What's Up Wednesday - New Years Eve

It's the day before the New Year begins, and I have nothing planned to celebrate. My husband and I aren't big party people. I'd be open to gathering with friends for an informal celebration, but my husband's more of a recluse. It's just as well. Staying up past midnight doesn't sit well with me right now since puppy Kinsey still likes to get up real early in the morning.

Kinsey slept 10 hours last night, which was a special treat. I feel more rested today than I've felt since we got her a month ago. She had her first set of puppy shots yesterday, which could account for the long sleep, so I doubt I'll be so lucky tonight.

It's windy and cold out, and I usually like to drape myself with a blanket during the day. I have a favorite down throw I used to use until Kinsey chewed a hole in it yesterday and spread feathers everywhere. So I went in search of another one and picked out a quilt my mother-in-law made for us several years ago. That worked great until our youngest cat peed on it. She's very territorial. I found another comforter, but the cat peed on that one, too. Needless to say I've been doing lots of laundry and have taken to wearing my coat inside the house just to stay warm.

It's my mother-in-law's birthday tomorrow -- she was a New Year baby seventy-six years ago -- and I need to shop for a present for her today. I'll probably end up getting her a gift certificate at her favorite department store. We like to take her out to dinner on her birthday, but the problem is that most restaurants here in Bend are closed on New Year's Day. We might postpone the dinner thing until this weekend.

Sorry about the boring blog post. My world lately has been confined to puppy-raising, which is very restrictive. It's like having a baby and scheduling activities around the baby's routine. Except this baby has very sharp teeth and four legs that get her around very fast, usually to places she shouldn't be. At least she's potty trained. Mostly. There is an occasional accident on the rug mat in front of the sliding glass door to the backyard. She's still learning.

Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you get to read more interesting blogs than mine today. Best of luck to everyone in 2009!

Teaser Tuesday - Mystic Taxi

The following is a short excerpt from my steampunk urban fantasy work in progress, Mystic Taxi:

Henry parked Mystic at the curb. "Can you answer a question for me?"

"Don't know until you ask." Wanda studied him, one eyebrow raised. "So ask."

"Why do you think I'm a… that I can…"

"That you're a Bringer?" She touched a metal collar around her neck, the center of it dotted with copper rivets. "The voices told me." Without waiting for him to respond, she pushed open the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Damn. It's colder than a well-digger's ass out here."

He stood from the cab and faced her. "Did you say voices?"

She nodded, but didn't look at him. "Comes with the job."

"Of being an exorcist?"

"Yep. They're not literal voices because demons don't have mouths to talk with, but they can think. They think all the time. And I get their thoughts inside my head, which is why I wear this pretty necklace I got on." She touched the collar again. "It keeps 'em quiet until I'm ready to listen."

Wanda Snow had to be the strangest woman Henry had ever met. And though she was tall, her face was that of a girl barely out of her teens. She couldn't have been more than twenty, and yet this child had almost snatched his soul right out of his body. Or half his soul. It would take a while to wrap his mind around that one.

"I tried to capture the demon myself yesterday and it about singed my eyebrows off," Wanda said, smoothing her bangs over her forehead. "I couldn't cut its bond and that made it wrathy."

"What's it possessing?" Henry asked.

"The kitchen oven."

That gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "burn in hell."

Marketing Monday

What a gloomy, gloomy day outside. It's raining. We had so much snow for several days, and now it rains. That seems so strange to me. Winter means snow, spring means rain, but that's not how it works in Oregon.

The publishing industry is still in holiday mode with most companies closed until January 5. So there's nothing to report this week. Karin Tabke's First Line contest continues and the next announcement of finalists for the 3rd round won't happen for another week.

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about my goals for next year, and I'm hesitant. Will I fail to reach them? I'm trying to put myself in a mindset that it's okay to fail, but if I do that, then I'm giving
myself permission to not meet my goals. But if I don't leave myself the option to fail, then I feel pressured and it stresses me out. Aargh! Maybe this whole goal-setting thing isn't for me. Sigh.

