It's been a long strange year. Lot's of firsts for me. Some endings. I never would have known that following a dream would cost me friends and family. Objections to my work and closed minded people. New friends to replace the lost.
So what have I done this year?
I've written six new books. Made this my full time job. Oh, I've read some and managed to watch some television and a few movies. I'm more musical than visual.
My lists of what I loved this year. And not necessarily from this year. What I discovered this year. What I loved.
Books:
Well, I didn't read too much out of the M/M genre. A few.
First my friend Tammy Gallant's self published New Adult novel Impending Reveries. Beautifully written paranormal romance.
Tammy's Blog is here with buy links.
Second everything from Molly Harper. I especially love her vampire novels. Her one chic lit And One Last Thing is seriously hilarious.
Third Sarah Addison Allen everything. The Peach Keeper from this year is wonderful.
For the M/M genre well the short list goes something like this.
Number 1
Finding Zach by Rowan Speedwell about a teen who's kidnapped and rescued five years later. The damage, mental and physical. Love. It's hands down the best gay romance I've read. From 2010.
Number 2
Hot Head by Damon Suede New York firefighters what else is there to say.
Number 3
Caught Running by Urban and Roux Loved this book. Baseball coach and a science teacher who's thrown into coaching. Such a nice simple romance. Jock and nerd.
Number 4
The Locker Room by Amy Lane Xander is a thrown away youth taken in by Christian's family. This story follows them from fourteen year old young men discovering their special love, through their careers in the NBA. Grab the box of tissues. You'll need it.
Number 5
Promises by Marie Sexton another beautiful romance about a young man hiding his sexuality and the police officer he falls in love with.
Television
Supernatural. Is there any question to that. First always forever. Mmmm Dean.
Once Upon a Time. The new fairy tale based show on ABC. Can be sort of boring but when it's good it's great.
Castle. Best police dramadey on television.
True Blood. Is there a need to say why? Can't wait for the next season when Christopher Meloni will join the cast as an ancient vampire. And to the powers that be over at SVU screw you sirs very much.
And discovered just this week.
Torchwood. Just don't watch it out of sequence, and don't watch season 3 The Children of Earth first.
Movies
Harry Potter
Thor
Sherlock Holmes
How to Train a Dragon
Pirates 4
too many more to count
music
so much I cross all genres.
Jason Aldean
Lady Antebellum
Zac Brown Band
Shinedown
Seether
Linkin Park
Pink
Mumford and Sons
Foster the People
Flogging Molly
but this year was the year of this group
Kings of Leon
so I'm going to leave you with this. Not their best or even my favorite. But it's the one that got my attention.
Love and Peace in the New Year
Mercy
Last Friday of 2011
Can't say this year has been awful. Can't say that it's been great. Sort of both. Horrific in some ways. Above excellent in others.
In 2011 I saw my first Mercy books published. I sold five books in 2011. I saw four books published. I found myself caught up in a dispute with one of my publishers. Had two books unpublished. Self-published one of them. Wrote gay romance. Learned a great deal more about the gay community than I did before I started. Heartbreaking. Funny. Sexy. Hope. Made all kinds of new friends. Lost a few too. Lost some family. Gained fans. Still having a hard time letting that sink in. I have fans. My books have touched some of you. Your letters are treasured. My books have infuriated others. C'est la vie. Thank you, all of you who've come into my life this year. I may never met you in person but I love talking with you on Facebook, twitter, and here. As always you are welcome too email me at celeste.mercy@yahoo.com anytime. I do try to answer. I even scan my spam just in case it's rerouted.
So what's to come in 2012? Four new books that I know of. Okay three new books and the second re-published book. I'm almost finished with a couple of new longer stories. My brain is always thinking up new ways to torment people. And who knows I might even write het sex again.
The books I've read this year, the movies I've seen, the television, the music. What floated my boat in 2011? I'm going to tell you--on New Year's Eve. My favorites of 2011. But for now, let's do our last hot man loving Friday of the year.
Oh, and when the year turns, we're going to jump into birthday celebrations. Yep, I posted my first rambling post on January 8, 2010. Has it only been a year? Seems like a lifetime or a day.
Oh, yeah, and SO NSFW. Gonna go out with a wham bam thank you Sir.
Peace
MJC
In 2011 I saw my first Mercy books published. I sold five books in 2011. I saw four books published. I found myself caught up in a dispute with one of my publishers. Had two books unpublished. Self-published one of them. Wrote gay romance. Learned a great deal more about the gay community than I did before I started. Heartbreaking. Funny. Sexy. Hope. Made all kinds of new friends. Lost a few too. Lost some family. Gained fans. Still having a hard time letting that sink in. I have fans. My books have touched some of you. Your letters are treasured. My books have infuriated others. C'est la vie. Thank you, all of you who've come into my life this year. I may never met you in person but I love talking with you on Facebook, twitter, and here. As always you are welcome too email me at celeste.mercy@yahoo.com anytime. I do try to answer. I even scan my spam just in case it's rerouted.
So what's to come in 2012? Four new books that I know of. Okay three new books and the second re-published book. I'm almost finished with a couple of new longer stories. My brain is always thinking up new ways to torment people. And who knows I might even write het sex again.
