Julia London's Blog, page 75

EBOOK SATURDAY!

Today I'm excited to announce that I've recently converted two of my novellas to ebooks!  MINE AT MIDNIGHT is a contemporary novella that was originally published in 2004 in the Stroke of Midnight anthology. 

The story had been out of print for more than five years, and when I recently received my rights back, I decided to publish it in ebook form.  I've done the same with a historical novella I wrote last year entitled AT LAST which features my first Scottish hero!  AT LAST was originally published in The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance.  Both stories are available for Kindle, Nook, and in all other formats at www.Smashwords.com and best of all, they're only 99 cents each! 

I'm very excited about this new ebook venture and I'm hoping to soon have another one of my out of print stories available as well as new, previously unpublished books. In other exciting news, I'm thrilled to report that my latest release, IT HAPPENED ONE SEASON, a Regency-era anthology with stories by me, Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, and Candice Hern has remained on the USA Today and New York Times best seller lists for a second week!  Thank you to everyone who bought the book and made that possible!  

So, have you joined the ebook revolution yet?  If so, Kindle or Nook?  Or something else?  What are you currently reading?

Alternate Realities

I've decided that I just plain live in an alternate reality (which goes a long way to explaining why this post is going up so late).

So there I am, happily doing school with the kids and not so happily mopping the kitchen floor. And tralala I head to my office, go over to a script review blog I hang out on, because it's Friday and I like to check out the Friday amateur script reviews, and since I'm going there, I MUST know it's Friday, right?

But nooooooo. As I'm there, I'm thinking that I need to find a topic to blog about over here at Whine Sisters this week. I'm wondering how I can spin yesterday's talk at the North Lake Writers Fest (great talk, lousy traffic…google maps on the iPhone does not take into consideration what you should do when the street they say go down is totally blocked!), thinking maybe I should follow-up with the shed (it's up! it's empty! must now find the time to fill it with exciting outdoor type stuff). Or maybe the outdoor table I found at Goodwill for only $25 (I love thrift shopping).

But before I can decide, I realize that, hello, it's not Thursday (duh!) it's Friday and it's almost 10 and it's my day to post.

I mean, seriously. I wasn't a wild child in college. There was nothing I did that could have fried a lot of brain cells. And yet here I am losing days.

And that's not all. I'll think–oh! I must get X. And then I go to the other room to get X (which is, of course, extremely important) and when I get to the room, I have no idea why I went there in the first place.

Clearly it can't be me. So I'm going to blame it on the Internet. Or Global Warming. Or the earth being kicked slightly off its axis by all those earthquakes.

Yeah. That's it.

It's not me. It definitely can't be me.

Come on, folks. Tell me. Am I alone here? Or is everyone as spacey as me lately. (Hey! Maybe it's Spring Fever!)

Celebs We Love and H8

There's a new reality show coming to the CW, called H8rs. It pairs people up with celebrities they dislike, in attempt to change opinions, I suppose. Sounds like a nightmare invitation to stalkers to me, but what do I know. I'm sure the usual D-list will be game for exploitation, I mean air time. Gary Busey, perhaps? The Kardashians? Kathy Griffin?

[image error]I would be paired up with Natalie Portman, and of course, I would end up thinking she was the sweetest, most wonderful girl. That is, if Natalie Portman or I would ever dare go on such a show.  We wouldn't. But there are spare Kardashians to take her place, and plenty of fame-hungry reality-loving people to fill in for me. But the whole premise makes me think– which celebrities are we ready to be rid of, and who do we need to see more?

The reality made celebrities who would be on this show in the first place? They should all move to Iowa and become vampires so they no longer show up on film. Kardashians, Lohans, Hiltons, Tori Spelling, LeAnn Rimes and her cheating man, the Simpson sisters, the Tom Cruise family… done. Paris Hilton was gone for a good long time, but suddenly she is showing up in the gossip rotation again. Why? Does anyone suddenly care about her? No. Go away, Paris. Teen moms, "real" housewives? No thanks. [image error]

But I can't get enough of seeing Sandra Bullock looking happy with her adorable Baby Louis. I never mind seeing Jennifer Garner with her cute daughters. Hugh Jackman is watchable doing just about anything. Tina Fey makes me laugh, and looks great in her second pregnancy, always a plus. I guess I like happy stories about real celebrities doing normal or good things. And I dislike any story about celebrities who are celebrated for no apparent reason. [image error]

Who do you like to see in the gossip pages? Who are you tired of? Is there a celebrity you hate? Would spending a day with said celebrity change your mind?

