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As most of you know, Motley has been playing WoW. She has a guild called Questicles so I made her a forum for it. My new hosting company has auto install of phpbb boards so I had her up and running in less than an hour. She’s been enjoying herself playing both horde and alliance characters. Then early this morning, she and a friend came upon a quest that made her – and me – sad. She had to find Hilary’s Necklace.

Just looking at the two little cartoon kids fishing made me sad because I know that my friend is sad. In my head I heard that famous line from Casablanca, “We’ll always have Paris”, but in my mind I changed it to “We’ll always have Hilary’s Necklace.” And although Motley and I were saddened by the quest, we know our friend is headed out on a new quest, in a new land, with every chance to be happy once more.

In a short time, Rott will be home and I wonder if this is my chance to be happy once more or if history will repeat itself. It will be a new quest for us and it will be especially hard for Rott. But I worry all the time that everything will just go back to the way it was and I will have to walk away. It’s a very stressful time in my house right now as we prepare for his homecoming in May.

All stress and sadness and questicles aside… since it’s Monday it’s time for a Marcus. I’ve been hunting for new Marcus photos and haven’t come up with any I don’t already have. I’m gonna have to start posting photos I’ve posted before! That’s not much of a hardship though for me. I can look at him for hours. Heh.

Those shorts are way tacky but I’d be more than happy to help him take them off. *wink*

Have a great Monday everyone!

Where did it go? I found myself asking that question repeatedly this morning… of myself. The reason for the question is that I lost my weekend. I was supposed to put some solid time into Fire Season, Book 3 of the Tales of the Darkworld. I didn’t add one single word to that manuscript. Instead, I spent the weekend helping someone who’d had her website and email address deleted by Yahoo. Actually, I was giving a lecture on making trailers (and posted a link to Marty’s post Fuck You WMG) and how to use media to promote yourself when all this started. I didn’t even get to finish my lecture. It’s missing the part about using Audacity.

Now, first of all, she’s a really nice lady and she’s been really nice to me, so if she or anyone else who knows her reads this – PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY. This is not a criticism of ANYONE. *sigh* At any rate, she panicked. And she ended up panicking everyone from her Yahoo group – that is A LOT of panicked women. She thought Yahoo had deleted her group too and told people that they had. They hadn’t. People were still posting to it. In fact, people were posting to the group saying, “OMG how could Yahoo delete this group? Don’t they know how much she helps us?”

I know. You’re thinking, how logical was that? They posted to the group freaking out about the group being deleted. I eventually had to yell at them and say what was so obvious to me – Hello! It’s not deleted! You’re posting to it and everyone sees you posting to it! Granted, I wasn’t panicked. They were. I felt like I was in the middle of a cattle stampede.

I spent the rest of Saturday getting her up and running with a new domain and new hosting and a new email address. The new website looks rather nice actually. I built it on Wordpress with a pretty template and when I ran into some CSS issues a very nice writer named Maura from the Pink Chair Diaries group helped me out. That was pretty late on Saturday night… or rather early on Sunday morning.

Sunday I spoke with my publisher Mary and thought about trying to finish my blogger novella for her quickly. If I had been able to write, I think I would have been able to finish it for her by next weekend. Unfortunately, Sunday disappeared like Saturday did. I was supposed to be in a Zanctuary chat at 1 pm my time. I was, but no one else was. I wasn’t quite sure whether to be insulted or relieved actually. I’m tired of chats. They aren’t doing me any good or selling more copies of my books. They’re just frustrating me.

So Sunday was more of the same sorta. I fixed some stuff for the lady who lost everything. I fixed some stuff for another woman I’d helped previously with Wordpress. I answered a lot of left over questions from my lecture forum. I said “You’re welcome” a lot. I explained some more about the Saturday fiasco. I ended up writing a little on the blogger story but it was less than 1K. And then I realized my whole weekend had been sucked down some big black hole leaving me tired and with nothing accomplished but the schedule for the Flirty Author Bitches blog. I’m not pissed or sad or even disappointed. I’m just tired. I guess the black hole sucked up my energy too.

Now, it’s Monday and I’m faced with yet another draining work week. I must seriously need a Marcus. Being a helpful person means I get to help myself to some Marcus. I deserve it. You do too! I’m not sure if the shirt is coming off or going on here but I like to think it’s coming off…

If you’re interested in a fun blog written by a group of flirty writers both male and female come on over to Flirty Author Bitches. There’s a sexy poem, a hot male body, some naked female breasts, a little bitching, a story about length, and another one about going to Hell. All of it is fun!

