Author Archives: Jennette

About Jennette

Jennette Marie Powell is the author of several time travel and paranormal romance novels, who likes to find the extraordinary beneath the mundane, whether in people, places, or historical events.

Is Your Life Boring?

Mine is. I pretty much do the same things every week: go to work, come home, hang with the family, walk on the treadmill, and get on the computer. I don’t go out much–oh, I could if I wanted to; my husband does fairly regularly. But that’s my writing time, and I don’t drink much. The older I get, the less I can drink without it making me feel really bad. And it’s just not worth it to lose time for doing other things to feeling bad when I can avoid it.

Dog Shaming is one of the more exciting things that happens around here – and I’m OK with that!

I do things like laundry and once in a while, even clean. But we don’t go on glamorous vacations (can’t, with a kid about to go to college), and I’m not much of a shopper.

And you know what? That’s not a bad thing.

Twenty-pus years ago, when I was single, I might have thought differently. Of course, we didn’t have Internet back then, so if you wanted to be social, it required getting out of the house. Sometimes, finding someplace interesting to go, where there were people I actually wanted to hang out with, was a challenge. But I managed, met my husband, got married, became a mom, and by then I didn’t have time to get out just for the sake of getting out. I was too busy to be bored.

My daughter has friends, a boyfriend, after-school activities, so she’s often not home. My husband likes to go out for a beer with friends or to play darts or watch sports. At home, it’s me and computer.

And that’s not a bad thing.

Twenty years ago, had I been able to look forward to see, I might have worried.

But then think of the other “excitement” people at my stage of life have. My brother had a heart attack on Christmas night. He’s fine now, but that’s the kind of excitement no one wants. I know people getting divorces, or contemplating it. My DH and I hang out enough, and we stay out of each others’ way enough, and we don’t have that kind of drama. We have other friends with grown children, who are constantly into some kind of ugly disagreement with them. Our daughter is 17 and still doesn’t mind hanging with us, so I take that as a good sign we’ll avoid that kind of drama too (one can hope!). So far she’s made good choices.

So I’m okay with being boring! Of course, there’s another side of the coin. We can get complacent, get stuck in a rut, stop trying new things. Life in general becomes a comfort zone, and you know how that works. Staying in our comfort zone for too long means we stop learning, stop growing, and stop developing our skills. We stagnate. I do feel that from time to time, but am unsure what to shake up. Years ago, that feeling of complacency might mean it’s time to look for a new job. But who wants to do that in these uncertain economic times, when I have a good job, working with good people, doing work I like, for decent pay?

For some people, “shake something up” might mean it’s finally time to kick the deadbeat boyfriend to the curb, or the tell the slacker (grown!) kids it’s time to move out. My family’s great – no messing with that!

Some people move. This can be great if you’re single and ready to make a change on the job front, or if you have the kind of job you can do anywhere. But for me, see family and job, above. Not going to mess with that, although maybe in a few years!

Last fall, I shook things up in my writing by writing in a genre I thought I never would (YA), and with no speculative elements. I had fun, and I did stretch myself, even if it’s not something I’ll publish (still haven’t decided on that).

What about you – is your life boring? If so, is it in a good way or not so good? What do you do when you sense you’re in a rut? I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Cleaning Up Our Act, and ROW80

H18print Last week, I was working on Hangar 18: Legacy, and noticed that a bad guy in the book shares a last name with one of my friends who’s also a reader. I brought up the subject at lunch a few days ago, asking “what would you think” in a generic way first. Everyone pretty much agreed that no matter what I name him, it will be someone’s name. Then when I revealed who it was, my friend laughed and said her husband had some pretty shady relatives (although not murderers, I’d hope!). 🙂

I finished the print formatting and got the proof back and it’s pretty!

I worked on the ebook formatting for that yesterday, but kept getting sidetracked. You see, our kitchen was a disaster area, and I had to do something about it.

Normally this is not a problem. My writing desk is upstairs, so out of sight is normally out of mind. But this time, it was worse than usual. My daughter had oral surgery on Friday (wisdom teeth – she’s fine 🙂 ), and she’s the one who usually cleans up. But for the past couple days, she’s been taking it easy (as she should) and DH has been getting her stuff. Or she gets for herself, as I’ve been doing. And no one’s been picking up after themselves.

