The Fictionistas

Dreaming Awake Release Day!

2012-01-03T09:46:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things about being a writer is Release Day...my second full length novel, Dreaming Awake, releases today. It's the sequel to Falling Under and I know some of you have been waiting for this one...I hope you enjoy it.

Another favorite thing about being a writer is being a reader. I love the reading community a lot and it always makes me happy when I can recommend a new book or author to someone and they love it as much as I do. One author who always delivers for me is Sarah Ockler. I devoured her first two books, Twenty Boy Summer and Fixing Delilah. When I found out she also has a new release today, I thought I'd celebrate by doing a giveaway of one her newest, Bittersweet.

To be chosen as the winner, you need only to reply to this blog post (my blog is fed to Goodreads, Blogger, and Facebook, so I will count all responses as valid on those platforms) with a reading recommendation for me. Who knocked your socks off recently? It doesn't have to be YA...I'm open to trying new genres too. I'll count all responses received by noon on Friday. (Pacific Time)

Codename's getting attention!

2011-11-03T17:28:00.002-04:00

Have you read Codename: Dancer? It was nominated for a 2011 Cybil Award in the Young Adult Fiction category by the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards!!!

I'm ridiculously excited to have been nominated, but I'm certainly not writing my acceptance speech. Looking at the list of the other books nominated, I'm against some VERY heavy-hitters, and fully don't expect to advance any farther. But it's such a huge honor to have been recognized. Yay!

Also super cool is that the book was named an Indie Hot Pick by Romantic Times Magazine in the December 2011 issue. Whoohoo! How cool is that?

So grab your copy today. RT says it's hot. What's not to like?

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-24T10:25:00.003-04:00

Wanna get some treats? Gwen, Rhonda, and Amanda are all participating in the YA Trick or Treat Trail, so if you visit our virtual "homes" on the web, you can pick up your sweets!

Gwen is giving away free e-book copies of her short story "Butterface" to each visitor. Amanda is entering all visitors into a raffle to win a pair of Nutcracker tickets to a performance near them. I'm not sure yet what Rhonda's giving away, but I'm sure it's super cool, since she's awesome!

All the details are here: http://www.gemmahalliday.com/trick_or_treat.html

Come join the fun!

BLOOD RIGHTS release day! Yay, Kristen!!

2011-09-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time coming for fellow Fictionista Kristen Painter, but release day has finally arrived for the first book her a much anticipated House of Comarré series. Go forth and purchase. Here, I'll help you with links:

BLOOD RIGHTS: Amazon

BLOOD RIGHTS: Barnes and Noble

BLOOD RIGHTS: BAM

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarr -- a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

We're taking a break

2011-07-13T23:24:00.000-04:00

Wow...summer is crazy! We're gonna take a little hiatus...but in case anything strange happens, we're stating our alibi right now. Just like Ross says, "We were on a break!"

A few social media tips

2011-07-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

I love Twitter and Facebook. They're great ways to interact with other authors, writers, publishing professionals and best of all - readers. FB especially has allowed me to converse with folks who've read my books and wanted to ask questions. Twitter has given me a chance to get to know other authors better, to get involved in writing-related conversations and to have fun.

But with all that good comes some not-so-good. Here are a few things to avoid when using social media:

1. Don't be Linda Links-a-lot - if all you do on Twitter is post links, you're going to look like a spammer. I'm not saying don't ever do it, but posting link after link isn't really interacting so much as it is shilling. No one knows what those links are until they click them and without knowing you (and trusting the content you provide) people have little reason to click through.

2. Don't add your friends to your groups without getting their permission. This is just rude. It fills their inbox with craploads of FB notifications. How do you know someone wants to be a part of Fluffy Bunny Slippers Rule? Maybe they hate fluffy bunny slippers. (Okay, I'm sure no one hates fluffy bunny slippers, but you get what I'm saying.)

3. Don't be all me me me. Constant self promotion on either FB or Twitter does you zero good. If you haven't taken the time to interact, why should I care about your commercials? I won't. No one will. And don't tell me you don't have the time to interact. You have time to post commercials, you have time for some basic communication.

Here are some great ways you CAN interact on FB and Twitter:

1. "Like" the pages of your favorite authors on Facebook. That's a super easy way to let them know you appreciate their work.

2. Retweet the important info your favorite authors post on Twitter. Are they announcing a release day? Sharing a link to something they're involved in? If it seems important to them, they'll appreciate a retweet.

