Melani Blazer

Just got a notification that Cerridwen Press that they have added a nifty new button on the side bar to further help you find the kind of books you’re looking for. Already you can search by genre, author or Title/Series.
YOUNG ADULT INTEREST. These are books that have younger protagonists (for the most part) and the content would be appealing to late teen/early twenty age groups of readers. I know those books are out there, and frankly, I know myself and lots of my friends were already reading “adult” books when we were teens, for various reasons, such as they were available, the teen books weren’t all that interesting or hard to find, or we’d gone through those and were in need of other reading material…

Anyway, I’m super pleased and proud to tell you that my Cerridwen Press release, Brand Name Dates, fits this category! It’s a fun book and one I really, really love.

Brand Name Dates is available in e-book AND print. Hope you can check it out–and maybe even suggest it to a younger reader!

There’s been a note regarding a wordpress upgrade that I’ve ignored for a bit, and just tackled. Wow, that wasn’t so very hard at all.
This week has been a “get it done” kind of week. I’ve a lot more to accomplish, but progress is good.

I’ve been writing, but not gonna say more less I jinx myself and figuratively duct tape the muse’s mouth closed. BAD BAD thing, that.

I see Jaci’s got a smokin’ new cover to go along with those smokin’ hot books of hers. Check it out.

Emma Wayne Porter is a great friend of mine and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention her new gig, editing for Lyrical Press. Do her a favor and check out some of her handiwork..okay, editing handiwork. She’s a pretty awesome writer as well…

Oh, and there’s been some really neat changes, including the addition of three fantabulous writers to the AFTER MIDNIGHT FANTASIES author group… stop by the website–and blog–and check out our contests via writerspace as well.

I’m off to write. BYE!

Feels weird, really. It’s been awhile since I finished the whole circuit with a book–wrote, synopsized, wrote a query (if you want to call it that… I tried!) and submitted. Yes, to a publisher I currently have books with, but still, it’s… the first “cold” submission in a long time. I mean, I did a contest, subbed for a spot in an anthology recently, but not just sent in a book that had no connection, no deadline, no theme… just did it cuz I wrote something I wanted to write, made it the word count I wanted to to be (okay, that’s a lie, but humor me) and then sent it when I was ready to send it.

Then, if that wasn’t enough, I pulled out a real short story I’d written, read it, went…. wtf, why didn’t I do anything with this? and proceeded to synopsize it. Not sure where THAT will go, but hey, it’s progress.

And now, the hard part…what to pick up next?

I’m not real eager to cram my story into one, but alas, that dreaded synopsis time is here.

Thing is, I did about… three synopsis for this story as I went, but due to characters bullheadedness growth, and changes in the plot to “Fix” things, well, none of them really apply.

If you need me, I’ll be hiding under a rock, trying to condense it. Oh, and wanted to say that despite it ONLY being a 28K story, that’s about twice what my intended word count is. Word whore. Mandy, let’s wear our hat (shit, typed hate….that’s no good) anyhoot, let’s wear our HAT with pride. But now what the hell do I do with a story too long for a quicky/anthology/etc, but too short for category/single title? *snort*

The trip was long, time mesmerized by the hum of tires on the road. The night sky was lit up by reflections of the dash on glass. Stars watched us, fighting for our attention with the multiple color lights of a modern highway.

There was little to see until dawn, when the first light cast everything gray, including the wide stretches of water, trees reaching upward from hidden roots, telephone poles stoic in midst of still ponds. The grand Mississippi seemed ten miles wide, it’s greedy mouth eating up farmland, threatening roads, erasing property lines and landscapes.

I love the hills. As we crested each, I held my breath, waiting for the vision that would be laid out before me. A ribbon of black road curling past farmland, wet and dry. Homes dotted the view, as did horses and cattle, longhorn and domestic. At times, the mountains had risen up to reclaim their land, giant teeth of rock closing up over the roadway. We might claim to have tamed nature, but nature’s glory remains for us to see, to honor and to take our breath away.
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Just took a quick jaunt to Arkansas to visit family (on my husband’s side) and basically get out of town for a breath of “fresh” air. A mental stretching of the legs, so to speak. Took lots of pics, and will probably post them as soon as I get them developed (like maybe tomorrow?)

I also pulled out paper and pen and on the way home, wrote fragments and run-ons (don’t think I managed a complete sentence in there) of descriptions and thoughts and impressions of the trip. I run through them tomorrow, after my brain isn’t boggled from 12 hours in the back seat of an extended cab pickup and post them to see if I can’t just “show” you some of the things I saw, but might not have backed up with photo proof.

One of my cats was nice enough (or mad enough) to hack up a hairball right in the middle of my bed while I was gone, so I need to log off, go rustle up a new sheet and blanket and remake the bed. Then crawl in it. Without hesitation.

