My crazy summer is almost over!!

It's been a hell of a few months. Here's a short recap, if you're interested:

I spent the month of June preparing (and pulling my hair out) for my 20 year high school reunion that I ended up planning pretty much all on my own. Everything went off without hitch though.

The second week of July was our family vacation. Lots of fun in the Caribbean sun!

The third week of July I was in NYC for the RWA National conference. SOOOOO awesome!!!

After that I was in countdown for my sister in law's wedding. Which included a weekend bachelorette getaway for the girls, then a weekend bachelor getaway for the boys. Then came wedding weekend.

And then back to school hoopla.

Oh yeah and I was (and still am) on MAJOR deadline for book 3 in the Classy 'n' Sassy series: ONE SIZE FITS ALL (Penny's story) I managed a 10 day extension from my editor. It was originally due tomorrow.

But now I am settling back into a normal routine. Today is the first full week of school for my kids. I'm looking forward to getting this book finished and the time off I will take after to sit and relax and do some of the things I didn't get to do all summer, like sit on my deck and read. (As long as the weather cooperates).

I've got exciting things coming up. My agent is hard at work trying to find homes for two new books! Woo hoo! Lots of bites. Hoping they pan out soon! And I'll be a participating author at the Angels and Sirens romance event in Pittsburgh, PA in March! Check it out here! I'm trying to get into a similar the event in Cleveland and I will also try to get into the Lori Foster event. I heard it's AMAZING!

How was your summer? Crazy or relaxed? Go anywhere fun???

Spring break is coming! Need some beach reads?

It seems everyone in the spring is escaping somewhere warm. Well, the ones who don't normally live in a warm location, anyway :) And being from the north east, many of my peers travel to warmer designations. And I'm totally jealous! But we rarely travel in winter or spring. It's usually summer and fall.

But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy one relaxing part of vacationing- the beach read! And it doesn't matter if you are actually on a beach or not! For me, a beach read is a book that sucks me in and I can easily sit/lay/lounge for hours in complete bliss.

I'm told my books are great beach reads, since readers are easily able to dive into my books and instantly lose themselves in the worlds I create. My books are fun and flirty, but full of emotion. I love creating characters people can identify with and root for.

So, for the spring escapists who have like a week or so, you may want to check out my Karma books!

Karma may be a bitch, but sometimes she knows what she’s doing.

When author Lexi Marshall’s perfectly fabulous life of designer clothes, nights on the town with her sexy boyfriend, and a successful writing career literally go up in flames, she must take on Karma and fight to gain control over her life.

Lexi believes her cliché-filled novels are the reason for Karma’s wrath and after a high calorie pity party, she’s determined to rebuild her life to what it once was...that is, until her gynecologist utters a phrase she never expected or wanted to hear: she’s pregnant. Unfortunately, the father is her fresh out-of-the-closet best friend and not the new man in her life.

Karma is back, but this time she’s not completely to blame. 

After surviving a heart- wrenching tragedy, Lexi Marshall is determined to find happiness with her wacky, new-age family. Stumbling through her first few months of motherhood, she's achieved the perfect balance living with her son, the love of her life, and her best friend and his lover. But happily-ever-after all under the same roof doesn't last long. 

For one thing, Rich doesn’t exactly agree living with everyone is ideal. With their gay/straight double wedding fast approaching, he wants to find a place of their own instead of continuing to sponge off of Marcus and Kevin. But Lexi isn’t ready to give up her easy lifestyle...or the never-ending wisdom of her lifelong best friend, Marcus. 

Torn between assured comfort and true happiness, Lexi has to make a choice, and fast. Will she lose everything, or can she trust karma, and have it all? 

And if you only have a few days away, here are some shorties:

Paradise is nothing if you choose to enjoy it alone.

When Shelby Meyer jetted off for a relaxing week in Cancun, she never expected to fall in love with the quaint piece of Mexican heaven. Or make on offer to buy it.

The Paradise Cove, a run-down Cancun resort, is in desperate need of TLC. Shelby can easily envision the resort as it was in its heyday and sees its potential. She vows to do everything in her power to return it to its former glory.

Though the previous owners’ grandson, Gabriel, insists that she will destroy his family’s resort, and a neighboring resort owner doubts in her ability, Shelby’s resolve strengthens.

But when she finds her lists of repairs and the stack of bills piling up around her, hope begins to fade. Will she swallow her pride and accept Gabriel’s love and financial help, or be forced to give up her dream of Paradise Cove?

It's never too late to start over. 

Robyn Miller is perfectly happy in her immaculate home, playing stay-at-home mom and devoted wife. That is, until she's channel surfing one day and sees her high school sweetheart Derek, acting in a lead role in her favorite old soap. Watching Derek's show becomes her secret pleasure...and brings back memories best forgotten. When Derek's mother throws him a big celebration in town, Robyn tries to avoid seeing him, but ends up in his arms for a dance. 

Derek has finally hit the big-time, but he hasn't found happiness. He regrets losing Robyn, and his show's ratings are falling. He longs to get her back in his life--both personally, and as a writer on the show. Those love scenes she used to dream up were Emmy material. Knowing her marriage is a sham, can he convince her to follow her dreams and give the show--and him--a shot?

Click the "Excerpts" tab above to read the opening chapter of each of my books! And Click here for purchasing info for all my books- Kindle, Nook, Etc..!

Clearing My Head

Sometimes there is so much going on in my brain, or sometimes nothing, which is not good when I need it to have something. During those time I just need to clear my head.

