Nicole Helm's Blog, page 11

What I’m Up To: Waiting Gets Easier

One thing about this whole published business that never goes away is waiting. Publishing = waiting. I am waiting to hear back on two different submissions and will have another ready to go at the end of the month.

Still, it’s easier to wait than it was earlier this year because I have a contract right now. I also have an editor who is interested to see the second book in my series. It doesn’t mean I don’t check how much longer I have to wait on those other submissions or that I’ll shrug off possible rejections, it just means I am busy with things I *know* people want to see. That’s nerve wracking in it of itself, but it doesn’t factor into that desperate waiting in between contracts.

I’m plugging along, trying to get as much done in August as I can since September will bring the first round of edits for Seven-Night Stand. Both exciting and scary all at the same time.

Filed under: What I'm Up To

Monsters Keeping Me Awake At Night

I am a night owl. Always have been. Even when I was a teacher and had to get up at five a.m. and be totally with it and teaching at seven, there were nights, no matter how tired I was, that I simply could not fall asleep until midnight.

Having kids knocked some of that out of me in that some days (some) I am so tired that I can fall asleep by ten.

But my kids? Yeah, they don’t agree. No, they are me when I was a teenager. Let’s stay up late, late, late! Only, the Baby still gets up way too early to excuse the late hour at night. No sleeping until noon. We’re back up and at ‘em again at five.

So, some days I am pretty beat down. Some days, I have to take a nap. Some days, they don’t let me.

Crap. They’re awfully cute. Guess I’ll forgive them.

Filed under: life

Sunday Six: First Kiss

Who doesn’t love the first kiss in a romance novel? So much more smooth than in real life . Here is Doug and Abby’s first kiss in All’s Fair in Love and Politics

 

Moonlight danced on his hair and Abby felt her stomach jitter when his eyes met hers. His hands moved to her face, and though her instinct was to back away, something kept her locked in place.

“Doug, don’t—”

 

But, he did. And while her mind was screaming at her to push him away, the warm skim of his lips against hers kept her from moving. His hands remained on her face, keeping her gently there as his lips cruised softly over hers.

 

Don’t forget to check out some other sixers at Six Sunday!

Filed under: All's Fair in Love and Politics, excerpts, six sentence sunday

Friday Reads: The Guilt Factor

I haven’t actually finished a book this week and that’s mainly because I’ve been trying to get through a book I just can’t get into. The problem is, every time I set it away as DNF, I get a severe attack of guilt. This isn’t some book that I picked up myself, you see, it’s a book that was recomended to me.

This is why I actually kind of dread it when people personally recomend me books, especially if they gush and gush about how good they are because then if I don’t agree, I feel inexplicably guilty.

I *want* to like this book, but I just can’t, and when I have to give the book back to the lender, they are going to ask me how I like it and I am either going to have to uncofortably say, “it wasn’t for me” or lie.

Does anyone else feel guilty when they end up not liking or not being able to finish a book?

Filed under: Friday Reads

What I’m Up to: Writey Write Write

I finished the sequel to Seven Night Stand over the weekend. It still needs another pass through and some self-inflicted revisions before I send it off, but I’m letting it rest a week or two before I hop on that.

If I were a normal person, I would probably take that week or two off from writing, but nope. Working on a proposal for another category series once I finish the Seven Night Stand group. I have too many ideas in my head to take a break!

The new idea is a trilogy about three sisters and the men who threaten their businesses, and then their hearts. I love that I actually have a tagline for it, even if it is kinda corny. I also love that the heroine in the first book is a ferry boat worker. The more I write the more I find I really enjoy writing and reading about character’s with interesting professions. So, that’s what I’m going for in this series.

Filed under: Seven Night Stand, What I'm Up To, writing

Romance Musts

On Friday, I posted over at From Fact to Fiction about what makes a good romance for YOU? If you’re a romance reader, please consider stopping by and leaving a comment!

Filed under: From Fact to Fiction

Sunday Six: Clear Moments

You know when you’re writing and some scenes are just so vivid in you mind, and they remain vivid no matter how many times you revise and edit? This was one of those scenes for me:

There was something arresting about the picture. Some uncomfortable déjà vu feeling. Which was absurd. She’d never been to the Kapshaw farm, and she’d known Doug for little more than a week.

Yet there was a feeling she’d been there before, watching the cool breeze ruffle the waves of his dark hair, her heart beating quicker as she took a few steps toward the house. A feeling that this was something important.

-All’s Fair in Love and Politics

Dont forget to browse about the lovely other Sunday Sixers

Filed under: All's Fair in Love and Politics, six sentence sunday

Friday Reads: Five Stars

Read two GREAT books this week. I’d been eagerly awaiting the release of Jill Shalvis’s newest Lucky Harbor Forever and a Day and Molly O’Keefe’s Cant Hurry Love.

Forever and a Day was exactly what I’ve come to expect from Shalvis. Great characters, humor, AMAZING sexual tension, and emotionl depth. Itwasn’t my favorite Lucky Harbor, probably because super busy people make me cringe, but I still loved it.

With Can’t Hurry Love I was blown away. Even though I loved the first in the series, I didn’t expect to like the second even more. Remember when I was gushing about Karina Bliss’s Bring Him Home last month? I feel the same way about this book. It’s not light or fluffy. It’s complex and challenging and makes you look at your life and the way you deal with people.

So glad there will be more Lucky Harbor books and another Crooked Creek Ranch book.

Filed under: Friday Reads

What I’m Up To: Aug-who?

A couple days ago I was all going ho to start this new month Ready.To.Go! Plans, goals, determination. I was going to kick the rest of this year in gear.

I have no idea what happened. My kids stopped sleeping, I actually had a social life for a few moments there. I cooked dinner almost every night. I vacuumed a lot (Toddlers =ants).

Anywho, here it is Aug. 1st at 3:30pm and I’m just now sitting down to blog and all I really want to do is sleep.

August, you win this round.

Filed under: What I'm Up To

Olympic Commercials

Like many people, with the Olympics happening, we have our TV on a lot. Even when we’re not really paying attention, athletes are running, swimming, jumping, twisting, and vaulting about on our TV.

The commercials are equally sporty. People running, jumping, sweating. Muscles hard at work.

It makes me want to become a runner, or even a person who works out regularly (or semi-regularly).

And then I turn the TV off and come to my senses.

Filed under: life