The books I've read this year, the movies I've seen, the television, the music. What floated my boat in 2011? I'm going to tell you--on New Year's Eve. My favorites of 2011. But for now, let's do our last hot man loving Friday of the year.
Oh, and when the year turns, we're going to jump into birthday celebrations. Yep, I posted my first rambling post on January 8, 2010. Has it only been a year? Seems like a lifetime or a day.
Oh, yeah, and SO NSFW. Gonna go out with a wham bam thank you Sir.
Peace
MJC
It's two days before Christmas
and all through the house not a creature was stirring. Except me. Coffee. Gotta have it. Evil with heavy cream and lots of Splenda. Yes, today is Friday. On Friday we usually have all that yummy m/m goodness. Today though, since it's a holiday, Christmas Eve Eve, and because we've had all these yummy sweet recipes that I hope you've tried at least one of. I am doing something a little different. Yes there will be a sweet recipe and yes there will be pretty men to ogle. But today is special request day.
My wonderful Face Book friend Roger Bailey chose today's recipe. I asked him for a really good Christmas cocktail. I don't drink and I know nothing about liquor. I know how I made it to 42 with no working knowledge of anything potent is utterly disturbing, down right disgusting.
Roger immediately popped me up a wonderful recipe that I think I could actually enjoy. There's ice cream in this people. The recipe is one of Sandra Lee's from Food Networks Semi-Homemade. I told Roger I was probably the only person on the planet that liked that show. He does too. I see some interesting conversations in our future.
And it's not just the cocktail, Roger chose the pictures as well. One is his personal picture of his friend Gary. So I'd request that if you borrow it you give him credit. And yes, Gary knows I'm using it. I hope. He better...looking at you Roger.
So on with the festivities. The link to the actual recipe is in the title I'm typing the rest but you can go see the finished product if you'd like.
Santa's Sleigh Cocktail
Combine eggnog, brandy, amaretto, nutmeg, and ice cream in a blender; process until smooth. Pour mixture into martini glasses and garnish each glass with a whole cinnamon stick.
And now dear friends, fans, readers, and those of you who found me by typing in Chris Hemsworth naked, I wish all of you a very happy holiday season. With family and friends and loved ones. I'm taking off for a few days. Christmas Eve is my 23rd wedding anniversary (note: This is not a good day to tie the knot, for obvious reasons that I didn't consider when I was 19 and stupid) so it's going to be busy around here for the next few days. If I don't lapse into a sugar coma from all the sweets that are in this house I'll see you on Monday.
Happy Holidays
From
Mercy and the whole Colbert family (yes Colbert is my real last name, yes we pronounce it like Steven does, no he's not related)
Peace
My wonderful Face Book friend Roger Bailey chose today's recipe. I asked him for a really good Christmas cocktail. I don't drink and I know nothing about liquor. I know how I made it to 42 with no working knowledge of anything potent is utterly disturbing, down right disgusting.
Roger immediately popped me up a wonderful recipe that I think I could actually enjoy. There's ice cream in this people. The recipe is one of Sandra Lee's from Food Networks Semi-Homemade. I told Roger I was probably the only person on the planet that liked that show. He does too. I see some interesting conversations in our future.
And it's not just the cocktail, Roger chose the pictures as well. One is his personal picture of his friend Gary. So I'd request that if you borrow it you give him credit. And yes, Gary knows I'm using it. I hope. He better...looking at you Roger.
So on with the festivities. The link to the actual recipe is in the title I'm typing the rest but you can go see the finished product if you'd like.
Santa's Sleigh Cocktail
Ingredients
- White sugar crystals, preferably coarse
- 2 cups store-bought eggnog, chilled
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 4 cinnamon sticks
Directions
Dampen the rims of 4 martini glasses and then line the rims with sugar crystals.
Combine eggnog, brandy, amaretto, nutmeg, and ice cream in a blender; process until smooth. Pour mixture into martini glasses and garnish each glass with a whole cinnamon stick.
And now dear friends, fans, readers, and those of you who found me by typing in Chris Hemsworth naked, I wish all of you a very happy holiday season. With family and friends and loved ones. I'm taking off for a few days. Christmas Eve is my 23rd wedding anniversary (note: This is not a good day to tie the knot, for obvious reasons that I didn't consider when I was 19 and stupid) so it's going to be busy around here for the next few days. If I don't lapse into a sugar coma from all the sweets that are in this house I'll see you on Monday.
Happy Holidays
From
Mercy and the whole Colbert family (yes Colbert is my real last name, yes we pronounce it like Steven does, no he's not related)
Peace
Gary with Bells on.....courtesy of Roger Bailey and with hopes that Gary doesn't skin you alive when he finds this. Smooches sweetie.
The ultimate icing
Short and to the point today. The most perfect go on anything icing in the world. Perfect on cinnamon rolls. Great on cupcakes. Add food coloring for cakes. But my most favorite thing to eat this icing on is a spoon. Hell, my finger will do. Or someone else's finger. Or other body part. This recipe yields enough icing to feed an army. For a more manageable portion cut it exactly in half.