So it needed to be done. Sometimes, you can focus better on the mental tasks (writing) when the brainless, but necessary stuff is done. I also cleaned the gerbil tank, and set up a new, second filter in the turtle’s tank.

I did well with my ROW80 goals, too — I even got the estate planning chapter done, although I admit it was a really short and easy one. Here are the rest of the details:

Review Hangar 18: Legacy proof when I get it, and address any corrections needed – Done!
Find people to review it – Done! I’m still looking, so if you’re interested, I’ll send you a free ebook in the format of your choice! Just let me know. 🙂
Fitness activity 5x – Mostly – got 4x in
One chapter’s exercises in the estate planning guide – Done!
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum – Done!
BONUS: Begin formatting the ebook version of Hangar 18: Legacy – Done!

For this week, I’d like to:

Finish formatting Hangar 18: Legacy in ebook, register copyright, send out review copies, and RELEASE IT!
One hour of brainstorming/outlining my next book, a futuristic romance
Fitness activity 5x
One chapter’s exercises in the estate planning guide
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum
BONUS: Write a press release for Hangar 18: Legacy

Does it bother you when your place is a mess, or can you ignore it? Does it ever get to the point where you can’t ignore it any longer? How are your goals coming along this week, whether or not you’re participating in ROW80? I’d love to hear from you – please share!

Murder and Magic Plus ROW80 Check-in

We have murder and magic for WANA Wednesday this week! Check out these exciting new releases from two of my In Real Life friends:

My friend Jim Winter has just released The Compleat Kepler, a boxed set of crime fiction featuring Cleveland P.I. Nick Kepler. From a sheriff’s deputy harassed by an insane stalker to a fugitive trying to escape on 9/11 to an interrupted tryst with a newly divorced lady friend, life is never boring for Nick Kepler. The star of Northcoast Shakedown and Second Hand Goods returns in 13 tales of crime on America’s Northcoast. The collection includes thirteen short stories, including “Walk in the Rain”. All of these works have been published in respected e-zines, and some have appeared in paper magazines. I have read a few of these stories, but not all, so this one’s on my Kindle now! More info at: http://eviljwinter.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/the-compleat-kepler-arrives/

robin_in_the_hood

Perhaps a different kind of mayhem is more to your taste? Writing buddy Diane J. Reed sneaked a new release into the world last month, that I just found last week: Robin in the Hood. This YA romance is the story of Robin McArthur, a sophomore at the prestigious Pinnacle Boarding School for Girls, who thinks she has it all figured out when it comes to bilking her wealthy dad for guilt money as a substitute for his genuine affection. Until one day he suffers a stroke, and she learns the brutal truth: they’re broke. And everyone from bankers to bookies has lined up in her dad’s hospital room to collect on the millions he’s racked up in debt.

His only saving grace is what he reveals to Robin in between drools—he truly does love her, in spite of all his mistakes. Panicked and desperate, Robin figures she has two choices: either surrender to the pestering caseworker and live in a skanky foster home, or take a chance and sneak her dad out of the hospital to make a run for it. Little does she know that stealing a car and hitting the road means that before the day is through, she will rob her first bank.

Now an outlaw, Robin finds a backwoods trailer park to hide her dad from authorities. There, she encounters Creek, a local bad boy who also commits crimes to provide for their motley neighbors. Realizing she could use Creek’s help, Robin proposes an ingenious plan—they should team up to rob banks together. But when their partnership leads to a romance that turns Robin’s whole world upside down, she soon begins to discover that people are more precious than pocketbooks, and real love means opening your heart to the kinds of treasures money can’t buy…

If this is anything like Diane’s debut novel, Twixt, it’s sure to be a lovely tale of magic and beauty found in places we wouldn’t expect. This one too, is on my Kindle in my TBR list! For more info: http://www.banditsranch.com/p/twixt.html

And now, a brief ROW80 upate: I’ve looked over the digital proof of Hangar 18: Legacy and I’m now waiting for a hardcopy proof! I’m doing the print book first this time, as I see more mistakes in that form. I have also kept up with my fitness so far, working out both days. I’m still looking for review readers for Hangar 18, so if that sounds like something you’d enjoy, let me know and I’ll be happy to send you a free review copy. You can read a description of it on my Other Books page.

What about you? Do you like to read about murder, or is magic (and thievery more to your taste? Have you read any good books lately, or know of any exciting new releases? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

Is your hometown diverse? What about your books?

