Love Romances & More Award

I just received the fabulous news that Winter's Daughter took second place in the Love Romances & More Best Book 2008 awards for Best Mystery / Suspense. I am utterly thrilled to have been nominated let alone taking second. (It was a tie with Josh Lanyon & Sarah Black's Partner's In Crime)

I cannot convey to you what this book means to me. Writers are always encouraged to write the book of our heart and Winter's Daughter is just that book. Of all of my characters Syn is the one I feel the most deeply.

I'm hard at work on the sequel, Rites of Spring, and this is Syn's younger sister Chloe's story.

For more information on Winter's Daughter -http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599989867?ie=UTF8&tag=homeofjcwild-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1599989867

Upcoming Workshop

PR Isn’t a 4-Letter Word

Self-promotion. Say the word aloud in a room full of authors and watch a fingernails-on-the-blackboard shudder run through the crowd. Promotion can be a scary drain on time and finances. But there are also many entertaining and often free opportunities to get one’s name in front of readers.

Marcia James and over 20 PR-savvy guest lecturers—Melissa Alvarez, Dianne Castell, Kate Douglas, Carol Ann Erhardt, Karen Harper, Susan Gee Heino, Donna Hill, Linda Keller, Laurie Kingery, Karen McCullough, Donna MacMeans, Janice Maynard, Beth Morrow, Jenna Petersen, Patricia Sargeant, Barbara Satow, Jenn Stark, Jennifer Stevenson, Kay Stockham, DeNita Tuttle and J.C. Wilder—will present affordable author self-promotion strategies from author branding and press kits to blog/chatroom opportunities and niche markets.

The speaker fees will be donated to Best Friends Animal Society (http://www.bestfriends.org/), which has the largest no-kill animal shelter in the U.S. For workshop registration information, go to the Yosemite Romance Writers’ site: http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/6.html - you have to scroll down to find it. :)

Misplaced Treasures

Yesterday I was in my closet - you just never know where I'll turn up - and I found a case of book from my keeper shelf. Well, in this case I guess I'd call it a Keeper Closet because I have so many Keepers that it would take an entire room to display them all.

So who was in my Keeper box? Old Sharon Sala including the first McCall titles, three Debbie Macomber titles and...Elizabeth Elliott. I knew EE from the CompuServe LitForum back in the mid nineties. She wrote three books, Warlord, Betrothed and Scoundrel, then vanished. If I remember correctly, there was an illness in her family or something of that nature. If you can find these three books - BUY THEM. They are beautifully written medieval historicals that combine romance with some of the grit from those times. I love medieval titles and just seeing these little gems again made me smile.

It also caused me to remember why I started writing in the first place. I love everything about romance novels. The adventure of finding love, the meshing of two lives, the trials and the victories and most of all, overcoming whatever obstacles face them.

Happy sigh.

As I poured through my misplaced treasures - you should've seen me just running my hands over my beloved books and grinning like a fool - and I started thinking about how much romance novels have changed over the past 15 years. When I started writing in the ninties, erotic romance was the exception not the rule. The only authors writing ER was Susan Johnson, Thea Devine and Bertrice Small. I've always written ER starting with my first book, One With The Hunger. In reading it now, you'd probably think it was tame but back then...girllll....I got so much crap for that knife scene. Reviewers said I was glorifying violence against women, that I wrote kink....blah blah blah.

In ER now if the couple doesn't use some sort of toy then people don't think its hot enough. Spanking or menage rules the day along with GLBT (specifically m/m) and straight sex (no kink) seems to have faded into the background. What's going on here? I love ER or I wouldn't write it. But when I started looking through my Keepers (and I have hundreds) not a single one was an ER title. Somewhere I have my stack of early Susan Johnson's - it was her books that convinced me it was okay to not only write the naughty stuff but to enjoy it too.

But romance isn't about SEX. Can you believe it - I said that and the sky didn't fall. Who knew? :) Sarcasm is the next hot accessory in fashion...

Sex is certainly a component, but it isn't the end all be all of a romance novel. More and more I'm seeing books that are high in sex and low in plot or the 'sex as plot' books. When did the character arc turn into a guideline rather than the rule? I like sexy books, but none of my keepers are the hot stuff. Why? Because good sex doesn't equate to a solid, lasting relationship. Would you love your spouse any less if they couldn't have sex?

