One More Day...

Well, this is the week. Shaking Off the Dust has it’s e-pub release Tuesday January 1, 2008. I ring in a new era in my life, published author. After ten years of writing, my sixth novel made it to publication. I will celebrate today with my family, a bottle of champagne and toasts to a joyous New Year for us all.

It has been an interesting year on this journey. After months of excited waiting, you finally tell yourself not to think about it at all. I’ve managed to do that until the last month. The day approaches and there is quiet anticipation. Will anyone read it? Will it satisfy the readers who do?

I enjoyed writing this book. I fell in love with the characters; they came alive for me as I wrote. I would snark at them sometimes, like they were people I knew of long acquaintance. I tell you this because I am confidant as I write this reference letter for them, that they can take you on a entertaining journey to places you will enjoy discovering. There is humor, suspense, new friendships and romantic love within the pages of this story.

So begin the New Year by
Shaking Off the Dust

Rhianna Samuels

Rhiannasamuels.com

New What?

Wow, did I stink up this quiz.

One of the questions was... well, a bit unfair. You'll see what I mean.

Anyway, beat my 50% and feel good about yourself all weekend long. Even if you don't pwn me, feel good anyhow.

Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Writing the Sex Scene

One of the hazards of writing romantic fiction is the fact that your audience expects some kind of love scene during the course of the book. If you write sweet, that may include nothing but a chaste kiss or two. If you write ... How do they put it in our group description? Ah, yes! ... "swinging from the chandeliers sex", then you have more graphic detail to add. ;)

I write somewhere in the middle for the most part, although I do write sweet stories for one of my publishers. But one of the most difficult aspects for me in my steamier romances is that ever-daunting list of euphemisms. You know, the ones romance writers tend to use in place of such cold and rather medical terms such as penis and vagina?

What to say? What to write??? What words can I use that won't make a grown woman giggle or grown? I've read some clunkers in my time. We all have! I've probably written a few, as well. Plus there are certain, commonly used words I just do NOT like. I won't mention which ones because I don't want to be raspberried by any of my fellow SoS writers. ;)

Anyhow, while going through my bulk mail folders lately, I've noticed a rather interesting and humorous trend in the spam. Most seem to focus on sex and geared toward men, but that 'p' word catches the red flag on most spam filters. Therefore the spammers are getting more and more creative. I've begun to compile a growing list of euphemisms that I never, ever before thought of ... and will likely never, ever use.

(Yes, I have been procrastinating. How can you tell?)

Here are a few that caught my attention:

schlong
(male) aggregate
instrument

Interesting use of the English language, don't you think?

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve already? Where does the time go?! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm off to work in a couple of hours. :P

He Kept Me Warm for Ten Years... Now He's Kicked to the Curb!

Ten years, you say? Is that anyway to reward someone who never failed to heat me up until this morning? Of course! It's his job! If he can't do the job without leaking all over my kitchen floor, then what good is he?

No, I'm not talking about my significant other. I'm talking about my dang gas water heater.

He failed this morning. Not only did I have only cold water for a shower this morning, I had to delay my trip home Kentucky while I waited for the gas company guy. He came by early to re-light my pilot light...or so I thought. He gave me the bad news along with an estimate for a new water heater.

Naturally it's too late to get it installed today, so my appointment is set for tomorrow morning. If the installer comes early enough, I can head up the Interstate to see my mom for the holidays. If it takes half the day to install, well...maybe.

The saga continues...
This post was initially written on Wednesday. Comes Thursday, the gas men come but they can't install the water heater because the water softener is in the way and they have no clue on how to disconnect and move it out of the way. So, I have to call a plumber who will come as soon as he completes his current call.

Will the gas men wait? Of course, not! They leave and promise to return on Friday afternoon.
The plumber shows up fifteen minutes later and disconnects the water softener and moves it to the garage. An hour later, I discover I have no water whatsoever.

Another call to the plumber's company. Said plumber comes back and reconnects the water lines. Nice of him and done promptly. I have water, at least, even if it's not warm enough to take a bath or wash my hair. No one will see me. Who cares?

