Long weekend coming up!

Actually, it's a very long weekend. We've got the Bank Holiday on Monday, and I've got Tuesday and Wednesday off so in all that's five days I'm not at work! Yay!

I do have some house-related stuff to take care of (more book-shelves!), but that won't take up the full five days so I'll have time to get some writing done in nice stretches rather than brief bursts here and there.

And of course, one mustn't forget one's dog-walking duty. Collies have rights and expectations you know!

So, short and sweet, but hey that's me all over!

Mood 1: Excited!!

Mood 2: Productive!!

Merry

Knight Agency Group Chat today!

Kristin Daly from HarperCollins will be chatting with the Knight Agency today (12:00-13:00hrs EST - which works out to 18:00hrs in the UK (if I got my time conversion right - British Summer Time gaaah!))

You need to be a member of the Knight Agency Yahoo Group to take part.

Friday, August 25th from Noon to 1 pm EST, We at TKA are thrilled to be chatting with Kristin Daly. (I know you're dying for more so here's a bit about Ms. Daly...)

Kristin first became interested in children's books as a career in high school, when she worked in her local public library shelving—and often covertly reading!—books in the children's room. In May 1999 she was hired as an Editorial Assistant at Golden Books, where she worked on picture books, series fiction, and the Road to Reading line. In January 2002, she began working at HarperCollins, where she has been for the past four and a half years and counting.

Kristin has been privileged to work with authors and illustrators such as Valeri Gorbachev, Charles Santore, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Jack Prelutsky, Suzy Becker, and Barbara McClintock. Currently, she is especially excited to be working with best-selling author Gary Blackwood on his first I Can Read Book, The Just-So Woman, and talented newcomer—and SCBWI member—Sudipta Bardhan on her first Harper picture books, Snoring Beauty and Hampire! Kristin edits a range of children's titles, from picture books and easy-to-reads through middle-grade, and is currently on the hunt for her first YA novel.

So go along and say hi and get some of your questions answered.

Merry

Mood: Grumpy
(I have a cold - just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend!)

100 Blogs (or more)

A number of gals on Romance Divas, and bloggers elsewhere, are taking part in this viral blogging experiment, so I thought I'd add my (quiet) voice to the fray - you never know, someone may stop by! So if you're reading this and want to enter into the experiment, click on the links to get the code and post it on your blog!

I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.

$200 Amazon gift certificate
Signed copy of Slave to Sensation
New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh
ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game

You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here.

SLAVE TO SENSATION Nalini Singh Berkley / September 2006

Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart.

Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.

Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.

Excerpt

Mood: Excited!

The power of persistence

Sherry Thomas has an interesting post on her blog today about the percieved Great Divide between published and unpublished authors - and how, once she got The Call she discovered that the Divide was a construct and that proud moment of being published shouldn't just encompass the moment when you get that contract in your hands, but should also acknowledge your persistence and perserverence in getting there.

The true watershed events in my quest for publication happened not on the day I got bought, but on the day I first sat down to write the story in my head, on every day that I filed away rejections and did not quit, and on the day when I finally realized that rejections are meant to be learned from, not just filed away.

The full post can be accessed here

Mood: Not bad, not bad at all.

Busy, busy, busy at Romance Divas this month

Romance Divas
Author of the Month : Gemma Halliday – Contests workshop from the Golden Heart winner
Aug 5-7: Paranormal Event with Carrie Vaughn, LA Banks, CT Adams/Cathy Clamp, Gena Showalter, and Kelley Armstrong.
Aug 11 Jessica Faust: Bookends-inc agent in the Chatroom. 9 Eastern
August 8-18 :: Getting To Know The Voices in Your Head Workshop with Jo Ann Ferguson/Jocelyn Kelley
Aug 18 :: Theresa Meyers: PR/Promo in the Chatroom.
August 25 :: Ann Christopher, Patricia Sargeant, Maureen Smith and Sophia Shaw Multi-cultural Authors Chat

So make sure you come along and sign up for some of the chats and workshops!

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss most of the paranormal event as I'm away this weekend (shopping! book shopping! mwaahahahahaaaa!) and won't have access to t'internet; but I'll be able to stop by on Monday (and possibly Sunday night as well)

Mood 1: Excited!
Mood 2: Tired!

Interesting...verrrrry interesting.

Your World View

You are a fairly broadminded romantic and reasonably content. You value kindness and try to live by your ideals. You have strong need for security, which may be either emotional or material. You respect truth and are flexible. You like people, and they can readily make friends with you. You are not very adventurous, but this does not bother you.

What Is Your World View?