It’s All About Me

I got really tired of how my blog looked.  I mean the whole forest thing was nice, but it really didn’t represent who I am.  But the beach . . . damn I love the beach.  When I become a fabu author with tons of dollars I plan on running away to the beach and never coming back.  Great plan, right?  Yeah, but that’s gonna take me forever since I teach full time and don’t have all day every day to write.  But, hey, a girl has dreams.  But every chance I get to leave town that is the place I go.  I’ve seen both oceans and the Gulf of Mexico and it doesn’t matter to me.  They are all beautiful.  This past April, for spring break, a friend of mine, my sister and I went to Myrtle Beach for 5 glorious days.  Man that was the life.  We had a condo right on the beach and I opened the sliding glass door and all you could hear were the waves.  I even have a sound machine for my classroom that “plays” the sounds of ocean waves on the beach.

If you have a comment you are more than welcome to tell me what you think of the new look and even the new name.  Not that I’m going to change it or anything, because hey it is all about me after all.  But I’m a benevolent ruler and I’d be happy to listen to you.

I’m sure you look at this and think I’m going to talk about the horrible dates I’ve been on.  Yes, I have been on a few.  But what I really wanted to address are my fantastic friends who have been going out with people they met over the Internet.  You know the dating services who advertise how they will find a match for you and some such nonsence.  These are brave, brave women.  Some of the dates are cringe worthy while others just make you laugh and laugh.  Now that I’m writing about a woman looking for love, in apparently all the wrong places, these horrible dates are coming in handy.  As fodder for my story.  As I hear my friends talk I always think, no one can make up good stuff like this.  These stories are real . . . unfortunately.  So I twist them just a bit to make them fit into my heroine Lisa’s dating disasters.  Without these really bad dates, I would be forced to actually have to make stuff up.  *sigh* There’s nothing an author hates more than to actually have to think. ;-P

 So thank you my wonderful friends for putting your selves on the line for me each and every time you go out.  And even better, thanks for finding dates with the world’s biggest losers. LOL!!

Can I just say that the school year was hectic!  I just finished my second full year in the classroom and, though I love it, there is so much work involved.  I think I’m getting a handle on it *crossing fingers* so I can actually get some writing done next school year.

As for the summer it’s been incredibly busy!  This week was the first time I actually spend a day at home since school let out on May 25th.  I am finally settling down to write *yah!* on a piece I plan on turning into the Brava author contest from Kensington Publishing.  I also have a trip planned to go to Michigan next weekend with one of my best friends to visit her son, who is in the Coast Guard.  I consider both of her kids my nephews and I haven’t seen him in nearly a year. I really miss him!  We are also planning on going camping sometime.  Yeah, for those of you who know me don’t faint dead away.  I always say roughing it is when I don’t have cable, but I actually like camping out in a tent. LOL!  No matter what I plan on taking my laptop with me so I can get some work done.  I think the Brava entry is due in August sometime and I have a really good start on it.  It actually stars the character Lisa from my Samhain Publishing release BE MINE.  I really thought she deserved a book and a man of her own so I am working through her issues now.  Keep your eyes peeled for it and keep your fingers crossed.  When I turn it in I’ll let all of you know. 

 Talk to you sooner!!  Gwen

I am so jazzed!!  BE MINE has been out for 3 weeks and it’s been on Samhain’s top ten best seller list the entire time.  Wow!!  That makes me feel so great that people actually appreciate and enjoy what I do. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and my friends and family have always said that I’m good at it.  But it’s totally different when strangers buy your work.  That means that I am good enough at my craft that people will spend their hard earned dollars to have it.  *dancing around*  Wowzer!!  One of my very best girlfriends called me and told me that she cried through part of it.  As an author, if I can inspire that type of emotion, then I know I’m doing it right!!

I cannot believe it’s finally here!  BE MINE has finally released from Samhain Publishing. I am so excited!  What’s even better is I also received copies of the anthology, Caught By Cupid!  Oh my gosh, it looks so good!  This can either be found at a Borders, ordered from My Bookstore and More, or Amazon when it finally becomes available there.  To say that I am over the moon is putting it mildly.  I’ll just say that Samhain has been a real pleasure to work with! 

 Great reading!  Gwen

Join Bianca, Maya, Jessica and I for our chat on the Fallen Angels Review boards tomorrow.  We are scheduled from 10am to 8pm Eastern time so there will be plenty of time to chat and carry on . . . which is probably what we do best.

I am so jazzed!!  Today I received the cover for Caught By Cupid!!  Wow, it looks so good.  I can’t wait to actually be able to go into a bookstore and touch it.  LOL  My sister, Judith, is planning on taking a picture of me holding the book.  Sounds good to me since this is my very first book in print.  And to be with such great company, Maya and Bianca are the bomb! 

I just received word that my ebook, BE MINE, through Samhain Publishing is going to be released on January 16th instead of the 23rd!!  I am so jazzed about this!  The print anthology, Caught by Cupid, is still being released on the 23rd. So talk about excited. I cannot wait for this book to come out.

Stay tuned because I plan on doing promo and contest for this one since it is geared toward Valentine’s Day.

Gwen

Bianca so lovingly tagged me for this topic and I readily agreed to do it.  I don’t know how crazy some of this stuff is, but I think it’s interesting.  So hope you enjoy!

1. I have a tattoo of a dragon wrapped around a goddess symbol on my right shoulder.  I’ve wanted a tattoo forever, but had never gotten around to it.  When my 35th birthday hit I knew it was the time.  So I went with a friend of mine and I got my tattoo and she got her belly button pierced. 

2. It took me 10 years to graduate with my undergraduate degree in Liberal Studies!  I got a job at a local university when I was 25 and part of the benefits was 2 free classes a semester.  I finally walked for my degree in 2002.  I then leaped right back into school for my Masters in Teaching and received that 2 years later in 2004.

3. The first book I had published, Quest for Fire, was a fluke.  I wrote it as an entertainment piece for a friend of mine and I as we slogged through our masters degree.  I never meant for it to be read by anyone else, but Jessica Jarman read it and loved it.  She is the one that encouraged me to go for it and get it pubbed.

5. I don’t mind driving anywhere by myself.  As long as I have a lot of CDs, a full tank of gas, and a map I am good.  In fact, last summer I drove 16 hours to see Jess and her family.  Then the two of us drove back to my house, Will Smith blaring the entire way.  Jessica’s husband Brian said he was way more afraid for everyone else on the road with us.  What???    So that was my incredible list.  Hope you all enjoyed it.