Happy Halloween

I love the Time Change

Let me clarifiy. I love the Fall time change when you have an extra hour to do anything you want.
I will not say this next Spring when I whine about losing an hour, but for today...I love the Time Change.




What did I do for my extra hour?
I wrote. Of course.
I completed 1,400 words on something that flowed easily onto the page. I love it when that happens.
The 1,400 words is for something new. It's a story which has been on my mind for the past couple of months.
I already can't wait to get back to it. hee hee hee

And what do I usually do with my extra hour in the fall...I sleep it away. :)

What did you do with your extra hour this year?
L

My First Workshop

Taking my first baby steps, I accomplished and survived my first public speaking engagement as a writer.
I did a workshop called E-Pubbed: The Road Less Traveled
Is E-Publishing for you?



My audience consisted of Florida STAR members, which is my local writing chapter.
They were very good to me. They laughed in all the right places and afterward told me I was engaging.
Best of all, no one threw any food.
After I got over wanting to throw up, and spoke past all the cotton stuffed around my tongue, it wasn't a bad experience.
I'd do it again.

Below I found a cool circle of accomplishment. I think it works especially well for romance writers.
Possiblity, Creativity, Discovery, Passion
L

Speaking at STAR on Saturday

I'll be speaking at my local writers chapter SpacecoasT Authors of Romance (STAR) on Saturday October 28th.
The title of my talk is: E-Publishing: The Road Less Traveled.
I'll share my thoughts on what it takes to be a successful writer in the e-pubbed world. :)
Plus I have a couple of exercises for getting your idea monster to wake up and share.






I believe they let me start talking at 1 pm. Getting me to stop talking will be the greater challenge. :)
If anyone happens to be in the area and would like to join us, please feel free.
We meet at the Piccadilly restaurant at the Melbourne Mall on Hwy 192. 10 am to 2 pm.
L

The Lawman's Wife ~ Excerpt

The Lawman's Wife excerpt was just released. Yea!
I've copied it below. Check it out.
The book goes on sale November 1st at Siren Publishing.
L


THE LAWMAN'S WIFE
Lara Santiago
Copyright © 2006 Lara Santiago

All rights reserved, Siren Publishing, Inc.

Cannot be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without expressly permitted to do so in writing from the author.




Story Excerpt
--------------------------------------------------------



Grace haltingly re-entered the stage. Every other woman ahead of her up for auction had fairly flown off the stage. She couldn't figure it out.

She was in serious trouble if she wasn't attractive enough to get a single desperate guy to bid. Even with her nearly non-existent pride, she had hoped for more than one offer besides Danny's today. But she hadn't even gotten him to bid. And he'd laughed when she'd exited the stage the first time. She'd know that whiney nasal snicker anywhere.

As each subsequent woman was snapped up, Grace formulated a plan to beg. She didn't care if she wasn't supposed to speak. She wanted her daughter back. Once they found out about the identity of Emma's father and her inability to have any more children, she'd have a hard enough time keeping any other man interested. She'd deal with that when the time came.

The auction was all she could manage for now.

"Here is the last female we have up for auction today. So you'd better get her while you can. Now, what's my bid for this lovely, young girl?"

Again, every man became mute. Grace couldn't help the angry tears tumbling over her lower lids. Emma's forlorn little face at yesterday's tearful separation swam in front of her eyes.

"Surely one man among you is willing to bid on this female. Look how pretty she is."

Tears fell copiously, and she sniffed loudly at the very moment everyone was supposed to see how pretty she was.

"Please," she whimpered. "Please."

"Little lady, you can't speak. I told you already. Now, why won't anyone bid on this sweet little girl?"

"Because she's frigid and terrified of sex. Plus she's got another bastard's kid already, and she can't have any more children. She's completely worthless. Give it up. No one's bidding on her," said a callous voice from the audience Grace didn't recognize.

How did the man in the audience know all her secrets?

