New Moon Daughters Comic Is Up!

The new page of the Moon Daughter's Comic is up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a lovely Thanksgiving and I'll see you next week!

Yasmine

Thanksgiving Thoughts

So today, I have to run to Fed Ex. The contracts for my new Indigo Court books finally came (waiting on the contracts for my next set of three Otherworld books), and they are signed, sealed, and after today will be delivered. I always feel better once the contracts are in hand and official.

After I’m done at Fed Ex, we stop on the way home to get what I forgot to get at the store, and then I make pumpkin pies and low carb chocolate pie,and I’ll make the cranberry sauce today, and the gravy—gravy reheats easily. I’ll bake the ham today and again, tomorrow it will reheat easily. And chill the olives. Friends will be bringing a nut platter, and a cheese platter, and a fruit salad. Then tomorrow, roast the turkey, make the mashed potatoes, and all else will be a simple matter of reheating and enjoying the day.

Every year we host Thanksgiving for between 5-10 people. We started this tradition years ago and it’s become a yearly event…our friends are our family and while the number and some of the names change each year, we have a core group of friends who join us for the day.

Which brings me to the concept of giving thanks. Seriously, every day we should spend a moment, if only briefly, to think about what we have as opposed to what we don’t. I know that some people have horrendous lives. I had a rough childhood leading into a rough nine-year relationship that should never have happened. But most of us can find at least one thing to be grateful for.

I want to list a few of the things I’m thankful for. It’s a fraction,really, of what I have to be grateful for, but these are some of the ones that stand out in my mind today.

1. My husband, Samwise, who has always supported my success, who’s cushioned my tears, who loves the fact that I have a brain, who is with me after nineteen years. I’m thankful that two serious misdiagnoses on his health were just that: misdiagnosed, and that we are together, now, and love each other more than the day we met.

2. My cats. Just…my cats. I adore them. They make life happier. They’re my babies.

3. My readers—you guys and your support of my books helps me make a living doing what I love. Your support in buying the books keeps me able to write the books, and without that support, I wouldn’t have my dream job.

4. My friends. They are more valuable than gold.

5. Books. Books, all the wonderful books I’ve read,want to read, and want to write. Language, the written word, it’s all a vast playground for the mind and imagination. Words can move mountains. Words can change the world.

6. That I can earn a living at doing what I love.

7. The internet and all related companies that have forever changed our lives and turned science fiction into reality.

8. I’m grateful I’ve found the willpower to stay on my diet and exercise program, and to turn my health around.

9. The freedom to choose my spiritual path and not be forced into a religion I don’t agree with or believe in.

10. CAFFEINE. ESPRESSO. LATTES.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, peeps. This weekend I’ll be decorating for the holidays—I love the tradition of doing that. So will be taking off the entire weekend. And I’m thankful for that!

What are you planning for Thanksgiving? A quiet holiday at home? Dinner at the relatives? Dinner out at a restaurant? To play video games all day?

Yasmine

A Few Thoughts on Anne McCaffrey's Death

Anne McCaffrey was a pioneer. She was the first woman to break the old boy’s club in SF/Fan and win a Hugo. And a Nebula. Then she went on to become the first SF/F writer to hit the New York Times, in 1978, with White Dragon.

But Anne was far more. To many of us, she was a beloved writer. One we may have cut our teeth on, or—in my case—I discovered her in my late teens.Anne brought dragons to life. She created a world—Pern—where dangerous thread falls from the sky, where dragons strafe and where men and women alike ride the great beasts. She created a world where crystals sing. She created magic. When I first read her work I was ecstatic—women, in SF/Fantasy, who weren’t weak,who took charge and ran with adventure.

When we lose a beloved artist, author, or singer, the fans mourn the loss of the “bigger-than-life” celebrity. But we should also mourn the loss for her family. Because beyond being a brilliant writer, Anne was a mother, a friend, and a wife. Her husband is dead, but her children live on, and I send my prayers and thoughts to them. They didn’t just lose a writer they admired and loved, they lost a mother. And many lost a dear friend.

Wherever you are, Anne, whatever afterlife awaited you, I hope you’re happy, and running with the dragons. And to your family: may you traverse the sorrow with as little despair as possible. May you know that your mother was a beacon to others. May you carry her legacy and her love with you forever.

Yasmine

New Moon Daughters Comic Is Up!

The new page of the Moon Daughter's Comic is up!

