Manic Monday

So what is Manic Monday all about? It's the day of the week that I scramble around trying to get caught up from slacking over the weekend. So what is going on in my warped little mind today?

SPAM - Sometimes I just look at the spam messages I receive and I wonder, who the hell falls for this crap? Penis enlargment patches? Don't they realize it will take a heck of a lot more than a PATCH to bring some men up to snuff. (sorry, couldn't resist) Miracle diet pils? Honey, if they worked don't you think Oprah would've been the first to know??

Judging from the type of spam I receive, it appears men seem to fall for it most. I receive more penis related emails than should be allowed.

POST OFFICE - What's up with the post office? They increase the stamp rate by two cents but they increase the book rate postage more than .50 per book. Do I receive packaging service with that? No. Pickup? No. Discounted postage for a large amount of packages? Hell, no. And they want to know why most people prefer email...

:)

Eight Reasons Why Being a Girl is Tedious

Pantyhose - need I say more?

Bras - In general I don't have an issue with bras but there are days when I don't want to get dressed that I throw on a tshirt and sweats then feel GUILTY about not wearing a bra. What is up with that? If people don't want to look at my sagging twins then get the hell out of my cleavage!

High Heels - I realize that Catherine deMedici is the 'mother' of the high heels but why should I have to pay for her lack of height with deformed feet? High heels simply aren't natural and I ain't wearing them!

Big Hair - why is it men can roll out of bed and go into public meanwhile women will be called 'sloppy' or 'lazy' if we don't tend to our hair?

Sitting down to pee - When you're dressed up (in the afforementioned hose and heels) I absolutely hate bathroom trips. I don't know about anyone else but I can never get my hose back into a position that feels comfy.

PMS - I mean, COME ON. It's not bad enough that everyone around us makes us crazy then the universe tosses in some hormonal hijinks? When is enough, enough?

Thong Panties - Okay, before sending me the emails...I do like thong panties once you get used to them. What I don't like is when they get lost in your backside and you have to root around to find them again. (Yes, I have a big butt)

Polite and Accomodating - I'm pointing the finger at Donna Reed for this one. When I was a kid, I was raised to be polite and accomodating. I strive to make people feel welcome, make sure they have whatever they need - you get the picture. Anymore, that means you're a pansy. "Oh, JC won't mind if I bring my twelve kids to her Ladies Night..."

Yes, I will.

Foto Friday

I know - it's another photo of my dog but I didn't make it out much this week. My bathroom still isn't done - they repainted it and when they went to put the wooden floor trim (I know it has a name, I just can't remember it) they drove in one nail and the wall caved in.

Just lovely.

The original contractor failed to replace the drywall near the shower (where it had been damaged by years of water) and now they have to go back and take care of that. The biggest issue will be to get the paint to match the rest of the walls. This is textured granite paint and it feels like stucco when you touch it. It's really easy to get it on un-evenly and it just pops out at you.

I'm so SICK of my fricking bathroom.

Saying Goodbye

I've never been good at saying goodbye. I hang onto friendships long past their 'expiriation' date. This is never a good thing yet I do it every time. To quote Tyler Perry (or Madea - which ever you prefer):

Some friends are seasonal and when that season is up, you let them go.

That's a hard one. How do you say good bye to someone you love? Recently I've taken on the mentality that I don't want to leave anything unsaid. How sad is it when someone you love passes on and you can't celebrate their life because all you can think of is what you wish you'd said.

I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be filled with regret when someone I love leaves this world and I wouldn't wish that on my friends.

To borrow a line from Scrooge, the 1969 musical version of the story:

'We never have all the time to say and do everything we wish for suddenly, we aren't there anymore."

And this is the ultimate lesson of life, IMHO. Our time here is finite and we should cram all the living we can into the time we're given, and that includes saying what you feel is necessary to those around you.

One of the the issues that makes me the saddest is that there are several people in my life who have severed all contact with me. Over what - I don't know or I don't remember. Whatever it is I'm sure its petty and silly though at the time it seemed huge and insurmountable. I tried contacting the one nearest and dearest to my heart, and he won't return my calls. This makes me so incredibly sad. First, I don't know why he's upset and since I have no way to reach him, I have no way of rectifying the situation or telling him how very much I love him and how much he's changed my life. But if someone won't meet you halfway, all you can do is wish them well and move on.

So I say to you, loyal readers, if there is something standing between you and someone you love, tear it down - you never know if there is a tomorrow for you to address it.

Sleepy Sunday

My dogs are SO spoiled it isn't funny. They spend their 'off' time (when their not barking at neighbors, eating or napping on the couch) in my bed. Lazy brats!

This is two of my three dogs, Bella on the right and Maddie. Maddie is the dog that travels with me all the time and she stuck with me through my Hurricane Katrina work.