Grace squinted through her tears to search for Danny. He smiled in that superior way he had, making her feel small and valueless as a human. He apparently had made sure no one would bid on her today. She should have known. Now when she went to the Institution, they would pay him to marry her, but Emma would be gone to her forever. She fought the urge to run into the audience and strangle him.

"Please, someone, bid on me!" she screamed in anguish, not caring that she wasn't allowed to speak.

"Hush now. No more talking," the auctioneer admonished her again and then turned to the audience to seal her fate.

"No one willing to bid on this female? Not anyone in this room? You are all a bunch of damn fools." The auctioneer shook his head and raised his gavel to seal her fate as an institutionalized female. She covered her ears to muffle the sound of her doom.

The doors to the back of the room burst open and bounced off the interior walls. Grace lowered her hands. A huge lawman strode through the door and shouted, "I bid ten dollars over the standing floor bid for this woman."

"Sold to the lawman for ten dollars," the auctioneer said, not missing a beat, as if he'd expected the bid all along. He banged his gavel to complete the deal. Grace bent over in grateful disbelief. She was sold. Thank heavens. She didn't care if it was the devil himself who'd just bought her. She could have Emma back. She straightened quickly and looked to see who owned her. Her future husband would not be Danny. She found that a huge relief, too. She didn't know what her future husband would want, but she knew exactly what Danny expected.

"Wait, I'll bid twenty dollars for her," Danny's friend Walter called out.

"Too late," the auctioneer said. "You gave up the right to bid when I asked the room."

"Well, the other guy was in the room earlier, too, and he left. He shouldn't get special privileges."

"I'm a federal interstellar lawman. I was called away momentarily on official business. What's your excuse for not bidding the first time?"

Walter snapped his lips shut, pressing them flat, and gave the lawman a sullen look, as if he were the one being treated unfairly.

Grace listened to her savior speak, and a tingle of recognition brushed against her memory. She put a hand up to her brow to block the floodlights above her and to get a glimpse of the lawman soon to be her husband. He looked vaguely familiar.

"What's your name, Lawman?" the auctioneer asked.

"Jonathan Brent."

Grace sucked in a breath.

"Well then, this little lady is about to become a lawman's wife." He banged the gavel again. "Sold for ten dollars to the lawman, Jonathan Brent."

Walter started to protest again, but Grace ignored him, still stunned at the name of her intended husband. Jonathan Brent.

He was the lawman in the elevator from three years ago. Not a single day had gone by that she hadn't thought about his strong body hugged close to hers. The initial brush of his firm lips sliding over her mouth in the dark had crept into her dreams more than once.

She wiped the tears from her face and prepared to face him. Squinting into the dim light, she saw he was even more gorgeous than she had remembered. He exceeded six feet by several inches. His dark hair looked wiry and coarse, but she knew from personal experience it felt very soft sifting through her fingers. She couldn't see his eyes from this distance or in this light, but knew they were a comforting gray.

Grace waited onstage for him to come fetch her, but instead he crossed to where Danny and Walter were standing. She looked over at the auctioneer, who motioned for her to greet her soon-to-be husband. She wiped her face again, took a deep breath, and went to face her future. It was the first moment in a long while that she wasn't absolutely terrified. Grace's new-found courage lasted only until she saw her future lawman husband pull a set handcuffs off his belt.

She paused, waiting to see what he was going to do with them.

Was he about to handcuff her?

"Walter Dennis, I have an order from a magistrate to bring you in for criminal activity."

"What?" Walter looked at Jonathan as if he'd only just noticed he was a lawman and then turned to run. The tall, menacing, yet gorgeous Jonathan clamped a hand on Walter's arm and stopped him. He had the handcuffs around Walter's wrists in no time. She brushed away the dread that came with her fear of being handcuffed and started moving toward her now bright future.

"How did you find me?" Walter asked.

"Someone ratted you out and called in an 'anonymous' tip as to your whereabouts. I wonder who knew you'd be here today?" Jonathan asked.

