You Asked

and No, I do not take caffeine, I only drink herbal teas and will have the odd piece of chocolate every once in a while, I have also stopped all fizzy drinks except for the odd glass or two of champagne.
My next energy booster of choice would be multivitamins but the jury is still out on that one, I heard its better to eat healthier than pop any pills and I also heard if you start you have to keep on taking them.
Third energy booster of choice would be daily exercise and yes I gym-ed for the better part of last year (okay 3 months) but it works I was perkier than usual, I looked good and felt awesome only downside is if you stop like I did your body gets worse than it did when you first started.
Fourth energy choice (my kryptonite) Sugar - I am a selective sugar addict, you won't find me eating oreos or twinkies because well I am trying to be healthy. I can drink my weight in juice so I only do 100% juice but even that has sugar, I do however indulge in bread, nutella and shortbread, there is also my addiction to Mueller Corner Yoghurt (I just found a french substitute yay!).
So if I ever come to your book signing and you need a speed demon just feed me sugar and you will be amazed (be careful though, too much sugar and I might start dancing on table tops).

That said, Tomorrow is my self proclaimed Talli Roland Day, please do all you can to help support one of us and be excited for her I will do the same for you when your time comes.

What do you do to keep your energy going? Tell me all about your pumpkin spice latte addiction

Nothing Profound

It's good to be back isn't it? how was your thanxgiving?
Today is a good day in our house, it's the Hubs birthday. He got back in last night and we are grateful to the powers that be that he gets to spend his birthday with us. I have not made him a birthday cake but we'll have a shindig/thanxgiving dinner this Friday and a cake shall be in attendance then.
In honour of the celebrant I have decided to share one of his airport stories with you.

@ Cannes

So he is walking around in an Hong Kong airport, we are chatting on skype at the same time, and I ask him why he is wandering around, he goes "I need an outlet to charge my laptop battery, I might have to call you later if I don't find one soon. I'm not sure they have any power outlets here" I tell him to ask someone who works there but in typical boy fashion he wants to find it himself so I say my ciaos and ring off.
The following is an account of what happened after I rung off.
he walks into a cafe(still in the airport) and notices they have outlets, so he sits and plugs his laptop in. A lady comes up to him and says "you order, you order now"
Hubs: I really don't need anything right now is it okay if I sit here?
Lady: You order, you order now
Hubs: Listen to me if its compulsory to order just to plug my laptop in I will, but if its not I'd rather not
Lady: You order, you order now

nerdy hubs in his hot little body

and then she walks off in a huff and returns with her boss, hubs thinking the boss understands english better explains his request again
Boss: You order, you order now, if no order I call the police

So the hubs sighed and bought a green tea chai latte or something like that (I don't take caffeine so I never know all these names - please don't kick me out of the writers club).

I wonder what is going to happen next time he travels...
stay tuned.

Finding me a 007

Would you rather I put up a scenic picture or a picture of Daniel Craig in a finely tailored suit? Well dressed men can be my kryptonite if I let them (this is why my husband has to get a wardrobe makeover every once in a while) but I digress dont I?


I found this list on twitter last night or maybe this morning and I thought I would share it with you, it is a list of agents on twitter (mostly in North America, UK and Australia will come next). I know most of you have access to RWA or Publishers Marketplace or the Writers Market and what have you, but not everybody can afford to get access to these resources or even live in somewhere geographically convenient

Click here for the list, this should get you started on your agent research, remember as difficult as it seems to get an agent not just any agent will do, you have to go out and find your own 007, I have my eyes on Roger Moore or Daniel Craig and I will let you know when I find my special agent. Believe it or not this post was supposed to be about agents aargh!

Quick Post

I have added some extra pages to my outline  and I am so tempted to dump my NaNo novel and start on this new one. Something keeps on telling me to wait though, I wont be ready to start till I can answer "what would Dahlia do?" at every occassion.
What do you think of the name Dahlia? what kind of person do you think she would be?

On another note today, my son has graduated from feeding my laptop OJ to installing malicious software on it (Operation kill the Competition is in full swing). I shut down my laptop and left the room for a few minutes only to come back and find him staring intently at it, the three screens he had open said microsoft security has removed malicious software from the computer but it will not show my homepage because the html code has been changed (all thanx to our resident toddler).

