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At least, it is for everyone who was up watching the Super Bowl last night.  I watched some of it at the party we went to, though mostly I talked and ate bad-for-me food, which I am paying for today.  *urp*  Back on the healthy wagon for me.  Glad the Packers won...I can't stomach Roethlisberger.  I got nuttin' today, and I have to go stick my head back in the maunscript, so here's a fun song I've been playing a lot in the car lately at my youngest son's request.  The background music to this is in Little Big Planet 2, which is his favorite game, and naturally, as I'm a music dork, I have the song on my iPod!

Yep, Dark Dynasties #2 got its title last night!  Jaden and Lyra's story, coming in January, will be called MIDNIGHT RECKONING!  I love it, it's perfect for the story.  I can't claim credit for it at all...this was all Selina, my editor...but fortunately, writers aren't required to be awesome at titling their own books.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

...pretty boring.  Have some writing to do this morning.  Lost my mind briefly because Chewie decided to come upstairs to visit me and then lift his leg on a suitcase for no apparent reason.  I stupidly thought we were through that with him, but hey, such is my life.  Oh, and I have to do Core Synergistics today for P90X, which is my most hated workout of the group.  Lotsa weird push-ups.  I stink at push-ups.  Also had an awesome brainstorming session with my editor at GCP for the third Dark Dynasties book, too.  It is now officially going to be AWESOME (if I can, you know, write it correctly).

Here, have some Muse.  I've been blasting this in the car recently...it's an older one, but faaaaaabulous.  It really deserves to be cranked up, owing to the pipe organ.  Oh yes.  There is pipe organ.  Gotta listen to the whole thing, though, since it doesn't really start to crescendo for a bit.  Have a good one!

This was too pretty not to share with you all.  Thank you, Lisa.  A thousand times, thank you.
His name is Gabriel, and he's Mexican.  And I don't know why he's wearing a furry loincloth, and I don't care.  I know he has an interesting nose, but...I like interesting noses.  Even the facial hair is working for me.  This, ladies, is cover hunk material.  Enjoy your Wednesday!�

I'm working on brain overload today.  Trying to clear up my outline for Damien's book (I have gone begging to my editor...she's great, and I'm having some problems with the hero's motivation, so hopefully she can help).  Gotta get my word count for DD #2.  Need to do %$&#@! Kenpo X at some point.  I actually like this one, as there's a lot of punching and kicking.  Very cathartic.  And I should probably fold laundry.  Laundry is my curse.  There is always more of it, and I'm always behind in folding it.  Anyway, this is a drive-by posting, but I will give you, hmm...I think I'll give you Charlie the Unicorn.  Funny and stupid works for a gloomy Tuesday:-)

Ah, Monday.  I...don't like Mondays.  But here I am, surviving yet another one, coffee at the ready and with an enormous puppy drooling on my leg in the hopes that I will share my english muffin with him (I am).  So it was a productive weekend.  I continued with the P90X thing, and am a very sore woman today (Yoga X having kicked my butt yesterday, with Legs and Back looking to continue the trend this afternoon).  I feel better to be doing something, though, and am already seeing results, so...that's some motivation.  I really, really want to look good this summer.  I'm also writing away on Jaden and Lyra's story (title still being debated), and am into the proposal for Damien and Ariane's story, which will (hopefully) be Dark Dynasties Book 3.  That's going to be an interesting one, if it comes to fruition the way I envision it.  Still fleshing out the outline.  Gotta love pairing a mouthy vampire assassin with a mysterious and sheltered she-vamp:-)  I do have to ask, though, if anyone has suggestions for visual inspiration for Damien and Ariane?  He's a handsome, sandy-haired aristocrat by birth.  He's also a brat with a killer smile.  Totally amoral on the surface, but there's more buried underneath.  I'll admit it right now, he's a snarky ass and I love him.  Ariane is an ethereal beauty.  Her hair is going to be platinum, but the model needn't have that...hard to find in the real world.  She should have the face of an angel.  Just classically gorgeous.  I'm just starting to dig around, but ideas are welcome.  Anyway, I am going to hobble away from the computer for more coffee now.  Feeling strangely good despite all the ouchies.   Writing is such sedentary business...I really did need to get moving again!  Have a good one.

Yay, Friday!  Best day of the week (apart from maybe Saturday).  Not much to offer today...going to write in a bit, and I have to do some more of this P90X thing I've committed myself to.  Brian's doing it, he looks great, and I can't be the slug in the relationship, so...today is day 2 of soreness.  I'm in a pretty good mood, though, and I know some of it is because of the loathed exercise.  Anyway, here's a groove to head into the weekend with.  Bizarro video (are they wearing antlers and glitter?), but great song.  What's everyone up to for the weekend?

