You’ve heard of Freaky Friday, right? Welcome to Peeve-y Monday. In my day-to-day life, which includes internet contact, I’ve noticed something that irks me. Oh, there are no shortage of things that do, mind, but this is a new one.

Have you ever met someone who has to make everything about them? This gets on my last nerve.

Let me give you an example. Say you belong to a message board where people chat, share problems, and good news.

Sally Shygirl doesn’t post much, and she’s not a complainer, but today she comes to the forum with some good news. She’s gotten a promotion at work. Woohoo, go Sally! Right? That’s the right thing to post in whatever form you prefer.

But along comes Lydia Limelight, who can’t stand for Sally to get any attention. She posts: “Nice, Sally! This reminds me of the time I got called into my boss’s office, thinking I was in trouble, and he made me district manager!”

WTF, Lydia! This is NOT the place to talk about how awesome you are. If you need attention, make your own post. Don’t demand attention all over Sally’s good news.

And this doesn’t just happen on the Internet. I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to tell someone something and they have this look that says they’re not really paying attention; they’re just waiting for their turn to talk. It’s like, “Uh-huh, nice. Btw did I tell you…” Blah blah blah, on with my news! How hard is it to listen and care?

Don’t you just hate people like that? Give somebody else the floor, for crying out loud. It’s NOT all about you, Lydia.

(Sally and Lydia are not real people. You didn’t miss any big brouhaha.)

What pisses y’all off?

Happy new year, everyone!  Today at the Bradford Bunch, we’ve got a great interview for you.  Zoe Winters—a long time visitor at the Bunch and a talented writer—is here for some interview fun.  Zoe, thanks for joining us!

You’ve got a free ebook (Kept) up on your website. (Talk about a great deal—FREE!)  Will you tell us a bit about this book?

Sure!  Kept is a paranormal romance novella.  My hero, Dayne is a cranky old sorcerer, though he doesn’t look his age, because the magic makes him age far more slowly than your average human.  My heroine, Greta is a werecat who has just found out her tribe intends to strap her to a stone altar and sacrifice her. (Nice guys, huh?)  Her adoptive mother sends her to the only person in the city strong enough to help her, Dayne.  But he’s got a reputation for being pretty much the city’s darkest evil, because he killed most of her tribe years ago.  It was self-defense.  He thought he was trying to save the woman he loved, only to find out it had been a trap.  But Greta doesn’t know that.  He’s allowed the reputation to build to protect himself from further hurt.  When Greta shows up on his door, he’s fairly suspicious of her motives considering he was already burned once trying to play the hero.

Will there be more books in the Kept universe?

Oh yes. :-)  In a way, they’re ALL in the Kept universe.  I’m a really big fan of when authors write all their stories in one verse, and leave easter eggs in their work giving tiny little references to other works.  It’s part of why I was such a big fan of Buffy, that sense of continuity.  In season 7, they’d still be mentioning something like Xander’s hyena possession in season 1.  And so I like when things interconnect like that.  I’m working on two other novellas that are set in the same town, but everything is ultimately in the same verse, just different places and different factions.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?

Probably the same as most writers, when the words are actually flowing.  When I go back and re-read the crap draft, it’s always better in some places and worse in others than I thought, but its always great when the words are pouring out onto the screen.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

I think like a lot of Paranormal Romance writers, I’ve in some way been influenced by Buffy.  I think Spike and Buffy (for me) and Angel and Buffy (for some others) took a big hold of several of us and has in many ways helped inspire and grow this subgenre.  Otherwise, it just happens.  I’ll hear some random thing, and it connects with some other random thing, and then I’ve got little plots building.  I really have no idea how it works, and I’m not sure many of us (writers) do.  I wish I could say I got my ideas from the idea factory or ordered them online or something, it would sound less lame, haha!

You decided to publish Kept independently. Why did you make this decision—and have you learned anything about independent publishing that you’d like to share with us?