Everyone in the plane thot I was crazy, but this is a nice Aerial view of a beach somewhere in Corsica

On CPs and Plotting a story

Okay so I totally had a different blog post to do today, but last night I had one of the most amazing brainstorming sessions online with my CP who is a complete plotter.

You all remember the husband is out of time again right? so in addition to one cranky wrist, I am back to single motherdom and a child who has forgotten how to sleep in (I might have to retrain him). So here I am writing the odd 250 words on my NaNo project whenever I can, when I get this gem of an idea start to float about in my brain.
I let the idea stew a bit more, I tell myself then as per usual I would write it down in my lil idea book and continue with my loosely defined writing schedule. The first inkling I had that something was not normal was when my idea started to form in my head and the 1st person I could form was my main character - a girl and she kept on growing in my mind.
I told myself "no biggie" I just have to find her an amazing dude to compliment her, so I started thinking and I got nothing, that was when I panicked.
You see odd duck that I am, I always know my hero more than anyone else, my story always starts with him - if I had my way I would write hero's POV in the whole book, so when I could not find our hero and my heroine assured me her bi-curious stage ended long ago I knew we had big trouble.
So I turned to my CP last night and said hey when you've got a minute I need to brainstorm, I have a heroine but I can't find my Hero - she being the fuzzy scarfed saint that she is jumped on my back immediately and dragged me into Plottersville.
She asked me psychedelic questions like what are his goals, conflict and motivation and me being the prettiest bubble brain in town said Hunh?
so she asked me all about the heroine and made me know her even more, we killed her dad in the process to get her motivated and then moved on to her hero, we started with jobs, what kind of jobs will fit her goal? and even talked about Samuel Adams beer, eventually after some Richard Head jokes, he took shape in my head and he came alive.
In 3 hours I got 10 single spaced outline pages and the beginnings of a migraine yesterday (skating in plottersville was hard but fun) and we have only just scratched the surface, I love this journey and now am off to research body shots and tattoos.
Ever had a WIP change your style to suit its needs?

This is Lavasina, a beautiful Corsican town with clear waters

Ze First Gift Blog Hop

Let me deviate from the norm and tell you this gift is not from the hubs. You see, I get crushes a lot and for my own peace of mind I try to limit them to celebrities.
In my own defense this crush looked like a celeb, I tell you he was drop dead gorgeous, long, wavy chestnut hair that fell just below his nape, 6'4, abs to die for, a gorgeous tattoo(I saw it in the gym), he had a lean build and his eyes shifted constantly between brown and green.
Anyways that said I never act on a crush because i know its a crush, I just play with fire while the crush is on, so anyways on my birthday he came over to my office and told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand, i did and he dropped a hershey kiss in my palm.
A hershey kiss is a novelty for me, so I kept it in my purse till further notice and beamed all day.
Crush Status: Got over it after my friends begged me to open my eyes, besides his ex was giving me the evils.
This blogfest has been brought to you courtesy of Liz Fichera and the Mojito Literary Society if you want to join in and meet fellow bloggers like you hop here. it runs till Nov 21st :-)

Michelle Styles in The Interrogation Room

First of all, my apologies to Liz Fichera's blog hoppers, My post goes up tomorrow. My Cp and I heart Michelle Styles on so many levels, she gives the best writing advice ever and spends a lot of time answering all our newbie questions over at eHarlequin. Michelle is an American author who lives in England (I used to think she was English) and she has the most amazing call story read it here.  

Joanna: Coffee or Tea? (I just had to ask)

Michelle: It depends on my mood. Mostly tea though and I am very partial to Earl Grey

Joanna: What is the difference between writing a short and a long story?

Michelle: Mostly layers and the complexity of the conflict between the two protagonists when you are writing a romance.

Joanna: Why did you choose to write Historicals?

Michelle: I write historicals because I love history. And I think writing historicals is a lot of fun. History fascinates me.

Joanna: Can you explain your writing process to us?