Friday morning dawns. I'm not expecting the gas guys until this afternoon. If fact, I'm still in bed writing this post when the phone rings. It's the gas guys and they'll be here by nine. Yea!

Needless to say this expense isn't necessarily welcome during the holiday season, but I'll manage. Anyway, I'll soon have hot water...if nothing else goes wrong! If it does, be assured I'll let you know.


Marie-Nicole
http://marienicoleryan.com/

Christmas Movies for Guys?

Over at a favorite site of mine while I’m trying to figure out the men in my life --- meaning the heroes for my romances, not my husband, brothers-in-law or stepsons --- is AskMen.com. It is just a treasure trove into the male mind.

While there I found “The Top Ten Christmas Movies For Guys” (see below):

1. The Ref
Best line: "You know what I'm going to get you next Christmas, Mom? A big wooden cross, so that every time you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it."

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Best Line: "Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no! We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here! We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f*cking Kaye! And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse!"

3. Bad Santa
Best line: "I slept with a woman who was unclean and got sick. All my hair fell out, so I had to get this fake beard." (When asked what happened to his beard.)

4. Scrooged
Best line: "No, you are a hallucination, brought on by alcohol! Russian Vodka, poisoned by Chernobyl!"

5. The Family Man
Best line: "Because you thought I was cocky , I'm now on a permanent acid trip ?"

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Best line: "Attacked by Christmas toys. That's strange, that's the second toy complaint we've had."

7. Die Hard
Best line: "Man, if this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year's."

8. Trading Places
Best line: "It seems to me that the best way to hurt rich people is by making them poor."

9. Trapped In Paradise
Best line: "In the Firpo family, the man with half a brain is king!"

10. Silent Night, Deadly Night
Best line: "You see Santa Claus tonight you better run boy, you better run for ya life!"

Hmmm, I think we need “The Top Ten Christmas Movies for Ladies” . . .any suggestions?

I’ll start with the classic and a favorite of mine.

White Christmas
Best Line: “When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be worth getting, whatever it is you've got left.”

Ramblings From Rhianna

With only three weeks before my first book appears in e-publication form, I’m glad that Christmas and the holidays are able to distract me. I am excited at the idea of Shaking Off the Dust being out there for public consumption, but after the work of edits, and believe me that was eye opening, I ended up spending the last several weeks in a sort of writers limbo.

I have several WIPs (works in progress) that I hoped to finish or make an impact on, instead, I found myself writing a paragraph here and there. As to the sequel to SOTD, I planned to pull it back to use everything I learned in edits and apply. Finally, I would start to make appearances in the chat rooms to help promote my name and book. Oh yea, and then there’s the whole preparing for the holidays and my day job. Pesky thing, they want my full attention when I’m there.

I failed miserably at all those things, except my day job. My office mate doesn’t allow me to slack off…much. Thank God for her.

Now if I only had a writer mate, who would also demand deadlines and talk me down when I’m circling the computer like a coyote. It took me until this last week to pull out the completed manuscript/sequel and begin the new edits. I had some POV issues I needed to work out in my head before I started. You see this sequel is more of an action/thriller and less so a romance. Yes, there is a love story that continues and two new ones that begin, but it brings together all those sexy men from the first book. As each character is pulled back into this story, they have a unique POV.

As for the WIPs, there are three and each one is very unique. One is a Novella and started out as a comedy and is turning into something more intense. I love humor in books, but I find it hard to keep the threads of real life out. In reality we try to laugh when things get hard. But, I wanted something light hearted, so I am letting it sit for a bit, until I decide if it’s straight romantic comedy or not.

The historical is kicking my fanny. I have a fair bit done, but I am using some historical events as background to the plot and I wonder if I should just change it into a parlor, party and seduction, like so many current historicals. I don’t mean that as an insult, not really, but it’s easier not to worry about historical accuracies when you keep a smaller landscape.

As for Christmas, I will put down the pen and computer at the end of next week to welcome family and the holiday spirit into my heart. It’s been such a remarkable year for me. (This is the part where you assume I’m going to remark on the past year. Sometimes you are too smart for your britches.) I learned about changes, life and a little about writing. I would advise anyone to follow their heart, but you must also know what in your heart. That's the hard part.

