~~~WINNERS~~~

Jill of the O.W.L.
Skyla11377
Crazy for words
( please email me, ladies at: jennlaurens@yahoo.com )

Anyone wanting to do as princessbookie did and introduce me to your friends/readers I'll happily give copies of my books to, and, after you've read and posted your own interview and reviews I'll give away three books in your honor here.

Just email me at jennlaurens@yahoo.com and we'll chat.

Or find me on facebook.

Or twitter.

Or myspace.

Thanks again for coming by. Second to writing, I love meeting/making friends and getting to
know readers. Sincerely.

May each of our Christmas trees be surrounded by a bed of books.

Jennifer

Christmas Prezzies

I love giving my books away. Yep. I don't write for the money. Never have. I write because I'm compelled to. The characters inside of me beg to have their stories told. Like I said, I write from my heart, the center of my muse.

I have 3 copies of Heavenly to give for Christmas. To you. To your BFF. Your mother. WHOEVER. If you live in the states, you can enter to win a signed copy.

A Christmas read.

Well, it may not get there by Christmas, but it'll get there soon after. When you're bored with your sparkly prezzies, tired of walking the malls in endless search for ways to spend Christmas cash or just plain ready to read, Heavenly will be there.

To enter, bring along a friend who might like the book. Have her leave a comment here, and be sure she adds me and tells me you sent her.

So easy.

You and your friend will be even more ready for book two, due soon.

Ooooh, I hear a chat coming!

Simmering

After I finish writing a peice, I let it sit for at least 2 weeks, sometimes more, to 'get away' from it long enough so that when I go back and read it I can "see" better. "See" as in: where a point is not clear, inner dialog that needs more filling out, a scene that should be longer/shorter, where something works/doesn't work, etc.

It's amazing what a couple of weeks does for my vision.

Christmas time is an automatic. Usually, I work through holidays -- nothing stops me -- except family issues ( which, as any writer knows both feeds and kills the muse ). ABSOLUTION is simmering now, waiting for me to return and read it and make above mentioned corrections before sending it off for editing.

Then production!

YAY!!

Contemplaing cover ops now....

Finished

Heavenly series readers will be happy to know that I finished the final book, Absolution. It should be ready for publication at the end of 2010. Penitence is due out in the spring of 2010. Can't wait to get the books out there for you.

I'm thrilled with how the series has wrapped up.

And I'm ready to go onto a new project.

Eeenie, meenie, minee, moe....?

I'm Grateful

For so many blessings: my family and God's graciousness to me first and foremost.

We just had a new addition to our family: Little Joseph, my son's boy born yesterday. What a treat for me to be in the delivery room with them, and to help with the delivery.

I had six children, but, I'll tell ya, I was biting my nails!

He's stunning and I'm in love with him already :)

Whatever you're doing today, wherever you are I hope your holiday is blessed and safe.

Tongue -Stuck-In-Cheek

Okay, so I was at UVU speaking on writing a few weeks ago, and one student asked me, "Do you ever find yourself jealous of other writer's success?"

My tongue popped to my cheek. "Uh. NEVER."

The class laughed.

I added," The T word is NOT allowed in our house." ( Now, if you don't know what T stands for, it's Twilight )

Most authors are happy to see other authors have success, we all hope for that. Everyone defines success differently. For me, writing has never been about money. I'm well taken care of in that department by an awesome husband who has always been a stellar provider.

I write because I LOVE TO WRITE.

I remember an old critique partner who said, "Well, I'm in it for the money." Her book just got published, so I guess she's going to see just how much money really comes to her.

It's cool Stephenie Meyer has made a freaking fortune with her series. Love it or hate it, she doesn't care and doesn't need to care what anyone thinks at this point. Her bank account will never suffer again. So, all those critics who love to jump all over anyone who HAS gotten there faster and bigger than them, well, that's the way the page turns.

So, am I going to New Moon tonight? You betcha. Where I couldn't get through the books, I really enjoyed Twilight the movie. So, off I go to add another penny to Steph's coffer.

Cinderella Stories ROCK!