Happy Monday, my darlins!

It seems that I did. I entered a short story in a contest for a cover and it turned in the highest score which makes me the winner. It’s kind of funny really because I had a story for this contest, but my critique partners tore it to pieces. That meant I needed to take the story apart and put it back together again. Fearing that I wouldn’t have that done in time to submit the story for the contest, I wrote a ‘companion’ story.

The first story, Runaways, is about a werewolf who meets his mate on a train from Prague to Paris. The werewolf has a twin brother who is the head of the pack. The story is about the couple letting their emotions overwhelm them. Without really giving it any thought, they mate and then are left with an OMG moment because they’re strangers who are now tied to each other.

When I set Runaways aside, I decided to write the other twin’s mating story. This twin is the Alpha and he’s got different issues than his brother. As the one who always takes care of everything, he sets off for New York (where his brother and his new mate eventually end up) and hires an agency to follow his brother. Basically, he just wants to make sure his twin is happy and wasn’t taken advantage of. However, on his arrival he meets the woman who runs the agency and falls headlong in lust with her. She, meanwhile, recognizes right off that he is her mate, but she’s running scared and doesn’t tell him.

Mating is a very different story than Runaways, but both have a lot of the same elements and the two things that tie them together are the twins and the theme of mating. Here’s the cover for Mating, the story that won the contest and a link to the book’s trailer:

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IP37wmgyck

In other news, I’ve joined a group of authors and writers (both male and female) on a group blog that should be a lot of fun. It’s called the Flirty Author Bitches and it’s geared toward having fun, being flirty, talking about sex and romance and writing or reading about sex and romance. The world is a pretty depressing place these days and we just wanted somewhere to talk about things that aren’t so bleak and down. In other words, we wanted someplace to flirt. *wink* I hope you’ll stop by and check us out from time to time. We should be launching this week.

I’m off to work late this morning. Long story that I won’t get into but I needed to sleep in so my day is starting late. Before I go I need a Marcus for this Monday! Oh, boy do I need a Marcus! I think he would look hot on the cover of one of my books!

There is another contest going for a copy of one of my books. Head on over to Socially Dead and leave Motley a comment about the video she has up and you could win! Also, if you’re interested in buying my books at Pink Petal Books, I have a coupon code you can use for your entire purchase there (in case you were interested in one of the other hot books they sell like the ones with sexy ghosts). To get 5% off your purchase just enter the code DRAGON at checkout.

Wishing you all great Monday!

I kinda promised on Twitter that I would post this. I’m not much of a foodie anymore, but I used to be into recipes and baking and stuff. I’m more into what’s quick and easy now. Anyway, I mentioned on Twitter that I’d made some adobo this week. Adobo is a Filipino dish. Being half Filipino, I sorta have to know how to make it. These days, I make it about once a month. Motley loves it and I usually take some to my co-worker who is Indonesian. Personally, I can go years without eating the stuff. I love it, but I’m just not that into it. I’d rather have hot wings.

First of all, you have to realize that I don’t have an exact recipe for making this. I don’t have measurements or anything like that. If you’re a decent cook though, you can prolly follow this and end up with a pot of adobo that’s edible.

Here’s a list of ingredients you need:

• pork or chicken – as much as you need to feed your crew
• apple cider vingar – NOT the white stuff. Never the white or fancy stuff. Just the apple cider kind.
• mixed pickling spices – You can find this stuff in bags in the spices section. It’s a bunch of peppercorns and bits of bay leaf and not hot chiles usually.
• paprika
• salt
• soy sauce
• GARLIC (fresh cloves – a few to taste… I use a half dozen)

I also use a tea ball. A tea ball is a lovely little device with holes. You put tea leaves in and drop the tea ball in hot water. The holes let the water in so you end up with a nice cup of tea, but no tea leaves in the bottom of your cup. I use two of em full of mixed pickling spices in adobo so I don’t end up with a mouthful of peppercorns later. You can also tie the spices into a cheesecloth. If you don’t care about getting a mouthful of peppercorns you don’t need this.