Looking at my career, in general, my writing has become hotter and hotter. I never write anything that I don't love, period. But in working on my latest project, I caught myself looking for ways to inject more heat in to the manuscript. The plotline does lend itself to being very sexy but love scenes should work to move the plot forward - not for titilation. Love scenes should explore character and work to cement the bond between the characters not to increase the sex count. The interesting thing is I couldn't figure out why the book was giving me fits. I was fighting writing it, it felt so forced and just plain wrong. Yes, writers do get sucked into trying to write to the market. I've seen it happen many times and it sa great way to kill a career. If you don't write what you love, you will burn out pretty fast.

My solution? I emailed my editor to ask for more time and she agreed because she's a goddess. :) I then went back to the manuscript and tore it in half - three weeks worth of work now gone. But its okay, is what the book needed. The last thing I want is to write something that not only cheats the readers but also the characters. I love, love, love romance novels and in finding that box I now remember WHAT it is I loved and why I started writing.

So what books are in my Keeper box?
Sharon Sala - Chance McCall, Queen
Dinah McCall - Jackson Rule, Dreamcatcher, Tallchief
Katherine Kinglsey - No Sweeter Heaven
Elizabeth Elliott - Soundrel, Warlord, Betrothed
Robyn Carr - The House on Olive Street

WLW: Updates

Yes, I know it isn't Wednesday...but I didn't manage to post yesterday so git over it. :)

It was a good week - I lost two more pounds. Even more exciting is that is, right now, as I type I'm wearing a pair of jeans that I haven't been able to fit into in more than a year. Now THAT is what I call progress.

So far I've lost a grand total of 38 pounds but honestly, I don't see it. I know I feel much better, have less pain in my knees, have more energy, but I don't see it when I look in the mirror. A friend said my face was thinner and my response was 'That's nice but a smaller face will only make my belly look even BIGGER." LOL!

That's why I'm excited about wearing the jeans. I could wear them this time last year, but breathing was optional and if I was bending over - it was impossible. Now I'm not going to say they are totally comfy now - but I can breathe this time around so I'll take that as a victory.

So who caught Oprah on Monday? One of her guests was Erik Chopin from The Biggest Loser 3. In total, he lost 214 pounds and now, three years later, he's gained 107 pounds back. IMO, Erik is the reality of weight loss.

Statistics say that 95% of people who diet and lose weight will gain it back. In most cases, they will gain what they've lost and thensome. That's certainly been the case with me. I've lost at least 600 pounds in my lift and I'm still 200 pounds overweight. Did I weigh 1000 pounds? Nope but sometimes it feels like it.

It started in high school. I was around 230 and I was 5 foot 11 inches. (I say that because I'm SHRINKING DAMMIT!) I lost 70 pounds by not eating and taking diet pills. Three years later I was in the mid two hundreds...went to Weight Watchers and back then the scales only went to 250 and they made me feel like crap because they had to jump through hoops to weigh me. I'm still not a WW fan but if it works for you - go for it. :) Lost weight...gained more back... In my early thirties I went to Jenny Craig...lost 90 pounds...gained more back...I think you get the picture. I think I'm like most people when it comes to weight loss. We're of the idea that once we get 'it' and we lose the weight then we're done - the problem is cured. Oh how wrong we are.

After watching Oprah and Erik's conversation I have finally (well hopefully its the LAST time) decided that weight is something to be managed like a serious illness. People can live with AIDS or Lupus or CFS because they work their lifestyle to take their illness into account. They actively work to be healthy, to stay healthy, to get enough rest, take vitamins etc.

Weight loss is something to be managed, not overcome. I will never be free of needing to watch what I eat and chances are neither will you. Sucks doesn't it? But here is the deal - embrace it now because if you wait until after you've lost weight then gained it back plus another 15 - you'll be kicking yourself hard like I did. And that really sucks.

So how was your week?

Creepy...

Does anyone else think the Burger King guy is creepy?

Yeah, me too.

