This month, Mistress Heidi has made an executive decision.  And as you know, in The Dungeon, Mistress Heidi‘s word is law. :elvira

Rather than holding a poll to let The Darlings vote for October’s Hunk of the Month, Mistress Heidi is simply appointing a Hunk to reside in the sidebar throughout the coming month.

Of course, Mistress Heidi knows what her Darlings like, so I think you’ll be pretty happy with her choice…

It’s time again to make a run for it!

Join me today at the Brava Authors Blog for “Vegas & Vampires & Showgirls – oh, my!” where I’m sharing some of my favorite television & movie quotes that kept me amused while writing my current paranormal romance release, MUST LOVE VAMPIRES.

See you there! 

I was finally able to turn in my latest Harlequin Desire, PROJECT: RUNAWAY HEIRESS, last week. *whew* :peekaboo

And I have to admit, from the moment I hit Send, I went into eagerly-awaiting-a-response-mode. :poker   This is something that all writers (at least those writing toward publication) know well.  It doesn’t matter if a publisher’s guidelines say in big, bold print: “RESPONSE TIME—6 TO 9 MONTHS.”  From the minute we put something in the mail or send an e-mail, we’re like puppies that really need to piddle.  We race to the mailbox as soon as the mailman arrives.  We jump every time the phone rings.  We check our e-mail obsessively.  (Because a new message might have shown up in the .5 seconds it took the program to Send/Receive the first time around.)

But really, my main concern when I send in a newly completed manuscript is that it arrived at all.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve sent an attachment only to have the person I sent it to contact me a few days later asking where it is.  And when someone doesn’t even know an attachment is coming…  Oh, recipe for disaster—or worse, missed deadlines!  So all I want, truly, is confirmation that my editor got the book so I can stop worrying about it.  (And, dammit,when I turn in a manuscript on Wednesday, I want credit for turning it in on Wednesday…not Friday because of a freaking spam filter. :vampsmile )

I should probably also mention that I’ve lucked out with really responsive editors.  Just about every one of them gets back to me on every little thing so quickly, I’ve grown completely spoiled.  If more than, like, twenty minutes pass without a response to an e-mail, I start thinking, “Gee, they must be out of the office today.”  And sometimes I’m right!

So when I finally got a note from Editor C, I expected simply a quick, “Got it, Heidi! Thanks.” type of response.  And that would have held me over for a good three or four weeks, I swear. :evileye

Instead, I got this:  “Cool.  It was a mistake to click open because I got completely sucked into the book and haven’t gotten any other work done since.”

Me: 

So of course I responded with a very demure, “Gee, thanks. I’m flattered.”  *snork*  Nah, I did the whole he-he, golly gee, really? big, goofy smiley face thing.

But he’s used to this from me, so he simply replied back:  “I am so in the mood for this type of story, Heidi. So far, so fab—I’m about a third of the way through, just from reading on my late lunch hour.”

Same day service?  Really?!  That’s kind of awesome!

Of course, Editor C does have other work to do & he did have to go home sometime. *hmph*  So I’m back in a holding pattern.

I’m sure I’ll hear from him again soon enough, especially now that he’s already begun reviewing the book.  And my fingers are crossed he continues to love the story & has very few revisions for me.  Cuz I don’t want to go back & fix this book, I want to move on to the next one. :spideykiss