Stacy Gail - Fictional Friction

A (Sort OF) Love Letter To The Editor Of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS—Angela James

2011-12-05T01:05:00.009-06:00

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases December 5th!

Dear Angela,

Well, we made it. It’s almost release-day for your special project—the steampunk Christmas anthology you and the Carina Press staff entitled A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS!

In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m new to the scene of publishing. Pfft, who am I kidding? I’m so new I squeak. I’ve had two other releases before my novella with you—A CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET—but since they both happened in the last ninety days or so, I’m still learning the ropes. *cough*GinormousUnderstatement*cough*

Angela!

One of those ropes had to do with Twitter. I’d been told by one of my editors at Samhain Publishing that I needed to be on Twitter to be a presence online, so I dutifully made up an account on March 1^st of this year. On March 6^th, someone retweeted your call for submissions for a holiday Steampunk project, and I immediately had an idea for a story. I didn’t know anything about you or Carina Press; I just liked the subject. I didn’t have a long time to get things together, since the deadline was May 15th, but when the characters Cornelia Peabody and Roderick Coddington pushed their way to the fore, I knew the story was going to be all right. And when I had 15K written in the first week, I REALLY knew it was going to be all right.

When a story pushes its bossy way out like that, it’s always a fun ride.

I was done with CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET by the time May rolled around. I even had time to send it off to a beta reader for that all-important feedback. Twice I read the manuscript aloud, until I felt the character of Cornelia so keenly I actually perfected her faint Irish lilt, and I could see impassioned fire hidden beneath the professorial veneer in Roderick’s vengeful eyes.

But as the deadline inched closer, I weenied out. I just couldn’t make myself send it to you.

Did you know I teach figure skating? As part of that job I was also a gold-level judge in ISI. I’ve sat on countless competition panels, doing the job I had spent a lifetime perfecting, so that in turn, the people I judged could be made better (you see where I’m going with this?). The thing about judging a group of ten to fifteen skaters is basic mathematics—three will see the podium. The others won’t. And someone will know that terrible pain of coming in dead last. I know this sounds cold, so please don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t that I hated them, or that it was anything personal, and you can bet in my heart of hearts I wanted everyone to come out a winner. But in every competition I have ever judged, there are those whose efforts don't deserve to see the podium. That doesn't mean they'll never see it. There’s always another day, as they say, and that’s something I find myself reminding my broken-hearted students when they (inevitably) produce a bad performance. There’s always another competition down the road, another shot at the podium. As long as you keep entering, keep trying, there is no failure.

My Dirty Birdies! I'm the dork
in the glasses. :)

Eventually I realized how stupid I was being by not hitting the Send button. On May 13^th, my birthday, I gave myself the present of courage and sent off CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET. I did it with the hope that it would podium, but full of understanding if it didn’t. After all, as you have been trained to be on a judges’ panel of a different type, it’s your job and your duty to make sure the world you love—the publishing world—gets the best efforts from its creative engine, the writers. And hey, let's face that really big, ugly fact that no one likes to talk about--no matter how awesome it feels to get that podium spot, I don’t know of any writer who would want a project out there that isn’t worthy of an acceptance, if only because one bad novel can sever a thousand reader relationships.

So this ends my (sort of) love letter to not just you, Angela, but to all editors who sit in their own kind of judge's seat, filled with the hope of being dazzled, and the determination to say no when they're not. We writers certainly don’t podium on every attempt, but you remind us—there’s always tomorrow.

Speaking of which… it’s tomorrow. Happy release day, Angela. :) Love, Stacy

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET is available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/uU8dXX

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/udtEfX

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/sUOBOm

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vjNOCb

Let's Shine That Spotlight On The Fabulous JK Coi, Author Of FAR FROM BROKEN!

2011-12-04T00:48:00.001-06:00

FAR FROM BROKEN Available
DECEMBER 5th!

FAR FROM BROKEN by JK Coi was the first novella from A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS that I had the opportunity to read, and as I’ve told just about anyone who will listen to me, it had me crying from the third page. My antho sister, JK (who also writes dark fantasy for YA under the name Chloe Jacobs for Entangled Publishing) has that rare gift of being able to dig straight down into the raw, agonizing heart of a story to wrench forth the deepest, most private—and totally relatable—human emotions. Most writers attempt to do this, but compared to JK’s unbelievable writing style and talent, they only scratch the surface (and I include myself in that regard).

In our tight-knit anthology family, JK is our efficient, never-frazzled dynamo who gets by on maybe 5-6 hours of sleep a night (as far as I can tell). Someone will come up with an idea, and before you know it, this amazing Energizer Bunny has found a way to make it happen! While juggling the roles of wife, mother, working a full-time job, PLUS sewing up a fabulous two-book deal with Entangled Publishing as Chloe Jacobs AND getting ready to promote her novella CAGED in the Agony/Ecstasy erotica anthology, she was making up our Romance Trading Cards for A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS. I’ve now become secretly convinced that she is, in fact, Wonder Woman (but don’t tell anyone, shhhh).

FAR FROM BROKEN
RTC back

FAR FROM BROKEN
RTC front

(Don't ask me why I can't make these bigger; I just sorta can't *sigh*)

The Lovely JK Coi <3

FAR FROM BROKEN took me two whole days to get over—I simply couldn’t stand the thought of reading anything else, or for that matter, writing anything else. I needed to absorb the magnificent emotional rollercoaster ride on which JK had taken me. The story starts from the point of view of Jasper, the hero, and his grinding desperation and soul-deep pain is palpable. I was almost sick with loss by the second page. Then Jasper’s anguish, and the tortured screaming of his beloved Callie, brought me to tears. I couldn’t stand it. Yet I couldn’t stand to put it down. So rarely do you have the black moment start out right from the first chapter, but it was NECESSARY. Right from the beginning, the reader needed to take each and every agonizing step with Callie and Jasper back into the light, so that by the end of the book, you are literally cheering their multi-faceted victory, and believing that love really can conquer ANYTHING.

The HEA that awaits readers at the end of FAR FROM BROKEN will be one of the most satisfying you’ll ever read. I'm not kidding, y'all. EVER. I guarantee you’ll need a couple of days to recover the way I did, but trust me—you’ll enjoy every second of it. Romance simply doesn’t get any better than this!

Now really, how can you NOT take a look at the blurb from JK Coi’s FAR FROM BROKEN?

BLURB:

Soldier. Spymaster. Husband.

Colonel Jasper Carlisle was defined by his work until he met his wife. When the prima ballerina swept into his life with her affection, bright laughter and graceful movements, he knew that she was the reason for his existence, and that their love would be forever.

But their world is shattered when Callie is kidnapped and brutally tortured by the foes Jasper has been hunting. Mechanical parts have replaced her legs, her hand, her eye...and possibly her heart. Though she survived, her anger at Jasper consumes her, while Jasper's guilt drives him from the woman he loves. He longs for the chance to show her their love can withstand anything...including her new clockwork parts.

As the holiday season approaches, Jasper realizes he must fight not just for his wife's love and forgiveness...but also her life, as his enemy once again attempts to tear them apart.

27,000 words

Available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/usJfK8

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/tqHMqa

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/vf9JfT

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vlFLPc

So there you have it, the inside look at three amazing, talented, generous women whom I have come to know and love. Jenny Schwartz, PG Forte and JK Coi will always be my anthology sisters, no matter how far afield we go. We’ve become each other’s cheerleaders, crit partners and sounding boards, and I am so thankful we were all brought together for this project, known as A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS.

Tomorrow, be prepared for me to get a little gushy over our editor, Angela James of Carina Press.

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases Monday, December 5th!

Spotlight on PG Forte (and that Rhymes with Foreplay)!

2011-12-02T22:08:00.007-06:00

Believe it or not, how to correctly say PG Forte's surname was my first official introduction to my antho sister. The moment I popped over to her website, clicked on her blog and saw the "Rhymes with Foreplay" banner, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. :D

If you look at her Amazon Author's Page, you realize just how incredibly talented this woman is. Steampunk, fantasy, paranormal, M/M, erotica, series romance... there's nothing she can't do! My current main goal in life is to meet with PG in person so I can 1.) get her autograph, and 2.) buy her lunch and persuade her to let me pick her brain for a couple of hours. I'm telling y'all, this woman might not know everything, but it's close enough for me.

One last thing I love about PG... she's not. PG, I mean. As in, rated-PG. She belongs to a group of outstanding, red-hot romance writers called The Nine Naughty Novelists. PG doesn't know this (because I've never told her), but long before we both wound up working together on Carina's Press's A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS, I had stumbled my way onto the Nine Naughty Novelists' website (I mean, c'mon... with a name like that, you would have taken a peek too, right? :D). At that time, the nine authors were having a ball posting round-robin chapters on a romance trope-filled spoof called THE ZILLIONAIRE VAMPIRE COWBOY'S SECRET WEREWOLF BABIES. As I snort-laughed my way through it, I never imagined that I was destined to meet up with none other than one of those amazing authors. *fangirl sigh*

Okay, enough gushing, it's time to get to the good stuff! And let me tell you, THIS WINTER HEART (available December 5th from Carina Press) is sooooooooo good. Everyone has different tastes, of course, and I love all the novellas in A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS. That being said, PG's novella is MY kind of romance. Like all the others, I read it in one sitting. Unlike all the others, I was cussing out the hero, Dario, right out of the gate. Damn, that stubborn man pushed all my buttons from the get-go! But that's okay, because in my opinion, that's the best possible sign there is. Feeling passionate about characters means that this story will live on in my memory long after other, less weighty stories have faded away.

THIS WINTER HEART
By PG Forte
Releases December 5th!

THIS WINTER HEART still hasn't faded for me, thanks to the sexy, stubborn Dario. Without spoiling things too much, Dario is frozen emotionally at the beginning of the story, to the point where he seems almost inhuman to his estranged wife, Ophelia, and their son. This apparent lack of human compassion Dario initially displays is the ingenious twist that PG pulls here, because... well, things aren't what they seem with Ophelia. I'd love to talk more about what defines humanity and the soul's ability to love unconditionally, but then I'd be giving the game away. Just do me a favor -- go read THIS WINTER HEART. Then we'll talk about the brilliance of PG Forte, who turns established ideas of the human heart upside down, and proves beyond all doubt that love is the ultimate power when it comes to defining who we are.

