About Books

Is over at Romancing the Blog. I’m talking about all the books I read in 2007. Go check it out! :joe:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and got lots of goodies! :bub:

As for me, this will probably be remembered as the year of the sweater. I got six sweaters, but I really needed some new ones, so it was all good. I also got tons of books this year. All right, not tons — ten shiny new books to be exact. Here’s what Santa brought me:

Cold as Ice, Ice Blue, and Ice Storm, all by Anne Stuart (books 2, 3, and 4 in her romantic suspense series)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (first young adult novel in a series featuring Greek mythology)

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (the young adult vampire novel everyone is raving about)

The Jugger and The Seventh, both by Richard Stark (hard-boiled crime capers in the Parker series)

A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison (book 4 in the Rachel Morgan urban fantasy series)

Don’t Look Down by Suzanne Enoch (book 2 in her contemporary romance series)

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward (book 5 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series)

I’ve already started reading Cold as Ice and am really enjoying it. Which brings to mind a funny conversation my significant other and I had last night.

He was telling me how he’d started playing this video game I bought him, looked at the backs of his books, and already opened up his new model kits (he builds model tanks). I told him to slow down or he wouldn’t have anything left to look at by the end of the week. Then, he asked me what page I was on in Cold as Ice. The answer: 92 (and I’d only been reading an hour). So, I guess we’re both guilty of tearing into our presents. 🙄

What about you? What did Santa bring you for Christmas? What new books are you eager to read?

On Dec. 21, I’m going to be on a talk radio show hosted by romance author Melissa Alvarez. I’m going to be answering questions, and folks can also call in and talk to me. Want to know more? Here’s the link to the show. The listener call-in number is (347) 215-8473.

Hope to hear you on the radio! :joe:

So, I turned in a book to my agent today. It’s the urban fantasy book I’ve been talking about — the one about the assassin who can control elements. My agent now has each and every one of the 105,839 words.

Finishing a book (no matter how crappy it is) is always a great feeling, but I think I’m a little extra proud of this one … mainly because I started it in mid-October.

That’s right, 105,839 words in roughly two months. That’s about 1,700 words a day, not counting editing and revising time.

Why did I do this madness, you ask? I sent my agent a couple of proposals, and she liked the assassin book the best. She wanted to see it. ASAP. So, I wrote it. ASAP. And it’s finally done — at least until she comes back to me with revision thoughts.

I think I’m going to go sleep now … 😯

So, I’ve been working on a new project.

The book is an urban fantasy about an assassin who gets double-crossed and has to go after the people who hired her in the first place. Darker and grittier than what I usually write with a Southern flavor, but still some cheeky, gallows humor in places. The world features vampires, dwarves, giants, and elementals — humans who can control and manipulate the four elements of fire, ice, stone, and air.

The assassin’s name is Gin. She’s an elemental who can control stone and ice, and all-around take-charge, kick-ass woman. I love writing strong women, and Gin’s definitely the toughest one I’ve done yet. She’s good at killing people, in doing what needs to be done, and she doesn’t torture herself over it. It’s just how it is in her world.

But now comes the hard part — deciding on a title. I’ve been batting around titles with just about everyone, my significant other, my agent, my writers’ group. Nothing’s really grabbed me just yet.

Right now, the front-runner is Gin on the Rocks or maybe just On the Rocks. I was thinking maybe I could use the word Gin in all the titles, should there be more books. Like Gin with a Twist or A Touch of Gin, etc.

Other titles we’ve considered are: Cold as Ice, Iced, Heart of Stone, Heart of Ice, Cold Comfort, and a dozen others.

What do you guys think? Do you like some of the titles? Hate them? Inquiring minds want to know …