Melani Blazer

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!!!

Dear Author had a contest to win an arc of Ann Aguirre’s new release, Grimspace. Angie brought it to my attention–she’d actually pointed it out to a mutual friend, but I had to go see. I’ve been starved for some…unique writing and though I hadn’t really actively went “shopping”, was duly intrigued by Grimspace and decided to enter the contest. I even made a note in my PDA so I could pick it up if I wasn’t lucky enough.

But, whoo hooo!!!!
I won!

I can’t wait to get it, devour it, then blog a review.

Stay tuned!!!

The flu bug bit me. Musta been why I felt like I’d been run over with an eighteen wheeler late yesterday.

On a good note, I’ve been able to type in more handwritten stuff, so far I’ve deleted only a teensy tiny bit that was repetitive and I’m almost 1/4 of the way done with this book.

Angie wrote a refreshing post at Romancing the Blog–deviating from all the hoopla that’s going on an any given day in the romance-blog world and talking about why she–and the rest of us–love to read a romance. (It’s not genre specific, so if you have an opinion, stop in and say so!)

Dear Author has a post about E-books that has made me think a lot in the last 24 hours or so. (maybe it was the flu coming on, I dunno), but in a nutshell, it talks about the….concept of e-book branding as a whole and how many share Jane’s way of thinking when she says:

I admit that while there are many e-publishers out there, I mainly identify epublishing with erotic romance.

Hopefully this post will make others aware of some great non-erotic reads at various e-book publishing houses.

I wish my head were clearer so I could easily voice my opinion, but these flu meds really fog the senses. I just think it’s a circle. Erotic is buzzed about, more authors and publishers jump on board, it becomes more popular. Authors talk, realize pushing the limit might help sales, even more erotic goes out. Word gets out menage is the “it” thing, wham, publishers and authors feed the mass’s demands. Supply and demand and all that jazz. Isn’t it similar to the way paranormal became so widely popular and historicals waned? What happened to chick-lit? Not to say I think erotic is gonna go anywhere. I think once you open the bedroom door, you can’t exactly close it. Right now I think the focus [of e-publishers and non-erotic authors] is/should be to educate readers about their non-erotic offerings and break the branding or stereotyping or whatever you want to call it.

Okay, enough medicated babble for one afternoon. I might try a nap.

Brand Name Dates was a FUN book to write. I came up with the concept of “shopping” for men but also the idea of a central relationship between Jill and Benny that was truly a comedy of errors. It was the first book in which I wrote several vital scenes and then connected those scenes and ideas together to form a complete book. One of those first scenes was the meteor shower scene. It got tweaked big time in edits, but it still remains one of my favorites.

I was reminded of it today when talking to a co-worker about the meteors we’d witnessed over the weekend. I totally smiled when I remembered Jill and Benny out at the edge of a field staring up at the stars. What else could I do then, but share it with you!

TAMING ELIZA JANE
by Shannon Stacey

When a man sets out to tame a strong-willed woman, he’d best hang on to his hat.
Will Martinson, the town doctor, already has a heap of troubles on his plate, what with a pregnant whore, an ailing friend and a sheriff with a bad habit of shooting people. The last thing he needs is a strong hankering for a woman who think it’s her duty to turn a man’s life upside-down.

Eliza Jane Carter is a woman on a mission. She’s going to improve the lives of the women in Gardiner, Texas before moving on to the next town. But when her finances take a turn for the worse and her chaperone heads for the hills, Eliza Jane is stranded in a town full of riled up menfolk, a gun-happy sheriff and one handsome doctor who makes her question everything she ever believed about the love between a man and a woman.

Taming Eliza Jane, by Shannon Stacey, is now available from Samhain Publishing

Excellent Western Historical. Made me laugh, made me cry. Shan was a little worried about the second part.

I think her reaction was something like… it did what? It was that bad? Er, no, that GOOD.

I hear a lot of clamor for more historicals. If you’re one of those people, who, like me, grew up reading those “bodice rippers” set in centuries past, don’t read any further. Get thee to buy this book. (handy link here) Shannon Stacey hasn’t disappointed me yet, and I’m not just saying that because I’m lucky enough to be her friend. (If she wasn’t my friend, I’d hate her for her talent). She creates characters that are real, flawed, motivated and ones you want to befriend. They remind you of people you know, and deal with real issues. She is a true storyteller. She often told me how much she loved this book, and it shows. Enough of me gabbing, go get it, read it for yourself.

That’s my mantra for the day.

I’m writing this… actiony, guns and…fighting and well, without giving away too much of the story, it’s one of those in which the plot threatens to become some giant, mutant pacman and gobble up all the allocated word count without letting me get in much more than a kiss and hint of the romance to come.

But it never comes.

This has made me think about a couple of things. Don’t mind my rambling or seemingly unconnected thoughts here, I *Am* still on cold meds…
(more…)

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are the amazingly talented writers of the popular Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

I warned you before, me and the family are POTC nuts and I’ve recently run across several sites with things like interviews and production notes. I’ve devoured them, learning a number of things–little hints and tie ins from the previous two movies and a defnitive answer on how the whole trilogy ends.

In the interview found at Box Office Mojo Ted Elliott makes the following statement:
[warning-the interview contains mucho spoilers, don't read if you haven't seen the film!]

Ted Elliott: A lot of friends of mine who are writers said there were so many plot holes—but it’s still fun. The thing is there are no plot holes but what there isn’t is tell-it-three-times, signposted exposition.

YES!

YES!

YES!

Now, the critics are having a field day calling this movie (and the prior two) complex and messy and all over the map, but that’s not the case at all. I think the critics of this movie are just upset the writers expect them to THINK. Dear god, the horror.

A brilliant movie–and likewise a brilliant book–will have layers of information that will become clearer with each perusal. I want something that will engage my mind–force me to think. I don’t want chapters or wasted screen minutes where the whole backstory or layout is being explained to me in boring detail. I want to discover as I go. I want SHOWING and not TELLING.

As a writer, it’s hard not to want to put it all out there, at times be repetitive to make sure the reader “gets it”. But that can be as destructive as not telling enough. It really does depend on the story, the author and the approach. It’s a balance, really.

I don’t wanna lay too much exposition about it. Please share your thoughts on it!

Have you heard about the Ellora’s Cave card decks? They were handed out at the recent Romantic Times conference, but if you didn’t get a chance to grab a deck, don’t worry, you can get one here!

The details (and more will be updated soon, including a pic!) are here.

Comment, comment, comment!

Win, win, win!

easy?

Meet Ezmerelda.

Shannon Stacey’s book, On The Edge will be released March 27th, and the buzz is all about the Devlin Group. Ezmerelda couldn’t get Shannon’s fingers off the keyboard today, but she found another outlet. Using Shan’s wireless network, she hooked up the onboard computer of her Mini Cooper to the router and cruised the internet highway to the first unsecure network she could find.

Mine.

She’s here now, a nickel plated Taurus 40 caliber shoved in my ear as she demands I type what she says.

Ow, dammit, get that light saber away from my hair, I do NOT appreciate the smell of burnt flesh. Don’t you need to give that toy weapon back to your boyfriend, Lord Vadar?
Ouch! Okay, okay, you can keep it.
Now she says demands I have to show you what she looks like.

(more…)

It’s been my goal for awhile to update my book pages–and I’ve sorta started the process. As with most of us who have control over our own website, I’m sure I’ll fiddle with it more later.

So far I’ve updated SeXTC and Hot Rod Heaven’s pages. I still have another excerpt to tease you with for Hot Rod Heaven which I still need to figure out how to add, but…. feel free to tell me what you think.

Cheers!
~Mel