Intrigued yet? You should be, so read on!

Blurb:

Santa Fe, The Republic of New Texacali, 1870

Eight years ago, Ophelia Leonides's husband cast her off when he discovered she was not the woman he thought she was. Now destitute after the death of her father, Ophelia is forced to turn to Dario for help raising the child she never told him about.

Dario is furious that Ophelia has returned, and refuses to believe Arthur is his son—after all, he thought his wife was barren. But to avoid gossip, he agrees to let them spend the holidays at his villa. While he cannot resist the desire he still feels for Ophelia, Dario despises himself for being hopelessly in love with a woman who can never love him back.

But Dario is wrong: Ophelia's emotions are all too human, and she was brokenhearted when he rejected her. Unsure if she can trust the man she desperately loves, she fears for her life, her freedom and her son if anyone else learns of her true nature...

30,000 words

Available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/tKeB5W

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/tku1cn

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/sOMdCJ

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/sjycT7

Tomorrow, I review the novella that took me TWO FREAKING DAYS to recover from -- JK Coi's FAR FROM BROKEN!

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases December 5th!

It’s Time To Unveil A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS’S Amazing Jenny Schwartz!

2011-12-01T21:26:00.007-06:00

WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL Releases Dec. 5th!

I'm shining the spotlight on my anthology sisters, PG Forte, JK Coi and Jenny Schwartz, three incredibly talented writers who have been published in a myriad of subgenres in the romance field. First up: Jenny Schwartz!

When I first found out I had been accepted by Carina Press to be a part of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS, the first thing I did… well, the first thing I did was almost faint. Heh. Then when my head cleared, the next thing I did was think, “I wonder who else made it in?” It wasn’t long before our editor, Angela James, was “introducing” us via email. Jenny Schwartz, JK Coi, PG Forte and I hit it off so much that even after our steampunk project is officially launched and over with, we’ve decided we’re going to stick together and be critique partners for each other. There are no words to describe how grateful I am to be included in a project with these multi-published authors. Just about everything I now know about the book business, I’ve learned from them.

I’ve got to give the nod to Jenny Schwartz for getting the ball rolling on us coming together as a team. She was the one who sent out the email that basically said, “We only have three months before our release day on December 5th, what are we going to do?” Jenny has focused us on the art of promo as well as encouraging me to team-think, so it’s Jenny I'm focusing on first.

Jenny Schwartz, Author/Amazing Person

Jenny Schwartz, the author of WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, is a fabulously inventive writer whose narrative “voice” drew me into her world from the first page. This sweet, romantic steampunk story involves a strong-minded heroine (Esme) who would have fit in nicely with the women of my own family, a suffragette who knows more about the ways of the world than most men. I cheered Esme on right away, but what kept me reading through to the end (in one sitting, no less) was the mystery surrounding the yummy hero, Jed Reeve. There’s just something that doesn’t quite add up with this apparent scoundrel, and it was a twist at the end that made me chuckle.

For more of WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, read on:

Blurb:

All suffragette Esme Smith wants is a man. A scoundrel to be precise. Someone who can be persuaded to represent her political views at men-only clubs. As the daughter of the richest man in Australia, Esme can afford to make it worth the right man's while.

Fresh off the boat, American inventor Jed Reeve is intrigued by Esme's proposal, but even more interested in the beauty herself. Amused that she takes him for a man who lives by his wits, he accepts the job—made easier by the fact that he already shares her ideals. Soon, he finds himself caught up in political intrigue, kidnapping and blackmail, and trying to convince his employer he's more than just a scoundrel...

26,000 words

Wanna know where to pick up WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, releasing December 5th? Of course you do!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/v1UPwV

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/s9y32L

B&N: http://bit.ly/ucMrPE

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vLosw7

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS Releases Dec. 5th!

Tomorrow, look for a sneak peek at PG Forte and THIS WINTER HEART!

Seven Days And Counting Before A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS/CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET Releases!

2011-11-28T20:27:00.001-06:00

Yippee, I have my newly uncrashed laptop back from the Geek Squad (how I love thee and your awesome warranties ^_^). That means I’m now ready to share a couple insights and one more excerpt from my Christmas novella, A CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET! (P.S., you might need this for TRR’s YES! Party)

First off, I’m THRILLED that People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2011 is none other than Bradley Cooper. Why? Because my hero, Roderick Coddington, was fashioned after Bradley Cooper (do I have AWESOME taste when it comes to spotting a good man-morsel, or what?). Those eyes, that tousled, golden brown hair, that elegant, rangy bod… Seriously, I have no idea where I was going with this, but who cares? We’re talking about Bradley Cooper/Roderick Coddington.

Second thing… for several years I’ve had to push aside this insistent Christmassy-type idea about some sort of thieving anti-heroine who had to learn that giving—especially the gift of her closely guarded heart—was so much more satisfying than the taking that’s usually involved in a high-stakes heist (though if there was a heist involved as well, so much the better). The problem was I couldn’t find the right background for it. Then there was the submission call for a Steampunk Christmas from Carina Press. Hello, perfect fit. Heh.

Now you’re interested, right? Of course, right! Take a gander at the blurb for CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Fabergé egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn't return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick's intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she's never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else...

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there's a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn't part of Roderick's plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

And here’s one last little peek at CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET's official excerpt before it releases next Monday, December 5^th! (And if you’re playing TRR’s game, your hint is in this excerpt!):

EXCERPT:

“What is it you wanted to show me?”

“This.” With a dark enthusiasm that unnerved her, he led the way to a workbench and turned on an overhead light. “It took me five months to perfect this prototype’s design. I finally had success when I read about Edison’s more stable bamboo filament in his latest electric bulb. Once I had that final piece to the puzzle I was able to create this beauty, as well as its twin now locked to your wrist. What do you think?”

Cornelia moved in for a closer look. It was a tiny clockwork, with an odd configuration of twin miniature pendulums on either side of the filament he had mentioned. Behind the swinging pendulums was a copper backing that seemed to glow with a strange bluish light. “What am I looking at?”

“It’s a type of battery that gets its charge from perpetual motion.”

“Perpetual motion is a myth. Rudolf Clausius’s laws of thermodynamics prove that categorically.”

He shot her a quick glance before he latched the clockwork around the dummy’s waist. “While it’s true that nothing stays in motion forever and does, in fact, need an outward impetus to keep going, the mere beat of your heart and the flow of blood through your veins is enough kinetic energy to keep your timepiece going for seven days, while at the same time accumulating an electrical charge within its battery casing. Where did you get your education?”

“I thought you claimed a guttersnipe like me didn’t have one. Whatever are you doing?”

“Demonstrating what will happen to you if you don’t agree to steal back what you took from me and mine.”

Her quick intake was audible, but she couldn’t help it. In a night full of surprises, that was a lulu. “You want me to steal something for you?”

“Steal something back,” he stressed, his tone so cold it would have made the North Pole seem balmy. “An egg, to be precise. A very special, very rare egg. Now do you remember?”

Of course she did. It wasn’t every day she came across a magnificent Fabergé egg with a surprise of a solid gold cherub hidden inside. It had been so heart-stoppingly beautiful she had almost kept it for herself.

He made a sound of impatience. “No need to answer, I can see you do. Which means we’re making progress.” With brisk efficiency he did something with the clockwork, then turned to pull her back. “Now that you know what I want, you need to understand what will happen to you if I don’t have the egg back by midnight, Christmas morning.”

Before she could ask what he meant, a sickening odor of ozone and smoke billowed out along with a harsh electric buzzing that made her eardrums quiver in protest. Right before her horrified eyes, the dressmaker’s dummy shuddered and jived while sparks flew in every direction. It toppled over even as it burst into flame before the buzzing slowly growled to a sullen end. Roderick was there in an instant with a pail of water, dousing it with motions both unsurprised and repetitive, and in the part of her brain that still worked Cornelia now grasped why the dummy was so scorched. Before locking his timepiece on her wrist, the ever-meticulous Roderick Coddington had tested his electrocution device over and over, just to make sure it worked. Just to make sure it could kill.

Just to make sure it could kill her.

“So there you have it.” Roderick turned to her with a vicious simile of a smile while smoke hung about them in a poisonous haze. “Tick-tock goes the clock, Peabody. You have seven days to right a terrible wrong. Or barring that, seven days to live. Either way I’ll be satisfied.”

I’m so excited this story is being told at last. Christmas, love, and one tiny, little killer timepiece. What’s not to love? ;)

ZERO FACTOR IS UP FOR BOOK OF THE WEEK! So, um... vote for me? Please?

2011-11-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

A truly spectacular email was waiting in my inbox from Long and Short Reviews (LASR) this week--a 4.5-star review for ZERO FACTOR! (To check out this review from Orchid at LASR, please click here)

This novella is part of a three-story anthology called CYBERSHOCK, published by the ever-amazing Samhain Publishing. The novellas have been separately released in ebook format, and will be published in print in July, 2012 (I'm so looking forward to that!).

But what's really fabulous about this review is that I now have an opportunity to win the Book of the Week on LASR's website. It's an honor just to be nominated, so I'm thrilled with this already. But I'd really like to win, so I need your vote! Just click here and vote for ZERO FACTOR, and I'll give you a cookie. Or at least a picture of a cookie. Or maybe a donut. Your choice.

Thanks!

Welcome! If You're Looking for Clues to The Romance Reviews Year End Splash, Read On!

2011-10-31T15:47:00.004-06:00

Hey there! The authors of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS are proud to be a part of TRR's Year End Splash (YES!) Party. Jenny Schwartz, PG Forte, JK Coi and I have some pretty obvious clues placed in our blurbs and excerpts, so if you're playing TRR's game, read on (and don't forget to enjoy the excerpts while you're at it, mkay? ;) ). Good luck!