Michelle: Umm. Sometimes I wish I could explain it to myself. Each time it is a little different. I am somewhere in between the complete pantser and the super plotter. I'd love to be more organised but I am not. I do hate filling out forms and questionaires about my characters and instead I love doing discovery drafts with arough outline as road map.

Joanna: What is the best writing advice you have ever received? and would love to share

Michelle: Dare to suck and be prepared to rewrite. Between you and the blank screen, there is little that can help but afterwards you can work with the material. It is all about not letting your words harden to concrete and staying in love with the story while you examine ways to make it stronger.

Joanna: You obviously do a lot to help out other aspiring authors, why is this so important to you?

Michelle: It is important because without the mentorship and wise words of a few published authors when I first became serious about writing, I would not have done it. Besides, I think generousity does come back to you and you get out of life what what you put in. Ultimately it is up to the individual whether or not they will succeed. And if I have helped someone, then I have helped me. Can you tell that Girl Scouting played an important part in my formative years?

Joanna: If you did not become a writer, what profession would you have been happy in?

Michelle: Hard question. I am a far nicer person when I am writing as I put my drama into my writing rather than into my life. I'd hate to think about not writing. It took me a long time to get to this place in my life. And really anything else would be utterly dull. I suspect it is why I persevere at writing because really if you can find anything else to do, you should do it. There are a lot easier ways to make a living but I can't really think of a better way.

Michelle's Book: A Question of Impropriety

 

A very improper seduction…

Diana Clare has had enough of London – the balls, the rakes you can never trust… Now, having returned home in disgrace, she is trying to forget what drove her from the ton.

But rake and gambler Brett Farnham, Earl of Coltonby, seems intent on making Diana remember exactly what it was like to be whirled around the ballroom and seduced by the glint in your partner’s eye…

But Brett has ‘mistress’ rather than ‘marriage’ in mind, and Diana is not sure her reputation can stand up to another scandal…

Michelle is also going to be hanging out with us today as well as giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter, so if you have any questions she will do her best to get to them.

Michelle Styles can be found at her website, blog, twitter and on eHarlequin and if you sign up for her newsletter there is a contest that runs out on the 21st of November and it is an epic contest too.

A picture says a thousand words and more

What does this picture say about me? I have realized a few things this past week too; I am ambidextrous (but that is not news), what is news is that I use my left hand more than my right and my right hand is a wimp, apparently the only thing I do with my right hand is write and even then the left takes over when the right gets tired (the wimp!).
I have been braced indefinitely let's call it the Candyland (carpal tunnel) Syndrome, so sadly I cannot continue with NaNo *insert relief and smirk here*, I am also supposed to stop blogging but the husband is going back to Fiji for a 10 day trip so there is no one to stop me *now insert crazy laugh here*
Michelle Styles, is going to be in our interrogation room tomorrow - this is one person you want to get to know, she is full of writing advice and knows how to give it to you straight.
 Here is a hint, my ring says a lot about my character, Happy Sleuthing

Short Stories Anyone

What good is a short story? and why do you read or write them?

I have read my share of tomes, I have read my share of 600 paged books, I have even read my share of 800 paged textbooks per week for a class at uni not to talk of grading seniors at the same uni, but I guess you get the point I am a reader and a fast one at that.

I love short stories, the last book I read was  mistletoe and the lost stiletto by Liz Fielding around 50k words, I finished it in 2hrs (during nap time) and if you want to quiz me on it am sure I will ace it.

Me + Books of this length = Perfect Match

As a writer we are always told to know out target audience, I am my target audience, I love to read and will probably wither if i don't read but I have no time to read. Don't worry blogger friends I will read your 800 paged book when it comes out even if I have to hire a Nanny but unless you are a blogger friend or Tim Robbins (Nora, Steph, Dan or Steven) and the like I won't buy your humongous book at the store(no offense).

Writing short stories is also good practice for writers, have you ever started a WIP just to realize it has fizzled out at chapter 3 and nothing you do will resurrect it? is that story meant to be a short, is there a magazine or publisher out there wishing they had a manuscript like the one you have abandoned? lets talk about Ether books  for a second have you heard about them? you can read more here they publish short stories - 2k words on your IPhone.
In other news today I won $10 Breathless Press gift card from Jessica Lee and a $5 Wild Rose gift card from Sally Clements - I tweeted these competitions.
Finally I got an author/editor for the interrogation room, what questions would you like to ask the editor side of her? I need suggestions.
Have a beautiful day now.