I’m in the final stages of preparing my new novel, Hangar 18: Legacy, for release. And here in the U.S., it’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day, where we celebrate the life of Dr. King and his fight for civil rights–equality for all people regardless of race or gender. As I worked through the final proofread and formatting of my book, I noticed it had a fairly diverse cast.

Teenagers Jumping Did I do this intentionally? Yes and no. It was something I thought about, for my book takes place in Dayton, specifically at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. And neither would be accurate if it wasn’t racially diverse.

Lisa Stark, the heroine of Hangar 18, is Asian.This was intentional: as a child adopted by white Americans, in an all-white small town, she looked different, but really wasn’t–she’s as American as I am. In contrast, my hero looks like a typical military guy, but he has unique, psychic abilities. But with other characters, I didn’t necessarily plan them to be black or Hispanic, I just imagined them that way. And no, they aren’t all in stereotypical, subservient roles, but do a variety of jobs–just like in real life. I’d like to think that I imagined a diverse cast of characters because this mimics real life.

My Saturn Society books are similar. Some characters just appeared to me as non-white. For example, the head of the Dayton Saturn Society House, Chad Everly, is Hispanic. Since the time-travel ability originated in Latin America, this leads into some interesting backstory for him, which isn’t in any of the books (yet). Theodore Pippin, who ran the Dayton Saturn Society House in the 1930s, is black, and that was done for a reason. At first he wasn’t, but I had a problem: he was in pursuit of Tony, the main character, but I needed a reason he couldn’t just walk into the restaurant where Tony was eating and apprehend him.

TimesEnemy211 The solution was perfect, as it fit into the time period. It also emphasized how monumental a thing Tony had done by going into the past. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Tony hesitated as he reached for the door handle of Irving’s Restaurant. The narrow, old frame structure and its hand-lettered front window reminded him of the tobacco shop where he and Charlotte had found refuge during the flood.

But it was the sign above the door that made the enormity of what he’d done hit him like a sucker punch to the gut: Whites Only.

He’d gone back a century in time by will alone. A time where men still tipped their hats to women—ladies—and offered them their seats on the bus, and no one got offended. A time before civil rights, when it was acceptable to deny someone entrance to a public establishment solely on the basis of race. Even an honest, respectable businessman like his friend Bernie.

Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of people like Dr. King, it’s hard for me to imagine this kind of discrimination, as I can’t remember a time when it was allowed. As Dr. King said, we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. Discrimination was real (and unfortunately still is, albeit to a lesser extent), it was historically accurate, and giving my book a diverse cast helped me to lend this extra little bit of historical authenticity to Time’s Enemy.

What about you–have you read books where everyone was white-bread American, or were they diverse? If they didn’t reflect reality, did you notice? Have you read any good, racially-diverse books lately–or any where the historical lack of civil rights was a key part of the story? I’d love to hear from you!

Do You Share a Name with a Villain? And ROW80

One of my goals this week was to proofread my upcoming science fiction romance, Hangar 18: Legacy, and ready it for print. It’s coming along well, proofreading is done, and it’s uploaded to the printer, so that one’s met! However, while I was proofreading, I realized something I hadn’t noticed before: one of the bad guys–a murderer–shares a last name with one of my Awesome Coworkers, who’s also a friend–and a reader.

That struck me as weird. How will she feel about that when she reads this? Of course, it has nothing to do with her (or her husband)–I wrote this book years before I came to work at the current place. I didn’t yet know her when I did my last major revision on it. And her last name’s not an unusual one.

It’s never happened to me–which is kind of surprising, as Powell isn’t exactly an unusual name. And when I thought about it, I probably would think, huh that’s funny, and keep reading, no big deal. It would strike me as weird if I ran across my married surname in a book for any character, as it’s not a common name at all.

So what I think I’ll do with my coworker is mention, hey, this bad guy in this book has your last name–I wrote it years ago, just so you know! And I expect all will be fine.

I did well with my other ROW80 goals this week, too, except once again, I did not get to the estate planning, as the proofreading and formatting took longer than I expected. Here are the details:

Format Hangar 18: Legacy for print, proofread, and upload to printer – Done!
Fitness activity 5x – Done!
One chapter’s exercises in the estate planning guide – uh, no.
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum. – Done!