Thanksgiving, Diet/Exercise, and Brighid Update

A mishmash of thoughts for you today. So we got up yesterday to a layer of frost on everything, including the weathervane. Here’s the picture from my office. It’s supposed to warm up to the upper 40s early this week though, with heavy rains and strong winds. Think I’d rather have the frost than the wind, but around here, that’s par for the course.

We’re getting ready for Thanksgiving. Have everything we need for the most part, and Wednesday I make pies and low-carb chocolate pie, and cranberry sauce, and the gravy. I’ll bake the ham too, and we can just reheat it on Thursday. On Thursday we roast the turkey, make the stuffing, and the mashed potatoes. I’ll just reheat the gravy,the ham, and everything will be ready.

We always have friends over for Thanksgiving. Some years we’ve had 8-10 guests, this year we’ll have 5 coming to join us. We’ll use the good china, we’ll spend the day together talking and enjoying being in the company of friends. Some of our guests have been coming to our Thanksgiving for years and we may not see each other much for the rest of the year, but each year we gather together again, a family of friends, caring about each other,grateful that we’ve had so many years together.

WOO-HOO. And another little victory—I just went down another size in knit shirts. Started out in 4X and am in 2X on them now. That is a thrilling feeling. And skirts that I bought that were almost too snug three weeks ago fit fairly good now. I tried on an old skirt that was almost too tight back in April, when I started low-carbing, and it almost fell off me—way way too big now.I’ve gotten rid of most of the old clothes but that was hiding in the back o fmy closet. The combination of exercise AND diet is working wonders for me. I feel better, look better, move better, and don’t hurt nearly so much. So yes, I am making progress. My blood sugar’s almost normalized. I’m going off my blood pressure medication (I was on a low dose but now really need to wean myself off of it—with my doctor’s approval).

So those are good things.

As to a Brighid update. We take her to see our regular vet today. I hope they have the urine culture back by today but should be tomorrow at the latest because then we’ll know exactly how to treat this condition and whether it’s chronic or acute. My poor baby is a little scared of me, which breaks my heart, because I’m the one who wrestles her into the carrier. Hurts so bad to see her want to run away from me, though this morning at least, she let me pet her a little. I love my babies so much and hate the thought that they’d ever be afraid of me. But it can’t be helped. I’m the one who can get them into the carriers, so I have to cope with the tough-love syndrome.

And now, it’s on to work, time to begin Shadow Rising, which was going to happen this weekend but obviously didn’t. At least I have my playlist and synopsis and know what I’m doing. Kinda. LOL (Just like the beginning of everybook for me).

Yasmine

Tiring Weekend Already

So last night was not fun. We had to make a midnight run to the emergency vet with Brighid. She had a UTI, which we thought had gotten cleared up but last night it seemed to return and we wanted to get her in right away—and our vet wouldn’t be open till Monday morning. So we took her in and turns out she has crystals in her urine. Not great, but treatable. Poor baby is not happy though, and we have to wait on a urine culture to find out exactly which treatment to use. But we have her on antibiotics again, and we got her a shot for pain, and she’s more comfy now. We also have to take the cats totally off dry food because it can be bad for cats with problems like this. We only put the kittens on dry chow to free feed them as they were growing and never got out of the habit—our older girls used to be canned food only.

But there were several emergencies there, and we didn’t get out of there till 3:30 in the morning, which was exhausting considering I’d been up since 7:00 AM. I felt so bad for this one couple who lost their pet while we were there. I’ve been through that, I know how devastating it is. But Brighid’s condition is treatable, and it may be chronic—it may not be—but either way it can be controlled and taken care of and we're on top of it.

I’ve got the playlist ready and am going to be starting on the writing of Shadow Rising tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it—going to be a kickass Menolly book. I know that term is overused but hey, it is what it is.

And that is about all my tired brain can think of tonight.

Blessings,

Yasmine

Preliminary Playlist for Shadow Rising

Here's the preliminary playlist for Shadow Rising--Menolly's fourth book:

