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for August, 2009.
By Cam
For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would take a note (literally) from other T13ers and put up my playlist for my WIP. Some of these have been around a while but still manage to get my muse in the mood. If you’ve never heard some of them, take a listen. There are some really beautiful, melodic tunes and this list really makes sense with my hero and heroine. Hope you enjoy!
- Dream – Priscilla Ahn
- Sundrenched World – Joshua Radin
- If it Kills Me – Jason Mraz
- Blue Eyes – Cary Brothers
- Breathe Me – Sia
- Reasons to Love You – Meiko
- Flightless Bird – Iron & Wine
- Like A Star – Corinne Bailey Rae
- Wild Horses – The Sundays
- Lost Without You – Robin Thicke
- Shut Up & Let Me Go - Ting Tings
- Falling Slowly – The Frames
- Gravity – Sara Bareilles
Bonus Track: Make You Feel My Love – Adele
By Cam
Word count’s got me down…I’ve been in a slump for the past week and I actually have a negative word count now which I place blame on my internal editor (whose stop button apparently broke). The words I do have are crap and I think I’ve written one chapter three different ways and I’m still not happy with it. What’s more is that I haven’t even introduced the beginning of my main plot line yet and I’m on chapter 7! I know after the first draft I can go back and add and subtract all these things…but WTF?!
August is so not my month. Hopefully September will bring happier word count my way.
But despite all my word count woes, I’m bringing you a fabulous new word to ponder. Who knows, maybe it’ll kick my muse in the a**.
By Cam
Check out Love Can Be Murder by fellow Romance Diva, Sierra Wolfe!
Alexander Forsythe’s house is haunted. One wouldn’t think a hundred and three year old vampire would let a little ghost bother him, but this particular house guest has outstayed her welcome.
Alex detests witchcraft, but after discovering his ghost, Abbie, is the ancestor of the local witch, Willow Cowan, his choices are limited. Alex calls on Willow to help evict his ghostly tenant, but he begins to wonder if the sexy spell-caster might be more trouble than the ghost.
Willow thinks Alex needs her magical abilities to remove the spirit from his house. What she doesn’t realize is that his specter is her long lost ancestor. She’s not sure she wants to help the gorgeous vampire in his ghost hunt, until she sees a long lost family heirloom on display in Alex’s house.
Alex is adamant that the necklace belongs to him.. It’s been in his family since it was created for the wife of a distant ancestor. The necklace had been given to every wife of the first born son. He’s reluctant to give away his precious heirloom to a witch.
Can they learn to work together and get past their differences? Or will Abbie be the one obstacle they can’t remove?
You can check it out at The Wild Rose Press. Remember, it’s available on Wednesday August 26, 2009!
For more information on me and what I’m working on, stop by my website. I’d love the company!
By Cam
Ah, Friday. The light at the end of the tunnel. The work week is almost over and the weekend is about to begin. Friday is also when people start letting their hair down, or in the case of the Swima bombiviridis, their appendages.
I didn’t really have a topic in mind for today’s blog, I was actually planning on just highlighting my weekend goals – which I still haven’t figured out. But then I saw this article, and I’ve got to admit…it gave me the heebeejeebees. Once I really started thinking about it though, I realized how cool it would be to be a Swima bombiviridis.
The article highlights a new species of underwater worms that, when attacked, shoot off their appendages. When they release a limb, the limb glows green and they’re called “Green Bombs”—which lets face it, would scare the s**t out of me. The worms range in size from three quarters of an inch to up to four inches and live up to 12,000 feet under the ocean. So, no worries about running into these things if creepy crawlies aren’t high on your list.
But seriously. How cool is that? Say a mugger tries to steal your purse—Wham! Take that appendage you crook! What if you get into a catfight and that other bimbo tries to scratch her claws all over you? Here—have an arm biatch! Not to mention the incredibly uber-cool factor that it glows once you shoot it off. Right now you can only attain that feature if you’re radioactive or took a quick dip in the Chesapeake Bay.
Hmm…me thinks that maybe another story idea will surface from this discovery.
This begs the question — what would you do with glowing green arms?
By Cam
My Hubs’ birthday is this Saturday and he’s turning the big 3-0. So in homage to his big day, I thought I would list the 13 things I L-O-V-E about him. I’ll try to keep the gushiness to a minimum.
1. Best Father in Da World — This is a no-brainer. All you have to do is see him with our daughter and know he would do anything for her. It melts my heart. Although he swears he’s not wrapped around her pinky, but…let the evidence speak for itself. She truly is the boss.