Promenade des anglais - Nice

The Pesky Writing Demons

Random thought of the day: What genre would you classify X-Men as?
Which is healthier eating a sugared donut for breakfast or skipping breakfast altogether?
Does your writing suffer at the expense of your blog?
Why do we always get distracted when we are about to write?
Why Isn't everybody raving about James Blunt new song "Stay the Night"?
and for all you Harry Potter Fans, what would you do if your cinema owner decides to make it a whole red tape and scissors affair and at nidnight he decides to cut it with his teeth?

Okay lets get serious, did you know that every single person regardless of their age, marital status or job are taxed to their individual limits. Even the hubs who has to be the most chilled out dude ever, still gets stressed.
Someone once told me when I said I am a SAHM who blogs and writes that I had an easy gig, my reply to this was a big "I dont think so" and I bet all you SAHMs would agree with me. Even celebs say they dont have it easy.
That said lets all take some time to chill out, keep our bodies healthy and face each day with a happy smile, if other people can do it, so can we.

P.S if you know the answer to my random thoughts today I will be grateful to know, its really bugging my brain.

Facing the truth

Thank you to Jessica our guest last friday, she had some pretty amazing advice didn't she? and now as picked by grabby toddler2; grabby toddler1's girlfriend and my french teacher. Here are the recipients of Jessica's book.
Liz Fichera
Lia Bal
Jami Gold
Jennifer Shirk
Kelley Vitollo

Quinn
Nas
Kath
Clarissa D
L'aussie
Please remember to send me your American adresses and email adresses - Quinn, Nas and L'aussie I have your email addresses so don't worry, Liz I have yours too (looks like the lego system works for you).

Congratulations my winners, I have learnt today that all toddlers are just grabby, they don't ever pick one at a time.
Today I shall be talking about a counter advice and facing the truth.
1. Write from the heart - I agree but just like we all know that being in love is not the only thing that makes a relationship, I also have to realize that loving to write one genre does not guarantee I can write in that genre. What do I love to write and often tries to sneak into my manuscripts even though its been banned? Paranormal romance, I have written a few and even when I picked up my pen again in June I penned a Paranormal which I sent off to Carina Press and got a big fat R in 6 weeks. I still believe my manuscript prompted Angela James to tweet about the 20 reasons why manuscripts get rejected.
I have since told my cps to hit me over the head if I ever give them a paranormal to crit for me,  at this stage in my life I simply don't have the knack for it.
I shall keep up this topic for the rest of the week, what about you? Are there any truths we need to face regardless of what we are told? or am I just a grabby toddler writer who will soon be able to write all genres that I fancy soon?

Interrogation Room and giveaways

Has anyone ever seen my picture? I blame my recent chubby cheeks on Jessica's book Becca's Best. It was so well described I could feel the scones melting in my mouth and my addiction to bran muffins got a whole lot worse. That said let me introduce you to Jessica Barksdale Inclan, I have learnt a lot from reading her blog.

Joanna: Looking back how would you rate your first book against your current book out on the market?

Jessica: This is a very hard question, as my first six novels were contemporary fiction and my last six were romance.  So inherent in the two genres are differences.  Romance needs, well, romance, and contemporary fiction doesn't always have the big HEA that romance readers want.

But I think that my last novel (The Beautiful Being) and my first novel (Her Daughter's Eyes) both revolve around a character's or characters' wanting to be connected, longing for a connection with other people--or, that singular, romantic connection. They may be very different novels, but that core is there in both.

Joanna: Where do you get inspirations for your books from?

Jessica: I find inspiration in so many things--newspaper articles, my friends and family, dreams.  The problem facing so many writers is that the "concept" or the "platform" is taking over inspiration.  What may inspire me may not be marketable.  I've been told that certain ideas "won't sell," and that is a hard thing to hear, especially if I am inspired.

