Confusion, frustration.... ah ha, success at last

For you people who know html and whiz through this blog building, a short note of admiration. I've never considered myself overly stupid, but I've managed to frustrate myself several times while putting this together. I think, hope, pray, that I've got the basics where I want them now and will try REALLY hard not to mess with it again. Adding links and getting the archives to appear took me two f***ing hours. How was I supposed to know you had to put the links Under where the archives stuff went? Okay, rant over, I did it, it looks pretty much how I want it too, and I'll make sure I read this when I decide to mess with it again. Please, someone shoot me if I do, or at least take me out behind the woodshed and speak sternly to me while whooping my silly ass.

Good news, I'm within a couple of hundred words of finishing Another Deal for Venus Press, which is a very good thing because I have a feeling Matt, from Darker Pleasures, is going to show up one day with another photo set for me to work on. Think dessert and breast torture. Boggles the mind I know. I'm looking forward to it though. I've got a niggling idea at the back of my mind that I'm hoping with work with this, but only time will tell.

Oh nuther bit of good news. I saw the Venus Press newsletter yesterday and my story, And There Were Beasts was listed in there, cover art in there and everything. Come October, it'll be out and hopefully selling like those preverbial hotcakes you always here about. Crossing fingers!

I got a Wonderful email from the editors at Tit-Elation this morning as well. Oh today has been a good day. Two of the stories that I was lucky enough to have published on the TE website have been chosen to appear in their first quarterly 'Best of' in print. Do I have to tell you how pleased I was at that news? I'm honestly tickled to death. Jakes Clinging Ivy, a historica romance, plus Mistress Helens Re-Awakening, an erotic romance, will see print and I get copies. Whoo Hooo!

Ahem, calm down girl! Yeah right, I've been walking around smiling all day. My husband is going to think I've been into something I'm not supposed to be into. I'm dying to see what the cover is going to look like, and who else will be joining me in this thing.

Anyhoo, I better get myself busy and finish this one off. Then come the fun part of editing and tearing to bits. You all take care and I'll see you again soon.

Friday Night Diversion

It's been one of those weeks. You know the kind you wished would just end so it could be done with. Writing has been in fits and starts, mostly fits. I'm aching to get the sequel to The Deal done, and it's getting there, but painfully slowly at the moment. I'm beginning to feel as if I'll be ninety before it's finished. It's a good thing vampires live a long time huh?

I did get some great news from Venus Press. They've got a new line coming out and I managed to wriggle my butt into it. Yay me! So, I'll be contracted to have a piece done for October of next year. Hopefully I'll have my vamps done by then. Laughing!

I'd like to work on something totally different next for them. I've already had one vampire novella accepted and published, a halloween story comes out in October of this year that's a paranormal/shapeshifter/edgy kinda thing called, 'And There Were Beasts' Shades of the Twilight Zone! I think I'm going to drop into D/s for one. It's been forever since I tread those waters.

Darker Pleasures has enough of my work to keep them going until almost Christmas. I know I want to write Matt a little something for his Yule edition. Sparkle has graced his pages twice now, I wonder if she'd be welcome for a third season?

Okay kiddies, that's it for tonight. My virus scanner is about to kick in and things go terribly slow when that happens. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you again soon.

I survived the airshow

Okay, so standing, or sitting, in the sun for seven hours isn't strenuous, but if you don't apply a gallon of sunscreen, repeatedly, you get burned. There's got to be some motto in there somewhere, I suppose, and if I ever figure it out I'll share it with you. I got burned, not all over, thank whatever diety you like here, but I looked like I'd been on an all weekend drunk by the end of the day. I never knew my nose could be THAT red without blood dripping.

The good news is, the show was fantastic. There were old war planes, old bi-planes and crop dusters and then there were the new models of all of the above. Some where just big enough to squeeze one person into, and that's if the person was small, while others could have carried trucks and probably had. I took a couple of dozen pictures, but nothing incredible. I'm a writer, not a photographer and it's very evident when you see my photographs. *G* When the Snow Birds came flying towards us, all I could do was gape like the rest of the crowd. These guys are amazing. For a peak at what they can do, try here:

http://www.airmuseum.ca/airshow/snowbirds.html

It doesn't do them justice, but it's the best I can offer. My husband managed to take approximately six hundred pictures that day and got almost as red as I did.

On the writing front, things are moving along wonderfully well. Gracie Passette, the woman who runs Tit-Elation at: http://Tit-Elation.com/ along with several other sites, will be publishing my novel 'Dance of Submission' soon and we've been emailing back and forth for the past few days. The coverart is going to be amazing. I'm waiting to see what kind of edits she comes up with for it and then it'll be off to the printers I believe.

I've been working on the sequel of The Deal, called Another Deal and hopefully that will be ready to go soon. I'm nearing the 14K mark and hope to polish it off at about 18K so any fans, get ready for more of my vamps. I have one more in mind for this series, but haven't got the story line for it ironed out quite yet. I've had some wonderful reviews for The Deal, and hopefully the next two installments will be as well received.

Time to get myself busy here. So, you all take care and have a great day. Talk to you again soon.

Off to the air show

Yup, it's Sunday and we're going to the air show for the day. Having never been to one I'm looking forward to it a great deal. Husband, of course, will be taking his camera and hopefully he'll get some good pictures.

Writing news: I've signed up for two new pieces at Venus Press. It seems they have these yearly calls for anthos they're planning on publishing and BDSM Bound grabbed me. Surprised are ya? Femdom, a younger man being punished for some dreadful behaviour popped into my mind and off I went. Signed up lickety split for that one and hopefully I can get in touch with all of the other authors involves so we can coordinate our work somewhat. And, you'll chuckle here, another of the calls was for a western. Well, I like the outdoors and have seen enough John Wayne movies to choke any horse alive, so figured I could to one. Then I got silly and asked if we could perhaps make this western antho a little different. Instead of straight cowboys and the ranch, perhaps cowgirls and cowgirls might be fun to try. Well, the girl putting it together came back with, Uh, do we publish lesbian stuff? Yup, we do, or they do. So, it looks like it's a go, but have to contact Skarlett just to be sure.

I also had some wonderful news from my publisher about a review for The Deal. Here's what I got:

"Jude Mason's THE DEAL is raw justice at its best!"
3 Blue Ribbons ~~
Reviewed by Tracy Marsac @ Romance Junkies

http://www.romancejunkies.com/artman/publish/article_3914.shtml

I zipped over to that addresss and I'm still smiling. Wow! Three ribbons out of five isn't the best, by any stretch, but, it's set me a goal and that's a good thing. Tracy Marsac gave me the best review I've ever had and I thank her for it. Romance Junkies has asked me if I'd like to do an interview and I'll be responding to them right away, accepting that offer. PR is a wonderful thing... Ugh!

A bit of sad news now. We had to have our beloved dog, Taz, put down. She was an exceptionally good dog and we'd had her for twelve years. Unfortunately, she developed a horrible fear of noises, fireworks, guns, thunder, those kinds to begin with, but over the years that progressed to any kind of noise. A car door closing, a truck going by, the neighbor with a saw, anything at all. It got to the point where we had to medicate her daily, and then that didn't work anymore. She then lost control of her bladder. The vet we dealt with was wonderful and although it was one of the more difficult things I've had to do, I'm glad we had her put down. She was too good a dog to let her suffer.

So, that's how my week has gone, and now I've got to go and get dressed or I know he won't take me. Take care and have a wonderful day all.

Jude