1 lb. Butter
1 lb. cream cheese
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Allow butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat cream cheese and butter together in a bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in all powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is in the bowl mix add in the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Chill.
The longer this icing sits the better it gets. If you can manage not to eat it all make it the day before and let it chill over night.
1 lb. Butter
1 lb. cream cheese
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Allow butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat cream cheese and butter together in a bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in all powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is in the bowl mix add in the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Chill.
The longer this icing sits the better it gets. If you can manage not to eat it all make it the day before and let it chill over night.
Oh Fudge!
I have an incredible fondness for fudge. Let's clarify this first. I am not a chocoholic. Honest. In fact, I'm not even a sweetoholic. I prefer salty snacks. I always have. But sometimes I crave chocolate. I'm picky about my chocolate too. I prefer milk chocolate when it comes to candy bars. Gimme a Hershey Bar with Almonds over just about anything. I do love those Ghiradeli (sorry can't spell it) squares with the caramel inside and I'll be your bitch for life. But when it comes to Christmas there must be fudge. Has to be fudge. Fudge screams Christmas.
Growing up my mother who was not a very good cook, attempted fudge and divinity every year. Notice I don't say how much I love divinity. And if I had to say so, if my mother had been the only source of fudge I never would have eaten the stuff. She spent hours cooking and combining and baking and it still always came out sort of, well, chocolate soup would best describe.
So, naturally, I thought cooking fudge was impossible. Because I am not a baker. I figured I'd be just as bad at it as she was. I never attempted it. Just bought it ready made or took it home from parties. Stuff like that.
Now comes a really painful admission. I'm not a fan of a certain television cooking show host. Initials are RR. Most of what she makes actually terrifies me. Too much canned crap. And people rag on that other host with changing kitchen for her canned and prepackaged stuff.....okay not going there. Anyway, I saw Miss RR on a guest spot on some show, I can't even tell you which one since I really don't watch talk shows often, I was channel surfing. And she was doing a simple holiday fudge.
I sat through her evil voice and laughing and useless chatter to get to the fudge. And I am still stunned at how good this recipe is. There is no baking at all. None. It comes out perfect every time (unless you burn it, be careful don't burn). It has only four ingredients and two steps. Try it. You'll love it. I promise.
Ingredients list
one bag of chocolate chips. Just like yesterday you can use your favorite, but I gotta tell you milk chocolate is way to sweet for this. I will actually use a dark chocolate in this one to cut the sweet somewhat. Semi sweet or darker at least.
One bag of butterscotch chips. yep butterscotch. That's what I said. Should be right there beside the chocolate chips.
One can of sweet condensed milk. This is where your sugar comes from.
and one teaspoon of vanilla extract
That's it. That's all. Yes this makes perfect fudge like your grandma or the bakery down the street makes.
Instructions
lightly spray a pan with cooking spray, or you can line it with parchment or waxed paper or foil. I use a silicone bunt pan to form a pretty ring. Just anything a little heat resistant will do. Small will make thick fudge larger will make thinner fudge. Just make sure it's ready for after you've melted all this stuff together.
And now the fun part.
I use a sauce pan for this but you can certainly use the microwave. I just can't tell you how long to set it.
Spray the saucepan with cooking spray because this is gonna get sticky.
On medium heat melt your two bags of chips together. I use a heat resistant rubber spatula to stir with so I scrape the bottom of the pan more thoroughly.
When it's all melted and the butterscotch has disappeared add in your can of condensed milk and the vanilla. Mix together until smooth and hot. Don't burn. Keep stirring. This should take five to ten minutes at most.
Pour into your waiting pre-sprayed pan and shove in the fridge for a couple of hours.
And now you can play Martha Stewart to your little heart's content. Plate it however you want. Pretend you spent all day laboring over it.
Oh and before I forget. Just like yesterday, you can play with this recipe all you want. If you want a minty tasting fudge, replace half the chocolate with mint chips. Add nuts. Lay candies on the bottom of the pan before you pour in the mixture to cool for decorative toppings. Sprinkle on some sea salt. I just gave you the basic, go crazy making it fancy.
Mercy
We are making crack today
Christmas Crack
Okay so it's really a bark but I just love walking through the grocery store saying I'm making crack. Gets me a wide range of OMG looks.
So here's the thing this week. I'm sharing my most favorite, not too much work involved, sweet recipes and some pretty men to get you in the spirit of the season.
On with the recipe.
First you'll need a jelly roll pan. A jelly roll pan is that sort of cookie sheet type flat pan with the low sides. Just enough of a rim to keep this from oozing everywhere. Second line the pan with tin foil. IMPORTANT STEP. Really, it is. Because if you don't you ain't a gettin' this mess out of that jelly roll pan anytime soon. And leave a good bit of over hang on both ends to use as hand holds to lift out of pan. I like to spray the foil very lightly with non-stick spray. Too much makes the crackers soggy. And set your oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Celsius people you're on your own for conversion math there.
Okay the ingredients list.