Here they are anyway:

• Finish Mystic Taxi by the end of January
• Enter MT in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest before February 8
• Get a multi-book contract for Knight's Curse (actually, that's my agent's goal, but it's one we share since we're in this together)
• Attend RMFW conference in Sept.
• Write and submit a novella for Silhouette Nocturne Bites
• Write the second book in my Knight series
• Write 1000 words a day
• Keep up with my blog by posting Monday thru Friday
• Lose 25 pounds
• Teach Kinsey to run and hike with me

I think that's it. I can add to them whenever I want, right? The thousand words a day thing is a bit ambitious, but I'm really going to try. My days are filled with interruptions lately, so staying in the flow of a good writing session has been challenging. Now, while the puppy is sleeping, I'm going to attempt to add to the WIP. I'm coming up on a scene where Henry and his nephew are hunting ghosts to catch and use as an ingredient for a spell. It will be a fun one to write.

Freestyle Friday

Tis the day after Christmas, and all through the house, everyone's stirring, including the mouse. Well, we don't have any real mice, but the cats have some fuzzy ones that rattle, if that counts.

The holidays came and went very quickly this year. We had a pleasant afternoon at my mother-in-laws, where our puppy had a chance to play with her dachsunds. Kinsey isn't used to other dogs, so this was a good experience for her. Then my sister-in-law came over with her 3 lap dogs, so there was a total of 6 canines running through the house. The older dogs didn't appreciate being chased by a puppy, but Kinsey will chase anything that runs, and pounce on whatever doesn't. So there was growling and snapping, but thankfully no one got hurt. Kinsey loves her crate, and we have a portable one, so she simply retreated to her "den" whenever she felt uncomfortable. Barking scares her, and little lap dogs bark... a lot.

I managed to reach one of my daughters on the phone, and left a message for the other one, and also a message for my son when my call went directly to his voice mail. Sigh. I just hope they send me pictures of their Christmases.

Today it's back to business. My new computer is all set up and raring to go (it's unbelievably awesome), which is good because I need to work on a logo and a menu. I also have to clean the litter boxes today, and there are 3, one for each cat. Then I get to go to a neighbor's house and check on her cat because she's out of town until Sunday. The cat always hides when I come over, so I never see her, but I know she's there because her litter box is usually overflowing. Ugh.

It's a winter wonderland outside, and the sky is clear and swimming pool blue. I'll try to take Kinsey out for a walk today, but the leash training is a slow process. So far, she freaks whenever I put the leash on her, but she does a little better every day. I'm so glad she enjoys playing in the snow, which will make it easier to walk. You should see the thick pads on her feet! I've never seen anything like it on a dog. They look almost like little pink hooves.

Will I write today? Most definitely. May not be much, but I always write a little of the WIP every day. I'm only a bit over halfway done, which is always the hardest part for me. But I'm still in love with the story, and Henry and Wanda are awesome characters to write.

I hope you all had a fun and loving holiday.

Teaser Tuesday - Mystic Taxi

I haven't posted since last Wednesday because not much is going on. Or I should say nothing much is going on in the publishing world since it's pretty much shut down for the holidays. Not everything is closed, but most things.

Jessica Faust of Bookends is giving her readers a special holiday gift by offering to critique random pitches posted to the comments section of her December 19th blog post. Unfortunately, a good number of posters don't know how to follow directions and they posted entire query letters or synopses. LOL! It amazes me that thse writers who care enough to read Jessica's daily informative posts are clueless what a pitch is. And twice her post specifically asks for a "one paragraph" pitch. People are posting up to five paragraphs or more! Simply amazing. What a way to impress an agent. I have to wonder what part of one paragraph don't these people understand?

I got some good news last night when I learned I made the cut for the second round of Karin Tabke's first line contest. Yippee! I'm now in the top sixty out of a hundred. So I got to post my third line. Karin is waiting until after the new year to post the results of the third round, and in that one only five entries will be cut instead of twenty. There are some great entries, and I was sad to see a few of my favorites not make it through. Sigh. I'm eager to see how far I get with Mystic Taxi. If you'd like to follow along with the contest results, go here.

Speaking of Mystic Taxi, I have a teaser to post for Tuesday! The following is a brief excerpt from my steampunk urban fantasy novel in progress:

***********************************

Mystic slammed the passenger side door a second time. Then locked it.

