That's about all I've done consistently all day: yawn. I am happy that the Muse is back and ready to work but he's not just back, he's in full swing manic mode. I was rather proud of myself for going to bed at 11pm last night, a reasonable, and unusually hour for me. A few hours later I sit bolt upright out of a deep sleep, completely wide awake, with a scene for Reckless Liaisons bouncing around in my head. I tried for a while to get back to sleep, but to no avail, and at 1am I was sitting in my bed typing furiously on the laptop, until finally I said aloud, "Enough! I need to sleep!"
At about 4am, the Muse finally cut me some slack and let me go to bed.
So yes, yawn it certainly is.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
God's Creatures
I hope you remembered that today is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time--except Arizona and Hawaii. I don't know about you, but I kinda wonder how you arrange plane trips and so on to those two states. Are their TV stations adjusting to the time change on everyone else's TV program? Just wondering.
Like Jimmy Douglas in my book THE VIOLIN, my dad cared deeply about God's creatures. From his childhood and into his retirement years he banned birds for the USA Fish and Wildlife Service. While he worked as a weatherman for a local TV station, he made films demonstrating how to ban birds for young people. As a conservationist way back in the days before most people even knew what that was, my dad worked for conservation and supported groups that attempted to save the environment and the creatures that abide on planet Earth. So, I just wanted to take a moment to honor his memory and his work to save the planet. I based the character of the boy, Jimmy, in THE VIOLIN on my dad. He actually had a red-tailed hawk named Sky Chief who suffered a broken wing that my dad splinted. When the wing healed, he let it go just as the character, Jimmy, did. He also had a dog named Guess.
I wrote THE VIOLIN with my dad and his brother in mind. In reality my dad's brother died by drowning in two feet of water while fly fishing with his friends back in 1927. My dad missed him for the rest of his life. In THE VIOLIN I brought his brother back to life and gave him a second chance to live the the life he might have had. Here's an excerpt from THE VIOLIN.
THE VIOLIN Unedited Excerpt at Amira Press www.amirapress.com by Sarah J. McNeal
Chapter One
Genevieve began to dream the familiar dream again. The man was dressed in canvas trousers, a white cotton shirt with no collar and suspenders. He was fly fishing in a picturesque scene with steep banks of forest on either side of the river that hurried past rocks and boulders. The water scrubbed his waders sometimes a few inches below his knees and other times deeper, up to his waist as the man worked the river using a fishing pole and skill.
The man was standing with his back to her. She watched the muscles in his back as he cast his line into the water. The wind ruffled his hair and the sunlight glinted through it. Water gurgled and splashed happily as it bumped along the rocks and boulders. It seemed to be a pleasant scene but something wasn't right.
Genevieve had a feeling deep in her core that something ominous was about to happen. She tensed and her heart went into overdrive. She heard someone scream. Was it her? The man began to turn. She could almost see his face.
Then the dream started to tumble out of control.
She couldn't breathe. She suddenly found herself under the water looking up through it into the clear, blue sky. The man's face was looking down at her but she couldn't make out what he looked like because the water distorted his appearance. He reached toward her as if to help her when everything went black.
She struggled up to the surface of her dream to awaken gasping for breath and feeling confused about where she was. She pulled herself up and leaned against the headboard hugging her knees to keep from shaking. A fine film of perspiration had formed on her upper lip and her heart was still playing a staccato rhythm against her ribs. She reached over and turned on the lamp that rested on the nightstand. She felt as though she'd run a marathon.
What was wrong with her? Why did she keep having these dreams? Always, they occurred back at the turn of the century. It wasn't always this particular dream. There were several of them. Though she never saw his face, she believed it was the same man in all her dreams.
In one of them she was dancing with the dream man. There were lanterns strung on ropes that looped from tree to tree creating a pleasant glow as she was twirled and dipped by the man to the music of a small band. As the dream continued, the music would slow and he would draw her in closer. Amazingly she could smell him and he smelled good like soap and pine trees and open sky. She felt his chest rumble and knew he was laughing. She could even feel his warm breath as it tickled her ear.