What did you learn in 2007? What advice would you offer to anyone based on what this past year has taught you?

Rhianna Samuels
Rhiannasamuels.com
Begin the New Year by
“Shaking Off the Dust”

'Tis The Season...

Your Elf Name Is...

Baby Fruit Cake

What's Your Elf Name?

Baby Fruit Cake? I guess that means I'm a very small doorstop. Or only beginning to lose my mind. It could go either way.

Go learn your elf name, and report back.

Happy Holidays, everybody =)

2008 EPPIE Finalist

Okay, I know it's not my day to post, but I'm claiming some bragging rights.

My Samhain release, Too Good To Be True, has beenselected as a finalist in the Erotic Romance Contemporary/Suspense/Mystery category.

In case you've never heard of the EPPIE, it's awarded by EPIC, the ELECTRONICALLY PUBLISHED INFORMATION CONNECTION.

Mary-Nicole

Believe in the dream... Beware the danger.

Marie-Nicole's Web site

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, available in print and elctronic formats

Link to Buy: http://samhainpublishing.com/authors/marie-nicole-ryan

Juggling Act

Every day there seems to be more and more demands on my time and fewer hours in the day. It gets a bit tough to juggle all my rolls including: wife; mom to five; home school teacher; writer; housekeeper; nurse; chauffer; chief cook and bottle washer. ;) I'm glad I don't have a job outside the home or I'd likely go into meltdown before the day ended.

So how do any of us do it? How do we juggle it all and still keep ourselves sane? For me, it's by writing. Odd since that's now on my list of 'have to dos'; it used to be solely an outlet to keep my identity from getting lost in the daily duties of motherhood and such.

But even though I 'have' to write and keep producing new books, it's still the best way for me to relax and unwind. (Until it comes to revisions -- then look out!) Writing helps me work through the varied emotions and chaos of life. I can sit back and think about how I felt when my 12 y.o. son came home this weekend -- his shirt bloody from the traffic accident he'd just been in. I can use those feelings in my writing later on ... after the shock wears off and I let my children take off the bubble-wrap in which I've encased them.

Okay, at least in my mind. A writer's imagination is an interesting place. ;)

My particular juggling act adds knowledge and experience to a vast well. Then, as needed, I can dip that figurative pen inside and siphon out the bits and pieces of emotion, conflict, drama and comedy that my stories may need. I can vividly describe how the heroine feels when something horrible happens and the blood drains from her face -- it's a very distinctive sensation. I can delve more deeply into my hero's fears as he watches the woman he loves fight for her life in the intensive care unit -- it's a desolate and helpless kind of turmoil that brings even the strongest Alpha male to his knees.

Writing isn't only a part of my life, but it's my way of life AND a way of coping. We all need a way to deal with the ups and downs. We all need something special that's just for us. It's not selfish, it's human.

How do you cope? Do you write? Paint? Dance? Run? Joke? Just sit down and cry? How do you deal with everything and still come out strong?

Read anything good lately?

I'm neck deep in a requested revision and as a result my brain is mostly fried. Happens to the best of us right? It was a short erotic sf, expanded to a novella, and by the time I'm done it'll be around 40k. So I guess we could call that a short novel, right? It's a big jump from that original 10k, that's for sure.

When I'm working on something like this with a complicated world and a story that requires me to keep going back and layering in things, I look for my escape in fantasy. And it makes sense in this case anyway. Fantasy and SF are close cousins, and my story has a lot of political intrigue underlying it. So I've reread all my Guy Gavriel Kay books in the past few weeks. Kay does political intrigue like no one. My favorite by far is Tigana and I won't even attempt to summarize it. But if you love fantasy, you should check out this book.

As much as I've loved all this rereading, I wanted something new also. I ran across Empire by Orson Scott Card a few days ago. This is an incredible and scary book about how a man might take our Republic to Empire. I hestitated over buying it and in the end was very glad.