1 sleeve saltine crackers (but any good crispy salty cracker will do. I've used pretzels too. Those waffle looking ones do great. I just like the saltines better)
1 cup butter- not margarine not Crisco BUTTER. (Norwegians I can't help you, sorry. But if you want to set up a bootleg trade, butter is $2.50 at Wal-mart. I'll ship but overnight costs. And they might not like me shipping perishable food stuffs over there. I'm not sure I want to spend time in Federal lock up for sending butter to Europe. Not a good reason to be Big Bertha's Bitch this time of year. So, yeah, no sorry Norwegians.)
1 cup dark brown sugar. (I've used medium brown with no problems, but if all you have is light brown then hey knock yourself out. But white sugar will not yield the same results.)
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chip morsels. (really you can use the chocolate that you prefer, milk, dark, so damned bitter your head puckers inside out. I like the semi sweet. Milk chocolate is a little too sweet for this and I'm not overly fond of dark chocolate anything.)
toppings
3/4 cup roasted nuts is what my recipe has but you can use just about anything you want. Crushed peppermint candies works really well here. So long as it's crunchy, experiment. Sometimes I don't put anything at all on top. Maybe a drizzle of Sea Salt. Use your imagination.
Now the directions. No smart assedness just follow these steps and be careful. Molten Napalm in a pan.
Line jelly roll pan with crackers in a single layer.
In a saucepan combine butter and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil for three minutes. Stirring constantly with something that won't melt (okay a little smart assedness)
Immediately, pour over crackers and spread to cover completely.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes. (you did preheat your oven right?)
Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. You're looking for an even layer so they melt nice and, well, evenly. Let sit for 5 minutes until melted. Then spread over your molten sugar lava.
Sprinkle your topping on now. Just do an even layer.
Park that puppy in the refrigerator or go set it in the snow (we don't have that stuff down here in Lower Alabama) until the lava in the pan hardens into something resembling a roofing shingle.
Now using those left over foil flaps lift your crack out of the pan and break it apart onto a pretty platter. Big chunks, small chunks. However you prefer. It's not going to be even it's supposed to look like tree bark or peanut brittle.
Why do I call it crack? Try to stop at just one. I dare you.
Oh yeah, in case of left overs (which there won't be) keep chilled.
(if you want to crush peppermint candies just put the opened pieces in a zip lock bag and using something hard, beat the hell out of it until you get the desired results. A meat tenderizer or a rolling pin or even a hammer will work).
Enjoy
Mercy
Okay so it's really a bark but I just love walking through the grocery store saying I'm making crack. Gets me a wide range of OMG looks.
So here's the thing this week. I'm sharing my most favorite, not too much work involved, sweet recipes and some pretty men to get you in the spirit of the season.
On with the recipe.
First you'll need a jelly roll pan. A jelly roll pan is that sort of cookie sheet type flat pan with the low sides. Just enough of a rim to keep this from oozing everywhere. Second line the pan with tin foil. IMPORTANT STEP. Really, it is. Because if you don't you ain't a gettin' this mess out of that jelly roll pan anytime soon. And leave a good bit of over hang on both ends to use as hand holds to lift out of pan. I like to spray the foil very lightly with non-stick spray. Too much makes the crackers soggy. And set your oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Celsius people you're on your own for conversion math there.
Okay the ingredients list.
1 sleeve saltine crackers (but any good crispy salty cracker will do. I've used pretzels too. Those waffle looking ones do great. I just like the saltines better)
1 cup butter- not margarine not Crisco BUTTER. (Norwegians I can't help you, sorry. But if you want to set up a bootleg trade, butter is $2.50 at Wal-mart. I'll ship but overnight costs. And they might not like me shipping perishable food stuffs over there. I'm not sure I want to spend time in Federal lock up for sending butter to Europe. Not a good reason to be Big Bertha's Bitch this time of year. So, yeah, no sorry Norwegians.)
1 cup dark brown sugar. (I've used medium brown with no problems, but if all you have is light brown then hey knock yourself out. But white sugar will not yield the same results.)
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chip morsels. (really you can use the chocolate that you prefer, milk, dark, so damned bitter your head puckers inside out. I like the semi sweet. Milk chocolate is a little too sweet for this and I'm not overly fond of dark chocolate anything.)
toppings
3/4 cup roasted nuts is what my recipe has but you can use just about anything you want. Crushed peppermint candies works really well here. So long as it's crunchy, experiment. Sometimes I don't put anything at all on top. Maybe a drizzle of Sea Salt. Use your imagination.
Now the directions. No smart assedness just follow these steps and be careful. Molten Napalm in a pan.
Line jelly roll pan with crackers in a single layer.
In a saucepan combine butter and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil for three minutes. Stirring constantly with something that won't melt (okay a little smart assedness)
Immediately, pour over crackers and spread to cover completely.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes. (you did preheat your oven right?)
Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. You're looking for an even layer so they melt nice and, well, evenly. Let sit for 5 minutes until melted. Then spread over your molten sugar lava.
Sprinkle your topping on now. Just do an even layer.
Park that puppy in the refrigerator or go set it in the snow (we don't have that stuff down here in Lower Alabama) until the lava in the pan hardens into something resembling a roofing shingle.
Now using those left over foil flaps lift your crack out of the pan and break it apart onto a pretty platter. Big chunks, small chunks. However you prefer. It's not going to be even it's supposed to look like tree bark or peanut brittle.
