Big changes are coming!

I've always believed a website is a work in progress and as of today mine definitely is!

I'm restructing the front page a bit, but who cares, right? It's conent we all want to see.

So I'm creating a few new pages.

Happily Ever After, where I will post epilogues or scenes that take you into the hero and heroine's futures. So you get a taste of who they will be a few years down the road.

What Came Before, where I'll post prologues about the hero and/or heroine of a particular story to show you how they got to page one of the novel.


Shorts, which will be short stories that I'll write about secondary characters.

Workshops, where I will post appropriate workshops like my Goal Setting Workshop which I hope to have up soon.

And Looking for a Job. This blog will be a bit different. Because I probably won't be posting. Think of this as a public service blog where my niece Stephanie and my sister Tammy will share their joys and frustrations as Steph enters the workforce after college graduation and Tammy looks to re-enter the workforce now that three of her four kids are in school!

Should be fun. All of it should be. I've always hated giving up my characters too soon after a book is completed and starting their stories too late because most romances begin where the hero and heroine meet, yet a lot of potentially important information happens long before each book begins.

So check back. It's all coming within the next few weeks!

susan

Puzzle Anyone?

I found the neatest thing on the Internet today. A puzzle maker at Discovery kids. Of course I had to try it out with some words from a book I have coming out in April.

Here's the link.

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/code/BuildWordSearch.asp#

Here's the puzzle.

The Baby Project


A A O A Q L K Z S C S Q P A C
N F P T D T V K E T M A X T W
D X I T M Y E Y E W I L L C I
R U L R D B K P E J P E S P T
E N O A R U H S G N I D L O H
A C C C A O G L D Q T H C M Y
G F Y T N O O S E A S I D E D
K Z N E E N H Z W O R M H J O
J O G D E A L Y A L N I A W T
M C A L J Y J A A W W I U V S
K C Y U H V O C Z Y T X G S U
C P I B W J K Y F X K P Q K C
I S N O Z Z Q N M A K U B E P
N P Q V T A B L L S Y J I J I
J Z V B C E F A Z N M U H A Y



ANDREA
ATTRACTED
CADE
CEO
CUSTODY
DARIUS
GINO
HOLDINGS
LAYLA
LONELY
MONTAUK
NICK
SEASIDE
STEPHONE
WHITNEY
WILL



16 of 16 words were placed into the puzzle.

What's up for next year?

I'm in the homestretch for my third book of the four books I'll have out in 2011. The first three are a miniseries about brothers who all have the same dad but different moms. It's lots of fun watching them grow together and become a family, as each finds his one true love. The first book in the series, out in April, is particularly wonderful...though book 2 is wonderful, too (LOL) and if I get myself in gear book 3 should be every bit as wonderful. ;)

But before I write book four (a Christmas book!) I've asked for a few weeks "off" so I can revamp my website and also write new content. I have a time management workshop and another writing workshop I'd like to post. But I also have some other things I'd like to add. Secret stuff that I think readers will love!

Authors don't get a lot of time to do fun stuff like that, though -- which is why I asked for the eight weeks respite. Writing is my fulltime, day job, so I'm luckier than most, but I still have housecleaning and family things, volunteer work and extended family. This week, it was Thursday before I realized I hadn't picked up a book to read and Saturday before I actually got time to read!

And that's not right! =;)

So if I get all my ducks in a row in the next few weeks I'll not only have a nice, organized holiday season for a change; I'll also have some great new content for the site.

And I'll be ready to write the Christmas book with memories of a great holiday swimming around in my head!

Stay tuned...

susan

Um...Where has October gone?

I know. I know. It's only October 13. But, seriously, October 13? It seems like yesterday when I was dressing for a New Years Eve party! My mother tells me that the older you get the quicker years fly by. So I guess this means I've crossed over. Whining about how fast the year is going puts me squarely in the old person category...

Or not.

I might just be feeling tired because I've had a heck of a year. For those of you not in the publishing industry, the pressure to be part of a social network, to promote your name, to create a brand...to BECOME a brand...is enormous.

Frankly, and bluntly, until this month, I hadn't caved. I refused to try to become a brand. Then around October 1 I went a little nuts. I even emailed my editor with a thousand questions about what Harlequin did for its authors and I think I might have insulted her! LOL (And probably my poor publisher.)

But the truth is we have to blog. I'll probably have to be more creative for this little ditty I now do here only when I feel like it. I'll probably have to be punctual. Have themes. Tell you stories. Expose bigger pieces of my life.

But guess what? My life is kind of boring! LOL So who's really going to benefit from that?

Then, again, maybe my life isn't boring. I've been married a long time to the love of my life. Smartest move I ever did was marrying him. He's a wonder. He's sweet and kind, but still a guy's guy. We're raising a disabled child...who is now an adult. His problems are definitely unique. If I shared all of his traumas, you'd probably cry. You'd certainly count YOUR blessings. And you might even come away feeling lucky.

I also have a daughter. A massage therapist. She's fun and funny. Sort of quirky. Definitely her own girl. But she has her moments too. Were I to share her stories with you, she wouldn't be happy...so that's probaby not going to happen.

Then I have a son who lives with his girlfriend. They are normal late-twenty-somethings who are rather ... well, average...except for their pets. Their dog is nuts and huge. And she loves to sit on laps. If she chooses you for the evening your thighs will go numb and she will provide you with a complimentary face wash.

Lilly, cat 1, is an attack cat. Do not let your guard down around her. Lucy is sweet, with big green eyes and an adorable face...but don't sleep on her bed or she will bite you.

I suppose the fact that I'm in training to volunteer for Hospice is interesting. Everything we do is confidential so you'll hear no stories, but Hospice itself is a wonderful concept. Volunteers literally give up their time and treasure to make sure terminally ill patients are comfortable ... and their families, as well.

Then there's my 63-person immediate family. I'd have to put up a flow chart if I wanted to talk about them and have readers know who I was talking about! LOL

So I'm in a quandry. I wish I was cooler. I wish I was more interesting. But I guess over the next months or weeks as I force myself onto the internet and hopefully into everyone's life, we'll see.

Things would be a lot easier if I came with cranberies or almonds or had a sugar coating. As it is, you're only going to be getting me. No frills. No mystery prize inside the box. No 20% off if you use your credit card.

Still, ready or not, I'm about to become a brand. (Or so I hope.)

susan