First of all, I want to thank Erika, Debbie, Stephanie, Darla, Angel, Charlotte, Lauren, Melva, and Tina for their kind words about my books. Luv ya. Special shout out to Michele for keeping the faith. And sorry, Cindy, but I guess I’m still on your wall of blogger shame.

Warning, rant ahead. A few weeks ago I had some heavy revising to do on my January book, ONE BITE STAND. A day after I got the call from my editor telling me about her concerns, my laptop crashed. Figures. Since it would be about a week before I got the laptop back, I ran out to buy a new computer. Surprise, surprise, all the ones I looked at had the new Vista program on them. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that stuff, so I bought one. Arrgh! I hadn’t a clue what to do with the new version of Word, so I did the revisions on an old NEC computer I have that doesn’t have online capability anymore. Then I had to put everything on a floppy disk and transfer it to my new computer to send to my editor. She must’ve been able to open it because she said the revisions were fine, but my critique partners complained they couldn’t open work I sent from the new computer. Luckily, one of them showed me how to convert my chapters back to the old version of Word. And now no one seems able to figure out what’s wrong with my laptop–which is not old and was expensive–so I have to learn the new Word. Oh, and a minor aside, Vista won’t talk to my laser printer. Question, why fix it if it isn’t broke? My old Windows was fine. I loved the old version of Word. I know. MONEY.

Taking a deep calming breath. Ahhh. What I’m doing now. I just sent my editor the proposal for the book after ONE BITE STAND. No title yet. It takes place at the Woo Woo Inn, but we’ll meet a few familiar faces from the Castle of Dark Dreams (Edge, Holgarth, and possibly one other). There will be a new wrinkle in this book, though. Ganymede won’t be in it, and Sparkle will only be heard from in phone calls. In their places they’ve sent Edge (cosmic troublemaker in charge of death) and Rainbow (cosmic troublemaker in charge of emotions). Ganymede and Sparkle get pretty intense in ONE BITE STAND so I thought it might be time to give them a rest, at least for one book. What do you think?

What I’m reading. I’m in the middle of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s DEVIL MAY CRY. I’m pathetic. I keep saying I won’t buy hardbacks, that I’ll wait for the books to come out in paperback, but I have absolutely no self-control. As soon as I hit the bookstore, the hardbacks pop into my hands. Anyway, I can’t keep away from Sherrilyn’s Dark Hunter series. My bad. And for those who answered my question about Lara Adrian, I did read KISS OF CRIMSON and really enjoyed it.

Well, guess I’m all ranted out, so I’ll get back to my wip. Oh, and if anyone knows how to find all underlines in a document and then replace them with italics, please let me know. I knew how to do this with my old Word, but the new version is different.

Take care,
Nina the frustrated

Okay, I apologize. I’ve abandoned all those who’ve taken the time to make a comment here. But I’ve always had good intentions. At least once a week I’d say, “Hmm, maybe I need to do the blog thing more often.” What really got my behind moving were a few snarkly comments from friends gently pointing out that I “never” blog. So to prove them wrong I ran over here and discovered that…I never blog. Imagine my horror when I realized I hadn’t blogged since February. Ack! Worse yet, I found a bunch of wonderful comments trapped in my spam filter. Like the filter didn’t know the difference between “buy excellent penis enlarger” and “I love your books?” Give me a break. Anyway, after wading through endless pharmaceutical and related sludge (my favorite: Your site is very cognitive. I think you will have good future. Followed by about fifty links.) I’m actually posting.

Here’s a random sampling of what’s happening in my life right now. I’m frantically trying to finish my next Woo Woo Inn book, ONE BITE STAND, on time. Yeah, like that will happen. I’ve agreed to write four more Woo Woo Inn books for Dorchester, so the New Jersey Pine Barrens won’t be rid of me anytime soon. I went to the Romantic Times Convention in Houston and had a blast. I met some wonderful people and renewed my creative juices. After being closeted with just my computer day after day, it’s great to meet real live readers. I’ll also be attending the Romance Writers of America Conference in Dallas (July) with my long-time critique partners Kimberly Raye (DEAD END DATING series), Gerry Bartlett (REAL VAMPIRES HAVE CURVES series), and Donna Maloy (close to a YA sale with her LEGEND OF THE FOX series). There, now they can’t whine about me never saying anything nice about them.