The most basic answer is that I’m a control freak.  And I think business is sexy.  I was raised in a pretty entrepreneurial family.  My grandfather owned a successful printing company for decades before he died. And my dad has a handyman company.  Instead of passing down the line down to my brother, this “gotta be my own boss” thing, passed to me.  I spent about 4 years collecting self publishing books and arguing with myself over it before finally deciding to take the plunge.  Mostly I was scared/upset about maybe not being as fully accepted in the “writer club” anymore.  Everybody else goes through the “respectable gates”  and going totally indie and producing your own work isn’t seen as very respectable.  A lot of people misunderstand it or think you’re trying to cut some line or something.  Or that you think you’re bigger and better than you are.  But filmmakers and musicians do it.  I think authors should be able to do it too if that’s the path they really want.  As for what I’ve learned.  I’ve learned a lot of “theory” about how to run a micropress putting out my own work.  And how to market books, and how to do this and that, but it’s all in the practice and trial and error.  So I’m still too new on this journey to have many take-home lessons to share.  Though I do think indies need to help each other and have community, and so I’m doing what I can in my small corner to help bring indies together so we can help each other and benefit from each other’s successes and mistakes.

What’s next for you, Zoe?

Taking over the world. Muahahaha.  Just kidding. Next I’m working on finishing the other two novellas that are directly linked with KEPT and combining them into a print release.  Hopefully I’ll get to do a podcast too.  I’ve got some great people who are there to help me on that, so assuming I don’t get too bogged down by everything else, it’s definitely on the agenda.  Then SAVE MY SOUL, the first full length novel comes out probably the year after that. And I have some erotica I want to do under a different name and imprint.  Some of  it is some pretty dark stuff, and not like a lot of my romance, so I dont’ think I want those “brands” mixing too much.  I’m on like a ten year plan here, it’s insane. I’m insane.

Wanna share a New Year’s resolution with us?

Losing that 5 pounds I gained back and getting back into bellydancing.  I’m having a blast with what I’m doing, but I’m becoming a bit of an anal retentive workaholic, and I need to get back into doing something physical.  Working out definitely needs to go back on the agenda for the New Year.

If there is anything else you’d like to add, fire away!  And thanks for taking the time to answer the interview questions.

Nah, I’ve already talked too long.  Thanks for having me!

Thank you, Zoe! To learn more about Zoe and her work, check out her website.

Have a great Saturday!

If, like my sister-in-law, you live in a sunny area (she’s in Florida, dang her), seeing the sun isn’t that big a deal, but I’m in the Northwest.  Nuff said.  Clouds, rain, more clouds, more rain, throw in a little snow. That pretty much describes Dec.  But by golly, its now Jan the 2 and that really is a touch of gold in among the clouds.  A perfect reason to feel good about 2009.

And that I’m determined to do, feel good about the new year that is.  We have a new president in the wings who from all indications will hit the ground running.  The stock market is actually up today and was yesterday.  Oh yes, a lot of our economy is in the toilet, but I’m not going there, not gonna do it you hear!  The shortest day of the year’s behind us and in another month my bulbs will be poking out of the ground.  And here’s one I don’t understand.  Last year, just cause, once my Easter lilly had done its thing, I toed it in the ground just beyond our front porch were it is barely protected by the overhang.  That sucker looks marvelous!  Full of green, healthy growth.  And no, I’m not about to tell it what time of year it is.  If it has spring on the brain,  so much the better.  Along the same line, my so-called Christmas cactus is getting ready to put out a bunch of new leaves.  It blooms red and wonderful some 4-5 times a year and obviously loves the random spot I put it in.  I bought it for under a buck at a yard sale some seven years ago and its been a delight ever since.  Now its too big to transplant.

So on those notes, I really am geared for a year of writing, something I wasn’t so sure of through most of Dec.  A number of things factored into my letheragy, and in retrospect, I’m discovering that the down time was exactly what the muse needed.  I hope/plan to put the finishing touches on the last book in my current Aphrodisia contract today or tomorrow.  Then, although, I have another contract for a Aphrodisia novella, I’m going to chase down an idea that came to me the other night.  I’ve been discussing it with my Loose ID editor and am excited to get rolling on it.  Great setting, great potential for the moody-broody which I love.  Then because nothing calms (and adds to) a writer’s nerves like a new contract, I plan to work up something for Aphrodisia.  Both stories are in that wonderful incubating stage where all things are possible, keeping me awake at night and making me itch to get started.

Hmm.  Speaking of incubating stages, I’m thinking about a friend who does wonderful crafts, everything from quilts to painting.  I’ve never thought about it before but I’m wondering if all creative types don’t go through the same process writers do when something floats around in our brains.  It doesn’t have a form yet, more an emotional energy, a sense of excitement, of possibilities, challenges, and fulfillment.