Walter turned to Danny. His big, goofy face turned red. Grace wasn't the least bit surprised. She'd be willing to bet her last two hundred and sixty-three hidden dollars it was Danny who had ratted her out to the Tiberius Family Group too. She wanted to smack Danny, but decided she had already expended too much effort on him. It was time to move on to a better life as the wife of a federal interstellar lawman. She smiled for the first time in two days.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Grace said to Jonathan, stepping close to him once she realized the handcuffs he brandished weren't for her.

"Sure. Listen, I hate to do this to you, but unfortunately, Walter will have to accompany us to the wedding ceremony."

"It doesn't matter. I'm so grateful you bid on me. You saved me—again."

Jonathan Brent tilted his head and gave her an engaging smile. "Come on. I need to get going." She wanted to throw her arms around him and bury her face into his throat. She knew she would be safe in his arms. He was a lawman. That was what lawmen did. They protected people.

"Wait a minute. Don't you want to know what you're getting for a wife? She has serious sexual problems, and she's got a kid, too."

"Danny, shut up. You have no right to say a word." Grace operated under the hope that Jonathan didn't know all of her secrets. He hadn't entered the room until after the loudmouth in the audience had announced her life story. Perhaps she still had a chance to keep him.

The tempting and wicked thought of sex with him already danced around her brain. She remembered begging him for amazing sex in the elevator. He had turned her down then, but perhaps not because he wasn't interested. Perhaps her future husband had bid on her today so he could take her to some quiet place to make fabulous and amazing love to her. A buzzing sensation vibrated her long-buried sexual arousal wide-awake. It was about damn time for some amazing sex in her life.

Jonathan turned a ferociously lustful gaze toward her and winked. "Believe me, I know exactly who I'm getting for a wife." Grace smiled and held his stare. She relived the kiss in the elevator as if it had happened a minute ago. Her tongue slipped out to wet her lower lip. She couldn't wait to get him alone.

"But she's frigid." Danny insisted, as if Jonathan were too stupid to understand his brilliant analysis. Grace frowned at him, willing him to shut his fat face and leave her be.

"Not with me, she's not." Jonathan averted his gaze from her and scowled at Danny. "I know everything I need to know about her. You, on the other hand, are trying my patience. Get lost."

"Don't come crying to me when she won't have sex with you. I'm warning you, you'll have to handcuff her to a bed to cure her sexual deviance." Danny put his hand on his waist as if to suggest the lawman was the most obtuse human ever.

Jonathan frowned at him. "You're one sick bastard, you know that? Trust me, I won't cry to you for anything. She's not frigid. I suspect she told you that so she wouldn't have to endure your soft, clammy hands. Back up." Jonathan took a menacing step in Danny's direction, dragging Walter behind him. Danny frowned and took a shuffling step away.

Jonathan turned to her. "Ready to go?" She nodded and fell into step behind him. He had earned her eternal gratitude for telling Danny off the way she had wanted to for years, but couldn't. In her position as second-class citizen, she had put up with loads of crap and endured years of biting her tongue to keep silent. She enjoyed giving Danny a smug smile on her way past him as she followed her delicious future lawman husband.

They filled out the paperwork, and a few minutes later, for the pitiful price of ten dollars, she was married to a man who made her heart pound in her chest. A cheap hamburger at a fast food joint cost more. Ah well, it didn't matter.

Her new lawman husband held onto Walter during the ceremony, but she didn't care. She could get Emma back, which was the only important thing. She'd get a honeymoon, which was another thing gathering importance low in her belly. A heart-pounding vibrancy radiated through her at the thought of a real honeymoon night. Sex with Jonathan would certainly be the pinnacle of her sexual experience, as long as he didn't handcuff her or hold her arms down. She spoke her vows to love, honor, and—most importantly to the Tiberius Group—to obey her new husband. She wondered what he might require of her in the bedroom. They were pronounced man and wife. Thank heavens.

