Dee J. Adams's Blog, page 6

You Heard It Here: Happiness Is… The End

This month’s happiness is writing “The End” on my fifteenth book! I didn’t actually realize that it was a milestone number until I sat down and counted. I’ve been working on three books at the same time (although two of them are smaller novellas that I hope to have out shortly), so I was already a little schizo trying to keep track of them all. (Remind me never to work on that many books at one time.)

But finishing this sixth Adrenaline Highs book gave me… well, an adrenaline high. Although I’m pretty sure this will be the end to this series, I try never to say never. Because you just never know. Honestly, I’m eager to continue with the High Stakes series and see where that leads. I have a feeling that a few people from the Adrenaline Highs might actually make a few cameo appearances, but then again… I don’t know yet. It’s just fun to think about.

What about you? What’s your happiness this month?

You Heard It Here: What’s Your Game?

Do you have a game? Maybe you don’t. But maybe you should find one.

I grew up in a tennis family. I played for a little while, but turned out I liked the running part of my tennis warm-up better than the actual tennis so I began running instead.

In the old days (before I started writing), when I had time to watch television and sports, I was big on football. I’ve always was, and forever will be, a Dallas Cowboy’s fan. (I can’t help it. I was born that way… Texas and all…) When I married my husband, I started watching more basketball since that was his sport of choice (although not his only sport). Then when our daughter started playing soccer we got into watching more soccer. Lately, because my critique partner writes hockey romance (this is a shout out to you, Kate Willoughby!), I’m now watching the LA Kings when I can. As I write this, my husband and daughter are at the Western Conference Semifinal of Major League Soccer. The LA Galaxy is kicking ass and taking names. They are so fun to watch, particularly Landon Donovan with his hat trick!

I’m listening to the crowd chant, “One more year! One more year!” because Donovan announced his intention to retire after this season. I’m just grinning for the guy. What a way to leave the game.

I’m convinced that finding a team to call your own can be good for your health. There’s nothing like getting your heart pumping while you’re rooting for your team. And let’s be honest, watching an athlete at work is not hard on the eyes. (Although I have it on good authority that you might not want to date an athlete, enjoying them while they work is highly entertaining.)

What about you? Were you raised into a sport or did you play a sport? Or maybe you have a favorite sport to watch. What gets your heart pumping? Let me know! I’d love to hear it!

You Heard It Here: In The Beginning

I just realized a fairly cool event that I never shared. You’ve heard a few stories of the time I worked as a Page at KTTV when I first got out of school. Working at KTTV definitely got my foot in the door of show business. It bought me into contact with actors, comedians, producers, writers, etc…

I was fortunate to work on The Late Show when Joan Rivers hosted and when she left, Arsenio Hall took over. I loved Arsenio for many reasons. First of all, he was a regular guy. (I hope he still is.) He always had a smile and positive energy. He came on set and had this aura of happiness around him that was absolutely contagious.

He liked to mix things up a bit and we never knew what he might do during a taping of the show. Let me preface this next part by telling you that I had done some “extra” work on two episodes of Gimme A Break, the Nell Carter show that taped on the same lot. I was trying to get into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and I needed three days of work to be eligible for the union. All I needed was one more on camera appearance and I could pay the initiation fee and be in. (The actors unions were tough to break into. You can’t work without being in the union, but you have to work to get into the union. A little catch 22, you see. I’m not sure how different it is today with one union, but I digress…)

Back to the story. Arsenio went to a commercial break and strode toward the audience. I was standing off to the side making sure people were staying in their seats or not talking during the show or pointing them in the direction of the bathroom. (I know… you’re thinking, what a job…) He motioned me and one other page forward so we hurried to see what he needed.

He smiled broadly and we smiled back. He clapped his hands together and said, “Hey, you two want to help me in between the commercial break?”

Hell yeah! my Texas brain shouted. But I somehow managed to keep my cool. “Sure,” I said. “What do you need?”

“We’ll just wing it and tease the next spot,” he said, moving to stand between us and face the camera that had turned around to shoot us.

“You mean we’re going to be on TV?” I think my voice may have risen a bit at that question.

“Yeah,” he said, smile in place.

The stage manager started to count down and by this point Arsenio had his arm around each of us.

“Arsenio, this is my third camera appearance. They’re going to have to pay me. It’s going to get me into SAG. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” As soon as I said the words I wondered if I just blew it and he’d shove me away, but my conscience never quit.

He smiled even broader. “That’s great! This is perfect then.”