 

All Things Potter

So this weekend, my daughter and I went to see the Harry Potter exhibition.  Located in Discovery Times Square, the exhibition just opened, and will be in NYC until September.  And for anyone who is in love with the books and movies, I highly recommend going.  A collection of hundreds of props and costumes that were used in the Potter movies, the exhibition is arranged in such a manner that you leave feeling as if you've actually been to Hogwarts.

Entrance is timed, and after waiting for your turn, you arrive at night in the fog on the train platform at Hogwarts.  From there you're quickly "sorted" in the right house – although I did notice a significant number of Gryffindor candidates.  And one woman who said anything but Slytherin please.   From there you walk along a hallway with moving portraits, including Dawn French as the Fat Lady, trying very hard to break a glass with a high note.

Fortunately, she's so preoccupied that you're manage to slip right into the Gryffindor common room and from there into Harry and Ron's bedroom.   There are costumes and of course beds, complete with bed-curtains, and the odd packet of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.   You see Ron's sweater (the one his mother made him) and if you've purchased the audio tour you'll hear from the set designers and costumers just exactly how they came up with each unique look.

From Gryffindor you wander into the various classrooms.  Starting with the Dark Arts.  And of course Snape.  And a wonderful display dedicated (and no doubt designed by) Gilderoy Lockhart.  Including the famous portrait of him painting his own portrait.  You'll move on to see Umbridge's very pink office (and hear about how her "pinks" got deeper and darker as she slipped more under the influence of "he-who-shall-not –be-named".

And all along the way, you'll see character costumes along with their personal effects, and more importantly, each of their wands.  Luna's (inexplicably in Gryffindor), Nevils, Harry's, Ron's, Hermione's, and of Draco Malfoy's.   The darker side is covered as well, with the Death-eaters in full regalia.  Bellatrix both before and after her release from Azkaban.   And of course Voldemort.

You visit other classrooms, take a turn at quidditch,  and even get to wrestle with your very own Mandrake.   Then you wander through Hagrid's house (you can even sit in his chair) and meet Buckbeak and other of Hagrid's 'friends' before heading into the Forbidden forest and some not so friendly spiders and a rather angry dragon.

And finally you wind up in the great hall (complete with floating candles).  It's the night of the dance, and you can almost see Hermione and Viktor Krum, Ron in his hand-me-down suit.  And Harry, just on the edge of manhood, in his tuxedo.  You also see costumes belonging to Tonks (my favorite) , McGonagall and of course Dumbledore.    And then it's time to head back to reality, but not before saying hello to Dumbledore's Fawkes, and having a quick look at the Gryffindor sword.

Of course this is just a little taste of what's in store.  There's Ron's brother's candy collection.  And the marauders map and Harry's invisibility cloak.    There's Hermione's time turner necklace and Hagrid's book of monsters.   And all along the way clips from the movies to help you remember (although I'll admit we were so entranced we didn't watch any of them).

All in all a magical way to spend a day for a muggle with a love for Harry Potter.

What about you?   Are you an HP fan?

 

2011 RT, It's Not Your Momma's RT Anymore….

I would like to formally apologize for being less than present last week. I was left-coasting it at the Romantic Times 2011 Convention. Now, since we are all romance lovers at the Whine, we are all familiar with the Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine, which is pretty much the only print publication dedicated to reviewing romance (and other genres now).

Several years ago, I attended the RT booksigning in NY, but I didn't do much else, because, OK, the RT conferences have always made me nervous. There were whispers and rumors, male strippers running wild, readers screaming, real people dressed up as vampires; it sounded like mayhem, romance induced mayhem, and I am very much mayhem adverse. Actually, I wasn't mayhem adverse in college, but you know, I've grown up a lot (or at least that's what I tell my children). So, I was nervous but I felt like I was being petty by letting my preconceptions get in the way, so this year, I signed up to go and talk.

A good friend (WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS, JK) ditched out on our yin/yang character/plot talk, so I thought, OK, I can do my character talk solo and I can do plotting Q&A, and maybe come up with some cool quotes. So, all was well, but then RT says, we have a guy who would like to do your talk with you. He's an author who lives in LA. I thought, OK, fine. Then RT says that they have another guy who would like to your talk with you. He's an author, too. I thought, OK, cool. That makes it even easier.

