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Archive for December, 2007

My funny morning at Starbucks…

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

I’ve been struggling for the past few weeks with Triangle of Seduction, the third Cassie Ryan book for Kensington. I know the general overview of what needs to happen in the story, and I was forcing my butt into the chair to write nearly every day, but I just couldn’t seem to get inside the story, if you know what I mean. Words were flowing onto the page, but they didn’t have a lot of life, and I couldn’t lose myself inside my imagination like I usually can when I write. So, I figured I needed a break. However, a break from the story wasn’t going to help – I was already feeling very disconnected from it. So, yesterday I went back to the beginning and started reading through.

It was nice to see that what I had written wasn’t total crap, and I was able to do some edits, fix some inconsistencies and really get myself back inside the story. And when I ended my writing session yesterday, I may have only had 750 words of forward progress to show for it, but I felt like I was part of my story again! Talk about relief!

Last night, I dreamed about my story – another good sign. I dreamed some plot points and some plot twists that will definitely come into play later in the book, and some that will help me shape and improve on what I’ve already written. So, when I jumped into the shower this morning, it was with my characters and scenes running through my head. By the time I got to Starbucks and sat down with my Chai Tea Latte, the story was spilling out of my brain so fast that I put on my headphones but forgot to push play on my iPOD.

I picked up from where I had left off reading yesterday and realized that I needed a much better sex scene between Sela, the Queen of the rival witch clan and her consort, Aedan. So, I made a scene break, pushed the text down and started writing this new scene.

Now, let me preface this with the fact that Sela is a ball-busting bitch who takes crap from no one – let alone a man. But her dirty little secret is that she likes to be sexually dominated. So, this sex scene is kinky, dominating and dirty, not to mention extremely hot. I had it in my head – and I put myself in Aedan’s POV – the one doing the dominating, and I became Aedan for a while. (Those of you familiar with my writing style know I’ll go back later and read it with an eye toward being Sela and make sure her reactions are correct, but for now – I was Aedan enjoying dominating this very strong and stubborn woman who likes being pushed beyond her own boundaries.)

It was one of those glorious writing sessions where I was in the zone, and totally steeped in my story. I lost myself in the scene and I WAS my characters. Words flowed onto the page and OMG it was getting steamy and hot in Starbucks! I don’t know about other writers, but if I’m not getting hot and bothered while writing a sex scene, I’m just not doing it right!

Anyway, right as the scene finished and I started typing the last sentence, I heard a gasp from over my shoulder. (I’m sitting in the big comfy chairs and there are tables and chairs behind me…) I turn around and a very red-faced woman apologizes profusely. She said she glanced over and couldn’t help but see my first few sentences of the scene and then she just couldn’t help but read it. She couldn’t quite look me in the eye, but asked where she could get the book…LOL! I gave her a bookmark for CEREMONY OF SEDUCTION, and told her it was the first in the trilogy and what she just read was in the third book, but she said she was going to go to Barnes and Noble on the way home and pick it up!

Talk about pulling me out of the scene, but I guess I don’t have to ask if the scene worked or was too over the top or not…lol. Gotta love instant feedback. Anyway, I ended up giving out a few more bookmarks to people at close-by tables who had heard the exchange, and then figured it was a good time to head home for lunch.

Now sitting here, I’m kind of embarassed after the fact, I mean, I had no idea someone was reading over my shoulder. I love it when people read my books, but reading while I type is too much pressure, ya know? Glad I didn’t know about it because my scene might not have flowed so well

Has anyone else had anything similar happen to them?

Cassie/Tina

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Thursday Thirteen – 20th Edition

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Thirteen Things about Tina Gerow

– 13 Creative Ways to Celebrate New Years –

1. Have a regifting party – or even a White Elephant Gift Exchange game party to get rid of all of those unwanted holiday presents.

2. Tailgate in a parking lot near a busy corner and watch the police award all the new DUI’s.

3. Have a party and set all your clocks forward by a few hours. Kick everyone out at “midnight thirty” and see how many catch on.

