Return of the Camels! (And, unfortunately, winter.)

I've had a few people mention that they've missed the camels the past few weeks. So here ya go:

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

"He's right behind me again, isn't he? With that silly grin on his face.  Damn. It isn't easy being this beautiful."

So, anyhoo, I'm expecting 8"-12" today (ironically enough for a ... oh, never mind; you know how my mind works by now). Sadly, I'm talking about snow. Heavy, wet snow. The kind that breaks tree branches and is a total PITA to shovel. 

Happily, TG is home for the day, and eager to play with his snow blower. Which I hope works well on heavy, wet snow, because if it doesn't, I'll be out there with a shovel, alongside him. This will not make me happy. 

If all goes well (i.e., the blower works), I plan to pull out my drawer novel and play with it. Because it just feels like, on a snow day, I should be playing hooky from the usual writing, and the drawer novel is calling to me. I have no idea if/when I'll ever decide to send it out into the world, but I can't seem to leave it alone. 

Do you have any projects (writing or otherwise) that keep drawing you back in? 

Happy Hump Day! 

GAME. SET. MATCH. Cover Reveal!

So, one of my agency sistahs, Jennifer Iacopelli, has her first book coming out on May 1st. Which kind of sucks--

WAIT! Don't take that the wrong way. It only sucks because it's so far away! Other than that, it's totally cool!

And one thing that doesn't suck is, while we may have to wait until May to read it, we at least we can get a peek at the awesome cover right now!

Full of the fabulosity, yes? I love it. But then, I have a thing for stubble. And kissing. And tennis. 

Not that I play tennis anymore. My knees object to all that side-to-side hopping around. Also, once I realized I'd never be able to grunt like the Williams sisters, I kind of lost heart. 

But I still like to watch. (Heh-heh.) Especially Roger Federer. That man can play! But I digress...

And now I'll be able to combine two of my favorite vicarious activities--tennis and reading! I can't wait. 

Game. Set. Match. Synopsis:

Nestled along the coastline of North Carolina, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the best elite tennis training facility in the world. Head Coach, Dominic Kingston has assembled some of the finest talent in the sport. From the game's biggest stars to athletes scraping and clawing to achieve their dreams, OBX is full of ego, drama and romance. Only the strong survive in this pressure cooker of competition, on and off the court.

Penny Harrison, the biggest rising star in tennis, is determined to win the French Open and beat her rival, the world’s number one player, Zina Lutrova. There’s just one problem, the only person who’s ever been able to shake her laser-like focus is her new training partner. Alex Russell, tennis’s resident bad boy, is at OBX recovering from a knee injury suffered after he crashed his motorcycle (with an Aussie supermodel on the back). He's hoping to regain his former place at the top of men’s tennis and Penny’s heart, while he’s at it.

Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. Her parents have seven Grand Slam championships between them and she’s desperate to live up to their legacy. Her best friend is Teddy Harrison, Penny’s twin brother, and that’s all they’ve ever been, friends. Then one stupid, alcohol-laced kiss makes everything super awkward just as she as she starts prepping for the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.

The Classic is what draws Indiana Gaffney out of the hole she crawled into after her mom’s death. Even though she’s new to OBX, a win at the Classic is definitely possible. She has a big serve and killer forehand, but the rest of her game isn’t quite up to scratch and it doesn’t help that Jasmine Randazzo and her little minions are stuck-up bitches or that Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and oldest brother, is too hot for words, not to mention way too old for her.

Who will rise? Who will fall? 

Told from rotating points of view, GAME. SET. MATCH., is a 'new adult' novel about three girls with one goal: to be the best tennis player in the world.

If you want to learn more about it, you can check it out on Goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16082871-game-set-match

AND here's a Rafflecopter Link for those who want to win some cool prizes:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/3ca46a4/

Do you watch tennis? (Tennis players have nice, um, hipular regions. Just sayin'.) Do you have a favorite player? 

Alternate question for those who are not (yet) into tennis: What is your favorite vicarious activity? 

Interview with the Penguin

Okay, not really. It's an interview with the creator of one of my new favorite characters -- Poe, the penguin in Kerry Schafer's debut novel, BETWEEN. This bird, so seemingly incongruous (though he isn't, not really) in the story, just tickled me no end.

About Kerry:

Kerry Schafer lives in Colville, Washington, with her family, which includes two cats, a rescue fish, and a preternaturally large black dog. A self-styled perpetual student, she earned an RN from Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta; a BA in English (Honours) from York University in Toronto, Ontario; and an M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Washington State University.