2. Sour Patch Kids Enabler — What’s better than a man who knows when you’re craving the tangy, chewy candies before you do?
3. Baby Blues — Probably the first thing I ever noticed about him. So yeah, they still get me.
4. The Giver — His willingness to help anyone out in any situation is one of his most endearing qualities. Ask and you shall receive.
5. Remote Runner-Up — I must say, any man who’s willing to hand over the remote to his wife so she can watch shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Project Runway, and Grey’s Anatomy…well, he deserves an A+ in my book.
6. Marathon Smarathon — Hubs is an endurance athlete. Marathons. Triathlons. Right now he’s training for a 50-mile run. Yeah. That’s what I thought. And I probably give him more crap than he needs when it comes to his grueling training regimen. But his athleticism, stamina, and ability to actually finish these events? Wow. All I can say.
7. Whistling Wiz — You know you’re in sync with someone when you’re whistling the Meow Mix jingle upstairs and they’re harmonizing with you downstairs.
8. Metro Moisturizer — I’m big on beauty care products. But even I can’t beat Hubs’ love of lotion. You’ll never find him without his bottle of Aveeno and he’s not afraid to admit it. Because of this, his hands are softer than a newborn’s butt. Now, I might be a teeny bit jealous of this feat, but I’ve got to admire the man’s openness to moisturize in public.
9. Chef Hubs — A man who cooks and does it well? I’m pudding.
10. Knock, Knock — I’m not funny by any means, but Hubs makes me feel like I am. So, my apologies to anyone who’s been subjected to my lame jokes…but if my baby thinks I’m funny, then by golly I’m going to continue with my corny puns.
11. Dr. Doolittle — Species flock to this man. ‘Nuf said.
12. Work Hard, Play Hard — Hubs works hard. I mean, HARD. His work ethic is top-notch and that’s pretty rare to find in the younger generation. (No offense to anyone out there, but hey—I’m knocking myself, too). If he’s committed to do something, then consider it done. But even though he works hard, he’s not afraid to reward himself—which I think is uber important to maintain that work-life balance.
13. Zest for Life — A few years back, Hubs’ had to push through a major health hurdle. It was before we were married while we were just dating, and it was tough to see him go through that uphill battle. But his perseverance and ensuing outlook on life still inspire me every day and remind me what’s important and what things I can let go of.
Happy Bday Hubs!
Now tell me, if there’s a S.O. in your life – what do you love most about them?
By Cam
This Wednesday marks the middle of a very looooong week for me. I was on vacation all last week and had a marvelous time. But I think my brain is still back in Florida. On the beach. Sipping margaritas. With salt.
This week at the day job has been painstakingly slow and no amount of java in the world has been able to get me out of this dilapidated funk. Hopefully today’s word of the day will spark…I dunno…something.
By Cam
It’s that time again! Check out this new release from fellow Romance Diva – Debbie Mumford.
Cat Logan, a young American with a recent degree in medieval literature, travels to Scotland to discover her Celtic roots. She finds more than she bargained for when a mysterious silver casket (rumored to hold the desiccated heart of a long dead Scottish laird) transports her back in time to the 1400s and the man whose heart she holds in her hands.
Publisher: Freya’s Bower
Genre: Time Travel/Historical
Rating: Tangy
Book Length: Novella
By Cam
After 10 glorious days in Southwest Florida, I’m finally back home. Did you miss me?
I have a ton of stuff to unpack, a first birthday party to organize, and a lot of writing to catch up on, but I’ll be back in full-swing tomorrow. Promise!
By Cam
What a rainy Thursday in Maryland. It should be bright, sunny, and deliciously warm. But instead it’s dark, gray, not all that warm, and…wet. This change in weather reminds me summer is packing its bag and hitting the road. Goodbye oh sweet, precious summer. I’m going to miss you. Truly.
So this got me thinking about other things I miss. Things from either my childhood or early adult life that I didn’t necessarily take advantage of when I had them, but now that I’m without, I wish I had back. Don’t get me wrong—I love my life right now and wouldn’t change anything about it…but if I could just snag a few of those missed things…then I’d be golden baby!
13 Things I Miss Most:
1. Sleeping In – This is a HUGE one for me. I’m one of those have-to-have-my-eight-hours-of-sleep type and after having a baby…well, let’s just say that’s a thing of the past. If I could somehow get the quality of eight hours with the little that I do get, well, then I’d be smooth sailing!