And boom, we were on camera. The little red light flared on and he started talking, teasing the next guest on his show and talking to us. I have no idea what I said, but I know I spoke, agreeing with whatever came out of Arsenio’s mouth with a dopey grin on my face. All I could think about was that I’d just reached a huge milestone in my life and I owed it to Arsenio Hall. I will always love that man.

So that’s this month’s story. What about you? Did someone help you reach a big milestone in your life? I’d love to hear about it.

 

You Heard It Here: Happiness Is… A Reunion!

My high school reunion!

This month, happiness is twofold. Not only am I having my first hometown book signing on Oct. 25th, but it’s the same weekend as my high school reunion. I missed the last one, so I’m really looking forward to this one. I graduated from Coronado High School, the Thunderbirds! Where did we get the name, you ask? The mountains on our side of town have a formation of a massive bird.

Here’s a shot:

Thunderbird! (I particularly like this since I happen to work on the The Thundermans! Nice coincidence!)

Pretty awesome, right? I always thought so. No other school had their mascot etched into the mountains of the city! I actually never appreciated the beauty of the desert mountains until I left town, but I definitely look back fondly at growing up in El Paso. To top off my reunion with a book signing is certainly giving me mucho happiness.

I hope I’ll see some friendly faces at the signing. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop in. I’ll be signing Against The Wall and Imminent Danger. Here’s the info:

Barnes & Noble

Saturday, October 25th

2 – 4pm

705 Sunland Park Drive (on the West side).

What about you? Any awesome reunion stories you can tell me about. I’m a little nervous about this one since it’s been so long since I’ve seen everyone.

You Heard It Here: Last Call

These past 4 weeks have been a fun, crazy time filled lots of highs! It was a pleasure to be included in Danger & Desire with so many amazing romantic suspense authors. I hope everyone grabbed it because it’s an awesome deal. Where else are you going to find 10 full length romantic suspense novels by best selling authors for only 99 cents?

Danger & Desire will disappear in just days, but October is breast cancer awareness month and you can help out one my D&D pals by snapping up another anthology.

Buy Last Hero Standing for only 99 cents and help Pamela Clare at the same time! This collection is by best selling and award winning authors! You can’t go wrong! All proceeds go to Pamela’s medical fund.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sWiLWe

Nook: http://bit.ly/1CGXHEr

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1x1qD6W

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1xEK48M

(I’ll be talking about both boxed sets on Monday, October 13 when I’m on The Worst Show on the Web. Hope you can find some time to catch the show!)

My sister is a breast cancer survivor as are close cousins. Until we can wipe this disease off the planet, let’s help the people who are going through it.

Has someone in your life dealt with breast cancer or any other kind of cancer?

 

You Heard It Here: Hollywood’s Real Fur

How can it be October 1st? Seems crazy! But a new first means a new Hollywood story.

I’ve kept this one to myself for many reasons. The biggest being that I was just too embarrassed to put it out there, but I told it to a friend the other night and she laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe. Granted, that could’ve been the margaritas making her loopy, but it’s still a good story despite having to out myself.

So…here it goes.

You may remember when I told a story about standing in for Bette Midler for the second VH1 Honors. Well, in between my dialogue coach jobs, I stood in on a lot of variety shows, including the Oscars. I think I worked the Academy Awards for about 10 years give or take a year.

I’ll admit I mostly had a good time rehearsing the shows. It was always fun knowing who would be presenting and what they were going to say. Sometimes we got to hear the opening monologue and sometimes we didn’t. It all depended on who was hosting and how well they trusted us (the crew) to keep quiet. Stand-ins at the Oscars have the job of rehearsing all the presenters’ lines and the recipients’ speeches. If you’re a presenter, you read from the teleprompter and if you win an award you have to go up to the stage and ad lib a speech until the prompter tells you to “wrap it up.” I don’t remember how much time we had for a speech but I’d guess about a minute. (Let me tell you… when you’re ad libbing a speech, a minute can be an eternity!)

One year in particular, I was a nominee in the sound editing category. (Usually we had anywhere from a dozen to 2 dozen assignments for the night. It all depended on how many people were scheduled to work. We might present one award and be in the audience as a nominee for a different award.) I just remember this one particular show that Mike Myers was a presenter. Now anytime you were a nominee, it meant that if you won during the one rehearsal where the real presenter attended, that person was going to hand you an Oscar (a stand-in Oscar since the real thing didn’t come out until the show) and you had to make a speech with that celebrity standing next to you. Kinda fun, right?

Before this particular rehearsal (with Mike) happened, the crew gathered in the audience for a meeting. Apparently, Mike wasn’t the only one presenting the award this year. Oh no, this year, Mike was going to be handed the envelope by Bart the bear. Yes. A real live who-knows-how-many-hundreds-of-pounds-he-weighs bear. Okay. That news sinks in. In general when working with animals you have to be quiet on set because you don’t want to distract them or – you know depending on their size – rile them up so they kill you. Click here for the Mike & Bart clip.