Closet Update

So I'm still working on the Great Purge of 2009. Three weeks ago I began sifting through the flotsam and jetsum of my life to rid myself of the clutter. I'm looking for the key pieces that have sentimental value (such as my father's tobacco pipes) or items that make my heart lift (my selection of gypsy-chic skirts) and I'm bringing them out into the light of day. All too often we end up burying what we love under the daily clutter and I'm done with that nonsense.

So today I tackled the closet in my new bedroom. This is not a big room but the closet is a decent size and it was packed from stem to stern. I cleaned this closet out about a year ago but you'd never have known that by looking at it. Slowly but surely it was filled up again by clutter that I didn't have room for.

So what little nuggets of fun did I find?

A bag of clothing in a size that I won't fit into in at least a year. I vaguely remember someone giving me clothing but I couldn't even tell you who it was. Those will fit a friend perfectly so I've created a pile for her.

Two pairs of houseslippers I bought last year then buried...

More candles than any one person should own. Those are being shipped out to a special shelf in the garage.

The biggest collection of broomstick skirts known to God and man. I love those crinkle skirts because they pack well in a suitcase and they're super simple to throw on and go. Little did I know that I'd somehow amassed at least 15 of them. Since you store them all wadded up I found them tucked into crevases of the clutter the way a real rat would pack their den!

Jackets I'd thought I'd gotten rid of a few years ago.

A zip drive in the box. Do people still use these?

A suede duster I'd forgotten I even owned.

Clothes...clothes...clothes...

The scary part is I still have another closet to go!

Writing Update

Well, I'm supposed to be writing - I've allowed myself to become diverted by a lively thread over at Dear Author (http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/01/08/elloras-cave-sues-borders-for-1000000/) and all I can say is that some people have their own special brand of crazy.

I'm putting the finishing touches on Reinventing Jane Porter coming in May from Samhain Publishing...

WLW - It's a new year!

Good morning my fellow BBW's and BBB's (big beautiful boys!).

It's a new year and the counter is set to zero. If you're like me and you had a rough-weight year in 2008 then its time to put that behind you. Do you know the difference between those who succeed and those who get bigger?

Perseverence.

Today, anything you did before now doesn't count. Did you lose 10 pounds only to gain 15? I did - gained 18 actually - but that's behind me. What I did in 08 doesn't count - what counts is what I do today...and tomorrow...and the next day.

I did gain 18 lbs in 08 and I own it. Yes there were health issues involved but that doesn't explain why I chose to eat ice cream rather than something healthier. Those were my decisions and while they weren't very smart, I'm not going to make excuses for it. The best news...the very very best news is that I actually LOST 5.8 pounds between thanks giving and new years.

I'LL TAKE IT! :)

How about you - are you ready to shed some weight for once and for all?

Blogging!

I'm the featured blogger over at TRS Blue - http://trsblue.blogspot.com/ Go check out my adventure - its worth the trip. :)

Teenage Anthems

Music has always been very important to me and if you've read my bio, you already know that I travelled with an alternative rock band in the 90's. I can't imagine my life without music and almost every hour of the day I will be listening to something.

Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper - A true legend of rock and roll - my mother was appalled when I bought this album. Of course scaring my parents was part of the appeal of AC. :)

Back In Black - AC/DC - Classic rock & roll. First release with Brian Jones as the singer - it was an instant classic.

Cum On Feel The Noise - Quiet Riot - It was a mix of hair/pop/heavy metal. The song is a cover of the original by Slade and I used to just crank this sucker up - drove Mom crazy. The lead singer Kevin DuBrow died in 2008 of a cocaine overdose and it was sad. He was a consumate showman.

Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles - First song played on MTV - just a fun, bouncy song.

Breaking The Law - Judas Priest - The Godfathers of Rock and Roll - I heard this song and that was it - I was hooked. I saw them in concert twice and they were most excellent.

Love Hurts - Nazareth - I can't say much about the band as I don't remember anything else they did. When I began going to concerts in the late 70's and early 80's it seemed that Nazareth opened for every heavy metal show there was.