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET

Title: Crime Wave In a Corset

Published By: Carina Press

Category: Steampunk, Holiday, Caper, Anthology

ebook/Audio Book Release Date: December 5, 2011

Coming Soon To: Amazon, Carina Press

Length: Novella, 34K
Type: Ebook, audio book

Blurb:

Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Faberge egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn’t return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick’s intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she’s never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else…

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there’s a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn’t part of Roderick’s plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

EXCERPT FROM CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

Her quick intake of breath was audible, but she couldn’t help it. In a night full of surprises, that was a lulu. “You want me to steal something for you?”

“Steal something back,” he stressed, his tone so cold it would have made the North Pole seem balmy. “An egg, to be precise. A very special, very rare egg. Now do you remember?”

Just to make sure it could kill her.

It's Review Round-Up!

2011-10-23T22:59:00.004-06:00

Well, it's that time again. It's Sunday night, the last weekend before the release of my too-spicy-to-be-sweet contemporary romance, BEST MAN, WORST MAN from Samhain Publishing, and I have another review to share on it!

From SensualReads:

Wedding coordinator Claire Pomeroy has seen it all, when planning events, and ready with a remedy for every problem until she meets Best Man Ryder Price who is trying to derail the groom into calling off the wedding she is working on. Not only does the man not believe in true love or marriage, the chemistry between them is off the charts. Claire tries to convince Ryder that there is more to marriage than just sex, while Ryder is trying to prove to her that you can have all of that without marriage and be just as happy.
Entertaining quick read, Ryder is a handful as he comes up with a few plans to knock Claire off her game, but Claire is equally determined to prove him wrong. You could easily imagine this story with the descriptive details Stacy Gail has brought to life in Best Man, Worst Man.

I'm so excited to share Ryder and Claire's bumpy road to romance with people who believe that opposite do attract -- and wow, do they ever attract here! I'm so thankful my editor, Imogen Howson, plucked this story out of the slush pile and gave it a chance. Immi, you were right to get rid of the opening "car crash and groping" scene! :D (Fellow writers, please remember to ALWAYS trust your editors -- they really do know best.)

And in other news...

Remember how Harlequin Books put A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS up on NetGalley for early review? Believe it or not, two reviews have already come in! The first one shook my antho sister, JK Coi and me up in exactly the same way -- we couldn't look. We had to wait until someone else read the review on Twitter to let us know we were "safe".

Thoughts Of A Scot was the first reviewer across the finish line, and this was what she had to say about my contribution to this steampunk anthology, CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

First thing's first, I loved the title of this story. Don't know why, but I did.
The story was interesting and the characters likeable. And, as for any Carina Press story, the sex scenes are always heat inducing!

Here's what she said about JK Coi's FAR FROM BROKEN:

Instant pity for Callie and love for Jasper. A slightly different take on other steampunks I've read in that the woman is the one given all the power.

And Jenny Schwartz's WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL:

Again, a good story with likeable characters. This time I loved the male lead first, he was sexy! Esme was strong hearted and independent, a must (I think) for any steampunk book.

And PG Forte's THIS WINTER HEART:

An enjoyable story with a very likeable female lead and a bastard-come-nice-guy of a male lead. I liked Ophelia from the get go and Dario was a meanie to start but soon realised how much he loved his wife.

Please look into what else she had to say about the stories from the amazing JK Coi, Jenny Schwartz, and PG Forte. I'm crazy about my anthology sisters, and honored beyond words to be included amongst them. They're extraordinary! <3

The second review comes from Paula at The Phantom Paragrapher, who gave us her equivalent of a 5-star review -- in this case, 5 P's! For the full story, feel free to visit Paula's review here. Thank you for reading, Paula!

So, the countdown continues for the releases of BEST MAN, WORST MAN this October 25th, and CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET on December 5th. Let the excitement begin!

TOO SPICY TO BE SWEET -- Yup, that's Best Man, Worst Man

2011-10-17T18:35:00.005-06:00

Guess what? BEST MAN, WORST MAN from SamhainPublishing has been reviewed. Guess what again? People LIKE it! *faints*

*revives*

Confession time—I’ll admit I was concerned about how this project was going to be received, since the powers-that-be at Samhain decided to market this fun little project as a “contemporary” romance, rather than a “sweet” romance. What’s the difference? As I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, a sweet romance is one without sex–the story focuses on the true romance of romance, rather than, erm, getting busy in the bedroom. Or shower. Or trampoline. Whatever.

A contemporary romance, though, definitely lets the inhibitions drop, right along with the panties. So when they labeled BEST MAN, WORST MAN as a contemporary romance, I was a tad worried. Would people get it, even if the main characters weren’t, y’know, getting any?

This is was what Library Journal had to say:

Claire Pomeroy is a highly sought-after wedding planner with a reputation for professionalism and going above and beyond the call of duty. She is well on the way to sending her latest couple on to wedded bliss when a blip in the form of a best man comes onto her radar. Ryder Price is dead set on stopping his best friend from walking down the aisle, and a wedding planner is not about to mess up his plan-no matter how perfect she appears. Claire must convince Ryder that a lifetime of happiness is possible in order to keep the wedding on and her heart intact.

Verdict Gail's (Zero Factor) latest novella moves quickly, with only a few uneven parts, and is a fun, sexy read. Although the action never moves beyond some ultra-heavy petting, romance is everywhere as wedding planning abounds. Fans of Nora Roberts's "Bride Quartet" will find alluring the blending of intense passion with detailed discussions of wedded bliss.—Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Alaska–Fairbanks Lib.

So… YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!! I. Am. SO. Happy! My ultimate goal for BEST MAN, WORST MAN was to focus on the purest form of romance—the magic of falling in love. This story is a bit too passionate to be labeled as “sweet”, but what can I say? Even when it comes to the sweetness of romance, I do like things spicy. *wink*

Where to buy BEST MAN, WORST MAN: Samhain, Amazon, Barnes and Noble

In Other News...

Harlequin Books gave the authors of "A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS" a wonderful surprise the week of New York ComicCon (which is what next week's blog is all about). From @HarlequinBooks on Twitter:

In honor of #NYCC, we've put @CarinaPress's Steampunk holiday anthology A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS is on @NetGalley early! http://bit.ly/pLfLtA

That's right, folks! CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET, my holiday steampunk sensual romance for Carina Press's A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS is now available for review on NetGalley. So if you're a reviewer, please consider giving it a look -- thanks!

Take A Peek At BEST MAN, WORST MAN, Coming October 25th!

2011-10-06T21:15:00.002-06:00

My Chocolate-Covered Cover! <3

It's getting to be that time again -- release day for BEST MAN, WORST MAN is almost here!

Oh, what to say about this fun little project... BEST MAN, WORST MAN was the first project to be published, despite the fact that it is now my second release from Samhain. (Confused yet?:) ) BEST MAN, WORST MAN was pushed back thanks to my publisher's release schedule of the cyberpunk anthology, of which my novella ZERO FACTOR was a part.

Is this too sexy to be sweet? Hmmm.

I wrote BEST MAN, WORST MAN for one of Samhain's anthology calls. This particular call was for a contemporary "sweet" romance -- focusing on the falling-in-love magic of romance without actual sex scenes. Since I grew up reading this type of romance, I thought this sounded like a great opportunity to get my foot in the door. BEST MAN, WORST MAN took less than a month to write, almost like my brain had just been waiting for me to tell Ryder and Claire's story. Eighteen days after sending it in, I received an email from Imogen Howson, the editor in charge of the sweet romance anthology call, and informed me that while my project wasn't being accepted for the anthology, they were interested in publishing it as a stand-alone book. YAY! (Only much later I found out that despite my characters not having sex, my work was way too hot for it to be categorized as a "sweet" romance. Apparently I don't know how to write those *is baffled but happy*)

So, without further ado, here's the blurb for BEST MAN, WORST MAN, the steamiest-but-no-sex-scenes novella around!

* * *

He’s the one problem she can’t solve.

From hysterical bridezillas to grooms with sub-zero feet, renowned wedding planner Claire Pomeroy has never met a disaster she couldn’t handle. Then she runs afoul of her client’s not-so-best man, a devilishly flirtatious rogue with a killer smile and a chest as solid as a concrete roadblock. Yet their sparks of attraction only highlight his obvious quest—to make sure this wedding knot never gets tied.

Confirmed bachelor Ryder Price knows one unshakable truth: marriage is nothing but a fairy tale. No way is he going to stand idly by while his wingman face-plants into the dreaded marital trap. But there’s a problem. A dark-eyed, dangerously curvaceous problem who’s bound and determined to pull this wedding off.

As her suddenly skittish clients teeter on the edge of cancellation, Claire challenges her nemesis to imagine long-term as something more than a quickie and a vague promise to call. Ryder counters with a challenge of his own. Let him give her a taste of just how fulfilling a little no-strings-attached passion can be.

And hey, since we're at it, why not a teeny excerpt of when Claire and Ryder meet? :)

EXCERPT:

Claire sighed and followed Rachel into the living room, only to have her vision filled with Rachel’s houseguest sitting on a sofa, coffee mug in hand as he chatted with Matt. He was impossible to miss. Even though he was seated it was obvious the man was built like a warrior of old, with wide shoulders and a chest you could play handball on, narrow hips and long legs that filled out his jeans in all the right places. His dark hair was as black as a raven’s wing, and the sweep of his shoulders was so breathtaking she couldn’t help but suffer the innately feminine desire to explore the muscular terrain with curious, wanting-to-squeeze fingers. The smile he gave Matt was a devilish white slash against bronzed, sun-kissed skin, made that much darker with a hint of a five-o’clock shadow. Then he looked up at their approach, and Claire found herself freezing solid, from the tips of her toes all the way to the orderly movement of her lungs.

He had silver eyes. God help her, silver eyes.

Wow.

“Ryder, I’d like you to meet wedding planner extraordinaire, Claire Pomeroy. Claire, this is Matt’s best friend, Ryder Price. Since he and Matt are settled in so nicely here, why don’t you and I have our consult in the kitchen while the boys do whatever it is they do?”

Matt shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“Absolutely not.” To Claire’s surprise, the man named Ryder pushed to his feet and crossed to them, and for no fathomable reason Claire’s heart decided to do its best impersonation of an 808 drum machine. “Please Rachel, I insist you go about your usual routine and just pretend I’m not even here. Remember, you swore I wouldn’t be a bother, so don’t let me get in your way now.”