AC/DC: Hells Bells; Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Adam Lambert: Mad World
Air: Napalm Love; Another Day; The Word 'Hurricane'
Amanda Blank: Big Heavy; Make it Take It
Android Lust: Fall to Fragments; Feel the Empty Mask
Asteroids Galaxy Tour: The Sun Ain't Shining No More; The Golden Age;
Sunshine Coolin'
Avalon Rising: The Great Selkie
Awolnation: Sail
Bangles: Walk Like An Egyptian
Beck: Nausea, Think I'm in Love
Black Sabbath: Paranoid
Blue Oyster Cult: Godzilla
Bon Jovi: Dead or Alive
Bravery, the: Believe
Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth
Celtic Woman: The Voice
Clannad: Newgrange
Cobra Verde: Play With Fire
Commadores: Brick House
David Bowie: I'm Afraid of Americans, Without You, Sister Midnight,
New Killer Star
Dead or Alive: You Spin Me
Depeche Mode: Blasphemous Rumors, Dream On
Devo: Working in a Coal Mine; Freedom of Choice
Doors: Maggie McGill; Hello, I Love You; Five to One
Fergie: Fergalicious
Finger Eleven: Paralyzer
Fleetwood Mac: Gold Dust Woman
Foo Fighters: All My Life
Foster the People: Pumped Up Kicks
Gary Numan: Cold Warning; The Hunter; Stormtrooper in Drag; Hybrid;
Down in the Park; Cars (Hybrid version); Dream Killer; Voix; Are
Friends Electric
Gorillaz: Every Planet We Reach is Dead; Dare;  Stylo
Haysi Fantayzee: Here Comes the Beast
Hives: Tick Tock Boom
Kraftwerk: Pocket Calculator
Lady Gaga: I Like it Rough; Paparazzi; Born This Way; Poker Face
Ladytron: I'm Not Scared; Black Cat
Lindstrom and Christabelle: Lovesick
Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side
Madonna: Express Yourself; 4 Minutes
Marilyn Manson: Personal Jesus; Tainted Love; The Fight Song; Rock is
Dead
Men Without Hats: Safety Dance
Metallica: Enter Sandman
Offspring: Come Out and Play
Oingo Boingo: Elevator Man; Weird Science
Pink, Christina Aguillara, Li'l Kim, Maya: Lady Marmalade
Puddle of Mudd: Psycho
Rod Zombie: Living Dead Girl; Never Gonna Stop; Mars Needs Women
Roison Murphy: Ramalama (Bang Bang)
Saliva: Broken Sunday; Ladies and Gentlemen
Seether: Remedy
Simple Minds: Don't You
Soundgarden: Fell on Black Days; Superunknown; Spoonman
Seether: Remedy
Stone Temple Pilots: Dead & Bloated
Sully Erna: The Rise
Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me With Science
Toadies: Possum Kingdom
Tori Amos: Caught a Lite Sneeze; In the Springtime of His Voodoo;
Professional Widow
U2: Vertigo, Elevation
Ween: Mutilated Lips
Woodland: I Remember; Morgana Moon; Blood of the Moon; First Melt
Yoko Kanno: Lithium Flower; Run Rabbit Junk
Zero 7: In the Waiting Line

I'm really looking forward to writing this book!
Yasmine

Paranormal Thoughts, Ideas, Books...

I recently had three blogs go up on the Penguin website you might like:

Paranormal Thoughts

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

A Lifetime of Books

Yasmine

New Moon Daughters Comic Is Up!

The new page of the Moon Daughter's Comic is up!

The Nature of The Career

So, NIGHT SEEKER is on my editor’s desk now. One thing I’ve noticed in a lot of comments on Facebook and Twitter is that people really don’t understand the nature of being a professional writer. They don’t understand—and some seem concerned—why I can’t take a month or so between books to rest.

Being a bestselling author doesn’t guarantee that you get to call the shots, but for me—it does mean that I get to continue doing what I love as long as the books keep selling at the rate they are. However, if I want to continue to make a living at my work, I have to write more than one book a year, and more than two books a year.

So yes, like everyone else in this world who works for a living, I do have to put in the time actually working—and writing includes more than sitting at your desk eating bonbons. It’s damned hard work that takes talent, discipline, patience, and ambition. Not everybody can be successful at it, and contrary to what some people hope, just because you can work a keyboard, doesn’t mean you can be a professional writer. It’s like that with any career.

Writing a book involves so much more than the actual writing. In addition to writing, you have to go through the editing process, revisions, the copyedits, and page proofs for each manuscript. And then you have promotion, administration, and if you do appearances—that sucks up a lot of time. That’s one big reason I simply can’t make too many appearances (though as I said, next year I’m attending three large conventions—one in Chicago, on in Anaheim, and one in New Orleans). Another reason is money—I foot the bill for travel, and it isn’t cheap.

So yes, this isn't a hobby, it’s a more-than-full time career. I work 60-80 hours a week, but then again, so do a lot of people who are self-employed. And ask any restaurant manager or anybody who has to work two jobs—a lot of people don’t get the standard 40 hour work week. Plenty of people work just as hard as I do. And hey, if you have a bunch of kids? Maybe you don't have deadlines like I do but you have round the clock work.