"What's with you, Mystic?" Henry grabbed the taxi's door handle and gave it yank. It didn't budge.

"I don't think it likes me much," Wanda said as she leaned against a lamppost to watch. "It's not going to let me in."

"Mystic is a she, not an it." He gave the cab's hood an affectionate pat. "You hurt her feelings."

Wanda snorted. "Feelin's? Who you tryin' to kid? That machine feels about as much as this here lamppost."

"You're wrong," Henry said. Mystic was afraid of Wanda, and he didn't blame her. The exorcist could easily pull Mystic's demon soul right out of the cab and send it straight to Hell. Mystic didn't belong there. She belonged with Henry.

"It ain't happenin', friend. We might as well take the tube." Wanda pushed away from the lamppost and started down the sidewalk, joining the other pedestrians who made up the afternoon rush.

When Henry started to follow, both the taxi's front doors flew open. A few passersby stopped to give it a startled look, then quickly moved on.

Henry grinned. "It looks like she changed her mind."

What's Up Wednesday

Man, is it ever cold. A storm blew in last weekend and hung around, then the temperature plummeted to the single digits. Gah! Taking a five week old puppy outside at 2 in the morning when it's 3 degrees outside is utter torture. But the little tyke is a trooper and gets her business done in seconds flat. I always watch to make sure her pee doesn't freeze before it's all the way out.

The snow is beautiful, though. There was an awesome sunrise this morning, but it's clouded up again and the wind is blowing. Since it hasn't started melting yet, the roads aren't covered with that grimy gray slush you usually see in a city with lots of traffic. Bend is serene, the lifestyle laid back, and no one here is ever in a hurry. When it's cold, things slow down even more. And because Central Oregon climate is so arrid, our skin tends to freeze-dry in the winter. My nose and lips are so dry I can hardly stand it.

The puppy and I went out last night to buy Christmas cards at the Human Society thrift store. Quite a bargain. Now I have to address the things and get them in the mail so they'll at least arrive close to Christmas day. My heart's not in it, though. We didn't put up a tree, no decorations grace the mantel, no wreath hangs on the front door, and my kitchen doesn't smell like cinnamon and nutmeg. Not a big holiday person, and neither is my husband. I miss my kids and grandkids, and since I can't be with them, I prefer skipping the holiday altogether. Nuff said.

Today will be a busy day. I have client phone calls to return, critiques to do, a puppy to care for, words to add to the WIP, laundry to fold, and I absolutely must get my butt down to the computer store to drop off my old iMac. The big shiny new Mac G5 is waiting for me to get all my stuff transferred over, but I'm having trouble unplugging the old machine. Not technical trouble, mental trouble. I rely so heavily on my computers that detaching any cables or chords is like shutting off life support and I freak out. It's a phobic thing. I seem to be getting more and more of those these days.

My husband and I aren't exchanging gifts this year. We figure the puppy is gift enough. But what I'd really like for Christmas is an uninterrupted day of writing. No other obligations, no phone calls, no visits... That would be heaven.

Teaser Tuesday - Mystic Taxi

The following is an excerpt from my steampunk urban fantasy novel, Mystic Taxi.

*****************************

Wanda bit her lip. Vox. They were the smartest ones. "They're evil creatures, Mr. Paine. The demons will destroy this world, and I mean to see them stopped before they do."

Henry laughed. He laughed so hard he started coughing and his eyes watered. In the kitchen, a mechanical arm covered in rivets and hinged by steel cables sprung up through a hole beside the sink. It filled a glass with water from the faucet. Henry grabbed the glass and downed it in two gulps.

Impressed by the gadget, Wanda pretended to watch with detached interest.

He wiped a tear from his eye and shook his head. "These demons you want to exorcise are harmless as house pets."

"Even dogs can go rabid, Mr. Paine." Her gaze roamed the room, scoping it out, looking for his little creature comforts. She touched the steel band around her neck to make sure it was clasped tight. The demon energy in here was strong.

They stood glaring at each other. Well, someone had to make the first move. Patience required stamina, and she had plenty to spare. But did he?

