Little Red Rides the Wolf is a #2 bestseller...

at the

AllShortStories.com Bestseller List


And I adore the cover of this book. :)
I know it's a little naughty, but I love it.
L

Is July almost over already?

It simply amazes me how fast time zips by.
Is it just me?
Surely not.



Like sands through the hour glass...time moves pretty dang fast in my world. :)


People! Do you realize it's already more than half way through the year!
School will be starting at the end of next month. I need to check my annual writing goals to see where I stand. Before I know it, Christmas will be here.

Why this epiphany today? You see, I have a dry erase perpetual calendar that I use for deadlines, release dates and chats for my writing.
One side has 4 months and the other has 3 months.

The last time I filled it out was mid-way through January. I was proud of myself because I was able to squeeze the last part of January, February, March and April on the 3 month side and then I put May through August on the 4 month side.
Aren't I clever? :)

This morning it occurred to me that I'm going to have to update it soon.
Holy cow! How has 6 plus months gone by in what seems like the snap of my fingers?






What have I accomplished?
I've already completed two manuscripts. One short and one long. One was released in May called Little Red Rides the Wolf. The second is The Forgetful Spy to be released later in the year.

I'm very close to finishing two more manuscripts. One medium and another long one.
I also have 12 additional story ideas for books on my horizon that I keep on yet another dry erase board. Too much? :):) I don't think so. :)

I keep track of my daily word count. Why? Because I'm just that way. :)
So far I've written over 156,500 words this year.
This breaks down to approx. 22,000 a month and 5,600 a week
It seems like a lot, but I could probably have done better.

Every year I make a list of annual goals. For 2007 I officially listed 13.
Of the 13 I've accomplished 8 so far. I guess that's pretty good.
Perhaps I'm on track after all. Whew.
So does anyone else have a mid-year meltdown and have to stop to assess their accomplishments for the year?
I'm not the only one right? :)

L

I'm sick...so I read a book.

Shocking, I know.
Me? Read a book.
Well, it's true.





You see, I'm sick. The kind of sick where you have to park yourself on a soft, flat surface because the dizzy spinning starts when you try to stand up.
So I took the opportunity to read a book I've been saving.

I read Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich.
It's wonderful. I love Stephanie Plum and the whole series.
I love how she always destroys cars.
I love her family. I adore Joe Morelli and Ranger is hot. (Insert girly sigh here)
And I love the whole cast of crazy characters that are included with each book.
Lean Mean Thirteen is no different. It's funny and I loved it.

Anyone else out there a Plum fan?
L

Little Red Rides the Wolf available at Fictionwise

Little Red Rides the Wolf is now available at Fictionwise.
Click above to go right to the page. ;)
After only a week, it's in the top 25 on Fictionwise's Erotica section.
Yea!
Check it out. :)
L






A blurb for Little Red Rides the Wolf:

Against her mother's final dying wish, Cheri Amaranth travels across the galaxy to the planet Selenia to meet her ailing Grampa for the first time. Caine Wolver eagerly awaits her arrival to explain his intentions for their intertwined future. However, Hunter spoils their first meeting and guides Cheri through the woods to Grampa's house, taking her on a different path than Caine planned. Long bitter rivals, one man wants her heart, but the other only wants her goodies bag. Will Cheri make it to her Grampa's house in time to give him the goodies she's brought from so far away? And which man can Cheri ultimately trust, the man she met first or the one who drives her crazy with passion?

Burnnotice

I love the new show Burnnotice on USA.
Love Jeffery Donovan, too. Isn't he cute?
It's a funny quirky show about a spy that's been fired and now has a burn notice (or termination notice put out on him)

Here is the blurb:

Most people would be thrilled to be on the warm, beautiful sands of South Beach. However, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is not "most people." He's got a pesky FBI tail, a violence prone ex-girlfriend looking for closure, and a hypochondriac mother calling him 30 times a day. Yet these are the least of his problems.

After 10 years of serving his country working in Eastern Europe and the OPEC countries as a covert operative, Michael is living every spy's worst nightmare. While in the middle of a dangerous mission in Nigeria, Michael's "contact" informs him that he has been burned. When a spy gets fired, he doesn't get a call from human resources and a gold watch. In Michael's case, they jeopardize his life, freeze his bank accounts, dump him in Miami, and flag him on every government list known to man. They can't take away his skills or what's in his head, so they take away his assets and his resources to make sure he can never work again. They burn him.