For this week, I’d like to:

Review Hangar 18: Legacy proof when I get it, and address any corrections needed
Find people to review it (hint: if you’re interested, I’ll send you a free ebook in the format of your choice! Just let me know. 🙂 )
Fitness activity 5x
One chapter’s exercises in the estate planning guide
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum
BONUS: Begin formatting the ebook version of Hangar 18: Legacy

Have you ever run across a character in a book with your last name? What did you think–especially if it was a bad guy? Or how are your goals coming along this week, whether or not you’re participating in ROW80? I’d love to hear from you – please share!

What is the best book you read all last year?

I haven’t seen any new releases from my writer friends this week–yes, that’s unusual! So I thought I’d talk about another favorite of mine – actually two.

Many years, I’d be hard-pressed to answer the question, “What’s the best book you’ve read all year?” Sometimes, there are too many good ones to make a choice. Other years, nothing has stood out. 2012 was one of those where I read tons of good stuff, but one book–actually, two– stood out: Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood by Holly Lisle, and its sequel, Warpaint.

HTCB-Ebook-387x600 How can I sum up what made these books so great? All I can think of is, they were just more… everything. In one of her blogs, writing workshops, or maybe her email newsletter, Holly stated that one of her goals with this series was to create scarier vampires. And boy did she! Yes, these are vampire books, but not your typical horror fare. Oh yes, they’re that too, but they’re also science fiction – in fact, that’s the primary genre they’re shelved under. But they’re also mystery, thriller, suspense, and there’s even a little romance in Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood, the first of what’s planned to be a ten-book series, I believe.

They are about a kick-ass, independent starship captain, Cadence Drake. And if you think she looks rather comic book-ish with her curvy figure and exotic features, well, there’s a reason for that – she’s genetically engineered to look that way, and she uses it to advantage (and not in the way you’d expect). She has a special talent for locating missing things, and when she’s hired to find a missing starship, how hard could that be? Especially when said starship is one of only 27 made of a new model that would be very conspicuous in any spaceport?

Of course, it turns out not to be so easy, and on the way, Cady and her friend Badger run into all sorts of nasties, as well as unexpected allies. Which is where the more horrific vampires come in. If you want vampires that are sparkly, hot romantic leads then this is not the book for you – they’re definitely the bad guys here.

WARPAINT-FLAT-387x600 But again, there’s more. More worlds to explore, each with unique cultures derived from recognizable, Earth subcultures. (I totally want to live on the planet called Up Yours!). And yes, there’s a bit of humor – just enough! And while these books are classified as space opera, they’re not buried in tech, and what’s there is believable and understandable. We see it through Cady’s eyes and learn more about her in the process. There were some epic space battles, again, just enough to satisfy the expectations of space opera while not boring other readers along for the ride.

And these aren’t mere entertainment either, although they can certainly be read and enjoyed solely on that level. There’s plenty of thought, theme, and ideas that make the reader think, and this is, I think, what makes these books so special. They are not pedantic or a soap box for the author, although for those of us who’ve taken writing workshops from Holly, they’re probably more visible.

So it’s probably all these things combined that made Hunting and Warpaint a couple of those books that you read until the e-reader conks you on the head because you’ve fallen asleep, and then you think about it the whole next day while at work, and can’t wait to get on the treadmill so you can read again (or maybe that last part is just me LOL). According to her blog, Holly plans to release the third installment in the series later this year, and I for one can’t wait.

This is the bar I reach for in writing my own books. I’m getting closer, but I’ve still a long way to go.

Both of these books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, Apple’s iTunes, and on Holly’s site, along with a bunch of other good stuff.

Quick ROW80 update: I’ve pretty much finished the print formatting for Hangar 18: Legacy, which is the form I do my final proofread in. I’m also about 1/3 of the way through on the proofread, so on track so far this week! I have also done 2 workouts, so that is also on track.

What about you – what was the best book you read all last year? (Or books, if you can’t narrow it down to one?) Or maybe you’d like to share one you read years ago, that still sticks with you? If you’re doing ROW80, how is your week going so far? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

You’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached

Ever feel like that? I feel like that… um, on a regular basis. Pretty much every day.

Do you ever feel like this?