What Romance Authors REALLY do when they're alone...

This is what romance authors do after a long conference weekend.

On the left is Isabo Kelly and on the right is Carolan Ivey. I think Carolan is doing obscene things with that onion ring but let's not dwell there shall we?

After leaving the hotel to head home, we hit the Red Robin restaurant to load up on the 4 food groups, chocolate, fat, beef and bread. Each of us consumed at least 800 calories apiece and didn't eat for two days afterward. :)

Thirteen Things - Favorite Snacks 1 - apples and peanut butter2 - cheese and crackers3 - peanut butter and jelly4 - peanut butter and dill pickles5 - grapes6 - ice cream, any flavor7 - cheez-its8 - cheese fries9 - granola or trail mix10 - yogurt11 - cold pizza12 -cinnamon toast13 - anything sweet Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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On Writing...

This weekend I spent at Lori Foster's conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is always such great fun to hang with new and old friends to discuss one of my most favorite things, books and writing. I met so many lovely people and it was lovely to just kick back, hang and chat with anyone who stopped by.

Of course, as a writer it was also about business.

I met with some agents and editors and received some requests to see WINTER'S DAUGHTER - the manuscript I completed early this year then yanked back from a Publisher-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I have high hopes for this book as it is truly a book of my heart and it is the best thing I've ever created. So everyone, cross your fingers for me - I have a pile of manuscripts to send out this week. :)

Did you know?

AS THE WAR ENDED, JAPAN PROVIDED SEX SLAVES FOR US SOLDIERS

I read this in The Columbus Dispatch, dated April 26, 2007. I've been wanting to post this little piece of Americana since early May but the accident thwarted me - typing with my nose just isn't much fun.

Anyway, On to the actual tidbits of this little known fact.

Japan, with tacit approval from the US occupation authorities, set up a 'comfort women' system for American GI's. It was an actual brothel system that was condoned by the American government irregardless of the fact that women were being forced into prostitution against their will. Tens of thousands of women were involved in this 'trade' until General Douglas MacArthur shut the brothels down in 1946.

The brothels were rushed into operation in August 1945 when the US forces poured into Japan to begin the occupation.

According to the official history of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police Department whose jurisdiction is just northeast of Tokyo - 'The strategy was the hope that the GIs would use these 'experienced' women instead of harrassing the locals.' A dormatory was converted to a brothel and twenty women were 'working' there.

"As expected, after it opened it was elbow to elbow." the history says. "the comfort women...had some resistence to selling themselves to men who just yesterday were the enemy...there was a great deal of apprehension. But they were paid very highly and they gradually came to accept their work peacefully."

Does this make anyone else ill? No woman 'accepts' selling her body to strangers, 'peacefully' - especially when they are being FORCED into it. For example - Natsue Takita, 19 - applied for an office worker job then was told the only positions were for the comfort women. They persuaded her to sell her body and she committed suicide after working there for four days. What is peaceful about jumping in front of a train?

By the time the brothels were shut down, 70k of prostitutes were employed by the system. The fee was 1 dollar for 15 minutes and they were forced to serve between 15 and 60 men a day. Most of the women working there were forced into it due to dire financial circumstances and lack of family. More than 25% of the GIs contracted a veneral disease from the brothels.

In 1993 Japan's Government apologized for its role in the controversy and established a fund (Asian women's fund) to reimburse the women. In January 2007, California Rep Mike Honda offered a resolution in the house to condemn Japan's use of sex slaves, in part as leverage to force the Japanese government to keep the Asian women's fund open.

The fund compensated only 285 women though there were an estimated possibly 200k of women in the system in Japan, South Korea, Phillipines and Taiwan. Each received about 17,800.00. The fund closed on March 31, 2007.

Haruki Wada, the fund's exectutive director said, "No one Japanese women has come forward to seek compensation or an apology. Unless they feel they can say they were completely forced against their will, they feel they cannot come forward."

I can only wonder how many of them stayed prostitutes, became addicts or died in the street - uncounted victims of a society gone mad.

Another Update

No, my hand / arm isn't any better and yes, I'm annoyed.

I've never been a good patient and I don't intend to start now. It really annoys me that I couldn't even open my juice bar today because my right hand is fricking useless and that's enough to make me whine...

Okay, enough of that crap.

It's obvious to me that I need to see the surgeon. My hand is no better though the bruising is fading which is a good thing. Tonight I finally figured out that I did seriously damage myself. How? Okay, stick your hand out and extend your thumb to make an L (or a backwards L). See the 'webbing' of skin between your thumb and forefinger. Mine is GONE.

Yes, gone.

So not only is it very painful to extend my thumb, my hand just looks odd. (and no, I'm not going to have plastic surgery to fix it, if anyone gets close enough to notice it that means I'm in the act of punching them) Maybe I didn't notice it because the swelling was horrendous?