3. Engage - whether you're on FB or Twitter, people enjoy chatting. Ask questions! You might just be amazed at who answers you.

I can be found on Twitter here and Facebook here. Feel free to share your personal links in the comments. Maybe we can all make some new connections!

Summertime, and the reading's easy...

2011-07-06T12:23:00.000-04:00

So, I've been a reading FOOL lately, especially on my sparklepants new Kindle. It's been AWESOME. I recently finished Solstice by PJ Hoover, The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter, and Divergent by Veronica Roth. All really different and interesting reads. It's a good time for YA! :D

What are you reading now, and what's in your pile to be read?

Good luck Bria Quinlan!

2011-07-01T09:14:00.000-04:00

A friend and one time guest blogger for the Fictionistas, Bria Quinlan, is up for a prestigious award tonight and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish her the best of luck.

Bria is more than just my writing friend, she's one of the people in my life that makes it possible for me to be me. If you have a friend like that, you know what I'm talking about. Being around her brings out the best qualities in myself and she keeps me true to who I am underneath all the layers we wear to please other people.

The award she is up for is called the Golden Heart. It celebrates authors who have not yet signed publishing contracts but who have EXCELLENT manuscripts.

I hope you will all join me in sending happy thoughts to Bria and the other contenders. They all deserve kudos for working so hard and being willing to submit themselves to peer review.

Guest blogger: Leslie DuBois!

2011-06-30T07:54:00.000-04:00

I'm at the RWA National Conference today, so author Leslie DuBois is stepping in. Thanks, Leslie!

________________________________________________________

Mean Girls Meets Center Stage

Two of my favorite things in the world are dancing and teeny bopper movies. I’ve been dancing since I was a kid and even taught dance for a six years. And name a movie starring teens since the 1980s and I’ve probably seen it…a dozen times. So put them together and I am one happy tapper (get it? Tapper instead of camper! Ain’t I clever?) Anyway, so that’s kind of why I decided to write my latest novel The Queen Bee of Bridgeton. It’s like Mean Girls meets Center Stage.

Side note: If you haven’t seen either of those movies go add them to your Netflix queue immediately. I’ll wait.

Okay, great, you’re back.

Those are two of my all time favorite teen movies. I love the comedic cruelty of Mean Girls and the awesomely inspirational dancing of Center Stage.

But one thing sets The Queen Bee of Bridgeton apart. See, the heart of this novel is in the ghetto. Growing up in a poor black neighborhood, ballet was not high on the priority list of most of my associates. But for me, it was something I couldn’t live without. We couldn’t afford the tuition to the local dance school so my mother cleaned the studio in exchange for free lessons for me.

This is where the inspiration for my main character Sonya came from. Like me, she was determined not to let anything come between her and her dream of dancing. Mix in some antics from my own version of Regina George, add a dash of brilliant choreography, and throw in a cow (yes, a cow) for some comic relief and voila, you’ve got The Queen Bee of Bridgeton.

Right now the eBook version of The Queen Bee of Bridgeton is on sale for 99 cents, but only until the end of June. You can win a copy of the eBook (as well as Amanda's eBook) along with a FREE KINDLE through the Kindle INDIEpendence giveaway which is ending soon. (See ticker in lefthand sidebar.)

Thanks for having me, Fictionistas! I hope you enjoy my book!

***
Leslie DuBois is the pen name of author Sybil Nelson. As Leslie, she has written The Queen Bee of Bridgeton, Guardian of Eden, and Ain’t No Sunshine which currently has over 33,000 downloads. As Sybil, she is about to publish the third book in the award winning Priscilla the Great series.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2011-06-24T07:54:00.003-04:00

No, not Christmas. It's conference season! Around here, the rest of the year is known as cake eating season, because there's been no cake eating these last few months. Lots of working out and eating right (mostly) in anticipation of fitting into conference clothes.

Today is my RWA Nationals shopping day. I'll be headed out for a little retail therapy with one of my author bffs, who will also be looking for a few good buys. It's a fun way to prepare for the week ahead. Really, it's just a great excuse to shop and spend the day with a friend.

I know some women don't like shopping (I think they have medication for that now), but I love it. I excel at shopping the way some people do math. If shopping were an Olympic sport, I'd be the Michael Phelps of shopping. It's in my genes. If you could see my mother shop, you'd understand.

So, I'm off to peruse the stores and see what fabulous things need me to bring them home. Wish me luck!