Bottom line, though, is that I try to write about what moves me, and often if I am moved, others will be, too.

Joanna: You teach creative writing at college level, are you able to read books for pleasure (without going into professor mode)?

Jessica: Absolutely!  I read like crazy, though if something is poorly written on the sentence level or full of cliches (and so FEW published novels are, though some slip through) I do react.  But I let myself fall into a story and enjoy.  I need that escape and I need the example of another writer's imagination on the page.

Joanna: What advice would you have for first time conference goers?

Jessica: Part of the advice is counter-productive.  Often, I want to tell folks at conferences to stay home and write.  I have met a few aspiring writers who participate in so many conferences that they don't get to the very thing they are at the conference for--writing.

The other part is to let it all swirl around you--the ideas and information--and then make sure to not take anything personally or get defensive.  Find the one idea or writer that inspires and then go home and write! 

And then if there can be three parts--meet up with folks at conferences and stay connected to them.  They are your peers and are often at the same writing level--forge writing partnerships and writing groups.  I have two long time friends, both of whom I met at a conference and both of whom have read much of my work (and both of whom were just at my wedding in September!).  These connections are the important ones.

Joanna: How does it feel when people truly connect to the characters you have created?

Jessica: Well, that's about the best feeling ever.  It's hard to imagine how satisfying that is.  When a reader tells me he or she has identified with anything I've put down on paper, I feel as though I've connected in a real true way.  And that's amazing.

Joanna: Jessica has kindly agreed to give out five copies of her latest book titled Being with Him, but for logistical reasons we can only send it to American addresses, so do me a favour in your comments today kindly mention what country you live in. I will let Jessica tell us about her latest book now

Being With Him

They are here among us…

Far from home, gifted with special abilities, hunted for their powers. And they are desperate to find their other, the one who completes them…before it’s too late…

SOMETIMES, TIME REALLY DOES STAND STILL

Mila Adams has always known she was different. It’s not just that she’s a Mission District bohemian artist in rarefied San Francisco society. No, it’s that for as long as she can remember, she has had the ability to shift time, and who would believe that? Certainly not the obnoxious blind dates her mother keeps foisting off on her. Mila can’t help feeling there’s someone out there for her, a soul mate who might understand her unique ability. And when she looks into the dark eyes of financial whiz Garrick McClellan, time feels as if it has opened up on its own—and this time, Mila has nothing to do with it.

Any man would lust after a beauty like Mila, but the moment Garrick touches her—feels her shifting time just as he can—he recognizes her as his partner in power. Their connection is immediate, passionate, raw, and beyond anything either has ever experienced. But who are they? What is this gift that joins them so intensely? Are there others like them? And why do they feel that time is running out?

Jessica Barksdale Inclan is the author of twelve novels, including Her Daughter's Eyes, The Matter of Grace, and When You Believe.  Her seventh novel, Being With Him, was released Septmeber 2010 in mass market.  She teaches creative writing, literature, and compsotion at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, and novel writing for UCLA Extension.
Jessica can be found at her website and blog or on Twitter

TGIF and let the party begin

Yay for us Non Americans Jessica is giving away 5 more E-Books so we etrangeres can win too, that makes this a 10 - book giveaway.

Internals

Woo Hoo tomorrow I have Jessica Barksdale Inclan in the interrogation room tomorrow, she has been writing going on 10 years now and I am really glad I was able to bring her here.
Liz Fichera also won my last giveaway, I shall be sending her a bag of European chocolate and maybe a sachet of sea salt as an inside joke :)
I am still waiting for feedback on the partial I sent in to my editor, I sent it in Sept. 28th and I have used up every bit of my patience, so I might start checking my email incessantly, anybody out there have any "serenity now"(Seinfeld) tips?

Anybody interested in writing for greeting card companies? I met a fellow blogger who does this as her day time job if you are interested check Lisa out here , she was very helpful and answered all my questions.

I try not to post more than once a day because I know how pressed for time we often are so I shall start a new tab somewhere on this blog to let you know about giveaways or blogfests I enter or hear about. I won an Olivia gates book and she also did a Q&A session all weekend at Clarissa Yip's website and now I feel bad that I did not bring that to your attention. So check back on the tabs or follow me on twitter or facebook I shall follow back, don't make me get lucky all by myself.

