Tuesday, June 28, 2011

An Unlikely Pair now free on Amazon!

Amazon made AUP free yesterday. Only Amazon USA so far. Those of you in the UK and Germany, let Amazon know you want the book free like it is at Apple, B&N, etc.

Prequel short story for My Once and Future Love.

By typical standards, Beth and Jacob should've never been friends, but it's funny what Geometry class and a shared backyard wall can bring about.

12,000 words.

ETA: Woot! #102 Free in Kindle Store. #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Short Stories.

ETA2: #32 Free in Kindle Store. #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Short Stories.

ETA3: Still growing! #25 Free in Kindle Store. #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Short Stories. Can we hit #1 today?

ETA4: And....we're ending the day with #22 Free in Kindle Store and #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Short Stories. Thanks for all the support!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Book rec - Quarter Square (urban fantasy)

David Bridger's urban fantasy QUARTER SQUARE released today!





English carpenter Joe Walker thinks his life is over when he discovers his wife and best friend having an affair. Restoring an abandoned theatre offers little hope for a fresh start...until he follows a group of strangers through a hidden door into a world he never could have imagined.



In the haven known as Quarter Square, Joe encounters a community of supernatural street performers who straddle the mortal world and the magic realm known as the Wild. Here, Joe finds a sense of belonging he's never known before—and a chance to uncover the truth behind the frightening visions that have haunted him since childhood. He also meets Min, an enchanting singer who quickly captures his heart.



But as Joe settles into Quarter Square, he learns their haven is under attack, while an ancient enemy threatens to tear him and Min apart. Now, Joe must learn to wield his own powers in order to save the life he's come to love...



Buy QUARTER SQUARE at Carina Press!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Must-Haves

1. Talking to Tech Guy. Even when he's away for a boy's weekend, I can't help calling at night.

2. My watch. I've worn one since I was itty-bitty and feel naked without it.

3. Rings. Same with the rings on each ring finger. They only come off when I shower. The left one is even formed like the joint of my finger because it's a little small.

4. Neutrogena lip balm. The basic stick. Wish they would carry it in stores again!

5. My allergy pill. Only thing that keeps my asthma away. And the sneezing.

6. Green Tea. I drink at least 3 mugs every day.

7. My computer.

8. Aveeno fragrance-free lotion. My hands started getting dry in my teens and I have to have a formula that doesn't set off my skin re: allergies.

9. Knowing where our kitties are. They can drive me nuts at times with the constant Mom!Mom!Mom! meowing because everything they want is a dire emergency.....but I love them. I worry when one of them doesn't come to greet me.

10. My best friends. Even though we're long-distance.

11. Chocolate. Do I need to explain? :-D

12. Memories. I'm one of those people who saves a lot of stuff because it will always bring up a memory.

13. A car. This is the one thing I don't have right now, and I miss driving all the time like you wouldn't believe. I put around 40,000 miles on my first car in just a few years.

What are your must-haves?

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen first paragraphs of my WIPs:

1. Euphoria flowed through my body, and I collapsed on his chest.  “See you next summer?” I said, breathing heavily.  I started to get up and Mike grabbed my hips.

2. Choose to be the new girl in town at your own peril.  I get now why Mom never lived farther than twenty minutes from the house she was born in all her life.  I looked around my empty living room, the balloons in the corners mocking my solitude.  The food on the kitchen table sat untouched, a chocolate cake still pristine in the center.

3. Brother Michael told me to stay in the root cellar until it was quiet.  Above, I heard the screams, then gurgles, of my fellow brethren.

4. My active imagination only mattered when it came to playing the piano.  I was a concert pianist, in demand, and traveling for the past year after losing my apartment.

5. Jacob unlocked the front door and walked inside. “Love? You home?” He closed the door and glanced in the kitchen to his right. Empty. “Beth?”

6. Beth changed for bed. She still felt shy undressing in front of him when it didn’t involve sex. “You’re staring again.”

7. I dodged the man-turned-werewolf, tucking into a roll, and—yuck—stood with dog poop stuck to my coat.  Couldn’t people clean up after their mutts in the park?

8. When the hospital called to say Mom had fallen and broken her hip, I wasn’t surprised.  The only remarkable thing about it was the time—before noon.  Had she started drinking early, or was she suffering the effects of the previous day?