YA anthology: The First Time

2011-06-22T10:17:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it! I'm going to be editing (and participating in) a YA short story ebook anthology called The First Time. NYT Bestselling author Jessica Verday is publishing it. Isn't the cover stunning? And look at that lineup of authors!

The book will come out in October, so stay tuned! Thanks for letting me gush!!

security!

2011-06-20T11:57:00.004-04:00

While I was on a mini-vacay this weekend, my dear friend Maria was hacked. And not just the "I'm gonna send out Viagra Spam" kinda hacked. No. She was maliciously violated. And it was really uncool because if there is anyone in this world who doesn't deserve to be the target of such a spiteful act, it's Maria.

So, let me use this awful, awful event to remind you all. Change your damn passwords. Make them safe. The longer, the better (10+ in length = 10+ in strength). Include numbers, letters, symbols...and be smart about it. Don't do like I used to do and make it your puppy's name or your kid's name. Or worse yet, abc123.

And just in case you think you have a decent password but wanna verify it? Make sure it didn't make the list of 500 worst passwords of all time...

This has been a public service announcement. The more you know...

Let's be done victim blaming, okay?

2011-06-17T06:00:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has been around my internet neighborhood knows that I don't often discuss politics, religion, or really anything serious online. I am passionate about our world and making it better, however. And to do so, I think sometimes we need to challenge the status quo and say "Yo, that way of thinking is broken."

I found this poster at The Gloss and I believe in the message. I'm tired of people thinking it's okay to blame the victim. If your car is stolen, nobody thinks it's your own fault for not driving a piece of crap that nobody wanted. We blame the jerk that stole the car for the crime, right?

So why do so many women still carry the weight of judgment when they are the victims of crime? Why are there still so many self-defense classes and so few real-men-don't-rape-women classes?

Rape shouldn't be a consequence of your fashion choice that evening.

On Broadway!

2011-06-15T10:40:00.003-04:00

As you may have guessed from my book cover, I'm very into dance. I've been dancing pretty much my whole life. In fact, the 30th anniversary of my very first dance recital is this weekend!

Growing up in NJ, we used to go to shows on Broadway often. Eventually I started seeing my old friends from the dance studios in the shows, but not until I was a teenager (well, just for one show...Rick Faugno, who was my tap nemesis, played Will Rogers, Jr. in The Will Rogers Follies) and then in my 20s. Now that we're all in our 30s, I'm not certain if any of my old buddies are still on Broadway. Most have moved on to owning dance studios, or dancing at Disney World, or in Vegas, or TV work.

But even so, Broadway is still a thrill for me. So when I looked at my RWA National Conference schedule and realized I had a hole one of the nights, you better believe the very first thing I did was check the listings to see which show I might be interested in seeing.

Every year around this time, I get an itch to go to NYC. You see, the Tony Awards were just this past Sunday, and as always, they managed to remind me of the glitz and glamour of my favorite street in the Big Apple. The performances were wonderful!

If you didn't see the awards show, then you missed out on some fantastic singing and dancing, including host Neil Patrick Harris'...wait for it...LEGENDARY rap recap.

THE hot ticket on Broadway this year is The Book of Mormon, a hilarious and irreverent (yet surprisingly touching) musical from the creators of the trash-talking cartoon, South Park. I've heard it's fantastic, but what do you expect from the guys who wrote the song "Blame Canada"? If you didn't already snag yourself some tickets weeks ago, don't expect to go while you're in town for RWA.

It's been a challenge to score tickets ever since it premiered in February, but now that the show has won NINE Tony Awards, landing a seat is even more daunting. Many performances are sold out weeks or even months in advance, and the day after the Tony Awards, the producers hiked the price of tickets by an extra $13, bringing the top non-premium ticket price to $155 (although during a holiday weekend, you can tack on an extra $20.) If you want to take your chances with scalpers, expect to pay nearly $500 per seat. Each day, a ticket lottery is held outside the Eugene O'Neill Theatre for a limited number of full-price same-day seats, with the lottery drawings hundreds of people ecery day.

So yeah, RWA-goers, The Book of Mormon just ain't gonna happen. But there are still plenty of other fabulous shows. And if you're patient and flexible, you can get your Broadway fix on for 25-50% off!

How? I'm glad you asked. Check out the Theatre Development Fund's famous TKTS booths, famously known as "The Half Price Ticket Booth." You may even be able to see the original TKTS out your window from the Marriott Marquis, in the middle of Times Square. This location is very convenient to the conference, but the lines are crazy. You might be better off venturing down to the South Street Seaport location, where the lines are about 1/10 as long.