Henry Paine could almost pass for human. He was brutishly handsome, his features youthful though his terminal scowl had etched a severe dent between his eyebrows. His hairline met a patch of delicate scales that spotted the highest part of his forehead. There were lines of gray scales on both sides of his neck, and the bit of chest peeking from the open neck of his nightshirt showed the same delicate pattern of scales as those at his hairline. Fascinating.

STOLEN FURY

This is a fun contest from my chapter mate Elisabeth Naughton to promote her upcoming romantic adventure novel, STOLEN FURY, coming soon from Dorchester! It's a fun game and easy to play, plus you could win a $100 Visa Gift card.

Freestyle Friday

I'm starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. The breakfast with my client on Wednesday was a nice excursion beyond the confines of my home, but it didn't last long. Snow is on its way beginning tonight, but I'm going out for coffee with a couple of writer friends tomorrow. Can't stay long, of course, because the puppy can't be left alone in her crate for more than an hour or so.

Lately I've been rethinking my RWA membership. I don't really write romance, but I do write romantic subplots, so I've found the information the group provides to be valuable at times. However, the organization is getting weird. Political. Elitist. I don't think I want to be a part of that. The annual dues are expensive enough that it's really not worth supporting RWA anymore.

The main reason I'm questioning the group now is because of the hoopla going on about the annual RITA awards that are given to romance authors for excellence in a published work of romantic fiction. I have no interest in ever entering this contest, but I have friends who really want to. Problem is, the rules suddenly changed this year to discriminate authors who are published by small presses that don't do large print runs. The board of directors won't disclose what constitutes a large print run, so the whole thing is a shambles. It's become a pretty darn big deal.

Small presses would primarily mean ebook publishers in this case, and it appears the board thinks the quality of these books aren't up to par with RWA standards. It's prejudicial, obviously, but what's really sad is that these same authors whose published work isn't good enough for the RITA aren't allowed to enter the Golden Heart contest, either. The Golden Heart is for unpublished authors, and RWA considers ebook authors published, just not quite up to snuff to enter the RITA. Have you ever heard of anything so unfair? And the members being discriminated against pay healthy dues of $75 for this injustice.

Stacia Kane gave RWA what for on her blog yesterday. She tells it like it is and goes into detail, so if you'd like to read more about this issue, check out Stacia's blog. I don't know about other members, but this bruhaha over the GH and the RITA has definitely cost RWA my membership. I won't be renewing next summer. As a professional author, I'm ashamed of the sophomoric attitudes of this group's board of directors. We're not in high school anymore.

Well, that's my mini rant for today. Back to the WIP.

Thursday Thoughts

We've had our puppy for a week now and Kinsey just about sleeps through the night. My brain is still foggy from lack of sleep. Progress on the WIP has been abysmal.

I bought a new computer for my business yesterday! This is after I had breakfast with a client who is sending me more business this spring. My old Mac is limping and before it's completely crippled, I want to be prepared with a faster, more powerful machine to handle the extra design work. Though I'd really rather be writing books... Sigh.

Romance author Karin Tabke is having a first line contest on her blog. Deadline for uploading was last Monday at 7:00 pm Pacific time. She was only accepting the first line from 100 entries, so the mad dash to post was extraordinary! Her blog hiccuped a few times, but it filled up with 100 first lines in 9 minutes flat! LOL! I was #5 to get the first line in for Mystic Taxi. Only 80 entries will make it in the first cut after weekend judging by an impartial and anonymous published author. The results will be posted next Monday, when we'll see which of us are still in the running. The prize at the end of the 6 to 8 week contest is having the first ten pages of 5 lucky entrants' manuscripts sent to Grand Central Senior Editor Amy Pierpont. Even though I have an agent, a little extra help is always a good thing.

I'm guest blogging today about the popularity of cross genre fiction over at Paranormality Universe. If you're a writer, you can leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a critique of your first 10 manuscript pages.

It's also my day to blog at Mid Willamette Valley Romance Writers. I blogged about change.

Want to know why a book is the perfect holiday gift this season? Come here and find out.

Now I'm going to try to see if I can get a few pages written while the puppy is still asleep.

Teaser Tuesday - Mystic Taxi

The following is an excerpt from my steampunk urban fantasy WIP, Mystic Taxi.