9. Jason Cole + Holly Perry - I’d doodled it on a dozen class notes so far this semester.

10. My ability to choose a man sucked. I was with my first boyfriend ever for two years. It was bliss in the beginning. We were sickeningly lovey-dovey, finishing each other’s sentences and seeing each other every day. Then, he proposed.

11.
William Carlisle
Private Investigator
It was painted on the glass in my office door. The door that hadn’t opened to reveal a client in three months. You catch one beloved star cheating on his wife, and no one wants to work with you.


12. My pillow wiggled beneath me.  “Bethie-love, I have to leave.”

13. I finished writing the note inside my Christmas card to Mom, hoping it’d make up for missing Thanksgiving.  Amelia came back in the room and put her phone in her bag.


Okay, I cheated on #11, but those lines really need to go together.
#5 and #6 are from a couple drabbles I did last year set post My Once and Future Love.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

I saw Star Wars in Concert on June 4th at the Hollywood Bowl

Anthony Daniels was an awesome narrator of the Star Wars story. He's done this performance several times over by now, but there wasn't the slightest bit of repetition fatigue.

The two shows, Friday and Saturday, were sold out, and it's really worth it for any fan. So far, these were the only dates for 2011, but I do hope they give cities that haven't had the chance to see it before a shot. Getting a DVD of it wouldn't come close to capturing the show.

I will say, though, merchandise - ouch! I got a program for $25 and they were selling t-shirts for $35. Not surprising, but still, yikes.

The lack of exhibit was a bummer (the Bowl doesn't have room for it), but once we got into the show, we weren't really thinking about it. We could see most of the video screen, except there is some kind of thing that hangs down the front of the arch of the Bowl and from our view, it was in front of a lot of faces in the video. We know all the scenes, of course, so we knew what we'd see, but if people were new then it probably wasn't good for them. The show was originally designed to play in arenas, so I'm not entirely sure why they picked the Bowl for this, but the sound was great. We did have fun...just not perfect fun. People in the center seats got a great show, and kids definitely seemed to enjoy it no matter where they were.
And the surprise?
 
John Williams came out at the end to conduct The Imperial March. JOHN WILLIAMS!!! It was at the very end of the concert, and Anthony Daniels gestures for us to sit and quiet down so he can tell us something. "We have a very special guest" and then it's John Williams. Crowd went freaking wild. A few people had already started to leave, and I'm like WTH five minutes is not going to get you out of the parking lot any faster. You can see a vid here.
 
Pretty good June birthday present, eh?

Friday, June 10, 2011

"Love Bites"

Anyone else watching the new show Love Bites on NBC? It's on Thursdays at 10pm ET/PT. As it says on the official site:

"Love Bites" is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each of the multiple vignettes will involve an array of talented guest stars every week, and will illuminate the theme of love with a fresh, irreverent spin.

Anchoring the series and appearing in each episode are stars Becki Newton ("Ugly Betty") as Annie Matopoulos, a single New York City girl looking for "Mr. Right Now"; and Constance Zimmer ("Entourage") and Greg Grunberg ("Heroes") as Colleen and Judd Rouscher, a happily married Venice Beach couple.

Guest cast for the pilot episode includes Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Ghost Whisperer"), Craig Robinson (NBC's "The Office"), Kyle Howard ("My Boys"), Steve Howey ("Bride Wars"), Lindsay Price ("Eastwick"), Larry Wilmore ("The Daily Show"), Guillermo Diaz ("Mercy"), Krysten Ritter ("Breaking Bad"), David Giuntoli ("Privileged"), and Charlyne Yi ("Knocked Up").

Emmy Award-winning producer/director Marc Buckland ("My Name Is Earl") directed the pilot, and will serve as an executive producer. He's joined by executive producers Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally ("Will & Grace," "Ugly Betty"), and Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, and Shelley McCrory of Working Title Television. Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Cindy Chupack ("Sex And The City") is the creator, and will be a consulting producer on the series.

"Love Bites" is from Universal Media Studios and Working Title Television, which is a new division of Working Title Films (the UK production company behind such box office hits as "Love Actually," "Bridget Jones's Diary," and "Four Weddings and a Funeral").

As a romance writer, I love that each vignette ends on a happy ending. Also love the total geek acceptance, and me and Tech Guy have been laughing our asses off with the first two eps. Maseratis and banana bread have all-new meanings. If you haven't watched it--totally worth catching up. Great summer TV.