So, on Tuesday night, I jetted off to LA. I was supposed to leave at 4 in the afternoon, but that flight got cancelled, so I took the 9pm flight instead. Which gets into LA at 1:20, which is roughly 4:20am Eastern Standard Time. When I made this decision, I had assumed I would sleep on the plane. Aha! First mistake. I think I did snooze a bit, but there was a LOT of talking for a late-night flight, and I could never get comfortable because I don't want to be a seat-hogger, and my legs kept on wanting to stretch more. To all the tall people in the world, I feel your airplane pain, because I am SHORT and my legs wanted to stretch more. Someday they will bring back those little foot rest things they used to have. Remember those? I loved those little metal bars.

ANYWAY, so I get to LA, take a cab from LAX to the hotel (second mistake, cabs in LA are CRAZY EXPENSIVE), and ended up crawling into bed at 3:40 AM PST (7:40 EST). And that was on Wednesday, the day of my talk. Yes, I did make it to my talk. I met Stephen Jay Schwartz (with long, flowing LA hair that looked so much better than mine). And Joshua Crain, who is a great guy from Atlanta who writes for Mira and God bless, we did have some people in our talk, even though Michael Hauge was doing his character/plot/love story talk in the other room. And the people seemed to enjoy our talk. YAY!

So, Wednesday was mostly over and I went back into my hotel room, brought out my basket for Club RT and my promo stuff and schlepped it back downstairs. That night, I had dinner with the lovely Jane from Dear Author and we talked romance. I forget how much I enjoy just talking about romance novels with someone else who loves the romance genre. We compared and contrasted Lisa Kleypas with Susan Elizabeth Phillips. We talked old favs and new favs. She gave me a reading list for Elle Kennedy (who I intend to read) and then after that, we walked back to the hotel, and I saw no wild strippers or men wearing fangs, or women wearing fangs. No, RT seemed really really cool. After that, I crawled back into bed, and this time, I truly died.

Thursday was an easier day. I had the series romance soiree with a lot of other Harlequin authors. Julie Miller coordinated the whole event and there were free books, free food, and romance bingo for all.

Julie Miller and Carol Ericson Setting Up

Friday was actually pretty fun. I snuck in late to the Harlequin Spotlight, but got to hear about some of the upcoming titles. Harlequin is aggressively moving into the digital space, and I think they are actually ahead of quite a few publishers in this area. It will be interesting to see how everything shapes out.

I missed the Friday night parties (WRITING!), but I heard they were all a lot of fun, and everybody had a good time, and no police were called. By this time, I realized that the RT was completely NOT what was I expecting. It had a lot of great energy, the conference organizers had worked very hard to bring in a lot of film/screenwriting workshops, and oh, did I mention the soap opera stars! Bobbie from General Hospital was there. As was some people from Days. I never watched Days, only the ABC soaps, so it was Bobbie whose name caught my eye.

The booksigning was Saturday and I had some people stop by the table and get books signed, but I had a plane to catch at 4:00, so I had to duck out early, and then it was off to LAX. I finally arrived at JFK at 12:20 AM (thankfully 9:20PM EST), and I think my body-clock is FINALLY starting to get back to normal.

Next year, the conference will be in Chicago, and I gotta say, I'm thinking about going.

So, that's the wrap-up. If anybody has any questions, I'll try and answer. Do y'all like traveling, hotels and such? There was a lady at the booksigning who had traveled by train because she didn't fly, so she had spent the last 2 days on a train. Now THERE'S dedication.

WHAT BRINGS A SMILE?

Since my blog last week was all about The Whine, this week I want to blog about what's making me smile.  First of all there's my son.  I know, I know, a mom bragging about her kid, but what can I say–he's bringin' the smiles.  Chris is a college junior and in the ROTC program, which means that when he graduates next May he'll be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, something that, given the state of affairs in the world, makes the DH and I both extremely proud and scared to death.  Last week was Chris's ROTC awards ceremony where he received the Reserve Officers Award–an award that honors military excellence.  Needless to say, the DH and I were beaming with pride.

 

Another thing making me smile is my neighborhood–it is SO much fun!  There's always something going on.  This past weekend we enjoyed Sports Day, an annual springtime event.  There were over 150 participants and more activities than you could do in one day, including water volleyball, tennis, pickleball, bocci, croquet, golf, volleyball, triva, billiards, horseshoes, ping pong, Wii bowling–it was amazing! 

DH Joe (2nd from right) enjoying some Sports Day downtime with the neighbors

You could sign up for as many events as you wanted, and when you weren't competing, there was plenty of food to keep you busy chewing!  I competed in pickleball and tennis, as did the DH, who also competed in ping pong where he was named Champion!  DH and I took home the tennis crown in doubles as well (thanks to DH who put on his best Roger Federer moves while I basically stood there in awe and said, "Great shot, honey!").