Why do I call it crack? Try to stop at just one. I dare you.
Oh yeah, in case of left overs (which there won't be) keep chilled.
(if you want to crush peppermint candies just put the opened pieces in a zip lock bag and using something hard, beat the hell out of it until you get the desired results. A meat tenderizer or a rolling pin or even a hammer will work).
Enjoy
Mercy
Oh Thank (insert deity here) It's Finally Friday!!!!!!!
And I am not kidding. This has been the longest week. I thought Tuesday was Thursday. All day long. Couldn't stop. The rest of the week has been a complete shock. I knew it was Tuesday. I just chose to disbelieve. Why are some weeks interminable and others just race by?
What are you doing today?
I'm going grocery shopping. Must restock the larder to feed the ravening hordes. Or three kids. Okay, just the teen age boy. The girls eat very little. Unless it's chips or sweets then they can eat the boy's weight in that. (he's 6 2 and weighs just under 200 pounds. big boy). I'm going to try and sneak in some Christmas shopping. Looking for My Little Pony crap. For two girls. And bass guitar strings and a replacement iPod for the boy. The oldest wants a bunt pan or stainless cookware, because her fiance won't let her cook with his non-stick stuff. His and hers cookware.
What do I want?
Honest to god, besides a few basic necessities I have no wants this year. I have everything I want. (Okay amend that, I'd like to have the surgery I need but I don't see that happening any time soon). I have four beautiful healthy kids. A husband who loves me and puts up with my crazy. Two crazy cats. Some stuff. I don't need anything else.
This coming up week is the start of Christmas vacation. Christmas Eve is my 23rd anniversary. I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes. That's all I want. Two kid free hours with some man loving. Next week I have all kinds of pretty things to show you. And believe it or not January 8th is the one year anniversary of this blog. I think maybe just maybe there might be a week long celebration. We'll talk.
So until Monday enjoy the weekend. I'm going to make crack. I might even give you the recipe on Monday.
Mercy
What are you doing today?
I'm going grocery shopping. Must restock the larder to feed the ravening hordes. Or three kids. Okay, just the teen age boy. The girls eat very little. Unless it's chips or sweets then they can eat the boy's weight in that. (he's 6 2 and weighs just under 200 pounds. big boy). I'm going to try and sneak in some Christmas shopping. Looking for My Little Pony crap. For two girls. And bass guitar strings and a replacement iPod for the boy. The oldest wants a bunt pan or stainless cookware, because her fiance won't let her cook with his non-stick stuff. His and hers cookware.
What do I want?
Honest to god, besides a few basic necessities I have no wants this year. I have everything I want. (Okay amend that, I'd like to have the surgery I need but I don't see that happening any time soon). I have four beautiful healthy kids. A husband who loves me and puts up with my crazy. Two crazy cats. Some stuff. I don't need anything else.
This coming up week is the start of Christmas vacation. Christmas Eve is my 23rd anniversary. I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes. That's all I want. Two kid free hours with some man loving. Next week I have all kinds of pretty things to show you. And believe it or not January 8th is the one year anniversary of this blog. I think maybe just maybe there might be a week long celebration. We'll talk.
So until Monday enjoy the weekend. I'm going to make crack. I might even give you the recipe on Monday.
Mercy
These cowboys are killing me
Okay, so, yes I am attempting to write a cowboy story. I think I might be failing. Miserably. Not really feeling on character right now. The other comes and goes. It's the first draft. I'm bumbling through until I can absolutely go no farther without wanting to pull out the C4.
I have little bits of news to share. Book release news. First let's start with the biggie. Beyond Complicated.
BC is tentatively set for mid-April no exact date and it might change as we get closer. But that's what I know. Which will put Need You Now sometime in summer, but I'm only guessing there.
Now that I know when to expect BC I can start thinking about when to release a couple of self-pubs. Specifically, The 51st Thursday and Cold Shadow of Doubt.
I toyed with the idea of sending 51 to Silver. And discussing it with the acquiring editor there, they are more than interested, I think though that at this point it won't be available until late next year so I'm going to stick with the original plan and self publish it. And CSoD was never in doubt. Sometime in the early part of the year. So now that I know when Beyond Complicated is scheduled-ish at Silver I can set a time line.
Announcement:
The 51st Thursday is up first. I'm aiming for January 26th. The last Thursday in the month and the day before my birthday. Shameless plug there. My birthday is January 27, 1969. I will be old.
And if everything goes according to plan then that means I'm going to get Cold 2 out on Leap Day.
51=January 26, 2012
savvy?
Mercy
I have little bits of news to share. Book release news. First let's start with the biggie. Beyond Complicated.
BC is tentatively set for mid-April no exact date and it might change as we get closer. But that's what I know. Which will put Need You Now sometime in summer, but I'm only guessing there.
Now that I know when to expect BC I can start thinking about when to release a couple of self-pubs. Specifically, The 51st Thursday and Cold Shadow of Doubt.
