Joely Sue Burkhart's Blog, page 53

Vote for Ritual Ink at ARe

Voting is now open for the Just One Bite paranormal romance contest at All Romance E-books!  You must be signed in at ARe to vote, but there are TONS of great reads!

Here's a bit about my contribution, "Ritual Ink":

Known as "Dirty Deeds" for the dark violence she commits at the Church's orders, Catherine is a half-demon assassin.  For years, she's been paired with Father Liam MacRae, who tattoos artistic designs laced with holy water into her skin to help cage her demon.  However, the spells are failing quicker than ever, and Catherine fears the worst.  One of these nights when she goes to the priest for healing, she'll accidentally unleash her succubus.

On him.

Unbeknownst to her, Liam gave up his oath of chastity when he joined the secret brotherhood.  When violence ceases to keep her hungry demon satisfied, he's more than eager to feed her passionate side.  If he can overcome her reluctance to commit dirty deeds with a former priest.

Review: Golden

Susi posted a wonderful review of Golden at Book Lovers Inc:

An enthralling oriental world of intrigues and deception all wrapped around a foreign romance that enthralled me and didn't let me go till I read the last word. …a unique setting and plot, a romance that will pick your curiosity and just the right amount of sexy times to give it the needed spice. A highly recommended read- take a chance and try something new.

4.5/5 Bookies!  Thank you so much, Susi!

Missed Opportunites

I just don't understand it when an author in today's day and age has NO internet presence.  None!  How can that happen – especially when I was looking at only electronic works?

Seriously, people, have a bio somewhere that lists an email, a free wordpress blog, SOMETHING.  It's not that hard.  So you hate Twitter and Facebook, fine!  Why not update your GoodReads profile to include an email address?  Or your Amazon author page? 

Look at all those missed opportunities when someone reads your story and wants to see what else you might have published, even if it's "just" a short story.  Or what about fan mail?  There's nothing better than fan mail!  It makes all those rejections and revisions seem so less painful when even one reader takes the time to write you a personal note.

If they can't find you, you'll never know how much they loved your work.  You're missing the chance to make a personal, real connection with a reader.  Why would you want to miss out on that opportunity?

(Even Conn would at least have an email address listed on the university website – even if he never reads it!!)

RBW Week 13

Argh, my worst stretch since starting this journey in January.  I gained again.  I guess I can't call it "unfair" since I did slip…ONCE…but I know the bulk of the gain is tied to stress and poor sleep.  I'm staying the course and doing the best I can.  After slipping into the Lay's chips the other night, I got right back on track and have been on plan since.  I'm still not exercising – I just haven't found the time or the gumption yet. 

In the past, I would have fallen off the wagon by now.  I'd get discouraged and just quit.  If I'm going to gain anyway, I might as well enjoy it, right?  WRONG.  I know I'm doing the right thing and eventually I'll see it on the scale.

After yesterday's -.73% gain, the scale was back down 1.4 pounds this morning.  Still higher than my low but back down from that scary number.  I was almost in a new decade!  *whines*

My new food this week is a little bit weird.  Remember when I mentioned I was eating salads with protein, usually deli roast beef or cheese?  Well, I'm out of roast beef…but I have a ton of leftover meatloaf.  So, why not have a meatloaf salad?  It's a little weird I guess but it tastes pretty good.  Since the meatloaf was made with 90% lean hamburger and oats instead of bread crumbs, I figure it's not a bad protein option at all.

Onward and upward to a better week!!

Good News Monday

Do you think I can fool myself into not dreading Monday if I start thinking positively Sunday night?  Well, that's my plan.

Last week was…rough.  Probably the roughest I've had in 16 years.  I was hoping to get away to my Dad's for a nice bonfire this weekend to celebrate making it one more week, but he wasn't able to be home Sat. night, which makes it a little hard to congregate at his place!  We're hoping to reschedule in the next couple of weeks. 

My good news…

I still have an Evil Day Job despite all the stress and drama last week.  I had to wave the white flag, but now I'll have help, so this week will be better.  *thinking positively!*
Ritual Ink made the cut for the Just One Bite ARe contest.  Voting starts 10/1!
My fantasy football team did really well this week.  About time – I'm last in our family league.
I ordered some gorgeous notecards that Dawn of Book Graphics designed for me.  They'll be going out with all the promo packages I ship for quite awhile (I ordered 500!).

What's your good news this week?

Free Read "Ritual Ink" at ARe

The Just One Bite Contest entries are up at All Romance EBooks here (you must log in to ARe).  Now you can read my short story, "Ritual Ink," along with all the other semi-finalists.  Voting begins Oct 1st!

Review: Golden, a Top Forbidden Favorite

What a wonderful review from Tanya at The Forbidden Bookshelf, who makes Golden a Top Forbidden Favorite!