4. Crash the party of someone you don’t know and talk to everyone like you’ve known them forever, while drinking all their liquor.

5. Crash a party of someone you don’t know and every time you introduce yourself use a different name, profession and “friend” who invited you to the party.

6. Throw a party and drop into conversation how you had a psychic reading that told you everyone miscalculated the end of the world and it’s really at the end of 2007. Then at midnight have a friend turn off the breaker and play sounds on the roof that mimic bombs dropping.

7. Crash a party wearing a white T-Shirt and carrying a Sharpie pen. Tell everyone that anyone who kisses you gets to sign your shirt. For some inexplicable reason, that legitimizes it to drunk people.

8. Set up a roadside stand at the end of your subdivision selling spiked lemonade. Start the new year making some $$.

9. Invite a friend none of your friends and family have ever met to a party, and when you introduce him/her, keep telling the person you are speaking to all the funny stories you “remember” about the two of them. Half of them won’t admit to not knowing the person and if they are drunk enough, they may “remember” with you.

10. Make a big blender full of mudslides and gather around the police scanner laughing at all the people whose insurance will be going up in 2008.

11. On December 31st, see how many people you can convince that it’s December 30th.

12. On January 1st, see how many people you can convince that it’s January 2nd.

13. Or you can curl up with a nice spiked hot chocolate and either a Tina Gerow book or a Cassie Ryan book! LOL!

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Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

Whether you celebrate Yule, Hanukkah, Christmas or something else entirely – I hope you have a terrific one! It’s funny that there is so much expectation around this time of year. Everyone has a preconceived notion of how everyone else should celebrate their chosen holiday. But why? Aren’t the holidays about enjoying time with your family and reflecting on all the things you are grateful for? So, who is to say one holiday tradition is better than any other?

Yes, I guess I’m a rebel, and yes, I’ve been told so by many…lol. I just smile and ignore their well-meaning advice on the subject.

Yesterday we celebrated our 2nd annual Arizona family Holiday–one we started last year because we didn’t enjoy celebrating how we were “expected” to and we came out of this time of year more stressed than we went in. So, we finally drew the line and said enough!

My sister, brother-in-law and niece came over in the afternoon and we opened presents and went to Boston Market for lunch. (Hey – no dishes and yummy food!) We concentrated on a few toys each for the kids that they would like and very minimal stuff for the adults. No huge shopping sprees which we will regret once the bills come in! My son’s best friend came over and the boys got hooked on playing Pirates of the Carribean Stratego and then Sims 2 for Playstation. And by “the boys,” I do mean all of them, kids and adults included…LOL! My niece was playing with her shapes cube where you match the shape to the hole and drop it in, in between chasing the cats and trying to kiss and hug them.

Once my sister left to go do the traditional Christmas Eve/Santa stuff, I cooked Asian chicken and noodle skillet, and some steamed brussel sprouts (hey – no laughing – it was good and YES I actually cooked! See, doing Pampered Chef on the side has improved my cooking skills…lol.) We ate and watched Mel Brooks movies (History of the World and Robin Hood Men in Tights and laughed together for a few hours before we headed out back to light the fire pit and roast marshmallows and make smores under the full moon. We got a few great pictures of marshmallow roasting, but I didn’t get them from the hubby in time to put them up on the blog.

It was the most fun and the most stress free holiday I’ve had and we all had a good time just being together, which is what it’s all about.

Today we are heading to my hubby’s family for the somewhat more traditional Christmas Day. (Somewhat, because they are a Jewish family who still gets together and eats and hangs out and exchanges Christmas presents…lol)

Here’s hoping everyone has a terrific day doing whatever it is you want – NOT just what you’re expected to do

Tina/Cassie

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Thursday Thirteen – 19th Edition

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Thirteen Things about Tina Gerow

– 13 Things On My To Do List –

1. Finish Triangle of Seduction before the end of the year! (And I’m behind! EEK!)

2. Clean out my closet so I can actually fit the clothes I wear in there rather than keeping them in the laundry room. I’m going to have to be ruthless. If I haven’t touched it in the last few months and it’s not seasonal wear like a coat or special occasion dress – it’s gone!