Does TKTS have tickets for every show? No. It's hit and miss, to be honest. You never know what shows they'll have from day to day. So it helps to have a list in mind ahead of time, so you can easily choose a replacement if your #1 choice isn't available.

Here's a listing of the shows that appeared on the boards at the TKTS booths last week:
http://www.tdf.org/TDF_SupportPage.aspx?id=68&do=v

Just because something was there last week, doesn't mean it will be available two weeks from now, during RWA, particularly if the show happened to win some Tony Awards a couple of nights ago. But it's a start.

So go forth and patronize the arts!

Special Guest: Gemma Halliday!

2011-06-13T09:29:00.003-04:00

Today we have a special guest post from Gemma Halliday, and she has a contest for our readers!

Take it away, Gemma!

_______________________

Thanks so much to the lovely Fictionistas for hosting me today! Not only are they all fantastic ladies, but I’m also bordering on mega-fan of their books.

My Hollywood Confessions Blog Tour is in full swing, so please check out my website for more tour stops, as I’ll be giving away cool prizes (including gift cards, free books, cameo appearances, and Hollywood Headlines collectibles) at each stop!

Hollywood Confessions explores the sensational world of Hollywood through the eyes of tabloid reporter, Allie Quick. Allie has high aspirations - much higher than reporting on the latest celebrity gossip for the L.A. Informer, Hollywood's most notorious tabloid. But if she's going to join the ranks of the real reporters, she's going to need a headline worthy story under her belt. Luckily, she gets just that when the producer of the trashiest reality shows on TV winds up murdered, and Allie convinces her editor, Felix Dunn, that this story has her name written all over it. Between an aging dance-off judge, a family with sextuplets and triplets, and the star of a little person dating show, Allie has no shortage of reality stars to question. But when she finds herself falling for her prime suspect, Allie's relationship with her editor is suddenly on the rocks, and her life is in danger. This is one deadline Allie can't afford to miss!

One of my favorite things about writing this book was coming up with the fake reality shows that the victim, Chester Barker, had created. I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a reality TV junkie myself. And with so many great slash trashy reality shows to choose from lately, it was hard creating unique ones of my own. Here’s what I came up with:

Little Love
A reality dating show where one eligible bachelor is put into a house with twenty hot, young single girls. Every week the girls tried to out-flirt each other on group dates to earn a rose at the end of the hour-long show. The last one left standing at the end of the season gets a proposal from the bachelor. The twist? All the contestants on the show are little people. Including the ‘Little Bachelor”, who happens to have serious anger issues and ends up taking out a couple cameramen during the course of the season.
(Cleary this was my homage to The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Little People Big World, The Little Couple, and maybe a smidge of explosive Jersey Shore tempers. )

Don & Deb’s Diva Dozen
Don and Deb Davenport are the parents of 12 little girls: two sets of triplets (ages six and ten) and a set of sextuplets (four-year-olds), and all of them compete in the Tiny Tot beauty pageants. In their fourth season, the ratings hit a high when Don was photographed with a string of young co-eds at trendy Hollywood nightclubs. Don and Deb announced a trial separation for Fall sweeps, Deb taking the sextuplets and doing the Southern Glitz pageant circuit, while Don took the triplets to the West Coast Sunshine pageants. But, thankfully, by May sweeps, the couple announced they were going to give marriage a try again, and the season culminated in an hour-long Don & Deb’s Reunion show where the couple took all twelve children to Vegas for a long weekend, renewing their vows at the MGM Grand.
(Take a dose of Jon & Kate, Quints by Surprise, and 19 Kids & Counting… or are they at 20 now? 21?... throw in some Toddlers & Tiaras, and just a *slight* hint of Octomom, and voila! Reality gold.)

Stayin’ Alive
Currently in its ninth season, this is the granddaddy of all reality shows, pitting fifteen strangers against each other to fight for the title of Last Survivor Alive. Each season contestants are dropped in the middle of nowhere, the only location requirements being a beach (where the female contestants can wear their teeny tiny bikinis), torrential rains (that wet said bikinis suggestively), and lots of big, hungry mosquitoes (just for kicks). All fifteen contestants have to brave both the elements and each other, fighting it out in reward and immunity challenges. Anyone not winning immunity is forced to go to the tribal staging area, where someone is sent home each week. However, they aren’t voted out on their survival skills. Instead, the contestants participate in a dance-off, where a panel of judges vote out the contestant with the worst ballroom skills.
(Survivor vs. Dancing with the Stars vs. American Idol – the ultimate competition show!)