As a writer, I'm often faced with a blank page...that blinking cursor. And there are times it's fantastic. That cursor moves like you wouldn't believe. I make so many typing mistakes because my fingers are moving so fast getting the story out of my head before it disappears, lost in the sea of things floating around in there.

But there are those other times where the blinking cursor is a curse. I don't know what to do next. I don't know where I need to take my characters. Sometimes it's during the creating phase. I have reformed and am now a plotter, but even though I have the entire book planned, it's sometimes difficult to bridge together the scenes I've thought up. Or during the editing phase, when I know I need to fix something, but the solution is just not coming to me.

I need a brain break. And it's not uncommon for me to take several in a day's time. Just short little vacations where my brain can rest and do absolutely nothing worthwhile. And yes...my brain takes it's vacations in Twitterland, Facebookville, and Pinterest City.

I know many people consider these social media sites a complete waste of time. I don't, for many reasons, but I won't go into them all today. Today I am focusing on the break they give my brain. I can go on Twitter and have a laugh, see what my writer buddies are doing, promo myself, help promo a friend. I only stay a minute or two. Then I hop over to Facebook, see what my family and friends are up to today. Stay there a couple minutes. Then maybe some Pinterest for yummy meal ideas or crafts.

My brain takes maybe a 5 minute break and is ready to get back at it. Stepping away form my work, even for a few minutes, can often give me new perspective. It really helps!

Do you take mini breaks while you're writing, or doing whatever job you do? Does it help clear your mind and make you more productive? What do you do on your mini breaks?

Be free to love what you love!

Today I'm over at Sandra Sookoo's blog talking about one of my most beloved places on earth!!! Come check it out!!

Summer's winding down.

In Western NY, you know summer is almost over when the Erie County Fair starts. It started last Wednesday. It's 12 days of fun that ends the 19th of August this year. After that, there's only a couple more weeks til Labor day, and the start of school. Right now everyone is trying to pack in as much fun as they can before life goes back to hectic schedules.

We haven't done anything super exciting this summer. Lots of little things though. We went to NYC the first weekend in June. We have season passes to Darien Lake, a local amusement park. We went to Niagara Falls Canada last weekend (it's maybe a 30 minute ride for us). My daughter did theater camp this summer. My son did a play group. We had a Toga party. We went to the beach a couple times. It's been a fun summer so far. We still have a few fun things left. We're going to the fair tomorrow. I was hoping to take a day trip to Toronto...but we'll have to see about that one.

Around here school starts after Labor Day. I know some kids around the country are starting up this week. But we still have a few weeks. We've already bought new sneakers and clothes, jeans and undies. Gotta get school supplies. I still don't have a list for my daughter, but I won't bore you all with the annoying details of that! My son is starting preschool this year, so I have to get the few things he needs too.

I'm looking forward to the fall and getting back into a normal routine. With my son starting school, though only for 2-1/2 hours a day, it will be time everyday that is silent for me. Pure gold to a writing mama. I need to work on my next book. I need to get something else finished and perfected and out there. I need to grab the attention of an agent if I ever want to get where I want to go.

NYC Part 2! With photos!

If you missed part one, click here!

Quick recap...I decided to attend an agent/editor luncheon to pitch my new book. It was hosted by the Long Island Romance Writers. So we made a little weekend getaway out of it! My last post is all about the luncheon! This one is all about the family fun!!

After leaving the luncheon, we crawled through traffic to get to Coney Island!

Someone didn't want his picture taken!

We went on lots of rides and hubby and I even rode the Cyclone. That coaster is a deathtrap...seriously. I am a huge roller coaster nut, but I seriously feared for my life on this one. But, we can at least say we did it. We rode other, safer, rides and played some games. Dinner was at Nathan's on the Boardwalk.

Had to show off her game winnings.

And while we waited for dad to get our food, we were treated to a lovely sight.

So so pretty!!!

Then we played on the beach.

Lighting was kinda weird then, so this is kinda dark.

We decided to leave before the fireworks, just so we could navigate back to our hotel in semi-daylight. We got some decent rest so we could wake up bright and early for our big day in Manhattan!

After breakfast at the hotel, we took the PATH train in to the World Trade Center, where we met up with one of my oldest friends who now lives in Manhattan- our tour guide for the day! We'd wanted to see ground zero, but it's all fenced off as they are working on the memorial. We moved on to one of the oldest building in NYC, a church, and it's cemetery. I've always been intrigued by old cemeteries!

Then we walked through City Hall Park.

She loves to pose in pics for me.

We then walked through Chinatown and Little Italy and had lunch there.

So cool that they close off the streets.

Next was 5th Avenue and all kinds of fancy stuff.

You're fired!

Lots of cool toys!

Awesome stuffed animals.

We walked through Central Park...such a gorgeous view!

Then we headed to the American Museum of Natural History! Kids loved it!

Really cool dinosaur skeletons!

Had to see Rockefeller Center! That's my hubby and son at the top of the pic!

And Times Square. Could just sat there and people watched for hours...the bright lights and excitement!

Stopped at the Times Square Toys R Us! So so awesome...better than FAO Schwarz.

One last shot of Times Square before we headed to Crumbs Bake Shop for some fancy cupcakes.

So, as you can see, we really shoved a lot into our one day. Our feet definitely felt the affects of it. I wouldn't doubt that we walked at least 10 miles. But we had a really great time and I look forward to our next trip to NYC!