won't matter much. This makes me happy :D

Bad things, good things, life is a balance, isn't it? No, there was no real point to any of this, just felt like writing down what I was thinking :D

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: Placebo, "My Sweet Prince"

The Choose Me contest is now live! Fill out a short survey (like really short, y'all, it's only 8 questions and that includes asking your name and email address LOL), that's all you have to do for the chance to win a whole pile of ebooks by some of your favorite m/m authors!
Here's the list of the participating authors:
Kayelle Allen, Evangeline Anderson, Laura Baumbach, Ally Blue, TA Chase, Jules Jones, Sean Michael, DJ Manly, Jet Mykles, Luisa Prieto, ML Rhodes, Kira Stone, Tory Temple, BA Tortuga, Stephanie Vaughan

And here's what you could win:
One copy of every MM Romance on this page
(link: http://www.kayelleallen.com/choosemeauthors.html)

All winners will receive a copy of
Tales of the Chosen: Wulf by Kayelle Allen

5 winners will each win 3 books
(choice of 2 books +Tales of the Chosen: Wulf)


Cool, huh? Go here to find out all about it:
http://www.kayelleallen.com/choosemeauthors.html

The link to the contest entry page is there. Or, click here to go straight to the contest entry form:
http://www.kayelleallen.com/chosen1.html

I think this is pretty neat, I wish I could enter myself LOL

Current Mood: full
Current Music: Thom Yorke, "Atoms For Peace"

5. You know precisely what distance you've gone

4. Soft surface is soooo much easier on my poor creaky joints

3. No hills!

2. No TRAFFIC! Makes it way easier to zone out and write sex scenes in my head :D

and the number one reason I love the college track:

1. PRETTY COLLEGE BOYS IN TINY SHORTS

oh yeah

Current Mood: working
Current Music: Le Tigre, "Well Well Well"

... my dear hubby fixed me a ginormous pina colada as soon as I got home and I'm now veeeeery happy and not in the mood to rant **grin**

So I left The Hellhole - work, for those of you unaware of how much I fucking DESPISE my day job - at 3:15, just pleased as punch that I was getting the fuck away fifteen whole minutes early. Hustled out to the car, turned on the CD player (Placebo, "Spite and Malice", perfect for Friday afternoon driving AWAY from stupid work and toward home), and headed down the road. Got through not too bad traffic all the way to the exit from I-40 to I-26 (known 'round these parts as Malfunction Junction, for reasons that are horribly obvious if you've ever navigated it during rush hour). Halfway up the ramp, I see that 26 is already at the stop-and-go, 30-mile-an-hour fucking nightmare that it usually takes it until around 4:30 to get to. No help for it, though, so I roll down the windows to share Teh Placebo sexiness with the world and settle myself in for a long trip.

Half an hour later, I'd made it a whole two miles down the interstate, saw the "roadwork" ahead sign and the double line of cars, pickups and tractor-trailers stretching into infinity, and figured I'd better get my ass off of there. So I exited at the next exit, which I knew was gonna be busy since it always is when the interstate's backed up, but again, no help for it, no other choice except sitting practically in one spot for another hour or two. About a mile back from the traffic light where the right lane veers off to get on the Parkway, leaving it a one-lane road, there's another traffic backup. Fine, whatever, I've got The Libertines' "Up The Bracket" going at this point and I figure I've left the worst behind. I'll sit through three or four light changes, I'm thinking, then be on my merry way.

Ha. HA, I say. It took me another twenty minutes of moving about five feet every little bit before I said - literally, and very loudly - FUCK THIS!, pulled into the right lane, and passed the whole line of fucktarded dumbass fucking SHEEP, then turned off onto the road to the Parkway, did a highly illegal U-turn, went through the light (which was green on that side at that point, luckily) and got back on the road. Then sat in another traffic jam that I didn't bother to time because I was trying to hold it together and not jump out of my car and rip someone's throat out with my teeth. Put Muse on, Absolution, played "Stockholm Syndrome" WAY too loudly over and over and over because it just feels so fucking GOOD to scream along with that one. Calmed me down just a bit, though due to the fact that my windows were still down I got some funny looks, but whatever.

Eventually, I made it through the worst of the traffic, stopped at the bank to deposit my royalty check, then went home and started working on getting plastered, aided by my hubby (who really IS a doll-baby) because he got to listen to me cussing a blue streak over the cell phone while I was stuck in the traffic and he KNOWS what I need.

So, that was the glorious end to another crappy day at work. Actually, it wasn't so crappy until then, it was just sort of average. Although I think I must be psychic, because I had a strong urge to leave just before lunch and go see a movie then maybe go shopping at The Chocolate Fetish. Hmmm...

Okay, pseudo-rant over now, I'm gonna go have another drink then maybe watch my X-Files DVDs or something.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Music: Thom Yorke, "Skip Divided"; SEXY! **licks Thom**

My husband and boy-child are watching Batman, and I'm having SUCH impure thoughts about what sorts of things go on in the bat cave, and it's ALL SONICNURSE'S FAULT for posting that pic!!!
dammit...

Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: Placebo, "Drink You Pretty"

Okay, so I meant to post this yesterday, but I got reeeeeeally busy and forgot, so here it is today. Yesterday, August 26th, was the first anniversary of the release of my first book, Forgotten Song. OMG I can't believe how much has happened in a year! I've got... uuuuhhhh...
**counts on fingers**
.... five books out, with two more contracted and scheduled for release in '07, and a short story for a new print 'zine coming out in December. Y'all, seriously, a year ago? I never could have IMAGINED this. NEVER. I was amazed that I'd actually written A Book and had it published, it was totally beyond me to see myself as an actual AUTHOR, if that makes any sense.

To all the Cheesecake girls (and boys), you have to know that I would NOT BE HERE without you. I never would've started writing if it wasn't for you all. I love you all SO SO MUCH for getting me started, and for being such AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL people! Y'all are my best friends, I know we don't see each other very much but I still feel like you people are closer to me than anyone else in my life!

**massive hugs**

Okay, I'll stop being all misty and sappy now :P

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Sigur Ros, "Glosoli"