Good News Friday (a little early)

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The Trip. . .

Everyone needs a checklist when traveling. You know, to stay organized. Here’s mine and Rachel’s.

Delayed/canceled flight -- check. Three times!
Misplaced luggage -- check.
Misplaced cell phone cover with ID and credit card inside -- check.
Panicked female ready to vomit -- check.
Ticket agent who yells at desperate (young) women who need to make their flight -- check. (Hey Carl!)
Turbulent flight where the pilot will not even let the attendants unbuckle -- check.
Running back and forth between two airline companys (4 times) trying to get a ticket correction -- check.
Lead my editor on a wild goose chase as I try to remember where my room is -- check.

But you know what? I truly had an amazing time! Rachel was a fabulous traveling companion. She's fun and witty and one of the sweetest, most kind hearted people I know. (She also knows how to soothe the beast monster Gena morphs into when Gena realizes her ID and credit card are missing) We met people from marketing, sales, pr, editorial, art department, product managers, foreign rights, top brass, and many more. These people know their market and it's sooooo exciting to talk with them and hear their ideas and thoughts. I wanted to take each one home with me! (Love Bunny would understand, right?)

I even got to meet Jennifer Armintrout. To say I loved me some Jennifer is an understatement, but I loved me some Jennifer. (The hair war is on, Jennifer!!)

Rachel is posting the full story on her blog. Check it out at http://www.urbanfantasy.blogspot.com

Oh, and I got to see the proposed cover for The Darkest Night -- which I can't post yet but I will tell you it's MY BEST COVER YET!! If you can believe that. Cause I've gotten some amazing ones. But this one blew me away. (And yes, I'm highly aware that I'm a cover tease right now)

BIG thank you to Jill Monroe!

I'm home safe and sound -- with stories to tell. First, I wanted to take a moment to thank Jill Monroe. She took such great care of this blog while I was gone. Truly, I can't thank her enough. Let's all be silent for one second in honor of her.

One one-thousand.

There. Talk away now!! Oh, my Jilly. . . What am I going to do with her?

Stay tuned for stories. You will not believe what happened to us (me and Rachel Vincent) at the airports during our travels. We had a blast, though, an absolute blast. One thing I will admit to now -- I promised Rachel a pillow fight and then I didn't deliver. Bad Gena! Next time, Rachel Vincent. Next time. . .

I Found It!

Thanks to my friend, Kelli - I found the perfect picture for Gena

I'm In Control Of The Blog

Gena is taking a quick trip, so she handed me the keys to the blog. Her only instructions...be good to it.

So, I had all these plans, photoshop her into pictures with Steve Carell. As many of you know, Gena LOVES Steve.

Or I could post strange pictures:



Gena loves animal pictures on her blog:



But in the back of my mind was her telling me to be good to her blog. Then I remembered how Monica sent me some pics for Gena's blog a while ago. And it is Beefcake Monday after all. Here's my favorite.



Join me in writing a caption. "Did you have a hard day at work, honey? Come over here and I'll make it all better."

For Gena

It's News Day!

Tell me your news. Good, bad, doesn't matter. This is the place to vent, brag, scream, whoohoo, and all that other jazz.


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I'm having too much fun with this!

Third, and last, one

Too funny not to share...

Here's another one!

You look like different people when you use different photos. I'm officially addicted to this thing. I have several more I could post.

Isn't this cool?

I got this from Michelle Rowen's blog.

Bad Gena. Bad Gena!

Man, I'm running late today. I read I'm the Vampire, That's Why by Michele Bardsley and it is soooo funny! Highly enjoyable. If you're a fan of MaryJanice Davidson, you're going to love this book. Had me chuckling out loud and the hero is to die for!!!

What's everyone reading now?

Hello Mr. Beefcake!

I've always thought this man was too beauiful to be human.

Good News Weekend

My blog was out all day (sorry!), and I don't know why. But it's back now, so let's start sharing some good news. Or bad news. Or any kind of news you want, really. I'll start us off. I just finished typing in the rough draft of The Darkest Night. Yea!! Next up, I plan to edit it chapter by chapter.

Your turn. . .

Catch A Mate cover

What do you think?

Question day

What book are you reading right now?

What book is on your To Be Bought list?

What book did you just finish reading?

Tell his story!

I really like yesterday's beefcake and keep going back for another helping. . . and another. . . and another. . . Maybe we should pretend this is the cover of our book and we need to write the back cover copy for it. You know, tell HIS story (well, encapsulate it at least) Of course, we can put ourselves in it. :)

Why don't I get kick us off? I'll write the first line, then you guys write the next, and the next, and the next. Here goes:

With only one glance, she fell under his spell.

P.S. Want a chance to have tea with me? Talk to me about books, writing, or anything at all? Go to http://bunsandrosestea.org/ and find out how you can!!! Jill Monroe will be there, too, and you can have tea with her!

P.S.S. (or is it P.P.S. ?) I'm doing a chat tonight at Fallen Angel Review at 9:00 Eastern. Go to
http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/home.shtml and click "chat room"

Beefcake Monday

I'm finally on the road to recovery! I still have a cough, but I don't feel like Dead Writer Walking anymore. Yea! Thank you everyone for the well wishes!

This slice of beefcake reminds me of The Nymph King. Delicious! He'd make a good Rome, too, from Playing With Fire. (anyone agree? Or rather, for those of you who have read the book, who do you see playing the parts of Belle and Rome? I see Belle as Jessica Alba or Scarlet Johansson)

I wish you all the best on this day!