There is so much minutiae in our lives (don’t you love that word “minutiae?”) that it’s sometimes overwhelming. Actually, it’s often overwhelming. There are groceries to get–or in my case, since my DH does the shopping (bless him!), groceries to remember to put on the store list, or he won’t get them. This is why, as I write this, we are collecting kitchen trash in one of those little grocery store plastic bags. No one remembered to put “trash bags” on the list.

There are appointments to remember–dentists, doctors, the tax accountant. My husband’s in the process of doing some work on the garage, so there are things to remember related to that. There are school projects for our daughter, and programs we want to attend for her. There are things to do related to those appointments–medical info to collect, tax info to collect (and with three businesses, there’s a lot of that), lists of things that need to be done to the garage by the construction guy. Oh, and we’re almost out of turtle food. And will you pick up this prescription on the way home?

And that’s not even counting my to-do list relating to my books and being an author–a to-do list that’s even larger when you’re also your own publisher. I thought I had a lot to remember before I published. I’d always heard that it got worse after you published, but that’s one of those things, like having a kid, that you know mentally before, but have no idea until you have one, how much more there is to do. (And like kids, it’s very worthwhile, so I’m not complaining, just explaining.)

Add in the holidays, and there are presents to buy, parties to attend (or host, with all the additional things to remember for that), kids’ programs to see, wrapping to do, cards to buy, sign, seal and send….

Just typing that is making me stressed, and it’s over until December comes back around!

How do you manage it all?

I used to write notes. But there were problems with that. One, there ended up being notes lying all over the place. My husband still does this, and our daughter and I are constantly clearing the clutter, tiny slips of paper, used envelopes, sticky notes with a phone number or a cryptic few words scrawled on it. When I ask him if he still needs them, he almost never does, but invariably, if one gets tossed without us checking first, that’s one he still needs. As for me, when this was my MO, the biggest problem with the notes wasn’t even the clutter, but I’d lose the note.

One year my company bought me a big, thick day planner, but it was so big and thick (and heavy), it never left my desk. It did help me with stuff I had to do there, but did little that a to-do list I’d scribble on a piece of paper didn’t.

My Cozi to-do list: It’s frightening

Now we have Cozi Organizer to help, but even that’s imperfect. First, we have to remember to put something on it to begin with (trash bags?). Then, if it’s an appointment, we can put in a reminder that will ring an alert on our phone or email us at the specified amount of time before it, but that only helps when I’m actually sitting next to my phone and hear the notification when it goes off. My daughter got a tablet computer for Christmas, and one of the first apps she downloaded was Cozi. She’d used it on her computer before, but that only helped if she was actually sitting at her computer when she thought of something to add to it, or if she had her phone in hand when a text notification came in. The tablet is in her hands enough that this will help, one hopes. 😀

What do you do to rein in all the minutiae of day-to-day life? Do you take it in stride, or are you constantly in danger of forgetting something, like I am? What tools do you use to help, and how do you get the most out of them? Please tell me I’m not alone in feeling like the person in the photo!

Is Your Blog Secure? And ROW80

Last Thursday, I attended a meeting of the Dayton WordPress Users Group, where we talked about security.

This was something I’d thought about a while back, when I read this blog by Marcy Kennedy. I knew a few other writers whose blogs had been hacked. I’d never had any problems myself, but that’s one of those things where it’s far better to be preemptive. So a while back, I installed one of the security plug ins Marcy mentioned. I learned a few things at our local user group meeting too, and I was able to contribute, because the guy presenting hadn’t heard of the plug-in I used.

Bottom line with your website/blog’s security, get it before you need it!

I did well with my ROW80 goals this week, too – I accomplished the main thing I set out to, which was complete the edits for my upcoming science fiction romance novel. I then went one better and got some formatting done too!

Finish edits for Hangar 18: Legacy – Done!
Fitness activity 5x – Done!
One chapter’s exercises in Get it Together, an estate planning guide. I wanted to do this last ROW, but wound up putting it off when I decided to do NaNoWriMo. This is stuff that isn’t very fun to do (or even think about), but that really needs to be done. – uh, no.
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum. – Done!

For this week, I’d like to:

Format Hangar 18: Legacy for print, proofread, and upload to printer
Fitness activity 5x
One chapter’s exercises in the estate planning guide
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum

What are you planning to do this week? If you have a website or blog, have you thought about securing it? I’d love to hear from you – please share!