Me in action on the pickleball court

 

Another smile-bringer from my neighborhood was our recent Country Western party.  We had a six-piece band that was fantastic, and a bunch of us were able to put the country line dances we've been learning on display. 

Best. Boots. Ever.

I bought cowboy boots for the occasion–they're hot pink and orange, which sounds really bad, but they're really, really cool. 

The food (BBQ and ribs with all the trimmings) was delicious and a fab time was had by all.

 

Bad hombre Joe manages to smile even though he's wanted by the law

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what's made you smile lately?  Or, if you're feeling grumpy, what WOULD make you smile?  Let's turn those frowns upside down!  

The Devil's Love

Ah, The Devil's Love, my very first book. I blogged Monday about the big turning points in my life, and one of the biggest was the publication of my first novel. It came out in 1998, and it still in print. This is the original cover, but its been reissued since with a landscape scene.

Here is the cover copy:

A woman's desire…

With dreams of a great romantic love, Abigail Carrington sails to England to marry the man she has loved since childhood, Michael Ingram, Marquis of Darfield. She believes her betrothed is a generous and noble man who has been longing for her. But the handsome man waiting for her at the altar is a dark, brooding stranger who rushes her into marriage, then abandons her at his country estate. Only the passion of Michael's kiss gives her hope that theirs can be more than a marriage of convenience.

A man's need…

With scandal shadowing his past, Michael, the Devil of Darfield, had no need for a wife. Remembering only the little hellion who made life miserable for him aboard her father's ship, he resents the agreement he made to marry her so he could save his ancestral home. Though determined to ignore her, he cannot stop thinking about his lovely violet-eyed bride. Her beauty tempts him. Her charm bedevils him. He tries to drive her away until he almost loses her. Then he vows to regain her love—before it is too late….

This book is available in print and in ebook format. Enjoy!

STOP THE MADNESS!

I love People magazine.  I've been a subscriber for years, and I consider it my guilty pleasure.  I like to know what's happening with the celebs–who's dating, who's breaking up, who wore what to which awards show.  Plus, I like the stories the magazine does about "regular" non-celebrity folks who have accomplished extraordinary things, overcome incredible odds, or made amazing discoveries.  So when the latest issue arrived in the mail this week, I made a cup of tea, settled in my favorite chair, and was ready to be entertained. 

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Instead I found myself ticked off and disgusted by one particular story, one that made me say out loud, "I'm going to blog about this."  Here's the headline that grabbed my attention (and not in a good way):

Snookigate!  The Jersey Shore star outearned Nobel Prize Winner Toni Morrison for a recent speaking gig at Rutgers University.

Yes–you read that correctly.  Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi–last seen face down in the sand in a drunken stupor that led to her arrest–was paid $32,000 to address students at Rutgers on March 31st.  Meanwhile, Nobel-Prize winning author Toni Morrison who will deliver the school's commencement address in May was only paid $30,000.

Can someone PLEASE explain this to me?

I am ashamed to admit that I watched Jersey Shore's first season.  Curiosity over the big hoopla drove me to tune into the first episode, then it became like a train wreck I couldn't look away from.  But after that first season was done, so was I.  I was tired of looking at the carnage and disgusted with the "anything goes" non-stop drunken, foul-mouthed, attention-seeking slutty/man-whore behavior of the "stars."  I figured the show–and the cast–would fizzle and fade away, their fifteen minutes of fame thankfully over.

But no.  Instead, apparently the more outrageous and grosser and more violent the behavior of the "stars," the more popular they've become.  That a highly respected, intelligent, accomplished woman like Toni Morrison should be worth less than a foul-mouthed, low-class, drunken, out-of-control, disgraceful, promiscuous skank really infuriates, and ultimately saddens, me.  How can this be?  (disclaimer–perhaps Ms. Polizzi is a lovely, demure, well-mannered, virtuous person in real life.  I don't know, I've never met her.  However, the Snooki person depicted on Jersey Shore is nothing but a foul-mouthed, low-class, drunken, out-of-control, disgraceful, promiscuous skank).

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"Officer, I swear I'm a lovely, demure, well-mannered, virtuous person in real life. I only play a drunk skank on tv."

There were, thank goodness, a couple of other stories in the magazine that didn't infuriate me.  The report that Prince William will not be wearing a wedding band after he ties the knot with Kate Middleton made me chuckle.  If ever there was a guy who didn't need to wear a ring, it's gotta be him.  Is there a person on the planet who won't know he's married, LOL?

