November 28th, 2005
Hey, Michele, I always enjoy your posts. Abby is hardheaded. It doesn’t matter how many times I squirt her for clawing a certain piece of furniture, she always goes back to the same spot. I think it’s become a game for her.
I had jury duty today, and I have to go back tomorrow. I’ll have to hit the sack earlier than normal for me. So this will be a short rant.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favor of kick-butt heroines. But sometimes the heroine is so tough that I don’t like her anymore. I want my heroines to be smart and able to take care of themselves, but I don’t necessarily want them to leap tall buildings at a single bound while emasculating every male in sight. In a few books I’ve read, the heroine has been a complete witch to the hero, and he takes it while letting us know how much he loves her. Why? I couldn’t imagine any man wanting to be around this woman. Okay, rant finished. That said, I have to admit that I wish I could spot my own blunders more easily. It’s hard to distance yourself from your own work.
November 25th, 2005
I went to Charlaine Harris’s site yesterday and read the first chapter of her new Sookie Stackhouse book, DEFINITELY DEAD. It won’t be out until May. Ack! How can I wait? It seems like everyone has a book out in May. I belong to the West Houston RWA chapter, and six members have May books. Hmm, does that have some deep cosmic meaning?
I haven’t been doing much reading lately because of deadlines, but I just finished DARK LOVER by J. R. Ward and loved it. I know some people say the market is getting glutted with vampire romances, but I don’t see it. Considering how many romances are published each month, vampire romances make up a very small percentage of the whole. I’d love to see a lot more on the shelves, but that’s just me.
A little more about my trip to New Jersey (I’ll sprinkle in a few tidbits with each post). Barbara and I talked for hours about the good old days in Ireland. We only lived there for a few years, but it was hands down the most exciting years of my life. She’d put the music we’d taped in the Dublin folk clubs on CDs, and we listened to those over and over. I really want to get back to the music. I’ve been promising myself that I’d sign up for guitar lessons because I haven’t touched a guitar in so many years. Well, I’m really going to do it. I’ve missed the music, but life just got in the way.
Oh, and I went in search of the Jersey Devil while I was in Jersey. Since I’ll be doing a few more books set at the Woo Woo Inn, I decided I needed to refresh my memory of what the Pine Barrens looked like. Barbara drove me to Leeds Point, but I was really disappointed to find that the Leeds house (legendary birthplace of the Jersey Devil) was in the woods somewhere. There were no historical markers, no guided nightly tours of the woods, and no crass commercialism. I didn’t find one Jersey Devil postcard or cheesy souvenir. What a letdown. I did have Barbara take my picture standing under the Leeds Point sign. And the lady in the small post office there gave me the name and phone number of a local man who’s done years of research on the Devil. So if I decide to bring the Devil back in a future book, I won’t have to do any research.
Guess I’ll shut it down for the night because Abby is trying to dig her way into the room. Yes, she loves digging in the carpet. Grr. At first I thought she wanted to reach me, but now I think she just smells fresh unchewed phone cords (see yesterday’s post).
November 24th, 2005
Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving? I sure hope so. Now it’s on to the rest of the winter holidays. And no, I don’t have any shopping done, and no, I won’t be doing it next week. Next week I have jury duty. Oh, the joy of it.
Abby, better known as Wicked Kitty, is doing well. She survived ten days in boarding while I went to New Jersey. Or maybe I should say that they survived her. I’ve been trying to break her of chewing cords. I was surprised to find that the boarding facility still had phone service. Abby favors phone cords. They’re thin and she can chomp right through them. I’m now wrapping all cords in two different kinds of electrical tape and then coating them with Tabasco sauce. Yummy. If that doesn’t work, I bought some flexible tubing to protect my phone cords. Overkill, you say? Ha, you haven’t seen my cords. Only the fact that she’s a real sweetheart has saved her. Someone said that she was bored and that I should either get another cat to keep her company or buy lots of kitty toys. I went shopping and cleaned Petsmart out of kitty toys. We’ll see.
Yes, I know, I know, I have to update my site. I’ll try to get to that next week. Oh by the way, my server ate some of the e-mail messages I was keeping current until I could answer them. If you don’t hear from me in another two weeks, please write again. I apologize. I should have a better system for answering e-mail.
