Okay, so with that sappy update, on to the report card.

Last Week’s Accomplishments:

• Started participating in the #1k1hr challenge on Twitter, and ended up writing 12,000 words on SCANDAL FEVER, my M/M contemporary erotic romance. The story is coming along nicely, though it promises to run longer than I originally anticipated.
• Came up with a couple of new plot bunnies that I tucked away.
• Saw a gorgeous mock cover and was so inspired I wrote a 1-page synopsis of a book that could go with it. I’m going to email my editor to see if she’s interested.
• Attended 1 bootcamp session (Thursday) and tried out Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred DVD (Tuesday).

This Week’s Goals:

• Continue participating in #1k1hr and write 15,000 words on SCANDAL FEVER, or finish the draft – whichever comes first.
• Blog at Flirty Author Bitches on Thursday, for my usual monthly commitment.
• Read at least 1 novel.
• Attend 2 bootcamp workout sessions (Monday and Thursday), and add at least one more cardio session.

That’s what I’ve got going on. You?

Last Week’s Accomplishments:

• A STRANGER’S TOUCH came out from Ellora’s Cave. (Woohoo!) I did a whole lot of promo work around that.
• I finished the second and third round of edits on SIGHT UNSEEN, my upcoming Carina Press release under the Hunter Raines pen name, and now it’s on to the copyedit stage.
• I did some brainstorming about my next project, settled on something, and realized I wouldn’t be able to make it work the way I’d hoped. So I started over, and finally settled on a new project.
• Attended 2 bootcamp workout sessions (Tuesday and Thursday.)

This Week’s Goals:

• Finish brainstorming / planning my new project. It’s M/M contemporary, tentatively titled SCANDAL FEVER.
• Write 9,000 words on SCANDAL FEVER.
• Attend 2 bootcamp workout sessions (Monday and Thursday), and add at least one more cardio session.

Stop by and let me know what you think!

A STRANGER’S TOUCH

Shifter’s Touch, Book One

Roxana Leventis spends her evenings blindfolded and strapped into a harness. As living art, she’s appreciated with all the senses. That means being touched, fondled and caressed in the most intimate ways.

Donovan Armstrong thinks his latest assignment is just another security gig, guarding priceless paintings. Boring stuff for a wolf shifter, but he plans to return home to Canada as soon as he finds a suitable mate, the kind of shifter female who’ll stun his pack with her perfection. After four years of searching, however, his temporary stay in New York is starting to look pretty damn permanent.

Until one whiff of Roxi’s scent awakens his dormant inner wolf. Taking her as his mate is unthinkable. She’s not a shifter, and her delicate human body is much too fragile to withstand his animal urges. Still…neither man nor beast can ignore the way she stirs their blood.

Donovan’s job is simple—protect Roxi from overzealous gallery visitors. But who’s going to protect her from him?

A STRANGER’S TOUCH is now available at Ellora’s Cave. Click here to read an excerpt.

A STRANGER’S TOUCH is the first book in my Shifter’s Touch series from Ellora’s Cave. It releases January 25th, so you don’t have long to wait!

Here’s the blurb:

Shifter’s Touch, Book One

Roxana Leventis spends her evenings blindfolded and strapped into a harness. As living art, she’s appreciated with all the senses. That means being touched, fondled and caressed in the most intimate ways.

Donovan Armstrong thinks his latest assignment is just another security gig, guarding priceless paintings. Boring stuff for a wolf shifter, but he plans to return home to Canada as soon as he finds a suitable mate, the kind of shifter female who’ll stun his pack with her perfection. After four years of searching, however, his temporary stay in New York is starting to look pretty damn permanent.

Until one whiff of Roxi’s scent awakens his dormant inner wolf. Taking her as his mate is unthinkable. She’s not a shifter, and her delicate human body is much too fragile to withstand his animal urges. Still…neither man nor beast can ignore the way she stirs their blood.

Donovan’s job is simple—protect Roxi from overzealous gallery visitors. But who’s going to protect her from him?

I just learned that I, NEFERTITI is on sale for only $0.99 cents at Ellora’s Cave. Or if you prefer to shop directly from Amazon, it’s only $1.49 there.

I have no idea how long this sale will last, so you might want to grab it while it’s cheap.

I, NEFERTITI is still my favorite book of everything I’ve written. It won the EPPIE Award a few years ago for Best Paranormal Erotic Romance.

Here’s the blurb:

Plagued by erotic dreams she can’t ignore, Nell Winters abandons the set of her latest movie to search for the source of her unfulfilled desires. Her fantasy lover can stir her deepest longings with the lightest ghost touch, overwhelm her dreams and waking hours, and she barely even knows his name.

So what if he’s been dead for over three thousand years?

Nell is determined to find him. She craves the release only he can bring. A release from the disturbing dreams, the overwhelming lust, the sheer need. But one woman stands in her way. And to have him, Nell must become her—Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s queen.