So what have you read lately? Anything exceptional you'd like to pass on?

My Favorite Holiday Movie

The single holiday movie which typifies the magic of the season to me is Miracle on 34th Street. Of course, after seeing it on TV, I rushed to grade school the next morning and insisted to one and all there really was a Santa Claus. I was in the fourth grade so I was the subject of much derision and scoffing, but I didn’t care. I knew I was right.

Yes, it was a more innocent time—I’m older than dirt—but already most of my classmates were in the know about Santa really being our parents. But for another year, at least, little Marie-Nicole believed in there was a real Santa.

Which brings to mind a couple more holiday memories related to the old gentleman in the red suit...my family was living in Phoenix, Arizona at the time so I must’ve been around five. My mom and dad took me to all the stores. I looked up at one Santa and asked him how he got from one store to the other so fast. I don’t remember his answer, but I’m sure it was a good one. In another store, I pointed out that this Santa was wearing the same shoes my father was wearing.

It just shows that this future author was a keen observer, even if she did believe in Santa until she was at least ten years old.

So what’s your favorite holiday movie and why?

Marie-Nicole
http://marienicoleryan.com/

Thursday Thirteen

THIRTEEN WAYS TO TELL IF YOU'VE DONE TOO MUCH CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

1. Your car start to whimper when you put the key in the ignition.

2. Your car's emergency brake engages automatically as you head to the mall.

3. The salespeople start smiling and call you by your first name.

4. Your debit card smokes when they run it through the card reader.

5. Your credit cards are already maxed out.

6. Your feet have swollen two sizes larger than they were the day before Thanksgiving.

7. You play kamikazi with the car in front of you trying to get the closest parking spot in the lot and don't give it a second thought.

8. The sound of Christmas carols make your heart race.

9. You start to fidget and grow panicky if you're not shopping.

10. You've gained ten pounds just from eating all those Steak Escape french fries and Dippin Dots at the mall's food court.

11. A fifty percent off sign is an irristable lure.

12. You ran out of room in the attic and garage and had to rent a POD to store all your purchases.

13. You think of just one more perfect gift and rush for the door when you realize Christmas was yesterday.

Can't Wait for Christmas?

Spend some time here...

http://www.merry-christmas.com/games/index.htm

It will help keep your mind (and your fingers!) off all those pretty presents under the tree!

The Cool Aunt is at a loss on what to give

December is finally here, we can officially dread the month or celebrate, whichever is your inclination. I flip flop on that, depending on the day and my temperament. I still have a fair amount of gifts to buy, although I am considering gift certificates or cold hard cash as an alternative. The cool aunt usually buys them gifts, but the last few years I have given in to their money grubbing ways and handed out cash. The cool aunt let’s them say rude things and watch inappropriate movies while reading violent and sex filled books.

My brothers and sisters know that I do these things. They just ignore it and let them revel in being filled with holiday spirit. My nephews and nieces are growing older and are less likely to be visiting for holidays in another few years, so I want to stamp my kind of worldview on them now, so they’ll stay in touch.

A couple of years ago, I paid the way for the older ones to go to Dragon*Con with me, my younger brother came along, it was a blast. They enjoyed that more than anything else I could have planned. While my brother and I hit all the writer panels, they just went where every they wanted and mostly checked out the crowd. They are all in college, so they are poor, but they claim every year they are saving up to go again.

It was a one-time thing for me to be able to do that. This last year has been all about getting my book out there for the Jenny and John Q. Public to find. Maybe if enough of the Public family find and read Shaking Off the Dust, I’ll be able to take them again to a convention. That would be great fun.

I guess I kind of went off topic there, however it was all about finding a fun gift for my nephews and nieces. So far, I haven’t found the perfect gift under thirty five dollars. Have you? If you have, please pass it on, because I’d still like to buy them a gift and not just hand them money. There are no memories attached to money. At least no memories that have my name on it.

Oh, my 14 year old niece made me this new banner, check it out, isn’t it awesome?

Rhianna Samuels
Rhiannasamuels.com
Begin the New Year by“Shaking Off the Dust”