“My goodness,” Rachel said through a tight smile that made her look like she wanted to bite something. “How considerate of you, Ryder.”

“And I wouldn’t want to inconvenience your wedding planner.” Ryder turned the full brunt of his smile on Claire as he took her hand in his. “Claire, is it?”

It took most of her strength to get her tongue unglued from the roof of her mouth, mainly because the heat of his hand was branding her nerve endings with the glorious feel of him. “That’s correct.” What wasn’t correct was how her brain slipped its gears to plunge her into the heart of fantasyland the moment he touched her. With shocking ease she imagined how the glide of his hands, as big as baseball mitts, might feel against other, more intimate parts of her body. With one glance at his made-for-sin lips, she could almost feel them molding against hers, seducing her with the promise of dark pleasures. She had no doubt he would be a reckless lover. This modern-day gladiator looked as though he lived to conquer his intended target inch by tantalizing inch, unveiling her as he would a piece of fine art to revel in a slow, sensual exploration first by his gaze, then his hands, then his mouth…

A flush of heat rolled through Claire until she thought she glowed with it, and to her dismay sensual warmth bloomed between her thighs. Way to be professional, she thought, horrified. Apparently her little voice of reason was suffering an epic case of laryngitis. And the worst part of it—all he’d done was touch her hand.

Ummm, There Are PEOPLE Reading My Books

2011-09-23T20:03:00.005-06:00

Opening up an epic can of "Duh!"

You know what's funny? A writer who never considered the realities of getting their work published.

Seriously, you'd think it would have occurred to me at some point that people would be reading my work, right? But no. Never once did that thought seriously cross my mind. I was so busy studying the craft of HOW to write, which publishing company I should send my stuff to, and learning the basic ropes of the publishing world, that I forgot to imagine what it'd be like once I GOT there.

Then ZERO FACTOR came out, and a funny thing happened. I began running into people who'd read it, and that's when it hit me like a bowling ball between the eyes -- I was unprepared.

Example: The first-ever encounter of someone who read my work (who wasn't a relative:P) was a lovely woman whom I've known my entire adult life. She's fifty-something and a lady in every sense of the word, so imagine my slack-jawed surprise when she let me know right off the bat that ZF had gotten her "motor going" in a way that it hadn't "in years." My face got hot in what I fear was a mortified blush, but I laughed, told her how pleased I was to hear it, and how glad I was that she enjoyed it.

Though honestly, I'm still unsure if she ENJOYED it. I hope she did.

Then came the inevitable questions. How did I know so much (about sex)? How did I do my research (about sex)? Where did my ideas (about sex) come from? Eep. Overnight I went from mild-mannered skater-gurl to hyper nymphomaniac. It's kind of eyeroll-worthy, but mainly it's just hilarious. Yup, there's definitely sex in most of my works, but then there's also psychometry, airship-building and in one of the latest works I just completed, flying (like, with wings ^_^). Does this mean I've done all these things and am now an expert? Heh. Only in my mind, folks. Only in my mind.

I'm prepared now. My next release, BEST MAN, WORST MAN, from Samhain Publishing is coming out next month. Yay! This particular novella has no actual sex in it, since it was written for a "sweet" anthology ("sweet" being a romance work without graphic sex or language). Long story short, I didn't make the anthology. Come to find out, it was way too hot to be categorized as "sweet". But it was good enough to be offered a stand-alone contract. And when it comes out, I'll gladly welcome the inevitable questions with now-standard answers, like:

1. Where do you get your ideas?/Oh, here and there.
2. How do you do your research?/The same way everyone does it.
3. Why don't you write about me?/It might be a good idea for you to write your story yourself. You could be a writer and not even know it. :)

Ultimately, if you're a writer who's either trying to get published or your first work is about to debut -- GET READY. There are people out there who are about to read your work. That is a wonderful and glorious thing, so be grateful for any interest they show in what you do. Hopefully you'll be smarter than me, and have those answers ready to go, without suffering from a nuclear blush and a bad case of the stutters.

My First Release Day Ever -- Introducing ZERO FACTOR!

2011-09-01T19:47:00.002-06:00

Locke is just so yummy <3

Wow. August 30th finally came. From the time I received an acceptance email from Sasha Knight at Samhain Publishing, Ltd. waaaaaaaay back in late February, I've been looking forward to this day. My first-ever release day.

I've had YEARS to think about how I'd celebrate this event. Since scantily clad, frolicking cabana boys are expensive, I decided I'd better go the practical route -- if only for this time around -- and focus my attention on promoting the book (see, if I can make enough on ZERO FACTOR, I can afford to get the frolicking cabana boys later).

I did TONS of blog-hopping, tweeting, Facebooking and chat-rooming. I met a ton of wonderful, supportive people, and I introduced the exciting subgenre of cyberpunk romance to the lexicon of everyone I met. I was surprised that many people didn't know what it was, so when I explained that cyberpunk (for me, at least) is an urban, gritty glimpse of a possible dystopian future -- sci-fi without going off-world -- most people seemed to get it. And if they didn't, I tried to cajole them into picking up ZERO FACTOR to get a clearer picture. I hope they did. :)

Uh, I have NO tolerance for this stuff. Sad, but true.

But as for the actual CELEBRATING part... As of August 30th, I kicked off several new traditions. As soon as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast (eleven o'clock for me), I was on the phone with my sister, and together we watched Samhain's website page for ZERO FACTOR click over from "Pre-Order" to "Add To Cart". She and I whooped and cried and babbled for what seemed like forever. Then it was time for the champagne and caviar with my family, until it was time to tipsily head to bed.

As I said, throughout the day I introduced my novella to everyone I could think of, but I did take enough time to order a charm to commemorate the release of this book. Since it's a cyberpunk story, the charm is a little computer with keyboard. With every new release, I'm going to get a charm depicting something about that particular book. Since I'm rabid for jewelry, this is an excellent motivator to get more books out to share with the rest of the world. =D

See the #72 & #82? Those are sub-category lists - cool!

I also took screenshots throughout the day of my numbers on Amazon slowly changing, until I was below 4,000 on the Amazon booklist. Since I had been used to seeing ZERO FACTOR at around 150,000, I was pretty excited. At one point, I was ranked on a couple "Top 100" sub-category lists, above the likes of Gena Showalter and Nora Roberts (they're still there though, while I've already vanished :P).

In the sub-catagory of sci-fi/fantasy/ghost romance, I was #84

I even got my first 5-star rating on Amazon, a moment I will NEVER forget. The most unbelievable thing that happened that first twenty-four hours, though, was seeing ZERO FACTOR climb its way onto Samhain's Best-Seller list. This finally convinced me that it wasn't just my family buying my book. Erm, at least, I THINK that's what it means. :D

I'm so grateful to everyone who's put up with me this week. Thanks to everyone who let me visit their blogs and chatrooms (Hart Johnson, The Galaxy Express, Samhain Cafe), and thanks to everyone who gave me so many fabulous ideas on how to commemorate the release of my first book, ZERO FACTOR. And, just in case you didn't hear me the first time...

ZERO FACTOR -- IT'S OUT, IT'S OUT, IT'S OUT!!! :D

There I am -- 10th on the Best Sellers list @ Samhain!
(I'm currently 6th. Heh.)

I'm A Best-Seller! Sort of

2011-08-28T22:37:00.003-06:00

Recently the fine folks at Samhain Publishing pointed out to their authors and readers that they've installed catagories for their novels so people can find them more easily, just by typing in a specific about that book. Interested in paranormal? Type that in. Like shape-shifters? That too. Contemporary? Absolutely. It's such an easy, streamlined website to use... and what's GREAT, is that it has a side benefit.

You can be first on a best-seller's list. :)

ZERO FACTOR, the action-packed romance novella that got chosen for Samhain's CYBERSHOCK cyberpunk anthology will be coming out this week (August 30th, whee!), but already pre-orders have put my debut project on the map. Since it's listed under Anthologies, Science Fiction, Men In Uniform, Post-Apocalyptic and Cyberpunk, it's already sold enough to wind up on all these lists (at least for now). Though I know it doesn't mean much, I have to admit this made me squee out loud. You wanna squee with me? Here we go!

Yay! Though there aren't that many in this catagory. :P

Yay again! The AMAZING Nathalie Gray (Gridlock author) also did the covers.

*squints* It looks like I'm 9th on this one. Cool!

And I'm 7th here in Sci-Fi. Woo!

Extreme close-up :)

So there ya go. I'm having a dream come true, 'cause I'm on a best-seller's list! At least for the next hour. =D

New Excerpt From ZERO FACTOR!

2011-08-21T19:49:00.001-06:00

Wheeeee, just a little over a week away from unveiling ZERO FACTOR, my very first release from the magnificent Samhain Publishing!

To celebrate, I've got another bit of excerpty goodness on tap -- Via and Locke's first kiss (which had absolutely nothing to do with love, and everything to do with staying alive). Enjoy!

Via knew her life was over. If she were honest with herself, part of her had known it the moment she had left the safety of the agridome. People like her could never put themselves in a position where they would be within spitting distance of the militia, much less work hand in hand with them. To do so was akin to bathing in jet fuel, then playing with a lighter.

And yet she had gone. Like a lamb to slaughter, she had gone.

It was okay, though. As long as she could save the others, she could be at peace with what had to be done now. Not that she was some kind of freaky saint or anything. It was just that as she’d sat in the transport drowning in images of what was to come, she had reached a very basic conclusion—she would rather die than live with the knowledge that she could have done something, but didn’t.

So she wasn’t a saint, and she sure as hell wasn’t even nodding acquaintances with that thing called bravery. If anything, she was too much of a coward to live with the guilt of surviving while everyone else got blown into unrecognizable bits.

“Via? What the hell—?”

She heard Weddo’s shocked voice, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was focusing on what she knew, what she saw, and pushing it with all her might into Locke. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it right. Hell, she didn’t even know if she was doing anything more than simply kissing a stranger and making a ginormous ass of herself. She had only done this sort of thing once before when she was fifteen, and it had been a total accident back then.