You can use boneless meat or not. My brother uses chicken thighs (with the bone in) which are generally pretty cheap in the store. When I make chicken adobo, I use boneless chicken breast. Motley isn’t much of a chicken person though so I usually make pork adobo. I get those country style ribs and I toss them in a tall pot whole. The reason I don’t cut them up and take them off the bone is because you end up cooking the meat long enough that it falls off the bone anyway. I just pick all the bones out of the pot when it’s done. They’re a good size and easy to pull out without the chore turning into a mess.

Into the tall pot goes the pork and garlic then I cover the meat with water. I make sure it’s completely covered too. No parts sticking out. Then I add some apple cider vinegar. You prolly want to know how much. I don’t know how much. It depends on how much water you have. My best guestimate would be about a cup and a half per 12 cups of water. Basically, I start pouring and the instant it reeks, I stop. Cause really, when you start pouring, it doesn’t smell much. The moment I start to recoil from the pot is when I quit pouring. LOL

Drop in your mixed pickling spices. You can put a little or a lot. Generally, I fill two tea balls but it depends on how much you’re making and whether you like stuff strongly spiced or not. Some people might not like a lot. There is no right way or wrong way to do this. I’ve had very weakly spiced adobo and very strongly spiced. You have to experiment and find out what your family likes best. I sprinkle in the equivalent of probably a couple of tablespoons each of paprika and salt. I dump about a quarter cup of soy sauce in and then I turn on the stove.

I cook it until the meat falls off the bone and a lot of the water is gone. Generally, it’s kind of a soupy-stewy consistency when it’s done. I break the meat into chunks with a spoon. I serve it over steamed rice and spoon some of the sauce onto the rice. You can also find a Filipino store and buy frozen lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) and fry those up to go with the meal. Yum.

So that’s it for what’s been cooking in my house. Hope the recipe that’s not a recipe works out for you and that you get to enjoy some adobo!

BTW, don’t forget that you can pick up my books at Noble Romance and Pink Petal Books. If I sell 85 copies of the Darkworld books they go to print and then I can offer SIGNED copies! Woot! All the books are quite steamy and a lot of fun. I don’t think I can write without humor, although this weekend I’m gonna give it a whirl as I finish my story for Wild Child Publishing’s Weirdly anthology. I’ve just become the editor in charge of the antho so I gotta get on the stick and finish my story so I can check out the other ones coming in.

Hope you have a great weekend!

They’re here! Yes, the first two books in the Tales of the Darkworld series came out last Thursday the 5th. I didn’t blog about it because I have been in OT hell. The day job was ruthless last week and I’m still exhausted. Deadline on top of deadline just wrung every ounce of energy from me. I’m still not done with month end functions and I’m truly crossed eyed with exhaustion.  When the alarm went off this morning at 6 – and I went to bed at an hour that is early for me – I just wanted to roll over and sleep for 4 more hours.

I’m currently sitting in my towel, wet from the shower, and eyes drooping. I could nod off right here in my chair. Seriously. I may have to go home early because I already feel the telltale pressure of a king size sinus headache building behind my face. That should guarantee some sleep though.

So, Tales of the Darkworld are about shifters. In the case of the first two books, the shifters are black dragons. Book One Shifting Winds is the story of black dragon Declan Antaeus and a vampire he’s had a crush on for years, Elysia Granville.  It contains sex in the cemetery on Halloween while 6′4″ Declan is dressed as the Grim Reaper with a real scythe and Elysia is dressed as Elvira.  No TVC here. Only TDC – throbbing dragon cock. It’s probably all pretty similar to Dave.

In Book Two Hot Water, Bad Monkey will get his fill of TVC because the hero of the story is Elysia’s brother Colin who is, of course, a vampire. The heroine is Declan’s black sheep of the family sister Eden.  This story contains sex in an infinity pool that is set to boiling by Eden’s dragonfire.  This story has a lot more layers to it than Shifting Winds. It also has two scenes featuring the snarky elf Karl with a K, the very amusing gay wildling Corey Green, and one scene with the mesmerizing black dragon Vahid Delrey. You know these characters as Karl Erikson, Gooster, and Iron Fist.

Hot Water is dedicated to those three for allowing me to morph them into immortals (Vahid needs to email me so I can send him a copy) and to Jennifer McKenzie (ie Jennifer Leeland) who is better at pushing than an electric cattle prod. Jen also had a really great Thursday Thirteen on my release day with 13 reasons to buy Hot Water. Apparently, Jen really liked Gooster too because his character was the #9 reason to buy the book! Go Gooster!

