Summertime

Ah, summer. One note of a summer-themed song, and I'm singing along, and humming it the rest of the day. Music influences so many writers, including myself. I don't keep playlists, as some do, but sometimes a song will trigger a story. Other times, I weave musical influences into my stories.

In any case, summer's a great time for both music and reading. Hard to believe this summer's almost over, isn't it?

Blog hops and other events have thrown my regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule off of late. But that's what summer's all about, really - getting away from the drudgery of a relentless schedule.

Do you have favorite summer "beach" reads? Do you distinguish between summer reads and your reading the rest of the year? I don't - I read any genre anytime. Right now, Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas has me captivated. I am in love with his writing and have to read the series.

What do you like to read in the summer? Or listen to?

Here are a few summer songs, classic and newer ones:

And a quick reminder for this weekend's Western Blurb Fest!

If you write stories set in the West, whether historical or contemporary, come share your blurb this weekend at TBR!

Holiday giveaway

2009 was an incredible year! I’ve had nine releases, from shorts to novellas. Another novel’s in second edits, and the eleventh contracted story will be released on Feb. 10, 2010 (two days before my birthday – nice present, huh?).

It’s been a real whirlwind of a year, and went by too quickly! But I’m looking forward to more of the same next year. I have three novels under submission, and another two ready to go.

Because it’s the season of giving, starting today I’ll run a contest here on my blog. Just tell me what draws you to a story, and you’re automatically entered! On New Year’s Eve, I’ll pick a winner at random and announce it on my blog. Don’t forget to leave your email address so I know how to contact you. The winner will have the choice of any of these releases:

1. Seventh Heaven, a Sixties-era short romance, the #1 bestseller on The Wild Rose Press all of July! Woo hoo!
2. The Duende and the Muse, a short fantasy romance
3. Liberation via Pen, a short contemporary romance
4. One Soul for Sale, a contemporary fantasy
5. The Lure of the Vine, a contemporary fantasy
6. Going with Gravity, contemporary romance
7. Picture This, contemporary
8. Wilderness Girl, contemporary erotic romance
9. Reflections, a short contemporary fantasy

You can find excerpts, trailers and reviews for these stories on my web site.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday, and may the new year bring you all the best!

And finally, here are more Christmas tunes. Springsteen's Santa Claus Is Coming to Town is an all-time favorite, and not just because I'm a Jersey girl. Here, his youthful energy and enthusiasm shine through.



I've always been a big Pretenders fan, too, so when Chrissy Hynde released 2000 Miles, it became an instant hit with me, at least.

Yesterday: a Magical Mystery Tour of my youth

I joked to a friend of mine yesterday that we could teach the new Beatles course offered in London. He mentioned he'd met Shannon, The World's Greatest Beatles Artist, who recently received a two million dollar contract to paint Beatles portraits on the walls of the Hard Day's Night Hotel.
I heard the news today, oh boy... and it made me think of my high school sketches. I dug them out, and found they were yellowing and the paper worn so thin on some they were nearly transparent. So for posterity's sake, I scanned them. I thought it might be fun to bring you along on a little Magical Mystery Tour of my youth.
Some are better than others, as you'll see.
This portrait of Paul McCartney took me forever to do. You can probably see I had some trouble with the right eye, and nearly tore through the paper erasing it so many times.











This second one I never liked much. Didn't quite capture the McCartney magic.









The Cat Stevens sketch above was always one of my favorites. Back when he was young and innocent. Before he condoned the call to assassinate Salman Rushdie.



I was rather proud of this Elton John sketch. It took forever, although I also had trouble with the eyes.


My friends and I idolized Carly Simon, as you might guess by these sketches.











































































Stephen Stills was another favorite.






































I'm not sure how Al Pacino fit in with this group. I think I saw this photo in a magazine and his intensity appealed to me. The resulting sketch resembled the photo quite a bit.



Ah, and sweet baby James Taylor. Another teen favorite.



Judy Collins had a cameo appearance in my Vintage short, Seventh Heaven. I hope she doesn't mind!


I also liked Carole King, but apparently not well enough to finish this sketch.


Same for poor George, although I think I couldn't quite get it right and gave up.


And this is either early early Springsteen, or some homeless guy. It's hard to tell.


And this guy, hmmm. Well I know I was crazy about him. It's my hubby Gary as a teen, before I knew him. Not sure why I never finished it. Maybe the real thing was so much better!


Guess I couldn't have given Shannon a run for her $2 mil. It's probably better I stick with fiction!

Celebrating the 4th with Bruce, my Jersey boy

Get past the foreign-language intro, and this 12-string acoustic version of Born in the USA rocks (in a bluesy, soulful kind of way). Happy Independence Day, America.