More Than A Feeling - Boston - It came out several years before I really got into music but the vocal range of this singer just stunned me. Brad Delp passed away in 2007. One of my favorite mix CDs contains a selection of songs with Boston - just fun bouncy music.

Kashmir - Led Zepplin - Another song that came out before my rock and roll heyday but the moment I heard it I was hooked. Physical Graffitti is, in my opinion, one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time.

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppellin - LZ was a pivotal band for me. What a sexy song!

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd - The Wall is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. I spent many hours of my life zoning out to The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. Roger Waters is one of the greatest song writers of all time.

Dirty Deeds - AC/DC - I cried when Bon Scott died. I was a huge fan and had seen them twice live before I was 16. This song is what turned me on to heavy metal and I've never looked back.

Photograph - Def Leppard - Fun music, I still grin when I hear any of their hits - Pour Some Sugar On Me, Foolin', Armageddon It, Let's Get Rocked - good old fashioned rock and roll.

I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett - Who knew women could rock? Watching her was an eye-opening event for me.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen - In sixth grade we had a music class that started out exploring all types of music. We were asked to bring in our favorite records (45's actually) and most kids brought in the Carpenters and Captain and Tenille - I showed up with this song. Says a lot about me doesn't it? Freddie Mercury died in 1991 and the music world has yet to recover.

By-Tor and the Snow Dog - Rush - From their first album Fly by Night - this song made numerous appearances on various albums. This was the first band I ran into that was as much about the music as it was the lyrics. Full of mythical themes - I loved the stuff.

Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden - Easily the precursor to speed metal, this song is one of the most difficult to master due to the blistering speed of the guitars. Many guitar players said learning this song gave them cramps in their fingers. :)

Running With The Devil - Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen is a guitar legend and his riffs are among some of my favorites. I saw VH in concert 3 or 4 times and to this day I will say they had one of the best stage shows of the 80's.

Paranoid - Black Sabbath - Ozzy and Sabbath - the first heavy metal band (its either them or Judas Priest) of its kind - they started a revolution.

Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions - When I bought my first car stereo (1984) I had the tape of this album (Love At First Sting) and I had it queued up to this song as my 'first' song on my new stereo. I got in my car and just blasted it. I'm surprised my car didn't fall apart from the vibrations. :)

Last Child - Aerosmith - If you're looking for pure vintage American Metal - this song and this band is it. Raw, shocking evocative - I've been an Aerosmith fan ever since.

Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne - It's Ozzy, what can I say?

Happy New Year!

Check out my post at http://www.thesamhellion.com - I wrote about Today.
Enjoy!

It's Grinch-a-polooza Time!

Tired of the holidays? Are you ready to strangle the next person who says 'Happy Holidays' to you? Do you secretly dream of capturing Santa and putting him to work cleaning out your garage?

If you answered yes to any of these questions - Come join J.C. Wilder and Friends at the Annual Grinch-a-polooza chat event!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/samhaincafe/

The fun begins at 6pm EST on December 24th. So grab a cup (or bottle) of your favorite libation, don your ugliest Christmas sweater and break out the matches - It's Grinch time...

Dignity

http://ihasahotdog.com

eBook Piracy

From the moment eBooks were created, pirates have reared their fat, ugly heads. They distribute our books for free without a single thought given to the fact that authors work hard to create their novels and should be rewarded for that hard work - not ripped off because its the easy thing to do.

In the past two weeks, several people have emailed me to let me know various people are giving away my books. One intrepid soul was giving away six of my novels.

Six.

Over three years worth of work given away to anyone who happened to find their website. One pirate had a copy of my brand new release, Seducing Jane Porter, up for grabs and it had been downloaded 167 times. That is approximately $140.00 out of my pocket.

Seeing that is only ONE pirate, can you image how much authors are losing each and every day? If the pirate who had six of my novels up for grabs were to give away 167 copies of each one - that is 840.00 out of my pocket. That's enough to pay for my health insurance for two months...it would make my car payment plus insurance for two months...two months of groceries...

And thats only two pirates out of tens of thousands. The worst part is when you find one pirate they are usually linked to others...and those are linked to more pirates...it doesn't end.