Hmm, I just realized that I’ve done nothing but whine. Okay, so here is something positive. I had a wonderful time in New Jersey. If you remember, I was going to my class reunion. Well, it was quite an eye-opener. I’ll tell you about it next time. I stayed with my friend Barbara. We met in freshman year of high school and have been friends ever since then. I haven’t seen her in twenty years. We had a great time talking about old times. Sigh. More about my New Jersey trip later.
I hope everyone has been keeping busy. What’s been going on in your life? 
October 29th, 2005
I’ll try to get back in the saddle by writing a few short paragraphs each day. Hope it works.
What’s been happening? I have three days to finish a book. Hmm. On to the next subject. I had to evacuate for Rita. Hated it, hated it, hated it. A three and a half hour drive took twelve hours. Twelve hours without a restroom break, I might add. The good part was that I live on the water near Galveston, and we missed Rita’s wrath. I feel badly for all those devastated by Rita and Katrina. What an awful hurricane season.
I’ll be in New Jersey from November 3 to 13. High school reunion and a visit with a best friend. I can’t do much about the body, but I will have good hair and makeup. That should count for something. I’ve been away for almost twenty-five years, so I’ll have fun visiting all my old haunts. I love nostalgic trips.
I promised Michele many many weeks ago that I’d talk about my critique group. There are four of us who’ve been together for almost fifteen years. When we started, only one was published. Now all of us have sold books. Kimberly Groff writes as Kimberly Raye. She moved to the Texas Hill Country, but we still talk every day about writing. Kim just sold a funny vampire series to Ballantine. Gerry Bartlett, who wrote under a pseudonym for Dorchester and Kensington, will use her own name for a funny vampire series she just sold to Berkley. Do we see a pattern forming here? Donna Maloy wrote for Kensington and Harlequin.
Several other members of the group have come and gone. We’ve learned that it helps if all the members of the group are close to each other in writing experience. When we first started, we spent a lot of time marking grammar and spelling mistakes. Words like “was” were viciously stricken from each others’ manuscripts. As we matured as writers, we spent most of our time discussing things like overall feelings, pacing, conflict, and motivation. We were never easy on each other. I remember coming home in tears because the group hadn’t loved my “baby.” But tough love got us all published. And we’ve been an incredible support system for each other. A critique group is wonderful with the right mix of people. And you have to be willing to accept criticism of your work and grow as a writer. You also must not allow yourself to be gobbled up by the group. Even today, I’ll look at the group’s suggestions and decide if they work for me. Most of the time they’re on target, but once in a while I choose to ignore them.
We still try to meet once a week at a restaurant. We exchange chapters, take them home, read and critique them, and then discuss them at the next meeting. We’ve become close friends over the years. I don’t know if I’d have hung in through all the years of trying to sell my first book without them. For me, joining the critique group was one of the best decisions of my life.
If anyone has questions about the group, please ask.
October 28th, 2005
Even the undead celebrate Christmas, and Betsy is in heaven shopping for gifts.
But all is not merry in the mansion. It?s become infested with ghosts?really needy ones who have no qualms asking Betsy to run errands for them to rectify their pasts. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose, and, being tall and blonde, Betsy perfectly fits his type.
They say Christmas is a time for friends and family. But with a half-sister who?s the devil?s daughter, an evil stepmother, a fiend living in her basement, and assorted spirits and killers running amok, Betsy is not sure she?ll survive the holidays. Oh, right. She?s already dead?
Excerpt:
http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/Undead%20and%20Unreturnable.htm
Cover:
http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/new%20re3.jpg
ABOUT MARYJANICE DAVIDSON
MaryJanice Davidson is the best-selling author of several romance novels, including UNDEAD AND UNWED and HELLO GORGEOUS. Her books have been on the USA Today best seller list, as well as the New York Times list. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, two children, and dog, and is secretly addicted to Peanut Buster Parfaits.
REVIEWS
?This is one of the funniest, most satisfying series to come along lately. If you?re fans of Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake, don?t miss Betsy Taylor. She rocks.??The Best Reviews
?Mary Janice Davidson is a refreshing voice to both the romance and vampire world of writing?I cannot recommend her enough!??ParaNormal Romance Reviews
Website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net
MY COMMENTS: I love any book that has Betsy in it. And yes, I do know that I’m exactly one week behind with my spotlights, but then I’m exactly one week behind in my life, too.
