I’m at the lake. My friends leave later this morning, and last night we took their pontoon boat and crossed the lake to hit a popular burger and pizza joint. I took pics, but frankly, I’m too lazy this morning to load ’em up. 😀

I’m up earlier than usual because I have to take my car in for repair. I got a check engine light yesterday when I drove here. Nothing wrong with the oil, so I’m guessing it’s just a sensor. I made sure the dealership has a place for me to plug in when I go so I don’t lose any of my retreat time.

Tomorrow, I promise I’ll be more interesting. Yawn.

In the meantime, have you taken a look around my website lately? I do refresh the content often. There are new books listed on the Coming Soon page with excerpts meant to tempt you into walking your fingers over the to the pre-order button.

For all of you traveling this weekend, stay safe and have fun!

I’m not a girlie-girl. I don’t think I’ve worn a dress in over fifteen years. Most days I wear sweats or baggie Capri pants and a t-shirt. My shoes are most often rubber thongs. I like my makeup and hair non-fussy. However, the one feminine decoration I do indulge in is jewelry. I like shiny, sparkly things. I never met a ruby I didn’t drool over, or a sapphire that didn’t make my heart melt. It’s a recent obsession; one my local jeweler indulges by letting me know when some particularly unusual piece comes in. I always have something on lay-away. I love estate jewelry and love it when it’s inscribed with a message. It makes me wonder about the story of the person who wore it.

I also have charm bracelets. Yeah, not just one. One holds charms from my travels. Another has charms that inspire stories; this one is the bracelet for my publishing credits. My sister gave me the bracelet with only the “A” on it when I sold to Avon. Last night, I ordered a “B”, “K”, “E” and “S” for my other major publishers and took a picture so you could see where I am with it.

So far, from the top, right of the clasp, I have an Irish Claddagh—that one was compulsory because my ex is pure and my children are blended Irish.

The enameled lips and lipstick charm was given to me by the Omaha RWA chapter when sis and I taught a weekend bootcamp there.

The cathedral was given to me as a remembrance by Betty Hanawa. It’s St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans. It figures in the first scene of the first Dark Realm book.

The “A” is for Avon, given to me by Elle James, my sister, when I sold to Avon.

The handcuffs? They do double duty. I write lots of cops and kinky stuff.

The wolf is for my werewolves.

The Knight on the Horse, also a gift, I think from Betty too, is a for the My Immortal Knight series.

And lastly, the little bat is from Bev Zinn for all the vampires I write.

Now, I have to find something Viking, something demon-y, and something Texas and cowboy.

I’m an acquisitive creature, aren’t I? Do you have any jewelry that means something to you? Are you crazy for those charm bracelets too?

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday love, yesterday! XOXO
Please welcome my guest, author Jane Beckenham!

PROCRASTINATION IS A WONDERFUL THING…really, believe me.

If you’re a writer, or have specific tasks to achieve by deadline, you’ll think that that comment is absolutely NUTS! Yes, it probably is, but let’s stop a moment and see what procrastination is…

The dictionary says…
Procrastination.
1. The act or habit of procrastinating, or putting off to a future time; delay; dilatoriness.
2. The act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later time

Now there are two specific things that stand out here…. PUTTING OFF, DEFERRING.

It doesn’t say you’re not going to do it, just a bit later. That’s all. And that’s not so bad, is it. Okay, so you have a deadline looming. But what about refilling the well so that you can top up those creative juices. Giving life some balance.

Several years ago I was writing up a storm. Night and day, weeks, months, without a break, then finally all the editing was done, the deadline met. The manuscript sent off. Then I stopped.

And for five minutes I just stared at the computer.

“What next?”

I had no clue. My life for soooo long had simply been writing. Words. Words and more words. Right at that moment, I was OVER words. Over thinking of them, finding them, creating wonderful pictures with them.

But the creative spirit takes a lot to kick it to the curb and I discovered scrap booking. Something pretty, creative, and with VERY FEW words – none if I chose. I was addicted.

But while the next deadline loomed, this new creative outlet gave me a chance to not just refill the well, it filled my life with beauty and color and memories as I scavenged through the shoe boxes of photos that had been waiting for years for their perfect home in an album.