About BETWEEN:

 ”Vivian’s life is finally on track. She has a job she loves as an ER doctor and has just met – literally – the man of her dreams. But when her eccentric grandfather is murdered and designates her as his next of kin, she discovers that she is the last of a race of beings known as dreamshifters. It is her task to guard the doorways between waking and dreaming, which have already begun to unravel, spilling dangerous creatures from dream into the waking world. When she sets out to close the open doors and protect her town and the people she loves, Vivian confronts dragons, intrigue, and the dark secrets of her own family history. In the end, she comes face to face with a sorceress seeking eternal life and ultimate power. Vivian must find a way to stop her, or reality will be forever altered.”



The Interview:

1. BETWEEN, to me, reads like blend of realistic contemporary fiction and pure fantasy (yay, dragons!). It's a seductive combination, like salty/sugary snacks, which are somehow more addicting than either salty snacks or sugary snacks alone. Was it your goal to become the Maple-Bacon Potato Chips of the literary world? 

Mmmmm. Now you have me thinking about salted caramels and chocolate dipped potato chips. This may be the first interview resulting in a five pound weight gain! In truth, my goal was just to make it onto the snack market. I'm flattered that the word bacon has now been used in proximity with BETWEEN.

2. Is it true that your unhealthy love--er, I mean fascination with--penguins led to the creation of the most unlikely sidekick ever? Or did Poe just show up on the page of his own accord and take root?

Unhealthy penguin love makes it sound like I have need to schedule an urgent appointment with a psychologist! What led to Poe turning up on the page was more of a philosophical thing than an actual Penguin obsession. Once upon a time there was a real life penguin whose name just happened to be Vivian. He was a male penguin, but he was named by some British scientists and maybe Vivian is an appropriate boy's name for them. Who knows the minds of scientists? Anyway - Vivian and his pals were rescued from an oil slick, cleaned up, equipped with transmitters, and turned loose to swim in the deep blue sea. The fun part of this was that the scientists created a website and posted a map on which they marked the penguins' regular progress on the way South to the breeding grounds. Vivian had other ideas. Instead of swimming South as expected, he swam in circles for awhile, and then struck out North. And so the whole idea of Swimming North came to mean something to me - defying expectation, going your own way, daring to go against the flow, so to speak. The penguin came into the initial draft of the book as a visible reminder of this. And then he refused to leave and sort of took over.

3. Now that BETWEEN has been out in the world for a little while, have you noticed a difference in your writing process? IOW, has the fact that one of your books is now being read by people who don't know you from Adam had an impact on how you approach the blank page? Are you more aware of anonymous eyes peeking over your shoulder, or are you able to put that out of your head as you create?

God. Those anonymous eyes. They scare the shit out of me. I sit down to write and I start to think about the 1-star reviewer who totally despised the first book and said "I have no idea what I've just read." I think about the people who were unhappy because there wasn't enough romance and the people who loved the ending because it wasn't a cliff hanger and the people who hated the ending because it wrapped up too many things and wasn't a cliff hanger. And then I think about that quote from Bill Cosby: "I don't know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone." I try to pay attention to the criticism that makes sense to me. And then I just shut it all off and go back to the story. What does Vivian want? Zee? Poe? What's in the way? I figure it's their story and I'd better listen to them.

4. Who was the toughest nut for you to crack, character-wise, in BETWEEN?

Zee. I made the mistake of initially basing him on a real life person. He had to be completely rewritten. And then there was a draft in which Warlord Zee was hot and steamy, but Real Life Zee was boring in comparison. Fixing that was a challenge. But I think he was worth the trouble.

5. Can you give us a teaser for Book 2?

Sure, with a disclaimer. At this point, I have no idea what will make the cut in Book Two. So here's a little passage that may or may not be in the final book:

"Vivian tried again to get her head clear, never an easy proposition when Zee was in her immediate vicinity. He was supposed to be tucked safely away in George's old cabin, safely out of sight, doing research into dreamshifter lore. She'd been planning on driving up to join him the minute she finished this shift – the last of her two weeks notice.

"I don't understand what you're doing in Krebston at all."

He avoided her eyes, suddenly deeply interested in a spot on the floor.

"The dragon," she breathed.

"All sorts of noise on the scanner about fire in the sky. Speculation about terrorists and UFOs online. Wouldn't be surprised if Homeland Security is in town."

"You were going to go take down a dragon. Without me. Walk right into the middle of a whole damn crowd of law men."

He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and gave her the crooked smile that made a dimple in his unscarred cheek. A strand of hair fell across his forehead and into his eyes; she wanted to reach up and push it back, to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers.

She also wanted to slap him."

Linda here again: Oooh, that sounds great! And if it does wind up on the cutting room floor, then at least we got to see it here.

Thanks for visiting my reality today, Kerry! And the rest of you, too. If any of you would like to visit an alternate reality (aka, a book), I heartily recommend BETWEEN. Just remember, though--Poe is MINE.