My productivity took a serious hit this week. Saturday I caught the flu. By Monday, I thought the worst was over, even logged onto my email for a while to see what was happening, but the screen swam before my eyes. I took the hint and went back to bed.

The good news is I lost a little weight. Not the way I would recommend, but from someone who’s always battling The Bulge, I like to find those little silver linings in every rainy day. I’m trying to do some light admin today–skimming email for anything I absolutely can’t ignore, paying bills that can’t wait, and readjusting the week’s plans (or rather, pushing off this week’s goals).

I had hoped to finish off a couple short projects this week, but I know my mind’s not really “there” yet.

Another good thing about laying around the house all week is I am caught up on all my TIVO’d movies and series shows. I even caught IDOL last night. Some of those guys can really sing! I love watching Michael Johns, but Jason’s song was really, really nice–and doesn’t the camera love his pretty eyes and skin? David Archuleta can definitely sing, but I’m getting tired of the shy, modest smile. Can’t he just give us a look that says, “Yeah, I know I’m the judges’ favorite to win, so go ahead and bite me?”

I watched the premier of New Amsterdam last night. I want to love it. I want a paranormal show to blow me away. I’ve had so many recent disappointments–the cancellation of Dresden Files (just when I was starting to think the lead was sexy) and the cancellation of Blood Ties (finally, a heroine who really looked like she could kick some serious ass, and not so cute I hate her!). I’m not sure New Amsterdam will make it either, because it was a bit of a snore for me to tell the truth. I wanted more paranormal, a hint of what his purpose is, and that “You will die when you find your own true love” thing was just dumb.

Maybe I’m just feeling grumpy because my morning coffee is starting to burble in my stomach. I should have gone for something a little more gentle to my system, but I want my life back to normal. Hope y’all are staying healthy and happy. ~DD

* 7 pp – Complete next installment of MIK-7 (vampire erotica) by 5th
* 25 pp – Complete short story for the Mammoth Book project (vampire
romance from the MIK world) by the 15th
* 60 pp – Complete 1/2 of novella (crazy erotica) for Zane by the 26th

I completed my Texas anthology on the 18th of February, but have written maybe two pages since. After slamming for three weeks, my body needed time to recoup, and my imagination needed to get some serious veggie time.

Today’s supposed to be BIC (butt in chair) day for me, but I’m babysitting a sick three-year-old. That pretty much means I’ll have to slam again come Monday to catch up to my schedule.

Whoa…that makes me sound so organized, so disciplined. But I’m really not. I have this spreadsheet I borrowed from Monica Burns that tells you how many pages you need to write to complete a work by deadline, and that scares the crap out of me when I see the daily number creep up. I use fear as an incentive to sit my butt in a chair and write.

Fear is an excellent motivator for me. So is competition. Every now and then I’ll roam my favorite authors’ websites and look at their “deal news” and get green with envy and very dissatisfied with my own progress. A buddy of mine, Kimberly Kaye Terry, beats me up about that on occasion. But I just can’t help it. Besides, it does help keep me jazzed about writing, and keeps me from getting too complacent with what I have accomplished. A little competitive jealousy can’t be a bad thing if I use it rather than let it paralyze me, right?

So I have this list of three things to accomplish this month. As always happens, I have another project that’s calling my name, wanting me to jump straight to it, but here’s where the big girl panties get tugged so high I can clamp them under my armpits. First things, first. ~DD

If any of you would like to call in to say hello or ask a question, I’d love to hear from you! ~DD

This Friday on The Reader’s Round Table
with Melissa Alvarez

Today’s guest on The Reader’s Round Table is author Delilah Devlin. Come on over to BlogTalkRadio at 11:00 AM Eastern Time to listen to the show, ask questions via chat or call in!

So, I was out at Angela Knight’s loop the other day and someone had posted a series of shots of this guy at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show.

I had to stop and closely examine each one. Finally, a model with a body that doesn’t look he’s been “cutting” his abs with heroine or cocaine. I love his build, love the tatts, love the jaw and his “give-a-shit” expression. I’m going to have to paste his picture to my future projects book and see what I can work up with him in mind.

