Since I will be on the road today heading to Little Rock for my RWA chapter meeting, I will leave you with a question…

What was the most interesting course you ever had in school?
On the other hand, what was the most boring?

I will be back later to see your answers. Enjoy your Saturday! ~DD

I zipped through the end of the rough draft of a new novella yesterday. I asked for beta readers for this one because I knew something was off, but was too close to it to see how to fix it. Between Heather, Masha, Virginia and Renee, I got some great feedback. My puzzle today is how to implement changes without a complete rewrite. The parts of the story that are there are good, it’s the glue between the scenes that needs to be applied because I rushed my couple and the ultimate four-ple (my word) into bed. It’s days like these I really wish I hadn’t quit smoking.

Last night I rewarded myself with a TIVO’d episode of one of my favorite shows, In Plain Sight. Yeah, I miss the adorable Rafael in Mary’s life, but the older, and more flawed, FBI agent Faber is completely right for Mary. All through the episode, I was silently nudging Mary to give him a chance. I think last night she finally succumbed to his charm. That awkward little peck he gave her at the end made me smile.

However, as much as I loved the show, I miss the drama of her dysfunctional family. Her sister Brandy is off to New Jersey blowing her boyfriend’s $20,000 doing who knows what, and we’re only getting an occasional phone call to remind us she exists? Really? Her mom is working in a dance studio, but has she also moved out of Mary’s home? Nooooooo! I need Jinx to fall off the wagon, to fall in love and fall apart. I need Mary to wallow a little more in family-made disasters because when shit hits the fan that’s when she shines.

Okay, so I’d much rather be thinking about Mary and the letter I want to send to the show’s writers than thinking about how to fix my own messy manuscript. It’s time to shut up, pull up my big girl’s panties and get to work.

You hear a lot of complaints from authors about their publishers and you know? That’s understandable. My husband works for an amazing company, but there are days he wants to sit upper management down for “a talk”. 🙂 The entities with so much control over our livelihoods are bound to inspire both positive and negative feelings at times. Right now? I’m just truly loving Harlequin.

For such a behemoth company, they are incredibly innovative. They’re always trying new things, looking for ways to reach more readers and opening doors for their authors. I’m sure you know they were the first major publisher to put their books out in digital format en masse. And I’m betting you’ve heard of their new electronic-only publishing venture, Carina Press. But I wonder if you know about all the print alternatives they continue to provide beyond their regular lines and imprints. The Manga versions of popular books and most recently their new venture—the Harlequin Showcase. Showcase is a single title venture (shelved with all the romance books, not the Harlequin series) that brings back previously released series books in a 2-in-1 format for readers who missed the books the first time around.

As an author, I’m thrilled by this new venture. Why? Because I get tons of letters weekly asking where readers can find my now out-of-print and often unavailable even in used venues Presents. So, when I was told one such story, “The Sicilian’s Marriage Arrangement” would be in the May launch, I was over the moon! I have a lot of readers who have asked about this story and where to get it and now, it’s available again in a 2-in-1 with Julia James’ “The Greek’s Virgin Bride.” How cool is that?

It’s your turn: If you could sit the publishers down and talk to them, what would you ask for as a reader?

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

The Sicilian’s Marriage Arrangement
Harlequin Showcase: Reissue
ISBN-10: 0373688024
ISBN-13: 978-0373688029

Hope Bishop is stunned when darkly sexy Sicilian tycoon Luciana di Valerio proposes marriage. Brought up by her wealthy but distant grandfather, she is used to fading into the background. But Luciano’s sensual lovemaking makes her feel vibrantly alive. Hope falls in love with her husband and is blissfully happy—until she discovers that Luciano married her to fulfill his own ruthless agenda…!

The book also includes the fabulous “The Greek’s Virgin Bride” by Julia James.
Look for Showcases in the single title romance section of your favorite bookstores!

