FINALLY!!! My SPRINGTIME NAME THAT FRIEND CONTEST IS HERE!

How's that for a contest prize? :) Cute, huh? :)

OKAY! Since some of you follow this blog and would check here faster than my Contest page, I'm listing my new CONTEST INFO here! :) Really, I'm pasting the same info I sent to my web designer :), and while I'll leave this post up for a few days, the Contest Page will have the same info until the end of the contest! :) So make sure and check it out! Also (in a day or two!) check out my News Page, with updated appearance info! Until then...

HAPPY SPRING, Everyone! Finally, the new contest information is here! Whenever I think of Spring, I ALWAYS think of that scene in Walt Disney's Bambi, where everything is so fresh and new and...SPRINGY, with that cute little music! I love it! Flowers blooming, dew everywhere, afternoon rain showers, and love is in the air! Thumper finds a girl, Bambi finds a girl, Flower finds...is Flower a boy or a girl? LOL! You get the picture! Flower finds LOVE!

So! In honor of Springtime and Love, I'm running a contest where YOU will name my next hero/heroine's BEST FRIEND (who may possibly wind up becoming a main character somewhere down the road!)! Here are the rules: Each contestant will enter ONLY ONCE both a male and female name. If there is a meaning behind the name, share it with me! If it's a family/generation thing, share that, too! The contest will run through April 30th, and on MAY 1st I will announce FIRST on my blog, then here, the name of the winner AND the names chosen. The book the names will appear in will be a 2010 release ( because Thirteen Chances is finished!), and the winner's name will be listed on the Acknowledgements Page! The winner will also recieve a signed copy of the book, as well as the lovely prizes shown above: a tea-for-one set including 1 teapot with lid, and 1 cup in a cute Freesia print; 1 box of 19-count GODIVA chocolates; and a tin of Harney & Sons tea, with 20 sachets of Citron Green tea. !!! Plus some promotional material (bookmarks, magnets, etc.) WOW! Cool, huh? :) Now--the prizes above, as well as promo material will be awarded immediately. The signed book, of course, will be in 2010!

Remember: You may enter one male name AND one female name, in ONE email, ONLY ONCE. Please send entries to hauntedromances@yahoo.com with the subject line: SPRING CONTEST.

AND...MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the end of the contest and be sure and check if you're the winner! I've had winners in the past not respond to my winning email announcement, had a faulty email address, and/or never checked back with my blog/contest page. YIKES! I will send an email, but check my sites, as well. Just to be safe!

Thank you for your readership, and thanks for entering! GOOD LUCK! And I look forward to your names!!!

Things I'm Doing

Lol! This pic has nothing to do with what I'm doing! I just love it! I LOVE Brendan as Link! :)

Okay! Just to get you all up to speed on what's coming next: Thirteen Chances is DONE! Hooray! I have only a final read of the copyedited manuscript, and then it's all in the hands of the marketing dept. at NAL. Release date is September 1st! This may be my favorite story to date. :)

My new contest! I'm working on the details today! I'll be uploading the details and a nice pic of the prizes onto my Contest page--that will take a day or two. But I'll also upload the details here. I think it's going to be FUN!

My Christmas Anthology: I'm writing that now, and am having fun already with Paige and Gabriel! :) I will turn it in the day before we leave for Scotland. :) Woohoo! The anthology releases this November!

My next project: Well...I can't give details exactly yet, since the idea hasn't been approved by my editor. But I will say this: my next hero is going to be Captain Justin Catesby. :) Woohooo! I had quite a few readers email to ask for his story, and so I'm doing it! :) He's one of my favorite characters, too. I'll keep you posted! The next book (after the Christmas Anthology) tentatively has a release date of May 2010. :)

Other projects: I've been working on a Young Adult for a while, so cross your fingers this one gets under way! I absolutely love it, and as fast as I can, I'll share the premise with you! :)

My Scotland trip: Boy! My daughter and I are so geared up for this! 21 days and counting until Departure Day! :) What fun! My daughter's never been before, and she is some kind of excited! :) We have day-trips to the Highlands planned, and besides boating Loch Ness, we are scheduled to make a few stops, including Kilchurn Castle, Doune Castle, and Stirling Castle. :) I can't wait to get there, wallow in all that ATMOSPHERE, gather some new inspiration, and take LOTS OF PICS!!! :) Oh--and eat some mouth-watering fish 'n chips! Deelish! I think we're going to take a bus out to the Borders one day. Melrose Abbey, Jedburgh Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey. Gorgeous! Here's a link for pics: http://www.discovertheborders.co.uk/search/type/Abbeys.html