Any ideas what kind of character you’d like to see him be? Of course, lets add about 10 years and few character lines around his mouth and eyes. Maybe, in my mind, I’ll shave him bald and add a piercing or two. Mmmm-mmm. ~DD

Burning up inside? Feeling that fire down below?

Call The Hot Line…

…Dial 555-HEAT It’s The Hot Line, an on-call service that dispatches totally authentic, fully equipped firemen to explore the secret fantasies of women in need. What an irresistible dare for three best friends feeling the heat…
Reporter Sara Jack has the Fever to do a story on The Hot Line. There’s no better man to help with research than Mitch Adams. The solid stud is all pro, but in Sara he’s met a woman willing to fulfill one of his fantasies—if they’re ready to accept what comes next.

The Siren has sounded and shy lingerie designer Jenna Powers is finally ready for a real man to tamp her desires, break through her inhibitions, and show her the naughty side of love. Enter Dean Beckman—again and again.

For sous chef Megan Wagner, a Flash Fire has the sparks to change her life—especially with someone like Brady Wade to put it out. In and out of uniform, he’s driving her wild, but her fear of commitment could drive him away…

Read an excerpt now!

Reviews:

The Hot Line should come with a warning. The chemistry between these three couples is hotter than a three-alarm fire, so make sure to have a cold glass of water near you, or a fire extinguisher if you burst into flames! It’ll have women everywhere searching their local communities for Hot Lines of their own.
~ Fallen Angel Reviews, 5 Angels

The friendships between all the characters added to the richness of the stories and the sensuality level was off the charts! All in all this is an excellent book.
~ The Romance Studio 5 Hearts

Could anything be hotter than a hunky fireman head over heels in love? Yep. How about THREE hunky firemen head over heels in love?? Cathryn Fox delivers the goods in her novel The Hot Line, releasing March 4, 2008. This collection of sensual romances revolving around a firehouse in Chicago is just the thing to usher in the warmer months this spring!
~ Kwips and Kritiques 5 Clovers

The Hot Line is a super-sexually charged erotic romance featuring a trio of couples…Fox’s use of simple language and short sentences makes her latest hot-and-heavy tales urgent and effective. As readers experience the lovemaking both public and private as well as the pole dancing, spanking and the lingerie fatalities, hearts will race and brows will rise.”
~ RT magazine 4 Stars

Today, my book starts shipping from the online bookstores, and I’m hoping the brick & mortar stores already have them ready to stock on the shelves.

I can’t wait to hear from all of you once you’ve had a chance to read it. Let me know what you like, what I could have done better, and most importantly, what you’d like me to do with the series in the future!

In the meantime, I’m blogging with Fresh Fiction today. I hope you’ll drop by and say hello! Now that the day is here, I’m hoping my excitement will die down so I can write some serious pages. I still have another chapter of MIK-7 to wrap up or certain readers will come looking for me!
*smooches* ~DD

Can you tell I’m excited? Well, at long last, the countdown has reached its end. I do hope you will continue to pop in and check out my blog. I’ve really enjoyed the company.

What you really want to know about is who won the last prize, right? I had hoped to give away a signed copy of my book, but alas, I haven’t gotten my box of author copies from Avon. So instead, I’ll be sending the winner a $20.00 Amazon.com gift certificate and a .pdf file Advanced Reader’s Copy of SEDUCED BY DARKNESS. She won’t be able to caress it with her own hands, but she will get to read it before anybody else! But more about that later…

There are some other things happening in the coming week I think you will enjoy.

**Tomorrow, I’ll be blogging at Fresh Fiction. Be sure to stop by and say hello!

**Friday, February 29th, at 10:00 CST, I’ll be chatting live with Melissa Alvarez. So, if you have any burning questions or are just curious whether I sound anything like you imagined, please tune in. Here’s the URL so you can find me! BlogTalk Radio

**And lastly, I’m putting the finishing touches on the last pages of Chapter 5 of MIK-7:Knight Dreams and will be sending it out shortly along with my newsletter. Make sure you are signed up to get the lastest installment!

The winner of the gift certificate and the ARC of SEDUCED BY DARKNESS is…Karen H! Karen, send me the email addy where you would like your prizes shipped–congratulations!