For those interested in writing for Harlequin I hope you have all heard about the fabulous opportunity they have going on for aspiring writers, if you send in your synopsis and first chapter by dec 15th you will get some form of feedback by january 31st I think.

So have a great Poppy Day and remember those whom we have lost.

I've been undercover

Did anyone miss me? I went on a Mommy break. On Saturday I packed my bags and strapped on my 5inch boots and set out f-or Nice, after 5 weeks being home alone with the toddler I decided to do a quick sex and the city jaunt with my friends to Nice.
My plane was filled to the brim with the Bastia Football Club players (so in the name of research I stared), I think I saw Jack Nicholson (my friend says it was a lookalike) and he smiled and waved at me when I almost made a fuss at Jack Nicholson Tanning on the beach.
I went to Monaco and I still did not get to meet the Prince (my dream is to own a home there and the only way that can happen now is if I break up his engagement and marry him).
All in all I had fun and I am just getting back into the swing of things, I shall be by your blogs later right after I post my giveaways and catch up on my mail.
Oh and am so behind it will take a miracle for me to catch to NaNo speed on my WIP but I am not giving up yet things can still happen.
Have a lovely day, pictures will come later.

Interrogation Room and giveaways

Okay even though she agreed to come here gracefully, I still decided to grab her by her by her blonde hair and haul her in here. Our "guest" today is the one who took my place when I left London, although if she ever tells you North London is awesome don't believe her(am jealous), you want to go to my hood in the south west we have Hampton Court Palace built by Henry VIII and Chessington World of Adventures!
Okay enough reminiscing I give you the amazing Talli Roland 



Joanna: Facebook, Twitter or Blogger? which do you prefer and why?

Talli: I love them all! Twitter is instantaneous – if you’re looking for a little bit of interaction without too much commitment, you can just duck in for a few minutes. Facebook is great for catching up on bits of news and other fun I might have missed during the day, while Blogger is ideal for writing longer and more detailed posts on things that can’t be captured in 140 characters or less (like the true horrors of writers’ arse). They’re all brilliant tools for interacting with other writers and I’ve found the communities on each to be so supportive and welcoming. 

  

Joanna: Do you have any other manuscripts that will never see the light of day?

Talli: Many. I think about (gulp) five! The thing is, it took me a while to really find and get comfortable with my voice – fun, slightly snarky with a bit of sweetness thrown in. I tried to write literary fiction and it just didn’t work. It took a few tries before I could settle in to my writing style. Also, I didn’t think enough about my story ideas. I’d just sit down and write, without really assessing whether the concept was unique enough to hook in readers. Writing novels was (and still is!) quite a learning process for me. 

Joanna: What is the most outrageous thing you have done in the name of book research?

Talli: I’ve never done anything outrageous in the name of research – usually it’s the other way around! I’ve done some crazy things and made quite a few drastic changes in my life so far, so past life experience usually finds its way somehow into my writing. I do love to eavesdrop, though, so writing has certainly given me a great excuse to shamelessly earwig.  

Joanna: Some writers swear by chocolate, what do you swear by?

Talli: I do love chocolate (and cupcakes and Red Twizzlers) but when I’m writing and I need a little bit of sustenance to get me through the home stretch, I turn to Captain Crunch. Sadly, you can’t buy Captain Crunch in England, so I’ve had to resort to friends and family smuggling it over to me. It’s great because you can scoff it with one hand while you type with the other. 

Joanna: If you had 3 options; Borat, Ali G and Russell Brand who would you base a main character on?

Talli: Wow, what a choice! I’m going to have to say Ali G. I taught secondary school in his hometown of Staines, so I think I know his kind of character very well. Perhaps too well! Let’s just say I don’t teach any longer, although Staines does make a brief reappearance in my novel The Hating Game.  

Joanna: How did you find your agent or publishing house?

Talli: I’d been working with my publisher already on some non-fiction titles, so when I hit upon the concept of The Hating Game, I pitched it to them straightaway. Luckily, they loved it! It will be out worldwide as an e-book on December 1, and in paperback next year. 