Occasionally she dreamed about a violin. It was a well used instrument with softly gleaming wood laying in an old fashioned case.
Something sad happened to it or its owner. She knew this as well as if it could talk to her. Every time she dreamed of the violin, a knot seemed to form in her throat. In the little compartment in the violin's case lay the answer to the melancholy feelings she felt about the violin. Many times her dream would lead her to grasp the ribbon loop that would open the compartment but she always resisted looking inside it. Whatever was in there, she didn't want to see it.
Like Jimmy Douglas in my book THE VIOLIN, my dad cared deeply about God's creatures. From his childhood and into his retirement years he banned birds for the USA Fish and Wildlife Service. While he worked as a weatherman for a local TV station, he made films demonstrating how to ban birds for young people. As a conservationist way back in the days before most people even knew what that was, my dad worked for conservation and supported groups that attempted to save the environment and the creatures that abide on planet Earth. So, I just wanted to take a moment to honor his memory and his work to save the planet. I based the character of the boy, Jimmy, in THE VIOLIN on my dad. He actually had a red-tailed hawk named Sky Chief who suffered a broken wing that my dad splinted. When the wing healed, he let it go just as the character, Jimmy, did. He also had a dog named Guess.
I wrote THE VIOLIN with my dad and his brother in mind. In reality my dad's brother died by drowning in two feet of water while fly fishing with his friends back in 1927. My dad missed him for the rest of his life. In THE VIOLIN I brought his brother back to life and gave him a second chance to live the the life he might have had. Here's an excerpt from THE VIOLIN.
THE VIOLIN Unedited Excerpt at Amira Press www.amirapress.com by Sarah J. McNeal
Chapter One
Genevieve began to dream the familiar dream again. The man was dressed in canvas trousers, a white cotton shirt with no collar and suspenders. He was fly fishing in a picturesque scene with steep banks of forest on either side of the river that hurried past rocks and boulders. The water scrubbed his waders sometimes a few inches below his knees and other times deeper, up to his waist as the man worked the river using a fishing pole and skill.
The man was standing with his back to her. She watched the muscles in his back as he cast his line into the water. The wind ruffled his hair and the sunlight glinted through it. Water gurgled and splashed happily as it bumped along the rocks and boulders. It seemed to be a pleasant scene but something wasn't right.
Genevieve had a feeling deep in her core that something ominous was about to happen. She tensed and her heart went into overdrive. She heard someone scream. Was it her? The man began to turn. She could almost see his face.
Then the dream started to tumble out of control.
She couldn't breathe. She suddenly found herself under the water looking up through it into the clear, blue sky. The man's face was looking down at her but she couldn't make out what he looked like because the water distorted his appearance. He reached toward her as if to help her when everything went black.
She struggled up to the surface of her dream to awaken gasping for breath and feeling confused about where she was. She pulled herself up and leaned against the headboard hugging her knees to keep from shaking. A fine film of perspiration had formed on her upper lip and her heart was still playing a staccato rhythm against her ribs. She reached over and turned on the lamp that rested on the nightstand. She felt as though she'd run a marathon.
What was wrong with her? Why did she keep having these dreams? Always, they occurred back at the turn of the century. It wasn't always this particular dream. There were several of them. Though she never saw his face, she believed it was the same man in all her dreams.
In one of them she was dancing with the dream man. There were lanterns strung on ropes that looped from tree to tree creating a pleasant glow as she was twirled and dipped by the man to the music of a small band. As the dream continued, the music would slow and he would draw her in closer. Amazingly she could smell him and he smelled good like soap and pine trees and open sky. She felt his chest rumble and knew he was laughing. She could even feel his warm breath as it tickled her ear.