Finally, to add insult to injury, my dog, THE DACHSHUND, ate the brace I'm supposed to wear. I know, you can laugh, it is amusing to someone who didn't have to pay for a new one.

What do you suppose is the going rate for a weenie dog rug?

Still Alive, Part II

Yes, I'm still here. Thanks for all the well wishes, I really do appreciate each and every one of them. I'm doing better but my computer time is limited. The doctor's think I have some nerve damage and they're ordering me to rest my right arm as much as possible. When I'm at the computer for more than a half hour at a time, I have shooting pains up my arm and that's not a good thing.

That said, I haven't lost my sense of humor. :)

I am constantly amused by the number of things I can't do on my own now. One night I decided to have some cheese and crackers and just cutting the cheese was an ordeal and my arm ached all night long. So I thought I'd be slick and get some sliced cheese and bagels...quick and easy right? Until I realized that the bagels weren't sliced. (whacking self in head)

Driving is fun. I've learned how to start my car with my left hand. Once I get it into gear, I'm good. For the first time in five years I'm glad I bought a car with an automatic transmission. Normally I'm a standard kind of girl.

Taking a shower is most amusing. It never occurred to me to open the soap bottles BEFORE I was soaking wet in the shower. It must have sounded like two horses galloping in the bathroom before I was done - must have dropped the bottles at least three or four times. Luckily we now have a shower stall instead of a tub - that has been a blessing.

All in all I'm doing better. I admit I haven't been wearing my sling / brace combo the way I should and I wonder if that's why I still have pain. The doc had told me to see a specialist this week if the pain hasn't gone away and it hasn't. I'm going to wait another week (and actually try to wear the sling and brace as prescribed) then see how it feels. I'm not one to go racing off to the doctor all the time - I'd hate to waste their time if it feels better next week - so we'll see what happens.

For everyone who is reading this, please eat a steak for me. I'm damned tired of frozen dinners and finger food. :)

Hugs - JC

I'm alive...

As most of you have heard by now, I had an accident on Tuesday. I'm not going to say what exactly happened but it was a stupid human trick and I performed amazing acrobatic feats that just weren't good.

Currently my right arm & shoulder are immobilzed and I have two separated ribs. My online time will be curtailed as I am one-handed and typing like this is exhausting. As I keep telling myself, at least life isn't boring. ;)

Offline

J.C. Wilder had an accident today and will be offline for an unspecified period of time. That's all the news I have.

Jamie, PA to Ms. Wilder

Thirteen Things I Love About Being A Writer 1. I can sleep in as late as I want. 2. My clothing doesn't have to match when I go out in public because looking at me, no one would guess I write hot, torrid romances. 3. Slippers are appropriate shoes to wear to the store. 4. I can ask people the most intimate and bizarre questions and it's okay because, 'I'm a writer.' 5. Just love it when a reader asks me to sign a book, especially when it's mine. 6. I can write off my vacations...um...research trips. 7. I can wander around my house talking to myself and no one will call the funny farm. 8. Living off frozen dinners and take out is perfectly acceptable behavior. 9. I don't have to do housework because I am easily sidetracked and rarely manage to finish anything domestic (Thank God for crock pots!) 10. My vacation time is whenever and where ever I want it to be. 11. Meeting the readers is great fun and I spend most of that time hoping I don't have something stuck in my teeth or a boogie hanging out of my nose. 12. I am constantly amused by all the voices in my head so I'm never really alone. 13. Did I mention the slippers? Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Joan 2. Michelle 3. The Gal Herself 4. Shiloh Walker 5. Puss Reboots 6. Barbara 7. Janie 8. Nicole 10. Carolan 11. Tinker 12. NJ 13. Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Photo of the Week

I took this a few weeks ago when I was in New Orleans, LA. This is Jackson Square, one of the oldest churches in America. The carriages line up for people to hire and the rides are lovely. If you're in the area and want to take a ride, ask for Ms. Diana and tell her JC sent you. :)

Post Romantic Times Convention Report

Sorry it took me so long to get this post up - I've been recovering from the RT Conference in Houston, TX. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that I don't recover as well as I did when I was younger, this is why I gave up drinking. :)

Carolan Ivey and I left Columbus very early on Monday morning, April 23rd. We drove to New Orleans where we met up with Crissy Brashear and her daughter, Amanda. We stayed at the Maison Dupuy - a fabulous hotel in the heart of the French Quarter. Bourbon Street was two blocks away so that's where we spent the evening. Did some shopping, hit the voodoo shop and had dinner at a little restaurant. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the restaurant and that has nothing to do with the hurricane I drank. :)

The next morning Carol and I hit the Cafe DuMonde for breakfast then took a carriage ride with a friend. Very touristy but I enjoy the rides anyway. The weather was picture perfect and when I manage to unpack my camera, I'll post some photos.