- Country, that is.

As for me and my house, we will adore Taylor Swift.

Taylor's story is remarkable. Young girl loves to sing and convinces her mom to drive her to Nashville so she can hand out demo CDs. Mom does.

Imagine little 12-year old Taylor bouncing enthusiastically into every record label in Nashville saying, "Hi, I'm Taylor and here's my CD."

It took guts and passion and complete belief in herself to do that. At 12.

At 14, she was doing a regular gig at the Blue Bird Cafe and a record guru was listening. REALLY listening. He'd just left Universal Records and wanted to start his own company - another dreamer - like Taylor, he believed in himself. Saw another way. Bucked the big guys.

He offered her his maverick company and she "went with her gut."

WOW. Last night, she took home every award she was nominated for on the CMAs. Taylor's heart-felt, real, clicheless music speaks to the hearts of listeners. Her effervescence is contagious. Her clean, wholesomeness refreshing in an industry fraught with artists ready to sell themselves for the chance at fame.

Taylor's an inspiration. Every now and then it's nice to see Cinderella get exactly what she deserves.

Are Distractions a Sign?

I have never had more difficulty getting to the end of a manuscript. Usually, I can't wait to get up and hit the keyboard. Now that I'm wrapping up Zoe's story with a third and final book, I am losing steam.

Of course, I have many personal issues happening right now as well, distracting me from getting words down and giving Zoe the ending she deserves.

Distractions used to not bother me and never got in the way. But the last few years of writing with serious distractions has shown me that it's not always easy to create when surrounded by crises.

How do other creative people deal with it?

I'm Just Not That Into You

Or other words of rejection.

Authors get their fair share of such words when querying agents. If I had a taped message I could send to all struggling authors it would run the word "subjective" on an endless loop.

"Where I find_______( your character ) a believable character, I'm afraid I'm just not passionate enough about..." blah, blah, blah.

At that point, toss the letter or press DELETE.

Agent A has no doubt read the first few lines, discovered the characters name so she/he can make the rejection letter sound personal ( hello, doesn't agent A know we authors get hundreds of the EXACT same 'personal' rejection over and over??? ) and therefore less - what - disappointing?

On one such occasion after receiving one of hundreds of 'personal' rejection letters I thought, "You may not be passionate about Zoe and her story, but I am."

And that's what that matters.

I'm so glad I don't swim with sharks anymore. Man, who wants to lose limbs every time you get in the water?? I need my fingers to write.

Writer's Group

Every week, I meet with a select group of choice writers and we read each other's work and critique. The exercise is the most valuable part of my writing. Going public before going public. I love my friends both at my 'in person' writer's group and my online group. No one else 'gets' the frustrations and joys that come with writing and publishing like they do. When there is nowhere else to go, we go to each other and laugh. Cry. Scream. Whatever.

Tonight is the night, and, as usual, my stomach still fills with butterflies. I can't wait to share, to listen and learn from these amazing friends.

If you're a writer, finding the right group of people you trust is an important step in your writing evolving into what you want it to be.

Find your group, if you haven't already.

Nanowrimo No-No

Not sure I can participate. Family intervenes with needs greater than my writing a few words, it appears. A frustrating fact no one - or very few - seem to understand.

Thank you to those who do: Jennifer. Your support means the world to me. Bella, Dawn and Ter. My writing pals. YOU GET IT: frustration and all. You get it.

Thanks.

Wolves

They're out there, dressed in writer-friend clothing. Be careful. Know your friends. Keep distance from the fakers.

Sad to say some writers don't think there is enough room for everyone on the bookshelf and that may be true if you're talking about a bookstore bookshelf. Still, success can't be achieved by climbing the broken backs of others.

What goes around, comes around. Eventually.

What would Zoe be for Halloween?

It's a quick contest and you can win a copy of Heavenly with the 'dark' cover just by posting what you think Zoe would dress up as for Halloween.

Winner announced next week.

End in Sight

Pow-wow-d. Got the end worked out. Now just have to get it down. Don't really WANT to participate in nanwrimo, but if the end is not done, or near done by then, will have to. Will be glad when this project is over.

