Those of you who follow me on Twitter &/or Facebook may have noticed that I was working on copyedits for MUST LOVE VAMPIRES last week.  (And if you don’t yet follow me on Twitter & Facebook, what the heck are you waiting for? :mistress )

Copyedits can be fun…but also vexing.

For one thing, getting copyedits on one book almost always means I have to set aside the writing of another.  And that is vexing because they usually arrive just when I’m really on a roll.

For another, it’s not easy to jump from story to story & still keep track of everything that’s going on.  Especially in a situation like this where I’m writing a Harlequin Desire set in South Carolina, then have to proof & edit a hot & sexy vampire romance set in Las Vegas.  It can be tres confusing. :knock

And then there’s the fact that copyedits are basically a chance to bring to light all your little goofs.

Like calling your heroine Chunk instead of Chuck (short for Charlotte).  Her small candy bar addiction not withstanding, I don’t think she’d appreciate that.

Or writing “crazy as a loom” when you really meant “crazy as a loon.”  I’m familiar with loon insanity, but don’t even know how crazy a loom can get.

Whoops.  All I can say is, Thank goodness for copyeditors.  I’ve heard a lot of complaints & horror stories about them in my day, but for the most part, copyedits usually save my butt.  Thanks, guys!

In addition to keeping me from looking like an illiterate slob, the nice thing about copyedits is that they A.)  give me a chance to see if the revisions read as smoothly as I thought they did when I first turned them in…if I had revisions, which on this story I did.  Very minor ones, thankyouverymuch.  And B.) give me a chance to see if the story holds together as well as I thought when I first turned it in.  It’s easy to be excited about something when you finally get to type “The End” & send it off to your editor after six months of heavy-duty work, but  But then you start to think, “Oh, wait—did I cross that T?  Did I dot that I?  Did I remember to tie up all those loose ends?”  And you think you did…I mean, it’s your job & you’ve done it twenty times before, but still…the doubts begin to creep in.

I am happy to say, though, that MUST LOVE VAMPIRES did hold together—beautifully, if I do say so myself. :eyelashes   With a fresh eye, I was able to see the story as a whole & even chuckle at a few things I’d forgotten I wrote.

And I’m even happier to have the copyedits finished & out of the way so I can jump back into the current WIP…which means once again spinning my brain 180-degrees to the non-paranormal Desire world, nary a vampire in sight. :doh

Word of the Week: ghost taste — the familiar taste that accompanies a post-meal burp. It’s like deja vu in your mouth.

Over the weekend, I did some cleaning & rearranging in my dining room—also known as The Playroom or Kitty Cat Central. My entire house is decorated for the cats’ pleasure, of course, but the dining room especially is like a feline Disneyland.

(For the record, this is not a picture of my actual dining room.
I wish!  :kittylaugh )

Anyway, I also have some boxes of book stored in there—which the cats like to sleep on, otherwise they’d be outie! And while I was moving a few of those around, the lid came off of one & I happened to look inside.  What was on top? you might be asking.  (Well, you should; you know I’m leading up to a Big Reveal here.  :tongue )  It was The Alibi by Sandra Brown.

Oooh. You know how much I love Sandra Brown.  And since I just finished Smash Cut, I am totally in the mood for more, more, more from her.  But remember my vow:  I shall read no book that ain’t set down South.  I really want to try to stick with that so I remain in a southern frame of mind while I’m writing my “Dynasties:  The Kincaids” story for Harlequin Desire, which is set in Charleston, South Carolina.

I couldn’t resist picking it up, though.  Taking a look.  Skimming the back cover blurb.

OMG!  Guess what?!  It’s set in Charleston!

Check it out:

The sensational murder of one of Charleston‘s most powerful citizens, real estate tycoon Lute Pettijohn, rocks the city and gives ambitious prosecutor Hammond Cross his chance to become the city’s next district attorney—if he wins the case.  His investigation turns up no shortage of people who wanted Pettijohn dead.  But when the prime suspect turns out to be a mysterious woman who holds the secret that can shatter Hammond’s ambitions, he faces a moral dilemma and a haunting question:  Was he set up to be the perfect alibi?

Charleston!  Charleston, Charleston, Charleston.  Not just one of those nice, southern states…Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama…I’ve been running across in my search, but actual, factual Charleston itself.  Woot! :vday   I am dee-lighted.

And…sorry, but the other books I had started or planned to read next had to be pushed to the back burner.  It’s The Alibi all the way bay-bee.

Of course, now I can’t help but wonder what I might find if I cleaned another room.  But I really don’t wanna. :knock

“He who is plenteously provided for from within needs but little from without.” ~Goethe

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Is it Spring yet?  I think it’s trying, but so far we’ve just got the typical April showers bring May flowers thing going on.  But we’re not going to let that get us down!

You know the drill.  First we will list all the things we’re happy & grateful for this week, & then if there’s something you aren’t particularly happy about, you can join the gals on my HappyBookers YahooGroup where our very own Darling Laura J. has created Bitch & Moan Monday as a way for us to vent about the everyday annoyances that get us down.  It’s a blast, believe me.  And very therapeutic.

So this week, I AM HAPPY to be a double finalist for Orange County RWA’s “Book Buyer’s Best” Award for KNOCK ME FOR A LOOP & INHERITING HIS SECRET CHRISTMAS BABY.  Yes, I know we already did the big Happy Dance celebration here in The Dungeon, but I’m still absolutely delighted. It makes me smile every time I think about it. :chick

I AM HAPPY that there’s a Burn Notice marathon on USA Network today—nothing better than spending the day writing during a good television marathon :howyoudoin —leading up to the premiere of the two-hour special Burn Notice:  The Fall of Sam Axe.  I loves me some Jeffrey Donovan, but I loves me some Bruce Campbell, too. Yeah, baybee! :us

I AM HAPPY to finally have my MUST LOVE VAMPIRES copyedits finished & turned in.  I’ll be chatting more about that this week, but I was really happy with how they turned out & even happier to see how well the story held together after being away from it for so long.

And I AM HAPPY that I can get back to my “Dynasties:  The Kincaids” story now that the MUST LOVE VAMPIRES copyedits are in the mail.  It is not easy to jump from a Harlequin Desire set in Charleston, South Carolina, to hot & sexy vampires living in Las Vegas, Nevada, then back again in the space of a week.  Oy. :knock

So that’s my list for this week.  How about you?  What are you happy about that you’d like to share? :jump

And now to announce the winner of this week’s Free Book Friday giveaway…

:getdown   Jessica!!! :getdown

Congratulations, Jessica! :vday Please contact me with your full name & mailing information, & I’ll get your copy of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget out to you as soon as I can!

(P.S. I haven’t yet heard from the two winners of  Jules Bennett’s guest blog giveaway from the first week of April.  If you’re interested in claiming your autographed books from Jules, please contact me ASAP.  Thank you!)