********************************

The thief raised an eyebrow. "You sure you won't invite me in?" She tossed the box in the air, and he caught it. Her wide smile showed an even line of snowy white teeth. "I thought you wanted your other four boxes back."

He gazed down the hallway one way, then the other. Mr. Harris from 314 stepped out into the hall and gave him a crusty look. The old man never had liked him. Henry was the only Hellspawn in the building, but it was his building. He owned it. "May I help you with something, Mr. Harris?" he asked tightly.

The old man vanished inside his apartment and slammed the door.

"Your neighbors seem like the chatty type." She hadn't stopped smiling.

The word "neighbors" sounded like "naybahs." A southern girl. He sighed and backed his way through the door, sweeping out his hand to welcome her in.

"Thank you," she said as she stepped inside.

The woman had guts, he gave her that, but he questioned her intelligence. He outweighed her by a good hundred pounds or more, though that hadn't stopped her last night. The bruise on the back of his head was gone, but not the memory of how it got there. She obviously wanted something from him and he was curious to know what it was.

"I'd offer you coffee, but I'm fresh out," he lied, inhaling the luscious scent of his morning brew.

"I prefer chicory." She gazed around her, not bothering to take off her coat, meaning she didn't intend to stay. Good. But she did unbutton it and flapped the lapels to fan herself. "You keep it mighty hot in here."

"My kind like the heat."

She nodded as if she understood. "Nice kitchen, though that's the oddest refrigerator I've ever seen."

The robotic arm on the fridge unfurled from its side, two eggs clutched in its steel-clawed hand. It angled as if to throw them like a baseball straight at the woman's head.

Marketing Monday

After only 4 days, see how much she's grown! I'm amazed. Little Kinsey is a smart pup and learning fast. And she eats like a piggy. She's not sleeping through the night yet, but our hopes run high. Sigh.

Marketing update: Yes, I have one. No, it's not good. But it's not unexpected either. My agent emailed me last Friday to let me know Bantam passed. Damn. But we have yet to hear from Roc and St. Martin's Press. I think Tor needs to get back to us, too, but I forgot to ask. Anyway, as I suspected, my agent wants to hold off on sending out more submissions until after the first of the year. I couldn't agree more.

It's true the publishing industry is in a slump right now, but we have to remember that books acquired today won't see the printed page for a year or more, when the market will likely have picked up by then. I'm worried for those authors with books due for release right now because there's a chance release dates could be postponed. The point is, what's happening now with our economy is only temporary. The sky is not falling! That's what Fine Print Literary agent Janet Reid says, and she's right.

There's an excellent article in the New York Times called "Typing Without a Clue." Definitely worth a read if you're as irritated as I am about bozos like Joe the Plumber getting publishing deals. An interesting point the article makes: ...publishers say they print garbage so that real literature, which seldom makes any money, can find its way into print. True, to a point. But some of them print garbage so they can buy more garbage. Ouch.

Thursday Thoughts - Puppy Love

What a day I've had. I just got us a new puppy and I forgot how exhausting baby animals can be. Kittens aren't bad at all, but puppies require a lot more supervision and care. It's been years since I've had a puppy so I'm being re-initiated by wee little Kinsey here.

Isn't she a cutey? I originally tried to get a pup from Save the Pets in Eugene, but the process of adopting from their Border Collie Rescue group was excruciatingly time-consuming. It took days just to get them to respond to my phone call, then days to respond to my email, then days to get the application, and then we were supposed to wait for who knew how long for a "home study" to make sure we were fit doggie parents. I appreciate the thoroughness, but get real. The puppies I was looking at would be full grown by the time I got one. So we sought other alternatives.

Our local shelter here in Bend has no small puppies, but they do have 3 month old ones that would be fine for most families. We were concerned about our cats and wanted youngsters, like 6 to 8 weeks. This is not the time of year to go puppy shopping. Lots of puppies in the spring and summer, not so many once the temperature drops. So the Bend Human Society was a no-go.

