Bethany Michaels's Blog, page 2

Nashville Bound!!

Nashville Bound
Book 3 in Bethany Michaels’ popular Nashville Nights series

That’s my kind of night...
The only thing country music princess, Michelle, wanted more than her next gold record was her new opening act, Shay Rogan. He taps into her deepest fantasies in the bedroom, but when she finds out he’s with her for all the wrong reasons, she has him kicked off the tour and vows to forget the hard body and soft touch that made her willing to throw everything away for one night in his bed.

How do you like me now?
Five years later, Michelle’s CDs are heading for the bargain bin while Shay’s career is about to go supernova...if he can stay out of bar fights and avoid groupie hook-ups long enough to keep his record contract. Their label agrees to give both stars one last chance to save their careers, but it means hitting the road together for a joint concert tour. A sense of responsibility to all those who helped her become a star is the only thing that convinces Michelle to go along with the plan, while Shay sees the tour as an opportunity to get even for the way Michelle used him and then cut him loose back when he was a nobody in the business.

Sparks fly...
Michelle and Shay find that the intense sexual attraction that exploded during their one night together is still as earth-shattering as ever, whether they want anything to do with one another or not. When a PR nightmare forces them to play a couple for the press, chemistry on stage turns into chemistry in the bedroom. But old lies and new secrets convince Michelle that the affair has to end as soon as they return to Nashville for the last show of the tour...because Shay will never forgive her once he learns the truth.

Join the tour September 24, 2013 Bethany Michaels

Monthly $25 Gift Card Giveaway!

I'm giving away a $25 gift card to one person from my newsletter list each month!

To sign up for my low-volume newsletter, visit my website at http://www.bethanymichaels.com

Sign-up between now and July 30th for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

I've Been A Naughty, Naughty Girl

[image error] I'm blogging over at the Whispers Author Blog today on how I made Santa's naughty list again this year.


Prizes will be awarded to those who leave comments at the end of the month!


http://whispershome.com/category/authors-blog/

Writing Craft: Five Ways to Breathe Life into Your Characters

I am definitely no writing guru. I've only been published for a little under five years, but that's not going to stop me from imparting writing advice every now and then. Acting as if we know something about writing is a compulsion no writer can resist :)

Yesterday I blogged about Twilight and how I think one reason women respond so strongly to the series is because Meyer writes a character we can easily identify with.  In romance, the key character is the heroine, the one you want your reader to cleave onto right away. If the reader doesn't connect with her and sort of "become" her, the reader won't care about anything that happens to her in the book. Your story won't be emotionally compelling. And why would anyone read a book they don't care anything about? They might as well read the back of a cereal box and save their $5.99.

Here are five ways to make your characters real and relatable:

Realistic Actions and Reactions
I judge several writing contests for RWA chapters and for RWA national during the year. One thing that marks a newbie like a bright red X is having characters who are actually caricatures. They do and say things that no sane person would with little or no provocation. They're bitchy just to be bitchy or go off the deep end yelling or screaming or crying at the slightest thing. For example, I once read a contest entry scene in which the heroine goes into her office and tells her assistant not to let anyone disturb her for a while. As I recall, she's not doing anything really private in there, she just wanted some alone time. Well, who should show up but the hero, demanding to see the heroine. The assistant tells the hero he can't go in and when he tries to push past her to see the heroine anyway, the assistant gets down on the floor and wraps herself around his legs, trying to physically stop him from entering her boss's office. Um...who would actually do that in real life? No one. And even though it was a secondary character behaving like a lunatic and not the heroine, the story immediately lost me because of this unrealistic reaction to a realistic circumstance. One caveat---if it's well-motivated, you may be able to get away with something like that. That wasn't the case here.


Invent A Backstory
To make your characters real for readers, your characters have to be real people to you. Some writers plot extensively and develop their characters before writing a single sentence using charts and graphs and questionnaires. Others just start writing and see how the character develops as they go. Whichever method you use, your character didn't just pop into existence the moment they hit page 1. Unless your character is an embryo when the story begins, your character has had experiences that shape who they are and how they act. They had parents, or not. They went to school, or not. They fell in love, got a job, had an injury, experienced a loss...or not. You don't have to map out every moment or your character's life up the the point you open your story, but you should know or discover some things that made them who they are. Realistic things like having lost a parent, having a job she hates or having lost the one man she ever loved make the heroine real and relatable and motivate her actions in present time. If you have your heroine just wrapping up an ugly divorce, something many readers can relate to, that's going to inform her actions when she meets Mr. Wonderful on page 32. She may resist the pull she feels because she doesn't want to get hurt again. Or she may jump right into the sack with him for some awesome toe-curling rebound sex. Whatever her reaction, your reader is more likely to follow you down that path because you've started with something real in the character's back story that the reader can relate to.