I think.

$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$

I had to examine my sales for an issue I was trying to solve with the printing house, and was super excited to find that FALLING FOR ROMEO has sold over 1200 copies so far. That's not bad for a book that's only sold online and has had miniscule marketing. Numbers -- when you're indy pubbed -- don't mean the same thing they do to the debut author who bites her nails through the first 90 days of primo shelf space at the bookstore. One of my crit partners who's worked at B&N for 7 years in their YA dept said, "If a book sells 3 copies in that first ninety days, that's considered a good sale. If not, the books get shipped back to the publisher."

And then what?

Yikes, I'd be biting my nails too.

There are some pluses to indy pubbing.

I share this as yet another pitch for anyone concerned about their writing career. Anyone tired of the well-worn but hazardous and -- lets not forget subjective -- traditional publishing road. Don't loose faith in your work. Make your own road.

Book Three

It's called Absolution. At least that's the title at this point in the process. I didn't start out wanting these books to have such overtly religious titles.

They kind of ended up that way.

Still, the quiet theme of Heaven and Earth and the spiritual essence of both, tying the two existences together is a thread I purposely twined throughout the books.

You can't have angels without Heaven.

Nor hell without devils.

Speaking of devils...it's been pretty fun writing them, I have to admit. I adore my black spirits, their sinewy, translucent black emptiness is wonderfully creepy.

Who knew bad could be so much fun to write?

Alone at last!

When the house finally empties about 9:30 in the morning, I sigh. I'm at last left to do whatever I want, which usually means writing intermingled with making dinner, doing laundry, and the VERY occasional cleaning here and there...(hehe) Dust? who sees it? not my kids...

Writing is my number one indulgence when I'm alone. I started writing 9 years ago - putting in 8 hours a day from the start. I was a lunatic. Obsessed.

Life and necessity slowed me down a bit, but now I'm trying to get back to that production level. No doubt about it, I'm a happier person when I'm producing.

I celebrate being alone during the day. I grew up an only child, so I'm accustomed to the quiet, relish the chance to 'make' something with the time and yearn for that peace I have to let go of once the clock strikes 2:30 and reality trickles back in.

What does 'alone at last' mean to you?

Do you "run through the house screaming" ? ( anyone remember that old song??)

I'm Alive

And back to writing. Broke through a major barrier this week and am making progress on Absolution. I'm happy with the changes, and even happier to be moving again on this project. This means Penitence is that much closer to release date.

In other good news, Heavenly is being considered for the Georgia Peach list award. First step, being nominated. Since it was nominated, I sent books out to those who ultimately decide which books go on the list. After the list is made, there is a vote with a winner and two honorary books.

Cool, huh?

Absent

Because I'm sweating bullets here, writing Absolution. If time isn't the issue, some other disturbance iterrupts my writing. ARGH.

Going to Cancun in a week and might just HAVE to take the laptop to actually get some work done!

Scenario: sitting on the beach ( under an umbrella, of course ), laptop and Diet Coke ( no one makes em like Mexico ) in hand...

More Books to Libraries

Check your library for a copy of Heavenly. I've sent libraries around the country copies of Heavenly via YALSA. Let me know if it isn't at your local branch and I'll donate one in your name.

Summer's Over

I'm back writing again and am happy to report ABSOLUTION is coming along. L*OV*E what's going on with Zoe, Matthias, Weston, Luke, Krissy and, of course, Abria.

The plot's intense. Just the way I like it.

Look out, Zoe.

August 15th ~ Heavenly Release Date ~ is coming!

There's still time to enter the BFF contest ( win copies of Heavenly for you and your BFF ) at the Heavenly Blog:

www.heavenlythebook.com

The BFF Contest!

Winners will get a book for themselves and books for their best friends - so they can read Heavenly together and talk about it! You read that right: BEST FRIENDS.

Tell your friends to go to the site: www.heavenlythebook.com and go to BLOG. Make sure your friends tell me who sent them! Whoever brings the most best friends wins.


The BFF contest!