It’s one of my intentions to catch up in blogland tomorrow. Amidst laundry, getting film developed, getting groceries and psyching myself up to go back to work. Why are vacations so short?

Had an interesting convo this morning with two fellow writers, both pretty good friends of mine. I think the convo started with us all talking about our current writing progress, and I shamefully admitted I was stilling writing the *whispers* sex scene I’d omitted when writing the story.

I’d thought I’d made progress, then realized I’d locked Hero and Heroine all up …. without condoms.

*gasp* *boooo* *huffs* *throws book against the wall*

How DARE I?

Maybe cuz I’m 30-something, been married to the same man half my life and do not/have never slept around, but I don’t automatically THINK about those things. I might get bitchslapped into Monday when I say this–but I hate reading about them. It ruins the mood and pulls me out of the story.

This is my thought pattern. We don’t talk about the heroine getting her period. We also don’t talk about either hero or heroine having to go to the bathroom, with few exceptions where a) it’s a comedy or b) it’s really leading to other action. (confrontation, discovery, even sneaking out the window…) We don’t, as a rule, see heroine pull down her panties and actually pee. (Heaven forbid she had to do ’something else’. I.DON’T.WANT.TO.KNOW)

And honestly, I feel the same way about condoms. If I’m still reading the book come sex time, then I like the characters. I’ll believe she wipes front to back like a good little girl. I’ll trust she brushes AND flosses and that the hero actually scrubs between his toes. Unless told otherwise, I’ll even believe he calls his mom every Sunday, cleans the cat litter box and feeds his animals appropriately. I’ll also believe their intelligent enough to use a condom. But damn, damn and more damn, if a writer had to spell all that crap out in a book just cuz someone ASSUMES if it’s not there, it doesn’t happen, well, lets just say I’d read SOOOOO much less.

I know it’s been brought up, argued, debated and everyone has a very real and honest opinion. I personally, have a DAMN hard time believing a heroine tastes oh-so-sweet when the hero kisses her after a night’s sleep. (see above comment about being married half my life–I ain’t sweet pre-brushing, and God love ya honey, neither is he.) I deal. See it all the time. Pretend they both had a chance to sneak off for mouthwash or a bedside mint.

So… my book will have ONE condom mention. Some of my books have none. I’m not apologizing. It’s life. Deal. If you need them to use them, then they did. It’s fiction. Fantasy. Come up with your own betwen the lines stuff.

Mark this on the calendars, friends. I finished a book!
Writing, not reading, just to clarify.

It’s short, and it’s still missing that sex scene (or two or three….. I’ve got a night to fill). The ending is rough and there’s a few loose threads I’ve got to go back and follow through—aka, lots of editing, but omg, I completed the arcs, I satisfied the plot and gave these two characters a long awaited and well deserved happily ever after.

Knock me over with a feather.

Now, I’ll let it stew a day, or at least a night, cuz I’ve gotta go visit my Grandparents, stop at the store for meat for my contribution to tomorrow’s dinner and….I knew there was something else I wanted to do… gah! I’ll think of it, I hope.

Anyway, I’m a heck of a lot more excited than this post can convey, mainly because I’ve shifted focus SOOOOO many times lately with so many books, I was beginning to doubt my ability to hit “the end.”

I mean every one of those!

And before anyone asks…I have no idea what I’m doing with it yet. Will depend on word count and heat level after editing, I guess. I’ll let you know. But I finished, OMG, I finished!!!

or why I didn’t finish the book tonight….

Lacing those was a huge

And of course, the kidlet wanted ALL the laces flat… no crooked ones, heaven forbid.

So, now I’m off to make pepper steak (with family help) for the husband’s “potluck” tomorrow.

Maybe I’ll sneak in a page in before I pass out. Maybe.

But you can pre-order THIS now, and it’ll arrive in November, just in time for a cozy read that’s sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

Yeah, I haven’t crowed much about it for a couple of reasons. Most of us are barely over last Christmas, who’s thinking ahead to next? And I wanted at least a solid, stickable title. Looks like this is it, since it HIT the Amazon page already. Whoo hoo!!!! I won’t be able to stop talking about it once it gets a cover!

I’m wicked thrilled to be in an anthology with two phenomenal authors, Lacey Alexander and Shelby Reed. Santa’s Naughty List is one of those you’ll want to put on YOUR list–to pre-order now, and maybe even buy it for a few friends who want to heat up their cold November nights.

Anyway, I’ll post again when I get a cover. And keep your eyes out at the bookstores and at Amazon. There’s a great Ellora’s Cave/Pocket books anthology hitting the shelves each and every month through this time next year, I believe. Yummy!!!