Any kind of news day

Tell your good/bad news here!

It's amazing what a simple cold can do, but I'm still just absolutely wiped out. I've been trying to write in bed (deadlines, deadlines), doing revisions on Catch A Mate and typing in the rough draft of The Darkest Night despite my mush-brain, clogged nose, hacking cough and body aches. The problem is, I'm just typing TDN in and not doing any type of edits. (read: typing in crap) My mind just can't seem to process the words. Revision wise, same thing.

Oh, and I'm losing my voice.

I meant to tell you that I read Lover Awakened by JR Ward and it was amazing. The woman's talent simply captivates me. Next up is Dark Dreamers with the new Marjorie Liu. Another amazing talent.

Got a few coverflats on The Nymph King in. You guys remember him, right? :) Maybe we'll hold a contest for one. Not today, but soon!

Bed and books

Still sick. I was going to post glowing reviews of the books mentioned below, but I need to go back to bed. Instead, I'm going to tell you that they are totally worth reading!

Charmed and Ready by Candace Havens (she has such a fun voice!)
Divine by Mistake by PC Cast (Karen Moning calls her a "stellar talent"!)

I. . . Feel. . Freaking. . .TERRIBLE

I've got a cold. Was up with the makings of one last night. Stuffy nose. Itchy throat. I didn't sleep at all. I've just gotten worsen since I lumbered out of bed. Ugh. Just. . . ugh. I want to breathe! (raises fists at heavens) I want to breathe!

Got the revisions for Catch A Mate yesterday. I'm telling you, my editor is genius! Her suggestions are so dead on. I started reading the book again (to remind myself of the chacters and the situation -- I think I've written 3 - 4 books since turning it in) and I can already see what a difference her changes are going to make. The woman knows her stuff! Also, I had so much distance from the book (see how many books I've written since turning it in) it was like reading someone else's work. I could be objective about it, and. . . I liked what I read. That feels sooooo good!!!

Buy Playing With Fire. Available at a bookstore near you. Also available online. You'll love the book.

I'm her slave!

SLAVE TO SENSATION by Nalini Singh
(Berkley Sensation, September 5, 2006)

I've mentioned how much I LOVED this book. It's simply a must read. Sooooo good. We're touring it today, so if you haven't picked up your copy now is the perfect time!

Dive into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind—and none of the heart…

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”— the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was….

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her.

Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

Excerpt:
http://www.nalinisingh.com/slave.html

Cover:
http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/11350000/11359440.jpg


ABOUT NALINI SINGH

Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Nalini Singh is an escapee lawyer who’s been writing as long as she can remember. She loves creating unique characters, loves giving them happy endings and she even loves the voices in her head.

REVIEWS

This book is a must even for those uninitiated in the paranormal genre. The story ends much too quickly, and the author’s magical writing conjures up sensual images and intense emotions that linger long after the last word is read. -- Romantic Times, 4 1/2 stars

…not easy to put down at bedtime; it kept me reading well into the night… -- Fresh Fiction

…one of the most convincing and beautiful romances I've read lately. It's got it all, both sexual tension so thick and hot it will curl your toes (and the pay-off! Those love scenes, oh, my!), and a lot of feeling behind it… -- Rosario’s Reading Journal

Website: http://www.nalinisingh.com

Beefcake and another contest!

(photo was sent to me by Rinda!)
For a really cool contest, check this out:

http://h0wlers.blogspot.com/

You could win a signed copy of Playing With Fire.

Also, people are talking about Playing With Fire here:

http://community.eharlequin.com/webx?50@946.11XDatK7TJm.0@.4a83e072/2

We have a winner!

The Viral Blog contest has been such a success. I'm just so happy with it. (Thank you!) And now, someone else will be happy, too. We have a winner! Prize: signed copies of all of my backlist!

Before I tell the winner's name, however, I wanted to explain how this winner was chosen.

Every entry was numbered in order of comment, minus deleted comments and all that. Then, I asked a child I know and love -- yep, a kid -- to pick a number. (This way, there was no chance the person had read the blog(s) and picked out a favorite) So now....the winner is...

MEGAN HATFIELD

Megan, congrats!! Email my wonderful contest-assistant Beth at bethlovesromance@yahoo.com with your contact info and I'll put your prize in the mail!!

If you didn't win, don't worry! I plan to do many more contests. Help me out, though. What kind of contests would you like me to do? What kind of prizes would you like?

Good News Friday

Well, it's the best day in the entire world again: My Birthday! I'm finally...22. So drink some beer in my honor. Dance on a few tables while (lovingly) shouting my name. Oh, and buy Playing With Fire. Really. Buy it. Right now. And tell everyone you know to buy it, too.

What gifts have I gotten so far? Well, for Love Bunny's birthday I got him peach jelly. For mine, he got me peanut butter. I laughed so hard when I saw it :) We're going to have Love Toast latter. He also brought me a latte this morning, the sweetie!!

Last night I was telling Love Bunny and Matt that all I wanted for my birthday was for someone to murder the LOUD cricket in my office. So last night (while I was sleeping) Matt sat in my office (in the dark), waiting...waiting...

And what did I find when I woke up? The cricket! It was nailed to my wall on a piece of paper, a heart surrounding it, and big block letters that spelled out Happy Birthday on top. I rolled! I'm still laughing. I have the best family ever!

So what's your news? Tell here!!