Thursday 13 Numero...who knows?

Thirteen Things Jenna wants to do this summer! 1… Take the boys camping 2… Enjoy RWA! 3… Climb the stairs in a lighthouse 4… Hike to a waterfall 5… Pick peaches 6… Finish a novel (that I haven't started...eek!) 7… Go to a living history museum/historical reenactment 8… Ride the jet boats under the bridges in town 9… Not throw away a single zucchini 10… Head to the beach at least three times 11… Take an actual vacation with Hubba Bubba 12… Get the splint off my arm! 13… Enjoy the boys... Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Heather 2. Babe King 3. shelley 4. Gina Ardito 5. Loribelle Hunt 6. Tempest Knight 7. Jennifer Shirk 8. Jennifer McK 9. Rhonda Stapleton 10. R.G. ALEXANDER 11. Sara Thacker

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Thursday 13 :: Things you can't do with a shattered wrist

Thirteen Things about JENNA 1…. Put on a bra! 2.... Pull your hair into a ponytail. 3.... Open a jar (or bottle of pain meds) 4.... Tie shoes 5.... Change kids clothes and diapers 6.... Paint my nails 7.... Clean the house 8.... Scratch my back 9.... Make a sandwich 10... Scoop ice cream 11... Open the front door with mail in my hands 12... Zip jeans 13... Buckle car seats Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Ta Ta For Now

I shattered my wrist. Chasing BabyBoy at the park. The nifty surgery will leave me with a scar that will look like I was serious about committing suicide. In the meantime...I won't be around much...typing one handed is so...FRUSTRATING!!!

Thursday 13 #8

Thirteen Things I will accomplish before my next birthday 1…. Sell at least three more novels 2.... Get back down to my fighting weight 3.... Start bringing in enough income that Hubba Bubba and I stob obsessing about money 4.... Finish four novels 5.... Paint the downstairs 6.... Finally buy drapes (it's been 6 years) 7.... Buy a bike and take a bike ride with the boys 8.... Take an actual vacation sans spawn with Hubba Bubba 9.... Clean the house from top to bottom 10... Attend a conference to celebrate each sale (RWA, Emerald City, Willamette Writers, EPPIE) 11... Make time for myself every day 12... Stop feeling so guilty all the time 13... Count my blessings every night Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Happy Birthday To Me...

It's My Birthday...and I have my first American Historical story out!

TREASURED by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Marianne Phillips lost so much in the war – her brother, father, mother. the family plantation, and with it her way of life. Even with so much ripped from her, her pride and self-respect remain firmly in tact. When a man who claims to have admired her from afar proposed marriage, can Marianne trust his intentions, or will her pride get in the way?

This is a sweet short story set after the American civil War. Marianne Phillips receives a proposal from Robert Hannigan – but can she trust him? She is no longer an heiress and most men have wanted the money she no longer possesses. -- Red Roses For Authors

I was gonna...

The plan was to start a new book today...but since my birthday is only two days away and I won't be doing anything anyone anywhere might term as work on that day, I'll wait until after...

Bring on the reading! By the way...what are you reading right now?

Happy Mother's Day

We have the best Mother's Day tradition. The boys (including Hubba Bubba) head to the farmers market to choose the plants for our vegetable garden, and plant them as my gift. They're so proud of themselves, and I am of them.

What are you doing for Mom's Day?

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Ideas

You meant to get your mom something, really you did, but life got in the way and the only option you have now is an e-card, right? Wrong!

Be happy you live in the time of epublishing and send your mom a story that is sure to put a smile on her face. At just $1.50, The Rosettes from The Wild Rose Press are cheaper than a car, and you can deliver them straight to Mom's inbox in time for the big day!

FOR MOM ::

FOR GRANDMA ::

FOR YOUR SISTER ::

Rebound

Uh-oh.

I was planning to take a few weeks to organize and regroup, maybe write a few short stories before I got back to work on another novel...but...

OK. Not going to write today. Must clear off my to do list first!

• Format Pink Heart Society posts for May (yes, this was on my list last week as well)
• Organize office (since it doubles as our bedroom, Hubba Bubba is really behind me doing this)
• Knock off the top of my To-Be-Read stack (Trish sent me her April release and did I read it in April? Nooooooooo. She's going to slap me while I sleep.)
• Work up a writing plan for the rest of the year (Must do this if I have any hope of staying on track during the summer months when I would much rather be playing outside with the boynadoes.
• Work up an idea for the PORTLAND novella I'm contracted to write for Phaze. I want to run a syno under the editors nose before I get too into it.

OK...that's enough! Must get to it instead of dreaming up more to do!

THURSDAY 13...6th installment

Thirteen keywords people typed tofind JENNA's blog... 1…. how romantic can a frenchman be 2.... movies to blame for romantic notions 3.... jenna's tough love 4.... emotional foreplay (this is my favorite!) 5.... mills and boon free reads 6.... getting laid first time free stories 7.... heather tindall wedding (HT is my heroine in Her Cinderella Complex...) 8.... high heels blogger 9.... writer cave 10... visualizing Merry Maids 11... pink heart society 12... searing hot heros (ah, how sweet, someone who typos as much as me) 13... sexy french phrazes (another typo...I guess I do those a lot! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! The Pink Heart Society Crystal Jordan Loribelle Hunt Debbie Mumford Jennifer McK Rhonda Stapleton Sonja Foust Elle Fredrix Jennifer Shirk Grace Draven Gina Ardito Trish Wylie Shari Straight pussreboots Samantha Lucas (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Every Book Has a Thing...