"How are you going to fulfill the forty-eight hour consummation dictate, Grace?" Danny asked.

Danny lingered several steps away, approaching her only after the marriage vows had been spoken. "You know the minute he snaps the handcuffs tight you'll faint. You should have let me cure you a long time ago…"

She didn't have time to answer. Jonathan pulled the regulation-issue weapon off of his belt, checked the load—presumably to make sure it was ready to fire—and gave Danny a positively satanic glare. His wicked-looking gun was pointed at the floor, but the threat was unmistakable. Grace wondered if Jonathan was going to shoot him.

"I've heard enough out of you. Grace and I will be at your residence later on to pick up her things. I don't need a reason to shoot you. Quit trying to give me one. Grace is my wife. She was never yours. I suggest you leave. Now." He tightened the grip on the gun's handle.

Jonathan radiated an aura of anger she could stick a fork through, and even she could tell he was trying to calm down and not kill her ex-roommate.

Danny gave them both a sour look and retreated, finally figuring out he shouldn't aggravate a grumpy lawman.

Jonathan promptly leveled the gun at Walter's chest. "Don't move, or I shoot to kill. Do you understand me?" At Walter's fearful nod, Jonathan wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her close before she realized his intent. His firm lips landed on hers in a passionate kiss. Even this early in the morning, he had a tantalizing five o'clock shadow on his face. His delicious scent wrapped around her with his sizzling, warm body pressed close.

Grace melted into him as her knees weakened. Her hands went to his chest first, then circled around his neck and anchored herself to his strong warrior body. She ran a hand up the back of his head, through his silky hair. Unlike the vigorous, eager kiss in the elevator, this one was lazy and thorough. He kissed her tenderly, stroking his tongue slowly and methodically against hers as if he had all the time in the world to make love to her mouth. She sagged in his arms, unable to hold herself upright any longer, and heard moaning.

Oh God, she was moaning!



* * *

Kristen Takes a Walk

My friend Kristen is currently on an airplane headed for Atlanta. I dropped her off at the airport myself.
She's signed up for the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk.
It is 60 miles in 3 days, or as she calls it "The end of my life as upright being." Ha Ha Ha
I'm so proud of her for entering.
Think good thoughts for her this weekend as she logs in all those miles.
She's doing it for a good cause. :)
L

Random Name Generator is Fun

I discovered this really cool site on the links page at Romance Divas.
It's called Random Name Generator

It is so much fun. I could spend hours there...and often I do even though I should be doing other things.
Try it out:
http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm

Here is what I came up with today:
1. Lonnie Yadon
2. Cody Mang
3. Jamie Domina
4. Mathew Vanderheyden
5. Fernando Rasch

Then you can mix and match. Lonnie Rasch or Fernando Mang or Cody Vanderheyden.
Isn't this fun? hee hee hee

I could make names all day long.
It's another addictive site I have to set a timer so I don't spend hours playing.

It can also be a useful tool. (I mostly play, but it has practical benefits) :)
My latest hero, in an up coming book, Zachary Valetta, was created from this website. I pieced it together from Gilberto Valetta and Zachary Marineno.

Has anyone else used this site to get character names for your books?
L

Cleansing My Mind

I have the box of Caroline Myss Archetype Cards.

It's basically a box of cards with different Character Archetypes and short descriptions list of light and shadow attributes for each.

Today I felt like I needed to do a little mental exercise to cleanse my mind.
I shuffled the cards and dealt three face down.
The first was for my hero, the second was for my heroine, and the final card was for my villain.
I challenged myself to come up with a story based on whatever I turned over.

Well...it was a challenge. :)

The hero card was The Destroyer whose light attribute was: releasing what is potentially destructive. Preparing for new life.

I decided to make him an assassin.

The heroine card was The Scribe whose light attribute was: preserving knowledge and information.

I decided to make her a clerk in an information warehouse. People come in for information and she retrieves it for them. Perhaps like a research librarian. In her spare time she converts the information from ancient scripts into current language for people in town to enjoy.