So the bear guy comes out and gets our attention. “Hi, just want to talk about a few safety issues.” Yada, yada. Then this: “If any of you women have your period, you should probably leave the room because the bear will smell you.” Pause. Then he went on to say how that probably wouldn’t be a good thing. Okay, so I don’t know what all the women in the place are thinking, but I’m thinking this: Hm. I’m just at the END of that time of the month. Does that count? Will the bear smell me? Will he attack me if he DOES smell me? And this: If I get up and walk out now, the whole freaking crew knows I have my period. WTF? Really? Not to mention the fact that I’ve been scheduled for this slot. Switching with someone can throw off the schedule depending on where everyone has to go next. So what did I do? I sat quietly in my seat and decided I wouldn’t get picked to win and I didn’t smell enough for the bear to want me. (C’mon… I showered that morning. If anything I smelled like hair spray.)

On to the rehearsal. Mike lists the nominees, takes the envelope from the bear who is standing in his little circle on stage (while we pray he remains in his little circle since there’s nothing keeping him there but the promise of a tasty morsel if he does his job) then proceeds to call the winner. I couldn’t tell you the winner’s name. I only knew it was me. Yep. I won. Yippee. I’d get to be handed an Oscar from Mike Myers while on stage with a bear who was now definitely going to be close enough to smell me. Oh joy.

Yes, I’m thinking all that as I trot onstage, wondering what the hell I’m going to say as I ad lib my speech and hope that the bear doesn’t pounce on me from behind.

And what happens when I try and take the award from Mike? He pulls it back. Haha. Give me the award, Mike! He laughs, offers it again and I reach for it – again. And he pulls it back. Again. Seriously? Granted, Mike doesn’t know my life is on the line. I’m the only one in the room who realizes this which is why I want the hell off that stage. So I begin my speech – talking really fast in hopes that it will speed up the clock if I talk faster. It didn’t. It just meant I had to come up with more to say since I had to fill the time. Mike shoved the award at me again and this time I didn’t even try to take it. I was already embarrassed enough as it was. I don’t remember much besides looking over my shoulder most of the time to make sure the bear wasn’t sniffing the air and setting his sights on me.

Long story short – okay not really, but I tried – I walked (very quickly) off stage with Mike behind me. I couldn’t tell you if he tried to hand me the award again because I was too busy running from the bear.

That’s my story. I never met up with Mike after that. Or the bear, thankfully.

How about you? Any fun animal stories you can share?

You Heard It Here: Happiness is… September

Yep. This month, happiness is… well… this month! I love September, probably because it’s my birthday month and I’ll take any chance to celebrate an occasion. (Be it mine or someone else’s!)

My first book, Dangerous Race, was published in September and that made a truly outstanding birthday gift in 2011. Now it’s 2014 and I have extra to celebrate with the release of Danger & Desire! This boxed set of 10 full length romantic suspense novels has given me nothing but pleasure! I was thrilled to be included with NYT and USA Today Bestsellers. You can bet it’s been a month of counting my blessings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I still adore my first cover! And this most recent is pretty smokin’ too!)

To celebrate this month’s fun, my daughter and I are going to see Katy Perry in concert! I’m so looking forward to this!

This lady is fun to sing along with! I’m just hoping I don’t embarrass my daughter. Actually… I probably will and I don’t think I care.

So that’s my September. Book releases and concerts!

What about you? How are you celebrating September? Or how do you celebrate your birthday month?

 

Dangerous Race – Amazon | B&N | Carina | Audible | iBooks | Kobo | ARe

Danger & Desire – Amazon | B&N | iBooks | ARe | Kobo

You Heard It Here: How Many Books for What?

I’m interrupting my usual blog schedule for a special occasion…

The release of Danger & Desire!!

I’m thrilled to be part of this boxed set with these amazing authors! And really… how often do you get 10 full length, steamy, romantic suspense novels by NYT and USA bestselling authors for only 99 cents? This set is only available for one month! Grab it now before time runs out!

Hold on tight for ten full-length books of intrigue and passion from New York Times Bestselling and award-winning authors. Men in uniform, sexy spies and pulse-pounding action fill over 750,000 words of this limited edition boxed set.