Facebook Contest

BOOK WOMAN is having a giveaway of Heavenly this week. A really cool goodie bag I'm putting together of: a copy of Heavenly, a B&N gift card and some Victoria's Secret Heavenly body cream. If you're on Facebook, stop by and become a fan of hers, go to discussions and enter the drawing!

See you in the clouds :)

LOL, okay so that's cheesy but I say what I want here :)

Scenario:

Your friend, a fellow crit partner, brings a story for months to writer's group. You like it, it's great. It's in your same genre.

Years go by. You and your friend stay in touch, compare querying experiences, talk author stuff. Finally, she lands the agent of both of your dreams. Her book gets published. You're happy for her, and thrilled you were a part of her writing process - even if it was waaay back when.

You, too, have queried Perfect Agent. She requests your manuscript - the whole manu - and she reads it. She gives you some suggs and passes on it.

You come to find out your friend's story is not the same story you helped her crit way back when. In fact, it's about the same thing your story is about.

The question then becomes: did Perfect Agent request your manuscript just to see what you were submitting to other agents because she'd just bought and sold a story ( your friend's ) very similar??

How would you feel? What would you think?

Heavenly and Heavenly

Two cover options for Heavenly.
ISBN 978-1-933963-84-6 and 978-1-933963-808

Take your pick!

New Cover Alternative for Heavenly

I'm so excited to be able to offer an "edgier" cover op for Heavenly. LOVE the way it looks...and will share as soon as I get my cover artist to create a smaller version. Right now, all I have is the HUMongo sized jpg files that would take up this whole page.

It sucks that I can't do photo shop or one of those hartsy-tartsy programs....

Wedding Sigh

I told myself I wouldn't cry at my daughter's wedding last July, and I didn't. I was so happy for her, that she found such a wonderful, steady companion that I couldn't shed any tears - especially those of the 'woe is me, my child is moving on' mother!

My son's wedding - same thing. No tears. Even though he is my first boy.


When he was born ( I had two girls already ) I thought to myself, "What am I going to do with a boy?"

He wrapped himself around my heart and that was that.

I can't wait to get to know his bride like I know my own girls. The future is joyful when love paves the way.

Getting Ready for a Wedding and Trying to Write

I've come to the conclusion that writing and getting ready for DS's wedding is NOT a possibility. Something has to give. Obviously, DS's wedding is not it, so...the writing is sporadic at this point. Which makes for a cranky mother, lol. Cranky mother coordinating mother-of-the-groom obligations, well, I just have to put my goals aside until the nuptials are wrapped.

ARC's and final copies

So, if you've read Heavenly and you've found errors, that's because it's not due for official publication until August. I'm not sure why amazon is selling the book before the street sale date, but it's aggravating to have someone review and say something about the errors.

I guess I assume most ARC readers KNOW that.

Consider yourself educated. :)

Book Trailers

I'm a big lover of book trailers. Again, I enlist the help of my creative daughter who helps me come up with a concept.

With A Season of Eden, I wanted to convey the impossible love tone of the book. Shooting anything visual, whether its a feature film or a short like EDEN is only as good as the "lens" of the creator. Like an author's lens that "shows" you the story -- the finished product is only as excellent, gripping, intense, romantic and interesting as what the author chooses to "show." Of course, most stories are so dense with plot ( at least mine are *wink*) that condensing into a minute or two is challenging.

With over 2700 hits, Eden's trailer is as addicting as the book itself.


Obviously, I was limited. But, for a zero budget production that took an hour to shoot, I was pleased with the way my jennsbooks2films edited the footage. Especially the black and white tone which directly reflects the questionable relationship.

Even though Magic Hands has been out there a while, I wanted to do a trailer. I asked a neighbor kid and a friend of my daughter's, both who fit the physical characteristics of the characters, and we went to the high school, grabbed some kids there for a singing concert and shot the scenes involving other kids. Then, it was back to my house for the "prom date" scene and porch scene.

All of this took about an hour and a half.



We were lucky to find a local, indie band who let us use their song for Magic Hands.