The villain card was The Artist whose shadow attribute was: Using talent as an excuse to mistreat others. Posing as the Starving artist to elicit pity.

I made him a powerful and influential man in the town where he and the Scribe live. He was once a famous artist and because of that fame, he now enjoys a rich, comfortable life.
Here is my quick 1,500 word story:

The synopsis:
The Destroyer is hired by the Artist to kill the Scribe.

The Destroyer spends several weeks watching and studying the Scribe to determine the best time to eliminate her. Learning the Scribe's routine, the Destroyer discovers she is a very giving person. She works very hard at her job. She helps many others throughout her day with no thought for herself or her desires. She is tireless in her translation of ancient texts so that others may enjoy the stories and history of the town’s past. She works all day and into the night then goes home alone.

The Destroyer comes to admire the Scribe and for the first time in his existence, he questions the job he's been assigned. He's been paid to get rid of the Scribe. He won't go back on his word, but finds himself putting off the task in order to watch her and learn more about her. The more he learns the more reluctant he becomes to complete his task.

The Scribe hates her lot in life. She is stuck away in a dusty environment seeking answers for others all day long. She helps those around her with no thanks at all and she is utterly alone. There is no one to share her life. If she had someone in her life, the townspeople tell her, she wouldn’t be able to help them as much. Any effort to find a mate is discouraged. The only thing she enjoys is translating the ancient texts. Each day she discovers new stories and occasionally a work of art to share. She dusts them off and makes them presentable for the township to enjoy, but secretly resents her life more as each day passes into the next.

The Artist is panicked. He has a vile secret and the Destroyer isn’t eliminating the Scribe fast enough to suit him. If he doesn’t complete the task soon, the Artist may have to take matters into his own hands. If this happens, he’ll make sure the Destroyer is ruined.

The Destroyer has fallen in love with the Scribe. (I’m a romance writer, what do you expect?) He absolutely cannot kill her. He’s tried to several times, but in each instance, has been unable to pull the trigger. There is ample time in the Scribe’s lonely life to accomplish the deed, but the Destroyer wavers. He ponders alternate scenarios deciding the only choice is to take the Scribe away from all she knows in order to save her life.

The Scribe is visited by the Destroyer. He is a stranger, but she thinks he’s cute. Although she’s been cautioned against finding a mate by the townspeople, she flirts with him because she’s also lonely. The Destroyer informs the Scribe that he’s been hired to kill her which tests her attitude towards him for a moment.

The Destroyer also informs her he’s in love with her and wants to take her away from danger. The Scribe, while not foolish, wonders why anyone would want to kill her. The Destroyer has broken enough rules in his profession refusing to tell her who wants her dead. He never concerned himself with why, so he doesn’t know.

The Scribe declines his kind offer unless she can find out why the unnamed villain wants her dead. She’s devoted her life to the townspeople, shaped her life to their whims, and deserves their admiration. The Scribe tells the Destroyer to kill her if he must, but she isn’t leaving until she learns why someone has targeted her.

The Artist arrives just then to kill the Scribe himself. She is poised to discover his secret and he’s terribly impatient to get rid of her. As he peeks inside the place where the Scribe works, he catches sight of the Destroyer and the Scribe in an embrace. Thinking that the Destroyer is finally doing his job, he almost leaves, but decides to reprimand the Scribe for her flagrant flirtation. She knows she isn’t supposed to find a mate. The Artist interrupts their cozy clinch and pretends to make a request as he admonishes the Scribe for her indiscretion.

The Destroyer thinks the Artist is an idiot for showing up at the workplace of the Scribe when he should have stayed as far away as possible to avoid suspicion. The Destroyer pulls out the payment purse and tosses it to the Artist telling him the deal is off. He informs the Artist he’s taking the Scribe away never to be seen again.

The Artist is enraged. He wants the Scribe dead. He paid good money to see the deed accomplished and refuses to accept the purse throwing the payment back at the Destroyer. Kill the Scribe or you are ruined, he threatens before marching out the door.