Give Them a Flaw or Personality Tick
Remember than girl from high school? The one who was model gorgeous, Valedictorian, super nice, volunteered at the homeless shelter on weekends, was captain of the volleyball team, had the perfect parents who she always respected and got along with and always had a great big angelic smile on her zit-free face? You hated her, right? So will your readers if you create a character who has no flaws. No one is that perfect and none of us can imagine being so. Everyone has some sort of personality flaw or quirk. That's what makes them interesting. Give your character something realistic that she has to deal with--like maybe she's a sucker for a bad boy or she is a compulsive shoe-shopper. Again, having flaws that many of us share makes her real and relatable and we can jump right into her skin when your story starts.

Use Astrology
I cribbed this one from a workshop Cherry Adair did at RWA. If you're having trouble breathing life into your character (if you write more plot-driven books, for example) try this: randomly choose a birth date for your character then go to a good astrology book, like one of Linda Goodman's, and look up their sign. Use the character traits and tendencies described in the book as a starting point for the character. This should jump start your imagination. It might also help your plot by adding a healthy dose of conflict. For example, if you're writing a character who is Special Ops and the astrological sign you chose at random paints a picture of a peace-loving individual, you have your work cut out for you. What motivated a pacifist to change into a person who would join the military and train to become an elite warrior? This is probably a psychologically complicated individual. Tortured, even. That's the good stuff. And starting with real character traits, shared by a whole group of people (if you buy into astrology) will help you create a realistic character right out of the box.

Try the Scene in First-Person POV
This is a technique I use quite a bit at the beginning of a book when I'm still getting to know my character, when I'm writing a particularly emotional scene, if I get stuck, or if a scene/character just seems flat. Most novels are written in third person point-of-view (he, she, they). But try this: close your eyes, think about the backstory of your character and the circumstances in which they find themselves currently. Become that character. Write the scene in first person (I, we, us) as if you were her. Step into her skin. What does she feel? What does she see? How does she react? You're writing it as is you yourself were experiencing the plot or emotions and giving honest reactions and observations to those stimuli. For example, if you were home alone and the power went out and then you heard breaking glass and someone walking around upstairs, what would you do? Probably grab your cell phone and dial 9-1-1 or run to a neighbor's house, or get in your car and drive to the police station. You would not light a candle and creep up the stairs ready to defend your home from an invader armed with a frying pan. That's not realistic, so don't have your heroine doing it. You'll lose your reader as soon as she disconnects from your heroine's too-stupid-to-live actions. Have her do what you would do in that situation and add complications from there, because unless you're a too-stupid-to-live heroine, many people will have a similar reaction to a circumstance as you and will be able to relate.

As a reader, realistic characters are the key to enjoying a book. I know if I'm thinking about the characters during the day when I'm going around doing my mundane things, the author has done a good job. I can't wait to get back into that world, that character's skin to see where we're going next. That's the kind of experience you want to create for your readers as an author because they'll be looking for your next book and the one after that. You've given them someone they can relate to and sort of "be" for a few hours. Children try on different personas all the time and I think we never really outgrow that desire. Books can take us there. We can be movie stars or maids, burger flippers or dragon slayers...as long as the author keeps it real.

What Romance Writers Can Learn from the Twilight Hoopla

[image error] Entertainment Weekly reports that on opening night alone, Twilight Breaking Dawn pt 1 grossed 72 million dollars. I contributed my $7.50 to that total on Friday morning when I went to the 10:30 a.m. matinee and found it packed--not with tween girls, but with their moms.

Rarely do tween or teen girls like anything their moms like, so I've been fascinated by the Twilight phenomenon for the last several years, through the release of the last of the books (I didn't start reading until  the last book was released) and through the first four movies. Obviously these books and movies have struck a nerve in two diverse demographics, myself included.