I love to write, and in order to continue to write, I have to make a living on my work. I have the mortgage and bills and health care and food and pension funds to think about. (Which is why I bitch so much about the fucking pirates who steal my work—stealing is stealing. Too bad if they don’t like being called thieves).

And no, I don’t get a lot of time off. But when you think about it, how much vacation time do most people here in the USA get? If you work for a good company, maybe you’ll get two weeks a year, a few people I know get more, but I suspect the vast amount of people out there don’t get more time off than the legal holidays.

Yes, I work hard. I work long hours and sometimes I moan about deadlines because they can be exhausting. BUT…I really consider myself lucky that I love my work—that’s so much more than a lot of people can say. And I can make a living at it, and that’s why I work so hard—if I make a living at my work, I can keep writing the books that I love to write, and that you love to read.

So please don’t worry about me having such tight deadlines. It’s part of the career. I may occasionally get exhausted, but I also have a lot of perks I love with this job, like working at home, and being with my cats all day, and getting to spend time spinning stories about the worlds I love.

Yasmine

Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow

Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow write hot books. About sexy men. Paranormal even. Did I say HOT books? Heat level scorching? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. ;) And they terrorize twitter with me. I met them originally through someplace I don’t remember, and three years ago, I was insane enough to let them interview me on their blog radio show (which ended up being a free-for-all of fun). Mandy and Michelle have their fingers in a lot of different pies right now, fruit pies and cream pies and just all flavor of things going on in their lives, and of course, when I asked them to guest blog, I knew what I was getting into, so here you go. This blog will tell you nothing about what they write/do, but it will give you a clue into what funny and entertaining women they are, and why I like them. (PS: go check out their websites and buy their books). –Yasmine

Mandy and Michelle:

It’s that time of the year at again. No. Not tax time—well, not yet. It’s the time of the year when people reflect on who and what they’re thankful for. In honor of this, we thought we’d open the discussion here about what it is you’re thankful for. Loves ones? Health? Happiness? Getting to read this blog post?

Here is what we’re thankful for:

Mandy: I'm thankful for family.

Michelle: I'm thankful for family and friends.

Mandy: I'm thankful for family, friends, and extended family, and extended friends.

Michelle: I'm thankful for strangers who are not my friends, who I've never even met.

Mandy: I'm thankful for friends of these stranger friends, who have passed, and who have not been born yet.

Michelle: Oh, yeah? Well, I'm thankful for the heaven and earth and stuff.

Mandy: Ok, fine, well I'm thankful for the otherworld, Elysian Fields, and Hades.

Michelle: I'm thankful for ghosts 'cause I get to hunt them.

Mandy: I hunt them, too.

Michelle: But, I'm thankful for it first.

Mandy: I'm thankful for vampires and werewolves and fairies and trolls and goblins and--

Michelle: You can't take all the paranormal creatures, Mandy.

Mandy: ..AND wood sprites and nymphs and...

Michelle: Ugh. *puts hands up to form a 'T'* TIME OUT!

Mandy: Banshees.

Michelle: I think we're off track.

Mandy: I'm thankful for Hugh Jackman.

Michelle: I'm thankful for the photographers who take pictures of Hugh Jackman.

Mandy: I'm thankful for studio executives who thought it was a good idea to get Hugh Jackman naked as Wolverine to run across the screen.

Michelle: I'm thankful for the pause button.

Mandy: ...and replay.

Michelle: I'm thankful for pasta.

Mandy: I'm thankful for Hot Young Strong Sexy Hot Sexy Italian Men.

Michelle: I'm thankful for Hot Young Strong Sexy Hot Sexy Italian Men who make pasta.

Mandy: Michelle, there is something a little wrong with you, but I'm thankful for it.

Michelle: What? It's pasta. And I'm thankful for you, too.

Mandy: I'm thankful for you.

Michelle: No, I'm thankful for you.

Mandy and Michelle: But, mostly we're thankful to Yasmine who let us come and high-jack her blog today.

Mandy: And Hugh Jackman.

Michelle: Yes, Hugh Jackman.

So, tell us, what is it your all are thankful for this year?

For more information on Mandy and Michelle, visit them at their websites: www.MandyRoth.com, www.MichellePillow.com, www.TheRavenBooks.com.

PS. I bet the readers are thankful that we are done being thankful. ;)


Master of the Hunt by Mandy M Roth

When the oracle warns Prince Aeson that his future mate is in the human realm and is in great danger, he wastes no time going in search of her. Problem is, he has no idea who he’s looking for. He’s never met her and the oracle couldn’t give him anything more than small clues as to who she is and where she might be.