Then on Tuesday I checked Craig's List and low and behold, someone was giving away puppies! OMG, I couldn't believe my luck. They had 6 babies just weened, so I called to inquire. The mom's a pit pull, the dad's a Border Collie Aussie mix, which seemed perfect to me. For $50, he'd drive to my house from Paisley (120 miles) with all the puppies, and I'd get my pick. He came this morning and I picked out the little girl pup you see at the top of this post. Her name is Kinsey and she's just as sweet as she looks.

She is very, very young. Like just weened. Like too young to be away from momma. But I took her to the vet today and she checks out as very healthy, but too young yet to get her shots. My vet is also a very good friend, Doug Evans, who's a writer, so we always hang out after an appointment to talk about the important stuff. Ahem. Anyway, he still needs to make sure she has no parasites so I'll have to bring him stool sample at some point. Lovely.

Two of my cats aren't having any problems with Kinsey being added to the family. They're curious and do a lot of sniffing, but their behavior hasn't changed. They prefer her over strange people in the house. The cats hang out and watch the baby dog. The third cat, my oldest, who's 5, hid before I even brought Kinsey in the house. In fact, I looked for him all day! I got scared, thinking he'd somehow gotten out of the house (our cats are indoor only) because I looked everywhere. I was starting to think I'd made a huge mistake adding a new dog to the family. Then tonight, about an hour ago, when I was taking Kinsey to her crate for nap time, there was Cody crouched by the bed glaring daggers at me. He saw the dog and went right back under the bed. Sigh. It's going to be an adjustment for him, but he'll do fine. He was the baby when our other dog was full grown, and he terrorized that poor dog. Turnabout's fair play.

Puppies have the oddest sleep/play patterns. Play for 15 minutes, sleep for 15 minutes, then back at it again. It's exhausting! But when she wakes up, she whines to let me know she has to pee. We go outside and she does her business like a good little girl. Kinsey's eye's are still newborn and have that violet hue, so she doesn't see very well. If she's three feet away from me, she can't see me and starts crying. Also, she's afraid of the dark. That's going to be real interesting when we go to bed tonight.

As for getting any writing done... oy.

What's up with contests?

The finalists for the Nola Stars Suzannah contest were announced yesterday, and alas, I didn't make the cut. It's one of the strangest contests I've ever entered because even though you have to indicate what genre your manuscript is, there are no categories. Everything is lumped together, which should have been my first clue that this wasn't the right contest for me. I think writers who write traditional romance have a better chance of scoring high in the Suzannah.

For this contest, six finalists are chosen out of 120 entries that are judged by RWA published authors, PROs, and librarians and/or bookstore owners. Those 6 finalists are the top scoring manuscripts regardless of genre, so if 6 historical novels, or 6 erotica novels, or 6 paranormal novels get the highest scores, they're the total contest finalists. This year, based on the genres of the finalling entries, it appears that romantic suspense was the overall favorite. There wasn't a single paranormal title in the bunch! I found that kind of odd, but oh well.

I got my scores back from the 3 judges who judged the synopsis and first 26 pages of Knight's Curse. Two of the judges were very thorough and detailed with their comments and I really appreciate their time and effort. One was a librarian, and the other an RWA PRO member. Out of a possible score of 230, one gave me 210 and the other gave me 220. Not bad. Both offered glowing praise. The 3rd judge was a published author and she hated my entry. Absolutely hated it. She gave me rock bottom scores in all areas, including manuscript format (WTF?), and the only 2 comments she had were that she found the first person point of view off-putting, and the story was too complicated. She gave me a total score of 91! LOL! Talk about a difference between night and day.

That clueless judge didn't affect my ranking because the determining factor comes from the two highest scores only, so the anti first-person judge didn't count. My concern is that maybe this judge shouldn't be judging contests if she lets her bias about point of view affect her judgement. That's just wrong.

I'm now $35 poorer and none the wiser for my experience. I won't be entering this contest next year. I've gathered that it's geared more toward traditional romance than stories that contain romantic elements. Meh. Live and learn.

Teaser Tuesday - Mystic Taxi

The following is an excerpt from my steampunk urban fantasy, Mystic Taxi.

*********************************************

Henry opened one eye, then the other, and rolled onto his stomach. "Make it stop," he mumbled into the pillow.