So, what are you fav reality shows? Any great combos you’d love to see? Leave your answer in the comments below and you’ll be entered to win a prize! Since Hollywood Confessions is the 3rd book in the Hollywood Headlines series, I’m offering a FREE autographed copy of the 1st book in the series (Hollywood Scandals) in print format. I’ll pull a post at random tomorrow and announce the winner here.

Happy reading!

~Gemma Halliday
http://www.gemmahalliday.com

HOLLYWOOD CONFESSIONS
available now in:
Paperback Print
Kindle
Nook
Ebook

The Power of Small Failures

2011-06-10T09:19:00.002-04:00

It might seem like the ability to fail in a small way is in no way connected to success, but it is. Here's how:

Have you ever been on a diet, slipped up and decided the day was shot, you'd restart tomorrow and then proceeded to eat everything you weren't supposed to that day?

Have you ever fiddled away most of a day doing everything but writing, then decided the day was basically over so no point in sitting down to the keyboard now?

Those are big failures. They take you in the opposition direction of your goal.

Learning to fail small means eating a candy bar for lunch, but then having a healthy dinner anyway.

Learning to fail small means fiddling the day away, but finding a half hour in the evening to sit down and write 100 words.

So next time something doesn't go exactly as planned, ask yourself if you're going to be a big failure or a small one. Personally, I think small failures are big successes.

New Facebook Page--yeehaw!

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Did you know The Fictionistas has a brand-new Facebook page? AND that it's the most fun you can buy? AND...uh, that we're uber-foxy?!? That's right--check us out HERE.

Every time you like our page, an angel gets its wings. A romance heroine gets her happily-ever-after. A fat kid gets cake.

Come on, be a hero.

Also, while you're being so awesome, check out our individual Facebook pages. Here's the list:

--Kristen Painter

--Gwen Hayes

--Mel Francis

--Rhonda Stapleton

--Amanda Brice

Now, go forth and enjoy, my preciousssss!

where did time fly

2011-06-06T11:12:00.003-04:00

My oldest son will be a senior in High School this year.

I swear, it was just yesterday that he was my treefrog. His bottom was barely big enough to fit into my palm!

Now we're gonna have to do senior pics, senior prom, senior trip, worry about colleges... Ugh. So please indulge me a moment while I take a trip down memory lane. Because I'm not quite ready for my treefrog to be all growed up.

NYC Adventure. Where do I start?

2011-06-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Picture licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic l

At the end of June, I'll be traveling to New York, New York for the first time in my life. I'm so excited--but when my friend asked me what I wanted to do--my answer was, "Everything."

Of course, I won't have time to do everything. I'm meeting with my editor and touring the Penguin offices. And Ill be meeting my agent in person for the first time. Oh, and I'm there for a conference, so I'll probably have to attend it once in awhile, too. The hotel is in Times Square, so I'll get to see that every time I step out. But what should I do with my free time, people?

If you've been to or live in the city, what are the things you always want to share or revisit? Or, how about this--let's say you and I just met up in the lobby and have four hours for an adventure in NYC. Tell me what we do.

GO!

Contests and more contests!

2011-06-02T09:30:00.004-04:00

Once again, the long holiday weekend throws me off. I thought for sure today was Wednesday. But, uh, apparently it's Thursday. How did that happen?

Anyway, as a result, I missed my blogging day yesterday. Mea culpa. But in my defense, none of the 'Nistas sent me a "hey, Amanda, are you blogging today?" email once I never put anything up. But really, it's all on me. My bad.

It's been a good week. I started it off by taking the toddler to a brand-new spray park on Monday. That was super fun. I loved seeing her playing in the jets of water.

Then on Tuesday I woke up to an amazing review of Codename: Dancer! Kelli from the I'd So Rather Be Reading blog called my book "a perfect example of YA done right." DUDE. You can't get much higher praise than that! You can read the full review here:
http://idsoratherbereading.blogspot.com/2011/05/book-review-codename-dancer-dani-spevak.html

Now for the contests part of this post. Yay for free things!

Dance Spirit Magazine is featuring Codename on their website this month! They're giving away 4 copies of the book, autographed by me!
http://www.dancespirit.com/

Countdown Creator Progreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

Are you a teen who desperately wants a Kindle? Or are you a parent whose kid keeps "borrowing" yours so often that you think you'll need to send out a search party?

Want to win a FREE Kindle, preloaded with 17 of the hottest indie YA and MG titles? Then look no further, because July 4 is Kindle INDIEpendence Day!