Music is essential for the mood of a trailer, and we've spent HOURS choosing just the right song, searching through hundreds of duds to find the gems.

Like this one we found for next year's release, Noon. The group is called Mudbison and their sound is haunting and addicting.

Cover It

I wrote about blasted covers as well as how HEAVENLY was conceived and created. One reader said," But aren't people allowed their opinion?"

Of course. And these days people take ever opportunity to spread their opinion - positive or negative - that they can take. Or so it seems.

The internet has opened a can of possibility some nasty folks just can't wait to let crawl out and spread.

Example: Nailed. Original cover idea was two guys and a girl. Love triangle. ( see above image ) I had some adults ( women readers over 20 ) who said they loved this cover.

I had some reader/reviewers bash the cover. You'd honestly have thought they were talking about Prop 8 and not a little-known author's YA book cover. Seriously. One reader flatly "refused to post the most hideous cover i've ever seen!"

I've seen worse, honey. Maybe she hasn't read that much after all.

Anyway, NAILED didn't sell well with that cover, so my daughter ( who helped me conceive Eden's cover ) and I came up with a new idea: a pretty girl dressed up with a hammer.

We got her long-time friend and our next door neighbor ( yup - a lot of attractive people in my neighborhood ) and shot some digital pics on my driveway:

I ended up using the picture you see on the cover.


And we played around with tints.

This process taught me a lot about covers. One concept, though good in idea ( two guys and a girl) didn't grab-at-first-glance like image number two did.

Again, being able to make these changes because I own the rights and publish independently enabled me to rip the cover ( after four months of seeing low sales ) and replace it with something else. ( sales literally jumped, tripling the first month the new cover was out.)

The book continues to sell more each month.

What a difference a cover makes.
Same thing happened with Magic Hands:


This book sat unnoticed until my daughter came up with the new cover image:

Sassier, right? Again, we grabbed a neighbor ( the cover model of Heavenly, because he has wonderful hands ) and my daughter ( the one who helps me come up with cover ideas ) donned the colorful outfit and let me photograph her butt.



Luckily, I'm not tanked forever because of a bad cover. I get to go back to the pow-wow room with my daughter and create something else if whatever I have out there isn't pulling. I redesign, re-upload and keep selling.

One of the perks of indie pubbing.

Take Cover!

Or better yet - CREATE COVER! Next step in the multi-step process of creating a book. Remember, I'm an indie author - this is my process - who the heck knows how they do it in NYC. All I know is, the two years it takes to get a book out there and into the hands of readers is ridiculously long, considering the process is not that extensive. ( as you can see by reading these posts and the time line ) But that's their thing.

This is mine.

So, for HEAVENLY...here's how the cover idea was born: I was sitting in church one day -- yes, church -- and I looked over and saw this kid's face and WOW. I was like: He's my Matthias! Luckily for me, he lives down the street and my son plays with his brother and our families are pals.

I asked him if he wanted to be on one of my book covers and he ( and his mom, because he's a minor ) were totally into it.

These were some of the pictures I took of him that first day - first, to see if he was photogenic. He is. The camera LOVES him. Second, to see if I could get the "look" of heavenly concern on his face I wanted for the cover: Something beautiful, serene and in the clouds.




I sent a handful of these photos ( taken on his front porch and in my yard ) and tons of photos I'd taken of clouds and sky to Jennifer Johnson of Sapphire Designs ( see previ0us post ) and told her I wanted his face in white clouds. She came up with the gorgeous, perfect image that is now the cover of HEAVENLY:



I went back and forth on the kind of sky and cloud picture I wanted, afternoon sky, noon sky, evening sky, stormy sky - but ultimately went with the noon sky because I felt the colors captured the spirit of hope and heaven prevalent in the story.

We talked about colors and font for the title. Black was too harsh and white got lost in the clouds so we settled on gold which gives it an obvious, traditional feel.

I then toyed with making the cover black and white - since the themes in the story are serious.


But I had an idea for the series of books to change with color, and new the second book, PENITENCE would showcase a storm, so I opted for the blue sky and white clouds for HEAVENLY.