What I’ve been reading? After inhaling all of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files books I chowed down on Tanya Huff’s Blood series. I love the TV show. Hope they renew it. Recent reads include: Lynn Viehl’s NIGHT LOST (dark and delicious), Stephanie Rowe’s HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT (her take on Satan is a hoot), and Charlaine Harris’s ALL TOGETHER DEAD (still love Eric the most). I have a mile-high TBR pile, but I’m still looking forward to a bunch of books in June. At the top of my list are: UNDEAD AND UNEASY by MaryJanice Davidson, THE HARLEQUIN by Laurell K. Hamilton, and MASTER OF DRAGONS by Angela Knight. I’m thinking about picking up Lara Adrian’s new series. Any buzz out there?

Since I get so many comments about Ganymede and Sparkle Stardust, I’ve given them their own page on Myspace. You can find them at: http://www.myspace.com/ninabangs

And finally, I’d like to say a big fat thank you to everyone who bought my May release, WICKED FANTASY. Love ya.

Take care and fill me in on any great books you read.

Nina

Good to hear from you again, Michele. Yes, I do lust after the model on Catherine’s book. Sigh. And I wish you a happy Valentine’s Day with a hot guy and a big box of chocolates, not particularly in that order.

No, I haven’t come up with my list of ten yet, but I’m thinking, I’m thinking.

Not much to talk about tonight, but I promised myself that I’d try to post at least three times a week. So prepare to be bored by nothing. I worked on my newest book today. It’s giving me some problems. The heroine is a harpy. I sort of thought everyone would be clear on the harpy concept, but two of my critique partners weren’t. It’s too late to change her, so I’ll have to make her work. I watched American Idol tonight. Chris Sligh is my early favorite. Not only because he can sing (let’s face it, all of the finalists will be able to sing), but because he’s funny. I love a great personality. I’ve also been watching The Dresden Files on the SciFi channel. Like it. I’ll have to pick up a Jim Butcher book when I hit Barnes & Noble.

Would you believe that I can’t think of anything else to talk about right now? But it’s late, and I’m tired, so I’ll use that as an excuse. I’ll try to do better next time.

Everyone have a great Valentine’s Day.

Thanks for sharing your Valentine’s Day story with me, Jamie. I don’t think men understand why this day is so important to women. But the camera was a great gift. Now, what you should do is use the camera each year around February 14 to take a shot of a nice piece of jewelry and leave the photo on his pillow. Hey, it could work. And I appreciate the kind words about my books.

Did you guys see what Ferfe did? Jeez, I didn’t even know what a meme was. I had to go to her site to get some info. I have to come up with ten random pieces of my life to post here and then I have to tag ten other vic…I mean people. Like that’s going to increase my popularity. Hmm, this will take some thought. This whole tagging thing could traumatize me so much that I don’t post again for another six months.

Books, books, and more books. I bought Sherrilyn Kenyon’s The Dream Hunter yesterday. Right now I’m reading Catherine Spangler’s Touched by Darkness. I’ve always enjoyed Catherine’s books.

I should be back here on Sunday, hopefully with ten random events in my life.

I just sent out my February newsletter, and I hinted that readers might want to mosey over here to comment. Of course, then I had to race ahead of them so there’d be someone home when they arrived. Can you believe the last time I posted was May? That is truly pathetic. To make matters worse, before I could post I had to delete a bunch of spam. Someone needs to point out to these morons that the readers who stop by this site are unlikely to need penis enlargement. Arrgh!

Let’s see, what’s happened since May? I went with a friend to Ireland and Scotland. We spent all of September there. I love both countries. The Highlands are haunting and beautiful. I’ll tell you more about the trip in a future post. I also finished WICKED FANTASY, the last book in the Castle of Dark Dreams trilogy. I hated to leave the castle, but I’ll still be writing about the Woo Woo Inn.

What have I been reading? Well, I discovered Kelley Armstrong. So far I’ve read BITTEN, STOLEN, and BROKEN. I have other books to discuss, but I’ll save them for next time.

I want to thank all the people who made comments on my last post. I read and appreciated all of them. I’ll try to make it back tomorrow with something more coherent and organized.

No, really, I’ll be back. Promise.

Ohmigosh, I’m actually seeing words written by people other than myself. I grovel at the feet of my webmistress.

Hi M. E., and thanks for the congrats. I still have to pinch myself occasionally to make sure it’s all real.