All you have to do is sign up here: http://www.kindleindiependence.webs.com/

You can win additional entries for a variety of tasks, such as reading/reviewing any of the books involved in the promotion, tweeting that review, talking about a book on FB, Twitter, etc (even just a simple "I love the cover of this book!" will get you an entry), blogging, and "liking" the event on Facebook. You can find the full list of ways to earn entries here:
http://kindleindiependence.webs.com/contestinfo.htm

There's no limit to the number of times you can enter, so start sending those Tweets! The deadline is July 3!!!!

Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Gwen Hayes

2011-05-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow (May 31) is my release day for my adult short romantic comedy. I'd rate it a PG-13 if you're one of my readers of teen books looking for something with older protagonists but not adult content. Here's the blurb:

Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Available May 31, 2011

Hollywood made him a star. She makes him want to be a better man.

A Come Rain or Come Shine story

Charlotte Jeeves, “Charlie” to anyone not pulling her over or collecting her taxes, is the only one in town who’s not excited about her new neighbor, TV actor Jeeves Allencaster. It’s not “cute” how they share a name, and so not charming that he steals her muffin before they’ve even met. The last thing she wants is some slick Hollywood type turning her safe, small-town haven into a circus.

If the locals have their way, though, she and Jeeves will be dating by…well, it depends on who you ask—and how much they’ve invested in the betting pool.

Jeeves hates Hollywood. Mostly he just hates the way it’s changed him. Port Grable is the total opposite of LaLa Land—the perfect place to rediscover himself. His plan didn’t include hooking up with the bitter—yet undeniably lush—girl next door. She’s not his type, yet he can’t get her off his mind.

Trouble is, to thaw the ice around her heart, he’ll have to show her the real man behind the Hollywood charade. If he still exists…

Amazon
Samhain Publishing

Warning: Baked-good larceny is prohibited by law in many states. Please seek competent legal advice before trying this at home.

Excerpt

This is a mistake, Charlie repeated to herself across both the lawns that separated their houses. It was a bad, bad idea. She thought about returning home and changing clothes one more time. What exactly did a girl wear on a date she didn’t exactly agree to, with a guy she didn’t exactly like?

She chastised herself. No, no going back. The little black dress wasn’t little enough to send the wrong kind of statement, but it was black enough to be flattering without trying too hard. Plus, her patent leather boots were made of awesome. They made her legs look longer and leaner. Even though, of course, she wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She climbed the steps and inhaled deeply before she knocked on the screen door. The front door had been left open despite the December chill.

“Come on in,” Jeeves Allencaster, likely not his real name, called from another room.

This was ridiculous. What was she doing dating a movie star? She’d only meant to call his bluff. He just never stopped asking her out—like the Energizer Bunny only hot and funny and with a silky bedroom voice and piercing green eyes…and…and…and she didn’t even like him!

Charlie closed the screen door behind herself right before the dog launched at her. “Hey, Medusa.” She scratched the dog’s mismatched ears and pushed her off gently. “Down, baby.” Medusa’s curly hair would weave into the fabric of her dress and take root. The brown wiry hairs looked silly enough on the dog—she didn’t need to be pulling them out of her clothes all night.

Music started playing from the surround-sound speakers in separate corners of the room. Was he joking? Marvin Gaye?

“Subtle, Jeeves,” she called to the kitchen. Very subtle.

God. There were candles covering every flat surface in the room. And…were those rose petals on the floor? In a trail. Leading to his bedroom. She rolled her eyes. Apparently they needed to discuss, yet one more time, the fact that she was not going to sleep with him. Not ever.

“I’ll be right out. There’s wine on the coffee table,” he yelled. Plates rattled and the house smelled amazing, aromatic herbs and sweet onion. So he really was cooking for her. She reminded herself not to be impressed by that.

She pulled the bottle out of the ice bucket on the table. Pink Champagne. Pink? The man was out of control. He needed counseling. He needed…

Jeeves paused provocatively in the doorway separating the kitchen from the living room, posing for maximum effect. He had on the tightest pants she’d ever seen and a button-down shirt that was not buttoned down from his belly button up. In his hands, he held a tray of appetizers. “Oysters, foxy lady?” he asked, arching one eyebrow and sending come-hither vibes.

Charlie shook her head and tried not to laugh. Her smile, though, felt as if it were coming from a place deep in her chest, lighting up her insides. “You don’t have nearly enough chest hair to pull that look off. But nice touch with the gold chains.”