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Methinks he won't be able to pretend to anyone that he's single.

 

Another story I enjoyed was the inspirational piece on Bethany Hamilton–the now 21 year old surfer who lost an arm to a tiger shark attack when she was only 13. 

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An amazing story about an amazing young woman

 

In spite of having only one arm, Bethany is now a top-ranked pro surfer who travels the globe meeting amputees and shark-attack survivors through her nonprofit group Friends of Bethany.  A movie called Soul Surfer based on her life story will premiere soon.  Hmmm…I wonder how much Rutgers University would think this accomplished, humanitarian athlete is worth?  Or how much they might pay legendary singer Tony Bennett who was featured in another story about his upcoming new album–at age 84.  Personally, I think both Bethany and Tony (as well as the underpaid Toni Morrison) are priceless.

So that's my whine for this week.  Anyone else want to whine about any of the above?  Anyone else outraged at Toni Morrison getting paid less than She Whose Name I Will Not Type Again?  Want to whine about something different?  Have at it!  Or maybe you have some fabulous news to share–I'd love to hear that as well!

Wow, that was easy after all

Have y'all ever put off something because you just KNEW it was going to be a pain in the butt…only to find out it really wasn't?

We're living in our first house with a homeowner's association–moved back in September. At Christmas, my mom decided to give us a storage shed (pretty sure she took one look at the garage still full of boxes and decided we were desperate). That's pretty much the best present EVER, but do I have a shed yet? No, I do not. Why? Because I freaked at the idea of getting approval from the HOA.

I emailed the folks and got a form. I read the CC & Rs. I heard all this stuff about architectural plans and such.

And I just put it off.

Recently, *I* looked at the garage and decided we were desperate. So I sucked it up. I went to Home Depot, found our shed (it'll be smaller than the one in the picture– height restrictions–and I found colors that matched our house for paint and trim (also per the rules). I pulled up the form which was about the easiest form to fill out in the history of the world. I drew a so-very-not-to-scale picture of the shed on our plot map. I scanned the Home Depot flyer into a document. I put the whole packet–flyer, map, application–into a PDF document and sent it by email to the HOA. Then I waited.

The rules say 2-4 weeks.

Two DAYS later we were approved.

The shed–my Christmas present–will be delivered and installed next week.

Now WHY didn't I do that sooner?



What have you guys procrastinated on that turned out to be not painful at all? Somehow, it seems I do this kind of thing a lot!

Not So Super Market

Yes, here it is, another Whine Sisters whine about the grocery store. We've whined about having to shop and the time it takes out of the day. We've whined about people not putting carts back even though they are parked right next to the cart return (ugh, a pet peeve!). We've whined about the price of food. Well, adding a new one…

For over twenty years, except those few years I lived in Michigan, I have been a loyal Big Y supermarket shopper. Now they want to charge me $20 a year to be part of their Silver Savings Program, and I am no longer shopping at Big Y. I told them so on their Facebook page.

They didn't care. Why? Because everyone that I've seen at the registers when they started offering this "exciting new program" is just saying, "well okay," and forking over the dough. What happened to good sense? The spirit of protest? Just saying no? When did we all become so complacent? Oh you want to charge me money to save money in your store? Okay! Sign me up. NO freaking WAY! It's time to Stop and Shop (their competitor's slogan has never felt more right).

I don't care that I'll make up that money in savings in a mere two or three visits to the store. It's the principle of the thing. My grocery store has found a way to make money in trying to save me money– and I'm outraged. At Thanksgiving, they used to give me a free turkey to thank me for my business. Then it became $10 off a turkey. Now it's $5. Ooh, $5 off a Thanksgiving turkey? Big whoop. Yeah, it helps, but it feels a little less than special, knowing it used to be a free turkey. But the store savings and convenience (it's the only grocery store in my town) made up for it. 

Well, not anymore! And since I ranted about this on my FB page, I know more locals feel the same way I do, and most have a choice, more than one grocery store in town to choose. So guess what BIG Y? You're going to lose business over the $20 charge to join the "Silver Savings" program– which should be savings you pass on to your customers just for choosing your store, to get business, and not something you're charging for. Give me a break! I know that grocery stores aren't reeling in the big bucks over other types of stores. But that's the nature of the business. And I'm a savvy consumer. So bye bye Big Y!

What has put you over the edge recently? Where do you shop? Do they have a savings program- and do they charge you to save money in their store? Would you just go for it– it's only $20, what's the big deal? Or would you pitch a little fit over it, like me? Maybe I'm just turning into a cranky old lady?