Valentines, Witches, Thrills, and Romance Past and Present! Plus ROW80 Check-in

It’s WANA Wednesday and we have a little bit of everything this week! So there’s sure to be at least one of these five fantastic-looking books that’ll stir your passion! Check out…

How about some contemporary romance? Unless you’re a Grinch… as in The Valentine Grinch by Sheila Seabrook!

Hearts, cupids, and diamond rings … bah humbug! Amanda Goodwin inherited her Valentine grinchness from her Grandpa George, so when she returns home for her Grandma Elvira’s Valentine’s Day wedding, it’s bah humbug all the way. Until, that is, she encounters her grandpa’s ghost.

Fortunately, she’s not in this alone. Long time friend, Dane Weatherby, totally gets her grinchly attitude. Between Grandpa’s demands for her to stop the wedding, Grandma’s inability to let go of her dearly departed husband’s urn, and Amanda’s parents acting friskier than a couple of newlyweds, she’s ready to give in to her grinchness and head back to the city.

Only true love can stop Amanda. And if Dane has his way, he just might convince her to say I do instead of bah humbug. More info at: http://sheilaseabrook.com/2012/12/26/the-valentine-grinch-is-here/

Or maybe you’d like to venture into the paranormal, with Liz Schulte‘s Easy Bake Coven, where the Abyss is watching her … waiting for her.

For Selena Warren being a witch is no big deal. She dabbles in harmless magic with her friends and never thinks much about it. When her grandmother is attacked, Selene uncovers an ancient grudge that threatens the lives of everyone she loves. With no other choice, she puts her trust in a stranger who knows more about who she is than she does and shows her a world of elves, half-elves, fae — and one peculiar sekhmet named Femi. This unusual new world could swallow Selene whole, take away everything that makes her who she is, but the with a forgotten past beating down her door, she will have to dive in to save her future. More info at: http://www.lizschulte.com/2013/01/easy-bake-coven.html

August McLaughlin released her debut thriller, In Her Shadow, last month, but is celebrating its launch this week. This is the story of one woman locked in a basement, nearing death and longing for escape. Another baffled by the inexplicable symptoms wreaking havoc on her life. Both are lost and alone, yet somehow connected. And time is running out…

Near the tenth anniversary of her parents’ unexpected death, Claire Fiksen, a lovely young Harvard-grad and gifted psychologist in Minnesota, develops bizarre symptoms of an eating disorder that threaten her fledgling career, her relationship with a handsome young medical student, her grasp on reality and, soon, her life.

When her beloved grandfather reveals that there may be more to her parents’ death than she’s realized, Claire’s pursuit of healing becomes a desperate search for answers as she delves into her family’s sordid past. Meanwhile, someone is watching her every move, plotting to draw her into her own twisted web of misery. Claire has something he needs, and he’ll stop at nothing to obtain it. Every step Claire takes brings her closer to the truth and danger. And her life, she discovers, isn’t the only one at stake. More info at: http://www.augustmclaughlin.com/books.htm

My In Real Life writing friends have been busy too! This week, Jillian Kent celebrates her birthday and the release of the third in her Ravensmoore Chronicles historical inspirational romance series, Mystery of the Heart.

Lady Mercy Grayson has secretly been studying medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has dressed as a man to pursue the same passion her big brother Devlin, Lord Ravensmoore, pursued outside the acceptance of society. Her secret has been discovered. Now she’s running away from Scotland and her dreams. Will she be able to accomplish what she feels is God’s calling, or will the parameters of society and those who want to use her secret to accomplish their own selfish ends determine the course of her future?

Vincent Lyons, Lord Eden, is an adventurer coming home to London to deliver the mysterious Holy Lance to the prince regent who wants to see if the legends are true surrounding this relic that is said to possess both the power of healing and destruction. His life is catapulted in another direction when he meets Mercy who is pursuing a different kind of adventure that will cause him to question everything he believes.