By the time you read a book, it is 'done and dusted' as the lovely editor likes to say. Polished until sparkling. But every manuscript has an issue that drives the writer to chocolate during the editing process. I've had a had habit, extreme was-zle infestation, repetitive just-ing, just to name a few. (Yes, I used had & just in that sentence to annoy my vacationing CP). This book has my chronic problem, typo-itis, to the nth degree.

Lots of , when there should be . I can't count how many times an o was left floating, waiting to become an on, of, or, oh. I mean...I even mispelled Don Jaun. What gives?

On the bright side...DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION is edited :) I'm toying with the idea of adding an epilogue before I shoot it off to the editor tonight...

Reading instead of editing...

Ding dong, the book is done...well, drafted. I kept getting hung up on the little things, so just barrelled through, getting a workable skeleton I can hang the story on. Which is great in theory.

Except at this point everything is nearly as perfect as I can make it...and I am trying to polish the prose so it shines...and I keep reading.

Normally, reading is a good sign, it means things are stitched together right in the book. BUT when you are trying to edit, polish, layer...whatever you want to call it, reading is the enemy! When you read, you only notice the story and the characters.

Here's hoping my critique partner found some time to go through it. She never reads my stuff, she's too busy looking for themes, redundant phrases, had habits and was-zle infestations. Which is what I should be doing, but I find it impossible!

SPYING IN HIGH HEELS...coming to your TV!!

I heard the BEST news today! My friend Gemma Halliday's double RITA nominated novel, Spying in High Heels, is in development for a television series on the USA Network!!! It’s currently one of five new shows being developed for their fall 2007/2008 season.

Spying in High Heels follows shoe designer Maddie Springer, who in an effort to track down her missing boyfriend, realizes that her knack for fashion also serves another purpose: it makes her a great detective. Maddie's uniquely female perspective helps her pick up clues, using her designer's eye to discern tell tale shapes, colors and patterns, among other things. Along with her best friend Dana, an out-of-work actress, Maddie decides to open a detective agency operating out of her stepfather's hair salon.

Not all shows in development make it to the air, but this one should! If you want to see Maddie and Ramirez on the small screen, write to the USA Network and tell them you heard about SPYING IN HIGH HEELS and can’t wait to watch it. Or, if you’ve read the book and liked it, tell them that, too! Contact the programming department at the USA Network:feedback@usanetwork.com

In the meantime, read up on Gemma's books, including Undercover in High Heels & Killer in High Heels.

13 Things I MUST get done TODAY!...week...5?

Thirteen Things about JENNAI highlighted what I actually managed to do... Buy milk for the boys! Get kid size hangers so I can put away BabyBoy's laundry. Exercise (get this, I've been doing a mini-trampoline!) Finish the last scene of Driven so I can get to editing it properly (instead of in pieces). Get the boys to and from school, and then tennis. Format my Pink Heart Society posts. Reschedule my doctor's appointment. Schedule dental appointments for both boys. Three loads of laundry. Read three chapters of the book I need to review. Meditate without falling asleep. Update contests at Romance Divas. Think of SOMETHING for dinner. (I'm thinking...restaurant!) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Jennifer McKenzie Tempest Knight Gwen Hayes WordTrix Rose Middleton Grace Draven Jennifer Shirk Elle Fredrix Crystal Jordan Rhonda Stapleton Jenifer Bianco Rene Lyons (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

FOUND ... available now from Wild Rose Press

Found by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Arriving home after a girls night out, Eden’s realized she no longer needs to look for love. Love is right there, sleeping in her bed. But does he feel the same?

Champagne Rosette, Sensual $1.50

"This little tale is erotic without being graphic. The blatant sex in today’s e-book market is a bit much for me to handle, so finding something that showed sex without being gross was a treat. And my favorite line in the story summed up so much in so few words: No denying she looked like sin. ...I wish longer e-books on the market could be this well written." -- 4 champagne flutes, Cocktail Reviews

Discounted from Coffee Time Romance $1.20

May Happenings for Romance Authors

eHarlequin
April 30 - May 4 :: Tawny Weber - EMBRACING YOUR SECRET IDENTITY - How we (especially women) often let other's perceptions of us mold our identity. How to break out, be free, embrace the person WE think we are rather than giving in to those perceptions.
May 7-11: TAKE TWO-- Second Draft to Sale with Donna Alward
May 14th-18th:"SECRETS OF A MAN TAMER" with Cindi Myers
May 21 - May 25 Melinda Curtis :: CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?—Author Melinda Curtis wonders what secrets are okay to keep and which ones are definitely not

Romance Divas
Author of the Month Workshop :: Cherry Adair

May 3-5 :: In the Classroom-workshop :: Newsletters & Web Promotions with Frauke of Croco Designs

THE SECRET

Is anyone else reading THE SECRET? I saw the show Oprah did on the book and was intrigued enough to pick up a copy of the book. Larry King had an interview with a group of experts from THE SECRET documentary...does it seem a little irresponsible to anyone else?

There must be some element to this secret to life I am missing. Probably something I glossed over while reading with one eye, the other on my kids as they played at the park. The gist of THE SECRET is to visualize what you want in life (this is so much fun for a writer), the universe is your catalog (OK, I admit I had a SkyMall moment when I read that bit), and if you act as if you've already received your order, your energy frequency will draw it to you.

I've been visualizing Merry Maids...and there are still dishes in my sink. If I do them will it ruin the energy frequency? Isn't is irresponsible to let dishes rot on the counter until Hubba Bubb realizes they are not a scence experiment for the boys?

I've been visualizing a multi-book contract, having an excerpt in Cosmo, having a novel adapted into a movie (hence the new avatar), my perfect office, giving a keynote speech at a RWA event, taking the boys to Australia, and washboard abs (for me or Hubba Bubba, I'm not picky).

What are you visualizing?