When I was a teacher, I used to live for summer break. Long, lazy days, no responsibilities, nothing to do but bask in the warmth and relish my time away from hormonally crazed teenagers. Every teacher knows without summer vacation, they’d lose that slight grasp on their sanity they’re desperately trying to hang on to.

Then I quit teaching. And now, summer vacation is no longer that most treasured time of the year, it’s my own personal HELL.

Darling daughter had her last day of school yesterday. Forget the fact she was only in Kindergarten and was only going to … Read more »

Since I’m currently in Query Hell, I thought I’d take a minute to dissect the most recent rejection letter I received on a requested partial. Seriously, do agents get together and mass-copy these things? Cause I swear I’ve received this one numerous times from different agencies.

Dear Ms. Naughton:

Thank you for the opportunity to consider your partial of Marina’s Bane.
What the hell kind of title is that anyway? Were you out to lunch when you came up with it?

Unfortunately, after careful consideration, …
Careful consideration? ROFL. As if. Do you realize how many submissions I receive each … Read more »

Dear Uber-Agent,

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my 500,000-word “almost” (but not even close) completed suspense novel, The Sucky Writer.

Romance Novelist Elisabeth Naughton has been searching for an agent all her life. Unable to face rejection, she continues to write with no end in sight. She’s a panster at heart and doesn’t understand the concepts of plotting, or manuscript length or even character arcs. But she knows how to put words on paper, dammit. And she’s darn good at it.

When she decides to hone her craft by signing up for a … Read more »

Seriously.

I’m a pretty private person. In the year and a half I’ve been seriously writing, I’ve only shared my words with a handful of people. I finally mustered up the courage to tell my mother about my writing for two reasons. One, I wanted to go to Nationals in Reno this year, and two, I needed a babysitter for the kids while DH was at work during the day. Since my mother is a teacher and is off for the summer, she was willing to watch the kids. But asking that one small favor has opened up a whole … Read more »

Muse drops onto the couch with a large glass of wine, a bowl full of Hershey’s chocolate kisses and the hot and tantalizing sex scenes in HOTM. If those heroes of hers think she’s yielding to their bitching and complaining, they have another thing coming.

SHE has one important novel to finish reading for her cp and the uber-agent request said cp received.

A wicked grin quirks the Muse’s mouth. Little do those complainers of hers know they were sent over to cp Muse’s basement for a reason. Until this novel is finished, they’re just going to have to hang … Read more »

Muse: *Taps pencil against chin, contemplates choices. * “Nope. I don’t like this. Something’s not right. You. Here. You, over there. Yes, you. The one with the silly grin on your face. Take a seat there.” *Scans area.* “Yeah. That’s better.”

Ethan: “Wait a minute. I’m not liking this. You just left me hangin’ with the hot chick. She all but wants me, and you’re telling me to have a seat and wait? What the hell have you been sniffing behind that screen?”

Kelsey: “Quit your whining. She’s got my first chapter swirling around in there. She has … Read more »

Reluctantly playing along. 🙂

Total Number Books I Own: No. Freakin’. Clue. Seriously, I have 20′ of new bookshelves completely filled. Why on earth was I ever worried I wouldn’t be able to fill the shelves in our addition??? And that doesn’t count the ones upstairs in my bedroom, or on the bookshelves upstairs, or in the boxes in the attic. *sigh* Way too many to count.

Last Book Read: Undercover Babies by Alice Sharpe

Book Sitting On My Coffee Table I’m Planning To Read: Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

Five Books That Mean A Lot to Me:

1. Gone … Read more »

A sweltry breeze blew the sheer curtains at the open window. Moonlight splashed across the room, casting shadows on the floor. In the corner, a fan rotated, the rhythmic whup, whup of the blade creating a white noise that drown out the night sounds.

Somewhere in the house, a muffled sob.

“Daddy, help!”

He sat straight up. Blinking, he tried to focus through the dim light. The clock read 4:40 AM. He glanced down at the side of the bed, his eyes focusing on a strange, dark shadow. Good God, what was that? His eyes narrowed. It looked … Read more »

Excitement, doubt demons and motivation. That’s what’s on my mind. Or not on my mind as the case may be.

Two full requests on MB in two days from two RWA approved agents. One would think that would excite me, eh? Not so. I’ve had requests for fulls before, and have gotten my hopes up, only to be sucked down by the doubt demons when it turns out to be nothing (or when I just don’t hear back). When these requests came in, I wasn’t excited in the least. Does that mean I’m becoming jaded? Realistic? Just don’t care anymore? … Read more »

My six-year-old daughter was grounded yesterday. Why you might ask? Because the night before she threw a complete temper tantrum at bedtime. She was absolutely convinced there were mice in her bedroom (it’s on the second floor) and that they were going to “get” her. Now, I can understand childhood fears, but I commisserated with her, explained there were no mice in our house, and then lost it when she wouldn’t stop screaming. It’s one thing to cry and be upset, it’s another to FREAK OUT. At any other time I would have just shut the door and left her … Read more »