Occasionally she dreamed about a violin. It was a well used instrument with softly gleaming wood laying in an old fashioned case.
Something sad happened to it or its owner. She knew this as well as if it could talk to her. Every time she dreamed of the violin, a knot seemed to form in her throat. In the little compartment in the violin's case lay the answer to the melancholy feelings she felt about the violin. Many times her dream would lead her to grasp the ribbon loop that would open the compartment but she always resisted looking inside it. Whatever was in there, she didn't want to see it.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Cover for Do or Die!!!
Don't you just love it! Rae Monet designed this absolutely gorgeous cover for my futuristic paranormal romance, Do Or Die coming soon from The Wild Rose Press!
Here's the blurb to whet your appetite!
Do or Die by Marly Mathews
Coming soon from The Wild Rose Press!
The world has changed. Ten years ago, Earth nearly crumbled beneath the might of an intergalactic War. Their Enemy fought them with their destructive psychokinetic powers. Only a band of extraordinary humans stood in their path. They were known as the Gemini Order. Led by Shylah McKay, they saved Earth from ruination.
Now, Shylah McKay and her kind are being persecuted for the very talents that saved Earth. But Shylah's a mover and a shaker, and with her lover Grayson by her side, she'll go to the ends of the Earth and beyond to fight for her people.
Have a magical weekend, everyone!
~Marly
Friday, March 7, 2008
Unity - a novel for Tease Publishing's imprint?
I just spent a bit of yesterday lurking around The Romance Room, watching as the ladies there handed it over to the authors of Tease Publishing. And I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed by the standard of work that seems to be there.
And the diversity.
So, I sent them my submission for their Dark Tarot imprint yesterday afternoon. I suppose now, I have to think of a kind of synopsis to give them if it's accepted. Maybe something like:
When obstinate Darcy and artistic Celeste lives first crossed, they couldn't have known that would start them on the path into the fantasy worlds they both had an interest in. In their sleep, that world comes alive for them, and they themselves are drawn towards true ladies, balls and gorgeous dark men inside cathedrals. The world of abusive stepfathers and depression is left behind them, and in their waking life, they find that they are changing for the experiences of their dreams.
Like all my favorite authors and poets at the moment, I have tried to tell a tale that mixes real life with fantasy elements to create the novel Unity. It is a little bit different to both my purely fantasy novels that I have with NCP or my singularly social realism that I had while Aphrodite's Apples was still open, but I kinda like it because it mingles the best of both aspects.
I finally chuffed myself up and made all the last edits I wanted in there, finished writing the cover letter, then pushed the send button. Then I heard back from the editor in chief at Tease this morning. She told me they are looking over submissions this week and I should hear back from them next week.
Holding my breath until then sounds like a plan, yes? :D
Nikki Watson.
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/
Changeling: Of Elves and Men. Available Now! from NCP.
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/changeling.htm
And the diversity.
So, I sent them my submission for their Dark Tarot imprint yesterday afternoon. I suppose now, I have to think of a kind of synopsis to give them if it's accepted. Maybe something like:
When obstinate Darcy and artistic Celeste lives first crossed, they couldn't have known that would start them on the path into the fantasy worlds they both had an interest in. In their sleep, that world comes alive for them, and they themselves are drawn towards true ladies, balls and gorgeous dark men inside cathedrals. The world of abusive stepfathers and depression is left behind them, and in their waking life, they find that they are changing for the experiences of their dreams.
Like all my favorite authors and poets at the moment, I have tried to tell a tale that mixes real life with fantasy elements to create the novel Unity. It is a little bit different to both my purely fantasy novels that I have with NCP or my singularly social realism that I had while Aphrodite's Apples was still open, but I kinda like it because it mingles the best of both aspects.
I finally chuffed myself up and made all the last edits I wanted in there, finished writing the cover letter, then pushed the send button. Then I heard back from the editor in chief at Tease this morning. She told me they are looking over submissions this week and I should hear back from them next week.
