Willow

We think it's goodbye to Willow. She spent all of yesterday afternoon lying under the kitchen table, didn't want to eat, was breathing very snuffly little breaths (she seems to have recently caught a cold). About nine-ish last night she got up and wandered outside, and that's the last we've seen of her. Didn't come in for breakfast. Can't find her anywhere in the house or the garden. It really seems to me that she's gone away to find somewhere to die. She never was a real house-y cat anyway: probably prefer to die outside than in. So if we really can't find her today, we're going to have to go around to all the neighbours and ask them if they have a little dead cat on their property.

Positive stories from New Orleans

All you ever hear in the wake of a disaster is the bad stuff. How many thousands of people have died. How many more have lost everything. Families broken up, cherished pets lost forever, bodies in the streets. Looting, disease, death. Political incompetence.

Silver linings aren't much compensation, but they are there. Disaster brings out incredible qualities in so many people. A very good friend of mine (getting gooder by the minute!) in Austin, Texas, spent the Labor Day weekend volunteering to help evacuees, and the stories she has told made me truly proud both of her and the people she worked with and for. Here are some wonderful stories of bravery and kindness in New Orleans.

I know evacuees are being sent all over the US. Maybe you don't have any money to send to the Red Cross, but you might have some spare time you could donate at the evacuation centres in your city. It's not always money these people need: they need kindness, and compassion, and maybe just someone to talk to.

Oh, and if a hurricane ever hits your area, if you have pets, get them out as soon as you hear the H word. Get them out, or lose them. While families were being evacuated from New Orleans, no animals were allowed on the buses. I read a heartbreaking story about a little boy who had to leave his dog behind and screamed for him until he was sick. Imagine how hard it is to keep yourself safe, and then try adding an anxious pet into the mix. I know if such a thing happened to me I just wouldn't leave. But then you all know I'm a big old softie about my menagerie. I'd no more leave them than I would a child.

Please remember to keep organisations like the ASPCA in mind if you're thinking of donating. I really feel strongly about animal welfare and am totally heartbroken on behalf of anyone who has lost a pet in this tragedy. I've also heard of an organisation called Noah's Wish that rescues and shelters animals affected by natural disasters. There's a purple button on the left panel which, if clicked, donates for free to animal rescue charities. Whatever heaven you believe in holds a place for these people.

And, just in case I haven't guilted you into anything yet, I shall leave you with this:

He's old, black, and gay. If he was human, he'd probably be on Oprah by now. But he's a cat, so he'd have just got eaten by a 'gator instead.

My first review!

Maybe there will come a day when superlative praise no longer excites me. I hope not. I' m so stoked about this!


4 ½ stars

SHE WHO DARES is a fast, intense, “grabs you from the start” kind of story. Full of wit, drama, and super sexy characters, it’s a simply decadent little treat.



Masika started out life as an ancient Egyptian. She’s now a centuries old vampire working for Sundown Inc., an agency that hunts down paranormal beings. When she’s contracted to kill another vampire, she’s surprised to learn that he’s someone from her past. Dare has been in love with Masika ever since he saw her as a child in the pharaoh’s garden. Now that he has a chance to be with her, someone wants him permanently dead. Masika and Dare can finally be together but there is a big surprise in store for Masika and a danger that threatens to pull them apart.

I loved this story! It’s just…wow! I’m so excited to see that it’s the first in a series because I really hated saying goodbye to this one. The characters are sexy and exciting, the dialog is fabulous and witty, and the highly visual settings pull you right into the story. If you love vampire romance, you’ve got to read this one. I’ll be waiting impatiently for the next SUNDOWN INC. story!

Susan Biliter
EcataRomance Reviews

Holy flaming credit card, Batman!

Just got my first royalty statement. She Who Dares sold 87 copies in its first month: not bad for a first-timer! If anyone else would like to contribute to my financial stability, I'd like to sell even more in September! Remember, every copy sold during this month donates to the Red Cross to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It also contributes to me paying off my credit card.

Thank you!

Spuffy awards

Now for something more cheerful. My fanfic got nominated again! You can vote for it here after nominations have closed on 17th September. And don't think I won't be reminding you about it. The fanfic is posted here and it's nominated for Best Fantasy Long Fiction. If you think it sucks, that's because I wrote it about three years ago and was more interested in Spike's cheekbones than writing style. If you like it, go vote for me. I ain't never won a fanfic award before!