I toyed with the idea of sending 51 to Silver. And discussing it with the acquiring editor there, they are more than interested, I think though that at this point it won't be available until late next year so I'm going to stick with the original plan and self publish it. And CSoD was never in doubt. Sometime in the early part of the year. So now that I know when Beyond Complicated is scheduled-ish at Silver I can set a time line.
Announcement:
The 51st Thursday is up first. I'm aiming for January 26th. The last Thursday in the month and the day before my birthday. Shameless plug there. My birthday is January 27, 1969. I will be old.
And if everything goes according to plan then that means I'm going to get Cold 2 out on Leap Day.
51=January 26, 2012
savvy?
Mercy
I have a really good excuse
I was writing cowboy porn and I forgot to blog. I know probably not a good excuse. I sowwy. But it's good cowboy porn. One is a red head. I love gingers. I'd play with Prince Harry all day. And wouldn't mind getting stranded with the Weasley's one little bit. I think Shaun White is super hot. All that glorious red hair. My other guy is the strong silent type. Somebody is going to get hawg tied in the barn. It is gonna be....
I have found that the more I run my mouth about a project before hitting the halfway point the less likely I am to finish it. So I'm shutting up. Zip my lip and throw away the key. Nope. We'll talk about it when I see a clear ending. I usually don't see that far ahead until around the half way mark. I have some ideas I'm laying the ground work for but I don't see an ending yet. Lot's of angst. Lots of strong men having weak moments.
I know some of you don't like that. Must be Alpha from beginning to end. No breaking down with emotions. And there are those readers who don't like the Alphas at all. Why is he so mean? Why doesn't he say what he feels?
Come on people you can't have it both ways.
Either Alpha or Beta. But the Alpha has got to break at some point or he's just an asshole but that doesn't mean he's going to immediately embrace his inner Beta and get all mushy. And Betas, well, they aren't Alphas for a reason. They are in touch with their emotions. They say things. That doesn't make them weak.
How did I veer off on that tangent? I have no fucking idea.
The Alpha-Beta discussion could take all day and go places I'm not ready to go without back up. Needless to say that most men in real life are a combination of the two types or else the world would be filled with a whole lot more petty dictators.
So back to the blog....uh yeah, I have nothing. Researching Rodeo and GPS Monitoring devices and strange stuff. One day I'm sure someone will start looking closely at my google searches and library transactions and I could end up in trouble. Of course then my porn collection might be discovered....I did not just say that. You did not just hear that. LaLaLa I take the fifth.
And since it's about an hour until Friday....oh my god it is isn't it...and I might not have internet next week now that I'm thinking about it. If I don't I'll do some updates from McDonald's, Which might make posting man porn a bit difficult. Hmmm gotta think about this. Okay, really good stuff today. Hope like hell I get a check in the mail tomorrow. If you pray then pray. Check in mail tomorrow. Check in mail tomorrow. We need man porn next week.
Mercy
I have found that the more I run my mouth about a project before hitting the halfway point the less likely I am to finish it. So I'm shutting up. Zip my lip and throw away the key. Nope. We'll talk about it when I see a clear ending. I usually don't see that far ahead until around the half way mark. I have some ideas I'm laying the ground work for but I don't see an ending yet. Lot's of angst. Lots of strong men having weak moments.
I know some of you don't like that. Must be Alpha from beginning to end. No breaking down with emotions. And there are those readers who don't like the Alphas at all. Why is he so mean? Why doesn't he say what he feels?
Come on people you can't have it both ways.
Either Alpha or Beta. But the Alpha has got to break at some point or he's just an asshole but that doesn't mean he's going to immediately embrace his inner Beta and get all mushy. And Betas, well, they aren't Alphas for a reason. They are in touch with their emotions. They say things. That doesn't make them weak.
How did I veer off on that tangent? I have no fucking idea.
The Alpha-Beta discussion could take all day and go places I'm not ready to go without back up. Needless to say that most men in real life are a combination of the two types or else the world would be filled with a whole lot more petty dictators.
So back to the blog....uh yeah, I have nothing. Researching Rodeo and GPS Monitoring devices and strange stuff. One day I'm sure someone will start looking closely at my google searches and library transactions and I could end up in trouble. Of course then my porn collection might be discovered....I did not just say that. You did not just hear that. LaLaLa I take the fifth.
And since it's about an hour until Friday....oh my god it is isn't it...and I might not have internet next week now that I'm thinking about it. If I don't I'll do some updates from McDonald's, Which might make posting man porn a bit difficult. Hmmm gotta think about this. Okay, really good stuff today. Hope like hell I get a check in the mail tomorrow. If you pray then pray. Check in mail tomorrow. Check in mail tomorrow. We need man porn next week.
Mercy
How to write believable dialogue and hot men
If you've read any of my books you'll notice one thing. I hate narrative. Okay, that's not entirely true. I read these books with all this great narrative. We can go an entire half chapter before one single person says one single thing and I feel as if I know everything about this story and this character telling this story. Uh, I can't write like that. So no I don't hate narrative as a reader, but as I writer I tend to tell my stories through dialogue.
Dialogue and action tags....wait what's an action tag? "Hey, stupid head don't go down that side street there's a man with a knife waiting to slit your throat." He chased after the kid hoping to stop him from following that guy with the knife who may or may not be up to no good.