For those of you with creative hands (that’s not me, I can’t even pull off paint by number), is there an incubating stage?

Vonna, off to resolve two unresolvable problems for my characters so they can ride off into the sunset.

www.VonnaHarper.com

Woot!  It’s 2009.  That both freaks me out and exhiliarates me.  Time goes by way too fast.  But I’m excited for what 2009 will bring me, especially career wise.  I’m heading on a different trajectory and couldn’t be more thrilled. 

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  And away we go!

I’m not sure what 2008 taught me.  Most likely the realization that I want something else from my career.  I also learned don’t sweat the small stuff…and its all small stuff.  I also learned to fall in love with my stories again.  And that writing is a wonderful magical thing…or at least it should be.

Here are some things that happened to me in 2008.

1. signed with the bestest agent in the world - Laura Bradford

2. received a RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for BEST NOCTURNE - with Veiled Truth

3. found a new genre I truly love - YA

4. got serious about my health and joined a gym, now I work out at least 3 times a week, feels fantastic!

5. cleaned my room and tossed a lot of old stuff out - this was rejuvenating and I feel cleansed of a lot of old stuff that was weighing me down

6. my special girl turned 10 - HOLY CRAP!  My baby is 10!!!!!!!  I’m oooooooooooold

Now, I don’t make resolutions, because I usually don’t make them anyway, but I do set goals.   And I’ve set them high for 2009.  Because I can FEEL amazing things coming for me.  

I hope there are amazing things coming for you as well!  May 2009 be a year full of peace, love, and understanding.

This time of year always brings about alot of musings and memes and lists of “what I did” and “what I’m gonna do.”

I’m not doing any of that. I’m not doing much of anything, really, but goofing off! I keep thinking about writing, but I’m not writing. I think about cleaning — not cleaning. Been playing a bunch of video games and watching movies and reading books.

That’s a great end of the year, if you ask me!

This is also my final post for The Bradford Bunch, though you might see me around here now and again!

Happy New Year, everyone!

M

Hi All,

Well, it’s almost the end of 2008.  Can you believe it?  I sure can’t.  This year seems to have gone so FAST!  So much has happened, some good, some bad, but the thing I’ll remember most I think is the election of the first African-American president.  WOOT!  We truly are a remarkable country, doncha think? 

Now that this year is nearly gone, I’ve been thinking about things I want to resolve to change next year.  Oh yes, there’s that evil word–resolve.  Yeppers boys and girls, New Year’s Resolutions.   I’ve only come up with a few so far but the are do-able ones, ones I know I can accomplish, so I’m not being unrealistic or reaching too far out of the comfort zone.  My resolutions are:

1. Eat healthier and exercise more.  Totally doable… and I’ve got a coach lined up to kick my booty into doing it too.  WOOT!
2. I’m also resolving to finish one book and hopefully another before year’s end.  Very doable if I stick to a schedule… even if life throws me a curveball, I can meet this goal.
3. Talk more with my family.  I haven’t done this enough in the last couple years, so I resolve to see and speak to them more often.
4. Keep plugging away at the self-confidence issue–or lack thereof.  So far I’ve made a lot of progress in the last 2 months and hopefully by year’s end I’ll be much more confident.

That’s all I came up with but they are the most important issues in my life as of right now so they will be my focus for the upcoming year. 

What about you all?  Do you make resolutions?  Or not?  Do you keep them?  Or end up breaking them? 

Happy New Year to you all!  May it bring you joy and happiness.

A bad boy is about to find out just how naughty a good girl can be.

After eight long years of pretending a horrible one-night stand hadn’t happened and wondering if it had been her fault, Charity Harris has finally coaxed handsome bad boy and lifelong friend, Gabriel Bettencourt, back into her bed. It’s not just good, it’s fanfreakingtastic! Trouble is, he’s persisting with his story about not wanting a relationship and not being good enough for her even as their friendship blooms into something looking a lot like love.

Gabriel has ached to make Charity his for years, and finally having her in his bed, not just enduring but enjoying his darker urges is more than he’d ever imagined it could be. Despite what she says, he knows she deserves candlelight and roses, not candle wax and ropes. He’ll enjoy her while he can and let go when she finds the right man.

Charity knows Gabriel’s game and she’s not having any of it. A man can like it rough in bed and still be good and kind. He’s exactly the kind of man she wants to marry and she will. She loves him and she knows he loves her and she’s not taking no for an answer.