All the other comments are gone forever, Michele. Sob. Karma 2 must have eaten them before my webmistress banished it from our kingdom. I’ll never know what people said. Perhaps things like: may your computer crash a thousand times, or I hope you lose your thesaurus (I mean, how many different ways are there to say “throbbing organ of desire?”). As far as climbing higher, it won’t happen this time. But I’m thrilled with where I reached.

Thanks, Teresa, for the kind words about my books. You brought back memories talking about your horse. I haven’t ridden for years, but I still miss it. My first horse was a buckskin quarterhorse named KK. She hated everyone and had attitude to spare, but I loved her. And I’ll always miss my beautiful Arabians. I’ve spent my whole life wanting to live in the mountains, but I’ve never managed to get there. I also find myself missing the autumn leaves and snow of the Northeast. I want to keep my condo here in Texas because I love living on the water and I have friends here, but I’m really hoping that in a few years I can buy a second place. I’m now thinking in terms of northest Pennsylvania. I can have the leaves, snow, and something approximating mountains while still being within driving distance of my friend in New Jersey. There’re lots of beautiful spots across the country that would fit the bill, but I find that I don’t want to move to a place where I don’t know anyone.

Okay, I’ve blabbed on about my personal life. Let’s hear about all of you.

Just wanted to stop by to offer a big wet sloppy kiss along with a huge thank you to everyone who ran out to buy A TASTE OF DARKNESS. I’ve been hovering somewhere close to the ceiling all weekend because the latest adventures at the Woo Woo Inn landed me at #45 on the USA Today bestseller list and #25 on the New York Times bestseller list. I’ve dreamed since I first started writing of breaking into the top fifty of the USA Today list and anywhere on the New York Times list. I wasn’t prepared for it to happen with this book. I had thought about moving my next book away from the Woo Woo Inn, but not now. The Woo Woo Inn is a happening place.

My webmistress is now officially back from her vacation so I can feel free to deluge her with a bunch of whiny complaints. First and foremost, she has to tell me how I can receive comments.

That’s it for now. I really have to get moving on my next book. But I’m so happy, happy, HAPPY!

Okay, I still don’t know how to let everyone post comments. And good old Karma Baby won’t let me read what you guys said. So I’ll just talk to myself until my webmistress gets back from vacation.

I was at the Leisure chat tonight on Writerspace. What a fun crowd. Colleen Thompson was there. Her romantic suspense from Love Spell is THE DEADLIEST DENIAL. An excellent book. Diana Groe was also there. Her Viking historical, MAIDENSONG, is out from Leisure this month, too. Love those sexy Vikings. Yum, yum.

I’d ask everyone to tell me what’s been happening in their lives, but I can’t read your comments, so I guess I’ll scrap that idea for now.

Anyone watching American Idol tomorrow night? I’d like to see Chris win. Hey, I’m shallow, what can I say. He’s hot.

Guess I’ll sign off so I can think of some more one-sided conversations.

Dream of Vikings tonight,
Nina

I so don’t understand computer programs. Working my way through a maze of info I don’t understand, I finally found nine comments that Spam Karma 2 harvested (don’t you love that term). Now I don’t know how Spam Karma is doing this since on another page it’s marked as deactivated. Hmm. And I definitely don’t know what to do to fix the problem. It doesn’t give me a nice easily understood choice like “restore harvested comments.” Guess that would make it too easy. It also doesn’t give me the option of reading the comments. Or maybe it does and I’m just too confused to find the instructions. I also haven’t found a link to a living person. Well, I’ll keep working on this problem, but be aware that I know you guys are out there posting and I appreciate it. Oh, I tried to comment last night and it harvested me right along with you.

Still fighting the good fight,
Nina

I so don’t understand computer programs. Working my way through a maze of info I don’t understand, I finally found nine comments that Spam Karma 2 harvested (don’t you love that term). Now I don’t know how Spam Karma is doing this since on another page it’s marked as deactivated. Hmm. And I definitely don’t know what to do to fix the problem. It doesn’t give me a nice easily understood choice like “restore harvested comments.” Guess that would make it too easy. It also doesn’t give me the option of reading the comments. Or maybe it does and I’m just too confused to find the instructions. I also haven’t found a link to a living person. Well, I’ll keep working on this problem, but be aware that I know you guys are out there posting and I appreciate it. Oh, I tried to comment last night and it harvested me right along with you.

Still fighting the good fight,
Nina