• ·

    Oh, the plots we weave …

    8 Comments

    As some of you know, I am totally addicted to TV. Seriously, I watch waaay too many programs every week, and one of my favorites is Gossip Girl. Now, this year hasn’t been as good as previous years — until the writers decided to hook up rich bitch Blair with Brooklyn boy Dan.

    I am love-love-loving this pairing. Why? Well, for one thing, Blair and Dan have never liked each other, but they’ve slowly become friends this year based on their mutual love of movies and art. It’s been fun to watch them inch toward each other. They’ve always been two of the nicest and most loyal characters on the show — Blair with Chuck (who is an ass most of the time), and Dan with Serena (who is flighty and selfish most of the time). I like the idea that Blair and Dan could be loyal to and happy with each other for a change.

    But really, it’s the plot that’s got me hooked because it’s an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers plot. Romance readers and authors talk about plots all the time — the secret-baby plot, the friends-to-lovers plot, the second-chance-at-love plot.

    There are tons of them out there, but one of my favorites is the friends-to-lovers plot. Why? Because I think it’s one of the most realistic plots. Love (or lust) at first sight is great, but to me, there’s something magical about watching or reading about two people becoming friends, then realizing their feelings have turned into something more. It just makes me sigh with happiness every single time.

    This is probably why I’m also addicted to romantic comedies and all those cheesy TV holiday movies — because so many of them feature the friends-to-lovers plot or a modern-day variation of the marriage-of-convenience plot, which is another one of my favorites.

    So I’m rooting for you, Blair and Dan. May your friendship turn into something more. Even if it doesn’t last, I think it will be entertaining to watch. I just wish it was April and Gossip Girl was back from its spring break already …

    What about you guys? Which TV shows are you digging? Which plots do you love?

  • ·

    Letting go …

    18 Comments

    So I’ve been sending out e-ARCs of Tangled Threads to reviewers/bloggers, and a few folks have e-mailed me back letting me know about typos, small mistakes, etc. I’m really grateful for this, and I’ve been able to make some changes based on these e-mails. Even if it’s too late to make changes to the original version, I still pass along the info to my editor so the second and subsequent printings can be corrected (assuming the books go back to press).

    But no matter who it’s from, whenever I get an e-mail pointing out a typo, etc., I always cringe a little inside because I hate, hate, hate that there are mistakes in my books. Argh! It makes me feel like Charlie Brown running up to kick the football and Lucy pulling it away from him at the last minute.

    Believe me, I’ve tried to cut down on the typos and mistakes. I spend days (sometimes weeks) apiece on each round of rough drafts, revisions, copy edits, and page proofs. I probably read through each one of my books at least 10 times (if not more), editing pen in hand every single time. And still at the end when the book goes into print, there are typos and other mistakes that creep in.

    Argh! I feel like I just hit the dirt again, just like poor ole Charlie Brown.

    I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot since I just finished up the page proofs for Touch of Frost and am currently working on copy edits for Spider’s Revenge. I’ve looked at these pages until I can see them in my sleep, but every time I go back through them, I see something else that I could fix or tweak. Sigh.

    I know that I’ve just got to make peace with the fact that my books are never going to be perfect. There’s always going to be some small typo that I don’t catch or a better word that I could have used somewhere — but letting go is never easy.

    I think maybe the next time Lucy pulls the football away from me, I’ll just lay there on the ground awhile and take a nap. At least then, I’ll be well-rested. LOL. Until I get the next round of edits or page proofs, that is …

  • Giveaways and tournaments …

    Paranormal Haven is having a giveaway to celebrate hitting 1,000 followers. Some books are up for grabs, including a signed copy of Venom. Go here for details.

    Also, the folks over at Dear Author and Smart Bitches are teaming up again to offer DABWAHA, a book tournament that’s a twist on March Madness. I wanted to mention I’m donating some prizes to the tourney, including a $50 Amazon gift card and e-ARCs of Tangled Threads and Touch of Frost. Here’s a post at Dear Author that talks about the tourney, or you can go here to the tourney site itself.

    I really like the book tourney because it’s so much fun to fill out your bracket and then vote for your favorite books. Of course, the book I pick to win always gets knocked out in the first round. We’ll see if I do any better this year. LOL.

  • ·

    Gin goes international …

    14 Comments

    Gin Blanco is headed overseas.

    I’m happy to report that the first three Elemental Assassin books — Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, and Venom — will be published in Russia. Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies will be published in France, and Spider’s Bite will be published in Serbia.

    Pretty cool, huh? 😉

    These are the foreign rights that my publisher has sold so far for the series. Now, I have no idea when the books will be released overseas. I’m assuming it will be the usual 12-18 months after the deal is done before the books are released (like it is in the U.S.). The Russian and French deals were done last year; the Serbian deal just happened this February.

    Someone sent me an e-mail saying that Spider’s Bite would be out in France in April, but I don’t really have any way of confirming that. So if you’re an overseas reader and see my books somewhere, please let me know. I’d love to see what the cover art looks like.

    It always amazes me that people here in the U.S. can read my books. But in the next year or so, folks in other countries can read them too, in addition to the ones who already read the English versions. Can world domination be too far behind? LOL.