I should start the countdown right now. Last Saturday I started edits on one of six books I have contracted for 2009.

I don’t mind editing so much. At least, right now I don’t. Talk to me in a few months when I’m buried in edits and have deadlines surrounding me. Then I might be a bit testy.

For all this work, I am hoping I’m rewarded with some pretty, pretty cover art to add to my website. Getting new cover art is sort of like having a baby. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time. Just like worrying that baby might come out with your husband’s ears or your nose, you worry that you won’t think your cover is beautiful. But then, when it arrives, and you see your name on there, insta-love.

I haven’t had a cover yet that I didn’t love from the first minute I saw it. I don’t know if I’m blessed by the cover gods or if I just do a damn good job of filling out the cover art form…even if I don’t get close to what I described, I still get very nice art.

Hoping this is true for all six of my new covers. Stay tuned!

Kris

This will not contain a lot of detail…but I just felt a need to put this out in a public space. There are two very wonderful people out there in the world who have seriously helped me out this week. In a big way. They probably don’t even know how much their help means to me. But I appreciate both of them going out of their way and extending a helping hand.  You know who you are.

Merry Christmas.

I’ve been trying very hard over the last couple of weeks to get back to writing consistently. It hasn’t been working well, but yesterday I did do some writing/editing to fix what I already had to match my outline.

Not too bad. But I’m looking forward to getting beyond the fixing and moving into the new stuff. Because I think I’ve figured out a fun kinda story that’s a bit different (for me) in terms of plot. There’s a bad guy and a little bit of adventure/action.

But with Christmas right around the corner and finances on the mind, it’s been difficult to get my brain thinking about writing.

I also got an editor assignment for one of my books in my Arctic Shifters series…this one is for ICE BLACK, the first book. Hopefully, I’ll get an editor for ICE RED soon. Because once I get through the editing, I’m that much closer to having a new book out!  And that means new cover art!

Since Cobblestone Press has some pretty awesome covers, I’m really looking forward to seeing what they come up with for my series. The Wicked line has it’s own ‘banner’ at the top of each book, so that part won’t be super unique. But I’m hoping for some gorgeous cover art that I can put all over my website!  My home page is looking rather dull, don’t you think?

So, today, even though I have some other work to do, I will try to work on my shifter bank robber story. Because I want this sucker done! Wish me luck.

I don’t know what to think about this week. Some days were good, others bad. Business has been so slow, it’s painful, so that is bad. BUT, people have been kind and generous to me this week, so that is good. I’ve been looking for work for three months now with no luck, which is bad. BUT I took a test for a job on Tuesday and did really well, so that is good.

See? Up and down.

I’m trying to stay positive. With all of my new contracts over the last couple of months, can I really complain all that much? The most I can complain about is having to wait a few months more for some new covers/new releases. Right?

2009 is a big unknown for me in many ways. It should mean a huge shake up in my life as I know it. Which can be good and bad. Adjusting to a new schedule or a new lifestyle is hard, but life is hard most of the time. And you just have to suck it up and do it.

Used to be, in the past when times were hard, it was just me or me and my husband. And we had very little to worry about beyond finding money for the groceries and maybe the rent. Nowadays I have two kids, a mortgage, and other concerns that eat away at my brain until all that is left is worry, worry, worry.

But worrying gets me nowhere. Worrying just freezes me from acting, from doing, from changing. I do feel like I’m making some in-roads, but it seems too slow. I want things to happen NOW, for improvements to be happening this very minute. Not next week or next month. NOW.

So I pray for a little patience, a little bit of trust that things will improve if I only give it a chance, that life is up and down and currently I’m in the very down part of the down.

I hang my hopes on my releases for 2009 as a big huge positive that should be outweighing a lot of the negative. And I give myself a big ol’ kick in the pants for continuing to stress and freak and worry. That does NOTHING to correct my current situation. In fact, it tends to make it worse.

All right. That was my life adjustment post. I’m not the only person out there in a bad situation. There are others MUCH worse off than I am.

There. I am feeling better already.

All Romance Ebooks is running a contest right now. And here is my answer to the Dear Santa letter - 

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good boy or girl this year. What do I want for the holidays? An iPhone/iTouch so that I can use Stanza to read all the romance I need from all the publishers I love that I buy at All Romance eBooks. You see, Santa, I deserve the iPhone/iTouch because…

…finances are tight right now, so Christmas presents for grown-ups are most likely going to be limited and small. Also, I’m an erotic romance writer, and I DON’T have any type of e-reader myself, which is kind of a crime, if you think about it….

Here’s to hoping I might win a really cool gift.