The Scribe is furious. After forsaking any happiness of her own and giving her whole life over to her work for the townspeople, she’s rewarded for her sacrifice with assassination by one of the town’s most prominent members.

The Destroyer pulls out his weapon knowing what must be done. The Scribe is too angry at the Artist to be frightened. She tells the Destroyer to kill her if he must, but asks that she be allowed to find out why the Artist has targeted her. The Destroyer agrees because he’s in love, but tells her she has limited time.

The Scribe being very intelligent and a keen researcher goes directly to the ancient scripts to find a logical reason why the Artist wants her dead. Finding nothing in transcribed history, she searches through the soon to be translated ancient text and discovers the reason.

The Artist, cad that he is, stole artwork from the ancient scripts and passed it on as his own. The Artist’s lifestyle and riches were won with stolen spoils from a long ago generation. The Scribe begs the Destroyer for more time to expose the Artist for his crimes against the town.

The Destroyer tells her time is up. The Scribe places the stolen ancient art in prominent display in her work place for whomever arrives next, hoping it won't be the Artist. She closes her eyes ready for the Destroyer to kill her.

The Destroyer kisses her instead. While the Scribe is distracted, he nicks her arm with a small knife so that her life’s blood drips on the floor next to the previously undiscovered artwork which caused her life’s jeopardy.
The Scribe completely distracted by the Destroyer’s passionate kiss doesn’t see the sizable puddle of blood accumulating. Nor does she understand that she is becoming faint from loss of blood believing the Destroyer’s kiss is the cause of her dizziness.

The Destroyer stops kissing the Scribe as she faints in his arms. He binds her wound in time to save her life, then calls the Artist and lies to him about the deed being done. The Artist demands proof, so the Destroyer directs him to the Scribe's workplace and to the large puddle of blood. The Destroyer carries the Scribe to his get-away vehicle, but not before calling the authorities to inform them he just witnessed the Artist carrying a body out of the Scribe’s work place.

The Artist is found standing over a pool of the Scribe’s blood with an ancient artwork he’d previously claimed as his own clutched in his greedy hands. The authorities in town promptly jail him for fraud and assumed murder to cover his crime asking the Artist where he hid the Scribe’s body. The Artist foolishly tells them that the Destroyer he hired must have taken the Scribe's body away...for the rest of his incarcerated life.

The Destroyer heals the Scribe and takes her away to a world where her skills are finally appreciated. The Scribe grateful for a new and better life asks the Destroyer to share it with her because she thinks his passionate kisses are nearly to die for. The Destroyer, completely smitten with the Scribe, promptly changes his profession and of course they live happily ever after.
The End.

Now my mind is clear and I’m ready to edit again.

Anyone else do mental challenges to stimulate your brain?
L

Getting to Know Your Characters

How well do you know your characters?
I came across the interview I did with Thomas 'Brutal' Blackthorn, the hero of my first e-published book, The Miner's Wife. As he is one of my very favorite characters...I recommend trying the following interview method as it gave me keen insight into his personality. :):)

I took a class with Laurie Schnebly Campbell on writing a synopsis a couple years ago, but later I discovered several questionnaires for interviewing characters at her website. She has several fun and interesting Methods of questions listed.

I especially found the Method Three 'gloves off' questions helpful in developing Brutal. :):)

Here is the link:

http://www.booklaurie.com/tips_interview.html


Check out these questionnaire lists and see if they don't help you divine tons of insight into your characters and their personalities.

L

P.S. Here are the first 10 questions I asked Brutal and his answers.

Method #3 -- Gloves off questions

1. What do you want? Sex. ---what do you really want? I really want lots and lots of wild wicked sex.

2. Say you’re using the other character for something…what would it be? {smiles sardonically before answering} Sex. The wicked kind I mentioned before.