By degrees, the frenzied panic boiling through her blood eased like a tight fist unfurling, and new, thoroughly unexpected sensations began to seep in through the smothering veil of fear. For just a heartbeat the universe seemed to pause, a collective holding of breath while even the sound of the bustling city’s daily life came to a gentle stop. For Via, there was only this fragile moment as her mouth molded to his, and a shocking thrill of pleasure bloomed like fireworks in her brain when his lips softened and returned the pressure with interest. Her booted feet barely touched the ground as she kept her arms wrapped tightly around his strong neck, and delight mingled with relief when his free arm curled about her waist to bring her fully against the rock-solid length of his battle-hardened warrior’s body. His breath was warm, his taste tantalizing. The seductive nuzzling of his silk-over-steel lips against hers invited her untutored mouth to explore deeper, and she saw no reason why she should resist when she knew they were living on borrowed time.

A tremulous note of discord whispered from her psyche into his, a never-ending ricochet rippling noiselessly between them. The pleasure bounced back and forth as well, doubling and trebling as it went, but threaded through it was what the vision had shown her. But that was okay too. If this was to be her last moment of life, she was determined to pour every ounce of joy, vitality and pleasure she could into this kiss. If anything, she was happy for this final opportunity to go out with a bang.

“Lieutenant Locke, attention!”

It was the strangest thing, was all Via could think while her pulse pounded in her ears and in the lips that had become the most sensitive part of her body. It was as though she and this man—a militia man, for God’s sake—had discovered that with a kiss, they could create a magical little sphere where only they existed, and nothing of the gritty, desperate, dangerous place that was their world could encroach on their private slice of perfection. Then her lips drifted like a dream away from his, and the restless throb of the ever-bustling city once again filled her ears. But nothing felt the same. She wasn’t the same. As mad as it sounded, she felt changed from the inside out.

Were kisses supposed to change the world?

Via opened eyes she couldn’t remember closing, and gazed up in dazed confusion at the man she held with all the passionate fervor of a long-time lover. Where was the explosion? Had she interrupted the sequence of events? Was everyone safe?

Everyone except her, of course. Her safe life was officially over now that she had revealed to a gun-toting jarhead member of the militia that she was a psionic.

Dayum.

Kindlegraph -- My New Love

2011-08-14T17:39:00.005-06:00

When I was a kid and dreamed of being a published author, I would practice my signature (mainly because I have REALLY bad left-handed handwriting and no one can read it), and try to come up with an appropriate message of gratitude for anyone who bought my book. Yeah, I know it's corny, but I really did dream of signing autographs. :P

Then I got published by Samhain, an amazing digital-first publisher, and I just assumed doing the whole autograph thing could never happen on their ebooks.

Oh, ye of little faith, Stacy.

The equake of 2010, also known as the ebook revolution, hit the publishing world sideways, with the sales of Kindle, Nook, and other ereaders going through the roof for Christmas of 2010. Naturally, a galvanic shift occurred in the reading public's buying habits, which leads us to where we are now -- 8 months later, with book publishers still reeling, and everyone in the pub business trying to catch up and/or be a trailblazer (one thing I DO know is that annual ebook sales are UP over 160% for this year, whereas annual paperback and hardcover book sales were down 17% and 23%, respectively, and that's a big deal for all the publishing houses).

When this shift toward ebooks happened, some bright bulb realized autographs were suddenly on the endangered species list. Not that there would be a lack of requests for them – that wasn’t the case at all. But how the heck can an author PERSONALLY SIGN an ebook for his or her reader?

Enter Kindlegraph.

I encourage ANYONE who’s interested in getting their ebooks personally autographed to watch the video in the link above, because it’ll explain it WAY better than I will. I can tell you that anyone who’s bought an ebook, and finds it listed on Kindlegraph’s website, can get an autograph for their book, totally for free. And you don’t have to have a Kindle specifically – it’s for every ereader out there. How cool is that?

The publishing world is changing hour by hour, and I welcome it with open arms. That's why I put my books, ZERO FACTOR and BEST MAN, WORST MAN on Kindlegraph today. If you've bought either of these fab little romances, go ahead and find me on my new Author Page on Kindlegraph. Trust me, I've been practicing for this for a long time. ;)

Zero Factor Release Aug. 30th
Pre-Order @ Samhain, Amazon, B&N

Best Man, Worst Man Release Oct. 25th
Pre-Order @ Samhain, Amazon, B&N

I'm Entitled to a Title So... I'VE GOT ONE!!!

2011-07-27T12:47:00.001-06:00

I'm wearing my happy face!

Last week I finally found out what the powers-that-be at Harlequin's digital-first imprint, Carina Press, were going to name my holiday steampunk romance. I was a bit nervous, thinking that while my editor knew the project, a whole group of people who haven't read it might not "get" the overall vibe going on with my story. After all, I took a little walk on the wild side and made the female MC a daring, ingenious cat burglar, when that's usually a role left to the male MC.

Would they get it? Would they understand? Heh. You tell me. The title for my steampunk holiday romance is *drumroll*:

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET

Squeeee! They took this title from direct dialog! So, yeah. I'm thinking they understood the vibe, and decided to run with it. It's going to be out December 6th of THIS YEAR, and I'm already through the first round of edits. Next up will be figuring out the cover art.

Hmmm. With a title like that, I wonder what the powers-that-be will decide to put on the front of this latest book? Could it be... a corset??? :D

Tyranny's Cry: The Educated Free-Thinkers Should be the First to Go

2011-07-24T18:44:00.006-06:00

This weekend a terrible thing happened in a country that has nothing to do with the day-to-day travels I take in my boring, ho-hum life. I have no familial ties to this place, nor do I know that much about it, other than it would probably be better to visit it in summer rather than winter. Yet when I first heard about what had happened in a country thousands of miles away, I began to cry. This country is the perennially peaceful Norway, home of my writer friend and fellow HP-fanatic, Cruella Collett, the kindest, sweetest person I know. Her views of the mind-boggling violence that took place can be found here, and I beg you to read it. This post of Cruella's reflects her determination not to give in to anger or hatred; rather, she is resolved to push forward from this point on, bolstered by the courage of her conviction to never give in. How I love that about her, and the people of her country.

As moved as I am at the way the Norwegian people do their best to absorb this violent blow with grace and dignity, I am disturbed to learn today that the man behind this unspeakable waste of human life wrote a manifesto. In it, he stated he believed that the well-educated people -- such as professors, lecturers and writers -- were "traitors". He also believed the biggest offenders were journalists. You know, those brave souls who dare to travel the world over, risking life and limb to uncover that nasty, dangerous thing -- THE TRUTH -- so that we may live free from ignorance.

This man -- this horrible, horrible man -- killed nearly 100 people, but he dreamed of killing so much more. He dreamed of a world where he could silence the free-thinkers, the dreamers, the idealists, the educators, and the creators. He wanted to wage war on enlightenment and understanding, simply because there are so many ideas out there that don't coincide EXACTLY with his narrow beliefs. So he dreamed of crushing them all.

The innocent lives this man took can never be brought back. They can never be replaced. That hurts, so much. The only way I can try to make any sort of peace with this -- and it's a pitiable peace at best -- is that this violent kind of you-don't-think-like-me-so-you-must-die mindset shows the world what the true face of evil is. It's intolerance. We MUST beware of it, even when we find it in ourselves.

Titles (Or Lack Thereof), a Blurb and an Excerpt from ZERO FACTOR!

2011-07-17T21:58:00.002-06:00

So... my newly contracted holiday steampunk project doesn't have a title. It did, once. But the powers-that-be at Carina Press have decided the title TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK had to go. Don't ask me why. Personally, I'm putting the blame on that perennial class-act, Ke$ha. :)

So while I wait on pins and needles to find out what the steampunk project will eventually be called, my mind can't help but drift onto another project of mine. Specifically, ZERO FACTOR.

I'm just a little over five weeks out from its August 30th release date, and I have to say I'm getting pretty nervous. Not the queasy, I'm-going-to-my-doom nervous, like I was sort of expecting. This is the kind of nervous excitement that comes with the anticipation of Christmas, or a longed-for vacation, or maybe even the arrival of a brand-new baby. I'm trying to be calm about it, because being a spazz about my cyberpunk novella's release will only make me more nuts, but it's impossible. I. Am. Excited.

When Samhain offered an open call for novellas for a cyberpunk anthology, an idea I'd had for some time sprang immediately to the forefront, molding itself into a futuristic frame before I was even fully aware of it. You see, this idea -- the concept of a psychometric empath having to hide her powers from a Nazi-like state -- was just so COOL, I've wanted to write about it for years. But I could never figure out how to make it work. If it weren't for Samhain constantly keeping themselves on the cutting edge of fiction and exploring subgenres like cyberpunk, the story of Via and Locke probably would never have been told.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Samhain? If I haven't, shame on me. I love Samhain with an undying fire, and I hope I'm lucky enough to publish with them as long as my brain is capable of coming up with stories.

So without further ado, time to post one of the two official excerpts from ZERO FACTOR. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armed and dangerous…

A Cybershock story.

Born a psionic—a rare human prized by the government for her gifts—agridome worker Via Brede lives by two simple rules: slip into stealth mode whenever the cybernetic-enhanced militia is near. And never remove the gloves that block her psychic ability.

During a routine delivery, a tear in her glove connects her with what should be her worst nightmare. A meched-out soldier with bulging muscles and a scarred face that makes her heart pound like a pneumatic drill. She also envisions his death in an attack that happens…now.

Locke’s typically ho-hum mission goes sideways when the stunning, green-eyed bubble farmer plants a sensual kiss that sets fire to every one of his remaining man-nerves. He also sees her vision. His own commander is about to kill him.

He needs Via to find out why. First step is to get her to Old Las Vegas without succumbing to a raw, sexual need that burns in him like fever. Getting there will be a snap. Getting out alive—and winning her trust—might be a little tougher.

Product Warnings

This title contains mild violence, blow-your-mind Psionic sex, buns of steel (literally) and the usual hanky-panky at a bordello. Author is not responsible for side effects, including locked-and-loaded hunks taking your dreams by force.