Morning!  It turned out to be a snow day today, which suits me fine.  The kids are playing in the basement (ah, the joys of a finished basement), and since I've already got one cup of coffee in the tank, my head's full of ideas for the work in progress.  Works, I should say...I have a proposal going as well. 

Anyway, I'm looking at my bulletin board as I write.  It's actually covered in useful things, for once.  I have my motivational Jareth picture:
Yes, I work beneath the Goblin King's disapproving glare, but it works.  I also have my new calendar, which I desperately needed because I have an awful habit of losing post-it notes.  The pic I showed you yesterday of Jaden is up there, tagged with his name.  And beside him is my current heroine, Lyra Black.  Figured I would show you all what she looks like today, as I was very proud of myself for finding a character model.  Heroes aren't nearly as hard for me...probably because I like looking at hot men:-)  But it's much more difficult for me to match a woman in my head with a real person.  Maybe it's tougher simply because Hollywood gives us a lot of different ideas of male beauty, but what they consider the ideal of female beauty is a lot more limited.  A LOT.  I do have a soapbox I could get on about that, but I'll spare you for the moment.  What I will say is that I tend not to go for emaciated bobbleheads with blonde hair and bolted on boobs.  What's a writer to do??  Well, in this case, I had a single idea of who might work, because IMO she's one of the most gorgeous actresses working right now.  And lo, I quickly came across a picture of her that was all Lyra, right down to the hair: curly and brown but threaded with blonde streaks. 

And there she is, my tough-yet-feminine werewolf heroine, as played by Kate Beckinsale.  I'm not even far into the book and the sparks are flying!  But then, that's what happens when you put a wolf and a vampire cat together:-)  Have a great one, and if you got any rough weather, hope you have a relaxing inside day!

Gah, it's raining.  Again.  And it's supposed to turn into sleet/snow/something I won't want to drive in later this afternoon.  On the one hand, it's good writing weather, if I can get my butt in the chair.  On the other hand, I am going to come down with a raging case of Seasonal Affective Disorder if this sort of weather continues.  Yuck!  We can't even have a proper snowstorm down here.  It's just this wet STUFF all the time.

Oh well.  I decorated my bulletin board yesterday with a new calendar I bought (slim pickings at this point, but I found a pretty one), along with printed out pics of my new hero and heroine.  I am aware that not everyone loves the Moody Emo Vampire look, but still, this isn't such a bad thing to look at every day:
That's Jaden, in my world.  My editor had asked for a character pic the other day, and seemed to really like this, though she did tell me that the art department would probably NOT put guyliner on the cover hunk.  I suppose I understand, though really, everything is better with guyliner:-)  Here's hoping they match him as well as they did Ty on the cover of Dark Awakening...which, by the way, I googled out of curiosity yesterday, and is starting to turn up on lists of books people are interested in buying because they love the cover!  I want to get it blown up for my office wall.  Hmm, maybe for my birthday! 

Well, I'm home!  So today is the final installment of my little Meet the Dark Dynasties series.  Last, but most certainly not least, I'd like to introduce you to the bloodline of Dark Awakening's hero, Tynan MacGillivray.  He is of the Cait Sith, pronounced "cat-SHEE", and he hasn't had an easy time of it.  None of his kind ever have.
The Cait Sith are considered lowbloods, despite their singular mark.  Celtic in origin, and supposedly tainted eternally by the blood of the Fae, these cat-shifting vampires are known for being ruthless and efficient hunters.  For centuries, they have essentially belonged to the Ptolemy, kept as slaves, highly valued for their abilities but treated as pets at best, and as disposable playthings or weapons at worst.  They are rarely found in any numbers outside of Ptolemy-controlled territories, and are forced to live in relative poverty if they have somehow managed to stay outside of Arsinöe's purview.  No other dynasty will touch them, fearing Arsinöe's wrath, and the Ptolemy themselves make great sport of hunting the small bands of Cait Sith trying to live eternal life on their own terms.  The promising hunters and fighters are taken and forced into service, while the rest are often killed.  At court, treatment of the cat-shifters by the queen herself has varied from cruelty to a sort of mild affection.  Though she has sometimes taken favorites and elevated them above the rest, it's doubtful Arsinöe will ever see even her most prized hunters as much more than belongings.    
And then Ty is sent to find a Seer, and everything changes:-)  Have a great Tuesday, everyone!