Joanna: Nice! tell us about the book please

Talli: The Hating Game:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Joanna: And what is this innovative stunt I hear you are trying to pull on Amazon and how do we help a fellow blogger out?

Take On Amazon Web Splash:

On December 1, the e-book version of The Hating Game will launch ahead of its UK hard-copy launch next year! So I'm dreaming big. Wouldn't it be great if my debut novel by an indie publisher made it into the top ranks of Amazon Kindle sales? It might sound crazy, but it's amazing how quickly your book can move up the ranks if a number of people purchase it on the same day. And with an e-book, there are no distribution issues. Anyone, anywhere can buy it!  On release day -- December 1 -- I'm looking for bloggers (and Tweeters and Facebookers) to help with a Web Splash to spread the word. Go here for more details and to sign up! http://talliroland.blogspot.com/p/join-blogsplash.html

Talli Roland has three loves in her life: coffee, cupcakes and rom coms.

She lives in London, on a street with two Starbucks and (at last count) three other cafés that constantly tempt her outside her cozy little flat.

She has a secret crush on Sir Alan of The Apprentice and if she was forced to wax anyone's hairy chest, it would have to be Simon Cowell. Clearly she watches too much reality television.

Her debut novel, The Hating Game, will be released worldwide as an e-book on December 1, and in paperback in early 2011. To read more about The Hating Game and Talli, go to www.talliroland.com or follow Talli on Twitter: @talliroland.

The Winners of my not 100 or 150 followers contest as picked by grabby toddler
Ann from Wisconsin and Ireland
Madeleine at Scribble and Edit
Quinn
Congratulations and please send me your addresses so I can start shipping the surprize books. If you tweeted, blogged or facebooked about my contest there is another drawing for you on Monday just let me know you did it.
If you did not win. don't be sad I snagged a 5books giveaway for you next Friday , so we have more chances coming up.

Its Blogapalooza time

It's Blogapalooza! A chance for you to meet some exciting authors and aspiring authors AND score some exciting prizes. All you have to do is read my post, and then visit the 7 bloggers below and read their entries, and try to find the common phrase used in all eight. NOTE: It WILL be a phrase, so single words like "the" or "and" don't count! Once you think you have it, email it to mikewood_3@yahoo.com and you will be put into the running for a great gift "basket" comprised of prizes personally selected by the eight bloggers. A random drawing from all correct entries will be conducted one week from today, with special preference given to those who choose to follow all eight of us!
That said here is my post for today and it is going to try to be as funny as possible

So this is the 2nd time I am seeing this tv filler, I am not sure if its a commercial, a wannabe commercial or just a tv funny because my existence in this country is not even up to 6 months old.
 So with no rhyme or reason this girl dressed in some serious pink frou frou shows up on my screen she is wearing a pink gingham blouse and some serious girly frilly skirt, paired with a white belt and white sunglasses a la Jackie O, she is riding a bicycle and singing abt Harley Davidson, I don't understand what she is saying but its just funny cos she does not fit the biker chic image at all. I could not find a video to support my claim.

On another note, on the husband's 2 day trip back from the Pacific Islands he was questioned by security, (that is his special talent by the way - being stopped by airport security, so when we travel I always keep my distance) anyways he is asked who he is working with and he tells the guy the EU, the officer looks at him and says "is that a company or something?" the husband is too stunned to reply.

Now that the husband is back my son won't even look at me, they had a long hugging session yesterday night and I got a huge tub of duty free celebrations (aka the Englishman's guide to chocolate bliss especially around xmas time and at work) and a 6th bracelet to add to the collection on my arm (a tradition going on 6 years now).
Guess who I am dragging into the Interrogation room 2moro?

This is a list of the participating blogs in the blogapalooza, they are really cool blogs and its another way to meet bloggers like you and win a fantastic writers basket (P.S just because I am competitive, I would like it if someone from my current blog family won so let's go and kick some derriere).