The radio played a big band tune, and instead of stopping, it played louder.

"Stop!" he shouted.

The radio fell silent.

"Thank you." He drifted off again, and just as quickly, the radio switched back on.

"All right, all right! I'm up." The radio went instantly dead. Squinting against a rush of daylight through his bedroom window, Henry sat upright. "Cawwfeeee," he yawned.

The sound of a percolator burbled from the kitchen, followed by the rich aroma of French Roast coffee, his favorite.

"Eggs. Scrambled. Toast, and not burnt this time." He blinked and looked at the gear-covered clock taking up half his nightstand. Four in the afternoon. Ugh, it was too early, but he had a job to do and a thieving wench to lynch. "Make it five eggs and don't scrimp on the hot sauce."

The heavy four-poster bed creaked as he swung his legs over the side and he felt around with his toes for his slippers. The wood floor was cold as cement. He shivered. "I need some heat here. What are you trying to do, freeze me to death?"

A large copper disk the size of Mystic's hubcaps rose up on spindly metal legs and crab walked closer to Henry. He snapped his fingers and it skittered faster, stopping a foot away. The rim began to glow red and Henry moaned with satisfaction as welcome heat flowed around his icy feet. "Much better. You know, I think you're probably the best invention Vernon's come up with yet."

The disk tapped one metal leg on the floor two times, which meant "thanks" in Imp-speak. Also Snit-speak, for that matter. The lesser demons had a limited vocabulary.

Henry pulled on a pair of canvas trousers and trudged to the kitchen for his breakfast. Next item in Vernon's automated kitchen should be a butler robot. That would be keen. Then Henry wouldn't have to leave his bed at all.

He stretched and took the filled mug of coffee from the percolator's dispenser. The robotic arm on the wood-paneled refrigerator reached for the skillet on the stove and slid a mound of steaming scrambled eggs onto a plate. Henry plucked a slice of burned toast – they'd never get it right – from the toast rack.

"Meh" Monday

Still no marketing news to share, so today is just "meh." Sorry I didn't blog on Friday but I was so SAD! I had to take my son and grandson to the airport and send them home to Colorado after a fabulous week with them. I miss them so much! My son has grown into a compassionate, responsible young man who's had to overcome debilitating hardships, and now he's a single parent with a smart, adorable son of his own. I couldn't be more proud.

As we all know, the publishing industry is a bit depressed at the moment. And though Harcourt is the only one to publicly announce a freeze on acquisitions, I think it's reasonable to assume there's a slow-down for most publishers across the board. Therefore I'm not expecting any news, good or bad, until February at the earliest. I'm just focusing on writing Mystic Taxi right now, and making it the best book it can be. I'll contact my agent today for an update, but I'm not expecting much.

As for Mystic Taxi, I'll post a new excerpt tomorrow. I'm having so much fun with this story! I finished writing chapter fourteen yesterday, and the danger level has reached a new height. I'm wondering how I'll get my characters out of the fix I'm putting them in. I've created some complicated relationship issues regarding family loyalties, too, so I'm eager to see how those turn out. I'm always surprising myself.

It's so interesting how the characters in a book develop. I know they're my creations, but a lot of who they are comes out of my subconscious and they tell me things about themselves that I'm consciously unaware of. What's amazing is how well these new developments work into the plot. That's the best part of storytelling: learning as you go, and finding how well it all works as if planned that way from the start. Man, how I love to write.

Since I traditionally talk about marketing on Mondays, I'll stick with that tradition by mentioning some stats from a recent Forbes Magazine article. Here's a list of "10 Best Paid Authors."

1. J.K. Rowling (300 million!)
2. James Patterson (50 million)
3. Stephen King (45 million)
4. Tom Clancy (35 million)
5. Danielle Steele (30 million)
6. John Grisham (25 million)
7. Dean Koontz (25 million)
8. Ken Follett (20 million -- thanks to Oprah's endorsement of his Pillars of the Earth)
7. Janet Evanovich (17 million)
6. Nicholas Sparks (16 million)

I was surprised not to see Stephanie Myers on the list, or Nora Roberts. Maybe next year.

It's satisfying to see that some authors really can make a living with their art.