New York Times Bestseller Katie Reus – Sensual Surrender

RITA Award Winning Author Carolyn Crane – Against the Dark

USA Today Bestseller Pamela Clare – Skin Deep

New York Times Bestseller Dianna Love –Deceptive Treasures

Award Winning Author Dee J. Adams – Against the Wall

USA Today Bestseller Norah Wilson – Guarding Suzannah

USA Today Bestseller VK Sykes – Lethal Confessions

Amber Lin – Giving It Up

USA Today Bestseller Misty Evans – Deadly Pursuit

New York Times Bestseller Kaylea Cross – Singed

And don’t forget to stop into the FaceBook party today (9/15/14) from 9 am- 2 pm CST to celebrate release day! There’s lots of prizes and giveaways! I’ll be there at 9:30 CST. (That’s 7:30 PST – my time!) Gift cards, books and other surprises! Stop in!

 

 

You Heard It Here: Contests, Giveaways & Deals, oh my!

This mid month’s blog is a little early because it involves a contest & giveaway!

The Romance Reviews is having their “Fall into Love” fun for the month of September and if you know me, then you know September is one of my favorite months of the year! Stop in at TRR and answer the question–super easy since you can follow the link to my website and search up the answer in a sec! Win a digital copy of Against The Wall or any number of books that are in the contest! Tons of fun, tons of winners!

AND… don’t forget, one week from today is the release of Danger & Desire!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Hold on tight for ten full-length books of intrigue and passion from New York Times Bestselling and award-winning authors. Men in uniform, sexy spies and pulse-pounding action fill over 750,000 words of this limited edition boxed set.

New York Times Bestseller Katie Reus – Sensual Surrender

RITA Award Winning Author Carolyn Crane – Against the Dark

USA Today Bestseller Pamela Clare – Skin Deep

New York Times Bestseller Dianna Love –Deceptive Treasures

Award Winning Author Dee J. Adams – Against the Wall

USA Today Bestseller Norah Wilson – Guarding Suzannah

USA Today Bestseller VK Sykes – Lethal Confessions

Amber Lin – Giving It Up

USA Today Bestseller Misty Evans – Deadly Pursuit

New York Times Bestseller Kaylea Cross – Singed

The individual novels cost over $35 in total and have more than 2,000 5-star reviews on Goodreads. This set is only available for one month, so grab your copy now!

Seriously! This is 10 FULL LENGTH NOVELS for 99 cents! Don’t let this go by without grabbing it up and telling a friend to do the same!

Speaking of deals… what’s the best deal you ever got? Doesn’t have to be books? I’m talking anything! Let me know!

 

You Heard It Here: Hollywood Books

Happy September! It’s my birthday month so I’m especially fond of it!

This month’s story isn’t so much a story… except it is. Kind of. But not really. It’s really more of a book. But not really that either. How about I just dive in?

Since my tired old brain had trouble coming up with a new story (I usually try to dig deep and give you something from my past), I decided to give you a tidbit from my present.

First, I want to show you the next book on my TBR pile. Jock Itch.

Jock Itch is written by the crazy talented Rosa Blasi. You might recognize Rosa from her six years starring as Dr. Lu Delgado on Lifetime’s Strong Medicine or from any number of her many roles in movies and television. I know Rosa from The Thundermans, a Nickelodeon show where she plays Barb Thunderman, a retired superhero. Along with her retired superhero hubby, the two are raising their kids in the small town of Hiddenville.

When I first met Rosa, I’ll admit I was a bit intimidated. The woman is a force. She’s beautiful, self-assured and as quick-witted as anyone you’ll ever meet. She’s also in your face honest and not afraid to tell you what she’s thinking. All traits I admire. Wait, did I mention how funny she is? She can make even the straightest line laugh-out-loud funny. Hell, she doesn’t have to have words to be funny. She can do it with just a look.

I don’t have one particular Rosa story to tell you. Although I can say that her zingers at work are often used in my “Overheard on the set” quotes on my FaceBook page. (Not all of them, but a lot of them.) I love that her filter has a few big holes in it. It makes her that much more unique. (And yes, funny!)

I already know I’m going to love her book because I’ll be picturing her face and voice as I read. But trust me, you don’t need to know her to enjoy her book.  She’s as entertaining as it gets. On screen or on the page, Rosa will make you smile and probably laugh.

Jock Itch is at Amazon if you want to give it a try and I highly recommend it!

Before I forget… This month – September 15th – is the release of Danger & Desire!

Hold on tight for ten full-length books of intrigue and passion from New York Times Bestselling and award-winning authors. Men in uniform, sexy spies and pulse-pounding action fill over 750,000 words of this limited edition boxed set. ONLY 99 cents for a limited time! Don’t miss this great chance to read some awesome, steamy romantic suspense for a crazy low price!

So now, tell me, have you read any biographies that really caught your attention? I’d love to know!