Both will be forced to examine their personal motives when members of a voudon tribe, the Regent, and the London Legend Seekers Club search to possess the ancient relic for their own purposes. More info at: http://jilliankent.blogspot.com/2013/01/downton-abbey-my-birthday-books-prizes.html

Finally, Jessica Lemmon has big news – the release of her debut contemporary romance, Tempting the Billionaire! In this story, Crickitt Day needs a job . . . any job. After her husband walks out on her, she’s determined to re-build her life and establish a new career. When swoon-worthy billionaire Shane August hires her as his assistant, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Despite her growing attraction to her boss, she vows to keep things strictly professional. No flirting. No kissing. Definitely no falling in love…

Shane August is all business, all the time. He’s a self-made man who’s poured his heart and soul into his company, and he’d never allow himself to get involved with an employee. Then he hires sweet, sexy Crickitt-and he can’t keep his mind or his hands off her. But no matter how much he wants Crickitt, Shane fears that painful secrets from his past will always come between them. With fate working against them, can these two lonely hearts learn that sometimes mixing business with pleasure is the perfect merger? More info at: http://www.jessicalemmon.com/happy-debut-day-to-me/

And now, a brief ROW80 upate: I don’t usually get much done in the beginning of the week, especially since this ROW began on Monday so we’re only talking two days… yet I did get two chapters of Hangar 18: Legacy edited! I also have kept up with my fitness so far, working out both days.

What about you? Do you like light and fun romance, or are you more for thrills and chills? Have you read any good books lately, or know of any exciting new releases? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

Blasting off for 2013

Blasting off We’re taking a break from the usual My Town and Misfit Mondays today for the start of a new ROW80 – and a new set of goals!

I got a late start on this as usual. A lot of people posted new year’s goals last week, but I needed to really think about what I wanted to do–and more important, could accomplish–this year. For ROW80, we’re just dealing with 80 days, or 11-1/2 weeks.

But it’s best to start with something a little longer term. Many business experts advise having a five-year-plan. I’d like to say I have one of those, but I don’t. I do have an overall idea of where I want to be, both in my writing and life in general, but that’s it.

Back to those one-year goals. One thing I learned is, they need to be written down in a place you’ll remember–and will remember to consult at least quarterly. This is the part I missed last year. I vaguely remember making them, but I can’t find anything in the areas of my computer where I’d expect this to be. I did find 2009, 2010, and 2011 goals documents. (They were kind of funny, still focused on agents, editors, and selling to NY–boy, have things changed!) I never did find one for 2012, so maybe I was thinking of the list I wrote for 2011.

This year, I put the 2013 Goals list at the front of my Weekly Status Report document. This is where I document what I did each week, what my plans are for the next week, any issues, etc. (Here’s an example of what’s in my Weekly Status Report if anyone wants to see/use it.) I add a page each week, and start a new document each year. Each week when I update it, it of course opens to page 1. So BIG DUH – that’s where I should put my yearly goals!

So here’s the list:

Edit and publish Hangar 18: Legacy
Write/Publish new futuristic romance
Write two short nonfiction works
Write/publish one short story
Publish next OVRWA anthology through my publishing company, Mythical Press (may or may not contain the story noted above)
Revise contemporary YA written for NaNoWriMo 2012
Begin planning phase of Saturn Society Book 3 or continue work on urban fantasy started for NaNoWriMo 2009
I also have some professional goals relating to my day job, which are not detailed out above

Um… yeah, seeing it spelled out like that, it looks a bit ambitious. But that’s the beauty of setting goals and working on them through a group like ROW80–if we see they just aren’t going to happen, we can change them.

And with ROW80 comes the practical part: breaking them down into doable pieces. Here’s what I hope to accomplish this round (which ends March 28):

Finish editing and publish Hangar 18: Legacy (I want this released by the end of this month)
First draft of nonfiction piece–I’m doing a presentation based on it for my RWA chapter meeting on March 16, so it needs to be done by then.
Outline futuristic romance
30,000 words on futuristic romance

Let’s break those goals down even more. Doing weekly goals helps me TONS. This is also where I add other, ongoing stuff, like fitness goals. So for this week, my plans are:

Finish edits for Hangar 18: Legacy
Fitness activity 5x
One chapter’s exercises in Get it Together, an estate planning guide. I wanted to do this last ROW, but wound up putting it off when I decided to do NaNoWriMo. This is stuff that isn’t very fun to do (or even think about), but that really needs to be done.
Be a good ROW80 sponsor and visit all the blogs I’m supposed to at minimum – yes, I’m a sponsor! It’s my first time for that, and I’m really looking forward to it. 🙂

Whether or not you’re doing ROW80, what are your plans for this year? If you are doing ROW80, is this your first time, or are you an old hand? I’d love to hear from you – please share!