Picture Day!

The Saint Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

Today I'm going to post a big hodge-podge of photos, book covers, and garden shots. Here we go!

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1. First up, my son had an amazing experience in New Orleans for his community service camp. They helped with ecological restoration projects, as well as school restoration projects. He had a blast. Here are some highlights from his trip...

Oak Alley Plantation

View of bayou from airboat tour

My son LOVED the food!

New Orleans Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden

Welcome to the bayou!

2. Penny Plots!

Thanks to Samantha Wayland's tutorial, I am now a plotter!

BEFORE (note new marker selection)

AFTER

I'll see your markers, and raise you GLITTER STICKERS! 

I spiffed up my plotting chart with Nat's sticker collection.

I must admit, this new organized me is enjoying "the chart." And the old me is enjoying the goofy stickers. And my WIP is coming along nicely. Recent comments from beta readers include...

"Christ on a crutch. I love this. LOVE IT."

"Laughing my *#%^$ ass off."

"Motherf*cking is one word."

"These are wonderfully drawn characters."

"You have god-dammit, god-damn, god damn it, goddamn, god-damned. If you're going to make us all look bad by pounding out a really remarkably fantastic book like this, the least you could do is get your $*%#* swears right."

At this point if all of the profanities were removed from the WIP, it would probably be about 50% shorter. 

Hee!

3. Flower Power

Nat picking flowers at the organic farm. Fun!

Pink morning glories are back!

My hydrangea "tree" is doing great. It's a hydrangea grafted onto a tree trunk.

4. Coming Soon!

Coming Fall 2013...FAIR PLAY by Samantha Wayland! I'm super excited for critique partner Sam to jump into the self-publishing world for the first time. This is her sexy ice hockey series. I will post blurb, excerpt, purchase link, and give-away info soon. Yipppeeeeee!

Victoria Morgan's second novel will be out in December. THE HEART OF A DUKE is available for pre-order at Amazon. Here are some great quotes...

"A warm and touching love story. This couple will steal your heart!" -- Caroline Linden

"A touch of mystery and tender passion combine for a classic Regency read." --  Maggie Robinson

Another winner by Vicki. Woo hoo! (By the way, guess who came up with that totally fantastic title? Yep. PENELOPE! *takes a bow*)

That's it for my hodge-podge. Hope you all have fun weekend plans--make the most of summer's end!

Love yinz,

Penny

Alaska Heart, Tulle Death Do Us Part, and Plotting Chart

Sam Wayland's Bag Of Doom, aka THE MARKERS

Monday morning updates: Alaska Heart, Tulle Death Do Us Part, and Plotting Chart (and...as an extra bonus, A Work Of Art).




1. ALASKA HEART by Christine DePetrillo

This book is just chock full of my favorite things! A sexy, rugged, outdoorsy hero, who happens to be the Iditarod-winner and have eighteen gorgeous sled-dogs. A breath-taking Alaskan setting. Adorable secondary characters. Laugh-out-loud banter. A suspenseful storyline that takes us on a hair-raising plane trip and chase through the wilderness. The hero was a bit too good-to-be-true, but honestly, I sort of like my heroes like that. He was delicious! (And had some nice scruff going on, too). Finished up with a lovely HEA.

Yum!

Grade: A-/B+


2.  TULLE DEATH DO US PART by Annette Blair

I have been a bit frustrated with this series after the last couple of books. But the latest installment was absolute perfection! Blair has combined a compelling mystery, her trademark quirky writing voice and snappy dialogue, fun vintage clothing details, and totally satisfying romance. Oh! The romance! Not only did Maddie embark on a wonderful love story (finally, long overdue and she deserved it), but some other secondary characters also found their HEAs, too. One paranormal, one firmly on earth. And the fact that Maddie's deceased mother blessed all the happiness (with the sweet scent of chocolate) brought a tear to my eye. This book is WONDERFUL!

Grade: A+

#TEAMWERNER
#WERNERFORTHEWIN
#WERNERISSEXY
#WERNERYUMYUM


3. Plotting Chart (aka Penny's Frightening Experience With A Master Plotter)

For those of you not familiar with writing approaches, let me briefly describe the two types of writers:

1. Plotters

2. Pantsers

Plotters are super organized, plot out their entire book in advance of writing it, and know exactly what is going on. I would hazard a guess that they also are extremely good at recycling, fold their underwear, and pay bills on time.

Plotter and Proud Of It!

Pantsers are authors who write by-the-seat-of-our-pants. Which means we do NOT plot the book. We have no idea what's going on. We sit down, and start banging away at the keys, and let our muse take us away! Pantsers probably plan their kids' birthday party an hour before the guests arrive, don't pack for vacation until the morning of the flight, and enjoy cocktails with silly names and umbrellas stuck in them.

I'm Pantsing, Baby! Woo hoo!

Okay. You get the idea. Needless to say, I'm a pantser. Sometimes this works out great. And sometimes, it doesn't. (I once attempted a werewolf story where I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't get out. At 50,000 words. And no amount of hairy werewolf sex could fix that problem. Ugh.)

It was with great trepidation that I finally asked my critique partner Samantha Wayland to help me with my plotting. There are "plotters" and then...there is Sam. Sam has 20,000 colored markers. Sam has 3'x4' poster boards. Sam knows what is happening at the beginning, quarter, mid-point, three quarter, and end of the book. Sam writes outlines that are 20,000 words long. The outline, people! The outline! My books aren't even that long. (*Penny takes short break to inhale oxygen canister*)

As you can plainly see, this appointment with Sam caused me undue stress. However, I personally know many people who have met with her and swore it was the best thing that ever happened to them.