Read an Excerpt

Buy: Borders ~ B&N ~ Chapters ~ Books-a-Million ~ Amazon

Book Trailer:

Award winning author Lucy Monroe published her first book in September of 2003. Since then she has sold more than 50 books to four publishers and hit national bestsellers lists in the US and England. Whether it’s a passionate Harlequin Presents, a sexy action adventure, or a steamy paranormal historical, Lucy’s books transport her readers to a special place where the heart rules and love conquers all.

You can find Lucy on the web at:

Lucy’s Website
Lucy’s Blog
Lucy’s Facebook

Don’t go to your stack to talk about the best books you’ve read recently! What will you be curling up with today?

Because I’ve been napping so much lately, I chose a short story collection to read. And I must say, I’m enjoying it very much! This is the book:

Yes, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission
by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor)
Pub. Date: March 2008
Trade Paperback, 210 pp

Okay, so I didn’t select it for enjoyment but because I’m working on a short novella with D/s flavorings and wanted to immerse myself in the language and lifestyle before charging forward. But collections like these are addictive—like boxed chocolates. Can you really stop at just one bite? The stories are sometimes strange but always stimulating. Since they are written in first person (at least those I’ve read so far), I feel as though I’m taking a glimpse inside someone else’s bedroom. Very, very stimulating…

Your turn.

Tell me what you are reading and what it’s doing for you.

My sister sent me an email today with these two pictures in it. Both came from Texas and both were about things found in culverts in that state. A time or two I’ve been tempted to write a scene with a twister where the hero and heroine had to seek refuge in the open. Guess I’ll count out scurrying into a culvert as a means to escape.

And there I thought scorpions and spiders would be the worst thing they’d face…

An 18-foot alligator was caught here!

87 Rattlesnakes were wrangled from this culvert.

Yeah, I just woke up and didn’t want to think that hard about today’s blog.

I had a very productive week until I hit Thursday, about which I’ve talked enough, right? Up to that point, I slammed through the first four and a half chapters of a very sexy novella. I reviewed half the galley for Darkness Captured. I contacted a publisher I love and asked for advice on how to submit an anthology project to them. And I have completed research and dreamed up the premise for a short story project.

This next week, I have to complete reviewing and editing the galley for Darkness Captured and I plan to complete the sexy novella—hopefully by Tuesday. I’ll start writing the short story and draft the description for my anthology proposal. A little ambitious, but I want to make up lost ground. Also, next Saturday, I have to teach a class to my RWA chapter, which reminds me I actually have to come up with content to teach. Oy!

I found out today that a story I wrote a while back for an anthology, Warlord’s Destiny, will be reissued on its own June 14, 2010. If you haven’t read it yet, June will be a good time to pick it up. It’s one of my favorite stories—a futuristic with a medeival flavor to it—another of those wonderfully manly men… Okay, now I’m wanting to go back and read that opening scene again when the hero strides into the heroine’s hall. Mmm-mm.

I believe really good drugs made me temporarily psychic.

I had surgery on Thursday. They used some sort of anesthesia that allowed me to drift in and out while the doctor removed a very ugly under skin lump from my shoulder. When I drifted in, I’d feel something of what they were doing and an “Ow!” would elicit another dose of whatever it was they pumped into me.

I remember telling the doctor they’d removed an alien implant. When I got home, my sister called me and asked if I thought I’d ever write again now that the alien inhabiting my skin was gone. Hmmm….

Coincidence? I think not!

On the way home, my mother, who drove me to and from the hospital, decided to stop at the store for milk. While she was gone, I remember distinctly wanting to call her back and tell her to get some white powdered doughnuts—something I only crave once or twice a year, and something I never buy.

I didn’t see what she bought, but later that day when I stumbled into the kitchen for something to drink, there sat a box of powdered doughnuts on the counter.

See where I’m going? I’m still on drugs and feeling a little goofy. So that’s all I’m saying. I’m hoping today when the drugs wear off and I’m finally parked in front of my keyboard for the long haul that I don’t find out that the alien they removed was indeed my muse.

The winner (by random number generator) of yesterday’s contest is….Valerie! Congratulations, Valerie. Be sure to email me and let me know which of the MIK eBooks you’d like sent.