He winked at her before he strutted across the room as if he had the Bee Gees singing directly into his ears. Jeeves was utterly ridiculous.

It was at that moment she knew she would sleep with him.

Four Months Ago…

Charlotte Jeeves, Charlie to everyone who didn’t pull her over or collect her taxes, was really tired of hearing about her new neighbor, and he hadn’t even moved into the house next door yet. The whole town was talking about him. Wasn’t it cute, they said, that they shared the same name—Jeeves and Jeeves? Wasn’t it great that he’d fixed up the old house next door to her? Wasn’t he just the most charming man ever?

Granted, Port Grable didn’t get brushed with celebrity very often, but that was part of its charm. She had a feeling Jeeves Allencaster, which could not possibly be his real name, was going to ruin everything she loved about her anonymous nook in the world.

Port Grable was the town that time forgot. It had all the modern world amenities, of course, but somehow it had charmed its way into keeping the simple grace of a different era. She could drink a latte and surf the internet downtown, but it was at the counter of an old-fashioned soda shop in the back of the pharmacy instead of Starbucks. The soda machine in front of the hardware store sold Coke…in real glass bottles. Downtown, all two blocks of it, still had angle parking in front of all the stores. Angle parking. She didn’t ever drive downtown, preferring her bicycle, but knowing there was angle parking filled her with warm, happy feelings.

Port Grable had been her gift from God, her reward for waking up each day when she hadn’t wanted to anymore. If she hadn’t found this place, well, she might not have made it, and she was really afraid the Hollywood star was going to take it all away from her.

He wasn’t even all that great. Well, okay, he was really gorgeous and she’d liked him in that one show she’d seen him in…but he was more of a television star than movie star. His shows were almost popular, but they were always cable series, not network. It wasn’t as if he was Brad Pitt or George Clooney. He was just Jeeves Allencaster.

But Charlie knew that he was going to taint her refuge from the rest of the world, damn him. Everyone in town was already acting different, trying to one-up each other to impress him before he even got here. She wouldn’t be surprised if they planned a parade. It was getting unreasonable. She glanced up at the banner as she rode her bicycle onto Main Street.

Welcome Jeeves Allencaster.

Ridiculous.

Charlie got off her bike and pushed it into the bike rack. No need to chain it up. Not here. Not like Milwaukee. Even after ten years, it still made her smile every time she walked away from her unsecured bike, knowing how safe it was here. How safe she was here.

First stop, Myrtle’s Muffins. She’d been thinking of a Dark Cherry Desire muffin for days. If she was feeling virtuous, she could make it last through tomorrow. They were huge. And dreamy. The secret was ricotta cheese, Myrtle had told her once, knowing her secret was safe because Charlie would never bake anything that didn’t come pre-packaged with reheating instructions.

Charlie strolled down Main Street, enjoying all the fall decorations. The town was getting ready for the Autumn Festival. All the planter boxes were filled with late-blooming mums and colorful kale, and the doorways were surrounded by leaves of burnished orange, yellow and red. A few shops used Halloween props too, but they were friendly, happy decorations. Nothing creepy or scary. Not downtown. They saved that for the haunted house down the road a bit.

The September weather was warm enough for a light sweater over her dress. She almost always wore dresses since she moved to Port Grable. She never felt frumpy when she wore a dress, even if she threw it on straight from the dryer and paired it with her Keds. She’d worn one of her favorites today. It was hard not to feel upbeat wearing red with white polka dots.

The bell tinkled merrily as she opened the door. The rich smells of sugar, butter, chocolate and cinnamon almost knocked her over like they always did. “God, Myrtle, you’re a saint.”

Myrtle popped up from behind the counter, all buxomly blonde Marilynness. “Hey, Charlie.” She even sounded breathless and sexy.

Myrtle, not the gray-haired granny you would expect from the name, was someone Charlie wished she could hate. Unfortunately, the goddess who ate all her own baking and never gained a pound was also her best friend.

“Please tell me there’s a cherry left.”

Myrtle smiled and began wrapping the last one up. “Has he moved in yet? Lord, I can’t wait.”

“Not yet. Thank God.”

“Spoilsport.” Myrtle slapped one hand over her eye. “Oh ow. Son of a baker!”

“What’s wrong?” Charlie rounded the counter to her friend.

“There’s something in my eye.”

“Lemme see.”

Myrtle tried opening her eye, but Charlie didn’t see anything. The bathroom had better light, though. While they were in there, the front door jingled.