The books have flaws, there is no doubt about that. The writing is OK but not spectacular. The plots drag in places. Sometimes Edward's self-loathing and Bella's totally devoted love-sick teenager schtick deserves an eye-roll or two. And in New Moon, two hours of suicidal, sad-sack Bella is almost too much to take.  He may be a vampire, but Edward is still just a guy. A girl who reacts to a break-up as Bella did in New Moon would have certainly been diagnosed with emotional problems long before Edward entered the picture.

But even with all the series' flaws, I could not put down those books. As a writer who would love to sell a fraction of the number of copies of books Stephanie Meyer has, it's worth examining WHY this fascination is so enduring (and lucrative).

After much thought, I've come to the conclusion that for tweens, it's the love story. Edward (and Jacob) are the bad boys we girls love to love. Then there's the whole forbidden love thing--humans and vampires are not meant to be together, since humans are basically just a tasty after-dinner treat. And then there's the sense of being "chosen" by the ultra-hot guy every girl at school desires but none has been able to reel in. Edward and Bella's love is the ultra teen-girl fantasy romance.

Ok, so why do women who have been there and done that and found that a lot of that stuff is hooey still flock to the movies? I think it's because Meyer has written Bella in a way that makes us remember what it was like to be that young and that naive and to fall in love for the first time. I haven't been a teenager for a long, long, time. But reading those books, it was easy to slip back into Bella's skin--the teenage me--who is having all these new feelings for a strange, unobtainable guy. It's our fantasy played out, too, without the burden of having to remember everything that comes after the fantasy ends and real life begins...babies that require 2 a.m. feedings, unpleasant in-laws, mortgages, sucky minimum-wage jobs, broken washers, dirty diapers, etc, etc.

So, as a writer, I have to say Twilight's appeal at its most basic level is about eliciting emotion in the reader and creating a heroine that readers can easily identify with. Twilight works in that regard for the tween fans and for those of us slightly more mature.

That, in effect, is the problem with Breaking Dawn. I could not help but think when watching it that surely tween girls were not going to "get" Bella in this installment. She has moved past their realm of experience with her marriage and subsequent pregnancy. First, I don't think tween girls can grasp the depth of love and commitment it takes to be a life-long partner  to someone. There's infatuation and there's soul deep love and I don't think you can tell the difference until you're well past puberty and have experienced both--until you've loved and lost and loved again. Now, Bella did lose Edward in the second book, so she might arguably have an inkling. But the audience of 13-year-olds has not had that same experience.

[image error] Secondly, the love Bella has for her baby right from the moment she knows she's pregnant is way, way beyond the scope of experience for most teens. In fact, I don't think you could explain it adequately to anyone who has not had the experience of being pregnant and giving birth herself, no matter her age.  I found myself wondering if all the tween girls in the audience at the theater would get why there was no way Bella was letting Edward or Carlisle or anyone else talk her into aborting her baby, even though giving birth meant almost certain death for Bella. A mother's love is fierce and boundless and eternal. That was all written into Bella's character and played out in the movie.

So now I'm curious as to whether reactions to Breaking Dawn will differ according to demographics. Will tweens lose interest before the second part of Breaking Dawn comes out next year since Bella is no longer a relatable character for most of them? Or will they see it anyway and love it as much as the others for some other reason? I rarely read commentary about Breaking Dawn being anyone's favorite book of the series. Is that why? Did Meyer lose part of her audience by allowing Bella to grow up past the scope of experience of her younger audience or did she hook them securely enough with the early books in the series that they're along for the ride anyway?

No matter what the ultimate box office nets are for this and the final installment of the Twilight movie saga, there is one thing that moms and their daughter will still agree on---the total hotness of Jacob's rock hard muscle-bound naked torso.

Oh, Yeah. That alone was worth my $7.50.

Free Reading Friday: Believe it or Knot

[image error] "Believe it or Knot", my contribution to the Sextet's fourth anthology, Entanglements, comes out on Monday 11/21.

Here's the blurb and a little sneak peek:


When Las Vegas magician's assistant Hannah Dunn convinces her boss and long-time crush Marcus Lorenzo to try a dangerous new act involving a bed, a blind fold and razor sharp throwing knives, she learns that losing control can have dangerous—and extremely erotic—consequences.

