Research Can Do You In!

Chest onlyOne of my favorite author activities is research. (I found the incredible cut guy in the pic doing research :)).  Unfortunately, research’s not a double-edged sword, but more a kazillion-edged one.

Research is exponential. You start off by looking up the exact date an event occurred, and the Google search engine gives you six different sites. Of course, being a conscientious and ethical writer, you must read and compare each site.

The first webpage mentions a precursor to the incident, and you need to know if it will impact on your storyline. So, off you go, and the whole scenario’s repeated ad infinitum. All of a sudden your carefully carved out block of writing time’s over and family and work responsibilities demand your attention.

Sound familiar to those of you who hold down day jobs?

There are so many other distractions, email, blogging, author loops, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Goodreads…I could go on forever. Add to that the pressure to devote time to marketing and — did I get in five minutes today?

We haven’t even touched on the notion of an actual social life.

I’m not what you could remotely call a social butterfly, networking or otherwise. By nature, I’m reclusive, and the strain to engage at large wirelessly makes my stomach clench and jerk. In 2013, sheer peer pressure made me cave, and I attempted to master too much at once. I spread myself thin and my writing suffered.

Not happening in 2014. In terms of my author persona, I have but two goals:

  1. Writing—No matter what I will write 1000 words 5 days a week.
  2. Research—If I’m in the middle of writing, and I need to look up a fact, instead of scooting online, I’ll simply insert three question marks. After I’ve completed my daily quota, then, and only then, will I research the point in question.

That’s it. Nada else.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Jianne

Happy Valentine’s Day!

cupids_arrowHappy Valentine’s Day!

Congrats to Kelly, Larissa, and Julianne who’ve all won a copy of Cupid’s Arrow!

I know, I’m a total suck. It’s so hard for me to pick one winner. I always feel bad for those who don’t win.  Winners, please email me with your preferred eBook format ASAP.

Here in South Florida we’re enjoying cool weather. The high today will be in the low 70s. I know the rest of the country’s freezing, but we don’t get this kind of coolness often, and we really relish it. Today, I get to wear one of my three cashmere sweaters. Yay!

Where ever you are – I hope someone warms  your heart and soul with a Valentine’s Day treat!

Have a good one!

Cheers,

Jianne

 

Remembering Dad

mourningYesterday would have been my father’s eighty-first birthday. I spent much of the day looking through old photo albums (remember those?) and mourning his loss. Twenty-one years after his death, the rawness of my grief has abated, but the intensity remains the same.

I am the only female child of my parents and I was the absolute apple of my dad’s eye. I adored  him, hero-worshiped him, and, later, learned to accept that he was not the perfect man I’d idolized. He gave me a gift that every parent should their children, he loved me, and he told me so constantly in both words and actions.

It’s not that my father didn’t have flaws. My goodness, he had those aplenty, but my father was an ethical man in corrupt country whose idealism never faltered. He was a visionary. I can still remember the day I introduced him to the Apple 1 and Visicalc. He was astounded, but turned to me, and said, “This is the future. This will change our world. We have to get in on the ground floor.” And we did. My dh and I were in the first graduating class of the launch of the IBM PC. A launch that gave birth to the technology world as we know it today. IBM legitimized what was then a rouge industry.

But, I digress. I have Dad’s picture on my desk and in my bedroom. I still miss him every single day, and I suspect that will go on until the moment I expel my last breath.

Love you Daddy and wish you were here,

Your daughter,

J

 

 

Cupid’s Arrow is Released! Yay!

cupids_arrow

It’s a great Monday morning. Not only am I fully recovered from bouts with the cold AND (could the man up there have been more generous?) a stomach bug, but I can finally announce that’s Cupid’s Arrow is not only released but available!

Not only that, but today Cupid’s Arrow is featured at Cover Reveals *evil grin*. How’s that for perfect promo planning? Here’s the link: http://coverreveals.blogspot.com/

Here’s the cover and tag line followed by a little teaser.

Stephanie and Eli go toe to toe on every project, but the attraction is irresistible. When a theft occurs – is it a love or an alibi?

Excerpt:

From the second he’d set sight on Stephanie his one goal had been to take her off the market. Permanently. He hated it when another man touched her, even Ignatius.

The room smelled of her, all gingery and spicy. He glimpsed a wicked lacy red thong peeking out of her half closed carry-on and stifled a frustrated howl as images of him licking a trail around the flower-trimmed panties fogged his lust-crazed brain.