2. Saturday Morning Cartoons – And I mean the good cartoons, like My Little Pony, Smurfs, Popples, Wuzzles, Snorkels, JEM (OMG I used to L-O-V-E her!). Nowadays there’s crap, crap, and more crap on the tube on Saturdays at 7a.m. And yes, if you read #1, I’m up that early to even know this.
3. Nights Out With No Consequences – That may be a bit of a misnomer because even when I was younger, I knew I had consequences after a night of debauchery, but you know what? I DIDN’T CARE. Now I freak out if I have more than two glasses of wine because I know I’ll wake up with a massive headache at 7 a.m. (See #1)
4. Metabolism – What I wouldn’t give to have the pre-pubescent metabolism of yesteryear. Ah, such was life when I could eat five pancakes, bacon, eggs, loads of sugary syrup, and sausage. Then two hours later eat a double-decker club sandwich with a half bag of Doritos (Family Size), and two refills of coke with a heaping slice of triple chocolate chunk cheesecake on the side. Yeah. The good ‘ole days.
5. Flexibility – Being able to touch my toes without wincing is a foggy memory of mine. As an active and athletic child growing up (I was a competitive ice skater and a dancer for ten years), I was used to pulling my leg up and seeing my foot go past my ears. But there comes a time when your body just says, “Heck No. I ain’t bending that way you crazy ho!” And yeah, I miss those days.
6. Flavor-of-the-week Boyfriends – You know you miss it, too. The weekly, non-committal boyfriend who you could dump at a minute’s notice but know you had another one lined up the next day. No strings, no heartache, all the fun. I’m married now and love my hubs to death, but sometimes I kinda miss those days when I could throw his stuff out of our shared locker and sit with another boy at lunch with no emotions lost.
7. Not Paying for Anything – Wasn’t it nice when you were a kid and Mom and Dad paid for EVERYTHING? You wanted an ice cream cone? Here you go. Thanks Mom. You wanted to go to the movies with friends? Here’s a twenty. Love you Dad. You wanted a ticket to the New Kids On the Block concert? We’ll camp overnight and throw elbows to get to the front. You’re the bestest Mom. Yeah…Unless you’re the holder of some secret where your parents are still wrapped around your finger, then you’re like me and wince every time you see another bill roll in. And if you are the holder of said secret…share the love!
8. Flowers, Chocolates, and other such trinkets – There used to be a time when hubs wasn’t hubs but was just that guy I was dating, when he would pepper me with flowers, and candy, and dinners out. I know he probably did it so he get a little somthin-somthin, but hey—it worked. Don’t underestimate the power of wooing. I miss being wooed. I long to one day be wooed again (by hubs of course). But until then, I miss those goodies.
9. Naps – Some of you may still take naps and in that case, I’m envious. But moi? See #1.
10. Bikinis and Suntan oil– I used to spend my summers in a barely-there swimsuit flaunting what my Momma and the good Lord gave me. But now I flaunt it in a one piece with an ankle-length sarong, an oversized beach towel, wide-brimmed hat and SPF 50.
11. Spur-of-the-moment trips – I’m all about spontaneity. Or at least, I was. It’s not so easy anymore to just pick up and jet off to some fab locale with fruity drinks and paper umbrellas. Nope. If I want to get away now, it’s called “I’m in the bathroom! Leave me alone!”
12. Snow Days – Remember when you used to look outside, see snow on the ground, check the news, and think—Yes! No school! Hopefully we’ll get two feet today so it’ll be cancelled tomorrow, too! It’s summer right now, so it’s hard to think about snow, but now when I see the white stuff junking up the sky, I think—God I hope my car starts and I don’t get swiped off the road by a salt truck. Maybe if they would cancel work like they do the schools, I wouldn’t have to miss those days when I was excited to see snow.
13. Friends – Ok, this one is a toughie for me because I have friends, just not as many and not as close as I once had. With the addition of moving, hubs, baby girl, and not enough money for frequent visits, it’s really hard to keep in touch with the girls I used to do everything with. I’m one of the few in the once close-knit circle that has a child, so priorities have changed for me. I’m not complaining because I ache for my daughter when I don’t see her throughout the day, but yeah…I miss those days when I could just go hang with the girls.
So, tell me. What do you miss most?
By Cambria Dillon
Alas, it is Wednesday. The light grows brighter and soon the weekend will be here. To jumpstart that sluggish feeling typically associated with the Midweek Blues, here’s another Word of the Day to add to your vocabulary. I, myself, am rather fond of today’s word. I hope you enjoy it, too!
Cambria Dillon - YA Writer