3. Clean up my Pampered Chef paperwork and get everything set for the seven January cooking shows I have scheduled! Right now, I shoved everything in my bag from the last show I did a few weeks ago and it’s a mess. Besides – there will be new guest and host specials by January and I’ll have to get those printed out and organized.

4. Work on my taxes. OMG – I’m totally dreading this. Other than putting all my receipts in large ziplock baggies and throwing them in my office, I haven’t done much at all this year. Between my hubby and I we need to organize taxes for four businesses, plus our personal stuff – EEK! You would think one of these years I would learn.

5. Clean out the laundry room. Granted, once I clean out my closet that will help since I’ll have space to get some of that stuff out of there. But the hubby and kiddo also need to clean out their closets for this to work. And then I can actually get to the stuff that belongs in there to clean it up…lol!

6. I’m scared to even write this one because just the thought of it makes me shudder in fear – clean my office. (Insert scary screams and anguish noises here.) Let’s just say my office is, well, scary. It’s going to take a lot of work to organize and a lot of help from the hubby and kiddo, and possibly a lot of butterscotch martinis to build up strength…lol.

7. I’d like to look into refacing our cabinets. They are really dark wood that is probably original to the house, and I’ve seen some friends who have redone them on their own – either painting over them or just stripping them down to he wood grain. That would do wonders for my kitchen as well as the bathrooms!

8. Need to get my carpets cleaned. Pretty self-explanatory on that one

9. Need to clean up my computer. You know, clean out old emails that aren’t needed any more. Clean up my contact lists and delete old files I no longer need.

10. I have cover flats from each of my books that I wanted to get framed and hang up, along with my first royalty check and the first dollar I ever made from writing. Okay, I cashed the check and asked for a crisp dollar bill, but that counts! I’ve never gotten them framed and I’ve never hung them up. I need to do that – but I have a feeling the cleaning of the office needs to come first since I need to find them AND I need to actually be able to reach the walls of my office to be able to hang them up…LOL!

11. I need to clean out my laptop bag. I’m almost scared to stick my hand in there any more. No, nothing gross, but over time you build up receipts, business cards, notes to yourself, mail, and other bric a brac you drop in there. I usually clean it out once a month, and when it gets tough to get the laptop in there, you know it’s time once again.

12. Now that the holidays are nearly here, I’ll most likely need to clean out my fridge when all this is said and done. It’s not bad yet, but you know how the holidays pack them full!

13. Raise a toast to myself if I get all twelve of these done!

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Thursday Thirteen – 18th Edition

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

Thirteen Things about Tina Gerow

– In honor of my Birthday tomorrow – 13 Things I Would Like to Do Before My Fortieth Birthday Next Year –

1. Meet Matthew MacFadyen. (Hey, if I’m going to dream, it’s going to be big!) Dinner and getting great seats for one of his plays would be terrific to throw in there too! And, of course, after dinner drinks. Sorry, can’t be more that, I’m a happily married woman! So, Matthew, if you’re reading this, feel free to email me and we can set up a time/place for dinner

2. Visit Ireland & Scotland. I’ve always been fascinated by these two places, the culture, the castles and the beauty.

3. Have one of my books hit the New York Times Best Seller’s List.

4. Have one of my books hit the USA Today Best Seller’s List.

5. Go on a cruise. (I’ve never been on one)

6. Find a comfortable pair of sexy heels that I can wear for more than a few hours without wanting to go barefoot. I’m still convinced this is an urban legend, but hey – a girl can dream!

7. Have one of my books made into a movie!

8. Have enough income so money is never again a worry.

9. Hit my perfect weight (for me – screw those doctor’s charts! I’ll stick with where I feel good and healthy) and be able to stay there.

10. See Garth Brooks in concert. Did you read that, Garth? Phoenix, not Kansas! LOL.

11. Take a long girl’s weekend with my friends to somewhere fun!

12. Write and sell at least four books this year!

13. Make peace with the big four-oh before I get there in one year and one day.

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