Sent to one of his favorite hangouts—a sex club—Aeson is stunned when a beauty shows up on the arm of another man, a man void of emotion. He senses trouble surrounding her and something else—something that marks her as his. He doesn’t care if she is or isn’t the woman the oracle told him about, she’s the woman he wants. Anyone who dares to stand in his way will feel his wrath and, before the night is out, she’ll feel exactly what it’s like to be taken by a prince.

WARNING: This book contains hot, explicit sex and violence, dominant alpha bird shifting males who think they’re always right, even when they’re dead wrong and a woman who isn’t about to stand by and let them boss her around.

http://www.ravenhappyhour.com/Master_of_the_Hunt.html


Seduction of the Phoenix by Michelle M Pillow

A prince raised in honor and tradition, a woman raised with nothing at all. She wants to steal their most sacred treasure. He’ll do anything to protect it, even if it means marrying a thief.

Prince Zhang Jin is a man raised in honor and tradition, so it is a great surprise when he is compelled to claim a stranger as his bride who has neither. Francesca La Rosa is hardly a match fit for a prince. Though beautiful, she is a thief with one thing on her mind--stealing the sacred Jade Phoenix of his people. But the mystery doesn't end there. With the aid of the spirits of his ancestors he must discover who this woman is, why she would destroy the Zhang Empire and most of all, if she could ever return the love that is growing in his heart.

http://ravenhappyhour.com/Seduction_of_the_Phoenix.html

Great News, and Travel Plans for Next Year

Yesterday I found out that I’ve been nominated for a Romantic Times Magazine (a leading mag in the industry) Career Achievement Award in UrbanFantasy, as well as Courting Darkness being nominated for a Reviewer’s Choice Award for 2011 best Urban Fantasy Novel.

This is exciting on a couple of fronts. One, in the Career Achievement Award category—I’m up against greats like Laurell K. Hamilton, Simon Green, and PN Elrod. I’m honored to keep such company—Laurell is a friend of mine, and while I haven’t met Green or Elrod, I know they are staples of the genre. Do I believe I deserve to win this award? Taken apart from the others, yes, I’ve got an excellent backlist and I’ve been in the business a long time. But I’m not going to compare myself to the others or their work and say I deserve it more than them or vice versa (and please, don’t do that here in the comments, either). We each have our own niche. I’m not as well known as some of them, but I have a large audience and I’m proud of the work I’ve done.

But it’s also exciting in this aspect: to be nominated WITH them…as one of their peers, it tells me that I’ve made a mark on the industry. That my work has been noticed, and in that sense, the nomination itself is an award. Do I want to win? I’d love to. Do I feel like I’ve already won? In some ways, yes, because just seeing my name in that list definitely is a ‘win’ on its own.

As far as Courting Darkness being up for best urban fantasy for 2011—I’m over the moon thrilled. I work damned hard on my books, and Courting Darkness was a difficult book to write, and I’m very proud of what it turned out to be.So do I hope I win? Again, I’d love to--I think I'm a strong writer and that it's a strong book. But the recognition, being picked as one of the top books for 2011, that again is a win in itself.

Now, onto travel information, and that ties in to the above news. I’ve finalized plans for next year. I will be traveling to three conventions/conferences. I will not be doing any signings apart from the mass signings AT these conferences but I will be there to at the conferences, having fun, signing, hopefully presenting on panels or the like.

April 11-15: I will be at the RT Convention in Chicago IL.

July 25-28: I will be at the RWA Convention in Anaheim CA.
August 8-12: I will be at the Authors After Dark Convention in New Orleans LA.
October 26-28: I will be at the Emerald City Writers Conference in Bellevue WA.

Any other signings will be local. And no, I’m sorry, I can’t come to(insert city here) for a signing so please don’t ask—it’s not going to happen in 2012 if it’s not listed above. We were looking at New York but in this market, it’s difficult to set up single author signings and there’s just not that great of a turnout at most single-author signings. And since I foot the bill for all my travel (and my assistant), no, the publisher is not going to send me out on tour, and they want me to have time enough to write three books like we’ve planned. But at least I’ll be getting out to several places this coming year.

And remember: you can always pre-order personally signed copies from Seattle Mystery Books if you order at least a day in advance of the actual release date—though it’s preferable to pre-order a few days in advance. And they carry a variety of my books that I’ve signed (not personalized) that you can order. Or you can get signed, personalized bookplates from me via the instructions on my website, as well as other swag.

Yasmine

RELEASING TODAY: COURTING DARKNESS

COURTING DARKNESS

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