Happy Monday All, I hope everyone had a wonderful and very Merry Christmas! We sure did. Christmas Eve we attended church and then came back and relaxed a while before friends of ours came over for a brief visit.  On Christmas Day, we slept in, (yes, Offspring does sleep in from time to time--which is lovely, especially when didn't have to get up early!) We got up, Offspring and I ate breakfast, then we opened gifts (Husband opted to wait until after gifts to eat breakfast because he was going to have oatmeal and he said that took him a while to eat, and Offspring was going crazy wanting to open gifts LOL). We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Offspring and husband played in the backyard--I went out there for a while. I spent most of the day reading one of my new books, Katie McGarry's Crash Into You (She writes contemporary/romantic YA novels. I've enjoyed everything she's published so far). Husband had to work the next day. I was supposed to be...

Happy Monday One and All, The Averie Household is in full Christmas gear-up mode. We've finished Christmas present shopping. The outside lights are up (sorry, I don't have pictures right now.  Our camera needs its batteries replaced and we ran out of the kind it uses. But once we get the batteries, I'll go out and see if I can get some pictures of them. We don't have a lot out).  Our tree has been up for a while, which has been fun--although the lights don't work on it, so next year husband has said he's going to put lights on it. Good thing we have some extra lights...hopefully we have enough. Have to find that out. I've been enjoying The Florin Street Band's newest video/song, Winter Wonder .  I don't know how many of you remember their first song, My Favorite Time Of Year , but I loved it. It was an effort put together by Leigh Haggerwood , a singer/songwriter. He got a bunch of musicians and singers together and they dressed in Victorian era...

Happy Tuesday All, Yesterday I mentioned I had guest posted on Anna Kathryn Lanier's blog. In the blog post, I talked about ornaments that meant something special to me. I figured it was only fair I show you these ornaments and explain them. Before I do that, here's our Christmas tree all set up and decorated (yes, this year's version): The first ornament is in honor of my maternal grandfather. Grandpa died in 2004, 10 days before my birthday. He was a wonderful grandfather. Always full of stories (both true and made up), quick to give you a $2 bill ("Never spend this and you'll never be broke.") He also was quick with a joke, which was followed by a smile and his deep, comforting chuckle. Growing up, my family had a Thanksgiving tradition called "The Turkey Contest".  After Thanksgiving meal we'd all sit at the table, and there would be jokes told. The person with the best--or sometimes even the worst--joke won and was called ...

Happy Monday All, Hey everybody! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Advent. During this second week of preparations for Christmas, I'm looking at my shopping list going "Aaahhh, what do I do for so-and-so?" But I have a few ideas, so I don't have to completely freak out. At least, not yet. I hope. Last week gave me a horrible surprise. I had an awful sinus infection. I'm doing much better, thank goodness, but I don't recommend getting one. It's not fun.  The first book in the Immortal Dreams series has been sent to my editor. Already need to change the title (apparently someone else in the publisher's community has the same title of Dream Weaver , so now I'm working on that). I'll let you know what I come up with. (Please NO suggestions. I've got some people already working on it, and too many suggestions make it hard for me to make a decision--I do appreciate your desire to help, but this is something I gotta do on my own).  Ho...

Happy Tuesday All, Wow, it really has been a long time since I updated. I was working on fixing up my new novel to send out, and had a bunch of other obligations so my life has been packed lately. I still have a lot on my plate, but I wanted to take the time to give a heads up on a few things. (By the way, new novel has been sent out, yay!) I'll be guest appearing on another blog (scheduled for Dec. 3rd), I'll do my best to update the blog so you can get to the post. It'll have a bunch of my favorite Christmassy traditions in it, so stay tuned. If you're following me on Facebook or Twitter, I'll definitely have the links on there. I need to update my website--the last time I tried there was some sort of problem and it didn't go through.  In the meantime, the ever-talented Christie Craig has a new Romance out just in time for the holidays, and today I'm going to give you my official blog review of it: Savanna has had a run of bad luck lately. When ...

Happy Tuesday all, It's been a while since I've updated my blog. Like always, I mostly concentrate on Facebook and Twitter. However, I do try to get on here at least once in a while. I used to be so much better about this. I'm sorry! My revisions for Immortal Dreams Book 1:  Dream Weaver are coming along. I'll be sending them to my proof reader very soon, then I'll go through it again and get it out. I'm ready for this novel to be going out into the world. It's not a Third Realm novel, but I think it's a lot of fun. I'm classifying it as a New Adult Paranormal Romance. It does have magic in it, which lends a little bit of the fantasy to it. New Adult is a fairly new designation. I was reading in article in a magazine about how it's not quite adult and not quite YA. In general, the characters tend to be between 18 and 25. It's based on getting into new adult situations--college, marriage, adulthood. (Most of what I'm saying is bas...

Happy Monday/Tuesday All, It's been long while since I've blogged. A big chunk of the reason is that I've been knee-deep in revisions for Immortal Dreams Book 1:  Dream Weaver --mine and Critique Partners' revisions--so I can send it out. It's not done, yet, but recent events in my life have inspired me to write this blog post. Besides synopses  I'm of the opinion that blurbs are hard to write. After all, you have to sum up your story in a few short paragraphs (or one paragraph) without giving away everything, but still giving the reader an idea of what your story is about--including, in some way, genre.  Some blurbs are taken directly from query letters. Think about it. When you query an agent or editor you have to encourage them to want to read the entire thing. So the blurb you include has to include enough information where they have an idea of what you're writing, but without giving away every single last detail of the story.  A question ...

Happy Tuesday All, I promise, I didn't do it on purpose. Really. The NWHRWA Lone Star Conference came around and I... Forgot my camera! However, I did, in fact, go, and there are a ton of witnesses who will attest to the fact I was there. For all I know, RM Brand might have gotten a photo of me during the time I was down in the Conference room helping them set up before it started.  Donald Maass was unable at the last minute to come. His family had an emergency, so he had to back out. However, he was nice enough to do his best to help us get someone. In the end, James Scott Bell, who came last year, rescued us and returned with a brand-new topic. (I give Raven Raye, our 1st V.P. a lot of credit for dealing with this unforeseen situation, she worked so hard and deserves a standing ovation). Friday night, I attended (by invitation) the Meet & Greet. I got to sit down and chat with agent Kevan Lyon , who is authors Jennifer L. Armentrout and Katie McGarr...

Happy Thursday & Friday All (Since I'm going to leave this post up for both days), Saturday is the NWHRWA Lone Star Writer's Conference . I've been really looking forward to it. Donald Maass is the keynote speaker and I believe it's going to be another great conference. This is my 5th year going. I can hardly believe it's been that long already, but I'm excited. This Fall marks 6 years as a member of the NWHRWA . The group is just awesome. So many talented authors. Many of them have become friends of mine, and I'm very grateful to them and the entire group, for their support and encouragement over the years. I'm telling you, they are really warm and caring. If you're a writer and ever get a chance to come down for one of our conferences and/or meetings, please do. Today I'm thinking about the lessons we can learn from fairy-tales. I know, usually they're kind of "fluffy" or "cheesy", but I've been thinking a...