Thanks to everyone who commented on Willow. Means a lot.

Willow

Bad news about Willow.  We took her to the vet 'cos
she's got all skinny and we thought it was her
thyroid, like Tinker, and the vet said yes, it's all
enlarged.  Thyroid.

Then he felt at her stomach and said she also has a
growth there and it's cancerous.  And there's no point
removing it because she's so old and an op would be
bad for her, added to which it'll have spread anyway.
So we've got Willow for another month, maybe, and she
won't see Christmas.

I really need a drink now.

The Untied Kingdom

No, that's not a typo - at least not on my part. I just found out I finalled in the Molly contest (they run three rounds and have a semifinal, which was announced in May). I didn't get any notification though. Probably because they sent it to the Untied Kingdom.

Chippendales!

Finally got my scanner working. Enjoy.

To the persons spamming my blog

It's very nice of you to drop by with your impersonal compliments about the stories on my blog. It's lovely to hear you enjoy reading it. However, as I only ever update it once about every three weeks and most of my 'stories' are snarks about various family members, I'm surprised that you peeked out of the ether to congratualate me. And then I see the ad at the end of your post. That's very kind, but I'm an erotic romance writer. I don't need cialis. If I did, I wouldn't be published.

I'm also not interested in your cellulite website, or your training seminars. What I am interested in, though, is that little button on my control panel that says, "Do not allow anonymous comments?"

I'm thinking I might click it.

Patrick is clearly a maniac

For my first sale. Sent on same-day delivery (I know 'cos he checked my address with me this morning). Look! That bouquet is over four feet tall! It filled two very large vases!

Just to put this in perspective, that's a three-seater sofa there, hidden behind that giant gerbera. And does anyone know what those mad red fan-shaped flowers are?

I'm weirded out.

Imagine what I'd get for a print book.

No, no - brain, stop. Stop now.

Winner announced!

For those of you following the contest on my website, the winner has now been announced. (I did it at the beginning of today, rather than the end, because I want to go to the pub tonight. What? Two words, people: Beer. Festival.)

Congrats to Carrie, who won a free copy of She Who Dares, a cute Egyptian cat silver charm, and other SWD goodies.

In other news, I've (mostly) finished the edits on Almost Human, which I will send back to Ellora's Cave ASAP for their consideration. Fingers crossed! I'm also about 2/3 through editing the Piatkus submission too. When I'm done with that, I get to (deep joy) do some more editing, on Wolf's Bane, which is next in the Sundown, Inc. series. Maybe, just maybe, if I'm a very good girl, I might get to actually do some writing soon!

Buffylicious

I forgot to upload this photo! Actually I look horrible in it, but SMG doesn't, because a) she never does and b) she's actually a waxwork anyway, so if ever there's a chance to look perfect, I guess this is it.



You know what I wonder? If they downsized Marilyn's model, because according to legend she was actually my dress size (or possibly bigger: I can't seem to find two size chart in agreement to tranalate US-UK!), but her dummy was way skinnier. Curious. Does anyone know how tall she was? 'Cos that'd be a giveaway.

Squee!

Yes, squee again! Sophie got her first full request! I sent a partial to Piatkus after the senior ed. did a talk at the RNA conference, and today she emailed asking for the full. Result! Sophie's story is my baby, I had the most fun writing it (and all the sequels, ahem) and it's the one I really, really want to see in print!

In other news I finished Magda's story today. This is the next in the series after She Who Dares, and it's about Sundown's company secretary, who is a werewolf.

I also started work on the edits for Almost Human, which was requested by Ellora's Cave after it won the Fab Five contest. A couple of weeks ago I got a revisions request - fix all the faults and send it back to them! Such a lot of work to do. Actually I am mortified at the state of it - somehow the version that got sent out wasn't spellchecked and it's so full of typos. Added to which, somewhere all my italics got lost in translation, and I use a lot of italics! The words just simply weren't there. A sentence would read "Oh my God, he just touched my !" (you can insert your own italicised word there). Argh. Aaargh! So apart from actual plot/character type revisions, I need to go through and look for words that aren't there. And it's 70,000 words long! Probably more once I've rounded up all the missing words...

Gonna be busy for a while!