“Sorry about that. My phone’s been zinging all morning.” She tucked the cell into a denim purse and flashed him her signature upturned-at-the-corners smile. “First Iggy, then Jacques, and then Christine.”

Eli pressed his lips together. Had she texted him before speaking with Iggy and Jacques? Was he last or first on her list?

“Are we having breakfast in the hotel?” She fiddled with the brass latch on the bag.

“I arranged for room service. Here.” He thrust the flowers at her. “What did Dardin want?”

“To let me know he’s put a trace on the missing DVD.” She sniffed the peach tipped roses. “Thanks for the flowers.”

The buzzer rang and he stomped his way to the door not liking the fact that Dardin had Stephanie’s cell number one bit. “That’s probably breakfast. I ordered you a ham, mushroom, and triple cheese omelet with bacon, sausages, hash browns, and rye toast.”

She stared at him the whole time the waiter fussed with the food cart. Those slanted eyes peeped at him over the bunch of roses she still smelled. The second the door clicked shut, she asked, “How’d you know?”

“You eat breakfast in the cafeteria every morning. It’s Tuesday.” For someone whose creativity scaled the heights, Stephanie had repetitive eating habits.

Color ebbed and flowed across her cheeks. “You noticed what I eat?”

“I notice everything about you. You take your coffee with two packets of cream. You like fizzy ginger pop, double bacon cheeseburgers with the works, and extra pickles.” He couldn’t stand it anymore, ate up the distance between them, and hauled her tight against him. He nuzzled her neck and sighed. “You changed your shampoo a month and a half ago. I like the scent of this one better. Kinda gingery.”

She pressed her palms to his chest, tilted her head back, and gazed at him, mouth slightly agape.

He took advantage immediately and kissed her, greedy to taste her again. He savored the minty heat of her and sipped along the plump seam of her lips. “Mornin’ honey. I’ve been chomping at the bit since dawn our time.”

She blinked a couple of times. “You should’ve texted me. I’ve been up since then too.”

Immediately he pictured her all sleepy and warm and cozy. His dick leaked and he had to clench his groin muscles and choke back a groan. Waking Stephanie up in myriad depraved scenarios had preoccupied him most of the morning.

Get a grip. Breakfast.

“Eli, you’re crushing the roses.” She nudged his shoulder.

He let her go in stages, forcing his arms away from her narrow waist, teasing both eyebrows with tiny kisses before blowing out a long breath, and pulling a chair close to the cart. “My lady, your meal awaits. I told them to leave the vase empty.”

The smile she threw him rivaled the brightest sun he’d ever seen. “You thought of everything.”

Eli watched her lithe fingers arrange the flowers in the crystal vase he’d ordered, and shifted the chair under the table after she sat down.

Instead of sitting opposite her, Eli situated himself right next to her. He lifted the silver domes one by one and took a deep inhale. “Nothing like the smell of bacon.”

“I know what you mean. After I saw Babe for the first time, I vowed that I’d never eat bacon again. That lasted about a day. It was the one aroma that made me hungry even during the chemo.” All the color drained out from her cheeks and she clamped her hands over her face.

“Chemo?” Eli gaped at her. The peach in her cheeks paled. All the happy animation she always radiated dissolved. Too stunned to absorb the notion behind her declaration, he repeated, “Chemo?”

Hope you enjoyed.

May Monday Meet you Merry!

Ouch. Couldn’t help it. I’ve been alliterating all weekend.

Cheers,

Jianne

 

Happy Birthday to My One and Only!

abstract-party-1Today is the dh’s sixtieth birthday.

Wow!

Bart eyes onlyI can still remember the first time our eyes met across the bar on our college campus, The Keg. My hubby has the twinkliest blue eyes in the world. He’d spent the summer working in construction, and was tanned a glorious nut brown, and his blonde hair was almost shoulder length (a real hippy back then) and bleached to a remarkable sunlight hue. Broad shoulders, and an ass so grabable that I literally salivated. Heck, I fell hard and fast. He was and still is the one – my one and only.

Without a doubt, I can say we’ve both had an incredible ride. Life has been good to us. We have three amazing sons who we not only love, but like. Our boys turned into wonderful men, and we’re both so proud of them. This year we’ll celebrate our thirty-sixth anniversary, and you know what? There’s no other person whose company I’d rather keep. We’re friends, lovers, and mates. I couldn’t ask for more.

So Happy Birthday my Viking!

All my love always,

Your,

J