Now Michael has a much different mission: he must find out who issued his burn notice and why he was blacklisted so that he can put his life back together. Meanwhile, he has to fend off a suddenly hostile world of old foes gunning for him. In order to survive in Miami and fund his own personal investigation, Michael enlists the help of the only two "friends" he has: Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) an ex-IRA operative who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend and Sam (Bruce Campbell) a washed-out military intelligence contact whom the feds have keeping an eye on Michael. He's also forced to deal with the family he went halfway around the world to get away from - particularly his mother, Madeline (Sharon Gless), who couldn't be happier to have her son back in town.

Michael, on the other hand, is happiest when he is in a different hemisphere from the rest of his family. He was 17 when he left home to join the military and he never turned back. Now stuck in Miami, the one place he vowed never to return to, he must confront the bad memories of his childhood and repair the broken relationships he left behind.

As he gets closer to the truth, Michael scrapes by helping out whoever needs his services -- mostly desperate people who can't go to the police. Using his Special Ops training, some duct tape and his sardonic humor, Michael becomes a reluctant hero. It's a dangerous gig, but it's the best he can do ... for now.

Anyone else watching Burnnotice at 10 pm EST on Thursdays?
You should really check him out...I mean check the show out. ;-)
L

Back from Dallas and a new book at Fictionwise

I'm still a little tired from the trip to RWA Nationals...even though I took it easy yesterday. If you call an early doctor's appointment, mega grocery shopping and running my kids to work and back home taking it easy. :)

The conference was lots of fun. I went to the Romance Divas dinner which was fabulous. I also went to the Passionate Ink luncheon which was wonderfully fun.
And over the several days I got to see all my friends from last year's conference. Yea.

My good friend Roxanne St. Claire won a RITA.
Woo Hoo, Rocki!!
A chapter mate Kresley Cole also won a RITA. Yea, Kresley!!
And my critique partner Carolyn O'Neill won first place in the Paranormal Historical category of the Beau Monde contest. She got to dress up in a period costume and everything. I'm so proud of her. :)

I still need to download the pictures off my camera. One with Rocki and Nora Roberts where I've been threatened with death if I don't send. Which I will. :):)

While I know there has been much discussion over the changes to PAN and Publisher eligibility during the General Meeting at the conference, I believe I now qualify for PAN. Woo Hoo!!!
I'll keep you posted. :)

Also, my latest book Little Red Rides the Wolf was released at Fictionwise.
Check it out by clicking on the link above.

The cover is a little naughty, but I love it. The story is my very adult version of Little Red Riding Hood. Hope you enjoy it. :)

















One last note and unfortunately it's a very sad one.

Rhonda Thompson passed away several days ago. I got to know her at the 2006 RWA conference in Atlanta last year. I have one of her wonderful books The Cursed One permanently posted on my blog.
Not only did I adore her books, she was funny and a true sweetheart. She will be missed very much by anyone who knew her.
My prayers and condolences go out to her family.
Lara

STAR Contest Announcement

My RWA Chapter has officially announced our annual contest.
There have been a few changes from last year.
I think it will be a great.
Check it out.
L

I am soooo excited about the improvements we've made to the 2007
Launching A STAR Contest.

Entering the First Chapter and eliminating the synopsis will make our contest much more useful for both entrants and the judging editors.

We've added the Erotic Romance category to mirror changes in the market. We guarantee that each of our trained and/or published (in romance) judges will provide constructive
comments on each entry.

Plus, having both an editor and an agent judge the final round will double our finalists's opportunities to get their work before outstanding writing professionals. So, sharpen
your pencils or fire up your printers and make sure you enter this year's Launching A STAR Contest!

Launching a STAR 2007

Sponsor: SpacecoasT Authors of Romance Chapter (STAR)

Fee: $25-$30, SASE

Deadline: Post-marked by October 1st, Received by October 8th, 2007

Eligibility: Unpublished or not published by RWA-recognized
publisher in book length fiction within 5 years

Enter: First Chapter (up to 25 pages).

First round judges: One trained; one published in romance.

Categories/Final round judges:
Series Contemporary: editor Susan Litman, HQ and agent Elaine English
Single Title Contemporary: editor Erin Galloway, Dorchester and agent
Michelle Grajkowski
Historical: editor Keyren Gerlach, HQN and agent Elizabeth Pomada
Paranormal: editor Heather Osborne, TOR and agent Laurie McLean;
Erotic Romance: editor Angela James, Samhaim and agent Roberta Brown
Young Adult: editor Kate Seaver, Berkley/Jove and agent Elaine Spencer

Top Prize: Certificate and a star named in your honor.

For more information, entry form, and rules,

www.authorsofromance.com

or contact the Contest Coordinator, leeduncan@bellsouth.net

__._,_.___

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!!
L