EXCERPT:


A folded sheet of paper fell out of the book as Marcus was talking animatedly about being chained in the bottom of a big glass aquarium and something having to do with piranhas. Hannah bent to pick up the paper. She opened it and her breath caught.
It was a drawing of a woman—her, actually—tied to a bed. She was wearing a skimpy red negligee that appeared to be see-though, and black stiletto heels. Marcus was standing to the side wearing no shirt and no shoes, just a flowing pair of black trousers.
Marcus had stopped talking, but Hannah couldn't take her eyes off the page. Of herself bound to Marcus's bed. Even if it was a stage prop. Heat radiated outwards from her core and she suddenly needed another very large drink of water. Marcus was an excellent artist. "What's this?" she managed to get out after a moment.
Marcus leaned in and spoke softly, almost hesitantly. "Something else I've been working on."
Hannah looked over at him, but he was staring at the paper. "The assistant—you—would be tied down to a giant wheel that looks like a bed."
"So I see," Hannah said. She was suddenly aware that her bare were legs were  just inches from his hands.
"Once you're strapped down, the bed raises so that you're vertical." He flipped the page over to reveal the wheel, with her still tied to it. "After that, it's basically a knife trick," he said. 
Hannah could imagine the effect on stage with the lighting, the wind machine and the fog rolling, along with some sensual music with deep bass undertones and a rhythm over top that suggested the act that would be on every one's mind.
God. She was getting hot just thinking about it. Thinking about his hands sliding over the curves of her taught body, securing her wrists and ankles down tight to the bed so that she was completely at the mercy of his amazingly talented hands. And his mouth. And his body.She cleared her throat. "Why haven't we tried this?"
"Too dangerous," he said, his voice sounding huskier than usual. He took the paper. "It's a veiled knife throw. See?"
The knife thrower was to be blindfolded and upon closer inspection the wheel was to turn, making it almost impossible for anyone to hit the target without impaling the woman strapped to it.
"So? You've been throwing knives since you were 14."
Marcus shook his head. Only three other acts have ever tried this, and the assistants always get hit at one time or another."
"I trust you."
"It's not a matter of trust. It's a matter of safety."
Hannah thought of the picture again, imagined the binding around her wrists and ankles, of the hours of practice it would take, just the two of them, to perfect the trick. Time Marcus wouldn't have to chase supermodels. And once they performed the trick, Marcus would never again have to worry about copycats. This wasn't illusion. It was real and depended on Marcus's dedication and skill. 
 "I want to do it," she said, impulsively.
"What?"
"The trick. The veiled knife-bondage  thing. I think we should do it. It will totally shake up whoever is snooping around, and as you said, only three other performers have ever done it. There's no way anyone who doesn't have your skill with knives can even think about stealing this trick. It'll be yours and yours alone. Your audience will love it."
Hannah looked at him, and their eyes locked. "We need to do this."
"Once we do it, we can't go back. You know that, right?"
Hannah blinked.
"Once it's in the act, I mean. If it works and it's a success, you'll be stuck getting tied to the bed every night. Several times a night, sometimes."There was no mistaking the heat in his eyes now, or the way his voice had taken on the deep, raspy quality of a man in need.
"And hours of practice." Hannah squeezed her thighs together against the sharp burst of red- hot need that erupted deep inside her. Years of longing, shone in her eyes, too., Sshe  was sure of it. 
"Every spare hour we have."
"I think I can handle it."

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Nanowrimo and Other Fast Draft Techniques

[image error] If you're doing Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated), you should be at about 28,333 words by the end of today. That's a lot of words in just over two weeks of writing and there are several schools of thought on the technique of the fast draft.


The theory behind the fast draft is the writer doesn't have time to self-edit when she's moving that quickly. It's all about purging that story--getting it all on paper--then sifting through with a critical eye at a later point. I can see the merits in that. No internal editor telling you it sucks. No rewriting the same chapter over and over and over again, getting sucked into the cult of perfection. And at the end of the month, by golly, you've got something to work with. Writing "the end" is akin to a recreational drug high for writers. There is no other feeling quite like it.

On the other side of the aisle, critics point out that a book written in a month is pretty much crap. And because the writer didn't take time to think out the plot in his mad dash to the finish line, he will end up rewriting the whole book anyway if he ever hopes to publish it. Well, yeah. There's that.

I can see both points (I am a Libra, after all). In the end, I think it really depends on the writer and how she works. It's been said many many times that there are as many ways to write a book as there are writers. I think that's true. Each author approaches his creativity and his work differently. Writers' minds work differently. Our creative imaginations work differently and are inspired differently. That's why there are about a million books on writing out there. Everyone does it differently and then can't wait to share the "best" way to write a book with all the other writers who are positive this gig would be a lot easier if they only knew the secret to creating effortless Pulitzer-caliber prose the first time out.