 

http://meganbostic.blogspot.com/

http://lynneawest.blogspot.com/

http://thejourneytowardpublication.blogspot.com/

http://mikesshot.blogspot.com/

 

http://chrisbwritin.blogspot.com

 

http://eviebalos.blogspot.com/

 

http://www.badboyscanbefun.com/blog/

My Loot and your Loot

The Husband gets home tonight, its been 5 weeks and am at the point of shooting his boss with a bebe gun(those are not harmful right? i hope i even spelt it right).
On another Squee note I got all my contest wins in one day so Thank you Talli, Michele and Madeleine, let me share a random line from one of the books

"What if I get frostbite?"
"I don't bite, Jal. Unless you want me to"       fans self copiously

I shall take pictures as soon as I charge my camera, So today is the last day for you to comment on my not 100 or 150 followers giveaway, just tell me what genre you like to read and you are automatically entered. If you also tweet, blog or facebook abt this giveaway please let me know (there is a special bench reserved for you in the goodies corner).

Now get this, there is another giveaway tomorrow, hosted by some amazing bloggers(whom I just found) and I and next week the author in the interrogation room is coming with 5 books to give away and she has been writing for 10 years.

I think someone should start daring me on the Authors I bring to the Interrogation, maybe Stephen King will be next (the Sarcastic Joanna laughs at the optimistic Joanna)

Not doing my blogging rounds is not really working out for me so as soon as I get some Lunch I shall be hounding your blogs again, you guys inspire me to write.

Have a lovely day 

Enjoy the scenery of my reality as a stay at home mom,  I promise I left him for just 1minute

Tuesday News and Book Giveaway

Okay I know I said my schedule would be Monday Wednesday Friday for NaNoWriMo but am an addict, sue me!
Remember when we talked about the Public Lending Rights well you will be pleased to know that the budget cut has been made and it is not as bad as was feared it was cut by 15% over 4 years as opposed to 30% for the Arts Council (these are the guys who have loads of Writer in Residence progs).
My NaNo mood: NaNo sucks! why? I just realized I am a pen and paper writer I can't tell you what my word count and I cannot win a prize at eHarlequin because of that, they are giving out prizes every week to act as incentive to the Nanoers by the way and its good stuff. But I think if I were to guesstimate my word count from yesterday would be closer to 3k than 2k and that was me writing with a migraine. My plan is to finish the 50k words hopefully by the middle of the month and get it typed(1st edit) by the end of November, If I get this done then I will be a true winner.

Don't forget if you have not entered my not 100 or 150 followers book giveaway there is still time, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what genre you like to read and if you are one of my winners, I will have a book in that genre shipped to you from the book depository.

Invite your like-minded friends to join in this giveaway, the more the merrier and who knows maybe every referree will get a chance to win a chocolate package (please let me know if you have tweeted, blogged or facebooked abt this giveaway, I would make a button but IDK how)
Enjoy these pictures and have a lovely day.
Oh Oh the husband gets back tomorrow!

one of the many lighthouses here

good snorkeling spot

Woo Hoo Bank Holiday! and another giveaway

Woo Hoo its a bank holiday in France today! Is somebody getting green with envy? Don't be, you guys have eaten enough candy to get a hangover this morning. So how was Halloween? It was fun seeing everyone get excited online.
Thank you all for coming out to Support Christine Bell on her release day, She had a lot of fun and without further Ado I shall announce the winners for the friday giveaway

Rachel Harrie
Amie Kaufman
Terri Anne Stanley

Congratulations and please send me an email so we can work out the logistics of your loot.

I did say I was going to have a hundred followers giveaway on Thursday but here we are on Monday and we are at 122 so we shall call this giveaway
THE NOT 100 OR 150 FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY
All you have to do is comment on my posts till Wednesday letting me know what genre you read and I shall select 3 lucky winners and have new books in their genre shipped to them by the Book Depository.
If you also want to advertise this giveaway on your blog I shall be a happy bunny.
Lastly NaNoWriMo has started and in true Pantser style I have not written a word yet (yeah I'll blame it on my pantsing skills and not because I like to procastinate). But in the light of the work I expect to do this month I shall try to limit my blogging schedule to Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays .
Are you NaNoing? How is it going so far? don't forget to tell me what genre you read so I can enter you in the giveaway.
:)