Someone once asked me what I did for me. Just me. Of course I answered, that I was a writer, and I wrote. No she said, that’s your job – oooh doesn’t that sound fab! – then she asked again, what do you do – just for you. I couldn’t think of one thing, and in the scheme of our lives, that really probably is quite sad.

I’d forgotten about balance. I recently saw an Oprah Winfrey tape where she revealed that she’d put on all the weight again. And do you know what… she realised that she’d lost the balance in her life. That her life had revolved around doing, being, helping, fixing – things for others, but not for herself.

So the answer here is … find something that isn’t ‘work/passion’ related, something you can just do FOR YOU.
The thing I found was that I wanted to have a bath. Every day (yes I do shower, but I’m talking about a soaking, bubble affair). I remember how excited I was when I raced to the market to get some bubble bath, realising that this was something I was going to do JUST FOR ME. My time. Alone. Well as a romance writer I could always imagine sharing the bath with a hunk!

It was so wonderful, finding something I wanted to do. I realised I had forgotten myself. I was writing for me, but it had all become tied up with deadlines, editors, publishers, and promotion, not about the wonderful journey of creating a story, fulfilling the dreams of two characters who had come to life for me.

So at the end of today, ask yourself, what are you doing that is JUST for you. Is it a walk, time to read, a bath, or perhaps, it’s just time to sit and talk to a friend or family.

But the important thing here is to remember to do it. Because this life isn’t a game, there’s no rewind and replay, this is it. So enjoy.

The moral of this story…. Do what you love, but love what you do.

Happy reading and writing everyone,
Jane Beckenham

Bio
In books Author Jane Beckenham discovered dreams and hope, stories that inspired in her a love of romance and happy ever after. Years later, after a blind date, Jane found her own true love and married him eleven months later.
Life has been a series of ‘dreams’ for Jane. Dreaming of learning to walk again after spending years in hospital. Dreaming of raising a family and subsequently flying to Russia to bring home her two adopted daughters. And of course, dreaming of writing.

Writing has become Jane’s addiction – and it sure beats housework.
You can contact Jane via her website or email her at neiljane@ihug.co.nz.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Love With The Sheikh
Desert Rose Anthology
Mainstream Romance: Contemporary, Interracial/ Multicultural
ISBN: 978-1-60435-723-3
Cover Artist: Missy Lyons
Editor: Zena Gainer
Word Count: 49,380
Release Date: June 17, 2010

Desperate to discover her past, Lilly Duprés outbids Sheikh Kalim Raschid for an antique brooch. Her triumph is short lived. She can’t honor that bid. Accepting an offer to solve her financial embarrassment, Lilly discovers Kalim has every material thing yet spurns what she most desires. Love. Family. To belong.

After a lifetime spent watching his father hurt his mother, Kalim has vowed he would never imitate his father. But Lilly breaches his defenses leaving him vulnerable.

Faced with something he never wanted, Kalim must choose his future, and Lilly must accept her past, until life and love can come full-circle.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He’s the One
Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 978-1-60928-040-6
Length: Category
Price: 4.50
Publication Date: May 25, 2010

Debuted on Publisher’s Best Seller List

Taylor Sullivan doesn’t trust Cupid.
Cade Harper doesn’t do commitment, and marriage is a dirty word.
Taylor wants to lose her virginity.
Cade knows two things about women. They either abandon him, or use him as a walking bank.
Taylor doesn’t buy anything sight unseen and wants to test the waters with a kiss.

Virginity is definitely overrated.

Happy reading,
Jane Beckenham

And I’m not gonna tell you which one. Oh well, yes I will, because I really don’t care. I look good for my age. I’m 52 today! Two years past the half a century mark. Two years into menopause (halleluiah!). Two years into “I-don’t-give-a-shit about a wrinkle or a gray hair. I bleach to maintain my youthful blonde anyway! I opened my email today and found a ton of good wishes coming my way from my facebook page. Thanks everyone!

I’ll spend the day the way I want to—swimming a couple of times in my nice warm, clean pool, and writing my stubby little fingers off.