And here is ZERO FACTOR's first official EXCERPT. It's the entire first chapter, and here's a hint: everything that is seen in the first chapter is important in the last. Pay attention now. ^_^

The Plan

2011-07-11T12:13:00.003-06:00

I might have a lot going on right now, but all this crazy publishing activity has only made me determined to have a lot MORE going on. So, I thought I'd sit down and figure out MY PLAN.

By the end of this month, I will hopefully be done with the zero-draft of FORGOTTEN ANGEL. What's FORGOTTEN ANGEL? It's a novella for Samhain's Superhero open-call, but more than that, it's the start of a five-book series called EARTH ANGELS. So far I'm loving the myth-building that's going on -- it makes sense to me to the point that it feels REAL. That's a fabulous thing when you're dealing with a paranormal world.

By August 1, I hope to set aside FORGOTTEN ANGEL to marinate, and focus on my next submission to Carina Press. This one is a biggie -- MOST LIKELY is already written but needs cuts and polishing, and it too is the start of a series, tentatively entitled BITTERTHORN ROOTS. Bitterthorn, a fictional town 30 miles from San Antonio, Texas is such a real place to me, full of simple, solid values and a warm southern touch that is as welcoming as a hug. Every time I enter into a Bitterthorn story, I feel like I'm coming home.

By September 1, both FORGOTTEN ANGEL and MOST LIKELY are destined to be submitted. I'm also hopeful of completing a free-read connected to BEST MAN, WORST MAN, tentatively entitled GROOM AND DOOM. Once I get all three of these projects off the launching pad, it's time to dip my oar into new waters. Avon Impulse is asking for submissions, and I believe I have just the thing for them.

MONOPOLY MAN is a short story I wrote for eHarlequin's Nocturne Bites line well over a year ago. Since I've never heard anything back from them, I'm assuming the Slushpile Monster gobbled it up, and I'm now free to submit it elsewhere. I need to add several scenes I wasn't able to do in the original, due to word count restrictions. By mid-October, though, it should be ready. Though I'm nervous about dipping my oar into the uncharted waters over at Avon, I won't know what they're looking for until I reach out to them. One way or another, I'm determined to put on my big-girl pants and give them a try!

But I won't be satisfied with just that. The second book in the BITTERTHORN ROOTS series is BURIED SECRETS, a fabulously fun contemporary I've loved for ages. I don't know why I've never let anyone see this book; it's one of my all-time favorites. :) If I can get that polished up and off to Carina Press by November, I'll be happy.

But I STILL won't be satisfied (because that's how it is when you're determined to take over the world).

If I'm lucky enough to somehow land FORGOTTEN ANGEL at Samhain (or anywhere else, for that matter), I would love to get the next full-length book, WARRIOR ANGEL out before the New Year. This idea came to me fully-formed, and its impatience to get itself written is almost painful. But it has to wait its turn. I have a plan, and I'm determined to stick with it.

So, just to keep myself straight, here's how I see things:

1. Finish FORGOTTEN ANGEL (July)
2. Polish MOST LIKELY, FORGOTTEN ANGEL (August)
3. Submit FORGOTTEN ANGEL (Samhain) and MOST LIKELY (Carina Press) (Sept 1)
4. Complete free read, GROOM AND DOOM (Sept)
5. Rewrite MONOPOLY MAN (October) and submit to Avon Impulse
6. Polish and submit BURIED SECRETS to Carina Press (November)
7. If possible, Finish and submit WARRIOR ANGEL for Samhain by New Year's (maybe)

And if you think this is ambitious, you should see what I have planned for next year.

A Love Letter (Of Sorts) To J.K. Rowling

2011-07-03T19:19:00.006-06:00

The date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II looms on the horizon. Pottermore is becoming a new term in my personal lexicon of squee-worthy words. It’s official – I’m once again gripped with Pottermania. *dons Hogwarts robes and Gryffindor scarf* I’ve been thinking a lot about how grateful I am that Harry came into my life, and why. Then I got to thinking how I’d love to send J.K. Rowling a thank-you note for all her hard work in bringing Harry and the Wizarding World to life. But of course I don’t know her personal address, so I decided to do the next best thing – I’d send her an open letter.

Dear Ms. Rowling:

When Order of the Phoenix came out, it was all my little figure skating students could talk about. I had heard of Harry Potter, of course; I‘d even seen the movies (The Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets). But until that time, I hadn’t seen what the big deal was. Book 5, though, seemed to stir up something so frenzied in all the kids that I became curious. I bought all the books leading up to the fifth, and plowed through them in TWO DAYS. When the fifth book came out, I was waiting in line at midnight like everyone else.

I was hooked.

So many things came into my life because of your books, not the least of which was Harry and his wonderful world. This magical world you created was so vivid and the characters were so real that I fell in love. In fact, I became SUCH a fan I couldn’t contain all my thoughts and theories. I had to talk to somebody about how I believed Snape had secretly been in love with Lily (I was right), and how I was certain that because the Gryffindor Sword went to Harry, he MUST be a descendent of Godric (I was wrong). But no one in my circle of friends was as insane as I was about investigating HP stuff as if the very secret to life itself was hidden somewhere between the lines. So I went online.

Here is where Harry changed my life.

I never used to be computer-oriented. Before HP came along, I never gave online communities a thought. People who chatted online were nerds. Shut-ins. Creepers. Whatever. So with that attitude, I had no intention of entering into anything when I stumbled onto a website called HPANA. I wanted to read what other fans theorized, sure, but I wasn’t going to join them. Then I found the Wizarding War thread, and it was like finding my long-lost family.

A few Wizard Warriors at The Knight Bus, NY

I joined in. The first person who greeted me (Cher-Bear, my sweet Southern Belle), warned me that I’d be sucked in if I stuck around. The second person who said hi (Joris, our group’s graphic artist and my go-to guy when I’ve forgotten something [which is all the time]), suggested I read the rules of their online castle before I jumped into the deep end. And the WW thread WAS the deep-end. Amazingly enough, I had landed in the most hardcore, brainy, fiercely aggressive theory-based thread on the entire site right from the beginning. I had found my home without even trying.

This was no kiddie HP thread. Page-long posts were encouraged, and bad-spelling/punctuation was frowned upon out of respect for you, Ms. Rowling. As a result, most of the posters were adults, with a handful of scary-genius older teens who could more than keep up with us (Joris, Emmitt, Mari, the Neils, May, Mandey and Ben come to mind – terrifyingly brilliant, all). I personally learned how to do all sorts of things on the computer I had never even known about, thanks to Neil and Joris (if they can walk this poor old dinosaur through the process of how to embed a link into text, they can do anything). We got to know each other so well that we missed each other when someone didn’t post for a few days. Christmas cards and personal photos were exchanged. Birthdays were day-long celebrations. And when the final book was released, many of us met in New York to attend the midnight release party at Scholastic – some of them coming all the way from Australia to be with the HPANA family (love you Andrea and BrioNI!).

I drifted away from HPANA once all the HP secrets had been revealed and I had nothing left to theorize over (I admit it – I went into a phase of mourning that HP was no more). A year or two later I joined Facebook on a lark. I probably would have abandoned my FB page if Joris hadn’t found me. Before I knew it, I was back in the warm embrace of my online family.

Have you ever seen happier people? Finally, the last book!

We’re still together, The High Wizard Court of HPANA’s WW thread. And there’s been a fantastic offshoot of our mutual interest in the written word – a couple of us have become published (gnargles&snorkaks, aka Tami Hart, aka Hart Johnson), and more are trying. We’re all going to make it, I have no doubt in my mind, because we’ll always be there for one another. We cheer each other on, help each other out when we can, celebrate like drunken monkeys whenever something good happens in someone’s life, and we’re united against any setback that might take place even though we are scattered throughout the world.

So thank you, Ms. Rowling. In writing your books you gave me the gift of not just one magical world, but two. I will always love HP, and I’ll always be a Wizard Warrior.

Sincerely,

JustHarry of HPANA

Stacy Gail, Author

Announcement! TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK is accepted by Carina Press!

2011-06-23T23:31:00.002-06:00

While obsessively monitoring Tweets from the major romance publishing houses, I ran across an open call for an anthology from Harlequin’s digital-first publishing house, named Carina Press. The requirements: a Steampunk novella with the theme of winter or Christmas threaded throughout. It had to be anywhere from 18K to 35K, and it had to be in by May 15^th, with the announcement by June 15^th.

Despite the fact that I’d never read a Steampunk at that point (I've since fallen crazy IN LOVE with the subgenre), a plot bunny immediately sprang to mind – a high-tension caper-style romance with a twist, and a Christmas message at the end guaranteed to warm even Scrooge’s flinty heart. I got TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK to my beta reader buddy, the fabulous cozy mystery author, Hart Johnson, and out to Carina Press’s Executive Editor, Angela James by May 13^th (a Friday, no less).

Then the nail-biting began.

From the time I was fourteen and decided I was going to be a romance writer, I’d dreamed of the legendary call from Harlequin, known simply as The Call. And on June 14^th, the day before Carina Press was supposed to officially choose four authors for their holiday-themed Steampunk anthology, I watched Angela James’s Twitter stream like some creepy stalker. My heart tripped over itself when she announced she was making The Call to various authors. Yay! It was time! I grabbed up the house phone and cell phone and walked around the house ALL DAY LONG. I even took the phones into the bathroom with me (I know, you didn’t need to know that last part :P). Then, as I was getting ready for work, I checked her Tweets again and saw she had made all her calls. My phones had remained silent.

I wasn’t getting The Call.

Broken-hearted, I went to work. I couldn’t concentrate -- I accidentally brought one of my skating students close to tears over a miscommunication, and then I forgot where I'd left my skate bag. By the time I staggered my distracted way back home, I was resigned to opening a rejection email and getting on with my life. Sure enough, when I checked my email there was something from Angela James regarding TTGtC:

Hi Stacy,

I'm sorry I was unable to reach you by phone today, but I’m so pleased to tell you I’d like to accept TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK for publication in the 2011 steampunk holiday collection. Though I do have some editorial notes, and your book will undergo developmental, line and copy edits, I loved this story and can’t wait to share it with readers.