All in all, it takes me about ten minutes or less to shoot pictures. Jennifer creates a cover image in anywhere from 1 hour to three, depending on the details.

I then had Jennifer work her magic on a gorgeous dedicated website for the book: www.heavenlythebook.com and was really pleased with the results there.

The cover step is one of my favorite steps.
I consider myself lucky to be able to choose what I want on a cover, and not be left mercilessly to the creative ideas of people who churn out cover ideas for a living and who may not do much more than read a blurb for inspiration.

I've seen some hideous covers - as we all have. I've had one cover blasted. ( Not surprising in this subjective world )

Next time, I'll show you the blasted cover and tell you what I did to change it and make it's sales triple!

Step Two: Polish

After I've read and re-read ( and still miss ) errors in my own work ( I guess your brain sees what's supposed to be on the page just as easily as what's on the page) I send the manu to my editor Melissa Mayntz who takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months ( depending on her load ) to comb through the piece with corrections and suggestions.

I made the mistake of not using her once, and I've paid for it over and over again having to correct one particular book multiple times.

Even this isn't that huge of an issue when you're indie pubbed. I own the rights to the book, I have a creative team in place and making changes is a simple as popping the list of changes to my book designer, having her make the changes to the PDF doc, then I upload the finalized doc to the printing house. This process can take anywhere from one day to three, depending on Julia's work load. ( More on Julia -- the book designer -- later )

Melissa is fabulous because she's a very analytical editor and thinks about plot stuff I might not think about. Or my fabulous crit partners might not think about. Like: right now Melissa is reading PENITENCE, book two after Heavenly. Her perspective will be excellent when considering PENITENCE is book two of a series, and it has to read as a stand alone book. Just in case somebody comes along and reads it BEFORE reading Heavenly.

I weigh in Melissa's suggestions, make her corrections and then I'm onto the next step: Interior book design with Julia Lloyd.

While this is happening, I also meet with Jennifer Johnson of Sapphire Designs. She and I pow-wow about book covers, back covers and promotional materials.

All of this is TONS of fun. Each person on the team has great vision for each story and together we create the perfect end peice of work to represent the characters and their stories.

In the next post, I'll show you how a cover is created from idea to finish, bloopers, dissasters and fabulous finished work.

How I Do It

First, I write a story. Where do ideas come from? For me, they originate from characters and obstacles. The more obstacles the better. In Heavenly, I wanted to show how hard living with a child who has disabilities is on siblings. How they cope, grow and ultimately change from the challenge. In Nailed I wanted to show a strong female working in an unusual and mostly male dominated work place. How does she deal with it? How do her co-workers learn to accept her?
It's all about real characters with lots of obstacles.

Writing a story can take anywhere from three months to six. Usually, an idea spends some time ripening in my head before I actually tap it out on the keyboard. Every author writes differently. I'm an organic writer, which means I don't outline. I have maybe a dozen key plot points in my head that I know must take place in a story. With A Season of Eden, I started with this idea: a teenage girl develops a crush on her high school music teacher. The guy's a music geek, a late bloomer. And he's barely out of high school himself.


As I write, the characters ( formed fully in my head ) develop and grow as the story progresses and I let them carry the plot. For the most part. I have certain boundaries I will never cross in my writing. One of them is sex. And, though many student/teacher relationships cause controversy because they end up in sexual relations, I purposefully wanted a story between a student and teacher where that didn't happen. That's one of the reasons EDEN is unique.


Same thing in Heavenly. Zoe parties and we know she's been with guys, but we don't see it. Her choices have taken their toll on her -- that's what we see: the result of choices. There's impact in that.

I like 'open endings'. In Nailed, I wanted the final scene to show Mandy's heart torn between to guys she can't decide on. My crit partners said, "In romance, you have to have a HEA" ( happily ever after ) Since Nailed is definitely a light romance, I opted for a more solid ending. But EDEN's tone was much more unsettling, so I allowed the reader to come up with their own conclusion: do they get together again?

After I write a story, I put it aside for a few days/weeks, then pick it up again and read it and edit it with a fresh set of eyes. Setting the story aside allows me to forget a lot and see even more when I comb through it for inconsistencies, slow scenes, lagging dialog, whatever -- all of which is subjective. But it's my story, so I have the final say.