Well, okay that's not very good. But it's better than.....he said....don't you think?
Anyway, so I'm going to talk about how to write believable dialogue today.
The secret to dialogue is listening.
Yep, listening. Just sit and listen.
When you're at work, or the mall, your kid's soccer game just sit quietly and listen.
Listen to the speech patterns and words of the people you know. Especially those you know. How do they talk? What words do they use repeatedly? Do they talk with their hands? What do they talk about?
Everyone has a distinctive way of speaking, even people who live in the same house, raised by the same parents exactly the same. Everyone speaks in their own unique way.
I have four children, I believe I've mentioned this a time or a trillion. For this example I'm taking the youngest out, she's five, she talks about My Little Pony all the time, so I'm taking her out. The older three are very close in age, 20, 17, 16. They went to the same schools. The middle one is male. And not one of them speaks the same. They don't even have the same accent. My oldest doesn't assert her voice. She talks about school, her fiance, her clubs....my son, never talks about anything of importance, his break up with his girlfriend was an afterthought to him, as was their making up. But let it be a comic book and he won't shut the hell up. Or if the sun might turn purple. Bullshit. He is master of it. And I know where he gets it too, my dad. Just like him. Number three, well, she doesn't talk a lot. Over shadowed by her siblings. But when she does, her voice is firm, forceful, and filled with sarcasm. She doesn't speak much about anything that interests her, which is reading and drawing. She's a fabulous pencil sketch artist. But she can speak with some authority on the topics that come up. While my older child can't. It's interesting just listening to them interact. How they get along. How they move from one topic to another. How they talk to their little sister, and video games. Listening to people talk to video games is hilarious. Or football games. Same thing no controller.
Last night at my son's Christmas concert a large group of middle class southern white people sat around my husband and myself. If you don't know anything about MCSWP then I'll fill you in. They are all the same. They dress the same, they look the same, the talk the same, they have the same interests. In group mentality. When they break off in small groups is where it gets interesting. The women all sat together the kids in front of them, the husbands (in this case there were two) sat behind and across the aisle from the women and children. It was the husbands that I had me rolling last night.
If you are familiar with that Fox cartoon King of the Hill and that one character that spoke gibberish....well then you know how half this conversation sounded. I speak that language. It's fun. The other husband spoke more succinctly, but not by much. The conversation started off about how they were, there was a "man" in there. Let's call the Boomhaur character man 1 and the other one man 2.
Man 1 quickly went into what became his favorite topic. Fishing. Where he fishes, what bait he uses, his boat. Man 2 went along with this for a while before changing the topic to his favorite, that being SEC football. (in the south it ain't football unless it's SEC football), specifically Alabama and how Oklahoma almost got the BCS title game over them and how LSU is much inferior team, and they didn't really play anyone this year (you know except they already beat Alabama once) (no I didn't point that out) and then we moved on to their combined interest. Deer hunting. And how this mild weather wasn't comfortable for deer hunting. Sitting up in that deer blind dressed in camouflage with orange vests can get pretty uncomfortable in seventy degree temps. They wished it was like last year when it was already freezing. Makes the deer come out.....and man one in his slurred unintelligible voice went back to fishing. How he fished all day long going from hole to hole and there aren't any secret fishing holes left (I wanted to say if they were secret then he wouldn't know anyway but I didn't) on the Mobile river and that he fished all day for flounder and only caught one. (It would have been cheaper and less time consuming to just go to the fish counter at Brunos). Man 2 piped in that there were indeed secret fishing holes and if man 1 ever came across a boat flying an Auburn Tigers flag that was him and he was in his favorite fishing hole. To which man 1 started talking about how Auburn should have been......(I was laughing to hard at this point to listen). Man 2 sighed but agreed, yeah they shoulda. When we going hunting? I don't know it's too hot right now.....
And the lights went down and the music started. Did I mention that the group came in about ten minutes before this? And who the hell flies their school colors on their boat in their personal private fishing hole that....I just give up. No wonder the women sat away from them. It's like they were speaking a foreign language.
I have no idea what the point I was trying to make was. I forgot. Oh, yeah. Conversation in fiction is fictitious. No one talks like that in real life. No one has deep meaningful conversations, except maybe hipsters, it's all just like man 1 and man 2. But with different topics.
You might not learn how to write dialogue by listening, but you will learn how conversation flows for one and for two, the entertainment aspect alone is well worth the time.
For the record, I didn't intentionally eavesdrop on these lovely gentlemen, they sat behind me, I didn't really have a choice. And yes I whispered sarcastic remarks to my husband. Leaving out the SEC football part because one he's deaf as fuck in crowds and two I didn't want to get him started on SEC football which would launch him on his favorite topic which is right now, Tim Tebow and the Miami Dolphins, and how the Packers can't maintain an undefeated season and still go to the Superbowl, and San Francisco is going to....well, you get my drift.
Everyone has their pet topics, and really if you want to get right down to it remember Disney's The Jungle Book? The vultures that sounded like the Beatles? Yeah, just like that.
Talk later,
Mercy
Dialogue and action tags....wait what's an action tag? "Hey, stupid head don't go down that side street there's a man with a knife waiting to slit your throat." He chased after the kid hoping to stop him from following that guy with the knife who may or may not be up to no good.
