I bet some of you are wondering, “So what’s the big deal? You write a book, send it in, and wait for it to go on sale. No sweat.” Hah. Let me tell you the many, many ways I find to drive myself crazy.

First we have the story itself. Will readers like the plot? Will they think it’s too, well, out there? Fine, so all of my plots are out there. Will they think its exciting enough, sexy enough, and on and on and on? Oh, and don’t forget the characters. Will they think the characters are sympathetic? Will they want to read more books about the same characters? Or, horror of horrors, will they find the characters shallow and unlovable?

Once I finish worrying about the story, it’s time to move on to the cover. Is the guy on the cover hot enough? Will impulse buyers pick up the book to take a closer look at him? Does the cover pop or just blend in with the rest of the books on the shelf? And why didn’t they give me foil embossed lettering on my cover? Is the publishing house trying to tell me something? Am I no longer worthy? Wait. My name and title do have a metallic shine. Whew. They must still like me.

Next comes the back cover blurb. Does it grab readers by the throat and shake them until they absolutely have to buy the book? Does it make extravagant promises of unspeakable pleasure if they’ll only spend their hard earned money on this book?

I bet now you’re thinking, “Enough. There can’t possibly be anything else to worry about.” What, you have no faith in my ability to make something out of nothing? There are tons of things to leave me sleepless. What will reviewers say? How should I promote this book? How will I make time to blog, keep up with mail, write my next book, have a life? It doesn’t take long to realize that something has to go. Yeah, so having a life is overrated anyway.

From all the whining above, you probably think I must hate what I do. Not so. I worked at quite a few different jobs in my life, and nothing, nothing gave me the satisfaction I get from completing a story and knowing I’ll be sharing my characters with readers who may never meet me, but who will hopefully enjoy my books. I feel blessed.

And for those of you who are thinking, “Wow, she’s insecure,” here’s my theory. I believe that on the day that I become too comfortable with what I’m writing, too sure that there’s nothing left to improve, too laid back about my career, I’ll stop growing as a writer. A little angst keeps me humble and motivated. There are tons of talented writers out there, and to convince readers to choose my books I have to keep getting better.

And now for a question that has nothing to do with the above subject. When I finish my present work in progress, Eternal Promise, I’ll be returning for another peek into Ganymede’s and Sparkle’s lives. I’d been planning to set this book at the Woo Woo Inn. But a lot of readers have told me now much they liked the Castle of Dark Dreams books. So here’s the question. Should my next Mede and Sparkle book take place at the Woo Woo Inn or the Castle of Dark Dreams? Of couse, you can always mess up my little poll by choosing none of the above.

I’ll stop now because my deadline for this next book is looming. I hope you’re enjoying a memorable summer blast. Don’t forget the sunscreen.

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

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

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.

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.