“Be right out!” Myrtle chirped brightly, ever the professional, even while suffering.

“I see it,” Charlie said. “Try blinking really fast.”

Myrtle made the classic goofy faces while she tried blinking out the eyelash. She even looked pretty doing that. It wasn’t fair. “You’re such a bitch,” Charlie complained.

“Yeah, I love you too.”

When the eyelash had worked its way out, Charlie reiterated how much she hated Myrtle. Myrtle reminded Charlie that she wasn’t above poisoning her food. They made it back to the front of the store giggling.

The man who’d come in was patiently waiting, checking out the local art on the walls. A few of the pieces were Charlie’s. She hoped he would buy one. Extra money was never a bad thing.

That was when she noticed it.

“Hey,” Charlie said, stopping at the counter. “Where’d my muffin go? I left it right here.”

She sent a look to the guy across the room. The one holding her muffin. He turned slowly, oblivious to his breach of baked-goods etiquette. Myrtle gasped. Charlie’s shoulders sagged.

Great.

“You, sir, have my muffin.”

The man looked dubiously from Charlie to Myrtle, where his gaze, like most men, paused a little longer than necessary, then back to Charlie. “Excuse me?”

Charlie pointed to the muffin in his hand. “My muffin. You took it. I set it on the counter and you took my muffin.”

He squinted at her. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s the last one.”

He looked behind her, to a case full of muffins and treats. Stopping, again for a second too long, on the five-foot-eight blonde treat standing next to the case.

Exasperated, Charlie closed the distance between them. “Look, you already get to be Jeeves Allencaster. You don’t get to have my muffin too.”

Happy Memorial Weekend!

2011-05-27T11:26:00.001-04:00

Today Kristen is traveling home from a very fun and successful trip to BEA, therefore she's unable to blog.

So I'm stepping in to wish you guys a very happy holiday weekend here in the US and for the rest of you... I hope your weekend is just as happy :)

Stay classy, San Diego!

The Man

2011-05-25T13:18:00.001-04:00

So I decided today I'm going to take the day off. WOOHOO. It's awesome being my own man, not having to call in COUGHCOUGHsickCOUGHCOUGH so I can run around or be lazy as much as I want.

How about you--is your boss understanding? Do you ever get to play hooky?

Jurassic adventures...

2011-05-23T11:31:00.006-04:00

There is this place in Northwest Arkansas called Dinosaur World. It's kind of like a concrete version of Jurassic Park. Except a concrete King Kong also resides there. And cavemen.

There's no real rhyme or reason to the park. It's a paleontological nightmare in reality. I mean, KING KONG lives among the dinosaurs. As do CAVEMEN. And a giant platypus.

But it's an awesome place in the world of super cheese. And I'm a huge fan of super cheese. Here's a blog that has some pics of Dinosaur World while it was still in its glory days: http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2008/03/abandoned-dinosaur-world.html

I noticed a nearby gravel pull-off which seemed as though it were created solely for illegal Dinosaur World entry. In the name of blogging I stopped the car, walked down an embankment and and briefly set foot in the forbidden lost world where I took these last couple of photos.

(boy that sounds vaguely familiar...)

And here's another post that contains some really good shots of the cheesefest:

http://www.agilitynut.com/dinos/ar2.html

Now that Dinosaur World is closed, I think we are truly missing out on one of life's greatest treasures. I'm thinking I should purchase this property, and turn it into a campground. "Your site is located in the Mastadon section. If you prefer, there will be a primo Pterodactyl spot available tomorrow." And I want an awesome restaurant and bar when we offer "Jurassic Park" type tours of the compound. C'mon...you know you wanna go...

Gwen the DJ Rocks the Zone 91.3

2011-05-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

I am super stoked! Next Friday, the 27th, from 3-4 pm Pacific time, I will be guest DJ at my favorite radio station, the Zone 91.3 in Victoria B.C. I'll be spinning a selection of tunes from my writing playlist as well as some of my all time favorites. Don't live in the area? No worries--they stream live on the internets!

If you've never been to Victoria, you are missing out on of my favorite cities. It's somehow able to stay quaint and modern at the same time. It is also remarkably clean. For reals.

The city is also very influenced by its British roots. There are double decker buses and tea shops and all the kitschy things..and I love it. My favorite thing to do, though, is hang out in the inner harbor and just people watch.

I hope you join me next Friday while I cross another item off my bucket list. It hasn't occurred to me to be nervous yet, so hopefully that's a good sign.