Well, okay that's not very good. But it's better than.....he said....don't you think?
Anyway, so I'm going to talk about how to write believable dialogue today.
The secret to dialogue is listening.
Yep, listening. Just sit and listen.
When you're at work, or the mall, your kid's soccer game just sit quietly and listen.
Listen to the speech patterns and words of the people you know. Especially those you know. How do they talk? What words do they use repeatedly? Do they talk with their hands? What do they talk about?
Everyone has a distinctive way of speaking, even people who live in the same house, raised by the same parents exactly the same. Everyone speaks in their own unique way.
I have four children, I believe I've mentioned this a time or a trillion. For this example I'm taking the youngest out, she's five, she talks about My Little Pony all the time, so I'm taking her out. The older three are very close in age, 20, 17, 16. They went to the same schools. The middle one is male. And not one of them speaks the same. They don't even have the same accent. My oldest doesn't assert her voice. She talks about school, her fiance, her clubs....my son, never talks about anything of importance, his break up with his girlfriend was an afterthought to him, as was their making up. But let it be a comic book and he won't shut the hell up. Or if the sun might turn purple. Bullshit. He is master of it. And I know where he gets it too, my dad. Just like him. Number three, well, she doesn't talk a lot. Over shadowed by her siblings. But when she does, her voice is firm, forceful, and filled with sarcasm. She doesn't speak much about anything that interests her, which is reading and drawing. She's a fabulous pencil sketch artist. But she can speak with some authority on the topics that come up. While my older child can't. It's interesting just listening to them interact. How they get along. How they move from one topic to another. How they talk to their little sister, and video games. Listening to people talk to video games is hilarious. Or football games. Same thing no controller.
Last night at my son's Christmas concert a large group of middle class southern white people sat around my husband and myself. If you don't know anything about MCSWP then I'll fill you in. They are all the same. They dress the same, they look the same, the talk the same, they have the same interests. In group mentality. When they break off in small groups is where it gets interesting. The women all sat together the kids in front of them, the husbands (in this case there were two) sat behind and across the aisle from the women and children. It was the husbands that I had me rolling last night.
If you are familiar with that Fox cartoon King of the Hill and that one character that spoke gibberish....well then you know how half this conversation sounded. I speak that language. It's fun. The other husband spoke more succinctly, but not by much. The conversation started off about how they were, there was a "man" in there. Let's call the Boomhaur character man 1 and the other one man 2.
Man 1 quickly went into what became his favorite topic. Fishing. Where he fishes, what bait he uses, his boat. Man 2 went along with this for a while before changing the topic to his favorite, that being SEC football. (in the south it ain't football unless it's SEC football), specifically Alabama and how Oklahoma almost got the BCS title game over them and how LSU is much inferior team, and they didn't really play anyone this year (you know except they already beat Alabama once) (no I didn't point that out) and then we moved on to their combined interest. Deer hunting. And how this mild weather wasn't comfortable for deer hunting. Sitting up in that deer blind dressed in camouflage with orange vests can get pretty uncomfortable in seventy degree temps. They wished it was like last year when it was already freezing. Makes the deer come out.....and man one in his slurred unintelligible voice went back to fishing. How he fished all day long going from hole to hole and there aren't any secret fishing holes left (I wanted to say if they were secret then he wouldn't know anyway but I didn't) on the Mobile river and that he fished all day for flounder and only caught one. (It would have been cheaper and less time consuming to just go to the fish counter at Brunos). Man 2 piped in that there were indeed secret fishing holes and if man 1 ever came across a boat flying an Auburn Tigers flag that was him and he was in his favorite fishing hole. To which man 1 started talking about how Auburn should have been......(I was laughing to hard at this point to listen). Man 2 sighed but agreed, yeah they shoulda. When we going hunting? I don't know it's too hot right now.....
And the lights went down and the music started. Did I mention that the group came in about ten minutes before this? And who the hell flies their school colors on their boat in their personal private fishing hole that....I just give up. No wonder the women sat away from them. It's like they were speaking a foreign language.
I have no idea what the point I was trying to make was. I forgot. Oh, yeah. Conversation in fiction is fictitious. No one talks like that in real life. No one has deep meaningful conversations, except maybe hipsters, it's all just like man 1 and man 2. But with different topics.
You might not learn how to write dialogue by listening, but you will learn how conversation flows for one and for two, the entertainment aspect alone is well worth the time.
For the record, I didn't intentionally eavesdrop on these lovely gentlemen, they sat behind me, I didn't really have a choice. And yes I whispered sarcastic remarks to my husband. Leaving out the SEC football part because one he's deaf as fuck in crowds and two I didn't want to get him started on SEC football which would launch him on his favorite topic which is right now, Tim Tebow and the Miami Dolphins, and how the Packers can't maintain an undefeated season and still go to the Superbowl, and San Francisco is going to....well, you get my drift.
Everyone has their pet topics, and really if you want to get right down to it remember Disney's The Jungle Book? The vultures that sounded like the Beatles? Yeah, just like that.
Talk later,
Mercy
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