So when he runs off “to think” just after Christmas, it’s up to her to let him know that good girls can like it dark and rough and bad boys can be good men.

My name is Lauren Dane and I love small town romance that feature families. I read across most genres but most often, when I want a comfort read, I pick up a contemporary set in a small town with a family in it. Probably because my own, deepest roots, come from small towns and big families.

So last year when it came time to write a holiday themed novella, I’d just completed my Chase Brothers series and wanted to return to a small town setting so I reached into my own background and decided on Davis, California. For me, holidays mean family and for me, family and holidays often meant small towns where my family lived.

Now, Davis is a town caught between being a university town and a small farming town. It’s both, which is a character I sort of like about it. It’s an interesting melding of influences and so I had a great time writing To Do List there and returning this month to it for Sweet Charity.

Both my parents grew up in small towns in California’s Central Valley (towns WAY smaller than Davis, actually). Both have roots in the earth, in farming and in small communities. I grew up for most of my life in a very large city but we kept our roots and spent lots of time with family back in the valley. If you’ve never thought of farmers as sexy, let me tell you, some of them aren’t, LOL. But men who work the earth, who work with their hands? Yes indeed, very nice bodies. They’re solid and sexy and eminently capable at their very best.

When I think about the best memories of my childhood, I realize I often put them into my books. In Always there’s a scene where Eamon takes Caitlin to Olvera Street. I grew up in Los Angeles and we used to go out to Olvera Street several times a year. But in To Do List and in Sweet Charity, I take part of my growing up, my dad’s Portuguese heritage and I give it to Charity and Gabriel (and Rafe too). The Festas with their courts and parades, with the feasts and all the preparation are a huge part of Charity’s childhood as well as Gabriel’s.

Charity has gone away, gone to college at UCLA but she returned to Davis to run a small business. For her, even though she loved Los Angeles, it wasn’t a real question that she’d come back to where her family and her roots lay. And it’s also where Gabriel Bettencourt is.

Charity and Gabriel have known each other since childhood. She’s close friends with his sister and with his sister in law. She shares his roots on many levels and this is something that holds them together and also keeps their connection alive. They’ve already got the basis for a lifetime of love when the book opens.

This is also why I absolutely love friends to lovers stories! I love that the couple has a strong foundation before the first kiss. I love that usually there’s been some sexual chemistry and tension building up as they deny their attraction and watch the other with other people.

So we end up back in Davis and with Charity who has had enough of Gabriel’s dancing around and sending mixed signals. She means to have him with her and she declares and all out war to get him. Gabriel has, of course, wanted her for a decade and after a disastrous one night stand with her eight years before, has decided he’s not good enough for her because he likes his sex on the dark and rough side.

In Sweet Charity we get glimpses of who each of the characters are not just to each other, but to their family and friends. And this is extremely important to both of them, which heightens their allure to the other.

Of course there’s a Happily Ever After – it’s romance after all and some people are simply meant to be together, no matter how hard they fight it. Charity is a nice girl, as nice as Gabriel thinks she is, but being nice doesn’t mean she can’t be a bit dirty and being a bit dirty doesn’t mean you don’t have a good heart.

I hope folks enjoy Sweet Charity as much as I enjoyed writing it! And yes, I do hope to go back to Davis and revisit some of the characters I’ve introduced in To Do List and Sweet Charity. And I will most definitely be back to small towns and big families again. (or big towns and big families too – I write families into most of my books, LOL)

Now, for the contest part…Elisabeth Naughton has a book coming out (you can read about it just below as a matter of fact). So, I’m going to give a copy away on Wednesday! All you need to do to enter is tell me what your favorite comfort trope is - friends to lovers, vampires, small towns, shieks, greek millionaires, whatever and if you have a particular favorite title you reach for time and again. I’ll choose a winner from the comments and have the book shipped directly to you from Amazon!

Good luck! I’ll pick a winner at noon pacific on Wednesday December 31.

WINNER a’la Random.org is commenter #12! Dana - email me your mailing address so I can get this sent to you via Amazon! Congrats.

Hi, everyone! I hope everyone had a terrific holiday!  Today we get to welcome Elisabeth Naughton to the Bunch. Elisabeth has one very, very exciting book slated to release in just a few days.  I can’t wait to get my hands on STOLEN FURY–it looks like a book I won’t be able to put down until I’ve read the last word.  Welcome, Elisabeth!