Seduction, passion, pain/pleasure, and machinations bring Golden to life! The uniqueness of characters and setting bring an air of freshness and unconventionality to the story of one woman who will give her entire being to the one man who can painfully fulfill her sexual desires and aspiration for her future. The Emperor alone can make Jin soar, and Jin alone can free the repressed desires of an Emperor who craves to be the man he is with the one person who can accept for who he is: Jin.

 

For anyone who has not read a Joely Sue Burkhart book, I highly recommend that you do! She knows how to create sensual and heartfelt moments that truly captivate.

Golden is a Top Forbidden Favorite for me! Thank you Joely, for creating stories that are unforgettable!

Thank you so much, Tanya!

RBW Week 12

As I feared in yesterday's post, the scale is still up today, exactly the same weight I was last week.  However, I refuse to despair.  I've eaten on plan all week, making healthy choices despite my work stress.  I haven't gobbled pizza OR chips.  I call that a win!

I haven't been sleeping the greatest either, which contributes to a slowdown in weight loss.  All I can do is stay the course.  I know I'm doing the right things, and I should eventually be rewarded in the number category.  I should be exercising more — it'll help with the stress and the weight factor.  I just haven't taken the time, and I missed our weekend trek to the track thanks to much-needed rain.

New food this week:  at our favorite coffee house, they have a killer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  That Man likes to order it, and it's all I can do to eat one or two bites because it's so good, but also sooooo high in fat and calories.  Luckily Middle Monster likes it too, so one piece with three forks hitting it doesn't last long.

Anyway, I decided to make a healthy version, very similar to Skinny Taste's Pumpkin Cupcakes.  I used a carrot cake mix for the base with canned pumpkin, and then mixed more pumpkin with the cream cheese in the frosting.  Unfortunately I didn't have reduced fat cream cheese, so mine were a little higher points but still much more diet friendly.

The kids loved the cupcakes, although not all of them liked the frosting.  Not a problem — I kept the frosting separate in the fridge, so I didn't have to keep the whole cupcake in the fridge too.   I'd like to make a homemade cake base eventually that I can control even more, but this was a good start!

Good News Monday

The best news….  MONDAY IS ALMOST OVER.

Yes, it was one of those days.  It's going to be one of those weeks.  It's become very clear to me that I don't always respond well under pressure, contrary to my exuberant claims otherwise all these years.  There are certain stressors that I *do* respond well too.  Big projects don't scare me, nor do tight deadlines.  Long hours, impossible timelines, not a problem.

WHEN…  I know what the @#&%* I'm doing. 

I'm very uncomfortable with the programming language I'm working in right now, so I have this nagging, constant terror.  I don't have the absolute confidence that I can and will get it done, no matter what it takes…because I just don't know what I'm doing.  Or why.  UGH.  I hate it.  I'm constantly asking (bugging!) people for help and my deadline looms terrifyingly close, while I'm dinking around with stuff that should be basic.

Anyway, that's why my posts have been less lately.  Through the end of this month, I'm going to be a stressed out wreck with no finger nails, constant headaches, and churning stomach from all the coffee.  Plus the scale will probably be up too.  Le sigh.

So I need LOTS of good news!!

My awesome pens from Earthly Charms arrived.  I'll be sending them out with promo packages going forward.  If you're dying to have one, email me your snail mail addy!
For the HMSG print giveaway (here), I decided to give everyone a copy!  That's really not so big when I look at how many of you were already going to get a copy.   If you want Victor, please drop me an email with your current address (even if I've shipped something to you before), just so I don't have to go looking and digging around for it.  I can't promise to get to the post office tomorrow or anything — but I'll get there as soon as I can.

That's all I've got.  What about you?

The Mad Stitcher

I've had a bit of ADHD lately with my projects.  I've been working on four at a time. 

Here's the next part of the mystery sal completed:

I also started two projects.  First, Northern Expressions Needlework's Antique Lace band sampler:

This is stitched on ruby wine linen with HDF's examplar white chocolate silk.  Since I had to order quite a large piece of linen to get the right length, I had plenty (after I cut it in half) to use the other piece for the Coat of Arms SAL.

This one is using "Obsidian" silk from The Silk Mill.  It's gorgeous, shiny filament silk — but as slippery as snot.  I quickly learned to use much shorter lengths than usual (for this linen count, I have to use two strands to get the coverage I like).  I feel more worn out after wrestling with the slippery silks, so I might regret my decision to use it on such a large project.  But it's absolutely gorgeous…

I'm not sure what other colors I'll be using in the CoA yet.  I want blacks or dark grays that look good on the deep red.  I've placed another order from Carrie's Threads, and as soon as The Silk Mill is shipping again (they're moving and won't ship until after 10/1), I'll order more shades of black.  I'm tentatively thinking that I'll do each row of the sampler in a different shade of black.  That'll allow me to explore a bit.

My other project is a small kit with lots of beads that That Man talked me into the other day.  I don't have pictures of it yet but I'll snag one the next time I work on it.