Nano isn't the only fast-draft technique that has been proposed. There are book-in-a-week workshops, book-in-a-month workshops and a plethora of variations. If you're thinking of trying one of these, I think you first need to think about why you want to do it. What are your stumbling blocks as a writer and is fast-drafting  going to help fix that problem?

For example, if you're the type of writer who cannot move on to chapter two until chapter one is perfect and you're only up to chapter five after two years of writing, you might want to give Nano a try. Your internal editor could be holding you back.  If you are a dedicated plotter and never vary from your outline, but end up with a lifeless, dull story at the end, give fast, pantser-style writing a shot. If you're having trouble staying motivated to write everyday (who isn't?) and are blowing deadlines because of it, try it--Nano and other fast draft programs force you to immerse yourself in your book and focus on adding pages everyday. The more frequently you write, the easier it is to stay productive.
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Fast drafting can be a good tool to help eliminate many writers' pitfalls, but it's not for everyone. Some writers get through the first draft and are pretty much done, other than fixing a few craft and grammar issues and doing relatively minor editing. They may move at at a slower pace getting that first draft down, but it's 80% of the way there when they write "the end". Their minds are already turned to the next story. They don't want to spend another six months working on a fast draft that needs extensive editing. The drive to tell that story is gone. Other writers may not be able to do the fast draft because they need an outline to know where they're going next. The fast draft technique may actually stall them out.

And you could, of course, use a combination of techniques to complete your book. Maybe you fast-draft parts of it you're not sure on, while taking care to set up things precisely in other parts. There's no right or wrong answer here. Whatever works is the right way to do it. I think that's a frustrating realization for many new writers. You can't study to write a novel like you study to pass the GMAT. It's more nebulous than that.

My outlook is that if you're stuck or burned out or if the idea of the fast draft approach appeals to you on some level, experiment with it. Writing is a creative endeavor. Making up characters and plots and dialogue and imagining "what if" is not like punching a clock at the widget factory. Changing things around from time to time forces your mind to go in new directions. That's creativity at its most basic and is the key ingredient for any form of art.

I think a lot of writers, especially if they're not hooked up with a writing group, often feel a little different from "normal" folks who don't have imaginary people running around in their heads or spend hours in front of the computer agonizing over whether they've correctly used the semi colon on page 143. Participating in something like Nano makes you feel a little less like an outsider--or at the very least, that you're not alone. Comforting or disturbing, there are 200,000 other Nanowrimo crazies out there who have your back.

The Legend of the Sextet (with a side of light BDSM)

[image error] nce upon a time, at a magical gathering called the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference, six friends got together over a pitcher of sangria at Cat Cora's restaurant on the Disney Boardwalk and decided to write some sexy novellas to publish as an anthology. They became known far and wide as The Sextet and after much discussion and a somewhat abbreviated quest, decided to sign contracts with their fairy god-publisher, Siren-Bookstrand.

In the months that followed, The Sextet's first tome, Sharing , was published, followed by Dirty Dancing  and Occupational Hazzards . All was glowing reviews and dollar signs in the land of The Published.  But one day, a very talented member of the Sextet received a summons from her agent and was forced to leave the happy group to work on other writing projects. Since "The Pentet" isn't nearly as catchy as "The Sextet", a new quest was begun to fill the vacant sixth spot. The five remaining authoresses roamed the land searching high and low for a replacement author to make their group a sextet once again.

At last, someone suggested a certain lesser-known but previously published erotic romance author and the five authors issued a proposition. The author in question was honored that such a noble and distinguished group of writers would think of her. She eagerly agreed to take up the pen and join their number.

The deadline for the next anthology, erotic tales of love and light bondage, was issued and the new author toiled long hours to complete her story on time. After a few short nights of sleep and long days at the keyboard, the author declared her story finished and submitted it just as the clock struck "deadline".

[image error] Finally, after a treacherous gauntlet of draft and revision, cover art and back cover blurbs, the five talented authors and this new author completed their task. All the land rejoiced and the fourth tome, Entanglements, went up for pre-sale at their publisher's website, where any fair reader desirous of steamy tales of love and romance, of laughter and of poignancy and of rope and scarves and silken ties may feast:



Elizabeth Raines ~ Trust
Type-A Angie Traylor can't seem to let go—even when she's in bed with the man she loves. Can Noah James use enticing methods to teach her to enjoy life and love and learn to trust?