Come to find out, I uh, didn’t check that little blinking light that means “PHONE MESSAGE, IDIOT” on the answering machine. Apparently I had gotten The Call the day before. I must say, my new editor has a bright and bubbly voice, and had I heard that message on freaking MONDAY, I wouldn’t have spent all of TUESDAY double-fisting phones around the house and feeling sorry for myself. *sigh*

But never mind! I’ve now been lucky enough to make another dream become a reality – yay! And I’m going to enjoy this happiness with abandon... until I get those first round of edits. :P

So Much News, So Little Sanity

2011-06-13T18:40:00.006-06:00

On your mark.... get set.... GO!!!

News Flash #1 -- I have received the go-ahead from my lovely cyberpunk editor, Sasha, to share not just the name of Samhain's upcoming cyberpunk antho, but also the cover art for my novella, ZERO FACTOR! Ready?

It's the CYBERSHOCK Anthology! Authors: Barbara J. Hancock, Nathalie Gray and Moi :)

Isn't he purty? <3 I want to love him and squeeze him and name him George. :D Erm, if you'd like to pre-order at Samhain, I think you can (no pressure. Really. I'm fine.... Really. :P).

Newsflash #2 -- BuNoWriMo is ON!!! The second annual challenge of writing a novel in 30 days' time started June 1st (I know, I'm late -- sorry). This event was started by some of my closest writing friends/inspirations, who call themselves The Burrow. Just like NaNoWriMo, the BuNoWriMo peeps are a bunch of crazy writers who try to gush out 50K words in the month of June. What's more, we share our triumphs and tragedies at a place I like to think of as our BuNoWriMo Common Room on Facebook. Please drop in and make yourself comfy!

Logo of BuNoWriMo, by Graphic Artist Great, Joris Ammerlaan

Newsflash #3 -- I used BuNoWriMo as an impetus to finish DEMON INK! *throws confetti* Quick backstory for those who don't know: DEMON INK was a story originally sent to eHarlequin's Nocturne Bites as a paranormal short (15K words). Since I sent it in MARCH of LAST YEAR, I finally wised up to the fact that the legendary Slushpile Monster nommed this project (and two others), and that I would never see them again. *waves a tearful farewell* I then happened to mention on Twitter that I had three projects I was going to be tweaking, using the editing tools my groovy new editors had taught me. Before I knew it, one of those editors answered that she'd be happy to look at these projects once I was done, and of the three, she chose DEMON INK to be the first on deck.

Thanks to BuNoWriMo, this short story blossomed to a 35K word novella, and with luck I'll be sending this bad boy off by the end of the month. Whee!

Newsflash #4 -- I guest-blogged! *happy dance* The brave soul who dared to host me was the amazing Marian Youngblood! I met Marian through Facebook (geez, I love social networks ^_^), and in her I found a fabulous soul whose voice should be heard throughout the world. She writes New Age fiction (current work: Shasta: Critical Mass) as well as blogs as both herself and as Siderealview. Check her out!

Newsflash #5 -- After dragging my feet and feeling terribly sorry for myself, I FINALLY sent one of my poor editors the excerpts for BEST MAN, WORST MAN (ebook due out October 25th at Samhain). Confession: I'm not good at this picking-out-excerpts thing. Basically it's because I can feel the weight of importance on the whole affair. I mean, after reading the excerpts you've chosen, the potential-customer is either going to be breathlessly inspired to buy your book, or remember to avoid any product that has your name on it as if it's been sneezed on. Yeah, no pressure. But now that I've done it, I've been told that the editing process for BMWM is almost complete and is on the verge of being sent off to the formatters. Whatever that is. *still a clueless newbie*

Newsflash #6 -- I'm famous! Well, not really. :D But my editor blogged about a funny event that occurred while working on BEST MAN, WORST MAN the other day, and that blog is currently on the front page of Samhain's site, entitled "Good Communication". Enjoy, and say hello to Immi in the comments box!

Newsflash #7 -- As I type this, there is something sitting in my email inbox entitled, "FINAL BOOKS - ZERO FACTOR". I haven't opened this email. It came about two hours ago, and it's been staring at me ever since. I think I know what it is. I THINK these are the ARCs -- advance-review copies. I think this means that it's time to send them out to various reviewers. And... well, that's why I haven't opened the email yet. See, over the past two hours I've been suddenly stricken with this INTENSE desire to keep the entire world from reading this book. Or any other book I've ever written. I'm scared. Everyone will probably hate it. I'm sure the sex scenes will offend my mother. My neighbors might form a lynch mob and chase me out of town for being a bad writer. I want to stick my head out the window and yell, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T READ IT!.... I mean, you can go ahead and buy it, that's cool, but holy freakin' crap DON'T READ IT!"

Now, I know what this is. Having spent most of my life either performing on-ice or pushing others to perform, I recognize the symptoms -- I have stage fright. It's all in my head. My editors wouldn't have chosen my projects to be published if I sucked out loud. I should have confidence in their abilities, if I'm doubting my own.

Yeah, I know all that. But phooey. I'm terrified. And maybe a little crazy.

Does "Happy" Memorial Day Sound Right? Hmm...

2011-05-30T10:39:00.001-06:00

As I was leaving the arena on Friday, a couple of my students yelled out "Happy Memorial Day!" I waved and answered in kind, but as I got into my car and thought about why we Americans have a Memorial Day in the first place, I began to feel a little weirded out by the wording. Don't get me wrong -- I'm both proud and touched we've designated a specific day to honor those who have fallen to protect our country and its allies.

I'm just a little iffy on being "happy" about it.

South-Central Texas is deep in military country, so just about everyone I know either has someone in the military or knows someone who's serving. For a lot of people here, Memorial Day isn't just an opportunity to watch some Indy car racing during a three-day weekend, or a chance to plop your face into a batch of barbecued ribs cooked out by the pool. It's a time to remember those who have given their lives to protect our way of life. There are so many -- too many -- who must wince when they hear "happy" Memorial Day.

Don't worry -- I'm not going to get all melodramatic or preachy. I just wanted to express how grateful I am to those who serve and make the ultimate sacrifice. The truth is, I am not happy there is a need for a Memorial Day -- no one is. But I am touched, and proud, and awestruck by the unbelievable sacrifices our men and women in uniform make every single day to keep our world safe. So thank you to our fallen, thank you to their families who sacrifice just as much, and thank you to those who continue to fight. You are not forgotten.

Have a safe Memorial Day, everyone. :)

Art - It's In The Eye Of The Beholder... Or Something Like That

2011-05-24T19:58:00.002-06:00

A super fantabulous thing happened last week – I got to meet up with my favorite llama and dedicated nudist, cozy mystery writer Hart Johnson and show her my neck of the woods (otherwise known as a little place called Texas :P)

The first thing all visitors to Austin should see is the city’s version of Bourbon Street -- legendary 6^th Street. But since it was the middle of the week in the middle of the day, not too much was happening, so it was time for a minor change of plans. We marched up to the State Capitol, where I noticed a lovely little fountain right out front.

That’s when my mood for art appreciation bloomed.

At juuuuust the right angle, this cherub-themed fountain looked like a baby boy, erm, relieving himself (and quite proudly, I might add *snort*). So naturally I had to take a picture of it. But little did I know that this was just the beginning of an art-appreciation filled day.

On our way back to Hart’s hotel, we passed the Austin Museum of Art – AmoA. Come to find out, there was a special exhibit of local artists going on. Some were FABULOUS – Hart especially liked the ash-embossed dead-body imprints depicting Mexican border violence taken directly from news photographs. Other exhibits, though… well, I’m going to be honest. I personally did not see the artistic value of a tarp on the floor. Seriously y’all, there was a frickin’ TARP on the FLOOR.

Le Tarp

Since we could hear construction work going on behind the scenes, we assumed that tarp was a part of it. But it wasn’t. Nor was a dust-covered piece of old insulation. It was scrapped construction material which the artist said was a metaphor, designed to inspire a person to think about our throw-away society.

I took one look at it and was inspired to sneeze myself into a coma.

Okay. Maybe it is art

But it did get me thinking. In both writing and in on-ice choreography, in my own way I’m also a creator of art. Some people might look at my writing (or the unforgettable Moulin Rouge skating routine I put together complete with corsets, fishnets and for one skater, a riding crop), and think it’s smut. The fact of the matter is, it really is in the eye of the beholder, and no amount of debate on whether or not a romantic work of fiction is “worthy” literary fiction is going to change some minds. But I’m okay with that. Ultimately, when it comes to the creation of art, the creator has to believe in their work. And I do.

HA! LITBM Blogfest -- Laughter Is The Best Medicine

2011-05-16T08:53:00.004-06:00

Thank you Leigh, for coming up with this idea! To have so many bloggers sign up for a day of laughing it up shows just how needed this was. Thanks also to your partner in crime, Lydia Kang, whose blog I've linked to for the list of participating bloggers. :)

Laughter really is the best medicine, and it's so wonderful to have a Blogfest that involves sharing the things that make you chuckle the most. I had a hard time choosing between a couple of things that make me laugh so hard that milk comes out my nose -- even when I'm not drinking any milk. Then I thought, why choose? No need to be so stingy when it comes to the giggles, right?

So, here we go, my new #1 time-waster -- DAMN YOU, AUTOCORRECT! XD

Yeah, those words are so close. Uh-huh. And then there's this one:

It's like the phone was out to make the poor guy look like the biggest creeper who ever slimed his way across God's green earth. And then of course, it gets worse:

Mom? You there? I swear I'm not a perv. Hello?

I hope you all got a laugh out of these lovely little gems, and if you're wanting to read more, you can find it here -- http://damnyouautocorrect.com/ . One word of warning: This website sucks you in. Before you know it, not only have you lost time on the scale of an alien abduction, you also may have wet your pants. Enjoy! :D

Linky to list of fab bloggers participating in LITBM today:)

A Writer's Goals -- What Are They?