I'd REALLY love to train up the east coast to Dunnottar Castle: http://www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk/ but unsure of time-tables and such. If I weren't such a CHICKEN when it came to driving over there, I'd rent a car. But I LOATHE driving over there! Not so much in the country, but in the city? EEEEK! Of course my overly-confident daughter Tyler says "Mom. Seriously. I'll drive. I'm not nervous like you are." SNORT! Cocky little kid! (she's 16 in May) Those roads are NARROW, and if any of you recall any of my heroines driving in my books, that came from ABSOLUTE experience! Bumper-eating sod and rock and ALL! LOL! But if we don't make it to Dunnottar, I'd like to visit Crichton Castle, just outside of Edinburgh. http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/crichton/castle.html I'm hoping a bus will take us there! :)

We plan on returning to the UK when my daughter graduates highschool (in 2 years--SOB! My baby is getting OLD!) and taking a good 3 weeks to explore England, Wales, Scotland, and maybe Ireland, too. We'd love to take the Chunnel to Paris for the day, but we'll see about that. :) My daughter wants to be a wildlife researcher specializing in Whale Sharks, so I thought we'd spend the summer together before she (SOB!) leaves me for school!

In between ALL of that planning, writing, contesting, I'm also attending a few conferences this year, which I'll be posting on my Appearances section on the website. April 22-26 I'll be at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Orlando. In September I'll be at Dragon Con in Atlanta, and in October I'll be in Houston at the Buns and Roses Literacy Tea, followed by Georgia Romance Writers Moonlight and Magnolias Conference. :)

Somewhere in between all of THAT my baby sister is due to have her first BABY. EEEK!

Okay! That's it for now! I'll be posting later about the contest, and check the website for pics on the Contest Page!

Fun!

The Jackman!

Who has seen AUSTRALIA? :) Good LAWD, that Hugh Jackman (and Nicole Kidman!) was fantastic! (and CUTE!) He's always been one of my favorites, but his Wolverine character has always been at the top. He's just so...GRRRR! :)

Did you see Kate and Leopold? :) LOVED Kate and Leopold! My daughter and I are now on an ennormous HJ kick, so we're watching them all. I really wish I could get a copy (in US format!) of Paperback Hero. THAT sounds FANTASTIC! :)

The Wolverine character will be revivied May 1st on the big screen, WOOHOOO! Here's the movie trailer! http://www.x-menorigins.com/ I can't WAIT! :)

More to come soon on my big character naming/spring contest!

Happy March!

Dogwood, Azeleas, and Wisteria--OH BOY! :) Although...these were taken last year. LOL! Spring is in the air, though--and some Azeleas have started blooming here and there. We went from the low 20's a couple of days ago, to (now) a very Springy 60! :) So sunny and nice! NOT my favorite time to write, though! I love rainy and thundery and gloomy!

But...I've got to have my Christmas Anthology, A Christmas Spirit, turned in April 1st, so after taking a nice long walk this afternoon, cleaning the house and running some errands, I'm now settling down to write.

I'll have to hurry though--CSI comes on at 5pm. LOL! Love that show! :)

So this is the first Saturday of the month, and every first Saturday of every month the historic district's River Street in Savannah has all the vendors pull their stuff out on the sidewalk, there's performers and all kinds of cool stuff going on, so I think me and my daughter are going to head down there for the day. Woohooo! :) Lots of fun!

So is it springy at your house yet? Or are you still shoveling your way out of the driveway? :)

I am gearing up for a brand-new contest, so keep a close eye out on my Contest page. I'll announce it here, too. Here's a hint: be thinking of some really great names for BEST FRIENDS of the hero/heroine. :) I think I'm going to do a Secondary Character Naming Contest! :) I've got to think more on it, so once I get all the stats down I'll announce it in full detail. :) Your secondary character name could be chosen to appear in my next NAL novel! (after Thirteen Chances and A Christmas Spirit!)

Happy March, Everyone!

FEBRUARY MacGowan's Ghost Contest--WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!

HEY! Because I had SO MANY wonderful entrants for my contest this month, I decided to choose TWO winners, and here they are:

Kathy Collupy, from Massachusetts, and Gina Johanson (not sure where Gina's from!) Email me at hauntedromances@yahoo.com with a mailing address, purty please! Kathy, you've already given me yours, so thank you! :)

CONGRATULATIONS, guys! You've both won a signed copy of MacGowan's Ghost, some promo material (bookmarks, etc.), a tea cup with a box of specialty tea!

I'll have the winners announced on my Contest Page on my website soon.

Now...for those of you who entered...THANK YOU! I really appreciate your support!

And...the contests are NOT over! :) Keep checking my blog and Contest page. I'm cooking up a brand-new contest to post! I'm thinking along the lines of a Name That Character contest! So keep a look-out!

THANKS, guys! And congrats again!