Cheryl Brooks ~ A Delicate Procedure
Restraints are required when hunky graduate student Aidan Vidal asks Nurse Trish Davis, his neighbor and former babysitter, for help with a rather embarrassing problem.

Bethany Michaels ~ Believe it or Knot
When Las Vegas magician's assistant Hannah Dunn convinces her boss and long-time crush Marcus Lorenzo to try a dangerous new act involving a bed, a blind fold and razor sharp throwing knives, she learns that losing control can have dangerous—and extremely erotic—consequences.

Mellanie Szereto ~ String Theory
Physicist Andromeda Fetter's experiments with elastic bands stretch her tempting colleague's imagination to the sensual limit. Will Gunnar Keyes unlock her inner vixen?

Annie Morgan ~ Lines of Communication
Three years ago, expert mountain climbers Rebecca Graham and Cameron Fitzgerald had a friendship and perhaps more. Until business severed their ties. Now partnered again, can she belay her animosity long enough to untangle the truth?

Niki Hayes ~ Tangled Metal and Emotions
Losing control is not an option for Lindsey Valentine, and she's not about to let an arrogant NASCAR driver--even one as sexy as Craig Westmoreland--railroad her new job. Craig's met his match with Lindsey, but when the two tangle, it's unclear who will lose control first.

Entanglements releases on November 21st.

Writing and Editing and Revising, Oh My!

[image error] So I have lots of writing news to share. And many new book release dates and covers, too (yay!) Here's a brief run down, followed by my current release schedule:

Some friends who write under the group name "The Sextet" asked me if I would like to contribute to some of the anthologies they're doing for Siren Publishing. Of course I said 'yes' because writing with friends is fun, it was an automatic sale and I like writing short spicy stories. I've turned in two stories so far and I think we're going to shoot for several more anthos in 2012.

The awesome CEO at Whispers Publishing, where I have one of my first books, Ruby Magic, contacted me to see if I wanted an updated cover (they were redoing some of their early cover art).  I proposed a new cover, new title and a sequel. She agreed and I'm working on finishing up the sequel now. I'm doing the new covers for those.

I got the rights back to some of my older books and have resold them to Whispers. I'm excited about this because two of the stories originally appeared in anthologies and now will be available as stand-alone e-books. I also did the covers for them.

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So my current WIPs are 1) the Ruby Magic Sequel 2) a partial for a big house and an editor I would dearly LOVE to work with 3) The next Sextet anthology story.  A lot of this happened over the summer (when I wasn't blogging--too busy!) so the releases are coming up pretty soon:
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November 21   "Believe it or Knot" in the Sextet's anthology Entanglements
December 16   "Naughty", a short that originally appeared in "Merry SeXmas".

December 19   "Thrice upon a Yuletide" in the Sextet's anthology Mistletoe and Menage
February 24   "Hart & Souls", a short that originally appeared in "Samhain Scorchers"

I have a couple other projects  I think could release in March and April, but don't have exact dates or info on that yet. All this is info updated regularly on my website, so if you want to know when my next book will be out, www.bethanymichaels.com is the place to go!

Tomorrow I'll be blogging about my first Sextet anthology, Entanglements, and posting some blurbs.

"P" is for Prioritize

[image error] So the three people who happen to read my blog might have noticed that I've been on blog-writing hiatus since the summer.

You see, I learned long ago (ok, not THAT long ago), when I had four children under the age of four, that sometimes you're just putting out whichever fires come closest to burning your house down around you and everything else goes by the wayside. With the kids I figured out pretty quickly that I was not Wonder Woman (which was a shock to me at first) and could not possibly do everything by myself. There just were not hours in the day or hours of sleep to be all and do all. I was not willing to even try. I learned the magic "P" word and it's not the "P" word that appears in some of my spicier books--the magic, life-changing word is Prioritize.

My point? I got busy, blogging has not been a priority.

But I'm talking mostly good busy. Writing busy, work busy (I'm thankful to have a job and a paycheck) and busy with scouts and kids and family stuff. All good things. And so the blog has languished.

But lots of things are happening on the writing front and so I hope to resurrect the ol' blog and be here pretty much Monday through Friday unless I'm guest blogging elsewhere...which I will be doing quite a bit over the next few months.

Writing-busy = lots of good things

...which I will share in tomorrow's blog :)