So, I pulled on my big-boy pants and met with Sam. And HER BAG. (See photo above.) Do you see all those markers? DO YOU SEE THEM? She has different colors for the hero, heroine, 2ndary characters, the conflict, the black moment. You name it, she has a marker.

Our conversation started like this:

Sam: Tell me about your hero.

Penny: (eyes markers with great suspicion) Huh?

Sam: Your hero. What's up with him. (She holds marker in her hand, waiting to write something on the massive poster board).

Penny: Um...um...he's...lonely?

Sam: Good! He's lonely. (she starts scribbling on THE BOARD).

Penny: (thinks silently....SHE IS KILLING ME!)

This went on for about an hour. And something funny happened.

It worked.

There. I said it. ARE YOU HAPPY, SAM?

I figured out some cool stuff about my hero, my heroine, my story, how to structure it so it flows right, and a totally killer ending.

And so I would just like to say....

THANK YOU, SAM 

YOU KICK ASS!

Penny turned to the Dark Side...Plotting! And I don't even need therapy. (Although I do still have an unnatural fear of markers).

4. And finally, the bonus...A Work Of Art!

Remember how I told you my husband got me a cool diamond ring in Santa Fe right before I fled the high altitude vacation disaster? Well, I got it! My new pinkie ring...is it fabulous or what? (The one next  to it is a garnet).

So, those are my Monday Morning updates. Hope everyone has a great week! Julia Rachel Barrett is visiting me tonight...at midnight! Like Cinderella! I can't wait to see her!

Ciao!
Penny

Monday Morning Updates

1. Nat's soccer team lost the finals, 0-2. But Nat was on fire! She had an incredible game and played with the older girls on the starting line-up. I was super proud of her. Which she exploited immediately by saying "Don't you think I played great? I want a pet praying mantis." We are going to the pet store today after school. (I know. I know.)

2. I finished Sondrae Bennett's book Worth Fighting For. I enjoyed this friends-to-lovers fox shapeshifter book.

3. I started reading Linda Howard's Now You See Her. Very intriguing beginning to this book. Can't wait to see what happens. (It has a "I See Dead People" thing going on).

4. Finished a beta read for RJ Silver, which made me laugh out loud so much my family kept asking what I was reading. And started a beta read for critique partner Sam Wayland (about a sexy hockey player) and it's phenomenal. Great reading weekend!

5. TODAY IS THE LAST FULL DAY OF SCHOOL! I'm doing a quick revision on Lumberjack in Love before all hell breaks loose at my house for summer vacation.

Hope everyone has a great Monday,
Penelope

Review for With Grace by Samantha Wayland

With Grace by Samantha Wayland

I'm gonna start this review with a little background story...bear with me! Once upon a time, a new girl joined my critique group, The Quirky Ladies. My first impression of Sam...she had a big laugh, a big personality, she told rip-roaring funny stories, and she cussed a lot. (Which was a plus for me because I cuss like a sailor). I wondered what kind of stories she would write. I was somewhat sheltered. In spite of the fact that half of my group writes erotica, I never heard of triads, butt plugs, or face-to-face male sex. I'm not a big erotica lover...I hate stories that only talk about f**king, and leave out the emotional connection. I need love with my sex, dammit!

Anyhoo, Sam gives us three chapters of her story and I am blown right out of the water. I could not believe she wasn't published. Her characters literally come alive, her prose is smooth as butt-ah, and the story sucked me in and had me totally engaged right away. I was pissed I only had 3 chapters, and insisted she give me the whole damned story pronto! Which she did, and I sucked it down faster than a mango margarita.

With Grace is just like Sam. It has a great sense of humor, a big personality, and is emotional and entertaining. This book has an excellent storyline, and a loving, lusty and believable triad between three wonderful and distinct characters. The concept of a triad--three people who are truly "in love" with each other--is actually quite sweet, even in an erotica story. I loved how Philip learns to not only accept another person in his love affair with Grace, but also to accept his own attraction, and ultimately love, for another man (Mark). Also, the sex is...um....er....very illuminating. (I learned what butt plugs are, for goodness sake!). This is a stunning debut for an erotica author, and I can't wait for Sam to publish the rest of this series. Grade: A

Triads Forever (hee hee hee),

Penelope

Happy Release Day, Sam Wayland!

Big, huge congratulations to fellow Quirky Lady Sam Wayland, whose debut novel is out today! Yay, Sam! With Grace is a sexy, emotional menage story...it's hot, it's touching, and that guy on the cover has a nice scruffy beard thing going on.....see it!

Here's the blurb for Sam's wonderful story...please stop by next week for Penelope's review.

BLURB FOR WITH GRACE.....

Grace loves her boyfriend, Philip, she loves her job, and she might just love her boss, but she can ignore that. She and Philip are building a life together and it’s almost perfect. So what if their sex life is less than spectacular?

Philip loves Grace absolutely. She’s the only woman for him. But the more he gets to know Mark…well, he can ignore that. After all, he’s well practiced at suppressing his real desires.

Mark lives for his restaurant, Valentine’s, but he can’t resist flirting with Grace, his hostess, any chance he gets. And he can’t remember ever being more attracted to a man than Philip. Not that it matters, as they’re committed to each other and he respects that.

A lawyer yearning to shed his inhibitions but afraid to turn up the heat, a brilliant PhD candidate with the secret desire for more spice, and the chef who craves them both. When three passionate people dare to fulfill their appetites, they find the perfect recipe for love.