Then, the story is off to the editor.

More on that next.

Khazakstan

So, DS is doing his 6th grade "country report" on the thriving metropolis of Khazakstan.
"Where in the world is THAT?!" You ask.
Yes, as a family we debated WHY DS would choose a place no one has ever heard of??? Rome would have been SOOOOOOOOO much easier, right?






DS is taking a light approach to the report, as you can see. He "visited" some of Khazakstan's memorable places and even got to meet with the President! Coolness!
Some fascinating Khazakstani facts: They have the worlds oldest operating space launch. The country is the size of Texas and it's land-locked. ( It was amazing we got in and out of there, when you think about it!)

The terrain is diverse and beautiful! And the food looks divine!

Authors Uh-Oh

Beware your misconceptions of publishing.

Revenge isn't sweet, it's CHARRED, baby!

So, wasps are notoriously grotesque and disgusting and annoyingly scary creatures. Here in the upper desert, they THRIVE!! NIGHTMARE!! Or, better yet: DAYMARE!!

The horrible creatures infest siding, trees, shrubs -- anything they can crawl in and nest in -- creating a nuisance outdoors!

Three words: I HATE THEM!

So, I'm getting ready to bbq dinner yesterday, open the grill to turn it on and this freaking wasp flies out!! This isn't the first time the mean lil' buggers have tried to make a home inside my BBQ!!

Crazed, I opened the grill and lit the fire. Wouldn't you know it, the wasp flew back inside -- right to five lil' hanging nests???

I slammed the lid down, letting out a "Mwhahahaha! Burn, suckers!"

After the grill was sufficiently ready, I opened it to scrub it clean so I could lay the burgers down, and there on the grill were the charred remains of the wasp and the crispified nests.

Revenge never felt so good.

GOODREADS giveaway~

If you're on goodreads.com ( and, come on, who isn't???) I'm giving away copies of HEAVENLY - one a day - for the next 15 days. Come on over, tell a friend and score a signed copy! And don't forget to add me as a friend :)

Bite Me. Dare to wear it.

Statement tee shirts are one of our family's favorite things, esp my 12-year old son. His tees say stuff like: Take A Number Ladies, This is what trouble looks like.

Innocent, when a kid is wearing it.

I have: Careful, or you'll end up in one of my novels. Dead. On tees and sweatshirts.
The saying always gets smiles.

What would you DARE TO WEAR on your shirt?

My First FanArt!

Cool, right?? Many thanks to Ka-Yam Chui for her artistic talent and her interpretation of Matthias. He's awwwesome!!

Vaca's are VOONDEBAAR

Disneyland was soooo fun. Except one of my children ( the married one ) didn't come along, so we had a hole. But Grandma filled the hole. Grandma was a trooper. Never tired, helpful, cheerful -- like the energizer bunny she never stopped.

You can't beat the Magic Kingdom for happy delivery.

Our favs:

Soaring Over Cali gets everyone's number one vote, pin trading takes a second, followed by ice cream at the parlor, cream cheese filled pretzles and Indiana Jones ride. Rebekah loves Space Mountain and Dumbo. Aaron loves Calif Screamin.

My new enjoyment was Tarzan's Treehouse. Have you seen the VIEW from that??? Outrageous!!

Already we're planning to go back.

But we won't be staying at the Comfort Inn Maingate. Maingate???? ROTFL...try a mile's walk from the MAINGATE. Which makes two miles each day. AFTER spending the whole day on your feet waiting in horrendous lines.

No.

Next time: The CandyCane Inn.

my babies

trailers

heavenly

penitence, sequel to heavenly

a season of eden

No One Knows

That's right. No one knows I'm here, so I can say whatever I want, however I want. Right here. In this place. NOW. Rants. Raves. Whatever my jennifer heart desires. LOL. This is a disclaimer. It might get HOT here. It'll probably get really COLD. Icy cold. Bring your jacket, and your bathing suit.