All winners will be announced on Sunday. So, be sure to cast your vote today,
then post a comment so I know who voted!

Last day, last poll—promise! And guess what the last question is all about…

Yeah, who’s our heroine? I don’t know about you, but when I start to dream about my story, it all starts with him. And I’m already jealous as hell of her.

I have to get over it. I know I can’t make him happy because I’m nowhere in the story. But I’m going to fall in love with him just the same. Don’t you want the people you love to be happy? She has to be perfect for him. Not that she’s going to be “perfect.” I’d seriously hate her if she was.

As I’m writing this, our bad boy hero is ahead by only one vote. Y’all were no help at all narrowing down that field of possible testosterone donors! So guess what I have to do? No, I’m not going to choose. I figure our girl will get romanced by the bad boy, but the local sheriff is going to be torn between duty to his pride and protecting the innocent woman from that other man. Maybe the two guys have tangled before over a woman. I’m not saying that they’ll share, but there’s the possibility now. Just depends on how this story progresses.

So who is she? You get to choose. Don’t leave me with an amibiguous answer again or I’ll have to hurt you!

Once again, vote for your favorite then post a comment so I know who voted! You’ll be entered to win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com! All poll winners will be announced on Sunday—tomorrow!!

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All winners will be announced on Sunday. So, be sure to cast your vote today, then post a comment so I know who voted!

Let’s recap what you’ve chosen so far:

Setting: Louisiana Bayou
Scenario: Innocent stranger enters a small, secretive town where shifters rule

From my research, the only large cats that were ever indigenous (in recent history) to southern Louisiana were Florida Panthers, a subspecies of North American cougar. So, the majority of the shifters in my stories will be Florida Panthers. These cats used to range from Louisiana all across the coastal south to Florida, but have been hunted close to extinction. Now there are only about 50-75 cats remaining in the wild in Florida. There isn’t any evidence, other than folktales, that “black panthers” ever existed in North America. But I’m thinking some of my shifters can be the source of those folk tales, possessing excessive melanin like some jaguars in South America do. To the left is a picture of one of those melanistic jaguars.

The story is shaping up a bit now in my mind, but I want you to help me nail the hero of the first story.

Vote for your favorite type of hero then post a comment so I know who voted! You’ll be entered to win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com! Remember, all poll winners will be announced on Sunday!

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All winners will be announced on Sunday. So, be sure to cast your vote today, then post a comment so I know who voted!

Well, it looks like the Cat Tales setting will be the Louisiana Bayou! Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I know I cast my vote early on for this one too, but when I thought the Colorado Mountains might win, all kinds of fun scenarios popped into my mind. Louisiana Bayou stories are more limiting for an external premise idea but I did come up with several. Maybe you can help me narrow my focus once again.

Choose which scenario you would prefer for the opening story. Be sure to vote then post a comment so I know who voted! You’ll be entered to win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com! Remember, all poll winners will be announced on Sunday!

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I’ve been mulling around the idea of a new free series to offer through my website and newsletter. One with individual stories rather than series installments—although some of these short stories might span a couple of months. I’d like them to be related by place and have some of the same characters appear throughout these sexy little reads.

And the best part will be that the stories will be centered around a family of feline shifters. I love furry heroes!

I want your help narrowing down the focus for the stories. Let me know what your preferences are. The first question I have for you is where you want these stories to take place. Be sure to vote then post a comment so I know who voted! You’ll be entered to win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com!

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A power outage yesterday morning brought home just how dependent I am on technology. Not just my computer and Internet service. Without power, I had to light candles because the day was overcast and rainy. I couldn’t bathe or flush a toilet because the pump that draws water from the well didn’t operate. It was too dark to read, too cool and nasty to be outside, the heat didn’t run and I couldn’t open the fridge for fear of warming up the food stored there.

My daughter lives in a rural area—even more isolated than my own home. And when her power goes out, it can last for days. Last year during an ice storm, it took the power company nine days to restore electricity. By then she’d had to toss out all the food in the fridge and freezer. She and her husband had to cook on camp stoves, use a camp toilet, and heat water for “bird” baths over the Coleman. Thank goodness yesterday’s outage lasted only five hours.

My home in South Texas was rural as well, but power lines were strung on tall steel poles far above any trees. In nine years, we only had two power outages that lasted a few hours. Here in Arkansas, the trees loom over the treetrunk power poles, and it takes only one tall, spindly pine snapping and folding over a line to take you out. No way could they afford to replace those old poles with something stronger. I think of the years I lived in Europe. There everything was protected in conduits underground.

I’m rambling again. My EC editor sent me the first round edits of Raw Silk last night. She loved the story and had minimal nits for me to fix (mostly commas!). I should have dates soon for the releases of Knight of My Dreams and Raw Silk.

I’m trying to get my mind in gear for November 1st. Anyone ever do NaNoWriMo? It’s National Novel Writing Month, and the folks who run the site host an annual challenge for writers to complete 50,000 words on a novel during the month of November. I met the challenge last year. I like having to post my progress daily on the site and commiserate with other writers whose fingers are bleeding all over their keyboards. Let me know if you’re taking the challenge and I’ll add you to my list of friends on the site. Maybe we can spur each other on with a “word war”!

This was a sad, sad week. I didn’t accomplish one darn thing. And it’s not going to get better until the middle of this week. I came home Friday, played catchup with email and bills, and now, I’m getting ready to head back to babysit.

One thing I did get done yesterday was book my flight for my cruise trip in December. If I didn’t mention it before, I’m heading to the Caribbean with Sasha White in December. I spent last night going through my closet to see what I might pack. I don’t know how warm it will be. I remember grilling steaks in my shorts in December when I lived in South Florida, so I’m wondering if I should pack shorts, capris, and t-shirts or slacks and sweaters. Does anybody out there know?

I’ve already applied for my passport. Couldn’t find my old one, although I know it has expired. I should have it in about three weeks. I’m calling my doctor on Monday. I need a checkup but I want to see about vaccinations too—whether I need any, that is.

I’m very excited about the trip. This will be the first non-conference vacation I’ve taken in years. Not that the trip won’t be all about writing. We’re bringing our laptops and journals and planning to interview crew members. I do have a self-imposed deadline for a story I want to complete while I’m on the ship. Sasha’s not a morning person, so I’ll steal away and write until she moves out of bed.

I don’t much like the song, but I’m very happy to get my Glambert fix! I love a great voice—Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, Steve Tyler, Chris Cornell—and I’d love to add Adam L, but he has a long way to go to prove himself worthy.

For me, Time for Miracles took forever to build, but did finish with a nice bit of Adam doing what he does best—singing his heart and lungs out. And yeah, I live in Arkansas and probably shouldn’t say it out loud, but HE WAS ROBBED! Can’t wait for the new album coming out next month. Let me know your take on the song. Am I too harsh? Is it one of those songs that will grow on me?

Time For Miracles

Adam Lambert | MySpace Video