2011-05-09T00:34:00.008-06:00

If you pose this question to a dozen writers, you’ll get a dozen different responses. I do know one thing – if you don’t know what your own goals are, it’s kind of hard to achieve them. So with that in mind, I recently made a list of what my personal writing goals are for the upcoming year. J

1. ESTABLISH MY TERRITORY

Too bad this isn’t the animal kingdom. If it were, all I’d have to do is pee in a corner or two and that would be that. We humans, though, are a bit more complicated (not to mention hygienic), so that means it's time to put on my big-girl pants and be aggressive in getting my name out there. Name-recognition is an absolute MUST, according to just about every veteran in the publishing biz. After lots of brainstorming on how to go about it, I've decided my way of attaining this glorious name-familiarity thingie is to…

2. BE PROLIFIC

So yay – I’ve gotten my foot in the door with a couple projects at fabulous Samhain Publishing. But ultimately… big deal. There are plenty of one-hit wonders in the world, but I’m determined not to be one of them. Every day I review the business announcements from all the romance publishing houses on Twitter (how I love social media!). When any of them have an open call for submissions, I’m on it like white on rice. Example: I’ve just completed a 33K-word steampunk romance entitled TICK-TOCK GOES THE CLOCK (no Ke$ha jokes, plzkthnx), and will be sending it to Carina Press later this week, limbo-ing in under the May 15^th deadline. Who’s Carina Press? They’re the fledgling digital-first division of Harlequin Books, the number-one selling publisher of romantic fiction. (At this point, I’d like to give a humongous THANK YOU to my beta reader Hart Johnson, aka the Watery Tart. Thank you so much, Your Tartness, for putting another pair of eyes on TICK-TOCK. I <3 you more than my ice skates ^_^).

I’m also getting ready to ship out a 60K contemporary romance by the name of MOST LIKELY (also to Carina Press), and it’s the first book in a loooong series I’ve been working on since forever. When I finally get MOST LIKELY landed somewhere, life is going to be good, since there are so many other books in the series ready and waiting to follow in its footsteps.

Last on my plate (at least for the next couple of months) is a superhero-themed project for Samhain. I have to admit, I’m nervous about attempting this one. I’ve even considered not trying for it at all. Why? Well… remember when I said I keep a sharp eye out for any open calls for submissions? When Samhain announced they were looking for novellas with a superhero theme for an anthology on Twitter, the site blew up with enthusiastic (and nationally best-selling O_o) authors who are going to go for it. Only three submissions will make it into the superhero anthology, whereas everyone else… well, they will have had fun writing about men and women in masks and spandex.

In the end, I’ve decided I am going to go for it. Not because I have a hope of making it (I’ll always hope, but I’m realistic about my chances), nor because I’m doing it for pride’s sake. Like any writer who wants to be taken seriously, a huge part of my job is to get my name out there. I need to prove I can produce a steady flow of high-quality product. My goal is to make the name Stacy Gail familiar, so that when any editor reads my work for possible publication, they will be comfortable putting their faith in my abilities. Which leads me to my last goal for the coming months…

3. NETWORK

This seems to be a bit of an obstacle for a lot of writers. Maybe it’s because writing is such a solitary thing; maybe it’s because writers live so completely within their internal world, the real world (understandably) becomes less important. I suspect I’m one of the lucky ones. I have a great group of friends both IRL and online who keep me on top of my *cough*spazzy*cough* game. I love meeting new people, talking to people, and sometimes (though I don't mean to) scaring people with my wow-she-should-be-medicated antics. So I’m going to play to my strengths. My goal for the coming year – meet as many people in the field of romantic fiction as possible! I don’t care who they are – would-be authors, veteran editors, avid readers, savvy reviewers. Anyone who has a passing interest in books is someone I’m ready to get to know. After all, these are people who love the same thing I do; who wouldn’t want to meet with peeps like that?

Zig Ziglar once said a goal properly set is halfway reached. The goals I’ve set for myself are totally doable, and each one supports the other. Now that I’ve written them out, I’m hoping Zig was right. With any luck, I’m halfway there. J

Worldbuilding. I Haz It.

2011-05-01T00:24:00.000-06:00

Confession time – I’ve made more than a few booboos as I’ve gone through the process of getting the cyberpunk novella, ZERO FACTOR, out of my brain and onto Samhain’s launching pad. The first misstep was not really knowing what cyberpunk was, so I hopped on Wikipedia and let my fingers do the researching.

Lo and behold, I knew all about cyberpunk. I had read William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” when I was a kid (I believe I borrowed it from my brother… and can’t remember if I ever gave it back). One of my all-time favorite movies is “Blade Runner”, and I’ve seen just about every episode of “Ghost In The Shell”. So, yeah. I knew cyberpunk. The question was, could I do it? To create a believable, complex cyberpunk story, you have to fashion the frame for it, flesh it out, and make its rules of operation. In short, you have to do some serious worldbuilding. Cyberpunk occurs in a future not yet written, after all. It can be anything you want it to be; the only limit is your imagination.

Believe it or not, that was a big worry for me. My imagination is, shall we say, moody. When I need it to do one thing, it shoots off and does something else. For instance, I had wanted ZERO FACTOR to have a dark, gritty “Escape From New York” feel. Instead, it takes place in the sunny desert of Nevada (seriously, I STILL don’t know how or why it wound up there). My female MC, Via Brede, was supposed to be a med tech, but when she rolled out of my brain she wound up being an Agridome bubble farmer. Come to find out, putting Via in a bubble made all sorts of AWESOME sense, but… it wasn’t what I had planned.

You see why I thought I might not be up to this?

In order to create a futuristic world, I eventually put myself through a pretty weird mental exercise (I’ve never heard of anyone doing this, so either I’m a genius, or I’m the worst kind of time-wasting goofball). I made myself go through an entire day taking ordinary events, and putting a futuristic spin on them. Example: the brushing of teeth became fast and simple with a mere swish of Denti-Wash. Cars with combustible engines became superlight Maglev vehicles that ran on cold fusion. Who needs cameras or x-ray machines at security check points when you have a cyborg equipped with cyberoptics and a computer for a brain?

The one thing I couldn’t possibly change, though, was how two people with chemistry hot enough to melt Pluto can and will fall in love. I am a romance writer, after all, and as much fun as I had building the future world of ZERO FACTOR, the one deliciously familiar touchstone for me was the crazy, wide-eyed hope that love brings to the lives of those who embrace it. I don’t know what our world will look like a hundred years from now, but as long as there are people brave enough to take a chance on love, I’m thinking it’ll be pretty much like it is now.

Except with jet packs.

Losing My Virginity... Publishing Virginity, That Is

2011-04-26T12:40:00.000-06:00

“When I grow up, I’m going to be a romance writer.”

How well I remember announcing that to my family. At the tender age of fourteen I completed my very first three-hundred page *cough*completelyhorrible*cough* romance about mistaken identities, crossed wires and Happily Ever After. I was hooked, and who could blame me? Romance writing was a freaking dream job – getting paid to make up stories about people falling in love, traveling the world over on book tours and staging my blockbuster best sellers in exotic locales (which I’d have to research in person, of course). On the cool-scale of one to epic, being a romance writer was hovering just below godlike.

Then I got published, and the dreamer got a wake-up call. (Idiot dreamer-->)

Whoa. Wait. What’s this? There’s actual WORK to be done? But… but… what about the glamorous life? What about the jet-setting? What about just sitting at home happily dreaming up new stories while everyone else attends to that tedious business stuff that makes the publishing biz go ‘round?

Like I said, writing was a dream job. Because in my “virginal” state, I was living in a freaking dream.

Here’s the reality. Writing a publishable work is only the FIRST step. It might be the most difficult step, but it’s important to remember there are PLENTY of people who write just as well or waaaaay better than you do. What does this mean? Allow me to translate – you have to be competitive. And that’s where the behind-the-scenes work (of which I had been completely ignorant) begins.

NOW, WHEN YOU SAY “EDIT”…

The first two editors I’ve worked with so far have mad skills, and I’m lucky I landed with them. These ladies at Samhain have been working their editing mojo for years and they’re good at it. Despite knowing this, however, I still FREAKED OUT when I got my very first round of edits on one of my projects. Why would the editor want to change SO MUCH? Didn’t she offer a contract on it? Doesn’t that mean she liked it the way it was? Doesn’t she wuv me?

Yeah. Foolish little virgins. Ain’t we a hoot?

Newsflash for all writing virgins everywhere – you are the amateur, and the editors are the pros. I’m not saying it’s okay to sacrifice artistic integrity every step of the way (something my editors have never asked me to do), but the fact is, they know what sells. I don’t, and I don’t think too many other writing virgins do, either. If I want to make a career out of writing (which I do), I’m happy to rework a project so that it has a better hook, a smoother feel, a more potent impact. What’s more, now that I’ve been through the process, I honestly can’t imagine anyone trying to publish without having a professional editor by their side.

So what about you? Have you ever been through the editing process? Or, if you’re thinking about self-publishing, do you think it would benefit your project to have a professional editor go over your work?

Ta-Daaaa! A Brand New Blog! Oooh, It's Shiny...

2011-03-05T14:16:00.000-06:00

Hi there, and welcome to my brand-spankin’-new blog! *throws confetti*

For those of you who don’t know, I write romances. I love reading them, dreaming them up, and making them come into being (no, not THAT way; I’m talking about writing here). Wonder of wonders, I’ve recently found some uber-fab people at Samhain Publishing who feel the same way I do when it comes to romance. Just yesterday I signed my second contract with Samhain for a cyberpunk novella by the name of ZERO FACTOR to be released as an ebook in August, and part of a trade-paperback cyberpunk anthology released some time in 2012 (as soon as I get firm dates, you can bet your bippy I’ll scream them from the rooftops).

But romantic fiction is not the only genre I’m interested in. Far from it. As I’ve journeyed through the (seriously convoluted) process of getting published, I’ve met some extraordinary writers and people in the publishing business from all genres whom I never would have met otherwise. It pretty much goes without saying that while I love the romance genre, I am IN love with all writers who believe in the stories hammering about in their heads. To believe so much in those stories, and in one’s ability to share them with the world, is an awe-inspiring thing. I’m so thankful I’ve managed to stumble into a world filled with such incredibly brave and talented people.

Have you ever had an idea for a story that just wouldn’t leave you alone, or a daydream that kept you up at night? Beware – you might be a writer in the making.