Holding my breath until then sounds like a plan, yes? :D
Nikki Watson.
http://nikkiwatson.blogspot.com/
Changeling: Of Elves and Men. Available Now! from NCP.
http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/changeling.htm
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Best Sellers
Being in the best sellers in the Times newspaper usually means that you have sold a lot of books. I am not yet sure what it means when an ebook is in the best selling list at fictionwise. At the moment I have Cassie's Sheikh/Linda sole at number six in the Red Rose Publishing list at Fictionwise. It has been up to four. In the amira Press section at fictionwise A Shameful Secret was at number one and is now at number two. A shameful Secret went to number two at the Historical Fiction section at Fictionwise it was between Ken Follet and Bernard Cornwall. Now at number three it is between Ken Follet and Phillipa Gregory. These authors usually make up most of the top ten ebooks (historical fiction). So I should know what that means soon and whether or not ebooks sell in anywhere near the numbers that mainstream press would. It will be interesting. I do know of an author whose latest sales with one particular publisher is a healthy four figure sum and that is encouraging for ebook authors. I always like to hear of someone doing very well.
Anyway, A Kind of Loving/Linda Sole/Red Rose Publishing should be out soon. The Lord's Forced Bride is out at Harelquin Historicals this month. It was requested for review but I haven't seen the review yet. At the moment I am writing a big saga and really enjoying it.
I am putting up the cover of A Kind of Loving for you. Love to all, Linda
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
New Newsletter and other Goodies...
I put out my February newsletter a few days late this last month, but I figure better late than never. LOL If you haven't already signed up for Regina's Universe, you might want to consider doing so now. I have posted two new chapters for Soul Memories, and added a new folder Free Short Stories. If you haven't yet read my holiday sequel Destiny's Holiday, then you can now find it there for your reading pleasure. There is also another short story called Alien Dreams which is a science fiction romance.
Alien Dreams is about a young woman who can travel astrally during dreaming and the alien she meets and falls for while doing so. I'm already getting some very good feedback on this one, so if you sign up and read it feel free to send me an e-mail at tiwatz@yahoo.com and let me know what you think of it or any of my other stories.
In addition if you enjoy Native American romance coupled with paranormal themes I now have eighteen chapters of my Native American reincarnation romance Soul Memories posted to the files section.
I've also created another piece of artwork that you can use as a desktop background, this one titled "Moon Priestess," and yes, she is levitating the pillars and herself! LOL You can check it out at the bottom of this post. Oh, and you can see a larger version in my Art Gallery on my website.
And...(yes there's more!) there is a new contest posted on my website for a pair of Native American beaded earrings created and designed by yours truly.
Feel free to check out my newsletter Regina's Universe and my website at your leisure. :-)
Alien Dreams is about a young woman who can travel astrally during dreaming and the alien she meets and falls for while doing so. I'm already getting some very good feedback on this one, so if you sign up and read it feel free to send me an e-mail at tiwatz@yahoo.com and let me know what you think of it or any of my other stories.
In addition if you enjoy Native American romance coupled with paranormal themes I now have eighteen chapters of my Native American reincarnation romance Soul Memories posted to the files section.
I've also created another piece of artwork that you can use as a desktop background, this one titled "Moon Priestess," and yes, she is levitating the pillars and herself! LOL You can check it out at the bottom of this post. Oh, and you can see a larger version in my Art Gallery on my website.
And...(yes there's more!) there is a new contest posted on my website for a pair of Native American beaded earrings created and designed by yours truly.
Feel free to check out my newsletter Regina's Universe and my website at your leisure. :-)
I'm a guest on Raven Radio-March 5th!
Hey Everyone,
I'll be popping in to chat with Mandy and Michelle on Raven Radio tomorrow between 11 am and 12pm EST. My interview will run for twenty minutes! If you are interested in dropping by follow the link below!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravenradio
~Marly
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