Kris 

2008 has been a strange year for me. Last winter I had three releases in a row–January, February, and March. I’d written my longest erotic romance so far, The Opal Hunter, and had tried my hand at writing menage, Ice Black and Ice Red.

And then there was the long period of nothing. No new releases. No real erotic writing going on in my life. I spent the majority of the summer on a mainstream book that still doesn’t have a home and possibly never will.

But now I have a lot of new contracts, and I’m getting anxious to have new cover art and release dates so I can look forward instead of backward. My four little books currently available have been promo’ed to death and my website needs some new visuals to spruce it up.

I have a feeling that old adage, “when it rains it pours,” will be my new mantra in the coming months. I will look back on December 2008 as the calm before the storm. The low point before everything got just a little bit better.

One thing I can work on is my January newsletter. I’ve got piles of news to share with my newsletter group members, plus I promised a ‘members only’ contest. Maybe I should start putting together a list of things I want to include in it and start work on the header. At least it will be a distraction while I wait for all these new books to come out….

Wow! New contracts are flying at me right and left. This is NUTS. But I guess that’s what I get when I sub all over the place, right?

I just found out that Siren Publishing would like to contract my book, BEEF CAKE! They tell me my release date is in May. I’ll keep you posted on that.

I’m very excited about all these new publishers I’m working with. BEEF CAKE should be a fun one because I am planning on making it into a little series of sorts. Now that gives me a bit of guidance.

After I finish my shifter book and sub that, I can move on to BEEF CAKE II. Cool!

I think the first half of 2009 is going to be crazy with releases and new cover art and blurbs and all that. Get ready for the crazy here at my website. ‘Cause it’s coming…

I think almost every epublisher publishes Christmas-themed stories this time of year. Sexy or heart-warming, either will do. As long as you mention Christmas or toss in a tree or Santa, you’re good to go.

For two years now I’ve tried to come up with some kind of Christmas-themed romance, and just can’t seem to do it. I’m not sure why. Not as if it has to be tied super-closely to the holiday season. But in my head, sexy romance does not seem to connect with the religious and/or family holiday.

I tend to think of either going to church or playing Santa for my kids, neither of which inspires me to write romance.

I mean, yes, I could come up with a story. I could force myself to write it. But that is the problem. It’s very difficult for me, and for most authors I would think, to force out a story and have it work. The fact that I was not happy writing the thing would be obvious on every page.

Maybe the other problem lies in not being interested myself in reading a lot of Christmas-themed romance. Although I remember last year, there was one Cobblestone Press book that had me interested…The Secret Santa Project by Lyric James. Somehow that concept worked for me.

What about you people out there? Do you like reading Christmas-themed romances?  Do you like sexy stories or heart-warming ones? Or both?

I was a powerhouse writer in November. Nanowrimo inspired me to write something almost every single day.

Then, I went on vacation.

And it all went to hell.

It’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve written consistently, and I’m having real trouble getting back into it. Even though I have a perfectly lovely outline for my story. Even though I’m incredibly driven to NOT take a break with my writing. Even though I’ve had a few new contracts which really excited me.

Yesterday I wrote TWO sentences. That’s it. Just not cutting it. I have to do better than that today. I need OUTPUT. I want to finish my shifter story and sub it. Not let it linger on my computer for several more months.

So what do I do? Open up that file and WORK.

Although 2009 is shaping up to be a BIG year for me with a lot of releases, I can’t afford to take a break, or I will be stuck in sub-land with no new books out for MONTHS. This year was not what I had envisioned. Some of it was out of my control. But a lot of it was me just WAITING for something to happen.

I did learn a few things this year about sales and where my books are best suited. Anyway, I think 2009 will be completely different. Busy. Crazy busy. And I don’t want to take this nice quiet time right now and waste it…I should be using it to write new stuff before the edits start coming in, and the promo, and the release dates.

So I signed my Liquid Silver contract the other day and was deluged with information! A new forum to master, new forms to fill out, a new blog to navigate and post in, etc.

Joining a new publisher is like going to a new school: you have no friends and you don’t have a clue where your algebra class might be. You wander the halls a little stupefied, glad you can at least unlock your locker.

It takes awhile to feel comfortable and at-home in your new environs.

Well, it’s really not *that* bad. But the feeling of being a fish-out-of-water is very similar. Not only that, but I have to do this with TWO new publishers: Liquid Silver and Noble Romance.

So excuse me if for the next day or so I am not being as productive as I want to be. At least I can share that I finished the outline for my shifter book, Shake Your Moneymaker. Looks like it’s shaping up to be a good one. A little bit of suspense or intrigue. Hot shifter dude. Yes, lots of fun.

Now if I could just open up the file and WRITE. Wish me luck!