Yesterday, I finished the first round of edits on Pleasing Sir, my straight-to-kindle project, and shipped them back to the editor I hired. It’s so painful reading a book, line by line, for all those unnecessary commas and inconsistencies. I mean, you can’t pull down a zipper on a guy’s pants twice in one scene? Huh. I do a lot of misplaced modifiers (at least I think that’s what they’re called). I do, He pulled his hand away. Rather than, He pulled away his hand. It’s the way I talk. Who’s gonna notice? I change them anyway. I like things being perfect.

Remember when I asked for you to send me pictures of your art to post because I enjoyed sharing my treasures with you? These are from Brandy W of B Renae Reads. She took these pictures herself. I wish I had an eye. You’ve seen my blurry mushroom pics.

Her daughter took this one!

Anyway, thanks, Brandy, for sharing. And thanks to everyone who has sent me a note today to wish me happy birthday! Big hugs! ~DD

The winners of my latest contest are listed at the bottom of this post!

The big news of the week was the surprise release of Veiled Alliance. Here’s hoping you all ordered your copies along with the copies of Un, Deux, Trois, Menage! last week! Hey, a girl can hope! Anyway, I spent the latter part of the week trying to get the word out about my new print book.

I was hampered this week by the temporary demise of my satellite. The three days I was without Internet could have been great, uninterrupted writing time, but I had things in the air that needed to be communicated, so I parked for a day at my daughter’s to pre-post blogs and do some back and forth on another project.

Yesterday, I spent the whole day in Little Rock, shopping with my daughter and attending the pharaoh’s exhibit at the Arkansas Arts Center (I’ll talk about that tomorrow).

I only managed to finish one chapter of one book for the whole week. Very, very sad indeed. I’m almost afraid to set down my goals again in case some other catastrophe besets me, but here goes anyway.

This is what I hope to achieve this week:
* Finish EC Quickie
* Begin work on Dream Lover short story
* Work on characters and plot for Viking story
* Write lesson on queries for FFnP class
* Place order for promo items for Lora Leigh’s Readers Appreciation Weekend

That is, after I plow through 1,002 emails that accumulated in my inbox while my Internet was out. I’m house-sitting for a friend on Lake Hamilton for the holiday weekend. I’m hoping the change of place will help me keep my nose to the grindstone.

So, back to the winners of my “While Delilah’s Away” contest. Thanks to everyone who commented on my blog and facebook. All your entries counted. The winners of the $25.00 gift certificates, by random number generator, are…Christine Rivero and Beth C! Ladies, be sure to email me so that I know where to send the eGift certificates! Congratulations!

Early this afternoon I noticed I hadn’t received any new emails, and that just never happens. I called my Internet provider, and after two and half freaking hours talking to a very nice Indian who had me run every diagnostic in his notebook, we finally threw in the towel and decided a technician needed to come out to fix it. I have satellite, and I live in the boonies. So, it might be as long a week before I’m up again.

I made the trip to Hot Springs to visit my daughter and use her satellite to post this message. And I’m pre-posting several more to tide you all over until I can be here live again. To keep you stopping by I’m running a contest. Here are the rules:

Stop by every day and leave me a note. One posting = one chance to win.

Simple right? I’ll give away two $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificates to two lucky winners.

I’ve pre-posted excerpts and sneak peeks at some things that will be released in the coming months. You’ll be entertained. I can’t wait to see what you all have to say. And if some of you would be kind enough, please hit the tweet button every day to get the word out!

I love Mondays. Usually. I know that sounds crazy to all of you who have Evil Day Jobs, but Mondays, for me, are normally filled with bright shiny possibilities. Sure, I don’t have to travel farther than 25 feet to get to my office from the bed, but Mondays still count.

This Monday is more like my usual Sunday—the day I clear up any messes, run errands and get ready to hunker down for the week to write. After today, everybody is back where they belong and my world returns to normal. I have two family members who went away this last week to opposite sides of the country, and I don’t like that one little bit! I need the people around me to keep to their routines so that my chaotic life and thought processes aren’t excited by their unpredictability.

Selfish, I know. But I never claimed to be perfect.

This morning, I have to head over to babysit for SIL so that he can take my new dog Fenris to the vet to get his junk removed. Then I race back home and try to get some pages under my belt before heading to the airport in the afternoon to pick up the red-headed hellion. I’ll be lucky to write a paragraph. I need isolation to get significant pages done, or a coffee shop where no one knows me.

I’ll celebrate Monday tomorrow.