We then headed for Houston and arrived at the hotel around 10:30 at night. By then we were both SO incredibly tired that we headed up to bed. I know, shocking coming from me, but that's what we did. Usually I'm in the bar until all hours of the night - not on this trip.

The best part of RT is just sitting around with friends and chatting. This RT had a very different vibe from ones in the past. It was very laid back (from my perspective at least) and I met tons of new authors and readers. I did end up spending most of my time in the bar but it was usually during the day. And the entire week I was there, I had only one drink.

Maybe that was the problem.

The industry gossip was the same as it is every year - write the book of your heart and it will sell. Unfortunately that isn't always true. Editors constantly tell writers they want something new and different but they can't really explain what they mean. Paranormal, urban fantasy and erotic romance are still going strong. My personal prediction is that the erotic romance market will begin to get much tighter this year but we'll see what happens.

As usual I had a fabulous time. It was great getting to kick back and catch up with old friends and make tons of new ones. Of course the entire time I was there I didn't take ONE photo. What is up with that???

We're all Hokies Now

When I awoke last Saturday, I was in New York City preparing to have a fun-filled day. Within hours I'd be struggling to get a flight out in order to avoid the nor'easter coming in to dump inches of rain on the city - and within twenty-four hours I'd be long goneback to Ohio.

It was a pain in the butt trying to get out of the city because everyone else was trying too. I was quite cranky because my weekend getaway was cut short and I had been inconvenienced.

Inconvenienced, poor little me.

On Monday I awoke to the same news everyone else did, college students slain in class. My immediate thought was that would've never happened to me in college because I skipped so many classes the teachers had problems keeping track of me, let alone a sociopath-madman whose Mama didn't hug him enough.

Humor has saved my life a million times, but I, like the rest of the nation, didn't find anything remotely humorous about this situation.

What is happening in America that people think killing others to gain notoriety is okay? With each incident the violence has escalated and I think its time to start asking, is there an answer to this? Why are children slaughtering children?

I don't claim to have any answers, I wasn't even a psychology major in college, but I have to wonder if society is paying enough attention to the next generation. My generation (I'm 41) was determined to be 'friends' with their kids and do the opposite of our parents. Yeah, we did a bang up job, didn't we?

I don't have kids, but I agree with Hilary Clinton in that it takes a village to raise a child. Our society condones sexualization of children, maximum violence and a myriad of other behaviors that aren't conducive to raising a mature, level headed person. Someone who can make the right decisions and handle the craziness around them without joining the anti-depressant of the month club.

Isn't it time we reclaim the America we love?

http://www.vt.edu/

The Demise of Winter's Daughter

Dear Readers,

I will go on record to say that I possibly have the record for the shortest period of time an ebook was published, roughly eight days. Hey! I'm all about awards ya know... ;)

To make a long story short, I have pulled WD from the publisher due to breach of contract and irreconcilable differences. I put my heart and soul into this work and I'm not willing to give up on it. It means too much to me to allow it to languish into obscurity.

Readers, Writers and Friends - I cannot, absolutely cannot thank you enough for your support. This has been a very difficult time for me both personally and professionally and the only bright spot are the supportive emails from all of you. You humble me.

On The Road Again...

Greetings and salutations - April is a month of traveling for me. In five days I leave for New York City. I'm pretty excited as its been a few years since I've been there. After my meetings are done I can play, play, play!

I'm staying with a friend in Manhatten and we plan on getting theatre tickets see at least one a day while I'm there. I so love Broadway shows and this will be an incredible indulgence for both of us. She's a stockbroker and rarely takes time off either so the time I'll be there will be a vacation for her too.

I'm hoping to load up on Korean Barbeque and hit Serendipity's for a frozen hot chocolate. I don't care if it is 20 degrees outside, I want my frozen hot chocolate! :)

After I return home it's time to get ready for the Romantic Times conference in Houston. This conference is roughly a week long and always an endurance test. Lots of standing and talking and drinking... I'm actually going to have to take it easy in NY and not walk enough to annoy my knee. If I can't walk at RT then I'm screwed - how do I get the bar if I can't walk? :)

IT'S HERE!!!

In ebook at least. Winter's Daughter, the first book in my new series entitled, The Coven, is now available in ebook format. The paperback will be available very soon.

Winter's Daughter - Ebook

Winter's Daughter - Print

I can't begin to tell you how utterly proud I am of this book. As with everyone, we do some things out of duty or necessity and, if we're REALLY lucky, every now and then we do things out of sheer, unadultered love and pleasure - that is what this book was for me.

I truly hope you enjoy it!