Enjoy!

Today, I’m talking about my insane holiday writing schedule, and asking about yours.

Stop by if you have a moment!

Mostly, I make handmade cards. Not only is it a fun and creative hobby, but I love being able to give them away after I’m done and hopefully put a smile on someone’s face.

This week, I thought I’d post three examples of some of my favorite Christmas cards from all those I created and sent out this year.

Cute Christmas gift tags. These are going on a couple of gifts to hubby’s family.

This card looks so awesome in person! The little bells on the string at the bottom actually jingle and chime. Love ‘em!

I love window cards, and this one’s adorable. The ribbon’s super cute, too.

Last week, I started a top secret project I’m working on with a friend. I can’t say much about it yet, but I can tease a little… Think epic fantasy. Hot sex. Dragons. Hot sex. Magic. Hot sex. Need I say more? I didn’t think so.

Okay, here we go!

Last Week’s Accomplishments:

• Wrote 6,000 words on Secret Project.
• Signed a new contract with Ellora’s Cave. (Woohoo!) A STRANGER’S TOUCH is the first book in my SHIFTER’S TOUCH series. It’s a werewolf erotic romance. Super hot. If you’re familiar with my work, this one goes back to my paranormal erotic romance roots.
• Created 20 Christmas cards in 2 days, then personalized, addressed, and sent them all off. Phew!
• Did most of my Christmas shopping. Yes, I do wait until the very last minute. What of it?

This Week’s Goals:

• Write 9,000 words on Secret Project.
• Finish Christmas shopping.
• Take a few days off and spend quality time with hubby and our family.

We’ll see how I do. What do you have planned for this week?

Flickr Favorites - Craft Supplies Edition! © by prettyinprint

I’ve never considered myself particularly artistic. Creative, sure. Artistic? Not so much.

To me, artistic folks are the ones who paint, sketch, and sculpt. They also knit, crochet, and embroider. Basically, I’ve always associated artistic talent with the ability to use your hands to create something beautiful. I suppose you can argue I do that when I sit down at the computer to write, but it’s not the same. My creativity is all internal, and the resulting product — even though you can hold it in your hands — isn’t the same (in my mind, at least) as a lovely painting or an embroidered handkerchief.

In truth, I’ve never been very good at art. I was a straight-A student in high school, with two exceptions: art and gym. Those two classes dragged down my average every semester, and I stopped taking them as soon as I could get away with it. There’s an artistic talent gene I never got from my parents. I used to joke that when I tried to draw, even my stick people looked bloated. Unfortunately, I wasn’t making that up.

And then I discovered digital art, which opened up a whole new world of artistic possibility for me. I could, suddenly, be artistic without having to draw, or sketch, or paint. As long as I could move a mouse around, I was golden. There’s an entire world of digital art out there, from gorgeous 3D modelling to some of the amazing cover art we see in bookstores every day. Exploring this whole new world led me to digital scrapbooking, which opened up yet another realm for me. Suddenly I could do something creative with all those family photos I’ve been hoarding.

The digital scrapbooking movement came about because so many people love scrapbooking in paper format. Creating large albums embellished with ribbons, buttons, and paper flowers is great fun. When I started tentatively peeking into traditional scrapbooking albums, I quickly realized that wasn’t something I was interested in. But I sure did like all the pretty papers, the glitter, and the enormous amount of creativity that went into each one. I wanted to do something like that, but on a smaller scale.

And that’s when I realized that I could. I came across some videos on YouTube about creating your own greeting cards, and my jaw dropped open. I couldn’t believe how stunning these creations were, and how personalized. Still, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. After all, it would require me to use my hands to make stuff, and I’ve never been very good at that. But armed with nothing more than a glue stick, some scissors, and a pile of cardstock, I went to work… and amazed myself. I couldn’t believe what I’d created all on my own. It reminded me of being a kid and playing with crafts for the first time. I was downright giddy! And so, a new hobby was born.

Now I’m sitting here in my office surrounded by books on writing, pens, notebooks, sticky notes, highlighters, and other tools I use on a daily basis when I write. But off to my left is a stack of craft supplies. I’ve got five kinds of adhesive, a couple of dozen types of ribbon, a jar filled with vintage buttons, six pads of specialty cardstock printed in gorgeous patterns, two boxes of crayons, some glitter pens, paper flowers, beads, thread, an x-acto knife, a paper trimmer, and a crafting mat. And off to the side are the four most recent greeting cards I’ve created. My breath still catches when I look at them. I can’t believe I made those with my own hands! And looking at the craft supplies? Pure joy.

I’d love to hear from you! Do you do anything you consider artistic? Do you work with your hands to make things? Do you notice a difference in the way you feel when you create something tactile vs a digital project?