3. What are they using you for? Brute strength and financial support

4. How do you feel about that? Fine. Why? Because its our arrangement.

5. Assuming you and the other character work out your differences, what’s going to keep you from living happily ever after? Our arrangement is only temporary.

6. Even though we hope they’ll never do it, for now just pretend it could happen: What is the worst thing [the other character] could do to you? Feel sorry for me.

7. Why would that be so bad? I’m a bad ass, I don’t need anyone’s pity.

8. Why would you deserve it? [Long deep sigh of resignation] I’ve led a harsh life some…most wouldn’t have made the strides I’ve made…or even survived at all.

9. What’s the worst thing you could do to [the other character]? Treat her like my possession or a like second class citizen just like her father and ex-husband treated her and not like the smart person I know she is.

10. Why would she deserve it? She wouldn’t, but I need to protect her from harm and other men so I command her to obey me at times when she gets that willful streak.

Reading Pleasure and Interruptions

I finished the first draft of my next manuscript and decided to take a break to allow myself some time to read.

I read The Dream Thief by Shana Abe. Excellent book, by the way. I won't say more because I borrowed it from someone who is making me blog today! :):) I finished Leslie Kelly's latest Blaze, Asking For Trouble. It's awesome, too.

There I was being a total slouch, draped over the sofa in my usual 'Scooter-Pose', book in hand when I heard my e-mail ding.
Yes, I have bionic ears.
I was about to start reading a Roxanne St. Claire book so you can understand my petulance at being disturbed.

Somebody, who shall remain nameless, oops I didn't mean to type Kristen, made me get up to read my e-mail which turned out to be a chastisement for me to get busy and blog.

And I quote, "Blogger called, they said Post Something New!"

I know why she’s being this way. It's because she is on a diet...and cranky. :)

I’ve Blogged now…Are you happy?
L

Contest Obsession

I have the opportunity to enter several published contests this year. By the end of 2006, I'll have 5 possible contenders for the electronic published contest world.

I was initially dubious about entering these contests. Before I was e-published I didn't have great success in the pre-published contest world. I asked around and learned that several of my author friends are very dedicated to entering as many contests as possible. They have various reasons for this obsession.

Their over riding theory is: You can't win if you don't enter! I was convinced it was still like playing the Lotto and I wasn't sure if I wanted to participate. I’ve never been much of a gambler.

After pondering the pros and cons for several days I decided to take the plunge. I would try it out once and see how I felt about it. It's expensive so I’d have to be selective about which contest to enter.

My next problem became which of my eligible books should I enter? I mean I love all of my books. Like my children, I love them equally. How can I choose which 'one' to enter when all are so deserving for different reasons? My next plan centered around how to enter ALL my books in EVERY contest possible.

I began to re-arrange my budget. Did I really need groceries this week? If not, I could enter 3 more contests.
I thought about a part time job to finance my new obsession. Even though I just gave up my full time job to be a writer.

An epiphany came right about then: This is exactly how authors get addicted to contests. They are only trying to treat all their books with fairness and equality.
It’s noble. Isn’t it?

My question for today is: How many contests do I have to enter to be considered a contest slut? Not that I care because I believe I’m the princess of justice in giving all my books a fair shot in the multitude of contests I’ve entered.
Besides, I needed to diet anyway.
L

Celebration Indulgence versus Rejection Comfort

It occurs to me that I celebrate success in EXACTLY the same way I pout about rejection.

If I get a rejection, I also consume way too much chocolate and crave margaritas.
Huh. How about that.

Is this common, do you think?
Anyone else find this profound idea to be true?

Okay back to my edits.
L

Indulgences

Recently I had a bunch of good news and several good things happen in a short span of time.
So I celebrated.
Celebration for me usually involves some form of Chocolate indulgence and of course my favorite celebratory beverage is the Margarita.
The news was so good this time I indulged in two Margaritas…and a decadent chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream mountain with caramel sauce dessert.

My question for the day is...
What do you indulge in when the news is so good it demands a special celebration?
L