I haven’t promo’d the books much and I still haven’t gotten around to submitting The Wise Guy for reviews. As soon as I’m not so groggy I’ll get on that. But speaking of reviews, I read the funniest thing ever yesterday. If you need a good belly laugh, a spew your soda onto the monitor laugh, you MUST read this. It’s truly hilarious. No TVC but there are things ever so much funnier. Ladyfingers. You HAVE to read it to understand. You’ll never look at those cookies the same way again. Go HERE.

Now, a taste of Marcus on this Monday. I posted some of my favorite photos of him at my release party over the weekend. Ummmm ummmm. He is just delicious! Here’s a really nice image of him to brighten the beginning of the week. Bad Monkey should be pleased.

Since I had two new releases those who post comments for the next two weeks will be entered in a drawing to win copies of the Tales of the Darkworld.

A couple of last items and then I guess I’d better drag my ass to work. First, if you want to BUY my books you can go to Pink Petal Books where they are currently on the front page. Second, if you play WoW and you’re in Blackwing Lair (I think that’s the right server) keep an eye on the mailbox. (But don’t ask me where the mailbox is because I don’t know. I’d have to ask Motley.) Apparently, Motley’s hot character iPanties gets up on the mailbox and dances… while taking her clothes off. Yep. That’s my kid.

Have a great Monday!

Thank you to everyone who came to Jester’s show last week when I was on. I very much appreciate the support. Unfortunately, with the room scrolling by and my kid’s messy writing, we’re not sure exactly WHO the winner from the show was. It’s either Catherine or Cissa, and I truthfully do not remember who all was in the chat beyond Marty, Hilly, Dave, Howard, and Karl. That’s because they either called in or we talked about them. Motley has a name written down that starts with a C. To me it looks kinda like Cathy or Catherine, but it could be Cissa. So Catherine and Cissa need to email me and I’ll send you a copy of The Wise Guy. That turned out to be a bit of a train wreck but I think giving them both a copy solves the mystery of the C name.

Since the chat winner drawing got a tad tweaked, I thought I’d draw two names here as well. Just to even everything out you know. There’s something to be said for symmetry. On this occasion it means more winners!

The winners of the comment drawing are Becky W. and Blu! Two C names, two B names. Don’t ask me how Motley did that. She’s really tickled with herself now. That’s a good thing. She was outraged that Dickiemaxx would have me tell her “For the Alliance!” yesterday. HEH. Now, she’s over it.

So, I had a great brunch with Hilly yesterday and had a chance to catch up with her. It’s been awhile since we had the chance to get together, but it’s funny how it always seems like it was just yesterday that I saw her. I finally had a chance to give her the shirt that Motley and I made her. It’s a Queen of Snark shirt. The design is simple but really cute… a very Snackiepoo kind of shirt. You can see the Queen of Snark line of stuff at our Cafepress store. The Twisted Sex Toy line is there too. I love taking inspiration from people I know whether it’s something that ends up in a book or on a coffee mug.

Now, I know I missed Marcus last week but the book thing sorta took precedence. I know, *gasp*! But I’m making up for it now with a double dose of Marcus and then the announcement of yet another contest! WOOT!

The man looks great in a pair of jeans whether it’s on the catwalk or the red carpet. Although, he really looks the best naked or in skimpy underwear. Rawr.

This week on March 5 Pink Petal Books releases Book One and Book Two of the Tales of the Darkworld. Shifting Winds and Hot Water are the first two book contracts I got. Having these two books come out is an even bigger thing for me than The Wise Guy was. I will again be having a release party on the Amethyst Winters Yahoo Group but it won’t be on the 5th because that’s a Thursday and I do have to work. On Saturday the 7th, we’ll be partying. So from the 5th to the 8th, all the comments on this blog are eligible to win a copy of Shifting Winds and a copy of Hot Water. Hot Water has a special dedication with some blogger names I know you will all recognize. Make sure you stop by during those 4 days and leave a comment so you can be in the drawing!

I’m off to work now. I wish it would stop being summer in the spring. The heat freaking sucks ass. Oh, well. I’m off to the icy A/C of the office. Winners, don’t forget to email me at winter at winterheart dot com! Have a great Monday everyone!