Looking at those kinds of numbers I have to wonder why I even bother to write. If readers are going to download my work for free, why even do it? I can just get a full time job with benefits and not have to worry about being ripped off. If I'm going to be disrespected then at least I should get health insurance out of it.

I love books...I love reading...I love writing...and to have readers steal my work is the ultimate slap in the face. What happens to readers when authors stop writing and there's nothing left to read?

Stop ebook piracy now. You're hurting the very same people who create that which you adore. Is it worth saving 5.00 knowing you're taking payment away from someone whose work you admire? Those who put time and energy into creating the books we all love are being hurt and its time to stop the bleeding before more of us walk away from doing what we love the most.

Save an author, buy an eBook.

Tis the season of plenty...

We are a country drowning in commercialism. Everywhere you turn someone vies to get into your pockets and liberate you from your cash. Buy, buy, buy...more, more, more...bigger, bigger, bigger...

The holidays are here and you're about to receive more stuff than you will ever need, want or desire. Sheets that you will tuck away and find a year later only to realize you never used them. Clothing that isn't your style, the wrong color, the wrong fit - etc. Do you really need one more sweater? One more pair of shoes? One more jacket? More bath towels?

I know I don't.

This past year I've been redoing my bedroom and today I walked in there to realize I had as much if not more stuff in that room than when I started. Over the year I've purchased more bits and pieces - clothing, shoes, linens etc - and somehow all of it ended up in the one empty room in the house. The same room where I labored to paint the walls and celiling - the same room I need to somehow squeeze my queen sized bed into. At this point there is no way I can move back into my freshly painted room - I have no space!

Whats up with that?

It's time to seriously downsize. I've been in give-away mode most of the year. I've donated about 30 garbage bags of clothing, linens, curtains, sheets etc and I easily have that much more to give. I have 7 sets of sheets and I only use three of them so why am I keeping them?

So today I began seriously downsizing. My rules are:
-haven't worn it in the last six months - it goes
-don't like it - it goes
-have ten of them - at least 1/2 goes
-no more room - it goes

There are millions of people out of work and struggling to keep a roof over their heads. Millions who go hungry...who are homeless...who can't get a job because they don't have clean clothing...

You get the picture.

This year, why don't you give something you don't use to someone who who will? So, go look in your closet - what are you going to donate to charity today?

Manly Monday

Mmmmm......I'll take two. :)

Defining Art

At what point does art become craft? (Craft as in something you can do in your sleep such as painting a wall or using caligraphy on an envelope)

Warhol is considered one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century yet I have to wonder if he were to create the Cambell's soup can today if they would laugh him out of the art world. Let's face it, he didn't design the label - all he did was copy something that already existed and he didn't add any of himself to it. There are no changes, no interpretation of what he saw when he looked at a can - it is no different than a photograph.

So is it art because he painted it?

IMO, very little of Warhol's 'art' was something of his creation. He took images of the day and painted them - sometimes in colors different from the original but sometimes they were the like this soup can. He would also do custom colors - such as the soup can in blue - which someone would request because their living room was blue.

Where does art end...and craft begin?

In my mind, art is something you pour yourself into. Your art could be baking, gardening, decorating, writing, raising children, painting - whatever it is that turns you on. It's what gets you up in the morning and it burns bright in your body. It is the one thing you are willing to sacrifice everything else for.

So was Andy Warhol an artist? Yes...but I still think it's just a soup can. :)

WLW - Here we go again!

Yes, it's Wednesday again. Boy time flies when you're HUNGRY. :) Just kidding.

This time of year is the hardest to keep yourself on the straight and narrow. Knowing this I set myself the goal of losing 15 pounds between Nov 26 and December 31. It roughly averages .5 pounds per day and yes, its been rough...but doable.

So far I've lost 7.8 pounds of my 15 - WOOT!

The most frustrating part is not seeing results. For a smaller person, losing 10 pounds is a dress size. For me, at my size, its more like 30 is a dress size. So I work and work and don't see a difference. Yes, I realize I will see one, but it would be nice to pull on a pair of pants and go..Hmm...these are a little loose. It hasn't happened yet - but it will. :)

How did your week go?

Santa's Younger Brother

Ho
Ho
Ho
Holy smokes...

Priceless