Last weekend, my very close friend (and running partner) and I exchanged Christmas gifts. Connie has been one of my biggest supporters since the moment she learned I was writing. She helps me plot my books when we run, listens to me vent and complain about the industry and always has great suggestions for those sticky plot points that stall me up. But her biggest asset is that she knows me. Knows the me most people don’t – aside from my husband – and loves me anyway. (Now that’s a good friend!) Last weekend, she gave me a tiny silver necklace with the word “Believe” on one side, and on the other, “That there are no limits but the sky.”

For those of you who don’t know me as well as Connie, let me tell you, believing in myself is what kept me going when I was sure I wouldn’t ever sell a single book. About two years ago I was at a point where I was questioning why I was bothering submitting and writing books that would never see print. And I found myself Christmas shopping one day, looking for knick-knacks for the shelves in DH’s new office, and ended up staring at a wooden sign with the word “Believe” on it. That word stuck with me, and before I knew it, I bought the sign, came home and set it on my desk. During Christmas time, most people associate the word “Believe” with faith and Santa. But not me. Sure, it can mean that, but it can also mean so much more. Every time I look at that sign, even today, I remember that in this lifetime, the only things we can control are those directly within our reach: our interactions with others, our work (for me that’s writing), our outlook on the world. I could never make NY buy my books, but I could write, and do my best, and believe in myself and this life I’ve made.

It took another year before I finally sold. Every day I’d look at that sign and it would motivate me to write. Since then, I’ve bought items with the word “Believe” on them for several of my CPs, hoping they’ll find the same internal inspiration I did to keep working. It’ll come as no surprise to most of you that the heroine in my debut, STOLEN FURY, has deep-seated belief issues. She doesn’t believe in love or happily ever after. And her journey through the story isn’t so much about finding treasure, but learning to believe in something other than herself. Originally, the book was called MAKE ME BELIEVE – a title I still love, but one that was changed because it didn’t portray the suspense angle of the novel. I was okay with that change because I think the new title is also great, but in my heart, whenever I look at the book, I still see the original title. Sorta like a subtitle, I guess.

Of course, my good friend Connie knew all this, which is why the Believe necklace she got me for Christmas this year is even that much more special. I have it on now, and I have a feeling I’ll be wearing it long after the holidays are over.

In honor of the season (and my release on December 30th), I thought it would be fun to list out a few beliefs. Maybe some things only a few people know about you, or things you’ve kept hidden. I’ll go first:

I believe in love. In happily ever after. That good things happen to good people.
I believe that right will always win – even if it takes years for wrong to be stamped out.
I believe in the power of positive thinking, in karma, in surrounding yourself with positive people that lift you up.
I believe that beauty isn’t just skin deep; it seeps all the way into the soul.
I believe if you work hard enough, believe enough and never give up, there are no limits but the sky.
I believe that dreams really can come true.

What about you? What do you believe in?

Elisabeth Naughton

www.elisabethnaughton.com

***

Elisabeth Naughton’s romantic suspense debut, STOLEN FURY, releases Tuesday, December 30th, 2008. Publisher’s Weekly calls STOLEN FURY “A Rock solid debut.”

Check out Elisabeth’s FORTUNE & GLORY CONTEST in honor of her release. Embark on your very own quest, partner up with a sexy treasure hunting guide and enter to win a $100 VISA gift card!

This is a first for me. A blog on Christmas Day. Well, okay, I actually uploaded this blog this last Sunday. I hope if anyone has stopped by the blog today, that you are having a superb and wonderful holiday. For those who happened to have stopped by, do you have any New Year’s Resolutions you don’t mind sharing? New Year’s resolutions are funny things. I don’t do them every year, but when I do, I make sure they are something I can probably accomplish. For example, I decided I only had three this year:

1. To write books I can be proud of and make sure that they are all books of my heart no matter what.

2. To write a gratitude list every day. It’s a good thing to remember how fortunate I am.

3. To have a damned good time with my new puppy when I get him!

So come on, what are your resolutions? Everyone who posts will receive a free download of my out of print book (a galley actually) ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS. I’ll email the books to each poster by later this evening.

And to all a good night!

I’m feeling festive today. Oh, yeah, very festive. Happy Holidays, everyone!

And, for your viewing pleasure, a little fun from me and the always delightful Ann Aguirre. (Bet you didn’t know we could move like this, baby!)